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for the/oimding of a. CeHegi in this Colony'

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MRS. LYDIA (DEWEY) HOPKINS, FIRST WIFE OF ROSWELL.
From a medallion presented by Mrs. Geo. B. Raymond.

Early History of the Town of
HOPKINTON

HISTORY OF EAST VILLAGE (NICHOLVILLE)
AND VICINITY
DIARIES OF ELISHA RISDON AND
ARTEMAS KENT
SOLDIERS OF THE CIVIL WAR
GENEALOGICAL RECORD OF SIXTY OF THE
PIONEER FAMILIES

WITH TWO MAPS AND A HUNDRED AND FORTY ILLUSTRATIONS

CARLTON E. SANFORD

THE BARTLETT PRESS
BOSTON, MASS.
1903

Copyrighted, 1903, by Carlton E. Sanford.

IN TESTIMONY OF MY ESTEEM FOR THE MEMORY OF
THE BRAVE AND LOYAL MEN AND WOMEN
PIONEERS OF THE TOWN OF HOPKINTO^
AND THEIR CHILDREN WHO HAVE GONE HENCE
AND OF MY REGARD FOR THEIR WORTHY DESCENDANTS
NOW LIVING
THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY AND GRACIOUSLY
INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOR

PREFACE.

IT may be truly said that this work is founded upon or, more properly speak
ing, is due to the diary kept by Elisha Risdon. He came into the town
of Hopkinton a young man in the first days of February, 1 804, and before
the settlement was a year old. The diary kept by him, which is now at hand,
begins February 14, 181 2, and continues to 1849 with the exception that that
part of it from 1816 to 18 19 and fi-om i8zo to 1 8 3 z cannot now be discovered,
which is to be greatly regretted. I feel sure it was kept during those missing
years, since we know that he was well, as those were his most successfial years
hunting the deer. After his death the diary was divided among his three chU-
¦ dren, two of whom changed habitations several times, when, it is believed, por
tions of it were lost. The part which went to my mother, Clarinda (Risdon)
Sanford, was carefully put away by her and kept as a sacred treasure during all
the years from 1851 to 1893. However, she never obtruded it or even urged
it upon the notice or attention of her family, but alone went to it as a fount of
much pleasure and comfort. To her it was second only to her Bible. Shortly
before her death, in 1893, she distributed her portion among her children as a
memento of her father, apprehensive, no doubt, that she was soon to carry the
message to him which she did. Sweet and gentle spirit, would that she could
return and read it anew! We would listen now and with dehghted interest.
Meeting Irving Bacheller, author of " Eben Holden," who was searching
the county for old records, papers, etc., awakened an interest in me in such
things, and so at the first opportunity I read my part of the diary, when I found
it a veritable treasure mine of early life and history. I at once got all the other
portions of the diary and writings of Mr. Risdon and arranged for their publica
tion in the Courier and Freeman, at Potsdam, N. Y., which began in March,
1 90 1 , and extended for nearly a year. As the publication proceeded many readers
became interested and wrote me, giving further and additional information to that
given in the diary and urging me to supplement the diary with the early history
of the town. I confess I, too, became interested, and not only interested but
infatuated with the unfolding picture of early life in town, which persistent in
quiry and labor brought to light. It was not, of course, a full and true picture,
yet enough of one to see at least faintly our forefathers and foremothers as they lived
and toiled. I have tried to so tell and paint the scenes that others may see them
as I do, but have some misgivings as to my success. My great regret is that I
did not begin the work ten or twelve years ago. There were then quite a num-

vi PREFACE.
bar of the pioneers who could have told the whole story of early life and with
great clearness and truthfulness.
After the publication of the diary in the Courier and Freeman, Fred H.
Kent, Esq., of Detroit, Mich., kindly sent me the diary kept by his father,
Artemas Kent, fi-om 1809 to 1 8 19, for my -free use. I have interpolated inter
esting items from it into the diary of Mr. Risdon with due credit, down to the
year 1 8 1 6, when it is used entirely for that and the next two years. Some very
important items are brought to light by Mr. Kent's diary, and for which I am
very grateful. Another important "find," too late for publication with the diary, was a
little pamphlet, handed to me by Varick A. Chittenden, Esq., giving the true
and fiill story of the building of the Town Hall or, more properly speaking.
Town Room, in 181 5, with the articles of association, diagram of room, and
original signatures of the pioneers. This I have liberally used in the article on
"Old Town Hall" and feel that the history given by it with the original signa
tures of our forefathers is alone of much historic interest.
As the story of those early times would be quite incomplete without giving
the history of the actors, I have with some patience and great labor worked out
the families to the present time of some sixty or more of the pioneer settlers.
This has been the hardest and most severe task in the whole work. To accom
plish what I have done (which is imperfect in some families) has taken over
fifteen hundred letters. Many persons would not reply, while others would
give so little information that I had to seek it elsewhere, oftentimes in distant
states. That there are some errors in dates and possibly in a few names, I well
know, since, whenever I got a family record from two persons, I never found
them to exactly agree. Then, also, many replies were by elderly people or so
indistinctly written that it was impossible to read some of the figures with
certainty. With this explanation I trust and feel sure that I shall receive not
only the forgiveness but the sympathy of those whose dates of birth or marriage
are incorrectly given.
As the south part of the township of Chesterfield (Lawrence) was a part
of the town of Hopkinton till 1828, and since several of its residents greatly
desired that a sketch of its settlement, pioneers, and the village of Nicholville
be incorporated herein, I have done so after considerable research and labor,
kindly assisted therein by Mrs. N. Maria Wilkins of Stowe, Vt., and particu
larly by E. Allen Wood, Esq., of Nicholville and others.
The maps, papers and especially the old account book of Roswell Hop
kins, loaned me by his great-grandson, Isaac R. Hopkins, Esq., of Hopkinton,
have been of exceeding interest and inestimable value in the preparation of this
work. But for these many questions would have to remain unanswered and
many problems unsolved. The 'maps, five or six in number, are all small and

PREFACE. vii
crude but very old, and tell the story in an official way as nothing else could.
But greater than all these is the old account book of 1803. From this we learn
the pioneers of the town for the first four years, or the most of them. Were it
not for this book there would be no way of ascertaining who were the first
settlers of the town. The names given by Dr. Hough are only a small part of
those who actually came. All who feel interested in the early history of the
town will be grateful to Isaac R. Hopkins for preserving these records, and es
pecially this old book, which I take the liberty here to express.
No town in St. Lawrence County, in my candid judgment, can boast of
such strong, capable and stalwart stock as Hopkinton, especially in an agricultural
class. How it came to be so fortunate in its pioneer stock I do not understand
or attempt to explain. Two of her sons at least, John Peck and Charles Culver,
became millionaires, as I am advised, while several others, among them Darius
E. Kent, Dr. Noah D. Lawrence and George Culver, amassed a respectable
fortune. Quite a number of others who remained on their farms in town all their
days were very successfiil, not only in acquiring property, but in winning distinc
tion in town, county and even state affairs as men of character and high inteUi-
gence. Among her sons of this class at home or abroad I might mention Judge
Roswell Hopkins and his sons, Benjamin W. and Judge Isaac R. , and the latter's
son, Roswell; Elisha Risdon; Dr. Henry D., Thaddeus H. and Hu-am K.
Laughlin; Artemas Kent and his sons, Fred H. and Charles A. of Detroit, Mich. ;
Dr. Gideon Sprague; Caleb Wright and his sons, Caleb and George S.; Samuel
Eastman and his sons, Lee and William; Judge Jonah Sanford and his son, Jonah,
Jr. ; Moses Kent and his sons, Darius E. and Lucian; Eliphalet Brush and his
son, Jason; Joseph Brush and his sons, Joseph A. and George H. ; Clark S.
Chittenden and his sons. King S. and Varick A. ; Aaron Warner and his sons,
W. Friend and A. Larned; Jacob Phelps and his sons, Alanson W., William S.
and Edwin O.; Reuben Post, son Ehas and his son, Truman E.; Zoraster Cul
ver and his sons, Howard, Belden, Charles E. and George N.; Hart F.,
George and Dr. Noah D. Lawrence; Cautius C. Covey; David F. Hender
son and many others.
The work on this book has nearly all been done at my desk and in the
midst of my duties to the bank with which I am associated, which were of
course paramount to this work. Thus situated I could go out but little to
gather information, which was therefore mostly obtained by correspondence and
interviews with those who were kind enough to come to me. I was constantly
and continually interrupted and broken in upon, . so much so I seldom if ever
could give it a continuous half day of thought and labor. Writing under such
disadvantages and getting my information piecemeal, I am sure entitles me not
only to ask, but to receive the kindest consideration and indulgence from my
readers.

viii PREFACE.
Could I have given the preparation of the work more time and my exclu
sive attention no doubt many other interesting items of an historical nature could
have been brought to light, but I have the consolation of having done the best
I could under the circumstances. The book plainly shows, I admit, that the
data and information were not all at hand before it was written. Some parts,
too, are not put together as they should have been, or as fully commented upon,
which I now see, but too late for a rearrangement or further comment. On
getting fuller and better information I rewrote some parts two and even three times,
but I have not the time or the courage to rewrite it all, and so beg to present it
as it is. I am considerably " out of pocket," expected to be when I began it,
saying nothing of my time and labor during the past two years. It has been a
" labor of love " from the start, else I could not have followed it so persistently.
If I have done something to save and preserve the history of the grand old town
of Hopkinton I shall feel amply repaid for it all. What I have done I know
has already awakened interest in early history in other towns of the county, and
I trust it may assist in the organization of a County Historical Society. There
are a good many who very generously and kindly assisted me, and if I have not
I wish now to thank them. I am especially indebted to Zebina Coolidge, J.
Henry and David F. Henderson, King S. and Varick A. Chittenden, John A.
Harran, since deceased, Truman E. Post, George S. Wright, John H. Leach,
Mrs. Paulina S. Atwood and Charles H. Brush of Hopkinton; Mrs. Edna
(Risdon) Crosley of Webster City, Iowa; Mrs. Sue Capell of Brasher Falls,
N. y.; Mrs. Caroline M. Landon of Hartford, Conn.; Mrs. Harriet M. Ad-
sit of Perry, Ohio; Norton F. Thomas of Potsdam, N. Y., recently deceased,
and E. Allen Wood of Nicholville, N. Y., which I gratefully acknowledge.
The pictures, one hundred and forty in number, were all selected by me,
and I trust will add greatly to the interest in the book. There were quite a
number of pictures which I regret I was unable to obtain.
The edition of the work is of course a limited one, which fact, with the
many pictures, has made it a little more expensive than I had hoped.
CARLTON E. SANFORD.
Potsdam, N. Y., March 20, 1903.

C O N T E NT S.

Page
CHAPTER I  I
Dr. Hough's History of Hopkinton — Its Preparation un
known to Mr. Risdon in 1850 — The Pioneers of the Town
were mostly Vermont Yankees — Yeoman Qualities of the
Early Settler — Physical Vigor then and now — Sports
and Amusements of the Men — Brave, Frugal and Devout
Women — All lived in Log Houses.
CHAPTER II  8
The First White Men in Hopkinton to Settle — The Town
FOUNDED BY RoSWELL HoPKINS IN 180I  HoW THE GoODELLS
CAME TO SETTLE  ThE CuTTING OF THE FiRST TrEE  WhaT
THESE Pioneers did — The Loss of Coin in the River — The
First Cabins — The Work of the Axe, Musket and Bible.
CHAPTER III  16
Town Number Fifteen, Islington — The Tract purchased by
Mr. Hopkins — The Actual Settlement of the Town — The
People who came in 1803 — -Who was the First Woman.? —
The First Child born ? — The Building of a Gristmill,
also Sawmill.
CHAPTER IV  37
The Old Account Book of Roswell Hopkins — The Settlers
from 1804 TO 1808 — Opening Accounts with Mr. Hopkins
— Prices in those Early Days — Primitive Condition of the
Settlers — Some Things accomplished since they came.
CHAPTER V  49
Organization of Town — Took Part of Lawrence — First
Town Meeting, March 4, 1 806 — Mr. Hopkins appointed
Justice, i 805 — Bounty on Wolves — Partnership of Messrs.
Hopkins — Electoral Census of 1807.

x CONTENTS. Page
CHAPTER VI  59
Essays and Letters by Elisha Risdon — Cleared the Present
Cemetery Grounds in i 806.

CHAPTER VII  11
Location of Settlers — History of the Farms with Pictures
OF Early and Modern Homes.
CHAPTER VIII  , . . 121
The Story of Village Green — The First Burial Ground —
The First Death in Town — Mr. Hopkins's Troubles — The
Old Schoolhouse and Town House — The Present Town Hall
— The First Congregational Church built in 1827 and its
Successors — The Catholic Church — Census of 18 14.
CHAPTER IX  145
The Markets of the Pioneers — Barter and Exchange —
Scarcity of Money — Making of Black Salts and Pearlash
— Making of Cloth from Wool and Flax.
CHAPTER X  156
Tanneries in Village and Town — Hotels in Village — Phy
sicians — The Mormons in Hopkinton — Census of 1821 and
1835 — Postmasters — Old Stage Route.

CHAPTER XI 
Fort Jackson, Settlement of — Shops and Mills — History
of its Three Church Societies — Postmasters and Physicians.

177

CHAPTER XII  187
The Soldiers of Hopkinton in the Civil War — Brief Sketch
OF each.
CHAPTER XIII  201
The Early Settlement of Chesterfield — History of East
Village or Nicholville and of its Mills — Stores, etc., with
Illustrations.

CONTENTS. xi
Page
CHAPTER XIV  264
The Diary of Elisha Risdon with Sketch — Also Diary of
Artemas Kent.
CHAPTER XV  404
Town Officers from 1806 to 190Z.
CHAPTER XVI  416
Abstract of Minutes of Town Meetings from 1807 to 1901.
CHAPTER XVII  427
Genealogical Records of Pioneers — Assessment Roll of Town
for Year 1850.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

RESIDENCES, MAPS, ETC.
Mrs. Roswell Hopkins, Frontispiece

Abbott, Samuel B. . . .
Abbott, Seth ....
Baptist Church, Fort Jackson
Baptist Church, Nicholville
Bobbins .
Brush, Jason
Bushnell, Simeon
Cabin, Log .
CardsCemetery, Hopkinton .
Cemetery, Nicholville .
Chittenden Store
Chittenden, King S.
Chittenden, Varick A. .
Church Street, Nicholville
Congregational Church .
Congregational Church .
Culver, Zoraster
Durfey, Joseph .
Durfey, Phineas .
Eastman, Lee
Eastman, Samuel
Fireplace and Full Outfit
Fireplace, Laughlin House
Flax Wheel . . .
Goodell, Joel
Goodnow, Nathaniel
Green, Village .
Guns, Flintlock .
Hall, Old and New
Hopkins, Isaac R. .
Hopkins, Roswell (Harran pi.)
Hopkins, Roswell (Sheals pi.)
Hopkinton, Map North Part .

Opp. page 84

Opp. page Hopkinton, Map Village
97 Hotel, Hopkinton .... 87
92 Kellogg, Franklin . . . . 185
184 Kent, Artemas  89
254 Kent, Asahel  98
153 Lake Ozonia  352
79 Laughlin, Thaddeus ... 78
220 Log Cabin  6
6 Loom  153
1 5 3 Map, Hopkinton North Part . 1 6
123 Map, Hopkinton Village . . 84
262 Methodist Church, Ft. Jackson, 184
87 Methodist Church, Nicholville, 254
86 Mound Hill Cemetery, Nichol-
86 ville  262
220 Nicholville (Valley) . . . 224
140 Nicholville, Main Street . . 225
141 Nicholville, Church Street . . 220
78 Ozonia, Lake of . . . . 352
97 Post, Reuben and Truman E., 98
96 Quill Wheel  152
117 Reel  152
117 Risdon, E. Harmon ... 98
47 Sanford, Judge Jonah . . . 116
46 Sanford, Jonah, Jr  116
152 Schoolhouse, Durfey District . 96
79 Sheldon, Oliver  88
88 Spinning Wheel
122 Sprague, Dr. Gideon
7 Swifts 
126 Town Hall, Old and New
89 Universalist Church, Fort Jackson, 185
85 Village Green  122
85 Wood Plow of Sewall Raymond, 46
16 Wright, George S  92

148 88
152126

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PORTRAITS.

Opp. page
Beecher, Orman . . . . 581
Brooks, Erasmus D. . . . 559
Brooks, Mrs. Permelia (Sanford), 559
Brush, Charles H  434
Brush, Eliphalet .... 434
Brush, Jason  434
Brush, Joseph  435
Brush, Joseph A  435
Chittenden, Asahel H. . . . 466
Chittenden, Clark S. . . . 464
Chittenden, King S. . . . 465
Chittenden, Mrs. Mary (Ris
don)  466
Chittenden, Solomon . . . 466
Chittenden, Varick A. . . . 465
Crosley, Mrs. Edna (Risdon) . 521
Davis, Frank W  180
Davis, Philo A  180
Day, Lyman  215
Durfey, Joseph B  467
Durfey, Phineas  467
Eastman, George L. . . . 480
Eastman, Lee  480
Eastman, William E. . . . 480
Goodell, Joel  481
Goodell, Mrs. Joel .... 481
Henderson, Mrs. Alta ( Sheldon) 2 8
Henderson, David F. . . . 464
Hopkins, Isaac R  496
Hopkins, Isaac R  496
Hopkins, Roswell .... 496
Kellogg, Franklin . . . . 180
Kent, Artemas  502
Kent, Asahel  502
Kent, Darius E  506
Kent, Lucian H  506
Kent, Moses  506
Lawrence, Dr. Noah D. . . 221
Merrill, Dyer L  512
Merrill, Silas W  512

Opp. page
Olmstead, C. S., and Son . . 244
Page, Lyman  221
Peck, Myron G  215
Phelps, Jacob  520
Phelps, William S  520
Post, Elias  513
Post, Truman E  513
Priest, Mrs. Celestia (Sanford) 565
Putnam, Seth  520
Risdon, E. Harmon . . . 521-
Risdon, Mrs. Mary (Sheals) . 521
Sanford, Carlton E. ... 564
Sanford, Mrs. Clarinda . . 563
Sanford, Mrs. Harriet E. (Barney) 558
Sanford, Henry B  562
Sanford, Henry T  562
Sanford, Jonah, Jr  563
Sanford, Judge Jonah . . . 558
Sanford, Rollin 0  565
Sanford, Silas W  565
Sheldon, Ezra R  581
Simonds, Samuel M. . . . 554
Smith, George  574
Smith, Dr. Hiram . . . . 244
Smith, Ira W. .« . . . . 244
Smith, Loren  574
Smith, Royal  215
Sprague, Dr. Fayette P. . . 552
Sprague, Dr. Gideon . . . 552
Stacy, Dennis  214
Stacy, George B  214
Sweet, Sumner  221
Warner, Aaron  554
Warner, A. Larned . . . 581
Wilson, Edson J  582
Wilson, Samuel  582
Wood, Rev. Enos . . . . 140
Wright, Mrs. Caleb . . . 580
Wright, Caleb, Jr. . . . . 581
Wright, George S  580

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

CHAPTER I.
Df. Hough's History of Hopkinton — Its Preparation unknown
to Mr. Risdon in J 850 — The Pioneers of the Town were
mostly Vermont Yankees — Yeoman Qualities of the Early
Settlers — Physical Vigor then and now — Sports and Amuse
ments of the Men — Brave, Frugal and Devout Women —
All lived in Log Houses.
The only history of Hopkinton, so far as I am aware, is
that contained in Dr. Hough's History of St. Lawrence and
Franklin counties. There have been, it is true, two bio
graphical and pictorial histories (so called) of the county pub
lished since, but they do not seem to add anything new or
much of anything at least to the history of the town. The
" history " of the town of Hopkinton as given by Dr. Hough
consists only of a little over five ordinary book pages, and one-
half of that is official records. His work is a large volume,
containing much matter, and must have been several years in
preparation. It was published in 1853, only two years after
the death of Elisha Risdon^ The latter, in his letters to
Eliphalet Brush written L. r-ebruary, 1850, printed later in
this volume, pleads earnestly that a history of the town and
county be prepared and published before the actors in those
arduous first days of the towns have passed away, which is
proof that he then knew nothing of the preparation of Dr.
Hough's work. It is also evident to my mind that Dr. Hough
had not at that time visited the town, since if he had on such
an errand, he would have been referred to Mr. Risdon who
was for years the clerk of the town and was its only historical

2 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
writer. Again, one-fifth of what he has to say on Hopkin
ton is contained in an article taken from 'T^he Northern Cab
inet, printed at Canton, N. Y., which he says " is understood "
to have been written by Elisha Risdon. It was written by
him and had he visited the town he would no doubt have
learned it as a fact, especially had he done so in Mr. Risdon's
lifetime. The essays from which the article in ne Cabinet was made
up will be given in their proper place. The files of The North
ern Cabinet, as also those of all other papers printed at Canton
and Potsdam, were destroyed by fire at the former place in
1859, which is greatly to be regretted since much help could
no doubt be got from them. It is plain, too, that Dr. Hough
only cared to get the official records of the town and a few
salient points in its history, as that was all he did get and as at
that time he could easily have gotten the full story of the early
life in the town. But what he did secure in that line was not
what Mr. Risdon in his letters was so anxious to have pre
pared. He wanted the story of the pioneers, their struggles,
hardships and privations, written before all had gone who could
tell them. That was fifty-three years ago and no actor in those
first years of struggle with the primeval forest remains to tell
the story. However, there are several who received it from
the pioneers first hand and who had very similar experiences
in their early days, who, too, are fast joining the earlier settlers
in the realm beyond our sight or ken. With the diary of Mr.
Risdon as a base and these stories as a guide, supported and
verified by maps, letters, documents and records which I have
very fortunately obtained, largely from Isaac R. Hopkins, Esq.,
I am able, even at this late day, to faintly picture those early
times and scenes in the manner or rather after the manner de
sired by Mr. Risdon. To be sure it is faint, indistinct, hardly
discernible in many places and utterly wanting in many other
fields and periods. And yet I do feel that I have caught and
saved many of the essential points in the lives of the pioneers
that were fast passing into oblivion.
Solely in the hope of arresting and preserving some of the
httle items in the lives of our fathers and mothers and with no
thought or expectation of doing anything more, I have given
considerable of my time and energy to their discovery and ar
rangement in a connected way. When I began, and for some

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 3
little time thereafter, I was greatly discouraged and almost lost
hope of being able to gather any information of importance as
to the early pioneers. Of the great number of elderly people
whom I approached, nearly every one replied that the matters
inquired about were back of his time, that he would be
glad to help me if he could, and that he was sorry this
effiart had not been made a few years ago. And so it is to be
regretted. Twenty or even ten years ago many of the ques
tions which are now perplexing or even impossible of solution
could have been readily answered by the remaining actors
who have within a few years passed away. And all this warned
me that if what is left and obtainable is to be preserved it must
be done very soon. In a few years more nothing but the
stories and traditions thrice told will be at hand to delight the
ear of the child of his fathers. Thus animated and getting a
little light now and then I persevered until now I feel that I can
give considerable of the earliest history of Hopkinton village
and country immediately surrounding it. More than this I
have not sought to do, nor have I the time to do so if I
would. The people who settled the town, and eastern St. Law
rence also, came very largely from Vermont. Their parents
and grandparents in some cases moved into that state from
Connecticut and Massachusetts some years before, and,
owing to its rapid increase in population due to the mi
gration thither and the very large families which it was then
felt to be a religious duty to rear, that little state as early as
1 800 found itself crowded, and ambitious young men had to
seek farms elsewhere. Consequently as the Altantic was be
hind them and all the land to the south and southeast taken
up in the march of the Pilgrim fathers and their descendants,
their only outlet, or at least the most feasible one, was to cross
over Lake Champlain and push on westward. This they did,
and the pushing and spreading westward were kept up to the
extent that in forty or fifty years they had crossed the conti
nent and reached the Pacific.
This accounts for the almost entire New England parentage
of this county and particularly of the eastern part. We are
very largely the children of Vermont Yankees, who in turn
were children of the Puritan fathers of Massachusetts and Con
necticut. We need not be ashamed of our parentage, and I

4 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
do not think or believe that any one from this stock ever was.
They were radical, rigorous and austere, it is true, in their
views, opinions and religious doctrines, traceable and due
to the religious freedom so long sought by their fathers and
to their environments. We are all necessarily in a large meas
ure the children of the latter. Many of the views, behefs and
doctrines then maintained and held by them have been dis
carded or at least greatly softened by the temporizing influ
ence of the greater and broader knowledge, higher and clearer
views of life and of the universe which we now have and hold.
It may be that we do not produce any better men and
women or possibly as good from some points of view, but I
am disposed to think, from much rummaging in the past of
late, that we do, that the present standard of life is higher now
than it was then, and that we are steadily and all the time ad
vancing, not alone in culture and refinement, but also in so
briety and virtue.
The people of those early times had but few amusements or
opportunities for pleasure as compared with the people of to
day. The young men and even middle aged gave their almost
exclusive attention in the way of sports to wrestling in all its
forms, to feats of physical strength and endurance, and quite
often to personal encounters. There could be and was no
gathering of men for any purpose, elections, school meetings
or raising of buildings, without these physical struggles, often
ending in a personal combat. Agility and great muscular
abiUty were of supreme importance. The stories of the great
strength and physical prowess of one Jo Call of Vermont have
made his memory linger longer than that of any governor of
his state during his lifetime, and we still hear them occasion
ally as we do of the many lesser local heroes of the ring. The
most of us had an uncle or grandfather that was never thrown
or thrown but once and that was due to an accident. This
wrestling mania did not disappear as the great absorbing pas
time of the people, though growing weaker all the time, till
about thirty or forty years ago. No doubt we have many
young men who could equal the heroes of the past with the
same practice, outdoor life and love of the sport that was then
predominant, though some may dispute it.
The stories that come down to us and are still told by
elderly people of the conduct of the stalwart boys in every

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 5
school district towards the schoolmaster, and even towards the
professors at the old St. Lawrence Academy where surely one
would expect good behavior, are so harsh, rough and even
cruel that we are loath to believe them. To-day in no school
is such conduct attempted or even thought of, all which goes to
show that we are more manly, gentlemanly and better behaved
than they, though we may in some respects be less chivalrous.
It may be that the young men of those times had so much
physical vigor, due to plain food, cold houses and outdoor
labor, that they could not adapt themselves to the quiet life
of the schoolroom, but I suspect it was more owing to the
homage then universally paid to physical prowess.
Endeavoring to learn the movements of the pioneers of
1803 and those who succeeded them in the next few years, to
get a view of the inside of their log cabins, their few and simple
household utensils, their coarse and oftentimes poorly cooked
food, their projects and what they did, I soon found to be a
difficult task.
But very few people preserve old letters, business records
and papers, and therefore without these, aside from official
records, all we have, all we can get as to bygone times, are
the stories often told by father or mother with so much delight
to the son or daughter, and a hollow in the ground or a mound
of stone showing where the cabin built in the woods once
stood. On investigation we find a good many of these
mounds of stone, the ruins of the old fireplaces along our
highways, about which our grandparents and great-grand
parents sat on blocks of wood to warm themselves winter
evenings, with a child on each knee, in their almost windowless
and oftentimes floorless cabins.
Their lot was hard, very hard indeed, as we their grand
children view it, having and enjoying as we do the conven
iences, comforts and advantages of modern life. They were a
hardy set, it is true, sons and daughters, almost without excep
tion, of New England pioneers before them, and all of the old
Puritan stock. I doubt if there was a cabin in all those early
years which did not possess a large leather bound Bible, poor
as its owner might be and as costly as were books at that time.
They then felt and believed, sincerely and devoutly, that a
house, or rather a home, could not prosper or long survive
which was not sustained by the saving grace alone to be ob-

6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
tained by that book and the observance of its teachings. . How
much such a spirit, so deep and so sincere, helped them in their
hard and arduous life, we of this time of so much comfort and
luxury may not be fully able to realize. It was fortunate for
them, and for us also, that such a spirit possessed them. It
succored them and enabled them amidst all their privations to
lead upright, noble lives, and gave to us, their children, at
least a fair start in moral principle and physical vigor.
I think it is conceded, at least it will not be disputed, that
the Puritan stock of New England has had no superior in the
history of the human race, judged by what it passed through,
by the influence exerted upon and rights secured through and
by established democratic government and in attainments
reached in all the multiplied walks of Hfe, civil and religious.
They believed not only in the equal rights of all, but in the
equality of all, not alone before God, but among men, and they
were quite willing, if need be, to maintain their views and doc
trines in personal encounter or at the cannon's mouth, as they
did. Men and women of this ilk and stripe were the parents
of and settlers of Hopkinton. They had the courage, forti
tude and sturdy manhood and womanhood to brave a trackless
forest and to endure the manifold hardships and privations of
pioneer life, and in a rigorous climate at that.
Their loyalty and fidelity, their friendship for and assist
ance of one another in moving and raising buildings, in nursing
and caring for others in sickness, and in helping one another
in a hundred other ways, as shown by the diary of Mr. Ris
don and by tradition, are topics which are pleasing to dwell
upon, and make us proud of our parents and grandparents,
and the more so since that spirit of neighborly love, kindness
and assistance seems to be slowly fading out, at least as a per
sonal act. What we do now in this line is mostly done
through public and official channels. Each family must now,
in most cases, nurse its own sick or hire it done.
If there is aught of which we would complain in the life of
the pioneers it would be the burdens of the mothers. They
bore great families and as a religious duty, and withal were
slaves to their household cares and duties, working more un
ceasingly and laboriously than the fathers. The old English
spirit of the lordship of the man had much acceptance among

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The upper musket was carried by Isaiah Coolidge, father of Zebina, in the War of 1R12. The lower one was taken from a British
soldier killed in the battle of Bennington by Captain Nathaniel Brush, given by him to Elkanah Brush, and by him to Eliphalet Brush.
It has this inscription on a silver piece in the stock, " Abner Howe 1776." Barrel is four feet in length. The clay pipe was used by
General Andrew Jackson in the Creek and Seminole wars. He gave it to Dr Columbus Mills, surgeon, who gave it to E. P. Colton in
February, 1S75, at Church, N. C. The pistol was picked up on a battlefield in the Civil War. An old-time leather bullet pouch is on
the right. Charles H. Brush, Esq., of Hopkinton is the owner of these treasures, which he kindly permitted to be copied, except the
pouch, which belongs to John H. Leach.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 7
them, and still exists, but in a much weakened form. Brave,
frugal, loyal and devout women they were.
All the first houses in town were built of logs and passed
away many years ago. Hardly any were standing as late as
1840. Many were torn down and a frame building erected
on the same site or close by and all traces of the old house re
moved. Each had its story of song and praise, of love and
hope, of happiness and sorrow, of success and failure, and I
would that I had the power to tell it, and to so tell it that it
might live — live in remembrance of them and in the good
which its teaching might do. But I cannot. The actors are
all gone and the story must remain untold and unsung. All
that we can do is to pick up bits here and there, showing their
actions, plans and movements, and from these fashion, as best
we may, the men and women of flesh and blood who preceded
us and made our coming possible.
The cabin which is given is a fine representation of the
log house, with its bark roof, of the early pioneer. It was
photographed recently far back in the Adirondacks, and I am
sure will be greatly appreciated by many of my readers.

CHAPTER II.
The First White Men in Hopkinton to Settle — The Town founded
by Roswell Hopkins in tSOi — How the Goodells came to Set-
tic — The Cutting of the First Tree — What these Pioneers did —
The Loss of Gjin in the River — The First Cabins — The Work
of the Axe, Musket and Bible.
This is the story which I can give. According to Dr.
Hough's history, Roswell Hopkins, Esq., of Vergennes, Vt.,
having bought a part of Islington, came into town in May,
1802, accompanied by Samuel Goodell, Joel Goodell, B. W.
Hopkins, his son, Jared Dewey, his brother-in-law (Mr. Hop
kins having married Lydia, his sister), and Eliphalet Brush.
This has been and is universally accepted as the first appear
ance of white men in the town for the purpose of acquiring
land for settlement, but to these should be added the name of
Ezekiel Goodell. To my surprise I find that Mr. Hopkins
claimed to have founded the town in the year 1801. On his
tombstone in the cemetery at Hopkinton is this inscription,
to wit :
" Mr. Hopkins was Secretary of the State of Vermont ten years.
He also held other important offices in that State. Founded Hopkinton in 1 801 .
Represented St. Lawrence County in the Legislature of New York four years.
Was for many years a judge of the County Courts and the first President of the
St. Lawrence County Bible Society."
It is not known when this stone was erected. He died
at Chazy, September 5, 1829, as a result of injuries from be
ing thrown from his buggy by the action of a frightened horse,
and in all probability the stone was soon after put up by his
sons who came in with him as young men and knew all about
their father's movements. I take it from this that Mr. Hop
kins came into town in 1801, probably for the first time, and
closed a contract with Mr. Hammond in that year for the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 9
purchase of a large tract which they called "founding the
town." The deed on record to him bears date July 6, 1802,
but was not acknowledged or recorded till the very last of the
year 1809. It was dated back, no doubt, as Mr. Hopkins
had given several deeds in 1803, 1804 and 1805. It is also
quite evident that he must have had an agreement for its pur
chase at the time of coming in May, 1802, since we know
that he did sell tracts to the Goodells on this trip. It is also
fair to presume that he did not make so large and important
a purchase without a pretty thorough examination of the tract,
and if he did it must have been done prior to this trip in 1 802,
to wit, in 1 801. The tract so purchased by him is conveyed
as the north part of town number fifteen. The name Islington,
which was given to number fifteen at an early date, does not
appear in the deed nor do I learn how the name was derived.
The Goodell boys, Samuel and Joel, were sons of Eze
kiel, of Hartford, N. Y., a thrifty farmer of that town. They
were strong, vigorous young men and looking, as was the cus
tom in those days, for some forest land to take up for purposes
of a home. Samuel was born in 1778, and was then twenty-
four or nearly that, and Joel twenty-one, having been born
January 6, 178 1. The latter survived till October 21, 1869,
and was a vigorous man to the end, and took great delight in
recounting his early experiences in town, and especially to his
grandson, John Leach, in whom he was much interested. The
story of the Goodells coming to town as often told to Mr.
Leach and well remembered by him is as follows: There be
ing no desirable land about their home in Hartford for the
sons to take up, the father started out on horseback accom
panied by the two sons on foot, each with an axe. They
must have crossed Lake Champlain on a ferryboat as they
reached Benison's Tavern, near Vergennes, that evening. At
this place they accidentally met Roswell Hopkins, who, soon
learning their errand, and no doubt that they had the cash
with them, became greatly interested. He labored with them
all that evening to induce them to buy land of him in town
ship number fifteen, very soon after called IsHngton, but, as
it seems, with poor success.
They seem to have had their minds fixed on looking for
land about Plattsburg and so set out for that place in the
morning. Mr. Hopkins, nothing daunted, started for his

lo EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
home and securing his brother-in-law, Jared Dewey, and Eli
phalet Brush, who was no doubt in his employ, and his son,
B. W. Hopkins, pushed rapidly forward to overtake the
Goodells at Plattsburg, which they did. After much earnest
pleading and positive assurances by Mr. Hopkins that he
would build a sawmill and gristmill the following year in
case they bought of him, they consented to come on and in
spect his tract. They came through Malone and Bangor,
where there were a few settlers, crossing Deer River just below
Lawrenceville and following a slightly cut out trail or road
westerly across Chesterfield to Stockholm, where there were
seven families which had wintered there. From there Mr.
Hopkins took them up through Stockholm to the north part
of his tract, close to the present cemetery, and on easterly as
far as what is known as the Moses farm. In that neighbor
hood they came to a fine spring and sat down to rest. Pres
ently Samuel got up and going to a knoll near by began
chopping down a tree. His father called to him to know
what he was doing, and he replied that he was going to build
a cabin on that spot. Ezekiel replied, " Well, if you do, I
think you will stay here alone, for I don't think I shall pur
chase here." At this Mr. Hopkins urged the party to take
a little tramp southward and see what a great growth of tim
ber there was and what rich, heavy soil, which they did, prob
ably going as far as the present highway from Hopkinton to
Nicholville and circling about. Reaching the spring again
which attracted the Goodells, they sat down to rest and eat a
lunch and to discuss the subject of purchase, which was the
one, topic before them. Samuel's argument seems to have
won the decision in favor of purchase, though Ezekiel was
highly pleased with the soil and timber after the trip they had
just made. Samuel had recently been to Ohio with a view to
purchasing there, but found the land flat, low and wet and the
people sufi^ering from fever and ague, which did not comport
with his ideas of a place to settle. Here, as he told his father
and the others, is just as good soil and timber as in Ohio, free
from swales and swamps, miasma and ague, sparkling springs
gushing from the earth here and there, and a great river close
by ready to furnish all the power that may be required.
What more is needed and what more can be found any
where ?

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. ii
With his son's experience in Ohio and the rich soil and
fine timber about them, Ezekiel finally decided to purchase.
Accordingly he set about inspecting the land carefully for
that purpose and selected the two farms extending southward
from the north bounds of Islington one-half mile to the
present highway, so long and still known as the Joel and
Samuel Goodell farms. It was then understood that there
would be a highway along the north bounds of Islington, and
so there they built their first log cabins, the ruins of that of
Joel's, built near a spring, lasting till within the remembrance
of several people still living.
Mr. Hopkins had now made a start. He had secured
two robust settlers with the cash or quite a part of it for their
farms. He was greatly encouraged in his project, but he must
push matters thenceforth without abatement if he would keep
them and get more, in the way of roads, bridges, shops and
mills. Accordingly he and Joel Goodell started for Cornwall,
Canada, for supplies, using no doubt the two horses which
Mr. Hopkins and Ezekiel Goodell had rode into town.
They went down through Stockholm to St. Regis, where they
hired Indians to row them over the St. Lawrence to Corn
wall. They were gone about a week and brought back all
they could bring of pork, meal, flour, molasses and prob-
bably some rum. While they were gone the others were
at work chopping for a road and building cabins. Mr.
Joel Goodell always and to a great many asserted, among
them John Leach and Edward H. Abram, that the tree cut
at this time by Samuel Goodell was the first one ever cut in
town, at least for a habitation.
It is tradition in the Goodell family that Mr. Hopkins
came in and selected his tract in the year 1801, which bears
out the inscription on his tombstone that he founded the town
in 1 801. Then again he must have done so, since he brought
the Goodells to town in May, 1 802, and sold them " farms."
In making his inspection in 1801 the story has come down
that after examination of the north part of the town he sent
his assistant to look over the south part of the proposed tract
while he made a little further study of the north part. The
man went over the south part as directed and reported that it
was equally as good land as the north part, which Mr. Hop
kins had seen. Accordingly he purchased the tract as shown

12 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
by the map. Had he known, it is reported, that the south
part was not as good or near as good, which was and is a fact,
he would not have purchased it. The name of the man who
came with him in 1801 is not known, but, I suspect, it was his
brother-in-law, Jared Dewey, and for these reasons : He was
poor, ready for a job and looking for a piece of land, as is
shown by the fact that he came in 1802. In 1803, given the
choice of a farm from the whole tract purchased by Mr. Hop
kins, he selected a hundred acres a mile or more south of
Nicholville, where Ira A. Murray now resides, on account of
the fine springs there. No doubt the large pine timber and
high, dry land were attractive to him as they were to many
other early settlers. But, further than this, IDr. Hough says
in his work that Jared Dewey cut the first tree in town, break
ing his axe in the operation, and his son, William W. Dewey,
now hving at Western, Minn., and ninety-three years of age,
stoutly affirms that his father did cut the first tree, and resents
with some feeling the claim of any other for that act. It
looks to me that the claim of Joel Goodell and that of Mr.
Dewey, supported by Dr. Hough, may both be sustained.' If
Mr. Dewey came in 1801, and I think that the fair inference,
in all probability he did cut a tree while in town and very
likely several of them. Mr. Goodell, knowing nothing of
that trip or what was done, years after, remembering the fact
that his brother Samuel did fell a tree as the others sat by the
spring in May, 1 802, very naturally and reasonably claimed that
was the first tree cut, and it was, that went into a habitation.
At this time and while in Islington Mr. Ezekiel Goodell
paid over to Mr. Hopkins the sum of four hundred dollars
on the purchase of the two farms. Dr. Hough says it was
in silver, while J. Henry Henderson says it was in gold. His
grandfather David was a neighbor of Ezekiel at Hartford,
N. Y., and Joel Goodell, Sr., in 1 804 married Lydia, sister of
his father. Owing to this close relationship of the families,
Mr. Henderson claims that both his grandfather and father
became very familiar with all the incidents of the trip of 1802
and often heard them related by both, and his memory tells
him the payment was in gold.
Dr. Hough says that Mr. Hopkins, after making arrange
ments for clearing land, started to return to Vermont on horse
back by a line of marked trees, and in fording the St. Regis

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 13
River his horse partly fell, and his portmanteau, containing
in one end the provisions for the journey and in the other
several hundred dollars in specie, was swept down stream and
lost. The Joel Goodell, Eliphalet Brush and John Hender
son families are all agreed that the sum so lost was four hun
dred dollars. Mr. Henderson and John Leach have the im
pression and are quite inclined to think that the crossing at
the time of the loss of the money was at the ford just above
Fort Jackson.
Eliphalet Brush was one of the party, and so often told
the particulars of this episode that it has become an heirloom
in his family. According to him, as given to me by his grand
son, Charles H. Brush, whose recollection seems to be quite
clear and distinct, he, Mr. Brush, was riding the mare and the
others walking as they approached the river. The crossing
at this time was at or near where the north line of Islington
crossed the river, a half mile or so below Nicholville. Com
ing to the river, it was so high and strong, Mr. Hopkins said
to Mr. Brush, " I guess I better ride the mare over." Mr.
Brush at once dismounted and Mr. Hopkins got on the nag.
When in about midstream the horse was seen to stumble and
fall, throwing " the old man," as the story goes (he was only
forty-five), and saddlebags into the river. The others went
to his rescue and righted him up, but the saddlebags with
provisions and coin were nowhere to be seen. The specie
and saddlebags, as Mr. Leach recollects, and he is quite posi
tive, weighed twenty-five pounds, and therefore would sink
pretty readily. The party hung about there for a week, wad
ing about the river and for some distance below, but no trace
of the saddlebags or money could be found. The next year
the river was searched thoroughly down to the St. Lawrence,
but with no success. As would be natural, there were some
suspicions as to the recovery of this money, but they were
only vague doubts. No clew to bags or specie was ever ob
tained by Mr. Hopkins. In some nook or deep hole,
covered by the wash of a hundred years, the boys may find
good fishing now if they be sufficiently lucky.
According to Dr. Hough, the others of the party remained
and did some clearing, returning to Vermont on the approach
of winter in 1802. This is no doubt the fact, except that the
Goodell boys went home and helped their father in haying.

14 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
returning to their work when that was done. In all probability
Ezekiel Goodell and B. W. Hopkins returned to Vermont
with Judge Hopkins, leaving only the two Goodell boys and
Jared Dewey and EHphalet Brush to chop, clear land and
build cabins.
The Goodell boys no doubt gave all their time to clearing
on their own lands and in building a cabin or two. Messrs.
Dewey and Brush were in the employ of Mr. Hopkins and
probably spent their time in cutting out a road along the
north bounds of Islington from a point a half mile below
Nicholville where it crosses the river to Lyd Brook, and in
building one or more cabins on or near the latter stream
preparatory to the coming of more people the following
year. Mrs. Jane E.Wood very distinctly recalls hearing her father,
Eliphalet Brush, tell of his taking his turn with the other
men in going down to Stockholm after bread. She says he
wearied of it and built a little stone oven and baked it in
Hopkinton, that he borrowed a little dough and used that as
a leaven, that Mr. Hopkins on one of his trips asked where
they got such good bread, and Mr. Brush told him that he
made it and how he did it. She does not recall the year he
did this, but I think it must have been in 1 802, since there
were more people in town in 1 803 and some women.
That a road was cut out along this line and used more or
less for some years is supported by the recollection of too
many people to be questioned or gainsaid. Mr. Joel Goodell
built his cabin on it a half mile north of the present Good
ell residence and lived there some seven or eight years. He
certainly would not have done this had there not been a road
to let him out. He got title to his one hundred and fifty
acres October 30, 1803, and Samuel to his one hundred and
sixty-nine and one-half acres August 11, 1 8 1 o.
Eliphalet Brush, one of the pioneers of 1802, evidently
did not select a farm on this trip, for the story has come down
in his family that he very much desired to get a tract on a
brook over near Cabel Wright's, but others were ahead of him.
He got title to a hundred acres where his grandson, Charles
H., now resides, February 25, 1804. Jared Dewey could
have had this farm, but,, owing to the fine springs, selected
the farm a mile south of Nicholville where Ira A. Murray now

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 15
resides. It is tradition that Mr. Hopkins allowed him to
select his tract and gave it to him. He got title to the Mur
ray farm of one hundred acres in 1803,
These were the original pioneers of the town, and their
coming was an even one hundred years ago, but what wonders
have since been wrought, and with what hardships and priva
tions ! All Hopkinton and the surrounding country were then
a primeval forest, just as it had come down through untold
and unknowable ages and cycles of ages. The woods were
full of deer, bears, wild cats, panthers, wolves, etc. The
streams and lakes were alive with fish, beaver, otter, mink,
muskrats and other fur-bearing animals, and the air above with
hawks, eagles and other voracious birds. The most of these
obtained their living by stealth, chasing, lying in wait and
pouncing upon their weaker neighbors, undisturbed in the
strife save only by the regular incursions of the Indian who came
in from the Mohawk Valley, and also from the north with
his bow and arrow and club. He had a little greater mental
equipment than his neighbors of the forest, could build a fire
and fashion the skins of his prey about him as a protection
against the cold, and make a rude hut, affiDrding some sort of
shelter. With this advantage he warred on all the denizens
of the forest, but in many an encounter was worsted and eaten
in turn. Amidst such scenes how the Indians raised their young
in a climate like this, in their bark or skin covered shanties,
with no doctor, midwife or drug store at hand, as we know
they did from Parkman and other writers, is beyond my com
prehension. Into this wild and mighty menagerie, this fierce, ceaseless
and terrific warfare, and struggle to live, came these pioneers.
A new and superior foe to all had at last come. His skin was
white, his wits and arts greater than that of all the others,
and the carnival of death went on for supremacy and primacy.
The three main weapons which he brought along with him
were the axe, musket and Bible, and with these in a hun
dred years what a mighty transformation has taken place !
The axe cut great holes in the forest for farms and homes ;
the musket wiped out the wolves, wild cats and Indians ; and
the Bible cemented this little band together into a loyal, de
voted and Christian fellowship.

CHAPTER III.
Town Number Fifteen, Islington — The Tract Bought by Ros
well Hopkins, Esq. — The Actual Settlement of the Town —
The People who came in J 803 — Who was the First Woman
in the Town? — The First Child Born? — The Building of
a Gristmill, also Sawmill.
The tract which Mr. Hopkins purchased of Abijah Ham
mond of New York City consisted of six thousand seven hun
dred and eighty acres, the very north part of town number fif
teen, as then known and designated, excepting that part of
said township lying north of the St. Regis River and east of
Nicholville. This township very soon after took the name
of Islington, which it has ever since held and still bears. Who
gave it this name or how it was derived I am unable to state.
The township of Islington was eight miles north and south by
about five and one-half miles east and west. Its north line
began at a point in the angle of the road some ninety rods
westerly of the south bounds of the present cemetery and ran
due east through or very close to the piazza of the present
residence of A. A. Atwood (formerly William S. Phelps),
crossing the St. Regis River a half mile or so below Nichol
ville and extending on due east through the northerly part of
that village (very close to the residence of A. A. Wood, Esq.)
and on to the Franklin County line. Its west line ran due
north and south about a quarter of a mile west of I. R. Hop
kins's residence and up along the centre of what is called
the " Peck Road " for some distance. Its east boundary was
Franklin County, and its south bounds a line parallel to its
north bounds eight miles distant southerly. As will be seen
the township took in quite a part of the present village of
Nicholville and a large flatiron tract east of that village and
north of the river.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 17
The Tract Purchased by Mr. Hopkins — What he must do to
Succeed.
The tract which Mr. Hopkins bought began at the north
west corner of said township, just west of the cemetery, and
ran due east on its north line to the St. Regis River and up
the same to the west bounds of Franklin County ; thence
south on said bounds so far that a line parallel with the
south line of said town west to the west bounds of town
number fifteen (a point in the Peck road a mile and
a half southwesterly of Hopkinton village) and thence
north to the point began at would make six thousand seven
hundred and eighty acres. Mr. Hopkins did not get the flat-
iron piece north of the river and east of Nicholville. The
tract he did get (shown in the map) was about two miles in
width, excepting the easterly half or part which is narrowed
by the river bearing south above Nicholville. The considera
tion for this tract was 110,170, that is, ^1.50 per acre. The
deed to him bears date July 6, 1 802, but was not acknowl
edged till November 22, 1809. It was no doubt dated back,
as Mr. Hopkins had sold many parcels, and to make the rec
ord straight. In 1803, July 9, Mr. Hopkins took a convey
ance of five hundred acres in Catherinsville adjoining and
westerly of above lands from Alex. Macomb of New York
City. These lands make up the present Isaac R. Hopkins
farm and Chittenden lands north of the Potsdam road. The
consideration was I500. On the same day Mr. Hopkins en
tered into an agreement with Mr. Macomb to act as his agent
in selling his Catherinsville lands. It was agreed that he
should sell no lands for less than eight shillings per acre and
that all he obtained in excess of that price should be divided
equally between them.
These were the lands and all the lands held by Mr. Hop
kins in 1803. As may be readily seen, they comprise a strip
two miles in width north and south on the west end just west
of Hopkinton village and extending east that width (taking
in the village) nearly to Nicholville, where they are narrowed
by the course of the river to Franklin County, and the five
hundred acres last mentioned adjoining the large tract and sit
uated on either side of the Potsdam road just west of Hop
kinton village.

1 8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Out of this wilderness he proposed or, at least, hoped to
make a large settlement and a thriving, prosperous and happy
community and at the same time a goodly sum for his efibrts.
The latter was then, and now is, the concomitant of pretty
nearly every business venture of man. The hope of success
spurs men on to engage in enterprises which they would not
otherwise entertain. Though the project may be of a philan
thropic character, yet in nearly all cases the idea or prospect
of gain is behind it. Some one is seeking to do good and at
the same time profit by it, and it does not necessarily detract
from the worthiness of the scheme, as I can see.
Mr. Hopkins was a man of some means for those times at
Vergennes, and stood high as a citizen of Vermont. He turned
a large part or all his property, as is shown by correspondence
with Mr. Hammond still extant, upon the purchase of this
tract and into this venture. It was a considerable of an under
taking, as any one will readily comprehend on a little medita
tion. Aside from two or three habitations built in Stockholm
seven miles distant one or two years before, there was no set-
lement or neighbor nearer on the east from whence they came
than about Bangor and Malone, where there were a few. He
struck right out into the primeval woods many miles beyond
any habitation, store, mill, shop or factory. There were no
roads, only trails. All supplies of every kind had to be
brought in for the first few years at least on horseback or
drawn by a horse or ox hitched to a sled in the winter time
and to a crotch or sort of sled that would follow the deviating
and uneven trail in the summer time from Vermont or Corn
wall, Canada. To be sure, some or perhaps all got more or
less of their meat supply from the killing of deer, which were
very plenty. However, their guns, the old flintlock musket,
were poor aflFairs compared with the present gun, and besides
but very few of the early settlers were able to own one of
these, or to buy ammunition for it if they had one. They were
too poor even for so small an outlay as that. At any rate we
know that they at once made trips to Canada by way of St.
Regis for salt pork and other suppHes.
Mr. Hopkins had induced the two Goodells, Samuel and
Joel, to come and take up farms in 1802, and he must get
many more or his project would be a failure. He was forced
to take the position of a sort of patriarch of old, at first at

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 19
least. He must look after those who had come and help them
or they would leave, as some did. He must provide a grist
mill, sawmill, blacksmith shop and the absolutely necessary
goods for living or satisfy the settlers that he would do so at
an early date, else none would come in. He had risked his
all, and his success or failure depended on his abilty to get
people to come in and buy his lands. He purchased the
lands to sell, and he must sell them in order to meet his obli
gations. He knew this, and he bent every efibrt to provide
for their wants, as we shall see, and at once. That the under
taking was greater than he had contemplated is shown by cor
respondence still in existence and by the business troubles
which came upon him in a few years.
Whether Mr. Hopkins brought with him in May, 1802,
wood choppers and laborers, or whether on his return to Ver
mont he sent back men to assist Jared Dewey and Eliphalet
Brush, it is now impossible to ascertain. I think it very im
probable that he brought any in May, as that was a purely
business trip, hastily arranged, to induce the Goodells to buy
his lands. I think we may also safely assume that whatever
labor was done by the Goodells was done upon their own
lands and that about the first thing they did was to build a
cabin. They must have shelter, a place to stay, and as they
had decided to locate there they might as well build the cabin
at once and get the use of it while doing the preparatory
work. Messrs. Dewey and Brush must have busied themselves
with cutting out a road on the north bounds of Islington,
building cabins and clearing land under directions given by
Mr. Hopkins and for him. We have a right to infer if not
to assert this, since the Goodells must have been assured of
an outlet and since, as Dr. Hough states, Roswell Hopkins,
Eli and Ashbel Squires, and Abraham Sheldon moved into
town with their families in the dead of winter, in March,
1803. Surely they would not have come in at such a time
had they not known that there were cabins already built to
which they could go. One or more of these cabins I feel
quite satisfied was or were built on the west bank of Lyd
Brook, justly southerly of the present cemetery. There is a
fine plateau there, with the brook under the bank and a fine
spring gushing from its side. Then again the saw and grist

zo EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
mills built in 1803 were built just below and close by. It is
only natural that the first cabins would be erected close to his
work and mills. Lyd Brook for a mile southerly of the
cemetery is a swiftly flowing stream, barely unbroken in its
rapid flow, with good banks for dams and ponds. It must
have been an ideal stream when all was forest and the water
flow much greater than when the land about was cleared, for
the erection of mills and shops using power. Mr. Hopkins's
lands did not extend northerly quite to the cemetery, only to
the present highway. On either side of this brook southerly
of this highway everything goes to show that Mr. Hopkins
proposed from the earliest date to build and have his village,
that is, to make that the focus of his early effiarts.
The Actual Settlement of the Town — Who Comprised the
Party.
Dr. Hough, as I have already stated, says the four men
named came in with their families in March, 1803. Perhaps
they did, — I cannot with any certainty dispute it, — though I
am much inclined to doubt it, that is, " with their families."
That the four men came I do not question. Whether they
came by the short route, crossing the St. Regis River just be
low Nicholville, or several miles farther by way of the settle
ment at East Stockholm, I cannot say, though I am inclined
to think it was by the latter route. The tradition in the
Goodell family is that the party who came in May, 1802,
came that way, and if so at that time of year the party com
ing in the winter time would certainly in entering a dense
forest wish to rest and receive the hospitality of others before
going to their cold and cheerless cabins, especially if there
were women and children in the party. In all probability
the latter remained in the warm if not luxurious cabins at East
Stockholm for a time while the men went up to Islington,
built fires and thawed out the frost and ice which the winter
had driven into the newly built, floorless cabins with a roof of
bark, such as all the first cabins possessed. Surely this is a
reasonable supposition, and so reasonable that it would seem
that it must be accepted by all. If we accept it, then the
party of March, 1803, consisting of whomsoever it did, is
first down in Stockholm resting, getting warm and acquainted

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 21
with their only neighbors, receiving and imparting encourage
ment for the arduous life before them. When the cabins
were sufficiently warmed and dried out the party packed up
their plain and simple things and went on to their destination
in Islington where were none to receive them, unless pos
sibly some members of their own party who had gone on be
fore them.
Just who composed this party, the first actual settlers of
the town, will never be known with absolute certainty. Dr.
Hough says the party consisted of the four men named " with
their families," and this is the oldest written authority that we
have, and some may say we should accept it, and perhaps we
should and let it go. But we know Dr. Hough did not care
to give the minute story, only to speak in brief and general
terms, and that he erred in some things and failed to tell all
on many points which he did touch upon. Therefore we
hardly know what to accept without question, and I feel at
liberty to do a little thinking for myself.
In the first place I gravely doubt whether Mr. Hopkins
brought his wife into that bleak and desolate forest in the dead
of winter. He had been secretary of state in Vermont for
some years, was a wealthy man for his time and stood high
socially, politically and in every way. Their last child, James
G., was then only a year and a half old. Is it likely or at all
probable that a man of his wealth and prominence should
bring his wife and babe from their cheerful home in Vergennes
to such a wilderness ? What reason was there for it ? He
spent a good part of the first few years in Vermont and trav-
elHng about in the interests of his IsHngton project. No doubt
he was in Vermont more than Islington for two or three years
at least. He had to buy goods, supplies, tools, implements
for his settlers and fit out his saw and grist mills, all which were
got in Vermont or Plattsburg. The enterprise was in all
probability financed at Vergennes, as letters and papers in Isaac
R. Hopkins's hands go to show. Again, all deeds to settlers
for the first few years are dated at Vergennes, Vt., and exe
cuted there. No, I cannot think that a man of his standing
should do so cruel a thing as to bring his wife and young child
at such a time, especially as he was not driven to it and as no
apparent good was to come from it. Possibly some of his
grown sons came with him, which fifty years later was thought

22 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
by Dr. Hough to be sufficient warrant for using the easy
phrase " with their famiHes," and very likely that was the case
as to him.
Dr. Hough in his history of Stockholm makes Abraham
Sheldon one of the pioneers of that town and a settler there in
1801 and 1802. He was there in all probability when Mr.
Hopkins and party came in March, 1803. There is no ink
ling of his being in Islington in the tales or stories of the
Goodells or EHphalet Brush families with the party that vis
ited the township in 1802. The first we hear of him in town
is by Dr. Hough as a member of the party of March, 1803.
Did he and his wife come to Islington as members of that
party, at least to settle .'' I am disposed to doubt it and for
these reasons : He was settled where he was, and how
ever humble his cabin and position may have been, would he
leave it and go up into the woods in Islington and into a cabin
with others or into one cold and frozen ? Would he not natu
rally " winter out " where he was and go up a little later?
In a " magazine " of the Sheldon families, prepared many
years ago, it is stated that his daughter Marilla was born in
Stockholm in 1802. Consequently she was at this time under
a year in age. Would they be likely to leave a comfortable
cabin for a cold and frosty one with a child of that tender age ?
In the old account of Mr. Hopkins is a charge in September,
1803, against him for surveying of one dollar. It can hardly
be that that was done down in Stockholm, as he had left there.
Is it not more likely that he had sold him the farm which he
occupied till his death in 18 10, and which afterwards was so
long held by Joseph Brush, and that this was the charge for
surveying it out? In November of the same year he had a
horse of Mr. Hopkins to go to Stockholm at a charge of one
dollar, which is pretty good evidence that he was then living
in Hopkinton. Then again Mrs. Amanda Sheldon, born in 18 19, with mind
clear and distinct for one of her age, widow of Deacon John,
who was a son of Abraham Sheldon, states that she often
heard Mrs. Clarissa (Sheldon) Brush recount her experiences
in Stockholm and Hopkinton; that as she recollects Mrs.
Brush stated that one and possibly two of her children were
born in Stockholm ; that she has no recollection of her claim
ing to be the first woman in Hopkinton, though she did as-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 23
sert that "she was the first white woman in Stockholm. Had
she been the first white woman in Islington surely she would
have claimed that honor equally with that of being the first
woman in Stockholm.
If this be sufficient evidence to say that Abraliam Sheldon
and wife did not come to town in March, 1 803, or that at
least his wife did not come, then we have left of the party
only Eli and Ashbel Squires to consider. As to them I have
this to say : Mr. Zebina Coolidge, who was born January 1 7,
1 8 16, came to Hopkinton about 1817 with his father Isaiah
andlived near Ashbel Squires for a short time when they moved
to a farm on the west side of the Racket River in Potsdam.
After staying there two years or so they came back to the
Squires neighborhood for a few years, Hving in the old log
house of Seth Abbott when they moved April 15, 1826, on
to the farm in the woods below Fort Jackson, now known as
the Robert McEwen farm. He now lives on a small farm a
mile below Fort Jackson. He is remarkably well preserved
mentally and physically and possesses an extraordinary mem
ory of early times. I doubt if I ever met an elderly man
who excels him in this respect. He has helped quite materi
ally on several points, and in every instance where I have been
able to verify what he told me I have found him correct.
His father Isaiah married Laura, eldest child of Ashbel
Squires. She was born at Addison, Vt., January 28, 1796.
This would make her a little over seven years of age when
the party came into Islington in March, 1803. His mother
often told in her family of their experiences in coming into
town at that time and of their hardships and privations for some
years after reaching town.
On reaching Islington, Mr. Squires and family moved into
a log cabin already built, situate on the west bank of Lyd
Brook, some sixty or eighty rods southerly of the present ceme
tery grounds. The daughter Laura accompanied her father
and mother at this time. The cabin had no floor and no fire
place other than two logs some three or four feet apart, with
the upper, ends resting against the log wall of the cabin some
six feet from the ground and the other or lower ends on the
ground inside the cabin. On the ground between these logs,
with the firewood mostly lying across them, they built and
kept up their fire. Directly overhead in the roof was an open

24 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
space for the escape of the smoke or most of it andi I would
suppose, for a large part of the heat. At the place I have
named there is now a line of base stone for a building about
twenty-four feet square. Whether these, now only one stone
in height and well sunken, were the underpinning of the log
house built in 1 802 I cannot state. Mr. CooHdge has always
so regarded them and holds them in such warm remembrance
that he has for years made pilgrimages there whenever oppor
tunity ofi^ered. Neither Mr. King S. Chittenden nor any one
else, so far as I learn, knows the story of those stones. Mr.
CooHdge's mother often stated that her father remained at this
place about a month until he had sufficiently constructed a
shanty to move into over on the brook near the present resi
dence of George S. Wright, Esq. Mr. Coolidge remembers
distinctly the trite remark of his mother that when they moved
over to their new home the leaves were out and about the size
of a " mouse's ear." He also recalls with much certainty her
often stating that her mother was the only woman in the party
and the first woman in Islington, and that her nearest
neighbor was Dr. Luman Pettibone, seven miles distant in
Stockholm. As to Eli Squires little can be learned or told. However,
Mr. Coolidge says he did not bring his wife at this time and
did not till the next year at least, and was so told by his
mother. His account with Mr. Hopkins did not open till
April, 1 804, with a half bushel of meal, which is quite an item
of evidence in support of Mr. Coolidge's memory.
The First White Woman in Town.
I have given the subject of who was the first woman in
Islington much inquiry and research, solely and only to get
at the truth and to pay the memory of the right woman the
compliment to which she is entitled. Dr. Hough tells of the
birth of the first child and of the building of the first frame
house, but he does not tell us who was the first woman. He
states that the four men named " with their families." came in
March, 1803, but he had too much sense to say that the wife
of one of them was the first woman to come. The so-called
pictorial history of the county published in 1878 copies Dr.
Hough as to the coming of the four men with their families.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 25
and adds in the same paragraph the very inconsistent remark
that the wife of only one of them, Abraham Sheldon, was the
first white woman in town. According to this she must have,
as the party approached Islington, run on ahead and entered
Islington in advance of the others.
If the four men came with their famiHes, as this work states,
there must have been four first women in town instead of one.
The only authority, so far as I learn or know, for saying that
Mrs. Abraham Sheldon was the first woman in town rests
solely and only upon the statement in the " history " of 1 878.
That work adds but very Httle to what is given by Dr. Hough
(copying his mistakes), and that I fear cannot be relied on. It
states that Mr. Hopkins at this time brought in his wife, five
sons, to wit, Roswell D., Benjamin W., Isaac R., George,
James G., and two daughters, Maria, who married Artemus
Sawyer in 1801 and never lived in town, and Sally or Sarah.
The fair inference also from what is said is that some or all
the sons brought their wives. Now the first of the sons to
marry was Benjamin W., who married January 16, 1804.
Roswell D. was at this time twenty-two, Benjamin W. twenty,
and Maria eighteen.
Of course it is possible that Mr. Abraham Sheldon may
have moved up in the fall of 1802 or that winter and into one
of the cabins built in 1 802, and wintered there all alone, in
which case his wife would surely have been the first woman in
town, but I do not believe it. Man is a social being, and it is
not to be presumed that he would leave his neighbors and go
off^ seven miles by himself in the woods to winter. He would
naturally remain where he was to await the coming of Mr.
Hopkins, the proprietor, that he might feel and know that
there was to be a real settlement there before leaving his quar
ters, no matter how poor they may have been.
I may not have given sufficient reasons for asserting, and
I do not so assert, yet I am quite inclined to think that the
wife of Ashbel Squires was the first woman in Islington. It is
the story of Mr. Coolidge, whose mother was a little girl at
the time, just at the age when impressions seem to implant
themselves in the mind permanently. It seems also to be
borne out more or less by the Httle bits of data and informa
tion which I have been able to pick up here and there. Then
again it comes to us second hand only through one person.

26 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mr. CooHdge, and I have found his memory remarkably keen
and reHable. I have no wish or desire in the matter further
than to arrive at the truth and to place the wreath upon the
brow entitled to receive it. To say now, absolutely, who she
was is impossible. There may be others who could testify on
the point, but they did not speak, though often invited to do
so, while this work was running serially in the Courier and Free
man. Another item I will here give showing the reliabiHty of
Mr. CooHdge's memory. At the time of telling me the story
of Mr. Ashbel Squires coming to town he stated that Aaron
Warner came along with them as a young man. I did not
then know nor do I think any one living could tell when he
came to town. His name is not mentioned by Dr. Hough
as a member of the party of March, 1803, or by the two
following histories which copied him, nor is his name even
given by either of them among the pioneers of the succeed
ing years. How then did Mr. Coolidge know when he came
if he did not get it from his mother ? Since that interview
the old account book of Roswell Hopkins, Esq., has come
to light, and in that I find what is almost positive corrobora
tion of Mr. Coolidge's memory. In this it is stated that Mr.
Warner entered into the employ of Mr. Hopkins in August,
1803. Then again I find that he married Edy or Edith
Blanchard, May 10, 1805, daughter of Amasa, who came to
town in March, 1804, if not in the fall of 1803, with twelve
children. Giving such testimony as this as to the reliability
of his memory may I not, should I not feel warranted in giv
ing much credence to what he has to say of those early times ?
Be the actual membership of the party that came in March,
1803, what it may, they were the first settlers of the town.
Their coming marked the advent of woman and of child, and
without the former it could hardly be said to be settled. The
town may have been founded as the inscription on Mr. Hop
kins's tombstone states in 1801, but it was not settled till the
coming of this party. They came to stay and did stay.
Severe were their privations, but they bore them with unex
ampled fortitude and finally triumphed. And now, as I scan
the membership of that little party, I note that aU went hence
years ago. Abraham Sheldon died from the kick of a horse
at Pawlet, Vt., in 18 10. His widow, Mrs. Joseph Brush,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 27
died October 6, 1868. Roswell Hopkins was thrown from his
buggy at Chazy, and died September 5, 1829. His wife, of
1803, died June 15, 1816. Ashbel Squires died March 18,
1855, and his wife July 23, 1 842. Their daughter Laura, wife
of Isaiah and mother of Zebina Coolidge, died February 6,
1833- The dates of the deaths of Eli Squires and wife are not
known. Aaron Warner died in 1853. All the children of
the grown members of that little band who then came have
likewise fallen in eternal sleep. The last to survive of the
children were Aaron Larned Warner, who died March 25,
1900, and Hannah Sheldon FuHer, who died at Sanford Cor
ners, N. Y., March 18, 1896, aged eighty-six. Two of the
children of Laura (Squires) Coolidge are still Hving, viz.,
Zebina, born January 17, 18 16, and Laurel, born January 12,
Other People that came in t803.
There do not seem to have been but a few others that
came in to settle in 1803. Were it not for Mr. Hopkins's
old account book, I could not name any others except the
Goodell boys. They came and pushed the clearing on their
farms with their usual vigor. Joel went back to help his
father in haying, while Samuel, being the only blacksmith in
town, was constrained by Mr. Hopkins to assist in the build
ing of his saw and grist mills. Eliphalet Brush began work
for Mr. Hopkins, March 5, 1803, and worked eight months.
The entry is dated at Vergennes, and whether he came to
Islington as such employee or not I cannot say, but in all
probability he did. Isaac Sheldon began to work in the sum
mer, and the account was balanced and settled September 20,
1803. His name does not seem to again appear in the book.
I have some information that he was a brother of Abraham,
and finally settled at Auburn, N. Y.
Mr. Asahel Wright also began work for Mr. Hopkins, with
Aaron Warner, September 21, 1803. Mr. Wright first took
up the Elisha Risdon farm next easterly of Aaron Warner,
and not long after settled in West Potsdam. Jared Dewey
was also in town in the summer. Gaius Sheldon was in town
as early as October 22, 1803. It would seem that Amasa
Blanchard came in the fall of 1803, as his account is on the

28 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
page prior to that of Gaius Sheldon, but bears no date. Ezra
Church has one entry just under it with no date. Then comes
Mr. Blanchard's full account, beginning March lo, 1804.
These, so far as I have been able to learn, are the people who
were in town in 1803. I do not, however, suppose that this
was all. Mr. Hopkins must have had millwrights at work
upon his saw and grist mills, which he began the construction
of that year. It must have taken something of a force to
build the dams, raceways and mills, besides the necessary work
upon the roads, bridges, etc. Who they were, further than I
have stated, cannot now be learned.
The First Child born in Hopkinton.
Already something has been said bearing on this point.
Dr. Hough, as I have stated, mentions four families as having
moved into town in March, 1 803, and one of these is Abraham
Sheldon. In the next sentence he stated that the first birth
occurred in December of that year in the family of Mr. Sheldon.
He does not say Abraham, simply Mr. Sheldon. However,
the only inference to be drawn from it is that it was in the
family of Abraham Sheldon, since he was the only one of the
four families then in town, according to Dr. Hough, bearing
the name Sheldon. Accordingly he must have meant
Abraham. Now, it is morally certain that he was down in
Stockholm in 1 802, and that his daughter Marilla was the first
child born in that town, and that his wife was the first woman
there, as Mrs. Amanda Sheldon says she claimed she was.
There is a very faint tradition, so weak that perhaps it should
not be stated, that Mr. Sheldon was not a fixed settler there,
and that his wife was a cook for others. Whether Mr. Shel
don came up to Hopkinton with the other three men in
March, 1803, or a little later, or whether he went back to
Vermont in the fall of 1 802, and came in with Mr. Hopkins the
next March, is a problem that cannot now be definitely solved.
At any rate it can be safely asserted that he was in Hopkinton
and settled there early in the summer of 1803. Their first
two children were Marilla and Hiram. The former married
R. Mason Crossman, who lived at Burlington, Vt.,or near there.
Her daughter Marion married J. H. Bostwick of Kalamazoo,
Mich., where both now reside. Mrs. Bostwick is too feeble

MRS. ALTA (SHELDON) HENDERSON.
First female child born in town.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 29
to aid in the elucidation of this problem. Mr. Bostwick writes
me that Marilla Sheldon Crossman died in 1877, aged seventy-
five years, and is buried in Riverside Cemetery at that place.
Speaking by years this would make her born in Stockholm in
1802, which bears out Mrs. Amanda Sheldon's recollection.
No one of the Sheldon family, so far as I learn, can give her
birth any closer that this. Hiram Sheldon, as I learn from his
tombstone in Hopkinton, died April 15, 1820, aged sixteen
years. The old family Bible seems to be irrecoverably
lost, and no one can give the date of his birth, though that of
their subsequent children. Deacon John, February 7, 1806,
JuHna (Mrs. Clark S. Chittenden), May 27, 1808, and Hannah
(Mrs. Jabez F. Fuller), June i, 18 10, can be stated. If Hiram
was born in December, 1803, he was four months over sixteen
at the time of his death.
I now learn from J. Henry Henderson that a Mr. 
Sheldon came into town in 1843 ^^^ ^^^ purpose of gathering
the records of all the Sheldon families living there, and that he
did get it of all of them, making a magazine, as it is called, of
many pages. This is still extant, and I am furnished a copy
of it as to the Hopkinton Sheldons. Unfortunately the col
lector of this work was content to get the year of birth only.
In no case is the month or day given, but the year is correct
of all the children in all the famiHes so far as is known, which
speaks well for its correctness. Mr. Henderson remembers
of his father taking this man to Ezra and Gaius Sheldon for
the purpose of getting the record. In this magazine the birth
of Marilla is given as 1802, that of Hiram as 1804, and that
of the others as just stated. This work was prepared ten
years prior to the pubHcation of Dr. Hough's history, and
surely it is just as likely, if not more so, to be correct. It is
not to be presumed for a moment but that he got the Abra
ham Sheldon record from his widow, Mrs. Joseph Brush, who
was a remarkably bright and strong old lady. If Hiram was
born in the first months of 1 804 it would the more nearly
conform to the inscription on his tombstone and be in keep
ing with the births of the other children, namely, every second
year. Dr. Hough, as we know, made mistakes and neglected
to tell all.
Now we know that Gaius Sheldon was in town as early as
October, 1803, and some of his descendants stoutly affirm that

30 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
they were told by his wife that their son Amos Curtis was the
first male child born in town. However, they can only give
his birth as 1805, which agrees with the magazine, and
makes it pretty certain that he was not the first child. The
Oliver Sheldon descendants are confident that he came to town
in 1803, and the fact that he secured the farm next east of
Henry McLaughlin would seem to confirm them. However,
his account with Mr. Hopkins did not open till July, 1804.
His daughter Alta, who married John Henderson, was born
September 21, 1804, and in Hopkinton, as the magazine
states and as is shown by the family record. She had a pro
digious memory of early times and lived till August 23, 1890.
It is conceded, or at least I hear it nowhere disputed, that
she was the first female child born in town. A likeness of
her, which those who remember her pronounce to be good, is
here given. There is no dispute but that Ashbel Squires was
in town in March, 1803. His descendants, or at least those
I have reached, claim that his son Ira, born March 6,
1 804, was the first male child born in town, and if he was not
he must have come very near being. It may be that in their
anxiety to claim the honor they got " mixed " as to towns.
The town of Hopkinton was not organized till March, 1805.
Ashbel Squires and Gaius Sheldon lived in town number four
teen, called Catherinsville, while Abraham and Oliver Sheldon
Hved in town number fifteen, called IsHngton, but this should
not have confused Dr. Hough, writing in 1850.
After all it seems to me from all the light I can gather
that we must still give the credit of the first born to Hiram
Sheldon, son of Abraham, though I doubt his birth in
December, 1803, as stated by Dr. Hough. It seems to me
the record given in the " magazine " of the Sheldon family
superior authority, as it was specifically prepared with care as a
record, and as aU other dates in it are correct. At any rate
it seems to He between him and Ira Squires. To Alta, daugh
ter of Oliver Sheldon, we must give hail as the first miss
of the town. The First Gristmill, also Sawmill.
Dr. Hough states in his history that the first gristmill was
built by Mr. Hopkins in 1803 on Lyd Brook, near the pres-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 31
ent village of Hopkinton. In his history of Stockholm he
states that it was not completed till 1 804. We learn from
Mr. Risdon's diary that Mr. Hopkins built a gristmill up
in the village on the same brook in 1 8 1 5. Many people can
recall this building, but no one can remember seeing or know
ing it to be in actual use, though they know it did run for a
time by general report. Dr. Hough's work was published in
1 853, yet he does not mention this mill. His use of the words
"near the present village" plainly shows that he did not refer
to the mill of 18 15, for that was distinctly in the village.
I could not for some time make up my mind that there
ever was a gristmill in or near the village, aside from the one
built in 1 81 5. The more I investigated the more I became
convinced that there was not. I communicated with all the
elderly people I could learn of, but not one could recall this
mill or its ruins or of ever having heard of it. I did get
some vague information as to a deep hole in the rocky bed of
Lyd Brook, opposite the cemetery, where people years ago
were wont to wash sheep and boys go in swimming, called the
" sheep hole," and of a stick of timber there which it was
thought might have been a sill timber, but this was hardly
sufficient to say that a mill once stood there. I visited the
place and walked along the brook for some distance, but could
find not the sHghtest trace that a mill was ever there. The
men who could tell and for whom it ground grain for food are
all or mostly all up in the cemetery which makes the westerly
bank of the brook. Murmuring not they sleep while the
brook sings its same song as it ripples along over its rocky bed,
and will so sleep and sing for aeons of ages to come.
Then, too, it did not seem to me probable, or should I
say possible, that a mill could have been built, as Dr. Hough
says, in 1803. The first real settlement of the town was in
March of that year. There were no people there save those
who then came. It was all an untouched forest aside from
what a few men may have done the previous summer and
fall. It seemed to me that they would necessarily be tpo busy
looking after their wants to give any time to the building of a
mill. They must have cabins for shelter and they must clear
land for crops or they could not live. What would be the
use of a mill if there was no grain to grind ? Why put up a

32 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
mill when there could be no grain till some ground was cleared
and a crop raised?
Thus I reflected. But, I suspect, some bits or patches of
crops were put in among the stumps very soon, possibly that
season. I failed to consider that Mr. Hopkins was the pro
prietor and that the building of mills, shops, etc., was his part
of the program in making the town a fit habitation. No
doubt he brought employees from Vermont to do his work,
leaving the settlers to do their clearing, build cabins and look
after themselves. What a trial and struggle it must have been
for those few people, so distant from civilization and in a pri
meval forest !
Unable to learn anything of a definite nature as to the ac
tual existence or location of this mill I began to despair, when
Mr. Isaac R. Hopkins brought me a bundle of his great
grandfather, RosweU Hopkins's, old papers. Among these I
found an agreement of copartnership between Roswell Hop
kins and his son, B. W. Hopkins, which places the whole
matter at rest. It bears date April 23, 1806, and is witnessed
by Thads. Laughlin and Jonas Harwood. By its terms, as I
read it, Mr. Roswell Hopkins turned into the " concern,"
with much other property, his " sawmill in said township with
the privilege of land sufficient for pond, mill yard, etc., also
improvements and uses of his farm and gristmill in said town
of Hopkinton." This shows conclusively the existence of a
gristmill and also a sawmill in town as early as 1806. In ar
ticle four of said agreement the gristmill is quite definitely lo
cated. Mr. B. W. Hopkins had then bought a tract of land
in Chesterfield lying just north of the road leading westerly
from A. A. Atwood's (formerly William S. Phelps's), taking in
Lyd Brook, the cemetery and lands some ninety roads westerly
and north to St. Regis River, which he called his farm. He
agreed when this was paid for to deed to the said Roswell " a
sufficient quantity of the land in Chesterfield so as to include
the gristmill and the privileges of the water, ponds, dams,
etc., which may or shall be necessary for the accommodation
of said gristmill."
From this it is evident that the gristmill at least stood
just north of the road above mentioned, and the fair inference,
if not the plain statement, is that the dam and at least a part
of the pond did also. Be the inference what it may, we have

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

^3

positive and unqualified proof that it did stand just below the
road. Mrs. Paulina S. Atwood of Hopkinton and her sister,
Mrs. Caroline M. Landon, of Hartford, Conn., daughters of
William S. Phelps, born only a few rods distant, not only
remember the old dam, but of its being sufficient to hold water
to enable the boys to go in swimming in the pond, to the
annoyance of neighbors and passers-by. The more timid boys
would go under the bridge as people drove by, but on one
occasion some bold boys came up into the road and chased
some women driving by, which so incensed the people that
swimming in the pond was prohibited. Mrs. Landon further
distinctly remembers seeing her mother baptized in the water
of this pond. Again Mr.  Kimpton of  ,Iowa, who built
the present dam immediately above the bridge in 1 862, also re
members the ruins of an old dam just below the bridge.
The dam I take it was not very high, as the ground for
some little distance to the east is rather low and since a high
dam would have flowed the stream some distance above the
road where, somehow, I am very confident the sawmill stood,
though no one can recall the slightest relic of dam or mill at
this point. The west bank of the cemetery grounds has been
filled in so that we cannot say whether the water was carried
in a ditch in said bank to the gristmill some twelve rods
north and on to an overshot, or in a trough to an undershot
wheel, but in all probability the former.
This, it must be conceded, is sufficient proof of the exist
ence of the gristmill and of its location with considerable
certainty. I have, however, luckily found more definite and
certain evidence as to where it stood. In the official record
book of the town is the survey bill of a road which reads as
follows: "And on the same day, November 10, 1808, run
out one other highway, beginning at the northeast corner of
Roswell Hopkins's gristmill, thence south eight degrees east
seven rods, thence south fifty-eight degrees east fifty rods to
the main street, said highway to be six rods wide." Henry
McLaughlin, surveyor ; Abraham Sheldon, Jonas Harwood,
commissioners ; B. W. Hopkins, town clerk. This would
bring the road from the mill to the main street, just west of
A. A. Atwood's residence. Mr. G. W. F. Smith of Pots
dam, surveyor, has figured it out for me and says that the

34 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
north side or end of the mill would be seventeen rods north
from a due east and west road.
Thus, ninety-eight years later, we are able to locate the
old mill, at least within a few feet, since a survey in 1 806
placed the east and west road on the north line of Islington
where it is now. It is not only quite evident, but morally
certain, that the gristmill and sawmill were not in the same
building. I would be inclined to think they were, as that was
the custom in those days, and since the construction of build
ings, water wheels, etc., was no trifling matter so far removed
and in a great forest, but the record evidence, or a reasonable
construction of what there is, is decidedly against it. In the
partnership agreement already mentioned the sawmill and
gristmill are not only not mentioned together or in the same
sentence, but in separate sentences. Again, in that part of the
agreement where B. W. Hopkins agrees to give his father a
deed, the gristmill only is mentioned, as is also the case in
the survey bill of the road to the gristmill. Had they been
in the same building, would they not have spoken of them in
the same sentence ? Does not the fact that B. W. Hopkins
agreed to convey the land used by the gristmill preclude any
inference that the sawmill stood on the same ground ? It
seems to me that it does. The fact that both are given as
being in Hopkinton does not help us any, as in the Act creating
the town passed in 1805 a largepart of Chesterfield (Lawrence)
was made a part of the town. But what may be regarded as
better evidence still as to the location of the sawmill is a very
old map of Hopkinton village and Lyd Brook made by or for
Mr. Hopkins. On its filing page as folded are the figures
" 1 8 14," indicating that to be its date. This locates the saw
mill on the westerly side of Lyd Brook immediately above the
bridge crossing the stream near the cemetery. The gristmill
is located up in the village just below the upper bridge on the
westerly side of the brook where the second mill stood. As
this mill was built in 1 8 1 5, it is evident that the figures " 1 8 14 "
are not quite late enough. No other gristmill is given on
the map. All these things put together work in unison and
it seems to me place the first sawmill just above the bridge
near the cemetery. Dr. Hough does not mention the first
sawmill or any mill of that character except the one built at

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 35
Fort Jackson by Isaac R. Hopkins in 1824, at the raising of
which the place was given the name it still bears.
In the article by Mr. Risdon giving an account of the
building of a bridge over Deer River just below Lawrence
ville in March, 1 805, he tells also of the building of a foot
bridge over the St. Regis just above the village of Fort Jack
son, possibly that year or the next, and of placing plank on the
wooden horses, for a walk. It was a mystery to me for some
time where they got these plank, but this copartnership paper,
and still more definitely the account book of Mr. Hopkins,
settle all that. They were sawn in Mr. Hopkins's mill.
As to when the mill began business I can find only two
or possibly three entries in the entry book relating to the
grinding of grain. The first is this : Thomas Remington's
account under date of July, 1805, viz.: "To toll, four bushels
wheat, sixty cents ; to toll, one bushel corn six cents." The sec
ond is in Reuben Post's account under date of April 15, 1806,
as follows : " To grinding one bushel of wheat without toll,
fourteen cents." In Samuel Eastman's account under date of
March 27, 1804, is this entry: "To flour of four and third
bushels, $4.34." Just what this means may be a little uncertain.
It is evident that the want of entries for grinding was due to
the fact that in nearly every case the parties paid for it by
toll, in which case there was no occasion for charging further
than an entry on the mill blotter or a chalk mark to show
what the mill did.
In the case of sawing there are a great many items.
Nearly every account has them and some quite a number.
The first that I find are as follows : Eliakim Seeley, February,
1805: "To ninety-four feet boards, fifty cents." Jasper
Armstrong, February 13, 1805: "To three hundred and
thirty feet bass boards, $1.65." Oliver Sheldon, February 16,
1 805 : " To sawing one hundred and fifty-six feet bass boards,
thirty-nine cents." From these it is evident that the mill
was in operation in February, 1805 and probably before that.
The first two items are sales of lumber already sawn by
Mr. Hopkins.
This old book brings to light the first sawmill ever in
the town and of which no one living ever heard, nor of which
there is any record save in the copartnership agreement, and
tells us very nearly when it began business. It also brings to

36 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
view the little gristmill down in the woods by the cemetery
with its one run of stone, slowly, fitfully, and creakingly con
verting the pioneers' small grist, taken to it by the child on
horseback, into a coarse flour or meal, which mill too had
all but passed from human ken or knowledge.
And yet some people will say and do say that all such re
search is of little or no account, that those times and scenes
have passed away and it matters not to us what they did or
what they wore or how they struggled or how they lived.
Some may say and some do say that those who love to resur
rect the past, to put the bits of information that we are able
to gather together so that we can in a measure see and greet
our grandfathers and grandmothers as they were and as they
loved and lived, do so for the pleasure which such an invidi
ous comparison with our own lot affiards, but this is not true,
and only those who are both deaf and dead to all those
gentler, kindlier sensibilities which make us thoughtful and
loving beings so think or feel.

CHAPTER IV.
The Old Account Book of Roswell Hopkins — The Settlers who
came into Town in J804 to 1808— Opening Accounts with
Roswell Hopkins — Prices of Goods in those Early Days —
Primitive Condition of the Settlers — Some Things accom
plished since they came.
After stating that the four men " with their families," al
ready named, came into town in 1803, Dr. Hough further
says that in 1804 and 1805 the following additional men came
in, many of them with their families, to wit, Thomas Rem
ington, Gaius Sheldon, Reuben Post, Eliakim Seeley, Henry
McLaughlin, Thaddeus McLaughlin, Horace Train, Jasper
Armstrong and Seth Abbott.
The fair inference is that Roswell Hopkins, EH and Ash
bel Squire and Abraham Sheldon were the only inhabitants
of the town for the year 1803. This is clearly a mistake, as
is apparent from a little reflection and as I have already shown.
The error of Dr. Hough as to the people who came in 1803
is not so great however as that committed by him as to the
people who came in 1804 and 1805, which I am enabled to
conclusively show by the old account book of Roswell Hop
kins. It is from this quite evident that all he cared to do was
to get the names of a few of the leading pioneers, or else that
he was content with such as his informant could recall. At
that time he could have got them all had he made any par
ticular eflSbrt.
This old account book has thin wood board covers with
paper pasted on to them. The leaves are fifteen inches in
length by six in width, rather poor paper, with no cross lines,
and with red lines for dollars and cents drawn by the owner.

38 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The first page is headed, " Vergennes, March 5th, 1803," and
the first entry as follows :
Eliphalet Brush began to work for me this day.
April, sick nine days with measles.
June, sick one day.
November 13, balanced books, made up eight months at ^12.
The next entry is an account of wheat and flour sold to
Eli Squire without dates except that it was paid April 14,
1804. The wheat was two bushels and ten quarts lent and
may have been used as seed on his place in Addison, Vt.,
in 1803. His formal account did not open till April, 1804.
Mr. Coolidge says Mr. Eli Squire did not bring his wife to
town in March, 1803, and not for some time later. The date
of this account is another straw in support of his recollection.
The next entry is this heading across the page :
"Lyd Brook, June 10, 1803."
This is the name given to the brook running through
Hopkinton village by Mr. Hopkins and so named after his
wife, Lydia. The naming of this brook seems to have been
one of his first acts on coming to town to settle.
Following this, Isaac Sheldon began work, was sick two
days and absent six days in Stockholm. The account was
balanced September 20, 1803. I do not see as Mr. Sheldon
had any other account, and I think he must have quit the
town at a very early date. He married Sarah Armstrong,
sister of Mrs. Abraham Sheldon, and took up, as I learn from
a very old map of Mr. Hopkins, lot number forty-two, being
the east or main part of the Truman E. Post farm. He
soon sold it to Joseph Armstrong, who sold it in 1808 to
Reuben Post. I hear by the bye that Mr. Sheldon was a
brother of Abraham and settled at Auburn, N. Y.
Among the other items on the first page are a sale to
Abraham Sheldon of one quart of rum, surveying for him one
dollar, discount with Isaac Sheldon eight dollars, and a
horse to go to Stockholm one dollar, and also a charge to
Jared Dewey for a yoke of oxen to go to Chateaugay for pro
visions and for considerable bread and flour at about one shil
ling per pound. From this item it is quite evident that Abra
ham Sheldon came up from Stockholm, where he was located in

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

39

1802, or in from Vermont, as early as the summer of 1803, if
not earlier in that year.
This old account book begins early in the year 1803 and
extends well into the year 1 807. It contains itemized accounts
with each of the following men, and is particularly interesting
in showing the goods used by the pioneers, prices of the same,
and is invaluable in that it gives the names of the pioneers
who came in those first years, and about when they came.
Were it not for this old book it would be impossible to give
the names of the settlers for 1 804 and 1 805 with any certainty
beyond the nine men named by Dr. Hough. How fortunate
that it has been preserved ! The men who came to town in
those first years, or at least those of them who opened an ac
count with Mr. Hopkins, with the date of such opening are as
follows :

Eliphalet Brush, March 5, 1803.
Isaac Sheldon, 1803.
Abraham Sheldon, July, 1803.
Jared Dewey, 1803.
Amasa Blanchard, September, 1803.
Gaius Sheldon, October 22, 1803.
Ashbel Squire, December 23, 1803.
Eben Hurlbut, 1803.
Samuel Goodell, March 10, 1804.
Joel Goodell, March, 1804.
Eli Squire, April, 1804.
Eliphalet Hancock, March 17, 1 804.
Aaron Warner, March, 1 804.
Isaac Kelsey, 1 804.
Eliakim Seeley, March, 1 804.
Samuel Eastman, March 27, 1804.
David French, March 29, 1804.
Thomas Remington, April, 1804.
Henry McLaughlin, May 8, 1 804.
Robert Train, June 4, 1 804.
William Brush, June 16, 1804.
Asahel Wright, June, 1 804.
Reuben Post, June 28, 1804.
Benjamin Raymond, 1 804.
Joseph Delong, July 6, 1 804.
Ezra Church, July 7, 1 804.
OHver Sheldon, July 23, 1804.
Seth Abbott, September 26, 1804.
Sylvester Jargway, October 2, 1804.
Caleb Wright, October 15, 1804.
Amasa Blanchard, Jr., January 7, i 805.

