USA > Vermont > Rutland County > The history of Rutland county, Vermont; civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military, pt 1 > Part 3
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The Congregational society, in 1$12, demol- ishied the meeting-house which it had occupied as a place for public worship for nearly for years, and erected a new and handsome edifice of wood for the same purpose in the same year. The new house was erected about its length east, or in front, of the site of the old one, and
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was finished and occupied in the winter after its completion. The present number of mein- bers of the Church (1870) is about 150.
BAPTIST3.
A Baptist society was organized in Benson Oct. 1, 1796, the members then being Joseph Shaw, John Shaw, Benjamin Shaw, Cyrus Maynard, Lewis Wilkinson, Reuben Wilkin- son, Hammond Wallis, Daniel Kenyon and Walter Durfee; and March 5, 1797, a Bap- tist church was organized, consisting of the following male members, viz. Sheldon Gibbs, Darius Gibbs, Ichabod Higgins, Jabez Carter, John Shaw, Rufus Bassett, Timothy Hinman, William Winter, Jonathan Hurlbut, Levi Belding, Abijah Fisher, Walter Durfee, Uri Curtis and William Jones.
There are many certificates recorded on the town records, of persons declaring themselves to be " of the Baptist persuasion," while the law requiring all persons to be taxed for the support of public worship remained in force.
The Baptist society had no regular preach- er for many years; but the following are known to have been employed as its minis- ters, viz. William Patterson, about 1797- 1800: Jeremy H. Dwyer, about 1813'14 ; John S. Carter, about 1817 ; Reuben Sawyer, about 1829- 33 : Robert Bryant, about 1840. and Ransom O Dwyer, about 1817, '48.
In 1526 this society erected a stone meet- ing.house near the N. W. corner of the Stan- dish farm, which was taken down in 1843, and the society erected another meeting-house in 1843, of wood, in the village, on the site of the present residence of Jonas Reed. This last house, after remaining unoccupied for many years, was sold and taken down in 1866, and the organization of the society has become extinct.
A FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH
was organized in " Carter Street," in the west , part of the town, about 1825, consisting of a few families, most of whom were originally Baptists ; but most, if not all of these em- braced Mormonism about 1831-'32, and short- ly afterwards removed from town, and joined that community at Kirtland, Ohio, and fol- lowed its subsequent migrations.
METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH.
The first Methodist Episcopal preacher who is remembered to have preached in Ben- son was Elder Tobias Spicer. He visited and preached in Benson in 1811, being then
of the age of 23 years. In 153 ;. Albert Champlin, then a young preacher of the same denomination, visited Benson, and preached occasionally during the year. In 1838 a Methodist Episcopal church was organized here, and Rev. Peter P. Harrower became its stationed preacher. From that time to the present this church has had a steady growth, and has regularly supported a preacher. In 1841 a meeting-house was erected in the vil- lage, of wood, and has ever since been occu- pied by this church. The succession of preach- ers in this church since its organization has been as follows, viz.
1838, '39, Peter P. Harrower ; 1839 to '41, William Henry ; 1841 to '43, Stephen Stiles ; 1843 to '45, William P. Gray ; 1345-'46, Newton B. Wood ; 1846 to '48, Lewis Pot- ter ; 1848 to '50, Rodman H. Robinson ; 1850 '51, James F. Burrows ; 1851 to '53, Ward Bullard ; 1853 to '55, Miner Van Au- ken ; 1855 to '57, John F. Crowle ; 1857 to '59, Peter H. Smith ; 1859 to '61, Edward N. Howe; 1861 '62, Milo P. Coburn ; 1862 '63, Washington I. Pond; 1863 to '65, John Fas- sett ; 1865 '66, William C. Robinson; 1866 to '69, Chipman R. Hawley ; 1869, Harvey F. Austin, who is the present preacher in charge. From the conference minutes of 1869 it appears that this church then had 110 members, exclusive of 5 " probationers."
The Congregational and Methodist are now, (1870,) and for many years past have been, the only organized churches in town.
POLITICS.
