USA > Vermont > Orange County > Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888 > Part 55
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Lieut. Frederick Smith, one of the original proprietors* of this town, was born in 1744, in Hebron, Conn., it is supposed, and afterwards removed to Colchester, in that state. He possessed much energy of character and busi- ness tact, and had a better education than most men of his time. On this account several persons in Connecticut who owned tracts of land in Vermont employed him to visit these lands, and look after their interests here gen- erally. He came to Strafford several times between the years 1761 and '68,- before its settlement by the Pennocks,-and settled here himself in 1768. A year or two later he removed his family, then consisting of a wife and two ·children, into the town. They entered the state at Thetford, crossing the Con- mecticut river in a boat rowed by a girl named Sarah Sloan, of Lyme, N. H. Mr. Smith was a zealous Whig, and was active in his country's cause. In October, 1780, the next day after the burning of Royalton, he hastened to Thetford and Norwich to notify and arouse the people. On his return he had a narrow escape. One of the tories of the town, regarding him as a public enemy, lay in ambush for him, about half a mile below the site of the upper village, and, as Smith passed by, he cocked his gun and aimed it at him ; but, as he afterwards confessed when "reconstructed," his heart failed him and he did not fire.
Lieutenant Smith was twice married, and had six sons and three daugh- ters. By his first wife he had Isaac and Betsey ; by his second (Sarah Sloan, widow of Lieut. Benjamin Grant, of Lyme, N. H.) he had Waitstill, Fred- erick, Jr., Esther, Hannah, George and Weltha. Waitstill Smith was an extensive farmer upon the farm settled by his father, and also worked at build- ing. He was a captain of militia. He married Lucy Hunt, by whom he had
*Of the original grantees of Strafford, only two, Frederick Smith and William Brisco, settled here.
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ten children, nine of whom lived to maturity, viz .: Emily, Maria, Alanson G., Burleigh H., Sarah, Waitstill, Jr., Enoch H., Frederick and Joseph H. Alanson G. Smith is one of the subtantial farmers of Strafford, served as, representative in 1866-67, and has been selectman fifteen years. He mar- ried, first, Susan Gilman, and their children were Lorenzo K., a lawyer in Arizona ; Alanson G., Jr., of Mississippi, a manufacturer of turpentine ; Sarah (Mrs. Carlos Gilman) ; Susan E. (Mrs. D. M. Woodbury); and Belle, widow of Charles Bruce. For his second wife he married Mahala Baldwin. Frederick Smith, Jr., son of the pioneer, Lieutenant Smith, kept the hotel at Strafford for many years, owned a large farm and was general of militia.
Phineas Walker, from Woodstock, Conn., came to Strafford about 1775 or '76, and built a saw-mill and log house where Mr. Hammer now lives. Later he returned to Connecticut, where he died. His sons Leonard and Free- man also located in this town-Leonard, in 1797, about half a mile north of where his father had settled, and Freeman just south of this, in 1792. Free- man, who was a major of infantry, married Betsey Chandler, by whom he had ten children, of whom Mahala (Mrs. Phineas Walker) is the only one now living. Leonard, who was a justice of the peace for twenty years, married Chloe Child, and they were the parents of thirteen children. Charles, the eldest, and Aldace, the youngest, were eminent Congregational clergymen ; Leonard was a farmer in New Hampshire ; George, a blacksmith, and the inventor of a furnace for house heating, died in Connecticut ; Freeman, 2d, a blacksmith, removed to Connecticut ; Lewis, also a blacksmith, died in Strafford ; Phineas was a farmer and in the bedstead factory here for thirty years. He married his cousin, Mahala Walker, by whom he had one son and two daughters, of whom one daughter, Susan M. (Mrs. Perley Chandler), of Barre, Washington county, is living. Phineas Walker served as selectman two years, justice of the peace ten or twelve years, and was a deacon of the Congregational church about sixty years. He was one of the builders of the present church in 1832. He died in September, 1887, aged over eighty years. His sister Susan, widow of Dea. Luther Child, is the oldest person in town, aged ninety-five years.
