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MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.

^tlue rolls his ceaseless course. tlib race of yore
Who danced our infancy upon their knee,
And told our mabtbllino boyhood legend's store
Of their stbanoe ventures happ'd by land or sea,
how abb they blotted from the things that be i
how few, all weak and withebed of their fobcb,
Wait on the verge of dark eternity,
Like stranded wrecks, the tide betubnino hoarse
to sweep tbeu from our sight. time rolls bis ceaseless course.''

MAV OK hi:nnin(;t().v jiatjlk.
See- pp. Jbi -17/
rke^fer H'os d,y jitLseaie caHai Jio,sack,awl therr, n-as ivo itidfcaUort offJir pomts of compass. o(Ae/-mse.
Uu ctl'oi'e, ti a/i cJUt^ Copy ,redj/.ccd. q/'duJ/ap ui BurguyficJa State of(JicJf.tpe/Ijtian.
The Uecer press is of course BrUisfu. I'or ^^l^nerccojt VZIa nCeers" retccC Threes. "Bodtes of (Ac A'^emy
/Hea.rLS /-'ofCCi' of Ge/l,- Siiu'fc." H'a/jn.sr/jr/c" inetuus HnlCoonisac.

MEMORIALS OF A CENTDRY.

EMBRACING A i

RECORD OF INDIVIDUALS AND EVENTS

CHIEFLY IN

THE EARLY HISTORY OF BENNINGTON, VT.

FIRST CHURCH.

ISAAC JENNINGS,
Pastor or thb Cu'uncH.

BOSTON:
59 WASHINGTON STREET.
1869.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1869, by
ISAAC JENNINGS,
In the Clerli's Office of tlie District Court for the District of Vermont.

^?

gX ^-bO

Rockwell & BoUliia, Pnntora and Stercotypors,
122 WashiiigtoD Street, liostou.

Cd

THE PEOPLE OF HIS PASTORAL CHARGE,

WITH AFFECTION AND ESTEEM,

2111 tntetEatetf tn t])t lEarlg f^i'gtorg ai Btnnington,

THIS VOLUME

IS RESrECTFCLL Y INSCRIBED,

THE AUTHOR.

Bennington, Jan. 6, 186-3.

To Rev. Isaac Jennings.

Dear Sir: Having listened with much pleasuyo to your very interesting
centennial discourse, doliverod on the 4th inst., and conaidoring it of groat
historical value, we are very desirous that it sbould be published for distri
bution and preservation; and we would respectfully request you to furnish
a copy for the press.

H. G. Eoot.
Geobge Benton.
M. C. Morgan.
Stephen Bingham.
S. F. Harris.
M. G. Selden.
F. 0. White.

Hiland Hall.
A. B. Gardner.
Samuel Chandler.
George Lyman.
I. W. Vail.
H. H. Harwood.
M'^iLLiAM Webb.

PEETACE.

.JHE foundation of this volume is the discourse de
livered at the Centennial Celebration of the organ
ization of the Bennington First Church, the publi
cation of which was requested by the note on the
preceding page.
The first nine chapters are, without essential modification,
the discourse. Some account of the centennial celebration
and the conclusion of the discourse make up chapter twenty-
six. In view of publication, four subjects presented them.selves
for a more complete consideration than the writer had given
to them, namely : tlie land-title controversy ; the Ben
nington battle ; the individual men and women of Bennington
in the past times ; and the Separatist antecedents of many of
the first inhabitants, together with their promotion of civil
liberty as to public worship. Hence so many pages devoted
to these subjects, and a volume instead of a discourse.
The writer has been in various ways much assisted by
numerous kind friends of the work. He would make par
ticular mention of his indebtedness to William Haswell,
Esq., clei'k of the church, now deceased, for reminiscences,
documents, and labors upon the church records, without

vin . ( pubface.
which these memorials would be far more imperfect than
they are ; to the Rev. R. C. Learned, of Plymouth, Conn.,—
an esteemed college classmate, deceased April 19, 1867, — for
information respecting Separatism in Connecticut; to S. F.
Plimpton, Esq., of Boston, Mass., — also an esteemed college
classmate, deceased April 22, 1867, — for extensive and ac
curate researches amongst the laws of Massachusetts in their
bearing upon the Separates ; and to the Hon. Hiland Hall, —
the able late president of the Vermont Historical Society,
writer of the historical account of Bennington (so corapre
hensive as to be in itself a history of the town) iu Lliss
Hemmenway's "Vermont Historical Magazine," and author
of " The Early History of Vermont." Almost the entire
manuscript of these " Memorials," before their flnal com
pletion for the press, had the benefit of his careful revision.
His valuable aid in many ways, and active interest in the
success of these labors, demand grateful acknowledgment.
Thanks are also due to those who have encouraged the
undertaking by subscribing for copies of the volume in ad
vance, who belong to other churches and parishes in the
town, and who, though now many of them prominent in the
community, have not by early settlement hero, or by genea
logical descent, any connection with its early history, and it
may be their names do not occur in the following pages.
And finally the author feels under obligation to the ex
perienced judgment and kind co-operation of thu publishers.
BiiNNiNOTON Centre, Vt., April, 1801).

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.
TOWNSHIP. Page
Charter. — Proprietors' Records. — The flrst Immigration. — The flrst PubUc
Meeting. — Hardships of tlie first Settlers  19

CHAPTER II.
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE.
Its Location. — Its Cost, how provided for. — Description of the first Meeting
house. — Memorable Days ofthe first Meeting-houae. — Ita Removal to give
place to the second Meeting-houae. — FareweU to the first Meeting-house. 24

CHAPTER III.
THE CHURCH.
Name of the original Church. — Date of Organization. — Churchea previously
on the Ground. — Original Wcrnbcrs of the First Church. — Call to Rev.
Jedldlah Dewey. — CaU to the Westfield Church and Pastor. — Council at
Westfield. — Early Growth of the First Church. — Accessions during Mr.
Dewey's Ministry. — State of Society. — RoU of the Church for its first Cen
tury.— Table of Additiona. — Paators — Deacons. — Clerks. — Interesting
Memoranda  31

X CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
SEPARATISM.
Interesting Subject of Inquiry. — Proceedings in the Sunderland Church.—
Separates excoramunicated in some Instances. — Cause of the Settlement
of Bennington. — The " Great Awakening." — Connecticut Laws. — **01d
Lights " and " New Lights." — Heat of tlie Controversy. — Massachusetts
Laws. — Bennington Separates and Connecticut Separates sympathize. —
Connecticut Separates compose the Westfield Council  47
CHAPTER V.
INTERNAL PERPLEXITIES OF THE CHURCH.
Financial Controversy. — How shall we pay the Minister ? — The Separate
Way modified. — The Church opposed to extreme Separatism. — Two Par
ties to a long Church Controversy. — Spiritual Declension. — A Sign of
better Things. — How to pay tlie Minister never settled. — Case of Rev.
David Avery. — His Talents fail to unite the Church. — His singular Cere
mony of InstaUation. — Ecclesiastical Council. — Mr. Avery's Resignation.
— The Slavery Question. — A " Consci-hen-tious " Captain  65
CHAPTER VI.
THE CHURCH IN THE WORLD.
Energetic secular Lite. Roads and Bridges to build. — Accommodations for
the travelling Public to "maintain.- Land-title Controversy. — Revolu
tionary War. — Leading Men in public Life were leading Men in the
Church. — Muster-roU ofthe firstmilitary Company. — First Saw and Grist
MiU. — Spread of Religion   65
CHAPTER VII.
REVIVALS.
Bennington Christians belioved in Revivals.- They were Friends of Whit
field. — They enjoyed uunierous llevlvaU.- Itevlvnl of ISOIl. — Tho Revival
needed. — Three-days' Meeting. — Original Hymns.- Miss Read's Narra-

CONTENTS. XI
tive of the Revival. — An Inquiry Meeting. — Fruits of the Revival.— The
Friday Meeting. — Other Revivals. — Revival of 1831. — A joyful Com
munion Season  71
CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST SEVEN PASTORS.
Rev. Jedldlah Dewey. — His Ability and FideUty.— He became a Separate.
— His SterUng QuaUtiea. — His Ministry in Bennington. — Hia Servicea in
the Land-Title Controversy  Anecdotes of Mr. Dewey. — His Genealogy
and Family. _ Rev. David Avery. — His Army Labors aa Chaplain in
the Revolution. — A War Sermon. — His Ministry in Bennington. — Hia
Manner in the Pulpit. — Hia last Sickness and Death. — Rev. Job Swift,
D.D.— His Genealogy and Education. — Troubled State of puhUo Af
fairs during his Ministry in Bennington. — Hia miniaterial Succeas.-
Hia Matter and Manner as a Preacher. — Hia missionary Zeal. — His
HospitaUty and Benevolence. — His University Honors. — He died in the
Triumphs of Faith. — Rev. Daniel Marah. — Hia ministerial Labors.—
His Call to Bennington and Installation. — Additions to the Church during
his Ministry here. — Excellent Characteriatica of Mr. Marah. — His subse
quent Labors in the Ministry. — His last Slcknesa and Death. — Hia Wife.
— His Family. — Extracts from Diary of Benjamin Harwood. — Rev. Ab
salom PeterB,D.D.— His Parentage and Education. — His Flelds of Labor
and public Services. — Hia Bennington Paatorate. — An Anecdote. — His
Sermon againat public Immoralities. — Rev. Daniel A. Clark. — His An
cestors. — His Settlements and other Labors in the Ministry. — Hia Power
In the Pulpit. — His Aasaulta upon Intemperance and other ImmoraUties.
— He excited Opposition. — Revivals in Connection with his Labors. — Hia
Decease. — Rev. E. W. Hooker, D.D. — His Parentage and Education. —
His Fielda of Labor. — Hia published Works. — Hia Love for his Profes
sion.- His Miniatry in Bennington.— His Family  -82
CHAPTER IX.
TRANSIENT MINISTERS.
Eev. Mr. Burton. — An Anecdote. — Father Marshall. — Hia Eccentricity.—
His Conversion.- Anecdotes of Father Marahall. — Rev. J. Spaulding.
— His Labors. — His printed Works. — His Politica. — Rev. Jedldlah Bush-
neU. — Rev. Lemuel Haynes. — Rev. Edward Dorr GrllTen, D.D. — Hii Ser
mon Bt the Funeral of Alonzo B. Stiles. .  118

XII CONTENTS.
CHAPTER X.
THE LAND-TITLE CONTROVERSY.
Proclamation of Gov. Colden. — Charter to the Duke of York, 1004. — Order
in Council of the King, 1704. — Illgli-handed Proceedings of New York. —
The Settlers determined to resist the New York Claim to Jurisdiction.—
Order In Council of the King, 1707. — Spirit of the New York Colonial Gov
ernment. — Spirit of the Settlers upon tbe New Hampshire Grants . — Their
Shrewdness, Moderation, and Patrlotism.-Length ofthe Struggle. . . 120
CHAPTER XI.
THE LAND-TITLE CONTROVERSY, CONTINUED.
Controveray with New Hampahire. — Bennington Head-quartera of the Re
sistance to New York. — Unsuccessful Attempt to get Possession ofthe
Breakenrldge Farm. — Reacue of Remember Baker. — The Green Moun
tain Boys. — Council of Safety. — Catamount Tavern. — Bennington Men
prominent in the Negotiations at Pliiiadelphia. — Convention at Dorset. —
Notes to tbe above two Chapters. . . '  140
CHAPTER XII.
THE BENNINGTON BATTLE.
Anxiety In the Country previous to the Battle. — Surrender of Ticonderoga
and Defeat at Xlubbardton. — Perplexity of Gen. Wasliiugton. — Prestige of
Burgoyne. — Indian Terrors. — Murder of Miss McCrea. — Baum's Expedi
tion. — Burgoyne's Instructions to Baum. — Baum's Force. — Vermont
aroused. — Feeling ot Bennington. — Determined Spirit of the Settlera. —
Getting a Footliold.- Address ofthe CouncU of Safety.— Preparations to
meet the Eneray. — Patriotic Offer of John Langdon. — Gen. Stark. — Ef
fects of Tories confiscated. — Baum's Movements before the Battle.—
Gen. Stark's Movements.- Gen. Stark marches to meet Baum. — Baum's
Entrenchments.- Gen. Stark's Force. — Ills Plan of Attack,— The Bat
tle.- Our Soldiers before the Assault on Baum's Works. — Volor of tho
Hessians. — Irresistible Onset of our Men. —The Breastworks carried.—

CONTENTS. XIII
Arrival of Breyman with his Reinforcement. — Renewal of the Battle. —
Arrival of Warner's Reinforcement. — Anxiety of the Council of Safety.
— Rout of Breyman nnd complete Victory. — Statements by Eye-wit
nesses. — Results of the Battle.- Trophies.- Prisoners. -General Re
aulta.— Inhabitants of the Grants reassured.- The Country reassured.
— Further patriotic Exertiona of the Green Mountain Boya. — Compara
tive Strength of Forces. — Estimate of Gen. Burgoyne.- Our Men not
trnlnod Soldiera. -DoslUiitlon In our Army. — Incidents of the Battle. —
Exhausting Effects of the Engagement. — The fighting Parson. — Wil
liamstown Volunteers. — WiUinmatown Prayer-meeting. — Our Dead. —
Stanzaa of Rev. E. II. Chapin, D.D. — Roll of Capt. Robinson's Company.
— OdebyMrs. A. C. L. Dotta  140

CHAPTER XIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES — SAMUEL ROBINSON, SEN., ESQ., AND MRS.
MARCY L. ROBINSON.
Samuel Robinson, Esq. — Hia History before his Settlement in Bennington. —
His pubUo Services.- His Mission to England. — His Death. — Letter of
WUUam Samuel Johnson.— Mrs. Maroy L. Robinson. — Her Energy.—
Her Piety. — Her Decease  ,  204

CHAPTER XIV.
PERSONAL NOTICES — FIRST IMMIGRATION.
Mra. Bridget Harwood. — Peter Harwood. — Sarah Harwood. — Eleazer Har
wood. — Zechnriah Harwood. — Others of Mrs. Bridget Harwood'a De
scendanta. — Rev. Mr. Wincheater.- Samuel and Timothy Pratt.— Stepheh
Pratt  213
i
CHAPTER XV.
PftRSONAL NOTICES — SECOND IMMIGRATION.
Dea. John Fnasett. — John Fnssett, .Ir. — Col. Benjamin Faaaett. — Col. Ellaa ,
Fassett. — Other Descendanta of Dea. John Fassett. — Dea. Joseph Saf
ford. -7- Gen. Samuel Safford. — Other Descendanta of Dea. Joseph Safiord.
2

XIV CONTENTS.
Dea. Erwin Saffbrd. — Elisha Field. — Lieut Jamea Breakenrldge. — Dan
iel Brcakenridge. — Olbcrs of the Breakenrldge FainUy. — Ebenezer
Wood. — Dea. John Wood, — Gov, Moses Robinson. — Capt, Mosoa Robin
son, Jr. — Major Aaron Robinson, — Other Descendants of Gov. Mosea
Robinson  228

CHAPTER XVI.
PERSONAL NOTICES — SECOND IMMIGRATION, CONTINUED.
Gen. David Robinson. — David Robinson, Jr., Esq. — Hon, Stephen Robinson.
— Heman Robinson. — Other Descendants of Gen. D.ivld Robinson. —
Judge Jonathan Robinson. — Jonathan E. Robinson. — Gen. Henry Rob
inson. — Isaac Tichenor Robinson. — Other Descendants of Judge Jona
than Robinson  2.S9

CHAPTER XVII.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1762.
Stephen Fay. — John Fay. — Dr. Jonas Pay. — Benjamin Fay. — Samuel Fay,
Esq. — Col. Joaeph Fay. — Judge David Fay. — Other Descendants of
Stephen Fay. — Nathan Clark. — Phineas Scott. — Col. Martin Scott. —
Other Descendants of Phineas Scott  263

CHAPTER XVIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1703-1705.
Capt. Elijah Dewey. — Elijah Dewey Hubbell.— Family of Capt. Elijah Dewey.
— Dea. Hezekiah Armstrong. — Others of the Armstrongs. — Thomas Hen
derson. — Descendants of Thomas Henderson. — Simeon Harmon. — Dea.
Natlianlel Harmon. — Austin Harmon. — Others of tho Harmons. — Gen.
Ebenezer Walbridge. — Stebbins 'Walbridge. — Other Descenda^s of Gen.
Walbridge  S>ea

CONTENTS. XV
CHAPTER XIX.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1700-1709.
Elnnthan IlubbeU. — 'James llubbeU, Esq.— Dea. Aaron IlubbeU. — Other
Descendanta of Elnathan Hubbell. — .Toseph Robinson. — Robert Cochran.
— David Haynes. — Descendants of David Hnynea. — Reuben Colvin. —
Deacendants of Reuben Colvin.- Nathaniel Fillmore.- Hia Family.—
Simeon Hathaway. — Thomas Jewett. — Charles Cushman. — Eleazer
Hawks.— His FamUy  283
CHAPTER XX.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1775-1770.
I>ea. Joseph Bingham. — Jeremiah Bingham. — Dea. Calvin Bingham. —
Other Deacendants of Dea. Joseph Bingham. — Nathaniel Brush. — Samuel
Blackraer — Descendants of Samuel Blackmer.-^ David Henry — James
Henry. — John Henry. — Hon. WilUam Henry. — Other Descendants of
WUliam Henry. — Joseph HinsdUl, — Dea. Stephen HInsdUl. — Other De
scendants of Joseph HlnsdiU. — Eleazer Edgerton. — Uriah Edgerton, Esq.
— Other Descendants of Eleazer Edgerton. — John Kinsley, — Abiaha
Kinaley. — Capt. Mosea Sage. — Descendants of Capt. Moses Sage. — Sim
eon Sears  289
CHAPTER XXI.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1777-1784.
Gov. Isaac Tichenor. — Thomas HaU. — Dea. Nathaniel HaU.- ChUdren of
Dea. Nathaniel IlaU. — Ancestors of Thomas HaU. — Anthony IlasweU,
Esq. — Thomas IlasweU.- WiUiam IlaswcU. — Other Descendanta of An
thony IlasweU, Esq. — Thomas Weeks. — David Weeks. — Other Deacend
ants of Thomas Weeka.— Ichabod Paddock. —WiUinm Potter.- Col.
Martin Norton  ,  2D9

XVI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXII.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1785-1800.
Dr. Noadiah Swift. — Family of Dr. Noadiah Swift. — Capt. Saxton Squire.
— Children of Capt. Saxton Squire. — Mrs. Mary Galusha, — Gov. Galu
sha, — Rufus Barney. — Elkanah Barney. — Capt. Ebenezer Chace. — Fam
ily of Capt. Chace, — Samuel Hicks.- Descendants of Samuel Hicks.-
Mrs, PoUy Roach. — Descendants of Mrs. Roach. — Dr. Micah J. Lyman, —
Cliildren of Dr. Lyman. — Col. Oisamus C. MerriU, — Dr. Ileman Swift.—
Roger Booth. — Jesse Loomis. — Children of Jesse Loomis. — Capt. John
Norton. — Jonathan Hunt. — Family of Mr, Hunt.- Ancestors of Mr.
Hunt. — Andrew Selden. — Descendants of Andrew Selden  310
CHAPTER XXIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES — 1803 AND AFTERWARD.
Dea. Jotham French. — Rev. WiUiam Harvey. — Daniel Nichols. — Children
of Daniel Nichols. — WUliam Park. — Tliayer. — Jacob Pool, — Charles
Wright, Esq, — Lyman Patchin. — John Vanderapeigel, — Mra. Betaey
Carpenter. — Dea. Isaac Crossett. — Lewis Chandler, — Mrs. Susannah
Watson. — Dr. WUliam Bigelow. — Gay R. Sanford. — Hon. John U. Olin. 326
CHAPTER XXIV.
EDUCATION.
Common Schools. — First district School-house in Bennington. — General
Diffusion of common-school Education. — Education iu the State. — Article
in the flrst Constitution. — Act of 1787, — Remarks of Dr. WUUams.—
Academies and Colleges, — Sons of Vermont. — Academies in Bennington.
— Clio HaU.- CoUege Graduates, and Othera  336
CHAPTER XXV.
CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN BENNINGTON SUBSEQUENTLY' TO THE
ORGANIZATION OF TUE BENNINGTON FIRST CUUKCII — 1702-1802.
Rev. Mr. Hibbard and hia People. —The First Itnpllst Church. — The Metho
dist Episcopal Church. — St. Peter's Church. — The Uinsdillville Presby-

CONTENTS. XVII
f
terian Church,— The Second Congregational Church, — The Unlveraoliat
Meeting-house in North Benningtoit. — The Baptist Church in North Ben
nington. — The HinsdUIvlUe Methodist Epiacopal Church. — The Methodist
Chapel In Paper-MIU Village.- The Methodist Chapel in the north-eaat
Fart of the Town. — The Roman Catholic Congregation and Church Edifice. 342

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
Account of the Celebration. — Concluding Remarka of the Centennial Dla-
courae  349

CHAPTER XXVII.
SUPPLEMENTARY.
The Township In the Olden Time. — Location of some of the early Settlers. —
Population of the Town at the Commencement of the Revolution. — Execu
tion of David Redding. — Trial of Tibbetts and Whitney for the alleged
Murder of Stephen Gordon. — Jeffersonlan Democracy In the early His
tory of Bennington, — Visit of Jefferson and Madison to Gov. Moses Rob
inson. — Anthony Haswell'a Imnrisonment under the Sedition Law. —
PoUtical Party Spirit In Bennington. — Preaent Meeting-house ofthe First
Congregational Church. — Articles of Faith  364

CHAPTER XXVIII.
INFLUENCE OF THE EARLY SETTLERS OF VERMONT ON FREEDOM
OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
Laws of Massachuaetta as affecting the Separates, — Law of 1760. — Sepa
ratee incompetent to collect by Law any Asseaament or Subscription for
their own Minister. — The exempting Laws. — Laws of Vermont respect
ing Public Worship. — The certificating Laws. — Article on Religious
Worahip in the First Constitution. — Remarks of Dr. WUliams. — Credit
due to the Bennington Pioneers  363
8*

XVin CONTENTS.

NOTES ON CHAPTERS IV., AND XXVHI.
I. The Halfway Coven ant. — Time of ita Prevalenoy.— Ita Effects.—
Great spiritual Degeneracy in the Country. — Opposition to the Reforma
tion  -871
II. Cases of Hardship to the Separates under the operation
OF Massachusetts Eoclesiasticai, Laws. — The Sturbridge Case. —
The Tlticut Case. — Otber Instances of Hardship  376
III. Merits of Separatism.- Reformation needed.— Rudeness as weU
as Energy. — Tbe Separates not always mindful of Charity.— Results of
the Separate Movement. — General Return of the Separates to the old
Churches after tbe latter had accepted In the main the Reforms which
the Separates demanded. — The Bennington Separates more favorably sit
uated than if they had remained in the vicinity of the old Churchea. . . 379
ly. Laws of Massachusetts and Connecticut CoMrAEED. ... 384
V. Justice to the Puritans. — They did not profess Principlea of Equal
ity, or entire Freedom of Conscience as to Public Worship. — They were
nevertheless in Advance of their Times. — The Tree muat be Judged by Its
Fruits  387

APPENDIX.
A. Charter of Bennington  ,  301
B. Allen and Warner  394
C. Covenant of First Church  308
D. Articles of Newint Separate Church  400
E. Kesult of a Separate Ecc. Council  , . . , 403
F. Signers' Agreement to be Taxed for Public Worship  404
G. Paper to Settle Indian Claims  406
H, Letter of Governor Hutchinson  407

MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.

CHAPTER I.
TOWNSHIP. , '
^^HE FIRST SETTLEMENT of Vermont, and the
early struggles of its inhabitants not only in sub
duing a wilderness, but establishing an indepen
dent government," says Sparks, in his " American
Biography," " afford some of the most remarkable
incidents in American History." If this is true
of the State in general, it is especially true of Bennington,
the cradle of its infancy ; and no less true of Benniiigton's
religious than of its secular life ; for as it was the first
town chartered, so its First Church was the first also in
the territory afterward Vermont, and the antecedents and
early career of this church, which for sixty-four years was
the only one in the town, furnish a subject second to no
other in interest and importance in the history of Ben
nington. To present the reUgious, side by side with the secular
early life of the town, to gather up remarkable incidents
of both, to extend careful research in directions heretofore
neglected, and to corabine the whole in a permanent form
for perusal and preservation, is the design of the follow
ing pages.

20 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
On January 3, 1749, parties, many of them from Ports
mouth, New Hampshire,! obtained a grant from the New
Hampshire governor, Benning Wentworth, Esq., in the
name of King George II., of a township, six miles square,
situated six miles north of the Massachusetts line, and
twenty miles east of the Hudson. According to the pro
visions of this charter, these purchasers first divided off
acre homesteads in the centre, to the number of sixty-
four for a village plot, and then divided the remainder into
sixty-four equal parts, and cast lots for the same. Each
original purchaser is believed to have sold his share with
out perhaps ever seeing it, except upon paper, certainly
to have never settled upon it or improved it. It should
have been said that, of the sixty-four shares, two went to
Governor Wentworth, one to the first settled minister,
whoever he might be, one for schools, and the remaining
sixty to as many different individuals.^
The township remained an unbroken wilderness for
thirteen years, 'though men thus cast lots for it, and
appropriated it to be some time a town under the name of
Bennington, in honor of the Christian name of the New
Hampshire governor. Captain Samuel Robinson, return
ing to his home in Massachusetts from one of the cam
paigns of the Continental army in the French war, mistak
ing his route, passed, by accident, this way ; aud, impressed
by the attractiveness of the country, resolved to obtaia
others to join him and come up and settle here. His reso
lution was carried into effect. Others agreed to accompany
him. They searched out the owners of the land ; they
purchased the rights of the original grantees, or of those
to whom'they had sold, and removed hither.
1 The grantees of Bennington were many, probably most, of them ftom Ports
mouth. Col. Willloms, the flrst-uamed proprietor In the charter, was ftom
Massachusetts, aud afterward settled and died iu Pittsfield. Probably some
othera were from Massachusetts.
2 Vermout Hist. Mag.

THE FIRST IMMIGRATION. 21
The purchasers of the rights were terraed proprietors ;
and the whole purchase in common, or township as related
.to, its purchasers, a propriety. The proprietors had busi-
.ness meetings before a town was organized, and for some
,yeavs afterward ; they settled boundary lines outaide of
,the whole, and between one proprietor and another ; they
.located and.worked some of the roads ; they re-located
, some, of the proprietors who were not pleased with their
¦originajl purchase. Some who found their purchase lying
;pn the east side of the township desired to be re-located
on the west side,, and the change was authorized in
the proprietors' meetings, i The, proprietors' meeting had
its moderator; and the propriety, its clelk. Samuel Eob-
, insoii, Esq:, was moderator of the first proprietors' meeting
, and I John Fassett was clerk of the propriety. Records
-.were: kept, — not folio volumes bound in c.alf and deposited
with dignity in an iron, safe; a few leaves sewed together
J after the fashion of a school-boy's home-made writing-book
.sufficed. Those records are interesting now. That little
iCollection, of eight-inch square leaves, now time-worn, — for
!it,is:a century old, — is bound in the first part of the flrst
(Volume of the town records, and one can soon read it
.through ; but the transactions recorded there are full of im-
.'portance. ; The first public meeting in Bennington, whose minutes are
.preserved, — a proprietors' meeting, — was held on Feb. 11,
. 1762, — one year lacking a day before the treaty was signed
.ceding the province of Canada to the British Government,
and so ending the formidable French war. Therefore, an
ticipating the termination of this war, immigration had
begun to press upward along the western slopes of these
mountains. The first immigration had reached here seven
months and twenty-three days before this proprietors'
meeting, June 18, 1761. It consisted of the families of

22 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Peter Harwood, Eleazer Harwood, Samuel Pratt and
Timothy Pratt, from Amherst, Mass. ; Leonard Robinson
and Samuel Robinson, Jr., from Hardwick, Mass. The
party, includi.ng women and children, numbered twenty-
two. During that suramer and fall other families to the
number of twenty or thirty came into town, among whom
were those of Samuel Robinson, Sen., and John Fassett,
from Hardwick, Mass. ; Joseph Safford, John Smith, John
Burnham, and Benajah Rood, from Newint, Conn. ; Elisha
Field, and Samuel Montague, from Sunderland, Mass. ;
James Breakenrldge, Ebenezer Wood, Samuel and Oliver
Scott, Joseph Wickwire, and Samuel Atwood. In that
winter, January 12, the first child was born in the settle
ment, Benjamin Harwood, a very worthy and intelligent
citizen, whose death did not occur until January 22, 1851,
at the advanced age of eighty-nine years, connecting vividly
that distant period with our times.
Our early immigrants had apparently to themselves
travelled much furtlier to reach the place of their destina
tion than the present generation would have to do to go
over the same ground. One of the descendants of the
Montagues, a resident in Sunderland, Mass., whence the
original inhabitants in this town of that name came, in an
swer to an inquiry, suggests that his relative did not
probably remove to Bennington, but farther north toward
Canada. There can be no reasonable doubt that the rela
tive was the same Samuel Montague who was the modera
tor of the flrst town meeting here of which we have record.
The mistake, it is probable, originated in an impression,
prevalent in the communities our immigrants left, that
they, in removing to Bennington, were proceeding not only
to an unknown but also to a very far-distant northern
clime. The flrst year of the settlement must have been one
of much privation and hardship ; the tenements, huts with

HARDSHIPS OF THE FIRST SETTLERS. 23
logs for walls, and bark and brush for the roof; the settlers
numerous the first winter, — a part women and children. In
a tavern-bill preserved of Samuel Robinson, Esq., at a
tavern in Charlemont, Mass., about midway on the route
from Hardwick, Mass., to this place, there is also a charge
for wheat as early as April 9, 1761 ; and the inference may
be that he was then on his way here, some two months in
advance of the removal of families, to prepare as much as
possible for their comfort. The seed for sowing the land
must be brought upon horses for many miles ; also pro
visions for subsistence before crops could be grown here.
The season, however, appears to have been uncommonly
mild ; the setting in of winter providentiallj^ postponed to
an unusually late period.

CHAPTEE II.
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE.
HE first public meeting, according to the proprie-
jyTw tors' records as preserved, has been incidentally
mentioned. The first transaction at this meeting,
after electing the proper officers, was as fol
lows : —
" Chose Deacon Joseph Safford, Esq., Samuel Robinson, John
Fassett, Ebenezer Wood, Elisha Eield, John Burnham, and Abra
ham Newton, a committee to look out a place to set the meeting
house." By the record of an adjourned proprietors' meeting,
February 26, 1762, we flnd the place to set the meeting
house determined by the following vote : —
" The north-east corner of the right of land. No. 27, as near the
corner as may be thought convenient."
No public plot had then been laid out ; it was evidently
assumed that the place for the meeting-house should first
be selected, and then that roads and other public improve
ments should adjust themselves somewhat to that. May
14, 1766, it was
" Voted, To give sis acres, out of the sixty-four acres called the
town-plot, for three acres where the mcetiug-house now stands,
for public use."
" Voted, That the road frora the mcetiug-house to Samuel Saf-
ford's will be the maiu road, aud shall be four rods wide."

COST OF THE FIRST MEETINO-HOUSE. 25
We find subsequently in the records the three-acre lot on
which the meeting-house stood, termed the meeting-house
plot ; and at a still later date the widened road northward
designated as " The Parade." The first meeting-house
stood somewhere midway between the site of the present
one and the Walloomsac House.
The precise date of the building of the first meeting
house is not known. It was built in time to be occupied
on or before the year 1766. The cost of it, in the first
instance, appears to have been met, in part, by a tax upon
the several rights of land, and in part by a subscription.
A vote is recorded,
" To send a petition to the General Court of the province of
New Hampshire to raise a tax on all the lands In Bennington,
resident and non-resident, to build a meeting-house, and school-
house, and mills, and for highways and bridges."
In a meeting of later date. May 9, 1763, it was
" Voted, To raise six dollars on each right of land In Bennington
for building a meeting-house and school-house."
The sixty-four rights of land, according to this tax,
would raise three hundred and eightj'-four dollars. The
following minute upon the town records will show that
the meeting-house was in an unfinished state, and that a
subscription had had something to do with its erection : —
"October 22, 1768. — This may notify all persons who have
signed a subscription for building a meeting-house in this place,
to meet at said meeting-house, to see if they will do anything
further toward the finishing of the meeting-house. To see if
they will lay out the pew ground, and dispose of the same by
public vendue."
There is preserved, in the possession of Dewey Hub
bell, a subscription list to further finish the meeting-
3

26 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
house. This undertaking was in 1774, some ten years
after the building of the house. In this subscription list
are some one hundred and sixty names, and subscriptions
as high as ten pounds, others as low as ten shillings. The
agreement was, that if the finishing and repairing cost
more than the aggregate subscription, the additional
amount should be paid by the subscribers in the propor
tion of their subscription, and if less, the balance should
be deducted from their subscription in the same propor
tion. The size of this meeting-house was fifty by forty, with
the addition of a porch twenty feet square. There was no
steeple. The porch extended upward to the roof, and in the
upper story a school was kept for some years. In 1797,
Miss Sedgwick, sister of the Rev. Job Swift, D. D., taught
school there ; in 1798-9, Miss Thankful Hunt, sister of
Jonathan Hunt, was the teacher ; she afterward returned
to Northampton, Mass. There were galleries ou three
sides of the house ; and square pews ornamented with lit
tle railings in the place of a top-panel, the balusters of
which would be occasionally loose so as to turn round in
their places, and furnish a little diversion for listless young
worshippers. There was a sounding-board over the pulpit ;
three doors for entrance and exit, — one, through the porch
on the east side, toward the burying-ground and opposite
the pulpit, which was in the middle of the west side ; and
two other doors opposite each other on the north and south
sides respectively. The building lengthwise stood north
and south, with the roof sloping to the east and west;
there was a main aisle through the centre from the pulpit
to the porch running east and west, and aisles from the
north and south (end) doors going round and so arranged
as to leave a tier of wall pews all round the house, and
two tiers of square pews on each side of the main aisle in

MEMORABLE SCENES. 27
the body of the house. In the front seat of the gallery
opposite, and on either side of the pulpit, sat the singers.
That there was not always due order in the house in time
of worship appears from an entry in the town refcords,
March 26, 1777: —
" Voted, That such persous ns do continue playing in the meet
ing on the Lord's day, or in the worship of God, be complained
of to the committee of safety for said town, who are hereby au
thorized to flne them discretionary."
In this meeting-house proprietors' meetings were repeat
edly held ; also town meetings ; even after the erection of
the court-house, town meetings were held occasionally
here. In this first meeting-house the people met to wor
ship God and give thanks after the taking of Ticonderoga,
when that redoubtable fortress obeyed the summons of
Ethan Allen "to surrender, in the name of Jehovah aud
the Continental Congress." Col. Allen being a resident
of Bennington, and having returned with other officers, to
be present at the services, this circumstance gave peculiar
interest to the occasion. From the pulpit under that
sounding-board the Rev. Mr. Dewey preached a war ser
mon the Sunday preceding the Bennington battle. To
this meeting-house the Hessians and others, prisoners cap
tured in that battle, were brought for safe custody. It was
as they were marching in solemn sadness hither, and while
they were passing the Catamount Tavern, near by, that
*' Landlord Fay " stepped out, and with a gracious bow in
formed the prisoners that the dinner was then ready, which
their officers, confident of gaining the victory, had haugh
tily ordered by a message sent in the day before. In the
same meeting-house the flrst Legislature of Vermont held
its June session, 1778. The General Assembly of 1779,
also that of 1780, and in some instances successive Legis-

28 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
latures, met here.' On the journal of the General Assem
bly of 1778, under date of June 6, is the following rec
ord: —
" Voted, That the Eev. Mr. Dewey be presented with the com
pliments of this House, to desire him to pray with the Assembly
at their opening in the morning, for this present session."
In this first meeting-house, also, for want of room in
the court-house, was conducted the famous trial of Whitney
and Tibbits for the alleged wanton murder of the Indian,
Stephen Gordon, — in which trial Pierrepoint Edwards was
successfully employed for the defence, coming all the way
from New Haven, Conn., for that purpose.
But not alone for secular transactions and scenes was
this primitive sanctuary memorable. Of its spiritual his
tory there shall be a more full relation hereafter. Let it
sufiBce to say that from beneath its sounding-board the
Rev. Mr. Dewey preached during his ministry here ; also
the Rev. Mr. Avery and the Rev. Dr. Swift. Within its
walls the fathers and mothers of the church, and of the
churches, in this town, met together for public worship ;
and here were witnessed signal displays of the reviving
and converting grace of God. In it was held for long the
Friday prayer-meeting, a weekly meeting held in the after
noon, and remembered with interest, and often alluded to,
by aged inhabitants of the town familiar with the memora
ble days of the old flrst meeting-house. A few incidents
connected with this Friday meeting will be found in sub
sequent pages of this volume.
1 The first Legialature of Vermont was organized and held a session in March
(1778), in Windsor, and adjourned to hold another session in Bennington. It
met according to adjournment, and opened In form (June 4, 1778) at the house
of Captain Steplien Fay, the Catamount Tavern, and adjourned to meet the next
morning in the meeting-house where tlie rcmnluder of the session waa held.
The Bennington session of the General Assembly of 1799 was held also by
adjournment of a Windaor session of the Assembly.

FAREWELL TO TRE OLD MEETING-HOUSE. 29
Soon after the close of the Rev. Dr. Swift's ministry
here, and before the installation of his successor, the old
meeting-house was superseded by the new one, and removed
away. The following is an extract from the sermon of
the Rev. Daniel Marsh, preached at the dedication of the
new meeting-house : —
"We can say of the new meeting-house, it far exceeds the for
mer in magnitude, riches, and elegance; but can we hope the
glory of the latter house shall be greater than that of the former
in the gracious presence of God? Though the latter Jewish tem
ple was far inferior to the former in its earthly splendor and
glory, yet the latter exceeded the former in glory in being hon
ored with the personal presence of Christ, and his promising that
in that place he would give peace. But can we, my brethren,
hope for greater special blessings in this latter house than your
fathers and yourselves have experienced in the former? You can
look back to the ancient building and remember the many pre
cious showers of divine blessing which have there been shed
down from the Father of mercies. You can remember the gra
cious outpourings of his Holy Spirit, which fired the hearts of
his people with love, which caused sinners in Zion to tremble ,
and many souls in captivity to sin and Satan to be, set at liberty,
and shout the praises of Zion's King ! You can remember the many
joyful hours you have spent in the demolished house of God, and
take your final farewell. But never, no, never, will it be erased
from your remembrance how often your blessed .lesus hath met
you, mingled with you, and communed with you there ; how
often you have sat under his banner of love with great delight,
and his fruit was sweeter than the honeycomb to your taste.
With mingled emotions of joy and sorrow, do you not now take
your last leave of yonder spot of earth which had been devoted to
the service of your God for this more spacious building? "
?
There appears to have been, for some portion of the time
at least, a place of common resort, apart from the meeting
house, for social religious services between the preaching
services on the Sabbath. A communication in the " Vermont

30 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Gazette" of May 3, 1803, mentions such a place, where,
during the intermission, " the church generally convened to
pass that period iu suitable exercises and prayer." It is
related that Mrs. Samuel Robinson, Sen., had such meet
ings in her house, and also the Friday meetings, if not
constantl}', for a period at least, on frequent occasions.

CHAPTER III.
THE CHURCH.
I. Oeganizatiok. — It is time we leave the external
house, and turn our attention to the body of believers, to the
efforts, and the divine blessing upon them, to gather, main
tain, and perpetuate the ordinances, the assembly of saints
and the body and succession of Christian people: The
high use of the house of worship is as a home for the family
of brethren and sisters in Christ, and the sphere of their
concentrated spiritual labor for the salvation of souls.
Hitherto I have consulted more prominently the pro
prietors' records and town records ; let us turn now to
the church records.
We -find that the church of Christ in Bennington —
which was the original designation, without any denomina
tional epithet, of the first church organized within the
limits ofthe present State of Vermont — came into existence
on December 3, 1762. — The next was the church in New
bury, organized in September, 1764.. — As we have seen,
early in February, 1761, the committee was appointed, by
vote in proprietors' meeting, to select the site for the
meeting-house ; early in December of the same year the
first church was organized.
The entire minutes of the record of organization are as
follows : — " Bennington, December 8, 1762.
" The church of Christ from Hardwick, and the church of Christ
from Sunderland, met together and after prayers agreed upon
and voted : —

32 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
" 1. That said church from Hardwick and said church from
Sunderland join together and become oue body, or church of
Christ in Bennington.
" 2. That John Fassett shaUbe the clerk to keep the records of
the aforesaid Hardwick and Sunderland churches, and also now
Bennington churcli records.
" 8. It is agreed upon and voted by the church of Christ in Ben
nington, that they make on exception in the fourth paragraph, in
the eleventh chapter in Cambridge Platform, in respect of using
the civil law to support the gospel ; and also the ninth paragraph
in the seventeeuth chapter, in respect of the civil magistrate's
coercive [co-hersive] power.
" i. Voted, To receive in Joseph Safford and Anne Safford his
wife into full communion with this church.
"5. Voted, To receive Stephen Story into full communion with
this church.
" 6. Voted, To receive Bethiah Burnham, wife of John Burnham,
Into fun communion with this church.
" 7. Voted, To receive Eleanor Smith, wife of John Smith, into
full communion with this church."
Antecedents. — Of these Sunderland and Hardwick
churches more is to be said hereafter ; it is now chiefly
to be noticed that there were already churches existing
here, though not here organized ; and it is to be inferred
that church privileges were here enjoyed. Capt. Samuel
Robinson, Sen., and James Fay were or had been deacons
of the Hardwick Church. i According to tradition, John
Fassett was or had been deacon, probably of the Hardwick
Church. Joseph Safford, who came here in the summer or
fall of 1861, had been deacon of a church in Newint, Conn.,
as appears by records of that church preserved by his de
scendants in this town. By these records it also appears
that Bethiah Burnham, Ann Safford, wife of Joseph Safford,
John Smith and Eleanor Smith, who united with the Ben
nington church at the time of its organization, were from the
1 Hardwick Centennial Address of the Rev. Mr. Paige.

ORIGINAL MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH. 33
church in Newint. The attorney for Redding was John
Burnham, Jr., a lawyer evidently of some influence and force
of character, and we find upon the Newint church records
the name of his father, John Burnham, and q,lso of Bethiah
Burnham, Jr. Stephen Story, one of the oi'iginal members
of the Bennington church, and deceased 1766, in the seven
tieth year of his age, had, as appears upon his grave-stone
in our burying-ground, been a deacon somewhere. From
records now in Sunderland, Mass., we learn that Experi
ence Richardson, Elisha Field, Jonathan Scott, and Samuel
Montague were members of the Sunderland church before
its removal to Bennington. Preparatory, therefore, to the
organization of the Bennington church, there must have
been a stalwart community of Christian men and families,
who had arrived a twelvemonth, more or less, before ; and
who from the first of their arrival had been recognized mu
tually as the followers of Christ, meeting together on the
Sabbath and at other stated times for religious worship, and
celebrating together the communion of the Lord's Supper.
Original Members. — Of the members of the Bennington
church, at its organization, so far as the names are pre
served, there were thirty-two males and twenty-five females,
making a total of fifty-seven. — The number indicates a large
influx of people the flrst year and a half of the settlement
of the town. — The names are as follows ; George Abbott,
George Abbott, Jr., James Breakenrldge, William Breaken
rldge, David Doane, Jonathan Eastman, John Fassett, Dan
iel Fay, James Fay, James Fay, Jr., Elisha Field, Jacob
Fisk, Benjamin Harwood, Eleazar Harwood, Zechariah Har
wood, Aaron Leonard (Martha, his wife, was one of the
separating members from the old church in Sunderland),
Samuel Montague, Samuel Pratt, Jedidiah Rice, Oliver Rice,
John Roberts, Samuel Robinson, Silas Robinson, Joseph
Safford, Simeon Sears, Jonathan Scott, Jonathan Scott, Jr.,

34 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Elijah Story, Stephen Story, Samuel Tubbs, Benjamin Whip
ple, Ichabod Stratton, Martha Abbott, Rebecca Abbott,
Pearce Atwood, Bethiah Burnham, Elizabeth Fay, Lydia
P'ay, Mehitabje Fay, Elizabeth Fisk, Bridget Harwood,
Elizabeth Harwood, Martha Montague, Marcy Newton,
Baty Pratt, Elizabeth Pratt, Hannah Rice, Experience
Richardson, Elizabeth Roberts, Marcy Robinson, Ann Saf
ford, Elizabeth Scott, Eleanor Smith, Sarah Story, Hepzi
bah Whipple, Prudence Whipple, Martha Wickwire.
Of six of the names in this list, it may be interesting to
know the riumber of individuals of the' same name on the
church roll for the first century of its existence. This
enumeration is as follows : Sears, twelve ; Fassett, thir
teen ; Safford, sixteen ; Fay, seventeen ; Scott, twenty ;
Harwood, fifty-one ; Robinson, fifty-six. Of names not on
the list of original members, instances of highest enumer
ation of individuals are as follows : Hubbell, and Nichols,
each, twelve ; Bingham, thirteen ; Hinsdill, sixteen ; Hath
away, nineteen ; Henry, twenty-one ; Hicks, twenty-five.
II. The Westfield Church and Pastor. — At the first
business meeting of the church after its organization, a
standing committee was appointed.
" Chose brethren Joseph Safford, Elisha Field, and John Fassett
as helps to examine into persons' principles who offer to join
themselves unto this church ; and also to provide preaching."
At the business meeting May 24, 1763,
" Gave the Rev. Mr. Jedidiah Dewey a call to the work of the
ministry among us."
Ministers were not so numerous then as now. Of Mr.
Dewey they had heard, and that there was a possibility of
obtaining him, and for him they sent.

MINUTES OF THE COUNCIL. 35
But they were in pursuit not only of a minister, but of
more members also ; they had already absorbed two
churches, and now they essayed a third, the church at
Westfield, Massachusetts. They, however, preferred to take
minister, church, and all.
Westfield Council. — That they might proceed very or-*
derly, an ecclesiastical council was employed. The partic
ulars of this council will be sufficiently given here by insert
ing the minutes respecting it, preserved upon the Benning
ton church records. They are as follows : —
" The act ofthe Council at Westfield, August H, 1763.
" At a council convened at Westfield by letters missive ' from the
church of Christ at Bennington : Present, JohnJ'almer, pastor
of the church of Christ in Scotland (Connecticut) ; Israel Haw
ley, pastor of the church of Christ in Suffield (Connecticut) ;
Jonathan Underwood aud Stephen Remington, messengers of the
church at Suflield; the church at Bennington being present by
three delegated brethren ; together with the church at Westfield.
The council was received iuto fellowship. Chose John Palmer
for moderator, and, after solemn prayer to Almighty God for
divine assistance and direction, proceeded: —
" The flrst thing laid before us was the proposed contract be
tween the church at Westfield and the church at Nine Partners,
respecting the church at Westfield removing to Nine Partners,
and becoming oue church with tliem; and In the consideration
thereof the council found said contract was made void by consent
1 The assembling of this council was a laborious undertaking. Carrying letters
by post waa then unknown in these parts. In 1783, the Goyernor and Council of
Vermont established a weekly poat (twenty yeara after the summoning of the
Westfield council) between Bennington and Albany, N. Y. The next year the
Legialature established five post-oflices ; one each at Bennington, Rutland, Brat-
tleborough, Windsor, and Newbury. Between these several places o mall waa
tranamltted once a week each way, and Anthony Haswell, Esq., of Bennington,
was Postmaster General.— (Thompson's Vermont.) By a church record of 1780, of
Bennington church, a council was called, and » messenger appointed to go in
person and carry the lettera missive. The messengers of the Westfield council
must have gone in person with the letters missive to the invited Connecticut
churches.

36 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
both of the church at Westtteld, and the church at Nine Part
ners. '
" Second, the request ofthe church at Bennington to the church
at Westfield, namely, that the church at Bennington and the
church at Westfield unite and become one church under Mr. Jed
idiah Dowey, pastor ofthe church at Westfield; and, in consider
ation of the circumstances of both churches, the council thought
advisable for thp church at Westfield to answer the above said re
quest, which they did by solemn conveuauting according to the
above proposal.
" 1. The church at Westfield consented to join with the church
at Bennington by solemn vote ; 2. The cliurch at Bennington did
the same by vote; 8. Both together signified their consent to be
come one church under the pastoral care and charge of said Jedi
diah Dewey, pastor, with uplifted hands before God.
John Palmer.
Israel Hawley.
Jonathan Underwood.
, Stephen Eeminoton."
The following further minute touching these proceed
ings is on the Bennington records : —
" September 12, 1768. —The church of Christ, in Bennington,
being legally warned, met together ; and, after prayers, the com
mittee which was sent to Westfield made their return with their
doings ; and the church unanimously voted their concurrence with
the above said council, and the doings of the above said council,
with uplifted hands."
III. Early Growth op the Church. — The Ben
nington church was now fairly on its way. The Sunder
land brethren, the Hardwick brethren, the Westfield
brethren, and those here from Amherst, Mass., Newint,
Conn., and other parishes, — who in those parishes respec
tively felt feeble and doubtful, and here also in the infancy
1 A family tradition has Mr. Dewey preaching to the church at Nino Part
ners temporarily at this time.

ENLARGEMENT OF THE CHURCH. 37
of the settlement and the embryo state of its institutions
had but just made a beginning — were now united to
gether in one church, in the land of their choice and where
many of them expected to pass the remainder of their
days ; where the whole land was theirs, and the future in
vited thera to labor and hardship, but with the pro.spect
of enlargement and ample reward. They had obtained a
minister in whom thej' had great confldence. At once we
see in the brief and imperfect church records new life-
startings. In the same month, September, 1763, after the
ratification at Bennington of the doings of the council at
Westfleld, we find a record of the return to full agreement
and fellowship with the church of a brother who had been
under discipline. He had departed from his profession
of faith and covenant with the church " by denj'ing its
article of baptism and rejecting his own infant baptism ; "
but he now returned, having surrendered his objections, —
or his objections having surrendered him, — and this breach
in the fellowship of the church was healed.
' In tlio next month, " October 2, then Abraham Newton was re
ceived into full fellowship or communion with this church; and
also the wife of Benajah Rude, from the church at Newint, was
received into this churcli."
Thus onward. Successive entries in the records, at short
intervals, inform us that the church grew ; there being fre
quent and ofttimes numerous additions to it. Take one
page of the records as an example : —
" Jan. 8, 17G5. — Then Ebenezer Wood, Timothy Pratt, Mary
Story, wife to Stephen Story, and Margaret Harwood, wife to
Peter Harwood, were all received to full communion with this
church." "Jan. 11, 17C5. — Then John Smith, Matthew Scott,
Thomas Heuderson, Esther Pratt, wife to Samuel Pratt, and Mary
Fassett, wife to John Fassett, were all received to full com
munion with this church." "March 3, 17G5. — Then Peter Har-
1

38 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
wood was received to full communion with this church." "April
4, 17G5. — Theu Rebecca Robinson, wife to Leonard Robinson,
Hannah Abbott, Bershaba Scott, wife to Oliver Scott, Joseph
Richardson, Hepzibah Wood, Marcy Robinson, and Timothy
Abbott wero all received into full communion with this church."
There are preserved upon the records, imperfect as they
must be, the names of seventy-two individuals added to
the church during the ministiy of Mr. Dewe3^ Of these,
nearly half, thirty-six, were received in 1765. That must
have been, therefore, a year of religious revival and great
spiritual prosperity. This Avas the fourth year or there
about ofthe settlement ofthe town.
From lists extant there appear to have been bj' June,
1765, about one hundred men in the town. About fifty men,
according to the records, became connected with the church.
The condition of the community at this time is thus stated
in the " Vermont Historical Magazine" : —
" By the year 1765 a large portion of the town had become oc
cupied by industrious settlers from Massachusetts and Connecti
cut, who had cleared much of the land, erected dwelling-houses
and barns, with mills, opened and worked highways, and estab
lished schools for the instruction of children and youth, and
were living in a comfortable aud thriving condition."
Bancroft, in his "History of the United States," referring
to a letter of Gov. Hutchinson to Gov. Pownal of July 10,
1765, speaks of Bennington thus : —
"Men of New England of a superior sort, etc., etc., had
formed already a community of sixty-seven families, in as many
houses, with an ordained minister ; had elected their own munic
ipal officers ; formed three several public schools ; set their
meeting-house among their primeval forests of beech and maple ;
and, iu a word, enjoyed the flourishing state which springs from
rural industry, intelligence, aud unaffected piety." '
1 Quoted in Vermont Hist. Mag.

THE OLD CHURCH COVENANT. 39
The Rev. Mr. Avery, successor to Mr. Dewey, in refer
ring to the time of his pastorate generally, says : —
'^' There have been seasons of especial awakening and attention
here, and in the judgment of charity a happy number have been
renewed and added to the Lord. This circumstance has con-.-
tributed not a little to the gaining them respect, and even fame
abroad as a religious people." , . • , /
In the year 1765 the controversy of the inhabitants with
New York about their land titles began to be a matter of
public concern ; this would naturally interrupt and prevent
for a long time to come special attention to religion. \
IV. Roll of the Chdrch for its First Century. —
With regard to the roll of the church for the first century,
it must be stated that it is far from complete. A covenant
has been found among some papers thrown into the street,
which would seem to have been adopted and signed at or
near the time of the first formation of the church. This
paper doubtless got among the condemned pile entirely by
mistake. So soon as it was discovered it was preserved
with religious care. It is interesting and comprehensive,
but too long to be inserted here. A portion of the docu
ment, as found, had been torn off' and lost; perhaps one-
third of the signatures were on this lost portion. Not all
the names on the part of the covenant preserved were on
the church records, so much of them as has been preserved.
The same may be true of that portion of the sheet which
had been lost. The names on that lost portion of this
covenant may not have been placed elsewhere on any
church record ; and the fact, whether they were members
of the church or not, it may now be impossible to ascer
tain. There are names, on the records of the Newint
Separate Church, of persons known to have been resident

40 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
here and yet not on the Bennington church records. Such
persons, at least some of them, were in all probability
members of the Bennington church, but because the'r
names were on that part of the covenant torn off and lost,
or for some other reason, they have never been put upon
any record of the church. John Burnham, who was with
the autumn immigration of families in the first half year
of the settlement of the town, and on the committee
appointed at the first proprietors' meeting to choose a place
to set the meeting-house, and who was in the military com
pany of Captain John Fassett in 1764, has his name
among the Newint church signatures, but not on the
Bennington church records. During the whole of the Rev.
Mr. Marsh's ministry, a period of about fifteen years, no
records were kept, so far as is' now known, excepting
some letters of dismission and recommendation of individ
uals kept on file, aud some names of persons received to
the membership of this church, jotted down here and there
upon detached pieces of paper. All the names thus
accessible have been gathered up, and arranged in order in
a book. Every document that could yield any assistance
has been laid hold of with incredible patience and zeal by
Mr. Haswell, late clerk of the church, and so far as was
thus possible the omissions in the records have been sup
plied. In this way many names are preserved which
would otherwise have been lost.
The roll of members thus gathered yields the follow
ing analysis of statistics for the first ceutury of the
church ; —
Number of members at the organization of the church,
including five members added on that day ... 57

TABLE OF ADDITIONS FOR THE CENTURY.

41

Admitted during the pastorate of the Rev. J. Dewey : —

1763

. . 2

1768

1764

. . 4

1773

1765
. . 36^
1774
1766
. . 4
1775
1767
. . 5
Total .
1776-
72
Without
a pastor
: —
1779
. . .
. . 1
Total .
1780
8
Pastorate of the Rev. David
Avery :
—
1782
Without a pastor, — Messrs. Burton and Wood preach
ing temporarily : —
17841785
40 4
1786
Total
47
Pastorate of the Rev. Job Swift, D.D. : —
1786 17871789
5
1790
4
1792
9
1795
Total
30
Without a pastor, — The Rev. Messrs. Davis and
Spaulding preaching temporarily : —
1803 
Pastorate of the Rev. Daniel Marsh : —
93 ^
1811 18121813 1816
38
1817
1
1818
1
1819
7
22 1 7
Total
77
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TABLE OF OFFICERS. 43
V. Officers during the First Century.

Jedidiah Dewey — became pastor of the Bennington
church by the action of the Westfield Council, August 14,
1763 ; deceased December 21, 1778.
David Avery — was installed May 3, 1780; dismissed
June 17, 1783.
Job Swift, D.D. — was installed May 31, 1786; dis
missed June 7, 1801.
Daniel Marsh. — By town records. Society recommended
" the committee to hire Mr. Marsh for the year ensuing,"
at a meeting on Marcii 27, 1805 ; also at a meeting May
12, 1806, requested the church "to unite with Mr. Marsh
in calling a council for his installation." He was dis
missed April 25, 1820.
Daniel A. Clark — was installed June 13, 1826 ; dis
missed October 12, 1830.
Edward W. Hooker, D.D. — was installed February 21,
1832 ; dismissed May 14, 1844.
J. J. Abbott — was installed April 26, 1845; dismissed
August 17, 1847.
Richard C. Hand — was installed January 20, 1848 ; dis
missed November 26, 1852.
Isaac Jennings — commenced his ministry here June 1,
1853, and was installed September 21, 1853.
DEACONS ELECTED.
Eleazer Harwood, ) t„_„ „ , -rr Resigned Dec. 14, 1770.
Joseph Safford, 5 ' ' Died in 1775.
Moses Robinson, ') Died May 19, 1813.
John Wood, > May 22, 1789, R'rad to Malone, N.Y., 1810.
Samuel Safford, ) Died March 13, 1813.
Hezekiah Armstrong, Sept. G, 1812, Died March 4, 1816.
Calvin Bingham, July 16, 1813, Died Feb. 19, 1831.

44

MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.

Jotham French,
Stephen Hinsdill,
Erwin Safford,
Noadiah Swift,
Aaron IlubbeU,
Samuel Chandler,
Johu F. Robinson,
George Lyman,
John W. Vail,
H. H. Harwood,

April 12, 1816,
May 10, 1822,
Sept. 23, 1831,
Dec. 15, 1834,
I Sept. 19, 1845.
VFeb. 14, 1862.

Died April 30, 1825.
Dismissed to Hinsdillville
Pres. ch. Nov. 19, 1834.
Removed to Philadelphia,
Pa., Sept., 1830.
Died Marcii 21, 1860.
Died Dec. 26, 1844.
Died Jan. 25, 1862.

CLERIiS.

John Fassett, Dec. 3, 1762.
Jeremiah Bingham, Jan. 13, 1779,
Jonathan Robinson, Jan. 28,1785.

Aaron Robinson, Jan. 24, 1820.
Wm. Southworth, Dec. 12, 1846.
Wm. Haswell, Sept. 28, 1849.

There is no record of the appointment of deacons at the
organization of the church. There were deacons on the
ground already, — deacons of the other churches which had
removed hither, and were merged in the Bennington church,
and also other deacons. Upon the church records no dea
cons appear for the period 1775-1789 ; Eleazer Harwood
had resigned in 1778 ; Joseph Safford died in 1775 ; the
next election, according to the records, was in 1789 ; the
probability is, that during this interval, 1775-1789, Joseph
Bingham and Nathaniel Harmon were either acting deal-
cons, or had been elected and the election not recorded.
They both bore the title of deacon, and were members of
the church, and resident here at that time, and both excel
lent men. Deacon Joseph Bingham died November 4,
1787, in the seventy-seventh year of his age ; and Deacon
Harmon, in November, 1792, aged eighty.

VI. Interesting Memoranda. — Of the fourteen adult
persons who settled Bennington, all with the exception of

^ INTERESTING MEMORANDA. 45
one, who died at an early age, were or becarae church
members. The fourteen were : Bridget Harwood, Zacha
riah Harwood, Eleazer and Elizabeth Harwood, Peter and
Margaret Harwood ; Leonard and Rebecca Robinson, Sam
uel aud Hannah Robinson ; Samuel and Baty Pratt, Timothy
and Elizabeth Pratt.
The other merabers of the pioneer company were eight
children whose united ages were less than twenty-seven
years. One of these, an infant child of Mrs. Hannah Rob
inson, died ; of the other seven, two : Stephen Harwood,
and Persis Robinson (Safford), united with this church;
the other five married and removed from Bennington. Sam
uel Robinson, Sr., — who appears to have brought his family
early in the first half year of the settlement, though not
with the very first immigration of familiee, — had six sons
and three daughters, all of whom became members of this
church. Mrs. Bridget Harwood's four sons, who came to
Bennington, became also, with herself, members of this
church. Mrs. Bridget Harwood was the mother of nine children.
At the time of her immigration to Bennington her husband
had deceased ; also one child in infancy. As already no
ticed, Samuel Robinson, Sr., had nine children, who came
to Bennington ; these composed his family, one child hav
ing died at eleven 3'ears of age. One, Samuel, Jr., with
his family, preceded his father a little time in the order of
removal hither ; his father, the real pioneer, being detained
as to actual removal with his family, a little, by important
business. Deacon Joseph Safford, the father of eleven
children, came with his family in the second company. In
1837 — sevent3'-six years afterward — a genealogical record
of these three families (the Harwoods, the Robinsons, and
the Saffords), and their descendants — including of course
such persons as married any of the list — was published

46 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY. ^
by Mrs. Sarah (Harwood) Robinson, one of these descend
ants. Upon this genealogical record — the count being
made with perhaps not absolute accuracy, but nearly so —
there is found an aggregate of some two thousand one
hundred and thirty-six individuals.

CHAPTER IV.
SEPARATISM.
^HEN we learn by the records that the church in
Bennington was formed by the union of the Sun
derland church and the Hardwick church, and
that soon afterward the Bennington church ob
tained a pastor by taking to ilself the Westfield
church and its pastor, we are curious to know if
these churches of Sunderland and Hardwick and Westfield
left no churches behind them. Upon inquiry we find that
those towns, respectively, have, meantime, had churches
bearing the same titles, which know nothing of any remo
val to Bennington. These churches date their origin far
back of that of the Bennington church, and they have never
ceased to bear the designation that they now do, and to
occupy the places that they now occupy. How is it, then,
that we find upon our Bennington records mention of
churches of the same name removing hither and being
swallowed up in the Bennington church? The explanation
is, that the churches which removed to Bennington were
"Separate" churches, irregularly organized in the view
of the churches then and there existing, and therefore by
them never recognized as churches of Christ. Some mem
bers of the old church believed that it had departed from
its original faith and order, and on that account refused to
commune with it, and established a separate church. The
original churches in several instances excommunicated those
separating members, and in all cases, it is believed, refused

A8 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
to recognize the separate organization as a church of Christ.
A sad state of things, the reader will say, for a Christian
community. It could not have beeu otherwise than full of
trials to all concerned. But, as we shall sec, God overruled
it for good. Let me adduce some portions of the records
of the church still at Sunderland, the original church
founded in 1718. The first introduction of the subject into
these records appears to have been in a vote on March 3,
1749: —
" Voted, That those persons who have separated themselves
from this church, aud absented themselves from the public wor
ship and ordinances among us, be desired and required to appear
and attend upon a meeting of this Ohurch, tliat the church may
have au opportunity to know from them the reasons of their ab
senting themselves fi'om them ; and also what doctrines they hold
aud advance."
In compliance with this vote, a subsequent meeting was
held according to due notice. Some of the Separates at
tended, and asked more time ; more time was given by
adjourning the meeting. At this adjourned meeting a paper
was read on behalf of some or all the separating members,
giving their reasons for their course, whicli, as was to have
been expected, were not satisfactory to the old church.
Others separated, and their reasons, too, were demanded by
more voting of the old church. Divers more meetings were
held, with no favorable results toward bringing back the
separating members. Under date of August 24, 1753,
some four and a half years after the first proceedings, we
find this record : —
" Voted, The following declaration agreeable to the advice ofthe
neighboring ministers, called in to discourse with persons sepa
rating, etc. : —
"Whereas,  have gone out from ns, renounciug
our communion, and thereby have made it manifest they do not
belong to us ; aud we, having used many means to reclaim them,

CAUSE OF THE SETTLEMENT OF BENNINGTON. 49
and waited long upon them, and they still persisting obstinately
in thoir separation from us, we now declare : they are now cut off
from all the privileges of this church, and are not to be esteemed
members liercof, and that we have no further care of them as
members of Christ's Visible Cliurch."
At the same meeting it was also, —
" Voted, That we judge it to be unlawful and dangerous for per
sons to frequent, and make a practice of attending upon, and es
pecially to join in worsliip at, the meetings of the Separatists, and
a just matter of offence to this church." "Which votes on the
Lord's day following were read before the congregation ; and the
pastor, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, the great head of the
church, publicly declared before the congregation, agreeably to
the vote of the church, that all and every one of the persons
whose names are mentioned in said vote are cut off from all
privileges in this church, and are no more to be esteemed members
of Clirist's visible church — praying that the proceedings of the
church may be, ' for the destruction of the flesh in them, that the
spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.' " '
Fifteen persons are named in the above vote of excom
munication, four of whom appear upon the roll of the Ben
nington church.
Many of the old churches did not proceed to equal ex
tremities. The church iu Hardwick did not.^ The church
in Westfleld did not, in the case of Mr. Dewey. But even
without the additional hardships of excommunication,
this process of separation must have been attended by
many painful circumstances both to the old church and
the separating raembers.
These ecclesiastical troubles were a principal cause, with
out which the early settlers of Bennington would not have
1 Tlie original Sunderland church records were destroyed, but the church ap
pointed Deacon John Montoguc, a man of extraordinary memory, who had pre
viously kept the records, to restore them. The above extracts are from the re
stored records.
2 The Uev. Mr. Paige's Centennial Discourse.
5

50 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
come hither in the numbers and at the time they did, — as
religious troubles were the principal cause of the Pilgrims
coming from the Old World to the New, in the first settle
ment of New England. In saying this, it is at the same
time not intended tp ignore the interest of secular adven
ture encouraged by the prospect of fertile lands, the exten
sive possession of which in fee-simple might be obtained
at a trifiing pecuniary cost.
This Separate movement attained vast proportions ix\
the country. It excited a profound concern at the time,
and has been studied with deep interest by the ecclesias
tical historian. There is space here for only a glance
^t i|;. It was a vital part of the Great Awakening of a
cer;tiiry anci a quarter ago. There had obtained in the
churches a vast amount of formality. The "hp.lf-way
covenant" had been extensively adopted by them. At
length the numbers became formidable of those who viewed
this innovation as a fatal departure from sound doctrine
and trup Christian order. Many were ready to welcome
Whitfiejd, with his unwonted power in the pulpit as a
revivalist and reformer of the churches, aud many more
were awakened by hirq and led to enlist with great zeal in
the pause of religious reformatiou. Edwards irresistibly
assailed the formality and laxness of church usage with
strong 5^pt;trine and ponderous arguments from the Word
pi God.
Many extravagances, the natural result, under the cir
cumstances, of so profound a religious excitement, came
into vogue. James Davenport sought to imitate Whi^,field,
^n(^ then to go beyond him, and did surpass him, in intem
perate zeal, much more than he surpassed moderate men.
Many staid churches and many staid ministers opposed the
revival movement as a whole. The churches were divided
into two antagonistic parties, one for new measures, the

" orn LiG/iTs" and '¦'¦ t^EiV lights." 5i
other against them, — the "New Lights" ahd the "Old
Lights." The question came up whether it Was right fot
these " New-Light " preachers to be abroad, in othet minis
ters' parishes, stirring up so much excitement, and being
the occasion of discord. It became the pi'actice to perforfli
itinerant labors on the part of the more earnest pastofs.
These did not confine their efforts to their 6wh pstristeS,
but " went everywhere preaching the word.'' Also lay-ex-
horters were by the friends of the innovation encoui'Jige^, —
persons with gifts nnd zeal, but withbut liberal education
and without regular ecclesiastical license.
In Connecticut these disorders, so termed,' were inade
the subject of a prohibitory statute, enatted in 1742 by the
General Assembly of the Colony of Connecticut, — not
without the consent and approval of some of the clergy.
By this statute ministers were foftidden to preach in any
parish bther than their own, without invitation of the pastor
or people, under the penalty 6f forfeiting k\{ title to the
benefit of the laws for the support of the ministry. And it
was provided that a regular information aga'ihSt any ihinis-
ter to this effect should, without trial of the fact, work such
a forfeiture, and bar the collection of rates for his Support.
By another section of th6 act, all exhorters were foi'bidden
to exercise their gifts, unless permitted by the parish au
thorities ; and all strangers, of w'hatever ecclesiastical dig
nity from out of the colony (of Connecticut), pi'esuruihg tb
teach, preach, and publicly exhort without such pei^mission
of pastor or parish, were to be sent as vagrants froiii coa=-
stable to constable out of the bounds of Connecticut.!
The " New-Light " minorities in the churches would not
endure this. They maintained their right to hear such
preachers and worship God in such a manner as they
deemed io be most in accordance with the word of God,
lArtlcle of the Rey. R. C. Learned In the "New Englander" for May, 1853.

52 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
and they did this the more earnestly because they believed
themselves alone to adhere to the genuine principles aud
order of the original New England churches. The number
of Separate churches increased rapidly under this treat
ment. A general meeting of the " New Lights" was called
at Stonington, Conn., in 1754; elders and brethren from
forty churches met there, namely : twenty-four in Con
necticut, eight in Massachusetts, seven in Rhode Island,
and one in Long Island. ^
It was not long before another .enactment was adopted
by the General Assembly of Connecticut, which added
much to the burdens and embarrassments of the " New-
Light " party. There had been a law that all who soberly
dissented from the prevailing order might, upou talcing
certain catho, bs allowed to establish separate worship un-
laoleatad ; though still liable to be taxed for the support of
the perish minister. This law was repealed. Thus the
worship in the original society came to be still more odi
ously known as the Established worship, or the worship of
the Standing Order .^ The Separates came at length to call
themselves " Strict Congregationalists."
In this notice of persecuting laws those of Connecticut
have been adduced. I^i Massachusetts the case was dif
ferent. There no laws were specially enacted against
Separate itinerant preachers and lay exhorters, but the
existing laws did not exempt Separates from paying taxes
to the parish minister and for building and repairing parish
meeting-houses. Neither did the Massachusetts laws give
to Separate congregations any legal power to collect taxes
or subscriptions for their own expenses.
Moreover, while it is true that many of the members of
1 Backus' History. Sec, also, Contributiona to tlio Ecclesiastical History of
Connecticut. 2 Mr. Learued's article.

SEPARATISTS IN CONNECTICUT. 53
the Bennington church, perhaps most, came, in its incipient
history, from Massacliusctts, its ecclesiastical aflinitics ap
pear to have especially identified it with the Connecticut
Separate cliuichcs aud ministers. "Father" Marshall,
who used to pass this way frequentlj', and appears to have
felt quite at home here, was pastor of the first Separate
cliurch that was forraed, that in Canterbury, Conn. The
Rev. John Palmer, who was repeatedly on ecclesiastical
councils in this town, was pastor of one of the Separate
churches in Connecticut, that of Scotland parish, in Wind
sor township. lie was member of the council" that was con
vened, bj' letters-missive frora this church, in Westfleld, to
consider and act upon the question of the union of that
church with the Bennington church. He was member of
the council called here in 1770 to give advice in the diffi
culty about the duty of communicating for the support of
the gospel. He was here also either as member of a council
or informally to advise in the difficulties concerning Mr.
Avery. He was a worthy and excellent Christian minister.
He officiated to the Separate church in Scotland parish,
doubtless with acceptance, through the long period of flftj'-
seven years, — 1 750 to 1807, — when he deceased. Universally
spoken of as a man of real pietj', he was iraprisoned under
the Connecticut laws before inentioned four months in Hart
ford for preaching. The other Separate churches called to
sit in the Westfield council, and their pastors, belonged to
Connecticut : Plainfield, Alexander Miller, minister ; aud
Suffield, Israel Hollej', minister.
A large part of the First Church in Norwich, Conn.,
drew off from its minister and met for worship in another
place. 1 Thirty ra.ile menibers, including one deacon aud
a large number of females, left the Old Standing Order
Church at about the same time. Others soon followed.
1 Backus.
6*

54 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Among these were some of the most wealthy and influential
men in the town. The Separates and their friends finally
outvoted the old church in the town meetings, and declared
that they would no longer pay the minister's rates, as they
were conscientiously opposed to the union of church and
state. But upon a complaint entered, the General Assem
bly interfered, and they were taxed, by a special act, to
support the Rev. Dr. Lord and his society. Refusing to
pay the tax, thej' were imprisoned. Fortius cause as many
as forty persons, men and women, were imprisoned in a
single year.i Many of the early settlers of Bennington
were from Norwich and its vicinity. The Newint Sepa
rate Church, so prominently represented in Bennington,
belonged to a part of the town of Norwich of that day.
Deacon Joseph Safford and some others among the earli
est members of this church belonged to a Separate church
in Newint, Conn., and brought, if not the church, at least
tlrb records of it, with them to this town.
1 Historical Noticea by the Rev. F. Denison, quoted ia a foot-note by Hovey.
Life and Times of Backus, p. 42.

CHAPTER V.
INTERNAL PERPLEXITIES OF THE CHTJRCH.
Financial controversy. — 'The fet great
1^ trial of the church, and perhaps the greatest of an
internal character, was occasioned by the ques
tion, — how to pay the minister?
The Bennington church, as a church, never took
any position identical with Separate churches more
extreme than the actual reformation which was finaUy ac
cepted by the great body ofthe Congregational churches ofthe
country. In this it evinced the shrewd indomitable com
mon sense of its leading minds. There were, hbivever,'
individual members of the church, who, upon sbine poirtts
at least, were extreme, even factious, relatively to the Ben
nington' church. They were not without seriotis influence
in the chhrch, and yet they appedt' to have bfeeii always^
in a minority when it came to voting. They had the more
influence on one point in particular, that of a church
member's dutjr with respect to the pecuniary necessities
of public worship, because the Separate theory on this
point was susceptible of a pretty sharp deflhition. It
may be stated in the words of the Separate Ecclesiastical
Council convened here in 1770, on this subject : — '¦
" The Society is by no means to be allowed to control of govern
the church In the affair."
At the same time there was in the Bennihgtotf cJiurcH
that common sense or practical — or wofldly — ¦tli^dbm

56 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
which saw that in the secularities of public worship the
world would certainly have a hand, and which reasoned
that there might be so much jealousy of bringing the church
under bondage to the world, as to fail to obtain all that
la-j/fully might be of co-operation both of the world's peo
ple f,nd of the civil law.
Eut the extreme Separates had on their side the moral
weight of the fact that the Bennington church was formed
out of bona fide Separate churches ; that many had joined
ito ranks from other churches of the same character ; that
its pastor was thoroughly of Separate origin, — its ecclesi
astical councils were made up from Separate churches, and
the council of 1770 rather sided with the extrerae members
than with the church. At any rate they were unceasingly
active, and in several instances inflexible to the last.
That which appears to have brought the opposing par
ties to a decisive struggle was the action of an adjourned
peeling of the congregation, Feb. 8,1768. At this meet
ing the following resolves were voted : —
1. That the church and society should stand all in an equal right
about proposing any method, or voting in any raeeting about the
support of the gospel for the present year. 2. Chose Moses
Robinson clerk for the same meeting and for this year. 3. Chose
Stephen Fay, Samuel Safford, and Moses Robiuson assessors.
4. Chose Stephen Fay treasurer. 6. Chose Jaraes Walbridge and
Henry Walbridge collectors ; theu made a subscription binding in
common law in order to secure to Mr. Dewey flfty pounds for the
present year."
This, it will be observed, was a meeting, not of the church,
but of the congregation, but church members acted iu it
and T/ith it ; three out of flve appointed to oflice in the
meeting were church members. This course of members of
the churches was not suffered by the extreme Separates to
pass unchallenged. Against these members of the church

A LONG CHURCH CONTROVERSY. 57
active in this meeting a complaint was soon brought in
church meeting, and the attempt was made to convict them
of violating the principles of the Separate churches, with re
spect to their independence of the Society and of the civil
power.i Had the complaining party been above suspicion of sin
ister intent their case would have stood better. It was the
refusal of some of these, and perhaps of some others, to
pay their share toward the minister's salary, which was the
proximate cause of the action complained of. The salary
was not secured ; and hence the effort in the adjourned
meeting of the congregation to hit upon some expedient
that should accomplish this result. Most if not all of the
brethren who complained so bitterly of that action were
themselves remiss. Their remissness dates far back upon
the records, as appears by the following entry : —
"June 19, 176G. — Then the church being met by appointment
acted on the following articles, namely, 1. To send brother^
James Brcakenridge, Henry Walbridge, and John Wood to those
brethren tliat did not attend the churcli meeting, and had not'
settled or paid tiieir proportion or sums forthe year past with Mr.
Dewey, that they forthwitli settle the above said sum or sums;
and that they appear on Friday tlie twenty-sixth day of this in
stant at the adjourned meeting at the house of Mr. Dewey to an
swer to their conduct. 2. Voted, that those persons who do not
settle and pay the sums of their equality with Mr. Dewey for hiS
support witliin the time appointed by the church and society forth
with give security for the above said sums, and it shall be no
offence.'' Here we have the party of the first part aggrieved because
the party of the second part would not do their share to-
1 The probability Is that the error of tliese complaining brethren wns not In
their professed anxiety lest the church should lose its proper control in spiritual
affairs, so much as in their want of discrimination os to what was purely secular
In the matter, and therefore not to be a bone of contention In the church.

