USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84 > Part 29
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GAYSVILLE is a pleasant little post village located in the northwestern part of the town, on White river. It has three churches, (Congregational, Metho- dist and Universalist,) one hotel, four general stores, a fine school building, a knit goods factory, a saw and grist-mill, blacksmith shop, harness shop, furni- ture shop, and about fifty dwellings. The river at this point is compressed into a channel but a few feet wide, affording an excellent mill privilege, and was formerly known as the " Great Narrows." Daniel and Jeremiah Gay established a factory here for the manufacture of cassimeres, giving the name of Gaysville to the village.
STOCKBRIDGE is a small post village located in the northeastern part of the town. It has one church (Union), a grist and saw-mill, tub factory, black- smith shop, carriage shop and about thirty dwellings.
The Gaysville Manufacturing Co. was organized Jauuary 1, 1880, the firm being Nelson Gay and F. P. Holden, of Gaysville, A. A. Brooks, of Bethel, and Chester Downer, of Sharon. The company manufacture gentle- men's knit underwear, employing seventy hands and turning out about $125,000.00 worth of goods per annum.
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TOWN OF STOCKBRIDGE.
Isaac T. Jones's saw-mill, located on road 25, is operated by water-power and is supplied with an upright saw, bench saw, planer, etc., doing mostly custom work.
Mrs. M. L. Richardson's grist and saw-mill and butter tub factory is located on road 12. The grist-mill is adapted for grinding meal and feed, and does only custom work. The saw-mill has an upright and bench saw, and does custom work. The tub factory turns out about 4,000 butter tubs per annum.
The Stony Brook Lumber Co.'s steam saw-mill is located in a corner formed by the towns of Stockbridge, Barnard and Bridgewater, called "No Town," it never having been chartered, organized with any town nor taxed. The mill is fitted with circular, board and bench saws, planing, matching and clapboard machinery, etc., having facilities for turning out 10,000 feet of lumber and 6,000 feet of clapboards per day.
Charles O. Durkee's soapstone manufactory is located at Gaysville, where Mr. Durkee does a large business in the manufacture of all kinds of soap- stone goods.
The settlement of Stockbridge was commenced by Asa Whitcomb, Elias Keyes, John Durkee and Joshua Bartlett, with their families, in 1784-'85. The settlement increased slowly, the town only having one hundred inhabi- tants in 1791, when the first census was taken. The town was organized and the first town meeting held, March 27, 1792, when Elihu Holland was chosen town clerk ; Branch Whitcomb, constable ; Joseph Durkee, John Whitcomb and Samuel Wiley, selectman ; and John Whitcomb, representative, The first child born in the town was Joseph Wiley, May 3, 1784.
Hon. Elias Keyes was born in Hampton, Conn., in 1757, and died in Stockbridge, Vt., July 9, 1844. All trace of his boyhood is lost except that he entered the Continental army as the servant of some officer, early in the war of the Revolution, and is said to have been in the ranks subsequently, because he was a sergeant-major when discharged. He seems to have mar- ried and made his way to Barnard, Vt., about 1780 or a little later, for when ¡the Indians raided that town it is said he and others followed them to Stock- oridge, or beyond, and then saw the land in this town which he afterward cook up and lived on for the most of his life. The proprietors had offered : 400 acres of land to any man who would build a grist and saw-mill, and Mr. Keyes accepted the offer. Tradition says that in 1784, John Durkee came nto town, cleared some land and prepared for a crop, and that in the spring spf 1785 eleven families came and settled in various parts of the town, and in 1 great hardship and much deprivation endured the trials and perils of the wilderness until they could make roads, clear fields, raise produce, build houses and enjoy the necessaries of life. Tales are told of men taking a bushel of corn on their backs and going to Woodstock to mill, twenty-five niles, and other devices to obtain supplies were ingenious and laborious. The inhabitants endured as those who see a great reward in the future, and
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hazarded, and doubtless shortened their lives by the effort to make a home or themselves and their posterity. Mr. Keyes is reported to have taught the first school in town, and it is quite certain that the demand of the patrons for attainments in the teacher must have been in accordance with the times, in which the three " R's" had a very limited definition. Whatever might have been the case in reference to education, however, he did erect and maintain the. requisite mills on the Branch, by which he obtained his land and by which inhabitants were called into town and furnished with some means of building and sources for making bread. He was early made judge of the county court and officiated in that high capacity for a number of years, perhaps as much to the amusement as for the benefit of the people of the county ; but he must have secured their confidence to a great extent by some means, by Revolutionary fame or by judicial excellence, by legislative acumen or by party preference he was elected to the seventeenth congress, in 1820, and served, with how much acceptance let the records of that day answer. Here was the pinnacle of his fame. By the loss of a suit at law with Justin Morgan, and by the loss of mills built at the mouth of the Branch of the river Tweed, he became disaffected and embarrassed, sold his home- stead and principal property and removed to Norfolk, N. Y. By unfortunate investments, and shrewdness or fraud of partners in business, he soon found himself without means, and returned to remnants of property left in Stock- bridge, pursued by sheriffs and creditors, by whose legal processes he was confined to the limits of the debtors' jail for many years.
