USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Wallingford > People of Wallingford, a compilation > Part 9
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25
In 1786, his son, Charles Frederick, married Hannah Kinne, a daughter of Capt. Kinne of Preston, Conn.
Charles Button's first grandson, Frederick, was two years old at the time of his grandfather's death.
In 1776 or 1777, Elisha, a younger brother of Charles Button came up from Rhode Island and made a home a mile to the south of the home of Charles. He was on Wallingford-town soil, when the town limits were at length settled. We do not know how Elisha gained his land, but if tradition is to be trusted, and it rarely is, he was on the soil Charles claimed as his, territory that stretched from Mill River on the north to Roaring Brook on the south; and to Button hill near Shrewsbury on the east, and to Button Hill in Ira, on the west.
It was in Elisha's home, Mr. Thorpe tells us, that a very im- portant church meeting of 1795 was held.
Elisha Button and his wife, Bethia Kinne Button, are buried in the Button family cemetery.
In 1835 one of Elisha's sons, Gardner, moved with his family to Western New York State.
It must have been about this time or a few years later that Charles F. Button, son of grandfather's brother Charles and of Susan Townsend, a sister of Col. Dyer Townsend, went to Ohio. His descendants are living today in Bowling Green and Akron, Ohio. One of his children, Susan Button, was a well known Ohio poet.
We do not know when Joseph, the younger child of Charles
[ 107 ]
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
and Anne moved to Danby. It was after the death of his father in 1790, for from a note made by grandfather I find Joseph But- ton had a store in Clarendon between 1780-1790. My father re- called visiting with great pleasure a Quaker Uncle Joseph Button in Danby. Both he and Aunt Ellen spoke of him with affection, and as a man far on in years in their childhood.
Charles' son, Charles Frederick, stayed on the farm. He was but twenty-eight when he became the owner of the land on which Charles and Anne had settled.
For eighteen years Charles Frederick struggled successfully with the hardships of life in early Vermont, clearing the land of timber, and finding easy sale for it; increasing the acreage of cul- tivation; raising sheep, and benefitting from tanners to whom he sold the leather; raising grain to be ground in the neighborhood mill. He had been taught by his father and mother and probably later by some clergyman of the neighborhood. He rose before sunrise, and worked all day. He had no need for the silver buckles mentioned in his grandfather Wilcox's will, and he may never have even heard of them! But beside the huge logs in the fireplace, he had heard the story of the northward trip of his parents, their first experiences, and perhaps tales from father Charles of his life and that of his mother, the brave Anne. In turn he told of it to his children.
Both Charles Frederick and Hannah his wife died in 1809, when Frederick the eldest son was twenty-one. There were five younger brothers living and two sisters; Charles sixteen, Ira twelve, Harvey nine, Harry seven, and Nathan only three years old. The two girls Content and Lucinda were old enough to be helpful in the home. Frederick soon married a young woman, Elizabeth Rogers.
Although each of the children received about $1,500 from their father's estate, the younger boys were in custom with the times, apprentices to their older brother, Frederick.
[108 ]
1
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS
So far as I know, Harvey, my grandfather, never gave any word of complaint against his brother's treatment of himself or of his brothers. But to be left an orphan at nine and to be the appren- ticed farm hand of his own brother for eleven years was not an attractive outlook. It may have been the year Charles became twenty-one and left home that Harvey made a decision regard- ing his future. It was not a usual decision for an orphan boy.
I like to think that it was on such a day as the one his grand- mother, Anne, first saw spring coming along the Otter, that Grandfather Harvey, mindful of all he had been told of family traditions, decided to face the world as master of himself. To break an apprenticeship, even to one's brother, was a serious business. But even at that age grandfather listened to the "inner voice" and knew he was conscience clear. Lucinda who was a capable school teacher encouraged him. Uncle Jacob, who was now prospering, may have agreed to lend him money. Before graduation his inheritance from his father would be available. Harvey decided to go to college! Naturally brother Frederick regretted the loss of Harvey's work, for there was still at least five or six years of his apprenticeship, and conscientious Harvey must have been good help on the farm, but he made no resistance. Thus a life long friendship was kept.
At Danby at this time there was a school for teachers, taught by a Quaker, Jacob Eddy. It is probable that Lucinda had pre- pared for teaching there. She also attended a school at Castleton.
