USA > Vermont > Orange County > Newbury > History of Newbury, Vermont, from the discovery of the Coos country to present time > Part 47
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96
Mark of 6% Miles
Whiting's
gove.
1 Clement / CMores
2.
3
4
5
6.
7
8
9
John Pagenye With 12 Bacal
13
14
15
16
17
18
19 Plebe
20 Glebe
March
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
/28
29
32
33
34
35
36
37 38
3,9
40 Range 2nd
it hurts Peter / Which / humich/ Other
Jacob
Smithauf the Shower
Les Rad
41
42
42
44
45
46
47
48
49
52
5.000
54
55
56
59
58
John
Stephen
Little
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
J.J.
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
Range 4 th
₴
Joseph White
Jacob
Sterling Joseph Clens hulet Mesee whathamel facet
Jacob Sonathan rehermel
Uriah
Robert
Chner abril
Joseph
8%
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
J.P. 6.
P. 5
91
92
93
94
95
96
98
100
Semuel facut
Joplin
Barnet Hall
Bagley devant goodway
Johnson
Ut. Connel/ Frys Bul Jonwell
Bayley
Barnet Temple
Temple
101
102
103
1040
105$
106
107
108
109 110
Tamil Hill IP4
P3
111
112
1/3
114
115
116
117
1180
119
120
Range 6 th
Fowler Hunkinddenwurde sterne
Japling Kent Mughal Hughes MYr.Holland
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
164 Dos De 2
P.T.
131
132
133
134
135
136 Ator
137
13.8
139 140
Stephen Peter
Joseph
Jacob
Jacot
Bayle
White
Little
(Rumberlin Sonwill Bayley hurston
141
142
143
144
145
146
14%
148
149
150
P. 2 P. 1 151 152/153
1154
155
156
157 158 159 160
Arhus
white
Chmen
Bayly Byly Johnstone Barnet /W. Wallace
Little
Hagen Next Novade Silvater White - og
chambel fotos Hallway wal und
White
Pange 8th
Helt Lot
Range 15
Groth Little J& Quan Nentwenty Postom
Robert Jacob Jacob Joseph jacob Boyley Bayley White Hall.
Samuel Ancor Barnett Kent
fovundet for sendo
Bailey
Twelve hundred Acres
Glede
Pourra
Chamberlin dorund
White
Range 3rd 60
Hattefil Chemboth Bayley
Fowler Bayley H. Nella
Little
George Clinton, 600 Atres
Comber Stevens
humberto
Joplin
Fowler/Camberlins White
Joplin
Range 5 th
facol ichmich Smother
Thomas StephaneI'm White Achemical!
Mr. Handauf facet
Jacob
firmuel
Talian
William
Jacob
Gmach
CN 60° W
Bayley
Bayley
Junto
Chamberted Barley Bayley Fordung
Ephrem
Jage
John
daphine
Jour
School
Rent
Jacob Clement Kent March
Foster
Beginy 600 Acres
Bayley.
Wil ith Thomas Nehemiah Jacob Movie
Gange 7 th
Bayley By Burgu
White
Bayly Taplin!
White Pourne
Vormann
Fowler Alman White
Jacob/ Jacob /Robert/ Samuel Fage By/Images aplus
Frases Jacob Mehrmal deves Changer fertile
Richard Ariel
march Page
Thomas
Jacob Ktioner
Johnata
to
Faster
Mento
Chase
123 2%
20
Little
Clamberton
5
5
nathande
Little
Stephenões Clarez
mozes Co
Jacob Cas
Kent 00 Little
stened
mount
3637.
38139
Little
In H.
Joseph/ Rendew/ Milim
tı
Bayley
"Buttery's
97 moses Little
Ciment
Robert Kchemical Simeon / John" facol
+
Wo Hat Metyl Josiah
Parsonage
COLEMAN'S MAP OF THE HUNDRED ACRE LOTS. The part beyond Whiting's Gore is now part of Topsham. This map was probably made about 1773. In the original, some of the names were evidently written later.
99
413
MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS.
47. Col. T. Johnson
132. N. Avery & Meader
133. Ebenezer Temple
134. Col. Johnson
135. Asa Tenney
136. Samuel Powers
137. Jona. and Jesse Johnson
138. Horace Stebbins
139. Col. Johnson
56, 57, 58. Col. Little
140. Noah White
141, 142. Col. Johnson
143, 144. Col. Johnson & Ben Porter
145. John Scott
63. Josiah Platt
146. James Johnston
64. John Vance
147. Widow Lovewell
148, 149. Edward Little.
