USA > Vermont > Washington County > Waitsfield > History of the town of Waitsfield, Vermont, 1782-1908, with family genealogies > Part 18
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Village Cemetery.
In January, 1845, Orson Skinner, Samuel Chipman, Artemas Brown, Hiram Joslin and Elijah Wyatt Bisbee, as building committee of the second Congregational Meeting-house, took title to six acres of land on the edge of the terrace south of the village. That portion of the land which lay in the rear of the meeting-house was at once devoted by them to the purposes of a cemetery. An undivided fractional portion of this cemetery was conveyed to the Congregational Society in 1856, but the remainder became vested in the town on February 27, 1864, by deed of such of the trustees as had not already conveyed to the Society. In 1875 the meeting-house was demolished, and the Society conveyed the site and yard to the town upon condition that it be kept forever as "an open frontage for the cemetery," and that no burials ever be made in any part of it except a strip twenty feet in width on the south end, and upon further condition that it never be sold for the purpose of erecting buildings thereon. Other parcels have been added from time to time, and the natural beauty of the spot, to- gether with the public spirited interest of many citizens to see that it is well cared for, make it at this time well nigh a model country cemetery, while through this awakened interest, wisely fostered by the Cemetery Commission, a fund for its perpetual care is growing in a manner that augurs well for its future.
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198
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
In 1906, it appearing that a large number of Revolutionary soldiers were buried in the town, many of them in unmarked graves, a movement was started for the erection of a fitting memorial to them. A great feldspar boulder of some eight or ten tons weight was taken from its resting place on a neighboring hillside and erected upon the lawn in front of this cemetery. In a panel cut in one face was set a bronze tablet, 27 x 36 inches in size, bearing this inscription:
IN MEMORY OF THE SOLDIERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION WHO LIE BURIED WITHIN THE BORDERS OF THIS TOWN.
General Benjamin Wait
Samuel Barnard
Gaius Hitchcock
Beriah Sherman
Abijah Brown
Joseph Joslin
Amasa Skinner
Nathaniel Brown
Jesse Mix
Jared Skinner
Doud Bushnell
William Newcomb Salah Smith
Moses Chase
Joseph Osgood
Elias Taylor Daniel Taylor
Thomas Green
Bissell Phelps Ezra Wait
Samuel Pike
Jeduthan Wait
Joseph Hamilton Ezekiel Hawley
Phineas Rider
William Wait
John Heaton
Salma Rider
John Wells
ERECTED 1906.
Caleb Colton
Jonathan Palmer
179
APPENDIX A.
A list of voters in the town of Waitsfield in the year 1797 prepared by Jennison Jones:
N. W. District. S. W. District.
N. E. District. .
Stephen Pierce
Benjamin Wait
Moses Chase
John Barnard
Ezra Wait
Bissell Phelps
Elias Wells
Benjamin Wait, jr.
David Phelps
James Heaton
Thomas Sherman
Eli Skinner
Durin Still Thomas Sherman, jr.
Daniel Wilder
Daniel Sherman
Levi Wilder
Elijah Sperry
Phineas Rider
Jeduthan Wait
Nathaniel Bartlett
Jared Skinner
Joseph Trask
William Palmer
David Symonds
Isaac Trask
William Joiner
Elijah Freeman
Silas Trask
Harba Child
John Burdick
Simeon Stoddard
Joshua Pike
Jonathan Seaver
Nathan Sterling
William Wheeler
Elijah Grandy
Joseph Hamilton
Abram Marsh
Jonah Strickland
Samuel Barnard
Francis Dana
Moses Fisk
Henry Dana
Salah Smith
Foster Dana
Elijah Smith
Ezekiel Hawley
Daniel Taylor
Samuel Bailey
Beriah Sherman
Abel Spaulding
S. E. District.
Evan Clark Aaron Minor
Joseph Barns
Jesse Mix
Gaius Hitchcock
Eli Abbott
Salma Rider Jonathan Palmer
Samuel S. Savage
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APPENDIX B.
MEMORANDUM OF COUNTY AND STATE OFFICES HELD BY RESIDENTS OF WAITSFIELD.
Members of Constitutional Conventions.
1814, Stephen Pierce. 1843, Norman Durant.
