USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Wallingford > People of Wallingford, a compilation > Part 6
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was relieved of military duty, September 3, 1811, a letter dated Pawlet, August 14, 1811, expresses regret for his proposed resig- nation as Captain and the hope that he will stand for election an- other year, speaking of him as a favored candidate.
The following is on record:
To Alexander Miller of Wallingford
This is to notify & warn you to appear at the dwelling house of Ebenezer Towner in Wallingford on the 25th day of Sept. In- stant at 7 o'clock in the forenoon; also, on the usual place of Parade in Tinmouth, at 9 o'clock in the forenoon of said day- armed & equipped as the Law directs for a Regimental Review- to attend to the Instructions which you will receive from Captain & Commanding Officer-By Order of Nathan Gould, Captain Jacob Houghton Secretary
To Alexander Miller
of the fifth Company of Infantry in the 2nd Regiment 2nd Bri- gade & 2nd Division of Militia in the State of Vermont
Alexander's only active service beyond training and parades appears to have been in connection with the so-called "Potash and Lumber Rebellion." Commercial intercourse with Canada developed after the close of the Revolutionary War in which western Vermont profited, due to the facilities of transportation by way of Lake Champlain and the Richelieu River. Ira Allen pro- posed the cutting of a ship canal connecting waters of the lake with those of the St. Lawrence to promote this commerce and made a voyage to England to secure the cooperation of the Brit- ish government.
The great pines that in colonial days had been reserved for "masting His Majesty's Navy" were cut down by men who owed allegiance to no king, and were gathered into enormous rafts, then floated slowly down the lake, impelled by sail or sweep. They bore as their cargo barrels of potash that had been con-
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densed from the ashes of the forests, sacrificed in flames to satisfy man's wants. The crew of the raft lived on board, and the voyage, though always slow, was pleasant and easy when the south wind filled the sails. In calm or adverse winds, it was hard work to keep headway with the heavy sweeps, and the voyage grew dangerous when storms arose and the leviathan heaved and surged on angry waves.
Sloops, schooners and square-sailed Canadian boats plied to and fro, bearing northward cargoes of wheat and potash; south- ward salt and merchandise from over-seas. After midwinter the ice afforded a highway for traffic in sleighs with loads of produce to exchange for goods or coin.
* "The declaration of what was commonly called the land em- bargo in 1808, cutting off this busy commerce, and barring west- ern Vermont from its most accessible market, caused great dis- tress and dissatisfaction, and gave rise to an extensive contraband trade.
"The Collector of the District of Vermont wrote to Mr. Galla- tin, United States Secretary of the Treasury, that the law could not be enforced without military aid. Upon this, President Jeffer- son issued a proclamation, calling on the insurgents to disperse, and on civil and military officers to aid in quelling all disturb- ances.
"There is nothing in the newspapers of the day or in official documents to show any combination to oppose the law, and at a regularly called town meeting the citizens of St. Albans, through their selectmen, formally protested to the President 'that no cause for such proclamation existed.' Nevertheless, the militia of Franklin County were called out by Governor Smith, a Repub- lican, who had that year been elected over Tichenor. The troops were assigned to duty at Wind Mill Point in Alburgh, to prevent the passage of certain timber rafts, which however, got safely past
* "Vermont" by Roland E. Robinson, Houghton Mifflin Co.
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the post in the night. For this the Franklin County troops were unjustly blamed, and, to their great indignation, were sent to their homes, while militia from Rutland County and a small force of regulars were brought up to take their place."
Alexander's company left Wallingford about June 1, 1808 for Swanton. On June 2d he writes to his wife from East Middlebury assuring her of "no Difficulty except the fateague" and saying, incidentally, that he has blistered some of his toes. On Monday the 6th of June he writes from Swanton where the company is to be stationed for some weeks. He speaks of Captain Pratt's com- pany from Rutland being destined for Alburgh, or Wind Mill Point. He also says, "I learn today that I shall be stationed here at Swanton Falls with about thirty men possibly to watch for wagons on the different roads in this vicinity, the rest of the com- pany will be, I expect, stationed at Huntsburgh, about 15 or 20 miles east."*
Politics frequently crop out in his correspondence. He writes, "I came away from home with a full determination to be neither Federal or Democrat but I cannot find scarcely a Decent man here but is oposd to the present measures of government." In a letter to his wife dated June 25th he writes of being appointed Pay- master with increased pay which insures his remaining until the company is ordered home. He had hoped to return earlier and was anxious about his crops, business, etc. His farm was in charge of a man whom he calls Aron. There is a tinge of homesickness in his letters, due no doubt, to the want of more active service, the company being occupied with little more than police duty. He hopes to get a ten days' furlough but does not succeed. On June 28th he served on a Court Martial at Wind Mill Point for the trial of Edmund Merrill. He probably returned home and was dis- charged from further duty about the first of August.
