USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Pittsford > History of the town of Pittsford, Vt., with biographical sketches and family records > Part 17
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Simeon Stevens purchased one hundred acres of land of his father, Benjamin Stevens. The deed, dated Oct. 12, 1785, included the lot eastward of and adjoining the homestead. He built a house on the high land about one-fourth of a mile east of his father's residence, and the following year married Anna Martin, of Shaftsbury, and at once occupied this house. After
*
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
residing here sixty-one years, he died Sept. 2d, 1847, aged eighty-four years.
The first we hear of Reuben Allen is on the 21st of October, 1784, at which time the Proprietors' Collector sold land belong- ing to fifteen of the grantees, for the payment of a two-penny land tax, voted to be raised for the building of bridges. This land was sold by auction, and Allen bid off fifty-seven acres belonging to the right of Daniel Thomas, for which he paid £1 16s. This was located in the westerly part of the town, and included the farm lately owned by Augustus Bailey, but now by Nathaniel Willis. He built a log house about where the present house stands, and made the first improvements on that farm. He resided there a few years and then sold the place to one Gilbert, and after residing a short time on the farm now owned by Alexander Parmelee, he moved to Whipple Hollow.
Lot Keeler was born in Ridgefield, Conn., June 7, 1752, and accompanied his parents to Lenox, Mass., whither they removed when he was a small boy. At the age of eighteen he came to Rutland, and let himself to work at seven dollars and fifty cents per month. From Rutland he came to Pittsford and worked for Amasa Ladd some time; and by industry and economy he accumulated a little money which he invested in land. He made his first purchase of Jonathan Fassett, May 21, 1786, and this consisted of twenty-seven and one-half acres, including the homestead now owned by his son, Lot Keeler, Jr. Additional land was afterwards bought so that he eventually owned a good farm and of ample dimensions. He commenced a clearing near where the present buildings stand, and the first summer he spent here he had no shelter except the trunk of a huge pine tree, the centre of which had been burnt out, with an opening on the west side sufficiently large for a person to walk through into the center of it. He built a log house which
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213
LOT KEELER.
occupied the same ground that is now occupied by the north part of the present house, married Catharine Goodnough, of Brandon, and commenced housekeeping. Not having sufficient provisions and comfortable quarters here, they went to Lenox in the fall and spent the winter with his father, and there, by his labor, he earned enough to buy two yearling heifers which he drove to Pittsford in the spring, and from these he stocked his farm. He is said to have been a man of extraordinary courage and physical power, which will appear from the follow- ing anecdote: One of the citizens of the town had committed a crime against the laws of the State, for which the sheriff of the county had orders to arrest and bring him before the court. But the criminal armed himself, retired to a camp near Otter Creek, refused to be arrested and threatened to shoot any man who should attempt to take him. At one May training, as Capt. Caleb Cooley had his company on parade, the sheriff rode up to the Captain and requested him to select four of the most resolute men in his company for his service. " For what pur- pose do you wish to employ them," said the Captain. "I have orders," said the sheriff, "to arrest -* and bring him before the court, dead or alive, but he has armed himself, retired to a camp and refuses to be arrested, and I want these men to take him." The Captain turned to his company and said, " Justus Brewster, Lot Keeler, --- and march to the front." The order was obeyed and the four men accompanied the sheriff to the camp of the criminal who, seeing their determined demeanor, and probably considering prudence the better part of valor, concluded to surrender ; and he was immediately bound and taken before the court.
Israel Ellsworth, youngest son of Samuel, married Hopestil, daughter of Benjamin Stevens, and located on a small lot of land, afterward included in the Beals farm-now owned by
* For obvious reasons the name is withheld.
t The names of the last two men are forgotten.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
John Eggleston. The log house stood in the lot, in a north- westerly direction from the Beals house, and on the east side of the road leading from Joseph Wolcott's to William Wing's. The cellar of the house is still to be seen about eighty rods southeast of the residence of Mr. Wing. "After residing here a few years they removed into the State of Pennsylvania, and while there he disappeared strangely ; his wife came back and said her husband, in a fit of insanity, went into the woods and was never seen afterwards. Many hearsay stories were told and suspicions entertained. His wife married again a Mr. Patterson, with whom she lived some years, and then he left her; after this she married a Mr. Willard Leaton with whom she lived some years, and they were pretty well matched, both bad enough, but he at length left her, and she afterwards went into Upper Canada, and there married for the fourth time, but has now been dead some years.
