USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Pittsford > History of the town of Pittsford, Vt., with biographical sketches and family records > Part 18
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* The family had worn the usual symbols of mourning and laid them aside, and had Mr. Clifford remained away a few weeks longer, Mrs. Clifford would have changed her name.
225
CLIFFORD FAMILY.
Samuel, the eldest son, married and settled in Hardwick. Simeon married Susan Martin, came to Pittsford in 1788, and bought of John Rhodes one hundred acres of land, a third- division lot of the right of Abraham Morton, the deed being dated May 1st, and it was in consideration of £50. This pur- chase included the farm recently owned by the late Orville Spencer, and at that time was wholly in a state of nature. Mr. Clifford made a small clearing and built a house on the south side of the road nearly opposite the present house.
Edward, Jr., at the age of seventeen years, having given some attention to the study of navigation, commenced following the seas, a business which he prosecuted two or three years, and was promoted to the rank of second mate; but through the importunity of his friends he left the sea, married Rachel Rich, of Enfield, Mass., in 1791, came to Pittsford in 1793, and occupied the Graham house which stood in the Village where J. A. Randall's house now stands. March 10, 1799, he bought of his brother Simeon forty-five acres of land which included the farm now owned by the Pittsford Quarry Co. He made the first improvements on that farm and resided there till 1845, when he moved to Parma, Michigan. The house now on the farm was built by Mr. Clifford in 1814.
Soon after the two sons located here, Edward, Sen., the father, and the mother came, accompanied by the youngest son, Calvin. These occupied the house which had been built for them by Simeon, on the easterly slope of the hill about twenty- five rods west of his house. They resided there till 1812, when Simeon sold his farm in Pittsford to William Allen, and moved to Brandon, taking his aged parents with him.
We have alluded to the pernicious habit which Edward, the father, had when a young man, of using intoxicating drinks and of his being under the influence of these when he signed the enlistment papers to enter the army, which led to his flight from home and the serious results that followed. But it is due
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
to him to say that after his return to his family, he made a solemn vow that he would never again touch intoxicating drinks, a vow which he religiously kept, thus setting an exam- ple worthy to be imitated by all addicted to similar habits.
The Millard family is of Welsh descent, and some members of it resided for a time in Warwick, R. I. Dr. Abithar Millard (as he spelled his name) was born June 22, 1744, at Rehoboth, Massachusetts. He married Tabitha Hopkins, who was born Oct. 16, 1745, daughter of Ebenezer Hopkins of Harwinton, Conn., afterwards of Pittsford, Vt. Soon after their marriage they went to reside in Dutchess Co., N. Y., where their first child, Abithar, was born, May 6, 1763. Tabitha was born March 4, 1765 ; Lydia, Oct. 14, 1768 ; Huldah, March 5, 1773 ; Sarah, January 18, 1775; Olive, May 5, 1778 ; Phœbe, Aug. 12, 1781; Jesse, Oct. 6, 1784 ; Almon H., April 19, 1788. With the exception of the first, the record does not state where the above children were born.
It is evident that Dr. Millard located in Pittsford in the spring of 1788. His first purchase of real estate in this town was "one certain acre lot of land in the Town Plot, viz .: Lot No. 56 drawn in favor of Abraham Morton, original pro- prietor." The deed bears date April 11, 1788, and was in consideration of twenty shillings. He soon after purchased Lot No. 9, of the Town Plot, or what is now the southwest corner of the lot owned by C. A. Hitchcock, being nearly identical with the garden west of the present house. He cleared this lot and built upon it a house which was probably the fourth then standing on "Blackberry Hill." The house was a small one hastily constructed, and it was occupied as soon as it was completed, and the youngest child, Solomon Eddy, was born here Feb. 17, 1789.
Nathaniel Fairfield was from Plainfield, N. H., though he was probably one of the colony from Connecticut that settled in that township. He purchased of Joseph Hosier forty acres
227
ISRAEL MORGAN-ITHIEL BARNES.
of land in Pittsford, Jan. 31, 1788. This lay north and adjoining the lot owned by Asa Stevens, and included land now owned by Mrs. Mills. He made the first clearing and built a house about where Mrs. Mills' barn now stands. This was for some years the residence of the father and his son Samuel.
