USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 55
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 55
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Georgia at the outbreak of the War of 1812 had three militia com- panies, all of which were at some time called into the service of the United States. The rolls of all these men were "spirited " away by pension agents when the government first began to grant pensions for that service, and never returned. A company of "troopers," or rather a small detachment from such a company, did service principally as bearers of dispatches in Northern New York for a period of nearly sixty days, but not long enough to entitle the members to a pension for sixty days. Several of them received bounty land, however, among whom only Abner Bliss and Osmond Lamb are positively identified at the present time. There is proof of the transfer by these two of bounty warrants for forty acres each, and subsequently another for the res- idue of 160 acres each under a later act of Congress. Captain Jesse Post with a small company was at Plattsburgh in 1813 at the time Governor Martin Chittenden issued a proclamation calling the militia home. Among the signers of the "protest," in which the offi- cers refused to return until duly discharged by the authority of the United States, appear the names of Elijah Dee, jr., major, and Hira Hill, surgeon's mate, from this town. A considerable number of volun- teers were present at Plattsburgh at the time of the battle, and several others were left along the way for lack of means of getting across the lake. Those who reached the west shore of South Hero organized a company with Elijah Dee, jr., as captain ; Jesse Post, lieutenant ; Sey - mour Eggleston, ensign; and Alvah Sabin, orderly sergeant. On their
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TOWN OF GEORGIA.
arrival at Plattsburgh the organization was changed by promoting Cap- tain Dee to the office of major, and Lieutenant Post to the captaincy. They were then marched to the fort, where they were supplied with arms. But it appears they took no active part in the battle and soon returned.
A company of the militia from Georgia was called into service for a short period during the "Radical war " in Canada to guard the frontier. Georgia also furnished its full quota of men during the Southern Re- bellion. That most gallant Vermont officer, General George J. Stan- nard, was a native of Georgia, but had long been a resident of St. Albans before entering the country's service.
John White was the first citizen of Georgia to hold an official position. At the time of his removal from Arlington he was an assistant judge, or " assistant " as they were generally called for short at that time, an office which he had held since 1783, four years. When Chittenden county was organized in 1787 he was the first assistant judge appointed for that county, and held the office, except in 1793, until the organiza- tion of Franklin county in 1796, in all seven years. On the organiza- tion of Franklin county he was again the first assistant judge for that county, and continued in office two years, making in all thirteen years of continuous service in the three counties with the break of one year in Chittenden county. As assistant judge he organized, under the laws of the state, this and a considerable number of the other towns in this part of Vermont. At the second town meeting he was elected moderator, first selectman, and treasurer of the town, and from that time on was almost invariably elected to some prominent office until in old age he declined to serve longer. He was elected to the legislature in the years 1790, 1794, and 1800, but in 1794, having also been elected a member of the Council, he served in that body, and the town was un- represented in the House. In 1793 he was a candidate for member of the Council and declared elected, but on the 14th of October, four days after he had taken his seat, errors in the canvas of the votes were dis- covered and Jacob Bayley, of Newbury, was found entitled to the seat in his stead. His service in the Council was from 1794 until 1798 and from 1801 until 1808-eleven years. He was a member of the Council of Censors in 1792 and 1799; of the Constitutional Convention in 1791 and 1793 ; and a presidential elector in 1808.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Frederic Bliss was born in Weston (now Warren), Mass., July 15, 1763, and became practically the first settler of Georgia in his twenty- second year and actual resident in his twenty-third year. On the or- ganization of the town in 1788 he was elected constable, and from that time to his death he was almost constantly in some public position. When he was first made a justice of the peace does not appear, but he early acquired the title of " Esquire Bliss," and was almost always known by that name, even in important official documents. He was elected assistant judge for Franklin county in 1804 and held the office till 1813, and again from 1815 to 1818, twelve years in all. In 1813 he was judge of probate instead of county judge, but in connection with his many other cares the duties of the office were onerous and he declined a re-election. He was councilor from 1809 to 1813 and from 1815 to 1819; delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1814; and town representative in 1819.
