.0' , -t> V . ^ %-Wi*r.- '* ^ %^^^-/' -e^'^^^ ^^^'* '^^^'^^^f "-^^•' 4.^*^^ 4 o o ^ 'Mc<^ y e . o ' > ' E. L. HILDRETH &;qO. BRATTLEBORO a^l .K>^ t Ao'^ 37 ^iV 'OS, ILLUSTRATIONS. PAGE Frontispiece, Kathan Meadows Sugar Orchard, Oldest in Vermont 4 Alexander Kathan's Farm 21 Famous Gun, Powder Horn, and Name Plate 35 Luke Kathan 42 Jacob Frost 51 Dolly Kathan Frost 56 Clarissa Kathan Bigelow 6S Thomas Alexander Kathan 82 Reid Alexander Kathan 89 George Frank Kathan 91 John Kathan 93 Louisa Kathan Knight 95 Maria Knight Bond 96 William H. Bond 98 H. H. Morse Bond 99 Gardner S. Kathan 104 Robert Kathan 107 Orrin Kathan loS George Kathan 109 John Alexander Kathan no Truman Kathan 116 Dayton L. Kathan, M. D 117 Charles H. Kathan 120 Plan of Fort Dummer 14" INDEX. Comprising the Names of Kathan, Also Other Names Prominently Mentioned in this Volume. PAGE Allen. Colonel Ethan. . . .12, 27, 28, 33, 38 Newman, Esq 16 Arms. Major John 15 Josiah 16 Bellows. Colonel Benjamin 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, II, 13, 15, 71. 83, 135 Judith 15. 71. S3- 135 BUTTERFIELD. Benjamin, Esq 27, 33 General Franklin G 122 Bradley. Hon. William C 34 General Stephen R 52 Bemis. Joseph 4 Joshua (Rev. Soldier) 124 Barber. Mrs. George F 1 24 BiGELOW. Paine 67, 68 Clarissa Kathan 68, 6g, S3 Ellen C S3 Bond. Dea. Henry E. 95, 96 Maria Louise 96 William H 96 H. H. Morse 96 Brush, Crean 26 Brown, Elijah (Rev. Soldier). ... 42 Bouton, Dr. (State Papers). ... 10 Burnham, Gideon 42 Cooper. Robert 12 Aaron 12 Joshua 12 PAGE Cooper. Daniel 12 Daniel, Jr 12 Gideon 12 Cook, Enoch 25-38, 39, 41 Cole, Larkin G 94, loi Davenport. Charles 26, 41, 42, 54 Charles, Jr 113, 114 Mary (Hart) 41 , 42, 50 Dwight. Lieut. Timothy 146 Timothy, Jr 69, 146 Daniel 142 DUTTON. David i8 Asa 57 William A 94, 96, 97 Adin A 93, 94, 98, 99, loi Myron F 99 Hattie A 100 Jennie Frances 100 Thomas, Sr 9S, 99 Samuel 99 Eastwood. William 67. 68 Mrs. William 63 French. William 25, 35, 38 Nathaniel 28, 29 Flarida. James 43 John 43 Frost Families, 121-124 Frost. Jesse 121 Benjamin 49, 55, 56, 121, 122 Jacob 49. 56, 123, 124 INDEX. Gay, Rev. Bunker 13, 14, 51 Goodwin, John .66, 67, 6S, 83 Gates. Lieut. John Shepard 43, 54, 57 Shepard 43, 52 Lieut. Daniel 54, 67 HiGGINS. Joseph 18 Uriah 18 Alpheus 18 Caleb 18 Joshua 18 Caleb and Lucy loi Holgait, Asa. . 5, 13 Harvey, Dr. Solomon 25. 27, 37, 38, 40, 41, 129 Houghton. Daniel 27, 30, 37, 130 Cyrus and Family 30 Haven. Ebenezer 37, 38, 42, 54 Abel 42 Joseph 43 Joel 47 Hobbs, Capt. Humphrey 127 His Gallant Fight 127, 128 Hooker, John 37, 39, 131 Hildreth, Joseph 41, 54 Hoar. John 46 Samuel 46 Senator George F 46 Master John 46 Johnson. Moses 14, 15, 136, 137, 141 Abel 43 Capt. Ashbel 43, 137 Edward M 91 Kathan. Capt. John. . . .3, 4, 5, 10, 11, 12, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, no. III, 119, 125, 127, 131, 133, 134, 135, 136, 146 His Sawmill 5, 60, in Alexander, Esq 5, 13, 21-25, 35-50, 93, 98, 125, 126, 128, 129, 130, 134, 138, 141 Lieut. Daniel 5, 13, 26, 43, 51-58, 113, 119, 122, 123, 134, 143 Kathan. Col. Charles. ...5, 14, 59-62, 66, 119 Margaret 12, 13, 14, 136 Mary 13, 14, 69 Martha 13, 72, 134 Esther 12, 13, 72, 133, 134, 135 John, Jr. (1732-1802) 5, 64-66, 69, 125, 131, 136 Mary 21, 91, 92, 125, 129 John (1758-1S33). .21, 91, 92, 125, 129 Daniel, Second 21, 84, 129, 130 Thomas 21, 91, 93, 129 Elizabeth 21, 91 John (1790-1859) 92, 93, 94, 130 Polly 92 Charles 54, 1 13 Susanna 54 Eunice 54 Rufus 54 Daniel, Jr 54, 119 Lydia 54, 121, 122 Phebe. 54 Dolly 54, 123, 124 John (1769-1842) 66 James 66 John, Jr. (1797) 66 Sally 66 Jane 66 Hosea 66 Orvilla 66 Horace 66 Eliza 66 Alfred 66 Fernando 66 Clarissa 66-69 Thomas (1788-1816) 84, 87 Lucy 84 Caty 84 Anna 84 Emory 84, 85, 86 Wyman Lamb 84, 86, 87 Orison 84 Amandrin 84 Marinda 87 Eliza 87 INDEX. PAGE Kathan. Lucius H 85 Theodore E 85 Olive Adaline 87 Eliza Arena 87, 88 George W 87, 88 Daniel Thomas 87 Thomas Alexander 87, 88, 89 Sarah Jane 88 Agnes C 88 Cora Eliza 88 Reid Alexander 88, 89, 130 Louisa 94, 95, 96 Horace 94, 96 Aurelia S 94, 96 Adaline E 94, 97, 98, 104 Fanny M 94. 98 Ellen E 94, loi John H 94, 97, loi George Frank 46, 94, loi, 130 Kingsley S 94, 102 Henry H 94, 102 Edward P loi Lilla E 102 Myrtie E 102 Lila J 102 David 17, 65 Gardner 17, 65, 112, 126, 137 Prentice. ..17, 65, 109, iii, 112, 126 Betsej' 65 Lois 65 Gardner 104 Robert 104 Henry 104 Gardner, Jr 104, 113 Betsej' ro4, 106 Richard 104, 106, 107 Stephen 104 Orrin 97, 104, 107, 108 John 104 George 104 Gardner S 104, 105 Robert L 104 Elizabeth M 104 Nellie S 104, 105 PAGE Kathan. Henry B 105 Eliza 105 Norman 105 Dorr W 105, 106 John Alexander 105, 106 Frances Elizabeth 105 Helen 105 Riley H 105 Nettie E 105 Warner H 105 , 106 George E 105, 106 Willie G 105 Clara L 106 Charlie G 106 Arthur L 106 Lefranc C 106 Bertha J 106 Dexter W 106 Walter E 106 Russell C 106 Adeliza E 106 Fannie A 106 Frank E 106 Ora 106 Fannie H 106 Betsey 107 Robert 105, 106, 107 Mary 107 Sarah 107 Charles Crawford 107 Mary Alice 107 Cora Emma 107 Florence Abbie 107 Addie S 108 Sarah J 108 Charles H loS Charlotte 109 Adahne 109 Almira 109 John Alexander 109, i ro Frank A 109 Fred E 109 John W 109 Alice C 109, no INDEX. Kathan. Charles, Jr 113, 114 Lucy 113 Lydia 113 Willard 113, 114 Daniel 113, 114, 115 Ruth 113 Jerusha 1 04, 113 Luke 113, 114. 115, iiS Polly 113, 114, 116 Ransalier 113, 114, 116 Susan 113 Charles, Jr 114 Edison 114 James 114 Alvira 114 Joseph , 114 Stephen 114 Orange 114 George 114 Laura 114 Almira 114 William 115 Alonzo 115 Russell 115 Lewis 115 Addison 115 Alvira 115 Robert 115 Alice 115 Helena 115 Mary 115 Caroline 115, uS, 119 Emeline 115, nS Truman 115, 116 Sarah .115, rxS Betsey 115, ng Alvira 115, nS Amy 115, 118 Barbary 115, nS Mary 115, nS Martha 115, nS Orange 115, 118 Hugh 115, 118 Harmon 115, 118 Monroe 115, 118 James 115, iiS, Tig Kathan. Isaac 116 John ... 116 Charles 116 Diana 116 Adaline 116 Myra 116 Henry 116 Libbie 116 Wallace. . 116 Lydia 116, 117 Luke 116, 117 Clark 116, 117 Dayton L 113, 116, 117 Freelove 116 Fred 116 Hamlin 116 Jennie 116, 117, 118 Frank ir6, 118 Sherman 116, 118 Lucy 116, 118 Roland 117 Fanny 119 Maria 119 Lavinia 119 Louisa 119 HoUis 119 Caroline 119 Mayor Charles H 45, 119, 120 Kathrf.ns. Mary 125 Robert 125 Lieut. Samuel 125 Kilbury, John 42 Knight. Samuel 26, 28 Capt. Jonathan. .37, 40, 41, 52, 130 Joel 52 Wilder 94, 95 Jerome W 95 Maria Louise 95, 96 Jesse 9 1 Asa 78 Russell 18 KiLBURN. Capt. John and Family 7 His Gallant Fight 5-10 INDEX. XI Kellogg, Capt. Josiah 12, 147 Kimball, John (Lawyer) 79 Lamh. Lieut. James 84, 85 Olive 84 John and Abigail 84 Col. Joshua 85 Charles and Silas 85 Fletcher 85 Russell 85 Laughton. Jacob 85 Sally 85 Lull, Capt. Timothy 140 Lynch, John 108, 109 Miller. Capt. Isaac 24, 42, 52, 53 Hosea 37 Isaac, Jr 52, 53, 54 Joseph 53 Tillotson 42 Maj. William 42 Capt. Vespasian. 100 Joseph (Town Clerk) 100 Adin F 100 Miner, Charles 47 Melvin, Capt. Eleazer, Defeated by the Indians 127 Moore Families. Of Central Massachusetts. . . .71-83 Of Putney, Vt 76 78 Of Dummerston 78-80 Allied to Kathans S3 MooRE. Capt. Fairbanks II, 12, 14-16, iS, 71, 72 Fairbanks, Jr 11, 12, 72 Benjamin 11, 12-15, 16. 72 John (Immigrant Ancestor) . . . 71, 80, 81 Jacob (of Sudbury, 1645). .72, 73, 74 Jacob (1668) 74 Capt. James (1693) 73, 74 Asa (1719) 73 Asa (1744; 74 Martha (1752) 67, 74, 83 Martha (1704) 11, 72 Capt. Abijah 76 MooRE. Jonas 72 His House Sacked 132 William, His Conduct 140, 141 Dr. Jonathan 78, 79 His " Essence of Life " 79 Olcott, Timothy 27 Patterson (Sheriff) 27 Puffer, LB 46 Peck, Thomas Bellows 134, 136 Plympton (Sergeant) 142 Pierce, Marshall 126 Phillips, John C 126 Quayle, Oliver A 91 Rhoades. John 42 Eleazer 42 Hannah 42 Rowlandson, Mrs. Mary 45, 142 Captive to King Philip 142 Sackett, Indian Chief 127 Sargeant. Digory 12 Lieut. John 12, 69, 70 Col. John 3, 69, 70 Col. William 16, 43 James H 14, 69 Elihu 91 Eli 14 Spaulding. Lieut. Leonard 121, 130, 132 Joanna 121 Stickney, Peter (Rev. Soldier).. 77 Schuyler, Col. Peter 15 Temple, Joseph 37, 131 Timson, Col. Julius C 102, 103 Underwood. Timothy 12, 17 Phineas 17, 126 Walpole, Sir Robert 11 Wentworth, Gov. Benning...4, 7, 12 WiLLARD. Capt. ^Nathan , .11, 131. 147 Xll WiLLARD. Col. Josiah 15, 82, 147 Henry 71 Susanna 72 Jonathan 72 Unity and Amity 72 Prentice "S, 82 Williams, Col. Israel 127 "Williams, Rev. John 142 Williams, Col. Ephraim 20 Williams, William 27 Wright, Widow Mary 14 Winslow, Priscilla 14, iS White, Hon. Phineas 65, 79, no Wombough Family S7, 90 Whittenhall Family 87, 90, 91 Winne, Thomas J 91 Whale. Philemon 81 Elizabeth 83 Yeager, Willard E 91 Appendixes. A. Kathans in Massachusetts 125 B. Kathan Meadows 126 Appendixes. C. Sugar Orchard 128, 129 D. Kathan's Famous Gun. 129, 130 E. Men Wounded at West- minster 130, 131 F. Complaint against Wil- lard 131, 132 G. Jonas Moore's House Sacked 132, 133 H. Fairbanks Moore, Jr. .133, 134 I. Episode in Capt. Kathan's Family 134, 135 J. First Burial in Town.. . 135, 136 K. Kathan's Ferry 136 L. Moses Johnson 136, 137 M. Johnson House 137 N. File of Old Almanacs 138 and Law Books 138, 139 O. Capt. Timothy Lull 140 P. Conduct of William Moore. 140, 141 Q. Early Religious Worship. 141, 142 R. Revolutionary Soldiers. . . 143-145 Plan and Map of Fort Dummer.. 146, 147 PREFACE. On January i, 1901, the writer began the work of preparing this little volume or monograph for publication in the interest of the descendants of Capt. John Kathan, who began the first settlement in Dummerston January 5, 1752, almost one hundred and fifty years ago. The History of Dummerston was published in 1884 as a component part of the Vermont Historical Gazetteer, a local history of all the towns in the state. An edition of three hundred copies of the Dummerston history was struck off in advance of the Windham county volume, which was not issued until 1891. Since 1884 a series of historical papers relative to Dummerston, furnished by the historian of the town, has been published from time to time in The Vermont Phoenix. One such, which appeared in Octo- ber, 1897, attracted the attention of a prominent business man in New York City, and the result was that he immediately visited Dummerston, the home of his ancestors, who were descend- ants of Capt. John Kathan. On his return to New York he awakened an earnest desire in his cousin, a prominent physi- cian in Schenectady, N. Y., and he also came to Vermont in quest of more knowledge of his Kathan ancestors. Still another cousin, a lady of good fortune, living in Roches- ter, N. Y., had preceded them a short time in visiting the same locality and secured valuable family history. They had pre- viously known very little about the early history of their Kathan ancestors. Therefore they combined their interests and asked for the publication of a Kathan history and genealogy of families. This volume naturally takes the form of narrative pages that it might be interesting to read as well as valuable for reference. The book is well illustrated by the favor and kindness of its customers, and the compiler has borne no part in the expense of procuring portraits. In the pages that follow are described the character and deeds of a few families in Dummerston who were pioneers in the march of civilization, patriots in the day of danger, and useful citizens in the time of peace. Much valuable information pertaining to these families has been rescued from forget fulness that the generations 2 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. now living will rejoice to know. The compiler, in preparing this volume, is indebted to several persons for a knowledge of many important facts and incidents therein related. He is also greatly indebted to one of the assistant librarians in the Public Library of Lynn, Mass., for valuable material relative to the Moore families, allied by marriage to the Kathans, which enabled him to solve some intricate genealogical problems. This indebtedness to others he gratefully acknowledges, and also indulges the hope that the persons for whom the volume is written may receive some gratifi- cation from the perusal of the history of their ancestors. D. L. M. Dinnmcrston, J'^t., Novcnihcr i, 1901. Chapter I. CAPTAIN JOHN KATHAN. 1707—1787- His Family Bible — Concerning the Charter of Dummerston — Cap- tain Kathan not a Charter Member — Plaee of Settlement — Bnilt the First Sazi'mill and Potash IVorhs in Tozi'n — His Fortified Honse Dnring the French and Indian War — John Kilburn's Gal- lant Defence Against the Indians in 1755 — Hozv Colonel Bel- lozi's Obtained the Grant of Walpole — Memorial Complaint Against the Commander of Fort Dnnimer — Captain Kathan's Associates in 1756 — Family Record From the Old Bible — Fair- banks Moor and Son Benjamin Killed by the Indians — Transac- tions in Real Estate — Site of the Old Fort — What Became of Captain Kathan's Widozc, Priscilla Winslozv Kathan — Captain John Kathan and Captain Fairbanks Moor Soldiers in French and Indian War. When the history of Dummerston was written for Miss A. M. Hemenway's pubHcation, The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, the historian of the town was favored in 1879 by the late Charles C. Frost of Brattleboro, Vt., a famous student and scientist, with an opportunity to examine and copy a brief record of Capt. John Kathan's settlement in the township of Fulham, now Dummerston, and a register of his family as recorded in a family Bible printed in 1 73 1. A few years after this circumstance Mr. Frost died. Soon after that event the author ag"ain sought an opportunity to examine the old Bible in regard to obtaining- information about the Sargeant family, a member of which. Col. John Sargeant, married a daughter of Captain John Kathan ; but the old Bible was not to be found among- ]\Ir. Frost's effects at the home of his son, Wells S. Frost, a merchant in business at Brattleboro. It is supposed that the Bible was loaned to some person a short time before Mr. Frost's death and not returned by the borrower. Therefore, the Kathan family record written therein and transcribed in 1879, would have been lost to the descendants had not the local historian 4 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. been interested in the preservation of the early history of Dum- merston, as pubhshed in 1884, and supplementary historical infor- mation in subsequent articles printed in The Vermont Phoenix. Concerning the Charter of Dummerston. The names of the grantees of Fulham, now Dummerston, are fifty in number as entered and recorded in the "Charter Record," Volume I., page 185, which volume is kept in the office of the Secretary' of State for the state of New Hampshire, at Con- cord. The record of the charter was made under the province seal by Theodore Atkinson, secretary, and dated September 27, 1753. The statement in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont that the township of Fulham was granted to Capt. John Kathan unitedly with a number of other persons who purchased the same from the New Hampshire proprietors, cannot be verified, as his name is not among the grantees. There is no record that any of the grantees settled in Dummerston. It is recorded, however, in the old Bible, printed in 1731, that John Kathan settled in Dummerston in 1752, as follows: "Jan. 5, 1752, John Kathan with his family Cam to settle at Bemas' rock on Conicut river in ye Government of New Hampshire eight miles from Fort Dummer." Bemis' Rock is located near the Putney railroad station and was named from Joseph Bemis, probably a rather noted individual in this region at that time. Several families named Bemis settled in Dummerston before the year 1800. The rock was doubtless a point of survey or a stopping place in voyages on the Connecticut river to different military posts. Location of First Settlement, The settlement made by John Kathan and his family in 1752 was located in the northeast corner of the town on land belonging to His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., Governor and Com- mander-in-Chief of the Province of New Hampshire in 1753. The township at that time contained nineteen thousand three hundred sixty acres, and was divided, according to the charter, into fifly-six shares. A full share contained four hundred acres, "two of which shares were laid out in one tract of the contents of eight hundred acres for His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq., and in full Sugar Orchard and Dwelling House of Alexander Kathan, Esq. FIRST GENERATION. O for his two shares, which said tract is bounded, viz. : Beginning at the North East Corner of this town, then running down Con- necticut River two hundred and forty rods, then West lo degrees North, till eight hundred acres are completed." Consequently the Governor of New Hampshire was the owner of eight hundred acres in the northeast comer of the town in 1753 and not ''John Kathan and his eighteen associates with their families," who were said to be "rapidly subduing the forests of Fullum and accomplish- ing the conditions of their charter," as stated in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont. It is not probable that there were nineteen heads of families in town in 1754, inckiding John Kathan, as there were only forty-four heads of families in Dummerston in 1771 when a census was taken by Constable Asa Holgait, a son-in-law of Captain Kathan. Possessing the qualities of industry and perse- verance, qualities especially necessary to the successful manage- ment of a new settlement, John Kathan, with his four sons, Alex- ander, then aged 22 years, John, Jr., aged 20, Daniel, aged 12, and Charles, aged 9 years, cleared and improved above 120 acres, built a good dwelling house, barn, sawmill and potash works, and in order to guard his improvements, was at considerable expense in building a fort around his house, and resided therein during the course of the French and Indian war which began in 1754 and ended in 1763. As evidence of John Kathan's wisdom and forethought in build- ing a fort for the protection of himself and family, an episode of Indian warfare, familiar to every school boy in New England, is here related, which is the gallant defence of his home by the first settler of Walpole, N. H., against a large band of Indians, August 17, 1755- John Kilburn^ the Pioneer. In 1740 John Kilburn started from \\'ethersfield, Conn., stopped at Northfield, ]Mass., with his family, where he was taxed in 1741^ and then moved on to No. 3 township, which became Walpole, N. H. Kilburn 's settlement was only twelve miles up the Con- necticut river above the settlement of John Kathan made in 1752, and two miles below the "Great Falls," since named Bellows Falls after Benjamin Bellows of Walpole. The query is often made, by persons who have lived but a short 6 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. time in Bellows Falls, from what circumstance comes the word "Kilhurn," the name of the noble mountain across the river in New Hampshire, and what is the origin of the word "Abenaqui," which seem entirely local in their use. The latter comes from Abenaquis, the Indian name for pines, which was the name of the most prom- inent of the three Indian tribes found by the French in the great basin of the St. Lawrence river when they began settlements in that region. Tradition says that long before the wdiite man came to this vicinity, there was a large Indian village of wigwams extending from the south end of Mount Kilburn, where the Fitch- burg station of Cold River now is, nearly a quarter of a mile south, and that it was a sub-tribe of the great Abenaquis, or Algonquins. From time immemorial the "Great Falls" had been the best fishing ground in all New England, and this tribe was here because of the ease with which food of this nature could be procured. Shad and salmon were the most plentiful here, at certain seasons of the year, of any place known. The salmon went above here each year, but the shad never were able to get over the falls and would accumulate at a certain season of the year in immense quantities in the "Great Eddy" that was just below the "Great Falls" as they were called. The blossoming of the shad tree was the signal for all the Indians for many miles around to gather about the falls for the purpose of salmon and shad fishing. The oldest inhabitants of the village at the present time talk of their parents and grandparents telling them that at that season of the year the surface of the water in the eddy would be perfectly alive and black with shad, so much so that it often seemed as if ^ '€a *« Thomas Alexander Kathan, Father of Reid A. Kathan. 