USA > Vermont > Rutland County > The history of Rutland county, Vermont; civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military, pt 2 > Part 2
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MIDDLETOWN.
1855. He was the pastor longer than any one except Mr. Bigelow. During his minis- try the Congregational meeting house was re- moved to where it now stands, and repaired.
Rev. Enoch Caswell, a native of the town, preached to this church about 6 months in 1856, after which he returned to New Hamp- shire where he had hitherto labored.
Rev. Calvin Granger came here the Fall of 1858, and was installed over this church. He was dismissed by an ecclesiastical council April, 1864, and is now the pastor of the Con- gregational church in Hubbardton. It was during Mr. Granger's ministry that an ad- dition of 16 feet in front was made to the meeting house, with the spire, and a fine bell procured.
Rev. M. Martin preached here about a year, commencing in September, 1865.
Rev. G. Myrick present pastor, came here the Fall of 1866.
Deacons Caswell, Barber and Loomis some years subsequent to their election, removed from here. Julius Spaulding was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the removal of Deacon Caswell. Deacon Spaulding after- wards removed to Poultney. Thaddeus Ter- rill held the office of deacon in the church for several years. He now resides near Roches- ter, N. Y., The present deacons of the church are Asahel Spaulding, John Q. Caswell and Dyer Letfingwell. (1867,)
Church Clerks, - Joseph Spaulding, Thom- as French, William Frisbie, jr., Joseph Rock- well, Gideon Miner, jr., Jesse Caswell, F. Kel- logg, Moses King, Menira Caswell. Harvey Leffingwell and Jay B. Norton, present clerk.
Present number of members 46.
THE BAPTIST CHURCH
in Middletown was organized in 1784. It is one of the oldest of the order in the State, if not the oldest. From about 1790 until 1802 it was a large church, and embraced in its communion members residing in the towns of Wells, Poultney, Tinmouth and Ira, In 1802, residents of Poultney, 34 or 35 by vote of the church, withdrew, and formed a church in that town. There were also a good many members residents of Tinmouth up to a later date than 1802 .. The first meeting of the church, of which we have any record, Caleb Smith was elected moderator, and Thomas Mc Clure, clerk. Caleb Smith appears to have been the leading man from its organization until his death, Nov. 10, 1SOS. He usually
acted as moderator in the absence of the min- ister, and was the first deacon. I should judge from the records, he held a position sim- ilar to that of Deacon Jonathan Brewster in the Congregational church. He was not a noisy man, but undoubtedly an efficient work- er in laying the foundations of the institu- tions in the settlement.
Among the first members of this church were Caleb Smith, Thomas Mc Clure, John Sunderlin, Gamaliel Waldo, Hezekiah Mal- lary, Zaccheus Mallary, Nathaniel Mallary, Daniel Ford, Asher Blunt, David Wood, Eph- raim Foster, Josiah Johnson, Nathan Wal- ton and Jonathan Haynes.
Jonathan Haynes was quite early elected a deacon, but did not accept the office for the reason, probably, of his physical infirmities, occasioned by a terrible wound which he re- ceived in Bennington in 1777. Yet he was a useful man in the church while he lived, held many important positions, and was re- garded as a sincere, ardent and devoted Chris- tian.
Daniel Ford a good Christian man, the fa- ther of Nathan Ford, and the grandfather of Joel Ford, was elected deacon to supply the place that the church intended to have filled with Mr. Haynes.
Gamaliel Waldo one of those decided, stern, resolute men, who was not to be moved by any outside influences, was another efficient member. And this, to a great extent, was, the character of nearly all the early members of both this and the Congregational denomi- nation. Both churches were formed at a time and under circumstances that we should hardly suppose would have admitted of pros- perity ; but they at once sprung into life and activity, and perhaps they were as successful the first year of their existence as they have ever since been in the same period of time.
