USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Middletown > The history of Middletown, Vermont, in three discourses, delivered before the citizens of that town, February 7 and 21, and March 30, 1867 > Part 6
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tent to judge of it than I am. That the Woods were in intimate and close connection with Winchell in his concealment, there is no doubt, and if he was counterfeiting they must have known it ; but it has always seemed to me as though they were actuated and borne on in that strange movement by their religious zeal. Nathaniel Wood had been excluded from the congregational church some twelve years before, and had gotten up a new system of religious doctrine, and seemed determined that they should pre- vail at all events. The use of the rod was not the beginning of it, but by the use of the rod many converts were added, and the zeal of all greatly increased and continued to increase until it amounted to distraction. The conduct of those men does not seem to me like deliberate plotting and planning, but more as though they were carried along by an irresistible current of fanati- cism ; but this is an opinion, not history.
That Winchell availed himself of this "outside " movement to cover up and aid his nefarious schemes, is very likely. He was cool and deliberate-he " could raise the wind and not be carried along with it," and turn the effects of it to his own advantage.
In the Wood families, and especially in Nathaniel Wood's fainily, were some of the best min's the town ever had. Jacob Wood, the oldest son of Nathaniel, was elected one of the select- men of the town at the first meeting after the town was organized, and almost constantly held some town office after that. He was more like his father than his othor sons-more inclined to be a religious agitator. Ephraim, the second so.i, was elected consta- ble at the first annual meeting, and had several successive elec- tions to that office. He and his brother, Nathaniel Jr., at first tacitly assented to their fathers religious notions, but after the rod delusion commenced, they were drawn into it, though they never took a leading part as their brother Jacob did. Nathaniel Wood, Jr., was undoubtedly the superior of all the Woods in point of ability and culture. He represented Middletown in the legislature five or six years in succession ; was for a long time the active justice of the peace here ; was town clerk several years, and held other offices. Ile was the father of Reuben Wood, who studied law with Gen. Jonas Clark, went to Cleveland, Ohio, about the
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year 1817, got into an extensive practice there-was made a judge of the supreme court of that state, which position he held for seventeen years, and a portion of that time was chief justice. He had the reputation of being one of the best jurists in the United States. He was afterwards made governor of Ohio, which office he held, I think, four years.
Perhaps I ought to say. this of the Woods, excepting Priest Wood, that up to the time this rod imposition commenced, no act of their lives has ever been mentioned in my hearing inconsistent with honesty, industry and good citizenship-but so much the more mysterious and unaccountable, their disgraceful conduct in the " rod scrape." " The Wood families removed from Middle- town as soon as they could conveniently after the failure of their earthquake enterprise ; they went to Ellisburg, N. Y., and it has been said, that ever after, they and their descendants have demeaned themselves as good citizens.
In connection with this Wood affair, I have one thing more to consider, which is perhaps more important as a matter of history than anything else connected with it.
Mr. Clark in his letter says : " By what I have heard of them, (the Woods,) I have no doubt that the movement gave origin to the Mormons." This opinion of Mr. Clark, I have no doubt will be received by you as a surprise. as it would be to the people generally, both in and out of Middletown. But Mr. Clark is not the only man who has given the same opinion. I first got it from Jabez D. Perry, in 1862. It was a surprise to me then, and I examined and cross-examined him for hours together, to get all the facts I could bearing upon that point-since which time I have found others, intelligent men, of the same opinion. After receiv- ing the foregoing letter from Mr. Clark, I wrote him again asking him for the facts to sustain his opinion. In reply, he refers me to a work written by Dr. Kidder of Chicago, Illinois, which I have obtained, but says that about 1840 he heard two Mormon preachers in Connecticut, who held to the "same or much the same doctrines which the Woods did in Middletown." In this he is undoubtedly correct. I have no desire to give Middletown the honor of being the birth-place of Mormonism, but I do desire to bring out facts,
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and if from those facts Mormonism may be traced back to this place, as a matter of history, and of curiosity, the people here, and throughout the country should know it.
