USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 54
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Mercantile Interests .- The oldest mercantile business now in town is the store of J. L. St. Peters. The business was started in 1837 by C. W. Wicker. In 1877 the present proprietor, who had been his clerk for eight years, suc- ceeded him. He carries about $4,000 stock. Mr. St. Peters came to Ferris- burgh from Charlotte.
The store of M. F. Allen & Brother dates its establishment as far back as 1845, when N. J. Allen, father of the present proprietors, and A. L. Wheeler
Gryson W.Wicker
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began under the title of Allen & Wheeler. Since then the firms have been Wheeler & Allen, M. F. Allen & Co., and since April 1, 1883, the present firm. The present building was erected on the site of the old one in the sum- mer of 1885. This store also carries about $4,000 stock.
C. H. Mallory bought the store property which he now owns of C. W. Wicker December 7, 1857, and began working at cooper work. From this he gradually established a trade in various articles until he was compelled to aban- don the cooper work and devote himself to his mercantile business.
L. B. Fuller began in the fall of 1885 the business of pressing hay for ex- portation, and has already built up an extensive business. He has been a dealer in hay in town, however, about fourteen years.
Manufacturing Interests .- The oldest saw-mill in town is the one now oper- ated by J. R. Barnum, which now has a circular saw and cuts from 100,000 to 500,000 feet of lumber annually.
Mahlon Kingman's barrel factory was first operated in 1850. He employs about five hands.
John Banyea's brick-yard was established as early as 1806. He employs ten hands, and manufactures about a million brick per annum.
The cider-mill of George B. Kimball was established in 1844 by Daniel Kimball, father of the present proprietor. Four men are kept here during the cider season.
Stephen Ball also operates a cider-mill (near the Kimball mill), which he started about twenty years ago.
Oliver Danyow started his cider-mill at Little Otter Creek Falls in the sum- mer of 1884.
The population of the town since the taking of the first census in 1791, has varied according to the following figures : 1791, 481 ; 1800, 956; 1810, 1647; 1820, 1,581; 1830, 1,822; 1840, 1,755; 1850, 2,075; 1860, 1,738; 1870, 1,768; 1880, 1,684.
ECCLESIASTICAL.1
Congregational Church .- The Congregational Church was organized in Ferrisburgh January 26, 1824, in the town house, where its meetings were held up to the time of the building of the Union Church there. The members num- bered at that time forty-four. Mrs. Luther Carpenter thinks Abraham Bald- win was the first minister, and preached in Ferrisburgh and Monkton. Allen Adams was the first deacon. The first Sabbath-school was organized at the "Gage school-house" (district No. 8) about 1828, by William Bixby, William Roberts, and another gentleman, all of Vergennes. The first Sunday-school su- perintendent was James Hodge. The Congregational Church in this town has never had a pastor, but has been "supplied." In 1840 the "Union Church"
1 Prepared by R. E. Robinson.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
was built by all denominations, at a cost of $2,200. Until the building of the Congregational Church at the Center in 1869, the meetings of the Congrega- tionalists were held in the Union Church. The number of members now is about fifty-two-C. W. Wicker, deacon, J. Q. Adams, Sunday-school super- intendent; average attendance at Sunday-school, forty. Mr. Harris (not or- dained) preaches to the church at present. The church building cost $7,000.
Of the Baptist Church all that can be learned is that the Rev. John A. Dodge was set apart to the Baptist ministry as pastor over the church and congregation in Ferrisburgh November 15, 1821 ; a certificate whereof is re- corded in the Ferrisburgh Records, volume ten.
September 14, 1827, William Walker, Benjamin Carpenter and Elam Hall, committee of the Baptist Church in Ferrisburgh, "in consideration of the love and affection they bear unto John A. Dodge, quit-claim unto him the whole of the right of land drawn to the first settled gospel minister."
Meetings were sometimes held in the second story of the tannery building at Walker's Falls, where Mrs. Ransom Beers remembers hearing Elder Dodge preach. The society never had a meeting-house in town; has but few mem- bers, and no minister residing here.
Friends, commonly called Quakers .- " At a Quarterly Meeting held at nine partners [N. Y.] The 14 & 15 of II mo. 1792, the Request respecting a Meeting of worship & a Preparitive meeting at Pharisburg on Concideration thereon is united with & establishes these Meetings and Directs that those meeting of worship be held on the First and Fifth days of the week, and those Preparitive be Held on the 2 Fifth Day in each mo. Extraced from the min- utes by aaron hill, Clark."
