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 22
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In the revival in 1803 his zeal in politics abated, being overborne by a new consecration - to Christ. At that time he united with this church by a public profession of faith.
An anecdote will illustrate the high estimation of him, in connection with his zeal as a Christian convert, entertained by one of his neighbors, and an unconverted man. Mr. Nairne, a profane man, a Scotchman, but characterized by a certain heartiness and naïveté which is always attractive, resided then in the house now the residence of Henry Patchin. Mr. Nairne had the Rev. Mr. Spaulding and others at his house during the three-days' meeting, and with them, also, Mr. Haswell. Mr. Nairne whispered to his wife, " Let us have a prayer ; I'll call on Anthony Has- well." Mrs. Nairne, an excellent and lady-like woman (who united with the church in that revival), said to her husband, "Had you not better call on one of the minis- ters?" Mr. Nairne, with his Scotch bluntness, spoke out
1 For these particulars, and others of his professional and public career, see Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 176.
305
ANTHONY HASWELL.
so all could hear, using a profane expression which need not be repeated, " I would as soon have Mr. Hoswell."
He not only required the Bible to be read at family prayers, but also had Watts' psalms and hymns read through at that exercise. He gave to his two daugh- ters, Susannah and Eliza, each a copy of "Watts' Divine and Moral Songs for Children," as a reward for commit- ting the songs to memory. He published many religious works, sermons, and collections of religious verses. A great variety of these publications are still extant, bearing his imprint.
Before any missionaries had been sent from this country into heathen lands he conceived a strong desire, and often expressed it, to have a son who should be qualified and willing to go and preach Christ to heathen nations. This desire was fulfilled in the person of his son James M., born subsequently to the time of Mr. Haswell's oft repeating this desire. His two sons, Thomas and James, the one born Sept. 26, 1807, the other Feb. 4, 1810, were clerks in the store of Messrs. Fassett & Selden, in Troy, N. Y., about the year 1830; and, during a revival in that city, were hopefully converted, and both resolved to fit them- selves for the ministry. They alternately attended the Presbyterian and Baptist meetings for some months ; both invariably attending the same meeting, until one Sabbath James said to Thomas, " Brother, I must be a Baptist and go to the heathen." Thomas replied, " Well, I will be a Presbyterian ; we will both go into the field and see which can do the most good in the cause of our Lord and Master." Thomas became a minister of the gospel and home mission- ary, in which service he died. James went to Burmah as foreign missionary, translated the New Testament into a Burmese dialect, and, after some thirty-three years' labor in that country, has been compelled to retire by the failure 26*
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
of his health. James, a son, was sent to this country and graduated at college, and returned a preacher of the gospel to labor in Burmah, but was overtaken by failure of his health. Julia Ann Eliza became the wife of a missionary, and is still in Burmah. Another daughter, not married, is also doing efficient missionary service there.
Eliza, daughter of Anthony Haswell, married Hiram Har- wood. James H. Harwood, minister of the gospel, is their son.
Susannah, another daughter, married Darius Clark. Their daughter Lydia drew the old meeting-house in the frontis- piece in this volume - said to be a truthful representation of that sanctuary - from dimensions, shape, and position preserved in the recollection of old inhabitants.
WILLIAM HASWELL, seventh child of Anthony Haswell, was elected clerk of this church September 28, 1849, and remained so until his decease, December 16, 1864. He was much assisted in his labors as town clerk, and in other offices requiring a large amount of writing, by his wife, Sarah, daughter of Col. Samuel Robinson, born October 8, 1791 ; united with this church January 6, 1833; died December 14, 1850.
The following obituary notice of him is from the " Ben- nington Banner : " -
" William Haswell was appointed postmaster of this town June 6, 1813, and held the office until November, A. D. 1833, twenty years and over. He was also town clerk of Bennington from March, A. D. 1821, to March, . 1849.
" He was register of the probate court under judges Ar- temas Mattison, Aaron Robinson, Jesse Blackmer, Jona- than Draper, Sylvanus Danforth, Orsamus C. Merrill, John M. Olin, - in all twenty-one years, commencing in 1826.
307
WILLIAM HASWELL.
. "For several years after 1820 the list of Revolutionary and invalid pensioners in Bennington county was very large, - the aggregate sums paid to them each year amount- ing to many thousands of dollars. These pensions were nearly all drawn and distributed by William Haswell, and he continued a pension agent until the time of his death. He was proverbially rapid and accurate in adjust- ing accounts and transacting public business.
