The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 94

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 94

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).

EPISCOPAL METHODISTS.

Rev. Jesse Lee, who was the pioneer of Methodism in New England, first preached in this town in 1795, and formed the first society. He was succeeded by Rev. Ralph Williston, Nicholas Sneathen, Gideon Draper, and others.

Alexander Parker, his wife and two or three of their daughters, Enoch Cate and wife, Sylvanus Morse and wife, David Per- sons and wife, John Stevens and wife, Joseph and James Gould and their wives, were among the early Methodists of the town.

577

EAST MONTPELIER.

Since the organization of the society they have, like most institutions, experi- enced at intervals seasons of prosperity and decline.

THE CHRISTIANS.

There was a society of Christians organ- ized in this town a few years since, who supported preaching a portion of the time.

EPIDEMICS.

Of epidemics, only 4 deserving the name have occurred from the first settlement of the town to the present day. The first of these was the dysentery, which fatally pre- vailed in the summer and fall of 1802. The second was the typhus fever, which prevailed to considerable extent in the summer of 1806. The third, that fearful disease known by the name of spotted fever, which suddenly made its appearance in the winter of 1811. In the fall and winter of 1813, the typhus fever again very fatally prevailed. The number of deaths from this disease in the whole (old) town, was 78 : much the larger number of which were outside the present limits of East Montpelier.

The town is believed to be one of the healthiest in the State ; the average num- ber of deaths for the last 20 years has been 17; the largest number in 1862, being 29 ; the smallest number in 1867, only 7.

The oldest person living in town is Anna Gould, born at Sutton, Mass., Aug. 12, 1787; came to this town in 1803; is the widow of Simeon Gould, who died in 1879, aged 98 years, by whom she had 9 chil- dren, of whom 7 are now living at this writing, (Sept. 1881). Mr. and Mrs. Gould's marriage life was 70 years.

The oldest person who was born in town is Mrs. Paulina Davis, widow of the late Timothy Davis, and daughter of Clark Stevens, born Sept. 15, 1795. (Oct. 1, '81.)

Mrs. Harriet Goodwin, widow of Hon. Israel Goodwin, and daughter of Capt. Isaac Putnam, born July 29, 1796.

The oldest inhabitant of the town is Mrs. Sally Vincent, widow of Capt. Isaac Vin- cent, and daughter of Darius Boyden, Esq., born at Worcester, Mass., July 4, 1793 ; came to East Montpelier early in 1794,

and has lived in town continuously since, 87 years, 7 months.

The oldest person who ever lived in town was Mrs. Molly Gould, who died in 1851, aged 102 years, I month. Mrs. Gould was born at Sutton, Mass., in 1749 ; married John Gould of the same town in 1768 ; raising a large family of children ; came to this town in 1811.

THE EARLY SETTLEMENT.

It is by no means certain, who cut the first tree, or built the first house. Gen. Pearley Davis undoubtedly made the first pitch, being two lots of the first division, at the center of the town, of which he re- ceived a deed from Jacob Davis, May 28, 1788, the consideration being "eighty pounds, lawful money." He made a be- ginning soon after, putting up a log-house and barn that season, but returned to Massachusetts to teach school the following winter. He cut and stacked the hay on a beaver meadow in the north part of the town, (now owned by E. H. Vincent) that season, which was mostly drawn to Col. Jacob Davis' the following winter, he fall- ing short of fodder for his teams, and those of new settlers who would stop for a time with him on their arrival.

In June, 1788, John Templeton and Solomon Dodge came to East Montpe- lier, from Peterboro, N. H., and com- menced felling the forest on their respect- ive lots, (being adjacent) preparatory to establishing their new homes, returning to New Hampshire to do their haying, after which, they worked the remainder of the season, clearing their land, and building each a log-house. The following spring, 1789, in March, they returned with their families for a permanent settlement, ac- companied by their father-in-law, James Taggart. After stopping about three weeks with Col. Jacob Davis, they proceeded to their new homes, 5 miles distant, the snow at this time being 2 feet deep. On arriving at Mr. Templeton's house, the roof having been covered with bark, a part of which had blown off, they found the snow nearly as deep inside the house as out. This had a decided cool look, but there was no backing down, the snow was

578

VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

shoveled out, a fire built, and they spent the remainder of their days on that farm, which is still owned and occupied by their grandson, Austin Templeton.

Mr. Dodge and wife lived and died on their adjacent farm, where their youngest daughter still resides, the wife of J. R. Young. These were the first families that moved into the town of East Montpelier.

