USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Pittsford > History of the town of Pittsford, Vt., with biographical sketches and family records > Part 22
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Josiah Taft from Douglas, Mass., came here about this time, married Drury. During his residence here he changed locations several times. He resided a few years on the farm now owned by Jeremiah Leonard, then moved to a house which stood near the turn in the road a little east of Israel Brewster's, and finally he occupied for a short time a house which stood near where Seth Hudson now resides. He died suddenly about the year 1844.
Samuel Craft was a tailor by trade. We have no knowl- edge of his parentage or early life. We first hear of him in 1794, when he bought of Augustine Hibbard the place now owned by Mrs. Mary Barnes. In 1797, he was living in what was long known as the "gambrel-roof house" which stood where the brick house now stands, owned by Jeffrey A. Ran- dall, and at the same time he had a shop in a part of the house formerly owned by Elias Hopkins.
Israel Purdy, from Litchfield, Conn., came here about this
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
time and located on land now owned by D. J. Griffith; the house he occupied stood a few rods west of the site of Mr. G.'s barn. After residing there a few years he removed to Brandon where he died.
Benjamin Chaffee was born in Rehoboth, Mass., Aug. 7, 1768. In early life he became a blacksmith and followed this occupation many years. On the 16th of January, 1794, he married Judith Fuller, who was born September 28, 1770, in Rehoboth. Immediately after their marriage they came to Pittsford and located on the farm now owned by their son Demas. Here they spent the remainder of their days. Mr. . Chaffee died Dec. 26, 1850 ; Mrs. Chaffee, March 26, 1835.
Abner Needham came here in 1794, married Melinda, daughter of Stephen Mead, and located on a part of the Matson farm. The house in which he resided stood in what is now I. C. Wheaton's pasture, and a little west of his sugar house. Mrs. Needham was the mother of thirteen children before she was quite thirty-six years of age.
Among those who became residents of the town in 1795, were Daniel Warren, Reuel Keith, Matthew Hopkins, Alfred Buck, Nathan, Cornelius and Thomas Gibbs, John Train, Samuel Jones, Jr., Azariah Newcomb and John Miller.
Daniel Warren, from Massachusetts, purchased the place which had been first improved and occupied by Elias Hopkins, Sen. This purchase included one acre of land with the build- ings thereon, and the deed bears date Aug. 3, 1795. Soon after this purchase Elisha Warren, a hatter by trade, occupied the place, but whether he was a son or brother of Daniel has not come to light. A part of the house was occupied as a hat shop. Daniel remained in the town but a short time, and Elisha moved away about the year 1813.
Reuel Keith, son of the Israel who has been mentioned, bought of Ebenezer Gibbs eleven acres of land, " bounded on the north by land which Nathan Webster sold to Augustine
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MATTHEW HOPKINS-ALFRED BUCK.
Hibbard, east on the Pine Lots, south on Alexander Ewings' land and west on the highway." The deed bears date Feb- ruary 5, 1795. He built a house four or five rods south of the present residence of Benjamin Kemp and resided there till about the year 1803, when he sold the place to Dr. William Frisbie and became proprietor of the Webster tavern. He moved to Shelburn about the year 1813.
Matthew Hopkins, son of Nehemiah, married Mercy, daugh- ter of Stephen Mead, Feb. 17, 1795, and resided some months in the house which had been built by his brother Ebenezer, near the grist-mill. He and his brothers, Ebenezer and Martin, had, as early as 1791, purchased the saw-mill, which stood on the north side of the brook opposite the grist-mill, and the most of his time was improved either in the saw-mill or grist- mill. He changed his location several times while a resident of the town, and eventually moved to the State of Ohio where he died.
Alfred Buck, son of Isaac, married Marcia, daughter of James Barnes, in 1795, and located on the farm now owned by G. and L. Hendee. He cleared the most of the cultivated part of that farm, and first resided in a log house on the east side of the road a little north of the present white cottage; afterwards he built another log house on the west side of the road, on ground now occupied by the garden. He built the red house on the west side of the road in 1803, and in this he resided till his death, May 23, 1842.