Zenas Morey, from Massachusetts, probably from the town of Dedham, was an early settler in Fairlee, and about 1780 located in the northern part of this town. He served in the Revolution, was wounded at the battle of Ticonderoga, and carried a bullet in his shoulder until his death, October 1 I 1821, aged eighty-four years. His son Reuben, who was born in Fairlee in 1779, married Martha Frizzle, by whom he had eight children, of whom there are now living-Philemon, a merchant in Boston ; Albert, a farmer in Durand, Ill .; Andrew J. and Mrs. Calma Morey, of this town, and Amelia (Fisk). Reuben Morey was one of the Plattsburgh volunteers. He served as select- man and justice of the peace, dying in 1870, aged ninety-one years. His wife died in 1878, aged 102 years, and her mother, Martha Frizzle, died in 1841, aged 101 years. Andrew J. Morey married Sarah Harris, and reared
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one son, Arthur P., who served as captain and major for four years in the late civil war, and is now a resident of Sedalia, Mo.
Philip Judd was an early settler in Strafford. He located here in 1780, and worked for F. Smith. His son John was born on the place now owned by Arthur Kittredge, in 1790. His son Philip served in the War of 1812, and was killed near Buffalo, N. Y. John married Sarah, daughter of Nathan- iel Kilborn, of Thetford, who was the mother of nine children, three of whom are now living, viz .: Luman in this town, Sarah (Simonds) in Hart- ford, Windsor county, and Cyrus in Thetford.
Nathaniel Brown, with four sons,-Absalom, Nathaniel, Jr., Heman and Josiah,-came from near Sandown, N. H., and located in this town about the time of the Revolution. They were among the founders of the old Free Baptist church, about 1790, the first church of this denomination in Ver- mont, and of which Josiah was deacon. Absalom married, in 1779 or '80, Abigail, daughter of Enoch Bean, and they were the parents of fourteen children, of whom six sons and six daughters attained adult age. One son, Rodolphus, married, first, Lucy Wiley, by whom he had one daughter, Sarah A. By his second wife, Polly, daughter of John Dimond, of Vershire, he had three children, viz .: Charlotte D. (Mrs. William R. Hayes), Eve- line P. and Dimond M. Four of Absalom Brown's children removed to the West ; the others passed their lives in this vicinity. Nathaniel Brown, one of the four sons of Nathaniel, became a Free Baptist clergyman, was ordained at Vershire in 1802, and was the pioneer preacher of this denom- ination in Bethany, Genesee county, N. Y., where he and his brother Heman located. Rodolphus Brown died in 1856, aged seventy years.
James Hyde served in the Revolutionary war nearly seven years. He owned a farm in Connecticut, which he sold for.a large sum of money, and located in Strafford soon after the war. He was a tailor by trade.
Robert and Eleazer Hayes, from Connecticut, were among the first set - tlers of Strafford, locating on Hayes hill about one hundred years ago. Their brother David settled in Hanover, N. H., about the same time. Robert had served in the Revolution, and in later years received a pen - sion. He married Abigail Merrill and they had twelve children, of whom ten attained mature years. Their children were James, Samuel, John, David, Sally, Lydia, Rosannah, Irena, Elvira, and Savilla. Samuel, the second son, served in the War of 1812. David, born in 1802, went to Piermont, N. H., when sixteen years of age, and there married Mary B., daughter of John Richards, whose father was a pioneer in that town. In 1833 they removed to the old homestead in Strafford, where Mrs. Hayes still resides with her son William R. David Hayes and wife reared two sons and three daughters. He was an active member of the Free Baptist church, and died October 9, 1878. Their youngest son, Chauncey E., is a merchant in New Durham, N. H. One daughter is the wife of Lucius D. Parker, of this town. John Hayes, son of Robert, married, first, Susannah Clark, by whom he had
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eleven children. By his second wife, Susan Ordway, he had five children, of whom James R. and Helen reside in Strafford.