The first distinctive political divisions in town commenced about 179S, and the town was then strongly Democratic in its charac- ter-Simeon Goodrich, the candidate of that party being elected as the town representa- tive to the General Assembly in 1798 and '99. The trial of Col. Matthew Lyon of Fairhaven, for an alleged offence under the famous " Se- dition law," in the United States Circuit Court at Rutland, in October, 1798, and his subsequent imprisonment in the jail at Ver- gennes, excited a degree of feeling which has never since been exceeded in any political struggle. He was then the representative of the Western district of. Vermont, in Congress, and at the election for Congress held in this district on the first Tuesday in December, 1798, (no choice having been made at the election in the previous September) he was re-elected by a decisive majority, although
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then confined in jail at Vergennes, under his | Jackson, the majority of the votes of the sentence. At this election. the vote of Ben- town were almost without exception in har- mony with the prevailing majority in the State. There has accasionally been an earn- est contest in the election of town represent- ative. There were 13 ballotings for that of- fice in 1852-9 in 1853, and 5 in 1854, before a choice was effected ; but the prevailing political preferences of the town were in each of those years clear and unquestioned. son was 109 for Lyon, against 46 for his Fed- eral opponent, Judge Samuel Williams of Rutland; and Benson was represented largely in the procession of over 400 citizens on horseback, who went to Vergennes on the expiration of Col. Lyon's term of four months' imprisonment, in February, 1799, and escort- ed him from the jail to his residence in Fair- haven. The Democrats maintained their POPULATION. ascendancy in the town until 1802, when, for The population of the town at the several enumerations made under the authority of the government of the United States was as follows, viz : the first time, the Federalists had a majority, -the vote for governor that year being, for Israel Smith (D) 74, and for Isaac Tichenor 86. From that time forward, while the old division of political parties continued, the 1800, 1164 Census of 1791, 658 Census of 1840, 1403 1850, 1305 Federalists had a majority-usually small- 1810, 1561 1860, 1296 1820, 1481 1870, 1244 = in every year, on the State ticket, at the an- nual elections in the town, except in the year 1830, 1493 1807; yet the Democrats succeeded in elect- ing the town representative in 1803, '10 and '11, as well as in 1807; and the nearly even balance between the two parties was the oc- casion of renewed struggles for success by each, at the successive annual elections.
Tradition reports that, at the election in 1810, two brothers, Asa and Lemuel Standish, were respectively the candidates of the two parties for town representative-the former being the Democratic and the latter the Fed. eral candidate-and the latter being also, as first constable of the town, the presiding of- ficer at the election-and that. of the 241 votes cast, Asa received 121, and his brother Lemuel 120; thus electing the former by a single vote.
In 1812 Chauncey Smith, the Federal can- didate for town representative, who had in the previous year been dropped from the list of justices of the peace appointed within the town, was declared duly elected at the free- men's meeting : but his election was success- fully contested. and he was unseated -(Jour- nals of the General Assembly of 1812 p. 38 ) There were 2>4 votes cast at this election, which was the largest number ever cast at any election in the town. In this year Chauncey Smith was the only Federalist among the 9 justices of the peace appointed within the town-as Reaben Parsons had been the only one among the 7 who were ap- pointed in the preceding year.
After the re-organization of political par- ties under the administration of President to 1850, (removed to Franklin ;) Dixon Al-
The number of children of school age, ("between the ages of four and eighteen years,") in the town, in each year from 1810 to 1820, inclusive,-the period in which the average population was the largest in its en- tire history,-as stated in the annual returns, was as follows ;
1810, 692 1811, 694
1812, 726 1813, 716
1814, 726 1815, 725
1816, 769 1817, 671
1818, 623 1819, 580
1820, 575
PHYSICIANS.
