USA > Vermont > Windham County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windham county, Vt., 1724-1884 > Part 16
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
Hon. Daniel Kellogg was born at Amherst, Mass, Feb. 10, 1791, graduated at Williams college in 1810, studied law with Gen. Martin Field, and com- menced practice at Rockingham, Vt., in 1814, where he continued to reside until 1854, when he removed to Brattleboro, where he died May 10. 1875, aged eighty-four years. He married, first, Jane McAffee, of Rockingham; second, Merab Ann Bradley, daughter of Hon. Wm. C. Bradley, of West- minster ; third, Miranda M. Aldis, daughter of Hon. Asa Aldis, of St. Albans, who survives him. He was for a few years State's attorney for Windham county, and judge of probate for the district of Westminster ; secretary to the old governor and council of Vermont, during the administration of Gov. Butler and Gov. Van Ness; United States district attorney for the State of Vermont twelve years, during the administration of Gen. Jackson and Mr. Van Buren ; adjutant and inspector-general of the State ; represented the town of Rockingham in the general assembly, and for two years was State senator for Windham county. In 1843 he was chosen president of the State con- stitutional convention, and was judge of the supreme court of the State from 1845 to 1852. His children were as follows. Henry, born August 23, 1823, grad- uated at Williams college in 1843, engaged in the study of law with Hon Wm. C. Bradley, of Westminster, Vt., and was drowned while bathing in the Con- necticut river at that place, June 18, 1844. George B., born in November, 1825, studied law with Hon. Asa Keyes, of Brattleboro, married Mary L. Sikes, daughter of Urial Sikes, of Brattleboro, March 15, 1847, commenced the practice of his profession at Rockingham, in 1846, soon after his father was elected judge of the supreme court, removed to Brattleboro in 1855. ap- pointed postmaster at Brattleboro, in 1861, State's attorney for Windham county three years, adjutant and inspector general for the State from 1854 to '59, represented the town of Brattleboro in the general assembly for two years, was active in raising and enlisting the Vermont cavalry regiment, and was lieut .- colonel thereof during the rebellion, at the conclusion of which he was discharged, and resumed the practice of his profession at St. Louis, where he died, in November, 1875. Sarah B., born in August, 1831, married Henry A. Willard, of Washington, D. C., in November, 1855. Daniel, born April 9, 1834, married Margaret W. May, of Brattleboro, May 2, 1861, was post- master at Brattleboro, from 1862 to July, 1868.
George Newman was born at Seekonk, Mass., and removed with his par- ents to Marlboro, Vt., at an early age, whence he came to this place, a mere lad. He was, in his younger days, one of the early mechanics of Brattle- boro. When a boy he learned the trade of carriage making of Captain Adolphus Stebbins, at the West village. In 1830 he was employed by Messrs. Thomas & Woodcock, near, or at the time, they commenced the manufacture of pulp dressers and other machinery used for paper making. He was one of their principal workmen, and in a few years thereafter suc- ceeded them in this business, connected with which was an iron foundry. blacksmithing, clothier's shop, saw-mill and grist-mill. He was in co-partner-
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
ship with Col. A. J. Hines and Roswell Hunt, Esq. At one period, Lewis Newman, Governeur Morris, Esq., and Brinsmade, of Troy, N. Y., were interested in the business. Until a comparatively recent date Mr. Newman continued at the head of the business, which finally all came into the pos- session of himself and family, under the name of George Newman & Son. He died Sept. 11, 1872.