"According to the Direction of the above minutes have met this 10. Day of I mo. 1793, & opened our Preparitive meeting."-(From records of the So- ciety.)
Sarah Barker was the first clerk of the women's meeting, whose name I find in the records I have had access to. I cannot ascertain the number of mem- bers at the time the meeting was established. Child's Gazetteer says about one hundred, and that they erected a meeting-house that year. Both statements are doubtful. It does not seem probable that there were so many members then, and about that time a marriage ceremony was performed, according to Friends' usage, in a log barn that stood a little south of the house now occu- pied and owned by Susan Rogers. If there was a meeting-house then, why was the marriage not in it? On the 5th of 12th month," 181I, "Cornelius Halbut [Hurlburt], of Ferrisburgh, and Timothy Rogers, of the town of Mark- ham, on Duffin's Creek in Upper Canada, deeded to Nathan C. Hoag, of Char- lotte, and Jonathan Holmes, of Monkton, one and one-half acres of land for the sole use, benefit and behoof of the Monkton Monthly Meeting of Friends." This is where the old Friends' meeting-house stood, built, perhaps, some years
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before the land was deeded. It was a barn-like, two-storied structure with shingled sides, if I remember right, with a partition running through the mid- dle, having movable shutters, that were closed during the progress of " meet- ings for business," while the men-Friends and the women-Friends, always sitting apart, transacted the business belonging to either sex. The building was bought by the Orthodox Friends and utilized by them in the construction of their meeting-house in 1860. The rough old door-stones still lie in their old places among the many unmarked graves of past generations of Friends. There is nothing on the records that I have examined as to who were "rec- ommended ministers" at this time. Whoever was "moved by the spirit" preached, and it was not uncommon for meetings of worship to be held in per- fect silence. Joseph and Huldah Hoag and Clark Stevens were some of the early preachers of the society here. One day, while at work in his fields, Joseph Hoag beheld a "vision" of dire calamities that were to befall this country. It was thought by many then, and is by some now, to have been truly prophetic. Thomas R. Hazard, a prominent Spiritualist, has had it republished several times in the newspapers.
About 1828 a controversy arose concerning matters of Scriptural belief, and was attended by all the bitterness of spirit that religious dissensions usually are. It resulted in a separation. Of the members of this meeting two hun- dred and eighty-two took the orthodox side, one hundred and ninety-two the " Hicksite," so called because Elias Hicks was the most prominent preacher of its unorthodox doctrine. It is not to be understood that there were nearly so many Friends resident here, but all were members of this meeting; some lived as far south as Shoreham, some as far north as Canada, some in Lincoln and Starksboro, some in Monkton and Charlotte, and all minors were enumerated, being "birthright members." Both parties held to the fundamental principles of early Friends, the attendance on the "inner light," non-resistance, plainness in speech and dress, testimony against hireling ministry, etc. Simply stated,
the orthodox Friends were Trinitarians, the others were Unitarians.
The
latter continued to hold their meetings in the old meeting-house till 1843 or a little later, when their numbers had dwindled to a handful. Thomas Whalley was their last minister. The orthodox Friends built a meeting-house on land afterward, in 1831, deeded to them by Abraham Rogers, and situated near his dwelling house. It was a low and rather long structure, and from its peculiar shape, and perhaps from its holding "the salt of the earth" on First and Fifth- days, was sometimes called the " salt-box." It is yet standing, but unused. Nathan C. Hoag, son of Joseph and Huldah, was a prominent minister among the orthodox Friends, and so were some of his brothers and at least one sister.
The society numbers now sixty or more members, still holding to the name of Friends, but not to the forms, and hardly in the spirit that was adhered to and professed by early Friends. Their meetings are regularly held in their
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
meeting-house on the main road, a little south of Lewis Creek lower falls. It was built in 1860 at a cost of $1,000. Seneca Hazard and Elizabeth Dakin are the oldest ministers.
CHAPTER XXI.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF GOSHEN.
