USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 91
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The surface presents a pleasing variety of hill and valley, the highest eleva- tion being Spruce Knob in the east, and Mount St. Catharine in the south. Poultney River, the largest stream, rises in Tinmouth, enters Poultney from Middletown, flows westerly through the town, and, forming the boundary be- tween Fairhaven and Hampton, and Westhaven and Whitehall, enters Lake Champlain. Lake St. Catharine, or Lake Austin, is a beautiful body of water extending from the center of Wells to near the center of Poultney. The soil along Poultney River is generally warm and productive. The timber is prin- cipally deciduous, though the site of East Poultney was originally covered with a dense growth of pine and hemlock. The origin of the name Poultney is not certainly traced, though it has been suggested that it was derived from an Eng- lish lord of that name, who was a friend of Benning Wentworth. The town was organized on the 8th of March, 1775, by the election of the following officers : Zebulon Richards, moderator; Heber Allen, town clerk; Nehemiah Howe, Zebulon Richards and Cotton Fletcher, selectmen; Isaac Ashley, constable ; John Ashley, tithingman ; Josiah Lewis, Thomas Ashley and Ebenezer Hyde, surveyors of highways, and the selectmen, with Thomas Ashley and Ebenezer Hyde, committee for laying out highways.
The early settlement of Poultney did not differ widely in manner from that of all the Vermont towns, excepting that the wealth and promise of its thickly wooded hills and valleys were a tempting bait which the cupidity of the New York land jobbers could not resist.
Owing to this land controversy the early settlers came in more slowly here than elsewhere and were " men of bold, fearless spirit, athletic and firm consti- tutions," and were, without exception, poor. Ebenezer Allen and Thomas Ashley, the first who settled in town, reached here on the 15th of April, 1771, and erected their shanties about twenty rods south of where the turnpike bridge now is in the west village, " Allen a little west and Ashley a little east."
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TOWN OF POULTNEY.
Allen brought his family with him, and had a son born the same year, the first white child born in Poultney. Ashley did not return for his family until he had finished his shanty and planted corn sufficient for the support of his family of seven. He remained on the same farm until the time of his death in 1810. Allen removed in a few years to Grand Isle.
These two families were followed the same season by Elijah and John Owen, Isaac Ashley and Nehemiah Howe, and soon after by the following persons, nearly in the order named : Ichabod and Joseph Marshall, Silas Howe, Heber Allen (brother to Ethan Allen), John Grant, Thomas Goodwin, Robert Green, Zebediah Dewey, Cotton Fletcher, John, Elkana, Elisha, Enoch and William Ashley (brothers of Thomas and Isaac), John Tilden, Zebediah, Dan and John Richards, William Ward, Timothy, Ebenezer, James and Lemuel Hyde, Sam- uel Church, Joel Grannis, Isaac Craw, Nathaniel and James Smith, Mordecai and Gilbert Sloper, James and Nathaniel Brookins, Josiah Lewis and a few others before the arrival of Burgoyne's army and his Indian allies in July, 1777, when all the inhabitants were forced to flee. As has been truly said, these men were all " the Ethan Allen stamp of men." Some of them were related by blood and marriage to the redoubtable leader of the Green Moun- tain Boys, and all of them were certainly his personal acquaintances. Several of them were present at the capture of Ticonderoga.
When Burgoyne came up Lake Champlain the domestic occupations of the inhabitants throughout this part of the State were for a time rudely interrupted. The men were called upon to fight and the women to attend to those charita- ble duties which are given to them alone, in such crises, to perform. The battle of Hubbardton was fought on the 7th of July, 1777, and on the following day the women and children of Poultney, being apprized of the repulse of the pa- triots, hastily collected their portable effects and retreated to Bennington, thence to Pownal, and after the battle of Bennington, to their former homes in Mas- sachusetts and Connecticut. The following are the names of the thirteen heroic women who took part in this retreat : The wives of William Ward, Thomas Ashley, Ichabod Marshall, Joseph Marshall, Dan Richards (afterward Mrs. Lindsey Joslin), John Richards, Timothy Hyde (afterwards Mrs. Abner Adams), Zebediah Dewey, Silas Howe, Nathaniel Smith, the widow of Isaac Ashley (afterwards Mrs. Joseph Rann, grandmother of Charles A. Rann, now residing in Poultney), Nehemiah Howe and Josiah Lewis. Most or all these women returned with their children within the following year, and were not, so far as can be learned, again molested by foreign foes.
