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 17
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When the committees of the several towns met at Dorset, in July, 1775, to nominate officers for the batallion of Green Mountain Boys, recommended by Congress, he was nominated for major, under Warner as lieutenant-colonel, and served as such in the battles of Hubbardton and Ben- nington and throughout the war. Before the close of the war he became a general of the militia. He was a repre- sentative of the town in 1781 and 1782, and, in 1783, was elected a State councillor, and served as such for nineteen years in succession. For twenty-six successive years, end- ing in 1807, he was chief judge of the County Court for Bennington County. He was an upright and intelligent man, of sound judgment and universally respected. He died at Bennington, March 3, 1813." 1
" He was concerned with Chittenden and others in the Canada negotiations, and his patriotism was never ques- tioned." 2
He united with the church in the revival under the Messrs. Wood and Burton, 1784; and his wife, Mary Lawrence, some two years afterward, at the commencement here of the ministry of Mr. Swift. He was elected deacon in 1789, and continued in the office until his death in 1813.
He was distinguished for exact truthfulness and for strict observance of the Sabbath. Saturday evening was required to be kept, under his roof, as strictly as Sunday. Secular
1 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 175.
2 Early Hist. Vermont, p. 468; see, also, ibid., pp. 212, 221, 261, 325, 363.
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preparations for the Sabbath were required by him to be made before sundown of the day before.
His wife, Mary Lawrence, was the daughter of Jonathan Lawrence, who removed with his family to Bennington, 1772. She was born in Norwich, Conn., April 8, 1741.
4
Their children were Samuel (born in Norwich, Conn., June, 24, 1761 ; married Aurelia Mather, in Bennington, May 8, 1786, deceased in 1851; he was the father of Mrs. Cogswell Morgan), Mary, John, Ruth, Anna, Clara, Electa (Mrs. Webb), Amelia, and Jonas. He resided in the house, now the residence of Cogswell Morgan, - Mrs. Morgan being his grand-daughter.
A son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Webb, William Webb, is, or was, until his removal to Washington, a deacon in the Second Congregational Church. Mary, daughter of Gen. Safford, married Nathan Fay, son of John Fay, who was killed in the Bennington battle.
III. DEACON ERWIN SAFFORD, was elected deacon May 10, 1822, and removed to Philadelphia in 1830. He was a descendant of John, brother of Deacon Joseph Safford.
IV. ELISHA FIELD was one of the members of the church at its organization. He was ensign in the military company organized in 1764, with John Fassett as captain. He and Deacon Safford were the tithing men, among other town officers, appointed in the first town meeting, March 31, 1762. He came into town with the second company of settlers in 1761.
He was a member of the Separate church which removed from Sunderland. There are seven persons of the name on the roll of this church. Four of them united in the revival in 1803. Jesse and Mrs. Nancy Field united with the church in 1784, in the revival under Messrs. Wood,
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and Burton. He was one of the building committee of the new meeting-house. He was a carpenter.
He was in the battle of Bennington, and some extracts from his manuscript communication have been given, in the account of the battle, in this volume.
V. LIEUT. JAMES BREAKENRIDGE was one of the second company of settlers (fall of 1761), and his name, and that of William, his son, are on the old covenant, and on the roll of members at the organization of the church.
He was a large landholder. His name became famous in connection with the important fact that a successful stand was made by the settlers of Bennington, on his farm and at his residence, against the first and only overt at- tempt of the New York claimants to dispossess, by the sheriff and his posse, the settlers in this town from their New Hampshire grants.
Mr. Breakenridge was a man of quiet and peaceable dis- position and habits, though his property, being covered by the old patents of Walloomsac, necessarily placed him in a belligerent attitude toward the New York claimants. Although indicted as a rioter, and outlawed with Allen, Warner, and others, by the New York government, he does not appear to have ever taken any part in the active pro- ceedings.