During the first season all their grain had to be brought from Brookfield, (getting it ground at Williamstown) a distance of 20 miles,-on a man's back.

In the fall of this .year, (1789) as their first crops were harvested, Col. Davis' mill on North Branch was ready to do the grind- ing, and save the Brookfield tramp.

Mrs. Templeton was accustomed to say in her later years, that she did not see a woman, except her two sisters, (Jenna Taggart who lived with her and Mrs. Dodge,) for a year, lacking one day, and that no family (except as above) lived nearer than Col. Jacob Davis', being 5 miles. Mr. Templeton died May 18, 1813, aged 48 years.

The third family that moved into town, was Jonathan Snow and wife, in March, 1790,-Mr. Snow having been here and made a small beginning the summer be- fore, in the east part of the town. They stopped several days with Mr. Templeton on their way. After living on their land two or three years, Mr. Snow sold out to his father-in-law, Barnabas Hammett, and lived a year or two below Montpelier vil- lage, returning to an adjacent lot of his first beginning, now owned and occupied by his youngest son, Alonzo Snow, where he continued to reside. Mr. Snow was born at Rochester, Mass , July 12, 1768, mar- ried Lydia Hammett Feb. 11, 1790, and came to this town by the then express train, an ox team ; after rearing a large family, died Mar. 31, 1846.

During 1790, quite a large addition was made to the population, for we find that March 29, 1791, at the organization of the old town, of the 27 voters present, 24 were residents of East Montpelier, viz : Benja- min I. Wheeler, David Parsons, Pearley Davis, Ebenezer Dodge, Solomon Dodge,

Nathaniel Peck, David Wing, Lemuel Brooks, Clark Stevens, Jonathan Snow, Hiram Peck, James Taggart, John Tem- pleton, Elisha Cummins, Jonathan Cutler, Charles McCloud, Isaac Putnam, Nathan- iel Davis, Jerahmel Wheeler, Smith Ste- vens, Charles Stevens, Edmund Doty, Duncan Young. The last survivor of this pioneer band, was Elisha Cummins, who died Nov. 21, 1860, aged 93 years.

The first child born in town was James Dodge, son of Solomon Dodge, Apr. 5, 1790 ; the first female child born was Mary Templeton, daughter of John Templeton, May 3, 1791. The first death was that of Betsey Cate, a child of Enoch Cate, 8 months old. The first resident of East Montpelier who was married was Clark Stevens, with Huldah Foster of Rochester, Mass., Dec. 30, 1792. The first meeting- house was a log-house, built by Clark Ste- vens and Caleb Bennett, (Friends), on the highway near the line of their farms, in 1793, and used as such till 1802. This is believed to be the first meeting-house ever built in Washington County.

Dr. Philip Vincent was the first physi- cian who came into town; he came from New Braintree, Mass., in February, 1795, and settled where his grandson, Horace M. Vincent, now resides ; died in 1813, aged 54 years. The first merchant was Col. David Robbins, who built and began trade in what is now the Quaker meeting- house, in 1796. The first tavern kept in town was by Freeman Snow, opened in 1798 or '99, near where George Davis now lives. The first saw-mill was built by Pearley Davis, on the brook at the N. W. corner of lot no. 45, Ist div., in 1792, he having bought 2 acres of land for that purpose, o Caleb Bennett, for which he paid " thre pounds, lawful money."

The first grist-mill was built by Samuel Rich, in 1795, on Kingsbury Branch where the mill of M. V. B. Hollister nov stands.

SAMUEL RICH

was born at Sutton, Mass., Feb. 24, 176g He came to this town in 1792; was mai ried to Margaret McCloud Dec. 1, 1796 Besides doing an extensive farming bus

579

EAST MONTPELIER.

ness, (owning 700 acres of land) he built and run a grist-mill, a saw-mill, a carding- machine, a fulling-mill, a brick-yard and distillery ; he also kept a tavern for a num- ber of years subsequently to 1805.

In 1805, he built a very nice, large dwelling-house, said to have been the best house in the County at that time. The place was known for a long term of years, as Rich's Hollow, so largely did his busi- ness predominate over that of all others. He was a carpenter by trade, and built the large barn (Sox32 feet) for Nathaniel Da- vis, in 1793, being the first barn of any magnitude ever built in this town. He died in 1827, leaving 10 sons and daugh- ters, one of whom, Jacob Rich Esq., resided at the old homestead at the time of his death, in 1878.

