USA > Vermont > Washington County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury, Vermont, 1763-1915 > Part 9
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The same issue contains a prospectus of the New York Tribune, signed by Greeley & McElrath, reflecting in Horace Greeley's inimitable style the policy of his famous journal and dealing vigorously with matters of public moment in this language:
A year of change and convulsion draws rapidly to its close-a year destined to be memorable in the history of Europe and of America. In this country it has witnessed the casting down of that delusive idol which made the mantle of Democracy a cloak for the most audacious crimes against Liberty and Humanity-against Freedom of thought and action- against outspeaking Integrity and fearless Manhood. Come what may in the future, we are justified in believing that the power of a Name over the Nation's impulses and fortunes-the indolent credulity which empowered whatever was called "Democratic" to pass triumphant and almost un- questioned-has passed away forever. New circumstances will, doubtless, evolve new perils for the country; but the great peril of blind adherence to party-of government by the potency of words and names-has passed away forever. Europe, too, has experienced unwonted convulsions and the signal fires of Freedom, relighted in February by the laborers of Paris, have swept over France, Germany, Hungary, Italy and been kindled only to be quenched in unhappy Ireland. They still blaze with cheering bril- liancy from the watch-towers of dauntless Berlin; they gleam and flash, it may be, with dying but surely with glorious radiance, from the battlements of heroic Vienna. Throughout the length and breadth of Christendom, there are indications not to be mistaken, of the stern uprising of the long abused people against the tyrants who have so long oppressed and crushed them. Happy were it for all if the despots and aristocrats, so long gorged with the plunder of unrewarded toil, would but seasonably realize that the old sorceries, whereby nations were lulled to sleep in wretchedness and chains, have lost their power and that Liberty and Justice are now de- manded with a unanimity and earnestness which will not be over ruled, trifled with, nor turned aside from its purpose. But the Few will not see
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what the Many have learned of their rights and wrongs; wherefore blood will flow like water and misery and desolation darken the face of the civil- ized world. But this will not endure. . . . So, while resisting sternly the claim of portions of our people to arrogate to themselves the designa- tions "Republican" and "Democratic," plainly implying that those who dissent from their view of the current topics of party controversy are hostile to Republican Liberty-we shall none the less reverence and uphold those great principles of Democracy and Equal Rights which no abuse, no perversion to sordid, ignoble ends, can ever render other than vital elements of Human Well-being. . . Hoping much from the New Administration [President Taylor's] which the people have decreed, we shall yield it a hearty support so far as our judgment shall approve its acts; but should we find it in any respect unfaithful, we shall not hesitate to expose and denounce its short-comings. We support men for the sake of measures not measures for the sake of men.
Like most prophets', Mr. Greeley's vaticinations were partly accurate and partly wrong, as those of us know who lived to see the great journalist himself recant in part. For example, there is a greater measure of liberty today in "unhappy Ire- land" than in either "dauntless Berlin" or "heroic Vienna."
Even at that early day, in 1849, the Free Mountaineer was moved to protest valiantly against our chaotic immigration laws, under which an influx of nine hundred foreign immi- grants at one port in a single day were permitted. The editor called upon the people to see to it that such men be sent to Washington to make laws as would protect American laborers in their rights. How well the people of Waterbury have responded to this appeal is today a matter of national history.
The completion of the Vermont Central Railroad into Water- bury from Middlesex, and the arrival of the first train, October I, 1849, just one year later than the railway's completion into Northfield, naturally were hailed with satisfaction by the citi- zens, especially those who had purchased stock in the enter- prise; to them there was at least ocular evidence of some of the concrete results of their investment and the subject of dividends was allowed to remain in abeyance. The con- ductors and station agents were recruited at first from stage drivers and other employes of the old turnpike company. Railroading in those days was not the highly specialized 7
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occupation it came to be within the next quarter of a century and train crews were rather a happy-go-lucky lot.
Prior to the Prohibitory Law, accepted in 1853 by a majority vote of 88, there was an Innkeepers and Retailers License Act. Under this, the question of voting for license or no license was determined each year at the March town meeting. In 1847 there was a majority of 57 against license. In 1848 license prevailed by a majority of 35, and in 1849 the vote was 109 to 108.in favor of no license. Apropos of the lax conditions pre- vailing in Waterbury prior to the passage of the Prohibitory Law of 1853, modeled on the Maine Act, Mr. Russell Butler once remarked to a friend that there was not a single farm on the hill road to Stowe that had not changed hands, within his memory, on account of the effects of intemperance.