Andrew Chandler, from Woodstock, Conn., with his wife, Relief Haven, and children, located in Strafford previous to 1787. He was a farmer, and the father of nine children, viz .: Rufus, Lemuel, Charles, Anna, Elizabeth, Joseph, Perley, Eunice and Lucy. He died in 1802, aged forty years. Rufus married Clarissa Tucker, by whom he had eight children, viz .: Lucretia, Andrew, Dana, Huldah, Eunice (Mrs. Lucius Carpenter), Orson, Hamelia and Carlos. Dana married Caroline G. Patterson, and their children were Clarissa H., Rufus A. and Hazen H. Lemuel, second son of Andrew, mar- ried, first, Electa Fellows, and second, Hannah Avery, was a farmer in this town, and later removed to Johnson, Lamoille county. The children by his first wife were Nathan, Adaline, Harriet, Charles, Loretta, Horace, Lemuel A. and Electa A. Charles Chandler married Hannah Mary Ferguson, of Sharon, and they have one son and two daughters. He was for many years in partnership with his brother Lemuel A., at Nevada City, Cal., but returned to Strafford in 1865, where he has extensive farming interests, and owns a steam saw-mill, doing a large business, in Norwich, Windsor county.
Moses Brown, from Poplin, N. H., with his wife, Mary Hobbs, and six children, came to Strafford in 1788 and located on the place now occupied by his grandson, Stephen F., four or five acres of which farm had been pre- viously cleared. Six children were born to them after settling here, but in the whole number there was but one daughter. Three of the sons, Abraham, Samuel and Enoch, were Plattsburgh volunteers. Moses was born in 1750, and died in 1832. Moses, Jr., born in 1784, passed nearly his whole life upon the farm now owned by his son Stephen F., was known as the oldest . man in town, dying here in 1880, aged ninety-six years. His wife was Keziah Kimball, whose father, Caleb, settled in this town before 1780. Five of the eight children of Moses and Keziah Brown are still living, viz .: Harry, Harriet (Ladd), John S., Harrison and Stephen F.
Enoch Brown, born in 1786, married Sally Hazelton and located where his son, Mansel H., now lives, about 1817. He was a Plattsburgh volunteer and received a government land warrant in consideration of his services. He died in 1856. Three of his five children are still alive, viz .: Lucia (Bald- win), Sarah E. (Whipple), and Mansel H., the latter being the present first selectman in this town.
Joseph Barrett, from Strafford, Conn., came to this town before his mar- riage, and made a clearing where the copper furnace now is, on which he raised in one season 500 bushels of wheat. He married Nancy Johnson, and their children were Cyrus, Alpha, Lester, Alvin, Hiram, Eliza and Cyrel. He was captain of a company of troopers in 1814, and led them as far as Burlington on the way to Plattsburgh. In 1818 he bought of Israel Con- verse a small house at South Strafford where the present hotel stands, which he kept improving and adding to until his death in 1849. This hotel has
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been known as the Barrett House since 1818. Lester Barrett, now living in Strafford, has passed his life as a stage proprietor and job teamster. Hiram Barrett, when fifteen years of age, began driving team to Boston for his father. and at the age of twenty-one drove a six-horse team for himself. He kept hotel from 1835 to 1838, and in 1842 engaged in trade, continuing with different partners until 1853. He was postmaster several years, was senator two years, and represented the town in the state legislature in 1862-63. In 1870 he removed to Cleveland, Ohio, where he has since resided, for the last three years having been president and treasurer of Rocky River R. R. He is also an extensive dealer in real estate. He revisits his native town every year and passes some time here. His wife is the only living child of Joshua Moore, of Strafford, and they have one son, Curtis S.