He was sent to England, by a convention of the settlers, with Jehiel Hawley, of Arlington, as his associate, in 1772, to ask relief from the crown against the New York claimants and government; but the ministry were too much absorbed with their project of taxing America to give their attention to the matter. Mr. Breakenridge was chosen lieutenant of the first military company formed in Bennington, in 1764, and is, therefore, frequently desig- nated in the records of the town, by that title.1
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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The father of Lieutenant James, whose name also was James, was a native of Scotland, and removed thence to Ireland; and removed from Ireland to this country in 1727, and settled in Ware, Mass., whence Lieut. James Breakenridge removed to Bennington. There was a brother of Lieut. James, named William, who was a greatly re- spected, and very influential citizen, in Ware, for many years.1
DANIEL BREAKENRIDGE, son of Lieut. James Breaken- ridge, of commanding form, and great determination and decision of character, united with this church in 1803. Esther Breakenridge united with the church April 8, 1765, Hannah, Jan., 1803. A daughter of Lieut. James married Thomas Henderson. A daughter of this marriage, Phebe Henderson, married Harry Smith, Esq. Two of the chil- dren of this marriage became ministers of the gospel. Mrs .. Phebe (Henderson) Smith married a second husband, the Rev. Joel Lindsley, D.D. A son of this marriage be- came a minister of the gospel.
The Breakenridge place is in the possession and occu- pancy of John Younglove Breakenridge, son of Daniel.
MRS. AZUBAH BREAKENRIDGE, wife of Daniel, - previ- ously Mrs. Paine, mother of Cornelia, Mrs. Tubbs ; then Mrs. Haynes, mother of Harriet and Martha Haynes, the first and second Mrs. Gen. Henry Robinson, - deceased Sept. 23, 1857, at an advanced age. She united with this church May 6, 1821. In a few of the last years of her life, by reason of the infirmities of age, not able to leave her house, but still with a refined and earnest welcome, received her kindred and friends and her minister to the enjoyment of her cheerful hospitality.
1 Ware Historical Address, by William Hyde.
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DEACON JOHN WOOD.
VI. EBENEZER WOOD came into town the first year of the settlement of the town, though not with the first com- pany. He was one of the committee, appointed in the first proprietors' meeting, to choose a place to set the meeting- house. He was third sergeant in Capt. John Fassett's company of militia. He united with the church Jan. 3, 1765.
DEACON JOHN WOOD was one of the officers of Capt. Fassett's company. He was received into this church Dec. 13, 1764. His name is also down on the old covenant. He was elected deacon May 22, 1789, at the same time with Gov. Moses Robinson, and Gen. Samuel Safford. He is represented as a severe, exact, and very determined man, and as very pious. He must have been considerably advanced in years when elected deacon. His name ap- pears frequently upon committees, in the church records, at a very early day, - as far back as June 19, 1766. The wife of Deacon Wood, Hannah, united with the church June 20, 1765. John, a son of theirs, dedicated by them in baptism, Nov. 1, 1767, married Sarah, daughter of Joseph Safford, and grand-daughter of Deacon Joseph Safford. Joseph Safford married Marcy, daughter of Samuel Robinson, Sen. John Wood, Jr., removed to Malone, N. Y. Deacon Wood, probably then a very old man, removed to Malone, in 1810. He resided on the place where is now the residence of Elijah Fillmore. Ten individuals of the name of Wood are on the roll of the church ; none of that name are now connected with the church.
VII. GOVERNOR MOSES ROBINSON. - The biographical sketch of Governor Moses Robinson, by Governor Hall in the " Vermont Historical Magazine," could not be condensed 21*
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with justice to itself and its subject, and it is too long for insertion here. The reader is referred to that article for important information of his public career ; and this notice would confine itself to particulars not therein contained, save to say in brief, that he was chosen town clerk at the first meeting of the town, and for nineteen years ; colonel of the militia, and at the head of his regiment at Mount Inde- pendence on its evacuation by Gen. St. Clair ; member of the famous Council of Safety at the time of the battle of Bennington, and, during the campaign of that year ; chief justice in the Supreme Court on its first organization, and for ten years ; when he was elected to the office of governor of the State by the Legislature ; in 1782 one of the agents of Vermont in the Continental Congress ; and on the ad- mission of Vermont into the Union one of the senators in Congress.
He was born in Hardwick, Mass., March 26, 1741, and came with his father, Samuel Robinson, Sen., in the summer or fall of 1761, to Bennington.
He was hopefully converted at twenty-four years of age. It was in the summer time ; he was in the field at work when he received light. He was so overjoyed, he hastened across the field, forgetting his hat, to inform his pastor, Mr. Dewey, of the happy change his feelings had undergone. He was received into the church with six others, June 20, 1765. He was proverbial for the fervency and unction of his prayers, when leading others at the throne of grace, and for always guiding, when it was possible, the conversation into the subject of religion.