The Gibbs family were from Eastern Massachusetts. On the 4th day of July, 1795, Nathan Gibbs purchased of Israel Keith one undivided fourth part of the Furnace property, both real and personal. That summer he moved his family to Pitts- ford and resided in the house which stood where the brick house now stands. He carried on the furnace business in com- pany with his brother, Cornelius Gibbs, Edward Kingman* and
* Kingman was also from Eastern Massachusetts.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Luke Reed, to each of whom Keith deeded one undivided fourth part of the furnace property. Cornelius and his brother, Thomas Gibbs, came here about this time and built a house which is now the first south of the school house, and in that the two families resided some years. Nathan Gibbs married Caroline Powers some time before he came to this town. Cornelius married Hope Pierce, Nov. 25, 1803.
On the 4th day of December, 1797, Nathan Gibbs bought of Edward Kingman the one-fourth interest he had in the Furnace property, and soon after he bought the remaining two- fourths and then he had the whole management of the Furnace business. He is reputed to have been a man of great energy and strictly honest, but much given to the exercise of authority over those whom he employed, and in consideration of this trait in his character he obtained the appellation, by which he was generally known, of " Master Gibbs."
John Train, from Clarendon, bought of Nathan Osgood of Rutland, two pieces of land in Pittsford. The first contained about sixty acres, lay east of Otter Creek, and was bounded as follows, viz .: " Beginning at about three rods from the gate on the bank of Orter Krick on the road that leads to Captain Potter's, thence north eighty-seven rods to a beach tree, thence West 15° South to the River, thence up the River to the first bounds." The second piece contained about eighteen acres and included the Webster tavern. The deed bears date April 23, 1795, and was in consideration of £300, L. M. Mr. Train resided in the tavern till about the year 1802, when he left the town.
Samuel Jones, Jr., from Wallingford, bought of Nathan B. Graham, of Rutland, one hundred acres of land in Pittsford, bounded as follows, viz .: "Beginning at stake and stones at Noah Waite's southwest corner, from thence on the town line west, five degrees north one hundred and eighty rods or more to Dennis Burgess northwest corner, from thence north five
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AZA RIAH NEWCOMB.
degrees East about seventy-six Rods to a stake and stones, being the half distance from the south line of said lot to Jonathan War- ner's south line of his home farm, thence West two and a half degrees south about two hundred Rods to Noah Wait's West line to a stake and stones, thence South twenty degrees West about eighty-seven Rods to the first mentioned bounds." This included the land now owned by Mr. Dickerman. Mr. Jones made the first improvements on that farm, and the house in which he resided stood some four rods southwest of the barns now on the place. The 25th of August, 1800, he sold his farm to Gardner Powers and left the town.
Azariah Newcomb, from New Haven, Addison County, Vt., came here early in 1795, and rented the south part, (seventy- four acres) of the Stephen Mead farm for a period of ten years. This land had been sold by Stephen Mead to Caleb Smith who deeded it to James Mead of Rutland, and the latter conveyed it by deed, dated March 8, 1791, to Isaac Purdy of Sharon, Litchfield County, Conn. It appears that Purdy sold one-half of his interest in this property to Nathaniel Buell of Salisbury, Conn., as these two men leased it to Newcomb on the 22d of January, 1795, for an annual rent of "five shillings L. M." Newcomb was to clear and fence a part of the land, and if it was found that at the expiration of ten years he had not received compensation for the improvements, Purdy and Buell were " to make him full satisfaction for what should be wanting." It was also stipulated that in case Newcomb should build a barn on the land Purdy and Buell should find the nails for the same. It would appear from the records that Purdy came here with his family soon after he purchased this land in 1791, and quite likely built the house which stood on the north side of the road leading to Anthony Phillips' and a few rods, only, east of the brook. How long he remained here is unknown, but probably not more than two or three years. It is supposed that New- comb occupied that place only three or four years, as it is
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known that in 1799, he was living in the house which, at that time, stood on the bank, near where H. F. Lothrop's south barn now stands. He was then employed to attend Col. Cooley's saw-mill* which stood on the south side of the brook opposite the house. After Newcomb left the place on the west side of the Creek, the house in which he had lived was sold to John Barnes, and it is now Nelson Loveland's horse barn. The barn which was built by Newcomb was sold to Peter Rice and is now one of the buildings on the farm owned by Ransom Burditt. Newcomb left Pittsford about the year 1806.
John Miller came here in 1795. We have no knowledge of his birth-place. He bought forty-five acres of Gideon Cooley, Jan. 30, 1795, which land was located on the west side of the road and directly south of the present residence of William Mitchell. The most of this land is now owned by Newell Leonard. He built a log house which stood some twenty rods south of the present residence of Mr. Leonard. A Miss Mary Buell kept his house for him till Jan. 28, 1828, when they decided to become husband and wife, and they were accordingly joined in marriage by Samuel H. Kellogg, Esq. Mr. Miller died about the year 1833. Mrs. Miller died some time afterwards at Hawkins Hart's.