150. Josiah Little
151. J. Little & B. Porter
152. E. Little. Wm & Jas. Wallace
153. Col. J. Bayley
154. J. C. Jones (N. Avery)
155. James Wallace
156. Joel Carbee
157. Col. Wallace
158. Thos. Chamberlin
159. Col. T. Johnson
160. Noah White
80. James Henderson
P. 1 & 2 in 8th range, Col. Little. P. 7 & 8 in 4th range, B. Porter.
P.3 in 8th range, W. B. Bannister P. 9 & 10 in 3d range, Hon. G. Clinton
P. 1 & 2 in 7th range, 3 & 4 in 6th range, J. Little
P. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15. Part of Wither- spoon Tract
P. 5 in 5th range, Col. Little.
Undivided right of Col. Wallace, Abner Newton, John Hugh. Joseph White, Zaccheus Peaslee. James King, Asa Foster, A. Miles, Moses Hazen, John Temple. Atkinson's 500 acres belong to Col. Little. Governor's farm, 500 acres, all Wells River.
Poems enough to fill fifty pages were sent for insertion in this volume. Only one from these is selected for these pages. The mill alluded to has since disappeared.
THE BROOK AND THE MILL.
On its rocky bed 'neath the frowning hill, A relic of time, stands the quaint old mill. In its every aspect it speaks decay And little by little it crumbles away. Here does it sway and there does it sink,
And its gable bows o'er the water's brink ;
While its crazy walls by the winds do sway,
Proclaiming its fall at an early day,
But the brook is the same, all ragged and torn,
That I saw in the dew-time of life's young morn. The stone-built dam in a rocky dell, Where the water, a fleecy curtain fell; Here a little cove where a minie mound Of foam slow circled round and round ;
48. Col. Wallace 49. Col. Little
50, 51. Included in the Clinton Claim
52. Col. Wallace (Clinton Claim) 53. James Henderson
54. Col. Little
55. Col. T. Johnson
59, 60. Joshua & Isaac Bayley 61. J. Little, (sold to McDuffie) 62. J. Little
65. Col. T. Johnson
66. Abraham Brickett
67. Col. T. Johnson
68. Col. Little (sold to Benj. Brock)
69. Benj. Porter
70. Isaac Bayley
71, 72, 73, 74. Col. J. Little
75, 76. Asa Tenney (sold to Mason Randall
77. Dr White & Joseph Chamberlin
78. J. Little (sold to John Strong)
79. Col. Johnson
414
HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
And the laughing easeade, where the strcam with glee Leaped into a miniature milky sea; Next a shelving roek did the stream assail
And rippled down like a bridal veil, Deep down in the shady pool below, Where cireled the whirlpool eups of snow. Tortured and twisted, it onward falls,
With anger it lashes its roeky walls ;
Rioting, roaring, with demon will, And white with fury it reaches the mill,
Then passing the mill, in its headlong fray,
It rolls on the meadow serenely away,
Or idles about, 'neath the alders cool, Like a tardy loiterer whipped to school. How I watched its waters, that down did reel, And like demon dashed at the trembling wheel; Then, groaning with age and erazed with pain, The old mill rushed to its work again. Thus on did it toil, with a weakening will, Till a sad day eame to the poor old mill, When, deaf to the water's taunt and roar,
How oft, by the brookside I happily sat, With seatless pants and with rimless hat, And a worm on a bended pin did throw To the trout, in the years of long ago.
Full oft, with that shattered rimless erown,
The wheel stood still to be turned no more.
With water I filled up the pot-holes brown, That the eddy of ages had worn adown,
How oft in the night, when the storm did pour,
Did I 'waken and listen to hear it roar, As all white and ghostly it rushed adown
With a voiee that the thunder searee eould drown,
Here the hill looks down with an aspeet stern, Beetling with bowlders, fringed with fern, And the trees, 'mong whose branches and roots I played, Still over the stream fling their grateful shade; Resisting the flood's and the wind's rough shock, Those giant claws, how they grasp the roek ; Triumphant o'er all, how they hold their place, With foes fieree assailing both top and base. Though old was the brook in the mill's young day, Still young is the brook in the mill's deeay ; The mill will pass as a fleeting dream And the bridge drop piece-meal into the stream ; The bowlders, around which the waters play, Will to pebbles be worn and swept away, But the brook, without break in a single line, Will sing its song till the end of time.
