History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 55

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 55

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At the session of the Assembly in October, 1786, an act was passed em - powering the selectmen to levy a tax of one penny on each acre of land in the town, for the purpose of making and repairing public roads and bridges in the town; and at the same session the Assembly passed resolutions providing for

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

taking the sense of the freemen of the State on a proposed project for " emit- ting a small bank of paper money on loan or otherwise," and in respect to the tender acts, so called. In reference to these resolutions it was voted at a town meeting held in Benson November 23, 1786, "to say nothing about paper money." The town was first represented in the Assembly in 1788 by Asahel Smith.

This town suffered as early as the winter of 1795-96 from a sort of ulcerous sore throat or canker, which caused quite a number of deaths; and a still more fatal epidemic occurred in the winter of 1812-13, which prevailed throughout the State. About sixty deaths occurred in this town in less than three months, the principal ravages of the disease being in the months of March and April.

The later history of the town includes in its records only events and pro- gress of a peaceful and quiet nature, befitting a growing agricultural commu- nity, until the outbreak of the great Civil War, which involved every hamlet and neighborhood in the country and left mourners at innumerable firesides. This town was active in supporting the government in that struggle and sent many of her sons into the field. The following record gives the names of all volunteers from this town, and the organizations in which they served, as nearly correct as it has been possible to obtain them : -

Volunteers for three years, credited previous to the call for 300,000 volun- teers of October 17, 1863 : George E. Austin, co. K, cav .; Julius R. Austin, co. B, cav .; Joseph Basley, co. C, 11th regt .; Sheldon Belden, Phineas Belden, co. B, 5th regt. ; Robert Black, John Bigelow, co. C, 11th regt. ; Edward Brownlee, co. H, 5th regt .; Anthony Burton, co. C, 11th regt .; Henry M. Coates, co. C, 11th regt. ; Lewis F. Crady, co. B, 5th regt. ; John Q. Dickin- son, co. C, 7th regt .; Henry G. Gibbs, co. K, cav .; Leonard Gibbs, co. B, 2d regt .; Lester Gibbs, co. K, cav .; Perry G. Gibbs, co. 1, 7th regt .; Allen W. Goodrich, co. C, 11th regt .; Charles B. Goodrich, Rodney W. Goodrich, co. K, cav .; Orlin H. Higgins, co. B, 9th regt .; Judson P. Howard, co. I, 7th regt .; Collins Ikely, jr., co. K, cav .; Edward Knox, co. B, 2d regt .; Jonathan Lara- bee, James Magson, co. H, 5th regt .; James Murphy, co. B, 5th regt .; William Norton, co. I, 7th regt .; Auburn T. Patch, co. B, 2d regt .; James Patterson, co. B, 5th regt .; Samuel Pilkey, Amos Pierce, co. C, 11th regt .; Charles L. Peterson, co. C, 9th regt .; Joseph Rabiteaux, co. C, 11th regt .; Alonzo A. Reed, co. I, 7th regt .; Franklin D. Smith, co. C, 11th regt .; George H. Sweet, William Talman, co. B, 5th regt .; Melvin D. Walker, Charles Watts, co. C, 1 Ith regt .; Thomas Watkins, co. I, IIth regt .; James Young, co. B, 2d regt.

Credits under call of October 17th, 1863, for 300,000 volunteers, and sub- sequent calls. Volunteers for three years : Riley C. Austin, co. G, 8th regt. ; Thomas Clark, co. B, 8th regt .; George W. Derby, Nelson Fadden, co. B, 8th regt. ; William J. Fadden, co. B, 8th regt. ; Samuel C. Gibbs, 2d bat. ; James McAniny, co. C, 11th regt .; Henry Merritt, co. H, 5th regt .; Venice Rabitaw,

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co. B, 8th regt .; John L. Scott, co. H, 5th regt .; Leander Voudray, Clarence W. Wheeler, co. H, 5th regt.