" He was a kind-hearted neighbor ; a public-spirited, up- right citizen ; a friend and benefactor to the poor, and an honest man. Thus he lived to exemplify the doctrines of the gospel, which, for many years, he professed to love.
" In his death one of the old landmarks of Bennington has passed away. He died December 16, 1864, in the seventy-fifth year of his age."
A large number of the descendants of Anthony Haswell have become members of this or of some other church.
His son, Anthony Haswell, born November, 1780, died December 10,, 1856 ; an intelligent man and exemplary Christian, genial and social ; united with this church March 1803, and afterward removed his connection to the Baptist church.
Anthony Haswell, Sen., composed many hymns. Some stanzas from one, sung at the funeral of Mrs. Samuel Rob- inson, Sen., have been inserted in the notice of that lady. He also, it is said, composed one or two of the hymns sung at the dedication of the new meeting-house. One of the hymns sung on that occasion was, it is said, composed by Andrew Selden, Esq., and one by a gentleman from abroad. Four hymns are printed with the dedication sermon, but there appears to be no means of certainly identifying the authors severally.
He died May 26, 1816.
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
IV. THOMAS WEEKS and Catharine, his wife, removed to Bennington, from Hardwick, Mass., in 1786, and settled on the farm which has ever since borne the name of the Weeks farm. He died August, 1804, aged eighty-four ; and Mrs. Weeks, October 14, 1819, aged nine y-seven.
The names David, Holland, and Thomas Weeks are on the list in Paige's Centennial Address of the Hardwick in- habitants who served in the French war.
DAVID WEEKS, son of the above, came with his father. He died October 4, 1836, aged eighty-three. Elizabeth, his wife, died April 2, 1822, aged fifty-six. Beside two that died in infancy, their children were Abigail, Betsey, Susan, David, Isaac, Samuel, Semantha, Willard, Maria. All have deceased except the eldest, Abigail. Willard died August 17, 1860 ; Betsey, Susan, and David in 1861, - the four within eight months of each other.
SAMUEL WEEKS died January 1, 1867, aged sixty-six ; united with the church July 4, 1858; father of Mrs. Rev. Henry M. Swift. Called in the latter days of life to meet severe trials of bodily sickness and unexpected re- verses of worldly fortune, these he bore with exemplary Christian meekness and fortitude.
ISAAC WEEKS united with the church January 5, 1862 ; died January 24, 1868, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was representative in the General Assembly in 1860 ; at different times and for several years first select- man and town treasurer, and held other important offices in the town. He was also, for many years, president of the Stark Bank. He possessed great kindness of heart, soundness of judgment, and fidelity to every trust, and was one of our most valuable citizens, and died enjoying, in an eminent degree, the respect and confidence of his acquaint- ances and friends and of the community.
309
COL. MARTIN NORTON.
V. ICHABOD PADDOCK came from Rhode Island, and settled, soon & ter the Revolutionary War, on the farm since the residence of Alonzo Potter. He had three sons, Dan- iel, Zechariah. and Thomas. Daniel was the father of Capt. Paddock, now residing in Pleasant Valley. Zechariah was the father of Daniel H. Paddock.
VI. WILLIAM POTTER came, about the time of the close of the Revolutionary War, from Rhode Island, and set- tled on Mount Anthony, on the farm east of the present residence of his grandson, Loan Potter. Three brothers came together, or nearly so. The two others were John and Amos ; these settled a little over the New York State line.
VII. COL. MARTIN NORTON and his wife, Betsey, united with the church in November, 1784. They resided where S. H. Brown, Jr., now resides. Mrs. Col. Norton was a devoted Christian. Their son, Hon. Jesse O. Norton, late member of Congress and judge of the Supreme Court in Illinois, united with this church at thirteen years of age. Their grand-daughter, Sophia Love, became the wife of the Rev. S. H. Hurlbut, late pastor of the Congregational Church in New Haven. He died December 2, 1856, having been much prospered in his ministry, warmly beloved by his people, and giving bright promise of continued useful- ness and success.
There are eleven of the name of Norton on the roll of the church.
CHAPTER XXII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1785 -1800.