58 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
ward the salarj"^ of Mr. Dewejr ; and the partj' of the second
•part aggrieved because the party of the first part had
secured the adoption of church and society measures, and
some aid, if necessary, of the civil law, to relieve tlie finan
cial difficulties of the parish. The result was a long church
controversy. It is believed bj' some of Mr. Dewey's descendants that
he, in consideration of the valuable property called " the
minister's right" being settled upon him, declined, for a
while at least, other compensation ; thej' have a tradition in
the family to this effect. If so, Mr. Dewey could not have
begun to receive any compensation from the church and
society until near' the time of the above vote. To suppose
that brethren would refuse to pay their part toward the
small amount then proposed to be raised as a salary for
Mr. Dewey, and at the first attempt, or nearly the first at
tempt, reflects seriously Upon their goodness of character.
Whether thej' were afflicted with the malady not unknown
to mankind, a chronic disinclination to part with one's
' monej' for a public good object, or whether they deemed it
a violation of their consciences to contribute anything to
the treasury of the church so long as it adopted flnancial
expedients inconsistent with their notions of Christian
duty ; or whether their course was the result of both these
causes combined, there grew up an irreconcilable difficulty
between the church and these brethren. The leaders among
them were under church censure from time to time, and
flnally were excommunicated. For a long time, however,
tliey remained in the church, as it knew to its cost. New
complaints were brought ; new grievances there were ; new
offences for church action. All their church meetings, and
all their debates as to what was according to their principles
of freedom of conscience, and the church's true indepen
dence of and separation from the world, availed nothiug to

A LONG CHURCH CONTROVERSY. 69
settle the difficultj', or to reraove the maiu difficulty of
the deliiiquencj' of these brethren toward the salarj'.-
Araong other entries upon the records of a like character,
let us notice one under date of August, 17, 1769 : —
"The church being met by adjournment, and the meeting being
opened by prayer, took into consideration tho case of tliose breth
ren who are behind in their communic.ition to the support of the
gospel, and voted that if they shall pay thirteen shillings to flfteen
it shall be satisfactory."
It would seem that the delinquent brethren did not all
of them now pay the " thirteen shillings to flfteen," for
there are recorded actions of discipline in their case under
subsequent dates.
Glimpses in the records show us that the sacrament of
the Lord's supper was not administered for some time on
account of the progress of this war in the church. Infant
baptisms, however, were not omitted, whatever the state of
the church might be, whether cold or lukewarm or divided.
Some stayed away from public worship because of griev
ances. At length a council of churches was called, 1770. Its
result is on the records. On the whole it appears rather to
condemn the church for calling to its aid the society as
prominently as ii did, according to the action of the ad
journed meeting of the congregation on Feb. 8, 1768. It
was a council of Separate churches. Apparently no good
effect followed. Matters waxed worse and worse. One and
another became the subject of church discipline. Thus they
went on until January, 1780, fourteen years after the flrst
appearance of this difficultj- upon the records. Then we
find this hopeful indication : —
" The church being met by appointment, the meeting being
opened by prayer, took into consideration the cieoumstance or

60 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
THE COVENANT BEING VERY MUCH SHATTERED AND TORN. VOTED,
*rO SIGN THE COVENANT NEWLY DUAI'TISD AND TO RENEW COVK-
NANT WITH God and with one ANOTUEii." This return to the
solemn renewal of covenant obligation, aud to the enjoyment of
the presence of the Holy Spirit, must have been a relief as de
lightful as it was salutary.
The old covenant so "much shattered and torn" was
probably the one araong the papers of the church on flle ;
that newly drafted and signed, the paper in the possession
of John Fay.
With regard to the ultimate result as to the method of
securing the salary, it may be stated that no invariable
rule was attained. Society meetings and town meetings for
some years played an important part in this business. The
extreme Separatist method was never adopted. The more
usual waj' was, to obtain as many as would consent to
bring in their tax lists, and let the societj' or town rate
upon them a tax sufficient for the salarj' and other expenses
of public worship. Those who voluntarily brought in their
lists to be taxed were liable to have their tax collected by
law if they neglected to pay it at the right time. Church
discipline upon members delinquent in this matter fell into
disuse ; so it is inferred from the fact that cases of disci
pline of this kind do not afterward appear upon the records.
This flnancial question came up again on the building of
the new meeting-house, and created again a profound ex
citement. II. Case op the Rev. David Avery. — There were
also troublous times to this church in connection with the
ministiy of the Rev. David Avery. This difficulty followed
fast upon the heels of the other ; and it is quite possible
some of the disturbing influence of the old trouble re
mained. The settlement of Mr. Avery here was com-

, CASE OF REV. DAVID AVERY. 61
menced with a foreshadowed opposition, which increased
until the termination of his ministrj', June 17, 1783. One
person only was added to tho churcli ; the Lord's supper
was celebrated once only, and that not without opposition
on the alleged singular ground of the impropriety of the
measure because of the divided state of the church.
A pamphlet of fifty-five pages is extant, with this title :
" A Narrative of the Rise aud Progress of the Difficulties
which have issued in a separation between the Minister and
People of Bennington, 1783. With a Valedictorj' Address
by the Rev. David Avery, V.' D. M." He was evidently a
man of superior talents and accomplishments. Governor
Tichenor — who was proverbial for his graceful politeness,
so much so that, having come from New Jersey, he obtained
the not very graceful sobriquet of " The Jersey Slick"
— used to say that the opposition sent Mr. Averj' away be
cause he walked to church arm in arm with his wife. There
is some reason to think, however, that with all his acquire
ments he lacked humility, and, therefore, was less fitted
than otherwise he might have been to build up and unite
the people. In his communication to them respecting his
dismission he exalts his official prerogatives, laj'S all the
blame upon the opposition, loftily pities their weaknesses,
and rebukes their wrong-doing, inasmuch as they receive
the word at his lips with no more meekness ; and, which is
most galling of all, derides their Separate origin.
As a cereraony of installation, Mr. Avery adopted the
novel method of pronouncing, in the presence of the coun
cil, an address, first, to the church, and then to the congre
gation, solemnly declaring his acceptance of the pastorate
in accordance with their request. In the address to the
church occurs this paragraph : —
^ "Inasmuch as I have beon duly ordained an officer in Christ's
kingdom by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery, whereby
6

62 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
1 am invested with full power and authority to administer sealing
ordinances, and to do all the duties of a minister in God's house;
and inasmuch as I can receive no new, nor even any accession of,
power, by a re-ordination, I do now, without some of the usual
cereraonies of an ordination, thus publicly acknowledge myself to
be under the most sacred vows to exercise ray office, and to do all
the duties ofthe pastor of this church," etc.
The " re-ordination " refers to the doctrine which had
some currency among the radical Separates that ordination
by the laying on of the hands of the Presbytery was a vio
lation of the power of the brotherhood, and therefore it was
their duty to require one who had been presbyterially or
dained, and who had come to be their pastor, to be re-or
dained by the laying on of the hands of the lay-members
of the church. The Bennington church, as such, never
received this doctrine ; but from Mr. Avery's narrative it
appears that, in the course of tiie difficulties with him, this
was seriously pressed by some of the members.
A mutual council, half of Strict Congregationalists and
half of Standing Order Congregationalists, was first called
upon the difficulties. The Strict Congregational half failed
to come, and the council did not proceed. Next, an ex-
parte council of- Strict Congregationalists was called, and
failed to come. At length, a mutual Council of Strict Con
gregationalists was called, and came. In this council the
aggrieved portion of the church appeared as plaintiff, and
the church itself as defendant, on the side of Mr. Aveiy.
The chief burden of the complaint was alleged deparftire
from the faith by Mr. Avery in his preaching, three specifi
cations being presented. The council sustained Mr. Avery
and the church in every particular, — advising the church,
however, to accept Mr. Avery's resignation, if he should
offer it ; which he immediately did.
In his address of resignation, ho says, " Oue half of this

THE SLAVERY QUESTION. 63
church are divided from me without any prospect of ray
recovering them." This raust have been meant in a numeri
cal sense ; a leading personal influence in the community
sided with Mr. Avery, and had, or carried, the c'ouncil
with it.
Among his more ardent admirers here were some of the
most influential members of the church or congregation, —
such men as Governor Moses Robinson, Hon. Isaac Tiche
nor, Dr. Jonas Faj'.
When he was dismissed from Bennington and left the
place, the troubles here on his account appear to have
ceased. Soon afterward the church was again blessed
with a revival of religion, in which numbers were added to
its communion, of whom the names of forty-seven are
upon the records. Its wounds were doubtless healed, and
it was once more in the enjoyment of health and vigor.
III. The Slavery Qcestion. — Mr. Avery brought
with his family to town a colored woman, and he insisted
on his right to liold her as a slave. This was one of the
serious objections urged against him, and which created
much dissatisfaction in the church. i But the persons dis
satisfied on this account appear to have been in the minor
ity. One who had been for several years an active and influen
tial member ofthe church, being frequently on important cora->
mittees, having his children baptized, etc., was placed under
church discipline during the ministry of Mr. Avery : —
"For withdrawing himself from its communion for its affirming
the position that it would commune with a brother who might
have a slave."
Some flve years afterward this brother was excommuni-
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

64 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
cated for continuing in his refusal to walk with the church.
Nothing of an immoral character appears to have been alleged
against him ; he continued to be respected as an upright citi
zen. It is related that, after his excommunication, one ofthe
members of the church, a carpenter, was employed by him
to do a day's work, who had scruples about eating with
him, because he had been excommunicated ; he, therefore,
caused a table to be set very nicelj' in the parlor, and di
rected the brother to dine there by himself.
That the slavery question was somewhat agitated about
this time in this vicinity may be inferred from a case pre
served upon the town records of this town. It can be best
given in the words of the record : —
" Head-Quarters, Paulet, Nov. 28, 1777.
"To whom it may concern, know ye: whereas, Dinah Muttis,
a negro woman, with Nancy, her child of two months old, was
taken prisoner ou Lake Champlain, with the British troops, some
where near Col. Giiliner's patent, the 12th day of inst. November,
by a scout under my command, and, according to a resolve
passed by the Honorable Continental Congress, tliat all prizes be
long to the captivators thereof, therefore, she and her child be
came the just property of the captivators thereof. I being con-
sci-hentious that it is not right in the sight of God to keep slaves ;
therefore obtaining leave of the detachment under my command,
to give her and her child their ft-eedom ; I do therefore give the
said Dinah Mattis, and Nancy her child, their freedom to pass and
repass anywhere through the United States of America, with her
behaving as becometh, and to trade and traffic for herself aud child
as though she were born free, without being molested by any per
son or person. In witness whereunto I have set my hand and
subscribed my name.
" (Signed) Ebenezer Allen,"
' Capt. in Col. Herrick's RerjimeiU of Green Mountain Boys."
1 "Major Ebenezer Allen was a captain in Col. Herrick's battalion of State
Rangers, and distinguished himself in the Bottle of Beuiiingtoii." — See Bio-'
graphical Sketch in Hall's Early Hist., Vermont, p. C51.

CHAPTER VI.
THE ClIURCtI IN THE WORLD.
uITH the ecclesiastical life of the community there
was also going on here iu strong pulsations the
secular life of a raost energetic people. These
men, a glimpse of whom we get from meagre but
suggestive church records, shared in this secular
life. It is irapossible to form anj' just idea of the
church's life, its trials, influence, and dangers, without
understanding the secular history of the town. Church
members had a large part in the establishment of a town,
and then of a State, and meantime of a nation. Each/
several work crowded fast upon the heels of the other, or
mingled one with the other. There was the wilderness to
subdue, land titles to establish. There were legislatures
to entertain, and their share of legislation to perform. They
had highways and accommodations to keep up for the
. travelling public, on one of its then most important
thoroughfares.' Thej' had strong individuality ; each would
1 " Settlements had also (as eaily as 1765) been made to the northward as far
as Danby, and extensive preparations were making for occupying other town
ships, as well as for extending the settlements in those already commenced, —
the tillers of the hard New England soil then, as they have often been since,
swarming for emigration to new and uncultivated lands." — Vt. Hist. Mag.
Mr. Samuel Fay, Hve years of age the day of the Bennington battle, and who
distinctly recollected occurrences of that day, with other reminiscences, stated
to G. W. Robinson the following, of public houses, all in apparent successful
operation; the Catamount Tavern, kept by his grandfather, Stephen Fay; the
Dewey Tavern, now "Walloomsac House, then kept by Capt. Elijah Dewey; the
Herrick Tavern, kept by Col. Herrick, now known as the Dlmmlck place; the
Harmon Tavern, kept by Daniel Harmon now the old yellow bulldin west of
6*

66 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
in a measure have his own way, and ^et they must endure
one another and be mutually helpful, for they had many
common labors, hardships, and dangers, and common in
terests, ambitions, and expectations. They must help each
other to be strorig, while sometimes, doubtless, they yielded
to the temptation, in this or that private mutu.-!! competition,
to put down each other. So they grew ; so their individual
force of character was developed.
As before said, many of those thus situated as to their
secular and social life were members of the Bennington
church, many were unwearied in Christian efforts, habitual
in their attendance upon public ordinances, some — doubt
less at times a few — faithful to the Friday prayer-meeting.
There were in particular two great public struggles in the
history of the town, and which are no less prominent in the
history of the State, aud one of them of commanding im
portance in the history of the nation. I refer to the land-
title controversy and to the Revolutionarj' War. The land-
title controversy and the Bennington battle will have a
place as separate topics. Let it suffice now to say, prom
inent was the part Bennington acted in the Revolution
ary War. Here was held the council of Allen, Warner,
Easton, and others, in which the expedition to Ticonderoga,
whicli resulted, under the intrepid leadership of Allen, iu ,
the surrender of that fortress, was planned, Maj', 1775, and
a considerable portion of the Groen Mountain boj's who
joined the expedition were from Bennington. Ethan Allen
came to the New Hampshire Grants about the year 1769,
Henry Baker's residence; the tavern kept by Zechariah Harwood, the late resi
dence of Perez Harwood, Sen., deceased; the State Arms House, kept by Jona
than Robinson ; the Brush Tavern, where now stands the residence of Samuel
Jewett; the Billings Tavern, In whose stables he has seen one hundred horses
at one time, — not an uncommon occuncncc, — belonging to people emigrating
from Connecticut und Massachusetts to the dilVeruiit parts of Vermont and New
Hampslih-o; it now stands on the side hill west of tlio residence of Mr. Nichols,
near the Bennington and Townal line.

REVOLUTIONARY WAR. 67
and made his horae iuBennington while within the territory,
until he was taken prisoner at Montreal, Sept. 25, 1775.
Col. Seth Warner carae to Bennington to reside in January,
1765, and remained here until the summer of 1784.
In the regiment of Green Mountain boys which was
raised under the advice of the Continental Congress in the
summer of 1775 for service in Canada, the town of Ben
nington was represented by Seth Warner, its lieutenant-
colonel and commandant, Samuel Safford as major. Wait
Hopkins as captain, aud John Fassett, Jr., as lieutenant,
and by many others in different capacities. Among the
important services rendered by this regiment was the de
cisive defeat of General Carleton at Longuiel, which pre
vented his furnishing relief to St. Johns and caused its im
mediate surrender, and also the abandonraent of Montreal
to the Araerican forces under General Montgomery.! In
the next summer, July 5, 1776, the Continental Congress
was so well satisfled with the services in Canada of these
men, that a resolution was passed to raise a continental
regiment of regular troops from this territoiy.
Of this regiment, which continued in service through the
war, Seth Warner, the colonel ; Sarauel Safford, the lieu
tenant-colonel ; Wait Hopkins, captain ; Joseph Safford,
lieutenant ; Jacob Safford, ensign ; Benjamin Hopkins,
adjutant, were from Bennington. In October of the same
year, upon notice of an expected attack upon Ticonderoga,
the militia of Benniugton and neighboring towns turned
out en masse and moved to its relief, and for their exploit
were handsomely complimented by the commanding gen
eral, Horatio Gates.^
At the time of the evacuation of Ticonderoga and Fort
1 A brief manuscript letter of Mrs. Montgomery to a friend, alluding to the
death of Gen. Montgomery, Is preserved among the papers of Gen. David Rob
inson. '-! Vermont Hist. Mag.

68 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Mt. Independence, July 6, 1777, the convention for forming
the constitution of the State was assembled at Windsor,
but, on reeei\»ing the alarming news of the loss of these
posts, they hastily adjourned, appointing a Council of Safety
to administer the governraent until the meeting of the
Legislature under the constitution. Tliis Council of Safety
met at Manchester July 15, and soon afterward adjourned
to Bennington, where it continued in permanent session
until after the close of the campaign by the surrender of
Burgoyne in October following. The room which this body
occupied during this trying period is still to be seen in the
ancient tavern-house of Landlord Fay, with the words
" Council room," cut in olden time on the mantel-piece. i
Throughout the war Bennington furnished the full share
of men and supplies for carrying it on.^ Bennington was
for some time a depot for public stores belonging to the
United States. To obtain possession of these provisions
and stores was the principal object of Burgoyne in sending
his expedition to Bennington.
The leading men in the toivn were leading men in the re
ligious community. The innholder at whose house the first
town meeting was held, the moderator of the meeting, the
town clerk then appointed, the first four of the selectmen,
the town treasurer, the two constables and the two tithing-
men, and indeed all but four of the officers appointed, were
or became members of the church under INIr. Dewey. The
first town meeting was lield March 31, 1702, at the house
of Johu Fassett, when the following officers were chosen : —
"Samucl Montague, moderator; Moses Uobiuson, town clerk;
Samuel Montague, Samuel Scott, James Breakeuvidge, Benajah
Kude, and Joseph Wickwire, selectmen; Deacon Joseph Saftbrd,
towu troasuior; Samucl Robinson, Jr., ,and Jolm Smith, Jr.,
1 Vermont Hist. Jllag.
2 See journal of Council of Safety in " Vermont State Papera."

STIRRING TIMES. 69
constables; Deacon Salford and Elisha Field, tithing-men; Peter
Harwood and Jolin Smith, Jr., hay-wards; Samucl Atwood and
Samuel Pratt, fence viewers ; Timothy Pratt and Oliver Scott,
deer-rifts." Of the first company of railitia organized, October 24,
.1764, all the officers were or became members of the cliurch
under Mr. Dewey.
Muster Roll ofthe First Company of Militia, etc.
Officers: John Fassett, captain; James Brealieniidge, lieuten
ant; Elisha Field, ensign. — Warrant Officers : Leonard Robinson,
flrst sergeant; Samuel Safford, second do. ; Ebenezer Wood, third
do. ; Henry Walbridge, fourth do. — Rank and File : Benjamin
Whipple, flrst corporal ; John Wood, second do. ; Samuel Pratt,
third do. ; Peter Harwood, fourth.
Deacon Joseph Safford and Samuel Robinson, Esq., re
ceived from the proprietors' meeting and fulfilled the con
tract to build the flrst grist-raill and to keep it in repair
ten years, that in the east part of the town. Sarauel Rob
inson, Esq., was the flrst Justice of the Peace under the
province of New Hampshire, appointed to that ofHce within
the limits of the State. In the sumraer of 1764, Esquire
Robinson, as raagistj'atc, carae into collision with the New
York officers in a controversy about jurisdiction in Pownal,
and was arrested and carried to Albany jail.
In the tirae of Mr. Dewey's pastorate, though within two
years of its close, the declaration of Araerican Indepen
dence was adopted ; also that of the independence of the
State; also tiie State constitution, adopted in convention,
and the officers elected and other necessary raeasures ex
ecuted by which Vermont becarae, in her own narae, a
sovereign and independent State. The tiraeof Mr. Avery's
pastorate here — the whole period from the decease of Mr.
Dewey, to the settlement of Mr. Swift — was filled up with

70 ' MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
as much intense excitement of civil affairs as, perhaps, any
other period of like extent in the history of the town. It
is impossible duly to appreciate the church's position and
career at such a time without understanding the contem
porary civil and military history of the town and of the
State. It is evident the spirituality of the church must
have been put to a severe test in the midst of such pro
found civil and social agitation, and so great and abound
ing worldly cares.
' But in such a community and at such a time religion did
not struggle doubtfully to maintain its foothold. It
struck its roots deep ipto the hardy soil. The tree still
flourishes. I speak not now ofthe First Church alone, but
of all branches of Christ's church in the town. The tree
of religion, which was planted in this soil at the outset of
the gathering of a community here, took deep root amid
all the struggles, commotions, and rude flrst essayings of
public enterprise and of individual will. It still flourishes,
and the vigor thereof is genuine and enduring. i
1 See, further onward in the volume, dates and statistics ofthe other churches,
down to Jan. 1, 1863.

CHAPTER VIL
REVIVALS.
(^j^HE late Rev. Dr. Hawes, of Hartford, said of the
Tjlyjl church of which he was pastor (the church flrst
organized in Connecticut) : —
" This church has ever believed in revivals of religion,
and owes all its prosperity to those oft-repeated visita
tions of mercy." '
The same remark may be applied to this the flrst church
organized within the liraits of Vermont. The operations
of the Spirit of God in reviv.ils are, to some extent, matter
of human study, and have some general laws which appear
to be discernible by human judgment ; but at the same
time they involve tiie profoundest, as well as the raost
moraentous, of all the special exertions of the divine power
of God in the world. It has been the sacred privilege of
this church in repeated instances, and in no common de
gree, to witness these remarkable displays of divine power
in the hearts of men and the assemblies of God's people.
Its Separate origin would warrant our ascribing to the
Bennington church the approval of religious revivals.
Samuel Robinson, Esq., was an attendant upon Whitfield's
ministry while in London, and upon his decease was in»
terred in tiie burying-ground attached to Whitfield's meet
ing-house. After Esquire Robinson's decease, Whitfleld,
being on one of his preaching tours in this country, sent
1 Cont. Ecc. Hist., Conn., p. 90.

72 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
word to Bennington that lie was charged with messages
from Mr. Robinson, but could come no nearer than Alban J^
Moses Robinson, his son, afterward governor, went to
Albany to meet Mr. Whitfield, and hear him preach ; his
mother accompanied him, riding upon a favorite mare.
From the number, thirtj'-six, known to have been re
ceived into the church in 1765, there must have been a re
vival at that time. In 1784, while the church was without
a pastor, and Messrs. Wood and Burton preached here tem
porarily, forty are known to have been received into the
church, and that special awakening has received the name
of the Wood and Burton Revival.
I. The Revival of 1803. — Let us go back and en
deavor to recall somewhat of the revival of 1803. From
June 7, 1801, to the fall of 1804, the church was without a
pastor, and the state of religion and morals appears to
have, fallen surprisingly low. The reputation of the town
for irreligion, both at home and abroad, must have become
quite the reverse of what it previously had been. A Miss
Eleanor Read was at that time teacher of a select school
in the building, now occupied as a residence, first south of
the old academy. She taught school in the upper story,
a saddler's shop being upon the first floor. She enjoyed a
high reputation as a teacher. In a letter to a friend, dated
September 1, 1802, she says : —
" My flrst beginning in this place was peculiarly trying. I had to
endure sickness and trouble, such as I never experienced before.
In tlie midst of greatness and grandeur, every face was new, and
seemed marked with haughty ostentation. "
At length, as she says, she summoned all her fortitude,
and met with marked success. Miss Read was one of the
converts in the revival, and she published a narrative and

EDITORIAL IN THE " GAZETTE." 73
letters. — (Press of Anthony Haswell). In one of these
letters we have an account of a singular circurastance as
the incipient occasion of her awakening, and also aglirapse
of the religious aud moral state of the community immedi
ately preceding the revival. She mentions a letter she
had received from a minister of Chelsea, —
"In which he observes that the degeneracy of Bennington was
truly lamentable ; that their depravity, infidelity, and heaven-dar
ing wickedness had become a subject of lamentation to the friends
of Zion." "He also observed that he thanked God I was with
them to load the dear young people In the ways of piety and vir
tue. This expression struck me very forcibly aud led me to reflect
on my unworthiness, and insufficiency to teach them tiiat which
I had reasons to fear 1 was myself nnacquainted with. "
Whether the strong language of the Chelsea minister was
warranted or not, there was doubtless some occasion for it.
The Indian, or Canadian, Gordon, was killed about this
time (Aug. 8, 1802), and a notice of this affair in the ¦" Ver
mont Gazette" of Aug. 16, gives us some glimpses of the
state of society. Stephen Gordon was so injured by
wounds received in an affray with two j'oung raen, named
George Tibbets and George Whitnej' (on Sunday p. m.), as
to die on Tuesday morning following, and on Wednesday
his reraains were interred and an affecting discourse was
delivered to a crowded audience, from Psalm xix. 12, 13.
The following is an extract from the notice referred to : —
" Never was greater solemnity observable in Bennington on
any former occasion than prevailed during the exercises ; at the
close of which, Tibbets, one of the prisoners, in pathetic terms,
warned the assembled audience, young and old, against the evil
tendency of Sabbath-breaking, as exempiifled in their unhappy
situation. In reflecting upon late occurrences in our vicinity, the contem
plative mind necessarily looks for an appropriate cause, and exer
cises its faculties to discover a remedy. But a few days have
7

74 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY. '
elapsed since the inhabitauts of Bennington could say that the
crime of suicide and murder never existed among them. The
scene is now dreadfully reversed. "
The editorial recites a case of suicide which had recently
occurred, then returns to the Whitney and Tibbets murder
ous affray, and proceeds thus : —
"Fellow-citizens, there is a moral and a natural cause for these
things, and in the opinion of considerable numbers the moral cause
is the declension of religion; the natural cause, the prevalence of
folly, and the introduction of frivolous amuseineuts, gambling and
intemperance. Fathers of families, parents, consider the conse
quence of permitting your sons to attend unlawful games, cards,
dice, and billiards, even within the restrictions of the licensing law
of the last Assembly of Vermont, which was imposed upon us under
pretence of interdicting such practices. At such places as card
tables and billiard tables aniraosities are frequently engendered,
and the trifling eraoluments to tho individual owning the table
accrue through the debasement of numbers and the ruin of some of
its attendants. Mothers, consider tlie consequences to your
daughters : in proportion as gambling and irregularity engage
the mind of a man, female attractions and virtue lose their charms,
and lewdness and Inconstancy becorae less odious than formerly
In their eyes. Tlius your sous become worse husbands and worse
men, aud your daughters more lonesome and uuhappy women. A
billiard table until within a short time past was as unknown in
Benniugton as suicide aud the slaughter of mau by mau," etc.
This extract shows that the editor at least was a timely
sentinel, and that the community had not yet become so
familiar with scenes of gross immorality as to be unaffected
with profound concern by the fact of their occurrence.
But so far as irreligion and immorality were becoming
bold, we have illustrated more clearlj^ the virtue of prayer,
and the power of the grace of God, which triumphed over
every obstacle. The affair, which called out the editorial
quoted from, occurred in August, 1802 ; in the winter of
1802-3 came one of the most powerful revivals Bennington

OPEN-AIR MEETINGS. 75
has ever witnessed. Three members of our church survive
who were added to it among the fruits of tliat revival : Mrs.
Betsey Edgerton, IMrs. Celinda Henry, and Mra. Lucinda
Hubbell. 1 There are not a few who recollect it. It raade
a vivid impression on the mind. It will be reraerabered by
many with gratitude to God through ctcrnitj'.
It was still the time of the old meeting-house. Those
interested in the project of having a new meeting-house
had been tiying ten years, and in vain, to obtain a success
ful movement of the town to build one. In the winter of
1803-4 the movement under the new and less stringent
law was successful. This was the winter immediately suc
ceeding the revival, aud we maj' infer the one event had
something to do with the other. At the tirae of the
comraenceraent and during the height of the revival the
old meeting-house was standing. But it was not at all
times adequate to hold the numbers that then pressed to
hear the word of God. It was in vogue at that time to hold
protracted raeetings in the open air. There was a three-
daj's' meeting here in the open air.
The Rev. Mr. Davis preached here in that raeeting, and
at other places also in the town. A committee went down
to Mendon, in Massachusetts, to obtain him. He was, ac
cording to the imperfect accounts we now get, an abrupt,
uncultivated, ut ea rnest and successful, laborer here in
that revival. A Rev. Mr. Nelson preached here also, who
was more learned and methodical, " a very able man."
The Rev. .J. Spaulding is remembered as preaching here,
at that time, with great elevation and power of language,
particularlj' upon the attributes of God, — the divine be
nevolence, — and in connection tlierewith illustrating with
uncommon solemnity the obligations and guilt of sinners,
as well as the blessedness of the heavenly state.
' All these have since deceased.

76 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Elder Caleb Blood, minister to the West Church in
Shaftsbury, near the burying-ground, came, with his dea
con, Jno. Downes. Elder Blood said to Mr. Haswell, '¦' We
have come down to warm by j'our fire, for our flre has gone
out." Not that the church had become extinct, but its re
vival spirit had declined ; and, by coming to the meetings
in Bennington at that time, his people were warmed anew.
The Rev. Solomon Allen, of Pittsfield, was here at the
three-days' meeting ; so also the Rev. Messrs. Jackson of
Dorset, and Preston of Rupert, and the colored preacher
the Rev. Mr. Haynes.
The three-days' open-air meetings were held on the side-
hill, east of S. S. Scott's residence. At that time Gov.
Moses Robinson was one of the deacons of the church ; and
possibly the place of meeting being on the road to his
house and in its vicinity may be accounted for by that
fact. The cluster of houses on that corner, namely, S. S.
Scott's, Mrs. Raymond's, and Mr. Moses Harrington's, were
not then built. During the meeting, a staging for the min
isters and others broke down, — one of the few circum
stances recollected by persons now living. No one was
seriously injured, though some were much frightened.
Daniel Smith, afterward the Rev. Daniel Smith, of St.
Louis, was one of the converts. Another was the Miss
Eleanor Read, as already noticed. She was a consistent,
happy Christian, and died a triumphant death. We find
the spirit of the revival manifesting itself in the columns
of the " Vermont Gazette," then published here ; among
other ways, in original stanzas, of great spirituality and
fervency. Two stanzas are selected from a contribution
of this sort to the " Gazette*' of July 12, 1803, and intro
duced iu a note to the editor, signed William Kinnis : —

HYMNS. 77
" To meditate on heavenly things
Gives to my thought an angel's wings,
Bears my aspiring mind above.
And fllls my breast with holy love.
" My flesh and bones exult with joy.
And holy zeal without alloy ;
My inmost soul doth all rejoice.
Absorbed in Christ, my only choice."
Some stanzas from another hj-mn, " occasioned by the
present evidently awakened attention of the town to the
things of religion," are inserted here, not so much for
poetic merit as a witness to the revival. — Gazette of Nov.
15, 1802. " Oh, art thou passing by?
And may we see thy face?
Let every blind Bartimeus cry.
Lord Jesus, grant me grace 1
"Let each Zaccheus flee
To catch a passing glimpse;
With zeal ascend the gospel tree.
And baffle Satan's imps.
"Restrain reviling tongues :
Be thou the convert's stay;
Sustain their hopes, avenge their wrongs.
And wipe their tears away.
" Let Bennington rejoice.
Her church with joy be fllled,
And every heart, and every voice.
Exult in grace distilled."
The published account of Miss Read's conversion may
not be interesting to all ; but, doubtless, it reflects with
considerable accuracy the spirit of the revival. For this
reason, a somewhat lengthy extract is presented. Refer-
7*

78 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
ring to her attendance at an inquiry-meeting, where were
present anxious inquirers and young converts, she proceeds
as follows : —
"An aged man came forward, and, iu trembling accents, de
clared what God had done for his soul. Then a girl of ten years
old, in a manner the most animating, related her remarkable ex
periences. I began to reflect on the assertion of Mr. Spaulding
that God is good. Surely, thought I, these happy souls can attest
the truth of this assertion. Their salvation is really as important
as mine; and it is remarkable that I should rejoice in their happy
deliverance from the bondage of sin. God has been long tender
ing me tlie same blessed deliverance. But I, fool indeed, with
such a price to get wisdom, had no heart for it. Why, then,
should I murmur? How can I repine? I am forever lost; but
God is just. Upou this most hearty confession my long-pent tears
flowed ; and, v/hile bursting sobs almost tore my heart asunder, I
reviewed my desperately wicked exercises toward him, wliom I
now saw to be just even in my eternal condemnation. Surely,
thought I, of all the unreasonable wretches in existence, I am the
most deserving of hell. Here I experienced such unusual convul
sions of body as induced me to take hold of a chair before me to
enable me to keep my seat. I verily supposed that my soul was
taking its flnal separation from my body. I attempted to arise,
in order to go into another room, but found it impossible. I must
expire, thought I, in the midst of this assembly, for an example
of God's righteous displeasure. It is just that it should be so;
and every oue present must rejoice iu this expression of his right
eous indignation against such a vile worker of iniquity. Here I
viewed myself a criminal, justly condemned to all the tortures of
endless despair. No gleam of hope beamed on my benighted soul.
No fond expectations from creature aid whispered consolation.
Against God only had I offended, aud doue this great wickedness,
and he only could afl'ord me help. My soul seemed humbled in
the dust in view of my condemnation, while I was constrained to
cry out in spirit, ' Even so. Lord God Almighty, true and rigliteous
are thy judgments.' At this view of my wretched, hopeless situa
tion, the following words passed sweetly through my mind, and
with such delightful energy as thrilled through my whole soul,
and filled me witli rapture iuexpressible ; —

THE FRIDAY MEETING. 79
" ' Jesus, to thy dear, faithful hand,
My naked soul I trust.'
" At this most coidiiil dl.oposal of myself into the hands of a glo
rious Redeemer, the tliick cloud seemed to disperse, aud give place
to such a transporting view of the blessed Saviour as uo words
can express. AVitli an eye of faith, I beheld his transcendent
glory, more conspicuous tliau tliat of the natural sun in meridian
splendor, when bursting from behind the thickest clouds. I could
no more doubt ofthe being and divinity of Christ than of my own
existence. He was presented to my spiritual view in such sub
stantial glory as caused me to adopt the acclamation of the aston
ished Thomas: ' il/;/ Lord and my God." Here all my distress
subsided, and all my anxiety for beloved self was cured. I was
astonished that I could ever have felt such anxiety for myself.
The greatness of God's character, and tlie glorious scheme of re
demption, filled me with wonder, aduiiiatioii, and joy. I raised
my head, and looked on Mr. Spaulding, wlio was zealously engaged
in illu,<:trating the rigliteousness of Clirist; but, oh I how altered
was his aspect ! ' How beautiful,' thought I, ' are the. feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace, that saith unto Zion,
Thy Ood reigneth.' "
In conclusion of the account of this revival, the follow
ing anecdote of Ezekiel Harmon, farailiarly told, but per
tinent, may be introduced. It is [u-eserved as related by
Mrs. Austin Harmon, third wife of Austin Harmon, grand
father of the present Austin Harmon, and- sister-in-law of
Ezekiel. " Ezekiel Harmon called at the door of our house
as he was returning frora the Fridaj' meeting. I inquired
of hira if he had been to the Friday meeting, and if it was
a good one. ' A glorious one ! ' said he. ' How manj' were
there ? ' I inquired. His reply was, ' Four, — Gov. Robinson,
Mrs. Judge Robinson, - — — , and myself. We had a glorious
meeting. We got the promise.' I looked, and I thought
brother Ezekiel's face fairly shone." This was a short time,
the summer or fall, before the great revival of 1803.'
1 This Friday meeting is noticed in two or three other Instances In the vol
ume. " The Friday r. M. prayer-meeting went back to the formation of the

80 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The names of ninety-three are on the roll of the church
as added to it at this time. But aged inhabitants have
stated the impression that there were about two hundred
hopeful conversions.
The moral aud religious tone of society again became
elevated. The new meeting-house was built ; considered,
as doubtless it was, in advance of any other church edifice
in this part of the country, it added to the new impulse
whieh public worship had received from the great revival.
The town was distinguished for the intelligence and influ
ence of its people. Hon. S. H. Brown relates some remi
niscences by Col. Hinman, of Utica, N. Y., who was a visitor
here some few years since. Among other things, that
gentleman remarked that he could recollect the time, say
1808-1820, when there was the best society in Bennington
he ever saw, — men of a superior order of talent, gentlemen
in their raanners, of eminent influence and position iu po
litical circles and in professional life.
II. Other Revivals. — In 1811 (duringthe pastorate
ofthe Rev. Daniel Marsh), thirty-eight are known to have
heen received into the church. In 1820 (the year in which
the Rev. Absalom Peters was ordained and installed over
the church) , thirty-three were added. In 1827 (the second
year of the pastorate of the Rev. Daniel A. Clark), there
was an accession of one hundred and one. In 1838 (the
interval between the pastorate of the Rev. Mr. Clark and
that ofthe Rev. Mr. Hooker), one hundred and sixty-eight
were added to the' church. In 1834 (in the pastorate ofthe
Rev. E. W. Hooker), ninety were received into the church.
Without pursuing the list further, it is apparent there have
church, and continued until three years after Mr. Hooker came. It was held In
the meeting-house. In earliest times not uncommonly at Mrs. Samuel Robinson,
Sen. I have known my father to go when there were but two or three." — W.
Haswell.

HAPPY COMMUNION SEASON. 81
been repeated seasons of special religious awakening, and
large ingatherings iuto the church since the revival of 1803.
That, in 1831, raaj' be called, perhaps, the greatest re
vival, certainly next to that of 1803. In the revival of
1831, one hundred and thirtj'-one persons were received
iuto the church at one coramunion.
The following graphic account of that occasion is from
Dr. Peters' " Birthday Memorial," Appendix, p. 64 : —
"I cannot close my reminiscences of the church in Bennington
without recurring to u, scene of surpassing Interest, in which I
was called to participate some flve years after my dismission from
its pastoral care. My immediate successor, the late Rev. Daniel
A. Clark, had already closed his ministry there, and the church
was without a pastor. But where his ministry had planted and
watered, God was giving the increase. It was that wonderful
year ofthe right hand of the Most High in many of the churches,
1831. In connection with the preaching of Rev. E. N. Kirk, then
of Albany, and others who had temporarily 'Supplied the pulpit, a
great revival of religion had been wrought. A large number of
the hopefully couverted had been examined and accepted, aud
were awaiting a formal admission to the cliurch at the next com
munion day, September 4th. I was present by invitation, preached
on the occasion, presided at tlie administration of the Lord's Sup
per, and admitted one hundred and thirty-one persons, on confes
sion of their faith, to their flrst communion at the Lord's table.
Their ages ranged Aom thirteen to seventy years, and seventy-
six of the number, not having been baptized in infancy, received
the sacrament of baptism.
" The baptismal service alone, for seventy-six persons in succes
sion, which was performed wholly by myself, occupied all of two
hours. Yet this, with the other protracted exercises, produced no
weariness in the congregation. A wakeful, earnest attention and
a tearful Interest pervaded the assembly, and indicated a divine
presence above and around us."

CHAPTER VIII.
THE FIRST SEVEN PASTORS.
)HE Rev. Jedidiah Dewet. — Of the Rev. Mr.
Dewey, the flrst pastor of the church, it is to be
regretted that so imperfect a memorial has been
preserved. Nevertheless the testimonj' which we
have (being found here and tliere in relations so
diverse from each other, and so foreign to any de
sign of a formal eulogj') is the more conclusive to his worth;
Of the extraordinary measures to obtain Mr. Dewey to the
pastorship of this church mention has been alreadj' made
in the account of the organization of the church.
Unquestionable evidence has descended to us of his fer
vent piety and ability, as well as fidelitj'. A letter from
Westfleld, Mass., frora the pen of the Rev. Eraerson Davis,
D.D., pastor of the original church in Westfield (which Mr.
Dewey left to join the Separates) is interesting ; and sorae
extracts from it raaj' be presented here : —
" Mr. Dewey united with the church (the original church
in Westfield) iu 1737, at twentj'-three j'ears of age. Soon
after this the church adopted the half-way covenant. . . .
This .was particularly offensive to some of the earnest and
devoted members. They said the church had abandoned
its principles and would adrait unconverted persons to the
church. Many absented themselves from the coraraunion.
They left the church. Mr. Dewey did so, in 1748. He
was called to give account in 1749. In 1750 the church
voted that, inasmuch as he had gone out from them, had

MR. DEWEY'S STERLING QUALITIES. 83
joined the Separates, and becorae their preacher, that they
would no longer regard him as one of their number. They
did not call it excoramunication, but a withdrawal of fel
lowship. Mrs. Dewey was cut off in the same manner in
1751. Mr. Dewcj- had onlj' a comraon-school education,
but he was intelligent aud gifted. His Christian character
stood high. The church refused to excommunicate him, be
cause it would imply something criminal, and so they only
withdrew fellowship."
From these few but interesting particulars we can learn
somewhat as to the sort of raan he was. He was an ear
nest Christian, and had a conscience of his own, and airaed
to do good, that his life should not be a blank. He had
learned the trade of a carpenter. When the flrst meeting
house was raised the force was insufficient, and one ofthe
sides halted when partly up. Mr. Dewey stepped forward
and said to the builder, " Do j'ou take a pole and help to
lift with the raen, and I will give the word of command."
The builder complied. At that instant two men came
riding up on horseback from the south. They dismounted,
and also grasped the poles. Mr. Dewey gave the word of
command, and the side of the frame went up forthwith to
its perpendicular position, was fastened, and the raising of
the building .was completed without further delaj'. He
also built or superinteuded the building of the house in
which he resided.
It is a proof of Mr. Dewey's sterling qualities that,
though a Separate alid without liberal education, and
though a party was increasing in tho church more in sym
pathy with the Standing Order Congregational churches, —
a reaction apparent in the controversy of the church respect
ing the method of raising the salary and other moneys for
expense of public worship, and which became decisive in
the character of Mr. Dewey's successor, and in the charac-

84 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
ter of the men composing the council which installed Mr.
Avery, — yet Mr. Dewey was as much esteemed by the
conservatives as by any portion of the church and congre
gation. An incidental paragraph in the Rev. Mr. Avery's
published narrative corroborates the estimate here pre
sented. Referring to the history of the church under Mr.
Dewey's ministry, he says : —
"As a number of professors, not ofthe Separate order,
have become inhabitants of the town, and have great re
spect for the personal and ministerial endowmei.ts of the
Rev. Mr. Dewey, who was of catholic and liberal princi
ples, they have, at different periods, joined the communion
here." From the time of his flrst connection with the Westfleld
church as its pastor to the close of his labors in Benning
ton was a period of twenty-nine years. His pastorate of
the Bennington church continued through a period of flfteen
years and four months.
In rude and boisterous times he built up the infant church
in its new home, and left it to his successor with a roll of
at least one hundred and twentj'-seven names. (Inclusive
of those deceased and those dismissed.)
Mr. Dewej' was also a patriot. AVjth a warm love of his
people, and a profound interest in the future prosperity of
the infant settlement where he had cast in his lot, his ener
gies were unavoidably taxed, not only by the spiritual
wants, but also by the secular exigencies of the community.
As early as January, 1770, he was indicted with otliers at
Albany as one of the leaders in the efforts of the settlers
to maintain their land-titles ; not that he was active in
any violent sense, but his counsels were understood at Al
bany to have weight with his fellow-citizens, ou publio
affairs. In May, 1772, in a spirited correspondence be
tween the New York governor and the inhabitants of Ben-

MR. DEWEY A PATRIOT. 85
nington, his name is foremost in the address of the gov
ernor's letter, and at the head of the signatures in the reply
of the Bennington men to that letter. The following pas
sage occurs in that letter : " I am told Mr. Dewey, a
minister of the gospel, Jaraes Breakenrldge, and Mr. Fay
(Dr. Jonas Fay) are persons in whose judgment you have
much confidence. I should therefore think they would be
your proper messengers on a business in which you are so
deeply concerned ; especially Mr. Dewey, who has been fa
vorably represented here since my appointment to this gov-
ernment."! As the result of this correspondence vvith
Governor Tryon, in which Mr. Dcwej' took a leading part,
the government of New York for a time quite modified its
course ; so rauch so that the settlers here thought their
troubles connected with this controversy had corae to an
end. Guns were fired in Bennington, speeches made, and
a vast concourse from this and neighboring places united
in celebrating what they believed, or hoped, was the dawn
of peace. These bright hopes were destined, however, to
be blasted ; but it shows that Mr. Dewey did what he could
wiselj', by peaceful negotiation, to bring an end to contro
versj', and that his influence with Governor' Tryon was not
inconsiderable. But Mr. Dewey, it appears, understood and applied the
maxim, that there are times when forbearance ceases to bfe-
a virtue ; and hence he was feared as well as respected at
Albany. He was, as all accounts agree, a man of stern
force in the discharge of his duty according to his con
science. In 1777, when the Revolutionary War had com
menced, and tiie enemy were descending the Hudson Rivet
with great force, and tiireateniug to devastate the whole
countrj', and had sent a detachment to capture the military
stores at Bennington, he preached a war serraon. He told
1 Sec state Papers, pp. 22, 23.

86 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
his people to take arms and go flght for their country.
On the next Saturday the Bennington battle was fought
and won. The two following anecdotes do not seem exactly
credible, but thej' are aijiong the traditional anecdotes of
Bennington, and given as related to the writer: —
It is related that on one occasion, when Ethan Allen was
in the congregation, and Mr. Dewey was preaching on the
character of God, some remark iu the discourse displeased
Col. AUeil ; he arose in his place at the head of a prominent
pew in the broad aisle, and saying wilh an audible voice,
" It's not so," started to go out of the pew, evidently
with the intention of leaving the house. Mr. Dewey, lift
ing up his right hand, and pointing with his fore-flnger di
rectly at Col. Allen, said, ^^ Sit down, thou bold blasphemer,
and listen to the Word of God." Allen, who had too
strong a taste for that style of doing things not to like
it under any circumstances, immediately resumed his seat,
and gave respectful attention to the remainder of the dis
course. It is also related that at the public divine service of
thanksgiving for the capture of Ticonderoga, in which
Allen bore so heroic and so famous a part, many oflScers
from Ticonderoga attended, and Allen was present. Mr.
Dewey preached, and made the prayer, in which he gave to
God all the glory and praise of the capture of the strong-
. hold. Allen, in the midst of the prayer, called out, " Par
son Dewey ! Parson Dewey ! Parson Dewey 1 " The third
time of so pronouncing his name made Mr. Dewey to pause
and open his eyes. Allen then raised both hands and said,
"P/ease mention to the Lord about my being there!" Mr.
Dewey, taking no further notice of the interruption, pro
ceeded with the public devotions.
He could also be geuial and pleasant. One or two char
acteristic anecdotes are proper to be introduced to illustrate

ANECDOTES OF MR. DEWEY. 87
this. When tho house, now the residence of Aaron L.
Hubbell, and built by his father, was raised, Mr. Dewey
was present: also Joseph Rudd, who was engaged to be
married to Sarah Wickwire, then living in a house nearly
opposite. Mr. Dewey, who knew of the intention of raar
riage, said to Joseph, " If you will go and lead Sarah over
here, I will marry you for nothing." The reply was, " It's
a bargain." Joseph led the young lady to the place, some
planks were laid down upon the timbers for a floor, and
thej' were married.
It is related, there was a stupid and withal an eccentric
or half-witted servant raan in Mr. Dewey's house, who had
the strange habit of arising in the night, and wandering
from room to room with a lighted candle in his hand. Mr.
Dewey, who was both a careful and au econoraical raan,
rebuked the individual, saj'ing he feared his house would
be set on flre bj- .such proceedings, aud moreover he did
not like to have his candles consumed so uselessly ; but on
the very next night he heard the noise of the raan about
the house again. Mr. Dewey, full of indignation, and de
signing to be very severe, proceeded to the roora, and lo !
instead of one candle, the fellow had two, one in each hand,
illuminating his nocturnal perambulations. Mr. Dewey,
who had a sense for the ludicrous, suddenly forgot his
anger, and retired from the scene, saying not a word.
If Mr. Dewey had any enemies, it has not been handed
down. The valuable right of land called the minister's
right was settled upon him by vote, as follows : —
"July 18, nm. — Voted, To give the Rev. Jedidiah Dewey the
lot of laud called the minister's, In said Bennington, exclusive of
the labor already done on said lot, in case said Mr. Dewey settles
with us in the gospel ministry." " November 1, 1763. — Voted, To
give the Rev. Mr. Jedidiah Dewey the lot of land called the minis
ter's lot, for his settlement, as au encouragement for him in the
work of the ministry."

88 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
He built and occupied the house, the residence of the late
Major Aaron Robinson.
He was the son of Jedidiah and Rebecca (Williams)
Dewey. He was born in Westfleld, Mass., April 11, 1714,
and died December 21, 1778. He married Mindwell Hay
den Hopkins, of Windsor, Conn., August 4, 1736. They
were published July 3 of that year. Of her were born to
him : —

Mindwell, Nov. 29, 1737.
Lucy, Nov. 16, 1739.
Jedidiah, June 17, 1742.
Elijah, Nov. 28, 1744.

Eldad, Aug. 12, 1747.
Lucy, 2d, Nov. 9, 1751.
Margaret, Nov. 28, 1756.
Betsey, Dec. 16, 1759.

Mrs. Mindwell Hayden Dewej-died May 29, 1760, before
Mr. Dewey's removal to Bennington, in the forty-eighth
year of her age. Mr. Dewey married his second wife,
Betty Buck, February 20, 1761. Of her 'were born to
bim: —

Loan, May 15, 1765.
Tabitha, Feb. 16, 1768.
Julia, Oct. 20, 1770.

Claret, Oct. 6, 1773.
Phyana, Dec. 13, 1776.
Pliua, Jan. 2G, 1778.

Mrs. Betty (Buck) Dewey died June 29, 1792, in the
fiftj'-fourth year of her age.
II. The Rev. David Avery was born April 5, 1746,
in Norwich, a part of the town called Norwich Farms,
now a part of the town of Franklin, Conn. His immigrant
ancestor waa Johu Avery, a Scotchman who settled in
Truro, Mass. His parents were John and Lydia (Smith)
Avery. He experienced religion under the preaching of
Whitfield. 1 He was fitted for college in the noted Indian
Missionary School of the Rev. Eleazer Wheelock, D.D., at
1 Notes of the Rev. P. H. White.

A WAR SERMON. 89
Leb.anou Crank (now Columbia), Conn. He was gradu
ated at Yale College iu 1769, and studied theology with
his forraer preceptor, then President of Dartmouth College,
(into which institution tho Indian Missionary School had
just beeu forraed). i He was ordained as raissionarj- to the
Oneida Indians, Aug. 29, 1771, as colleague with the Rev.
Samuel Kirkland. This Mr. Kirkland was son of the
Rev. Daniel Kirkland, pastor of the Newiut (now Lisbon)
churcli in Connecticut, from which the Newint Separate
church, previously referred to in this discourse, separated.
Mr. Avery did not, however, long remain among the
Indians, but returned to New England and preached in
various places until March 25, 1773, when he was installed
at Gageboro' (now Windsor), Mass.
The Sabbath after the news of the battle of Lexington
reached Gageboro', he preached a farewell sermon, telling
the people that God would take care of them ; as for him
self he was going to join the army. When the congre
gation was dismissed he took his stand upon the steps, and
gave a soul-stirring address on behalf of his country, en
treating his people " by every raotive of patriotism, and as
they valued liberty and abhorred slaveiy, not to turn a
deaf ear to her cry." Twentj' of his parishioners gave a
quick response to his appeal, chose him captain, shouldered
their muskets, and started on foot for Boston. In ten
days from the battle of Lexington thej' were in their camp
at Cambridge. They rested the first Sabbath at North
ampton and attended public worship. In the afternoon,
Mr., now Capt., Avery preached. His text was Nehemiah
iv. 14, — " And I looked aud rose up and said unto the nobles
and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people. Be not
ye afraid of them ; Remember the Lord, which is great,
I One hundred and flftleth anniversary pamphlet of Columbia, Conn., by tho
Kov. F. D. Avery and others.
8"*

90 MEMORIALS OP A CENTURY.
and terrible, and flght for your brethren, your sons and
your daughters, your wives and your houses." On the fol
lowing Saturday, they arrived at Cambridge, and on Sun
day Mr. Avery preached to the whole army from the same
text. He received a comraission as chaplain in the army,
dated April 18, 1776, and was attached to Col. Sherborne's
regiment. He not only faithfully performed the duties of
his office, but occasionally volunteered to stand guard, or
even to go into a battle. While holding his position as
captain, he instituted daily religious services, going from
tent to tent to read the word of God. At flrst he had
leave of absence from his parish, the neighboring minis
ters supplying the pulpit two-thirds of the time ; but his
ab.pence being protracted he was dismissed from Gageboro',
April 14, 1777. He was at the battle of Bunker Hill ; saw
the defeat of our army at the battle of Long Island ; waa
by the side of Washington in his melancholy retreat
through the Jerseys ; was present at the taking of Bur
goyne, at the capture of the Hessians at Trenton, and in
the battle of Princeton ; was in the army during that ter
rible winter at Valley Forge ; helped build the fortification
at Ticonderoga ; was by the side of Washington when he
signed the death-warrant of Andre, and witnessed the ex
ecution of that ill-fated officer ; and was very active iu the
efforts which were made to capture the traitor Arnold. i
He resigned his chaplaincy Feb. 1, 1780, but continued to
serve till March, 1780.
His ministry at Bennington was next in order. He pub
licly took charge of the church and congregation here, in
the presence of the Rev. Messrs. Daniel Collins, Samuel
Morrison, and Seth Swift, May 3, 1780. With the excep
tion of church action in casea of discipline, and the doings
of the councils in his own case, the records present little
I Anniversary pamphlet of Columbia, Conn.

MR. Avery's doctrines. 91
clue to the nature and extent of his labors in this field.
Tradition has preserved still fewer particulars of his rain
istry here. A manuscript letter, written by him after he
left, to one of his Bennington flock, speaks of his earnest
endeavors to inculcate the doctrines of God's word, both in
his sermons aud bible-classes. He was, undoubtedly,
active and laborious ; but what special fruits there were of
his labors here the judgment-day can only disclose. He
was dismissed at his own requeat, by vote of the church,
June 17, 1783.
He was settled at Wrentham, Mass., May 25, 1786, and,
after much difficulty there, was disraissed April 21, 1794,
but still continued to preach to a congregation in North
Wrentham. He afterward reraoved to Mansfleld, Conn.,
and emploj'ed himself with preaching in vacant parishes in
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. He also per
formed two missionary tours in the western part of New
York State, and one in Maine, under the patronage of the
Massachusetts Domeatic Missionary Society. He afterward
gathered a church and society in Chaplin, Conn., to which
he preached for three years. In October, 1817, he went to
Shepardstown, Va., to visit a daughter, and while there re--
ceived a call to settle in Middletown, Va.
He possessed superior talents and culture. Strange to
say, in two or more instances of disaffection toward him
in the parishes where he waa, the openly alleged ground of
dissatisfaction was unsoundness of doctrine, " leaning
toward Socinianism ; '* and yet all the reliable evidence
goes to show that he was a bold and discriminating preacher
of Orthodox doctrines. The principal charges against him,
before the council in this place, were with regard to the
doctrines which he preached. Three specifications were.
presented in the complaint, wherein, as was alleged, his
doctrines were false. The council decided that the views

92 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
of doctrine which the complainants alleged he taught, and
which thej' regarded as unsound, were correct. ^
While here, Mr. Avery built and occupied the house late
the residence of Judge Isham. He used to sign his name
David Avery, V.D.M., — Verbi Dei Minister, — minister of
the word of God. He is described as tall, portlj', of com
manding presence and strongly marked features ; a gentle
man of the old school, frank, cordial, and dignified. He
usually preached extemporaneously frora short notes. He
wrote witha very large, open, and graceful chirography, ex
ceedingly pleasant to read. He had a clear, sonorous voice,
and spoke so distinctly that everj' soldier in a brigade could
hear all that he said.^ His published discourses were, two
funeral sermons ; a thanksgiving sermon ; and a sermon on
holding the tongue.
When upwards of seventy, he received the call to settle
in Middletown, Va. His installation was appointed, but
never took place. It was prevented by illness, which proved
fatal. The clergj'inen who were pall-bearers at his funeral
were the same who were invited to his installation. The
text on which he last preached, about two weeks before his
death, was Rom. viii. 9 : " Now if any man have not the
spirit of Christ, he is none of his." In the incipient stages
of his last sickuess, some evangelical ministera aud elders
of different denominations assembled by his request at the
house where he was, and established a united monthly con
cert of prayer. One of the prayers he offered himself, sit
ting bolstered up upon his dying-bed. He died of typhus
fever, Feb. 16, 1818.
III. The Rev. Job Swift, D.D., waa born in Sandwich,
Mass., June 17, 1743. His parents were Jabez and Abi-.
gail Swift, of Kent, Conn., to which place his father re-
1 Church Records, and Mr. Avery's Narrative. 2 Notes of Mr. P. H. White.

TROUBLOUS TIMES IN THE COUNTRY. 93
moved when he was very j'oung. He was graduated at col
lege in 1765. His mind becarae hopefully impressed with a
sense of religion while engaged in the study of Pres. Ed
wards' writings at college. He was assisted in his theologi
cal studies by the Rev. Dr. Bellamy. He was little raore
than twenty-two years of age when he became a preacher of
the gospel. In the following year he was ordained over a
church and people in Richmond, Mass., where he labored
seven j'ears. After his dismission from the church in Rich
mond, he preached in different places for a twelvemonth.
He then reraoved to the Nine Partners, in the State of New
York, and reraained there seven years. Thence he re
moved to Manchester, in this State. After a ministry of
two years there, he reraoved to Bennington, and was in
stalled here May 31, 1786.
His labors here were arduous and prosperous ; but it was
not a time of numerous and extensive revivals. The con
troversy respecting the claima of New York was not finally
adjusted until Oct. 28, 1790, sorae four and a half years on
ward in his ministry here. The State was not adraitted into
the Union until March 4, 1791. The troubles had already
commenced, growing out of the impoverishment of the
people by tho Revolutionary War, and the depreciation of
paper currency. By the latter cause, Mr. Swift, previously
to his removal to Bennington, had the misfortune of losing
the chief part of his propertj'. There were heavy taxes to
meet the necessities of the national and State governments.
There were serious disturbances in different parts of Ver
mont, and attempts to resist the collection of the taxes.
The Shay's rebellion in Massachusetts, from the same
cause, occurred at this time, — 1786,1787. In Vermont,
the atterapts to overawe the courts and resist the officers of
the government, though not in the end successful, showed
how deep was the distress of the people because of the

94 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
poverty occasioned by the long and arduous struggle with
many and diverse enemies and dangers. The difficulties of
this time were aggravated fearfully in Vermout by its anom
alous condition. It being j'ct unrecognized as a State by
neighboring States and by the Federal Union, and its
self-constituted regime being resisted and denied by some of
its own citizens, there was naturally an extraordinary influx
into the State of lawless persons, — individuals bankrupt in
character, as well as in finances. This was a source of dis
order in the State of serious extent. The high part played
by Bennington in the civil affairs of the State was continued.
Twice during the ministry of Mr. Swift, the Legislature was
convened here, — in 1787, and in 1792. Also during his min
istry here the party spirit of the two political parties, called
then Federal and Republican, waxed warm and was often
times at fever-heat. This excitement and struggle of polit
ical parties began as soon as Vermont was admitted iuto
the Union. Intensitj' of party contests in Bennington, it
would seem, could not have been surpassed elsewhere. In
fluential men, indeed the preponderance of influence in the
church and society, were committed to Jefferson and his ad
ministration. Mr. Swift is represented as a model minis
ter for prudence. He was at all limes careful of the inter
ests of Christ's spiritual kingdom. He, however, without
doubt, sympathized with Pres. Dwight, of Yale College,
and the Rev. Dr. Emmons, of Massachusetts, and other
leading New England divines, who conscientiously believed
Jefferson to be infldel in religious opinion, and who gave
to this consideration great weight iu their comparative esti
mate of the political parties of that time. It is represented
that Mr. Swift gave dissatisfaction because his prayers at
public worship were so worded as not to recognize Jeffer
son as a Christian, — it being the custom to praj' particu
larly for both the President and Vice-President of the

DR. shift's method of preaching. 95
United States. In 1792, six years after the installation
of Mr. Swift, the subject of the erection of a new meeting
house began to be seriouslj' agitated, and waa carried into
the town meetings. Thia agitation was continued during
the remainder of Mr. Swift'a miniatry here.
Itwas a time of religious desolation throughout the land.
A sermon to the ministers — one of the printed collection of
his sermons — has this conclusion : —
" In a worldly view there are to all many discourogements. It
Is a time in wliich error prevails. It is a time of great stupidity and
dark worldly prospects. But, cost what it may, let us preserve
fldelity to our Lord and Master. You may be courted, on the one
hand, to keep back tho truth, and threatened on the other. But,
oh, it is inflnitely too great a sacriflce to gain the honors and riches
of this world at the expense of fldelity to Christ ! We are not, my
brethren, to expect much from this world. This, however com
fortable, would be but a poor reward. If we are faithful, we shall
have an inflnitely more important reward. A crown of glory
awaits us frora our Lord and Master, which may we, by our faith
ful labors, inherit, for the Redeemer's sake."
Upon the records of the church are preserved the names
of thirty persons who united with the church during Mr.
Swift's ministry here. Strange it would be if not many
were added of whom no record is preserved, so imperfectly
kept were the records.
There was no attempt in his sermons at quaihtness, or
antithesis, or merely rhetorical ornament. He chose an im
portant subject of religious doctrine or practice, went
straight through with it, and stopped when he came to a
proper end. He enlarged upon his theme according to the
Scripture, and that his audience might obtain as profitable
an understanding of it as possible, and applied the same in
a short, pertinent iraproveraent. He preached on civil
government to the Legislature convened at Manchester ; on
the duties of ministers to the ministerial association. He

96 memorials of a century.
preached on the duties of children, and duties of parents.
A small volume of his sermons, and plans of sermons, was
published after his decease, together with a biographical
sketch, and the substance of a discourse to his memorj' by
the Rev. Lemuel Haynes.
He reared a large family on slender means. He fltted
his sons himself for college. At the same time, he was
noted for his hospitality. Mr. Haynes, in his memorial
discourse, says, "Mr. Swift's benevolence and hospitality
often astonished those who came under his roof." Mr.
Haj'nes had peculiar occasion to remember these traits.
Mr. Haynes, it is well known, though highlj' gifted, and
the pastor of three most respectable white congregations
successivelj', was " the colored preacher." But he was
never, by the least act of Mr. Swift, raade to feel the differ
ence. And when, on the occasion of many ministers being
together over night, and so needing to be assigned two to
one bed, Mr. Swift would anticipate all diflUcultj' of allotting
hia brother of the darker skin by delicately saying, " Broth
er Haynes and I will go together.'' He ever possessed a
deep interest in young raen who were seeking an education,
and in pious young men who had the ministry in view, and
assisted many. Mrs. Hendrick, wife of Deacon Hendrick,
of the Shaftsbury Baptist Church, residing where Perez
Harwood, senior, deceased, resided, or near there, had a
Baptist meeting at her house in a time of revival, and Mr.
Swift came into the meeting. She said, " I am ap'iM'ehen-
sive, Mr. Swift, the young folks will be afraid of you ; they
are bashful." — "I think not," said he. He soon obtained
their confidence", and they related their experiences very
freely. They were young converts. At the close of the
meeting, Mrs. Hendrick spoke to Mr. Swift of the success
of the occasion. " One of the most interesting meetings,"
she said, "I have ever attended." Mr. Swift replied, "I

decease of dr. smFT. 97
do not know that I have more than the oue talent ; but I
can feed Christ's lambs."
He was graduated at Yale College. He received the
degree of Doctor in Divinity ffora WiUiams College. He
was successivelj' member of the corporations of Dartmouth,
Williams, and Middlebury Colleges. He was sent for from
far and near to eclesiastical councils. At his death he was
called the Apostle of Vermont. ^
He loved to do missionary work, and went sometimes to
a great distance to preach the gospel to the destitute. His
death occurred suddenly, while thus temporarily engaged
in missionary labor. It took place at Enosburgh, in this
State, Oct. 20, 1804. He had removed from Bennington to
Addison, and his labors there were being much blessed.
The town had been distracted with serious divisions ; but
after he commenced his labors there the moral and religious
character of the people was soon entirely changed. A
church was organized, and rendered respectable by the
number of its raembers. "It is not easy," says the biog
rapher, " to conceive the grief whieh the people there felt
on learning the sorrowful news of his death." He died in
the triumphs of faith. When asked if he was willing to die,
he replied, " Death has no terrors."
He resided in the capacious house now flrst south of the
late residence of Gay R. Sanford, deceased ; the same house
or near to which in the earliest times here was the residence
of Jbhn Fassett, clerk of the proprietors' meeting, deacon
of the church, and innkeeper in that place.
He was a very large man. A lady,^ with whom I was
conversing on the subject, related to me that she was a
child when he was pastor of this church, but that she recol-
1 Rev. Calvin Durfee. (See " Proceedings at the Centennial of the Berkshire
Congregational Association.")
2 Mrs. Raymond. 9

98

MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.

lects him well. She recollects going to another town to
visit there ; and, seeing a small man in the pulpit, she in
quired if he was a minister, with some surprise. She had
always seen Dr. Swift in, the pulpit, and supposed that
none but very large men were suitable to be ministers.
He was married Nov. 6, 1769, to Mary Ann Sedgwick
of Cornwall, Conn., sister of Hon. Theodore Sedgwick.
She died in February, 1826. Their children were : —
Sarah Gold, Born, Nov. 13, 1770. Died, Oct. 23, 1853.
Clarinda, " July 18, 1772.
Serenus, " May 27, 1774.
¦ Noadiah, " Feb. 24, 1776.
Erastus, " Feb. 9, 1778.
Benjamin, " April 9, 1780.
Samuel, " Aug. 2, 1782.
Mary Ann, " July 22, 1784.
Samanthe, " May 12, 1786.
Persis, " March 28, 1788.
Laura, " March 6, 1790.
Heman, " Sept. 30, 1791.
Job Sedgwick, " April 11, 1794.
Mary Ann, " Aug. 18, 1796.
Of these children, Heman spent several months at An
dover Theological Seminary, in the study of divinity, but
left for the profession of medicine. The only son who
became a preacher was Job Sedgwick, who, after gradua
tion at Andover, preached several months iu Maine aud
Vermont ; but, his health failing, he went to the South, was
employed some time in teaching in Georgia, and afterward
turned his attention to other pursuits. Two of the grand-
" sons beeame ministers, — Alfred Brown Swift, son of Hon.
Benjamin Swift, and Henry Martyn, son of Dr. Ileman Swift.
His second son, Noadiah Swift, M.D., became a deacon
in this church.

" April 12, 1851.
" April 3, 1865.
" March 21, 1800.
" April 14, 1848.
" Nov. 11, 1841.
» March, ;790.
" June 20, 1805.
" Sept. 5, 1815.
" April, 1790.
" Jan. 30, 1856.
" June, 1859.

MR. marsh's ministerial labors. 99
The following is the testimony of President Dwight to
Dr. Swift's worth : —
" Dr. Swift was one of the best and most useful men whom we
ever knew. Good men loved him, and delighted in his society,
and the worst men acknowledged his worth. To the cliurches
and ministers of "Vermont he was a patriarch. He possessed an
understanding naturally vigorous, respectable learning, sound
theological opinions, eminent prudence, and distinguished zeal,
combined in the happiest manner with moderation, benevolence,
and piety ; and wherever he was linown he is remembered with
the highest veneration." '
IV. The Rev. Daniel Marsh was born in New Mil
ford, Conn., May 10, 1762. The firat public school he
attended was at Brunswick, New Jeraej', in the time of
the Revolutionary War. He served as railitia raan at vari
ous times, travelled on foot, to and fro, between Connecti
cut and New Jersey. He cut wood night and morning to
pay for his board, and by his own exertiona obtained his
education. He studied divinity with the Rev. Dr. Bradford,
near Boston. He received an honorary degree of M.A., from
Williams College, in 1795.
He was ordained at Poughkeepsie, N. Y., June 30, 1790 ;
was pastor of the church there several years ; thence he re
moved to Catskill, N. Y. ; next to Salisbury on the Royal
Grant ; thence to Ballston and Saratoga ; thence to Ben
nington. He succeeded the Rev. Job Swift,' D.D. He preached
in this town as early as 1805, aud was the first aettled min
iater after the great revival in 1802-3. According to rec
ords of the Congregational society — kept in the town
records — of March 27, 1805, at a meeting of the Congre
gational aociety : —
1 " Dwight's Travels," vol. iI., p. 443.

100 memorials of a century.
" Voted, That the society recommend the Committee of Supply
to hire Mr. Marsh for the year ensuing."
The building of the new meeting-house was approaching
to completion. By vote of the society, Mr. Marsh preached
its dedication sermon. December 4, 1805, was first ap
pointed for the dedication ; afterward the time was changed,
and the dedication took place on New Year's Day, 1806.
The dedication sermon was published with the hj'mns sung
on the occasion. A sermon by Mr. Marsh, subsequently
preached before the Legislature, and a sermon on the six
teenth of August, 1809, were published.
" March 19, 1806, on application of seven freeholders, declaring
themselves to be of the Congregational order, and also by particu
lar request of the Congregational Church, all inhabitants of the
town of Bennington, and especially ofthe Congregational society,
are warned to meet at the court-house, to see if they will unite In
calUng the Rev. Daniel Marsh to settle over said church and society ;
to see if they will vote a sum of money for salary from year to
year, or for the year ensuing; and to choose a committee, or in some
otherway to agree with him what he shall have." "March 31, 1806.
— Met according to warning ; DoJ«d afflrmatively; iioJed to give four
hundred and flfty dollars yearly, and so long as he shall continue
with ns in the gospel ministry." " May 12, 1806. — Adjourned meet
ing. Voted, It belongs to the church to call the installing council.
Voted, It is our wish the church would unite with the Rev. Daniel
•Marsh in calling a council."
Mr. Marsh was accordinglj' installed, and remained pas
tor of this cliurch until regularly dismissed hy an ecclesi
astical council, April 25, 1820.
When his labors closed in Bennington, he went out, a
short season, as missionary into Central New York, aided
by a missionary society in Massachusetts ; then he preached
in Rupert in this State ; thence to a feeble church in Jamea-
ville, Onondaga Co., N. Y. There he enjoyed a powerful

MR. marsh's success IN BENNINGTON. 101
and extensive revival, in which his own soul waa much en
larged, and the church greatly strengthened. This was the
crowning work of his ministry ; for, after a few years of suc
cessful labor there, he suffered from inflammation of his eyes,
by which he so far lost his sight that he was unable to read
the remainder of his life. Although he gave up his charge,
he continued to preach occasionallj- until near the time of
his death.
Under hia ministry, seventy-seven are known to have
been received into the church here. Among them, Hiram
Bingham, the missionary, Luther Bingham, Charles Cush
man, Capt. Elijah Dewey (at seventy-four j'ears of age),
Jotham French (afterward deacon), Henry Harwood,
Hiram Harwood, second, Seth Hathawaj', Stephen Hins
dill (afterward deacon), Jaraes Nichols, James B. Nichols,
and others. Among the additions to the church, under his
ministry here, were several who were hopefully converted
while he resided as a near neighbor to them. The Bing-
hams, the Nicholses, Mr. French, were near neighbors to
him when he resided on the Charles Ilicks farra. Also
Eunice (Mrs. Martin) and Lydia Bingham, Mrs. Uriah
Edgerton, a neiglibor, Mrs. Hinsdill, mother of Mrs. Geo.
W. Robiuson. Alao four female members of the Nichols
farailj'. He was very sociable. When he raoved into the
Hunt place, Capt. Bart lived near him. Capt. B. was not
favorable to rainisters, and said he should "neither borrow
nor lend." Mr. Marsh heard of it, went to Capt. Burt's,
and asked to borrow a saddle. Capt. B. lent him the sad
dle, and, in due time, became a great friend of Mr. Marsh.
He was a man of peace, and successful in settling difficulties
among brethren. On one occasion, being called, as a raem
ber of a council, to settle a difficulty in a neighboring
church, when the council had assembled, and while they
were organizing and preparing for business, he brought
9*

102 memorials of a century.
the contending parties together, and reconciled them before
the council was ready to hear the case. His salary waa
small. He waa obliged to work a farm, which he was en
abled to purchase with property of his wife. While the
horses were at work on the farm, he was accustomed to go
from one side of the town to the other on foot, attending
meetings, officiating at funerals, and visiting the sick. He
subsequently bought a farra in Jaraesville, in part with pro
ceeds of the sale of his Bennington farra. He was gifted in
praj'er. On one sixteenth of August, at the celebration,
he was designated to make the praj'er. He introduced so
much pertinent matter into the prayer, the orator of the
day complained that there was nothing left for the oration.
In his last sickness he enjoyed much of the presence of
his Saviour, and officiated in praj'ers in his son's familj- aa
long aa his voice was audible. He died at Jaraesville, N.
Y., Dec. 13, 1843. A veteran of eighty-two years, he met
death in peace, rejoicing in the hope of a glorious immor
tality. In the earlj' part of his ministry he married Miss Anna
Jagger, daughter of Deacon Stephen Jagger, of Long Isl
and. His wife was a remarkable woman. While residing
in the north part of this town, hearing of Robert Raikes'
Sabbath school, she organized one iu her own house for the
children in her vicinity. This, at the time, she supposed
to be the flrst Sabbath school in the United States.' She

1 A Sabbath school was organized In Middlebury, in this State, In 1813, and in
Greensboro' in 1814. (" Vermont Chronicle," June 4 and July 30, 18(11.) And In
Connecticut, substantially, though not exactly, In the modern form, as early as
1764. (See Cont. Ecc. Hist. Conn., pp. iai-2.) It may not be out of place to in
troduce here the following notice of a tract enterprise, contained iu the " Green
Mountain Farmer" of August, 1811 : " Excited by the example, nnd encouroged
by the success of religious troct societies In different parts ofthe United States,
and elsewhere In the world, a respectable number of persons In Uinnlngton havo
subscribed and contributed to procure excellent cheap religious tracts for chari
table distribution," etc., etc.

extracts from a diary. 103
also drew up a series of Bible questions, which she had
printed at the printing-office of Anthony Haswell. She
also organized a cent society for contributions to the mis
sionary cause, which continued a long tirae afterward in
this pariah.
They had nine children, — seven sons and two daughters.
One of his sons, Edwards Marsh, becarae a minister of the
gospel. One of his daughters becarae the wife of the Rev.
Cyrus Hudson.
Two or three short extracts respecting Mr. Marsh, from
Benjamin Harwood's diarj', will interest those who remem
ber either of these persons. Here is one to show that Mr.
Marsh found some not smooth sailing early in his ministry
here : —
"May 30, 1808. — This afternoon I attended a meeting of the
Congregational society. The question to be tried was. Whether
we should support our present minister or not? It was carried in
the affirmative. There was some debate on the subject, which
was conducted with candor and cooluess, except in some instances
where party feelings could not be suppressed. Judge Robinson in
timated that, should Mr. Marsh be turned away througli the influ
ence of his enemies, he was of the opinion that another minister
could not be had here. He meant to be honest about it, and said
he should vote against settling any other man. He appears to bo
a pretty warm advocate for Mr. Marsh. I was on the affirmative."
Very Anti-universal. — " Apvil 22,1810. — Had the pleasure of
being where I might have heard Mr. Marsh had sleep not blocked
up my hearing channels. By this I do not mean I heard none at
all. I understood of his preaching enough to know that it was
very anti-universal."
Solemn and Impressive. — (Diary of Hiram Harwood.) — "May
28, 1813. — Mr. Marsh preached the funeral sermon of Governor
Robinson in a solemn and impressive style."
March Meetings opened with Prayer. — " March 29, 1809. — A full
meeting convened at the court-house, and, after an excellent
prayer by the Rev. Mr. TVIarsh, proceeded to business."

104 memorials of a century.
V. The Rev. Absalom Peters, D.D., was horn in
Grafton County, New Hampshire, Sept. 19, 1793. His
father was Gen. Absalom Peters, a graduate of Dartmouth
College, and descendant of a brother of Hugh Peters, fa
mous as an adherent of Cromwell, and who was beheaded
on the restoration of Charles II., — a martyr to the cause of
civil and religious liberty. The mother of Dr. Peters is
claimed to be a lineal descendant of John Rogers, the
Smithfield martyr of " catechism " celebrity.
Dr. Peters was graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1816 ;
studied Theology at Princeton ; was ordained and installed
pastor, at Bennington, July 5, 1820, and dismissed Dec.
14, 1825, to accept the secretaryship of the United Do
mestic Missionary Society, and as such to aid in the forma
tion of the American Home Missionarj' Society, of which
he was the flrst secretarj', continuing sucli until 1837, — in
these years also commencing and editing the " Home Mis
sionary and Pastor's Journal ; " was editor of the "American
Biblical Repository" for four and a h.alf years, commencing
Januaiy 1, 1838 ; on November 20, 1844, was installed
pastor of the First Church of Christ in Williamstown,
Massachusetts, and dismissed, at his own request, Septem
ber 4, 1857. Beside these more protracted fields of labor,
Dr. Peters' peculiar talent for originating and helping for
ward new instrumentalities in the cause of Christ has found
scope in various engagements of lesser duration. Among
these may be mentioned, his connection with the Union
Theological Seminary, as one of its original projectors, and
agent to collect funds for it, and in which he received ap
pointment to the chair of Ilomiletics and Pastoral Theolo
gy ; also his connection with the " American Eclectic," as
originator aud editor for a brief time, and other temporary
labors. He was the immediate predecessor, in Bennington, of

MR. peters' labors in BENNINGTON. 105
the Rev. Daniel A. Clark. Under his ministry here. Arti
cles of Faith aud a Covenant were adopted by the church,
— it having been before with no other instrument of this
sort excepting the Cambridge Platform. The church rec
ords, too, were kept with remarkable neatness and care by
Major Aaron Robiuson, the clerk. Mr. Peters was warmly
seconded, iu his efforts to elevate the tone of raorals and re
ligion in the community, by intelligent and spiritually minded
Christiana. This was his youthful pastorate. With a grace
ful style in sermonizing, and groat ardor in his work, he at
tracted large audiences, and was blessed with nuraerous addi
tions to the'church. He will pardon the insertion here of an
anecdote related by hiraself to the writer. In the first
days of his ministry here, sitting one day in his study, he
was surprised by a loud and repeated knock at his study
door, and, upon being bidden to enter, in rushed an entire
stranger, of eccentric manner, and from the north part of
the State, who took hira solemnly bj' the hand, and proceed
ed to say, sadly, " Brother Peters, I have come to warn
you, to pronounce a woe upon you — ' Woe unto you, when
all men shall speak well of you I ' "
Not a very long tirae afterward the sarae individual paid
him another viait in hia study, but with a oheerfulneaa
quite in contrast with his former aspect. He now grasped
Mr. Peters warmly with both hands, and said, " This
time. Brother Peters, I have come to congratulate you ;
you are all right now." The truth was, the wrath of sorae
individuals in the community had been roused recently
against Mr. Peters ; the particular occasion of whicli was
a sermon preached^ September 29, 1822, airaed directly
againat public wickedness, which the week previously had
1 The text was, " When the enemy shall come in like a fiood, the Spirit of
the Lord shall lift up a standard ng.iinst him." — Is. xlix. 19. The sermon was
published by unanimous request of the church.

106 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
assumed an alarming form in a devotion of a portion of the
inhabitants, and of not a few congregated here from
abroad, for nearly the entire week, to horse-racing and the
performances of a travelling theatrical company. The
zeal and efforts of Mr. Peters in this connection had no
small share in the enactment of severe statutes against such
evils, which, particularly wilh regard to travelling circuses,
have for a long time not been inoperative iu this State, until
by au enactment, approved November 9, 1865, the bars, as
to circuses, are again let down.
Dr. Peters was married,- Oct. 25, 1819, to Miss Har
riet Hinkly Hatch, daughter of Major Reuben Hatch, of
Norwich, in this State. Of seven children, the issue of
this marriage, three were born in Bennington, — George
Absalom Peters, M.D ; Harriet Adeline, wife of the
Rev. William Clift ; and Horace Hatch, deceased iu in
fancj'. i
VI. The Rev. Daniel A. Clark was born in Rahway,
N. J., March 1, 1799. His father was David Claik, a rela
tive of Abraham Clark, whose name appears among the
signers of the Declaration of Independence. He was hope
fully converted at the age of fifteen, and one year afterward
united with the church. He was graduated at Princeton
College in 1808 ; pursued studies preparatory to the sacred
ministry at the Theological Seminary in Andover ; and
was ordained and Installed pastor of the Congregational
Union church of Braintree and Weymouth, Jan. 1, 1812.
He remained in that charge until the fall of 1815. January,
1816, he was installed pastor of the Congregational church
in Southbury, Conn., which field he left to be installed as
pastor of West Parish, Amherst, Masa., Jan. 26, 1820.
1 See " A Birthday Memorial of Seventy Years, with Memories and Reflec
tions for tho Aged and the Young; by Absalom I'elers, U.U." New York, 1800.

POWER IN THE PULPIT. 107
From Amherst he came to Bennington, and was here in
stalled June 14, 1826. His next and last pastorate was
in Adams, Jefferson Countj', N. Y., where he Was installed
over the Presbyterian church July 17, 1832. He also la
bored for intervals before his ordination, and. in repeated
instances between his pastorates, iu other places. He de
ceased March 3, 1840. "Without a struggle or a groan he
calralj- fell asleep iu Jesus."
Mr. Clark's sermons and other productions have been
repeatedlj' issued from the press. The last in two octavo
volumes, with a biographj-. i
When thoroughlj' roused, which he often was, Mr. Clark
delivered his thoughts from the pulpit with herculean force,
nor did he disdain to fiash the truth from a polished blade,
or to cut a way for it to the conscience with a whetted edge.
Sometimes his sentences disclosed a beauty rarelj- sur
passed. A lay mau, 2 resident iu Bennington during Mr.
Clark's ministrj' here, states that of the raany serraons of
this divine which he heard, the one raost impressed upon
his own raemory was marked by great beauty of style.
The subject of this discourse was " The Beautj' of Holi
ness." The discourse does not appear in the printed works.
Of his discourse, "The Church Safe," the Rev. Dr. Sprague
saj'S, 3 " It is enough to immortalize the mind that could
produce it."
Children listened with delight to his preaching, because
of its simplicity and clearness. It is related * of a bright
little girl, that, returning horae from church one Sabbath
day, she was inquired of who preached, and replied, with
1 " The Complete Works of Rev. Daniel A. Clark," edited by his son, James
Henry Clark, il.U., with a Biographical Sketch, and an Estimate of his Towers
aa a Preacher, In two volumes. Ives & Fhlnney, New York.
2 Seth B. Hunt.
8 Letter to J. Henry Clark, M.D., in Clark's Works, etc.
4 By Mrs. Darius Clark.

108 memorials OF A CENTURY.
marked signs of pleasure, " Nobody preached ; Mr. Clark
talked to us." Mr. Clark had preached a sermon to chil
dren, and they, in their interest in what he said, forgot that
it was a sermon.
The well-aimed labors of his predecessor, Mr. Peters, it
is evident, had not wliollj' eradicated public sin from the
communitj-. A travelling tiieatre advertised to visit Ben
nington ; and the young men, some of whom knew better,
had become committed to sustain the affair, and were quite
deterrained to brave the opposition to it among good men.
One of them, since a judge upon the bench of the Suprerae
Court in this State, has described the appearance of Mr.
Clark when he entered upon the introductory exercises of
the pulpit next Sabbath morning. There was a peculiar
nervous excitement, and twitching of his countenance, and
animation of his whole frame, which led his audience to
anticipate what was coming. He preached two discourses
that daj', which made those respectable young men who
had pledged their patronage to the travelling theatre wish
they had taken a sober second thought before doing so.
Among outlines of discourses in his published works is
one ou the sinner's desperate depravitj'. The text is Jere
miah iii. 5 : '¦'¦Thou hast spuken and done evil things, as thou
couldst." The discourse is thus introduced: "This passage
evidently teaches the doctrine that men are as depraved as
they can be in present circumstances." The large compara
tive number of additions to the church during his brief min
istry here — one hundred and twentj'-six in four j'ears and
four months — and, it may be added, the powerful revival
which occurred here the next year after his dismission,
must have been due, in no small degree, to the divine bless
ing upon his faithful preaching of the doctrine of man's
sinfulness, and dependence upon the sovereign mercy of
God. Revivals attended and followed his labors elsewhere.

