The history with genealogical sketches of Londonderry, Part 14

Author: Cudworth, Addison E. (Addison Edward), 1852-1933
Publication date: 1936
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont Historical Society
Number of Pages: 240


USA > Vermont > Windham County > Londonderry > The history with genealogical sketches of Londonderry > Part 14


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).


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Darius married Mary Ann Ostroth and had three sons, Valentine, Sam- uel and Cyrus.


Julia married John Marshall and had three children; Bertha; Lois and Cyrus B.


Willard married and had one child, Christine, but his wife's maiden name was not learned.


May married Andrew Hardy and had her home in Detroit, Mich. She had no children.


None of these children, so far as known have ever been in Londonderry. Selah, Jonathan's youngest child, married Sarah A. Tourtellot, and died in Worcester, Mass. in 1898, two months after the death of his wife.


Their children were; Amanda Augusta, Leander S., Russell Alden, and Ida May.


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The History of Londonderry


Chaffee


This family name has had more variety in its orthography than any other of local interest. The founder of the family in this country is said to have used, at different times, at least four forms in signing his own name, and his descendants added to that variety in later days.


The first of the name in the records of Londonderry, Vt. was Stephen, who came from Rehoboth, Mass. His descent was traced back, through Levi, Nathaniel, Jonathan and Nathaniel, to Thomas Chaffe, the founder of the family in New England, who was a fisherman and farmer living at "Base Cove" in 1635 when the name of the place was changed to Hingham, Mass.


Stephen was born in Rehoboth, Oct. 10, 1765, and there married, Feb. 25, 1789, Chloe, daughter of Comfort Pierce (sometime written Pearce). Their children were: Allen, born 1790, married Eliza Bryant; Stephen, born 1791, married Deborah Usher; Sanford, born 1793, married (1) Sarah Chase. (2) Mary A. Otterson; and Betsey, born 1795, married, Nov. 5, 1812, Abel Mansfield of Warren, R. I.


In the spring of 1794 they sold their home in Rehoboth, inherited by his wife from her father, and purchased of Hugh Montgomery a tract of ninety- three acres in Londonderry, Vt. lying next north of the Arrington Gibson farm ("Collins place"), as it soon came to be known.


The date of his purchase of this tract is stated on the authority of state- ment in the CHAFFEE GENEALOGY, by William H. Chaffee, but no deed making the conveyance is found in Londonderry Land Records.


Here they resided for some years and tradition, as well as the CHAFFEE GENEALOGY, states that he there kept a store. Later he sold a plot off his farm to the town and the same became the "Middle-of-the-town" cemetery. About 1805, it is said, a fire threatened destruction to his home and store and that, in his efforts to extinguish this, he suffered an injury from which he never fully recovered. The date of his death is not definitely known, but it was subsequent to 1812.


Though his son Allen was at one time an owner of lands in Londonderry, it is not probable that he or his brothers or sister resided in town long after their father's death, for Allen was not a resident here at the time he pur- chased or sold his lands, and none of their names occur later in the records.


Jonathan Chaffee, brother of Stephen, was born in Rehoboth, April 18, 1768, and there married Polly Horton, April 13, 1795.


In December 1797 (on authority of the CHAFFEE GENEALOGY), he bought of his brother, Stephen "Chafey," a small tract of land in London- derry and came here from Rehoboth. Later he owned other lands in town, but did not remain a resident many years. In March 1804 he was in Rupert,


Genealogical Sketches


Ve, and is said to have resided in Dore from los so aber, comoring I che year . Wilmirgen V


He had a daughter, Poly, born Aug 2, page, of whom in further imi- mation has been found, and a son. Jonathan J -. bon Jas so mes mammel Primilla, daughter of Edmund Ingalls of cius towy but La2 12