Israel Ellsworth, her first husband, who so strangely disap- peared from Pennsylvania, it was afterwards ascertained, went to Virginia and settled in Fairfax County, where he married a woman by the name of Ann Bennett, by whom he had the following children, viz .: 1st, Elizabeth, who married a man by the name of Chappel; 2d, Samuel; 3d, Amy, who married a man by the name of George P. Poole; 4th, Israel E. Holida; he there had gone by the name of Israel Ellsworth Holida, his mother's maiden name being Holida. He had applied for and obtained a pension, and this was the way his friends at the north heard from him .* "
Abraham Owen, second son of Edward, married Nelly, widow of William Bogue, but where they resided the first few months after their marriage we are not informed. On the 7th of June, 1787, Mr. Owen bought of Rufus Montague fifty-five acres, embracing the easterly portion of the farm now owned by Orlin Smith. He built a log house a few rods southeast of *Hendee's MS.
215
ABRAHAM OWEN-NATHAN WEBSTER.
the present house, in what is now the northwest corner of the field on the east side of the road. The roof of this house was covered with elm bark, and the floor was made of basswood logs, split, and laid with their flat surface up. Afterwards he built another log house near where the present house stands, lived in this about two years, and then bought that part of the farm recently owned by Edwin Wheaton, which lies on the west side of the hill towards Abel Morgan's. There he built a house in which he resided about seven years, and then bought the Mosher place and built the house now owned by Richard and Charles Burditt in 1811, and died there Feb. 14, 1813. The house built on the Wheaton lot was removed to the latter place and is now the horse-barn on the west side of the road.
We have no knowledge of the ancestors of Nathan Webster, but his name appears upon the records for the first time in 1785, on the 14th of October of which year, he purchased of Jona- than Fassett twelve acres of land, a part of the first-division lot of the right of Elihu Hall, and bounded as follows, viz. : " Beginning at stake and stones at the northeast corner of Ebenezer Hopkins' home lot; thence east five degrees south 32 rods to stake and stones; thence north ten degrees east 50 rods to the south side of the road that leads to the mills ; thence west on the south line of said road till it strikes the east line of the road that runs north and south through the town, being about 45 rods to stake and stones ; thence south on the east line of the road to the first bounds." The consideration of the deed was £40. It will be seen that this purchase included the site of the present hotel owned by L. F. Scofield, together with land now owned by Bradley Burditt, D. Austin, B. Kemp, R. R. Drake, and J. A. Randall. He cleared the land and built a house where the hotel now stands, and it is supposed that he removed his family here in the spring of 1786. The ground now occupied by the Village was then covered with the native forest, with here and there an undergrowth of blackberry
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
bushes which at the usual season yielded an abundant supply of berries, from which circumstance the ground was known as " Blackberry Hill." The house built by Mr. Webster was the commencement of the village .*
Amos Webster is supposed to have been a brother of Nathan, and from the records we learn that he was from Bennington, but quite likely his residence there was temporary. On the 7th of November, 1785, he purchased of Jonathan Fassett a tract of land in this town, the bounds of which are thus described : "Beginning about 174 rods from the northeast corner of the old grist-mill lot, westerly in the north line of the same at a stake and stones ; thence north ten degrees east 38 rods to stake and stones ; thence east five degrees south 224 rods to the pine lots and stake and stones ; thence north ten degrees east 50 rods to elm tree; thence north fifty-two degrees west 33 rods to a birch tree; thence west 16 rods to a birch tree; thence north 30 rods to a stake and stones; thence west 52 rods to a pine tree; thence south fifteen degrees east 81 rods to a beech tree; thence west fifteen degrees south 69 rods on the south line of the Town Plot to the road, a stake and stones; thence on the east side of the road south sixteen degrees east 27 rods to stake and stones ; thence east five degrees south about 97 rods to the first bounds."
It thus appears that this purchase included all the land now in the Village east of the north-and-south road, between the Town Hall lot and the road leading to Hitchcockville, together with lands lying eastward and now owned by S. D. Winslow, John Leonard and Charles Walker, and the whole was sepa- rated from the lot purchased by Nathan Webster by the east- and-west road. He built a house the following spring about where Willard Randall's south house now stands, and this was probably the third house built on "Blackberry Hill," and
* Only one house had been built on "Blackberry Hill " at this time, and this was the one built about thirty rods west of the present village by Amos Fassett.
JEREMIAH SHELDON-SAMUEL SHELDON-REUBEN IVES. 217
for years afterwards it was known as the " Webster house."