Judge Stephen Robinson used to say that when a lad at. home in his father's house (the present residence of G. W. Robinson) he could hear the whole of Governo. Moses Robinson's prayer at the meeting-house. It is re "ed of him that being across the mountain, to attend to ~ ~ busi-
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ness of settling an estate, and there being a prospect of some time elapsing before the preparations would be com- pleted for proceeding with the business, he proposed, and it was agreed to, that the interval should be devoted to a prayer-meeting.
He is remembered as often repeating the expression, and with unction, " As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Persons still living remember him as leading the meeting in the absence of the minister, and "lining out " the psalm.
At one prayer-meeting which appeared rather dull, the two other gentlemen who were deacons with himself were present, and he led the meeting. He called on one of them to lead in prayer, who, after several ineffectual attempts by " hemming " to clear his throat, wished to be excused. Governor Robinson then called on the other, who also desired to be excused ; thereupon the governor under- took the duty himself, and gave the following vent to his thoughts : "O Lord ! thou knowest we have come up here this afternoon to worship Thee, and we are cold and luke- warm as it were, - I fear at least some of us are." The associate deacons knew well enough who were meant, but conceived no offence.
Governor Robinson was possessed of great wealth. The town was noted in his day for the wealth of its inhabitants, and he was, perhaps, more distinguished than any other in this respect. It is affirmed that his liberality to the cause of religion here corresponded to his ability. ยท
He was elected deacon May 22, 1789, and continued in that office until his death, May 26, 1813. In a letter, preserved by G. W. Robinson, of condolence, to Gen. David Robinsomon the death of his second wife, a letter of that lady is Herred to in which Mrs. Robinson " mentioned the happy south of Governor Robinson, and observed that if
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she could feel as he did, it would be worth ten thousand worlds."
He married Mary, daughter of Stephen Fay, who united with the church May 16, 1765, and after her death, Miss Susannah Howe, who united with the church May 5, 1811. By his first wife he had six sons and one daughter.
CAPT. MOSES ROBINSON, JR., first child of Gov. Moses Robinson, was born in Bennington, Nov. 16, 1763. He was a member of the Council in 1814 ; and was several times, in 1820 and afterward, representative of the town in the General Assembly.
He was appointed, Jan. 30, 1804, building agent in chief for the building of the new meeting-house. A building committee previously appointed was to draw plans and advise with Capt. Moses Robinson. He was to make con- tracts and draw on the treasurer. He married Ruth, daughter of Capt. Elijah Dewey, and grand-daughter of the Rev. Jedidiah Dewey. Two of his grand-children are minis- ters of the gospel, - Thomas Wright and Henry M. Swift.
MAJOR AARON ROBINSON, the second son of Gov. Moses Robinson, was born May 4, 1767. He united with this church in the revival in 1803. He was town clerk seven years, in 1815 and afterward ; a justice of the peace twenty- three years ; a Representative of the Assembly in 1816-17 ; and Judge of Probate in 1835-6; and died in 1850.1 He was clerk of the church from Jan. 24, 1820, until his decease. His faithful entries upon the church records, in a remarkably clear and regular hand, are models to those who have similar duties to perform.
His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Major Wait Hopkins (killed by the Indians in New York in the Revolutionary
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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War 1), and Mindwell, daughter of the Rev. Jedidiah Dewey. His second wife was Mary Lyman, daughter of David Lyman, of Connecticut, born May 3, 1778, died March 28, 1852. She united with the church in 1811, and possessed devoted piety, constant and fervent in prayer.
Major Aaron Robinson and his wife were warm friends of the Rev. Absalom Peters, D.D., while he was pastor of the church, and very averse to his pastoral relation with this church being dissolved. Mrs. Robinson addressed to him, in a few stanzas of poetry, the expression of her appreciation of him as her minister, which testimonial was highly prized by Dr. Peters, but became mislaid, and cannot be found.
NATHAN ROBINSON, Esq., fourth son of Gov. Moses Robinson, was the father of Gov. John Staniford Robinson.
Gov. JOHN S. ROBINSON was born in Bennington, Nov. 10, 1804 ; graduated at Williams College in 1824 ; admitted to the Bennington County Bar in 1827; was twice a repre- sentative of Bennington in the General Assembly ; twice a member of the State Senate ; in 1853, on the failure of an election by the people, was chosen governor by joint ballot of the two houses.
