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 21
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DEACON JOSEPH BINGHAM 1 was a lieutenant in a com- pany of Provincials during the French war. At one time, when stationed with his men near Ticonderoga, his men were ordered to perform some fatigue duty. While en- gaged in this, one of them was taken sick. Lieut. Bingham
1 The following notice of the Bingham family is chiefly condensed from an arti- cle in the " Bennington Banner " of December 28, 1855.
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told him to quit work and lie down. Presently an English officer, accustomed to bear himself in a haughty manner toward the Provincials, began to cane the sick man be- cause he was not at work. Lieut. Bingham saw this out- rage and dared to interfere. He ordered the haughty English officer to desist, which the said officer thought it best to do, for Lieut. Bingham was a man of courage and of extraordinary muscular power, and he deemed he had the right to the control of his own men in such a case.
At the time of the Bennington battle, Deacon Bingham had been made lame by having one hip broken, but was able to walk with the help of a cane ; it was not, therefore, expected that he would go into the battle-field. He went, with many others who were aged and infirm, to the meeting- house, or its vicinity, and while they were collected there, and while the battle was raging, he proposed that they should lift up their voices and their hearts in fervent prayer to the God of battles, that he would bless their sons, broth- ers, and friends who were in the battle fighting for their homes and for liberty ; and that he would permit them to return again and peacefully enjoy their homes. The prayer was heard; at least, the blessings it supplicated were granted. The old man was allowed to return to his home and find it undisturbed.
Epitaph of Deacon Joseph Bingham :-
" 'Tempus verax mortalium.'
" Sacred to the memory of Deac. Joseph Bingham, who departed this life Nov. 4, 1787, in the 79th year of his age. He left the church militant to join the church triumphant above.
"' Why do we mourn departed friends ?' "'
At the close of the war Jeremiah removed to Cornwall, in this State, where he trained a family of sons and daugh-
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DEA. CALVIN BINGHAM.
ters, and was loved and honored by his fellow-citizens to the end of his days for his piety and manly virtues. He lived to be almost a hundred years old.
DEACON CALVIN BINGHAM, the younger son, remained on the farm with his father and mother while they lived, and, after their decease, lived and died there. He united with this church, and also brought forward his six children for baptism April 19, 1789, during the ministry of Mr. Swift. He was elected deacon in this church July 16, 1813, and continued in the office until he died, February 23, 1831, aged eighty. His regularity and punctuality in attending public worship were proverbial. He was highly honored for his fidelity as a Christian and an officer in the church, and in all the duties of life.
He had seven sons and five daughters, who lived to the age of maturity, and all became members of the church of Christ. On Thanksgiving day, Dec. 6, 1855, the seven sons and three of the daughters were still living, and all met together in their native town ; the united ages of the brothers amounted to four hundred and eighty-four years ; average age sixty-nine years.
Asa, the first born, has been many years an officer in the church where he resides ; Stephen, the sixth, a deacon in the Second Congregational Church in this town. Two became ministers of the gospel, - Amos, the second son (for many years city missionary in Philadelphia), and Hiram the fifth ; he was with his associate honored as a pioneer missionary to the Sandwich Islands, 1819, where he labored for about twenty years, and saw the wonderful Christian transformations among that people. He is the author of a history of the Islands. He found it necessary to return to his native land on account of the illness of his wife. A son of his, Hiram Bingham, Jr., is now a missionary among
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the Micronesian Islands ; also two daughters have gone to teach native girls at Honolulu.
A son of Calvin, the third of the brothers, has been Gov- ernor of Michigan, and senator in Congress.
REV. AMOS BINGHAM was graduated at Middlebury Col- lege. He studied theology with the Rev. Dr. Burton, of Thetford. He soon became a domestic missionary, some- times in the employment of some ecclesiastical body, and sometimes not. He was instrumental in the hopeful con- version of many souls. He preached in Peru, Winhall, and other places. He was so zealous as to be sometimes persecuted by those whom he had offended in his faithful- ness. One who was converted under his ministry in Win- hall removed to Virginia and married, and came into the possession of slaves. This man invited Mr. Bingham to enjoy his hospitality. Mr. Bingham was so much the lover of liberty, and spoke out so freely, that he was admonished to leave for his own safety. He went thence to Philadelphia, and remained and died there. He was employed by the city authorities to preach to the prisoners in the penitentiary. The prison is made into cells, arranged like the spokes of a wheel. The preacher stands, as it were, in the hub of the wheel, and preaches, not seeing into the cells. Mr. Bingham was very much engaged also in labors to promote the better observance of the Sabbath in Phila- delphia.