William Orcutt, from Stafford, Conn., came here in 1786, and made the first improvements on the place now owned by Charles T. Colburn. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and during the latter part of it, hield a captain's commis- sion. He married a lady of French descent and resided some years in Stafford before coming to Pittsford. He resided in this town only a few years.
Jeremiah Sheldon, son of Gideon, married and located on the Waters place-now Abel Morgan's. He purchased this of Samuel Waters who had left it during the war, removed to Shaftsbury, and being advanced in years decided to remain in that town. Mr. Sheldon built a log house a few rods west of the present house, and occupied it till about the year 1800, when he sold his real estate to Abraham Owen and moved to Canada.
Samuel Sheldon, brother of the preceding, married and resided in the house with him till 1795, when he removed to Canada.
Among the number who located here in 1787, were Reuben Ives, Simeon Parmelee, Jonathan Stevens, Josiah Eddy, the Jackson family, Anthony Phillips, Hopkins Rowley, Nehemiah Hopkins, Jr., John Hopkins and Simon Harwood.
Reuben Ives was a native of Massachusetts, but came to Pittsford in 1786, and on the 13th of June of that year bought one hundred and ten acres of land-a part of the original right of Elisha Harvey-of Richard Hendee for which he paid £45. This included the land now owned by Mrs. Sarah Adams, Charles Smith and Arba Bassett. He cleared the land and built a house near where Mrs. Adams' house stands and removed here in the spring of 1787.
Simeon Parmelee was the son of Hezekiah who was born in Connecticut, married and settled in Durham in that State
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
where both died. Their children were Simeon, Hezekiah, Moses, Dan, Charles and two daughters.
Simeon was born in Durham, 1741, and married (1775) Tryphena Smith, who was born in 1755. They settled in West Stockbridge, Mass. At the commencement of the Revolu- tionary war he enlisted in the American army and was with the expedition against Quebec in 1775. While in Canada he had the small pox, with which he came near losing his life, but after much suffering he was brought to Ticonderoga, where his father-in-law, Nehemiah Hopkins, met him and brought him through the wilderness to Pittsford. Here he remaned till he recovered his strength so as to be able to ride to Stockbridge. Mr. Parmelee removed from West Stockbridge to Pittsford in March, 1787, and on the 27th of January, 1792,* he bought two hundred and twenty acres of land of Thomas Cranfield for which he paid £160. This was a part of the original right of William Stewart and included the farm now owned by Seba F. Smith with some land adjoining. He made the first improve- ments on that farm and built the first house which stood on the east side of the road and only a few rods south of Mr. Smith's barn. After residing here some years they removed to West- ford, where Mr. Parmelee died May 3d, 1820; Mrs. Parmelee died May 14th, 1831.
Jonathan Stevens, son of Benjamin, the early settler, was born at Nine Partners, Dutchess County, N. Y., and came to this town with his father's family before the war. February 13th, 1787, he bought of Joseph Crary fifty acrest of land which included the south part of the farm now owned by William Wing, and he made the first improvements on that farm. The first clearing was made some distance south of the present buildings, and in what is now the pasture owned by
* This is the date of the deed, but it is known that Mr. Parmelee built the house and settled on this land when he first moved into the town, and quite likely he took a bond for a deed at that time.
t This was a part of the third-division lot of the right of Samuel Mansfield.
219
JOSIAH EDDY-JACKSON FAMILY.
John M. Goodnough. He built a house about fifteen rods west of the road, the cellar of which is still to be seen, married Lucy, daughter of Richard Adams, and resided here some years, but eventually moved to the township of Bastard, Upper Canada, where he died at the age of about eighty years.
The first we hear of Josiah Eddy is in 1782, on the 6th of July, when he pitched fifty acres of land in Pittsford, bounded as follows: "Beginning at a small dry beech which is the northeast corner of Edward Owen's lot; then south by the needle 110 rods to a beech sapling; then due east 80 rods to a hemlock stake and stones ; then north by the needle 110 rods to a maple marked; then on the Widow Woodward's south line due west 80 rods to the first bounds. Surveyed to the original right of Samuel Brewer, it being the third-division pitch." Again on the 30th of October, 1785, he pitched fifteen acres more adjoining Simeon Tupper's fifty-five acre lot on the east, but he made no improvements on either of these pitches till about the year 1786, when he cleared a few acres of the first lot which, as will be seen, included the most of the farm now owned by John Hudson. He built a house near where Mr. Hudson's house now stands, married Ursula, daughter of Edward Owen, and commenced housekeeping the following spring.
