USA > Vermont > Essex County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 17
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 17
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TOWN OF BARNET.
recorded the names of Capt. John Gleason and Capt. Micaja Gleason, and also Capt. Peter Cloyes and Capt. Elijah Cloyes.
"Island Side Farm," the present summer residence of Dr. Gleason, con- tains about 500 acres of land, part of which was inherited from his father, and the balance was added by purchase. It is composed of two beautiful islands in the Connecticut river, containing about sixty acres of very fertile land, a portion of which is subject to annual overflows, which greatly enrich the soil and perpetuate its fertility, so that it still produces fine crops of grass, though it has not been plowed or cultivated for nearly one hundred years. The balance of the farm is about equally divided into meadow and pasturage. The soil is clay-loam, and is now under a high state of cultiva- tion and produces superior crops of grain and grass, and is in a rapid state of improvement. When this farm first came into the hands of Dr. Gleason, in 1875, the land of which it is now composed was in a low state of cultiva- tion, and the buildings old and inferior. Two of the houses and barns were among the first erected in Caledonia county. Four new barns have been constructed with all of the best known conveniences and modern improve- ments for successful stock raising and feeding. One of these barns is 150 by 45 feet, built over a cellar shed, with stables for 100 fat steers. Another, 50 by 75 feet, also built over a cellar shed, with stables for 100 calves. One for horses and colts, 50 by 45 feet, and three other barns for storage of hay and fodder, on the islands, etc. These barns measure, collectively, about 500 feet in length, and 45 in width. Those designed for stock are all double- boarded with good hemlock or spruce lumber, planed, matched, and grooved, and are made as nearly frost-proof as possible, the proprietor fully believing that hemlock boards at $7.00 per thousand are cheaper to keep stock warm than fodder and grain at $ 15.00 to $25.00 per ton. All of the stables at Island farm are so constructed that the temperature in the coldest weather outside is never allowed to go below from 50 to 60 degrees inside, and consequently very little food is consumed to produce animal heat. The feeding of stock, care, and application of manures, and other departments of farming, are car- ried on by Dr. Gleason on scientific and practical principles.
Dr. Gleason has returned to New England, after an absence of more than forty years engaged in the practice of his profession in a distant city, because he loves and cherishes the land of his nativity and wishes to demonstrate that an old New England farm may, by skillful treatment, be restored to fertility, equal to any land south or west, and all who feel interested in a new and improved system of agriculture and stock feeding are cordially invited to call at Island Side farm and see the results and judge for themselves the value of his experiments and methods.
William E. Peck was born here March 24, 1833. His father was a native of Lyndon, and his mother, Sophia, daughter of John Woods, was a native of this town. William, in August, 1853, engaged in a general mercantile business at Passumpsic village, which he continued until 1866, when he en-
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TOWN OF BARNET.
gaged in the same business at St. Johnsbury, in company with Emerson Hall, under the firm name of Hall & Peck. After three years he removed again to this town, and, under the name of Peck & Hall, engaged in buying and selling horses, having headquarters in Boston until 1884. He is now farming: on road 14. Mr. Peck is president of the Merchants' National Bank at St. Johnsbury, and postmaster at Passumpsic. He represented Barnet in the legislature of 1878. He married Josephine Hazelton, a native of Corning, N. Y., January 6, 1858, who died February 4, 1877, leaving five children,- George W. and Arthur J. are at home with their father ; Charles E. succeeded his father in the mercantile business at Passumpsic, which he now carries on ; Ida M. and Kate D. He married, second, Mary J. Talbot, of Boston, Mass., who has a family of one son and two daughters.
John Samuel was born in Paixley Parish, Renfrewshire, Scotland, in 1807. He married in Scotland Jane Walker, who bore him three children, and died in 1841. In 1842 he removed to this country, settling in Barnet, and has re- sided in this town since that date. He married for his second wife Eliza- beth A. Gill, a native of this town. His son James died in this town Sep- tember 7, 1865, aged thirty years. Jannet married Clavius Somers, a farmer in Barnet. Jeannie married Cumins Somers, also a farmer in this town.
Thomas McKindley was born in Ryegate, July 26, 1809, and lived there with his parents until twenty-eight years of age. He came to Barnet in 1837, and lived on a farm in the southwest part nearly twenty-five years, when he located at his present home on road 75. He married Joanna Mills, daughter of David Mills, of Topsham. She died in March, 1881. They had three children, viz .: Horace D. married Maria Coler, of West Barnet, where he now resides ; Lizzie J. married William J. Caldwell, and resides with his father ; Lucy A. married Peter Mclaughlin, a merchant at South Peacham.
