USA > Vermont > Windham County > Rockingham > History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1753-1907, with family genealogies > Part 12
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As the town grew, and the different sections became more populous, burying-grounds and cemeteries were laid out in various places, including a number of private yards located upon the farms of the owners. The use of private cemeteries has become obsolete in recent years, but the graves still appear in various localities. Prominent among these are the family cemetery upon the farm formerly occupied by descend- ants of the first settler, Moses Wright, between Bartonsville and Grafton, and the small burial lot in a field west of the La Grange cemetery, in which a number of victims of small- pox were interred at a time when the great dread of the loath- some disease prohibited the burying of its victims in regular cemeteries.
OLD BURYING-GROUND AT ROCKINGHAM
In 1782 William Simonds, David Pulsipher, Charles Richards, and Nathaniel Davis, all prominent residents, united in presenting the town with the land in the village of Rockingham which has since been used for burying-ground and meeting-house purposes. From its location near the center of the town, and its contiguity to the church, it was
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History of Rockingham
for nearly one hundred years the principal burial-place in Rockingham, and is still used for the purpose. In this old burying-ground rest the remains of many connected with the founding of Rockingham, and those who were active partici- pants in the struggles and hardships of its early years. Prominent among them, and near the northeast corner of the old town meeting-house, is the grave of Rev. Samuel Whiting, who from 1773 to ISO9 was the town minister and had a large influence in both spiritual and temporal affairs. Also that of Joshua Webb, who represented the town in the various conventions leading to the formation of the state of Vermont, and was its representative in the six first sessions of legislature.
PARKER HILL BURYING-GROUND
A small burying-ground near the Springfield line on Parker hill, is shown to have been established about 1796, that being the year inscribed upon the earlier stones. The deed of the land from Leonard Parker bears date of 1817, but it is cer- tain it was used a number of years previously. It is not used at the present day. The principal use of this cemetery occurred between 1800 and IS10 and the inscriptions upon the fifty-nine stones show but three interments since 1834, and none since 1857. In this burying-ground, located upon high ground overlooking the beautiful Connecticut valley, rest the remains of Lieut. Philip Safford and his family, one of the most noted heroes of the Westminster massacre, and prominent in Vermont during the Revolution. He was a resident of Rockingham during those stirring days, and in later life resided in a house in the immediate vicinity of the burying- ground.
SAXTONS RIVER BURYING-GROUND
In 1807 Simeon Aldrich, a well-to-do resident of Saxtons River village, presented the land for the burying-ground and the first church in that village. June 16, 1810, a large "bee" of citizens met with their teams and levelled off the ground
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Later Cemeteries
for the burying-ground and the "common" in front, the meeting-house having but recently been erected. Evidently haying had been completed early that year, as at an earlier meeting it had been "voted that the proprietors meet after haying and harvesting and level the common by notice from Joseph Weed, or some other person." The committee appointed June 21, 1809, to "mark out the burying-ground in regular form" was Amos Chaffee, Daniel Mason and Caleb Wash- burn. As laid out by this committee the grounds have always been well kept and are still in use, making one of the most beautiful cemetries in town at this time.
IMMANUEL CHURCH CEMETERY
In 1817 the place now occupied by the " church-yard " of Immanuel church in Bellows Falls was first used for burial purposes, and until the year 1845 it was the only burying- ground known to exist in the village. It is tradition that, previous to this yard being used, the ground between School and Henry streets as' far west as the Congregational church had been used for the purpose, and that some of the bodies were later removed to the last mentioned yard.
Situated in the very centre of the busy village, within a - stone's throw of its largest mercantile blocks, but protected by its natural surroundings of terrace and shade trees, this cemetery holds all that is mortal of scores of those whose names became prominent in the development of its industries during the nineteenth century. Among them are the families of Atkinson, Green, Fleming, Guild, Williams, Wales, Arms, and others, the descendants of whom, still active among the varied business interests of the place, are closely identified with all that makes for the welfare and best interests of the town. Its limits are so circumscribed that for some years only those connected with the early families have here found a resting place.
OLD CATHOLIC CEMETERY
The land for the cemetery on the Old Terrace in Bellows Falls was deeded to the town by Solomon Hapgood June 21,
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History of Rockingham
1845, which date probably marks the time of its first use for burial purposes. Within a few years the question of ceding it to St. Charles Catholic church was agitated, and as early as March, 1858, the town voted it to them, although the vote was not carried out. By vote of the town, March 6, 1877, the land was deeded, August 2, 1878, to Daniel Higgins, Thomas O'Brien and Daniel Kiniry, "trustees of the Catholic Society," and it has been controlled by them since. It was the only cemetery of this church until 1894.
