USA > Vermont > Rutland County > The history of Rutland county, Vermont; civil, ecclesiastical, biographical and military, pt 2 > Part 50
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West of the Mountain Green, Lies Rutland Fair !
ยท The best that e'er was seen For soil and air ; Kind Zephyr's pleasant breeze Whispers among the trees, Where men may live at ease With prudent care.
*
Here studs the lofty pine Aud makes n show. As straight as Gauler's lino Their bodies grow; Their lofty heads they roar Amid the atmosphere Where the wing'd tribes repair And sweetly sing.
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Here glides a pleasant stream Which doth not fail To spread the richest cream D'er the intervalo- As rich as Eden's soil Before that sin did spoil, Or man was doomed to toil, To get his bread. Ilere little sahnon glide So neat and fine, Where you may be supplied With hook and twine; They are the finest fish To cook a dainty dish As good as one conld wish To feed npon.
The pigeon, goose and duck, They fill our beds; The beaver, coon and fox, They crown our heads: The harmless moose and dleer Are food and clothes to wear; Nature conkl do uo moro For any land.
There's many a pleasant town Lies in this vale, Where you may settle down; You need not fail, If you are not too late, To make a fino estate; You need not fear the fate, But come along.
We value not New York, With all their powers, For here we'll slay and work- The land is ours ; Aud as for great Duane With all his wicked train, They may eject again, We'll not resign. This is that noble land By conquest won, Took from a savage band With sword and gun ; We drove them to the west, They could not stand the test, And from the Gallic pest This land is free.
Ilere churches we'll erect Both neat and fine; The gospel we'll protect, Pure and divine ; The pope's supremacy We utterly deny, And Laomnis we defy- We're George's men.
In George we will rejoice, Ile is our king; We will obey his voice Iu every thing ; Here we his servants stand Upon his conquered land- Good Lord ; may we dolend Our properly.
Rowley's verses were principally contributed to the Rural Magazine and the Bonnington Gazette. P. 11. W.
CHRISTMAS EVE .*
BY THOMAS ROWLEY.
Ilark ! whence that sound! hark! bark! the joyful shonting!
Sce, see ! what splendour spreads its beams around us! Turning dark midnight into noontide glory, As it approaches.
With pomp majestic see the heavenly vision Slowly descending; while attending angels Pour acclamations; and celestial chantings Wake our attention.
Fear not ye shepherds 'tis the Prince of Peace comes, Full of compassion, full of love and pity; Bringing salvation for all sorts of mankind, For all Ilis people. .
Go pay your homage to your infant Savionr ; Laid in a manger, view the Lord of glory Meanly attended, yet the Messias, Yon star shall gnide you.
Give God the glory, join the host celestial ;- Peace upon earth now and good will toward men ; From terror raised to hope of life eternal, Through a Redeemer.
O may impressions of his boundless mercy, Ever remind me of my grateful duty; Sweet the employment to proclaim his goodness, And sing his praises.
" Like Ira Allen, he was ready with the pen, and during his many terms of service in the legislature, if a subject was referred to a committee, " with instructions to report by a bill," he was, almost invariably, named as its chairman, and the "bills" drafted and reported by him would always "hold water." For biographical sketches, see Vol. I. pages 98, 99 in history of Shoreham, and history of Danby in this volume-EJ.
Rowley once went into Apollos Austin's store wearing a shabby old hat. Austin jok- ing him, offered to give him a new one if he would make an impromptu verse. Rowley, taking off his hat and looking upon it earn- estly, perhaps a single moment, replied :
Here's my old hat, no matter for that, 'Tis good as the rest of my raiment, If I bny me a better, You'll set the down debtor, And send me to jail for the payment.
From Esq. Rowley's list, as made out and given to the listers.
My poor oll mare, her bones are bare The crows begin to sing : Old brute, if she does not recruit, They'H feed on her next Spring.