Benjamin George, a Revolutionary soldier, came from Westmoreland, N. H., to this town, about 1790, and settled on the farm now occupied by C. W. Preston. His family consisted of three sons and five daughters. His second son, Ebenezer, who served in the War of 1812, married Betsey Kib- ling, and reared nine children, four of whom are living. He lived to the age of ninety-one years. Benjamin, Jr., a farmer, married and reared two sons and two daughters. Alonzo, son of Ebenezer, was for some time a merchant at Post Mills, in the town of Thetford, and is now president of the Second National bank of Aurora, Ill. Benjamin, son of Ebenezer, is a farmer at Aurora. Francis K. owns a bakery at Batavia, Ill. Royal W. George, son of Benjamin, is the only one left of this family in Strafford.
Thomas Hazelton, from Westmoreland, N. H., came to Strafford at a very early date, and settled where his great-grandson, Lewis P., now lives. He served in the Revolutionary war, and fought on Bunker Hill. His family con- sisted of four sons and three daughters. Thomas Hazelton, Jr., his oldest, and Mansel, another son, were Plattsburgh volunteers. Thomas, Jr., passed his life upon his father's farm, dying there in 1865. His wife, Sylvia Kibling, was the mother of his thirteen children, ten of whom are still living, viz .: Finnette (Brown), Harlow, Sylvia K. (Morrill). Lorenzo D., Clarissette (Avery) Harriet M. (Wallace), Lucy C. (Stoddard), Henry C., Hiram and Walter S. Harlow married Maria R. Pennock, and has two sons, Lewis P. and Harvey. He has been selectman, lister, etc.
Cornet John Blaisdell came from England with his wife and five children, about 1685, and settled in Amesbury, Mass., his son John, Jr., being then about two years old. John Blaisdell, son of Harvey, grandson of Ezra and great-grandson of John, Jr., became an early settler in Strafford, where he cleared a farm which is now included in the Tyson mining property. John Blaisdell, the Strafford settler, married Rebecca Kendall in 1796, their union resulting in a family of three sons and one daughter. He died in 1842, aged seventy-two years. Jefferson Blaisdell, born in this town May 19, 1805, served in various town offices, dying on the homestead farm, where he passed his entire life, in 1853. His wife, Eliza, daughter of Jacob Kibling, bore
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him two sons, Frank (deceased), and John K., a merchant and postmaster at Union Village, in the town of Thetford.
Levi Bacon was an early settler in this town, where he bought a large tract of land which included A. P. Bacon's"present farm. He came from Connecticut, and his children were John, Elmer, Levi, Jr., Israel, Enoch and Hiram. His son John, then a lad of ten years, drove a yoke of oxen from Connecticut to this town when they settled here, about 1791. He was one of the Plattsburgh volunteers, and drew a pension for his services. He lived to the age of eighty-three years. His wife was Betsey West, and their chil- dren were John, Enoch, Henry, Willard, Samuel E., Jedediah, Betsey, Lovina, Polly, Fanny and Nancy. Samuel E. has lived on the farm he now occupies for thirty-one years. He married Sophronia S. Caverly, a native of Wolfboro, N. H., and their children are Ella F. (Mrs. M. A. Preston), Fred- erick E. and Mabel G. Hiram Bacon, son of Levi, built the house where his son Alfred P. now lives, and there lived until his death. He married Roxana Comstock, by whom he had four children. His son Hiram, Jr., served through the civil war, and died from disease there contracted. Alfred Pierce Bacon now owns the farm on which his grandfather settled.
Willard Carpenter, from Woodstock, Conn., married Polly Bacon, February 23, 1791, and soon after came to Strafford and bought a lot of wild land in the northwest part of the town, which he cleared and occupied until 1818, when he bought the farm now occupied by E. T. West, where he afterwards lived. He was a captain of militia. Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter were the parents of eight sons and four daughters, of whom Lucius, Alvan B. and Lucia (Mrs. Gilbert) are now living. Of their other children, Ephraim was a physician and merchant ; Harvey was a tanner in Connecticut ; John was a merchant in Troy, N. Y .; Willard, Jr., was a merchant in Indiana; Joseph was a merchant in New York. Lucius has been a farmer, and kept hotel at Strafford for twelve years. He married Eunice Chandler, and they have three children. Alvan B. resides in Beloit, Wis.