November, 1888.
W. P.
PART II.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND
FAMILY RECORDS
27
-
KNOX MOUNTAIN, ORANGE.
BLUE MOUNTAIN, RYEGATE. HARVEY'S MOUNTAIN, BARNET.
WELLS RIVER VALLEY.
CONNECTICUT VALLEY. BARNET VILLAGE.
MOUNT GARDNER. WELLS RIVER
PANORAMIC VIEW FROM KING'S HILL.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES AND FAMILY RECORDS.
T HE following records have been prepared for this work by many persons, out of data derived from a great variety of sources. Some of them have been entirely the work of representatives of families, and appear under their names. Of others the data have been collected by different persons, and placed in my hands for completion and arrangement. With many more, the entire work has been done by me, others assisting as they could.
In the great majority of cases I could have no personal knowledge of the facts, and cannot vouch for accuracy in every case, but believe that they are, in the main, correct. To make them so, I have left no means untried. I have examined scores of town and family histories, and consulted town, church and family records not in Newbury only, but in other towns, and examined all the burial grounds within many miles.
In the necessary correspondence I have written more than 2000 letters, and have taxed the memories of the older people. All the information which I have sought has been given, where it could be given at all, most gladly.
Since I began this task, several of these aged ones who have told me of those who were the active men and women of Newbury when they were young, have themselves passed away. It is pleasant to think that they were spared thus to preserve the memories of so many who were otherwise in a fair way to be forgotten.
By way of explanation it may be well to say, that in the annals of the larger families, where the line of ancestry is given in brackets, and by connecting numerals, it is computed, in nearly every case, from the first of the name who settled in Newbury, and not from the emigrant ancestor. The line of ancestry, from the emigrant, to the first settler here, is indicated by large Roman numerals. In the records of the smaller families, which embrace only two generations from the first of the name who resided here, the plan followed is very simple, merely taking up each of the children in the order of their birth. But in those of the larger ones,
420 .
HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
where the descendants of a common ancestor number several families in each generation, a more elaborate plan is followed, whereby the ancestry of each person may easily be traced. A careful study of one of the longer records-that of the Abbott family, for instance-will enable one to comprehend the system which by a combination of Roman and Arabic numerals gives each member his proper place, and connects him with the common ancestor.
Our limits forbid more than a brief mention of each of many thousand persons, and the records are often only-
"The short and simple annals of the poor."
But whatever their worldly circumstances, the people of Newbury, here enumerated, have been, generally, a noble race of men and women, well worthy of being thus kept in remembrance for future generations.
F. P. W.
Abbreviations-b, born; d, died ; m, married; c, child, children; res., residence ; rem., removed; q. v., whom see; 1st Ch., First Congregational Church; 2d Ch., Second Congregational Church; Meth. Ch., Methodist Episcopal Church; Pres. Ch., Presbyterian Church.
1
ABBOTT.
Most town genealogies begin with the name of Abbott, and Newbury has had a fair proportion of persons bearing this widely spread name. The emigrant ancestor, George Abbott, is understood to have come from Yorkshire, England, in 1640, and was one of the first settlers of Andover, Mass., in 1643, where he d. December 24, 1681, O. S. He m. 1647, Hannah Chandler. Thirteen chil.
x+
II. WILLIAM, (1657-1713) ; m. 1682, Elizabeth Gray ; ten c.
III. JAMES, (1685-1787) ; m. Abigail Farnum; fifteen c .. He became one of the first settlers of Concord, N. H., about 1737.
IV. JAMES, b. Andover, Mass., Jan. 12, 1717; d. Newbury, 1803. He removed to Newbury in November, 1763, and settled on Lots 3, and 11, on the Ox-bow, which he sold to Rev. Peter Powers, and removed to Haverhill, where he was town clerk 1769-70, 1772-3, selectman and member of the Council of Safety. He returned to Newbury, 1783, and bought the farm still in the family, where his great-great-grandson, Irving A. Abbott, resides. He and his wife and two children were original members of the first church, of which he was one of the first deacons. All of his children and many of his descendants were members of that church, and nearly all have been more or less proficient in music. He m. Sarah, dau. Capt. Samuel and Sarah (Lampson) Bancroft; b. Reading, Mass., Feb. 19, 1722; d .- Children :
i. Sarah, b. March 1, 1743; m. J. Walden of Warner, N. H.
ii. Abigail, b. Jan. 22, 1746 ; m. Maj. Asa Bailey. She published an autobiog- raphy, (Sec Bibliography of Newbury) ; d. Bath, N. H., Feb. 11, 1815; 17 c.
iii. Mary, b. Feb. 6, 1748; m. Oct. 27, 1772 Richard Minchin who died at Crown Point, in the revolutionary war; 2d, Uriah Cross, and removed about 1794, to near Lake Champlain.
