USA > Vermont > Essex County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 24
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 24
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MACKVILLE is a hamlet about one mile south of Hardwick village. It was commenced about 1831, by George P. Fish, who built a saw mill here. Elisha Mack built the first dwelling-house in 1834, but before he was ready to move with his family to their new home he died. His eldest son, Resolved Mack, with his widowed mother, brothers and sisters, soon occupied their new house. Resolved Mack married, in 1838, Miss Mary Bancroft, and retained this homestead until his death in February, 1861. He was kind and compan-
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ionable in his family, a worthy citizen, and an efficient member of the Meth- odist church. By virtue of their having made the first settlement this place is named for this family. A corn-mill, woolen factory, and Free Baptist church have existed here, but are now things of the past, the woolen factory and church having been destroyed by fire several years ago. The present manufactures are D. Bridgman, Jr., lumber; Willie Mack, granite polishing mill; has two sets of machinery, is operated by water-power, and does custom work.
The granite industry, though yet in its infancy, bids fair to become the most important business of the town. The country for five miles south of Hardwick village has ever been noted for extensive granite ledges ; but until the completion of the P. & O. R. R. it was not quarried for manufacturing purposes. About that time quarrying was begun and the volume of business has had a steady increase. Five or six quarries are now worked, employing a large number of men, and adding materially to the wealth and importance of the place. The construction of the contemplated line of railroad from Hardwick to Marshfield, passing near all these quarries, will give new im- petus to the growth of this important industry. Much of the stone is now freighted in the rough to St. Johnsbury to be cut; but with the promised transportation facilites the shops will naturally be established at this point, thus saving greatly in freights, as the finished work finds its market chiefly in the west. Already a polishing-mill has been established at Mackville, where a good water-power is found, and several shops for working the stone have been put in operation, the principal ones being those of H. R. Mack and S. P. Wheeler. The great variety of stone produced by the several quarries enables those engaged in its manufacture to select without difficulty material suitable for any demand of the business. Among those quarries located in Hardwick, or whose product is handled from this station, and con- tributes to the business of the place, are the following :-
The Porter quarry, opened by Alonzo Porter in 1872, now owned and operated by R. F. Carter, of the South Ryegate Granite Works. Quality of stone hard, fine grain, light color ; distance from railroad two miles.
The Ainsworth quarry, opened by J. Ainsworth about 1876, now operated by the St. Johnsbury Granite Company, quality easily worked, evenly mixed, takes a good polish ; distance from railroad two and a half miles.
The Woodbury quarry, opened by H. W. Town and W. L. Voodry some years ago. This quarry is so extensive that a single stone three hundred feet in length can be quarried here. Quality easily worked, light color; distance from railroad five miles. Owned by Town & Voodry.
The H. R. Mack quarry, opened by H. R. Mack in 1886, quality very dark, susceptible of a high polish, well adapted to monumental uses ; distance from railroad one and a half miles. Owned and operated by H. R. Mack.
Carrick Bros.' quarry, (leased) is located near the Ainsworth quarry, qual- ity medium grain, light color ; is operated by Carrick Bros., of St. Johnsbury.
H. R. Mack's marble and granite works .- In the fall of 1868 H. R. Mack
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commenced working marble in this town, and has carried on the business continuously since that time, employing the best workmen and producing a quality of work which has given him a wide and favorable reputation. Since the quarries were opened in this place he has added the manufacture of granite curbing posts and monuments, in which he is prepared to meet the demands of the business.
Samuel P. Wheeler first started the granite business in Hardwick in 1870, locating at the crossing of Maple street and the railroad. He manufactures all kinds of monumental work and building granite. His material is procured from a quarry near the line of Hardwick and Woodbury. Six men are em- ployed and his annual product will average $5,000.00.
George L. Johnson has a mill at East Hardwick, on the Lamoille river, for the manufacture of flour and feed. It has three runs of stones. A mill was established here, the first in the town of Hardwick, previous to 1800. The mill grinds 30,000 bushels of grain annually.
Herman G. Swerdfeger, on road 63, has a grist-mill run by water-power from Lamoille river. A mill was located here about sixty years ago, by Willard Bugbee. It contains three runs of stones, and is capable of grinding 300 bushels of grain daily.
Dorman Bridgman, Jr.'s, saw-mill, for the manufacture of spruce, hemlock and hardwood lumber, which is sawed, dressed and fitted for market, was established by Dorman Bridgman, in 1830. It is located at Mackville, on Nichols brook, the outlet of Nichols pond, which furnishes water-power the year through. He employs an average of eight men. The annual production is about 600,000 feet.
