USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 54
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The fifth meeting of the proprietors, and the first one held in Benson, took place on the first Wednesday in April, 1785, at the house of Allen Leet.
At the time the charter of this town was granted there was no road leading into the town, except the unfinished military road leading from Castleton, through Hubbardton, Benson and Orwell, to Ticonderoga, which was con- structed about 1776.
Settlements. - The first settler in this town was Walter Durfee, who came originally from Freetown, Mass., but removed to Benson from Poultney. In 1780 he purchased the entire right of Isaac Clark, one of the original proprie- tors of Benson ; and also the entire right (except the first division lot of one hundred acres) of John Grover, another original proprietor. He came to Ben- son in the spring of 1782, made a clearing and erected a log-house on what became known as the " Home Farm," now owned by George Sears. There he continued to reside until the spring of 1835, when he removed to West Chazy, N. Y., where he died in the summer of 1843, aged over ninety years. When Mr. Durfee came into the town there was no road north of Carver's Falls in Westhaven, and he found his way through the woods by a bridle path made by the surveyors and by their marks on the trees. During the summer and autumn of 1782 he was the only person who had a settled habitation in the town.
But when Durfee came in the spring of the year last named, he was accom- panied by Daniel Barber, of Pittsfield, Mass., who was in quest of a mill-site, and located on the Hubbardton River. He then returned to Massachusetts, and in June, 1783, came again to Benson, with his young wife and a daughter ten months old ; she came on horseback. This daughter became the wife of
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Isaac Griswold, and mother of A. H. and George Griswold, of Whitehall, N. Y., and of Daniel B. and R. W. Griswold, of Michigan, all of whom are now living ; and of I. C. Griswold, late of Whitehall, deceased. Daniel Barber, the pioneer, was born in Pittsfield, Mass., October 27. 1761, and died in Benson, April 17, 1805. His wife died in Benson September 20, 1840.
Roswell Barber, the first born son of these pioneers, and the first male child of Benson birth, as far as known, was born August 19, 1785, was educated at Middlebury, and became a successful business man ; he died at the old home, where his son Erwin L. now lives, on the 19th of June, 1849. He married Aurelia Munson, of Bethlehem, Conn., June 6, 1809, and they had a family of ten children, three sons and seven daughters. Of the sons, Edwin Munson was born July 6, 1810, graduated at Middlebury in 1830, and died in Ohio in 1833. Daniel Roswell was born February 14, 1817 ; married Ellen Bottum, of Orwell ; became a successful business man in Benson and removed to Min- neapolis in 1856, where he is proprietor of the Cataract Flouring Mills and a reputed millionaire. Erwin Loyal Barber still lives on the old homestead in Benson ; he was born June 4, 1821 ; married Miss J. E. Adams, of Whitehall, N. Y., in 1843. They have two children, Marcus Victor, a successful business man of Toledo, Ohio ; and Munson J., who lives at the old homestead. Of the other children of Daniel Barber, the pioneer, John died in Illinois in 1876. Edward H. removed to Michigan, and died in 1865. The youngest son of the pioneer was also named Daniel, and still lives in Michigan at the age of eighty- six years. A daughter of the elder Daniel, named Salome, died recently as the widow of Orin Dickenson, at the great age of ninety-six years.I
Mr. Barber erected the first saw and grist-mills in the town, the saw-mill being built some time before the grist-mill, and located near the present mills of Nelson O'Donnell.
In the same year that Mr. Barber returned to Benson with his wife (1783), Jonathan Meacham and Captain James Noble and his son, James; jr., came in and made preparations for settlement ; it is supposed that they brought their families in the autumn of the same year.
In 1784 Abijah Holabird settled in the town on the farm afterwards occu- pied by his son-in-law, Henry S. Easton, aud tradition reports that for several weeks, while making his clearing, he obtained rest and shelter in a hollow log. He died in Benson, November 29, 1825, at the age of seventy-nine years.