T HE town of Goshen, situated on the southern boundary of Addison county, is bounded on the north by Ripton, on the east by Hancock and Roch- ester, south by Chittenden, and on the west by Brandon, Leicester and Salis- bury. The town was granted by New Hampshire on the 23d of February, 1782, though the charter was not obtained until February 2, 1792. It entitled John Powell, William Douglass and sixty-three others to 13,000 acres. A new charter was granted on the Ist of November, 1798, by which two gores lying in Caledonia county, seventy miles away, containing respectively 2,828 and 7,339 acres, were added to the original territory, thus forming a disunited town- ship containing 23,167 acres. The inhabitants soon began to realize, however, that either of the gores might properly be organized into a separate town and enact proceedings which could not be invalidated. Accordingly, the Legisla- ture soon passed an act legalizing the organization of the 13,000 acres into a township. The gores in Caledonia county nominally belonged to Goshen until 1854, when they were severed from it by the Legislature. On the 9th of No- vember, 1814, eleven thousand acres from the north part of Philadelphia were annexed to Goshen, and on the Ist of November, 1820, the north part of this town was annexed to Ripton. The next and last change was effected on the IOth of November, 1847 by the annexation of a part of this town to Rochester.
The surface of the town is high and rocky, being contained wholly within the bosom of the Green Mountains. The geological formation is principally gneiss and quartz rock, while iron ore and the oxide of manganese exist to some extent. There are, nevertheless, many valleys in Goshen, with alluvial soil easily susceptible of cultivation, on which are raised considerable quanti- ties of wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, Indian corn, potatoes and hay. The in- dustry of the town is almost wholly agricultural, and is devoted chiefly to the dairy and wool-growing interests. Large quantities of maple sugar are also made annually, the maple having an extensive growth here. The other varie- ties of timber are pine, hemlock, spruce, oak, beech and birch, the deciduous trees prevailing.
Sucker Brook and Mill Brook constitute the chief drainage, the former rising in the northeastern part of the town and following a westerly course into Sal- isbury, while the latter rises near the central part and flows northwesterly into
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the town of Brandon. These streams, with their tributaries, also afford a num- ber of good mill privileges.
Owing to the unpromising nature of the town, and its seemingly inaccessi- ble situation, it was not settled very early. The first settler in that portion an- nexed from Philadelphia was Phineas Blood, whose arrival is dated the year 1806. The first child born in town was Roswell W. Mason, born March II, 18II. The first settler on the territory of Goshen as it was originally char- tered was Jabesh Olmsted, who located in March, 1807, on lot fifty, one-half of which Nathan Capen afterwards occupied. His wife had been sick for some time, but by reason of his desire to reach the place in sugar time, he brought her to the half-finished log cabin on a bed, with the assistance of three other men. He was soon after arrested and imprisoned in the Middlebury jail for debt, where he died only a day or two after he had expected to rejoin his family.
Jonathan Olmsted, one of his sons, afterwards lived on the farm, which was occupied at a later date by Benjamin Phelps. His other son, Henry, lived on the place now occupied by Barnd Overbeek. Jabesh was an exhorter. His grandson, Wolcott Baird, jr., lives in Goshen at the present time.
The hardships of the first settlers in Goshen exceeded those of nearly every other town in the county. The pioneers were obliged to buy their grain of farmers in adjoining towns, carrying it home on their backs. They usually paid for it in day labor. Joseph Carlisle and William, jr., once traveled three days before they could buy a bushel of grain.
Phineas Blood, before mentioned, was three and a quarter years in the Rev- olution. After he came to Philadelphia in 1806 he conceived the idea of an- nexing the north part of Philadelphia to Goshen, when it was organized. He built a log house in each of four different lots and sold them, after which he erected a frame house for himself. All this was accomplished before 1820. He was the second representative of the town in 1815-16, and for five or six years a justice of the peace. He died September 10, 1822; his widow survived until recent years and died in Wisconsin. He lived on the farm now owned by his grandson, Otis Blood, and Jacob Cary, his granddaughter's husband. Maria, wife of Jacob Cary, and the widow of Silas Gale, are the only descendants now in town. Otis Blood lives with his sister in New Haven. Other descendants are residing in Illinois and Iowa.
Reuben Grandey was an active soldier for seven and a half years in the Rev- olutionary War. He came to Goshen in 1809 and settled on the place now occupied by John Persons. Numan Allen is his grandson. Reuben Grandey died April 30, 1819, and was the first person buried in the cemetery now in use here.
Abiathar Pollard, another Revolutionary soldier, took part in the battle of Red Bank, and was one of the four hundred men under Colonel Greene who
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
defended Fort Mercer and fired sixty rounds of cartridge before the enemy re- tired. He died in December, 1813, at the house of Nathan Capen, and was the first adult who died in town. He was buried near the west line of lot number fifty, by the roadside. No headstone marks his burial place. He was related to the Grandeys.
James Cowen, who had served for a time in the Revolution, came to Goshen in 1823. He was a man of piety and of wonderful memory. It has been said that he could repeat the texts of every sermon he had heard for forty years, and could repeat verbatim a discourse two days after its delivery. He was in re- ligious belief a Restorationist. His death occurred on the 13th of May, 1845, at the age of eighty-one. He occupied a piece of land north of the burying- ground and across the brook.