Melvin E. Tucker has a large lumber dressing mill situated near the rail- road station at Hardwick. He has a steam engine of fifty horse-power. He also has a saw-mill on road 25, where is manufactured 300,000 feet of lumber annually.
Mrs. L. H. & W. H. Ward, at Hardwick village, manufacture J. Ward's vegetable kidney compound and liver and dyspepsia pills. These remedies were originated by Jonathan Ward, in 1864, and since his death, in 1874, have been made and sold by his widow and their son William H.
Keith & Lawrence are proprietors of a large saw-mill at East Hardwick. It is run by water-power from Lamoille river. They also have a shingle mill They manufacture 200,000 feet of lumber yearly, and 150,000 shingles.
Wheeler & Shipman, lumber manufacturers .- This firm succeeds the firm of Wheeler & Boardman, which was established about 1866, by buying out Orrin B. Hall. Mr. Wheeler had previously manufactured sash and doors and carriages. Wheeler & Boardman carried on business about fourteen years, when, on account of failing health, Mr. Boardman leased his interest to Mr. Shipman, who purchased it after a year. They now employ an average of seven men the year through. They manufacture from 200,000 to 300,000 feet of lumber per annum, dressing, beading and matching it ready for the
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market, taking their lumber standing in the forest. The machinery is oper- ated by water-power from Lamoille river.
J. D. Goodrich, apiarist and manufacturer and dealer in bee-keepers' sup- plies, began to manufacture the hives then in use, about twenty years ago, and has continued in the business, adding improvements as they have appeared. He now makes 50,000 to 100,000 sections, and uses about 2,000 pounds of wax in the manufacture of comb foundation, per annum, besides building hives.
Livingston & Montgomery's carriage manufactory was established by J. B. Livingston in 1861, at the north end of East Hardwick village, built by J. Ward, the first carriage factory in the place. In 1873, he purchased the present shop of J. T. Williams, who bought of Orra Crosby, who had built it for a woolen factory, and operated it for several years. At the time the shop was purchased Mr. Livingston formed a partnership with C. C. Mont- gomery, sash and blind manufacturer. They now manufacture carriages, farm wagons, sleighs and sleds, preparing their own stock, making from thirty to fifty sleighs per annum, make carriages and wagons to order, do custom painting and planing, and deal in coffins and caskets. They make a specialty of building the Keene sleigh.
The first settler in the town, beyond all question, was Mark Norris. The following extract from the memorandum found among his papers in the hands of his executor, shows his indomitable courage and perseverance :-
" I went from Dewey's Gore, so-called [now a part of the towns of Peach- ham and Danville], and made a pitch in Hardwick on the 16th day of May, in the year 1788, which was the first pitch that ever was made in the town, and immediately went down to Dewey's Gore and brought up a bushel of potatoes, planted likewise, cut down five acres of trees, and the next winter after I lost my potatoes by the frost, and then the next spring went down to Dewey's Gore and brought two or three bushels more and brought them up on my back. for it was such bad walking that it was next kind to impossible getting through with a horse. Likewise I had to bring all my provisions from Dewey's Gore, which is sixteen miles, that it made it very bad. Governor Robinson promised that he would do as well by me as any other proprietor had done by settlers, and I expected that the Governor would have built a mill immediately after I went there to work, which if I had known that there would not have been no mills there, I would not have settled in Hardwick upon any consideration. The third year I raised as much as eighty bushels of wheat and other grain, but it was so far from any mill that it was worth but little to me."
Mr. Norris married on the 8th of August, 1791, and moved with his wife to Hardwick, March 13, 1792, being five days on the journey from Epping, N. H. Previous to this, and just subsequent to the time the town was chart- ered, Peter Page and a man by the name of Safford came in and began a clearing near the center of the town. They remained only a short time though, when they became discouraged and left. Mr. Norris was a man pos- sessed of energy, intelligence and good judgment. Though a mason by trade,
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he was capable of turning his attention to various kinds of work. He was afterwards much engaged in the public business of the town, was at different times representative and treasurer, and a preacher of the gospel.