The first physician who settled in town was Chauncey Smith. He came to Benson with his father, Asahel Smith, Esq., in 1785, and commenced practice soon afterwards. The following is a list of the physicians who have resided in the town, together with the term of their professional practice, according to the best sources of information which now exist, viz :
Chauncey Smith, from 1786 to 1815; Ella Smith, (brother of Chauncey,) from about 1786 to 1801; Perez Chapin, from. 1797 to 1807; Cyrus Rumsey, from 1803 to 1822; Rowland P. Cooley, from 1810 to 1850; Edmund Barnes, from 1812 to 1816, (remov- ed to Leroy, N. Y .; ) Seth Ransom, from 1817 to about 1854: Edward Lewis, 1824 to 1825, (removed to Fairhaven, and subsequent- ly to Jackson, Mich. ; ) Abijah H. Howard, 1827 to 1846, (removed to Kalamazoo, Mich., where he died Dec. 29, 1859, aged nearly 56 years ;) Charles S. Perry, 1546 to 1849, (re- moved to Poultney ;) Seneca E. Park, 1813
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exander, (Wesl. Univ, -) 1849 to 1853, (removed to Poultney, and subsequently to Fayette, Iowa ;) Henry R. Jones, from 1853 to the present time; Lucretius D. Ross (Midd. Coll., 1852,) 1865 to 1869, and Henry Burton from 1869 to the present time. Seth Sheldon Ransom and Erasmus Darwin Ran- som, (Middlebury College, 1836,) sons of Dr. Seth Ransom, were each for a few years in practice as physicians in Benson ; but the former removed to Burlington, Iowa, in 1837, and the latter removed to the same place in 1846. Doctor Ross was Assis't Surg. of the 14th Reg. Vt. Vols. during its service of nine months, in the recent war of the rebellion. In 1869 he removed from Benson to Poultney his native town. Doctors Jones and Burton are now the only practicing physicians resid- ing in the town.
EPIDEMICS.
The town has rarely been visited by epi- demic diseases. In the winter of 1795-6. the canker rash, or ulcerous sore throat, some- times called scarlet fever, was very prevalent and malignant in this town and vicinity, and generally throughout the State. During the winter of 1812-13, there were cases of the spotted fever in this vicinity; and, in the latter part of February, 1813, these were fol- lowed by the typhoid pneumonia, or lung fe- ver, which became a prevailing and frightful epidemic. Its principal ravages were in the months of March and April, and there were no new cases after the middle of May follow- ing. There were about 60 deaths from this disease in less than 3 months, of whom the larger part were adults. The Rutland Herald (weekly) for May 12, 1813, contains notices of fifteen of these deaths. The same disease pevailed as an epidemic, at the same time, generally throughout the State. (See Thomp- son's Vermont, Civil Hist. Part II, p. 220, et seq.)
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LAWYERS.
The first lawyer who settled in the town was Albert Stevens, who remained here about 2 years-(1800 to '02.) He was admitted as an attorney in Chittenden county in Septem- ber, 1799.
Samuel Jackson came here about 1807; but after a few months, went elsewhere, or ab- sconded. Each was held in very poor repute when he left the town, though Stevens had a good education and respectable ability.
Ira Harmon settled in Benson in March,
1810, and remained in practice about 20 years.
John Kellogg settled in Benson in May, 1810, and remained in practice until 1840
Marshall R. Meacham commenced practice in 1825, and continued in business until his death, Aug. 24, 1833, aged 34 years .
David L. Farnham (Midd. Coll., 1823) wis in practice here from 1826 to 1823, an l t'ien removed to Enosburgh, and subsequently Manlius, N. Y., where he died a few years since.
Richard W. Smith (Univ. of Vt., 1820) was in practice here about one year, (1830 '31) and subsequently was in practice in Wards- borough.
Milo W. Smith (son of Chauncey) was in practice from 1831 to 1852, when he removed to Plymouth, Ind., and is now deceased.
Loyal C. Kellogg (Amh. Coll., 1836,) was in practice here from 1839 to '59, when he was elected one of the judges of the Supreme Court of this State; and, in 1860 removed to Rutland .- Messrs. Meacham, Farnham, M. W. Smith and L. C. Kellogg were natives of the town.