From the time of his return from New York, he managed to renew his mills on the Branch, and near them lived and died. His eccentricities were the laugh of his neighbors, and the wonder of many ; but Judge Keyes had much humor, considerable wit, a beneficent spirit and not a little enterprize, and did something to make his name remembered. One of his last acts was to give to the town for the benefit of the poor a large tract of wild land which at the present time has value. He was very diligent himself and strove to make others so. Blessed with a prudent wife whose worth will long be re- membered, he was enabled to prosecute designs that he could not otherwise have accomplished, and no inconsiderable share of his reputation was doubt- less the product of her influence.
Lot Whitcomb came from Massachusetts, and began a settlement in Bar- nard previous to 1780 ; but becoming frightened by the Indian attack of that year he returned to Massachusetts. A few years later he came back to Vermont, locating in the northern part of Stockbridge, upon the farın now owned by E. Twitchell. He had at this time eight children, six of whom were sons, who, with the exception of Justin, all located in the town and reared families, and many of their descendants are still living here Reuben S. Whitcomb, who now resides on road 18, aged eighty years, is a grandson of Lot, and has owned his present farm sixty-one years.
John Durkee, one of the first settlers, bought five hundred acres of land
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where his grandson, William H. Durkee, now resides. He reared a family of seven children, all of whom attained an adult age. Orrin, one of his four sons, was captain of a company in the war of 1812, and served all through the war. He married Philena Rich and reared nine children, as follows : Nelson, Lyman, Luther, Seneca, William H., Harris, Joseph P., Charles O. and Mary E.
Charles Green, who now resides with L. B. Morey, aged eighty-nine years, is the oldest man in the town. He was born at Williamstown, Vt., and came to Stockbridge at an early date. Uncle Charley, as he is affectionately called, is something of a poet and his verses have frequently been in demand at town gatherings, etc. He married Mary Bowen, of Bethel, and has reared five children. One, Edwin P., is a lawyer of Akron, Ohio. Alfred F. is a large dairyman of Middlebury, Col., Julius C. is a county sheriff, residing in San Francisco, Cal. Uncle Charley was a soldier in the war of 1812, and held several of the town offices.
Nehemiah Chandler was the first settler upon the farm now occupied by G. P. Hassam. He came from New Hampshire about 1809, having at that time a wife and one son, Enos, and subsequently had born to him three sons and six daughters. Enos became an active member of the Congregational church, married Mary Holland, and located upon the farm now occupied by his widow, who was his second wife. Augustus L., the eldest of his three sons, married Emily A. Smith, in 1856, and in 1860 purchased the farm first located upon by his grandfather. Asa Chandler, of Pittsfield, and Eli, on road 30, are the only children of Nehemiah now living.
Isaac Jones, from Hillsborough, N. H .. came to Stockbridge with his parents in 1811, locating upon the farm now occupied by Frank Thayer. He married Deborah Norris, and reared a family of seven children, six of whom are living.
John Whitcomb, from Gardiner, Mass., was an early settler in Ludlow, and about 1821 came to Stockbridge, locating on road 21, where he died July 13, 1848, aged eighty-three years. Abel Whitcomb, one of his youngest sons, now occupies the homestead, aged seventy years.
Jeremiah Wilson was an early settler in Norwich. One of his eleven chil- dren, Peter, came to Stockbridge in 1821 and located near Gaysville. He married Anna Bingham in 1800, and had five children when he came here. The fourth of these, Jeremiah, now occupies the homestead, aged seventy- one years.