William Staples, February 7, 1805.
Jasper Armstrong, February 13, 1805.
Phineas Durfey, March, 1805.
Elisha Risdon, April i, 1805.
Eli Tomlinson, August zo, 1805.
Simeon Bushnell, August Z2, 1805.
Robert Bisby, September 6, 1805.
Joseph Durfey, September 6, 1805.
Luther Bingham, April 10, 1806.
M. Hamilton, April 28, 1806.
Benjamin Harwood, Dec. 25, 1806.
Dr. Stephen Langworthy, June, 1807.
John Hoit, June, 1807.
Horace Train, July, 1807.
Nathaniel Rudd, July 4, 1807.
James Pierce, July 6, 1807.
Jonathan Pierce, July 6, 1807.
Jonas Harwood, July, 1807.
Eli Roburds, July 21, 1807.
Job Greene, August, 1807.
Abijah Chandler, August, 1807.
Ros. D. Hopkins, August, 1807.
Eldad K. Curtis, August, 1807.
Samuel Buckingham, August, 1807.
Harry Train.
John Thomas, November, 1808.
Samuel Harris, November, 1808.
Eliphalet Brush, November, 1808.
Joseph Brush, November 21, 1808 .
Ephraim Buckingham, Nov., 1808.
James Sanders, November, 1808.

4°

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

The name Eben Hurlbut should be Ebenezer Hulburd
of East Stockholm, one of the first and ablest pioneers of that
town. Benjamin Raymond was the pioneer settler at Potsdam.
He left forty-six bushels of wheat " in the mill," presumably
in Mr. Hopkins's mill built in 1 803. Benjamin Harwood took
up the tract across the road from Samuel Eastman's. His wife
died leaving several little children, and being poor he sold his
betterments to Caleb Wright and moved away. Nathaniel
Rudd married Waity, sister of Roswell Hopkins, and had held
the position of major, by which title he was called. His place
was Mechanic Lot number three, next south of the Jacob
Phelps place.
The place of abode of the foregoing pioneers not residing
in Hopkinton proper, to the best of my information, was as fol
lows : Isaac Kelsey and William Staples in Stockholm ; Simeon
Bushnell, J. and J. Pierce, Samuel Harris, James Sanders and
Abijah Chandler in Chesterfield. Mr. Bushnell first came to
Hopkinton and was then probably a single man. He got two
and a quarter pounds of bread of Mr. Hopkins, August 23,
1 805, and began work for him April 20, 1 806, for seven
months. In all my research I am unable to locate with certainty
these pioneers, to wit, Joseph Delong, Ezra Church, Sylves
ter Jargway, EH Tomlinson, Robert Bisby, Luther Bingham,
John Hoit and Samuel Buckingham. Eldad K. Curtis, M.
Hamilton and Harry Train were employees of Mr. Hqpkins
and probably some of the others.
On the last page of the book I notice Mr. Hopkins gives
Ashbel Squire credit for fifty-seven pounds of butter delivered
at diverse times in 1803. According to this, Mr. Squire must
have gone back to Vermont and got the cow that summer, and
she must have lived by browsing.
The account of Mr. Elisha Risdon opens in April, 1805.
The interesting items in it are as follows :
April 5, by two days' work on sawmill
December 24, by surveying
December 24, by cutting forty bass logs
December 24, by one hundred pounds of venison
December 24, by paid Kellogg in an axe
December 24, by seven deerskins
March 18, by eighty bushels of ashes
March 18, by ten bushels of corn

67
00 00 18
50
00 80SO

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

4'

March 1 8, by fifty-six pounds of butter
March 18, by thirteen one-half pounds of cheese
March 18, by five one-half days' work at mill
April 5, to an order given to Asahel Wright
April 5, to an order on Jehiel Wright
April 5 , to taps for shoes ....
April 5, to one hat ....
April 5, to one pair trousers

^9-25 2.25 2.75
22.40 75.27 •25
1-75 1.50

Interesting and instructive items are contained in other
accounts. Some of them, besides being interesting, are very
valuable in settling points of historical interest. In the ac
counts selected I will give the man's name and date his account
opens only-

Amasa Blanchard, March 10, 1804.
To man, horse and expense to Ketchum' s after load, less one-quarter
for mill irons brought me .... .
To two hundred and fifty fourpenny nails
To carrying deerskins to Cornwall ....
To half bushel of corn ...
To loom timber and sawing .....
To four hundred feet bass boards, March 30, 1805
To twelve bushels of potatoes .....
By thirty bushels of ashes .... 3.
By sixty-six bushels of ashes . . . 3,

00 96

Gaius Sheldon, October 22, 1803.
By yoke of oxen ...... 55-°°
To sixteen feet of boards for cradle, March 10, 1805
To sawing nine hundred feet of board, March 10, 1805
To four pounds eightpenny nails .....
To one quart rum, 44c. ; pitcher, 50c. ; half set cups and sau
cers, 62i^c. ........
To sugar bowl, 40c. ; milk pot, I oc. ; two plates, 9c.
To quart bowl, I2i/^c. ; nutmeg, I2i^c. ; half bushel salt, ^3.50
Ashbel Squire, December 23, 1803.
To sawing five times through log for sled runner
To bank'r handkerchief, ^1.12 ; half pound tea, 75 c.
To half pound pepper, 32c ; half pound allspice, 20c. ; one quart
rum, 44c. .......¦•
To four pounds eightpenny naUs .....
To three yards cotton cloth, 75c. ; half dozen needles, 6c.
JoEL Goodell, March, 1 804.
To visit and bleed wife, 25c. ; two quarts rum, Ji.oo .
To four pint bowls, 80c. ; sugar bowl, 40c. ; five teacups and
saucers, 52c. .

57-07 -25
1.25 •34
1. 00
2.004.50

.08
Z.31 .92
1.56 •59
3-75 .62
1.87 .96.92 .81

1.25 1.72

3-75

2

.oo

I

.oo

.85

8

.40

I

.00

42 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Eli Squire, April 10, 1804.
To pasturing horse for your father ..... $°-3'i-
To tobacco, bottom of roll, 63c. ; ten pounds cut nails, $'i.^o 3.03
To pint mug, 50c. ; one quart rum, 44c. ; one dozen needles,
I2C. ......... I -06
Aaron Warner, March, 1804.
To cash of Elder Roger, ;^2.oo ; seven yards cotton, $1.75
To two horses and saddle to Madrid . . . - -
Eliakim Seeley, March 20, 1804.
To thirty pounds flour, 75c. ; to visit and bleed S., 25c.
To two yoke oxen one day, 75c. ; to forty tenpenny nails, loc. ,
To horse to Plattsburg, ^2.40 ; to wintering cow, g6.oo
To sawing plank for tannery vat. May 10, 1805 .
Samuel Eastman, March 27, 1804.
To five bushels wheat, ^5.00 ; one bushel corn, 62c. ; to twenty-
five eightpenny nails, 8c. . . . . - . 5 -70
To four hundred feet boards, J2.40 ; to two hundred acres land,
I500.00 ......... 502.40
Thomas Remington, April, 1804.
To quart rum, 44c. ; to five hundred feet bass boards, $2."]^, No
vember 17, 1804 ....... 3.19
To almanac, 12 J^c. ; to thirty-seven pounds pork, 6c., ^z.22 . 2.34
To half bushel flaxseed, $1.50 ; to three tin basins, 75c. . 2.25
To toll of four bushels wheat, 60c. ; bushel corn, 6c., July, 1 805, .66
To calico for Agnes, ^3.20 ; one quart rum, 44c. . . . 3-64
Abraham Sheldon.
To horse to Stockholm, 34c. ; to i 50 feet bass boards, April 20,
1805, 84c. . . . . . . . . 1. 18
To ahnanac, I2j^c. ; to quart bowl, 34c. ; to salt cellar, I2j^c., .59
Henry McLaughlin, May 8, 1804.
To bushel wheat, ^i.oo ; to forty-five pounds flour, ;Ji.i3 - 2.13
To nine hundred and four feet bass boards, ^4. 52, Mareh 8, 1 805, 4-52
To land to sow flaxseed and ploughing . . . . . 2.25
Robert Train, June 4, 1 804.
To part of wolf town bounty, $1.00 ; to five yards muslin, $1.25, 2.25
To footing pair boots, ^1.34 ; to skein sUk, izy^c. . . 1.46
To pair shoes, $1.50; shawl, 87c. ; comb, 25c.; to quarter
pound tea, 38c. . . . . . . . . 2.00
William Brush, June 16, 1804.
To peck Indian meal, 20c. ; to seven pounds bread, 21c. . .41
To twenty-five tenpenny nails, 7c. ; to two hundred eightpenny
nails, 50c. . . . . . . . . . .57

.62
4.09 •14
.70

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 43
Reuben Post, June 28, 1804.
To bringing part of load from No. 4, ^i.oo ; to twenty-two
pounds flour, 55 c. . . . ,
To three quarts seed corn, 12c. ; sawing three sled runners, 50c
To land to sow flax on, etc., ^3.75 ; to 24 pounds venison, 34c
To grinding one bushel wheat without toll, April i 5, 1806
To sawing loom timber, 45c. ; to one-half pound snufF, 25c.
To paper of pins, 25c. ; to half pound gmger, 34c. ; to half
pound spice, 40c. . . . . . . . ng
To half bushel salt, $3.50 ; teapot, 56c. ; pint rum, 22c. . 4.28
By spinning and weaving both wool and linen . H-97
Phineas Durfey, March, 1805.
To balance due for land December 20, 1 806, ^209.00 ; to eighty
pounds flour, ;^2.oo ....... 211.00
By chopping seven acres for Ros. D. Hopkins . 21.31
Oliver Sheldon, July, 1804.
To twenty-one pounds nails at 22c. ; to one pound hyson and
"Kin" tea, $1.50 .... . . 1.72
To balance due for land sold your father.
To pint mug, 30c. ; three plates, loc. ; half yard muslin, 25c. ;
one-half gallon rum, 88c. . . . . . . i.rj
Seth Abbott, September 26, 1804.
To one and one-half bushels spring wheat, ^2.25 ; to pair boot
legs, ^i.oo  3.25
To four white plates, 36c. ; to three skeins white thread, 9c. ;
dozen "chapel" needles, 12c . . . . . .57
To fifteen yards cotton cloth, ^3.75 ; one pound tea, ;?i.5o ; one
quart rum, 44c. . . . . . . . . 5.69
Caleb Wright, October 15, 1804.
To pair boots, ^3.50; to cow, ^15.00; acknowledge deed,
62c. . . . . . . . . . 19.12
Began work for a year October 15, 1804 ; also April i, 1806,
for seven months for ^iio.
These selections from the accounts are all that it is neces
sary to give. I have tried to make those that will be of inter
est to people in these times. I do not find any charges for
bread after 1803, though there are a great many for flour.
Whether Mr. Hopkins baked the bread in town or brought
it in from Vermont I cannot say. The flour must have been
imported till some time in 1804 at least. The price of flour
seems to have been a shilling per pound and bread ten cents
a loaf in 1803. In 1805 flour went down to two and one-half
cents per pound. There are charges for rum in nearly every
account, and in some of them it occurs pretty often.

44 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The so-called history of the county, pubHshed in 1878,
states that Samuel Eastman came into town in 1808, as that
is the date of his deed. It will be noticed that he was in town
four years at least prior to that date and buying provisions for
his family as early as March, 1804.
In the account of Eliakim Seeley is a charge for sawing
plank for tannery vats in May, 1805. He lived on the west
side of the road, about halfway from Chittenden's store to the
cemetery, where Arthur Flanders does now. His tannery was
on the rear end of his lot and on the east' bank of Lyd Brook.
The vat holes in the ground and circular track made by the
horse in grinding bark may still be seen.
On a fly leaf I find that Mr. Hopkins purchased of the
settlers in March, 1806, at least five hundred and sixty-two
bushels of field ashes at six cents and three hundred bushels
of house ashes at twelve and one-half cents. From this it is
evident that Mr. Hopkins opened a black salts manufactory at
an early date, but I am unable to state where it stood. That
there were a few other men than those named in this old book
who came into town in those first years is not only probable
but altogether likely. In all probability there were some who
did not open an account with him. Mr. Risdon came in Feb
ruary, 1804, but his account did not open till April, 1805.
The name of Thaddeus McLaughlin does not appear, yet it
is known that he came with his father, Henry, in 1804.
It is gratifying indeed that this old book has escaped the
ravages of time, since it enables us to now tell with consider
able certainty who were the earliest pioneers of the town and
approximately when they came. But few of their descendants
have known or could learn when their grandfathers or great
grandfathers actually came. Many of them have made con
siderable effbrt to ascertain the time, but with very poor suc
cess. This old book comes to their rescue and quite authori
tatively. These, with a few others whose names are lost, were the
very first pioneers of the town, the fathers and, with their wives,
the mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers and great-grand
fathers and great-grandmothers of the town and of quite a
good many of its present inhabitants. Others came in
quite rapidly in succeeding years and built their cabins a
little farther back on the bush road in the forest and be-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 45
came in turn the parent stock. It seems a long, long way
back to their first coming, and yet there are several children
of those first settlers still among the living. And though there
are, what a large percentage has fallen into that wakeless sleep
which awaits us all ! But a small per cent, I find, of the peo
ple born reach a ripe old age. Then, too, the descendants of
the pioneers have so intermarried that even now it is some
what difficult to trace them. Again, very many, feeling the
pressure of their environment, have, like their grandfathers
and grandmothers, in turn sought homes elsewhere, principally
in the West and even in the East whence their parents came.
And though it does seem a long time, what strides, what
mighty achievements man has made in that time ! The nine
teenth was not alone the greatest century in all history, but,
I verily believe, greater than all the others combined, in the
arts, sciences, inventions, discoveries in all fields, advance and
improvement in all the walks of life and living. Early in
that century man seems to have found at last many of the
keys to nature and her unlocked forces.
A Retrospect — Some of the Things that have been done in the
past Hundred Years.
Let us for a moment retrospect in a view of just a (ew of
the marvellous things that have been done, secured and accom
plished since those pioneers crept into Islington by a line of
marked trees. In the very year 1803 that they came in,
Robert Fulton was flitting about with a very small steam
boat on the Seine River in the city of Paris and trying to
interest Napoleon Bonaparte in the utiHzation of a new force,
a boat propelled by steam, one that would move against both
wind and tide. Bonaparte became much interested, as he
wished a boat with which to beat the English, but, as ill luck
would have it, the boiler and engine a few days before he was
to exhibit them to Bonaparte by their weight sank through
the bottom of the boat into the river. This not alone dis
heartened him for the time, but Bonaparte also. However,
he kept at work and in 1 807 steamed up the Hudson River with
his new boat the " Clermont," to Troy in thirty hours. Prior
to this it took ten or twelve days by sail. See the leviathans
we have now, forty rods in length, carrying boilers and

46 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
engines developing thirty-five thousand horse power and with
a tonnage of seventeen thousand tons, or in other words the
load of a freight train eight miles in length with twenty tons
to the car. Just think of it ! I doubt very much if there be
more power used in all the shops and factories of St. Law
rence County, steam and water combined, than is on one of
thes6 boats.
Then they used the packet boat and stagecoach. Now we
use the bicycle and automobile, the steam and trolley cars,
and can cross the continent in a palace of a car, eating as we
speed, in six days.
Then they used a dip in a frying pan or at best a tallow
candle for lighting their homes, and this as late as 1 860. Now
we use kerosene, gas, acetylene and even in our small villages
the magnificent electric light.
Then they cooked in pots, pans and kettles held by hand
or hung by a crook or crane over an open fire. The picture
given of the old fireplace is that of a very good one,
much more substantial than most of them. It was in the
Laughlin Hotel and used for a great many years. I was very
fortunate in securing it, since it was torn down the following
day by the new owner, Silas H. Sanford. Had I not got it
I know rfot where one could be obtained. The place at the
right with door was the bake oven. In this they built a
fire with well split wood, heating its walls to a proper heat,
determined by the matron's hand. When heated the fire and
ashes were removed, when the baking proceeded. At the left
is the boiler arch. The cookstove did not come into town
till some thirty years after our grandparents.
Then the garments they wore were made from flax, tow
and wool raised and grown by themselves, dressed, hackled,
carded, spun and woven into cloth in the hand loom in the
house by the mothers and daughters. , Much of it made
rather coarse and harsh cloth for garments, and yet many of
the women became very proficient, making tasty and even
fine linen and woolen cloth for women's wear and for house
hold uses.
The flax fields have long since gone, as also the flax brake,
wheel and loom. Now and then in the parlors of our modern
homes may be found the flax spinning wheel at which the

FIREPLACE, BAKE OVEN, ETC., IN LAUGHLIN HOTEL.
Bicilt in Hopkintoti Village in 1814.

PLOW OF SEWALL RAYMOND OF POTSDAM, WITH WOODEN MOULD BOARD.

FIREPLACE WITH COOKING OUTFIT, CROCKERY, ETC., OF A PROSPEROUS PIONEER.
Furnished by King T. Sheldon of West Winsted^ Conn.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 47
grandmother or great-grandmother sat for weary months and
years, kept as a highly prized memento of bygone times.
The water wheel they used was the crude old overshot
wheel with the water falHng into chutes from the top and carry
ing the wheel round by its weight. Then they advanced to
an upright shaft with plank arms mortised into it or nailed on to
it for the water to strike, inclosed in a box. The next step
was the iron wheel, and now a bronze, developing as they are
doing at Niagara Falls five thousand horse power per single
wheel. They used a flint and tinder box for making a fire.
Matches were not made till 1829, and did not reach Hopkin
ton for some years later.
They used quills for pens. Steel pens did not appear till
about 1 820, and as they cost then $^6 per gross, that is twenty-
five cents each, they displaced the quill rather slowly.
They used the scythe and sickle. Their farming tools
were few in number and crude in form and make. The hoe
had an eye directly over the blade. The drag was in form of the
letter V, and in the first years wooden teeth were used. The
plough at first was all of wood, even the mould-board, except
ing the iron point and strips of iron sheathing on the mould-
board. The picture which I am able to give is that of the
plough of Sewall Raymond, which his grandson. Will S. Ray
mond of Potsdam, permitted me to photograph. The iron
strips on the wooden mould-board show faintly. The cradle
did not come along for some little time, and the mowing ma
chine not till 1855 to i860, and the reaper some twenty years
later. Dr. J. A. Sheldon claims the credit for buying the first
mowing machine in town in 1857.
They thrashed their grain, at least corn, by driving oxen
or cows over it spread out on a barn floor, then with a flail,
and then with a crude horse power machine and of late years
with steam power.
Then they wrote their letters and folded the sheet into
envelope form and sealed it with wax and did as late as about
1850. The envelope now in use was not made till 1839.
The postage paid then would now be regarded as ruinous and
would cut down letter writing one half or more. It was then
paid according to distance, ranging from five to thirty cents.
The letter of to-day travels fifteen to twenty times as fast as

48 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
it did then. They knew no such thing as the telegraph and
telephone. Now in our evening papers we read all the impor
tant items of news that happened that day in all Christendom.
Then they did all their sewing with the needle. Now
the sewing machine is in almost every home.
Then they gave people calomel for almost every ailment,
and bled them to death when that failed to cure. And so I
might go on enumerating articles and things which have come
into use of which those pioneers knew nothing on their coming
and of the great improvement in the few articles of use which
they did know, at great length, but I have said sufficient to
call the reader's attention to the primitive condition of our
grandfathers, and that is all I wished to do.
And now after the lapse of very nearly one hundred years
since their coming, the only children of these men now living
so far as I can ascertain are the following, all of whom were
born some years later ; to wit, William Dewey, son of Jared,
born August 24, 18 10, Western Minnesota; Joseph B. Dur
fey, son of Phineas, born November 25, 181 1, Parishville,
N. Y. ; Mrs. Lucetta Peck, daughter of Seth Abbott, born
February 3, 18 14, Potsdam, N. Y. ; Mrs. Jane E. Wood,
daughter of EHphalet Brush, born in 1 8 1 7, Potsdam, N. Y. ;
and her sister, Mrs. Lucretia Pomroy, born in 1826, St. Paul,
Minn. ; Mrs. Abigail Alice Flummerfelt, daughter of Joseph
Durfey, born October 14, 1824, Grand Rapids, Mich. ; George
S. Wright, son of Caleb, born in 1824, Hopkinton, N. Y. ;
Loretta Emmons, daughter of Amasa Blanchard, Jr., born
February 8, 1 832. Among these perhaps I should name Mrs.
Harriett Adsit, born September 20, 1820, Perry, Ohio, daugh
ter of Samuel B. Abbott, who came in with his father, Seth
Abbott. I have been unable to learn of any others.

CHAPTER V.
The Organization of the Town of Hopkinton — What Part of
Lawrence it took — The First Town Meeting held March 4,
J 806 — Roswell Hopkins appointed Justice in 1805 by Gov
ernor Clinton — A Bounty on Wolves — Laying out Roads
— Partnership of Roswell and Benjamin W. Hopkins —
Electoral Census of 1807.
The town having, as we have learned, quite a population
in and about Hopkinton village late in the year 1 804, the
people greatly felt the need of a legal organization as a
town, with the usual powers and authority given to the peo
ple of a town under the law. Accordingly due notice was
given to every qualified inhabitant of Islington, Catharineville
and Chesterfield that a meeting would be held on the twenty-
first day of January, 1 805, for the purpose of taking steps to
secure the organization. The meeting was held agreeably to
such notice, but I am unable to state where it was held.
The following is a copy of the minutes of the meeting :
At a meeting of the inhabitants of the towns of Islington, Catharineville
and Chesterfield in the second Great Tract in Macomb's Purchase on the twenty
first day of January, A. D. 1805, duly warned for the purpose.
Voted unanimously that a petition be preferred to the Honorable the
Legislature of the state of New York praying that the said towns of Islington,
Catharineville and Chesterfield in the second Great Tract of Macomb's Purchase
may be incorporated into a town and the inhabitants to have equal town privi
leges with the inhabitants of other towns in the state and that the remainder of
said second tract be annexed to said town for the time being.
Also, voted unanimously that a petition be preferred as aforesaid praying
that said second Great Tract may be formed into a distinct county or district
and to be so far organized as that a register or clerk may be appointed in said
district for the purpose of recording conveyances and incumbrances on lands
and real property in said tract.
Also, voted unanimously that a petition be preferred to the Honorable the
CouncU of Appointments to appoint two justices of the peace of said town.

50 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Also, voted unanimously that Roswell Hopkins, Esq., be appointed an
agent to prefer said petitions in this name and behalf of the inhabitants of said
towns, and that he be requested to recommend to the Honorable Council of
Appointments, Henry McLaughlin and Amasa Blanchard as suitable persons for
the ofiice of justice of the peace.
A true copy of the proceedings of said meeting.
Attest : B. W. Hopkins, Moderator.
William Brush, Clerk.
The foregoing minutes are on file in the archives of the
Legislature. The petition which it was voted to " prefer," if
ever preferred, cannot be found. Very likely Mr. Hopkins
thought the official minutes sufficient and proceeded to Al
bany with these alone. To go to Albany then, especially in
the winter time, must have been by way of Plattsburg to Ver
mont and thence down that state to Albany, quite a circui
tous and lengthy route. At any rate active steps must have
been taken since on the second day of March, 1805, the cov
eted Act creating the town was passed. It is as follows :
Chapter XXIV.
An Act forming a new town by the name of Hopkinton. Passed March
2, 1805. I. Be it enacted by the people of the state of New York, represented in
Senate and Assembly, that fi-om and after the first day of March next the
towns called Islington and Catharineville, and that part of Chesterfield in the
second Great Tract in Macomb's Purchase, which was annexed to the town of
Massena, in the county of St. Lawrence, be and the same are hereby formed
into a town by the name of Hopkinton, and that the first town meeting in said
town be holden at the dwelling house of Eliakim Seeley in said town.
II. And be it fiarther enacted. That all the remaining part of said second
Great Tract in Macomb's Purchase lying without the original bounds of the
town of Massena shall be and the same is hereby annexed to the said town of
Hopkinton. III. And be it fiirther enacted. That the said town of Hopkinton shall
hereafter be considered as a part of the county of St. Lawrence.
It will be noticed that the Act by its first provision incor
porates Islington, Catharineville and " that part of Chesterfield
which was annexed to Massena" into the new town. It troubled
me for some time to determine what that part of Chesterfield
was that came into the new town. I got the incorporating
acts of Massena, Hopkinton, Brasher and Lawrence when I
was, as I believe, enabled to definitely state where the north
line of Hopkinton ran through Chesterfield.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 51
In an Act passed March 3, 1802, all that tract of land
lying between the northerly bounds of Jefferson County from
the division line in the St. Lawrence River, inland to a point
at or near the southwest corner of Cambray (Gouverneur),
thence northeasterly along the rear (southerly) line of Cambray,
Dekalb, Canton, Potsdam, Stockholm and this line continued
across Chesterfield to Franklin county line ; thence northerly
on this line to the Canada line in St. Lawrence River (except
ing St. Regis Reservation), and thence up the boundary line in
the St. Lawrence River to place of beginning was incorporated
into and made the county of St. Lawrence. That was the
original county of St. Lawrence, and, as will be noticed, is but a
small part of the present county. All that part of the county
lying west of Lisbon and Canton by the same Act was made
the town of Oswegatchie ; Lisbon and Canton were consoli
dated into the town of Lisbon ; Madrid and Potsdam into
one town by the name of Madrid, and the rest of the county,
Stockholm, Louisville, Brasher, Massena and that part of
Chesterfield lying north of the above stated line into the
town of Massena.
By the ninth provision of said Act all the residue of the
present county of St. Lawrence was to be considered a part of
Massena " until further legislative provision," taking in all the
southerly half of the county.
The petition for the creation of the county of St. Lawrence
was signed by some four hundred and fifty residents of the
famous ten towns, to wit, Hague (Morristown), Cambray
(Gouverneur), Oswegatchie, Dekalb, Lisbon, Canton, Madrid
(then including Waddington), Potsdam, Louisville and Stock
holm. They were called the " ten towns," though I do not
find they were so organized by legal enactment. In 1801
these ten towns were by Act formed into one town by the
name of Lisbon and annexed to the county of Clinton. The
village of Plattsburg was one hundred and thirty miles distant,
where courts were held and all official work done. The roads
were very poor and some of the way only a trail. Against this
hardship they petitioned for a home county with the result
already stated.
The town of Brasher was taken from Massena by Act
passed April 21, 1825.

52 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The town of Lawrence was erected as it now exists or prac
tically so from Massena, taking all that part of Chesterfield
which Hopkinton took in 1805 and that part of Islington ly
ing north of the river and east of Nicholville, leaving in Hop
kinton the flatiron parcel north of the road just south of its
cemetery grounds extended due east to the river just below
Nicholville and north to the St. Regis River.
Now, as to that part of Chesterfield taken by Hopkinton,
it will be noticed in the Act creating Hopkinton that it took
that part of Chesterfield which was annexed to Massena. All
north of the southerly line of Stockholm extended northeast
erly across Chesterfield to Franklin County was, with other
lands, made the original town of Massena. By a subsequent
provision in the same Act the south part of the county includ
ing of course that part of Chesterfield southerly of the above
line was annexed to Massena. Therefore what Hopkinton
took of Chesterfield was what lay southerly of the Stockholm
line, extended northeasterly across Chesterfield. Applying
the rule to the southerly bounds of Stockholm carries the line
about a mile southerly of the village of Lawrenceville to which
Hopkinton extended on the north from 1805 to 1828. By
the second provision of the Act creating Hopkinton all the
remaining part of said second Great Tract (Riversdale, Kil-
dare, Piercefield, Parishville, Wick, Colton, Pierrepont) lying
without the original bounds of Massena was annexed to Hop
kinton, making it a town of prodigious size.
Record of the First Town Meeting.
As we have seen, the town of Hopkinton was created by an
Act of the Legislature passed March 2, 1 805, but no steps were
taken under the Act to elect officials till March, 1806. In the
petition for the erection of the town the people asked that
Henry McLaughlin and Amasa Blanchard be appointed
justices of the peace, but, for some reason, this was not done.
Instead, the Council of Appointments named Roswell Hop
kins, Esq., the first and sole justice of the town, his commis
sion being signed by George Clinton, Governor of the state.
In those early times either political bosses at Albany
wished to make " political capital " out of naming the justices
over the state or else they thought that the people of the sev-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 53
eral towns were unfit or incompetent to name their own jus
tices. This condition of things continued down to about 1832,
when this right was given to the people.
The first town meeting was held in the house of Eliakim
Seeley about eighty rods north of Chittenden's store, where
Arthur Flanders now resides. It was a log house and no
doubt selected on account of its size or central location.
The minutes of the first town meeting entire as entered in
the records of the town are as follows ;
State of New York, )
St. Lawrence County, \
Hopkinton, 4th March, A. D. 1806. At the first town meeting began and
held in and for the town of Hopkinton at the dwelling house of Eliakim Seeley
pursuant to an Act of the Legislature of this state passed Anno Domini 1805,
Roswell Hopkins, Esq., justice of the peace in and for the county of St. Law
rence aforesaid, in the chair.
Voted, I. — Roswell Hopkins, Esq., Supervisor.
. — Henry McLaughlin, Esq., Town Clerk.
-Amasa Blanchard, Esq., Jasper Armstrong, Esq., Reuben Post,

Voted, Voted, 3
Esq., Assessors
Voted, 4
Voted, 5
Voted, 6
Commissioners Voted, 7
Voted, 8
Voted, 9

• Amasa Blanchard, Esq., Seth Abbott, Overseers of Poor.
. — Abraham Sheldon, Collector.
-Abraham Sheldon, Reuben Post, Henry McLaughlin, Esq.,
of Highways.
— Abraham Sheldon, Constable.
- Eli Squire, Oliver Sheldon, Amasa Blanchard, Fence Viewers.
- Oliver Sheldon, Pound Keeper.
Voted, 10. — Heiu-y McLaughlin, Overseer Highways for the eastern
district. Voted, II. — Eli Squire, Overseer Highways, western district.
Voted, 12. — Amasa Blanchard, Henry McLaughlin, Roswell Hopkins,
Esqrs., to say what shall be deemed a lawful fence in said town of Hopkinton
and to say what creatures may run at large and under what restrictions, and make
report to the next annual March meeting.
Voted, 13. — Unanimously that a bounty of two dollars be paid for each and
every full grown wolP spate and one dollar for each whelp's for the year ensuing.
Voted, 14. — That the Commissioners of Highways petition the Board of
Supervisors to assess a tax of two hundred and fifty dollars to defray the expense
of making and repairing the roads in the town of Hopkinton and that the said
Commissioners be and are hereby empowered to agree with some suitable person
or persons to cut a highway through said town under the immediate instructions
and inspection of said Commissioners, the expense to be defrayed out of the
avails of the aforesaid tax, if granted, when collected.
Voted, 15. — That the town meetings in future shall be held at the dwell
ing house of Henry McLaughUn, Esq., in said town of Hopkinton.
Attest : Henry McLaughlin, Town Clerk.

54 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
This record is not only interesting as being the first offi
cial action by the people as a town organization, but for sev
eral other reasons. The people had now been settling in and
about Islington for three years and there was a very respecta
ble forest population. Quite a good many holes in the forest
had been cut for homes and farms, and all as a community or
one big family. There was no organization, no officials, save
Roswell Hopkins, who was appointed justice in 1805, and no
power rested in any one to lay out roads, levy taxes, build
schoolhouses, or to compel compliance with official action.
Why so many positions were given to Amasa Blanchard and
Abraham Sheldon I do not quite understand. Perhaps they
were good politicians or perhaps they were more competent or
had more leisure time to give to public matters. At any rate
we know there were quite a good many men then in the town
who got no position at all.
The road from Lyd Brook east to Chittenden's store
(west end of Mechanic Lot No. 8) thence north to the Wil
liam S. Phelps place and thence west and northwest to Gaius
Sheldon's place was officially run by the Commissioners with
B. W. Hopkins, surveyor, March 18, 1806.
A road was laid due west from said Mechanic Lot one
hundred and eighty-six rods, thence north eighty-two degrees
west four hundred and forty-five rods and thence west seven
hundred and eighty rods. This is the present " Potsdam
road " and extended westerly nearly four and one-half miles
to the present west bounds of the town. The people had
settled along these roads prior to this, no doubt under a
promise by Mr. Hopkins that the roads would so be laid out.
Partnership of Roswell and Benjamin W. Hopkins.
As early as April, 1806, Mr. Roswell Hopkins found it
necessary, or at least best, to take his son, B. W. Hopkins,
into partnership. He was then only twenty- three years of
age, and seems to have been a bright, capable business young
man, well liked by the people, as we learn from Mr. Risdon's
diary, and very active. He was his father's fiscal agent, going
to Utica, Burlington and other places to negotiate loans, pro
cure extensions of payment, etc., as is shown by letters still in
Mr. Isaac R. Hopkins's hands. He went to Havana, Cuba,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 55
in 1 8 19, but for what purpose I do not know. Very unfor
tunately for his father and all concerned he was taken with the
yellow fever and died.
It may seem a little improper to give a private paper to
the public, but as it contains so many items which go to eluci
date the early history of the town, surely I am justified in
doing so. The partnership agreement between them is as
follows :
Articles of Agreement between Roswell Hopkins, Esq., and his son
Benjamin W. Hopkins, made April twenty-third, 1806.
Article i . — Roswell Hopkins agrees to put into stock all his horses, cattle,
sheep, hogs, farming tools, etc., except household fiarniture ; also all sums of
money, debts, dues, mortgages, bonds, etc., now due to him ; also aU the lands
and real property he now owns in the township of IsHngton in the town of
Hopkinton, except his farm lying on the west side of the mill brook ; also the
sawmill in the said township with the privilege of land sufficient for pond, mill
yard, etc. ; also all the agencies of land in the counties of St. Lawrence and
Clinton ; also all contracts for surveying and clearing and making roads, bridges,
etc. ; also all the improvements and uses of his farm and gristmill in said town
of Hopkinton for the term mentioned in the fifth article of this agreement.
Article 2. — Benjamin W. Hopkins agrees in consideration of the above
advances to put into stock all his property, except household fiirniture (except as
hereinafter provided) and to give up his time wholly to the concern.
Article 3. — All debts now due from either of the firm or which may here
after be contracted by the concern are to be paid by the concern.
Article 4. — As soon as the debts now due from Roswell Hopkins are paid
the said Roswell agrees to execute a good authentic deed to the said Benjamin
W. Hopkins of what is called and known by his, the said Benjamin W.'s, farm
lying in Catharineville in said town of Hopkinton and the said Benjamin W. is
also to receive a deed of the remainder part of what is called his, the said Ben
jamin W.'s, farm, lying in Chesterfield when the same is 'paid for. The said
Benjamin W. agrees to execute a deed to the said Roswell when he procures a
deed as aforesaid, of a sufficient quantity of the land in Chesterfield so as to in
clude the gristmill and the privileges of the water ponds, dams, etc. , which may
or shall be necessary for the accommodation of said gristmill. It is however
agreed that the use and improvement of the said farm and gristmill shall belong
to the concern during the continuance of the firm.
Article 5. — It is agreed that the concern or firm shall be known by the
name of " Ros. Hopkins & Son" and to continue for the term of eight years
from the date hereof unless sooner dissolved by death or mutual consent.
Article 6. — It is agreed that each of the parties shall be at their equal ex
pense and trouble in boarding men to be employed by the firm.
Article 7. — It is agreed that each party is to receive of the concern all the
necessaries, expenses and supplies for the support of their families respectively as
may be wanted and accounts to be accurately kept of the amount, quantity,
sums, etc., received by each, except when an equal division of any article is
mutually agreed on and received by each.

56 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Article 8. — It is agreed that on the dissolution of the concern or firm that
after the debts now due from the said Roswell Hopkins and Benjamin W. Hop
kins and all debts contracted by the firm are paid that an equal division of the
remainder shall be made to each of the parties.
The farm of the said Benjamin W. Hopkins mentioned in the fourth article,
if the debts are paid and a sufficient sum belonging to the firm remains to pay the
debts, is not to be reckoned in the division, but to be exclusively the property of
the said Benjamin W. Hopkins.
Article 9. — It is agreed that the title of lands now vested in the said Ros
well Hopkins whirh is put into stock in the first article shall continue in the
said Roswell for the benefit of the concern and when any shall be sold by the
company or firm the said Roswell agrees to execute a deed or deeds and at the
expiration of the firm to execute a deed of an equal share to the said Benjamin
W. Hopkins which may remain unsold, and also to assign over an equal share of
aU bonds, mortgages, etc., which may be taken in his name and which may be
long to the company at their dissolution.
Article 10. — It is hereby expressly agreed that if either of the parties
should decease before the expiration of the time agreed on for the dissolution of
the firm that the firm thereafter shall be dissolved and that the survivor shall have
fiiU power and is hereby expressly empowered to collect all debts due and de
mands of the company and to pay all debts due from the company and to ac
count for an equal moiety of the net profits of the surplus to the heirs, executors
or administrators of the deceased and that an equal dividend shall be made of the
other property belonging to the firm after the debts are paid by and between the
survivors and heirs, executors and administrators of the deceased. Ros. Hopkins. [l.
Witness : B. W. Hopkins, [l.
Thads. Laughlin.
Jonas Harwood.
This paper, as will be noticed, is very well constructed.
It compares favorably with the average work of the attorney
of the present time. I judge from the writing of the sig
natures and the text that it was drawn by Benjamin W. Hop
kins. It is evident from a close reading of the paper that the
sawmill and its pond were wholly in Islington, that is, south
of the bridge near the cemetery, and also that the gristmill,
its dam and at least part of its pond were in Chesterfield, that
is, just north of said bridge. I am a little surprised to learn
that he had sheep at so early a date.
John Leach, who was told by his grandfather, Joel Good
ell, tells me that the gristmill and its dam stood north of the
road, that there came a freshet soon after it was built, within
a few years at least, which washed out a portion of the under
pinning of the mill and it came very near toppling over into
the stream. The people took hold and righted it up again.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

57

Mrs. L. D. Atwood, born close by, remembers playing when
a child on the remnants of this dam about two rods north of
the road. Electoral Census of J 807.
An electoral census of the town was taken in 1807 by
Henry McLaughlin which is on file in the State Library at
Albany. There was then a graded property qualification for
voting. If worth a hundred pounds in freehold they could
vote for all the higher officials. If not, then only for the
minor officers. The following is the report of Mr. Mc
Laughlin :

Abbott, Seth.
Armstrong, Jasper.
Allen, Elisha.
Buckingham, Ephraim.
Blanchard, Amasa.
Blanchard, Amasa, Jr.
Brush, William.
Brush, Eliphalet.
Chandler, Abijah.
Durfey, Phineas.
Dewey, Jared.
Eastman, Samuel.
Fuller, Gibbs.
Greene, Job.
Goodell, Samuel.
Goodell, Joel.

Hopkins, Roswell.
Hopkins, Benjamin W.
Harris, Samuel.
Harwood, Jonas.
Hoit, John.
Langworthy, Stephen.
McLaughhn, Henry.
Martin, Ephraim.
Martin, Andrew.
Post, Reuben.
Pierce, Jonathan
Pierce, James.
Roburds, Eli.
Risdon, Elisha.
Rudd, Nathaniel.
Remington, Thomas.

Saunders, Avery.
Sheldon, Abraham.
Sheldon, Oliver.
Sheldon, Naam.
Sheldon, Gaius.
Sanders, James
Sanders, Jonathan.
Squire, Eli.
Squire, Ashbel.
Stewart, Chancey A.
Seeley, Eliakim.
Train, Robert.
Train, Horace.
Thomas, John.
Warner, Aaron.
Wright, Caleb.

As appears by this report there were forty-four qualified
voters in the town, including eight or so in Chesterfield. All
the foregoing "heads of famiHes " were put down as owning a
freehold of the value of one hundred pounds, excepting Eph
raim Buckingham, John Hoit, Nathaniel Rudd and Thomas
Remington, the value of whose freeholds was placed at twenty
pounds and under one hundred each. None of them were
classed as having leaseholds of the rental value of forty shil
lings. Of the foregoing names I am unable to place Gibbs Ful
ler, Naam Sheldon, Robert Train and Chancey A. Stewart.
It seems they held freeholds, but I fail to find them in IsHng
ton or Catharineville. From this it appears that Job Greene
was an elector in town in 1807. A Mr. Job Greene took

58 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
title to forty-four acres north across the road from the Harmon
Risdon place in 1806. The grandfather of Henry C. Greene,
who lived where Loren Smith does, was Job Greene, but it
seems hardly possible that a man so old as he must have been
should go out there in the woods to live. However, it seems
he did or at least lived in town. and owned the tract next west
of Reuben Post. Mr. Risdon in his " Hunting Article " says
there were no settlers west of Hopkinton on the Turnpike in
1 809, and yet it is morally certain that David French and prob
ably Job Greene had a shanty just off the Turnpike on the
" Sanford road." It is possible and even likely that they were
clearing land and living alone. I do not learn that there were
ever any buildings on either French's or Greene's tracts. John
Hoit is put down as a freeholder, but I am unable to place
him. He afterwards moved into Parishville. Messrs. Allen,
Chandler, Harris, the Martins, Pierces and Saunders resided in
what is now Lawrence.
I miss from this list of electors Asahel Wright, Joseph
Durfey, David French, Joseph Brush and David Covey.
Mr. Wright sold his betterments to Elisha Risdon in
1805. He and Mr. French moved through the woods to
West Potsdam, where each made a good record. Mr. Brush
evidently did not come into town until 1808, or at least did
not become a freeholder till then. And the same is probably
true of Mr. Covey.
Stephen Langworthy was the first doctor in the town.

CHAPTER VI.
Interesting Essays and Letters by Mr. Risdon, giving most Valu
able Information as to Early Life and Experiences in Town —
His Great Fondness for Hunting — Cleared the Present Ceme
tery Grounds in iS06.
In this chapter are given all the letters and writings of
Mr. Risdon which can now be found bearing on the subject
of the town's early history. As they were written by an actor
in those times and struggles, they are authoritative and there
fore doubly valuable. One of the first of these articles in
point of time is a vivid account of his experience hunting the
deer in 1805, which is as follows :
In the fall of the year 1805 I bought a rifle of B. W. Hopkins, for which
I agreed and promised the next season to cut down the timber on thirteen acres
where the burying ground now is and west of it. It was the first rifle I ever
owned. Notwithstanding my ill success in shooting deer, I supposed with my
new rifle I should seldom fail of killing, for I could hit the mark with it and kill
a hawk fifty yards distant. There was no old hunter that killed his sixty to one
hundred deer in a season that had made greater preparations for hunting. I had
a pouch for my belt, with the best of powder and lead. I had flints, in fact
every hunting apparatus. I think it was in the latter part of October there came
a good hunting snow for which I had been anxiously looking. I was up in the
morning before there was any light, casting balls and cleaning my gun, and, as
soon as I could see, was off, supposing that deer frequented the same ground in
all weather and seasons. I went through the back fields and into the hard tim
bered wood and travelled around for two or three hours very fast, expecting every
minute to see a deer. I did not see even a track of one, and returned to the
house woefully disappointed. Judge Hopkins observed I was wrong to think of
finding deer in the hard timber in such a storm as we were then having, that they
had gathered into the swamps and thickets, and that if I would go into the swamp
below the mOl probably I should find some. So assured, I went with new cour
age. The trees were heavily loaded with snow, and it continued to snow lightly.
As I was entering the swamp I discovered the track of a deer, the first I had
seen. I followed along on the trail into an ash swail near by, where I saw him
first. I fired away and had the good luck to kill him. He was a large buck, the
first I ever killed with horns. I was highly pleased, went immediately to the
house and reported. There were several people there from Vermont looking for

6o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
land. They all went down and assisted in drawing the deer up. As for my
self, I could not attend to him, must be off hunting the deer, for I expected to
kill several more by night. I killed no more, however, that day. I must ob
serve here that I then did not understand hunting the deer. I did not under
stand then- natures. All those I had killed, now and then one, I made sorry busi
ness of it. — Elisha Risdon.
It is apparent from the foregoing essay that Mr. Risdon
was working for Mr. Hopkins in 1805, as no doubt he did till
September, 1 807, when he went to his parents at Richmond,
N. Y., where he remained two years. It is evident, too, that
Mr. Hopkins's house was headquarters for the settlement and
a lively place. Where his house stood cannot now be deter
mined with certainty. It must have been up in the village
or nearly so, since Mr. Risdon states in a later article that it
was a mile and a quarter from the house to the ford. The
present John A. Harran residence is a frame building and
may have been built as early as March, 1805, since we know
his sawmill was in operation at least as early as that date, but
this would conflict with Dr. Hough, who states that Abraham
Sheldon built the first framed house in 1809. The Sheals
house is a very old one, but that, too, is framed. Estimating
by the map, the Harran house fits the distance very well.
Somehow I feel that the house in question stood near the old
burying ground, which was back of the Dr. Sprague place.
ROADS AND BRIDGES IN 1805 — BUILDING FIRST BRIDGE
OVER DEER RIVER IN LAWRENCEVILLE — THE MEN
WHO BUILT IT --THE FORD OF THE ST. REGIS JUST
ABOVE FORT JACKSON.
One of the most important writings of Mr. Risdon, from
an historical standpoint, is the letter by him to Phineas Dur
fey giving a minute and interesting account of the trials of the
pioneers in crossing large streams, location of fords and build
ing of the first bridges, which fortunately has been preserved.
The letter verbatim is as follows :
St. Lawrence County in 1805 was almost an unbroken wilderness, here and
there an isolated settlement. The main road leading from Plattsburg to the west
passed through Chateaugay, Malone, Bangor, Moira, Chesterfield (now Law
rence) into Stockholm, and so on to the few settlements in the west. From
Hopkinton there was a road kept open on the westerly side of St. Regis River
to Stockholm. There was also another road from Hopkinton leading to the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 6i
northeast, crossing St. Regis River at the north end of now Jacob Phelps's farm
and intersecting the main road leading from Malone to Stockholm about half a
mile west from Deer River. All our roads at that time were bad, almost im
passable except in the winter when the rivers and smaller streams, the swamps
and water holes, were frozen over, for there were no bridges nor causeways.
people in those days moving into this country with famiUes and loaded teams
were wholly dependent on a bridge of ice in crossing the streams.
There was at that time no settlements between Deer River and Stockholm,
nor but a few beginnings between Deer River and Malone. The ice in the
rivers broke up earlier this year than what it commonly had. Judge Hopkins
(then, however, called Esquire Hopkins) received a letter from Dr. Pettibone
of Stockholm, stating that the ice in Deer River was broken up and that the
river was impassable for teams, and also that there were then families of women
and children encamped on the eastern bank with no means of crossing. The
doctor stated fiirther, "That provided the young men of Hopkinton would
meet the young men of Stockholm at the river in the morning they would build
a bridge, and fiirther, that the more dilatory party in coming to the river should
pay for their backwardness a gallon of rum."
Judge Hopkins received this letter at about four o'clock in the afternoon.
He immediately gave notice, and the young men, full of spirit and ambition, met
at his house at about ten in the evening. There was, however, on the minds
of some disagreeable sensations, for the ice in the St. Regis River at our ford
was also broken up, and how far up or down the river we could not then de
termine. The river must be crossed and that too either by wading or on horse
back, and the question arose which would be the safest and most prudent, but
was soon determined in favor of the latter. So at about two o'clock in the
morning we all set out with three horses for the river. There were nine of us
with each an axe and also a sack on his back containing two days' rations of
provisions. Coming to the St. Regis River we found the water fearfiiUy high and rapid.
The night was dark. There was neither moon nor stariight, and the shade of
the tall evergreen forest covering over the roaring flood gave to the scene a fright-
fiil aspect. There appeared to me at this time some hesitation, not that I sup
posed that any one would turn back, far from that. As for myself I had had it
in my mind that I should ford the river by wading, but coming to find the water
so high and rapid I dared not. I now proposed that I would mount Old Snip,
as he was called, and attempt to ford the river on horseback, which was assented
to. Not that I could boast of superior courage, for I certainly had my fears.
Duty seemed to call upon us to help our fellows, and to turn back without a
trial to cross the river would not have been consented to. So I was soon on the
back of Old Snip. He was a powerful horse and appeared undaunted by the
tumultuous waters, and with an arched neck and champing of his bits stepped
boldly in without urging. The other horses soon followed. The river was be
tween eighty and one hundred yards over and the bed very stony. The water
some part of the way mid side to the horses, and of course they walked slowly.
These noble animals were in the water more than an hour, crossed and recrossed
the river six times and landed us all safe on our way.
With hearts of joy and gratitude we felt thankfiil that those frightfiil appear
ances exhibited on coming to the river were not attended with serious conse-

62 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
quences. We walked on with a light and lively step, passing merry jokes until
about daylight, when we came to the conjunction of the roads where we met
the company from Stockholm. It was hail fellows well met. We stopped
only to pass a few compliments and walked on together about half a mile to the
river. The oldest and most experienced in architecture soon made a plan, and
the next day at noon a good, substantial log bridge was finished, probably the
first ever built over Deer River.
The company from Hopkinton on the return home came to St. Regis River
three hours before the time set for the horses to be sent down for crossing. The
day was warm and pleasant for the season. We seated ourselves on the bank
of the river for a while. I cut me a setting pole, fastened my boots and axe in
my sack and forded the river by wading ; the river had fallen some. There was
one other of the company who forded at the same time. We reported at the
house and the horses were sent down and in a short time we were all at home,
safe and well. I cannot say positively, friend Durfey, as you were an actor in
this "tragedy," but I have always counted you as one. It would please me
well to have a correct catalogue of all their names. You well know such scenes
were familiar to us in those days. There were others who acted equally as bold
and daring, but wDl soon be forgotten, for the actors are passing away. Our
children nor the present community know anything of the trials of their fathers,
the first settlers. They now travel smooth roads and cross the streams on
safe bridges. The features of our town as also of the country are greatly
altered since forty years. The names of that little band of first settlers with all
their acts will soon sink into oblivion ; even the few survivors have almost become
strangers. To amuse myself in these pensive days of age and infirmity I have
written this letter to you, and if it should fail to interest you in any way please
not impute it to insincerity in your humble servant. — Elisha Risdon.
To Phineas Durfey, Hopkinton, June 7, 1845.
Underneath the above letter and on the same sheet, in
Mr. Risdon's handwriting, is the following memorandum, viz. :
Of those who assisted in building the bridge Roswell Hopkins, Esq.,
Aaron Warner, Caleb Wright, Horace Train and myself I am satisfied were of
the number, and I believe that Phineas Durfey, Seth Abbott and Amasa Blanch
ard, Jr., then were also : who the ninth was I cannot say.
This letter was handed to Clarinda Sanford some years ago
by Miss Maria Durfey, daughter of Phineas Durfey. Just
under the above memorandum Mrs. Sanford has added in her
hand as follows :
Miss Maria Durfey says her father was one, and that a Mr. Atwater of
Norfolk was the other.
The letter is written on foolscap paper, and though actually
written as late as 1 845, it is folded in, making an envelope of
itself and closed with sealing wax. It is quite important in

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 63
several respects aside from being interesting, in that it estab
lishes certain points in early history, which is very gratifying
to know. There is now no further uncertainty as to where
the early settlers forded St. Regis River. After much inquiry
I could find no one who could speak with authority as to the
location of this ford. This makes it certain that it was north
of the Jacob Phelps — now A. A. Atwood — farm, and a
hundred rods or more above the village of Fort Jackson.
From another paper in my hands by Mr. Risdon I find
that the above bridge over Deer River was built in the fore
part of March, 1805, and about one hundred rods below the
present crossing in the village of Lawrenceville.
THE ARTICLE BY MR. RISDON ON EARLY EXPERIENCES IN
THE TOWN USED BY DR. HOUGH IN HIS HISTORY OF
THE COUNTY.
Franklin B. Hough in his history of St. Lawrence and
Franklin counties, published in 1853, quotes an article giving
the early history of Hopkinton, page 321, from the Northern
Cabinet of September 3, 1845, which he says "is understood
to have been written by Elisha Risdon, a pioneer settler and
surveyor." The full name of this paper was 'The Northern
Cabinet and Literary Repository, a neutral sheet, begun at
Canton, January 2, 1842, by Charles Boynton, in quarto
form, semi-monthly. In the course of two years or so it was
removed to Potsdam and published for a brief period under
the name of 'The Repository, and may be said to be the parent
of the present Courier and Freeman. All of its issues, as well
as that of the several papers which succeeded it, were, I
deeply regret to say, destroyed in the fire of 1859 at Canton.
By the way, I fear our people too little appreciate how much
they are indebted to Dr. Hough for this work. It is the
parent history of the county, and all others are largely taken
and drawn from it, and some of them are rather poorly done
at that. Among Mr. Risdon's papers in my hands is the
very draft of the article quoted by Dr. Hough and in his
own handwriting. So, if there were any uncertainty in Dr.
Hough's mind as to the authorship, there certainly need be
none in ours. The article consists of four pages of foolscap
and is entitled or headed " Reminiscences." The foregoing

64 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
letter to Phineas Durfey was written June 7, 1845, ^^^
covers quite a portion of the Hough article. The letter to
the Northern Cabinet was dated September 3, 1845, and is
these " Reminiscences " in their entirety " dressed up " for pub
lication. That porrion of them not given in the Durfey letter,
which was a purely personal one and written to recount and
revive an exploit of their boyhood days, is given below.
This and the letter to Mr. Durfey cover the article in
Hough's history and much of it in identically the same
language, as may be readily seen by a comparison with that
article. That part of the " Reminiscences " not given in the
Durfey letter is as follows :
REMINISCENCES.
The bridge (the one spoken of in the letter to Mr. Durfey) was built
about one hundred rods below Lawrenceville village in the town of Lawrence.
From Deer River around by Stockholm to Hopkinton was fifteen miles and a
bad road. People moving into Hopkinton did prefer coming direct from Deer
River to Hopkinton, only eight and one-half miles. Squire Hopkins was good to
newcomers. He kept a boy at the ford on the St. Regis River, one and one-
fourth miles from his house, to notify him when loaded teams and families came
to the river. So when they did come the young men would go down with
two large, strong pair of oxen and heavy ox sled and cross over to them and
fasten their sleigh with ropes and withes on the top of the sled and in this way
cross the river. There came one day three loaded sleighs to the river. Four or
five young men dropped their work and without delay took the oxen down and
assisted them across. Tell the story to our young men at the present time and
they will say, " That would be mere sport." Sport indeed to continue in the
water up to the waist four or five hours in succession in cold winter weather ! In
crossing over the empty sled would float and we had to work with all our might
to keep the sled regular behind the team. When loaded (for return) to be sure
the sled ceased to float, but then the load lay high on the sled, was top-heavy
and liable to turn over. Sometimes one of the runners of the sled would run on
to a large stone in the bed of the stream. The teamster, often mounted on one
of his oxen, could not always see to avoid them. We had to work lustily to
keep the sled upright. One load would be made up of the women and children.
It seemed to them like going to their graves to cross the river in this way.
People were coming into the country at that time (1805) quite a little, and
those coming to Hopkinton, not being acquainted, were disappointed on reaching
the ford on the St. Regis River to find the difficulty of crossing. It was not
every one that had nerve enough to walk or even to cross the river on horseback.
There were instances of travellers returning to the Stockholm road and coming to
Islington by that route, more than twenty miles around, whereas to cross the
ford and come on it was only one and a quarter miles. To obviate this difficulty
as much as possible the settlers of Islington met by previous agreement at the
river with axes and two or three two-inch augers for the purpose of building a

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 65
footbridge. We bored four holes into a log of wood nine or ten inches in
diameter and about four feet in length and in these holes we put legs made of
sapling poles about five feet in length. We placed these log benches about twelve
feet apart in direct line across the river and upon them a line plank. So again
this may be called sport and probably would be in weather when the water was
warm. But this footbridge was built in April, when the water was still cold and
the river high. The benches were made of green timber and purposely heavy.
It was not the feminine boy that could handle and place them, many times up
to the armpits in the water. Still, it must be allowed that healthy, active young
people will derive sport from the most severe exercise. We found again after a
little that it was not every one who possessed nerve sufficient to cross the river
even on our footbridge. So we bored a hole on the top of each one of the
benches and put therein a stake about three and a half feet long with a crotch at
the upper end and in these crotches placed a hand pole. — Elisha Risdon.
ACCOUNT OF A HUNTING TRIP TO COOKHAM, NOW PAR
ISHVILLE, IN 1809 — NO SETTLEMENTS THEN WEST OF
HOPKINTON VILLAGE— THE TURNPIKE ROAD JUST CUT
OUT— ALL PARISHVILLE A WILDERNESS— DAVID PAR
ISH BOUGHT THE TOWNSHIP IN 1808— DANIEL HOARD
HAD JUST REACHED THE FALLS WITH A ROAD FROM
POTSDAM.
It is very fortunate indeed that Mr. Amasa Blanchard
invited Mr. Risdon to join him on a hunting trip to Cook-
ham, otherwise we would not have the following exceedingly
interesting account of it, containing as it does several im
portant historical items. The story of the trip is as follows :
In the fall of 1 8og, soon after I had returned from the Genesee country
where I had been absent from Hopkinton two years, I went on a hunting trip
to Cookham. In the course of these two years the line of the St. Lawrence
Turnpike road had been run, and the bushes and logs, etc., had been cut and
cleared away so far as to be conveniently traced and travelled by foot people, as
far to the west as the town of Russell, and I cannot say but as far as to the
Black River. There were no settlements on this road at that time west of Hop
kinton village until we came to Atwater's Mills in the town of Russell. The
country was wholly in a state of nature. Some time about the middle of
November, Amasa Blanchard, Esq., a gentleman practised in deer hunting, pro
posed to me that if I were so disposed we would go out on this new road towards
Cookham for deer hunting. He also proposed voluntarily that I should have my
share of game caught in company, which we considered greatly in my favor, as
he was the most experienced hunter. Being as fond of deer hunting as my
friend, my propensities for the chase were soon caught. I readily consented to
go. It was not, however, the profit that I expected to realize that flattered me
so much as it was the novelty. It was a part of the country I had not explored,
and naturally fond of wild and romantic scenery I promised myself much pleasure

66 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
in the hunt. We set off in the morning and travelled along in the path till we
came to the halfway brook, so called, near Mofiit's. [This is the brook crossing
the Turnpike near the residence of Dyer Hazen.] My friend saw a deer beside
the path, shot and killed it. We came immediately to the deer, highly pleased
that success had commenced in our favor so soon. After we had dressed and
hung the deer up my friend observed that he supposed, according to agreement,
that one-half of this fine deer would fall to me. He spoke these words with
such an emphasis, giving me to understand that he was apprehensive he had
made a losing bargain. I told him I was not obstinate, that I would freely
exonerate him from any engagement we had entered into relating to the share of
game, that I had come out merely for amusement. We soon, however, dropped
the subject and travelled on until we came to a bush shanty built by the road
cutters near the little brook, crossing the Turnpike on Leonard's land. Here we
left our sacks and took separate courses for the afternoon hunt. I saw no game.
My friend had several shots, but caught nothing.
We returned to the shanty and commenced making preparations for the
night. The day had been warm and rainy. The wind in the course of the
night shifted into the northwest and became colder and about two inches of
snow fell. I had been sick in the summer previous with fever and ague and was
at this time not wholly free from cold chills, especially if I had taken cold. I
was so unwell in the morning that I did think of leaving for home, but by the
kind attention and good nursing I received from my friend I became some better.
His earnest solicitation also for me to continue with him finally prevailed upon
me to accompany him that, day. I bundled myself in my greatcoat as warm as
eircumstances would admit and we set off for hunting. I was, however, quite
unwell. The morning was cold and I felt it. I followed with my head down
in the rear and in the footsteps of my friend for some time, paying but little or
no attention to anything. By the exercise of traveUing, however, I became
more comfortable, and towards noon the severe pains in my head and limbs began
to abate. I began to look about. I saw on a little rise of ground a deer feeding
and beckoned to my friend to shoot him. He said, " Why don't you shoot
him yourself? Where is he.'" I pointed him to the deer. He said, "We
will both shoot together." We did so. The deer raised his head and looked
toward us apparently neither hurt nor frightened. The situation my friend was
in, if he made any movement, the deer would discover him. I stood beside a
large hemlock where I could load my gun unseen by the deer. My friend
said to me in a half angry tone, "You load your gun and shoot that deer." I
v^as soon loaded, fired and killed him. He was a full, middling buck for size
and was fat. We drew him down to the path and hung him up. By this
time I had in a measure recovered my usual spirits.
We now followed the path to the falls where Parishville now stands. We
found the scenery here wild, romantic, picturesque and pleasing to a taste like
mine. The compression of the waters into a narrow gorge, their impetus, foam
ing and lashing the rocks in their fall with a deafening roar, and, after their
seeming fury has abated, passing gently away, were both pleasing and exciting.
The township then called Cookham was owned by David Parish, Esq. We
found here a temporary bridge made of poles such as one or two men could
handle and thrown across the river in the narrowest part, said to have been done
by Parish's assistants when he was viewing the country a few months before.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 67
After viewing the place awhile we passed over the river on this bridge and
ranged about where are now cleared fields and dwellings.
I believe it must have been on the rise of ground a few rods easterly of the
Academy, there came a large buck on a fiill leap and stopped at about twenty
yards distant from us. [The old Academy of which he speaks stood on the south
erly side of the road and just at the head of the " Dugway " hiU in Parishville.
It was destroyed by fire May 17, 1854.] My friend drew his gun upon him.
It missed fire. I drew mine from under my coat and fired. The deer started
very suddenly and ran partly around us and stopped again at fifty yards distant.
My friend drew his gun and again it missed fire. The deer ran off and to appear
ance was not hurt. While I was loading my gun my friend went to where the
deer stood when I fired to see what discoveries he could find of his being hit. He
said I had not hurt the deer any, and if the ball had hit him it was only a light
brush across the back, and further that a person so practised in shooting as I was
who should miss a deer at so short a distance ought to be, to use his own expres
sion, whipped. He followed along on the track to where the deer stood when
his gun missed fire the second time. He here said there was no use in following
the deer any farther, for he was not wounded. So saying he threw his gun on to
his shoulder and walked off towards the bridge. I felt my friend's rebuke and
was a good deal mortified and chagrined.
As soon as my gun was loaded I also followed around on the track and be
yond where my friend had left it. He hallooed to me to come away. I said
nothing but continued slowly along the track. I followed it for twenty-five or
thirty rods and came to the deer. He was dead. I never could perceive why
I persevered and followed on, for I discovered nothing encouraging. The track
was of the deer on the run, no blood or any indication of his being wounded.
I now hallooed to my friend, but it was with difficulty I could make him under
stand what I wanted, for we were fifty or sixty rods apart. He, however,
turned and came slowly and reluctantly back. I walked toward him and met
him. I told him the deer was dead. He replied, " Is it possible ?" He was
of the largest class of buck and very fat. We drew him over on to the northerly
side of the river and hung him up near where the stone store now stands.
We heard the sound of axes away to the southwest. What it meant or
who they were we then knew not. We now return to our shanty well satisfied
with our day's hunt. The next day the weather was warmer, foggy and misty
in the morning. We set out for hunting on separate courses. We, however,
came together in the afternoon. We had in our separation each killed a deer.
The one I had killed was as large as the one I killed the day before, but not so
fat, and that of my friend was a middling sized deer. We now travelled together
along the path towards our shanty. We were standing on the east bank of the
little brook'crossing the Turnpike on, formerly, H. Peck's farm. [Hiram Peck
was the father of the late Comer M. Peck of Potsdam, and lived on what is
known as the Capell or Mrs. D. S. Howe farm.] Our notice was attracted up
the brook where we saw deer coming on the run. They came opposite to us
and stood. We both drew our guns, but that of my friend missed fire, that
of my own went off and I killed one of the deer. We now returned to our
shanty as well pleased with this day's hunt as we were of the one previous.
There was something amusing, at the same time hazardous, in getting the
buck I killed to-day. I shot about eight rods. He fell the instant the gun

68 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
went off. He was up, however, on his fore feet about as quick. I saw it and
dropped my gun and ran down to him, catched him by one of his horns and
twitched him down. In his fall he threw his head into the sprangfing roots of
a birch and became so firmly tangled by his horns that it was with difficulty I
afterwards liberated him. All this, however, was in my favor provided I could
keep his body down hill and confine him there. I did not know at the time
that he was firmly fastened. He bounded about fively, snuffed and roared fright-
fiilly, and in attempting to catch him by the hind legs to pull his body down
below the tree I received several severe blows. My shot had only brushed the
deer across the back which stunned and weakened him for a short time. He
was soon gaining his strength. I perceived it. It now came to my mind to ham
string him, which I did very quickly; but all this availed nothing towards keep
ing him still or preventing his striking with his fore feet. He finally in the fiiry
of his movements threw himself over and his neck lay twisted around the roots
of the tree with his throat up. I saw it and as quick as a flash ran around the tree
to guard myself against the blows of his fore feet and stuck my knife into the large
veins of his neck. It soon appeared the conflict was over and that I had won
the battle. The engagement lasted about two minutes.
I said when we were up at the falls yesterday we heard the sound of axes.
We did so and on going there the third day after we had killed and hung up the
big buck we found that David Parish's hands, under the superintendence of Daniel
Hoard, were cutting a road from Potsdam to the falls. They had come through
with the road and had built a shanty and commenced clearing the land near the
river on the northerly side. Daniel Hoard paid us the money for the deer. So
we had no further trouble with the carcass. — Elisha Risdon.

HUNTING EXPERIENCES IN 1813 — THE VICISSITUDES AND
PLEASURES OF HUNTING EVEN IN THOSE DAYS.
Mr. Risdon married Amanda, daughter of Reuben Post,
in 181 1. At this time, 18 13, Mr. Post was living where
Truman E. Post does now, and Mr. Risdon near a mile
north on the Potsdam road. Mr. Risdon's passion for hunt
ing the deer seems, at this time, to have been uncontrollable.
The story of his passion and experience, written evidently to
while away a passing moment, is as follows :
In the first days of November, 1813, there fell a light snow such as
hunters call a hunters' snow. It was not a very good one, too dry and light,
not of sufficient depth to drown the noise made by stepping on the leaves, sticks,
etc. I lived at that time on the Potsdam road near where P. Mosher now lives
and hunted up the Turnpike toward Parishville. Father Reuben Post lived then
on the Turnpike where R. Post, his son, now lives. Father was a very indus
trious man, his family was also. They spent but a small portion of their time
in idleness, and it appeared to me that father was not altogether satisfied that I
should spend so much of my time hunting, I could read his displeasure in his
countenance. I was sorry to displease him, but what could I do ? I possessed

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 69
a very strong passion for hunting. It was powerful. From my house south to
the Turnpike it was most of the way woods, and I used to manage to get into
the road and pass on unseen, but at this time father and the boys were up the
Turnpike making shingles and so, to avoid a meeting, I set out very early in the
morning before there was dayfight. Father, however, was as early as myself.
We met and walked awhile together. We parted, he to his work and I to my
hunting without much being said. I hunted all the day and saw but one deer,
and that on the run. I returned home at about sunset, put up my gun, and
said to Mrs. R. that I would go out no more, or at least not at present, for I
had been out several times and had caught nothing ; that hunting was a poor
business. The next morning I rose early for work. I noticed the wind blew
and that there were signs for a better day for hunting than what it was the day
before. My passions were soon caught. I could not deny myself so inviting a
prospect as then seemed exhibited of the certainty of my killing a deer that day.
I stepped lively, did my chores, ate my breakfast and was off before light, deter
mined that I would be in the road before my father this morning at any rate. I
was unlucky, however. Father was as early as myself. We again met.
' ' What ! " say s father, ' ' going again to-day ?" " Yes, sir. " " Did you kill any
thing yesterday ? " "No, sir." I felt rebuked, but what could I do, my passions
for hunting were powerful. We walked on together for a piece. I got into
the woods, however, as soon as I conveniently could. I again hunted all day
and saw but one deer. I shot at that, but could not find where the ball hit. I
was sure, however, I had not hit the deer. I returned home tired and dis
couraged, laid my gun on the bed, cut some wood, did the chores, took my
gun and wiped it clean and dry, hung it up in its place, where as I thought then
it would remain awhile, for it appeared to me I had better be chopping and
clearing some land for a crop of corn or wheat another year, than spending my
time in the precarious pursuit of the deer. Such were my feelings that evening,
but what on the next morning ? I rose early for work. I again discovered
signs of a better day for hunting than what it had been the day before. Is it
possible, thought I, that after such iU luck that I can think of going again to-day ?
Yes, I was as anxious for hunting as ever. I was enthusiastic. I anticipated
the deer on the hills skipping about. I was off in season. I had not been in
the woods long before I killed a very large doe. This day's hunt always re
minded me of Lord Nelson's pursuit of the French fleet previous to the battle of
the Nile. He came in pursuit to America and then to the West Indies, back
to England and then back to the West Indies and again back across the ocean
where he passed through the Strait of Gibraltar into the Mediterranean and on
till he met them. So I passed over and around the hills, through the swamps
and back again. It was in the afternoon before I saw another deer. He was a
noble buck, and I had the good luck to kill him. I dressed him and set out for
home. I came in among rocks in the dark woods. I saw a deer standing. I
fired. AU was still. I could see nothing. I went to loading my gun. There
was a deer started from the place. I ran down into a swaQ where there was
more Hght. I fired at him. He fell. I went to him and dressed him, went
to the place where the deer I first fired at stood. She was a large doe and had
fallen in among the rocks out of sight, and in fact had so wedged herself in
among the rocks that I found it difficult to draw her out. I had now killed four

70 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
grown deer, two of them heavy bucks. I returned home with far different feel
ings than what I had the two days previous. — Elisha Risdon.
This essay, or letter, shows conclusively that Mr. Post
was settled on the Turnpike in 1813 and that Mr. Risdon
was living on the Potsdam road. The log house in which
Reuben Post then lived, dressed up somewhat, is still in
use by the farm tenant. It also shows that his hunting
grounds were then up the Turnpike, probably in south of the
former residence of William S. Howe. The natural meadows
there were very inviting to the deer. Hunters have gone
there every fall since with slowly diminishing success. His
craze for hunting was great, but no greater than that of many
men to-day. He called it a passion, though no doubt every
bit of the meat was used as food, which must have stimulated
his passion. To-day our gentry profess to go for recreation
from their arduous labors and for health. But a small part of
the meat is actually utilized. So it is not a question of food.
If they would take a small hatchet to keep off the porcupine
and other voracious animals and do the same tramping, surely
they would get equal good from the outing. The mere fact
of creeping on to a deer in his wild home and sending a bullet
tearing, crushing and breaking his bones does not give one
health. No, it cannot be that the act of shooting and killing
can build up and reinvigorate any one. If it does so inspirit
any one as to do this he should be ashamed of himself. He
must have murder in his heart. No deer should be killed ex
cept possibly for actual food, the same as cattle are killed. To
do it for sport or pleasure or to kill more than is actually
needed for food is cruelty and wantonness.
LETTERS TO ELIPHALET BRUSH THE LAST WRITINGS OF
MR. RISDON — A BRIEF PICTURE OF THE EARLIEST
TIMES BY ONE PIONEER TO ANOTHER — A FORECAST
OF THE FUTURE THAT SEEMS ALMOST PROPHETIC.
To Eliphalet Brush, Esq.
Dear Brother: If I am correct you came to this country in 1802. I
came early in 1804, but with the view of a limited stay, for my father was very
much opposed to my settling in this country. He said that in his view of
Northern New York for frost, deep snows, and general sterility, the country
would well compare with Greenland, and that the inhabitants, if any, for learn
ing and worth would continue but a step in advance of the savages. My

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 71
father, however, knew better. He spoke probably on the spur of his feeling
and to discourage me, yet the cold and the deep snows alarmed him.
I saw in our sterile cHme, in the evergreen forest, noble rivers and cata
racts, a sublimity, a romantic grandeur, which accorded with my feelings and
attached me to the country. Here I have spent my youth and the best part of
my life. My physical labors have been severe as a land surveyor, having
ranged the forest to a considerable extent and having also chased the mountain
deer. We came here when the primitive forest shaded the earth, and when
only here and there the sound of the woodman's axe was heard. The roads
were a little more than a line of marked trees, the dwellings bark covered
shanties. The Indian and the wild animals were the lords of the land. Such
we found Northern New York.
But now the contrast is great. We may look over extensive fields,
orchards, meadows and pastures with hundreds of flocks and herds feeding ;
elegant farmhouses, many ot them splendid, adorned with shade and walks.
Every town has a pleasant village, one or more churches, schoolhouses, offices,
taverns, stores and mechanic shops of every trade, mills, factories, iron foundries,
turnpiked and macadamized roads. Now we have elegant four-horse stages,
pleasure carriages and teams on business briskly passing, and even a great thor
oughfare, the work of a railroad is now in progress, and will soon be in opera
tion crossing Northern New York from the lake to the great St. Lawrence.
[He refers to the O. & L. C. R. R., which began operation in 1850.] We
see the population of St. Lawrence County increased to nearly or quite seventy
thousand. The physical and moral condition of our county is fair and pros
perous. But it is painfiil, brother, to reflect that so many of our early friends
and contemporaries who commenced with us now sleep in their graves. A
kind Providence has spared the lives of a few, even of the pioneers who led
the way at first, to witness the improvements of the country, all they could rea
sonably have expected. But the survivors of that class are aged and sadly worn,
excessive and long continued handling of the axe and the lever has operated
hard on our physical frames. We, too, must ere long pass away, for such
were the conditions of our birth, and leave behind the avails of all our labor,
a legacy to our children and to succeeding generations. So good-bye. May
God favor you with many years of life to do good. My love to all.
19th January, 1850. Elisha Risdon.
The present appears to be a remarkable period in the history of the world.
The power of mind and intellect seems to have gready enlarged or increased in
force within fifty years. The improvements made are wonderfiil, and even now
progressing with such an impetus as will cease with the beating of the pulse only.
Have you read the President's message ? If his commands for making roads
are carried into effect, which no doubt will be, the time is not far distant when our
children or others may, if they wish to brush off the rust by a short journey after
planting, trunk a few articles of clothing, step into a car and soon be in Oregon
or California, thence by wind or steam land at the Isthmus, cross from the
Pacific to the Atlantic, again aboard, land at any of the great Atlantic cities. The
facilities for getting home are the same. If they land at Boston and return by
the railroad they will then have compassed most of the United States and
Mexico, and be at home in season to gather the corn and potatoes.

72 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The mind of man is expanding, his genius and enterprise are ahead, his
courage and boldness in adventures abroad are increasing. The time is at hand
when all the islands, seas and continents will be familiar, and the people of all
nations will meet in social intercourse as friends and neighbors, and our little
globe be too diminutive for the scope of man's ambition. So good-bye again.
3 I St January, 1850.
It is said nothing is made in vain, and probably this is true. Even our south
woods, which we now esteem so lightly and as a barren waste, no doubt contain
mines of wealth which the industry and avarice of man will eventually dig for,
but at present is nature's reserved portion for the occupation and improvement of
milHons yet to be born. And yet I predict that in fifty years, and perhaps less,
may be seen roads and even railroads crossing this now trackless region in vari
ous directions, the country in a good degree populated, the soil made productive
with flocks and herds, and Northern New York for wealth and population rank
a little superior to any part of the state. The people of northern, sterile climes
are the best in the world. They are more hardy to endure labor and fatigue,
possess more energy, are more virtuous and moral, and under a free government
like ours are far better educated and far superior for inteUigence and work to the
people of the softer and more spontaneous cKmes. In such latitudes ignorance,
indolence and ficentiousness prevail. The passions partake of the nature of the
clime, run high. The better educated class manifest an outward politeness and
chivalrous sense of honor, it is true, but their tempers are savage and, when ex
cited, have little regard for the laws of God or man. Murders, fightings, dirk-
ings, duellings, are far more common at the South than at the North. You may
not agree with my philosophy, but I will ask what could or would those indolent
southerners have done with the thick set and powerfiil forest trees which once
shaded this country .' I guess nothing at all. They would have failed at once.
None but a race of northerners could have managed them.
The first settlers of this country were mostly young men, each one a host
in himself. He had no allies, no slave labor, no servant help, but rested
wholly on the power of his own physical arm. Before such men the forest has
consumed away, and where once was pursued the wild deer are now splendid
villages adorned by the clack of machinery and the busy hum of industry, and
where the wolf howled and prowled for prey, now is heard the teamster's halloa,
lowing kine and bleating flocks. But you and I, brother, have done the most
we can. A new man is coming on, new plays and new actors. We are being
shoved off as obsolete. A kind Providence has preserved us through our youth,
our middle age, and now into the evening shades of life. It is prudence in us to
be now thinking of the scenes of another world, our appearance before our Cre
ator. You may live many years and do good, but as for me I think my disease
wiU wear me out when I shall be laid beside the companion of my youth who
shared with me in the labors of life, some little stir at my funeral, but soon settled
and forgot. So goes the human family. Please give this letter to Jane, your
daughter, and let her look it over and punctuate it. If it then fails to read with
interest, it is very easy to consume it. I write sitting in my bed with my paper
on a board, merely for amusement. So good-bye. My love to all.
Hopkinton, February 7, 1850. Elisha Risdon.
I have written a continuation of my letter of the 19th of January which I
enclose to you in this.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 73
Eliphalet Brush, Esq^
Annex this to my letter of the 19th of January if you please.
The first settlers of this country were staid, thoughtful men. They mani
fested a good deal of prudence, were interested in the future welfare of their coun
try and commenced in the right way. The education and morals of the children
and youth, also the morals and conduct of society, were particularly regarded
from the first. In all the new settlements as soon as a class of scholars could be
formed in any district a schoolhouse was sure to be built and a teacher employed.
That same laudable spirit continues now with unabated zeal and energy, and
probably in no part of the state are the common district schools better attended
or in a more flourishing condition than in St. Lawrence County. In addition to
the district schools every town of note supports one, andmany of them more, well
conducted select schools. Schools located in the principal villages for the higher
branches of common education are also in a flourishing condition and are evidence
of the literary taste of the community. The one at Potsdam (St. Lawrence
Academy) standing foremost for popularity is noted far abroad and by judicious
and efficient management is patronized by many of the best families in various
parts of the United States and Canada. The buildings are spacious and elegant
and beautifully adorn that village. The people of Potsdam and vicinity are justi
fied in their pride of so flourishing and useful an institution. That school is a
merited honor and does honor to the county.
So we see that a wise and prudent beginning has accomplished wonders in
the line of education and morals. Nor is St. Lawrence County behind for hter-
ary men and men of worth. One of the most prominent members of the United
States Senate (Silas Wright of Canton) was not many years ago a humble resident
of this county. The same individual served a term as governor of this state and,
had he lived, no doubt would now be the acting president of the United States.
But the intellect of the county is not confined to one. There are a great many
• others of eminent abilities who would adorn the desk, the bar or the legislative
halls of any place. The speaker of the House of the Legislature of this state
(Noble S. Elderkin of Potsdam), now in session, is a resident of St. Lawrence
County, which is highly gratifying. Even young men, natives of the county and
educated here, serve as clerks in the government departments at Washington.
The females, dear creatures, merit a share of praise, for the county certainly
produces a fair display of female talent and worth. The education of females is
being more regarded than formerly, which is as it should be, for nature produces
nothing more amiable or angefic than is found in modest, discreet, well-educated
females. I would have the county stand a little foremost, not so much in wealth and
fiirniture as in cultivated minds, in morals and mental worth. But the minds of
most men seem to be limited beyond the acquisition of dollars and cents, which is
too much their aim and their glory. I should like well now to see a history of
the county and think the survivors of the pioneers should be thus gratified. We
have men in the county fiilly competent for the work. No more is wanting, but
their mind turned to the subject. A statistical account of the county and of the
towns, when settled and whom by, when organized, first town meetings, officers,
etc., would certainly be interesting to all. Yours again as ever,
Elisha Risdon.
14th February, 1850.

74 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The foregoing letters are written in a plain, clear, regular
hand and with very few corrections. They were written, as
he states, when ill and confined to his bed, on a board across
his Hmbs, sitting upright. Under such circumstances and at
such disadvantage they are, to say the least, remarkable let
ters. But few people are given the power to compose as well
even in the best of health. They were written to EHphalet
Brush, one of the first pioneers, father of Jason and grand
father of Charles H., to whom they have legitimately de
scended and in whose hands they are well and carefully treas
ured. So far as I learn they are the last writings of Mr. Risdon
known to be extant. He died only a Httle over a year later,
October 19, 1851. I think it altogether probable that he
kept up his diary to near the time of his death, as he had
such a fondness for writing and recording events, but in the
division of it among three families and changing of location by
two of them it seems to be irrevocably lost.
These letters give us a very clear though brief picture of
the early life of the pioneers, their surroundings and discom
forts, and since it is by one of them it is official and authori
tative. It is greatly to be regretted that he did not write in
detail, giving us a pen picture of their cabins, clothes, food,
cooking, their hardships and privations, their mishaps and
successes, their sorrows and their joys. These letters and
other writings of his are proof that he could have done it
and in a charming and intelligent manner.
From these letters and the diary we can see them quite
plainly, it is true, for those fifty years from 1803 when they
entered the wilderness of Hopkinton, but each reader must
add and fill in many things for himself to make a full picture
of the scene. In doing this many of us, if not all, must err.
Life is by no means told with the naming of the officials, num
ber of stores, shops, schools, churches, etc. We must get
back of these if we would see them as they were and learn
what they cooked and how they cooked it, what they wore and
how they made it, their joys and their sorrows, their social
and family life, their customs, notions and beliefs, and how
they wooed and won and loved. Mr. Risdon could have told
us all these things and in a masterly manner, and I am not a
little surprised that he did not write more fully since he was

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 75
so anxious that the life of the pioneers be written and pre
served. But we should not and I do not complain, since he
did so much to tell us of that early wilderness life. We
should be and I am sure all the descendants of those pioneers
as well as many others are grateful to him and his memory
for the record he has given us.
That he was more than a good writer is showji by these
letters. He possessed good judgment, discernment and even,
it would seem, prophetic power. It is amazing that one in
an interior town with no advantages should foresee and foretell
by twenty years the spanning of this continent with iron rails
and the piercing of the Adirondack wilderness with railroads.
The trip he pictured could have taken place within twenty
years from his writing.
The " islands, seas and continents " have already become
familiar as he predicted, but they hardly yet " meet in social
intercourse as friends and neighbors." That will be some
time yet. Just now England, Russia and our own country
are shooting the natives of far off lands into subjection and
obedience. When we get them sufficiently impoverished and
punished very likely they will be " friendly and neighborly."
The picture he draws of the difference between the peo
ple of southern and northern climes is now everywhere ad
mitted as fact. And he might have added that a genius nor
a confessedly great man in the civil or literary or scientific
world was ever born south of north latitude twenty. The
brain and brawn and conscience of this planet have appeared
in the north temperate zone.
The opening sentence of these letters must dispel and put
at rest any doubt that Mr. Brush was one of the six pioneers
of 1802. He lived to the great age of ninety-one years,
dying January 11, 1872.
He closes his letter with an appeal for a history of the
county and of the struggle and early life of the pioneers.
Dr. Hough's history is a large volume and must have taken
a long time in preparation. It was pubHshed in 1853. It
seems very strange indeed that Mr. Risdon had not heard of
the compiHng of that work. If Dr. Hough did visit Hop
kinton to gather data for his work, and V. A. Chittenden says
he did, then it must have been at the very latest moment.
Had he visited the town in Mr. Risdon's Hfetime he would

76 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
surely have been referred to him, as he was for years its town
clerk, and was its only historical writer. Dr. Hough copies
in his work a quite lengthy article by Mr. Risdon, prefacing
it with the expression, " supposed to have been written by
Mr. Risdon." Had he made any investigation he would
have learned it as a fact. He copied the article from the
Northern Cabinet of September 3, 1845, printed at Potsdam
or Canton.

CHAPTER VII.
Where the Pioneers Settled — The Experiences of some of Them
— A Brief Sketch or History of the Farm or Place, with
some Interesting Incidents — Pictures of some of the Early and
Modem Homes.
As is shown by Mr. Hopkins's old account book there
were some thirty men, very many of them with their families,
in what is now Hopkinton, in the latter part of the year 1804.
Very likely there were a few others whose names we do not
know, since they did not happen to open an account with Mr.
Hopkins. Those men settled in and about the village, along
the road to Nicholville, and southerly up along what soon
after became known as the Northwest Bay Road, as far as
Jared Dewey's, westerly along the Potsdam road to Joseph
Durfey's (Herman Fisher's), and northwesterly to Gaius Shel
don's, on the road to Stockholm, where were their only neigh
bors. They did not seem to settle southwesterly till about
1 8 10. In Mr. Risdon's story of his hunting trip to Cook
ham (Parishville) in the fall of 1 809 with Amasa Blanchard,
he states that the line of road, the St. Lawrence Turnpike,
had just been cut out and that there were then no residences
along it west of Hopkinton village. A reference to the map
which I have prepared of the north part of Hopkinton from
the original deeds will show the location of nearly all the
settlers of 1803, 1804 and 1805, and for many years there
after, of those who took the first title. That, of course, does
not tell in all cases just where they first settled, as some of
them built a cabin, made a little clearing, met with sickness,
trouble, misfortune of some kind and sold out before getting
a deed. Some of these took up a tract in another locality,
and some became so disheartened that they gave it up entirely
and returned from whence they came or went into Stockholm
or Chesterfield or Parishville.

78 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
There are a few men among them of whom I have been
able to learn but very little. These are Isaac Sheldon, Elipha
let Hancock, Joseph Delong, Ezra Church, Eli Tomhnson,
Luther Bingham and Robert Train.
Settlement East of the Village.
Abraham Sheldon, who is next to Roswell Hopkins in
importance in the earHest history of the town, since he was
the father of the first son of the town and the builder of the
first frame house, according to Dr. Hough, took the tract be
ginning one hundred and sixty rods east of the Chittenden
store corner (east end of Reuben Post's Mechanic Lot num
ber eight) and extending on east, taking in what are known as
the George H. Brush and Deacon John Sheldon farms. He
built a small frame house in 1809, which is part of the George
H. Brush house. He died from the kick of a horse at Ru
pert,' Vt., early in 1809 or 1 8 10. His widow married Joseph
Brush in 1 8 14. He built over and added to the little frame
house of Mr. Sheldon. The children by this marriage were
Joseph A. and George H. Brush. Deacon John, son of Abra
ham, took the east part of the farm, and it is still held by his
widow. George H. took the west part and held it till about
1880, when he sold to Harry Haselton and went to Lamoille,
III., where he died in 1888.
Joel Goodell. The story of Mr. Joel Goodell's coming
into town with wife in February, 1804, to settle is told by his
grandson, John Leach, to whom he often told it with much
clearness and certainty. They came in the dead of winter to
the cabin already built, a half mile north of the present resi
dence, reaching it after dark and on the eighteenth birthday of
his wife, which was the twenty-fifth day of February. She was
Lydia Henderson, sister of John, and they were married Feb
ruary 7. What a journey was that for a wedding trip ! His
father, Ezekiel, came with him on horseback. They came
with a yoke of oxen to haul their goods, and drove a cow.
The horse got tired out wallowing in the snow when near the
cabin, and the men went on ahead, leaving wife, oxen, horse
and cow where they were to rest while they built a fire in the
cabin, to thaw it Out and get it habitable, when they returned and
took all to camp. The only food for horse and cattle was

THE LAUGHLIN HOTEL AND RESIDENCE.
Built by Thaddeus in 1814.

ZORASTER culver's RESIDENCE, NOW OWNED BY FREDERICK L. TRASK.

JASON brush's residence, NOW OWNED BY SON CHARLES H.

^^^¦'¦^

T,%^-^'- ,-.

THE JOEL GOODELL RESIDENCE.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 79
some corn in the ear and what they could get by browsing.
The floor was made of puncheons, that is, split or hewed out
logs. The fireplace was a rude affair with a hole in the roof
for the escape of the smoke. He very soon after built a chim
ney, which improved matters. This was the home to which
he came and where he lived for seven or eight years, when he
built a log house some thirty rods west of the present brick
residence. The British officers called there on some errand
at the time they took the flour in 18 14. He later built a
frame house which his son Joel took down when he built the
present brick residence about 1870. The farm extended from
that of Abraham Sheldon on the west to that of his brother
Samuel on the east and does still. It is held by his grand
daughters, AmeHa and Mary E.
Samuel Goodell also built himself a cabin in 1802 or
1803 and a blacksmith shop in the latter year. In all prob
ability he built near to Joel's cabin, though nothing definite
can be learned. He soon after built up on the Turnpike
where Josiah Smith now resides and had his shop on the east
bank of the brook and north side of the road. It was the
first shop of that kind between Malone and Ogdensburg.
His farm extended east to the turn in the road to enter Nich
olville. He was compelled by the British to hitch up his
team in 18 14 and carry some of the officers to Fort Coving
ton. On his death in 1822 the farm was divided up among
the heirs, and in a few years it passed entirely out of the hands
of the Goodell family, except the house and a few acres held
by the widow. Hiram Mead held the west part of the farm
and sold out in 1843 ^^^ went to Nauvoo, IU., to join the
Mormons. Mr.  Eggleston held that part of the farm
next east of Mr. Mead, with his buildings only a short distance
west of the Goodell residence. Rev. Seymour C. Goodell
bought the old home on the death of his mother, with about
twenty acres many years ago, and held it till his death in 1893.
The pioneer Goodell built a frame house as is shown by
the diary in July, 1815, with a hall on the second floor which
was used more or less for school and religious purposes. This
house burned down in 1867 or 1868 when the present house
was built in 1869 by Rev. Seymour C, which is owned by
Josiah Smith.

