The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 131

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier. > Part 131

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To his dismay he found the corn, so carefully stored the fall before, was nearly all gone. Bears, Indians or travelers, had a F re ne fo abs the alm fille bis cabi gray has his taken well nigh the whole. We can hardly conceive a condition more sad and dismal. Relying upon his supply of corn, he had taken little provision with him, and there was none in the shape of grain short of a return to Corinth. Hunting and fishing were his only resource. The last of May, having made an additional clearing, and nearly finished planting his corn, he left his children and returned to Corinth for the remainder of his family, expecting to be absent one week, and leaving provision barely for that time. The children, as I have remarked, were Elias, a lad of about 15 years, and who have subsequently owned the place where Miss yo from McFai Electa Corse now resides, and whose re- mains lie unmarked in our graveyard ; Irene, a girl about 12 years old, who mar- there. the fan son Ja the the fam ried a Mr. Coleman, of Underhill, and who died there in 1826, and James, a smal boy, who lived for many years in the south part of Jericho, and who died there, Feb. 1865, nearly 90 years old. After thei father had left, the children found they The fat must put themselves on short allowance toat his te bring the week through. The week ended he said and so did their provisions, but the fatherriver and did not return. Their only reliable mean Returnin of subsistence then was the wild onions cporish leeks which grew in abundance on the irpim.

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tervale. To relieve themselves, they re- solved to go down to the Falls to catch fish, having been told they were abundant there. In attempting to cross Waterbury river on a button-wood pole, the only means of crossing then, the sister fell into the stream, and came near being drowned. After rescuing her, they returned to their desolate cabin, and to the sorry food of wild onions. Thus they passed another week, but no father came. Thinking they must certainly perish if they remained longer, they left for their nearest neigh- bor, Mr. Jesse McFairlane, who had set- tled that spring on the Jones farm in Richmond. On their way down, a huge bear met them near the present residence of Capt. H. Sherman, but their hunting dog, which had been left with them, soon worried him up the side of the mountain, and they passed on in safety to Mr. Mc- Fairlane's, where they were most kindly received and cared for. They were so nearly starved, that it was some time be- fore it was safe for them to eat a full meal.

After about three weeks' unavoidable absence, the father, with the mother and the rest of the family, returned. Driven almost to desperation by his delays, and filled with the deepest anxiety, he thinks his worst fears are realized as he enters his cabin and finds it desolate, and the cold, gray ashes on the rude hearth tell him it [has been desolate for several days. Surely his children have perished in the woods or have been devoured by the wild beasts. A young man who had accompanied them rom Corinth was immediately sent to Mr. McFairlaine's to see if the children were here. They were found, and before night he family were all together again. The on James, who so long survived the rest f the family, and from whom these par- iculars were learned, said the meeting of he family was one never to be forgotten. 'he father had been up the stream to look t his traps, at the beaver-dams, of which e said there were then three between the het ver and the site of the present mills. eturning, he met his son, bounding with oyish glee through the woods to meet im. Clasping him in his arms, with

tears streaming from his eyes, he exclaim- ed, "Bless the Lord! my children are alive-my children are alive!" and such was his excess of joy at seeing them alive, that it was many hours before he could cease weeping.

During this first summer, this family lived many weeks on wild onions, cooked in the milk of their one cow, the father often gone for many days, in the fruitless endeavor to procure provision. The only occasional relief they had until their corn was harvested, was in the killing of a moose or bear, which in summer could rarely be done. That summer Mr. Marsh built his log-house on his clearing. a little' to the west of the graveyard hill, and moved into it. His crop of corn raised near the river was fine, but after he had secured some 20 bushels of it, a flood came and destroyed the remainder. So that for nearly 2 years they lived much of the time on the flesh of the moose, deer and bear. Much of the little grain they had, which was procured in the settlements in Rich- mond, Williston and Jericho, and brought home on the back, was paid for with the skins of these animals and those of the beaver.