Israel Morgan, from Spencer, Mass., purchased of Gershom Beach, of Rutland, fifty acres of land in Pittsford, paying for the same £18. This was located east of the home lot of Gideon Sheldon, and though the deed was obtained in 1787, the land was not occupied that year, but a small house was built in the fall, and the following spring the family, consisting of the parents and five children, came from Spencer and occupied the house which stood about forty rods west of the house then owned by Samuel Waters, Jr. After the death of the father, Peter, the son, born in 1785, married Mary Page, July 3, 1806, and located on the home farm. His wife Mary died Feb. 6, 1845, and he married, 2d, Adaline Roberts, April 9, 1845. Before his death he purchased the Sheldon farm, and built a new and substantial house which is now occupied by his son Byron.
The year 1789, witnessed the arrival of several new settlers, and the multiplication of families by the marriage of several young men who had resided in the town for longer or shorter periods. Among the number we may mention Ithiel Barnes, Peter Powers, Asband Polley, Caleb Hendee, Jr., Ashbel Hopkins and Martin Hopkins.
Ithiel Barnes was the son of James and Experience (Wise) Barnes, and was born in New Fairfield, Conn., April 27, 1763. In 1784, he married Grizzel Hunt, who was born in New Milford, Conn., Dec. 10, 1765, and they first located in New Fairfield, where were born the following children, viz .: Nancy, Abigail, Experience and Isaac. He came to Pittsford in the winter of 1789, and purchased of his cousin John Barnes
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
eighty acres of land-the first-division lot of the right of Edward Flint-the deed being dated January 12, 1789. This included the farm now owned by Mrs. Charlotte Barnes with some adjoining land. The following spring he built a house which stood about three rods north of the house now on the farm, and as soon as the traveling would permit, he went to Connecticut for his family. We are unable to state the time of their arrival here, but probably early in June. They had four children born in Pittsford, viz .: Susan, Ann, Polly and Ithiel .*
Peter Powers had an honorable ancestry. Peter Powers, born at Littleton, Mass., 1707, and Anna Keyes, born at Chelmsford, Mass., 1708, being united in wedlock in 1728, moved to Dunstable, N. H., the same year. But not consider- ing himself permanently located in that township, he penetrated the forest of Nissitissit, now Hollis, in the fall of 1730, and was the first white settler in that township. They spent the following year and a half in that dense forest secluded from the civilized world ; their nearest neighbors could not be visited in a less traveling distance than ten miles. On the 9th of March, 1732, their third child, Anna, was born, and was the first English child born in that town. In 1755, New Hampshire troops were called upon to aid in the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point, and a number of Hollis men went on the expedition. At that time Peter Powers received his commis- sion of Captaincy under Col. Blanchard. It was given " under the Hand and Seal at Arms, at Portsmouth, the 5th day of June, in the 28th year of the Reign of His Majesty, King George the Second, Anno Domini 1755-signed Ben- ning Wentworth, as Governor of His Majesty's Province of New Hampshire." How long he was in the service we are not
* Ithiel Barnes, the father, entered the army as a waiter for his father who was Lieutenant in the Revolutionary war, and the Muster Master mustered him out on' account of his age, (being but fifteen,) but his father took him to Gen. Putnam, who asked the lad if he wanted to stay, and he replied yes. "Well," said the General, "let him stay, he will grow to it." And he served through the war.
229
PETER POWERS-ASBAND POLLEY.
informed, but he died of a malignant fever, August 27th, 1757. Anna Powers, his widow, died Sept. 21, 1798. Peter Powers, their eldest son, born at Dunstable, Nov. 29, 1728, graduated at Cambridge College 1758, and was a devoted minister of the Gospel more than forty years. He died at Deer Island in the year 1800.
Stephen Powers, a younger son, married and located in Hollis, where he died in 1775 ; leaving a son Peter, born April 28, 1765. The latter, at the age of sixteen years, entered the American navy, but in a few months left the naval service and returned to Hollis. In 1789, he came to Pittsford and bought of Jonathan Fassett one hundred and twenty-four acres of land, a part of which had been surveyed on the right of John Jenks, and a part on the right of Ebenezer Harvey. This deed appears to have included a part of the Fassett farm-now owned by the heirs of the late David Hall-together with land which had been owned by Edward Owen. February 17, 1791, he married Lucy, daughter of Thomas Lee, and resided a short time on the Fassett farm. He soon after sold a part of his land and, on the 13th of September, 1792, bought of Moses Doolittle one hundred and forty acres, the most of which was laid out on the right of Samuel Johnson. This included most of the farms now owned by George N. Eayres and Marshall Wood, and was mostly covered with a dense forest. The first clearing was made, and a small house built* near where Mr. Eayres' house now stands, and this continued to be Mr. Powers' residence for nearly twenty-nine years. Afterwards he lived for limited periods on different farms, but finally located where his son Samuel Putnam now lives, and died there April 11, 1854.