Isaac M. Smith was born in Lyman, N. H., May 1, 1830, where he resided on a farm with his parents until twenty-three years of age. In 1853 he went to San Francisco, where he engaged in the business of furnishing families with water, remaining there until 1861, when he returned to New Hampshire, married Julia Warden, of Bith, and settled at McIndoes Falls in the spring of 1862, where he has since resided. He has a farm of seventy acres which he conducts, and has also done a large amount of other business. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1865, and has held that position since that date, excepting in 1870 and 1872, when he was high sheriff of Caledonia county. He has been constable and collector of Barnet most of the time since 1865. In 1868 and 1869 he represented Barnet in the state legislature. For three years he was selectman of this town, and has held various other minor offices. He has two children living, Charles I., born in 1865, and Mabel J., born in April, 1874. Christie A. was born November 18, 1862, and died November 19, 1879. Harley N. died in April, 1869, at the age of three years and nine months.
Willard Hoyt, now eighty-six years of age, is living with his son, Hubbard
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TOWN OF BARNET.
H., on road 8. He was born in Craftsbury, in 1800. He resided many years in the town of Jay, in this State, going there when the country was new. In 1868 he removed to this town and located at the place of his present resi- dence. He married, first, Sarah Berkley, of Lyman, N. H., by whom he had four children, three of whom lived to grow up, and second, Lydia Clough, of Lyman, N. H. She had one child, Hubbard H., with whom the father now resides. He married H. Elizabeth Foster, of Haverhill, N. H., and they have three sons and two daughters, one, a twin to the youngest daughter, having died at the age of four months.
Francis G. Strowbridge was born in Albany, Vt., July 9, 1840. When eighteen years of age he removed to Danville ; afterwards he lived some years at Somerville and Charlestown, Mass. He married Mary L, daughter of Colonel James Gilkison, of this town. He removed to Massachusetts after his marriage, and lived there two years. Their first child, Mabel, was born there in 1867. He came to this town in 1868, and settled on road 53, where he now resides. He has one son, Frank E., born in 1875.
John C. Gleason, born in Farmingham, Mass., learned the trade of a tanner in early life, and commenced that business at Hardwick, in this state. He built a tannery on his farm in this town, on road 65, and carried on the busi- ness for many years. He married Margaret A. Duncan, a native of Barnet. They have a family of six children living, of whom William C. is a farmer on road 65 ; Mary married Isaac Bridgman, for many years a teacher in Syra- cuse, N. Y., now of Cleveland, Ohio ; John is a physician at Hannable, Mo .; Martha J. is a missionary of the Womans' Board of Foreign Missions at Con- stantinople ; George D. is a mason in New York city, and Laura A is at home with her widowed mother. Mr. Gleason died in 1866.
Winslow Gilman, who resides with his son, Nathan H., on road 2, is the oldest person living in Barnet. He was born at Sandwich, N. H., in Novem- ber, 1793. At about the age of twenty-two he removed to Lyndon, and resided there until r870, when he removed to this town and located where he now resides. He is in feeble health, but his mind is well preserved for one of his advanced age.
George P. Blair, born in Glasgow, Scotland, April 2, 1836, came to this country in 1849, locating in Peacham. He worked on a farm at Stannard until 1852, then went to Natick, Mass., and worked at manufacturing shoes one year. In 1853 he went to California and worked in the gold mines of Placer county until 1860. In June of that year he returned to Peacham and engaged in the mercantile trade with Isaac Watt until the breaking out of the war. In 1861 he enlisted in Co. D, Ist Vermont Cavalry, and was quarter- master sergeant of the regiment. He was out with the regiment three years. In 1866 he engaged in the general mercantile business at South Peacham, and remained there until April, 1870, when he removed to West Barnet, where he is still engaged in the same business. He has been postmaster three years, and is one of the selectmen of Barnet ; has been a justice of the
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TOWN OF BARNET.
peace for seventeen years ; is now notary public, and represented Barnet in the state legislature in 1880 and 1881. In 1861 he married Agnes, daughter of Harvey Sanborn, and they have four children, of whom Maggie married E. J. M Hale, of Littleton, N. H.
