USA > Vermont > Orleans County > The history of Orleans county, Vermont. Civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military > Part 60
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 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68
* See also Mr. Winslow on this subject ; also history of Lowell, p. - Ed.
357
WESTFIELD.
JOHN HARTLEY
is supposed to be the last of the first five set- tlers mentioned thus far. He was here, how- ever, at the organization of the town in 1802, as his name appears among the petit jurors. He came from Ireland with his parents some time previous to the Revolution, in which contest his father was a soldier. He came to this town from Princefield, Mass., and settled on what is called the North Hill, on the farm since occupied by Mr. Roswell Lumbard. He built a snug little house without the aid of a board or shingle. Between Oct. 1804 and Dec. 1805, he moved to Troy, where he remained awhile, and then went to Potton, C. E. His family consisted of a wife, two or three children, his mother and a sister ; the Jatter came to Westfield in the Fall of 1802. DAVID BARBER.
The next family that came into Westfield, was that of David Barber, from Brimfield, Mass., who arrived in the new settlement in June, 1803. He was moved by his father- in-law Medad Hitchcock, with an ox-team and horse, bringing irons for a saw-mill. They were 19 days on the road, a distance of about 240 miles. Mrs. Barber staid one week with Mr. J. Olds, during which time her husband erected a log-building near the Mill brook, above the present site of the starch-factory. The first strokes in their part of the town were made for this purpose, and to procure timber for Mr. H.'s mill. Mr. Barber re- mained here until the Spring of 1804, when he erected a house a short distance S. E. of the present house of Mr. Jesse Buck. After
remaining here a short time, he lived 4 years in a building erected by R. Cisco, a little south of the present site of the village, and then removed to the place, a short distance east of the village, where he died, April 16, 1854. Mrs. Barber remained here till April 2, 1856, when she moved to Glover, where she resides at present with her son-in-law, H. Gilman, at the age of 78, 1861-2.
LYMAN TAFT
from Montague, Mass. At a meeting of the original proprietors of the land in Westfield, it was " voted that - acres be given to Lyman Taft, or any other person who will erect the first grist and saw-mill in Westfield." Mr. Taft availed himself of the offer, and erected the buildings on a small stream near the pres- ent residence of D. F. Boynton, which has since been known as the Taft Brook.
RODOLPHUS REED,
a son of Josiah Reed, from Montague, Mass., arrived in Westfield with his family, Nov. 27, 1803. They came in with a span of horses, and spent the first Winter with Mr. Olds. When Mr. Reed had journeyed as far as Craftsbury, the snow had fallen to a con- siderable depth, and leaving his wagon he proceeded forward with his sleigh, expecting to reach the settlement in Westfield the first night. But from the depth of snow which lay on the mountain and other difficulties, they were unable to do so until the third day. The first night they encamped on the west side of the mountain, and the second at a rude hovel in Lowell, erected by a Mr. Cald- well some time previous, who resided here during the Summer, but had now deserted for Winter quarters in Massachusetts, as was his custom. This camp was built up of logs on three sides, the fourth forming a fire-place on a grand scale, with all the rest of the world for a chimney. The next day, Mr. Olds hav- ing sent them some assistance, they reached his house, not having suffered very extremely, although their youngest child was only about two weeks old. The next Spring Mr. Reed erected a house upon a piece of lease land, at present occupied by Geo. Lockwood, where he remained for 15 years. He afterward lived one year with Mr. Dexter on the Hobbs place, whence he removed to the farm at pres- ent occupied by Luther Howe, where he erected a framed house and barn. He lived here till his death. He died of apoplexy, May 18, 1841, aged 67. Their children were Lydia, John, Hannah, Lucy, Lyman, Eras- tus, Josiah, Calvin, Sarah, Arvilla, Royal and Willard. Royal cleared a part of the farm on the West Hill, owned by Veniah Miller, and erected the barn which stands upon it.
Mrs. Reed resides here still with her daugh- ter Lydia, at the advanced age of 80 years. HOLLIS ATWELL,
from Cambridge, Vt., came to this place in October 1822. He erected a large two-story building on the north side of the brook, about half a mile south of the village, and com- menced the tanning business. The first floor was used for this purpose, and the second was occupied by his family. In addition to cow- . hides, and calf-skins, Mr. A. tanned deer- skins, out of which he manufactured mittens and gloves,-and sheep-pelts. He continued the business till about the year 1845.
358
VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
FATAL ACCIDENTS.