Among those who settled here in 1796, were John Lampson, Samuel Morgan, Anthony Butler, Noadiah Deming, William Sanders, John Penfield, Richard M. Powers, Timothy Jenner, Jonathan Hendee, Isaac Matson, Jr., Tilly Walker, William W. Barlow and Jacob Phillips.
John Lampson from Greenwich, Mass., purchased of Elea- zer Warner the farm upon which the latter first settled, in what is now known as Sugar Hollow. The deed was in considera- tion of £120, L. M., and dated December 20, 1796. He resided there till about the year 1830, when he sold his real
* This mill was carried away by the freshet of 1811.
t The land was sold to Stephen Mead, Jr.
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SAMUEL MORGAN-ANTHONY BUTLER-N. DEMING.
estate in this town and removed to the State of Pennsylvania.
Samuel Morgan, son of Israel, bought of Ithiel Field one hundred acres of land in this town, December 9, 1793. This included what is now the farm owned by James D. Butler. He made a clearing, built a house and married Betsey, daughter of Nehemiah Whipple, in 1796. He resided in this town till 1812, when he removed to Rutland and died there in 1830.
Anthony Butler was born in Boston, Mass., in 1768, became a hatter, married Jerusha Hill and settled in Hardwick. He became a resident of this town in 1796, though he purchased no real estate till the 10th of January, 1797, when he bought of Jonathan Sweet one hundred acres, " being the first division of the original right of Andrew Powers." This included the most of the farm now owned by Allen Mills, but was then sub- ject to the incumbrance of a lease given to David Gitchell, dated March 12, 1796, which lease gave to said Gitchell the privilege of flowing a part of said land for the use of a grist- mill. Mr. Butler sold this farm to Samuel Fairfield and moved to Oxford, Ohio, where he died in February, 1847.
Noadiah Deming was born in Connecticut. He was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, and having been taken pris- oner by the Indians was carried to Canada, but was kindly treated. He was permitted to mingle freely with the tribe, and he there became familiar with their habits and customs. He also carefully studied their practice of medicine. Mr. Deming was eventually released from captivity and returned to Connecticut, but in 1796, he purchased of Abraham Drury, of this town, thirty-nine and three-fourths acres of land, the deed being dated May 28th. This purchase included a part of the farm now owned by Simeon Parmelee, and Mr. Deming built a house* some ten rods east of the present residence of Mr. Parmelee. He practiced to some extent the Indian system of medicine and thereby obtained the title of Doctor. He died
* This house was burnt in 1801.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
at the residence of his son-in-law, Benjamin Cornish, then residing in Whipple Hollow.
William Sanders was an Englishman by birth, but came to this country* when quite young, and became a carpenter and joiner. He came to this town at length and purchased of Tim- othy Higley what is now the farm owned by Marshall Thomas. The deed was dated February 11, 1796, and was in considera- tion of £55, L. M. He married a Mrs. Soule and resided here till about the year 1804, when he sold his farm to Nathan Whitmore and moved to Canada.
John Penfield was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, Novem- ber 5, 1747, and in 1770, married Eunice Ogden who was born in Fairfield in 1753. He served some months in the Revolutionary war, and in 1795, he came to Pittsford and bought of Ebenezer Hopkins the grist-mill built by Nehemiah Hopkins, Sen., and some land in the vicinity, the deed being dated September 7, 1795. The following February he moved his family into this town and resided in the house now owned by William B. Shaw. In December following he opened a public house which he kept till 1811.
Richard M. Powers, son of Jeremiah, formerly of Green- wich, Mass., was born December 25, 1775, and on the 9th of March, 1796, he married Polly Carpenter who was born in South Wilbraham, Mass., Nov. 27, 1775, but at the time of their marriage was residing in her father's family in Chittenden, Vt. Mr. Powers had resided in Pittsford three or four years before his marriage, and in 1795, he purchased the land and commenced improvements on what has since been known as the Wright place, on the west side of the road near where John May resided. He built a house there in the fall of 1795, and the next spring after his marriage commenced housekeeping. On the 3d of October, 1797, he sold this place to Robert Wright
* He spent several years in New Fairfield, Conn.