* Contributed to the Rural Magazine, Vol. II. p. 611. A skilful imitation of the Revolutionary war ode, by Nathaniel Niles, for which see Vol. II. History of West Fairle .- ED.
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As for her age, I do engage She's eighteen years, or more, And is just as free from the list As inan is at three score.
REV. SAMUEL WILLIAMS, LL. D.,
was born in Waltham, Mass., about 1740 ; graduated at Harvard in 1761 ; was ordained minister of Bradford, Mass., Nov. 20, 1765, where he remained until he became professor of mathematics and natural philosophy, in Harvard, which office he held until 1788, when he resigned and moved to Rutland, Vt. The last date is given from Blake's Biograph- ical Dictionary, not without a strong suspi- cion that it should be an earlier date. Dr. Williams was elected to the General Assem - bly, for Rutland, in 1783-5, 1787-95, and 1798-9, in all 14 years. He was a member of the governor's council, in 1,95 to '98, four years, in two of which he had been elected to the House also. He was Judge of the Rut- land county court 1790-97, 8 years, and in 1794 he preached the election sermon. For a time he served as editor of the Rutland Herald, established in 1792 ; in 1794 he pub- lished the Natural and Civil History of Ver- mont, in one volume, of 416 pages, octavo, which was extended in 1808, to two volumes of 1003 pages ; and in 1795-6 he published the Rural Magazine, consisting of two octavo volumes. He is entitled to honor as one of the founders of the University of Vermont, for, said president John Wheeler, in his his- torical discourse, Aug. 1, 1854, " The creative mind of Dr. Samuel Williams, and the reflec- tive and profound mind of Judge [Samuel] Hitchcock, [two graduates of Harvard, ] had worked for the University of Vermont, and in it." He was, unquestionably, the most learned man in Vermont, in his day, and for his labors and influence in behalf of education and piety, he was also one of the most useful. " Dr. Williams' History of Vermont," said Zadoc Thompson, " though diffuse in style, and embracing much foreign matter, will long continue our standard work." Dr. Williams' greatest fault, as historian, was, that he did not duly appreciate the high privilege of writ. ing for posterity ; hence, he omitted many interesting facts, known generally in huis day, which are now unknown. He could have given us the details of the Conventions, a clearer explanation of the Haldimand corres- pondence, and pen-portraits, at least, of ev-I
ery actor in the Council of Safety, and of our first Governor, whose features, now, if he could but know them, would be stamped up- on the memory of every Vermonter, as in- delibly as are those of George Washington, who was Chittenden's friend and correspond- ent, in the period of his severest trials. Of the History, Rev. Dr. Blake said: " It was esteemed the best historical work which had appeared in the country at the time of its publication, and received high encomiums from some of the philosophers of Europe." Dr. JOHN A. GRAHAM was a resident of Rut- land for awhile preceding 1797, and person- ally acquainted with Dr. Williams, of whom he said, in his Descriptive Sketch of the Pres- ent State of Vermont, London, 1777 p. 66 :
" Of Samuel Williams, LL. D. Member of the Meteorological Society in Germany, of the Philosophical Society in Philadelphia, and of the Academy of Arts and Sciences in Massachusetts, it may with propriety be said, that he is the most enlightened man in the State, in every branch of philosophy and po- lite learning . and it is doing him no more than justice to say, there are very few in the United States possessed of greater abilities, or more extensive information : added to which he is a most excellent orator and speaks in a manner best adapted to the un- derstanding and capacity of those whom he addresses. In the year 1794 the Dr. wrote and published the Natural History of Ver- mont, executed much to his honor, and to the great satisfaction of all Naturalists. In politeness, ease and elegance of manners, Dr. Williams is not inferior to the most polished English gentleman."
Graham's volume is chiefly interesting for its personal gossip and sketches, of which the above is one of the best. It is to be regretted that he did not live in Vermont some years earlier, and give more details of the personal history and characteristics of the actors in the tragic and comic scenes which abounded in Vermont's earliest days. Dr. Williams died in January, 1817.