The year 1846 was noted in Westfield for two melancholly accidents. In March, a man named Beede Roberts was killed while felling trees for Luther Jackman. In June, Elisha H. and David, two promising sons of Aaron Barber, 24 and 22 years of age, were drown- ed in a small pond on the north hill, while bathing-and in February of 1847, his eldest daughter died, and the Spring following his youngest, making the loss of 4 children with- in a year.
About the year 1828, Thomas Quint while traveling through the town, in a sleigh, on the main road, was fatally hurt. It was sup- posed that his horse might have taken fright and he was suddenly started back against the back part of his sleigh with such force as to sever the spinal column, after which, he was thrown upon the ice where he was found by a man with a team behind.
ROBERT ORNE
erected in 1845, a large building in the north part of the village, which he originally de- signed for a tavern, but never finished : sub- sequently it passed into the hands of a Mr. Locke, Messrs. Richardson and Braley, and Mr. R. after sold to his partner Mr. B. The first sessions of the Westfield Grammar school were held in this building, which has also been occupied at different times by families and for shops and a warehouse.
The first school was taught by Isabel Up- ham, from Montgomery, in a house on the east side of the old road, near the Taft brook. The town has now 6 districts in which school is sustained five months or more, each year.
JOSEPH HITCHCOCK.
An apple-tree marks the site, near the present buildings of Luther Howe, where Mr. H. first commenced and built his log-house. He afterward occupied a lease-lot, west of A. C. Hitchcock's present farm ; later moved to northern N. Y., where he now resides.
ELISHA HITCHCOCK
commenced on the northern part of the farm of Jesse Buck, where he first built a log-house, and about 1818 the framed one now standing. A few years since he removed West.
ABEL HITCHCOCK
commenced on the meadow east of the river, where he built a log-house near the This farm was after purchased by Luke Mil- ler, who put up a frame-house.
The Hitchcock family came from Westmin- ster, and consisted of Julius, Caleb, James, Elisha, Amos, Simon, Joseph, Ursula, Josiah, Patty, Abel, Hiram, Melinda, Lucinda and Aaron Charles. The third, fourth, fifth, seventh, tenth, eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth and fourteenth, are still living, four of whom (the three daughters and Hiram) only, are residents of the town. James, the oldest, has reached the advanced age of 80 .* He resides in Ludlow, Vt. Elisha lives in Norwalk, Ohio; Amos, Westminster, Vt .; Joseph, Worth, N. Y .; Abel, Rutland, Wis.
PHYSICIANS.
THOMAS WINSLOW, grandson of Dea. Lu- ther, is a physician settled in Chicago, Ill.
GUY STOUGHTON, son of Thomas, studied medicine with Dr. Corey and at St. Albans, attended medical lectures several terms at Woodstock, and commenced practice in West- field; subsequently removed to and practiced in Wisconsin, till within a few years.
CHANCEY BURGESS, oldest son of Anthony, studied medicine after he left Westfield, and has since been located awhile at Alburgh Springs, Grand Isle Co.
MILLER FAMILY.
Several of the sons of Elisha Miller settled in Westfield, some of whom came before, and some after the war. This family consisted of Luke, Ruby, Vaniah, Rimmon, Simpson, Patty, Bathsheba, Henry, and Leafy. Luke lived for a while in the house before men- tioned, then moved to the building on the east bank of the river, previously erected by Abel Hitchcock. Subsequently, he erected the framed-house on the elevation a short distance from the river, at present occupied by Alfred Miller. He died here. Vaniah purchased the lot of land comprising the pres- ent farms of J. Miller and Jesse Bailey and settled on the location of the latter. He died in Westfield. Rimmon settled first on the west side of the river, opposite to Luke, and subsequently purchased the farm near the village at present owned by Mr. Richardson, and erected the house occupied by Patrick McDougherty. He afterwards purchased the farm owned by A. S. Miller, where he died in 1856. Simpson lived in this town some ten years or over, and then removed to Troy, N. Y., where he died, Oct. 3, 1848. Henry came to Westfield in 1845, and this year, in
* Since deceased .- Ed.
359
VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
o. the town. He was educated, refined and polished in manners; and, but for his want of discretion, might have made a mark among his countrymen, of some importance. He had been a minister of the Congregational church, but never appears to have officiated in that capacity in Westfield, and but once while he resided here; that is, at the funeral of two young men in Potton, C. E., as mentioned in Sumner's history of the Missisquoi valley. The farm upon which he commenced is now called the Morse place, and formerly part of the farm owned by Hale Clark, on what is called the " West Hill ;" there being no dwelling-house upon it. Mr. Olds erected a frame-barn pre- vious to 1802, which was probably the first one in town, the outlines of which are still visible. It is thought that he had one daugh- ter born here, which might have been the first birth in Westfield, though we cannot be positive. He set out an orchard near his house, a few trees of which still remain alive. As his house stood near the only road leading into the town from the south, it was fre- quently the temporary residence of the early settlers.
