USA > Vermont > Addison County > Cornwall > History of the town of Cornwall, Vermont > Part 8
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Between the Fair bridge and David Foot Jr., Roger Avery, a revolutionary soldier, settled on a small lot, since owned by M. M. Blake, Rollin Foot, and now by Elder Jehiel K. Wright. Mr.
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Avery, as we have had occasion to notice, had previously owned a fot in the east part of the town, which he sold to Elisha Hurlbut.
Amos Pennoyer from Amenia, Dutchess County, N. Y., settled about the year 1789, on the farm now owned by his step-son, Jesse Ellsworth, Esq. Mr. Pennoyer made several pitches, amounting in the aggregate, to three hundred acres, which he very consider- ably increased by purchase. He was in military service. in the revolutionary war, and with the ardor of youth, joined the volun- teers for Plattsburgh in 1814. This was the birth-place of Joseph Pennoyer, Esq., now a civil engineer in Canada East.
It may perhaps be as well in this connection, as in any other, to state the fact which will be new to many now on the stage of action, that a road was once opened from Jesse Chipman, now Mrs. Sher- wood, directly north by P. B. Warner, Rollin Foot, Cyrus Aber- nathy, Joseph Hamlin, Jesse Ellsworth and Charles Benedict, along the western base of the "ledges." This, it was once supposed, would be a main travelled highway from Cornwall toward Ver- gennes. On this, several persons settled north of Mr. Ellsworth, as there were also several between P. B. Warner and Mrs. Sher- wood, to whom we shall have occasion to allude on a subsequent page.
Of Rufus Mead 2nd, above alluded to, I have inadvertently omitted to mention the fact of his having voluntarily performed several months of military service in the war of 1812, thus evincing an ardent patriotism. He was ever a ready and cheerful supporter of religious and secular order in the community, and sustained the character of a useful and valuable citizen. He died in 1857, aged 64 years.
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CHAPTER XI.
LOCATION OF SETTLERS CONTINUED-ZACHARIAH BENEDICT -- ISAAC PARKER -- SOLOMON LINSEY -- ADONIJAH AND WILLIAM KELLOGG --- ELIPHALET SAMSON -- GEN. JOSEPH COOK - GEN. CHAUNCEY COOK-FELIX BENTON AND ANDREW BENTON-FRED. FROST SEN. -- ABRAHAM WILLIAMSON - ZACHARIAH JOHNSON - WALKER LINSLY -THOMAS LANDON AND HIS SON ISAAC-MOSES PRATT --- WILLIAM ARTHUR STIRLING-JEDEDIAH DURFEY-HORACE LAN- DON - WM. LANE; HIS DEATH BY ACCIDENT - TITUS FENN- NATHAN KELLS - EPHRAIM ANDRUS - JUDD -- ENOS MORGAN- JOHN EELLS; HIS DEATH BY ACCIDENT.
In the year 1794, Amos Pennoyer sold to Zachariah Benedict the farm on which his grandson Charles Benedict now lives. In- corporated with Benedict's farm, was a small lot north-west from his house, on which Isaac Parker once lived. The traces of his house are still visible. Upon the ancient highway above mentioned, Solomon Linsley once owned a lot which was called his " Fair lot," lying upon the Fair north-west of Mr. Benedict's purchase. Still further north on the west side of the road, settled a Mr. Loomis, and on the east side, was settled Adonijah Kellogg, whose brother Wm. Kellogg settled further cast upon the ledge, on a lot once owned by Isaac Landon, but now owned by Charles Benedict. Eliphalet Samson, Esq. sometimes called Capt. Samson, a son of Wm. Samson already mentioned, settled on the farm now occu- pied by Mrs. Emeline Samson and her children, the family of
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the late Martin Samson. Eliphalet Samson is held in remembrance by the elder portion of the community, as pre-eminent for his Chris- tian character ; for system and energy in the prosecution of his business, and in the discipline of his numerous family. They wero trained to uniform punctuality of attendanco on the services of the sanctuary. He was one of the very few in Cornwall in those days, who kept a family carriage which always passed to and from meeting on the Sabbath with a full freight. When his car- riage was seen going to meeting Sabbath morning, it was a fre- quent remark from those who were doubtful of their own punctu- ality, " We are in good season this morning-Esq. Samson is just going." To be as early as he, was always to be carly enough. I am informed by the venerable Dea. James, of Weybridge, that & weekly prayer meeting was kept up by his father and Esq. Sam- son, for some fifteen years after the settlement of the latter on the farm above named, --- the meetings having been held alternately at their respective dwellings. The example is a priceless legacy to their descendants and to the community.
