USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84 > Part 27
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Parker W. Dexter, son of Parker, who was one of the early residents of Pomfret, was born in' 1834, and now resides here on road 42. He has four children, Edwin K., Ella N., Mary E. and Frank K.
Joseph Sherwin, son of Nathan, was an early resident of Reading. Calvin, his eldest child, born in 1812, had a family of four children, two of whom, Orlando W. and Aurelia C., are practicing physicians at Woodstock and Sharon.
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S PRINGFIELD lies in the southeastern corner of the county, in lat. 43° 17', and long. 4° 28', bounded north by Weathersfield, east by Connec. ticut river, which separates it from Sullivan county, N. H., south by Rockingham, in Windham county, and west by Chester. It has an area of about 28,000 acres, originally granted by New Hampshire, to Gideon Lyman and sixty-one others, August 20, 1761, and re-chartered by New York, March 16, 1772.
The surface of the town is broken and rugged, though not sufficiently so to seriously retard cultivation of the soil, which is in many localities of an ex- cellent quality. Black river, with its numerous tributaries, forms the water- course of the township, entering from Weathersfield in the northwestern part, and flowing a southwesterly course into the Connecticut. The most abundant rock entering into the geological formation of the town is calciferous mica schist, which underlies the whole central part. The western part of the ter- ritory is made up of gneiss, while clay slate and talcose schist underlie the eastern portion.
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220
TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
In 1880 Springfield had a population of 3,154, the most populous town in the county, and in 1882 it was divided into fifteen school districts and con- tained twenty-three common schools, employing six male and thirty female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $5,513.69. There were 651 pupils attending school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31st, was $6,736.07, with George W. Bailey, superintendent.
SPRINGFIELD village lies in the central part of the town, on Black river. It had a population of about 1,520, and is one of the handsomest and most stir- ring villages in the State. The act of its incorporation was passed by the legislature November 17, 1866. The river at this point passes over a suc- cession of falls, aggregating a fall of 110 feet in an eighth of a mile, thus affording unexcelled mill-sites, accounting for the large amount of manufac- turing business centered here. The village has four churches, (Congrega- tional, Methodist, Universalist and Roman Catholic,) one hotel, two banks, three dry goods stores, three grocery stores, two clothing, two drug, two fruit, and two hardware stores. Of its manufactories there are two machine shops, one foundry, one furniture, two toy, one baby-cab, one mop, one clothes-pin, one cheese, one dolls' heads and sundries, one builders' furnishings, one tin, one scythe snath, and one spool and bobbin manufactory, and one cotton and one woolen mill. The town clerk's office is also located here, and the village has a good weekly newspaper, the Springfield Reporter.
NORTH SPRINGFIELD is a post village located in the northwestern part of the town, on { Black river. It has two churches (Advent and Baptist), a school house, one store, a fancy box factory, a grist-mill, saw-mill, phos- phate factory, three blacksmith shops, a cheese factory and about sixty-one dwellings.
PARKER'S MILLS is a hamlet located in the southern part of town, on Black river. It consists of a bobbin and spool manufactory, saw and grist-mill, school-house and twelve dwellings.
The Springfield Savings Bank was incorporated by an act of the legislature approved December 6, 1853. Business was commenced the following year with Henry Barnard, president ; George Johnson, vice-president ; and George W. Porter, secretary and treasurer. The present officers are Samuel Rollins, president ; George P. Haywood, vice-president ; Charles A. Forbush, treas- urer ; and George C. Porter, assistant treasurer.
The First National Bank of Springfield was chartered in 1863, with a capital of $200,000.00, with Henry Barnard, president, and George W. Por- ter, cashier. In 1878 the capital stock was reduced to $100,000.00. In 1882, the original charter having expired, the institution was re-chartered for twenty years, with a capital of $100,000.00. The bank now has a surplus fund of $33,700.00, with Amasa Woolson, president, and B. F. Aldrich, cashier.
J. C. Holmes & Co.'s cotton mill, located at Springfield village, was built by the Black River Manufacturing Company, in 1836. The property
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
was purchased by John Holmes & Co., Mr. Holmes being the father of the present senior member of the firm, in 1865, and came into the present owners' possession in 1874. They now employ twenty-two hands in the manufacture of cotton warp. Previous to the erection of this mill, the Black River Company run a mill on the opposite side of the street, built in 1820, where, it is said, the first cotton yarn in the State was manufactured. The yarn was sent to the State prison and then woven by hand.
