USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Bennington > Memorials of a century. Embracing a record of individuals and events, chiefly in the early history of Bennington, Vt., and its First church > Part 15
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2 Mr. Noble's Centennial Address. It is said that the smoke of the battle was distinctly seen from Bemis' Heights, thirty miles distant. - Lossing.
3 " Warner rode near us. Some one, pointing to a dead man by the wayside, said to him : ' Your cousin is killed,' 'Is it Daniel ?' asked Warner; and when the answer was ' Yes,' he jumped off his horse, stopped and gazed in the dead man's face, and then rode away without saying a word." - Account of a surviv- ing soldier.
4 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The following are selected from some stanzas on the Ben- nington battle, written by E. H. Chapin, a native of Benning- ton (now the Rev. E. H. Chapin, D.D.), in 1837, and deliv- ered by him in the ". Old Academy," in Bennington Centre :---
" They came, as brave men ever come, To stand, to fight, to die ; No thought of fear was in the heart, No quailing in the eye ; If the lip faltered, 'twas with prayer, Amid those gathering bands ; For the sure rifle kept its poise In strong, untrembling hands.
" They came up, at the battle sound, To old Walloomsack's height; Behind them were their fields of toil, With harvest promise white; Before them those who sought to wrest Their hallowed birthright dear, While through their ranks went fearlessly Their leader's words of cheer.
" My men, there are our freedom's foe, And shall they stand or fall ? Ye have your weapons in your hands, Ye know your duty all ; For we - this day we triumph o'er The minions of the crown, Or Molly Stark's a widowed one Ere yonder sun goes down.
" One thought of heaven, one thought of home, One thought of hearth and shrine, Then, rock-like, stood they in their might Before the glittering line. A moment, and each keen eye paused, The coming foe to mark, Then downward to his barrel glanced, And strife was wild and dark.
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CAPTAIN ROBINSON'S COMPANY.
" It needs no monumental pile To tell each storied name, The fair, green hills rise proudly up To consecrate their fame. True to its trust, Walloomsack long The record bright shall bear, Who came up at the battle sound And fought for freedom there."
The 16th of August, ever since the battle, has been ob- served, in Bennington and vicinity, as a patriotic holiday ; and, though not superseding the observance of Fourth of July, with the rest of the country, is celebrated with no less spirit than is that great national anniversary.
The roll of Capt. Dewey's military company, as it was constituted at the time of the battle, has not been pre- served. Of Capt. Samuel Robinson's company, the follow- ing is a list of the men in the battle : -
Robert Cochran, Gideon Spencer, William Henry, Henry Walbridge, Rufus Branch, John Larned, Thomas Abel,
Benjamin Holmes, James Marivater, Mr. Alger, Ammie Fuller, Jonah Brewster,
Nathan Lawrence, Josiah Brush, David Fay (fifer),
George Dale, John Marble, Ephraim Marble, Aaron Hubbell,
Leonard Robinson, Daniel Biddlecome, Levi Hatheway, Abram Hatheway, Reuben Colvin, Eliphalet Stickney, Daniel Rude,
Samuel Safford, Jr.,
Aaron Smith,
Ephraim Smith, Samuel Henry,
Edward Henderson, Jonathan Haynes, Archelaus Tupper, Daniel Warner,
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Lieut. Simeon Hatheway,
Aaron Miller, John Fay, Elijah Fay, Joseph Fay, John Clark,
Jehoshaphat Holmes,
Moses Rice, Benjamin Whipple, Jr.,
Ezekiel Brewster,
Silas Robinson,
John Weeks,
Solomon Leason, Thomas Selden, John Rigney, Elisha Smith,
Alpheus Hatheway,
Solomon Walbridge,
Solomon Safford,
Ebenezer Bracket,
Joseph Roe, William Terrill,
Jehiel Smith,
Noah Beach, Simeon Sears,
Asa Branch, Phineas Wright, John Smith,
David Robinson,
Jesse Belknap,
Joseph Safford,
Silvanus Brown,
Isaac Webster.
Ode by Mrs. A. C. L. Botta.1
" Our patriot sires are gone ; The conqueror Death lays low Those veterans, one by one, Who braved each other foe ; Though on them rests death's sable pall, Yet o'er their deeds no shade shall fall.