Noah Allen came here in 1809 and lived on the place now owned by Bur- gess Field, though all the buildings have been removed. He was one of the selectmen chosen when the town was organized, and held the office a number of years. He was chiefly remarkable for his generous disposition, which brought him the enviable title of "father of the town." He and his six sons have been among the foremost men of the town during its entire history. He died on the 20th of May, 1844. Numan Allen, his son, is now a prominent citizen of Goshen.
Griswold Davis came to Goshen in the spring of 1811; was elected first selectman at the first town meeting in 1814; in May of the same year was ap- pointed a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in September was chosen representative to the General Assembly. In 1815 he removed to Yates, N. Y., where he recently died.
Nathan Capen, from Boone's Station, Mass., came here December 10, 1810, and settled near Jabesh Olmstead's place on the town line between Philadelphia and Goshen. At the organization of the town he was elected town clerk, which position was accorded him twenty-eight successive years. He was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of June 1828; was representative of the town for six years following 1831, and was for years an active justice of the peace. He died much respected on the 12th of March, 1852, aged sixty-six years. The only descendants of Nathan Capen now in town are Nathan, his son, and Mi- nerva, wife of Numan Allen. Charles, another son, lives in Breedville, Mich., and Asenath, a daughter, widow of Justus N. Dart, lives in Monticello, Wis .; John, a son, died in Forestdale in January, 1878, aged fifty-nine years. Nathan Capen, jr., was born in Goshen April 28, 1815. In 1863 he bought his present farm of William Carlisle. On the 14th of March, 1839, he married Rebecca Hooker, and has now a family of three children-Nathan Sidney, Ida Eliza- beth and Cornelius R. Ford Capen. Mr. Capen has been town clerk of Goshen for some time, and rendered valuable assistance in the compilation of this chapter.
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TOWN OF GOSHEN.
Abiathar Knapp, the first settled minister in town, came in 1822, and on the 9th of December of that year reorganized the Christian Church here. He preached in Goshen eight years. In September, 1830, he was chosen town rep- resentative, but soon after removed to New York. His place of residence was about one-fourth of a mile north of James Cowen. Mary, daughter of Eli Knapp, and wife of Andrew S. Brown, is a granddaughter of Abiathar Knapp and the only one of his descendants in town.
Josiah Brown and Perley Green reached Goshen in 1819 from Brookfield, Vt. Joseph Carlisle, the second settler in town, came in 1808, and lived on part of the place now owned and occupied by John White. He was the son of William Carlisle, and brother of William, jr. He was an honest, hard-working man, and for years was considered the best leader in vocal music in Goshen. He died in Michigan in September, 1859, aged seventy-seven years. His eld- est son, Mial, the first male child born in town (spring of 1810), now lives in Rochester, Vt. Another son, Amasa, lives near Ticonderoga, N. Y. No de- scendants now live in Goshen. His brother, William Carlisle, jr., came in 1816 and succeeded Lemuel Toby in the occupation of the place next north of Abi- athar Knapp. He raised a large family. He was remarkable for his power of relating anecdotes. He died May II, 1858, aged seventy-nine; his wife died three days later, aged seventy-four. His son William, and daughter Deborah Beckhorn, now live in Forestdale. Other descendants are in Wisconsin.
Benjamin Phelps settled in 1813 on the first place west of the Methodist Church, now occupied by James McGibbins. He was a consistent and active Christian ; he died July 5, 1857, aged eighty-nine years ; his wife died Decem- ber 25, 1856, aged eighty-seven years. She and Triphenia Shedd were the two oldest persons ever deceased in town. Elmira, widow of Orris Allen, is daughter of Benjamin Phelps and his only descendant in Goshen. James Phelps, his grandson, lives in Brandon.
Lemuel Toby has already been mentioned as the predecessor of William Carlisle, jr., on the farm north of Abiathar Knapp. His daughter Lydia be- came the wife of Simeon C. Davis.
David Ayer settled west of the place now owned and occupied by Barnd Overbeek. Arnold, Hiram and Edward Ayer, his grandsons, are still residents of Goshen.
James Fitts was an early resident on the place where John White now lives. One son and a daughter now reside in Salisbury.
Anthony Baker originally located on the place now occupied by Albia Ayer, the "Martin Allen " place. He afterward bought out John Naples in the north part of the town. His son, Loren H. Baker, is the present town clerk of Ripton. He has also two sons in Forestdale and other descendants in the West.