The Springfield Flouring Mill, located at Springfield village, was built by the present proprietors, Cobb & Derby, in 1882. The firm does custom grinding in addition to about three car loads of merchant corn per month.
W. M. Knight's cider-mill, located on road 30, was built by Mr. Knight in 1876. It has the capacity for turning out twenty-five barrels of cider per day.
The Parks & Woolson Machine Company, A. Woolson, president, and C. E. Richardson, treasurer, is engaged in the manufacture of cloth dressing machinery, at Springfield village. The business was established by Davidson & Parks, in 1826, and in 1846 A. Woolson was admitted to the firm, the title being changed to Davidson, Parks & Woolson. In 1874 the present company was incorporated, with a capital of $60,000.00. They now employ thirty hands.
The Vermont Snath Company, at Springfield village, was incorporated November 18, 1868, with a capital of $30,000.00, T. P. Ball, president, and H. W. Thompson, treasurer. The present officers are Miles Smith, presi- dent, and J. White, treasurer. They employ thirty men in the manufacture of stoves, mill machinery, and brass and iron castings. June 8, 1882, the firm sustained a loss of $20,000.00 by fire. Previous to this they had em- ployed fifty men.
Richard J. Kenney's sash and blind factory, located at Springfield village, was established by him in 1872. Mr. Kenney employs about twenty men.
Leland & Field's cheese factory, located at North Springfield, came into the present proprietor's possession in 1877. They manufacture cheese from the milk of 300 cows, though the factory has the capacity for using the milk from 500 cows.
Frank D. Martin's fancy-box factory, located at North Springfield, was es- tablished in 1879. Mr. Martin employs twelve hands in the manufacture of all kinds of fancy boxes. !
D. J. Boynton's saw-mill, located at North Springfield, was built in 1870- '71, upon the site of a mill carried away by a freshet in 1869. Mr. Boynton manufactures about 500,000 feet of lumber, in addition to a large amount of lath and shingles.
The Springfield marble and granite works, located at Springfield village, were the first of the kind established in the county. They came into the hands of the present proprietor in 1862, who has sustained the reputation of the establishment for doing excellent work.
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
The North Springfield grist-mill, William J. Johnson, proprietor, has four runs of stones, and does custom work.
George W. Graham's carriage and wagon works, located at Springfield vil- lage, were established by Lewis Graham in 1849, and came into the hands of the present proprietor in 1863, who has since done a flourishing business.
The Springfield Toy Manufactory, located at Springfield village, was estab- lished by F. W. Porter & Co., in 1868. The firm now employs twenty hands and manufactures 100,000 toy carriages per annum.
Slack & Brink's shoddy-mill, located at Springfield village, was established in 1871. The firm employs fifteen hands in the manufacture of fine, all-wool shoddy.
Gilman & Thompson's machine shop, located at Springfield village, was estab- lished by Mr. Gilman in 1854. The firm employs eight men in the manufac- ture of lathes for turning shoe lasts, hat blocks, and other irregular forms.
D. M. Smith & Co., located at Springfield village, are engaged in the manu- facture of clothes pins, mop and brush handles, etc., employing fifteen hands.
The Black River woolen mills, located at Springfield village, were estab- lished by the Village Falls Manufacturing Company, in 1836. The present firm, Whitmore & Dillon, employs seventy-five hands in the manufacture of woolen cloth, turning out about 250,000 yards per annum.
J. T. Robinson's saw and shingle-mill, located at Parker's Mills, employs ten hands, having the capacity for turning out 15,000 feet of lumber and 15,000 shingles per day, and two car loads of chair-stock per week.
S. B. & P. W. Gould's spool and bobbin manufactory, located at Parker's Mills, gives employment to twenty men in the manufacture of spools and bob- bins.
Woodward's saw and cider-mill, located at " Hard Scrabble," was built by John Britton, and bought by the present owner in 1875. It has an up-and- down saw and cuts 2,000 feet of lumber per day. The cider-mill was added to the saw-mill in 1877, and has the capacity for manufacturing twenty-five barrels of cider per day.
The first settlement within the limits of the township was made as early as 1753, by Daniel Sawtell, Jacob Sawtell, Oliver Sawtell, Combs House, Oliver Farnsworth, Samuel Douglass, Joseph Douglass, Noah Porter, Nathan- iel Powers, Simeon Powers and Simeon Powers, Jr. These settlers, at the close of the French war, made a futile effort to secure from Governor Went- worth a patent of the lands which they had improved. He took no notice of their petition ; but, however, on the 20th of August, 1761, gave a charter of the township of Springfield to Gideon Lyman and sixty-one associates, the large majority of whom were residents of Northampton, Mass., and its vicinity. No one of these persons became an actual settler, it is believed.