421
GENEALOGY-ABBOTT.
iv. James, b. Oct. 18, 1750; m. 1780, Zylpha Smith, 2d, Mehetabel Hidden; removed to Ohio, 1809, served in the revolutionary war; died about 1814. Judith, b. Jan. 19, 1753; m. Dea. Thomas Brock, q. v.
2 vi. William, b. Apr. 24, 1755; d. June 14, 1804. 7
3 vii. Bancroft, b. June 4, 1757.
viii. Ezra. b. Oct. 8, 1759, d. y.
ix. Susannah, b. Mar. 3, 1763.
4 x. Ezra, b. June 2, 1765.
+ 2 WILLIAM,2 (James1) b. Concord, N. H., April 24, 1755; m. 1777. Mabel Whittlesey of East Guilford, Conn. They had eleven c., most of whom settled in Bath. Josiah_settled in Groton, and was the father of Rev. Jacob J. Abbott, D. D.
Jacob 5 Moses, eldest son of William, lived in Bath, near the mouth of the Ammonoosuc.
3 BANCROFT,2 (James1) b. Concord, N. H., June 4, 1757; farmer on homestead 1783; m 1787, Lydia, dau. Ebenezer White, q. v. (Jan. 1, 1763-June, 1853); Ad. to 1st ch. 1822; served in rev. war in Bedel's regiment, and in local service ; learned geometry, surveying, and navigation, without the aid of teachers; was proficient in mathematics; held town offices; d. Oct. 29, 1829.
Children :
6 i. Thomas, b. June 8, 1788.
ii. Merrill, b. Feb. 9, 1790; d. Apr. 12, 1794.
7 iii. James, b. Feb. 14, 1792.
iv. Elizabeth, b. March 22, 1794; d. young.
V. Mary, b. June 6, 1795; m. Feb. 10, 1816, Amos Bailey, her cousin ; d. Oct. 24, 1834, Chicago, Ill.
8 vi. Ebenezer, b. Nov. 6, 1797.
vii. Nicholas, b. Sept. 18, 1799; physician (Dartmouth Medical College 1827) ; m. Aug. 12. 1829, Mira Jewett of St. Johnsbury; rem. to Troy, 0. 1834; two sons, and a dau. who m. Dr. Harter of St. Louis; d. Lafayette, Ind,, 1871.
viii. Sarah, b. March 11, 1802; m. February, 1829, Marshall Southard, (b. Auburn, Mass., March 14, 1796; grad. Dartmouth College 1820; two years at Andover Theological Seminary; ordained Dec. 20, 1828; never settled, but occasionally preached; farmer where the late S. M. Rollins lived; rem. to Lyme, N. H., where he died March 12, 1857.) Six c.
4 EZRA,2 (James1) b. June 2, 1765 ; m. 1786, Hannah Abbott; farmer in Newbury and Bath; revolutionary soldier ; d. July 5, 1842.
Children :
i. Reuben, b. Dec. 26, 1786; m. about 1809; d. in Canton, Maine. From his recollections in 1869, many of the earlier incidents in this volume are given.
ii. Hannah, b. Jan 24, 1790.
iii. Ezra, b. Sept. 19, 1791 ; lived in Sutton, Vt. ; five c.
iv. Susan, b. Feb. 21, 1793; m. Thos. Martin of Bradford.
5 MOSES, 3 (William,2 James1) m. 1802, Lucy Willis, (who d. July 13, 1842) ; 2d Aug. 17, 1844, Mrs. Lucy Wells; d. May 7, 1856. Children :
9 i. Myron, b. Apr. 24, 1803.
i. Adams, b. Aug. 7, 1804. Lived in Troy, Vt .; d. May 22, 1881.
iii. Cynthia, b. March 5, 1806; m. Jonathan B. Rowell; d. in Ill. 1866.