"No, ye of deathless fame ! Ye shall not sleep unsung, While freedom hath a name, Or gratitude a tongue :
1 " Mrs. Anna C. (Lynch) Botta. She edited, in 1841, the 'Rhode Island Book ;' in 1853, published an illustrated volume of poems; in 1855, was married to Prof. Botta, of New York city. The last work of Mrs. Botta is the 'Hand- Book of Literature,' published in 1860, and entitles the author to a handsome place among the prose writers in America." - Vermont Hist. Mag.
John Forbes, Stephen Williams, William Post, David Safford, Jared Post, Jeremiah Bingham, Samuel Slocum, Josiah Hurd,
Moses Scott,
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ODE BY MRS. BOTTA.
Yet shall your names and deeds sublime Shine brighter through the mists of time.
" Oh, keep your armor bright, Sons of those mighty dead, And guard ye well the right For which such blood was shed ! Your starry flag should only wave O'er freedom's home or o'er your grave."
CHAPTER XIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
SAMUEL ROBINSON, ESQ., AND MRS. MARCY L. ROBINSON.
S the best method of preserving some interesting incidents of the early history of the town and church, and some illustrations of the position and influence attained in early days by this community, some personal notices, it is deemed, will be accept- able to the readers of these pages. These notices will be confined to persons who came here, or were born here, at least a half century ago, including a few who have deceased during the writer's pastorate in Bennington, but who were much identified with the earlier persons and times of this community.
The writer regrets a certain necessary injustice to indi- viduals in a work of this kind, both through the unequal treatment of some who are noticed, and the omission, doubt- less, of many who deserve to be commemorated. He can only say, that, though expending a great amount of labor upon this part of the volume, he has been still obliged, very considerably, to use such materials as have happened to get into his possession.
I. SAMUEL ROBINSON, SEN., EsQ., was the acknowl- edged leader in the band of pioneers in the settlement of the town ; and continued to exercise almost a controlling au- thority in the affairs of the town, the remainder of his life.1
1 Vermont Hist, Mag.
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SAMUEL ROBINSON, SEN.
He was born at Cambridge, Mass., 1705. His father, Samuel Robinson, was born at Bristol, England, 1668. In the Rev. Dr. Hooker's printed sermon at the funeral of Gen. David Robinson, in a note, it is said that the elder Samuel Robinson is supposed to have been a distant con- nection of the Rev. John Robinson of Leyden (pastor on that side of the water to the Pilgrims of the Mayflower). Mr. Isaac T. Robinson stated to the writer that both Samuel (our Bennington pioneer) and his brother Thomas were confident they were descendants of the Rev. John Robinson. Our Samuel Robinson, Sen., resided in Hardwick, Mass., twenty-six years before removing to Bennington.
Many facts attest his ability : that he conceived, organized, and set on foot the settlement of this part of the country ; that he was so prompt and resolute to resist the claims of New York officials to the lands and jurisdiction of this territory. It is related, when the surveyors came from New York upon his lands, he cut their chain in two with his hoe, but when they desisted from their attempt he invited them into his house and treated them in the most hospitable man- ner ; that he was deputed to London, as representative of the settlers here, in the British Court, and enabled, as such, to gain the ear of His Majesty, and secure two very im- portant and significant orders from the crown in favor of the settlers, and against the government of the province of New York.
Before his coming to Bennington he was an active and leading man in Hardwick. He was captain of a company in Col. Ruggles' regiment of provincials, and served as such on the frontier, in 1755, 1756.1 He was at the head of his company in the battle of Lake George, when the French were defeated by Generals Johnson and Lyman. He was a dea-
1 Early Hist. Vermont, p 85.
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con in the old church, and afterward in the Separate church in Hardwick.1
" He was commissioned a justice of the peace by Gov. Wentworth, Feb. 8, 1762, being the first person appointed to a judicial office within the limits of the State.
" In the summer of 1764 a controversy in regard to juris- diction arose in Pownal between claimants under New Hamp- shire, and others under New York, in which the authority of Esquire Robinson, as a magistrate, seems to have been invoked. Mr. Robinson being at Pownal was, together with Samuel Ashley, a New Hampshire sheriff's deputy, and two other persons, arrested by the New York sheriff and his assistants, and carried to Albany jail. This collision of officers produced a correspondence between the governors of the two provinces, which appears to have resulted in a sort of compromise, by which Mr. Robinson and those with him were released on moderate or nominal bail, and, though indicted for resisting the New York officers, were never brought to trial.