BURYING-GROUND NEAR LAWRENCE'S MILLS
The first interment in the small burying-ground between Bartonsville and Lawrence's Mills was that of Solomon Wright. His death occurred July 18, 1827. There are now twenty-two stones showing that number of interments, two being dated since 1890. The larger part of those resting here are of the name of Wright, descendants of the first settler.
BURYING-GROUND AT LA GRANGE
The stones in the old burying-ground near the deserted village of La Grange, near Bartonsville, record 1836 as the year it was first used, only three persons having been interred there in the last thirty years.
OAK HILL CEMETERY
The first meeting of citizens which culminated in the establishing of the present " Oak Hill " cemetery in Bellows Falls, was held in "Chase's Hall" on Westminster street, Saturday evening, March 8, 1862, at which time S. S. Coolidge, C. B. Eddy and A. S. Clark were appointed a committee to investigate and report to a town meeting. This committee looked the most favorably upon the location now known as the "New Terrace", but it did not meet popular favor.
During the winter of 1872-3 the town appointed Wyman Flint, Oscar D. Gray and Albert H. Fisher a committee to
1881-1865
SOLDIERS MONUMENT.
GLIMPSE OF OAK HILL CEMETERY.
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Cemetery of St. Charles Church
locate the cemetery. Their investigations resulted in a pur- chase in May, 1873, from Seth Hapgood and Col. C. L. King, of a portion of the land now used. Few interments were made there during the next ten years. Since then it has been the favorite location in town for burial purposes, and the number of interments now reach about seven hundred and fifty. At this time there are few cemeteries in New England more beautifully located, laid out and kept than this. To J. C. Day, who has been managing commissioner for the town since the first few years, is due in a large measure the present attractive appearance of the grounds.
ST. CHARLES CEMETERY
In 1894 the grounds on the Old Terrace in Bellows Falls in use by St. Charles church having become too crowded, the church purchased the present commodious grounds south of the Saxtons river, just in the edge of Westminster. In the last few years they have been greatly beautified and are coming into general use in place of the old lot.
CHAPTER XI.
THE FIRST CHURCH IN ROCKINGHAM, 1773-1839
One of the first things which the sturdy pioneer settlers of the town did, after organizing the town government and lay- ing out primitive roads through the forests, was to organize a church and undertake the erection of a house for the worship of God. The first citizens of Rockingham, coming here from different points in Massachusetts and Connecticut, traced their ancestry back to the Puritans and Pilgrims, and had evidently inherited many of the strict religious ideas of their early forefathers. The records show that before the school, or any other institution, they considered the church and its observances to be the most essential.
The first meeting of the proprietors of the town, held March 28, 1753, voted that six acres of land located near the middle of the township should be reserved "for a Meeting- house place," and that twenty acres should be " Laid out For the Use of the First Settled Minister."
When the management of the town had passed into the hands of the actual residents, and the town was organized, the records of the various meetings, printed in a previous chapter, show a continual thought in regard to spirtual things, although at times the action of the town was contradictory and changeable.
Preaching services were evidently held at some place or places in the town with more or less regularity, even when the number of families was but small. As the citizenship increased services became more regular. It is impossible to say where these first services were held, the first action of the town looking toward a house of worship being taken in June, 1771, ten years after the organization of the town.
Rev. Andrew Gardner, one of the original grantees of Rockingham, was the first minister of the town, serving the
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First Ministers in Town
settlers in addition to his duties as pastor, in the capacity of physician and surgeon also, as he had at Fort Dummer and other settlements in the Connecticut river valley. His period of service here ended about 1771. He was never a settled pastor but evidently served this town in connection with others. He held various town offices, and was prominent in many civil affairs. He made this town his home a portion of the time. He was a resident of Charlestown, N. H. in 1746, and after his period of service here in 1771 he removed to Bath, N. H.
The second minister who was employed by the town was Rev. Elisha Harding, and he officiated as the town minister a part of the time from the departure of Mr. Gardner until the organization of the first church in 1773. Mr. Harding does not appear to have been a citizen of the town, but he came into this vicinity about 1755 and was employed many years as chaplain in the large family of Col. Benjamin Bellows, the dominant spirit of Walpole in early days. The records of this town show the allowance of bills for going after Mr. Harding "when he preacht in Rockingham," the transportation evidently being between the home of Col. Bellows and wherever he preached here.