MR. Clark's temperance labors. 109
It was a tirae of powerful revivals in the country at
large. It was a bleased time, indeed, in which to be an
eminently talented and qualified preacher of tlie gospel,
and in the prime of one's great phj'sical and intellectual
strength. Mr. Clark aimed deadly blows at intemperance. Sabbath-
breaking, dancing, card-playing, covetousness. If there
was an infidel-club in the town, he discovered it, and
poured his hottest fire into it. Like Samson, he was willing
to pull down the temple of Dagon upon himself as well as
the Philistines, if, otherwiae, he could not destroy them.
The temperance reforraation had just commenced in the
country at the time Mr. Clark was settled here, and he
threw hiraself, with his accustoraed ardor, into that move
ment. He began here by proposing to individuals to sign
a pledge that they would, at the end of the j'ear, report
faithfully what amount of distilled liquor had been used in
the family during the j-ear. Many signers were obtained.
Araong the nuraber, eight reported at the year's end they
had used none ; others reported the quantitj' they had
used. We are amused at the report of one, whose figurea
went as high as ten gallons ; he said it was for bathing
purposes. At the time of the second annual report of
this association it was resolved to practise total abstinence
from distilled spirit. That was some j'ears before the tem
perance reformation advanced to the point of abstinence
from all intoxicating drinks. There were some earnest
ones, who, at that meeting, anticipated the subsequent
movement, and took a position in favor of including wine,
beer, and cider, in the pledge. Mr. Clark thought it not
then expedient, and reasoned aa follows: "If wolves aud
bears were coming down in fury from your mountain sides
to devour your flocks, would you stop to hunt out the rats
and mice ? " 10

110 memorials OF A CENTURY.
Many were the large orchards in that day ; and cider-
mills, from early autumn until late in the winter, were
busy night and daj'. And distilleries were not deficient,
to which the hogsheads and barrels from the cider-press
were constantly borne. These orchards were many of
them cut down, under the powerful irapulse of the temper
ance reformatiou. Mr. Clark also sought the proraotion of
'intellectual improvement in schoola, Ij'ceums, and espe
cially in the study of the word of God. The whole con
gregation was, at that time, engaged in Bible-class and
Sabbath-school study during the intermission. His own
success in preaching, and the great aud multiplied revivals
Of those timea, times in which Bible societies, Missionary
societies, Temperance societies, and Sabbath schools were
'springing up as if by magic, on every hand, fired his ex
pectations of the speedy advent of the millennium, and
stimulated his ardor to the highest pitch. Every man here
almost was a representative man. All were accustomed to
move on in their piii'poses with more than ordinary energy
and persistency of will. There were, nevertheless, leading
spirits. 'This place was, at that time, the scene of a remarkable
'competition between two rival seminaries of learning. The
impulse of this competition drew crowds here from abroad
to both schools ; among them many talented j'outh. Ben
nington had once more become famous far and wide ; and
the Rev. Daniel A. Clark, was, for the time, among other
iloted ones, the most noted personage.
¦ "After all that has been said of Mr. Clark, in this short
notice, it will not give surprise if it is added that he
'aroused much opposition against himself. His preaching
and labors were the occasion of not a few in the commu
nity being "set at variance" (see Matt. x. 34, 35), not
only from him but also from one another.

THE VERDICT OF TIME. Ill
Abruptness aud severity of dealing with ungodly men
was not unknown to the preaching of those times ; and Mr.
Clark, self-trained to great terseness of expression, and by
nature intense, sometiraes manifested the fierceness of the
lion rather than the gentleness ofthe lamb. The following
incident, occurring in Amherst, Mass., was related to the
writer of these sketches. It is easy to believe such a
story would lose nothing, bj' repetition in passing through
lips unfriendly to Mr. Clark ; still it is deemed proper to
be given here as an illustration of the impression sorae
of his labors raade upon a portion of the coramunity. Ve
hement controversj' between two persons in a blacksmith's
shop was overheard by another person, sitting in the
open chamber-window of an adjoining house ; and the
person, thus an involuntary listener, went down to ascer
tain raore definitely tlie character of the dispute, and
found the two parties were the blacksmith, a profane raan,
and the Rev. Mr. Clark. Mr. Clark said to the black
smith, " You will be damned if j'Ou do not repent." The
blacksmith, enraged, with so personal and severe an ap
plication of the gospel warning, retorted upon Mr. Clarlt,
the same threatening, in similar language, though with
probably more of it. The listening party returned to the
house, and said, " The other man, no doubt, was swear
ing, and he should have said Mr. Clark was, also, if he had
not known who he was."
One of his successors in the pulpit of the Amherst church,
speaking of Mr. Clark to the writer, said, " He was a
preacher of magnificent sermons ; but he knew not how to
take the kinks out of a Yankee's brain." It would seera,
however, that he knew how to take out the self-conceit, and
sorae of the delusions out of the sinner's heart. It raay be
said, too, that, as tirae wears on, the words of censure of
Mr. Clark become infrequent aud faint, and his admirers

112 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
speak their warm praises, with few, if any, to call iu ques
tion the fitness of the eulogy.
There was noticeable in him, as the infirmities of diaease
and a disabled frarae gathered upon him, a rare childlike-
uess and humility.
He deceased at sixty-one years of age ; but his remark
able powera began to give way under the influence of dia
ease some eight years prevjously ; so that his ministry in
Adams, N. Y., where he was last installed, continued little
over a year. " From that time he failed gradually, till God
called him home." His disease was one of rare occurrence,
— the ossification of the arteries of the brain.
He was married June, 1812, at Portland, Maine, to Miss
Eliza Barker, daughter of Dr. Jeremiah Barker, of Gorham.
The offspring of this marriage are, James Henry Clark,
M.D., Hon. Horace F. Clark, LL.D., Rev. Frederic G. Clark,
D.D., Edward Clark, Esq., Mary, wife of Rev. Livingston
Willard, and Sereno Clark.
VII. The Rev. Edward William Hooker, D.D., was
born in Goshen, Conn., Nov. 24, 1794. By hia paternal
ancestry, he traces his descent back (seven or eight gener
ations) to the Rev. Thomas Hooker, that " light of the
New England churches, and oracle of the colony of Con
necticut ; " the Puritan father, who, with others of like re
ligioua character and aims, came to this country from Eng
land in 1633 ; first settled at Newtown, now Cambridge,
Mass. ; and in 1636 removed to Hartford, Conn., and was
one of the founders of the flrst Connecticut churches, and
pastor ofthe flrst church in Connecticut, that now the First
Congregational Church of Hartford. 1 By his maternal aii-
1 In the life of Thomas Hooker (by Dr. Hooker), In the Appendix, are the names
of forty-two ministers of the gospel descended from him, and of forty-one mar
ried to his female descendants, — among them some of the brightest lights of the
American pulpit.

LABORS OF DR. HOOKER. 113
^cestiy, Dr. Hooker is deacended from the Elder President
Jonathan Edwards.
Dr. Hooker was fitted for college at Goshen Academy,
and Addison County Grammar School ; graduated at Mid
dlebury College in 1814 ; atudied theology at Andover
1814-18 ; waa paator of the Congregational Church in
Green's Farms, Fairfield, Coun., 1821-29 ; associate gen
eral agent of the Araerican Temperance Society, and editor
of the "Journal of Humanity," 1829-31 ; pastor of the
First Church in Bennington, 1832-44 ; Professor of Sacre<l
Rhetoric and Ecclesiastical History in the Theological In
stitute of Connecticut, at East Windsor, 1844-48 ; pastor
of the Congregational Church, South Windsor, Conn., 1848-
(the date to which is not given) ; pastor in Fair Haven, Vt.,
1856-62 ; since which time he has resided with his son. Rev.
E. C. Hooker, at Newburyport, Mass., aud at Nashua, N. H.
Dr. Hooker has published several sermons and pam
phlets, and, at least, two thick volumes, — one the life of
Thomas Hooker, the other meraoira of Mrs. Sarah Lanman
Sraith, and haa alao contributed, with raore or leas fre
quencj', articles to the periodical press. With an intellect
of superior excellence, having extensive knowledge of men
and individuals at home and abroad, and wielding a racj-
and vigorous pen, he has possessed Jieculiar talents for
writing for the press. But his heart haa ever clung to the
preaching of " the glorious gospel ofthe blessed God" as his
great life-work. Loving the evangelical and Calvinistic
doctrines, and zealous for the faith once delivered to the
saints, he has uttered no uncertain sound, and occupied no
doubtful position as a preacher of Christ and him crucified.
And a life-long exaraple of high-toned Christian courtesj'
and conscientious Christian circumspection has added
weight to his worda.
His was one of the longer of the Bennington pastorates, —
10*

114 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
twelve and a half years ; and probably none of the ex-pastors
of this parish have gone away with warmer attachment; to
them of families left behind than haa continued to exist be
tween the Rev. Dr. Hooker and some families of his old Ben
nington pastorate. Many were added to the church during
his ministry here ; one year — that of 1834 — the number
rose as high as ninety. He was here in an important period
of the history of the church and the town, and enjoyed rela
tions of mutual respect and friendly intercourse with leading
members of the church and community, and is therefore
eminently fltted to furnish valuable reminiscences of the
times of hia residence here ; and it is hoped he will not
fail to do so.
His flrst wife was Miss Faith Trumbull Huntington, of
Norwich, Conn., daughter of Jabez Huntington, Esq., and
grand-daughter of Gen. Jedidiah Huntington, of New Lon
don, Conn. ; and, on her mother's side, in the line of the
Trumbull family, tracing her ancestry back to William
Robinson, who came from England to Dorchester, Mass.,
in 1641, and is believed to be a descendant of the vener
able Puritan, John Robinson, of Leyden.
The children of thia marriage are : Mary Laftmau, wife
of the Rev. Anson Clark ; Faith Huntington, wife of the
Rev. E. J. Montague; Elizabeth Peck, deceased in 1841,
at the age of twenty-two, — all of whom became members
of the Bennington church ; the Rev. Elias Cornelius Hook
er, Miss Sarah Huntington Hooker, and the Rev. Edward
Trumbull Hooker, — these last three, natives of Ben
nington. Dr. Hooker's second wife was Mrs. Elizabeth Slielden
Lyraan, of Troj', New York, sister-in-law of our Deacon
George Lyraan ; she died in Fairhaven, Vermont, in 1856.
His present wife was Miss Lucy Bagley, of Newburyport,
Massachusetts.

OTHER BENNINGTON PASTORS. 115
Note. — In introducing notices of two living pastors, the writer
has felt he was executing a delicate task. He would not have done
so but for the fact that the lapse of years has already separated
their labors iu Bennington to quite a distance from the present.
With regard to the remaining ex-pastors of this church, and tlie
pastors of the other churches in the town, the time of their labors
here falling into the more recent past, is the writer's apology for
omitting any other than the briefest statistical mention of them,
which will be found elsewhere.

CHAPTER IX.
TRANSIENT MINISTERS.
)HE Rev. Mr. Burton. — In the interval be
tween the paatorates of the Rev. Mr. Avery aud
the Rev. Job Swift, D.D., there was a revival un
der the labors of the Rev. Messrs. Wood and Bur
ton. It is believed, though upon what evidence
can scarcelj' be stated, that the Mr. Burton was the
Rev. Asa Burton, afterward distinguished as the Rev. Dr.
Burton, of Thetford, in this State, autho* of the " Taste
Scheme in Divinity," and instructor of many students in
theology. He was at that time the j'oung pastor of Thet
ford. He was a close reasoner, and a difficult antagonist
in controversy. The following characteristic anecdote has
been told of him. Some people, called Christ-ians, set up a
Sabbath evening meeting in a school-house in one corner of
his parish, the town of Thetford, and it was the custom of
their preacher to give opportunity after his sermon to any
who might desire it to ask questions. These new-comers
were esteemed to be not sound iu divinity. Dr. Burton
thought it his dutj' to attend their meetings and hear
for himself. He did so, and when the opportunity was
given to asli questions, he plied the stranger with such difli-
cult ones as caused him to cease holding any more meetings
in that town.
Father Marshall has already beeu mentioned as a Con
necticut Separate pastor, who was accustomed frequently to

ANECDOTES OF FATHER MARSHALL. 117
pass this way. He is described aa possessing ardent piety,
but marked by eccentricity. A biographical sketch of him
in the "Vermont Evangelical Magazine" for July, August,
1815, containa a graphic account in brief of his character
and life ; also affords a glimpse of the Separates of Father
Marshall's time. He was, when a lad, brought under deep
conviction of sin, whicii ofttimes returned upou him with
great power after he obtained a Christian hope. His zeal
in warning the impenitent and the lukewarm would brook
no restraints, whetlier as au exhorter, being yet a stripling,
or as a Sep.irate minister, whicii he becarae a considerable
time before his twentieth j-ear. For violating the new laws
against exhorting in other ministers' parishes, or the preva
lent notions of propriety, — exhorting in season and out of
season, — he was arrested, tried, set in the stocks, bound
out to a farmer two mouths to pay the costs of prosecution ;
tried again, and for a time confined in Hartford jail. He
was twice settled, — his longest pastorate being over the
Separate church in Canterbury, Conn. When nearly seventy
years of age he removed to Starkaborough, in thia State.
He preached teraporarily in Weybridge, Hinesburgh, and
Westfield. When at home he regularlj' preached to the
.people in Starksborough until it became imposaible for him
to do so any longer because of the infirmities of advanced
age. He often performed the devotional part of public
worship until within a few weeks of his death, which took
place at Starksborough Feb. 20, 1813, in the eighty-second
year of his age.
Many anecdotes are told of hira, of which three or four
shall be given here. He tried for a tirae to conforra to the
demand for written serraons, but did so with an ill grace.
On one occasion his little notes had got forward gradually
to the outer edge of the pulpit-desk until they slipped off.
He started back, and said, " There, go with j'our fetters ! "

118 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Once preaching here with great earnestness, he cried out,
" Where is Governor Moses Robinson's piety, and where is
old Esquire Samuel Robinson's piety ? " — meaning. Is their
piety reproduced In those who ought to iraitate their good
examples? At another time preaching here, he looked out
of the window which was back of the pulpit and saw men
harvesting grain on the Sabbath. The subject of his dis
course was, "The Claims of God." Pointing backward to
the men in the fields he said, " Bennington sinners can trust
God to send them rain and sunshine, and ripen their crops
for them ; but thej' cannot trust him, after the grain is ripe,
to keep it for them twenty-four hours while they shall keep
the Sabbath for him." Once when he was a guest at the
elder Mrs. Samuel Robinson's, she lamented to him the loss
of some religious privilege, occasioned by their removing
from Massachusetts to this then wilderness. Father Mar
shall remembered her state of mind, with his wonted par
ticularity, in his prayer at family worship, " that she might
have grace to be more thankful for the mercies she still
enjoj'ed, and not hanker so much for the flesh-pots of
Egypt." It is related that she was never again heard to
complain in that manner.
There is an anecdote relating to the " Oracles of Reason,"
an atheistical book of Ethan Allen, — the edition of which
was consumed in the burning of the printing-office, — which
haa been, and not without appearance of truth, ascribed to
Mr. Marshall. He was, so it is related, a guest for the
night of Ethan Allen, and in the morning was duly called
upon to attend praj'ers in the family. Such were the cus
toms of hospitality of the place iu those days. Col. Allen
handed him his " Oracles of Reason," saying, " This is my
bible. I suppose you have no objections to read out of my
bible." His reverend guest replied, " Let us sing a few
verses first ; have you any objection to the common psalm-

REV. JOSHUA SPAULDING. 119
book?" — "Not at all," said tlie host. Mr. Marshall,
taking up the psalm-book whicii lay upon the table, select
ed, and proceeded to read, the psalm coraraencing with this
stanza : — "Let all the heathen writers join
To form one perfect book, —
Great God, if once compared with thine,
How mean their writings look ! "
Allen, who, notwithstanding his infidelity, was charac
terized by great cordiality and frankness, interrupted him,
and said, " Floored, Father Marshall ; take your own
Bible." Father Marshall would be requested sometimes by the
Baptists, when they were without a supplj', to preach for
them, and even to administer the communion, though it
was not expected that he would himself commune. On one
such occasion, a piece of the bread fell from the table to
the floor ; he picked it up, and ate it, saying, " The dogs
eat of the crumbs that fall from the raaster's table."
The Rev. Joshua Spaulding. — At a society's raeeting,
Dec. 13, 1804, a call was voted to the Rev. J. Spaulding,
and a committee appointed to wait on him and inform him
of the same. His answer is not on record. He Was never
settled here. He had preached here, it is said, for a year
or more, just previously. This was immediately subse
quent to his dismissal from the Tabernacle Church, in Sa
lem, Mass., April 23, 1802, > and prior to his settlement
over the Branch (now Howard Street) Church, in the same
city. He was here during the revival of 1802-3. He ia
stated to have said that he had had a part in forty revivals.
1 A printed farewell discourse of his, delivered at Salem, Mass., is advertised
for sale in the " Vermont Gazette " of that day.

120 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.'
He was in the earlj' part of his ministrj' styled a New-Light
preacher. A two-volume treatiae of his on Divinity is in
print ; also lectures on the coming of the Kingdom of Christ.
He also compiled a hj-mn-book, which waa published at
Salem soon after his visit to this place. He was a mil-
lenaiian. An interesting manuscript correspondence has
been preserved, and is in the possession of G. W. Robin
son, between Mr. Spaulding and others, and also between
him and Judge Jonathan Robinson, on the second coming
of Christ. 1 He was blessed greatlj- as pastor in building
up the Tabernacle Church in Salem, and in promoting
purity of church discipline and spiritual ity. ^
He preached with great warmth and power. In Miss
Read's narrative, as before noticed, after speaking of his
singular unction, and elevation of countenance and manner
in illustrating the righteousness of Christ, so as to bring
forcibly to her mind the text, " How beautiful upon the
mountains," etc., she says, upon a subsequent page, "The
next day Mr. Spaulding preached in a raost terriflc man
ner. He showed forth the terribleness of Christ's coming
to judgment, and treated of the confusion and dismay of
his enemies at his glorious appearing."
He was a democrat in politics, and accustomed to speak
and write his political sentiments with the same pointed-
uess and freedom that he did those of divinity .3
Mr. Spaulding, while here, with his daughter, which was
all the family he had at the time, enjoyed the large-hearted
hospitality of Capt. Elijah Dewey.
1 There appears to have been a considerable Interest here and in tho vicinity,
In those times, in the Scripture prophecies. A printed sermon is at hand, by
the Kev. John Griswold, pastor of the church iu I'liwlet, preached In ISOl, and *
published at iSeiinington (Haswell and Smead), fiom Rev. xi. 10, taking the
view that the" two witnesses" slgnltied the two olBccs of the magistracy and
the ministry.
2, 3 A discourse on the First Centennial of the Tabernacle Church, Salem,
Mass., by Samuel M. Worcester, M.A., pastor of the church.

REV. JEDIDIAH BUSHNELL. 121
The Rev. Jedidiah Bushnell is remembered, by some of
the old inhabitants in this town, as a Vermont minister,
quaint, but able, and very much respected, and very uae
ful. He waa a classmate in AVilliams College, of David
Robinson, Jr., Esq., and visited him while travelling
through this part of the country with an invalid son.
Returning home, and gratefully remembering the hospital
ity of his friend and classmate, he wrote an affectionate
and faithful letter to Capt. Robinson, on the subject of his
personal salvation. Capt. Robinson alwaj's esteemed this
letter as a true expression of friendship, and a beautiful
act of Christian fidelity, and to his dying day used to show
the letter. It was, some few yeara since, at his request,
printed in the " Vermont Chronicle." The following anec
dote of Father Bushnell used to be related bj' the Rev.
N. Hewitt, D.D., of Bridgeport, Conn. Mr. Hewitt, then
a young preacher, happened, with his wife and flrat-born
child, then an infant, to be in the company of Father
Bushnell, who kindly noticed the child. Mrs. Hewitt
made the remark, " Mr. Bushnell, I ara afraid I shall love
this child too much."
"No! no! madam," said Father Bushnell, "you can
not love it too much, if you will only love God a great
deal more."
A recipe, that he once gave to Mr. and Mrs. P. M.
Henry, at the outset of their married life, is worth pre
serving ; it is as follows : —
"To Mrs. Henry. — 'Do you wish to know how to make Mr.
Henry to be a good husband? '
"'Yes.'<"Be a good wife.'
"To Mr. Henry. — 'Do you wish to kuow how to make Mrs.
Henry to be a good wife ? '
" ' Yes.'
"'Bea good husband.' "
U

122 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The Rev. Lemuel Haynes, the noted colored preacher,
has been mentioned in the biographical notice of the Rev.
Job Swift, D.D., as in that day one of the ministers of this
region. It is related of him that, while a pastor in Man
chester, he was called to preach a funeral sermon in this
town, and introduced the sermon by saying, " If my hear
ers expect me to dwell upon the faults of the deceased,
they win be disappointed ; and if they expect me to dwell
upon the virtues of the deceased, they will be disap
pointed ; for I am not here to preach to the dead, but to
the living."
There was a severe drouth in this town, and iu the time
of it came the day appointed for the ordination and in
stallation of the Rev. Absalom Peters, then the youthful
pastor-elect of this church and society. The venerable
Mr. Haynes was present, and had assigned to him, as
his part in the public exercises, the concluding prayer.
There were other able divines to perform the more con
spicuous and weighty duties of the occasion, but a hearer i
related to me that Mr. Haynes' concluding praj-er was the
particular part of the exercises that he retained a vivid
impression of. - Mr. Haynes made impressive remembrance
in his prayer of the retiring pastor (Mr. Marsh) , — of
whom, doubtless without intention, the preceding speak
ers had omitted to make mention ; also, he earnestly sup
plicated that the long-continued and distressing drouth
might come to a speedy end. His words, as related by
another hearer® were, "O God, wilt thou unstop thy bot
tles, and pour the waters upon the earth ? " It Ijegan to
sprinkle a little as the meeting was dismissed, and soon
came the much-desired plentiful rain. On returning from
the ordination exercises, Mr. Samuel Faj-, at whose house
he put up, and who was accustomed to relate this anecdote,
1 Gov. HaU. 2 Mr. Samuel Fay.

REV. EDWARD D. GRIFFIN, D.D. 123
said to hira : " Well, Mr. Haynes, j'our prayer was an
swered." — "I thought it would be," was Mr. Haynes'
laconic reply.
Another gentleraan i recollects the following expressions'
of Mr. Haynes : In prayer, " O Lord, we are so selfish
we spoil everything we do ; " in a aermon, speaking of the
power of temptation, and the distinction between tempta
tions that are sinful and those that are not, " I acknowl
edge you cannot prevent a temptation entering your mind,
at all times. Neither could you always prevent a bird fly
ing down unawares upon your head, but you could prevent
its making a nest in your hair."
The Rev. Edward Dorr Griffin, D.D., is remembered
as one of the distinguished ministers who have occasionally
occupied the pulpit of the Bennington First Church. His
commanding form — being some six feet, seven inches in
height, and of well-proportioned stoutness — need not be
here particularly described. Pleasant anecdotea are related
of hia being duly mindful, upon his arrival in town to ex
change, or to fulfil some special ministerial appointment,
that in the respect mentioned he was not an ordinary raan.
Upon reaching the house where he was to be entertained,
he was accustomed to see, first, that the faithful beast who
had borne him hither was well cared for ; secondly, that
the place in the pulpit from which he waa to deliver his dis
course — that is, where the manuscript was to be placed —
was, by such contrivances as could be extemporized, suffi
ciently elevated ; thirdly, that the bed upon which he was
to repose for the night was suitably supplemented, so a,s to
be long enough for so tall a raan to stretch hiraself upon it
without discomfort, — for all which attentions he would
IMr. Seth B. Hunt.

124 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
return graceful acknowledgraenta with a dignity peculiar to
himself. But when once in the pulpit, and engaged in his favorite
work of preaching " the glorious gospel of the blessed
God," who else could equal the majestic eloquence of Dr.
Griffin? Of two or three excellent anecdotes illustrative
of this, related to the writer of this notice, one shall suffice.
It sliall be given in nearly the same words of the friend
who related it.^ Let him be, as it were, heard to speak :
" In the fall of 1830, a raost beautiful day in October, news
came that Alonzo B. Stiles was dead. Men stood appalled
at the suddenness of such an event ; and one would say to
another, ' Is Stiles dead ? It is impossible ! ' But so it
was. He had undertaken to drive a pair of high-spirited
horses tandem; something gave awaj', he was thrown out,
his head striking upon a rock, and killed. If not killed
instantly, there was no consciousness after the blow. He
was a young man of singular beautj', very accomplished,
and very much admired, and had many friends. He was
in the employment of the ' Old Furnace Company.' We
had no settled pastor. His friends, and particularlj- the
proprietors of the ' Furnace,' sent down for Dr. GriflSn
to preach the sermon. They appointed Sunday as the day,
and as three or four days intervened there was ample time
to spread the notice. Manj' frora the adjoining towns were
accustomed to have business at the ' Furnace,' and they
knew Stiles ; they all came. The meeting-house was crowd
ed. Dr. Griffin took his text from Ecc. ix. 12 : '¦For man
also knoweth not his time.' The sermon was preached to
the young. The lesson which he inculcated was, The duty
and importance of youth preparing for death. As the ser
mon drew near its close, leaning his towering form over
that old pulpit, — he had a way of lifting very gracefully
1 Mr. Aaron L. Hubbell.

AN IMPRESSIVE APPEAL. 125
hia glaases, — leaning over the desk, he said: ' My dear
young friends, procrastination is a rock around which the
bones of shipwrecked millions are whitening for eternity ! '
As he spoke so impressively upon the subject of prepara
tion for death, its duty and importance, it was astoniah
ing to See the countenances of the audience. I sat with
mj' back to the minister — the old square pews — and
looking a large portion of the audience in the face. I have
often thought, I have no doubt that many then and there
fully resolved to lead a Christian life.
" That death seeraed to raake a great impression upon the
young people ; and there waa aeriouaness all that winter.
Along in June of the succeeding spring it was reaolved to
hold a three-days' meeting.'' The summer of 1831 will be
reraerabered as the season of one of the two greatest revi
vals in the annals of this church.
The grave of Stiles is in the church-yard. • On the slab is
this inscription : "In memory of Alonzo B. Stiles, son of
James and Abigail Stiles. Born at Cavendish, Vermont,
September 9th, 1805 ; died in this town (in consequence of
being thrown from a wagon), October 14th, 1830, .aged 25
years 1 month and 5 days."
ll'*

CHAPTER X.
THE LAND-TITLE CONTROVERSY.
I T the tirae our first settlers purchased their lands
in this town, probably they had no intiraation that
any claims would or could be advanced prejudicial
to their titles as derived through the Governor and
Council of New Hampshire. "A claim of New
York had been asserted to Governor Wentworth by
letter from GovernorClinton in 1750, .... but the
correspondence which had taken place between the two
governors does not appear to have been published, and
was wholly unknown to the settlers." ^ The pretext laid
hold of by interested parties for claiming jurisdiction for
the Province of New York as far eastward as Connecticut
River, was an " untenable" charter granted by King
Charles II. to his brother, the Duke of York, in 1664.
" Prior to the proclamation of Governor Colden," Dec. 28,
1763, " setting forth the claim of New York to extend to
the Connecticut River by virtue of this charter, one hundred
and twenty-four of the one hundred and thirty land patents
granted by Governor Wentworth had been issued, only six
ofthe whole number bearing date after Dec, 1763." ^ Our
Bennington settlers, and others, had already made valu
able improvements upon their lands when this proclamation
took them by surprise.
"That prior to the king's order of July, 17G4, New York had
never for a single moment exercised jurisdiction to any part of
1 HaU's Early Hist. Vermont, p. 76. 2 Ibid.

CHARTER TO THE DUKE OF YORK. 127
Connecticut River; that New Hampshire had been repeatedly rec
ognized by the king and his ministry as extending westward to
Lake Cliamplain, and to a line running southerly from that lake
to the north-west corner of Massachusetts, the present boundary
of Vermont; that in all the English and American maps of that
period — and they are numerous — New York is represented as
bounded ou the east by the last-mentioned line, and that such line
was universally understood, both in Old and New England, to be
the boundaries between the provinces of New Hampshire and New
York." •
As to the charter granted by King Charles II. to his
brother the Duke of York, in 1664, it was well charac
terized by Williaras in his history of Vermont as an in
adequate and blundering transaction. In evident igno
rance of the premises, and without anj' attempt at exact
ness, it really gave the Connecticut River as an eastern
boundary, and the east side of Delaware Bay as a weatern
boundary, within which the Duko of York could take what
was not already -chartered away. Otherwise it would also
have given to the Duke of York portions of Massachusetts
and Connecticut ; but theae States never allowed this charter
to deprive thera of a square rod of their territory. It also,
for other reasons, had no validity in law against the set^-
tlers on the New Hampshire Grants.
"All the lands from the west side of Connecticut River to ihe east side
of Delaware Bay." " This grant was inconsistent with the charters
which had before been granted to Massachusetts and Connecticut ;
and neither of thera admitted it to have any effect with regard
to the lands which they had settled or claimed to the west of
Connecticut River; and there were no principles which apply to
human affairs by which this grant would bear a strict examina
tion. If it be examined geographically, the bounds of it were
contradictory, indefinite, and impossible. If It be subjected to
a legal construction, the whole of it, upon James's accession
to the throne, merged in the crown; and at his abdication passed
1 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 146.

128 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
to William, his successor. If it be considered as au instrument
of government, it did not establish any colony or province of New
York, or any power to govern any such province." '
That, however, which made the New York pretext much
more formidable was the order in council, referred to in the
above quotation, obtained by the New York interest from
King George IL, under date of 1764.
Aa to this order in council, it was extensively believed,
though probably without foundation, to have been obtained
by applications falsely represented to be in the name of the
inhabitants of the grants.^
But this order iu council was interpreted by the settlers
as siraply decreeing prospective jurisdiction to New York as
far east as Connecticut River. This the king had a right to
do ; as, in chartering these provinces of New York and
New Hampshire, the right of altering the boundaries of
jurisdiction was reserved to the crown. Had the New
York officers so interpreted the king's order, probably all
controversy would have been at an end. The settlers were
not disposed to revolt against the jurisdiction of New York
upon such an interpretation of the order in council, though
such jurisdiction waa not agreeable to them. 3 Certainly they at
first appear to have had no thought of resisting it by force.
1 Williams's Hist, of Vermont, p. 213. See also Answer of Ethan Allen to
Governor Clinton's Proclamation, State Papers, pp. 85-03; and Early Hist, of
Vermont. 2 WiUiams's History of Vermont, 1794, p. 215. In a note on this page: "The
Inhabitants complained that a petition was presented to the king, signed with
their names, but unknown to them." In their first petition to Congress (see
State Papers, p. 62), Jan. 7, 1776, they give this account of this pelition to the
king. " We have often heard, iind verily believe, it was iu your petitioner's
names." On the subject of the surreptitious names to thut petition to the king,
see also an article from the " Connecticut Courant," April, 1772, cited in Mr.
Houghton's published address, delivered in Montpelier, Oct. 20, 184S.
3 " Tlie petition of Mr. Robinson, In behalf of his constituents, to the king
had not only asked for relief against New York patents, but also to have the
jurisdiction ofthe territory restored to New Hampshire." — P. 08, of Hull's Early
Hist. Vermont.

RESISTANCE TO THE NEW YORK CLAIMS. 129
But the New York governraent were not satisfied with
an imraediately coraraencing jurisdiction, aud with such
emoluments as raight arise from lands not previously sold ;
they insisted on their right to all ' the lands that had pre
viously been aold in the territoiy in queation by the New
Hampshire government, and to retrospective jurisdiction,
and, of course, to satisfaction and due punishment of of
fenders for all acts in the past that had been comraitted in
violation of their clairaed authority.
" By the principles of the English constitution, the lands in both
New York and New Hampshire were vested in the king, both being
royal proviuces. Their boundaries, also, might be flxed and changed
by him at pleasure. It could not be material to him or to the public
through which of his servants his grants were made, and it would
be difllcult to flnd a reason why a grant obtained In good faith
from the government of one province should be declared void
merely because the land, by the subsequent settlement of a dis
puted boundary, should happen to fall within the newly established
jurisdiction of the other." — Early Hist, of Vermont, p. 119. With
regard to the legality also, see pp. 119, 120.
The settlers here resisted this claira with indomitable
determination and spirit. Matters continued to wax more
serious until they were resolved that all the claims of New
York, both to retrospective and prospective jurisdiction,
should be resisted to the end. The result was, they came
ere long to the determination to have an iudependent State ;
and they pursued this determination with a purpose and
vigor which, under the circurastances, were natural, if not
at all times legal. But that they had law and equity on
their side in the raain, there are raany substantial reasons
for believing. So Gov. Wentworth appears to have
thought, for he reconfirraed their course by a new royal
proclamation under date of March 13, 1764, counter to
Gov. Colden's. That the king was displeased with the
course of the New York government in reapect to the Ver-

130 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
mont lands is evident from the fact that, notwithstanding
the preponderating influence of that interest at court,
Samuel Robinson, Esq., the agent of the settlers, without
prestige and without money, obtained an order in council
of his Majesty, of July 24, 1767, prohibiting the Governor
of New York,
" Upon pain of his Majesty's highest displeasure, from making
any further grants whatever of the lauds in question, till his Maj
esty's further pleasure should be known coucerning the same." '
Whether the settlers were able to fathom all the depths
of the subject-matters in controversy, or not, one has but
to read Gov. Hall's volume — so large a portion of which
is devoted to the exhaustive examination of its merits — to
see that the New York claim cannot bear the test of such
an examination either in law or equity. Not to attempt
any extended consideration of the question here, two or
three arguments of more obvious force to the minds of the
settlers may be stated, and reference is here more particu
larly made to the Bennington settlers, because it is of them
this volume more particularly speaks.
Their utter surprise at Gov. Colden's flrst proclamation
claiming their lands haa been already alluded to. This sur
prise overtook them after they were well settled here, had
made many valuable inprovements on their lands, having
first bought them in good faith, paying what was to them a
large price, for their means were generaUj' scanty and they
had made great exertions and endured much hardship to
open to civilization and to plant with Christian institutions
this wilderness. These lands along their Green Mountain
1 See Slade's Vermont State Papers, p. 20. That this order in council of his
Mojesty was constantly and in a high-handed manner disregarded by the New
York officials, and as constantly and earnestly recalled to their attention by the
home government, see HaU's Early Hist. Vermont, pp. 01, 00, 105, 106, 108,
and elsewhere.

LOGIC OF DIVINE PROVIDENCE. 131
valleys were, with God's blessing, upon their sturdy exertions
and sacrifices, putting forth signs of prosperity, progress, and
wealth. Now all was to be swept away frora them. They
were to be left deatitute, pennileas ;^ and, more than this,
their prospects for the future were an utter blank. Thej-
would not know which way next to turn. Let it be borne in
mind they were already a nuraerous and powerful com
munitj'. By that law of necessity which inheres in man's
dependence, to a certain extent, with his choices and God's
providence combined, upon the destiny he has already en
tered upon, they were compelled to accept as a logical con
clusion the justice and expediency of revolt against the
jurisdiction of New York, whatever that jurisdiction was as
deterrained upon in the king's order of 1764. They did
not accept this alternative until compelled to do so by a
course of events which told them instinctively they could not
err in so doing. They felt that justice on their side must
be at the foundation of their cause. The lands under New
Hampahire had been chartered in townships to nuraerous per
sons, holding some three hundred and thirty acres each.
The New York patents were eraployed to place oftentimes
whole townships and even more in the possession of spec
ulators, and fees in proportion into the pockets of officials.
The covetousness with which the New York officials and
speculators eyed the rich alluvials of the Green Mountain
tributaries to the Hudson knew no bounds.
Some few statistics, which bear upon this point, may be
noticed. Twenty-six thousand acres on the Battenkill, to
John Taber Kerape, attorney-general of the New York prov
ince, James Duane, a prominent New York city lawyer, and
Walter Rutherford, a merchant speculator. To said Duane,
1 " And when the latter," the New Hampshire claimants, " appUed to the New
York governors for n conllrmatlon of those not thus granted, auch enormous
patent fees were demanded as to make it Impossible for them to comply." —
Early Hist, of Vermont, p. 115. •

132 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
afterward, fifty thousand acres more. Dunmore, colonial
New York governor for eight months, contrived surrepti
tiously to make to himself a grant of fiftj'-one thousand
acres of Vermont land, besides granting foiir hundred and
flfty thousand acres to speculators, and getting the fees for
the same. Tryon, his successor, provided himaelf, in like
manner, with a township in Vermont of thirty-two thou
sand acres, besides making grants, and getting fees for the
same, contrary to law, of two hundred thousand more.
Afterward this Tryon was absent from his post for a little
more than a year, and Lieutenant-Governor Colden filled
his place. He at this time issued patents for about four
hundred thousand acres of Vermont land, — fees to himself,
not less than ten thousand dollars. " The whole quantity
of Vermont land patented by New York up to the period
of the Revolution, beaides that embraced in confirmatory
charters, exceeded two raiUions of acres, more than three
quarters of which had been granted in direct violation of
the king's order of July, 1767, and of the 49th article of
the standing instructions of the crown." i Governor Colden,
during one of the periods of his adminiatration, which
lasted little raore than a j'ear, by hurrying such land pat
ents through his office, pocketed in patent fees twenty-five
thousand dollars.
The New York provincial governraent was aristocratic
in feeling and policy. It declared such sympathies at court
— strongly siding with the king, against the republican
character of the settlers on the granta, aa matters were tend
ing to a rupture with the mother country. Parties in
the interest of the New York speculations upon the grants,
contemptuously stigmatized the settlers as " fierce republi
cans," denounced across the water their " illiberal opinions
and manners as extremely offensive to all loj-al subjects of
* 1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

ARBITRARY MEASURES OF NEW YORK. 133
the king." Had the New York jurisdiction, aud the policy
which the New York provincial government seemed deter
rained to indissolubly wed with it, not been resisted, they
^•ould have established their lordly manors here, and become
patroons of the Walloomsac and the Battenkill.
"AU the officers from the highest to the lowest, — from the
judges of the Supreme Court down to constables and superinten
dents of highways, were appointed, either directly or indirectly,
by the central executive authority iu New York city. The town
meeting, that school and nursery of republican equality, in which
the men of New England had been accustomed to elect all inferior
officers, and to consult and legislate upon their local affairs, was
an Institution hardly known in that province." '
The raeasures by which the New York officials sought to
accomplish their scheme were of the most arbitrary descrip
tion. They divided the New Hampshire Grants into
countiea, and appointed county oflScers ; sent men to survey
the lands of the territory in question.
There was a long story of writs and triala of ejectment.
" If we do not oppose the sheriff aud his posse he will take im
mediate possession of our houses and farms ; if we do we are im
mediately indicted as rioters ; and when others oppose officers in
taking such, their friends so indicted, they are also indicted, and
so on, there being no end of indictments against us so long as we
act the bold and manly part, and stand by our liberty." "
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
2 Letter of Ethan Alien and others to Governor Tryon ; see State Papers, 24-29.
" Silas Robinson is believed to have been the only settler In the Granta whom
the Yorkers, as they were styled, were ever able to arrest and punish as a rioter.
though great numbers were accused and indicted as such." He "resided on
the main road about two miles north of the Bennington vUlage, at the place
now occupied by Stephen Robinson. Early In the morning of the 29th of Novem
ber, the sheriff (Ten Eyck) and his party (John Munro and others) went to his
house, and coming upon him when he was off his guard succeeded in taking him
prisoner; and by returning with grent speed, before notice could be given to hia
neighbors, they were enabled to carry him off to Albany, where he was detained
in jail until released on bail the following October." — Vermont Hist. Mag.
12

134 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
These ejectment trials were appointed to be held in Al
bany. ' In them the question of the validity of the New
Hampshire charters was not allowed to be discussed ; the
charters were not allowed to be read to the jury. They
were at the outset authoritatively judged to be null and
void. The Vermout communities were pronounced to be a
mob. In 1774 the government of New York passed an act
of outlawry, " the most minatory and despotic of any
thing that had appeared in the British colonies," ^ against
those who had resisted the attempt to dispossess the set
tlers of the lands they had occupied and improved under
grants from the New Hampshire government. All crimes
committed on the Grants were, by a statute of the General
Assembly of New York, subject to be tried in the county
and by the courts at Albany. At the same time a procla
mation was issued by the Governor of of New York, offer
ing a reward of fifty pounds a head for apprehending and
securing Ethan Allen, Seth Warner, and six others of the
most obnoxious of the settlers.
To satisfy New York those who had bought and settled
upon and improved lands under grants from the govern
ment of New Hampshire, must buy them over again
from the Governor of New York, or from the speculators
he had sold them to, at prices many times over more than
they had paid for the original purchase. The fees to the
Governor of New Hampshire for grants of townships were
about one hundred dollars ; under the government of New
York they generally amounted to two thousand, or two

1 " The integrity, too, of the court in the above-named decisions (Albany
trials of ejectment) may be questioned." — Early Hist. Vermont, pp. 120, 121.
2 Williams. — "An act whicii for its savage barbarity is probably without a
parallel In the legislation of any civilized country." — Early Hist, Vermont, p.
180. See a full account ofthe act, and the responses It provoked on tho part of
the Green Mountain Hoys.— lb., pp. 180-180. See, ulso, Blade's Vermont State
Tapers, p. 48.

FEELING IN BAST VERMONT. 135
thousand and six hundred dollars. In instances not un
comraon their poasessions had been sold away to new pur-
chaaera by the New York officials before the occupants
under the New Harapshire charters had time to rebuy them
themselves of New York, if they would.
In addition to all this, there were for a time numbers of
individuals and combinations of men on the east side of
the Green Mountains, who lent their sympathies and aid to
New York ; some, doubtless, from the conviction that on
account of having comraitted theraselves iu sorae way to
the New York interest, they had little to hope for them
selves if the cause of the settlers againat New York should
win, and others from the belief that the cauae of New York
was too powerful to be succesafullj' opposed.
The following paragraph from the " History of Eastern
Vermont," by Benjarain H. Hall, describes the serioua divia
ion of fseling in Guilford (a town next to the Maaaachusetts
line, and the easternmost but one in Southern Vermont) : —
" Houses were divided, — the father upholding the jurisdiction
of New York ; the sons maintaining the supremacy of Vermont.
Friendships the most intimate were disturbed. The word neigh
bor carried no meaning with it beyond the idea of contiguity.
The physician could not visit his patient in safety unless protected
by a pass. The minister of the gospel failed to enforce the doc
trine of Christian charity on the hearts of men who knew none for
one another." '
It was in this state of things that, in the summer of 1783,
General Ethan Allen waa directed to call out the railitia for
enlbrcing the laws of Verraont, and for suppressing insur
rection and disturbances in the county of Windhara (south
east county). Allen proceeded from Bennington at the
head of one hundred Green Mountain Boys, and on hia
1 p. 500.

136 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
arrival at Guilford he issued the following proclamation,
concluding it (with an oath) as follows : —
"I, Ethan Allen, declare that unless the people of Guilford
peaceably submit to the authority of Vermont, the town shall be
made as desolate as were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah."
These trials made the settlers here very determined, com
pacted them together, set them irresistibly against the ju
risdiction of New York, cauaed all tories to become very
odious in their sight, and bore them onward through incon
ceivable difficulties and hardships to the goal to which,
under Providence, they were surely tending, — that of an
independent State.
In this struggle the settlers exhibited some rare qualities
of a superior understanding and character. With all their
rude energy they were still more remarkable for shrewdness
and tact, which failed not unfrequently to be identified as
such, because it was clothed with a naive simplicity ; and
yet it went as unerringly to its chosen mark, as ever did
Locksley's arrow in the romance of Walter Scott. Full of
interest are the accounts of their success in keeping the
English forces from invading us on tlie north, for two years,
and when we were in a manner defenceless, by simply per
mitting the English general Haldimand to believe that they
could be cajoled to sell their country to the British crown ;
and yet all the time the fire of patriotism burned as brightlj'
on their altars as did the flame of their devotion to their
more narrow interests aa a commonwealth.^ They kept the
1 The inhabitants of the Grants felt that they could not consistently Join an
association with the province of New York, so they formed nnd subscribed an
association of their own in the following words : " We, the subscribers, in
habitants of the district of land, commonly called and known by the name of
the New Hampshire Grants, do voluntarily and solemnly engage, under all the
ties held sacred amongst mankind, at the risk of our lives and fortunes, to de
fend by arms the United States against the hostile attempts of the British fleets
and armies, until the present unha|ipy controversy between tho two countries

SHREWDNESS AND MODERATION. 137
surrounding country, and every Toiy and Yorker within
their bounds, under fear of being hung and quartered by
them if caught in any act Qf dereliction to their cause.
" And J'et during the whole controversy not a single life
was taken bjr them, not a person was perraanentlj' maimed,
and there is no evidence that a gun was ever airaed and dis
charged at any one." i Thus they were considerate of the
rights and peace of others, although determined to main
tain their own.
The New York government intimated a purpose to
stop further hostile proceedings, though proposing to
continue colonial jurisdiction over them, they, grounded
arms at once, and held public rejoicings over the pros
pect of peace. At a later period of the controversy, when
they had a fair prospect of being able to incorporate with
their declared new State all the towns up to the Hudson
River on the west, and over the Connecticut River half way
into New Hampshire as it now is on the east, upon the
first intimation from Congress that they would be approved
by that body if they would abandon the new acquiaitions,
they let them go; and when' New York State ofifered to
close the Controversy upon their payment of thirty thousand
dollars, they proraptly accepted the terms.
But severely as they were, for more than a quarter of a
century of unscrupulous and powerful oppoaition, put to the
test, they triumphantly proved to the world that it was not
in them to seriously yield the rights or advantages which
were vital to their independence, and to their nobly doing
shaU be settled." Subscribed by forty-nine of the flfty members of the conven
tion held at Cephas Kent's, In Dorset, .July 24, 1776, of which Captain Joseph
Bowker, of Rutland, was chairman, and Jonas Fay, of Bennington, clerk;
thirty-one towns on the west side of the mountains and one on tlie east side
being represented by fifty-one delegates. — Early History Vermont, pp. 231, 2.
The warrant for this convention was signed by James Breakenrldge, Simeon
Hathaway, and Elijah Dewey, —all Bennington men.
1 Early Hist. Vermont, p. 161.
12*

138 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
as men and citizens. Thej', therefore, organized their
companies of Green Mountain Boys, appointed general con
ventions of the towns, and town councils of safety, and
their far-famed State council of safety, adopted a dec
laration of State independence, enacted laws for themselves,
and put in operation the complicated machinery of an inde
pendent State government.
There ia not space here to go much into the details of
this vigorous and efi'ective struggle of more than a quarter
of a century. The hardy settlers were armed at all points.
They drove away the New York surveyors, even when
these came supported by the sherifi" and his posse ; if a
comrade was stealthily spirited away, when made aware of
the fact, they mounted horse and hurried to the rescue, and
that not without success; if a ^^ Yorker" was discovered
among them, they applied the Beech Seal,i or some other
effective chastisement. They sent able men to Albany to
remonstrate there against the proceedings of New York,
and, had they been permitted, to plead the causes of their
people in the courts there. They sent agents to the court
of Great Britain. When the question of their admission aa
a State into the Federal Union had become a question for
Congress to act upon, and they were successfully opposed
for years bj' the powerful influence of New York in the
Federal councils, they sent petition after petition and their
foremoat men to represent their cause occasionally or con
tinuously at Philadelphia.
1 The moderation and justice of the settlers have been referred to, and that the
severe language and threatenings were not so much for actual execution aa for
rhetorical eifeot. Wilh regard to the application of the beech-seal ; " This
mode of punishment by the beech-seal, though much talked of and abundantly
threatened, was not often executed. There are, in fact, not more than two or
three well authenticated instances in which it appears to have been inflicted." —
Hall's Eurly Hist. Vermont, p. 102. See also his further remarks to show that
the Green Mountain lioys were not peculiar in inflicting corporal punishment
upon their adversaries, and that the colony of New York was " at that time by
mo means an exception to that practice.*'

THE LENGTJJ OF THE STRVOGLE, 139
The continuance of this struggle was prolonged through
a period of twenty-six years, — 1764-1790. While they were
fighting the battles of American independence, they were
denied a place as a State among the United States. ^
1 The declaration of Vermont Independence was Issued under date of Jan. 16,
1777. " Tlie vote of convention to be an Independent State, and the declafation
of independence accordingly, was decisively brought about at last doubtless by
the declaration of American Independence. When the colonies declared them
selves free of the British Crown, it was felt by the Vermont settlera that there
no longer remained any earthly power recognized by the parties aa a superior
possessing the right of deciding the controversy between themselves and New
York." — Gov. Slade instate Tapers, p. 05. " Every part of the United States
was, at that period, contending against oppression ; and every consideration that
could justify the proceedings of Congress was a reason why the people of Ver
mont ehould take that opportunity effectually to guard against^their former suf
ferings." — Williams.

. CHAPTER XI.
LAND-TITLE CONTROVERSY, CONTINUED.
^0 add to all their other difficulties, there sprang' up
in the course of them a protracted, painful, and
very critical controversy with New Hampshire, and
parties interested with New Hampshire in making
the towns between the Green Mountains and Con
necticut River a part of that State. There is not
space here to notice that controversy further than to say
that it had required the utmost possible vigor and address
of the settlers to prevent it from finally destroying their
hopes of becoming a State.
Bennington was, throughout this controversy, the head
quarters of the opponents of New York ; the place where
their plans of operations were generally devised, aud whence
issued their resolves and orders, and a large share of the
physical force which carried them iuto effect.^ Ethan Allen
and Seth Warner, who bore a conspicuous part in the
struggle, resided here.
Ethan Allen, being on one occasion in Albany, to aid,
if an opportunity was granted, the defence iu the eject
ment suits, it is related that before he left Albany he was
called on by the Attorney-General, who told him that the
cause of the settlers was desperate, and urgec} him to go
home and persuade hia Green Mountain friends to make
the best terms they could with their new landlords, remind-
1 For the composition of tho Vermont Council of Safety (originally numbering
twelve— (Gen. Stark),— and some notice of Its spirit and meitsures, see Early
Hiift. Vt., pp. 258, 0.

THE BREAKENRIDGE FARM. 141
ing him of the proverb, that might often prevails against
right. Allen coolly replied to thera, that the gods ofthe val
leys were not the gods of the hills; and when asked by
Kerape, the king'a attorney, to explain hia meaning, he
only added, that if he would accompany him to Benning
ton the same would be made clear.
When James Breakenridge'a farm, at one end of the
town, and Dr. Fuller'a at the other, were aingled out to be
forcibly wrested from their occupants and placed in the
power of the New York speculators, the citizens of the
town voted to take the farms of Breakenrldge and Fuller
under the protection of the town, and to defend them
against the New York officers at all hazarda. This resolve
they eflectually and thoroughly executed ; particularly, the
attempt to obtain forcible possession of Mr. Breakenridge's
farm was so sj'atematically and deliberately organized, and
yet so completely defeated, that it discouraged attempts of
the like kind thereafter. The sheriflT raade a general summons
of the citizens of Albany to accompany him, so that when he
started on his expedition he found himself at the head of
over three hundred variously armed men, of different occu
pations and professions, and he received additions to his
numbers by new levies on the way ; but with all the
sheriff found " the gods of the hills " too strong for " the
gods of the valleys." i
Remember Baker, of Arlington, opposed to New York,
was aasaulted, with his family, in his house, before day
light Sunday morning, by John Munro, Esq., a New York
justice, and ten or twelve of his friends and dependents,
and forcibly, carried off. News of the transaction was
conveyed by express to Bennington. Ten men iraraedi
ately mounted their horaes, got upon the track of the
.banditti, intercepted them, and rescued Baker. Tbe
1 See a graphic account of this important affair in Early Hist. Vt., pp. 124-126.

142 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
names of the men were as follows : Gen. Isaac Clark, Col.
Joseph Safford, Maj. Wait Hopkins, Col. David Safford,
and Messrs. Timothy Abbott, Stephen Hopkins, Elnathan
Hubbell, Samuel Tubbs, Ezekiel Brewster, and Nathaniel
Holmes. (The men are designated by their subsequent
titles.)! There was at one time a gleam of hope from Albany,
entertained, as before alluded to, by the settlers. A com
mittee consisting of the Rev. Mr. Dewey and others wrote
a communication, and Ethan Allen and others also wrote a
letter. These were conveyed by Capt. Stephen Fay and his
son, Dr, Jonas Fa}^, to Governor Tryon ; they had received
a safe-conduct for this purpose from the New York Gover-
npr. They were kindly received by him, and the letters
they bore appear to have had much weight with him at the
time ; so much so that the council recommended and His
Excellency approved the suspension of all prosecutions in
behalf of the crown, on account of crimes with which the
settlers stood charged, until the pleasure of the king should
be known, and also suapenaion of civil auita. Thia slight
favorable turn moved the universal joy in Bennington and
vinieity. A vast concourse of people assembled at the
meeting-house in Bennington to give expression to the
general satisfaction. It was, however, shortlived ; the
gleam of sunshine soon disappeared.
T|hia was July 15, 1772. The year before miUtary or
ganizations were formed in the several townships west of
the mountains, for forcible opposition, when necessary, to
the New York patentees ; one company was formed in
Bennington, with Seth Warner aa captain; the whole body
of companies when acting together were commanded by
Ethan Allen as colonel. In defiant contempt of a reported
threat of the Governor of New York that he would " drive.
1 Early History of Vermont, p. 137.

PROCLAMATION OF THE SETTLERS. 143
the opposers of his government into the Green Mountaina,"
this military body took, the name " Green Mountain Boys."
The place where in Bennington the councils of the leaders
were held, the Council of Safety, waa the Green Mountain
Tavern kept by Capt. Stephen Fay. It had for its sign
the stuffed skin of a catamount, with teeth grinning toward
New York, and hence came to be called the Catamount
Tavern. Mention has been made of negotiations by Ver
mont statesraen, with other parties and powers, about the
questions iu controversy, and particularly at Philadelphia.
Prorainent araong them were Bennington men such as
Jonas Fay, Moses Robinson, Isaac Tichenor, etc.
At the convention of the towna west of the Green
Mountains, at the house of Cephas Kent, in Dorset, Jan.
16, 1776, at which it was voted " to represent the particular
case of the inhabitants of the New Hampshire Granta to
the honorable Continental Congress by remonstrance and
petition," Dr. Jonas Fay was chairman of the committee
to prepare the petition ; Lieut James Brcakenridge, Capt.
Heman Allen, and Dr. Jonas Fay were -appointed to pre
sent the petition to Congress, — one of the most important
documents to whicii this great controversy gave rise. Sim
eon Hatheway, Elijah Dewey, and James Breakenrldge were
appointed a copimittee with power to warn a general meet
ing of the committeea on the Grants when they shall judge
necessary /rom southern intelligence.

NOTES- TO TIIE ABOVE TWO CHAPTERS.
"And we now proclaira to the public, not only for ourselves, but
for the New Hampshire grantees and occupants in general, that
the spring and moving cause of our opposition to the government
of New York was self-preservation; namely, flrst, the preserva-

144 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
tion and maintenance of our property ; and, secondly, since that
government is so incensed against us, therefore it stands us in hand
to defend our lives. For it appears, by a late set of laws passed
by the legislature thereof, that the lives and property of the New
Hampshire settlers are manifestly struck at. But, that the public
may rightly understand the essence of the controversy, we now
proclaim to these lawgivers, and to the world, that if the New
York patentees will remove their patents, that have been subse
quently lapped and laid on the New Hampshire charters, and quiet
us in our possessions, agreeably to His Majesty's directions, and
suspend those criminal prosecutions against us for being rioters (as
we are unjustly denominated), then will our settlers be orderly and
submissive subjects of government. But be it known to that de
spotic fraternity of lawmakers, and law-breakers, that we will not
be fooled or frightened out of our property." '' " At a genera\
meeting of the committees for tho townships on the west side of
the Green Mountains, it was resolved, April 14, 1774, that for the
future every necessary preparation be made, and that our inhabi
tants hold themselves in readiness, at a minute's warning, to aid
and defend such friends of ours, who, for their merit to the great
and general cause, are falsely denominated rioters. But that we
will not act anything, more or less, but on the defensive; and al
ways encourage due execution of law in civil cases, and also in
criminal prosecutions that are so indeed, aud that we will assist,
to the utmost of our power, the officers appointed for that pur
pose.". " On the farm of James Breakonridge the flrst serious attempt
was made by the New York State Government to forcibly dispos
sess the occupants, and to divide up the property amongst New
York claimants ; and here they met with tiieir flrst serious discom
fiture ; and this was their last attempt of that kind. Here, in fact,
on the farm of James Breakenrldge, was boru the future State of
Vermont, which, struggling through the perils of infancy, had, at
the commencement of the general Revolution, acquired the activity
and strength of adventurous youth, nnd at its close reached the
full stature of manhood; and not long afterward had become the
acknowledged equal of its associate American republics."*
1 nemonstranccs of Ethan Allen and others.- State Papers, page 1(1. See
also proclamation of Gov. CUnton. — State Papers, pp. 82-4.
2 Vermont Uist. Mag.

ADMISSION OF VERMONT INTO THE UNION. 145
An Act for the admission of the State of Vermont into this
Union. The State of Vermout having petitioned the Congress to be ad
mitted a member of the United States, —
Be it enacted, by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
'United States of America, in Congress assembled, and it is hereby en
acted and declared, That on the fourth day of March, one thousand
seven hundred and ninety-one, the said State, by the name and
style of the State of Vermont, shall be received and adraitted into
this Union, as a new and entire member of the United States of
Araerica. FREDERIC AUGUSTUS MUHLENBERG,
Speaker of the Ho.use of Representatives.
JOHN ADAMS,
Vice-President of the United States, and President of the Senate.
Approved Feb. 18, 1791.
GEORGE WASHINGTON, President of the United States.
13

r>

CHAPTER XII.
THE BENNINGTON BATTLE.
"Pliant as reeds where streams of freedom glide,
Firm as the hills to stem oppression's tide."!
yT is the aim of this part ofthe volume to view the bat
tle from the Bennington stand-point, and at the same
time to preserve the truth of history ; and the relation
of the battle to general history will be presented at
some length.
I. Anxiety ik the Country pkeviods to the Bat
tle. — At the surrender of Ticonderoga by St. Clair, July
6, 1777, the anxiety ofthe country becarae universal. We
had failed, under the brave and lamented Montgomery, to
carry Quebec by storm. We had abandoned Crown Point.
Our little navy, though handled with utmost spirit'and res
olution, had proved itself unable to resist the vastly supe
rior strength of the British flotilla on Lake Cbaraplain. We
had, by mortifying negligence ^ in not fortifjdng Mt. Defi-
1 Motto ofthe first paper printed In Vermont, 1781. — Thompson.
2 " July 5. — It Is with astonishment we find the eneray has taken possession of
an eminence called Sugar Loaf HiU, or Mt. Defiance, whicli, from its height and
proximity, complelely overlooks and commands all our works at Ticonderoga and
Ut. Independence. This mount, it is said, ought long since to have been fortified
by our army; but its extreme difiiculty of access, and the want of a sufficient
number of men, are the reasons assigned for its being neglected." " July 14, —
The abandonment of Ticonderoga and Mt. Independence has occasioned the
greatest surprise and alarm. No movement could be more unexpected, nor
more severely felt, throughout our army and country. The disaster has given
to our cause a dark and gloomy aspect." Generals Schuyler and St. Clalr are

DISASTERS. 147
ance, which commanded Ticonderoga and Mt. Independ
ence, lost what was regarded, under the circumstances of
the country at that time, as the bulwark of the North.
The main body of our army, fleeing eastwardly into the
New Hampshire Grants, had been hotly pursued by the
enemy, and its rear-guard, under Warner and Francis, at
tacked at Hubbardton, and, though men never fought more
bravely, Riedsell's advance with his Germans had decided
the day against us. In our flight thence southward, being
joined by that portion of the army which had charge of bag
gage and army stores, — and which had successively aban
doned Skenesborough and Fort Ann, — Fort Edward,
Moses Creek, Saratoga, were in a brief tirae occupied and
then surrendered by our wasting troops.
Serious reverses in other parts of the country intensified
the alarm. Public fasts were observed in sorae States.
spoken of in this entry as severely suspected, or, at least, complained of.
"Time and calm Investigation must determine." — Tliacher's Military Journal.
Falmer vindicates Schuyler and St. Clair from blame. " Both Schuyler and St.
Clair were severely and unjustly censured; " but says also, " That a great error
was committed In relying upou the supposed strength of the position at Ticon
deroga, cannot be denied." — Palmer's History of Lake Champlain. Irving is an
admirer of Schuyler. — Irving'a Life of Wasliiugton. Bancroft appears to be
about right. " Meantime the British were never harried by tho troops with
Schuyler, against whom public opinion was rising. Men reasoned rightly, that,
If Ticonderoga was untenable, he should have known it, nnd given timely ordera
for its evacuation; instead of which he had been keeping up stores there to the
last." — Bancroft, Vol. ix., p. .372.
Even Washington was oppressed by the fidings from Ticonderoga. He wrote
to General Schuyler, on hearing of the disaster: "The evacuation of Ticonderoga
and Mt. Independence is an event of chagrin and surprise not apprehended nor
within the compass of my reasoning." He said, "As matters are going, Burgoyne
will have little difiiculty In penetrating to Albany." " Sir William Howe was
promptly notifled that Burgoyne had precise orders to force n junction with the
army In New York." — Bancroft. " The rapid progress of General Burgoyne oi
the side of the lakes, and the unaccountable conduct of their (American) co
manders in abandoning Ticonderoga, were events so alarming and unexpectei
that they could not fail to perplex their counsels, and considerably impede their
defensive preparations in other parts."- An Impartial History ofthe War in
America, etc. London, 1787. " There are many long faces, for the key of North
America Is lost and gone."

148 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
" At Albany, it is said, the people ran about as if dis
tracted, sending off their goods and furniture ; and this
feeling pervaded the entire northern and eastern part of
New York, and the adjacent portions of Vermont and Mas
sachusetts." 1 The region of the New Hampshire Grants
was profoundly stirred. The Rev. Mr. Noble, in hia Wil
liamstown centennial address, speaking of a dwelling-house
then building (1777), — the Smedley house, — says, "The
roof of it was no sooner in place than the house was crowded
in every part by families flying from the terrors which
darkened the whole region north and west of us, as the cloud
of war rolled on from Canada to Lake George and Saratoga."
East of the mountains the people of several towns crossed
the Connecticut. In Stockbridge, Mass., they were " greatly
burdened with people who had fled from the New Hamp
shire Grants." The settlers along the lake, and aa far
down as Manchester, had either subraitted to Burgoyne
and taken his protection, or were abandoning their posses
sions and removing southward.®
Gen. Howe had beaten us on Long Island aud at New
York, — taking forts, men and magazines, — and had also
gotten possession of New Jersey, and Newport in Rhode
Island.3 Though this able British general speut much time
contriving and executing manoeuvres with his array aud na
vy to deceive us aa to his real intentions. Gen. Washington
did not suffer himself to be successfully imposed upou, and
entertained no doubt that his real design was to secure Gen.
Burgoyne's junction with himself, by way of Hudson River.^
1 Dawson's Battles of the United States.
^ 2 Butler's Address.
^ 3 " The British appeared now so far superior in their naval and mUltary forces.
Kind munitions of war, that whoever computed the issue of the controversy by
the natural course of things could hardly avoid the conclusion that the Colonies
would have to submit to the sovereignty of Great Britaiu."
* " The great battle-field of tho Revolution " has been perhaps not inappropri
ately represented " us in tlie vicinity of Lake Champlain, — for the great purpose

INDIAN TERRORS. 149
Lieut.-Gen. Burgoj'ne brought to the campaign in the
north a considerable prestige frora over tbe sea, and this
was now very much enhanced bj' his late achievements ou
Lake Champlain and in its immediate vicinity. i His men,
officers, and equipments had been provided with great care
by the Home Governraent. '^ Upon arriving in this countrj'
he entered proraptly upou his work, and down to the time
of his encarapraent on the banks of the Hudson, opposite
Saratoga, hia career had been an unvarying series of auc
cesses skilfully and vigoroualy pursued.
II. Indian Terrors. — The early colonies of Massachu
setts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island found added to their
other hardships those of Indian hostility. Crafty and
cruel tribes, who had preoccupied the soil, preyed upon them
by night, and in ambush by day. The early settlers here
were spared this severe experience ; nevertheless the sav
age nature of the red man was sufficiently understood hy
them. Several of the inhabitants of this town had had
ofthe British Government was to sever New England from the South and West,
thus rendering her incapable of assisting, or receiving assistance."
1 He had concluded a campaign in Spain with great credit to himself. He then
was elected to Parliament, where he served not without some distinction ; he also
used his pen with considerable success, before he was appointed a lieutenant-
general to take charge of the campaign In America, in the North. — Intro
duction to Burgoyne's Orderly Book.
2 " Lieut.-Gen. Burgoyne, an officer whose ability was unquestioned, and whose
spirit of enterprise and thirst for military glory, however rivalled, conld not pos
sibly be exceeded.'' — Impnrlial History of the War In America, London, 1787.
"The British general's well-known abilities and valor." — Andrews, London,
1783. " This part of the service " (a " powerful artillery ") " waa portlcularly at
tended to, and the brass train that was sent over on this expedition (fo America)
was perhaps the finest, and probably the most excellently supplied, as to officers
and private men, that had ever been ollotted to second the operations of any army
which did not far exceed the present in numbers. " — ImparUal History, etc.
Account of the British preparations under Gen. Carlton, pending the arrival of,..;.;, ,,
Burgoyne from Europe. " Sir Guy Carleton, who had under him. Generals BuA i;/'i^''
goyne, PhiUips, Frazer, Nesbit and Eiedell ; all men of acknowledged skill and ' ''
abUity." — Palmer's History of Lake Champlain, pp. 117, 134. See, olso, Gor
don, Thacher, Burgoyne's State of the Expedition.
13*

150 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
near relatives massacred or carried captives by the In-
dians.i The murder of Miss McCrea, July 27, 1777, owing to
some peculiar circumstances, was upon every tongue. She
was a young woman of twenty, belonging to a patriotic
family, that of a Presbyterian clergyman of New Jersey,
but engaged to be married to one Jones, a commiaaioned
officer in Peters' corpa of loyaliats. She was a guest at the
house of Jones' mother, within the British lines, in the vi
cinity of Fort Edward, and started under an escort of two
Indians to go to the house of Jones' brother, near the
British camp, some three or four miles distant, to meet her
betrothed. She esteemed herself under the protection of
British arms. It is said a barrel of rum had been promised
to her escort if she was delivered safely at the place of her
destination ; and that the Indians quarrelled about the re
ward. Somo half a mile yet reraained to the accomplish
ment of the journey, and one of the Indians sunk his tom
ahawk in her skull. The incident was not of unusual bar
barity ; but this massacre of a betrothed girl, on her way to
her lover, touched the hearts of all who heard the story.®
Gen. Carleton (Burgoyne's predecessor in comraand)
omitted to employ savages, " probably because, in a word,
that their service was uncertain, their rapacity insatiable,
their faith ever doubtful, and their actions cruel and barba
roua." * Burgoyne hesitated for a time, but soon yielded
1 Major Walt Hopkins, father of Major Aaron Robinson's first wife, was
kiUed by the Indians. Eliphalet Follet, fatherlof Charles FoUett, who married
Hannah, daughter of Col. Samuel Robinson, was kUled by them in a great mas.
sacre, June, 1777; Isaac Webster, who married Anna, youngest child of Samuel
Hoblnaon, Sr., was at one time previous to his marriage a captive among them.
Mrs. Harvey, of Cleveland, is a grand-daughter of Mra. Isaac Webster; Mra.
Eev. Henry M. Swift of Michigan, Is a great-grand-daughter.
See Thompson's Vermont, p. 11, chap. 4, sec. 7.
!* Burgoyne's Orderly Book, Ramsey, Gordon, Irving, Bancroft.
3 An Impartial History of the War in America, etc.; London, 1787, p. 449.
He was afterward ordered by the Home Government to employ the aavagea, and
compUed with hia orders. — lb., p. 447.

baum's EXPEDITION. 151
bis scruples. He hunted out the assassin of Miss McCrea,
and threatened him with death, but pardoned hira on hear
ing that the total defection of the Indians would have en
sued from putting that threat into execution. i Early in
June he confessed to Germain, that, "were the Indians left
to themselves, enormities too horrid to think of would en
sue ; guilty and innocent women and infants would be a
common prey." He nevertheless resolved to use them as
instruments of terror. He gave out that he would send
them after arriving at Albany toward Connecticut and
Boston. "Let not people consider their distance frora my camp. I have
but to give stretch to the Indian forces under my direction, and
they amount to thousands, to overtake the hardened enemies of
Great Britain. If the frenzy of hostility should remain, I trust I
shall stand acquitted in the eyes of God and man, in executing the
vengeance of the State against the wilful outcasts." '
Every day the savages brought in scalps aa well as pris-
oners.3 Burgoyne had detachmenta from seventeen nations
of Indians. The Ottawas longed to go home, but on the
5th of August, nine days after the murder of Jane McCrea,
Burgoyne took from all his red warriors a pledge to stay
through the campaign.'*
III. Baum's Expedition. — Upon leaving the lake and
proceeding southward by land, Burgoyne found his progress
greatly impeded by want of horses, carriages, and aupplies.
The country was a wilderness. He attempted to bring for
ward his artillery and stores, and to open the way from
Skenesborough to Fort Edward. But, so effectually had
the Americans blocked up and obstructed the road, that
the JJritish army was frequently twenty-four hours in ad-
1, 2. 3, ¦) Bancroft.

152 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
vancing one mile. It was not until the 30th of July
that he reached and flxed hia head-quarters at Fort Edward.
Nothing could exceed their joy upon their arrival at
the Hudson. They fiattered themselves that their diffi
culties and toils were now ended, and that there was
nothing before them but a safe and easy marcii to Al
bany, and thence to a junction with the British array at
New York. But there was still much land carriage to be
accomplished, and they had not the carriages necessary,
nor the horses nor supplies. On the arrival of the army
at Fort Edward, the great object of immediate attention
was the bringing up the transports from Fort George.
The distance was about sixteen miles, but the roads were
out of repair, weather unfavorable, cattle and carriages
scarce. Many of the latter had been detained to drag
boata and provisiona from Ticonderoga over the carrying-
places between Lake Champlain and Lake George. In fact,
there had also been serious delay in getting the different
divisions of horaea, collected in Canada, through the des
ert between St. John's and Ticonderoga.
It was aoon found that, in the situation of the tranaport
service, the army could barely be victualled from day to day.*
Although at the fall of Ticonderoga Burgoyne obtained
not less than 1,748 barrels of flour, and more than seventy
tons of salt provisions, and alao a large drove of cattle
which had arrived in tho American camp a few days previ
ous to their retreat,^ Glich (a German officer in the Ben
nington battle) referring to a time justbefore the setting out
of the Baum expedition, says, " Though Burgoj'ne's troops
had toiled without intermission during three whole weeks,
there was in camp no greater stock of provisions than
promised to suffice for four days' consumption."
iBurgoynij's State of the Expedition.
2 Thompson's Vermont.

MILITARY STORES AT BENNINGTON. 153
The idea of the expedition to Bennington originated
in this difficulty. By intelligence through Gen. Riedsell,
and from other sources, Burgoj'ne had learned that Ben
nington was the great deposit of corn, flour, store cattle,
aud wheel carriages ; that it waa guarded only by militia;
"and every day'a account" — so he atatea — "tended to
confirra the persuasion of the loyalty of one description of
the inhabitants, and the panic of the other." i
Besidea, there was need of horaes, not only for the trans
port service, but also for fighting. Riedsell's dragoons
were without horaes and needed to be raounted.*
Burgoyne, with the approbation of hia oflicers,^ — so he
said before the Comraittee of the House of Coramons, — re
solved upon an expedition to capture the Bennington
military stores. The particular purpose of the expedition,
namely, Bennington and its storehouse, was to be kept secret
as loug as possible, and an irapression was to be made tha^t
Burgoyne was about to break camp and start, with his
army, for Boston, in order to conceal the main part of his
general plan, which was to effect a junction with Howe,
who was at New York. The true scope of the particular
1 Burgoyne's State of the Expcdllion.
2 " This want of necessaries " (in Burgoyne's camp) " was the more mortifying,
as the Provincial (New England) camp was furnished with them iu greatest
'abundance. . . . Here a copious magazine had been formed for the I'rovin-
cial army." — Andrews, London, 1780. "The enemy" (Americans) "received
large supplies from tlie Kew England provinces, which, passing the upper part of
the Connccticnt River, took the route to Manchester," . . . "unlilthey
were nt length deposited at Bennington, whence they were convej ed, as occasion
required, to the regular army." . . . "It (lieniilnglon) wns, however, Bt
this time, beside being n store for catUe, a depot for large qunnlilles of corn and
other neccssarle'S; nnd, what rendered It nn object of particular attention to
the royai army, u large number of wheel corrlagcs, of which Uiey were In par
ticular want, were laid up there." — Impartial History of the War, London, 1787.
See, also, Glick's Narrative.
3 Burgoyne's State of the Expedition.- The testimony before the Committee
ofthe llouse of Commons shows that Burgoyne acted with flic npproballon of
his offlcers, only that Gen. Ernzer, a British officer, thought Biillsh soldiers bet
ter than German for the purpose.

154 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
expedition now in hand waa not, however, merely to cap
ture the block-house at Bennington, but also to scour a
wide circuit of the country. The instructions he gave to
the commander of the expedition were, to try the affections
of the country ; to disconcert the counsels of the enemy ;
to mount Riedsell's dragoons ; to complete Peters' corps of
loyalists, and to obtain large supplies of cattle, horses,
and carriages ; to scour the ccuntrj' from Rockingham to
Otter Creek ; to go down the Connecticut River as far as
Brattleborough, and return, by the great road, to Albany,
there to meet Gen. Burgoj'ne. The number of horses to
be brought was tliirteen hundred at least. They were to
be tied in strings of ten each, iu order that one man might
lead ten horses. i
With all the elation of his hopea he fitted out this expe
dition with much care. He selected for its nucleus and chief
dependence a corps of Riedsell's dismounted dragoons, —
the same that had behaved so gallantly at Hubbardton,
— : a company of sharpshooters, chosen with care from all
the regiments, under Capt. Frazer, — a most excellent offi
cer ; — - Peters' corps of Loyalists, to be swelled as they
proceeded ; a body of Canadian rangers ; Hanau Artiller
ists with two cannon ; a hundred and fifty Indians. He
placed all under the care of Lieut.-Col. Baum, a skilled and
thoroughly brave German officer. To these troops he,
after they had proceeded on their way a little, added fifty
chasseurs. There can be no doubt he expected his column
to be much increased by the accession of tories along the
route. 1 Burgoyne's state of the Expedition. — "You will use all possible means to
make tlie country believe that the troops under your command arc the advanced
corps of the army, and that it is intended to pass the Connecticut on the road to
Boston. You will likewise Insinuate tliut the maiu army from Albany Is to
be joined at Springfield by a corpa of troops from Rhode Island." — Burgoyne's
Instructions to Baum. Also Burgoyne to Col. Skene.

VERMONT AROUSED. 155
To support Col. Baum in case of necessity. Gen. Bur
goyne stationed Lieut.-Col. Breyman at Battenkill, twenty-
two miles off frora Bennington, with two cannon of larger
calibre than those in charge of Baum, and a strong body
of German regulars, Brunswick grenadiers, light infantry,
and chasseurs.
To be himself more advantageously situated to render
further support with his army, if there should be need, he
moved it to a point on the Hudson opposite Saratoga, and
encamped there on the side of the river toward Bennington.
When Baum had started on hia way, Burgoyne rode after
him and gave him verbal orders.
IV. Vermont Aroused. — The weight of gloom at this
time on minds devoted to the American cause must have
been indescribable. But nowhere would this be true of
patriots and brave men more than on the Hampshire
Grants. It may be said this feeling would be intensified
at Bennington.
In most, if not all, of the important actions recently at
the North, both proaperous and adverse, Bennington had
borne a part. Upon the fall of Montgomery and defeat of
our troops before Quebec, Col. Warner, having, within a
few weeks, honorably discharged his regiment of Greeii
Mountain Boys, at the call of Gen. Wooster, again beat up
for volunteers, and was at the head of another regiment
marched to Quebec, endured the rigors of a winter cam
paign, and brought up the rear of the retreating American
army in the coming spring. The northern portions of the
Grants being then exposed, Bennington, ata town meeting,
voted, " To raise ninety doll.ars as an encouragement to those who may
enlist in the service of guarding the frontier towns in the Grants."
It was also " voted to pay those who went a little time be-

156 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
fore on this service if the Continent did not." Ticonderoga
was threatened on an occasion previous to its surrender
under St. Clair. The militia of Bennington and the neigh
boring towns, under Col. Moses Robinson, turned out en
masse and marched to its relief ; the defence of the fort at
this time waa aucceaaful. Col. Robinson and his regiment
received the official thanks of Gen. Gates.
At the same time fiour was wanted for the subsistence of
the army, and a letter on that behalf was addresaed to Ben
nington. The next day it was returned for answer, that
one tbouaand bushels of wheat were collected and being
ground at the mills ; though, as the militia had left, almost
to a man, it would be difficult to get what they had on hand
conveyed.i Col. Ethan Allen was a British prisoner ; Col. Seth
Warner, as we have seen, had been defeated at Hubbard
ton. The state of alarm in the country after the fall of Ticon
deroga and the defeat at Hubbardton has been described ;
also the confldent hopes of Burgoyne from the disaffection
on the Granta toward the Yorkers, and the compromised
situation of those inhabitants of the Grants who had
sj'mpathized with New York. There was an impression in
Burgoyne's mind that the region of country through which
he was passing, and especially the Hampshire Grants, be
cause of their hostile relations to the new State of New
York, and through the influence of New York with the
general government, was ripe for defection to his cause.
Let not the reader, therefore, conclude that Burgoyne's
impressions on thia subject were correct ; or even that our
sturdy Vermont settlers had the flrst thought of shunning
at such a crisis the post of danger. While women and
children, and the infirm, and some timid ones, fled in large
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

GETTTNG A FOOTHOLD. 157
numbers southward for safety, the profound anxiety of the
time carried witli it this raost significant of all its results :
the thorough arousing of the sturdy dwellers araong these
green hills of New England to the duty and necessity of
the hour.
It is not too much to say that it ivas this spirit thus
thoroughly in earnest that turned the scale of victory on the
heights of the Walloomsac.
To thia spirit Burgoyne's menace of Indian hoatilitiea was
rather an exasperation than a terror. " The murder of Miss
McCrea resounded throughout the land, counteracting all
the benefits anticipated from the terror of Indian hostilities.
Those people of the frontiers who had hitherto reraained
quiet now fied to arras to defend their families and flre- -
sides. Iu their exasperation they looked beyond the sav
ages to their employers. They abhorred an army which,
profeaaing to be civilized, could league itaelf with such
barbarians ; aud they execrated a government which, pre
tending to reclaim them aa subjects, could let loose such
fiends to desolate tiieir homes. The blood of the unfortu
nate girl, therefore, was not shed in vain. Armies sprang
up from it. Her narae pasaed as a note of alarm along the
banks of the Hudson ; it was a rallying word among the
Green Mountains of Vermont, and brought down all their
hardy yeomanry." i
V. Getting a Foothold. — In estimating the influ
ences which determined the result of the Bennington bat
tle, one must not bo overlooked, which was the growth of
all the previous historj' here of our early settlers, but did
not get complete maturity until about the tirae of Burgoyne's
invasion, the motive of building up upon the New Hamp
shire Grants a separate and independent State. An august
1 Irving's Life of Washington. See Thacher.
U

158 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
crisis is that of the life of the nation, and it were well,
perhaps, to pause longer and consider it ; and to see how
the zeal ofthe early settlers here waa identical, to a degree,
with their zeal for their country ; but there waa at thia
time, also, a crisis in the life of this community and this
commonwealth. To go back a little further, now, in our retrospect.
Western Vermont, owing to ita intermediate location be
tween the French on one side and English on the other, in
the times of the colonial wars had been a great thorough
fare and battle-ground for both sidea, and so ita permanent
settlement had beeu prevented. The same course had pre
vented the permanent occupancy of this part of the country
by Indian tribes at an earlier day ; they crossed these val
leys and roamed stealthily for prey up and down these
mountain sides, but they established no permanent occu
pancy. The ground was common for battle and tliorough-
fare between tribes never for long at peace with each other. ^
The country here had remained comparatively destitute of
Indian settlements, as it afterward was of French or Eng
lish colonists.
A new order of things opened when our hardy irami-
grants of 1761 set foot upou this soil. They came to stay.
They brought with them too much vigor aud determination
for any obstacle or foe whatever. It requires no stretch of
imagination to see that, had not the Green Mountain Boys
determined that Burgoj'ne should not cross this soil, their
beautiful territory would have again become mere frontier ;

1 " The scantiness of the population cannot be attributed to any other cause
than the local situation of Vermont with respect to the various Indian nations,
wliich prevented its becoming a pcrmonent residence for the red man in earlier
times, and afterward prevented Its being settled by the French and English during
the colonial wars." — Mr. Houghton's ^Montpelier address on the life of Seth
Warner. See Williams' Uist. Vermont, 17U4, p. 'ill; also Palfrey's Hist. New
England; also Thompson's Vermont, 1". 11., pp.205,i!07, 210.