Volunteers for one year : John L. Ashline, Samuel Bishop, Stephen Bishop, 11th regt .; Sylvester Hawkins, 54th Mass .; James A. Malony, 11th regt .; Ira E. Morse, 5th regt .; John Sheridan, jr., 7th regt .; Levi Smith, 1Ith regt .; John A. Thompson, 8th regt.

Volunteers re-enlisted : Wallace E. Baldwin, Edward Brownlee, co. H, 5th regt .; John Clair, David J. Covey, co. B, 8th regt .; Lewis Crady, co. B, 5th regt .; James C. Magson, co. H, 5th regt .; James Murphy, co. B, 5th regt. ; Lewis Stone, co. F, 5th regt .; George A. Sweet, William Talman, co. B, 5th regiment.

Naval credits : Theodore Denno, Edward O. Garrity.

Miscellaneous, not credited by name : Three men.

Volunteers for nine months : James R. Adams, James H. Aiken, Marcellus I. Barber, Joseph I. Bascom, Williams C. Cummings, Moses Deno, Albert J. Dickenson, James H. Goodrich, Henry S. Howard, Richard B. Hunt, Royal C. King, Royan D. King, Eli B. Norton, Noah N. Norton, Milo C. Peck, Oliver A. Proctor, Frederick L. Reed, Garret S. Roseboom, Gilbert R. Sherwood, Stephen P. Sherwood, John W. Woodruff.

Furnished under draft. Paid commutations: Martin Dunham, Olney Hig- gins, Horace A. Manley, Henry A. Norton, Daniel F. Southworth. Procured substitute : Franklin W. Cowee, Elijah Fish. Entered service : Barney Hos- kins.

The following figures show the condition of population at the various years named ; they show that, like many other towns of this county that are cut off from railroad communication, the population to-day numbers some hundreds less than it did at an earlier period : 1791, 658 ; 1800, 1159; 1810, 1561 ; 1820, 1481 ; 1830, 1493 ; 1840, 1403 ; 1850, 1305 ; 1860, 1256; 1870, 1244; 1880, 1104.

Officers of the town : Henry Howard, town clerk ; W. H. Kellogg, assist- ant clerk ; W. E. Strong, C. B. Goodrich, James H. Aiken, selectmen ; O. H. Bump, Perry Carter, Wilber J. Goodrich, listers ; A. J. Dickinson, constable and overseer of poor ; town superintendent of schools, Daniel C. Noble ; A. J. Gibbs, Royal D. King, H. E. Strong, auditors ; F. W. Walker, town agent and town treasurer ; Perry Carter, H. E. Strong, B. A. Carter, fence viewers ; Perry Carter, O. H. Bump, A. J. Gibbs, town grand jurors.

In 1880 Benson had a population of 1, 104, was divided into eleven school districts, and had eleven common schools, employing six male and sixteen female teachers, at an aggregate salary of $1,715.11.

Politics .- Agricultural districts, like that embraced in the territory of Ben- son, do not feel the waves of political agitation, the bitterness and animosity arising from political differences and opposition, as do the inhabitants of cities 30

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

and large villages, where the struggle for office and for political supremacy is often hotly contested. The first distinctive political divisions in this town, according to Mr. Kellogg, began as early as 1798, at which time the town was strongly Democratic. Simeon Goodrich was the candidate of that party for representative and was elected. The trial of Matthew Lyon for an alleged offense under the famous "sedition law," in the United States Circuit Court at Rutland, in October, 1798, and his subsequent imprisonment at Vergennes, excited a degree of feeling in political circles which has not since, perhaps, been exceeded. He was then the representative of the Western District of Vermont in Congress, and at the election held in this district on the first Tues- day in December, 1798, no choice having been made in the previous Septem- ber, he was elected by a decisive majority, although then in jail under his sentence. At this election the vote of Benson for Lyon was 109 against 46 for his federal opponent, Judge Samuel Williams, of Rutland. (See history of the county press, in a preceding chapter). Benson was represented largely in the procession of over four hundred citizens on horseback, who went to Ver- gennes on the expiration of Colonel Lyon's term of four months' imprisonment, in February, 1799, and escorted him from the jail to his residence in Fair- haven.