Alvah Sabin was born in Georgia, October 23, 1793. His father, Ben- jamin Sabin, was always spoken of as from Williamstown, Mass., although his residence was just over the line in Pownal, Vt. His mother, Polly McMaster, was from Williamstown, a daughter of Robert McMaster, niece of Mrs. Stephen Davis, and cousin of the Bliss brothers and others of the " Williamstown contingent." Mr. Sabin came to Georgia in 1790 or 1791, bought and opened his farm, and in January, 1792, returned to Williamstown for his wife. He died May 11, 1796, leaving her a widow with two sons, Alvah and Daniel, one two years of age, the other six months. Alvah's mother was again married in November, 1797, and again widowed in August, 1800. The family now consisted of his mother, himself, his brother, and a half-sister, and another half-sister was born a few months later. Alvah was now seven years old, as ambitious to learn as his mother was to have him, and as willing to help her in all the numerous cares that fell to her lot. The opportunities for schooling were meager but well improved, and with the aid his mother was able to render he made rapid progress. Picking up what help he could, here and there, and always giving much credit to the crowded condition of the school and the stimulating effect of competition, he early became a teacher himself. His ambition had much influence in the organization of a series of select schools in town which were helpful, and he struggled
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TOWN OF GEORGIA.
on until he finally was graduated from Columbian College in Philadelphia, and became a minister of the gospel. He became a successful preacher, was employed from time to time by several different boards or societies, and supplied churches of his denomination in several places, notably Cam- bridge, Underhill, and Westford. He was ordained pastor of the Baptist church in Georgia in September, 1821. In 1826 he was elected to repre- sent the town in the legislature, and from that time onward was much en- gaged in politics. His earliest active political associations were with the anti-Masons. Later he became much interested in the anti-slavery cause, and was for one year employed as an agent by the State Anti- Slavery Society. He was not, however, a political Abolitionist, although he was a delegate to the first National .Anti-Slavery Convention. He was for nearly forty years almost continuously in office, as shown by the following lists which are the best evidence which can be presented of the very high esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens, not of the town only, but of the county, the congressional district, and the state of Vermont. But above all the honors and emoluments of office he esteemed the many friendships he had formed in public life, and it was his fondest boast that he had at least one personal friend in every town in Vermont. He removed to Sycamore, Ill., in 1867, but subsequently returned to Georgia and acted as stated supply to the church with which he had so long been connected, until the autumn of 1876. He died at Sycamore in January, 1881, and was buried beside his mother in Georgia.
Town Clerks .- Reuben Evarts, 1788-95; Luman Graves, 1795-1809; Abel Blair, 1809-19; Roswell Hutchins, 1819-20; Ira Hinckley, jr., 1820-34; Solomon Bliss, jr., 1834-37 ; Lorenzo Janes, 1837-50; Au- gustus H. Blair, 1850-53 ; Nathan Deane, 1853-55; Curtis M. Post, 1855-78; Mary B. Post, 1878-87; Lorenzo A. Post, 1887.
Town Representatives .- James Evarts, 1788 ; Daniel Stannard, 1789, 1792 ; John White, 1790, 1800 ; Benjamin Holmes, 1791, 1795, 1797, 1801, 1803-04, 1809-10, 1812-13; Levi House, 1793; Reuben Evarts, 1796; Stephen Fairchild, jr., 1798; Francis Davis, 1799, 1802; John White, jr., 1805; Sardius Blodgett, 1806-08 ; Elijah Dee, jr., 1811,
Note .- The town was not represented in 1794, 1818, 1833-34, and 1888. John White was elected representative in 1794, but, having been elected councilor also, his seat in the House was vacant and the town unrepresented.
74
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
1814, 1821-22, 1824, 1828-29, 1836-37 ; Hira Hill, 1815; Solomon Bliss, 1816-17, 1832; Frederic Bliss, 1819; Joel Barber, jr., 1820, 1825, 1827; Ira Hinckley, jr., 1823, 1841; Alvah Sabin, 1826, 1835, 1838, 1840, 1847-49, 1851, 1861-62 ; Decius R. Bogue, 1830-31; William K. Warner, 1839; Lorenzo Janes, 1842; Solomon Bliss, jr., 1843-44; Isaac P. Clark, 1845-46, 1850; David P. Clark, 1852 ; Reu- ben S. Shepard, 1853; Cyrus Hotchkiss, 1854-55 ; George W. Rans- low, 1856; Moses Wightman, 1857-58, 1874; Curtis M. Post, 1859- 60; Hiram H. Hale, 1863-64; Benjamin F. Sabin, 1865 ; Abel Bliss, 1866-67; Joseph Purmort, 1868-69; Cephas A. Hotchkiss, 1870, 1876; William A. Caldwell, 1872; Ephraim Mills, 1878; James K. Curtis, 1880; Reuben E. Wilcox, 1882; Oscar B. Johnson, 1884; Lorenzo A. Post, 1886; Ephraim L. Ladd, 1890.