The date of his death is not knowr., but his wife survived mum and the


Cochran


Danzo Cocinar was one of the earlier secs wuming har been stated in some publications as :"


eacher, and mue probably in the summer di 172, 2hrnmm


seziert and "punched" has farm near the "Gres: Pond" Lowell Lakel Ine ITby for Nehemiah Hov's farm in the westerly part of the town or he lived until his semoral from town. He was born in goes et Londonderry. N. H. whence he came to Kent. Hits wife was Mary, the eldest of the daugt- ters of Deacon Edward Alker, another of the original party wi Colonel Rogers. Twelve children were che fun af ther unmm, died in infancy while zen E to memuriry, and some of them


bud age. Tx - John, 0


Apr-1-1%; Denid Arr - ri Susanna, Aug. 8. z-1


and Isaac, July - 196


Tube ma-led Polly Butler, of Wes . and had a la


Devid and Mary, who died in c


Honnan, Jon. EL, 18:


Tour Bodner,


Mary, Mas. A, stos: Berser, Amg. IT: Luther, Ju'y E.


Jor ma-tied Susan Bachelier Raschelte i had a son Nohr Luche, who married Sarah Robbers, and: Robinson Andrus, who survived her: Merion vih mamed D. J.VEil


married Sarah Flood who died childless


Sohn Budury mermed Sophia Cures and had one son


Som e Pos: "in the Southwest": and the mumit


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The History of Londonderry


him. Only one of the daughters, Clara, the youngest, was living in 1910.


Mary married Dorson Eastman.


Betsey married Blake Barrows.


Luther was a physician and died unmarried.


Elvira married F. R. Harwood.


Almira married Marcus Manley.


John Luther, son of Ira and Susan (Batchelder), married Sarah Roberts and had one child, John Ira, who married Mary Randolph Jones, of Virginia.


Mary (Polly) married Arrington Gibson and lived at the Middle-of-the- town until her death. (See GIBSON FAMILY SKETCH.)


Edward married Esther Gibson, of Grafton, Vt., and lived in Winhall, where all his children were born. These were; Rebecca G., Jan. 20, 1810; Esther, Sept. 6, 1811; Orvilla C., Dec. 28, 1814; Warren, Dec. 18, 1816; Isaac N., Nov. 16, 1818; Edward Aiken, Feb. 4, 1820; Abraham G., Feb. 10, 1822; Mary Aiken, Sept. 15, 1824; Fanny W., May 30, 1826; Sarah G., July 27, 1828, and Lucy A., Apr. 23, 1831. Of these Esther, Sarah G. and Lucy A. died unmarried. Rebecca G. married Lucius Barnard and had eight children.


Orvilla C. married Sylvanus Pendleton and had two children.


Warren was three times married, but no record or information as to his children, if any there were, is found.


Isaac N. married Sally D. Cook, but had no child.


Edward A. married Betsey Robinson, but had no issue.


Abraham G. married Celia Gilbert and had six children; Martha Jane who married Daniel W. Nellis and had two children; Emma Eugenia who married Allen Stewart and had one child; Edward Gibson who married Anna Lawrence and had a son, Frank L., and a daughter, Irena; Mary Elizabeth who married Frank F. Gow and had three children; Gertrude who married William E. Cochran, of Denver, Col., and had Mildred W., Ruth G., Margaret and Philip; and Annie E. unmarried.


Mary Aiken married Henry H. Leonard and had four children.


Fanny W. married Willard Rogers.


David married Polly Blood, of Windham, Vt., and is said to have had two sons, Harvey and Gilbert, and two daughters, Miranda and Abigail, but the record in Londonderry only names two; James H. and Miranda.


Susanna, in later years abbreviated to Susan, married Deacon David Richardson, of Londonderry, and had a large family of children. Their home was on the Jaquith farm at the height of land between the two villages, on which their son Calvin lived for a time and where his parents


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Genealogical Sketches


died. One of their sons, David A., became a Baptist clergyman and, later, was principal of a classical school at Alton, Ill.


Elizabeth, or Betsey as called in later years, married Doctor John Gibson, long time a practicing physician in town, but had no child. Their home was in the small brick house on the hill road between the villages, and this by the terms of the Doctor's will, passed at the death of his widow to the college at Oberlin, Ohio. Both the Doctor and his wife died on this old homestead, she having survived him many years.