The Baptist church was without a minister until 1790-during which time Rev. Hezekiah Eastman seems to have administered at com- munion seasons, and performed the rite of baptism. Where Mr. Eastman lived I have been unable to learn.
Aug. 6, 1790, the Baptist church voted to give a call to Rev. Sylvanus Haynes, of Princetown, Mass., to become their pastor. The Baptist society which was formed in 1790, joined the church in the call. Mr. Haynes accepted the call by this communica- tion to the church.
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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
" TO THE BAPTIST CHURCH OF MIDDLETOWN.
Dear Brethren -Matters have been so ar- ranged in the Kingdom of GOD's Providence, that we' held an interview together a little more than a year ago. at which time I re- ceived an invitation by Deacon Smith, who was then a part of the standing committee of the church to provide preaching, to come and preach with them a certain time. Some time after I returned home I received a letter fromn Deacon Smith sigmfying that the church fully concurred with him in inviting me to come. Accordingly I set out, and on the 24th of March last, I arrived safe at this place ; and after preaching five months here I have re- ceived an invitation to take the pastoral charge of this church and society. The invi- tation on the part of the church was signed by Deacon Smith, on the part of the society by Jonas Clark.
In the first place I would present my most hearty thanks to the church and society for the kind respect with which they have treated me, and I acknowledge with much gratitude the kind treatment I have received from the Congregational church and society.
In answering the church and society, I shall give some of the considerations which have influenced me in accepting your call.
SYLVANUS HAYNES.
Mr. Haynes was ordained Aug. 26, 1790, and remained the pastor 27 years. The Bap- tist society bought a piece of land for him of Captain Joseph Spaulding, the same now owned by Reuben Mehurin, and Mr. Haynes commenced living on it in a log-house. Be- sides attending to his pastoral duties, he did a good deal of work on his land.
During the ministry of Mr. Haynes in this place the Baptist church and society were prosperous. Mr. Haynes left this town in 1817, and went to western New York. He left before my recollection, but from all I have heard of him from the old people, of both his own and other denominations, I should judge he was a faithful minister ; suc- cessful in his labors here, and we moreover find he was the author of several religious works, which at the time gave him a good reputation as a writer in his denomination. He preached the election sermon before the legislature of Vermont in Oct., 1809, which sermon was printed by a vote of the legisla ture.
gregational house was completed in 1796, when he preached in that until the Baptist house was built in 1806.
After Mr. Haynes left Rev. Seth Ewens supplied the church about 2 years.
Rev. Isaac Bucklin was settled over the Baptist church in 1821, and was the pastor until 1828, when he removed from here.
Rev. Mr. Fuller, Rev. Linus J. Reynolds and Rev. G. B. Day each preached here be- tween 1828 and 1832. The Rev. Mr. Day was ordained here. He was a very zealous man, and was here during the revival in 1831. There were 36 persons in one day in Sept. 1831, baptized and received into the church.
Rev. Mr. Soullard preached next in this church. He was here about 3 years, and went to Pawlet sometime in 1837, where he now resides. He has since given his atten- tion mostly to farming.
Rev. Mr. Haskell, formerly connected with the Literary and Theological Institution of New York, followed Mr. Soullard, but only preached here about 6 months.
Rev. E. B. Bullard was the next minister here. He came in 1839 and remained about 2 years. He was a brother of George W. Bullard, who more recently resided here. He was well educated, and a very devoted man. After leaving here he went to Burmah as a missionary, and died there.
Rev. Robert Myers preached here about four years, commencing some time in 1841. Soon after leaving this town he became a lawyer, but is now again in the ministry.
Rev. R. O. Dwyer came here about 1846, and preached about 3 years. Mr. Dwyer was a well-meaning man, and doubtless de. signed to discharge his duty faithfully as a minister of the gospel. He removed to a place near Saratoga, N. Y .; became a chap- lain in one of the New York regiments in the war of 1861, and died in the service of his country. His only son was a soldier in the same regiment, and was killed in battle about the time of his father's death.