" In December, 1765, when it was ascertained by the set- tlers under New Hampshire that their lands were being granted from under them by Lieutenant Governor Colden, Mr. Robinson was deputed by those of Bennington and the neighboring towns to go to New York for the purpose of trying to persuade him to save their possessions from the grasp of the city speculators ; but his efforts were unavailing." 2
" There being no longer any hope of relief from the gov- ernment of New York, the claimants under New Hampshire resolved to appeal for redress of their grievances to the con- science of the king. A petition was accordingly prepared and signed by over one thousand of the settlers and grantees,
1 Hardwick Centennial Address, by the Rev. Lucius R. Paige.
2 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 167.
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HON. W. S. JOHNSON.
and Samuel Robinson, Esq., was appointed their agent to repair to England and lay it before His Majesty." 1
" William Samuel Johnson, an eminent lawyer and states- man of Connecticut, was then preparing to leave for Eng- land, as agent for that colony to the home government, and the petitioners employed him to assist Mr. Robinson in his mission. They sailed in the same vessel from New York, the 25th of December, 1766, and landed at Falmouth, Eng- land, the 30th of January following, and reached London a few days afterward." 2
Mr. Robinson was much hindered in his mission by the aristocratic prejudices at court against the republican set- tlers on the New Hampshire Grants, also by want of money and prestige ; 3 nevertheless he was, though not completely, in a very important degree successful. He seems to have shrewdly discerned the situation, and to have given the settlers at home sound advice as to the wise course for them to pursue under their difficulties.
But, most valuable of all, " he so far procured the aid of the crown that Lord Shelburne, on April 11, 1767, addressed a letter to Sir Henry Moore, who had then become gov- ernor of the province of New York, forbidding him in the most positive terms from making any more grants of land in the disputed territory, and from molesting any person in possession under a New Hampshire title. And on the 24th of July following, upon a report of the case by the Lords of Trade, a formal order of the king in council- was made commanding the Governor of New York 'upon pain of His Majesty's highest displeasure' to make no grants whatever of any part of the controverted lands, 'until His Majesty's further pleasure should be known concerning the same." 4
1, 2 Early Hist. of Vermont, p. 85. 3 Ibid., p. 96.
4 Early Hist. Vermont, p. 94. For a copy of the petition sent by the settlers for Mr. Robinson to present to the king, and other documents of the correspond-
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The negotiations appear to have made no further prog- ress beyond this point. On the 27th of October following Mr. Robinson died of the small-pox, in London. Whether, had he lived, he would have been able to prosecute his labors, as agent of the settlers, to a complete and success- ful issue, we cannot divine. His past success and his sound judgment and skill would seem to have warranted high expectations. His death was felt by the settlers to be a great calamity. Upon his decease Mr. Johnson wrote a letter of condolence to his widow. This letter shows clearly that Mr. Robinson was high in the esteem of Mr. Johnson and others in London ; and, on that account, and as containing interesting particulars, it is inserted here. The original is in the possession of G. W. Robinson. The letter is as follows : 1 _
" LONDON, NOV. 2, 1767.
"MADAM : - It is with the deepest concern and grief that I find myself obliged to communicate to you the sad intelligence of your dear husband's decease. He had enjoyed very good health, since he left America, till at length the misfortune which I always feared for him overtook him. He was seized with the small-pox, which but too generally proves fatal to Americans in this climate, and his appeared to be of a bad kind and very severe. Yet he bore up against the distemper, in all its rage, with great fortitude and patience; and, till the twelfth day, we had hopes of his recovery (as the pocks had begun to turn), but the next day it took a sud- den and fatal turn, and it appeared that he had not strength of
ence between the crown and the New York government, and details of Mr. Rob- inson's efforts, see Early Hist. Vermont, pp. 85-97.
1 Mr. Johnson was one of the three first chosen to represent the colony of Con- necticut in the Congress of the Revolution. He was the first of the three dele- gates from Connecticut in the Convention which framed the Constitution of the United States, the others being Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth. He was one of the Senators first appointed by the Legislature of Connecticut, under the National Constitution. - New Englander, April, 1866. He had been sent to England, as agent of the colony of Connecticut, to argue for it an important cause before the Lords in Council, and for five years remained there, entrusted with various public as well as private affairs.