James married Safety Cook, of Londonderry, and his children were; Lucretia, Isaac, Mary and Edward. Of these we have no further trace. Abner married Hannah Woods, who bore him two children, Bela and David, of whom we know no more.


Nancy never married. She was, for many years, a teacher in "the South," and was there so employed until very shortly before the breaking out of the Civil War. She, true to her training and ancestry, was an "Aboli- tionist" and then existing conditions led, or forced, her to leave that section and she returned to her girlhood home in this town.


A result of this enforced removal was some financial loss and sacrifice of property rights from which she never realized anything. She remained a resident of this town thereafter, making her home on "the Collins place" with the daughter of her sister, Mary (Gibson) and her grandnephew, Henry H. Collins. From her was obtained much of the data and infor- mation which form the basis of this sketch and, practically to the close of her life, her interest in the affairs of the town, both in the then present and the earlier days of its settlement, was lively.


She died May 26, 1891, being then the oldest resident in town.


Isaac married Zorado A. Morton and had five children; John, Mary, Edward, Sally and Nanny. He entered Middlebury College in 1817 but, failing in health, was compelled to seek change of climate. He went to North Carolina, there graduated from college in 1822 and became a clergyman.


It is said that John, son of Isaac and Zorado (Morton), and also War- ren and Abraham G., sons of Edward and Esther (Gibson), were all clergymen.


David, the early settler and the founder of this family here, was a very religious man, his earlier affiliation being with the old Presbyterian Church first in town, and was made one of the two Deacons in the Con- gregational Church when that was organized in 1809.


Evidence of the rigidity of his faith and convictions may be found in the fact that ten years later a charge was brought by him against his son John "for neglect of his covenant obligations" and the Church chose a committee to labor with John. The result was that he (John) "confessed his fault," and the Church voted him a letter to the Church at Man-


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The History of Londonderry


chester "by his getting his children baptized." Evidently John had at that time either moved or was about to move "across the mountain" to Dorset, near Manchester. In 1825 David conveyed a part, then unsold, of his old homestead and took what was termed a "life lease" thereon providing for his support during life; and, no reference to her being then made, it is assumed that his wife had died before that date.


In 1830, he released his claim on the land under that "life lease" and went to the home of his son John, then in Dorset, where he died in the fol- lowing year. It is said that most of his sons removed to "the west," or what was then so termed.


Cole


CAPTAIN JOHN COLE, then a resident of Westmoreland, N. H., purchased land in Londonderry, Vt. in 1783, his deed bearing date May 23, of that year and covering a twenty-five acre plot in the easterly part of the town, now Windham. He was born June 29, 1741, the seventh child and third son, of Jonathan and Judith (Bowen) Cole, and traced his descent, through Jonathan, John and John, to Thomas Cole who was residing in Salem, Mass. in 1649, and is believed to be the same Thomas Cole who came over in the "Mary and John" in March, 1633. He died in Westmoreland in 1786 while on a visit to his oldest brother, Jonathan, and was buried in that town.


He was a sergeant in the Eighth Company of Col. Nichols' Regiment, Joseph Hindes, Captain, in 1776, and was at the battle of Bunker Hill.


In 1777, he was chosen Captain of a Company of sixty-three men raised for service against Burgoyne.


He married Lois Davis who bore him fourteen children and died at the ripe age of 88 years, in Westmoreland, Sept. 30, 1830, at the home of her youngest son where she had spent her later years.


Their children, with dates of birth and death, were: Levi, Jan. 10, 1762- Sept. 20, 1850; John, Sept. 23, 1763- - -, 1850; Salmon, Jan. 13, 1765-


, 1840; Matawassa, May 22, 1766-June 14, 1772; Amasa, March 12, 1768- -; Leban, Feb. 14, 1770-March 24, 1830; Hannah, Apr. 25, 1772, married Benj. Howard, of Jamaica, Vt., -; Derastus, Dec. 13, 1773, -, 1842; Benoni, Feb. 8, 1775-Sept. 25, 1798; Sala, Sept. 2, 1776-Feb. 8, 1852; Ethan, Mar. 5, 1778-Dec. 14, 1854; Simon, Feb. 13, 1780-June 27, 1856; Lois, Aug. 15, 1781, married Reuben Robinson, died Dec. 30, 1803, and Heber, Aug. 10, 1783-Oct. 19, 1857.