BENJAMIN 1. WHEELER.

Born at Rehoboth, Mass., Sept. 19, 1766 ; settled at an early date in Montpe- lier, now East Montpelier, on the farm where he lived until his death. In the spring of 1793,he married Huldah French, of Attleboro, Mass. At the organization of the town of Montpelier, in 1791, he was elected one of the listers and one of the highway surveyors, and the same year town grand juror. In 1792, he was elect- ed selectman, and held that office 16 years previous to 1818. He died March 7, 1845.

JERAHMEL B. WHEELER.

Born at Rehoboth, Mass .; settled in Montpelier, now East Montpelier, at an early date, on the farm where he lived till his death. He married Sybil French, of Attleboro, Mass. In 1792, he was elected first constable, and that year warned the first freemen's meeting ever held in that town. Afterwards, between 1806 and 1813, he held the office of selectman 5 years, and was justice of the peace several years. He died in the spring of 1835.

MAJ. NATHANIEL DAVIS.

Among the men of business prominence in the early history of the town, none were more conspicuous than Nathaniel Davis. He was born at Oxford, Mass., Nov, 25, 1769 ; in 1789, he came to Montpelier and purchased a tract of land in the north-east part of the town, and commenced a clear-

ing at once, there being but two families in what is now East Montpelier at that time. In 1792, having married Miss Dolly Davis of his native town, he commenced house- keeping, and doing business on a large scale. The following year, he built a saw- mill on his farm, having turned a brook a mile above him to obtain sufficient water to run the mill. In addition to clearing up his farm very rapidly, in 1793, or '94, he built a barn 80x32 feet ; in '95, he built a two-story house 42×32 feet,- the same being occupied by his son Col. Nathaniel Davis, at the time of his death, in 1879 ; this is the oldest house in town at this writing, 1881. Before the year 1800, he built a potash and store, and did an ex- tensive and successful mercantile business for about 25 years.

Soon after 1810, Mr. Davis commenced what is now the village of East Calais, by building at that place, a grist-mill, saw- mill, nail factory, a scythe factory, and opening a store : subsequently this prop- erty was surrendered to 2 of his daughters, having married the Hon. Shubael Wheeler and Samuel Rich, Jr. Esq. Another daughter, who married N. C. King, Esq., was equally as well provided for.

In 1825, Mr. Davis having closed his mercantile business, and disposed of his outside property, as above, in connection with his son commenced doing a more ex- tensive farming business, by buying farm after farm, till they were able to sell more than 100 head of beef cattle per annum.

In 1838, they built the large woolen fac- tory at North Montpelier, which, in con- sequence of an unfortunate partnership, entered into at the completion of the build- ing, was a very disastrous enterprise. He died in 1843, aged 74 years.

(From Thompson's History of Montpelier.)

GEN. PEARLEY DAVIS,

a son of Nathaniel and Sarah Davis, was born in Oxford, (in the part afterwards becoming Charlton, ) Mass., Mar. 31, 1766, and, after receiving rather an unusually good English education, at the then new academy in the neighboring town of Lei- cester, including a knowledge of survey- ing, he came into town with Col. Davis, bringing his set of surveyor's instruments.

580

VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

and at once engaging in the original sur- veys of the township, first as an assistant and finally as a principal surveyor of the town and county.

It was while thus employed, as he once told the writer of this sketch, that, coming on to the splendid swell of forest land then crowning the elevation at the center of the town, he was so struck with the general indications of the soil and the natural beauty of the location, as seen beneath the growth of stately maples, cumbered with little underbrush, that he resolved he would here make his pitch, feeling confident that this must be the seat of town business, and then believing even that it would become the site of its most populous village.

The mistake of Gen. Davis, so far as regarded the growing up of much of a village on the highlands of the town, ap- pears to have been quite a common one with our early settlers. Impressed at first, as he was, with the inviting appearance of the higher parts of their respective town- ships, when contrasted with the forbidding aspect of the dark and tangled valleys, the most able and enterprising of them, for a general thing, made their pitches accord- ingly, as in the instances of the settlements of Randolph, Danville, and dozens of other towns in this State. But they soon found their anticipated villages slipping down into the valleys, to leave them, in that respect, high and dry on the hills, with the most traveled roads all winding along the streams. First, there must be mills ; then a place near to shoe horses ; then a place for refreshment of both man and horse ; and while all this is going on, it is a convenience and a saving of time to be able to purchase a few family necessa- ries ; thence, to meet these calls, first comes the blacksmith's shop, then the tav- ern, then the store; and you have the neucleus of a continually growing village already formed ; while people soon find out it is easier going round a hill than over it, and build their roads accordingly.

led with some of its most important trusts or offices.