That the system of religion promulgated by Nathaniel Wood, and adopted by his followers in 1800, was the same, or " much the same," as the Mormons adopted on the start, is beyond ques- tion. It was claimed by the Mormons, so says a writer of their history, " that pristine christianity was to be restored, with the gift of prophecy, the gift of tongues-with power to heal all manner of diseases-that the fulness of the gospel was to be brought forth by the power of God, and the seed of Isarel were to be brought into the fold, and that the gospel would be carried to the Gentiles, many of whom were to receive it." These were the doctrines of the Woods, as may be inferred from what appears in the foregoing. The Woods were very fruitful in prophecies, especially after the hazel rod came to their use; so were the Mormons in the beginning of their creed, and both the Woods and the Mormons claimed to have revelations, and sought for them and received them, as they pretended not only in matters of religion, but in matters of business. They pretended to be gov- erned by the Divine will as revealed to them on the occasion.
The question now arrises, how came the Mormons by these reli- gious doctrines of the Woods? Was it a mere accident, that the Mormons afterwards got up a system like that concocted by Nathaniel Wood, years before, as the Wood affair collapsed in 1801 or 1802, two or three years before Joe Smith was born, and they (the Woods,) and their followers were at once scattered in various parts of the country, and Mormonism did not appear to the world, until about 1830. It might have been purely accidental, but it seems to me hardly probable.
Now then, if this system of religion inaugurated by the Woods was transmitted to the Mormons, what is the evidence. I will give all the evidence I have been able to procure on that subject, and it is for you to weigh and give to it such effect as it is entitled to.
In the first place, their religious theories being the same, would have have great weight, and would be almost conclusive in the
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matter, unless overcome by facts and circumstances, showing the contrary. This same Winchell or Wingate, the counterfeiter, who introduced the rod here, and was with the Woods in their operations, afterwards went to Palmyra, New York, the home of Joe Smith, when he (Smith) set on foot the Mormon scheme. What time Winchell went to Palmyra, I am unable to say, but he was there early enough to get Joe Smith's father to digging for money, some years before Joe was old enough to engage in the business-but Joe was at it as soon as he was old enough, and if his biographers can be relied on, he followed it until about the time he pretended to have found the golden bible. I have been told that Joe Smith's father resided in Poultney at the time of the Wood movement here, and that he was in it, and one of the leading rods-men. Of this I cannot speak positively, for the want of satisfactory evidence, but that he was a rods-man under the tuition of this counterfeiter after he went to Palmyra has been proven, to my satisfaction, at least. I have before said that Oliver Cowdry's father was in the " Wood scrape." He then lived in Wells, afterwards in Middle- town, after that went to Palmyra, and there we find these men with the counterfeiter, Winchell, searching for money over the hills and mountains with the hazel rod, and their sons Joe and Oliver, as soon as they were old enough, were in the same business, and continued in it until they brought out the "vilest schome that ever cursed the country."
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It appears from some of the Mormon histories, that the Mor- mon organization first consisted of the Smith family, Oliver Cow- dry and Martin Harris, the name of the counterfeiter, whether it was Winchell or Wingate, does not appear in any account that I have seen, unless he had by this time assumed another name, but he had been at Palmyra for some years and went with them from Palmyra to Ohio. He was not a man who could endure the gaze of the public, but his work was done in secret ; that he was at Palmyra, acted the part I have indicated, and went off with the Mormons when they left Palmyra, has been fully proven by men who were here during the Wood anhir, and afterwards icmoved to Palmyra, and knew him in both places.
What I have now said of the Smiths, Cowdry and Winchell, has
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been obtained from living witnesses, to which I will add a few quotations from authors.
Gov. Ford of Illinois, in his history of the Mormons, says of Joe Smith, " That his extreme youth was spent in idle, vagabond life, roaming in the woods, dreaming of buried treasures, and exerting the art of finding them by twisting a forked stick in his hands, or by looking through enchanted stones. He and his father before him, were what are called " water witches," always ready to point out the ground where wells might be dug and water found."
In a work written by Rev. Dr. Kidder of Illinois, some twenty years ago, which is the best expose of Mormonism and the Mor- mons I have ever seen, he has a statement purporting to have been signed by sixty-two credible persons, residents of Palmyra, N. Y. In that statement, those men say of the Smiths, that " they were particularly famous for visionary projects, spent much of their time in digging for money, which they pretended was hidden in the carth ; and to this day large excavations may be seen in the earth not far from their then residence, where they used to spend their time in digging for hidden treasures." In Dr. Kidder's work, the first Mormons are frequently characterized as " money diggers," as though that had been their principal avocation, as it doubtless was.