" His work on earth is done, He rests in sweet repose."
Esq. Samson was the father of Rev. Ashley Samson, a graduate of Middlebury College in 1836. He died Nov. 16, 1846, aged 32. .
Gen. Joseph Cook was born in Goshen, Conn., in 1750 ; came to Cornwall in 1784, and pitched the farm on which he lived till his decease. At this period the farm passed into the hands of his youngest son, Gen. Chauncey Cook, and was by him sold to its present occupant, Loyal Wright. Gen. Cook first came to town accompanied only by a bired man, with whose assistance he cleared a few acres, and sowed some wheat preparatory to the removal of his family, which he effected the year following.
Gen. Cook was an extensive land-holder in Cornwall and Wey- bridge, especially in the latter town, of which he intended to be- come a citizen. When he pitched the lot on which he lived, he supposed it was embraced within the chartered limits of Weybridge, but the final adjustment of the boundary between the towns, left most of his farm in Cornwall. His first house was located some
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rods eastward of his subsequent dwelling, where Mr. Wright now lives, near a copious spring :- a fact, the liko of which has deter- mined the location of the first cabin of many a pioneer in new set- tlements. He afterward erected a house on that part of his farm which lies in Weybridge, for his son Dewey, who after a few years sold to his brother-in-law, Wm. Lane, and removed to northern New York. This part of the farm is now occupied by Samuel James Jr. After Gen. Cook had become established on his farm, he was confronted by a claim from Col. Samnel Benton, of previous proprietorship of his land, on the ground of a prior survey. avoid strife and expense, he arranged the matter by paying one dollar an acre for a transfer of Benton's claim.
From his carliest residence in town, Gen. Cook was actively engaged in surveying. The Proprietor's records show that fow men were oftener called to this service in Cornwall ; and I am informed by his family that " Weybridge was surveyed and lotted by him." He was always active in town affairs, and sustained uniformly the character of an honorable and useful citizen. He had a taste for military service, and in 1801, was elected a Brigadier-General.
Dea. James, who, as a neighbor and friend, was long intimate with Gen. Cook, informs me that in carly life he was skeptical in his religious belief, owing probably to exposure to immoral influ- ences in childhood and youth. But he became an extensive reader, and was providentially led to read religious books, and became attached to those of an argumentative cast. His silent reading with very little conversation on the subject, resulted, by the bless- ing of God, in his conversion -- in his case a deep and thorough work. IIe and his wife became connected with the Congregational Church in Weybridge, but afterwards removed their relation to the Church in Cornwall. Dea. James describes him as a self-made man, remarkable for candor, child-like simplicity and meckness ; and as having through life sustained a very attractive Christian character.
Gen. Cook was the father of Milo Cook, Esq., a graduate of Middlebury College in 1804.
In this connection should be more particularly mentioned Gen,
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Chauncey Cook, the youngest son of Joseph Cook, who occupied the homestead after his father's decease. Like his father he acted a prominent part in town affairs. He was often called by his fellow citizens to offices of responsibility, and rose in the way of military promotion, to the rank of Brigadier-General. He sold his farm in Cornwall, and removed to Addison, but after a few years returned to his native town. Having become enfeebled by disease, he went to Weybridge to reside with his son, Hon. Samuel E. Cook, late one of the Assistant Judges of the Addison County Court, and in his family the father died near the close of 1800. Gen. Chauncey Cook was the father of Milo Dewey Cook, a graduate of Middle- bury College in 1842.
On the farm on which Stephen Benton now lives, his father Felix Benton from West Stockbridge, Mass., settled in 1785, and here resided until his death, April 19, 1851, at the age of 90 years. This farm had been pitched the year previous by Samuel Jewett of Weybridge, on the supposition that it was within the chartered limits of that town. But becoming satisfied that this would not be acknowledged, he surrendered the lot and made a new pitch in Weybridge, upon which he resided till the close of his life.
Upon a fifty acre lot north of Felix Benton, his brother Andrew settled several years subsequently. A few years still later John Benton, the father of the preceding, took up his abode in the family of Andrew, and there remained until his death, in 1814. After this event, Andrew soon removed to St. Lawrence County, N. Y. This farm is now owned by Dea. James of Weybridge.