Richard Kimball, son of John and Jerusha (Meacham) Kimball, was born in Pomfret, Conn., August 21, 1762, married Susannah Holden, of Mendon, Mass., February 7, 1788, and had born to him thirteen children. Eight of these died young, while the others reared families and two are now living. Richard took his young wife to Royalton immediately after marriage, in 1788, and cleared a farm in the northwestern part of the town. About ! 1797, however, he removed to Randolph, where he died, November 23,
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1828, aged sixty-six years. John Holden Kimball, the eldest of Richard's children who grew to manhood, was born in Royalton, May 1, 1796, married Catharine Williams, June 11, 1828, and reared seven children, all of whom arrived at maturity. About 1836 he settled in Gaysville, where four of the younger children were born. He was a wheelwright and cabinet maker by trade, held the office of justice of the peace a long time, and died August 5, 1873, aged over seventy-seven years. Hiram A., his eldest son, has made his name noted as an inventor, and now resides in Philadelphia, Pa. Hiram was the first man to enlist from Stockbridge, during the late war. Elbert B., the second son, is engaged here in mercantile pursuits, and is also a member of the firm of Gay, Kimball & Gay, button manufacturers, of Rutland. George H., the third son, born at Gaysville, April 23, 1843, enlisted in the 6th Vermont Vols., and was discharged for sickness, December 12, 1862. He now resides in Gaysville, and has six children.
Daniel Gay, who with his brother, Jeremiah, built the brick factory at Gaysville in 1832, had seven children, viz. : Dwight, Daniel, Jr., Paul, Mer- rick, Juliana, Eunice and Harriet. Dwight and Paul represented the town in the legislature, and finally removed to Ohio. Daniel was a farmer, and at one time kept a hotel at Gaysville. He also served as a representative. He married Sally Baker and reared five children, Daniel E., Emily, Willard, Juliana and Myron. Daniel E., Dwight and Juliana still reside in Stock- bridge, and Myron in Randolph. Merrick married Sarah M. Whitcomb and reared six children, of whom Harvey D., Nelson, Charles M., Jennie (Mrs. H. H. Gilson), Fred and Minnie are living. Merrick became a merchant and manufacturer, secured the establishment of the postoffice at Gaysville, was postmaster nearly thirty years, four years a member of the legislature, and two years in the State senate, and town clerk twenty-two years. He died in 1866, aged sixty-four years. Nelson early became associated with his father in business, and is now president of the National White River Bank, at Bethel. He has been town clerk twenty-six years and has also held most of the other town offices. Jeremiah Gay, the other of the two original settlers, reared a large family, most of whom have disappeared by emmigration.
The Congregational church of Gaysville was organized by Elijah Lyman and Zimri Nobles, with twenty-seven members, October 8, 1827, Rev. Gil- man Vose being the first pastor. The present church building was built in 1863. It is a wood structure capable of seating 300 persons, and valued, in- cluding grounds, at $4,500.00. It now has forty members, with Rev. T. S. Hibbard, pastor.
The Methodist church of Gaysville and Stony Brook was organized by Rev. Lemuel Powers, the first pastor, with ten members, in 1862. The society has two churches, the Stony Brook church, on road 27, built in 1863, and the Gaysville church, built in 1877. They are both wood structures, and unitedly valued at $4,700.00. The society has 101 members, with Rev. H. R. Hastings, pastor.
TOWN OF WEATHERSFIELD.
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The Universalist church of Stockbridge, located at Stockbridge village, was organized by its first pastor, the Rev. Moses Marston, with thirty-one mem- bers, March 13, 1867. Their house of worship is the Union church, built in 1836, and they also own an interest in the Union church at Stockbridge Common. The society now has fifty-seven members, under the pastoral charge of Mrs. Ruth A. D. Tabor.
The First Universalist church, located at Gaysville, was organized by its first pastor, Rev. Moses Marston, with thirty-two members, March 19, 1867. The church building comfortably seats 200 persons and is valued at $2,500.00. The society has forty-five members, with Rev. Mrs. R. A. D. Tabor, pastor.
W EATHERSFIELD lies in the southeastern part of the county, in lat. 43° 23' and long. 4° 30', bounded north by Windsor and West Wind- sor, east by the Connecticut river, south by Springfield, and west by Baltimore and Cavendish. It was chartered by New Hampshire, August 20, 1761, to Gideon Lyman, Esq., and sixty-one others, in sixty-eight shares, containing an area of 23,000 acres. April 8, 1772, it was re-granted to Gid- eon Lyman and others, by the province of New York, with 20,000 acres. These areas were specified by charter, but the township really contains about 23,040, or an area six miles square.