Rev. M. J. Smith preached here in 1849 and '50. While Mr. Smith was here the Baptist society thoroughly repaired their house of worship. Mr. Smith has since died. Rev. J. J. Peck followed, and preached here 2 or 3 years.
To Mr. Haynes belongs the honor of be- ing not only the first settled minister of the Baptist church here but the first minister set - tled in Middletown. He preached in the log-meeting-house and at private houses, un - Rev. Beriah N. Leach, D. D., came in 1855, til, what has since been known as the Con- [ and was pastor about 5 years. Mr Leach is
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MIDDLETOWN.
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a native of this town, and went into the min- istry as early as 1819. During the time of his ministry, he was for some years principal of an academy in western New York. He now resides in Middletown, Ct., where he has heretofore spent a portion of the time of his ministry. Since Mr. Leach left, Rev. Mr. Frenyear preached here a while. Rev. Thom- as Tobin is the present minister. (1867.)
After the death of Deacon Smith and Dea- con Ford, Jonathan Barce was elected to that office which he held until his death, about 1847. Beriah Newland, Jeremiah Rudd. Spencer Nicholson, Benajah Mallary, Peleg Seamans and Nathaniel Clift, have held the office of deacon. Alpheus Haynes was or- dained a deacon in 1836, and has held the office since, and is at present the only dea- con in the church. Of the clerks there have been Thomas Mc Clure, David Spafford, Rob- ert R. Woodward, and Ira Frost, present clerk.
The resident members by the last official returns are 53; non-resident members 21.
There was a sabbath school organized about the year 1821, which was a union school of the Baptists and Congregationalists. Some time after that each denomination organized a school of its own, and have kept them up since.
METHODIST.
The first Methodist who preached in this town was the Rev. Laban Clark, in 1801. It appears that then there was but one Metho- dist family in town.
As early as 1815, there was a class formed in" Burnam Hollow," in the west part of the town. Cyril Leach, a brother of Rev. B. N. Leach, was the leader of the class at one time and there was a goodly number of members in the class. Mrs. Willard and Mrs. Leffing- well, daughters of John Burnam, were mem- bers of it, also Mrs .. Nye, and others. They had preaching occasionally by circuit preachers, in the school-houses in that part of the town. The last years of the existence of this class it was not as well sus- tained. The present Methodist Episcopal church and society in Middletown had its be- ginning as follows : In 1834, a class was form- ed in the village by Anthony Rice, consist- ing of James Germond and wife, and Samuel Hathaway and wife. Soon afterwards John Gray and wife were added to the class, and James Germond was appointed class-
leader. This class commenced holding meet- ings in the school-house in the village, but from some cause were obliged to leave that place and hold their meetings at private houses. 1
In 1835, the society was formed, which will appear from the following record :
"We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Middletown, in the county of Rut- land and State of Vermont, do hereby volun- tarily associate and agree to form a society by the name of the Methodist Episcopal So- ciety of Middletown, county and state afore- said, for the purpose of purchasing a situation for, and building a meeting-house, according to the first section of an act entitled "an act for the support of the gospel," passed October 26th, 1798.
In witness whereof we have hereunto sev- erally set our hands.
ELt OATMAN, JAMES GERMOND,
SAMUEL YOUNG, NATH'L W. MARTIN,
MARCUS STODDARD, JUSTUS BARKER,
SAMUEL HATHAWAY, JOHN GRAY, CHARLES LAMB,
Dated at Middletown, this 23rd day of No- vember, A. D. 1835."
The meeting-house contemplated in the foregoing was built in the year 1837. It was built with a basement for a town- room, but the town have since surren- dered their claim to it for that purpose. The house was dedicated by Rev. John Wea- ver, then a presiding elder, in the winter of 1833. Samuel Young was the first preacher in the charge of this society.