He belonged to the Democratic party, and was frequently supported by his political friends for member of Congress, governor, and other important offices ; but his party being generally in the minority, he was unsuccessful except as before stated. He died in Charleston, S. C., April 24, 1860, while attending the National Democratic Conven- tion, where he was chairman of the delegation from Ver- mont.
The legal attainments and high order of talent of Gov. John S. Robinson placed him at an early day in the front
1 Mrs. Robinson's Genealogical History.
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rank of his profession, which position he always maintained. Generous of heart, amiable in disposition, and with integ- rity undoubted, he, by his uniform courtesy and kindness, endeared himself to all with whom he had business or intercourse. His remains were brought for interment to his native town, where his funeral was attended by the members of the bar in a body, as mourners, and by a large concourse of acquaintances and friends, - an impressive funeral discourse being delivered by President Hopkins, " with whom he had received his college education." 1
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
CHAPTER XVI.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
SECOND IMMIGRATION, CONTINUED.
ENERAL DAVID ROBINSON was the eighth child of Samuel Robinson, Sen. He was born at Hard- wick, Mass., Nov. 22, 1754, and came to Ben- nington with his father in 1761, being then a lad of seven years. He was in the battle of Benning- ton as a private in the militia, and afterward rose, by regular promotion, to the rank of major-general, which office he resigned about 1817. He was sheriff of the county for twenty-two years, ending in 1811; when he was ap- pointed United States Marshal for the Vermont District, which office he held for eight years until 1819.1
He possessed a powerful constitution and great courage. A desperate individual had committed crimes and escaped the law, and all were afraid of him. He had fled to a hay- loft, and General Robinson went in pursuit of him. The neighbors of the general warned him to be cautious in approaching a person so dangerous, and endeavored to dis- suade him from ascending to the man's retreat. Gen. Robin- son, however, paid no attention to these remonstrances, but immediately went up on the loft and arrested the criminal without harm. In the winter before the Bennington battle, the British had command of Lake Champlain by the de- struction of the American fleet under Arnold. They had a
1 Vermont Ilist. Mag.
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large force at St. John's. The Americans held only Ticon- deroga ; all north of that point was under control of the enemy, and tidings came that a company of defenceless women and children were there. It was two hundred miles away, and the snow from two to four feet deep. David Robinson, a young man about twenty-two, holding himself as a minute-man, went to the rescue of those helpless and imperilled ones ; forming, with one Deming from Arling- ton, and a few others, a small detachment for this object. They accomplished their magnanimous purpose, and con- veyed the women and children to a fort for safety on the Connecticut River. On his return he had at length one companion, a broad-shouldered six-footer. Mr. Robinson proved the most enduring of the two, - his comrade tiring out some day and a half before they reached home, so that Robinson carried, for the remainder of the way, his own gun and knapsack and his comrade's also.
He was fond of warming his blood, of a frosty morning, on his wood-pile, without coat or hat, only a good sharp axe in his hand. Mrs. Robinson would remonstrate : "You will surely catch your death by such exposure." His laconic reply would be : "Well, I can't catch it but once."
" Prompt " was a favorite expression with him, and when he placed a boy in the saddle to do an errand, he was ac- customed to say to the lad, " Do you go, and COME."
He was deeply interested in everything that concerned the prosperity of Bennington ; ever ready to bear his full share of the burden and expense of public worship, and of every public interest. The Rev. E. W. Hooker, D.D., his pastor, preached a discourse at his funeral, which was pub- lished. Some extracts are here quoted : -
"The precise date of his connection with the church in this place is not to be ascertained, from their being in an imperfect state. He is supposed, however, to have made a profession of re-
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ligion in his young manhood. . In his religious relations and character, if General Robinson was an Independent Congrega- tionalist, so was he also a man sound in the faith of the fatliers of New England. . The infirmities of advancing age in a few of the last months and years of his life of course rendered it many times difficult to obtain a very definite knowledge of his religious frame of mind. For some time previous to this, however, he seemed gradually withdrawing his thoughts from things temporal; dis- posed to converse seriously on his state and prospects, and to re- alize himself his nearness to the scenes of eternity, and their deep and affecting solemnity. In the intervals, upon his views and feelings in regard to eternal things, he spoke with a solemnity and tenderness indicating a deep sense of their superior importance, and such as should testify to the consciences of his fellow-men on their own concern in them, as also hastening forward to the judgment-seat of Christ.