Young Harvey had been well guided by his sister in making up his mind to prepare for a profession. He entered Middlebury College in 1819, and graduated with the class of 1823. We hope Lucinda was present at this commencement!
We know some facts regarding the Middlebury of those early years. Two buildings, the old Chapel and Painter Hall; a faculty as scholarly as the professors of Yale.
[ 109 ]
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
When grandfather attended his Greek class at six in the morn- ing, before breakfast, he was not translating as an exercise for mental discipline; he was absorbing Greek Philosophy. He knew his Latin and Greek as literature and his favorite quotations, made from memory, in later years, showed his preference for Cicero, and Ovid's Metamorphoses.
During long winter evenings before a large fireplace in their room, he and his companions kept warm by wood bought in com- pany, perhaps cut and drawn by themselves. Two or three can- dles in pewter candlesticks placed on the floor, supplemented the light of burning logs while the men lay stretched on the floor be- side it, working at Greek, Latin, and Mathematics. A leaf torn from a diary, a scrap of paper treasured for years, shows a rec- ord of buying second hand and reselling his books. Costly they were, and bought at great sacrifice. Some were saved as a nucleus for his library to which he added systematically.
The year that Harvey Button was graduated from Middlebury, his future sister-in-law, Amanda Miller, was visiting her uncle Alexander Miller, here in Wallingford.
The first letter we are taking from the bandbox is one from Amanda to sister Irene at home in Middlebury. The H. B. of Amanda's letter is no other than Harvey Button. For this reason and for the touches of Wallingford life, including reference to singing school, to girls' dresses in 1823, I am quoting a part of the letter.
Wallingford, Vermont Monday Dec 1823 I shall indeed be disappointed if I do not hear from home this week and receive some small donations, for it is a fact whether you believe me or not, I am indecently clothed. My crape is about gone and my silk which was my sole dependence gave way at the chorus last week, in consequence of which I took the liberty to purchase a columbian plaid as I found one for 3 pounds 50 shillings which I in part paid in making shirts for Mr. B-, and now since I have no other expedient but to send
[ 110 ]
--
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS
home for something to meet the remainder of the demand, and I am in great need of a pocket handkerchief-I really hope you will intercede with father to send me some money. You can do as I did, seal your letter and put on a cover. Mr. Roy will never take the trouble to examine it I presume.
"I need not inform you of my great regret in being absent at the time of Mr. H. B's arrival in M -. Since you have so long been sensible that he had my especial esteem, I am more and more convinced that he is a rare personage which may be difficult to obtain. Did you learn where his destined residence is to be, and what his profession? If so pray inform me if there were any particulars in his visit. Acquaint yourself with all and be brief in your communications. You will laugh when you come to this part of my letter, I am well aware and congratulate yourself upon the discovery of a secret but I assure you at present it is motives of curiosity that induce me to make this enquiry.
To my grandfather Button, deprived of so much of happy home life in his youth, through the early death of his parents, this Miller family affection for one another, their happy way of mak- ing merry together, must have been delightful. I have never been told, but I suppose he met Irene while he attended College, and was one of the beaux often entertained at the Miller homes, both in Wallingford and in Middlebury.
After graduation, Harvey Button settled upon law as his pro- fession. By 1825 he had two rooms in the north end of the old inn, which stood on the ground where True Temper Inn now stands. Grandfather after admittance to the bar began legal practice here in Wallingford.
In 1830 he was watching a white cottage being built on the land next to the Inn. On Feb. 6, 1832, there was a double wedding in Middlebury, when Irene, after a nine-year courtship, married Harvey, and Desire, Ezra Booth of Rochester, N. Y.
When Irene Miller Button came to Wallingford as a bride in 1832, and became the mistress of the little cottage, she was com- ing back to the town of her forefathers. Her great-grandfather
[ 111 ]
1
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
Abraham Jackson was the first settler of Wallingford; her grand- father Solomon Miller had come to Wallingford in 1787.
Solomon Miller, son of Thomas and grandson of Samuel Mil- ler, was born in 1731. He married Desire Smith in 1756. The Mil- lers had dwelt in the neighborhood of Springfield, Mass., since 1640, when a grandsire named John, and three sons helped in the defense of the town in the battle with the Indians.
These facts were ascertained about one hundred years ago when George Miller of Albany drew the Miller family tree.