Levi B. Goss, born in the adjoining town of Waterford, in 1834, resided on a farm with his father until of age. In 1855 he removed to Lamoille, Ill., where he remained one year, and from there he went to Jessup, Iowa, where he engaged in farming for eight years. In 1878 he removed to East Barnet, and has been engaged since that date as station agent at that place for the Passumpsic railroad, and also agent for the United States & Canada Express Company. He has also for that period been acting as postmaster. He married Fidelia Woods, of Hardwick, in this county, in 1857. They have four children-three sons and one daughter.
Christopher C. Chase was born in Bath, N. H., in October, 1814. In his younger days he was a riverman on the Connecticut, taking timber in rafts down to Hartford, Connecticut. This business he followed for many years. Thirty-seven years ago he moved to North Monroe and settled on a farm there, and married, in 1840, Susan Sanborn, of Bath. In 1875 he removed to this town, settling at McIndoes Falls. He now has a farm of 150 acres. They have had ten children, five of whom are living. Frank, the oldest son, enlisted August 13, 1862, in the 13th N. H. Vols., and served two years, and died of sickness, at Fort Schuyler, N. Y., August 13, 1864. George D. mar- ried Francesa Moore, of Ryegate, who died June 12, 1879. He now lives on a farm in Monroe, N. H. Julia married Orlin Kinney, of Monroe, N. H. Maria married John Little, also of Monroe. Charles F. married Eleanor Turner, from Monroe, N. H. Gilbert P. married Jennie Smith, of San Francisco, Cal., where they now reside.
Dr. Truman R. Stiles was born in Stowe, in 1847, where he received his early education. He graduated from the medical department of the Vermont University, at Burlington, in 1860. He practiced his profession at Sheffield eleven years, removing to this town in 1880. He is still practicing medicine and also carries on a drug store in the village of Barnet. He married, in 1870, Abbie A. Jenness, of Sheffield, a native of Natick, Mass. They have two sons. Mr. Stiles is United States pension examiner of the St. Johnsbury board.
Dr. Edward R. Clark was born in Peacham, December 3, 1857. He worked on his father's farm until of age, teaching school three winters, one . each in Danville, Island Pond and Walden. He studied at Peacham acad- emy three years, one half year of the time studying medicine in the office of Dr. Blanchard of Peacham. Afterwards he was a student at the medical de- partment of Dartmouth college two years and a half, graduating November II, 1884. The next five months he practiced at Felchville, with Dr. H. M. Guild, and came to Barnet April 27, 1885, succeeding to the practice of Dr.
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TOWN OF BARNET.
G. W. Bass, at McIndoes Falls. He married Susie B. Bliss, of Lyme, N. H., September 17, 1885.
John Galbraith, a " Scottish Laird" from the parish of Balfron, Scotland, came to America before the Revolution and purchased a large tract of land of the Albany grantees, some four hundred acres of which was located within the present limits of Barnet, and several thousand acres in Burke township. How long prior to the breaking out of the war he came is unknown; but war was declared while he was here, and though he attempted to secure passage back to Scotland, his efforts proved futile and he contented himself with making improvements upon his land in Barnet until after Burgoyne's army passed down into New York state to the battle of Saratoga. Making his way thither, he started northward, was captured as a spy and taken to Quebec. Having a brother there by whom he was identified, he was released, and secured a passage home. Before leaving Barnet he had leased his land there to John Gilkerson, a fellow-countryman, who continued to occupy it until it was claimed by the sons of Laird Galbraith, and he then settled upon the adjoin- ing farm where C. B. Somers now lives. Laird Galbraith lived several years after his return to Scotland, but did not again visit America, and, except the land in Barnet, his purchase reverted to the state of Vermont upon its organ- ization. His eldest son, John, when old enough to leave home, came and dwelt some years where C. C. Harvey now lives; but gave up the place to his younger brother, William, and removed to Princeton, Canada. George, the third, and James, the youngest son of Laird John, also came to Barnet, reared families and died here. George Galbraith was born in 1772, came over before 1800, and located on the place where his father built his first log house. Here he spent his life, and his grandson, James Renfrew Galbraith, now lives thereon. He married, March 23, 1804, Isabella, daughter of John Gilkerson, and was the father of twelve children, viz .: (1) John, who spent his life as a drover and farmer in Barnet ; (2) Jannet, who married William Lang; (3) William, who graduated from Union college, 1831, Cannonsburg Theological Seminary, 1835, was ordained at Freeport, Pa., where he remained as pastor thirty years, and for twenty-five years conducted the Freeport academy. He is now seventy-eight years of age, erect and agile as most men at fifty, and resides at Sutton, Mass., where he was installed as a pastor October 12, 1886. His first wife was Mary Bachop, of Barnet, who became the mother of seven chil- dren, three of whom are living ; (4) Margaret, who died unmarried on the homestead ; (5) James, died in infancy ; (6) George, who spent his life on the home farm, married Jane Esdon, and had two sons, George T., who gradu- ated from Dartmouth college, 1872, and Newberg Theological Seminary, and is now preaching at Liberty, Sullivan county, N. Y., and James R, who resides upon the paternal acres. George Galbraith served his town in official positions, died January, 1884, aged 78; (7) Thomas became a physician and resides in Trenton, Pa .; (8) Isabella married Alexander Esden ; (9) Christi-
10*
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TOWN OF BARNET.