Among others who came here in the year 1771, Ebenezer Allen, who has already been mentioned, was one of the most prominent. He was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and a member of one, at least, of the early conventions. He was a man of advanced humanity and sympathies, and showed his fidelity to his convictions by liberating two slaves on the ground that he was " con- scientious that it is not right in the sight of God to keep slaves."
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Thomas Ashley, already mentioned, was followed the same year of his ar- rival, by his six brothers, Isaac, John, Elkana, Elisha, Enoch and William, all of whom were prominent in the early councils of the town. Isaac Ashley died in April, 1777. His son, Elisha Ashley, was for many years after his attaining maturity a prominent man in Poultney.
Josiah Lewis, of Connecticut, came here in 1771, and settled on the east part of what is now the farm of his great-grandson, Mark Lewis. He was a soldier of the Revolution and participated in the battle of Hubbardton, and the capture of Ticonderoga. His wife, née Molly Cole, rendered valuable service for the Americans in carrying general news, and received therefor one hundred and sixty acres of land, situated near the present farm of Franklin Thompson. He died before the year 1800. The farm has always remained in the family. " Heber Allen was one of the seven Allen brothers, of whom the most distin- guished was Colonel Ethan Allen." He must have been here as early as 1772. He built his dwelling-house near the site now occupied by the " Pine Tree House," between the two villages. Some traces of his cellar are still faintly perceptible there. He was a major in the Revolution, was the first town clerk of Poultney, and, until his death in April, 1782, and was a judge of the County Court (1778) when Rutland was only a shire of Cumberland county.
Nehemiah Howe came to Poultney from New Marlborough, Mass., in 1772, and died in April, 1777. He owned the land abont where the Congregational Church and cemetery now are in the east village. His paternal ancestor four gen- erations back was the first white settler in Marlborough, Mass. He was said to be descended from a relative of Lord Howe, of Warwickshire, England. De- scendants of Nehemiah Howe are still numerous in the town and vicinity.
Zebediah Dewey came to Poultney from Tyringham, Mass., in about 1772, and located on the site now covered by Beaman's Hotel, but afterwards re- moved to the head of Hampshire Hollow, on a tract of land now comprising the farms of Timothy Haley and Dwight Smith. He was a great sportsman and hunter. He is said to have been the first captain of militia in Poultney, and obtained his title of major from the efficient service which he rendered at the battle of Hubbardton. His youngest son, Dr. David Dewey, was after- wards a man of prominence in Poultney, and the inventor, it is claimed, of the first sheep-shearing machine ever patented in the country.
About this period Timothy Hyde and his brothers, James, Lemuel and Ebenezer, came from Connecticut and settled in the vicinity of the Pomeroy Wells estate. N. C. Hyde, a descendant of Ebenezer, now owns a part of the old homestead. Ebenezer Hyde was the progenitor of the Hydes now in town. Samuel Hyde, a son of Ebenezer, kept a public house for many years on the farm now forming a part of the Pomeroy Wells estate.
Ichabod Marshall arrived in town in December, 1772, from Massachusetts. He was born in New Marlboro, Mass., in 1741, was married in 1760, and
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ASA J. ROGERS.
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TOWN OF POULTNEY.
brought six children with him to Poultney, coming through the unbroken for- est for over sixty miles, with only one horse to carry Mrs. Marshall, " a feather bed, two infant children, and all the furniture the family had for keeping house." The rest of the family walked and drove one cow before them. They settled on the tract of land now occupied by Mrs. Martha Marshall, which has ever remained in the possession of the family. Ichabod Marshall was killed by the wheel of his own wagon while returning from a trip to Troy. Joseph Marshall, his brother, came to Poultney in 1772, and located about a mile north of the Hopson Place, on a road now discontinued, that led from the main road be- tween the two villages.
Zebulon Richards came to Poultney in 1773, and located on the farm now occupied by Michael Lynch. One of his two sons, John, settled on the place now occupied by Mrs. Stevens, and the other, Daniel, on the Joslin farm, so called. Salmon Richards, grandson of John Richards, lives in Poultney now, at the ripe old age of eighty-six years. The widow of Daniel Richards afterwards became the wife of Lindsey Joslin, and suffered terrible privations when driven from Poultney with her twelve associates in 1777.
James and Nathaniel Smith, brothers, must have arrived in Poultney about the year 1773 or 1774, and lived in the north part of the town.
Thomas Hooker, a worthy descendant of the Thomas Hooker who was one of the original proprietors of the town of Cambridge, Mass., came to Poultney about the year 1775, and settled on the Hooker farm in the north part of the town. He soon removed to Finel Hollow, and after a residence there of six- teen years, returned to the place of his original settlement. His father, James Hooker, came here about 1779, and settled in Finel Hollow. Besides Thomas five other children of James, viz. : James, Samuel, Sarah, David and Josiah, resided in town a short time. Their descendants, scattered over a wide area, have achieved prominence in many places and callings.