IRA HARMON
was a native of Pawlet, and a son of Dea. Ezekiel Harmon, one of the early settlers of that town, who was originally from Sucheld, Ct. He studied law in the office of his broth- er, Nathaniel Harmon of Pawlet, and remov- ed to Benson in March, 1810, and was engag- ed in the practice of his profession about 20 years. He was long a sufferer from chronic hypochondria, and died July 17, 1837, aged 56 years. He married Miss Eudocia S. Kent a daughter of Rev. Dan Kent, who is still (1870) living.
JOHN KELLOGG,
the oldest son of John and Roxana (Mattoon) Kellogg of Amherst, Mass., was a descen.1- ant, in the fifth generation, from Joseph Kel- logg, one of the first settlers of the ancient town of Hadley, (1659) of which the town of Amherst originally formed a part. He was born at Amherst, May 31, 1786. In April, 1805, he came to Vermont, and on the suggestion and advice of Capt. Silas Wright of Weybridge, (the father of the late eminent senator and governor of the State of New York of the same name, who had been an old friend and neighbor of his father at Am- herst,) he determined to study law; and ac- cordingly, on the 23d of April, 1805, com-
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menced study in the office, and under the in- struction of Loyal Case, Esq., who was then a leading and distinguished lawyer in Mid- dlebury. After the death of that gentleman in October, 1803, he continued and completed the usual course of preparatory legal studies in the office of the Hon Horatio Seymour. In the same town, and was admitted to practice as an attorney at the February term of the Addison county court, in 1810. During the entire course of his professional studies he supported himself wholly by his own exer- tions.
About the middle of April. 1810, he first visited Benson, and while on this visit he de. termined to establish himself in business in this town, and made a contract for the build. ing of an office. On the 24th of May follow. ing he removed to Benson, and immediately thereafter commenced the practice of his chosen profession, which he pursued for 30 years with diligence and success; and he soon acquired and long retained a large and valuable professional business. He became the owner of a farm in 1825; and, after re- tiring from the practice of his profession in 1840. he spent the remainder of his life in agricultural pursuits. He died Dec 22 1852. aged 66 years' At the time of his decease, he had been a resident of Benson for more than 42 years ; and. during the entire peri- od, he was one of its most prominent and bonored citizens.
He was for 9 years (1813 to '22.) postmas. ter ; and for 12 years (1822 to 1833 and '37 -8,) town clerk : and he was the delegate from the town to the State Constitutional Convention in 1822 and the representative of the town in the General Assembly in 1822, '24, '25, '27, '28. '29, '30 and 31. During the last week of the session of the General Assembly in 1830, he was speaker pro tempore of the house of representatives. From 1825 to 1831, he was brigadier general in the State militia : in 1838 a candidate of the Democratic party for United States senator, and one of the delegates from the State at large to the National convention of the same party, for the nomination of President and Vice Presi- dent of the United States, held at Balti. more, Md., in 1840 and '44.
His professional life was marked by great energy and industry, methodical habits of business, and clear and sound judgment ; and, endowed by nature with remarkable firmness
and decision of character, he brought to the discharge of public and private duties great sincerity, uncompromising principles and in- flexible integrity. He had great respect for the institutions of religion, and earnestly trusted in the consolations and hopes of the Christian faith He was three times married, viz: (1) on the 27th Sept., 1812, to Harriot, daughter of Reuben and Abigail (Woodward) Nash of Benson, who was born Nov. 19, 1794, and died March 25, 1825; (2) on 31st May, 1826, to Julia Ann, daughter of Samuel and Jennette Howard, of Benson, who was born June 16, 1304, and died Dec 13, 1845; and (3) on 6th May, 1847, to Amie Stoughton danghter of John and Lydia (Eastman) Dick inson. and widow of Jonathan Dickinson, of Amherst. Mass., who was born April 16. 1796, and died at Holyoke, Mass., Aug. 11 1860. and he had children by his first, and also by his second marriage.
GRADUATES OF COLLEGES.
The following graduates of Colleges were residents of this town while pursuing college studies, and at the time of their graduation, V17.