This road came over the mountain from Craftsbury, and led on through Jay to Potton, C. E. where there were a few inhabitants.
He went to the General Assembly at West- minster in 1803, being the first representa- tive from Westfield. He was also town clerk from the organization of the town in 1802, till his removal, the first week in May, 1804, to Craftsbury. From Craftsbury he removed * to the State of New York, where he died.
ANTHONY BURGESS,
from Gloucester, R. I., commenced on the West Hill some distance south of Mr. Olds'. He cleared several acres here, and put up a log-house and framed barn, previous to 1803. He subsequently married a Miss Hobbs .- They had several children. He died about the 1st of June, 1810, and was buried on the West Hill. His wife afterward went to her father, in the State of New York. His sons moved to Grand-Isle Co., married and finally went to New-York State. So far as we can learn, Mr. Burgess was the second adult who died in town.
Much of his farm has since been covered with a second growth of maple. Mr. Rufus Stebbins, a subsequent owner, made some inroads upon them several years ago; and more yet have since been felled : but several
acres of level handsome land are yet covered ; part of which form a beautiful sugar-orchard for Mr. Clark, of more than a thousand trees.
JOSEPH PROPHET
came from Gloucester, R. I. with Mr. Burgess previous to the Spring of 1803. For the few first years he worked for Mr. Olds, kept bachelor's hall with A. Burgess, &c .; after- wards worked several years for Mr. Hitch- cock ; subsequently exchanged a piece of land on the West Hill, which he had previously bought, for another on the Flat. He here erected a log-house and subsequently a plank one, where he lived until about the year 1830, when he sold to Jere. Hodgkin, and moved to Lowell .* He appears to have sus- tained a good moral character, was noted for integrity and uprightness of purpose, and was universally respected by all who knew him. His strong arms dealt many heavy blows toward subduing the forest in West- field ; and his name is spoken with approba- tion by those who knew him well more than half a century ago. He was never married.
WILLIAM HOBBS
came from Sturbridge, Mass. He had a wife and several children when he came, and there were one or two born in town; but it is thought subsequently to the daughter of Mr. Olds. He commenced on the then main-road, north of Mr. Olds and on the other side of the brook. He built and lived in a log-house, and in the Summer of 1804 raised a frame barn, which, however, he never wholly completed. He was a resident of the town till about the year 1806 or '07, and removed to Constable, N. Y. He cleared several acres and raised a good orchard. The farm was afterward purchased of Scott, of Craftsbury, by Messrs. Dexter and Stone, who made an addition to the house and added other conveniences. For several years past it has been used as a pasture, under the title of the " Bull place," from the name of the last resident. This is now a large clearing entirely surrounded by woods, owned by Jesse Buck. There are the relics of a barn, and also of a garden and orchard and the frame of a house still remaining on it. Laying upon the side of the hill it forms an excellent pasture ; but is not very accessi- ble, the original road having fallen into dis- use many years since.
* He purchased a farm near Lowell Village, lived & few years and died between 1890 and '35.
360
VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
southeast corner of the farm at present owned by Mr. Hoyt on the West Hill. He with Mr. B. were the only adults interred upon the spot. This was the first burial place in West- field; but the spot has since been converted into tillage land.
Mrs. Howard subsequently married a Mr. Lathe. She lived awhile each at Craftsbury and Westfield, and subsequently in Troy- thence she removed to Ohio, 2 years since, where she died in December '59. Mr. How- ard was a blacksmith, and worked awhile in a shop built by Mr. Dexter and afterward erected a new one, and died in Westfield, in 1807. Mr. Reed's path of life appears to have been emphatically rugged. Not long after his marriage, the news came to his wife that he was drowned at South Hadley Falls, Mass. where he was at work rafting logs down the river. It proved un- true, however, although for a while his situa- tion was precarious in the extreme, he barely escaping with his life. In the summer of 1805, a few years after his removal to Westfield, being at the raising of a barn for Thos. Stoughton, he was struck across the spinal column by one of the heavy timbers, and taken up senseless, but recovered. Subsequent- ly, while engaged in working on a road which had been laid to Hazen's Notch, he was struck a heavy blow upon the back of the head by a falling limb, the messenger informing Mrs. Reed said that he might not survive till she could arrive at the spot. He did, however, and lived several years. He is described as being a very rugged, hearty man; and al- though he was able to attend to his work till the day of his death, he never wholly recovered from the effects of these well-nigh fatal accidents.