Hon. Royall Tyler was born in Boston, Mass., July 18, 1857, and died at Brattleboro, August 16, 1826. He entered Harvard college July 15, 1772, and graduated in July 1776, he studied law and was admitted to the barin 1779. He located in Guilford in January 1790, where he resided until 1801, when he came to Brattleboro. Aside from his extensive law practice Mr. Tyler pre- sided as side judge of the supreme court of Vermont, from 1801 to 1806, when he was chosen chief judge. This position he retained until 1812. From 1815 to 1821 he was register of probate of Windham county. He married Miss Mary Palmer, of Framingham, Mass., by whom he reared twelve chil-
dren, as follows: Royall Tyler, born in Framingham, Mass., 1794, ched in col- lege, young ; Gen. John S., born in Guilford, Vt., September 29, 1796, from the age of fourteen lived in Boston, Mass., and was in mercantile life ; Mary Whitwell, born in Guilford, Vt., June 23, 1798; Rev. Edward R., born in Guilford, Vt., August 3, 1800, of the Congregational church and editor of New Englander, also author of works on future punishment; William Clark, born in Brattleboro, August 28, 1802, passed a mercantile life in Boston ; Rev. Joseph Dennie, born in Brattleboro, September 4. 1804, of the Episco- pal church, and princ.pal of an asylum for deaf mutes, in Va .; Amelia Sophia, borr. in Brattleboro, June 29, 1807, principal of female seminary in 1826; Rev. George Palmer, 1). 1)., born in Brattleboro, December 10, 1809, of the Congregational church ; Judge Royall, 2nd, born in Brattleboro, April 19, 1812 ; graduated from Harvard college in 1834, studied law with Charles G. Loring, Esq., of Boston, was admitted to the bar in 1838, commenced prac- tice in Brattleboro, in 1839, was appointed register of probate. Marlboro dis- trict, in December 1844, chosen judge of probate, same district, in 1846, and was also appointed county clerk, in April, 1851, the latter two offices of which he still retains; Rev. Thomas Pickman, D. D., born in Brattleboro, Novem- ber 20, 1815. of the Episcopal church ; Abiel Winship, born in Brattleboro, November 9. 1818, died in 1832.
James M. Tyler was born at Wilmington, April 27, 1835; was educated at Brattleboro Academy ; graduated at the law university of Albany. New York ; was admitted to the bar of Vermont in September, 1860, and has been in practice ever since; was a member of the State legislature in 1863, and '64, and was State's attorney in 1866 and'67 ; since 1875 hasbeen one of the trus- tees of the Vermont Asylum for the Insane; was elected to the forty-sixth congress, and was re-elected to the forty-seventh congress, as a Republi- can, receiving 15,960 votes against 6,698 votes for Campbell, Democrat, and forty-one for Mead, Republican.
rebe Ginayle
I28
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
The Newton family, which is so numerous in America had thaie asinin ! America. . dling to the family : 11.to .. . whose su. n. the was Newton, from a tinn'y in : .. probably : 1630 or 1635 tim where. i present . . ntmv. the Newtons of the Unit. .
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Obadiah, and Much !!! Rev. ;
many years a pastor of the " .... son of March'. Newton, and way
who now reihe in West Bat1.
1819, and married kleinor P. S. Newton, born in Mull ora, I'ne ried Mrs. Huen Ja Wel's, in brat .. the grocery bo siness Fare Jantes ... ...
March 3, 1563. are a b. dựe .n. t . Jonathan Pathie same to this town the farm now own 1 by F waid i. .
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highly res det, to the old farm.
Anna Brow .. and ... .. Martin. It finally removed to Have . A
Joseph Steen was Born in Truth ... August 11, 1331, (cng al ' 4 == 1. . .
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selectman ir : ( 55; sch, tempeh graded schoo . ... 1. 1\41. Fle wis [f 1
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reform by effective remarks to the assembled voters of the district.
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
The Newton family, which is so numerous in America, had their origin in America, according to the family tradition, as follows: " Four brothers, whose sur-name was Newton, from a family in England, emigrated to America, probably about 1630 or 1635, from whom, about the commencement of the present century, the Newtons of the United States claimed their family origin here. Two brothers settled in the easterly part of Massachusetts, in Middlesex county, one settled on the banks of the Connecticut river, and the other went south. Some of the descendants of those who settled in the neighborhood of Boston were among the early settlers of the eastern portion of Worcester county, Mass. Some were farmers, and some were mechanics and depended on their industry and economy for a means of living. Some of the favorite family names were John, Timothy, Jonah, Solomon, Israel, Obadiah, and Marshall. Rev. Ephraim Holland Newton, D. D., who was for many years a pastor of the Congregational church in Marlboro, Vt., was a son of Marshall Newton, and was born in Newfane, Vt. Roswell H. Newton, who now resides in West Brattleboro, was born in Marlboro, September 13. 1819, and married Eleanor H. Samson, December 18, 1843. William S. Newton, born in Marlboro, June 26, 1822, resides in Brattleboro. He mar- ried Mrs. Lucinda Wells, in Brattleboro, March 30, 1858. He commenced the grocery business here March 21, 1859, has been town clerk since March 3, 1863, and a justice of the peace since December t, 1863.
Jonathan Dunklee came to this town at an early date and located upon the farm now owned by Edward Dunklee, his great-grandson. He was known as a man of ability and of a good Christian character He died, highly respected, on the old farm. His son Jonathan, born here, married Anna Brown, and settled in Marlboro, reared a family of seven children, and finally removed to Chesterfield, N. H., where he died, in December, 1862.