Church organization in Rockingham dates from October 27, 1773, when a council of pastors and members of various Congregational churches in surrounding towns, including Brattleboro, Vt., Winchester, Swanzey, Charlestown, West- moreland, Walpole and Lebanon, N. H., Warwick and Wrentham, Mass., was held and a church organized, of which Rev. Samuel Whiting was ordained as the first pastor.
Mr. Whiting served the church, and the town, as pastor until May 8, 1809, a period of thirty-six years. During this time the church was supported by direct taxation of the citizens, levied upon the grand list the same as all other taxes, the exceptions being such property owners as filed with the town clerk their certificates that they either belonged to other churches and assisted in supporting them, or that they " did not agree in religious belief with a majority of the
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History of Rockingham
inhabitants of the town." In such cases they were relieved from their proportion of the expense of the support of the town church. Mr. Whiting's ministry in this town, covered largely the formative period of town affairs, as well as the Revolutionary period, and the troublous years when Vermont as an independent republic had to look out for foes upon every hand, and this fact makes his influence, and the influence of the church itself, of much more than ordinary importance.
Without doubt the strong personality and christian character of the minister stamped itself indelibly upon the citizenship of the town, as in those days the town minister was a man of prominence and great influence. When Mr. Whiting was ordained as pastor over the church he was but 23 years old, and during his pastorate the church erected its two meeting-houses and organized itself for active work.
The church in Rockingham was the eighth Congregational church established in what was then known as the "New Hampshire Grants," later as "Vermont." This province was then under the rule of King George III. of Great Britain. The other churches were organized as follows :
Bennington, 1762, Norwich, 1770,
Newbury, 1764, Brattleboro, 1770,
Westminster, 1767, Guilford, 1770,
Windsor, 1768, Rockingham, 1773.
Only five more were established previous to the Revo- lution, viz. :
Thetford, 1773, Putney, 1776,
West Rutland, 1773, Marlboro, 1776.
Newfane, 1774,
Rev. Samuel Whiting was son of Joseph Whiting of Franklin, Mass., who traced his lineage back to Nathaniel Whiting who was in Dedham, Mass., as early as 1641 and married Hannah Dwight in 1643. Rev. Samuel Whiting was born in Wrentham, Mass., January 28, 1750; graduated from Harvard college in 1769: received the degree of A. M. from Yale college in 1772 ; was ordained pastor of the Con-
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Samuel Whiting, First Town Minister
gregational church in Rockingham, October 27, 1773, and by vote of the town was accepted as its first settled pastor, January 13, 1783. He at once came into possession of the eight lots in different parts of the town aggregating two hundred and eighty-nine acres which had been set apart by the proprietors of the town of Rockingham for the use of the first settled minister of the town.
Mr. Whiting married Mary Goldsbury of Warwick, Mass., May 24, 1774, and they lived in the old " Minister's House," still standing about a mile north of Rockingham village, built on land given by the proprietors.
He died in the old homestead at Rockingham, May 16, 1819, in his 70th year. Mrs. Whiting died August 7, 1799. The graves of both Mr. and Mrs. Whiting and five of their children are in the old burying ground at Rockingham, just behind the old church for which Mr. Whiting gave the best years of his life in his pastorate of thirty-six years.
The traditions of Mr. Whiting that have come down through his descendants show him to have been a strong character, earnest and faithful in the discharge of the duties of his ministry, a man of kind and genial manner, having a keen sense of humor, and he was regarded by his brother ministers as a wise counsellor.
The interesting and valuable book containing the com- plete manuscript records of the first church of Rockingham, is now deposited in the safe of the Rockingham Free Public Library. The book has been recently returned to the town by Mrs. W. H. H. Putnam of Springfield, Vt., a descendant of David Pulsipher who was one of the earliest settlers of Rockingham, and with his wife, Elizabeth, was among the charter members of the church when it was organized in 1773. Mr. Pulsipher was one of the four men who united in presenting the town with the plot of land upon which the town church and cemetery were located. When the organi- zation of the church was discontinued in 1839, the record book as well as the communion service, the table cloth, and one napkin, were preserved by members of the Pulsipher
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History of Rockingham
family to whom much credit is due for their faithful care. In a fire which a few years ago destroyed the residence of Mrs. Putnam, the communion service which the records show was procured by popular subscription in March, 1819, was lost, but the record book, table cloth and napkin were pre- served. The book has been restored to the town as stated above and the other articles would be if the town had a proper and safe place to keep such invaluable mementoes of an era, and of usages, which are rapidly passing out of the knowl- edge of town residents as succeeding years and different customs obliterate the traditions of the pioneers of the town. Mrs. Putnam says there has always been a well anthen- ticated tradition in her family that upon the occasion of the last administering of the rite of baptism in the old church, by its last pastor, the baptismal bowl was broken by accident, and that occurrence was always considered as an ill omen.