APPEALS FROM THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 159
a disputed territory no one can tell how long between
inimical powers.
This appears from the address of the Council of Safety
of Verraont to the Councils of Safety of Massachusetts and
New Harapshire, requeating a concentration of patriotic
troops for the defence of the Western Verraont border
against Burgoyne. In that address the Council of Safety
said : —
" This St.ate in particular seems to be at present the object of
destruction. By the surrender of the fortress of Ticondertiga, u
commnnication is opened to the defenceless inhabitants on the
frontier, who, having little more in store at present than sufficient
for the maintenance of their respective families, and not ability
immediately to remove their effects, are therefore induced to ac
cept such protection as is offered them by the enemy. By this
means those towns which are most contiguous to them are under
the necessity of taking such protection, by which the next town
or towns becorae equally a frontier as the former towns before
such protection ; and unless we can have the assistance of our
friend."* so as to put it iramediately in our power to make a suffi
cient stand against such strength as they may send, it appears
that it will soon be out of the power of this State to maintain its
territory." Message after message carae to New Harapshire from
outraged Vermont in thia atyle : — - " When we are cruahed
and cease to be the frontier, you raust be. There is
no frontier, and will be none, except where there are
sufficient troops with arms in their hands to defend it." '
The action of the Vermont Council of Safety, boldly com
mitting the State as a barrier of the bodies of her citizens
against the further inroads of a powerful foe flushed with
recent and uninterrupted success, was taken on the 15tli
of July, 1777 (the day that Burgoyne flxed in his procla
mation for the affrighted towns and people to come iu
1 Butler's Address, referring to Stevens.

160 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
and make their submission to him). It was only six
months previously, Jan. 15, 1777, that tho adjourned con
vention was held at the Westminster court-house, which
voted (N. C. D): —
" That the district of land commonly called and known by the
name of Now Hampshire Grants be a now and separate State,
and for the future conduct theraselves as such.''
The author of that Declaration of Independence, Dr.
Jonag Faj', was a Bennington man and member of the
Council of Safety.
VI. Preparations to meet the Enemy. — The appeals
of the Vermont Council of Safety to thoae of Maaaachusetts
and New Hampshire have been noticed. Their efforts were
not relaxed ; nor were they the only ones that Vermont put
forth. When the loss of Ticonderoga waa known, agents were
appointed by the Vermont Convention to procure arms to
the amount of four thousand pounds sterling. Within a
week their agents had been in Connecticut, and, failing of
success there, had set out for Massachusetts. All arms found
in the possession of toriea in Vermont were seized. Their
property also was conflscated to fill the military chest. One
hundred and fifty stand of arms had been recently presented
to Vermont by Massachusetts, and an equal number sold
among the Green Mountains by Charles Phelps, of Marl
borough. Massachuaetta had also furnished New Hamp
shire with five tons of lead and five thousand fiints. When
news of the evacuation of Ticonderoga waa brought to the
Legislature of New Hampshire, the speaker, Johu Langden,
thus addressed them : —
"I have three thousand dollars in hard money. I will pledge
my plate for three thousand dollars more. I have seventy hogs-

GENERAL STARK. 161
heads of Tobago rum, which shall be sold for the most it will
bring. These are at the service of the State. If we succeed in
defending our (Ircsidea and lioraes, I m'ay be remunerated; if not,
the property will be of no value to me." '
Stark was now a private citizen. The comrade of Put
nam in the French war, and at the battle of Bunker Hill
(where he defended light breastworks among the foremost
in service) ; a brigadier with Waahington at Trenton and
Princeton, when the array went into winter-quarters at Mor
ristown, he returned to New Hampshire on a recruiting ex
pedition. Having filled his regiments, he returned to Exe
ter to await orders, and there learned that several junior
officers had been promoted by Congress, while he was left
out of the list. Soured with government, he had retired
from service. He was upon his farm in New Harapshire ; ^
and his name was a tower of strength araong the Green
Mountain Boys. The Legislature of New Harapshire offered
him the coramand of the forces they were to raise. Laying
aside his private griefs, he once raore donned his armor, and
went to the field ; stipulating, however, that he should not
be obliged to join the main array, but hang upon the wing
of the enemy in our own borders, and strike wheu opportu
nity should offer. Joy pervaded the railitia when their
favorite commander was announced as their chief. They
cheerfuUjr flocked to his atandard, which he raised first at
Charlestown (No. Four, on the Connecticut River), and then
at Manchester, twenty miles north of Bennington.
At Manchester, Gen. Lincoln met Stark, and had orders
from Schuyler, then major-general of the northern depart
raent, stationed at Albany, to conduct hira and his recruits
to the Hudson. St.ark positively refuaed to go, and exhib
ited the written terras upon whicii he had consented to ap-
1 Butler, referring to Stevens's Papers, and Everett's Life of Stark.
2 Irving'a Life of Washington.
14*

162 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
pear in the field at all. His refusal was communicated to
Congreaa ; and that body resolved that the Assembly of New
Hampshire should be informed that the instructions they
had given Gen. Stark were " destructive of railitarj' subor
dination, and highly prejudicial to the comraon cause ; " and
the Assembly was desired " to instruct Gen. Stark to con
forra himaelf to tho same rules which other general officers
of the militia were subject to whenever they were called
out at the expense of the United States." Stark, however,
remained immovable in his purpose to pursue an indepen
dent course, and be at liberty to use his own discretion as
to where to go and when to strike.
The time upon which we now raise the curtain is antece
dent to any definite knowledge of Burgoyne's design^ upon
the storehouae. At the head-quartera of Gen. Schuyler, no
doubt, there was profound ignorance on the subject ; for, as
we have seen, he sent Gen. Lincoln to bring Gen. Stark aud
his militia out of New England to the Hudson. " After the
disaster at Hubbardton, Gen. Schuyler's flrst orders were
that the Verraont railitia should repair to his carap ; tliough,
when remonstrated with, he allowed them to remain for the
defence of their families, and said, ' I had forgotten to give
orders about the security of the people on the Grants.' " i
Gen. Stark's superior sagacity, or better means of infor
mation, appears iu this, that he wrote, on July 29, from his
head-quarters on the Connecticut, that the destination of the
enemy appeared to be Benniugton. In fact, it was about
July 29 tliat Major-Gen. Riedsell conceived the purpose of
mounting his regiment of dragoons, and for this purpose
proposed the expedition under Col. Baum.2 " I am in
formed," says Stai'k, "that the enemy have left Castleton,
vvith au intent to marcii to Bennington." How decidedly the
1 Butler's Address.
2 Burgoyne's Stale of the Expedition.

COUNCIL OF SAFETY. 163
impression obtained that Bennington was an objective point
with Burgoj'ne, or that his array, or any portion of it, would
march through Bcuiiington, does not appear. Up to the
13th of August Gen. Stark appeared to be still in some
uncertainty whether his services would be needed in that
locality, or ho should rather be called at an early day to
march elsewhere.
However, he came with his brigade, seven or eight hun
dred strong, to Bennington. 1 He was here as early as Au
gust 9, aud encamped about two miles west of the meeting
house, near the tlicn residence of Col. Herrick, more lately
known as the Diinmick place, where he reraained for five
days, collecting inforra.ation in regard to the position and
designs of the enemy, and consulting with the Council of
Safetj', and with Col. Warner aud other officers, respecting
future operatious.2
As tirae wore on, aud the designs of the eneraj' were dis
closed, the evcr-faitliful Council, holding its sessions at the
Cataraouut Tavern, became still more anxious and alert ;
issuing orders for the effects of toriea to be aold for the re
plenishment of the war treaaury ;3 sending swift messengers
1 Jesse Field to Gov. Hall.
2 Vermont Hist. ]\lag.
3 " But the new Slate had no funds or established credit; and to raise su6h a
force'' ["a permanent volunteer force to patrol the frontiers, and watch the
domestic as well as foreign foes"], "without pecunl.iry means, was impossi
ble. Tlie dimculty wns at once solved by a resolution of the Council" of Safety,
" that the property of those who had fied to the enemy should be made to pay
the expense of defending the persons and property of those that remained. In
pursuance of this resolution, the Council, on the 28th of Juiy, appointed ' com
missioners of se(|uestraHon,' with directions to seize and dispose ofthe property,
under certain prescriberl regulations, of 'all persons in the State who had re
paired to the etieniy.' A proper fund for State use being thus secured, a regi
ment of rangers was soon organized, under Coi. Samuel Herrick, which did effi
cient and viilunblo service to tlie State .and country. ' This,' says Ira AUen, in
his hi.ctory, ' was ihe first inslance in America, of seizing and selling theproperty
of the enemies of American independence;' and such is believed to be the fact,
though the measure was afterward pursued In all the Stales." — Early Hist.
Vermont, p. 2()0.

164 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
in every direction for men and material ; even giving orders
for the conduct of colonels of regiments.'
The first entry of their records as preserved, is as fol
lows : — "Bennington. — In Council of Safety,
August 15, 1777."
(The day before the battle.)
" Sm : You are hereby desired to forward to this place, by ex
press, all the lead you can possibly collect in your vicinity, as it is
expected every minute an action will commence between our
troops and the enemy withiu four or flve miles of this place, and
the lead will be positively wanted. " By order of Council."
(This order was sent with all speed in different direc
tions.) VII. Movements before Tiiii Battle. — Baum en
camped at Saratoga ou August 11. Tliat night at eleven
o'clock he received a reinforcement of fifty chasseurs. On
the 12th he started on his raarch at five o'clock in the morn
ing, and marched a mile, when a messenger from Burgoyne
ordered hira to post hia corpa at Battenkill and wait further
inatructions. On the morning of the 13th, in consequence
of orders frora Burgoyne, he marched from Battenkill to
Cambridge, and arrived at the latter place at four o'clock,
P. M., a distance of sixteen miles. On this day's march he
was joined by several of the countrj' people. ^ During this
marcii he also sent ahead thirtj' provincials and flfty
savages to surprise an Araerican array-guard with some
1 " State of Vermont.— /n Council of Safety, Ang. 10, 1777.
" To Col. .Tohn WiUiams, —
" Silt : You will proceed with your party toward tlie lines, and if tho enemy
should retreat, you will repair to the road leading from St. Cork to lloosack,
and, if you make any discovery, repoit to this Council; at the same lime, you
are to pay itroper attention to the road leading from lloosack to I'ownal.
" By order of Council,
" Paul SrooNEit, D. Secretary."
2 Click.

BAUM AT SANCOIK. 165
cattle, of which he had received information. They took
flve prisoners, and continued their march, when they were
flred on by a p.arty of fifteen raen, and returned the flre, the
assailing party taking to the woods. At Carabridge they
took some cattle, horses, carts, and wagons ; and Baum sent
back from this place a dispatch to Burgoyne that he had
been informed the Americans were eighteen hundred strong
at Bennington.
The affair at Cambridge of the 13th was immediately re
ported to Gen. Stark, at his head-quarters, by two scouts in
the employment of the Council of Safety, Isaac Clark aud
Eleazer Edgerton.i At the time of their starting home
ward with this intelligence, however, the scouts were not
apprised of the approach of Col. Baum, and merely an
nounced the advance of a hostile party of Indians as far aa
Cambridge. Gen. Stark sent out two hundred men, under
Lieut.-Col. Gregg, to stop thera.^
On the morning of the 14th, Thursday, Col. Baum reached
Van Schaik's Mills, and found Col. Gregg's party in pos
session. We will let hira tell his own story with respect to
what took place there : — " Sancoiic, Ang. li, 1777, 9 o'clock.
' ' Siu : I have the honor to Inforra your Excellency that I arrived
here at eight in the morning, having liad intelligence of a party of
the enemy being iu possession of a mill, which they abandoned at
our approach, but in their usual way filed from the bushes, and
took the road to Bennington. A savage was slightly wounded.
They broke down the bridge, which has retarded our march about
an hour. They left in the mill about seventy-eight barrels of very
flne flour, one thousand bushels of wheat, twenty barrels of salt,
and about one thousand pounds' worth of pearl and pot ashes. I
have ordered thirty provincials and an officer to guard the provis
ions and the pass of the bridge. By flve prisoners here they agree
1 Father of the late Uriah Edgerton, Esq.
2 Jesse Field to Gov. Hall.

166 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
that fifteen hundred to eighteen hundred men are in Bennington,
but are supposed to leave it on our approach. I will proceed so
far to-day as to fall on the enemy to-morrow early, and make such
disposition as I think necessary from the intelligence I may re
ceive. People are flocking in hourly and want to be armed. The
savages cannot be controlled ; they ruin and take everything they
please. " I am, etc., "F. B.kvM.
" To Gen. Burgoyne.
"Beg your Excellency to pardon the hurry of this letter; it is
written on the head of a barrel."
At Saucoik, Baum began to be seriously molested. A
party of Americans fired on them a good deal from the
underwood, " causing them some loss in several of the
most forward among the savages." " At last, however,
they retreated, abandoning a mill which they had pre
viously fortified, and breaking down the bridge, and, long
before the latter could be repaired, they were safe from fur
ther molestation." " The Americans, though they gave
way at last, fought like men conscious of their own prow
ess, and confldent in the strength of the support which was
behind them ; and this, coupled with the rumors which had
reached us relative to the amount of the garrison at Ben
nington, failed not to startle Col. Baum, and the boldest of
his troops." *
More complete information than the flrst report by the
two scouts reached Gen. Stark, on the night preceding the
14th that a large body of the eneray were approach
ing in the rear of the Indians. On the raorniug of the
14th he rallied his brigade aud wh.at militia was at Ben
niugton and vicinity ; sent to Manchester for Col. Warner's
men ; issued orders for all the militia about to corae to him
with all speed, and forthwith marched to meet the enemy.
1 Click.

BAUM ON THE FIFTEENTH. ¦ 167
Some five milea on his waj', he met Col. Gregg retreating
before Col. Baum, and drew up hia little array in order of
battle. When the enemy carae in sight thej' halted on a hill or
advantageous rise of ground. Gen. Stark sent out sraall
parties in their front to skirmish with them, which had a
good effect. He killed and wounded thirty Of the enemy
without any losa on hia side ; but the ground did not suit
for a general action. He marched back about two railes
and encamped ; called a council, and agreed upon a plan of
attack for the next d.iy- But it rained the 15th, and he did
no more than skirmish.
We will condense from Glick's narrative. Baura judged
he could not reach the place of destination (Bennington
storehouse) before sunset. " We bivouacked at the farm
of Walmscott" (by Walloomsclioik River). The 15th,
Baum's outposts were attacked and driven in. He himself
was araong the buildings of the locality with his regulars.
He forraed them into close column, and sent provincials
and sharpshooters to sustain the outposts. " On seeing us,
our savage allies uttered a yell, which seeraed to strike panic
into the bosoras of their assailants ; for the latter instantly
paused, hung back, as it were irresolute, and finally re
tired." Araericans kept up skirmishing attacks all day.
Baum sent back for reinforcements, and commenced to for
tify to await them. " Six or eight log-huts made up the
farm of Walmscott, scattered here and there.'' " Baura
kept the whole of his force, with the exception of a hundred
men, on the north" (west) " side ofthe streara," "holding
the road upon his flanks, and in front and rear, by the In
dians." " To complete his arrangements, he occupied the
entire day and sorae portion of the night of the loth."
" Rain of the 15th iu torrents," " to afibrd shelter against
which human ingenuity has as yet devised no covering."

168 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The body of provincials and raarksraen, who had advanced
to asaiat in guarding the outposta, silently withdrew and
joined the regulars in the breastworks, and there paased
the night.
Baum was instructed by Gen. Burgoyne to keep his ranks
always in order, with military precision, and, in case of
meeting an eneray tliat threatened to be too strong, to post
his regulara in the raost advantageoua position for defence,
and throw up entrenchments. This he did, selecting an
excellent position, and making the best possible prepara
tiona for defence.
He had the Walloomsac i River (a fordable stream, but
liable to be swollen by rains) in front ; across it, in front, a
cleared bottom laud and slope varj'ing in Avidth, and wil
derness beyond, covering undulating hills, which rise to a
general elevation of considerable height. Across these up
lands, and hidden from Baum by intervening hills, was
Stark's encampment, some two miles distant, and reached
by a circuitous road. By Duruford's map ^ it appeara the
country in Baura'a front, eaat of the river, waa extensively
cleared, also southward over the Cambridge road, and
elsewhere iu portions, but the breastworks on the hill had
woods imraediately in front and down to the river, also on
the right down to the road, with the exception of a cleared
lot, and an unbroken wilderness on Baum's left to the
northward, and on his rear to the westward.
The hill selected for the main defence was high and ab
rupt, rising some three or four hundred feet, and washed at
its base by the river, running here very nearly south. The
Cambridge, or Sancoik, road from Bennington runs here
nearly eastwardly, until it has crossed the run, making
1 The same called Walmscott by Click; Wnllumscolk by others.
2 Map of Lieut. Durnfurd, Col. Baum's lOngineer, and published in Burgoyne's
State of the Expedition.

GENERAL STARK's FORCE. 169
nearlj' a right angle with the river, with a steep ascent from
the road to the redoubt. Baum's main intrenchment was
at the higheat elevation on thia hill.
According to Durnford's raap, within the raain fortifica
tion were Riedsell's Dragoons and a corps of Canadian
Rangers ; sorae paces iu advance, down the declivity, were
also stationed some of Riedsell's Dragoons ; at the foot of
the hill in front, bj' the river, chasseurs were posted. By
the river to the right, at the bridge of the Sancoik road,
and on both sides of the road, were minor fortifications,
where were Canadian Rangers and German Grenadiers ; over
the river, and less than a quarter of a mile distant on rising
ground, were also considerable fortifications, and here Baum
posted Peters' corps of Provinciala. It was called the tory
breastwork. Here Pfister, popularly known as Col. Pflster,
a retired British lieutenant of the French War, is believed
to have had immediate command. ^ This tory breastwork
was nearly south-east of Baum's intrenchments on the hill,
and at a considerably lower elevation.
According to Durnford's map he also had Canadians at
the river across ihe bridge; and down the hill on his right,
near the Sancoik road, and a quarter of a mile west of the
bridge, some grensidiers. His fortificationa and breaatworks
are stated to have been of earth and timbers, in perfecting
which he employed much of the daj- and night of the
15th. The precise location of the artillery and cannon
does not certainly appear. They were doubtless so dis
posed as to render most effective service. One or both of
the cannon waa withiu the main redoubt on the hill during
the severest part of the struggle.
Tliese were the defences aud militaiy preparations which
Gen. Stark, with the advice of Col. Warner and the other
officers, determined to attack on the 16th.
1 Vermont Historical Magazine.
15

170 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
" His force consisted of three regiments of New Hamp
shire militia, respectively commanded bj' Colonels Hubbard,
Stickney, and Nichols ; a small body of militia from the
east side of the mountains, under Col. William Williams,
of Wilmington ; a corps of rangers then forming under the
authority of the Vermont Council of Safety, commanded by
Col. Herrick ; a body of militia from Bennington and its
vicinity, Nathaniel Brush, colonel, of which there were two
companies from Bennington, the one commanded by Capt.
Samuel Robinson, and the other by Capt. Elijah Dewey.
He had just been joined by part of a militia regiment from
Berkshire County, under Col. Simmons, making his whole
force to amount, probably, to about eighteen hundred
men." i This estimate would include volunteers. Gen.
Stark speaks of his Uttle army.
The plan of attack was as follows : Col. Nichols, with
two hundred men, taking a wide circuit througli the woods
northward of Baum's redoubt, waa to get upon the rear of
his left undiscovered to the last moment possible bj' him.
Col. Herrick, with three hundred raen, taking a wide circuit
southward, was to get in like manner upon the rear of
Baura's right. These two to join and commence the attack.
Meantime, to divert attention from that proceeding, upon
the success of which everything else very much depended.
Colonels Hubbard and Stickney were to get before the tory
breastwork, and one hundred men to march toward the
front of Baum ; Gen. Stark, with the remainder of his force,
waa, at the right time, to charge Baum's intrenchments in
front. VIII. The Battle. — The plan appears to have been
carried out with remarkable completeness. As the orders
were given, and the several parties were about to enter
1 Vermont Hiatorical Magazine.

STATEMENT OF SILAS WALBRIDGE. 171
upon the performance of the duties severall j' assigned them.
Gen. Stark in his aaddle, pointing in the direction of the
enemj', raade thia laconic address : " There are the red
coats, AND tiiey are OURS, OR THIS NIGHT MOLLY StARK
sleeps a WIDOW."
On the map before mentioned the positions severally of
Stark's men before the action had commenced, or before it
had proceeded far, appear to be represented. Bodies of
Araericans are well advanced on the road leading aouth-
westerly to Baum's front ; another body of our troops have
approached near to the tory breastwork, advancing in a
north-westerlj- direction ; a body of Americans are also
near the grenadiers and tories, a quarter of a mile back on
the Sancoik road ; and Nichols on one side, and Herrick on
the other, have reached the coveted position in the rear of
Baura's main intrenchments. After Nichols had started for
his post he sent back to Stark for a reinforcement of a hun
dred men, and thej' were furnished him.
Gen. Stark says, " About three o'clock we got all ready
for the attack." The tirae previously to this raust have
been iraproved by Colonela Nichols aud Herrick getting
round to the rear of Baum's worka ; and bj' manoeuvres
and reconnoitering of Gen. Stark in front.
Silas Walbridge, who was in Capt. John Warner's
(brother of Seth Warner) companj' and Col. Herrick's reg
iment of Vermont Rangers, and went with Col. Herrick,
says 1 they went frora Stark's encarapraent " west across
the river (the Walloomsac flows northerly past the place
of encampment, then curves westward, and soon takes a
southerly direction past Baum's hill, and onward a short
diatance curvea again westward, and so passes by Sancoik),
crossed it again below Sickle'a Milia (brick factory, now
Austin & Patchiu's paper mill, a mile and a half westward
1 MS. statement communicated to Governor Hall.

172 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
from Baura's Hill, on the Sancoik road), and came in on
the rear of the Hessian redoubt.''
"Just before we arrived at the redoubt we came in sight of a
party of Indians, and fired on them. Tiiey retreated to the north
west, leaving two killed. Our men came within ten or twelve rods
of the redoubt, and began firing from behind logs and trees, and
continued firing and advancing until the Hessians retreated out of
their works and down the hill to the south. We followed on down
the hill to the level land on the river, and some pursued on fur
ther." Jesse Field, who was in Capt. Dewey's company of mi
litia, and went also with Col. Herrick, says ^ they " crossed
the river over against the camp, went over the hills, forded
the river again below the enemj', and came up on their rear."
"When we came in sight of the enemy's works we halted, and
it seemed that the rear of our party had been detained for some
cause. We stood but a short time when the firing commenced
from the party on the north. 1 recollect hearing Lieut.  ex
claim, 'My God, what are we doing? They are killing our broth
ers ; why are we not ordered to fire ? ' Ina moment our adjutant
came up and ordered us to advance. We pressed forward, and as
the Hessians rose above their works to fire, we discharged our
pieces at them."
Solomon Safford states ^ that he turned out with Capt.
Samuel Robinson's companj', and encamped with them the
evening of the 15th at the bend of the river, half a mile north
of Stark's encarapraent, and waa ordered to rernain behind
and guard the knapsacks and other baggage during the
16th. On the raorning ofthe battle, after the company had
started off with Col. Herrick, Gen. Stark and Col. Warner
rode past him on horseback, and accosted hira."
Thomaa Mellen, the veteran whose statement is given iu
Ml'. Butler's address, says : —
1.2 From MS. statements communicated to Governor Hall.

Tf.HE OF THE FIRST ACTION. 173
"Stark and Warner rode up near the enemy to reconnoitre;
were flied at with the cannon, and carae galloping back. Stark
rode with sliouldcrs bent forward, aud cried out to his raen :
'Those rascals know that I am an olllcci'; don't you see they
honor me with a big gun as a salute?' We wore marched round
and round a circular hill till we were tired. Stark said it was to
amuse the Germans. All tho while a cannonade was kept up upon
us from their breastworks. It hurt nobody, and it lessened our
fear of the great guns. After a while I was sent, with twelve oth
ers, to lie lu ambush on a knoll a little north, and watch for tories
on their way to join Baura. Presently we saw six coraing toward
us, who, mistaking us for tories, came too near to escape. We
disarmed them, and sent them under a guard of three to Stark.
While I was on the hillock, I espied one Indian whom I thought I
could kill, and more than once cocked my gun, but the orders were
not to fire. He was cooking his dinner, aud now and then shot
at sorae of our people."
Silas Walbridge speaka of the troopa at Stark's encamp
ment as parading early on the morning of the 16th for
battle. There was then no lack of activity on our side. All were
on the alert from early morning, but there was little if any
firing by our men until about three o'clock in the afternoon ;
but the enemy kept up firing all day upon us whenever we
showed ourselves to thera, and where thej' were not deceived
to think we were tories advancing to join thera.
Gen. Stark says, "The action lasted two houra." He
appears to mean, from the comraenceraent of firing by
Nichola until the fight ended on the plain below. The
raanuscript statements of SaflTord, Walbridge, and Field
do not, perhapa, conflict with this, though they seem to
make the tirae shorter. If there is any real discrepancy, it
probably shows that to unprofessional soldiers fighting so
severely aud with so rauch at stake, the time iu the recol
lection of many j'ears afterward appeared to be shorter
than it really was. They had d )t anticipated getting their
15*

174 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
work done so quickly. When the order came to go over
the breastworks it was then probably but a few moments
ere the Hessians were dislodged. When that was done it
seemed to our men as if really all was done.
Jacob Safford, orderly sergeant in Warner's regiment,
afterward ensign, ^ says : —
" Should think the action at Baum's Hill one and a half hour of
scattering flre, then twenty -flve to thirty minutes of close work."
The onset upon all the works appears to have been
simultaneous ; and the tory breastworks and other detached
fortifications to have been carried early in the action,
though particular accounts of this portion of the day's
work are wanting. But if the outworks were carried with
comparative ease, it waa not ao with the main intrench
ments, those oil the hill, where was Col. Baum in person
and hia faithful veterans. They were slow to believe they
were to be vanquished. They kept their cannon at work.
They lined the breastworks. Nevertheless, our brave
fellows, no less in earnest, pressed up upon every side.
The instant or place of first entrance of the redoubt by our
men does not now appear. It will assist to a more com
plete impression of the battle to introduce here further por
tions from Glick's interesting narrative : —
"The morning of the IGth rose beautifully serene. The
storm of the preceding day having expended itself, not a cloud
was left to darken the heavens, wliile the very leaves hung
motionless, and the long grass waved not, under the influence of
a perfect calm. Every object around appeared, too, to peculiar
advantage; for the flelds looked green and refreshed, the river
was swollen and tumultuous, and the branches were all loaded
with dew-drops, which glistened in the sun's early rays like so
raany diamonds. Nor would it bo possible to imagine any scene
more rife with peaceful and even pastoral beauty. Looking down
2 MS. cominuulcatluu to Governor lliill.

click's narrative. 175
from the summit of tlie rising ground, I belield iraraediately be
neath rae a wide sweep of stately forest, interrupted at reraote
intervals bj' gieen meadows, or yellow corn flelds, whilst here and
there a cottage, or shed, or somo other primitive edifice, reared
its modest head, as if for the purpose of reminding the spectator
that mau had begun his inroads upon nature, without as yet taking
away from her simplicity and grandeur."
" At the dawn, no note of railitary preparation forewarn
ing an attack." Baura ordered his men to eat their break
fasts. Soon reports came that columns of armed men were
approaching. Col. Baum was duped to believe that these
were friendly tories, and called in his pickets. Capt.
Frazer thouglit Baum was deceived, and so did most of the
troops ; but not so Baura. ^
" We might bave stood half an hour under arms, watching the'
approach of a column of four or flve hundred men, who, after dis
lodging tlie pickets, stood in the edge of tho open country."
" Then trampling of feet in the forest on our right."
A patrol sent. Encountered a discharge of fire-arms. In
diana carae in in disraay.
"Then we are surrounded on all sides."
Then firing and shouting. Then the column in front
pressed up. Then traitors inside fired at the dragoons, and
withdrew. " We lined the breastworlw and fired well ; the advancing columns
fell back at flrst ; but fresh attacks developed themselves at every
point." "All threatened with a force perfectly adequate to bear
down opposition, and yet by no means disproportionately large, or
such as to render the main body inefficient."
The Indians fled, when in the rear of right and left ap
peared the enemy's (Stark's) columns.^
1 Gen Stark's plan of the day, to make no actual assault until all was gotten
ready, probably favored thi.s hallucination of Brtdm.
2 'When Col. Nichols commenced firing, comlhg np on the rear left, and Col.
Herrick approached, firing on the rear right, the Indians, alarmed at the proa-

176 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
"The vacancy which the retreat of the savages occasioned was
promptly fllled up by one of our two fleld -pieces, whilst the other
poured destruction among the enemy in front as often as they
showed themselves iu the open country or threatened to advance.
In this state of things we continued upwards of three-quarters of
an hour. Though repeatedly assailed in front, flank, and rear, we
maintained ourselves with so much obstinacy as to inspire a hope
that the enemy might even yet be kept at bay till the arrival of
Breyman's corps, now momentarily expected."
The solitary tumbril containing all the spare ammunition
exploded with great violence, shaking the earth. The
enemy (forces of Stark), arrested a moraent by the vio
lence of the concussion, guessed the nature of the affair,
then rushed up the ascent, sprang over the parapet,
and dashed within the works, — bayonet, butt, and rifle
in full play. A few moments finished the work. Glick,
with thirty of his comrades, cut their way through, and he
escaped. '
It is preaumed, not until all hope of recovering the day
by further standing their ground was utterly lost. All ac
counts agree as to the strange valor of these German hire
lings. The Royalists and Canadians, as many as eould
escape, had taken to the woods ; but the Hessians, though
their works were forced and their cannon captured, pre
served their discipline and fought bravely until there was
not a cartridge left, then drew their sabres and charged, the
Americans, with their colonel at their head. They were
nearlj' all killed or taken with Col. Baum, who did not sur
render until wounded fatally. i
pect of being surrounded, endeavored to make their escape in single file be
tween tlie tvvo parties, with their horrid yells and the jingling of cow-bells. —
Thacher. 1 Andrewa. — The story of the impressment of these Hessians into the British
aervice by the petty sovereigns of Germany is an alfecting one. 'Ihey were
gathered by force, locked up in fortresses to prevent their desertion, marched
to their place of embarkation without ammunition or arms, but under the com-

BRAVERY OF THE AMERICANS. 177
Jesse Field aays : ' —
They " ran down the hill to the south and south-east.' We ran
over and round their works after thera, and continued the pursuit
until they were all, or nearly all, killed, or taken. The day was
very warm, the Hessians were in full dress, and very lieavily
arraed, and we in our shirts and trowsers, and without our knap
sacks, and thus had greatly tho advantage in the pursuit. After
we p.assed the redoubt there was no regular battle, — all was con
fusion, — a party of our men would attack and kill, or take prison
ers, another party of Hessians. Every man seemed to manage
for hiraself, and, being attached by chance to some squad, either
under some ofllcer, or without any, would attack every party that
came in their way. I should think I did not continue in the pur
suit over half a mile, though some parties went further, — probably
nearly down to Ruusellau's Mills."
Gen. Stark, in his despatch to Gen. Gates, referring to
this action of storraing the redoubt, says of it : —
" The hottest I ever saw in my life : it represented one contin
ued clap of thunder."
Again : —
" They were all environed with two breastworks with their ar
tillery; but our martial cour.age proved too hard for them."
He is also quoted as saying, " Had each man been an
Alexander or a Charles of Sweden, he could not have be-
mand of trusty yagers who had both, and were ever ready to nip mutiny in the
bud. Some did desert. Some attempted to mutiny, and were fired into. It was
a measure of cruel and base tyranny and oppression. — Bancroft, vol. ix., pp. 316,
317. " England entered early in 1770 Into treaties with the petty sovereigns of
Germany to take into British service nearly twenty thousand German troops.
Over four thousand of them were Bruswickers. Over these latter Col. Riedsell
was major-general — a portion of them was Lieut.-Col. Baum's regiment of dis
mounted dragoons; n portion, Lieut. -Col. llrcj man's grenadiers. Of the four
thousand Brunswickers, about twenty-eight hundred returned to Germany." —
Burgoyne's Orderly Book, pp. 103, 104. See Irving's Life of Washington, 11., 196
Beside the subsidy exacted bythe Germnn princes, they were to be paid seven
pounds, four shillings, and four pence, sterling, for every aoldier furnished by
them, and as much more for every one slain. — Irving.
1 SIS. statement. 2 After being forced from their works.

178 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
haved more gallantly.'' A Hessian eye-witness declares
that this time " the Americans fought with desperation,
pressing within eight paces of the loaded cannon to take
surer aim of the artillerists." ^ Andrews, the British au
thor, says : " Gen. Stark advanced upon Col. Baum with
the utmost diligence, and inclosed him on all sides. The de
fences he had raised were forced after a valiant resistance."
Imraediately after their hard-earned victory, prisoners
already captured were to be sent under guard to a secure
place, and some pursuit, if poasible, still maintained to
effect more captures. The wounded were to be cared
for, — persons still living speak of beds and bedding, sent
out for this purpose, afterward bearing blood-stains. Our
dead were to be reverently conveyed to their homes. Col.
Baum and the tory Col. Pfister, both mortally wounded,
were separately borne to a house a raile and a half this
side of the battle-field. Col. Pfister, a part of the way on
the back of Jonathan Arrastrong, of Shaftsbury'. They
both died witliin twenty-four hours. Capt. Robinson, who
guarded the house where Baum lingered in his last hours,
and watched gently as a woman with hira till he died, was
wont to say, that " a more intelligent and brave officer he
had never aeen than this unfortunate lieutenant." ^ The
spoils of victory, too, were to be gathered. Gen. Stark had
promised, in his orders, that all the plunder iu the enemy's
camp should be distributed among the soldiers ; beside all,
many of our brave fellows, neither wounded nor slain, were
scattered about, thoroughly exhausted by their exertions in
the fight.
But we muat return to the battle, which ia not yet
1 Irving's Life of Washington. — "New England sharpshooters ran up within
eight yards ofthe loaded cannon to pick ofTthecannoiiIcrs." — Bancroft, quoting
Scliiiizer's Briefweclisel. "The royal ofiicers were astonished to see how un
dauntedly they rushed on the mouths of thp cannon." — Gordon.
2 Rev. S. Uoblnsoii's Address.

ARRIVAL OF BREYMAN. 179
finished. Baum and the remnant of his forlorn hope had
probably not yet ceased fighting, when Brej'man arrived
at Sancoik with his formidable corps-de-reserve. Each sol
dier had fort}' rounds in his pouch, and there were two
boxes of ammunition on the artillery carts. i
Breyman left Battenkill at nine o'clock of the 14th,
hia order to march having been received by Sir Francis
Clarke at eight o'clock. His guide lost his way at one
time. On the evening of the 15th he halted seven railes
before reaching Carabridge. The men lay upon their
arms all night. He sent a raessage to Baura and got a re
turn next raorning. He started again, on the raorning
of the 16th, and reached the Sancoik mill at half past
four, p. M., and found the advanced guard in poaaession,
which he had previously sent on — (sixty grenadiers and
chasseurs, aud twenty riflemen) — and Col. Skene direct
ing. "I had scarcely passed the bridge when I perceived
a considerable nuraber of arraed men making for the hill on
ra3' left flank, sorae iu jackets, sorae in shirts. Col. Skene
said they were royalists, but they fired into ua."^ Here
Col. Breyman's part in the Bennington battle began in
earnest. Gen. Stark's men, it is evident, were in no condition to
meet this fresh and more powerful foe. It is said it was
with great difficult}^ he himaelf could be roused to raeet the
new danger, so worn out and stiffened had he become.
Contrary to his first impression, and on the earnest appeal
of Warner, Col. Brcyraan was immediately resisted, instead
of a retreat being ordered, to form the scattered forces in
order of battle. ^
They opened au incessant fire from tiieir artillery and
sraall arras, which was, for a while, returned by the Araeri-
1 Breyman's dispatch.
y Col. Breyman's dispatch.
3 Vermont Hist. Mag.

180 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
cans with rauch spirit ; but, exhausted and overpowered by
numbers, we at length began slowl}', but in good order, to
retreat before the enemy, disputing the ground inch by
inch.i Firing iuto their flank, and, at the same time, keep
ing in front of thera, though retreating, and firing into
them that way, so as not to be outflanked by them.
Early, however, in this unexpected encounter with Brey
man, Col. Warner's men carae upon the fleld, and most op
portunely indeed for our cause.
Warner himaelf waa already here; "was with Stark, at
Bennington, for several days previously to, and remained
with him until after, the battle, assisting him in planning
the flrst and conducting both actions." ^ His regiment (or,
rather, the remnant of it, it having been sadly wasted at
Hubbardton) was stationed at Manchester. At the sum
mons of Stark, the men, about one hundred and thirty in
number,3 so soon as tiiey could be collected together,
started for Bennington. They marched the rainy night
of the 15th, under coramand of Lieutenant-Colonel Saf
ford; stopped, the forenoon of the 16th, to get rested
and dried, and to put their firelocks in order, in Benning
ton, and, at the time mentioned, came upon the field.
Thus reinforced, it was some little time before we
made a successful stand agaiust the enemy. The Any had
been nearly lost ;'' nor was it rescued without the most ar
duous and critical exertion. AVe had Baum's cannon to
turn upon them ; but thej' had cannon of larger calibre ;
and our brave fellows were worn out, thinned in numbers,
hungry, taken by surprise, and not iu battle array.
The anxiety in the old village of Bennington grew in
1 Thompson's Vermont.
2, 3 Vermont llist. Mag. William Carpenter of Swansea, N. II. — so his son
Judge Carpenter, of Akron, Ohio, told me — used to relate, as what he himself
heard, that the order was given, by Gen. Stark, to nn aid, to retreat. Warner
heard it, and said, " Stand to it, my lads ; you sliull liave help immediately."
¦1 Andrews.

ORAL STATEMENTS AND MANUSCRIPTS. 181
intensity as the day wore away.i The Council of Safety
remained iu painful deliberation. A letter, still preserved,
written by Secretary Fay, at Bennington, at six o'clock,
aud sent hither and thither, as a circular dispatch, saj's : —
" Stark is now in an action which has been for some time very
severe  The enemy were driven ; but, being rein
forced, made a second stand, and still continue tho conflict. But
we have taken their cannon, and prisoners, said to number four
or five hundred, are now arriving."^ Gen. Stark, in his dispatch,
says, " The b.-ittle continued obstinate on both sides till sunset."
But again " our martial coilrage proved too hard for
them." Breyman's cannon, taken and retaken,^ remained in
the hands of the Americans. Breyman's " party were com
pelled to retire " as the British author ¦• carefully aays. They,
however, so raany of thera as could, retired at the last very
hastily. It was well for thoae who did escape that night
was so near at hand. "We pursued them till dark," says
General Stark ; " but, had daylight lasted one hour longer,
we should have taken the whole body of thera." The strug
gle of that eventful day may be said to have ended where .
it the day before began, at the Sancoik mill. Breyman got
back that night (of the 16th) to Cambridge, and the next
day (Sunday) got back to camp.^
IX. Some E.ktkacts from an oral Statement and MS.
Communications.
From oral statement of Mr. Mellen.^ — " Before I had time to flre
many rounds, our men rushed over the breastwork, but I and
many others chased straggling Hessians In the woods. We pur-
1 Thompson's Vermont, Upon the alarm of the approach of the enemy to
ward Bennington, the people of the border flocked to the centre ; as did also numt
bers from other towna. The place was crowded with fugitivea. — Vermont Hlat.
Mag. 2, 3 Butler. < Andrews.
B Col. Breyman's dispatch. ' See Butler's Addreas.
16

182 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
sued till we met Breyman with eight hundred fresh troops and
larger cannon, which opened a flre of grape shot. Some of the
grape shot riddled a Virginia fence near me ; one struck a small
white-oak tree behind which I stood. Though it hit higher than
my head, I fled from the tree, thinking it miglit be aimed at again.
We skirmishers ran back till we met a large body of Stark's men,
then faced about. I soon started for a brook I saw a few rods be
hind, for I had drank notliing all day, and should have died with
thirst had I not chewed a bullet all the time. I had not gone a
rod, when I was stopped by an ofllcer, sword iu hand, and ready
to cut me xlown as a runaway. On my complaining of thirst, he
handed me his canteen, which was full of rum. I drank and for
got my thirst. But the enemy outflanked us, and I said to a com
rade, ' We must run or they will have us.' He said, 'I will have
one more flre flrst.' At that moment a major on a black horse
rode along behind us, shouting, ' Fight ou, boys, reinforcements
close by.' While he was speaking, a grape shot went through his
horse's head and knocked out two teeth. It bled a good deal, but
the major kept his seat and spurred on to encourage others. In
flve minutes we saw Warner's men hurrying to help us. They
opened right and left of us, and half of them attacked each flank
of the enemy, aud beat back those who wero just closing around
us. Stark's men now took heart and stood their ground. My gun-
, barrel was by this time too hot to hold, so I seized the musket of
a dead Hessian, in which my bullets went easier than in my own.
Eight in front were the cannon, and, seeing an olflcer on horse
back waving his sword to the artillery^nen, I flred at him twice;
his horse fell. He cut the traces of an artillery horse, mounted
him, and rode off. I afterward heard that officer was Major Skene.
Soon the Germans ran and we followed."
From narrative of Jesse Field. ' — " When the prisoners were col
lected, they were sent ofl' under a guard to Bennington. Our
men were scattered all over the fleld of battle, some resting them
selves, some looking up the dead and wounded, and others iu pur
suit of plunder. An liour or two before sunset I heard the report
of cannon, and news soon came tliat our men were attacked by a
.body of Hessians who had come to reinforce Baum. I with
others went down ou the side-liill north of tho road. Wheu we
1 Communicated In 5IS. to Gov. llnll, and in his possession.

NARRATIVE OF JACOB SAFFORD. 183
came in sight of the enemy, they were marching np the road this
side the brick factory, their cannon in front clearing the way.
Our men kept collecting in front and on the left. The party I was
with took post with others on tho side-hill above the road, within
from twenty to tliirty rods of the enemy, and kept up a constant
flre generally frora behind trees. The road appeared full of men,
and it was like firing into a flock of sheep. The enemy kept fir
ing upon us, but we were greatly protected by the trees. The bat
tle continued till about dark, when the enemy retreated and were
not pursued far."
From narrative of Silas Walbridge. ' — " After the battle was
over I wont back with Captain Warner to where the action began,
to look for the wounded, and while there we heard firing, the begin
ning of the second battle. We made all haste to the scene of
action, and found things in much confusion. Some of the officers
were ordering ' forward,' others saying ' retreat.' Our men re
treated for somo time, flnally made a stand, and after hard fight
ing till about night we drove the enemy and took their cannon.
This battle lasted an hour and a half or two hours. Warner's
regiment, I believe, kept in order on the retreat, and served as a
rallying point for the other troops."
Cajyt. Jacob Sajfm'd's statement, talcen in 1823.2 — (Jacob Salford after Ben
nington battle was an ensign In Col. Warner's regiment, aa oppears by a vote
of Congress, accepting hia resignation November, 18, 1770. — 3d vol. Jour. Cong.,
395. He was a worthy man and died in Bennington in May, 1833.) Jacob Saf
ford says that previous to Bennington battle he belonged to Warner's regiment
and acted as orderly sergeant in Captain  a company.
"After the battle of Hubbardton, by which our regiment was
reduced to less than one hundred and fifty men, we were sta
tioned at Manchester. On the llth of August, I should think,
information was received that we were wanted at Bennington,
but, owing to the absence of a large scout under Captain John
Chipman, and perhaps frora somo other causes, we did not raarch
till the morning of tho 15th. The day was rainy, but by
marching till nearly midnight we arrived within about a mile of
Bennington village and eucamped. We were drenched with rain,
1 Communicated to Gov. Hall, and In his possession.
2 Communicated in manuscript to Gov. Hall, and in his possession; nnd the
note at the head of the statement is his.

184 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
and our arms and equipments having been all day exposed to the
weather, it took a considerable part of the forenoon of the next
day to flt ourselves for a march. We were also short of ammuni
tion, which occasioned some delay, and so much time was em
ployed in making the necessary preparations for battle, that it was
about noon, or perhaps a little past, when the regiment marched
from Bennington village. While going down the Henderson hill
[two miles from Bennington] a scattering flre of musketry was
commenced in the direction of the battle-ground. We halted a
short time at Stark's encampment [four miles from Bennington] ;
left onr coats and knapsacks ; and a gill of ruin with water was
dealt to each man. The weather was extremely warm, and after
crossing the flrst bridge [about flve aud three-quarter miles from
Bennington] we were halted while the men drank at the river.
Two sergeants were now requested to volunteer to head the line,
and I with another went in front. About this time the firing,
which had gradually increased, became very heavy, and a general
attack seemed to be made. We now began to meet the wounded,
and when we arrived at the second bridge,' [three-quarters of a
mile below tho flrst], the Hessians were running down the hill,
and the two pieces of cannon wore taken. If we halted at all at
this place, it was but for a very few minutes. Here I was put in
command of the left flank guard, and the marcii was continued
by the regiment down the road, and by myself and guard across
the flat. There was also a flank guard on the right. We con
tinued our march until we came to the top of the eminence next
beyond where the brick factory now stands [one and a half miles
below the second bridge], where I found the regiment had halted.
On inquiring the cause, I was told that a reinforcement of the
enemy was near. I mounted a fence, and saw the enemy's flank-
guard beyond the next hill, say half a mile distant. We were
then ordered to form a line for battle, by filing to the right ; but,
owing to the order not being understood in tho rear, the line was
formed by flling to the left, which brought many of our men into
a sort of swamp, instead of ou the hill above, where we should have
been. We, however, wailed the approach of the enemy, aud com
menced flring as they came up ; but owing, as I think, to the un
favorable nature of the ground, we soon began a retreat, which
was continued slowly and in good order, flring constantly for
1 Since known as Burnet's Biidge.

RESULTS OF THE BATTLE. 185
about three-quarters of a mile, until we reached the high ground
west of the run of water, where we made a stand. The eneray
had two pieces of cannon in the road, and their line extended
a considerable distance both below aud above the road. A party
of Hessians undertook to outflank us on the rigiit, and partly suc
ceeded, but were flnally repulsed and driven back. The action
was warra and close for nearly two hours, when it being near
dark the enemy were forced to retreat. One of their pieces of
cannon was taken near the run, and the other a few rods below
the brick factory."
X. Results of the Battle. — In these two engage
ments the Americans took, according to Gen. Stark, " four
piecea of brass cannon, seven hundred atand of arms and
brass-barrelled drums, several Hessian swords, about seven
hundred prisoners, two hundred and seven dead on the
spot, the number of wounded yet unknown." ^ " Lieut.-
Col. Baum, one major, seven captains, fourteen lieutenants,
four ensigns, two cornets, one judge-advocate, one baron,
one aide-de-camp, one Hessian chaplain, three Hessian
surgeons." 2 " Our loss was inconsiderable; about forty
wounded and thirty killed." ^
Of the trophies, one Hessian gun and baj'onet, one broad
sword, one brass-barrelled drum, and one grenadier's cap,
were presented to each of the States of Vermont, New
Hampshire, and Massachusetts. Letters of thanks were
returned by these States to Gen. Stark.
A broadsword, taken from Col. Baum on the field of bat
tle, by Lieut. Thomas Jewett, of Capt. Dewey's corapany,
afterward purchased by David Robinson, Esq., ia now in
the possession of G. W. Robinson. A set of draughting
instruraents, a map of the route from St. Johns, along the
Lakes Champlain and George and the River Hudson, aud
1 stark to Gen. Gates.
2 Stark to the General Court of New Hampshire. —Dawson.
3 Stark to Gatea.
16*

186 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
a lieut.-colonel's commission of Col. Pflster, fell into the
handa of one of his two capturers, Jonathan Armstrong,
and are in the possession of his grandson, the Hon. L. B.
Armstrong, of Dorset.^ Of the cannon, two, doubtless
those of Col. Baum, taken at the redoubt, rated by the "War
Department as three-pounders,^ are in the State House at
Montpelier. The remains of Col. Baum and Col. Pfister, whoae deaths
have been already mentioned, were buried near the bank of
the river, a few rods below the paper-mill of Messrs. Hun
ter & Co. There is nothing to mark the spot, and the
place of their interment is not known. ^
Of the llessiau prisoners who died, many were buried iu
a place still kept vacant in our church-yard.
The tory prisoners were marched into the village bound
two by two. The women took down their bedsteads to get
ropes to string them on. They were a care, and probably a
vexation, to the Council of Safety for a long time. Capt.
Samuel Robinson was chief overseer of them. There are
many entries concerning them in the records of the Council
of Safety ; one to Capt. Robinson to detach ten of them,
under proper officers, to tread aud beat down the roads
(drifted with snow in January) from this place through the
Green Mountains to Col. William Williams' dwelling-house
in Draper, alias Wilmington ; and back again " in the same
manner to this place, with all convenient speed." By an
entry, Septeraber 4, 1777, it appears the prisoners were in
Capt. Dewey's barn, or some of them. They were ordered
to be reraoved to the school-house ; " if there is sufficient
room for them in the meeting-house " (probably with what
are already there) " they are to be removed to the meeting
house in lieu of the school-house," — always with a proper
1 Vermont Hist. Mag. 2 Butler's Address.
3 Vermont Hist. Mag.

GENERAL RESULTS OF THE VICTORY. 187
guard over them. Some were put on the limits of their
own farms ; some were banished the town under penalty of
death if they should return. i Some, it is said, were sent
to the mines at SimsburJ^^ The number of tories taken
prisoners has been stated as one hundred and fifty-
seven. ^
In after years the military reputation of Bennington rose
high. The Rev. Mr. Avery says of the town, in his Narra
tive, 1783 : —
" In reg.ai'd to military prowess Bennington is thought to be sec
ond to none on the continent."
The general results were of the highest possible impor
tance. This is true of their bearing upon the infant State
of Vermont.
Gen. Schuyler was a haughty, aristocratic New Yorker ;
owing his place to social position, not to military talent,
and despising New England ; refusing to answer an ofiicial
letter of Ira Allen, Secretary of our State governraent,
without addressing him as a private man.'* Gen. Stark
was ordered to report to Gen. Schuyler, and refused to do
so, and was censured for it in Congress, where New York
was all powerful, and Vermont unrecognized.^ But some
days before this vote of cenaure upon Gen. Stark, he had
fought and won the battle of Bennington. The tidings had
not readied Congreas, because the post at that time re
quired five d.ays to get frora Bennington to Philadelphia.
So soon as tlic glad news did arrive, Stark's refusal to re
port to Gen. Schuyler was forgotten ; and a vote of thanks
adopted, at length, and Stark was appointed a brigadier-
general in the array of the United States.^
1 Vermont state Tapers. 2 Butler. 3 Lossing, 4, 5 Bancroft.
8 Congress, on Oct. 4, 1777, resolved, "That the thanks of Congreas be pre
sented to Gen. .Stark, of the New Hampshire militia, and the ofiicers and troops
under his command, for their brave and successful attack upon, and signal victory

188 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Stark waa, in spirit and action, and by association, a
representative New Hampshire Grants man. He rose in
estimation at Philadelphia, and the petition of the New
Hampshire Grants to be recognized as an independent
State obtained a more respectful hearing. ^
The inhabitants of the Grants were reassured in their
purpose ; and, outside the limits of their territory, men
reasoned that if the Green Mountain Boys could make of
themselves a barrier of defence for the country, they had a
right to self-existence as a commonwealth.
By this victory on the Walloomsac hope returned to the
American people. The gift of trophies of the battle to
Massachusetts was, and still is, suspended in the Senate
Chamber at Boston, over the entrance, and opposite the
Speaker's chair, and a copy of the letter of thanks is fas
tened to the wall just beneath the trophies, and is as fol
lows : — " Common WEALTH of Massachusetts,
" Boston, Bee. 5, 1777.
"Sir: — The General Assembly of this State, take the earliest
opportunity to acknowledge the receipt of your acceptable present,
the token of victory gained at the memorable battle of Benning
ton. Tho events of that day strongly marked the bravery of the
men, who, unskilled in war, forced from thoir entrenchments a
chosen number of veteran troops of boasted Britons, as well as
the address and valor of tho general who directed their move
ments and led them on to conquest. This signal exploit opened
the way to a rapid succession of advantages, most important to
America. "These trophies shall bo safely deposited in the archives of the
State, aud there remind posterity of the irresistible power of
over, the enemy in their lines at Bennington; and that Brigadier Stark be ap
pointed a brigadier-general in the Army ofthe United Statea." — Journal of
Congress, ill., 3^7. Yeas and nays required and taken; but one dissenting voice,
— M. Ciiase, of Maryland.
1 Thomxison'a Vermont.

OTHER TESTIMONY. 189
the God of armies and the honors due to the memory of the
brave. " Still .attended witli like successes, may you long enjoy the
reward of your grateful country. "Jerebiiah PO'WELL,
" President of the Council.
" Brigadier General John Stark."
" The great stroke struck by Gen. Stark near Benning
ton," says Gen. Washington, in a letter to Putnam.i " The
capital blow given the enemy by Gen. Stark," says Gen.
Lincoln.^ Bancroft pronounces this " victory one of the
most brilliant and eventful of the war." ^ Baroness Reid-
sell, then in the British carap, wrote : " This unfortunate
event paralyzed, at once, our operations." Clinton wrote :
" Since the affair at Bennington, not an Indian has been
heard of ; the scalping has ceased. I do not apprehend, in
deed, any great danger from the future operations of Mr.
Burgoyne." The Indians, in particular, were so disheart
ened, that nearly all of them iramediately left the British
service, and about two hundred and fifty of them came
over and joined the American army. The Canadians and
tories also deserted in large numbers.'*
The terror of Burgoyne, and his confidence in himself, •
alike departed. In his instructions to Baum, before the
battle, he wrote : —
" Mount your dragoons ; send me thirteen hundred horses ; seize
Bennington ; cross the mountains to Rockingham and Brattlebor
ough ; try the aff'octions of the country ; take hostages ; meet
me, a fortnight hence, in Albany."'
1 Irving's Washington, HI., p. 170.
2 Bennington, August 18. To Gen. Schuyler. 3 Ix., 386.
4 Thompson's Vermont. " At Bennington Stark gave the wound
Which, Hfcott gangrene, spread around."
— From a poem by the Eev. Wheeler Case.
5 See, also. Evidence on the American War, given before the House of Com
mona, London, 1780, p. 77.

190 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Four days after the battle, he wrote to England thus : —
"The Hampshire Grants, in particular, — a country unpeopled
and almost unknown in the last war, — now abounds in the most
active and rebellious race on the continent, and hangs, like a gath
ering storm, on my left." '
" The ideas entertained of the Americans, by Gen. Bur
goyne, now experienced a total revolution, and he declared
that it would be impossible for Britain to succeed in her
views, and that he should, on his return to England, recom
mend the recognition of their independence." ^
In what remained to be done, and in putting the finish
ing stroke upon Burgoyne's campaign, at Stillwater, on the
7th of the following October, the Green Mountain Boys
bore their full share.

XI. CoMPAEATivE STRENGTH OP FoRCES. — Authorities
difier as to the numbers, particularly of Baum's expedi
tion and the reinforcement. As we are obliged to depend
upon those who were beaten in the engagements, it is
reasonable to assume that the numbers given will be too
low rather than too high. Burgoyne, in his order of
August 26, giving explanations for the unfortunate result
of the battle, does not mention the great superiority of the
enemy in numbers.^
Burgoyne felt that very much depended upon the succeas
of the expedition. In addition to what has been stated, in
the fore part of this article, of his threefold object, and of
his carefulness in fitting out the expedition, it may be
1 Burgoyne's more private letter to Germain.
2 Introduction to Burgoyne's Orderly Book. " Their measures are executed
with a secrecy and dispatch that are not to be equalled." — Burgoyne's more pri
vate letter to Germain. " Your funds of men are inexhaustible, like the hydra's
head: when cut olf, seven more sprang up In Its stead." — Gen. Burgoyne to
Gates, at dinner, after his surrender, at Gen. Schuyler's. Orderly Book.
3 Orderly Book, p. 83.

NUMBER OF BAUM'S FORCE. 191
added, that he gave to Baum and to Col. Skene very care
fuUj' prepared instructions ; and when news came of the dis
aster, he set out, with the forty-seventh regiraent, to cover
the retreat of the beaten detachmenta. It is not to be pre
suraed that he would trifle with the occasion by sending,
for an expedition of such iraportance in his estiraation, an
inferior force. He had high hopes, it is true, of the disaf
fection and number of the tories on the Grants ; but this
would not, in hia raind, it is presumed, justify any careless
ness. The best troops he had were aelected for the expe
dition. Col. Baum wrote to Gen. Burgoyne, from Sancoik on
August 14 : —
"By five prisoners, taken hore, they agree that from fifteen to
eighteen hundred are at Bennington. ... I will proceed so
far to-day, as to fall on the enemy early to-morrow."
Had his own numbers been ve7-y inferior in the compari
son, it is scarcely possible he could have sent back such
word. Bancroft, who had access to German materials for
this portion of history, which other authors on this sub
ject had not enjoyed, i s.iys: "More than four hundred
Brunswickers, Ilauau artillerists, with two cannon, the
select corps of British marksmen, a party of French Cana
diana, a more nuraerous party of provincial royalists, and a
horde of about one hundred and fifty Indians." (Thia enu
meration leavea out the fifty chasseurs added after Baum
had first started.) At the first engagement, certainly, not
all the Hessians were killed or taken. Glick speaks of
cutting his way through with thirty, a portion of whom
escaped. The Hesaiaus, after being routed on the hill, ran
to eacape ; and, doubtless, sorae few of thera succeeded.
The Indians made good their retreat from the first affair,
1 See Bancroft's Preface to the ninth volume of his Hist. United States.

192 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
as did Capt. Eraser, with part of his companj', and many
ofthe provincials and Canadians. i And j'et, notwithstand
ing numbers did escape, the prisoners, in addition to the
number of killed of the eneray, in this action, was very
large. Aaron Hubbell made the following statement :
" Was in the flrst battle. We left the battle-field as one of
the guard placed over something raore than six hundred
prisoners captured in the first engagement." ^
With regard to Brej'inan's force. Stark, in his dispatch
to Gen. Gates, calls it " a large reinforcement." Thacher,
in his military journal, makes it to nuraber one thousand
regulars. Butler, without giving his authority, adopts the
same number. This corps de reserve was ordered to marcii
after a true statement was sent back, by Baum, of the
mimber of the Americans. In a general enumeration of
the spoils of victory, more than one author says oue thou
sand stand of arms, besides the dragoon swords. Bur
goyne's Orderly Book puts the killed, wounded, and pris
oners of the enemy at twelve hundred and twenty. On
the whole, the writer of this article would judge the num
ber of the enemy, including tories and Indians, not to have
been much if at all inferior to the nuraber of our men, the
aggregate of both engagements being considered.
Xn. Estimate of General Burgoyne. — Burgoj^ne's
prestige, after his defeat at Bennington and subsequent
surrender at Stillwater (17th of October), was gone, of
course, and the pompous style of his manifestoes, while on
the flood-tide of success, naturally caused him, afterward,
to be more reproached thau were some of the other British
generals. But it is unfair, notwithstanding his failure, to
withhold from him the credit of an able and skilful mili-
1 Burgoyne'a letter to Lord George Germain.
12 MS. iu possession of Gov. Hall.

OUR MEN NOT TRAINED SOLDIERS. 193
tary oflicer. He returned to England, of course, under a
heavj' cloud. But, in 1781, a comraittee being appointed
to inquire into tlie conduct of the war, so far as it was
shared in by Sir William Howe, Burgoj'ne obtained a
chance to be heard ; and henceforth the stigma upon his
name appears to have been removed. He rose again into
favor and influence. Before this committee, " every oflicer
that was examined gave the atrongeat testimony to his
bravery and superior talents. It did uot appear that a
single fault had been found with any of his plans or move
ments bj' the raost enlightened judgea who were on service
with hira ; but it did clearly appear that he enjoyed the
entire confidence of the array ; and that, in situations of
the most trying nature, in the face of disaater, of danger,
and of death, he was looked up to, by his troops, with the
utmost affection and the most undoubted reliance ; that
they were, at all times, ready to suflFer, to fight, and to
perish with him." i
These remarks are made as what justice to Gen. Bur
goyne requires, and becauae to unreasonably disparage the
foe is to detract from the just merit of our success in his
defeat. XIII. Our Men not Trained Soldiers. — In order to
appreciate the valor of the Araericans, in the Bennington
battle, their general want of railitary experience and train
ing at that tirae raust be considered. When Stark ordered
the cannon taken frora Baum to the scene of action, upon
the arrival of Breyman, the men whora he directed to load
and fire knew not how to do it ; the general dismounted, and
taught them, by loading one of the pieces himself.^ A
glimpse at the destitution of Stark's New Hampshire re-
1 Burgoyne's State of the Expedition. 2 Thacher.
17

194 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
emits ia given us in a letter from his head-quarters at the
fort in Number Four, on the Connecticut River, July 30 : —
"We are detained by the want of bullet-moulds, as there is but
one pair in town ; and tho few balls sent ou by the Council go but
a little way."
He also wrote, at the same time : —
"If some rum could be forw.irded, it would oblige us very mucli;
for there is none of that article in those parts where we are going."
Many other things were wanting to Stark's little army ;
he mentions kettles and cooking utensils ; none of these
wants could be supplied from New Hampshire. ' Out of
eleven barrels of powder at Number Four, nine had been
condemned. The four cannon there had been dismounted,
and apparatus for putting on carriages could not be pro
cured. ^
After the battle, in all Stark's brigade there was but one
case of amputating instruments ; there were no tents, and
few pails and canteens.^ Doctor Henry Clark relates that
a resident of Bennington, who was a lad at the time of the
battle, told him of the vivid impresaion made upon his mind
by seeing the men hurrying past where he stood (he stood
upon the corner since occupied by Mr. Patchiu's store),
with scj'thes and axes, as well as muskets and fowling-
pieces, to meet the enemy.
Some remarks of Mr. Everett, in his life of Stark, may
be appropriately adduced on this point : —
"Too much praise cannot be bestowed on the conduct of those
who gained the battle of Bennington, offlcers and men. It is, per
haps, the most conspicuous example ofthe performance by militia
of all that is expected of regular veteran troops. The fortitude
and resolution with whicli the lines at Bunker Ilill were main-
1 Butler. 2 Sparks' Biography.

INCIDENTS. 195
tained by recent recruits against the assault of a powerful army
of experienced soldiers have always been regarded with admira
tion. But at Bennington tho hardy yeomaniy of New Harapsliire,
Vermont, and Massachusetts, many of them fresh from tho plough,
and unused to the carap, ' advanced,' as Gen. Stark expresses it,
' through flre and smoke, and mounted breastworks that were well
fortified with cannon.' "
XIV. Incidents. — Sorae facts and incidents maj' fur
ther illustrate the spirit of our men, and the character of
the confiict ; anecdotes of uncertain authenticity, but with
verisimilitude in thera..
On the rainy night previous to the battle the men were
under orders to remain in the encampment. David Robin
son, afterward Gen. David, being one of the volunteera,
could not overcorae the conviction that he might be true to
his duty, and also improve the opportunity of the postpone
ment of the attack until next day, to go home, and see how
it fared with the dear ones there. He had a j'oung wife,
and two j'Oung children, aud an aged mother there. On
his way he overtook his captain, who appeared to have
reasoned as he did on the subject of doraestic duty, and
who lived on the road to the encarapraent. The young vol
unteer intended to pass the captain unrecognized, pulling
his slouch hat over his face ; but he failed in this. The
captain recognized hira, and called out, " David, were you
not under orders to staj' in camp all night?" David re
plied, " I suppose a soldier's orders are to follow his cap
tain." When, on this occasion, he had reached horae, he had
not beeu there long before a neighbor came in, aud said the
tories and Indians were coraing up the hill, from the valley
east, and were in his cornfield. With his characteristic
promptness .and courage, that never knew fear, he pro
ceeded to reconnoitre. Upou hia hands and knees, it being

196 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
pitch-dark, that he raight get objects between himself and
the sky, the better to discern what there raight be, he soon
ascertained that what had occasioned his neighbor's alai'm
were the fire-flies of that August night, and some oxen that
had broken into his corn. As he waa returning, he atum-
bled upon his old raother, who had started from the house,
and already proceeded some distance, to be more sure of
flight in case of an overwhelming attack frora the enemy.
She had with her a pillow-case full of valuable papers, and
said to her son, "I thought I would trj' to save at least
these, as they might be of more importance to you, some time,
than other things." He said to her, " Go back, mother,
to the house ; aud, if we must die, let us all die together." i
Capt. Samuel Robinson, mentioned in the foregoing par
agraph, was, no doubt, back to his post betimes. The fol
lowing anecdote will illustrate how he waa not wanting to
his duty. The roll of the large company he coraraanded at
that time will be given at the conclusion of this article. In
the battle, he was loading and firing like the rest ; but a
ball on one side of his head, singing just past his ea,r, made
him dodge away from it. Soon came another on the oppo
site side, and the head jerked again, nervously, at the whis
tle. Mortified to think his neck was so limber, he turned
around to his men, and said, " Boys, keep your eye on me ;
and, if I dodge again, put a ball through me sideways." ^
Has the kind reader patience for two or three more Ben
nington battle anecdotes? Eleazer Edgerton, in the midst
of the second engagement, was firing away from behind a
tree, when suddenly he espied a verj' young man looking
round anxiously for a standing-place alike secure. " Here,
boy," shouted he, " take my tree ; you fight behind, and I'll
fight before. The raacala daren't shoot me ; they kuow me."
1 Related to the writer by Miss Caldwell.
2 Mr. Robinson's Address.

ANECDOTES OF THE BATTLE. 197
And in an instant he had planted his giant frarae back to
the trunk of the tree ; and there he stood firing until the
Hessians did know hira, and fear him, and fled beyond the
reach of hia bulleta.i Leonard Robinson, whose aim was
quick and deadly, declared that every tirae he shot he saw
a man fall. " But," said he, " I prayed the Lord to have
mercy on his soul ; and then I took care of his body." ^
What queer notions they had of sorae things in those
days may be illustrated by an incident or two.
" Old Uncle Silas Robinson was soraewhat peculiar in his
wav of telling a story ; but his sharp voice uaed to give
great effect to the account of hia participation. 'I had
heard,' said he, ' that these Robinsons were all cowards ;
and I rather thought, if any of thera was, I was the man.
But somebody told me that gunpowder was good for cour
age ; so I took about a gill of gin, and thickened it up ; and
when I had drank that, I tell you, theu I fought.'" 3
Eleazer Hawks, whoae reason for not coining early to
the battle has been narrated elsewhere in this volume, made
the raore haste wheu he did come. He was, therefore, much
parched and exhausted with running, and with the labors
of the remainder of the battle. A pint of ruin was handed
hira, and he drank it all, sujiposing it was water; aud be
fore the raan who followed with water had tirae to offer him
sorae, he said, "Now give me some rum." The liquor he
drank appeared to produce no ill effect.
A hogshead of rum had been procured by General Stark,
and with a little more tirae would have been distributed at
the termination of the first action. It was prevented by
the so sudden appearing of Brcj'raan.
With respect to the exhausting effect of the fight, in the
oral acouut of tiie surviving soldier to Mr. Butler, he
saj's, " My corapany lay down and alept in a cornfield,
1, 2, 3 Mr. Robinson's Address.
n*

198 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
near where we had fought, each man having a hill of corn
for a pillow. When I awaked next morning, I was so
beaten out, that I could not get up till I had rolled about a
good while." i
Of the interest of the ministry and the pulpit in the
cause of patriotism, with respect to the Rev. Mr. Dewey,
and the Rev. Mr. Avery, mention is made elsewhere. The
zeal of the Rev. Mr. Allen iu the battle has become
famous, partly from its naivete. In accounts of the battle,
he is called " Parson Allen " or " the fighting parson." He
is believed to have been the Rev. Mr. Allen, pastor of
Pittsfield, Mass. He came with the Berkshire detachment
of militia. Col. Simraons. The story is thus told in Ever
ett's Life of Stark. " Among the reinforcements from Berk
shire County ,2 came a clergyman with a portion of his
flock, resolved to make bare the arm of flesh against the
enemies of the country. Before daylight on the morning
of the 16th he addressed the commander aa follows : —
" ' We the people of Berkshire have frequently been called upon
to flght, but have never been led against the enemy. We have
now resolved, if you will not let us fight, never to turn out
again.' " General Stark asked him if he wished to march then,
when it was dark and rainy.
" ' No,' was the answer. ' Then,' continued Stark, ' if the
Lord shall once more give us sunshine, and I do not give
you fighting enough, I will never ask you to come out
again.' " The weather cleared up in the course of the day, and
1 Mr. Butler's Address.
2 The Rev. Mr. Noble, In his Williamstown Centennial Address, givea credit
to the volunteers from that town in these words : '* Every man in this town,
except a cripple ou crutches, shouldered his gun and rushed to the Held of con
flict."

OUR DEAD. 199
the men of Berkshire followed their spiritual guide into
action." i
In other parts of this volume mention ia raade of prayer-
meetings held at the time of the battle, for the auccess of
our array, by those who could not aid with weapons of
war. In Mr. Butler's Address is narrated a prayer meeting
for the same object, held also at Williamstown, whither
many from the north had repaired for safety, women and
children, aged and infirm, iu the event of the battle issu
ing adversely.
" In my boyhood, my grandmother often related to me, how, on
that day, she, with many other woraen of Williarastown, and their
minister, resorted to tiieir meeting-house, and there continued in
prayer for their kinsmen, who were in the fleld of blood, till late
at night, when a courier came announcing glad tidings."
The cannon peals were heard booming over the hills at
Williamstown during the anxious hours.^
The joy of the people of Bennington at the great victory
was not unmingled with sadness. Four of its most re
spected citizens had fallen on the field of battle. They
were John Fay (sou of Stephen), Henry Walbridge (brother
of Ebenezer), Daniel Warner (cousin of the colonel), ' and
Nathan Clark (son of Nathan, and brother of Isaac). They
were all in the prirae of life, and all heads of families, leav
ing widows and children to mourn their sudden bereave
ment. The grief for their loss waa not confined to their
iraraediate relatives, but waa general, deep, and sincere.^
1 See also American Ilevolution from Newspapers and Original Documenta by
P. Moore.
2 Mr. Noble's Centennial Address. It is said that the smoke of the battle waa
distinctly seen from Bemis' Heights, thirty miles distant. — Lossing.
3 " Warner rode near us. Some one, pointing to a dead man by the wayside,
said to him: ' Your cousin Is killed.' ' Is it Daniel?' asked Warner; and when
the answer w.is 'Yes,' he jumped off his horse, stopped and gazed in the dead
man's face, and then rode away without saying a word."— Account of a surviv
ing soldier. ¦• Vermont Hist. Mag.

200 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The following are selected frora sorae stanzas on the Ben
nington ba'ttle, written by E. H. Chapin, a native of Benning
ton (now the Rev. E. H. Chapin, D.D.), in 1837, and deliv
ered by him in the ' ' Old Academy," in Bennington Centre : —

" They came, as brave men ever come.
To stand, to fight, to die;
No thought of fear was in the heart.
No quailing in the oye ;
If tho lip faltered, 'twas with prayer,
Amid those gathering bands ;
For the sure rifle kept its poise
In strong, untrombling hands.
" Thoy came up, at the battle sound,
To old Walloomsack's height ;
Behind them were their flelds of toil,
With harvest promise white ;
Before them those who sought to wrest
Their hallowed birthright dear,
While through their ranks went fearlessly
Their leader's words of cheer.
" My men, there are our freedom's foe.
And shall they stand or fall ?
Ye have your weapons in your hands.
Ye know your duty all ;
For we — this day wo triumph o'er
The minions of the crown.
Or Molly Stark's a widowed one
Ere yonder sun goes down.
" One thought of heaven, ono thought of home,
One thought of hearth and shrine.
Then, rock-like, stood they in their might
Before tho glittering line.
A moment, and each keen eye paused,
The coming foe to mark.
Then downward to his barrel glanced,
Aud strife vvas wild aud dark.

CAPTAIN Robinson's company.

201

" It needs no monumental pile
To tell each storied name.
The fair, green hills rise proudly up
To consecrate their fame.
True to its trust, WaUoomsack long
The record bright shall bear.
Who carae up at the battle sound
And fought for freedom there."
The 16th of August, ever since the battle, has been ob
served, in Bennington and vicinity, aa a patriotic holiday ;
and, though not superseding the observance of Fourth of
July, with the rest of the country, is celebrated with no
less spirit than is that great national annivel'sary.
The roll of Capt. Dewey's military company, as it was
constituted at the time of the battle, has not been pre
served. Of Capt. Samuel Robinson's company, the follow
ing is a list of the men in the battle : —

Robert Cochran,
Gideon Spencer,
William Henry,
Henry Walbridge,
Bufus Branch,
.John Larned,
Thomas Abel,
Nathan Lawrence,
Josiah Brush,
David Fay (fifer),
Leonard Robinson,
Daniel Biddlocome,
Levi Hatheway,
Abram Hatheway,
Reuben Colvin,
Eliphalet Stickney,
Daniel Rude,

Benjarain Holmes,
Jaraes Marivater,
Mr. Alger,
Ammie Fuller,
Jonah Brewster,
George Dale,
John Marble,
Ephraim Marble,
Aaron Hubbell,
Samuel SaflTord, Jr.,
Aaron Smitli,
Ephraim Smith,
Samuel Henry,
Edward Henderson,
Jonathan Haynes,
Archelaus Tupper,
Daniel Warner,

202

memorials of a century.

Lieut. Simeon Hatheway,
Aaron Miller,
John Fay,
Elijah Fay,
Joseph Fay,
John Clark,
Jehoshaphat Holmes,
Moses Rice,
Benjamin Whipple, Jr.,
Silas Robinson,
John Weeks,
Moses Scott,
Alpheus Hatheway,
Solomon Walbridge,
Ebenezer Bracket,
Jehiel Smith,
Asa Branch,
Phineas Wright,
John Smith,
Jesse Belknap,
Silvanus Brown,

John Forbes,
Stephen Williams,
William Post,
David Safi'ord,
Jared Post,
Jeremiah Bingham,
Samuel Slocum,
Josiah Hurd,
Ezekiel Brewster,
Solomon Leason,
Thomas Selden,
John Rigney,
Elisha Smith,
Solomon Safford,
Joseph Roe,
William Terrill,
Noah Beach,
Simeon Sears,
David Robinson,
Joseph Safford,
Isaac Webster.

Ode by Mra. A. C. L. Botta.'
' Our patriot sires are gone ;
The conqueror Death lays low
Those veterans, one by one.
Who braved each other foe ;
Though on them rests death's sable pall,
Yet o'er their deeds no sliade shall fall.
' No, ye of deathless fame I
Ye shall not sleep unsung,
While freedom hath a name.
Or gratitude a tongue :

1 " Mrs. Anna C. (Lynch) Botta. She edited, In 18-11, the * Ithode Island Book ; '
In 1853, puhlished an Illustrated volume of poems ; lu 1855, was married to Prof.
Botta, of New York city. Tho last work of Jlrs. Botta is the * Hand-Book of
Literature,' published in 1800, und entitles the author to a handsome place among
the prose writers In America." — Vermont lllst. Mag.

ode by MRS. BOTTA.
Yet shall your names and deeds sublime
Shine brighter through the mists of time.
" Oh, keep your armor bright.
Sons of those mighty dead.
And guard ye well the right
For whicii such blood was shed I
Your starry flag should only wave
O'er freedom's home or o'er your grave."

203

CHAPTER XIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
Samuel Robinson, Esq., and Mrs. Maecy L. Robinson.
S the best method of preserving some interesting
incidents of the early history of the town and
church, and some illustrations of the position and
influence attaineti in early days by this community,
some personal notices, it is deemed, will be accept
able to the readers of these pages. These notices
will be confined to persons who came here, or were born
here, at least a half century ago, including a few who have
deceased during the writer's pastorate in Bennington, but
who were much identified with the earlier persons and times
of thia communitj'.
The writer regrets a certain necessary injustice to indi
viduals in a work of thia kind, both through the unequal
treatment of some who are noticed, and the omission, doubt
less, of many who deserve to be commemorated. He can
only say, that, though expending a great amount of labor
upon thia part of the volume, he has been still obliged, very
considerably, to use such materials as have happened to
get into his possession.
I. Samuel Robinson, Sen., Esq., was the acknowl
edged leader in the band of pioneers iu the settlement of the
town ; and continued to exercise alraost a controlling au
thority in the affairs of the town, the reraaiuder of his life.i
1 Vermont lllst, Mag.

SAMUEL ROBINSON, SEN. 205
He -was born at Cambridge, Mass., 1705. His father,
Sarauel Robiuson, was born at Bristol, England, 1668. In
the Rev. Dr. Hooker's printed serraon at the funeral of
Gen. David Robiuson, in a note, it is said that the elder
Samuel Robinaon is supposed to have been a distant con
nection of the Rev. John Robinson of Leyden (pastor on
that side of the water to the Pilgrims of the Mayflower).
Mr. Isaac T. Robinson stated to the writer that both Samuel
(our Bennington pioneer) and hia brother Thoraas were
confldent they were deacendants ofthe Rev. John Robinson.
Our Sarauel Robinson, Sen., resided in Hardwick, Mass.,
twenty-six years before removing to Bennington.
Many facts attest his ability : that he conceived, organized,
and set on foot the settlementof this part of the country ; that
he was so prorapt and reaolute to resist the claims of New
York officials to the lands and jurisdiction of this territory.
It is related, when the surveyors carae from New York
upon his lands, he cut their chain in two with his hoe, but
when they desisted from their atterapt he invited them into
his house and treated them in the naost hospitable man
ner ; that he was deputed to London, as representative of
the settlers here, in the British Court, and enabled, as such,
to gain the ear of His Majesty, and secure two very im
portant aud significant orders from the crown in favor of
the settlers, and against the government of the province of
New York.
Before his coming to Bennington he was an active and
leading man in Hardwick. He was captain of a company
in Col. Ruggles' regiment of provincials, and aerved aa auch
on the frontier, in 1755, 1756.1 jjg yf^g atthe head of his
company in the battle of Lake George, when the French were
defeated by Generals Johnson and Lyraan. He was a dea-
1 Early Hist. Vermont, p 85.
18

206 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
con in the old church, and afterward in the Separate church
in Hardwick. 1
" He was comraissioned a justice of the peace by Gov.
Wentworth, Feb. 8, 17G2, being the first person appointed
to a judicial oflflce within the limits ofthe State.
" In the summer of 1764 a controversy iu regard to juris
diction arose in Powual between claimants under New Hamp
shire, and others under New York, iu which the authority
of Esquire Robinson, as a magistrate, sceins to have been
invoked. Mr. Robinson being at Powual was, together with
Samuel Ashley, a New Hampshire sheriffs deputy, and two
other persons, arrested by the New York sheriff aud his
assistants, and carried to Albany jail. This collision of
officers produced a correspondence bet^Yecu the governors
of the two provinces, which appeara to have resulted in a
sort of compromise, by which Mr. Robinson and those with
him were released on moderate or nominal bail, and, though
indicted for resisting the New York ofiicers, were never
brought to trial.
" In December, 1765, when it was ascertained by the set
tlers under New Hampshire that their lands were being
granted from under thera by Lieutenant Governor Colden,
Mr. Robinson was deputed by those of Benniugton and
the neighboring towns to go to New York for the purpose
of trying to persuade hira to save their possessions from
the grasp of the city speculators ; but his efforts were
unavailing." ^
" There being no longer any hope of relief from the gov
ernment of New York, the claiinants under New Hampshire
resolved to appeal for redress of their grievances to the con
science of the king. A petition was accordingl}' prepared
and signed by over one thousand ofthe settlers and grantees,
1 Hardwick Centennial Addiess, hy the Uev. Lucius R. Tnige.
2 Vermont Uist. Mug., p. 107.