In 1794, he was elected captain of the first military company ever organized in town; and before the year had closed he was promoted to the office of major of the regiment formed from the companies of the different towns in this section. In 1798, he was elected a colonel of the regiment ; and in 1799, he was still further promoted to the prominent post of general. In 1799, he was also honored by his townsmen with a seat in the legislature, and received from them 2 elections as their representa- tive in the General Assembly.

In 1794, Gen. Davis married Miss Re- becca Peabody, daughter of Col. Stephen Peabody of Amherst, N. H., the lady of whose medical skill and general usefulness we have particularly spoken while treating of the incidents and characters of the early settlement. From this union sprang 7 daughters, most of whom lived to connect themselves with the best families of this or other towns; and one of them, (now (deceased,) Mrs. Truman Pitkin, whose family occupy the old homestead, was the mother of Perley P Pitkin, Esq., the present representative of East Montpelier ; while of the surviving, one, endowed with high gifts of poesy, is the widow of the late Hon. S. Pitkin, and another the wife of the Hon. Royal Wheeler.

Gen. Davis, in the expanded benevolence of his mind, appeared to take an interest in the welfare of all his fellow-men, and par- ticularly so of the young, for whose im- provement in knowledge he labored earn- estly and always. He was one of the most active and liberal in establishing a Town Li- brary. He was ever anxious to see our com- mon schools supplied with competent teach - ers ; and in subscriptions, and in the educa- tion of his daughters, he largely patronized our academy. He was one of the most pleasant, animated and instructive of com- panions, one of the best of neighbors, and one of the most public spirited and useful of citizens. In short, with his strong massive person, prepossessing face, intelli- gent eye, genial and hearty manner, and earnest tone of conversation, he was one whom the world would unite in calling a grand old fellow, and as such he will be remembered till the last of the generation who knew him shall have followed him to the grave.

So far, however, as regarded the seat of town business, Gen. Davis' predictions were fulfilled ; for he, having pitched on a tract of 300 acres of land at the center, and built a commodious house, had the satisfaction of seeing it the receptacle of all town meetings till a public house was erected ; and the latter was the place of such meetings, either for the whole town or his part of it, up to the day of his death. He died April 14, 1848, at the age of little over 82 years. His relict, Mrs. Re becca Peabody Davis, died Feb. 5, 1854 aged about 83 years and 6 months. At all these town meetings he was always an active and influential participator. And in looking over the records of the town for the first half century of its corpo- CLARK STEVENS rate existence, we can scarcely find a page was born in Rochester, Mass., Nov. 15 on which his name does not appear coup- | 1764. At the age of 18, he was drafted a

1 I

e 1 e D

Plank Stevens is my name from youth to age its been the same

---

581

EAST MONTPELIER.

a soldier, and served in that capacity sev- eral months during one of the last years of the American Revolution. After leav- ing the army, he engaged himself as a sea- man at the neighboring port of New Bed- ford, and spent several years in the ven- tures of the ocean. But the perils he had here encountered in the whaling and coast- ing trade, not only revived the religious impressions formerly experienced, but led him to resolve on the quiet pursuits of husbandry, and to remove, with that object in view, to the new town of Montpelier in Vermont. Accordingly he immigrated in- to this town in 1790, in company with David Wing, the elder, and his sons, pur- chased and at once began to clear up the valuable farm near Montpelier East village, which has ever since been the family homestead. After effecting a considerable opening in the wilderness, and building the customary log-house and barn, he re- turned to the land of his fathers, and, Dec. 13, 1792, married Miss Huldah Foster of his native Rochester; brought her imme- diately on and installed her as the mistress of his heart and household.

Soon after his marriage, Mr. Stevens appears to have been more deeply than ever exercised with his religious convictions ; when soon, by the aid of some neighbors who, like himself, had previously united themselves with the Society of Friends or Quakers, he built a log-meeting-house on the bank of a little brook a short distance to the north-west of his dwelling. And here, under his lead, that little band of congenial worshipers established in the wilderness the first altar for the worship of the living God ever erected in Wash- ington County. Subsequently this band was received into membership with the New York Society of Friends, who held monthly meetings in Danby, in the south- western part of Vermont, which meetings were eventually established at Starksboro, in this State. Of the latter, he became a regular monthly attendant, and in 1815, having, besides being the leader and teacher of his Society at home, travelled, each year, hundreds of miles to attend monthly, quarterly and yearly meetings in Vermont, New York, and in the different States of New England, and everywhere evinced his faithfulness as a laborer, and his ability as a religious speaker and teach- er, he was publicly acknowledged by the Starksboro Association as a regular and accepted minister of the gospel. Years before this, through his instrumentality, and that of his worthy and perhaps most energetic fellow-laborer in the cause, the late Caleb Bennett, his Society at home had been considerably enlarged, and a

commodious meeting-house erected a half mile or more distant from the first primi- tive one above mentioned.