1822, Matthias Stone Jones. 1850, Benjamin Reed, jr.
1828, Jason Carpenter. 1857, Samuel Chipman.
1836, Matthias Stone Jones. 1870, Hiram Carleton.
Assistant Judges of the County Court.
1814, Stephen Pierce. 1835-37, Roderick Richardson, sr.
1838, William Morrill Pingry.
1840, Orson Skinner.
1848, Roderick Richardson, jr.
1855-56, Hiram Jones.
1863-64, Calvin Fullerton.
1868-69, Ira Richardson.
1880-84, Jonathan Hammond Hastings.
1892-98, Charles Edward Jones.
1908, Clarence Milton Richardson.
Judge of Probate. 1836, Jason Carpenter.
State's Attorney.
1853-54, Moses H. Sessions. 1870-72, Hiram Carleton.
Sheriff.
1854, James M. Richardson. 1857-58, Jonathan Hammond Hastings.
State Senators.
1844, Roderick Richardson. 1876-78, Ira Richardson. 1861, Calvin Fullerton. 1888-90, Walter Alonzo Jones.
1870-72, Jonathan Hammond Hastings.
1904-06, Oscar G. Eaton.
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APPENDIX C.
REPRESENTATIVES TO GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF VERMONT.
1795-99, General Benjamin Wait.
1854-55, Benjamin Reed, jr.
1800, Stephen Pierce. 1856, Ira Richardson.
1801-02, General Benjamin Wait.
1857-58, Rev. Lyman Prindle.
1803-07, Bissell Phelps. 1859-60, Pardon Bushnell.
1808-10, Amasa Skinner.
1861,
No choice.
ISII, Stephen Pierce. 1862-63, Jonathan Hammond Hastings.
1812-13, Amasa Skinner. 1864-65, David Martin Phelps.
1814,
Stephen Pierce.
1866,
Ira Richardson.
1815, Amasa Skinner. 1867-68, Benjamin Reed, jr.
1816, Edmund Rice. 1869-71, Hiram Carleton.
1817-20, Matthias Stone Jones. 1872-73, Henry Newton
Bushnell.
1821-23, Ralph Turner. 1874-75, Moses E. Hadley.
1824-26, Matthias Stone Jones. 1876-79, Lucius Merrill Tyler.
1827-28, Jennison Jones. 1880-83, Walter Alonzo Jones.
1829-31, Jason Carpenter. 1884-85, Lucius D. Savage.
1832-33, Thomas Prentis. 1886-87, Orville M. Eaton.
1834-36, Jason Carpenter.
1888-89, Clarence Milton
Richardson.
1837-39, Roderick Richardson, jr.
1890-91, Richardson James Gleason.
1840-42, Hiram Jones.
1892-93, Jonathan Hammond Hastings.
1843-45, No choice.
1894-95, Oramel Smith Joslin.
1846-47, Ithamar Smith.
1896-97, Meriden Lee Richardson.
1848, Benjamin Reed, jr. 1898-1901, Jesse B. Norton.
1849, No choice. 1902-03, Oscar G. Eaton.
1850-51, Roderick Richardson, jr.
1904-05, Charles Henry Newcomb.
1852-53, No choice. 1906-07, George W. Wallis. 1908-09, Frederic Fremont Wilder.
202
APPENDIX D.
TOWN OFFICERS.
Town Clerks.
1794-95, Moses Heaton. IS26, Edmund Rice."
1796-1801, Benjamin Wait, jr.
1827, Jennison Jones.
I802, Salah Smith. IS28-35, Lewis Holden.
1803, Benjamin Wait, jr.
1836-40, William Morrill Pingry .
1804, Ezra Jones.
1841-42, Orange Smith.
1805-06, Salah Smith.
1843-44, Jonathan Morse.
1807-09, Ezra Jones.
1845, Orange Smith.
1810-15, Edmund Rice. 1846-47, Cyrus Joslin.
1816-25, Matthias Stone Jones. 1848 to June, 1855, Cyrus Skinner.
*June, 1855- , Richardson James Gleason.
Selectmen.
1794, Benjamin Wait, James Heaton, Moses Chase.
1795, Benjamin Wait, John Barnard, Salma Rider.