Others who located in the town in 1784 were Thomas Hale, Captain Will- iam Barber, Lieutenant Solomon Martin, Asa Farnam, Allen Leet, Allen Goodrich, James Howard, Amos Root, John Dunning, John Shaw and Benja- min Shaw. Some of these can be more definitely alluded to.
Captain William Barber was a Revolutionary soldier, from Pittsfield, Mass .;
1 For the memoranda from which this record of the Barber family is written we are indebted to Erwin L. Barber.
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TOWN OF BENSON.
he was the first adult who died in the town. He settled a little northeast of the Landing, on the lake shore. The land he secured is now occupied by the fourth generation of the family. Asa Farnam settled on the farm now occu- pied by Benjamin Bascom. Allen Goodrich located where his grandson, Charles Goodrich, now resides. Solomon Martin settled in the west part of the town, about a mile east of the Landing.
In the next year (1785) the settlement was increased by the advent of Simeon and Josiah Goodrich, the former of whom located where his grandson, Charles B., now lives ; Timothy Watson, Deacon Jonathan Woodward, Stephen Olmstead, Samuel Howard, Abijah Hinman, Simeon Barber, Asahel Smith, Lewis Wilkinson, Ozias Johnson, Calvin Manley, Solomon Chittenden and Charles Belding. Samuel, James and Daniel Howard settled on what became known as "Howard Hill." Solomon Chittenden located on the place now owned by Mr. Ransom and occupied by Nelson Ladd.
In the early subsequent years the following settlements can be traced: In 1786 John Barnes, John, Jonah and Jabez Carter, Deacon Stephen Crofoot, Jacob and Benoni Gleason, both of whom were soldiers in the Revolutionary War. Benoni entered the army in Captain William Ford's company, from Pittsfield, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. Returning to Pitts- field after his discharge, he married Lucy Hubbard, daughter of Captain James Hubbard, and on the first of May, 1786, came to Benson, locating on the mil- itary road. Othniel Goodrich, James Parkhill and Lemuel Standish, also came in 1786. In 1787 Benjamin Holton and Reuben Nash, came into the town ; the latter settled where Byron Carter now lives; and Lemuel Standish where Elijah Fish resides ; Mrs. Henry E. Strong, daughter of John Barber, and Mrs. Pulaski Meacham, now living in this town, are granddaughters of Lemuel Standish. In 1788 came Captain William Ford, Deacon Joseph Clark, Thomas Goodrich, Reuben Parsons, Elijah Wilcox and Samuel Higgins. Reuben Par- sons located where Royal D. King is now living.
Only eight of the seventy-five original proprietors named in the charter settled in the town; they were Abraham Isaac, Jonathan and William Mea- cham, Reuben Nash, Stephen Olmstead, James Parkhill and Deacon Jonathan Woodward.