I bave perhaps already occupied more time upon this matter than I should, but I have thought it proper and important too, to give what evidence I have been able to obtain, to show that the Wood movement here " gave origin to the Mormons." I am fully convinced that the Rev. Mr. Clark has good grounds for that opinion. It is not claimed that any of the Woods who were here in 1800, or their descendants ever had anything to do with Mor- monism after it was known to the world as such, but their religion and their ways of deceiving the people by pretended revelations and otherwise, were brought along down by the Smiths, the Cow- drys, and the counterfeiter. They used the rod, that is, the elder Smith and Cowdry, and pretended by that to obtain revalations, from the time the Wood affair exploded here, and their sons Joe Jr. and Oliver, the most successful imposters of modern times,
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commenced their education with the use of the hazel rod or forked stick, in searching for hidden treasures-though afterwards used what they called enchanted stones. I ask no one to accept my opinion or that of any other person in this matter as the truth, but must say, that it is my honest belief that this Wood movement here in Middletown was one source, if not the main source, from which came this monster-Mormonism.
In 1801 there was again put on the records of the town " a roll of the freemen of Middletown." This I have copied as it may be desirable to know who were then here; it contains the following names :
Ephraim Wood, Gamaliel Waldo,
Reuben Loomis,
John Sunderlin,
James McClure,
Joseph Chub,
Daniel Haskins,
Phineas Clough,
Joseph Bateman,
John Burnam, Esq.,
Jacob Wood,
Silas Mallary,
William Downey,
Jonathan Brewster, Nathan Colgrove,
Benj. Ilaskins, James Smith,
Jonathan Haynes,
Ashur Blunt,
Jonas Clark,
Increase Rudd,
Luther Filmore,
Nathan Colgrove, Jr., Moses Leach,
Thomas Morgan, Jonathan Frisbie, Benj. Coy,
Eph. Carr, Rufus Clark,
Dyar Matson,
Gideon Miner, Jr.,
Jos. Spalding, Jr.,
Timothy Smith,
Nathaniel Wood,
Caleb White,
Francis Perkins,
Nathaniel Wood, Jr., Russel Barber,
Samuel Stoddard,
Nehemiah Hazen,
Amasa Mehurin,
Benj. Butler,
Enos Clark,
Abel Hubbard,
Nathan Record,
Theophilus Clark,
Ezra Clark,
Jonathan Mehurin,
Solomon Rockwell, Orson Brewster,
Johnson Rudd,
Richard Haskins, Joseph Rockwell, Jesse Hubbard, Gideon Miner,
Lewis Miner,
Eb. Wood,
Edward Corbin,
Eb. Bateman,
Thomas Davison,
Fitch Loomis,
William Frisbie,
Dela Caswell,
John Burnam, 3d,
Azor Perry,
Stephen Richardson, Mosley Wood,
Thomas French,
Joel Frisbie,
Alexander Murray,
Sam'l Sunderlin, Nathan Walton,
Jona. Davison, Sam'l Tracy,
Edmund Bigelow, Esq., Nathan Ford,
Baruk Rudd,-
Augustus Frisbie,
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Gideon Buel, Joel Miner,
Jac. Harrington,
Jonathan Griswold,
Jacob Burnam,
Calvin Colgrove,
David Griswold,
Roswell Clark,
Ambrose Record,
Levi skinner,
David Tracy,
Sam'l Northrop,
Wait Rathbon,
Ansel Shepardson,
Obadiah Williams.
The foregoing list does not contain the names of all the males over twenty-one years of age in the town in 1801. Joseph Spaulding, Asa Gardner, Jonas Clark, Jr., Zenas Frisbie, Phile- mon Frisbie, Elisha Clark, George and Eli Oatman, and a few others, were then inhabitants of the town, and over twenty-one years of age. There may have been other names omitted, or it may have been a list of those who voted at the election that year ; but the list may be valuable for reference, as it doubtless contains the names of nearly all the freemen then here.
Some of the persons, whose names are on that roll, were child- ren of the first settlers, and came here with their fathers, and many others came here soon after the town was organized, and after the first roll, before given, was made and recorded. Among' the latter was Joel Frisbie, a brother of William and Jonathan Frisbie, who came here in 1786. He bought out Francis Perkins, the place now known as the Lewis place, (where John Lewis now lives.) and lived there until he died, which was about the year 1811. Joel Frisbie, as I have been informed by those who knew him. was a man of good character, good common sense, and a val- uable member of the congregational church. He had a family of six children. Two sons and a daughter died young. llis third. son, Palmer, removed to Lysander, Onandaga County, New York, about 1820, where he lived until he died, some four or five years ago, at the age of seventy-eight. He left three children - one son and two daughters, and a very good estate. One daughter married Deacon Warren White, and resides in Lysander. The son and other daughter are unmarried, and reside on the home- stead of their father.
