USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Pittsford > History of the town of Pittsford, Vt., with biographical sketches and family records > Part 21
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John Woodward was the eldest son of Joshua, of whom some account has been given. We find but little upon the records relating to the Woodward family, and it is not known to the writer where any member of it now lives. John was probably born in Watertown, Mass., before his parents moved to Pittsford, since he was old enough to take an active part in the Revolutionary war, as has appeared in the account of that struggle. He married and located on the homestead with his mother, his father having been killed in the war. He had two brothers, Joshua, Jr., and Amos, both of whose interests in the home farm he bought in February, 1792; the former at that time resided in Harkmore, N. Y. John's first wife died, and he married, for a second wife, a daughter of Abijah Tucker. He resided in the house built by his father till the year 1802, when he built and began to occupy the house now owned by C. Bowen. A few years later he moved to New York.
* The land on which the house stood was purchased of Joshua Morse.
267
**
SAM'L COPLEY-P. HAMMOND-ABRAHAM CARPENTER.
Samuel Copley resided in Pittsford some fourteen or fifteen years, but we know nothing of his early life or residence. He purchased eighty-eight acres of land of Josiah Eddy, and this appears to have included the south part of Eddy's home farm. In the deed Copley is said to be of Clarendon. He resided in a house which he built about thirty rods south of the residence of Mr. Eddy, and a little southeast of Abraham Drury's. He moved to the State of New York about the year 1804.
Phineas Hammond was the second son of Daniel, of New- ton, and was born June 4, 1755. About the year 1790, he came to Pittsford, but it does not appear that he bought any real estate till some years later. He married and resided a few years in the house built or repaired by Caleb Hendee, Jr., on the farm now owned by A. and J. Richardson ; he afterwards occupied a house which stood in what is now Abraham Owen's garden. Later still he went to New Orleans where he died.
Abraham Carpenter was born in Rehoboth, Mass., Sep- tember 23, 1739, and in the French war he enlisted in the army and was sent through the wilderness to Crown Point Fort, where he remained through one summer, acting, the most of that time, as one of the guard at that fortress. How long he remained in the army we are not informed, but when his term of service had expired, he returned to Rehoboth and commenced studying for the ministry. He married Elizabeth Bliss, also of Rehoboth, who was born April 5, 1738, and after their marriage they went to reside in Killingly, Conn., from which town they removed to Plainfield, N. H., in 1774. He was there ordained and settled over a Congregational Church, the first in the township. From Plainfield he removed to Whipple Hollow, and of his labors there we shall have some- thing to say hereafter.
Adget Lathrop was the son of Cyprian and Mary Lathrop, and was born in Connecticut, Aug. 29, 1764. He was a car- penter and joiner, and wrought at his trade some years in his
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
native State, but at length came to Pittsford, married Martha, daughter of Joshua Morse, January 13, 1790, and located, in the fall of the same year, on the farm which has been men- tioned, as having been first improved by Adonijah Montague. On the tenth day of September, 1792, he bought of Peter Powers the farm which had been, for some years, occupied and improved by Jonathan Fassett. He removed to Stafford about the year 1816, and died there April 10, 1840. Mrs. Martha Lathrop died* in Geneva, N. Y., about the year 1850.
We have no knowledge of the ancestors of Nathan B. Gra- ham. He was brother of John A. Graham of Rutland, was educated as a lawyer and located in this town in 1790. He purchased of James Ewings the house-lot now owned by J. A. Randall, and built upon it what was long known as the gam- brel-roof house. He practiced his profession here till the spring of 1796, when he removed to Boston, Mass.
We find the following among those who located here in 1791, viz .: Milton Potter, Rufus Ward, Israel Keith and sons -Scotland, Daniel and Alfred.
Milton Potter was born in New Fairfield, Conn., in 1763. His father was a physician and educated his son for the same profession ; but Milton preferred the life of a farmer. At the age of about fourteen he enlisted in the army and remained in the service till the close of the war, taking an active part in many of the hard-fought battles of the Revolution. He was one of the men who rowed Arnold to the Vulture, on the Hudson, when he fled from West Point, and was by that traitor delivered over to the British as a prisoner of war, but was afterwards set at liberty by Sir Henry Clinton, who, in this instance, had no sympathy with Arnold's meanness. He wit- nessed the execution of Andre, participated in most of the military movements upon the Hudson river, and near the close of the war, received a Captain's commission, signed by
* She died from the effects of a fall which dislocated her neck.
269
MILTON POTTER-RUFUS WARD.