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ESQUIRE ROBINSON'S DECEASE.
constitution sufficient to throw off the disease; and, on the 27th of October, at half past ten at night, he was no more! Such was the will of God. He was sensible to the last; was calmly resigned to the will of Heaven, and died full of faith. We have, therefore, - which must afford you the greatest consolation, - good reason to believe that he has exchanged this life for a better, and rests in eternal felicity. He is much lamented by his friends and acquaint- ances here, who are many. You may rest assured that no atten- tion, care, or expense was spared for his comfort, and to have saved his life, had it been consistent with the designs of Provi- dence. Ile had two excellent nurses constantly by him. A skilful apothecary saw, and administered to, him every three or four hours. He was visited every day by an eminent physician, and his friends afforded him every consolation in their power. After his death, as the last act of friendship to his memory, I took care to furnish him a decent funeral, at which Gen. Lyman and the other gentlemen here from America attended with me as mourn- ers. He is interred in the burying-ground belonging to Mr. Whit- field's church, where he usually attended public worship. A club of American merchants and gentlemen, to whom he was known generously contributed eight pounds sterling toward defraying the expenses of his funeral, etc .; and the remainder, as the accounts come in, - the amount of which I cannot yet determine, - I shall advance, not doubting that it will be, somehow or other, re- funded me.
"I most sincerely condole with you in this great affliction, and pray God to give you comfort and to sanctify this melancholy event to you and all his family and friends, to whom I beg leave to present my compliments, and am,
" Madam, your most obedient " And very humble servant, " WILLIAM SAMUEL JOHNSON."
Mr. Robinson had ten children, all born in Hardwick, one of whom died there at eleven years of age. The other nine removed to Bennington, became heads of families and members of the church. Their names were Leonard, Sam- uel, Moses, Silas, Marcy, Sarah, David, Jonathan, and 18*
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Anna. Of his descendants some are to be found in almost every State and Territory in the Union.1
II. MRS. MARCY (LEONARD) ROBINSON, the wife of Sam- uel Robinson, Sen., Esq., was of Southbury, Mass., born in 1713.
The following is an extract from a letter respecting her to the writer by her grand-daughter : 2-
"I suppose my grandmother was quite a business woman. She was accustomed to take one of her sons with her, and ride to Albany on horseback, transact business, make her purchases, and return. I believe she would be gone several days, for she usually attended meetings there."
When living in their log-house, while her husband was still living, but in England, and her children, David and Jonathan and Anna, were with her, the wolves came up at night and tried at the doors and windows to obtain en- trance. She knocked upon the door to frighten them from the immediate proximity, then seized firebrands from the fire, opened the door and waved them and shouted with all her strength. The wolves fled away and were no more seen or heard by her.
She is remembered for her great consistency and power of a Christian conversation. The volumes of Hopkins' divinity, which she much read, and many passages of which she marked as worthy of particular attention, are pre- served. It is matter of tradition that the Friday prayer- meeting, noted in the early history of this community, originated with her. It was first held, and for a long time, at her house. It was a custom, long continued by her, to have a prayer-meeting, at noon, on Sunday, at her house.
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
2 Mrs. Allyn, daughter of Anna Robinson, Mrs. Webster, and in the seventy- ninth year of her age, residing in Cleveland, Ohio.
211
ANECDOTES OF MRS. ROBINSON.
A traditional impression has been related to the writer, of religious services being customarily held in a log-house be- fore the erection of the first meeting-house. This was probably her house, - the same impression locating the log-house where her house stood.
A manuscript obituary notice of her, for the press, has been preserved. The following are extracts from this notice : -
" It was remarkable of the deceased, that her profession of re- ligion, even from early life, was regular, her piety the effect of in- vestigation, and her hope the enlightened offspring of a firmly grounded faith. For the last ten years of her life she was singu- lar for the enlargement of her views, the extension of her liber- ality of sentiment, and her reading in ancient and modern history, both sacred and profane. She retained her usefulness to the last evening of her life; and the Sabbath previous to her decease she called her children together, took an affectionate leave of them, and gave a succinct account of her own views as to religious con- cerns, and the reason of her faith. In this remarkably affecting interview, her narration and comments took up nearly two hours."
The following anecdotes were related of her by her son, Gen. David, to William Haswell : -
While sitting in church, in revolutionary times, when our mothers had resolved that they would not wear clothing of foreign manufacture, a lady, who sat in the pew forward of her, had a plaid neckerchief which she admired so much, that she determined to get the lease (a technical expres- sion with weavers), and set herself to counting the threads. She felt rebuked, turned away, and fixed her eyes upon the minister ; but the handkerchief was still before her, and more potent than her sense of duty ; her mind recurred to the counting of the threads to get the lease, until, despite her good resolutions, the threads were counted and the lease obtained ; then, after heaving a sigh, she said to her-
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
self, but so audibly as to be overheard, " Well, devil, you have had your way this time."