II. NATHANIEL BRUSH was here as early as 1775. He lived in the Judge Isham House. His sister was the first Mrs. Capt. Isaac Dewey. He was colonel of militia in the town, and in this capacity served in the Ben- nington battle. He was elected town clerk in 1782, in which office he continued for several years.
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SAMUEL BLACKMER.
III. SAMUEL BLACKMER moved here at an early day from Taunton, Mass. His name appears upon the town records as sealer of weights and measures, appointed March, 1776. He died in 1812, aged about sixty-four. His widow lived to be ninety-three. Their children were Samuel, Jason, Jesse, Ruby, - Mrs. Oliver Harwood, of Rupert, - Wilbur, Green, and Vesta, - Mrs. Joseph Harwood, of Rupert.
HON. S. H. BLACKMER, was son of Samuel, Jr. He de- . ceased in Feb., 1861. He was for many years clerk of the court and judge of probate, and was highly respected. He gathered with much pains a rare collection of old volumes, now in the possession of his son, Frank Blackmer. One book contains a printed copy of the first sermon ever preached in New England, which was at Plymouth in 1621.
HIRAM BLACKMER was a son of Samuel, Jr. He was in mercantile business in Boston, Mass., and deceased there Aug. 2, 1860. He united with this church Sept. 4, 1831, and adorned his Christian profession by a consistent walk and conversation.
Jason, son of Samuel, Sen., was the father of Warren Blackmer.
IV. MRS. ISABELLA HENRY united with this church May 5, 1811 ; was the first of the Henrys, by the records. She was daughter of Mrs. Susannah Howe, afterward second wife of Governor Moses Robinson. She deceased Dec. 28, 1857. The writer of this notice had the pleasure of know- ing her, and enjoying frequently her kind and graceful hos- pitality during the last few years of her life. She was a lady of superior personal presence, and of marked polite- ness, as well as of excellent Christian spirit.
DAVID HENRY, husband of the above, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831, and deceased Jan. 26, 1856 ; of few words, but of sound judgment, and great kindness.
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Their only daughter, Mary Ann, united with this church March 4, 1827; their only son, P. M. Henry, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831.
JAMES HENRY united with this church Nov. 6, 1831 ; his wife, CELINDA HARMON, in 1803. She was eminent for the purity of her Christian character, for her liberal support of the church, of which she was a member, and for large bene- factions to charitable and missionary institutions. Her daughter, Persis F., Mrs. Alonzo Hinsdill, united with this church Sept. 4, 1331 ; Celinda, Mrs. Caleb Austin, died Sept., 1844 ; united with this church Jan. 5, 1834.
JOHN, son of John Henry, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831 ; at the same time WILLIAM G., son of Hon. Wil- liam Henry.
The second among the Henrys to unite with this church was Alice, daughter of Hon. William Henry ; united with the church Nov. 5, 1820. Her mother, Anna Henry, united with the church Sept. 4, 1831. Eight of the name of Henry, and one besides of the family, Maria, wife of James Hicks, united with the church at this date. Of the chil- dren of Hon. William Henry, four became members of this church ; among them also Lemira, wife of Hon. Charles Hicks. She was one of those in whose blameless life and beautiful spirit the Christian virtues shine without alloy. A son, Eli B., is deacon in the North Bennington Congre- gational Church. Alida, a daughter-in-law of John Henry, now Mrs. David Cross, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831.
HON. WILLIAM HENRY (born Oct. 5, 1760, died May 11, 1845) represented the town in the General Assembly for seven successive years from 1805, and was a justice of the peace for thirty-nine years in succession, ending with the year 1840, being a longer period than the office has ever been held by any other person in town. He was also judge
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DEA. STEPHEN HINSDILL.
of probate for two years, and, being familiar with legal forms of business, was the draughtsman of most of the deeds, contracts, and wills of persons in his quarter of the town for many years. He was a man of sound judgment and of undoubted integrity, and was universally respected. Hon. William, James, John, and David Henry were sons of William, one of several families of Scotch-Irish descent who came from Massachusetts and settled at an early day in the north-west part of the town ; from whom the neighbor- hood. took the name of Irish Corners, which it still retains.1 There are twenty individuals of the name on the church-roll.