1796, Benjamin Wait, Phineas Rider, Aaron Minor.
1797, Jared Skinner, Stephen Pierce, Benjamin Wait, jr.
1798, Stephen Pierce, Aaron Minor, James Heaton. 1799, Benjamin Wait, Jared Skinner, Samuel Bayley. 1800, Stephen Pierce, Jared Skinner, Aaron Minor.
1801, Stephen Pierce, Benjamin Wait, jr., Simeon Stoddard.
1802, Bissell Phelps, Samuel Bayley, John Burdick.
1803, Bissell Phelps, Phineas Rider, Moses Fisk. 1804, Bissell Phelps, Moses Fisk, Aaron Minor. 1805, David Symonds, Aaron Phelps, Levi Wilder. 1806, David Symonds, Aaron Phelps, Levi Wilder.
1807, Bissell Phelps, Simeon Stoddard, Jennison Jones. 1808, Bissell Phelps, Jennison Jones, Simeon Stoddard. 1809, Jennison Jones, Amasa Skinner, Edmund Rice. 1810, Matthias Stone Jones, John Burdick, Edmund Rice. 18II, Edmund Rice, Elias Taylor, Matthias Stone Jones. 1812, Edmund Rice, Elias Taylor, Constant Freeman. 1813, James Joslin, Salah Smith, Levi Wilder. 1814, James Joslin, Phineas Rider, Matthias Stone Jones. 1815, John Burdick, John Campbell, Aaron Phelps. 1816, Ezra Jones, Andrew B. Minor, Ithamar Smith. 1
1817, Ezra Jones, Andrew B. Minor, David Symonds.
*It is believed that the length of Mr. Gleason's service is without equal in the State of Vermont.
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203
APPENDIX D.
1818, Ezra Jones, Edmund Rice, Erastus Woodward.
1819, Roderick Richardson, John Campbell, Levi Wilder.
1820, Roderick Richardson, John Campbell, James Joslin. 1821, Jason Carpenter, Asaph Burdick, Orson Skinner.
1822, Jason Carpenter, Matthias Stone Jones, Lynde Wait. IS23, Roderick Richardson, Jennison Jones, Andrew B. Minor. 1824, Jennison Jones, Lynde Wait, Roderick Richardson.
1825, Ralph Turner, John Campbell, Orson Skinner.
1826, Ralph Turner, Matthias Stone Jones, Nathan Stowell.
1827, Matthias Stone Jones, James Joslin, Elias Taylor, jr. 1828, James Joslin, Orson Skinner, Jason Carpenter.
IS29, Roderick Richardson, Robert Leach, Francis Wilder.
1830, Robert Leach, John Campbell, Jennison Joncs. 1831, John Campbell, Rufus Barret, Jedediah Bushnell.
1832, Orson Skinner, Robert Orton Stoddard, Thomas Prentis.
1833, Thomas Prentis, John Campbell, Lewis Holden.
1834, John Campbell, Timothy Reed, Jonathan H. Brown. 1835, Jason Carpenter, Lyman Fisk, Roderick Richardson.
1836, Roderick Richardson, Lyman Fisk, Robert Orton Stod- dard.
1837, Roderick Richardson, Lyman Fisk, Robert Orton Stod- dard.
1838, Jennison Jones, Orson Skinner, Roderick Richardson.
1839, Jennison Jones, William Morrill Pingry, Samuel Chipman. 1840, Roderick Richardson, jr., John Campbell, Samuel Chip- man.
1841, Samuel Chipman, James Joslin, Hiram Jones.
1842, Hiram Jones, Jonathan Morse, Cyrus Joslin.
1843, Hiram Jones, Cyrus Joslin, Crowell Matthews.
1844, Cyrus Joslin, Crowell Matthews, Cornelius Emerson Joslin.
1845, Crowell Matthews, Cornelius Emerson Joslin, Hiram Joslin.
1846, Roderick Richardson, Hiram Jones, Nathaniel Graves Joslin.
1847, Cornelius Emerson Joslin, Jedediah Bushnell, Nathaniel Graves Joslin.
1848, Jedediah Bushnell, Nathaniel Graves Joslin, Cyrus Joslin. 1849, Cyrus Joslin, Elijah Holden, John Stafford Campbell.