Of Middlebury College : class of 1808, Perez Chapin ; 1817. Ethan Allen and Franklin Gillett Smith : 1823, David Latham Farn- ham : 1824. Mervin Allen and Cephas Hez- ry Kent : 1827 Jedediah Clark Parmalee ; 1823, Nathaniel Cathin Clark and John Good- rich : 1829, Pascal Carter; 1831, Edwin [ Munson Barber and Daniel Howard ; 1836, William Dickinson Griswold, Josiah Whee- lock Peet and Erasmus Darwin Ransom ; 1838, Franklin White Olmsted ; 1852, George Cushing Knapp, 1855, Daniel Meeker How- ard ; 1860, John Quincy Dickinson.
Of Amherst College, class of 1836, Loyal Case Kellogg.
Of Union College, class of 1837, Henry H. Bates.
Of the University of Vermont, class of 1845, Philo Beckwith Wilcox ; 1846, Royal Dan- iel King.
Of the above Messrs. Chapin, Kent, Parm- alee, Clark, Peet, Olmsted, Wilcox and Knapp became Trinitarian Congregational clergy- men ; and Mr. Knapp also became a mission- ary of the American Board of Commission- ers for Foreign Missions, and is now station- ed at Bitlis, in Turkey. Messrs. Ethan Al- len, (now D. D., and residing in Baltimore, Md.) Smith, Mervin, Allen and Bates became
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clergymen of the Protestant Episcopal Church ; and Messrs. Farnham, Goodrich, Griswold and Kellogg became lawyers. Mr. Griswold resides at Terre Haute, Ind., and is now the president and general superintend. ent of the Ohio and Mississippi Rail-road Company.
RUFUS W. GRISWOLD, D. D., who attained distinction as an editor, and as a careful com. piler and critic of the standard literature of this country, was a native of Benson. He was born Feb. 15, 1815, and was a son of Rutus Griswold, who was a resident of Ber- son from 1812 to '22, and afterwards of the adjoining town of Hubbardton. He was for a brief period a preacher of the Baptist de- nomination : but he occupied the pulpit only occasionally. or at intervals comparatively rare; and his active life was mainly devoted to literary pursuits. An appreciative sketch of him from the pen of Mr. Edwin P. Whip- ple, one of the most accomplished of all American critics, is published in Graham's Magazine for June, 1845; and another and more extended sketch is given in the volume of " Literary Criticisms," by the late Horace Binney Wallace, of Philadelphia, pp. 227-43. -(See, also, the notice of him in Appleton's New American Cyclopedia.) His " Poets and Poetry of America," first published in 1842, is a work of great merit, and 17 editions of it were published within 15 years after its first appearance. He died in the city of New York Aug. 27, 1857, aged 42 years.
REVOLUTIONARY PENSIONERS.
A large number of the early settlers of the town served as soldiers in the war of the Rev- olution ; but no pensions for this service were granted until after the passage of the pension act of 1818. The following is a list of the Revolutionary pensioners who resided in the town, so far as is now remembered, viz. Abel Bacon, Christopher Bates, Brister Bennett, (colored,) John Carter, Jonah Car- ter, Solomon Chittenden, Walter Durfee, John Dunning, Solomon Gibbs, Allen Goodrich, Simeon Goodrich, Thomas Goodrich, William Jones, Major Ozias Johnson. (b. April 21, 1753, d. Feb. 27, 1841, aged nearly 83 years ;) Rev. Dan Kent, Allen Leet, William Man. ning, (d. Jan. 8, 1847, aged 83 years ;) Lieut. Solomon Martin, James Noble, (called Junior in the early records-son of Capt. James No. ble,-(b. at Westfield, Mass., Jan. 24, 1761, d at Benson June 30, 1843, aged 82 years ,)
Timothy Prince, (colored, died Aug. 19, 1900, aged 7S years ;) John Stearns, Asahel Stiles, (b. in Pittsfield, Mass., Nov. 20, 1:39, d. in Benson, April 13, 1851, aged 94 years :) Ja- cob Thomas and Reuben Wilkinson.
LONGEVITY.