8o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Henry McLaughlin came early in 1804 and took a
large tract south from the village Green and east a half mile
to the land of Oliver Sheldon. He also bought other par
cels amounting in all to one thousand acres or more. He at
once built a log house and opened a hotel. Mrs. Caroline
(Sprague) Laughlin, widow of his grandson, T. Harmon, told
me that this log house stood on the south end of the Green,
which confirms King S. Chittenden's recollection. It stood
in the southeast corner of the park. There was a well there
which Mr. Chittenden remembers that has been filled.
Henry McLaughHn died at Middlebury, Vt., in 18 13, and
his only child, Thaddeus, inherited the property and continued
the business. He married Hannah, a sister of Artemus
Kent. In 1808 Roswell Hopkins drew and signed a deed of
the present Green to the inhabitants of the town which took
in Laughlin's log house. The diary of Mr. Kent states
that Mr. Laughlin went to Vermont in 18 14 for materials
for a house which I feel confident is the present residence.
The log house on the Green was probably occupied by Dr.
Gideon Sprague from 1 8 1 1 to 1 8 14, as his daughter so remem
bers it. Artemus Kent was in partnership with him for three
years from 18 13. The present residence was long used as a
hotel and the front west room as a barroom. Thaddeus W.
Laughlin of Fond-du-Lac, Wis., son of Hiram K., a
grandson of Henry, seems to be the only survivor of the
family. What was left of the farm, some two hundred and
twenty-five acres, was sold in 1902 to Silas H. Sanford.
I secured a photograph of the old fireplace with swing
ing crane, bake oven and boiler arch before its demolition by
Mr. Sanford, which is given elsewhere. The picture of the
residence was taken a few years since by King T. Sheldon and
kindly loaned me.
Oliver Sheldon took the farm next east of Laughlin
as early as July, 1804. He bought some fifteen acres,
the northeast corner of Mr. Laughlin's farm, to enable
him to first build near a brook which ran through this lot.
His farm consisted of two hundred and fifty-five acres, extend
ing east to EHphalet Brush, taking in the farms since known
as the Dr. J. A. Sheldon, Joseph A. Brush and David F.
Henderson farms. All the original farm or tract, except the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 8i
Henderson farm, is now held by John Hurley. The old
house, a cut of which is given, was built by him at a very
early date.
It is claimed that he built the first frame barn in town, and
that all the men, women and children in town were present at
the raising. It stood back of the house and was a part of
the large barn which burned in 1902. Mr. Sheldon sprained
his ankle in 1815, which resulted in the loss of foot. (See
diary, June, 18 15.)
Zebel Thomas came in 1805 and settled on fifty acres,
where David F. Henderson now resides, as his grandson,
Norton F. Thomas, informs me. He does not seem to have
opened an account with Mr. Hopkins, though his son John
did in 1808. If he bought a tract there he must have done
so from Oliver Sheldon.
Eliphalet Brush took one hundred acres, the tract next
east where his son Jason lived and his grandson, Charles H.,
now resides. His deed bears date 1804. A cut of the house
built by Jason is given. A fuller sketch is given in family
records and in the settlement of the town.
Amasa Blanchard evidently came in the fall of 1803 and
took the one hundred and fifty acres next east of Eliphalet
Brush, where J. T. Canfield and A. A. Hawkins now have
farms. He had twelve children, several of whom were grown.
He took an active hand in town affairs and was something of
a hunter. He went with Mr. Risdon on the trip to Cookham
in the fall of 1 809. He built and they used a hunting camp
south of the Turnpike in common.
Jared Dewey took the one hundred acres next westerly of
William Brush in 1803, and the story has come down that he
selected it on account of the fine springs there and that it was
given to him by his brother-in-law, Roswell Hopkins. His
son William W., who held it many years, now ninety-two
years past, resides at Western, Minn. The farm is now held
by Ira A. Murray.
William Brush came in 1804 and took a hundred acres
up near Jared Dewey's. He was quite active in town affairs,
as we shall presently see, but that is all I learn of him. I do
not find that he was related to Joseph and Eliphalet Brush,

82 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
who were brothers. Title was taken to the lot by himself,
wife Sarah and one Epenetus Brush, November 24, 18 17.
Joseph Brush came in 1807 or 1808 and took up a hun
dred acres on the road adjoining Jared Dewey's. He at once
got a cow, and he and the cow moved on to the tract. They
lived in the same cabin, partitioned off. He spent several
winters chopping and clearing land, and his cow out of sheer
lonesomeness would follow him daily to the woods and browse
about all day on basswood trees that Mr. Brush felled for the
purpose while he chopped, returning at night with him to the
cabin. During those first few years Mr. Brush lived at times
entirely on bread and milk. The latter he got from the cow,
and the bread of a neighbor a mile or so distant. In 18 14 he
married the widow of Abraham Sheldon and took residence
with her on the farm known in late years as the George H.
Brush place, now owned by Harry Hazelton. Mr. Brush
lived till 1879 and often told his early experiences to King S.
Chittenden, Esq., and others.
Horace Train took the one hundred acres next westerly
of Mr. Dewey, which locality was called Independence Hill.
Dr. Hough says he came in 1804 or 1805. He did not start
any account with Mr. Hopkins till 1807. A Mr. Robert
Train did in June, 1804, but I do not find that he took title
to any land, nor do I get any trace of him. Horace Train
sold out some years later and settled down in Stockholm, near
the Edwin O. Phelps place. He later went West where his
children had gone, and died at Manston, Wis., in 1876.
Harry Train, who worked for Mr. Hopkins, moved into
Parishville and had dealings with David Parish at an early date.
He later moved into Pierrepont and was the father of ten
children, among whom were George H., now living at
Hannawa Falls, Asahel, living at Potsdam, and Andrew J.,
who died at Potsdam in 1899.
David Henderson took the farm adjoining and southerly
of Jared Dewey and Horace Train. It is now known as the
Nelson Lindsay farm. He came to town in about 18 14.
(See sketch.)
Samuel Wilson took title to the triangular piece between
the east bounds of Samuel Goodell's lands and the large tract

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 83
bought by David Parish (see map), taking in all the south
shore of the river at Nicholville for some distance. He built
a dam there that year. Eliphalet Brush assisted in its build
ing, and his grandson has memoranda showing his charges for
his labor. (See history of East Village.)
Settlement of the Village.
Roswell Hopkins, from what I am able to glean through
the mists of near a century, must have Hved in several
places in the village. His first house in all probability stood
on the west bank of Lyd Brook, some sixty or eighty rods
south of the cemetery. Considerable has been said as to this
cabin in a previous chapter.
I cannot help thinking that this was his first home in town,
and Mr. John A. Harran so thinks. He had many talks
with Artemus Kent and other pioneers on the early settlement
of the town, and since he has a very clear memory, his recol
lections are worthy of much credence.
The house in which Mr. Harran resides on the south side
of the road and west bank of Lyd Brook was built by Mr.
Hopkins. It was certainly one of if not the first frame struc
ture in town, a picture of which is given. Dr. Hough says
Abraham Sheldon built the first frame house in 1809. Sev
eral elderly people are quite tenacious in asserting that the
Harran house was the first, that they have always so under
stood it. Mr. Harran tells me that Artemus Kent, who came
into town in 1808, told him that Mr. Hopkins built and used
it as a store for some years. King S. Chittenden can remem
ber its having a large front door of planks spiked together,
with a heavy latch and catch made by a blacksmith, which
tends to corroborate Mr. Harran's recollection. We know
that Mr. Hopkins did keep and sell essential goods, for we
still have his old account book. In all probability this was
his first store proper and land office. It is pretty evident
that it did not continue a store for a great length of time or
else that it was used as a store and dwelling combined, since
the minutes of the town meeting for 18 10 rather indicate that
Benjamin W. Hopkins was then residing there, as we know
from tradition that he did at some time. The minutes for
18 1 1 also clearly indicate that Roswell Hopkins was then liv-

84 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
ing on the Dr. Sprague lot or near it, since they placed the
burying ground near his residence, and we know that it was
in the rear of the Goodnow and Sprague lots.
The day his body was brought home from Chazy in 1829
was training day at Nicholville and the company there drill
ing escorted his remains to his home in Hopkinton, the pres
ent Harran residence. Hiram S. Warriner, born in 1823, dis
tinctly remembers it and so informs me. Mr. Hopkins had
a family of five sons and two daughters, and still there is no
one left bearing his blood and name except Isaac R. Hopkins,
Esq., and his two children, in this section. His widow, Mary
Armstrong, whom he had just married, soon after took up her
residence in the third house north of the Town House known
as the Sheals place, where she lived till her death in 1850.
She was a sister of Mrs. Abraham Sheldon, Mrs. Willis War
riner, Joseph and Jasper Armstrong, and universally called
" Aunt Polly."
Jasper Armstrong came at a very early date, one of the
first, as is shown by the place where he first built. He took
Mechanic Lot number one, a strip twenty-eight rods in width
and one hundred and sixty rods deep, east from the Jacob Phelps
place lying on the north line of IsHngton. His first cabin
was built on the rear or east end of his lot, near a fine spring
and on the line of the road that was laid out and somewhat
worked through there in 1802 and 1803. His cabin and
those of Joel and Samuel Goodell, three-quarters of a mile
farther east, are the only ones ever built on that road so far
as I have been able to learn.
The ruins of the cabin and stable and a few old apple trees
near by are distinctly remembered by Mrs. Pauline S. Atwood
and her sister, Mrs. Caroline M. Landon, who often went out
there from their home, though they cannot recall ever hearing
who lived there.
It remained for Mrs. Orman Beecher to give me the name
of the builder of this cabin. She states that her mother was a
sister of Mrs. Armstrong and that when she and her husband,
Heman Sheldon, came into town to settle early in 1812, her
mother stopped there with her sister a week or two while Mr.
Sheldon went on to the west part of the town and got his
cabin comfortable for her coming. Later Mr. Armstrong

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HOPKINTON VILLAGE LOTS AND ADJOINING FARMS.
From an old map of Mr. Hopkins's, about 1820.

4^':^.^'\^/fel

HOUSE OF ROSWELL HOPKINS, NOW JOHN A. HARRAN'S.
By some thought to be the oldest house in town.

ROSWELL HOPKINS, KNOWN AS SHEALS PLACE.
One of the oldest houses in town.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 85
built him a log cabin just south of the William S. Phelps
place, and in about 1821 sold to Jacob Phelps, who held it till
his death. I learn nothing further of the family of Mr. Arm
strong. William Warriner came to town in 18 10 and took the
next lot south of Mr. Armstrong, being Mechanic Lot num
ber two, of fourteen acres. His deed bears date in 1 8 13. He
married Nancy Armstrong. His son Hiram resides at Knapps
Station N. Y., and of nine children is the only survivor.
Nathaniel Rudd, who married Waity, sister of Roswell
Hopkins, held lot number three, next south. His deed bears
date 1809, and his lot of twenty-three acres crossed the road
west to Lyd Brook. I learn nothing of his family or descend
ants. Eliakim Seeley held the next lot south, extending across
the road to Lyd Brook, of twenty-three acres, and his title was
taken in 1807. He came to town as early as March, 1804,
and at once built a tannery on the bank of Lyd Brook. Mr.
Warriner says he can remember the tannery in use and opera
tion. The bark was ground by a horse travelling in a circle.
The first town meeting was held in his log house. He seems
to have been a worthy and prominent citizen. That part of
the lot on west side of the road is now held by Arthur
Flanders. I do not learn that any member of his family is
now living.
Daniel Hine, Jr., and his wife, Imy, took title to Me
chanic Lot number five, of nineteen acres, in 1 8 1 8, east side of
road. On Mr. Hopkins's map the name of E. Buckingham
is placed on this lot.
Rev. H. S. Johnson, who was for some years the Congre
gational pastor, had the next lot south, excepting that Chaun-
cey Thomas had the front or road end of the lot where he
lived and had a blacksmith shop. Mr. Johnson also held a
lot just east of the church lot.
Martin Covey had the fourth small house lot just north
of the Chittenden store corner.
John K. Wead held, as shown by the map, a small lot
on west side of the road next south of the Seeley lot. The

86 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
lot, however, was first deeded by Mr. Hopkins to WilHam
Brown in February, 1817. It was eight rods in width and
he had the right to build a dam not over five feet in height.
He was a merchant and had a store for some time on the
south side of the road opposite Dr. Sprague's office, as George
S. Wright informs me. Mr. Charles W. Leete of Potsdam
knew him and shows me a letter from him written in 1837
in New York City during the great panic, or should I say
famine, asking for help to get out of the city, describing con
ditions there as deplorable. He went about among the
farmers bartering stoves for cattle, horses, etc.
The lot next south is noted on map as belonging to
Philip Schuyler, who loaned money to John Thomas and got
this lot and the Chittenden store corner by foreclosure of
mortgage in 1820. For a few years prior to this Thomas
had a fulling mill on the rear end of the lot. ' This shows
that the map must have been made about 1820 or a little
later. Mr. Schuyler Hved at Rhinebeck, Dutchess County,
N. Y. The lot marked L. Knowles was first deeded to Joseph
Merrill in 1817. The next year it was deeded to Liberty
Knowles of Potsdam, reserving twenty feet off the north
side for a public highway. The grantee had a right to build
a dam on the brook not exceeding eight feet in height.
Ebenezer Frost, Esq., built a dam and trip hammer shop on
the rear end of the lot in 1815. (See account of the shop
in diary for year 181 5.) It was on this lot that Aunt Polly
Hopkins lived from 1829 till her death in 1850. Later Wil
liam A. Sheals lived there for some years, and it has since been
called the Sheals lot. It is now owned by V. A. Chittenden.
It is one of the oldest places in town, and is thought by
some to have been the home of Mr. Hopkins at an early
date. A picture is given.
The next lot south became the parsonage lot of the First
Congregational Church in June, 1827, by deed from Mr.
Varick and still is such.
The lot adjoining this on the south was held for many
years by George Stark and is still called the Stark lot. He
had a blacksmith shop on the rear end. The first man to
occupy the lot so far as I learn was Hiram Snell, a black
smith. He was followed by LaFayette Packard, a black-

RESIDENCE OF VARICK A. CHITTENDEN.

RESIDENCE OF KING S. CHITTENDEN.

CHITTENDEN STORE AND' LATE HOME OF CLARK S. CHITTENDEN.

HOTEL, HOPKINTON VILLAGE.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 87
smith, and he by Mr. Stark. The place is owned by Mr.
Stark's daughter.
Zoraster Culver. The lot on the corner just west of the
Green was first deeded by Mr. Hopkins to Samuel Wilson,
January 20, 18 17. He built a house and store on it, as I
learn from Mr. Kent's diary, in 1817. Mr. Wilson con
veyed the lot to Joseph Brush, April 6, 1820, but his title,
like others given by Mr. Hopkins, must have been faulty,
since Mr. Varick, who had become the owner of all that
was left of Mr. Hopkins's lands, sold and conveyed the
lot to Ebenezer Hulburd of Stockholm and Zoraster Culver,
June 23, 1827. Prior to this last date John K. Wead kept
store there for a time. The house Mr. Wilson built was so
low that it had but little or no chamber except in the rear
part, which was preserved by Mr. Culver when he came to
build and is still the rear part of the residence now owned by
Mr. Fred L. Trask.
Messrs. Hulburd and Culver kept the store for six years,
when the latter bought out the former, giving him 1 6,000
for the ^2,000 he had put in. Mr. Culver tore down the old
house and built the present residence in 1838 or 1839. He
moved the old store north just west of the church and made
a granary of it. He then built a new store on the site of
the old one, just north of the house and close to the line of
the village Green. Mr. Chittenden on becoming the owner
of the property moved this store building to the corner
where the stone store now stands. It was then a red build
ing and used as a storehouse for some years. When they
came to build the present store in 1868, 1869, it was sold
and taken down the road and made into a dwelling. Later
it was destroyed by fire. David Daggett was in partnership
with Mr. Culver in this store for a term of three years.
I get the most of this history from J. W. Culver of West
Stockholm, who often visited his uncle when a boy.
Clark S. Chittenden came to town about 1821 and at
once went into trade. His residence is shown in the back
ground of the picture of the present store. The store build
ing first used by him stood a few rods east of his house,
nearly to or quite where his son King's house now stands.
He did not trade there long when he built a store just west

88 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
of and close to his residence, where he did business for many
years and most successfully. It stood between the house
shown in picture and the present store, which was built by his
sons K. S. and V. A. Chittenden in 1868, 1869. The resi
dence of King S. stands just east of that of his father, and
that of Varick A. a few rods north of the store building. (See
family records for fuller sketch of him.)
Dr. Gideon Sprague took title to the lot next west of
the Culver place, six by thirteen rods, December 12, 18 14.
He came to town in 1811 and was the second physician to
settle there. His daughter, Mrs. Harriet W. Sprague, born
in 1 8 19, living at Minden, Neb., writes me that her father
first lived in a log house on the Green and that her eldest
brother, Frederic P., born September I'l, 18 14, was born
there. Very likely this was the log house built by Henry
McLaughlin in 1804. Dr. Sprague, according to Mr.
Risdon's diary, sold his ride to a Dr. Mott in March, 18 14,
but the people, hearing some things objectionable to him, re
belled in a public meeting, and so Dr. Sprague acceded to the
people's wishes and remained till his death. He had a little
office building which stood on his lot west, well over to the
Goodnow lot. It now stands back in the lot on the west Hne
facing the east and is used as a storeroom. Mrs. Sprague fur
ther states that her father built the little house now on the
lot. Dr. Hough says the British captured some three hun
dred barrels of flour in the last of February, 18 14, from a
barn owned by Mr. Hopkins, but occupied by Dr. Sprague.
Mr. Artemus Kent in his diary states the number of barrels
to have been two hundred and eighty-six. It would take a
pretty good-sized barn to hold that number. Mr. John A.
Harran tells me that Mr. Artemus Kent told him that most
of the flour was in the old barn now on his place and the bal
ance in a barn over in the village. Now, as his daughter,
Mrs. Sprague, says her eldest brother was born in September,
1 8 14, in the log house on the Green, to agree with Dr. Hough
he must have been using the barn on the Harran place or on
the Dr. Sprague lot. Since he took title to the latter from
Mr. Hopkins in December of that year, and since it was much
nearer to his residence, and for the still greater and better rea
son that his daughter says the flour was stored there, I think

OLIVER SHELDON S OLD HOUSE.
Built at it. very early date.

DR. GIDEON SPRAGUE'S HOUSE, WHICH HE BUILT, OR AT LEAST
MOVED INTO, IN 1814.

HOUSE KNOWN AS THE GOODNOW PLACE.

RESIDENCE OF ADALINE S. KENT.
Built by Artemas Kent in i8t8.

RESIDENCE OF ISAAC R. HOPKINS.
Front built by grandfather, Isaac R.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 89
we must accept that as the place where a portion of the flour
at least was stored. All elderly people who have any mem
ory on the subject somehow, though faintly, feel that it was
stored in the Harran barn. It has been a very difficult prob
lem to solve, if it be now. Mrs. Sprague seems to be very
clear and explicit in her memory of this quite important event
in the history of the town. She states that she often heard
her father relate the story of its capture and destruction. As
he told it, the flour was in a barn on the lot where he so long
resided, that afterwards he (Dr. Sprague) moved that barn
back and built another on the old site. There was a lane or
alley to the barn along the Hne of the Goodnow lot. She fur
ther says that her father was present at the taking of the flour ;
that when the British found it they roHed it out to the top of
the hill, broke in the heads of the barrels and started them
rolling down the hill ; that the officer told the people who
were about and complaining of such waste and destruction
that they could have the flour that did not get out of the bar
rels, and, as he did so, turned to Dr. Sprague and said, " Ain't
I a generous man ? "
When the British left town they took with them Dr.
Sprague's horse. In later years Dr. Sprague became very
corpulent, weighing two hundred and fifty pounds or more.
He was a man of a good deal of ability as a physician and in
every other way, and took an active part in all town and pub
lic matters, as will be noticed by a study of the records.
His son. Dr. Fayette P., succeeded him in practice. His
daughter, Harriet W. Sprague, of Minden, Neb., is now the
sole survivor of his immediate family. The old home is held
by her son, Calvin G. Sprague, a cut of which is given.
John Henderson took title to the lot next west, six rods
by ten, in 18 19, known as the Nathaniel Goodnow place.
(See story of Goodnow tannery for a history of the lot.)
Artemus Kent purchased the lot eight by ten rods next
west of the Goodnow lot in 18 17, where the tannery so long
stood and where the butter factory of Trask & Converse
now stands. (See story of the tannery for a fuller history of
the lot.) In 1 815 he bought of Mr. LaughHn what has
ever since been known as the Kent homestead, and is now
held by his daughter, AdaHne S. The wing on the east side

90 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
was added after his death. The man seated in the picture is
his son, Fred H. Kent. (See fuller sketch of Mr. Kent in
pioneer records.)
The Hopkins Homestead is situate on the point formed
by the junction of the Turnpike with the Potsdam road. The
front part of residence with piazza was built by Isaac R., son
of Roswell, many years ago. Isaac R., the present owner, a
great-grandson of Roswell, the pioneer, built a large addition
in the rear some years since.
Eli Roberts appeared in town as early as July, 1807.
He took up one hundred and ninety acres a mile south of
the village, where he built a sawmill on the westerly side of
the road that year or the next. He got a deed from Mr.
Hopkins, October 5, 1809, for one hundred and ninety acres
at I475. His son, John S., later built a mill on the east side
of the road and on the north side of the brook. This went
into decrepitude when a mill was built across the stream on
the south side, which is still in use by Benjamin Collins.
The name was spelled Roburds all through the diary and in
all old papers and maps, and is so signed by him to the old
town room agreement, and yet in the old Bible it is Roberts,
as also in the above deed to him. His grandsons, Ashford
and Thurman, never heard of the name Roburds till this
record was published. Thurman, son of John S., held the
farm till his death in March, 1902, and is now held by his
son.
Settlement of the Potsdam Road West to the East Bounds of
Parishville.
Elisha Risdon first settled on the Potsdam road, south
side, a mile west of the village. He bought Mr. Asahel
Wright's betterments in and to one hundred and fifteen acres
south from the present road, as I learn from a crude old map
of Mr. Hopkins's. Mr. Wright was a brother of Caleb and
took up this tract very early, probably in 1803, and sold to
Mr. Risdon in 1 805. Mr. Wright went to Bucks Bridge in
the extreme west part of Potsdam, where he settled and pros
pered, leaving several descendants, among them his grandson,
Judson L. Wright. At that early time it was expected that
the " Potsdam road " would run some rods southerly of where

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 91
it does, the final location of which left Aaron Warner and the
Asahel Wright lot back from the road, as may be seen by a
glance at the map. When Mr. Risdon took title he got that
part of the farm booked to Eli Squire which lay south of
the road, and thus he got down to the highway. Mr. Warner
a few years later bought a part of this of Mr. Risdon for the
same purpose. An old, old barn built by Mr. Warner still
stands back in the field as a sentinel of early miscalculation.
Mr. Risdon's cabin was on a thirty-rod strip adjoining on the
east taken from Mr. Hopkins's farm. The ruins of the cellar
and fireplace may still be seen just over the roadway fence in
the pasture, as also the shallow well a few rods south in the
ravine with a stone over it. This now cheerless and dreary
place was once a home, and that only eighty years ago.
There three little children first appeared in the clearing,
romped and played among the stumps and in the bushes, and
they, too, have followed their parents into eternal and wake
less sleep. When we reflect that there in the old pasture over
that hole in the ground and about that pile of stone once a
fireplace in form, a good man and dutiful and loving wife
worked hard to provide for themselves and their own, plain
and simple in their ways and habits of life, God fearing and
daily appealing to him for guidance, generous and warm
hearted, nursing the sick and unfortunate of the neighborhood
with that gentle and consoling sympathy which seems to be
fading away, meeting great trials and hardships with a fortitude
we do not now know, with joys and sorrows alternating and
vying with each other, is it not sad that the hearth and rooms
and walls so dear and sacred in memory's affectionate regard
should so soon pass away, disappear, and the very ground be
come a pasture field ?
In viewing these relics of old homes (there are many of
them about our highways) I cannot help living again, as I see
it, the Hfe of those who there struggled in the cabin, which is
sightless and gone like themselves. Possibly it may be ir
reverent and wrong, but I cannot keep back the inquiry :
What does it all mean? What is life, what its object and what
its purpose ? Since the coming of the pioneers to this primeval
forest three generations only have appeared, and yet how vague
and indistinctly we see them. Another century and nothing
win be known or can be told of them save what may be pre-

92 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
served in some memoranda or record, and to arrest and
preserve what is now known and can be gathered is the sole
purpose of this humble effort.
Aaron Warner. Mr. Warner's log cabin was near the old
barn now standing, back in the lot a half mile west of the
present residence. When the highway was laid out where it
is he had no way of getting to it, and so purchased a part of
Mr. Risdon's farm, which took, him to the road where he
built house and barns. On his death the farm passed to his
sons. Friend and Larned, who divided it, the former taking
the west part, buying a small parcel of the Seth Abbott farm
to get to the road, where he built. On his death it passed to
his sons, Clark and Henry, the latter recently purchasing the
interest of the former. Larned kept the home place, and it is
now held by his son Stephen. Aaron Warner, I learn in
many ways, was a fine citizen and man and most highly
respected, as were also his two sons.
Eli Squire engaged in the smuggling business between
the settlements and Canada during the War of 1 8 12. He did
well for a time, but got caught by the sudden termination of
the war with quite a quantity of cattle, etc., on his hands and
lost everything he had made and more, as Mr. Zebina Coolidge
informs me. His house was on the north side of the road, and
whether where Jerome Squire now lives or a little east I am
unable to ascertain. He was one of the pioneers of March,
1803. When Mr. Risdon moved over on the Turnpike in
1825, Mr. Squire moved into his cabin for a few years as it
was better than his own. His family and descendants have
disappeared, except the descendants of his son Asa, who had a
sawmill in the woods south of Parishville.
Philip Mosher took the farm across the road from the
Risdon and Warner farms at an early date, being the Eli
Squire farm. Charles Benham afterwards held it when Rus
sell Squire took it, and on his death it passed to his son
Jerome, who now holds it. Russell Squire, son of Ashbel,
built a few rods west on the side hill, house on south side and
barns on north side of the road. The barns are left, but all
trace of the house has diaappeared. He moved from here to
the Mosher place many years since. Mr. Mosher's first farm
in town adjoined Gaius Sheldon's on the east and situate on

GEORGE S. WRIGHT RESIDENCE.

SETH ABBOTT HOUSE, NOW OWNED BY A. G. AND C. R. HOLMES.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 93
the south side of the road. A Mr. Chubb held it before
him. Ashbel Squire took up a large tract next west of Eli,
lying on both sides of the road and extending south to the
Aaron Warner farm, being lot number twenty-one. The
farm of Russell Squire was a part of this. He built his log
cabin near where the present house stands near the brook in
April and May, 1803. He was one of the first four men to
settle in town and much is said concerning him in earlier
chapters. His daughter Laura was the mother of Zebina
Coolidge, who stoutly affirms that Mrs. Squire was the first
woman in the town. On his death the farm passed to his son
Ira and daughters. Laurel Coolidge followed for some thirty
years, when Charles Macomber became proprietor. On his
death it passed to his son Frank, who now holds it.
Seth Abbott took the tract next west of Mr. Squire's
situate on both sides of the road the same as Mr. Squire's,
though a narrower lot. It was lot number twenty. He built
his cabin on the east side of the lot close to the brook where
he lived some years. No trace of it now remains. When
the land came to be more accurately surveyed his log house
was found to be on Ashbel Squire's land and so he had to
abandon it. He then built the present frame house on the
knoll over near Caleb Wright's. He was one of the earliest
pioneers and active in town and religious matters. He was
a shoemaker by trade and followed that more or less in con
nection with farming. He was a lame man, using two staffs
in getting about, which his only surviving child, Mrs. Lucetta
Peck of Pottsdam, has preserved. He sold the farm to Reu
ben Wells, from whom it passed to his sons Amos and Phelps,
and from them to Jefferson Rowell, and from him to 
Rowell, and from him to A. J. and C. R. Holmes, who now
own it and lease it.
History of Schoolhouses in Western District.
The first schoolhouse in this district was a log building
and stood between the last house built by Mr. Abbott and
the road leading north, on rather low ground. No trace of it
remains and its existence had nearly passed from human mem
ory. Mr. George S. Wright can just recall his mother telHng

94 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
him that it stood where I have stated. Joseph B. Durfey
and Zebina Coolidge also recall the fact of a schoolhouse on
this corner. Artemus Kent taught school in the "west dis
trict" in 1810 and 181 1, and at this place. Later, but just
when I am unable to state, a new frame schoolhouse was built
eighty rods west on the north side of the road in Mr. Wright's
field. The tide of emigration and settlement setting west, as
it always has, this building was abandoned and the present
stone schoolhouse on the corner near the Durfey place built
in 1840 at a cost of three hundred dollars. The trustees
elected April 8, 1839, were Caleb Wright, Phineas Durfey
and Reuben Wells. At a special meeting held December 7,
1839, Nathaniel Baldwin was elected in the place of Caleb
Wright, deceased. It was also voted to take the northeast
corner of S. C. Remington's farm as a " sight " for the new
schoolhouse (opposite corner from where it stands). This
selection of a site was " recalled " at a special meeting held
December 14, 1839, and the matter "deferred" to Gideon
Sprague, Thads. Laughlin and Z. Culver. At the adjourned
meeting held December 24, 1839, it was voted to build on the
northwest corner of William E. Eastman's farm, present site,
and to raise five dollars to pay him for the land, to build the
schoolhouse of stone twenty-five by thirty feet, walls nine feet
high, and to raise three hundred dollars to pay for said build
ing. It was built by Stillman C. Remington. Trustees in
1840, Phineas Durfey, Reuben Wells and Jonah Sanford.
Sally E. Mosher taught in the summer of 1 840 and received
ten dollars and eighty-seven cents. The sum of ten dollars
and eighty-three cents was paid to Hart Lawrence for teaching.
At a special meeting held in December, 1848, it was voted to
get one-quarter of a cord of good hard wood per scholar and
to hire a qualified male teacher. William Newton furnished
eighteen cords stove wood, two foot, at forty-nine cents per
cord. Mary Armstrong taught in the summer of 1 865. The
old schoolhouse, built sixty-two years ago, has stood very well,
as may be seen in the cut, though it was thought best to put
an iron band about it some years ago.
Gaius Sheldon came as early as October, 1803, and
seems at once to have gone off by himself, taking the farm
known of late years as the Philo A. Davis farm. He was a
brother of Oliver and Heman Sheldon.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 95
Caleb Wright purchased the tract next west of Mr.
Abbott at an early date. He soon got the one hundred acres
on the opposite side of the road, lot number four, and a
little later lot number eighteen west, on the north side of
the road. His log iaouse stood where the tenant house does
now on north side of road. He built a frame house on the
south side of the road, precisely where the brick house now
stands. The log house having gone to wreck, his son,
George S., in 1857 moved the frame house across the road
to where the log house stood, which is still in use. In the
same year he built the fine brick residence in which he and
daughter now reside, a cut of which Is given. At an early
date an effort was made to continue the north road south
across Wright's farm to the Turnpike, but Mr. Wright de
feated it as it would injure or destroy a spring. George S. is
the sole survivor of the children of Caleb, and holds the old
farm intact, his daughter, Rosa L., living with him.
Benjamin Harwood took up a tract on the north side of
the road, opposite Samuel Eastmen's, at an early date, lot
number eighteen, and had a log cabin there, of which no
trace remains. The well has been filled. He had three
small children. His wife sickened and died and, becoming
disheartened, he sold out to Caleb Wright and left the town.
Samuel Eastman took up two hundred acres just west of
Caleb Wright, on south side of road, as early as the spring of
1804. His log house stood in the dooryard a little west and
north of the present residence. He built the front part of
the present house. The diary of Mr. Risdon speaks of the
raising of the same, June 15, 181 5. The farm passed to his
son William and the east half, or part, is held by his son
Samuel E. The north end of the west part is now owned by
John Leach and the south end by Silas H. Sanford. (See
pioneer records for a fuller sketch of him, and see Eastman for
picture of house.)
Phineas Durfey was at least in town as early as March
18, 1805. His account opens with the purchase of twenty
pounds of bread and a bushel of wheat. They settled all
accounts, December 20, 1 806, and there was found due Mr.
Hopkins, a balance on lands, the sum of ^209. He took
lot number seventeen, on north side of road, and a strip off

96 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the east side of lot number sixteen. Soon after the road was
cut through to Potsdam and there was some travel over it, he
opened an inn. After a while he had three log cabins a little
east of the present stone house, which latter he built in 1828,
a cut of which is given. The celebrated " Old Grimes " was
an occasional guest with Mr. Durfey. His son, Joseph B.,
born in 181 1, now living, was the first child born in town
after the coming of Dr. Gideon Sprague. He took the farm
on the death of his father, and sold to  Aikins, and on his
death it passed to his son Samuel, who now holds it.
Thomas Remington came in April, 1 804, and settled for
a year or so north of the late residence of Joel Goodell. Jt
must have been on the Moses farm or near it. Possibly Sam
uel Goodell had already gone up on the Turnpike, and he
went into his cabin. He soon moved to a place on the road
to Gaius Sheldon's and then to the tract across the road from
Phineas Durfey, lot number seven. His cabin then stood a
little west of south from the Durfey ston,e residence. While
getting out timber he was killed by a falling tree in 18 19.
The farm passed into the hands of his son, Stillman C, then
to Mr. Asa Miller, then to Mr. Frank WilHams, then to
George Bushnell, son of Simeon of Lawrence, then to Sidney
Taggart, who sold to George S. Wright, and he to Ira G.
Preston, and he to Michael, John and Dennis Hourihan, who
recently sold to G. H. Morgan.
Samuel Abbott, born in 1 792, married Haddassa Post, six
years his senior, in 18 14, and moved on to the tract after
wards held by Elisha Risdon on the Turnpike. A Mr. Rock
well first took it up, as I learn from an old map of Mr. Hop
kins. Probably Mr. Abbott bought his betterments. The
autobiography of his son. Rev. Gideon S., states that his
father first settled about a mile west of Hopkinton village.
This place is a little south of west, but applies to it very well
in distance and direction. Mrs. Harriet Adsit of Perry, Ohio,
the sole survivor of the children of Samuel B., states that her
father lived there in a log house and that her two brothers
and a sister older than herself and a sister younger, Sarah E.,
born in 1822, were born at this place. He sold his rights to
his brother-in-law, Elisha Risdon, about 1824 or 1825, when
he moved to, the farm next west of Phineas Durfey, where he

PHINEAS DURFEY HOUSE.
Built in 1828.

SCHOOLHOUSE IN DURFEY DISTRICT.'
Built in 1840,

SAMUEL B. ABBOTT HOUSE, NOW OWNED BY JOHN LEACH.
^ 

JOSEPH DURFEY HOUSE, NOW OWNED BY HERMAN FISHER.
Built in 1826.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 97
had built a small frame house. Some years later he built the
house some forty rods west, a cut of which is given. The
east fifty acres of the farm went to his son Reuben, and from
him to Rev. Gideon S., and from him to Charles Macomber,
and from him to John Aikins, who now owns it. The west
part of the farm was sold to Silas H . Leach, from whom it
passed to his son John, the present owner.
Joseph Durfey's account opens October 20. No year is
given. The account contains but a few entries. The next
date is November 3, 1806. Between the date of October 20
and that of November 3 is a credit for labor of sixty-one dol
lars, from which it is evident that the first date must have been
October 20, 1805, since he could hardly have earned sixty-one
dollars from October 20 to November 3, 1806. He built a
log house a few rods west of the present residence of Herman
Fisher, in which five of his seven children were born. He
built the present frame house about 1825, a cut of which is
given. He moved to Troy, Ohio, in 1836. Mr. George S.
Wright says he had the reputation of being as honest a man
as there was in town and his daughter Alice (now Mrs. Flum
merfelt of Grand Rapids, Mich.) as handsome a young miss
as the town could boast. Alanson Fisher owned the farm for
many years and died there in  , when it passed to his son
Herman. William M. Humphrey had a blacksmith shop in early
times for some years near the east bounds of Joseph Durfey's
farm, southwesterly across the road from John Leach's resi
dence. The foundation of the shop may still be traced.
Some of the timbers are in the highway fence. He sold out
in 1840 or thereabout and went west. Nothing has since
been heard of him. Eben Squire took the tract on south
side of road next west of Mr. Durfey, lot number nine. I
notice by the old map of Mr. Hopkins that it was taken up
by a Mr. Wilson. It was first deeded to Elisha Risdon.
Squire sold to Orman Beecher, who resided there for many
years. The place is now owned by John Leach. The house
is tenantless and fast going into dissolution.
David Covey first settled some' twenty rods west of John
Leach where he built a log house, and afterwards three-
quarters of a mile west, where Michael Conner now resides.

98 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
No trace of either log house remains. The well at the first
place can, I hear, be located yet. Mr. Covey first took up
eighty acres on the Madrid road in Potsdam. He soon sold
to Myron Buttolph. Oscar Buttolph now holds it. He
then took up the eighty acres adjoining this on the south
where Leslie Robinson resides. There was only a trail road
through there at this time. His son, Gilbert H., born in
1805, was the first male child born in Potsdam. Norton F.
Thomas lived in that neighborhood and learned these particu
lars. His daughter Julia married Carlos Humphrey, who
had a blacksmith shop at Fort Jackson, and another, Amanda,
who married Aaron Vanderker. I have found it impossible
to get any trace of either. Mr. Covey and wife both died at
this place, as I learn from the diary. The farm has been in
many hands since his death. (See sketch in records of
pioneers.) Eason Bachellor settled on a seventy-nine acre lot,
number ten, the last farm on south side of the road in the
town. He married Sophronia Eastman, daughter of Samuel,
who died in 1839, for want of proper medical treatment, in
childbirth. His second wife was Lucina Gray. They went
to Chilton, Wis. (See Abijah Chandler family.) His brother-
in-law, Roswell H. Eastman, afterwards lived there for a
time. The foundation walls, pit for cellar and chimney ruins
are still to be seen. The barn built by him is still standing
and in use.
Settlement of the Turnpike Southwest to the Parishville Bounds.
Reuben Post came to town |:in 1804, but his family did
not till the next, year. He purchashed Mechanic Lot num
ber eight, which was a strip of land from Chittenden's store
east one hundred and sixty rods, and about twenty rods deep
north. This was called his " home lot," as I learn from the
draft of the deed, by Mr. Hopkins, of the village Green, in
1809. He took title to this and a hundred-acre tract imme
diately south of EHphalet Brush's farm, September 1 5, 1 804.
In 1808 he bought the present Truman Post farm of Joseph
Armstrong. The old map of Mr. Hopkins shows that this
tract was first " booked " to Isaac Sheldon. Undoubtedly,
Mr. Armstrong bought his betterments. Mr. Sheldon did

TRUMAN E. POST RESIDENCE.
House built by Reuben Post in i8og or 1810 in baclgronnd.

ASAHEL KENT  E. HARMON RISDON RESIDENCE.
NoTi) that of Royal Smith.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 99
not stay in town long. Mr. Armstrong also at once pur
chased a strip on the north, thirty rods in width, off the west
side of Mr. Hopkins's tract, and adjoining Mr. Risdon on
the east, to enable him to get from his farm to the Potsdam
road, which was then the only road he could reach, the Turn
pike not having been cut out till 1 809. On the north end of
this strip, and on the road, a log cabin was built, in all prob
ability by Mr. Armstrong. Mr. Truman Post is quite cer
tain that his grandfather did not move to this cabin, but built
a small frame house at once on the cutting out of the Turn
pike and moved directly to it. This cabin is still standing and
occupied by the tenant. It can be faintly seen in the back
ground of the picture of Truman Post's residence. Mr. Ris
don married Amanda, daughter of Reuben Post, in August,
1 8 II, and moved into the log house on the Potsdam road,
where he lived till 1825. Mr. Armstrong, on selling out,
left town and I get no trace of him.
Reuben Post, Sr., was one of the most active and public-
spirited men in town. He was killed by the falHng of a
staging while building the old stone schoolhouse in 1815, an
account of which is given by Messrs. Risdon and Kent in
their diaries.
Artemus Kent took up thirty acres, the west part of
lot number forty-one, on south side of Turnpike, across the
road, or southeasterly of the Reuben Post residence, in 1 809,
which he developed into a fine farm. The present house and
most of the buildings were built by him. Mrs. Mary
Chittenden, widow of Asahel, purchased it about 1870, and
she and family held it for a time. It is now owned by G. T.
Smith. John Hoit, whose account opened in 1807, must be the
same John Hoit who a few years later settled in Parishville
and married Polly Green, sister of Mrs. Judge Sanford, the
father and mother of Joel and Loyal Hoit, late of Parishville.
I do not learn where he lived in Hopkinton or that he ever
took title to any land in the town. He was one of the charter
members in the organization of the Baptist Church in the
schoolhouse near Caleb Wright's, September 10, 1808.
Ira Smith, who married Lucy, daughter of Reuben Post,
built the small house across the road from Mr. Post's. A

loo EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
little flatiron piece of Mr. Post's farm crossed the road, and
it was on this that he built. The place was afterwards held
by Cornelius Winne, and is still called the Winne place. Mr.
Smith moved into Stockholm and from there in 1841 to
Dresden, Ohio, and from there in 1850 to Reedsburg, Wis.,
where several of his descendants reside.
Job Greene took title to the south half or part of lot
number forty-three, situate on the north side of the road,
and next west of Reuben Post's farm, in 1806. It took in
the Big Hollow and extended west on the Sanford road some
forty rods. The grandfather of Henry C. Greene, who settled
on the Loren Smith farm in 18 17, was Job Greene, and lam
disposed to believe that it was he who took up this lot. He
conveyed the lot of forty-five acres to Rufus Crossman,
August 13, 1 8 10, and he to Asahel Kent, March 7, 1829.
Mr. Crossman's name does not appear in the census of 18 14
or 1 821, nor do I meet it elsewhere. There are still some
stumps of apple trees on the north side of the road just west
of the Big Hollow. Mrs. David Daggett, who was a daugh
ter of Henry C. Greene, has a very faint recollection of there
being a log house there and of being told that her father
stopped there for a time when he first came in. -Mrs. Harriet
(Abbott) Adsit, born across the road in 1820, has no recol
lection of even seeing the ruins of or of hearing of a log
cabin at this place. However, I have a notion that Job
Greene built his cabin there. He had dealings with Mr. Hop
kins in 1 807, and is put down as a freeholder that year.
Elisha Risdon, who married Amanda, daughter of
Reuben Post, moved over from the Potsdam road to the farm
just west of the Big Hollow in 1824 or 1825. His brother-
in-law, Samuel B. Abbott, lived there in a log house on the
south side of the road from 18 14 to the time of sale to Mr.
Risdon. He bought lots sixty-six, sixty-five and a few acres
in the northeast corner of sixty-four, on which to build and
get to the road. The old maps show that lot sixty-five was
first booked to D. Sanford, who I feel sure was Judge San-
ford's brother, though he never lived there. Lot sixty-four
was booked first to Silas Lamb and one Rockwell. Mr.
Risdon was the first to take title to the farm which extended
east to the Peck road. Mr. Risdon built a small frame house

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. loi
there in 1829 or 1830, as I learn from the fragment of a letter
to his father in Richmond, N. Y., written February 19, 1831.
After speaking of his poor health he wrote, viz. :
I attend to my cattle. I am wintering a horse, a yoke of oxen, eight
COWS, ten yearlings, six calves. I believe I have mentioned in a former letter
that I had built a small frame house, which is much more comfortable and con
venient than our old log house.
The only frame house he ever had was on his place on
the Turnpike, and this letter is proof that he built it. In-
ferentially it is also proof that prior to building it he had
lived there in a log house.
No one living can recall the old log cabin or even its
ruins. He made several additions to the frame house and
built several barns just south. On his death it passed to his
son, E. Harmon, who lived there a few years when he moved
to the Asahel Kent place in the fork of the roads, where he
continued till 1870, when he went to Webster City, la. His
sister Mary, widow of A. H. Chittenden, lived on the old
place some years following i860. The house and all the
barns were taken down some twenty years ago. The ruins of
the cellar and old fireplace over the wall just back of the door-
yard trees are plain to be seen.
Asahel Kent bought and built on the point made by
the junction of the Sanford road with the Turnpike in about
1 8 14. He was a brother of Artemus in the village and of
Moses a little west on the Sanford road. He married for
his second wife Mrs. Charlotte Sheals, the mother of John
and William Sheals, Mrs. Harmon Risdon, Mrs. Stephen
Wescott and Mrs. Porter Robinson. His farm was the
hundred acres on the north side of the road first taken up
by David French to which he, Kent, got title January 30,
1 8 14 and forty-five acres of Job Greene. The house and its
additions finally reached nearly across the point to the San
ford road. Mr. E. Harmon Risdon moved over there under
an agreement to care for him and have the farm, which he
did. Mr. Risdon sold the farm in 1870 to Mr. V. A. Chit
tenden, and he to George Smith. It is now held by Royal
Smith, his son.

I02 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Westerly Part of Turnpike.
I have found it impossible to learn the first settlers of many
of the farms with certainty, along the west part of the Turn
pike. The maps of the Short Tract do not in many cases give
the same name as owner as do the records at the county
clerk's office, from which fact it is apparent that names of
settlers were placed on the map who did not succeed in be
coming owners. There are many vacant old houses or rather
holes in the ground where once were homes along the road
side, due no doubt largely to the great deterioration of the
soil, some of which has become a desolate waste. I get a
good part of the history of this road from John A. Harran
and Mr. and Mrs. Fullom M. Corwin.
Henry C. Greene, a brother of Mrs. Judge Sanford,
took up the front part of what are known as the Loren and
George Smith farms on the south side of the road next west of
the Elisha Risdon farm and also all of the tract between the
Sanford road and Turnpike west to the Joel Peck farm, except
ing one acre and a half, the very point of such tract which
was taken by Asahel Kent. He had in all one hundred and
sixty-three acres, and he took title in 1817. His first home
was a log house which he built. He later built the present
house or the main upright part. His wife " put out " two
sticks in the yard which took root and became great poplar
trees. He deeded the west part of that between the two
roads to Stephen R. Witherell, excepting six acres in the
southwest corner which went to Mr.  Peck. On May
8, 1832, he conveyed the two Smith farms and what lay be
tween the two roads north of them to Hosea Brooks, father
of Erasmus D., late of Potsdam. Mr. Brooks sold to Josiah
Smith in about 1833, though I notice he deeded to Darius E.
Kent in 1841. However, Mr. Smith held it and finally
owned it. On his death his son Loren took the west part
of the farm and buildings where he has ever since lived, and
his son George took the east part where he built and lived
till his death. Meribah, daughter of Mr. Greene, who be
came Mrs. David Daggett, born in 181 5, is Hving with her
daughter, Mrs. Vance in Potsdam, and is a bright and kindly
old lady indeed.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

103

Stephen R. Witherell, as already stated, took the next
farm west, buying that part of the farm on the north side of
the road, where were his buildings, from Mr. Greene. The
farm has been in his family ever since, though rented for some
years, and is now owned by his son Edwin. The next habi
tation was a Httle west on the south side of the road in the
hollow near the brook, all trace of which is long since gone.
I do not learn who lived there.
Julius Peck took the lot next west of Mr. Witherell on
north side, where he built a sawmill which was in use for some
years. He died some forty years ago. His widow married
a Julius Peck, who is now an old man and blind. The old
mill has gone sadly into decay.
The Old Red Schoolhouse.
The old red schoolhouse stood and stands just across the
brook, a few rods west and on the north side. It was built,
as I learn from the diary, in the spring of 1848 by Lyman
Page of Nicholville. For many years it had a good attend
ance, with often a select school in the fall. Religious services
were often held there also. The first schoolhouse, according
to the best information I get, was of log and stood a little
west and on the south side of the road, at or near the top of
the hill. Mrs. Lucetta (Abbott) Peck of Potsdam taught
school there, but cannot say further than that it was a log
building. A slab seat or bench was against the wall on three
sides of the room, sawed side up, with a slab, sawed side up,
for a desk. Mrs. Edna Crosley attended there when a child
and gives me these particulars. Religious services were held
in this old schoolhouse more or less for years.
Isaac Snell took up the tract across the road from the
schoolhouse, with his house a Httle back from the road. The
farm passed to his son Milton, and is now owned by J. K.
Rhoades. He was a blacksmith and had his shop on the
road opposite the schoolhouse, near the brook, with a frame
outside for lifting oxen for shoeing.
Ebenezer Squire had a log cabin just west of the school-
house on the north side. Reuben Peck lived there after him
and also Asa Moore, who lost his leg. Whether Mr. Squire

I04 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
was the first I cannot say. Nothing is left of the habitation
now. Simeon Young lived a little west on the south side in a
log cabin. He was followed by Porter Pierce and he by Asa
Murray. Albert S. Harran took the next tract west on south
side in 1834, where he built a log house and later a frame
one. It passed to his son John A., and from him to Arthur
Sampier, who now owns it. John A. Harran some thirty
years ago bought the Hopkins farm on the south side of the
road in Hopkinton village. He was a large, intelligent man
and in every way a good neighbor and citizen. He suddenly
died in his home in the summer of 1902.
David Fisk had a log house across the road from Mr.
Harran. George Wilkinson, who was a tailor, lived there after
Mr. Fisk. His daughter Hannah married Sumner Sweet of
Nicholville. His other children were Martha, who married
Mr. Alonzo Rhoades ; WilHam of Nicholville, and George,
who was lame and died ; Mary, who married Porter Pierce ;
Harriet, brought up by Dr. Sprague, married a Mr. WilHams
of Vermont. Mr. Harran bought the farm.
John Leach, father of David, took a tract in 1835 "^^*
west of Mr. Harran on south side, where he had a log house,
all trace of which has gone.
Samuel Clark had a log house on the north side and a
little west of John Leach. The Naylor family lived there after
Mr. Clark, though Mr. Naylor only came now and then. They
were followed by Rufus Greene, who, I learn from the records,
took title. He had a large family of bright children. They
were, so far as I learn, William, Ira, Jane, who married Darius
E. Kent ; Mary, who married John Leach, Jr. ; Robert and
Melvin. David Leach acquired the farm and lived there till
his recent death. It is now held by his widow, with Carlos
Colton in charge.
Rufus Greene came from  , Vt., and took the
tract next west of John Leach on the south side. His
wife was Jane Wood, and they had nine children: viz., Pliny,
who died in California ; Jane, who married Darius E. Kent in
1 842 ; Melville, who died at Racine, Wis. ; WilHam, Lucius,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 105
Ira, who died in Missouri; Charles, who died in CaHfornia ;
Mary, who married John Leach and now lives at Havana,
N. D.; and Robert, who died at Racine, Wis. All are dead
except Mary. WilHam S. Howe bought it in 1848. He
lived for a time in a log house. It was so old and cold that
he spent several winters in the house in Hopkinton village
which he had first bought. After a time he built the present
buildings which stand back from the road. He sold out
some thirty-five years ago when he built a brick residence in
Parishville village where he now resides. His children were
and are Daniel, of Wichita, Kan. ; and Ella (Mrs. P. H.Smith),
of Brooklyn, N. Y. Nelson Gardner and Jeff Rowell have
held it since.
Jesse Moon took the tract next west on south side. He
sold to John Smith, who acquired the first title. It passed to
his son Josiah, and is now held by John Ramo. Mr. Moon
and Nanthaniel Baldwin built a sawmill on the rear end of the
farm, which was run for some years with indifferent success
owing to a shortage of water.
Lewis Richardson had a log house on the north side, a
little west of Mr. Smith. David Leach lived there at first
before buying the place next east. Nothing remains to de
note its once existence, and the land about is cheerless indeed.
Barney Moon had a log house on the south side, just
over the " Pinnacle," which the rise of ground at this point
was called. I see that D. E. Kent got the first title. He
sold to John Cutler, who built the present frame house. In
digging his well he had to go down fifty-two feet to reach
water. His children were, so far as I learn, Emma (Mrs.
John A. Harran of Hopkinton), Marilla (Mrs. Roswell An
drews), Silas, deceased, and Harlon of  . The place is
now held by Silas Rockwood.
William G. Richardson took title to seventy-nine acres
across the road which is now pretty nearly a sand waste. He
died there and the buildings have all gone.
WiLLARD Smith took the place west of Mr. Cutler and
of the road leading south. Amasa Hurlbut took the first
title to it. George Kimball also lived on it for a time, when
Dyer Hazen bought it years ago and now holds it.

io6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Joseph Brownell took a contract to the tract across the
road in 1827. His cabin stood near the brook. I learn from
the diary of February 21, 1837, that Mr. Brownell sold to
Mr. Wing, and he to Jacob R. Norris, and he to John Mof-
fit. Mr. Norris married Mrs. Rhoda Wing and went to Ohio,
where he died. Mr. Moffit was considerable of a preacher
and belonged to the sect called Christians. Nothing is left of
the old home. n
E  N. HoBAJ^T was the first to take a contract of what
for sixty years has been known as the Hazen farm. I feel sure
that Deacon Abiel M. Hobart lived there also, though I do
not know what he was to him. He sold out to Jehiel Austin,
a Methodist minister, who took the first title to the farm lying
on both sides of the road. The diary speaks of Mr. Austin
paying on contract taken out by Mr. Hobart. Mr. Austin
built the present stone house in 1847 or 1848. He sold the
place to Jedediah Hazen. On his death his son Owen held it
for some years. It is now held by his son-in-law, John Conlin.
Schoolhouse in Hazen District.
In 1850 and prior and later a frame schoolhouse stood in
the corner made by the road leading north and on the east
side of that road. I can remember of going to school there
when quite young, and of how coarse, rough and tyrannical
were some of the boys a little older than myself. They fre
quently stole my dinner and would eat it, or a good part of it,
in my presence, and then jeer and laugh at my tears and bit
terness. And yet some people maintain that we come into
the world divine and good, and that all our meanness and dev
iltry are acquired. There has been no school there in many
years and the building long since disappeared.
Digging for Gold under a Spell.
Somewhere about 1850 some half dozen men in this
neighborhood somehow got it into their heads that there was
a large quantity of gold or silver, I forget which, buried a few
rods down and on the east side of this road leading north.
They met there at divers times and faithfully and patiently
dug for it in that stony soil. They had the delusion that if

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 107
any one should speak after they had begun and while dig
ging, that the treasure would vanish and all their hopes be
blasted. My father, happening by one day while they were
at work, and knowing the solemn injunction under which they
labored, and looking upon it as ridiculous, determined to
break the spell by making one of them speak. He sat in
the buggy and watched them digging just over the road fence
for a moment when, calHng one of them by name, he said,
" Your wife wants to know if you are coming home to din
ner." Forgetting himself, he replied, "Yes, right away." At
this all the men with sad and solemn mien shouldered their
tools and left for their homes. Father guyed and laughed at
them, as only he could do it, but they heeded him not. It
was mighty serious business with them. Isn't it strange and
singular what delusions possess us every now and then, nine
teen hundred years after Christ's coming ? Somehow the
human mind seems capable of, or should I say prone to,
strange and even wild hallucinations.
Lemuel Lewis built a log cabin on the north side in the
hollow near the old mill pond. Many others occupied it as
tenants, among them a Mr. Frank Lashua. It stood till
1870 or thereabouts. The gate was here leading to the saw
mill a little back and a few rods down the brook. The mill
was built by Judge Sanford in about 1848 and run until i860
or a little later. His son Jonah bought it and the land about
and run the mill to a very limited extent.
An Experience with an Unbound Load of Lumber.
I can remember going there to get some lumber when a
small boy with quite a spirited team. I am sure it was in
1 86 1, which would make me fourteen past. My brother
Silas was my assistant. The last load was a small one, con
sisting of boards, plank and scantling, and as a shower came
up we hurried away without binding them, thinking they
would ride all right. They did for the first half of the dis
tance home, as the road was sandy, keeping the tugs taut and
the horses forward and away from the lumber. On getting
down to the Gideon S. Abbott place (now Orman Beecher)
the road became harder and the decline greater. In holding
the horses back the off one frisked greatly and I saw at once

io8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the trouble. The loose plank and scantling had rattled about
and worked ahead so that they touched the horses when held
back. I was then on a stony, gentle decline and did not
dare to hold them up. At the foot of this I could see a few
rods of a level stretch of sand and at the other end of it a
very sharp, short drop in the road. Instantly I saw that our
only salvation rested in stopping them while in the sand.
Silas was sitting on the hinder end of the load riding back
wards and holding on as best he could to the bobbing scant
ling. I was standing, fearfully alarmed, and excitedly called
out to him to jump off as soon as we reached the sand and
to run and catch the off horse by the bit. He jumped off
and that was all. Not seeing him pass me as I neared the
steep decline I looked back and there he sat by the road
side pulling off his boots. Over and down the hill I went,
the off horse kicking furiously and the team running at a mad
pace. As he kicked he would hit a scantling or plank which
sent the front end of them high in the air and falHng outside
the front wheel with the end in the ground and the other end
on the hind axle, filled the air as you can readily see with
plank and scantling. Presently, and quicker than I can write
it, only one plank was left of the l6ad. Seeing no earthly
use of remaining longer I sat on my feet that I might the
better spring, and selecting a grass patch by the roadside,
jumped for it. I went rolling in the air and not understanding
the force imparted to a body leaving another swiftly moving,
I landed in a mass of stone instead of the grass plat I had
selected. The team went on some distance when the off
horse outran the nigh, turning him into the ditch and over a
large bowlder and on to his head, from which position he
could not extricate himself. Limping and crying, for I was
hurt, I got back into the road and waited for Silas, who was
coming on the run, barefoot, with the big finger of each hand
in the strap of a boot. Down the road we could see the
team piled up. Reaching me, notwithstanding my sobbing
and tears, I sternly asked, " Why did you stop to take off
your boots ? " " So I could run faster," was his curt reply.
That was an idea surely enough, but he did not go far enough
in his reasoning. We hurried on, and after much trouble
got the horses free, each leading a horse home and with heavy
hearts indeed. Seeing us coming, father came out to meet us

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 109
and after full explanation our reprimand for not binding the
load was very mild considering that the nigh horse had a stiff
fore leg ever after. No doubt his great gratification at our
escape softened his criticism.
The next habitation was a log house at the top of the hill
on the south side which at last has become a wreck. It had
a great many tenants, and among them Asa Newton, who
died there, Nathaniel Baldwin, Jr., Washington Bessey, etc.
Samuel Sanford lived on the next place with house on
the south side. Whether he was the first to reside there I
cannot say, nor do I know anything of him. I do not think
he was in anywise related to Judge Sanford. Jonah Sanford,
Jr., bought the farm and moved on to it in the spring, I feel
sure, of 1848, where he Hved five or six years and got some
thing of a start. It has had several occupants since and is
now owned by Thomas Conlin.
RoLLiN O. Sanford built a house on the tract of his
father next west in about 1862. He enlisted from there in
1863 and died in Andersonville Prison. The foundation
walls only are left.
D. P. Rose, according to Mr. Short's map, took up the
next lot west, known as the Milo Adams place. Since he left
it, some thirty years or more ago, it has had various tenants.
The house burned and the land is owned by Mr. Conlin.
The schoolhouse for this neighborhood stands in the south
west corner of the farm and near the road leading north.
Lyman Oliver lived just west of the north and south
road and on the north side of the Turnpike. After him
Carlisle Adams. Since his occupancy it has had many
holders. John Hart had a log cabin across the road on the south
side. His wife was a good carder and weaver. The diary
often speaks of going there for cloth and work in that line.
After him came William Oliver, who built a frame house a
little farther west. The old log house long since disappeared.
Hiram Peck, father of the late Comer M. Peck of Pots
dam, bought fifty acres on north side of Turnpike, last farm
in town, now held by Mrs. D. S. Howe, and moved there
about 1817. He was a colonel in the War of the Revolu-

no EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
tion and was at one time a man of means. He lost it and
moved to Hopkinton. He died there January 28, 1831.
His son, C. Harper, born in 1804, went to Prescott and en
gaged in the drug business and became wealthy. Hiram H.
was a merchant in Potsdam for years, and died in Bingham-
ton in January, 1900, quite wealthy. John W., born on this
farm November 17, 1 8 1 9, was a lame man. He taught school
in the Caleb Wright district and then went to Kentucky,
where he engaged in the distillery business and became very
rich. He is still living. Comer M. was born there March
18, 1822, and died at Potsdam, October 16, 1900. These
four boys made it pay to leave the " family nest."
Settlement of the Middle or Sanford Road from the Turnpike
West.
David French, whose account with Mr. Hopkins opened
March 29, 1804, was the father of the late Ira T. French of
Potsdam. He took up one hundred acres, lot forty-four, on
the " Sanford road," north side, next westerly of Mr. Greene.
His grandson, Charles T. French, says he came into Hop
kinton in 1803, and made a little clearing when, tiring of it
for some "reason, he left it, wending his way through the forest
to Potsdam, then just being settled. He very soon took up
a tract about midway between Potsdam and Canton, where he
settled and prospered. His deed of Hopkinton land is dated
in 1803. I am confident that no building, other than a
shanty, was ever erected on it. I give this, as the so-called
histories do not mention his first settling in Hopkinton, and
are quite indefinite as to when he settled in Potsdam. From
this I take it he was in Hopkinton in 1803 and 1804 and
probably a good part of 1805. Mr. French conveyed the lot
to Asahel Kent, January 30, 18 14, and he conveyed the west
forty rods of it, forty acres, to Samuel Abbott, January 7,
1 8 19. It has been held for many years and is still held by
the Warner family.
Orin Andrews took the north part of the tract next
westerly of Mr. Greene, lot number sixty-two, and the east
part of lot forty-five, next west of David French. The old
map of Mr. Hopkins gives Nathan Peck as the first taker
of lot number sixty-two, but E. W. Abbott, Esq., of

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. in
Gouverneur, and George S. Wright, Esq., are very positive
that he settled on the next lot west, number sixty-one. This
map also shows that lot forty-five was first "booked" to
Samuel B. Abbott, who gave it up or sold his betterments to
Mr. Andrews. The latter's log cabin stood on the north side
of the road between the present barn and the brook. No
trace of it remains. He later built the present house on the
south side of the road. The diary speaks of his wife's
death, in 1 842, as a peculiarly sad one. Mr. Andrews's mother
was the eldest sister of Mrs. Judge Sanford. Reuben H.
Freeman, Esq., an ocean sea captain, married his daughter
Martha, who was a teacher in Mobile, Ala., where he met
her. She brought him to this farm, where they settled and
lived for many years. He was a bright, well-read man and a
much better talker than farm worker. He had been so long
on the water that he chafed and fretted with the confinement
of farming. He took the wrong side in the Civil War, or at
least he found great fault with Lincoln and his management,
which got him into many hot and bitter encounters with his
townsmen. I recall one with my grandfather. Judge Sanford, in the
road as he was driving by. They were both great talkers,
though Mr. Freeman was a little the more glib. The Judge
was a most ardent Lincoln man and war advocate and could
not brook much criticism or opposition to a prosecution of
the war. Finally they got so warmed up and excited that the
Captain said that if he (the Judge) was not so old a man he
would twist his nose for him. The Judge, old as he was, knew
no such thing as fear and immediately got out of his buggy
and challenged him to do it. The wordy contest went on, but
the Captain had too much sense in the propriety of things to
attack so old a man. He was a well-informed man, and I
used to Hsten to him with much interest on all topics except
that of the war. He sold the farm in about 1870 to Jonah
Sanford and went to Fergus Falls, Minn., where he died re
cently. The farm has since had several tenants and would-be
purchasers, until recently purchased by Edwin Withereh.
Moses Kent settled on a small farm next westerly, just
across the brook on north side of the road, being the west part
of lot forty-five. It was in no wise an extra farm in size or
soil, and yet his son, Darius E., who acquired it on his father's

112 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
death, became one of the richest men ever raised in town. His
success is a fine example of what can be accomplished by thrift
and economy. He was a tall, slender man, quiet and pleasant,
a Httle courtly in bearing and demeanor. Only one man was
ever known to get the better of him in a deal, and that was a
slick street fakir in Potsdam village, who sold him when Hving
there two plated lockets at ten dollars each, worth probably a
quarter of a dollar each. He settled in Westfield, N. Y., where
he died March 2, 1886. Mr. Kent sold the farm to Hazen
Corwin, father of Fullom M., and he to his son-in-law, Israel
Putnam, and he to Sidney Briggs, who married his sister
Lucinda, and from their estate it passed to James Cotter, the
present owner.
Seth Putnam came in about 1 809 with his all in a pack
on his back, and not long after took the tract next westerly of
the Kent farm on the north side of the road, lot number forty-
six, where he built a log house. On cominginto town he worked
a few years for Mr. Hopkins. It was then all about a practi
cally unbroken forest. He and Judge Sanford were fast friends
and had many interesting discussions on politics and religion.
He built the present house and lived till September, 1864.
On his death the farm passed to his son Israel, who died in
1874. It has since been held by his widow, Jane (Corwin)
Rockwell, occupied by Fullom Corwin, Lewis Putnam, and was
sold by her in 1902 to John Corwin.
Nathan Peck took up the tract across the road from Mr.
Putnam at an early date, where he built a log house. E. W.
Abbott of Gouverneur, George S. Wright and Zebina Coolidge
so inform me. He moved from there to the " Peck road."
The old map of Mr. Hopkins has his name on the lot next
east, number sixty-two, but these men are agreed that the lot
he settled on was directly opposite that of Mr. Putnam.
Schoolhouse in Sanford District.
The first schoolhouse in this district was a log building
and stood on the north side of the road near the east bounds
of Seth Putnam's farm, some fifty rods east of the present
house. A road was laid out from a point in the highway near
this schoolhouse in 1832, south on the west bounds of Orrin
Andrews's and east bounds of Judge Sanford's farms to the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 113
Turnpike, but I do not learn that it was built nor are there any
indications that it was. Mr. George S. Wright tells me that
he went south across the fields a mile to this school in about
1835, that Permelia Sanford (Mrs. Brooks) attended at the
same time ; that one morning while the teacher was at prayers
with her head in a chair, Permelia took off her coarse shoes
and creeping across the room pinched another girl's ear, creat
ing much amusement, and yet got back to her seat unknown
to the teacher. Some years later, but just when cannot now
be learned, probably about 1850, a new, small frame school-
house was built on the north side of the road, on the Merrill
farm and on the east bank of the brook near the residence of
Judge Sanford. This was quite a school for some years, hav
ing an attendance of over twenty scholars in the winter term.
The writer attended school here for some years, and he re
members Adaline Sheldon, Edna Risdon and Miss Desmond
as teachers. In about 1880, the scholars becoming so few, the
district or a large part of it was united with the Durfey dis
trict. The old schoolhouse was sold, used for a barn for a
time, when it was taken down or burned when the creamery
standing just across the brook west was destroyed, some years
ago. A new creamery was built by Silas H. Sanford on the
site of the old one, which is still in use.
Benjamin Sanford, Jr., a brother of Judge Sanford, took
title to the west half of lot number sixty-one, opposite
Mr. Putnam, in 1830. The log house built by Mr. Peck
or Sanford stood near the present old house which was built
by Henry B. Sanford and is fast going to dissolution. Judge
Sanford took first title to the east half. In 1840, owing to
ill health and other trials, he, Benjamin, sold out and finally
settled at Hudley, Mich., where he lived till his death, with his
daughter, Mrs. Maria Greene, and son Daniel, who is still liv
ing. Henry B., son of Judge Sanford, lived there awhile, and
Lucien Kent after him. Israel Putnam bought it, and Silas H.
Sanford got it of his estate and sold it to Seymour Clark,
whose widow holds it, except six acres in the northwest corner,
which Fullom Corwin bought in 1866 and now holds. Mrs.
Rhoda (Moon) Wing-Norris and Isabelle Moon lived with
him till their deaths. They were skilled women in the art of
weaving and cloth making.

114 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Seth Putnam, Jr., built him a house in the southwest
corner of his father's farm at the foot of the hill. He died
at sea on his way to California in company with Henry B.
Sanford in 1849, leaving a widow and two daughters, Celia and
Cynthia, both of whom married and settled in Michigan.
Seth, Jr., got the money of Mr. Brooks to go to California,
giving a mortgage on his farm, which Mr. Brooks was com
pelled to foreclose. Mrs. Jacob Gould with her son Azro and
daughter Harriet lived there some years. Porter Pierce and
several others also Hved there as tenants. On the destruction
of the house and attached buildings by fire on the Merrill
place, Mr. Riley, the then occupant of the farm, bought and
moved this house over there, which is still in use. Mr.
Pierce's children were as follows : Henry, living at Fort Jack
son ; Ellen, married Plumer Kendrick, died soon after ; Sey
mour, died in 1864; Frank W., living at Potsdam ; Elsie,
married Harlan Clark and went west, where she died ; Mary ;
Sarah, married William Hawkins of Lawrence, now deceased ;
and Fred, living in  , Wis.
Nathaniel Baldwin took up at an early date what for
over fifty years has been known as the Dyer L. Merrill farm,
next west of Mr. Putnam, being the south half of lots forty-
eight, forty-nine and the southwest quarter of forty-seven. His
deed bears date 18 16. He died in 1828, and his son Na
thaniel, Jr., held it for some years. The son furnished the
means and Jesse Moon built a sawmill just back of the
William S. Howe farm on the Turnpike. He had a family
of twelve children, all of whom had died prior to 1870, as I
learn from a title search made by Judge Knowles, except
William, Mary and Nathaniel, Jr. (See genealogical record
of his family.) In 1845 ^^- Baldwin sold the farm to Horatio
N. Barnes. In 1843 Dyer L. Merrill, who had lived for five years pre
vious on the second lot south of Orman Beecher's on the
crossroad marked Darius E. Kent, rented this farm with his
brother-in-law, WilHam A. Sheals, for five years, at two hun
dred dollars rental, one-half in cash and the other half in re
pairs. The following year Mr. Merrill bought out Mr.
Sheals and in 1851 purchased the farm of Mr. Barnes. He
added to it so that when he sold to Jonah Sanford in about
1865 he had three hundred and sixty acres. In 1858 he built

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 115
a potato starch factory on this farm near the residence of Judge
Sanford, which he conducted alone and with Jonah Sanford as
partner till he sold farm and factory to Mr. Sanford in 1865,
when he removed to Nicholville, where he and a Mr. Kellogg
that year built a large three-story brick block on Church
Street, the easterly part of which is used by his son Silas in
the furniture business. He later purchased a starch factory in
Dickinson Centre and also in Hopkinton village. The latter
stood close to and on the south side of the road and west bank
of Lyd Brook, no trace of which now remains. Mr. Sanford
sold the farm, reserving the fifty acres across the road from
his house, to William Riley. He later took it back and sold
to Timothy Lary, whose widow now holds it. There was a
mass of sheds and barns near the house, all of which with the
house were destroyed by fire when Mr. Riley was in posses
sion. Judge Jonah Sanford took the tract next westerly of
Mr. Baldwin of one hundred and twenty-five acres but on
the south side of the road. He selected it in the fall of 181 1
and because of the fine spring brook which divides it into
almost equal halves. His father had trouble on the hill in
Cornwall, Vt., to get water and he was determined to get a
well watered tract in any event. A memorandum of his life,
written by himself, states that he made " a little beginning in
the entire wilderness " that fall but did not permanently es
tablish himself upon it till March, 181 5. He was back in
town the next spring or summer, since Mr. Risdon speaks of
his returning to Vermont. The War of 18 12 coming on, he
served a short time as a volunteer at Vergennes and also took
part as a soldier in the battle of Plattsburg, September 11, 1 8 14.
At the time he selected the farm there was only a partially
chopped or blazed line for a road through that section. His
log cabin was built a little back from the present house and
on the east side of the present dooryard. I can remember of
having its location pointed out. His son Simeon held the
farm till his death in 1 891, when it was sold to Silas H. San
ford, who, a few years since, sold it to Orlando Hayden. I
am unable to state when Judge Sanford built the present
house, a cut of which is given. I, feel sure it was about 1825.
The piazza at first extended across the east and west sides till

ii6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
some years ago, when they were removed by his son Simeon,
who built an addition on the rear or south side of the house.
Charles Gibson was the first one to settle upon what
has been and is known as the Jonah Sanford, Jr., home
stead, now held by Silas H. Sanford. Caleb Wright first
selected it and made a little clearing on the hill where the
present house stands. He had no neighbors except those
a mile north through the woods on the Potsdam road, all
of whom discouraged him, telling him there would be no
road through that section and so he gave it up, taking the
farm where his son George S. now resides, who so informs
me. Mr. Gibson built quite a long log cabin with an east
and west room a little north and east of the present house.
Just when he settled there I cannot state, but it is pretty cer
tain that he was settled there in 1 8 1 1 , since I notice that he
was selected that year as overseer of highways for the south
west district. His deed to the farm does not bear date till the
year 1818. He sold to Asa Moon in 18 19, and he to Jacob
T. Gould in 1841. Mr. Gould sold to Clark S. Chittenden
in 1852, and he to Jonah Sanford, Jr., in 1853. Mr. Gibson
moved to the Capell road in Parishville. Mrs. Permelia
(Sanford) Brooks taught school in the east room of the log
house in about 1837. Miss Emily. A. Remington, of
Ypsilanti, Mich., daughter of Stillman C, writes me that she
and her five brothers and sisters went there to school to
Miss Sanford. Mrs. Fullom M. Corwin also well remem
bers the fact of school being kept there and by Permelia
Sanford. In fact she lived in the log house with her grand
father, Asa Moon, for a time. He died there in 1842. Mr.
Moon built the north end of the present frame house which
is the parlor. The sitting room was then a wagon shed.
When Mr. Gould was elected a justice he finished off the shed
and added it to his home. Mr. Sanford still added further
to it. When Mr. Moon sold to Mr. Gould he reserved the
use of the log house till he could build some thirty rods
down and on the west side of the north road. He died be
fore its completion. His widow, Rhoda Wing, her children,
Charles, Annie, DeHa and Isabella Moon, moved into it un
finished, Hving in the cellar for some time. They got it
built finally when Jessie Moon took the title to the fifty acres
and gave them back a Hfe lease. Later Dyer L. Merrill be-

THE LATE JONAH SANFORD, JR., RESIDENCE.
Front end of house built by Asa Moon about i8jo.

THE LATE JUDGE JONAH SANFORD HOUSE.
Built by him about 182^.

RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL E. EASTMAN.
Fro7tt part built by Samuel Eastman iti j8i^.

HOUSE OF HOWARD P. EASTMAN.
Built by Lee Eastman iti 1832.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 117
came the owner. A Mr. Breed built a blacksmith shop just
south of the house, using the frame of the second school-
house in the Durfey district for that purpose. The house
and shop had different tenants for many years. All trace of
both is obliterated.
Barney Moon took the next tract west of Mr. Gibson
on the south side of the road. His cabin was on the top of
the hill where the turn in the road is made to avoid the hiU.
The potato cellar with a small mound of stone, the ruins of
the fireplace, can still be plainly seen. Mr. George S. Wright
is the only person who can recall the fact of this habitation.
He says it was called the Moon lot for some years. Title
was first taken to it by Judge Sanford.
Asa Squire took up a farm on the south side of the road
opposite the late residence of Lee Eastman, as I learn from
the survey bill in 1824 of the road leading south between
the farms of Mr. Squire and Heman Sheldon. Lee East
man took the first title to it in 1 83 1 with a few acres on the
north side of the road from Heman Sheldon, where he built a
fine stone house in 1832, which farm is held by his son Howard
P. Eastman. Mr. Squire's log house stood on south side
of road, some twenty-five rods east of Mr. Eastman's stone
house. A hole in the ground and a few apple trees close by
remained till some years ago to note that a home was once
there. Mr. Squire was a son of Eli, one of the original
pioneers, and his descendants are the only people bearing the
blood of Eli now living. On selling out here he went up
south of Parishville and built a sawmill, which locality be
came known as " Squire's Mills." His son Rollin went to
Minneapolis where he died recently, leaving two sons, C. D.
Squire of that city and Roy W. Squire of Philippine Islands.
His son James is living at West Bangor, N. Y., and has one
or two children.
Heman Sheldon was married February 4, 18 12, and came
to Hopkinton the next week to settle. He took the tract
next west of Asa Squire, where his son Ezra so long lived,
and eighty acres on the north side of the road opposite Asa
Squire's. The date of his deed is December, 1811, which,
with the fact that he brought his wife in the dead of winter in
1 8 1 2, plainly shows that he had been in and built a cabin in

ii8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
i8ii. The old map of Mr, Hopkins shows that these lots
were first " booked " to Joel Sheldon. He was the father of
Heman, Gaius and Oliver, and selected and purchased these
tracts for Heman as also those for Oliver and Gaius a little
earlier. Her daughter, Mrs. Orman Beecher, tells me that
her mother stopped a week or so on her way in with her sis
ter, Mrs. Jasper Armstrong, in her log cabin a half mile east
of the William S. Phelps place, while her husband went on
and got the cabin habitable. There was then no road through
there and so he had to go by the Potsdam road, crossing over
through the woods to his tract. He built the stone house
long held by his son-in-law, George Rockwood, in 1829.
This house and the east part of the farm are held by Isaac
Gurley. The west part was long held by his son Ezra when
it passed to Azro Perkins, who recently sold it to L. L.
Dewey. The old home of Ezra was destroyed by fire some
two or three years ago, when a fine new house was built by
Mr. Perkins on the site of the old house.
Settlement of the Peck Road.
This road starts from the Turnpike, a quarter of a mile
southwest of the village, and extends due south for some dis
tance and to the forest. It was backward in receiving settle
ment. The first farm up from the Turnpike was that of
Asahel H. Chittenden on the west side. It was conveyed to
him by Elisha Risdon off the rear end of his home farm as his
daughter's dowry. Mr. Chittenden built a log cabin there.
He sold to Fayette P. Sprague, and he to Harmon Clark, who
built a frame house and barn. He sold to Rollin S. Bedee, the
present owner.
Dr. Henry Witherell, who was a brother of S. Russell
Witherell, took up the tract across the road. He came to
town in 1837, and went to Waukegan, 111., in 1846. While in
town he practised as a physician. He sold to his brother,
Thomas D., of Depeyster, N. Y., and he to his brother S.
Russell. From him it passed to his son Edwin, who erected
the buildings and still owns it, though held by his son.
AuRELius Remington took up the tract next south on
the west side. He sold to WilHam A. Sheals, who lived there
some years, when he sold to Roswell Andrews. Mr. Andrews

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 119
resided there till a few years since, when he sold to Barney M.
Conlin, who recently died.
Nathan Peck settled across the road from Mr. Reming
ton with buildings a little south. Mr. Peck first settled on
the Sanford road opposite Seth Putnam's. Mr. Peck and Mr.
Remington had some litigation and trouble as we learn from
Mr. Risdon's diary. The farm passed to his son Orlin A., who
held it till his death. It is now owned by William Shonyo.
Just south of Mr. Remington's is the crossroad extend
ing westerly, and on the south side in the corner formed by
this road is the schoolhouse of the district.
Reuben Ainsworth lived across the road and a little
south of the schoolhouse. He was born in Calais, Vt., and
came about 1838. His children were Bailey, Alanson, Riley,
Delmora and Samuel. Alanson married while in town. He
afterwards went to Osseo, Mich., where he died. He raised a
large family. Riley married a Miss Stacy and lives at Nichol
ville. He was the young man whose fiddling annoyed Mr.
Risdon. (See diary.) The daughter died many years ago.
Samuel, the youngest, remained in town many years.
Daniel Sylvester lived just south of the schoolhouse.
His children were Luther, Daniel, Ezra and Melissa. Daniel,
the son, settled in Stockholm, where he died. He had two
sons, one of whom, Leonard W., married Mary N., daughter
of Russell T. Wheelock, and lives at Woodstock, Vt. The
other children, Luther, Ezra and Melissa, have died. The
owners of this farm following Mr. Sylvester were William A.
Sheals, J. M. Hammond, Harris Farewell and Isaac R. Hop
kins, the present owner. The buildings have all gone.
Royal T. Wheelock settled on the west side of the road
three-quarters of a mile farther south in 1836 or 1837. The
road at this time had only been cut and worked as far south
as Nathan Peck's. Mr. Wheelock in the following year
helped cut it on south to his place and beyond. He was the
first man to settle south of Mr. Peck's. Mr. Wheelock came
from Calais, Vt., where he was born. His home back in the
woods was for a time quite a rendezvous for the hunters, among
whom was Captain John S. Roberts. Deer were plenty in
those days, and it was not an uncommon thing to see a half

I20 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
dozen or more of them in the winter when the snow was deep
and food scarce browsing in the slash. Those were severe
times indeed, and the privations of many of the settlers were
terrible. His children went to school in the old log school-
house near Isaac Snell's, a distance of upwards of three miles.
The only way to get any actual money was to make black
salts. In 1846 Mr. Wheelock moved down into Stockholm,
where he died in 1848. His son, Russell T., born April 3,
1832, at Calais, Vt., having married Maria L. Ober, moved
on to a farm in 1857 on the east side of the road near his
father's old place in Hopkinton, where he remained till 1865,
when he went to Bridgewater, Vt. In 1874 he returned and
settled at Buckton in the town of Stockholm, where he still re
sides, and is a prosperous and useful citizen.
His four children were and are, to wit : (i) Florence L.,
born May 6, 1858, who married Lucien Gilbert and resides
at Pomfort, Vt. They have two sons, Leon and Walter.
(2) Royal T., born February, 1861, and died at three years.
(3) Mary N., born April 11, 1864. She married Leonard W.
Sylvester and lives at Woodstock, Vt. They have a daughter,
Grace, born July, 1885, and a son, Gerald, born November,
1889. (4) Ada M., born March 9, 1867. She married Al
bert B. Crabbe of Norfolk, and died in  1894, leaving a
daughter, Eva.
The second child of Royal was Susannah C, born in Calais,
Vt., and died in Stockholm in 1848.
The third child was Gideon S., born in Hopkinton in
1836. He enlisted in 1862 in Co. K, 60th Regiment, dis
charged on account of sickness and died February 5, 1863.
The fourth child, Levi D., born September 26, 1838, has
since 1 846 lived in Stockholm and is one of Buckton's stable
and realiable men. He married, first, Maria Beach, by whom
there were two children, Addie, now dead, and Brooks H. He
married, second, Mary Clark, daughter of H. J. Clark of Pots
dam. He enlisted September 2, 1864, in Co. H, ist New
York Light Artillery, discharged September 30, 1865.
Southerly of Mr. Wheelock there were a few settlers,
among whom were Antoine Shonyo, Darius Gilbert and
Calvin Cutler.

CHAPTER VIII.
The Story of the Village Green or Park — The first Burial Ground
— The First Death in Town— Mr. Hopkins's Troubles — The
Old Schoolhouse and Town House — The Present Town Hall —
The First Congregational Church Built in 1827 and its Suc
cessors. On the ninth day of July, 1808, Roswell Hopkins made
and signed a deed giving and granting unto the inhabitants of
the town, in consideration of his good will and respect for
them, a parcel of land beginning at the southwest corner of
Reuben Post's " home lot " (Chittenden store corner) ; thence
west twenty rods ; thence north twenty-two rods ; thence east
to said Post's land ; thence south to the point begun at, mak
ing in all with the road about three acres, for the purpose of
a green or common, excepting that a strip six rods in width
off the north end shall be used for the purpose of erecting a
meeting or other public house or houses when the inhabitants
shall think proper. In and by the same deed he granted a
parcel of land beginning at a point in the top of the bank
east of Lyd Brook and thence east eleven rods ; thence north
fifteen rods ; thence west eleven rods; and thence south to the
place of beginning, containing one acre and five rods with a
right of way from said green thereto, for the purpose of a
burying yard or ground.
This deed was duly signed by Roswell Hopkins and wit
nessed by Nathaniel Rudd, his brother-in-law, and H. Mc
Laughlin. His wife did not join in the deed nor was it ac
knowledged. Afterwards his name was blotted out with ink
and the seal torn out of the sheet. On the filing page is this
memorandum : " This deed cancelled and new deed given of
another parcel of land for the same purpose for a burying
ground." As early as 18 17 Mr. Hopkins became greatly involved

122 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and as a result the sheriff began selling his lands to satisfy the
claims of his creditors, as is more fully shown a little later in
this chapter. As a result of his complications Mr. Abraham
Varick became the owner of all or substantially all of Mr.
Hopkins's unsold lands. Whether he acquired them as Mr.
Hopkins's friend and in his interest, or as a business venture,
or to save himself for moneys advanced, I cannot say. At
any rate he was sufficiently kind and considerate toward the
settlers to give them a good title to the village Green and lot
north of it for pubHc buildings in 1827, thus confirming
the gift of Mr. Hopkins in 1817 to the same lands. How
ever, the deed of Mr. Varick, instead of being to the inhab
itants of the town, as Mr. Hopkins had given it, is to Bush
nell B. Moore, Gaius Sheldon and Zoraster Culver, as trustees
of the First Congregational Society, and the public Green and
meeting-house lots are separately described. The latter begins
in the west bounds of the Stockholm road, two rods and eight
links from fhe northeast corner of the " stone school or town
house," and runs thence west eleven rods and twelve links ;
thence south six rods ; thence east to the west line of said road,
and thence north to the point begun at, and is to be kept and
held by said trustees and their successors in office solely and
purposely as a place on which to erect meeting-houses or other
public building. The Green or Common begins at a point
in the north line of the Turnpike seven rods west of the
southwest corner of a house (tavern) built by John Thomas,
then owned by Philip S. Schuyler of Rhinebeck, N. Y.,
and occupied by A.  Merritt, and runs thence west to
the southeast corner of a lot deeded to Samuel Wilson, then
owned by E. Hulburd and Z. Culver ; thence north to the
southwest corner of the meeting-house lot ; thence east to the
Stockholm road ; thence south to the point begun at, to be
held by said trustees and their successors for the inhabitants
of the town, to be used for a pubHc Green or Common and
for no other use whatever. Although described differently,
these are identically the same lands contained in the two pre
vious deeds by Mr. Hopkins.
A picture of the Park taken by George M. Pressey, May,
1902, is given. The house at the left is that of Mr. Trask,
known as the Culver place. The church can be seen in the

oa•£w
wwo<

o Hg3a,ots >PiwHw o

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 123
background through the trees, as also a portion of the Town
House. The First Burial Ground.
The first burying ground was situated west of the Green
and just behind the lot known as the Goodnow place, and ex
tended east behind the Dr. Sprague lot or part of it.
It is evident that Mr. Hopkins had some misgivings as
to locating the cemetery where he did, since he did not per
fect the deed and gift. However, it was certainly used as the
first burying ground of the town. That the town recognized
and treated it as such is shown by the action taken at a spe
cial town meeting held in May, 181 1, when, on motion of
Dr. Stephen Langworthy, the sum of $200 was appropriated
" to clear off and fence the burying ground now in use near
Roswell Hopkins's dwelling, and that Rosweh Hopkins, Eli
Roburds and Reuben Post take charge of the work." It is
apparent from this appropriation that but little or no work
had been done on it at this time. What few burials there had
been were made in among the trees.
The Present Cemetery Grounds.
On the twenty-fourth day of April, 18 17, Mr. Hopkins
made a full conveyance to the inhabitants of the town of
Hopkinton of the same lands for a Green and building lot as
contained in the cancelled deed of 1808, and also one acre and
one hundred and seventeen rods and a road thereto (part of
present cemetery grounds) " for the sole purpose of a burying
ground and on the express condition that the inhabitants shall
fence said ground and road whenever the same shall be neces
sary to be inclosed and keep the fences in repair."
At the time of giving this deed, John Thomas had a tav
ern on the Chittenden store corner and Samuel Wilson a store
on the " Culver corner," with its east end coming to the west
line of the Green.
The first recognition of this gift of a burial ground that
I find in the official records of the town is in the year 1 849,
when an appropriation of fifty dollars was made to repair the
fence. When it first came into use as a burial ground I am
unable to state, but probably about 1820.

124 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Some fifty or sixty years ago the remains of those buried
in the first burial ground were taken up and transferred to the
new grounds. Isaac R. Hopkins tells me that his uncle, Ros
well Hopkins, assisted in such transfer and that the bones of a
girl were found lying inverted, creating the suspicion that she
had turned over after burial, though of course she may have
been buried in that position.
Mr. EHsha Risdon cleared the north part of the present
grounds in 1806, as appears on his tombstone. In the year
 the grounds were enlarged by the acquisition of all the
land south to the highway. Almost annually appropriations
have been and are being made by the town to improve and
beautify the grounds. They are now in very good condi
tion, but will require constant labor and attention. The pic
ture given was taken in 1902 by King T. Sheldon, and kindly
furnished by him for this work.
The First Death in Town.
According to Dr. Hough the first death was that of an
infant in the year 1807. He further states that from the set
tlement of the town in 1803 to the death of this child there
had been twenty-six births. Surely the death of only one
person out of all the settlers with their children and twenty-
six babes in four years speaks well for the hardihood of the
people and especially of the babes born and reared in log
cabins. I doubt very much if we can now show so low a rate
of mortality among babes with our warm houses, physicians
and nurses in plenty.
Whether this child was buried in the old burial ground or
in some sequestered nook near its parents' cabin in the woods,
I am unable to say. Back to earth with the unknown and
nameless millions he or she has gone, leaving not a name or a
sign. Mr. Hopkins in Business Difficulties.
It is apparent in many ways that Mr. Roswell Hopkins
got into serious financial straits as early asi8i7ori8i8. A
story has come down through the years which the more
elderly people still hold in memory that his son Benjamin W.
took a government contract to build a fort or to do some

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 125
Other public work in a southern state, that his father went
on his bond for the fulfilment of the contract, that the work
proved disastrous to all concerned, and that this was the cause
or the main cause of all his business troubles.
I am now able to confirm this tradition. I recently learned
through James Hopkins Gibbs of Detroit, Mich., great-
grandson of Mr. Hopkins, that Benjamin W. did take a
government contract to build some fortifications at Mobile
Point, Ala. ; that his father, Roswell, and Thaddeus Laughlin
went on his bond for the performance of the work, and that
judgments were recovered against the bondsmen. Benjamin
W. died at Havana, August 13, 18 19, whither he had gone on
some errand. (See sketch of Benjamin W. in genealogical
records.) As the sheriff sold some of Mr. Hopkins's lands
as early as January, i8i8,it hardly seems probable that his
troubles, or at least all of them, were due to his being bonds
man for his son. Very likely the settlers, struggling to make
farms out of a forest and with large families upon their
hands, found themselves unable to pay him, which rendered
him unable to pay his creditors. To tide himself along, due
to the inability of the settlers to pay or to the failure of his
son, or to both, he borrowed money in Utica, New York City
and other places, but it proved only a temporary reHef. When
these obHgations became due he was in no better situation to
pay, and they were put into judgment, amounting to several
thousand dollars. On two judgments in favor of James Van
Rensselaer several parcels were sold in January, 181 8, and bid
in by Abraham Varick of New York City, a friend of Mr.
Hopkins. In January, 1820, the sheriff again sold, and this
time practically all of Mr. Hopkins's lands. Then, as now,
under a sale of lands on execution, the debtor had a year or
so in which to redeem the lands. In the hope of saving his
property or some portion of it, he conveyed all his lands in
August, 1820, to Richard M. Malcom of Utica, N. Y. Soon
after this Mr. Varick came to his rescue by purchasing the
rights and claims of all or most of Mr. Hopkins's creditors,
and thus became the owner of most of what was left of Mr.
Hopkins's lands.
The deeds given by Mr. Hopkins as early as 18 17, or at
least quite a number given in that year, were held to pass no
title or at least to be defective. Mr. Varick subsequently re-

126 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
conveyed the lands, whether at the request of Mr. Hopkins
to confirm the title he had given I am unable to state. That
the titles to land and all matters relating thereto were in a de
moralized state in 1821 is shown in the reply to the resigna
tion of Rev. H. S. Johnson.
The Old Stone Schoolhouse.
I call it schoolhouse, for that was the name given to it by
its builders at the time of laying the corner stone. However,
we know it was at once also used for religious and town pur
poses, and was for many years thereafter. It was in all prob
ability the first public building erected in the town. It stood
on the six-rod strip reserved for public buildings in all three
of the deeds of the Park or Green, and was where or very
nearly where the present town house stands. It stood till
1 870, when it was torn down and the present hall erected in its
place. And yet, though only gone thirty-two years, its form and
look are fast fading into dim outlines and very soon will be
forgotten by all. In fact many people living near it now
differ in their description of it. Very fortunately Mr. Charles
H. Brush has preserved a tintype of his father's oxen in which
the old town hall was accidentally taken. Mr. King T. Shel
don of West Winsted, Conn., has kindly eliminated the oxen
(which perhaps he should not have done, since our picture of
the hall is due to them), turned the building round and given
us a very fair view of the old hall in which our forefathers,
often with heavy hearts and onerous burdens, met in solemn
council and fervent prayer for many years. But for this tin
type I fear the old hall would be nothing but a memory.
After much effort it is the only picture of which I have been
able to learn, and our thanks are due to Mr. Brush for its
preservation. The Story of its Building.
Recently Mr. V. A. Chittenden handed me a small, thin
book which Fred H. Kent, Esq., had handed him. On ex
amining it, to my supreme delight I found it to be the story
and the history of the building of the old hall, written at the
time and with original signatures. Many things which before
were vague, indistinct and uncertain are now made clear. The

TOWN HALL, HOPKINTON.
Built 18^0.