Barker, the youngest son of Joel Frisbie, studied law with Gen. Jonas Clark; was admitted to the Rutland County bar in 1814, and was in the practice of law here from that time until he died, which was in February, 1821. Barker Frisbie was not called a
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brilliant man, but a very good lawyer ; was a man of good judgment, good habits, and a very laborious student. He was elected Town Clerk in March, 1815, and held the office until his death-which occurred in February, 1821.
Rufus Butts was, for many years, one of the useful men of the town. He was born in the town of Wells, but at or before he reached his majority he became an inhabitant of Middletown. He was one of the first mechanics here ; although confined to no particular trade, he was a rare mechanical genius, made ploughs, ox yokes, rakes, baskets, tubs, or anything else the people needed. He removed to Cambridge, Vt., about 1841, and died but a few weeks since over eighty years of age-his wife also recently died. His son, Harvey, survives him and lives on the homestead in Cambridge.
Bela Caswell removed from Mansfield, Mass., to Middletown, in 1783. He was then nearly fifty years old, and had ten children, four sons and six daughters, all born in Massachusetts. Three of thom preceded him in coming here, the remaining seven came with him. He too brought his family and effects with an ox team, He settled near where his grandson, Deacon J. Q. Caswell, now lives, where he lived until his death ; he died November 22d, 1826, at the age of 89. His family were perhaps the most remarkable for longevity of any family that ever lived in town. His father and mother, who came with him from Massachusetts, lived to be very old and died in Middletown, and were among the first laid in yonder burial ground. Bela Caswell's wife and ten children survived him ; his widow was nearly 96 years old when she died. One of his daughters, Mrs. Record, died not long since, at the great age of 99 years ; another, Mrs. Barber, the widow of the late Russel Barber, died in Middlebury, N. Y., last summer (the summer of 1866,) at the age of 93 years and some months. Two other daughters lived to be very old, and two are still living : Mrs. Norton, whose age is now 89, and Mrs. Terrill, who is 81 years old. Two of the sous, Josich and Ziba, lived to be 70 years old. Jesse was 09 when he died, and John died at 46. Of this numerous family, and of their minnerous descendants, none are now living bere except three children of John Caswell and their
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families, vis : Miss Violetta Caswell, Mrs. Calvin Leonard and Deacon John Q. Caswell.
Jesse Caswell and his family exerted a marked influence in the Congregational Church for many years. He had three sons and two daughters. Menira, his oldest son, was for some years one of the deacons of the church, and was a long time its clerk. Like all of this family, he was attentive, faithful and constant in the discharge of his religious duties. Whatever might be the state of religious feeling in the church, he was sure to attend its meetings and to be ready to perform his part. Hle did not wait for some unusual interest to draw him out, but was ever at his post -- Deacon Menira Caswell now resides in Castleton. Jesse, the second son, graduated at Middlebury College, became a minister of the gospel, and went to Siam as a missionary. After ten years of laborious service in that capacity, he died in Siam in the year 1848, at the age of 40. Rev. Jesse Caswell was a man of fair abilities, a thorough and laborious student, and a devoted christian. For some years before he was ordained, he seemed to be under the conviction that it was his duty to labor as a missionary among the heathens, and never (so it seemed to me) did any man more devotedly and unreservedly resign himself to convictions of duty. Ile seemed to throw his whole soul into the work. He was obliged to undergo severe trials and privations in his field of labor in Siam ; but his efforts, under Providence, were in a good degree successful. We could have desired that he had been longer sparcd, but such was not the will of Him who doeth all things well. Rev. Jesse Caswell was the first and only missionary to Foreign lands ever sent out from this Congregational Church. While a missionary at Siam, he instructed the King of that nation in the English language. The King became much attached to him, and, against the rules of the Siamese, attended the funeral of Mr. Caswell, and wept like a child. He has kept up a corres- pondence with the widow since her return to this country, and has sent her valuable presents.
Enoch Caswell, the third and youngest son of Jesse Caswell, Sr., also graduated at Middlebury and entered the ministry. He died at Bennington, N. H., in 1863, and was about 45 years old.