The Democrats maintained their ascendency in the town until 1802, when the Federalists gained their first majority ; the vote for governor that year be- ing for Israel Smith, Democrat, seventy-four, and for Isaac Tichenor, eighty- six. From that time forward the Federalists had a majority each year on the State ticket, usually a small one, at the annual elections, except in the year 1807. The nearly equal division of the parties sometimes made the strife quite animated. Tradition reports that in 1810 Asa and Lemuel Standish were re- spectively the candidates of the two parties for town representative, the former Democratic and the latter Federal, and the latter by virtue of his office of con- stable, was the presiding officer at the election. Of the 241 votes cast, Asa received 121 and his brother 120.

After the reorganization of political parties under the administration of President Jackson, the majority of the votes of this town were almost always in harmony with the prevailing majority in the State. There has been an oc- casional active strife for the office of town representative ; there were thirteen ballotings for that office in 1852 ; nine in 1853, and five in 1854, before a choice was effected. At the same time the prevailing political preferences of the town were in those years clear and well-defined.

Examples of Longevity .- A large number of the inhabitants of this town lived to a great age, the following list of whom was compiled by Mr. Kellogg in his sketch of the town: -

Abraham Adams, died March 26, 1865, aged 97 years. Benjamin Hickok, died May 5, 1862, aged 96. Asahel Stiles, died April 13, 1854, aged 94.

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TOWN OF BENSON.

Solomon Martin, died July 10, 1845, aged 93. Sarah, wife of Elial Smith, died March 23, 1862, aged 93. Anna, widow of Arnold Briggs, died August 17, 1869, aged 93. Simeon Goodrich, died February 7, 1852, aged 92. Re- becca, widow of Robert Barber, died March 18, 1856, aged 92. Elial Smith, died May 10, 1867, aged 92. Othniel Goodrich, died August 12, 1853, aged 91. Fear, widow of Captain Stephen Olmsted, died January 7, 1825, aged 90. William Jones, died March 23, 1852, aged 89. Timothy Watson, died August 6, 1852, aged 89. Mary, wife of Robert Parkhill, died October 26, 1800, aged 89. Stephen Sherwood, died January 11, 1832, aged 89. Will- iam Manning, died January 8, 1847, aged 88. Susanna, widow of Rufus Walker, died July 20, 1863, aged 88.

Burial Ground .- The first death in this town is not now known; but the first recorded in the town record of deaths is that of an infant son of Benoni and Lucy Gleason, named James, who was born April 5, 1789, and died on the following day. The spot set apart for a village burial ground was sur- veyed and laid out October 5, 1790 ; but there had been burials previous to that time in the southeast part of the town, and also in the northwest corner of the school lot ; but no stones were set at these graves and all traces of them have disappeared. With the exception of the child above mentioned, no in- scription on any gravestone records a death earlier than that of Captain Will- iam Barber, which occurred August 11, 1789, at the age of forty-six years. It is belived that he was the first adult who died in the town.

Ecclesiastical .- At the time when this town was organized it was, in com- mon with other towns, authorized by the State laws to settle a minister and provide for his support ; and also to erect a meeting-house and to assess a tax for these purposes. A large majority of the first settlers of the town were Trinitarian Congregationalists, and providing for preaching and the building of a meeting-house were among the first subjects considered in the early town meetings.

At the annual town meeting held March 19, 1787, at the house of Stephen Olmsted, it was " voted to fix the house lately occupied by Solomon Chit- tenden and now the property of Asa Farnham, so it shall be convenient to meet in on the Sabbath," and also " voted to hire Mr. Ralph [minister] the space of one month, to pay in wheat after harvest, at a market price; " and it was also " voted that the committee appointed to hire Mr. Ralph are to hire him one-half of the time for two months, if he will be hired for or under four dollars per Sabbath, to be paid in grain after harvest."