Joseph Steen was born in Brattleboro village, March 2, 1797, and died here August 11, 1881, being at that time the oldest native resident of Brattleboro. Mr. Steen worked with his father, James Steen, who came to Brattleboro in 1795, until 1814, when he commenced work at the printer's trade, under William Fessenden. After nine years' employment at this trade as a journey- man, he worked on contract for Messrs. Holbrook & Fessenden, until 1828. This year he bought of Messrs. Thomas & Woodcock the right to their pulp dresser for the State of New York, and engaged two years in the sale of themand in putting them in operation in paper-mills in that State. From 1830 until about the time of his death, he carried on the book and stationery business at the village, publishing many thousand volumes. He was also the last agent appointed here for paying pensions to the soldiers of the war of the Revolution, continuing that duty until the last one died. He was ap- pointed assignee in bankruptcy for Windham county, in 1844 ; justice of the peace in 1848, and held the office until the latter years of his life; was selectman in 1854-'55 ; school committee, first chosen to put in operation the graded school system in 1841. He was prominent in advocating the school reform by effective remarks to the assembled voters of the district.
unos Groszyle
128
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
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129
TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
George C. Haskins, son of George, born in Londonderry, August 28, 1828, married Louisa J. Stoddard, of Montpelier, in 1851, and died here September 5, 1882. Mr. Haskins was a molder by trade, and was foreman of the iron foundry here for thirty years.
John J. Retting, a native of Germany, came to Brattleboro, August 2, 1850. Having learned the cabinet-maker's trade in Germany, he began work here for Anthony Van Doorn, where C. L. Brown's building is now located, where he continued until 1856. In the autumn of 1858 he began business under the firm name of Retting & Brown, continuing thus about eleven months. In 1859 he established himself in business, where the Brooks House stands ; but in 1869, the block having burned, he removed to the location now occupied by his sons, L. J. and John, Jr.
J. H. Capen, a direct descendant of Bernard Capen, of Dorchester, Mass., who died November 8, 1638, came to Brattleboro in 1808, locating with his family in a one-story wooden house on Main street. His son, J. H. Capen, now occupies "Brookside farm," in school district No. 6, and is employed in the bellows department of the Estey organ works. This son was also a printer here for many years, manager of the telegraph office twenty-five years, and sent the first message from Brattleboro to Boston, in 1850.
Colonel Samuel Wells, the first representative from this town, then in Cumberland county, was born at Deerfield, Mass., September 9, 1730. He married Hannah Sheldon, and in July, 1762, settled in Brattleboro, on lands now owned by the Vermont Asylum for the Insane. Here were born his thirteen children, two of whom died in infancy. His daughters were married to Samuel Gale, Ephraim Nash, Micah Townsend, Jonathan Gorton, Na- thaniel Church and Ephraim Stimpson. Like many of the prominent men of that time, in this part of the State, Col. Wells sustained the claims of New York. Between the years 1798 and 1802, all the family of Col. Wells removed to Canada, where each of his children received from the crown 1,200 acres of land as a compensation for the losses Col. Wells had suffered during the Revo- lution on account of his adherence to the King. He died in this town and a marble head-stone in the old burying-ground gives the following information :
IN MEMORY OF COL. SAMUEL WELLS, OF THIS TOWN, A JUDGE OF CUMBER- LAND COUNTY COURT, AND A MEMBER OF THE ASSEMBLY OF THE PROVINCE OF NEW YORK, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE AUG. 6, 1786, IN HIS 55TH YEAR.
" His friends, the stranger and the poor have lost A kind companion and a generous host : When he fell, the Statesman fell And left the world his worth lo lell."
Dr. William Haydon Rockwell, was born in East Windsor, Connecticut, February 15, 1800, graduated from Yale college in 1824, and from the Yale medical school in 1831. On June 25, 1835, he married Mrs. Maria F. 9
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
Chapin, a native of Salisbury, Connecticut, and during the following year, June 28, 1836, was appointed superintendent of the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, which position he retained until August, 1872, when he resigned in favor of his son. He died November 30, 1873. death resulting from injuries sustained by being thrown from his carriage, May 10, 1872.