OLD TOWN HALL, HOPKINTON VILLAGE.
Built in 181^ and taken down iSyo.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 127
Httle book is entitled " A Record of Proceedings of the Pro
prietors of the Town Room in Hopkinton."
From this I learn that in 18 14 the people of the Centre
school district were about to build a new schoolhouse and
offered the inhabitants of the town the privilege of adding a
second floor or story over the schoolroom, for religious and
town purposes. The leading men of the town accepted the
offer and formed themselves into an association with a consti
tution or set of rules for their guidance. The clearings out
side the village or even in the village had only just been well
begun at this time. It was still mostly forest and the homes
were all of log save two or three.
The articles of association are interesting in many ways
and I give them entire. They are as follows :
Whereas, the inhabitants of the Centre school district of the town of Hop
kinton have offered the inhabitants of said town the privilege of erecting a Town
Room for the purpose of transacting town business and for holding meetings of
religious worship over the schoolroom which they are about to erect, and.
Whereas, there will be a great saving in the expense of building by accept
ing their offer, we, the undersigned, have agreed to accept said offer, and adopted
articles as a constitution to govern us in the premises.
Aricle ist. The room shall be buUt according to a draft adopted by the
proprietors and divided into one hundred shares, each share to have one vote if
claimed by the owner.
Article zd. A committee of five shall be appointed by ballot whose duty it
shall be to superintend the building, to draw on the shares fi-om time to time a
sum not exceeding five dollars in the whole on each share, to collect the same,
to receive all moneys, report to the proprietors from time to time the state of the
fiinds and the progress of building, and shall keep a just account with proper
vouchers of all moneys received and expended by them.
Article 3d. This room shall be used for the purpose of holding town meet
ings and meetings of religious worship.
Article 4th. The Congregational and Baptist societies shall have the privi
lege of this room for reKgious worship alternately in proportion to the number of
shares which they own, they not having a right to claim then: privilege at any
one time for any omission.
Article 5 th. The proprietors at their first meeting and annually thereafter
shall appoint a moderator whose duty it shall be to preside and determine all
votes ; also appoint a clerk whose duty it shall be to record the proceedings of
the proprietors and keep a fair copy of the same, and when requested by six
proprietors shall warn meetings by setting up in three or more of the most public
places in town at least eight days previous to the meeting in writing specifymg
the busmess to be transacted at such meetmg.
Article 6th. A majority of the proprietors at any legal meeting warned for
the purpose may vote a tax on the shares not exceeding twenty-five cents on each

128

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

share for the repair of said room, likewise may have power to appropriate the
use of said room for any other public purpose that will not interrupt divine wor
ship or town meetings, and likewise may have power to dispose of the same by
paying or securing the payment to the objecting proprietors of the amount of
their shares.
Article 7th. A proprietor may at any time dispose of his share or shares
and a certificate to that effect lodged with the clerk shall entitle the purchaser to
all the privileges of the same enjoyed by the original owner.
Article 8 th. The first meeting of the proprietors shall be held at the school-
house, near Roswell Hopkins, Esq., on Wednesday the twenty-first December,
1814. Article 9th. All persons shall hold themselves responsible in law for the
sum of five dollars for each and every share they may subscribe.
Article loth. Any person signing two shares may have the privilege of
paying one-half in labor or materials for the building by agreeing with the super
intendents for the same maimer and for four shares three-fourths and so on in pro
portion to the number of shares subscribed.
Article iith. The moderator, clerk and committee shall hold their office
for one year and fiirther until others shall be elected in their room.

Subscribers.

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 129

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 131

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132 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
These were the original subscribers to the Town Room, and
the signature is the genuine handwriting of each. They took
from one to four shares each, except Roswell Hopkins, who
took ten. I notice Mr. Eli Roberts then spelled his name as
I find it in all early records, viz., Roburds, and the Pierce
brothers, viz., Pearse. Of these names I learn but very little
of Joseph Chub, John G. White, Joseph Merrill, John Bris-
maid (I may not read this name correctly). As will be noticed,
several names are missing and among them Elisha Risdon and
Samuel Goodell, though Mr. Risdon had pew number five
with Mr. Post, and paid for it as he states in his diary.
The articles of association do not bear any date, but the
first meeting of the subscribers was held December 21, 18 14,
in the schoolhouse near Judge Hopkins's. Where he lived T
am unable to say definitely, but I think it must have been
near the Dr. Sprague place or possibly in the Sheals place or
near it. At this meeting Reuben Post was chosen moderator,
H. S. Johnson, clerk, and Messrs. John G. White, Benjamin
W. Hopkins, Thaddeus Laughlin, Seth Abbott and Jasper
Armstrong elected a committee to superintend the building of
the room. The next meeting was held September 8, 18 15, in the
Town Room, when choice was made of Dr. Sprague as moder
ator pro tern. Messrs. Roswell Hopkins, Seth Abbott and
Dr. Gideon Sprague were made a committee to propose some
method of disposing of the seats in the Town Room.
The proprietors met again October 26, when it was voted
as follows :
First. To accept the room.
Second. To allow the Hon. Roswell Hopkins five and one-half shares in
the room for building it larger than the agreement.
Third. To increase the number of shares in the room to one hundred and
twenty-seven. Fourth. To value the seats and to locate the proprietors according to the
plan on next page.
Fifth. To dispose of the supernumerary shares, which wiU be twenty-one
and a half, for the purpose of making repairs and amendments on the room.
Sixth. To appoint a committee of three to superintend the twenty and a
half shares and to appropriate the avails of them to the rooms as occasion may
require. Seventh. That Isaac R. Hopkins, Dr. Gideon Sprague and EHphalet Brush
be the committee for this purpose.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

133

The valuation of the seats and distribution of the same
among the proprietors were as follows :

$35 D>c a.0
X J

$30 1 2

$30 0 C
¦§ 1—1 i
3

$15 g^ CO
B «
'S 6
S c
4
$30 5
$30
-§1 6
$35
SI 7
8 R. Hopkins $35
-,, Dr. Sprague, E. Brush -
**> Maj. Rudd '
,_ Esq. Abbott, Merrill «_-
*" and Eli Squire ^*^
$30 J°'- ^"'''' II
•''•^ J. Armstrong **
J2 $30
j-„ W. Brush, S. Ransom ,-
5^" John Perry ^^
. A. Blanchard, A. Chandler, Sr. ^^
** W. Brismaid *^"
$30 15
16 $30
$30 Thad. Laughlin 17
J 8 Oliver and Gaius Sheldon $15
$^^ A. Chandler, Jr. *'
-,„ E. Roburds and ,,_
20 J.Gould ?'5
. Caleb Wright -
**^ James Russell •**
__ Ashbil Squire »,^
" Charles Gibson **^
^'^ S. M. Simonds ^
24 $15
$15 25
Singers
1 1 1 Entrance
134 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
There were some sales of shares noted in the record as
follows : Roswell Hopkins sold two shares, ten dollars, De
cember, 1815, to Aaron Warner. Jonathan Pierce sold his
share to Samuel Goodell, August 2, 18 17. WiUis Warriner
sold one of his shares to Benjamin Blanchard in June, 1818.
John Thomas sold to John Mosher one share April 24,
1 8 19, seat No. 12 on the west side. Eli Squire sold all his
right to Levi W. Squire, August 5, 18 19. Joseph Merrill
sold his two shares to Horace Train, August 5, 18 19. James
Pierce sold his share to Hugh Kennedy in August, 18 19.
Amasa Blanchard sold his share, seat No. 14, to Samuel Ab
bott. Silas Massey sold his share, seat No. 12, to Gaius
Sheldon, April i, 1820. Mr. Sheldon also bought the share
of Thomas Meacham, Jr., seat No. 22. Charles Gibson sold
his share for five dollars April 8, 1820, to Asa Moon. Joel
Gould sold his share in March, 1820, to Nathaniel Baldwin.
Joel Goodell sold his share to Gaius Sheldon, October 12,
1820. H. S. Johnson sold two shares, in seat No. 3, to
Samuel Wilson.
The schoolhouse with Town House on second floor was
built of stone and in the year 1815. Reuben Post, a mason
by trade and one of the foremost men in town, lost his life
by the falling of a staging, an account of which is given by
Messrs. Risdon and Kent in their diaries.
At the time of its erection a thin piece of lead plate, oval
in form, three by three and one-half inches, was placed in or
under the corner stone, as also a quart of good Parishville
whiskey. The lead plate is now the property of Isaac R.
Hopkins, Esq., and no one can hold it with greater right or
propriety. It bears on one side this inscription cut in with a
sharp tool, "Hopkinton School House, Erected, A. D. 1815.
Roswell Hopkins, Supervisor, 18 15," and on the other side,
this, " Reuben Post, Gideon Sprague, Eli Roburds, Trus
tees, Isaac R. Hopkins, Scribe, 18 15." The whiskey, I am
informed, on being taken from its hidden retreat for over half
a century, very quickly evaporated on exposure to the air, or
at least disappeared. All this, as we can now see, having the
story of the Town House, related to the first story or school-
house part of the structure. The entrance to the lower floor
was on the east side near the south end and to the upper floor
in the south end. The first house shown in the picture just

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 135
north of the hall is known as the Starks place and the next is
the present parsonage of the Congregational Church.
After some years the town began making some small ap
propriations for the repairs of the hall and took it into its
charge. In 1827 the Congregational Society built a large
church and so had no occasion to use the hall after that. Dr.
Hough says that the Congregational and Baptist societies
built the old hall. In this he is clearly mistaken, further than
that members of the two societies as well as others took shares
in the upper floor of the building. The lower floor was a
schoolhouse, built by the district and so dedicated as I have
already shown.
In July, 1 8 19, due notice was given to the share owners
of a meeting to be held July 22, to decide as to whether they
would dispose of the Town House (excepting a reserve for
the transaction of town business) to the First Congregational
Society. The meeting was held and Dr. Sprague chosen
moderator. It was voted to collect the overplus shares and
to repair the cupola so as not to let in rain to damage the
room ; to appoint a committee to consult with the Baptist So
ciety with a view to making further arrangements, and to ad
journ meeting to August 5.
From this it appears that there was at first a cupola on the
Town House. It must have been removed since none is shown
in our picture.
The adjourned meeting came on when Jonah Sanford was
made moderator pro tern. The following share owners were
present : Roswell Hopkins, Rev. H. S. Johnson, I. R. Hop
kins, Thaddeus Laughlin, Eli Roburds, Amasa Blanchard,
Gaius Sheldon, Aaron Warner, Joel Gould, Nathan Peck,
Hugh Kennedy, Eliakim Seeley, Artemus Kent, Joseph
Chub, Jonah Sanford, Seth Abbott and Seth Putnam.
A motion being made that on and after the first of July,
1 8 20, the Town Room "be appropriated to the entire use of the
First Congregational Society, excepting for town business,"
a vote was taken by yeas and nays resulting in its adoption.
It was also voted that Aaron Warner, Dr. Gideon Sprague
and Isaac R. Hopkins be a committee to raise money and
pay off the objecting shareholders, who were Jonah Sanford,
Seth Abbott, Joseph Chub and Seth Putnam. These men
were of course good Baptists.

136 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Where the Baptists held service after this I am unable to
state. In 1830 they united with the society in Lawrence and
so continued till 1843, when the society became permanently
located at Nicholville.
I have thus given practically all that is contained in the
little book which, so fortunately, has been preserved, giving
as it does an authentic story of the hall our fathers built, with,
as we see, so much effort and hardship. It verily seats them
for us and we can see them, Puritans as they were, in their
homespun and home-made clothes, devout and prayerful from
conviction and sincere belief.
In 1 841 the hall was repaired by a tax on the town for
$250. Later it had so weakened that a resolution was passed
at town meeting in 1 850 forbidding the use of the upper room
when the lower was in use as a schoolroom.
The New Town Hall.
The town having outgrown the old hall, and it also be
coming weak and dangerous, the people decided in 1869 to
erect a new and more commodious hall, a cut of which is
given. The town authorities wishing to have undisputed
title to the lot on which they should build, and fearing a per
mission to built on the old site from the Congregational So
ciety was insufficient, due steps were taken by the church to
get permission and direction from the court to deed the lot,
which was done May 9, 1871, by John Sheldon, E. Harmon
Risdon and George Smith as trustees of the society. The
lot so conveyed is five rods east and west by six rods north
and south, being the east end of the lot reserved for public
building. The new hall is of brick, fifty-eight by forty feet,
with platform in north end and gallery across south end. It
was built in 1870, Jonah Sanford, supervisor, and on the
site of the old hall.
The First Congregational Church.
I learn from the records of this society that on September
6, 1808, the following persons, to wit, Amasa Blanchard,
Stephen Ransom, James Pierce, John Thomas, Gaius Sheldon,
Eda Blanchard, Lucy Blanchard, Esther Post and Asenath
Thomas were united and formed into what was called the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 137
" Church of Christ in Hopkinton," by Rev. John H. Church
from the New Hampshire Missionary Society. Dr. Hough,
in his history, says there were five males and six females in
the first organization, but he must have been mistaken as to
the latter.
The society did not have a regular pastor till October,
1 8 14, though itinerant ministers and missionaries were coming
and going down to as late as 1850. The people, though very
religious, were too poor to hire a minister, and when they did
get able the compensation was very modest indeed, and con
sisted largely of grain and household supplies at that. The
service very often, as we learn from Mr. Risdon's diary,
was conducted by Roswell Hopkins, one of his sons or
some other member of the church, and, until 181 5, when the
Town Room was built over the schoolroom, must have been
held in the log homes of the members, or the log schoolhouse
near the residence of Mr. Hopkins, which I am unable to lo
cate, except that it was near the village Green.
A formal church organization was effected September 30,
1 8 14, according to Dr. Hough, with Amasa Blanchard, Reu
ben Post and Isaac R. Hopkins as trustees and Rev. Hiram
S. Johnson as its first pastor, who was duly ordained as such
in Decembor, 1815. According to the church records his
services began in October, 18 14. He was clerk of the first
meeting of the proprietors, December 21, 18 14, who built the
Town Room, in which service was held after its completion in
181 5 till 1828. For a history of the old Town Room and
the seating of its members, see article on " The Old Stone
Schoolhouse." It will be noticed that the society was given a lot on the
village map situate about one hundred and thirty rods east
of the Chittenden store corner. This was conveyed by Mr.
Hopkins in 1820 to Amasa Blanchard, Abijah Chandler and
Aaron Warner as trustees of the Congregational Society. I
am sure there never was any church there and that the society
did not hold it. Evidently they were fearful that the society
could not hold the lot which Mr. Hopkins deeded them in
1 817, due to his financial troubles, and so he deeded them
this lot, thinking his right to convey the same was good, but
it was not. There is no conveyance of the lot by the church,
which IS prima facie evidence that it got no title. In 1827

138 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mr. Varick confirmed the gift of Mr. Hopkins to the present
church lot by a conveyance of the same to the society.
The society having then outgrown the old Town Room,
or becoming dissatisfied with it for some reason, decided to
build a new and commodious church building. Accordingly
Dr. Gideon Sprague, Aaron Warner and Artemus Kent were
appointed a building committee. They built in that year a
good-sized structure which stood where the present church
stands and cost twenty-eight hundred dollars. Mr. WilHs
Warriner was the master mechanic, as George S. Wright in
forms me. It seems that Mr. Kent kept the record of the
work of construction and of the contributions by its members.
From the leaves of this record still extant I find that the fol
lowing men contributed in labor, material and money in its
construction ; to wit, S. N. Eastman, Elias Post, C. S. Chit
tenden, Isaac R. Hopkins, John Gould, Eli Roburds, Aaron
Warner, Henry C. Greene, Willis Warriner, Anson Grisell,
Gaius Sheldon, Bushnell B. Moore, Erastus Reeve, Hugh
Kennedy, Gideon Sprague, Albert Sheldon, Chauncy Chitten
den, Joseph Durfey, Henry Palmer, Martin Covey, John
Conner, Eliakim Seeley, Ruel Lawrence, Jacob Phelps, Elisha
Risdon, Abraham Johnson, Stephen Ransom, Heman Shel
don, Asher Ladd, P. Pomeroy, H. Blanchard and Artemus
Kent. The building was not fully completed till the following
year. It had an entrance in the south end to a vestibule or
entry with stairs at either side leading to the gallery across
the south end over the entry, along the two sides and across
the north end. There were two doors opening from the
entry to aisles about ten feet from each side of the main
room. On the wall side of each aisle were square or box
pews with door and a board seat around the pew. On the
inner side of the aisles were narrow pews with door, high back
to seats, meeting in the centre of the room with a parti
tion. I cannot say definitely, but the preponderance of
opinion is that the pews in the side galleries were box pews
also. There were two sets or rows of windows, one above
the gallery and one below. When first built the pulpit was
in the middle of the room at the south end and the choir in
the gallery at the north end, which situation continued for about
twenty years.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 139
All buildings in those days were built of heavy frames,
and Elias Post, who assisted in its construction, stated to sun
dry persons that it took a large number of men two days to
raise the frame, and that ten gallons of whiskey were
consumed in the effort. At that time it was the almost uni
versal opinion of mankind that no great undertaking, requir
ing much physical effort or labor, could be accomplished with
out the aid of liquor. What a change has been wrought in
the views and opinions of men during the intervening seventy-
five years on this subject ! Now it is very seldom, if ever,
used on any such occasion. In fact, all are agreed that it is
a detriment instead of a help to physical endurance and effort.
The church was somewhat rearranged, as near as I can
learn, between the years 1845 ^^^ 1850. The gallery was
taken out of the north end and the choir placed in the south
end. The pulpit was placed in the north end and the seats
between the aisles faced about. If there were box pews in
the side galleries prior to this they were taken out and long
bench seats took their place. The work was done, as Mr.
George S. Wright recalls, by Tambling & Nichols of Stock
holm, and the expense thereof paid by the members mostly
in grain and other produce delivered to Mr. Culver, who took
it at the market price.
Thus changed, the church continued till 1873 when, feel
ing the need and necessity of a more modern edifice, Messrs.
Thaddeus H. LaughHn, Joseph A. Brush and King S. Chit
tenden were made a committee to take charge of the work.
The side galleries were removed, one row or set of windows
put in the place of the former two, and the whole interior re
modelled and rebuilt. No change was made in the form or
size of the building and but little in the belfry. The exterior
look of the building, aside from windows and the wainscot
dressing, was about the same as before. The work was done
by Leonard Blanchard, assisted by Edwin A. Dove, E. A.
Wood and P. G. Henderson. While at work on the belfry
it was noticed that the indicator at the very top did not point
due north, and, as nothing about such an edifice should point
or teach an untruth, they proceeded with much labor to cor
rect it, building a staging for that purpose. There was a
large ball on the rod supporting the indicator with a tin sur
face. On reaching it, as Mr. Dove tells me, they found this

140 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
memorandum or record scratched into its surface with a sharp
tool, viz.: "John Gould, July 27, 1828, No rum to-day."
This was meant, no doubt, as a criticism of what took place
at the raising of the frame, and it was a most pointed one,
since it proved that the most hazardous feat of all could be
done without the use of liquor.
That considerable was done in the way of remodelling and
rebuilding at this time is shown by the fact that the total ex
pense was the sum of ^4,995. 64.
The fire which consumed all the buildings from Lyd Brook
east to the Artemus Kent place June i, 1891, attacked the
church in the belfry, and owing to its great height the people
were unable to get at it and put it out. Thus went down the
church of the pioneers, remodelled at great expense and with
out any insurance. The expense of all this work upon the
church was contributed and paid by the following persons :
Joseph A. Brush, Jason C. Brush, Clark S. Chittenden, George
Smith, George S. Wright, Jonah Sanford, Edwin A. Dove,
Samuel E. Eastman, Benjamin Collins, R. H. Laughlin, Cal
vin L. Cutter, Howard P. Eastman, Harry S. Hazelton, Ros
well Andrews, Orlin A. Peck, Samuel Eakins, Antoine Shonyo,
John A. Harran, Joseph Brush, WilHam S. Phelps, W. S.
Taggart, David F. Hendersen, RolHn S. Bedee, Silas H. San
ford, Sabbath-school, A. L. Warner, J. N. Fleming, A. N.
Roberts, J. B. Squire, Mrs. Orman Beecher, D. Scofield, R.
H. Freeman, John Lindsay, Milton Snell, Almira Warner,
Charles W. Livermore, Varick A. Chittenden, Edwin H.
Witherell, T. H. LaughHn, John Sheldon, Joel Witherell, E.
N. Desmond, King S. Chittenden, Ladies' Aid Society, G.
H. Brush, Kent family, Loren Smith, J. W. Pratt, Fullom
M. Corwin, T. G. Roberts, I. A. Putnam, Truman E. Post,
George Forsyth, Eben Squire. There was also considerable
gtatuitous labor by divers persons.
I have been unable to find a picture of the original church
with its two rows of windows. The cut which is given is that
building as altered and repaired in 1873, ^^^ ^^s the same ex
terior look as the original church, excepting the wainscoting
and the single set or row of windows.
Nothing daunted, the society set to work at once and in
the following year, 1892, built the present church, tasty in
design and modern in architecture, as may be seen by a glance
at the cut which is given. The committee in charge of the

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 141
rebuilding was composed of the following gentlemen : George
Smith, Charles H. Brush, Truman E. Post and Varick A.
Chittenden. The master mechanic and builder was T. H.
Holcomb. The total expense of the structure was $5,867.17,
and contributed by its members and others as follows : R. H.
Laughlin, Mrs. J. A. Brush, George Smith, Loren Smith, K.
S. Chittenden, Mrs. T. H. LaughHn, R. J. Sanford, J. W.
Pratt, J. B. Squire, S. L. Warner, J. J. Livermore, A. C.
Warner, George S. Wright, S. E. Eastman, E. E. Smith, S.
H. Sanford, Mrs. Jonah Sanford, A. S. Smith, George T.
Smith, Lucinda Briggs, Grace Brush, C. H. Brush, Mrs. J.
C. Brush, Mrs. John Sheldon, Eugenia Sheldon, Mrs. S. H.
Chittenden, Kent family, Benjamin Collins, R. S. Bedee, C.
S. Chittenden estate, Mrs. Arthur Bonney, Dr. H. B. Kent,
Dr. N. D. Lawrence, F. H. Kent, T. E. Post, Z. Culver
family, R. M. Smith, Mrs. Orman Beecher, Charles Fuller,
Emma Clark, J. R. and F. I. Hopkins, J. K. Rhodes, Young
People's Society, D. F. Henderson, Joel Peck, Atwood &
Son, Lucinda Phelps, H. S. Hazelton, A. T. Roberts & Son,
Arthur Flanders, Josiah Smith, J. H. Harran, Ladies' Aid
Society, H. J. Sanford, John Leach, Samuel Eakins, H. P.
Eastman, V. A. Chittenden. The pictures of the old and
present church were taken by King T. Sheldon.
The names of the pastors, with date of beginning and term
of service, are as follows :
Rev. Hiram S. Johnson, October, 18 14, eight years.
Rev. Roswell Pettibone, March, 1823, seven and one-half years.
Rev. Joseph Butler, June, 1832, one year.
Rev. Charles Bowles, April, 1834, three years.
Rev. P. Montague, February, 1838, one year.
Rev.  Bachellor, July, 1 840, one year.
Rev. Enos Wood, April, 1845, fifteen years.
Rev. Simeon Gilbert, November, 1 861, four years.
Rev. J. W. Grush, November 18, 1866, six years.
Rev. H. H. Wait, November 16, 1873, three years.
Rev. E. J. Beach, May 27, 1877, four years.
Rev. H. A. Ottman, September i, 1881, six years.
Rev. E. H. Jenkyns, November i, 1887, two years.
Rev. W. C. Jones, January 26, 1890, two years.
Rev. Henry Leland, May, 1892, half year.
Rev. F. A. Hassold, September 19, 1894, four years.
Rev. DeWitt C. Reilly, June, 1899, one year.
Rev. R. M. Robinson, September, 1900, one and one-quarter years.
Rev. L. Lewis, June, 1902.

142 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
A picture of Rev. Enos Wood is given. He was a most
gentle and devout man and beloved by all. He died April
lo, 1896, at Potsdam, where his widow still resides.
The deacons of the church, so far as I have been able
to learn, with date of election, have been as follows :
Aaron Warner, May 24, 1821. Roswell H. Laughlin, January 27, 1870.
Henry C. Greene, August 28,' 1 829. George Smith.
Zoraster Culver, January 31, 1834. Loren Smith, March 3, 1882.
John Sheldon, August 31, 1838. Jason C. Brush, March 3, 1882.
Philander Brown. Jason Livermore, May 6, 1898.
Adelbert Smith, May 6, 1898.
The first Sunday-school was organized March 28, 1828,
and the Y. P. S. C. E. in 1893.
The society for the first forty years or so was poor and
hard pressed at times and had about all it could do to get
along. The pastor was paid a very small sum, and that very
largely in farm produce and household supplies. And yet,
struggHng as they were, they kept up a vigorous and rigorous
discipline in the church and of its members. Whether this
was more due to their austere and radical convictions than to
a feeling of necessity, I am unable to state ; but I suspect
that the present kindly and considerate ways and methods
would have hardly answered in those times.
In 1 821 the pastor. Rev. Hiram S. Johnson, after seven
years of continuous service, tendered his resignation in writing,
in which he said : " The stipulated salary is only $300 per
year. Out of this sum I do not receive grain enough to
bread my family. I do not obtain more than $10 a year in
cash. I have endeavored to live upon this salary until I am
obliged to labor most of the time upon my farm to maintain
my family."
In reply to this the committee to whom the matter was
referred, consisting of Amasa Blanchard, Gaius Sheldon, Aaron
Warner and Henry C. Greene, reported " that the society
could do no more than heretofore, that the dispensations of
Providence had greatly weakened the church since its forma
tion, that five of the principal members had died, that Judge
Hopkins had lost his property and could not help much, that
to increase their discouragement the title to the lands in the
town was in great uncertainty and therefore did not expect an

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 143
increase of the society by new settlers ; that under such cir
cumstances they could not insist on their pastor's continuing
with them, although the thought of his leaving was extremely
painful." After due consideration Mr. Johnson withdrew his resigna
tion and remained another year. This gives an authentic and
real picture of the poverty and struggle of the people and
society. The Rev. Mr. Johnson was a fine and able man. He
afterwards settled and preached in Canton, where he bought
a farm on the road to Crary's Mill, on which he Hved the lat
ter part of his life. He preached the funeral sermon of Gov
ernor Silas Wright, which was published in pamphlet form.
He was thrown from a load of wood and hurt. Dr. Jesse Rey
nolds attended him. He had two sons, Levi and Ed. I'he
latter was principal of the Potsdam Academy in i860, and
went to SterHng, III. Both died in California. The society
and people of the town were very fortunate indeed in securing
the first two pastors of this church, when the people were
poor, hard pressed, building and making character. They were
able and grand men, and did much to mould the character of
the people. There were also many capable men who suc
ceeded them in the pastorate.
I will give a few of the many charges of omission and com
mission against the members and of the steps taken to dis
cipline them. One of the first was that of Eda Blanchard, an
original member of the church. Charges of intoxication and
abuse of her family were made against her in November, 18 16,
by James Pierce. An investigation or trial was had, when the
charges were sustained and she was suspended until she should
make Christian satisfaction. A considerable number of the
members were agreed that she was in a deranged state of mind.
In 1823 the matter again came up, when it was voted that the
case be dismissed until they could judge more correctly con
cerning her conduct.
On January 31, 18 17, the following charges were made
against John Thomas :
Article I. Brother Thomas has wrongfully travelled on the Sabbath.
Article II. Brother Thomas does not generally attend on the institution of
family prayer.
Article III. Brother Thomas has encouraged vain amusements and allowed
balls to be attended in his dwelling house.

144 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
After a trial and much discussion by the church, Mr.
Thomas was excommunicated December 26, 18 17.
On April 27, 1832, charges were made against Zebina
Ransom as follows :
First. For neglect of public worship on the Sabbath.
Second. For neglecting the stated meetings of the church.
Third. For neglect of family prayer.
Fourth. For neglecting to discharge just debts.
On these he was excommunicated June 28, 1833.
The Roman Catholic Church.
This society was formed and organized about the year
1876 by Rev. Father Normando. The meetings for a time
were held in the homes of different members of the church.
In 1877-8 a church was built, which stands on the north
side of the Potsdam road and on the west bank of Lyd Brook.
The materials and labor in its construction were contributed
entirely by members of the society, and the work was wholly
under the supervision of Father Normando. The building
was dedicated July 4, 1878. The church was under the care
of priests from neighboring parishes until 1 8 84, when Rev.
Father Legault took charge as the first resident priest and
remained seven years. In 1901 he was succeeded by Father
Duval, who still has charge. The society has a total member
ship of four hundred and twenty. A parsonage was pur
chased in 1902.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

144^

Electoral Census of t8J4 — Membetship of Families^ Ptoperty of
— Slavery not abolished till 1827*

Heads of Families. « §
_)- o
Abbott, Seth  1
Abbott, Samuel 
Armstrong, Jasper  1
Baldwin, Nathaniel  1
Blanchard, Amasa  1
Blanchard, Jr., Amasa  1
Brush, Eliphalet  1
Bellamy, Abner 
Brinsmaid, James 
Brush, William  1
Bastin, Joseph 
Bastin, Daniel 
Chandler, Abijah   ^
Covey, David  1
Chubb, Joseph  1
Durfey, Joseph  1
Durfey, Phineas  1
Dewey, Jared  1
Eastman, Samuel  1
Gould, Joel 
Gray, Heman  1
Gibson, Charles  1
Goodell, Samuel  1
Goodell, Joel  1
Griffin, Asahel  1
Hopkins, Roswell  2
Hopkins, Benjamin W  2
Hopkins, Isaac R  1
Henderson, David 
Harris, Lucy  1
Kent, Asahel  1
Knapp, Ephraim 
Laughlin, Thaddeus  2
Merrill, judson 
Miller, William 
Massey, Silas  1
Merrill, Joseph  1
Martin, Andrew  1
Martin, Ephraim  1
Nichols, Rufus 
Nichols, Andrew 
Nichols, Josiah 
Post, Reuben  .•  1
Pierce, Jonathan  1
Putnam, Seth  1
Perry, John  1
Roburds, Eli  1
Risdon, Elisha  1
Remington, Thomas  1
Sprague, Gideon 
Simonds, Samuel M  1
Stephens, Augustine 
Sheldon, Heman  1
Squire, Ashbel  1
Squire, Eli  1
Sheldon, Oliver.  1
Seeley, Eliakim  1
Sheldon, Gaius  1
St. Clair, Joseph  ]
Sanders, Jonathan 
Sanders, James 
Sanders, John 
Sheldon, Clarissa  1
Train, Horace  1
Thomas, " Icbul "  1
Trussell, James  1
Tyler, Joseph  1
Tyler, Ebenezer  1

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144-5

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

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§8

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Heads of Families.

Tyler, Samuel  1
Thomas, John  1
Warriner, Willis  1
Wakefield, Ebenezer 
Whitcher, Joshua  1
Wright, Caleb  1
Warner, Aaron  1
Totals  60

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I am indebted to Isaac R. Hopkins, Esq., who hands me the original
electoral census made by Benjamin W. Hopkins in 1 8 14. It was filed by him
as follows: "Hopkinton Census, 1814-455," the latter figures meaning num
ber of people shown as will be seen by adding the six footings to the right. As
I take it, it was not really a census, though it may have practically amounted to
that. There may have been a few who did not pay even a rent of forty shil
lings or whose place was not worth _j^20, and also a few stray people.
It will be noticed that many new names are added to the very early settlers
of 1803—1807 as will be noticed by a reference to the census of 1807 on
page 57. It would seem that the following men had left town since 1807:
Elisha Allen, Ephraim Buckingham, Gibbs Fuller, Job Greene, Jonas Harwood,
John Hoit, Dr. Stephen Langworthy, James Pierce, Nathaniel Rudd, Avery San
ders, Naam Sheldon, Chancey A. Stewart and Robert Train. Lucy Harris
was the widow of Samuel, who died in 1 8 10, and Clarissa Sheldon was the
widow of Abraham. Jonah Sanford did not settle in town till 181 5. A num
ber of the men named in this census who resided in Chesterfield are as follows:
Messrs. Basten, Chandler, Gray, Harris, Massey, Martins, Pierce, St. Clair,
Sanders, Trussell, Tyler and no doubt a few others.
The poll sheet contained a column for slaves, which surprised me as I did
not know, or if I ever did I had forgotten, that slaves were at any time held
in Hopkinton. Upon investigation I found that this state began emancipating its
slaves in 1799, but did not formally and by fiall legal enactment absolutely abol
ish slavery till 1827. The subject of a property qualification to vote also inter
ested me and I gave the matter some little time. I find that under the Charter
of Liberties, passed in 1691, every freeholder of forty shillings per annum in
freehold had the right of franchise. In 1697 this was repealed and the new
act required the possession of a freehold worth _5^40. Catholics, Quakers and
Moravians were not allowed to vote or hold office. Under the first Constitution,
adopted April 20, 1777, freeholders worth _;£ioo over all debts could vote for
governor, lieutenant governor and senators; those worth ;^20 or paid a yearly rent of
forty shilUngs and were rated and actually paid taxes, could vote for member of
Assembly. By an act passed April 9, i8ll, these values were changed "to
corresponding sums in Federal currency, viz., ^250, ^50 and ^5."
CHAPTER IX.
The Markets of the Pioneers — Only Barter and Exchange —
Scarcity of Money and how got — The Making of Black
Salts and Pearlash — Making of Cloth from Wool and Flax.
The pioneers of 1803 and for some years afterwards had
but very little capital other than an axe, pluck and strong arm.
Aside from these they brought but very little with them. They
had first to hew down the forest, a slow and tedious undertak
ing, to make fields for the grazing of stock and the growing of
crops, that they themselves might live. Their families were
large, and they had to have food and clothing, plain and coarse
and simple though they were. For some years their crops
were no greater than their own eating needs, save possibly a
small surplus for barter and exchange with the storekeeper and
neighbors for such articles and supplies as they must have.
At first there were no roads and no markets save the local
exchange among themselves. Afterwards when they did have
roads there was no market or outlet for many years for their
surplus products nearer or at least more accessible than Platts
burg on the east and Montreal on the north. My father,
born in 1 821, drove beef cattle when a man grown to Brighton
market in Boston. He also drew mutton, dressed sheep, to
Plattsburg in the winters for his father and brought back
nails, glass and other goods that were a necessity.
There was some boating on the St. Lawrence River, and
the port of entry and shipping for Hopkinton and surround
ing towns was Fort Covington. Until the Northern Railroad
was built in 1850 the people had no other means of reaching
markets than what I have stated. The building of that road
marked an epoch in the life of this section of country and
revolutionized, so to speak, its modus operandi of business ac
tivity and living.

146 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Scarcity of Money.
For many years there was but very little money in circula
tion among the people, and a good deal of that was of doubt
ful value. " Wild-cat " banks after a time started up all over
the country, and with very little actual capital as a base issued
their bills and put them afloat. When they got some distance
from home they passed more readily, since there was no way
of telling their real worth. Money was a scarce article for
fifty years or more. There were some years, as we learn from
Mr. Risdon's diary, when it was quite impossible to get it.
What Httle there was somehow seemed to get out of circula
tion. Practically all trade and deal among neighbors and at
the stores were by barter and exchange of one commodity for
another. The scarcity of money afforded a grand opportunity
to the Shylocks and forehanded to practise usury, and, I regret
to say, there were some in every town who reaped a rich har
vest in this way. A little study of those early times will dis
pel the illusion which many people seem to have that our fore
fathers were all grand and noble characters. There were
Shylocks then and mean and vicious men also. On the whole, I
am sure the per cent of such was greater then than now. We
are slowly growing better all the while.
Every settler had to have a little money during the course
of the year, at least sufficient to pay taxes and postage. These
he could not pay by barter or goods. The only way to get
absolutely necessary cash for the first twenty years or so and
the best and most economical way for the next thirty was
through the manufacture of
Black Sahs and Pearlash.
These always commanded cash, which enabled the manufac
turer to pay cash for ashes. Every man saved all the ashes
he made in the house and the logging fields when possible.
Mr. Hopkins began buying ashes very soon after the settle
ment of the town, as we learn from his old account book, paying
twelve and one-half cents per bushel for house and six cents
for field ashes, showing that he at once began the manufacture
of black salts. Oftentimes the settlers would select a heavily
timbered section and cut and burn the timber for the ashes it

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 147
would make. The ash and elm were the most productive or
at least made the best ashes.
The settlers used to watch and study the clouds and sky
so as to burn their log heaps and not have the burning too
soon followed by a rain which would injure the ashes and if
long continued destroy them. When the heat had sufficiently
subsided they were shovelled into wagon or cart and dra\^n to
the ashery with more or less dirt, according to the honesty of
the settler, mixed in.
The making of black salts was a very simple process in
deed. At the asheries was a large leach receptacle which was
filled with ashes. Upon these water was poured or allowed
to run which slowly percolated down through them and out at
the bottom, a dark colored lye. This was put into kettles
set in arches and boiled down to a hard, very dark, almost
black, brittle substance, known in trade as black salts. Some
little skill was required in doing this not to go too far and
burn them or to allow them to attach to the kettle. Many
asheries did not go any further than the making of black salts,
which were taken to Fort Covington, Plattsburg and other
points, where they found a ready market.
Some settlers, in fact quite a good many, who were able to
buy a kettle set up leaches made from hollow logs or by boards
set into a bed timber flaring at the top, back in the field near
their ashes, and made their own black salts.
Good ashes produced from seven to eight pounds of black
salts to the bushel, and the ruling price was three cents per
pound. They sometimes got as high as five cents, which
brought a great profit to the manufacturer. I well remember
Mr. E. D. Brooks telling me that when a merchant at Parish
ville he bought an ashery all complete for four hundred
dollars. He put teams on the road and bought all the ashes
he could find and at a low price as the business was greatly
depressed, otherwise he could not have got the ashery at so
low a figure. He made pearlash to the full capacity of the
plant which he held for a time. It greatly advanced in price,
but to what figure I do not recall. I do remember that he
sold the product within a year and made a little over four
thousand dollars on the year's business.
Almost every enterprising merchant ran an ashery in con
nection with his store, and had teams scouring the country for

148 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
ashes. The two worked together very successfully for the
merchant. The usual price for field ashes was ten cents per
bushel. Mr. Clark S. Chittenden had and run for many years
an ashery with a pearlash outfit on the west bank or shore of
Lyd Brook close up to the Turnpike road, getting the water
for his leaches from the open raceway on the bank above, which
had been built to run the old gristmill. Mr. Zoraster Culver,
another enterprising merchant, conducted one directly across
the road, where Dyer L. Merrill's starch factory afterwards
stood. Both were conducted with great success and picked
up all the ashes for miles around.
As showing what an acre of timber will produce in ashes,
I have only the story of Zebina Coolidge. He tells me that
Gilbert Covey and Reuben Post took a contract to clear ten
acres on the present Hopkins farm at ten dollars per acre and
the ashes. The usual price for clearing land seems to have
been ten dollars in those early days. Probably they were
given the ashes in this case in addition, owing to the great
growth of timber. He further says that they had great success
in burning and saving the ashes and that they secured six
hundred bushels from a single acre, which they sold at ten
cents per bushel, making it a very profitable job for them.
Making Pearlash.
The process of making pearlash was about as simple as
that of black salts, though the necessary apparatus was some
what more expensive. The black salts were put into ovens
and by applying a proper degree of heat for a stated time a
large per cent of the impurities were burned out, as also the
dark color of the salts, leaving a white, brittle cake which
could be readily broken. This was shipped to market in
barrels to Fort Covington, Ogdensburg and Plattsburg.
Pearlash, as I learn from Dr. H. D. Thatcher, is a car
bonate of potash. As such it was not in a state for use, or
at least in the chemical condition in which it was almost en
tirely used in those times, namely, as saleratus. To convert
it into saleratus more carbon had to be taken into its com
position, making it a bicarbonate of potash. This was done
by heating ordinary coal till it gave up its carbonic acid gas
in proximity to the pearlash, which absorbed it and took it or

SPINNING WHEEL.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 149
such part of it as was a proper union to make saleratus. It
was the staple article used in cooking for many years and
until recent times. Now it is not made, or if it be it is in
a very limited way. The bicarbonate of soda has displaced
it and driven it out of use for cooking purposes. It is true
that you can still buy it or think you do, since if it be called
for the merchant will say, " Yes, we have it," and hand you
bicarbonate of soda.
The Solvay Company at Syracuse, N. Y., manufacture
the bicarbonate of soda in quantities that are astounding,
some two hundred tons every day. The two raw materials
used in its manufacture are common salt and limestone. By
heat and proper treatment the soda locked up in salt is
liberated, as also the carbonic acid gas held in limestone.
There being a strong affinity between these two they rush
into a new union which we know as bicarbonate of soda.
At the same time the chlorine of the salt thus set free is only
too eager to form a new partnership, and so embraces the lime,
forming another useful article known as chloride of lime.
In and by this operation and process the salt and limestone
disappear as such, and yet we have two new products, bicar
bonate of soda and chloride of lime, with nothing lost in the
operation, save the impurities that are in the salt and lime
stone, which, however, are not lost though worthless.
How singular that these elements or properties, loving
one another as they do, did not get together when the earth,
heated and hot, was going through its formative period ! If
they had, perhaps they would not have kept through the
countless ages in which they have come down to us. Possibly
it was necessary to lock them together, as we find them in
salt and limestone, for their preservation to this time. Who
can tell? Making of Qoth from Wool and Flax.
The early settlers made a very large part of the cloth for
their clothing and for household uses and purposes from the
wool of their own sheep and flax grown on their own farms.
Every man who was able to do so kept a few sheep for this
purpose. At the shearing time, as we often see in the diary,
the wool was picked and usually by women ; that is, they tore
it to pieces, throwing out the knotty, hard, bad parts, as these

I50 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
greatly injured the cards. After the picking the wool was
washed and cleansed as well as could be, when it was ready for
carding, which was also done by the women and girls. The
cards consisted of a thin board, rectangular in form, about
twelve inches by six, with a facing on the inner side of leather
set thick with wire teeth slightly bent like a coarse brush.
Two of these, each having a plain handle, were used in card
ing. The wool, after being thoroughly dried, was given about
three pounds of oil or grease to every ten pounds of wool,
which had to be thoroughly worked into the wool. The
woman or girl in carding would lay a card on her knee, teeth
up, with the handle from her held by the left hand. With
her right hand she would draw a tuft of wool across the card
several times until a proper quantity of the wool fibre had
been caught by the wire teeth. Then she would take the
second card in her right hand, and after duly warming it, draw
it with a deft motion over the first and until the fibres were
brushed into parallel lines. By this means rolls were made
about a foot in length, though they were nothing like so round
as those turned out by a carding machine, being upwards of
two inches in width and thicker in the middle. The carding
done, the next step was the spinning of these rolls into yarn
or thread, which labor was also done by the women and girls.
As we learn by the diary, quite young girls did both carding
and spinning. The spinning was done by a large wheel with
a cord extending to and swiftly revolving a small wheel with
a long pointed metal needle attached to its centre. The
woman in spinning stood upon her feet, revolving the large
wheel with a short stick or peg about nine inches in length
called a driver or wheel peg, with a groove near the end that
it might more surely catch the spoke of the wheel, held in the
right hand and holding the wool roll in her left hand and
feeding it judiciously to the rapidly revolving point of the
metal needle, winding the yarn or thread back from the point
upon the needle as fast as it was spun. It was a good day's
work to spin four skeins of yarn in a day, and to do this it
was estimated that the spinner walked fifteen miles.
The next step was to wind the yarn upon reels to meas
ure it into skeins or knots for dyeing and getting it into
proper form for the loom. All people making cloth had dye
tubs for coloring the yarn various colors, otherwise the cloth

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 151
would all be white. Many people became quite proficient in
this work, producing rich and bright colors. The women
then, as now, wished to be dressed in bright and becoming
clothes which stimulated them to extra effort in the line of
coloring. The next and final step was to weave the yarn into cloth,
which was also done by the women in the loom. The loom
was a rather simple affair, consisting of four square posts
standing upright very much like the posts of an old-fashioned
bedstead, connected at top and bottom by crossbeams to hold
them firmly in place. They were mostly made by local car
penters. Across the back part between the posts was the
yarn beam, a heavy octagonal stick of hard timber about
twelve inches in diameter, making a yard in circumference.
There was also a round beam about six inches in diameter
toward the front part of the loom, directly under the reed,
called the cloth beam, and upon which the cloth was wound
as fast as woven. The warp threads were wound upon the
yarn beam and extended in horizontal and very close parallel
lines to a small wooden rod across the front of the loom to
which they were attached. There were many little items
necessary in preparing to weave, simple enough to the oper
ator, but difficult for me now to fully understand and more so
to write out intelligently. In preparing to fit the loom for a
job, considerable skill was required. A frame of two posts,
some five feet high and some six feet apart, with wood pegs
about six inches separated down the posts, was used to lay
out the warp. These threads went from peg to peg to the
full length of the piece of cloth which the weaver had decided
to make when it was wound upon the yarn beam. This done,
the next step was to string the warp threads, the necessary
number for proposed width of cloth having previously been
determined. All I am trying to do, or can do, is to give the
more essential things in weaving. Those wishing a detailed
and complete story must consult works on that subject. Each
thread on the yarn or warp beam was drawn with a warping
needle through an eye in the harness hanging from above and
in about the middle of the loom. The harness consisted of
two parts made in this way : two strands of a small strong
cord, a foot or more in length, were tied to a cross rod above
and to another below it. Near the middle of each two strands

152 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
hanging perpendicular and side by side, two knots were tied
about an inch apart, thus making what was called an " eye."
These two parts of the harness hung side by side across the
loom. The first warp thread went through the eye of the rear
frame or part of the harness and the second thread through the
eye of the front frame of the harness and so on across the loom,
each alternate thread going through the eye of the rear and
front parts of the harness. A cord from the lower bar of
each part of the harness extended to a foot treadle below.
When one of these was pressed down, as may be seen, one-
half, every alternate thread was pulled down three inches or
so, while the other half remained in a horizontal line. The
warp thread, after passing through the eye of the harness, was
drawn through the reed just in front of the harness and tied
to the cross rod near the weaver. The reed or batten was a
frame hung at the top of the loom so that its lower part
would swing. It hung down so as to take in the warp
threads. Across the loom in this frame were the reeds set
perpendicular and separated only sufficiently to permit of the
passing of the warp thread. They were yellow in color, some
four or five inches in length, very hard and smooth to freely
permit the passing of the thread, and held in a frame.
The shuttle was a block of wood a foot or so in length
coming to a dull point at either end. It was hollowed out in
the centre to permit of the reception of the quill or bobbin
on which was wound the woof or cross threads of the cloth.
The shuttle had a thread hole in one end through which the
thread of the bobbin passed.
When one-half the warp threads were pulled down by
a foot treadle the bobbin was thrown by hand across the
loom just in front of the newly made cloth and, of course, be
tween every alternate thread of the warp, thus adding a cross
thread to the cloth. When this was done the reed or batten
would be swung with some force against the weft thread to
press it evenly into place against the edge of the cloth already
made, when it would swing back. Then the other warp
threads would be pressed down and the bobbin thrown back,
repeating this the live day long and until the web of cloth was
completed. On the swing and blow of the batten depended
the evenness of the woof.
All families at all prosperous raised wool or flax or both

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 153
and for many years spun it, though all did not have a loom.
It made, as we can readily see, much extra labor for the
women which is now wholly unknown. After a few years
carding machines were brought into every village, which were
a great reHef. A little later shops for the manufacture of
cloth and fulling mills were established pretty generally.
Tailor shops for the cutting and making of garments were in
every village and even here and there along the highway.
Shoemakers and tailors often went to the farmers' homes and
shod and clothed the family. Now there are but few shops
of these kinds, nearly all our shoes and clothing being made
ready for wear in the great factories.
Cloth from Flax.
The flaxseed was sown broadcast as we sow grain. It grew
to a height of about two feet. They pulled it by hand and
bound it in bundles and let it stand in shocks for a while. Then
they spread it on the ground for a time that the pulp or woody
stock might decay so that it could be separated from the flax
fibre on the outside of the stalk. When properly decayed or
rotted they would draw it with the left hand over some wooden
jaws on a bench, striking it with a dull wooden sword in the
right hand between the jaws. This was called breaking the
flax and was the most primitive way in which it was done.
The way in which it was usually done was in this wise. Into
two heavy blocks of wood legs were inserted about three feet
in length. Three wooden jaws somewhat brought to an edge
on the upper side, about five feet in length, were mortised into
the upper surface of the blocks. Attached to the right-hand
block with a hinge was a timber with two jaws same length of
the lower and fitting in between them, with a heavy block at
the other end to give it weight to break the flax as it fell.
The man breaking flax would lay a roll or bundle across the
lower jaws and let fall upon it the upper jaws, then Hft them,
shake the bundle to get out the dust and broken wooden
fibre, shove the bundle a little farther over and let fall the
jaws again, thus repeating till the day's work was done. By
this means the woody fibre was largely taken out. The next
step was to hatchel it. The hatchel in most common use con
sisted of a board about two feet in length and six inches in
width. A space in the middle about six inches square was

154 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
filled with iron teeth sharply pointed some four inches in
length, closely and regulary set. They would lay this on the
knee, teeth up, and draw the flax through the teeth for some
time until the tow was gotten out. The tow was the coarser
and broken part of the flax fibre. What was left was called
flax and was fine, soft, smooth and straight in strands. This
was then wound on to a distaff by hand. The distaff was a stick
about two feet in length swelled out and made some six or
eight inches in diameter in the middle by rattan or bambo
bows. This was placed upright on an arm over the spinning
wheel. The flax was spun into yarn on a small wheel, pro
pelled by the foot, the spinner sitting in a chair and feeding it
to the spindle from the distaff. The yarn so spun was wound
on to a reel, ten knots in a skein, and was ready for the loom.
Many of the more prosperous farmers had a loom for weav
ing cloth in their homes, usually constructed by themselves,
copying a neighbor's. The coarse fibre, called tow, was
carded by hand to get it into rolls. The cards were large
with short wire teeth, and one was held in each hand while
carding. These rolls were spun into yarn on a large wheel,
the spinner stepping forward and back the same as in spin
ning wool. Before carding machines came into use the wool
was all carded by hand in the same way. The flax thread was
used as the warp of the cloth and the tow thread the woof
Those who had looms sold cloth more or less, and some wove
cloth for those who had no looms. Others who made more
cloth than they needed sold it to stores or exchanged it for
goods they needed.
That the tow cloth was coarse and harsh to the skin is not
only easy to imagine, but we know it was from the tearful
stories which many elderly people, who wore it, tell us. I
judge from what I hear that the pants of most of the boys
were made of tow. The experience of King S. Chittenden,
Esq., with tow pants is both amusing and ludicrous. It
comes to me so authoritatively that I do not hesitate to vouch
for its accuracy, nor do I think he will deny it. His step-
grandfather, Joseph Brush, had an old nag of a horse which
he invariably rode to the village, and very often King would
get on behind and ride back home with him. On one of
these trips he had on a new pair of tow pants, and as the
cloth had not been broken, Hmbered and softened by use

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 155
they pricked him unmercifully as he sat on the horse, and so
he kept wriggling and shifting his position to see if he could
not become more comfortable. This annoyed Mr. Brush a little
and he called out, " King, what is the matter with you?
Why don't you keep still ? You'll get the old mare nervous
and she will run away with us, if you don't be more careful."
At this King explained that his tow pants were pricking him
so terribly that he couldn't keep still. Mr. Brush replied,
" I guess you can stand it. I've worn them the most of my
life and I never made such a fuss about it." Thus reproved
King did a little better, though he had to jump now and then.
After quietly riding along a little way an idea came to him
and he cried out, " Grandpa, don't you think my pants are
pricking the old mare too and that that is what is making
her act so ? " This so pleased Mr. Brush that he had to dig
his heels into the old mare's sides to keep from falling off,
which added to the nag's excitement and away they went
at a great pace. Mr. Brush often told this story to the day
of his death.
Mrs. Mary E. Jebo and Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Gray give
me the foregoing story of primitive cloth making, with every
stage of which they have had practical experience, and which I
am sure will be read with interest by our younger people at
least. Mrs. Gray has a Hnen table spread which was woven fifty-
six years ago, and has been in continual use. It is in good
shape to-day, not a break in it. Mr. and Mrs. Gray have
lived in wedded life for over fifty-eight years, and both are in
splendid mental and physical condition, Mrs. Gray keeping
her home unaided.
Mrs. Jebo still continues to use her loom. The pictures
given were taken by Mr. Pressey from her machines, except
that of the flax wheel which is the prized property of Mrs.
Sarah Jane Dunbar, and the loom of Mrs. C. M. Speare of
Potsdam.

CHAPTER X.
Tanneries in Village and Town — Hotels in Hopkinton Village —
Physicians in Hopkinton Village — The Mormons in Hopkin
ton — Electoral Census of t82i and t835 — Postmasters in
Hopkinton — The Old Stage Route.
The first tannery in the town, as I have shown in another
place, was the one built by Eliakim Seeley on the east bank of
Lyd Brook, about a quarter of a mile north of the Turnpike
road. That was built as early as 1805, since we learn from
Mr. Hopkins's old account book that he then sawed the plank
for the vats. The vat holes can still be seen in the bank of
the brook on the rear end of Mr. Arthur Flanders's lot. Mr.
George S. Wright does not think this tannery was kept in use
later than 1830. Mr. Seeley died January 3, 1842.
There was also a tannery on the Hopkinton side of the
river at East Village, an account of which is given in the
story of that place. It outlived all other tanneries in town.
Somewhere about 1820 a small tannery was put in opera
tion on the south side of the road and east bank of the brook
which crosses the road just east of where Samuel Goodell re
sided. Joel Hosford was its proprietor for a time, and it was
operated till about 1830. Josiah Moses remembers going
there with his father with hides to be tanned, and Joseph T.
Canfield, who lives near by, can recall seeing relics of the vats,
and Charles H. Brush remembers his father pointing out its
location to him.
There were two in the village of Hopkinton. One was
situated on the east side of Lyd Brook and just north of the
Turnpike road. The other was a Httle farther east on the
south side of the road, on the easterly side of the brook and
just under the hill where Dr. Fayette P. Sprague long resided.
The stone basement walls of this building are still standing.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 157
I have made great efforts to ascertain who built these tanneries
and about when, but with rather poor success. No one living,
so far as I have been able to learn, can speak with any certainty
on these points. Tannery on North Side of Road.
I find on examination at the county clerk's office that John
Henderson deeded the lot where the Goodnow house stands,
and all the land in the rear of it and of Dr. Sprague's lot just
east and of Artemus Kent's lot just west of it, north to the
Trip Hammer or Sheals lot, extending in the rear from Lyd
Brook east to the Culver lot, to Bushnell B. Moore, Novem
ber 2, 1822. On November i, 1827, he purchased the lot
just west of the " Goodnow lot " of Artemus Kent, on which
Chauncey D. Thomas had built a log house, and on Novem
ber 3 of the same year of Abraham Varick the small lot next
west of the Kent lot to Lyd Brook. This gave him title to
all the land west of Dr. Sprague to the brook and north to
the Trip Hammer lot, including the old burying ground.
Mr. Moore on the fourth day of June, 1834, conveyed all of
said lands to Asa Durrell, who in turn, on the first day of
March, 1840, conveyed the same to Asahel Kent. WilHam
Kent, his son, deeded the same to Ebenezer S. Hulburd, July
I, 1845 5 h^ t° Zoraster Culver, August 2, 1846 ; he to Wil
liam E. Eastman, July i, 1849; ^'^'^ ^^ t° his son Royal
S., March 28, 1874. This is the story of the tannery and
Goodnow house lot as told by the records at the clerk's office.
Mr. Moore was somewhat active in town matters and lived
for some years on these lands. In fact I am satisfied that he
built the " Goodnow house," now standing, and also the first
tannery on north side of the road. King S. Chittenden and
others tell me that the first tannery vats were on the east bank
of the brook and some considerable distance north from the
highway. The Artemus Kent lot was only ten rods deep
north, and this would place the vats north of the Kent lot.
It may be that Mr. M oore started the first tannery with vats
back from the road and bought the Kent and Varick lots, so
as to command all the land south to the highway, which seems
very natural and plausible.
Asa Durrell became the owner of the property in June,
1834, and it is well known that he was a tanner and currier

158 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and conducted such a business at this place. Nathaniel Good
now learned the trade of tanner of Mr. Moore, when he went
to Ottawa, Canada, where he was foreman of a tannery until
the latter part of the year 1839, when he returned to Hopkin
ton and purchased this tannery property, Mr. Durrell moving
to Norfolk. His father-in-law^ Asahel Kent, took title to it,
no doubt in his interest, March i, 1840. Mr. Goodnow con
ducted it for many years and so long that it is still spoken of
as the Goodnow tannery and home.
There was a dam just below the bridge with a flume some
thirty rods in length down the bank of the brook to the water
wheel in the bark mill, a small building with a roof of four
sides coming to a point in the centre at the top. Just north
of this building or shed, for it was only boarded on the brook
side, was a small building where the beaming of the leather
was done. In one corner of this building there was for a time
a machine for fulling cloth. Just east of these buildings, with
an open space between, were the bark, tanning vats and
leaches. After some years Mr. Goodnow built a roof over
them, but not over the water and bate vats. The old curry
and shoe shop run in connection with the tannery stood at
the east end of the bridge and close up to the highway, with
an elevated walk leading to it from the road. The tanning was
done in the warm months and the hides all gotten out before
freezing weather and taken to the curry shop, where they were
finished in cold weather.
In about i860 Mr. Goodnow built a new and more mod
ern tannery up nearer the road. He quit the business in 1870.
After being idle three or four years Mr. Royal S. Eastman
started it up again. He was a son of William E. Eastman
and the last one to do a tannery business there, which he did
until about 1883, when he converted it into a butter factory.
As such it has since been used and is now owned and operated
by Messrs. Trask & Converse. The old curry and shoe shop
was moved across the brook and made into a dwelling, still in
use. Mr. King S. Chittenden and the writer were unable to
find any trace of the old vats. Mr. Goodnow lived till 1885,
and was buried in Hopkinton with his wife and four of his
children. The others of his family reside in Hutchinson,
Minn.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 159
Tannery on South Side of Road.
The information which I have been able to gather as to
this tannery is much less specific than that as to the other. The
records at the clerk's office show that Thaddeus Laughlin con
veyed the lot next west of the Artemus Kent home lot, seven
rods in width on the road and back to the brook, to Seymour
Selleck, December 15, 1817. Mr. Selleck conveyed it to
Horatio G. Munson in 1819 ; he to Zenas Clark in 18 19; he
to Roswell H. Eastman, November 7, 182 1 ; he to his father,
Samuel, in July, 1842 ; he to Aaron T. Hopkins in 1850; he
to Fayette P. Sprague in January, 1857 ; and he to Varick A.
Chittenden, May 16, 1866.
Who started the tannery business there I am unable to
say. Roswell H. Eastman went there as early as i8ai, and
did a tannery business a good part or all the time till 1841,
when he exchanged the property with his father for a farm in
Stockholm. In 1842 he exchanged this farm with his father
for the farm on the south side of the Potsdam road opposite
James Cotter, where he died September 20, 1842, as his
daughter, Mrs. Alzina M. Benson of Pine Grove, 111., writes
me. A Mr. Foster from Bangor or that vicinity and a Mr.
Drake conducted the tannery from about 1842 to 1850, when
Samuel Eastman sold it to his son-in-law, Aaron T. Hopkins
of Potsdam, who did a large harness business at the latter
place. Very likely he run it for a few years, making some of
the leather for use in his shop. It was not in use as a tannery
in Know Nothing times, since they used the upper floor as their
meeting place.
It is a little singular that more definite information as to
these tanneries is not more readily obtainable. I suppose it
is due to the fact that they were rather crude affairs and so
numerous about the country in those days that people did not
tax their minds with them.
About all the leather from 1803 to i860 used in the mak
ing of boots for men, shoes for women, harness and other
articles was manufactured in local tanneries. Practically all of
these goods were made in shops in every town, affording em
ployment to a large number of men. In addition to this,
shoemakers travelled about, going to farmers' homes and there
shoeing the whole family. Merrill Hosmer, whose father was

i6o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
a shoemaker, tells me that as late as i860 there were then up
wards of fifty men giving their whole time to the making and
repairing of boots and shoes in Potsdam. In forty years the
making of these goods, harness and other leather articles
locally has almost entirely disappeared. They are now made
in large shops in the cities by machines so deft in operation
that they are almost human, each doing the work of several
men. To-day, with the population of Potsdam twice what it
was in 1850, I do not think there are over four shoemakers,
and ninety-five per cent of their work is repairing. Whether
this centralization and consoHdation of work, wiping out of.
the small shops, does or is to redound to the general good I
am not wise enough to say. Boots, shoes, etc., are cheaper
than they were and very likely enough cheaper to offset the
cost of manufacture which was formerly saved to the commu
nity by being paid to home manufacturers.
Hotels in Hopkinton Village.
The first one, as I have stated in another place, was built
by Henry McLaughlin, very early, probably in 1804, on the
south side or end of the present village Green.
In 181 5, as we learn from Artemus Kent's diary, his son
Thaddeus built a frame hotel across the road which for years
has been the Laughlin home.
The next hotel was that built by John Thomas on the
Chittenden store corner in 18 16, as Mr. Artemus Kent tells
us in his diary. The raising of this house was completed on
the first day of July of that year. It was a good sized square
structure with a hall on the second floor. This was used for
some years as a lodge room by the Masons.
John Thomas kept the house for a time at an early date.
He painted it red with paint that he smuggled in from Canada.
A customs officer came to the hotel one day and while chat
ting with Mr. Thomas asked him where he got his paint to
make his house look so slick, and he quickly replied that it
was some he had left. This evasive reply would probably
have answered every purpose had not an old hen just then
come running and fluttering out from under the barn and
throwing the red ochre in all directions. " How is that?" said
the officer, " there is an honest hen." "Yes," retorted Thomas,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. i6i
" but it don't cost her anything to be honest." The customs
man crawled under the barn where he found the surplus paint,
and Mr. Thomas settled.
Philander Brown conducted the hotel for some years. He
kept a temperance house and had a large sign across the hotel
to that effect. I am surprised to learn that any one could
think of successfully running a temperance hotel in those
early times. Hardly any hotel proprietor even now dares to
open a hotel without a license. His daughter Sarah A.
married Dr. Fayette P. Sprague. Mr. Hunt, who at about
1 840 kept a store where V. A. Chittenden's residence stands,
bought the hotel and not long after failed and went away.
Benjamin Whitney kept it after Mr. Brown, but whether
he succeeded him or not I cannot say. A Mr. Wood
followed Mr. Whitney, anci Sawyer & Church succeeded him.
Thomas L. Howe, a brother of William S. Howe, was
keeping it at the time it burned. May 5, 1848. His wife
narrowly escaped by getting out of an upper window. Mr.
Howe then went across the road and built over into a hotel a
building which for years had been used alternately as a wheel
wright, cabinet and shoe shop, store and schoolhouse, and such
building so rigged over is the present hotel. For a time it
was covered with signs of various small industries that former
and present occupants had put up. The proprietors of the
hotel since Mr. Howe and the order of their occupancy to the
best of my information are as follows :
Charles Vincent, Elisha Martin, Harvey Sampson, Albion
N. Merchant, Emery A. Hamlin, Michael D. Quinn (1868
to 1873 at least),  Fletcher, Alexander Clark, Henry
Wells, John Sullivan, Cornelius Murphy, George Prespare
and now Cornelius Murphy. Mr. Hamlin has been for some
years in the furniture business at Detroit, Mich. Mr. Quinn
was quite a successful hunter of foxes, deer and other game,
keeping a number of dogs for the chase. He had a famous
hound called Moscow for which he refused ^150. While on
a fox hunt near Parker Converse's residence, Mr. Quinn's
gun was accidentally discharged, wounding him in the arm
and leg from which he soon died.
There has not been a license in town for many years ex
cept for the years 1899, 1900, when the vote of the town
ship of Piercefield, which suddenly and heavily increased in

1 62 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
population, overwhelmed the north part of the town. The
townships of Piercefield and Atherton were incorported into
the town of Piercefield in 1900, and the old town, freed of its
newborn settlement, has resumed its accustomed ways.
Physicians in the Town.
Dr. Stephen Langworthy was the first. I do not learn
just when he came or left. His name first appears in Mr.
Hopkins's account in 1807 and in the town records as late as
1811. Dr. Gideon Sprague came in 181 1, since it is known that
Joseph B. Durfey, now living at Parishville, N. Y., born No
vember 26 of that year, was the first child born after his com
ing. He remained in town till his death, August 28, 1859.
Dr. Henry D. Laughlin left Hopkinton to locate in Og
densburg in August, 1835, where he practised till his death,
June 18,1 865. How long he was in Hopkinton I cannot say.
Dr. Henry M. Witherell practised in town from 1837 to
1846, when he went to Waukegan, 111., where he became quite
prominent. (See family.)
Dr. Fayette P. Sprague, son of Gideon, began practice
with his father, and remained in town till about 1866 when he
went to Onalaska, Wis., where he died May 8, 1876.
Dr. F. A. Cutter practised in town from 1866 to 1872.
Dr. O. E. Hutchins began in 1872 and continued till 1875,
when he went to Ogdensburg, where he now is.
Dr. David Dayton came to town in 1875 and remained
for five years. He is now located at Trinidad, Col.
Dr. J. Q. Flood settled in town February 14, 1881, and
has continued to this time.
Physicians at Fort Jackson.
Dr.  Dyrgert, first resident physician, 1874 to 1878.
Dr. B. A. Meacham, 1887 to 189 1.
Dr. William Bigelow settled in 1895 for a short time.
Dr. E. B. Wells located in 1901, still there.
The Mormons in Hopkinton.
They were not in town to settle and live and would not
have been permitted to do so, especially with their plural

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 163
wives. The faith of the people in the justice, fairness and
decency of one wife and one mother in a family had been too
long inculcated and was too ardently believed to permit any
such practice to establish itself in their midst. They came
only to proselyte and to get converts to leave home and join
them in their Mormon settlement in Nauvoo, 111. I suppose
the reason they came to this town was due to the fact that
Joseph Smith, the founder of the faith, and Joseph Meacham,
one of the apostles who came, both had distant relations in
Hopkinton and vicinity.
The book of the Mormons, or Mormon Bible as it is
called, did not appear in print till 1830. It was first printed
by E. B. Grandin at Palmyra, N. Y. On the title-page of
the first edition Joseph Smith, Jr., was credited with being the
" author and proprietor." In subsequent editions this was
changed to " translated by Joseph Smith, Jr." When a lad
of only eighteen he claimed that the hiding place of this
work or Bible written on thin sheets of gold plate and buried
in the earth on the hillside not far distant from his home was
revealed to him in a vision or dream. He was an illiterate
youth and his family not well regarded. After long abase
ment of himself to make his spirit clean and pure, an angel led
him to the plates. These he translated to an amanuensis sit
ting on the other side of a curtain which shielded the plates
from contamination.
An elder of the Mormon faith by the name of Appleton
and an apostle by the name of Joseph Meacham came to
Hopkinton in the winter of 1843, ^^^ began their evangelis
tic work. Mr. Meacham was a distant relation of the large
family by that name then and still living in Hopkinton and
vicinity. He went west at an early date and becoming a con
vert to Mormonism no doubt felt that he could do most suc
cessful work proselyting among his numerous relations. The
late Royal Smith of Nicholville was a cousin of Joseph, the
founder of Mormonism, but he took no stock in his cousin,
at least in his doctrines, and the coming of an apostle direct
from Joseph had no influence upon him.
Reaching town they at once set to work in the way of
seeking converts, holding meetings here and there, preaching,
exhorting and expounding their doctrines. The most of their
meetings were held in what is now the red schoolhouse on the

164 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
road from Nicholville to Dickinson Centre, the block school-
house above Nicholville, near the residence of R. F. Fisk,
and in the schoolhouse, long since gone, that stood just east
of Joel Goodell's. They succeeded in arousing considerable
interest and feeling in their doctrines and gained quite a
number of converts. Several were baptized in the new faith
at Dickinson. In the following spring they picked up their converts,
rigged out several wagons with canopy tops after the prairie
schooner fashion and started for the then Mecca of Mormon
ism, Nauvoo, 111. Those who accompanied them at this
time, as near as can now be learned, were Hiram Mead, wife
and two daughters, Norman Meacham and wife, Stephen
Meacham, wife and some seven or eight children, all daugh
ters but one or possibly two, George Haskell and wife, Joseph
Meacham, a relative of the apostle, and Polly and Susan
Moses. The party was considerably augmented by additions
at Russell, N. Y., and at various points in western New York.
After a long and tedious journey they reached their destina
tion, but to most, if not all of them it did not prove the haven
of rest and peace which they had anticipated.
Mr. Hiram Mead was quite a prominent man in town and
-owned or held the west part of the farm of Samuel Goodell,
the buildings on which have disappeared.
After living with the Mormons for a time quite a number of
the party were sick and disgusted of the whole business and
sought to leave them and return home, but they found that it
was much easier to join the Mormons than to disassociate
themselves. Apostasy was a high offence to a Mormon and
merited death from his view point. Others who had been
brought in from different sections felt as they did, and in their
¦efforts to get away found it not only troublesome but a Httle
dangerous. The trouble and fate of others in their efforts to
¦escape made those who had gone from this locality wary in
their movements to return.
The Mormons at Nauvoo, where they had settled in 1838,
having been driven out of Missouri, constituted a settlement
of between fifteen and twenty thousand people, and it must be
conceded were a thrifty, orderly and prosperous community.
Joseph Smith was mayor of the town, and his adherents
£lled all the offices. And yet, sparsely settled as was that

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 165
country then and powerful as were the Mormons, the Gentiles
succeeded in having Joseph and his brother Hiram arrested
and thrown into prison at Carthage, Mo. Hearing that the
governor of the state was disposed to let them escape, a mob
broke into the jail and shot them to death, June 27, 1844.
It was reported and understood here that Norman
Meacham's apostasy and efforts to get away cost him his life.
Mr. Mead and family, the wife of Norman Meacham and
Stephen Meacham only of his family succeeded in getting
away, returning to this locality a sadder and wiser people.
Mr. Mead finally settled on Water Street below Nicholville,
where he lived many years, moving to Parishville, where he
died a faithful and consistent member of the Methodist Church
several years ago. No one of that Httle band is now alive, so
far as is known, to tell the story of their pilgrimage and sad
experience in a new faith.
Stephen Meacham on his return was a poor, disconsolate,
broken-hearted man. The Mormons held his wife, five
daughters and one or two sons as I remember, and he never
saw them again. His father, Thomas, was the most noted
hunter in all this section. Stephen, having a fondness for
hunting, became a recluse and took to the woods for a home.
His camp was several miles southeast of Parishville village
and only a mile or so from the mouth of Stony Brook.
Here he had a "kennel " about five feet high, seven feet long
and four wide, made by driving poles into the ground for a
habitation. The roof was of poles and bark. The opening
was at one end, close to which he built his fire. The entire
house was used as a bed, except that he kept his packages of
food and old clothes which people gave him in the corners.
The bed, when I saw it on a fishing trip in June, 1862, with
Calvin Cutler as a guide, was a mass of worn, old clothing a
foot or more in depth. When a garment got too badly worn
to wear he would lay it under him. The bed was much hol
lowed by his weight, rising on either side. We could not
find that he had any blanket or covering. Possibly he had
hidden these in the woods while away. He was a great
hunter, also, till his eyesight got too poor and he too infirm.
There was a small clearing in which he tried to raise a few
potatoes, but with poor success. He was not at home when
we called and I was very sorry. Poor old man ! Even as a

1 66 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
boy I used to pity him. He came to my father's for years
regularly every two or three months with an axe and a pack
hung upon it on his back. My mother saved all the odds
and ends for him. His hair and beard were long and white
and his face sad and disconsolate, giving him the look of a
patriarch, which maybe he was. Life was one eternal wail for
his wife and children. My sister Alice when a little girl
would comb his hair, chat with and wait on him, which greatly
diverted and pleased him. He called her his " little Queene,"
and longed to reach her home when he came to die. A year
or so before his death he heard from a son in California
through the assistance of my father, and got a little help.
How he longed to go to him !
In the winter of 1869 when out on one of his trips he
took sick at A. B. Cutting's in Parishville, which was one of
his stopping places, where he died February 27. The snow
was deep and the kind, gentle, sad old man had taken his last
tramp. How fortunate that he reached so generous and hos
pitable a home in which to die !
When the band of Mormon converts left Hopkinton
for Nauvoo the small dog of Mr. Mead followed them some
four hundred miles into the state of Ohio, the constant com
panion by day, faithful sentinel at night and a general favorite
of all. Tiring of the journey for some reason, perhaps not
having been fully converted, or perhaps having a pre
monition of the trouble in store for the party, he stole
away, abandoned the party in disgust and retraced his steps,
surprising as it may seem, to Hopkinton, N. Y. Weeks
after the departure of the party the dog came to the home
of Mr. Henderson, a neighbor of Mr. Mead's, footsore and
emaciated. They knew him and took him in and cared for
him. On the return of Mr. Mead and family the following
year, no one greeted them more warmly and affectionately
than did this little red dog. In his journey back he could
read no signs, make no inquiries as to the right road to
Buffalo, to Syracuse, to Watertown, to Hopkinton, and yet
most men, selfish in their reasoning abiHty, only allow the dog
the cheap faculty called instinct.
I am indebted to an article in the Courier and Freeman in
January, 1 900, written by E. A. Wood of Nicholville, for quite
a portion of the information contained in the foregoing article.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

167

Electoral Census of 182}.

•2 '^ ^ S

1^
t; S
Head of each famUy. 'l ^ ^ ^ f &" ^
¦s a
0
1
^611
0
'OJ cc
1^
Freehol Freehol Paymer Males, orex Improvi
0
6
0
0CUV
ll >-
><
CO *-¦
><
Abbott, Seth . . . I .
¦ •• I 35
12
5
22
16
¦7
74
Abbott, Samuel .
I 12
7
3
'3
18
16
77
Arquit, Michael .
. .. I 4
2
I
13
Armstrong, Jasper
I
2
2
26
38
33
94
Abbott, Jonathan B.
. . . I 8
I
9
20
35
50
Armstrong, Chester
I
I
I
30
4
Allen, Elisha . .
8
4
16
8
6
Brooks, Hosea
8
5
2
7
20
14
115
Brush, Joseph
40
24
5
35
35
48
165
Brush, Eliphalet .
- 30
19
5
30
28
40
58
Brush, William
2
15
3
I
. .
Blanchard, Amasa, Jr
20
6
26
21
1 1
25
Blanchard, Amasa, Sr.
2
20
7
2
37
24
46
43
Baldwin, Nath'l .
50
19
3
27
20
20
60
Bastin, Daniel C.
50
17
14
20
10
100
Bush, Eli . . .
I
I
10
12
Bushnell, Simeon .
10
7
12
12
10
30
Coolidge, Isaiah .
2
19
12
13
29
Converse, Calvin
12
2
5
10
Covey, David
20
7
30
25
61
75
Covey, Martin .
3
21
2
5
Chubb, Loren
I . . I
2
12
21
25
Chubb, Joseph
I . . I 30
8
2
18
9
30
Clemonds, Joseph
Chandler, Abijah
I .. 15
5
24
10
10
20
Chandler, Abjiah, Jr.
 12
3
Chandler, Harry .
 10
6
12
12
Chandler, Samuel _
I 12
7
14
II
22
Curtis, John . .
2
10
Cook, Ivory .
I
Dewey, Jared
 15
4
3
7
12
7
Durfey, Phineas .
 40
24
4
38
27
32
220
Durfey, Joseph . .
 25
12
I
25
18
16
100
Durfey, William S.
I
30
Day, Thomas
 4
7
8
8
4
13
Eastman, Samuel .
2 100
37
7
42
37
26
95
Greene, Henry C.
 20
9
I
33
14
9
103
Goodell, Joel . .
 70
17
3
35
18
60
100
Goodell, Samuel .
 30
9
2
2
16
40
Gould, Joel . .
.
7
12
6
40
i68

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

E

2c

.

¦^1
s
Head of each family.
1
If
n
1
1 c0
¦s a0
3§
^ 1
0
1
ii
U3 w
1?
o
V
1
1
s-
r
-0 0
>
1^
Gould, Jeremiah .
I
4
4
Hopkins, Isaac R.
15
35
5
90
40
75
115
Hopkins, Roswell
50
. .
24
37
Harris, Samuel
I
10
5
2
13
7
35
37
Henderson, Chester F
I
3
10
31
Henderson, John .
I
20
6
,
6
12
lO
10
Johnson, H. S.
40
4
3
43
20
30
Kent, Asahel .
20
13
33
31
40
60
Kent, Artemas
24
6
I
22
22
19
8
Kennedy, Hugh .
. .
12
I
14
3
22
87
Laughlin, Thaddeus
I
40
25
5
46
75
60
134
Leonard, Ruftis .
I
I
. ,
Mosher, Philip
35
10
3
20
10
75
Meacham, Stephen
3
3
15
10
Meacham, Thomas, Ji
I
50
5
2
18
1 1
15
»5
Moon, Asa
30
13
2
37
20
47
100
Moon, Barney
10
4
10
40
Newton, Samuel S.
. .
. ,
I
9
16
72
Phelps,  . .
Pomeroy, John P.
I
2
5
15
10
Peck, Nathan
30
5
14
4
30
50
Putnam, Seth .
30
13
27
15
20
20
Post, Elias . .
40
13
4
28
15
20
85
Palmer, Harry
I
2
1
II
17
25
58
Palmer, Clemuns .
I
2
2
14
18
Peck, Azariah
I
8
14
2
28
20
8
Perry, John .
10
6
20
Peak, Nathan . .
1
25
2
4
Risdon, Elisha
22
5
40
17
52
15
Remington, Stillman C
.-. I
45
12
2
31
. 32
40
105
Roburds, Eli . .
20
10
14
32
14
54
Ransom, Stephen .
20
7
17
16
38
Rinehart, Henry .
I
Reed, John . .
2
. .
2
Ransom, John
•5
12
4
4
Sanford, Jonah
50
18
I
23
17
12
200
Squire, Ashbel
. .
50
25
20
33
35
90
Sprague, Gideon .
5
I
I
8
8
4
Sheldon, Gaius
55
12
6
21
16
40
210
Seeley, Eliakim .
28
5
2
25
21
35
75
Sunonds, Sam'l M.
13
4
I
9
12
24
40
Spencer, William .
¦ •
EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

169

Head of each family.

2 0

1

0aV
B
0.

1^

•v B

0u
1

00

aS 0
1 C/3

!l ><

IX

Squire, Eli

2
20
5
2
31
33
30
52
Squire, Asa
I
20
5
. .
9
5
15
70
Sheldon, Heman .
30
9
2
24
20
20
60
Smith, Isaiah .
5
4
I
50
Spencer, William .
, .
Tinkham, Albe .
I
4
2
I
8
12
Thomas, Chauncey D
6
2
1
14
20
20
29
Taylor, Ebenezer
I
9
Taylor, Jonathan .
I
I
5
13
25
Thomas, John
2
50
19
4
23
20
25
45
Trussell, Samis
18
18
6
15
15
20
40
Trussell, Isaac
, ,
12
7
2
34
10
15
40
Train, Horace
30
6
I
22
12
25
53
Thomas, James .
I
2
12
12
16
15
Warner, Aaron .
50
21
3
29
30
25
144
Wright, Caleb .
60
34
4
36
27
53
67
Warriner, Willis .
3
4
1 1
15
27
73
Wead, John K. .
20
5
2
26
30
25
30
Wead, Stephen
I
I
I
Woodworth, Josiah E.
I
I
. .
8
13
Wilson, Samuel .
. ,
2
. .
Wright, Eben
I
9
2
49
69 13 13 28 1892 768 145 I6II 1376 1868 4478
The foregoing electoral return for the town was taken and made
by EHsha Risdon and verified by him October i, 1821, before
Isaac R. Hopkins, justice of the peace.
I70 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Manufactories in Town then.
Roswell Hopkins, Eli Roburds, Samuel Wilson, Abijah
Chandler, Jr., had sawmills. Roswell Hopkins had a grist
mill. John K. Wead and Samuel Wilson had carding ma
chines. Stephen Wead and Eli Bush had asheries. John
Thomas had a distillery.
The sawmill of Mr. Hopkins I am unable to locate with
certainty, but feel sure it stood on Lyd Brook down near the
present cemetery as I have shown in another place. Mr.
Roburds's mill was a mile south of the village on Lyd Brook
across the road from the present mill of Benjamin Collins.
Mr. Wilson's mill was at Nicholville, on Hopkinton side,
built in 1 8 1 7 and stood where the present mill does.
In all my research I first learn that Mr. Chandler had a
sawmill, in this census report. Where it stood I cannot say,
though I suspect on the Lawrence side at Nicholville. The
gristmill of Mr. Hopkins at this time stood on the west bank
of Lyd Brook in the village some twenty rods north of the
Turnpike. A history of it is given elsewhere.
Mr. Wead's carding mill stood, I feel sure, on the east
bank of Lyd Brook, about halfway down to the cemetery.
The lot is next south of Arthur Flanders. The carding
mill of Mr. Wilson stood just below and close to the south
end of the bridge at Nicholville. The name Stephen Wead
I do not meet elsewhere. His ashery may have stood on the
west bank of Lyd Brook in the village and on the north or
south side of the Turnpike, and been the forerunner of Clark
S. Chittenden's or Zoraster Culver's asheries which stood
there respectively and were run for years. The ashery of Eli
Bush was in or near the settlement at Nicholville. The dis
tillery of Mr. Thomas was on the southerly bank of the river,
in the rear of the residence of Samuel Goodell.
Location of New Settlers not given in Article on that Sabjcct.
Jonathan B. Abbott was a son of Seth and lived with his
father, where he died in 1825. He contracted for forty acres
off the west side of the David French lot on the Sanford road
where he had the eight acres of improved land given in the
census.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 171
Chester Armstrong came to town shortly before 1 821, and
settled on the Hopkinton side at Nicholville.
Elisha Allen settled a few rods north of the Turnpike,
some two miles northeast of Nicholville. The brook near by
is still called Allen's Brook. He came in quite early, as his
name appears in the census of 1 807, yet he does not seem to
have taken the first title to any land.
Eli Bush came about 1820 and built a house on the west
side of the road at the top of the hill on the Hopkinton side
at Nicholville. It was used for some time as a hotel.
Simeon Bushnell settled very early about a mile northeast
of Nicholville. His title was March 4, 18 10, and is the first
title or one of the very first in Chesterfield. (See sketch of
him among the pioneers of that township.)
Calvin Converse settled opposite Mr. Bush's place.
John Curtis and Ivory Cook I am unable to place.
The Chubbs, Loren and Joseph, one or both lived on the
road leading from the cemetery to the Gaius Sheldon place.
Thomas Day took up a tract a mile northeast of Nichol
ville on the south side about 1812. And yet I see he had
only four acres of improved land in 1821. (See story of his
family.) Joel Gould Hved about a mile above Jared Dewey's.
Samuel Harris settled a short distance down Ferris Street
in the winter of 1808-9, ^"d had only ten acres of im
proved land in 1821. (See sketch of him and his family.)
Rufus Leonard, Henry Rinehart, John Ransom, Albe
Tinkham, Ebenezer and Jonathan Taylor and Samis Trus
sell I am unable to locate.
John P. Pomeroy built the house north of the junction
of the Northwest Bay road with the Turnpike. It is a long,
low house and by some thought to be one of the oldest houses
in town. The name Phelps (spelled Felps) only is given. I think
it must mean Jacob Phelps, as he came to town in June,
1821. Clemens C. Palmer had a house at or near the north end
of the bridge in Nicholville. It is claimed by some to have
been the first house in that village. He was the first post
master at Nicholville, receiving his appointment January 7,
1831.

172 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Stephen Ransom Hved for a time near the river in the
rear of Samuel Goodell's farm. (See map.)
John Reed settled near Samuel Harris on Ferris Street.
William Spencer got title to one hundred acres June 6,
1828, near Water Street schoolhouse.
Isaac Trussell took up a tract two and a half miles north
east of NicholviUe. (See story of his family.)
Comments on the Census.
At this time, 1821, the town had been actually settled
eighteen years, though, of course, at first by only a few men.
I confess "I am surprised at the small number of improved
acres. Samuel B. Abbott, then living where Elisha Risdon
afterwards lived and died, had only twelve acres of improved
land ; Eliphalet Brush, who got title to his farm in 1 804, only
thirty; Jared Dewey, who took deed in 1803, only fifteen ;
Samuel Goodell, a pioneer of 1803, only thirty; Asa Moon
(Jonah Sanford, Jr., homestead), only thirty ; Elisha Risdon,
then on Potsdam road, only twenty-two ; Eli Squire, a pioneer
of 1803, only twenty.
There were only twelve men who had fifty acres or more
improved, to wit, Nathaniel Baldwin, Daniel C. Bastin, Samuel
Eastman, Joel Goodell, Roswell Hopkins, Thomas Meacham,
Jr., Jonah Sanford, Ashbel Squire, Gaius Sheldon, John
Thomas, Aaron Warner and Caleb Wright ; and only three
of these had over fifty, viz., Samuel Eastman, one hundred;
Joel Goodell, seventy ; and Gaius Sheldon, fifty-five.
The small number of horses is also surprising. Many of
the settlers only had one horse and several not any. How
ever, we should bear in mind that most of the heavy work
was done with oxen. Judging from what they had accom-
pHshed at this time in the way of clearing land, I cannot help
suspecting that our grandparents and great-grandparents were
not such terrific and persistent workers as we have been led
by tradition to beHeve. That they were a poor and struggHng
people this inventory shows conclusively and beyond any
question. Perhaps they were so sorely pressed with the
problem of how to Hve that they could not clear their land
any faster.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

173

Census of the Town for the Year 1835.
Number male persons in town
Number female persons in town
Number subject to militia duty
Number entitled to vote
Number aliens not naturalized
Number married females under forty-five years
Number unmarried between sixteen and forty-five years
Number unmarried under sixteen years
Number births, male 1 6, female, 20 .
Number deaths year 1834, male 7, female
Number acres improved
Number neat cattle .
Number horses
Number sheep
Number hogs
Number yards fulled cloth in domestic way
Number yards flannel
Number yards linen, cotton, etc.
Number deaf and dumb .
Number sawmills
Value raw materials used in each
Value manufactured articles in each
Number fiilling mills
Value raw materials used .
Value manufactured articles
Number carding machines
Value raw materials used .
Value manufactured articles
Number asheries
Value raw materials used .
Value manufactured goods
Number tanneries
Value raw materials used .
Value manufactured goods

441
469 81
'83 10
I 20
74
217 36 14
3.129 1,294 260
2.953 771
1,881
2,169
2,262 23
^525
M.050 I
81.50083,000 I
Si, 200
82,400 2
^900
51,500 2
^600
51,050

Postmasters, Hopkinton Village, with Date of Appointment.
Thaddeus Laughlin, January i, 1808.
Clark S. Chittenden, July 15, 1841.
Zoraster Culver, August 6, 1845.
Clark S. Chittenden, October 16, 1849.
Fayette P. Sprague, August 15, 1853.
Northrop Morse, June 30, 1855.
Clark S. Chittenden, December 27, 1855.
S. C. Remington, February 9, 1857.
King S. Chittenden, April 23, 1861.
J. Q. Flood, August 18, 1885.

174 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Varick A. Chittenden, May i6, 1889.
J. H. Macomber, March 31, 1894.
Jay H. Chittenden, Npvember 3, 1898.
Postmasters at Fort Jackson.
Franklin Kellogg, April 3 , 1873.
Calvin Miller, November 6, 1885.
A. E. Ober, August 2, 1889.
Varick A. Cutler, April 13, 1894.
Martin L. Clifford, March 16, 1898.
The Old Stage Route.
After the territory between Plattsburg and Ogdensburg
had become considerably settled, John Thompson of Malone
conceived the idea of starting a mail route between these places.
This was probably in 1830 or a little later. He began with a
mail bag which he carried on his back, covering the distance of
one hundred and eighteen miles in about a week, leaving and
taking mail, very largely letters, at all the little places. Ac
cordingly it took him two weeks to get back to Plattsburg,
which was the starting point. This he continued for about
six months, when he got a horse and made the trip on horse
back and in much quicker time. Being successful in this and
seeing the necessity for carrying passengers and parcels, he got
a span of horses and wagon which he used for a time. Emi
gration from the east was quite large at that time and steadily
increasing. Many of those coming in were young men on
foot seeking a tract of land or employment. There was also
a good deal of travel to the east by settlers going back to Ver
mont on social or business errands. Mr. Thompson proved
to be a man equal to the occasion. He soon exchanged his
wagon for an old-fashioned coach and added a second span of
horses. Then as the business grew and demanded he put on
further and additional coaches, dividing the route into six sec
tions with a station for each. Among the earlier drivers for
Mr. Thompson were John Roberts, who died in Chateaugay,
and William Andrews of Malone. The business under Mr.
Thompson grew to large proportions, when in 1 846 or 1 847
he sold the entire route to Messrs. Roberts and Andrews.
They were men of small means, but being bright, ambitious
and thoroughly conversant with the business made a small

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 175
fortune in the eight or nine years that they conducted it.
After the completion of the Northern Railroad in 1850, the
business steadily grew less, when it was finally given up about
1856. The horse, noble animal that he is, could not survive
in the strugglewith the locomotive. The day of the stagecoach,
exciting and exhilarating as it was, had gone. The grandsons
of Mr. Thompson now compose the firm of Thompson
Brothers in Malone.
Mr. Simeon D. Bridge of Canton, N. Y., now seventy-
four years of age, to whom I am indebted for the information
contained in this article, began as a driver on the route in
1 847, when he was nineteen years of age. At that time there
were three hundred horses in use or ready for use on the
route, from fifteen to twenty professional drivers and many
coaches and wagons. The horses were mostly purchased
along the route, costing from fifty to seventy-five dollars, and
lasted from three to five years. Usually there were four
horses to a coach and sometimes six, the number being deter
mined by the number of passengers. The route from Odgens-
burg ran to Flackville, Canton, Potsdam, Parishville, Hop
kinton, Nicholville, Bangor, Malone, Burke, Chateaugay,
Centerville and so on to Plattsburg. As previously stated
the entire route was divided into six sections, and the horses
in each section were changed after a drive of about eighteen
miles. Mr. Bridge drove on each of the six sections, but the
most of his nine years was on the section from Ogdensburg
to Potsdam. He left Ogdensburg at two o'clock in the morn
ing, changed horses at Potsdam and returned to Ogdensburg
about six p. m. The fare from Ogdensburg to Plattsburg
was five dollars, to Canton one dollar, and to Potsdam one
dollar and fifty cents, and always collected in advance. This
fee included the carrying of baggage to the extent of fifty
pounds. If it weighed more an extra charge was made. The
large wooden trunk of that period and all heavy freight were
hauled independently by the freight teams. The drivers used
to throw off the mail to the farmers along the route and do
errands for them and others, for which they got a small fee in
addition to their monthly wage of fifteen dollars and board.
He collected all the fares and settled with the proprietors
every month. They also carried considerable money for the
banks, then located at Ogdensburg, Malone and Plattsburg,

176 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and Mr. Bridge says there was never a highway robbery on
the route. The coach often carried eighteen to twenty people,
and Mr. Bridge says he carried as many as twenty-seven per
sons in a single load.
The roads, at least the stage route, were better than they
are now, because more labor was expended on them. There
was also far more travel then than now. Mr. Bridge says
that he often passed from fifty to seventy-five teams in going
from Potsdam to Ogdensburg and that every now and then as
many as forty teams would put up at night at the old Ameri
can House in Canton.
During the first part of Mr. Bridge's career on the route
one Thomas Cox kept the Parish Hotel in Parishville, and
during the latter part one Bill Greeley. At Nicholville a man
by the name of Wilson kept the hotel in the gulf and Sam
Roberts the one on the top of the hill.
During the latter years of the coach driving it came from
the east every other day through Lawrenceville to Potsdam,
instead of by way of Parishville every day as formerly.
The coach drivers, so far as Mr. Bridge can remember, be
ginning with the earliest, were the Selleck brothers of Parish
ville, one called Uriah and the other" Bone," a Mr. Lamphear
of Potsdam, John Farnsworth of Ogdensburg, Jack Fuller
of Canton, Thomas Goodman, James Kildey and Rasselas
Bridge. Mr. Bridge is very sanguine that he is the sole survivor of
the men who drove on the route.