1850, Roderick Richardson, John Stafford Campbell, Stephen Perry Joslin.
1851, John Stafford Campbell, Stephen Perry Joslin, Timothy Reed.
1852, John Stafford Campbell, Timothy Reed, Hiram Jones.
1853, Nathan Robinson, Almon Joslin, Luther Durant.
1854, Luther Durant, A. G. Murray, James M. Richardson.
1855, A. G. Murray, Ira Richardson, Pardon Bushnell.
1856, Ira Richardson, Pardon Bushnell, Horatio Fullerton. 1857, Horatio Fullerton, Cornelius Emerson Joslin, Orvis Jones.
20.1
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
1858, Cornelius Emerson Joslin, Stephen C. Parker, Orcas C. Wilder.
1859, Erastus Parker, John Waterman, Samuel Chipman.
1860, John Waterman, John C. Parker, Orcas C. Wilder.
1861, John C. Parker, Thomas D. Poland, David Martin Phelps. 1862, Thomas D. Poland, David Martin Phelps, John C. Parker. 1863, David Martin Phelps, John C. Parker, Hiram Jones.
1864, John C. Parker, Hiram Jones, Ira Richardson.
1865, Hiram Jones, Ira Richardson, David Martin Phelps.
1866, Ira Richardson, Jonathan Hammond Hastings, Henry Newton Bushnell.
1867, Jonathan Hammond Hastings, Henry Newton Bushnell, Moses E. Hadley.
1868, Jonathan Hammond Hastings, Henry Newton Bushnell, Plina E. Lockwood.
1869, Henry Newton Bushnell, Plina E. Lockwood, Cornelius Emerson Joslin.
1870, Hiram Jones, Abel Alonzo Kneeland, Lucius D. Savage. 1871, Abel Alonzo Kneeland, Lucius D. Savage, Otis Wallis. 1872, Lucius D. Savage, Otis Wallis, Rufus Bucklin.
1873, Jonathan Hammond Hastings, Charles Edward Jones, Edward Anson Fisk.
1874, Charles Edward Jones, Edward Anson Fisk, Albert Fred- erick Richardson.
1875, Edward Anson Fisk, Albert Frederick Richardson, Thomas D. Poland.
1876, Albert Frederick Richardson, Thomas D. Poland, Henry Newton Bushnell.
1877, Henry Newton Bushnell, Josiah Holden, George W. Fisher.
1878, Josiah Holden, George W. Fisher, George Hiland Hast- ings.
1879, Josiah Holden, George Hiland Hastings, Ira Edwin Richardson.
1880, George Hiland Hastings, Ira Edwin Richardson, George L. Walbridge.
1881, Ira Edwin Richardson, Charles Edward Jones, George W. Fisher.
1882, George L. Walbridge, Henry Newton Bushnell, Lucius D. Savage.
1883, Henry Newton Bushnell, Lucius D. Savage, Josiah Holden. 1884, Lucius D. Savage, Josiah Holden, Charles Edward Jones. 1885, Josiah Holden, Charles Edward Jones, Wesley Green McAllister.
1886, Charles Edward Jones, Wesley Green McAllister, Plina E. Lockwood.
1887, Wesley Green McAllister, George Weymouth Folsom, George Hiland Hastings.
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205
APPENDIX D.
1888, George Hiland Hastings, John Gunnison Lewis, Edward Anson Fisk.
1889, John Gunnison Lewis, Edward Anson Fisk, Clarence Milton Richardson.
1890, Edward Anson Fisk, Clarence Milton Richardson, Charles Edward Jones.
1891, Clarence Milton Richardson, Charles Edward Jones, Oramel Smith Joslin.
1892, Charles Edward Jones, Oramel Smith Joslin, Abel Alonzo Kneeland.
1893, Oramel Smith Joslin, Abel Alonzo Kneeland, Levi O. Wilder.
1894, Oramel Smith Joslin, Levi O. Wilder, George Hiland Hastings.
1895, George Hiland Hastings, Meriden Lee Richardson, Julius E. Berry.
1896, Meriden Lee Richardson, Julius E. Berry, Nathan Boyce. 1897, Julius E. Berry, Nathan Boyce, Frederic Fremont Wilder. 1898, Nathan Boyce, Plina E. Lockwood, John L. Baird.