STATE OF VERMONT, IN COUNCIL OF SAFE- TY, Sept. 22, 1777 : Samuel Williams is per- mitted to pass and re-pass unmolested, as he has been examined before this Council.
THOMAS CHITTENDEN President.
The writer is not sure that the vote of the Council refers to the Doctor, though it is very probable that he visited Vermont at that time, perhaps to examine the field of his in- tended labors .- From Walton's Governor and Council, Vol. 1, p. 177.
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THE RURAL MAGAZINE, OR VERMONT REPOSITORY Devoted to Literary, Moral, Historical and Political Improvement, for January, 1795. Hoc undique jura congruuntur. Rutland ; Printed by J. Kirkaldie, for S. Williams & Co., a few rods north of the State-House.
" PREFACE.
In compiling the Rural Magazine, the de- sign of the Editor is to prepare such literary, moral and historical collections, as may prove instructive and entertaining to the reader ; In this Collection, what we have most of all in view. is such original papers, historical and political documents, literary, civil, and ecclesiastical transactions, as relate more im- mediately to the affairs and citizens of Ver- mont. By collecting and preserving such pa- pers and proceedings we hope to exhibit to the public a general account and view of the state and progress of society in this part of the Federal Union. It would not be decent or safe for the Editor to make high declara- tions or promises, with regard to the manner in which the work will be executed ; all that he will venture to engage is, to make a seri- ous attempt to compile as useful a Magazine as shall be in his power. Every composition, designed for the people, will, eventually, take its character from it's utility ; and its utility will be ascertained by the reception which it ineets from the people. By this standard the merits of the work will be examined, and its continuance or discontinuance will be deter- mined. That which the people do not esteem cannot be very useful to them : and' in any writings which meet their approbation, an author will always find, in the public esteem and encouragement, the proper and adequate reward for his labors. THE EDITOR.
Rutland Feb. 1, 1795."
The historical papers in the Rural Maga- zine are : " Letters from the Governors of New Hampshire and New York, relative to the first grants of land in Vermont." " Min- utes of the Council of New York." " Let- ters from Governors Wentworth and Clinton." " Memoirs of Colonel Seth Warner." " Esti- mates and Statements relative to Appropria- tions for the service of the year 1795." "Mrs. Jemima Howe, (Indian Captive)." " List of Townships granted westward of Connecticut river-date of grants." "Letters of William Tryon, to Rev, Mr. Dewey, and the inhabit- ants of Bennington and the adjacent country, on the east of Hudson's river, Albany." "Moses Robinson's and Samuel Safford's letter to Governor Tryon." " Resignation of Coun. cillor (Thomas) Porter," October, 1795. " Dis- interested Bravery," By Matthew Lyon ; Or his graphic account of Robert Armstrong's rescue of a drowning man "Salt Springs,
at Bridport and Orwell," By Thomas Tolman, Esq. "An Execrable law of the Colony of New York, passed the 9th day of March, 1794." " Address of the Proscribed Persons to the people of Albany and Charlotte Coun- ties, contiguous to the New Hampshire Grants." "District of Maine Separation." Proceedings of the Convention held at Port- land, October 27, 1794. Attempt to improve the System of Criminal Jurisprudence. "Sin- gular Power of Serpents,"By T. " Observa- tions made on the Falls of Onion River, Wa- terbury, commonly called Button's Falls, May 18, 1793; By the Hon. S. Hitchcock and Col. Davis." "Proceedings of the People of the County of Cumberland, and Province of New York, By Reuben Jones." Exports from the United States, 1791 to '95. " Articles of Ecclesiastical Order and