In the spring of 1785, Mr. Marsh was made glad by the coming of the second settler, Ezra Butler. But as Mr. Butler left in the fall and did not return until the next spring, for nearly 2 years Mr. Marsh with his family was alone in this wilder- ness. After the arrival of Mr. Butler with his family, a year and a half more elapsed before another settler came. March 29. 1788, Mr. Marsh went to Richmond to meet and conduct to Waterbury its third settler, .Caleb Munson. In the afternoon he crossed the river to Mr. Brownson's, to run some pewter spoons. Before he had finished his work it began to be dark, and as the weather was mild and the river be- ginning to break up, he was urged to re- main for the night. But he expressed a strong desire to spend the evening with the family who were to be his new neigh- bors, and taking a long pole, he started to return. A cry of distress was soon heard at the river, but before help could arrive,

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he had disappeared under the ice. His pole was lying across the hole into which he had fallen, but somehow his grasp upon it was lost, and the current being strong, he was carried down the river, and his body was not found until several days after. He was buried at Richmond-only two of the family, the oldest son and daughter, could attend the funeral. Their neighbor, Mr. Butler, accompanied them, and it is said, he and the son alternated in carrying the daughter much of the way on their backs, the snow being too deep for her to walk.

The whole story of Mr. Marsh is a sadly interesting one. On account of pecuniary misfortunes elsewhere, he came into the wilderness of our town with a large fam- ily, and almost destitute of any means of support, except such as his hands could supply from day to day from the forests and the streams. Here they lived for two years, with no family nearer than 10 miles down the river and about 7 miles up the river (Thomas Mead's, in Middlesex.) Hardly can privations and hardships sur- pass what they endured, especially during the dreary winters of these two years. Often they were so near starving. that when the children saw their father return- ing from his long hunt, with a quarter of moose or deer on his shoulder, with knife in hand they would rush to meet him, and each slashing a slice for himself, and cast- ing it on the coals for a moment, would eat it as in the desperation of starvation. He came to his mournful end just as set- tlers were beginning to come into town, and his own privations were giving place to the comforts of home. He seems to have been a hardy, resolute man. Bravely bearing up against a host of difficulties, and yet at times well nigh crushed beneath their burden, tears often starting from his eyes as he looked upon his family and thought of their desperate, forlorn condi- tion. Though he was removed, his family was cared for, his children becoming re- spectable, and some of them influential members of society in this and neighbor- ing towns.

picture, it is pleasant to turn to a brighter page. The second settler of Waterbury, as has been already remarked, was

EZRA BUTLER,

afterwards so well known as a minister of the Gospel, a judge on the bench, and as the governor of the State.

Mr. Butler was the son of Asaph Butler, and was born in Lancaster, Worcester Co. Mass., Sept. 24, 1763. He was the fifth of seven children, four sons and three daughters. In his 7th year, his father moved to West Windsor, Vt., where his mother, whose maiden name was Jane McAllister, soon died, and where he spent the next 7 or 8 years, mainly in the family of his elder brother, Joel Butler. When about 14 years of age, he went to live with Dr. Stearns, of Claremont, N. H., as a laborer on his farm, and with the excep- a tion of 6 months in his 17th year, when he was a soldier in the army of the Revolu- tion, he continued in the service of Dr. S., having almost the entire management of his farm, until he was of age. In 1785, em and limb nerve Lion its pr them hey f Incide the st ume m The co ously i As M lext set rly rega own. rominen nd publi amed bo Lied by his w Deacon sued the jeemen of e the tom hosen tow having spent a few months previous in Weathersfield, he came to Waterbury in company with his brother Asaph, next older than himself. They came to Judge Paine's, in Williamstown, with an ox- team. The rest of the way they came on snow-shoes, drawing their effects on a hand-sled, the snow being 3 or 4 feet deep, and reached W. the 20th of March. It must have been a joyful day to the Marsh family when these two young men, with their hand-sled, hauled up before their door. Their loneliness, in part at least was ended. Mr. Butler and his brother immediately made their pitch, near where Mr. C. C. Corse now resides, and made : small clearing, planted it to corn, and re turned to Weathersfield, where in June o that year, Mr. Butler was married to Mis Tryphena Diggins. He soon returned and finding the title to the land on whic he had pitched, bad, he selected anothe right a little below the village, made clearing, built a log-house very near th present residence of Deacon Parker, ar ficial life

After contemplating so long this gloomy | in September of 1786, moved into it wi-

he. From

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his wife and child, and on that place (now mainly owned by the State for the Reform School), he spent the remainder of his eventful life. He and his wife made their journey from Weathersfield on horseback, much of the way by a bridle-path, and in this way brought some of their effects deemed most necessary in the matter of housekeeping. The brother who first came with him settled in Richmond, and twenty or thirty years after moved to the West.

went through almost every grade to the chief magistracy of the State.