CHAPTER XI.
Fort Jackson — Its Early Settlement — Water Power, Shops and Mills
— History of its^Three Church Societies — Its Postmasters and
Physicians.
Although the east branch of the St. Regis River passes
through a rather narrow defile in the rocks at this place and
with considerable of a fall, making it easy to harness for power
purposes, yet, for some reason, it did not seem to attract at
tention sufficiently to become settled for some years after the
settlement of Islington. Why it was not at once taken and
settled. If for no other reason than the water power there
offered. It would be difficult to say, but, I suspect, it was
owing to the fact that Mr. Hopkins brought in about all the
settlers, who, naturally, felt under obligation to buy land of
him up in Islington. Then, too, all the mills and shops were
built along Lyd Brook, which, it was at first thought, had
ample water power for all practical purposes, and they
wished to settle as near by as possible. With the country all
a wilderness save here and there a little clearing, the people
dreaded to go far off by themselves to live alone in the
woods. The falls at the East Village (Nicholville), more expensive
to utilize than these, were taken and a dam built as early as
1 8 1 7 by Samuel Wilson, but those there were on the route
to and from Vermont, by the people of Islington, which fact,
no doubt, aided in their development.
The Sawmill of J 824 — Naming of the Settlement.
I find that Isaac R. Hopkins early purchased a tract lying
principally on the south side of the river and taking In all or
about all of the present village lying on both sides of the
river. A glance at the map will show the tract purchased by
him. In 1824 he built a sawmill there, which stood just
above the present gristmill. The story has come down that

178 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
at the time of the raising of the frame of the mill the people
present to assist, which, of course, in those days, comprised
all the able bodied men of that neighborhood, grown boys
and no doubt some women, took it into their own hands to
name the settlement. Mr. Hopkins and sons were all Whigs
up to the breaking out of the Civil War, when they became
strong Democrats. The sentiment at the Fort at this time
was decidedly Democratic and the men of that faith with loud
acclaim settled on the name. Fort Jackson, in honor of
Andrew Jackson, who was then in great popular favor. When
the excitement was at Its height a man taking a bottle of
whiskey rushed up on to the timbers of the mill and breaking
the bottle against a post cried out in a stentorian voice, "I
christen this settlement and village Fort Jackson." Mr.
Zebina Coolidge thinks the man who did this was Erastus
Reeve or, possibly, his son Benjamin, who was then seventeen
years old. I am indebted to Mr. Coolidge and George S.
Wright, Esq., for the foregoing.
Mr. Zebina Coolidge in April, 1826, then ten years of
age, moved down on to what is now known as the Robert
McEwen farm on Merchant Street In Lawrence with his father.
The bridge then was where the upper bridge now Is and had
heavy hard wood planks for a flooring. These had not been
nailed down and had warped and twisted into all sorts of
shapes. In driving over the bridge on a trot the rattle and
noise of these planks when dry were something great. It was
so loud that he says they could often on a still night down
on the McEwen farm hear Dr. Sprague go thundering over
the bridge. Early Settlers at the Fort.
The first people to settle in and about the village as now
recalled by Mr. Coolidge were as follows :
Carlos Humphrey was one of the first, who was a black
smith. He had a shop on the south side of the river and on
the north side of the road opposite the present residence of
Philo A. Davis. He married JuHa A., daughter of David
Covey, and nothing is known of her or them by any of the
numerous descendants of David Covey. Mr. Humphrey's
brother William kept a blacksmith shop up near Joseph Dur
fey's. The two brothers went to western New York or

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 179
Ohio at an early date, since which time no trace of them can
be learned. Harry Wead had a small house just west of the stone
residence afterward built by Franklin Kellogg and where later
stood the hotel of Mr. Ezra Fuller, of which it was a part, which
latter was destroyed by fire in December, 1900. When Mr.
Kellogg settled at the Fort he first lived in this Wead house.
Erastus Reeve lived on the north side and In a house
which stood where the Baptist parsonage now stands, and died
there. He had quite a family of boys, Benjamin, Champion J.,
Stephen, Tapping, Charles J. and Sheldon, all of whom after
a time went west, except Benjamin, who settled near Beecher-
town in Stockholm.
Chauncey Chittenden, an elder brother of Clark S., had a
farm on the south side, about a quarter of a mile westerly of
the village.
One of the first shops at the Fort was a woollen mill built
by Ros. Laughlin. He ran it for a time, but as the work
injured his health he sold out, or took In at first a Mr. Lyman
as a partner. A Mr. Ezra Hyde soon became a partner of
Lyman. They conducted it some years. The shop stood
near where the sawmill now stands. Whether it was there
before or after the erection of the sawmill I cannot say. In
1853 the old shop was turned halfway round and moved
south a little to make room for the building of the gristmill.
About this time Samuel Crook was using It as a wheelwright
shop and did for some years.
Noah Post was one of the early settlers at the Fort. His
house was the one in which his son David so long lived and
recently died. Noah was a cooper and had a shop across the
road and down near the sawmill. He was a son of Reuben,
the pioneer of Hopkinton. His son Henry while fishing fell
Into the flume of the mill and was drowned. Mr. Zebina
Coolidge still has a tub made by Mr. Post, in which they set
the milk for making cheese, that Is now in practically as good
condition as when made ; and Henry Wells also has a cedar
wash tub made by him which is yet in fine condition.
Moses Haselton was an early settler and about one mile
north and down the river. His son Albainas lived there un
til his death. The latter's son Silas resides there on the
old place. David, another son of Moses, lived there for a

i8o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
time and then went to Wisconsin. A daughter, Harriet, be
came the wife of Lee Eastman.
Martin Covey, a brother of David, was also an early set
tler. He lived across the road from P. A. Davis's present
residence. His daughter Susan married William Eastman,
and she and her husband went there to live late in life.
Isaac Austin settled at an early date about a mile down
the river on the north side. His son Harmon lives about a
mile above the Fort on the north side. He had the old
musket which Isaiah Coolidge, father of Zebina, carried in the
War of 1 8 12, but recently sold it to Charles H. Brush.
Hugh Kennedy was living in 1826 In a log house on the
north side at the end of the bridge where Franklin Kellogg
afterwards had a store and where his son, Franklin Kellogg,
now lives. The Great Freshet of 1830.
In June of the year 1830 the greatest freshet ever known
In Hopkinton took place. It swept away, or at least practi
cally, all the bridges, dams, mills and shops at East Village
and Fort Jackson. The fulling mill of Mr. Hyde was moved
bodily down stream some distance and torn to pieces on the
rocks. For some time all people had to go to Parishville for
all kinds of mill work. The bridge at the Fort was gone and
there was no way of crossing. There were people caught on
each side by the flood who belonged on the other, and besides
there was much trafficking between the two sides of the river.
A means of transfer was needed and must be had. After
much parleying It was decided that a float worked by a rope
attached to either shore would be the cheapest and quickest
mode of transfer to construct. To do this they had to first get
a twine or string across the stream and the only way available
to do this was to tie the string to a stone and throw the stone
across the stream. Brawny and muscular as were the men of
those days, there was only one out of many who tried it who
could throw the stone with the string attached across the
stream, and that was Edwin O. Phelps. The string once over
they were soon able to stretch a rope across, and with this , to
hold to they were soon able to work a raft or float.
FrankHn KeHogg was a blacksmith and opened a shop at
the Fort in about 1839. He Hved in the Wead house where

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. i8i
the Fuller Hotel burned In 1900. At first I think he used
the Humphrey shop. Later he built a large stone shop
which stood close by and just west of the large stone
residence built by him.
Prospering at his trade, he and Caleb Wright, Jr., built a
store at the north end of the main bridge on the location of
Hugh Kennedy's old house where they did business
for some years. Mr. Kellogg built a fine stone resi
dence on the south side some ten rods from the south
end of the bridge in about 1854, where he resided till
his death, March 17, 1877. He also built the present
large and commodious store across the road from his late resi
dence in 1 871. The house and store passed Into the
hands of Calvin Miller, and the former, a fine residence built
of sandstone, quarried near by, was burned down in 1896.
Mr. Miller rebuilt of wood on the old site, and the property
is now held by his son George. His son-in-law, A. E. Ober,
conducts the old store.
Soon after becoming owner of the property Mr. Miller
tore down the old stone shop.
Mr. Kellogg's son Harrison had conducted it since his
father quit blacksmithing. On its destruction he bought a
plat of ground across the road and built a large shop of wood
which he operated till he went to Chazy. His younger
brother, Franklin, also a blacksmith, bought the shop and
has conducted the business very successfully to this time.
In 1852 J. B. Weaver of Schuyler Falls, N. Y., built a
starch factory just across the road from the gristmill. After
wards a stock company was formed which did business for
quite a number of years. The buildings are now fast going
into dissolution.
In October, 1852, Francis Davis, father of Philo A. and
the late Francis W., came to the Fort and with some difficulty
secured the present gristmill site and power. In the following
year, 1853, he built the first gristmill. The old woollen mill
of Ezra Hyde, then operated by Samuel Crook as a wheel
wright shop, was turned half around and moved back from
the river a little to make room for the gristmill. Thus the
three mills stood In close proximity until the fire of February
16, 1 87 1, when all were consumed. The gristmill was rebuilt
that year by Francis Davis and the sawmill by Fred Hopkins.

1 82 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mr. Crook this time rebuilt just across the river, which shop
is now owned by Martin L. Clifford and used in his butter
tub business.
Mr. Davis conducted the gristmill till his death a few
years since, when it passed into the charge of his widow.
The mill was sold not long since to Charles F. Ober.
In about 1869 or 1870 George Wells built a shingle mill
on the north bank of the river, which he conducted for some
years, selling it to James Macomber, who later sold to Badger
& Andrew, who in turn sold to Calvin Miller. It is now
conducted by Mr. Miller's son-in-law, A. E. Ober.
The men In business at the Fort in 1873, as I learn from
an old directory, were as follows :
Harrison F. Kellogg, blacksmith. Francis W. Davis, gristmill.
Joseph Clifford, carpenter. Franklin Kellogg, general merchant.
S. W. and George C. Crook, wheel- Fred I. Hopkins, sawmill.
Wrights. George Wells, shingle mill.
David Post, cooper.
The present men In business are as follows :
A. E. Ober, general store. Charles F. Ober, gristmill.
Franklin Kellogg, blacksmith. Clifford & Son, lumber and tub shop.
Clifford & Son, grocery. A. E. Ober, shingle and lumber.
J. B. Farrar, general store. Charles F. Ober, dentist.
Joseph Clifford, undertaker. Chambers & Elliott, butter factory.
The First Methodist Episcopal Society of Hopkinton.
This society was organized December 13, 1839, at the
schoolhouse in Fort Jackson. A board of nine trustees was
elected by a " plurality of voices " as follows : Josiah Smith,
Martin Covey, Hiram B. Sheldon, Rufiis Aldin, PhlHp
Mosher, Albert Sheldon, Bradley Adams, John Durrell and
Z. L. Ransom. Dr. Hough has the last two names John
Daniels and John L. Ransom, which is an error.
The first register of records was carried away by mistake
and a new record book purchased in 1873. I am therefore, I
regret to say, unable to give the names of the charter mem
bers. The society prospered so well that in 1 844 it built the
present stone church standing on the west side of the road at
the top of the hill, some twenty rods north of the bridge cross
ing the river, a cut of which recently taken is given. The
stone for it was taken from the quarry close by and largely cut

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 183
by William E. Eastman, Linus Stevens and other members of
the church. When cut, a bee was made and the stone drawn
to the site of the church and the building erected.
At first the society had only itinerant or circuit preachers.
At times in its history it has been associated with the Brick
Chapel and also with the Nicholville society in the employ
ment of a minister, and Is now a part of the Nicholville
charge. The pastors of this society, with year of engagement, have
been as follows :
William Tripp, 1843. S. F. Danforth, 1866.
Josiah Arnold and L. L. Greene, 1868.
Justin T. Alden, 1845. S. C. Goodale, 1871.
Oran Lathrop and Charles E. Dorr, 1872.
Royal Stratton, 1847. W. Riley Helms, 1873.
A. F. Bigelow, 1848. Thomas W. Gregory, 1875.
Proctor M. Crowley, 1849. S. Short, 1876.
Joseph A. Livingston, 1850. H. O. Tilden,  .
James L. Humphrey, 1852. J. Fletcher Brown, 1877.
Augustus E. Munson, 1853. D; T. Pierce, 1880.
Ebenezer Pense, 1854. A. C. Danforth, 1881.
W. D. Moore and M. D. Sill, 1884.
C. E. Syms, 1855. S. J. Greenfield, 1885.
C. M. Bowen, 1857. D. L. Phelps, 1887.
Not given for 1858 and 1859. ¦ J. R. Downer, 1889.
Oscar Mott, i860. R. Sherman, 1890.
David Ferguson, x86i. H. Hesselgrave, 1893.
Alonzo Wells, 1862. W. F. Tooke, 1897.
A. L. Smith, 1864. C H. Van Camp, 1902.
The Freewill Baptist Church.
Dr. Hough says this society was organized in 1844 by
Elder John Sweat and Elder WilHam Whitfield with sixteen
members. Its own records state that several brothers and
sisters met August 9, 1843, ^°^ the purpose of organizing a
church society, and gives the following persons as charter mem
bers : viz., Reuben Wells, Lucinda Wells, Jared Luther and
wife, A. Stoddard, Caroline Smith, Betsy Sweat, Thomas
Sweat, John Sweat, Delia M. Sweat and Abigail Chaffee.
This society, like all others bearing the prefix " Free
will," was formed partly, at least, as a protest against the
doctrine of human slavery as a divine institution or as a right
supported or warranted by divine authority. It is surprising

1 84 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and astounding that the meek followers of Jesus In any church
society should be required or compelled to leave it on account
of such barbarous teaching. Why there were not Freewill
Presbyterian, Methodist, etc., societies formed I do not see,
as there must have been men and women in all denominations
who did not believe in slavery the same as there were in the
Baptist Church. Whether the pastors in other churches were
more discreet and let the subject alone, fearing trouble if they
touched it, or whether the Baptist Church took it upon itself
to defend slavery, I cannot say. It is certainly a little singular
that the only protesting took place in the Baptist Church, and I
regret that I cannot explain It. My grandfather, Jonah San
ford, was a Democrat till the Fremont campaign in 1856, and
I am pained to admit believed, or thought he did, in human
slavery as a right. His pastor, a Baptist minister at Parish
ville, did not so believe and kept giving the institution a side
thrust every now and then. Emboldened by the approval of
many members, he, on one occasion, took slavery as his text
and attacked it, adroitly of course, yet his Intent and purpose
were plain to be seen. Mr. Sanford, who was a power in the
society, had a front pew, and when the minister closed, arose
in his place and lectured him smartly and soundly for bringing
" politics " into the church. The minister undertook to reply,
but the Judge, being resolute and strong, held the floor.
Other members gathered about, some siding with the Judge
and some with the pastor. The meeting broke up in more or
less turmoil and without a benediction. I give this episode
only to show the state of feeling from about 1830 to i860 on
the slavery question, which seems only to have broken out in
open revolt, for some unaccountable reason. In the Baptist
Church. The Baptist Church of " Hopkinton and Nicholville," of
which this society at the Fort was an offshoot, was, as I am in
formed, strongly Influenced If not controlled by Myron G.
Peck. There was a great deal of feeHng and some bitterness
engendered in the church over the support given to the doc
trine of slavery, or rather to its refusal to take a decided stand
against slavery, which lasted many years, and may still rankle
in a few bosoms whose hearts now beat slowly and weakly.
Unable to longer accept its teachings on this subject, quite a

METHODIST CHURCH AT FORT JACKSON.

FREEWILL BAPTIST CHURCH, FORT JACKSON.
Schoolhouse in foreground.

RESII_)ENCE OF FRANKLIN KELLOGG.

UNIVERSALIS I' CHURCH, FORT JACKSON.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 185
respectable proportion of the congregation withdrew and formed
a new society.
The church building was erected In 1 847 at a cost of one
thousand dollars, and was dedicated January 2, 1848, the ser
mon being preached by Elder John W. Lewis. It stands
some twenty rods northerly of the Methodist Church and just
over the line in the town of Lawrence. In the picture of It
which is given the tasty public school building will be seen in
the foreground nestled under the edge of a beautiful grove.
The only man now living who helped to cut the timber for and
build this church is Harmon Austin, Esq., of Fort Jackson.
The pastors, so far as shown by the records with the be
ginning of their pastorates, were as follows :
John Sweat, 1844. L. D. Preston, 1880.
Mark Atwood, 1862. John Cox, 1883.
John Waldron, 1870. ' J. W. Hoyt, 1889.
Richard Parke, 1872. Mark Atwood, June 10, 1892.
Charles Hurlin, 1876. John Vance, March 12, 1893.
H. S. Ball, 1878. Daniel Land, 1897.
E. M. Roel, 1 90 1.
The church was without a pastor from 1894 to 1897 and
from 1898 to 1901.
I am told that the Baptist people aided and assisted in
the building of the Methodist Episcopal Church In 1844
and used it until they built their own.
Mrs. Edwin O. Phelps of Fort Jackson is said to be
the oldest living member of the Baptist Church.
The Universalist Church.
The people of this faith began affiHating together as early
as August 6, 1896, which is the earHest date in their records.
For some three years they held services occasionally in a hall,
with a student from Canton University officiating. Daniel
Wright was one of these and took an active part in the or
ganization of the society. A tasty church edifice of wood
was erected In 1899 at a cost of about $2,200, a picture of
which is given. It was built by Martin L. CHfibrd and
stands a few rods westerly of the late Franklin Kellogg resi
dence and where the Wead house stood. The church was
dedicated in December, 1899, and the members then admitted
were as follows : Mr. and Mrs. Philo A. Davis, Mr. and

1 86 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mrs, Horace J. Converse, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Nye, John
Leash, Shubael M. Davis, Mrs. Charles Fletcher, Mrs. Mar
tin L. CHfford, Mrs. Watson Clifford, Miss Pearl Hasel
ton, Miss N. Mason, Mr. and Mrs. Osborn Holmes,
Mrs. J. B. Farrar, Mrs. R. H. Hastings and Mrs. Olive
Miller Ober. The present trustees are, Philo A. Davis,
president ; C. F. Ober, clerk ; Watson Clifford, treasurer ; C.
H. Hodgkins, H. E. Downey, Horace J. Converse and
J. B. Farrar.
The first regular pastor was E. B. Saunders of Canton,
who was with them till very recently.
Postmasters with Date of Appointment.
Franklin Kellogg, April 3, 1 873 ; Calvin Miller, Novem
ber 6, 1885; A. E. Ober, August 2, 1889; Varick A.
Cutler, April 13, 1894; Martin L. CHfford, March 16,
1898, Physicians at the Fort.
Dr.  Dyrgert, first resident, 1874-18 78; Dr. B. A.
Meacham, 1887-1891; Dr. William Bigelow, short time,
1895; ^^- E- ^- Wells, still there located, 1901.

CHAPTER XII.
The Soldiers of Hopkinton in the Civil "War.
The following is a Hst of the men who went forth from
the town from April, 1861, to April, 1865, under the im
mortal Lincoln to save the Union. I get the record from the
bureau of military statistics at Albany. It was furnished at
the close of the war by V. A. Chittenden, Esq., town clerk,
under a statute so requiring. Whether it was made by him
from recollection or a record kept, I cannot say.
Explanation.
The official record is first given. Any additional information as to the
soldier's career since the war is preceded by the word " Note."
Austin, Oliver, born July 24, 1 840. Single. Co. F, 1 6th Regiment, enlisted
April 15, 1861, for two years, private. Died of disease at Alexandria,
November 22, 1862, and buried there.
Ames, George Benjamin, born December 3, 1845. Single. Co. F, 193d
Regiment, enlisted February 13, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty ;^200.
Died of disease at Auburn, N. Y., May 26, 1865, and buried at same
place.
Bruce, Samuel G. Single. Co. F, i6th Regiment, enlisted April 15, 1861,
for two years, private. Further information unknown.
Note. — Was a blacksmith in Hopkinton after the war, removed to St.
Regis Falls, N. Y., where he died a few years ago.
Brown, Theodore. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted Novem
ber 15, 1 86 1, for three years, private. Discharged very soon after mus
tering on account of disability.
Beardsley, Henry C. Co. A, io6th Regiment, enlisted August 6, 1862.
Besaw, Nelson. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted November 15,
1 86 1, for three years, private ; bounty ^300. Reenlisted January 4, 1864,
at Newbern, N. C.
Note. — Returned to town, married and soon went west.
Bemis, John M., born July 14, 1825. Married. Co. H, 7th Regiment,
enUsted December 7, 1863, for three years, private; bounty ^300.
Wounded June 3, 1864, at battle of Cold Harbor and discharged Septem
ber, 1865.
Note. — Came back, lived in town several years, moved to Dickin
son where he died some fifteen years ago.

1 88 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Blair, Lorenzo D., born July 2, 1844. Single. Co. E, io6th Regiment,
enlisted August 11, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ;^io. Died
at North Mountain, Va., of disease June 26, 1863, and buried there.
Bryant, Adolphus S., born December 18, 183 1. Married. Co. L, Scott's
900, enlisted August, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Died
of disease at Washington, December 26, 1862, and buried there.
Brown, Ira J., born March 15, 1844. Single. Co. I, 7th Heavy Artillery,
enlisted December, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty ^300. Taken
prisoner June 16, 1864, confined in Andersonville Prison, and exchanged
November 24, 1864. Did not return to his regiment, and discharged
June, 1865.
Note. — Has a family, and lives at Western, Minn.
Brown, Eli W., born May 14, 1844. Single. Co. H, 7th Heavy
Artillery, enlisted December, 1863, for three years, private; bounty
^300. Taken prisoner June 16, 1864, taken to Andersonville, died July
19, 1864, and buried there.
Bartlett, Nathan W., born  . Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, en
listed February 28, 1865, for one year, private; bounty ;^200. Further
information unknown.
Note. — Health greatly impaired by exposure on way to seat of war.
He studied law and practised at Parishville. Died and left a widow and
two children, Willard W. and Katy V., who reside in Potsdam.
Crawford, Hiram, born August 31, 1831. Married. Co. G, 92d Regi
ment, enlisted November, 1 86 1, for three years, private. Discharged at
expiration of term of service, November 11, 1864.
Note. — ¦ Returned to town, married and lived there several years, when
he went west, where he died about four years ago.
Cain, John, born  . Married. Co. G, io6th Regiment, enlisted August
8, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Received a slight wound
at the battle of Winchester, Va., and discharged June 22, 1865.
Cutler, Calvin L., born May 14, 1828. Married. Co. F, 193d Regi
ment, enlisted February 17, 1865, for one year, private; bounty ^200.
Acted as commissary at Cumberland, Md.
Note. — Was a farmer, and died suddenly in the hayfield on the Rus
sell Witherell farm, about July, 1898.
Cudworth, Otis I., born December 22, 1839. Married. Co. E, lo6th
Regiment, enlisted August 11, 1862, for three years, private; bounty
^10. Taken prisoner at the battle of Monoca, Md., July 9, 1864, and
confined in DansviUe Prison. Died November 20, 1864, and buried at
the same place.
CoNLiN, John C, born December 22, 1839. Married. Co. K, 60th Regi
ment, enlisted August, 1 861, for three years, sergeant. Discharged De
cember, 1862, by reason of disability.
Note. — Holds the Hazen farm on the Turnpike about four miles east ot
Parishville.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 189
Cady, Transit, born June 13, 1833. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment, en
listed October 10, 1861, for three years, private. Discharged May 7,
1863, at Newbern, N. C, by reason of physical disability.
Note. — Died in Parishville some years ago, leaving widow and two
children.
Cady, Oberto A., born August 31, 1835. Single. Co. B, 50th Regiment,
enlisted August 12, 1861, for three years, corporal, and promoted to
first sergeant. Discharged January i, 1866.
Note. — Settled in Virginia and later moved to Washington, D. C.
Cady, George S., born November 26, 1843. Single. Co. D, 92d Regi
ment, enlisted October 10, 1861, for three years, corporal ; bounty ^300.
Promoted to first sergeant. Reenlisted January, 1864, and promoted to
first lieutenant, 96th Regiment, December 10, 1864.
Cady, Myrtle. Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, enlisted February, 1865,
for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Further information unknown.
Cheney, Justice E., born May 11, 1839. Married. Co. — , 14th Regi
ment, enlisted December, 1863, for three years, private; bounty ;?300.
Nothing has been heard trom him since June 3, 1864; supposed to have
been killed on battlefield.
Cheney, Judson Z., born May 11, 1838. Married. Co. G, 98th Regi
ment, enlisted November, 1862, for three years, corporal. Reenlisted
fi-om New York City. Killed in battle June 3, 1864, and supposed to be
buried on battlefield.
Cheney, Jesse A., born May 7, 1849. Single. Co. D, 39th Regiment,
enlisted September, 1864, for one year, private; bounty ^200. Dis
charged May, 1865.
Note. — Married and lived in town until about 1894, when he moved
to Potsdam where he now resides.
Cheney, Richard B., born September 9, 1845. Single. Co. A, 60th Regi
ment, enlisted August, 1 861, for three years, private. Discharged Novem
ber 18, 1864.
Cheney, James B., born August 25, 1846. Co. G, 14th Regiment, for three
years, private. Discharged October 29, i 864.
Desmond, Edmond W., born January 28, 1840. Single. Co. B, i6th Regi
ment, enlisted April 15, 1861, for two years, private. Served two years
and was discharged with regiment. Reenlisted Co. M, 6th Regiment,
December, 1863, for three years, private; bounty ;Jl3oo. Taken prisoner
May 19, 1864, in the Wilderness campaign and confined in Andersonville
Prison. Exchanged September 1 1, 1864, and returned to his regiment, and
discharged September 23, 1865.
Note. — Went to Texas, where he died some years ago. At the time
he enlisted he was working on the farm of Jonah Sanford, Jr., who released
him.
Drake, Eugene S. Single. Enlisted November 24, 1861, for three years,
private. Died of disease. Further particulars unknown.
Note. — • He had no family and was buried at Hopkinton.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 190
Ducatt, Joseph. Married. Co. G, gzd Regiment, enlisted November 25,
1 86 1, for three years, private.
Note. — Was a farmer in the south part of town, but now lives in
Parishville.
Delameter, Charles, born October 24, 1845. Single. Co. G, 13th Regi
ment, enlisted June 30, 1863, for three years, private. Killed in riot at
New York City, July, 1863, and buried there.
Daniels, Alphonso, born November 25, 1839. Single. Co. K, 60th Regi
ment, enlisted September 26, 1861, for three years, private. Wounded
at the battle of Gettysburg ; died from effects of the wound, February 26,
1864, and buried at Stephenson, Ala.
Daniels, Allen O., born April 25, 1849. Single. Co. B, 8th Regiment,
enlisted September 3, 1864, for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Died or
disease December 17, 1864.
Daniels, Benjamin, born June 22,' 1835. Married. Co. K, 60th Regiment,
enHsted September 26, 1861, for three years, private. Served about one
and a half years and discharged at Harper's Ferry for disability.
Note. — Lives in  , Minn.
Drake, Hosea P., born May 19, 1845. Single. Co. D, 9 2d Regiment, en
listed November 18, 1861, for three years, private. Served two years in
92d Regiment. Reenlisted January 18, 1864, Co. D, 92d Regiment,
for three years, private ; bounty $300.
Note. — ¦ Setded in town, married, went to Potsdam, where he died a
few years ago, leaving a large family.
Drake, Henry, born April 12, 1844. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment, en
listed August, 1862, for three years, private. Taken prisoner at battle of
Fair Oaks, and not heard of since.
Drake, Hiram, born January 4, 1842. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment, en
listed August, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Wounded at
battle before Petersburg, July, 1864 ; taken to Philadelphia, where he died
July 10, 1864, fi-om wound and was buried there.
Drake, Alson D., born June 23, 1844. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment,
enHsted January 6, 1862, for three years, private. Wounded at battle of
Fair Oaks, May, 1862, and came home on furlough.
Note. — Returned to town, married, and moved to Potsdam a few years
since, where he died.
Drake, Frederick C, born February 7, 1846. Single. Scott's 900, en
listed February 17, 1865, for one year, private; bounty ;^200. Dis
charged June 30, 1865.
Davis, Gibson, born June 16, 1843. Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, en
listed March, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty J 2 00.
Note. — Went west, where he died, leaving a family.
Davis, William T., born November 30, 1844. Single. Co. A, 164th
Regiment, enlisted August, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ;^lo.
Died of disease, December 16, 1863, at Suffolk, Va., and buried there.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 191
Dove, Edwin A., born April 15, 1840. Married. Co. H, 13th Regiment,
enlisted September 1, 1864, for one year ; bounty ^200. Discharged.
Note. — Returned, and lived in town many years. He now resides at
Richland Centre, Wis.
Eastman, George L.,born August 17, 1836. Co. B, i6th Regiment, enhsted
April 25, 1861, for two years. He resigned in the fall of 1862 ; served
as quartermaster in the winter of 1863.
Note. — He was in the hardware business at Potsdam for some years, and
then went to sheep raising in Kansas. He returned to Potsdam and was
postmaster at the time of his death. (See Lee Eastman record.)
Fuller, Dustin. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted October 10, 186 1,
for three years, private. Reenlisted January 4, 1864, at Newbern, N. C,
for three years. Came home on fiirlough and did not return.
Note. — Settled in Vermont.
Fuller, Major. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted October 10, 1 86 1,
for three years, private. Reenlisted January 4, 1864, at Newbern, N. C,
for three years. Came home on furlough and did not return.
Note. — Settled in Vermont.
Foster, Charles B., born September 6, 1835. Single. Co. F, i6th Regi
ment, enlisted June 24, 186 1, for two years, private.
Note. — Became a noted business man in the west and now resides at
Winchester, Va.
Farwell, Doras. Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, enlisted February 20,
1865, for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Further particulars unknown.
Note. — Died in Stockholm soon after the war.
Fuller, Ezra, born  . Married. Co. G, io6th Regiment, enlisted
August 7, 1862, private ; bounty ^10. Killed in battle.
Graves, Peter. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted October lo,
1 861, for three years, private. Killed in battle. Further particulars un
known.
Goulding, Orley I., born August 26, 1842. Single. Co. G, 92d Regi
ment, enlisted October 16, 1861, for three years, private. Served in the
92d Regiment until the May following, and was then taken prisoner at the
battle of Fair Oaks, Va. Did not return to the regiment, but enlisted into
the Iowa cavalry.
Note. — Settled in the west, where he died.
Goodnow, Henry, born May 3, 1842. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment,
enlisted November 15, 1 861, for three years, private. Died of disease in
New York City and was buried at David's Island.
Geddis, George, born September 10, 1832. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enlisted August 8, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ^10.
Discharged at expiration of term of service, June 22, 1865. Served as
teamster two years.
Note. — Went to  , Wis., soon after the war.
Goodnow, Harvey, born April 11, 1841. Single. Co. G, 98th Regiment,
enlisted January 15, 1862, for three years, private. Died September,
1864, at the Baltimore Hospital, and buried in Baltimore.

192 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Goodnow, Hiram, born August 2, 1844. Single. Co. G, 98th Regiment,
enlisted January 15, 1862, for three years, private. Served two years and
reenlisted January i, 1863, for three years, corporal; bounty II300.
Wounded June 2, 1864, in the left hand at Cold Harbor, and discharged
May I, 1865, for disability.
Goulding, Henry C, born June 15, 1847. Single. Co. E, Scott's 900,
enlisted September 5, 1864, for one year, private ; bounty ;g200. Died
of disease October 27, 1864, at Baton Rouge, and buried in the Soldiers'
Home Cemetery.
GiLLEN, James, born September 8, 1845. Single. Enlisted September 3,
1864, for one year, private ; substitute. Died of disease at Petersburg,
Va., and buried in same place.
GiLLEN, John, born September 8, 1845. Single. Co. E, Scott's 900, en
listed October 13, 1863, for three years, private; bounty $300.
Note. — Lives in Lawrence, N. Y.
Griffin, Martin. Co. — , 98th Regimemt. Further information unknown.
Note. — Died at St. Regis Falls, N. Y., about 1898.
Goodell, Spencer, born  . Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, enlisted
February, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Further informa
tion unknown.
Note. — Now resides at Parishville, N. Y.
Hodgkins, Charles H., born October 10, 1844. Single. Co. F, 1 6th
Regiment, enlisted April 15, 1861, for two years, private. Lost his
middle finger on left hand at the battle of Gains Mills, Va. Received sec
ond wound at Fredericksburg, Va. Discharged at expiration of service.
Note. — Resides at Fort Jackson, and was justice of the peace for sev
eral years.
Hodges, Nathan S., born June 11, 1820. Married. Co. F, 1 6th Regiment,
enlisted April 24, 1861, for two years, private. Discharged by reason ot
disability June 13, 1861. Reenlisted from the town of Burke in 1864.
Note. — Settled in Hopkinton, where he died about five years ago.
Hodges, Zimraia, born February 27, 1844. Single. Co. F, i6th Regi
ment, enlisted April 15, 1861, for two years, private. Wounded in the
right arm, and discharged at expiration of term of service. Reenlisted from
the town of Moriah.
Hurlbert, Darwin E., born February 7, 1843. Single. Co. H, i6th
Regiment, enHsted April 15, 1861, for two years, private. Received a
severe wound at the battle of Gains Mills, June 27, 1862, and discharged
by reason of the wound February 7, 1863. Reenlisted December 29,
1863, for three years, private ; bounty ^300. Wounded at battle of Cold
Harbor and discharged July, 1865, at the close of the war.
Note. — Went to  , Wis., where he married and is a farmer.
Haines, Henry, born September 29, 1824. Married. Co. G, 92d Regi
ment, enHsted October 28, 1861, for three years, private. Wounded at
battle of Fort Harrison,  , 1864, and discharged at expiration of service
in 1864. Note. — Resides at St. Regis Falls, N. Y.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 193
Hodgkins, Phineas, born October 8, 1847. Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment,
enlisted February 27, 1865, private; bounty ^200.
Note. — Went to Flushing, Mich. , soon after the war, married and is a
farmer.
Heath, Martin V., born February 21, 1836. Married. Co. G, io6th
Regiment, enHsted August 8, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ;Jiio.
Discharged June 22, 1865.
Note. — Went to  , Wis.
Hammond, Henry D., born November 17, 1845. Single. Co. E, 59th
Regiment, enHsted November, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty ;?300.
Note. — Did not return to town.
Haines, Adam L., born December 25, 1830. Married. Company M,
Scott's 900, enlisted August 30, 1862, for three years, private; bounty
^10. Discharged at expiration of term of service June 10, 1865.
Hubbard, Francis, born April 21, 1840. Married. Co. C, 83d Regiment,
enHsted July 13, 1863, for three years, private. Drafted July 13, 1863.
The only man that went fi-om town on draft. Wounded June 21, 1864,
transferred to Co. C, 97th Regiment, and discharged April 17, 1865, by
reason of wound.
Note. — Died very soon after his return to town.
Harmon, Henry Charles, born September 30, 1846. Single. Died of
disease March 20, 1862, and burial at Nicholville.
Harmon, H. M., born April 27, 1824. Married. Co. E, 98th Regiment,
enlisted January, 1862, for three years, private. Discharged by reason of
disabiHty soon after enlistment.
Hammond, James H., born August 18, 1844. Co. A, 6th Regiment, en
Hsted October 9, 1863, for three years. Discharged August 26, 1865.
Ives, Warren J., born February 22, 1838. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enHsted August 7, 1862, for three years, first sergeant ; bounty ^10.
Wounded in the summer of 1864, and discharged in the winter of 1865.
Note. — Settled at Hutchinson, Minn., reared a family of six children
and died March 2, 1899. (See Asahel Kent's family.)
Jordan, John. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enlisted December 29, 1861,
for three years, private.
Kendrick, Alford C, born April 23, 1842. Smgle. Scott's 900, enHsted
August 18, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Died of disease
at Memphis, Tenn., and was buried there.
Kendrick, Plummer M., born April 3, 1845. Single. Scott's 900, enlisted
August 15, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty I300. Discharged by
reason of disabiHty December 29, 1864.
Note. — Resides at Fort Jackson, N. Y.
Kimpton, William N., born December 5, 1837. Single. Co. G, 92d
Regiment, enHsted October 10, 1861, for three years, private. Died
of disease at Baltimore, Md., May 28, 1862, and buried there.
Kent, Edgar, born  . Single. Co. — , 60th Regiment, enlisted
August, 1 86 1, for three years, private.

194 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Landon, Daniel B., born March 20, 1832. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enHsted August 6, 1862, for three years, corporal; he was pro
moted to sergeant ; bounty ;gio.
Note. — Married Carolina M. Phelps, and had six children. He was
wounded at the battle of Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864. He died
April 23, 1879, and his widow resides in Hartford, Conn.
Livermore, Henry W., born May 24, 1837. Single. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enHsted August, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ;glo.
Wounded at the battle of Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864, and died fi:om
effects of his wound the last of July. He was buried at Frederick, Md.
Minor, Peter. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enUsted October 10, 1861,
for three years, private. Discharged June 10, 1863, by reason of consoH
dation of regiment. Further information unknown.
Note. — Settled in Vermont, where he died.
Minor, Joseph. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enHsted October 10, 1861,
for three years, private. Killed in battle September 30, 1864, at James
River and was buried.
McCloud, Nelson W., born May 6, 1848. Single. Co. F, 193d Regi
ment, enHsted February 18, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty ^200.
Merritt, Isaac H., born July 26, 1842. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment, en
Usted December, 1861, for three years, private.. Died at hospital, BuUo-
mas Bridge, Va., June 8, 1862, of disease. His place of burial is un
known.
Merritt, Horace, born August 8, 1 846. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment,
enHsted December, 1 86 1, for three years, private. Died of disease before
leaving state and buried at Hopkinton.
McArthur, Osni, born May 4, 1827. Married. Co. E, io6th Regiment,
enHsted August 1 1, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Killed at
battle of Cold Harbor, June, 1864, and buried at White House Landing.
McArthur, Amos, born May 30, 1829. Single. Co. E, io6th Regiment,
enlisted August 11, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Died ot
disease at Rowlsburgh, May 5, 1863, and buried there.
Merritt, Chauncey, born September 12, 1842. Single. Co. D, 9 2d Regi
ment, enHsted November 30, i86l,'for three years, private. ReenHsted
January 4, 1864, Co. D, 92d Regiment, for three years ; bounty ;g300.
Wounded at battle of Cold Harbor ; taken to Washington and died fi-om ef
fects of his wound, July 2, 1864. He was buried at Alexandria, Va.
Merritt, William, born March 13, 1830. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment,
enHsted September 21, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ;^loo.
KiHed at battle of Cold Harbor, June I, 1864, and buried on battlefield.
Merritt, Holland, born August 5, 1840. Single. Co. D, 92d Regiment,
enHsted January 14, 1861, for three years, private. Discharged in April,
1862, by reason of disabiHty.
Note. — Settled in Potsdam, where he died.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 195
Meekham, Jeremiah S., born October 13, 1830. Married. Co. D, 92d Regi
ment, enlisted August 25, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ^10.
Discharged March 4, 1863, for physical disabiHty.
Note. — Resided in ParishviUe, where he died.
Meacham, Sylvester, born June 5, 1844. Co. H, 26th Regiment, enHsted
February, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty |200. Discharged July 5,
1865, at the close of the war.
Note. — Settled at St. Regis Falls.
McCuen, Daniel O., born August I, 1841. Co. A, 60th Regiment. Dis
charged July 19, 1865.
McCuen, Lewis, born September 29, 1839. Co. A, 6oth Regiment, private.
Discharged November 23, 1863.
Meacham, Hally E., born June 5, 1842. Single. Co. K, 6oth Regiment,
enHsted October 8, 1861, for three years, private. Died of disease Decem
ber 31, 1 861, at Baltimore, Md., and buried at London Park Cemetery,
Baltimore.
McCan, E. M.
Note. — Name not in records. Paid town bounty February 20, 1865,
of ^zoo.
Newton, Oliver.
Note. — Name not in records, but paid a bounty of ^300, December 29,
1863.
Nobles, Thomas, born April 27, 1808. Married. Co. G, gzd Regiment,
enHsted October 10, 1861, for three years, corporal, then sergeant. Served
twenty months and discharged by reason of consoHdation of regiment, June
10, 1863. Reenlisted November 12, 1863, Co. I, 92d Regiment, for
three years ; bounty ^300.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton some years since.
Newton, Hiram. Married. Co. — , 50th Regiment, enHsted September 7,
1864, for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Transferred to the 15th En
gineer Corps. Discharged June, 1865, at the close of the war.
Note. — Settled in Hopkinton, where he died some years ago.
Newton, Warner. Co. G, io6th Regiment, enlisted August 14, 1862.
Note. — His name is not in the official report. I find it in the history
of St. Lawrence County, pubHshed in 1878.
Norris, Joseph B., born March 7, 1822. Married. Co. F, i6th Regiment,
enHsted August 30, 1862, for three years; bounty ;jSio. Transferred in
1863 to Co. A, i2ist Regiment, and wounded at Cedar Creek in-left leg
and back. Discharged June 12, 1865.
Note. — Went west.
Nash, George W., born January 18, 1832. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enHsted August 6, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ^10..
Promoted to sergeant January i, 1865, and discharged June 22, 1865.
Note. — Resides at Brasher Falls, N. Y.

196 EARLY HISTORY OF^ HOPKINTON.
Newton, Francis Oliver, born September 29, 1837. Married. Co. H,
106th Regiment, enHsted September, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty
^300. KiHed at battle of Cold Harbor, Va., June I, 1864, and buried
at Cold Harbor.
Parker, John F., born July 24, 1840. Single. Co. B, i6th Regiment, en
Hsted April 25, 1 86 1, for two years, private. Received severe wound at
battle of Gains MiUs, June 27, 1862. Remained a prisoner on battlefield
thirty days, then paroled. Discharged April 4, 1863.
Note. — Settled in Depere, Wis.
Paxton, Berry. Co. G, lo6th Regiment, enlisted August 7, 1862.
Note. — This name is not in the report filed in Albany. I get it fi-om
the history of St. Lawrence County.
Ploff, Peter G. Single. 1 6th Regiment, enHsted April 15, 1861, for two
years, private. Killed in battle of West Point and buried on battlefield.
Pierce, George K., born July 20, 1834. Married. Co. F, 193d Regiment,
enHsted March 7, 1865, for one year, private; bounty ^200. Promoted
to corporal.
PiNNEY, Eber W., born March 8, 1825. Married. Co. G, 15th Regiment,
enlisted September 5, 1864, for one year, private; bounty ^200. Dis
charged June 3, 1865.
Note. — Went west.
Palmer, Norman C, born March 27, 1837. Married. Co. E, 50th Regi
ment, enlisted September 6, 1864, for one year, private; bounty ^200.
Transferred to Co. G, 15th Engineer Corps. Discharged June 13, 1865.
Note. — Died in Stockholm, N. Y.
Pierce, William H., born October 4, 1845. Single. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enlisted November, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty 1 3 00.
Wounded at Fisher's Hill and at Cedar Creek. Discharged June, 1865.
Note. — Died years ago.
Perry, Eli, born September 29, 1837. Married. Co. G, 1 06th Regiment,
enHsted August 6, i 862, for three years, private ; bounty |llo. Wounded
April 7, 1862, in the arm, and did not return to his regiment. Discharged
June 14, 1865.
Note. — Went west.
Perry, Charles, born October 8, 1846. Single. Co. G, io6th Regiment,
enUsted December i, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty ^300. Dis
charged June, 1865.
PuLSiFER, Henry Albert, born January 14, 1842. Single. Co. E, 1 06th
Regiment, enlisted August 11, 1864, for three years, private ; bounty ^10.
Died of disease at North Mountain, Va. , where he was buried.
PuLsiFER, Marshall Prentis, born April 15, 1844. Single. Scott's 900,
enHsted December i, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty $300.
Perry Alexander, Jr., born January 7, 1834. Married. Co. G, io6th
Regiment, enlisted August 7, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^200.
Discharged at close of the war.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton in 1902, leaving large family.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 197
Ploff, Henry. Married. Co. G, 15th Regiment, enHsted September, 1864,
for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Discharged at close of the war.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton.
Phelps, Jesse. Married. Co. — ,  Regiment, private ; bounty $200.
Further information unknown.
Note. — Died at St. Regis FaUs, N. Y., about 1897.
Rockwell, Chester S., born November 28, 1835. Married. Co. G, 92d
Regiment, enUsted October 10, 1 861, for three years, private. Promoted
to sergeant-major and discharged June 10, 1863, on account of consoHda
tion of regiment.
Note. — Farmer and specvdator, and Uves at ParishviUe, N. Y.
Rockwell, Milo, born July 24, 1837. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment,
enlisted October 25, 1861, for three years, private. Died of disease about
one year after entering service and buried at Washington, D. C.
Note. — Went with sick and wounded to Washington as nurse.
Rockwell, Myron S., born July 24, 1837. Single. Co. G, 92d Regi
ment, enUsted November 4, 1861, for three years, private. Promoted to
corporal, served nearly three years, and received a mortal wound at Cold
Harbor. Supposed to be buried on battlefield.
Ross, Ira, born October 27, 1837. Married. Co. G, 13th Regiment, en
listed June 20, 1863, for three years, private. Lost four fingers on right
hand at a riot in New York City. Served about two years and discharged
about September, 1865.
Rockwood, Heman S., born November 2, 1844. Single. Co. E, io6th
Regiment, enlisted August 11, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ;gio.
Wounded March 6, 1864, at battle of Wilderness in right shoulder, and
at battle of Winchester lost his right arm. Discharged February, 1865.
Note. — Is a physician and fives at Bombay, N. Y.
Rockwood, Harvey A., born October 18, 1847. Single. Co. F, 193d
Regiment, 'enlisted February, 1865, for one year, private ; bounty ^200.
Note. — Lives at La Fayette, Ind.
Rosenbarker, Hiram, born February 14, 1 83 1. Married. Co. B, 193d
Regiment, enlisted February 19, 1865, for three years, private; bounty
^200. Note. — Is a farmer in Hopkinton.
Roberts, Ashford N., born December 10, 1837. Married. Co. H, 7th
Regiment, enlisted December 16, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty
^300. Wounded at the battle of Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864, very badly
in the left arm. Sent to hospital in Washington and did not return to his
regiment. Discharged November 19, 1864.
Note. — Farmer and Uves in Hopkinton. (See Eli Roberts's record.)
Sanford, Jonah, born December 31, 1790, in CornwaU, Vt. In the fall of
1 861 and early winter of 1861-62 he organized the 9 2d Regiment of
Volunteers, became its colonel and went with the men to James River in
Virginia, where sickness compelled him to resign. It was a remarkable feat
considering his age, which was over seventy years. (For further particulars
see story of his Hfe. )

198 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Sanford, Henry B., born July 22, 18 16, in Hopkinton. Married. Co. F,
92d Regiment, for three years as second Heutenant. He died on the Hop
kinton side of the river at NicholviUe, March 27, 1879, and was a son of
Jonah Sanford.
Sanford, Henry T., born April 13, 1840. Single. Co. F, i6th Regiment,
enHsted April, 1861, for two years as first sergeant. He was promoted to
second Ueutenant, first Heutenant and captain. Discharged at end of enUst-
ment. Note. — After the war studied law, settled in Albany, N. Y., and prac
tised until his death, July 16, 1897.
Sanford, Erasmus Jonah, born May 13, 1842. Single. Co. F, 1 6th Regi
ment, private. Wounded June 27, 1862, at Gains Mills, losing the third
and fourth fingers of the left hand. Honorably discharged May 22, 1863.
Note. — Since the war has Hved at Nicholville where he has been quite
successfiil.
Sanford, Edwin D., born January 24, 1845. Single. Co. E, 6ist Regi
ment, enHsted August 8, 1864, private. Discharged July 14, 1865.
Note. — Since the war has been a blacksmith at Nicholville.
Sanford, Darwin E., born November 17, 1847. Single. Co. F, 193d
Regiment, enHsted in 1864 as first sergeant, and discharged 1865.
Note. — Resided in Lawrence since the war. He is a farmer and pro
prietor of Eagle Creamery at NicholviUe.
The preceding five men, father and four sons, except Darwin E., enHsted
from the town of Lawrence, but as they were natives of Hopkinton, and as
they present such a glorious record, I take the liberty to put them in here.
Sanford, Rollin O., born November 29, 1837. Married. Co. L, 7th
Heavy Artillery, enHsted December, 1863, for three years, corporal ; bounty
J 3 00. Went through WUderness campaign and was taken prisoner before
Petersburg, June, 1864. Confined in AndersonviUe Prison, where he
died July 29, 1864, and is buried.
Note. — His widow and two children survive. He was a son of
Jonah Sanford. (See his famUy record.)
Smith, Silas A. Single. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enHsted October 30, 1861,
for three years, first lieutenant. Further information unknown.
Sheldon, Harmon. Single. Co. K, 60th Regiment, enHsted September, 1861,
for three years, private. Died of disease, August 22, 1863, at Hopkinton.
Stone, Robert, born November 25, 1833. Single. Co. G, Scott's 900,
enHsted August 11, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ^10. Died of
disease in New York City, October 6, 1 864, and buried in ParishviUe.
Smith, Wilbur, born May 22, 1844. Single. Co. E, io6th Regiment, en
Hsted August 1 1, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty, ^10. Discharged
at expiration of term of service, July 3, 1865.
Note. — Resides in Hopkinton.
Staples, Isaac, born May 29, 1821. Married. Co. A, 92d Regiment, en
Hsted December, 1863, for three years, private; bounty ^300. Discharged
May 18, 1865, at close of the war.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton about 1890.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 199
Shales, George, born December iz, 1830. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enlisted August 7, 1862, for three years, private; bounty Jlio.
Discharged June 22, 1865.
Note. — Resides in Lawrence.
Smith, Samuel, born October 5, 1826. Married. Co. I, 146th Regiment,
enHsted September i, 1864, for one year, private. Substitute. Dis
charged, war over.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton.
Sullivan, Mike, enHsted December, 1863, for three years, private ; bounty
^300. Further information unknown.
Simpson, Samuel. Co. — ,  Regiment, private ; bounty ;g2O0. Further
information uknown.
Stearns, Henry W. Single. Co. F, 193d Regiment, enlisted February, 1865,
for one year, private ; bounty ^200. Further information unknown.
Snell, Hiram, born November 14, 1844. Single. Co. B, 8th New York
Cavalry, enlisted September, 1864. Discharged July i, 1865.
Note. — Not in foregoing record. He was paid bounty in 1 864 of ^200.
Resides at Madison, Ohio.
Taylor, Aaron, born June, 1830. Married. Co. G, 98th Regiment, en
Hsted June I, 1864, for three years, private ; bounty ^300. Wounded in
the head at battle of Cold Harbor, June 20, 1864, and discharged August
31, 1865.
Note. — Died at Stark, N. Y., in February, 1902.
Tamblin, Eli, born AprU 17, 1834. Married. Co. E, io6th Regiment,
enlisted August 6, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty J 10. Wounded
at the battle of Monocacy, Md., July 9, 1864. Transferred to the i6th
Infantry Corps, and discharged July 6, 1865.
Note. — Died at NicholviUe.
Vanhorman, Isaac, born 1843. Married. Co. B, 59th Regiment, en
listed August, i86z, for three years, private; bounty ^10. Discharged
February, 1864, on account of disabiHty.
Vaughn, George. Co. — , i42d Regiment, enHsted August i, 1862, for
three years, private; bounty $10. Discharged June, 1865. P. O.
Defiance, O.
Witherell, George, born May 4, 1842. Single. Co. — , i6th Regiment,
enHsted October 28, 1861, for two years, private. Discharged May,
1863, with regiment. Reenlisted from Vermont state in 1863.
Note. — Lives at Bainerd, Minn.
Walcutt, Elisha. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment, enHsted October 10,
1 86 1, for three years, sergeant. Further information unknown.
Willey, Hiram H. Married. Co. G, pzd Regiment, enlisted November,
1 86 1, for three years, private. ReenHsted January 4, 1864, in 92d Regi
ment at Newbern, N. C; bounty ;g3oo.
White, Orin, born January 2, 1839. Married. Co. K,6oth Regiment, en
Hsted October, 1 861, for three years, private. Served about eight months.
Note. — Died in Hopkinton.

zoo EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Winne, John C, born September 14, 1829. Single. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enUsted August 6, 1862, for three years, private ; bounty ^10. Re
ceived a wound in the hand and discharged at expiration of term of service,
June 30, 1865.
Wilson, Charles. Single. Co. E, 59th Regiment, enUsted December 27,
1863, for three years, private ; bounty ^300.
Wilcox, Ithiel, born October 16, 1844. Single. Co. C, 50th Regiment,
enlisted August, 1864, for one year, private; bounty ;g200. Discharged
at Washington, June, 1865.
Note. — Died at ParishviUe in fall of 1 90 1.
Welsh, Milton A., born October 29, 1842. Single. Co. G, 15th Regi
ment, enHsted September, 1 864, for one year, private ; bounty ^200.
Discharged at Washington, June, 1865.
Note. — Resides in Hopkinton.
White, L. R., born August 10, 1839. Single. Co. A, Scott's 900, en
listed August II, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ^10. Died of
disease at Camp ReHef, Va., January 6, 1863, and buried there.
Wakefield, William B., born September 5, 1844. Single. Co. K, 1 6th
Regiment, enHsted September 13, 1861, for three years, private; boimty
$300. Discharged February 13, 1863, by reason of disability.
White, Julius, born October 3, 1840. Married. Co. G, loth Regiment,
enlisted August, 1862, for three years, private; bounty |io. Taken
prisoner in June, 1 863, and was in Libby Prison one hundred and six days.
Exchanged and returned to his regiment. Wounded June 13, 1864, and
discharged June 22, 1865, at close of the war.
Note. — Resides in Hopkinton, family.
White, Adney P. Co. G, io6th Regiment, enlisted August 12, 1862.
Note. — I get this name from the St. Lawrence County history of 1 878.
Wheeler, Lewis, born November 11, 1836. Married. Co. G, io6th Regi
ment, enHsted August 7, 1862, for three years, private; bounty ;J!io.
Wounded July 9, 1 864, before Petersburg, in the hip, and discharged
July I, 1865, at the close of the war.
Note. — Resides in Hopkinton and has a famUy.
Wood, William W., born June 2, 1826. Married. Co. G, 92d Regiment,
enHsted November, 1864, for three years, private. Discharged AprU 23,
1862, by reason of disability.
White, William, born September 27, 1832. Married. Co. G, 98th Regi
ment, enHsted January, 1 862, for three years, private. Received four wounds
at the batde of Fair Oaks, and was discharged in July, 1863. ReenHsted
fi-om the town of Bombay.
Woodruff, Ealen A. Married. Co. G, i6th Regiment, enUsted April 15,
1 86 1, for two years, private. Wounded in the seven days' battle before
Richmond and died fi-om effects of his wounds.
SUBSTITUTES.
Under the caU of July, 1864, for 500,000 soldiers, the following men fur
nished substitutes : George S. Wright, Samuel Smith, substitute ; Truman E.
Post, a Mr. Peck, substitute ; George S. Wells, name of substitute not given ;
Royal Squire, name of substitute not given.

CHAPTER XIIL
History of the South Part of the Town of Lawrence — The Early
Settlement of Chesterfield — Its First Pioneers with a Sketch of
Some of Them — The History of East Villagfe or Nicholville,
and of its Mills, Shops, Stores, Churches, Hotels, etc, with
Illustrations.Since the southerly part of the township of Chesterfield
was actually a part of the town of Hopkinton from 1805,
when that town was incorporated, till 1828, when the town of
Lawrence was organized, and since the settlers of the two
localities bore such intimate relations to each other, I find it
not only necessary but agreeable to devote considerable space
to the settlement and history of that part of Chesterfield which
was formerly Hopkinton. The early history of Hopkinton
would certainly be Incomplete did I not give It.
The Early Settlement of Chesterfield.
The township of Islington, in which was the large tract
purchased by Mr. Hopkins, was actually settled, as already
shown. In March, 1803. In the four or five succeeding years
some forty men, mostly with families, had come in and settled
in and about Islington. The people in coming to Hopkin
ton from Vermont came through Chesterfield, and it is not at
all singular that some of them as they came along saw such
fine timber, springs, brooks or soil for a farm that they stopped,
built a cabin and settled or went back and did so after making
a visit to Islington. It is even a little surprising that more
of them did not do so and earlier than they did, but I suspect
they all wished, as it was then a great forest, to locate in or
near to a settlement. Men were then even more neighborly
than they are now.
I notice that Dr. Hough states that a Mr. Brewer came
into Chesterfield in 1801 as the agent of Mr. Harrison, who

202 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
then owned the township, and built him a cabin on what is
known as the Carlton McEwen farm, situated In about the
centre of the township. He soon sold out his agency to
Samuel Tyler. Neither of them seems to have met with any
or at least much success in securing settlers in the first few
years. Very likely their 111 success was due to the fact that
there was considerable of a hero as a proprietor a few miles
west in Stockholm by the name of Ebenezer Hulburd, and
another by the name of Roswell Hopkins a few miles south
west in Hopkinton.
There does not seem to have been any real settlement in
Chesterfield till the spring of 1807. In the fall of the year
1806 Joseph and Samuel Tyler from Piermont, N. H.,
Joseph St. Clair and Avery Saunders from Middlesex, Vt.,
Ephraim Martin from Bradford, Vt., and Abijah Chandler
from Lebanon, N. H., came and selected farms and no
doubt built cabins. They returned the following spring with
their families, by sleds and punts, stopping In Hopkinton
proper till the snow had gone off, when they went back
to the tracts that had been selected In Chesterfield. The
most of them settled in the central and southerly part of the
town. In the same year the foregoing families were followed in
May by Ira Allen, Sidney Dunton, James and Jonathan
Pierce ; in June by Jonathan Stevens, Ambrose Servis and
Jonathan Hartwell ; in July by Daniel C. Bastin, Jonathan
Greene and James Saunders, and later in the same year by
John Howard, Asa Griffin and John Prouty. Of these men
Abijah Chandler, James and Jonathan Pierce and James
Saunders had deaHngs with Mr. Hopkins in 1 807 and 1 808, as
is shown by his old account book. Simeon Bushnell,
though not named by Dr. Hough, was in all probability the
first resident of Chesterfield who came into this locality. Early
in 1805 he bought bread of Mr. Hopkins, and later in the
same year began work for him for six months.
The settlement of the town considerably increased in
1 808, 1 809, and down to the breaking out of the War of 1 8 1 2,
when, according to Dr. Hough, every settler In the town,
excepting five families, fled the town, fearing, not so much
the British soldiers, as a massacre by the Indians, who, it was
everywhere reported, were being armed by the British and

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 203
incited to a general slaughter of the settlers along the Cana
dian border. It would seem that nearly or quite all who so
suddenly departed the town never returned. They evidently
were not made of just the right material, and yet, as will be
noticed, the most of them came from Vermont. I do not
learn of any such fleeing from Hopkinton, though in all
probability there were a good many individual cases of men
who did go, since quite a number of early names did not
long survive In the town.
The fact that they did go and did not come back is shown
by the fact that out of all the men I have named only two
ever took title to any land in the town, viz., Joseph Tyler to
a tract about a mile west of Lawrenceville, and Daniel C.
Bastin to a tract south of that village on Ferris Street. These
two men, I feel quite sure, with Abijah Chandler and Simeon
Bushnell, make four of the five men who. Dr. Hough says,
did not flee the town in 18 12.
After considerable inquiry I learn nothing as to several
of the other pioneers I have named, and but very little as to
any of them. I cannot locate James Pierce, though he held
town positions and was active in church matters. It was he
who filed a complaint with the church authorities against Ada
Blanchard for Intoxication. The Saunderses were in town for
a long time, and descendants of them, as I am Informed, still
live in Franklin County, but I have been unable to learn
where they lived in town or anything definite as to them.
The same can be said of Ephraim Martin, though his name
appears now and then In the town records. I regret that I
have been unable to gather greater and more explicit infor
mation as to the early pioneers of the town.
Sketches of Some of the Pioneers and Leading Men of the Town.
The lives of the pioneers, so far as I have been able to
gather the data, with their families, and that of most of the
leading men In more recent times, I give practically in their
order of settlement In the town. One of the very first to
actually settle was Abijah Chandler. The sketch and family of
Samuel M. Simonds is given among the Hopkinton families,
as he was actually a pioneer of that town from about 18 10, also
that of Dyer L. Merrill for the same reason. The family of
Mr. Chandler Is put in the Hopkinton genealogical records

204 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
for the reason that It Is quite lengthy and written In the same
form as those families. Samuel Harris.
He came to town in or prior to 1807 from Middlesex,
Vt., since his name appears in the census of 1807, and soon
took up a tract of forest a short distance down what is called
Ferris Street from the Turnpike and built his cabin near a fine
spring then called Indian Spring. His only neighbors were
Abijah Chandler and Elisha Allen. There was a tradition
that it had been the summer camping ground of branches of
the Coughenwaga tribe. His name is not given by Dr.
Hough as one of the earliest pioneers, yet It Is known that
he was. He was a carpenter, and being such set to work to
build himself a home a little better than the few rude cabins
of his neighbors. He squared the logs and framed them
together, thus building the first framed house In town in
1809. Dr. Hough gives the credit of the first framed house
to Daniel Harris In 1808, but it must have been Samuel.
The old potato cellar of this cabin can still be seen a few
rods north of the present residence. Mr. Harris died in
1 8 10 and was buried In the old cemetery just back of the
Dr. Sprague lot In Hopkinton village. His remains were
later removed to the present cemetery grounds In Hopkinton,
where a flat stone only marks the spot. His wife died  ,
and is buried in the lot of her son Daniel at Nicholville.
Samuel was a son of Samuel, who was born In Lebanon,
N. H., about 1750. He had two brothers and three sisters:
viz., Ezra, a Methodist minister ; Daniel ; Eunice, who
married a Mr. Rogers ; Polly, who married a Mr. Whitney ;
and Sally, who married a Mr. Carpenter.
Samuel, Jr., had one son, Seth, by his first marriage, but
he never came to these parts. His second marriage was to
Lucy Wakefield, by whom he had eight children as follows :
Samuel, born March 18, 1790. He married Marilla Hol-
man, March 11, 1822, and died August 27, 1864, at  .
There were four children by this marriage: David H., born
May 6, 1823, who married Alvira Ewer, July 4, 1843, at
Granville, Wis. He died November 5, 1896, at Santiam,
Ore., where his widow and children now reside. The
second child was Juliette, who married a Mr. Debert of

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 205
Indiana. The third, Emeline, married Mr. Garlinghousy of
Indiana. The fourth. Dexter, concerning whom nothing can
be found. The children of David H. were as follows :
I. Benson, born June 27, 1844, in Granville, Wis.;
married Violet Bramner, August 19, 1867, i" CarroH County,
Mo. ; now living at Sweet Home, Ore. ; no children,
II. Ellen M., born April 10, 1848, died January 2,
1854, at Granville, Wis.
III. Mary E., born May 14, 1850, in GranvIHe, Wis.;
married Josiah Knepper, December 25, 1867 ; died July 18,
1886, at Carroll County, Mo., leaving husband and four
children. IV. Flora A., born May 2, 1852; married Thomas
Wharton, October, 1869; died July 8, 1886, at Carroll
County, Mo., leaving husband and six children.
V. Juliette, born March 29, 1858 ; died September 27,
1869. VI. Alice M., born October 11, i860; married Henry
Knepper of Carroll County, Mo., in 1878 ; moved to Linn
County, Ore., where they now live. They have one
daughter. VII. Dexter H., born July 4, 1864, in Carroll County,
Mo.; married LilHe Bland, December 25, 1884, In Linn
County, Ore.; died June 2, 1892, leaving wife, who died
In 1 900, and two children. Myrtle and Sylva, living at Lane
County, Ore.
VIII. Samuel, born December 8, 1866, in Carroll
County, Mo.; married Mary E. Sylvester, July 9, 1895 '¦> ^^~
sides at Santiam, Oregon, and have a daughter and two sons.
IX. Chester D., born February 3, 1870 ; married Sarah
D. Vallery, October 9, 1890; living at Santiam, Ore., and
have three sons.
X. Dayton, born May 8, 1875, ^" Carroll County,
Mo. ; married Ollle J. Bogart, December 5, 1895, at Santiam,
where he has been postmaster for six years, and has three
daughters. The second child of Samuel, Jr., was Persis, who married
Joseph Gilbert, a pioneer of Parishville. Their children
were, Orson, who married Sarah Gray and died at Minnesota
Lake with all his children ; A. Wilder, a veteran of the Civil

2o6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
War, who married Jane Gray, and died in 1898 at Parish
ville, leaving several children ; Galon, who married and died
in Minnesota Lake, Minn., leaving no children ; and Melissa,
who died unmarried at Minnesota Lake.
The third child of Samuel and Lucy was Polly, who
married Stephen Wescott, and nothing is known of her.
The fourth child was Sally, who married Miner Moore
and settled at Grand Meadow, Minn. Their children were,
Daniel, who settled in the southern states, and Dexter, who
was county clerk and died, leaving several children.
The fifth child. Orange, never married, and died in Prairle-
vllle. Wis.
The sixth child, Daniel, was born July 30, 1806, and died
on the old home farm November 24, 1893. He married
Christian M., daughter of John and Submit (Smead) Long,
January 18, 1843. She died October 15, 1891. Their chil
dren were, J. A. ; Fannie, born August 20, 1845, who married
Luther B. Day, November 14, 1870, and died February 8,
1885, leaving a son, L. Clinton Day, born July 29, 1877, who
married Harriet M. Baird, June 28, 1900, daughter of William
and Elizabeth (Sharp) Baird, born October 17, 1881, Glasgow,
Scotland; Mary G., born July 8, 1847, ^^o married Luther
B. Day, January 6, 1894, and died without Issue May 29,
1900; Daniel Garrett, born April 28, 1850, who married
Blanche Francis, November 2, 1879, and lives at North Star,
Minn. They have six children, viz., Helen M., Theodore
D., Paul A., Francis G., Fannie and Lucy.
The seventh child, Lavina, became deaf and dumb from
scarlet fever when a child, and died In Dickinson unmarried.
The eighth child was Parthena, who married Marchus
Lowell and died at Malone, N. Y., in 1898, leaving a son,
Lorenzo, who married Laura Rubideau. They reside at
Lawrenceville and have four children, viz.. Pearl, Ivan, MerHn
and Earl. Daniel C. Bastin.
According to Dr. Hough, he came into town in July,
1 807, with others. He took up a tract of one hundred and
twelve acres situate on the west side of what has since been
called Ferris Street, about four miles north from the Turnpike.
Of all the men who came in prior to 1809 he and Joseph

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 207
Tyler seem to be the only ones who took title, which he did
in 1 841. His wife was Irena Sanders, and died at the old
homestead In 1862. Mr. Bastin died in Lawrenceville in
1872. They had eleven children: viz., Erastus, Sewell, Ruel,
Riley, Daniel, Rufus, Warren, Orpha, Irena, Jane and Ma-
ryette. Jane married Mr. -^^  Blake, and died in 1877. The
only grandchildren, so far as I have been able to learn, are
H. E. Blake, Azro L. Blake, Maryette Blake of Nicholville,
Mrs. Olive Robinson of Upper Lake, N. Y., WilHam Bastin
of St. Regis Falls, and Mrs. Rev. George Harrison of Nichol
ville, N. Y. Simeon Bushnell.
Simeon Bushnell was one of the very early pioneers of
Chesterfield. His name is not given by Dr. Hough among
those who came in 1807, yet he surely came to Islington In
1805, as his name appears in Mr. Hopkins's account. He
evidently very soon went to Chesterfield, as he took title to a
hundred acres on the southerly side of the Turnpike a little
over a mile east of the village in March, 18 10, and it is said
to be the first title taken by any settler In town. His wife's
name was Hannah Squire, and they were married February
23, 1 815. According to all reports he was a fine man and
had a fine family, which has nearly become extinct. He died
January 24, 1858, aged eighty-one; and his wife March 22,
1862, aged seventy-six. The frame house built by him at
a very early date is still In use and but little altered In appear
ance. It Is one of the oldest landmarks in town. A picture
of it is here given. Mr. Bushnell was a brickmaker and
made the first brick in the town. His yard was about two
miles east on the Turnpike on the farm now owned by S. W.
Chambers. The pit from which the clay was taken is plainly
to be seen.
The story of the family, so far as I have been able to
gather it, is quite Incomplete and indefinite. There were four
children. George, the eldest, was born January 13, 1816.
He married Jane Farmer, and took title to eighty-two acres
adjoining Daniel Harris on the north in 1859, where he
farmed for a time. Afterwards he bought the farm opposite
the Durfey place in Hopkinton, which he sold and went west.

zo8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Meeting with reverses, he drifted on to California and back to
Iowa, where he died. They had three children : viz., Alice,
who married Judge Barrett of San Luis, Obispo, Cal., who
died leaving three children ; Eudora, who died in  , Iowa,
and William, living in  , Iowa, the last heard of him.
The second child of Simeon was William, born November
9, 1 8 17, and drowned April 13, 1835.
The third was Sally M., born January 5, 1820. She mar
ried Daniel B. Kelsey, and they lived at Ox Bow, N. Y.,
where she died without issue December 21, 1893. They
adopted a Miss Annie Levlne, who married Frank De Wolf
and reside at Antwerp, N. Y.
The fourth was Darius, born August 29, 1822. He mar
ried Mary G. Clark, June 30, 1859, and held the old farm
for many years, selling it late in life and going to Minneapolis,
where he died November 26, 1894. They had one child, Ida,
who also died there as did his wife. The old farm is now
owned by Azro L. Blake, Esq.
Thomas Day.
Thomas Day was born at Springfield, Mass., moved to
Pomfort, Vt., and then to Chesterfield about 18 12. He took
up a tract about a mile east, where he built a cabin on the
south side of the Turnpike. His son Warren took the
first title to It In 1829, and It has since been known as the
Warren Day place. It Is now owned by Morris Day, a great-
grandson of Thomas. The later years of his life were spent
with his son Joel at Deer River, where he died March 16,
1 85 1, aged eighty -four years. He was a carpenter and
followed that trade through the active part of his life. His
wife was Silence Mann, born at Pomfort, March 17, 1779, and
died January 14, 1861.
There came to them nine children, viz. :
I. Ruth, born April 20, 1800 ; died In early life.
II. Warren, born December 15, 1802 ; married Philanda
Perkins of Parishville and kept the home place. He died
June 29, 1876 ; and his wife June 26, 1872. They had eight
children, viz., Stephen (i), who died January 18, 1828. Har
vey (2), who married Mary Shales, was a millwright and set
tled In Lawrence and had four children, Morris, Fred, Rose
and Robert. Ruth (3), married Elwood Ballard, farmer near

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. Z09
Nicholville, and had four children, Emily, Dwight and Web
ster. Alma (4), who married Lucius Lockwood, blacksmith
at Nicholville. Their children are Ella, Adelbert and Jennie.
William (5), farmer at North Lawrence, married Melissa
Burnham, and has four children, Hattie, Edith, Lynna and
Leslie. Catherine (6), married Chandler Payne, settled in
Lawrence and has two children, Eddie and Elsie. Harriet
(7), married Newcomb Weston, mechanic, Nicholville. Their
children are Bert, Pearl and Belle. Daniel Webster (8), mar
ried Marlon Ballard, farmer, served three years in Civil War ;
died at Nicholville May 10, 1889. Their children are Jean,
Ernest, Everett, Effa and Ella.
III. Noble, born June 10, 1804 ; settled at Deer River
on what is known as the Alonzo White place, and later on a
farm on the west side of the river in Hopkinton, known as
the Charles Weller place, where he died December 26, 1865.
He married, first, Jane Lumbar, who died September i, 1863 ;
and, second, Mahala Smith, who died February 15, 1872.
IV. Lyman, born May 18, 1806. He was about six
years of age when his parents came to town. He had a
natural aptitude to trade and set out when young on foot
with a tin trunk of goods. He prospered so well that he
soon bought a horse and cart, and soon after built a store at
Deer River, where he remained a few years when he built the
" Red Store " at the top of the hill In Nicholville on the
point formed by Prospect and Church streets, where he was
in business many years as a merchant and lumberman. In
1865 he settled in Muscatine, Iowa, where he was a merchant
a year and a half, when he returned and went Into business
with Sumner Sweet as merchants, which continued about eight
years, when he retired owing to falling health. He died at
Nicholville, October 3, 1884. His three wives were Cathe
rine Farrar, who died February 22, 1832 ; Lurinda Smith, who
died May 18, 1841 ; and CorneHa S. McEwen, who died Jan
uary 26, 1899. The children of Lyman Day were Ruthven,
Amanda, Leslie, Carrie, Ovette, Attie and Anna.
V. Hosea, born May 30, 1808; married Sophia Meacham;
and settled on Kimball Street, a mile and a half north of Nich
olville, and died at Nicholville, October 12, 1 886 ; and his wife
March 16, 1866. They had one son. Noble E.

2IO EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
VI. Joel, born January 28, 181 1. Settled In Nichol
ville and was a millwright for many years. He died in
 , Mich. Their children (Incomplete), Julia, Mary,
Florence, Eugene and WInfield.
VII. Jerusha, was born March 22, 18 13. She married
A. H. Doud, and died February 17, 1847. Her children are,
Joel, Edgar and Clarissa.
VIII. Russell, was born December 8, 18 16. He com
menced in life as a blacksmith, then an innkeeper and later
as a farmer. He married Julia Sweet. He died April 6,
1896, and his wife June 14, 1897. Their children, Celia,
Howard, Celestia, Merton, Ella and Hubert.
IX. Laura Ann, born February 28, 1821. Married
Noble Ferris of Lawrenceville, a farmer, and died at Nichol
ville June 11, 1 88 1. Their children were Hewie, Warren,
who was killed at the battle of Cold Harbor, June i, 1864;
and Florence, now Mrs. Luman O. Wilson of Nicholville,
N. Y. (See his family.) Isaac Trussell.
Isaac Trussell and his wife, Lydia Kimball, came from
-, Vt., about 1820, and took up a tract of one hundred

acres on the southerly side of the Turnpike, two and one-
<juarter miles east of NicholviUe. There they toiled and
lived till the end, he dying July 29, 1862, aged eighty-five,
and she June 29, i860, aged eighty. The only child of this
marriage was Gilbert Trussell, born February 4, 1804. He
took first title to his father's tract In 1846. His wife, Hul-
dah Newland, was born near MIddleburg, Vt., August 5, 1809.
They both died at North Lawrence, he March 11, 1879, and
she December 7, 1893. He held the old farm till his death.
It was sold a few years ago to William Garvey, the present
owner. To them came five children, to wit :
I. Jerome, born June 15, 1833. He was a successful
merchant at North Lawrence for many years, where he died
March 15, 1900. He married AHda Hogan. They have
one daughter, Anna, now Mrs. Clarence King of Attleboro,
Mass. II. Alfred N., born October 21, 1836. Married, sec
ond, Mary Homer. Living at Minneapolis, Minn., where he

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 211
has been quite successful. He is the only one of the grand
children of Isaac now living. He has two daughters, Harriet,
born February 20, 1867, now Mrs. F. A. Olds. She has two
daughters, Eleanor, born April 20, 1895, ^"^d EHzabeth, born
December 10, 1896. The second daughter is Helen H.,
born June 2, 1885.
III. Albert, born October 21, 1836; died five years
later. IV. Wayne was born  , 1840, and died in 1845.
V. Ellen, born  , 1846, and died In Minneapolis
April 4, 1882. She married Hon. Rufus Palmer of Law
rence. They had one child, LeRoy, now of MinneapoHs,
Minn. Horace Higfgins.
Horace Higgins came from Orwell, Vt., in February,
1822, with his brother-in-law, Andrew Squire, who took a
tract near a mile northwest of Mr. Higgins. Mr. Higgins
very soon took up a tract of sixty acres and a little over, a
mile down Water Street, lying on either side of the road and
extending southerly to the river, and to which he got title
September 19, 1825. He built along low cabin on the
trail or road, the easterly room of which was used as a shop.
The place has been known for years as the Hiram Wood
farm and is now owned by Nancy Amidon. Discovering a
water power In the river opposite or on his farm, he very
soon built a dam and sawmill which was operated by various
proprietors till 1851. It was burned down once and rebuilt.
After Mr. Higgins, it was conducted by Dennis Stacy,
Stephen Hamlin, William Hazlett, Charles D. McEwen
and Hiram Wood.
Mr. Higgins sold his farm and mill about 1836 and
moved back to Orwell, Vt, He married Orrllla Bush of
that place, by whom there were four children, viz. :
I. Alonzo, born in Orwell, December,i8i8. He mar
ried Charlana, daughter of Charles McEwen, and moved to
Lawrence where she died leaving four children : viz., Charles,
who died in the army, Hubert, Florence and Arthur. On
the death of his wife he married Betsey E. Bigelow, by whom
he had six children, all Hving. Mr. Higgins, though feeble,
and his wife reside at No. 14 Spruce Place, Minneapolis.

212 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
II. Amelia Janet, born  , 1820; married Solon G.
McEwen of Lawrence. In a few years they went to Orwell,
Vt., and from there to Clymer, N. Y. They had four chil
dren : viz., Ann Amelia, who married ; Osden S., living in
Oklahoma City ; George and Charles E., the latter living In
Westfield, N. Y. The mother, A. Janet, died in Westfield
in 1897, aged seventy-eight.
III. Edson Stephen, born in Chesterfield in 1824.
He married Euretta Cutts of Orwell, Vt., and settled at
Clymer, N. Y. They had one son, Edson S., who died some
eighteen years ago, leaving a daughter, with whom Edson's
widow resides In  , Minn.
IV. Mary Eliza, born In Lawrence In 1828. She
married Lineas Burke of Benson, Vt., and they moved to
 , 111., where she died many years ago, leaving a family,
but no particulars are known.
Dwight Noble Higgins.
He came to town in 1823 and took the adjoining tract to
his brother Horace next westerly. He married Delia Hall
of Orwell, Vt., September 11, 1825. Oncoming to town he
taught school in Sodom (NicholviUe) winters, and worked as
a carpenter summers in his brother Horace's sawmill. Horace
had a long low log house, and the easterly end was used as a
shop. To this shop Dwight took his bride, where they lived
for a good part of a year and until he had built a log house
of one room of his own, using a blanket for a door for a few
days. The old Water Street schoolhouse, near the forks of
the road, was of log and a cheap affair. It was warmed in this
wise : A circular wall of stone or brick was built In the mid
dle of the room, the size of a potash'kettle they had. In the
centre of the bottom of the kettle a hole as circular as pos
sible was broken out, the kettle inverted on the arch work,
and a piece of pipe put over the hole in the kettle and ex
tended up through the roof Inside the arch work under the
kettle the fire was built.
Mr. Higgins remained In town till 1838, when he went
back to Orwell, then to Clymer, N. Y., for sixteen years, when
he went to Somerset, N. Y., in 1874, where he died March 2,
1 88 1, and his wife, March 26, 1895. Their children were,
Maria Delia, born February 23, 1829, and three sons who

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 213
died in infancy. Their daughter Maria D. gives me these
particulars, and resides at Barker, N. Y.
Myron G. Peck.
Myron G. Peck was a son of Rev. Ithiel Peck, and born
December 27, 1791, at Cornwall, Conn. His father moved
to Orwell, Vt., in 1805, where the son remained till March
20, 1822, when he came to Chesterfield and took up a tract
about a mile down Water Street of seventy-three acres, to
which he got title in 1825. Here he continued to live till his
death, April 28, 1861. He married Electa Royce, October
4, 1 8 12. She was born March 23, 1795, and died October
12, 1882. He was a bright, InteUIgent man and possessed
much force and strength of character. He took an active part
in all town matters, held various town offices and was twice
elected member of Assembly. In the Baptist Church he was
supreme and had charge of the building of the church.
His children were seven, viz. :
I. Alphonso R., born June 22, 18 13. He married
Lucetta, daughter of Seth Abbott, who Is now in her eighty-
ninth year and lives with her adopted son, Frank M. Peck, at
Potsdam. Alphonso settled in Madrid, N. Y., where he
died May 28, 1883.
II. Happalona, born March 20, 1815 ; married Royal
Smith, July 2, 1838. She died June 28, 1895, ^* Nicholville.
He was clerk of the Baptist Church some thirty years at
Nicholville, where he died. They had no chUdren.
III. Carlos, was born July 22, 1818, and died October
19, 1818.
IV. Erasmus D., born March 20, 1820, and died July
25, 1855. He married Lucy Walton, who was born March
30, 1823, and died July 16, 1899. They lived at Nicholville,
where he was postmaster and died. They had two children,
Walton, born in 1846, who died January 26, 1853 ; and Adel
bert R., born November 17, 1851. He married Lottie A.
Thompson, April 24, 1877. They live in Lordsburgh, Cal.,
and have two chUdren, Lillian E., born September 3, 1879 ;
and Leroy W., born December 13, 1888.
V. William Carey, born May 20, 1823. He married
Sarah Noble, September i, 1845, ^^o is living at Malone,
N. Y. They had two children, WilHam N., born November

314 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON."
9, 1846; died September i, 1901. He married Mary E.
Greer of Washington, D. C, September 10, 1867. He was
clerk in War Department forty years. Their seven children,
to wit, William E., born April 20, 1868, died in two
months; Laura Edith, born August 4, 1869; Ida Blanch,
died at the age of four years ; Maude, died at thirteen months ;
Paul Noble, born June 23, 1882 ; William H., died in in
fancy. Sarah Frances, born July 30, 1854, married Tom A.
Klohs, October 4, 1894, Malone, N. Y. They have one
child, Ethel J., born May 11, 1895.
VI. Mary Maria, bom December 19, 1826; died De
cember 31, 1826.
VII. Andrew Jackson, born September 22, 1830; died
April 24, 1833. Joseph E. Stearns.
Joseph E. Stearns was born in Southampton, Mass.,
March 14, 1778. He married Temperance Calkins, born In
1 764, and thus was fourteen years older than himself. She
died in February, 1833. His second wife was Permelia Gil-
lett, eleven years older than himself. She died September 28,
1857. He came to Hopkinton in 1824 and settled on the John
Henderson farm on Independence Hill, where he lived one
year. Then he and his son-in-law, Jude Clark, bought the
farm a half mile down Water Street from Nicholville. Horace
Train had taken it up, and they bought his betterments. On
this farm Stearns and Clark lived till the end. The title to It
was taken by Mr. Clark in 1845. ^^ ^^^ afterwards owned
by Henry C. Witters, and is now by E. J. Sanford.
To Mr. Stearns came three children, viz. :
I. Fanny M., born AprU 20, 1799, and died July, 1873.
She married Jude Clark in January, 1823, who died Decem
ber 25, 1878. They had three children : viz., a son, who died
in infancy ; Amelia, born February 12, 1836 ; and Fanny M.,
born March 10, 1839, died aged two years. Amelia married
Henry C. Witters of Nicholville, July 25, 1855. He was a
son of John W. and Betsey (Pierce) Witters, who lived on
south side of Turnpike, a mile and a half northeast of Nichol
ville. Mr. Witters was a bright, upright and successful man.
He moved to Potsdam about 1885, where he was street com-

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ROYAL SMITH, NICHOLVILLE.

MYRON G. PECK.

LYMAN DAY.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 215
missioner for several years, and died May 10, 1897. His
widow still resides there. They had two children : viz., Fred
die Clark, born July, 1856, and died February, 1858; and
Fannie Elizabeth, born September 28, 1858, and died August
II, 1865.
II. Daniel E., born November 6, 1801. He married
Martha Crane, May 20, 1832, and settled in New York City.
They had six children : viz., Cary D., born May 11, 1838,
was a soldier, died June, 1897, in Soldiers' Home at Old
Point Comfort; Daniel, who died in 1836 ; Martha M., born
in 1838. She married Morris Wilkins of New York City.
Of their six children four died in infancy. Clara and Robert
are supposed to be living. The fourth child, Joseph E., born
in 1 840, served on General Searl's staff, and died as the re
sult of a railroad accident. Charlotte, born In 1842, and J.
Thomas, born in 1 845, reside in New York City.
III. Polly R., born in 1804. She married Stiles Tuttle
in 1 82 1. They came to Lawrence in 1835 and after a little
went to Ottawa, 111. They had four children : viz., Newton,
born October, 1822. He married   , and
died September, 1855. He had two children, Catherine, who
died young, and Josephine, who married James Payne and
lives at Warren, 111. ; the second child, Fanny M., born
March, 1824, and died in the home of Mr. Stearns in 1852 ;
Ermina L., born February, 1826, at Nicholville, and lives in
Syracuse, N. Y. ; Edward, born October, 1829, and died at
Detroit In 1885. He married Eliza McKay, and had two
children, WilHam E., living in Niagara Falls, and Elmer G.,
who died in childhood. Dennis Stacy.
Dennis Stacy was born in Belchertown, Mass., September
28, 1795. He spent several years In early life in Monkton,
Vt., moving into Chesterfield in 1826, and settling on a
farm on McEwen Street now held by H. M. Rose. He
very soon abandoned this for the position of manager of the
old stone gristmill, which he held for some years. He assisted
in the organization of the town in 1828, and ever after took an
active part in all town and political matters. He and Myron
G. Peck and Josiah F. Saunders were the leading spirits in
the Democratic party for many years. He was given the

2i6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
position of postmaster under Andrew Jackson in 1836, and
held it till the close of Van Buren's term in 1841. On the
organization of the Republican party In 1856, he joined that
and remained with it steadfastly and loyally. At first and for
some years he allied himself with the Baptist Church, but
later withdrew from it owing to its position on the slavery
question and joined the Methodist. He held the position of
justice of the peace for many years. The practice of the law
being very much to his liking, he made it a study and became
quite proficient as a lawyer and advocate, giving considerable
of his time for some years to the trial of suits. He pos
sessed a strong mind, a tenacious memory and was a great
reader to the end. In his last years his reading was largely
of the Bible, which he mastered to a remarkable degree. Dur
ing the last twenty-five years he was afflicted with extreme
deafness. He died November 2, 1889, reaching nearly the
great age of nine-five years. His wife was Marcia Tuttle and
died  , 1878.
Their four children were, to wit :
I. Sarah A., born  ,1826, and died January 27,
1883. She married Isaac B. Wilber, March 16, 1843. He
was born February 16, 18 16, at North Hero, Vt. They had
six children ; to wit, Leslie A., born  , 1 844, and died
 , 1847.
Charles W., of Norwood, N. Y., born January 5, 1847;
married Delia E. Myers, September 29, 1870, and had four
children: viz., Gertrude M., born April 26, 1872; Ber
tram I., born February 10, 1875, died February 23, 1877;
Viola M., born July 10, 1878 ; and LUlian M., born March
II, 1880.
William H., born July 13, 1848, and died October 28,
1864. Frank E., of Cornwall, Ont., born February 8, 1850;
married Eva Washburn, August 9, 1870, who had three chil
dren : viz., Minnie O., born October 13, 1871, and died Sep
tember 27, 1872; Emma, born October 3, 1873 '¦> ^^^ Lulu,
born August 27, 1876.
Clarence G., of Norwood, N. Y., born July 19, 1858;
married Abble Barlow, January 29, 1885, to whom came two
children: viz., Gladlce, born July 19, 1888; and Flancie,
born July 25, 1898.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 217
Hurburt B., of Norfolk, N. Y., born September 23, i860 ;
married Myra Kingsley, February 26, 1885, and have one
child, Francis, born January 26, 1895.
Mr. Isaac B. Wilber married for his second wife Laura
Belding, February 25, 1862, by whom he had two children,
viz. :
Frederick, of Norfolk, N. Y., born March 8, 1863 ; mar
ried Anna Jahn, August 11, 1896, and have five children:
viz., Hazle, born April 29, 1 897 ; Emily, born July 18,1 898 ;
Frederick, born December 16, 1899; Roena, born February
12, 1 901 ; and Charles H., born July 31, 1902.
Sadie L., born October 8, 1868; married Fred Seaver,
December 27, 1892, and resides at Watertown, N. Y.
II. Emma Roy, born November 26, 1826, at Monk-
ton, Vt. Mr. Stacy moved to Chesterfield the same year.
She was a bright accomplished woman and taught school many
years. She married R. R. Ainsworth of Nicholville in March,
1848, and died February 21, 1901. They had no children.
III. Helen, born June i, 1829 ; married Loren Smith.
(See Josiah Smith's record.)
IV. George Boardman, born May 23, 1833. His life
has been that of a lawyer at Nicholville. He was a careful,
painstaking attorney and a safe and judicious counsellor. Of
late he has been in poor health. He married Minnie Brow
nell, who was born April 9, 1845. Their children were Ernest
G., born June 25, 1870, and died October 27, 1897; Mary
Bell, born May 17, 1875, who married L. E. Hawkins of
Nicholville in August, 1893, they have one child, Dorothy,
born July 8, 1897 5 Maud M., born December 26, 1882.
Orange B. Clark.
Orange B. Clark was born May 29, 1796, at HInesburgh,
Vt., and on November 17, 1822, married Hannah G. Sweet
of that place, born October 2 8, 1796, and moved Into Ches
terfield, June 7, 1826, with two span of horses, a yoke ot
oxen, cart and seven head of cattle. He bought a tract of
one hundred and fifty acres about a mile north of Nicholville
on Depot Street with only seven acres cleared on the north
end. The only road to the village was the cross or EUithorpe
road. When the Depot Street road was cut and made, which
he helped build, he built his house and barn on the south end

2i8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
of his lot, only a half mile from the village. Game was plenty
in those days. On one occasion he came across two bucks
fighting, and as they came opposite each other in their ma
noeuvres he killed both at one discharge. At another time he
had a narrow escape from an infuriated bear which he had
wounded, but succeeded In killing.
He had three brothers, Jude, Edmund and Ralsey, and
two sisters. Alpha, who married Elihu D. Ayers, and Orilla,
who married Willard Alden, son of Rufus. They all came
from HInesburgh at about the same time and settled so com
pactly that their tracts joined. All continued to Jive In town
till the end. Orange B. Clark died December 20, 1859, and
his wife August 19, 1884. They had a family of six girls and
one son, to wit :
I. Annice C, born October 31, 1823, and died May 30,
1839. II. Mary M., born March 22, 1825, and died May 16,
1885. III. Celinda O., born May 2, 1827; married James
Tharrett, June 9, 1851. They live in Hopkinton on the cor
ner formed by the junction of the old Northwest Bay road
with the Turnpike. They had six children : viz., Annie, born
November 29, 1851 ; married Allen Mathews, who owns
the old Page farm across the road from her father ; George,
born February 18, 1855, went west and nothing known of
him; Eva I., born June 5, 1859, married Josiah Smith, and
lives on Samuel Goodell's place near by ; Clark, born July 5,
1863, married Addie Adams, and lives with his parents ; Nel-
He, born June 11, 1865, married Edgar Courser, and lives in
Parishville; and MUton, born April 10, 1 871, married Ida
Martin, and lives a mile south of his father.
IV. Louisa A., born September 15, 1 83 1 , and died April
15, 1836.
V. Milton J., born July 16, 1833 ; married Harriet
Mead, November 15, 1856, who died May 7, 1858. They
had one child, Caudice L., born September 11, 1857; and died
June 2, 1878. On September 11, 1879, he married for his
second wife Margaret A. Leary, born July 18, 1864. To
them came five children : to wit, Hannah I., born June 6,
1880; MUton O., born December 6, 1881 ; Edmond, born
October 17, 1883 ; Martha P., born November 17, 1886 ; and

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 219
Jude, born February 4, 1889. Mr. Clark keeps the old
homestead and lives a short distance down Depot Street.
VI. Loraine, born May 8, 1835, and died November
21, 1852.
VII. Rodilla H., born AprU 30, 1838, and died April
7, 1890. Danforth EUithorpe.
Danforth EUithorpe was born in Orwell, Vt., November
17, 1797, where he married PauHna Phelps and three of their
chUdren were born. He came to what is now Nicholville
about 1826, 1827, and settled on the short road that cuts
across from the Turnpike to Depot Street, formerly called
EUithorpe road. Two brothers came about the same time,
one settling near by on the same road and the other a short
distance down Depot road. He opened a blacksmith shop
on his lot at once and very soon after went into the village,
where he did the same business for some years. In or about
1826 he built a sawmill immediately below the stone grist
mill. Some years later he purchased a large farm two and a
half miles northeast of the village on the Turnpike, where he
resided till his death November 14, 1877. His wife was a
daughter of Elnathan and Pheba Phelps, born April 10,
1797, and died May 23, 1867.
Their eight children were as follows :
I. Casindana E., born November 22, 1818; married
Henry B. Sanford. (See Jonah Sanford.)
II. Polly, born September 20, 1 821, and died March
15, 1843. She married Albert Curtis, and died soon after
wards. III. Henry, born December 26, 1825, and died in In
fancy. IV. LivoNA, born January 27, 1831 ; died Decem
ber 6, 1898. She married Theodore B. Smith. They had
two sons at least, Bert of Providence, R. I., and Adelbert of
Norwood, N. Y.
V. Thurman D., born August 17, 1833. He remained
with his father on the farm tiU he was twenty-one, when he
went into the Nicholville co-operative store, where he con
tinued for fifteen years. Succeeding this he was six years In
the dry goods business on his own account at Nicholville.