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The years of his ministry were mostly spent in New Hampshire, though he preached in Middletown about six months in the time. He died as he had lived, full in the faith once delivered to the Saints.
The two daughters are both dead, they both married John Gray, the youngest some years after the death of the oldest, each left children. 1
Russel Barber, who married one of Bela Caswell's daughters, was among those who came here soon after the town was organized. He was among the active and useful men here, but had poor health the latter part of his life which kept him at home. He died in 1830, aged 62. He left a large family ; two sons and several daughters are now living. Jervis, the oldest son living. was for awhile one of the deacons of the Congregational Church, but has for the last twenty-five years resided in Granville, N. Y. Russel, the youngest son, resides in Middlebury, N. Y. The oldest daughter living, married Rev. Beriah N. Leach, D.D., and lives in Middletown, Conn. ; another daughter married Phineas C. Orcutt, and now resides in Jersey City.
Moses Leach, whose name is on the roll of 1801, was early here. He settled on the farm owned and, until recently, occupied by John P. Taylor. He was a member of the Baptist Church, and noted for his honesty and sincerity. His wife was also a member of that church, and in her time was perhaps the most active and influential of the female members. Moses Leach and his wife have been dead many years. They left several children, Rev. Beriah N. Leach, D.D., is the only son now living and resides in Middletown, Conn. He is a Baptist clergyman, and has been in the ministry about forty-five years, four or five of which were spent in his native town, Middletown, Vt.
Reuben Loomis was early here. He came from Connecticut and settled upon the first farm north of the village, now owned and occupied by Royal Coleman, Esq. Sylvanus Stone was the first man who settled there, but he did not remain in town ning years. Reuben Loomis died September 24th, 1808, aged 62. Ile left a son, Fitch Loomis, who lived on his father's homestead until he died, January 21st, 1847, at the age of 74. The daughter
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married Joseph Spaulding, Jr., and was the mother of a large family of children. She has been dead several years. Fitch Loomis left five children : Reuben, who has removed west, and Fitch, who died in Middletown in 1863 ; Mrs. Henry Gray, Mrs. Thaddeus Terrill and Mrs. Johnson, were the daughters. The Loomis family exerted a very healthful inflence in society here, and we can remember them all as peaceful, quiet and useful citizens. They were all members of the Congregational Church, and if they did not have the leading influence which others had, that church is perhaps as much indebted to this family as any other for services, during the last sixty years.
Ezekiel Perry, a brother to Azor Perry, removed here before 1790. He was for a time in Bennington County before coming here. He was in the Bennington battle and severely wounded in one of his feet. He raised a family of cleven children, most of them are still living. Mrs. David Thomas was a daughter of his, and died here in 18 :4 ; Mrs. Roswell Buel, another daughter, still resides here ; the remainder of the family mostly live in Western New York.
George Oatman, whose nanic does not appear on the roll of freemen of 1785, was one of the early settlers of the town. He moved here from Arlington in 1785, but not until after that roll was entered upon record. He was one of the first four or five settlers of the town of Arlington, having settled there soon after 1700. Mr. Oatman settled here upon what has since been known as the " Oatthan farm," which was then as nature had left it-a rugged forest. Ile was an industrious man, a man of great physical strength, and had been a brave soldier of the Revolution. He had a family of three sons : Eli, Eliakim and Lyman. He lived to be an old man-he died about 1836. His sons, Eliakim and Lyman, moved West many years ago, and are both dead, leaving families. Eli was about eight years old when his father removed from Arlington, and from that time until his death resided in Middle- town. He will be remembered by all of us who knew him as a very amiablo, social and agreeable companion, as well as a very useful man. Ile was not an aspiring man, but a sensible, well to do farmer, had a pleasant word and smiling countenance for all, and
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always had the entire confidence of the people of the town for his integrity and good judgment. For many years, he almost; constantly held the office of selectman, or overseer, or some other position of trust in the town, and was one of the founders of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and one of its ablest supporters until his death. About the year 1800, he married Mary Symonds, a daughter of Joel and Patience Symonds, of Pawlet, and by her had eleven children. Eli Oatman died May 30th, 1851, at the age of 74. His wife lived until February 16th, 1861, when she died at the age of 80. She was a woman very remarkable for her intelligence and purity of character, and to her a large and interesting family are much indebted for those qualities of mind and heart which they possessed, and for which they have been distinguished.
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