* Alexander's letters are on file in the Vermont Historical Library.
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RESIDENCE OF ALEXANDER MILLER
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GRAVES OF SOLOMON AND ALEXANDER MILLER
SOLOMON AND ALEXANDER MILLER
Alexander built a blacksmith shop on the site of the present Old Stone Shop which he equipped with a water wheel and a triphammer. This was built prior to 1808, for in a letter written at Swanton June 13th he says, "I am anxious to know how the work goes on in the Shop & how many hoes & Scythes are Sold & what pay he gets for them &c." This indicates clearly the character of the work being done. A wheelwright shop was also built beside the blacksmith shop on his land, which leads to the conclusion that he built it also, and that he may have made wag- ons, sleds, etc., although the wheelwright business might have been carried on by someone else. He sold both the blacksmith shop and the wheelwright shop with more than an acre of land to John Ballou of Shrewsbury, October 1, 1814, and the entire prop- erty eventually passed to Lyman Batcheller, as told in another chapter. The year before this he purchased a small plot of ground for a grindstone house and the privilege of drawing water from the milldam in the Creek to operate the grindstones. This was probably used to grind the scythes and other tools that he made at the blacksmith shop. After selling the blacksmith shop he pur- chased the privilege of taking water for the benefit of his farm and tan works. The location of the tan works is not definitely stated but it was probably a short distance south of his house.
Between the years 1813 and 1843 Alexander entered into nu- merous real estate transactions. He purchased upwards of thirty parcels of land at a total cost of something over six thousand dol- lars, and he sold about as many parcels for which the total con- sideration was a little less than six thousand dollars, giving the impression, at first thought, that he was the loser in the end; but that conclusion does not necessarily follow, for the land that he bought may have been more valuable than the land that he sold. His ownership at the time of his death of two farms beside the home farm is sufficient evidence of his thrift and business ability. Most of the real estate that he bought and sold was located in or
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near the village of Wallingford. Besides dealing in real estate, operating a blacksmith shop and a tannery, he occasionally loaned money upon mortgages. Eight of these are to be found in the rec- ords of the town. These transactions show his activity as a busi- ness man and the large part he played in the life of the commu- nity.
On March 10, 1828 he deeded to the Congregational Church Society thirty rods of land for a church site, the consideration be- ing twenty-six dollars which probably covered the expense of the transfer. In other words he made a gift of the land.
Alexander and Lucretia had no children but they adopted a daughter, Sarah Maria Hughes, daughter of Joseph and Desire Robbins Hughes. Sarah's name was never changed. She attended Middlebury College when it was a female seminary and after- wards married Elias Wheaton Kent in 1844.
Lucretia Miller died Febuary 20, 1839, at the age of fifty-five. Alexander Miller died March 11, 1844, at the age of sixty-eight.
By the will of Alexander Miller his home farm passed to Elias Wheaton Kent and his wife Sarah. Harvey Button of Walling- ford was given what was known as the Robbins House and $1,200-interest in Alexander's, so-called, Middle Farm. The American Home Mission and Tract Society was given $1,200 as a trust fund. The Congregational Church Society of Wallingford was given $1,200, to be known as the "Minister's Fund." A fund of $300 was created for the use of the Sabbath School and to teach young singers. Laura Miller, a niece, was given the use of $600. Charles Miller, a nephew, was given $1,000 after the death of his father; and Henry Miller, a nephew, $500 after the death of his father.