V. JOSEPH HINSDILL was the first of the family to settle in Bennington, and came, it is believed, from Hardwick, Mass. He married Hannah Bingham. Their children were Norman, married Rhoda Harmon, sister of Mrs. Samuel Scott, and for his second wife a daughter of Gov. Galusha ; Daniel, father of Milo and Alonzo Hinsdill ; Joseph, father of Joseph, married Fanny Walbridge ; Eliza married Elijah Waters ; Amanda married R. N. Severance ; Caroline, Mrs. Samuel Weeks ; Joanna, Mrs. Stephen Robinson ; Jane, Mrs. G. W. Robinson ; Chester ; Hannah married Mr. Tracy ; Stephen, Deacon Hinsdill, father of Mrs. Ballard, Lucretia, Mrs. Aaron Hubbell, Jennett, Mrs. Seymour ; Electa married Jonas Galusha ; Hiram married Roxanna Walbridge.
DEACON STEPHEN HINSDILL, with his wife Hannah, a sister of Urialı Edgerton, Esq., united with the church during the ministry of Mr. Marsh, May, 1816. He was elected deacon May 10, 1822, and removed his connection, with others, Nov. 9, 1834, to organize the Hinsdillville Presby- terian Church. He was the head of a manufacturing com- pany in that place, and really almost the company itself,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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which for a time was very flourishing, employing many operatives and sustaining numerous families. He possessed extraordinary enterprise and zeal in whatever he undertook. He was much gifted in prayer and exhortation, and much devoted to the cause of Christ. He was very strict in his observance of the Sabbath, and unbounded in his hospi- tality. Before the establishment of public worship in Hinsdillville, he chartered a four-horse team to bring up his neighbors and others to worship here. He prepared a room and seated it, in one of his buildings, for religious meetings, and was chiefly instrumental in the erection of the Hinsdillville church, - a very commodious stone edifice. The Rev. Daniel A. Clark was his warm friend, and he was a warm friend of Mr. Clark, who, during his ministry in Bennington, was frequently an inmate of his house. He gave his energies with great ardor to the prosecution of the revival which took place in that part of the town in con- nection with Mr. Clark's labors.
An extended notice of him would properly find a place in a more particular history of the church for the period during Mr. Clark's ministry here, and down to 1834, when the Hinsdillville Presbyterian Church was organized.
He eventually removed to Michigan and died there. He was one of the committee upon the last revision of the articles of faith and covenant of this church. One of his daughters married James Ballard, minister of the gospel. There are sixteen of the name of Hinsdill on the roll of the church.
VI. ELEAZER EDGERTON was here prior to 1775. As before mentioned, he was one of the scouts in the employ- ment of the Council of Safety, who brought intelligence to Gen. Stark of the presence of a hostile party at Cambridge, on the 13th of August, three days before the battle ; and an
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JOHN KINSLEY - CAPT. MOSES SAGE.
an anecdote is related illustrative of his prowess in the battle.
He was the father of Uriah Edgerton, Esq., and resided a half a mile or so to the north of the late residence of the latter. His wife was a daughter of the Mr. Hyde whose family resided upon the place now owned and occupied by Giles Jewett. She was a relation of Chancellor Walworth. Mrs. Stephen Hinsdill was his daughter.
URIAH EDGERTON, EsQ., son of the above, deceased April 28, 1868, aged eighty-seven, having adorned old age, and made it attractive by his Christian conversation and his genial spirit, and having enjoyed the affectionate esteem of his numerous acquaintances and friends. He also uni- ted with the Bennington First Church, Sept. 4, 1831. He married a daughter of Dr. Jonas Fay.
VII. JOHN KINSLEY united with this church in 1773. There are seven individuals of the name of Kinsley, or Kingsley, on the church-roll. Nathaniel Kingsley united with the church 1784. There is a Nathaniel Kingsley on the Newint church records. Daniel Kingsley united with the church 1775. Eunice Kingsley united with the church 1780. Mrs. Nathaniel Kingsley united with the church 1784.
ABISHA KINSLEY, son of John Kinsley, a highly respected and worthy citizen of the west part of the town, de- ceased Aug. 9, 1859, born in Charlemont, Mass., March 18, 1766 ; removed to Bennington when four years of age.
VIII. CAPT. MOSES SAGE settled in Bennington as early as 1776 ; and, until 1805, was the most prominent busi- ness man at the north village, which bore the name of Sage's City, until the establishment of a post-office there, in 1828, when it was called North Bennington. "To his
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enterprise and energy of character it owes not only its first distinctive name, but its early growth and business.
" His business operations were not, however, confined to that village. For several years he had been either the sole or part owner of the blast furnace situated on what is still called Furnace Brook, two miles north of Bennington vil- lage, and in 1804 he erected what was then called the new furnace east of that village. This, in 1811, was sold to Thomas Trenor, and in 1814 Mr. Sage removed to Cha- tauque Co., N. Y., and died in 1817."