When Solomon Miller moved from West Springfield, Mass., to Wallingford in 1787, Wallingford was already a developing set- tlement. He probably came up to the newer country, because there would be a better opportunity for his sons to acquire and develop land. He bought considerable land in the section and it is possible, as was the case with most New England settlers, added to the fam- ily fortunes by establishing small industries. His next to the youngest son, Epaphras, who became my great-grandfather, was seventeen when the family moved here. Alexander, the youngest son, was but eleven. These two boys were taught to be self-de- pendent in the customary New England way-given a knowledge of a trade-and an education that required mental discipline, in- cluding studies much broader in scope than we often realize to- day.
Solomon, the eldest son, was twenty-six when the family moved here. His wife was Irene Miner. Before removing to Williston where he became a large land owner, a man of influence in that section, he had served Wallingford in various town offices. For several years he was Town Clerk.
From a letter writter by Solomon, when seventy-eight, to his brother Alexander we have a glimpse of the home of Solomon and Desire Miller.
"We were brought up together in much friendship-could we be more together as we go down the hill of life it would be very
[ 112 ]
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS pleasant to me." Later in the letter he speaks of the Randalls, whom he knew as a young man when both families were active in forming an influential town here. "Give my respects to Mrs. Randall and the girls. I thank them for their kind attention to me." In a postscript he asks his brother, "Shall I tell John to leave the gate open the first slaying or before and a place cleared for you to come."
The Miller home here in Wallingford one hundred and fifty years ago was a home that exerted strong influence. It was evi- dently a home where matters were intelligently discussed, and where the sons were taught to reason. The Millers for genera- tions have been a kindly, intelligent race, retaining a Scotch clan- nishness in friendliness for those of even remote kinship.
One of Solomon Miller's books has his own signature, with an additional sweep of curves, characteristic of the time. The book is a volume of twenty-five sermons by the Rev. Joseph Lathrop, D.D. of West Springfield. It was published in 1791, and it is logical to conclude that Solomon and Desire sent for the book as they wished to read some of the sermons they had heard preached in the West Springfield church. The sermons in style and content show the influence of Addison. They are sermons written when the discussion of "The New Light" was receiving much attention, and one sees in them faint suggestions of the far distant clashes of fundamentalism and the newer ideas.
But the Millers did not confine their reading to Biblical litera- ture. Other fireside reading and discussion also had a strong in- fluence. A leather bound folio volume of the American Spectator Papers, 1801-1802, shows one avenue they had for the gathering of knowledge. News of Europe and Asia eight weeks old was news to them as they read it, and waited for the sequels as they ap- peared on Wednesday and on Saturday.
Solomon's son Samuel graduated from Yale, and after mar- riage to Rebecca Mattock of New Haven, Conn., settled as a
[ 113 ]
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
lawyer in Middlebury. He was one of the founders of Middlebury College.
Epaphras, after his marriage to Elener Allen, also settled in Middlebury (1796) ; thus two brothers went to Middlebury and two to Williston.
Elisha was twenty-one when the family came here. He went to Williston as one of its earliest settlers, where he became a pros- perous, influential citizen.
The following extract from a letter from Elisha Miller to Brother Alexander shows the strong family affection of this Miller clan. Elisha was eighty at the time he wrote this letter.
Williston July 16th 1836
"Dear Brother-I know not that I have brother but acci- dentally hear that you are alive-It ought not so be-the little time we have to live and enjoy our friends ought to remind us if we cannot see them we may write them oftener than we do and let them know how we fare-My health is as good as I can expect for so old a man; have my often Infirmatives and fail in resolution to even write * *
In the latter part of his letter he speaks of sheep and wool. "Have not sold my wool nor does there appear much prospect at present they only buy to keep their factories going some pay pretty fair prices* * * no purchases for fine wool like mine * wool sells from 45 to 60 cents."
Elisha Miller's first wife was Loraine Jackson, the first white child born in the town of Wallingford.
Elisha and Loraine must have been married here in Walling- ford, but the record is lost. The first recorded marriage in the town records is that of Epaphras Miller and Elener Allen, both of this town. They were married in July, 1793.
Alexander remained in Wallingford, the only descendant of Solomon to remain here. A son of Epaphras, Henry, later made his home here.