1 GENEALOGY OF MOORE FAMILIES. 83 Kathan, as Unity Kathan. Fairbanks Moor, a brother of Captain John Kathan's wife, Martha Moore, married Judith Bellows, whose mother, Mrs. Dorcas Cutler Willard, married Benjamin Bellows, father of Colonel Benjamin Bellows of Walpole, N. H. The Kathan and the IMoore Families Allied by Marriage. Lines of Ancestry". Captain John Kathan married about. 1727 ]Martha Moore, sister of Captain Fairbanks Moor, whose parents were John^ and Hassa- diah (Fairbanks) Moore. John^ was the son of John-, who married Anna Smith of Sudbury ; and John- was son of John^ IN'Ioore, the immigrant ancestor, who married Elizabeth Whale. John Kathan, Jr., son of Captain John, married Lois r\Ioore of Bolton, Mass., September 11, 1766. She was doubtless a daughter of some one of the Abijah^ Moore families in Bolton, descending from Abijah*, Richard^, Jacob-, John\ John Junior's daughter, Lois Kathan. married Abel Moore, whose parents were, probably, Abel and Mrs. Betty (Whitcomb) Moore of Bolton, married January ii, 1764. Prentice Kathan married Unice Moore about 1802, whose parents were, doubtless, John and Unity (Willard) Moore. His brother, John Kathan, m.arried Sally Goodwin, daughter of Martha" Moore, the wife of John Goodwin. Alartha'' I^Ioore was born July 14, 1752, and her parents were, Asa^ and Sarah Heywood ]\Ioore. Asa^ Moore was born in Sudbury, October 11, 1719, and was son of Captain James* and Comfort (Rice) Moore. Captain James* Moore's line of descent is Jacob", Jacob", John\ iNIartha'' Moore and John Goodwin, her husband, were the par- ents of Sally Goodwin, wife of John Kathan, son of John, Junior, and grandson of Captain Jolm Kathan. John and Sally Goodwin were the parents of Clarissa Kathan, who married Paine Bigelow, and whose daughter, Ellen C. Bigelow, married William Eastwood of Rochester, New York. ]\Irs. Eastwood is greatly interested in tracing her line of ancestry, not only on the Kathan side, but also on the side of the Moores, of whom she is a descendant in the ninth generation. Chapter VII. Daniel Kathan^ Second^ 1760- 1804. He was son of Alexander Kathan, Esq., and was born in Worces- ter, Mass., October 15. 1760. His father bought him a farm in the south part of the town in 1784. He married Ohve Lamb of Put- ney, August 26, 1787, and removed to his farm, which he occupied several years. He was not a man of robust health and, judging from his father's will, had much sickness in his family. He died in the prime of life, September 4, 1804, aged 44 years. His wife had died the previous year, January 25, 1803, in the 32d year of her age. They left a family of seven small children who were cared for by their grandfather, Alexander, until a home could be provided for them elsewhere. Thomas, the eldest, was born November 25, 1788, married Sarah Dolph in Brattleboro, Vt., and removed to New Lebanon in Columbia County, N. Y., some thirty miles south- east from Albany. Lucy, born May 9, 1790, and Caty, born De- cember 22, 1 79 1, probably died young, as no trace of them has been found. Anna, born February 7, 1795, married Alpheus Pratt of Brattleboro, May 21, 1812. Emory was born May 23, 1797; Wy- man Lam.b, December 9, 1798; and Orison, July 31, 1801. Olive Lamb, the mother of these children, was evidently a sister of Lieu- tenant James Lamb, an early settler in Newfane, from the fact that her son, Emory Kathan, after his father's death in 1804, when the child was seven years old, went to live with an uncle living in Newfane. Lieutenant James Lamb came from Spencer, Mass., to Newfane. His parents were John and Abigail (Smith) Lamb of Spencer, whose children born in that tovv^n, were : James, born April 14, 1753; John, March 22, 1755; Abigail, July 20, 1757; Nathaniel, March 22, 1760; Mary, July 6, 1762; Isaac, December 30, 1764. These are all the names given in the History of Spencer. Several other children were doubtless born to these parents, as the father was only 37 years old when his son Isaac was born and the mother 31 years old. John Lamb and Abigail Smith were married April 21, 1752. He died January 13, 1796, aged 69. She died May 7, 1799, aged 66. Their daughter, Olive Lamb, was born in THIRD GENERATION. 85 1772, and Fletcher Lamb of Putney was doubtless an elder brother. He was the father of Russell Lamb, who died October lo, 1881, aged 82 years. John Lamb of Spencer was son of Jonathan, Sr., and was born March 5, 1727. Jonathan was said to be a descendant of Colonel Joshua Lamb, one of the proprietors of Leicester and Spencer. Lieutenant James Lamb of Newfane had a son, Charles, born about 1783, and who died April 26, 1813, aged 30. He was the father of George W., born June 20, 1809, and Charles Pinkney, born July 21, 181 1, and their mother was Ruth Stearns, a sister of John Foster Stearns of Dummerston, who after the death of Charles Lamb, her husband, married Moses Sabin of Newfane. Silas Lamb, brother of Charles, married first Sally Laughton, daughter of Jacob Laughton of Dummerston. She died November 29, 183 1, aged 51 years. He married, second, Laura Keyes of Putney, November 11, 1832. Her name is registered on the town records of Putney as Sally Keyes. The children of Silas and Sally (Laughton) Lamb were: Charlotte, born November 2, 1805; Artemas, September i, 1807; Edwin, May 24, 1810; Horace, November 30, 1811; Maria, December 6, 18x5; Larkin, December 18, 1817; Dana, September 12, 1820; Emory Spencer, March 11, 1824; Betsey Laughton, September 16, 1826. Lieutenant James Lamb married first, Charlotte Howard ; sec- ond, Lydia (Cushing) Stearns. He died in Newfane, January 11, 1836, aged 82 years. Emory Kathan, 1797- 1849. Was seven years old when he went to Newfane to live with his uncle, James Lamb. After a residence there of several years, he married Mary Hall of Townshend, Vt., and removed to that town, in which he died May 10, 1849. His widow was living in 1883 at the age of 83 years. They had two sons, Lucius H., who died about 1885, and Theodore E., who died at the age of 28 years. ^Ir. Kathan's brother. Orison, married and removed to Ohio. After a lapse of twenty-five years, he came to Vermont and made his brother Emory a short visit. He returned to his western home and no further tidins:s were ever received from him. 86 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Mr. Kathan lived in Harmonyville, a small village located in the southern part of Townshend, which has a gristmill, chair-stock fac- tory, and about fifteen dwellings. Its name was derived through somewhat ridiculous circumstances, as follows : About 1828 or 1830, the little village was at the zenith of its glory. William R. Shafter was in trade where B. D. Pratt's dwelling now, 1883, stands, having succeeded Emory Kathan, who erected the building, and Jacob Fish carried on a custom saw, grist and flouring-mill, while the lit- tle settlement throughout had a general air of sprightliness and progress. Townshend village, only a half-mile distant being some- what tinged with jealousy, dubbed the little village "Tin Pot." The imputation suggested by this title the aggressive hamlet could not brook, so it retaliated by naming Townshend village "Flybug," and called a council of war, at which it was decided to give their own village a name worthy of its merits. Accordingly, after much debate, Harmonyville was decided upon as the proper appellation. Emory Kathan painted two signs bearing this legend, nailing one to each end of the bridge that crossed the West river. They were soon pulled down by youths from the rival village, however, though not until the name had become established, which has always clung to the place. Wyman Lamb Kathan, 1798- 1832. Married July 31, 1825, Laura Burnham, sister of Rhoda, who married John Kathan, and daughter of Roswell Burnham of West- moreland, N. H. Their children were : Amandrin, born October 9, 1825, married about 1855, Augusta M., daughter of Moses Ware, a Brattleboro shoemaker for many years. Mr. Kathan was employed many years by the Estey Organ Company, but retired from business some ten or fifteen years before the close of life, having accumulated considerable property. He and his wife were a long time active members of the Centre church in Brat- tleboro. She was a woman of great kindness of heart, thoroughly interested in all community and public affairs. She was bom in Brattleboro June 29, 1827, and died December 6, 1892. Her father, Moses Ware, was born March 2, 1808, and died April 25, 1885. Her mother, Eliza E. Ware, was bom April 28, 1805, and died April 29, 1877. Her sister, Anna E., born August 3, 1841, THIRD GENERATION. 87 died unmarried, May 25, 1879. Mr. Kathan died at his home on High Street, February 20, 1895. He left an estate valued at $20,000. His house was richly fur- nished throughout, and his library contained many valuable books. Mr. Kathan and wife both died without making a will and left no children to inherit their property. His half-brother, Herbert Knight, was the nearest of kin and inherited all their property, ex- cept $1,500, belonging to j\Irs. Kathan, whose estate had to be set- tled before that of her husband, and that amount went to her brother, and the balance to her husband's estate. Marinda Kathan, bom October 5, 1827, died January 13, 1847; Eliza, born February 13, 1831. Wyman L. Kathan died February 25, 1832, aged 33 years. His will was dated May 5, 183 1. At that time he lived at the south end of the Kathan Meadows near Mill brook on a farm which was leased to him, August 12, 1822, and which he afterwards bought of Pliny Dickenson of Walpole, N. H., for $1,000, January 12, 1825, a few months before his marriage. His widow married June 7, 1834, Job Knight of Dummerston and had two children, Caroline, who died of consumption, June 18, 1857, aged 22 years, and Herbert, who is now a resident of Brat- tleboro. Their mother died October 17, 1842. Thomas Kathan, 1788-1816. Married Sarah Dolph, December 25, 1806, removed to New Lebanon, Columbia County, N. Y., where he died May 21, 1816, aged 27 years. Soon after his death, his widow removed to Addi- son, Steuben County, N. Y. Their children were Olive Adaline, bom June 10, 1808, married Henry Wombough, October 18, 1827, died July 30, 1835 ; Eliza Arena, born February 12, 1810, married Otis Whittenhall, January 18, 1827, died December 2, 1895 ; George Washington, born April i, 1812, died May 23, 1812; Daniel Thomas, bom August 3, 1813, died January 3, 1815 ; Thomas Alex- ander, born December 6. 1815, married Sarah M. Gray, October 21, 1 84 1, died November 10, 1863. at South Oxford, New York. Olive A. Kathan, 1808-1835. Married Henry Wombough, October 18, 1827, had five children : Maria Kathan. born May 9, 1828, married Charles S. Ames ; Har- »e HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. riet Frances, born February lo, 1830, married Jacob V. Graham; Pamelia Baldwin, born November 3, 183 1, married William Stra- della ; Eliza Arena, born August 3, 1833, married Fred Hober; George W., born December 26, 1834, married Caroline Clark. Eliza A. Kathan, 1810-1895. Married Otis Whittenhall, had six children: Sarah L., born November 2, 1827, married Lewis M. Waters, died March 15, 1854; Thomas Alexander, born April 12, 1829, married Sarah Shoemaker; William Henry, born May 17, 1831, married Louisa L. Phillips, died November 15, 1868; James U., born May 28, 1834; Frances Adaline, bom September 18, 1838, married Edward M. Johnson, March 10, 1857; Jane Eliza, born November 5, 1840, mar- ried John G. Blampied in August i860. Thomas Alexander Kathan, 181 5-1863. Married Sarah M. Gray, had four children : Sarah Jane, born January 5, 1843, died May 24, 1847; i\gnes C, bom May 9, 1844, married Frank Shepard, May 6, 1873, and has no children ; Cora Eliza, born November 4, 185 1, married Edwin Clarence Sherwood and has no children ; Reid Alexander, born April 30, 1855, married Sarah Weil Butler, June 6, 1899. He was born in Brattleboro, Vermont, December 6, 181 5, and with the family moved to New Lebanon, Columbia County, N. Y., east of the Hudson river and west of Massachusetts, where his father, Thomas Kathan, died May 21, 1816, aged 27 years. Shortly afterwards, his widow with her three children then living, removed to Addison, Steuben County. N. Y., in the southern part of the state, two hundred miles west of New Lebanon, where her son, Thomas Alexander, became the first male representative of the Kathans in that part of the state. His sister, Eliza A., born in Brattleboro in 1810, and who lived to be 85 years old, remembered distinctly the circumstance of her mother's removal to Addison where she had brothers and sisters living. One of her brothers went to New Lebanon in a wagon and brought the mother and her three children to Steuben County. In making the journey they crossed the Hudson river at Albany on a flat boat, Mrs. Kathan driving the team while the crossing was made. Reid Alexander Kathan, of New York City. THIRD GENERATION. 89 After her son, Thomas Alexander, had finished his school days, he was employed in a store until about twenty years of age, when he started out around the country with a horse and wagon, selling goods. A few years later he engaged in the lumber business. Steuben County at that time was thickly wooded, and a very profit- able industry was rafting logs down the river to Baltimore. On one of these trips, he caught a severe cold, causing him to lose his health, which he never entirely regained, although he lived many years afterwards. About 1854 he bought a farm in Addison upon which he lived until the breaking out of the Rebellion, when he moved to Jersey City and again engaged in the lumber business until the summer of 1863, when his health became very poor, and he moved to South Oxford, Chenango County, where he died November lo, 1863, aged nearly 48 years. In the old "Ten Broeck" cemetery at South Oxford, a fine granite monument was erected to his memory. His widow, who died in 1898, and was a descendant of the Ten Broecks, is also laid to rest in the same burial ground along with her ances- tors for many generations. The portrait of Thomas Alexander Kathan which appears in this publication, was contributed by his son, Reid Alexander Kathan, in kind remembrance of his father, who had a deep and true love for his children. Reid Alexander Kathan. Born in Addison, Steuben County, New York, April 30, 1855. He moved with his mother and sisters when nine years old to Ox- ford, N. Y., where he lived for six years and attended the academy, which at that time, as well as for many years previous, was consid- ered one of the best institutions of the kind in the state. During 1870 he took a course at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y., from which he was the youngest student to receive a diploma, and graduated with a record of 90 per cent. Then, being placed upon his own resources, he found it necessary, instead of aiming to acquire a higher education, to seek employment. He came to New York and sectu'ed a position as clerk in one of the large dry goods stores. He was occasionally referred to as a graduate of A. T. Stewart & Co.. a firm at that time with a great 90 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. reputation for having had many young employes who afterwards developed as among the cleverest and most successful business and professional men. He still resides in New York, and for the past twenty-five years has been engaged in the silk business continuously in Broome Street. His father having died when he was young, it was more than twenty years before he met another man bearing the name of Kathan. He has traveled extensively on business, not only in the United States but also in Europe. His portrait appears among the illustrations in this volume, by request of the author, who is personally acquainted with Mr. Kathan and will vouch for him as a man, strong-limbed, clear-eyed, stout-hearted, clean-mind- ed, and able to hold his own in this great world of work and strife and ceaseless effort. The Wombough Family Record. Maria Kathan Wombough and Charles S. Ames were married September 5, 1849, ^^''d had one child, Frances Rachel, born Sep- tember 29, 1850, and married Denton D. Cooley, September 6, 1863 ; died August 11, 1882. Twins were born to them but died infants. Harriet Frances Wombough and Jacob V. Graham were married September 20, 1852; had one child, Clara, born April 29, 1855, and married Frank G. Parsons, June 28, 1877 and had one child, Graham, born June 18, 1880. Pamelia Baldwin Wombough and William Stradella were married July i, 1856. Children: Withelm, born 1864, married Frances Gillett, November 6, 1890. Children, Augusta Gillett, born May 8, 1894, and Charles Gillett, born January 29, 1898; Alberta Stradella was born December 26, 1869. Eliza A. Wombough and Fred Hober were married Novem- ber 20, 1859, and had no children. George W. Wombough and Caroline Clark had one child. Olive, born August 2, 1859, mar- ried Horace Daniels and had one child, Harry Daniels, born Octo- ber, 1880. The Whittenhall Family Record. Sarah Whittenhall and Lewis Waters had one child that died young. Thomas Alexander Whittenhall and Sarah Shoemaker had nine children. William Henry Whittenhall and Louisa Phillips had one child, Fred Wliittenhall, born June, 1853, died October i, 1877. George Frank Kathan. THIRD GENERATION. 