Dr. Henry Wells was the first town clerk of Brattleboro, elected to office in 1768. He was born in Essex county, N. J., June 14, 1742, but from 1746, for about twenty years, his home was in New York, when the popula- tion of that city was less than ten thousand. When eleven years old he began his college course at "Nassau Hall" in Princeton. Here he took his first degree at the age of fifteen. Immediately after his graduation he began the study of medicine at New Haven, with the celebrated Dr. Hull, under whose instruction he remained four years. In 1760 Yale college conferred on him the degree of A. M., and in the following year he returned to New York, where he continued his studies until 1764. He studied divinity for a short time after this and added the business of an apothecary to his early medical practice in New York. He was married in the old Dutch church on Nassau street, to Hannah Stout, May 28, 1764. They lived together within a few months of halt a century. Dr. Wells was hardly more than twenty-five and his wife twenty and the mother of two young children, when they started for their new home in the wilds of what is now Vermont. The town of Brattle- boro, of which he and his wife were two of the patentees, had been partly settled from New Hampshire as early as 1752. They came by a small sloop to Hartford Ct., and from thence followed the Connecticut river to Brattle- boro. Their new home was a farm of not far from 1,000 acres, some two miles west of the present East village. Here, on the brow of a lofty hill, Dr. Wells erected a substantial frame house of considerable size, which stood almost unaltered for a century, and was finally taken down by Gilbert Smith, in 1875. In 1801 it was purchased from Micah Townsend, its second owner, by Chief Justice Tyler, who occupied it about fourteen or fifteen years. From 1768 to the time of his removal, in 1781, he constantly held some public office. His name, for the last time, appears upon the records as moderator of the meeting of March, 1781. His name is attached to two memorials to the King in behalf of the legal government, the only civil gov- ernment, in fact, under the Province of New York. Seven more children were born to Dr. Wells during his thirteen years residence in Brattleboro. In 1781 he relinquished the magnificent estate, (in acres,) which cost him so much toil and suffering, and removed to Montague, Mass. He settled in the house which for eighty years continued to be the home of his children. In the associations of his new home and the better opportunities for the practice of his profession, Dr. Wells no doubt found compensation for the visionary fortune, as landed proprietor, for which he and his father had left New York. He soon acquired a reputation as a physician, especially in consultations, which made long journeys from home often necessary. Such occasional calls
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
for him extended from Boston to Albany, New Hampshire and Connecticut, as well as to and beyond his old home in Vermont. He died August 24, 1814, aged seventy-two years.
Col. Daniel Stewart was born at Paxton, Mass., in 1756, and died at Brattleboro, in 1834. In early life he went to live in Westboro, Mass., and there learned the tanner's trade. At twenty years of age he enlisted as a private in the American army of the Revolution and was afterwards an offi- cer. He was in the battle of White Plains, and was with the army during the campaigns in New Jersey. When his term of enlistment had expired he re- turned to Westboro, and there worked at ; his trade until 1783, when he re- moved to Brattleboro and purchased a farm in the southwest part of the town on road 38. He served several years as one of the board of selectmen of the town, and held other town offices. Col. Stewart was married in 1779, to Miss Dorothy Maynard, of Westboro, Mass., by whom he had six daughters.
Gen. John Stewart came to Brattleboro, from Royalton, Mass., about 1772, locating on land east of where John S. Cutting now resides, then an unbroken forest. A few years after, he removed to a farm one mile west of the West village, now known as the Gould farm, where he lived until his death, in 1812. He married Ruth Newton, of Royalston, Mass., who survived him eight months. They had ten children, five sons and five daughters. Gen. John Stewart was a man of more than ordinary qualities-in manners, genial and courteous to all, honest and honorable in his dealings, he was strictly an honest man and a firm friend to the poor and unfortunate. Physically he was one of the grandest types of humanity, being very tall and of due proportions. That he was beloved by all was proved by the hundreds of friends who followed his remains, as they were borne to the tomb. Truly a good man was removed from their midst.
John Cutting, son of Jonah Cutting, was born in Guilford, Vt., April 16, 1800, and died in Brattleboro, January 15, 1844. He received an academic education at Leicester Academy, Mass., taught school several terms, then he purchased a farm in the southwest part of Guilford, where he lived about two years, then sold this farm, and bought another in Brattleboro, of Col. Daniel Stewart, on which he settled in 1824. Mr. Cutting was twice married, first to Miss Emily Stewart, who died February 5, 1825; second to Miss Charlotte Stewart, both daughters of Col. Daniel Stewart, of Brattleboro. By these marriages he had six children, two by the first and four by the sec- ond wife, and of whom five lived to marry.