The Moody family's place in Waterbury's history begins with the coming of Joseph Moody, Sr., and his wife, Avis, from Vershire in 1834. There were six sons and three daughters: Daniel Moody who died March 23, 1887, was a farmer. Na- thaniel Moody was a successful business man, buying and selling stock, and was known as a shrewd, careful trader; he died January 9, 1893. William was a prominent resident, the keeper of a tavern, real estate operator and trader, industrious and energetic; he died in 1865, aged fifty-seven years. Elisha was also a trader, real estate owner and promoter. He was widely celebrated for his wit, and his sayings were quoted throughout central Vermont; he lived to be ninety-four years of age and died in 1906. His chief delight was deliberately to excite and baffle the ever-ready curiosity of his townsmen. He was impervious to the ingratiating hints thrown out in the obvious formulæ beginning: "I was just a-wonderin'," or "I didn't know but what," etc. Such coarse work left him unmoved and his interrogators unsatisfied.
Betsy (Moody) Reynolds, a sister, died in Waterbury December 22, 1887; her husband, Samuel Reynolds, died in 1875. Avis (Moody) Kenny died at the age of twenty-four, January 17, 1842. Angelina (Moody) Duncan, a sister, re- sided in the West.
The Moody men are described as being of an average height
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PERIOD 1830-1850
of six feet, one inch, and weight of two hundred and twenty- five pounds. They were all keen business men and careful traders.
Of the present generation, G. E. Moody, Reverend Calvin Moody of Oklahoma, and Edward Moody of Waterbury, Mrs. William Carpenter of Waterbury, and Miss Nettie Moody of Poultney Academy are the children of George Moody. George F. Moody of Burlington is the son of Elisha. Of William Moody's family there were: Justin W. Moody, Mrs. N. K. Brown of Burlington, Jane (Moody) Town, Lavina (Moody) Robinson of Stowe, and Mrs. Frances (Moody) Atherton of Burlington.
It is said that Nathaniel Moody was the one of the six sons of Joseph Moody, Sr., who was a Republican. All the rest were War Democrats, but, with the coming of the third gene- ration, there was a sort of political throw-back and the sons of Democratic fathers became Republicans.
Of the six brothers, George was known familiarly as "Gov- ernor," it is said, because of his imposing appearance, immense girth and ponderous dignity. Ex-Senator George Eugene Moody was born in Waterbury, January 6, 1845; he was educated in the public schools and entered upon a business career in his native town. He has been a successful dealer in real estate, live stock, lumber and the promoter and half owner of the Waterbury Light & Power Company. He was town representative in 1886 and 1900, and state senator in 1906. Mr. Moody is held in high esteem for his invincible courage, his optimistic confidence in humankind, his kindly helpfulness and his shrewd business sense.
Joseph W. Moody was a member of the state senate in 1853. Soon after his term expired in 1854, he removed to Sauk Rapids, Minnesota, and died there, November 23, 1884.
Mark H. Moody, a son of G. E. Moody, served the town as postmaster twelve years and now is an operator of several farms and a breeder of Guernsey stock.
Justin W. Moody was born in Strafford, Vermont, Novem- ber 24, 1844, and died in Waterbury, February 4, 1915. He came to Waterbury when he was a child of two years and
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received his early education in the public schools of the village. He married Miss Harriet Brown of Montpelier, November 5, 1868, and of the marriage were born: Mary (Moody) White- hill, wife of Mr. Harry C. Whitehill, and Julia (Moody) Perry, wife of Mr. C. A. Perry. Mrs. Moody, Justin Moody's widow, still lives in Waterbury at the old home. Mr. Moody was an ardent Republican and served the village as post- master for twenty-four years successively, having received his first commission from President Andrew Johnson. Mr. Moody was also the proprietor of a book and stationery store, but spent the last fifteen years of his life in the place of busi- ness of his son-in-law, Mr. H. C. Whitehill, where he held an open court and reception for his many warm friends and neighbors. For many years Mr. Moody was a director of the Waterbury National Bank (now the Waterbury Savings Bank and Trust Company), school director, and a member of the Board of Listers. Mr. Moody was essentially a home man, preferring home associations to the diversions presented by social organizations of different sorts. He was, however, quick to render aid and counsel to many local organizations, particularly the Methodist Church, in which the Moody family of Waterbury had been always prominent. An omniverous reader, Mr. Moody kept abreast of the publications dealing with topics whether of political, governmental, economic or industrial interest or of the more intimate sociological problems of present day discussion.