Frederick Frost sen., from Washington, Mass., in 1787 pitched a fifty acre lot where Abraham Williamson lived and died, and where his widow still resides. The son of Mr. Frost, who still lives in advanced age, informs me that in the period of extreme scarcity which occurred soon after his father's removal to Vermont, (1790) so great was the difficulty of obtaining food, that he procured a horse with which he went to Troy, and brought home upon its back, a load of flour, equal in weight to a barrel, leading his horse all the way on his return. This mode of transportation he adopted because he had neither wagon nor cart, nor most of the way,
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a road over which either could pass. Mr. Frost remained but & short time on this lot, when he sold it to Mr. Williaroson and removed to Weybridge.
Mrs. Williamson informs me that her husband came also from Washington, Mass., in 1787. Being hardy and fearless, he came alone to prepare the way for the subsequent immigration of other members of his father's family, by clearing some land and sowing some wheat. He first occupied a cabin in the fields west of Charles D. Lane ; but after a few months removed to the lot which he purchased from Frost as above mentioned. This purchase formed the nucleus of a farm which in a course of years became very extensive by purchases from others. Mr. Williamson pos- sessed a muscular frame, and great powers of endurance, and prose- cuted his business with much energy and success. Respecting his large family of daughters, he might have used the language of Benjamin Reeve quoted, on a previous page, and perhaps with equal propriety. He lived to the age of 81, and died in. 185T.
Mr. Williamson distinctly recollected, and was accustomed to relate the extreme severity of the famine to which Mr. Frost alludes. His narrative comfirmod by his wife, is thus presented by Judge Swift, from whom I quote :
" Being wholly destitute of bread, the women went into the fields and cut off the heads of the wheat before it was ripe, dried them, shelled out the wheat and boiled it for food ; almost the only animal food was the fish taken in Lemon Fair creek, and he thinks that, without this supply, many of the people would have starved. He saw, he says, larger collections of people from the neighboring country, catching fish, than on any occasion for many years after. He says that many were so enfeebled for want of food, that they could not go ; but such as had strength went to the creek, built & fire, and, as they caught the fish, threw them into it, while yet showing signs of life, and when sufficiently cooked, stripped off and ate the flesh, without disturbing the entrails. After their own appetites were satisfied, they caught and preserved the remainder for their friends at home. He states, also, that many subsisted on the bulbous roots of leeks, gathered in the woods, and some stripped
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the bark from oak trees, the inner bark of which they boiled and converted into food ; and that he had seen many oak trees stripped of their bark, for that purpose, as high as men could reach. The first bread stuff, he says, brought into the country was Virginia corn."
Mrs. Williamson also relates the following anecdote :
" A farmer in the neighborhood had a larger supply of provisions than his neighbors, but not a proportionate share of benevolence .--- His wife was a benevolent woman, from a Quaker family, and educated in their principles. She was willing to share in the destitution of her neighbors, that they might share in her abun- dance. She gave to the destitute the bran of wheat as long as her husband would consent; and she thought it none the worse for & little flour mixed with it. The recipients of her bounty sifted the bran, and made wholesome bread of the finer parts, and such flour as might be with it. One day, when preparing a batch of bread in the absence of her husband, she took a loaf of the dough and carried it to a neighbor by the name of Thaddeus Palmer, an uncle of Mrs. Willliamson, and living near her father, and said to him, " Thaddeus, thee take this and give part of it to Polly," and went home. Polly was the mother of Mrs. Williamson."
Walker Linsly, a son of Jacob Linsly sen., who has already been mentioned as still living near the Congregational Meeting House, among our most aged citizens, settled about the year 1800, where the widow Mary Samson and her son William Samson now live. It is worthy of being chronicled, that Mr. Linsly in his eighty-third year, has recently without the use of spectacles, in eight weeks read through the entire Bible, besides perusing a daily newspaper.
Thomas Landon from Litchfield, Conn., came to Cornwall in 1789, and settled on a farm which he bought of Solomon Linsly, north of Eldad Andrus, on the east side of the road. Ile remained here but a few years, when he sold to his son Isaac, who had previ- viously settled on a small farm south of Eldad Andrus, on the west side of the road. When he purchased of his father, Isaac sold this farm to Dr. Frederic Ford sen., whose grand-son, Charles R. Ford.