William Ward came from New Marlboro, Mass., to Poultney in November, 1775, and located in Finel Hollow on the farm still occupied by Mrs. C. P. Ward, it having never left the family. He was a member of the convention that framed the State Constitution, was for six years one of the judges of the Rutland County Court, was the first judge of probate for the district of Fair- haven, and retained the office twenty-two years ; was forty years justice of the peace, and was the first town representative for a number of years.
The Revolutionary struggle, being at this time full upon the country, pre- vented active settlement, especially on a frontier so exposed as Western Ver- mont. No settlement, therefore, dating in 1776, has been discovered. Soon after Burgoyne's surrender, however, in 1777, Phineas Pierce established him- self in a gambrel-roofed house of his own building, a few rods east of the site of the brick house now occupied by James Hopper, on the bank of Finel Hol- low Brook. He worked in the forge built by the Joslins.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
In 1778 Joseph Rann, who was born in Salisbury, N. H., in 1752, arrived in Poultney, and settled on the farm now owned and occupied by R. R. Thrall. He was followed at different periods by others from his native State, who gave the name of Hampshire Hollow to the vicinity of their settlement. He served in the Revolutionary War, was wounded in the battle of Bunker Hill by a ball which he carried in his ankle to his grave ; was afterwards taken prisoner, and confined in a prison ship near New York for several months. He effected his escape by jumping overboard and swimming some distance ashore. He at- tended the Congregational Church here and was chorister while Rev. Ithamer Hibbard was pastor. He married Olive, daughter of Nehemiah Howe, and widow of Isaac Ashley, by whom he had six children, Anta, Silbey, Salvator, Alpha, Arithusa, and Lavina. Of the daughters Ansa married John Page ; Silbey married Leonard Doughty ; Arithusa married John Ransford, and La- vina married Erastus Bigelow, all of whom resided in Essex county, N. Y., and left a numerous posterity. Alpha, or Alfred, went to Western New York, married a Minerva Trask, and had two sons, one of whom now publishes a paper in Manchester, Ia., and the other died in Whitewater, Wis., in 1870, where he was publishing the Whitewater Register. Salvator remained in Poult- ney, married Chloe, daughter of Elisha Scott, and had four sons and four daughters. Charles A. Rann, of Poultney, Mrs. Joseph Fuller, of Clarendon, and Horace Rann, of Spencerport, N. Y., are the only children left. Charles A. Rann was a commissioned officer in the Rebellion, was representative of Poultney in 1863 and 1864, and senator in 1878. He was born May 23, 1823, was married to Sarah Brown, January 2, 1849. His only living child, H. C. Rann, was born January 15, 1860.
Joel Frisbie, the first of the name in Poultney, came, it is thought, with Rev. Ithamer Hibbard, in 1780. He went to Middletown in 1786.
Three brothers, Reuben, Aaron and Isaac Hosford, came to Poultney about 1780, the first named settling on the farm now owned by Hiel Angevine, and the other on the tract now comprising the farm of Peter Laundry. Descend- ants of Reuben are still living here and elsewhere. Joseph Morse also came in 1780 from Litchfield, Conn., and located in the east part of the town, in the place since called Morse Hollow. Joseph F. Morse, of East Poultney, is his grandson. A brother of Joseph, sr., named Solomon, came in 1780 and went to Pennsylvania about the year 1800.
William Preston, already an old man, came to Poultney from Litchfield, Conn., as early as 1781, and died here in April, 1815, at the age of one hun- dred years lacking twenty days. John Preston, a son of William, came here about the same time.
John Ransom came from Canaan, Conn., the same year (1781) and located on the farm now owned by E. D. Andrus : married Sarah Roberts Whitney, and died in August, 1811, leaving three children, Lemuel, John and David. Caroline, a daughter of David, still resides in Poultney.
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TOWN OF POULTNEY.
Stephen de Maranville, youngest son of Louis de Maranville, of noble lin- eage, came to Poultney from Dartmouth, Mass., via Pawlet, in 1782 and set- tled on the farm now occupied by Frank Gates, then called " Maranville Hill." He was a " minute man" in the Revolution. He died September 26, 1828.