Their son John, after his father's decease, purchased the homestead, taking deed Jan. 2, 1788, and later, Sept., 1788, bought a larger tract ad- joining. He remained in town at least as late as Jan., 1793, but whether he removed from here direct to Canada, where he spent the latter part of his life, is not certain.


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Genealogical Sketches


His brother Sala spent nearly all his early life in Windham (as now known). Having married Sally Stevens, of Townshend, Vt., in 1801, he raised a family of seven children and, in 1801, moved to Tioga, N. Y. at which place he lived the rest of his life.


Ethan, brother of John and Sala, married Lucinda Wetherell, of Barre, Mass. in 1801 and resided in Barre until 1810 when they moved to Wind- ham, and thence to Londonderry in 1826 and remained here until his death, in 1854. He had a family of seven children, all born before his coming to Londonderry. They were:


Arnold, born Aug. 12, 1803, died July 30, 1860.


Arminala, Dec. 15, 1804, married Waldo Barton, a farmer and black- smith, of Londonderry, and died June 17, 1879, leaving one daughter, who married Joseph R. Richardson, of Chester, Vt.


Alson, June 5, 1807, married Tryphena Sanderson, of Sunderland, Mass. and died, childless, June 18, 1850.


Isabanda, June 15, 1809, married Reuben Harrington, by whom she had twelve children, all born in Londonderry, where two of them died in infancy. Her husband died in 1871 and in 1879 she married Ichabod Gibson, of this town, and died here June 16, 1885.


Alfred R., Oct. 19, 181I.


Alvardo, April 20, 1814, died in town Dec. 15, 1894. His wife was Theo- desia Reed, of Londonderry, by whom he had three children:


Warren, Dec. 5, 1841, married Rosa Harris but had no children.


In 1863 he enlisted in the 26th Reg't New Jersey Vols. and served until the close of the war.


Henrietta and Julia, twin daughters, Nov. 12, 1843.


Henrietta married George A. Howard, of Londonderry, and, after his decease, Leroy G. Davis, also of this town, and died, childless, Sept. 18, 1911.


Julia married John Gibson, of Londonderry, and had two children, Alvarado C., May 9, 1869, and Henrietta C., Apr. 25, 1877.


(See Gibson Family Sketch.) She died Jan. 27, 1906.


Alfonzo Ethan, Mar. 1, 1817, married Sylvia Cheney and they had three children: Winslow A., Dec. 9, 1841, died June 21, 1884; Emeline, Aug. 28, 1843, married Charles Rawson and had one son, Frank; George W., Nov. 15, 1845, died Dec. 28, 1845.


Sylvia, wife of Alfonzo E., died in 1847, and he married Mary Babbitt.


Two children were the fruit of this second marriage: Alson, Mar. 15, 1850, and Almerette, Apr. 29, 1853. He died Dec. 27, 1883.


Winslow A., oldest son of Alfonzo and Sylvia, married Marietta Rawson and had a family of five children: Mina M., Mar. 23, 1865; Netta M., Sept. 24, 1867; George W., July 20, 1873; Ernest R., Sept. 13, 1876, and Edith S., Jan. 6, 1879.


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The History of Londonderry


Alson, son of Alfonzo E. and Mary, was insane from boyhood and in


later years it became necessary to keep him in confinement because of that fact. He died Mar. 18, 1913.


Almerette married Melvin C. Vaile and had one son, Everett C., who mar- ried Minnie Allen and has one daughter, Errall.


Almerette's second husband was George C. Robinson and, after his decease, she again married, her third husband being Herbert Benson.