At a meeting of the proprietors, held in Northampton, on the 19th of July, 1762, measures were taken to secure the ejectment of the first settlers from the lands which they occupied. This action resulted in judgment against
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
"John Nott and others," in the spring of 1764. Nott and most of his asso- ciates, however, became permanent residents of the town. The first settler under the charter was John Kilburn, who is said to have purchased a right in 1761, and to have entered upon it shortly after. As the first allotment of land among the proprietors was made on the 21st of June, 1762, he could not have been in possession previous to that date. Simon Stevens, (see page 52,) a native of Canterbury, Conn., who had become familiar with this locality while in military service, returned in 1762 to make the spot on which he had encamped while on an expedition against Crown Point his home. To no one man, in those early years, was the town more deeply indebted. He enjoyed the confidence both of the proprietors and the residents of Spring- field, and " by his example and individual efforts he did much to alleviate the wants and add to the happiness of the settlers." He early confessed his faith in Christ, and was a member of the Church of Christ from its organiza- tion in 1781 until his death, in 1817.
The settlers came in very slowly, and were but a handful in number at the organization of the town, which probably occurred in the spring of 1764, though the only authentic papers extant bearing on the subject are two war- rants among the "Stevens papers," now in possession of Hon. Wm. M. Pingry. They are as follows :--
PROVINCE OF
NEW HAMPSHIRE.
To Simon Stevens, Constable of Springfield and Province aforesd.
-- Greeting-
In his Majesties name you are hereby required forthwith to Notifie & warn ye Freeholders and other Inhabitants of sd. Town that are Duely qualified by Law to Vote in Town Meeting that they assemble & meet at ye House of Joseph Littles in Springfield aforesd on Tuesday ye 13th of this Instant at 10 of ye clock in ye forenoon then & there when met to Vote and act on ye fol- lowing articles -viz-
First to choose a Moderator to govern sd. Meeting .- 2dly. To choose Town Officers Agreeable to Charter.
Hereof Fail not and make Due return of this warrant and your Doings therein to some one of us ye subscribers at or before ye Time of sd. Meet- ing .--
Given under our hands and seal this first Day of March and in ye fourth year of his Majesties Reign 1764.
ROBERT PARKER, SAMUEL SCOTT, SIMON STEVENS, GEORGE HALL, TIMOTHY SPENCER,
Inhabitants of Springfield
PROVINCE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE.
TAYLOR SPENCER, ABNER BISBEE, To Jehoial Simmons, Constable of the Town of Springfield in said province.
- Greeting-
In his Majesties name, you are required to notify and warn all the Free- holders and other Inhabitants of the Town of Springfield in said province to assemble and meet at the dwelling House of Joseph Little in said Town on
--
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
Monday ye 22d, Day of July, at one of the clock in the afternoon. Then and there when met to act on the Following Articles -viz-
Ist. To chuse a Moderator to govern said meeting.
2dly. to see whether the Town will accept of the Road known by ye name of Crown point Roade which leads through sd. Town.
3dly. to see whether the Town will repair said Roade.
Hereof Fail not and make Due return of this warrant to some one of us the selectmen of Springfield at or before the time of said meeting. Given under our hands & seal this 13th Day of July Ano Dom 1764.
SIMON STEVENS, ABNER BISBEE.
During that year a meeting "to choose town officers agreeable to the charter " was called on the 13th of March, at the house of Joseph Little. George Hall was chosen moderator, and the meeting adjourned until the 26th inst. Of that meeting no record is extant, but the organization was probably then effected. No further record of town action is preserved until April, 1769, at which date the simplicity of the town organization indicates a scanty population. Two years later we have the first authentic statement of the number of inhabitants. By the New York census there were in Spring- field, on the 16th of January, 1771, twenty-seven families, and a total popu- lation of one hundred and forty-one persons, seventy-five of whom were males and sixty-seven females. During this year a further allotment of land was made by the proprietors. The region previously open for settlement lay between the Black river and the Weathersfield line. This locality proved the most attractive to the new comers, and here for many years the population was the most dense. On the 2 1st of December, 1775, a form of agreement, preserved by the Association in New York, pledging its signers to unity of action and efficient endeavor to carry forward the measures of the Continen- tal Congress, was returned from Springfield with fifty-one signatures. As the returns sent to the Committee of Correspondence were to include the names of those who refused to sign, and as no such were given, it is clear that every citizen of Springfield, at that date, was loyal to the cause of American lib- erty. The number of signers enables us to judge approximately the total population at that time, which could not have been more than two hundred and fifty.