Washington. After the war he returned to New Fairfield and married Esther Cone, whose father was a merchant at East Haddam, Conn., and who, on the breaking out of the war, was in Liverpool, England, with a cargo of merchandise which was taken by the British government and confiscated, and its owner imprisoned. By the aid of friends he was released and returned to America, but he had lost his property. He enlisted in the army, very soon after his return, and having been taken prisoner by the British he was confined in a sugar-house in the city of New York, where he soon died.
Capt. Potter came to Pittsford in 1791, and bought of Elias Hopkins, Jr., forty-four acres of land bounded as follows : " Beginning at a hemlock stub standing near the Great Bridge, on Stephen Mead's north line ; thence running northerly, with the highway, to John Barnes' land on the west of the highway ; thence running westerly on said Barnes' land to an elm stub marked, and standing in the northeast corner of Stephen Mead's land ; thence southerly on said Mead's line to a stake and stones, near a beach staddle marked ; from thence easterly on said Mead's line to the first-mentioned bounds."
Mr. Hopkins had made some improvements on this land, but to what extent is not now known. Mr. Potter built a house and barn on the place, the former of which is still standing, but the latter has been removed, and is now one of T. D. Hall's barns. Mr. Potter resided in Pittsford till 1839, when he went to Whiting to live with his son James A., and died there, July 2, 1840.
We can learn but little of Rufus Ward, though he is reputed to have been a son of William, the early settler. It is supposed that he married about the year 1791, but where he first located is not now known. It is certain that he owned land on West Hill near Hubbardton line, and that he cleared some of it, though he never located there. About the year 1806, he pur- chased a few acres of land on the east side of the road leading
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
north by the residence of Benjamin Stevens, Sen. The house* in which he lived is still standing on the high ground east of the road, and about eighty rods in a northeasterly direction from where Mr. Stevens' house stood. This family left town many years ago.
The Keith family was from Easton, Massachusetts. We are informed that Col. Israel Keith was a graduate of Harvard University, and that after leaving the University he married and located in Boston, where he accumulated considerable property. He came to Pittsford in the summer of 1791, and purchased of Joseph Hitchcock three acres, which included the land upon which the furnace now stands. The deed was dated Aug. 3d, and was " in consideration of six pounds L. M." In the fall of that year he constructed a furnace and commenced the manufacture of iron, but did not remove his family to Pittsford till about the year 1800, when he located on the farm which has been mentioned as having been first improved by Jacob Weed. He bought this place and occupied the house built by Mr. Weed till his death in 1821. His father, Zephaniah, came here, also, about the same time, and located in the house which has been mentioned as the residence of Amasa Weed, now the Cyrus Dike place. The house in which he lived stood seven or eight rods in a southwesterly direction from the present house.
Scotland removed here from Easton in 1795, and on the 4th day of July he purchased of Col. Keith one-eighth part of the furnace and its adjuncts, and became one of the firm of Keith & Co.
Daniel married a Simmons, of Easton, and located where W. Morseman now lives. He built the house now owned by Mr. M. in 1800.
Alfred located on land now owned by E. Randall. He
* This house was built by Abraham Owen, Sen., on the farm now owned by Richard and Charles Burditt, and was purchased and removed to its present location by Mr. Ward.
271
OZIAS CRAMPTON-DANIEL CARPENTER.
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purchased this, one hundred and thirty acres, of Elisha Rich, Dec. 10, 1793.
The men who located here in 1792, were Ozias Crampton, Daniel Carpenter, Alexander Ewings, William Baxter, Luther Wicker, James Wicker, Frederick Wicker, Jeremiah Need- ham, Daniel Lee, Oliver Bogue, and Jeremiah Powers, Sen.
Of the early life of Ozias Crampton we know nothing. He came to Pittsford in 1792 and had the title of Doctor, but we cannot learn that he ever practised medicine. He married Anna, daughter of John Hitchcock, and resided a few years in the house which was built and. occupied by Mr. Hitchcock when he first came into the township. It stood a few rods north of the house now owned and occupied by S. H. Kellogg, Esq. He and Joseph Hitchcock, his wife's eldest brother, bought the grist-mill and one-half of the saw-mill, the former built by Elisha Rich and the latter by Elisha Adams who still retained one-half of it. This purchase was made of John Rotchem March 9, 1792, and the consideration was two hun- dred pounds. In 1800 Mr. Crampton sold his real estate in Pittsford and moved to Pennsylvania where he afterwards died. His widow and three sons returned to Pittsford, and in a few months she married a man by the name of Crossman and resided in the house standing in the lot northwest of the resi- dence of John Hitchcock, and now owned by H. F. Lothrop.