Apr. 16, A. D. 1842, a Sabbath School was formed, and by the constitution, which ap- pears in the handwriting of Jaines Germond, was called the Methodist Episcopal Sabbath School, in Middletown. The officers under that constitution, for that year (1812) were
Superintendent, Lucius Abbott ; Librarian, Harvey Hoadley ; Secretary and Treasurer, James Germond; Visiting Committee, John Fitch, M. Smith, Elisha Rogers, P. Germond, L. W. Winslow, J. Willard, P. H. Smith, A. J. Hoadley, A. Hyde, M. Woodworth, James Germond, E. Stoddard; Teachers, Elisha Rog- ers, P. Germond, J. Darling, E. Marshall, Charles Lamb, L. Doughty, Justus Barker, L. Burnam, A. Hyde, H. Babcock.
The Methodist society in Middletown, like the other religious denominations here, has had its seasons of prosperity and adversity.
They gained rapidly on the start. By the time their house of worship was completed in | the winter of 1838, they had a congregation
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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
nearly or quite as large as either of the other denominations, and they have since kept it up nearly as large, but that society has been unfortuntae in losing many of its prominent and useful members by death.
James Germond, their first class-leader and leader of their singing, until he die I, October, 1855, was an unassuming man, yet to him perhaps more to than any other the Methodist Episcopal church is indebted for its rise and early progress.
John Fitch was a local preacher, and re- moved from Pawlet, his native place, to Mid- dletown as early as 1838, where he resided until February, 1859, when he died. Mr. Fitch was never the preacher in charge, but took an active part in the affairs of the church and a considerable portion of the time sup- plied the desk. He will be long remembered by those of that church who have survived him, as a zealous laborer in his Master's vine- yard.
In 1862, when the Rev. H. D. Hitchcock was the preacher in charge, the Methodist house was thoroughly repaired, and like the Baptist and Congregational houses of wor- ship, is now in good condition. Whiting Merrill was very active in procuring the re- pairs on the meeting-house, contributed largely of his means, and did much by way of procuring subscriptions, and superintend- ing the work. He succeeded in accordance with his wishes, but died in three years after. Mr. Merrill commenced life a poor boy, but by his good management secured a competence. He had hardly passed the prime of life when he died, and had been for some years the lea- der of a class. Joseph Banister was appoint- ed to fill his place, who lived but a few months after.
The present preacher in charge (1867) is Rev. George Sutton.
It is true there are some unpleasant things in connection with the history of each of the churches here, but we must expect those will occur in these and all other churches, and I cannot but feel that great good has been ac- complished by the churches here. They have sent out no less than 8 ministers, who were natives of the town, one as a missionary to foreign lands. Many others who have gone from here are holding prominent positions in different churches in the far West and other piaces.
town remained about the same ; there was a little falling off, but no essential difference. As we look back within this period w. find but few left of the first settlers of the town, and those few have retired from active life. The active men then here consisted of the de- scendants of the pioneers, and of men who had more recently removed here. Among the then active men here were Jonas Clark, Hezekiah Haynes, Jonathan Morgan, Eli Oatman, Roswell Buel, David and Levi Me- hurin, Stephen Keyes, Jaaz and Stephen Bar- ; rett, Merritt and Horace Clark, Allen and Micah Vail, Luther Buxton, Anson Rogers, Alonzo Hyde, James Germond, Justus Bar- ker, Thaddeus Terrill, Reuben Loomis, Smith Wait, John P. Taylor, Menira Caswell and Henry Gray, who were the connecting link between the early settlement of the town and the present time and were in the main, as well as others then living here and not named, a substantial class of men.
Janzaniah Barrett for many years a mer- chant here, owned and lived in the house now owned by M. E. Vail, Esq , in which he and his family now reside. The house was built by Amasa Squires not long after 1800, and was for many years occupied as a hotel, by Jeremiah Leffingwell and a Mr. Monroe. The store occupied by Mr. Barrett was the one until recently, occupied by Mr. Vail, which has been taken down and removed. Mr. Bar- rett for many years did a large business as a merchant, and in buying and selling cattle and farm-produce.