The church records, covering as they do sixty-six years of its existence, are voluminous and deeply interesting to a certain class of readers. Mr. Thomas Bellows Peck of Walpole, N. H., has done a commendable work in transcrib- ing these records entire and had them printed in 1902 in an attractive volume entitled "Records of the First Church in Rockingham," a limited edition of which was published. The book containing the manuscript records is well preserved and nearly all parts of it are perfectly legible. It commences with the record of the council which convened at Rocking- ham, October 27, 1773, to organize the church and ordain Rev. Samuel Whiting as pastor, and continues in his strong and attractive handwriting until his successor was chosen, November 6, 1818. The records are then written in the hands of the later pastors, and include the record of probably every meeting of the church from its organization in 1773 to its suspension of meetings in 1839, as well as the record of baptisms and marriages at which the different pastors officiated, and a partial record of deaths. The paper of this book is of unusually fine quality, the cover being a home- made sheep-skin one fitted with a flap and string to tie. It
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The First Church Members
is bound together by a strong rawhide cord in the back, the whole having admirably stood the test of a century and a quarter of time.
Following is a copy of the list of members of the church, the first nineteen names enclosed in the bracket and lines being those of the charter members of the organization :
CHII MEMBERS OF ROCKINGHAM
CHI
Samuel Whiting
*Mary Whiting
*Mercy Evans
*Nathaniel Davis
*David Pulsipher
*Elias Olcott
*Elizabeth Pulsifer Sibbel Olcott
susan Simonds Mercy Evans
*Mercy Fuller
* Mary Evans
*Anne Larrabee
CHESTER MEMBERS *Thomas Chandler & Wife
*Jabez Sargent & Wife Jabez Sargent Junr & Wife Phebe Johnson
Isaiah Johnson & Wife Joshua Hotten & Wife.
* Naomi Kingsley. dismissed.
*Margaret Williams. Eunice Burr
Jonth Burr. *Joseph Wood.
Ebenezer Albee.
*Thomas Dutton
*John Lovell. Jehiel Webb.
*Sarah Dutton. Martha Lovell Mary Webb. Bethiah Dutton
Hannah Evans
* Mary Pease. Eunice Jones.
*Rebecca Walker.
*Olive Edson
. Phebe Stoell. Mercy Knights Elisabeth Fuller
William Harris Dismissed
*Rhoda Fuller Sarah Cooper
*Vashti Evans Dismissed Priscilla Pulsipher
Jonas Hazletine
* Mary Kendall
*Sarah Roundy Sarah Wood. Dismissed
George Wood Frederick Reed
*Lovisa Reed
Eli Evans.
*Jacob Pease. Reuben Jones. Timothy Walker. Daniel Edson. John Ellis.
*Elenor Preston. Dismiss'd Agnis Whitney. Rachel Albee. "
William Simonds Peter Evans Junr Ebenezer Fuller Asher Evans
*Samuel Larrabee
*Peter Evans
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History of Rockingham
Russel Knight
*John Lane Ebenezer Clark. David Stanley.
* Mrs Benton
* Mrs Berry Mrs Stearns
Elisabeth Pulsipher.
Mrs Walker
Mrs Ellis
Mrs Taylor
Olive Edson
*Emery
Ober
Mrs Wood
Philip Davis John Stoell & Wife Willm Stearns Junr & Wife
Charlotte Ellis
On a loose leaf, laid in the record book, and in a different handwriting from any in the book, there is the following list of names. Internal evidence indicates that they are the names of persons who were members at some time between the pastorates of Mr. Wollage and Mr. Mason, or between 1821 and 1837.
Samuel Ober Deacons.