2 20 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
He has held the position of justice and various other positions
of trust and confidence. In 1870 he married Addy S. Wood,
daughter of Elihu Ayers. No children.
VI. Alphonso P., born April 30, 1836, and died
December 6, 1898.
VII. Rosalia A., born May 2, 1839, and died May 2,
1869. Married Frederick B. Chandler, went to California
and died there, leaving two children.
VIII. Pascal B., born August 27, 1841 ; married Miss
Ella Faulkner of Parishville. He holds and owns the old
homestead. They have a fine family of five sons and a
daughter, to wit, Thurman D., George F., Pascal, Henry F.,
Howard and Celestia A. Ralsey Clark.
Ralsey Clark, born in HInesburgh, Vt., March 25, 1805.
In 1827, his parents having died, he went to Wilmington,
N. Y., where he remained till 1832, when he came to Lawrence
and settled a quarter of a mile down Water Street on the
southerly side, where he died March 31, 1843. ^^ 1837 he
married Cynthia Duntley. He did much clerical work and
was clerk of the town for several years. On his death the
farm was held by his widow till her death, February 21, 1887.
It Is now owned by Mrs. William Fortune.
To them came three children, two of whom died in in
fancy. Wealthy R., the only living child, was born  ,
and married William Fortune, March 9, 1862.
Their six children are as follows : Mattie L., born May 1 1,
1863, married E. H. Brombey, January, 1886, and have a
daughter and son, lives at Lawrence, N. Y. ; Ralsey, born
May 21, 1865, and died Jaruary 10, 1867; Libbie C., born
March 3, 1867, married W. F. Mould, October, 1893, of
St. Regis Falls, and has two daughters; Vernon C, born
March 11, 1869, ^"d lives at Lawrence, N. Y. ; Archie W.,
born May 22, 1872, and Is a teacher; Ernest, born April 5,
1874, and lives at Lawrence. Enos Burt.
Enos Burt was born at Windsor, Vt., May 28, 1801, and
in 1825 married Lucy Ann Osgood. They, in company with
others, started In midwinter 1827, with ox teams and one

CHURCH STREET, NICHOLVILLE  MERRILL BLOCK.

HOUSE BUILT BY SIMON BUSHNELL.
Oldest house in town of Lawrence.

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 221
horse, on a twelve days' journey to the sparsely settled town
ship of Chesterfield. He selected a tract of fifty acres on both
sides of Kimball Street, later called Depot Street, some four
miles north of Nicholville. He built on the parcel on the
west side of the road and very soon after built a small tannery
and also a harness and shoe shop. He was a bright, prosper
ous man, working on his farm and in the tannery summers,
and at the shoe and harness business in the winters. He was
the first collector of his town. In the militia he rose to the
position of captain, by which title he was afterwards known.
He died where he had toiled  , 1888, and his wife,  ,
1885. The farm, increased to two hundred acres, was sold
in 1892 to William Morrell. Sumner Sweet.
Sumner Sweet was born in Huntington, Vt., September
19, 1829, and came to Lawrence with his parents In March,
1 83 1 . At an early age he began a mercantile life by entering
the store of Lyman Day as a clerk. From here he went to
Bangor, N. Y., for a time as clerk for Dickinson & Patterson.
He was for a short time in trade with his brother-in-law, Rus
sell Day, in what Is known as the Carrie White building in
Nicholville. In 1852 he went tc Boston, entering a large dry
goods house as salesman, where he remained till 1857, when
he returned and purchased a stock and store at East Dickin
son. Ten years later, in company with Mr. Day, he built
what has since been known as the Sumner Sweet & Co. store
in Nicholville. His brother, Henry H., soon after entered
the firm. It became a widely known business house, doing a
large and lucrative business.
In politics he was a Democrat and the acknowledged head
of the party In the town, and quite a factor in his party in the
county. However, he was not at all offensive in his partisan
ship, as is shown by the fact that in 1876 he was elected super
visor of his town, which was and is very strongly Republican.
He was a most estimable man in every respect, and held the
respect and confidence of aU who knew him. In October,
1857, he married Hannah M. Wilkinson, who stIU survives
him. No children came of this marriage. His death oc
curred February 10, 1891.

222 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Hiram Wood.
Hiram Wood came to town from Plainfield, Vt., in June,
1837. William Reed, who married a sister of Mrs. Wood,
came with him. They settled about a mile north of Law
renceville, near the cemetery grounds, where Mr. Wood con
tinued to reside till January, 1842, when he moved to the
place now owned by Mrs. Amidon, just south of the Water
Street schoolhouse. He soon purchased the sawmill on the
St. Regis River, just back or south of his place, and run it
alone or in company with Mr. Hazlitt some eight or ten
years, when for lack of timber in the vicinity it was aban
doned. Mr. Wood was a cooper by trade and followed this
vocation in connection with his sawmill and later with farm
ing until 1 8 74, when he sold or traded his farm with Richard
Amidon and moved to upper Main Street in NicholviUe,
where he died April 20, 1882. His wife, who was a frugal,
industrious and noble woman, survived him over ten years,
dying December 22, 1892, highly respected and beloved. He
was a very industrious man and also a man of the strict
est integrity, and carried his honesty of purpose into all his
work, dealings and undertakings. He was descended from
sturdy English stock, his ancestors, Thomas and Anna (Todd)
Wood, emigrating to this country about 1638 from Mattock,
England, and settling in the town of Rowley, Mass. Some
of their descendants a generation or two later settled in Men-
don, Mass. The town of Uxbridge was later formed from a
part of Mendon, and from this town Benjamin Wood, the
father of Hiram, emigrated to Barre, Vt., in the spring of
1802. There Hiram was born, February 16, 18 10. He
married Sarah Parks of Plainfield, Vt., November 17, 1833,
and in 1837 they moved to Lawrence, as formerly stated.
Their only child was E. Allen Wood of Nicholville, an active,
intelligent and public-spirited citizen. He was born July 6,
1 841, and married Emily Frances Chandler, daughter of Lewis
and Ornida (Beecher) Chandler, January 15, 1868. She was
born July 24, 1843. (See Chandler family.) To them were
born four children : viz., Benjamin Walton, born November
9, 1868; Hiram Lewis, born December i, 1870; Alice Viola,
born July 15, 1873 ; and Grace Town, born June 26, 1875.
Benjamin W. married NeUie McClelland of St. Johns, N. B.,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 223
December 27, 1892. They have one child, Grace Emily, born
December 6, 1896. Lyman Page.
Lyman Page married Loraine White in 1836 at Leicester,
Vt., and came to town In 1839, settHng on the farm on Depot
Street a mile north of NicholviUe, now owned by Charles
Sanford. She was a sister of Mark and Alonzo White. He
soon after purchased the sawmill just below the gristmill and
a few years later sold a half interest to Benjamin F. HlUIard.
It was run many years by them as a custom mUl, taking toU
in lumber for sawing.
Some years later he branched out as a builder and con
tractor, building the depots, roundhouse and turntable at
Chateaugay in 1849, which place was for nearly a year the
end of the railroad as It was being built from Ogdensburg.
While this work was in progress he lived in Chateaugay.
He also built the depot at Winthrop and Brandy Brook.
In 1854 he returned to Nicholville and tore down the old
mill and built one much larger. The former was so crude
and slow in action that I am told, the man in charge would
set a log and then go and hoe his garden for two hours or
more while the saw was passing the length of the log. The
new mill had what was called a Yankee gate, a double affair,
one side slabbing the logs to ten inches and the other sawing
the slabbed logs into boards. This was such an Improve
ment that it was the admiration of all.
The panic of 1857 so deadened business that he gave up
making lumber and went into the manufacture of sash and
doors in the upper part of the mill, and In 1867 added
spruce shingles to his business, which he continued till 1887,
when the mill and business passed into the hands of his son-
in-law, J. H. Knowlton.
In addition to his railroad work he built a church at North
Lawrence, one at Lawrenceville, two churches, Lyman Day's
residence and several other buildings in Nicholville, and school-
house in Hopkinton. For many years he was the largest con
tractor and builder in that section. In 1855 or 1856 he sold
his farm and purchased the Joseph Smith farm on the south
or Hopkinton side of the river, where he lived till his death.

224 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mr. Page was born February 14, 18 12, and died Novem
ber 4, 1894. His wife was born June 12, 18 18, and died
August 15, 1898. Their children were as follows:
I. Mark R., born October 26, 1838, at Liecester, Vt. ;
married Sarah M. Merrill, October 5, 1865. Was in business
at Nicholville as a manufacturer of potato starch, etc., until
1886, when he went to MinneapoHs, where he now resides.
(See Dyer L. Merrill's record.)
II. Royal C, born at Nicholville, October 31, 1840;
married Helen Thomas of Lawrenceville, August 31, 1864.
Settled in Nicholville, later went to Minneapolis, where he
died February 3, 1899.
III. Jane G., born December 22, 1842 ; married LesHe
L. Day, June 8, 1864. Soon went to Muscatine, la., and in
1867 moved to Hutchinson, Minn., where he died January
6, 1901. IV. Ward W., born October 25, 1846; married Kate
M. Wheeler of Redwing, Minn., where he resided till 1878,
when he went to Minneapolis, where he now resides.
V. Wright B., born at Chateaugay, N. Y., June 8,
1850; married Ella Florence Snill of Minneapolis, June 5,
1878, where he resided till his death, January 27, 1888.
VI. Mary L., born March 20, 1854 at Nicholville;
married J. H. Knowlton of that place March, 1879, where
they resided till her death, March 27, 1893.
East Village or NicholviUe.
Mr. Risdon in his diary calls the settlement at this place
East Village on nearly or quite every occasion. It was by the
people more or less called Sodom from about 1822 to 1830,
due to a distillery that flourished there for a short time and
the too free use of liquor by the people, and yet I notice Mr.
Risdon does not at any time speak of It by that name or men
tion the fact. After the settlement had considerably increased
on the Lawrence side through the efforts of Mr. E. S. Nic-
oUs, the executor of William Lawrence's will, the place slowly
but steadily began to take the name of Nicholville, by which
it has since been known. Some years later, when it was learned
that Mr. NIcoUs had not been true to his trust, an effort was
made to give the place another name, but it failed of consum-

L Gristmill.
2. Winslow Hotel.

NICHOLVILLE VALLEY LOOKING EAST.
•S. Fortune Tannery. 5. Site of Old Union Store.
4. Knowlton's Sawmill. (i. Hotel and EUithorpe Block.

7. Rear of Merrill Block.
H. Lyman Day Store.

1. Sherar -Olmstead Store. 2.

MAIN STREET, LOOKING NORTHEAST, NICHOLVILLE.
EUithorpe Block. 3. Ira H. Smith Store. 4. Sumner Sweet & Co. 5. L. O. Wilson Building.

6. F. X. Murray Building.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 225
mation. The settlement for the first few years was very
largely or wholly on the south or Hopkinton side of the
river, excepting that there were a few settlers a half mile or so
north from the river in Lawrence, to wit, Abijah Chandler,
Simeon Bushnell.
In 1 8 17 Samuel Wilson of Hopkinton purchased a tract
of twelve acres situate just west of Samuel Goodell's farm,
which parcel Included the south shore of the St. Regis River
for some distance above and below the present crossing at
Nicholville. Whether there were any settlers on that shore
at this point prior to this I do not learn, but I feel confident
there were none, and certainly none on the north or Lawrence
side nearer than Abijah Chandler. The lot so purchased by
him Is shown on the map of the town. Whether there was
a bridge over the river at this place at this time I am unable to
say definitely, but I am disposed to think there was, or if not
then there was one a hundred rods or more down the river,
or at least a crossing.
When the British made the raid on Hopkinton in 18 14
they forced Samuel Goodell to hitch up and carry some of the
officers to Malone or Fort Covington. It is tradition in his
family that as he started off with his. load he made up his
mind to in some way force or run his team off the bridge
over on to ice below or into the river and thus kill or drown
his passengers. Then, too, it is well known that the Turnpike
road had been considerably worked prior to this from Parish
viUe to this point and also on through Chesterfield and Into
Franklin County. At the place of present crossing the banks
were too high and steep to permit of crossing except by
way of a bridge considerably elevated from the bed of the
river. The First Sawmill.
In the summer of 18 17, as we learn from Dr. Hough and
in several other authentic ways, Mr. WUson built a dam
across the river about where the present dam stands and also
a sawmill on the Hopkinton shore a little below the dam and
where the present sawmill stands. There was a flume leading
to it from the dam. Mr. Eliphalet Brush worked on this
dam as we learn from the leaves of his old account book pre
served by his grandson, Charles H., showing charges for such

226 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
labor. Then again we learn from Mr. Kent's diary that the
sawmill was raised on the 28th of July, 18 17. This was
certainly the first mill of any kind at East Village or Nichol
viUe. At the time of building the dam, as we learn from
authentic tradition, there was quite an Island in the river.
The dam was built across just at the head of this island. This
mill stood at the right of No. 3 in picture, but is not shown.
The First Carding Mill.
Not long after the building of the sawmill Mr. John
Thomas of Hopkinton built a carding mill on the south or
Hopkinton shore close up to the bridge where the planing
mill now stands. Messrs. Thomas and Wilson were the two
most enterprising. Industrious men In town. They were build
ing mills, shops and factories all the time, which must have
been a great boon to the settlers. Each was of a mechanical
turn of mind naturally, else they could not have done what
they did, and how fortunate It was that they were !
The building built by Mr. Thomas was removed about
1 849, and the present building erected by Ezra Hyde and his
brother-in-law, William Lyman. They had a spinning jenny,
looms and cloth dressing machinery, enough to do quite a
large business, but it never proved a success. The manufac
turing part of the business was soon abandoned, but Mr.
Hyde used it a great many years for a custom carding and
cloth dressing mill. It was used for some years by J. A.
Thomas and N. G. Weston in connection with their building
and contracting ; also by E. B. Lord and R. P. Cheney for
the manufacture of butter tubs, and by L. O. Wilson and
M. R. Page for a potato starch factory. The building has
gone sadly to decay, and Its present ownership would be very
hard to determine. It is and has been for several years used
by J. R. Parker for a planing mill, and latterly a cider mill
has been added.
This mill stood still farther to the right of No. 3.
The First Hotel.
In the spring of 1820 quite a number settled in and about
East Village. Among these were John Curtis and wife, EH
Bush, his wife and three children, viz., Ebenezer, Eli, Jr.,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 227
Clarissa, and his wife's sister. Miss Nancy Castle. The latter
married Philo, son of Abijah Chandler. They aU came in
by the way of the Northwest Bay road, through what was
known as the fifty-mile wilderness.
Mr. Bush and famUy moved into the house of Samuel
Wilson, standing at the top of the hill and on the westerly
side of the road, where Ernest Canfield now lives. Their
nearest, if not their only, neighbors were Mr. John Pomeroy,
who lived in the long house a few rods up the road where
Merton Lindsay now lives, Samuel Goodell some eighty rods
west on the road to Hopkinton, and Amasa Blanchard a little
farther west across the road. Mr. Bush and one Chester
Armstrong worked for some time In the carding mill at the
end of the bridge. He, Bush, buUt himself a house In 1820
at the top of the hill on the westerly side of the road where
J. M. Simonds's house now stands, and soon began keeping
an Inn. He was followed as proprietor by Joseph Sheals,
father of Mrs. E. Harmon Risdon, who died there, and his
widow married Asahel Kent. Succeeding him It was kept by
a Mr. Farr and also by Levi Chapman. It burned April 6,
1835, as we learn from Mr. Risdon's diary, and was then
called the Chapman place.
The Distillery at East Village.
In the official records of the town I find that a road was
surveyed in 1821 from the foot of the hill on the Hopkinton
side, beginning at a point four rods from Samuel Wilson's
house and extending down on the bank of the river one hun
dred and twenty-five rods to John Thomas's still. This whis
key manufactory stood under the hill on the bank of the river
near a fine flowing spring, just behind the residence of Samuel
Goodell. Just when it was built I cannot say, but probably
about this time. He built a hotel In Hopkinton in 1817, and
was foreclosed and sold out in 1820. Were it not for this
survey bill we could not say who built it or just when it did
run. It is the only record evidence of its existence that I
have learned. No ruins are to be found about the spring.
However, Mr. Allen Wood tells me that a few years since by
digging a little he found relics, proving that a shop of some
kind was once there. But very few people are aware that there

zz8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
was ever a distlUery in the town. It caused at the time quite
a little unpleasantness and created some bitterness and feeling
among certain families. Mrs. Samuel Goodell, as I learn, was
bitterly opposed to it. It was a small still, and probably its
product or nearly all of it was sold to the people round about.
I judge that was the case, since several elderly people recall
that the village for a time bore such a reputation for drinking
and carousing that It was given the name Sodom, which clung
to It for some years.
Dr. Hough states in his history of Nicholville that a dis
tillery was built there in 1824. In this he was mistaken.
There never was any still in Nicholville on the Lawrence side.
The only one was this of Mr. Thomas's which, from the sur
vey bill, appears to have been already built in 1821. After
Mr. Thomas, it was run by Joshua Gurley for a short time,
when it burned down, as Mr. Wood tells me. In 1 824. There
were some suspicions at the time, it seems, that Its burning
was not wholly due to spontaneous combustion.
The survey bill of the road to the still shows that Mr.
Wilson then had a house under the hill, where no doubt the
men In charge of his sawmill lived. In 1821 he married
Sally, daughter of Amasa Blanchard, who lived only a quarter
of a mile distant. He and his wife lived with her parents until
the death of the survivor of them in  , as his daughter,
Mrs. Wilkins, born in 1822, Informs me.
This still was down the road shown In foreground, to the
left. The First Gristmill.
According to Dr. Hough, Mr. Wilson built a gristrhill
in 1822 on the south or Hopkinton shore near the sawmill.
In this he was certainly in error. Mr. Wilson's daughter,
Mrs. N. Maria WUkins of Stowe, Vt., born in 1822, has a
very clear recollection of what she knew and learned of those
early times, and she says that the gristmill built by her father
stood on the upper end of the island in the middle of the
stream and close up to the bridge. In this she is supported
by several other elderly people. She says further that the mill
was a frame, two-story structure, and that the people coming
there with grist could throw it from their wagons through
the open door into the gristmill. The stones used for grind-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 229
Ing were cut or hewn from the field rock in the pasture at the
head of the pond and on G. T. Canfield's farm. This being
the case, the bridge must have been over or nearly over the
dam. The second story was used by Hiram Blanchard as a
wheelwright shop, and was so used at the time of the freshet.
Mr. Wilson conducted this mill till Its destruction by flood in
1830. He was a natural mechanic and millwright and won
considerable praise for the quality of flour which he manu
factured. The Stone Gristmill.
In 1826, 1827, a stone gristmill was built on the Lawrence
side, just below the northerly end of the bridge, by E. S.
NicoUs, the executor of the will of William Lawrence, who
owned the township of Chesterfield and died In New York in
1824. What occasion there was for a second mill I do not
see, unless it was to get the toll of the settlers, who were then
becoming quite numerous. The mill was conducted by his
executor and heirs until about 1857 or 1858, when It passed
into the hands of Messrs. Nelson and Rev. Austin Wood
ward, who tore it down to the ground floor in i860 and re
built the present wooden mill on the old foundation. The
work was done by Lyman Page and cost 1 11,000. The mill
is No. I in picture.
I often went to this mill when a small lad, and how I
dreaded the descent of the big hill with a load. As a boy I
never could understand why a mill was erected in such a deep
gulch or why a village should be built about it.
In about 1868 Messrs. Woodward were succeeded by
Benjamin Babcock, who ran it till his death in 1879, when it
passed into the hands of his son, Charles H. After his death
in May, 1890, it was conducted by his widow for a few years,
when it was sold, about 1894, to James H. Knowlton, the
present owner. This purchase gave Mr. Knowlton the entire
water power and mill business on the north side of the river,
which he still retains (January, 1903). In connection with his
gristmill and lumber interests he has conducted a store under
the hill many years, or until 1902, when he sold his mercan
tile business to Cordon D., son of Charles H. Babcock, who
is doing a thriving and prosperous business.

2 30 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Great Freshet.
The greatest freshet ever known on the river took place
in June, 1830. Mrs. Wilkins says there had been a some
what protracted rain and that on a Sunday came a downpour
lasting only a half hour or so, but filling all the streams to
overflowing. When over, the men, women and children
rushed to the river to see what should happen to their shops
and mills in which they were so much interested. The more
daring went on to the bridge while the others lined the shore
watching the raging torrent. Presently the bridge began to
tremble, when there was a wild scramble to reach the shore,
which the last was just able to do. The bridge went down
with a crash and, being just over the dam, injured and weak
ened that and away It went. The long flume on the south
shore leading to Mr. Wilson's sawmill burst and the water
rushed under and tore out much of its foundation. As the
dam gave way the gristmill on the Island was swept down
stream a few rods bolt upright, where It defied the torrent for
a half hour, when it too succumbed and was swept on. This
was a severe blow to Mr. Wilson, but he bore it with great
fortitude and set to work to rebuild. A footbridge was put
up at once. The piers for the bridge were this time built
several feet higher than before, thus considerably elevating the
new bridge.
While building the bridge and the bare stringers only had
been laid. Miss N. Maria Wilson was observed one day out
on a stringer with a boy a few years older a few feet
ahead of her. They had set out to cross over on the
stringer, twenty feet or more above the water. To call
them might frighten them, and so the men about stood in
breathless silence till they should cross. However, Mr.
Hiram Blanchard took off a good part of his clothing ready
to plunge In should it be necessary. It was not. Being with
out fear they went over in safety. Reaching the other shore
the most unconcerned of all, her uncle Hiram, taking her
kindly by the hand, said, " I guess you better go back on the
footbridge," and she did.
There was considerable trouble and litigation over the re
building of the dam between the towns and Mr. Wilson.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 231
Judge Sanford acted as Mr. Wilson's counsel, but I do not
learn just what the point of controversy was.
The flood tore away quite a part of the island, and suc
ceeding freshets have worn it down to a bit of an island some
ten rods below the dam. •
Rebuilding of Mr. Wilson's Mill.
Mr. WUson repaired and enlarged his sawmill on the
south bank. As rebuilt there was a sawmill in one part and
a gristmill with two run of stone in the other, which stones
were recovered from the wreck of the former mill. For the
convenience of customers a footbridge was built from the
highway bridge down to the mill. The two mills were run by
Mr. Wilson for many years. His eldest son, Hiram R., was
killed in the machinery of the stone gristmill November 21,
1843, ^s I learn from the diary. He was a bright young man
of eighteen years.
In 1852 a gang sawmill was built on the site of the old
Wilson mill by Edson J. Wilson, son of Samuel, and WlUiam
C. Blish. It was only completed when Mr. Blish sold all his
Interest to Wells S. Dickinson and Clark Patterson of Bangor.
The new firm built a potato starch factory just below the saw
mill and only eight feet from it. The starch factory burned
down that fall while In operation. At the time of the fire
Robert Bowles of Bangor and a man by the name of Bently,
employees in the factory, were asleep In the building. Arous
ing at last and finding the building In flames they were dazed
and bewildered. Mr. Bowles frantically ran through the kiln
room and was so badly burned that he died in a few hours.
Mr. Bently rushed down into the lower part of the mill and
escaped unharmed. Notwithstanding the factory was only
eight feet from the sawmill, the latter was saved through the
heroic efforts of E. J. Wilson and others. It was rebuilt at
once. The kiln this time was built on the island out in the
river with a footbridge to it.
After two years of partnership Mr. Wilson sold his inter
est to his associates, who ran the mill about four years, when
they sold to Harrison HoUenbeck. He sold to Messrs,
James Shearer and W. G. Taggart, and they to Messrs.
Henry C. and John L. Witters about 1865. They ran it

232 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
two or three years and sold to S. B. Goff. He conducted It
till his death. In 1896 the sawmill was purchased by Luman
C. Wilson, another son of Samuel. He sold it in August,
1902, to S. W. and R. S. Chambers. They use it as a cus
tom mill and have also placed in it an electric light plant.
They are at present (January, 1903) furnishing lights to nearly
all the business places In town as well as many of the dwellings
and also street lights. They have also extended the line over
to the villages of Hopkinton and Fort Jackson.
The First Store on South Side.
It is quite impossible to say who opened the first store In
East Village. L. O. Wilson tells me that his father opened
a store at a very early date in the north part of his house
under the hill on the left-hand side going east. It was, of
course, a small affair as were all other stores. He drew cherry
lumber, venison, etc., to Plattsburg and exchanged them for
goods which he brought back and sold in his store. In 1825
or 1826 Ebenezer Hulburd of Stockholm and Zoraster Cul
ver opened a store there. J. Wilson Culver, his nephew, tells
me that It stood at the foot of the hill on the right-hand side
as you go east. Mr. Wilson and others say it stood at the
top of the hill on the west side of the road and next northerly
of the Chapman Hotel. Mr. Culver first settled In East
Stockholm about 1820 and went into trade with some $3,000
which he brought with him. At the end of three or four
years he found himself involved and embarrassed, his capital
and more due him from debtors who could not pay. His
neighbor, Mr. Hulburd, notwithstanding his failure, saw that
he had the qualities of a good business man and so advanced
the capital and started him In trade at East Village as a part
ner. They were In trade there only one year when they
bought in 1827 the house and store built by Mr. Wilson in
1 8 1 7 on the corner just west of the village Green in Hop
kinton village, where Mr. Culver was so long in trade.
A little later a Dr. Horace Branch kept a store in the
basement of his house where the J. R. Parker house now
stands, and also in the Culver store. This building is now
used by J. H. Knowlton as a storehouse.
One of the next men in trade at East Village, so far as I

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 233
learn, was Joel Goodell, Jr., who built a store at the foot of
the hill on the right-hand side in 1837. He conducted It for
a few years, when he too had to quit business. In 1862 he
went to California, returning in 1867 with a moderate fortune.
Old Brown Shop.
Reuben Brown and Leander Turner built a metal and
woodworking shop on the Hopkinton shore above and close
to the south end of the bridge. The former soon became
sole proprietor. He was not only a good workman, but very
ingenious and his place took and bore the name " Old Brown
Shop " for years. He was also a famous hunter. His fa
vorite grounds for hunting were about Lake Ozonia, and that
beautiful lake in honor of Mr. Brown and his attachment to
it was first given the name of Brown Pond.
The First Store on Lawrence Side.
In 1829 George P. Farrar built a store on the westerly
side of the road at the foot of the hill which was afterwards
used as the Union Store. He died In 1836, and his widow
married Col. Milton Heath.
In 1 85 1 Division 301 of The New England Protective
Union was formed at Nicholville. It was organized for a
period of five years, with a charge or fee of $3 for a share.
The members were to get their goods at seven per cent in
advance, while all others had to pay eleven per cent. The
following men took shares In it : viz., William EUithorpe,
Elihu D. Ayers, Mason Martindale, Russell Squire, H. H.
Van Norman, Lewis Chandler, Lyman Page, Aaron Lee,
Otis Farrar, Rev. Gideon S. Abbott, Dyer L. Merrill, John
Everett, A. G. Rhoads, Addison Rhoads, Danforth EUi
thorpe, Ezra Martindale, John H. Henderson, William S.
Phelps, Zina Roys, David F. Henderson, Joseph T. Canfield,
Harry Giles, Ezra Hyde, Darius Bushnell and Hiram Wood.
As will be noticed several of these lived In Hopkinton. Of
these men only four are now living, to wit, John H. and David
F. Henderson, Joseph T. Canfield and Zina Roys.
The Union began business in the store of James Sherer,
where Charles S. Olmstead now does business. In a few

234 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
months after opening they suffered a pretty heavy loss by
fire. The goods that were saved were taken across the road
to the building of Carrie White, where they did business for
a short time, when they bought the old Farrar store under the
hill. In i860 they moved that building a Httle north for a
storeroom and built a large store on the old site. At the end
of the term they renewed their organization for another five
years, and on the close of that term for an additional five
years, when, owing to many deaths, the business was closed
up. It was then found that the shares were worth about
|8oo each. Such a result warrants the giving of the names
of the men who were In charge of the store, and I gladly
give them, viz., George A. Burt and Thurman D. EUithorpe.
Soon after the dissolution of the old company a new Union
Store was organized with a large number of shareholders,
which took the old store and probably what goods there
were left. The new store ran till 1880 or a Httle later, when
it came to a sad and bitter end. The shares, instead of being
worth something, were a burden on the holders to the extent
of several hundred dollars each. The store was subsequently
sold to William P. Simpson in 1885, who conducted a tin
and hardware business for a year or so when it was burned.
D. L. Merrill afterwards purchased the site and erected the
blacksmith shop near the bank. In 1893 C. S. Olmstead
purchased the property of S. W. Merrill, executor, and built
the large barn now standing, upon the foundation walls of the
old store, being No. 5 in picture.
Across the street from the " stone " gristmill is the gro
cery store of A. A. Weller, a son-in-law of M. S. Blanchard.
A part of this building was erected about 1840 and was used
for a cooper shop, and at one time hats were made here, I
think by Ezra Martindale. In i860 or 1861 it was pur
chased and enlarged by Mortimer S. Blanchard, who con
ducted a grocery here many years and until his death.
It was purchased by Mr. Weller some fifteen years ago.
The Lyman Day Store.
In 1839 Lyman Day built the store on the corner of
Church and Prospect streets. Mr. Day had previously been
in trade several years at Deer River, near where L. M. Drake

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 235
now resides. His brother, Noble Day, owned the Drake farm
at this time, building the present dwelling and keeping a pub
lic house there. Lyman Day was in the hotel at Nicholville
a couple of years just prior to his building the store. He
commenced trade in a small way, but as the country became
more settled and better developed his business increased until
for a number of years his was the principal store in this place.
Mr. Day owned an ashery a few rods down on Depot Street
which he operated In connection with his store. Such were
the conditions here prior to the building of the railroad that
trade was largely of the barter or exchange kind, and the com
mon currency of that day was ashes and salts in the summer,
and grain in the winter. Cattle were also used In exchange,
and Mr. Day took several droves to Plattsburg and other
markets. Mr. Day continued in. trade until 1865, when he
sold his store and fine home, now the P. W. Smith place, to
Dr. Hiram D. Smith and moved to Muscatine, Iowa. Such
had been his success that he carried away a nice property.
The family were never quite satisfied, however, with the
change, and two years later returned and built another fine
home just east of the Baptist Church. Mr. Day never en
gaged In trade again alone, but was for some years one of
the partners In the firm of Sumner, Sweet & Co. After
Dr. Smith purchased the place he moved the old granary
which stood between the store and the Carrie White build
ing and attached it to the rear of the store, finishing it off
for his office and remodelling the store, fitting It up for a drug
store. Here Ira H. Smith commenced business in 1865. In
1876 he purchased the brick store just below the hotel, and
this was ever afterwards his business home until his death in
1902. After he removed from the Old Red Store, as It was
called, his father, the doctor, fitted it up for his office as jus
tice of the peace, using it for that purpose until his death In
1881. J. A. Martindale was In trade In it for several years and
also kept the post office there. It is now owned by E. J.
Sanford, who purchased it in 1902 of the Louise Smith estate.
It is now used by H. D. Blanchard as a barber shop, and the
back part by Mr. G. C. RandaU for a dental office. It is
No. 8 in picture.

236 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Sherar and Olmstead Store.
The first building upon the site of this store was built by
Daniel Munger prior to 1830. He used it for a dwelling
house and cabinet shop. It was also used a short time as a
schoolhouse. In 1845 James Sherar purchased the property
and removing the building erected a store and went into the
mercantile business. He became embarrassed, and after mak
ing an assignment went to California in 1 849. He was ac
companied by Col. Roswell Hopkins, Seth Putnam of Hop
kinton, Henry B. Sanford of this place and possibly one or
two others. Mr. Putnam did not live to reach the land of
gold, dying on the way and burled at sea. They went by
way of Cape Horn and were six months in accomplishing what
can now be done in as many days. During the two or three
years prior to the fall of 1851, Dr. N. D. Lawrence and E. J.
Wilson were in trade here, as was also Sanford Eggleston for
a short time. The store was leased to the N. E. Protective
Union in the fall of 185 1, and In It they commenced business,
but in less than six months it was burned. They saved a few
goods and moved then across the street into what Is now the
Carrie White building and continued their business.
In the fall of 1852 Mr. Sherar returned and after paying
every dollar of his indebtedness rebuilt the store and again
went into trade, where he continued either alone or in partner
ship until 1874. W. S. Taggart was with him several years,
and the firm was known as Sherar & Taggart. They did a
very large business buying butter, eggs and other produce in
connection with their other business. They also purchased
the sawmill on the Hopkinton side and run it a couple of
years. W. W. Sherar, his son, was in partnership a short
time succeeding Mr. Taggart, the firm being James Sherar &
Son. In 1866 Mr. Sherar rebuilt and enlarged his store, extend
ing it some fifty feet along Church Street and twenty-five feet
along Main. In 1871 it was veneered with brick, and to-day
is one of the most substantial blocks in the village, a monu
ment to the energy. Industry and business integrity of James
Sherar. In 1874, owing to falHng health, he sold his stock
and leased the store to C. S. Olmstead and J. G. Cooke, then
young men from Boston. They continued in trade until

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. Z37
1878, when the firm of Olmstead & Cooke was terminated by
Mr. Olmstead purchasing his partner's Interest. Mr. Cooke
went from here to Potsdam and went into the dry goods
trade. Mr. Olmstead has remodelled the Interior of the store
until it is very commodious and pleasant. He carries a large
stock of merchandise and also handles lumber, shingles and
feed. His has been a very busy and prosperous career. He
is now serving his third term as supervisor of his adopted
town. Mr. Sherar died In 1879. This store is No. i in
picture. The Merrill Block.
What is known as the Merrill & Fisk Block was built in
1866 by Dyer L. MerriU and Benjamin F. Kellogg, Mr. Mer
rill owning the east half and Mr. Kellogg the west.
Mr. Kellogg used the first floor for a tin shop and the
second for living rooms, while the third floor was finished and
arranged for a Masonic hall, for which is has since been used.
Mr. Kellogg sold out his business and store in the block in
1868 to Charles A. Fisk and John Lawson, young men of
Malone. Mr. Lawson sold his interest to Mr. Fisk after a
year or two and went to Hutchinson, Minn., where he still
resides. Mr. Fisk still owns and conducts a tin and hardware
business here. The East or D. L. Merrill Part.
Upon the completion of the building in the fall of 1866,
D. L. MerriU & Son (S. W. Merrill) started a furniture and
crockery store, the first one In town. They remained in part
nership until January i, 1868, when D. L. Merrill sold his
interest to L. O. Wilson and added undertaking to their busi
ness. In 1870 S. W. Merrill purchased Mr. Wilson's interest
in all except the undertaking, and has continued to carry on
the business until January, 1902, when he sold his stock and
leased the store to W. W. Kendrick, who had been with him
as salesman some six years. In 1901 Mr. Merrill made a large
addition to the store along the east side, which makes it one of
the finest stores in this section. Mr. Kendrick Is fully main-

238 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
talning Its former well-earned reputation of a first-class, up-to-
date store. It Is No. 2 in picture.
While rebuilding the store, Mr. Merrill remodelled the old
office building just east of the block, adding large windows and
a block roof. This he used as his private office. This build
ing was erected by Dr. N. D. Lawrence for an office nearly
sixty years ago. The Ira H. Smith Store.
The brick store occupied so many years by Ira H. Smith
was built in 1872 by T. D. EUithorpe, Esq. Here he en
gaged in trade until he sold the store to Mr. Smith in 1876.
Mr. EUithorpe had previously had many years' experience In
trade as salesman and also as manager of the old Union Store.
Mr. Smith was a marvel in his application to his drug business,
never ceasing In his attentions. It had his whole thought, aim
and life. His estate reached, as is reported, a round hundred
thousand dollars, being the wealthiest man in town and prob
ably the wealthiest that ever lived in town.
P. W. Smith succeeds his brother, Ira H. Smith, having
recently purchased the stock and store of the executors. He
has lately refitted it, adding electric lights and a steam-heating
plant. It is No. 3, hidden by the tree.
The EUithorpe Store.
This store was erected by T. D. EUithorpe in 1887, and
was in reality an addition to the hotel which he had pur
chased in 1885. In 1900 he sold the hotel to F. W. Fisk,
but kept the addition, which he leases as follows : The
street floor is used by Mr. Mclntyre as a grocery store;
the second floor Is Grange Hall, being occupied by Nichol
ville Grange, 797. This organization has now been running
some seven years and has about seventy members. The third
floor is Maccabees Hall.
It is the first building at the left in picture, a corner of the
veranda of the hotel only being shown.
The Store of Sumner Sweet & Co.
In the year 1866 Sumner Sweet and his brother-in-law,
Russell Day, erected the store on Main Street, still known by
the name first above given.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 239
They commenced trade the following spring and soon after
took into the partnership Henry H. Sweet. Mr. Russell
Day retired from the firm in 1876 and his place was taken by
his brother, Lyman Day. Lyman remained a partner until
his death In 1884.
The firm continued in business until the death of Sumner
Sweet in February, 1891. In 1886 the original store was re
modelled and enlarged to Its present condition, making its in
terior commodious and its exterior an ornament to the town.
Since the death of Sumner Sweet it passed into the hands of
the junior member of the firm, Mr. Henry H. Sweet, who is
still conducting a thriving business. It has always maintained
the reputation of a first-class country store. Russell Day and
Sumner Sweet had several years prior to the building of this
store been in trade a short time in the old post office or Carrie
White building. Mr. Sweet had also kept a store at East
Dickinson for ten years before finally coming here. It Is
No. 4 In picture of Main Street.
The L. O. "Wilson Building.
The first building east of the Sweet store was erected in
1868 by Russell Day and A. H. Squire, the latter having the
upper story for photographic parlors. He was here some
three years when Mr. Day purchased his interest, becoming
sole owner of the building. The lower story was finished off
for a grocery and had several proprietors, among them L. P.
Chandler, A. H. Bronson, J. A. Simonds and L. O. Wilson.
Mr. Day sold it to Mr. Wilson about 1873. It was later
remodelled for a drug store, and Mr. Wilson, in company with
Dr. H. H. Carpenter and M. S. Blanchard, went Into the
drug business. They were succeeded by L. C. Shepard, and
he by George W. Blanchard. It is at present occupied by
Joel Porter for a harness shop. It Is No. 5.
F. X. Murray Building.
The next building to the east on Main Street Is known as
the Murray building and was erected in 1876 by him. He
occupied the first story for a tailor shop and the second story
for a dweUing. Mr. Murray conducted business here until
his death in 189 1. In the spring of 1898 the property was

240 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
purchased by Henry B. Chandler. It is used as a dwelling
and also by Mrs. Chandler for a millinery store. No. 6 In
picture. First Hotel on Lawrence Side.
The first hotel on that side of the river was the farm home
of Captain James Trussell, son-in-law of Abijah Chandler, and
stood on the north side of the Turnpike road nearly a mile
northeast of the village, now owned by John Donovan. In
1830 he built a two-story hotel at the top of the hill where
the present hotel stands. It resembled very much the Bandy
House, now standing under the hill on the east side of the
road. It was first kept by Mr. Blodgett and next by Jehiel
Winslow, who built the Bandy House under the hill about
1834. Joel Day was in charge of the hotel on the hill In
1835, and entertained Martin Van Buren, Vice-President,
when making a trip through northern New York. He was
succeeded by Lyman Day in 1838, he by Philo Chandler,
1839, 1840, and he by Isaac Jones, 1 841-1843. Mr. Jones
and wife died in the spring of 1 843 from a very fatal epidemic
of fever that fell upon that vicinity. There were twenty-six
deaths in six weeks in Nicholville and near by. Benjamin
Whitney was proprietor from 1 843-1 848, and afterwards pro
prietor of the Whitney House at Norwood. John Hathaway
held it from 1 848-1 850. The following were in charge of it
prior to 1857: to wit, John Roberts, John Farmer, Samuel
and Harvey Norton, E. J. Wilson, O. T. Raymond and
Thomas Barney.
In 1857 William Wright purchased and enlarged it, ex
tending the building some eighty feet east. It was conducted
after this by Thomas and Milton Lockwood, B. F. Kellogg
and Q; A. W. Piper. In 1865 it was purchased by Benton
Bickford and leased to Loyal Stevens and P. A. Munson.
The latter soon withdrew. The house burned in July, 1866.
Russell Day purchased the site in 1869 and built the present
house and conducted It for seven years. Since then it has
had the following proprietors : viz., Samuel Wells, the Messrs.
Wheeler, father and son. Wood Brothers of Brushton, Mr.
Stebbins. In September, 1885, it was purchased by James
H. Knowlton, and in the following November sold to T.
D. EUithorpe, who at once leased it to his brother-in-law.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 241
T. B. Smith, who conducted it until near the time of his
death in 1890. He was succeeded by his son, Adelbert, and
he by H. B. Chandler, and he by H. S. Day. Mr. Fred
W. Fisk purchased It of Mr. EUithorpe in March, 1900, and
still holds it. A corner of the piazza is shown in picture on
the left. The Bandy House.
The two-story frame house on the easterly side of the
street under the hill was built by Jehiel Winslow in 1835
and run by him as a hotel. Afterwards the proprietors in
succession were Henry Bickford, James Sherar, the Robin
sons, father and son, Charles Hastings and Daniel T. Mc
Neil, from 1866 to 1872. It has not been used as a public
house for many years and is now the residence of Silas
Bandy. Sawmill on Lawrence Side.
This was built about the year 1828 by Danforth EUi
thorpe, father of Thurman D. and Pascal. He got the site
and water power privilege just below the old stone gristmill
from Mr. NicoU, the executor of William Lawrence's estate,
for a consideration of one barleycorn. The water to run it
was carried in a flume through the gristmill. Lyman Page
became owner of it about 1843. He built a new and im
proved mill In 1852, 1853, on the site of the old one, using
an open flume outside the gristmill. This mill had what was
a decided advance upon the old single saw, viz., a Yankee
gang, a double affair, slabbing logs and sawing boards at the
same time In the same gate or gang. Some years after this
gang was taken out and a Green Mountain circular saw put
in with a capacity of five thousand feet per day, which was run
till about 1890. J. H. Knowlton bought all the Page mills
and property, and in 1893 tore down the old mill and built a
new one of four floors on the same foundation, installing a
new Improved Lane circular sawmill with a capacity of fifteen
thousand feet per day. In addition he also manufactures
shingles and clapboards.
Tanneries at East Village and Nicholville.
The first tannery, though hardly In East Village, was on

242 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the brook across the road from Samuel Goodell's, an account
of which is given among the Hopkinton tanneries.
In about 1830 Joseph G. Whitney built a small tannery
upwards of eighty rods down the river, where the Eagle
Creamery, operated by Darwin E. Sanford for some years
past, now stands. It was later enlarged and a part of It went
into the butter factory buUding. Mr. Whitney sold to Ed
mund Baldwin and he to Carr Fortune, about 1 840, who con
ducted it for some years. In 1853 Mr. Fortune and Edmund
B. Ayers built a tannery on the south or Hopkinton shore,
just below the present tannery of Mr. Griffis. They run it
for some years and sold to Jefferson Rowell. Nothing of it
now remains. Some years later Mr. Fortune bought and
converted the old starch factory into a tannery, and after con
ducting it for a time sold It in 1877 to its present proprietor,
R. N. Griffis. Post Office.
A man by the name of Belden or Belding first built a
house where P. W. Smith resides, and had a wheelwright
shop. Mr. Lyman Day purchased and enlarged it about
1840. In i860 he built the present Smith house. The main
part was moved some fifty feet easterly to the brink of the
hill and fitted up by Philo Chandler for a milliner shop for
Mrs. Chandler. This place remained In the Chandler family
until 1901, when it was purchased by E. J. Sanford and en
tirely remodelled, making it two story with block roof and a
double veranda across the front. It Is one of the most orna
mental buildings in town and is and has been for several years
the post office.
Postmasters at Nicholville, with Date of Appointment.
Clement C. Palmer, January 7, 1 831. Erasmus D. Peck, June 14, 1854.
George P. Farrar, October 16, 1832. Myron G. Peck, August 2, 1856.
Dennis Stacy, March 18, 1836. Carr Fortune, July 22, 1857.
Lyman Day, December 8, 1841. WiUiam Wright, December 15, 1859.
Erasmus D. Peck, July 29, 1845. Mark White, April 23, 1 861.
Edson J. Wilson, July 3, 1849. Mrs. Carrie White, October 26, 1869.
Lyman Day, April 12, 1850. James A. Martindale, June 10, 1889.
Charles Raldo Ayers, July 28, 1853. Olin J. Fortune, February 21, 1894.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 243
Day's Mills.
A small hamlet some three miles above Nicholville on the
St. Regis River and quite intimately associated with it In a
business way deserves mention in this work.
In 1852 a dam was built and also a gang mill upon the
north side of the river by Alonzo Goodwin and his father.
It did not do a very large business, and was sold to Lucius
Allen some ten years later. George S. Wright of Hopkin
ton, Anson Hutchins of Dickinson and a Mr. Johnson owned
it some thirty or more years ago. It was purchased by Har
vey Day about 1870, and later by A. L. Blake. Mr. Blake
did quite an extensive business, building a potato starch fac
tory, also a butter tub factory and shingle mill. The starch
factory was sold to M. R. Page about 1880, near the close of
the starch business in this section, which did not prove a very
prosperous investment for him. It finally was purchased in
1887 very cheaply by Mr. Blake again and used for a clap
board mill. A butter factory was also built here some twelve
years ago just above the bridge on the same side of the stream
by S. W. Chambers and Morris Day. In June, 1897, these
mills, together with their dwellings and barns, were all burned.
A shingle mill now owned and run by J. H. Knowlton stands
on the site of the old sawmill.
On the south side of the river George Eggleston, Harvey
Day, Russell Day and Henry C. Witters built a gang saw
mill in 1853. Timber was then plenty and the builders ener
getic and they did quite a thriving business, but the financial
stress of 1857 hurt their business, and the property was sold to
Lyman Day, who run it a few years, when it was repurchased
by Harvey Day. Some fifteen years ago Mr. Day's son
Morris purchased the mill, erected a shingle and clapboard
mill, and is still conducting quite an extensive and thriving
business. The product of these mills passes through Nichol
ville on its way to the railroad at North Lawrence, and the
supplies that furnish the sinews and support the famiHes con
nected with the work are purchased here, making It largely
tributary to the business interests of the village. The bridge
was built In 1 853, and a road laid out from the Port Kent Turn
pike to the Blanchard road on the south side.

244 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Physicians at Nicholville.
Dr. Horace Branch was, so far as now can be learned, the
first physician to locate at East VUlage or Nicholville, which he
did about the year 1830. His time was not wholly occupied
with his professional work, since he run a store at first in the
basement of his house standing on the brow of the hill (Hop
kinton side), where J. R. Parker now resides. That building
was removed about 1855, ^"^^ ^^^ present one erected by
Hiram Warriner. He afterward kept his store in the front
and lived in the back part of the building near by his former
place, now used by J. H. Knowlton as a storehouse. He
also did a Httle farming, owning the east part of the Josiah
Smith farm from near the brook to and including the F. L.
Day place. To him is due the credit for setting out the fine
row of maple trees on the north side of the road from the
Day place to the brook. He removed to Ogdensburg about
1 845, where he died some years later.
Dr. Taylor resided for a short time In East Village about
1 840, as remembered by J. Henry Henderson, but his stay was
so short that It is Impossible to now learn where he lived or any
particulars concerning him.
Dr. Noah D. Lawrence was born in the town of Hop
kinton in 1822. There he experienced all the privations
and hardships incident to that early day, but being endued
with more than an ordinary desire for knowledge, he soon
took the lead In school among his mates, and before reaching
his majority decided to study medicine.
He commenced his study with and under the direction of
Dr. Gideon Sprague of Hopkinton, and finally entered the
medical school at Castleton, Vt., from which he graduated
among the first of his class. Soon after graduating he received
an appointment as surgeon in the army in Texas. In the
mean time, however, he went to Nicholville and commenced
in a small way the practice of medicine. One of his first
patients was Peleg Benham, father of Charles Benham. The
case had been a very obstinate one, baffling the skill of several
other physicians, but he accepted it, giving the patient most
assiduous care, and, contrary to general expectation, the man
got well. His success in this instance doubtless had much to
do with his after life, as the people urgently solicited him to

C. E. OLMSTEAD AND SON.

IRA W. SMITH.

DR. HIRAM SMITH.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 245
remain with them, which he finally decided to do, giving up
his army appointment. He continued to practise twelve years,
selling his house and practice in 1856 to Dr. H. D. Smith.
His ride was very extensive, embracing a circuit of from ten
to fifteen miles, and the amount of work and exposure that he
endured was amazing. He rode furiously about the country
in a doctor's gig with head bent forward as though In deep
study or meditation, apparently saying to those he passed,
" Do not disturb me unless you need me."
To the mass he seemed cold and indifferent, but among
his friends he was genial, social and companionable, with a
vein of quiet humor ever abounding. As a practitioner he
was very successful and never refused to attend a call, how
ever remote the possibility of remuneration, which however
he was quite successful in securing.
He married Maria Rockwell soon after becoming estab
lished in Nicholville, and built the house now owned by Dr.
J. H. Mathews.
Going to Nicholville somewhat In debt for his education,
he made in the few years he was there what was then consid
ered a modest fortune. He lived a few years In Potsdam,
then a short time in Ogdensburg, when soon after the war he
went to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he resided till his death
in December, 1896. For several years he was mayor of that
city and took at all times a leading part in all public matters.
He travelled quite extensively, having visited Europe three
times and Egypt and the Holy Land on one occasion. Start
ing in life a poor boy, he was able before its close to count
his possessions in tens of thousands, which is but an object
lesson of what pluck, purpose and intelligenee are able to
accomplish. Dr. Hiram D. Smith, son of Ira and Hannah (Downer)
Smith, was born at WUliston, Vt., in 18 18. He commenced
the study and practice of medicine when a young man in his
native town and met with considerable success, due, no doubt,
largely to his natural love for the work, his sympathy for the
sick and suffering, and his excellent qualities as a nurse. Later
he entered the Vermont Medical CoUege at Burlington,
where he graduated with honor a few years previous to set
tHng in Nicholville in 1856, when he purchased the house
and practice of Dr. N. D. Lawrence. In 1865 he sold this

246 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
place to Dyer L, MerriU, and purchased of Lyman Day the
fine home now owned by his son, P. W. Smith, and also the
old red store of Lyman Day across the road. These he re
tained as his home and his office till his death, February 4,
1 88 1. On coming to town he very soon entered upon a
large and lucrative practice, winning the confidence and esteem
of the entire community. He was a constant student, a safe
counsellor and a man of the noblest qualities. Before com
ing to town he had represented his native town in the Legis
lature, and after settling In town held many positions of con
fidence and trust. He married Louisa Walker of WUliston,
Vt., and five children came to them: viz., Ira H., who died in
1902, quite well to do ; Philip W., who succeeded to his broth
er's store in Nicholville ; Addle E. ; Hiram E., a merchant at
Massena, N. Y., and Ella.
Dr. Ira A. DarHng, some time in the sixties, moved here
from Bangor, N. Y., and commenced the practice of medi
cine. He was a skilful physician and had a very good
practice, but as there was hardly enough business for two
doctors, he only remained about six years. The doctor was
a good singer, and with his excellent wife they took a promi
nent place in the social life of the town. He returned to
Bangor, his former home, but was called back many times
professionally afterwards. He died at Bangor in 1891.
Dr. Henry H. Carpenter came here from Lawrenceville
in June, 1868, and remained until March, 1877, when he re
turned to Lawrenceville, which is still his home. While re
siding here he built up a good practice and won many warm
friends. In June, 1875, in company with M. S. Blanchard
and L. O. Wilson, he entered into the drug business in the
building now occupied by Joel Porter, and the firm was known
as H. H. Carpenter & Co. They were succeeded a few years
later by L. C. Sheperd. Dr. Carpenter married Mary,
daughter of Enos Burt.
Dr. H. J. Mathews was born in 1854 at Racquette River
bridge, town of Massena, N. Y. From there he moved with
his parents, Mr. and Mrs. J. H. Mathews, to Michigan, re
turning to St. Lawrence County in 1857, and locating in the
town of Lawrence. The family moved to Bombay, Frank
Hn County, In 1870. In 1874, 1875, Mr. Mathews attended
school at Lawrenceville Academy, and in 1 876 Amsterdam

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 247
Academy, where he graduated in the classical course. About
this time he decided to study medicine and entered the Uni
versity of Vermont, taking a full course and graduating in
1879. He at once commenced the practice of medicine in
Helena, N. Y., moving from there to Nicholville in 1881,
where he has since actively practised his profession. In 1887
he was united in marriage with Attie L., daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Lyman Day. In 1895 he purchased what had formerly
been the Dr. N. D. Lawrence and later the Dr. Hiram D.
Smith place in this village, which is still their home.
Dr. William E. Fortune, son of Carr and Huldah (OHn)
Fortune, was born in Nicholville in 1857, attended the dis
trict schools, two years at the Potsdam Normal, graduated
from the Albany Medical College, a department of Union
University, in 1881. In 1883 he located at Nicholville,
where he has since practised his profession. In 1882 he
married Miss Martha Traver of Rhinebeck, N. Y. A son
was born In 1833, who died in 1891.
Dr. Marcus N. Lown was born In the village of Sand
Lake in 1850, and graduated at the Albany Medical College.
In the summer of 1877 he located at Nicholville, where he
remained till 1883, when he received an appointment as sur
geon for the Burden Iron Company at Burden, N. Y. He
afterward located at Rhinebeck, N. Y. In 1878 he married
Mary Traver ; and they have a son, Philip, born in Nichol
ville in 1899, and a daughter, Elizabeth, born in Findlay,
Ohio, In 1893.
The Hopkinton and Lawrence Baptist Church.
The people of this faith In the town of Hopkinton met at
the schoolhouse in the western district which stood in the cor
ner across the road leading north from Caleb Wright's, Sep
tember 10, 1808, for the purpose of organizing a society.
Elder Samuel Rowley, of the Baptist Association of Vermont,
was present and acted as moderator. The following persons
related their experience and were fellowshiped : viz., John
Hoyt, Seth Abbott, Eli Squire, Thomas Remington, Sally
Squire and Sally Abbott. All these lived on the " Potsdam
road," excepting that I am unable to locate John Hoyt, who
was a brother-in-law of Judge Sanford. On the following

248 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
day, Sunday, Thomas Remington was baptized, and on the
next day they met at the log house of Eli Squire when Seth
Abbott was made moderator, and John Hoyt, clerk. It was
then voted to hold meetings on the first Saturday of each
month. On the first day of October, 1808, Eli Squire was
made steward of the church. Dr. Hough states that on this
day, September 12, 1808, the sacrament was administered for
the first time to the Congregational Church in the forenoon
and to the Baptist Society in the afternoon, and in the same
house, but the records, singular as it may appear, do not men
tion it.
From the fifth day of November, 1808, till April i, 1809,
meetings were held in the log house of Seth Abbott, situate a
hundred rods or so east of the schoolhouse and down near the
brook. On July i, 1809, meeting was held in the school-
house. According to Dr. Hough, a Baptist society was duly
formed February 17, 181 8, with Abijah Chandler, Jonah San
ford, Sylvanus C. Kersey and Samuel Eastman, trustees,
though no mention of it appears in the records. Mr. Chand
ler lived about a mile northeast of Nicholville, and Mr. Ker
sey I cannot place. Probably he lived in Chesterfield also.
On Saturday, the first day of August, 181 8, they held ser
vice in the " meeting-house," which was the upper room or
story of the old stone schoolhouse In the village, a full history
and cut of which are given in another place. However, only
two meetings were held there at this time, they still continuing
to use the old schoolhouse near Mr. Wright's.
On the fourth day of March, 1820, the society appointed
Brothers Seth Abbott and Samuel Eastman a committee to
provide a house for public worship. On April 8, 1820, they
met at the "Hall" as also on June i, 1822, at the "Town
House," both meaning the upper floor of the old stone school-
house. Deacon Asa Moon and Myron G. Peck made report June
5, 1824, as to subscriptions for the support of the church,
when it was voted to engage Elder Rhoades to preach for six
months in the year to come at the rate of one hundred dollars
a year, to be paid in grain in the month of January next, with
a house and garden spot. Mr. Moon was then living on the
Jonah Sanford, Jr., homestead, where he died October 16,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 249
1842. Mr. Peck lived in Chesterfield, about three-fourths of
a mile down the river from Nicholville.
The society met in covenant meeting in September, 1825,
at the schoolhouse in the East Villege, which was a little later
given the name of Nicholville.
At a meeting held February 18, 1826, It was voted unani
mously to hold church meetings one-fourth part of the time at
the Town House (old stone schoolhouse in Hopkinton) and
the other three-fourths at the schoolhouse in the East VUlage,
which stood, I feel sure, a short distance up the Northwest
Bay road. Service was also held in the house of Elder
Rhoades, now owned by E. D. Sanford, and in other places.
The old stone gristmill built in 1826 was used for a time be
fore its Interior had been completed. On February 4, 1827,
seventeen were baptized in the river back of the mill through
a hole cut in the ice, and in the year following seventy persons
were baptized, as I learn from a letter by Allen Wood. Of
the people so baptized Mrs. Nancy Chandler of Nicholville,
Peter Cluky of Lawrenceville, Dennis Stacy, Mrs. L. Pratt,
Mrs. R. Smith and Sophia Remington lived till recent years.
In June, 1827, a call was extended to Elder Leach of Ver
mont upon a salary of three hundred dollars, which it was
thought to be sufficient to suppoat him at present, and In July
of that year a team was sent to move him to town.
At a meeting held in January, 1828, It was voted to raise
five dollars in grain for missionary purposes.
The earnestness and zeal of church people In those early
times are shown by the following resolution passed August 2,
1828: Resolved, That we feel it our duty to look after members of other churches
of our faith visiting among us who do not come forward, and should those mem
bers still refuse to walk with the church after being invited, we feel it our duty
to report them to the church to which they belong.
In December, 1829, an invitation was received from the
Congregational Society of Hopkinton to hold meetings In
their church (built In 1827), but it was not thought best to
accept It and the same was declined.
The society somehow getting more members in the east
part of the town, and especially in Lawrence, It was thought
best to recognize that fact in the name of the society. Ac-

250 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
cordlngly, on the third day of July, 1830, the following reso
lution was passed :
Resolved, That the name of our church shall hereafter be known by the
name of the Hopkinton and Lawrence Baptist Church.
It was at the same time further resolved that one-half the
preaching be at the stone house in Hopkinton and the other
half in the east part (Nicholville), and further, " that our
Masonic brethren be requested to abstain from meeting with
the lodges." The subject of Freemasonry continued to agitate the so
ciety for several years, and there was a good deal of feeling
and much dissension over it, some of the brethren refusing to
join in communion with Masonic brothers unless they publicly
renounced Freemasonry. This feeling against Masonry in
creased to that extent that on the 28th of January, 1832, the
following drastic resolution was unanimously passed :
Resolved, That we, as a church of Christ, never did nor never desire to
have any fellowship with the institution of Freemasonry.
In May, 1832, the society went a step further in the pas
sage of the following resolution :
Resolved, That if any of our members practically adhere to Freemasonry,
we will proceed against them, and if not reclaimed, withdraw our fellowship
from them.
On August 2, 1834, the society met at the meeting-house
in Nicholville, and on December 8 of that year engaged
Elder Pratt at an annual salary of I225 and thirty-five cords
of sled length wood, one-eighth only of his salary to be paid
in money. The first house of worship built for that purpose in the
East Village, as I learn from an article by Allen Wood, Esq.,
stood on a lot deeded to the poormasters of the town by Wil
liam Lawrence, Esq., the proprietor, who intended it as a gift
for public use. The lot is situate on the south side of
Water Street and just easterly of the present Methodist
Episcopal parsonage. The house stood near the east line of
the lot, and was erected in 1832 and enlarged in 1836. It
was a low, very plain building and fifty-six feet in length.
There was a door at either end with an aisle extending

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 251
through the middle of the room, with pews on either side
facing the pulpit in the centre of the room on the west side.
Opposite the pulpit were the singers' seats, lengthwise of the
house, rising one above the other. This house was owned
one-half by the Baptists and a quarter each by the Metho
dists and Universalists, used in common by them and called
for years the " Union Church." The Baptists built a church
of their own in 1852, as will be shown a little later, and sold
their half interest in the old church to the Methodists for a
dollar. In 1853 the Methodists and Universalists united in
building a new Union Church, which they did on the lot of
the old church. Their new church was used by the two societies
until 1876, when the Methodists built an edifice of their own
just across the road on the northerly side of Water Street.
The Universalist Society, becoming greatly decimated in its
ranks about this time, abandoned any further organization.
The Methodist Episcopal Society became sole owner of the
old church, took off the steeple and converted it Into a
dwelling, since which time it has been used as Its parsonage.
At a meeting held August 4, 1835, ^^^ hand of fellow
ship was withdrawn from a sister who had been charged with
visiting a ball chamber, and, with her associates, chanting at
the sound of the viol, and on March 6, 1836, the clerk was
directed to report Sister Calvin, formerly of the HInesburgh,
Vt., church, for having " embraced the sentiments of the
Methodists." The membership of the church growing stronger all the
time at Nicholville and vicinity, it was finally decided August
5, 1843, to change the name of the society to that of the
Baptist Church of Nicholville, and it was done unanimously.
The Slavery Question.
The feeling on this subject by quite a number of the
members of the society had become so keen and intense that
a resolution declaring slavery a crime and a sin was offered
by Elder Pratt at a church meeting held October 7, 1843,
but was laid on the table, as it repeatedly was in subsequent
meetings. However, the subject would not down. It was
continually coming up like " Banquo's Ghost," and had so

252 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
many and such persistent advocates that something had to be
done. This spirit or feeHng that slavery was wrong soon
brought on that " irrepressible conflict " which, only eighteen
years later, burst forth in a great Civil War. To appease
them great effort was made to so word and frame a resolution
which the antislavery and proslavery members could accept,
but it was a difficult task. Amended at divers times, when
under consideration, it was finally submitted for discussion
and action at a meeting held October 1 1, 1844, In the follow
ing words :
Resolved, That the holding of slaves for the purpose of self-interest is a
flagrant violation of the laws of God and the rights of man, and that as the dis
ciples of Christ we feel called upon to sympathize with the enslaved (especially
those who are our brethren in the Lord), and fiirther that we cannot conscien
tiously admit to our communion or to our pulpit those who are guilty of the
above named sin, neither those who will extend their communion to them.
A vote being taken resulted in its defeat by a vote of fif
teen against its adoption to ten in its favor. I regret that I
cannot at least give the names of the latter.
The feeling had become so tense and great, and especially
owing to the defeat of the resolutions, that thirty-three mem
bers withdrew from the society October 18, 1844. Though
they withdrew, it was with pain and sorrow, compelled to do
so by the dictates of conscience, which they could not stifle or
set aside. The proslavery members equally regretted their
going, and so great effort was made to frame a resolution that
would satisfy both sides, though gratifying neither, which re
sulted as follows :
Resolved, That slavery in our opinion is a moral evil much to be regretted,
that we are not disposed to countenance oppression, cruelty or any species of
wickedness, and that we will not admit to our communion or pulpits those who
are guilty of the above crimes.
Critically read this will be found to be a rather weak reso
lution. However, eighteen of the thirty-three members
came back into fellowship at once, and on March 30, 1850,
eleven more of the seceding members were received into the
fold. On October 18, 1851, a communication was received from
Samuel Eastman stating that he had bequeathed to the soci-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 253
ety the sum of four hundred dollars for the purposes of sus
taining preaching and erecting a house of worship.
A sabbath-school was established May 30, 1852, and the
Methodist society invited to co-operate with them.
The New Church.
At a meeting held November 13, 1852, the following
men were named as a committee to take charge of the build
ing of a new church, viz., Myron G. Peck, WilHam EUi
thorpe, Mason Martindale, Gilbert Goodwin and Jude Clark,
and the work of construction was pushed with such zeal that
the house was dedicated on January 26, 1853. The first
meeting in the new edifice was held February 5, 1853. On
its completion an entry was directed to be made in the records
expressing the society's gratefulness to Brother Myron G.
Peck, to whose untiring efforts, under God, the work was com
pleted. The church was built by subscriptions, and Its total
cost was the sum of $2,039. It Is still the house used by the
society and stands on the southerly side of Church Street and
some sixty rods east of the hotel. Owing to extensive re
pairs to the church during the pastorate of Rev. F. L. Foster,
the house was again rededicated. A picture of the church as
it now appears is given.
Deacons from its Organization.
Asa Moon, Seth Abbott, Edmond Baldwin, Stiles Tuttle,
Orrin Andrews, Hosea Carr, Jude Clark, HoUis E. Brow
nell, Hiram Denton, Sheldon P. Reynolds, James A. Martin
dale, Asa Wilson and Cordon H. Sheldon.
Pastors since Organization.
Rev. Solomon Johnson, October 30, 1819, to April 13, 1822.
Rev. Justin Rhoades, November, 1823, to  .
Rev.  Leach, June, 1827, to May 5, 1832.
Rev. Henry Greene, May 5, 1833, to September 28, 1833.
Rev. Silas Pratt, January I, 1834, to February 2, 1839.
Rev. Henry Greene, June, 1839, ^° December, 1839.
Rev. SUas Pratt, April i, 1840, to AprU 3, 1841.
Rev. Peter Robinson, June 22, 1841, to April 2, 1842.
Rev.  Case, June 4, 1842, to August, 1842.
Rev. Silas Pratt, August zo, 184Z, to January 6, 1844.
Rev. Peter Robinson, February 3, 1844, to October 18, 1844.

154 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Rev. O. Scott, May, 1845, to

Rev.  — Ide, January, 1 846, to  .
Rev. J. M. Beeman, April, 1849, to December 29, 1850.
Rev. Elias Goodspeed, January 10, 1851, to December 2, 1854.
Rev. J. M. Beeman, December 31, 1854, to April 7, i860.
Rev.  Howard, May 5, i860, to January, 1 861.
Rev. Sanford Burnham, September, 1 86 1, to September 6, 1862.
Rev. Reuben Jones, October, 1862, to September 19, 1863.
Rev. Corwin Blaisdell, April, 1864, to February 2, 1867.
Rev. A. A. Smith, April 20, 1867, to April 12, 1868.
Rev. Charles D. Fuller, May 9, 1869, to May 7, 1870.
Rev. G. N. Harmon, September, 1870, to February 28, 1873.
Rev. Charles Coon, April, 1874, '° AprU, 1875.
Rev. Charles E. Harris, May, 1875, to December 12, 1875.
Rev. W. D. Elwell, March, 1876, to September, 1876.
Rev. A. K. Sutton, January, 1877, to January, 1879.
Rev. Corwin Blaisdell, February, 1879, to January, 1882.
Rev. Henry H. Thomas, June i, 1882, to July 27, 1884.
Rev. C. J. Butler, August 3, 1884, to September 20, 1884.
Rev. Corwin Blaisdell, May 10, 1885, to May 16, 1886.
Rev. G. N. Harmon, January i, 1887, to .  .
Rev. D. T. White, September 12, 1888, to September, 1890.
Rev. C. E. Witts, August, 1891, to February I, 1893.
Rev. F. L. Foster, October i, 1893, to August i, 1898.
Rev. C. H. Ellicott, served five months.
Rev. George Harrison, May i, 1899, still serving.
The First Methodist Episcopal Church of Nicholville.
As to when this society was formed or who were its char
ter members I have been unable to learn.
The records of the society were lost about 1878, and
therefore but very little can be learned or told as to Its early
history, which is to be greatly regretted.
The first church built at Nicholville was erected in 1832,
and stood on the south side of Water Street on a lot deeded
to the poormaster of the town for public use and stood im
mediately east of the present parsonage of the society. This
building was erected, according to the best information now
obtainable, at the joint expense of the Baptist, Methodist
and Universalist societies. Therefore the Methodist Society
must have been organized prior to this time.
Among the active and influential members of the society
at an early date, I learn from elderly people through the
efforts of E. Allen Wood of the foUowing: Titus S. Simonds,
J. L. Rawson, Seymour Goodell, Rufus Alden, Mrs. Horace

BAPTIST CHURCH AT NICHOLVILLE.

METHODIST CHURCH, NICHOLVILLE.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 255
Carpenter, Mrs. McNall. The Methodists had only a fourth
interest in the first church building. They were supplied by
Itinerant and circuit ministers, who In those days had large
charges more or less for many years. Byron Alden, son of
Rufus, served them for the years 1838 and 1839. Andrew
Bigelow and Royal Stetson preached for them in the forties.
Joseph De Larm was pastor for a time in the fifties. He
had been a chore boy in Malone, but becoming converted se
cured an education and became quite a noted evangelist. When
the Baptists built their new church In 1852, they sold or gave
their interest in the old church to the Methodists. In 1856,
1857, the Methodists, then owning a three-fourths Interest
and the Universalists a one-quarter, built a new church just
west of the old one, which building is now the Methodist
parsonage. Rev. Seymour Goodell, son of Samuel, supplied
them just before and after the building of this church, but
Justin Alden, a younger brother of Byron Alden, was the first
regular pastor in the new church.
The old church of 1832 remained for many years and was
used for select schools, singing schools, public lectures, etc. It
was not taken down till about i860.
In 1858 Rev. David W. Thomas became the pastor. He
was a young man, full of zeal and a great worker. At the
camp meeting of that year there was a great spiritual awaken
ing and particularly among the members of this society. They
brought it home with them and intensified it by daily or
nightly revival meetings for several weeks, until in the final
accounting It was found that over a hundred had been con
verted and joined the church. It was a great spiritual harvest
and has had much to do with the spiritual life of the town
from that day to this. The heads of families then brought
into the fold were Daniel Branch, N. J. Weston, Horton
Martindale, J. T. Canfield, Homan H. Sheldon, Norman
Smith, Warren Blanchard, G. Rollin Clark, Asa Wilson,
Richard Amidon, Charles R. Wilson, John Cheney, Riley R.
Ainsworth, James Crinklaw, A. H. and Leonard E. Irish, O.
T. Raymond, Charles Weller, Josiah Moses, Jay Harmon
and John Dyke. No other such awakening ever took place
in town, not even in its early days, when the people were so
brave and enthusiastic as to receive a baptism through the
winter's ice. Very likely It could and would have been equalled

256 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
then had there been as many people in town. Mr. Thomas
was soon after appointed a missionary to India, where he spent
some twenty-five years, returning some fifteen years ago. He
is still living and enjoying a serene old age near Richmond,
Va. The other pastors prior to 1875, ^° ^^^ ^^ ^^^ "^^^ ^^
gathered, were R. E. King, Gadner Gibson, A. Fredenberg
and William Brown.
On the third day of February, 1874, the First Methodist
Episcopal Church of Nicholville was duly incorporated and
trustees elected. Prior to this time the society had been a
simple association. The trustees elected at this time were
Harley Heading, Alonzo M. Hawkins, Benjamin D. Babcock,
Erasmus J. Sanford and Almon D. Bibblns. In the year 1876
Rev. S. Short was the pastor and proved quite an ambitious
man. Through his efforts the Auburn Praying Band were in
vited to and did visit the old church during the winter of that
year. Another great revival was produced thereby, second
only to that of 1859. The church was densely packed at
every session, day and night, for a long time, many attracted
by religious fervor and others by the excellent music. The
additions to the church membership thus secured, together
with the fact that the old church was hardly suitable in size
or condition for the uses of the society, led to a movement for
the erection of a new church edifice. Accordingly on the
twenty-second day of February, 1876, a subscription paper
was prepared by Mr. Short. It met with such favor that on
the twenty-second day of March following the work of con
struction began. The entire work of building was intrusted
to Harley Heading, Homan H. Sheldon and Leonard
Blanchard as a committee named for that purpose. The
work of construction was pushed with that dispatch that In
February, 1877, it was duly dedicated. The Rev. Samuel
Call and I. S. Bingham conducted the services on this occa
sion. A bell weighing eleven hundred and seventy pounds
was placed in the belfry at a cost of I358. The cost of the
new church was $5,500. The society in 1891 remodelled the
Union Church, built in 1856, 1857, into a parsonage, which
it is still using.
The pastors since 1877, which only can be given, are as
follows :

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 257
Rev. Milan R. Pierce, 1874, '^ZS- ^ev. S. J. Greenfield, 1886, 1887.
Rev. Samuel Short, 1875, 1876. Rev. David L. Phelps, 1887-89.
Rev. Harry O. Tilden, 1876, 1877. Rev. John R. Downer, 1889, 1890.
Rev. J. Fletcher Brown, 1877—80. Rev. Reuben Sherman, 1890-93.
Rev. David F. Piefce, 1880, 1881. Rev. Henry Hesselgrave, 1893—97.
Rev. Albert C. Danforth, 1881-84. Rev. W. F. Tooke, 1897-1902.
Rev. M. D. Sill, 1884, 1885. Rev. C. H. Van Camp, 1902.
Universalist Church.
I have been unable to find the whereabouts of the records
of this society and therefore am unable to speak definitely
upon many points. I learn from the minutes of the Baptist
Society that at the time of the building of the first church in
1832, the Baptists held a half interest in it and the Metho
dists and Universalists a quarter interest each. Whether the
Universalists then had a duly organized society or ever had,
for that matter, I am unable to say. It is morally certain that
they then, or very soon after, had occasional and at times
regular preaching for many years. One of the first to officiate
as pastor of this flock was a man by the name of Squire,
who resided somewhere In the vicinity. In those times the
doctrine that all of God's children will ultimately and In the
end be allowed to come unto God Himself in forgiveness and
holiness was much more unpopular than it is at the present
time. The Rev. John Simonds, father of Titus S. Simonds
of Nicholville, was another of the pioneer ministers of this
faith. Along in the fifties the Rev. Gideon S. Abbott of
Hopkinton preached for several years.
In 1856, 1857, the Methodists and Universalists united
in building a new Union Church, which has since been re
modelled and Is now the Methodist parsonage. Soon after
its erection the Rev. J. H. Wagoner of Madrid, N. Y., be
came pastor and held the position until he was appointed
chaplain of the io6th Regiment, N. Y. S. V. From this
time until about 1870 the preaching was very largely by
students from the Theological School at Canton, N. Y. At
about that time the society was so fortunate as to secure the
services of Dr. John S. Lee of the Canton Theological Col
lege. He had just returned from quite an extensive trip to
Palestine, and was withal a very scholarly and able man. He
would often drive to Nicholville from Canton on Saturday,
lecture that evening in the church on the Holy Land, preach

258 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the next day and return to Canton on Monday. These ser
vices were held on every fourth Sunday, and both lectures
and preaching were generously attended. He was a good
man as well as able and beloved by all. He held the place
as pastor in this wise for four or five years. On the termina
tion of his pastorate the society was again supplied by stu
dents from the Theological School at Canton until about the
year 1880.
In the year 1876 the Methodists built a new church for
themselves, and having no further use for the old church gave
it no heed or care. The Universalists did not feel able alone
to keep it in repair, and so it had no care or attention for sev
eral years. Becoming somewhat weatherworn and dilapidated,
the Universalists released their Interest in it to the Methodists,
who, in 1 891, rebuilt it into the present parsonage.
Among the students whose first ministerial work was with
this society I can mention J. M. Payne, J. H. Little, J. Fred
Simmons, L. B. Fisher and G. I. Klern. The latter has since
been missionary to Japan, and Mr. Fisher is now a professor
in the St. Lawrence University at Canton.
The heads of families, who supported and interested them
selves In this society, so far as I learn, were Simeon Bushnell,
Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Smith, Joseph B. Durfey, Samuel and
J. M. Simonds, Samuel Sanford, John, James, Luther and
Noble Ferris, Frederick Brewster, Harry Chandler, Silas
Wood, John S. Roberts, Daniel Harris, William S. Phelps,
EHhu D. Ayers, Danforth EUithorpe, Dyer L. MerriU,
 Hyde, Hiram Wood, Harvey Brown and doubtless
many others whose names are not now recalled.
The society, not long after the building of the Methodist
Church, being too poor to support and maintain a church
building alone, conveyed their interest in the old church as
before stated to the Methodists and thereupon ceased to fur
ther hold services. Lodges and Societies.
The Elk Lodge, No. 577, of True and Accepted Masons
convened March 11, 1856, under a dispensation from the
Grand Lodge in the village of Hopkinton and elected the fol
lowing officers to apply for a charter: viz., H. M. Sprague,
W. M., Lucius Lockwood, S. W., John A. Harran, J. W.,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 259
James A. Sheldon, Tr., William S. Taggart, Sec, J. H. Wins
low, S. D., Charles Vincent, J. D., R. S. Beede, Tyler. Of
these men only James A. Sheldon and Rollin S. Beede are
now living. On July 8, 1865, a charter was obtained, when
many men joined the Lodge, becoming charter members. On
March 14, 1866, the meetings of the Lodge began being held
in the HlUIard shop on the south side of the river at Nichol
ville, and on July 16, 1867, it took up quarters in the Merrill
and Kellogg Block, where it has since been most comfortably
located. The past Masters of the Lodge have been, to wit, Henry
M. Sprague, Lucius Lockwood, Henry H. Sweet, A. D. Bib-
bins, C. A. Fiske, Henry Hoyt, F. X. Murray, W. P.
Simpson, C. H. Babcock, W. E. Fortune, C. P. Hyde, W.
S. Thomas, Levi Ward, R. S. Chambers, S. J. Sanford and
Herbert E. Downing.
Elk Chapter, No. 197, of R. A. M. is an outgrowth of
Deer River Chapter at Lawrenceville, which had become ex
tinct. The Chapter resumed labor at Masonic Hall, Nichol
viUe, April 16, 1882, with barely enough members to open a
Chapter. It has steadily grown since and now numbers fifty-
three members, with R. S. Chambers, High Priest. The men
holding this position in the past now living are Henry H.
Sweet, Lester C. Shepard and Dr. W. E. Fortune.
Eastern Star.
This society was formed January 3, 1866, when twenty
wives and sisters of M. N. took the degree, but no meetings
were afterward held. On June 14, 1902, a Chapter was or
ganized in Elk Lodge and worked under a dispensation until
October 14, 1902, when a charter. No. 259, was obtained. It
now has a membership of thirty-two. The officers are Ber
tha Sanford, W. M., Silas W. MerriU, W. P., Maude L.
Merrill, A. M., Blanche L. Fisk, Sec.
Nicholville Grange.
Nicholville Grange, 797, was organized November 25, 1 895,
at the home of Almon D. Bibblns. Thirty-one charter mem
bers were enrolled and Hiram D. Foster made Worthy
Master. The society now has a membership of seventy and is in a
flourishing condition. During the past year some fifteen new

26o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
members joined the association. Those who have served as
Worthy Master since its organization are, viz., Hiram D.
Foster, A. A. Hawkins, D. J. Maher, P. B. EUithorpe, B.
G. Reed and T. D. EUithorpe, recently elected for 1903.
Knights of Maccabees, Tent No. 620.
Knights of Maccabees, Tent No. 620, was organized Sep
tember I, 1899, with a membership of twenty. A. A. Hawkins
was elected Commander, and F. W. Bibblns, Record Keeper
in 1900, R. S. Chambers, Com., and A. A. Hawkins, R. K.
In 1 90 1, W. A. Ballard, Com., and A. A. Hawkins, R. K.
and in 1902 W. A. Ballard, Com., and E. E. Bandy, R. K.
The society now has a membership of nearly seventy and is
having a healthy and steady growth. They meet every
Wednesday evening at their hall in the EUithorpe Block.
Camp of Modem Woodmen of America, No. 10,854.
This society was organized August 13, 1902, and has a
membership of twenty. Its officers are George C. Munson,
V. C. ; Dallas Chaney, W. A. ; S. J. Sanford, Banker ; D. J.
Fortune, Clerk; B. W. Wood, Escort ; Dr. H. J. Matthews,
Physician. They use the hall of the Maccabees.
Sanford Post, 473, G. A. R.
Sanford Post, 473, G. A. R., was organized in Masonic
Hall, Nicholville, April 2, 1884, with seventeen charter mem
bers as follows : Wm. P. Simpson, Philo A. Munson, Eras
mus J. Sanford, Edwin D. Sanford, Darwin E. Sanford,
James F. Breckenridge, Webster D. Day, Wm. W. Lunn,
Wm. H. Harvey, John Dyke, A. C. Danforth, Chandler
Paine, Mark R. Page, Smith S. Thomas, Azro L. Blake,
Andrew O. Sullivan and James A. Martindale. The follow
ing officers were duly installed by Commander George W.
Dustin of F. F. Wead Post, Brushton : viz., Wm. P. Simp
son, Com. ; Darwin E. Sanford, S. V. C. ; Mark R. Page,
J. V. C. : James A. Martindale, Adjt. ; Erasmus J. Sanford,
Quart. ; A. C. Danforth, Chap. ; Azro L. Blake, O. D. ;
P. A. Munson, O. G. ; A. O. Sullivan, Q. M. S. ; William
Lunn, S. M.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 261
The Post took its name out of respect to the memory of
Colonel Jonah Sanford of Hopkinton, who raised the 92nd
Regiment when over seventy years of age, and of his son
Lieutenant Henry B., and his four sons Captain Henry T.,
Erasmus J., Edwin D. and Darwin E. Sanford, three genera
tions, all of whom entered the service to save the Union.
A life-size portrait of Colonel Sanford was presented to
the Post by Jonah Sanford, Jr., with remarks by his son
Carlton E., July 4, 1884.
The Post claims the honor of having in Its membership
the youngest soldier who went forth to do battle, viz., Wil
liam Bastin, who was only a few days over eleven years when
he joined the service.
The Post has on its rolls the names of seventy members,
but only twenty-two now remain. Twenty-three have moved
away and been granted transfers, seven have been dropped
or suspended, and eighteen have died since the organization.
In a few more years all the old soldiers will have been
called home and there will be no one to tell of that mighty
struggle to save the Union and make liberty the corner stone
of this free Republic. The W. C T. U.
The Jubilee Singers came to Nicholville and gave an en
tertainment in August, 1895. When they had concluded
their programme they called for volunteers to pass through
the audience and learn how many and who would join such an
organization. Miss Jennie Sanford and Mrs. Foster did so,
and obtained the names of only eight persons. The next
week Mrs. Russell of Massena, county organizer, came and
organized the society with only eight charter members. Miss
Sarah Travis was made president, but resigned at the next
meeting, when Mrs. Mary Day was elected and held the
position for two years. Mrs. Henry H. Sweet next held
the position for four years, when Mrs. Pascal B. EUithorpe
was elected, which office she still holds. The society is now In
a prosperous condition and has a membership of nearly fifty.
Mound Hill Cemetery.
Mound HIU Cemetery is situated upon and takes its name
from a high mound or eminence just east of and overlooking

262 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the village. The grounds for the first cemetery were donated
for that purpose by William Lawrence, the proprietor of the
town, though they were not actually conveyed till October
26, 1 841, and then by D. Lynch Lawrence to the supervisor
of the town. The title remained in the supervisor till No
vember 24, 1862, when William Fortune, then holding that
office, conveyed the same to the association perfected Novem
ber 10, 1862. The view from the top of the mound Is grand,
overlooking, as it does, to the north the beautiful valley of the
St. Lawrence, while to the south are seen the forests and peaks
of the Adirondacks, to the southwest and close by the deep
valley and high bluffs of the St. Regis and to the west a pano
rama of the village and Hopkinton, made beautiful in sum
mer time by its wealth of trees and foliage.
It is an ideal place for a cemetery, being high and free
from moisture, with a constantly growing shade of evergreens
and other trees.
The first burials here were in the year 1833, when two
were made on the same day, namely, the wives of Lyman
Day and Joseph Stearns. Previous to this time the cemetery
in Hopkinton was the nearest public ground, and some were
taken there for burial, while many others were buried in private
grounds near their homes. Several were thus buried just
south of the residence of Hiram Rose and also just north of
E. A. Wood's, on the place now owned by Mrs. Trussell.
These bodies were afterward removed to this cemetery.
About the year i860 the bank wall was built along the Port
Kent road and the southerly half of the grounds graded and
put in form for use. At this time an effort was made to
better preserve the records of the lots and burials, and as a
result the Mound Hill Cemetery Association was formed No
vember 10, 1862. Every lot owner is a member, and they
are represented by nine trustees. The first trustees of the
association were as follows: Benjamin F. HlUIard, Richard
Amidon and Warren Day for one year ; George Everett,
Hosea Carr and Lyman Day for two years ; Russell Day,
Royal Smith and Titus Simonds for three years.
The first officers were. Royal Smith, president ; , Titus
Simonds, vice-president ; Lyman Day, secretary ; and Hosea
Carr, treasurer.

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wo

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 263
A map of the grounds showing every lot was made, also
a record of each lot duly recorded in a book for that purpose.
All the graves were located and marked with the age and date
of death of each burial. This was largely the work of Royal
Smith, assisted by others, and had it not been done it would
now be impossible to find or locate many of the graves. The
people of Nicholville and vicinity should be and are grateful
to Mr. Smith and his memory for all his labors in connec
tion with the association, its records and grounds. He was a
fine man, beloved by all and sleeps In the grounds he did so
much to beautify and adorn. Out of regard for him and his
kindly labors his picture Is given.
The following persons have served as president of the
association since its foundation : viz.. Royal Smith, Titus
Simonds, Mark White, John W. Witters, Hosea Carr, A. H.
Irish, Sumner Sweet, and since 1892, E. Allen Wood.
In 1893 an addition was purchased fifty feet wide extend
ing along the north side of the grounds. This was laid out
into a good driveway and a tier of some twenty burial lots.
A row of shade trees has been set out on either side of the
driveway. In 1896 an addition of some four acres on the east was
purchased, making in all about eight acres in the cemetery.
There are now nearly eight hundred people resting in the
grounds. A very good picture of the main entrance is given.
In the preparation of the foregoing history of Nicholville,
I have been greatly aided and assisted by Mrs. N. Maria
Wilkins of Stowe, Vt., and particularly by E. Allen Wood,
Esq., of Nicholville. A great part of the information given
as to mills, shops, hotels, stores, etc., was gathered from the
scrapbooks of writings in the past by the latter and by his dlH-
gent interviews with elderly people. Several of those articles
are also practically as prepared by him. I wish also to ex
press my acknowledgments to Miss Maud Merrill for pictures
of the churches and to Cordon Babcock for pictures of the
valley and Main Street.

CHAPTER XIV.
The Diary of Elisha Risdon — Sketch of him and his Diary.
I LEARN from an unfinished letter to his father that the
entire family went from Dorset, Vt., to the " Genesee coun
try " in or just prior to the year 1800. His father with his
large family settled at Richmond Centre, Ontario County,
where he did a blacksmith business for many years and died
at Livonia, a few miles distant, March i, 1848. The son
Elisha went back to Dorset for the expressed purpose of
further attending school. He did so at the Dorset Academy,
and was a chum of Edward Gray, father of Edward B. Gray
of Potsdam, now over eighty-four years of age. Mr. Gray
settled in Potsdam in 1822, where they exchanged visits.
Meeting a gentleman, name not given, in January, 1804,
who was Interested in what is now Hopkinton, he was pre
vailed upon to come along with him with the assurance of
high wages, which he did, reaching town in the early days of
February, and this is how he came to settle in Hopkinton.
After coming to town he worked more or less for Mr. Hop
kins till the summer of 1807, when he visited his father and
remained two years, returning to Hopkinton In September,
1809. The diary kept by him, or rather such part of it as can
now be found, begins with February 14, 18 12, and extends
to July, 1820, excepting that the years 181 6, 181 7, 1818 and
some other lesser portions of time are missing. The record
from 1820 to December, 1832, appears to be lost beyond re
covery. From the last date to September, 1848, it was kept
in two small books, six by eight inches. The diary was
divided among his three children, E. Harmon, Mary Chit
tenden and Clarinda Sanford. Harmon Risdon moved to
Iowa In 1870, and Mrs. Chittenden changed her location sev
eral times, and it Is believed that the missing portions were
thus lost, which is to be regretted, as it would give us nearly
a half century of almost daily records.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 265
From August 11, 1 8 1 1 , when he married Amanda, daugh
ter of Reuben Post, he lived in a log house on the south
side of the Potsdam road about a mile west of Hopkinton
village till 1824 or 1825, when he bought his brother-in-law's,
Samuel B. Abbott's betterments and moved into his log
house situate on the south side of the Turnpike road just a
few rods east of the junction of the Sanford road with the
Turnpike, where he resided till his death, October 19, 1851.
In about 1830 he built a small frame house there, to which
later several additions were made. No trace of either
habitation remains, except a small hole in the ground and a
mound of stone showing where the fireplace chimney stood.
Fortunately for the record in part, Artemus Kent, Esq., who
came into town in 1809, kept a fairly full diary from 18 10
tiU 1 819.
His son Fred H. Kent, Esq., of Detroit, Mich., kindly
loans me this record to use as freely as I wish. I have inter
jected Into Mr. Risdon's diary in several places extracts
from that of Mr. Kent on important incidentis. Inclosing the
same, with the name Kent, In brackets. For the years 1 8 1 6,
1 8 17 and 1818 there is no diary except that of Mr. Kent.
All work done by myself In editing the diary is Inclosed
in brackets, with the abbreviation " Ed."
The Year I8I2 — Death of Mrs. Seth Abbott and Infant Babe — Captain Ros
well Hopkins calls out his Militia Company to Draft Soldiers — Attends
Court at Ogdensburg — People alarmed over Wat — Aarcta Warner raises
Barn and OSver Sheldon a House — Get Thirty-two Guns from the Arse
nal at Russell to defend tiiemselves against the Indians — Inventory of his
Property — Mr. Risdon and Thirteen Others drafted — Went to Hamilton
(Waddington) — Route taken.
February 14. David Covey and Joseph Durfey cut wood at my door from
the 14th to the 19th. Severe cold weather.
February 20. Very snowy day. Still very cold. Caleb Wright [father
of George S. Wright] assisted me.
March 17. Departed this life the wife of Mr. Seth Abbott, March 17 ;
was buried with her infant in her arms, which died a ie.v7 hours previous to her
death. March 29. The snow fell about ten inches. The snow is about three
feet deep. March 3 1 . Warm and pleasant. Mr. Kent is thrashing his wheat.
April 8. The snow is two feet deep. Began to boil sap. Received a
letter from my parents April 5.