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TIMOTHY JENNER-JONA. HENDEE-ISAAC MATSON, JR. 287
and soon after bought the James Ewings farm, the most of which is now owned by his sons, Jeremiah C. and Artemas C. Powers. He resided a few years in the Ewings house, and then built the house on the east side of the road, nearly opposite the old one. Here he resided till his death February 28, 1848. Mrs. Polly Powers died October 12, 1863.
Timothy Jenner, eldest son of Stephen, married Ruth Hurlbut and located on land given to him by his father. This land included a part of the farm now owned by the heirs of the late James R. Smith. Mr. Jenner cleared the land and built a log house on the east side of the road about where Mrs. Smith's garden is, and in this he resided till 1803, when he built a frame house* on the west side of the road about where Mrs. Smith's house now stands. About the year 1815, he removed to the western part of the State of New York.
Jonathan Hendee, second son of Deacon Caleb, bought a farm which is now mostly owned by Roswell Woodcock. He built a house a few rods east of the present residence of David Ward, married Sarah Squires, daughter of Deacon Caleb Hen- dee's second wife, and resided on that farm some years, but in 1820, he sold it to his brother Solomon and moved to Moriah, N. Y. His wife Sarah died, and he married, for his second wife, a lady by the name of Anna Stowe.
Isaac Matson, Jr., son of Isaac the early settler, married and located on his father's farm-the one now owned by Isaac C. Wheaton. The house in which he resided stood on the south side of the road, where the barn-yard now is. He and his brother James bought this farm of their father and resided on it till about the year 1808, when they sold it to Thomas Hammond and moved to the northern part of the State of Pennsylvania.
Tilly Walker, son of Abraham, bought of his father the
* This is the brown house next north of Mrs. Smith's residence. It was removed some years since to its present location.
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
Roger Stevens place, Aug. 30, 1796, He married and resided on that farm till about the year 1824, when he moved to the State of New York where he soon after died.
William W. Barlow, from Greenwich, Mass., bought* of Simeon Clifford a lot of land lying west of his home farm. He made a clearing and built a log house in which he resided a few years, and then built the house and barn now on that farm which, at the present time, is owned by David Mills. He was a ship calker, and some part of his time was spent in Boston working at his trade. He died in this town about the year 1814. His father, who was a blind man, resided with him a portion of the time.
Jacob Phillips, son of Anthony, married Luey Weller in 1796, and located on the home farm with his parents. His father gave him a deed of one-half of the farm, November 21, 1796. The son resided on that farm till his death, in March, 1848. Mrs. Lucy Phillips died in March, 1855.
Among those who took up their residence here in 1797, were Asa Jenner, Samuel Cooley, James Matson, Christopher Bresee, George Walton, Oliver and Timothy Morseman, Elisha Woodruff and Remembrance Hitchcock.
Asa Jenner, son of Stephen, was born in Stevenstown, Mass., Dec. 17, 1777. His parents were residing temporarily in that town, having fled from Pittsford early in the war. As the frontier towns became less exposed to the incursions of the enemy, they returned to Pittsford, and here young Jenner spent the most of his minority. He built a house on land given him by his father, some two or three rods north of the present resi- dence of J. C. Howe, and on the 25th of December, 1797, he married Tryphena Grandee and began living in his new house. He resided there till 1801, when he sold this place to Jirah Barlow, and built another house about where Willard Hum- phrey's house now stands. In this he resided some years and
*The deed was dated May 25, 1796.
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SAMUEL COOLEY-JAMES MATSON-C. BRESEE.
cleared considerable land in that vicinity. He also built the barn now on that place, though at first it stood on the west side of the road. It has since been moved across to the east side. His wife Tryphena died Nov. 16, 1801, aged twenty-two years and nine days. The next year he married Nancy Kirkham of Hubbardton. He changed his residence quite often during the latter part of his life, and died on the Town Farm in 1864. Mrs. Nancy Jenner died at the same place in 1869.
Samuel Cooley, born Nov. 17, 1775, son of Benjamin, married Polly, daughter of Jonathan Dike of Chittenden, October 5, 1797, and resided a few years on his father's farm. HIe then moved to Chittenden and located on the farm now owned by Patrick and William Shelvy. Again he returned to Pittsford and resided a short time on the homestead, and then he removed to the State of New York.
James Matson, son of Isaac the early settler, married Susan, daughter of James Barnes, formerly of New Milford, Conn., and located on the home farm with his brother Isaac. He cccupied the house which has been mentioned as having once been the residence of his father. The two brothers sold the farm to Col. Hammond and moved to Pennsylvania.