Discipline, adopted by the Association of Ministers in the West- ern District of Vermont," by Thomas Tolman, Scribe of the Convention, " The First Peti- tion of the People of Vermont to Congress." " Report of Committee on the Letter of Jo- seph Woodward, of the New Hampshire Grants, and the Petition of the inhabitants of said grants, read May 30th, 1776" (in con- gre-s). Resolution in Congress, June 4th, '76. "Constitution of the Amicable Association of Christiana Hundred." " Late Ecclesiasti- cal Transactions at Westminster," (Vt.) " Proceedings of a Convention at Dorset, in 1776." " Written Dissertation, read be- fore the first Medical Society in Vermont Ju- ly, A. D. 1771, by TIMOTHY TODD, now (1775) President of the First Medical Society in Ver- mont." " A Case of Hydrophobia (in Ar- lington), communicated by Dr. T. Todd."- " History of the American Revolution." " Massacre at Fort William Henry, in 1757," in vol. 1. " Letter of Thomas Young to the inhabitants of Vermont." "Resolution of Congress referred to in the above letter."- " Letter from Pierre Van Cortlandt." " Cap- tain Remember Baker, by T." " Literary Societies," "Ecclesiastical Letter of Trumpet- er." Answers by " A Customer." " Histo- ry of the American Revolution." " Memoirs of General Montgomery." " Address of the Council of Safety of Vermont to the Councils of Safety of Massachusetts and New Hamp- shire, Manchester, July 15, 1777." " Letter of Meshech Weare, President of the State of New Hampshire, to Ira Allen, Secretary of the State of Vermont, July 19, 1777." --
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"" Letter of Weare to the New Hampshire Delegates at Congress." " Weare to Gov. Chittenden." " The connection between Pol- itics and Divinity." from the Rev. Dr. Bur- ton's Election Sermon, at Windsor, Oct. 3, 1795." " A Report of Col. ETHAN ALLEN, to his Excellency the Governor, the Honora- ble Council and to the Representatives of the Freemen of the State of Vermont, in Gener- al Assembly met." " An Account of the un- ion of 16 towns, on the east side of Connect- icut river, with the State of Vermont." --- " Letters of the Trumpeter." Letters on Snake Charming, from Watkins, of Brandon, Samuel Beach, of Whiting, Elias Willard of Tinmouth and U. Baker, of Rutland." "An Account of the Proceedings of New Hamp- shire, by IRA ALLEN Esq., to the Inhabit- ants of the State of Vermont." " Claim of New Hampshire to the whole territory of Vermont, in the House of Representatives, April 2d, 1779." " An Account of the West River Mountain, and the appearance of there having been a volcano in it." " Petition of the Committees of Cumberland County to Gov. Clinton, May 4th, 1779 ; To His Ex- cellency George Clinton, Esq., Governor of the State of New York, General and Com- mander of all the militia and Admiral of the Navy of the same : The Petition of the Com- mittees of the Towns of Hinsdale, Guilford. Brattleborough, Fulham, Putney. Westmin- ster, Rockingham, Springfield and Weathers- field, in Cumberland County, chosen for the purpose of opposing the pretended State of Vermont, and convened at Brattleborough, May 4th, 1779."-Ed.]
CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP.
BY REV WM B. MITCHELL,
Congregationalist pastor in Rutland from 1833 to 1836, page 1019.
Behold the countless hosts above, The glory of the night, In silent fellowship they move Through fields of living light. Sun darts to sun the vital ray, And star enlightens star. Their borrowed beains the orbs repay And spread their glory far.
No gift have they of settled speech But singing as they run, Attraction binds us each to each, And to our planet sun.
Emblems of holy love to man Are ye, melodious spheres, His pathway dark, his life & span, His fate dust, darkness, tears.
But grace a brighter arch has spanned And suns more glorious given,
A canopy more richly spauned, A more enduring heaven.