770.V. W. S. .TOHNSON. 207
and Samuel Robinson, Esq., was appointed their agent to
repair to England aud \a.y it before His Majesty." i
" "Williara Sarauel Johnson, an eminent lawyer and states
man of Connecticut, was then preparing to leave for Eng
land, as agent for that colony to the home government, and
the petitioners employed him to assist Mr. Robinson in his
mission. They sailed in the same vessel frora New York,
the 25th of Deceraber, 1766, and landed at Falraouth, Eng
land, the 30th of Januaiy following, and reached London a
few daj'S afterward." ^
Mr. Robinson was rauch hindered in hia raission by the
aristocratic prejudices at court agaiust the republican set
tlers on the New Hampshire Grants, also by want of raoney
aud prestige ; ^ nevertheless he was, though not corapletely,
in a very iraportant degree successful. He seeras to have
shrewdly discerned the situation, and to have given the
settlers at horae sound advice as to the wise course for them
to pursue under their difficulties.
But, raost valuable of all, " he so far procured the aid of
the crown that Lord Shelburne, on April 11, 1767, addressed
a letter to Sir Henrj' Moore, who had then becorae gov
ernor of the province of New York, forbidding him in the
raost positive terras frora making any more grants of land
in the disputed territorj', and from molesting any person
in poaaession under, a New Hampshire title. And on
the 24th of July following, upon a report of the caae by the
Lords of Trade, a formal order of the king in council was
made coraraanding tho Governor of New York ' upon pain
of His Jlajesty's highest displeasure ' to make no grants
whatever of any part of the controverted lands, ' until His
Majestj''s further pleasure ahould be known concerning the

1, 2 Early Hist, of Vermont, p. 85. 3 Ibid., p. 96.
4 Early Hist. Vermont, p. (14. For a copy of the petition sent by the settlers
for Mr. Robinson to present to the king, and other documents of the correspond-

208 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The negotiations appear to have made no further prog
ress beyond this point. On the 27th of October following
Mr. Robinson died of the small-pox, in London. Whether,
had he lived, he would have been able to prosecute his
labors, as agent of the settlers, to a complete and success
ful issue, we cannot divine. His past success and his
sound judgment and skill would seem to have warranted
high expectations. His death waa felt by the settlers to
be a great calamity. Upon his decease Mr. Johnson wrote
a letter of condolence to his widow. This letter shows
clearly that Mr. Robinson was high in the esteem of Mr.
Johnson and others in London ; aud, on that account, and
as containing interesting particulars, it is inserted here.
The original is in the possession of G. W. Robinson. The
letter ia as follows : ^ — "London, Nov. 2, 1767.
" Madam : — It is with the deepest concern and grief that I flnd
myself obliged to communicate to you the sad intelligence of your
dear husband's decease. He had enjoyed very good health, since he
left America, till at length the misfortune which I always feared
for him overtook him. He was seized with the small-pox, wliich
but too generally proves fatal to Americans in this climate, and
hia appeared to be of a bad kind and very severe. Yet he bore up
against the distemper, in all its rage, with great fortitude and
patience ; and, till the twelfth day, wo had hopes of his recovery
(as the pocks had begun to turn), but the next day it took a sud
den and fatal turn, aud it appeared that he had not strength of
ence between the crown and the New Tork government, and details of Mr. Rob
inson's efforts, see Early Hist. Vermont, pp. 85-97.
' Mr. Johnson was one of the three flrst chosen to represent the colony of Con
necticut iu the Congress of the Revolulion. Ho was Ihe first of the three dele
gates from Connecticut in the Convention which fraraed the Constitution of the
United States, the otiiers being Roger Sherman and Oliver Ellsworth. Ho wns
one of the Senators Iirst appointed by the Legislature of Connecticut, under the
National Constitution. — New Englander, April, 1806. lie had been sent to
England, as agent of the colony of Connecticut, to argue for it an important
cause before tho Lords in Connell, and fur live yeara reinaiued there, entrusted
wilh various public as well as private afliiiis.

ESQUIRE ROBINSON' S DECEASE. , 209
constitution siiiricient to throw off the disease; and, on the 27th
of October, at half past ten at night, he was no morel Such was
the will of God. He was sensible to tho last; was calmly resigned
to the will of Heaven, and died full of faith. We have, therefore,
— which must afford you the greatest consolation, — good reason to
believe that he has exchanged this life for a better, and rests in
eternal felicity. He is rauch lamented by his friends and acquaint
ances here, who are many. You mtiy rest assured that no atten
tion, care, or expense was spared for his comfort, and to have
saved his life, had it been consistent with the designs of Provi
dence. He had two excellent nurses constantly by him. A skilful
apothecary saw, and administered to, him every three or four
hours. He was visited every day by an eminent physician, and
his friends afforded him every consolation in their power. After
his death, as the last act of friendship to his raemofy, I took care
to furnish him a decent funeral, at which Gen. Lyman and the
other gentlemen here from America attended with me as mourn
ers. He is interred in the burying-ground belonging to Mr. Whit-
lield's church, where he usually attended public worship. A club
of American merchants and gentleraen, to whom he was known
generously contributed eight pounds sterling toward defraying the
expenses of his funeral, etc. ; and the remainder, as the accounts
come in, — the amount of which I cannot yet determine, — I shall
advance, not doubting that it will be, somehow or other, re
funded me.
"I most sincerely condole with you in this great affliction, and
pray God to give you comfort and to sanctify tliis melancholy
event to you and all his family and friends, to whom I beg leave
to present my compliments, and am,
"Madam, your most obedient
" And very humble servant,
"Wu-LiAM Samuel Johnson."
Mr. Robinson had ten children, all born in Hardwick,
one of whom died there at eleven years of age. The other
nine removed to Bennington, became heads of families and
merabers of the church. Their naraea were Leonard, Sam
uel, Moses, Silas, Marcy, Sarah, David, Jonathan, and
18*

210 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Anna. Of his descendants some are to be found in almost
every State and Territory in the Union. i
II. Mrs. Marcy (Leonard) Robinson, the wife of Sam
uel Robiuson, Sen., Esq., was of Southbury, Mass., born
in 1713.
The following is an extract from a letter respecting her
to the writer by her grand-daughter : ^ —
"I suppose ray grandmother was quite a business woraan.
She was accustoraed to take one of her sons with her, and
ride to Albany on horseback, transact business, make her
purchases, and return. I believe she would be gone several
days, for she usually attended meetings there."
When living in their log-house, while her husband was
still living, but in England, and her children, David and
Jonathan and Anna, were with her, the wolves came up
at night and tried at the doors and windows to obtain en
trance. She knocked upon the door to frighten them from
the immediate proximity, then seized firebrands from the
flre, opened the door and waved them and shouted with all
her strength. The wolves fled awaj' and were no more seen
or heard by her.
She is reraerabered for her great consistency and power
of a Christian conversation. The volumes of Hopkins'
divinity, which she much read, and many passages of which
she marked aa worthy of particular attention, are pre
served. It is matter of tradition that the Friday prayer-
meeting, noted in the early history of this community,
originated with her. It was first held, aud for a loug time,
at her house. It was a custom, long continued by her, to
have a prayer-meeting, at noon, on Sunday, at her house.
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
2 Mrs. Ailyn, daughter of Anna Robinson, Mrs. Webster, aud in the seventy-
ninth year of her age, residing in Cleveland, Ohio.

ANECDOTES OF MRS. ROBINSON. 211
A traditional imiiression has been related to the writer, of
religious services being cuatoraarily held in a log-house be
fore the erection of the first meeting-house. This was
probablj' her house, — the same irapression locating the
log-house where her house stood.
A manuscript obituarj' notice of her, for the press, has
been preserved. The following are extracts from this
notice : —
" It was remarkable of the deceased, that her profession of re
ligion, even from early life, was regular, her piety the effect of in
vestigation, and her hope the enlightened offspring of a flrmly
grounded faith. For the last ten years of her life she was singu
lar for the enlargement of her views, the extension of her liber
ality of sentiment, and her reading in ancient and modern history,
both sacred and profane. She retained her usefulness to the last
evening of her life ; and the Sabbath previous to her decease she
called her children together, took an affectionate leave of them,
and gave a succinct account of her own views as to religious con
cerns, and the reason of her faith. In this remarkably affecting
interview, her narration and comments took up nearly two hours."
¦ The following anecdotes were related of her by her son,
Gen. David, to William Haswell : —
While sitting in church, in revolutionary times, when our
mothers had resolved that they would not wear clothing of
foreign manufacture, a lady, who sat in the pew forward of
her, had a plaid neckerchief which she admired so much,
that she determined to get the lease (a technical expres
sion with weavers), and set herself to counting the threads.
She felt rebuked, turned away, and flxed her eyea upon the
minister ; but the handkerchief was still before her, and
more potent thau her senae of duty ; her mind recurred to
the counting of the threads to get the lease, until, despite'
her good resolutions, the threads were counted and the
lease obtained ; then, after heaving a sigh, she said to her-

212 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
self, but so audiblj' as to be overheard, " Well, devil, you
have had j'our way this tirae."
She was in the habit of conversing freely upon the sub
ject of her own decease. Her daughter inquired of her if
she had any fear of death ; she replied, " I am not afraid
to be dead, but I am afraid I shall not honor ray Saviour
in the hour of death."
She died on the 4th of June, 1795. Her funeral was
attended the Sabbath following, — it was sacrament day, —
" by the greatest concourse of all since the town was set
tled." 1
The following are two stanzas of a hymn, composed by
Mr. Anthony Haswell, for the occasion, and sung at her
funeral : — " She spake, and to her calm reproof
The liardencd sinner lent an ear ;
Blest were the tenants of her roof.
Taught by her voice the Lord to fear.
" She's gone ; her pilgrimage is o'er;
She slept and breathed her soul to rest ;
Her warning lips shall move no more,
Nor pain for sinners heave her breast."
1 Obituary Notice.

CHAPTER XIV.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
First Immigration.
jRS. Bridget (Brown) Harwood was in the first
company of settlers in Bennington. She was a
widow. She carae with her children, Peter,
Eleazer, Zechariah, Stephen, Abigail, and Hepzi
bah. She rode on horseback, as did the other
ladies of the corapany. As they neared the line
they raced their horses, each vying with the other to be
the Qrat to paaa over into the Bennington township. Thus
they brought their effects on horseback, and came by the
guidance of marked trees. She must have been a resolute
mother. Her husband had deceased not quite three years
before, — Benjamin Harwood, born April 30, 1713, in Con
cord, Mass., where, also, his father, Peter Harwood, was
born ; descended of English ancestors.
She was born April 20, 1715, at Concord. After the
birth of their first child, Peter, they reraoved to Hardwick,
Mass. All of their children, with the exception of the old
eat and youngest, were born in Hardwick. They then
removed to Amherst, Mass., and thence to Bennington.
They were married in May, 1733.
Peter Harwood, her oldest son, at the time of the
removal to Bennington was about twenty-six years of
agCj and came with his wife Margaret (Clark). She

214 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
was born July 8, 1740, in Coleraine, Mass. (daughter
of Matthew Clark, of Scotch origin). They were married
June 9, 1759 ; settled in Amherst, and removed thence to
Bennington, with one child named Clark.
This Peter Harwood set out the flrst apple-tree in this
town, and it is still living and bears fruit. Theirs was the
flrst son born in this town. Their mother, Mrs. Bridget
Harwood, was the flrst person among the settlers who died
here, November 8, 1762 ; Mrs. Margaret Harwood was the
flrst hopeful convert added on profesaion of her faith to tliis
church ; and the house upon the old horaestead, now occu
pied by a descendant, — H. Hopkins Harwood, now junior
deacon of the church, —has been pronounced "to retain
more of the shape and appearance of the flrst frame houses
built in Bennington, than any other dwelling-house now
standing." i
Sarau Harwood, daughter of Peter aud Margaret Har
wood, married Samuel Robinson, son of Col. Samuel Rob
inson, Jr., and Esther, daughter of Deacon Joseph Safford.
She was the mother of Uel M. Robinson, Esq. She com
piled the Genealogical History of the Familiea of Robin
sons, Saffords, Harwoods, and Clarka, — a work of iraraense
labor, and great accuracy, aud very valuable. It has been
constantly consulted in tlie preparation of portions of this
volume. She vvas born October 3, 1775; married May 5,
1796; united with this church in July, 1803, and died
September 10, 1854.
Eleazer Harwood, second aon of Mrs. Bridget Har
wood, and who came with his mother, was nearly twenty-
four J'ears of age, and accompanied bj' his wife, Elizabeth
Montague, to whom he was just married. May 19, 1761.
1 Samuel Fay, Esq.

ZECHARIAH HARWOOD. 215
She ¦^^'as daughter of Sarauel Montague, believed to be one
of the iramigrants hither from Sunderland, Mass. ; modera
tor of the first town-meeting in this town, and couain to John
Montague, deacon and clerk, and his son, alao deacon of
the old First Church in Sunderland.
Eleazer Harwood and Joseph Safford were elected
deacons, at the firat election of deacona in this church,
according to the records. He became a preacher of the gos
pel, and resigned the office of deacon in this church to re
raove to Pittsford, in this State, where he became pastor of
the churcli, aud was blessed with extensive and powerful
revivala.i One in particular is mentioned, — that of 1803.
He died in 1807, " rauch beloved by all that knew him." ^
A grandson of his, by the name of Kellogg, ia a miniater
of the gospel. Mrs. Eleazer Harwood's mother accorapa
nied thera to Pittsford, and died there in January, 1816, aged
iiiuetj'-flve years aud three raonths.
Zechariah Harwood waa unraarried wheu he came with
his mother to tliis towu. He was at that time nineteen
J'ears of age. He married Lovina Rice, daughter of Oliver
Rice, of Hardwick, and born in 1751.
The names of Jedediah, Oliver, and Hannah Rice are on
the old covenant, also on the roll of this church at its or
ganization. The name of Oliver Rice is on tho list given
in Paige's Hardwick Centennial Addreaa of those who from
Hardwick served iu the French war, commenciug iu 1756.
Mr. Harwood settled near the north border of the town
on the ro.ad now the main road to Shaftsburj-. Ju early
times vaccination had not j'et been introduced into the
town, and on occasion of the prevalbncy of sraall-po.x, the
town gave perraission for iuiioculatiou with the small-po.x,
1 See Vermont Evang. Mng. of that day. — V. II. White.
2 Vermont Chronicle.

216 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
and appointed pest-houses, to which patients with this dis
ease should be restricted. In .1800, such a house was es
tablished in the north-east part of the town, under the
charge of Mr. Harwood, who, though not a regular physi
cian, was believed to have peculiar skill in the management
of the disease.
A Benjamin Harwood is recorded as a member of this
church in 1762. If this is correct, it must have been the
son of Mrs. Bridget Harwood, of that name.
Benjamin Harwood, son of Peter Harwood, mentioned
in another place as the first male child born in Bennington,
united with the church late in life, January 3, 1836. A
diary which he kept has been preserved, dating back to
1806, and continued for some four years, from which ex
tracts have been introduced into these pages. His son,
Hiram Harwood, continued this diary down to 1886. It is
comprised in some dozen volumes, most of thera quite
large, very legibly and neatly written, — a minute record of
every day of life for thirty years.
The Zechariah Harwood above mentioned was a member
of this church at ita organization, and becarae a Univer
salist, said to be of the Winchester type.
This Mr. Winchester had been a preacher of Calvinistic
doctrines, and became an advocate of universal restoration,
preaching in Philadelphia, and afterward in various parts
of America and England ; and died in Hartford, Conn.,
in 1797. He published several works. i He came to Ben
nington and preached. Individuals of prominence went to
hear him. It is said that Judge Jonathan Robinson went
to hear him, but would not let his children go, and did not
say at home what was his opinion of the preacher's senti
ments. 1 Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge — Art. Winchester.

REV. MR. WINCHESTER. 217
General Ebenezer Walbridge, an early settler in Ben
nington frora Norwich, Conn., and highly distinguished in
the civil aud military annals of this town, and previously
a member of the church, adopted Winchester sentiments. i
This caae of Zechariah Harwood is introduced to bring to
notice the fact that his third son, Perez, who had adopted
his father's Winchester sentiments, became, after having
arrived at adult age, and having reared a large family of
children, converted to the faith of his ancestors. He em
braced the doctrines of this church and united with it,
January 5, 1834. Four of his children and a daughter-in-
law had previouslj', at one time, united with the church,
September 4, 1817.
All his children, and very nearly all his grandchildren,
resident in this town, have becorae raembers of the church.
One of them, James H. Harwood, is a minister of the gos
pel. Thus the stream of descendants, turned aaide tem
porarily from the faith of the anceatora, turned back again
in solid body to that faith.
1 A communication in the *' Vermont Gazette," of May 3, 1803, evidently from
the pen of an admirer of Mr. Wincliester, sliows him to have had an insinuating
and popular address. " The sentiments of tho late pious Mr. Wincliester, In
coincidence with the above liberal mode, were once delivered in an agreeable
manner in this town," etc. On ills last visit to Bennington, " he happened to ar_
rive within a few miles on Saturday evening; laboring under some disease, but
anxious to hear the reverend and pious Mr. Job Swift on the Sabbath ensuing
he rode several miles, across an exceedingly bad road." When arrived and in
the service, he gave exceedingly fixed attention to Mr. Swift's sermon; at noon
he " walked with some difiiculty to the house where the church generally con
vened, to pass that period in suitable exercises and prayer " (doubtless at
"Grandmother Robinson's "). Here he was recognized by " a leading church-
member " " who liad formerly had a slight acquaintance with him in Philadel
phia; " and a dialogue ensued, of which, as described, the following is a part.
"Mr. Swift said," . . . — stating some doctrinal observation, — " and I
conceive you could not fully coincide with him In those sentiments." — " Truly,"
resumed the worthy man . . . . " while plenty abounded and no one felt
a lack, what need had I to repine at your helping yourself to a slice that would
not have been so savory to my taste, and while ail Iiave abundance, let each re.
gard his fellow with complacency." ....
19

218 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The remaining son of Mrs. Bridget Harwood, who came
with her in the flrst company of settlers, Stephen, was at
that time ten years of age.
The Harwoods, according to tradition, were, — aa were
so many others of the earlj' settlers of this town, ¦ — Sepa
rates. The descendants of this family are very numerous ;
indeed, the most so of the three families (Robinsons,
Saffords, and Harwoods), all so numerously represented in
Mrs. Robinson's genealogical record. At present there are
more members in the Bennington First Church of the name
of Harwood than of any other.
A few extracts from the diary of Benjarain Harwood may
interest the reader, as near-at-hand glimpses of a worthy
man, such as cannot now otherwise be obtained : — :
nis honor. — "March 13, 1807. —Nathan Robinson received of
me this day ten bushels of wheat at 7s. per bushel. Nothing
but honor made me part with the wheat at tho above price, for I
can get 8s. 7d. at Troy for it. Mr. Robinson bargained for the
wheat last fall when it went at the price which he now gives."
An eye for bcauty. — "June 15, 1808. — Nothing about us seems
more pleasant at this time than a view of Mt. Anthony, every tree
from its base to its summit being completely covered with green
leaves." His hospitality. — " Jan. 30, 1809. — Uncle Zechariah, his son Abel,
and son-in-law Hugh, aud their wives, and Ruth Harwood, came
and made us a viait. Next arrived Mr. Moses Donaldson on his
way home to Coleraine ; after him Mr. Stearns, wife, and daughter ;
and the last to come was our good friend, Mr. Case, of Hoosick,
bringing with him brother and sister Stone, and their youngest
daughter. Beside those I have mentioned, a considerable collec
tion of the young people of the neighborhood spent the evening
here. Except Uncle Zechariah and his people, who returned in the
evening, those whose names I have mentioned tarried here all
night." Entries like the last of the above frequently recur in the
diary.

THE HARWOODS.

219

Old folks' mowing match. — ," May 31, 1808. — Late in the after
noon Governor Robinson and his lady came here on a visit. The
old gentlemen felt pretty smart, talked upon religion, and read the
Bible most of the tirae while he was here. I am requested to men
tion one circumstance which occurred this afternoon, though not
of more importance than many others mentioned in this journal.
My father commonly mows his door-yard about this time. It hap
pened that he wanted to mow it to-day. So himself, Governor
Robinson, and Mr. Warner, each took a turn at mowing, to see
which one could cut his grass the most handsomely. The matter
being left to theraselves, each decided in his own favor. My father
will be seventy-three years of age in July next, Governor Robin
son is about sixty-nine, and Mr. Warner sixty-seven."
Of the above-named Perez Harwood, it may be said that,
a son, Henry, two daughters, Lucinda and Ruhama, a
brother, Hirara, aud a brother's wife, Sj'lvia, and a aecond
cousin, Hiram, 2d, united with the church Sept. 4, 1817.
He himself, aa above, Jan. 5, 1834. He died at the ad
vanced age of eightj'-nine, Dec. 9, 1859, — social and agree
able in conversation, firm in the faith of Jesus, and with a
victorious hope. A grandson, Isaac Harwood, became deeply
interested (1854) in an incipient missionary Sabbath-school
movement in the north-east part of the town ; dying two
years afterward, absorbed with prayer and desire for this
school. His father, Henry, succeeded him, and has been
succeeded by othera in charge of the school. In the third
and fourth j'eara of ita history it was blessed with a power
ful revival of religion in the neighborhood, and many con
verts, among thera the Rev. Siraeon Knapp, a devoted and
successful rainister of the Baptist denomination, who has
since died.
Of the above-named Benjamin Harwood, his wife was
' Diadama Dewey. They were married April 18, 1786. She
waa born Jan. 5, 1766, Stockbridge, Mass., daughter of Ab
ner Dewey, born in Westfield, Mass., and married, 1776, in

220 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Bennington. She united with the church Sept. 22, 1825,
and deceased June 22, 1854, aged eighty-eight ; clear-minded
and bright-eyed to the last, and with vivid recollection of
events occurring long since in the history of the town. A
daughter and namesake, Mrs. Hiram Waters, united with
the church Jan. 3, 1836, died Sept. 19, 1864 ; of superior
loveliness, consistency, and excellence in all the relations
of life.
George P. Harwood, son of Jonas, and gi-andson of Pe
ter and Margaret Harwood, united with the church Jan. 3,
1836, died May 14, 1868 ; was one of the trustees of the
First Church.
II. Samuel and Timothy Pratt, with their wives,
Baty and Elizabeth, came with the very first immigration.
The names of all but Timothy are on the roll of the church
at its organization ; Timothy Pratt is on the records as
uniting with the church, with others, Jan. 3, 1765 ; also,
"Esther, wife" — it is to be inferred second wife — "of
Samuel Pratt."
The names of Samuel Pratt and Timothy Pratt are on
the " muster roll i of the flrst company of militia in the
town of Bennington, organized Oct. 24, 1764," of which
John Fassett was captain. Their names are also among
those of offlcers appointed at the flrst town meeting held
March 31, 1762, at the house of John Fassett.
The names John Pratt and Silas Pratt are on a "liat of
the persons settled in Bennington prior to June 1, 1765,
prepared from recollection, by Samuel Robinson, Esq., in
New York city, in December of that year, and furnished
the governor of that province." ^
1 Found among the papers of Capt. Elijah Dewey hy his grandson, E. D. Hub
bell, Esq.
2 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 144.

COL. SAMUEL ROBINSON. 221
The first settlers of this narae carae frora Araherst, Mass.,
and settled iu the easterly portion of the town. Araong
their descendants Stephen Pratt resided in what haa aince
been raised and ia now the Stark House. E. S. Pratt,
reaiding where waa the house of Roger Booth, is a descend
ant. Elisha Billings Pratt, who married Clara, daughter of
Samuel and Aurelia (Mather) Safford, was son of Stephen
Pratt. III. Leonard Robinson was the oldest child of Sam
uel Robinson, .Sen. He came here, with his faraily, in
the first company of settlers. He was born in Hard
wick, Mass., July 27, 1736. He raarried his flrat wife,
Rebecca Billings, in Hardwick, and his first two children
were born there. She united with this church April 14,
1765. He united with the church Deceraber 20, 1764. His
frequently leading the Friday prayer-raeeting, and " lining
out the psalm " with a peculiar tone, has been spoken of. as
familiar to the old inhabitants. He waa flrst sergeant in
Capt. John Fassett's railitary corapany.. He was forty-one
years of age at the time of the Bennington battle, and in
Capt. Samuel Robinson's company. From the Bennington
battle anecdote related of hira, among the incidents of that
battle, in a previous part of thia volume, his piety would
seem to have been of that kind that " trusts God, but keeps
the powder dry."
Late in life he removed to Swanton, and died September
29, 1827. He had sixteen children.
IV. Colonel Samuel Robinson was second child of
Samuel Robinson, Sen. ; " was born at Hardwick, Mass.,
August 15, 1738 ; waa one of the flrst company of settlers
19*

222 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
who came to Bennington in 1761 ; married Hannah Clark,
in Hardwick, Mass. ; and, for his second wife, in Benning
ton, Esther, daughter of Deacon Joseph Safiord, and died
in Bennington, May 3, 1813.
He waa an active man in the New York controversy,
and in the other early affairs of the town; iu 1768 was
chosen town committee, in place of his father, deceased ;
commanded one of the Bennington companies of militia in
Bennington battle ; performed other important military
services during the war, and roae to the rank of colonel.
In 1777 and 1778, he had charge, as " overseer," of the
toi-y prisoners; and, in 1779 and 1780 represented the
town in the General Assembly, and was for three years a
member of the Board of War. He waa the flrst justice of the
peace appointed in town, under the authority of Vermont,
in 1778, and was also, during the sarae year, one of the
judges of the Special Court for the south shire of the
county, and, in that capacitj', sat on the trial and convic
tion of Redding.
Col. Robinson waa a man of good natural abilities, and
of much activity and enterprise in early life ; upright and
honorable in all his dealings, possessing undoubted per-
sonar courage, and beloved by all for the kindness, gener
osity, and nobleness of hia nature and conduct. i
"He was one ofthe eight persons who, in 1781, certified,
in writing, their approval of the efforts of Ira Allen to
prevent the invasion of the State by finessing with Gen.
Haldimand. His patriotism was never doubted." **
He left numeroua worthy aud reapectable deacendants,
some of whom reside in this tov^n, aud others in different
parts of this State aud the United States.
Dr. Benjamin Robinson, son of Col. Samuel Robinson,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 108. 2 Early Hist. Vermont, p. 468.

DR. BENJAMIN ROBINSON. 223
became a physician, and settled in Faj'etteville, N. C. ;
obtained a wide and eminent practice in his profession,
and was highlj' respected as a citizen. He was born in
Bennington, February 11, 1776, and died in hia adopted
place of residence, in 1857. '
In the "Vermont Historical Magazine" is the following
interesting account of the introduction of vaccination into
Bennington : " Dr. Benjamin Robinson, a young physi
cian, aon of Col. Sarauel Robinson, advertised, in the 'Ver
mont Gazette,' under date of December 17, 1800, that he
was ' inoculating for the kine, or, as it is coramonly
called, the cow-pox;' and stating ' that he has the best Eu
ropean authority for warranting him in publicly declaring,
that when a person has once had the kine-pox, he is forever
infallibly secure against catching the small-pox by any pos
sible exposure.' And he stated, in sorae detail, the evi
dence on which hia declaration was founded. In a publica
tion in the ' Gazette,' of the 2d of February following. Dr.
Robinaon, araong other proofs of the efficacy of the kine-
pox, atatea that he had inoculated Russell Haswell, He-
man Robinson, and Samuel FoUetti lads from thirteen to
seventeen j-ears of age, with the kine-pox ; that after
having it, thej' had entered the pest-house and been inocu
lated, by Mr. Harwood, with the small-pox, and ' were ex
poaed to the contagion of ten or twelve persons in the vari
ous stages of the disease,' and that not one of them was in
the leaat degree affected with the pest-house disease."

CHAPTER XV.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
Second Immigration.
"<|EACON John Fassett was born April 1, 1720. He
was one of the second company of settlers in Ben
nington, in 1761. At his house the flrst town meet
ing was held in March, 1762. He resided about
half a raile south of the raeeting-house, near what
has been lately known as the Doctor Swift place.
He kept a tavern, and the town meetings were at the
house of "John Fassett, inn-holder," until 1767, wheu they
were at the meeting-houae. In October, 1764, Mr. Fasaett
was chosen captain of the first military company formed in
the town (by which title he was afterward distinguished).
He was one of the two representatives of the town in the
flrst State Legislature. He died at Bennington, August
12, 1794, in the seventj'-fifth year of hia age.^
His name is upon " the old church covenant," and he
was one of the members of the Bennington church at its
organization, and the flrst clerk of the church. He took a
leading part in its affairs. His name constantly occurs
upon comraittees ou business, iu the church, from its com
mencement, and through the pastorates of the Rev. Messrs.
Dewey and Avery.
He was leader of the choir, and, with very few excep
tions, the leaders of the choir, through the flrst century,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

COL. BENJAMIN FASSETT. 225
have been frora araong his descendants. ^ He removed
hither frora Hardwick, Masa., and he was a stanch
Separate, iu principle and feeling, through life. A com
mon saying, which has been handed down, illustrates his
punctuality and strictness in religious duties ; " It is as
true as that John Fassett will be at prayer-meeting at such
an hour.''
His children were Sarah (wife of Dr. Jonas Fay), John,
Jonathan, David, Nathan, Amos, Mary, Benjamin, and
Hannah. John Fassett, Jr., united with thia church under Mr.
Dewey, Auguat 29, 1765. He was one of the two repre
sentatives from Arlington in 1778, and waa elected one
of the Council in 1779, which office he held, with the ex
ception of the years 1785 and 1786, until 1795 ; and he was
also a judge of the Supreme Court for eight years, 1778-
1786.2 Col. Benjamin Fassett united with the church in the
Wood and Burton revival, Nov., 1784. He was for some
years leader of the choir. He came to Bennington with
his father in 1761. He was a commissary in the war of
the Revolution ; and served in other capacities in civil and
military life, was an active buainess man, and died in Ben
nington years since, leaving nuraeroua descendants.^
He married Betty, daughter of Capt. Elijah Dewey. She
United with the church at the same tirae with her husband.
They had three daughters, all of whom became members
1 The following are the names of the leaders of the choir for the flrst century
cf the church's history. Those in italics are descendants of Deacon John Fas
sett: Deacon John Fassett, Judge Jonathan Robinson, Col. Benjamin Fassett,
Col. Jonathan E. Robinson, Nathaniel Dexter, Gen. Henry Robinson, Deacon
Stephen Bingham, William Bates, Deacon John F. Robinson, Hon. S. H. Brown,
J. Seymour Merrill, John Fay.
2, 3 Vermont Hist. Mag.

226 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
of the church ; Betsey (the second Mrs. Uriah Edgerton)
and Sarah, in 1803 ; and Ruth (Mrs. Samuel Fay)
Nov. 10, 1822.
Col. Fassett married his second wife, Mrs. Hetty Alvah,
who alao united with the church in 1803. Benjarain
Schenck Faaaett, Adeline, flrst wife of Edward H. Swift,
and Mary, wife of the Rev. Gordon Hayes, were the off
spring of this marriage. A daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Hayes, Lydia, became the wife of a missionary, and resides
in India. The laat-named three children of Col. Fassett
also became membera of the church.
Deacon Faasett'a daughter, Mary (Mrs. Judge Jonathan
Robinson), and his son Jonathan, became members of this
church, under Mr. Dewey — the former, Jan. 3, 1765; the
latter. May 16, 1765, — and a daughter, Hannah, in the
Wood and Burton revival.
Of the above, John Fassett, Jr., " waa one of the nine or
ten persons who were first concerned in endeavoring to
prevent Gen. Haldimand from invading the State." ^ He
was father of Col. Elias Fassett, of the thirtieth United States
infantry, in the war of 1812. The following alluaion to Col.
Fassett is taken from Hiram Harwood's Diary of 1812 : —
" Monday, June 7, 1818. — Many of us went down to where Col.
Fassett's regiment took its departure for Burlington, which they
did in a brilliant manner." ^
1 See Biographical Sketches in Hall's Early Vermont, p. 463.
2 " Soon after the admission of Vermont, as a member ofthe Federal Union,
this town became and loug continued to be a recruiting station for the army. In
the spring and summer of 1792, Gen. William Easton, afterward distinguished
in the war with Tripoli, then a captain, recruited a company here, and at Its
head marched to Pittsburg and joined the army under General Wayne, then pre
paring for his campaign against tho Indians. Men were also enlisted here for
the army and marine service during the administration of the elder Adams, on
the apprehended Avar with France. It was also a recruiting station during the
war of 1812, and in 1813 the thirtieth regiment of U. S, infantry, under Coi. Ellaa
Fassett, was mustered and drilled here, preparatory to joining the army for act
ual service." — Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 130.

DEACON JOSEPH SAFFORD. 227
Col. Benjamin Fassett bought extensively upon the east
ern border of the town and resided there, afterward building
and occupying the Dr. Morgan house, opposite the court
house. Ruth Fassett (Mrs. Samuel Fay) was the mother of
Samuel, Benjamin, and John Fay — a devoted mother, kind
neighbor, full of hospitality, and rauch attached to her rel
atives and friends ; died Aug. 14, 1862, aged eighty.
II. Deacon Joseph Safford was also one ofthe second
company of settlers in Bennington, 1761. At the meeting
in which the church was organized, and immediately after
that business was disposed of, it was voted : —
" To receive in Joseph Safford and Anne Safford, his wife. Into
full communion with this church."
He, with Eleazer Harwood, was elected to the ofHce of
deacon, at the flrst election of this kind in the church on
record. His wife was Ann Bottom, of Norwich, Conn., born in
1710. He waa born in 1705, at Ipswich, Mass. At the
flrst town meeting he was appointed town treasurer, and
one ofthe tithing men. At a proprietor's meeting, March 31,
1862, it was voted : —
"To give Esquire Samuel Robinson and Deacon Joseph Safford
flve acres of land, with tho privilege within the said fiv^ acres to
build a corn-mill on, and forty dollars in case it bebuilt by August
next." "Also, voted to give forty dollars to any one on the east
side of the town who should build a saw-mill by the first day of
September next."
These men had the saw-mill done by the 16th of June;
and the time was, at proprietor's meeting, extended one
month, in which they might flnish the corn-mill and get the
premium of forty dollars.

228 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Deacon Safford brought with him to this town the records
of the Newint (Conn.) Separate Church. These are still
preserved by his descendanta ; and also a manuscript letter
from the old church in Newint, signed by Daniel Kirkland,
its pastor, to Joseph Safiord and others. Separates, with a
view to some further conference on the matters of differ
ence between the separating brethren and the old church.
These' records are interesting, as containing the record of
Joseph Safford's formal election and installation to the ofHce
of deacon in the Separate church ; also their confession of
faith, and covenant, with the signatures ; also an impor
tant case of discipline, spread out at length, showing their
strictness and success in maintaining discipline in the church.
His daughter Esther was second wife of Col. Samuel
Robinson and mother of ten of his children ; Hannah
(Mrs. Follett), Esther (Mrs. Hyde), Samuel, Benjamin,
Polly, Betsy (Mrs. Sears, mother of Hon. Benjamin R.
Sears), Saffbrd, Hiram, Lucy (Mrs. Montague), i Sarah (Mrs.
Haswell). His daughter, Abigail, married Jonathan Scott,
one ofthe early settlers here from Sunderland, Mass. His
son, Col. Joseph Saffbrd, married Marcj', daughter of Samuel
Robinson, Sen. ; Anna, his first child, married Henry Wal
bridge ; Cornelius Cady,boru in Norwich, Conn., married his
daughter Elizabeth ; David married Anna Brewster ; his
daughter Lucy married Samuel Montague (the Sunder
land family), and was mother of Elizabeth, wife of Deacon
afterward the Rev. Eleazer Harwood, of Pittsford ; Jacob
married Persis Robinson, daughter of Col. Samuel Robin
son, by his flrst wife, Hannah Clark, of Hardwick ; his
daughter Harriet married John Fassett, Jr.
Gen. Samuel Safford was the eldest son of Deacon
iDled Dec, 1808, so. 79. — It was truly said of her, at her death, "All who
know her must feel that they hare lost a friend."

GEN. SAMUEL SAFFORD. 229
Joseph Saffbrd. " He was born at Norwich, Conn., April
14, 1737, and was one of the earlj' settlers of Bennington.
He took an active part in the land-title controversy with
New York ; and on several occasions represented the town
in conventions ofthe settlers for defence against the York
ers ; and also for forming the territory into a separate
State. When the committees of the several towna met at Doraet,
in July, 1775, to nominate officers for the batallion of
Green Mountain Boj's, recommended by Congress, he was
nominated for major, under Warner as lieutenant-colonel,
and served as such in the battles of Hubbardton and Ben
nington and throughout the war. Before the close of the
war he became a general of the militia. He was a repre
sentative ofthe town in 1781 and 1782, and, in 1783, wa3
elected a State councillor, and served as such for nineteen
J'ears in succession. For twenty- six successive years, end
ing in 1807, he was chief judge of- the County Court for
Bennington County. He was an upright and intelligent
man, of sound judgment and universally respected. He
died at Bennington, March 3, 1813." i
" He was concerned with Chittenden and others in the
Canada negotiations, and his patriotism was never ques
tioned." 2
He united with the church in the revival under the Messrs.
Wood and Burton, 1784 ; and hia wife, Mary Lawrence,
some two years afterward, at the coraraencement here of
the ministry of Mr. Swift. He was elected deacon in 1789,
and continued in the office until his death in 1813.
He was diatinguished for exact truthfulnesa and for strict
observance ofthe Sabbath. Saturday evening was required
to be kept, under his roof, as strictly aa Sunday. Secular
1 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 175.
2 Early Hist. Vermont, p. 408; see, also. Ibid., pp. 212, 221, 201, 325,363.
20

230 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
preparations for the Sabbath were required by him to be
made before sundown of the day before.
His wife, Mary Lawrence, was the daughter of Jonathan
Lawrence, who removed with his family to Bennington,
1772. She was born in Norwich, Conn., April 8, 1741.
Their children were Samuel (born in Norwich, Conn.,
June, 24, 1761 ; married Aurelia Mather, in Bennington,
May 8, 1786, deceased in 1851 ; he was the father of Mrs.
Cogswell Morgan), Mary, John, Ruth, Anna, Clara,
Electa (Mrs. Webb), Amelia, and Jonas. He resided in
the house, now the reaidence of Cogawell Morgan, — Mrs.
Morgan being his grand-daughter.
A son of Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin Webb, William Webb,
is, or was, until his removal to Washington, a deacon in
the Second Congregational Church. Mary, daughter of
Gen. Safford, married Nathan Fay, son of John Fay, who
was killed in the Bennington battle.
III. Deacon Erwin Safford, was elected deacon May
10, 1822, and removed to Philadelphia in 1830. He was a
descendant of John, brother of Deacon Joseph Safford.
IV. Elisha Field was one of the members of the
church at its organization. He was ensign in the military
company organized in 1764, with John Fassett as captain.
He and Deacon Safford were the tithing men, among other
town officers, appointed in the flrst town meeting, March
81, 1762. He came into town with the second company of
settlers in 1761.
He was a member of the Separate church which removed
frora Sunderland. There are seven persons of the name
on the roll of this church. Four of thera united in the
revival in 1803. Jesse and Mrs. Nancy Field united with
the church in 1784, in the revival under Messrs. Wood,

LIEUT. BREAKENRIDGE.

231

and Burton. He was one of the building coraraittee of
the new meeting-house. He waa a carpenter.
He waa in the battle of Bennington, and sorae extracts
from his manuscript communication have been given, iu the
account of the battle, in this volume.
V. Lieut. James Breakenridge was one of the second
company of settlers (fall of 1761), and his name, and
that of Williara, his son, arc on the old covenant, and on
the roll of members at the organization of the church.
He was a large landholder. His name became famous
in connection with the important fact that a succeaaful
stand was made by the settlers of Bennington, on hia farm
and at his reaidence, against the first and onlj' overt at
tempt of the New York claimants to dispossess, by the
sheriff" and his posse, the settlers in this town from their
New Hampshire grants.
Mr. Breakenridge was a raan of quiet and peaceable dis
position and habits, though his property, being covered
by the old patents of Walloorasac, necessarily placed him
in a belligerent attitude toward the New York claimants.
Although indicted as . a rioter, and outlawed with Allen,
Warner, and others, by the New York government, he does
not appear to have ever taken any part in the active pro
ceedings. He was sent to England, by a convention of the settlers,
with Jehiel Hawley, of Arlington, as his associate, in
1772, to ask relief from the crown against the New York
claimants -and governraent ; but the ministry were too
much absorbed with their project of taxing America to
give their attention to the matter. Mr. Breakenridge was
choaen lieutenant of the firat military company formed in
Bennington, in 1764, and is, therefore, frequently desig
nated in the records of the town, by that title.i
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

23? MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The father of Lieutenant James, whose name also was
James, was a native of Scotland, and removed thence to
Ireland ; and removed from Ireland to this country in
1727, and settled in Ware, Mass., whence Lieut. James
Breakenridge removed to Bennington. There was a brother
of Lieut. James, named William, who was a gi'eatly re
spected, and very influential citizen, in Ware, for many
years.i Daniel Breakenridge, son of Lieut. James Breaken
ridge, of commanding form, and great determination and
decision of character, united with this church in 1803.
Esther Breakenridge united with the church April 8, 1765,
Hannah, Jan., 1803. A daughter of Lieut. Jamea married
Thoraas Henderson. A daughter of this marriage, Phebe
Henderson, married Harry Smith, Esq. Two of the chil
dren of this marriage became ministers of the gospel.
Mi-s. Phebe (Henderson) Smith married a second husband,
the Rev. Joel Lindsley, D.D. A son of this marriage be
came a minister of the gospel.
The Breakenridge place ia in the possession and occu
pancy of John Younglove Breakenridge, son of Daniel.
Mrs. Azubah Breakenridge, wife of Daniel, — previ
ously Mrs. Paine, mother of Cornelia, Mrs. Tubbs ; then
Mrs. Haynes, mother of Harriet and Martha Haynes, the
flrst and second Mrs. Gen. Henry Robinson, — deceased
Sept. 23, 1857, at an advanced age. She united with this
church May 6, 1821. In a few of the last years.of her Ufe,
by reason of the inflrmities of age, not able to leave her
house, but still with a refined and earnest welcome, received
her kindred and friends and her minister to the enjoyment
of her cheerful hospitality.
' Ware Historical Address, by William Hyde.

DEACON JOHN WOOD. 233
VI. Ebenezer Wood carae into town the firat year of
the settleraent of the town, though not with the flrst com
pany. He was one of the coraraittee, appointed in the first
proprietors' meeting, to choose a place to set the raeeting-
house. He was third sergeant in Capt. John Fassett's
company of militia. He united with the church Jan. 3,
1765. Deacon John Wood was one of the officers of Capt.
Fassett's corapany. He waa received into thia church Dec.
13, 1764. Hia name is also down on the old covenant.
He was elected deacon Maj' 22, 1789, at the sarae tirae
with Gov. Moses Robinson, and Gen. Sarauel Safford.
He is represented as a severe, exact, and very deterrained
man, and as verj' pious. He muat have been considerably
advanced in j'cars wheu elected, deacon. His name ap
pears frequently upou comraittees, in the church records,
at a very early daj', — as far back as June 19, 1766. The
wife of Deacon Wood, Hannah, united with the church
June 20, 1765. John, a son of theirs, dedicated by them
in baptism, Nov. 1, 1767, married Sarah, daughter of
Joseph SaflTord, and grand-daughter of Deacon Joseph
Safi'ord. Joseph Safiford married Marcy, daughter of
Sarauel Robinson, Sen. John Wood, Jr., removed to
Malone, N. Y. Deacon Wood, probably then a very old
man, removed to Malone, in 1810. He resided ou the
place where ia now the residence of Elijah Fillraore. Ten
individuals of the name of Wood are on the roll of the
church ; none of that name are now connected with the
church. VII. Governor Moses Robinson. — The biogrnphical
sketch of Governor Moses Robinson, by Governor H.all in
the " Vermont Historical Magazine," could not be condensed
21*

234 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
with justice to itself and ita subject, and it is too long for
insertion here. The reader is referred to that article for
important information of his public career ; and this notice
would conflne itself to particulars not therein contained, save
to say in brief, that he was chosen town clerk at the first
meeting ofthe town, and for nineteen years ; colonel of the
militia, and at the head of his regiment at Mount Inde
pendence on its evacuation by Gen. St. Clair ; member of
the famous Council of Safetj' at the time of the battle of
Bennington, and, during the campaign of that year ; chief
justice in the Supreme Court on its first organization, and
for ten years ; when he was elected to the office of governor
ofthe State by the Legislature ; in 1782 one of the agents
of Vermont in the Contipental Congress ; and on the ad
miaaion of Vermont into the Union one of the senators in
Congress. , ,
He was born in Hardwick, Mass., March 26, 1741, and
came with his father, Samuel Robinson, Sen., in the summer
or fall of 1761, to Bennington.
He was hopefully converted at twenty-four years of age.
It was in the summer time ; he was in the field at work
when he received light. He was so overjoyed, he hastened
across the fleld, forgetting his hat, to inform his pastor, Mr.
Dewey, of the happy change his feelings had undergone.
He was received into the church with six others, June 20,
1765. He waa proverbial for the fervency and unction of
his prayers, when leading others at the throne of grace, and
for alwaj'S guiding, when it was possible, the conversation
into the subject of religion.
Judge Stephen Robinson used to say that when a lad at
home in his father's house (the present residence of G. W.
Robinson) he could hear the whole of Governor Moses
Robinson's prayer at the meeting-house. It is related of
him that being across the mountain, to attend to some busi-

GOVERNOR MOSES ROBINSON. 235
ness of settling an estate, and there being a prospect of
sorae tirae elapsing before the preparations would be com
pleted for proceeding with the business, he proposed, and it
was agreed to, that the interval should be devoted to a
prayer-raeeting. He is reraerabered as often repeating the expression,
and with unction, " As for rae and my house, we will
serve the Lord." Peraons still living remember him as
leading the meeting in the abaence of the miniater, and
" lining out " the psalm.
At one prayer-raeeting which appeared rather dull, the
two other gentlemen who were deacons with himself were
present, and he led the meeting. He called on one of
thera to lead in prayer, who, ' after several ineflfectual
atterapts by "hemming" to clear his throat, wished to be
excused. Governor Robinson then called on the other, who
alao desired to be excused ; thereupon the governor under
took the duty himself, and gave the following vent to his
thoughts : " O Lord ! thou knowest we have come up here
this afternoon to ivorship Thee, and we are cold and luke
warm as it were, — / fear at least some of us are." The
associate deacons knew well enough who were meant, but
conceived no offence.
Governor Robinson was possessed of great wealth. The
town was noted iu his day for the wealth of its inhabitants,
and he was, pmhaps, more distinguished than any other in
this respect. It is affirraed that his liberalitj' to the cause
of religion here corresponded to hia ability.
He was elected deacon Maj' 22, 1789, and continued
in that office until his death. May 26. 1813. In a letter,
preserved by G. W. Robiuson, of condolence, to Gen. David
Robiuson ou tlie deatli of his second wife, a letter of that
lady is rcfeired lo iu which Mra. Robinson " raentioned the
happy death of Governor Robiuson, and obseived that if

236 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
she could feel as he did, it would be worth ten thousand
worlds." He married Mary, daughter of Stephen Fay, who united
with the church May 16, 1765, and after her death, Miss
Susannah Howe, who united with the church May 5, 1811.
By his flrst wife he had six sons and one daughter.
Capt. Moses Robinson, Jr., first child of Gov. Moses
Robinson, was born iuBennington, Nov. 16, 1763. He was
a member of the Council in 1814 ; and was several times,
in 1820 and afterward, representative of the town in the
General Assembly.
He was appointed, Jan. 30, 1804, building agent in chief
for the building of the new meeting-house. A building
committee previously appointed was to draw plans and
advise with Capt. Moses Robinson. He was to make con
tracts and draw on the treasurer. He married Ruth,
daughter of Capt. Elijah Dewey, and grand-daughter of the
Rev. Jedidiah Dewey. Two of his grand-children are minis
ters of the gospel, — Thomas Wright and Henry M. Swift.
Major Aaron Robinson, the second son of Gov. Moses
Robinaon, waa born May 4, 1767. He united with this
church in the revival in 1803. He was town clerk seven
years, in 1815 and afterward ; a justice of the peace twenty-
three years ; a Representative ofthe Assembly in 1816-17 ;
and Judge of Probate in 1835-6 ; and died in 1850. ^ He
was clerk of the church from Jan. 24, 1820, until his
decease. His faithful entries upon the church recorda, in
a remarkably clear and regular hand, are models to those
who have similar duties to perform.
His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Major Wait Hopkins
(killed bj' the Indians in New York in the Revolutionary
l Vermont Uist. Mag,

GOV. JOHN S. ROBINSON. 237
War 1), and Mindwell, daughterofthe Rev. Jedidiah Dewey,
His second wife was Mary Lyman, daughter of David
Lyman, of Connecticut, born May 3, 1778, died March 28,
1852. She united with the church in 1811, and possessed
devoted piety, constant and fervent in prayer.
Major Aaron Robinson and his wife were warm friends of
the Rev. Absalom Peters, D.D., while he was pastor of the
church, and very averse to hia pastoral relation with this
church being dissolved. Mrs. Robinson addressed to him, in
a few stanzas of poetry, the expression of her appreciation of
him as her minister, which testimonial was highly prized by
Dr. Peters, but became mislaid, and cannot be found.
Nathan Robinson, Esq., fourth son of Gov. Moses
Robinson, was the father of Gov. John Staniford Robinson.
Gov. John S. Robinson was born in Bennington, Nov.
10, 1804; graduated at Williams College in 1824 ; admitted
to the Bennington County Bar in 1827 ; was twice a repre
sentative of Bennington in the General Assembly ; twice a
member of the State Senate ; in 1853, on the failure of an
election by the people, was chosen governor by joint ballot
of the two houses.
He belonged to the Democratic party, and was frequently
supported by his political friends for member of Congress,
governor, and other iraportant offices ; but his party being
generally in the minority, he was unauccessful except as
before stated. He died in Charleston, S. C, April 24,
1860, while attending the National Democratic Conven
tion, where he was chairman of the delegation from Ver
mont. The legal attainments and high order of talent of Gov.
John S. Robinson placed him at an early day in the front
1 Mrs. Robinson's Genealogical History.

238 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
rank of his profession, which position he always maintained.
Generous of heart, amiable in disposition, and with integ
rity undoubted, he, by his uniforra courtesy and kindness,
endeared himself to all with whom he had buaineaa or
intercourse. His remains were brought for interment to
his native town, where his funeral was attended by the
members ofthe bar in a body, as mourners, and by a large
concourse of acquaintances and friends, — an impressive
funeral discourse being delivered by President Hopkins,
with whom he had received his college education." ^
I ¦Vermont Hist. Mag.

CHAPTER XVI.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
Second Immigration, continued.
)ENERAL David Robinson was the eighth child
of Samuel Robinson, Sen. He was born at Hard
wick, Mass., Nov. 22, 1754, and came to Ben
nington with his father in 1761, being then a lad
of seven years. He was in the battle of Benning-
. ton as a private in the militia, and afterward rose,
by regular promotion, to the rank of major-general, whieh
office he resigned about 1817. He was sherifi' of the county
for twenty -two years, ending in 1811; when he was ap
pointed United States Marshal for the Vermont District,
which office he held for eight j'ears until 1819.1
He possessed a powerful constitution and great courage.
A desperate individual had comraitted crimes and escaped
the law, and all were afraid of him. He had fled to a hay
loft, and General Robinson went in purauit of hira. The
neighbors of the general warned hira to be cautioua in
approaching a peraon so dangerous, and endeavored to dis
suade him from ascending to the man's retreat. Gen. Robin
son, however, paid no attention to these reraonstrances, but
iramediately went up on the loft and arrested the criminal
without harra. In the winter before the Bennington battle,
the British had coraraand of Lake Cbaraplain by the de
struction of the American fleet under Arnold. They had a
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

240 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
large force at St. John's. The Americans held only Ticon
deroga ; all north of that point waa under control of the
enemy, and tidinga came that a company of defenceless
women and children were there. It was two hundred miles
away, and the snow from two to four feet deep. David
Robinson, a young man about twenty-two, holding himself
as a minute-man, went to the reacue of those helpless and
imperilled ones ; forming, with one Deming frora Arling
ton, and a few others, a small detachment for this object.
They accomplished their magnanimous purpose, and con
veyed the women and children to a fort for safety on the
Connecticut River. On his return he had at length one
companion, a broad-shouldered six-footer. Mr. Robinson
proved the most enduring of the two, —his comrade tiring
out some day and a half before they reached home, so that
Robinson carried, for the remainder of the way, his own
gun and knapsack and his comrade's also.
He was fond of warming his blood, of a frosty raorning,
on his wood-pile, without coat or hat, only a good sharp axe
in his hand. Mrs. Robinson would remonstrate : "You will
surely catch your death by such exposure." His laconic
reply would be : " Well, I can't catch it but once."
"Prompt" was a favorite expression with him, aud when
he placed a boy in the saddle to do an errand, he was ac
customed to say to the lad, " Do you go, and come."
lie was deeply interested in everything that concerned
the prosperitj' of Bennington ; ever readj' to bear his full
share of the burden and expense of public worship, and of
every public interest. The Rev. E. W. Hooker, D.D., his
pastor, preached a discourse at his funeral, which was pub
lished. Some extracts are here quoted : —
"The precise date of his connection with the church in this
place Is not to be ascertained, from their being iu an imperfect
state. lie Is supposed, however, to have made a profession of re-

GEN. DAVID ROBINSON. 241
llglon In his young manhood. ... In his religious relations
and character, if General Robinson was an Independent Congrega
tionalist, so was he also a man sound in the faith of the fathers of
New England. . . . The inflrmities of advancing age in a few
of the last months and years of his life of course rendered it many
times difficult to obtain a very deflnite knowledge of his religious
frame of mind. For some time previous to this, however, he seemed
gradually withdrawing his thoughts from things temporal; dis
posed to converse seriously on his state and prospects, and to re
alize himself his nearness to the scenes of eternity, and their deep
and affecting solemnity. In the intervals, upon his views and
feelings in regard to eternal things, he spoke witli a solemnity and
tenderness indicating a deep sense of their superior importance,
and such as should testify to the consciences of his fellow-men on
their own concern In them, as also hastening forward to the
judgment-seat of Christ.
In illustration of his religious submission, Doctor Hooker
related to the writer the following anecdote : —
" By the death of his son, Heman, he was deeply af
flicted. Others were with hipi, and myself also, at the time,
in the north front room. Heman was dying in the room
above. Some time had elapaed, and we were expecting
the event. Hia brother Stephen came down to the foot of
the stairs and said, ' He Is gone, sir 1 ' General Robinson
did not seem to hear distinctly the announcement, and I
said to him, ' Your son has breathed his last.' Rising
from hia chair, ' Oh I ' said he ; and, proceeding to ascend
the stairs, he repeated the words, ' Be still, and know that
lam God.'"
In illustration of the freat infirmity of his advancing
years, to which allusion is raade in the above extract from
Dr. Hooker's discourse, let an anecdote be given, related to
the -wi'iter by Miss Angeline Selden. She was in at the
houae of Henry Kellogg, Esq., where Judge Noah Smith
resided formerly, and General Robinson came in during his
days of mental decline, as he was passing away. He in-
21

242 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
quired if Judge Smith waa in. Mr. Kellogg replied in the
negative. He persisted in inquiring for Judge Smith, and
then added, " I will go to the court and meet Judge Fay
and Judge Brush." Judge Smith had been dead some forty
years, and the other gentlemen, one of them longer, and
the remaining one perhaps nearly as long. The old man
was truly living in the past.
He died Dec, 12, 1843, at the age of eighty-nine.
By his wife, Sarah, daughter of Stephen Fay, Esq., he
had three sons, who became heads of families.
David Robinson, Esq., graduated at Williams College in
1797, and became a lawyer. His second wife, Mrs. Sarah
Shewel, daughter of Jesse Dickerson,of Morristown, N. J.,
a ladj' of refinement and intelligence, united with thia church
Sept. 7, 1817. Before his decease he executed a deed, con
veying his residence to this church and society for a par
sonage. He died in March, 1858, aged eightj'-one.
Hon. Stephen Robinson was successively a member of
the Assembly for several years, a judge of the County
Court, and a member of the Council of Censors in 1834.1
He received hope in Christ, and gave satisfactory evidence
of his converaion in hia last sickness, — about a year before
his death. In his inquiring state of mind he took the Bible,
and with Scott's and Clark's Commentariea studied it care
fully. He becarae convinced of the impropriety of general
visiting on the Sabbath, and wbgn old friends, accustomed
to that way, called on Sundaj', he expressed his pleasure in
seeing them, but that he preferred they should come on
some other day. He waa very poaitive in his opiniona, and
in his expression of them, but he was so candid and intelli
gent that he did not give offence. He married Sarah,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

FAMILY OF GEN. ROBINSON. 243
daughter of Deacon Aaron Hubbell. She united with this
church May 4, 1817, and died Auguat, 1844.
Of seven children, the first-born died at six years of age.
The others became members of this church.
Edmund A. Robinson became a prosperous and highly-
respected merchant in Albany, where he deceased suddenly.
For some of the recent yeara before his death, having a
summer residence here, and for a few years for both sum
mer and winter, he was ever a valued friend of this so
cietj', aiding and encouraging us always in our work, —
generous, intelligent, genial ; his sudden death affected this
community with profound surprise and sorrow.
Ruth Robinson married Professor W. H. Parker, of Mid
dlebury College, and deceased sorae years since.
Dewey Hubbell Robinson becarae a physician, and was
settled in the practice of his profession in Michigan, and
died in early raanhood.
Anne Caldwell Robinson deceased Dec. 5, 1868. She
was distinguished for her zeal, labor, and success as a
teacher in the Sabbath school, and particularly of an adult
ladies' Bible class. She possessed a rare intellect, and
great flrmness in adhering to right and truth as ahe viewed
them. Mrs. Stephen Robinson, Jr., deceased, daughter of Jo
seph Hinsdill, deserves note for the amiableneas of her
disposition, and the loveliness and consistency of her Chris
tian character.
Heman Robinson was the youngest son of Gen. David
Robinaon. His death has been already noticed. It took
place when he waa flfty years of age. He married Betsey,
daughter of Joseph Wadsworth, and had twelve children ;
one of them, the oldest son. Judge Albert D. Robinaon,
another, George W. Robinson, who owns and occupies the

244 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
residence and farm formerly the possession of General
David Robinson. There the flrst Mrs. Samuel Robinson,
as a widow, lived and died with her son David. The
family have an excellent portrait of General Robinson.
Gen. Robinson's third wife, Nancy, daughter of James
Caldwell, and widow of George Church, Hartford, Conn.,
is upon the church record, as uniting with this church
October 18, 1816.
II. Judge Jonathan Robinson, the youngest son of
Sarauel Robinson, Sen., was born at Hardwick, Mass., Au
gust 11, 1756, and came to Bennington as one of his father's
family. He was a lawyer, and was early in public life.
He was town clerk six years ; represented the town
thirteen years ; was chief judge of the Supreme Court
from 1801 to 1807. He was then chosen senator to Con
gress, to flU the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of
Israel Smith, elected governor of the State ; and was also
senator for the succeeding term of six years, which
expired March 3, 1815. In October, 1815, he became
judge of probate and held the office for four years, and in
1818 again represented the town in the General Assembly.
He was a man of pleasant and insinuating address, and, by
his talent and political shrewdness, occupied a leading
position in the Republican party of the State for many
years. 1
He was averse to making aristocratic pretensions among
his towns-people. In illustration of this, the following
incidents have been familiarly related to the writer. There
had a family come into the east part of the town by the
name of-;  . The young people of this family were
awkward and unused to corapany ; Judge Robinson made
a party at hia house, went over himself and invited
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

HON. JONATHAN ROBINSON. 245
thera, and raade thera proraise to corae ; they carae, and he
spent the evening chiefly in entertaining them, and in
every endeavor to make them feel at home.
When a senator in Congress, he came home on one
occasion, and Sunday raorning, as the faraily were prepared
for church, his daughter Polly, afterward Mrs. Merrill,
came into the room dressed handsomely in ailk ; he noticed
the dress at once, and made inquiry about it; his daughter
answered his inquiries, relating that her mother had pur
chased it of a peddler, calling his attention to its excellent
qualitj', and seeking his approval of it as a good bargain.
" I do not care about that," said he ; " go, take it off, and
put on your calico dreaa, or you shall not go to meeting
with me ; when your mates have silk dresses to wear, then
you may wear one." Her raother, who was more aristocrat
ically inclined, had bought the dress when he was absent
at Waahington.
He had great influence over the boys in the street ; he
was very kind to thera. When they came into the street to
plaj', he would let them stay until eight o'clock in the even
ing, and then would say, "Come, boys, now j-ou must go
home ; " and they complied. On the 16th of August, they
went to him with entire confldence for money with which
to buy powder ; and also on the 4th of July. He was
very tender-hearted. Theophilus Harrington, at the time
assistant judge, said to Judge Robinson : " Be you
the judge, and Hyde the sheriff, and Spenser the State's
attorney, and there will be nobody hung."
The following reminiscence givea a characteriatic feature
of those by-gone timea. On one of the occaaiona of the
return from college of Jonathan E., hia son, some difference
of opinion arose between them, upon some subject that had
been introduced into their conversation at the table. Jon
athan E. said, " I know it is so, and I ought to know ; I am
21*

246 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
fresh from the schools." His father replied, " Well, if you
are fresh from the schools, I can throw you in wrestling."
"I think not, father," was the quick answer of the young
man ; for he had returned fresh from wrestling aa well as
from study. " Let us see," said his father. They arose
from the table ; the order was given for it to be placed one
side, and the middle of the floor cleared. They grasped
each other, first at arms'-length, but the younger was the
more agile, and obtaining the right clinch was victorious ;
Judge Robinson was thrown so effectually, and so far, as
nearly to overthrow the table and its contents. He admit
ted his son's superiority in wrestling. " I shall not try
with you again ; " and so the discussion ended, with entire
good feeling however.^
He united with the church in the Wood and Burton
revival, 1784, at the age of twenty-eight. He was elected
clerk of the church, and continued so until his death. He
was fond of doctrinal discussion and study, and of hearing
leading miniaters of the gospel preach, and used, when
they were temporarily here, to invite them to his house.
He was much interested in the prophecies, and corre
sponded with the Rev. J, Spaulding on the subject.
He married Mary (born in Hardwick, Mass., 1754 ;

1 They were much given to wrestling. Governor Moses Robinson was over tBe
inountaln in some place, and passed by where there was a raising. He stopped
and assisted, and wheu it was through they proceeded as usual to wresUe. After
wrestling awhile, he stepped up, they having found the bully, and took hold of
the bully, and threw him at once. Tlie governor was long-legged, and they
looked at his legs and called him spindle-legged, and said that he took the bully
before he thought of It; so he tried the bully again, and threw him Just as
quickly as before. They did uot know him at the time, but soou after he made
himself known to them.
A bully came from Massachusetts, and inquired for the Robinsons, and they
Qet forward Jonathan E. He immediately floored the Massachusetts man. The
stranger looked at him, and said he could uot do that again. He took hold again
and floored him as soon as before. He said he would not try again. They
tiad what they called " the Robinson lock.'j

JONATHAN E. ROBINSON, ESQ. 247
united with the church, 1784 ; died July 15, 1822), daugh
ter of Deacon John Faaaett. Their children were Jonathan
Edwards, Mary, Henry, and Isaac Tichenor.
Jonathan E. Robinson, Esq., born August 4, 1777, was
graduated at Williams College, 1797 ; married Alice, daugh
ter of Deacon Benjamin Skinner, of Williamstown, Mass.
Their daughter. May Alice, married Charles Manning, of
New York city. These had a son, James E. Manning,
died February 17, 1856, who was graduated at Williams
College in 1848.
Mr. Robinson, after the death of hia flrat wife, married
Anna Storms, daughter of Thomaa Storma, of New York
city. He died April 27, 1831.
He united with the church in 1803. He was town clerk
nine years ; judge of the County Court in 1828 ; and resided
in New York city for several years. His profession was
that of a lawyer.
He was for some time leader of the choir in this church.
He was distinguished for his tenor voice and superior ex
cellence in singing. While reaiding in New York, the
precentor in the congregation, where he attended public
worship, was absent a Sabbath, and there was sOme per
plexity as to what should be done. General Storms, the
father of Col. Robinson's second wife, arose and said there
was a gentleman there who would perhaps be willing to
lead the singing, if agi'eeable to the congregation.' Gen.
Storms' proposal was readily assented to, and Col. Robin
son stepped forward and took the precentor's place ; he was
very tall and graceful, and of coraraanding presence, and
performed the service of leading th^ singing in such a
manner as to astonish and delight the congregation. In
fugue tunes, if any part faltered, he could at once strike
that part and sustain it, were it alto or treble, and descend
without delay to the bass, and so sustain the whole.

248 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The following was told to the writer by the Rev. Hiram
Bingham : " Dr. Yale, of Kingsborough, my classical tutor,
uaed to say that Mr. Jonathan E. Robinson had the flnest
voice he ever heard. Jonathan E. Robinson was captain
(afterward colonel), Stephen Robinson, ensign, -7- enaign
and lieutenant were then one and the same. We were very
proud of our captain. He was the most popular man in
Bennington. He had a verj' commanding form and person."
The singing of the Bennington church choir, long noted
for its excellence, was perhaps never more flourishing than
when Jonathan E. Robinson was its chorister. Then the
singers reached round the front seat of the gallery, from
the east wall on one side of the pulpit to the same wall on
the opposite side of the pulpit ; and it is said there were a
score or more of persons, any one of whom was competent
to lead. The old style of music waa sung with great
power and majesty.
Mary, born Septeraber 8, 1781 ; united with the church,
1803 ; died February 1, 1831 ; only daughter of Judge
Robinson ; raarried Col. O. C. Merrill, born in Farraington,
Conn., June 18, 1775 ; united with the church, 1831 ; died
April 12, 1865. A son of theirs, Jaraes Seymour Merrill,
haa been leader ofthe choir of this church ; also ofthe Second
Congregational Church ; also of the Methodist Episcopal
Church. Gen.* Henry Robinson was born August 26, 1778. He
was successively paymaster in the army, clerk in the pen
sion office, brigadier-general of the militia, and for ten
years clerk of the County and Supreme Court." 1
He united , with this church in 1835. He was next but
one to his father. Judge Robinson, as leader of the choir.
Returning from Washington to pass the decline of life in
' Vermont Hist. Mug.

DEA. J. F. ROBINSON. 249
Bennington, he is remembered by the writer of this notice
for his intelligent and genial conversation, his generous
nature, and his interest in the public worship of the church
of his fathers. He died in 1856.
He married Miss Harriet Haynes, and after her decease
her sister, Miss Martha P. Haynes. She united with this
church January 4, 1835, and deceased December 2, 1857,
while residing with her son, the Rev. Charles Seymour Rob
inson, at that time pastor in Troy, N. Y. Unceasing in
•her prayers and toils and affection, she had the rare happi
ness, to a fond Chriatian mother, of living to see one of
her sons an eloquent and successful preacher of the gospel.
A younger son, Joseph Haswell Robinson, became, subse
quently to hia mother's decease, a minister of the gospel.
He died March 4, 1868, aged thirty -two ; having commenced
a professional career with every promise of a bright and
useful future.
Isaac Tichenor Robinson, youngest child of Judge Jona
than Robinson, was born August 17, 1790 ; married Maria,
daughter of Deacon Aaron Hubbell, and deceased in 1866.
His son, John F., was a deacon of this church until his
death. Deacon John F. Robinson was born in Bennington, May
6, 1812, and deceased Jafiuary 25, 1862, in the flftieth year
of his age. He was in the discharge of his duty as road-
master of the Troy and Boston Railroad, and was In the
eara passing up a little north of this town, when a gust of
wind was encountered, so violent as to throw the cars from
the track and down an erabankraent of aome thirty feet
elevation. He was mortally injured ; he had strength
sufficient to ascend the bank and take hia place in another
car, and also to walk from the sleigh, in which he was con
veyed from the depot, into his house. The accident occurred

250 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
in the forenoon, and at about flve o'clock, p. m., he died.
The Rev. H. G. O. Dwight, D.D., missionary at Constanti
nople, of the American Board of Coraraissioners for Foreign
Missions, was in the same car, sitting near Deacon Robin
son, at the time of the overthrow, and was instantly
killed. Deacon Robinson was hopefully converted in the revival
in 1831, and united with the church at the same time with
Doctor Noadiah Swift. Upon the deceaae of Deacon Aaron
Hubbell, he and Samuel Chandler were elected deacons of
the church, September 19, 1845. He had also been treas
urer of the society. For several years he was leader of the
choir, until a disease of the throat compelled him to resign
that office. Up to the time of his decease, nnd for some
years previous, he played the double bass viol, whose mute
presence in the gallery for years afterward, lying in its
case unused, waa a sad reminder that the hands which so
carefully guided its tones had become motionless in
death. Deacon Robinson's acceptance of any duty was a guaran
ty that it would be well and faithfidly performed. He was
remarkable for a clear mind and a flrm will, so that when
once settled down upon any principle aa true, or any course
of action as a duty, it is believed no human power could
swerve him. In adhesion to souu*d Calvinistic doctrine, in
reverence for the Sabbath and sanctuary, and in sobriety of
demeanor, he might have been regarded aa no unapt repre
sentative of Puritan times.
When he became road-master on the Troy and Boston
road, it was the cuatora to repair the bridges on the Sab
bath, to avoid detention of the cars on week days. He,
without any hesitation, determined that the repairs should
take place on some other day than the Sabbath, or he would
resign his post. Vigorous resistance to his proposed

DEA. J. F. ROBINSON. 251
change was raade, on the ground of a serious detention of
the cars, to the great inconvenience of the travelling public.
His unj'ielding deterraination, however, carried the point,
and the bridges were repaired on week days, and the ex
periment proved it could be accoraplished without a deten
tion of the train, behind its regular time, of more than flf
teen minutes.
This occasion furnished an incident illustrative of the
moral weight of his words, when he felt called upon to take
a decided stand in such a case. Having spoken of the con
cerns of the soul, involved in that queation of taking the
Sabbath or the week day to repair the bridges, to the fore
man of the working party on the road, who was violently
opposed to his view, the foreman replied, " It is no matter
to you whether I lose my soul or not.'' Deacon Robinson
rejoined with utmost sincerity and warmth, " It is matter to
me whether you lose your soul or save it." The foreman
replied no raore, but reraerabered the words, and deeply
felt their force as he afterward honestly stated, and con
ceived thenceforth a profound reverence for Deacon Robin
son. In the prayer and conference meeting his prayers and
^remarks were always short, and always to the point and
impressive. His natural temperament perhaps, added to much ill-health,
made him distrustful as to his evidences, but he found
comfort and motive to duty in the doctrine of justiflcation
by faith alone in Christ. When in dying, and from internal
injuries scarcely able to articulate, he said, " I must trust
in Christ and in him alone." From a child he was remark
ably conscientious. There was a warmth, tenderness, and
sincerity of friendship that attached his friends, and partic
ularly his bosom friends, to him in an extraordinary
degree. On his mother's side he was great-great-grand-

252 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
child to Rev. Mr. Dewey ; on his father's side he was great-
great-grandson of Samuel Robinson, Sen. ; and also, by his .
grandmother Robinson, great-great-grandson of Deacon
John Fassett.

CHAPTER XVII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1762.
' TEPHEN FAY. — Next to Robinson, Harwood, and
Scott there is the largest number of individuals on
the roll of the church of the name of Fay. James,
James, Jr., Daniel, and Lydia Fay are on the old cove
nant. Probably Lj-dia waa the wife of James Fay,
and James, Jr., and Daniel their sons. No other
mention is made of these individuals afterward in the records
of the church, nor do they appear on any of the lists furnished
by Gov. Hall in the " Vermont Historical Magazine," nor
upon the town records. Mention is made of James and
his son Daniel in Mr. Paige's Hardwick Centennial Address,
and that he was a deacon in the Separate Church there, and
died there of smaU-pox in 1777, and that Daniel died in 1815,
awed eighty-six. It is probable they carae at an early day to
Bennington, and returned again to Hardwick, and reraained
there. Jaraea was brother of Stephen Fay. Mehitable
and Elizabeth Fay are also araong the signers to the old
covenant. Stephen Fay had a sister Mehitable, and also a
sister-in-law Elizabeth (wife of his brother John), who
becarae members of this church.
Among the early settlers, Stephen Fay (son of John Fay
and Elizabeth Wilmington), who carae to Bennington in
1766, occupied a prominent position as landlord of the
Green Mountain House, afterward Catamount Tavern, as
22

254 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY:
father of an influential family ; and as exhibiting a spon
taneous instance of moral sublimity in connection with the
death of his son John in Bennington battle, he has won for
his narae a bright place in the history of the town. He sent
five of his sons ^ to the bloody rescue of his country on that
eventful day. One of them was shot through the head, and
died instantly. The following is the account in a Connec
ticut newapaper of Nov., 1777, three months after the
battle, by an ^^Eye-witness": — " A good old gentleman
who had flve sons in the fleld at the celebrated action of
Bennington, Auguat 16, 1777, whose furrowed cheeka and
silvered locks added venerableness to his hoary brows,
being told that he was unfortunate in one of his sons, re
plied, ' What, has he misbehaved? did he desert his post?
or run from the charge?' 'No, sir,' said the informant;
' worse than that, he is among the slain ; he fell contending
mightily in the cause.' ' Then I am satisfied,' replied the
venerable sire ; " bring him in and lay hira before rae, that at
leisure I may behold and survey the darling of my soul ;'
upon which the corpse was brought and laid before him, all
besmeared with dirt and gore. He then called for a bowl of
water and a napkin, and with his own hands washed the
gore from his son's corpse, and wiped his gaping wounds
with a complacencj', as he himself expressed it, which before
he had never felt or experienced." Another account pre
served by tradition gives the following additional expres
sion : " I thank God I had a son who waa willing to give
his life for his country." He had ten children : John, Jonas,
Stephen, Mary, Sarah, Elijah, Beulah, Benjamin, Joseph,
David. •
John Fay was forty-three years of age at the time of his
death. He left a widow and children, and many of hia de
scendants are now living in the northern part of this State.
1 iohn, EliJah,Benjamln, Joseph, and David.

DR. JONAS FAY. 255
Of the circumstances of hia death the following have been
related : ' —
He was flghting behind a tree. His last words, as he
raised his musket to fire once raore at the eneray, were, " I
feel that I am fighting iu a good cause." And as his eye
ran along the barrel, taking aim, his head just exposed
from behind the tree, a ball struck him in the very centre of
his forehead, and he fell with his gun undischarged. Quick
as lightning ran the cry over the ranks of his townsmen,
" John Fay is shot ! " Maddened to fury they sprang from
behind the trees, fired their guna in the very faces of the
foe, and, clubbing the breeches, leaped over the breastwork
with an impulse of onset nothing mortal could resist.
Nathan, a son of this John Fay, united with this church
in the Wood aud Burton revival.
Dr. Jonas Fay was the second child of Stephen Fay.
He was born at Hardwick, Mass., Jan 13, 1737. He was
a man of great versatility, boldneaa, and deterraination,
and of acknowledged ability and skill as draughtsman and
composer of public documents.
His public career commenced at an early age, while the
family still resided in Hardwick. In 1756,being then nineteen
years of age, he was clerk to the military company of Capt.
Sarauel Robinson, Sen., in the carapaign ofthe French war
at Fort Edward and Lake George.
He was twentj'-nine years of age whenhe came to Benning
ton, and at once took a prominent position among the leading
actors who came upon the stage in that eventful period of
the history of the town and State and nation ; and it is diffi
cult to tell in which of these relations, if not in all equally,
his services were the raost iraportant.
1 The Rev. C. S. Robinson's Address.

256 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
"In 1772 when Governor Tryon invited the people of
Bennington to send agents to New York to inform him of
the grounds of their complaint, he, with his father, was
appointed for that purpose. He was clerk to the conven
tion of settlers that met in 1774, and resolved to defend by
force, Allen, Warren, and others, who were threatened with
outlawrj' and death by the New York Assembly, and as
such clerk certified their proceedings for publication. He
served as surgeon in the expedition uudei; Allen at the cap
ture of Ticonderoga. He was continued in that position by
the Massachusetts committee who were sent to the lake in
July, 1775, and also appointed by them to muster the
troops as thej' arrived for the defence of that post. He was
also surgeon for a time to Col. Warner's regiment.
In Jan., 1776, he was clerk to the convention at Dorset
that petitioned Congress to be allowed to serve in the com
mon cause of the country as inhabitants of the New Hamp
shire Grants, and not under New York, and also of that
held at the sarae place in July following. He was a raem
ber of the convention which met at Westminster in Jan.,
1777, and declared Vermont to be an independent State,
and waa appointed chairman of a committee to draw up a
declaration and petition announcing the fact and their rea
sons for it, to Congress, of which declaration and petition
he was the draughtsman and author. He was secretary to
the convention that formed the constitution of the State, in
July, 1777, and was one ofthe Council of Safety, then ap
pointed to administer the affairs of the State until the
Assembly provided for by the constitution should meet ;
was a member of the State Council for seven years from
1778 ; a judge of the Supreme Coiirt in 1782 ; judge of pro
bate from 1782 to 1787; and he attended the Continental
Congress at Philadelphia as the agent of the State under
appointments made in Jan., 1777, Oct., 1779, June, 1781,

FAMILY OF DR. JONAS FAY.

257

and Feb., 1782  In 1780, he, in conjunction with
Ethan Allen, prepared and published in their joint names
a pamphlet of thirty pages, on the New Harapshire and New
York Controversy, which was printed at Hartford, Conn." ^
Ills daughter Lydia married Uriah Edgerton, Esq. She
became hopefully pious after she began to be crippled by
rheumatism. She used to say that it was her becoming
so great a sufferer that with God's blessing led to her con
version. Before, she was very worldly and ambitioua ; af
terward, the cause and love of Christ waa ever the theme
upon her lips and warm in her heart. She united with this
church during the miniatry of the Rev. Mr. Marsh.
Fay Edgerton, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Uriah Edgerton,
was graduated at the Rensselaer Institute, in Troy, N. Y.,
assisted in the establishment of a scientific school in Utica,
N. Y., and while engaged as lecturer on chemistry and
botany in the medical school in Woodstock was taken sick
and died. He was a bright and devoted Christian. He' was
born in 1803, aud deceased in April, 1838.
Dr. Jonas Fay's daughter, Sarah, married Henry Hopkins,
only son of Major Wait Hopkins, and grandson of the Rev.
Mr. Dewey. These had a son, Deacon Fay Hopkins, of
Oberlin, Ohio.
Major Heman A. Fay, a twin son of Dr. Jonas Fay, grad
uated as cadet at West Point in 1808. He was appointed
a lieutenant in the army, in which he served through the
war in 1812, and soon after became military store-keeper
at Albany .2 He united with a Presbyterian church in Al
bany, and became one of its elders. He afterward returned
to Bennington to pass the remainder of his life, and became
a member of thia church.
1 See Vermont Hist. Mag., pp. 171, 172, and Early Hist. Vermont, pp. 403, 404,
and elsewhere. 2 Vermont Hist. Mag. , p. 172.
22*
l

258 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Mary, daughter of Stephen Fay, and flrst wife of Gov.
Moses Robinson, and mother of hia children, united with
this church May 16, 1765. Two of her descendants in this
town became ministers of the gospel.
Benjamin Fay, son of Stephen Fay, was the flrst sheriff
in the county and State. He was born Nov. 22, 1750. He
was sheriff from March 26, 1778, until Oct., 1781, and died
in 1786.1
He married Sarah, daughter of Samuel Robinson, Sen.
She united with the church at thirteen and a half years of
age. After the death of her first husband she raarried Gen.
Heman Swift, of Cornwall, Conn.
Samuel Fat, Esq., a son of Sheriff Benjamin Fay, lived
and died in the family mansion, which was formerly " the
Green Mountain House," " the Catamount Tavern " and
"Landlord Fay's," — the house in which the Council of
Safety met ; afterward, altered and added to. An obituary
notice from the pen of Gov. Hall appeared in the " Benning
ton Banner " and was copied into the " Verraont Record,"
valuable for its historical rerainiscences as well as a just
tribute to Mr. Fay. Considerable portions of it shall be
inserted here.
 " Samuel Fay,
Esq., was born in Bennington, Aug. 16, 1772, and died
the 25th of Dec. 1863, in the ninety-second year of his age.
The day he becarae flve years old, — the 16th of August,
1777, — waa fought the battle of Bennington, of which he
retained through life a clear recollection, remembering well
the noise of the guns, and the extraordinary confusion of
the day. The scene at the execution of Redding was also
fresh in his mind. He was appointed a deputy-sherifl' under
Gen. David Robinson. Tlijs waa in 1793, when Thomas
1 Vermont Hist Mag., p. 171.

MR. S. FAY AS HIGH SHERIFF. 259
Chittenden ¦^^'a3 governor, Elijah Paine, Sarauel Knight,
aud Isaac Tichenor, judgea of the Supreme Court. He held
the oflice of deputy, with the exception of two years, until
1811, when he was chosen higli-sli6riff, and was annually
re-elected for twelve succeeding years, until the year 1S23 ;
making twenty-eight years' service in the sheriff depart
ment of the county. During thia period the poaition of
sheriff was made raore important, and its duties greatly
.more arduous and responsible than at the present day.
" The laws allowing iraprisonment for debt were then in
full force, aud suits were some twenty or thirty times as
numerous as they now .are. Aside frora the hazards that'
an officer incurred in the service of original writs, which
were many, those iu the collection of executiona were very
great. It was not uncoraraon for an officer to have fifty or
more executions in his hands for collection at the sarae
tirae, ranging in amouut frora three dollara up to several
hundred dollars. If a debtor did not satisf^y an execution,
within its life of sixty days, it waa the duty of the officer
to commit hira to jail, where he muat reraain until pay
ment was ra.ade, unless he took the poor debtor's oath,
which could only be doue after a probationary irapriaon
raent for twenty days, subsequently reduced to six days.
If the officer saw the debtor for a moraent and then suf
fered hira to go at large, he becarae liable for the debt,
unless he should afterward, within the life of the execu-
tiou, arrest and commit him to prison. The performance
of the sheriff's duty to the acceptance of both creditor and
debtor, without incurring loss to hiraself, required a talent
and skill which few men possessed. Mr. Fay was remark
ably successful in the discharge of the varied duties of his
position. While raanj' of the sheriffs, in most of the other
counties in the State, either became insolvent from the
want of proper diligence and care, or rendered themselves

260 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
unpopular, and even odious, bj' their extraordinary harsh
ness and severity, Mr. Fay, by his promptness and energy
in the right place, and his uniform kindness and care for
the interest and convenience of those against whora he
held process, was enabled, through the long period of his
service, to preserve the confidence and affectionate regard
of all parties. Among the raany hundreds of debtors
whose bare word he took to meet hira at an appointed tirae
to relieve hira from his official responsibility, such was the-
good feeling and gratitude which his unvarying civility and
kindness inspired, that instances of failure rarely occurred,
'and never to his services pecuniary loss. Few if any men
in the State have ever performed the dutiea of so difficult
and responsible a station, for so long a period of time, with
such uniform success, and with such entire approbation of
the public.
" His mental faculties seemed to continue to the last, in
. almost their original brightness. Tlie unpretending dig
nity and courtesy with which he received the calls of vis
itors,- and the cordial greeting which he gave them, always
made a pleasant and agreeable impression, and would
mark hira, in the estimation of mere casual observers, as a
favorable specimen of the old-school gentleman. Those
who knew him well were fully assured that these pleasing
outward qualities had their foundation and source in the
natural goodness of his heart, and his integrity of pur
pose. Of him it may be truly said, that in all the aflTairs
of life which his duty required him to perform, he acted
his part worthilj' and well, and that his name ia now, after
the lapse of more thau ninetj'-one years, enrolled upon the
list of the dead, undefaced by any blot.
" Mr. Fay, in early life, married Ruth, daughter of Col.
Ber.jarain Fassett. Their children were Samucl R., Benja
min Fassett, and John."

