USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84 > Part 36
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
Daniel. Daniel became a very prominent man in this vicinity, represented the town in the legislature of 1835, and in addition to maintaining the manu- facturing interests already mentioned, also established a foundry and machine shop. He married Thankful Wilson, of Mendon, Mass., and reared three sons, two of whom, Daniel and Paschal P., are now living, both at Taftsville. Daniel, Sr., died in 1857.
SOUTH WOODSTOCK, a very pleasant little post village, lies in the south- easterly part of the town. It has one church (Universalist), the Perkins Liberal Institute, the usual complement of merchants and mechanics shops, and about twenty-five dwellings.
ENGLISH MILLS is a hamlet located in the northwestern part of the town.
Charles H. English's saw, grist and cider-mills, located at the hamlet of English Mills, on road 15, were built at an early date. The saw-mill cuts 300,000 feet of lumber per year, the cider-mill manufactures 400 barrels of cider, and the grist-mill has two runs of stones.
D. T. Walker's cider-mill, located on road 28, was established in 1865. Mr. Walker manufactures 500 barrels of cider per year.
Charles H. Seaver's saw-mill and chair stock factory, located at Taftsville, gives employment to four men and turns out about $6,000.00 worth of man- ufactured stock per annum.
D. & B. D. Hathaway's saw, grist and cider-mills located at Taftsville, were built by David Hathaway, in 1873. The grist-mill has two runs of stones, the saw-mill cuts 600,000 feet of lumber per annum, and the cider- mill has the capacity for turning out roo barrels of cider per day.
Oliver Lear's shingle-mill, located on road 45, turns out 200,000 hemlock shingles annually.
The Daniels Machine Co's works, located at West Woodstock, were established by Reuben Daniels, in 1830. He manufactured woolen jacks, wool pickers, cards and cloth sheares exclusively until about 1850, when the firm title became Daniels & Raymond, and the manufacture of hay, rag and rope cutters was added. December 24, 1864. the shops were destroyed by fire. A little later the Daniels Machine Co. was organized, and in Novem- ber, 1879, Wales N. Johnson purchased the property, forming, immediately after, an equal partnership with Isaiah Benson, and these gentlemen have since successfully carried on the business.
Ira Dutton's saw mill, located on South branch, corner of roads 20 and 22, manufactures soft and hard wood lumber, and is also supplied with machinery for planing and dressing.
Allen W. Thompson's grist- mill, located at Woodstock village, was built in 1849, by Henry C. Denison, and came into Mr. Thompson's possession in 1856. The mill has three runs of stones and a corn crusher, and does custom grinding.
The town farm for the support of the poor, is located in the southern part of the town, on road 53. It consists of a tract of 240 acres, under the
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efficient management of Levi J. Merrill. The farm labor is mostly done by the indigent inmates.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
The first permanent settlement in the township of Woodstock was begun by James Sanderson. On the 4th day of December, 1768, he came here from Hartland, stuck his stakes and built a brush cabin about a mile and a half southeast of the court-house, upon the farm now owned by Ira Atwood. The following autumn, however, he moved north, down near the river, a short distance below the village ; but about 1779 he moved to the place now occupied by O. Morgan, when he died at the age of forty-five years. Mr. Sanderson married Polly Powers, and reared seven children, the eldest, Ben- jamin, being six weeks of age when his parents came to the town. He mar- ried Polly Shaw, September 15, 1793, and reared a family of five daughters and one son. He owned a farm of three hundred acres, was an intelligent reading man, and was reputed by his neighbors to be quite wealthy.
While Mr. Sanderson was the first actual settler, however, Timothy Knox was the first white man, of whom we have any account, who set foot upon the soil. The tradition is that he left Harvard University before finishing his studies, about the year 1765, and spent three years in this section as a hunter and trapper, but making no permanent settlement. Subsequently, however, he made a settlement in town and died here in 1807, aged eighty- two years.