Allen and Micah Vail removed from Dan- by to this town about the year 1810; raised up large families here, and during their resi- dence were among the leading farmers. They are both dead, and but one representative from each family now remains here ; Mrs. E. Ross, a daughter of Allen Vail, and M. E. Vail, a son of Micah Vail.
HENRY GRAY was perhaps as long an active business man as any other man who has ever lived in the town since the days of John Burnam. Mr. Gray was an unusually persevering man. He suffered many losses by fire and other casulaties, but was full of hope and animation-almost to the day of his death-which occurred in June, 1865, at the age of 78 years. From the days of the Burn- ams and the Miners, until a recent period, Henry Gray was almost the sole proprietor
From 1820 to '40 the population of the I of all the mills in town, and machinery pro-
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MIDDLETOWN.
pelled by water power. Mr. Gray was long a member of the Congregational society, and contributed liberally to its support.
Between 1820 and '40, there was a great change, going on in the industrial efforts of the people; which severed our connection with the good old times and left them behind us-the times when the ox-yokes, the ox- bows, the whip-stocks and other necessary implements, were made in the long evenings before a blazing fireplace-the times when he was considered the best manager who did "everything within himself "-the times when, as the men worked, the hum of the little linen-wheel, or the large wheel for spinning wool, or the rattle of the shuttle and treads in the loom mingled with the crackle of the fire and the sounds of the axe and the drawing knife. As some one has written : " The women then picked their own wool, carded their own rolls, spun their own yarn, drove their own looms, made their own cloth. cut, made and mended their own garments, dipped their own candles, male their own soap, bottomed their own chairs, braided their own baskets, wove their own carpets, quilts and coverlids, picked their own geese, milked their own cows, fed their own calves, and went visiting or to meeting on their own feet, and all this with much less fuss and ado than our modern ladies make when they are simply obliged to over- see the work of an ordinary household in these days."
and must continue so to be, and there is no better soil for that purpose in Rutland county. Keeping a dairy is now the main business of most of the farmers. "The Mid- dletown Cheese Manufacturing Company " was organized in the Spring of 1864, and proceeded at once to erect buildings for that purpose. The manufacturing room is 26 feet square ; the curing-house is a two story building, 72 feet long and 30 feet wide. The making of cheese commenced in the summer of 1864, and has been in successful operation ever since, and has much increased the farin- ing interest and the value of real estate in the town. The capital stock of the company is $1,600. The number of pounds of milk received at the factory the last season (1866) was 1,707,814. Number of pounds of cheese made from the same when cured, was 173, 970; and the gross receipts for the same were $30,383.19.
Most of the farmers in Middletown are in comfortable circumstances, mostly out of debt, and many of them are money lenders. In respect to thrift and good management they have much improved upon the farmers of 25 years ago. There are here now two stores, that of M. E. Vail and that of A. W. Gray & Sons, and the requisite number of me- chanic shops, a manufactory of wagons and carriages by the Mc Clures, of agricultural implements by E. W. Gray, and of horse- powers by A. W. Gray & Sons. A. W. Gray & Sons have in their employ about 30 men.