Georgia Academy .- Large families of children were fashionable in the earlier days of Vermont, and as a natural result the schools were large and crowded, and the means and methods of instruction were necessarily such that barely the rudiments of education were obtainable in the pub- lic schools. Ira Allen, though unable by reason of adverse fortune to carry out all his intentions and promises, was practically the founder of the University of Vermont, and by that means provision was early made for a collegiate education. But there was still no provision of law for supplying the means of obtaining the higher elementary and prepara- tory instruction. Private instruction by some minister or lawyer was eagerly sought by aspiring young men. In Georgia Minister Bogue and Lawyer Child with all their many other cares were helpful, but far from able to satisfy the many demands upon them, and they lent their aid to the young men in establishing a series of select schools taught by some under-graduate from the college at Burlington, or elsewhere. These were held in any vacant room which could be obtained for the purpose, a vacant store belonging to Capt. N. B. Torrey at the "north end " being the first, and the old red "Downs store," recently removed and converted into a dwelling at the "south end," being the principal seats of the school until the brick school-house was erected in 1827. While the district was building that house for its own use, and after it was well under way, it was suggested by a thoughtful citizen that a second story might be super-added for the select school, which had now come to be
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TOWN OF GEORGIA.
considered a necessary and established institution of the town. The district consented with the understanding that the extra expense should be met by subscription, and that the building when completed should be and remain forever the property of the district and subject to its control. In other words the subscribers should not by reason of their sub- scriptions obtain any property right in or control of the building. In short the district was determined to effectually bar any such strife as had resulted from the mixed ownership in the meeting-house.
The Georgia Select School here for the first time had a home, and it at once, though in comparatively restricted quarters, became much the most popular school of its class in the county, though dependent wholly upon tuitions for its support. There was no act of incorporation, no authoritative board of control, but a few citizens by common consent ap- pointed a prudential committee, and they in turn appointed Dr. Horace P. Blair as secretary, which practically invested him with the entire management of the school. The school flourished until 1838, when the feeling became quite general that its quarters were too restricted, and that some more ample provision must be made for it. After much deliberation among the more prominent of its friends and supporters an act of incorporation was procured from the legislature, under date of November 5, 1838, and an attempt was made to erect a new house on land which Thomas Northrop proposed to donate for the purpose, just south of the old school-house. Objections to the site sprang up, and it was proposed to locate it on the land deeded to the proprietors of the meeting-house by Colonel Holmes, but it was found that his deed pro- hibited the erection of any other building upon that land. Other sites were proposed and the result was that the project fell through. Mr. Northrop, without waiting to dispose of his property, closed his house and removed to Burlington. Others, heretofore active supporters of the school, withdrew their support, and it now began to run down and finally became practically extinct, although the organization, by the active efforts of Dr. Blair, was kept up. From 1839 to 1851 there was occa- sionally a term of school, but the institution was practically dead. In 185I an attempt was made to erect a new building, which finally culmi- nated in obtaining leave of such of the proprietors of the meeting- house as could be found to do off rooms in the upper story of that building
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
for the use of the academy. A formal transfer of the rights of these proprietors to the meeting-house was obtained; a subscription of $696 raised and collected; the house was fitted up and supplied with such apparatus as could be obtained ; and in 1852 the school was again in operation with a full corps of teachers and a large attendance of scholars. For four or five years it continued to flourish, but the graded school sys- tem in the neighboring towns began to draw off the patronage of the academy and other causes conspired with this to lessen the support till it became no longer able to keep up a sufficient attendance to support the school through the year, and it again fell into decadence. The cor- poration is kept in existence, and the house in fair condition for occu- pancy. A school is maintained a part of each year by some person who is willing to take the risk of collecting sufficient tuition to remunerate him for his labor in getting it up and running it. It exerted a wide and beneficent influence in its day, and its past history still inspires its friends to hope that it may yet be rejuvenated. An active educational interest has been aroused among the people, the best class of school- houses are being erected in the several districts, and many eyes are turned with hope toward " the old academy." A complete list of the teachers might be of much interest to former pupils, but although the names of many of them are obtainable a full and correct list is not, and it is thought best to omit them altogether.