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still retains it. Thomas Landon removed to Canada, whence, after a brief stay, he returned to Cornwall, and spent the remainder of his life in the family of his son. Isaac Landon continued on this farm until his death in advanced age. In the settlement of his estate a portion of his farm, which he had added by purchase on the west, was assigned to his son Isaac, by whose family it is still occu- pied. The homestead was assigned to his son-in-law, Eli Stone, in consequence of whose decease in 1860, it has passed into the pos- session of his widow, Mrs. Anna Landon Stone.
On the lot above alluded to as sold by Isaac Landon to Dr. Ford, Landon was not the original settler. He bought of Solomon Lins- ly, whose son Daniel had resided there, though probably without any title to the land. The place was once also occupied by Josiah T. Scott, and by several transient families.
Some fifty rods south-east of Thomas Landon, Moses Pratt settled on a small farm, where he remained till 1795. This was the birth-place of Dr. Elijah Pratt, late of Kingsboro, N. Y., and of Moses Pratt Jr., formerly an Editor in Albany, N. Y.,-sons of Moses Pratt. Moses Pratt sold to Wm. Arthur Stirling, an Eng- lishman who had previously settled and built still further south on the rise of ground nearly opposite Eldad Andrus, whose daughter he married. Stirling is represented to have been of noble lineage, and to have left his native land to avoid a legal penalty with which he was threatened. IIe had received a finished education, and was a peculiarly adroit penman. Possessing these qualifications, his
services as a teacher, were much sought, and in this capacity he is still remembered by a few aged persons with much interest. The house of Stirling, the remains of which are still visible, was after- ward occupied by Ransom Andrus. The land became a part of Eldad Andrus' farm, and is now owned by T. B. Holley.
Still further south on the same side of the way, Jedediah Dur- fey purchased a small lot and built a log cabin, which after a few years he sold, and removed from town. The houses on the three lots last named, have disappeared, and the lands have become incor- porated with the adjacent farms.
About three-fourths of a mile west of, and nearly parallel with
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the road on which the settlers just named wore located, a road was carly surveyed, and upon it settled Horace, a brother of Isaac Landon, and Titus Fenn, Esq., from Watertown, Conn. Mr. Fenn came to Cornwall in 1794. His first log cabin was built in the . Geld near an old barn southwest from Charles D. Lano, its pres- ent owner. He afterwards built and resided several years upon the highway. Desirous of emigrating to central New York, Esq. Fenn sold to R. P. Bingham, and Harmon Samson, who, after conducting the farm several years in partnership, sold to William Lane, from Weybridge, who also bought of Horace London and united the two farms. Mr. Lane was an enterprising and successful farmer, and a public spirited and useful citizen. But in the midst of his activity, he lost his life in consequence of having his arm caught in a thresh- ing machine. The arm was so badly mutilated as to render ampu- tation near the shoulder necessary. For two or three weeks he appeared convalescent, and hope was entertained of his recovery ; but fever supervened and he died, Sept. 26, 1844,at the age of 48 years. Since his decease his farm has been owned and managed by his son, Charles D. Lane, Esq. Wm. Lane was the father of Gil- bert C. Lane.
Gilbert Cook Lane was born in Weybridge, where his parents, though natives of Cornwall, were temporarily residing at the time of his birth. As they returned to Cornwall in his early childhood, he was a resident here while acquiring his education, and may not inappropriately be accounted a son of Cornwall.
He was too feeble while a child to be much at school, but im- pelled by a fondness for books which appeared among the first de- velopements of his mind, he made rapid improvement under his mother's tuition. In early youth he manifested a desire for a lib- cral education, without the prospect of sufficient health to attain it. Ile persevered, however, and having entered College, took a high position in his class, as a scholar, equally respected for the thorough- ness of his acquisitions, and for his diffidence and amiableness. Though his studies were interrupted by frequently recurring turns of illness, his classmates unanimously awarded him a very high, if not the highest place among their number, as a scholar. IIe
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completed his Collegiate course in 1853, and the same autumn became the principal of a Female Seminary in Lowndesville, South Carolina, whither he went in hope that a residence in a southern climate, might prove favorable to his health. He commenced his second year of instruction, but the jealousy of northern influence. which even then infected some of his patrons, rendered his contin- uance unpleasant, and he resigned his charge, and became tempo- rarily connected with the Theological Seminary in Columbia, S. C. Here, as I am assured by one of the Professors of the Institution, he won, by his ability and Christian virtues, the uniform respect of his teachers and fellow students, and they would have tendered him special inducements to remain with them, but he preferred to pur- sue his Theological studies at Andover. Having resided here a few months, he accepted a tutorship in Middlebury College. Be- fore the expiration of a single year in this service, he was compelled, by the entire prostration of his health, to seek relief in relaxation. So strong was his desire to render himself useful, that during his intervals of relief from the suffering and exhaustion of pulmonary disease, he employed his energies in preparing for publication an edition of Herodotus, with critical notes. At the time of his de- cease in Nov., 1858, at the age of 30 years, this work was nearly completed. A competent critic pronounced the work well done, and would have undertaken to carry it through the press, if a demand for its publication had not been forestalled by the unexpected issue of a similar work, about the same time.