WALTER COLTON,
born in Rutland in 1797, graduated from Yale College in 1822, and after a three years course at Andover was ordained a Congrega- tional clergyman. In 1828, he became edit- or of the " American Spectator;" in 1830, received a chaplaincy in the navy ; in 1846 was married and soon ordered to the squad- ron for the Pacific. He was afterward Alcade of Monterey, and established the first newspaper, and was the builder of the first school-house in California, and was the first to make known the discovery of California gold to the States. He returned to Philadel- phia in the Summer of 1850, and on a visit to Washington took a violent cold which terminated in dropsy. He died June 22, 1851. His principal literary works are a "Prize Essay on, Dueling," " Ship and Shore," " Visit to Constantinople," " Deck and Port," "Three Years in California," " Land and Sea," " The Sea and Sailor," " Notes on France and Italy," and "Italy and other Literary Remains," the last accompanied by a memoir of the author, by Rev. Henry F. Cheever. The style of Mr. Colton's volumes is lively and entertaining. He, also, occasion- ally wrote in poetry.
A LEAP FOR LIFE. RY WALTER COLTON.
Old Ironsides at anchor lay In the harbor of Mahon ; A dead cahn rested on the bay- The waves to sleep had gone ;
When little Hal, the Captain's son, A lad both brave and good, In sport, up shrond and rigging ran And on the main truck stood!
A shudder shot through every vein,- All eyes were turned on high !
There stood the boy with dizzy brain, Between the sea and sky ; No hold had he above, below; Alone he stood in air :
To that far height none dared to go,- No aid could reach him there.
We gazed, but not a man could speak ! With horror all aghast,
In groups with pallid brow and cheek, We watched the quivering mast.
The atmosphere grew thick and hot, And of a lurid hue ;- As riveted unto the spot Stood officers and crew.
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The father came on deck ;- he gasped, "O God ! Thy will be done!" Then suddenly a rifle grasped And aimed it at his son.
"Jump, far out boy, into the wave! Jump, or I fire," he said ;
" That only chance your life can save ; Jump, jump boy ! " He obeyed.
He sunk,-he rose,-he lived,-he moved,- And for the ship struck out, On board we hailed the lad beloved, With many a manly shout. His father drew in silent joy, Those wet arms round his neck, And folded to his heart his boy,- Then fainted on the deck.
MY FIRST LOVE AND MY LAST.
BY WALTER COLTON.
Cathara, when the many silent tears Of beauty, bending o'er thy dying bed, Bespoke the change familiar to our fears, I could not think thy spirit yet had fled, So like to life the slumber death had cast On thy sweet face, my first love and my last.
I watched to see those lids their light unfold, For still thy forehead roso serene and fair As when those raven ringlets richly rolled O'er life which dwelt in thought and beanty there ; Thy cheek the while was rosy with the theme That flashed along the spirit's mystic dream.
Thy lips were circled with that silent sinile Which oft around their dewy freshness woke, When some more happy thought or harmless wile Upon thy warm and wandering fancy broke, For thou wert nature's child, and took the tone Of every pulse as if it were thine own.
I watched, and still believed that thou wouldst wake When others came to place thee in the shroud ; I thought to see this seeming slumber break, As I have seen a light, transparent cloud Disperse, which o'er a star's sweet face had thrown A shadow, like to that which veiled thine own.
But no; there was no token, look or breath ; The tears of those around, the tolling bell And hearse, told us at last that this was death ! I know not if I breathed a last farewell ; But since that day my sweetest hours have past In thought of thee, my first love and my last.
WM. DOUGLAS SMITH.
In the Rutland Graduates at Middlebury College, page 1063, should have been added, class of 1804, WM. DOUGLAS SMITH, Post Master at Rutland, appointed Dec. 19, 1810, in which year he died. He was also reg- ister of Probate in 1811, 12, 13. He married Fanny Chipman.
FREDERIC WILLIAM HOPKINS,*
Son of Hiram and Rachel Spotten Hopkins, was born in Pittsford, Vt., Sept. 15, 1806: di- ed Jan. 21, 1874, at his home in Rutland. Gen- eral Hopkins was graduated at Middlebury Col- lege in the class of 1823. After graduation he commenced the study of law with the Hon. Ambrose L. Brown, his brother-in-law, at Rut- land, and was admitted to the bar at the April term, 1831, of the Rutland county court. From that time, until 1839, he practised law in Rut- land, with more or less success; being in the mean while, from 1833 to 1836, Register of Probate for the District of Rutland. The prac- tice of law was not, however, congenial to his tastes, and upon his appointinent as clerk of the Supreme and County Courts for Rutland county, in April, 1839, he relinquished it forever. The same year he was again appointed register of probate, but held the office only a single term.