Dan Pond, the "patriarch," was born in 1726 at Branford, Conn., came from Stockbridge, Mass., to Poultney in 1782, settling, with a portion of his family, on " Pond Hill." He had fifteen children, thirteen sons and two daugh- ters, all but one of whom lived to have families. Most of the sons were Rev- olutionary soldiers, and came to Poultney with their father. Abel Pond, a few years after he came, settled on " Poultney Flats." He took an active part in the Revolutionary struggle. Of sixty members of this once prominent and numerous family, not one is left in Poultney bearing the name.
The year 1783, being the closing year of the Revolution, witnessed the immigration of a number of families, many of whom have descendants in town now. Some of the following may not have reached here until 1784 : -
Elijah Ames settled in what has since been entitled " Ames Hollow," near Bird Mountain. His brother Zebulon came about the same time and resided near him, but in Ira. Jeremiah Armstrong, of Connecticut, settled near Elijah Ames about this time, and became one of the most influential men of the town. He died about 1842. William Buckland, a Revolutionary soldier from Hart- ford, Conn., came in 1783 and purchased his farm of Elkanah Ashley, it being the same land now occupied by his grandson, Augustus Buckland. They were an ancient family in Connecticut. The grandfather of Augustus Buckland's mother, John Barrett, was a tried soldier in the French and Indian War. Some years before 1796 he came from his home in Connecticut, and passed the re- mainder of his days, until his ninety-fourth year, with his daughter. He died June 9, 1796. Solomon Cleveland settled on the Cleveland farm, now owned and occupied by William Quinn. He afterwards removed to Hydeville. It is not known that any of his descendants are living.
About this period came from Massachusetts Seymour and Timothy Crit- tenden, and settled, the former on the farm now occupied by Frank French, and the latter on the present Troy Conference Academy grounds, his house standing near the sidewalk in front of the academy. Seymour was a promi- nent member of the Congregational Church, and a Democrat. Among his descendants may be named his grandson, Henry H. Crittenden, a resident of Poultney. Timothy Crittenden sold his farm to Dr. James Witherell in 1810 and went west. He represented the town in 1802-03.
Joshua Dye, a native of Kent, Conn., moved to Poultney soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, and located in Ames Hollow, on the farm now occupied by Patrick Kennedy. He was drowned in Poultney River in 1826. Some of his descendants now live in town.
Edward Finel, a sergeant-major of the Revolution, settled soon after its
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
close in the " Hollow " that now bears his name, and on the farm now occu- pied by Nathaniel Carlton. He had five sons and five daughters. Although he has descendants residing in town, there are none that bear the family name.
James and Ebenezer Frisbie, two of four brothers, were in town as early as 1783, the former settling in the east part of the town on the road to Middle- town, and the latter on the tract of land occupied ten years ago by Abner Lewis.
James, Seth and Jared Gorham came from Kent, Conn., about 1783, and settled (in the order of their naming) at Gorhamtown, Pond Hill and south of Ames Hollow. They were three of seven brothers, four of whom, John, James, Seth and Wakeman, with their father, served in the Revolutionary War. Descendants of James are in Poultney yet.
Thaddeus Hickok, of Washington, Litchfield county, Conn., came to Poult- ney soon after the close of the Revolutionary War, and settled on the tract of land now owned and occupied by L. C. Spaulding. He was a soldier of the Revolutionary War. Simeon Hickok, his brother, came at the same time and located on the place where Rodney Rowell now lives. His son, Colonel Rus- sel Hickok, was formerly engaged in the foundry business here.
Lindsey Josselyn, or, according to modern spelling, Joslin, born August 12, 1749, in eastern Massachusetts, moved early to Sheffield, Mass., and soon after the close of the War of the Revolution, in company with his brother Samuel, came to Poultney ; they erected a forge half a mile east of Poultney, on the "Todd place." Jabez and Joseph, brothers also, the former a tailor and the latter a blacksmith, came soon after. Lindsey Joslin assisted in the capture of Burgoyne. He died August 12, 1826. John Jay Joslin, a descendant, was formerly a merchant here and erected the stone block now occupied by John Deane and others. Descendants of Lindsey Joslin still live in town.
Captain Daniel Manning, a cooper, and a soldier who fought in the battles of Bunker Hill, on Long Island, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and York- town, came here in 1783 and settled on a farm about a mile northeast of Poult- ney, which he bought of James Smith. He afterwards lived on the farm now occupied by Noah Fenton, which he bought of Deacon Silas Howe.
Joel Smith settled at this time in the east part of the town. He died at the time of the epidemie in 1813. Descendants still reside in East Poultney.
Enos Wells settled soon after the Revolutionary War on what now forms a part of Asahel Smith's estate. He died early in the century.