The Jackson family was from Spencer, Massachusetts. David Jackson married Hannah Graton and resided some years in Spencer, where the following children were born, viz .: David, Jonathan, James, William, Samuel and Daniel. David, the father, died in Spencer, and the sons having grown to manhood sought the wild lands of Vermont. David, the eldest son, bought fifty acres of land, a part of the right of George Robbins, Dec. 5, 1786. This land was bounded south on the north line of Rutland, and he also purchased a lot within the township of Rutland, adjoining his Pittsford lot on the north, and built a house but a few rods south of the town line, married
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Persis, daughter of Benjamin Whipple of Rutland, and resided some years within the limits of that township. He enlisted in the army in the war of 1812-14, and died on the road as he was returning home from Plattsburgh.
Jonathan married Morgan, in Spencer, some time before coming to Pittsford. Whether he came here with the other members of the family we are not informed, but he bought of Benjamin Smalley one-half of a right of land in this town-the right of Joseph Burton-for which he paid £50, and the deed bears date Nov. 22, 1788. This purchase included the farm now owned by Hiram Bates, and the first improve- ments on that farm were made by Mr. Jackson. He lived and died there.
James married Margaret, daughter of Jeremiah Wood of Pittsford, and located on land now owned by Whipple Mills, about fifty rods west of the present residence of Samuel Butler. He built a house and resided there till after the death of his wife, when he went to Pennsylvania and died there.
William was accidentally killed.
Samuel married-1st, Relief, daughter of Aaron and Sarah Smith, and resided some years on the same farm with his brother James. His wife, Relief, died and he married-2d, Mrs. Betsey, widow of Nathaniel Fairfield, and daughter of Gideon Sheldon, Sen. A short time before the war of 1812, he sold his real estate in Pittsford, removed to Canada and died in the British military service. His son Samuel was with him in the same service against the United States, and while on duty near the Canada line, he deserted from the British and came to visit his uncles in Pittsford, where he remained till after the close of the war and then returned to Canada.
Daniel married Catharine Ratz, made the first clearing, built a house, and resided on the farm now owned by Samuel Butler.
Mrs. Jackson, the mother, resided some years in a log house
221
ANTHONY PHILLIPS-HOPKINS ROWLEY.
which stood on the east side of the road, some six or eight rods north of the house now owned by Whipple Mills, but died in the family of her son Daniel.
Anthony Phillips was from Massachusetts, where he mar- ried and resided some years. He came to Pittsford in the winter of 1787, and purchased of John Barnes one hundred acres of land-third-division lot of the right of Timothy Pat- terson-the deed being dated Feb. 7th of that year, and it was in consideration of £100. This lot included the most of the farm now owned by his grandson Orrin Phillips. Having made a small clearing and constructed a temporary house, he removed his family here the following spring, and with the assistance of his sons soon brought several acres of land into a state of cultivation.
Hopkins Rowley was the eldest son of Jonathan of whom some account has been given. He purchased a part of his father's farm and built a small house on the west side of the road* about two rods southwest of his father's residence. He marriedf and resided there some years, and then moved to Shoreham.
Nehemiah Hopkins, son of the Nehemiah who has been mentioned, built a house on land given to him by his father on the north side of the road, and a few rods east of the mouth of Ripley Brook. He married - Durphy and resided here some years, afterwards lived for a short period in a house which stood abont where L. Woolson's house now stands, then moved into a house which stood a few rods west of the present resi- dence of H. F. Lothrop, Esq. He was a man of considerable business capacity and served as constable for several years. He moved to the State of New York.
John Hopkins, son of Elias, was never a large real estate
* The road at that time passed between these two houses.
t We have not been able to learn anything respecting his wife.
# We venture to call this Ripley Brook, from the fact that Phineas Ripley once owned a large proportion of the land through which it flows.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
owner. He married Hannah, daughter of Stephen Mead, December 12, 1787, and resided for a time in a house which stood near where Mr. Whitaker's house now stands. He changed locations here several times and eventually left the town.
Simon Harwood, son of Rev. Eleazer, was born Aug. 23, 1766, and married Ruth, daughter of Elias Hall, April 19, 1787. He resided some years on the farm now owned by S. H. Kellogg, living in a house which he built some fifty rods south of the present house near where the road turns, leading to Mrs. Tilson's; the cellar of the house is still visible. After- wards he bought the house now owned by Silas S. Westcot. He built and for some years occupied the house now on that place. He died on the place formerly owned by Benjamin Stevens, Sen., March 3, 1816. Mrs. Harwood died in Michi- gan, Oct. 18, 1838.
