USA > Vermont > Orange County > Gazetteer of Orange County, Vt., 1762-1888 > Part 58
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The first settlement in Thetford was made in May, 1764, by John Cham- berlin, who came from Hebron, Conn. Chamberlin remained here alone until the next spring, when he was joined by Abner Howard, Benjamin Bald- win, Joseph Hosford and Joseph Downer, from the same place. John Cham- berlin, by industry, soon arose to a kind of independence among his neigh- bors, who dubbed him " Quail John," which name adhered to him through.
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life. The following verse is credited to the muse of his fellow pioneer, Sam- uel Osborn :-
"Old Quail John was the first that come on, As poor as a calf in the spring; But now he is rich as Governor Fitch, And lives like a lord or a king."
Tradition informs us that two of his brothers also came into the wilder- ness, one locating in Newbury and the other in Bradford, among the first settlers in those towns. John Chamberlin, "of Hebron, Conn.," received his deed of " a certain right of land lying in the township of Thetford, Province of New Hampshire," from Alexander Phelps, of Hebron, April 9, 1764, "it being the same right granted to Philip Mattoon." In the following May he came on, made his ".pitch," began a clearing and erected his log cabin near the river upon the present farm of H. M. Sayre in the southeast part of the town. He was chosen to serve in at least two town offices at the first town meeting, in 1768, and in one or more offices annually for the suc- ceeding ten years. He reared a large family, of whom Samuel was the first white male child born in Thetford. Ebenezer, Joseph, Benjamin and John, Jr., were the names of other sons, and Thankful that of one daughter. Samuel Chamberlin settled upon the hill west of where C. F. Bond now lives. His children were Spencer C., Ruth, Josiah, Betsey, Lydia and Mary. Asahel D. Chamberlin, proprietor of the Elm House, Orford, N. H., born in Thetford, July 5, 1827, is a son of Spencer C.
Ebenezer Chamberlin, son of John, was one of three or four Thetford men who served both in the Revolution and War of 1812, entering the army first when about sixteen years of age. He cleared a farm on the hill north of Thetford village, now included in the homestead of his grandson, Oramel F. His wife was a daughter of Noah Swetland, and their children were Hazen, Anson, Russell, Seaver, Beriah, Lucinda and Eliza. Hazen passed his life in Thetford, dying in December, 1867, aged seventy years. His first wife, Clarissa Wood, bore him two sons, and by his second wife, Ase- nath Downer, he reared four, of whom Austin H., of Fairlee, married Sarah Tibbetts, of Bradford; Harvey A. is deceased; Oramel F. married Olive M. Bradley, of Norwich ; Wesley H. is a farmer in this town.
Joseph Chamberlin, son of John, served in the War of 1812. He married Electa Sayre, and their children were Mariah, who married John Ladd, Mercy A. (Mrs. A. Wilmot), Jane F., Edson C., George C., Lucian C., Olive J., Marcus A., Sylvanus S., Solon M., and Julia A. (Mrs. Wallace). Edson C. was a physician and died in Connecticut ; George C. is a farmer in Minne- sota ; Lucian C. is a farmer in Missouri ; Marcus A. is a physician in Win- throp, Iowa ; Sylvanus S., a farmer, died in Littleton, N. H .; Solon M. is a farmer in Northfield, Minn.
Joseph Downer, from Hebron, Conn., came to Thetford the second year
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of its settlement. He settled where Henry Downer now lives, the first house being built upon the meadow near the river. He had two sons, Cushman and Gardner, and several daughters. Gardner married Mabel Ranstead, and to them were born two sons, Ranstead and H. Harrison, and five daugh- ters. Sabrina, widow of T. J. Combs, is the only one of these children now living. Henry, son of H. Harrison, occupies the farm on which Joseph settled in 1765.