From 1794 to 1805, with the exception of 1798, he represented the town in the General Assembly. In 1807, he was chos- en both as a representative and as a mem- ber of the Council ; and by the record of votes, seems to have acted part of the time in one body and a part in the other. (4) In 1808, he was again elected to the Council, and with the exception of 1813 and 1814, when he was in Congress, he was annually re-elected to this body until 1826. In 1803, he was elected assistant judge of Chittenden County Court, Water- bury at that time belonging to that county, and was re-elected to that office the two following years. In 1806, he was elected chief judge of that court, and continued to hold that office until 1811. In 1811, Jeff- erson, now Washington County, was or- ganized, and Judge Butler was elected

Mr. Marsh had subsisted his family, to a great extent, by hunting and fishing, and into this pioneer life, Mr. Butler was soon initiated. Their meat was that of the moose, the deer and the bear, and in their pursuit they were often led far from home, nto the wilderness of neighboring towns und far up the mountain sides, not unfre- quently camping out, the cold winter nights, to renew the chase in the morning. f faint with weariness and hunger, they j chief judge of that County court and except vere ready to despair, and to return with the 2 years when in Congress (1813 and '14) and 1818, he held that office until 1825, when the judicial system of the State was changed to substantially its present form, when Judge Butler was chosen first assistant judge of the court. In 1806, he was chosen a member of the Council of Censors, and in 1822, a member of the Constitutional Convention. In 1804, and again in 1820, a presidential elector. In 1812, he was elected a member of Con- gress on the Republican general ticket along with James Fisk, Wm. Strong, Wm. C. Bradley, Richard Skinner and Charles Rich. In 1814, the candidates of the Fed- eral party were elected, entirely changing the delegation of Vermont. . In 1826, he was elected Governor of the State, and re- elected the following year, and each time without an organized opposition. Imme- diately after his second election, he de- clined another election, and at the close of that term, retired from official life, having been in office without interruption, from the organization of the town in 1790, often holding two or more important offices at the same time. mpty hands, the thought of a starving wife nd children put new vigor into their mbs, new resolves into their hearts, and erved them with the energy of despera- ion. Food they must have or perish in 's pursuit. It was a battle for life for hemselves and their families, and bravely hey fought it. It was a life full of thrilling icidents and adventures, with which, had ne story of them been treasured, a vol- me might be filled. By these hardships ne constitution of Mr. Butler was seri- isly impaired before he was 30 years old. As Mr. Marsh was drowned before the ext settler arrived, Mr. Butler was prop- ly regarded as the pioneer man of the wn. Though a young man, he took a ominent part in all private enterprises d public movements. He built the first imed house in the town-so long occu- ed by his son, Russell Butler, now owned Deacon Erastus Parker. To him was ;ued the warrant to call a meeting of the :emen of Waterbury, in 1790, to organ- the town, and at that meeting he was osen town clerk. From this time the icial life of Mr. Butler was a remarkable e. From this humble beginning he

In addition to these civil and political offices, he was a committee with Elijah

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Paine and James Whitelaw, to fix the site for the first State House in Montpelier,- a commissioner in 1807, with Samuel Shaw, John Cameron, Josiah Wright and Elihu Luce to determine the place and plan for the State Prison, and subsequently a commissioner to locate the State Arsenal. He was a trustee of the University of Vermont, from 1810 to 1816. Indeed, there was hardly an office of honor or trust in the gift of the people or Legislature that he did not fill. In this respect, the career of Gov. Butler from an unlettered pioneer -(his schooling was limited to 6 months in his boyhood,)-from a hunter and trap- per up through almost every grade of office to the chief magistracy of the State, is a remarkable one and has few parallels in history. These honors and trusts he won by his sterling sense and honesty, and by his great energy and strength of will. Everybody felt that whatever trusts were reposed in him were safe-that whatever was given him to do, would be done, and so they always found it.