JOSIAH REED
came to Westfield in the Spring of 1803, lived with Mr. Olds, and raised several kinds of grain on his farm. He worked in the Taft mills, it is thought, as long as they stood. He afterward went to Craftsbury where he died, Oct. 4, 1804.
ABIJAH REED
came to Westfield with his brother Radolphus in 1803. He commenced near the present Mrs. Jackson's on the West hill, and set out some apple trees. He afterwards spent two or three years in Lowell, and from thence he removed to Colchester.
CAPT. MEDAD HITCHCOCK
came into the new settlement, as before men- tioned, in the Spring of 1803, with a yoke of oxen and horse, bringing iron for a saw mill. He selected a location for the mill, a short distance above the present site of the starch-factory on the Mill Brook, and com- menced getting out the timber for its con- struction. After working through the season he returned to Massachusetts to spend the winter, not having completed the building. He returned in the Spring of 1804, and in the Summer of this year raised the second saw- mill in town.
A MR. CISCO,
in the fall of 1804 moved his family to Westfield, and settled near the present site of the buildings of Medad Hitchcock, his namesake. The next year he erected the framed barn which stands there now, it being the first framed barn in that part of the town. This building has both a military and a pat- riotic history (already given in Mrs. Winslow's papers Oct. 7,) In the year 1805 or 1806 as- sisted by his son Thomas, he built a grist-mill on the same stream as the saw-mill, a short distance below the present site of the saw-mill of Mr. Howard ; subsequently it was destroyed by fire. In the year 1819 he erected a framed house a few rods north of his first, near the present site of A. C. Hitchcock's house, and which at present forms a part of the group of buildings of the latter. He died Feb. 18, 1821; his wife, Martha, Dec. 25, 1830. The names of his children were, Thomas, Azuba, Heber, Patty, Sally, Naomi, Medad, Smith and Salome, a family of 9 children well adapted to the purpose which Mr. H. attempted to ac- complish-that of converting a forest into a settled country-land covered with trees into cultivated fields. Azuba (Mrs. Barber), He- ber and Naomi (Mrs. Miller) and Salome are still living, all but the first being residents of Westfield. Many of Mr. Hitchcock's descend- ants are here, forming a respectable portion of the community.
THOMAS HITCHCOCK
oame to Westfield for the purpose of surveying the country, in 1802. In June, 1803, he ac- companied his father and Mrs. Barber's family, as before mentioned; and in March, 1804, made the town a permanent residence. He married Lucina Winslow (a daughter of another of the early settlers), in Massachusetts, and re- moved the next month to the new settlement ;
361
WESTFIELD.
and in March, 1804, became a permanent resi- dent of the new colony. He moved into the loghouse erected by Mr. Barber on the bank of the Mill-brook, near the saw-mill of Medad Hitchcock. He afterwards erected a small framed house near the residence of his father ; and, in 1808, the house at present occupied by Henry Miller, the first framed house in town, except the one just mentioned, which was a "little temporary thing," which he occupied but a short time. He assisted liis father in the erection of the grist-mill before mentioned, in the year 1805 or 1806: and subsequently, when the saw-mill was destroyed by fire, he erected another on the site of the recent pail-factory. He resided in the framed house near the brook until 1826, when, having become embarrassed in his business transactions, and commencing to exhibit evidences of mental aberation, he spent several months with his brother, M. Smith, and subsequently died at the Asylum at Brat- tleboro, Aug. 26, 1837.
There is something interestingly melancholy in the history of this unfortunate man. Re- moving to Westfield soon after his marriage, the new colony doubtless presented few attrac- tions to the newly married pair. The forest frowned on either side, and, half a century later, Mrs. H. is said to have expressed the loneliness experienced by herself and others, during the first few years, in very strong terms. He is described as a man of talents and amiable dis- position ; but not succeeding so well in the newly settled country as he had anticipated, he fell a victim to despondency, and died a lu- natic. He held the office of town clerk from 1809 to 1835 ; which office he filled satisfacto- rily, as evinced from his receiving the suffrages of his townsmen for that office for more than a quarter of a century.
Near the close of his life, being prostrated by disease, his spiritual nature appears to have become particularly active, and he was accus- tomed to assert, with an earnestness evidently unfeigned, that he could see angels surrounding him. Whether this was an illusion of an un- balanced brain or no, forms a subject of contem- plation for the student and lover of theology.