[ 114 ]
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS
Some of our older Wallingford residents recall "Uncle Henry" Miller who was very like a hermit. For many years he wore a broad-brimmed hat like the Quaker's and avoided society. He de- lighted in nature, roamed the hills for herbs, collected specimens for his geological study. He often carried with him a good tele- scope. At one time he lived alone in a little house near the Gale Batcheller house. When I was a child he lived in the rear part of the house of Mrs. Libb Winn on Church Street. She cared for him at this time.
Uncle Alexander remembered him in his will, and also Irene's favorite brother, Charles. Charles and Henry both remained bach- elors through life, both eccentric, I conclude. The letters of Charles are very delightful, even in youth. He was a scholar and collected an excellent library in Rochester, N. Y., where he settled as a merchant. At one time he studied law with my grandfather here in Wallingford, but decided he did not care to practice law.
I am including just one more of these Miller letters. One from sister Sarah to Irene, visiting at Uncle Alexander's. It is startling to hear of a girl of 1827 considering the study of logic. This is evidently a sequence in Middlebury to Emma Willard's never- to-be-forgotten declaration to the faculty of Middlebury College and to the world at large, that women are capable of logical reasoning.
Epaphras often expressed gratitude to his brother Alexander for the care of his children.
Extract of a letter from Sarah Miller to Irene Miller)
Middlebury Nov 1st 1827
"Dear Irene I need not say I want to go to Wallingford for that you already know-I see Father has written to Uncle about it I must go to school somewhere this winter-I was just talk- ing with Desire when your letter came in that I did not know but I should have to accept of Edward Sell's offer-he offered to teach me Logic, Rhetoric, Arithmetic and Writing-if I would
[ 115 ]
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
apply myself in 3 months so that I should know as much as he, and I am sure that would be sufficient"
Sarah was seventeen when she wrote this letter.
The kindly influence of Alexander Miller in his home town is spoken of elsewhere in this volume. So far as I know he never sat for his portrait. Samuel's is in the Middlebury College collection. Epaphras' and that of his wife Elener Allen Miller are in the Sheldon Museum, Middlebury. Elisha's was done later in life. All Millers bear a family resemblance, therefore it is safe to assume that Alexander Miller was of large build; had slightly sloping shoulders, a large head with high forehead, deep-set blue eyes with probably an almost ever present smile in them, that could change quickly to a glance of keen penetration, perhaps rather cold and disconcerting.
The town records give considerable information regarding the first settler, Abraham Jackson. In the very earliest of the recorded deeds in the town the name of Jacksons, (Abraham, Abraham Jackson, Jr., Jethro, Jedediah, Asahel) appear over one hundred and fifty times. This leads to a belief that Abraham Jackson was prosperous when he left Litchfield Co., Conn., and that he came here with the idea of owning for himself and his children land in the northern wilderness. He was forty-six at the time. He had sev- eral sons, and at least two daughters, one of whom became my great-great-grandmother, Elener Jackson Allen. His eldest son, Abraham Jackson, Junior, was twenty-three when he came to Wallingford. The fourth son was Jethro. This son bought and sold much land. The name of the eldest son, Abraham, appears often in the town records and is always referred to as junior or jun, there being an evident desire to distinguish between father and son. Both served the town as town treasurer, and in other im- portant offices.
In July 1776, Abraham Jackson and Matthew Lyon attended the convention at Dorset. In a record of 1786 we read "and chose
[ 116 ]
A
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS Abraham Jackson Esq. to attend the convention at Manchester."
One of the most interesting "finds" in these records is, I be- lieve, a deed that describes Jackson's Gore. It is a deed in which father Abraham deeds to Jethro 885 acres of land in the Gore, for nine shillings. This was evidently a gift to Jethro, who seems to have been a favored son. The most interesting part of the deed is that which describes the location of the Gore, "lying east and joining Wallingford and was granted to myself and associates by ye Governor of said State. Said land is now laid out in one 100 and five acre lots and numbered as may appear upon the plan of said Gore, accepting one hundred and fifty acres of undivided land as was given me by a legal vote of proprietors of said Gore"-etc. John and Goodyer Clark are later mentioned in the deed as own- ers of lots ; 20, 27 and 65, to John Clarke and 56 to Goodyer Clark. Nowhere else have I found a list of other associates.