Harvey Button, familiarly known as "Judge" Button, was an outstanding lawyer; a graduate of Middlebury College, whose loyalty to his alma mater was indicated by his regular attendance at commencement; and a citizen held in high esteem by his fellow
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townsmen. His wife, Irene Miller, was a daughter of Epaphras Miller of Middlebury and niece of Alexander. Her mother was a granddaughter of Abraham Jackson, first settler in Wallingford.
Alexander's property consisted largely of real estate, live stock, farming implements and household furniture, including the Home Farm of seventy-five acres, valued at $4,000; the Middle Farm of one hundred fifty acres lying east of the Home Farm, valued in excess of $1,200; and the East, or Jackson Farm, of one hundred seventy acres, valued not less than $1,800.
It will be seen that Alexander Miller, or Squire Miller, as he was familiarly called, stood among the best citizens of the town in his time. He served as Selectman for the years 1824, '25, '26 and 27. He represented the town in the legislature for the year 1826. His real estate holdings and business career, his service in the militia, the public offices he held and his contributions to the church, all bear testimony to his character and public spirit. His wife, to use the language of Mrs. Chatterton, a contemporary, "was the first and foremost where there was any good to be done."
There follow letters of Alexander Miller and Lucretia Rob- bins, the originals now in the possession of Mr. John Spargo, President of the Vermont Historical Society.
Wallingford 21 of May 1802
Worthy Lady,
I here you have had the Small Pox to the greatest extremity but are getting better it is a bad Disorder in the Lightest Stages of it but the most terible of all in its worst Stages it is one pleasing consolation that it cannot be taken but once and it generaly Leaves a person in a better State of health than it found them-,
You Doubtless will recolect my intention of writing to you which I Would have taken the Liberty too before now had you been well.
As you are not a stranger to my wishes and I am totaly ignorant of yours I think it not amis to ask you Whether my addresses to you would be agreeable or not if not agreeable I Shall not be
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offended if you Direct this by Some Safe hand to me and be as- sured I Shall ever be in Sincerity the Same
With Sentiments of Respect Alex Miller
Miss Lucretia Robbins Troy.
Troy June 12th 1801
Sir I received a letter from you by the hand of your friend, in which you ask me, if your addreses would be agreeable to me? I answer, without formality, that I have no objection to your ad- dreses .--------
Perhaps you will think me too frank in my answer but I am no friend to unnecessary preambles, should you see errors I trust you will not trifle with a female pen.
I am Sir your well wisher
Mr. Alex Miller
L. Robbins
Wallingford 21st of June 1802
Most Respected Lady
I received your friendly letter of the 12th inst., and am pleased with your frankness, which you are pleased to call it which I con- sider a qualification of the highest magnitude. you wrote of errors which if you apologise for I shall suppose you expect some from me, but maddam my unacquaintance with writing but more espe- cialy to one of your Sex must plead my only apology, & if I am acquainted with you which I think I am I need not that. My Dearest Lady my motives in writing to you is that of friendship which I consider of all others the most honorable ever wishing to cultivate the acquaintance I have formed with you as long as I found it agreeable to your wishes. Social or friendly intercourse cannot Long continue Delightsome unless founded on virtuous and honorable principles. I shall always think my self Deprived of one essential point of my happiness in Life as Long as I am secluded from an union with some virtuous Lady in whose society and friendship I shall be her chief confident.
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SOLOMON AND ALEXANDER MILLER
Permit me maddam withot flattery to inform you that I have that inestimable opinion of you but perhaps I am taking two great liberty. I hope my frank method of writing will convince you that I do not intend to trifle with your generosity even if you were to Discover the Secrets of your heart.
I am maddam what I ever was your friend A. Miller
5th of August 1802
Worthy Lady. Mistake not my motive on the subject of our correspondence being a secret which if I wrightly consider it might be equaly advantageous to your self. when I were at Troy I had not leasure to have much conversation with you as I could have wished but concluded to make the subject of my wishes our corrispondance. Your consenting to my addresses did not consent to the manner in which I take that which I hardly know whether it is too great Liberty or not but I hope you will not in future be so reserved on the subject as to Lead me into errors I feell a De- gree of Difidence in writing from a want of knowing your wishes perfectly I hope you will not be Backward on a subject of as much importance as I would wish to make I think you cannot Doubt my intentions if I meet your incouragement
I am maddam withot affectation
or flatery A. Miller
Miss Lucretia
Troy August 19th 1802
Sir, The professions of friendship which I have received from you induces me to write, yet fearful least I should incur a suspi- cion of forwardness-A proper degree of secrecy in our correspondence may be advantageous to you and recommendable in me, but if your intentions are founded on the principles of your professions you cannot object to the sanction of my parents -Writing is an agreeable way of correspondence to me by it we are enabled to maintain acquaintance and friendship. You write of my reservedness will you be good enough to compute it to my diffidence as it is a subject entirely new to me.