The first child born in the town was Thomas, son of Thomas and Elizabeth Hale, August 22, 1784. The first female child, who was also the second child born in the town, was a daughter, Polly, to the same parents, August II, 1785. The first marriage was that of Levi Barber and Rebecca Hinman, but the date is not known. He was born in Worcester, Mass., April 6, 1783, and died in Westhaven January 13, 1856. She was born in Woodbury, Conn., February 15, 1768, and died in Westhaven March 4, 1857. In the sketch of this town prepared for the Vermont Historical Magazine, by the late Loyal C. Kellogg, we find the following relative to the former homes of many of the early settlers,
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
which merits record here : "The town of Benson may be said to have been the child of Berkshire county, Pittsfield contributing the larger number of its early settlers, and Williamstown the next in number. From Pittsfield came Captains James Noble, William Barber and William Ford, Lieutenant and Deacon Ste- phen Crofoot, Deacon Joseph Clark, Daniel and Matthew Barber, Lieutenant Solomon Martin, Josiah, Othniel, Caleb and Thomas Goodrich, Amos and Ol- iver Root, Jacob and Benoni Gleason, and the families bearing the names of Strong and Belding. Asahel Stiles, who removed to Benson from Granville, N. Y., about 1790, was originally from Pittsfield. Daniel Root who removed to Benson about 1806, was also from Pittsfield. From Williamstown came the families bearing the names of Meacham and Olmstead; Abijah Holabird (who was originally, as is believed, from Canaan, Conn.), Deacon Jonathan Woodward (originally from Plainfield, Conn.), Timothy Watson, Lemuel and Asa Standish, James Parkhill, Benjamin Holton, John and Benjamin Shaw (originally from Brookfield, Mass.), John Barnes and his son Aziel (originally from Wethersfield, Conn.), Lewis Wilkinson, Jonathan Danforth and Stephen Sherwood. From Sandisfield came Thomas Hale and Calvin and William Man- ley (Calvin locating where Arunah Walker now lives). From Cheshire came Amos King, father of Dexter King. From Killingworth, Conn., came Allen Leet, Samuel Higgins, William Jones, David Le Baron, and the families bear- ing the names of Carter and Merritt. From Suffield, Conn., came Asahel Smith and his son Chauncey, Reuben Parsons and Pelatiah and Eli King. From Litchfield, Conn., came Friend Gibbs and Darius Gibbs. Asa Farnam, who removed to Fairhaven, was originally from Litchfield. Allen Goodrich came from Glastenbury, Conn., and Simeon Goodrich from Wethersfield. Sam- uel, James and Daniel Howard came from Hartford, Conn. Elijah Wilcox, father of Martin and Philo Wilcox, came from Goshen, Conn. The families bearing the name of Stacey came from Salem, Mass. Robert Barber came from Brookfield, Mass. Francis Arnold was from Norwich, Mass. Edward and John Aiken were from Londonderry, N. H. David Briggs and his sons Simeon and Arnold, were from Berkley, Mass.
Of these we have noted the place of settlement of a large number ; of others we are able to give the following additional particulars : -
General Pere G. Ladd came to Pittsford at an early date and subsequently removed to Benson, locating where Eugene Potter now lives. He was one of the early blacksmiths of the town and followed that occupation for many years ; he died in this town March 23, 1838.
Captain Joel Dickinson moved to this town from Westhaven, and located on the farm now occupied by William Dickinson. John Quincy Dickinson, whose fate is connected in a tragic way with the Southern Rebellion, was a son of Isaac and grandson of Captain Joel. He was a graduate of Middlebury Col- lege and went into the service as second lieutenant of Company C, Seventh
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TOWN OF BENSON.
Regiment, serving honorably through the war. He afterward removed to Flor- ida, where he was made assistant secretary of the Senate, and was assassinated on account of political feeling, on the 3d of April, 1871. His remains were returned to Benson, where they were buried in the presence of the largest fune- ral procession ever gathered in the town.
One of the earliest settlers in east part of the town was Benoni Gleason, al- ready mentioned. His father was Jacob Gleason, one of the earliest settlers in Pittsfield, Mass., and a Revolutionary soldier. Benoni was also in the army, as before stated. James Gleason was born in the house long occupied by him in this town, on the 27th of April, 1799, and became a prominent citizen, hold- ing most of the town offices.
James Noble came to Benson from Pittsfield, Mass., in 1786; he was a son of Captain James, and died in Benson in 1843. James Noble, jr., born in Pitts- field in 1784, settled on the farm subsequently owned by his son, Loren S. Noble.
Philo Wilcox, born in Goshen, Conn., in 1783, came to Benson among the early settlers and settled on the farm owned by his son, Philo ; he died there, much respected, August, 1865.