But if Clark Stevens was a man of the intelligence and virtue which caused him to be placed in such a prominent position in his religious connections, why was he not, as well as other citizens of his town of the same grade of capacity, promoted to posts of civil trusts, or other wordly hon- ors? It was because, after having been made the second town clerk of the town, and reluctantly consented to serve in that ca- pacity one year-it was simply because he ever uniformly declined to accept them. Time and again would the town gladly have made him their representative in the Legislature. But all movements of that kind were by him promptly discouraged and stopped at the outset. On the organ- ization of the new county of Jefferson, in such high esteem were his worth and abili- ties held by the leading men of the county at large that, on their united recommenda- tion, he was, without his knowledge or consent, appointed by the Legislature to the more important and tempting office of a judge of the court. But this he also promptly declined, and gave the public to understand that civil honors had so few charms for him that it would thereafter be in vain for them to offer them for his acceptance.

Thus, " he had wrought out his work, and wrought it well." Thus he lived, and thus, at the ripe age of nearly ninety, he peacefully passed away, at his old resi- dence, on the 20th of December, 1853, with the characteristic words on his lips : " I have endeavored to do what I appre- hended was required of me. I have nought but feelings of love for all mankind ; and my hope of salvation is based on the mercy of God through his Son Jesus Christ."

Personally, Clark Stevens was one of the finest looking men of his times. Full 6 feet high, and nobly proportioned, with a shapely contour of head and features, dark eyes and a sedate, thoughtful counte- nance, his presence was unusually impos- ing and dignified. He was a prince in appearance, but a child in humility. He was unquestionably a man of superior in- tellect, and that intellect was, in all its traits, peculiarly well balanced. But it was his great and good heart which shown out the most conspicuously through all the actions of his long and beneficent life. In fine, Clark Stevens, in the truest sense of the term, was a great man. D. P. T.

** Goodness without greatness Is but an empty show ; But. O, how rich and beautiful ! When they together grow."

582

VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

ISAAC GRAY

died in East Montpelier, Oct. 7, 1874, aged 97 years, 2 months, 16 days. He was the oldest man in the county at the time of his death, having resided in the town where he died one day over 80 years. He was born in Rochester, Mass., July 22, 1777. John and May Gray, his parents, started with their 9 children for Vermont, Sept. 14, 1794, and arrived at Caleb Ben- nett's, in Montpelier-now East Montpe- lier-Oct. 6, following, having been 22 days on the road, their only means of con- veyance of family and goods having been an ox-cart drawn by two pairs of oxen. Mr. Bennett had come from New Bedford, Mass., two or three years earlier, and with him Mr. Gray and family, being old ac- quaintances, stopped a number of days, as did Thomas Allen and family, who had traveled with the Grays from the old Bay State; this made a pretty thick-settled family, but large houses were not such a necessity then as now.

SAMUEL TEMPLETON,

born at Peterboro, N. H., Nov. 15, 1788, came to East Montpelier in March, 1789. He was at the time of his death one of the oldest residents of East Montpe- lier,-aged 89 years, 7 months, 15 days. When the deceased was but 4 months old, his father, John Templeton, in company with Solomon Dodge, removed to East Montpelier from Peterboro, N. H., at that time there being no families in that local- ity, and but one, Col. Jacob Davis, in the then limits of Montpelier. On their arri- val here the snow was so deep that they were unable to proceed further, and were compelled to stop with Col. Davis a week. Reaching their new home, they discovered that the roofs of the rude shanties which they had erected the year previous had been blown off, and the snow was as deep in their houses as on the ground, they be- ing compelled to shovel the snow out, and make their beds as best they could. The two men had married sisters, named Tag- gart, and cleared farms adjoining, that on which Sam'l Templeton died being the one cleared by his father, while a daughter of Mr. Solomon Dodge, Mrs. John R. Young,

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.

The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 94

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