Betsey Stoel Laura Davis
John Stoel
Mrs. Stoel
Roaland Doan 1
*Eli Evans
Mrs Doan ٢
Joseph Muzzy
Mrs. Muzzy
Susan Billings Caroline Gould
*Josiah Drury
William Stearns 1
*Laura Locke Jonathan Stearns
Mrs. Stearns
John Locke 1
Jane Shepherd-Died
Hannah Locke
Daniel Wise Lona Jane Felt
Mrs. Clark-Died
Mrs. Stoel
* Mrs. Nourse
Mrs. Whiting
* Lydia Boynton
Philena Pulsipher
*Olive Evans Warren F. Evans
Melinda Davis
Augusta Evans Asa Locke
David Pulsipher
Mary Jane Locke
Rebecca Pulsipher
Almira Butterfield
Mrs. Stodard
Mrs. Gowing
Nancy Barry
*Eliza Locke
Melinda Ann Davis Eunice Hoit
Catharine R. Locke
Hiram Davis
Fanny Locke § Died June 5. 1850
Samuel Emery & Samuel Ober &
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Early Church Records
*Mrs. Upham
Hezekiah Ober
Abigail Lake withdrawn by letter
*Polly Gowing
Joanna Pulsipher
A study of the records of this, the pioneer church of the town, and one so intimately connected with the first years of the town's existence, is instructive. They give an insight into the theology and beliefs of the early worshippers upon disputed points of creed, as well as interesting glimpses of the manner in which the church entered into the mutual relations of its members in the ordinary affairs of life and citizenship. In the light of the great changes which have come into creeds, and beliefs of churches, in the century since these records were made, they are invaluable as showing under what influences and amid what conditions our fore- fathers lived. As the copies made by Mr. Peck are com- plete, and the limits of this volume inadequate, but a small portion of the record is reproduced here. Supplementing this volume of history, a copy of these church records is valuable as an important part of the town's early history.
Following is the beginning of the record, showing the details of the organizing of the church and the ordination of its first pastor :
Records of the Church in Rockingham
Pursuant to Letters Missive from the People in Rockingham & Chester in the Province of New York the Chhs of Brattleborough Warwick, Win- chester, Swanzy, Charlestown, Westmoreland, Walpole Lebanon & Wrent- ham by their Elders & Messengers & the Messengers of Hinsdale & Cornish were conven'd at Rockingham October 27th 1773.
When antecedent to their embodying into a Council an Enquiry was pro- pos'd to be made in the Standing of the Chh in Brattleboro' upon Which the Revd Mr Reeves & the Messengers from Brattleboro' being previously instructed & empower'd by that Chh gave us full Satisfaction with regard to the Credentials of Mr Reeves & the Agreement of the Covenant of sd Chh 10
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History of Rockingham
with ours. We therefore Unanimously agreed upon their desire in Consid- eration of their peculiar Situation to receive & own them of our fellowship. Nevertheless we take this method and Opportunity to bear due Testimony against any Chh' forming itself & putting itself under the Care of a Minister without the Concurrence of Sister Chhs (where it may be had) to establish a Communion of Churches.
The Chhs proceeded to embody into a Council and made Choice of the Revd Mr Reeves Moderator & Mr Fessenden Scribe, the Council being form'd Voted their Acceptance of Mr Reeves & Brattleboro' Chh to our Communion, & our readiness to treat him & them as such, expecting like Returns from them & that the Vote be made Publick at this Time & to our Chhs. In the next Place the Council proceeded to examine Mr Samuel Whiting the Pastor elect, as to his Licence to preach, his regular Standing as a Christian, his Doctrinal Sentiments, & his Views of Undertaking the Work of the Gospel Ministry & he gave full Satisfaction as they expressed by Vote. Voted to proceed to Ordination & that Mr Olcott begin with Prayer, Mr Reeves pray before the Charge Mr Hedge give the Charge, Mr Lawrence the right hand of Fellowship & Mr Fessenden conclude with Prayer.
And agreeable hereto the Revd Samuel Whiting was ordained a Gospel Bishop of Chh in Rockingham & Chester Rockingham Octobr 27th 1773 Attest Thomas Fessenden Scribe True Copy Attst Sam! Whiting."
The following shows the method of the church in arbitrat- ing between its members. These are only a few chosen from the constantly recurring records of similar nature :
"1776, March 21. By the Desire of Brother Asher Evans I informed the Chh & Congregation of his Sorrow for his foolish and Inconsiderate Conduct with Nath! Bennett. Voted Satisfactory.
"April 21. Chh Tarried after Publick Worship, read Jonathan Burrs Com- plaint against Nathaniel Davis & Chose Peter Evans & Elias Olcott to meet with them & endeavor to reconcile the Difficulties between them.
"April 27. Chh Tarried after Publick Worship When Peter Evans Jun'r & Elias Olcott upon Brother Davis saying that wherein he had broke the good Rules of the Chh he was sorry for it, Said it was to the same purport to what they had Advis'd to & Brother Burr was satisfied with, and he being satisfied withdrew his complaint and both parties agree not to mention again the old Story wherein they differed and which was the foundation of the Dispute.
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