The Congregational Church .- The first sermon preached in Georgia was by Rev. Mr. Murdock, Congregationalist, of Saybrook, Conn., from whence came several of the families of the town. In 1793 a Congrega- tional church was organized by Rev. Mr. Smith, a missionary, consist- ing of the following members : William Post, Keziah Post, Elijah Dee, Miriam Dee, Nathaniel Perry, Benjamin Sabin, Abraham Hatheway, Hannah Hatheway, Ira Hinckley, Elizabeth Hinckley, Sarah Evarts, Alice Cushman, Anna Ballard, Benedict Alvord, Molly Naramore, Daniel Lay, and Edward Giffin. During the controversy over settling a minister over this church under the statutes of the state, elsewhere al- luded to, several different ministers officiated on trial or as stated supply for short periods. Among these were Mr. Babbitt, Mr. Collins, Mr. Bliss, Mr. Prentice, Mr. Sabin, and others. The Rev. Publius Virgil- ius Booge (or Bogue, as the name has been spelled since about that time),
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TOWN OF GEORGIA.
of Winchester, Conn., a graduate of Yale College, was settled over the church in 1803 and filled the pastorate until October 20, 1813. For two years subsequent to the dismissal of Mr. Booge the church was without a pastor. October 10, 1815, the church and society extended a call to Eben H. Dorman, a licentiate, to settle over them and the church in Fairfax and divide the time between the two. He accepted the call and was ordained November 15, 1815. He was dismissed from Fairfax, December 22, 1823, at the solicitation of the church in Georgia, with a view to devoting his entire time to the interests of that church, but was dismissed from that also on his own request on the third day of the following November. The church was without a pastor until July 21, 1828, when Rev. Luther P. Blodgett was installed as such. It had, in the meantime, enjoyed the pastoral services of Rev. Dana Lamb, a resident of the town and student in the University of Vermont, under whose ministrations fifty-one persons entered into fellowship with the church. Mr. Blodgett was dismissed March 4, 1830. The anti- Ma- sonic excitement which was sweeping over the country at that time struck the church like a modern cyclone and dashed it in pieces. The anti-Masonic element was ascendant, and maintained the organization and held the house of worship, but having lost fellowship with neighbor- ing churches it was unable to obtain a minister. The conservatives proceeded at once to organize a new church, erect a new house of wor- ship, and call the Rev. George W. Ranslow to the pastorate. The house was dedicated in the winter of 1832-33, and Mr. Ranslow installed June 13, 1833. July 12, 1837, the two churches were united as " one indivisible church under the name of the Congregational Church in Georgia." The union was, however, more formal than real. But few of the anti-Masons ever fully accepted the terms of union; some re- moved elsewhere and others joined other denominations. Mr. Ranslow was dismissed January 31, 1855, after a suecessful pastorate of over twenty-two years. Rev. George E. Sanborne, a licentiate of Andover Seminary, was ordained pastor January 1, 1857, and dismissed April 9 1861. Rev. C. C. Torrey was installed December 16, 1868, and dis- missed after a pastorate of three or four years. Between and since these several pastorates the church and society have generally maintained a preaching service with either a temporary or stated supply. The Rev.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Charles W. Clark, a native of the town, has been acting pastor since 1877. The meeting- house has recently (1891) been reconstructed and repaired in more modern style and the most thorough manner.