One authority has stated that Jackson bought the land known as the Gore, to aid the state in getting money for the Continental Army. This Gore later became a part of Mount Holly.
Abraham Jackson came to Wallingford in 1773 and was the first of the town forefathers to make a home here. Tradition says that his first house was built just south of our present village near Otter River. Soon after his death, 1791, references to Jacksons in town records cease. After 1790, only occasionally is the name found in a recorded deed. It is said that his son Abraham moved to Mt. Holly and it is probable the other sons also moved on to new fields of activity.
Abraham Jackson in his will, made in 1790, entrusts all settle- ments to "Abraham Jackson my first son, and Jethro, my fourth son." With them, too, he places the care of his widow, Elener, to whom he leaves all personal property. Family tradition has given her name as Elener Ferris, or Ferry.
A white marble stone in the village cemetery marks his grave and states that "Here lies the body of Mr. Abraham Jackson," but
[ 117 ]
PEOPLE OF WALLINGFORD
a quatrain reminds the observer that while dust returns to dust, the soul endures. The stone is still well preserved. A few years ago Mr. Andrews reset and cleaned many of these old stones marking graves of those who lived here long ago. Many of these stones are good examples of the art of the early carvers of marble, taken probably from the Dorset quarry.
When grandfather and grandmother, a descendant of the Mil- lers and the Jacksons moved into the white cottage in 1832 or 1833, it had no ell. Additions were made to the house as the fam- ily increased.
It is interesting to think of the changes the house has seen in the way of "improvements." It was heated at first by three huge fireplaces, connecting with a central chimney room. We still have some of the pewter candlesticks used in the early days, and the moulds in which the candles were made. Then came the days of kerosene oil lamps, and coal stoves took the place of the fire- places, removed for the sake of comfort-gaining.
About this time all of Grandfather's brothers and sisters were married and were in homes of their own. Nathan went to Ohio, Charles came to Wallingford, married Susan Townsend and opened the partnership store, Townsend and Button; Ira went to Brandon and became the father and grandfather of "the Brandon Buttons"; Lucinda married Col. Dyer Townsend; Content mar- ried E. J. Wylie and lived in Iowa, where they struggled success- fully with pioneer life. Frederick stayed on the old farm and pros- pered. It has ever since been owned by a descendant of the orig- inal settler, Charles Button. Roy Pratt's son, 7th generation, now ten years old, says he intends to stay on the farm. And this is in America!
In 1835 grandfather visited Nathan in Ohio. A letter written when he made this first Western trip gives interesting facts re- garding travel at that time.
[118 ]
THE BUTTONS, THE JACKSONS AND THE MILLERS
Franklin Mills Ohio 5th Oct 1835
"Mrs. Irene Miller Button. Dear & Beloved Wife-I am now at Brother Nathan's and am very happy to say to you by letter that I am well and have had a pleasant journey, all things considered. I was at Rochester, N. Y. one week ago this day and found all our friends well. Charles accompanied me to Niagara Falls- and left me last Thursday and returned to Rochester. We had a fine time at the Falls, and had a good view of the great waters rolling over the rocks into the gulch below. I can give no account of the wonders I have seen on paper and will say that after I left Charles I took the steamboat at Buffalo for Cleveland, and in 3 days arrived at this place and found Brother's family all well. I had a hard time on the lake, and was a little Sea sick and can feel the boat rocked by the waves. The wind was very strong and we were obliged to cast anchor and lay still for nearly a day, and we had on board five or six hundred passengers and the boat was continually tossed about and most of the passengers seasick. I am however, well pleased with the western country, and there are many advantages here that we have not in Vermont and a great many privileges in Vermont that the western world knows not of *
A year later grandfather went again to Ohio. This time it was a sad journey. Nathan, only thirty, had died. He had been success- ful in business and had married Charlotte Pomeroy, a cultured, very intelligent woman. He left two children.
From a letter to my grandmother written at this time, I find an expression of grandfather's vision for the type of life he wished for himself and his family. Nathan's family and his sister Con- tent had urged him to make Ohio his home.
Franklin Mills Ohio 3d Dec 1836 I could undoubtedly make money here & perhaps do as much good in the world, as I could by staying in Vermont. But I would have to forego the pleasure of our friends' society & the company of our old acquaintances and for all this what would I get except a little trash, called wealth; and supposing I
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.