10 iv. William B., b. Dec. 15, 1807.
v. Lucy M,, b. Oct. 18, 1809; m. John C. Woods; d. in Ill.
vi. Charity, b. July 7, 1811; m. B. F. Rowell of Ill.
vii. Mabel, b. May 9, 1813; m. Moses Hastings; d. July 11, 1877.
viii. Moses C., b. May 25, 1815, d. y.
ix. Amanda, b. Feb. 9, 1817; m. Michael Bartlett; d. April 10, 1864.
x. Moses, b. Dec. 27, 1818; d. July 31, 1889; lived in Bath. His son, Chester, is a prominent business man of Woodsville.
xi. Sarah A., b. March 21, 1821 ; d. Danville, P. Q., March 17, 1882; m. March, 1845, Leonard Bishop of Landaff; lived in Newbury, 1865 till death; 5 c.
*Early dates from Abbott" Register. Prepared in part by Prof. G. N. Abbott,
422
HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
xii. Albert L., b. Apr. 17, 1823. Still living in New Orleans.
xiii. Milo J., b. June 22, 1825; d. in Kansas.
xiv. Ira, b. Feb. 17, 1828; d. April 3, 1899.
6 THOMAS,3 (Bancroft,2 James1) b. June 8. 1788; m. 1st, Sept. 17, 1812 Anna, dau. Stephen Powers (b. May 12, 1792; d. Sept. 1, 1841) ; 2d, Dec. 23, 1841, her sister Abigail (b. Sept. 7. 1797) ; farmer and wheelwright, his shop was on Hall's brook, a little above Chalmers sawmill, and his house, burned 1862, stood where A. A. Bowen's lower house is now; rem. to Cazenovia, N. Y., where he d.
Children :
i. Emily, b. Nov. 16, 1813; died Jan. 15, 1844.
ii. William C., b. July 4, 1815; rem. to Ohio.
iii. Martha P,, b. Nov. 25, 1817; m. J. O. Wilkins of Sidney, O .; d. Dec. 24, 1894.
iv. Mary, b. Dec. 20, 1819; m. Guy C. Kelsey of Sidney, O .; d. Oct. 16, 1895.
v. George E., b. Oct. 7, 1824; went to Sidney, O., but d. in Cal. while mining.
7 JAMES,3 Dea., (Bancroft,2 James1) b. Feb. 14, 1792; lived for some years where R. E. Barnett now lives, building that house in 1819; later he rem. to the homestead ; dea. in Cong. Ch. at W. N .; was justice of the peace and held other town offices. He took an active part in the anti-slavery struggle; m. 1st July 6, 1820, Elizabeth W., dau. of Peter Martin (b. June 29, 1791; d. Dec. 2, 1863) ; 2d, April 18, 1865, Phebe dau. of Asher Hunkins,(b. Feb; ·1807) ; d. March 7, 1870.
Children :
11 i. George Nelson, b. Aug. 4, 1823.
ii. Alonzo J., b. June 26, 1825; d. March 4, 1849.
iii. Elizabeth Chastina, b. May 16, 1828; m. Charles W. Eastman, q. v.
8 EBENEZER,3 (Bancroft,2 James1) b. Nov. 6, 1797; m. June 11, 1829, Rebecca, dau. of Robinson Brock, who after his death m. Gilman Brown of Topsham; (d. Nov. 18, 1897) ; farmer on the homestead till 1839; rem. to Bradford, thence to Topsham; returned to Newbury and lived where Mr. Johnston does on Rogers Hill; d. April 11, 1873.
Children :
i. Hazen, b. June 10, 1830; He lives in California.
ii. Charles, b. June 20; d. June 21, 1832.
iii. James B., b. June 30, 1833; d. in California.
iv. Chloe Ann, b. Feb. 18, 1836; m. Thomas Chadwick of Bradford.
v. Mary B., b. May 21, 1838; m. Dr. Nathaniel S. Boyce of Guildhall, q. v.
vi. Julia F., b. July 29, 1840; d. Jan. 31, 1842.
vii. Martha S., b. Dec. 2, 1843; m. David C. White of Topsham ; d. Jan. 5, 1901.
9 MYRON,4 (Moses,3 William,2 James1) b. Bath, Apr. 24, 1803; m. 1st, Apr. 22, 1826, Clarissa Willis (b. Aug. 24, 1808, d. Aug. 21, 1865,) 2d, Jan. 21, 1866, Martha, dau. of Loved Leach of Troy; lived in Albany, Vt., Bath, and, after 1854, in Newbury, near Hall's Pond; d. Bath, while visiting there June 3, 1883.