At a town meeting held December 29, 1788, it was " voted to hire a Minis- ter one-half the time next summer, with Fairhaven." Mr. Levi Hackley was employed as a preacher in 1789-90. At a town meeting held on the 22d of March, 1790, it was " voted to have Mr. Levi Hackley settle with us for our Minister," and " that the town will raise thirty-five pounds in necessary arti-

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

ticles for building, to be paid to Mr. Levy Hackley for a settlement, exclusive of the right of land which naturally belongs to him as soon as he becomes our Minister," and " to give to Mr. Hackley seventy pounds salary for a year, to begin with forty pounds the first year, and to rise with the list of the town, until it amounts to seventy pounds, and there stand ; " but the vote to settle Mr. Hackley was reconsidered at an adjourned town meeting, March 30, 1790. The Rev. Daniel Kent became the first settled minister in Benson, he having a " call to settle with us in the work of the ministry " on the 4th of June, 1792. The pastorial relation continued until the 11th of July, 1828, when he was dismissed.

Congregational Church. - This church was organized in March, 1790, by Matthias Cazier, of Castleton, and his delegate, " Mr. Sturtevant ;" on its or- ganization, Deacon Joseph Clark was appointed "moderator of the church," and Allen Goodrich, clerk.

Deacon Jonathan Woodward, grandfather of ex-Vice- President Wheeler, was the first deacon, and Rev. Dan Kent, son of Deacon Cephas Kent, of Dor- set, the first pastor and also the first settled minister in Benson. He was born in Suffield, Conn., April 10, 1758, commenced his pastorate in Benson in 1792, and continued as pastor of this church thirty-six years. He died in Benson, July 22, 1835.

During Mr. Kent's ministry the church grew rapidly. He was a man of fervent piety and great zeal. At several periods during his pastorate there was unusual interest and the church received large additions to its numbers. The building of a meeting-house was a subject of frequent consideration in nearly every one of the early town meetings. On the 7th of December, 1789, a com- mittee of five was appointed "to draw a subscription paper for building a school-house-meeting-house, and to see their subscriptions laid out for that purpose." In the following year a framed building of one story was erected, twenty by twenty-four feet (and subsequently enlarged to twenty-four by forty feet) ; it stood on the school lot in the village, on the site of the Willard Strong residence. A few years later the building was removed to the lot occupied in recent years by the Methodist parsonage. Major Ozias Johnson was the builder of the first church ; it was designed mainly as a school-house, but was used for worship until the second church was sufficiently advanced to admit of its occupation. The settlement of Rev. Mr. Kent for his long pastorate hav- ing been satisfactorily arranged, the building of a better meeting-house soon engaged the attention of the inhabitants. October 3, 1792, it was voted " to set the meeting-house on the rise of ground on Mr. Farnham's land." Sep- tember 2, 1794, a committee of six was appointed " to agree upon a place to set the meeting- house ;" and it was voted to " set the meeting-house on the place where the above committee had set a stake for the purpose," and "to raise one hundred and fifty pounds to be paid in materials for building a meet-

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ing-house ;" and a committee of seven was appointed " to divide the town into classes, and to take care of the materials raised." October 9, 1794, it was voted " to build the meeting-house sixty-five feet long and forty-five wide." March 14, 1796, it was voted " to postpone the framing and raising the meet- ing-house till a year from the 15th of April next." July 17, 1797, it was voted " to adopt some measure to cover the meeting-house the present summer, and to raise one thousand dollars, 600 of which to be paid by the first of January next, and 400 to be paid by the first of October following - to be paid in neat cattle or grain, if paid by the times set ; if not, to be paid in money," and that " Reuben Nash be committee for building the meeting-house, in lieu of Major Johnson, dismissed." Samuel Howard and Allen Goodrich were added to the committee in May, 1801. On the 10th of January, 1797, one and one- fifth acres of land, on which the meeting-house was subsequently erected, were conveyed by a lease by Asa Farnam, esq., to "inhabitants of the town of Ben-