Toward the close of March, Nathaniel Norris, a cousin of Mark, moved with his wife into the town. He also was a mason, a good workman, but very moderate in all his movements. It is said he was never seen to run, and yet he felled his acre of trees daily for successive days. About the same time, March, 1792, Peter Page-the same who had a few years before left Hardwick, discouraged-took heart and returned. He built himself a rude log shanty, about three quarters of a mile southeast of the present village of East Hardwick, and then went to bring his family. His shanty was full half a mile from the Hazen road, and the snow was deep ; however, when he had moved his family and goods as near as he could by the road, he put on his snow-shoes, and placing his wife and three children (the youngest of whom was brought in a bread-trough) on a hand sled, drew them to their new home, and then returned for his goods. They lived a year in their rude hovel without floor or chimney, building their fire at one side, and leaving a hole in the roof for the smoke to escape. Mr. Page's wardrobe, during that winter, is said to have consisted of one pair of tow pantaloons, one tow frock, two shirts, woolen socks, and a woolen vest. He brought all the provisions for himself and family on his back, either from Peacham, twenty miles distant, or from Cabot, eight miles. This family afterwards suffered much from poverty. Their only cow strayed ; when Mr. Page found her, ten miles from home, she had been away so long she gave no milk. The man who had kept her a while de- manded pay, and his only woolen garment, the vest, was all he could give to redeem the cow. Water gruel was substituted for milk, and was sometimes their only sustenance. The father and mother took this cheerfully them- selves, but the substitution of water gruel for milk for their little babe caused them sore grief. Mr. Page was an eccentric man, and yet he was considered a christian ; loved to study his Bible, and what few religious books he had, and was a man of much meditation and prayer. He died in December, 1852, aged eighty-three years.
The following year, 1793, three more families were added to the settle- ment-those of Timothy Hastings and James Sinclair, who, with an aged father, came in February, and that of David Norris, a cousin of Mark Norris, in June. Old Mr. Sinclair, who emigrated from Scotland, settled in New Market, N. H., fought in the battle of Bunker Hill, and afterwards came, with his son, to Hardwick, and died shortly after his arrival. A log was dug out for his coffin, and a slab, split from another log, was nailed or pinned on for the cover. He was buried near a spring of war not far from the Hazen road, but his remains were afterwards exhumed and deposited in the Hazen road cemetry. Mr. Hastings soon after moved to Hyde Park. The remain- ing settlers had a serious time of it. They were living at a distance of from one to three miles from each other, finding their way by means of blazed trees.
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In the spring of 1793 these cousins supplied themselves with provisions suf- ficient, as they supposed, to last them through their spring's work, when they were expecting to return to Peacham for a while. They had no team or even a hoe to work with ; but with their axes they hewed out wooden hoe-blades from maple chips, hardened them in the fire, and took saplings for handies. With these they hoed in, on Nathaniel's ground, two acres of wheat ; but Saturday night came, when they had sowed only one acre, and they found they had only provisions enough to last them one day longer. What should they do? Neither of them were professors of religion, but they had been trained to keep the Sabbath day. However, they now held a council, con- cluded that it was a "work of necessity," and hoed in the second and last acre on the Sabbath. " We shall see," said Mark and David, " Whether this acre will not yield as well as the other." But Nathaniel was troubled in con- science. Reaping time came ; the proceeds of the two acres were stacked separately, and the time for comparing drew near. But the comparison was never made. The stack which came of the Sabbath day's work took fire from a clearing near by, and every straw and kernel was burned. These cousins were usually in the habit of religiously observing the Sabbath day. On the first Sabbath after they came into town they held a religious meeting, and ever afterwards this practice was kept up.
During the year 1794 there were added the families of Daniel Chase, Elijah True, Stephen Adams, Gideon Sabin, James Bundy, Israel Sanborne and Elisha Sabin. Mr. Chase was a deacon in the Baptist church. He was after- wards ordained an elder of the Freewill Baptist church, in 1810. He moved, in 1816. to Pennsylvania, where he continued to preach until his death. Mrs. Gideon Sabin has rendered herself illustrious by giving birth to twenty-six children ; and surely Gideon himself deserves to be remembered if he found food, as we presume he did, for such a family, poor as he was. Mr. Sanborne was a kind and public-spirited man, and was blessed with a family of fourteen children, the third of whom, William Sanborne, now lives in Hardwick. Elisha Sabin was a hunter, led a wild life, and allowed his children to go barefooted through the winter.
On the 31st of March, 1795, the town was organized. The first town- meeting was held at the house of Mark Norris. Paul Spooner was chosen the first town clerk, and also the first representative.