R. NOADIAH SWIFT was the second son and fourth child of Rev. Job Swift, D.D., and Mary Ann Sedg- wick. He was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., at a place then called Nine Partners, now known as Amenia, Feb. 24, 1776. He, with his father and the family, removed to Manchester, and thence to Bennington, when he was nine years of age. Here he re- ceived his academical education under his father's instruc- tion, and pursued the study of medicine with Dr. Medad Parsons, at that time a practising physician. He continued in the practice of his profession here until prevented by the infirmities of age. He was possessed of a large and powerful frame, an iron constitution, and an iron will. Sound in intellect, and with a highly intuitive judgment, he was at once a master of books and of common sense. Plain- spoken and outspoken, of great frankness and simplicity of character, far-reaching in his perceptions of the public principles and measures which the progress of the future was to sustain, severe to his enemies in controversy, re- lentless to opposition, but confessing his faults and for- giving the faults of others in the subsequent reaction of tenderness and good-will, - he was a tower of strength to the church, the community, and the reforms of the day. No biography could do justice to him, unless it were a history
311
DR. NOADIAH SWIFT.
of the times in which he lived. The revivals, the anti- slavery principle ; and measures, the temperance reforma- tion, public secular struggles and enterprises of his day, - these must be written out in order to make a truthful sketch of the life of Dr. Noadiah Swift. It is not the purpose of the writer in this work to describe in detail the modern times of the church. Persons who were nearer the times and scenes themselves still live, and to them this interesting and important service is respectfully deferred. When the writer of this notice commenced his pastorate here, and first became acquainted with Dr. Swift, he was already in the seventy-eighth year of his age. His manly form was still erect and noble, and his independent and decided spirit exhibited enough of independence and decision still; but nearly fourscore years, so many of them years of toil, and with some share of life's heavy afflictions in the loss of be- loved ones by death, had begun to disclose their effect. But no one could see him in his place in the house of God, or hear his trembling accents in prayer in the lecture-room, or witness his unflagging interest in the church's prosperity, without being convinced that he was still its friend tried and true, nor without being able to appreciate what a pow- ful leader and helper he had been in his prime in every good word and work. Owing to his father's circumstances he commenced life for himself, to use his own expression, without a shilling, and the decease of his father taking place two years before his marriage, he assisted somewhat his younger brothers and sisters. At the same time his charges for medical practice were extremely low. He was wont to say that it was a wonder to himself that he came to possess so extensively as he did the means to do good. But a kind Providence smiled upon him. He rose to an extensive medical practice, reaching to a wide distance in the region round about. He was for three years a repre-
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
sentative in the General Assembly of the State, and twice elected to the State Senate. He was also for many years successfully engaged in mercantile pursuits. His hopeful conversion took place in the great revival in 1831, and he united with the church on the same day when one hundred and thirty-one were received. One month afterward he was elected a deacon of the church, and continued in that office until his death, which took place in the city of New York, where he was temporarily residing in the family of his son, Edward H. Swift, March 21, 1860, in the eighty- fourth year of his age. His remains were brought home, and interred by the side of those of his wife, who had gone a few years before him.
He married Jennett, daughter of Thomas Henderson, March 28, 1802. She was a member of the church, but the date of her admission has escaped the records. She de- ceased Feb. 10, 1853.
Their children were Semantha, wife of Hon. Pierrepoint Isham, and Edward H., deceased. The following obituary notice of Mr. Edward H. Swift appeared in the "New York Independent" at the time of his decease : -
" Died, at Havana, Cuba, on the 21st of June, 1865, of yellow fever, Edward H. Swift, formerly of Bennington, Vt., and for many years a merchant in New York, in the sixtieth year of his age. Mr. Swift was a gentleman of liberal education and cultivated mind. Amid the cares of a most active and eventful business life he found time for ·various and extensive reading, and was singularly well- informed with regard to all the leading topics of the day. More than thirty years since, he made a profession of re- ligion, and united with the church in Bennington, in con- nection with the ministry of the Rev. Daniel A. Clark, and throughout a life marked by no ordinary vicissitudes and trials maintained a high character for integrity and business
313
CAPT. SAXTON SQUIRE.
capacity. Smitten by a fatal disease, and dying among strangers, his afflicted family were denied the consolation of soothing his last hours by the ministries of affection ; but one who knew his worth, and admired his intelligent and manly virtues, pens this brief tribute to his memory."