As a county clerk he was a model officer, and it can be said, without disparagement to others, living or dead, he was the best county clerk that was ever appointed to, or held the office in Vermont. His rules of conduct, in this important office, were arrangement, order, system, accuracy, neatness and despatch. His forms, his arrangements, his blanks, his system, were adopted in all the counties of the State, and probably will continue as long as the pres- ent rules of practice continue. He continued as county clerk until 1868, when his age and infirmities compelled him to retire.
He had a natural taste for military life; and did the State some service in that capacity. He was, for years, the life and soul of the mi- litia, when there was a company in every town, aud a regiment in every county. He was ap. pointed adjutant inspector general in 1838, and held that office until 1852. He established an uniformed militia; and, although adjutant and inspector general, became captain of the " Rut- land Citizens' Corps." At the breaking out of the Rebellion he tendered his services to the Governor, in any capacity in which he might be useful; but his advancing years, and deaf-
* [Our correspondent says : "I have merely stated facts briefly, and have done no justice to his home life, his pure and exalted tastes, his great literary arquire- ments, and his unselfish and generous devotion to oth- ers. I send you a copy of The Harvest Home which was written for the First State Fair ever held in Ver- mont, (at Rutland) and sung by a company of artists. the Prima Donna sitting on horseback, and at the close of the song crowned with a wreath of flowers amidst the plaudits of the vast multitude assembled there .- Ed. j
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ness, compelled the Governor reluctantly to de- cline them.
He was a member of the State Historical So- ciety, and pronounced eulogies before that so- ciety, assembled at Montpelier, on Edgar L. Ormsbee, Esq., of the Rutland county bar, and Doct. James Porter, which were published in several papers in the State. He also published an eulogy on Gen. T. B. Ransom, and a Man- ual for the Rutland county Bar. He was an appreciative lover and patron of the arts, a gentleman of rare culture and refinement; a member of the Congregational church. Gener- al Hopkins was twice married; first to Julia Anne, daughter of Doct. Thomas Hooker, Dec. 1, 1836, by whom he leaves one daughter, Sa- rah Hooker, wife of Joseph Perkins Woodbury, Esq. His second wife, who survives him, was Anna Eliza, daughter of Zimri Lawrence. Esq., of Weybridge, Vt., to whom he was married May 17, 1843; of this marriage three children survive : Jenny Andrews, a successful and ac. complished teacher, in Utica, N. Y., Grace Elizabeth, wife of Silas Wright Gregory, for- merly of Plattsburg, N. Y., now of San Fran- cisco, Cal., William Frederic, employed in the office of the Globe Paper Co.
THE HARVEST HOME.
BE GEN. F. W. HOPKINS.
Written by request, and sung at the Vermont State Fair, Rutland, Sept. 2, 1852. Tune, Marseilles Hymn.
Ye sons of the Mountain, wake to glory! Hark! the glad shouts of joy arise ! Telling to all in song and story, That there is nonght with Freedom vies, ' That there is nought with Freedom vies, No " dire invaders, mischief breeding," No " tyrant hosts, a ruffian band," " Affright and desolate the land,"
" While peace and liberty " are breathing, Rejoice, rejoice, ye hills, The mountain spirit's free.
Chorus-Iluzza, huzza, ye mountain sons. Come shout the Harvest home.
Not here is War's loud thunder rolling, The victor nation's pride to raise ;-- Not here the monster Famine's howling, On other lands that darkly preys, On other lands that darkly preys ; But here all plenty now bestowing, And Light and Peace the land o'erspread While onward still by hope we're led, And hearts with Happiness o'erflowing, Rejoice, rejoice, Vermont, The mountain spirit's free.
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