91 Frances Adaline \\'liittenhall and Edward ]\I. Johnson had one child, Jane P. W. Johnson, born August 8, 1859, married November 19, 1879, Willard E. Yeager and had one child Willita, born Octo- ber 29, 1880, died young. Jane Eliza Whittenhall and John Blam- pied had three children: Fannie M., born September 25, 1861, married Thomas J. Winne; Harrie Edward, born June 10, 1863, married Louisa Clayton Smith; and Belle Kathan, who married Oliver A. Quayle, November 11, 1891. Fannie M. Blampied and Thomas J. Winne had one child, Willard Winne, bom June, 1898. Harrie Edward Blampied and Louise C. Smith had one child, Alida Blampied, born December, 1893. Belle Kathan Blampied and Oliver A. Quayle had three children : Oliver, born March 6. 1893, Edith born November 5, 1894, and Howard, born March 9, 1896. Mary Kathan, 1756-1850. The eldest child of Alexander Kathan, married Elihu Sargeant and had seven children. Elihu, born November 13, 1780; Molly, born November 2.2, 1781 ; Clarissa, born April 19, 1783; Thomas, born December 19, 1784; Alexander, born March 8, 1787; Chester, born April 28, 1789, died same year; and George, bom January 28, 1797. Elihu Sargeant died December i, 1833. Mary Kathan, his wife, died December 18, 1850, aged 94 years, 2 months. Thomas Kathan, 1764- 1838. The third son of Alexander, Esq., was born April 30, 1764, and married ]\Iay 22, 1803, Anna Burnham. She died and he married, second, Abigail Haven, daughter of David and Abigail Haven, September 17, 1829. Thomas Kathan died July 15, 1838, aged 74. His widow married, second, Benjamin Streeter, third, Leonard j\Iaxwell. Elizabeth, youngest child of Alexander Kathan, born December 25, 1767, died unmarried, January 13, 1828, aged 60. Her death was caused by a fall down the cellar stairs. John KathAxV, 1758-1833. The eldest son of Alexander, Esq., married, first, Polly, sister of Bethany, wife of Jesse Ivnight of Dummerston. They were daugh- ters of Job Perry of Putney. Polly died ^ilarch 8, 1791, aged 23 92 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. years. He married, second, Rebecca, daughter of John Severy of Worcester, Mass. She died December 25, 1837, aged 79 years. He died April 10, 1833, aged 74 years. By the first marriage he had one child, John, born November 6, 1790; by the second mar- riage, one child, Polly, born March 16, 1794, married July 3, 1811, Squire Spaulding of Dummerston, who settled in Chesterfield, N, H., soon after 181 5. She died February 22, 1885, aged 90 years, II months, 6 days. Her age united with that of her aunt. Mary Kathan Sargeant, 94 years, 2 months, amounts to 185 years. Her grandfather, Alexander Kathan, died at the age of 95 years, 9 months, and his second wife, Mary Hart Davenport, lived to be 98 years and 3 months old. The united ages of these four persons amounts to 379 years. John Kathan, Grandson of Alexander. Chapter VIII. John Kathan, 1790-1859. ma^rLc^fl T T ""'' '°" "' J°'^" ^^^h^"' ^om 1758, and marned Rhoda Burnham, daughter of Roswell and Rhoda (Hud- son) Burnham, of Westmorelanrl M w 1 1 t^ . vv estmoreland, iN. H., who was born December Rhoda Hudson was born in Chesterfield, N. H., May 8 1778 and was the daughter of Benjamin and Sarah (Holman) Hu'dso'l ' Mr Kathan hved on the ancestral homestead, settled by his grandfather" hi To: Th""; "^ ''''■ ^"^^^^^"^^^ ^-^^- -^lled'his farm to his son Thomas, born 1764; and as Thomas had no children to mhent the estate, his father made provision in his will that the property should come into the possession of his son John, born 17.8 and after him, into the possession of John, Jr., born' 1790. Thomas' and his brother John occupied the farm together until September 19, 1829, when Thomas sold to John Kathan, Jr., for $1,200, one equal unchvK led half of the property, ''which is the whole of lot No i, and IS the same farm lately occupied by Alexander Kathan, late of Dummerston, deceased." On the same day that Thomas Kathan sold John, Jr., one undivided half of the old farm, he leased to him he other undivided half and a certain piece of land west of the old farm, called the Rhodes lot, containing fifteen acres. Previous to 1829 a new part was built to the house and provision was made in he lease regarding Its occupation. Provision was also made for the care of Thomas Kathan's stepmother. In August, 1843, the old homestead barely escaped destruction by a violent wind ;r hurri cane that prostrated several acres of forest trees on the hills west of he buildings. The hurricane swept down across the plain, leveling the trees m Its path, making a direct course towards the house around which it made a sudden turn, shaking up the statelv old elms' fur ously and spending its force not far to the eastward. ' The last of the old growth pines on the Alexander Kathan farm was cut down m 188X. John Kathan and Adin A. Button cut one abo't i«55 that measured 139 feet in length and 118 feet in length of logs. 94 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. A second growth pine was cut on Slate Rock hill one and a half mile south from the Kathan farm that sawed out 2,157 ^^^^ of boards. It was during- Mr. Kathan's residence on the farm that the school house, half a mile north from his place in District No. 4, was burned on the night before the Fourth of July, 1841. A party of lawless chaps in Putney went to Brattleboro that evening and on their mid- night carousal home found pleasure in making a bonfire of the old school house. It was not rebuilt until the fall of 1843. ^t a school meeting held May 29, 1843, i^ the shop of John Kathan, it was voted to accept his proposal to furnish all the timber for the frame of the new school building as his share of the tax. Samuel Johnson, Wilder Knight and Alanson Gates were chosen a commit- tee to build the house 26 feet long, 20 feet wide and 18 feet between joists. The district was divided in regard to the location of the school house. At one meeting, it was voted to locate it on the east side of the stage road, at another on the west side. At a meeting held August 11, 1843, the prudential committee were instructed to notify the selectmen to locate the school house. It was finally decided to locate it on John Kathan's land next to Arba Clark's line, where it now stands. The Family Record of John and Rhoda Kathan. Louisa, born February 5, 1819, married Wilder Knight, July 2, 1839; Horace, born November 9, 1821, died March 12, 183 1 ; Aurelia S., born February 28, 1823, married Wm. A. Dutton, Sep- tember 10, 1850; Adaline E., born June 14, 1825, married Orrin Kathan, September 14, 1856; Fanny M., born February 18, 1829, married Adin A. Dutton, January i, 1850; Ellen E., born February 26, 1831, married Larkin G. Cole, April 13, 1858; John H., born March 23, 1833, married Fanny M. Newman, August 9, 1856; George Frank, born November 18, 1835, married Eliza C. Ware, May 5, i860; Kingsley S., born July 2, 1838, died December 27, 1864; Henry H., born August 18, 1840, married Belle Belknap, May 6, 1863. The family relatives of John Kathan, 1790-1859, contributed his portrait for this publication. Louisa (Kathan) Knight. From a Dagiioi reotype. FOURTH GENERATION. gg Louisa Kathan and Wilder Knight. Biographical Record. Louisa Kathan, the eldest child of John and Rhoda (Burnham) Kathan, married Wilder I^ight, son of Captain Jesse and Pollv (Fairbanks) Knight of Dummerston. They commenced their house keeping m Putney, Vt., where Mr. Knight was engaged in the cabinet making and undertaking business, which he carried on suc- cessfully until failing health compelled him to retire from active labor, and he and Mrs. Knight returned to the home of her parents where they remained until the fall of 1855, when they removed to Westmoreland, N. H., where they met with reverses and again re- turned to Dummerston. In the spring of 1857 Mr. Knight bought a small farm and gristmill near Dummerston Centre where he and his family lived until the spring of 1867, when they removed to Brattleboro and resided with their daughter, Mrs. Bond, many years ^Irs. Knight died June 29, 1884, aged 65 vears. Mr Knight was born in Dummerston, September 22, 1814, and died in Brattleboro, December i, 1888, aged 74 years. They united witli the Congregational church in early life, lived consistent Christian lives and were much esteemed for their uprightness of character, show- ing unvarying kindness and thoughtfulness in all the relations of h±e. Their two children were: Jerome W. Knight, born in Dummerston, February 15, 1842, married February 15, 1869 Ella H., daughter of Asa Sherwin of Brattleboro. She died August 28 1895- Mr. Knight has been in the employ of the Este/ Organ Company 35 years, as chief inspector of organs. He spent two years in Europe, where he traveled extensively in the interest of the company, visiting many of the large cities on the continent and London in England. Alaria L. Knight was born September 28, 1843, and married October 3, 1865, Henry E. Bond of Dummerston, who was born October 7, 1841. In 1880 Mr. Bond entered the business of under- taker and has been continuously in it since that vear, and at the present time is president of the Funeral Directors' Association. He has been successful in business and now occupies the first floor and basement of Bond's block, 19 Main Street, which is fitted up lor his accommodation. Although a busv man, Mr. Bond has 9(5 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. found time to pass through all the chairs in the subordinate I. O. O. F. lodge and the encampment, and has held offices in the state grand lodge. He is well known in the Vermont National Guard, as a member of Company I, eight years, and commissary sergeant four years. Mr. Bond is a member of Columbian Lodge, F. and A. M., Bingham Chapter and Knights Templar, and of the Protective Grange. In the Congregational church, he was deacon for more than i8 years. Mrs. Bond is not only an active member of the church, but is prominent in several of the patriotic and benevolent societies existing in Brattleboro. William H. Bond, their only child, was born February 19, 1872, and married, first, June 3, 1895, Ella Caroline, daughter of Harrison Morse of Brooklyn, N. Y., and granddaughter of the late Major- General Augustus Morse, of Massachusetts. She died May 14, 1897, leaving one son, Henry Harrison Morse Bond, born July 25, 1896. His father married, second, July 31, 1900, Lavinia Seymore, daughter of the late Chelsea W. Hubbard, of South Dakota. Mr. Hubbard was the son of Erastus and Fanny Frost Hubbard and grandson of Jacob and Dolly Kathan Frost, whose portraits appear in this volume. Mrs. Henry E. Bond is much interested in the Kathan history and has been instrumental in securing for it the portraits of Mrs. Louisa (Kathan) I^iight, Mrs. Maria Louise Bond, William H. Bond, and H. H. Morse Bond, born July 25, 1896, "Little Morse," as she calls her grandson. Horace Kathan, the second child of John and Rhoda Kathan, lost his life at the age of nine years by a singular accident. He was helping his father take off a kettle of hot maple sugar. The leg of the kettle caught on the side of the arch and tipped the contents on the boy. His father caught hold of him instantly and dipped him into a tub of cold sap which reheved him of pain for a short time, but was not effective in saving his life. He died nine days after the accident, aged nine years. AuRELiA S. Kathan and William A. Dutton. The following appreciative obituary notice appeared in The Vermont Phoenix, August 18, 1899, two days after the death of Mr. Dutton. Mrs. Dutton, who was a very amiable and excellent woman, died May 19, 1892, aged 69 years. J Maria (Knight) Bond. I FOURTH GENERATION. Oy DEACON WILLIAM A. BUTTON. His Death Occurred Wednesday After an Illness of Three Iears With Softening of The Brain. Deacon William A. Dutton, a^ed 7a vear^ rl,V.i .f i • , Ar^- c^ . • T^ '^S^'-' /4 veart,, cliecl at his home on so en^r: ■" Brattleboro, August :6, .899. He had been Z2 Salome n„t n,, ,,'^f '""" 8' '^^5. and was a son of Adams and Ha^en, wliere he hved on a tarm until he was 21 years old He en tetutned to Hydeville, a vdlage in Castleton. where he tr„" shend and formed a partnership with the late Deaeon Estey of Brat- Jhe> drew their marble from Dorset in winter and worked it in abou 184, and was conducted in a shop which stood about where t ,0 irDt°tt "°:' T^'- '''■ ^^'^-^- ^^'"--^^ -'d '- '"'"- - t u u Z" ''^°"'"-'"-'='«-- Jo"n H. Kathan, and later IMr Katl,an bought Mr. Dutton's interest. .\bout 1854 Mr. Dutton went to Sherbrooke, P. O., and went into the marbt busines ac ompa„,ed by his brother, D. D. Dutton, who learned his ti-ade toe, and was with him six years. I„ ,870, or thereabouts, Mr. Dutton exchanged his business in Canada with Mr. Kathan and returned to Bra.tleboro, locating in tl,e building on Depot street v.nich he occupied ever since. ' Mr Dutton joined the Congregational church bv letter from th^ church in Sherbrooke in 1870. He was elected a member of tl.; duirch committee in 1871 and in 1876 he was elected deacon, resi^n- 'ng m 1895 on account of ill health. His relations with the church and community, in business and otherwise, were characterized by an honesty and sincerity of purpose, and he was respected by ail Tro her D J t'n '" '"'' P"'"' '"^^ ^''^''' "^^- ^^ ^^^^'two brothers, Dr. J. S. Dutton and D. D. Dutton, both of Brattleboro. Adaline E. Kathan and Orrin Kathan. ^ Mrs. Kathan was a daughter of John and Rhoda Kathan, and iier husband was a son of Gardner and Betsey (Townsend) Kathan. 98 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Her grandfather was Alexander Kathan, Esq., who was a brother of John, the father of Gardner. She died July 19, 1863, aged 38 vears. See Gardner Kathan record. Fanny M. Kathan and Adin A. Button. Their children were: Mary E., born September 22, 1851,^ died September 5, 1853; Myron F., born February 12, 1855; Hattie A., born September 20, 1856; Jennie F., born November 10, 1864. Deacon Adin A. Button. Mr Button has been deacon of the Congregational church for tnirty-three vears, bein- chosen in 1868. His parents were Alonzo and Harriet' (Goss) Button, and his grandparents were Samuel ?nd A])io-ail (Hodgskins) Button. Flis great-grandfather, Samuel Button, married Rebecca French, a sister of William French, killed in the "Westminster massacre" in 1775. His ancestors settled m Bummerston before 1770 and came here from Billerica, Mass. His line of ancestry is as follows: Alonzo^ Samuel', Samuel, SamueP, Samuel^ John^ Thomas^ JohnS who was the Pun- tan ancestor and came to America from England, probably, with Governor Winthrop in 1630. Beacon Button's farm was first settled in Revolutionary times. The two-story dwelling m which he lives was built in 1803 by Asahael Webster, a blacksmith whose shop stood south of the present buildings on the west side of the road He bought the farm in 1797, sold it in 1805 and removed to Bennington, Vt. On his way over the Green Mountains to his new home, he stopped on the height of land overlooking the Con- necticut valley, looked back over the region of his late home, and, turning from the beautiful landscape scenery before him, gave a long, long sigh and wept a last adieu. Samuel Button, Jr., grand'fkther of the present owner, resided on the farm at the time of his death, February 18, 1835, aged 63 years. Thomas Button, to whom the following deed was granted in 1674, was born m Eng- land in 1621 and came to America with his father. Thomas Button, Sen., who was son of John Button, the Puritan ancestor, had several pieces of land granted to him in Billerica, Mass. The following is a copy of one of his deeds. William H. Bond. H. H. Morse Bond. FOURTH GENERATION. 99 "The to^vne of Billerica hath granted to Thomas Dutton Senr as lolloweth March 1674. Theyhave granted to him twenty acres of land be it more or lesse lymg m the north east of foxes meadow bounded by John Sheldon on ye west then running 36 degs. half west from north eighy pole bounded by foxes brook on ye north ve side lines are parallels it lyeth forty pole wide ye line at ve south end runes 60 oegs. west from ye S. bounded by the Comon land south and north The Condition of this grant is that ye said Thomas Dutton shall not have any power to sell or alienate any of the said land without ye consent of the towne unless it bee to his owne children lawfullv borne and begotten of his body." Billerica Book of Land Grants. Myron F. Dutton married June 3, 1884, Alice E., daughter of Dea- con Benjamin and Almira Buffum. She was bom in Wilmington, Vt October 29, 1859. Children : Everett P., born March 21, i88s " Edith A., born July 8, 1887 : Ruth J., born January 23, 189. Mr' Dutton IS associated with his father, Deacon A. A. Dutton in the management of the well-known ancestral farm. It was bought bv his great-grandfather, Samuel Dutton, September 6, 1819 and after him came into the possession of his son. Alonzo Dutton' who owned the place many years. His successor w^s his onlv son,'Adin A. Duttom who relinquishes, at the age of more than 'three-score .vears and ten, the hardest part of the farm labor, and leaves the care and management principally to his only son, Mvron F. Dutton ^^'ho IS a prosperous farmer, interested in local historv and public tT'^T fP^e^e^ted the town in the Vermont Legislature of _i«96. This farm, on which many improvements have been made m recent years, is located near the Connecticut river in East Dum- merston. The well-built slate-stone walls along the roadside, the well-cultivated and productive fields, the neat-looking buildincrs shaded by rows of stately maples, are evidences of good manage- ment by diligent and progressive farmers who own and occupv the banner farm of Dummerston. Mr. Dutton is greatlv in- terested m the publication of the Kathan Histon-, has 'spent considerable time in looking up information for the work con- LcfC. 100 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. tributed two illustrations, and was instrumental in securing money to pay the expense of his grandfather John Kathan's portrait. The two illustrations are, The Maple Sugar Orchard on the Alexander Kathan Farm, showing a view of the Kathan homestead, and a picture of the Kathan gun, powder horn, and inscription or name plate on the gun. Hattie A. Button married December 31, 1874, Adin F. Miller, born in Dummerston, July 16, 1850, on the ancestral farm settled by his great-grandfather, Captain Vespasian Miller, a seafaring man, before he came to Dummerston in Revolutionary times. His son, Joseph Miller, was born in Dummerston in 1780. Adin F. is the son of Joseph Miller, born in 1817 and town clerk of Dum- merston for fifty-two years, two months. Soon after the death of his father, May 10, 1901, aged 84 years, he resigned the office of first constable and tax collector, which he held for more than 16 years, and