John S. Cutting, son of John Cutting, was born in Guilford, Vt., September 12, 1823. He removed to Brattleboro with his parents, in 1824, and received a common school and academic education. He is now a farmer and school- teacher. He lives on the farm where his grandfather, Col. Stewart, resided a hundred years ago. He has taught school forty or more terms, twenty-five in the school district where he resides; was superintendent of schools from 1866 to 1871; was representative to the State legislature in 1874; was cen-
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
sus enumerator for 1880 ; has been lister nine years; was a member of the State board of equalization in 1882, and is a justice of the peace. He mar- ried Miss Susan S. Burnette, daughter of John Burnette, of Guilford April 29, 1849, by whom he has had two daughters, the eldest of whom, Emily S., was married to Abbott S. Edwards, of Brattleboro, and Minnie S., the youngest, was married to John L. Barney, of Brattleboro.
David Bemis married Mary Dunster, a great granddaughter of Henry Dun- ster, who was the first president of Harvard college. They settled in West- minster, Mass., and reared nine children, John, Joseph, Benjamin, Elias, Ab- ner, Levi, Asa, Samuel and Sarah. The family moved from Westminster to Brattleboro and lived on the " Bliss farm." Four of the children, John, Joseph, Abner and Elias, settled in Windham county. Abner was a Baptist min- ister and lived in Halifax where he died. Elias lived in Brattleboro, on the farm now owned and occupied by M. M. Miller. Lemuel Bemis, son of Elias, was for many years a blacksmith in Brattleboro. Willis Bemis, the · present express agent at Brattleboro, is a son of Lemuel. John and Joseph, who served in the Revolution, settled in Dummerston. John married for his second wife, Jemima, daughter of Elder Daniel Whipple, who was the first Baptist minister in the State. Elder Whipple died in 1789 aged ninety-seven years. Hisgrave is in the West river cemetery, at Brattleboro. John had twelve children and lived where Mr. Murphy now lives. David, son of John Bemis and Jemima Whipple, lived on the farm his father had occupied before him. His eldest son, Erastus, settled in Washington county, Pa., and became one of the leading physicians of that county. He died in 1866, leaving two sons, David H. and James N., both physicians. Another son, Samuel N., is also a physician, living in Brattleboro. The youngest son, Horace, is a lawyer of Hornellsville, N. Y. Joseph Bemis died in Dummerston, and the family went to Cattaraugus county, N. Y., where Joseph, Jr., died in January, 1884, aged 98 years.
The Esterbrooks were one of Windham county's notable pioneer families, and many of its descendants are at the present time upright and substantial citizens of Brattleboro. Warren Esterbrook was one of the town's early set- tlers. Born at Warren, R. I., June 29, 1748, he came to Brattleboro in 1779, when 31 years of age, with his wife, whose maiden name was Rosannah Hale, and four-year-old son. For a short time he worked at the carpenter's trade in the then sparsely settled " East village," but soon moved to a farin in the southwest part of the town. He had a family of nine children-six boys and three girls-and followed farming until afflicted with total blindness, which great misfortune he patiently bore during the remaining twenty years of his life. He died June 29, 1838, aged ninety years; his wife died April 26, 1813, aged sixty-two years. Maj. James Esterbrook, eldest son of Warren Esterbrook, came to Brattleboro with his father and mother in 1779, at the age of four years, and lived with his parents until of age. He married Polly Stewart, daughter of Colonel Daniel Stewart, in 1799, and settled on the " Had-
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TOWN OF BRATTLEBORO.
sus enumerato ter 1880 ; has been . . State board of equalization in 1882. ried Miss Susan S. Burnette, daught-, 1849, by whom he has had two daugl :.. married to Abbott S. Edwards, of Bra . was married to John L. Barney, of bien.
David Bemis married Mary Dinster . ster, who was the first presi-leut of Hu . minster, Mass., and reared nie eml " ner, Levi, Asa, Samuel and Sarah, 7 . Brattleboro and lived on the " 1354. 11 Joseph, Abner and Khas, settled in Wine !! :: ister and lived in Halifax where he di. d. . farm now owned and occupied by M. M Elias, was for many years a blacksmith : . . present expe - agent at Brattleboro, is a ... who served. . ... Revolution, settled in I) ... second wife . a. daughter of Elder !. Baptist min the State. Eller Wh .. years. His . n the West river cemet . children a. where Mr. Murphy n. .
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