In his death Mrs. H. lost an indulgent hus- band, Westfield a valuable townsman, society and his Masonic lodge a much respected mem- ber, and many a kind-hearted and faithful friend.
His widow was an intelligent and estimable lady, much loved and respected. She subse-
quently married Elisha Hitchcock. She died Feb. 11, 1857.
RICHARD CISCO
came in 1804, and erected a house on the Mis- sisco meadow, on the farm at present occupied by Carnot Braley. He lived here during the winter of 1804 and '05, when Mr. Cisco built a log-house, near Mr. Hitchcock's, where his wife resided during the winters of 1804 and '05 .- His children were, Lemucl, Joseph, James, Thomas, Phebe, Annie, Miranda. All but the first and sixth are yet living, mostly in the Western States.
THOMAS STOUGHTON
moved to Westfield from Weathersfield, this State, a year or two after Mr. Cisco, accompani- ed by his family and his parents. He settled on the same farm as Mr. Cisco, and erected his buildings on the present site of Mr. Braley's. His wife died here about 1837, and his parents some time previously. Subsequently he remov- ed to Wisconsin, where he died about 1850 .- His children were, Luke, Guy, George, Nancy John, Thomas. Claudin, Seymour and Harvey. The first, second, third and seventh are yet liv- ing in Wisconsin. George left Westfield, last, in the Spring of 1855-leaving none of the children of either of these primitive settlers, Mr. Hitchcock and Mr. Cisco, behind.
The Missisquoi river flows rather sluggishly nearly its entire course in Westfield, making it very susceptible to the influence of heavy rains ; and as it passes through an intervale, the banks are generally low-thus enabling it, when it gets above high-water mark, to take its own course, overflowing meadows, taking the turf along, floating flood-wood upon the tillage- land-sand on to the mowing-taking minia- ture trees up by the roots, and making a dis- turbance generally. Its general course through the intervale is N. E .; but there is scarcely a point of the compass towards which its course is not aimed, in some part of its meanderings. Birds may attempt to fly across it, and after pur- suing a direct course for a while, alight upon the same side from which they started : and an individual who has resided for 30 years on its eastern bank, says that it runs 2 miles to get 1, as far as he knows it. It is said that on one occasion when Messrs. Stoughton and Cisco lived on the meadow above mentioned, the wa- ter rose to such a height as to compel them to leave home against their inclination ; but they finally concluded to succumb to the irresistible solicitations of the ponderable element ; and, attaching their couch-material to the beams
362
VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
above, bore, each his better half, to a position more elevated.
MR. JOSEPH COBURN
was the next permanent settler in Westfield. He arrived in the little colony about the mid- dle of October, 1804. He lived with Mr. Goodell, (who had rented thie Olds place that season) the ensuing winter, and afterwards removed to the farm at present occupied by the Messrs. Pricketts, where a Mr. Humes had previously made a commencement, and cleared 7 or 8 acres, and then moved away. He resided here a few years, when he removed to Craftsbury, where he died in December, 1859, aged 89 years .--- His children were, Chester, Phyla, Cheney, Mar- cey, John, Catherine, James and Olive. Ches- ter remains a resident of the town ; Cheney, Marcey and James reside in New York State- the two youngest in Craftsbury. The first year, to draw his hay in, he fell a small tree, fitted the large end of the body to the ring of his ox- yoke, the larger limbs he made, by cutting them nearly off, to form a flat surface, and the whole answered for a cart.
HOSEA SPRAGUE
came to Westfield from Brimfield, Mass., in De- cember, 1805, and spent the winter in the house of Mr. Reed. He afterward built a log-house on the farm at present occupied by T. O. Brown, where he lived till April, 1822, when he re- moved to Lowell, where he died in November, 1843. His children were, Burton, Hosea, Ma- ry, Betsey, Nehemiah, Lydia, Laban and Celia. The second, fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth, are still living ; none, however, being residents of the town. Betsy, who lived in Homer, N. Y., visited Westfield in 1851-having been absent 40 years.
It would seem that the snow fell very deep during the winters of 1803, '04, '05 and '06. and, as thought by some, much more so than has been customary in later years. Messrs. Reed and Sprague, with a span of horses, were 5 days in getting 2 barrels of pork from Craftsbury to Westfield, in the last named winter ; and in the former, an old resident states, that from one of the dwellings where she resided on the West hill, not a fence nor tall stump was to be seen. DAVID HITCHCOCK,
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.