Nothing is known of the ancestry of Asband Polley. He was in this town in 1789, married a daughter of Edward Owen, and resided for a few months in the family of his brother-in-
* Mr. Doolittle had built the house and made other improvements.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
law, Abraham Owen. He owned no real estate here, but had made arrangements for building a house on land then owned by Mr. Owen, and had proceeded so far with the work as to put up the frame, when he went to Peter Sutherland's saw- mill to obtain boards with which to cover the same, and while standing upon a pile of boards at the head of the Falls, the boards slipped, and he was precipitated into the stream. The following is copied from the record: " Asband Polley died the 12th of April 1790, drowned in Peter Sutherland's Falls in Otter Creek, north part of Rutland, and was found in five weeks and one day and decently buried in Pittsford North Burying Ground east side of the Creek."
Caleb Hendee, Jr., was the eldest son of Caleb Hendee of whom some account has been given. As we shall probably hereafter give a sketch of his public life, a glance at his early history only, is intended here, and we will let him tell his own story : " As I have related, my father was married on the 27th day of April 1767, to Caroline Ellsworth, at Simsbury, Con- necticut. On Friday at noon or high twelve, the 21st day of October, A. D. 1768, on the 12th day of the moon, according to Astrology, Venus governed the day and Jupiter the hour, their first born, the writer of this article, was ushered into this wonderful world ! But as I have no faith in Astrology, I have placed no confidence in that part of the matter. A few days after my father moved into this town (Pittsford) in the month of March, being in my sixth year, I narrowly escaped being drowned in Otter Creek near what is called Stevens' Fordway, on what is now Col. Hammond's intervale. My Uncle, Israel Ellsworth, and one Mr. Warner were at work clearing off the timber into the river the bank being nearly full, the water swift and cold, I with a small pole was endeavoring to shove off some fiood wood to see it swim away. In leaning on the pole the other end slipped off and in I went, head foremost, the water ten or fifteen feet deep. Not being perceived by any one
231
CALEB HENDEE, JR.
I was left to shift for myself. After a short struggle, with some difficulty I succeeded in extricating myself from a watery and untimely grave. I had got some rods from the spot before I was seen by my uncle and the other man. In the month of December 1784, my father sent me to a boarding school in Danby under the instruction of an Englishman where I studied four months, and studied arithmetic, geometry and surveying which I now have in two large manuscripts, as well as the large slate on which I figured. This was the best and essential part of the school instruction which I received of my father. About the year 1786, my father purchased me a set of surveying instruments and I commenced the business of land surveying which I followed occasionally for about forty years. About the same time also I commenced teaching school in the winter season, and followed it for eight winters, including three years that I taught school constantly. From my earliest youth I have had a strong desire to obtain knowledge, and of course I have read and studied as much as my other avocations of life would permit. From the age of seventeen to that of twenty I was occasionally unwell, and did not enjoy very good health ; indeed, from sixteen years old till nearly twenty I was weakly. In the fall of the year 1788, by the permission and assistance of my father, I visited the sea shore of New Haven, New London, New York, &c., for the benefit of my health, and returned in November with my health improved and took a school. On the 14th of January, A. D. 1789, I was duly joined in marriage to Lydia, daughter of Elder Elisha Rich ; this union took place in consequence of a long standing agree- ment, and, as I had reason to believe, a mutual attachment. But I continued in the service of my father till the 21st day of the following October, he not choosing to let me have my time till I was twenty-one years old. In November or December 1789, my wife and myself commenced keeping house for ourselves. We began the world rather low as to property; she had given her,
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
by her father, about this time, twenty acres of wild land which we sold for $120, which, with what she had acquired by her own industry, constituted her portion, with which we purchased two cows and some furniture. Some time after this my father gave me one hundred acres of land on which were some improvements, but no buildings; the land might have been worth about $600. He also gave me a three years old colt, a part of the value of a pair of ordinary oxen. I had caught a wolf with whose pate and skin I purchased some sheep-ten in number-this is all that constituted my portion, except my father gave me about one hundred and fifty young apple trees and land to set them on which I now own. By my own and my wife's industry, in a few years we were able to purchase from my father about eight acres more of land, viz .: four acres of intervale and four of upland for which we gave about $150. It adjoined the other and was bought to accommodate the same, but still we had no buildings, but lived in one of the old bar- racks at Fort Vengeance. In February or March I exchanged the land I had of my father with Col. Thomas Hammond for a part of the farm on which I now live. I had of him about one hundred and fifteen acres which was reckoned at $1,000, and what I let him have at $750. By the industry and economy of myself and wife we soon paid the boot money and have since added considerably more to our possessions. On the first day of June, 1795, I narrowly escaped being killed. I was return- ing from Pittsford village in an empty cart with a young pair of oxen which took fright and ran rapidly. I was in the forepart of the cart, and before I could get out, the cart was turned upside down, and I was thrown on my head and face on the frozen ground which was very rough from a late rain and sudden freeze. I was very much bruised and my right ear knocked off and hung only by a small piece of skin. My ear was sewed on, but the cartilage, in healing, rotted and came out, and the wound was a long time in getting well. About
233
ASHBEL HOPKINS-MARTIN HOPKINS.