Children ; lived in Newbury, except the last.
i. Nancy W., b. Oct. 25, 1829 at Albany, Vt .; m. Dec. 6, 1848 Ira S. Bailey (b. Canada, Jan. 30, 1829; d. March 19, 1891 blacksmith ;) d. June 28, 1896; no e.
ii. Horace N., b. Bath, March 17, 1835; m. Apr. 9, 1857, Lydia, dau. Alonzo Fleming ; c. Edwin, d. 1861; a dau. d. 1864; Cora Ada, b .-; m. John M. Goodwin, q. v .; enlisted Dee. 31, 1863 in Co. D. 1st Vt. Cav., was taken prisoner; d. in Gen. Hospital June 30, 1864; farmer in N.
iii. Myron Birney, b. Bath, Dec. 18, 1840; m. Apr. 27, 1865, Ellen M., dau. John N. Brock (b. Oct. 5, 1846). C: (1) Harry E., b. June 14, 1866 ; m. Feb. 22, 1888, Josie E. Weare of Woodsville; in trade at Woodsville, Littleton and Chester, Vt .: e: (a) Maurice J., b. Aug. 7, 1889; (6) Charles W., b. Feb. 19, 1892; (c) Elmer W., b. Oct. 25, 1895. (2) Elmer B., b. Sept. 27, 1871, salesman, kieked by a horse at his father's house Aug. 1, and d. Aug. 3, 1894. (3) Willie M., b. June 27, 1873. (4 and 5). Twins, Horace M., and John N., b. and d. June 7, 1880.
iv. Harriet, b. Aug. 6, 1844; d. 1850.
423
GENEALOGY-ABBOTT.
10 WILLIAM B.,4 (Moses,3 William,2 James1) b. Bath Dec. 15, 1807; m. October, 1835, Mary Ann, dau. Phineas Chamberlin (b. Bath, July 16, 1813) ; farmer of Bath, removed to Wells River 1859, and was in company with Mr. Wilder in the grist mill; was a justice of the peace, and held various public offices; d. Newbury, April 30, 1870.
Children all b. in Bath :
i. Julia, b. Oct. 7, 1836.
ii. Eunice, b. Nov. 24, 1837.
iii. Phineas, b. July, 1839; d. Sept. 25, 1840.
iv. Ellen, b. Feb. 23, 1842; m. Col. Erastus Baldwin, q. v.
v. Solon, b. June 28, 1845; m. Dec. 1, 1868, Helen M. Pearson; rem. Winchen- don, Mass; watchmaker and jeweler.
vi. Orrin S., b. March 17, 1848; m. Sept. 4, 1867, Ella J., dau. of Levi Tabor; he was employed by A. T. Baldwin & Co., as salesman for several years, then went into the boot and shoe business at St. Johnsbury, where he now resides. C. all born in Newbury: (1) William Tabor, b. Feb. 1886; fitted for college at St. Johnsbury Academy; grad. Dartmouth College 1890; teaching some years; principal of Manchester N. H. High School; lawyer in practice at Peoria, Ill., went to Porto Rico 1899; in practice there. Mr. Abbott rendered very efficient service as a Republican campaign speaker in the presidential contests of 1896, and 1900, in the west. (2) Ethel, b. January 1877; took a course at the Boston Conservatory of Music; member of a church choir at St. Johnsbury. (3) Guy H., b. November, 1878; fitted for college at St. Johnsbury Academy; now in Dartmouth College. (4) Ellen M., b. October, 1880; grad. of St Johnsbury Academy. (5) Harold S., b. October, 1889.