Christopher Bresee, from West Stockbridge, Mass., located on the farm now owned by his grandson, Wallace E. Bresee. He and Elijah Hewings bought of John Sunderland one hundred and sixty-six acres, " being the second part of the third division of the original right of Charles Whittlesey." The deed was dated Jan. 31, 1797, and was in consideration of £260, L. M. Bresee is supposed to have bought Hewings' interest in the land as it is known that he made the first improvement on it, built a. house, and for some years was the sole owner of it. His wife's maiden name was Henman, (Hannah,) and they had been married some years before coming to Pittsford.
Efforts have been made to obtain some information respeet- ing the ancestry of George Walton but without success. He
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
purchased three-fourths of an acre of land on the west side of the road, north of and adjoining Esq. Graham's lot, and in the deed he is represented as being a resident of Whitehall in the State of New York. The date of this deed was August 4, 1797. He probably located in Pittsford about this time and built and stocked a store which stood on the ground occupied
by the brick store now (1870) owned by G. H. Simonds. He was unmarried and boarded at the hotel, but had been in the town only a short time before he committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. No reason could be assigned for the deed. It was not known here at the time that he had any relatives in New England, and his remains were interred within the limits of the North Burying Ground, as was then supposed, but after the establishment of the boundaries it was found to be northward of the Burying Ground. A few weeks after Walton's death, a brother of his came here, visited his grave and erected over it a stone bearing the following inscription :
" Vain man behold me as I am, Beneath this mossy clod, Here lies the body of George Walton. Heaven from my eyes did hide the book of fate, But this tomb doth prescribe my present state.
His brother J. D. Walton from sentiments of filial duty consecrates this stone to his memory."
The exact time when the Morseman family located in Pitts- ford is not now known. On the 27th of October, 1787, Ebe- nezer Drury, Commissioner on the estate of Noah Waite, deceased, sold so much of said estate as would pay the debts against the same, amounting to £44 4s. Fifty-five acres of this estate were sold to Joshua Morseman of Massachusetts. The name of the town is not given. It is hardly probable that the above named Joshua Morseman located in Pittsford at that time if at all, but he had two sons, Oliver and Timothy, both of whom became residents of this town about the year 1797. Oliver married Esther, daughter of Joseph Waite, and located on the
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ELISHA WOODRUFF-REMEMBRANCE HITCHCOCK.
Waite farm. Timothy married and located on land purchased of his father, Joshua. He built a house about where George Morseman's barn now stands, and in this he resided some years. Oliver and Esther Morseman had a daughter Hannah, and Timothy had a son Timothy, Jr., who married the above named Hannah and resided some years in the house on the west side of the road, now owned by William E. Hall.
Elisha Woodruff was from Southington, Conn., but it is not now known what time he became a citizen of this town. According to the records his daughter Anna was born here Sept. 19, 1794. In what part of the town he then resided, however, we are not informed. On the 11th day of December, 1797, he purchased of Thomas Hammond ninety-two and three-fourths acres of land, " being a part of the third-division lot laid out to the original right of Andrew Powers." This included the most of the farm now owned by David Scofield, and extended easterly so far as to include land now owned by Samuel, Nurse with the mill privilege. He built a log house about twenty rods west of the site of the house now owned by Mr. Scofield, and in that he resided till 1809, when he built the present house. In 1798, he built a saw-mill-the one recently demolished to give place to the new one now being built by Samuel Nurse-and two or three years later he built another saw-mill some five or six rods below the one first built. He operated both of these mills till 1811, when he was acci- dentally killed by a log rolling on him. Very soon after this his family left the town.
Remembrance Hitchcock, son of John, married Eunice Allen of Pittsfield, Mass., in 1795, and located in Brandon. In 1797, he came to this town and resided with his parents about three years. He built the house which is now the residence of Capt. Charles Hitchcock, in 1797, and the house now owned by Frank Bresee in 1800. He removed to the latter house as soon as it was finished, and resided there till about the year
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HISTORY OF PITTSFORD.
1815, when he exchanged farms with Capt. Peter Powers, and soon after built the house recently reconstructed by George N. Eayres. He sold the Powers farm to Miles Johnson, and hav- ing purchased a site, built the house now owned by J. H. Peabody. He afterwards built the house now owned by Allen Hitchcock, as well as that now owned by Mrs. Obers. Mrs. Hitchcock died in August, 1844; Mr. Hitchcock in August, 1849.
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