The father of Daniel Carpenter was born in England, came to America when a young man, married Hannah Needham and settled in Greenwich, Mass., where his son was born. The latter, about the year 1775, married Lucy Nichols and located in South Wilbraham where were born the following children, viz .: 1st, Polly, born Nov. 27, 1776 ; 2d, John; 3d, Artemas; 4th, Daniel ; 5th, Caleb ; 6th, Lucy.
Mr. Carpenter made his first purchase in Ladd Hollow,*
* Ladd Hollow included a part of Chittenden and that part of Pittsford now known as East Pittsford.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Pittsford, Aug. 11, 1792. This purchase consisted of one hundred acres of land, "bounded on the north by Nathaniel Ladd, on the east by town line ; on the south by the Governor's right, and extends so far west as to include one hundred acres." This land is described as "lying on Little River called East Krick," and was purchased of John Simonds of Leominster, Mass., being a part of the second-division of the original right. of John Hubbard. It is not known what time he removed his family into Pittsford, but probably soon after he made his pur- chase here. He and Nathaniel Ladd* are reputed to have been the first two settlers in Ladd Hollow. Mr. Carpenter made his first clearing and built a log house about where Mrs. Eddy now lives. He afterwards built a house farther south, where his son Artemas lived many years. It is now owned by D. Gould. Mr. Carpenter died in 1811.
Alexander Ewings, son of Rev. Alexander Ewings and brother of James, of whom some account has been given, was a physician by profession. He married and located in Pittsford in 1792. His first purchase of real estate was on the 23d day of March, and it consisted of the buildings and two acres of landt then but recently owned and occupied by Amos Webster. It is evident from the records that Mr. Webster had, at this time, built a house on the southwest corner of this lot which was identical with the lot now owned by the heirs of the late George B. Armington, M. D. Mr. Ewings undoubtedly resided for a short period in the first house built by Mr. Webster, on the lot now owned by Willard Randall, though it is known that he afterwards occupied the newer house built on what is now known as the Armington lot. About the year 1801, he bought of Joseph Hooper the place now occupied by John C. Leonard and resided there till the 9th of May, 1805, when he
* Mr. Ladd was there some years before Mr. Carpenter.
t This was purchased of Amos Smith of Shoreham, who had purchased it the same day of Amos Webster, together with twenty-six and two-thirds acres addi- tional land.
273
WILLIAM BAXTER-FREDERICK WICKER.
sold all his real estate in this town, consisting of twenty-two acres of land with the buildings thereon, to John Merriam, the price received being one thousand dollars. After disposing of his real estate in Pittsford he removed to Canada, since which time we have heard nothing from him.
William Baxter, from Rutland, purchased of Joseph Hitch- cock several acres of land on Furnace brook, including one-half of the saw-mill, the other half being owned by Elisha Adams. The deed was dated April 24, 1792, and was in " considera- tion of two hundred pounds, L. M." He married a Buell, of Rutland. It is not now known where he resided when he first moved into the town; but in 1797, he was living in a small house which stood about where Dr. E. H. Drury's house now stands. He changed locations quite often. The last place he occupied in this town, was the red house now owned by Josiah Leonard, and standing a few rods north of the one he occupies. Some of Mr. Baxter's traits were peculiar, and afforded him a degree of distinction. He was very loquacious, and he had the faculty of keeping his listeners in a continual state of laughter. He removed to Massena, N. Y., about the year 1830.
But little relating to the Wicker family has been obtained. Frederick, in his first deed of land purchased in this town, is said to have been "of Easton in the county of Albany and State of New York," and this may have been the former resi- dence of his two brothers, who evidently came to Pittsford about the same time.
Luther's first purchase was made by Elijah Herrick, and consisted of one hundred acres in the easterly part of the town, adjoining a lot owned by Amasa Ladd, the deed being dated May 5, 1792. On the 18th day of July, 1796, he purchased of Nathan Hewitt sixty-five acres which included the farm now owned by M. Mehan. Mr. Hewitt had built a house on that lot and made some other improvements; but Mr. Wicker made
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
many more improvements, and continued to reside there till his death.
Frederick had no very permanent residence in the town.
James, on the 13th of April, 1794, purchased of Stephen Esty one hundred and thirty-five acres which included a large proportion of the land recently owned by the Town of Pitts- ford and occupied as a Town Farm* in the support of the poor.
Mr. Esty made the first clearing on that farm and built a house near where the present house now stands, and in this he resided nearly two years. Mr. Wicker lived on that farm a few years, and then sold it and left the town.