Other settler must have followed in the footsteps of Sanderson quite rapidly, for at the taking of the census of Cumberland county, in 1771, the town had a total population of forty-two souls, ten of whom were heads of families, named as follows : Andrew Powers, Abraham Powers, William Powers, James Powers, James Harwood, James Sanderson, Joseph Call, Ebenezer Dike, Ebenezer Call and John Sanderson. In 1791, this popula- tion had increased to 1,605, and in 1820 it was 2,610. Windsor at that time had a population of 2,956, and Springfield, 2,704, these three towns having the largest population in the State. The town was organized and the first town meeting held in May, 1773, when Joab Hoisington was chosen town clerk ; Daniel Waldo, Jaseph Cottle, Ezra Drew and Joseph Call, constables ; and Benjamin Emmons, Nathan Howland and Phineas Williams, selectmen. The first justices of the peace were Benjamin Emmons and Jabez Cottle, in 1786. The first representative was John Strong, elected in March, 1778. The first birth was that of Olive, daughter of James Sanderson, in 1770. Jabez Delano was the first male born, June 3, 1772. The first grist-mill and and first saw-mill were built by Joab Hoisington, in 1776, both being located within a few rods of where the county jail now stands. Dr. Stephen Powers was the first resident physician. He came from Middleboro, Mass., in 1774, and built the second house at the village. The general assembly of Vermont met at the court-house here in October, 1807, Titus Hutchinson representing the town. The only execution that ever occurred here was that of Samuel E.
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Godfrey, on the "green," for murdering Capt. Hulett, superintendent of the prison, in 1818.
Joab Hoisington, previously mentioned as the first settler of Woodstock village, was the son of John Hoisington, of Farmington, Conn. John was born in 1713, was married to Sarah Temple, of Wallingford, November 3, 1735. They had sons and daughters ; among the number, Joab, born Sep- tember 19, 1736; Rhoda, born December 19, 1741; and Asahel, born December 3, 1746. In 1763 Joab Hoisington and Benjamin Bishop, both of the same town, accompanied Steele Smith, the first settler in Windsor, to that town on one of his excursions thereto, and the following year Smith, with his wife and four children, made the first permanent settlement there. Hoisington and Bishop soon followed him. Hoisington became a large landholder in Wind- sor and took an active part in all measures for promoting the interests of the town. His house was on the spot where the Edward Forbes house now stands-the first house on the right hand as you enter the village from the north. His farm extended probably south to the Otis house, so-called, which stands in the centre of the village, where the minister's lot was located. The " Hoisington brook," on which his house was built, must be what has since been called Pulk Hole brook. One sad event connects Joab with the early history of that town. He and another citizen by the name of Bartlett went into the swamp which was watered by Pulk Hole brook to hunt deer. Going in different directions they lost sight of each other, and Mr. Hoisington shot and killed his companion by mistake. The event cast great gloom over the new settlement. They had to send to Charlestown, N. H., for a coroner, and after a careful examination he was aquitted of all blame.
One thing more may be mentioned in connection with Joab's life in Wind- sor. On September 21, 1768, the church of "Cornish and Windsor " was organized, of which Hoisington was one of the founders. At the same time ten citizens of Windsor signed a bond running for five years, to secure Mr. Wellman, the pastor, his annual salary. First on the list of signers stood Joab's name. In 1771, he began to make arrangements for moving into Wood- stock, and in the spring of the following year came here and located as mentioned on page 287.
James Harwood, a native of England, came with his family to Woodstock in 1769, the third to settle here, locating upon the farm now owned by George Brewster. He married Eunice Brooks and reared six children, three sons and three daughters. The sons died young and the daughters married and settled in the town. The only representatives of the family now residing here are Mrs. Betsey H. (Call) Pelton, a granddaughter, and her four chil- dren, Erastus C., Melinda C., Betsey C. (Mrs. Samuel W. Soule), and Lucy E. (Mrs. F. A. Holt). Mr. Harwood died in 1805.
Benjamin Emmons came to Woodstock, from Hinsdale, N. H., in March, 1772, locating upon the farm now occupied by Henry Vaughan. He assisted in the organization of the town the following year, was a justice of the peace
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several years, a deacon of the Congregational church, etc. In 1807 he left the town and died in St. Louis, Mo., in 1812. All of his eleven children, except one, attained an adult age. His only relatives now living in the town are a granddaughter, Miss Marcia Carver, aged eighty-six years, and two great-granddaughters, Betheny and Caroline Hagar, all residing on Pleasant street, at Woodstock village.
Seth Darling was an early settler in the town. He came from Camden, Conn., and located upon the farm now occupied by E. S. Gallup, on road 19. He married Chloe Marsh and had twelve children. Jason L. Darling, a grand- son, resides on road 20.
Moses Benson, a native of Middlebury, Mass., was among the early settlers, locating at what is now English Mills. He married Experience Gibbs, June 13, 1796, and reared nine children, one of whom, Hosea, eighty-three years of age, resides on road 17. Moses was one of the twelve who established the Christian church.