She was in the habit of conversing freely upon the sub- ject of her own decease. Her daughter inquired of her if she had any fear of death ; she replied, " I am not afraid to be dead, but I am afraid I shall not honor my Saviour in the hour of death."
She died on the 4th of June, 1795. Her funeral was attended the Sabbath following, -it was sacrament day, - " by the greatest concourse of all since the town was set- tled." 1
The following are two stanzas of a hymn, composed by Mr. Anthony Haswell, for the occasion, and sung at her funeral : -
"She spake, and to her calm reproof The hardened sinner lent an ear; Blest were the tenants of her roof, Taught by her voice the Lord to fear.
"She's gone ; her pilgrimage is o'er ; She slept and breathed her soul to rest;
Her warning lips shall move no more,
Nor pain for sinners heave her breast."
1 Obituary Notice.
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CHAPTER XIV.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
FIRST IMMIGRATION.
RS. BRIDGET (BROWN) HARWOOD was in the first company of settlers in Bennington. She was a widow. She came with her children, Peter, Eleazer, Zechariah, Stephen, Abigail, and Hepzi- bah. She rode on horseback, as did the other ladies of the company. As they neared the line they raced their horses, each vying with the other to be the first to pass over into the Bennington township. Thus they brought their effects on horseback, and came by the guidance of marked trees. She must have been a resolute mother. Her husband had deceased not quite three years before, - Benjamin Harwood, born April 30, 1713, in Con- cord, Mass., where, also, his father, Peter Harwood, was born ; descended of English ancestors.
She was born April 20, 1715, at Concord. After the birth of their first child, Peter, they removed to Hardwick, Mass. All of their children, with the exception of the old- est and youngest, were born in Hardwick. They then removed to Amherst, Mass., and thence to Bennington. They were married in May, 1733.
PETER HARWOOD, her oldest son, at the time of the removal to Bennington was about twenty-six years of age, and came with his wife Margaret (Clark). She
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
was born July 8, 1740, in Coleraine, Mass. (daughter of Matthew Clark, of Scotch origin). They were married June 9, 1759 ; settled in Amherst, and removed thence to Bennington, with one child named Clark.
This Peter Harwood set out the first apple-tree in this town, and it is still living and bears fruit. Theirs was the first son born in this town. Their mother, Mrs. Bridget Harwood, was the first person among the settlers who died here, November 8, 1762 ; Mrs. Margaret Harwood was the first hopeful convert added on profession of her faith to this church ; and the house upon the old homestead, now occu- pied by a descendant, - H. Hopkins Harwood, now junior deacon of the church, - has been pronounced " to retain more of the shape and appearance of the first frame houses built in Bennington, than any other dwelling-house now standing." 1
SARAH HARWOOD, daughter of Peter and Margaret Har- wood, married Samuel Robinson, son of Col. Samuel Rob- inson, Jr., and Esther, daughter of Deacon Joseph Safford. She was the mother of Uel M. Robinson, Esq. She com- piled the Genealogical History of the Families of Robin- sons, Saffords, Harwoods, and Clarks, - a work of immense labor, and great accuracy, and very valuable. It has been constantly consulted in the preparation of portions of this volume. She was born October 3, 1775 ; married May 5, 1796; united with this church in July, 1803, and died September 10, 1854.
ELEAZER HARWOOD, second son of Mrs. Bridget Har- wood, and who came with his mother, was nearly twenty- four years of age, and accompanied by his wife, Elizabeth Montague, to whom he was just married, May 19, 1761.
1 Samuel Fay, Esq.
215
ZECHARIAH HARWOOD."
She was daughter of Samuel Montague, believed to be one of the immigrants hither from Sunderland, Mass. ; modera- tor of the first town-meeting in this town, and cousin to John Montague, deacon and clerk, and his son, also deacon of the old First Church in Sunderland.
Eleazer Harwood and Joseph Safford were elected deacons, at the first election of deacons in this church, according to the records. He became a preacher of the gos- pel, and resigned the office of deacon in this church to re- move to Pittsford, in this State, where he became pastor of the church, and was blessed with extensive and powerful revivals.1 One in particular is mentioned, - that of 1803. He died in 1807, " much beloved by all that knew him." 2 A grandson of his, by the name of Kellogg, is a minister of the gospel. Mrs. Eleazer Harwood's mother accompa- nied them to Pittsford, and died there in January, 1816, aged ninety-five years and three months.
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