The Baptist Church .- Although there were few Baptists then in town a church of that faith was organized October 21, 1793, and Colonel Ben- jamin Holmes and Ephraim Lewis were ordained deacons. Whether they had previously maintained any public service does not appear, but Rev. Roswell Mears became pastor of the church in 1807. At a special town meeting held November 10th of that year the town voted to di- rect the selectmen to deed to " the Baptists in Georgia sixty-five acres of land off the east end of the lot that lies near Isaac Maxfield's " as a part of the minister's right. Their claim to a share of the land had been pressed from time to time all through the controversy over that question, and had been before the town several times since the arrange- ment with Mr. Booge was consummated on the plea that it was pledged to them whenever the town should obtain possession of it. That bone of contention now having been removed by the final action of the town another arose. The Congregationalists had heretofore had the unre- stricted use of "the meeting-house." Now the Baptists, having obtained a minister of their own, claimed the right to use it half the time. This was denied by the other party, and a bitter contest over the question was finally settled by dividing the use of the house in proportion to the ownership of the two denominations and their respective adherents. The Congregationalists then bought a store on the southwest of the four corners at the south end of the village, and fitted it up for a "conference house." This was found so much more convenient and comfortable than the large house that most of their meetings were thereafter held there until the erection of the brick meeting-house in 1832, but they reserved their right to use the old house as they had occasion. The Baptists also found the old house too large for comfortable occupancy, and after the brick school-house was built in 1827 they used for some time the upper story, or select school room, for their meetings. From 1833 the Con - gregationalists relinquished the use of the meeting. house entirely, and the Baptists, who had a few years before put stoves into it, continued sole occupants until about 1847, when they erected a new and commodious house at the "Plain," and also abandoned the old house. Elder Mears
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TOWN OF GEORGIA.
retained the pastorate until 1825, when Elder Alvah Sabin became asso- ciated with him and preached half of the time. In 1828 Elder Sabin became pastor and retained the relation until 1867, when he removed to Illinois. At several different times during his pastorate he was absent for protracted periods of time and others supplied his place. Rev. N. H. Downs occupied that position during a year that he was in the service of the State Convention, Rev. E. B. Smith a part or all of the time of his absence as member of Congress, and others at other times. Be- tween 1870 and 1876 Elder Sabin preached to the church, over which he had so long been pastor, as stated supply. Since 1876 Rev. Joseph G. Lorimer has been pastor. In 1886 the meeting-house at the Plain was destroyed by fire and another more modern and elegant edifice was built in its stead. The society is in a prosperous condition.
The Methodist Episcopal Church has an organized society in Georgia which is united with a like society in North Fairfax for the support of the various services and institutions of that church. No records of its organization or early history are to be found. A commodious house of worship was built in Georgia about 1847, in which services have been maintained with regularity since that time. It has a comfortable par- sonage. The membership is not large, but it sustains all its relations creditably.
The Emmanuel Protestant Episcopal Church and Mission are pleasantly located at East Georgia, on the River Lamoille and near the railroad station. Some seventy-four or six years ago Bishop Stewart, of Que- bec, happened to spend a night not far from the present site of the church. Miss Sarah Ann Hyde, then a little girl of some ten or twelve years of age, waited on him, and the appearance and words of this ven- erable man so deeply impressed her that she never forgot them, and they proved to be as seeds of a rich gospel fruitage in after years. Although born in St. Albans (on May 15, 1804), yet from early childhood East Georgia was always her home, and she ever felt a deep interest in its religious welfare, and especially so as it had no church or regular min- istrations of the gospel. Baptized, confirmed, and a communicant in the Episcopal church, she prized its services and wished to extend their ben- efit to all. She first began a Sunday-school which met in May, 1863, in the " brick school-house on the hill." In May, and again in August,
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
1865, the Rev. Francis W. Smith, of St. Albans, visited the place, preached, and administered holy baptism. In the year 1866 he gave a monthly service, which was afterwards continued some three years, to 1869, by the Rev. John A. Hicks, D.D. From 1869 to 1871 the Rev. J. B, Pitman held a semi-monthly service. From 1871 to 1875 the Rev. F. W. Smith held a weekly service, and in his absence of several months the Rev. N. F. Putnam, of St. Albans, officiated several times. When a clergyman could not be present lay reading was had as oppor- tunity offered. William Curtis Post was a lay reader, probably in 1873-74, under the Rev. Mr. Smith's charge, and he died much la- mented in May, 1874, aged twenty- one years. The Rev. J. Isham Bliss officiated from May, 1875, to May, 1880. The Rev. Gemont Graves began services in May, 1880, and has continued them to the present time. Services have generally been sustained in this mission in connec- tion with those at Trinity mission, Milton. They were generally held in the school-house until the church was built. The work for the new church began in May, 1866, by a subscription drawn up by the Rev. F. W. Smith, whose aid and general charge in its building were simply invaluable. In 1869 a site was obtained in a convenient and central lo- cation. In June, 1871, the corner-stone was laid, five clergymen, be- sides the congregation, being present. On June 20, 1872, the church was consecrated by Bishop Bissell assisted by nine of the clergy and a large congregation.
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