The surface of the town is quite broken and mountainous, though there are large tracts of level, arable land, while the numerous hillsides afford many ex- cellent grazing farms. Ascutney and Little Ascutney mountains lie in the northern part of the town, the former lying partly in Windsor and West Wind- sor ; Hawks mountain and Pine hill lie in the western part of the town, the former extending into Baltimore and Cavendish, while Golden, Downer's and Camp hills lie in the eastern and southern part of the township, all helping towards making up an exceedingly picturesque landscape. In the eastern part of the town, along the banks of the Connecticut, are located some of the best farms in the State. In the southeastern part of the township the iver makes a bend, significantly called "the Bow," from its resemblance to un ox-bow. This encloses several hundred acres of the most productive land, once principally owned by Hon. William Jarvis, more familiarly known s Consul Jarvis. Here Mr. Jarvis was engaged in breeding Spanish Merino heep, having one of the most celebrated flocks in this country. Black river vaters the western section of the town, affording numerous privileges for mills nd manufacturing establishments, while the meadows along its valley are re- harkably rich and fertile.
The principal rocks entering into the geological structure of the town are neiss and calciferous mica schist, the former underlying the western and the itter the eastern part of the territory. The bed of Black river, for a con-
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TOWN OF WEATHERSFIELD.
siderable distance, is a solid mass of gneiss and mica slate, and upon either side of it are considerable elevations of the same material, interspersed with limestone quarries. Limestone also abounds in the northwestern part of the town. There are also in the western part beds of serpentine, lenguiform asbestos, tremolite, and crystalized sulphuret of iron. The asbestos is of a very superior quality. In the northern part are found quantities of granite of an inferior quality.
In 1880 Weathersfield had a population of 1,354, and in 1882 was divided into thirteen school districts and contained thirteen common schools, em- ploying three male and seventeen female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $1,483.53. There were 274 pupils attending common) school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 3IST, was $1,701.13, with L. E. Rockwell, superintendent.
PERKINSVILLE is a post village located in the western part of the town, on Black river. It derives its name from a Mr. Perkins, a Boston capitalist. who, in 1830, purchased a small woolen factory here which he greatly enlarged, thus attracting other capitalists to improve the fine mill power and engage in the same enterprise. In 1835 a brick edifice, 110 by 46 feet, four stories in height, was erected for manufacturing cassimeres and satinets. Ir this there were eight full sets of machinery, moved by a water-wheel nineteer feet in diameter and twenty six feet long. When in full operation this estab lishment gave employment to 150 hands, and manufactured 750 yards of cloth per day. In November, 1839, however, this expensive building, with all it valuable contents, was destroyed by fire. The village now has two churche:| (Baptist and Methodist), two stores, one hotel, a cotton 'mill, tin shop, car riage shop, and about 250 inhabitants, while just across the river, in what i: called the "lower village," there is a saw-mill, carriage shop, blacksmith shop and about fifty inhabitants.
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ASCUTNEYVILLE, a small post village located in the northeastern part of th town, contains a church (Congregational), two stores, a grist-mill and abou seventy-five inhabitants.
AMSDEN, a small post village located in the northwestern part of the towr was so named in honor of Charles Amsden, who located there, coming from West Windsor, in 1849. It has one store, a grist-mill, saw and shingle-mil blacksmith shop, two lime kilns, school house, and about sixteen dwellings.
WEATHERSFIELD CENTER (p. o.) is a hamlet located in the central part ( the town, containing one church (Congregational), a town hall, and about dozen dwellings.
WEATHERSFIELD Bow (Weathersfield p. o.) is a hamlet located in th southeastern part of the town. It has a church (Congregational), and abo forty inhabitants.
The Black River Valley Agricultural Society was organized in 1868, wi J. M. Aldrich, president, and E. M. Dean, secretary. The fair grounds a located at Perkinsville, and have a race course and exhibition buildings, whe
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annual fairs are held. The present officers of the society are E. C. Robin- son, president, and F. H. Nichols, secretary.
J. A. Call's cotton-mill, located at Perkinsville, came into his possession in 1873. The mill has eighty-two looms, employs thirty hands, and turns out 1,500,000 yards of cloth per annum.
The saw and grist-mill, wooden ware and carriage factory of M. G. Robin- son, located at Perkinsville, was erected, with the exception of the saw-mill, by Mr. Robinson in 1883, upon the site of a factory which was destroyed by fire in January, 1883. Mr. Robinson employs about thirty hands, using 500,000 feet of lumber annually in the manufacture of his wares.