As another indication of Mr. Lane's desire for usefulness, may be mentioned the fact, that in his will, made just before his decease, he bequeathed, from slender means, one hundred dollars to aid in establishing a circulating library, hoping thereby to encourage among his townsmen, especially the youth, a fondness for improve- ment. To this legacy the reader will elsewhere find further allu- sion. He also left a legacy of one hundred and fifty dollars for the library of Middlebury College.
A short period before his decease, Mr. Lane was married to Miss Harriet Samson, a young lady to whom he had been previously affianced, and who, it was his desire, might be his constant atten-
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lint in his last hours, and the recipient of the moderate estate he had been able, in the midst of infirmities, to retain.
With all his other endowments, Mr. Lane possessed the genius of a poet. Several of his poetic effusions of high merit have been arranged and published under the editorial care of his classmate and friend, Rev. B. D. Ames. Others of his poems equally mer- itorious, and several of his productions in prose, evincing even greater intellectual ability, were withheld from the little volume, which was intended rather as a memorial for his friends, than as a. collection of his writings for the public.
Though extended quotations from the writings of Mr. Lane will not be expected on these pages, I cannot persuade myself to with- hold from the reader the following beautiful stanzas, not embraced in the collection above named. If not his first attempt at poetry, they are his first printed lines, and may, perchance, have been inspired by the same Muse which indited Cowper's "Lines on the receipt of his Mother's Picture," and other of his gentlest lays :
" LINES ON THE DEATH OF BROTHER WILLIAM'S SECOND CHILD.
A bud I saw of lovliest hue, Expanding, soon to be a flower; It glistened in the morning dew, It charmed -- yet charmed but for an hour ; For soon, alas ! the spoiler's hand Its blooma relentlessly destroyol. It fell before his stern command, And left a dreary void.
Anon the self-same stem did bear A blossom, opening as before ; As sweet as was the first, and fair As ever Eden's garden bore. But soon, this too, though longer left, Was doomed to share its sister's fate ; - The tree twice bles't and twice bereft, Was bare and desolate.
These buds, thus prematurely torn From off the parent tree or vine, Dear Sister ! weeping and forlorn ! Are eniblematical of thine.
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Yet happier these; for now above They breathe a pure, a heavenly sir ; There raise their songs of praise and love, And shine supremely fair."
There are few incidents in Mr. Lane's early life to be rehearsed. He was too feeble in childhood to participate in the sports of his companions, and too fond of books to desire any other employment than their perusal. On this account, till he went abroad to fit for College, he always lived amid the endearments of a quiet home. Though reared under religious influences, both his parents having been professedly pious, he was not converted until after his admis- sion to College in the Spring of 1850. He soon united with the Congregational Church in Middlebury, and from that period his path "was as the shining light, which shineth more and more until the perfect day." Regarding bis malady as incurable, he viewed his approaching dissolution with composure, and it was the language of his heart as well as of his lips, "Not my will, O, Father, but thine be done."
"Safe art thou lodged above these rolling spheres. The balefal influence of whose giddy dance Sheds sad vicissitude on all beneath."
South of Titus Fenn, on the west side of the road, Nathan Eells, from Hebron, Conn., settled at an early day, and built a log house near an orchard which still remains, about sixty or eighty rods north of James T. Lane. On this lot which he purchased of Mr. Fenn, Mr. Eells lived until he bought of Ephraim Andrus the location, which he occupied at the time of his death, since owned by his son-in-law, Hosea B. Ross, and by Rollin Lane, its present occupant. Ephraim Andrus built his first log cabin some distance west of the present buildings. After Mr. Andrus sold to Mr. Eells, he removed to the farm now occupied by Benj. Parkill. While residing there, he was much engaged in teaming between Middle- bury and Troy. On one of his market excursions, he was accidentally killed. After a few years, his family removed to Pennsylvania.
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