It would be a labor of love for any one of his acquaintances to bear testimony to his singular power of drawing to him and retaining, as it were, by bands of steel, those who knew him. This power was beautifully illustrated in his association and relations with small children and young people. Mr. Moody was modest and retiring, but, in his quiet way, was quick at repartee, showing a keen sense of humor. The Waterbury Rec- ord's obituary notice of Mr. Moody closed with these words: "After all, what the people of Waterbury and vicinity will remember with the greatest comfort and satisfaction were those traits of their dead friend which were evidenced by an
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invariable neighborliness, kindliness and thoughtfulness for others, especially in times of adversity or trouble."
For weeks after Mr. Moody's death the sorrow of old friends was manifested in a pathetic way, when upon inquiry at his accustomed place, they learned first of his passing. Especially touching were the inquiries of little children for their old playmate.
One of the old-time residents of Waterbury Center was Chauncey Lyon. Mr. Lyon was born October II, 1835, on the same farm that was cleared by his father and grandfather, and which is now owned by his son, Arthur Lyon. After he began to feel the weight of years he moved from the farm to the Center. He married Miss Maria Emeretta Hopkins of Enosburgh in 1858. Of this union eight children were born, the eldest son dying in infancy. Of the living children Mrs. M. A. Thurston (Martha A. Lyon) lives at the Center; Arthur on the Lyon farm; Frank "Chancy" is in business in Burlington; Mrs. Frank A. Fish, the wife of Superior Judge Fish, lives in Vergennes; Mrs. Warren, in Morrisville; Jesse, in Chicago, and Mrs. Carsley, in Palmer, Massachusetts. By occupation Mr. Lyon was always a farmer. He paid especial attention to horse breeding and to this branch of farming he ascribed what success he met. Of industrious habits, he could not tolerate an idler and was too frugal to permit waste or slackness. Strictly honest and upright, he held all to the same line. He died May 3, 1914.
Among Waterbury's physicians of this period was Doctor Thomas B. Downer who came to the Center in 1840, or there- about. The circumstances attending his removal from Stowe, where he had practiced, to Waterbury Center, well illustrates the Doctor's tenacity of opinion. When the County of La- moille was carved out and the town of Stowe was included within the new boundaries, Doctor Downer declared that he would not pay taxes to the substituted county organization; rather than to do this, he removed to Waterbury Center.
Doctor Downer was nothing short of a public institution, sometimes called a "character" (as if that word were inclusive of all personal peculiarities). He is described as rather cor-
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pulent, with a deep bass voice, brusque and abrupt in manner, with a kindly heart and ready sympathy for all. Like most country physicians, Doctor Downer set little store by insisting upon his professional fees. He rendered service to rich and poor with fine impartiality. He died in 1851 and, twenty years later, appeared the poem of Samuel Slayton Luce, whose beautiful appreciation of the kindly old practitioner remains as a fitting tribute to the memory of the friend of the country- side. Clarissa Downer, daughter of Doctor Downer, married Lyman Smith. Three children of this marriage were John D., Clarissa and George Edward Smith.
John D. Smith married Mary Jane Camp in Stowe and came to Waterbury Center in the early 40's. He held the office of town clerk from 1851 until his death in 1873. John Downer Smith was a type of that class of men known in small commu- nities whose sound judgment and temperate counsel are in- stinctively sought.