Jeremiah Dow came to Strafford from Poplin, N. H., in 1795, and located on the farm where James Tyson, Jr., now lives. From the time of his settle- ment here until 1871 the place was owned in the family, -first by Jeremiah, then by his son Chase, and then by Chase's son, Chester B. Jeremiah had six sons and four daughters. The sons all settled in this town, and their names were Jeremiah, Jr., and Chase (twins), David and Daniel, also twins, Asahel, and William, who died young. All these sons were farmers, except Jeremiah, who opened the copperas works in Strafford, acted as agent for the Vermont Copperas Co., and afterwards removed to Shrewsbury, Rutland county. Chase Dow married Lucy Walker, was captain of militia, and was best known by his military title until his death, which occurred in 1868, on the farm settled by his father, and where he had spent his entire life. He lived to the age of seventy-seven years, and his wife, who died in 1880, attained the age of eighty-seven. They had five children, viz .: Simon C.,
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Elvira W., Lucia, Frances E. and Chester B. The latter is the only one remaining in Strafford. He served as postmaster at Copperas Hill seven years, and at Strafford Hollow thirteen years ; was town representative in 1857-58 and 1868-69 ; was door-keeper of the House of Representatives in 1880, and of the Senate in 1882. He has been deputy sheriff most of the time since 1857.
Edward Preston came to Strafford about 1795 and located on the farm now occupied by M. F. Preston, and on which he cut the first tree. He was born in 1773, married Thankful Bidwell, and had born to him six children, four of whom lived to adult age, were married, and reared families. He was buried upon the farm upon which he settled. His son Edmund, born in 1802, was a farmer, carpenter and blacksmith, and lived to an advanced age. He was captain of the Strafford militia, removed to New York, and finally to Mich- igan, where he died. He married Sally Benson, by whom he had three daugh- ters and three sons, of whom two daughters and three sons are now living. John Preston, the eldest son, is the only one of these children residing in Strafford. He is a successful farmer, and has filled with credit such offices as usually fall to the lot of a Democrat in a Republican town. He married Philinda, daughter of Amos and Hannah (Winslow) Fuller, and they have two daughters and one son.
David Rich was an early settler in Strafford, probably from Connecticut. Olin A. Rich, son of Abel and grandson of David, is the only descendant bearing the family name now in Strafford.
Dea. Jacob Kibling, or Kiblinger, as formerly spelled, was born in Germany in 1753, where his father died, his mother emigrating to America when he was an infant, and lived in Walpole, N. H., until Jacob became of age. He mar- ried Sarah Coolidge and removed to Strafford where he bought the farm now occupied by J. A. Ross. He served in the Revolution, was a deacon of the Christian church, and died in 1839, aged eighty-six years. His mother, Katharine, died in this town in 1820, aged ninety-one years and five months. His children were Jacob, John, Samnel S., Nancy, Sylvia, Betsey, Katharine and Sarah. Jacob, Jr., married Sally Slyfield, of Lyndon, where he resided for a few years, when he returned to Strafford about 1811 and occupied the farm where his father settled until a short time before his death. He had · born to him two sons and six daughters, of whom Eliza married a Mr. Blais- dell and resides in Thetford.
Jesse Wood was born in Andover, Mass., and his wife, Judith Tewksbury, in Weare, N. H. They were married and lived in Hartland, Vt., in 1799. He bought the farm in this town now occupied by his grandsons Jesse D. and John F., which he cleared and upon which he built a log house where the present house now stands, and into which he moved his family in 1800. He lived to be eighty-four years old and his wife sixty-two. He was a captain of militia and one of the Plattsburgh volunteers. Mr. and Mrs. Wood reared a family of four sons and three daughters. Isaac T., their second son, born in
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1808, married Ann D. Marsh, a native of Gilmanton, N. H., passed most of his life in Strafford, and in 1869 died upon the farm settled by his father. They had four sons and four daughters, of whom three sons and three daugh- ters are now living.