James and 'Luther were both religious men, and preachers of the Methodist doctrine, and so far as we can learn were faithful and devoted Christians.
Jeremiah Needham was born in South Brimfield, Mass., Feb. 20, 1766. His father, Jeremiah, also a native of the same town married Elizabeth Gardner and had the following children born there, viz : Jeremiah, Elisha, Anna, Charles and Rebecca, the last two being twins. The father died in Wilming- ton, N. Y., August, 1815; the mother died in Ferrisburgh, Vt., 1819.
Jeremiah, the eldest son, married Ruth, daughter of Col. Benjamin Cooley of Pittsford, May 31, 1792. It is not now known where he first located but in 1797, he bought the north half of the farm first occupied by Gideon Cooley, and for four or five years resided in a house which had been built and occu- pied by Jacob Cooley, son of Gideon. This house stood on the west side of the road and about eight rods in a south- westerly direction from the house now owned by Mr. Mead. In 1801, he purchased the easterly part of the farm first improved by his father-in-law. The land included in this pur-
* This farm was sold by the Town to A. Judson Smith, in March, 1870.
275
DANIEL LEE.
chase is now mostly owned by Jeremiah C. and Artemas C. Powers, and has long been known as the Needham farm. The house Mr. Needham occupied during his residence in this part of the township stood on the north side of the road and about five rods from the easterly end of the bridge near Col. Cooley's. The most of his time was devoted to farming, though he occa- sionally worked at shoemaking, a trade he learned in his younger days. He was a very good penman, and some speci- mens of his writings may be seen upon the town records, he having been employed by Col. Cooley to do a part of his writing while he held the clerkship. On the 26th of June, 1806, Mr. Needham removed to North Elba, Essex Co., N. Y.
Daniel Lee was the grandson of Thomas who was born in London, England, and possessed so wild a nature that his father bound him to a stern cooper to learn a trade, hoping thereby to' curb his wild passions and soften his nature. Young Lee mastered his trade and it was, at length, the means of saving his life. When his term of service had expired he went to sea, and in every voyage he encountered difficulties. Twice he was shipwrecked, and eventually he was taken prisoner by pirates, who, when they learned that he was a cooper, spared his life while they put to death the rest of the crew. He then made a solemn vow that if he should ever get ashore, wherever it might be, he would never again go to sea. One night, while in the vicinity of the coast of Massachusetts, he managed to get into a boat and escape to the shore. He married and had two sons, Thomas and Daniel. The former, who figured quite conspicuously in the Revolutionary war, was captain of a com- pany of Rangers, and was afterwards commander of a regiment. He resided, during the latter part of his life, in Rutland, on the farm now owned by Nahum Johnson. Daniel married and resided in this town some years. He purchased the confiscated lands of Roger Stevens, Jr., Oct. 10, 1792, but sold them to John Barnes, Sept. 2, 1793. He afterwards purchased of
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Peter Sutherland the Gideon Cooley farm, upon which he resided till he sold it to Robert Loveland, Aug. 29, 1798. He left the town soon after this sale.
Oliver Bogue was born in Farmington, Conn., April 13, 1757. In 1778, he married Lucy Derrin of Guilford, who was born Feb. 15, 1762, and they first located in Farmington ; but in March, 1788, they removed to Chittenden,* Vt., where they resided four years. They then came to Pittsford and resided four years on the farm which had been occupied by Joshua Morse, and one year on the Jonathan Fassett farm. On the 21st day of February, 1797, Mr. Bogue bought of Philemon Mossey fifty-four acres; and on the 25th day of September fol- lowing, he bought of Samuel and Stephen Hopkins fifty-one and one-half acres which included the greater part of the farm now owned by Charles Mussey. Some time that year he cleared land and built a house into which he moved his family. Mr. and Mrs. Bogue spent the remainder of their days on that farm. The former died February 22, 1828, and the latter October 16, 1850.
Jeremiah Powers,t Sen., father of the Jeremiah who has been mentioned, removed from Greenwich to Pittsford in 1792, and located in Sugar Hollow, on a lot of land now constituting the farm owned by William Nicholas. He made the first. improvements on that farm and built the house that is there. His wife, Elizabeth, was a daughter of Benjamin Cooley of Greenwich. Mr. Powers died in Pittsford, June 2, 1801 ; Mrs. Powers died Aug. 17, 1823.
The immigrants in 1793, were Nathan Hewitt, James Barnes, Bildad Orcutt and Hiram Hopkins.