Cox


Three brothers of this name, William, John and Robert, came here from Londonderry, N. H. and "pitched" up adjoining farms on the extreme northern border of the town; William upon the Priest Wilbur place and John on the Alonzo Stevens farm, as they were respectively known in later years. It is said that Robert began clearing his plot, next west of William's, later known as the Fish place, now untenanted, but soon abandoned it and went from town. This may well be true though his name does not appear in the records as a land owner or otherwise, for none of the settlers re- ceived deeds of their lands prior to 1774, before which date Robert is supposed to have removed.


We are unable to trace definitely or certainly their ancestry but there seems to be no question as to their being descendants of the Scotch-Irish pioneers who settled Londonderry, N. H. We know that the names of William Cox, Edward Cox, Charles Cox and Joseph Cox appear in a "Parish Tax List" in that town, of date Nov. 9, 1750; that William Cox and Charles Cox were there freeholders in 1758, and one John Cox, of that town, was a signer of the "Association Test" in 1776, wherein the signers pledged their opposition, with arms, to the "Hostile proceedings of the British Fleets and Armies against the United American Colonies."


WILLIAM Cox came to Kent in 1770 or 1771 with Colonel Rogers for whom he worked in clearing land and preparing a home on the farm pitched by Rogers for his homestead, taking in payment land for his own home at two shillings per acre. At this time William was unmarried and one of the youngest members of Rogers' party. He married Sarah McCollop, or McCaleph as sometimes written, and two traditions have come down through the years regarding his marriage. His bride had been employed in the family of Colonel Rogers, and one story is that his marriage took place in Kent, being the first marriage in the town; and the other states that they were married in Londonderry, N. H., their old home, and made their wedding journey through the woods to Kent, she riding upon a horse which also bore a bed, a dinner pot and other household necessities while he walked by her side throughout the long, weary miles to the new home


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Genealogical Sketches


selected by him and where they lived until his death, Mar. 8, 1816, at the age of 67. His wife survived until Feb. 9, 1837, to the age of 94 years. Both are buried at the "Lowell Lake Cemetery."


In the S.A.R. list of Revolutionary soldiers buried in Vermont, William Cox, of Londonderry, Vt. is mentioned but no further basis for the claim that this William, though the only one of that name residing here in the days of the Revolution, actually served in that war.


The same name appears several times in Goodrich's VERMONT REVOLU- TIONARY ROLLS and, in one instance, at least, there seems to be warrant for the belief that this William is the one mentioned, but definite proof is lacking.


In Hemmenway's VERMONT HISTORICAL GAZETEER it is stated that William and Sarah had five sons and three daughters, but we find definite information only as to one son, John 2nd.


The town records show the marriage of Mary Ann Cox to Asa Beebe, (or Beeby), of Peru, June 7, 1807, and marriage of Sally Cox to John Wiley, Nov. 9, 1817, but nothing to show whether they were related to William and Sarah.


John Cox 2nd, born Nov. 18, 1774, married Elizabeth, daughter of Frederick Rogers, an early settler of Andover, Vt., and made his home on the farm now occupied by Warren L. Wright, where he built a log house and cleared land. A list of their children, as furnished by one of their grand- daughters, names John, James, Benjamin, William, Laura, Sarah, Betsey, Nancy and Mary. There was at least one other daughter, Lucy, who died May 2, 1856 at the age of 35 years and is buried in the Simonsville cem- etery; and another list names Irene and Caroline as two of their daughters, but this second list gives only two sons, Benjamin and William, which gives reason to doubt its reliability in the naming of the daughters. The father, John 2nd, was a resident of this town until his death, Oct. 14, 1828, when he lost his life by falling from the bridge which formerly spanned West River at the present homestead of Horace G. Alexander. He was intoxicated at the time and that condition occasioned the accident. Rev. Philetus Clark preached his funeral sermon from the text, "Died Abner as a fool dieth (II Sam. 3,33), and the discourse is said to have been as pointed and caustic as the text would indicate.


So strongly did the Parson allude to the circumstances of the death that the widow arose and left the room, nor could she be induced to return, in spite of the urging of her friends, and she permitted the services to be completed in the absence of the chief mourner.