SONS OF SAMUEL FAY. 261
Benjamin F. Fay died Feb. 15, 1853, born Oct. 21,
1805. His death was the first in Mr. Fay's family, and
gave to Mr. and Mrs. Fay a shock from which they never
recovered. He was possessed of much business talent,
and had been engaged in wide and extensive business
operations. Samuel R. Fay, born Nov. 5, 1802, died Oct. 13, 1860,
united with the church March 4, 1827, and was a marked
example of purity and conscientiousness of Christian char
acter. John Fay born Feb. 1, 1815, died Feb. 25, 1866, was,
at the time of his death, and had been, for many years,
leader of the choir. He possessed a musical ear, so per-,
feet as probably not to be surpassed ; a tenor voice singu
lar for its musical purity and force, and the degree to
which he could make it effective at hia pleasure ; and
superior comraon sense and leadership as a conductor of
church singing. Beaides there was peculiar to him un-
afl'ected simplicity and strength of social feeling, and a
profound all-controlling attachment to the church and
parish of his fathers. His warra and genial companionship
was not confined to a few. He had a kind word and cor
dial greeting for all, whether of high or low degree. This
was in part the secret ofthe large congregation — throng
ing the sanctuary — that gathered at his funeral.
Hia singing was never better than in the last year of his
life ; hia voice was never more tender, forceful, or irapres
sive. Not only as leafier of the singing, but also by per
sonal efforts socially, he appeared to have received new
measure of zeal for the unity and prosperity of the church
and congregation.
His beloved choir were with him in his laat moments,
aud received from him an affecting farewell. He united
with this church July 4, 1858. He was married on his

262 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
death-bed to Miss Alice Robinson, daughter of Col. O. C.
Merrill. Benjamin Fay, son of Sheriff Benjamin Fay, united with
this church in the revival in 1803, and reraoved to Chicago,
where he died in the eighty-ninth year of his age. He
married Amelia, daughter of Gen. Safford. The following
is part of an obituary notice of him from the "Benning
ton Banner " : —
" He warmly sympathized with those who are for main
taining and perpetuating the National Union, which his
family's blood had been shed to establish.
"On receiving the intelligence of the recent decease of
his only brother, — two ycars his senior, — at Bennington
Centre, so great was the shock which he received there
from that he could not rally under it. He lived an honest,
truthful, and Christian life ; and, from the commencement
of his last illness, had no desire to live, save to comfort
and administer to the wants of his aged companion. His
heart, during his sickuess, seemed to overflow with grati
tude to God for his goodness and mercy for sparing him
so many years ; and thQ last audible expressions which
passed his lips were those of praj'er and adoration to him."
" Colonel Joseph Fay, son of Stephen Fay, was born
at Hardwick, about 1752, and carae to Bennington, a mera
ber of his father's faraily, in 1776. He was secretary to
the Council of Safety, and of the State Council, from Sep
tember, 1777, to 1784, and Secretary of State from 1778
to 1781. He waa the aasociate of Ira Allen in conductins:
the famous negotiation with Gen. Haldimand, by which
the operations of the enemj' were paralyzed, and the north
ern frontier protected from invasion during the three last
years of the Revolutionary struggle. He was a man of
very respectable talents and acquirements, of flne personal

NATHAN CLARK. 263
appearance and agreeable raanners, and well calculated to
manage such a diplomatic adventure with adroitness and
ability. He built and resided in the housed afterward
the residence of the late Trunlan Squier, next north of the
court-house, but reraoved to New York city in 1794, where
he died, of the yellow fever, in October, 1803." ^ He mar
ried Margaret, daughter of the Rev. Mr. Dewey.
Hon. Theodore S. Fay is their grandaon. He was re
cently minister of the United States to Switzerland, author
of one or more religious publications, and a popular writer.
Judge David Fat, youngest son of Stephen Fay, mar
ried Mary Stanniford (daughter of John Stanniford, Wind
ham, Conn.), a raeraber of this church. The following
characteristic anecdotes are related of Judge Fay :
" He used to say to Gov. Moses Robinson, 'Brother Rob
inson, don't let the church go down ; you take care of the
church, and I'll take care of the world.' To Williara Has
well, addressing hira farailiarly, ' Let the church be at
peace, and there'll be no war with the rest ; the church has
a great sway in this world, though there are a good manj'
little men in it.' "
II. Nathan Clark " was a resident of Bennington as
early as September, 1762. . . . He was a leading man
in the controversy of the settlers with the New York land
claimants, and his name appears in nearly all of their public
proceedings prior to the Revolution, generally as chairman
of their coraraitteea and conventions. He is said, by tra
dition, to have been ' a pen and ink raan,' and to have
been the draughtaman of many of the published papers
of the earlj' time. He was chairman of the Committee of
1 since destroyed by fire. 2 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 172.

264 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Safety, of Bennington, in 1776, and, as such, held corre
spondence with Gen. Gates, then commander at Ticonderoga,
rendering him substantial and efficient aid in collecting
and forwarding supplies for ttie army. He was representa
tive from the town in the flrst legislature held in the State,
which met at Windsor, in March, 1778, aud was speaker
of the Assembly. He is said to have been of decided en
ergy of character and of verj' respectable talent. One of
his sons, Nathan Clark, Jr., died of a wound received in
Bennington battle. He had other sons in the battle, one
of whom, Isaac Clark, was afterward known as ' Old
Rifle,' and served as colonel in the war of 1812. Nathan
Clark died at Benniugton April 8, 1792, aged seventy-four,
leaving many descendants. ^ Mrs. Salem White is a descend
ant and member of this church."
III. Phineas Scott first came here, at the age of seven
teen, with his father. They returned to Connecticut,
whence they came. The old man died there, and Phineas
soon returned. He died here June 6, 1819, aged seventy-four.
A name, Phinehas Scott, is upon the roll of Capt. Fassett's
military company in 1764. Phineas Scott had flve sons,
Samuel (married Lucretia Harmon), Henry, Hiram, John,
Kinsley, and Martiii ; also, daughters, Clara (Mrs. Squiers),
Betsey (Mrs. Bingham), Mary (Mrs. Hawks), and Rhoda.
Colonel Martin, son of Phineas, was born in Benning
ton January 18, 1788. He was a noted marksman, and
many anecdotes are related of his extraordinarj' skill. It
was not a diflicult thing for him to kill one bird with one
barrel of his gun, and another with the other, wheu a flock
were on the wing. " He would drive a nail into a board
part way with a hammer, aud then, taking the farthest dis-
J Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 173.

COL. MARTIN SCOTT. 265
tance at which his ej'e could distinctly see it, drive it home
with his unerring bullet." " April, 1814, he was appointed
second lieutenant in the armj', and rose to the rank of lieu
tenant-colonel, always sustaining the character of a brave
and active officer." " He lost his life in Mexico, at the
sanguinary battle of Molino del Rey, and his remains were
brought to Bennington and interred in the old Centre
burying-ground, beside those of his own family relatives."
His death took place September 8, 1847. Of the inscription
on the massive monument to his memory, the following is a
part : " Brevet Col. Scott, of the 5th regiment of infantry,
was thirty-three years in the service of his country on the
western frontier ; in Florida ; in Mexico, at the battles of
Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palraa, Monterey, Vera Cruz,
Cherubusco, and was killed at Molino del Rey. He com
manded his regiment in nearly all these engagements, and
received two brevets for gallant conduct. No braver or
better officer fell in the Mexican war." ^
1 See notice of Col. Scott In Verraont Hist. Mag., pp. 177, 178.
23

CHAPTER XVIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1763-1765.
JlAPT. Elijah Dewey waa the aon of the Rev. Jedi
diah Dewey, and waa born in Westfleld, Mass.,
November 28, 1774, and came to Bennington with
hia father in the fall of 1763.
His name is found among the privates in the
first military company formed in town, in October,
1764, he being then under twenty years of age. He was
captain of one of the Bennington companies early in the
war of the Revolution ; was at Ticonderoga with his com
pany in the fall of 1776, i and again at the evacuation of
that fort by St. Clair in July, 1777. He was at the head
of his company in the battle of Bennington, August 16,
1777 ; also in service at Saratoga on the surrender of Bur
goyne in October following." ^
Captain Dewey also served the public in various stations
1 " Pay roll of Capt. Elijah Dewey's company, in Col. Moses Robinson's regi
ment of the miUtia in the service of the United States of America, Mount Inde
pendence, 1776 : —
" Elijah Dewey, captain; Ebenezer Walbridge, 1st lieut. ; Thomas Jewett, 2d
Ueut.i Nathaniel Fillmore, ensign; Joseph Rudd, Daniel Harmon, John Fay,
sergeants; John Smith, Jedldlah Merrill, Thomas Story, corporals. Privates, —
Samuel Cutler, Ezekiel Harmon, Joseph Wickwire, Daniel Kinsley, Jonathan.
Parsons, Andrew Weaver, Abner Marble, Phineas Scott, Aaron Haynes, SUas
Harmon, Joseph Robinson, Ezekiel Smith, Setli Porter, David Powers, Hopestill
Armstrong, Joseph Willoughby, Samuel Hunt, Joshua Carpenter, Othnlel Green,
Philip Matteson, Roswel Mosely." — Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 153.
2 Vermont Uist. Mag., p. 170.

CAPT. ELIJAH DEWEY. 267
in civil life. At the convention of delegates of the inhab
itants of the New Hampshire Grants west of the Green
Mountains, at Cephas Kent's, in Doraet, January 16, 1776,
it waa voted that Simeon Hathaway, Elijah Dewey, and
James Breakenridge, be a committee with power " to warn
a general meeting of the committees on the Grants, when
they shall judge necessary from southern intelligence." ^
He represented the town in General Assembly, in 1786-
87-88, in 1796, and again in 1812-13 ; and was a member
of the Council of Censors in 1792.
He was a Federalist in politics, and headed the list of
presidential electors of this State in 1797, and also in 1801,
voting on the first occaaion for Waahington, and on the
second for John Adams.
Captain Dewey was a raan of sound and discriminating
judgment, and of undoubted integrity, who did well and
faithfully whatever he undertook.^
He did not unite with the church until his laat sickness.
He deceased Oct. 16, 1818. He received the sacraraent at
his residence, and united with the church May 17, 1818.
His active, earnest, and life-long devotion to the external
religious prosperity of the coraraunity, entitles him to a
prominent place among the supporters here of the means of
grace. It was a coramon remark of his that no one lost
anything by going to church. He was very wealthy, nearly
as much so as Governor Moses Robinson ; and no one in
the place, probably, except the last-named gentleraen, con
tributed more largely to the support of public worship.
There was great wealth in the place. Some one has stated
Gov. Robinson's investments were estiraated at over $90,000 ;
Capt. Elijah Dewey's at $50,000 or $75,000. Capt. Dewey
kept a public house during the firat aeaaion of the Legisla
ture, and aa compensation for his services or attentions in
1 Early Hist. Vt., p. 226. 2 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 176.

268 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
some way, they voted him the "Gore," — a gore of land,
not set off to any towns, in the north part of the State, which
ultimately, and before it left his hands, became quite valua
ble. The ministers and councils used to receive accommo
dations and large hospitalities at Capt. Dewey's. He liked
to see all things going on in good order, and church matters
among the rest. The Rev. Mr. Spaulding and his daugh
ter were his guests, while Mr. Spaulding preached here for
a year and more.
His first wife was Eunice Brush, married March, 1766.
She died March 7, 1788. His second wife was Mrs. Mary
McEowen, and he was her third husband.
Three daughters, Sarah, Ruth, and Betty, married respect
ively Dea. Aaron Hubbell, Capt. Moses Robinson, Jr., and
Col. Benjamin Fassett. As will be seen by reference to the
notices of these gentlemen, four or flve of Capt. Dewey's
descendants became preachers ofthe gospel, — one a deacon
in this church, one the wife of a minister of the gospel, and
another the wife of a missionary, and as such is now in
India, and many of his descendants members of this church.
An anecdote ^ of the Bennington battle connected with
Capt. Dewey, and not known to the writer to be in print,
is as follows : Benjamin Fay, afterward flrst sheriff of the
county and State, resided at that time in the house now the
residence of Norman Crosier, and had in his possession a
punch-bowl, an article of British manufacture, on the bot
tom of which was the inscription, " Success to British
Arms." Some of the men (who had just been flghting for
victory over British arms, and those hired by Great Britain
to keep Araerica in subjection), and Capt. Elijah Dewey
with thera, passed that way, on their return frora the battle,
and stopped at Mr. Fay's well to drink. This punch-bowl
was brought out for them to drink frora. As the bowl, in
1 Related by John Fay.

MRS. CAPT. ELIJAH DEWEY. 269
the hands of some one drinking, was turned bottom upward,
one of the raen espied the inscription, and shouted, " These
are tories; break the bowl; don't let us drink out of it."
Capt. Dewcj' interposed and said, " Tut, tut ; no, no !
Thej' are all friends here." The bowl is now in the pos
session of John Benjamin Calhoun, the son of Mrs. Sarah
Calhoun, who was sister of Benjamin Fay.
Elijah Dewey Hubbell, a grandson, flrst son of
Deacon Aaron Hubbell, inherited a valuable farm from
Captain Dewej'. Tho faraily also have in their possession a
fiiU-length portrait of Captain Dewey, said to be an excel
lent likeness.
The following Benniugton battle anecdote is related of
Mrs. Captain Elijah Dewey. Thej' kept the tavern, now
the Walloorasac ; and she at the time of the battle had
large kettles of raeat boiling for dinner for the men when
thej' should return frora the battle. Captain Isaac Tiche
nor, then a j'oung man, arrived in town late on that daj' on
his business (commissary of the United States), bj' the
way of Lebanon Springs and Williamstown, and stopped
at the tavern. He ordered dinner, and was told by Mrs.
Dewey he could not have anj'. He referred to the contents
of the kettles boiling on the flre. The spirited reply of
Mrs. Dewey was, " That is for the men who have gone to
fight for their country, where you ought to be." He quickly
explained his business. He had been busy obtaining sup
plies for tbe array, and had rode hard on horseback all that
day to get to Benniugton, in the discharge of his duty.
Upon learning the facts in the case, Mrs. Dewey relented,
and gave the tired commissary sorae dinner.
Mrs. Captain Dewey was a remarkably good house
keeper ; an anecdote illustrative of this, told of her, is as
follows : A young gentleraan, with white pants, was raoving
around amongst the utensils of her kitchen very clrcum-
23*

270 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
spectly, for fear of soiling his pants. She spoke up and
said, " You need not be afraid of my pots and kettles.
They are kept clean outside as well as within."
II. Deacon Hezekiah Armstrong and his wife Miriam
united with this church in the revival in 1803. He was
elected deacon of the church Sept. 6, 1812, and continued
in the oflSce until his death, March 4, 1816, aged seventy-
one years. He is the first of that name on the roll of the
church. He resided in Pleasant Valley, and has numerous
descendants. The mother of W. E. Hawks, of North Ben
nington, waa daughter of Deacon Hezekiah.
Zephaniah Armstrong, his son, united with the church in
March, 1803. Mrs. Catherine, wife of Zephaniah, united
with the church March 7, 1824, died May 12, 1862, at the
age of eighty-seven. Of a strong constitution, high fore
head, and fair countenance, and posaessing great determina
tion ; left a widow at an early age, she reared up a large
family, conducting her business with singular energy. She
became hopefully pious under Mr. Peters' ministry here.
The occasion was the sickness, and hopeful conversion in
his sickness, of her youngest son, Hiram, and his death.
He - had great distress of mind until obtaining peace in
Christ. He insisted on seeing Mr. Peters.
Mrs. Ruth Dickerson united with the church March 4,
1827, died Jan. 18, 1868, aged eighty-two ; faithful iu her
attachment to the church, and in her consistent testimony
for Christ ; was daughter of Hopestill Armstrong, aud Lyd
ia Haynes, his wife. Their children were Azariah ; Sarah,
married Elijah Fillmore ; David ; Oliver ; Ruth ; Omindia,
married Mr. Gerry. Ethan Armstrong, son of David,
united with this church Sept. 4, 1841.
The names of John and Lebbeus Armstrong are on the

THOMAS HENDERSON. 271
roll of the military company of 1764. The name Heze
kiah Armatroug is on the list of persons settled here prior
to June 1, 1765.1
John and Hezekiah were brothers, and cousins to Hope
still and Lebbeus, who were also brothers. These four
carae, as early as 1764, from Norwich, Conn., and settled in
town, — Hezekiah on the Brimmer place ; Lebbeus on the
Lj'raan Armstrong place ; John on the Dimraick place.
They were unraarried when they carae. The mother of
John and Hezekiah gave thera a bed, and directed that
¦whichever of them should be first married should surrender
his share of the bed to the other. In the time of the Ben
nington battle Hopestill lived in a log cabin, and waa sur--
rounded by a wilderness.
III. Thomas Henderson, whose farm was near Irish
Corners, united with this church in 1765. He married a
daughter of Lieut. James Breakenridge, his next neighbor.
Hia daughter Jennet, a member of this church, married Dr.
Noadiah Swift, son of the Rev. Job Swift, D.D. His
daughter, Phebe, married Harry Sraith, Esq., and after his
decease the Rev. J. H. Linaley, D.D. Two of her sons by
the flrst radrriage becarae ministers of the gospel, — the Rev.
Albert Smith, D.D. , and the Rev. Henry Smith, D.D., Pro
fessor in Lane Theological Serainarj'. A aon bj' Dr. Linsley,
Charles E. Linalej', ia a rainister of the gospel. Also, the Rev.
Abner Henderson was a grandson of Thomas Henderson.
Mr. Henderson was a raan of the old Scotch type, — Cal
vinistic, strict in his religious notions, but of araiable dis
position and incorruptible integrity. He threw away an
old sword, an heirloom in the family, saying that he was a
man of peace .^
1 See Vermont Hist. Mag., articles Bennington and Dorset.
2 Letter ofthe Rey. C. E. Linsley.

272 . MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Lucy and Thena Henderson united with the church in
1803. Lucy Henderson's name is on the diagram as one
ofthe proprietors of pew No. 2, with the Saffords.
IV. The Harmons were here at an early date iij the his
tory of the town. In the printed list of persons settled in
Bennington prior to June 1, 1765, prepared from recollec
tion by Samuel Robinson, Esq.,i are the names of Barna
bas and Simeon Harmon. The latter name is on the old
covenant. It is also among the names of those who united
with the Bennington church during the ministry of Mr.
Dewey, Aug. 28, 1766 ; together with that of Nathaniel
Harmon, united with the church Sept. 6, 1776 ; Daniel Har
mon, united with the church May 30, 1774; and Lucretia
Harmon, united with the church May 30, 1774. There are
seventeen individuals of this narae on the roll of the church
for the flrst century. Silas and Joshua united with the
church Jan., 1780. Ezekiel united with the church June 20,
1790. His wife Grace united with the church Sept. 26,
1790. Their daughter Lucretia (wife of Sarauel Scott, died
1832) united Avith the church Jan., 1803, Celinda (wife of
James Henry, died Sept. 14, 1865, aged eightj'-four) united
with the church July, 1803 ; Elizabeth and Rhoda united
with the church March, 1803.
Fisk Harmon is a rainister of the gospel. He is the son
of Austin Harmon, born Aug. 24, 1779, — a respectable
citizen, who deceased a few years since at a great age, — and
grandson of Austin Harmon, who settled here at an early
day, and owned an extensive farm upon the western border
ofthe town, born April 9, 1757.
Simeon Harmon united with the church Aug. 28, 1766.
The following particulars concerning him are stated by a
1 Vermont Uist. Mng.

DEA. NATHANIEL HARMON. 273
grandson : i " Friday afternoon was set apart for the
prayer-meeting at Grandmother Robinson's. He would not
allow anything to interfere — leave plough and team, mount
one of his colts and present himself in the midst of his be
loved friends, and pray and praise God for one hour, the
next hour at home diligently following his plough. . . The
last days of his life he travelled from place to place holding
religious meetings."
Dea. Nathaniel Harmon was here at an early day. By the
records of the town it appears he purchased a farm here in
1765. An anecdote, illustrative of his promptness and
earnestness (related to me by Dewey Hubbell), identifies
him personally with the Bennington battle. It was a rude
transaction, but the time was urgent. It was better that
the dead bodies of the slain foe should be buried in any
manner than left to breed pestilence upon the surface of the
earth. There were two large excavations for wintering
potatoes — left open in the sumraer tirae until another har
vest — near by ; Mr. Harmon took his rope slip-noose
halter from his horse's neck, and dragged the dead bodies
ofthe slain enemy therewith into the excavations and covered
them with earth. There were some sixty bodies thus
buried in each of the two excavations. They were near
where the Barnet house now stands ; parts of the action
of that eventful day were fought there.
Mr. Hubbell related another anecdote. Umbrellas were
flrst brought for sale into the town in his day. Dea. Harraon,
being asked to purchase one, declined, saying that a little of
the Alraighty's rain would not hurt him.
Dr. E. D. Harmon, of Chicago, furnishes the following
reminiscence of hira : " I recollect his acts of kindness to
myself and other children when on our way to. the school-
1 Dr. E. D. Harmon, of Chicago.

274 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
house at Irish Corners. If he was present when we passed
by his apple-orchard or fruit-yard we were sure to receive
a bestowal of hia bounty in some choice fruit."
He was possessed of ardent and active piety. He devoted
himself for some years to visiting from house to house, asa
modern colporteur, selling and giving away small printed
collections of religious verses and other matter, designed to
promote concern and diligence in religion. A portion of
a collectibn of verses, of which he himself was the author,
has been preserved. It is 32mo size, and bears the fol
lowing title : "Poetical Sketches on various Solemn Subjects ;
composed by Dea. Nathaniel Harmon, late of Bennington,
of pious memory ; written a short time before his death.
Bennington : printed by Anthony Haswell, 1796." The first
three stanzas of one of the hymns in this collection is here
subjoined, on the necessitj' of works being joined to faith :
" Ealth without works is always dead ;
It occupies a room alone ;
Much like the knowledge in the head,
Where grace of heart was never sown.
" Works without faith can never save ;
But faith and works must strictly j oin ;
Though faith be strong and works be brave,
Yet faith and works we'must combine.
" raith without works is never true ;
Works without faith is poor enough ;
They part the hoof, but do not chew,
Or chew the cud, and part no hoof."
Of the Dr. Harmon, whose letter is quoted from in the
above sketch, the following obituary notice is taken from
the "Bennington Banner," Jan. 13, 1869 : —
" Decease op a Native of Bennington. — Dr. Elijah D.

GEN. EBENEZER WALBRIDGE. 275
Harmon died at Chicago on the 3d inst. He was born in
this town on the 20th August, 1782, and was, consequently,
in his eightj'-seveuth year at the time of his demise. At
the age of twenty-four, in 1806, he went to Burlington, and
engaged in the practice of medicine, and he was an assist
ant surgeon in McDonough's fleet at the battle of Platts
burg. Dr. Harraon made his flrst trip from Vermont to
Illinois in 1828, but he flrst went to Chicago to settle, as
surgeon to the garrison at Fort Dearborn, in the year 1830,
and he was for quite a while the only phj'sician in Chicago.
Dr. Harmon was already advanced in years when Chicago
began its career of rapid growth, and he has spent his daya
in the midst of the bustling activity of the young and
vigorous citj', in comparative retirement, and like one
belonging to a bj'-gone generation."
V. General Ebenf.zer Walbridge carae to Benning
ton in 1765. He was an oflTicer in Col. Warner's regiment
of Green Mountain Boys in the winter campaign of 1776,
in Canada, and on the 3d of March, of that year, he was
before Quebec, a lieutenant in Capt. Gideon Brownson's
company, and adjutant of the regiment. He also served
as adjutant in Bennington battle, where his brother, Henry
Walbridge, was killed. In 1778 he was lieutenant-colonel
in the railitia, aud, in 1780, succeeded Col. Herrick in the
command of the Bennington regiraent, and afterward be
carae brigadier-general. He was in active service on the
frontiers at several periods during the war, and in Dec,
1781, when troops were called out, by both New York and
Vermont, to sustain tiieir respective clairas to jurisdiction
over the " Western Union," as it was called. Col. Wal
bridge commanded those of this State. But for the de
cided superiority of the Verraont force, and a disposition
to forbearance on the part of the Verraont authorities, it

276 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
seems probable an actual military collision would have oc
curred. The matter was, however, compromised for the
time being, through the mediation of Gen. Stark, who was
then in command at Saratoga, and the troops on both sides
were withdrawn. The correspondence of Col. Walbridge
with the New York authorities, which is creditable to his
intelligence and decision of character, as well as forbear
ance, is preserved among the papers of Gov. Clinton, in
the State library, at Albany.
Gen. Walbridge also served the State faithfully and well
in civil life. He was a representative of the town in the
General Assembly, in 1778 and 1780, and a member of the
State Council for eight years, — 1786-1795.1
His remains were interred in the old burying-ground,
and a raemorial slab, at the head of the grave, has upon it
this inscription : —
" In memory of Gen. Ebenezer Walbridge, who departed
this life Oct. the 3d, 1819, in the eighty-second year of his
age. " He was an affectionate husband, and indulgent father,
and a friend to all mankind. He died in the full belief of
a glorious resurrection in and through the atonement of
Jesus Christ our Lord."
The Walbridge genealogy is traced back to Sufl'olk
county, England. Miss Charlotte Walbridge, of Albany,
has a copy of the coat of arras of the SuflTolk Walbridges,
on which are certain arraorial bearings to show that " Sir
William de Walbridge accompanied king Richard Coeur de
Lion to the holy land, in the 4th crusade, and there greatly
distinguished himself." He was " under one of the con
federated ducal sovereigns of France."
Gen. Ebenezer Walbridge, born in Norwich, Conn., Dec.
20, 1738 ; Elizabeth Stebbins, his wife, boru in Northfield,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

THE WALBRIDGES. 277
Mass., Oct. 1736. One of his sons, Stebbins, raarried
Betsey Denio, of Bennington. Their children: Sophia,
married John L. Winue ; Betsey, married Uel Hicks ; Steb
bins D., married Harriet Hicks (second wife, Eliza Ann
Skinner, April 18, 1835) ; George, married Mary Ann
Olin ; Charlotte ; Fanny, married Joseph N. Hinsdill ;
Ebenezer ; Ebenezer 2d, married Mary Ann Hicks ; Bet
sey W., married Chauncey Hopkins. Henry, the first child
of Gen. Ebenezer Walbridge, had, among other children, a
son, Henry, whose daughter, Mary, married Washington
Huut, one of the governors of New York. Hiram Wal
bridge, of New York city, is also his son.
24

CHAPTER XIX.
PER«SONAL NOTICES.
1766-1769.
)LNATHAN HUBBELL. — On a petition of the
settlers to the king, dated Nov., 1766, among
other names is that of Elnathan Hubbell. He was
also one of the ten rescuers of Remember Baker,
captured, and attempted to be carried of, by
Munro and his party in the interest of the New
York land claimants. ^
On his tombstone, in the burying-ground, is the follow
ing inscription : —
" The body of Elnathan Hubbell
"Beside this monumental stone
Consigned Is, dust to dust.
Reader, perhaps a single hour
Shall make this fate thine own."
"He departed this life July the 21st, a. d. 1788, aged
seventy-one years. He was converted in the sixty-ninth
year of his age. " Reader, accept the solemn call,
Instruction from the tomb receive ;
Behold the certain fate of ali,
Aud seal your pardon while you live."
1 Hall's Early History Vermont, p. 137.

DEA. AARON HUBBELL. 279
The record of the date of his uniting with the church has
not been preserved ; probablj' it took place in one or two
J'ears after the revival under Messrs. Wood and Burton.
The names of Aaron, a son, and of Bildad, another son
(father of James IlubbeU, Esq.), are on the records aa
uniting with this churcli about the time of that revival, and
two yeara previoua to the father's conv,ersion.
James Hubbell, Esq., was born in Bennington, Oct. 17,
1775 ; was admitted to the bar in Dec, 1806. He resided
in New York for a considerable period, aud held the office
of magistrate under DeWitt Clinton, which gave him ac
tive and responsible employment. He afterward returned
to Bennington, and died here April 24, 1840. ^ He was the
father of Mrs. Ilciirj' Kellogg.
Aaron Hurdell, sou of Elnathan Hubbell, was born in
Old Stratford, Coun., Sept. 14, 1757. He was converted
and united witli tlio cliurcli as above. Ilis wife, Sarah,
united with the church when he did.
He was twenty j-e.ars of age at the time of the Benning
ton battle, and a ineiuber of Captain Sarauel Robinson's
corapany of mil tia. He afterward became lieutenant of
the corapany. After the flrst successful eug.agement of the
battle, — that at B.aura's redoubt, — he was placed as one
of the guards sent over the prisoners captured iu that ac
tion, as they were marched to the Bennington raeeting-
house. In a manuscript statement, in possession of Gov.
Ilall, Mr. Hubbell states that those prisoners numbered
over six hundred.
He possessed great uiiaffectcdness and simplicity of char
acter. An incident related of hiin to this effect raay be
raentioned. He had a very Large woodpile in a place deemed
1 Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 100.

280 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
too prominent by some raembers of the family, and they
remonstrated with him, saying, " What will passers-by
think of it?" His reply was, "Any man of sense, I am
sure, would like to see a large woodpile ; and as for those
who haven't sense I care not what they think concerning
it." He was more careful than some others not to speak
against his neighbors and fellow-citizens. If aught was
said ill of others in his preaence, he was accustomed to say,
" Well, we may be left to do the sarae or worse." He held
for years the office of justice of the peace, which was in
those daya an honored office, and bore the appellation
Esquire Hubbell. He was greatly respected for his integrity
and good judgment.
He was seventy-seven years of age when appointed
deacon, December 15, 1834. The church was divided upon
two candidates, and there waa much spirit on botli sides,
and evil consequences threatened. To avoid the perpetua
tion of strife in the church, both parties turned to Esquire
Hubbell. He was nomiuated and elected without opposi
tion. He arose and said, " I would not accept this respon
sible position, but I aee in what condition the church is ;
there are rival candidatea, and there may be difficulty ; to
preserve the church from this, I accept the office." There
was intense feeling of relief, and many were in tears.
His flrst wife was Sarah, daughter of Captain Elijah
Dewey and Eunice Brush, and grand-daughter on her
father's side of the Rev. Mr. Dewey. She waa married to
him at the age of seventeen by the " Rev. David Avery,
V. D. M.," June 27, 1782.
Their first child, Sarah, born June 20, 1783 ; united with
the church. May 4, 1817 ; died August, 1844, was the wife
of Hon. Stephen Robinson.
Their second child, Betsey, born Februarj' 24, 1785;

FAMILY OF DEA. A. HUBBELL. 281
united with t'le church, September 4, 1831 ; died, September
6, 1845 ; married Daniel McEowen, and, after his decease,
 Harman.
Their third child, Laura, born March 18, 1787, married
John Vandcrspiegel, August 6, 1815 ; united with the
church. May 2, 1863; died August 15, 1864, aged 77,
deeplj' lamented by children aud grandchildren, and much
esteemed, by all her acquaintances and raany frienda, for
her amiableness, sprightly conversation, and kindness of
heart. Their first son, and fourth child, was Elijah Dewey Hub
bell; born May 8, 1790 ; married to Laura, daughter of
Hon. Truman Squier ; died February 3, 1864 ; of an
amiable and social disposition and of unblemished integrity.
He was honored for many ycars with the office of first
selectman in the town, and with other important public
trusts. He possessed a remarkably well-stored raeraory of dates,
as well as facts and particulars of the early historj' of this
town, and has beeu rauch consulted in such raatters ; he
had preserved raany papers and docuraents of interest re
specting the early history of this town.
He inherited a valuable farm from his grandfather. Cap
tain Elijah Dewej', for whora he was named, and the faraily
have in their possession a fuU-lengtli portrait of Captain
Dewej', said to be an excellent likeness. His daughter,
Georgianna, married the Rev. Martin T. Sumner, a Baptist
clergj'raau. The fifth child of Deacon A.aron Hubbell, Maria, born
October 27, 1792; raarried to Isaac T. Robiuson ; imited
with the cliurch, JM.'^rcli 4, 1827, — rainistry of the Rev.
Daniel A. Clark, — died November 19, 1860. Sound in the
faith, clear in her understanding of Christian truth, patient,
cheerful, forgiving, faithful, she was a model woraan in all
24*

282 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
the relations of life, and erainently so as a meraber of the
church of God. Of her two children, one became a deacon
of this church, and the other, Daniel Robinson, is a member
and trustee of the Second Street Presbyterian Church, in
Troy, New York.
Deacon Hubbell married for his second wife Lucinda
Moody. She was born iu Woodbury, Conn., Jan. 15, 1770.
She came here from Farraington, Conn., in 1797. She re
tained vivid recollectionsof seeing Gen. Washington when,
as commander-in-chief of the American forces, he, on one
occasion, passed through Farraington. She was married
March 11, 1798. She was hopefully converted in the revi
val in 1803, and united with this church at that time.
She deceased in the home of her claughter Catherine, and
son-in-law Richard Smith, Esq., in Sharon, Conn., Oct. 3,
1864. She was at the time of her death in the ninety-fifth
year of her age. She had bright eyes, a noble physique, and
remarkable health and spirits, up to the last plying her knit
ting-needles, and keeping her information abreast of the
times, particularly as to the affairs of the town, aud to a
great extent of the country at large.
Ever hospitable to all who came under her roof, she
kept a bed exclusively for wayfarers who called for a night's
lodging, however abject they might be, and personally at
tended to its being kept in order. She lived to see a large
circle of descendants, and many great-grandchildren, all
of whora remember with affection and gratitude her effi
cient care to promote their happiness.
Her first child, Harriet, Mrs. Daniel Conkling, perished
in thawreckof the " Swallow," on the Hudson River, April
7, 1845. Affectionate aud beautiful tributes to her supe
rior worth appeared in the " New York Observer " and
"Bennington Banner" of that day. She was, at the time
of her decease, a member of the Presbyterian Church in
Albany, N. Y.

D. H CONKLING. 283
D. HuDBELL Conkling, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Daniel
Conkling, died in Paria, Feb. 17, 1868. He possessed a
noble and generous nature, aud great executive ability.
He had amassed wealth aa a member of the firm of H. B.
Claflin & Co., New York city, and gave with a liberal hand
to many a worthy cause. He had returned to Bennington
to reside, where, as a public-spirited citizen, he was becom
ing raore and more widely loved and valued.
The intelligence of his death produced a profound sensa
tion of surprise and sorrow. He had united with the First
church. Another daughter of Dea. Hubbell and Lucinda, his wife,
Caroline, united with this church May 6, 1827, married the
Rev. Hollis Read. Thej' went as missionaries to India,
and returned after some years to this country on account of
her health. A son of theirs, Edward Read, is a minister of
the gospel.
The above-named Elijah Dewey expressed in hia laat
J'ears a hope of salvation in Christ alone, but did not con
nect himself with the church ; all the other children of Dea.
Hubbell became, or have become, members of some church.
II. Joseph Robinson settled at Irish Corners in 1766.
Of eight children. Dr. Ebenezer Robinson, born 1783, still
living and resident in the sarae place, is the only survivor.
Peter Robinson, grandfather to the above Joaeph Robin
son, settled in Martha's Vineyard, Mass. ; his son Joseph
m6ved thence to Windham, Conn., where Joseph, the early
settler in Bennington, was born.
The name Joseph Robinson is on the roll of Capt. Elijah
Dewey's companj-, in Col. Moses Robinson's regiment of
militia in the service of the United States, at Mount Inde
pendence, in 1776.
The ancestors of Marj' Lucas, wife of Joseph Robinson,

£84

MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.

were emigrants from Coleraine in Ireland, and were of
Scotch descent. They settled iu Coleraine, Mass., and
saw the troubles of the French war. She when a child
lived seven j'cars in a fort.
ni. Robert Cochran, Robert, Jr., and Mary Cochran
united with this church in 1 767. Robert Cochran owned the
farm subsequently in possession of P. M. Henry ; he sold it
and removed westward, soon after the Revolutionary War.
He is not the Robert Cochran famous in connection with
the New York controversj'.
IV. David Haynes settled here at an early daj', 1768,
on the farm now the residence of Dea. John Vail. He died
1776, and Ruth Paige, his wife, died 1796. Lydia, their
daughter, was the wife of Hopestill Armstrong. Miriam,
another daughter, raarried Dea. Hezekiah Armstrong. Abi
gail, another daughter, married Jonathan Armstrong. (He
was one of the two persons who cai:itui'ed the wounded Col.
Pflster, — a " volunteer from the vicinity of Bennington, and
into whose hands there fell, as the spoils of war, a portion
of his baggage, among which was found his commission, on
parchment, as 'Lieutenant in His Majesty's sixteenth, or
Royal Regiment of Foot,-' dated Sept. 18, 1760, and signed
by Sir Jeffrey Araherst ; a set of draughting instruments,
aud a map of the route from St. John's, through Lakes
Champlain and George, and along the Hudson, to New
York. . . . These relics are in the possession of the
Hon. L. B. Armstrong, of Dorset, a grandson of the soldier
into whose hands they fell on the battle-fleld.") i Aaron, a
son of the above David Haynes, was a Baptist preacher,
married Molly, sister of Jonathan Armstrong.
David Haynes, Jr., was son of the above. Of his chil-
1 Vermont Uist. Mag.

COL VIN  FILLMORE. 285
dren, the only one living and remaining in town is Mrs.
Temray, widow of the late Alvah Rice, and mother of Ed
ward Rice.
V. Reuben Colvin was an early settler in Bennington,
his name being found on a petition to the Governor of New
Hampshire in 1769. He was in Bennington battle, as ap
peara by Capt. Samuel Robinaon's roll of those engaged in
the action belonging to his corapany. His reaidence was
near the place of the depot at the north village, where he
died July 23, 1813, aged sixty-nine. He had three sons :
David, who died Sept. 10, 1852, .iged eighty-five ; Thoraas,
who died July 23, 1856, aged eightj'-five ; and Reuben,
Jr. Mra. Eliza, wife of William E. Hawka, is the only
child of Daniel Colvin now remaining in town. Of the
children of Thomaa; Sidney, John V., and Reuben, all
with familiea, are now reaidenta in North Bennington.
Charles S. Colvin, of East Bennington, is the only son of.
Reuben Colvin, Jr. Dea. John W.' Vail ia a grandson of
Reuben Colvin, Sen., whose daughter, Freelove, was Dea,
Vail's mother.
VI. Nathaniel Fillmore united with this church in
1773 J — ministry of Rev. Mr. Dewey. He was a reputable
citizen ; an ensign in Capt. Dewey's corapany in the battle
of Bennington. His son Nathaniel, born April 19, 1771,
father of President Fillraore, married here, and emigrated
to Western New York about the year 1798, residing in Au-
r6ra, Erie County. Another son of Nathaniel, Sen., Elijah
Fillmore, Esq., was representative of the town in 1839 ;
lived and died, much respected by his neighbors and fellow-
citizens, in the west part of the town, in 1853, leaving a
numerous family of children.

286 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
VII. Simeon Hathaway, Jr., and Anne Hathaway
united with this church during the pastorate of Rev. Mr.
Dewey, May 3, 1776. The name of Simeon Hathaway,
Sen., appears on a petition to the Governor of New Hamp
shire, dated October, 1769. Simeon Hathawaj' is also on
the roll of Capt. Robinson's company in the Bennington
battle as lieutenant. Levi Hathaway, Abram Hatha'way,
Alpheus Hathaway, are also on the roll. There are nine
teen individuals of the narae on our church-roll.
VIII. Thomas Jbwett's name is on the petition i of the
Bennington settlers to the Governor of New Harapshire,
dated October, 1769. He came here from Norwich, Conn.
He was active in the Bennington battle, and took the sword
and hat from Col. Baum. He was a lieutenant of Capt.
Dewey's company. The sword waa afterward purchased
by David Robinson, and used by him as a captain of cav
alry, and subsequently as a field aud general officer of the
militia, and is still in the possession of his grandson, G.
W. Robinson.2 Lieut. Jewett tore off the ornaments from
the hat and wore it, as he had lost his own. It is now in
the posseaaion of descendants in Wej'bridge. Thomas
Jewett first settled in a log house, aouth of East Benning
ton. He has numerous descendants.
IX. Charles Cushman united with the church in 1784,
A Charles Cushman was inn-keeper at an early day ; in
1779, one of a comraittee, " as listers, to go round the town
and take the lists of all who will pay their proportion of the
above sura" (voted to supply the pulpit), " and to take the
names of all those who refuse to give in the list." •^ John
and Mrs. Cushman united with the church 1803. Charles
and Anne united with the church 1817.
1, 2 Vermont Hist. Mag. a Town Records.

ELEAZER HAWKS. 287
X. Eleazer Hawks united with this church January
29, 1786. He came here in 1774, frora Deerfleld, Mass.,
when a j'oung raan, drawn hither by the circumstance that
John Kinslej' had settled here, between whose daughter
Rhoda and himself there was a tender attachment. He set
tled on land next to the Kinsley farra.
Sorae particul.ars of his connection with the Bennington
battle assist to more vivid impressions of the event. He
felt it Ids duty to reraain near horae as long aa possible, on
account of the illness of his wife ; and was pursuing his
work in the field, when the noise of the firing, as the battle
coraraenced, burst upon hira over Whip-Stock Hill. He
went for his musket, and proceeded with speed to join his
neighbors and countrj'raen in the terrible encounter. He
was not a raeraber of either of the companiea of militia. He
was one of the volunteers, as were m.any others. One of
his duties was to assist in conveying wounded from the
battle-field into town, which he did on his father-in-law's
ox-cart. Some died of their wounds on the way. The old
meeting-house became packed full of prisoners, so full that
fears were entertained lest it should break down. Some
were let out in consequence, and some escaped.
When Mr. Hawks returned to his home (a log hut with
out chimneys and with but one roora), it was empty. His
wife, an invalid, had been conveyed, on a bed upon an ox-
sled, by her father, for refuge, in case the result of the battle
had been adverse to Pownal, to the town next south, whither
many of the feeble and helpless had been conveyed for
safety. Mrs. Hawks survived the fatigue and exposure of
her flight but a short time.
The second wife of Eleazer Hawks, and mother of Capt.
Ira Hawks, was Anna (united with the church 1803),
daughter of Daniel Clark, of Shaftsbury, who was iu the
battle and wounded, aud who died of his wounds soon after.

288 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
William E. Hawks, an officer in the Baptist church of North
Bennington, is a grandson of Eleazer Hawks. A grand
daughter, daughter of Capt. Ira Hawks, married the Rev.
Mr. Palmer, deceased, pastor of the Baptist church at
Hoosic Corners.

CHAPTER XX.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1775-1776.
JEACON Joseph Bingham, with Jereraiah, the elder
of his sons, united with this church May 3, 1776.
They left Norwich, Conn., about the time of f e
flrst settlement of Bennington, though they did
not come here until a short time before the com
mencement of the American Revolution. On their
removal from Norwich, they first settled in Charlemont,
Mass., and came to Bennington frora that place. Whether
this was a family of Separates does not certainly appear.
It ia, however, quite probable, aa they left Norwich, or its
vicinity, about the time that a Separate chm'ch (that of
Newint), or portions of it, left the same vicinity to remove
to Bennington. In the records of the Newint Separate
church, at the installation of Joseph Safford as deacon
there, one Deacon Sarauel Binghara was preaent from an
other Separate church, aa delegate, and took part in the
proceedings. Deacon Joseph Bingham i was a lieutenant in a com
pany of Provincials during the French war. At one time,
when stationed with his men near Ticonderoga, his men
were ordered to perform some fatigue duty. While en
gaged in this, one of them was taken sick. Lieut. Bingham
1 The following notice of the Bingham family is chiefly condensed from an arti
cle In the " Bennington Banner " of December 28, 1855.
25

290 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
told him to quit wor'k and lie down. Presently an Engliah
ofl3cer, accustomed to bear himself in a haughty raanner
toward the Provincials, began to cane the sick raan be
cause he was not at work. Lieut. Bingham saw this out
rage and dared to interfere. He ordered the haughty
English officer to desist, which the said officer thought it
best to do, for Lieut. Binghara was a raan of courage and of
extraordinary muscular power, and he deemed he had the
right to the control of his own men in such a case.
At the time of the Bennington battle. Deacon Bingham
had been made lame by having one hip broken, but was
able to walk with the help of a cane ; it waa not, therefore,
expected that he would go into the battle-field. He went,
with many others who were aged and infirm, to the raeeting-
house, or its vicinity, and while they were collected there,
and while the battle was raging, he proposed that they
should lift up their voices aud their hearts in fervent prayer
to the God of battles, that he would bless their sons, broth
ers, and friends who were in the battle flgliting for their
homes and for liberty ; and that he would perrait thera to
return again and peacefully enjoy their horaes. The prayer
was heard ; at least, the blessings it supplicated were
granted. The old man was allowed to return to his home
and flnd it undisturbed.
Epitaph of Deacon Joseph Bingham : —
" 'Tempos verax mortalium.'
" Sacred to the memory of Deac. Joseph Bingham, who
departed this life Nov. 4, 1787, in the 79th year of his age.
He left the church militant to join the church triumphant
above. i< » "Why do we mourn departed friends ? ' "
At the close of the war Jeremiah reraoved to Cornwall,
in this State, where he trained a family of sons and daugh-

DEA. CALVIN BINGHAM. 291
ters, and was loved and honored by his fellow-citizens to
the end of his days for his piety and manly virtues. He
lived to be almost a hundred j'ears old.
Deacon Calvin Bingham, the j'ounger son, remained on
the farm with his father and raother while they lived, and,
after. tiieir decease, lived aud died there. He united with
this church, and also brought forward his six children for
baptisra April 19, 1789, during the rainistry of Mr. Swift.
He was elected deacon in this church July 16, 1813, and
continued in the office until he died, February 23, 1831, aged
eighty. His regularity and punctuality in attending public
worship were proverbial. He was highly honored for hia
fldelity as a Christian and an officer in the church, and in
all the dutiea of life.
He had seven sons and five daughters, who lived to the
age of maturitj', and all became merabers of the church of
Christ. On Thanksgiving day, Dec. 6, 1855, the seven
sons and three of the daughters were still living, and
all raet together in their native town ; the united ages of the
brothers amounted to four hundred and eightj'-four j'ears ;
average age sixty-nine j-ears.
Asa, the flrst born, has been raany years an officer in the
church where he resides ; Stephen, the sixth, a deacon
in the Second Congregational Church in thia town. Two
became miniaters of tlic gospel, — A77ws, the second son (for
many years citj' missionary in Philadelphia), and Hiram
the fifth ; he was with his associate honored as a pioneer
missionary to the Sandwich Islands, 1819, where he labored
for about twenty years, and saw the wonderful Christian
transformations among that people. He is the author of a
historj' of the Islands. He found it necessarj' to return to
his native land on account of the illness of his wife. A son
of hia, Hiram Bingham, Jr., ia now a missionaiy among

292 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
the Micronesian Islands ; also two daughters have gone to
teach native girls at Honolulu.
A son of Calvin, the third of the brothers, has been Gov
ernor of Michigan, and senator iu Congress.
Rev. Amos Bingham was graduated at Middlebury Col
lege. He studied theology with the Rev. Dr. Burton, of
Thetford. He soon became a domestic missionary, some
tiraes in the employment of some ecclesiastical body, and
sometimes not. He was instrumental in the hopeful con
version of many souls. He preached in Peru, Winhall,
and other places. He waa so zealous as to be sometimes
persecuted by those whora he had oftended in his faithful
ness. One who was converted under his ministry in Win-
hall removed to Virginia and married, and came into the
possession of slaves. Thia man invited Mr. Bingham to
enjoy his hospitality. Mr. Bingham waa so much the
lover of liberty, and spoke out so freely, that he was
admonished to leave for his ovyn safety. He went thence to
Philadelphia, and remained and died there. He was
employed by the city authorities to preach to the prisoners
in the penit^itiary. The prison is made into cells, arranged
like the spokes of a wheel. The preacher stands, as it were,
in the hub of the wheel, and preaches, not seeing into the
cells. Mr. Bingham was very much engaged also in labors
to promote the better observance of the Sabbath in Phila
delphia. II. Nathaniel Brush was here as early as 1775.
He lived in the Judge Isham House. His sister was
the flrst Mrs. Capt. Isaac Dewey. He was colonel of
militia in the town, and in this capacity served in the Ben
nington battle. He waa elected town clerk in 1782, in
which office he continued for several j'ears.

SAMUEL BLACKMIiR. 293
HI. Samuel Blackmer moved here at an early day from
Taunton, Mass. His narae appears upon the town records
as sealer of weights and measures, appointed March, 1776.
He died in 1812, aged about sixty-four. His widow lived
to be ninetj'-three. Their children were Samuel, Jason,
Jesse, Ruby, — Jlrs. Oliver Harwood, of Rupert, —Wilbur,
Green, and Vesta, — Mrs. Joseph Harwood, of Rupert.
Hon. S. H. Blackmer, was son of Sarauel, Jr. He de
ceased in Feb., 1861. He was for raany j'ears clerk of the
court and judge of probate, and was highly respected. He
gathered with much pains a rare collection of old volumes,
now in the possession of his son, Frank Blackmer. One
book contains a printed copy of the first sermon ever
preached in New England, which was at Plymouth in 1621.
Hiram Blackmer was a son of Samuel, Jr. He was in
mercantile business in Boston, Mass., and deceased there
Aug. 2, 1860. He united with this church Sept. 4, 1831,
and adorned his Christian profession by a consistent walk
and conversation.
Jason, son of Sarauel, Sen., was the father of Warren
Blackmer. IV. Mrs. Isabella Henry united with this church May
5, 1811 ; was the first of the Henrys, by the records. She
was daughter of Mrs. Susannah Howe, afterward second
wife of Governor Moses Robinson. She deceased Dec. 28,
1857. The writer of this notice had the pleasure of know
ing her, and enjoying frequently her kind aud graceful hos
pitality during the last few years of her life. She was a
lady of superior personal presence, aud of marked polite
ness, as well as of excellent Christian spirit.
D.U'iD Henry, husband of the above, united with this
church Sept. 4, 1831, and deceased Jan. 26, 1856 ; of few
words, but of sound judgment, and great kindness.
25*

294 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Their only daughter, Mary Ann, united with this church
March 4, 1827 ; their only son, P. M. Henry, -united with
this church Sept. 4, 1831.
James Henry united with this church Nov. 6, 1831 ; his
wife, Celinda Harmon, in 1803. She was eminent for the
purity of her Christian character, for her liberal support of
the church, of which she waa a member, and for large bene-
factiona to charitable and missionary institutions. Her
daughter, Persis F., Mrs. Alonzo Hinsdill, united with this
church Sept. 4, 1331 ; Celinda, Mrs. Caleb Austin, died
Sept., 1844 ; united with this church Jan. 5, 1834.
John, son of John Henry, united with this church Sept.
4, 1831 ; at the same time William G., sou of Hon. Wil
liam Henry.
The second among the Henrys to unite with this church
waa Alice, daughter of Hon. William Henry ; united with
the church Nov. 6, 1820. Her mother, Anna Henry, united
with the church Sept. 4, 1831. Eight of the name of
Henry, and one besides of the family, Maria, wife of Jaraes
Hicks, united with the church at this date. Of the chil
dren of Hon. William Henry, four became members of this
church ; among them also Lemira, wife of Hon. Charles
Hicks. She was one of those in whose blameless life and
beautiful spirit the Christian virtues shine without alloy.
A son, Eli B., is deacon in the North Bennington Congre
gational Church. Alida, a daughter-in-law of John Henry,
now Mrs. David Cross, united with this church Sept. 4, 1831.
Hon. William Henry (born Oct. 5, 1760, died May 11, ¦
1845) represented the town in the General Assembly for
seven successive years from 1805, and waa a justice of the
peace for thirty-nine j'ears in auccession, ending with the
year 1840, being a longer period than the office has ever
been held by any other person in town. He was also judge

DEA. STEPHEN HINSDILL. 295
of probate for two j-ears, and, being familiar with legal
forras of business, was the draughtsman of most of the
deeds, contracta, and wills of persons in his quarter of the
town for manj' years. He waa a raan of sound judgment
and of undoubted integritj', and was universally respected.
Hon. William, James, Johu, and David Henry were sons
of William, one of several families of Scotch-Irish descent
who came frora Massachusetts and settled at an early day
in the north-west part of the town ; from -n'hora the neighbor
hood took the name of Irish Corners, which it still retains. i
There are twenty individuals of the name on the church-roll.
V. Joseph Hinsdill was the first of the faraily to settle
in Bennington, and carae, it is believed, from Hardwick,
Mass. He married Hannah Binghara. Their children
were Norman, raarried Rhoda Harmon, sister of Mrs. Samuel
Scott, aud for his second wife a daughter of Gov. Galusha ;
Daniel, father of Milo and Alonzo Hinsdill ; Joseph,
father of Joseph, married Fanny Walbridge ; Eliza raarried
Elijah Waters ; Amanda married R. N. Severance ; Caroline,
Mrs. Sarauel Weeks ; Joanna, Mrs. Stephen Robinson ;
Jane, Mrs. G. W. Robinson ; Chester ; Hannah raarried Mr.
Tracy ; Stephen, Deacon Hinsdill, father of Mrs. Ballard,
Lucretia, Mrs. Aaron Hubbell, Jennett, Mrs. Seymour;
Electa married Jonas Galusha; Ilirain raarried Roxanna
Walbridge. Deacon Stephen Hinsdill, with his wife Hannah, a
sister of Uriah Edgerton, Esq., united with the church during
the ministry of Mr. Marsh, Maj', 1816. He was elected
deacon May 10, 1822, and removed his connection, with
others, Nov. 9, 1834, to organize the Hinsdillville Presby
terian Ciiurch. He was tlie head of a manufacturing com
pany in that place, and reallj- almost the company itself,
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

296 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
which for a time was very flourishing, employing many
operatives and austaining numeroua familiea. He possessed
extraordinary enterpriae and zeal in whatever he undertook.
He was much gifted in prayer and exhortation, and much
devoted to the cause of Christ. He was very strict in his
observance of the Sabbath, and unbounded in hia hospi
tality. Before the eatablishment of public worship in
Hinsdillville, he chartered a four-horse teara to bring up
his neighbors and others to worsliip here. He prepared a
roora and seated it, in one of his buildings, for religious
meetings, and w.as chiefly instrumental in the erection of
the Hinsdillville church, — a very commodious stone ediflce.
The Rev. Daniel A. Clark was his warm friend, and he was
a warm friend of Mr. Clark, who, during his ministry in
Bennington, was frequently an inmate of his house. He
gave his energies with great ardor to the prosecution of
the revival which took place in that part of the town in con
nection with Mr. Clark's labors.
An extended notice of him would properly find a place
in a more particular history of the church for the period
during Mr. Clark's ministry here, and down to 1834, when
the Hinsdillville Presbyterian Church was organized.
He eventually removed to Michigan and died there. He
was one of the coraraittee upon the last revision of the
articles of faith and covenant of this church. One of his
daughters raarried Jaraes Ballard, minister of the gospel.
Tliere are sixteen ¦)f the name of Hinsdill on the roll of the
church. VI. Eleazer Edgerton was here prior to 1775. As
before mentioned, he was one of the scouts in the employ
ment of tlie Council of Safety, who brought intelligence to
Gen. Stark of the presence of a hostile party at Cambridge,
on the 13th of August, three days before the battle; and an

JOHN KINSLEY  CAPT. MOSES SAGE. 297
an anecdote ia related illustrative of his prowess in the
battle. He was the father of Uriah Edgerton, Esq., and resided
a half a raile or so to the north of the late reaidence of the
latter. His wife was a daughter of the Mr. Hyde whose
family resided upon the place now owned and occupied by
Giles Jewett. She was a relation of Chancellor Walworth.
Mrs. Stephen Hinsdill was his daughter.
Uriah Edgerton, Esq., son ofthe above, deceased April
28, 1868, aged eighty-seven, having adorned old age, and
raade it attractive by his Christian conversation and his
genial spirit, and having enjoyed the affectionate esteem*
of hia numerous acquaintances and friends. He also uni
ted with the Benniugton First Church, Sept. 4, 1831. He
married a daughter of Dr. Jonas Fay.
VII. John Kinsley united with this church in 1773.
There are seven individuals of the narae of Kinaley, or
Kingsley, on the church-roll. Nathaniel Kingsley united
with the church 1784. There is a Nathaniel Kingsley on
the Newint church records. Daniel Kingsley united with the
church 1775. Eunice Kingslcj' united with tho cliurch 1780.
Mrs. Nathaniel Kingsley united with the church 1784.
Abisha Kinsley, son of John Kinsley, a highly respected
and worthy citizen of the west part of tlie town, de
ceased Aug. 9, 1859, born in Charlemont, Mass., March
18, 1766 ; removed to Bennington when four years of age.
VIII. Capt. Moses Sage settled in Bennington as early
as 1776 ; and, until 1805, was the most prominent busi
ness man at the north village, whicii bore the narae of
Sage's City, until the establishraent of a post-oflSce there,
in 1828, when it was called North Bennington. " To his

298 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY. #
enterprise and energy of character it owes not only its flrst
distinctive name, but its earlj' growth and business.
" His business operations were not, however, conflned to
that village. For several years he had been either the sole
or part owner of the blast furnace situated on what is still
called Furnace Brook, two miles north of Bennington vil
lage, and in 1804 he erected what waa then called the new
furnace east of that village. This, in 1811, was sold to
Thomas Trenor, and in 1814 Mr. Sage removed to Cha-
tauque Co., N. Y., and died in 1817."
Capt. Sage had a number of children, several of whom
removed from town in early life. Mrs. Fanny Coney, his
youngest daughter, is still living in Bennington village
with her son-in-law, Charles S. Colvin. Mrs. Mary Anne,
wife of Martin B. Scott, of North Bennington, is a grand
daughter of Capt. Sage. Olin and Henry M. Scott, of
Bennington village, are children of Mr. and Mrs. M. B.
Scott. IX. Simeon Sears appears on the tablea prepared by
Mrs. Haswell as having united with the church in the min
istry of Rev. Mr. Dewey. His name is on the roll of Capt.
Robinson's company in the Bennington battle. The name
of Sears appears in the tables of Mr. Paige's Hardwick
Centennial Address. He was one of the active opponents
of the Rev. Mr. Avery. Tliere are eleven individuals of
the name on the roll of the church.

CHAPTER XXI.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1777-1784.
)OVERNOR Isaac Tichenor was born at Newark,
N. J., Feb. 8, 1754, and educated at Princeton
^ College, then under the presidency of the cele-
Q^^- brated Rev. Dr. Witherspoon, for whom and whose
memory he alwaj's had the highest veneration.
He first came to Benniugton June 14, 1777. Dur
ing the war of the Revolution he was deputy commissary-
general of purchases for the Northern Departraent, having
for hia field of service an extensive portion of the New
England States. After the war he waa representative in the
General Assembly ; speaker of the House ; agent ofthe State
at Congress ; member of the St.ite Council ; a judge, and
then chief justice of the Suprerae Court ; member of the
Council of Censors ; thrice elected senator in Congreaa ;
governor of the State for eleven years in all ; and called
also to fill other officea of high distinction and responsi
bility.! He gave his influence with great cheerfulness and liber
ality to the interests of public religion in this town. He
bore a prominent p.art iu the controversy about the Rev.
Mr. Avery, and was his fast friend. His signature ap
pears alone, on behalf of the congregation, to the address
of that body, expressive of their regrets upon Mr. Avery's
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.

300 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
dismissal. He took a warm interest in the settlement of
the Rev. Absalom Peters. He had promised the parish, if
they would get a minister who should fill the meeting
house, he would give them a bell. Mr. Peters was very
popular and attractive, and Gov. Tichenor waa as good as
his word. The bell, which has been in the belfry ever
since, has hia name inscribed on it as its donor.
He used to marry people, but, not being a professor of
religion, and never having assuraed the Christian duty of
personally leading others in devotions, he perforraed his
marriage ceremony, likewise, without raaking any prayer.
Deacon Bingham, on one occasion, remonstrated with him
against his practice of solemnizing marriage without
prayer; the governor replied, "Well, you come and make
the prayer, aud I will give you half of the fee."
Manj' anecdotes are related of him, illustrative of a
certain painstaking on his part to kindly and cordially
notice all. Ilis manners and address were both irapressive
and very pleasing. William E. Hawks, whose home was
on the second farm west of Aaron Hubbell's, relates that,
when a boy. Gov. Tichenor used frequently to corae that
way hunting ; he was accustomed to shoot game from his
horse's back, and would ask Williara to go with hiin and
pick up the game. A quarter of a dollar placed in his
hand seemed to him, in those childhood days, a munificent
compensation, — and very liberal itwas. He thought, as
did many other boys in the town and in the State, that he
was a special favorite of Gov. Tichenor, and was ever de
lighted to see him come that way with his gun and his
horse. Gov. Tichenor was once sitting at his table, in the din
ing-room, which opened out into the yard in the rear of the
house, and his attention was called to a bird, on one of
the trees in sight. A friend was at table with him f aud he

GOVERNOR TICHENOR. 301
said, " I can shoot that bird without leaving my seat."
The friend doubted whether the thing could be done ; the
governor sent for his gun, which was levelled aud fired, and
the bird fell dead. He had tried hard, one day, to catch a
large trout in the Meach hole, and waa obliged to come
awaj' unsuccessful ; a lad he eraployed to do chores, etc.,
was with hira, and slj'lj' went down the next morning to
try his luck, and was successful. As he came up toward
the governor's with the fish. Gov. Tichenor, quite excited,
said, " It is too bad to raise up eagles to pick our eyes
•out." When at Washington, at the presidential dinners, Mrs.
Madison had been led out to dinner repeatedly and rather
ostentatiously by a not very popular senator ; and certain
of the others, who were piqued at that gentleman's pre
cedence, agreed together to supersede hira, and coraraitted
the execution of the task to Gov. Tichenor. The obnox
ious gentleraan, on the next dinner occasion, engaged Mrs.
Madison, as before, in conversation, about the time of din
ner ; and those who were in the secret were quite impa
tient at the unpromising .aspect of affairs. But a moment
onlj' before the announceracut of dinner Gov. Tichenor
directly accosted Mrs. M.adison ; she arose to replj-, he
added a word or two, and she politely listened ; when the
call to dinner came, he immediately offered her his arm,
and the obnoxious Congressman wns outwitted.
Governor Tichenor possessed a coraraanding forra, a re
markably fine personal appearance, aud accomjilished raan
ners. He was regular iu his attendance at church ; occupied
a seat in the large corner pew, which took np the space on
the south side of the pulpit ; arose and stood reverently,
and yet with peculiar dignity, in prayers ; gracefully recog
nized such persons as he raet going and returning, — was,
indeed, quite a feature ofthe occasion.
26

302 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
He left no children. The present residence of Deacon
George Lyman was his, and bears the name of Tichenor
place. He died Dec. 11, 1838, aged eighty-four. At the
time of his decease the Rev. Dr. Hooker was his pastor,
and preached his funeral sermon.
The second Mrs. George Lyman was his adopted daugh
ter. She united with this church May 7, 1843, and deceased
Jan. 4, 1856 ; a lady of superior excellence, thoughtful,
earnest, and conscientious, dignifying the social circle. Her
sudden death was felt to be a severe bereavement in the
household, the church, and the community. Her four chil- •
dren are members, and her three sons-in-law ofificers of
churches. II. Thomas Hall came to Bennington in the spring of
1779, and settled on the farm which has remained in the
family, now the residence of the son-in-law of Governor HaU,
Hon. T. W. Park. Mr. Hall was born at Guilford, Conn.,
Feb. 11, 1726, married Phebe Blachly, removed to Wood
bury, Roxbury Parish, Conn., 1759, and thence to Ben
nington. He united with the Bennington First Church in
1785. He died Dec 23, 1802.
Nathaniel Hall, his son, was deacon of the old Baptist
church in Shaftsbury, born March 4, 1763, died March 4,
1849, spoken of to the writer as " an Israelite indeed, in
whom was no guile." His children were Hiland (Gov
ernor Hall), born July 20, 1795 ; Phebe, born March 24,
1797, married James Lazell, died May 27, 1860 ; Abigail,
born March 13, 1799, married Nathan Bowen ; Nathaniel,
born March 11, 1801, died Aug. 19, 1846 ; Anna, born Jan.
31, 1804, married Daniel C.Dyer; Laura, born April 5,
1806, married Timothy Darling, died Nov. 25, 1854 ; Polly,
born Sept. 22, 1808, married Sidney Colvin. The father of
Mrs. Governor Hall, Ileury Davis, was in the battle of

THOMAS HALL. 303
Bunker Hill, and served .at West Point and other places
during the Revolutionary War.
The ancestors of Thoraas Hall were his father, Hiland
Hall, born in Guilford, Conn., Sept. 20, 1703 ; his grand
father, Deacon Thoraas Hall, born in Middletown, Conn.,
Aug. 29, 1671 ; his great-grandfather, Sarauel Hall, born in
England, 1626 ; and his great-great-grandfather, John Hall,
born in Kent County, England, in 1584.
III. Anthony Haswell was born at Portsraouth, Eng
land, April 6, 1756. He came to Boston when about
thirteen j'ears of age, and served his apprenticeship as a
printer. He established the "Vermont Gazette " in Ben
nington. The first nuraber was published June 5, 1783,
and was continued, — not alwaj'S, however, under the same
name, — most of the time by himself or members of his
family, until October, 1850, a period of over sixty-seven
J'ears. It had a much longer life than any other paper
printed in the State. His enterprise led him to originate
several periodicals, — araong thera, a paper in Rutland, also
two monthlies, at different tiraes, in Bennington. Nuraer
ous books and paraphlets were published by him on various
subjects, some of which were reprints of valuable works,
and others original raatter. In tho course of his life he
furnished raany articles for the newspaper press on raoral,
religious, and political subjects. For tiie most part he set
up his original raatter into tj-pe, when he coraposed it, with
out the intervention of the pen. He had for many years a'
share ofthe public printing of the State. Among his pub
lications raay be mentioned au interesting raeraoir of Capt.
Matthew Phelps, of three hundred pages, of which Mr. Has
well was the author. When the Legislature passed the act
establishing post-ofl^ces at Bennington and other places,
1784, he was appointed postinaster-geueral, with extensive

304 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
powers. He early imbibed the principles ofthe old Repub
lican party, and was active and zealous in their defence and
propagation. Mr. Haswell was a kind and obliging neiglibor, and a
warm, ardent, and faitliful friend. i He became possessed
of the old meeting-house, after it ceased to be used for pub
lic religious worship, and had it removed aud re-erected for
his own residence, where now stands the residence of Hon.
Benjamin R. Sears. His wife and others wished him to
divide the frame, but he preferred to have it all. He de
sired a large house and a large table, aud desired it full.
He did not enrich hiuiself, but he did much good. He was
a man of extraordinary industry, and his labors for the
public, through a whole life, were devoted with singular
unselfishness. In the revival in 1803 his zeal in politics abated, being
overborne by a new conaecration ^ — to Christ. At that time
he united with this church bj" a public profession of faith.
An anecdote will illustrate tho high estimation of hira, in
connection with his zeal as a Christiau con^'ert, entertained
by one of his neighbors, and an unconverted man. Mr.
Nairne, a profane man, a Scotchman, but characterized by
a certain heartiness and na'ivete whicii is alwaj's attractive,
resided then in the house now the residence of Henrj'
Patchin. Mr. Nairne had the Rev. Mr. Spaulding and
others at his house during the three-days' meeting, and
with thera, also, Mr. Haswell. Mr. Nairne whispered to
his wife, " Let us have a prayer ; I'll call on Anthony Has
well." Mrs. Nairne, an excellent and lady-like woman
(who united with the church in that revival), said to her
husband, " Had you not better call on one of the minis
ters?" Mr. Nairne, with his Scotch bluntness, spoke out
1 For these particulars, and others of his professional and public career, see
Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 170.

ANTHONY HASWELL. 305
SO .all could hear, using a profane expression which need
not be repeated, " I would as soon have Mr. Hoswell."
He not only required the Bible to be read at faraily
praj'ers, but also had Watts' psalras and hyrans read
through at that exercise. He gave to his two daugh
ters, Susannah and Eliza, each a copy of " Watts' Divine
and Moral Songs for Children," as a reward for corarait
ting the songs to raeraorj'. He published raany religious
works, serraons, and collections of religious verses. A
great variety of these publicationa are still extant, bearing
his iraprint.
Before any missionaries had been sent frora this country
into lieathed lands he conceived a strong desire, and often
expressed it, to have a son who should be qualified and
willing to go aud preach Christ to heathen nations. This
desire was fulfilled in the person of his son Jaraes M., born
subsequently to the time of Jlr. Haswell's oft repeating
this desire. His two sous, Thoraas and James, the one
born Sept. 26, 1807, the other Feb. 4, 1810, were clerks in
the store of Messrs. Fassett & Selden, in Troy, N. Y.,
about the j-ear 1830 ; and, during a revival in that city,
were hopefully converted, and both resolved to fit them
selves for the ministry. They alternately attended the
Presbyterian and Baptist meetings for some months ; both
invariably attending the same raeeting, until one Sabbath
Jaraes said to Thoraas, " Brother, I raust be a Baptist and
go to the heathen." Thoraas replied, " Well, I will be a
Presbyterian ; we will both go into the field and see which
can do the most good in the cause of our Lord and Master."
Thomas became a minister of the gospel and horae raission
ary, in which service he died. Jaraes went to Burmah as
foreign missionarj', translated the New Testament into a
Burraese dialect, and, after sorae thirty-three j'ears' labor
in that country, has been corapeUed to retire by the failure
26*

306 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
of his health. James, a son, was sent to this country and
graduated at college, and returned a preacher of the gospel
to labor in Burmah, but was overtaken by failure of his
health. Julia Ann Eliza became the wife of a missionary,
and is still in Burmah. Another daughter, not married, is
also doing efficient missionary service there.
Eliza, daughter of Anthony Haswell, married Hiram Har
wood. James II. Harwood, minister of the gospel, is their
son. Susannah, another daughter, married Darius Clark. Their
daughter Lydia drew the old meeting-house in the frontis
piece in this volume — said to be a truthful representation
of that sanctuary — from dimensions, shape, and position
preserved iu the recollection of old inhabitants.
William Haswell, seventh child of Anthony Haswell,
was elected clerk of this church September 28, 1849, and
remained so until his decease, December 16, 1864. He was
much assisted in his labors as town clerk, and in other
offices requiring a large amount of writing, by his wife,
Sarah, daughter of Col. Samuel Robiuson, born October
8, 1791 ; united with this church January 6, 1833 ; died
Deceraber 14, 1850.
The following obituary notice of him is from the " Ben
nington Banner : " —
" Williara Haswell waa appointed postraaater of thia
town June 6, 1813, and held the oflice until November,
A. D. 1833, twenty years and over. He was also town
clerk of Bennington from March, a. d. 1821, to March,
1849. " He was register of the probate court under judges Ar
temas Mattison, Aaron Robinson, Jesse Blackraer, Jona
than Draper, Sylvanus Danforth, Orsaraus C. Merrill, Johu
M. Olin, — iu all twenty-one years, coiniuenciug in 1826.

niLLTAM HASWELL. 307
"For several j-ears after 1820 the list of Revolutionary
and invaUd pensioners in Benniugton countj' was very
large, — the aggregate sums paid to them each j'car amount
ing to many thousands of dollars. These pensions were
nearly all drawn and distributed by William Haswell,
and he continued a pension agent until the time of his
death. He was proverbiallj' rapid and accurate in adjust
ing accounts and transacting public business.
" He was a kind-hearted neighbor ; a public-spirited, up
right citizen ; a friend and benefactor to the poor, and an
honest man. Thus he lived to exemplify the doctrines of
the gospel, which, for many years, he professed to love.
" In his death one of tlie old landmarks of Bennington
has passed awaj'. He died December 16, 1864, in the
seventj'-flfth'jear of his age."
A large number of the descendants of Anthony Haswell
have become merabers of this or of some other church.
His son, Anthony Haswell, born Noveraber, 1780, died
Deceraber 10, 1856 ; an intelligent raan and exemplarj'
Christian, genial and social ; united with this church March
1803, and afterward reraoved his connection to the Baptist
church. Anthony Haswell, Sen., composed many hyrans. Sorae
stanzas from oue, sung at the funeral of Mrs. Samuel Rob
inson, Sen., have been inaerted in the notice of that lady.
He also, it is said, composed one or two of the hyinua sung at
the dedication of the new meeting-house. One of the hyinna
auug on that occasion was, it is said, composed by Andrew
Selden, Esq., and one by a gentleman from abroad. Four
hj-mns are printed with the dedication sermon, but there
appears to be no means of certainly identifying the authors
severally. He died May 26, 1816.

308 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
IV. Thomas Weeks and Catharine, his wife, reraoved
to Bennington, from Hardwick, Mass., in 1783, and settled
on the farm which has ever since borne the narae of the
Weeka farra. He died August, 1804, aged eighty-four;
and Mrs. Weeks, October 14, 1819, aged ninety-seven.
The names David, Holland, and Thomas Weeks are on
the list in Paige's Centennial Address of the Hardwick in
habitants who served in the French war.
David Weeks, son of the above, carae with his father.
He died October 4, 1836, aged eighty-three. Elizabeth, his
wife, died April 2, 1822, aged flfty-six. Beside two that
died in infancj', their children were Abigail, Betsey, Susan,
David, Isaac, Samuel, Seraantha, Willard, Maria. All
have deceased except the eldest, Abigail. Willard died
August 17, 1860 ; Betsey, Susan, aud David in" 1861, — the
four within eight months of each other.
Samuel Weeks died January 1, 1867, aged sixty-six;
united with the church July 4, 1868 ; father of Mrs.
Rev. Henry M. Swift. Called in the latter days of life to
meet severe trials of bodily sickness and unexpected re
verses of worldly fortune, theae he bore with exemplary
Christian meekness and fortitude.
Isaac Weeks united with the church January 5, 1862 ;
died January 24, 1868, in the seventy-second year of his
age. He was representative in the General Asserably in
1860 ; at dififerent times and for several years flrst select
man and town treasurer, and held other important offlcea
in the town. He was also, for many j'eara, president of
the Stark Bank. He possessed great kindness of heart,
soundness of judgment, and fidelity to every trust, and was
one of our raost valuable citizens, and died enjoying, in an
eminent degree, the respect and confidence of his acquaint
ances and friends and of the communitj'.

COL. MARTIN NORTON. 309
V. Ichabod Paddock came from Rhode Island, and
settled, soon after the Revolutionary War, on the farm since
the residence of Alonzo Potter. He had three sons, Dan
iel, Zechariah, and Thoraas. Daniel was the father of Capt.
Paddock, now reaiding in Pleasant Valley. Zechariah was
the father of Daniel H. Paddock.
VI. William Potter carae, about the time of the close
of the Revolutionary War, from Rhode Island, and set
tled on IMount Anthony, on the farm east of the present
residence of his grandson. Loan Potter. Three brothers
came together, or nearly so. The two others were John
and Amos ; these settled a little over the New York State
line. VII. CoL. Martin Norton and his wife, Betsey, united
withthe church iu November, 1784. They resided where S.
II. Brown, Jr., now resides. Jlrs. Col. Norton was a devoted
Christian. Their son, Hon. Jesse O. Norton, late member
of Congress and judge of the Supreme Court in Illinois,
united with this church at thirteen j'eara of age. Their
grand-daughter, Sophia Love, becarae the wifo of the Rev.
S. II. Ilurlbut, late pastor of the Congregational Church
in New Haven. He died December 2, 1856, having
been much prospered in his ministry, warraly beloved by
his people, and giving bright promise of continued useful
ness and success.
There are eleven of the name of Norton on the roll of
the church.

CHAPTER XXII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1785-1800.
"^R. Noadiah Swift was the second son and fourth
child of Rev. Job Swift, D.D., and Mary Ann Sedg
wick. He was born in Dutchess County, N. Y., at
a place then called Nine Partners, now known as
Amenia, Feb. 24, 1776. He, with his father and
the family, removed to Manchester, and thence to
Bennington, when he was nine yeara of age. Here he re
ceived his academical education under his father's instruc
tion, and pursued the study of medicine with Dr. Medad
Parsons, at that time a practising physician. He continued
in the practice of his profession here until prevented by
the infirmities of age. He was possessed of a large and
powerful frame, an iron constitution, and an iron will.
Sound in intellect, and with a highly intuitive judgment, he
was at once a master of books and of comraon sense. Plain-
spoken and outspoken, of great frankness and siraplicity
of character, far-reaching in his perceptions of the public
princifiles and measures which the progress of the future
was to sustain, severe to his enemies in controversy, re
lentless to opposition, but confessing his faulta and for
giving the faulta of others in the subsequent reaction of
tenderness and good-will, — he waa a tower of strength to
the church, the community, and the reforms of the day. No
biography could do justice to him, unless it were a history

DR. NOADIAH SWIFT.

311

of the times in which he lived. The revivals, the anti-
slavery principles and measures, the temperance reforma
tion, public secular struggles and enterprises of his day, —
these must be written out in order to make a truthful sketch
of the life of Dr. Noadiah Swift. It ia not the purpoae of the
writer in this work to describe in detail the modern times
of the church. Persons who were nearer the times and
scenes themselves still live, and to them this interesting
and iraportant service is respectfully deferred. When the
writer of this notice coraraenced hia paatorate here, and flrst
became acquainted with Dr. Swift, he was already in the
seventy-eighth year of hia age. Hia manly form waa still
erect and noble, and hia independent and decided spirit
exhibited enough of independence and deciaion still ; but
nearly fourscore j-ears, so many of them years of toil, and
with some share of life's heavy afflictions iu the loss of be
loved ones by death, had begun to disclose their eflfect. But
no one could see him in his place in the house of God, or
hear his trembling accents in prayer in the lecture-roora, or
witness his unflagging interest in the church's prosperity,
without being convinced that he was still its friend tried
and true, nor without being able to appreciate what a pow-
ful leader aud helper he had beeu in his prirae in every
good word and work. Owing to his father's circumstances
he coraraenced life for himself, to use his own expression,
without a shilling, and the decease of his father taking
place two years before his marriage, he assisted somewhat
his younger brothers and sisters. At the same tirae his
chargea for medical practice were extremely low-. He was
wont to say that it was a wonder to himself that he came
to possess so extensively as he did the raeans to do good.
But a kind Providence smiled upon him. He rose to an
extensive medical practice, reaching to a wide distance in
the region round about. He was for three years a repre-

312 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
sentative in the General Assembly of the State, and twice
elected to the State Senate. He was also for raany years
successfully engaged in raercantile pursuits. His hopeful
conversion took place in the great revival in 1831, and he
united with the church on the sarae day when one hundred
and thirty-one were received. One month afterward he
was elected a deacon of the church, and continued in that
oflfice until his death, which took place in the city of New
York, where he was temporarily residing in the family of
his son, Edward II. Swift, March 21, 18G0, in the eightj'-
fourth year of his age. His remains were brought home,
and interred by the side of those of his wife, who had gone
a few J'ears before hira.
He married Jennett, daughter of Thomas Henderson,
March 28, 1802. She was a member of the church, but the
date of her admission has escaped the records. She de
ceased Feb. 10, 1853.
Their children were Seraantha, wife of Hon. Pierrepoint
Isham, and Edward IL, deceaaed. The following obituary
notice of Mr. Edward H. Swift appeared in the " New York
Independent" at the time of hia deceaae: —
" Died, at Havana, Cuba, on the 21st of June, 1865, of
yellow fever, Edward H. Swift, formerly of Bennington,
Vt., and for many yeara a merchant in New York, in the
sixtieth j'ear of his age. Mr. Swift was a gentleman of
liberal education and cultivated raind. Amid the cares
of a most active aud eventful business life he found tirae for
various and extensive reading, and was singularly well-
informed with regard to all the leading topics of the daj'.
More than thirty j'ears since, he made a profession of re
ligion, and united with the cliurch in Bennington, in con
nection with the ministry of the Rev. Daniel A. Clark, and
throughout a life marked by no ordinary vicissitudes and
trials maintained a high cluiraclcr for integrity aud business

CAPT. SAXTON SQUIRE. 313
capacity. Smitten bj- a fatal disease, and dying among
strangers, his afllicted faraily were denied the consoLation
of soothing his last hours bj' the rainistries of aflfection ; but
one who knew his worth, and adraired his intelligent and
manly virtues, pens thia brief tribute to his meraory."
II. Capt. Saxton Squire united with this church in
March, 1803, born Jan. 4, 1758, removed to this place,
1786, from Kensington (now Southington), Conn. ; resided
first near the reaidence of Esquire Hubbell, then, 1797, in
the Centre Street, in the house which haa for many j'ears
gone bj' his name, carrying on tanning, shoeraaking, and
also farraing, subsequently removed into what is now Ben
nington village. He deceased July 25, 1825. Hia wife,
Sylvia, united with thia church Jan. 3, 1819, born August,
1765, died May 13, 1832. Their children: Dorcas, born
Maj', 1783; Alson, born Jan. 25, 1784; Norman, born
July 27, 1787 ; Fanny, born Feb. 27, 1789, united with the
church May, 1803, married to Lyraan Patchin July 22, 1810,
died Sept. 17, 1834, — a Christian lady of exeraplary piety,
and in whoae heart was a perennial fountain of benevo
lence. Many a poor person found daily charity at her
door, and from thence no needy one was ever sent empty
away. (Her daughter, Fanny M. Patchin, reraarkable far
the loveliness of her disposition, united with this church
Sept. 4, 1831, raarried Samuel S. Scott, deceaaed May 27,
1851.) Buckley Squirea, deceased, born May 4, 1791, —
genial and generous, an officer in the Episcopal Cliurch ; his
funeral discourse was preached by his pastor, the Rev Dr.
Manser, to whom he was greatly endeared for his warm and
faithful friendship, and his zeal, tenderneas, and efQciency
as a raeraber of the church ; Newell Squires, born July 4,
1794 ; Albert, born Sept. 6, 1796, and Eliza, born July 11,
1800. 27

314 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
III. Mrs. Mary Galusha united with this church in
1789. She was the first wife of Governor Galusha, and
daughter of Governor Chittenden, raarried 1778, died 1791.
By her. Governor Galusha had flve sons and four daughtera.
Governor Galusha was not a jneraber of any church, though,
" in the estiraation of those best competent to judge, a true
Christian. He maintained family worship in all its forms,
was known to observe private devotions, was an habitual
attendant upon public worship and at social meetings, and
frequently took an active part in the latter. In his daily
life he was also such as a Christian should be, modest,
amiable, upright, faithful to every obligation. . . . When
nearly seventy-nine years of age, he attended a protracted
meeting at Manchester, and took an active part iu its exer
cises ; as the result of which he was aroused to a sense of
the duty of making a public profession of religion, and
announced his intention to do so, but was prevented from
accomplishing his purpose by a stroke of paralysis, which
he experienced soon after, and from which he never
recovered. He was captain of two companies, consolidated
into one, at the battle of Bennington ; aud was in the
detachment ordered to attack Baura's fortification upon the
rear. His men were from Shaftsbury, where he resided.
He was sheriff of the county, judge of the Supreme Court,
and was appointed to other important ofiices in the State ;
born iu Norwich, Conn., Feb. 11, 1753 ; died Sept. 25, 1834^
By his first wife above inentioned he had five sons and
four daughters. His children were well trained, and all of
them who survived childhood becarae professors of religion ;
one of them, Elon, an erainent minister in the Baptist denom
ination.! A fourth wife of Governor Galusha, Nabby, united with
this church in 1821.
1 Memoir of Jonaa Galusha by Pliny H. White.