Without the pleasures which are derived from friendship we should be deprived of many of those pleasing enjoyments we now experience. A true friendship is an inestimable treasure, but Oh
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how many that trample the sacred rites and oershadow villanies under the pleasing mask of Friendship-I am Sir in Sincerity, Your well wisher Lucretia Robbins.
Mr. A. Miller
2ยช of Oct. 1802
Worthy Lady,
Your letter of the 18th August by the hand of Mr. Houghton I received. I feel unhappy that you that you should doubt the sin- cerity of friendship which I have expressed to you and think of its being under the veil of flattery & Deceit & mere Professions only.
Permit me maddam to ask what advantage I should derive situated as I am from attemting to injure a lady of your knowl- edge and respectability in the world. Surely nothing, but a lost reputation & become Odious among my acquaintance. I think my reservedness in forming acquaintance among the Ladys had ought to be a sufficient proof that I do not wish to be possesd of the studied art of gallantry. I have no objection against the sanc- tion of Your Parents indeed it were my wishes if in the first place I had your confidence they are the only persons from whom you are to expect the best & most impartial advice I have no Disposi- tion to hurry or run headlong into matters of this consequence. But what am I ever to expect will you allow me to Quote the Last sentence of your letter you their Say, A true friend is an inestimable treasure but Oh how many that trample the sacred rights and overshadow villanies under the pleasing mask of friendship. Are my sentiments unknown to you. Surely not, the principles which have Directed me so far were inspired with a high respect of your person your virtues & accomplish-accom- plishments and intended to cement a Lasting union which should dissolve only with existence. these I am ready to declare were the genuine sentiments of my heart
But maddam if you think me capable of prostituteing the sacred rights of friendship as exprest above or indeed so long as you are in the least Distrustfull of it I am sure you cannot treat a subject of this kind with that familiarity that it had ought to be treated, although you attribute the cause to the newness of the subject yet I consider it arising from another cause. If I am
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in an error respecting your sentiments It is from you I expect cor- rections confidence in friendship is equal to both parties if you can place no confidence in me how am I to expect any from you. I long have & still Do wish to maintain an honorable corri- spondence with you the Long acquaintance I have had with you gives me every proof of your worthyness but wish it might be equaly pleasing on your part my feelings you are no stranger too. I fear I have already trespassed on your patients in my Lengthyness I will add no more. Except my best wishes for your for your perfect and future happiness & be asured I am what I would wish to be known to be your friend
With Sentiments of Respect Alex Miller Miss Lucretia,
Troy.
Troy December 12th 1802
Sir,
I received a letter from you Dated Oct. the 2 in which you in- formed me you received my last.
I also perceived by the severity which I think was visible in your Letter that it was not received as I expected.
I ask your pardon if I have accused you of useing deceit and flattery and violating the rights of friendship-be assured Sir this was not my design. But the quotation contained in your letter from mine I repeat again. That under the covert of friend- ship there are many who have trampled its sacred rights and be- come instead of true friends ungrateful comforters and vain deluders- To shun those misfortunes has been my study and to be reserved (especially in my behaviour to your sex) has al- ways been my aim-And if this is deviating from the path of rectitute in your Opinion, I fancy whatt would be the admiration of the greatest part of Mankind is your dislike-and you consider this as intimating that I believe you would become a prostitute in the cause of friendship. You are mistaken Sir if you apply it to be my intention be pleased to peruse that letter again (there may yet) * be room for a more favourable construction-
Perhaps I may be extravagent in my notions of delicacy but I idealize it in reflecting that it is the greatest honor of my sex-
* Words missing through breaking seal of letter.