George Thomas, from Middlebury, Mass., made the first settlement on the farm now owned by Joseph C. Mackenzie. Mr. Thomas served as a private during the Revolutionary war, and at its close was paid off in continental money, with which he purchased one hundred acres of land in Vermont, upon which he located soon after. He was twice married, and reared eight children, six by his first wife and two by his second. His descendants on the old homestead have now many articles of furniture and other relics that they prize highly, which he brought with him to the town.
Joel English, born at Andover, Conn., was among the pioneers of the northwestern part of the town, where he purchased mills standing upon the present site of English Mills. He married Tryphenia, daughter of Benajah Strong, of Hartford, Vt. Four of their children settled in the town and three are now living here.
Elisha Nye came to this town at an early date, locating upon the farm now owned by Seneca Winslow, where he resided until 1821, when he removed to Barnard, Vt., though he finally returned to Woodstock, spending his last days with his son, David T., where he died at the advanced age of eighty-seven years.
Bela Simmons came to Woodstock at an early date, locating upon the farm now occupied by Austin E. Simmons. Mr. Simmons held the office of justice of the peace for many years and taught singing school nineteen years. He died in 1835, aged sixty-one years. His only son, Benjamin F., held many of the town offices, and died in 1843, aged thirty-seven years, leaving three children.
John Anthony, a retired sea captain, came to Woodstock among the early settlers, locating in the southern part of the town. Mr. Anthony was twice married and six of his children attained a mature age, two of whom, Mrs. Verona Houghton, of Dubuque, Iowa, and Edward, of Cornish, N. H., are living. Two grandchildren, Mrs. John C. Morgan and Miss Nancy Anthony, now reside here.
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
Levi Blossom, from Bridgewater, Mass., came to Woodstock at an early date, locating where W. B. Switzer now resides. He was twice married, reared a family of nine children, and died at the age of eighty-six years. Only three of his children are living, viz. : Mrs. Abigail Bishop, Levi and Charles H.
Hiram Powers, the sculptor, a man of whom Woodstock people probably feel more proud than any other ever a resident here, was born in the well- known Powers house, on Church hill. His grandfather, Dr. Stephen Powers, came to Woodstock, from Plymouth county, Mass., in 1774, and was the first resident physician of the town, and built the second log house on the " Green." He had two sons, Stephen and John, and two daughters. Ste- phen engaged in farming and was the father of six sons and two daughters. Hiram was the fifth son, born July 29, 1805. While yet a child he moved with his parents to Ohio, where his father soon after died. After his death, Hiram was engaged as an assistant in a reading-room of an hotel, then in a produce store, and finally in a clock-making establishment. Becoming acquainted with a German sculptor he acquired from him knowledge of the art of modeling in plaster. At the age of thirty he repaired to Washington, where he met with considerable encouragement, modeling the busts of many prominent men. He was well paid for his labors, and at the same time acquired the friendship of Mr. Nicholas Longworth, who assisted him to visit Italy, in 1837 ; and he made that home of art his home, residing prin- cipally at Florence, where he died, June 27, 1873. His first great work, his Eve, was produced in 1838. Among his many great ideal works are The Greek Slave, The Fisher Boy, La Pensierosa, America, California, Paradise Lost, and The Last of the Tribes. Of his busts, are Proserpine, Genevera, Psyche, Diana, Clythe, Hope, Faith, Charity, and Christ Our Saviour. To show the estimation in which these works were held it is only necessary to say that the orignal Greek Slave was purchased at auction. by the Duke of Cleveland, in London, some years since, for $10,000.00, and the fourth copy of it, for the Prince Demidorf's gallery, was sold at Paris for $10,500.00.
Ephraim Brewster, a decendant of Elder Brewster, who came to this coun- try in the " Mayflower," came to Woodstock, from Preston, Conn., in the spring of 1775, purchasing three hundred acres of land on the South Branch of Otta Quechee river, about a mile and a half south of the court-house. The following spring he moved his family here. His wife was Miss Margary Parks, daughter of Elder Paul Parks, of Preston, Conn., by whom he reared six children, viz. : Polly. Paul, Sally, Seth, Ephraim and Margary. Mr. Brewster served in the French and Indian war, and was one of the number who went the rescue of Royalton in 1780. He died May 10, 1810, aged seventy- nine years. Mrs. Brewster died February 20, 1841. Paul and Dr. Ephraim Brewster served in the war of 1812, the former as a nurse in the hospital, the latter as a physician, and was accidently drowned in Lake Champlain.