In illustration of his religious submission, Doctor Hooker related to the writer the following anecdote : -
" By the death of his son, Heman, he was deeply af- flicted. Others were with him, and myself also, at the time, in the north front room. Heman was dying in the room above. Some time had elapsed, and we were expecting the event. His brother Stephen came down to the foot of the stairs and said, 'He is gone, sir !' General Robinson did not seem to hear distinctly the announcement, and I said to him, 'Your son has breathed his last.' Rising from his chair, 'Oh !' said he ; and, proceeding to ascend the stairs, he repeated the words, 'Be still, and know that I am God.'"
In illustration of the great infirmity of his advancing years, to which allusion is made in the above extract from Dr. Hooker's discourse, let an anecdote be given, related to the writer by Miss Angeline Selden. She was in at the house of Henry Kellogg, Esq., where Judge Noah Smith resided formerly, and General Robinson came in during his days of mental decline, as he was passing away. He in-
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quired if Judge Smith was in. Mr. Kellogg replied in the negative. He persisted in inquiring for Judge Smith, and then added, "I will go to the court and meet Judge Fay and Judge Brush." Judge Smith had been dead some forty years, and the other gentlemen, one of them longer, and the remaining one perhaps nearly as long. The old man was truly living in the past.
He died Dec, 12, 1843, at the age of eighty-nine.
By his wife, Sarah, daughter of Stephen Fay, Esq., he had three sons, who became heads of families.
DAVID ROBINSON, EsQ., graduated at Williams College in 1797, and became a lawyer. His second wife, Mrs. Sarah Shewel, daughter of Jesse Dickerson, of Morristown, N. J., a lady of refinement and intelligence, united with this church Sept. 7, 1817. Before his decease he executed a deed, con- veying his residence to this church and society for a par- sonage. He died in March, 1858, aged eighty-one.
HON. STEPHEN ROBINSON was successively a member of the Assembly for several years, a judge of the County Court, and a member of the Council of Censors in 1834.1 He received hope in Christ, and gave satisfactory evidence of his conversion in his last sickness, - about a year before his death. In his inquiring state of mind he took the Bible, and with Scott's and Clark's Commentaries studied it care- fully. He became convinced of the impropriety of general visiting on the Sabbath, and when old friends, accustomed to that way, called on Sunday, he expressed his pleasure in seeing them, but that he preferred they should come on some other day. He was very positive in his opinions, and in his expression of them, but he was so candid and intelli- gent that he did not give offence. He married Sarah,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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FAMILY OF GEN. ROBINSON.
daughter of Deacon Aaron Hubbell. She united with this church May 4, 1817, and died August, 1844.
Of seven children, the first-born died at six years of age. The others became members of this church.
EDMUND A. ROBINSON became a prosperous and highly- respected merchant in Albany, where he deceased suddenly. For some of the recent years before his death, having a summer residence here, and for a few years for both sum- mer and winter, he was ever a valued friend of this so- ciety, aiding and encouraging us always in our work, - generous, intelligent, genial ; his sudden death affected this community with profound surprise and sorrow.
RUTH ROBINSON married Professor W. H. Parker, of Mid- dlebury College, and deceased some years since.
DEWEY HUBBELL ROBINSON became a physician, and was settled in the practice of his profession in Michigan, and died in early manhood.
ANNE CALDWELL ROBINSON deceased Dec. 5, 1868. She was distinguished for her zeal, labor, and success as a teacher in the Sabbath school, and particularly of an adult ladies' Bible class. She possessed a rare intellect, and great firmness in adhering to right and truth as she viewed them.
MRS. STEPHEN ROBINSON, JR., deceased, daughter of Jo- seph Hinsdill, deserves note for the amiableness of her disposition, and the loveliness and consistency of her Chris- tian character.
HEMAN ROBINSON was the youngest son of Gen. David Robinson. His death has been already noticed. It took place when he was fifty years of age. He married Betsey, daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, and had twelve children ; one of them, the oldest son, Judge Albert D. Robinson, another, George W. Robinson, who owns and occupies the
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residence and farm formerly the possession of General David Robinson. There the first Mrs. Samuel Robinson, as a widow, lived and died with her son David. The family have an excellent portrait of General Robinson. Gen. Robinson's third wife, Nancy, daughter of James Caldwell, and widow of George Church, Hartford, Conn., is upon the church record, as uniting with this church October 18, 1816.
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