accepted the appointment of town clerk and treasurer made vacant by the death of his father. He was a member of the Vermont Legislature in 1888. Jennie Frances Dutton, the youngest child of Deacon and Mrs. Adin A. Dutton. died at the home of her sister, Mrs. Adin F. Miller, January 31, 1901, aged 36 years. She had been ill since March, 1900, when she had a severe attack of the grip which developed into a lung trouble ending in consumption. Miss Dutton's life had been spent in her childhood home at the well- known parental homestead. She was a devoted member of the Congregational church, had for a long term of years taught the primary class in the Sunday school and had done much in many ways for the various members of this class. She was loved and esteemed by all in the circle who knew her well. Such a life as that of Miss Dutton is pictured in Whittier's hymn for a Quaker woman's burial : — Her still and quiet life flowed on As meadow streamlets flow, Where fresher green reveals alone The noiseless way the}^ go. The dear Lord's best interpreters Are humble human souls; The gospel of a life like hers Is more than books or scrolls. fourth generation. ^qj Ellen E. Kathan and Larkin G. Cole. Mr. Cole was a son of Abel Cole of Westmoreland, N H where he was born May 9, 1824, and was one of a family of nine children ihe Cole family was one of the oldest in Westmoreland, and the fourth and fifth generation are now living there on the home farm He died at his home in West Brattleboro, February 14, 1895, aged 71 years. His chief occupation was that of a hotel keeper, h'avtng been engaged in business with his brother in Rutland, Ludlow Leominster and Fitchburg, Mass., and other places. John H. Kathan and Fannie j\L Newman. His wife was a resident of Brattleboro, was born July 24 1836 and died September 17, 1881, aged 45 years. He died of erys'ipelas' December 7, 1883, aged 49 years, 8 months. Mr. Kathan learned the trade of marble worker, and his business experience is related in the sketch of his brother-in-law, Wm. A. Button. He had an only child, Edward P., born August 24, 1857, who was a bright, intel- ligent boy with a studious turn of mind. He prepared for colleo-e at Wesleyan Seminary, Stanstead, Canada East. At the time of his death, June 24, 1879, he was a member of the senior class at Victoria College, Cobourg, Canada, and ranked third in a class of sixty-four. Mr. Kathan's home in 1883, and at the time of his death, was with his brother-in-law, Deacon Adin A. Dutton The following incident is characteristic of Mr. Kathan's benevolent dis- position. Caleb and Lucy Higgins were two aged persons of hum- ble birth and circumstances, whom Mr. Kathan knew well in former years. They died and were buried in the East Dummerston ceme- tery, the husband in 1863, the ^.ife in 1865, and no memorial stone had marked their burial place for twenty vears. During the sum- mer of 1883, a few months before he died, Mr. Kathan procured at his own expense and placed at the head of their graves a marble slab with suitable inscriptions and a brief record of their life-service m the followmg sentence: "Humble and unassuming in life thev did what they could." " ' George Frank Kathan and Eliza Cole Ware. She ^^s born December 23, 1838, and was the daughter of James Royal Ware of Westmoreland, N. H., whose parents were Levi and 102 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Peggy King Ware, the first of the name in Westmoreland. Levi Ware was born January 27, 1767, married November 4, 1794, Peggy King, who was born September 16, 1773, and died November 14, 1817. He died August 20, 1845. James R., the youngest of nine children of these parents, was born in Westmoreland, April 11, 181 1, and married March 15, 1838, Susanna L. Cole, who died March 25, 1857. Mr. Kathan is a carpenter and resides in Westmoreland. His portrait appears in this publication. He had two children, Lilla and Myrtie. Lilla E. Kathan, bom December 30, 1861, married January i, 1884, Charles H. Leach, born June 5, 1859, the only son of Henry Leach and his third wife, Eunice S. Campbell, daughter of Dr. John Norton Campbell of Westmoreland, and widow of George Leonard, when she married Mr. Leach, who was born in Westmore- land in 1803 and son of Isaac Leach, a native of Salem, Mass. Myrtie E., sister of Lilla, was born October 30, 1866, died May 25, 1894. Lilla's children are: Gladys Eunice, born January 22, 1889, and Merton Campbell, born September 28, 1898. Kingsley S. Kathan died unmarried aged 26 years. Henry H. Kathan and Belle Belknap. Mrs. Kathan was from Westminster, Vt., and was the daughter of John P. and Harriet (French) Belknap of Dummerston. He died August 24, 1873, aged 33 years. They had an only child, Lila J., born September 30, 1866, and who married, June 24, 1884, Julius C. Timson, a real estate agent, and colonel in the New Hampshire militia. They reside in Claremont, N. H., and have two children: Catherine B., born September 5, 1885, and Hazel H., born May 2, 1890. The Manchester Union of Friday, March 7, 1902, contained a half-tone cut of Colonel Julius C. Timson of Claremont. N. H., formerly of Brattleboro, together with the following as a news despatch from Claremont : "The action at a recent meeting of the Patriarchs Militant of New Hampshire, whereby Colonel Julius C. Timson of this town was elected colonel in command of the First Regiment of the state by Grand Cantons Wildey and Albin, and Cantons Osgood, Franklin, Tilton, Hanover and Oasis City of Berlin, will bring the headquarters of the regiment to Claremont. Colonel Timson is lieutenant colonel of the Second Regiment, FOURTH GENERATION. 103 N. H. N. G., and is a very active worker in all of the organizations with which he is identified. His friends have showered congratu- lations upon him for this latest testimonial to his ability and popularity." Chapter IX. Gardner Kathan, 1767-1813. Was son of John and Lois (Moore) Kathan, who were married in Bolton, Mass., September 11, 1766. He was bom in 1767. He married, May 24, 1789, Betsey Townsend, who died about 1805, and he married, second, EHzabeth (maiden name unknown), who be- came the mother of his youngest son, George Kathan. Her hus- band died February 11, 1813, aged 46 years, and on May 8, 1813, she quitclaimed her right of dower to the estate of her late husband to Robert Kathan, administrator of the estate of his father, Gard- ner Kathan, for $200 and the maintenance of her son George until he was seven years old. The children of Gardner and Betsey Kathan were: Robert, born 1790, died April 8, 1819; Henry, bom 1792; Gardner, Jr., born August 11, 1794, married April 10, 1821, Jerusha, daughter of Charles and Lydia (Scott) Kathan; Betsey, born 1796, married October 17, 1817, Abel Knight, died March 4, 1872; Richard, born January 9, 1798, married Lucy G. Reynolds in 1818; Stephen, born 1800, married at Brattleboro in 1822, Candace Brown ; Orrin, born February 4, 1802, married September 9, 1856, Adaline Kathan; John, born 1804; George, half-brother, born 1810, married Mary B. Merrill. Gardner Kathan, Jr., 1794-1858. Born August 11, 1794. married Jerusha Kathan, born December 29, 1800, daughter of Charles and Jerusha (Scott) Kathan. He died June 28, 1858, aged nearly 64 years. She died March 8, 1888, aged 87 years. Their children were : Gardner S. Kathan, born December 4, 1821, married, first, Elizabeth C. Knight, April 25, 1854, daughter of Lyman and Polly (Johnson) Knight. She died October 28, 1858. They had a son, Robert L., bom May, 1856, died February, 1858, aged 19 months ; daughter, Elizabeth M., born August 29, 1858, married Charles E. Fay of Amherst, Mass., February 3, 1879. Had one child, George E. Fay, born December 10, 1879. Gardner S., married, second, Martha Ellen Lane of Put- Gardner S. Kathan, of Dummerston, Vt. THIRD GENERATION. IQ^ ney, September 21, 1868. She was born December 22 1831 Had one child by the second marriage, NelHe S., born September n 1870, married Herbert C. Howard, April 7, 1894. Children' Beatrice M., born December 31, 1894; Russell B., born June 24' 1896; Maxme E., born December 2, 1899. Henry B., born January 7, 1823; Ehza, born May 6, 1825, died May 6, 1826; Norman, bom January 25, 1827, died March 23, 1865, aged 37 years; Dorr W., bom July 8, 1829, died June 6, 1877; John Alexander, bom July 19 1831, died in Litchfield, III, February 3, 1896; Frances Elizabeth,' bom Noyember 15, 1833, married a Stoddard, died in Hartford Conn., February 12, 1901 ; Helen, born December 22, 1837 died September 30, 1838; Riley H., bom June 15, 1839. died September 17, 1844. Gardner S. Kathan, the eldest of these nine children of Gardner Kathan, Jr., was born in the old red house near Putney railroad station, the home of his parents and grandparents. He is of the same age as his cousin, Robert Kathan of Putney, both having been born December 4, 1821, one in the forenoon and the other in the aftemoon. He is the only one of his father's family now liyino- and contributes his portrait for the Kathan History. From the firs^t settlement of Dummerston in 1752 down to the present time families by the name of Kathan haye been residents of the town.' Gardner S. is the only one in town who now bears the name. Henry B. Katiian, 1823-1890. W^as bom in Dummerston, June 7, 1823, and married December 25, 1845, Malona E., daughter of Samuel Johnson of Dummerston. They were married in this town by the Rev. Wm. Nelson Barber He died in Putney, December 13, 1890. She died in that town at the home of her son, Warner Kathan, January 26, 1901, aged 75 years, after less than a week's illness with pneumonia. She was a native of Putney and spent her life in that town and in Dummers- ton, and was recognized as a woman of many sterling attributes. Their children bom in Dummerston were:' Nettie E bom November 26, 1846, died November 17, 1862; Warner H.', bom October 8, 1848, married October 28, 1893, Delia E. Kent of Put- ney; George E., born September 12, 1850, married Lucretia Taft m 1878; Willie G., born November 8, 1854, died November 20, 106 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 1857; Clara L., bom December 18, 1856, married F. C. Ferris, September 6, 1872; Charlie G., born May 4, 1858, died December 20, 1862; Arthur L., bom August 16, i860, died February 3, 1887. Warner H. Kathan and Delia E. Kent have three children: Lefranc C, born July 18, 1895; Bertha J., born August i, 1897; Dexter W., bom July 8, 1899. George E. Kathan and Lucretia Clark were married July 14, 1883, and reside in Creston, Washington. Children : Walter E., born August 3, 1884, and Russell C, born April 20, 1889. Clara L. Kathan and Fernando C. Ferris of St. Lawrence county, in northern New York, were married September 8, 1873. Chil- dren : Arthur E., born December 8, 1874; Winnie M., born July 28, 1878; and Arlie A., born May 12, 1885. Dorr W. Kathan married Elizabeth Briggs of Brattleboro, Sep- tember 14, 1858, and their children are : Adeliza E., born April 23, 1863, married Rev. Samuel A. Read of IMassachusetts ; Fannie A., born July 17, 1872, married Charles T. Crouss of Massachusetts, April 25, 1894. Their children are: Theodore A., born April 29, 1895, and Irene K., born March 16, 1897. All are residents of Agawam, Mass. John Alexander Kathan died in Litchfield, 111., February 27, 1896. His wife, Eliza A. Perry of Putney, died in January, 1897. They were married in 1856 and their children are : Frank E., born in September, 1858, married Emma Faulkner, May i, 1882, and had one child, Ora, born in 1883. They reside in Warrenton, Mo. ; Fannie H., bom in August, 1872, married James H. Atterburg, January 31, 1894, and their child, James H., Jr., was born Decem- ber 29, 1895. Residence, Litchfield, 111. Betsey Kathan^ Born 1796. Married Abel Knight and had a large family. Among their chil- dren were: Maria, Oscar, Leroy, Edwin, Jesse, Alonzo, Abel, and Mary Jane. Richard Kathan, 1798-1829. Married Lucy G. Reynolds in 1818 and resided in Westminster, Vt., in 1821, when his son Robert was born. He soon afterwards moved to Putney village M'here he lived and died July 30, 1829, in ^^ 9^S\^ Robert Kathan, of Putney, Vt. THIRD GENERATION. 107 the house nov/ owned by ]\Jrs. Samuel Knight. His wife died March 12, 1888, aged 86 years 5 months. Their children were: Betsey, born, February 24, 1820, married Stilman Chamberlain in January, 1847; Robert, born December 4, 1821, married Abbie A. Holland, February 20, 1856; Mary, born in January, 1823, married Henry Haynes August, 1852, died October i, 1855; Sarah, born March 16, 1826, married John Densmore Wheat, October 7, 1845. Robert Kathan, Born tn 1821. Married Abbie Amelia Holland and had a family of four chil- dren : Charles Crawford, bom January 7, 1857, married Fannie Fitcheti ; Mary Alice, born December i, 1858, well educated and a school teacher for many years, died December 14, 1897; Cora Emma, born March 3, 1862, has been employed many years as a school teacher and is very successful in her vocation ; Florence Abbie, born November 12, 1871, was a very faithful instructor in classics at Black River Academy several years. ^Ir. Kathan is a farmer and was educated in the schools of Putney. He has repeat- edly held the office of lister in this town. In political faith he is a Republican, and his religious preference is Congregationalist. He is highly esteemed and greatly respected by his townsmen, who elected him to represent the town in the legislature of 1884. His daughters, Cora and Florence, contribute their fathers's portrait as a representative of the Kathan family in the line of Richard, his fa- ther, and Gardner, his grandfather, who was a son of John and Lois Kathan and grandson of Captain John Kathan. Orrin Kathan, 1802- 1886. Was born in Dummerston in the old red house and parental homestead near the site of the present railroad station in Putney. At the age of seven years he became a member of Asa Gates's fam- ily and lived there until he was a young man. He was a clerk for a time in the* store of the late Hon. Asa Knight. After a while he and Nelson Miller bought the mercantile business of Mr. Knight and continued in trade two or three years, until Mr. Knight repur- chased the business. Mr. Kathan was liked very much as a sales- man. He was always cheerful, sociable, and pleasing in manner. 108 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Later he had a clerkship in Brattleboro with Weston Hopkins in a store down by the bridge. His employer was familiarly called "West End" Hopkins and some persons remember that he was generally known as "Polly" Hopkins. Mr. Kathan had the "gold fever" in 1852 and went to California by the way of the Isthmus of Panama. He remained in San Franicsco three years and re- turned to Dummerston, where he married Adaline Kathan, a distant relative, in 1856. During his stay here he was clerk in the store oi the late Roger Birchard, who- was burned with his store and con- tents, February 13, 1870. Mr. Kathan's wife, Adahne, died in 1863 and he married a second time and removed to Brattleboro, where he died December 13, 1886, aged 84 years, 10 months. By the first marriage he had a daughter, Addie S. Kathan, born Febru- ary 19, 1862, who married Ned E. Cleveland, November 24, 1885, and resides in Fitchburg, Mass. They have no children. She con- tributes her father's portrait to this publication. George Kathan, 1810-1861. Was son of Gardner by his second marriage, which occurred about 1808. He was bom in 1810, went to New York City when a young man, and in 1833 became a member of the state artillery. He afterwards served three years in the navy and was discharged from the service, on board the United States ship Ohio, in Septem- ber, 1844. He married in Lowell, Mass., in 1845, Mary B. Merrill. No other service of him is remembered by his children more than his military career. He died in Putney, June i, 1861, aged 51 years. His mother, Elizabeth Kathan, married again after the death of her first husband. A letter written to her son in 1847 is still extant and is signed Betsey Heath. The widow of George Kathan married, about 1865, Loren Hollister and lived in Putney. He died out West and his widow died at Bellows Falls in January, 1880. The children of George Kathan were Sarah J. and Charles H. His daughter, Sarah J. Kathan, was born March 4, 1846, and married July 30, 1867, John Lynch, a soldier, who served in the Civil War four years. He was born in Westford, Vt., and his parents moved to Windsor, Conn., when he was 16 years of age. He enlisted in Co. B, nth Regt. Ct. Vols., and was sergeant of his company. He has been commander six 3'ears of the G. A. R. post fTS 4 %. W^ f m2 Y Orrin Kathan, Son of Gardner Kathan, Sen. George Kathan, Half-Brother of Orrin Kathan. THIRD GENERATION. 109 in Pepperell, Mass., the town where he and his family now reside. Their children were: Harriet Emily, born January 27, 1871 ; Leonard J., born Alay 25, 1872; W. Herbert, born September 26, 1874; Frank G., born September 24, 1876, died September 23, 1897; Harrv' E., born March 4, 1878; Walter E., born April 26, 1880; Frederick M., born April 20. 1882. Mrs. Lynch's brother, Charles H. Kathan, was born November 19, 1850. He married a Mrs. Pot- ter whose maiden name was Tina Wyman. He is a farmer and resides in Westmoreland, N. H. A portrait of George Kathan ap- pears m this publication. The original was a miniature taken on ivory in New York City. Prentice Kathan, 1774-1835. Son of John and Lois (]\Ioor) Kathan, married in Bolton, Mass., September 11, 1766, and recorded as from "Fullam," now Dum- merston, Vt., was born in the old Kathan fort, December 20, 1774. He married Eunice, probably daughter of Abijah and Eunice Moore, born September 12, 1776, died May 14, 1859. He died at Kathan's ferry house in Westmoreland, now called Ware's ferry, April 20, 1835, and was buried in the old Kathan cemetery near his birthplace. No memorial stone marks his resting place, but a cenotaph has been erected in memory of him and his family in the cemetery above Ware's ferry in Westmoreland. Children : Char- lotte, bom August 15, 1804, died unmarried September 11, 1844; Adaline, born June 9, 1817, died August 15, 1819; Almira L., bom June 6, 1819, died September 13, 1869; John Alexander, twin brother of Almira. John Alexander Kathan. Was born June 6, 1819, and is now living in Westmoreland. He married. May 25, 1846, Fanny E. Barrows, who was bom in West- moreland, April 9, 1828. She died July 24, 1898. Their children were: Frank A., born in Westmoreland, November 30, 1849, mar- ried Clara E., daughter of William Aiken of Westmoreland, and lives in that town on the Veazey place; Fred E.. born in Walpole, N. H., May 12, 1852, drowned at Walpole, April 13, 1858; John W., born in Walpole, July 26. 1854, lives at home with his father and is unmarried; Alice C, born in Walpole, Februar}' 28, 110 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. 