Asahel Smith was a native of Suffield, Conn., and removed to Benson in 1785. He was moderator of the town meeting at which the town of Benson was organized, in March, 1786; the first of the board of selectmen elected at that meeting, and the first representative of the town in the General Assembly (1788), an office which he held continuously until his death ; he was the first justice of the peace of the town and reappointed until his death, and was dele- gate to the State Constitutional Conventions of 1786, 1793 and to the Conven- tion of 1791, at which the constitution of the United States was adopted. He died in Benson June 26, 1794, at the age of fifty-five. His widow married Captain James Noble, already alluded to as one of the first settlers.
Asa Farnam (spelled Farnham in later years), who has been mentioned as one of the pioneers of 1784, was a surveyor and merchant, and also a farmer. He represented the town in 1795 ; was appointed justice of the peace in the same year, and died June 13, 1811, aged forty-eight years.
Chauncey Smith, son of Asahel, was the first physician in the town and prominent in other respects ; was elected representative in 1794 and re-elected fifteen times, exclusive of that of 1812, which was successfully contested; was appointed justice in 1794 and was delegate to the State Constitutional Con- vention of 1828 ; he held the office of justice thirty five years, and in 1814 was appointed one of the assistant judges of the Rutland County Court. He kept a tavern in Benson for many years on the site now occupied by A. G. Sher- man, and was an active and influential citizen during most of his life. He re- moved to Granville, N. Y., in 1833 and died in Leroy, N. Y., at the residence of his son, in 1836.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
The name of Reuben Nash has been mentioned. He was but twelve years old when his name was inserted in the charter of Benson and he removed to the town in 1787, and followed inn-keeping, mercantile business and farming. He married a daughter of Deacon Jonathan Woodward, and for his second wife, Lois (Moore), widow of Aaron Rising, of Dorset. He was representative of the town five terms and justice of the peace about fifteen years. In the summer of 1836 he removed to Silver Creek, N. Y., and died there July 14, 1845, aged seventy-eight years.
Deacon Jonathan Woodward, whose settlement in 1785 has been men- tioned, died in 1802, in his seventy-sixth year.
Deacon Joseph Clark was an early settler and located in 1788 on the farm where Mrs. Meacham (widow of Smith Meacham) now lives. He came from Pittsfield, Mass., was a deacon, with Jonathan Woodward, of the Congrega- tional Church of Benson on its organization in 1790, and died April 28, 1813.
Deacon Stephen Crofoot came to Benson in 1786, from Pittsfield, and set- tled where Edwin Walker lives. He died in Benson March 17, 1812, in his eighty-fifth year.
Reuben Parsons, whose arrival in the town in 1788 has been mentioned, was town clerk of the town for about fifteen years, and justice of the peace from 1808 to 1812. He died in March, 1813, from the epidemic disease that then spread over this region.
Calvin Manley settled where Arunah Walker now resides and was the sec- ond and last clerk of the proprietors of the town, and was also town clerk from 1799 to 1803. He added surveying to his occupation as a farmer, and died in 1831.
Lieutenant Solomon Martin, who came to the town in 1784, from Pittsfield, Mass., attained prominence in the Revolutionary War. He marched to Cam- bridge in April, 1775, when the alarm came from Lexington, with Captain Da- vid Noble's company of " minute men," and was second corporal of that com- pany. During the year 1776 he was lieutenant under the same captain. He died at Benson July 10, 1845, aged over ninety-three years.
Dr. Perez Chapin was a conspicuous figure in the town in early years and came originally from Granby, Mass., removing to Benson in 1797, it is believed from Whately, Mass., locating where William N. Skeels now lives. He prac- ticed his profession about ten years in Benson. He died at Benson April 26, 1839, aged eighty-six years, having, as written by another, led a blameless life. Two of his sons became Congregational clergymen. Alpheus, another son, was a portrait painter and father of Rev. E. H. Chapin, well known as the pastor of the Universalist " Church of the Divine Paternity," Fifth avenue, New York, and one of the most eloquent orators'of the country.
Colonel Oliver Root came to Benson in 1781, from Pittsfield, Mass. He was a justice of the peace about twenty years, and town clerk from 1813 to.