In the fall of 1795 Elder Amos Tuttle, the first minister of the town, moved in. His son, Capt. David Tuttle, said "there was not a cart in town ; but in the following spring two carts were constructed out of my father's wagon. . My father and I took $44.00 of my mother's savings-money which came safely to Hardwick, sewed up in a bed-and went to Ryegate to purchase a cow; but when we got her home she proved almost worthless. My father killed her for beef, and my mother learned to make bean-porridge, so we had plenty of that instead of milk."
Between the time of Elder Tuttle's settlement as pastor of the church, and
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the year 1800, many families moved into Hardwick. Among them were sev- eral of Puritan descent, whose influence for good is, no doubt, felt to this day.
In 17.97 Capt. J. C. Bridgman made the first settlement at South Hardwick. In 1798 Thomas Fuller came to settle in Hardwick, with his wife and chil- dren. For six months, with a family of eleven, he occupied a log house twenty- four feet square, with Mr. William Cheever, whose family also numbered eleven. There was a stone fire-place in the center of the house, and a hollow log for a chimney.
Samuel Stevens, son of Capt. Simeon, an officer in the Revolution, was a native of Newbury, and came to Hardwick in 1798. He built a log house and married Puah Mellen, of Holliston, Mass., the same year. They were the first settlers of the village of East Hardwick, formerly called Stevens Village. He built the first mills in town-a saw-mill in 1798, and a grist-mill in 1800. He was town treasurer twenty-one years. His son Simeon graduated from' the University of Vermont, and married Miss M. A. Young, daughter of Hon. Augustus Young.
Samuel French was born in Hoosick, Mass., and came to this town about 1800. He married Tabitha Dow, sister of Lorenzo Dow, and died in 1848, aged sixty-nine years.
Col. Alpha Warner was born in Hardwick, Mass., in December, 1770, and came to this town in 1796. He married Lydia Cobb, of his native town, soon after he came here. He opened a house of entertainment on the Hazen road, and presided in the capacity of host for nearly sixty years. His first wife died in 1816, and he married for his second wife Mrs. Anna Burton. He went west in 1853, and died at Chillicothe, O., in January, 1854, in the eighty-fourth year of his age.
Timothy G. Bronson was born in this town in 1804, his father, Elisha Bronson, having been one of the first settlers of the town, who had come originally from Connecticut, and died in 1858. Timothy G. Bronson was a farmer on a large scale. He had built all the bridges across the Lamoille river standing at the time of his death. He also built two of the churches in town, and several dwelling-houses. In the early days of the settlement of the town, his father carried a bushel of rye for sowing, upon his shoulder, from Peacham, sixteen miles, there being no roads, and his only guide blazed trees. He married, in 1823, Mahala Doe, of Rumney, N. H. They had one son, William D., who now occupies the old homestead on road 13. He is a large farmer and breeder of Jersey cattle. He has also held many offices in town, and is at present a justice of the peace. He also practices civil engineering and surveying to some extent. He married Anna D., daughter of Jesse and Dorothy (Phillips) Mason, of Grafton, N. H. They have one son, Timothy G., who is a farmer in Hamlin county, Dakota, and two daughters, May A. and Jessie L.
John Bridgman, during the spring of 1795, was on his way to the lake towns, and lost his way while passing through Hardwick. He finally found
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the house of Gideon Sabin, who prevailed on him to stop and look over the land, and settle here. He found some land which had been partly cleared by Daniel Warner, and purchased over 300 acres. John Bridgman, son of John, was born in 1807, and when seven years of age was called upon to turn the grindstone to grind his father's bayonet, as he was prepar- ing to go to Plattsburg to engage in the battle. He graduated from Dart- mouth college in 1830, studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1833, and established an office at Brooklyn, N. Y., in 1834. He married Ann W. Vin- cent, September 3, 1835, and has four children, viz. : Anna B. Newton, John V., Henry A. and Victor H. The latter, Ist lieutenant of the U. S. Art., is a graduate of West Point.
Asahel and Levi Goodrich, brothers, came to this town, from Westminster, about 1798, locating near the center, Asahel on the farm where his daughters, Lucinda and Almira, still live, and Levi three miles north, where B. Chaffee now lives. Asahel was the father of eleven children, six sons and five daugh- ters. Simeon married Abigal Sanborn, and had born to him one son and one daughter, Justus D. and Augusta A., widow of Hiram M. Conant.