By the first constitution of the State, each town having eighty taxable in- habitants within a period of seven years after the establishment of the consti- tution, was entitled to two representatives, and all others to one. Colonel John Barrett was chosen the sole representative from Springfield, December, 1777. He had been a member of the convention which framed the constitu- tion, and was apparently one of the most efficient members of the assembly, as his name appears often as chairman of important committees. No town record of elections to the general assembly has been preserved from this time until January, 1783, when the town chose George Hubbard and Simon Stev- ens. But there is found a list of the second general assembly in which the name of Lieut. Samuel Scott appears as the only member from Springfield.
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
There could not, therefore, have been eighty taxable inhabitants previous to 1779, nor a total population of four hundred.
Labin Knights came to Springfield among the early settlers and located upon the farm now owned by his son Samuel, where he died at the age of seventy- six years. Labin's son Nahum, born here in 1805, married Sarah Williams, and reared nine children, four of whom are living. The house Mrs. Knights now occupies, on road 3, is said to be the first frame house erected in the town. It was built by John Griswold, who kept an hotel and store in it for many years.
James Randel, one of the early settlers, came from Durham, N. H., locat- ing at what is now called Spencer Hollow, where he took up a large tract of land. Solomon, his son, came with him, and died here Sept. 9, 1863. Smith K., son of Solomon, born here September 21, 1812, married Eveline Henry, of Charlestown, N. H., and now has six children, as follows : George, Edwin. James, Abbie, Sarah and Elizabeth.
Seth Woodard came to this town when a small boy, with Benjamin Aldrich locating upon the farm now owned by Thomas Merritt. In 1819 he married Hannah Howe, daughter of Dr. Daniel Howe, and located in the western part of the town, where he resided until his death. Mrs. Woodard died December 28, 1881. Their daughter, Acsah W., still resides here.
Ezra Parker came to Springfield at an early day and located upon the farm now owned by Cornelius Hogan, and died here at the age of ninety years. His son Solomon also died here at an advanced age. D. Bowen Parker, son of Solomon, now resides on road 71.
Solomon Shedd came to this town, from Lunenburg, at an early day, locat- ing upon the farm now occupied by Lydia and Mary A. Shedd, on road 74. James, one of his seven children, born April 6, 1766, occupied the old home- stead until his death. He married Rachel Johnson and reared fourteen chil- dren, two of whom, Lydia and Rosina C., are living. The latter is the wife of Oran Gould, and resides in Ludlow.
Abraham Lockwood, born in 1751, came to Springfield in 1768, locating lupon the farm now owned by Seymour Lockwood, on road 38, and died here at the age of eighty years. Only one of his children, David, residing at Spring- ield village, is now living.
William Lockwood, from Providence, R. I., came to this town in 1768, ocating at Springfield village, where he built the first mills. He owned a arge tract of land in this vicinity, married Sarah White and reared a large amily of children. His son Benoia, born in 1764, married Mary Williams nd settled at North Springfield. He reared a family of seventeen children, even of whom attained an adult age. Only one, Rhobia L., of North Spring- eld, is now living. Benoia died in 1820, his wife in 1834.
Daniel Gill came to Springfield, from Rhode Island, in 1776, locating upon he L. Barry farm. He died a few years after, at Sing Sing, N. Y., while : In his return from a journey to the west, leaving six children,-John, Amos, 15
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
Whitford, Betsey, Martha and Mary. Amos located upon the farm now owned by O. F. Wood, where he died in 1847. Daniel A., son of Amos, born Sep- tember 9, 1796, now resides on road 16, the oldest native born resident of the town. The house he occupies with his son, D. O. Gill, was built in 1799.
John Williams, from Providence, R. I., came to Springfield in 1780, locat- ing upon the farm now owned by C. Olney, where he died at the age of one hundred years.
Capt. Abner Bisbee came to this town previous to 1780, located on road 8, and resided here until his death. Elisha, one of his seven children, born in 1780, married Mary Grant, of Weathersfield, reared fifteen children, and died in 1841. His wife died in 1863. Elisha did a great deal of the town busi- ness, holding the office of justice of the peace, etc. His son Abner, born in 1806, now occupies the old homestead.