1859, married Fred R. Randall of Chesterfield in 1879, had five children, of whom Harold E. and Maverette A., are living; Ella D., born September 6, 1861, died August 24, 1862; Ada C, born in Westmoreland, February i, 1866, died October 9, 1898; Flora A., born in Westmoreland, June 18, 1868, died October 20, 1889. Mr. Kathan is now living in his eighty-third year and is a genial, soci- able and well-preserved old gentleman. When the writer and a friend called to interview him about his ancestors and his own fam- ily, on January 28, 1901, at his home in Westmoreland, which is in plain sight of his ancestral home in Dummerston, he greeted us cordially, although strangers to him, and said by way of introduction : "I know what you fellows called for. You want to go fox-hunting." That interview enabled the writer to identify Captain John Kathan's fortified house, built in 1752, which, also, was the home of his son, John, Jr., born 1732, and of his grandson. Prentice, born 1774. The historic old dwelling was pulled down about 1830, but its site is plainly visible at the present day. The portrait of John Alexander Kathan was contributed for this pub- lication by his daughter, Airs. Alice C. Randall, of Chesterfield, N. H. Real Estate Transactions of Prentice Kathan. Prentice Kathan's real estate transactions furnish valuable in- formation about the location of family relatives. Hon. Phineas White of Putney settled the estate of John Kathan, Jr., who died in 1802, and the property was divided among his heirs, April 23, 181 1. Abel Moore, who married Lois Kathan, sold or quit-claimed to Mr. White, for $400, twenty-five acres of the Kathan meadows, August 12, 1822, which was leased to Moore by Mr. White, April 3, 1819. The land was located on the east side of stage road, and the boun- dary line began near "Mill brook," so-called. Abel Moore then lived on what is now called the E. T. Corser place at the foot of "Meadow hill." Moore sold sixteen acres of land and his dwelling house thereon, July 2, 1822, to Prentice Kathan for $500, "being the same land and house which I now oc- cupy in Dummerston ;" "and bounded easterly by the stage road," which at that time passed through the Kathan meadows. August 12, 1822, Mr. Kathan sold fourteen acres of the land "on which the John Alexander Kathan, of Westmoreland, N. H. THIRD GENERATION. Ill Moore house stands," to Phineas White for $500. January 31, 1825, Mr. Moore sold to Prentice Kathan his homestead, house, barn and land, "and is the same on which I now live," for $175, the boundary line beginning on the westerly line of the stage road at the foot of Meadow hill near the "Gull bridge," so-called. Mr. Kathan sold the Moore homestead, October 28, 1825, to Orrin Kathan for $175. Orrin Kathan sold the same, November 17, 1827, back to Prentice Kathan, and Mr. Kathan resold it the same day to Phineas Underwood of New York City for $150. Gardner Kathan sold to Timothy Underwood, September 2, 1823, fifteen acres of land for $500. In the description of boundary lines are these words: "thence westerly on said stage road about thirty rods to a butternut tree standing near the north bank of the 'Saw Mill brook' so called," which establishes the location of the sawmill built about 1753 by Captain John Kathan on "Mill brook." Captain John Kathan's Sawmill. The mill was the first one erected in Dummerston and was built before 1755, as it was burned that year by the Indians who, during 'that year, made war against the English settlements in New Eng- land and, in the following year, were joined by the French, and the war continued as the French and Indian w^ar. The fact is men- tioned in Hall's History of Eastern Vermont that John Kathan "built a good dwelling house and all necessary offices ; also a saw- mill and potash works," but the location of the sawmill was not known to the writer of these lines until the summer of 1961. An examination of the site of the sawmill on Mill brook reveals the fact that a pine or hemlock timber with oak pins in it well preserved, is still embedded in the brook, and was without doubt the bottom log of the dam. The location is. on Mill brook about ten rods above the road leading from the main road past the Shepard Gates place. February 6, 1829, Prentice Kathan sold a certain piece of land for $100, to Phineas Underwood, that was located mostly on the westerly side of the stage road, and very little, if any of it, being tillage land. It extended southwesterly about eighty rods, thence northerly to Putney line ; then west along that line to land of Lyman Knight, and southerly as far as land of Shepard Gates ; thence east- erly to the river, and northerly to the place of beginning, which was 112 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. "between the now dwelling house of Gardner Kathan and the now dwelling house of Prentice Kathan." This sale was made the year before the old fort dwelling was pulled down. Prentice Kathan was ferryman at one time of the Kathan ferry for five years. The highway as it now runs from the top of Meadow hill south of the Corser place, to Putney village, passes through the land which Mr. Kathan sold to Mr. Underwood in 1829, and was built in 1845 o^ 1846, when Amasa Clark was one of the selectmen of Dummerston. Chapter X. Charles Kathan, Born 1766. Was the eldest son of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan. He married, about 1788, Lydia Scott of Westmoreland, N. H., who at that time was sixteen years of age and her husband twenty-two years. They had a family of eleven children: Charles, Jr., born 1789, married Sabra McFarland, daughter of Joseph and Sibyl (Tarbel) McFar- land, March 29, 181 1 ; Lucy, born (1791), died young; Lydia, bom 1793, married Charles Davenport, Jr., of Dummerston, September 6, 1812; Willard, born (1795), died, unmarried; Daniel, born (1797), married Phebe Winters; Ruth, born (1799), married Israel Smith; Jerusha, born December 29, 1800, married Gardner Kathan in 1821 ; Luke, born June 9, 1802, married Freelove Allen ; Polly, bom (1804), married George Duell; Ransalier, born (1806), mar- ried Sarah Thayer; Susan, born about 1808, died young-. Charles Davenport, 88 years old, now living in Chesterfield, N. H., where his parents lived many years, is positive that his mother's brothers and sisters were all born in Dummerston, although the town records do not reveal the fact. Dr. Dayton L. Kathan reports in a letter dated June 4, 1901, that a recent correspondence with the older members of the Kathan families, now living in New York, shows that Charles Kathan, the head of these families, was a contractor and did contract work in that part of the state to which his family removed from Dummers- ton some years afterward. Lieutenant Daniel Kathan, the father of Charles, was a house wright as well as farmer. His son probably learned tlie same trade of his father and made it his business as a contractor to build houses. His name appears in the tax list during the first ten years of the last century, but disappears before 1818. He was doing contract work for the city of Albany when he was accidentally killed and was buried in Greenbush, N. Y., across the river from Albany. It was a few years after that event that his family moved to New York state. 114 history of kathan family. Charles Kathan, Jr., Born 1789. In 1814 he purchased seven and a half acres of land adjoining the homestead, and two acres where his parents probably lived many- years. In 1806, his father was taxed twenty-six and a half shillings on real estate; also in 1810. The name of Charles Kathan, Jr., dis- appears from the records after 1817. He removed with his family to New York state. The children of Charles and Sabra Kathan were: Charles, Jr., born about 1813; Edison (1815) ; James (1818) ; Alvira (1820) ; Joseph (1823) ; Stephen (1825) ; Orange (1827) ; George (1830) ; Laura (1832) ; Almira (1835). Lydia Kathan, 1793- 1862. Married Charles, son of Charles and Mary (Hart) Davenport of Dummerston. She died in Chesterfield, December 8, 1862, aged 69 years. Their children were: Charles, born April 7, 1813, married Hephzibah Amidon, is now living, 1901, in his 89th year; Adaline, born September 6, 1814, married Parker Farr; George, born 1816, married Roxana Randall ; Wm. Riley, married Laura Attridge, set- tled in Buchanan, Michigan; Austin A., born 1820, married, first, Henrietta Chase, second, Martha Archer ; Elvira P., married Oscar Hadley of Dummerston ; Jerusha, born February 27, 1825, married, 1846, Emory H. Colburn, died October 6, 1856; Eliza F., bom May 10, 1827, married, first, Asa Stoddard, second, Thomas Toby; Martha E., bom March 2, 1832, married June 30, 1859, Emory H. Colburn ; the youngest, James N., died in infancy. WiLLARD Kathan, Born 1795. His brothers, Daniel, Luke, Ransalier, and sister, Polly, with their families, went to Conklingville in Hadley, Saratoga county, New York, December i, 1822. Some of the descendants report that these families removed to the town of Day, New York, which joins Hadley. Charles, Jr., and Willard went later and settled in a neighboring town. Willard never married. He was disappointed in some early love afifair, took himself to the woods on the moun- tains and lived a secluded life. He made shingles for a living and came out into the settlements twice a year to sell the product of his labor and purchase the necessaries of life. When he became aged, THIRD GENERATION. 115 his brother Ransaher, who owned a good farm, influenced Willard to leave his lonely habitation and live with him, where he spent the remainder of his days. Daniel Kathan, Born (1797). Lived to be.very aged and died in the town of Day, where he had lived many years. He had a family of thirteen children : \\'illiam, born in 1822, married Wealthy Ovitt; Alonzo, born 1824, married Eliza Davenport; Russell, born 1826, died in Canada unmarried; Lewis, born 1829, married Sally Springer; Addison, born 1831, died unmarried ; Alvira. born 1835, married Joseph Wells ; Robert, bom 1840, married Mrs. Stead; Alice, born 1845. married Wyett Daniels ; Helena, born 1847, died unmarried ; jNlary, born 1850, mar- ried Reuben Wells. Luke Kathan, 1802-1881. Married Freelove Allen, daughter of David Allen, a Quaker from Rhode Island. She was a good wife and mother and lived to be 90 years old, dying at the home of her daughter in 1898. He was a man of unusual intelligence and energy; became very wealthy, and was regarded as the most influential man in town. He was a strong Repubhcan and controlled the politics of his town. His wealth was mainly in land, of which he owned a large amount. He died September 30, 1881, aged 79 years. His portrait appears in this histor}^ His family numbered fifteen children, all of whom lived to be married and raised up large families. Llis children were : Caroline, born 1824, married Lyman Frazier ; Emeline, born 1826, married Adner Wait; Truman, born 1828, married Lucinda Gray; Sarah, born 1830. married Brockholt Wait; Betsey, bom 1 83 1, married Josiah Huntoon ; Alvira. born 1832, married Otis Elithorpe ; Amy, born 1834, married Vamey Wait; Barbary, born 1836, married William Scott ; Mary, born 1837, married John W. Wait; Martha, born 1839, married Lewis Wait; Orange, born 1840, married Frances Howe; Hugh, born 1842, married Rose Robinson ; Harmon, born 1844, married ]\Iartha Flansburgh ; Monroe, born 1847, married INIary Holeran ; James, born 1850, mar- ried Leah Whitney. 116 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Polly Kathan, Born 1804. Married George Duell and had a family of seven children, of whom only four names are remembered by Dr. Dayton L. Kathan : Meritt, born 1835, married Lucine Mosher; Mary Ann, born 1838; Maria, bom 1840, married Jewett Ovitt ; Harriet, born 1844. Ransalier Kathan, Born 1806. Married Sarah Thayer and settled on a farm near Conklingville, N. Y., which he occupied for sixty-eight years. In connection with his farm work, he ran a sawmill many years. He was a good man, an active, intelligent and obliging citizen, and reared a family of ten children: Isaac, born 1835, married Emily Mosher; John, born 1838, married Keziah Rice; Charles, born 1840, married Melvina Wait; Diana, born 1843, married Randolph Carpenter; Adaline, born 1845, married Allen Carpenter; Myra, born 1847, unmarried; Henry, bom 1849, married Miss Clute; Libbie, bom 1850, unmar- ried. These children live for the most part in eastern and northern New York. Truman Kathan, Born 1828, Whose portrait appears in this history, married Lucinda Gray and lives at Ballston Spa, New York. He is a shrewd business man, has accumulated a large fortune and owns a large amount of real estate. His family numbers twelve children : Wallace, born 1850, married Caroline Rollman ; Lydia, bom 1851, married George Mosher; Luke, born 1852, married Ida Freeman; Clark, born 1854, married Grace Cook; Dayton L., born 1856, married Anna Banker Meeker; Freelove, born 1858, died young; Fred, born i860, died young; Hamlin, bom 1862, died young; Jennie, bora 1864, married Charles Grose; Frank, bom 1866, married Elizabeth Coyne; Sher- man, born 1868, married Carrie Whitbeck; Lucy, born 1871, mar- ried Benjamin Jenkins. Wallace Kathan, Born 1850. Resides in Conklingville, town of Hadley, N. Y., and has a family of two children : Dudley, a physician practicing in the town of Corinth, N. Y., and Rutherford, who is studying law at Albany. I Truman Kathan, Father of Dr. D. L. Kathan. / Dayton L. Kathan, M. D., of Schenectady, N. Y. third generation. 117 Lydia Kathan, Born 185 i, And her husband, George Aloshcr, are not living, but left a family of several children. Luke Kathan, Born 1852. Resides in Bradford, Pa., is a business man and has two chil- dren, a son and a daughter. Clark Kathan, Born 1854. Graduated from the University of Nebraska, a Ph. D., and is a successful minister of the gospel in one of the A\' estern states. Dayton L. Kathan, Born 1856. Studied medicine and is a physician practicing in Schenectady, a city in eastern New York numbering 13,655 inhabitants in 1890. He became interested three years ago in looking up the history of his ancestors on the Kathan side, and visited in Dummerston for the purpose of ascertaining the parentage of his grandfather, Luke Kathan, born in Dummerston in 1802. It was a difficult problem in genealogy to solve, for the reason that the land records revealed nothing and no register of the family was made on the town rec- ords. None of the descendants had any family record further back than Luke Kathan, and no person could be found who remembered the parentage of Luke and his ten brothers and sisters born in Dummerston. The problem was not solved for many months. Several clues were obtained but the right name was not found until it was discovered a few months ago among the baptisms on the church records for 1779. Doctor Kathan contributes three portraits for the Kathan History. Llis line of descent is as follows : Dayton'^' L. (Truman\ Luke*, Charles", Lieutenant Daniel", Captain John^). He has only one child, a son named Roland. Jennie Kathan, Born 1864. Alarried Charles Grose, who is the editor and proprietor of the Ballston Daily and Weekly Journal at Ballston Spa, New York. 118 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. They have two children, a son and a daughter. The mother's name is written Jenna, on the record. Frank Kathan, Born 1866. Married Ehzabeth Coyne, and is a prosperous farmer hving in Conkhngville, N. Y. They have only one child, a daughter. Sherman Kathan, Born 1868. Studied medicine and is a practicing physician in Dunkirk, New York. Lucy Kathan, Born 1871. Married Benjamin Kenkins, a woolen manufacturer at Conk- lingville, New York. They have only one child, a daughter named Helena. Caroline Kathan, Born 1824. Daughter of Luke and Freelove Kathan, married Lyman Frazier and has a family of fourteen children, most of whom are living in Saratoga county, New York. Her sister, Emeline, born 1826, had four children; Sarah, born 1830, had eight children; Betsey, born 1831, had eight children; Alvira, born 1832, had eight children; Amy, born 1834, had ten children ; Barbary, born 1836, had six chil- dren ; Mary, born 1837, had ten children ; Martha, born 1839, had one child ; Orange, born 1840, had four children ; Hugh, born 1842, had one child; Harmon, Monroe and James, not reported. From a Saratoga county paper : "Left y'j Grandchildren, also ioi Great-Grandchildren and Three Great-Great-Grandchildren. "Saratoga, N. Y., June 12, [1898]. — ]\Irs. Freelove Kathan, wid- ow of Luke Kathan, wdio died in her ninetieth year a few days ago at her home in Conklingville, Saratoga county, was the mother of six sons and nine daughters, all of whom reached married life and eleven of whom are now living. She had 102 grandchildren, seventy-seven of whom are living; loi great-grandchildren, all now living, and three great-great-grandchildren, all of whom survive her. Four generations of her descendants were represented at her THIRD GENERATION. 