Residents of the town who died at as on- usually advanced age, with date c: decease, viz :
Abraham Adams, March 26, 1865, 97 years ; Benjamin Hickok, May 5, 1862. 96; Asabel Stiles, April 13, 1854, 94 ; Solomos Martis, July 10, 1845, 93 ; Sarah, wife of E.a. Smith, March 23, 1862, 93; Anna, widow of Arsold Briggs, Aug. 17, 1869, 93 ; Simeon Goodrich, Feb. 7, 1852, 92; Rebecca, widow of Robert Barber, March 18, 1856, 92; Eltal Smith, May 10, 1867, 92; Othnie! Goodrich, Aug. 12, 1853, 91 ; Fear, widow of Cart. Stephen Olmsted, Jan. 7, 1825, 90; William Jones, March 23, 1852, 89; Timothy Watson, Acg. 6, 1852, 89; Mary, wife of Robert Parkhill, Oct. 26, 1800, 89; Stephen Sherwood, Jas. 11, 1532, 89; William Manning, Jas. 8. 1547. 88; Susanna, widow of Rutes Walker, July 20, 1863, 88.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
ASAHEL SMITH, Esq. was a cative of Saf- field, Ct., and removed from that tows to Benson in 1735. He was a son of Ichabod and Elizabeth (Stedman) Smith, azi was born Nov. 26, 1739-a descendant is the 4:6 generation, from the Rev. Henry Smith, the first settled minister of Weather.feld. Ct., (1636 to '43) according to the family gecealo- gy in Goodrich's Genealogical Notes. 5.194- and was also a first cousin of D :. Simmeca Smith of Westhaven, well known is this vi- cinity for his bequest to that town for the sun- port of a grammar-school. He was a farmer, and had probably been a representative in the legislature of Connecticut, asi also & magistrate, before his removal to Vermost. He was the moderator of the towa meeting at which the town of Benson was organized in March, 1786, and the first of the board of selectmen elected at that meeting. act the Srst representative of the town elected to the General Assembly, 1788, and re-elected each succeeding year to the time of his seath. He was also the delegate from the tex2 15 th3 State constitutional conventions hell 3: Mas- chester in June, 1756, and at Wisiso: in Ju- ly, 1793, and also the delegate from the town
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to the State convention held at Bennington in January, 1791, which, on the part of Ver- mont, adopted the Constitution of the United States. He was also the first justice of the peace in the town, (1788) and re-appointed in each succeeding year to the time of his death ; and during that time the only person resid- ing in the town who was appointed to that office, except one year (1790) in which two justices were appointed in the town. He died at Benson, June 26, 1794, in his 55th year.
His widow, Agnes (Gillett) was married Sept. 18, 1803, to Capt. James Noble, one of the first settlers of Benson, who removed to Orwell about 1790, and resided there at the time of his second marriage. She died Aug. 24. 1810, aged 70 years.
CAPT. WILLIAM BARBER
was from Pittsfield, Mass., where he had been one of its most prominent and patriotic citi- izens. He had been one of the town com- mittee of correspondence, and a selectman in Pittsfield in the time of the Revolutionary war ; and, as lieutenant, he was in command of a company from Pittsfield, in Col. Simonds' regiment, in the battle of White Plains, Oct. 28, 1776. He removed to Benson in 1784, and settled on the farm now occupied by his grandson, William C. Barber, and died Aug. 11, 1789, aged 46 years.
ASA FARNAM, ESQ.,*
was originally from Litchfield, Ct., and re- moved from Fairhaven to Benson in 1784 .- He was a surveyor, merchant and farmer- the representative of the town in the General Assembly in 1795, and appointed a justice of the peace in 1795, and from 1797 to 1802 in- clusive. He died at Benson June 13, 1811, in his 48th year.
CHAUNCEY SMITH
was a son of Asahel Smith, Esq., and remov- ed to Benson with his father. He studied medicine, and became a physician, and con- tinued in active practice from about 1786 to 1815. In 1791, after the decease of his fath- er, he was elected the representative of the town in the General Assembly, and received 15 annual elections to the same office, exclu- sive of one (in 1812) which was successfully contested-his last election being in 1819.
He was also the delegate from the town to the State constitutional convention of 1828;
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