this time commenced the three years which I taught a school in Pittsford village. I built my barn under the hill, A. D. 1811, and my cider mill about the same time. In the summer of 1815, I built the house in which I now live. In the spring and summer of 1821, I built the barn called German's barn, this side the Baptist Meeting House. My writings will show my dealings in landed property. On the 27th of July, A. D. 1822, I was taken very sick with stagnation of my blood which confined me to my room about fifteen days. In the month of March, 1823, I went on horseback to Boston and to Sharon, Mass., and it being very stormy, brought on inflammation of my eyes which have never been entirely well since, and I can now see but poorly. I had to be shut up in a dark room seven or eight weeks, bled, blistered, &c."*
Ashbel Hopkins was a son of Nehemiah, and born at West Stockbridge, Mass., and probably came to this town with other members of his father's family. On the 12th of May, 1789, his father deeded to him and his brother Ebenezer, the grist- mill and twenty-seven acres and forty-nine rods of land. Ashbel built a house on land now owned by Augustus Hammond; it stood some five or six rods east of the one now owned by Mr. Hammond. He married, and resided there till his death in 1793.
Martin Hopkins, brother of the preceding, was a carpenter and joiner by trade, and was considered one of the best archi- tects of that day. The most of the buildings erected here during the time of his residence in the town, were constructed under his direction. He married Sarah, daughter of Stephen Mead, and resided some years in the first house built by Caleb Cooley ; afterwards he built a house on land now owned by Charles Spencer, which stood a few rods north of where George Brown's house now stands. After a few years he moved to the State of New York where he died.
* Hendee's MS., Sept. 21, 1827.
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234
HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Having given some account of the families that located in the township during the last ten years and pointed out their places of residence, it now remains to see what was done, during this period, by the inhabitants or Proprietors in their collective capacity, for the benefit of society or by way of inter- nal improvements. Several subjects such as the building of mills and the establishment and maintenance of religious insti- tutions, might properly be mentioned in this connection, but the consideration of these will be reserved for separate chapters, and we shall speak here only of those civil and political acts which so deeply concerned the people of that period. . As the records are the chief source of information we shall take the liberty to transcribe from these, retaining the exact language and orthography of the original :
" PITTSFORD March 15th 1780, then met and opened the sd meeting.
1. Chose Jonathan Rowley moderator.
2. Chose William Cox Proprietors Clerk.
3. Voted that the Proprietors Clerk send to Doctor Fassett for the Proprietors' Books and other Papers that belong to the Proprietors of sd Pittsford. Chose Moses Olmsted and Silas Mosher as a Committee to see the Papers fetched.
4. Voted to adjourn sd meeting to the first Monday of May next, at the house of John Barnes, at one of the clock in the afternoon.
PITTSFORD May ye 1, A. D. 1780, then met and opened the sd meeting.
1. Chose Samuel Crippen to be the man that takes care to get the Proprietors' Books, and other Papers that belong to the Proprietors of Pittsford.
2. Voted to adjourn sd meeting to the first Monday of Novem- ber next then to meet at Lieut. Moses Olmsted's, at one of the Clock in the afternoon.
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PROPRIETORS' RECORDS.
PITTSFORD October 2d 1783 .*
Then the Proprietors of the township of Pittsford met at the Dwelling house of Esq. Fassett and proceeded to business. 1. Made choice of Nehemiah Hopkins, Moderator.