Mr. Butler had a religious as well as pol- itical history, and the former was as marked and positive as the latter. When he came to Waterbury, he was an irreligious and profane young man, and not a little disposed to quarrel with certain great doc- trines ; and so he continued for some 3 or 4 years. The story of his conviction and conversion is an exceedingly interesting one. At a time of the profoundest indif- ference in regard to religious things, when he did not know of a religious man in town, and before there had been a gospel sermon preached in it, his attention was called to the subject of personal religion in the following singular manner. I give it substantially in the words of one who re- ceived it from his lips :- " Being obliged to work hard during the week, and there being no public worship in town which he could attend, if he desired, he was in the habit of spending much of the Sabbath in sleep. On a certain Sabbath, awaking from his sleep, he found his wife reading a pamphlet, and proposed to read it aloud for the benefit of both. The beginning and end of the pamphlet were gone, and he

never knew whence it came, what was its title, or who its author. But he found it treated of a subject which in former times had given him great perplexity, viz. :- how a man could be blameable for a disposition which he did not create. He would admit the justice of God in punishing overt acts, but not wrong propensities. The author he was reading made it appear that we are justly condemned for wrong dispositions, as well as wrong actions. After reading awhile, he exclaimed to his wife, 'If this is true, we are undone.' In a moment all the convictions he had formerly had re- turned upon him and he was cast into the deepest anxiety. After days of profound- est darkness and sharpest distress, border- ing on despair, he was brought into the clear light and liberty of the Gospel. His feet having been set in the way of life, he walked circumspectly in that way to the end." His was the first conversion in Waterbury. A few days after his conver- sion, Rev. Mr. Call, a Baptist clergyman from Woodstock, came along and preached the first sermon preached in Waterbury. About a year after this he was baptized by the Rev. Mr. Call, and united with the Baptist church in Bolton. At the organ- ization of the Baptist church in Waterbury. in 1800, or 1801, Mr. Butler was ordained as its pastor, and amid the multitude of his civil offices, he continued to discharge the duties of this office until within a few year of his death, and that without salary o: remuneration. In all the conflicts of party politics and all the labors and perplexities of official life, it is said the meekness, dig- nity and propriety of the gospel ministry never forsook him. He walked uprightl; and with a serious Christian deportmen amid them all. Well may his children venerate his name and the community hold it in lasting remembrance.

His form was slightly stooping, his com- plexion dark and sallow, and his whole ap- pearance quite unprepossessing ; but his penetrating black eye and the calm tones o' his voice quickly told of intellect and wil- of no common order. He died July 12 1838, in the 75th year of his age.

The third settler was Caleb Munson)

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He moved from Torrington, Ct., in the spring of 1788, and settled up the river, near where Mrs. Amy Woodward resides. He subsequently moved across the river. About the same time Mr. Richard Holden settled on the place where Dr. Fales re- sides ; Amos Waters on the interval now owned by Sylvester Henry, and Reuben Wells on the street near the present resi- dence of Mr. Bebee. In 1788, Mr. Stiles Sherman and Jonathan Wright came into town. Mr. Sherman, from Hoosic, N. Y., made his pitch and built a log cabin on the place where he so long lived-the place recently owned by Mr. L .. Bebee, now owned by Messrs. Thompson-and the next year moved on with his family. In "790, March 2d, Jason Cady moved into town from Shelburn. Mass., and settled near the arch bridge. He and Mr. Sher- man soon opened their log-houses for the entertainment of travelers (5). About this time or earlier, Dr. Daniel Bliss, the first physician, settled near Waterbury river bridge. The same year, Jona. Wright, (6) from Williamstown, Mass., built a house near the residence of Albert Dillingham, being the first that settled away from the river, unless a Mr. Smith had settled earlier on the hill near the residence of Geo. Stearns. In 1791, there were 93 in- habitants in town. In 1793, when Eben- ezer Corse, father of E. W. Corse, moved into Duxbury, there were 15 families in Waterbury. In addition to those above named, Mr. John Craig had settled near where Mr. Remington lives-the farm owned by Geo. W. Randall and occupied by Wm. Humphrey. Col. Kennan, who became one of the prominent men of the town, had made an opening and built a house where Mr. E. Moody now resides- a Mr. Isaac Wilson was living near the site of the Waterbury hotel. Elias Marsh was married and lived, as has been re- marked, near the residence of Miss E. Corse. Philip Bartlett, who had married the widow of Mr. Marsh, was living on the Hawley place, now, October, 1867, owned by Mr. H. Carter. The road, which originally ran across the interval near the river, had been opened sub-

stantially on the present line of Main street.