SAMUEL HICKS. 315
IV. Rufus Barney came from Taunton, Maas., in 1790,
with Capt. Chace and Mr. Burt and Geo. Godfrey, and their
families, all from Taunton, M.ass. They came in a vessel
which they had chartered up the Hudson to Troy. At that
time there -n-as onlj' a blacksmith shop, store, and one house.
Land could have been then bought there as cheaply as in
Bennington. Elkanah Barney, a younger brother of Rufus,
carae from Taunton, Mass., in 1793. They bought lands
in tho east part of the town. Elkanah Barney united with
the Bennington First Church Sept. 4, 1825 ; his wife,
Catherine, Aug. 6, 1820.
V. Capt. Ebenezer Chace came as above. His wife
was sister to Rufus and Elkanah Barney. His daughter, Mrs.
Roger Booth, retaining her faculties, and brightening with
the most genuine interest and feeling at the mention of the
olden times, an intelligent lady and a sincere Christian,
deceased iu 1868, aged eighty-eight. Capt. Chace died
Jan. 20, 1832, aged eighty-eight. Hannah, his widow, died
Jan. 10, 1842, aged eightj'-nine. They both united withthe
Bennington First Church May, 1803.
They first lived upon the hill ; then moved down where
Bennington village now is. Capt. Chace bought lands
there. He cut the timber for his house, and moved into it
in six weeks.
VI. Samuel Hicks and Charity, his wife, united with
this church Sept. 26, 1790, during the pastorate of the Rev.
Job Swift, D.D. His father was killed in the battle of
Lexington. The family were sent with other families to
Taunton, for safetj'.
Charles Hicks, son of Sarauel Hicks, with his sons,
drove the first stages over the mountain, on the route
between here and Boston, and also southward in the direc-

316 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
tion of Pittsfield. His son, James Ilicka, drove the flrst
stage to Brattleborough about flfty years ago. The father
drove a stage to Pittsfield many years before. He was the
father of Hon. Charles Ilicks aud Uel M. Ilicks, and Wil
liam, deceased 1832, at twentj'-five j'ears of age, who grad
uated at Williaras College with the appointment of vale
dictorian. Frederick, son of Uel M. Hicks, is a minister
of the gospel.
George, also a eon of Uel M. Hicks, born Oct. 3, 1840,
united with this church May 6, 1855, entered Williams
College 1862 ; was a lieutenant of Vermont volunteers in
the late war, and was killed before Petersburg July 30,
1864. He was with a detachment which, after the explosion
of the mine, made an unsuccessful attempt to pass bej'ond
it within the enemy's line and capture the crest of Ceme
tery Hill. For gallant services, a commission of brevet
captaincy was, by a vote of Congress, made out for him and
sent to his parents. He was also in the battle of Gettys-
burgh. He was possessed of devoted piety, brave, noble,
and good.
VII. Mrs. Polly Roach united with the church in 1790.
She was the mother of Mrs. Fanny Raymond. An only
daughter of Mrs. Raymond, Mrs. Seth B. Hunt, deceased
in Feb., 1867. Mra. Hunt united with this church Jan. 5,
1834, and at the time of her decease was a member of the
Tabernacle Congregational Church, Rev. J. P. Thompson,
D.D., New York city. Devoted as a daughter, sister, wife,
mother, she was polite and attentive to her guests and ac
quaintances. Blessed with wealth, she dispensed her ben
efactions to the poor with a liberal hand, having car-loada
of the produce of the Bennington farm at "Maple Grove"
shipped to New York, to be there, by heraelf and family,
distributed to the needy.

COL. ORSAMUS C. MERRILL. 317
VIII. Dr. MicAii J. Lyman came here frora Troy, N.Y. ,
in 1790. He was graduated at Yale College in 1785. He waa
postmaster here for sever.al years — O. C. Merrill, Esq.,
being his successor. He was in business here as a druggist.
He left here for Montreal about 1810 ; and removed thence
to Troy,N.Y., ou the declaration of war, and established him
self in his business in Troy, taking his two eldest sonS, .
Charles and George, as partners with him. " A faraily of
great worth aud excellent standing "i originally from North
ampton, Mass. He carae here to pass the reraaiuder of
life in 1851, but united with this church in 1843, while
residing in Troj', because he was a Congregationalist, aa a
matter of principle, and ao much so as to prefer to connect
himself -with that denomination in another town rather than
with any other denoraination whore ho was residing. His
wife waa Elizabeth Sheldon, a descendant* on her raother's
side of Ebenezer Hunt, one of the Northaraptou farailies of
that narae.
Charles Lyman, hia son, raarried Elizabeth Sheldon, who
after his decease becarae the second wife of the Rev. Dr.
Hooker. George, his second son, is a deacon in this church.
IX. Col. Orsamus C. Merrill was born in Farraington,
Conn., June 18, 1775. He carae to Bennington, April 5,
1791 ; at sixteen years of age was apprenticed to Anthony
Haswell, and learned the printer's trade. The first business
he did for hiraself was to print an edition of Webster's
spelling-book. The printing-presa waa in the kitchen part
of the houae, the residence of the late Gov. John S. Rob
inson. Mr. Merrill then studied law with Andrew Selden,
Esq., and was admitted to the bar in 1805, and, in August
of that J'ear, was married to Marj-, daughter of Judge Jon
athan Robinson. In 1809 he was postmaster in this town,
1 Genealogy ofthe Hunt Family, p. 225.
27*

318 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
aud held the oflice about three years. He was a major of
the array in the war of 1812, and afterward a lieutenant-
colonel. He was a member of Congress 1817-1819, and
afterward a member of the State Council for flve years ; also
a representative to the Assembly and judge of probate.
He was for several years, between 1826-1832, editor of the
" Vermout Gazette." He made a public profession of his
faith in Christ and united with this church September 4,
1831. He was reraarkable for great purity, elevation, and
urbanity of character.
He waa frequently the speaker of the day on public occa
sions. One of hia orations of this kind, printed by request,
^with other literary exercises of the occasion, has fallen into
the hands of the writer of this notice. He felt a deep in
terest and exerted himself much on behalf of common
schoola. His interested and careful labors as a Bible-clasa
teacher also deserve mention.
His belief of the doctine of justiflcation by faith in Christ
alone was scriptural and decided, aud his Christian example
characteristically conscientious and circumspect. He de
ceased April 12, 1865, in the ninetieth year of his age.
X. Dr. Heman S^wift was born in Bennington, Septem
ber 30, 1791. He was the sixth son and twelfth child of
Rev. Job Swift, D.D., and Mary Aun Sedgwick. . He was
hopefully converted while a student at Middlebury College,
which he entered at fourteen years of age, and united with
the church there, graduating in 1811. He commenced the
study of theology in the Theological Seminary at Andover ;
but his health failing, he was obliged to relinquish his pur
pose, and then chose the profession of medicine. He set
tled as a physician in this town in 1821, and connected
himself with this church Novembers, 1820. He deceased

DR. HEMAN SWIFT. 319
January 30, 1856, in the flftj'-sixth year of his age. He
was a member of the Vermont Senate in 1837. His mind
was cultured by education, and stored with theological
and Christian truth, and with general scientiflc information.
He waa especially accurate and well versed in hiatory, and
he had extensive acquaintance with public raen. He was
a warra and valued friend of ministers, and for j'ears con
ducted a large Bible-class with great interest and succeas.
His forgetfulness of hiraself in his desire to promote the hap
piness of others, and his extended and varied information,
made him ever an agreeable and inatructive companion. He
sustained hia high professional reputation and was in active
practice until his death. Acute sensibilitj' and tender sym
pathy with the sick and suffering were remarkable traits in
his character, and, in connection with his medical intelli
gence and untiring professional exertions, served rauch to
establish that ardent attachment which existed betweert
hiraself and those who emploj'ed him as a physician.
His decease was raost sudden. He had just left the
faraily and passed into another room, with the view of
going out again to meet professional engagements. Some
member of the family, having occasion to go through the
same room a few minutes subsequently, found him sitting
back in a chair dead. His prayer that morning, at family
worship, had been particularly noticed for an unusual ten
derness and fer-vency of his looking to Christ, supplicat
ing for grace to cling to the Saviour as his only hope. He
married Ruth Robinson, grand-daughter, on her father's
side, of Governor Moses Robinson, and, on the side of her
mother, of Rev. Jedidiah Dewey. The last few years of
his life were attended by a heavy affliction in the decease
of a daughter, the light and the joy of his house, — Jen
nett; wife of Hon. A. B. Gardner ; and of a son. Dr. Heman
Sedgewick Swift, of whom the following biograpical sketch

320 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
is contained in the "Vermont Historical Magazine" : "Dr.
H. Sedgewick Swift was born June 16, 1827. He was grad
uated at AVilliams College, and, after receiving a thorough
education as a physician and surgeon, acquired great prac
tical knowledge and skill in the hospitals of New York aud
other cities. He was author of several treatises, which
were published in the medical journals, some of which
were translated into German and French, and by which he
acquired much credit and distinction. He was a j'oung
man of great moral worth as well as of extraordinary pro
fessional promise ; but died of a disease of the lungs, Sep
tember 23, 1857, at the early age of thirty years." Re
served and self-distrustful with regard to religious hopes,
he left in a private journal evidence that, in view of the
approach of death, his trust for salvation was alone in
Christ. Henry Martyn, a son of Dr. and Mrs. Swift, is a min
ister of the gospel.
XI. Samuel Broavn came here to reside about the year
1794, wilh hia wife and family, and the parents of his -wife.
She was Betsey, only child of Capt. Daniel and Annis Hin
man. They came here from Charlotte, in this State, whither
they had removed from South Britain, Conn. Thej' pur
chased and resided ou the farra now the residence of Mr.
Paige, in the south part of the towu. Capt. Daniel Hin
man was a relative of Col. John Hinman, of Utica, Hon.
R. R. Hinman, for several years Secretary of State in Conn.,
and of Gen. Hinman, Roxbury, Conn. He died here Dec.
8, 1807, aged flfty-flve. Mrs. Hinman died Nov. 24, 1815,
aged si.xty-three. Samuel Brown died April 21, 1819, aged
flftj--four. Mrs. Brown died May 8, 1811, aged thirty-six.
They had two daughters who deceased in early life. Hon.
S. II. Brown is the only surviving child.

JONATHAN HUNT. 321
XII. Roger Booth came in 1795 frora Lanesboro', Mass.
He married a daughter of Capt. Ebenezer Chace, mentioned
above, and resided on the place where is the present resi
dence of Edward S. Pratt. He deceased Aug. 2, 1849,
aged seventj'-six. He was the father of Asahel Booth.
XIII. Jesse Loomis settled upon a farm in Bennington
some time previoualy to 1795. Hia name is upon the town
records as surveyor of highways in that year. He died Sept.
13, 1839, aged eighty-five years and ten months. His chil
dren were Samuel, Ira, Lydia, Betsey, Clarissa, Jesse, Sally,
and Emma. One of the above-named daughters married
Houf Luman Norton ; another married Mr. H. E. Dewey.
Samuel was the father of Mrs. J. F. Robinson and Mrs.
Caldwell, deceased. •
XIV. Capt. John Norton carae from Sharon, Conn., and
settled in Bennington .about the sarae time with Mr. Loomis.
He established hiraself here in the manufacturing of pottery
ware. He died Aug. 22, 1828, in the seventieth year of his
age. He was the father of Hon. Luman Norton, and grand
father of Mr. Julius Norton.
XV. Jonathan Hunt came to Bennington about the
year 1795. He was connected with a furnace a part of the
time, and more permanently in business as a jeweller. For
the latter years of his life he resided where is now the
country residence and grounds of his son, Seth B. Hunt.
He sang in the choir for forty years, commencing at eight
years old. For raany years he was leader of the bass in the
Bennington church choir. He used to say, " When any per
sons expect to get better tunes than ' Old Hundredth,' or
better hymns than those of Dr. Watts, they raust go further
than any whom I know of have gone yet." Isaac T. Rob-

322 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
inson, a leading singer in the choir who stood near him,
related the following reminiscence to the writer : " We
sometimes discussed the comparative merits of old and new
church tunes. Mr. Hunt strenuously advocated the old, I
the new ; but I now think he was right."
He married Miss Naomi Bliss, of Springfield, Mass. She
deceased July 24, 1837. She was a faithful Christian. The
Rev. Dr. Peters relates that, when pastor here, he alwaj's
believed that his preaching benefited Mrs. Hunt and was
appreciated by her, and he felt supported by her interest in
hia miniatry, and her prayers. She used to say, " It is as
much a duty to be cheerful as to go to meeting. She ab
horred selfishness, and assiduously trained her childi^n to
habits of benevolence. She was accustomed to quote a
remark of Mr. Haines, the colored pfeacher : " Selfishness
spoils all that we do." Their children who grew np to adult
years have become membera of some Christian church.
Ruth Hunt, their daughter, united with this church March
4, 1827, deceased Sept. 29, 1867, aged sixty-one. In her
laat years, afflicted with difficulty of seeing, and at length,
owing to paralysis, with almoat total deafneas, and help
lessness otherwise, bnt tenderly cared for by a brother's
and a sister's affection, she ever expressed to the writer of
this notice much gratitude toward them and to her heavenly
Father. Mr. Hunt was one of six of the same Christian name in
direct succession, being himself the flfth. The flrst Jona
than was born in Salem, Mass., in 1637, married in Hart
ford, Conn., Sept. 3, 1662, and died in Northampton, Mass.,
1691 ; the. second in the direct succession, Lieut. Jonathan,
was born in Northampton June 20, 1665, and died there
July 1, 1738 ; the third Jonathan was born April 24, 1697,
married Thankful Strong, and died in Northampton April
22, 1768 ; the fourth married Sarah Parsons, aud died in

ANDREW SELDEN, ESQ. S23
Northampton in 1791 ; the fifth, our Mr. Hunt, died in Ben
nington in 1843 ; the sixth Jonathan Hunt, of San Fran
cisco, is still living. A Jonathan Hunt, descended from the
flrst Northampton ancestor, cleared land in Guilford, Vt., in
1758, was much in public life, and in 1794 and 1795 was
elected lieutenant-governor of this State. His son, Hon.
Jonathan Hunt, of Brattleborough, was meraber of Con
gress, 1827-32. A brother of Lieut.-Gov. Hunt, Gen. Arad
Hunt, gave flve thousand acres of land to Middlebury Col
lege. i
Mrs. or Miss Thankful Hunt was in Bennington in the
days of the flrst raeeting-house, and taught school in the
second story of the porch. She was frora Northampton,
and afterward becarae the second wife of Elisha Lyman, of
Montreal. XVI. Andrew Selden, Esq., " was born at Hadley,
Mass. When j'ouug he removed, with his father, to Stam
ford ; represented that town in the General Assembly for
six successive years frora 1790 ; carae to Bennington about
1797 ; studied la'w with Hon. Jonathan Robinson ; was
admitted to the bar in Deceraber, 1809 ; was register of
probate several j'ears, and died September, 1828, aged sixty-
three." 2 He wrote verses. An ode is in print in connec
tion with an oration of Hou. O. C. Merrill, delivered here
on a celebration of the 16th August. It ia said he cora
poaed one of the odes sung at the dedication of the present
raeeting-house, and printed with the discourse. Alonzo
Selden, of Whitehall, aud Mrs. Angeline Selden are chil
dren of his, and Marcius G. Seldeu, a member of the Meth
odist Church in Bennington village, is a grandson.
1 See Genealogy ofthe Name and Family of Hunt, pp. ^0, 182, 183, 189. This
genealogical record exhibits pedigrees of individuals of tms name in America to
the number of ten thousand.
2 Vermont Hist. Mag.

324 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Clarissa Griswold, who united with this church May,
1803, was the first wife of Marcius L. Selden, and mother
of Marcius G. Selden. Minerva Grisivold, who united with
this church Noveraber 5, 1820, was the second wife of Mar
cius L. Selden, and raother of Capt. Henry and Lieut. Ed
ward A. Selden. Mrs. Alice Griswold, who united with
this church September, 1784, was the mother of the first
and second Mrs. Marcius L. Selden.
Betsey L., first wife of Alonzo Selden, in Whitehall,
united with the church November 5, 1820. Charity Selden,
wife of Andrew Selden, Esq., united with the church Sep
tember 4, 1825. Lieut. Edward A. Selden united with the
church July 4, 1858, was in Company A, fourth Vermont,
in the Army of the Potomac, in its seven days' retreat be
fore Richmond, and died soon after, and was buried in the
church-yard of Westover church, near Harrison's Landing,
Va., warmly cherished in the memory of his relatives and
friends. Capt. Henry Selden, deceased, married Miss
Manning, grand-daughter of Jonathan E. Robinson, Esq.
Almira Selden was a native of Bennington. She united
with this church November 5, 1820 ; was married to Mr.
Edgerton, and died in Buffalo, N. Y. She published, in
1820, a 16mo volume of 152 pages, entitled "Effusions of
the Heart, contained in a Number of Original Poetical
Pieces on Various Subjects." She penned the following
stanzas on the Bennington battle : i —
"No Lethean draught can ever drown
The memory of that day of fear,
When the wild echo of farewell
From parent, husband, child, and wife.
Seemed sadder than the funeral knell
That tells the certain flight of life;
Yet Preedmn spake. Faith raised her rampart pure.
And holy confldence gave victory sure.
1 Vermout Hist. Mag.

AN OVE. 325
'Then firmer than the native pine
That tops thy mountains ever green,
Led by Almighty smiles divine.
Facing their foes thy sous were seen, —
'As when the livid lightning keen
Tears from the pine some stem away.
Yet still unmoved the trunk is seen :
Thus Stai'k stood victor ofthe day,
And while the voice of triumph met his ear.
He for the dying foe shed pity's tear."
28

CHAPTER XXIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
1803 AND AFTERWARD.
)EACON Jotham French came from the vicinity of
Boston. He was a shoemaker. Before his conver
sion he was a deist. He was hopefully converted,
and united with this church July 1, 1811, under the
ministry of the Rev. Mr. Marsh. In subsequent
years, being inquired of by Mr. Peters (Mr. Marsh's
successor in the ministry here) about the cause of his con
version, he replied, " The goodness of God leadeth to
repentance." His wife had been dangerously ill and recov
ered. He afterward learned that Deacon Bingham, who
lived not far frora him, had made her recovery a subject of
special prayer. He was elected deacon April 12, 1816, and
continued in the office until his death, April 30, 1825. He
resided in the house on the road to Esquire Edgerton's,
and about half a mile this aide ; Deacon Bingham, about
the same distance beyond Esquire Edgerton's, on the
same road. He was familiar with the Scriptures. He had
an excellent raemoj-y, and stored his mind with passages of
Scripture to support his deistical principles in argument, of
which he was fond. When converted, his knowledge of the
Scriptures was employed in defence of the faith he had
before sought to destroy. He died a happy death. Mr.
Peters, his pastor, went to see him, and, when returning.

IIILLIAM PARK. 327
some one asked hira, "How is Deacon French?" The
reply was, " On the borders of a better world."
n. Mr. Harvey united with this church in the ministry
of the Rev. Mr. Marsh, 1811. There are three other indi
viduals of the narae on the roll of the church ; araong these
Rev. William Harvey united with this church in the
ministry of the Rev. Mr. Peters, and became a minister of
.the gospel and raissionary in India, where he fell a victim
to the Asiatic cholera a few years afterward.
III. Daniel Nichols united with the church in 1803.
There are twelve individuals of this narae on the church-
roll, six of whom united with the church the same year,
1811, ministry of Mr. Marsh ; James, James B., Electa,
Sophia, died May, 1824 (wife of S. Hathaway, Jr.), Rachel,
Fanny, died Dec. 23, 1862, a warm-hearted Christian, aud
faithfully attached to the old church.
IV. Park. — Betsej' Park, Jfrs. Wilson, sister of Wil
liam Park, united with the church in 1803. Sophia, another
sister, Mrs. Capt. David Lyman, an earnest and exeraplary
Christian lady, mother of A. P. Lyman, Esq., and Mrs.
Col. White, united with the church in 1817.
William Park united with this church Nov. 3, 1833, born
Jan. 15, 1782, deceased April 18, 1867, in the eighty-sixth
year of he^ age. He was a remarkable man. He possessed
much intelligence, was thoroughly hospitable, aud of sin
gular honesty, sincerity, and firmness of principle ; he was
an early and life-long friend of the temperance and anti-
slavery reformations, and a hurable and devout Christian.
The coraraunity in which he lived on Woodford hill felt
in his influence the power of a daily life of godliness.

328 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
Several suggestive and valuable reminiscences of the early
history of this town and church were received from him by
the wi'iter of these pages. He was a warm personal friend
and great admirer of the Rev. Daniel A. Clark. His wife,
Sarah, united with this church Sept. 2, 1827, and deceased
July, 1854 ; esteeraed and beloved by all.
Cynthia, Mrs. Luther Park, united with this church
Jan. 6, 1833, — early in the ministry of Rev. Dr. Hooker,
and their children were baptized by hira. A son, Austin
Park, is a minister of the gospel. (She removed her connec
tion to the Second Congregational Church.) The Hon. T.
W. Park is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Luther Park.
V. Thayer. — Betsey and Nancy Thayer united with
the church in March, 1803 ; and Clarissa in July of the
same year; Ruby Thayer, Mrs. Lawrence, in 1812; died
Oct. 10, 1836. There are seven individuals of this name
on the roll of the church. The Rev. Nelson Davis, of
Lisbon, Conn., who preached here with others temporarilj' in
the revival in 1803, was a relative of the Thayer family, and
our townsman, Mr. Nelson Thayer, was named for him.
VI. Jacob Pool and his wife, Zeruah, united with this
church March 4, 1821. He was born in Abington Feb. 2,
1767; he removed to this town Dec, 1805, and deceased
April 1, 1864, at nearly ninetj'-seven j'eara of age. The
average age of hia father and two brothers, at their deaths,
was ninety-flve. He was superintendent of the Sabbath
school for a time during the rainistry of Mr. Peters, and
also that of Mr. Clark. He was possessed of a sound and
clear intellect, and deeply attached to the Hopkinsian
scheme of divinity. He had great muscular atrength and
agility, and in wrestling was a match for all competitors.
He conducted faraily worship until a year and a half before
his deceaae.

LYMAN PATCHIN. 329
VII. Charles Wright, Esq., son of Solomon Wright, of
Pownal, was boru in 1786, graduated at Williams College,
studied law with Chancey Langdon, of Castleton, and waa
adraitted to the bar of Rutland County in 1807. He soon
after coraraenced the business of his profession in Benning
ton, in whicli he continued until his decease, Feb. 15, 1819.
At the time of his death he had the largest aud most lucra
tive practice of anj- lawyer in the county, and sustained a
high reputation for professional t.alent and integrity.^ He
married Eunice Robinson, daughter of Col. Moses, and
grand-daughter of Gov. IMoses Robinson, and daughter of
Ruth, and grand-daughter of C!apt. Elijah Dewey.
VIII. Lyman Patchin was born in the towu of Half-
Moon, Saratoga Co., N.Y. He carae to Bennington in
March, 1809, aud entered into partnership with Mr. Vibard,
under the flrra narae of Otis Vibard & Co. Iuthe spring of
1812 he purchased the house aud store belonging to the
estate of Charles Nairne in Bennington Centre, oue door
south of the old court-house. He was a merchant in tbe
same place forty j"ears, and accumulated in his business for
the times a largo property. He possessed a remarkably
flrra will, and was very energetic, exact, aud thorough in
all business raatters. He came into the town with an empty
purse, and made hia own way to fortune. He was raarried
July 22, 1810, to Faiinj', daughter of Capt. Sa.xton Squire.
Lyman and Henry Patchin, and Mrs. Samuel S. Scott,
deceased, are their children. Mr. Patchin was afterward
married to Mrs. Sarah Maria Wells, his second wife. He
deceased Aug. 16, 1857, in the seventy-second year of his
age. He was regularlj' in his place in the sanctuarj' on the
forenoon of the Sabbath, and an attentive listener.'
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
28*

330 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
IX. John Vanderspiegel was born iu New York city
Sept. 30, 1773. He came here from Lansingburgh in 1810.
He was married to Laura, daughter of Deacon Aaron Hub
bell, Aug. 6, 1815. He deceased Nov. 24, 1848, in the
seventy-sixth year of his age. The following is an extract
from an obituary of him, published iuthe paper at the time :
" Mr. Vanderspiegel was a worthy citizen ; respectable as
a magistrate, and gentlemanly in his deportment, generous
and liberal in his intercourse with his neighbors, and kind
and affectionate in all his domestic relations."
X. " Hon. Trueman Squire came to Bennington to reside
in 1810. He was born at Woodbury, Conn., in Jan., 1764 ;
was in the practice of law at Manchester for several years
prior to and after the year 1800, where he held the office of
State's attorney two years, juflge of probate three years,
from 1793, and was also secretary to the governor and
council for several years. He was a good lawyer and an
upright man, and had the respect and confidence of all."i
XI. Mrs. Betsey (Austin) Carpenter united with the
church Aug. 6, 1§20. She was descended from. Mr. John
Austin, who settled in Bennington, it is believed, some time
subsequently to the Revolutionary AVar. Fond of religious
reading, edifying in conversation, a pattern of cheerfulness,
exemplary in life's various duties, she was an ornament to
her profession as a disciple of Christ. She died suddenly
Aug. 23, 1862.
XH. Robert Crossett united with this church Nov. 5,
1820. Isaac Crossett became a member of this church
March 4, 1827, and was subsequently a deacon in^the Sec
ond Congregational Church iu this town. He has since de-
¦ 1 Vermont lllst. Mag.

MRS. SUSANNAH WATSON. 331
ceased. He was much respected for his amiable virtues
and his consistency as a Christian and an officer in the
church. There are five individuals of the name on the roll
of the Bennington First Church.
XIII. Lewis Chandler and his wife united with this
church March 7, 1824. He was tlie father of Dea. Samuel
Chandler. They removed here from Bernardston, Masa.
He died here at eighty-six yeara of age. For months before
his decease, though naturallj' a strong-minded man, he
ceased to recognize his neighbors and to take any con
nected interest in worldly affairs, but his mind was bright
and steadfast with regard to his Christian hope. He had
desired such a trust in Christ as would enable him to feel
the assurance that all his sins were forgiven. This trust
was vouchsafed to him, and he would frequently ejaculate,
" Blessed Jesus ! " He had reraarkable views of his Saviour
and of heaven.
XIV. Mrs. Susannah Watson united with this church
Nov. 6, 1831. She deceased Sept. 15, 1862, quite advanced
in years, having lived a life of remarkable cheerfulness and
benevolence of spirit. She came to North Bennington to
reside many years ago, and reared a large family of sons
and daughters, who became Christian raen and woraen.
Miss Nancy Watson, her daughter, resided with her
mother in North Bennington, united with this church by
letter, and deceased April 25, 1861. She was marked by
enthusiasm and intelligence as a disciple of Christ and mem
ber of his church. She was much valued by her ministers
and others as au eflTicient helper in every good work.
Mrs.^Betsey Watson, wife of Dea. Watson, of the North
Bennington Baptist Church, and daughter of Dea. Calvin
Bingham, united with this church May 6, 1827, deceased

332 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
July 13, 1860 ; ever deeply interested in religion, and its
institution and progress in the world.
XV. Dr. William Bigelow was boru in Middletown,
Vt., Nov. 7, 1791, and married to Miss Dorinda Brewster,
of the same place, Oct. 9, 1815. He was hopefully con
verted to God in the suramer of 1816. About this time he
went to reside in Fairhaven, in this State, as a practising
physician, and on the first Sabbath in 1817, with seventy
or eightj' others, he united with the church, and afterward
was elected deacon there. He removed to Bennington in
Noveraber, 1829. Though coming into a comraunity of
high social position, and where erainent physicians were
already established, he at once took his place with the fore
most in his profession, and ever maintained it.
On one occasion his fellow-citizens of this district elected
him to represent them in the Senate of this State. His
social powers, his observations upon men aud events, his
interest in public affairs and the prosperity of the commu
nity, his genial and generous nature, were alike remarkable.
Owing to ill health he was not exerapt from depression of
spirits, but he learned the art of forgetting himself and so
conversing as to cheer others. Those who prized him as a
physician, or in any relation as a personal friend, did so
with no common attachment.
He was an impressive speaker. Gracefulness of mind
and person contributed to thia. Hia manner waa dignified,
and his feeling genuine. This talent he frequently exer
cised in gatherings of his fellow-citizens, but more con
stantly in the prayer and conference meeting. He regarded
the duty as aacred. To some it might have appeared un
studied with him, as he seldom suffered an occasion for the
performance of it to pass unimproved ; but his remarlss were
not unpremeditated, and were often prepared with much

DR. BIGELOW. 333
deliberation and care. In no place was his influence more
happy than in business meetings of the church.* There often
occur in such meetings critical differences of opinion, or hesi
tancy on the part of brethren to act. At such times his
counsels ever helped the good cause to move forward. He
was on two or more occasions elected superintendent of the
Sabbath school. He was one of the committee on the last
revision ofthe articles of faith and covenant of this church.
When he first came to Bennington the great competition
between the "Old Line" and the "Pioneer," aa the two
rival academiea were termed, waa at its height. It becarae
necessarj- for his children, if they should go to the " Pio
neer" academj', to pass by the "Old Line" institution,
which was a thing then not pleasant to do. His children
anxiously inquired of him to which of the schools he would
send thera. He replied, "It is not necessarj' for you to
know until the time comes." When the time came he sent
one to the " Old Line " and one to the " Pioneer."
At the same time there was a certain authority in what
ever he said or did. He would never allow any one to
speak disrespectfully of religion in his presence. Physi
cians whom he very much respected for their talents and
professional acquirements, but who were irreligious, would
soraetiraes let drop sorae irreverent expression ; he never
allowed such freedora to pass unrebuked, but would so reply
that probably the person offending in that way would not
repeat the offence.
When the Rev. Mr. Foot preached his revival serraons in
Bennington, and took extreme ground in favor of human
activity in conversion. Dr. Bigelow remarked, " He leavea
nothing for rae to pray for."
On Oct. 5, 1858, owing to ill-health, which obliged him
to relinquish active professional duties, he went to Spring
field, Mass., to reside with his son, Edmund Bigelow. He

334 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
however continued, so long as his strength perraitted, to
practise as «onsulting physician, and received marked re
spect from the medical profession there. He continued at
Springfield his wonted labors as a member of the church,
removing his church-relationship to that place.
At his funeral there his pastor. Rev. Mr. Parsons, said,
" As I look around upon this assemblj', I see ten phj'sicians,
and I wish to say to thein that Dr. Bigelow always found
time to attend church, and also to attend to hia patienta."
He revisited Bennington nearlj' every aummer after his
removal from this town, aud passed a winter with his
daughter, Mrs. John Squires, in Troy, N. Y. Upon his de
cease, according to his request, his remains were brought
and interred here. He died iu Springfield April 13, 1863.
XVI. Gay R. Sanford, and his wife, Hannah,
daughter of Capt. Brown, of Southburj', Conn., united
Avith this church Nov. 6, 1831 ; both invalids for years,
and called to endure great bodily suffering, j'et unflinch
ing in resolution, proverbiallj- cheerful, rejoicing in the
prosperity of religion, devoted to the happiness and wel
fare of their children, and remembered with much affection
and esteem for their generous hospitality and manj' vir
tues, lliey carae here to reside, frora Harwiuton, Conn.,
in 1829. Mr. Sanford was successfully engaged in mercan
tile pursuits with his brother-in-law, Hon. S. II. Brown.
Mr. Sanford deceased Nov. 9, 1853 ; his wife, Oct. 23, 1859.
XVII. Hon. John H. Olin was the son of Hon. Gid
eon Olin, of Shaftsburj', and resided in Shaftsbury. He
was born in Rhode Island, Oct. 12, 1772, and came to
Shaftsbury, in his father's faraily, in 1776, and died there
June 17, 1860. He was two years judge of probate, and
eight, from 1817 to 1825, one of the judges of the County

NOTE BY THE WRITER.

335

Court. He united with the Bennington First Church
March 3, 1839. A little more than a year before his de
cease he was with this church at its celebration of the
Lord's Supper, and, thinking it raight be the last time, as
it was, he rose in his place, and, in a very feeling and ap
propriate manner, expressed his attachraent to his fellow-
members of the church, and testified to hia faith and hope
in Christ. He endeared himself to others by the warmth
and frankness of his nature, and his intelligent and genial
conversation, and was widely respected and esteemed.

In referring to the fact of joining the Bennington First Church,
the writer flnds there has been constantly an unconscious use of
the terms, " the church," and " this church ; " partly because he has
written from his own stand-point as pastor of the church named,
partly to avoid the more cumbrous repetition of the distinctive
title, but chiefly because most of the instances addUQed date back
of the existence of other churches in the town.
In the above numerous personal notices it cannot be but that
mistakes have occurred, which kind readers will be most likely
to notice so far as their own families are concerned ; these can
readily correct such mistakes in their own copies, and the copies
of others most interested.
In bringing tho personal notices to a conclusion, the writer de
sires to express the sincere wish that it li.ad been better done;
but he has also to s,ay that he has done what he could. This part
of the volume has occasioned him more labor and anxiety than
any other; particularly he regrets not to have been able to em
brace to a greater extent, in these sketches, persons, who, since
the organization of the otlier churches in town, have deceased iu
connection with those churches and parishes respectively. This
he could not do ivitliout extending this volume and his labors
beyond all practicable limits, nor even then to any good purpose,
for want of suitable information.

CHAPTER XXIV.
EDUCATION.
JOMMON SCHOOLS. In the town plot granted
''^ by charter of the governor and council of New
Hampshire, Jan. 3, 1749, oue of the sixtj'-four
lots was for schools. On Jan. 19, 1763, it was
voted at a proprietors' meeting,
"To send a petition to the General Court of the province of
New Hampshire, to raise a tax on all the lauds in Benniugton,
resident and non-resident, to build a meeting-house aud a school-
house, and mills, aud for highways and a bridge." "May 9,
1763, voted to I'.iise six dollars on each right of land in said Ben
nington for building a meeting-house and school-house."
The first district school-house stood about four rods west
of the present residence of Mrs. S. II. Blackmer. Mr.
Bancroft, referring to a period of time as early as 1765,
states that the inhabitanta of Bennington, at that time,
had provided " three several public schoola." i
" As the settlements extended, new schools were opened,
and they have been ever since kept in all parts of the
town, so that a convenient opportunity has at all times
been afforded to all the children and j'outh within its lim
its to obtain instruction in the common English branches
of education." 2
The earliest, as well as all the records, both of the town
and the church, are remarkably free from those monstrosi-
1 Vol. v., p. 291. 2 Vermont Hist. Mag.

EDUCATION IN THE STATE. 337
ties in spelling and grammar which are so apt to charac
terize the antiquarian documents of town and church
histories. II. Education in the State. — As it raay be assumed
that the Bennington early settlers, being also pioneers in
Vermont, maj' have had some infiuence on the character of
the educational inatitutiona of the State at large, it may
not be irrelevant to adduce the early history of the State
¦n-ith reference to this subject. In the first constitution
(1777) is the following article: —
" A school or schools shall be established in each town, by the
legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth. . . . One
grammar school in each county, and one university in this State,
ought to be established by direction of the General Assembly."
In accordance with this instrument, we find at an early
date, and subsequently araong the atatutes of the State,
efiScient school laws. An act, passed in 1787, is at hand
for example : —
"For the due encouragement of learning, etc. ; that each town
shall be divided, when necessary, into convenient school districts;
one or more meet persons, together with the selectmen, to be trus
tees of the schools in the town; a district committee to be ap
pointed at a meeting of the district, who shall be empowered to
raise one-half of the money necessary for building and repairing
a school-house, and supporting a school, etc., by a tax on the in
habitants of the district; the other half of the expenses to be
provided for in a meeting of the district, either by a tax, or by a
subscription in proportion to the number of children any person
shall send to such district school."
The following remarks, by Dr. Williams, respecting the
interest of the early settlers of this State in education, are
so creditable to them, and so intrinsically just, they are in
serted here : — 29

338 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
" The aim of the parent is not so much to have her children
acquainted with the liberal arts and sciences, but to have them all
taught to read with ease and propriety; to write a plain and
legible hand ; and to have them acquainted with the rules of arith
metic, so far as shall be necessary to carry on any of the most
common and necessary occupations of life. All the children are
trained up to this kind of knowledge. They are accustomed from
their earliest years to read the Holy Scriptures, the periodical
pubUcations, newspapers, and political pamphlets ; to form some
general acquaintance with the laws of their country, the proceed
ings ofthe courts of justice, ofthe General Assembly ofthe State,
and ofthe Congress, etc. ' Such a kind of education is common
and universal in every part of the State. And notliing would be
more dishonorable to the parents or the children than to be with
out it.' One of the flrst things the new settlers attend to is to
procure a school-master to instruct their children in the arts of
reading, writing, and arithmetic ; and where they are not able to
procure or hire an instructor,the parents attend to it themselves." '
t
From 1780, the tiine of the incorporation of Clio Hall in
Bennington, until 1807, twenty-five countj- grammar schools
and academies were incorporated in the State.^ Vermont
University was chartered in 1791 , in connection with a dona
tion of four thousand pounds from Ira Allen, but was not
imraediately organized. Middlebury College was chartered
in 1800, and went into iraraediate vigorous operation.
Vermont University was organized soon after at Burling
ton, the institution of learning at Norwich in 1820 ; Castle
ton Medical College, 1818'; Vermont Medical College, 1827.3
The highly esteemed pastor of the writer in hia boyhood,
in Derby, Conn., Rev. Zephaniah Swift, was a Vermonter
by birth, and received a portion of his academical, and, it
is believed, his theological education in Bennington. A

1 Hist. Vermont, Walpole, 1794, pp. 221-25. ;
2 Tolman's Statutes, 1808, , Appendix.
3 See lists of colleges and other seminaries of learning with officers, graduates,
and students, lu Thompson's Vermont.

CLIO HALL. 339
subsequent pastor ofthe sarae church, while the writer's home
was still there, the Rev. Hollis Read, the raissionarj' and
author, was a Verraonter by birth, and at the least came to
Bennington for his wife. When the writer was settled as
pastor in Staraford, Conn., everj' neighboring Congrega
tional pastor, and at least two other pastors, distinguished
members of the sarae rainisterial association,were either grad
uates of Verraont colleges or natives of this State. This is
by no means an isolated illustration of the fact that Ver
mont has nobly contributed to the clerical profession as
well abroad as at horae. If in Connecticut, how rauch raore
in the new States of the West ? The following rerainiscence,
furnished to the " Bennington Banner " by Deacon Stephen
Binghara, is so much in point, it shall be given here : " Mr.
Sanders, the author of an excellent series of school-books,
¦was at ray house several j'ears ago, in order to introduce
some of his books into the schools. . A rainister of thia
town, forraerly from Massachusetts, was there also. During
the interview Mr. Sanders said, ' I have been through all
the middle, the western, and south-western States, to intro
duce my books ; and I find more teachers from Vermont
than frora any other State.' Tho rainister exclaimed in
surprise, ' What ! more thau from Massachusetts? ' ' Yes,'
replied Mr. Sanders, ' more than from Massachusetts. For
I seldom go into a place inhere there are two or three schools
but I find at least one teacher from Vermont.' "
III. Academies. — Clio Hall was the first incorporated
acaderay in the State. The act of incorporation was passed
Nov. 3, 1780. The building stood on the corner where the
present raeeting-house stands. It was for long in a flourishing
condition. Mr. Eldad T>ev.'cy, grandson of the Rev. Jedi
diah Dewey, was principal for several years. A notice of
the celebration of the tenth anniversary of the Benniugton

340 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
battle, in the "Vermont Gazette" of Aug. 20, 1787,
shows that educational interests, and Clio Hall in partic
ular, were not forgotten in the raaking up of the programme.
A place in the procession was assigned to the rector and
students, and the quarterly examination of the students
was held both forenoon and afternoon, in connection with
the other public exercises, in the meeting-house. In 1803
the Clio Hall building was destroyed by fire.
William S. Cardell, educated at Williams College, and
with scientific and literary acquirements of a high order,
resided in the North Bennington village 1805 to 1806,
and took pleasure in imparting instruction and promoting
a taste for learning among the youth of the village and
neighborhood.' Union Academy, in the east village, was incorpor
ated about 1816, and a building erected. The brick
building in the centre village, called Bennington Acad
emy, was erected in 1821, " in which the higher branches
were successfully taught for many years." The institution
now called Mount Anthony Seminary was established in
1829. This and the Bennington Academy were rival
schools from 1829 until 1837. The teachers in the " serai
nary" have been Mr. — now Rev. — Addison Ballard, Rev.
Gurden Haj'es, Mr. G. W. Yates, and now Mr. Yates in
partnership with Mr. S. Benjarain Jones. The list of
teachers in the Bennington Acaderay is not at hand, — Prof.
W. II. Parker, now of Middlebury College, was one. A
high school was commenced and a new acaderay building
erected in the east village in 1833. " It enjoyed the patron
age of the Baptist denomination of the town and vicinity,
and was for several years in a flourishing condition under
the successive charges of Messrs. Adiel Harvey, Horace
Fletcher, Justin A. Smith, Williara G. Brown, and others."
1 Vermont 11 ist. Mag.

COLLEOE GRADUATES AND OTHERS. , 341
Mias Eliza M. Clark and sisters opened a j'oung ladies' board
ing-school in the east village, Bennington village, in 1859.
In North Bennington a building, which had been erected
for a Universalist church, was, in 1,849, purchased by the
citizens, and fitted up for an acaderay. Mr. Carpenter,
Messrs. Knight and Gould, and others have taught th'e
higher branches in this school. i
IV. College Graduates and Others. — Eldad Dewey,
Nathan Robinson, Esq., Willi.ara A. Griswold, Esq., and
one of the Harraons, are recollected by an old citizen as
raembers of Dartmouth College, all at the same time.
Jonathan E. Robinson, Esq., David Robinson, Esq., and
Governor John S. Robinson were graduated at Williams Col
lege. Martin, a promising son of Jesse Field, went to col
lege and died there. Governor Tichenor was a gradu
ate of Nassau Hall. The successive pastors of the Ben-
ninton church, after tlie first pastor, have all been college
graduates. We have not at hand materiala for making out
a complete list of college graduatea, or of the sons of Ben
nington who have distinguished theraselves without a col
lege education, in the professions, in public office, aud in
raercantile or other business life. A great number of names
will be found connected with some more or less particular
notice of them throughout this volurae. Bennington has
a long list of sons, of whose talents, energy, and succeaa in
the world she raay justly be proud. And her present
irapetus in enterprise, wealthy and taste, — an augury of a
bright future, — doubtless, in no sraall degree, worthily
represents the energy which, for forty years or raore of
her early history, raade her a controlling town in the State,
and an evidence that educational infiueuces fltted to foster
and promote energy of mind have not been wanting.
1 See the article on Education in Vermont Hist. Mag., p. 163.
29*

CHAPTER XXV.
CHURCHES ORGANIZED IN BENNINGTON SUBSEQUENT
LY TO THE ORGANIZATION OF THE BENNINGTON
FIRST CHURCH. 1762-1862.
)HE Rev. J. Hibbard and his People. — For a
portion of the time during the ministry of Mr.
Dewey, Rev. Ithamar Hibbard resided in the west
part of the town ; and, for a short time, was minis
ter of a congregation which assembled at his house.
The site of his residence is well known as the Hib
bard lot. It is on the north-western slope of INIt. Anthony.
At that time a road wound round the mountain nearer its
base than the road now does, and passed along the border
of the Hibbard lot. There are few traditions and still fewer
recorded particulars of this congregation. There is reason
to believe that it was an atterapt at a more radical Separa
tism than the Bennington church, as a body, approved.
There are two brief entries, and only two, concerning it,
in the Bennington church records : " November 12, 1772.
The church being met by appointment, the meeting being
opened by prayer, agreed to send for a council, on condi
tion Mr. Hibbard and his people would drop Mr. Frothing-
ham ; and, for ourselves, chose Mr. Miller and Mr. Park."
This Mr. Frothingham might have been Rev. Ebenezer
Frolhingham, first pastor of the Separate (now South)
church, in Middletown, Conn., 1747-1788. The Mr. Miller

BENNINGTON CHURCHES. 343
was, doubtless. Rev. Alexander Miller, pastor of the Sepa
rate church iu Plainfield, Conn. The other. Rev. Paul
Park, pastor of a Separate church in Preston, Conn. " De
cember 31, 1772. The church having met by appointment,
the meeting being opened by prayer, voted to send an
epistle to the churches concerning Mr. Hibbard and his
people ; their setting up as a church in the manner they
have done, and their conduct thereupon."
The following particulars of Mr. Hibbard's hiatory are
frora a "Fiftieth Anniversary Discourse," delivered at
Poultney, in 1852, by Rev. John Goadby : "This little
church" (the Baptist church of Poultnej') "in ita infancy
united with the Congregational church in supporting the
gospel, in worship, and in communion, under the pastoral
care of Itharaar Hibbard, who had been a chaplain in the
army of the Revolution. He w-as the first settled minister
in the town, and, it is aupposed, carae with an organized
church frora Bennington. In 1785 or 1786 sorae difficulty
arose araong the Congregationalists in relation to their pas
tor, some inforraalitj' connected with his ordination being
alleged as the ground of dissatisfaction  The
result was the organization of another Congregational
church." " It was expected by Mr. Hibbard's friends that
the newly organized church intended to take advantage
of the alleged informality in his ordination to dispute
his right to the lands appropriated to the first settled min
ister. To preclude the attempt, a council was called about
the year 1788, when he was ordained according to the Con
gregational order. His previous ordination was according to
the strict Congregational order." In 1796 the two churches
were united, and Mr. Ilibb.ard, who had continued pastor of
his own church up to this time, was moderator of the meeting
at which the union of the two churches was effected. In
1798 he became pastor of the church in Hubbardton, and

344 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
died there March, 1802. Before his dismission from the
Poultney church " he became a free-mason, which was a
trial to many."
Mr. Hibbard was a meraber of the Verraont General As
sembly, in 1778, from Wells ; also in 1779, as appears by
the journal.
He is spoken of as an orthodox and sincere man, and of
respectable attainraents, with a voice which in preaching
and praj'er could be distinctly heard at the residence of
¦ Aaron Hubbell. Several verses, entitled " The Death ofthe
Saint desirable,'' printed by Anthony Haswell in a collec
tion of anonymous pieces, have been assigned by tradition
to Mr. Hibbard as their author.
One of his sous was the flrst settled minister in West
Haven, Vt.
With the above slight exception, if exception it can be
called, the Bennington church was alone until April 11,
1827. It was not designated by any denominational title.
Its simple name waa The Church of Christ in Benning-
, TON. Up to this time the present house of worship in Ben
nington Centre and its predecessor were the only houses of
worship for the whole town. At the close of this period
. the Protestant population of the town was nearly as large
. as it is now. i
II. The First Baptist Church ' was organized April 1 1 ,
1827 ; its flrst meeting-house erected in 1830, and dedicated
July 7 of that year. Its pastors have been as follows :
The Reverends F. Baldwin, June 28, to October, 1830 ;
Thomas Teasdale, until February, 1832 ; Jeremiah Hall,
for three years, until April, 1835 ; Samuel B. Willis, for
one year, ending June, 1836 ; Stephen Hutchins, 1836-41 ;
1 The following statistics are taken chiefly from the Vermont Hist. Mag., pp.
102-3.

BENNINGTON CHURCHES. 345
William W. Moore, for one year, ending in 1843 ; Cyrus
W. Hodges, frora the fall of 1843 to that of 1848 ; Edward
Conover, 1849-52 ; Mr. Conover was succeeded by the Rev.
A. Judson Chaplin, and he by the Rev. Warren Lincoln ;
the Rev. E. B. Palmer preached one year ; the Rev. William
S. Apsey succeeded him. The number of memb'ers, at the
close of the year 1862, was one hundred and forty-seven ;
the number at its organization, thirty-two.
III. The Methodist Episcopal Church, in Bennington
Village, was organized in Maj', 1827 ; its meeting-house
.erected in 1833. The following named clergyraen have been
stationed here since May, 1827, for two years each : The
Reverends Cyrus Prindle, John M. Weaver, Wright Hazen,
Henry Burton, Henry Sraith,  Hubbard, C. R. Wilkins,
Jesse Craig, J. W. Belknap, H. B. Knight, R. Wescott, C.
R. Wilkins, Merrit Bates, H. R. Sraith, Ensign Stover ;
1856-57, J. E. Bowen; 1858-59,0. R. Morris; 1860-61, S.
P. Williaras ; 1862-63, Jonas Phillips. The nuraber of mem
bers at the close of 1862 was one hundred and seventy, and
thirty probationers.
IV. St. Peter's Church (Episcopal) was organized
July 24, 1834, under the ministry of the Rev. Nathaniel O.
Preston, and a cliurch ediflce built of brick in 1836, which
was consecrated July 22, 1839. The Rev. Mr. Preston con
tinued in charge of the parish until the fall of 1844, and was
succeeded by the Rev. C. L. Todd for one year, and by the
Rev. E. F. Remington for a few months. The Rev. George
B. Manser, D.D., became rector in February, 1850, and
deceased Nov. 17, 1862, aged flfty-nine years and three
months. Dr. Manser was widely respected, and hia death
felt to be a public loss as well as a sore bereavement to hia
flock. Hia successor was the Rev. Duane S. Phillips. The

346 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
number of coramunicants, at the close of 1862, was one hun
dred and twenty-six.
V. The Hinsdillville Presbyterian Church was or
ganized Nov. 1, 1834, by a colony from the First (Congre
gational) Church. The Reverends Messrs. Kenney, Johnson,
and Nott were successivelj' pastors. The church ceased its
active existence in 1842, and the members, who orighially
numbered seventj'-flve, mostly returned to the church from
which they had colonized.
VI. The Second Congregational Church, being also
a colonj' from the old church, was organized April 26, 1836,
and soon afterward the Rev. Aretes Loomis became its pas
tor. -He continued in the pastorate until Nov. 6, 1850, and
was succeeded by his son-in-law, the Rev. Andrew Bever
idge, for a short time.
The Rev. Mr. Loomis, after his dismission, continued to
preach in various places with acceptance and usefulness
until a short time before his decease, which took place in
Bennington, where he resided. He ¦was logical, clear in his
style, conscientious, and faithful, and enjoyed the highest
confidence of all as a minister, a Christian, a man, and a
citizen. Two of his sons and a son-in-law are ministers
of the gospel.
The Rev. C. H. Hubbard coraraenced his ministrj' here in
1851, and still continues. The number of merabers, at the
close of 1862, was one hundred and ninety-seven.
VII. A Universalist Meeting-iiouse was erected in
North Bennington in 1836. The Reverends Messrs. G.
Leach, Bell, Warren Skinner, and others successively offi
ciated as clergymen. In 1849 the building was purchased
for an academy, and has been since occupied aa auch.

BENNINGTON CHURCHES. 347
VIII. The Baptist Ciiurch at North Bennington was
organized in July, 1844, aud in 1845 a neat and convenient
house of worahip erected. The Rev. Justin A. Sraith
becarae pastor in 1844, and continued in that relation for
nearly five years, until July, 1849. He was in a few raonths
succeeded by the Rev. J. D. E. Jonea, who continued in
charge of the church until the spring of 1855. Then the
Rev. Williara Hancock was the pastor for one year, and the
Rev. Jay Huntington, for four years, 1856-60. His suc
cessor was the Rev. Jireh Tucker. The church nurabered,
at the close of 1862, ninety-five raembers.
IX. The Methodist Episcopal Church, in Hinsdillville,
was organized in the spring of 1858, and the old house of
worship, built in 1835 for the Presbyterian congregation,
was purchased and repaired for their use. The Rev. J. E.
Bowen was stationed there, 1858-59. His successor was
the Rev. Mr. McChesney. The Rev. G. Cuyler Thoraas,
1861-62, with a raeraberahip of ninetj'-four.
As long ago as 1836 a sraall chapel had been built about
half a mile from the present church, which waa supplied
with preaching in connection with another Methodist Epis
copal society in Hoosick. Among the clergyraen who thus
officiated here ¦were the Reverends A. A. Farr, in 1840 ; F.
D. Sherwood, in 1841-42 ; C. Barber, in 1843-44 ; Williara
Henry, in 1845 ; A. Jones, in 1846-47 ; and J. Sage, in
1848-49. After this, regular preaching was suspended until
the new organization in 1858.
In 1857-58 there was an extensive revival in the north
east part of the town, araong the fruits of which were addi
tions to the several churches, and a chapel built, where
preaching is raore or less regularly supplied by the pastors
ofthe Methodist Episcopal denoraination, and a flourishing
Sabbath achool raaintained.

348 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
X. For sorae years previous to 1850, Father O. Calli-
ghan, residing at Burlington, held occasional Roraan Cath
olic meetings in the court-house in this town. He was
succeeded by tbe Rev. Mr. Daley, who carae regularly at
stated times. He was succeeded, in 1855, by the Rev. Mr.
Drnon, who resided here, and under Avhose administration
a convenient church building was erected the same year.
He remained about two years. The Rev. Mr. Bayden, from
Rutland, then ofliciated until January, 1859. Then the Rev
erends Messrs. Cloarce and Fitzgerald successively. Father
Dennis A. Ryan is the present minister. At the close of
1862 his congregation numbered some one hundred and
forty families in the town.
Note. — A Congregational church was organized in North Ben
nington in 18G8.

CHAPTER XXVI.
THE CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION.
/(V?'o)HE celebration of the centennial anniversary of the
church's organization, which in point of chronology
would more appropriately have been held on Dec.
3, 1862, was appointed to the first Sabbath of Janu
ary, 1863, — (Jan. 4.)
Some Extracts from an Account op the Cele
bration, bj' Richard M. Green, M.D., in the "Bennington
Banner," of a subsequent date, will not be deemed out of
place among these records of the old church : —
" The weather was unusually fine, and it waa in every
way oue of the most pleasant days that we ever have at this
season of the year." It was so warm no fire was needed in
the house, and some ofthe windows were a part ofthe time
opened, — a remarkable circumstance for this latitude in
midwinter. " Thus those who lived at a distance, — in par
ticular raany of the aged, and others whom it raight have
been expected would be detained at horae under ordinary
circurastances bj' the rigor of the season, were enabled to
be present on this most interesting occasion. An invita
tion had been extended to the other and younger churches
of the town to gather at this old house and join in the ser
vices of the daj'. The different choirs, also, had been invited
to take part in the singing, which they did under the direc
tion of Mr. John Faj', the beloved leader of the choir of the
old church. For some time before the appointed hour the
houae was crowded to the extent of its accoramodations,
30

350 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
and it was soon necessary to raake use of all the seats and
benches that could be placed in the aisles. It was easy to
see that no feelings of raere curiosity had gathered together
this large assembly, or any part of it, but a deep interest
iu, and syrapathy with, the occasion. At the appointed
time Rev. Mr. Phillips, Of the Methodist Church, opened
the exercises by asldng the blessing of God on those pres
ent, and the object for whieh they had come together. ' Cor
onation' was then sung. After which. Rev. Mn Hubbard,
of the Second Congregational Church, offered a deeply im
pressive and appropriate prayer. After 'Old Hundredth'
the discourse was delivered. ... It was listened to by
all with undivided attention from its beginning to its close,
— a period of two hours and a half. . . . All present
at the dedication of the present house of worship were
asked to rise ; only thirteen stood up. Prayer was offered
by Father Beraan, and the services were then closed by
singing and the benediction. The merabers of the differ
ent religious bodies reraained after the dismissal of the
audience to celebrate together the Lord's Supper. Mera
bers of five different evangelical denominations were gath
ered about the table of their coraraon Lord, and probably
never before in this town had so large a nuraber partaken
together of the emblems of their Saviour's suUering."
II. Concluding Remarks of the Centennial Dis
course. — " Even while I speak, how the scenes of the more
recent past crowd upon ray raind ! and if upon mine, how
much more upon yours, respected friends, who are ' to the
manner born ; ' and whose profoundest emotions mingle to
day with cherished reminiscences of years recentlj', oi;
loug since, gone by. Venerated and beloved forms rise
before you : actors and deeds when this church was still
the only church in the town, aud it was in the fulness and,

CONCLUSION OF CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. 351
I may saj', pride of its strength ; the struggles in unscru
pulous controversj' of powerful wills, when sulijects of
controversj', or projects of innovation, had stirred up the
whole strength of the parish to array the sarae, part on the
one side and part on the other ; individual events and
transactions, assuraing for some reason ineffaceable promi
nence in your recollections ; the commanding and graceful
person of Governor Tichenor as he used to come in and take
his seat regularlj-, and with dignified proprietj', in the sanc
tuarj' ; the imperturbable regularitj' with which Deacon
Calvin Binghara appeared over the hill with his sons and
daughters, riding into the village street, and onto the house
of God, to take tiieir placea iu the pew and the singers' seat
every Sabbath, in sunshine and in storra ; the strong and
earnest tones of Governor Moses Robinson in public sup
plication to God ; the enthusiasm and power, and culture,
too, with which sacred song has ever been raaintained in
this temple of God.
" Sorae of J'OU will, to-d.ay, I suppose, need not rauch
assistance of mine to recall the feelings j'ou have had while
listening to the voices of leaders and other prorainent
singers who have occupied the seats in this gallery, — voices
of exquisite raelody and rare compass and control poured
forth with the spirit and the understanding in the praises
of God — alas ! bushed in death. Sorae, even since raj' brief
sojourn among you, have passed away from us, who were
important actors in the scenes and career of this church ;
and than whora, if they were spared and were with us,
there would be no raore deeply interested participants in
the exercises of this occasion, attached in bonds of endur
ing affection to tliis church of their ancestors and of their
own intense care aud unwearied labor ; fathers and raothers
in this Israel, and Laborers with a will in this vineyard of
the Lord, striving, alas ! with human passion, and yet

352 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
where want of energy is treason to the cause, for these
altars of their God. Venerated and beloved ones ! over
whose graves the tears of aff'ection are still shed, and whose
vacant places we could easily pause to mourn over afresh
at .this time, we raay yet thank God for what you were
enabled to manifest of zeal for his honse ; and we will pray
that we may emulate that zeal, so far as it was worthy,
ourselves each in the church, and in that sphere in the
church where Providence, has placed ns.
" As a part of the more recent past of this church raay be
reckoned the organization of other churches in the town, in
some more than otliers, I suppose, and j'et in all instances
more or less, erabracing those who have been members of
this particular communion. In the separation of members
of a church to join other churches in the same town, or to
assist in organizing such churches, there is apt to be a
little disagreement as to the line of propriety and duty in
such cases between those who go and those who remain.
But all now, I presume, feel that the course of population
into the valleys and plains demands there houses and means
of public worship ; aud all believe, too, that different denom
inations of Christians have a right, as to one another, to their
own opinions and preferences.
" It is in this spirit we welcorae you, friends of the different
churches of the town, here to-day, and rejoice iu the pros
pect of sitting down with you at the common table of our
Lord. We doubt not that you are sharers with us in the
interest we feel in the past history of a church of which
many of you were once particular members j'ourselves, and,
in the case of more of yon, your ancestors vfeve.
" Take the lessons of this occasion, if there is aught in
thera to guide ua, that we may act our part that remains
wisely and well ; and, when we separate, go to j'our own
several flelds of labor and privilege, leaving your blessing

CONCLUSION OF CENTENNIAL DISCOURSE. 353
with US, and taking our blessing with j'Ou, and with renewed
zeal give j'ourselves to the duties which the best welfare of
j-our several churches calls upon you to perforra. So raay
you for these churches help to raake a histoiy, which, when
their hundredth anniversary shall corae round, will make an
occasion for their tlien living members as full of interest to
them as this is to all of us who are here present."
30*

CHAPTER XXVII.
SUPPLEMENTARY.
)HE Township in the Olden Time. — At the time
of the Bennington battle there were rude tenements.
Large portions of the town were covered with pri
meval forest, — Mt. Anthony, base and sides as
well as top down to near the meeting-house. The
laud was, however, highly productive, and largely
cleared and planted. There was great agricultural pros
perity. The only village vvas what is now called Benning
ton Centre. There were also numerous frarae dwellings.
Col. Seth Warner came to Bennington to reside in Janu
arj', 1765, and reraained here until the sumraer of 1784.
He was a near neighbor of Jaraes Breakenridge. Ell wells
and Strattons carae among the early settlera and bought
lands in that part of the town, wliere those farailies still
are. Dr. Jonas Fay resided in a house on the "Blue Hill."
Drs. Gains Sraith and Medad Parsons resided in the west
part of the town. Dea. Joseph Safford located himself on a
farra near the present residence of Thomas McDaniels. The
Bingham homestead was ou the commanding and beautiful
eminence south of and near the present village of North
Bennington. Jonathan Lawrence, whose daughter Mary
was the wife of Gen. Samuel Safford, settled iu the south
east part of the town. Gen. Ebenezer Walbridge was joint
proprietor with Joseph Hinsdill in the flrst paper-mill
erected in the State, 1786, where is now Paper-mill Villao-e.

SUrPLEMENTA R Y.

355

In Sager's Citj', now North Bennington, a saw-raill w.as
erected in 1775. The raills, called " Sarauel Safford Mills "
as earlj' as 1766, were built at the outset ofthe settlement
of the town. Samuel Safford, afterward Gen. Safford, was
the miller. It is related that on one occasion, when a com
mittee waited upon hira to inform him of his appointment
to some important oflice, the spokesman remarked that they
had found him an honest railler, and they therefore trusted
he would make a faithful public officer. He built and occu
pied the house now the residence of Mr. M. C. Morgan, in
1774. Benjamin Webb, Sen., deceased Feb. 12, 1812, came
frora Windsor, Conn., about 1770, and settled where Benja
min Webb how resides, with his wife. Electa, daughter of
Gen. Safford, ninety -two j-ears of age, — bright and cheer
ful, aud taking a deep aud intelligent interest still in remi
niscences of the olden time. Isaac Webster lived upon a
farra west of Benjamin Webb.
Not until after the present century did the east and north
villages gain much growth.! 'Y\\e road from Boston came
over the mountain at the " Elbow." The flrst frame house
in town was built bj- Capt. Samuel Robinson, near where is
now the " Safford Robinson house." The flrst in the Centre
Village was built bj- Gen. David Robinson, partly in front
of the aite of the present residence of G. W. Robinson. The
house now occupied by Dea. II. H. Hacwood was built in
1770. The population of the town at the comraenceraent of the
Revolutionary War was, probably, about flfteen hundred.
There is in the possession of the Vanderspeigel faraily a
picture of Bennington Centre as it was in 1796, — a large
oil painting by Earle.
1 A particular account, by N. B. Hall, Esq., of the early progress of Ben
nington Village, and of the North Bennington Village, by Gov. Hall, will be
found In Vermont Hist. Mag., pp. 136-112.

356 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
II. Execution of David Redding. — He had been con
victed of " enemical conduct," and sentenced to be exe
cuted. The day of execution came, and with it a vast
concourse of people. Ethan Allen had just arrived in town
from his English captivity, which added much to the excite
ment of the day. In the mean time the fact, for fact it was,
that Redding had been tried by a jury of six, contrary to
the common law, was effectually employed by Redding'9
counsel to obtain from the governor a reprieve until Redding
could be tried again. The throng of people asserabled to
witness the execution were much exasperated against Red
ding, and indignant that he sliould be so readilj' reprieved.
Ethan Allen, suddenly pressing through the crowd, as
cended a stump, and, waving his hat, exclaiming, " Atten
tion, the whole 1 " explained the reason of the reprieve,
referred to the second day fixed upon by the governor and
council, bade them return on that day, and added, with an
oath, " You shall see soraebody hung, at all events ; for, if
Redding is not then hung, I will be hung raj'self ! " ^
III. Tibbetts and Whitney.^ — On Sunday, August 8,
1802, an affray happened on the farm of Roswell Moseley,
residing about a mile south of the meeting-house (Benniug
ton Centre), the Paige place, where several men were en
gaged in harvesting grain, in which a transient person by
the name of Gordon, said to have been an Indian or Cana
dian, was so badly injured that he died the next daj'. His
skull was fractured in several places, and trepanning, by
Dr. Porter, of Williamstown, waa resorted to, but without
affording relief. The injuries appeared to have been in
flicted with clubs by George Tibbetts, of Pownal, and
George Whitney, from Stamford.
1 See a particular account of this affair, Vermont Hist, Mng,, p. 159. See,
also, Slade's Vermont State Papers.
li MSS. of Gov. Hail.

SUPPLEMENTARY. 357
They were arrested, and brought to trial for murder at a
special terra of the Supreme Court, holden for that purpose
in Bennington in November following, when they were con
victed of manslaughter, and sentenced to three months'
imprisonment, to pay a flne of four hundred dollars each,
and to give bonds for their good behavior, each in flve hun
dred dollars.
The trial excited great interest at the tirae, and the verdict
and sentence appear to have created considerable dissatis
faction. Pierrepoint Edwards, of Connecticut, was sent for
bj' the friends of the accused, and is said to have made a
most eloquent and masterly defence.
The jury, on bringing in their verdict for manslaughter,
were addressed by the three judges, Jacobs, Tyler, and
Chief Justice Robinson, and sent back for a reconsidera
tion. Thej', however, adhered to their flrst flnding.
Mr. Mosely was a prominent and respectable citizen, a
Federalist in politics, and is believed to have taken an in
terest in the fate of the deceased. For this reason, or sorae
other, in the then excited state of party feeling, both the
judges and jury were charged with being influenced by po
litical bias in allowing the accused so easy an escape. It
does not seera probable that the charge was well founded.
It is more likely there were extenuating circumstances
attending the occurrence which deprived it of much of its
criminality. IV. Jeffersonian Democracy. — The country was
divided into two great political parties, at the head of one
of which was Mr. Adaras, and at the head of the other Mr.
Jefferson. The former were called Federalists, the latter
Republicans. Gov. Moaes Robinsoni ^^s a political friend
of Jefferson and Madison, and when in Congreas united
.1 Gov. Tichenor, Capt. Elijah Dewey, and others were Federalists.

358 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
with them in their favorable views of the French revolution
aud government, and in their hostility to Jay's treaty with
England. 1 In June, 1791, Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of
State, and Mr. Madison, a member of the llouse of Rep
resentatives, in making a horseback tour through New
England, stopped in Bennington, and spent the Sabbath
with Gov. Robinson, who had then been recently elected
to the Senate. Judge Jonathan Robinson occupied a lead
ing position in the Republican party of the State for many
years. While in the Senate he waa understood to have the
ear and confldence of President Madison, and to have a
controlling influence in the distribution of the army, and
other patronage of the administration within this State,
which, in consequence of the war with England, was then
very great.^
Previously to Jefferson's election, as President, and
during Adams' administration, Mr. Anthony Haswell pub
lished, in his paper, an article in relation to the imprison
ment of Matthew Lyon, under " the Sedition law,'' and
another on the conduct ~of President Adams in making
appointments to office, which, though manifesting consid
erable warmth of feeling, would not now be noticed as pos
sessing a criminal character. For these he was indicted
before the United States Circuit Court, and in 1800, at
Windsor, was sentenced, by Judge Patterson, to two
months' imprisonraent in the jail in this town, and to pay
a fine of two hundred dollars and costs. He was allowed
to serve out his term of iraprisonment, which term expired
the 9th day of July. The celebration of the anniversary
of the declaration of Independence was postponed until
that day, when, his flne and costs being paid, he was lib
erated from jail araid the roar of cannon, and the acclama
tion of his neighbors and political friends. He was, by a
1, 2 See Vermont llist. Mag.

SUPPLEMENTARY. 359
large portion of the coramunity, considered as a martyr in
the cause of freedom ; and his prosecution, instead of
strengthening the administration in thia State, served
greatly to increaae the number and zeal of its opponents.
The flne and costs have since been refunded to his descend
ants by Act of Congress." i
Throughout Vermont, at that period, party political zeal
alraost outran itself. The determined spirit, and individual
independence, of the Vermonters, missing now the New
York State controversies, and the Revolutionary War, ex
ercised itself upon the subjects and measurea in dispute
between Federalists and Republicans. What was true of
the State in general was certainly true of Bennington in
particular. The people read eagerly the newspapers of the day, dis
cussed earnestly and comprehensively the public measurea
of the government, were intelligent, determined, .and
spirited in their conflicting positions almost beyond what
we can now conceive of. The writer has been perraitted to
see an interesting glirapse of this in the MS. diary of Ben
jarain Harwood, and will take the liberty to favor the read-
era of these pages with one or two extracts : —
"Oct. 18, 1808. — In consequence of certain intelligence being
received in town of Mr. Tichenor being elected Governor of the
State of ¦Vermont, there was wonderful rejoicing among the Fed
eralists, which was demonstrated by flring the great gun, beating
the drum, and playing the fife  Next year the Repub
licans win rally and defeat the Federal cause in this State," —
which they did.
Mr. Galusha, one of the former judges of the Suprerae
Court of Verraont, was chosen governor of the State.
His election was supported by the Republican party, which
had managed so successfully as to secure a majoritj' over
1 See Vermont Hist. Mag., pp. 176, 177.

360 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
the old governor, who, for years, had served the State with
fldelity and applause.
"April 29, 1808. — Mr. Parsons came here this evening and
brought a couple of newspapers, dated April 2C, "Lansingburgh
Gazette," and "Farmer's Register." The "Farmer" contains
some most bitter complaints against the embargo ; but, after all
they can say about it, they have not proved that it is not a wise
measure  Mr. Parsons and I talk of taking a Federal
paper between us, so as to see both sides, that we may the better
judge." V. Present Meeting-house of the First Church. — As
early as 1792 the subject of a new meeting-house began to
be agitated in town meetings. Every such attempt, how
ever, was unsucccessfuP until Dec. 12, 1803, then a vote
was obtained,
" To build the meeting-house, and to tax the inliabitants to the
amount of flve thousand dollars for the purpose."
In 1801, a statute had been enacted requiring, instead of
the certiflcate of belonging to a different denomination in
order to exemption from the tax for religious purposes, onlj'
that persons should sign a simple stateraent of dissent.
At the raeeting which voted to build the meeting-house and
tax the inhabitants, it was also voted,
" That the term of one month be allowed to tlie inhabitants to
enter their dissent."
There were onlj' a few who availed themselves of this
provision. But, as appears npon the town records, one
hundred and twenty-three persons, male aud female, had
signed such a dissent eight d.ays before the warning pur
suant to which the above ineetiug was held.
1 See town records for March meeliiig, 17'J2-lsa'5.

ARTICLES OF FAITH. 361
The place for the new raeeting-house was decided upon.
David F.ay, Esq., was chosen treasurer ; David Robinson,
Andrew Selden, Williara Henry, Jr., Esq., asaessors ; Jon
athan Wentworth, collector ; Isaac Ticheuor, David Robin
son, Moses Robinson, Jr., Thoraas Abel, and Jesse Field,
the building coraraittee. The work of building at once
commenced, and was carried vigorously forward.
In the mean time only about two thousand two hundred and
ninety dollars of the tax had been collected, and it waa
ascertained the house, according to the plan, would cost
seven thousand seven hundred and ninety-three dollars and
twenty-three cents. The taxing method became increas
ingly unpopular. Before .the houae was completed it was
determined, in a meeting of the society, to surrender the
plain of raising the money by tax ; to refund to those who
had paid their tax ; and to sell the pews on the ground floor
for sufficient to defray all expenses, — which waa accom
plished. In 1852 the square pews were reraoved and the
church reseated with slips. A diagram of the pews of the
house as it was dedicated Jan. 1', 1806, with the amouut
for which each pew was sold, and the names of the original
proprietors of each pew, prepared by Williara Haswell, is
in the keeping of the clerk of the society.
VI. Articles of Faith of the Bennington First
Ciiuncii. — The Carabridge Platform, with the exception
hereinbefore mentioned,! was their standard of doctrine and
discipline. They had no other articles of faith until July 1,
1820. Then a summary of fourteen articles of faith was
unanimously adopted by the church, the sarae having been
recommended by a committee previously appointed, — Rev.
Mr. Peters, Deacon Calvin Bingham, Deacon Jotham
French, David Robinson, and Aaron Robinson.
1 See page 32.
31

362 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
In the interval between the dismission of Rev. Daniel A.
Clark and settleraent of Rev. Mr. Hooker, the subject of
printing the articles of faith having been.introduced into a
church meeting, a committee was appointed to revise thein,
— Aaron Robinson, Deacon Stephen Hinsdill, and Dr. Wil
liam Bigelow. This committee recommended new articles
of faith, which were adopted unanimously Aug. 5, 1831, and
are those still in use.

CHAPTER XXVIII.
INFLUENCE OP THE EARLY SETTLERS OF VERMONT
ON FREEDOM OF PUBLIC WORSHIP.
)AWS OP Massachusetts as affecting the Sepa
rates. — It is not denied that the civil power was, in
Massachusetts, applied to the Separates to com
pel them to support the public worship of the stand
ing order. The principle, in the Carabridge Plat
forra, that the civil raagistrate was, when necessary,
to enforce conformity in doctrine and worship to the
word of God, waa not repudiated. This principle made
the civil power, in sorae sort, a judge of what doctrine and
worship waa agreeable to the word of God. But practically
that waa esteemed to be such which was theu prevailing.
And when the conformity to the word of God was not so
convincingly seen, or its force as an arguraent so irresist
ibly felt, the consideration — ahown by experience to be not
always well founded — of the greater ease of supporting the
minister, and building the raeeting-house, and keeping it in
repair, when all in the coramunity united together in one
way, was readily accepted. ^ So late down as 1763 our
immigrants from Massachusetts to Bennington showed that
they understood the fourth paragraph in the eleventh chap
ter in the Cambridge Platforra, in respect of using the civil
power to support the gospel ; and also the ninth paragraph
in the seventeenth chapter, in respect of the civil raagis-
trate's " cohersive " power, to be in force, and that they had
1 See the succeeding pages.

364 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
felt their force, when they, in their flrst church raeeting,
and as a fundaraental act, voted to except to these articles,
receiving the entire platforra beside.
The law enacted in Massachusetts In 1760, requiring a
university education, or the testimony of a major part of the
settled ministry of the country that the minister is of suf
ficient learning, or making the assessment for his support
void, waa, it ia quite likely, aimed at the Separates. With
this — perhaps with some other — slight exception, the pre
vailing form in which, in Massachusetts, the Separates felt
the civil magistrate's coercive power, waa that of being
obliged, under exiating general statntes, to pay taxes to the
regular ministry ; and of being incompetent to collect by
law any assessraent or subscription for their own minister.
As Separate congregations, distinctively so known, there
was no relief for theiu from this, in law, until the adoption
of the constitution of 1780 ; and even then the instrument
was so interpreted for j'ears as to make it of comparatively
little advantage to the Separates. For exaraple, it was
claimed by the dominant party that the privilege of minor
ity worship, without liability to pay taxes for the aupport of
the standing order, waa, by this constitution, conflned to
incorporated societies, and in case of such incorporated
societj', if not the regular or established society of the town,
they must pay their tax with the others to the collector, and,
let it go for the parish minister, or recover back their por
tion for tlie p.aj'uient of their own minister bj' suing it out,
— so decided in 1808, by a deciaion ofthe Supreme Court. i
It is true there were exempting lawa, so called (laws
to exem|)t certain classes from tlie tax to support the es
tablished worsliip of the town), but no such law was ever
passed fm' the benefit of the Separates. There was an ex
empting law as early as 1693, for Boston, bj' which all
1 Montague vs. Dedham, 4 Jliiss., 200.

EXE,-\rPTING LAWS. 365
denominations and religious societies were as free, with
respect to public worship, as at this day ; and so it has ever
since been in that city. Exerapting laws for five years,
seven years, eleven years, at a time, first began to be en
acted for Episcop.alians in 1727 ; for Baptists and Quakers
in 1728. The differing sects were then very inconsider-
able.i But for the New-Light Congregational churches, in
towns where the old church reinaiued and was in the raa
jority, not only were no exempting lawa in favor enacted,
but especial care was taken, in the re-enacting of such ex
empting laws as had been previously obtained, to so guard
them with new restrictions that the minority Congrega
tional churchea could by no means take advantage of thera.
There waa a portion of the New-Light churchea which em
braced Baptist views. It was inferred that many did this
to take advantage of the exempting laws for Baptists.
Probably this was true of some. It could not have been
true of all, for, in many instances, these persons refused to
coraply with the exerapting laws as Baptists, assuraing that
they were wrong in principle, so that they could raore con
scientiously go to prison than give any countenance to
such laws bj' voluntary conforraity to any of their require
ments, — the laws requiring certificates that they were of
the Baptist persuasion, or that their names should be en
tered on a list to the sarae effect, by the proper authority.
With regard to the period we are now considering, we see
1 First Baptist churcli In Massachusetts, in Swansea, 1063. One In Boston as
early as 1665. — Benedict. In 1737, but three Baptist churclies in Massachusetts;
one in Swansea, one in Boston, one in South Brimfield. — Benedict. Backus
says tliere was a church in Sutton in 1735, tliough it afterward went down; was,
at the time of the New-Light stir, turned into a Separate church. When religion
revived in 1741, there were but nine llajitist churches in ail Massacliusctts, and
none In New Hampshire and Vermont. — Backus. There was an Episcopal
church in Boston during the Andrus administration, 1G8G-0. — Barry. "The
Methodists made their appearance in tiie Commonwealth about 17:iO." — Mass.
Ecc. Law, p. 41. 31*

366 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
an illustration of what has been here said iu the titles of
some of the enactments : —
"To the intent that the Anabaptists who arc truly such may
be distinguished from those who pretend to be."
To see the same thing in the enactment itself, take one
for 1752 : —
" To exclude all Baptist churches from power to give legal cer-
tiflcates, until they obtain certificates from three other Baptist
churches that they esteem such to be conscientiously Anabap
tist." The Separate churches, which had adopted immersion as
the scriptural mode of baptism, had not generally denied
the validity, in every case, of infant baptism and baptism
by sprinkling, whicii is, perhaps, the meaning of Anabap
tist. The regular Baptist churches might be as jealous of
these Separate Baptist churches as the regular Congrega
tional churchea were. So it is plain what was the intention
and force of such modifications as have been instanced of
the original exempting laws.
It is probable that, in very many instances, the laws
were not enforced upon Separates who refused to pay taxes
to the Standing Order. As, in many churches (Hardwick
and Westfield, e. g.), church diacipline to the extreme of
excomraunication Avas not enforced upon separating mem
bers who seemed to be conscientious in their views. But
there were instances sufficient to make manifest the animus
of the taxing laws themselves, at least as re-enacted from
time to time. When enforced, the method was one, hap
pily, unfamiliar to the present generation in this country,
but then familiar in many relations of the application of the
civil power other than that of the support of public wor
ship. It does not appear that the Separates, as a class.