. II. CAPT. SAXTON SQUIRE united with this church in March, 1803, born Jan. 4, 1758, removed to this place, 1786, from Kensington (now Southington), Conn. ; resided first near the residence of Esquire Hubbell, then, 1797, in the Centre Street, in the house which has for many years gone by his name, carrying on tanning, shoemaking, and also farming, subsequently removed into what is now Ben- nington village. He deceased July 25, 1825. His wife, Sylvia, united with this church Jan. 3, 1819, born August, 1765, died May 13, 1832. Their children : Dorcas, born May, 1783 ; Alson, born Jan. 25, 1784; Norman, born July 27, 1787 ; Fanny, born Feb. 27, 1789, united with the church May, 1803, married to Lyman Patchin July 22, 1810, died Sept. 17, 1834, - a Christian lady of exemplary piety, and in whose heart was a perennial fountain of benevo- lence. Many a poor person found daily charity at her door, and from thence no needy one was ever sent empty away. (Her daughter, Fanny M. Patchin, remarkable for the loveliness of her disposition, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831, married Samuel S. Scott, deceased May 27, 1851.) Buckley Squires, deceased, born May 4, 1791, - genial and generous, an officer in the Episcopal Church ; his funeral discourse was preached by his pastor, the Rev Dr. Manser, to whom he was greatly endeared for his warm and faithful friendship, and his zeal, tenderness, and efficiency as a member of the church; Newell Squires, born July 4, 1794 ; Albert, born Sept. 6, 1796, and Eliza, born July 11, 1800.
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314
MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
III. MRS. MARY GALUSHA united with this church in
1789. She was the first wife of Governor Galusha, and daughter of Governor Chittenden, married 1778, died 1791. By her, Governor Galusha had five sons and four daughters. Governor Galusha was not a member of any church, though, " in the estimation of those best competent to judge, a true Christian. He maintained family worship in all its forms, was known to observe private devotions, was an habitual attendant upon public worship and at social meetings, and frequently took an active part in the latter. In his daily life he was also such as a Christian should be, modest, amiable, upright, faithful to every obligation. . . . When nearly seventy-nine years of age, he attended a protracted meeting at Manchester, and took an active part in its exer- cises ; as the result of which he was aroused to a sense of the duty of making a public profession of religion, and announced his intention to do so, but was prevented from accomplishing his purpose by a stroke of paralysis, which he experienced soon after, and from which he never recovered. He was captain of two companies, consolidated into one, at the battle of Bennington ; and was in the detachment ordered to attack Baum's fortification upon the rear. His men were from Shaftsbury, where he resided. He was sheriff of the county, judge of the Supreme Court, and was appointed to other important offices in the State ; born in Norwich, Conn., Feb. 11, 1753 ; died Sept. 25, 1834.
By his first wife above mentioned he had five sons and four daughters. His children were well trained, and all of them who survived childhood became professors of religion ; one of them, Elon, an eminent minister in the Baptist denom- ination.1
A fourth wife of Governor Galusha, Nabby, united with this church in 1821.
1 Memoir of Jonas Galusha by Pliny H. White.
315
SAMUEL HICKS.
IV. RUFUS BARNEY came from Taunton, Mass., in 1790, with Capt. Chace and Mr. Burt and Geo. Godfrey, and their families, all from Taunton, Mass. They came in a vessel which they had chartered up the Hudson to Troy. At that time there was only a blacksmith shop, store, and one house. Land could have been then bought there as cheaply as in Bennington. Elkanah Barney, a younger brother of Rufus, came from Taunton, Mass., in 1793. They bought lands in the east part of the town. Elkanah Barney united with the Bennington First Church Sept. 4, 1825 ; his wife, Catherine, Aug. 6, 1820.
V. CAPT. EBENEZER CHACE came as above. His wife was sister to Rufus and Elkanah Barney. His daughter, Mrs. Roger Booth, retaining her faculties, and brightening with the most genuine interest and feeling at the mention of the olden times, an intelligent lady and a sincere Christian, deceased in 1868, aged eighty-eight. Capt. Chace died Jan. 20, 1832, aged eighty-eight. Hannah, his widow, died Jan. 10, 1842, aged eighty-nine. They both united with the Bennington First Church May, 1803.
They first lived upon the hill ; then moved down where Bennington village now is. Capt. Chace bought lands there. He cut the timber for his house, and moved into it in six weeks.
VI. SAMUEL HICKS and CHARITY, his wife, united with this church Sept. 26, 1790, during the pastorate of the Rev. Job Swift, D.D. His father was killed in the battle of Lexington. The family were sent with other families to Taunton, for safety.