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You write as though you considered yourself an entire stranger to my wishes-Let me ask you sir what you imagine to be my motive in wishing to continue the correspondence but to increase the begun friendship and familiarity. You can not think my intention is merely to entertain an Idle hour, far from it-Per- haps there is no person on earth who I might with less fearful- ness entrust confidence whatever than with you but I have not felt disposed to unravel the secrets of my heart unless I thought probable there might be a return.
Consider the bias'd sphere in which a female must act in gen- eral in the world and perhaps you will not so much blame your friend.
Lucretia Robbins
Mr. A. Miller
Respected Lady,
I received your, Date 12th of Dec and observed the contents.
I would not wish to be thought Severe in my last which I only meant for sincerity & plainness of heart which in matters of this kind I think is always necessary even so far void of dissimulation as to be willing to Discover faults which are any way amendable or which when known might be injurious to the happiness of either. Two of Different Dispositions Different temper Different Education and Different anxieties in Life could not Live togather agreeably .- You Seem to think I misconstrued your Letter ac- cording to your Desire I have read it again Likewise the whole of our corrispondance, believe me Lucretia that reservedness and Delicacy is a Distinguished Characteristic of a person of merit in my opinion for which I have ever esteemed you, but how far you would wish to carry it I do not know. Pardon me if I was partial or wrong in thinking that the plainness & familiarity in which I wrote intitled me to more full explanation than that which you had given me if you did not doubt my Sincerity which if you if you had the Least Doubt you were rite in so Doing. I verry well know that it belongs to me to make the first proposi-
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ELIAS WHEATON KENT, 1814-1883
SARAH MARIA HUGHES, 1814-1875, WIFE OF ELIAS W. KENT
SOLOMON AND ALEXANDER MILLER
tion but it takes two to make a bargain. I hope maddam our friendship may increase with our corrispondance.
I am in Sincerity with sentiments of Respect your friend and well wisher Alex Miller
Miss Lucretia
(December 20-1802)
Troy Decm. 5th 1806
You Sir, once addressed me and in a manner which led me to conclude your attention was not merely a dulatory but that your Professions were sincere and the wishes of your heart-If your sentiments were Correspondent with the Ideas you then conveyed I will make one enquiry, I will ask you if they Still remain so.
You may laugh at my Officiousness but Condemn not before you know the motive which induced this interruption although I shall not now explain this intrusion by your request you may know --
Lucretia Robbins
NB If you think this unworthy of your notice I shall consider the neglect of it as an answer-but however I trust you will never expose my precipitancy
Mr. Alexander Miller
Wallingford, Vermont
Lucretia, Your kind obliging and verry friendly letter fills my heart with gratitude toward you and at once makes me lament the treasure I have so long lost by being deprived of your society think not Lucretia that what I have said or wrote is mere fiction. I cannot believe you do, nor can you think my past negligence has in any measure alianated my affection nor, when I inform you their is not a day in my memory in which I have not thought of you, which far from lessening my affection has only increased it. I have presumed to introduce the subject to Mr. Robbins I believe he thinks it out of my power to render you happy. I have long wished to converse with you but owing to the condition of our family renders it totaly impossible for me to visit Troy at present. You write that by my request I shall have an explanation I hardly know but it is I hardly know but it is absurd for me ask
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an explanation of your obliging inquiry but still if I was not imposing upon your generosity I should solicit it, With respect Your Humble Servant Alex Miller
Wallingford 7th Jany 1807 Miss Lucretia Robbins
I received your Letter Sir in answer to my singular request, and now perhaps you will expect some apologies for my uncommon inquiry-and for my vindication I will first remind you of our former Correspondence. I at that time thought you Sincere and allowing that you then was; your extreme reservedness on the Subject whenever we have met might lead me to conclude you wished the intimacy forgotten but Still there were other cir- cumstances which promted me to think otherwise, and in this suspence I venture to appeal to you and my Particular Motive in thus interrogating I will now venture to explain-I have been Solicited to admit the addresses of a Gentleman whose at- tention perhaps I should not evade had it not been for our former Correspondence-It is easy to determine where my prefer- ence lies if I can be assured of your continued affections, if not be so friendly as to bury the past in oblivion-you may laugh at my solicitude but I will confess I have a wish (at least) to know who I may expect as a Companion
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