Capt. Sage had a number of children, several of whom removed from town in early life. Mrs. Fanny Coney, his youngest daughter, is still living in Bennington village with her son-in-law, Charles S. Colvin. Mrs. Mary Anne, wife of Martin B. Scott, of North Bennington, is a grand- daughter of Capt. Sage. Olin and Henry M. Scott, of Bennington village, are children of Mr. and Mrs. M. B. Scott.
IX. SIMEON SEARS appears on the tables prepared by Mrs. Haswell as having united with the church in the min- istry of Rev. Mr. Dewey. His name is on the roll of Capt. Robinson's company in the Bennington battle. The name of Sears appears in the tables of Mr. Paige's Hardwick Centennial Address. He was one of the active opponents of the Rev. Mr. Avery. There are eleven individuals of the name on the roll of the church.
CHAPTER XXI.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1777-1784.
OVERNOR ISAAC TICHIENOR was born at Newark, N. J., Feb. 8, 1754, and educated at Princeton College, then under the presidency of the cele- brated Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, for whom and whose memory he always had the highest veneration. He first came to Bennington June 14, 1777. Dur- ing the war of the Revolution he was deputy commissary- general of purchases for the Northern Department, having for his field of service an extensive portion of the New England States. After the war he was representative in the General Assembly ; speaker of the House ; agent of the State at Congress ; member of the State Council ; a judge, and then chief justice of the Supreme Court; member of the Council of Censors ; thrice elected senator in Congress ; governor of the State for eleven years in all ; and called also to fill other offices of high distinction and responsi- bility.1
He gave his influence with great cheerfulness and liber- ality to the interests of public religion in this town. He bore a prominent part in the controversy about the Rev. Mr. Avery, and was his fast friend. His signature ap- pears alone, on behalf of the congregation, to the address of that body, expressive of their regrets upon Mr. Avery's
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
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dismissal. He took a warm interest in the settlement of the Rev. Absalom Peters. He had promised the parish, if they would get a minister who should fill the meeting- house, he would give them a bell. Mr. Peters was very popular and attractive, and Gov. Tichenor was as good as his word. The bell, which has been in the belfry ever since, has his name inscribed on it as its donor.
He used to marry people, but, not being a professor of religion, and never having assumed the Christian duty of personally leading others in devotions, he performed his marriage ceremony, likewise, without making any prayer. Deacon Bingham, on one occasion, remonstrated with him against his practice of solemnizing marriage without prayer ; the governor replied, " Well, you come and make the prayer, and I will give you half of the fee."
Many anecdotes are related of him, illustrative of a certain painstaking on his part to kindly and cordially notice all. His manners and address were both impressive and very pleasing. William E. Hawks, whose home was on the second farm west of Aaron Hubbell's, relates that, when a boy, Gov. Tichenor used frequently to come that way hunting ; he was accustomed to shoot game from his horse's back, and would ask William to go with him and pick up the game. A quarter of a dollar placed in his hand seemed to him, in those childhood days, a munificent compensation, - and very liberal it was. He thought, as did many other boys in the town and in the State, that he was a special favorite of Gov. Tichenor, and was ever de- lighted to see him come that way with his gun and his horse.
Gov. Tichenor was once sitting at his table, in the din- ing-room, which opened out into the yard in the rear of the house, and his attention was called to a bird, on one of the trees in sight. A friend was at table with him ; and he
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said, "I can shoot that bird without leaving my seat." The friend doubted whether the thing could be done ; the governor sent for his gun, which was levelled and fired, and the bird fell dead. He had tried hard, one day, to catch a large trout in the Meach hole, and was obliged to come away unsuccessful ; a lad he employed to do chores, etc., was with him, and slyly went down the next morning to try his luck, and was successful. As he came up toward the governor's with the fish, Gov. Tichenor, quite excited, said, " It is too bad to raise up eagles to pick our eyes out."
When at Washington, at the presidential dinners, Mrs. Madison had been led out to dinner repeatedly and rather ostentatiously by a not very popular senator ; and certain of the others, who were piqued at that gentleman's pre- cedence, agreed together to supersede him, and committed the execution of the task to Gov. Tichenor. The obnox- ious gentleman, on the next dinner occasion, engaged Mrs. Madison, as before, in conversation, about the time of din- ner; and those who were in the secret were quite impa- tient at the unpromising aspect of affairs. But a moment only before the announcement of dinner Gov. Tichenor directly accosted Mrs. Madison; she arose to reply, he added a word or two, and she politely listened ; when the call to dinner came, he immediately offered her his arm, and the obnoxious Congressman was outwitted.