Hon. Charles Marsh, LL. D., son of Hon. Joseph Marsh, mentioned on
--
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page 128, was born at Lebanon, Conn., July 10, 1765, graduated from Dart- mouth college in 1786, studied law, and began practice in Woodstock in 1789. Here, while building for himself a dwelling on the north side of Quechee river, near where he built his brick mansion in 1805,'06 and '07, he boarded at a farm house about a mile out of the present limits of the village. Mr. Marsh was for fifty years devoted to his profession, and for a long time at the head of the bar in the State. He served as a member of congress from 1815 to 1817, and while in Washington became identified with the American Colonization Society as one of its founders. He acquired great popularity as a patron of benevolent societies generally, and was a highly influential and useful citizen. He died at Woodstock, January II, 1849. The degree of LL. D. was conferred upon him by Dartmouth college. Mr. Marsh was twice married. By his first wife, Nancy Collins, of Litch- field, Conn., to whom he was united in 1789, he had a son and daughter. The son, Charles, studied law, and died in 1817. The daughter became the wife of Dr. Burnell, of Woodstock. Mrs. Marsh died in 1793. For his second wife, Mr. Marsh married Mrs. Josiah L. Arnold, daughter of Dr. Elisha Perkins, of Plainfield, Conn. This union was blessed with four sons,- Lyndon A., George P., Joseph and Charles, and one daughter, Sarah B., whose daughter is the wife of Senator Edmunds. The second Mrs. Marsh died in 1853. One of these sons, George P., was our late lamented minister to Italy. He was born in Woodstock, March 15, 1801, and educated at Dart- mouth college, where he graduated in 1820. He afterwards removed to Burlington, where he commenced the study of law, and afterwards made that place his home. After his admission to the bar, he came into an exten- sive practice, and devoted much of his time to politics. He was a member of the State legislature in 1835, and in 1842 he took his seat in the United States house of representatives, where he continued until he was sent as a resident minister to Turkey, in 1849, by President Taylor. At this post he rendered essential service to the cause of civil and religious toleration in the Turkish Empire. He was also charged with a special mission to Greece, in 1852. But especially was Mr. Marsh known as an author and scholar. He devoted much attention to tbe languages and literature of the North of Europe, and his sympathies seem to be with the Goths, whose presence he traced in whatever is great and peculiar in the founders of New England. In a work entitled The Goths in New England, he has contrasted the Gothic and Roman characters, which he appears to regard as the great antagonistic principles of society at the present day. He was also the author of a gram- mar of the old Northern or Icelandic language, and of various essays, liter- ary and historical, relating to the Goths and their connections with America. He was also the author of an interesting work on the camel ; also of a work on the English language, which occupies a very high rank ; and still another of great merit, entitled Man and Nature, and his miscellaneous published ad- dresses and speeches are quite numerous. After his return from Turkey he
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performed the duties of commissioner of railroads for Vermont. In 1861, he was appointed by President Lincoln, Minister to Italy, where he died. His library, said to be one of the finest in this country, rich beyond com- pare in Scandinavian literature, is now the property of the University of Ver- mont.
Dr. Joseph Gray, who spent many years of a long life in Woodstock, was born in Nottingham West, N. H., February 9, 1788. Before he was two years old his parents removed to Mason, N. H., where he received a common school education, and at the age of eighteen began the study of medicine, under his father, a practitioner of the old school; and continued his medical studies with his oldest brother, Dr. Henry Gray, late of Weston, Vt. His parents, Joseph Gray, M. D., and Lucy Bancroft, were married in 1780, and Joseph was the fourth of their nine children. His brother Isaac was taken prisoner in the war of 1812, and for a time was in Dart Moor prison, England. Joseph listened eagerly to the consultations of physicians, watched the effects of opium, calomel, and other drugs, then freely used, and then said, " I will find a better way or never go into practice." "Seeking," according to the promise, "he found." In 1809 and 1810, he practiced with Dr. Amasa Ford, a Botanical physician, and soon after practiced with Dr. Samuel Thomson, subsequently purchasing his practice. With this varied information was combined keen,shrewd judgment, and he used only such remedies he believed best calculated to restore health, regardless of the name, or school to which they belonged. July 11, 1811, Dr. Gray married Eunice Russell, youngest daughter of John Russell, Esq., of Cavendish. She died June 9, 1859, aged sixty-eight years and four months. Her children, one son and four daughters, all survived her death, and reared families of their own. The tastes of Dr. Gray and his wife were de- cidedly literary, reading forming a part of their daily life, and that too, of a choice and instructive character. When Dr. Gray's cousin, the Hon. George
Bancroft, was secretary of the navy, and afterwards minister plenipotentiary to the court of St. James, the Doctor was often asked why he did not seek for office through his relative. But Dr. Gray had an independent spirit. If he had but little, he made that little sufficient. His medical fees were al- ways moderately remunerative, but his family were never encouraged in ex- travagant habits, consequently he had the pleasure in his old age of sending a check for five hundred dollars to the Orphan's Home, at Burlington, Vt., in 1876.