William Jones was an early settler in that part of the town afterward set off to Rochester, where his son Lynn now lives.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
William Robbins and Jonathan Kendall lived on the east side of the moun- tain. Kendall built and for a time operated a forge there, but became heavily involved and was compelled, it is said, to leave.
Daniel Hooker was an early settler on the place now owned by Riley Blodgett and Thomas J. Hooker. He died December 6, 1860, leaving de- scendants surviving as follows: Thomas J. Hooker and Joseph Hooker, of Goshen, sons; Jane, wife of Riley Blodgett; Rebecca, wife of Nathan Capen, and Susan, wife of James Washburn, of Goshen; Mary, wife of John Kenna ; Sally, wife of Noah E. Bisbee, of Brandon, and Lavina, wife of S. Jones, in Missouri.
Jonathan Bagley lived on the place now owned by Nathan Capen, on the old mountain road.
Francis Brown came here in 1819 and settled on the farm now owned by Romeo M. Brown, a grandson of Francis's brother John. Mary, widow of Francis Brown 2d, was daughter of Francis Brown above named, having been married to her cousin. Francis Brown 2d, born in Rochester, Vt., on the 29th of September, 1797, came to Goshen in 1822 and located on the place now occupied by his widow, Mary Brown, in Goshen South Hollow. He served the town three years as representative and nearly fifty years as justice of the peace. E. J., Andrew S. and Dan B., his sons, now live in town. Francis Brown 2d died February 22, 1883, aged eighty-five years.
Robert Mason settled on the place which still goes by his name, now occu- pied by Charles Washburn. Samuel Robbins lived on the east side of the mountain.
Nathaniel Belknap, who attained some prominence in the community, lived on the place now owned by Jared L. Snow. Mrs. Almon G. Baker and Mrs. Stephen Salles, of Forestdale, are his daughters.
Amos Sawyer settled on the hill north of Barnd Overbeek's present resi- dence.
Lazarus Cary, son of Theodore Cary, lived south of the Wolcott Baird place ; he went West years ago.
John Coombs lived for a time on the line between lot number fifty and the place now occupied by John Fersons ; he was something of a pettifogger, but not owning any real property, and not being considered self-sustaining, he was warned out of town at an early day.
Isaac Gale lived at a very early day on the place west of the farm after- wards occupied by Reuben Allen. The town organization was effected on the 29th of March, 1814, the meeting having been warned by Henry Olin, of Leicester, there being no justice of the peace any nearer, and was held at the house of Simeon C. Davis. The following officers were then chosen : Samuel White, moderator; Nathan Capen, town clerk ; Grindal Davis, Noah Allen, and Anthony Baker, selectmen; Joseph Davis, treasurer ; Anthony Baker, col-
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lector and constable; Joseph Davis, grand juror ; Simeon C. Davis and Nathan Capen, fence viewers ; Joseph Carlisle, pound-keeper ; Mial Carlisle, sealer of weights and measures ; Nathan Capen, tithingman ; Grindal Davis, James Fitts, Anthony Baker, Hendrick Hyer, surveyors of highways; Henry Olmsted and Lemuel Toby, haywards.
Proceedings were at once set on foot for the purchase of a burying-ground, which culminated in the buying of the one still used by the town, the report of the committee having been accepted on the 10th of June, 1814.
At a meeting held at the house of Simeon C. Davis, on Tuesday, March 3I, the following proceedings were enacted : Voted to raise fifteen dollars to defray town charges and one hundred dollars for making and repairing high- ways.
Among other internal improvements the construction of roads was an im- portant consideration. The road from Philadelphia to Ripton (the original proprietors' road) had been substantially completed before 1807. The old turnpike past the present residence of Nathan Capen to Rochester was finished in the fall of 1838. The other highways of Goshen were opened at an earlier date.
Thus the settlement and improvement of this little town increased. New arrivals frequently made their homes in town until in 1815 the list of voters was placed on record as follows: Jonathan Olmsted, Lemuel Toby, David Ayer, Joseph Carlisle, Reuben Grandey, Benjamin Phelps, James Fitts, William Carlisle, Anthony Baker, William Jones, Willard Robbins, Jonathan Kendall, Daniel Hooker, Jonathan Bagley, Robert Mason, Samuel Robbins, Henry Olmsted, Nathan Capen, John White, Nathaniel Belknap, Amos Sawyer, Laz- arous Cary, Mial Carlisle, John Coombs.
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