266 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
April 15. The ground is to be seen in some fields. The snow is about
fifteen inches in the woods. Made thirty-five pounds of sugar, twelve gallons of
vinegar. April 20. Warm showers. The snow melts fast.
April 22. The snow is pretty much gone in the cleared fields.
May 3 . A light snow, cold air, vegetation comes on but slowly.
May 9. Went to Cookham surveying, warm and pleasant.
May 1 1 . Went to Cookham surveying highway, pleasant.
May 13. Captain Hopkins called out his company to draft soldiers. Beebe
Abbott, Abner Pain and Mr. Curtis volunteered.
May 25. Warm weather, vegetation now comes forward.
May 27. Captain Hopkins called out his company to draft soldiers. Mr.
Booth, Silas Lamb, L. Curtis, Doct. Palmer volunteered.
May 28. Warm, growing season. The fields and forests look green.
May 30. Began to plant corn. There have but a few planted any yet.
June 1 . Captain Hopkins called out his company to improve in the mili
tary discipline. June 4. Was summoned to appear at the courthouse at Ogdensburg forth
with, there to testify to what I know concerning Mr. Durfey's whipping a
child. Borrowed one dollar and fifty-five cents of Artemus Kent to defi-ay the
expense of the journey. Mr. Green, the constable, Mr. Durfey, Mr. Abbott,
Mr. Squire and myself set out on the 5 th. [I am advised that this was Phineas
Durfey, that he had traps set in the woods back of Caleb Wright's, that he told
a boy living with him to go and see if any animal was in the traps. The boy
started, but being afraid to go to the traps, returned and reported that there was
none. Some days later it was learned there was a wolf in the trap which had
gotten away or died and decayed. Mr. Durfey whipped him for lying to him.
— Ed.] June 16. Work on the highway. Afterwards shot a deer.
June 19. Received a letter from my brother, Elijah Risdon.
June 25. Aaron Warner raised his barn. Oliver Sheldon raised his house.
[I feel sure this is the barn still standing back in the lot and the house, a cut of
which is given in another place. — Ed.]
June 27. I. W. Hopkins raised a barn frame.
June 29. Phineas Durfey raised his barn. The people of this country
are much alarmed about war.
July 4. Green, Sanford and Post moved to Vermont. [I feel sure these
men were Job Greene, Jonah Sanford and Reuben Post. Job Greene was an
elector in town in 1807. In a very brief sketch of his life Mr. Sanford states
that he came to Hopkinton in the fall of 1 8 1 1 and made a little beginning in the
wilderness but did not settle till 18 15. He must have come back in 1812, and
on account of the war gone back again. — Ed.]
July 12. Samuel Eastman raised his barn, very warm.
July 16. Thirty-two guns have been brought from the arsenal in Russell
to this town to defend ourselves against the Indians. [This arsenal is still
standing.] July 27. Warm, showery weather, not much haying as yet. I killed a
deer this day near my work.
July 28. Borrowed Mr. Eli Squire's rifle and went to Cookham.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 267
August 6. Showery weather. There has been but a little done at haying
this season on account of wet weather. I have been married a year. I
have five acres of wheat on the ground, one-half is Mr. Kent's. I cut two tons
of grass. I have but one cow, two hogs, a few poultry. All , my farming
tools are a set of drag teeth, two axes and a hoe. I have a hundred and fifteen
acres of land paid for and a deed of it. I have a bond for a deed of twenty
more which has a decent log house on it and some improvements. [There were
thirty acres in the strip on the east side of his one hundred and fifteen acres which
Reuben Post got of Joseph Armstrong in 1808. The log house in which he
lived was on this strip. The ruins of chimney may still be seen. — Ed.]
August II. It has rained this day very steady. Esq. Post set out for
Vermont on the i oth. The 1 3th of this month drove home a heifer bought of
Lane. Very wet. Some people have half done haying, others not.
August 1 5 . Troublesome times in America. Not so much to be dreaded
is a war with foreign powers as a political disunion internal. Already have party
contentions worked into mobs and bloodshed.
August 20. Bought a rifle of Mr. Woodworth for twenty-one dollars.
August 24. Began reap wheat, finished the 2 8h. The inhabitants have
mostly finished haying. A white firost the 30th.
September 2. Went to Mr. Hawkins with my rifle. David Parish is out
in this country.
September 10. Captain Hopkins called out his company to stand their
draft for fourteen privates. Myself with thirteen others were drafted and
warned to appear at Hamilton forthwith. [Waddington was called Hamilton
till 1818. — Ed.]
September 1 1 . Set out for Hamilton and about dusk gave up ourselves to an
officer who gave us our rations of pork and beans and directed us to our barrack.
The next day about one hundred and twenty-one including the boatmen went
on board a boat for Massena. [One leaf of the diary is here missing, which is
greatly regretted as an account of his soldier's life would be interesting. It both
ered me at first to make out just the route he took. On a little reflection it be
came plain to me that he went direct to French Mills (Fort Covington), a dis
tance of only twenty-eight miles. There was no other place they could reach
in one day's march where there were barracks. Their destination was Wadding
ton. The boats of those days could not go up the St. Lawrence, as there were
no canals about the rapids, but they could get up the Grasse River to Massena
and then march overland to Waddington, about fifteen miles. I feel certain that
this is the route they took. Flat bottomed boats were used on the Racket at an
early date below Raymondville and on the St. Regis from Hogansburg to Land
ing Bridge, but not so early as this date. W. H. Stevens, Esq., of Brasher
Falls, informs me that boating on the latter river did not begin till 1830. — Ed.]
The Year 1 8 J3 — Death of Henry McLaughlin, Misses Dunton, McLaughlin and
Thomas — The Village of Ogdensburg taken by the British — Report of
same Written by Cyrus Grannis — Colonel Pike's Regiment and Chandler's
Brigade pass through Town — Mr. Risdon thinks of Going West and Motal-
izes over it — Harmon Risdon Baptised — Wilkinson Defeated at Cornwall
— Four Hundred Dragoons in Town — Soldiers continually Passing.
January 27. Miss Dunton died the 27th of January, aged thirty-one years.

268 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
February 7. Epq. McLaughlin died the 7th of February, aged fifty-four years.
February 14. Miss McLaughlin died the 14th of February, aged 48.
Miss Thomas died the 1 8th of February, aged  .
February 22. The village of Ogdensburg given up to the British. [H.
E. Pierepont, Esq., of Brooklyn, N. Y., sends me an original letter, giving an
account of the capture of the village, which is of considerable interest. It is
written on foolscap, folded in to make an envelope of itself, with postage marked
twenty cents. It is addressed to Hezekiah B. Pierepont, New York, and is as
follows. Russell, February 26, 1 81 3.
Dear Sir: Since my arrival here I have made some inquiry about the
cost of building a barn. I find I can build one for some less or not much differ
ence from ^200. A Mr. Leonard who has taken some land there offers to build
for me if he can have g8o in cash, ^30 the first of April and the remaining $^^0
when the work is completed. The remainder he will let go toward the land he
has taken up. If you have any objection to my making a bargain of this kind
you will have the goodness to inform me.
I must inform you that Ogdensburg is taken by the British, though I presume
you will hear the news before you receive this. The British have for some time
past been in the habit of marching their men on the ice on the St. Lawrence in the
morning. On Monday morning last they marched on as usual, as was supposed,
until they got one-third across when they divided into three parts and came into
the village before one-half of our troops were under arms or at least before they
were ready to receive them. In one hour they had full possession of the place
with the loss on our part of six or seven men killed and some wounded. The
loss on the part of the enemy is not known. They took 12 cannon, about 800
stand of small arms, all the ammunition and provisions, burned the barracks and
two small vessels, plundered some houses and took a number of prisoners. How
many it is not known. All the remaining troops which were not killed or taken
prisoners were sent to Sackett's Harbor, and Ogdensburg is left without a man to
protect it except the inhabitants who fled in the time of action, but have since re
turned and calculate to go on with their business as usual. I think the inhab
itants do not apprehend any danger from the enemy. The above I believe is a
true statement of the transaction or as near as I can recollect. You will have
the goodness to accept this from your very humble servant, Cyrus Grannis.
N. B. Excuse this writing if you please as the paper is bad and I can
get no other. — Ed.
March 8 and 9. The 15th Regiment of soldiers passed through this town.
Three regiments and one brigade have passed through this town this month of
March on their way to Sackett's Harbor. [In the spring of 18 13 there passed
through this town Colonel Pike's regiment and soon after Chandler's brigade in
sleighs for Sackett's Harbor, where they joined General Dearborn's forces and
soon after proceeded up the lake (Ontario) and captured Little York and then
Fort George. In the fall they left Canada with five thousand men and sailed
down the lake and the river St. Lawrence to Cornwall, Canada, or near there,
where they were opposed by the Canadians. They at once retired to French
Mills (Fort Covington) and took up winter quarters. In the last of the winter
they burned their boats, barracks and destroyed much other valuable property.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 269
part of the soldiers going to Plattsburg and part to Sackett's Harbor. The sol
diers left two hundred and eighty-seven barrels of flour in a barn in this town,
which the British shortly afterwards seized with much other property in Malone
and French Mills. — Kent.]
[The colonel spoken of was Zebulon M. Pike of the United States arm)-.
He discovered Pike's Peak, and in 181 3 was assigned to the main army as adju
tant and inspector general. He was killed by the explosion of a magazine in a
captured fortification. — Ed.]
April 5. Mrs. Risdon has the measles.
April 10. From the 5th to the loth warm, pleasant. The mind of man
appears so wavering and unsteady, so often attracted fi-om one object to another,
often deluded, cheated by appearance of objects that afford neither pleasure or
profit, that at last man's judgment appears not at all times to be relied on. I
here make the following entry by way of experiment, to wit :
My mind has often in fancy led me to seek happiness by selling my little
farm here in Hopkinton and moving to some part of the western country. But
judgment tells me no, that God has given to all parts of the world their advan
tages and their disadvantages. My wife whom I love and her relation say not.
They are contented here. I have previous to this in the absence of  con
sidered this matter in all its diversities. It appears to be my candid and serious
opinion on all accounts to content myself to live in Hopkinton. And may the
great and good God who made us and gave us aU our passions, strengthen us in
judgment. May we be more stable, firm in all our helpful undertakings. Here
I would notice the evils that attend contracting debts hastily, without preconsidera-
tion, buying that that we do not want. Weigh the matter well before you con
sent to give your word or note. When either are given be carefiil to fulfil to
the uttermost. By so doing you may get credit when it would honestly enhance
your interest. Never be tempted to expose an honorable character for the sake
of gain. Be plain, open, manly and honest in all your intercourse with man
kind. Solomon says a good name is better than gold or silver. , Be faithful and
constant in some employment, being carefiil and saving, and let nothing waste
through your neglect, is the fiilfilment of one great duty, and being constant in
some employ is health to the body and mind. I would govern my conversation
in public and in my family with prudent care. I would say nothing passionate,
slanderous or imprudent. I would extend my love to God and all mankind and
improve every opportunity of domg and getting good.
May 17. Harmon Covey died, aged nine months.
September 12. I would renounce my intention of chopping any more till
I log and clear off what I have already chopped. Elijah Harmon Risdon was
baptized September 12, 181 3, by the Rev. Mr. Johnson.
Falls hunt September 30, shot a deer. October 2, shot two deer. Oc
tober 4, shot a deer. October 5, shot a deer. October 6, shot a deer on my
own land. October 29, wounded a deer. October 30, found my wounded
deer. November 3, shot four deer. November 4, brought them to the road ;
the 5 th, got them in. November 1 1, shot two deer ; 13 th, got them home.
November 1 1 . The battle at Cornwall between Wilkinson and British.
The former defeated and pushed his army to French Mills [now Fort Coving
ton] , there discharged his volunteers to take Canada.

270 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
November 14. The Dragoons are in this town, about four hundred.
Soldiers passing continually from the Mills. Many of the eighteen months
men's time are out, who are on their way home.
December. Wilkinson's main army at the French Mills. Wheat four
dollars per bushel ; corn, two. Sleighs begin to pass firom Utica with supplies
for the army. Sleighing good and much travel.
The Year J8I4 — A Hundred Sleighs of Soldiers and Provisions pass in a Day —
Very Cold — Many Freeze their Feet and some Freeze to Death — Town
full of Soldiers — Wilkinson's Army going from French Mills to Sack
ett's Harbor — British make a Raid on Hopkinton Village and Capture
near Three Hundred Barrels of Flour — Dr. Sprague sells Ride to Dr. Mott
— The People rebel in a Public Meeting — Laugmin raises his House — Mr.
Hopkins drives Cattle to the British — Cold and Stormy in May — Mr. Ris
don very poorly, given up by Doctor — Death of Heman Gray, October 3 J
— (See Abijah Chandler Family.)
January. Some days one hundred sleighs pass, chiefly on their way from
the westward to the Mills with provisions for the army. A company of four
hundred soldiers pass on their way to Wilkinson's army. Severe cold, many
freeze to death, some their feet only. [In the winter of 1 8 1 4 Thaddeus Laugh
lin went to Vermont to buy materials for building a house, he returned with
Sister Waity who lived here a year. — Kent.]
February. Wilkinson's army is leaving the French Mills on its way to
Sackett's Harbor. This town is fiill of soldiers. Money plenty, hay thirty
dollars per ton. The British march their army into Malone, come to Hopkinton
and take a quantity of flour belonging to the army.
[It is a little singular that he did not give fiiUer particulars of this quite im
portant event. I judge he must have been sick as, will be noticed, no dates are
given for February, March or April. The particulars of this raid as given by
Dr. Hough, and as I learn them from Joseph B. Durfey, born in town in 1 8 11,
and Norton F. Thomas, born in the village in 18 18, are as follows: The
story. of the raid was often repeated by their parents and neighbors in their boy
hood days so that all essentia) points are still clear to them. Mr. Thomas's father,
Chauncey D., then had a blacksmith shop just north of V. A. Chittenden's
residence. It took place in the latter part of February, 18 14. The British,
then being in possession at French Mills learned through a spy that there was a
large quantity of flour belonging to the United States government stored in Hop
kinton village, only twenty-eight miles distant, with no guard to protect it. They
sent Major De Heirne of the British army with Lieut. Charlton and about thirty
soldiers to capture it. They came in six sleighs by way of Moira Corners in
the night time, reaching Hopkinton village before the inhabitants were up.
Coming from the east they passed by Joel Goodell's log house of two rooms,
situate a few rods west of the present brick residence. He was up, or at least
awakened by the soldiers as they went by. Realizing the situation he ran across
the road to Mr. James Thomas's house (Henderson place) and told Mike Ar-
quette who was stopping there what he had seen. Mr. Arquette had but re
cently deserted from the British army and fearing they might pick him up hastily
put on his snowshoes and went back into the woods where he remained till the
soldiers had gone. Messrs. Goodell and Arquette both told this incident to John
Leach, Esq., who now gives it to me.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 271
Reaching the village the officers posted a guard at every house and proceeded
to search for guns, according to Hough's history, but as Mr. Thomas says for
horses and heavy blankets as well. In those days the people had a heavy blanket
which was called an Indian blanket and just the thing for soldiers. Mr. Thomas
heard quite a racket early in the morning, and going out cautiously to investigate,
saw that the village was in the possession of the British. He went back, and
fearing they might take his horse, he buried the horse completely with hay and
thus saved him. This was the only horse in the village that was saved. His
wife as hastily and quickly took up a board in the house floor and put their gun
and Indian blankets underneath and saved them also. When this was done he
sauntered out and was made a prisoner, as were what able-bodied men the Brit
ish could find. Quite a number of the men were away in the war at one place
or another at the time.
According to Dr. Hough they found about three hundred barrels of flour
stored in a barn owned by Judge Hopkins but occupied by Dr. Sprague. The
correct number of barrels, according to Mr. Kent's diary, was two hundred and
eighty-seven. When the flour was left in town only a short time before by the
officers of the United States army. Judge Hopkins and others urged them to take
it farther west or allow them to do it, but they declined, saying it would be all
right there.After much effort I am unable to locate the barn in which the flour was
stored with any certainty. The vague impression of several people is that it
was in the barn on the south side of the road as one enters the village from the
west, at the top of the hill, where John Harran now resides. It may have been,
but the minutes of the town meeting of 18 10 rather indicate that Benjamin W.
Hopkins made that place his home. The same minutes for the year 1 8 1 1 go to
show that Judge Hopkins then had a place and lived on the north side of the
road, where Dr. Sprague so long resided, or just north of the present town
house. The British kept Mr. Thomas pretty busy all day shoeing their horses.
They carried away all the flour they could handle and started in to destroy the
balance, but the inhabitants, mostly women, begged so hard that they finally de
sisted, and distributed what was left among the people. They gave Mr.
Thomas seven barrels and paid him some silver for the work he did for them.
They left the night following their arrival and took quite a number of men away
with them as prisoners, among whom was a Mr. Roberts, living a httle south ot
the village, and Samuel Goodell. These they released while on their march
back and they came straggling home. They also picked up about twenty guns,
which they carried off. As we see from the diary of July 16, 1812, the in
habitants received thirty-two guns from the arsenal in Russell. By this raid they
lost over half their guns. According to Dr. Hough and Messrs. Durfey and Thomas
the British conducted themselves, while in town, very gentlemanly and properly ;
much better than the soldiery have done and are now doing in South Africa.
— Ed.] March. Cold, severe weather. Dr. Sprague sells his ride to Dr. Mott.
The people are not disposed to employ him, many things against his character.
Mrs. Risdon taken sick. Dr. Sprague set off for Vermont hence to employ
McChesney.

272 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
April. Amanda on the mend. Made about seventy pounds of sugar.
The people dissatisfied with changing Sprague for Mott. Held a meeting
on the subject. Mott finally agreed to leave the town and Sprague agreed to
stay. May 9. Begun "  " Universal History. Warm and pleas
ant. May 17. Began to plant corn, a growing season, the woods green.
[From the ist of May till the 20th it froze hard nearly every night. On the
13th there was snow and on the 19th snow fell from morning till noon, when
there were five inches which did not disappear till the 21st. On the 25 th there
was a heavy frost. — Kent.]
June. Laughlin raised his house, festival the 24th, next day. [I am con
fident this is the house now standing and in use. — Ed.]
July 7. Sally Hopkins married. Hopkins driving cattle to the British.
July 10. Mr. Johnson preached at this place. E. Squire for Vermont
on the I ith.
July 17. Took a violent cold, laid me up ten days. Miss Lawyer sick.
July 28. Mr. E. Squire came in from Vermont for cattle. A beautiful
growing season. All engaged in haying. Some showery, but no heavy rains.
Black raspberries thick.
August 1 . Not able to labor any. Samuel Abbott is cutting my grass.
August 15. He is now cutting my wheat and drawing it to A. Squire's
barn. September 17. David Covey killed a deer. Samuel Abbott building his
chimney. Went up to Father Post's, too unwell to get home, next day some
better. September 20. Confined whoUy to my house. My neighbors cut and
draw my corn up to my house. Reuben Post comes down every night and does
my chores. October. Miss Gray is sick. Confined to my bed. My physician thinks
my case doubtful. Raised blood almost constantly, medicine seems to give me
no relief. Dr. Sprague told me he could do no more for me, although I might
get well. [How comforting and consoling this must have been ! It is a wonder
it did not kill him. How little the doctor knew is shown by the fact that he
did not die till 1 851.] Heman Gray is sick. Miss Gray is apparently better.
Chaunduo is husking my corn. Benjamin Blanchard is sick. The Rev. Mr.
Johnson is at Vermont. Heman Gray is worse. I sent for the doctor and told
him I would have a puke. I took it. It seemed to have a good effect. From
this time took more courage. Shortly after took another puke. Distressed me
much. I was many times so distressed at the breast and lungs before I took
these pukes that it was with difficulty that I spoke a loud word. I shortly after
took the third puke, a most distressing one it was, for I had to take a large quan
tity to operate. I began to almost despair again, for I found puking would not
answer, although I beheved it helped me much. Heman Gray is worse. Is
looked upon as dangerous. The doctor thinks he is bleeding inwardly. He
appears much alarmed in his mind. Is unwilling to leave the world. He begs
every assistance that is possible. He took leave of his family and departed this
hfe on the 3 1 st day of October in the morning, and the Lord have mercy on
his soul. Never did news of a death strike me more solemnly. It seemed as

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

273

though I must be the next victim for death. The months of November and
December experienced the same distressing pains in the breast and stomach, after
bleeding, as a fresh wound.
The Year 18 J5 — Mr. Risdon gets better and is very grateful to Neighbors —
National Thanksgiving — Shocked to see Mrs. Risdon with a Novel, reads
it and changes his Mind — Oliver Sheldon sprains his Ankle and loses his
Foot — Cold May — Samuel Eastman raises his House — Took Sacrament;
feels his Unworthiness — Preacher maintained that the Virtuous Poor are
far more estimable in God's Sight than the Wealthy — Building Second
Story of Schoolhouse — Death of Colonel Alex. Brush of Madrid — Ebenezer
Frost builds Trip Hammer Shop — Judge Hopkins builds his Second Grist
mill — The Story of Each — Death of Reuben Post, killed by falling of the
Staging on the Schoolhouse — The Lead Plate placed under the Corner
Stone — The Battle of Waterloo — The Lodge remits his Dues — Killed
Two Beavers— Killed Forty-eight Deer and One Wolf in I8J5 — His Tax
on Schoolhouse, $20, and Two Shares in Upper Room, $10 — Diary of Mr.
Kent — Severe Weather and Times — Regimental Training at Madrid —
Church Meeting in New Schoolhouse — Judge Sanford loses Two Children
— Raise Upper Story of Gristmill — People met in New Church Room
October 29 for First Time.
In January I experienced a htde mitigation of that distress which has been
my companion so long. February 10 I rode out after a confinement to my
house of nearly five months. During these months of confinement and distress
I feel bound by the ties of natural affection to acknowledge the goodness of my
neighbors. Father's people, brother Reuben in particular, who was my con
stant attendant, have been good and lavish of their kindness. I feel chagrined
and mortified to think I have not possessed myself more free from a petulous
disposition ; I have endeavored to suppress my impatience, but I know myself
hard to govern.
March 7. Attended town meeting, warm weather. The first days of
March warm, but it has been a cold month with considerable snow.
April I . Cold, chilly weather. I am confined to my house.
AprU 13. This day was proclaimed by the Congress of the United States
as a day of public thanksgiving and praise to Almighty God. Mr. Johnson
preached a Sermon on the occasion. When Mrs. Risdon returned from meeting
I observed her laying a book on the shelf. I took it down and found it to be a
novel. I thought I had as lieves it to have been some other book. However I
read the account of the miser and then of the "enthusiast," which were the
contents of the book. I looked upon it as a mirror wherein I could discover
my own nature. On the whole I was weU entertained.
April 15. OUver Sheldon complains of a sprained ankle. A cold and
chilly April ; people are making sugar.
AprU 27. Election ; warm and windy weather, brush burn well.
Oliver Sheldon's ankle grows worse, pains him much.
May 19. As memorable time as I ever knew. The snow fell twelve
inches. It has frozen about every night since first of May, and we had a cold
April. Miss Walker came to my house the 22d. A remarkable season for
pigeons. May 22. Warm growing weather. David Covey draggiag, finished
to-day.

274 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
May 26. Church meeting day. Joseph Bastin broke flax.
June 5. Gave A. Warner a deed of a piece of land of fifteen acres for
which he has paid me ^105 in full.
June 10. Mr. Sheldon's leg, it is thought, will have to come off. Doc
tors held a counsel on Mr. Sheldon's leg. It is thought it must come off. On
the II th in the afternoon it was dissected. It being after meeting of the Sab
bath many people attended. Judge Hopkins read a chapter. Esq. ' ' Blanchard ' '
made a prayer before the operation. Mr. S. appears more free from pain than
before the operation. [To-day I saw a limb amputated for the first time, the
leg of Oliver Sheldon, from a sore supposed to be caused by a sprain in the
ankle. Drs. Waterhouse, McChesney, Worth and Sprague advised that it
be done. The bones of the foot were badly decayed. — Kent.] [McChesney
was a Potsdam doctor. — Ed.]
June 12. Mr. " Brimsmade's " chUd is sick. The whooping cough is
about. June 15. Mr. Samuel Eastman raised his house. [It was the front part
of the present house. — Ed.]
June 17. Mr. Sheldon is getting better fast. [On June 19 start for
Ogdensburg to attend Supreme Circuit Court, Judge Spencer presiding. Stopped
first night on the way at Scott's Inn in Lisbon. — Kent.]
June 20. Court at Ogdensburg. R. Post, juror.
June 25. Attended public worship, partook of the sacrament. I had such
a sense of my unworthiness as to doubt my conversion, and resolved never to
par.take in those solemn engagements untU I am convinced I am worthy. Mr.
Johnson preached an exceUent sermon to a crowded audience. He pleaded that
aU honor, justice and truth come from God, and that the virtuous poor are &r
more estimable in his sight than the wealthy. His address to parents expressed
a great mind and a good heart. His address to youth was eloquent and beau-
tiftil. June 30. Isaac R. Hopkins's, Esq., chUd died, aged six months.
July 5. B. W. Hopkins's chUd died, aged fifteen months. Warmer
weather. Asahel Kent raised barn the 4th. At work on the second story of the
schoolhouse. July 8. Samuel Goodell raised his house. Very hot weather. Harmon
Risdon has the whooping cough.
July I o. Mr. George Hopkins set out for Vermont in company with his
mother. Gideon Sprague raised his barn. Captain Hopkins got in from west
ward. July 12. Very hot. Covey hoeing corn, began to hay. Lent my gun.
July 15. Very hot. S. Abbott's child sick. Mrs. R. and W. gone
there. My own health since the middle of February has been subject to many
changes. The greatest part of the time, however, pretty comfortable. This
warm speU confines me to the house. L. Chandler out of health.
July 16. Warm weather, had a shower this morning.
July 1 7. S. Abbott, E. and R. Post mowing for me. Eli Squire took a
task of Turnpike. A. Warner bought WUson's farm.
July 18. H. Kennedy set out for Cornwall. Lent ten dollars to S. Lamb.
Captain Hopkins and his lady set off for the westward the 1 7th instant. Lucy
Post here on a visit. Finished haying, except a few cocks to get in.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 275
July 2 1 . Burnt brush. E. and R. Post helped me. Cleaned out my
spring. July 22. Warm, a fine shower this morning. Some thunder. Colonel
Brush of Madrid died the 1 5th instant. His death was occasioned by falling on
a sled stick. A very heavy shower Saturday evening.
July 23. Mr. Bronson preached. Mrs. Knapp is sick at J. Thomas's.
Mr. Wright is sick. Monday, the 24th, warm, windy.
July 25. A heavy rain, warm. Grass good. People have mostly begun to
hay. Since about the middle of June it has been seemingly one of the most grow
ing seasons I ever knew. Prosperity gladdens. The body of the schoolhouse
is about laid up. Mr. Frost is about buUding a trip hammer shop. Judge Hop
kins is about beginning his gristmill. The Upper Gristmill.
[This mill was built under the bank on the west shore of Lyd Brook, a
few rods north of the road as you enter the village from the west. The power
was obtained by bringing the water in a ditch from a point a hundred rods or
thereabouts south of the road. The remains of this ditch can stUl be plainly seen
from the highway in the side of the bank just above the road. In fact it can
readUy be traced its entire length, even along the fence on the brow of the hiU
on the north side of the road, near the Catholic Church. It turned westerly be
hind John Harran's house and then northerly through his yard, across the road
and along the brow of the bank to a point opposite the mill, about fifteen rods
north of the road. Mr. Harran escorted me over the entire route of the ditch.
The mill was two stories in height, the first being of stone and the second
of wood. The corner stones and some of the other base stone are stiU in place.
I should judge it was about twenty-four feet square. The water was let on from
the ditch above to an overshot wheel. Mr. Kent speaks a little later of raising
the upper story of the miU. It had one run of stones, no doubt the same that
were in the mill built in 1 803 near the cemetery. I do not find as Mr. Risdon
ever again speaks of this mUl or of going to it with a grist, nor does Mr. Kent,
except to say that a woman was arrested for stealing flour at the mill. No one
living, so far as I learn, can recaU seeing or knowing it to be in operation, though
several remember hearing others speak of taking grist to it. As Mrs. Enos
Wood recalls, it was not very much of a success and did not operate for any
great length of time. The flow of water was every now and then too scant, and
in the winter time much trouble was experienced by reason of the water freezing
in the ditch. However, it must have done most of the grinding for the inhab
itants for a few years, and probably continued a checkered career for ten years or
more. A gristmill was built at Cookham in 1 8 1 o, and Samuel WUson buUt a
saw and grist mill combined at the East Village (NicholviUe) about 1818, where
were more water and power. These mills very soon began to get the business
and after a few years seem to have taken it all.
Clark S. Chittenden after a time became the owner of the land on the west
side of the brook and used the old gristmiU for some years as a barn. The build
ing becoming old and weak, it was torn down and the stone of the first story
drawn away and used for buUding purposes. One of the grinding stones is now
used as the top stone or cover to the well close to the Chittenden store. The
other was broken and put into the waU of King S. Chittenden's house. — Ed.]

276 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Trip Hammer Shop.
[No one living can recaU this shop and but very few of ever hearing of it.
Were it not for this very brief mention in the diary the year of its erection could
not be told. I do not find that Mr. Risdon again speaks of the shop, nor does
Mr. Kent at aU. It was built on the east bank of Lyd Brook on the rear end of
the third residence lot north of the Town House, where Aunt PoUy Hopkins
lived from 1829 to her death in 1850, and which has since been known as the
Sheals lot. A strong and substantial dam was buUt across the brook, since V. A.
Chittenden, Esq., and others of his age can well recall it. The trip hammer
was run or worked by water power. The shop was buUt by Ebenezer Frost,
who was a blacksmith by trade at Barton, Vt. During the War of 1 8 1 2 he at
tached himself to the United States cavalry, stationed in and about Plattsburg, as
horseshoer and blacksmith. After the war he came afoot through the woods to
the promising village of Hopkinton, as I learn from his son Francis T. Frost of
The Frost and Wood Company of Smith Falls, Ont., who gives me these par
ticulars. The most of the iron that then came to interior points at least was
Swedish wrought iron in all forms and sizes, but of very short lengths, as large,
heavy pieces could not be brought in. The office of the trip hammer was to
draw these biUets out into the required forms and sizes for shoes for horse and ox,
as well as sleigh shoes, tires for wagon wheels, etc. The trip hammer was the
forerunner of the mighty roUing mUls of the present time. Mr. Frost feels cer
tain that his father conducted a blacksmith shop in conjunction with the trip
hammer, and that he also sold hammered iron to neighboring blacksmiths. In
1 8 16 a private road was laid out on the north side of Mr. Frost's and the south
side of the lot adjoining on the north from the highway to the west bank of Lyd
Brook, a distance of twenty-seven rods. There is now, where or about where
the shop stood, a large bowlder some four feet in height, three feet or more in
diameter, with a hole cut in the top end about six by nine inches and six inches
deep, which in all probability was used for some purpose in the trip hammer
shop. In 1820 he moved to Canton, where he continued the trip hammer busi
ness, using two horses for his power and getting his supplies of iron from the old
firm of Chesney & AUen of Ogdensburg. Getting into some trouble with Silas
Wright, he left the States for Canada, and in 1839 founded the present large
manufacturing plant at Smith FaUs, employing six hundred men. — • Ed.]
July 27. Went to W. Covey's on a visit. Some showery.
July 30. The Sabbath, attended meeting, warm, very loud thunder in the
evening. July 31. Warm. This is the day on which Reuben Post, Esq., received
a mortal wound by a fall from the schoolhouse. Five others and the scaffold feU
with him. Father Post lies senseless at the house of Thaddeus Laughlin. [This
schoolhouse was of stone and stood about where the Town House now stands, as
I am credibly informed. Isaac R. Hopkins, Esq., of Hopkinton, has in his pos
session the lead plate that was placed in the corner stone. This plate states that
Reuben Post, Gideon Sprague and EU Roberts were the trustees, and Isaac R.
Hopkins, scribe. Roswell Hopkins, supervisor. Built in 181 5. — Ed.]
August I . The surgeons go through the operation of trepanning. He ap
pears some easier.
[August I . Yesterday happened one of the most melancholy accidents that
has ever taken place in this town. Esq. Post with five others, through the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 277
fourth scaffold on our town building giving way, fell to the ground amidst stone,
poles and boards, and, sad to relate, Esq. Post received a mortal wound. Close
behind the right ear was a fracture from which the brain oozed. There were
two other fractures in the fore part of his head, the largest of which was tre
panned by Drs. Sprague, Waterhouse and McChesney, but all human efforts
against the wUl of God are in vain. It is surprising that so many should fall and
only one get mortally hurt. — Kent.]
August 2. He appears to fail. Wrote a short letter to Uncle Roswell
Post. Cool weather. Mr. Merrill and others that fell are getting better.
Father Post died this evening about eleven o'clock, and his remains interred on
the 3d. The Rev. Mr. Johnson delivered an exceUent discourse on the occa
sion. August 4. The boys take hold of their haying, S. A. helps them. Four
years at this date since I married the daughter of Reuben Post and Esther his
wife. A friendly intimacy has ever subsisted between us, or if there has not
it is unknown to me and I must be the aggressor, for I have received many ob
ligations due from a parent to their children. Showery. Poor hay weather.
August 10. Considerable grass to cut yet. Some have begun reaping. I
have not heard from the Genesee since last winter. Something whispers all is
not well. I long to hear from them very much. It is not wanting but a few
days of six years since I have seen my parents, brothers or sisters. Tuesday
Phineas and Joseph Durfey reaping for Mother Post. Showery.
August 14. News of a great battle and overthrow of Bonaparte. [This re
fers of course to the battle of Waterloo, which was fought June 18, 181 5. So
it took two months for the news to reach Hopkinton. Now we would get it
the Same day and night, by our clocks, "before it happened." — Ed.] Mr.
Squire making Turnpike. Killed a hawk. My health is growing better, I do
some chores. Attended lodge meeting. Observed to the lodge it was about a
year since I had attended — that they must take what order they thought proper
upon it — that my intentions were to attend as punctually as my health and
circumstances would admit. The sentiment of the lodge was that sickness and
inability to attend were pardonable. I was Hkewise given my expenses for the
evening and my quarterly dues for a year and a half
August 23. Three weeks past very showery. People done haying.
August 27. Settled all book accounts with T. Laughlin and found due
him J2.53, for which I gave him my note, which sum when paid is in full of
all demands. August 3 1 . Killed two beavers.
September i. Went to Parishville.
September 2. KUled two deer.
September 5. Shot two deer. KUled at this date, October 25, of the
season of 181 5, thirteen deer and one wolf. KUled at this date, November 20,
twenty-one deer. Killed in the season of hunting of 1 8 1 5 forty-eight deer and
one wolf. My tax on the schoolhouse was ^20, two shares in the upper part
^10, making in the whole ;^30. My wolf certificate paid that ^30 and leaves
;g2o due from the county.
[The diary of Mr. Risdon if kept from for the latter part of the year 1 8 1 5
and the years 1 8 1 6, 1 8 1 7 and 1 8 1 8 cannot be found. Fortunately I have
the diary of Mr. Artemus Kent, which I use for that time. — Ed.]

278 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
[September 4. This is training day. This morning the earth was white
with frost and ice on the water one-sixth of an inch thick. It rained nearly
every day from the 5th to the 1 7th and has done great damage to wheat and
frost-bitten corn. There wUl be the greatest scarcity of food ever known in this
country. Only one consolation is left us, and that is the promise of God to aU
his creatures, which if we depend upon wUl help us in every trouble.
September 23. Has rained without intermission for thirty-six hours.
October 7. Divine goodness has again restored in part my health. Po
tatoes are uncommonly light. We have only twenty-five bushels.
October 12. To-day is regimental training at Madrid. I attended on
business and out of curiosity. There were but few men and fewer officers pres
ent. I returned to Potsdam where I stayed all night. Rode home by Parish
viUe with considerable numbers in company.
October 15. Sunday, the people met in the new schoolhouse.
October 18. I am quite unweU with a cold or influenza which is very prev
alent. A great many are sick, though only two have died in this society : viz.,
two children of Jonah Sanford.
October 24. We are now plastering our house. [This must mean Mr.
Laughlin's house. — Ed.] Between showers we have raised the wood part of
Judge Hopkins's gristmiU.
October 26. To-day the proprietors of the Town Room have met and ac
cepted of the buUding Mr. Hopkins buUt for that purpose. [From this it seems
that Mr. Hopkins had in charge the construction of the new buUding. — Ed.]
October 27. Butchered our hogs, for want of grain to feed them.
October 29. Sabbath, met in our new room for the first time. As Mr.
Johnson is sick, we had no preaching.
November 16. Been chasing a wounded deer and sprained my ankle so
badly that I reached the house with difficulty. Sold some cattle on execution.
December 12. I went to RusseU to fetch a load of goods for Chauncy
Thomas. Very good sleighing on the Turnpike.
December 2 3 . We now have a singing school in which several young singers
are engaged.
The Year J8J6, by Mr. Kent— Mrs. B. steals Flour from Mill— Flour, $J8
per Barrel} Pork, $30; Potatoes, $J.OO per Bushel; and Hay, $20, and not
to be had — John Thomas raised Store May J5 — Many People out of
Provisions of Every Kind — Some Flour coming in, but no Money to buy
it — Three Yeats in Partnership with Thaddeus Laughlin — Forty-one
Pounds Wool from Seventeen Sheep — Froze hard May 29, and Ice a Half
Inch June 7 — Death of Mrs. Roswell Hopkins, a Fine Woman — Raised
Samuel Wilson's Store — Poor Crops and Severe Want — Many People
without Bread — Near Starvation — Goes to Vermont, takes Five Days.
January, 18 16. A Mrs. B. was arrested and finally confessed stealing
flour from the- mill.
January 23. Gets away from the constable and goes away, to the satisfac
tion of aU.
February 8. Father and mother have come to make us a visit for the first
time. Moses and Huldah are with them. [Thaddeus Laughlin married Han
nah, and on her death, Huldah, sisters of Artemus Kent. — Ed.]
February 15. Brother and sister start for home.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 279
March 9. Snow is two and one-half feet deep in the woods.
March 27. Tapped our sugar works.
April 3. Snow mostly gone in the fields.
AprU 12. Full four inches of snow has fallen. We now feel the distress
due to frost and rain last fall. Flour is eighteen dollars per barrel ; pork, thirty,
and potatoes one doUar per bushel, and not to be had at that. Hay is twenty
doUars per ton. Indeed, it can't be bought at any price. There is the greatest
scarcity ever known in this country.
April 2 2. Snow fell three inches in depth last night.
April 30. First day of election. Warm and thick smoke fiUs the air. The
sun looks as red as blood.
May 3. Election ended yesterday. Grass is giving some feed.
May 15. John Thomas's store raised to-day. Has frozen for past three
nights uncommonly hard. [It stood on the Chittenden store corner. — Ed.]
May 23. Many people are out of provisions of nearly every kind.
Though flour begins to come from the westward, money is so scarce and the
prices so high that it is impossible for poor people to buy it. The season is cold
and backward and the prospects look dark for another year. In Him who has
promised us seedtime and harvest is our only hope, and in Him may we trust.
Three years the first of May have elapsed since I went into partnership with
T. LaughUn, at which time we agreed to dissolve. We have in part settled.
May 29. It froze so hard last night that the mud wUl bear a man when
it was three inches deep.
June I. Sheared our sheep, got forty-one pounds of wool from seventeen.
June 3. Start for Ogdensburg to attend court as a constable.
June 4. No court for want of judges enough to do business. I have
viewed Fort WeUington.
June 5. Discharged from court. Reach Madrid at night.
June 6. Snowed from early morning tiU one p. m., melting as fast as it
feU, excepting on the north side of buUdings.
June 7. Very cold. Froze ice one-half inch thick.
June 8. Snowed till nine a. m. and in afternoon. Melancholy aspect.
June 1 4. It has frozen every night since June came in, except a few rainy,
foggy nights.
June 15. This day, between nine and ten o'clock, expired Mrs. RosweU
Hopkins, after a long and painfiil Ulness for many years. This town has lost a
parent, as it were, this neighborhood a kind neighbor, her husband an affectionate
wife, und her children a tender mother. [Her picture is the frontispiece in this
book. — Ed.]
June 28. A little frost. Has been cool for several days and nights.
July I. Finished raising John Thomas's great house in the corner. [By
the term "great house" he meant hotel. It was buUt on the corner where the
Chittenden store stands. — Ed.]
July 4. To-day raised S. WUson's store and house. [It stood on the
Culver corner, nearly opposite Artemus Kent's. — -Ed.]
July 9. Started in pursuit of  . Find the rogues at " Champion,"
and settle with them.
July 1 1 . We are alarmed not only as to present want but future stores.
AU crops are very backward and promise but little. Our present necessities are

28o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
great. Many of our best neighbors are without bread. The prospect of get
ting it from abroad is almost "dried " up. Our only source is in Him who
supports all. He has said there shall be seedtime and harvest. Therefore His
word wiU not faU. Let us put our trust in Him and not complain.
August 12. Began haying. Been very dry and warm of late.
August 24. Last night there was considerable frost, though no great dam
age done. Vines and even corn in some places are ruined.
August 30. Went to LouisviUe. Many farmers still haying. Saw much
corn damaged by frost.
September i . MelanchoUy time indeed. The people have been reduced
almost to a state of starvation and now have Uttle prospects.
September 9. Started with sister Hannah in a one-horse wagon for Ver
mont through the fifty-mile woods in company with Dr. Sprague and wife, with
Miss Seeley, Miss Brush and John Wead. Reached Dorset, Vt., in five days.
October 2. Started for home. Stayed first night at Bensons, next day
got to " Bristol," and in three days more reached home.
October 17. Snow fell eight inches. The backward season and frost
have entirely cut off the crop of corn and very much damaged late wheat, so
that grain wUl be very scarce.
October 25. Return from transporting " Elenor " M. Hough to RusseU.
Much rain of late, streams very high.
[The only entry made by Mr. Risdon for the year 1 8 1 6, so far as found,
is as follows :
"I kiUed forty-one deer in the season of hunting, 1816. Esq. Blanchard
built me a camp and provided fire and provisions and drew the deer into the
camp for one-half of the meat. I killed thirteen. Stillman Remington has this
winter drawn wood for me, for which I have paid." — Ed.]
The Year I8I7, by Mr. Kent — Gets Twenty-five Bushels Wheat at Potsdam for
$50 — Salt in Ogdensburg — Sued by Hanchett and wins — Freezes Ice May
31 — Lyd Brook High and good Sawing — Hard Frost June J6 — Raised
Samuel Wilson's Sawmill July 28 — Flour $15 per Barrel — Raised his own
Dwelling September 28 — First Thanksgiving Day in State, November J3,
by Proclamation.
January i, 18 17. Went to Potsdam. Paid ^50 for twenty-five bushels
ot wheat by contract with  .
January 16. Returned from court at Ogdensburg with salt for. myself and
T. Laughlin. February 4. Returned with tax roll to Ogdensburg.
February 14. This is called the coldest day known by any in twenty
years. February 18. Started for Vermont, reached Burlington. Started for Dor
set by way of the lake. Storms too severe to travel on the lake.
March 4. Start for Hopkinton and reach there by way of Northwest Bay
woods in four days.
March 30. People begin to tap their sap trees.
AprU 7. Met Hanchett according to his summons. It was the first time
I was sued alone in York state. I got judgment against the plaintiff.
AprU 29. Election begins. Warm and pleasant weather.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 281
May 2 1 . Warm and pleasant. Washed sheep. Grass sown feed for
cattle. May 2 5 . Sheared sheep, got forty-six pounds of wool from sixteen.
May 30. As the season is so cold we plant no corn.
May 3 1 . Rain and snow by showers all day. Clears off at night and
freezes quite hard. Ice one-half inch thick.
June 8. White frost in morning. No material damage done.
June 12. Have had great rains. The brook is the highest this year. Good
sawing now.
June 16. Hard frost this morning. KUled beans, potatoes and many
other plants. Sun looks as pale as in winter.
July 28. To-day raised S. Wilson's sawmill. [It was at the East VU
lage. — Ed. ]
August I. The month of July has been as warm and growing a month as
we have had in several years.
August 9. Flour is now $153 barrel, though nothing so scarce as it was
last year. August 22. Have had many rainstorms since August 4. The brooks are
the highest for years.
September 3. Crops now look fairly promising.
September 13. A httle frost. In some places did a little damage.
September 28. To-day raised my house. [This is the present Kent resi
dence. — Ed.]
October 4. Harvested about ninety shocks of wheat, large sheaves from
three one-quarter acres, tolerably well fiUed. There will be some unsound
corn. It now appears there will be sufficient grain for the people.
November 1 3 . To-day, according to proclamation, was the first Thanks
giving in this state.
The Year I8J8, by Mr. Kent — Goes to Utica with Load by Way of Ogdeiis-
burg for Mr. Selleck — Snow Four Feet — Judge Piatt presides at Court at
C^densburg — Great Wind and Hail Storm July 23 — Potash Factoty burned
— Married to Sally Wead, December JO — Goes to Vermont
February 17, 181 8. Started for Utica with a load for Mr. SeUeck by
way of Ogdensburg. Hard sleighing, snow four feet in some places. Returned
on the 27th.
March 13. The snow was four feet deep three days ago. Now it is
nearly aU gone in cleared fields.
AprU 1 3 . Pleasant weather. Begins to look hke spring.
April 20. Snow has fallen a foot. Freezes hard nights.
AprU 28. Snow gone in fields. Thrashed my wheat, had seventy
bushels. AprU 30. Annual election.
May 4. Snowed four inches to-day.
May 23. Washed sheep. Quite a growing time. Leaves come forth
slowly. JiUy 6. Go to Ogdensburg to attend Supreme Circuit Court as juror.
Judge Piatt presiding.

282 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
July 12. AU nature is flourishing. We are encouraged that the judgments
that have hung over our land are removed.
July 23. Great rain, haU and wind storm. It tore down trees without
number. August 14. Last night awakened by cry of fire. Mr." S. SeU's " potash fac
tory consumed by fire. The store was saved by the vigUance of the inhabitants.
August 1 8 . Little frost, no great damage.
November 15. Plastered the lower part of my house. People building
chimneys. December 10. I was married by H. S. Johnson to SaUy Wead.
February i, 18 19. Started for Vermont, stayed third night at Burlington.
February 24. Started for Dorset on horseback, took two days.
March I . Start for home, reach Hinesburg in two days. Start for Hop
kinton next day and begin keeping house on Saturday.
April. To-day started the sawmill. — Kent.]
The Year J8I9, by Elisha Risdon — Assists in making Assessment Roll and Jury
List — Old Captain Peters, the noted Indian Trapper — How he went over
the Falls at Potsdam to escape a Constable — Worked on Mr. Frost's Dam
— Hoist Flag on Village Green July 4 — Death of Colonel Benjamin W.
Hopkins, Sermon by Rev. H. S. Johnson — Shooting Deer — Death of Eben
Thomas — Hfre Rev. H. S. Johnson half the Time — Buys a Rifle for $30
— Ezekiel Kimball gets into Trouble, leaves Town — Trouble over School
master — Indians go on to his Hunting Preserve — Samiuel Abbott gets lost
Hunting — O^res Israel Sheldon and can't pay — Sermon on the Inconsist
ency of War with Religion — Editor's Comments — Builds Hovel for his
Cattle — Up to this Time had only the Forest for a Shelter — Daniel Hoard's
Distillery at Parishville burns.
' June 14. Clear and pleasant to-day. Been over to the viUage with 8j4
pounds of butter to Wead's. Received of the postmaster seven copies of the
school act to distribute in the several school districts of the town. Mrs. Ris
don making clothes for Harmon. Been smoking, through work. Unwell
these days. Heard that a barn was burnt in Stockholm yesterday belonging to
Mr. Rice.June 15. Cloudy this morming. Thedelia Rockwell here this morning.
Been over to the village. Bought at Wead's store two dozen buttons, twenty-
five cents, one pound of nails at twenty-two cents. Mrs. Risdon making Har
mon's clothes. [Harmon was her son. — Ed.]
June 16. Clear this morning. Harmon put on his new clothes. Been
over to the vUlage assisting in making out the assessment roll. Mrs. Risdon
gone to Mr. Hosea Brooks's this afternoon. Not weU these days, I cannot hunt.
Harmon gone to his grandmother's. I long to be well. A man is miserable
without his health. David Covey here, wants to make a fence for me.
June 17. Clear this morning, warm. Been over to the village assisting
in making out the jury Ust, finished it. A shower to-day, some wind. Been
out with my gun. Shot at a deer in "Art." Kent's lot. A shower in the
night. Linda Covey been here to-day. EUas Post been logging.
June 18. Very warm this morning, cloudy. Been out with my gun,
saw nothing but mosquitoes and flies. Miss Risdon washing. It thunders,
think it wiU rain. Hopkins people hunting for a three-year-old cow that is

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 283
missing. Beebe Abbott not well these days. There is a heavy shower coming
up from the west, been out viewing the lightning. The people are at work on
the road. Very hot this afternoon. Heavy thunder. The shower is most
here. The people are leaving their work, they stop in here. It rains hard
and thunders and lightens. It has thundered and hghtened most all day. A
very growing time.
June 19. Cooler this morning, a west wind. Cloudy and some rain.
The people have gone to work on roads. My health is some better. Clears
off cool. Been out with my gun, shot a woodchuck.
June 20. Cool this morning. A frost in some parts of the town. Been
to meeting to-day. No preaching. Mr. Johnson gone to Potsdam to preach
a funeral sermon. McChesney' s chUd is dead. Heard a woman in Malone
had poisoned herself and some of her chUdren to death. Noah and Reuben
Post here. Noah gone to conferene.
June 21. Cool and clear this morning. Been over to the vUlage with
eight pounds of butter to Wead's. Mrs. R. cooked her woodchuck. Reuben
came down to dinner. Ehas Post is hoeing his corn. Noah Post is getting out
timber for a house. Been out with my gun. Mary has been to school to-day.
June 22. Cool yet. Been over to the village. Paid " Mr. Hender
son " ^i.i2j^ for a deed he brought from Ogdensburg. Paid to T. Laughlin
seven shiUings, he gave me no credit on book. Mother here to-day picking
wool. Old Captain Peters came out of the woods with his fur, about ^200
worth. Been out with Mr. Johnson after a deer, saw three, shot none.
Stayed with Mr. Johnson all night. Been out this morning. Saw two, shot
none. [Captain Peter was a celebrated Indian. He was a great trapper and
hunter, but more famous as the former. He ranged the entire Adirondacks in
his excursions as a trapper. For quite a long time he held the position of chief
of the St. Regis tribe. He was a very friendly Indian, of medium size and
stood weU with the white men. He lived to a great age, but could not tell it
further than to say he was  moons old. Mr. Zebina Coohdge never
saw him, but his father, Isaiah, did several times. At one time he was owing a
party whom he did not, for some reason, wish to pay. The creditor, learning
that Peter would come down the Racket River at about a certain time, had a
constable stationed at Potsdam to catch him. He would ordinarUy land there
and carry his canoe around the faUs, but somehow learning that he was wanted
he kept out in the stream and standing up in his canoe shot down over the falls
and on to St. Regis in safety. — Ed.]
June 23. Foggy this morning, quite a rain last night. Mother here,
stayed aU night. It cleared off warm. Mrs. Risdon setting out cabbage plants.
Sent to Ogdensburg for public money by Mr. Laughlin. Henry Green here
this morning hunting for his heifer. It thunders and rains. Been out with my
rifle, shot at a deer, missed it. Solon Covey here, stayed aU night.
June 24. Cool this morning. Not very weU. It thunders, looks hkely
for rain. Mary appears fond of going to school. Harmon is weU pleased.
Eleven o'clock it does rain. Mrs. Risdon washing. One of my lambs wants doc
toring. June 25. A lowery, cloudy day. Mrs. Risdon gone over to the viUage
with butter to Wead. Ten pounds three ounces. Church meeting day.

284 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
June 26. More pleasant to-day. Been over to viUage. Received of
Thads. Laughlin ^155 pubhc road money. Bought a calfskin of Mr. Seeley,
$/^.. Lucy Post here. Warmer towards evening.
June 27. Sunday, Mrs. Risdon gone to meeting. Warm this morning,
cloudy. Heard a gun, suppose somebody is hunting deer on Sunday.
June 28. Warm. Mrs. Mosher here. Been down to Stockholm, shot
a deer, lost it.
June 29. Shot a deer. David was with me. Got it with Mr. Mosher's
dog. Shot at another, missed it, poor powder. Let David Covey have $6
in money. He is to buUd a fence. Paid I. R. Hopkins ;^I4 on an order of
Esq. Brush's. Been up to Samuel Abbott's. School chUdren here. Let
Esq. Hopkins have a quarter of venison. Let Samuel M. Simonds have two
pounds of butter.
June 30. Showery this morning. Gaius Sheldon here. Paid him I55
on an order. He is to pay me back ^2.42 that I overpaid on account of making
change. Mrs. Covey and her children here. We have aU been down to Mr.
Mosher's this afternoon.
July I. More pleasant. Been down to Gaius Sheldon's. Let him out
to cut eight acres of grass. Heard of the death of Mrs. Tambolin, died yes
terday morning. Mr. Mosher shot a deer. Mrs. Risdon been over to Wead's
with butter, seven pounds.
July 2. Showery weather. Esq. Abbott here, paid him II12.93 on an
order. Went to Mr. Ransom's after chairs, not done. E. and R. Post
here, put up some fence, etc. Let Ehas Post have three yards of striped cloth.
Showery. July 3. Been over to village with seven and one-half pounds butter to
Wead's. Bought three tin pans. Been down to Frost's assisting on his dam.
[This was the dam of Ebenezer Frost for a trip hammer shop, some sixty rods
north from vUlage bridge over Lyd Brook. — Ed.] Heard S. C. Henry house
had like to burnt up, it was a hotel.
July 4. Sunday, cool, been to meeting. Conference at mother's.
July 5. Cool this morning, a httle frost last night. John Mosher been hoe
ing my potatoes. Paid Phin Durfey ;J 20, took up a note and interest, ;^i6. 15.
;g3. 50 he is to pay back when he can get change. Paid Heman Sheldon ^5.
I owe him $2.75 more. Been over to viUage to Mason meeting and to the
concert meeting likewise: Mrs. Risdon gone over to Ladies' Society meeting.
The American flag is hoisted on the Green. Some firing of guns.
July 6. Warmer, not well to-day. Went out with my gun towards
evening. Shot twice, got nothing. Talked some of going to Vermont.
July 7. Very warm. David Covey begun on my fence. Elias Post begun
on barn. A shower toward evening. Mrs. Risdon gone over vvith butter to
D. W. Seeley, five pounds. Phineas and Joseph Durfey here. Been to
Palmer's, over due. N. B. What is written above for the 7th is the 8th.
What took place is as foUows : A clear day. Reuben Post drawing boards for
the barn. Been down to carding machine with wool, seventeen pounds.
July 9. Very warm day. Boys at work on barn. David Covey at work
on fence. Mrs. Risdon making cheese. She is now down to Mr. Mosher's.
July 10. Very warm day. David drawing fence stuff. The boys at
work on raUs.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 285
July 1 1 . Sunday, very warm weather. Mrs. R. gone to meeting. Some
wind and thunder, looks hkely for rain. EUas Post stayed all night. Very
much troubled with rheumatism these days. D. Rockwell had four pounds of
butter here on the 9th.
July 1 9. Week past has been warm. Some people have begun to hay.
The boys have been at work on the barn and hoeing. David Covey finished
his fence. John Mosher worked for me one-half day this week or the week
past. A very warm day this. Been up to mother's, Mrs. also.
July 20. A very warm day, went down to Stockholm yesterday, stayed
aU night, kUled one deer.
July 21. Began to hay. Ehas and Reuben Post and David Covey to
work for me. Very warm weather.
July 22. Society meeting. People are pretty much engaged in haying.
August I. It has been since the 2 2d of July warm weather. Not been
very weU.
August 10. Angeline Roburds here spinning. Warm weather to the end
of the month.
August 31. Set out for Ogdensburg after public money. Received of
the county treasurer ;g 12 1.69, September i.
September 18. Heard of the death of Colonel B. W. Hopkins, who
died on the Island of Cuba, West Indies. Been out with my gun. [Colonel
Hopkins had a government contract for the building of some fortifications at Mo-
bUe Point, Ala. His father, Roswell, and Thaddeus Laughlin were his bonds
men. Judgments were recovered against them. After the Colonel's death
Congress passed an act granting to his estate ^13,260, less the judgments. John
H. Leach tells me that he was told by Joel GoodeU that the death of the Colonel
came about in this wise : While out on a boat in connection with his work a
great storm arose which nearly engulfed them. The Colonel stripped off and
worked with the saUors to save the boat. The captain dreaded to go into port
at Havana, Cuba, as the yellow fever was raging, but was finally compeUed to
do so. The Colonel went ashore, took the fever and died. Everytliing goes to
show that he was a bright, capable and ambitious man. — Ed.]
September 19. Sunday. By the request of RosweU Hopkins, Esq.,
father to the deceased, a fiineral sermon was delivered on the occasion by the
Rev. H. S. Johnson. All master Masons were requested to form in procession
with his other friends and pay funeral honors to their brother and friend, B. W.
Hopkins. He died the 13 th of August, 18 19.
September 20. Judge Hopkins sets out for the bay of Mobile Point, Ala.
He feels much borne down with grief over the loss of his son. He deUvered a very
affecting address to the audience yesterday. There was scarcely a dry eye in
the room. He is a man that is much loved and respected by aU classes of peo
ple. Been out with my gun, shot a deer. Heard Ohver Thomas was married
last Sunday evening to Miss Esther Mosher by Jonah Sanford, Esq.
September 2 1 . Went after my venison with E. Post. Shot at a deer.
September 22. Mr. Roburds here. Went over to the vUlage with him.
Went out with my gun towards evening. Shot a deer, did not get it untU
the next morning, a Ukely buck.
September 23. Been after the deer I shot the night before.

286 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
September 24. A warm, windy day. Been out with my gun. Esq.
Sanford from Vermont is in.
September 25. A windy day. Not well to-day. The days begin to be
sensibly shorter. The frost has killed vegetation. The leaves of the trees
begin to turn yellow. It looks like the faU of the year, which reminds us of
the afternoon of life, when the winter of death is approaching.
October 6. Eber Thomas died, buried the 7th. H. S. Johnson preached
the sermon, attended fiineral. After meeting shot a large buck. Warm
weather. October 11. Shot a deer in Stockholm.
October 12. Cloudy, chUly. Society meeting. Agreed to hire Mr.
Johnson, half time.
October 13. Some snow this morning. Went down to Stockholm.
Shot a deer.
October 14. Shot a deer in Stockholm. Sold it to Mr. BiUs. Showery
weather. Octobes 1 5 . Went to ParishvUle. Bought a rifle. Gave my note for
thirty dollars.
October 16. Showery weather. Broke the breech of my rifle by a faU.
Ehas Post here getting wood. David Kennedy and Lucy Post here.
October 17. Sunday, showers, cold weather.
October 20. I am hunting these days, but not with very good success.
October 28. Shot four deer. Some snow on the ground. Samuel
Abbott killed three this week.
October 29. Reuben Post went with a team after my venison. Shot
another deer.
November I. Attended Mason meeting. Warm weather. S. Webster
sick. November 2. Went hunting, showery, chilly weather. AngeUne here.
November 5. Shot a deer. Samuel Abbott with me, a large doe. I
have killed at this date this season fifteen deer. Samuel Abbott and myself have
been out to our camp. I shot two deer. StiU weather, cloudy.
November 1 3 . Snow storm, went hunting, shot nothing.
November 15. Been out to my hunting camp, shot nothing.
November 17. Very warm this morning, a rainbow to be seen. Mrs.
Risdon and Angeline been up to mother's on a visit. A beautifiil time for
walking out. Harmon is missing, has returned not from school. Been reading
an account of the Great Council, quite an animating account.
November 18. Weather clear and warm. Been out with my gun. Shot
nothing. Reuben Post brought me the form of two bushels of wheat and the
form of one and one-half bushels of corn. Elias drew some timber for barn
doors. Mrs. Risdon been washing. She is now reading the Bible about nine
o'clock evening. Harmon put up at Esq. Hopkins's last night on account ot
the weather being rainy. I have to-day put into one of my windows a thin
board. Helped Lucy get in- a web into the loom. Mrs. R. has been whip
ping the cat and got some scratched.
November 19. Weather snowy, clears off warm. KiUed my cow.
Samuel Abbott and Ehas Post assisted. Let Eh Roburds have one-quarter. He
let me have an order on the town for wolf bounty. Let Mr. Mosher have one-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 287
quarter. Salted down one-half for my own use. Noah Post been maknig barn
doors. The skin of my cow weighed seventy-one pounds, the meat five hun
dred, tallow about fifty. Considerable difficulty at the viUage with E. KimbaU
and O. " Farrer." The sheriffs and constables appear to be watching about
his house, that is, Kimball's. Some say it is for passing counterfeit money,
others say for debt. How it is I can't say. He has lately put away his wife
for adultery, as he terms it. He appears to be beside himself and acts very much
unbecoming. [Mrs. Lucetta Peck, of this viUage, born in 18 14, daughter of
Seth Abbott, a pioneer, shows me an original warrant issued by her father, a
justice of the peace, in a plea of trespass on the case for the arrest of Avery
Saunders on the complaint of Ezekiel Kimball dated June 28, 1817, with the
return of the constable on the back that he has the prisoner in custody and plain
tiff notified. — Ed.]
November 20. Warm, pleasant weather. Been out with my gun with
Samuel Abbott and were something lucky. We found the deer dead that we
shot the 1 8th, and passing on from that to hunt for a shot pouch that he lost the
day he shot the deer, we found a large doe that I shot about a fortnight ago.
The skins were good on them both. Mrs. Risdon has been trying taUow to
day. AngeUne has been studying arithmetic, etc. Heard Mr. KimbaU had
gone to the French MUls, and that the poormasters have taken charge of some
of the property. Mary has been up to her grandmother's to-day and Lucy has
been down with her this evening. It is now about nine o'clock. Mrs. Ris
don has gone to bed and I suppose is something tired. Angeline sits writing
and reading. 2 1 St. Cold, chiUy weather. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Johnson
preached in the HaU. Elder Johnson in Town House. Baptized Mr. Moon
by immersion. E., N. and R. Post, Lucy Post, Eben Wright and Mr. Curtis
here this evening. Elias and myself amused ourselves with some sums in the
square root, whUe the others played a game or two at checkers.
2 2d. Cold, chUly weather. Ehza KimbaU here after AngeUne to sew
awhUe. Angeline went with her. E. and R. Post, Samuel Abbott logging for
me. They have gone to help Seth Abbott, " Sen.," raise a house this after
noon. Been up to mother's. In the evening been over to Esq. Hopkins's.
Some difficulty with the schoolmaster. It is thought by some he uses too much
severity with his scholars. He, however, pleads not guUty, talk of dismissing
him. 23 d. Rained some last night and froze on the ground. N. and E. Post
and David Covey here this morning. Cut a few logs for the fire. It rains
some and freezes as it faUs, quite sUppery travelling. Been up to Samuel Ab
bott's to grind an axe. Beuben Post assisted and came home with me for a few
candles. Mrs. Risdon been over to Mr. Mosher's. I saw her coming with a
sieve, some tow and a bundle of straw. I could hardly conceive who it was.
Have had an invitation to go over to the school meeting at the vUlage. It is so
dark and slippery and I not very weU, think it not prudent. I hope they wUl
use the schoolmaster weU, for he has not, in my opinion, merited Ul treatment.
He may not, however, be weU qualified to superintend a school. If he should
prove to be so the better way would be to annul his certificate and dismiss him
in a polite and handsome manner. Mrs. Risdon is cutting some pumpkin to

288 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
stew. It is now about nine o'clock in the evening. I wUl go to the barn and
give my cows some hay and go to bed.
Seize, mortals, seize the transient hour.
Improve each moment as it flies ;
Life is a short summer, man a flower.
He dies, alas, how soon he dies.
24th. ChUly this morning. The ground is stUl covered with ice. Been
this day at work about my house, put up two shelves, fixed one of my doors,
laid some floor over the ceUar, etc. Harmon has not been to school to-day, so
sUppery walking. Heard the result of the school meeting last evening. They
have agreed to let Mr. Pinne continue his school awhUe longer. He may give
better satisfaction. I am disposed to think the gentleman's intentions are good.
25th. A warm day, southwest wind. The ice has chiefly melted away.
Been out with my gun, saw one deer, shot nothing. Mr. Curtis has raised a
house on the Turnpike. Mrs. Risdon has by the looks of things been washing.
Mrs. Kent has been quUting. I have been amusing myself with reading some
pieces in the Enghsh Reader. There are some exceUent pieces in that book.
26th. It has rained all day. There has been but little stirring about.
Reuben Post has been here, has gone over to Samuel GoodeU' s for blacksmith
work. David Eastman has been past with a load of boards. I have kept the
house pretty much, have amused myself with a book some, been idle some.
Mrs. Risdon has been cleansing some taUow, knitting, etc. Harmon is at
school. Mary is at play about the house. Time once passed never returns.
The moment which is lost is lost forever. A gentleman stopped in here this
evening to inquire the way to Mr. Wright's. I had almost forgotten to men
tion this is church meeting to-day. I saw Mr. Warner about sundown return
ing from meeting. He says there were but a few people there, that Mrs.
Mosher's confession was read.
27th. Cloudy, rather cooler. Set out early this morning with my gun.
Shot a large doe, wounded a large buck and raked the hair off a fawn. Pleasant
some part of the day. Lucy Post has been here making candles. Mrs. Risdon
has been over to the vUlage. Mr. Curtis has finished laying up his house.
Ehas has been here this evening, said he had been to ParishvUle to-day. Heard
that Mr. KimbaU' s people are about clearing out to the French MiUs. They
owe me about two doUars. They are welcome to that if they wiU leave the
town. I do not wish them evil by any means. The conduct of the family has
been very unbecoming. They may, however, become more sensible of their
foUies and do better. Harmon put up at Esq. Hopkins's last night. I have
stricdy forbidden his staying from home unless something particular. I am dis
posed to think he wiU come immediately home from school for the future. Mrs.
Risdon says Angeline could not content herself at Mr. KimbaU's. She took some
sewing work and went to her father's house.
28th. Weather cold, some haU or round snow. Been to meeting, no
preaching. Esq. Hopkins read a sermon in the fore part of the day, J. K.
Wead in the after part. An Indian been here for deerskins, said he would come
to-morrow again. Been this evening up to mother's. The young people at a
conference at Mr. Green's.
29th. Cold this morning. Mrs. Risdon washing. Been up to mother's.
The boys cuting wood for Mr. Johnson. Mrs. Abbott weaving. Samuel

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 289
Abbott, E. and R. Post here this afternoon with two yoke of oxen get
ting wood for me. An Indian and two squaws been here to-day, bought two
skins of me. Been over to Mason meeting, the day for electing lodge officers.
Been to Mr. Seeley' s. He is goin^ to make me a pair of shoes. Heard there
had four Indians gone up on to my hunting ground, which displeases me much.
However, I can't help myself I suppose they have an equal right there. An
geUne at Samuel Abbott's. Hear Samuel Webster is very low, nearly gone with
consumption. Mrs. Risdon complains of being something tired after washing aU
day. Think of going out to-morrow to take care of some venison I have hidden
in the woods, put it out of the way of wild vermin.
30th. Rather warmer, cloudy, windy. Been out with my gun. Found
the Indians have been on my hunting ground. I have seen three deer, shot
none. Angeline Roburds at our house. Old Mr. Brooks been here. Hannah
Roburds came from school with Harmon. Susan Seeley been here, rather
rude, drawing profiles, etc. I do not feel satisfied about those Indians hunting
on my ground.
December i. Been out with my gim, Samuel Abbott with me, saw
nothing of the Indians. Shot a deer and broke his hip, did not get it. Came
to mother's to supper. David Covey and wife, Samuel and wife, AngeUne
and Mrs. Risdon there.
2d. Snowy weather. Been out with my gun, travelled some way, saw
but one deer, most discouraged. However, a hunter if he intends to hunt
must expect discouragements.
3d. Set off in the morning with my gun again with fresh courage. Shot
two deer. Samuel Abbott with me, put up at the camp. Samuel killed one
deer. 4th. We left the camp this morning early, in the first place to hang up
the deer we had kiUed the day before. Samuel shot a doe. I was with him.
She fell. I had not the least idea but that she was secure, but before we came
up to her she got on her feet and we saw her no more. I shot one afterwards.
I have killed at this date twenty-three deer. It has snowed some to-day,
Saturday, quite tired.
5th. Sunday, severe cold. Mrs. Risdon and AngeUne gone to meetiug.
I have no greatcoat. I cannot sit in a cold house without one. Rhome
and Sally Abbott in here to warm. Angeline been reading the Mountain
Mourner. Been mending my moccasin. [In those days rehgious people,
I am told, observed Saturday evening from sundown as a part of the Sabbath day
in exchange for Sunday evening from sundown. — Ed.]
6th. Set out this morning with my gun thinking to stay all the week at my
hunting camp. I had the company of Samuel Abbott and Elias Post. At first
we went in search of a deer that Samuel wounded the Saturday before, did not
get it. We then parted. I went to hunting, shot at a buck, missed it. Going
to camp came across Elias. I asked him if he had a compass, he said not.
Wondered at his being without a guide in a strange wood on a cloudy day. We
walked together, so dark before we reached the camp we could not find the point
of the compass we wished, fired a gun, Samuel answered and we reached the
camp. 7th. Moderate weather. Set off early this morning. Elias in company
with me. Had not proceeded far before I shot a deer, wounded it. E. shot

290 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and kUled it. Heard Samuel's gun several times. Shot at a deer and missed it.
Not long after kiUed a large doe. Went to camp, something tired. Prepared
wood for the night. At dark Samuel not returned, expect he will Ue in the
woods if he has not gone home.
8th. Warm this morning. Heard nothing of Samuel. Set off to foUow
him and find if possible where he is. About nine o'clock he came to me, said
he had been home. He got lost, came across Lyd Brook and followed it down
to Mr. Roburds's. He said he did not get home untU about twelve o'clock at
night. I shot one deer to-day. [On the whole I am disposed to think that his
hunting camp buUt for him by Amasa Blanchard in 1 8 1 6 was some four mUes
south, near where Dimick Osgood formerly lived, now owned by WiUiam
Hunter. — Ed.]
9th. Rained some last night. Cold this afternoon, blustering weather.
Saw two deer to-day. Came in from hunting, found all weU.
I oth. Severe cold north wind. Regret that I am not in the woods hunt
ing. I am fond of being in the woods on a cold day, especially if there be a
lively brisk wind from the north. The ah is then clear, the blood circulates
lively. More than all that the deer are skipping about on the hills such days, all
which tends to enhven and animate a person of my turn of mind. I am sensible
I possess an immoderate fondness for himting. My very nature and constitution
were formed for fatigue and hardship. I am so used to it, it has become a second
nature. I cannot sit idle and sit easy. Been up to mother's to-day. Mrs. R.,
AngeUne and Mary there. About eight o'clock severe cold. It worries my
mind that I have no shelter for my cows these cold nights. However, I give
them plenty of hay.
I Ith. Cold weather, blustering. Been over to village with cloth for a great
coat. I agreed with the tailor to make it, and a straight bodied coat also ; am
to pay him in grain the ist of February next. Mr. Laughhn's boys here this
morning after taUow, had eleven pounds. Traded at Wead's store for trim
mings, etc., about ^3. Received a letter from I. Sheldon of Pawlett. I am
owing him seventy doUars. He wants it. Feel much exercised about what
I am owing Mr. Sheldon. How I am to make out the money I do not know.
I see no way.
1 2th. Sunday, cold, blustering weather. Not weU. None of the famUy
go to meeting. Samuel Webster died the 8th ult. How exceeding prone is
the mind of man to find something to disturb its tranquillity!
13th. Cold this morning. Set off for my hunting camp in company with
Samuel Abbott, likewise Eben Wright and Mr. Curtis. They are going up to
get in our venison.
14th. Finished getting our venison together and made a road, etc. I shot
one deer. Some snowy this forenoon. The boys in good spirits. They
think, however, they would not make hunters.
1 5 th. Wright sets off home for a team. Curtis is repairing some places
in the road. Snow some to-day. Shot one deer. Wright gets back as far as
the camp, brings some more provisions to us.
1 6th. Some blustering to-day. Shot two deer. Wright breaks down his
sled. Has to go home for another. Abbott cannot get a shot.
17th. Moderate weather. Shot one deer to-day. The boys get back
with another sled. I have killed at this date thirty-one deer.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 291
1 8th. The boys set off for home with fifteen deer and get home without
much difficulty. It being Saturday we are aU at home, considerably fatigued
with poor fare and a smoky camp. My health is not sufficient for such hard
ships, but StiU I feel ambitious to coop one more. Abbott thinks he shall not.
19th. Sunday, been to meeting this forenoon with Mrs. Risdon. I came
home at noon to take care of the children. It snows fast and looks Ukely for
deep snow. Mrs. Risdon sits mending my hunting clothes. I feel ambitious
to set off in the morning and shaU if I am well and my family is well and the
snow is not too deep, for I have tfiree deer in the woods which I want to take
care of or the wild vermin will destroy them. I feel sensible my mind is too
much engaged in the concerns of this world, especiaUy in sporting with my gun,
but I really hope and pray that I may not be so taken up with objects of time
and sins as wholly to disregard the concerns of immortahty. For certainly that
Being who was the cause of existence and who stUl continues His goodness
towards me ought to have my highest regard.
20th. Monday morning. Snow about eighteen inches. Ashbel Squire
here, wants I should pay his tax. Mr. Bowker of ParishviUe here this morn
ing, wants venison. Set off for my hunting camp. I give Mr. Cowless one
dollar for assisting me up with pack and cutting me one load of wood. Shot
one deer. The snow is so deep I can't hunt. Lodged at my camp with Mr.
Cowless, warm and comfortable.
2 1 St. Took care of my venison and returned home. Ehas Post been
making bam doors. Noah brought me some corn.
2 2d. Thanksgiving Day. Been to meeting. Asahel Kent here this
evening. Begun to feed hay from my stack. Went to the tailor's for my great
coat. Mrs. Risdon making a pair of pantaloons for me. John Henderson is
collecting taxes. Considerable said about the sermon preached to-day upon the
inconsistency of war, it being contrary to true rehgion. [It is assuring to find
that this great moral question troubled some of the people in those early days.
However, their preaching and their prayers, as well as that of those who suc
ceeded them, have been of but Uttie or no avail. The people of the earth have
been waging war ever since and are still at it. They all in utter trustfulness and
lowliness look up to God and the same God as the source of all tenderness,
kindness and love, and yet, on one pretext or another, they all every now and
then blow their trumpets and bugles, send out their orators to inflame the people,
marshall the brave patriots in companies, regiments and brigades, give each sol
dier some tracts and a copy of the Bible, with a modern gun and plenty of am
munition, hire a minister of the gospel to go along with each regiment to keep
them in the ways of peace and righteousness, and, thus organized and equipped,
with bugle blast, tears and prayers send them forth to do and die. What an
errand and what a mission for a behever in and follower of Christ ! There is
surely something wrong somewhere. The foe we fight is asking and imploring
aid and help and strength of the same God to do us to death. Our rehgion is
good, the wrong is not there. The trouble is in our selfish, rapacious natures.
The spirit of the tiger is still in us or in many of us, and dominates most
peoples, but it is growing weaker, and the time is coming, ages hence may be,
when men wiU cease butchering one another at the behest of some offended or
grasping ruler, and be in fact disciples of the doctrine of the brotherhood of
man as weU as disciples of Christ. — Ed.]

292 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
23d. Not very well to-day. Elias Post at work on my barn. Samuel
Abbott shot a large buck near his house.
24th. Colder weather, some snow to-day. Elias Post at work on barn.
Reuben here this afternoon drawing rail cuts for fence in a hog pasture. Elias
cut three-fourths of a cord of wood. Loren Chubb been here to-day. I. R.
Wead also.
25th. A severe cold night and morning. Been cutting some wood.
Been over to viUage. David Kennedy here, also Ashbel Squire and Mr.
Cooledge. Cooledge and Squire talk of buUding me a hovel for my cattle.
Amused myself with reading a book entitled " Speculative Masonry." Heard
that D. Hoard of Parishville had his stUl consumed by fire lately, has lost ^3,000.
26th. Sunday, been to meeting ; rather cold ; met in the lower room.
Esq. Abbott is after a sister of his of whom he heard was in Chateaugay on
her way to this town with two of her chUdren, daughters. Esq. Abbott got
home this evening with his sister and daughters.
27th. Weather more moderate. Mr. Cooledge and Russell Squire here
at work cutting timber for a hovel for me. Been cutting wood at my door this
forenoon. Been over to viUage this afternoon to Mason meeting. Mrs. Risdon
been over to society meeting. Brought home a coat from the tailor.
28th. Weather colder, blustering, some snow. Mr. Chubb, Reuben
Post and Gaius Sheldon here. Heard Colonel Hoard had a stUl house raised/
to-day. I
29th. Severe cold, cut some wood. Martin Covey been here after salt.\
Ehas Post here. Mrs. Risdon at Mr. Mosher's this afternoon.
30th. Severe cold night and morning. Harmon goes to school these
cold days. He complains some.
31st. Cold weather. I have cut some wood to-day. Very severe
weather for cattle that have no shelter. I fear some of my cows will almost or
quite perish before Mr. Cooledge gets the hovel built. Mr. Mosher carried the
children to school in a sleigh. But very Uttie passing to-day. Church meeting
day. I cannot attend. I am not well. It is as much as I can do to take care
of my cattle and cut my wood and keep fires.
The Year 1820 — Household Sick, no one to put Log on the Fire — Sells Deer to Mr.
Bowker of Parishville — Roswell Hopkins's Lands sold for Debt — Eben Wright
marries Rhome Abbott — Breaking Road with Six Yoke of Oxen — Distem.per
among Horses and Cattle.
January i . Weather more moderate. Noah Post here. Not weU to-day,
confined this afternoon to my bed, a bad cold.
2d. Sunday, not weU. None of us go to meeting, communion day.
Lonesome times. We are aU sick. No one comes in to cheer or assist us to
a fire. 3d. Weather more moderate. Lucy Post and Samuel Abbott here. He
says he has to go to Ogdensburg to court this sitting. Not well to-day. We
suffered some last night for want of a fire. No one to put a log on for us. Talk
of riding out with Lucy to the west. The weather is so blustering we conclude
not to go. Lucy stayed at our house this afternoon.
4th. Weather more moderate. Sent Harmon down to Mr. Squire's with
a line to Mr. Cooledge. Mr. Cooledge and Mr. Squire's boys here laying up

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 293
a hovel for me. PhiUp Mosher here butchering a pig that I have been fatting
this faU. Reuben Post here cutting some wood. Cut up .my pig, weight one
hundred and fifty pounds. Gaius Sheldon here. Drew a load of hay from a
stack he cut on my land two years last summer ; not hurt, he says. Mr. Bowker
of Parishville was here this morning. Agreed to let him have the hind quarters
often deer and the skins on them for six cents per pound and one dollar apiece
for the skins, deducting eight pounds out of each deer for the skins. Heard Eze
kiel Kimball is dead, think it possible it is a mistake. We have been credibly in
formed he is very sick, however. It is rumored that if he is dead or should die
his family will derive support from the town of Hopkinton as their last legal
place of residence. It is a question in my mind whether they have gained
a residence here or not. Been expecting Mr. and Mrs. Roburds here this
evening. They have not come. Harmon is gone from school to his grand
mother's. 5th. Moderate weather. Not well. Want some person to assist me
skin deer. Been up to mother's. Noah says he wiU help me.
6th. Moderate weather. Been expecting Mr. Isaiah Cooledge here to
finish the hovel he began for me. Been up to mother's. Noah has begun upon
the deer, has skinned six. Mrs. Risdon is not well these days. Feel some bet
ter myself. 7th. Moderate weather. Seth, Jr., Abbott and Eben Wright here draw
ing wood for me, drew four drafts. Mr. Cooledge finished my hovel. Been
up to mother's. Weighed off my venison for Mr. Bowker, 412^ pounds, for
Eben Wright his one-quarter part for drawing it in 178 pounds. There re
main 123 pounds, which I will dispose, of Mrs. Risdon and Lucy rode out
this afternoon. \
8th. Weather moderate. Been at work about my house mending it up,
etc. Mr. Bowker here after venison. He gave me his note for ^10 in money
and an order on Mr. Smith for goods out of his store in Potsdam for ^21.88.
Judge Hopkins's land has been sold to-day at\ auction. John Perry been here
to-day, wants I should pay his tax. Been over to viUage, quite a collection of
people. 9th. Sunday, been to meeting. Heard there is to be a wedding this
evening at Esq. Abbott's. Been over to settle with J. Henderson, coUector.
Receipted as town clerk ^46 on his warrant. I receipt for G. Sheldon ^6. 3 1 ,
for John Perry ^2.81, for D. Kennedy 78 cents that have not been accounted
for to me. There is due me from John Henderson $1, which he has agreed to
pay to the taijor at Mr. Laughlin's.
20th. Clear, pleasant weather. Been up to mother's, talk of going to
Potsdam to-morrow. E. and R. Post here this evening. Think it best to go
to Potsdam in a cutter. Ai Powers out from Potsdam with his wife and chil
dren. Eben Wright was married last evening to Miss Rhome Abbott by J.
Sanford, Esq.
1 1 th. Been to Potsdam to-day with Lucy Post. Mrs. Risdon and Mary
rode as far as Mr. Covey's. Traded at Griffin & Smith's ^21.81. Old Mr.
Peck, Nathan Peck and Mr. Kennedy out there. John Kent of Stockholm is
sick. Loren Chubb is here cutting wood.

294 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 2th. Not weU to-day. Keep the house pretty much.
13th. Been over to village. Settled with S. Wead, owed him ;gii.93.
Heard Mr. Peas is dead, died in Ogdensburg, is to be buried in Potsdam to
morrow in Masonic order.
14th. Wholesome winter weather. Been up into the woods to see if I
can get to the hunting camp. Saw two deer, wanted my gun. Lucy Post here
this afternoon. Samuel and J. D. Abbott here also. Wrote a bond for a deed
for them and some notes.
1 5th. Been up to my hunting camp after some articles I had there, kiUed
two deer. A severe day's task, the snow is so deep.
16th. Sunday, pleasant, though cold. Mrs. Risdon gone to meeting.
17th. The snow has fallen about nine or ten inches. Harmon has not
returned from school, feel some concerned about him. Think it likely he stays
in the village. Mrs. Risdon been washing to-day, is now coloring black.
1 8th. Reuben Post here, wants some money for Lucyl Mr. Laughhn
with two yoke of oxen breaking roads. Been over to Mr. Johnson's to dinner,
to Mr. Covey's for some bags and several other errands in the village. Learned
that Harmon stayed at Mr. Hopkins's last night. He came home with me.
Brought home a pair of shoes for Mary. Samuel Abbott and E. Post here this
evening. Read several little pamphlets or school acts.
19th. Been to see Seth Abbott, Jr. He says he wUl draw me some
wood to-morrow. The snow is deep. Been over to village, to Mr. Seeley's
and to Mr. Johnson's.
20th. Pleasant, thaws some on the south side of buUdings. Eben Wright
and Seth Abbott, Jr., here drawing wood. Lucy Post here with a cutter.
Been up into the woods after my gun. Not well, the cold weather does not
agree with me. Samuel Abbott gone to Mr. Bowker' s after grain.
2 1 St. Weather moderate. Sanford Roburds here after taUow, had six
pounds. P. and J. Durfey and D. Covey with six yoke of oxen along here
breaking roads. Been over to viUage. Mr. J. Henderson presented me with
two orders signed by the taUor of nine doUars. Heard the people from Parish
vUle came out here to break roads with nine or ten yoke of cattle. Been to Mr.
Seeley's with a cheese. John Thomas here from Ogdensburg. [This is very
good proof that Mr. Risdon was then living on the Potsdam road. As Messrs.
Durfey and Covey lived yvest of him and were breaking road to the vUlage, they
would not go over on the Turnpike to break roads. — Ed.]
22d. Kept the house pretty much to-day reading newspapers. Took care
of my cattle, etc. Harmon has been to the west school.
23d. Been to meeting. Heard Israel Sheldon is in from Vermont. Mr.
and Mrs. Mosher here this evening. Israel Sheldon here Ukewise, wants the
money that I owe him.
24th. Israel Sheldon stayed with me last night. Been up to Mr.
Green's and to Mason meeting.
25th. Loren Chubb here cutting wood, he bought my boots.
26th. Moderate winter weather. Been to Mr. Eastman's.
27th. Samuel Abbott set out for Vermont the 25th.
28th. Rather cool. Susan Covey here to-day.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 295
29th. Lee Eastman brought me thirteen deerskins. Mr. Baldwin and Sam
uel Eastman, Jr., here. People complain of a distemper among their horses
and cattle. Not weU to-day.
30th. Sunday, been to meeting. Cool, chiUy weather.
3 1 St. Loren Chubb and his father here drawing wood. Reuben Post here
says his or their horses and cattle begin to show symptoms of the distemper that
is about. Hear John Kent is about moving to Vermont.
February i . Severe cold weather ; keep the house ; not well, nor is Mrs.
Risdon. Harmon at school.
2d. Very cold, snows some. No person in to-day. We are aU sick.
3d. Elias Post here, says his horses and cattle are sick with the distemper
that is about. He says Reuben and Noah are sick. A gentleman is here from
Canada, bought a knife from him.
5th. Severe cold. Mrs. Risdon sick with phthisic, and has a severe turn
OS it. 6th. Sunday, high winds. Been to meeting. Mr. Clark from Ontario
County preached.
7th. Been over to the vUlage, paid John Henderson nineteen cents.
9th. Loren Chubb here cutting wood at the door.
I oth. Moderate weather. Samuel Abbott and wife here.
I Ith. Mrs. Risdon gone to vUlage with butter to Seeley's.
1 3th. Samuel Abbott gone to Ogdensburg. Beautiful weather for the sea
son. March. Cold and stormy mostly through the month.
AprU. The first days of April pretty cold, though the month of April may
be said with propriety to have been a pleasant one. The fields afforded sufficient
feed about the middle of the month for sheep. Cows have wanted hay to the
latter part. I have fifteen lambs from my ewes this month which are ahve. My
health is not good this spring.
May. The latter part of this month has been rather cold and stormy.
Good weather for grass and wheat. Sheared my sheep on the 29th. People
have in general mostly finished their spring's work.
June 30. The weather this month has been remarkably fine, warm with
some showers, rather dry if anything.
July 15. The weather this month very Warm and dry. Some people
have begun to cut grass. Grass is in general rather light, corn looks well. I
have killed five deer at this date this season.
The Year 1832 — Champion J., Son of Erastus Reeve, \^orfcs for him at $11 pet
Month — Mrs, David Covey dies.
December i . Champin J. Reeve begins work for me for one year at J 1 1
per month. He is to have ^32 out of the store and such things as we have to spare
out of the house ; ^47 in grain in the month of June, 1833. Paid him ^53 in
a pair of three-year-old steers. [Hereafter he caUs Mr. Reeve, C. or
Champin. — Ed.]
2d. Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda gone to meeting.