11
*GEORGE NELSON, 4 (James,3 Bancroft,2 James1) one of Newbury's most scholarly men, was born August 4, 1823, in the west part of the town. He came of good English stock which settled early in Eastern Massachusetts. His early training was from his labors upon his father's farm and his attendance upon the common or district school as it is more frequently named in Vermont. He early showed an aptitude for mathematics and all studies that brought into full play his active reasoning powers. When seventeen years of age, the next year after his father moved to South Newbury and became the owner of the farm where both father and son died, George Nelson began his attendance upon Newbury Seminary with which he was for a long time intimately connected, both as pupil and instructor. Rev. O. C. Baker, afterward Bishop Baker was principal at the time Mr. Abbott entered the seminary. Principal Clark T. Hinman was at the head of that institution a part of the time while Abbott was a student there. Before he had left the common school our ambitious young friend had conceived the idea of obtaining a liberal education and entered the seminary with a purpose of fitting for college. Although a good deal hampered for want of means he entered the University of Vermont as a freshman in 1844 but did not graduate with that class because he was compelled to be out of college for a year to earn the means of paying his college expenses. During that year he was called to teach mathematics and the languages in Newbury Seminary and made a very decided impression upon the classes that came under his instruction. When he returned to college he entered the class that graduated in 1849. Among his classmates were Henry A. Burt, a leading lawyer in north western Vermont; Melvin Dwinell, an officer in the confederate army ; Roswell Farnham, late Governor of Vermont ; John Q. A. Fellows, an eminent lawyer in New Orleans ; Elnathan E. Higbee, President of Emmettsburg (Med.) College; McKendree Petty, for more than thirty years professor in the University of Vermont; William Robertson, Queen's counsel in Montreal; William G. Shaw, Judge of the City Court of Burlington; Charles C. Torrey, a Congregational clergy- man and Edwin Wheelock, Congregational minister at Cambridge, Vermont, for more than forty years. From the first Mr. Abbott stood high in the estimation of his classmates as a scholar and a man and when places were
*By Hon. Roswell Farnham.
424
HISTORY OF NEWBURY, VERMONT.
assigned to the members of the graduating class for commencement day Mr. Abbott had the post of honor next to the highest. Three years after his graduation he was honored with the degree of Master of Arts and was selected to deliver the Master's oration. He was also elected a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society, an honor given only to the first third of each class. Immediately after his graduation he taught for a while in Pottsdam, N. Y., but was obliged to leave on account of failing health. After recuperating a time on the home farm he became one of the corps of professors at Newbury Seminary, where he remained for several years. It was while teaching at Newbury at this time that he became acquainted with his wife, who survives him, Miss Mary Ladd of Dalton, N. H., sister of Hon. William S. Ladd, later one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of New Hampshire. They were married Nov. 27, 1853. After leaving Newbury Seminary, Prof. Abbott continued to teach, his wife assisting him in a most helpful manner. He taught for several years in Mrs. Worcester's Young Ladies' Seminary at Burlington, Vermont. He also had private pupils in the city and taught Latin and Greek in the City High School. In 1871, he was offered the professorship of Logic and Psychology in Mercersburg College, Pennsylvania, and held that position till June, 1877. This institution was a school of the Reformed Church in America, once known as the German Reformed Church. How highly he was esteemed in those days we may learn from a letter written by Prof. John B. Kieffer of that same college but now of the Franklin and Marshall College, of Lancaster, Pa., in which he says, "We all had known him for many years, and had known only to respect him for his many noble traits. Indeed when he left Mercersburg I was but beginning to know him as he really was and our correspondence afterwards, as well as the testimony of such men as Dr. Buckham, confirmed the estimate I was then forming of his character and his ability." After leaving the college at Mercersburg, Prof. Abbott retired to the farm in Newbury where he had spent so many of his boyhood days. He carried however to the farm the characteristics and scholarly habits that were his when in the professor's chair. Every scholar who knew him was impressed with the fact of his scholarly ability and his indefatigable diligence in his search for absolutia erities on whatever line he attempted. He was an accurate mathematican, a careful, painstaking linguist and in the professorship which he filled in Mercersburg he kept quite abreast with the logicians and psychologists of the time by original work as well as study of the thought of workers in those sciences both in English and German. He was licensed to preach by the Orange Association of Congregational ministers in the spring of 1859 and wrote and delivered quite a good many occasional sermons from that time on as long as he was able to do so. He wrote for some of the leading reviews and periodicals, viz: Bibliotheca Sacra, the organ of Andover Theological Seminary; The Mercersburg Review, published at Philadelphia; Journal of Speculative Philosophy, published at St. Louis, Mo., and others of equally high literary standing. After he came to his old home in 1877, he still continued his scholarly habit and has left quantity of manuscript. Prof. Abbott was a practical surveyor and the farmers, his neighbors, realizing his absolute accuracy frequently called upon him to run obscure lines and to find obliterated corners and landmarks. He was also somewhat of a road builder. Prof. Abbott died Fcb. 12, 1900, in the maturity of his remarkable mental powers and before any sign of the weakness of old age made its appearance. His widow and three children survive him.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.