119 funeral. She married at the age of fifteen. Her father, David Allen, was born in Rhode Island, and he died at the age of 95 years. Her mother died at the age of 70 years. Her parents had eleven children, all of whom married, and had ninety-six grand- children, more than 100 great-grandchildren, and seven great-great- grandchildren wdien they died. ]\Irs. Kathan's oldest child [Caro- line] is 74 years old and the youngest [Jamesj is 48." The portrait of "Uncle" Luke Kathan, and his family record, as reported by his grandson. Dr. Dayton L. Kathan of Schenectady, New York, appears on another page of this volume. Daniel Kathan, Jr., 1776-1842. He was son of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan and married, October 2T,, 1800, Fanny Haven, born in Dummerston, April 18, 1783, and daughter of Abel and Rachel (French) Haven. Her sister, Lydia, married Rodolphus Scott of Chesterfield, X. H., a brother of Lydia Scott, who married Charles Kathan, eldest son of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan. Daniel, Jr., settled in Canada, where he died in 1842, and was buried in Compton, P. O. His daughter, now living, states that she remembered hearing him say that his grandfather. Captain John Kathan, and one brother came to America in war time, and that his uncle, Charles Kathan, once kept a hotel in Dunham, P. Q. The children of Daniel and Fanny (Haven) Kathan were: Fanny, born ]}.Iarch 23, 1801, married Freeman Haskell, died and was buried at Derby Line, Vt. ; Maria, born January 8, 1803, married a Haskell; Lavinia,born August 8, 1806, was twice married; Louisa, March 6, 1808; Hollis, born September 25, 181 1; Caroline, born August 3, 1819, married John Elliot and is living in Coaticoke, Quebec. Charles H. Kathan. ]\Ierchant in Derby Line, Vt., is the only child of Hollis Kathan, who married, in 1832, Susan W. Lord, of Morgan, Vt. They moyed to Compton, Province of Quebec, in 1833, where their son, Charles H., was born April 3, 1835. His father died in Rockland, Maine, in 1858. His mother died at Rock Island, P. Q., October 10, 1899, aged 87 years. Mr. Kathan went to Rock Island, September 5, 1850, and became a clerk in a store for E. F. Haskell and was 120 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. admitted as a partner April 5, 1856, under the firm name of Haskell & Kathan. Mr. Haskell died in July, 1865, and Mr. Kathan bought out his partner's interest in April, 1866, and has been alone in the business since that time, as a dealer in general merchandise. He is much interested in the history of his ancestors and contributed money to pay for two of the portraits which appear in this volume. Mayor of Rock Island, P. Q. The Sherbrooke Daily Record published in Sherbrooke, Que- bec, December 17, 1901, contains the information that the village of Rock Island was incorporated a municipality May 19, 1892. The first council elected included among its officers Charles H. Kathan as mayor, and he is the only one of the first councillors who was still a member of the board in 1901. Mayor Kathan is a gen- eral merchant of Rock Island and was born at Moe's River April 3, 1835. In 1897, he completely reconstructed his store, and it is now one of th.e most modern in the township. Mr. Kathan has held and still holds many important public offices. He is a director of the Eastern Townships Bank, commissioner of the Superior Court, and director of the Massawippi Valley Railway. He was a warden of the county from 1894 to 1898 and has been mayor of Rock Island since the municipality was formed. Charles H. Kathan, Mayor of Rock Island, P. Q. Chapter XL Jesse and Joanna Frost. They were the parents of Benjamin and Jacob Frost of Dum- merston, who married daughters of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan, Jesse Frost resided in Brattleboro and was born in Billerica, Mass., March 9, 1735, married May 6, 1760, Joanna Spaulding, of Chelms- ford, born March 29, 1739, and sister of Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding of Dummerston. She died in November, 1834, aged 95 years. His death is not recorded, but he died before 181 8. Just what time Jesse Frost settled in Brattleboro is not known, but an old deed shows that he was there previous to 1770. He purchased a farm of Lemuel Kendrick, which has been in the possession of the family ever since. His son, William, came into possession of the property in 1801, married Susannah Mann, and had one son, Zenas, and three daughters. James B. Frost, son of Zenas, was born Feb- ruary 8, 1835, married Lucy C. Burnap of Newfane, Vt., March 29, 1857. In 1871 he took legal possession of the ancestral homestead, although he had always, resided thereon. Its location is near the well-known "Bliss Farm." The children of Jesse and Joanna Frost were: Jesse, born September 6, 1762; Joanna, born July 9, 1764; Ira, bom April 9, 1767; William, born March 26, 1769; Olive, born August 19, 1771 ; Joseph, born March 3, 1774; Benjamin, born October 26, 1776; Jacob, bom December 8, 1780. Benjamin Frost, 1776-1858. Married Lydia Kathan, October 25, 1801, who was born July 8, 1780, and died April 19, 1854. He died February 2, 1858. Six of their eight children were bom in Dummerston but were not regis- tered on the town records. A grandson, Charles Smith Frost, of Saxton's River, Vt., has kindly funished the family record from a framed cardboard in his possession, the names and dates of births having been worked into it with worsted. It is not known who did it, but it has been in the family a long time. Almira, born January I, 1802, died September 2, 1802, and was buried in the East Dum- merston cemetery. Benjamin, born June 18, 1804, married Phebe Ann Smith; Orilla, born October 6, 1806. died December 10, 1828; 122 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Maria, bom November 14, 1808, died August 5, 1809, buried in the East Dummerston cemetery; Horace, born June 27, 1810, died January 11, 1900, aged 89 years, 6 months; Nelson, born October 31, 1812; Lysander, born October 22, 1818. died August 19, 1837; Olira j\I., born January 28, 1822, died December 11, 1836. Ben- jamin and Lydia Frost resided on the Lieutenant Daniel Kathan farm until 1816, when he sold his half of the estate and removed to Vernon. His brother Jacob sold the other half of the Kathan estate and also removed to Vernon, where he and his brother lived to- gether in the same house until the oldest children were ready to seek employment away from home. Olive Frost, sister of Ben- jamin and Jacob, married, January 11, 1802, Peter Willard of Dum- merston, who lived many years on the well-known Samuel Wheeler farm. He was a blacksmith and innkeeper. Their children were Jesse, Miranda, Ephraim, Nelson, and Chauncey. His wife, Olive, died and he married, second, Isabel Houghton, of Brattleboro in November, 1828. Benjamin Frost, Jr., married Phebe Ann Smith and their chil- dren were: Benjamin Smith Frost, born September 16, 1837, died July 31, 1838; Maria Smith Frost, September 10, 1839; Charles Smith Frost, born May 20, 1844; Henry Smith Frost, born Septem- ber 16, 1846. jNIaria Smith Frost married General Franklin G. Butterfield, June I, 1866. He was son of David and Almira (Randall) Butter- field of Rockingham, Vt., and is now a resident of Derby Line, Vt., and a manufacturer of stocks and dies and solid die plates. Their children are: Benjamin Frost Butterfield, born April 25, 1867; and Esther Almira Butterfield, born August 4, 1871. Charles Smith Frost married Corona Walker and they have two children, Cordelia W., born November 15, 1873, and Phebe Anna, born June i, 1879. Henry S. Frost married, June i, 1868, Flora E. Campbell, daugh- ter of Dr. Daniel and Julia A. (Hall) Campbell of Saxton's River, and their children were : Julia Ann, born May 27, 1871 ; Henry C, born April 30, 1873, died young; Alice C, born November 10, 1880; Daniel C, born October 23, 1882, died June 17, 1883; Charles C, born March i, 1885; Flora May, born November i, 1886; Edith Maria, born July 8, 1889. Julia Ann Frost married January 7, 1892, Fred Starkey Cole, FROST FAMILIES. 123 who died September 28, 1893. His daughter, Fredcrica Frost Cole, was bom April 18, 1894. Benjamin Frost, Jr., and his brother, Horace went to Saxton's River and followed the trade of shoemaking. Horace Frost mar- ried Amanda Bailey of Saxton's River in June, 1839, and went im- mediately to Rochester, Wisconsin, and remained during life. He died there at the age of 88 years. Nelson Frost moved from Grafton, Vt., to Minnesota. Orilla Frost died in Vernon and was buried in that town. Nel- son moved with his father's family to Chesterfield, N. H., where Lysander and Olira died. From that place they moved to West Brattleboro for a short time ; thence to Grafton, Vt. Lydia Kathan, wife of Benjamin Frost, died in Grafton, after which he went to Saxton's River and lived with his son Benjamin, Jr., where he died and was buried beside his wife. Jacob Frost, 1780- 1870, And Dolly Kathan were married and lived in Dummerston on one-half of the Lieutenant Daniel Kathan farm several years until their removal to Vernon in 1816. Fie was born in Brattleboro, December 8, 1780, and died in Vernon, February 20, 1870, aged 89 years. Dolly Kathan was born in Dummerston, August 19, 1786, and died in Vernon, December 8, 1867, aged 81 years. Mr. Frost always lived on the farm which he bought when he first moved to Vernon. Their children were : Almira, born in Springfield, Vt., July 28, 1807, died in Vernon, October 17, 1822 ; Lavinia, born in Springfield, June 30, 1809, married Alonzo Newton and spent all her married life in Vernon, where she died. They had five children. Jacob Frost removed to Dummerston and on September 4, 1809, bought the southern half of Lieutenant Daniel Kathan's estate, in- cluding half the house. His third child, Jesse, was bom in Dum- merston, July 14, 181 1, married Sophia Tyler and had a family of five children. He died in Vernon, ]\Iarch 1 1, 1882, aged 70 years, 7 months, 27 days. Eliza, born May 31, 1815, married Eastman Belding and lived in Northfield, ]\Iass., during her married life until about three years ago. She is now living with her son in Fitch- burg, Mass. They had five children. Fannie, born in Vernon, May 26, 1818, married Erastus Hubbard, January i, 1839, and had three children. She married, second, Reuben Demming Stevens in 124 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. June, 1852, and had three children by the second marriage. Her home has always been in Vernon. In recent years she spends her winters in Brattleboro with her daughter, Ella Stevens Barber, wife of George F. Barber, D. D. S., in that village. Jacob and Dolly Kathan Frost are remembered by those who knew them, as very meritorious persons. Mrs. Frost is spoken of as a bright, active, energetic woman. Julia S. Frost, her grand- daughter, now living in Worcester, Mass., has in her possession her grandmother's reading book, "The American Preceptor," worn by her use in the Dummerston school near the home of her parents. On a "fly leaf" she had written, "Dolly Kathan is my name — Amer- ica my nation — Dummerston my dwelling place — Peace, and I hope Christ, will be my salvation." Mrs. George F. Barber has been in- strumental in securing the means to furnish the portraits of her , worthy grandparents for the Kathan History. Joanna Frost, born July 9, 1764, and sister of Jacob Frost, married, about 1783, Joshua Bemis, a Revolutionary soldier. Their children were, Joanna and Abigail (twins), born 1785; Polly, Bezina, Ira, Stephen, Olive, Sibyl, Ira 2d, Betsey and Beman. Nathaniel French and Jesse Frost, Allied by Marriage. Nathaniel and Elizabeth (Frost) French, who were the parents of William French, killed at Westminster, March 13, 1775, came to Brattleboro from Billerica, Mass. Jesse Frost was born in Biller- ica, March 9, 1735, and settled in Brattleboro near Mr. French. Elizabeth Frost was born August 31, 1722, and was evidently a sis- ter of Jesse Frost. Their parents were William and Elizabeth (Wilson) Frost. He was born September 4, 1694, married Elizabeth Wilson in 1721, died in 1738. His father was James Frost, born July 7, 1662, married Hannah (maiden name unknown). The father of James, was James, born April 9, 1640, married Rebecca Hamlet, who died July 20, 1666. He died August 12, 1711. Eliza- beth Wilson's father was John Wilson, born January 3, 1672-3, married Elizabeth Foster, born October 7, 1673. His father, John, married Joanna (maiden name unknown). Elizabeth Foster's father was Deacon Joseph Foster, born March 28, 1650, died December 4, 1721. He married Alice Gorton, who was baptized March 8, 1652, died May 17, 1712. Her parents were John and Mary Gorton. APPENDIXES. Appendix A. In Early Marriages of Massachusetts, Worcester County, page 43- appear the following: "John Katherin of 11am [Fullam] and Lois Moor in Bolton, September ii, 1766." Same book, page 59: "Alexander Kathan and Margaret Beard, married in Leices- ter, December 4, 1755." In Concord Records, page 372: "Mary Kathrens married Samuel Hoar. February 14, 1819, both of Concord. Also, Robert Cathrens of Boston married, July 7, 1799, Mary Meriam of Con- cord." Page 334: "Robert Kathrens, husband of Marv, died in Concord, Aug. 14, 1814, aged 44 years, 6 months, 3 days."' Genealogical Register, 1879, page 29: "Mary (Hart) Daven- port, widow of Charles Davenport, whom she married in Worcester, April 16, 1755, married, second, in Dummerston, Vt., Alexander Katern." Genealogical Register, 1894, page 430: "Lieutenant Samuel Kathrens, British soldier, 26th Regiment, serving in America, December 7, 1764." In Collections of Worcester Society of Antiquity, Volume 12, page 154: "John Kathan, son of Alexander and Elizabeth, born October 15, 1758. Molly, same parents, born November 21. 1756." Elizabeth should read Margaret. October 15 should be October 12, and November 21 should be October 8. Appendix B. Photographic View of The Kathan Meadows Showing Location of First Settlement in Dummerston. The photograph was taken in June, 1900, from a standpoint in the highway about one mile and a quarter south of Putney village. The group of buildings at the upper end of the meadows includes the Putney railroad station, sheds, and a few dwelling houses. The site of the Kathan fort is close to the barn seen on the right of the picture and opposite "Bemas rock," a prominent ledge extending 126 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. out into the river from the Vermont side. The dwelhng house on the left nearest the station was the home of John C. Phillips, killed at Windsor, Vt., April 27, 1895, by jumping from a passenger train at the station before the cars stopped running. The small dwelling seen farthest to the left of the station, was the home of Gardner Kathan, Sen., who died in 1813. The Kathan cemetery is located on a small upland plain a few rods back of the Gardner Kathan house. The old stage road of Revolutionary times passed between the Fort and the river, thence obliquely across the meadows to the western side, past the Johnson house and the home of Abel Moore, now the Corser place, up "Meadow hill" and on across the plain where Alexander Kathan settled in 1761. "Mill brook," on which Captain John Kathan built his sawmill, flows across the lower end of the meadows and empties into the Connecticut at a point plainly seen in the picture. The railroad across the meadows was built in 1850 and opened to the public in 185 1. It was then called the Vermont Valley, but is now the Boston & Maine. The first agent at the Putney station was Marshall Pierce, now living in his nine- tieth year, whose residence is only a few rods to the right of the station. June i, 185 1, was the date of his selling the first ticket and making out the first freight bill. Mr. Pierce is a hale, hearty and well-preserved old gentleman, and gave the writer a good de- scription of the Kathan fort as he saw it before its demolition in 1830. It was a gambrel-roof structure, one story and a half high, and stood facing the old stage road. The site of the fort was point- ed out to the writer, June 27, 1901, by Mr. Pierce, and the location is between the railroad track and his barn seen in the illustration. The fort dwelling was sold by Prentice Kathan, February 6, 1829, to Phineas Underwood, wdio pulled down the building and moved the barn down to his place at the lower end of the meadows. Harper's Monthly Magazine published, in the summer of 185 1, a sketch and engraving of the Kathan meadows and surrounding country, and described the locality as one of the finest landscape views in the valley of the Connecticut. The northerly trending uplands are in Putney and Westmoreland. The long line of New Hampshire hills meets the skyline in the distance eastward and they are separated from the green hills of Vermont by the gleaming waters of the Connecticut, the largest river in New England. Sackett's brook, which flows through Putney village and across the APPENDIX B. 127 upper end of the Kathan meadows, was evidently so named by Cap- tain John Kathan, at the time of his settlement in 1752, from the fol- lowing circumstance : Soon after Colonel Israel Williams of Hat- field, Mass., had entered upon his duties as superintendent of the defence of this portion of the country. Captain Humphrey Hobbs, with forty men, was ordered from Number Four, Charlestown, N. H., to Fort Shirley, in Heath, one of the forts of the Massachusetts cordon. Their route lay through the w^oods down the valley of the Connecticut, undoubtedly on the Vermont side. On the second day of their march, they crossed the brook in Putney and traveled in the direction of Heath, jNIass. On the third day, which was Sun- day, June 26, 1748, they traveled six miles further and halted at a place about twelve miles northwest of Fort Dummer, in the pre- cincts of what is now the town of Marlboro, Vt. A large body of Indians, about one hundred sixty in number, in command of a resolute chief named Sackett, who had discovered Hobbs's trail, made a rapid march in order to cut him oft. Although Hobbs was not aware of the pursuit of the enemy, he had circumspectly posted a guard on his trail, and his men spread themselves over a low piece of ground, covered with alders, and intermixed with large trees, and watered by a rivulet, prepared and were eating their din- ner, when the rear guards were driven in from their posts, wdiich was the first intimation given of the nearness of the enemy. With- out knowing the strength of his adversaries. Captain Hobbs instant- ly formed his men for action, each one. by his advice, selecting a tree as a cover. The action continued four hours, Hobbs's party dis- playing throughout the most consummate skill and prudence, and neither side withdrawing an inch from its original situation. Find- ing Hobbs determined on resistance, and that his own men had sufifered severely in the struggle, Sackett finally ordered a retreat, and left his opponent master of a well-fought field. Hobbs's men were so well protected, that only three, Ebenezer Mitchel, Eli Scott, and Samuel Gunn, were killed in the confiict. Of the remainder, Daniel McKinney, Samuel Graves, Jr., Nathan Walker, and Ralph Rice were wounded. This battle was regarded by the people in the vicinity as a masterpiece of persevering bravery, and served, to cer- tain extent, to remove the unfavorable impression produced by the defeat of Captain Eleazer Melvin's scout of nineteen men. May 31, 1748, thirty-three miles from Fort Dummer, up West river. "If 128 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Hobb's men had been Romans," observes one writer, ''they would have been crowned with laurel and their names would have been transmitted with perpetual honor to succeeding generations."