At perhaps too early a period in life he was invested with the responsibilities of a family head, when, after the death of his father, he assumed that place in the household. From his youth his predilection for books and reading continued to grow stronger. He was especially devoted to historical re- search and was no mean antagonist in doctrinal discussion, having emerged from the confines of orthodoxy into the, to him, more congenial fields of Universalism. His frequent visits to Boston brought him into contact with the various advance movements of the time and he became familiar with their progress. He was alert and vigilant to keep abreast of advanced thought. The very night before his death he read aloud, to a number of his friends, certain extracts from some recent publication dealing with psychic phenomena and talked far into the night about the possibilities which the opening of such a new field of investigation entailed. With all his strong convictions and his uncompromising nature, he still was a warm friend and comrade of many who differed radically from him. He served as town lister, justice of the peace, land sur- veyor, conveyancer and general settler of local controversies. He represented the town in the Legislatures of 1856 and 1857.
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PERIOD 1830-1850
Mr. Smith was a book-lover and student, possessing one of the few really good private libraries in the town. He was an avowed Universalist and was logically translated from the old-line Whig to the rejuvenated Republican party.
Frank N. Smith, the son of John D. Smith, succeeded his father as town clerk and continued the business of conveyanc- ing, settling estates, etc., until he went to Montpelier where he is now the treasurer of the Capital Savings Bank. His sister, Clarissa (Smith) Minard, still lives in Waterbury Village with her daughter, Miss Marguerite Minard.
Doctor Will F. Minard, husband of Clarissa (Smith) Minard was born in Hinesburg, May 13, 1867, the son of R. M. and Marguerite (Kenyon) Minard. His preparatory education was had in the Hinesburg and Bristol schools and the Green Mountain Seminary at Waterbury Center. He spent some time in preliminary medical study with Doctor Sparhawk of Burlington and as an assistant in a Hanover, New Hampshire, drug store. Thereafter he attended the Hahnemann Medical College in Philadelphia, from which he was graduated at the head of his class in 1887. He practiced in Burlington with his old preceptor, Doctor Sparhawk, for a short time coming from Burlington to Waterbury within a year. He purchased the old Dillingham residence on Main Street and conducted a sanitarium there for some years. While still a student in Waterbury Center he met Miss Clarissa Smith, a member of his seminary class. They were married September 30, 1886. Doctor Minard was a man of singularly attractive address, winning and courteous manners and agreeable personality. He was an enthusiastic student and practitioner, a kind and helpful friend and an energetic, public-spirited citizen.
The best available information about the origin of the Water- bury branch of the Henry family begins with Samuel Henry of South Hadley and Amherst, Massachusetts. The next in line is Sylvester Henry, who married Sybil Proctor about 1800. This Sylvester Henry was born in Amherst, Massachu- setts, November 20, 1776. He followed an uncle, Jason Cady, to Vermont. The following biographical sketch by Mrs. Sarah (Henry) Jewett, a daughter of Sylvester Henry and
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Sybil (Proctor) Henry, is taken from Eldridge's "Henry Genealogy" (1915):
Of my father's early years we know very little. At fourteen he left home to learn the carpenter's trade, and served an apprenticeship of seven years, having three months' schooling each year. During this time his food and clothing were very scanty. His evenings were spent in studying and reading history by torch-light made of pine knots; and such was his love of knowledge and diligence that he became well informed for those times.
At the age of twenty-one he took what little he had, and in company with his brother, Samuel, started for Vermont. The country was nearly a wilderness with few settlements and few people. The roads were marked trees. He came to Waterbury. There were two or three framed houses and several log cabins. He liked the country, but as he could not obtain work here, he pushed on to Burlington, Vermont. There he had all the work he could do and remained there four or five years, often visiting Waterbury in that time, and finally bought a house and several acres of land where William Carpenter's house stands (1876). There are two houses yet standing in Burlington that he and his brother, Samuel, built. He was married to Sybil Proctor, daughter of Isaac Proctor, a kind hearted and excellent man. They were poor in purse but rich in good health, in industrious and frugal habits and a disposition to overcome obstacles.
In March, 1807, he traded his home in the village for this (Henry) farm and moved into a poor cabin situated where the garden now is. The snow was very deep and father made steps down into the cabin, and his youthful wife went down with her baby and all her dishes in her arms. She thought it was like going out of the world to come way down here in the woods to live. She was, however, cheerful and hopeful, and set about making her home as comfortable as possible. She pinned sheets and towels against the logs; washed the one window; scrubbed the floor; and by night, as the fire blazed up in the big fireplace, her cabin seemed quite cozy and home- like.