anna married Andrew Dunnett, of Ryegate; (10) James, died young; (11) Walter, who is a ranchman in California ; (12) Henry, died young.
John S. Hight was born in Peacham in 1834, and resided there until 1885, on the farm where his father, Reuben B., settled early in this century. He served in the civil war under two enlistments (in Co. F, 15th and Co. K, 3d Regts.) nineteen months, receiving thereby such injury to his health as to render him for the last few years unable to walk. Reuben B. Hight, his father, was born in Newington, N. H., and when two years old his father, John, brought him to Barnet, where the family settled.
John Q. Hoyt was born in Windsor, Vt., and came to Barnet in 1853. A tailor by trade, he engaged in business, employing as many as ten or twelve hands. George Greenbank then had woolen mills at the village. In 1855. he became postmaster, and from that to 1885 he held the office, about twenty-five years. Has been in the mercantile business about eight years. He married Louisa Danforth, of Fort Covington, N. Y., has four daughters. and one son-Louisa, Helen (Mrs. W. H. Burbank), Flora (Mrs. T. P. Robie), Hattie, graduate of N. E. conservatory of music, and now music teacher at St. Johnsbury and Barnet.
Adam and Horace Duncan, half brothers, were born in Ackworth, N. H .. Adam Duncan came to Barnet about 1810, and was engaged in trade at the. the village. He was the resident partner of the firm of Duncan & Chapman, the latter of Hartford Conn., who were extensively interested in the lumber business, buying and rafting immense quantities down the river. He took a strong: interest and active part in the projects of his time to establish steam naviga- tion upon the Connecticut, and in his honor the boat built by the company for that purpose at Wells River, in 1832, was named the " Adam Duncan." He died in 1825, and his widow (formerly Dorothy Lancaster) married William Gleason. Adam Duncan was the father of six sons and one daughter, of whom Moses L. and Margaret A. (widow of John C. Gleason), of McIn- does Falls, are the only ones living.
The Barnet Center United Presbyterian Society was organized by Rev. John Huston, with forty-six members, in 1786. Rev. David Woodwillie was. the first pastor. The first church building, erected in 1788, was succeeded by a brick structure, and that in turn by the present wooden building, which will comfortably seat 400 persons and is valued at $2,500.00. The society now has ninety-five members, with Rev. D. M. Mckinlay, pastor.
The Passumpsic Calvanistic Baptist church was organized by a council of neighboring churches, July 1, 1812, with sixteen members, and Rev. Silas. Davidson was the first pastor. The church building, erected in 1824, will seat 250 persons and is valued, including grounds, at $3,000.00. The soci- ety has eighty-six members, with Rev. S. A. Read, pastor.
The Congregational church, located at Barnet village, was organized by a. council of churches, with forty-seven members, September 14, 1858. Rev. Henry Fairbanks was the first acting pastor. The church building is a neat wooden.
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TOWN OF BURKE.
structure, capable of seating 250 persons, and is valued, including grounds and other property, at $7,000.00. The society now has eighty-eight members, with Rev. Joseph Boardman, pastor.
The Reformed Presbyterian church, located at West Barnet village, was organized September 10, 1851, by a commission of the Northern Presbytery, with a membership of ten, under the pastoral charge of Rev. John Bole, the present pastor. The first house of worship was erected of wood in 1859. The original cost of the present structure was about $2,300.00. It will comfortably seat 300 persons, and is valued, including grounds, etc., at $3,000.00. The Sunday-school has an average attendance of 100 scholars.
The Reformed Presbyterian church, located in the southern part of the town, was organized in 1873, with seventy-three members. Rev. D. C. Faris was installed as pastor, and still holds the position. 'The society now has sixty-two members.