Joseph, Aaron, Elihu and Obadiah Hosford, from Hebron, Conn., were- early settlers in this town. Joseph, the first here, came with his wife and infant daughter, March 3, 1766, and settled on the present A. B. Wilcox farm. He was born in Hebron, Conn , in 1743. His wife, Mary Peters, was a descendant of Andrew Peters, from Amsterdam, Holland, who located in Andover, Mass., in 1665. They had a stockade of posts surrounding their house, which was a haven of refuge in times of alarm during the Revo- lutionary war. Twelve children were born to them. Col. Heman Hosford, one of the sons, was a man of affairs, and excellent as a military officer. Aaron Hosford located here a short time after his brother, on the farm now owned by his grandson, Abner B. He was a blacksmith, the first in town, and married Lucy Strong, by whom he had four children-Aaron, Jr., Joseph, John, and Lucy. The mother of the pioneers Joseph, Aaron, Elihu and Obadiah came to Thetford and passed her later years with her sons, dying at the house of Aaron. Clarence Kent Hosford, son of J. Tracy, is of the sixth generation who have occupied the same farm. Aaron, Jr., went to New York. John remained in town, but his sons removed to the West. Joseph married Abigail, daughter of Timothy Bartholomew, and reared twelve children. Their eldest son, Isaac, graduated from Dartmouth college and Andover Theological seminary, preached many years in Massachusetts,. and in 1860 returned to his native town, where he died in 1883. He was a man of great learning, benevolence and piety. Urial was a farmer and gave. up his personal ambitions to provide means to educate his brothers and sis- ters. He married Martha Kinsman and reared three sons and two daugh- ters. Josiah was a mason and builder. Willard Hosford, M. D., graduated' from Dartmouth, located in Orford, N. H., and practiced there over fifty years. Bradley resides in Springfield, Massachusetts, and is engaged in lit- erary work. Abner B. Hosford has been a life-long farmer upon the old homestead. He married Eliza A. Sawyer, of Lyme, N. H., and they have one son, Joseph Tracy Hosford. Rev. Benjamin F. graduated from Dart- mouth and was settled at Haverhill, Mass., where he died at the age of forty- six years. Of the daughters of Joseph and Abigail Hosford but one is now living-Harriet M., widow of G. G. Cushman. Elihu Hosford, the third of the four pioneers, located where C. N. Balch now lives, previous to 1772. Deacon Jared, his son, was a town and church officer, and passed his life in Thetford. William removed to Ohio. His son Oramel is a professor in
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Olivet college, in Michigan. Obadiah Hosford, the fourth one of the broth- ers, located on Potato hill and reared eight children.
Samuel Gillett and wife, from Lebanon, Conn., were among the earliest settlers in Thetford, and located where E. P. Day now lives. He was the first selectman of the board chosen at the organization of the town in 1768. He was a man of means, and brought with him two negro slaves, to whom he gave homes. He and his wife were among the founders of the Congrega- tional church. They had two sons, Nijah and Simon, and eight daughters. Simon, who served in the Revolutionary war, married Mary, daughter of Joseph Hosford, and had born to him seven sons and eight daughters. His son Henry was orderly-sergeant of the East company in Thetford in 1814 when they started for the battle of Plattsburgh. He lived to the age of ninety-four, honored and respected, after serving his town in the highest offices. His wife, Hannah, was a daughter of Richard Wallace. Dr. H. H. Gillett and his sister are the only representatives of this family and name in Thetford.
The name of Howard is represented in the first list of town officers by Abner, Zebedee, Edward and Elijah, and these names often recur in the early records. Zebedee came from Hebron, Conn., and located upon the present farm of C. S. Sayre, which he cleared. He married Rhoda Mann, and died in January, 1800. Their only child, Mercy, married, in 1793, Sylvanus Sayre, who came from Southampton, L. I., in 1791, and they became the parents of ten children, of whom three died in childhood. Electa married Joseph Chamberlin. Anna married Jeremiah Cummings. Julia and Cynthia were first and second wives of Henry Currier. Zebedee Howard Sayre married Lucy Warks, of Springfield, Vt., reared five sons and one daughter, dying in 1880, aged seventy-five years. Sylvanus Howell Sayre married Abigail Grif- fin, of Hanover, N. H. He served as deputy and high sheriff, and in various local offices, dying in 1882 at the age of seventy-two years. Francis Albert Sayre became a lawyer in New York.
Israel Smith, son of Benjamin and Hannah (Barber) Smith, of Colchester, Conn., was born in 1741, and was one of the few original grantees of Thet- ford who made a settlement here. He located where T. D. Sanborn now lives, previous to 1770. He was town clerk in 1770, served as selectman ten years, was representative to Cornish convention, secretary of the committee of safety, and judge of the county court. He died in Alstead, N. H., in 1809. His wife was Jemima Payne, and they had two children, Israel Barber and Jemima. Israel Barber Smith was born in June, 1771, and during his life was a substantial farmer in his native town. About the year 1800 he made a clearing and built his cabin on the farm now owned by his grandson, Solon G., and since that time the place has never been owned outside the family. He married Anna Dewey, was the father of three sons, and died at the age of seventy-one. His eldest son, Israel Harvey Smith, born in 1795, was a teacher of vocal music, and for twenty years
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was chorister of the Congregational church at Thetford. In the militia he held the rank of colonel. For about ten years he was engaged in the manufacture of brass musical instruments at Winchester, N. H., but returned to Thetford, where he died in 1880. He married Margaret B. Graves, and their children are Solon G. and Anna D., the latter the wife of George Leslie, cashier of the bank at Wells River. Oramel H. Smith, son of Israel B., became a lawer and practiced for fifty years at Montpelier. Royal Hammond Smith, son of Israel B., was a manufacturer of musical instru- ments at Winchester, N. H., and at Thetford Center. Solon G. Smith has devoted much of his life to the science of music, which he first taught in Thet- ford academy while a student there, and for eight years preceding the civil war in southern literary institutions, where his wife (Edna Pennock) taught drawing.