Ebenezer Canfield, soon after the Revolutionary War, built a gambrel- roofed house south of the highway on the knoll east of the old cemetery in East Poultney, and for some years operated a grist-mill there, some traces of which are still visible. He went to Ohio and died there.
In the spring of 1784 Bazaleel Farnum, a soldier of the first war with Great Britain, came here from Salisbury, Conn., and settled upon sixty acres of land
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TOWN OF POULTNEY.
which he had purchased nine years before, being the same place now occupied by his great-grandson, William L. Farnum, jr. He died April 9, 1831, at the age of seventy-two years. His eldest son, William Lee Farnum, became a prominent man in the councils of the town. Besides the various town offices to which he was elected, he represented Poultney in the Legislature in the years 1832-33, 1837 and 1854. He died March 10, 1873.
Michael Broughton, and his brothers Samuel and John, settled in 1786 on tracts of land included in the strip which was annexed to Poultney in October, 1798. They were extensive land owners, and their descendants, especially the descendants of John Broughton, became leading members of the Baptist Church in Poultney. Many of their descendants live now within a short dis- tance from town.
Edmund Lamson, a blacksmith, came from Suffield, Conn., in 1786, worked a short time for Deacon Silas Howe, and in 1787 bought a lot opposite the cemetery in the east village, and erected a house there which is still standing. The farm is now in the hands of two of his grandsons, W. B. and H. G. Prindle.
Calvin Mallary, a brother of Daniel Mallary, sen., hereafter mentioned, set- tled in 1786 on a farm about two miles south of East Poultney, now owned by his grandson, Elisha Mallary. He was a prominent member of the Baptist Church. His son, Calvin, jr., passed his life on the homestead.
Elias and Ichabod Babcock came from Canaan, Conn., in 1788. The for- mer located in Finel Hollow. He did the stone work on the present Congre- gational house of worship. He died in 1836. Descendants of his are still liv- ing in the county. Ichabod pursued his calling, that of a hatter, in the west village. He died in 1846.
Jonas Mears settled in Poultney not far from 1790, and raised quite a family, descendants of whom are still residents of the town. Simeon Mears, jr., grand- son of John Mears, and a man of ability, was for some time a merchant here and associated with Colonel Hickok in the foundry.
Samuel Fifield immigrated to Poultney about 1791 or '92, and located on Pond Hill. He was the father of eight children, of whom the first two died in infancy. Descendants of the others are now living in town.
Hon. John Stanley, with his parents and three children, came to Poultney from Canaan, Conn., in 1791, and settled in a house on the site now covered by the dwelling-house of Mrs. John Clark. He kept store in one part of this building. About 1794 he purchased and resided in a house which occupied the present site of Beaman's Hotel, and erected a building for a store on the opposite side of the street. In 1816 he erected the brick house now occupied by Mrs. Jonas Clark. He was judge of probate for the district of Fairhaven from 1824 to 1829 inclusive. He was a man of energy and business enterprise. and of public spirit. Of his seven children, Henry Stanley was the most inti- mately associated with Poultney interests. He erected the Ruggles foundry,
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
the Poultney House, and the dwelling house so long occupied by Deacon Jos- lin. He was in the State Senate in 1847-48, and contributed to the inaugura- tion of some of the most important interests of the town. He removed some years ago to Brooklyn, N. Y.
Amos Frisbie, born in Bethlehem, Conn., December 9, 1769, came to Poult- ney on the last day of November, 1792, purchased the farm now occupied by Joseph W. Clark, and remained there until he died on the 13th of March, 1826. He was a man of good influence and reputation, held several important offices in town, and was sincerely devoted to the welfare of the Congregational society. He married twice, his second wife, daughter of William Lockett and widow of Dr. William Copman, bearing him three children, viz., Mary, who is the wife of James P. Harris, James S., now the partner of H. Clarence Rann in the clothing business, and Emma, wife of Chauncey Edgerton. Calvin Frisbie came to Poultney with his brother Amos, and some time after his brothers, James and Ebenezer, already mentioned, arrived. He died young, and although he left descendants, they have all gone from Vermont.
Daniel Mallary, born in 1758, removed from Cheshire, Conn., to Poultney in 1794. He settled first on the place now occupied by Mrs. Mary Hosford, daughter of Deacon Webster (" Webster place "), and afterwards he resided in the house now occupied by the widow of John Gibson, and later still, for twenty years, on the farm now owned by A. M. Knapp. He passed his later years in the house now occupied by Andrew Clark in the village. He had seven chil- dren, of whom the eldest, Rollin C. Mallary, rose to distinction as a lawyer and member of Congress (see Chapter XXVII). He owned and occupied the place where Charles W. Potter now lives.
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