2d. Made choice of James Ewings, Clerk.
3d. Voted that every free Holder be a voter in this meeting according to his interest.
4th. Voted that Capt. Cooley Be Treasuary for this Propriety. 5th. Voted that a committee of five men be as a committee to Regulate the former surveys records, viz .: Jonathan Rowley, Capt. Cooley, Esq. Fassett, Esq. Drury and James Hopkins, and make their report to the next meeting.
6th. Voted that the Town Plot be surveyed in acre lots.
7th. Voted that Aaron Parsons Gideon Sheldon, John Road, Calvin Pitkin, Joshua June, Ephraim Stevens be a Com- mittee to lay out lands in this town.
8th. Voted that every Proprietor that has had a survey of his land and has lost it by reason of the war, shall have twenty days to file his declaration in the Clerk's Office where his land lies and the dimentions of it, that being done shall have till the next adjourned meeting to get a proper survey Bill of his land.
9th. Voted that there be 3 shillings on a right to defray the charges of the Propriety.
10th. Voted that there be an addition of 3 shillings more on each right which will make 6 shillings on the right or share of Land to defray public charges.
11th. Voted that Mr. Rowley, John Barnes James Ewings stand as a Committee to settle with Capt. Cooley, to see what has become of the money, that Pitch of one Hun- dred acres of land was sold for, and make a report to the next meeting.
* The records from the 1st of May, 1780, to the 2d of October, 1783, are lost.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
12th. Voted that this meeting be adjourned until the first Monday of January at the dwelling house Esq. Fassett."
Following the foregoing record is this declaration in con- formity to the eighth vote :
" PITTSFORD, Oct. 9, 1783.
Benjamin Stevens this day declares and says that he has one hundred and ten acres land being in Pittsford, Bounded as follows, viz .: Beginning at his northeast corner first lot, then running North 160 Rods, then running 110 East to a Beach Staddle then running round to the first mentioned Bounds con- taining one hundred and ten acres of Land."
Five similar declarations, claiming as many lots follow the above, viz .: two more by Benjamin Stevens, two by Silas Mosher, and one by John Rhodes.
" PITTSFORD, January 5, 1784.
Then met upon said Monday and opened said Meeting at ten O'clock forenoon and voted to adjourn said Meeting unto 3 o'clock said day. Met according to adjournment and opened said Meeting and Proceeded to business, then voted that the reports of the Committee is according to the Resolve of the Proprietors of said town on the disputes between Jonathan Fassett and Amasa Ladd.
Then voted to except the report of the Committee on William Marsh's survey in said town.
Then voted to except Elihu Stevens pitch and survey to be good.
Then voted to except the report of the Committee on 110 acres of the right of John Hall 5th, William Cox and Jona- than Fassett.
Then voted to give untill the next adjourned meeting to the man or men that hant got a survey of their land and likewise for any man or men that has not got a good Proprietor to get
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PROPRIETORS' RECORDS.
a good Proprietor and cover their land, not interfering on former surveys.
Voted to except the report of the Committee on the survey of 110 acres of land 2d division of Theodore Atkinson, Esq., to be good to Fassett.
Then voted to except the account of the Committee for services which is £10-15s L. M.
Voted to pay the Committee Mr. Jonathan Rowley, James Ewings and John Barnes for their services in finding what was become of a sum of money that a pitch of Proprietors land was sold for £1-10s. York Money.
Voted to pay James Ewings for recording the Charter in the Proprietors' Book 5 shillings.
Voted to except the report of the Committee on Elisha Harvey's 110 acres of land not good.
Voted that James Ewings be Collector for the Proprietors on the six shillings, and two and two pence tax.
Voted to raise one shilling more as an addition to the six shillings which will make seven on each rite to be paid at the same time when the other six is paid.
Voted to have John Rhoads, Moses Omsted and James Ewings a Committee to settle with Esq. Jonathan Fassett to see what is come of the money that a lot of land was sold for (£21 New York money) and make their report at the next meeting.
Voted that the seven shillings tax be paid by the first day of March next.
Voted that Esq. Drury be an assistant to the Collector to publish all the delinquents lands in the Vermont Gazette accord- ing to law, both for the town and Proprietors.
Voted that Ebenezer Lyman and Moses Omsted be a Com- mittee, as an addition to the former Committee, to lay out the lots and Town Plott.
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