1899, Plina E. Lockwood, John L. Baird, Melvin John Water- man.
1900, John L. Baird, Melvin John Waterman, Julius I. Palmer. 1901, Richard J. Browne, Chandler Prentis, Eugene C. Berry. 1902, Richard J. Browne, Chandler Prentis, Robert J. McAllister. 1903, Robert J. McAllister, Frederic Fremont Wilder, Clarence Milton Richardson.
1904, Frederic Fremont Wilder, Walter Henry Moriarty, George Weymouth Folsom.
1905, Frederic Fremont Wilder, Walter Henry Moriarty, George Weymouth Folsom.
1906, Frederic Fremont Wilder, Walter Henry Moriarty, George Weymouth Folsom.
1907, Walter Henry Moriarty, George Weymouth Folsom, Wal- ter Cyrus Joslyn.
1908, Frederic Fremont Wilder, Walter Cyrus Joslyn, Edward Anson Fisk.
Town Treasurer.
I794, John Barnard.
1823-34, Jason Carpenter.
I795, Benjamin Wait. 1835, Matthias Stone Jones.
1796-97, Abram Marsh. 1836-37, William Morrill Pingry.
1798, Jared Skinner. 1838-40, Roderick
Richardson, jr.
1799, Phineas Rider.
1841-42, Jonathan Morse.
1800-01, Bissell Phelps.
1843-46, Orange Smith.
1802, Ezra Jones. 1847-51, Dan Richardson.
1803, Jared Skinner.
1852-53, Calvin Fullerton.
1804-05, Eli Skinner.
1854-55, Cyrus Skinner.
206
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
1806-07, David Phelps. 1856, Dan Richardson. 1808-14, Salah Smith.
1857-1904, Richardson James Gleason.
1815-22, Jennison Jones.
1904 ---- , Henry Newton Bushnell.
Moderators at March Meetings.
1794-95, General Benjamin Wait.
1848-51, Hiram Jones.
1796-97, Salah Smith.
1852-53, Calvin Fullerton.
1798, John Barnard. 1854 Samuel Chipman.
1799-1800, Jared Skinner. 1855, Hiram Jones.
1801, Stephen Pierce. 1856, Samuel Chipman.
1 802, Bissell Phelps. 1857, James M. Richardson.
1803-04, Stephen Pierce.
1858-59, Samuel Chipman.
1805-06, Bissell Phelps.
1860, Hiram Jones.
1807, Levi Wilder.
1861, Calvin Fullerton.
ISOS, Aaron Minor.
I862, Samuel Chipman.
1809-11, John Burdick. 1863-64, Ebenczer Ainsworth.
1812, Stephen Pierce.
1865, Cornelius Emerson
Joslin.
1813-14, Constant Freeman. 1866,
Ebenezer Ainsworth.
ISI5, Stephen Pierce.
1867, Hiram Jones.
1816-18, Salah Smith.
1868, Ebenezer Ainsworth.
1819-20, John Burdick.
1869, Loren Washburn Jones.
1821, Jason Carpenter.
1870-71, Franklin J. Greene.
1822, Jennison Jones.
1872, Hiram Jones.
I823, Jason Carpenter.
1873, Lucius Merrill Tyler.
1824, John Burdick.
1874-75, Cornelius Emerson
Joslin.
IS25, Jennison Jones.
1876,
Lucius D. Savage.
1826-28, Jason Carpenter.
1877-85, Charles Edward Jones.
IS29, Orson Skinner.
1886, Lucius D. Savage.
1830, Jennison Jones.
1887, Charles Edward Jones.
1831-33, Jason Carpenter.
1888-89, Lucius D. Savage.
1834, Orson Skinner.
1890-91, Charles Edward Jones.
1835, Jennison Jones.
1892, . Henry Newton
Bushnell.
1836-38, Jason Carpenter.
1893-94, Charles Edward Jones. 1895, Nathan Boyce.
1840-41, Jennison Jones.
1896-1901, Jesse B. Norton.
1842, Orson Skinner.
1902, Henry Newton
Bushnell.
1843-44, Samuel Chipman.