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TOWN OF BENSON.
1815. He removed to Castleton in 1837, where he died April 5, 1847, at the age of eighty. His settlement was made where the widow of Edward Howard now lives.
Captain Joel Dickinson, who removed from Westhaven to Benson in 1809, was originally from Pittsfield, Mass., where he had been a prominent citizen. He located where William Dickinson lives. He was conspicuous in the Rev- olutionary War; marched with the " minute men " to Cambridge and arose to the office of lieutenant and captain ; was almost continuously in the service until the defeat of Burgoyne; was present at the assault on Quebec, in De- cember, 1775, and at Bemis's Heights, Saratoga, in October, 1777. He was made a justice in 1812 and died in January, 1813, aged sixty-three.
Samuel Howard settled in the town in 1785, from Hartford, Conn. He was selectman from 1791 to 1795 inclusive, in 1800 and from 1806 to 1816 inclusive and represented the town in 1815 and 1823. He died April 18, 1831, at the age of seventy. His'brothers, James and Daniel, have been mentioned as settlers on " Howard Hill;" James was a deacon in the Congregational Church from 1797 to his death in 1831. Major Edward S. Howard, son of Samuel, was an active and successful business man of the town, and was sent to the Assembly in 1842. He died June 7, 1863, aged nearly seventy-two years.
The settlement and descendants of Lemuel Standish have been mentioned. He was a prominent citizen for many years; was elected constable each year from 1798 to 1815 inclusive, excepting 1799, and one of the selectmen from 1809 to 1815 inclusive ; was justice of the peace from 1814 to 1821 inclusive, and in 1823 and 1826. He removed to Illinois in 1838.
Allen Goodrich, of Wethersfield and Glastenbury, Conn., came to this town in 1784 ; was elected town clerk at the organization of the town and held the office until 1793 ; was selectman in 1791 and constable in 1793-94; from 1804 to 1814 inclusive he was annually elected the first selectman ; was justice of the peace about ten years at different periods, and represented the town in 1814. He was one of the thirteen organizers of the Congregational Church, and died March 15, 1842, aged eighty-one. Simeon Goodrich, also from Weth- ersfield, Conn., was one of the selectmen selected on the organization of the town, and representative in 1798-99. He died February 7, 1852, the last sur- vivor of the thirteen organizers of the Congregational Church, aged ninety-two years. From 1806 to the time of his death he was a deacon in that church. He served in Colonel Baldwin's regiment of artificers, in the Revolutionary War, until January, 1781, when he was severely wounded in the knee by a blow from a broad axe, while working on a block-house. We have mentioned the locality of settlement of these pioneers.
Samuel Higgins came to Benson in 1788, and settled in the southwest part of the town. He died June 30, 1811. Their son William occupied the home- stead for many years.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Amos Root came from Pittsfield, Mass., in 1787, making the long journey with an ox team and his wife riding on horseback, carrying her little son, Shel- don. He located in the eastern part of the town and died in 1813, as did also his son Stephen, in the epidemic of that period.
Amos King settled in Benson in 1797, coming from Cheshire, Mass., with his wife and two children. He located on the farm now occupied by his grand- son, M. F. King, one of the prominent citizens of the town.
Joseph Bascom came to Benson in 1815, originally from Newport, N. H. ; represented the town in 1832-33, and was deacon of the Congregational Church many years. He died in 1852; the farm where he located is now occupied by Benjamin Bascom.
Isaac Griswold came to Benson, from Norwich, Conn., about 1797, and located where his son Joseph recently lived and died. He became a leading farmer in this town and an influential citizen. He was made justice of the peace in each year from 1826 to the time of his death, excepting the years 1834 and 1835. He died in Michigan in 1844, while on a visit to his son.