Nathan Hewitt was a native of Easton, Mass., where he married Mary Finney and resided some years. In 1793, he came to Pittsford and bought of Elijah Harrick sixty-five acres
* The part called New Boston.
t Born in Greenwich, Dec. 25, 1775.
277
JAMES BARNES-BILDAD ORCUTT.
of land which included the farm now owned by M. Mehan. The deed was dated June 18th, and was in consideration of £24, L. M. He built a log house on the north side of the present road near a large boulder, and removed his family here in the fall of that year.
James Barnes spent the most of his minority in New Fair- field, Conn. He married Experience Bangs of Cape Cod, and for several years devoted his time to farming. At the opening of the Revolutionary war, he entered the army and served as lieutenant, a title which he ever afterwards bore. His eldest son, Ithiel, accompanied him in all his military movements. After the war he returned to New Fairfield, where he lived till 1793, when he removed to Pittsford, his son Ithiel having then resided here nearly four years. He made the first improve- ments, and located on the farm now owned by Mr. Griswold in Whipple Hollow, but during the latter part of his life he resided with his son-in-law, Alfred Buck, and died there in 1809. Mrs. Experience Barnes died at her son Ithiel's, in 1825. 1
Bildad Orcutt was a son of William Orcutt who once resided near where Chas. T. Colburn now lives. We have no knowl- edge of his birth-place, but he came into the town with his father's family, married Anna, daughter of Elisha Adams, Sen., and located in a house on the west side of the road and near the residence of Simeon Parmelee, Sen. He purchased twelve acres of land here, the deed of which was dated Aug. 14, 1793, and was in consideration of £6 12s., L. M. His residence was here some years, but being a carpenter by trade, much of his time was spent away from home in the prosecution of his busi- ness. He changed his dwelling place several times in this town, and at length removed with his family to Malone, N. Y.
Hiram Hopkins, son of Noah, was born in Nine Partners, Dutchess County, N. Y., Jan. 16, 1772. He married Rache
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Spotten* of New York city, February 3, 1793, and located on the Ripley farm in Pittsford. He was a carpenter and joiner by trade and did not devote much attention to farming. He changed his location several times while a resident of Pittsford, and about the year 1808, moved to Middlebury where he resided some years, and from thence he removed to Rutland where he died Nov. 23, 1847. Mrs. Hopkins also died in Rutland, April 30, 1839.
Among those who came here in 1794, we find Samuel Fair- field, Stephen Esty, Abraham Walker, James Hewitt, Josiah Taft, Samuel Craft, Israel Purdy, Benjamin Chaffee and Abner Needham.
Samuel Fairfield was the eldest son of Nathaniel, and was born in Connecticut before the family removed to New Hamp- shire. He married Martha Gallop of Plainfield, and located on the home farm with his parents.
We can learn little of Stephen Esty. He was in Pittsford as early as 1792, but we are unable to fix his residence till 1794. The 7th of August in that year he purchased of Samuel Williams, of Rutland, the farm which had been first improved and occupied by David Crippen and afterwards by his son Darius.t
Abraham Walker, from Brookfield, Mass., purchased of Roger Stevens the farm upon which the latter had resided from 1770; the deed of the purchase bears date March 10, 1794. On the 21st of April 1795, he purchased of Nathan Osgood, of Rutland, twenty-six and two-thirds acres which included the place in the Village now owned by Mrs. Ange- line Gorham, together with a part of the farm owned by S. D. Winslow. Osgood had obtained this on an execution against
* Born Feb. 7, 1773.
t Darius Crippen sold this place to Elias Williams who sold it to Samuel, but neither of the latter ever resided on it.
279
JAMES HEWITT-JOSIAH TAFT-SAMUEL CRAFT.
Augustine Hibbard on the 13th of the same month. Whether Mr. Walker resided one year on the Stevens place is not now known, but soon after he made his purchase in the Vil- lage he built and occupied a house which stood about where Mrs. Gorham's house now stands, and on the 30th of August, 1796, he sold the Stevens place to his son Tilly, who occupied the same some years.
James Hewitt was the son of Henry and Rachel (Kinney) Hewitt, and was born in Stonington, Conn., Feb. 23, 1771. He came to Verinont in 1787, and in June, 1794, married Phebe Mead of Rutland, who was born Feb. 13, 1774. On the 10th of November, 1795, he purchased of David Finney of Rutland, eighty-two and three-fourths acres of land which included the most of the farm now owned by his son, Seth H. Hewitt. After making a clearing he built a house in which he resided till his death, April 8, 1858, Mrs. Phebe Hewitt died . August 8, 1855.
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