* Note. — Some thirtv acres of the northeastern corner of the Kathan meadows was ceded to Putney by the legislature in 1846; and, also a narrow strip on the lower road leading from the station to Putney village in 1892. Appendix C. Alexander Kathan's Maple Sugar Orchard — Oldest in the State. The number of its gigantic, old-growth maple trees, standing in 190 1, is less than thirty, the largest of which measures more than six feet in diameter. The illustration accompanying this sketch shows only five of these monarchs of the forest, including the largest one in the lot. The home of Alexander Kathan is seen in the distance across the cultivated field. The view was taken in the summer of 1901. In 1858 one of the large maples was cut down and the rings of annual growth indicated that nearly a century had passed since it was first "boxed" for sap to flow in the sugaring sea- son. The boxing was done with an axe, and a gouge was used to form a place for the sap to flow through a wooden spout. A sec- tion of the wood taken from the tree has been preserved as a relic of the olden process of sugar-making. The scar made in boxing the trees resembles the form of a capital letter Y. Sap was caught in troughs generally made of maple, sometimes of bass wood, split into halves, dug out with an axe and finished with the gouge. At the close of the season they were turned over or set up against the tree to await the coming of the next sugar season, and were beHeved to be well protected. Sixty-five years ago a three-fourths inch auger was used in tapping ; and to induce an abundant flow of sap, it was bored into the tree about four inches. The larger the auger and the deeper the hole, the more sap was expected to be discharged. The spouts were made of sumach, when it could be found, and varied in length from six to fifteen inches or more, to match different *HalI's History of Eastern Vermont. Hoyt's Indian Wars, pp. 240-251. Dwight's Travels, ii, 81. APPENDIX D. 129 distances at which troughs had to be set to avoid obstacles. Before the three-fourths inch auger came into use, the practice to "box" the tree was to form a reservoir that would hold a half-pint, from which the sap was drawn out into the trough. This appears to have been the original method of extracting sap from the sugar maple. The reservoir was formed with a gouge. Armed with this and an axe and mallet, our ancestors of a centur)- ago went into the forest with courage and patience to compel the maple to dis- charge its sweet treasure. The sugar maker, as no better method was known, was content to pursue it, and "happy that he knew no more." But neither the gouge nor the three-fourths inch auger mduced a larger flow of sap than a three-eighths inch bit bored into the tree two inches. The sugar house, with its conveniences and protection from wind and storm, was not among the dreams of the boxer sugar-maker. Sky and cloud were the onlv protection Between two posts, iron kettles in which to boil the sap were sus- pended upon chains fastened to a pole above. If a sugar-maker of a century ago could now come among us in this first year of the twentieth century, he would be astonished at seeing the wonderful change in the manufacture and appearance of maple sugar. Appendix D. Alexander Kathan's Famous Gun. Mr. Kathan bought the gun in Worcester, Mass., in 1756, where he resided with his family a few years before removing to Duni- merston in 1761. Three of his children, Mary, John and Daniel, were born in Worcester, and Thomas was born in Dummerston, April 30, 1764. His gun, which measures over six feet in length, served him a good purpose in those early times as a weapon of^de- fence against the attacks of wolves and bears, and attracted no more attention than any long gun until after he took it with him to Westminster on Alarch 13, 1775, to help maintain the peace of the community and the dignity of the court assembled there at that time. During the excitement which followed the killing of Wil- liam French on tliat occasion and mortally wounding Daniel Hough- ton of Dummerston, Air. Kathan was deprived of his gun by Dr. Harvey's Committee of Inspection to observe the "Conduct of the 130 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. inhabitants agreeable to an order from the Right Honorable Con- tinental Congress," because they suspected it contained a ball more friendly to the King than to the Congress. At a town meeting held in Dummerston, May i6, 1775, his political enemies were overthrown by the vote of his townsmen "that Elexander Kathon Should have his gun." That circumstance made the gun of much value as a Revolutionary relic, and as an heirloom of the family it has been handed down from generation to generation unto the pres- ent day. J\lr. Kathan willed the gun to his son Thomas, and he be- queathed it in a will dated September 7, 1829, to his nephew, John Kathan, Jr., whose portrait appears in this volume. His son, George Frank Kathan, was the owner of the gun until 1886, when he gave it to his nephew, Myron F. Button, and it is still in his pos- session. The gun is identified by the name Alexander Kathan, which he had engraved on a silver plate embedded in the stock. It was changed from a flintlock to a percussion lock in 1850. His powder horn, a cotemporary relic of the old gun, is shown in the illustra- tion, and bears the name Alexander Kathan, carved by his hand in the wooden base of the horn. Reid Alexander Kathan, a great- great-great grandson of Alexander Kathan, Esq., and a wealthy merchant of New York City, has a strong desire to gain possession of the historic gun and lives in hope that some day Mr. Button will relinquish it, if money can purchase a valuable heirloom. Appendix E. BUMMERSTON MeN WoUNDED IN ThE AfFRAY AT WESTMINSTER, March 13, 1775. Lieutenant Leonard Spaulding was the first man here to start with his gun for the fight at Westminster. He was knocked down and wounded in that skirmish. Soon afterwards he joined the army and served during the Revolutionary war. He died July 17, 1788, aged fifty-nine years. No memorial stone marks his burial place. Captain Jonathan Knight received a charge in his right shoulder, and carried one of the buckshot in his body forty-four years. He died March 13, 1819, aged eighty-seven years. Baniel Houghton, son of Baniel Houghton of Bolton, Mass., was mor- tally wounded and survived only nine days. He died March 22, APPENDIX F. 131 1775, aged twenty years. John Hooker, another brave man es- caped with the loss of the sole of his boot, which was raked off by a chance shot of the enemy. He removed from Dummerston and with his relatives, Reverious Hooker and Ruel Hooker became the first settlers of the township of Acton in 1780, but soon returned to their homes in Townshend, where John Hooker located after leaving- Dummerston. Acton became a part of Townshend in 1840. Joseph Temple escaped a bullet wound bv means of a novel life-preserver, a quart pewter basin in which he carried his food. It was struck twice by bullets which left their marks upon It. It was kept as a relic in the family of his descendants many years, but finallv found its way into the cart of a tin peddler Mr Temple ^^•as knocked down in the affray and, for a time, was sup- posed to be dead. His skull was fractured on the left side of the forehead, and the scar remained during life. He died March 2^ 1832, aged eighty-eight years. Appendix F. Complaint Against Captain Nathan Willard of Fort Dum- MER Signed by Captain John Kathan and Ten Other Persons, May 17, 1756. The General Court of Massachusetts was memorialized in these words : — "The command being given to Nathan Willard— we will a little acquaint your honours of the managements and carrvings on in said fort, and that in several articles, and, _ "First; as to all the Willards swearing against the province in tavor of New Hampshire. "Secondly; as to their selling the province stores, both of powder and lead to Hampshire forts, as also to Hampshire soldiers. "Thirdly; as to the province guns lying about in ve said fort the locks in one place and the barrels in another and two or three of them that are half eat up with rust. "And as your honours have been pleased to allow nine men to that fort until ye loth day of next June, under the command of Captam Nathan Willard, he has put in Oliver W^illard Wilder Willard, William Willard, and as there are four large Province 132 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Houses in ye fort, these four Willards have each of them a house. "And as Captain Nathan Willard has a large province house to himself, and has turned all the rest of the families into two small rooms, in which families are five soldiers ; — for by repairing the province houses a little, makes them their own. "And as there are four acres of land allowed in ye Hampshire charter for the benefit of ye said fort, they keep all the land to themselves, and will allow but a small garden spot to the rest of the soldiers, — as their treatment of ye soldiers, and ye distressed inhabitants who are obliged to flee thither for shelter in these dis- tressed times, with us, we have thought fit to make ye above rep- resentation of facts, which we are ready to prove true. "Our distresses are great for which we begg your honours com- passionate consideration, and relief, and as in duty bound shall ever pray." The petition was doubtless answered to the satisfaction of those who presented it. Appendix G. Jonas Moore's House Sacked. He was the second son of Captain Fairbanks ]\Ioor and was born October 6, 1725, married Dinah Whitcomb in Bolton, Mass., November 24, 1747, and probably settled in Putney not long after the death of his father. He was a resident there in 1768 and was one of four families then living east of the mouth of Sackett's brook, near Captain Kathan's, on a farm where Abel Hubbard lived in 1825. Leonard Spaulding, Fairbanks Moor and Samuel Allen were his near neighbors. At the June term of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas, in the year 1771, Jonas Moore recovered judg- ment against Leonard Spaulding of the same place to the amount of forty pounds, including costs. A writ to recover the damages was issued to satisfy the judgment, and the sheriff by his deputy seized some of Spaulding's effects and placed them in the charge of Moore, who was instructed to keep them at his house until the day appointed by the sheriff for their sale. Meantime, on Jan- uary 2^, 1772, a party of persons, numbering seventy or eighty, crossed over the Connecticut from New Hampshire, and going in APPENDIX H. 133 the evening to the house where the goods were deposited, broke open the door, seized upon and carried them away, and at the same time insulted Moore's family in various ways. Before war- rants for the arrest of the ringleaders of the disturbance had been issued, five of the principal rioters confessed their guilt, and before the jury inquiry was concluded they satisfied judgment and made ample satisfaction to all persons who had been injured by them. Spaulding settled on land known in late years as the Deacon Jones farm. His house was burned late in the fall of 1771, and he did not rebuild but bought a farm in Westmoreland, N, H., where he remained less than a year and removed to Dum- merston. Appendix H. Fairbanks Moore, Jr. He and his wife, Esther Kathan, were residing in Fort Dummer as early as May 29, 175 1, or nearly a year before her father, Captain John Kathan, settled in Dummerston. They had a daughter baptized at Fort Dummer, May 29, 175 1, and settled in Walpole, N. H., in 1752, the same year her father located in Dum- merston. They had a son, Fairbanks, born in Walpole about 1753, and a son, Benjamin, born about 1755. They moved from Wal- pole in 1756, when only six families were residing in the town, and settled in Putney near Kathan's fort, and the same year had a son, Oliver, who was baptized at Fort Dummer, November 26, 1756, and the mother on November 28, of the same month and year, was admitted to the church in Northfield, Mass. They had another child baptized in February, 1758. During the next ten years of residence in Putney there is no record of any more chil- dren born in that town, but there may have been others, of whom Newell Moore, born 1767, may have been one, as his family were buried in the old Kathan cemetery. Fairbanks Moore, Jr., removed from Putney to Rockingham, Vt., before 1771, as his name does not appear in the census of Putney taken April 23, 1771. His home was on the farm where Timothy Underwood lived in 1808. "Samuel son of Fairbanks & Esther Moors, was baptized Novem- ber 20, 1773. Lucinda, February 20, 1776, baptized at their I 134 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. house, being sick. She died October 30, 1777. Lucinda, second. was baptized July 4, 1779." Rockingham church records. It is recorded in Rockingham town records that Fairbanks Moore and Fairbanks Moore, Jr., took the oath of allegiance, June 23, 1777, and the latter was "in the list of those that had Reed powder & ball that marcht for Ticonderoga and Manchester," in Captain Josiah Wood's company.* Fairbanks Moore, Jr., must have been a grandson of Captain Fairbanks and Judith (Bellows) Moor. Among the first adventurers and proprietors of the town- ship of Athens, in 1780, were Fairbanks Moore and Fairbanks Moore, Jr., of Rockingham; John Moore, Jonathan Moore, and William Aloore of Putney. Appendix I. An Episode in Captain John Kathan's Family, Fairbanks Moore, Jr., grandson of Captain Fairbanks Moor, was born in Walpole, N. H., about 1753. He was twenty-two years old when he enlisted into the service of the Revolution and "Marcht for Ticonderoga," captured by General Ethan Allen, May 10, 1775. The famous fort was built by the French in 1755, and by them called Carillon, which means cJiiiuc of bells, in allu- sion to the music of the waterfalls at the outlet of Lake George, near it. Fairbanks Moore, Jr., married Elizabeth Davenport, bom Feb- ruary 5, 1756, and daughter of Charles Davenport, whose widow, Mary (Hart) Davenport, married Alexander Kathan, Esq., December, 21, 1806, when he was seventy-seven years old and she was seventy-four years of age. Esther Kathan was a daughter of Captain John Kathan, although no record of her birth appears in the old family Bible. There is a period of nearly five years be- tween the birth of Martha Kathan, May 8, 1736, and that of the next younger child, Daniel, February i, 1741. Esther was evidently born in 1737 or 1738. The authority for stating that Esther Kathan was a daughter of Captain John Kathan is found in History of Northfield, INIass., page 500: "Esther dau. of John Kathan afterwards of Putney, Vt., married Fairbank Moore son ♦Letter of Thomas Bellows Peck, Walpole, N. H., June 24, 190). APPENDIX J. 135 of Fairbank a soldier in French and Indian war. He was killed at Brattleboro and his wife and children taken captive Mar 6 1758, redeemed 1762. Esther was admitted to Northfield church Nov. 28, 1756. Children: A dau. baptized at Fort Dummer May ^29, 1751. Oliver bap. Nov. 26, 1756. A child bap. Feb. Attention is called to the fact that Esther, probablv, was not fourteen years old when her first child was born; that she married her cousm, Fairbanks Moore, soon after that unfortunate event and settled in Walpole, N. H. Her parents disowned the way- ward child and therefore did not register her name in the family Bible. The probabilities are that Captain Moore and Captain Kathan resided at Fort Dummer in 1751, and on account of the episode related. Captain Kathan moved up the river ei-ht miles and settled at "Bemas rock," January 5, 1752. Appendix J. The First Burial in Kathan Cemetery. Among the associates of Captain John Kathan during the first two or three years of his settlement was Captain Fairbanks Moore who married Judith Bellows, a sister of Colonel Benjamin Bellows one of the first two settlers in Walpole, N. H. They were mar- ried April 30, 1723, and, at the time of their settlement, had a family of seven sons. Their third son, Fairbanks, Jr., married Esther, a daughter of Captain Kathan, and settled in Walpole N. H. He came to Dummerston with his familv in 1756 prob- ably on account of his mother's illness and deaJh that vear in order to furnish a home for his father until some other provision was made. His son Benjamin married Margaret Kathan May II, 1755, and settled in Brattleboro in 1757. His father, Captain Fairbanks, decided to live with him in Brattleboro, and both were killed there by the Indians, March 6, 1758. The mother, Judith was not hvmg, as the Indians made captives of the rest of the family, and no mention is made of her. Her burial place was undoubtedly in the Kathan cemetery and the first among those early settlers. Her burial is reported in books of genealogy and the family histories as unknown. A recent correspondence with 136 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Thomas Bellows Peck of Walpole, a descendant of Colonel Ben- jamin Bellows in the fourth generation, and author of an admirable history, "The Bellows Genealogy," published in 1898, contained the inquiry, "Do you know when Judith Moor died ?" It is on record and in evidence that John Kathan, John Kathan, Jr., Fairbanks Moor, Fairbanks Moor, Jr., Benjamin Moor, and six other persons, were present in Dummerston and signed a complaint against Nathan Willard, commander of Fort Dummer in 1756. MSS. in office of Sect. State Mass., LXXV., 547. The circumstances attending the death of Captain Moor and his son Benjamin, March 6, 1758, are in evidence that Mrs. Judith Moor was not then living, hence the conclusion that her death occurred a year or two previous to that tragical event. Appendix K. Kathan's Ferry. Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, page 109, is authority for stating that Kathan's ferry was established in 1752 between West- moreland, N. H., and the proprietary of Dummerston. The charter records at Concord, New Hampshire, disclose the following information in regard to ferries chartered in Westmoreland, N. H. : Vol. 5, page 218, to Micah Reed in 1786. Vol. 5, page 224, to Solomon Robbins in 1786. Vol. 12, page 150, to Joseph ]\Iarsh in 1799. Vol. 15, page 174, to Nahum. Goodenow in 1804. The Kathan ferry is identified among these charters as the one granted to Goodenow, as it is called "The Rocks" in the charter. According to a statement made by Mr. Willard Bill, Jr., of Westmoreland, Mr. Goodenow then lived where Solon Chickering now, 1901, resides, only about one-half mile farther up the river than the ferry is at present. Appendix L. Moses Johnson, Born 1741. ]\Iarried January 26, 1764, Margaret Kathan, the widow of Ben- jamin Moore, killed by the Indians March 6, 1758. She died "up APPENDIX M. 23»J' the lake," October i8, 1779, aged 49 years. He married second, Lydia, daughter of Peter Wheeler, born September 8, 1760, about 1789. She died in Putney, April 16, 1819. He died about 1814 Moses Johnson removed from Strafford, Conn., to Putney Vt and was one of the early settlers. In 1777, he, with others' began a settlement on land that now lies in the north part of Brookline Vt He was a soldier in the Revolution, and rose to the rank of lieuten- ant. February 2^, 1782, the Legislature of Vermont granted to him and thirty-three others a tract of land containing 5,040 acres . which tract was first called "Johnson's Gore," but which, November 6, 1800, was mcorporated into a township under the name of Acton In 1840 Acton was annexed to Townshend. In 1792 Mr John- son removed to Chesterfield, where he resided till 1804, when he returned to Putney. His daughter, Lucinda, bv second marriao-e born December 19, 1793, was drowned in the Connecticut, on tlie evening of July i, 181 1, at Kathan's ferry, as she was returning home from Chesterfield, where she had been on horseback It is supposed that she was pushed out of the boat by her horse. Appendix M. The Johnson House, Standing Near the Kathan Meadows. Captain Ashbel Johnson settled on lot No. 29 adjoining the Kathan meadows, and in 1793 was living in the old house,'' now unoccupied, standing a few rods above the Corser house. He was a resident of Dummerston in Revolutionary times, was born May 22, 1750, and died January 20, 1823. His wife, Jail John- son, was born March 6, 1755. They had a family Jf thirteen children, of whom Samuel, the tenth child, was born December 29, 1789. His daughter, Malona, married December 25, 1845, Henry B., son of Gardner Kathan, and brother of Gardner S. Kathan now hvmg. Marshall Pierce and wife, then living at the upper end of the meadows opposite Gardner Kathan's, attended the wedding. The old Johnson house faces toward the northeast, and the handte on the front door is high water mark when the annual spring freshets of the Connecticut river were highest on the meadows, which are always covered with water in the spring of the year. 138 history of kathan family. Appendix N. Memorandum Notes in a File of Old Almanacs and Law Books of Alexander Kathan. It was the custom of Alexander Kathan to keep a memorandum in his almanacs of events in farming interests and other matters worthy of note. These almanacs have been preserved and are filed on a leather string. They are in possession of his descendants now living in Dummerston. The first one in the file is for the year 1764, and the numbers down to 1781 were published by Nathaniel Low. Later numbers were published by Isaiah Thomas. A few of the events therein recorded will be of interest in this publication: "March 19, 1764, tapped trees, made 21 lbs. of molasses." "February, 1765, tapped trees, and sugared off 18 pounds on the 26th." "April 6, 1778, made off 10 lbs. of sugar; that's the first this season." "Nov. loth 1773 raised the meeting house." The first one erected in Dummerston. "May 19th, 1780, remarkable dark day." "April 5th, 1781, a man and a horse crossed the river on the ice." "The 2d Sabbath in the same month snow was knee deep in the field and solid." "Snow ist day of April, 1785, thirty-four inches deep on a level." "19th old snow knee deep, new snow." May 26th, put in seine and catch no shad." "May 30, catch shad." "March 31st 1786, no snow." "2d day of April, terrible storm of wind, and snow fell knee deep." "17th began to plow." "March 29th 1787, burnt out the basswood stub and scart out two flying squirrels." "May loth 1788, the mountains covered with snow." "Aug. 19th, a hurricane." "March 1803, what a sight of pigeons did fly all the 13th." "June 6th 1804, set tobacco." "Aug. 29th, cut up tobacco." "Mrs. Kathan sea a robin on the 9th of February. Robins here seen til the 17th." "March 5th, sea two robins." "July I2th had string beans." "the 22d had new tatoes." "Feb- ruary 1811, killed no rats in the corn house in one day." Alexander Kathan's Law Books. Mr. Kathan was a trial justice many years and accumulated quite a library of law books, which were "divided or sold as his heirs could agree," after his death. Those sold at auction were bought APPENDIX N. ]^39 mostly by lawyers in Brattleboro. Among- the few books reserved by the heirs is a copy of the "Laws of the State of Vermont " print- ed m Rutland by Josiah Fay in 1798. In this book are manv of Mr. Ivathan's legal memorandum notes written in a very neat, 'leg- ible hand. In this volume appears an act of the legislature that was passed October 28, 1797, "granting to Daniel Taylor, and his asso- ciates, the privilege of erecting a toll-bridge over West River in the town of Dummerston." They were made a body politic and corpor- ate, by the name of "The second West River Bridge Companv," and to continue b,y the same name one hundred years. The first one incorporated to build a bridge over West River was that of John W Blake and Calvin Knoulton, and their associates, of Brattleboro October 16, 1795, to build a new bridge over West River, in place of the old one then standing near the mouth of the river on the Grate road" leading from Putney to Brattleboro. The Dum- merston company were to build their bridge "at the most conven- ient place within two miles each way of the said Daniel Tavlor's now dwelling house, in said Dummerston." The bridge was'built within eighteen months after the enactment, below the house of Mr Taylor and above the site of the Bridge schoolhouse now standing 1901, near West River. The old toll house was standing not very many years ago just below "Taft's tavern." The rates of toll for crossmg the bridge, as fixed by law, were: For each passenger two cents; horses and cattle, each three cents; each chaise or sulkey' ten cents; each loaded cart or wagon, sixteen cents, unloaded, ei-ht cents; single sleigh or cart, six cents, double teams twelve cems • each chariot, coach, phaeton, or carriage of pleasure, fifty cents. These rates not to be changed until fortv years from lan- uary 1st. 1799. The first bridge was washed away by a sp'rino- freshet in 1826, and a second one built on the same foundation within eighteen months, the time allowed for rebuilding the same he second bridge was washed away about 1839 and r;built lower down the river just below the schoolhouse. The third brid-e was washed away in 1869, and a fourth bridge, now standing, wa^s built some eighty rods lower down the river in 1871. 140 . history of kathan family. Appendix O. Captain Timothy Lull. Among the associates of Captain John Kathan, not elsewhere reported, was Captain Timothy Lull, who came from Ipswich, Mass., to Dummerston soon after 1761. He was ancestor of E. P. Lull, commandant of the Boston navy yard in 1883, at which time he visited Dummerston in quest of information about Cap- tain Lull. In May, 1763, Captain Lull concluded to remove to Hartford, Vt. He bought a log canoe, and taking with him his family, which consisted of a wife and four children, and such fur- niture as they needed, paddled up Connecticut river. Arriving at the mouth of a certain stream in Hartford, he anchored his boat and landed his family. Taking a junk bottle, he broke it in the presence of his wife and children and named the stream Lull's Brook — the name by which it has ever since been known. Proceeding up the brook about a mile, he came to a deserted log hut, situated near the place now called Sumner's village. Here he commenced a settle- ment. For many years he suffered privations and hardships, "but possessing a strong constitution and a vigorous mind, he overcame all obstacles and died generally lamented." His son, Timothy, was the first child born in the town. His birth took place in December, 1764, and on this occasion "the mid-wife was drawn by the father from Charlestown, upon the ice, a distance of twenty-three miles, upon a handsled." Thompson's Vermont, Part 3, page 88. Appendix P. Conduct of William Moore. He was one of the early settlers of Putney, born December 10, 1733, and brother of Abijah ]\Ioore of 'that town. Judge Noah Sabin of Putney was regarded as a Tory in principle at the time of the affray at Westminster, March 13, 1775, and was for a time sub- jected to many annoyances. He was taken prisoner on this occa- sion and confined in the court house at Westminster for a few days, then carried to Northampton and afterwards to New York, where he was imprisoned. He was subsequently tried, honorably acquit- ted, supplied with clothing and ample means to return home to APPENDIX P. -f^-j PtUney after more than a year's absence. Soon after his return, Wilham Moore, Daniel Jewett, and Moses Johnson, committee men ot Putney, accompanied by a party of their friends, armed with lit' "'"nu ^"'" ^'°"''' °'^'''^ ^"" ^° "^^""^ ''^' h^'-^e -nd fol- low them. Obeying their commands, he was conducted to West- mmster,_ where he was placed in the jail. Many were the threats used to mtimidate him during this transaction. His imprisonment however, lasted but a day. In the evening the door of his cell was' opened, and he was allowed to return home. On his deathbed Moore, who had been the principal actor on this occasion, sent fo; Judge Sabm, confessed with tears the abuses of which he had been ^udty and besought his forgiveness. On being assured t.at" request was granted, ''Now," said he. ''I can dfe in peace." M whaT nr .°'l"' "'S^""'-" °' ^" '''-^'''^'^ P— ^i- --il- to Kath.,^ r Tn "''' '"^ ''^'''' ^-^"^"^P^^d °" Alexander Kathan. Esq., of Dummerston, because they regarded him as a Torv m prmciple after the affray at Westminster. Thev took away hi's gun and subjected him to other annoyances ; but the'^:ood citizens of tl"hL7his gum "'" ''" ""'"' '"' °^'"^' ^'^" '' ''^'^'^ Early Religious Worship Near Kathan Settlement. The first church organized north of the settlement was in West- mmster, June ii, 1767, with nine members, Rev. Jesse Goodell being he first pastor. Religious meetings were first held in Putnev at the house of Joshua Parker, by whom they were conducted. A meet- ing house was built in 1773. The first church was organized Octo- ber 16, 1776, with four members, Rev. Josiah Goodhue being the first settled pastor. November 7, 1764, the first church was formed m \\ estmoreland, N. H., with eight members. Rev. William God- dard bemg the first pastor. The first meeting house in Dummerston was raised November 10, 1773, and religious meetings were held the year ensuing. It was customary for the town to vote that some one should carry on public worship on the Lord's dav," and John Hooker was elected to that service in 1775. The church was organ- ized August 18, 1779, with sixteen members. Rev. Joseph Farrar being the first settled pastor. The earliest religious worship near the Kathan fort, was eight miles down "the river at Fort Dummer 142 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. when, by legislative act of Massachusetts in 1724, permanent reli- gious worship was established there for the garrison, and Indians within reach, Daniel Dwight, of Northampton, being the first chap- lain chosen to the post the same year. In a valuable historical paper published in The Vermont Phoenix, February 23, 1900, on "Early Religious Worship" in Vermont, the following information is given : "If the earliest devotions in the state were tO' be sought for, those of Mrs. Rowlandson, wife of the minister at Nashaway, now Lan- caster, Mass., who was brought captive to King Philip at the bend of the river in Vernon, Vt., March 9, 1676, and, 'being a very pious woman of great faith, the Lord wonderfully supported her under this great affliction so that she appeared and behaved herself among them with so much courage and majestic gravity that none durst offer any violence to her, but on the contrary (in their rude man- ner) seemed to show her great respect,' would seem to be noticed. The devotions of Sergeant Plympton, who, with about eighty others were the first white people to go up the Connecticut river so far and were captives on the meadow above the lower ferry in Dummerston opposite Catsbane Island, several weeks in the fall of 1677, could not be overlooked, as he was burnt at the stake in Chambly on the river Sorel in Canada, for adhering to his faith." The story of the capture of Rev. John Williams of Deerfield, Mass., and his family, familiar to every American school boy, would also have to be considered. On Sunday, March 5, 1704, the prison- ers were allowed to rest. Their halting-place was at the mouth of Williams river, whence its name, in the present town of Rocking- ham, Vt., where Pastor Williams delivered a discourse to the rem- nant of his people taken captives with him, from these words : "The Lord is righteous ; for I have rebelled against his command- ments ; hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow ; my virgins and my young men are gone into captivity." Lam. i :i8. The service closed with the singing of a hymn, and was evidently the first preaching of a sermon by a Protestant clergyman within the state. The French and Indians reached Deerfield on the even- ing of February 29, 1704, and the sacking of the town began at midnight. By sunrise they had killed forty-seven of the inhabitants and one hundred twelve were taken captives. They burned every building in the town except the meeting house and one dwell- APPENDIX R. 143 ing- After all, the earliest stated services were at Fort Dum- mer in 1824. Instead of the first visit of white men to Dummerston being made m 1724, as given in the history of the town, it was made in the fall of 1677 on the meadows in the southeast comer of Dummerston where eighty-one whites in captivity were located several weeks.' Appendix R. Revolutionary Soldiers of Dummerston in the Service Dur- ing 1779-1783; Recorded in Adjutant and Inspector-Gen- eral's Office, Montpelier, Vermont. A pay roll of Captain Jason Duncan's companv of militia in Colonel John Sargent's regiment in the state of Vermont for march- ing to Brattleboro sundry times by order of Colonel Saro-ent in order to surpress the disaffected party in said regiment in December 1 7o2 : ' Jason Duncan, Capt. Daniel Gates, Lt. Benj. Estabrook, Ensign. Jonas Walker, Ensign. Seth Duncan, Sergt. Joseph Hildreth, Sergt. Nathan Davis, Corp. Samuel Laughton, Corp. Caleb Graham, Corp. Leonard Spaulding. John Wyman. Lemuel Davenport. Josiah Boyden, Capt. Jesse Hildreth. Benj. Howe. Caleb Sargeants. Simeon Johnston. Benj. Alvord. John Negus. Charles Davenport. Wm. Middleditch. Joseph Haven. Joseph Shaw^ William Negus. Elihu Sargeants. Russell Bigelow. Rufus Sargeants. Arad Holton. Jesse Knight. Isaac Miller. Dan'l Kathan. Timothy Spaulding. Eben Brooks. Justin Sargeants. Dan'l Brooks. Oliver Rice. Joseph Gilbert. Nath'l French. George Taylor. Joel Knight. Jona Tainter. Smith Butler. 144 HISTORY OF KATHAN FAMILY. Levi Benias. John Miller. Henry Balcome. Andrew Haskell, Abel Butler. Thos. Burnham. Patrick McManus. Oliver Hartwell. Wm. Kelley. David Button. Lemuel Graham. Benj. Whitney. Alex. Kelley. Asa Button. Calvin Butler. Silas Fairchild. Jacob Laughton. Moses Taylor. Reuben Spaulding. Nathan Cook. Bavid Laughton. DUMMERSTON SOLDIERS IN AN EXPEDITION TO BeNNINGTON IN 1777. Captain Josiah Boyden, a member of Captain Jason Duncan's company in 1782, was the captain of a company in Colonel William Williams's regiment of militia in the service of the United States on an expedition to Bennington, etc., in 1777, composed of soldiers from Putney, Brattleboro and Dummerston. The members from Dummerston were : Capt. Josiah Boyden. Lieut. J. Shepard Gates. En. Thomas Barnes. Sergt. Daniel Gates. Thomas Clark, Parmenas Temple. John French, Seth Duncan. Asa Dutton. John Scott. Samuel Nichols. Smith Butler. Samuel Kelley. Joseph Hildreth, Jr. Marshall Miller. William Negus, Jr. Reuben Spaulding. Leonard Spaulding. Enoch Cook. Samuel Knight. Jesse Hildreth. Benj. How. Beniah Putnam. John Killbury. Sergt. Rufus Sargeant. Corp. Rufus Sargeant. Corp. John Wilder. Arad Hoi ton. Beniah Putnam. Thomas Dutton. Nathan Wright. Charles Davenport Putney 3d Sept. 1778. Personally appeared the above named Josiah Boyden and made solemn oath that each of the persons in APPENDIX R. 245 the pay roll were in the service of the United States the number of days affixed to each of their names and that neither himself or any other person (to his knowledge) had received any pay therefor Sworn before me, Date above, this Pay Roll examined by Jonas Fay Putney Sept. 3, 1778. Jonas Fay Ira Allen^ Committee appointed. Rec'd of Ira Allen, Esq. Treasurer of the State of Vermont Eighty one pounds the contents of this pay roll. Pr. Josiah Boyden Capt. Pay per day is. 8d. each man. PLAN OF FORT DUMMER. From an Article in The Vermont Phoenix. Fort Dummer, the first settlement in Vermont, was the home of Captain John Kathan and his family in 175 1, the year previous to his settlement in Dummerston, and according to his own statement, he with his family came January 5, 1752, to settle at Bemis rock on the Connecticut river "eight miles from Fort Dummer," where his first grandchild was baptized May 29, 1751, and from which place she and her husband removed and settled in Walpole, N. H., in 1752. The work of building the fort was begun February 3, 1724, and built under Colonel John Stoddard by Lieutenant Timothy Dwight of Northampton, Mass., who was the first commander of it. ''Four Carpenters, Twelve Soldiers with narrow axes and two Teams" was the force at Lieutenant D wight's command. So vigorously was the work carried forward that by April i it was so far com- pleted as probably to be occupied with a garrison of thirty-eight officers and men, to whom, by April 21, were added eleven friendly Indians. By May, 1724, Lieutenant Dwight asked permission to bring his family to the fort, and here was born within the stockade on May 2.^, 1726, Timothy Dwight, the father of the future first President Dwight of Yale College, and great-grandfather of the present (1896) president. The fort was in shape an oblong running in length northeast and southwest, with a corner cut off forming a short side on top of the bank of the river. It was built of yellow pine timber covering the meadow, hewed square, laid up about twenty feet high and locked together at the corners. The northwest side was about one hundred and fifty feet long, the southwest one hundred and twelve, the southeast eighty, and the short side on the bank of the river about twenty. It had a double two-story house in the southwest corner, with two fireplaces below, and one in a chamber; a two-story house in the northwest corner, with two fireplaces below, and a one-story double house adjoining it along the northwest side; a two-story house in the northeast comer with two fireplaces below, a watch box This Plan of Fort Dummer. This engraving is an exact reproduction of a tracing of the original drawing made in 1749 and recently found among the New Hampshire archives. At the right is the Connecticut River, upon which the Fort cornered. PLAN OF FORT DUMMER. 147 in the short side on the bank of the river, a gate in the southeast and southwest sides, and a covered underground way under the short side to the river. The walls of the fort made the outer walls of the houses, and the inner walls of the houses were built like the walls of the fort, with single roofs sloping from the walls of the fort inward, and doors and windows opening within the fort, which could be closed and barricaded. The first commander, Captain Dwight, was succeeded by Captain Joseph Kellogg in 1727 and his successor was Colonel Josiah Wil- lard from 1740 to 1750. He was succeeded by his son, Major Josiah Willard, for about four years, and he for a somewhat uncertain time by Nathan Willard, who was the last commander and was placed in command as sergeant in 1754. From the description in a deed the fort appears to have been standing in 1772. Probably it did not remain long after that date. Captain Nathan Willard died March 12, 1784, in the sixtieth year of his age and was buried in the family lot in the old cemetery at Vernon, Yt. Concluding Maxim. 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