Dr. Daniel Bliss, the first physician of the town, and represented as an excellent man, was the first representative.

From about 1793. the town was settled very rapidly, so that in 1800 it had 644 inhabitants, having gained 551 in the pre- vious 9 years. Among those who came Into the town during this period, were Dea. Asaph Allen and Mr. David Austin, both coming in 1796. Dea. Allen was a native of Bernardstown, Mass. He set- tled on the stream a little east of the Centre, where Mr. Demeritt now lives, where he spent the remainder of his long life, being one of the first to settle in that part of the town. Mr. Austin came from Connecticut, and settled on the place now owned by Mrs. Job Dillingham. Previous to this time, though the town had been settled more than 10 years, and the in- habitants had now become quite numerous, there had been no regular meetings on the Sabbath ; indeed, no meetings at all, ex- cept as a missionary or minister passing through might preach an occasional ser- mon. These two men, having had their discipline in the straight and orderly ways of Connecticut and Western Massachu- setts, could not consent to live and bring up their families in this semi-heathen way. They immediately set themselves to work, in connection with a few others of like mind, and soon established regular meet- ings on the Sabbath, and from that time, so far as I can learn, there has been no interruption of public worship on the Sab- bath to the present day.

In the year 1800, in connection with the labors of Rev. Jedediah Bushnell, then a Missionary from Connecticut, subsequently for many years pastor of the Congrega- tional church in Cornwall, Vt .. and of others, occurred the first general revival in town. As the result of this and at nearly the same time, the Congregationalists, Bap- tists and Methodists organized churches. The Congregational church was organized by Mr. Bushnell, July 10th, 1801. Not far from that time, probably a little earlier, Gov. Butler was ordained as a gospel min-

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ister and chosen pastor of the Baptist church. As the early records of that church and also of the Methodist church are not to be found, little can now be learned of their early history .* At the organization of the Congregational church, the following persons constituted its mem- bers : Asaph Allen, David Austin, Hugh Blair, Edward Bates, Moses Bates, David Town, Amos Slate, Samuel Slate, Thomas Kennan, Zebulon Allen, Mary Austin, Jane Blair, Ruth Rich, Lydia Town, Esther Slate and Bathsheba Slate,-10 males and 6 females. Thomas Kennan and David Town were received on profession and were baptized. £ The organization was completed by choosing Asaph Allan mod- erator, and Thomas Kennan clerk. In November following, Mr. Allen, who had been a deacon in his native town, was elected the first deacon of the church, and in December David Austin was elected as the second deacon.

December 22, 1802, the church voted to call Rev. Jonathan Hovey to settle over them in the gospel ministry. On account of certain difficulties raised by the town with reference to the minister's right of land, Mr. Hovey .was not ordained until September 1, 1803. Mr. Lyman of Brook- field preached the sermon, the services being held in a building erected for a county grammar school, and which stood a little back of the Congregational church. Mr. Hovey labored with the church, before and after his ordination, about 5 years. He was dismissed for want of adequate support, Dec. 31, 1807. Mr. Hovey was born in Mansfield, Ct., 1756. His first profession was the law, which he practiced a while in his native town and then in Randolph, Vt. He was nearly 40 years old when he entered the ministry. His first settlement was at Waterbury. After leaving Waterbury he was settled in Pier- mont, N. H., where he remained until 1817; his last labors were in Wolcott, N. Y., where he died in 1827, aged 71 years. He possessed a clear, strong mind, -was more remarkable for sternness and rigor, than for benignity and affability,-

had more power to convince than to win,- to gain respect than affection. While in Waterbury, he lived mainly in the Kneeland district in the house where Mr. A. Murray now resides, which house he built. His meetings were alternately in his own neighborhood, in barns and private houses and in the school-house at the Street, or " at the River," as the village was then termed. From the dismission of Mr. Hovey, for the space of 18 years, the Congregational church was destitute of a pastor and of the stated preaching of the gospel. During this time, meetings were regularly held on the Sabbath, Dea. Allen taking the charge and Gen. Peck, a promi- nent citizen of the town, father of the late Hon. L. B. Peck, ordinarily reading the sermons. Thus the fire was kept alive on the altar through all those long dreary years, until a better day dawned.

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The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 131

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064