James Parkhill has been mentioned as one of the original proprietors. Jesse Parkhill was his son and removed to Benson from Williamstown, Mass., with his father's family in 1786. He was constable from 1817 to 1827 inclusive, and for twenty-five years justice of the peace (1811 to 1845). He died Au- gust 22, 1847, at the age of sixty-nine years.
Isaac Norton was one of the early successful merchants of this town. He settled on the place now occupied by Mrs. Jonas Gibbs in 1815, having studied medicine at Castleton, and practiced a brief period at Lisbon, N. Y., but aban- doned the profession when he came to Benson. Here he engaged in mercan- tile business which he continued for about twenty-five years. He represented the town in the General Assembly in 1826 and 1839, and was a senator for the county in 1840-41. He died in June, 1852, at the age of sixty-two.
Simeon Aiken (son of John) was born May 1, 1808, and died March 6, 1865. He lived on the place now occupied by his son, James Aiken. He was an influential and respected citizen ; was first selectman from 1860 to 1864.
The names thus far given embrace most of the more prominent pioneers of the town, and their descendants have formed a considerable portion of the inhabitants. It is impossible, of course, to trace the records of later comers, except as they may appear in connection with the various industrial interests of the town. The inhabitants of Benson have given their attention in a large measure to agricultural pursuits and the making of homes; to this end the pio- neers labored with a degree of energy, perseverance and industry which can scarcely be appreciated at the present day. In the language of another, in speaking of this town, " our honorable past in its social, educational and relig- ious character was made by earnest, and self-denying men and women - the fathers and mothers who here planted in hope, and bore faithfully the struggles and trials of life, and now rest from their labors."
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TOWN OF BENSON.
The history of this town, like that of most other Vermont communities in the early years of the century, was one of slow but steady growth, and the people were little disturbed by the excitements of life in the great commercial centers. The pioneers built their log houses and gradually replaced them with those of a more pretentious character; they built a few mills, though these were not nearly so numerous as in some localities where water power was more abundant. The forests fell before the sturdy axes of the pioneers and the fields soon began to assume the character and aspect of cultivated farms. The War of 1812 disturbed the peacefulness of the inhabitants in this vicinity for a time ; but the ominous clouds were soon dispelled. Stephen Strong, who was born in Benson, October 25, 1801, remembers the condition of the town as far back as that war. He is a son of Warham Strong, who then lived on the farm now occupied by the widow of Lawrence Proctor. There was then (1812) only a very small settlement at Benson. Josiah Goodrich was keeping a tavern in the place on the site of the Union Hotel, and a grist-mill and saw-mill were running on the site of O'Donnell's mills. Back of Mr. Goodrich's tavern was a tannery, and a store was kept by Solon Dyer just east of where Mr. Howard Kellogg's family now resides. The "cold season," as it is termed, of 1816 caused a good deal of suffering here, as it did in most communities. There was but little grain raised and many families were able to get only a little rye. Priest Kent traveled over the town on foot, with saddle-bags, collecting rye for the needy. At that time Allen Goodrich, as Mr. Strong remembers, was the only person in the town who had a buggy. There was then no hamlet at the Landing. In later years George Watson had a tannery in the north part of the town near where Patrick Lavery now lives.
The town of Benson was organized at a town meeting held March 23, 1786, Captain Asahel Smith, moderator, and Allen Goodrich, clerk. At an ad- journed meeting held March 30, 1786, Captain Asahel Smith, Simeon Good- rich and Captain James Noble were appointed selectmen. No listers were ap- pointed in that year, probably because there was so little property upon which to fix a valuation. The records of the first two town meetings do not give the place where the meetings were held any more definitely than "in Benson ; " and no notification or warning of any town meeting appears in the records until November, 1798. At a meeting held September 28, 1786, it was “ voted to raise six pounds " and " to raise it by the Pole " (poll), and " that there be six days' work per man done on the roads, with what has been done this year ; " and also " voted a petition to the General Assembly for a tax on all lands of (one penny) per acre."
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