Governor Tichenor possessed a commanding form, a re- markably fine personal appearance, and accomplished man- ners. He was regular in his attendance at church ; occupied a seat in the large corner pew, which took up the space on the south side of the pulpit ; arose and stood reverently, and yet with peculiar dignity, in prayers ; gracefully recog- nized such persons as he met going and returning, - was, indeed, quite a feature of the occasion.
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He left no children. The present residence of Deacon George Lyman was his, and bears the name of Tichenor place. He died Dec. 11, 1838, aged eighty-four. At the time of his decease the Rev. Dr. Hooker was his pastor, and preached his funeral sermon.
The second Mrs. George Lyman was his adopted daugh- ter. She united with this church May 7, 1843, and deceased Jan. 4, 1856 ; a lady of superior excellence, thoughtful, earnest, and conscientious, dignifying the social circle. Her sudden death was felt to be a severe bereavement in the household, the church, and the community. Her four chil- dren are members, and her three sons-in-law officers of churches.
II. THOMAS HALL came to Bennington in the spring of 1779, and settled on the farm which has remained in the family, now the residence of the son-in-law of Governor Hall, Hon. T. W. Park. Mr. Hall was born at Guilford, Conn., Feb. 11, 1726, married Phebe Blachly, removed to Wood- bury, Roxbury Parish, Conn., 1759, and thence to Beņ- nington. He united with the Bennington First Church in 1785. He died Dec. 23, 1802.
NATHANIEL HALL, his son, was deacon of the old Baptist church in Shaftsbury, born March 4, 1763, died March 4, 1849, spoken of to the writer as " an Israelite indeed, in whom was no guile." His children were Hiland (Gov- ernor Hall), born July 20, 1795 ; Phebe, born March 24, 1797, married James Lazell, died May 27, 1860 ; Abigail, born March 13, 1799, married Nathan Bowen; Nathaniel, born March 11, 1801, died Aug. 19, 1846 ; Anna, born Jan. 31, 1804, married Daniel C. Dyer ; Laura, born April 5, 1806, married Timothy Darling, died Nov. 25, 1854 ; Polly, born Sept. 22, 1808, married Sidney Colvin. The father of Mrs. Governor Hall, Henry Davis, was in the battle of
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THOMAS HALL.
Bunker Hill, and served at West Point and other places during the Revolutionary War.
The ancestors of Thomas Hall were his father, Hiland Hall, born in Guilford, Conn., Sept. 20, 1703 ; his grand- father, Deacon Thomas Hall, born in Middletown, Conn., Aug. 29, 1671 ; his great-grandfather, Samuel Hall, born in England, 1626 ; and his great-great-grandfather, John Hall, born in Kent County, England, in 1584.
III. ANTHONY HASWELL was born at Portsmouth, Eng- land, April 6, 1756. He came to Boston when about thirteen years of age, and served his apprenticeship as a printer. He established the "Vermont Gazette " in Ben- nington. The first number was published June 5, 1783, and was continued, - not always, however, under the same name, - most of the time by himself or members of his family, until October, 1850, a period of over sixty-seven years. It had a much longer life than any other paper printed in the State. His enterprise led him to originate several periodicals, - among them, a paper in Rutland, also two monthlies, at different times, in Bennington. Numer- ous books and pamphlets were published by him on various subjects, some of which were reprints of valuable works, and others original matter. In the course of his life he furnished many articles for the newspaper press on moral, religious, and political subjects. For the most part he set up his original matter into type, when he composed it, with- out the intervention of the pen. He had for many years a share of the public printing of the State. Among his pub- lications may be mentioned an interesting memoir of Capt. Matthew Phelps, of three hundred pages, of which Mr. Has- well was the author. When the Legislature passed the act establishing post-offices at Bennington and other places, 1784, he was appointed postmaster-general, with extensive
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powers. He early imbibed the principles of the old Repub- lican party, and was active and zealous in their defence and propagation.
Mr. Haswell was a kind and obliging neighbor, and a warm, ardent, and faithful friend.1 He became possessed of the old meeting-house, after it ceased to be used for pub- lic religious worship, and had it removed and re-erected for his own residence, where now stands the residence of Hon. Benjamin R. Sears. His wife and others wished him to divide the frame, but he preferred to have it all. He de- sired a large house and a large table, and desired it full. He did not enrich himself, but he did much good. He was a man of extraordinary industry, and his labors for the public, through a whole life, were devoted with singular unselfishness.
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