Josiah Kendall, from Plymouth, Windsor county, moved to Strafford in 1805 and settled where Royal Burnham now lives. He married, first, Milli- cent Slack, by whom he had eight children, and second, Lucy Patterson, who bore him six children. He was a well-to-do farmer, and died at the age of about seventy years. His eldest son, Josiah, married Bedora Wells, and two of their children, Mrs. J. M. Flint and George H., reside in Strafford. Oliver married, first, Matilda Kibbling, and second, Angeline Preston, and now lives in this town. His son Josiah E. now keeps the Barrett House. Jona- than also resides in this town. Jedediah H. Kendall, son of Oliver, is foreman of R. A. Hatch's bedstead shop.
James L. Roberts, a farmer, passed most of his life in Strafford, and died here in 1876, aged sixty-seven years. He married Betsey, daughter of Nicholas Wells, and they had seven children, of whom three sons and one daughter lived to adult age. George W. Roberts, the oldest son, has been for thirty years engaged in the mining business with the old Vermont Cop- peras Co., and its successor, the Strafford Mining Co. His wife is a descendant of the old Swift family who were early settlers in Thetford.
John G. Clogston came to Strafford from Goffstown, N. H., when a young man. He married Eunice Roberts, served in the War of 1812, and died in 1876, aged eighty-one years. Two of his sons, Luman and Henry H., served in the civil war, Luman in Nims's Battery (Mass.) and Henry in Co. G, 9th Vt. Vols.
Daniel Robinson, from Foxbury, Mass., came to Strafford and lived with his sons Daniel, Jr., and Zadok, in a house which stood where the common now is, in the north village. He was a Revolutionary patriot, and though he did not serve in the war he enlisted five times. His sons Zadok and Will- iam both participated in that sanguinary struggle. He lived to an advanced age, and died where his grandson Hiram now lives. His son Daniel married Betsey Buell, of Sharon, and after living on various farms, in 1817 located where Hiram Robinson now lives, and where he reared five sons and six daughters. The sons were Roswell, Harry, Hiram, Cyrus, and Jared. The first four of the brothers lived at one time with their families on adjoining . farms in this district, which was afterwards, and is still, called the " Robinson neighborhood." They were all substantial farmers. Hiram Robinson, aged eighty-one, and Betsey, wife of E. Ballard, of Norwich, Windsor county, are the only ones of this family of eleven now living. Hiram has served as selectman six years, lister ten years, and is now the only man living who helped to build the union church in his neighborhood.
Alba Green, son of Simeon, was born in Strafford in 1821. He enlisted in Co. C, 4th Vt. Vols., in which he served fifteen months. He died Decem-
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ber 21, 1863, at Brandy Station, Va., while in the service. His widow,. Apphia Green, resides at South Strafford.
Solon F. Frary, son of Jonathan and Lydia C. (Blaisdell) Frary, was born in Strafford in 1822. When fifteen years of age he entered the employ of M. N. Russ & Co., as clerk in their store at Thetford Center, and three years later was employed by Harris & Russ, at South Strafford, in the old store. which occupied the site and is a part of the present one. In 1843 he became a member of the firm of Russ, Frary & Co., which was changed to Harris & Frary two years later. Since 1845 Solon F. Frary has been the active mana- ger of the business, and the sole owner from 1855 to 1873. He has served as postmaster twenty-eight years, town auditor sixteen years, and was representa- tive in 1882-83. In December, 1854, he married Adaliza E. Gilman, and their children are Gertrude (Mrs. Buell) and Bessie J. Capt. Jonathan Frary, father of Solon F., was born in Strafford in 1795. He was a merchant for several years at South Strafford, and served as deputy sheriff. . His father, John, and grandfather, Jonathan, were early settlers here, and owned a large tract of land where South Strafford village is located.
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