Enoch Badger, son of Jonathan, who was a Revolutionary soldier, was born in Connecticut, married Myra Billings, of Hartland, where he lived many years, and came to Hardwick about 1803. He bought a lot of wild land, and made a clearing where G. S. Wheatley now lives. He moved to Dan- ville about 1814, where he spent the remainder of his life, and two of his sons, Ancass and Charles, now reside there. His eldest son, Enoch, married Sally B. Blodgett, and has had born to him nine children, of whom six are living. Mr. Badger, who is now eighty years of age, resides in town. His oldest son, Zenas A, served in the late war, in Co. B. 15th Vt. Vols., and died at Fair- fax Court House, January 9, 1863.
Joseph Thomas came to Hardwick, from Bennington, Vt., in 1804, and made the first settlement in the Lamoille valley, between the mouth of Alder brook and the Wolcott line. He first built a log house on the river bank, but was driven back by the freshets, to the high land. He died at the advanced age of ninety-two years. His son Billings was born in 1792, spent most of his life upon the same farm, and built the two houses now standing there. He married Temperance Lucas, and was the father of two sons and two daughters, viz. : Joseph W., Andrew J., Cordelia E. and Mary B., wife of Orrin B. Hall.
Butler Shipman, Sr., came to this town about 1806, settled on the farm where Schuyler Wells now lives, and carried on farming and shoemaking. He married Harriet Wilson, and his children were, Mary A., Lucia A., Charles, Fanny, Cynthia S. (Mrs. Albert Cross), Harriet (Mrs. Jonathan Foster) and Butler. Mr. Shipman died in 1823, aged forty-four years. His son Butler has spent his life in Hardwick, and is engaged in the lumber business. He has served as selectman nine years, and collector nine year, and has held va- rious other offices. He married Dolly O. Belding, and has one son, George
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B., of the firm of Wheeler & Shipman, and who is leader of the Hardwick cornet band.
Asahel Hall came to Hardwick, from Keene, N. H., about 1808, bought land, and built a log house where Drury E. Goodrich now lives, on road 22, corner 23. He reared five sons and three daughters, and died about 1860, aged seventy-two years. Two of his sons, Asahel and Orrin B., served in the late war, and the former lived on the farm his father cleared until 1874.
Jonathan Ward was born in Sanbornton, N. H., March 29, 1779, married Sally Silver in 1801, and moved to Greensboro, Vt., where he built a log house in the forest, four miles north of the village. In 1809 he bought the farm where his son Samuel W. now lives, and where he spent the remainder of his life. He was the father of twelve children, of whom four sons are liv- ing, namely, Daniel in Palmyra, N. Y., Samuel W. on the homestead, Chase at Hardwick Street, and Dr. Amassa M. at Hardwick village. Mr. Ward died in June, 1836. Five of his grandchildren served in the late war, two of whom died in service. His daughter Mercy married Thomas Page, and moved to Sheffield.
Aaron Bell came here from Washington, Vt., and was an early settler on West hill, where Albert Goodrich now lives, locating there about 1816. He died in April, 1876, aged over eighty years. His son John W. was born here in 1822, married Marietta, daughter of James M. Currier, and has one son.
Hon. Daniel Warner Aiken .- Among the residents of Hardwick for many years, identified with its mercantile, political and social relations, must be especially mentioned, Daniel Warner Aiken, the oldest merchant, and now (1886) the oldest male inhabitant of the town. His birthplace was Dracut, Massachusetts ; he was born March 23, 1799 ; his parents were Solomon and Polly (Warner) Aiken ; his paternal ascendants were of Scotch origin. Two brothers, David and John, with their sister Mercy, having immigrated to this country from Scotland, were of the early settlers of Hardwick, Mass. Mercy married a Page. and died in 1820, at the age of one hundred and two years. John Aiken married (probably) an Atwood, and had four sons, of whom Solo- mon was born in July, 1758, and in 1776, while yet a mere lad, enlisted to serve his country in her noble struggle for liberty. He afterwards prepared for college, and was graduated from Dartmouth in 1784, and became a Con- gregationalist clergyman. He was settled in Dracut, Mass., in 1788, and his pastorate there continued until 1818, a period of thirty years, when he re- moved to Hardwick, Vt. From this time he relinquished regular preaching, but occasionally filled the pulpit to the satisfaction of his hearers. While in Dracut he was the representative to the general court from 1809 to 1816, inclusive. He married Polly, daughter of Daniel Warner, a native of Hard- wick, Mass. Their children who attained maturity were: (1) Sophia (Mrs. Joel Spaulding) ; (2) Solomon ; (3) Justus W .; (4) Alma; (5) Daniel Warner; (6) Mary Wright (Mrs. Elizabeth Kellogg) ; (7) Samuel Adams ; (8)
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