B URKE, one of the county's eastern tier of towns, lies in latitude 44 36' and longitude 5° 2', and is bounded northeast by Newark and East Haven, the latter in Essex county ; southeast by Victory, in Essex county, southwest by Lyndon and Kirby, and northwest by Sutton. The original grantees of this town were a company of sixty five, mostly, if not all, inhabitants of the county of Litchfield, Conn., among whom were a. number of females. A grant or charter was dated February 6, 1782, and signed by Thomas Chittenden, governor ; and Joseph Fay, secretary, in behalf. of the freeman of the state of Vermont, granting to said company the exclu- sive right to form and incorporate the same into a township, on certain speci- fied conditions. In the year 1787, Seth Spencer and Uriah Seymour, the latter being one of the original proprietors, proceeded in the allotment of said township, and surveyed the same into shares, or rights, as they were called, each share containing 300 acres, the town being first divided into two divis- ions, and a lot in each division of 160 acres was assigned to each proprietor, reserving five rights, or one lot in each division, for public uses, viz .: one right for the first settled minister, one for the minister's support, one for com- mon English schools, one for an academy in the county, and one for a seminary or college in the state of Vermont. As thus granted, the town originally had an area of a little over six miles square ; but this included a gore of about 3,400 acres, called Burke Tongue, which, on October 28, 1807, was annexed to Hopkinsville, and the two incorporated into the town- ship of Kirby. This leaves the town with an area of about 20,200 acres.
The surface of the town is uneven, rising between the rivers into high ridges, three in number, running in a northerly and southerly direction through the town, and mostly covered with a growth of hard wood, among which a large portion of sugar maple abounds. In the valleys bordering on
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TOWN OF BURKE.
the streams the timber is mostly evergreen, among which is some cedar and a small quantity of pine. The soil is various ; the ridges or hills mostly con- tain a deep rich loam, and are well adapted to agricultural pursuits. In the valleys, in some localities, the soil is composed of a mixture of sand and gravel, but bordering on the streams are some meadows of a deep alluvial soil, and very fertile. Generally, the soil is well adapted to grazing, and some of the finest cattle and sheep found in market are raised in this town. The Passumpsic river, a branch of Connecticut river, runs through this town, and is divided into two branches, called the east and west branches ; one passing near the eastern, and the other near the western part of the town. Into these branches, which unite their waters in the town of Lyndon, flow several tributary streams, on which are many excellent water privileges adapted to the various purposes of mechanical arts. At the southeastern extremity of the township is a mountain bearing the name of Burke mountain, lying partly in Burke, and partly in Victory, the line between the towns crossing near the summit. The summit of this mountain towers nearly 3,000 feet above the bed of Passumpsic river. It is mostly covered with a small growth of ever- green. Along the western base are many good farms.
In 1880 Burke had a population of 1,252 souls. In 1886 the town had eleven school districts and ten common schools, employing two male and twenty female teachers, to whom was paid an average weekly salary, includ- ing board, of $8.35 to the males, and $5.24 to the females. There were 313 scholars, thirteen of whom were attending private schools. The entire income for school purposes was $2,132.33, while the total expenditures were $1,955.10, with J. P. Otis, superintendent.
WEST BURKE, a post village and station an the Passumpsic River railroad, lies in the northwestern part of the town, and is noted for its manufacture of lumber. It has two churches (Universalist and Methodist Episcopal), one hotel, two grocery stores, a drug store, two dry goods stores, a hardware store, two blacksmith shops, a grist-mill, three saw-mills and about seventy-five dwellings.
EAST BURKE, a post village located in the southern part of the town, has one church (Union), one hotel, two dry goods stores, a drug store, grocery store, grist-mill, saw-mill, and about twenty-five dwellings.
BURKE HOLLOW is a post village located in the central part of the town. It consists of one church (Union), a town-house, store, saw-mill, harness-shop and about twenty dwellings.
Wendell Silsby's shingle-mill, at East Burke, was originally built for a saw- mill, by Sampson & Cobleigh, about 1820. It was operated by them a num- ber of years, then remodeled into a starch factory by Powers Bros. Subse- quently, Elisha Brickets bought the property and established the present shingle-mill, which he sold to Mr. Silsby. It has the capacity for manufac- turing about 3,000,000 shingles per annum.
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TOWN OF BURKE.
Noah Dean & Son's flouring-mill, at West Burke, was built by Joel Trull, Jr., about 1825. He operated it about thirty years.
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