son,". . " to be used and improved for a meeting-house and green, as long as the said inhabitants shall want it for that purpose," with a condition that the lease was not to be binding, " unless the frame for a meeting-house Is erected within one year from the date hereof." The frame of this building was erected in the spring of 1797, and covered in the same year ; but it was not finally finished until the summer of 1803. In the summer of 1824 a large bell was procured by private subscription at an expense of about $450 ; this was the first church bell in the town. The church society was organized Decem- ber 10, 1799, and called " the First Congregational Society in Benson ;" but this was superseded in November, 1814, by the organization which has been in existence since that date. Succeeding the pastorate of Mr. Kent, the church was supplied by several different preachers down to 1829, when, in July, Rev. Daniel D. Francis was ordained ; he was dismissed October 23, 1844, and his successors were Rev. Azariah Hyde, January, 1846, to July, 1856; Rev. Eben- ezer Smith, September, 1857, to September, 1860; Rev. William S. Smart, October, 1860, to May, 1867 ; Rev. George P. Byington, March, 1868, to May, 1869. He was succeeded by Rev. Henry M. Holmes, he by Rev. George G. Lyon, and he by the present pastor, Rev. E. J. Beach. In 1842 the old church was demolished and the present handsome edifice erected at a cost of over $6,000 ; the membership is nearly one hundred and fifty.

Methodist Episcopal Church .- This society was organized in 1838, by Rev. Peter P. Harrower. There had, of course, been Methodist preaching in the town many years previous to that time ; the first minister remembered being Elder Tobias Spicer, who was here as early as 1811. In 1837 Albert Cham- plain, a young minister of this denomination, preached here occasionally during the year.

The present church edifice, a comfortable building capable of seating about 250 persons, was built in 1841, and remodeled again in 1876. The original cost

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

of the building was about $2,000, while the present value of the property is about $7,500. We need not follow the various pastors in detail, who have served this church, with the frequent changes necessitated by the custom of this denomination. Rev. J. H. Bond is the present minister, and the congre- gation is about equal in numbers to that of the Congregationalists.

Baptist Church .- The First Baptist Church of Benson was organized by Elder Abel Wood, Samuel Tower and John Carter, in March, 1797. At its organization it had fourteen members, with Rev. William Patterson as pastor. In 1826 the first building was erected, built of stone; this was followed by a second in 1843, which was sold and taken down in 1866, the organization hav- ing become extinct ; a part of the congregation united with Sudbury and a part with Westhaven.

MUNICIPAL.

The municipal history of this town is brief and not of paramount im- portance, as must always be the case in a distinctively agricultural region. Closely following the early settlements in the Vermont towns, hamlets gen- erally sprang up, their location being often determined by the site chosen for the grist-mill. As most of the inhabitants were compelled to "go to mill " with regularity, shops and stores and the post-office were established in the same vicinity, both for the accommodation of the inhabitants and to make sure of securing their trade. Thus grew up the village in this town. Stores were established as early as 1795, when Jonas Abbott was in business and advertised that he " has again refurnished his cheap store with a fresh stock of European and India goods." Timothy Watson was then engaged in shoemaking and selling, and Stephen Olmsted and Tilly Gilbert were in gen- eral trade; the partnership was dissolved in 1795, and the business continued by Mr. Olmsted. We have already mentioned the fact that Daniel Barber built the first mills in the town ; these were followed by saw-mills in various other parts of the town, the greater part of which have been abandoned many years. Previous to the building of Mr. Barber's mills, the inhabitants were forced to carry their grain through the wilderness to Poultney, to get it ground.