CHARLES HICKS, son of Samuel Hicks, with his sons, drove the first stages over the mountain, on the route between here and Boston, and also southward in the direc-
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316
MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
tion of Pittsfield. His son, James Hicks, drove the first stage to Brattleborough about fifty years ago. The father drove a stage to Pittsfield many years before. He was the father of Hon. Charles Hicks and Uel M. Hicks, and Wil- liam, deceased 1832, at twenty-five years of age, who grad- uated at Williams College with the appointment of vale- dictorian. Frederick, son of Uel M. Hicks, is a minister of the gospel.
George, also a son of Uel M. Hicks, born Oct. 3, 1840, united with this church May 6, 1855, entered Williams College 1862; was a lieutenant of Vermont volunteers in the late war, and was killed before Petersburg July 30, 1864. He was with a detachment which, after the explosion of the mine, made an unsuccessful attempt to pass beyond it within the enemy's line and capture the crest of Ceme- tery Hill. For gallant services, a commission of brevet captaincy was, by a vote of Congress, made out for him and sent to his parents. He was also in the battle of Gettys- burgh. He was possessed of devoted piety, brave, noble, and good.
VII. MRS. POLLY ROACH united with the church in 1790. She was the mother of Mrs. Fanny Raymond. An only daughter of Mrs. Raymond, Mrs. Seth B. Hunt, deceased in Feb., 1867. Mrs. Hunt united with this church Jan. 5, 1834, and at the time of her decease was a member of the Tabernacle Congregational Church, Rev. J. P. Thompson, D.D., New York city. Devoted as a daughter, sister, wife, mother, she was polite and attentive to her guests and ac- quaintances. Blessed with wealth, she dispensed her ben- efactions to the poor with a liberal hand, having car-loads of the produce of the Bennington farm at "Maple Grove" shipped to New York, to be there, by herself and family, distributed to the needy.
317
COL. ORSAMUS C. MERRILL.
VIII. DR. MICAH J. LYMAN came here from Troy, N.Y., in 1790. He was graduated at Yale College in 1785. He was postmaster here for several years-O. C. Merrill, Esq., being his successor. He was in business here as a druggist. He left here for Montreal about 1810; and removed thence to Troy, N.Y., on the declaration of war, and established him- self in his business in Troy, taking his two eldest sons, Charles and George, as partners with him. " A family of great worth and excellent standing "1 originally from North- ampton, Mass. He came here to pass the remainder of life in 1851, but united with this church in 1843, while residing in Troy, because he was a Congregationalist, as a matter of principle, and so much so as to prefer to connect himself with that denomination in another town rather than with any other denomination where he was residing. His wife was Elizabeth Sheldon, a descendant on her mother's side of Ebenezer Hunt, one of the Northampton families of that name.
Charles Lyman, his son, married Elizabeth Sheldon, who after his decease became the second wife of the Rev. Dr. Hooker. George, his second son, is a deacon in this church.
IX. COL. ORSAMUS C. MERRILL was born in Farmington, Conn., June 18, 1775. He came to Bennington, April 5, 1791 ; at sixteen years of age was apprenticed to Anthony Haswell, and learned the printer's trade. The first business he did for himself was to print an edition of Webster's spelling-book. The printing-press was in the kitchen part of the house, the residence of the late Gov. John S. Rob- inson. Mr. Merrill then studied law with Andrew Selden, Esq., and was admitted to the bar in 1805, and, in August of that year, was married to Mary, daughter of Judge Jon- athan Robinson. In 1809 he was postmaster in this town,
1 Genealogy of the Hunt Family, p. 225. 27*
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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
aud held the office about three years. He was a major of the army in the war of 1812, and afterward a lieutenant- colonel. He was a member of Congress 1817-1819, and afterward a member of the State Council for five years ; also a representative to the Assembly and judge of probate. He was for several years, between 1826-1832, editor of the "Vermont Gazette." He made a public profession of his faith in Christ and united with this church September 4, 1831.
He was remarkable for great purity, elevation, and urbanity of character.
He was frequently the speaker of the day on public occa- sions. One of his orations of this kind, printed by request, with other literary exercises of the occasion, has fallen into the hands of the writer of this notice. He felt a deep in- terest and exerted himself much on behalf of common schools. His interested and careful labors as a Bible-class teacher also deserve mention.
His belief of the doctine of justification by faith in Christ alone was scriptural and decided, and his Christian example characteristically conscientious and circumspect. He de- ceased April 12, 1865, in the ninetieth year of his age.
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