Dea. Daniel Ralph, born in Bellerica, Mass., May 21, 1747, married Pris- cilla Beals and came to Woodstock in 1775, locating upon the farm now oc- cupied by Mr. Henry Walker, Mrs. Walker being his youngest grandchild. Dea. Ralph reared eight children, none of whom are now living, and died March 22, 1826. Mrs. Ralph died July 30, 1825, aged seventy-two years.
William McClay was born in Scotland in 1743, and when about twenty- seven years of age came to America, locating soon after at Charlestown, N. H. Here he married, and his wife died soon after. For his second wife he
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married Polly Farnsworth, June 17, 1775, and during that year, in company with his brother-in-law, Jonathan Farnsworth, came to Woodstock. Mr. Farnsworth located upon a farm in the southern part of the town, while Mr. McClay located about four miles west of Woodstock village. After seeing his brother-in-law well established in his new home, Mr. McClay returned to Charlestown, remaining there about five years ; then came to Woodstock, re- maining here the rest of his life. His children were Jane, who married Francis Allen ; Eunice, born in 1782, married John Fisher and died in 1858; Stephen, born in 1784, married Margaret Hill and died in 1838 ; Polly, born in 1787, married Henry Cheever and died in 1818 ; Azuba, born in 1791, died in 1811 ; William, Jr., married Betsey Hilham and died in California in 1872; Betsey, died in 1872; David, married Caroline Langworthy, of Kentucky, and died in 1834; and Stephen, who lived and died in Wood- stock. He, Stephen, married Margaret Hill and reared nine children, viz .: Lorinda, Stephen P., William, Azuba, Jane, David, Gustavus H., Sarah M. and Margaret E. Only three are now living, David, in Wisconsin, and Gusta- vus and Sarah in Woodstock.
Nathaniel Ladd came from Coventry, Conn., about 1776 and located upon the farm now owned by his grandson, Mason W. He reared a family of nine children, none of whom are living. At his death, in 1837, the home- stead descended to his son, Mason, and, at his death, in 1871, it came into the hands of Mason A., son of Mason.
George Lake was born at Topsfield, Mass., in 1750. His wife, Sarah Lovejoy, was born in Lunenburg, Mass., April 3, 1752. In 1779 Mr. Lake came to South Woodstock, purchased 200 acres of forest land of Ebenezer Curtis, and the following spring brought his wife and three small children to their new home. At the burning of Royalton, in October, 1780, Mr. Lake and his neighbor, Abraham Kendall, fled with their families to Cornish, N. H., returning when the danger was over. He reared eight children, and died in April, 1816, aged sixty-six years. Mrs. Lake died March 30, 1831, aged seventy-eight years. Daniel, son of George, born here March 16, 1784, became noted for his great strength and powers of endurance.
Abram Kendall married his wife Lucy, August 22, 1780, and soon after came to Woodstock, locating upon the farm now owned by J. Kendall Hoadley, where he resided until his death, January 30, 1828, aged seventy- two years. He was the father of seven children, of whom Caleb settled in Windsor, where he died March 13, 1847 ; Nabby married Arnold Smith and settled in Woodstock ; Charles settled in Richmond, Va., and later in New York city, where he died; Rhoda married William Scott and settled in Woodstock ; Jason settled on the old homestead, held many of the town offices, etc .; Benjamin F. went to Richmond, Va., and finally to Indiana ; and Hosea settled in Woodstock. Isaac Kendall, brother of Abram, married Ruth Swallon and came from Dunstable, Mass., about 1780, locating upon the farm now owned by Thaddeus L. Fletcher. He reared four children.
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Lamond Kendall, now residing near the old homestead, is the only living representative of his grandfather now living.
John Darling married Mary Wood, of Middlebury, Mass., in 1780, and soon after came to Woodstock and located upon a farm on Long hill. He then returned to Massachusetts and the following year brought his wife to their new home, and resided there until his death, at the age of ninety years. His wife died about fifty years previous. Of Mr. Darling's seven children, none are now living. His only representatives here are three grandchildren, Amasa, Rebecca K. and Isaiah T. Fullerton, children of his daughter, Polly, and John Fullerton.
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