She was, as her neighbors and acquaintances termed it, "a high tem- pered" woman, and was locally known as "High Betty"; and there were not wanting those who thought the sharpness of her tongue and the robust


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The History of Londonderry


vigor of her temper afforded some occasion, if not even excuse, for her hus- band's occasional, if not frequent, resort to the cup.


Of their children, other than Benjamin, information is scanty or lacking. John is said to have removed to Oberlin, Ohio.


James married Hannah French and moved to Lebanon, N. H.


William married Louisa J. McIntyre, and died Oct. 18, 1867.


Laura married Caleb Woodcock.


Sarah married Luther Dutton.


Of Betsey, Nancy and Mary no definite data can be found.


Benjamin was twice married. His first wife was Caroline Farnsworth, who bore him three children, only one of whom, Caroline Rosina, lived to "grow up," or of whom there is any record. She married Alfred Bolster. His second wife was Delilah Rachel Edson and their children were:


Elias Edson, July 12, 1845, married Annie Patten, had two children and died at Providence, R. I., Mar. 24, 1917.


John Manning, July 30, 1847, died Dec. 29, 1847.


James Elwell, July 9, 1849, married Mary Glynn, had five children and died at Pomona, Cal., Mar. 4, 1916.


Estelle Delilah, Aug. 4, 1852, married Charles P. Sherwin and had six children.


Dorran Benjamin, Nov. 6, 1855, married Louise Jacobs, who died after bearing him one child. His second wife was Agnes Bemis, and he died at Pomona, Cal., Apr. 2, 1916.


JOHN Cox came to Kent about the same time as his brother William, and with their brother Robert, probably in the following year.


At that time, and for several years thereafter while preparing his home, it appears he was unmarried. In 1787 he married Mary, widow of Robert McCormick, and they resided on the farm he cleared until his death, Aug. 9, 1829. A list of their children, as recorded in the Town Clerk's office, names but four: John Jr., Dec. 23, 1787; Jenny, Sept. 29, 1789; Samuel, Mar. 6, 1792, and Nancy, May 1, 1794.


It is believed that at least one child was born to them subsequent to the entry of this record. Nov. 9, 1817 one Sally Cox, of this town, married John Wiley. At that time there was no family named Cox resident here other than those of William and John; and William had a daughter named Sarah who married Luther Dutton, Jan. 12, 1815, and bore him several children, and it is probable that this Sally was a daughter of John and Mary.


John Jr. married Phebe, oldest daughter of Samuel and Nancy (Wheeler) Arnold, and remained in town but few years before removing to Wyoming, N. Y. where both he and his wife died.


Jenny never married. She became insane and died in the Asylum at Brattleboro, Vt.


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Genealogical Sketches


Samuel went to "York State," but at what date is uncertain. May 13, 1846 he executed a quit-claim deed of his deceased father's old homestead to William Stevens, who then lived on the premises, and in the deed is described as "of Watertown, Oswego County, State of New York." No further information regarding him is found.


Nancy married William Stevens and they spent their lives on the old homestead her father cleared. Her husband survived her many years and the premises passed to their son, Alonzo S., who occupied the same for many years and until late in his life.


Davis


Various individuals and families bearing the name Davis have been residents of Londonderry and the task of tracing their connection or rela- tionship, if such really exists, is impossible of performance.


Among the early residents of the town, however, we find representatives of two stocks bearing this family name, each, so far as facts can be ascer- tained, apparently distinct from the other and unrelated by ties of blood.


Samuel Davis


The name first appears in Londonderry records in a deed of date March 28, 1793, from Robert Anderson to Samuel Davis, conveying land in that part of ancient Londonderry which is now Windham. Samuel Davis, the grantee, is described as "of Chesterfield, New Hampshire."


By means of the record of two later deeds to the same grantee we locate him, in January, 1807, in Pelham, N. H., and in January, 1811 in Notting- ham West, N. H. He resided in Pelham as early as 1797, at least his son Amos was born there May 10th of that year. The Londonderry land, con- veyed to him in 1811, was in the northwest part of the town where he es- tablished his homestead and it is probable that he settled here at about that date. His name next appears in the Land Records in a deed of date June 20, 1816, when his residence is given as in Londonderry.




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