1903-04, Daniel Ralph Bisbee.
1845-46, Hiram Jones.
1905-06, Charles Edward Jones.
1847, Dan Richardson.
1907, Daniel Ralph Bisbee.
1908, Burton Dewey Bisbee.
1839, Orson Skinner.
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APPENDIX E.
CENTENNIAL.
At the annual town meeting held March 5, 1889, it was voted to arrange for a suitable observance of the one hundredth anniversary of the settlement of the town by General Benjamin Wait. A small appropriation was made, and Edward Anson Fisk, Walter Alonzo Jones, Ziba Hamilton McAllister, Milo Albert Bushnell and Abel Alonzo Kneeland were chosen a committee to have the matter in charge.
An invitation to "come home" on this occasion was sent to hundreds of former residents of the town and their descendants, and on Sunday, August 4, a large audience listened to a commemorative sermon preached in the Congregational Meeting-house by Rev. Pliny Fisk Barnard, a son of the town.
Wednesday, August 7, 1889, was chosen as the day for the general centennial exercises, and no event in the history of the town has ever brought together a larger company than gathered on the lawn between the Methodist Meeting-house and the Union Meeting-house on the morning and afternoon of that beautiful summer day. Conveyances, both public and private, were taxed to bring home the returning children of the town.
At half past ten in the morning the procession formed in the village square, and marched to the spot chosen for the ex- ercises, which were opened with singing, and a prayer by Rev. Harvey Webster. Abel Alonzo Kneeland welcomed the assembly in the name of the town, and the song Old New England was rendered by a choir under the leadership of Ziba Hamilton McAllister.
An historical address dealing with the life of General Wait and the early days of the town,, delivered by Walter Alonzo Jones, and listened to with marked interest by all present, closed the morning exercises.
Immediately a bountiful dinner was spread by the women of Waitsfield in the vestry of the Congregational Meeting-house, and several hundred guests sat around the tables. Dinner over, all paid a visit to the museum of ancient relics gathered for the
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208
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
day in the vestry of the Methodist Meeting-house, and then repaired to the scene of the morning exercises, where after preliminary exercises a centennial poem was read by Dorric A. Kneeland. Edwin F. Palmer, Esq., of Waterbury, a son of the town, delivered a scholarly oration, and at its close a centennial hymn, of which both words and music were written by Rev. Perrin Batchelor Fisk, was sung by the choir .. Follow- ing this Mrs. Alice (Wilder) Richardson recited Ithamar Smith's poem "The Burning House," and the formal exercises of the day closed with the reading of letters from absent friends and a benediction by Rev. Elisha S. Fisk.
CENTENNIAL POEM.
My friends: The music of a hundred years Is far too grand a theme for my rough rhyme; The pleasures and the pains, the hopes and fears, And what we've gained, and lost, in all that time.
One hundred years ago, no melody From blended cornets' brazen throats was heard. The only song was one trilled merrily By some wild, happy and unfrightened bird.
Luxuriantly beech and maple grew Where now are grassy fields and fertile farms; And yonder, where the corn is waving now, The graceful elms entwined their giant arms.
Our predecessors, sturdy men and strong, Trod paths marked only by the settler's axe; In easy carriages we roll along, And sometimes grumble at the highway tax.
Full often they at night were roused in fear, By wild beasts prowling round their homes for prey ; But now about the only growls we hear Are those which listers list to annually.
They read and studied by the firelit hearth, Or used a tallow candle, sputtering low; But light we bring from the bowels of earth, And heaven's lightning tame to steady glow.
It used to be that crops were cut by hand; The mower and the reaper had to sweat. Machines now swiftly glide o'er all the land, And farmers long to harvest faster yet.
209
APPENDIX E.
They carried grist so very far to mill That on the road they'd quite devour the whole; The handy miller grinds it now, and will,
Perhaps, with practice, take it all for toll.
New England rum, in times of long ago, Was drunk by kegs and barrels in each home; The peddled pints we get are poisoned so That General Wait would never dream 'twas rum.
The streams were teeming then with sportive trout, Requiring pole and line quite thick and strong; The little newly-hatched ones we pull out Are estimated at six inches long.
In those good times the folks were rarely ill, As we've heard many aged people tell; They had both strength of body and of will,- When sick, they drank some herb tea and got well.