Among those who located here in 1788, may be mentioned Asa Stevens, Simeon Clifford, Abiathar Millard, Nathaniel Fairfield and Israel Morgan.
Asa Stevens was a son of David who was born in Plainfield, Conn., in 1733, and who married Sarah Spaulding, born in the same town in 1731. They resided in Connecticut some years after their marriage and the following children were born there, viz .: 1st, Asa, born in 1756 ; 2d, David, Jr., born 1758, died Nov. 4, 1817; 3d, Deborah, born June 25, 1759, and died the following October ; 4th, Sally, born 1761, died June 7, 1777 ; 5th, Phineas, born 1763, died May 2, 1766; 6th, Mary, born 1765, died in 1770.
Asa, the eldest son, married Sally Dunlap of Plainfield, Conn., and after residing there one or two years removed to Plainfield, New Hampshire, joining a small colony in that township, originally from Plainfield, Connecticut. In 1788, he removed from Plainfield, N. H., to Pittsford, Vt., and bought of Benjamin Smalley, of Middlebury, one-half of the right or
223
EDWARD CLIFFORD.
share originally belonging to Joseph Burt. The deed bears date Nov. 22, 1788, and was in consideration of £50, L. M. This was so located as to include the farm now owned by Stephen Whipple, together with land now owned by Albert W. Fletcher and Elisha Smith. The first clearing was made where Mr. Fletcher's house now stands, and a log house was hastily constructed there, in which the family resided the following winter. After enlarging his clearing Mr. Stevens built a frame house on the same side of the road, but some ten or fifteen rods north of the log house, and in this he resided till his death, Aug. 31, 1817. Mrs. Sally Stevens died in 1833, aged seventy- seven years. They had but one child, Rachel, born May 22, 1783, in Connecticut.
Simeon Clifford was the second son of Edward, who was born in Maiden Lane, England, about the year 1747, and at the age of eighteen years came to Philadelphia as a waiter for a man by the name of Logan. How long he remained in Logan's service we are not informed ; but he eventually made his way north and came to Massachusetts, married Abigail Winslow of Hardwick, a descendant of Gov. Winslow, and resided some years in that township, where were born to them four sons and three daughters ; the former being named Sam- uel, Simeon, Edward and Calvin; the latter, Anna, Amelia and Fanny. Mr. Clifford had a weakness too common, not only to young men of that day, but to the same class of the present day, in his resolution to resist the intoxicating cup. In 1780, a recruiting party came along, gave him liquor enough to over- come him, and then got his name on the enlistment papers for the army. When he became sober enough to know what he had done he was in agony of mind. What could he do ? He had a family of small children wholly dependent upon him for support. To put himself beyond the reach of the recruiting officers he fled from home and went on board a vessel which soon put to sea. He had been on the water but a short time
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
before the vessel was captured by a British man-of-war, and being an Englishman the captain tried to enlist him into the British service. But he peremptorily refused. America was his country, here was his family, and he would not fight against them ; but he was willing to do anything for the ship or crew, and being a tailor by trade, he was employed in making and mending garments. After a time the ship in which he sailed put into the harbor of the British island Antigua, and being desirous of getting away, he asked and obtained leave to go on shore, and he was soon out of sight. But he had no means of subsistence, and after seeking employment for some time with- out success, he concluded to make one bold move, and, going into the office of a lawyer by the name of Lovell, he said to him : "Sir, I am a stranger in a destitute condition whom the fortune of war has cast upon this island, and you must put me into some business whereby I can earn a living." Mr. Lovell made some inquiries of him about what he could do, and told him to call again the next day, and he would let him know what could be done for him. He called according to appointment and was employed to take charge of the field hands on a planta- tion. How long he continued in this employment we do not know, but in process of time he was raised to the condition of manager of the plantation, with higher salary, which enabled him to accumulate some funds. He eventually invested his money in merchandise, and, joining with others, bought or chartered a vessel and sailed for New York. In passing "Hell Gate" the vessel was stranded and, losing all their property, they barely escaped with their lives. Thus suddenly perished the hope Mr. Clifford had so long cherished, of putting his family in comfortable circumstances, but he found them alive and his return was a joyful surprise as they had long supposed him to be dead .*
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