TAXING LAWS NOT ALWAYS ENFORCED. 367
objected, at that early day, to the laws of imprisonment
for just debts, but they did object to lawa of imprisonraent
for refusing to pay taxes to a church they did not in con
science approve, — laws which enforced the distraining, in
some cases, of the necessary irapleraents of household ex
istence, for such taxes, frora those who had nothing else
the law could get hold of. In the records of the Newint
Separate church is the following entry : " Joseph Read
confessed the ¦n'rong he had done in paying his rates, and
the church forgave hira."
Backus, who was originally a regular Congregationalist,
then a Separate, then a Baptist, in his three-volurae ecclesias
tical history, has preserved mauy cases of rauch hardship in
Massachusetts, under the laws requiring the support of the
regular Congregational Society. Araong these sufferers
were a few instances of Separates, and manj' instances of
those who from Separates becarae Baptists. Sorae of these
suffered according to law, and some without law. There
were others whora the laws exempted, but they could not,
as they alleged, in conscience comply with the conditions
of the exempting laws. The historian of Chelmsford states
that all separation and all following after itinerants and
exhorters were effectually repressed there by church disci
pline. In many places the Separates, not having organ
ized their church regularly, according to law, were harassed
by taxation for the support of the ministers from whora
thej' had seceded. At last the systera of annoyance be
came too tedious to be continued and fell into disuse. ^
II. Laws of Vermont respecting Public Worship. —
In respect of imprisonment or any other corporeal pun
ishment as a means of compelling men to the perforraance
1 Tracy's " Great Awakening," p. 417. See in the notes at the end of this vol-

368 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
of religious duty, Vermont has a clean record. Before the
existence of the State, Christian people in Bennington, as
we have seen, organizing the first church in what afterward
became the State of Vermont, made express exception to
the articles in the Cambridge Platform which affirm the
duty of the civil power to see that religious matters take
proper direction. This waa while Massachusetts was re-
enacting her exempting laws with new restrictions to force
the Separates to pay taxes to the Standing Order, and
whilst Connecticut was not quite through witli imprisoning
men for preaching within the bounda of other men's par
ishes, or for establishing new places of public worship with
out the consent of the old ones.
The tax of six dollars on each of the sixty-three rights of
land, to build, not only the school-house, but, also, the
meeting-house, might have been without any opposition
frora any of the proprietors. Indeed, whether this tax was
ever collected does not appear, — neither does anything
appear to the contrary, only a subscription list for building
the meeting-house was also obtained. For the further
finishing of the meeting-house, in 1774, or at least toward
it, a subscription was also obtained. The moneys from
time to time raised upon the tax lists were raised from
those lists only which were voluntarily brought in for that
purpose. The certificating laws in force for seventeen
years, 1783-1801, came the nearest to compulsory support
of public religion. These required every tax-payer to help
in the support of the public worship favored by the majoritj'
of the inhabitants, who could not bring a certificate, signed
by the minister, or deacon, or elders, or moderator of some
meeting of auother persuasion, that the tax-payer naraed
was of that persuasion. In 1801, any person could be ex
empted from taxation for religious purposes by signing a
paper on the records of the town, saying, " I dissent from

FIRST CONSTITUTION. 369
the worship of the majority." In 1807, even this require
raent was abolished,! and ever since the people have been
free to support the public worship they prefer, or none, if
they so prefer.
The article on religious worship in the firat constitution
is as follows : —
"That all men have a natural and inalienable right to worship
Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences
aud understandings, regulated by the word of God; and that no
man ought, or of right can be compelled, to attend any religious
worship, or erect or support any place of worship, or maintain any
minister contrary to the dictate of his conscience ; nor can any
man who professes the Protestant religion be justly deprived or
abridged of any civil right as a citiz.en on account of his religious
sentiment, or peculiar mode of religious worship ; and that no au
thority can. or ought to be vested in, or assumed by, any power
whatsoever that shall in any case interfere with, or in any manner
control, the rights of conscience in the free exercise of religious
worship ; nevertheless every sect or denomination of people ought
to observe the Sabbath or Lord's day, aud keep up and support
some sort of religious worship, which to them shall seem most
agreeable to the will of God." '
In the first conatitution, and also in that revised by the
Council of Censors in 1785, the following declaration is re
quired of the members of the House of Representativea : —
"I do believe in one God, the Creator and Governor ofthe uni
verse, the rewarder of the good nnd punisher of the wicked. And
I do acknowledge the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to
be given by divine inspiration; and own and profess the Protest
ant religion."
In the revised constitution, adopted in convention at
Windsor, in 1793, this clause was omitted.
1 See Tolman's Revised Statutes, 1808.
2 Article 3, in Declaration of Rights In the first constitution, adopted in general
convention at Windsor, 1777, never presented to the people to be ratified, but de
clared to have the force of law by the General Assembly at Bennington, 1779.

370 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The public sentiment and understanding with regard to
the liberty in this State respecting religion — though not
exactly in accordance with the legislation of the State prior
to 1801 — waa thua stated by Dr. Williams, in his history,
published in 1794 : —
" To leave every man a full and perfect liberty ta follow the dic
tates of his own conscience iu all his transactions with his Maker."
" The people of Vermont have adopted this principle in its fullest
extent." " It is not barely toleration, but equality, which the peo
ple aim at." "That all denominations shall enjoy equal liberty,
without any legal distinction or pre-eminence whatever." " The
people are under no obligation to support any teachers but what
they choose to lay themselves under."
It is absurd to ascribe the sole agency in a great step of
progress in civilization to any set of raen. Time prepares
beforehand for its own changes. The reformers, so called,
are but in advance of others in taking up, and giving ex
pression to, the new convictions which generations have
been slowly preparing for. It is the glory of reformers to
be before others in discerning the advancing light, or in so
feeling the force of the truth as to be constrained to utter
it, to maintain it, when they have to do so alone, and even
in the face of obloquy and persecution, because others do
not see, or will not accept, the truth. So high a distinc
tion with regard to eivil and religious libertj' in this coun
try deserves to be shared, araong others, bj' the Separates,
of whora our Bennington pioneers M'ere among the best
examples.

CHURCH MEMBERS AND THE ELECTIVE FRANCHISE. 371

NOTES ON CHAPTERS IV. AND XXVIII.
I. The Halfway Covenant. — Bythe halfway covenant per
sons could be, and were, admitted to the church without professing
a change of heart, indeed, while professing not to have experienced
this change, — such persons to come to the coramunion or not, as
their duty should appear to themselves.' But all were required to
assent to a covenant otherwise strict, and to bring their children
to be baptized. The halfway-covenant raembers were capable of
the elective franchise, and eligible to oflice where church member
ship was a requisite.'
"The efi'ect of this method of proceeding in the churches in
New England which haye fallen into it is actually this. There are
sorae who are received into these churches under the notion of
their being in the judgment of rational charity visible saints, who
yet at the same time are actually . . . , such as freely and fre
quently acknowledge that they do not profess to be as yet born
again, but look on themselves as really unconverted . . . ; and,
accordingly, it Is known all over the town where they Uve, that
they make no pretension to any sanctifying grace already attained ;
1 " Also ihat it is your fuUpurpose to obey God in the ordinance of the Holy
Supper as God shall give you light and show you his will herein." — Cont. Ecc.
Hist. Conn., p. 411.
3 This law, making "free burgesses " of church members only, ceased in the
New Haven colony by the merging of the colony with Hartford, Windsor, and
Weathersfield In that of Connecticut, under the charter of Charles II., In 1662.
By the charter of Massachusetts colony (March 4, 1629) the governor and as
sistants were empowered to say who should be freemen ; In 1631, this privilege of
freemen was limited to church members. The rule appears to have been strictly
enforced untU 1647, when some others beside church members might have the
privilege of voting in some cases in the towns. In 1660, we find the original rigor
again enacted in all its completeness by law ; In 1664, the law was repealed and
certain others beside church members admitted to the privileges of freemen, but
so that very serious inequality existed still between church members and non-
church members. In 1684, the colony charter was annulled, nnd probably the in
equality of the law of 1604 between church members and non-church members
then ceased. All such Inequality was removed by the coming into force of the
Province charter In 1692, which made ail freeholders, etc., voters; by which, as
Bancroft says, " In civil affairs, the freedom of the colony, no longer restricted to
the members of the church, was extended so widely as to be in a practical sense
nearly universal."

372 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
nor, of consequence, are they commonly looked upon as any other
than unconverted persons." '
" In such churches (halfway covenant) neither their publicly
saying that they avouch Ood the Father, Son, and Holy Ohost to be
their Ood, and that they give themselves tip to him, and promise to obey
all his commands, nor their coming to the Lord's Supper, or to
any other ordinances, are taken for expressions or signs of any
thing belonging to the essence of Christian piety. But, on the
contrary, the public doctrine, principle, and custom in such
churches, establishes a diverse use of these words and signs.
People are taught that tliey may use them all, and not so much as
make any pretence to the least degree ot sanctifying grace, and this
is the established custom. So they are used, aud so they are un
derstood."' " But the flfth of those propositions (seven propositions aflJrmed
by the majority of the Synod of 1662) reaffirmed and commended
to the churches the crude expedient of the halfway covenant. It
did not merely provide that baptized persons growing up in the
church with blameless character, and without any overt denial of
the faith in which they were nurtured, might ofl'er their children
for baptism without being required to demand and obtain at the
same time the privilege of full communion ; but it also provided
that such persons, as a condition preliminary to the baptism of
their children, should make a certain public profession of Christian
faith and Christian obedience, including a formal covenant with
God and with the church, which, at the same time, was to be un
derstood as implying no profession of any Christian experience.
. . . The latter was a grave theological error hardening aud
establishing itself in the form of an ecclesiastical system."^
"It was what Davenport called the 'parish way,' — a system
under which the local church, as a covenanting brotherhood of
souls, renewed by the experience of God's grace, was to be merged
in the parish ; and all persons of good moral character living with
in the parochial bounds were to have, as in England and Scotland,
the privilege of baptism for their households and of access to the
Lord's table. "^
1 Edwards* Qualifications for Communion, Part in., Obj. 16.
2 Edwards' Qualifications for Communion, Part II., Sec. 1.
3 Dr. Bacon, in Cont. Ecc. Hist. Conn., pp, 21, 22.
4 Ibid., pp. 28, 29.

SPREAD OF THE HALFWAY COVENANT. 373
The efifect of the prevalency of this system is stated by a writer
in the " Vermont Evangelical Magazine," August, 1816, as fol
lows ; " The engagements which were assumed were extensive
and solemn, and were at flrst probably made with much serious
ness. But the whole soon became an idle ceremony, which fashion
so imperiously required ail, generally upon their marriage, to ob
serve, that the omission was deemed highly indecorous and almost
inconsistent with a reputable standing in society. The prescribed
formality having been heedlessly submitted to, nothing more was
anticipated or exacted. Individuals having, gained a sort of rela
tion to the church, and the privilege of baptism fof their children,
became satisfied witli themselves, and neither saw nor felt the ne
cessity of anything beyond the customary and heartless attendance
upon public worship on the Sabbath."
A citation or two will show the influence of this system upon
the piety of the clergy. Dr. Chauncey, in his "Reasonable
Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England," declared,
" Conversion does not appear to be alike necessary for ministers
in their public capacity as officers of the church,' as it is in their
private capacity." Tracy, In his " Great Awakening," says, " Col
leges received young men, without even the appearance of piety, to
prepare for the ministry ; if graduates were found to possess com
petent knowledge, and were neither heretical nor scandalous, their
piety was taken for granted, and they were ordained of course." '
" The extensively prevailing views of regeneration as a work at
tended by no ascertainable evidence discouraged all questioning
concerning a minister's spiritual state."'
A movement to obtain approbation of this system with some
other things in a New England Synod took place as far back as
1657.'' A Massachusetts Synod, in 1662, went a little further, in
giving the system au authoritative introduction into this country.
" The church at New Haven, I suspect, yielded at, or soon after,
the ordination of Mr. Pierpont in 1G81. Near the close of the cen
tury, when Haynes and Whiting had been succeeded by Wood-
bridge In the First Church (Hartford), and Buckingham in the
Second, we flnd both pastors and both churches united in the half-
1 "Ordinations In 1759 occasioned so much 'feasting, jollity, and revelling,'
that the CouncU addressed tlie clergy a circular on the subject." — Mass. Ecc.
Law, p. 23.
2, 3 Ibid., pp. 393, 394. 4 Cont. Ecc. Hist., Conn., p. 19.
32

374 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
way covenant raethod of church discipline. The principles of the
Synod of 1662 were for the time victorious throughout New
England." ' In 1704 the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, of Northampton,
Mass. (the grandfather of Pres. Edwards the elder, aud with
whom at length Mr. Edwards becarae colleague pastor in the same
church), when he had been in the ministry at Northampton thirty-
two years, eminently respected, declared himself " of the opinion
that unconverted persous, considered as such, had a right in the
sight of God, or by his appointment, to the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper; that thereby it was their duty to come to that ordinance,
though they knew they had no true goodness or evangelical holi
ness. He maintained that visible Christianity does uot consist in
a professioii or appearance of that wherein true holiness or real
Christianity consists ; that therefore the profession which persons
make in order to be received as visible members of Christ's cliurch,
ouglit uot to be such as to express or imply a real compliance
with, or consenting to, the terms of this covenant of grace, or a
hearty embracing of the gospel ; so that they who really reject
Jesus Christ and dislike the gospel way of salvation in their hearts
and know that this is true of themselves, may make the profession
without lying aud hypocrisy," " on the principle that they regard
' the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as a converting ordinance, and
partake of it with the hope of conversion. "We must remember
that the 'practice of admitting to the communion all persous,
neither heretical nor scandalous, was general in the Presbyterian
church, and prevailed extensively among the Congregational
churches."' If we place the time of the flrst foothold of this
system as early as 1657, we shall flnd it not wholly disappearing
from the Orthodox Congregational churches of New England for
more than a century and a half. From the church iu Huutlngton,
Conn, (from whose halfway covenant a quotation is introduced
into these pages), it did not disappear until 1817. The Rev. He-
man Humphrey was ordained in Pairflcld, Coun., March 16, 1807.
"He found a state of tliiugs in Fairfield in regard to spiritual
religion that seemed to him to call loudly for reform. In addition
to the fact that such a thing as family prayer was scarcely known
iu the church, there was nothing that he considered as amounting
1 Dr. Bacon, Cont. Ecc. Hist., Conn., p. 29.
2 Quoted from Dr. Hopkins iu the Memoirs of fresideut Edwards.
3 Great Awukeulug, p. 391.

DR. chauncey's book. 375
to a confession of fiiith ; and there was the halfway covenant, whicii
he regarded as notliing better than an organized provision for
uniting the church aud the world. The two latter difiiculties he
looked upon as "entering vitally into the economy of the church ;
and he therefore made the removal of them a condition of his
accepting the call; and the church, without much hesitation,
acceded to his proposals." ' The spread and iufluence of the half-
¦way covenant prob.ably culminated about 1740, or the time of the
commencement of "The Great Awakening;" at that time it had
borne fruit " after its kind" in a wide-spread and deep-rooted for
malism in the churches; and, as we shall see in another place, in
a fearful enlistment ofthe civil power in resistance to the "New-
Light" men and measures that sought its overthrow.
A curious fact, illustrating the extent to which this false ss'stem
became entrenched in society, is the book of the Rev. Dr. Chauncey,
well known to havo been prepared iu opposition to the great
religious revival then in progress. The friends of tho prevailing
spirit of religions society, and who were opposed to the " New-
Light " movement, were quicksighted to see whither this awaken
ing would tend ; and the book referred to appeared upon the arena
In their behalf. " A Treatise in flve parts : 1. Faithfully pointing
out the things of a bad and dangerous tefidency in the late and
present religious appearances in the land, etc., etc.; by Charleb
Chauncey, D.D., pastor of the First Church of Christ in Boston
1743," — a book of four hundred and twenty-four pages with a pref
ace of thirty pages beside. With the book was bound up, as was
usual In those days, a list of subscribers. This list contains over
one thousand names, headed conspicuously with His Excellency
William Shirley, Esq., captain-general aud governor-in-chiof over
His Majesty's Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England,
for six; the Hon. Jon.athan Law, Esq., governor of the colony of
Connecticut; the Hon. Richard Ward, Esq., governor of the
colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ; and so on
ward into the body of the list, — a proportion of honorables and
reverends, and esquires, truly formidable, — in accordance with
what is known to be the fact that, to a great extent at that time,
the influence and learning and rank ifi the country was on the
side of tho halfway covenant and hostile to the reformation.
1 Dr. Spragoe's notice of the Eev. Dr. Humphrey, President of Amherst Col
lege, etc.. In " New Tork Observer" for May 7, 1868.

376 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
II. Special Casks of Hardship under the Laws of Massa
chusetts RESPECTING Public Worship. — In 1744, Mr. Paine, of
Connecticut, for preaching at Woodstock, in Massachusetts, with
in the bounds of another minister's parish, was imprisoned at
Worcester, but the Worcester Court discharged him as being im
prisoned without law.
The Sturbridge case is repeatedly adduced by Backus. It was
doubtless an extreme case, aud its repeated introduction would
lead us to infer tliat it had not any other cases parallel to it. It
will, however, so well illustrate some of the hardships which the
Separates were liable to endure, it shall be cited here, as given
in the appendix to the " Life and Times of Isaac Backus," by Hovey
(p. 329), — or rather, portions of that version of the affair shall be
given. " From the testimony of Henry Fisk, we learn that a New-
Light Church was organized iu Sturbridge on the 10th of Nov.,
1747. The next year John Blunt was ordained pastor. A petition
to be exempted from taxes to support tho ' regular minister ' was
laid before the town by the members of this church ; but their re
quest ¦was denied. On the 26th of May, 1748, a great part
of the town got together, and laying hold of two brethren who
came from other places (to attend the New-Light meeting) drew
them in a hostile manner out of town. About this time some
others were seized for rates, paid them privately and were set at
liberty. As they went on to rate us from year to year, contrary
to the royal act of indulgence and the Province laws .....
they stripped the pewter from the shelves of such as had it; and
they took away skillets, kettles, pots, and warming-pans from
those who had it (the pewter) not. Others they deprived of the
means by which they got their bread ; namely, workmen's tools
aud spinning-wheels. They drove away geese and swine from the
doors of others. From some who had cows they took oue or
more of them; from some who had but oue, they took that
away. They took a yoke of oxen from oue, and they thrust some
into, prison, where thfiy suffered a long aud tedious imprisonment.
One brother was called from us, ordained pastor of a Baptist
church, and came for his family, at which time they seized and drew
him away, and thrust him into prison, where he was kept in the
cold winter till somebody paid the money and let him out. A few
specifications are condensed from the records of the church kept
by Henry Fisk, clerk. In 1750 a spiuuiug-whecl was taken from

OPPRESSION OF SEPARATES.

377

A. Bloice; flve pewter plates from D. Fiske; a cow from J. Pike ;
a trammel, andirons, shovel aud tongs from John Blunt; a cradle
from J_. Perry; goods from John Streeter; household goods from
.Benjamin Robins, and also from H. Fisk; a cow from David
Morse; goods from Phineas Collar and from John Newell; and
during the same year Johu Corey, J. Barstow, Josiah Perry, Na
thaniel Smith, and David Morse were imprisoned for ministerial
rates  "A narr.ativo of cases, persons, aud particulars
of hardship at a subsequent period of this church's history is also
given ; but let this suffice. Somewhere about 1750 this became a
B.aptist church.
Two or three other cases of oppression of Separates shall be given.
They are cited frora Backus' tiireo-volume history. " Aud among
the many instances that discovered how tenacious our oppressors
were of their taxing power to support worship, take the follow
ing : Esther White, of Raynham, liad a small interest left her, lor
which sho was taxed eight pence to the parish minister, from
which she had withdrawn four years, and she seriously declared it
was against her conscience to pay it. Therefore for no more than
that sum she was seized Feb. 28, 1752, and was imprisoned at
Taunton uutil March, 1763, when said minister's own people were
constrained to go and release her, without her paying any acknowl
edgment to that taxing power. She soon after became a Baptist, .
and continued to give abiding evidence of true piety until she
died in_peace in 1774.' " The case of Framingham, twenty-five
miles west of Boston, affords another demonstration of the iniquity
of supporting ministers by tax and compulsion. The Hon.
Edward Goddard, Esq., formerly one of the council of this prov-
•ince, with other fathers of that town, could not concur with the
majority in the settlement of a minister, and by the advice of
other ministers they became an organized church by themselves
in 1747, and wanted nothing but the sanction of the civil power to
make thera as regular and orthodox a religious society in civil law
as any otliers were. But as they were zealous friends of the late
revival of religion, such an incorporation was denied them. And
they had been all taxed to a minister they never chose for six
years " (before a publication on the subject quoted in the appen
dix to vol. I.). " Three years after, their minister left them, and
1 Vol. II., p. 194.
32*

378 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
a Baptist society was formed among them." The following lines
are credited by Backus to tills Hon. Edward Goddard, Esq..'
" Good conscience men allow, they say, ,
nut must be understood
To eay as they themselves do say,
Or else it can't be good."
"In a place called Titicut, upou the river between Bridgewater
and Middleborough, a powerful wdrk was wrought in and after
the year 1741." " After Titicut precinct was constituted, iu Feb.,
1743, ministers refused to dismiss the communicants therein, so
as to form a new church, lest they should call a minister whom
they did not approve of. They were thus denied the right which
both the laws of God and man allowed them, until the brethren
deterrained not to be restrained by such tyranny any longer, but
came out and began to worship by themselves on Dec. 13, 1747.
A church was formed Feb. 16, 1748, which increased to three
score members in ten months. But the opposite party met in
March, aud voted a large sum of money to finish their meeting
house, and to hire other sort of preaching, and assessed it upon
all the inhabitants. Therefore, our society, on Nov. 21, drew up
an address to them," — which was answered; "and they" —
the respondents — "went so far as to call it 'gross ignorance
and enthusiasm ' for any to deny that Christiau rulers have a right
to compel their subjects to receive and support orthodox minis
ters. Aud Feb. 6, 1749, the author " (Mr. Backus) " was seized
as a prisoner for thirteen shillings and four pence assessed upon
him in said tax. But, as he refused to pay it, they, after about
three hours' conflnement of him, settled it among themselves.
This was the best reward they ofl'ered hlin for preacliiug two
months at their request."' " One of his brethren was imprisoned
at Plymouth for said tax. But, when distress was made upon
another of his " (Mr. Backus') " hearers, they were prosecuted
therefor, and it was found upon trial that said money was voted
at an illegal meeting. They therefore appealed to the Superior
Court; and in the mean time, Dec. 14, 1749, procured an act ofthe
Legislature, which says, ' That the proceedings of the meeting,
1 lb., p. 196.
2 See this case spread out at large and more intelligibly in Hovey's Life and
Times of Backus, pp. 67-71.

CONCLUDING REMARKS ON SEPARATISM. 379
mentioned in the petition be, and they hereby are, held and
deemed good and valid in law, the defect of the notification, call
ing said meeting, to the contrary notwithstanding.' And, by vir
tue of said act, the case was turned against the appellee in the
next trial ; which shows that a worship supported by tax is par
tiality established by law." '
• III. Concluding Rejiarks on Separatism. — Separatism
played an important part in probably the most profound religious
movement hitherto in this couutry. The depth of the movement
appears in the fact that it embraced and agitated the whole
country. To New England, at large, it was what the local revival
is to a neighborhood or town. It was natural that such a move
ment should develop a party of revolution, and an antagonist
party of avowed and heated conservatism. It is not difficult to
see, from the circumstances ofthe origin of the party of reforma
tion, that tliere would be some rudeness as well 'as force in it.
In putting forth the energy such exigencies require, human na
ture is not apt to stop before, in its vehemence, it sometimes slips
beyond the safe limit of law and order. It becomes more intent
upon the object than it is upon the character of the means by
which to accomplish the object. Festering corruption within is
compatible witli much precision of outward manners, which re
formers, who set themselves against the corruptions of aristo
cratic classes, come iuto opposition to. Such a thing has been as
declension in piety and justice, even when ecclesiastical institu
tions, human learning, and civil government of a high order are
enjoyed; aud when there is such declension, they who rise up as
the leaders of reformation are tempted to undervalue those great
blessings. This was true of the Separatists of the seventeeuth
century in Old England, and of those of the eighteenth century in
New England. We see this cropping out sometimes in the Ben
nington church, though always in the fln.al action of the church
overborne by moderate counsels. We see the same thing in the
struggles of Vermout for State sovereignty, aud in conjunction
with other States for a national existence in opposition to the
mother country. Patriotism, the purpose of manly indepcudence,
was too mucli on flre to think just then of furnishing to the world
models of legal precision, and refinement in manners. Hence
1 Vol. II., pp. 206-208.

380 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
some features of barbarity in the first essayings of this State at
legislation, soon, however, pointed out by wise statesmen in the
Commonwealth, and soon i-emoved. Hence, too, so much was
energetically accomplished in the early history of the settlers
toward order and independence, with only a modicum of legis
lation, as is amply illustrated by what is preserved to us of the
records of the Council of Safety, — "the greatest political curi
osity," says Gov. Slade, " which the history of Vermont can
furnish." '
Moreover, while many would be attracted to the general move
ment of Separatism, because of its energy in reformation, others
would join the Separates from less pure motives. Backus says,
" Such evils had been practised under the name of learning,
orthodoxy, und regularity, that many were prejudiced against the
truth by what others falsely called by those names. Christian
liberty had been so invaded that many ran iuto licentiousness to
avoid tyranny. The right which the gospel gives to every saint
freely to improve their several gifts for mutual edification had
been so much denied, that frequent instances were now seen of
persons putting' themselves forward in exercises which they had
not a gift for, beifig so earnest to maintain the liberty of speaking
as not duly to regard others' right of judging." ' The Separates
were derided for their uneducated ministry. President Edwards
complained of their extravagance, self-conceit, and zeal without
knowledge, — particularly of their exhorters, — and of their
preaching without license.
The duty or wisdom of " separating " remains an open ques
tion ; how far, in what manner, and when, if at all, the minority
or the aggrieved party is to go out, and organize a separate wor
ship under tlie plea that they cannot iu conscience any longer
countenance the old church iu its errors by remaining in it.^ It is
not the desire ofthe writer of these pages, in the case ofthe Mas
sachusetts and Connecticut Separates, to say, whether, under their
circumstances even. Separatism was the best conceivable method
of promoting all needed reformatiou.
It must, however, be apparent that, as comp.ared with any tame
acquiescence In the growing evils in the churches, the Separates
1 stale Tapers, p. 197. 2 Vol. ii., p. 185.
3 See somo remarks upon this question In the Preface to the Cambridge Plat
form.

SEPARATISM AN OPEN QUESTION. 38l
are to have our approbation. They exerted dn energetic influence
for important reforms which in a sequel of remarkable success
may be seen and read of all men.
It is to be remembej-ed that the persecuting civil and religions
power, and the unfriendly sentiment arrayed against the Separates,
were in support of an innovation upon the Puritan principles and
practice.' The halfway-covenant practice too nearly resembled
the custora of the old country, which the primitive settlers of New
England had intentionally left behind, — not without sacriflce.
Strange to say, the doctrinal standards in the churches which
adopted the halfway covenant had not been modified to suit it.
The articles of faith of the Cambridge Platform, and of the Assem
bly's Catechism, were in form neither altered nor repudiated. The
doctrinal formula was as sharp a statement as ever of the doctrine
of regeneration.
So far as Separatism involved denunciation of the Standing Or
der churches as no true churches of Christ, In our opinion it was
wrong. That in all cases the Separates were innocent of disre
garding the rights and feelings of others, it is not here attempted
to maintain. They, in many instances, perhaps, refused to those
from whom they came out the same right of private judgment
and liberty of conscience which they demanded for themselves.
It is the want of discrimination and charity in condemning others
which is wrong. The Separates were not by any means entirely
innocent of this. Those especially who continued in the same
place with the old church from which they had separated had a
great teraptation to uncharitableness. On the contrary, so far as
the Standing Order churches assumed that the Separates were not
responsible to judge for themselves whether they could best wor
ship God in a Separate organization, the Standing Order was
wrong. As to the question of the mutual fellowship of neighbor
ing churches, — how intimate it sh,all be, — it must bo decided very
much by the circumstances. It has been well settled, and prob
ably will remain so, that no party shall be compulsorily taxed for
support of one religious society when there is another accessible
which is preferred. This has now of a long time been settled this
side of the Atlantic Ocean, though only just beginning to be ac
cepted in the mother country. It has also been settled with us now
1 See Preface to Cambridge Platform.

382 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
a good while that no party shall be taxed against his consent for
the supportof any religious society whatever; and this, too, is well.
President Edwards, in some passages of his writings, appears to
disapprove the course of the Separates in separating ; and, yet, in
other passages to justify them,' He certainly disapproved the
course of the majority, whensoever it sought to restrain the Sep
arates by civil penalties or ecclesiastical discipline. There were
some distinct results of reformation accomplished, which the Sep
arates had the perspicacity to see, and the spirit to demand, in
advance of the most zealous and spiritual, who, like President
Edwards, preferred to remain with the old churches. President .
Edwards received his flrst convictions of the unscripturalness of
the halfway covenant through the Separates.''
On the whole, the conclusion is forced upon us that Separatism,
witli other causes added, was, by the overruling providence of
God made largely promotive of the interests of mankind.
Briefly to sum up the results : They were in sympathy with and
did much to promote a revival acknowledged on all hands to be
one of very remarkable greatness and power. We have seen how
with regard to the progress of civil and religious liberty they were
quite In the van.^ Against the use of the civil power to enforce
1 See his Qualifications for Communion, Part ill., Obj. 20; also, his Letter to
the Rev. Elnathan Whitman, Hartford, Conn. — Works of Jonathan Edwards,
London, 1849, Vol. i., p. cxviii.; ib., pp. clvi., vil., viii.
2 " It is certain that the conduct of the Separates (in not approving the halfway
covenant) received his anxious attention." " He must, therefore, have seen their
arguments against the admission of hypocrites into the church, and it was not in
his nature to cast arguments away through prejudice without ascertaining what
mixture of truth there might be in them." — Great Awakening, p. 406.
3 *' The expedition against Cape Breton, in which Louisburg was taken from
the French, 1743, — Col. Pepperell commanding, — was favored by Whitfield; he
gave them a motto, after much solicitation of Sherburne, the commissary, —
^Christo duce,' — upon which great numbers enlisted. Separates at Cliebacco
— separated from Pickering — enlisted. Whitfield preached to the troops upon
their departure. Upon their victory Wliitfield preached a thanksgiving sermon."
— Notes in Great Awakening, p. 67.
Tlie Bennington battle, asa successful contest of native spirit and vigor against
odds of culture and of Britisli prestige, was au example of the peculiar spirit and
success which had marked the career of many ofthe early settlers of Benning
ton from the time they, as Separates, protested iu Connecticut and Massachu
setts agaiust the aristocratic und domlucering formalism ofthe Standing Order
churches. The resistance of the early settlera of Vermont against tho atterapts of the

A CONVERTED MINISTRY. 383
religions conformity thoy successfully protested. In the midst of
a serious declension in the mind and practice of the churches from
the written standards, the Separates rescued, and practically re
established, every important doctrinal sentiment of those stand
ards. One of the so-called excefeses of the revivalists was their
denunciation of the ministers as unconverted; but that there was
too much reason for this has already been shown. The demand
that a minister should be a converted man was made to appear
reasonable. Public attention was so strongly flxed upon it that
the churches and the community came soon to settle it correctly;
and the correct settlement of this question has practically reached
all evangelical denominations in the United States. " In somo
Instances they were fonudcd on separating from degenerate
churches and an unconverted ministry, as even charity must ad
mit, and were the means of establishing and preserving gospel
ordinances in their life and power where otherwise there would
have been only the dead form of religion. Some of them occurred
where the Christian population was large enough to justify divis
ion. Some of them became regular and orderly churches and sub
sist to this day. President Clapp, of Yale College, who, in 1742,
forbade his pupils to attend the Separate meeting at New Haven,
became an attendant there himself in less thau ten years," — now
the Ndrth Church."
' In respect of evei^y important position named, there has been a
singular unanimity, on the part of the Congregational churches,
professedly of orthodox faith, in coming over to the ground thus
in advance taken by the Separates. When the objections to the
old churches in their minds were thus removed, and there was felt
to be no other need ofthe additional church, the Separates readily
returned to the old church, excepting in those instance in which
the Separate church had become Baptist. " They went out from
ns, but they were of us : their return was natural, pleasant to us,
and honorable both to their candor and to our common religion." '
New Tork governors in council to establish their jurisdiction as far east as the
Connecticut River, was a decisive struggle of republicanism against the spirit of
aristocracy and monarchy.
1 Great Awakening, p. 300.
2 Re^ Dr. McEowen, in Cont. Ecc. Hist., Conn., p. 281. "The close of the
Revolutionary struggle found many of the parish churches destitute of pastors,
and in some of them the lack was not soon supplied. . . . The churches of
the Standing Order, so called, gradually abandoned the practices which had

384 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
The removal of the Bennington settlers away from the vicinity
of the old churches to new seats, would disembarrass them of the
most serious evils of Separatism. They who came up hither
had necessarily to found a new church. There was no room for
any question about the expediency of this. They were under no
temptation of uncharitable denunciation of any other church in
the neighborhood, for there was uo such church to denounce.'
And to this day, the few principles they adopted as the basis of
their church order have been sustained. The repudiation of the
fellowship of the churches in common counsel and mutual advice,
and the idea of lay ordination, were never practically adopted by
the church. As has been seen, in less than a year after its organ
ization, it invited a mutual council to convene at Westfield, Mass.,
to give advice upon the question of the removal of that church
and its pastor hither. The duty of infant baptism was strenu
ously maintained from the outset.^ Whatever impracticable pe
culiarities of extreme Separatism cropped out in the case of
individual members gradually disappeared. The counsels of
moderation aud wisdom prevailed.
IV. Laws oe Massachusetts aijd Connecticut respecting
Freedom of Public Worship, compared. —That Massachusetts
did not proceed to as great length as Connecticut in persecuting
the Separates has been accounted for iu part, and, doubtless, cor-

grieved the Separates, and, to some extent, adopted the very positions and
courses which their former pastors had condemued  The result was
almost inevitable. Indeed, the reunion of churches began in Canterbury,
Conn., soon after the close ofthe Ilevolution, though not at first completely suc
cessful. The same thing was accomplished, at difl'erent dates, in several places;
the last, and one of the most successful instances, being that of North Stoning
ton, where, for a number of years. Rev. Joseph Ayer was the minister, at once,
ofthe old aud ofthe Separatist church, until their liappy uniou in 1827." — Rev.
R. C. Learned in "New Englander" for 1853, p. 208.
1 It is a familiar anecdote of the pioneer, Samuel Eobinson, Esq., that when
new-comers presented themselves to him as chief proprietors' agent for the
lands in this region, he would inquire of them as to their religious persuasion :
if Episcopalians, he would oiler them lauds in Arlington; if Baptists, in Shafts
bury; if no religious persuasion, in I'ownal; hut if Congregationalists, in Ben
nington.— Thompson's Vermont, Part iii., p. 19. It may ho questioned -^liether
this slight partiality in the interest of a denomination was not really adverse to
that Interest and to the interest of true religion.
2 See record of the flist case of discipline alter the organization of the church.

MASSACHUSETTS PRIOR TO 1091. 385
rectly, by tho fact that tho charter of 1691, obtained from King
William III., termed in tho account of the Sturbridge case "the
royal act of iiidulgoiico," required toleration of every religious
persuasion except Papists. " Liberty of conscience iu the worship
of God to all Christians, except Papists, inhabiting, or whicii sliall
inhabit or be resident withiu our said province or territory." This
was interpreted to mean that men should not be imprisoned, or
otherwise punished, for holding meetings by themselves ; and was
also interpreted not to prohibit some encouragement by law (as,
for example, enforcing upou the Separates tlio payment of taxes
to tho Standing Order) of the religion professed by the majority
ofthe inhabitants. To use the language of Mr. Bancroft: "In one
respect the now charter was an advanceraent. Every form of
Christianity, except, unhappily, the Roman Catholic, was enfran
chised ; and in civil affairs the freedom of the colony, no longer
restricted to tho members of the church, was extended so widely
as to be in a practical sense nearly universal. The Legislature
continued to encourage by law the religion professed by the ma
jority of the inhabitants, but it no longer decided controversies on
opinion, and no Synod was ever again convened." ' Backus says :
"King William intended by this charter (of 1G91) to prevent their
making any moi'o persecuting laws, and it had that effect fifty years
afterward, when Connecticut imprisoned men for preaching the
gospel, but Massachusetts could not do so."'
It is necessary to a fair comparison between Connecticut and
Massachusetts to say, and in justice to Connecticut to recall the
well-known historical fact that, prior to the coming into force of
this charter of 1G91, Massachusetts had .in unenviable distinction
above Connecticut in punishing with fines, imprisonmeiits, stripes,
banishment, and worse, those who wero not orthodox according
to the Massachusetts way.
Connecticut. — Of the origin.al constitution of the colony of
Connecticut Bancroft says (remarks that, of course, do not strictly
apply to the colony of New Haven, which, however, was merged
in that of Connecticut in 1662) : "Roger Williams had ever been
a welcome guest at Hartford ; and that heavenly man, John Haynes,
1 Vol. III., p. 80.
2 History Baptists in New England, 1602-1804, by Isaac Backus, Vol. i., p. 133.
33

386 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
would say to him, ' I think, Mr. Williams, I must now confess to
you that the most wise God hath provided and cut out this part of
the world as a refuge and receptacle for all sorts of consciences.'
There never existed a persecuting spirit in Connecticut." Ban
croft quotes Douglas, in a foot-note, as saying, " I never heard of
any persecuting spirit in Connecticut. In this they are egregiously
aspersed."' He adds, further on: " During the intervening cen
tury (Connecticut's first century) we shall rarely have occasion to
recur to Connecticut. Its institutions were perfected. For more
than a ceutury peace was within its borders ; and with transient
interruptions its democratic iustitutions were puharmed. For a
century, with short exceptions, its history is the picture of colo
nial happiness. To describe its condition is but to enumerate the
blessings of self-government, as exorcised by a community of farm
ers, who have leisure to reflect, who cherish education, and who
have neither a nobility nor a populace." '^
While the third article ofthe bill of rights ofthe new constitu
tion (1780) of Massachusetts was not generally interpreted uutil
an enabling statute (iu 1811)^ to give to every religious congrega
tion, whether incorporated or not, their own taxes for the support
of religion, Connecticut passed au unequivocal act to this efi'ect in
1784. And whereas this third article of the bill of rights was not
abolished in Massachusetts until 1833, Connecticut adopted a con
stitution, iu 1818, which iu principle left every one free to adopt
some religion, or no religion, as they should be pleased to do ; and
pay a tax for public worship, only upou volnutary connection with
some religious society, — thus obtaining complete religious free
dom, the ground which the Separates took, and for which chiefly
they separated from the Standing Order as far back as 1730. The
constitution of Massachusetts was revised in 1820, and an attempt
was made at that time to have the third article ofthe bill of rights
abolished, by which Massachusetts would have been pnt on the
same footing with Connecticut, but it failed. The attempt was
again made in 1833, and was successful.''
1 Vol. II., pp. 56, 67. 2 Ibid., pp. 60, 61.
3 Buck's Mass. Ecc. Law, pp. 43, 4S.
4 " So unanimous had the dissatisfaction become, tliat, in 1834, an amendment
of the third article of the bill of rights was adopted, by \vliich the ancient
policy of the Commonwealth, derived from tlie niotlier country, steadily main
tained for two hundred years, was entirely ubuudoued." — Buck's Muss. Ecc.
Law, p. 04.

PURITANS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 387
V. Justice to the Puritans of Massachushtts Bay. — In
what h.is been said in this volume respecting the laws of Connect
icut and Massachusetts, iu tiieir bearing upon the Separates, the
case has beon stated strongly against them ; not, however, with
the least feeling of prejudice against the fathers of New England,
but simply to account for tho course of the Separates, to whom,
as a class, so many of the early settlers of Bennington belonged.
With regard to the spiritual degeneracy ofthe churches, in con
nection with the culmination of the halfway covenant folly, the
writer has no apology to offer for them. 3uoh baokslidings, how
ever, have, from time to time, disgr.aced professed Christianity in
all ages of its history; and the sad story of such degeneracies
should be pondered by us, so as to impress the admonition of
Scripture, " Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take
heed lest he fall." But with respect to the principle of the en
forcement of religious conformity, particularly in the matter of
public worship, some words of explanation should be added, in
justice to the Puritans; though they were but men, aud, as such,
to bo seen in the light of their imperfections as well as their
virtues. The Puritans did not believe, did not profess to believe, in free
dom of religious worship. They did not profess to be Separatists
as to the Church of England. There were instances, indeed, in the
mother country, of their standing in au attitude of severe antag
onism toward the Separatists. (The Pilgrims who came in the
Mayflower, and settled in Plymouth, were Separatists, of that
day, and believed in entire freedom of conscience as to religious
worship, and remained so while they lived, though the influence
of the Plymouth colony was gradually overborne by that of the
more 'powerful colony of Massachusetts Bay, and of the con
federation, afterward, of the colonies of Plymouth, Massachusetts,
Connecticut, and New Haven.)
Moreover, take them as they wore, how ftir in advance were
they of their times ? Let such imperfections as there were in their
knowledge and attainments be viewed in contrast with the greater
imperfections and far deeper ignorance of the times at large, and
of their own early education. Tiieir faults viere not so much faults
of the men as of the times. Let it be remembered that the daylight
of freedom of public worship, as to compulsory taxation, has not
yet come in England, — only a faint twilight betokening, now at

388 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
length the approach of day; and it may be the better understood
how deep was the darkness a century and a half ago.
The purpose of the Puritan fathers, to maintain, as a parish,
public worship, at all haz.ards, as a foremost duty and interest of
the community, is to be charged with much of their proceedings
toward the minority who refused to assist in supporting the public
worship of God with the majority of tho town. This principle
has run through all the ecclesiastical legislation of Massachusetts,
dominating every opposing principle and interest, until its power
was felt, most seriously, of all, by those who came to be In the
minority, as against the Unitarians, and were themselves refused,
in the courts, any ofthe property of the old society. This subject
is fully set forth by Buck in his "Massachusetts Ucclesiastical
Law." Our Puritan fatliers believed it was necessary to com
pel unwilling ones to assist the willing; and they were slow to
believe that a parish had become sufficiently large to maintain more
than one meeting; aud they felt no security that that meeting
would be maintained unless severe measures of coercion were
employed upon such as otherwise would refuse to co-operate with
them. "The confederate commissioners of the New England colony
from 1643 to 1667, maintained a careful supervision of the religious
condition of each colony. They distributed Bibles, they conducted
missions to the Indians on a scale unknown before their time, be
side settling the very diflicult questions of public law relating to
war, boundary, aud jurisdiction, on high Christian pi'inciples,
without precedents to guide them." '
" The General Court, as early as 1654, held it to be their ' great
duty to provide that all places and people witliin their gates should
be supplied with an able and faithful minister of God's holy
word.'" " Presidents of county courts and grand juries were to
present all abuses and neglects, and to attend to the orders of the
General Court concerning the maintenance of the ministry, and
the purging of their towns from such ministry and public preach
ers as should be found vicious in their lives, and perniciously het
erodox in their doctrine. So strictly were these matters attended
to, that we have, in 1800, the exact penalties which towns sliould
pay for neglecting to supply good preaching to tho people. If
the neglect lasted for three months out of six, the penalty -n-as
1 Mass. Ecc. Law, p. 23.

PURITANS OF MASSACHUSETTS BAY. 389
from thirty to sixty doll.ars ; if repeated, the penalty was from sixty
to one liuudrod dollars."' Tho General Court also had a care
over the attendance upon publio worship. " At common law, it
was an offouco to be absent from public worship; aud by statutes,
1 Elizabeth, ch. 2, absentees, without excuse, were liable to the
censures ofthe churcli, and a flue of twelve pence." A fine might
be imposed for dolluquoncy until 1835.'
Some traces of this feeling of misgiving lest public worship
could not be maintained without some assistance of the civil
power is seen even in the first constitution and early legislation
of Vermont.
It is even now- claimed, by somo authors for tho infant colony
of Massachusetts,^ that the excluding of heterogeneous sects was
a measure of necessity, on the principle that self-preservation is
the first law of nature. Undoubtedly thus reasoned the fathers
of the Massachusetts colony. The early history of Connecticut
colony, and, indeed, of infant communities in the new States, in
our own time, would seem, however, to disprove such reasoning.
Besides, if tho}' degenerated, out of their own loins, from among
tiieir own churclies and coiiiinuiiilies, came forth those who saw
the truth, and lod up the others and maukhid to a higher plane.
The instances of exceedingly severe treatment — such as if in
flicted now would bo considered outrageous and diabolical in every
sense — were sporadic cases, — efl'ects of sudden aud overpower-
iug excitemout in tho community. They were not the normal
and abiding results of the spirit of the people aud the community
as a. whole.
In the "Massachusetts Ecclesiastical Law," p. 36, the author-
justly says, iu a note, "It would seem th.at the harsh moods of
our ancestors, in the case of the Quakers and witches, hardly.
lasted two years. Wo might look in vain for a swifter return to
common sense, after a national excitement."
Another'' lias said of JIassachusclts, " The wild excesses ofthe
people in preventing witchcraft, in 1692, destroyed nearly every
trace of belief in ghosts and such things."
Of the law of 1742, iu the General Assembly of Connecticut,
" For regulating abuses and correcting disorders iu ecclesiastical
1 Mass. Ecc. Law, pp. 20, 27. 2 Mass. Ecc. Law, p. 27.
3 See Palfrey's remarks on this point in his History of New England.
» Goodrich Hist. United States.
33*

390 MEMORIALS OF A CENTURY.
affairs," and which imposed penalties on Itineraut preachers and
exhorters, it has been well declared, " It was a high-handed in
fringement of the rights of conscience, and in a few years fell
and buried the party which enacted it iu ruins." ' The reaction
against this persecuting course was as violent as the adoption of
the course itself. It intensified the spirit of Separatism, and an
accelerated progress of religious liberty ensued.
The constant tendency of human nature is to degenerate, while
the cliurch of God iu the world, with all its reactions aud baok
slidings, still brings forth from within itself those who lead man
kind up to successively higher planes of civilization, goodness,
intelligence, and happiness. "Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth ovil fruit."
See tho Pilgrims landing on Plymouth Rock, iu 1620, and the
Puritans settling in Salem aud Boston, in 1630, and consider what
New Englaud is to-day, and what its influence in the world has
.already been.
In tracing, therefore, the course of legislation in the States
named, with regard to freedom of religious worship, the object of
the writer has beeu simply historical information upon au inter
esting, important, and little understood subject, and justice to
all, while he still retains the most profound respect for our Pil
grim and Puritan forefathers. 1 Great Awakening, p. 238.

APPENDIX.

The Charter of Bennington.
Tiie following is a copy of the original Instrument In the town clerk's olBce.
Upon the back of the charter are the names of the grantees, including the min
ister as one, and the school ns another, and the name of Governor Wentw-orth
occurs twice. Accompanying the charter Is a plan of tlie township, in sixty-
four squares, to designate the rights, witir the name of its proprietor on each
square, as the rights were severally drawn by lot " by the agents, for the pro
prietors in rortsmouth, Jan. 10, 1749; and were entered by the secretary of said
province upon this plan ; each man taking his chance whose name stands In the
schedule annexed to the grant of said township."]
Province of >
New Hampshire. 5
George the Second, by the Grace of God, of Great
Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender
of the Faith, &c.
s^KKTJvKoo^s To all persons to whom tliese presents shall come,
§ Seal. § Greeting. Know ye. That We, of our especial grace,
§«»..<>=..^v»§ certain knowledge, and mere motion, for the due en
couragement of settling a new plantation within our said province,
by and with the advice of our trusty and well-beloved Benning
Wentworth, Esquire, our GovernourandComraandor-in-Chief of our
said province of New Hampshire, in America, and of our Council
of the said province, have, upon the conditions and reservations
hereinafter made, given and granted, and by these presents for us,
our heirs and successors, do give and grant In equal shares unto
our loving subjects, inhabitants of our said province of New
Hampshire, and his Majesty's other governments, and to their

392 APPENDIX.
heirs and assigns forever, whoso names are entered in this grant,
to be divided to aud amongst them, into sixty-four equal shares.
All that tract or parcel of land, situate, lying, and being within
our said province of New Hampshire, containing, by admeasure
ment, twenty-three thousand and forty acres, which tract is to
contain six miles square and uo more, out of which an allowance
is to be made for highways aud unimprovable lands, by rocks,
mountains, ponds, and rivers, one thousand and forty acres, free
according to a plan and survey thereof, made by our said Govern-
our's order, by Matthew Clesson, surveyor, returned into the Sec
retary's office and hereunto annexed, butted and bounded, as fol
lows, viz. : Beginning at a ci'otclied hemlock tree marked W.W., six
miles due north of a white oak tree, slaiuliiigiii the northern bound
ary line of the province of tlie Massachusetts Bay, twenty-four
miles east of Hudson's river, marked M. C. I.T.,and from said hem
lock tree west ten degrees, north four miles toa stake and stones,
which is the south-west corner, and from said stake and stones
north ten degrees east, six miles to a stake and stones, which is
the north-west corner, and from said stake and stones east ten
degrees south, six miles to a stake and stones, which is iu tlie
north-east corner, and from thence soutli ten degrees west, six miles
to a stake and stones, which is the south-east corner, and frora
thence west ten degrees north, two miles to the crotched hemlock
first mentioned; and that the same be and hereby is incorporated
into a township by the name of Bennington; and the inhabitants
that do, or shall hereafter inhabit the said township, are hereby
declared to be enfranchised with, and entituled to, all and every the
privileges and immunities that other towns withiu our province by
law exercise and enjoy. And further, that the said town, as soou as
there shall be flfty families resident and settled thereon, shall have
the liberty of holding two fairs, one of which shall be held ou the
flrst Monday in the montli of March, and the other on the first 6Iou-
day iuthe month of September, annually, which fairs are not to con
tinue and be held longer than the respective Saturdays following the
said Moudays; aud that, as soou as the said town shall consist of
flfty families, a market shall be opened and kept one or more days
in each week, as may be thought most advantageous to the inhab
itants. Also, that the flrst meeting for the choice of town officers,
agreeable to the laws of our said province, shall be held on the
last Wednesday of March next, which said meeting shall be notl-

THE BENNINGTON CHARTER. 393
fled by Colonel William Williams, who is hereby also appointed
moderator of the said flrst meeting, which he is to notify and
govern agreeably to tho law and custom of our said province.
And that the annu.al mooting forever hereafter for the choice of
such officers, for tho said town, shall be on the last Wednesday of
March annually.
To have and to hold the said tract of land as above expressed,
together with all privileges and appurtenances, to them, and their
respective heirs aud assigns forever, upon the following condi
tions, viz. : —
Imprimis ^ '"'' every grantee, his heirs or assigns, shall plant and
cultivate flve acres of land withiu the term of flve
years for every flfty acres contained in his or their sh.aro or pro
portion of land iu said township, aud continue to improve and
settle the same by addition.al cultivation, on penalty ofthe forfeit
ure of his grant or share in the said township, and of its reverting
to his majesty, his heirs and successors, to be by him or thom re
granted to such of his sulijects as shall effectually settle and cul
tivate the same. That all white and other pine trees within the said
Secundo. , „ „
township, flt for masting our royal navy, be carefully
preserved for that nso, and none to be cut or felled without his
m.ajesty's especial license for so doing, flrst had and obtained on the
penalty of the forfeiture of the right of such grantee, his heirs, or
assigns, to us, our heirs or successors, as well as being subject to
the penalty of any act or acts of Parliameut that now are or here
after shall be enacted.
That before any division of the said land bo made to
and among tlio grantees, u. tract of laud, as near the
centre of said township as the land ^vill admit of, shall be re
served and marked out for town lots, one of which shall be allotted
to each grantee of the contents of one acre.
Yielding and paying therefor to us, our heirs and suc-
Quar 0. gggg(,j.g^ fm- ^jie gp.ace of ten years, to be computed frora
the dafe hereof, the rent of one ear of Indian corn only, on the
twenty-flfth day of December, annually, if lawfully demanded, the
flrst payment to be made on tho twenty-flfth day of December
next ensuing the date hereof.
jE'i'crj/ proprietor, or settler, or inhabitant, shall yield
Quinto. ^^^ p,^y ^^^^ ^g^ ^^^ Xxaus and successors, yearly and

394 APPENDIX.
every year forever, from and after the expiration of ten years from
the date hereof, namely, on the twenty-fifth day of December,
which will be in the year of our Lord 1760, one shilling proclama
tion money, for every hundred acres he so owns, settles, or pos
sesses, and so in proportion for a greater or lesser tract of the
said land, which money shall be paid by the respective persons
above said, their heirs, or assigns, in our council chamber in
. Portsmouth, or to such officer or offlcers as shall be appointed to
receive the same, and this to be iu Ueu of all other rents aud ser
vices whatsoever.
In testimony, whereof we have caused the seal of our said prov
ince to be hereunto affixed. Witness, Benning Wentworth, Esq.,
our Governor, and Coinmander-iu-Chlef of our said provinces,
the third day of January, in the year of our Lord Christ one thou
sand seven hundred and forty- nine, and in the twenty- third year of
our reign. B. Wentworth.
By his Excellency's command, with advice of the Council.
Theodore Atkinson, Esq.
State of Verjiont, Survkyok-Genekal's Office,
Sunderland, December 13th, 1785.
Recorded in the flrst book for charters of tlie New Hampshire
grants, pp. 193, 194, 195. I. Allen, Secretary- General.
B.
Allen and Warner.
By successful acts of adventurous heroism, — foi'omost among
whioh was the taking of Ticonderoga, with his small handful of
men, " in the name of the Great Jehovah and the Continental Con
gress, " — Ethan Allen has gained a conspicuous place in the an
nals of Vermont. He is fairly entitled to the admiration he has
received, on account of the remarkable warmth of his nature,
the irresistible popular force, for a time, of his writing and speak
ing, and his distinguished activity, daring, and enterprise in the
public service. Two or three characteristic anecdotes are here
introduced. He was once sued upon a promissory note for sixty pounds,
and as it was not convenient for him to moot a judgment, he em
ployed a lawyer to procure a continuance. As the readiest means

ETHAN ALLEN. 395
for this, the lawyer determined to dfcny the signature. The at
testing witness would then be necessary, aud as he lived in
Boston, aud could not be procured in season, a continuance would
be inevitable. Wlion the case wtis called, Allen happened to be
present, and, to his astonisliment, he heard his lawyer gravely
deny the signature of tlie note. With long strides he made his
way through tho crowd, and, confronting the amazed attorney,
rebuked hiin in a voice of thunder; "Mr.  , I did not hire
you to como here and lie. That is a true note ; I signed it, I'll
swear to it, and I'll pay it. I want no shuffling, but I want time.
What I employed you for was to get this business put over to
the next Court, not to como hore and lie and juggle about it."
It is needless to say ho got the continuance.'
Two little girls, seven and four years of age, had wandered into
the woods. Not returning, and night about setting in, the
parents, fearing they had fallen a prey to the wild beasts then
infesting the forests, with the aid of a few neighbors commenced
a search, which was continued through the night, and the next
day, joined by large numbers from that aud adjacent towns, and
was prosecuted uutil mid-afternoon of the third day, when, worn
out by fatigue, and despairing of flnding the lost wanderers alive,
the men had collected together with the view of returning to
their home ; but among them was Ethan Allen. lie mounted a
stump, and, in a mannor peculiar to liimself, pointed flrst to the
father and then to the mother of the lost children, now petrifled
with grief, and admonished each individual present — and
especially those who were p.arents — to make the case of these
parents his own, and then say -whether thoy could go contentedly
to their homes without making one further effort to s.ave these
dear little ones who were probably now alive, but perishing with
hunger, and spending their last strength in crying to father and
mother to give them food. As he spoke his giant frame was
agit.ated, and tears rolled down his cheeks ; and in the assembly
of several hundred men but few eyes were dry; whereupon all
manifested a willingness to return. The search being renewed,
before night of the same day the lost children were found, and
restored in safety to the arms of distracted parents.'
When Col. Allen was captured at Montreal, by the British, with
his party of Canadians, order was given that thirteen of these
1 Vermont Record. 2 Vermont Hist. Mng. Article, Sunderland.

396 APPENDIX.
Canadians should be thrust through with bayonets. "It cut me
to the heart," he says, " to see tho Canadians in so hard a case, in
consequence of their having been true to me ; they were wringing
thoir hands, saying their prayers (as I concluded), and expected
immediate death. I therefore stepped between the executioners
and the Canadians, opened my clothes, and told General Prescott
to thrust his bayonet into my breast, for I was the sole cause of
the Canadians' taking up arms ; the guard ia the mean time roll
ing their eyeballs from the General to me, as though impatiently
waiting his dread commands to sheathe their bayonets in my
breast. I could, however, plainly discern that he was in a sus
pense and quandary about the matter. This gave me additional
hopes of succeeding; for my design was not to die, but to save
the Canadians by a finesse." '
In the progress of the New York controversy, several pamphlets
were written by Allen, as well as letters of official correspondence
with the opposing party, exhibiting, in a manner pecuUar to him
self, and well suited to the state of public feeling, the injustice of
the New Yorlv claims. Tliose pamphlets were extensively circu-
. Iated, and contributed much to inform the minds, arouse the zeal,
and unite the efforts of the settlers.''
When Col. Allen had been released from his long captivity, in
exchange for Colonel Campbell, Allen paid a visit to the American
camps at "Valley Forge, where he had much to tell of his various
vicissitudes and hardships. Washington, in a letter to the Presi
dent of Congress suggesting that something should be done for
Allen, observes : " His fortitude and firmness seem to have
placed him out of the reach of misfortune. There is an original
something about him that commands admiration, and his long
captivity and sufferings liave only served to Increase, if possible,
his enthusiastic zeal. He appears very desirous of rendering his
services to the States, and of being employed."'
Seth Warner, Allen's comrade in so many adventures, and in so
much public service, without attempting, perhaps incapable of,
rhetorical effects by his tongue and pen, possessed more breadth
of character, more prudence and judgment, and j'ot no loss deter
mination and courage, than Allen. When the peculiar occasions
for adventurous daring had passed by, Warner rose to a higher
1 Ethan Alien's Narrative, p. 30. 2 Gov. Slade, in State Papers, p. 36.
3 Irving's Life of VVashingtou, Vol. III., p. 378.

ALLEN AND WARNER.

397

degree of respect in the public mind, while Providence appeared
to have denied to Allen opportunity for achieving further renown.
"As a military loader, Warner was honored and conflded in above
all others by the people of this State, and his bravery and military
capacity appear to have been always appreciated by the intelli
gent offlcers from other States with whom he served. In the dis
astrous retreat from Canada, in the spring of 1776, he brought up
the rear ; and ho was placed in command of the rear-guard on the
evacuation of Ticonderoga, by which he was involved in the
action at Hubbardton. At Bennington he was with Stark for
several days before tho battle, and was his associate in planning
the attack upon Baum, and iu carrying it into execution ; and it
was by his advice and contrary to the flrst impression of Stark
that Breyman was immediately opposed without flrst retiring to
rally the scattered forces."'
" It is evident that they " — Allen and Warner — "'were far more
efficient and more useful in defending the New Hampshire Grants,
than they would have been, had they both been Aliens, or both
been Warners ; and it would not be extravagant to say, that, had
either been wanting, the Independence of Vermont might not
have been achieved. But in selecting a person to command a
regiment, the men of that day gave the preference to Warner.
Accordingly the convention assembled at Dorset to nominate
officers for a regiment of Green Mountain Boys, nominated War
ner for Ueutenant-colonel to command the regiment, by a vote of
forty-one to flve. And as Allen was candidate for the office, as
appears by his letter to Governor Trumbull, written shortly after
the offlcers were nominated, in which he says, that he was over
looked because the old men wero reluctant to go to war, tho vote
must be considered as a fair expression of the public sentiment
in relation to the qualifications of the two men for the office." ^
1 Vermont Hist. Mag.
2 Quoted from Chipman's Life of Warner in Hir. Houghton's Montpelier Ad
dress. 34

398 APPENDIX. C.
Covenant oe tub Bennington First Church.
[The greater probability is that this instrument was adopted and signed not
at, but within two or three years after, the organization of tiie church. See p.
39 of this volume.]
We whose names are underwritten, apprehending ourselves
called of God into church state of the gospel, do, first of all, con
fess ourselves unworthy to be so highly favored of the Lord ; and
admire thijt rich and free grace of his, which triumphs over so
great unworthiness ; and then, with an humble reliance on the
grace therein promised for those who, in a sense of their inability
to do any good thing, do humbly wait on him for all, — we now
thankfully lay hold of his covenant; and would choose the
things that please him.
We declare our serious belief of the Christian religion as con
tained in the sacred Scriptures, and with such view thereof as the
Confession of Faith and Rules of Discipline in Cambridge Plat
form has exhibited, — heartily resolviug to conform our lives unto
the rules of that holy religion so long as we live in the world.
We give ourselves uuto the Lord Jehovah, who is the Father, and
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and avouch him this day to be our
God, our Father, and our Saviour, aud our Leader; and receive
him as our portion forever. We give up ourselves uuto the
blessed Jesus, who is the Lord Jehovah ; and adhere to him as the
head of his people in the covenant of grace; and rely on him as
our Priest, and our Prophet, aud our King, to bring us uuto eter
nal blessedness. We acknowledge our everlasting and indispen
sable obligation to glorify God in all tho duties of a godly, a sober,
and a righteous life, and very particularly in the duty of a cliurch
state, — a body of people associated together for au obedience to
him in all the ordinances of the gospel ; aud we herein depend
upon his gracious assistance for our faithful discharge of the du
ties thus incumbent on us. We desire, and intend, and with de
pendence upou his powerful grace we engage, to walk together
as a church of the Lord Jesus Clirist iu the faith aud order of the
gospel so far as we shall have the same revealed to us, — consci
entiously attending the public worship of God, the sacraments
of the New Testament, the discipline of his kingdom, aud all his
holy institutions iu coramunion with oue auother, and watchfully

OLD cnuRcn covenant.

899

avoiding all sinful stnmbUng-blooks,.as become a people "whom the
Lord hath bound up together in the bundle of eternal life.
At the same time, also, "we do present our offspring with ns to
the Lord, purposing with his help to do our part in the methods
of a religious education that they may be the Lord's. And all
this we do flying to the blood of the everlasting covenant for the
pardon of our many errors; and praying that the glorious Lord,
who is the great Shepherd, will prepare and strengthen us for every
good work to do his will, working in us that which will be well
pleasing in his sight — to whom be glory forever and ever.
Amen.

Jolin Itobcrtg
Snmuel Tloblnsou
Jftmes Fny
Benjamin Harwood
George Abbott, Jun.
Jedidiah Rice *
James Brealcenridge
Oliver Rice
James Fay, Jr.
David Doane
John Fassett
Daniel Fay
Ichabod Stratton
"William Ilrcakenriflge
Benjamin Whipple
Eleazer Harwood
Slim uel Pratt
Jonathan Scott
Elisha Field
Samuel Montague
Elizabeth Scott
Experience Richardson
Rcbckah Abbott
Lydia Fay
Marcy Robinson
Baty Pratt
Bridget Harwood
Elizabeth Roberts
Elizabeth Fisk
Elizabeth T'ratt
I'cace Atwood
I'rudctice Whipple
Martha Abbott
[One quarter sheet of subscribers' names -
William Haswell.]

Mehitable Fay
Hannah Utce
Elizabeth Fay
Marcy Newton
Hepzibah Whipple
Joseph Safford
Stephen Story
Bethiah Bilrnham
Eleanor Smith
Aaron Leonard
John Wood
Zechariah Hnrwood
Timothy Abbott
Ej^Mior Urcakenridgc
Elijah Story
Mary Fassett
Martha Wickwire -
Martha Montague
Jonathan Scott, Jr.
Jonathan Eastman
Elizabeth Harwood
Daniel Scott
Silas Robinson
Elizabeth Eastman
Sarah Story
Simeon Harmon
Robert Cochran
Mary Cochran
Bettey Dewey
Anna Walbridge
Daniel jAIills
]\Iin(Uvcll Hopkins
Rhoda Hopkins
-probably thirty — was lost. —

400 APPENDIX. . D.
Articles op the Newint (Conn.) SEP.iiiATB Church.'
1. We believe that there is one only glorious God, a Being
from Himself and for Himself, of Whom, and for Whom, are all
things ; Who is Inflnite, eternal, unchangeable in power, wisdom,
goodness, justice, holiness and truth.
2. That there are Three Sacred Persons In the Godhead. God
the Father, God the Sou, and God the Holy Ghost. Equally God,
and yet but one God.
3. That God hath, from all eternity, foreordained what shall
come to pass, and did not only foresee, but did foredetermine the
eternal states of raen and angels.
i. That there is a geueral Providence whioh is exercised about
all things, and that there is a special government of God over all
the rational Creation.
5. That God made angels and men in holiness; but some of the
angels abode not in the truth, who are called devils.
6. That God gave to man, when he had made him, a rule of
obedience for life, and threatened death in case of disobedience ;
which rule for obedience our flrst parents transgressed, by eating
the forbidden fruit, and we transgressed in them, and so death
passed on all men.
7. That the sin of our flrst parents is the sin of all m.ankind by
just Imputation and derivation, and from the whole, all descending
from them by ordinary generation, do uaturally choose and prac
tise siu.
8. That God, having eternally elected some of mankind to life,
did, in the fulness of time, send his Son to redeem thom, aud that
God the Father and God the Son did send the Holy Ghost to sanc
tify them.
9. We believe that Jesus Christ, taking our nature upon him
as Mediator between God and man, hath made full satisfaction to
God for the sins of the elect, and purchased life for them by the
merits of his active and passive righteousness, and having re
ceived all power from God the Father, doth, iu the execution of
his prophetical, priestly, and kingly olflces, reveal unto, and work
in, his elect, whatever is necessary for salvation.
1 Sec p. Sl of tliU volume.

NEWINT CHURCH ARTICLES. 401
10. That in the new covenant, God hath promised life to all
those that, with the full consent of their souls, believe in him
through Jesus Christ, and that the object of justifying faith is
Clirist in his person and onioos as he is revealed in the Gospel,
and by union to Christ, by faith believers are made partakers of
his Sonship, grace, and glory, so that through free grade in Christ
they are justiUed, adopted, aud sanotifled, and shall enjoy eternal
life. 11. We believe the Scriptures ofthe Old and New Testaraent to
be the record of God, by the dispensation of which, aud through
which, withthe co-operation of the Holy Spirit, conviction of sin
and misery is given, a knowledge of, and a particular faith in
Christ is begotten, repentance, love, and new obedience is caused
in the elect.
12. We believe that the mor.al law in the hand of Christ is the
rule of obedience for believers, and that the sum of this law is to
love the Lord our God with all our heart, etc., and our neighbor
as ourselves.
13. We believe that there are two seals of the covenant of
grace, namely. Baptism and the Lord's Supper. That Baptism
belongs to none but true believers who are received by faith and
love, and thoir seed in their infancy, and is a sign of our entrance
iuto Christ; and the Lord's Supper is a sign of our growtli in
grace. 14. We believe in the communion of saints, the resurrection of
the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
Our covenant with God and one with the other is as fol
lows : —
1. We do each of us in particular unfelgnedly resign up our
selves and our seed to the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, receiving Jesus Christ as very God and very man, and the
only mediator between God and man, as our Lord and Saviour,
freely given of God to each of us in particular and sealed to each
of us in particular, bythe Holy Spirit of promise, relying upon the
free grace of God for that salvation and blessedness which he hath
purchased, and we hope to have by faith in and dependence upon
himself, and wo do submit ourselves to the word and Spirit of God
to be ruled and thereby to be sanotifled.
2. We do acknowledge ourselves indispensably bound and
34*

402

APPENDIX.

wiU make it our great care to hold fast the doctrine of faith and
good manners contained in the Scriptures of truth ; that we will
attend all those duties that are therein prescribed for the increase
of our faith and growth in holiness, and of maintaining a good
conscience, that is, gospel preaching, mutual exhortation, ordinan
ces, discipline, prayer, singing of ps.alins, etc.
3. And, as God is tlie Author of order, beauty, and peace, we do
solemnly proraise that, by the assistance of God's Holy Spirit, we
will labor mutually to watch one over tho other, and to observe
all Christian aud brotherly offices one to the other, which Christ
hath enjoined according to our respective places ; that is, love
without dissimulation, and real expressions thereof as occasion
serves, in dally frequent exhortation to duty, and admonition lu
case of sin and failing, praying for ono another, and sympathizing
with one another in affliction and prosperous enjoyments, aud
using all possible means to proraote the spiritual welfare and
growth of each other in holiness.
4. First. We do submit to the discipline of Christ in this
church, — the sum of which we do acknowledge as followeth,
namely: That suprerae and lordly power and authority overall
churches doth belong only to Jesus Christ, who is King and Head
thereof. He hath the governraent upou His shoulders ; hath all
power both iu Heaven and in Earth, and it is exercised by Hira
flrst in calling the church out of the world to holy fellowship
with Himself; (2), and iu instituting the ordinances of His worship
and appointing His ministers and ofllcej-s for the dispensing of
them; (3), in giving law for the ordering all our way and the
way of His house ; (4), in giving life to all His institutions and to
His people by them; (5), in protecting and delivering Ills church
against and frora all the enemies of their peace.
Secondly. The power granted by Christ to the body of the
church or brotherhood is a prerogative or privilege which the
church doth exercise. 1st, in admitting their own raerabers; (2),
in choosing and ordaining their own olflcers; (3), iu removing
them from their oflices and fellowship in case of scandal or any
thing that bythe rules of gospel renders thera uuflt therefor; (4),
iu supporting and maintaining the gospel ministry, ordinances,
and poor of the church, without using the civil sword or any co-
her-sive raeans to force a man thereto.
6. We do also promise, by the grace of God, to oppose all sin

PAPER OF SEPARATE ECC. COUNCIL. 403
and error in ourselves as far as in us lies, and in others when they
appear, to wit : all foolish talking and jesting, chambering, and
wantonness, all vain disputing about words and things that gender
strife and doth not edify to more godliness; also vain company
keeping, and spending time daily at taverns, tippllng-houses or
elsewhere; also evil whispering or backbiting any person; also
carnal aud unnecessary discourse about worldly things; espe
cially on the Sabbath day; unnecessary forsaking the assembling
ourselves in private convenient conferences and especially on the
Sabbath, and all other sins wh.atsoever both of omission and com
mission, etc.
G. Wo win teach nil nndcr our care, as far as In us Uos, to
know God, to fear hliii, and to live In his way. And now aa a fur
ther testimony of our hearty belief of the foregoing doctrine of
faith and covenant, we not only call heaven and earth to record,
but we subscribe and sign the same with our names.

E.
EXTKACT FROM BeSULT OF A SEPARATE ECCLESIASTICAL COUNCIL
HELD IN Bennington, May 23, 1770. (See p. 69.)
" We sec, then, from the general rules given in Scripture, Cam
bridge riatform, and from tho reason and nature of things, the
gospel ought to be supported by equality. The particular method
of which we apprehend to be merely circumstantial where the
essence of the duty is done and nobody injured, .and we appre
hend tho cliurch and society may warrantably unite in a method
by mutual agreement to perform the same, with this reserve and
caution : to guard the church frora bondage. The spciety is by no
means to be allowed to control or govern the church in the affair.
Therefore we think this church in Bennington has made a mistake,
or taken a wrong stop, though perhaps Inadvertently, in giving
the members of society, without any reserve, an equal right of
judging in this affair, whioh, when tho society is in the majority
according hereunto thoy may bind the whole church contrary to
its own mind or judgment.
But as to the method of pursuing this equality, we suppose it
may be varied so as to suit difl'erent circumstances ; as, for in-

404 APPENDIX.
stance, if the circumstances are such as that by Sabbath contribu
tions the thing can be done, very well; or i'f a community agree
to pursue a method of equality, as follows : Voluntary subscrip
tion for their mutual satisfaction; or that of equalizing a sum
among themselves, — very well. Or perhaps some other method
not mentioned may answer well in some circumstances. But in
none of these ways is the matter to be left without the care and
inspection of the church, which has the right of judgment con
cerning the duty, and when discharged by its individual members.
And wheu any of the agreed-upon methods is come into, and each
one's proportion is known, and any individual church-meraber will
not discharge the same, and will not give any satisfactory reason
why to the church, they have a right to use their discipline iu the
case." The "result " is signed, JOHN PALMER, -^
ISRAEL HOLLY, I _ .,
JOSEPH KENT, \ '^™"'^''
ZACCHEUS WALDO, I

F.
A Paper, wherein the Signers agree to be taxed to pat
THE Minister.'
We, the subscribers, inhabitants of the town of Bennington,
being desirous to have the Gospel preached among us, do biud
ourselves severally to bear our equal part iu paying the cost of
sending for a rainister ofthe Gospel, for the above purpose; and
also of supporting hiin for tho term of six months, according to
onr several lists in the year 1783. Witness our hands this seventh
day of January, 1784. The above proportion to be paid to Samuel
Safford, Esq., Jonathan Kobinson, and Slineon Hathaway, Jr., a
committee chosen for the purpose of recoiviug said money and
settling with the minister.
Elijah Boardman William Sattcilee
Silas Robinson Tiinotliy Abbott
Daniel Kinsley Samuel Tuba
Nathaniel Kingsley John Wood
1 Origlual In possession of G, W. Kobinson,

PAPER ON INDIAN CLAIMS.

405

Ephraim Smith
Joseph Robinson
Matthew Scott
Daniel Story
Nathaniel Harmon
Joseph Rudd
Daniel Rudd
Benjamin Fassett
Benjamin Hulburt
William Mather
Eldad Dewey
Sanxuel SofTord
Simeon Hathaway, Jr.
Jonathan Robinson
Henry Walbridge
Simeon IFarmon
Robert Blair
- Joseph Wickwire
Timothy Follett
Simeon Hathaway
John Kingsley
Peter Harwood
Solomon Walbridge
Jonathan Scott
Simeon Harmon, Jr.
Daniel Harmon
David Robinson
Samuel Holmes
Ebenezer AYalbridge
Stephen Hopkins
Robert Hopkins
Isaac Tichenor
Levi Hathaway
Jesse Field
Leonard Roblneon

David Tracy
Thomas Henderson
Thomas Abel
Joseph Hinsdill

Names added hy the committee.
Elijah Dewey
Nathaniel Brush
John Fassett
Zechariah Harwood
Joseph Farnsworth
Samuel Robinson
Joseph Willoughby
Calvin Bingham
Thomas Hall
Joseph Safford
-^ Solomon Safford
Jacob Safford
Reuben Clapp
Loan Dewey
Joseph House
Gideon Spencer
Robert Cochran
Charles Cushman
Jonathan Fisk
Isaac Rice
Uriah Edgerton
Issachar Norton
Benjamin Demilt
Aaron Demilt
Joseph Tracy
Aaron Hubbell

G.
A Paper to Settle Indian Claijis.'
Whereas the Stockbridge Indian tribe, Capt. Jacobs and others,
challenge twelve or more townships of land, situate and being
on tho west lino ofthe province of New Hampshire, as chartered
by Benning Wentworth, Esq., governor of said province ; and the
said Indian tribe are willing, and will be ready on the flrst day of

1 Original in possession of G. W. Kobinson.

406

APPENDIX.

January next, to treat with us, or any of us, respecting their title,
and will at that tirae Ukewise appoint a meeting, at which meet
ing they wUl raake it appear that they are the sole owners of, and
have the only proper and lawful right to sell and convey the same ;
and whereas, we, the subscribers, whose names are hereto an
nexed, being willing and desirous to make sure to ourselves and
successors a good and sulTicient title to tho Interests which we
now possess, .and to make such addition, or additions, thereto, as
shall be thought proper aud conducive to our moral interests by
Mr. Jedidiah Dewey, Capt. John Fassett, and S. Pay, whom we
depute and elect to treat with said tribe, or such of them as will
be necessary to treat with, in order to the procuromont of a proper
title to such land and lands, lying and being as aforesaid.
In consideration of all which we severally engage for ourselves,
heirs, executors, and administrators, to pay, or cause to be paid,
to the said Jedidiah, John, or Stephen, the several sum and sums
according to our proprietorship, as will appear by the charter
aforesaid, both the sum and sums which he or they may give for
said land, or lands, aud tho cost necessarily arising by means of
the procurement of said title ; and to pay such sum and sums of
money unto the said Jedidiah, John, or Stephen, at such time and
times as he or they shall agree with said tribe of Indians.
Witness each of our hands at Bennington, this thirtieth day of
November, a. d. 1767.
John Fassett Leonard Kobinson
Stephen Fay Samuel Montague
James Breakenridge Timothy Pratt
Jedidiah Dewey Thomas Smith
Joseph Salford Jonathan Scott, Jr.
EUsha Field Ulutthew Scott
Nathan Clark Daniel Scutt
Benjamin Whipple Moses Kobinson
Simeon Harmon Ephraira ilarble
Henry AValbridge Samuel Cutler
John AVood Stephen Hopkins
Lebbeus Armstrong Joseph Smith
Samuel Tubs Jonathan Fassett
Samuel Kobinson Josiah Barber
Jacob Fisk IJenjamin "Warner
Thomas Henderson Samuel Kobinson, Jr.
Josiah FuUer Joseph AVickwire
Silas Kobinson Nathaniel Dickenson
Samuel Hunt Daniel Mills

GOV. HUTCHINSON' S LETTER.

407

Jacob Hyde
Snmuel Atwood
Wait Hopkins
Joseph Willoughby
Ebenezer Wood
David Safford
Ebenezer Wnlbridge
Cornelius Cady
Natlmniol Holmes
Zachariah Hnrwood
Samuel Scott
Elijah Story
Johnson Cleaveland
Nathan Clark, Jr.
Jonathan AVickwIrc
Ebenezer Allen
Nathaniel Holmes, Jr.
Nathaniel Harmon
Joshua Harmon
Joseph Safford, Jr.
Samuel Harvey
Joseph Robinson
Daniel Story
Elijah Wood
Robert Cochran
Nathaniel Fillmore
John Stewart
John Armstrong

Joseph Rude
Thomas Story
Hezekiah Arrastrong
Bennjah Rude
Benjamin Atwell
Oliver Rice
Dnniel Warner
Aaron Haynes,
Henry Walbridge, Jr.
Ebenezer Robinson
Thomas Jewett
Israel Hurd
Jonathan Fisk
Robert Wilcox
Samuel Herrick
Jedidiah Merrill
Abner Marble
Elkanah Ashley
Silas Pratt
Benajah Storey
John Wood
Timothy Abbott
Seth Warner
Simeon Hathaway, Jr.
 Harmon
Brotherton Daggett
Charles Cushman
Gideon Spencer

Extract vv-om a Lrttku of Gov. IIutciunson, of Massachu
setts, TO Gov. TOWNAL, THEN IN LoNDON, DATED BOSTON, JULY
10, 17G5.'
"Permit me while you are taking care of the interests of the
whole to mention to you that of a small part only. There came to
me yesterday one Robinson who was one of your ofTIcers, aud
perhaps you will recollect meeting him upou the road when you
was travelling to or from Hartford. After the war was over, he
purchased from IMr. Wentworth a patent for a township which he
had laid out upon the New York Une, as then understood, twenty

1 Vol. II. of Hutchinson's Correspondence, p. 143, in the office of the Secretary
ofthe Commonwealth, Boston. Furnished by Gov. Hall.

408 APPENDIX.
miles distant from Hudson's River. The settlers have made great
improvements, have sixty-seven famUies, and as many houses, —
some of them, he says, of a superior sort to the common settlers'
houses, — have a mluister ordained, and their affairs in a very flour
ishing state. The town is called Bennington. Another township
adjoining, which has nearly as many families, is called Pownal.
Both these townships are lately laid out, together with many others,
by Mr. Livingston, who, having purchased the claims of olllcers
and soldiers, has obtained a patent from New York ; and I suppose
will have a second manor there. Robinson says he has expended
more than a thousand pounds, lawful money, and that he shall be
ruined ; for he must either quit all or become tenant upon such
terms as will be worse than quitting. The grantees from New
Harapshire supposed their title as good to the west as to the east
of Connecticut River, provided they did not go within twenty
miles of Hudson's River, and it seems scarcely equitable that pri
vate property should be altered by the new settlement of the New
York Une. The people are unable to bear the expense of the con
troversy."

THE END.

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