Lemuel Whitney was born in Leicester, Mass., in 1743. His father Joshua, was descended from John and Elinor Whitney, who landed in Bos- ton in 1635. His mother, Mehitable Wilson, was of Scotch descent. He went with his father's family to Spencer, Mass., during his minority, and in 1778 to Tolland, Conn., where he lived two years. While living in Tolland, and also during the last years of his residence in Spencer, he engaged in the manufacture of saltpetre, which was used to make gunpowder for the Ameri- can army. He, happily, received his pay, not in Continental currency, but silver. Owing to his occupation, he served less in the army than most men of his time. He was enrolled as a minute man, and served two terms of three months each in the field, being present at the surrender of Burgoyne. In 1780, being unable from lack of material longer to continue his saltpetre works, he decided to try his fortune in the new State, and first visited Spring- field, Vt., in September of that year. It is related that after contracting for his farm he walked to Spencer, Mass., a distance of eighty miles, in one day. In December, 1780, he moved his family to Springfield and settled on the farm now owned by C. Miller, where he spent the remainder of his life. He at once interested himself in the welfare of the town, taking a prominent part in all public affairs, especially in the formation and well being of the "First Church of Christ." His is the first name written on the church records, and he continued to take an active and prayerful interest in it through life. He gave it his moral support, his money, his work, and taught his children to do the same. There is still in the family a deed of two pews bought by his two eldest sons, in 1794, for which they paid "£15 lawful money," "£3 Ios. to be paid in building material, and the remainder in good wheat or neat cattle." The deed runs to the eldest son, Cyrus W., the second son not being twenty-one years old when the contract was made. Lemuel Whitney himself owned a pew in a more desirable location, but after his election as deacon, in 1801, he always sat in the "deacon's pew." When it is remembered for what wages men then worked, it will be seen that this was a large sum of money for two boys to raise for such a purpose.
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
Most subscriptions of that kind were then paid in wheat or cattle, and Dea. Whitney often redeemed such offerings in silver, to the great relief of the parish and the minister, while he trusted to his own shrewdness to save him- self from loss.
In March, 1781, Lemuel Whitney received private information that Shem Kentfield, an idle tavern lounger who fled from Charlestown, N. H., the autumn before, threatening vengeance on the town, had been seen in Springfield with two comrades, on his return to Charlestown. Mr. Whit- ney immediately took means to alarm the people of Charlestown, and raised a small company of men to pursue the traitors. For several days the people were on the alert and in much excitement. The three men first seen were taken in Charlestown and three others on Skitchawang mountain, but it was supposed that a much larger company escaped. Kentfield was sent to West Point, and being a deserter from the American army, was hanged. At the close of the war Mr. Whitney confessed that he had never seen Kentfield, as was supposed, but had his information from Dr. Abram Downer, who saw Kentfield, with whom he was well acquainted, near the Weathersfield line, and accused him of designs against Charlestown. Kentfield admitted the charge, said he had a company of fifty men, and proposed to kill Downer least he make public the plot. He was allowed to live, however, after making the most solemn promises of secrecy. Kentfield always believed Downer had been false to his promises, and died calling down frightful imprecations upon him. Lemuel Whitney married Thankful Griffith, in 1769, a shrewd, keen, self-reliant woman of Welsh descent. Mr. Smiley, the first settled minister in Springfield, used to speak of her in terms of highest praise, always ending his encomiums with : "She was a nice woman, a fine woman, a good woman, and a very notable house-wife." They had seven children, Cyrus, Benjamin, John, Lemuel, Sally, Joseph and Elijah, of whom the oldest and youngest only settled in Springfield, and are both remembered by the older citizens as worthy and honored men. Elijah succeeded to his father's office of deacon of the "First Church of Christ." Lemuel Whitney died in February, 1813, aged seventy years. His wife died in 1818, aged seventy-two years.
Thomas Smith, from Grafton, N. H., came to Springfield soon after the close of the Revolutionary war, locating on road 6. He married Margaret Luther, whose father was also an early settler, and reared seven children, all of whom attained an adult age. He died at the age of seventy-one years, and his wife at the age of seventy-five years. Three of their children are now liv- ing, viz. : William, in Barre, Washington county ; Ann (Mrs. A. Tuttle), in New York State ; and Sally, at North Springfield.
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