The Windsor County Soapstone Company's soapstone quarries, located on road 40, were opened by J. M. Billings about 1850. These quarries, which are said to be among the best in the country, are now operated by the above mentioned stock company, with D. C. Gardner, superintendent, and turn out about 1,000 tons of soapstone per annum.
William C. Cram's carriage shop, at Perkinsville, was established in 1857. Mr. Cram manufactures about thirty carriages and sleighs a year.
The saw, grist and shingle-mills of Charles Amsden, located at Amsden village, were rebuilt by him in 1871. He manufactures 150,000 feet of lumber and 100,000 shingles per year. The grist-mill has two runs of stones and does custom grinding, and also grinds a large amount of western corn. Mr. Amsden also is engaged in the manufacture of a superior quality of lime, turning out 10,000 barrels per year.
Oscar Streeter's butter tub factory, located on road 19, was established by him in 1882. He manufactures butter tubs and also does a general wheel- wright and repair business.
John P. Knight's cider-mill, located on road 27, turns out 900 barrels of cider and 1,000 pounds of jelly per year.
George R. Sherman's butter tub factory and general repair shop, located on road 12, was built for a woolen-mill, in 1828, and came into the present proprietor's hands in 1868. Mr. Sherman manufactures butter tubs, sap- buckets, sap-holders, and also does a general repair business. He has also a cider-mill which turns out 700 barrels of cider per year.
Hicks Bros'. wooden-ware shop was established in 1875. They manufac- ture nearly all kinds of wooden-ware and also do a general repair business.
Aldrich & Crockett, located on road 62, are engaged in the manufacture of apple jelly.
L. H. Bailey's grist-mill, located at Ascutneyville, was originally built about one hundred years ago. In 1879 it was thoroughly repaired, and now has two runs of stones, doing custom work.
The grantees of Weathersfield were principally from New Haven, Conn., and from a report made by them in 1765, it seems that they had been "at great charge and expense in laying out the township into allotments," and further " that they had cleared and cultivated a portion of the lands which
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TOWN OF WEATHERSFIELD.
they owned, and erected a number of houses." This affords conclusive evidence that the settlement of the town was commenced between the years 1761, the date of the charter, and 1765. In a petition addressed to the lieutenant governor of New York, on the 17th of October, 1766, they ex- pressed a sincere desire to be protected while engaged in accomplishing the work incident to a pioneer settlement. The early history of this sturdy band, however, resembles that of most of the early settlements along the Connecticut, the settlers being men and women who were aware that their future lives were to be lives of toil and self-sacrifice, and for this reason they were prepared to grapple with adversity in whatever form it might appear. At the census of Cumberland county, taken in 1771, the town had a popula- tion of twenty souls, and in 1791 this number had increased to 1, 146. The town was organized and the first town meeting held in March, 1778, when Benoni Tuttle was chosen town clerk, and Israel Burlingame, representative, though there is no public record of the meeting extant. The first justices of the peace were Waters Chilson and Joseph Hubbard, in 1786.
Galen Downer, one of the early settlers of the town, located in the northern part thereof, where he cleared a farm and subsequently operated a mill. He died in 1835. His son Samuel, born here in 1791, was a blacksmith by trade, and built the well-known Downer Hotel, now owned by his son Roswell. He died in 1838. Of his other sons, one is a Boston banker and another resides in this town.
Amos Roys, another of the early settlers, died here in 1827. His son Joel resided here about thirty-five years, then removed to New Hampshire, then to Reading, and finally to Ludlow, where he died in 1874. His son Franklin B. now resides in this town, on road 23.
Seth Grout came to Weathersfield, from New Hampshire, at an early day, locating in the western part of the town. His son Seth, born here in 1791, died in 1831. Three of Seth, Jr.'s, children are now living, Mrs. Emeline Mitchel and Warren, in this town, and H P. Grout in New Jersey. Heze- kiah Grout, father of Seth, Sr., also came to Weathersfield at an early day. His wife was captured by the Indians and remained a prisoner at Montreal three years, when she was ransomed and allowed to return to her home.
Levi Field came to Weathersfield, from Connecticut, some time previous to the Revolution, locating about two miles west of Ascutneyville, where he reared a family of seven children and was one of the first school teachers in the town. His son Levi H., born here, died in 1854. John P., son of Levi H., is now a resident of the town.
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