A grist-mill was built at the settlement on the river known as " Bangall " as early as 1810, by William Cutler and Ethan Allen.

The date of the establishment of the post-office at Benson is not definitely known. E. R. Reed was appointed postmaster in July, 1877, and held the office until the appointment of the present incumbent, B. A. Carter. Previous to Mr. Reed's administration H. F. Smith was postmaster about twelve years, Mr. Carter performing the office duties for him. H. A. Norton filled the office five or six years previous to Mr. Smith's administration. Among those who held the office in still earlier years were Chauncey Higgins, D. R. Barber, Wood- ward Ladd and H. B. Wilcox.

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TOWN OF BENSON.

B. A. Carter keeps a general store at Benson which he has conducted since the fall of 1865. This store was built by E. H. & D. Aiken about 1839. D. R. Barber was the merchant in it for a time, after which a " union store " was carried on there ten or twelve years. Norton & Pitts (H. A. Norton and Charles D. Pitts) then conducted it about three years, and were followed by Mr. Norton alone for two years. The post-office was kept in this store thirty- five years or more.

The store now occupied by H. S. Howard, in the hardware trade and tin- manufacturing, was built during the last war and about 1862. A store build- ing stood on the same site previous to that time, which was built before 1855 and occupied by J. W. Dorsey, who was burned out. He was succeeded by the firm of Dorsey, Scott & Company, embracing Frank Scott and Cephas Knapp. This firm was succeeded by Dorsey & Howard, Mr. Howard joining him in the spring of 1868. The firm continued until 1874, when Frederick Reed assumed Mr. Dorsey's interest. The firm of Howard & Reed continued until April, 1883, since which date Mr. Howard has conducted the business alone. Mr. Reed worked here fifteen, or more, years, previous to his joining Mr. Howard.

Mrs. Jennie Ladd has a general store, which business was begun in June, 1884, succeeding her husband, K. G. Ladd, who started in the spring of 1883.

There was a hotel kept on the site of the present Union Hotel since a very early day. It is recorded in a hotel register that the building was erected by Josiah Goodrich about 1790 and was kept for many years by his widow, Mary Goodrich. The house finally ran down and was not open to the public for many years. The house now on this site was built by J. Reed, the present proprie- tor, who formerly kept the house now in control of Mrs. E. Bailey, about the year 1870.

The Briggs House was built about 1839 by John Kellogg. Others who occupied it were Luther Joy, William Johnson, Horace Knapp, John and L. F. Miller, and J. Reed. Amasa Briggs occupied the place as a private house until the winter of 1882-83, when it was opened to the public by A. J. & John A. Briggs ; it was kept by them until the spring of 1884, when Miss A. J. Briggs bought out her brother; in the succeeding fall she married E. F. Bailey and still conducts the house.

The carriage shop at Benson was put in operation by Strong & Brother (H. E. & W. E. Strong) in 1851 ; an old building was then taken and additions made to it. It was formerly a horse-shoeing shop and was built by Luther Joy, who was a merchant for a number of years in what is now Reed's shoe shop. The carriage factory was built in between the Reed shop and the old school-house, all of which are now occupied by the Messrs. Strong for their business.

Francis W. Johnson's shingle factory and cider-mill, located on Hubbard-

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

ton River, at Tumble Falls, near road 10, was erected in 1880, and has a fine water power of twenty feet fall. Mr. Johnson manufactures 500 to 600 barrels of cider per year.

N. O'Donnell's grist and saw-mill, located on Hubbardton River, about two miles from Benson village, is the only grist-mill in the town, manufactures in connection with flour, etc., 500,000 feet of lumber, 400,000 shingles.

Ira E. Morse formerly operated a saw-mill, on the north branch of Hub- bardton River, which was built in 1875. The same must be said of the Walker Cheese Manufacturing Company, organized in 1873, and the company operat- ing the Benson Butter and Cheese factory, organized in 1874.

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 55

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170