We scarce can realize a change so great, As forty years will make in friendly faces; In place of early chum or gay schoolmate, We see but aged forms, or vacant places.
We gladly greet all those who gather here, And shake long-absent hands most heartily; But something sometimes starts the blinding tear, -- Fair faces formed in many a memory.
Where are the friends we loved so long ago? Have they checkmated been in life's great game? How happens it in this wide world of woe, That some of them have wealth and some have fame?
Some left their homes to seek the lauded West; Some sent their children, thinking that might do; Some sent their mighty dollars to invest, And sometime they may wish they had them, too.
But if you think we've parted with our best, And sent away no sample drone or dunce, Just look around you and size up the rest, Then own that Waitsfield raised smart children once.
But why so prone to leave these fertile fields, And fonder friends than you'll soon find again, For "down east's" stony soil and scanty yields, Or lonely, wild, and wind-swept western plain?
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210
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
Equipped with health and strength, we need not fear Life's battle in Vermont, although she's rough; Those qualities we all need anywhere,
Whatever gives them not, gives not enough.
Ungrateful we should never be, indeed, To those who donned the blue at duty's call.
The nation borrowed them for time of need,
But when the need was past, returned not all.
Some, with devotion that we well may prize, Believing all men should like brothers be,
With worthy spirit of self-sacrifice,
Have shortened life in toil beyond the sea.
May each one here today, or old or young, Draw lessons from the past and con them well; And in the future, with both pen and tongue,
The story glad of God's great good next tell.
When other hundred years have rolled away, And each been added to eternity,
When Waitsfield's people gather that glad day, To celebrate another century,
May that dear flag, our own Red, White and Blue, In freedom float o'er faces just as fair,
O'er homes as happy and o'er hearts as true, As e'er have fallen to our century's share.
Not ours, dear friends, to mingle in that throng, But on a brighter and far happier shore,
We'll raise our voices in triumphant song,
Where centuries are counted never more.
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211
GENEALOGIES OF WAITSFIELD FAMILIES.
Throughout these records it has been the general intention to begin the record with the emigrant ancestor or with the earliest known generation. In the case of families not now resident in Waitsfield, whose record may be found in print elsewhere, only the briefest mention is made of the generations preceding the first of the name to settle in Waitsfield.
The arrangement follows closely that adopted by the New England Historic Genealogical Society. The numeral preceding the name of each head of a family refers back to the immediate ancestor, in the list of whose children the same person is desig- nated by the same number at the left of the Roman numeral used to indicate the number of children in each family.
The Christian names numbered in order and found in paren- thesis after the name of a head of a family denote the direct ancestral line, the generations being given in consecutive order and the number I given to the emigrant ancestor, or if he is unknown, to the earliest known ancestor.
Free use has been made of certain abbreviations, chiefly the following:
ABBREVIATIONS
abt. about.
Nfd. Northfield, Vt.
ae. aged.
prob. probably.
b. born.
rem. removed.
bapt. baptised.
res.
resided or residence.
bef. before. .
Rev. Revolutionary.
ch. child or church.
sett. settled.
chn. children.
Spfld. Springfield.
d. died.
unm. unmarried.
dau. daughter.
wid. widow.
est. estate.
m. married.
Dfd. Deerfield, Mass.
W. Waitsfield.
Wtby. Waterbury, Vt.
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212
HISTORY OF WAITSFIELD.
ABBOTT.
GEORGE' ABBOTT was a resident of Rowley, Mass., in 1642; died 1647; had three children, of whom the second was George2 Abbott, born in England about 1631; husbandman and tailor; settled in Andover 1655; freeman May 19, 1669; died Mar. 22, 1688-9; m. in Ipswich, Mass., Apr. 26, 1658, Sarah, probably dau. Ralph and Alice Farnum.
Of his ten children the eldest was George3 Abbott, farmer and shoemaker; born Jan. 28, 1658-9; died Jan. 24, 1724; m. (1) Sept. 13, 1689, Elizabeth, probably dau. Joseph and Elizabeth (Phelps) Ballard, who d. May 6, 1706; (2) July 21, 1707, Hannah Estey of Topsfield, Mass.
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