Moses Cadwell settled where Gaiin Terry now lives sometime previous to 1772. In 1779 he served as selectman. His son Moses was a farmer, and lived near the place now occupied by Carlos Slafter, and at one time also owned and operated a lead mine on Thetford hill. He married Sarah Hos- ford, and their eldest son, Moses H., married Elizabeth Kinney. Harvey Hart Cadwell, son of Moses H., was born in 1831. He married Frances R. Coburn, of Newbury, is a farmer, and has four children now living.
Timothy Bartholomew settled in Thetford about 1772. He married Esther Grant, of Lyme, N. H., was a man of eminent piety and intellectual ability, often served his town in public office, and was commissioner of the state to sell the confiscated tory estates in Orange county in 1780. He was an accomplished surveyor, and as a trial justice was famed for his uprightness.
Abijah Howard, from Hebron, Conn., came to Thetford about 1775, soon after his marriage with a Miss Cushman. He first lived on the present T. D. Sanborn farm ; but about 1777 he built a saw-mill near the school-house in district No. 2, in the operation of which, and in farming, he passed his life. He was killed by falling through the floor of the mill, in 1818. Abijah, Jr., born in 1778, followed his father's occupation. He married Octavia Bos- worth, reared a family of ten children, and died at the age of eighty-two years. His brother Salmon was captain of a company and served eight months in the War of 1812, participating in the famous battle of Plattsburgh. Truman, son of Abijah, Jr., married Sarah Kinsman, of Orford, had one son, Roger S., and one daughter, Martha P. (Mrs. J. J. Conant).
Capt. William Heaton, of Swanzey, N. H., became a settler in Thetford in consummation of an exchange of farms with Rev. Clement Sumner, whose tory proclivities forced him to seek safety in flight at the breaking out of the Revolution. Mr. Heaton was chosen selectman in 1779. He located near the present site of East Thetford, where he erected a house which was for many years kept as a hotel, and in which town meetings and county court were often held. He married Irene King, of Northampton, Mass., and their children were Solomon, William, Jr., Orange, King, James, Mary, Irene K.,
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and Lucy. Edward N. Heaton, one of the present board of selectmen in Thetford, represents the only family bearing that name now in town. His father, Solomon Goodell Heaton, born in 1813, passed most of his life on a farm at Post Mills. He received a colonel's commission in the militia, and became widely known from his connection with public business and in securing pensions for Revolutionary, War of 1812, and civil war soldiers. His wife was Julia A., daughter of Dr. J. Goodwin. Col. Heaton's father, William Heaton, Jr., engaged in trade with David Bruce, at Post Mills, about 1815. He held the offices of sheriff and high bailiff, was a captain of militia, selectman, etc. He married Martha Childs, from Henniker, N. H., and they had four sons and four daughters. In 1819 he located on the farm now occupied by E. N. Heaton.
Richard Wallace was born in Nova Scotia, and at the age of sixteen years accompanied Col. Johnston to Haverhill, N. H., in 1769, where he remained about three years and a half. He came to this town about 1774 and located on land now included in the farm of Luther M. Newcomb, where he cleared a few acres and built a log cabin. While in Charlestown, N. H., in 1777, he learned of the movements of Burgoyne's army, and that detachments were moving in this direction. Hastening home he spread the alarm, looked to the security of his wife and household goods, and enlisted to go in resistance of Burgoyne's progress. Shortly before his return from this expedition he and a companion performed a deed of daring which places their names among the foremost heroes of the times, an authentic account of which is as follows :--
"It will be recollected by those acquainted with the war of the Revolution, as soon as the battle was fought at Bennington, and the Americans be- gan to hope that Burgoyne would fall into their hands, they set about retak- ing the forts of Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence, on the shores of Lake Champlain, which Burgoyne had left in his rear supplied with troops. Ticon- deroga was taken, and Mt. Independence was besieged for some time. There was a good deal of hard fighting, and it was confidently looked for that Mt. Independence would surrender ; but they did not. The British shipping had full possession of the lake. Ticonderoga was on the west side of the lake and Mt. Independence on the east side. Our troops on the west could hold no communication with those who had besieged Mt. Indepen- dence, and of course they could have no concert in action. It was at this time when the greatest solicitude was felt by the two American commanders to know each other's minds, that the commander of Ticonderoga called on his men to know if there were any two of them who would volunteer to swim the lake in the evening and carry dispatches to Gen. Lincoln near Mt. Inde. pendence. For a time none offered to undertake the hazardous enterprise ; but when informed how much was probably depending upon it, Wallace, of Thetford, stepped forward and said he would attempt it ; and then followed him Ephraim Webster, of Newbury, and about sundown an officer took these men on to an eminence which overlooked the lake and pointed out the course which they must take to avoid the British shipping, and about where they would probably find the American camps.