In the financial revulsion of 1839, the " credit system " which was then a system for everybody, proved disastrous to many industrous and honest farmers and others in The springing up of this establishment, after nearly all other manufacturing in the town had ceased, or was waning, is exceed- ingly fortunate. A. W. Gray was the inven- tor of the horse-power now manufactured by A. W. Gray & Sons. He was formerly a millwright, learned his trade of Henry Gray, but had given a good deal of time for some years, previous to 1856, to inventing. Middletown. Soon after 1840, the business in the town seemed to be on the decline. Merritt Clark had removed to Poultney ; Horace Clark, also Janzaniah Barrett, had gone out of the mercantile business ; the building of railroads through the State had come to be agitated, and it was becoming evident, that no line of railroad would pass through Middletown ; large farmers were en The horse-powers manufactured by the Messrs. Grays find a ready sale, and are with- out doubt great labor-saving machines. They are used for sawing wood, threshing and other purposes, and are undoubtedly superior to anything of the kind now in use. They are sent to all parts of the country, and the proprietors might, if they desired very much, extend their business. larging their borders, and small farmers were selling out and going West. The consequence wa- that from 1840 to 1850, the population of the town fell off about 200, and up to 1860 there was no gain in population. By the census of 1860, we had only 700 inhabi- tants. Since 1860 there must have been a . gain in the number of inhabitants, as some business interests have recently sprung up TOWN CLERKS. here, and altogether the town is improving Joseph Rockwell, 1781 to '99 ; Nathaniel The town is essentially an agricultural town | Wood, jr., 1799 to 1802; Orson Brewster,
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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
1802 to '12; Jabez Joslin, 1812 to '13 ; Orson Brewster, 1813 to '15; Barker Frisbie, 1815 to '21 ; Dyer Leffingwell, 1321 to '22; Cyrus Adams, 1822 to '29; Eliakim Paul, 1829 to '36; Orson Clark, 1836 to '42; Luther Fil- more, 1842 to '45; Adin H. Green, 1815 to '47; Eliakim Paul, 1847 to '49; Adin H. Green, 1849 to '52; Elijah Ross, 1852 to '56 ; Barnes Frisbie, 1856 to '60; Elijah Ross, 1860 to '61; Geo. W. Bullard, 1861 to '63; Elijah Ross, 1863 to '65; Moses E. Vail, 1865 to '66 ; Elijah Ross, 1866 to '67. Er- win Haskins was elected March, 1867, and is the present Town Clerk.
REPRESENTATIVES.
Joseph Spaulding, 1735 to '88 ; John Bur- nam, 1788: Ephraim Carr, 1788 to '92; Jonathan Brewster, 1792; Nathaniel Wood, 1793 ; Jonathan Brewster, 1794; John Bur- nam, 1795; Jonathan Brewster, 1796 ; John Burnham, 1796 to 1799; Nathaniel Wood, jr., 1799 to 1804; John Burnam; 1804 ; Dyer Leffingwell, 1801 to '07 ; John Burnam, 1807; Jonas Clark, jr., 1807 to '10; Jacob Burnam, 1810; Jonas Clark, 1810 to '23 ; David G. Mc Clure, 1823 to '29 ; Allen Vail, 1829 ; Eliakim Paul, 1829 to 32; Merritt Clark, 1832 to '34; Orson Clark, 1834 to '36 ; Eliakim Paul, 1836 to '38; Jonathan Mor- gan, 1333; Merritt Clark, 1839, Eliakim Paul, 1839 to '42: C. B. Harrington, 1812 to '44 ; Horace Clark, 1844 to '46 ; C. B. Har- rington, 1846 , Harris G. Otis, 1847; Wm. N. Gray, 1847 to '50; Roswell Buel, jr., 1850 ; Eliakim Paul, 1850 to '53; Jacob Burnam, 1853; Barnes Frisbie, 1853 to '56; Lucius Copeland, 1856 to '58 ; C. P. Coy, 1858 to '60: Roswell Buel, 1860 to '62 : Nathaniel Cliff, 1862 to '64 ; Harley Spaulding, 1864 to '66 : A. W. Gray, 1866 to '67.
Of the part the citizens of Middletown took in the war of 1812, I have been able to gather but little information. There were several who enlisted and served in that war; only one (John Woodworth) to my knowledge sur- vives. He was wounded at Fort Erie, and now draws a pension of $06 a year. He had a large family, but none are now residing in Middletown, except his oldest daughter, Mary. He has one son Andrew J., who now resides in Philadelphia, and is a man of good busi- ness capacity, and has, as I am informed, ac- cumulated a good deal of wealth. He gave the town of Mid Hletown, a short time since, the sum of about $1000-it being what the
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