In this humble home there were born to them a son and a daughter, James M. and Betsey. In the course of time they got up a frame house and moved into the kitchen,-that, with the bedroom and buttery, being all that was finished. She spun and wove her sheets, towels, and tablecloths, her coverlets and blankets, to furnish her new house, and made full clothes and flannels to clothe her husband and children. She brought water from the brook, and in a hurrying time would help on the farm. Father was ever busy, working at his trade winters, and on the farm summers. He built the house, woodshed, and barn; built the church and many of the houses at the village, cleared the land, planted the orchard, made roads, bridges, and fences. He also had much town business to do, and some for the state. He was elected to the Legislature. He was a Whig in politics and a great lover of his country. He attended the Congregational Church.
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PERIOD 1830-1850
He was dignified and stern in manner, and not at all familiar with his younger children. He was ever adding to the farm, always in debt for land, and when mother wanted anything for the house, the answer was, "Wait until we are out of debt." Mother had a cheerful, hopeful disposi- tion, a hand and heart ready to help those who wanted help, and was very useful among the sick. She brought up her girls to spin, weave, make cheese and butter, make their own clothes and knit their own stockings. These industrious habits and frugal ways have been a rich legacy to them, and now, after she has been dead thirty-six years, they rise up and call her blessed.
Sylvester with his brother Samuel, both carpenters, came to Burlington and built the two Englesby houses on the corner of St. Paul and College Streets about 1800. He was paid off in silver quarters and with that money came to Waterbury and bought the tract known since as the Henry farm above referred to.
Sylvester Henry, son of Samuel, was for many years a prominent citizen of Waterbury. He served for several years as a selectman, justice of the peace, and town representative in the Assembly for two years (1812-1813). He is described as a man of wide reading and literary taste, added to which was a singularly shrewd and accurate knowledge of land values. He died in 1840. Sybil (Proctor) Henry, wife of Sylvester, was a woman whose delight it was to be of service to those of her neighbors needing assistance of a practical kind when in trouble or illness. An unusual coincidence occurred in the fact that of this family of four sons and four daughters, two sons each reared a family of the same size, one of these being a family of four sons and four daughters. These were the families of Sylvester (second son of Sylvester, Sr.) and James M., respectively.
James M., eldest son of Sylvester, was born in Waterbury in 1809. His early education was obtained in the public schools. He, like his father, was a diligent reader and close observer. His philosophy of life, born of reading and observation, seemed to be to take men as he found them and not to undertake the impossible task of recreating them. Mr. Henry found farm life unsuited to his tastes and disposition and attempted with success endeavors in other fields. He identified himself in
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middle age with the cause of temperance and, like his father again, served the town as a justice of the peace, and town representative in the Assembly (1859-1860). He died, aged about fifty-five years. James M. Henry had eight children: William Wirt, (General) Henry, Delia M., John F., Eliza, Sybil Proctor, James Edwin, Sarah and George.
. John F. Henry, brother of General Henry, went from Water- bury to Brooklyn, New York. He married for the first time Josephine Barrett. Two children were born of this marriage, William and John. His second wife was Lydia Delphine Hart. A son, John F. Henry, resides at Saranac Lake. Delia, sister of General Henry, married Doctor Anderson Miller of North Carolina, who fought on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War. She had five children: Eliza Henry married Emery Scagel. They had two children, Dora and Flora. Sybil Henry married Lyman Hinkley, one-time lieutenant-governor of Vermont; they had one child. James Edwin was killed fighting for the Union in the Battle of Peters- burg. Sarah married Salmon Green of Richmond; their children were Henry, William, Edwin, Sybil, Harriet, Sarah, Nellie, Delphine, Roscoe and Lyman. George Henry, young- est brother of General Henry, died comparatively young after serving through the Civil War.
In the family of Sylvester Henry, Sr., besides James M., there were Mary (Mrs. Newton Atherton), Ann (Mrs. Corne- lius Sherman), Sarah (Mrs. Jewett) and Luther. John F. Henry went to Brooklyn and built up a large business in drugs and medicines from small beginnings in Waterbury; he was a candidate for the mayoralty and is said to have run ahead of his party strength.
Sylvester, second son of Sylvester, Sr., accumulated a modest fortune; was, for a time, constable in Waterbury. Three of his sons served in the Union army in the Civil War. He died in 1871, aged about fifty-eight.
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