" At dusk the same night the same officer attended them to the margin of the lake and saw them started. They had got to swim up the lake and down
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in a zigzag course, in order to avoid the enemy, more than two miles before they could reach terra firma. But they rolled their despatches in their clothes, and bound their clothes on to the back of their necks, by cords pass- ing over their foreheads, and entered the water. 'We shall never reach the shore,' said Wallace to Webster as soon as they touched the water. It was. late in the season, and the water was quite cold ; but this he said without any thought of relinquishing the enterprise. When about midway of the lake, the cords which bound Wallace's clothes to his neck, slipped from his forehead to his throat and cut so hard as almost to strangle him. He failed in several attempts to replace the string upon his forehead, and was on the point of giving up all for lost, when the thought of the importance of his undertaking seemed to inspire him with new vigor, he said, and, at length, he succeeded in replacing the string, and passed on without saying a word to dishearten Webster. They passed so near the British shipping as to hear the oft repeated cry, ' All's well !' which they took pains not to correct, and buffeted the waves. with stout hearts and sinewy limbs.
" They kept in company until they came near the eastern shore of the lake, when Webster seemed to fall into the rear. And just as Wallace struck the twigs of a tree which lay extended into the lake, he heard Webster say, ' Help, Wallace, I am drowning !' Wallace sprang to the shore, caught a stick and rushed into the water, extended it to Webster in the act of sinking, and drew him ashore. Webster could not stand, but Wallace rubbed him briskly and. got on his clothes, and he soon recovered so as to walk. After some diffi- culty they reached the American camp, and delivered the despatches to the general in command."
While Wallace was absent his wife walked six miles to see to the crops, and finding the oats ripe mowed them herself, dried and stacked them, cut poles and built a fence about the stack, and returned to the river settlement. She afterwards cut the corn, dug the potatoes, cleared some land which had been burned over, and sowed an acre of wheat. Wallace returned in Decem- ber, after Burgoyne's surrender, and they passed the winter in their cabin " without chimney or floor, except a few loose boards upon which to set their pole bedstead, corded with elm bark." Mrs. Wallace was a daughter of Jonathan Rich, an early settler in Lyme, N. H., and later a resident in Straf- ford. She was the mother of eleven children, of whom nine lived to maturity and reared families. Besides caring for her own family she was for forty five years an accoucheuse, and "was present, in all, at 1,666 births, and never lost a mother of whom she had the care." She died in 1831, aged eighty-one. Her husband died in 1833, aged eighty.
Joseph Ware, the first of this family who settled in Thetford, located in the northeast part upon " The Bow," about 1780. He was in the Revolution, taking part in the battle of Bennington. His wife, Dolly Davis, was born in Middletown, Conn., and her parents were early settlers in Piermont, N. H. Joseph Ware bought the ferry of Nathan Mann, and operated it some years. He reared four sons,-Joseph, Jr., Thomas, George and Lyman,-and three daughters, -Dolly, Fanny and Sarah,-and lived to the age of sixty-five years. His sons all located near him. Joseph, Jr., served in the War of 1812. He was a farmer and brick-maker by occupation, married Sarah Kemp, and their-
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·children were Harry T., Daniel A. and Emeline. Harry T. married Martha A. Heath, passed his life upon his father's farm, and reared three sons- Eugene G., George H., and Willard H. Daniel A. Ware married Mary W. Marston, who bore him nine children. His sons Mark C. and George L. own the farm where he passed his life. Thomas Ware served in the War of 1812. He married Mary Heath, and only one of their seven children -. Harriet P .- is living.
Col. Josiah Hubbard came from Middletown, Conn., about 1780, and set -- tled on the place still known as the " Hubbard place," road 33 near 41. The. present brick house was built about 1798, from brick made and lumber sawed by Josiah Hubbard, Jr. Col. Josiah Hubbard had two sons-Josiah, Jr., and' Orange-and two daughters. Orange was captain of the West militia company" and led it to Bolton, on the way to Plattsburgh, in 1814. Josiah, Jr., was captain of the " troop" of horse, and both he and his father were active in town affairs. His wife was Cynthia, a daughter of Solomon Cummings, a soldier in the Revolution who passed his later life in Thetford. Three of the eight sons of Capt. Josiah Hubbard are living, viz .: Solomon in Sterling, John at Rock Falls, Ill., and Carlos F. in Lowell.
Bethuel Newcomb came from Lebanon, Conn., about 1782, and located near where Dea. John Kinsman now lives, where he remained but a short time, when he returned to Lebanon. He again came to Thetford, bringing his wife and five children with an ox-team. He served in the 3d Conn. Regt., and was at the battle of Bunker Hill. He received his discharge in Decem- ber, 1775, and in 1776 re-enlisted for three months. His wife was Mable Thomas, of Lebanon, and their children were Jacob, Luna, Lucinda, Lucina, Isaiah, Lavina, Asahel, Louisa, Isaac, and Linda. Jacob married Priscilla Howard, and passed his life on a farm in this town, where he reared five sons and three daughters, two of whom, Simeon and Levi, born in 1802, were twins. Levi married Dradama Stowell, of Grantham, and their children were William, Roxana (Mrs. D. Waterman), and Laura A. (Mrs. Arthur M. Wilmot). Simeon Newcomb married Louisa Stowell and lived in this town all his life. Their children were Edwin and Albert C. Isaiah Newcomb, a carpenter, removed to Orford, and finally to Lisbon, N. H., where he died. His son Isaiah Monroe returned to Thetford in 1848 and settled where his son Luther M. now lives. His wife was Sarah Gage, who bore him nine children, four of whom are living. He died August 10, 1886, aged seventy- two years, and his wife in December following.
Joshua Tyler, a soldier of the Revolution, came here before 1787, from Hopkinton (?), N. H., and settled at "Swaney Bean," but in later years lived near Thetford Center. His son John lived many years on the same farm. He was captain of militia, sheriff and selectman. His wife was Anna Brown, and they reared eleven children, of whom Mary M., widow of Truman Burr, resides at Thetford Center.
Jonathan Child was born in Woodstock, Conn., in 1731, and located in
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Lyme, N. H., sometime before 1773, as he was selectman there that year. He served as commissary with the title of colonel, in the Revolutionary war, in which capacity such was the distress of the government that he pledged his own large property to procure food for the soldiers, and was forced to sell much of his landed estate to redeem his pledges. He had a family of eleven children, of whom Cyril, his first son, and William, his second son, also served in the struggle for independence. In 1788 William purchased the farm in Thetford on which he passed the remainder of his life, and which is still the home of his descendants. He filled acceptably many public offices in the town.
James Moore, from Pembroke, N. H., came at an early date (between 1792 and 1795) to Thetford, where he operated the grist-mill at the Center many years. He married a Miss Tyler, who bore him children as follows: Polly, Pamela, Samuel R., Anna, Groves, Lucena, Fanny, Truman, Caroline, James M., Eliza L., and Clarissa. Truman married Elotia Walker, and passed his life as a wheelwright and farmer in Thetford.
Zebediah Fitch was an early settler in Cornish, N. H., and came thence with his son Lyman to Thetford soon after 1800. Lyman Fitch became colonel of militia, and as such called out his regiment upon his own respon- sibility at the time of the battle of Plattsburgh in 1814, and went with all dispatch to participate in the conflict. His name appears as representative from Thetford in 1811-12 and seven subsequent years, and while serving in this capacity he secured for Thetford a portion of the State Grammar school fund, which gave Thetford academy a place among the educational institutions of the state. He also gave the timber and much of the work for the build- ing. He was chosen assistant judge of Orange county, and it may be justly said of him that he was ever a leader in matters which pertained to the pub- lic weal and the good of his town. His death occurred in 1843, at the age sixty-three years. His wife was Rhoda Crocker, and their children were Lucia, Maria (Mrs. G. W. Morrison), of Manchester, Marcia, Solon, Henry L., who is a substantial farmer, of Lyme, N. H., and John L., who was an attorney at law. Henry L. Fitch married, first, Sarah P. (Carpenter) Brooks, and second, Adelaide Turner.
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