296 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
4th. KiUed four hogs, Elias assisted. Stephen sick. Mrs. Risdon over
to D. Covey's. Mrs. C. sick. Harmon and I cut pork in the evening.
6th. Mrs. C. no better. Boys kiU a beef to-day. Harmon and Mary
gone over to David Covey's. Mrs. C. not expected to Uve.
7th. Mrs. Covey died about six o'clock last evening. Mrs. R. came
home at ten this morning. Been at work making stable for cattle. Moderate
winter weather. The stage on runners this morning.
9th. Attended the fiineral of Mrs. Covey. Mr. Brainard of Potsdam
preached the sermon. Mary and Clarinda at Mr. Kent's this evening. The
rain yesterday has spoiled the sledding. [Mr. and Mrs. David Covey were
then living a half mile or more west of Samuel Abbott, now John Leach, in a
log house which stood near the present house of Michael Conner. David Covey,
Samuel Abbott and Ehsha Risdon married sisters. — Ed.]
loth. Drew manure at the other place. [Must stUl have been keeping
stock at the old place on north road. — Ed.] Merritt and Fisk assisted. Har
mon and Mary down to Ira Smith's on a visit.
The Year 1833 — Clarinda spinning Tow at Eleven Years — Buys a Canadian Hoe
— People talk of going to Illinois — Watching Fifes in Logging Fields — Stage
full — Judge Fine calls on him — Take Cattle to Ogdensburg — Dr. Hosea
Brooks's Settlement in Town — SealingMeasures — Crop the Wings of the
Geese — Mr. Abbott's Horse has "Black Tongue."
April 6. Pleasant. Survey land for E. Seeley, Phelps and Warner.
7th. Sunday. H. C. and Clarinda at meeting.
8th. Phineas Durfey here. Wants I should assist in finding the Centre
road. [The road by Judge Sanford's was caUed the middle road. He
may refer to the western end or part of it. — Ed.]
9th. Been with commissioner of highways to-day. Boys made sugar in
the forenoon. Harmon ploughed in the orchard.
I oth. Began to plough and sow wheat. Asahel Kent paid me six shUhngs
in wheat on Moses Kent's account, also paid me five shUUngs for a drag.
I Ith. Boys at work ploughing and sowing wheat. M. Fisk and myself
peeUng hemlock logs. Mary returned in the stage to ParishviUe. Juha Hum
phrey here.
1 2th. Been with commissioner of highways nearly to Mr. Meacham's.
D. Merritt and Mr. Fisk worked for me this afternoon.
13th. Champin and Harmon gone for their training. D. Merritt and old
Mr. Fisk chopped logs for me to-day.
1 4th. Sunday, clear and cold. Quite a snowstorm about noon. Harmon
at meeting. 1 5th. Clear and cold. Cleared out our road over the brook. Finished
dragging wheat. R. Smith here to-day. I. D. Stark here. Saw two deer in
the lot. Clarinda spinning tow. [She was then not quite eleven years of age.
— Ed.] 1 6th. Mr. Kent has a son born. Let old Mr. Smith have ten bushels of
oats. Lucy Smith here, stays all night.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 297
17th. Boys at Juhus Peck's mill drawing off cherry boards and hemlock
logs on the log way.
1 8th. Warmer. Boys ploughing orchard. Boiled sap myself E. and
R. Post drew up sap.
1 9th. Pleasant. Drive my two-year-olds down to the other place. Gath
ered my sap tubs. Asahel Kent broke my steelyards.
2 2d. Monday. Champin and myself chopped logs over the brook.
Harmon drawing boards from sawmill, also sowing flax. Messrs. Norris and
McAffity here to-day. Mary came home from ParishvUle.
23d. Cool this morning. Sold I. R. Hopkins three bushels of oats, $1,
and R. Lawson one bushel three pecks, 50 cents. Been to D. McAffity.
Bought a Canadian hoe, price three shillings and sixpence.
24th. Cold. Caleb Wright here. Gave my note to commissioners of
schools for ^247.49. My cows do not have hay enough.
26th. Pleasant, though cool. Boys at I. R. WitheriU's at a raising.
People talk much of going to Illinois these days.
28th. Sunday, warm and pleasant. Been to meeting.
29th. Warm and dry. Went to ParishvUle in afternoon as witness, rode
with J. Smith. Let Ira Smith have five bushels of rye corn. Bought a coat,
vest and pantaloons of A. CoUins, ^17.50.
May I. Surveyed for H. AUen. J. S. Roberts here. Let him have
four bushels of oats. Bought a hoe of Mr. Humphrey.
2d, 3d, 4th. Cool and dry. Burnt my log heaps. Sowed rye and
dragged it in. Watching fires to keep it out of Mr. Kent's woods.
5 th. Sunday, been to meeting. Elder Green preached. R. Hopkins
and his sister here in evening. A. Rasey here, is better of his lameness.
7th. Sowing, ploughing, dragging and logging. Grass grows slowly.
9th. Champin gone to miU with five bushels of rye, two of corn. Has
R. S. WitherUl's wagon. Mary at Mr. WitherUl's.
I oth. Windy. Watching my fires. Two young ladies from ParishviUe here.
I Ith. Rains this morning. Champin gone to viUage with drag teeth and
Harmon with skins. The young ladies could not ride in the stage home to
Parishville as it was full. Harmon takes young ladies home in the afternoon.
Mrs. R. and Mrs. Post gone to ParishvUle on a visit and also to meeting. Jones
of ParishvUle been here to buy land.
13th. Mrs. R. returned from Parishville.
14th. Rhoda Kent here. Mr. Johnson wants me to do some surveying
in the village. Peter Post took tea with me. J. Sanford, Esq., up to Remington's.
1 5th. Planted corn aU day. Trees now put forth their leaves. Fields
look green. Warm growing time.
17th. Warm day. Champin went over to S. C. Remington's after a
half bushel of grass seed.
1 9th. Sunday, pleasant. AU at meeting. Elder Green preached.
20th and 22d. Been up to A. Remington's after nine quarts seed corn.
Planting corn and potatoes. Mary rode to Parishville on the stage. Set fence
over the brook.

298 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
29th. Judge Fine here. Been with him coUecting cattle of Wilham
Short's settlers.
30th. Judge Fine left this morning. Paid me ^2.00 to defray the expense
of driving cattle to Ogdensburg. Champin slashing on the side hill. J. Hart
and W. Humphrey here, also R. S. Witherill in evening. Wrote H. Allen,
Esq., of Potsdam.
31st. Cool, clear weather. Wing, Lenno, S. Remington and a young
man from Stockholm. Not well myself. Planted some corn.
June I . Cool weather. Champin and I planted corn where the hiUs
were missing. Benjamin Reeve here to-day. Also Cautius C. Covey. Har
mon washed sheep to-day. A. Kent sheared his sheep.
2d. Sunday, cold rain. Nathan Peck caUed. E. Brooks and Gibson
here to dinner.
3d. Received of Asahel Kent twenty-five cents for John Shields.
4th. Hobart here to-day. Harmon to Z. Culver's with butter.
5th. Pleasant. Champin and Mr. Hobart set off this morning with
cattle to Judge Fine in Ogdensburg. Hobart has five shUlings per day. Har
mon went as far as J. Hart's. I went as far as Parishville. Harmon sheared
sheep. Borrowed twenty -five cents of R. S. WitherUl and ^1.00 of Julius
Peck. Let Champin have ^3.62^ for expense money. A. Colhns had four
bushels of potatoes.
6th. Pleasant. E. Post attends to my calves, lambs and pigs. Harmon
and myself been down to the other place picking up stuff around the barn and
house. [Surely the barn and old log house were standing then. — Ed.] Joseph
Durfey, Nathaniel Baldwin and R. Post here to-day.
7th. At work on the road, old Mr. Fish and A. Collins on my account.
Been to B. Reeve's surveying his farm. Mrs. Wright and Mrs. Abbott here
to-day. R. S. Witherill wants a sheep mark recorded.
8th. Champin home from Ogdensburg. The brown cow and calf had
of Mr. Richardson he left on the way which he drove back to Mr. Richardson.
He received of Miss Fine fifty cents. Spent in the trip ^4. izj^ cents.
Sold Martin Blair a black cow. Received of him Julius Peck's note for grain
in the winter for ^19.64 for the cow by paying back to him $1 in butter or
cheese this summer. Mary gone to watch with J. Peck's wife.
9th. Rained last night and snowed this morning. Clear and cold.
Champin and Harmon gone to meeting.
I oth. Cold for June. Martin Blair here after a cow I sold him.
1 1 th. Returned to Elias Post thirty-four pounds of borrowed salt.
1 2th. Joshua Murray paid me ^i, twenty-five cents more than he
owed on account of making change.
13th. In afternoon at Mr. Kent's raising barn. Shooting squirrels my
self. Mrs. Peck, Mrs. Remington and Mr. and Mrs. Abbott here to tea,
Mrs. A. and Mrs. R. aU night.
14th. Sold to H. Dewey the i ith ult. the cow and calf which Judge Fine
bought of Mr. Richardson for $iy, provided Judge Fine does not send for her
in the month of January next. In the afternoon boys at the viUage firing the
big gun. 1 5th. Shooting squirrels. They pull corn Uke witches. Grain costs
me all it is worth to raise. Clarinda at work at the wheel spinning.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

299

[She was eleven years of age June 23, 1833. — Ed.] Afternoon been to
McAffity's, surveying. Brought home a puppy. Harmon been over to vil
lage with twenty-two pounds butter to Zoraster Culver's.
17th. Harmon with team at the sawmill for E. Post. Shot four
squirrels. Have the rheumatism.
1 8th. Mary over to David Covey's. Joseph Durfey and A. Remington
here. 19th. Harmon and Champin slashing. Jonah Sanford, Isaac SneU here.
20th. Rained some. Been over to Deacon Moon's surveying for him and
S. Abbott. Been over to village, bought of C. S. Chittenden one pound
lead. T. Lyon here, took our wool to card.
2 1 St. A teamster put up all night, paid thirty-seven and a half cents.
The squirrels pull my corn.
2 2d. Paid Mr. Witherill twenty-five cents that I had borrowed. Har
mon to vUlage with butter to Chittenden's, twenty pounds.
23 d. Mrs. R. H. and Clarinda been to meeting. At six o'clock went
up into lot after cows. The pastures are all white with clover and send forth a
pleasant odor. In the evening at Peter Post's. Mr. and Mrs. Post are pleas
ant people to visit with.
25th. Looked over accounts with N. Rasey. After he had paid C. S.
Chittenden $2 and Z. Culver sixty cents he will owe me ^5.29. Champin
been down to I. R. Hopkins's mills. Mary making pantaloons for Champin.
26th. Been up after D. Fisk to work, not at home. Harmon at work
with team for Mr. Rasey. H. Kennedy's son brought home my yoke bows
and irons. Old Mr. " Tubney " here.
27th. Boys off to training. Let Champin have gi.i2i/^ in money.
Art. Kent here with the cow.
28th. Cold, cloudy. Been up to Fisk's and Roberts's. Roberts thinks
he shall not sign his contract for land he lives on.
29th. More pleasant. A. Rasey helping me level the brush and logs in
the slash so that cattle may feed about at better advantage.
30th. Warmer and windy. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at meeting.
Camp meeting of Methodists at ParishviUe.
July I. Over at the vUlage making jury list. Received of Asa Sheldon
by Asa DurreU ^10 in money. Aurelius Remington brought me eighteen
pounds veal. Great complaint of corn not doing weU this season.
2d. Warm. Asa Kent and wife down to Ira Smith's to-day.
28th. Sunday, myself, Harmon, Mary and Clarinda been to meeting.
Miss Latney here to tea. Martin Green here after meeting.
29th. Boys at work for E. Post on barn. Mr. Mason and B. Rider
mowed for me. A sleek looking gentleman called on me.
30th. Rainy morning. Sealed three measures for R. S. WitheriH. Zo
raster Culver here with two bonds.
31st. Haying at the other place. Mr. Mason's son with us at twenty
cents per day.
August I. Mowed grass with my coat on to keep warm.
2nd. Drew two loads of hay from around the old house and put into the
new barn. Deacon Warner's meadows are so wet he cannot cut the grass. Mother
Post came here to-night.

300 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
3d. We used two yoke of oxen in drawing hay. Champin and I car
ried the flax into the barn. Mother Post went home. Eli Squire called on
me to-day for land.
4th. Sunday, warm. AU but Mrs. R. and Mary been to meeting.
6th. Showery day. Mended the old log way and hung the grindstone.
Very wet haying time.
9th. Rainy. Jonah Sanford, Asa Sheldon, David Covey and Goodnow
here. I oth. Pleasant day. Gould, Wing and MitcheU here, paid me twelve
shillings for doing some writing. Jesse Smith and wife here, took dinner.
Drawn seventeen loads of hay at this date, think a ton to each load.
I Ith. Sunday, all at the meeting but myself. Elder Green preached.
1 2th. Cloudy, showery. Washed the calves in soap to kiU hce and
drove them to the other place. Never a wetter hay time. ShaU not have
half a crop of wheat, due to blast and smut.
13 th. T. P. and his lady from Vermont. Dr. Hosea Brooks and his
lady and Miss Green here to dinner. Bought three sheep of Mr. Rasey at
$j.^o. Paid Juhus Peck ^l which I borrowed. Lame with rheumatism in
shoulder. [Dr. Hosea Brooks came from Shoreham, Vt., and settled in Hop
kinton in 1 8 19, where he hved five years. A part or all this time was on the
farm now owned by Loren Smith. He then moved to Stockholm for three
and a half years and then to ParishvUle village where he died in 1853. He
kept a hotel there and practised as a physician to a hmited extent. I do not see
from diary or in any other way that he practised while in Hopkinton. The late
Erasmus D. Brooks of Potsdam was his son. — Ed.]
November 5. This is the second day of election held at the viUage. Mary
came from ParishvUle at night with Lucy Phelps.
6th. Last day of election held at the stone house. Not a great excite
ment in the minds of the people. S. Merritt assisted in logging to-day. Received
of Gaius Sheldon twelve and a half cents for writing a letter.
9th. Stone takes the stage for home. His foot so lame he cannot work.
Mary gone with Mrs. Post to ParishvUle. Mrs. Hawthorn is dead, wiU be
buried Sunday, the loth. R. S. WitheriU has my cart to draw dirt. S. Rich
ards and Harvey here to-day.
I oth. Clear and windy. Harmon gone to funeral at ParishviUe.
Clarinda at Mr. Post's with their chUdren. S. P. Covey here in the evening
and all night.
1 2th. S. Richard and Jasper BrowneU here in the evening. The sur
veyor here last evening is going to township No. 19, in FrankUn County. I
think he wiU have a cold rime of it. Cut timber in afternoon for stable, D.
Merritt helping us.
1 7th. Sunday, Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at meeting. Rhoda here.
1 8th. Snow fell last evening and to-day. Juhus Peck and B. Merritt
here. D. Merritt has my gun to-day. Solomon Chittenden sent a young man
here after my steers. Harmon drives the young cattle from the other place.
He says Chittenden has taken the steers and at the price they were appraised the
last day of October by A. Warner and P. Mosher, that is ^40, and get me the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 301
note I gave Ira Smith in July, 1832, for $35.50. When I was hunting I was
in the woods such days as this. Young people at ParishviUe.
19th— 23 d. Getting out timber for and building stable. Nathan Peck
has my gun to use awhUe. E. Post lays out the work for stable. Harmon
assisted a gentieman up the hiU. [What was known as the Big Hollow was a
few rods east of his residence.] Mrs. Hobart the schoolmarm here. Wither
iU and Colonel Sanford here in the evening. RusseU Squire assisted on stable.
24th. Been to meeting. Mr. Packard preached.
25th. Harmon at debating school in evening. Aurehus Remington here,
has taken Mr. Nathan Peck in behalf of the people for assault and battery. Peck
and Remington do not appear to live amicably together.
26th. Assisted Deacon Aaron Warner raising a stable.
27 th. Assisted Isaac Snell raising. Peck and Remington trial in the
evening. Settled by people paying Peck $7.50. AureUus Remington has my
mare to ride to ParishviUe Lower Falls.
28 th. Colonel Jonah Sanford wishes me to make a plat of the Short tract.
29th. Killed six hogs and a beef. Hogs weighed 1,240 pounds, beef
weighed 538 pounds.
December 1—4. J. D. Rider and Mr. Oliver here making shingles,
shaved till nine o'clock in evening. Harmon spht and Stone held the candle.
At Juhus Peck's raising barn. Peck has many raisings of mUldams, flumes, etc.
5th. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at Reuben Post's in the afternoon.
Thanksgiving supper.
6th. Sealed two measures for Mr. Beecher.
7 th. Rider has worked six days and five evenings, for which I allow him
$5.50. He works quick and is a good hand to hire.
9th. Snow a foot deep. Peter Post wUl sell me a cutter.
loth— I2th. A. Rasey here chopping. Adehne Peck assisted the women.
Stone and Harmon fanned up four and three-fourths bushels of rye.
1 3th. Cold day. Harmon gone to mill at ParishviUe with four and three-
fourths bushels of rye, three of corn and three of wheat. Caleb Wright and
Colonel Sanford caUed. Cropped the geese's wings.
1 5th. Sunday, cold. Two of Stone's brothers caUed on their way to
meeting. Harmon attends lecture by J. G. Smith.
December 16-24. Now stable aU my catde, old and young. Read
the President's message. P. R. Post chopping for me. Broke his axe. Mary
commences school, boards at E. Post's. Polk is teacher at the stone house.
Mary Shields from Malone. Harmon gone to R. Lawrence's with oxen to be
shod. I. R. Hopkins returns surveying instruments which his son had for use
in school. Harmon and Mary go with young people to ParishvUle. He bor
rowed cutter from Dr. Gideon Sprague. Settled with John Roburds, due him
$2.48 in grain this winter. Wilham Eastman and Moses Kent here.
2 5th-3ist. Drawing wood to Mr. Culver. Lewis Chandler wants his sur
vey biU. Mrs. Remington waded down here through the snow, says Mr. R.
is sick. Harmon goes for the doctor for her. Protracted meeting at ParishvUle.
Samuel B. Abbott hereafter Mother Post. His horse has the black tongue.
The school is out on the Turnpike.

302 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Year 1834 — Drunken Indians call — Nathan Peck brings a Load of Corn to
Thtash on his Floot — Ne^hbors come to grind thefr ^xes — Trap catches a
Sheep instead of a Fox, by the Nose — Mr. Risdon served Twenty-one Years
in succession as Town Clerk — Splitting Oven Wood, used with a Fit epiace —
Difficulty in Church at Parfehville — Artemus Kent and John Henderson join
the Chutch — Engage Rev. Charles Bowles, a Mulatto, as Pastor — The Story
of his Father and Son — William Humphrey goes to Ohio — Snow fell to a
Depth of Eight Inches May J2-J4 — Judge Fine in Town — Hatmon bleeds his
Oxen — Do not use Liquot — Women spinning Wool — Picking Geese — ¦ Abigail
Kent matties Nathaniel Goodnow — Death of Mts. Gideon Sptague — Men
use too much Liquot — Digs Well near Corner of his House — Chittenden drives
Cattle to Matket — Baptists hold Ptotracted Meeting at East Village— Death of
Elias Moon — Samuel Eastman hurt by a Bull — Dtaws Shingle Nails from
Roof of Old House — King S. Hawthotn of Patishville addicted to Drink —
Roof Boatds taken ftom Old Log House on Potsdam Road — Black Leg amoi^
Cattle — Sutveying at Parishville — Two Full Cotds a Day's Work — Troubled
with Smoke in the House — Thinks best to get a Stove — Story of the Cook
Stove by Editor.
January 1-5. W. M. Gould here for a mortgage. Harmon gone up to
W. Wing's for nine shUlings he owed me. Solon Covey, young Baldwin and
E. Post here.
26th-3ist. Cold weather. Been to S. Clark's and Dewey's for grain.
Sealed a half bushel for Stephen Reeve. Mother Post here these days. Mrs.
Green at A. Kent's. Clarinda at school. She and Huldah Kent put up at Mr.
Laflin's last night. W. M. Gould here with a deed. Two drunken Indians
here last night, made crooked tracks.
February 1-6. Peter and Reuben Post here. Read Calhoun's speech on
the removals of the deposits from the National Bank. Rode with Ira Smith on
his way to ParishvUle as far as J. Hart's. Got Mr. Gould's wife to sign deed
of land to L. Knowles of Potsdam. A poor man put up with us over night.
N. Peck brings a load of corn to thrash on my barn floor. Reading speeches in
Congress on the removal of public deposits from the United States Bank. Nathan
and Orlean Peck and E. Post here grinding axes. Frederick Sprague, Thads.
H. Laughlin and his sister Mary here.
yth-i Ith. Nathan Peck gone to East ViUage mUl. A. Kent's catde have
the black tongue. Hot debating in Congress these days. Sealed three half
bushels, one for G. P. Tarset at twenty cents, one for Joel Gould twelve and one-
half cents, and one for Nathan Peck fifteen cents.
I2th-i8th. Clear and cold. E. Lenne gone to Parishville mill, took
two and one-half bushels of corn for me. My wheat is poor, only top thrash it.
Counting seed and labor my wheat has cost $3 per bushel. Mother Post with
us these days. Harmon caught in his trap, instead of a fox, one of my best
ewes by the nose. Mr. McLaughlin has returned from Vermont, has married
Huldah Kent for his second wife, a very good woman. Mary tells me that
Mr. Lawrence is badly hurt by a fall, and also that James Flanders is dead. S. D.
Rider, W. M. Gould and Mr. WitheriU here on the 1 8th. Mr. Gould wiU
buy the Hawkins farm.
I9th-28th. MUd, springlike weather. I hear sap run well on the
20th. Mr. Gould paid me $2 in money on the Hawkins farm. Solon Covey,
A. Remington, W. M. Gould and J. Hart here. EUas Post had a son born
on the 2 1 St. Borrowed $23 in money of Lee Eastman. I shaU pay the same
to commissioner common schools. Snow is all off the fields 23d. Peter MerrUl

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 303
wUl not sign his contract for land at present. Clarinda expects to make her for
tune gathering rye smut. Over to viUage auditing accounts of the town, 25th
and 26th. Paid Jacob Phelps $23 on my note. Mr. Snell has lost an infant
chUd. Got at Chittenden's store thirty yards of cotton cloth at $4.37, to be paid
in butter in the spring. Mr. Merritt has left his farm. A man from the East
VUlage (NicholviUe) wUl buy it. Been up with him to view it. Paid MerriU,
the merchant, $1.25 for shovel, and Mr. Hawthorn $3.25 for salt. Harmon
took two hides to Mr. Erwin, the tanner, in ParishvUle.
March. Moderate weather. Samuel Richards here and we balanced ac
counts. John Sanford Roburds is leaving his farm in the woods. [He was a
son of EU Roburds, a pioneer. The name is so given in the diary and on all old
maps. When or how it was changed to Roberts I cannot say. — Ed.] Town
meeting on the 4th. I have served twenty-one years as clerk of the town in
succession. Elias Post was elected to-day as clerk. Wrote a bond and oath of
office for John Henderson, constable. [Father of John H. and David F. Hen
derson.] Mr. Leonard of Parishville wants land over the river near Goss's
mUl. Sealed half bushel for E. Post. He took town papers and books.
Maryba Green [Mrs. David Daggett of Potsdam, N. Y.] and Miss Converse
here. Making sugar i oth. Sealed measure for PhUip Mosher. I spUt oven
wood and Clarinda carried it into the house ; she wished me to record it.
Misses Green and Converse return home by stage. A mad dog has been through
the town, bit several dogs and was kiUed in Lawrence. Mrs. R. watching
with Mrs. Isaac Snell who is sick. Clarinda and I picked a sheep. Settled
with Mr. Stone for his year's work, am to pay him $66 in grain in January next
and my note for $20 in money, and another for $46 in grain in January, 1836.
Mr. Talbot here with Mr. Spaulding's account for Mary's tuition, board, room,
etc., $10.19, ^^'^ ^'^» ^^- Talbot's, account for French books, $3. My ac
count against them nearly balances the same. Joseph B. Durfey here, carried
Mary to meeting the 26th. As I have been apprehensive, there is some difficulty
in the church. Have had seven in the family the past winter, all but Mother
Post I expect wUl labor for a livehhood. [Mr. Durfey now living at ParishviUe,
N. Y.— Ed.]
AprU. Rhoda Kent here all night ist. Clarinda watched with Mrs.
SneU. Mrs. R. and Mary making candles. Made in aU three hundred sixty
pounds of sugar. Cautius C. Covey is now in Canada. Mr. Phelps offers $60
for my oxen. J. D. Rider agrees to work half the time for eight months, /. e.,
every other week. I am to pay him $ 1 6 per month. R. Hopkins and Fred
erick Sprague and their sisters here the 7th. I hear Truman Covey is dead.
Mother Post has left us. Clarinda spinning tow. Been this afternoon after a
hatchel. Been getting out some flax, made poor work of it.
AprU. Mary watched last night with Mrs. Snell. I. R. Hopkins was
elected justice of the peace. Sowing and dragging on the 1 1 th. Did not stable
cows last night, so mild 14th. Rev. Sin, our new minister, caUed on me.
Moses Kent caUed on his way to meeting. New minister preaches weU.
Clarinda and myself been after cowshps, saw two deer 21st. Been surveying
for Mr. Hobart and Sheldon. D. Fisk has two pounds of butter and a piece
of pork for a broom. Surveying for H. AUen, Esq., fee $1.50. My half of
fence with Deacon Warner is on the north end, that on the south end in the
woods we repair together. J. N. Hobart takes the south part of the D. B.

304 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Walker farm at $2.87 per acre. Art. Kent and John Henderson, with others,
join the Congregational Church the 27th. Mr. and Mrs. Green, Mr. and
Mrs. Lyon out from Parishville. Been to society meeting, arranging to hire
the Rev. Mr. Bowles.
[I have with some effort learned quite a little as to the Bowles family.
There were three of them by the name of Charles, and elderly people seem to
be considerably mixed and confiised as to them, no doubt on this account.
The life of the elder Charles Bowles was published in 1852 by Messrs. Ingalls
& Stowell of Watertown, N. Y., which volume is loaned me by Charles B.
WUUs, Esq., of West ParishviUe, N. Y. From this I learn that he was born in
Boston, Mass., in 176 1. At an early age he became an exhorter and soon
after an elder of the Freewill Baptist faith. His main field of work for some
years was northern Vermont.
His son, Charles, was a clergyman and took the pastorate of the Congre-
gationaUst Church in Hopkinton in 1834. According to this book the son
visited the father in Vermont in 1837, and seeing the great work his father was
doing there prevailed on him to come over into St. Lawrence County, which he
did, where and in Franklin he continued tiU his death. His first work was at
Dickinson, which resulted in the organization of a church at a place caUed Burnt
HiU. He preached wherever he could get a hearing, in schoolhouses and in
groves in Lawrence, Hopkinton, ParishvUle and Pierrepont. Deacon John F.
WiUis of ParishviUe took him into Pierrepont, where he held great revival meet
ings in the Howard schoolhouse and in the open air, people coming long dis
tances to hear him.
Charles B. WUUs, Esq., Mr. and Mrs. E. B. Gray of Crary's MUls heard
him preach and weU remember him. They say he was fiiU six feet in height,
and they should judge three-fourths negro, with a deep heavy voice and pos
sessed much magnetism and power as a speaker. He was then nearly blind and
went from place to place on horseback, trusting to his faithful nag and stopping
with those of his faith. Early in coming into this country he purchased the
Tyler Gove farm southeast of Hopkinton viUage, now owned by Ace Wilhson,
and placed his daughter, widow Preston, with her son and daughter in charge
of it. Afterwards needing help, the officials of the town of Lawrence, feeUng
that she was not a rightful charge upon that town, engaged Zebina Coolidge and
another to take her and her children to Malone.
Mr. J. Henderson remembers a Mr. Bowles in town who preached. As
he recalls, he Uved in the Jasper Armstrong house and was a fiiU half negro.
This book states that the mother of the elder Bowles was a daughter of Colonel
Morgan, making him only a half-blood negro. The elder Bowles preached now
and then in the town. In 1842, being poor, his daughter went into the famUy
of a friend to hve, while he went to the rude home of a Mr. FuUer in or near
Malone, where he died March 1 6, 1 843 . Charles Bowles the third was a finely
built man and quite an athlete. He attended school at the old academy and
was quite popular and bright. He taught school in the Abram district in 1837
or 1838 and was a strict discipUnarian. Mr. WUUs remembers seeing him
throw Horace Flower out of an open window into the snow. As he recalls, his
hair was black and curly, though his color did not show much negro. Ac
cording to Mr. Edward H. Abram he was about one-quarter negro. Jesse
McAllister writes me that Rev. Charles Bowles, who preached in Hopkinton, died

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 305
on his farm and was buried in East Pitcairn in 1850, that he was about half
negro, that his son, Charles H. Bow^les, and wife hved on the same farm, that
he became insane some years ago and died at the county house. It is evident
from all this that the pastor in Hopkinton must have shown quite a little negro
blood, and it is a little singular that the diary does not mention it. I would not
suppose the Democrats of those days, when the doctrine of slavery was so ram
pant, would have taken grace, devout as they were, from a colored gentleman.
— Ed.] Clarinda still spinning tow. Mary watched at Mr. Snell's. Rev.
Bowles caUed on us and prayed with us. Phile Jenne, Mrs. Jenne and daughter
here. May I . White frost. Rhoda Kent here. Mary and Abigail at Mr. Phelps's.
2d. Sowing grain. Waity Kent here spinning tow. Feed my cows
three times a day with hay, have fed them steady for six months past. The
young cattle and sheep pick their hving.
3d. Pleasant. Surveyed for M. Culver. Took dinner at A. Durrell's.
4th. Sunday, all the family been to meeting. It is expected Mr.
Bowles wiU preach with us a year.
5 th. Cloudy and windy. Boys clearing up burnt log heaps for plough
ing. Mary Covey gone home. She appears to be a fine young woman. Read
J. Q. Adams's speech in the House.
6th. Mrs. Risdon carding tow. Clarinda and Mary spinning. C. I.
Reeve here.
7th. Rains this morning. Witherill and Aaron Jenne here.
8th. Women boihng out yarn. Have not fed my cows hay to-night.
9th. Cool this morning. Clarinda and Huldah been up to Mr. Peck's.
I oth. Pleasant. Drive the yearlings to the other place. Been with
Stone after pitch for tar. Mrs. R. picked geese. Mrs. Abbott and Janet Shields
here aU night.
I Ith. Stmday, cold, cloudy. Mr. Bowles, our minister, has gone for
his famUy, wiU be absent probably two Sabbaths. Mrs. SneU is better. She is
at her father's. Went with Mary and Clarinda to conference, west district.
1 2th. Cold morning, flakes of snow with rain. Women have the great
kettle over the fire. [I take it this means the old-fashioned fireplace, not a
stove.] Harmon takes a skin to DurreU's. Peter Post borrowed twenty-five
cents of C. S. Chittenden to pay the postage before he could get my papers from
the office. Read Seward's speech in Senate.
13th. Snow has faUen about three inches and stiU snowing, 5 p. m. Raw
weather. Cattle and sheep lowing about the fields.
14th. Snows this morning. Have but a trifle of hay for my catde. Mrs.
SneU is worse, both doctors there. Noon, still continues to snow. Received
my warrant as overseer of highways. WUliam Humphrey has returned from
Ohio for his family. The storm has increased since noon, 4 p. m. I never
knew so severe a storm of snow at this season of the year, froze hard last night.
Sundown, storm continues. My cows are aU in stables. [Wilham Humphrey
married daughter of David Covey, and aU trace of him or them is lost. He had
a blacksmith shop a few rods just east of Joseph Durfey's residence. — Ed.]
1 5 th. Gloomy morning. Snow six inches in depth and quite cold.
Harmon at WitherUl's after hay.

3o6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 6th. Pleasant, sun looks warm. Hard frost last night and the ground is
covered with snow. Clarinda watched with Mrs. Snell. Joseph Durfey and
others have gone up to assist Mr. Remington. Dressed some flax. Snow does
not melt. Peter Post took a bushel of corn to ParishviUe mill for me.
17th. Cold and cloudy. Snow stUl to be seen in fields. Deacon Warner
and lady here. Mrs. Moses is dead.
[Mr. John H. Henderson sends me an account of this storm which he
found among his father' s papers, which makes it still more severe. He states that
it began in the evening of the 1 2th, that there were eight inches of snow on the
morning of the 13 th and that at about noon on the 14th it began to snow again ;
that on the morning of the 15th the snow was twelve inches ; that icicles seven
feet in length were seen hanging from eave spouts and that the snow did not
wholly disappear till the 17th.
1 8th. Sunday, pleasant. Been with Mary, Harmon and Clarinda to
meeting. Hear that Mrs. Flanders, the old lady, has made way with herself
by hanging. Mrs. Jenne and her daughters take tea with us.
19th. Pleasant morning. Phile Jenne here at work. Mr. Abbott's
children here. Mrs. Hulburt been here.
20th. Asahel Kent gone to Canton as a juror. The women whitewashed
our rooms. Uncovered potatoes in the hole, nearly half rotten. Rhoda had
the mare to ride to viUage.
22d. Mrs. Snell has left her father's, gone home. Judge Fine has come
to coUect cattle of Mr. Short's settlers. Went with him. Rasey, Jenne,
Andrus and WitherUl here to get their deeds for land.
24th. Set off with the judge at 6 a. m., left him at J. Hart's. Harmon
Laughlin here for pumpkin seed. Mr. Bowles has returned with his family,
wUl probably preach to-morrow.
25th. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. to meeting.
26th. Pleasant. Harmon at M. Kent's for seed corn, got seven quarts.
Clarinda at school for the first day near J. Peck's. Two young men, peddlers,
put up for the night.
27th. Finished planting corn and potatoes. Made a place to wash sheep.
Drive old oxen to the other place. Have been in stable for seven months ;
probably both yoke have consumed seven tons of hay and fifty bushels of potatoes.
28th. Pleasant. Washed sheep. Mrs. Jenne and old Mrs. Rasey here.
Mary gone to Mr. Snell's to watch. Eben Squire wants my mare to troop at
the training. 29th. Received of Mr. Erwin, the tanner, of Parishville, $3.50 for
hides. Rhoda and Abigail here. Harmon is sick.
30th. Pleasant. W. M. Gould paid me $1 on the Hawkins farm.
Mr. Priest will buy the Hayden farm. Been to church meeting. Mrs. R.
making soap these days.
June I. Rider and R. Post shearing. Mrs. R., Rhoda, AbigaU, Mary
and Clarinda all at the barn picking wool. Ira Squire, Remington and BrowneU
here. Mrs. Snell lingers along. J. Goodell has lost a child, was burned.
Mr. Green preached the sermon.
3d. Mr. Green, his wife, two sons and Dr. Brooks's daughter took
dinner with us on their way to Stockholm. Phihp Mosher's daughter visit
ing Clarinda.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 307
4th. Finished hewing for my new buUding. Harmon been to Parishville,
notified setders who turn out cattle to Mr. Short that they must be ready on Tues
day next. A. M. Hobart will go with them at seventy-five cents per day.
5th. Rev. Bowles wishes some household furniture. Mary watching at
Mr. Snell's. Mrs. R. finished her soap.
6th. Harmon has bled his old oxen. [In those days the doctors bled
people for nearly all troubles, and I suppose he thought it would work well on
the oxen. — Ed.]
7th. Harmon gets seven bushels of Ume of J. Brush, am to pay for it in
grain next winter.
8th. Sunday. R. Abbott here. P. Post has returned from western
journey. 9th. Training day. Settled with Stone for labor, gave my note for
$75.75, payable in grain. Joseph Brown, it is feared, has consumption.
loth. Hobart and Asa Sheldon take Mr. Short's cattle to Ogdensburg.
I went as far as ParishvUle. Bought a hoe at Pea's store.
I Ith. Colonel Sanford called for an assessment of property. E. Drake's
daughter of twelve years, a fine little girl, has the consumption.
1 2th. At work on the road. Mrs. Witherill and Mrs. Clark here.
13th. Chilly, cold. Have a fire in the fireplace. [Being in June and
only wanting a hght fire, had he had a stove would he not have used it ? — Ed.]
Cow got of N. Baldwin faUed to reach Potsdam.
14th. T. Dunn, an old acquaintance in Vermont, called on me to-day.
Clarinda goes to Parishville by stage.
I 5th. Sunday saw a deer crossing my field. Are well pleased with Mr.
Bowles, our minister.
1 6th. We use no spirits in the family in any way. Mr. Peck is laying
out my new buUding.
20th. Judge Sanford returns my compass and chain. Difficulty in the
church at Parishville. Mr. Rider gone to ParishvUle in suit between Mr. Green
and W. Stone.
22d. J. B. Durfey, Mr. Collins, the schoolmarm and Julius Peck called.
23 d. John Tenno, N. and J. Peck, R. and E. Post raised my building.
27th. Hoeing corn. Take butter to Chittenden, twelve pounds pork to
R. Eastman and wool to Laughhn's machine with cart and oxen. Attended
Mrs. Henderson's fiineral.
July I. Women spinning wool. Some complaint of Clarinda' s spinning.
[Is it any wonder ? She is only twelve years of age. — Ed.] Mr. Kent is
framing a cow barn. A meeting at the village, Mr. Green out.
2d. Pleasant. Bought a razor of a peddler for fifty cents. The laboring
man adorns his nature. He is the chief ornament of nature, its noblest part.
Nature is the outward throne of God himself By cultivation man extends and
poUshes. 3d. Mrs. Abbott and Mrs. Risdon go to their mother's. Reuben Abbott
here after cannon.
4th. Cool. Hear that Mrs. Gurley, Mrs. Potter and two children
have died lately in Parishville. Young people gone to Potsdam for amusement.
5 th. Mr. LinendoU here, has lost cow, either stolen or strayed.

3o8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
6th. Sunday, pleasant. Mrs. Sprague is not expected to live, had a
counsel of doctors to-day.
9th. A terrific storm with hail. Broke window glass and killed our gos
lings. loth. Cooler. Women picking geese. Attended Mr. Kent's raising barn.
14th. Clarinda spinning. Deacon Moon wants the Roberts place for his
son Orange. Have about seventy acres to mow over, ten acres of rye, three of
wheat and a smaU piece of oats. Friend Warner, Asa Sheldon and C. Reeve here.
15th. Been down north surveying over the river for H. Allen, Esq., fee
$1.25. Harmon and Mary at Mrs. Drake's fiineral.
1 6th. Deacon Moon wants me to work on road or pay the money that I
owe the town. Rhoda here sewing.
1 8th. Have my building about finished. S. Clark raised his barn, had
hquor and several got drunk.
2 1 St. Surveying for A. Sheldon and J. BrowneU, seventy-five cents each.
A. Squire and his three sons here. Mrs. Talbot is dead.
2 2d. Haying at the other place near the old house. [Evidently stUl
standing or he would not mention it. — Ed.]
24th. E. Drake's daughter is dead.
25th. Mary Shields here. Nathaniel Goodnow in town these days.
27th. A wedding at Mr. Kent's, AbigaU married to N. Goodnow.
None of my famUy there. E. and R. Post and Asahel Kent give me the privi
lege of drawing hay across their field farther west than usual, which shortens the
distance. 31st. R. Post at work for R. Eastman on the building. Mowed grass
opposite E. Mosher's. Mrs. Sprague died yesterday morning, to be buried to
morrow. August I . All at funeral but myself. No use for spirituous liquor either in
haying or in any other way. Can perform more work without it and have less
broken rakes and other tools.
2d. Haying near Deacon Aaron Warner's.
4th. My hay is excellent. Women washing at the brook. [With excel
lent apparatus for washing, the most of us now send it out or hire it done. — Ed.]
6th. Been to Mr. John Hart's with a web to weave.
1 1 th. Have fifteen or sixteen acres of grass cut at the other place. Been
to the Goss settlement for help. Mr. Goodnow, his wife and Austin set off to
gether, Goodnow for Canada and Austin for the west.
1 2th. Great exhibition of animals in Potsdam yesterday.
1 3th. Isaac Snell and all hands reaping rye. Mr. Spaulding and Reuben
Abbott here.
15 th. Surveying for Sprague, Laughlin and Chittenden at the village.
Harriet Shields lives here. Finished reaping rye.
19th. R. Post haying on the Green farm, took grass of Dr. Brooks.
Mary washing at the brook. I carried down the clothes, made fire, etc. Wheat
short. Boys think better be cradled.
20th. Peter Post and his brother came to cradle about 9 «. m. They
did not do much, had taken too much whiskey. Took dinner and went home.
23d. Making a road through R. Kent's field to my rye. In moving
some stone injured my foot. CoUin drawing into the barn hay at the other

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

309

place. Louis Hasbrouck of Ogdensburg is dead. [He and Judge John Fine
were law partners from 181 5. — Ed.] John Post assisting us. Nathan Peck here
with a load of rye and wheat to thrash in my barn, says Remington will not let
him use his barn.
24th. Sunday, been to meeting, no preaching. Mr. Bowles preaches
in Lawrence to-day.
25 th. Cool. A frost in some places last night. Harmon off warning
people to the drill. Had two hundred shocks of rye.
26th. Mrs. Snell, Mrs. Kent and Mr. and Mrs. Culver called. Sealed a
half bushel for him.
27th. Harmon off to officers' drill at Potsdam. Samuel Abbott, Mrs.
Green and Martin Green here.
28th. Haying at lower place, should have been cut before this. Mr.
Ormsby and wife took dinner. J. Henderson and Mr. Culver called. Mr.
Henderson, as constable, sold P. Post's property or part of it.
29th. Mary Covey here on a visit. Clarinda at school these days.
Drew two loads of hay home and three into the Uttle barn. Rider agrees to
dig and stone a well near the corner of my house for $20, I to fiirnish team.
He takes cow at $18 and grain $2.
September i. Training day.
3d. Clarinda has lost a schoolbook. Thrashing and cleaning rye and
wheat. The wheat is so smutty it will have to be washed.
4th. Mary gone with her cousins to her uncle Ira Smith's in Stockholm.
D. Eastman caught a wolf yesterday.
5th. Mrs. R. spinning. Mary making cheese. Cutting and burning
brush in the hoUow.
7th. Sunday, been to meeting. The Methodists held meeting in the
stone house, the Baptists at East ViUage. Dr. Laughlin' s wife, Mr. Heath and
his wife and daughter have joined the Congregational Church.
8th. Potatoes only half crop owing to dry weather. Mary washing at
the brook. loth. Lent my gun to D. Fisk for training. Amanda Covey here.
1 2th. Harmon off to training. Hard frost this morning.
14th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Bowles preached on infant
baptism. A. Weed is in from Vermont. Art. Kent is lame from a faUing log.
Mrs. R. rode with Mrs. Kent as far as Mrs. Hart's, who is weaving for her.
1 6th. Found two dead sheep, kiUed by wolves. Messrs. Weed, R.
Kent, Laughlin, E. Post and their ladies, except Mrs. K., here, pleasant visit.
Take cloth to the clothier at ParishvUle. Harmon gathered the apples at the
lower place, about four bushels. Get brick from widow Sheldon, on note I
hold against the estate.
28th. Sunday, been to meeting. R. Pettibone is to lecture in town
to-morrow evening. Curtis Sheldon has returned from  . Clarinda at her
uncle's spinning these days.
October i . Burn some heaps over where I had rye. Rollin here, settled
and balanced all accounts. Received a line from E. Hurlbut, wants pay for
the Herald. C. S. Chittenden drives his cattle' to-day, has taken my old oxen
and three three-year-old steers at $ 1 00, to be paid in January next.

3IO EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
3d. Warm. Husking corn in garden and orchard. Mr. Fitch, coUector
for the Spectator, here. Went out in afternoon with my gun, saw a deer. Quite
amusing to once more traverse the woods where I have formerly hunted so
much. Mrs. Rasey here.
4th. Finished husking. WiU have ninety bushels from one and a half acres.
5th. Sunday, no one to meeting to-day. Two sheep missing. Have
poor luck with sheep.
6th. Preparing cellar in the shed house for potatoes.
7th. Mr. Rasey and his two children at work for me. Mrs. R. and
Clarinda at Stockholm. Mr. Rasey had six pounds of pork, was to have five
pounds for day's work. N. Post and his httle son here to-day.
8th. Mary been to Mr. Hart's after cloth. Finished potatoes, have bet
ter than three hundred bushels. Put twenty bushels in house ceUar for family
use. Harmon takes butter to Culver's in evening.
9th. Harmon goes to Phile Jenne' s wedding.
loth. Harmon and Mary at Mr. Kent's in the evening paring apples.
Quite a fall of snow.
I Ith. Mrs. Roburds here with her son John S. Mr. Jenne has the pot
ash kettle awhile. Harmon returns from Parishville with some cloth.
1 2th. Sunday, Mr. Bowles gave his audience an account of the pro
tracted meeting held in Lawrence of his church there. He also gave notice of
one to be held at the same place in the Baptist Church. In the future the Bible
class will meet in the evening. The Sunday-school will be held during inter
mission at noon. Nathan Peck and Remington here. They did not come or
leave together. Peck tarried tUl eleven and Remington tUl after twelve.
13th. Rider commences digging the well.
14th. Old Mr. Rasey and Elisha Brooks from Ohio been here to-day.
Mrs. R. and Mary making me a flannel coat to labor in. Labor is better for
the health of the body than all the doctors with their opiates.
1 6th. Collin assisting Rider at the well. Harmon and I drew logs to
sawmill. Did some writing for McAffity and Collin. Mary and Clarinda gone
to Caleb Wright's in the afternoon. Meribah and Lucretia Greene and a young
man caUed, stay all night on account of the night.
17th. Warmer. Rider and Collin at the well, are twenty feet down,
found a frog. Mr. Webb and Mr. Greene's daughters left after breakfast.
1 8 th. A family consisting of two men, a wife and two children put up
here last night on their way to Michigan, bill five shilhngs. Rider and Colhn
find water at thirty feet. Harmon assisting J. Brush draw a building. Lucy
and J. Smith's daughters, Mrs. Kent, Mrs. E. and R. Post and Reuben Abbott
here. Lucy, Miss Smith and Abbott aU night. CoUin is through work, takes
one and one-half yards fulled cloth at $1.75 per yard. A healthy man ought
to spend no time idle.
1 9th. Showery, no one to meeting. Youth like the butterfly skips from
object to object without being able to settle on anything. Eager for pleasure,
seizes anything that has its appearance. Alas ! how far are they from fore
seeing. They will deplore with bitterness in the evening of life their misspent
morning. Reuben Abbott did not rise till 9 a. m.
20th. Cool. Stoning the well. Women washing. I fetch water, cut
wood, etc. B. Blair assists at the windlass.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 311
2 1 St. Rider finished stoning well. Sent some corn to ParishviUe mill by
R. and E. Post.
2 2d. Showery. E. Post framing my building. Got a piece of gray
cloth from Deacon Warner. Darius Kent has some cedar timber on Short Tract
near his land for rails, fifty cents per hundred.
23 d. Thomas Harriman here, had three and a quarter yards fiiUed cloth.
Kent had my shovel and has broken it. Mary making pantaloons for Harmon.
Colhn made two brooms for Mrs. R. Had his pay in soap, two gallons.
24th. Harmon at East ViUage after Trussell' s tackle to draw the pump.
We also had Chittenden's. With both we drew the pump and placed it in the
other well. Rider hewed out an eave trough. Samuel Abbott, Elias Post,
WilUam Kent, Witherill, Jenne and A. Rasey assisted on the pump. Feel
thankful we handled it without accident.
25th. Cold. Rider sphcing the pump. The new weU is about three
feet the deepest. The Baptists hold a protracted meeting at East VUlage.
26th. Sunday, the Baptists are passing to their meeting. Too cold
for me to go. Mrs. Risdon's health is not good, troubled with the phthisic.
27th. Been out with my gun. Not much hunting these days. Deer are
scarce. Cautius C. Covey here. S. C. Remington at work on the hill.
28th. Rider is digging a well for E. Post.
29th. Harmon at work for E. Post. The black leg is about among
calves. Been to lower place, found Hopkins's horses on the meadows. Have
there six yearUngs and four two-year-olds. The papers give lamentable accounts
of riot at PhUadelphia at elections, five buUdings burned, one man killed and
several wounded.
30th. The Frenchman who lives with Colonel Sanford here wants land.
31st. Drew half inch board from Peck's mill. Rider working on stoop.
Mrs. R. cut some drawers for A. Remington.
November i. F. BrowneU' s son has the Vaughn and H. Peck farm for
$1 17.27, and $5 fee in grain the coming winter.
2d. Sunday, been with D. Covey to the fiineral of EUas Moon ; aged
seventy-six, buried on the plat a few rods northeast of his house. Elder Pratt
preached. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda to meeting at the vUlage. Esq.
Abbott has been very sick this fall. He showed a gravel taken from his bladder
as large as a common bean. Conversed also with Samuel Eastman, Sr. He
was badly hurt by his bull this fall, was senseless for a time, is now much better.
Both of the above-named gentlemen are of the first setders of this town and
about sixty years of age. [The buU attacked him in the yard. His horns
caught in his clothing, and as he threw him he fortunately went over the fence
and thus saved his life, as George S. Wright tells me. — Ed.]
3d. Cool, pleasant. Election at J. Hart's. S. Z. "Tenno" here.
Takes the Asa Newton farm by paying me $5.25 in grain. In afternoon I was
over to the other place drawing the shingle nails from the roof of the old house.
Rider shaving shingle, Harmon splitting. [Here is decided proof that cabin is
yet standing. — Ed.]
4th. Second day of election held at East VUlage. My bed is placed in
the kitchen ; more comfortable for Mrs. R. on account of her health. C. C.
Covey with us for the night. Been to viUage, voted what we call the Whig ticket.

312 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
6th. Pleasant. Hear the Jackson party have 9 majority on the county
ticket, 1 3 on the state. Harmon to Whitney the shoemaker with twelve pounds
of sugar. Mary traded at Culver's fourteen or fifteen dollars. Sawed a plank
lengthwise. Clarinda sat on it to keep it steady and, as she says, to teeter.
Hear that Joseph Brownell is dead and buried to-day at ParishvUle. Hear also
that K. S. Hawthorne drinks to excess at times and is not capable of doing busi
ness at aU times. Sorry to hear it. Jackson party has six hundred majority in
the county. Last year it was about one thousand.
8th. Moved corn house. R. Post and team, W. Kent and team, P.
Post and team, E. Jenne and team and E. Post and R. WitheriU assisted.
9th. Sunday, fah. AU to meeting but Mrs. R., no preaching. James
G. Hopkins is in town. Cautius C. Covey, Orange Moon, R. WitherUl and
W. Stone here. R. Post took up his flax, had thirty pounds.
I oth. Rider digging well for C. S. Chittenden.
I Ith. Harmon to Squire's to get coat cut.
1 2th. Harmon and I to ParishviUe to get each a coat cut. He rode his
colt. Sent my account against the town to our supervisor at Canton.
1 3th. Miss Betsey Meacham comes to work. Took cold yesterday, sick
to-day. 14th. Nathan Peck had a cheese. R. WitheriU brought piece of venison.
1 5th. Been surveying for WUliam Short. Harmon gone to Malone.
Women taUoring.
1 6th. Clear and cold. No one to meeting. Mrs. R. not well enough to
walk so far. We cannot be called fair-weather Christians, for it is a beautiful day.
17th. Rider has come to a rock and is blasting in Chittenden's well.
Betsey leaves to-day, has worked four days, due her $ i if we pay the money.
She and Mary made two frock coats while here.
1 9th. KiUed two sheep for tallow. Mrs. R. will get nearly forty pounds
from the two sheep.
2 1 St. Took young cattle from the other place. Threw straw out of stable.
22d. Asa Kent, Rasey and WitherUl here grinding axes.
23 d. Sunday, Port and WiUiam Kent spend the evening.
24th. Set out with my gun, did not go far. Hunting ceases to divert as
it formerly did. Remington has been here, appears to oppose temperance and
other societies, lives back in the woods, has but one neighbor, and I hear does
not live in intimacy with him. Has a likely wife.
25th. Snow four inches. Been out hunting with Mr. Rasey, saw no deer.
26th. The Frenchman [he speaks of a man who worked for Colonel San
ford as the Frenchman] had the old boards from the roof of the log house at the
other place and an old door worth perhaps four days' work this winter. [The
old log house is at last dismantled. The rain and snow can now beat in and do
their work. — Ed.]
27th. Clarinda attends school. Adeline Peck here. McDole wishes me
to do some surveying for Mr. Parish. One of my calves has the black leg.
The swelling, however, is in the chops. Cut a slit in the side of the head,
smells bad, will die.
28th. Surveying Mr. Green's farm. Thomas Tearl is buried to-day.
29th. Lodged at Mr. Green's. Reuben Post led a horse out to Parish
ville for me to ride home. Charged David Parish $2 per day.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 313
30th. Harmon, Clarinda and Adeline gone to meeting. Snow all gone
in the fields. I am surprised many times when I reflect on my age, which is
more than fifty, and broken constitution, that ambition should still lead me on
to clear such and such a piece, to build this or that fence or building, etc.
December i. Finished surveying Mr. Green's farm at ParishvUle. Took
up note I gave Mr. Hawthorne to be paid in surveying. Got of Mr. MerrUl,
merchant, one and a half pounds putty.
2d. Surveying at ParishvUle for Mr. Hawthorne. Mrs. R. sold a
cheese to Mr. Durrell. It is reported Mr. Hawthorne is some addicted to
drink. 3d. Harmon ploughing in the orchard. Wm. Sheals here with Mr.
Green's oxen. Clarinda is af school these days, goes from home to the village.
4th. Mr. Rider works by the month, but I have agreed that all he cuts
and cords over two cords per day I will allow him after the rate of two cords a
day, provided he takes the timber as he goes over the ground. John S. Roburds
after a saw.
5th. Finished ploughing the orchard yesterday. Rider, the Frenchman
and Collin chopping cord wood over the brook. John Henderson here. Says
my tax is $8.65.
6th. Rider and the Frenchman have cut twenty-four cords this week.
7th. Sunday, snow about five inches. A. Remington says Nathaniel
Baldwin's chUd, an infant, is dead. Harmon at singing school.
8th. Mr. Plummer wants assistance in drawing a building.
9th. Harmon assisting him draw a house from J. Brush's to near H.
Mead's. Clarinda at Uncle EUas's last night. Good sledding.
I oth. Harmon drew a load of boards from Peck's mill with his steers.
nth. Thanksgiving Day. Mr. Culver takes upwards of eighty pounds
of cheese. Champin Reeve, P. Post and lady here in evening.
1 2th. E. Drake had 400 cwt. hay. Mrs. R., Mrs. Kent and Mrs.
Post at R. Post's.
1 3th. Mary making pantaloons for me.
14th. Sunday, cold. None to meeting.
I 5th. Cold day. Keep fires and do chores. Harmon brings pair of
boots for himself and for W. E. CoUin. Let Harriman' s son have a pair a few
days since. Mary has a new pair of high quartered shoes.
16th. Winter in earnest. Cattle do not Uke to feed at the stacks, find
the want of a barn over the brook. Aaron Jenne here. Mrs. R. has a bad
cough. Mary does the work.
1 8th. Clarinda is steady at school, notwithstanding the cold. The
chimney in our house has a poor draught. We are much afflicted with smoke
in the kitchen in particular. In the cold weathr it is attended with a great deal
of labor to keep fire. The wood has to be carried through three doors. I
find the fatigue of getting in the large wood, together with the suffocation of
smoke, to be unsupportable. I think it best to remedy the evil by a stove.
[This proves that he was stiU using the fireplace.] WitheriU, Julius Peck and
their ladies here. Andrew Squire here with a half bushel for himself and one
for R. L. Eastman to be sealed.

314 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Cook Stove.
[I find it impossible to ascertain just when the cook stove made its first ap
pearance in eastern St. Lawrence. It is quite evident that the first to appear
were brought in from Vermont. Mr. Charles W. Leete of Potsdam gives me
the most rehable information which I have been able to obtain. He was born in
Oneida County in 1823 and moved to Potsdam in 1837. W. W. Goulding
and Henry Hewett were then engaged in a general store business in the firm
name of Goulding & Hewett, including the manufacture and sale of heating and
cook stoves. John K. Wead was then and had been for a few years selling a
cook stove called the " Wainright," made in Middlebury, Vt. He sold them
here and there as he could, taking horses, cattle, grain, etc. , in exchange for
them. It was a large, heavy affair and quite high in front. The rear part was
only about half as high as the front, with a large griddle hole for a boiler. The
stovepipe qame out of the middle of the high part of the stove, with two ova!
griddle holes, one on each side of the pipe.
There was also a cook stove sold at about the same time caUed the " Braugh-
ton." It was quite similar to the " Wainright." Messrs. Goulding & Hew
ett were manufacturing and selling at this time a stove called the " Premium."
It was much lower than the others and took large wood, blocks a foot in diam
eter. In 1839 ^^- Leete joined the firm, and they at once began the manu
facture of a new cook stove, for which Mr. Hewett had obtained the patterns
in Vermont. This stove had a round, rotary top in which were four round
griddle holes. It was so constructed that the top could be readUy rotated, bring
ing one griddle Ud over the fire at a time. This stove sold so well that they
were unable to supply the demand, and so got a blast furnace and foundry in
Waddington to cast the parts for them, which were set up here and sold in large
numbers. George S. Wright, Esq., says his father got one when he was quite a
boy and that it took aU the men in the neighborhood to handle it, giving a three-
year-old colt for it. — Ed.]
19th. M. Kent and E. Post here. Harmon and Mary at Mr. Jenne's.
Clarinda at P. Post's in evening.
20th. Alanson Blair here. Shot a large white owl.
2 1 St. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at meeting. Dr. Laughhn been out
to see Mr. Remington who is sick.
23 d. Harmon assisting Mr. Bowles get wood.
24th. Took some cheese to Mr. Culver. Old Mr. Rasey, his wife and
Mrs. Jenne here. Fear my calves wiU die, notwithstanding aU my care.
25t)i. Mr. Witherill ground a shave. Talk of hiringj. G. Rider half the
time for five months. Mary LaughUn here in evening. Sifted ashes on calves.
26th. Been to Potsdam with Mr. WitheriU, harnessed in the colt with
his horse ; went well.
28th. Sunday. Clarinda is not well these days, does not complain much.
[She never did in after hfe, as those who knew her will all attest. — Ed.]
29th. Cold. Feed all the hay from one stack over the brook. R. Post
hooped some barrels for us. R. Witherill borrowed four bags.
30th. Moderate. Killing hogs. Orange Moon and E. Post assisting.
Samuel Abbott and David Covey, Mr. Witherill and P. Post here.
31st. Lee Eastman wants school money.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 315
The Year J 835 — Mt. Lyon teaches Singing School — Special Election as to
Poorhouse System — Cautius C. Covey called — Mr. Francis in Destitu
tion — J. Brooks called — Mt. Hunt and a Woman attested — Asahel Kent
in Ttouble — Visits Nathan' Peck — Hatmon matries Maty H. Sheals of
Malone — Ttial of Rev. Talbott — The Chapman House at East Village
(Hotel) burned April 6 — Settlers setting Fires — Corn $1, Hay $25 —
Buys Hat at $4 to be paid in Cord Wood at 75 cents — Chester Tuppet and
othets go West — Catavan of Wild Animals at the Village —Judge Fine
calls — Univetsalists hold gteat Meeting in the Village — Cutting the
Gitdled Piece — No Postage Stamps — Postage paid in Cash to Postmastet
— Attillety Drill in Stockholm — Roswell Laughlin takes Census — Dt.
Laughlin goes to Ogdensbutg to live — Builds and puts up a Loom in his
House — Dedication of the Congregational Chutch — Death of Abigail
Sanfotd — The Calves have Consumption — Vice-President Van Buten
passes thtough Town, August 18 — Still use Sickle in teaping Grain — The
two Marys weaving — Harmon's Wife ^reaving and contented — Daughter
Maty goes to Academy at Potsdam, boatds with Miss Smith at $1 pet
Week — Mary watches with Mrs. Barney Moon — Rev. Bowles's Fathet
pteaches in Chutch — Unsold Short Lands sold — Peddlers plenty — Asa
Squite fined — Gteat Fite in New York City.
January I. Settled with Ruel Lawrence, owe him sixty-eight cents.
Mother Post here. Lent Mr. Lawrence a whip to ride to Parishville. Mrs.
R. weighed him out twelve and one-quarter pounds lard at ten cents. He is to
make hinges for the balance.
5th. Rider brings his fanning mill to clean rye. Dr. Laughlin here, had
a cheese, paid one doUar in money. Pulled two teeth for Mary.
6th. Harmon and Nathan Peck gone to Parishville with rye.
9th. Mary making a vest for E. Post. R. Post carried Mother Post
home on a sled. Drew up seven loads of wood.
I Ith. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. at meeting, no preachiug. Mr. Bowles
at Lawrence. 1 2th. Mr. Lyon teaches singing school this winter. Chittenden's
team here for ashes, had nine bushels at twelve and one-half cents per bnshel.
A special town meeting throughout the county. The object is to discontinue the
poorhouse system of supporting the poor.
14th. Warm rain. B. Blair here in want of work.
1 5th. Mrs. R. quite unwell, has phthisic. Clarinda continues at school
notwithstanding the distance, one-half mile. She occasionally rides with Mr.
Ashael Kent's children.
1 6th. Wrote Robert Lennox, Esq., of New York, enclosing John Hen
derson' s receipt for tax $10.32; asked him to pay Travis, HaU & Co. , $4 for me.
17th. J. Sanford, Brownell and W. Shields here to-day.
19th. J. Sanford and Foster Brownell here. Brownell has the Asa
Newton farm. Wrote a deed for Jacob R. Norris. Cautius C. Covey and
his sister called. Drew eight loads of wood to the door.
2 1 St. Mr. Francis, a young Frenchman here, is in low circumstances, has
wife and six children, has all his provisions to buy and nothing to buy with but
his labor. He says he is now out and knows not where to obtain any more.
None of the farmers about here wUl hire and pay in grain at this season, neither
will they pay in provisions now on credit for work in the summer. I have
promised all the grain I have, save what I must keep for my own family use.

3i6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
He has a cow but no hay. I let him have some meal and about fifty pounds of
meat. He carried it all on his back to his home, about five miles.
23d. Orange B. Moon had six pounds of butter at 121^ cents. Old
Mr. Thomas is dead.
24th. Mr. Thomas was buried to-day. He was one of the first settlers
of the town and nearly eighty years old. Elder Pratt preached. John Brooks
from Vermont called on me. Cautius C. Covey and Ira Smith here. [Mr.
Smith was his brother-in-law, having married Lucy Post. — Ed.]
25th. Sunday. In eve Mary making cloak for Harmon. I was pleased
to once more see and converse with J. Brooks. We were youths together in
Bristol, Vt. He is a brother of Mrs. Phineas Durfey.
26th. Warm. At work on the horse stable. I hear that Mr. Hunt of
Lawrence was one day last week taken for passing counterfeit money, committed
for trial at the next county court ; also that a woman was taken at the same
time, she made her escape, was retaken on Saturday last and had an examination
before the justices to-day. I hear the constable has gone with her this evening
to Canton jail. Poor woman ! It is said she appears to feel bad. It appears
there are others connected in the cheat of money. C. S. Chittenden and others
have been active in searching them out and bringing them to justice.
27th. Mrs. Hosea Brooks, Mrs. Henry Greene, Mrs. Asahel Kent and
Mother Post here. Paid Lee Eastman $15, all I am owing him.
28th. Sent $1 by Clarinda to Betsey Meacham, the tailoress. N. Bald
win paid $5 on note he gave Barney Moon better than two years ago.
February 2. Julius Peck gone to Plattsburg with cherry boards. Dr.
Sprague will marry for his third wife Rhoda Kent, makes a good deal of talk.
5th. Paid Caleb Wright $20. Gideon Sprague and Mr. Simonds here.
9th. Drawing wood to Zoraster Culver's. My health is better, doing
chores again.
loth. Mrs. R. has made me ^ pair of socks to wear over my boots. Dr.
Sprague has married Rhoda Kent.
nth. Mr. Beecher has had three pounds of butter. Mary Covey returns
with Harmon from David Covey's. Mr. Kent has trouble these days, occa
sioned by the school chUdren throwing wood into the road, which he says frightens
his horse. 1 2th. Mr. WitherUl and I with our wives made a family visit at N. Peck's.
13th. Mary Covey and Mary Risdon at their uncle's. Clarinda attends
a party at Mr. Lawrence's. I am troubled with rheumatism.
14th. It is thirty-one years since I first came into Hopkinton.
17th. Harmon and Mary gone to Malone. They have Mr. WitheriU's
horses and Laughlin's sleigh. Mr. Kent and wife and W. Sheals, also gone.
1 8th. Snows hghtly. Harmon has returned from Malone with his wife.
Married Mary H. Sheals, a daughter of Mrs. Asahel Kent, at her residence with
her uncle Webb at Malone, by the Rev. Ashbel Parmerly in the evening of the
1 8th inst. Elijah Harmon is an only son of ours. All amicable.
20th. Harmon and his lady, Mary Risdon and William Sheals, gone to
ParishviUe. Mason Crossman from Vermont here.
26th. Harmon with the girls gone to ParishviUe. They are having some
difficulty with Mr. Talbott, their minister, at ParishviUe.
March I. Sunday, chUdren all at meeting.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 317
3d. Town meeting day. A. Harran wants a place to make sugar.
4th. E. Post notifies me that I am elected school commissioner and sealer
for the town. J. Henderson wishes to sell me a cutter, I cannot buy it.
5th. Stage on wheels these days.
loth. Children aU at singing school. William Sheals and Lucretia Greene
here aU night. Sowing grass seed in the big hollow. People pass, some on
wheels and some on runners. Rev. Talbott' s trial commences in ParishvUle
again to-day. John GoodeU here, gave him for those burned out in East ViUage
a few nights since some potatoes, onions, a piece of pork and a pair of socks.
[Lucretia Greene, a sister of Meribah Daggett of Potsdam, married Martin
Welch and is living at Michigan. — Ed.]
- 1 1 th. R. Kent here, qualified for the office of sealer. Asa Sheldon paid
seventy-five cents on his land. Assisted him up the hill with a load of ashes.
14th. Mr. A. Kent is hurt by falling from his wagon.
1 6th. Mr. Leonard of Parishville has thirty acres over the river from
Goss's mill at $1.75.
17th. Clarinda has been steady at school, last day.
20th. Mr. Stanley and Mr. Webb from Malone here. All over to Mr.
Kent's in the eve.
2 2d. Sunday. Winter appears determined to contest the possession of
the earth awhile longer with spring. It has been a severe winter and we sel
dom have a more severe storm than is now raging. Rider says the snow is
knee deep. 25th. Mrs. R. gone to Joseph Brush's. Meribah Greene here. Clarinda
has young company. Rider dressing flax. Caleb Wright and daughter called.
26th. Mrs. Greene, Meribah, Henry and Rollin here aU night. They
have been to Stockholm.
29th. Harmon, his wife and Clarinda at meeting, communion day.
30th. ChUly morning. Been with Clarinda up to Mr. Peck's. Mr.
Remington will seU his farm to me.
31st. Mr. Remington here most of the day. Mary at her uncle's.
Harmon boiled sap in an arch this year.
April I . The snow is off some in the fields but deep in the woods.
3d. Mr. Blair and his son Martin here, also Caroline Brooks.
4th. My cows have done well this season. I do beheve cows will pay
well for all the extra expense of stabUng.
5th. Harmon gone to meeting, no others.
6th. Nathan Peck here, wants some hay.
7th. Nathan Peck pays for eleven pounds of salt and cheese, in corn. Met
the commissioner of schools at EUas Post's. Divided the school money, etc.
Hear Chapman's house is burned and a smaU barn at East ViUage.
8th. Women have another quilt on the frame. Orange B. Moon and
WiUiam Sheals here.
9th. Been at I. R. Hopkins's as a witness in court.
I oth. Paid Albert Sheldon, collected my school biU fifty cents, thirty-
nine delmquent in wood, total eighty-nine cents. Paid it in corn. Young
women at R. Post's quilting.
nth. Asa Sheldon paid me $1.55, balance for ten acres of land.
1 2th. Sunday, aU at meeting but Mrs. R. and myself

3i8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
13th. Snow is off in the fields, but not in the woods. A raven picked
out the eye of a live lamb. Clarinda takes tender care of the one-eyed lamb.
14th. Cold, blustering morning, snow and wind. It is now better than
six months since I began to sfable my cows. I am stUl stabling them.
I 5 th. Cold morning. Sap does not run. Made fence on side hill.
1 6th. D. Fisk and Mr. Harran here, did some writing for them. E.
W. Collin wUl work for me half the time for six months at $14 per month.
Harmon's wife and Mary walked over to Dr. Sprague's in the afternoon.
1 7th. Cold and stormy. Cattle want as much if not more hay than at
any time this winter. We have had a Siberian winter and spring.
1 8 th. The brook in the hoUow I noticed as I crossed it to fodder my
young cattle was frozen over. Reuben Webb left the stage and called on us this
morning on his way to the western country. I sit writing by a large fire.
1 9th. Sunday. Mr. White and Mr. Webb set out this morning for the
west. Harmon, Clarinda and Sheals gone to meeting.
20th. If WiUiam Sheals stays with me we have a famUy of nine.
2 1 St. Ground covered with snow. Mrs. R. carding tow, also Clarinda.
Mary spinning flax.
2 2d. The face of the earth is covered with snow. It is a task for aU of
us to do the chores, and tend the sugar, sheep, lambs, calves, cows, horses,
hogs, hens and one old goose. It is a gloomy time, but thank God we are aU
weU and in hopes of pleasanter days. Orange B. Moon has my cart.
23 d. Cold, chilly morning. BoUed sap aU night. Clarinda, with my
assistance, takes good care of the lambs.
24th. The ground is again covered with snow. John brings another
lamb to Clarinda.
25th. Collin takes his cow and calf. Making fence across the hoUow.
26th. Pleasant. ChUdren all at meeting.
27th. Drive young cattle to the slash pasture.
28th. Rains and snows. Have brought young cattle back to the stack.
Storm continues, snow nearly a foot in depth. Have made 570 pounds of sugar.
29th. Harvey Hurlburt here, had some pork. Got a pair of cloth
shoes for Clarinda. Harmon gets the last of the hay from the other place.
30th. This has been a remarkably long season for feeding stoclt.
May I. Dr. Sprague drew ^ tooth for Mary.
2d. Been up south after compass left in woods last faU, under an old log.
David Covey here, had six dollars in pork, gave his note.
3d. Sunday, chUdren all at meeting. Horses and sheep grazing about,
get but a Uttle feed.
4.th. Drive the eight yearlings to the other place.
5th. Collin and myself mending and capping fence.
6th. Harmon and Sheals ploughing.
7th. Clearing up brands where we had rye. Mary Laughlin here. Cla
rinda gone to ParishvUle.
8th. A flurry of snow this morning. My cows have lain in the stable
every night for seven months.
9th. Cold, frosty morning. Sheals dragging in wheat in the orchard.
I oth. Sunday. Apple and forest trees look about as dry as any time in the
winter. Clarinda at ParishviUe. Other children at meeting. Gid. Abbott here.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 319
1 1 th. Sheals dragging with two yoke of steers. Clarinda came in stage.
Harmon gets a bushel of seed wheat of Mr. Mosher, $1.25.
1 2th. Pleasant. The girls are to-day over cleaning the meeting-house.
1 3th. Two peddlers here to dinner. People are setting many fires.
Smoke rises in various points.
I4di. Been sowing grass seed myself Mr. Bowles and his lady took
dinner and prayed with us, appear well. Dense smoke rises in the west. Cla
rinda at school at the viUage, other two girls on a visit at Dr. Laughhn's. Have
four horses, twenty-five old sheep and thirteen lambs.
1 5th. Mr. Johnson and A. Remington here for hay.
1 6th. All the hay in the country wiU be consumed this year. It is $30
at Buffalo and $25 at the lake. Corn $1 per bushel.
17th. Sunday, pleasant. ChUdren at meeting. Can just discern the
buds starting on the apple trees.
1 8th. Pleasant. Been to J. Peck's mill. E. Post is drawing logs on the
log way. E. Post and R. Post had 500 pounds of hay each.
19th. Had cowslips for dinner. The most springhke of any day season.
20th. Planting potatoes. Feed cows once a day on hay.
2 1st. Sowing peas. Took twenty- three pounds butter to Culver.
22d. Harmon took twenty-five bushels of potatoes to Mr. Dwinell.
Austin Kent has returned from Canada. Jewett Webb from Malone called on us.
23 d. Pleasant. Mr. Webb and myself been down to the other place.
Smoke rises in most all directions, people burning their brush, etc.
24th. Sunday, pleasant. Family all at meeting except myself. Why I
remain from meeting is I have no hat, poor excuse. The forest trees begin to
have a changed look though not yet green.
25th. A warm shower. J. Webb left for home. Women washing.
Sheals and myself planting corn.
26th. Peter Post had ten quarts of seed corn. Nathan Peck had five hundred
weight of hay. Women whitewashing the house.
27th. Some frost this morning. Have not fed the cows on hay to-day.
28th. Been surveying for Dr. Sprague, Asa DwineU and Zoraster Culver,
thirty-seven and one-half cents each. Bought of C. S. Chittenden a hat at
$4.00, to be paid in cord wood next winter at seventy-five cents per cord.
Boys ploughing at the other place. Chester Tupper and others set out for the
western country.
29th. Fine growing time.
30th. Clarinda and myself been after evans root and also fishing. Apple
trees are mostly in blow, and the forest trees have a beautiful green.
31st. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. been to meeting.
June I. Harmon gone to ParishviUe mUl, got a barrel of salt of Mr.
Brooks. Sam Abbott's two daughters here all night.
2d. The New York caravan of wild beasts passed this morning, exhibit
at the viUage this afternoon. Judge Fine of Ogdensburg here for cattle of Mr.
Short's settlers. Been with him this afternoon. Family aU but Mrs. R. off to
the show. 3d. Been with Judge Fine, took dinner at ParishviUe. Boys wash sheep.
Have collected four yoke of oxen and ten cows in CatharineviUe. I am offered
the Blair farm for $200.

320 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
4th. Judge Fine left for Ogdensburg. Crows pulhng my corn. Had
three and one-half bushels of ashes of Asa Kent for making soap at fourteen cents
per bushel. Think I will clear off my girdled land this season.
5th. Mrs. R. at the viUage. Harmon with team at Mr. WitheriU's.
Peter Post has four quarts of seed corn.
6th. Sheals at work for R. Post. Making shelves myself in the stoop.
Been to Or. Moon's.
7th. Sunday, all but myself at meeting. Crows pulling my corn.
8th. Boys throwing logs together on the meadow at the old place. Or.
Moon signs contract. Harmon assisting Mr. R. Post shear Mr. Kent's sheep.
9th. Asa Sheldon and Mr. Richardson's sons set out with Mr. Short's
cattle for DeKalb. I went as far as ParishviUe with them. Gave Mr. Sheldon
$3 for expense money.
I oth. Sheals hoeing for Mr. Kent. Women washing at the brook. Janet
Sheals here.
nth. Harmon takes wool to the machine with cart and oxen. Mrs. R.
rode with him to Noah Post's. D. Covey's two daughters here. Mr. Kent saw
a deer in my field.
13th. Harmon and his lady gone to Champin I. Reeve's; he is sick.
Been over to the viUage. The commissioner of highways is selhng road to make.
14th. No one gone to meeting. It is said the meeting-house is shut up
and will remain fastened until the dues for its buUding are paid.
15th. CoUin, Sheals, Harmon and myself with plough on the road.
1 6th. Finished work on road, nine and one-half days.
1 7th. Cool. Been after rolls. Women making candles.
1 8th. Clarinda spinning. Caught twenty-five mice to-day in mouse traps.
19th. Asa DwineU takes the S. Clark farm. Jesse Smith's two daughters
called awhile.
20th. Rained. Harmon and Sheals fishing.
2 1 St. Sunday, cool. The meeting-house remains shut. ChUdren all at
meeting, I expect, in the stone house.
22d. Continues cold, nothing grows. Women washing at brook.
23d. Commenced on my girdle land. There are about thirty acres of
it. I should hke well to clear and get it into grass.
24th. A peddler here with maps, charts, etc. Left a map of Vermont,
New Hampshire and Maine. A great meeting of the Universalists at the vil
lage. Stephen Meacham here aU night. Mary at her uncle's, Noah Post's.
Austin Kent paid me $2.50.
25th. Cutting trees in the ghdUng. I plan the faUing of the trees.
Mary and Clarinda spinning. The Universalists have a preacher from Utica.
Mrs. Laughlin, Mrs. Art. Kent and Mrs. Sprague here. Noah Post's infant
child is dead. Jonah Sanford and J. R. Norris here to-day.
26th. Harmon and wife at funeral of Mr. Post's chUd. Mr. WUliam
Sheals and myself at church meeting. Paid Mr. LaughUn $1 for postage on
paper, etc. Mr. SneU tempered a hoe for me. The assessors caUed and took
my assessment. 27th. Mrs. R.'s health is not good, neither is my own.
28th. Sunday, showery weather. Children at meeting.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 321
29th. Mr. Rider and Mr. CoUin came to work. Sheals is sick.
30th. Deacon Warner, Martin Blair and his brother here after land.
July I . Lucius Blair at work with the boys in the gu-dling.
2d. Rider offers to clear off ten acres of land for $120 and find his own
team, I to board him and team.
4th. Harmon off with the artillery company to Stockholm. Guns are
roaring to-day, can hear them.
5th. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. at meeting, sacrament day.
6th. BuUt a good pair of bars for Mr. Kent, expect the privilege of com
ing through them with hay from the other place.
7th. Boys grinding, making brooms, cutting wood at door. Colonel
Sanford here. I am pleased with his company.
8th. I seU Ezeldel Blair fifty acres of the lot he is on for $125 and take
part pay in labor.
9th. Ros. Laughlin taking census. The two Marys at D. Covey's.
loth. Mrs. Greene and Meribah here.
I Ith. Harmon and Sheals off at training. The artillery company meet
at the viUage. Been to viUage making school report.
1 2th. Sunday, all the family at meeting except Mrs. R. and Mary.
13 th. Been with the commissioner of highways as surveyor lining the road
from Phineas Durfey's to the Turnpike, all day, fee $2.50. [This is the north
and south road just west of Judge Sanford's. — Ed.] No corn at other place.
14th. Mrs. R. at Reuben Post's. Harmon after turnip plants. Com
menced making cheese yesterday. Reuben Post has a son born, all well. Samuel
Abbott here.
1 5th. Cutting axe helve timber. Nathan Peck, Mr. Witherell and J.
Moon grinding axes, etc. Jesse Moon had a pig at $1.50.
1 6th. Mary sat up with Mrs. Reuben Post last night. Girls to ParishviUe.
1 7th. My corn will not be half a crop.
1 8th. Corn will do well on new land when protected by the forests from
the southwest wind, but not if exposed. Sold a sheep to Mr. Lawrence, $3.50.
19th. Sunday, all the family at meeting except Mary. Mr. Taylor
preached. Many from out of town attended. Mr. and Mrs. Henry C.
Greene took tea with us. Ros. Sawyer from New York in town.
20th. All hands slashing east of the slash pasture.
23d. Asahel Kent has commenced haying.
24th. Ezekiel and his son Lucius slashing. Jesse Moon has worked with
ColUn and Sheals to-day.
2 5th. Mr. Blodgett and wife took dinner on their way to ParishviUe.
Sold a pig to Or. Wing for two days' work.
26th. Sunday, chUdren all at meeting. Mrs. R. quite sick to-day.
27th. CoUin got a scythe and snath at Brooks's store on my account.
28th. Commenced haying over the brook. Ox flies very plenty.
29th. Heavy shower. Harmon after rolls.
30th. Harmon seems to have but little concern on the farm. I expect he
is not very well.
31st. Mrs. R. at Mr. WithereU's ; they have a son.
August I . Harmon to mill at Parishville.
2d. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. at meeting.

322 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
3d. AU at haying. Darwin Brooks and his sister here.
4lh. Haying, commenced another stack.
5 th. Nathan Peck and Orlean, his son, at work. Grass is heavy around
the old house and barn on the other place. Ros. Eastman had some pork,
nineteen and one-half pounds.
6th. Drew three loads from the other place into the new barn. Colonel
J. Sanford's daughter, aged about eleven years, died yesterday ; has been unweU
for a year or more.
7th. ChUdren over at funeral at Judge Sanford's.
8th. Harmon at Mr. Lawrence's getting cart tire put on.
9th. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. at meeting. A family from New York
now occupy the house on the Buckingham farm in the viUage. Dr. Laughlin
has lately left Hopkinton for Ogdensburg, takes the place of the late Dr. Smith.
The inhabitants of Hopkinton are sorry to lose Dr. LaughUn. He is highly
respected as a physician and neighbor. [The Buckingham farm was Mechanic
lot number five. — Ed.]
loth. Mowed most of the day. I have not mown so much in a day
for twenty years.
I Ith. Have cut seven acres in two days ; got but a Uttie over three loads,
which we drew with two yoke of oxen.
1 2th. The calves have the consumption, two or three more will die.
1 3th. Fair. Art. Kent reaping wheat.
14th, Harmon at Noah Post's with timber for loom, soap to Mr. Hyde's.
1 5th. Have cut about fifteen acres this week, and nearly two loads of it
in the cock. Drew in seven, too costly getting hay.
16th. Powerfiil shower this morning.
17th. For seven or eight years we have cut our hay at the other place,
as we caU it. It has been generally a fatiguing job. I think I shaU do it no
longer. Cut now better than twenty acres, and have not fiUed one barn.
Drew two small loads into the barn at the other place and one home to-day.
1 8th. Very showery. Moses Kent and wife here to-day. Heard
Van Buren, Vice-President, has been past here ; saw the carriage it is said he
rode in, high honor.
19th. Sheals gone to Noah Post's for timber for loom. Harmon warning
men to training. Two more calves have died; fear I have salted them too freely.
20th. Drew four loads to the barn at the other place and one home.
2 1 St. Amanda Covey here this evening.
2 2d. Harmon over to village ; trainband company meet. Mrs. P. Post
here, good woman. Heard of an assault and battery in the vUlage. One
Cheney attacked C. S. Chittenden, damages $5.
23d. Sunday, aU at meeting except Mrs. R. and Clarinda. Mr. East
man discovered frost on his farm this morning. Mr. Bowles is at Vermont, no
preaching. 24th. Peddlers took dinner. Drew three loads into old barn.
25th. Mary and Clarinda spinning. Have now ten acres of grass to cut,
six of rye and two and one-half of wheat.
26th. Harmon gone to military driU. Rider reaping rye.
27th. Harmon returns from officers' drUI at Potsdam.
28th. Harmon is putting up the loom. Mr. Priest and Mr. Baldwin here.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 323
29th. Orange Moon came to work on J. Moon's account. Reaping wheat.
30th. Sunday. Mr. Bowles has not returned from Vermont, no preach
ing. Lucetta Abbott here after meeting. [This is Mrs. Lucetta Peck of Potsdam.]
31st. Reaping wheat in the orchard. Many farmers have not finished
haying. We now have green corn. If the frost holds off it may ripen yet.
Cautius C. and Mary Covey, Frederick Sprague and sister here.
September i. Drew two loads of hay into the old barn.
2d. Reaping wheat near new barn. The two Marys have gone to
David Covey's.
3d. Drew in seventy shocks of rye and thirty shocks of wheat.
4th. Corn doing well. Hope frost wUl hold off.
5th. Drew a load of wheat into the old barn. Let Rev. Charles Bowles
have twenty-five pounds of flour. Mrs.Jenne and old Mrs. Rasey here to-day.
6th. Sunday, men folks at meeting. Mr. Bowles preached. There is
some talk lately of dedicating the meeting-house. It wUl probably take place in
October. 7th. Harmon off at training. M. Kent had eight quarts of lime. Noah
Post here fixing the loom. Mary has commenced weaving.
8th. Mary H. thinks the loom wiU do weU.
9th. Baptist Association hold a meeting at the vUlage. Mr. Abbott and
David Covey's daughter here.
I oth. Trying to finish haying. The two Marys have one piece out from
the loom and are now putting in another. Martin and Meribah Greene and
others here to-day.
I Ith. Frost this morning. Think it wUl not damage the corn. Have a
full famUy these days. Mr. Zoraster Culver wiU buy one cheese.
izth. Clarinda at Samuel Abbott's. Martin Greene returns to Middle
bury College on Monday next.
13th. Sunday, all except Mrs. R. and myself at meeting.
14th. Man is naturally an indolent being, unless his ambition is aroused.
Too many of our young people think they can hve without or with less labor
than was requfred of their parents. Mr. Stanley, Mr. Webb, Mr. Young
and Mrs. Stanley here aU night.
I 5th. Mr. Stanley, Sheals, Clarinda and Janet gone to Potsdam. Harmon
over to Mr. Orin Andrews's raising house.
1 6th. Hewing timber for the wood house. Mr. Stanley left for home.
A Ught frost this morning.
17th. The two Marys at J. Smith's. Visit and receive visits these days.
Rev. Charles Bowles had eighteen pounds of pork and twenty-two pounds of
Indian meal. [WovUd think such a diet would produce vigorous preaching. — Ed.]
1 8th. Getting out timber.
1 9th. Harmon and Sheals mowing peas.
20th. Sunday, aU save Mrs. R. and myself at meeting. Mother Post
at Samuel Abbott's these days. Forest trees change theu- color and faUing leaves
are signs of the coming winter. May the autumn of the year remind us of the
autumn of Ufe when we must fade, droop and moulder away. I have observed
that there is a famUy m town from New York. They now occupy the house
Mr. Greene and Peter Post formerly did. Have bargained for the place. They
attend the Baptist meeting and ride in good style.

324 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
2 1 St. Rider and his two sons making shingles. Breaking greensward in
the south field, used three yoke of cattle. Held the plough myself
22d. Harmon's wife does the weaving these days, appears to be contented
to Uve with us and is a fine young woman. Mary Risdon is also a good girl,
industrious, has worked well this summer. Clarinda is rather loquacious. We
are in hopes that she wiU become less talkative as she grows older. [She cer
tainly did ; a more quiet, demure woman it would be hard to find. — Ed.]
24th. JuUus Peck framing my buUding.
25th. Mr. Rasey and Orange Moon assist on building.
26th. Raised the buUding. The rafters are too short.
27th. Sunday, family all at meeting.
28th. Cutting green corn to feed the hogs.
29th. A herd of ten horses break into my fields.
30th. Mr. Rider has made ten thousand shingles. Some flakes of snow.
October i . Harmon at training in Potsdam. Shingling the woodhouse.
2d. The last frost killed vegetation. The leaves begin to faU. J. Webb
returns from the west.
3d. Mr. Upham has moved into the Smith house.
4th. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. and WUham Sheals at meeting.
5th. Mary H. weaving at her mother's.
6th. Sheals' s eye is bad where it was cut. Mary is getting a web into
the loom for the first time. She wiU learn to weave.
7th. Harmon gone to mill. Mary weaving, complains of rotten yarn.
Colonel Sanford here, signed J. Leach's contract, which was made over to him.
8th. Building a stone ash house. Mr. Smith, my neighbor, brings hme.
At the kiln the price is one shiUing and six pence per bushel.
9th. Paring apples in the evening. S. Abbott called, all night.
loth. There is something pleasing in all the changing seasons. Even
the lonesome fall and melancholy winter give something to deUght.
1 1 th. Sunday, Harmon and wife, Mary and Sheals, at meeting. Mr.
Smith's family attend meeting steady. Mr. Green and his daughter, Lucretia,
his two sons, Henry and Rollin, called after meeting.
1 2th. Have dug one hundred and eighty bushels of potatoes to-day.
13th. Mr. Rider takes the black cow and pays me in shingles delivered
at John Hart's on the Turnpike.
14th. Peter Post cradhng my oats. Our meeting-house is to be dedi
cated at one o'clock this afternoon. All the famUy attend except Clarinda.
She and Janet have gone to Stockholm.
1 5th. Mrs. R. and two Marys gone to meeting.
1 6th. Paring apples these evenings. Feed cows on pumpkins.
1 7th. My corn did not get ripe, season too wet and cold.
1 8th. Sunday, chUdren all at meeting. Were I a poet think I would
write in the fall of the year.
1 9th. Husking corn in the shed. Gathering apples. Mrs. Naylor and
J. Simonds here.
2 2d. Joel Witherell left for his home in OrvUle, Vt.
23d. Finished drawing corn. H. Laughlin and lady here.
24th. R. Atwater here after a description of Short Tract. Harmon at
the clothier's for cloth.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 325
25th. Sunday, aU except Mrs. R. and myself at meeting.
26th. Mrs. Taylor had four pounds of pork. Girls at Noah Post's and
Mrs. Naylor' s in the evening.
28th. Finished the ash house.
29th. Have sold Deacon Aaron Warner a strip of land twenty rods in
width off the west side of my farm adjoining his for $ 1 60. Gideon Sprague
caUed on me.
3 1 St. Digging stone and making waU. Reuben Abbott here all night.
November i. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. at meeting. Received a letter
from Judge Fine, has sold the unsold land on the Short Tract.
2d. Election day. T. D. Witherell tells of having our butter and cheese.
Peddler here for the night.
3d. T. D. Witherell has one hundred and ninety-four pounds of cheese at
six cents pound, one hundred pounds butter at fifteen cents pound. Harmon and
wife at the Fort as we call it. Sheals watching with J. Simond's son.
4th. In Lawrence surveying. Steamed potatoes. Samuel Abbott here.
5th. Harmon and myself surveying in Lawrence for Isaiah Coohdge,
Morgan, Lewis and Merchant.
6th. David Brownell paid me $2 fee on land sale.
7th. Ehas Post raised his house to-day.
8th. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. to meeting.
9th. Settled with Abiel M. Hobart. Phineas Durfey here.
loth. Surveying for Esq. Allen north of Phineas Durfey's. A. DurreU
left $100 for Mr. Short.
nth. Stormy day. Writing for H. AUen, Esq.
1 2th. Stormy. Butchered a two-year-old. A. DurreU had a quarter
and Isaac Snell a quarter at four and one half cents pound. Sold the hide to
DurreU for $2.
13th. Ground covered with snow. Wrote Judge Fine, enclosing $100.
14th. Surveyed a farm for Esq. Allen taken by Phineas and Joseph Dur
fey south of Esq. Sanford's.
1 5th. Harmon and Sheals at meeting, no others.
1 6th. Harmon making cider. Been viewing land for Mr. AUen over the
river. Post and J. Sanford here in the evening.
17th. Orange Moon had six pounds seven ounces of pork.
19th. Young people gone to meeting at Mr. Smith's in evening. Mrs.
R. boUing cider for apple sauce.
20th. Rainy. Been to cedar swamp with Orange Moon. The two
Marys at Mr. Smith's. In the eve young people at R. Post's paring apples.
[By the two Marys is meant his daughter and his son Harmon's wife. He calls
die latter Mary H. — Ed.]
2 1st. Sealed a half bushel for S. Reeve. Putting up fence at the other
place. JuUus Peck raised a barn.
2 2d. Harmon, his wife and Sheals at meeting.
23 d. Cold, snows. Drive cattle from the other place. Sheldon, With
erell and Moon here.
24th. Cold, cloudy. Been out with my gun. Mr. Upham with me.
Travelled some distance. KiUed nothing. Mrs. Kent has a daughter born.
25th. Cold, boys thrashing corn, peas, etc., for mill.

326 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
26th. Harmon and WiUiam Sheals gone to ParishviUe. Paid Lyon $6
for dressing cloth.
27th. Sleds run pretty weU. BoUed potatoes for the hogs.
28th. Surveying for Darius Kent.
29th. Sunday, cold. Harmon and Sheals at meeting. Barney Moon's
wife is not expected to Uve, sent here for a piece of beef.
30th. E. Jenne and Mr. Smith grinding tools. Sheals getting a coat cut.
December i . Severe cold. Mrs. Naylor came from New York.
2d. Harmon gone to Potsdam with Mary. She expects to attend school
there this winter. Gave her $5 for expenses and an order on H. AUen for $5.
Mary wUl board with Miss Smith at $ 1 per week. The stage is on runners.
3d. Clear and cold. Doing chores.
4th. Wind and snow. EUas Post and Asahel Kent killing hogs.
5th. Blustering. Wrote R. Lenox, Esq., of New York. Sealed three
measures for Mr. Culver.
6th. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda gone to meeting in a sleigh. The
horses are our own and, I expect,the sleigh.
7th. Clarinda and WilUam Sheals commenced going to school at the vU
lage. Mr. Smith takes a yoke of steers. He can return them in June sound or
pay me $50.
9th. Caleb Wright, R. Thomas, wife and son here. Hear Peter Post's
Uttle girl is married to young Baldwin. Reuben Post gone on a journey west.
loth. Thanksgiving Day. Harmon and wife to meeting. David Covey,
Elias Post and wife here for supper. Mary H. watching with Mrs. Barney
Moon. Clarinda and Sheals at Reuben Post's while he is absent.
nth. Been to ParishviUe with sleigh and horses of our own. H. AUen,
Esq. , caUed.
1 2th. Am wintering four horses, seven cows, two pair of oxen, five two-
year-olds, eleven yearlings, three calves, thirty-six sheep, six shoats, geese, etc.
13th. Sunday, Rev. Charles Bowles's father preaches to-day. AU but
myself at meeting.
14th. Surveyed for Mr. Jenne. Sent papers to Judge Fine. Killed nine
hogs and a cow. Or. Moon, Mr. Bruce and Mr. Upham assisted.
1 6th. Very cold, Clarinda came home.
1 7th. Cold. Peddler put up for the night. Rev. Bowles had one hundred
pounds beef.
i8th. Peddler's biU 84 cents. Traded, viz., gown for Clarinda $1.05 ;
gown for Mary, $ z . 04 ; sUk and thread, .30; caUco, . 5 2 ; 2 spoons, . 70 ; 6 yards
shirting, .84; an almanac, .06; 44 pounds nails, $3. 30; leather, .58; total,$9.39.
Paid with his biU, $4.72; due him, $4.67, to be paid in lard and cheese. R.
Post returned from the west.
19th. Gave Mr. Sylvester some fresh meat. He is a poor man.
zoth. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. and myself at meeting. It is said
Asa Squire is sentenced to Ue in jaU three months and pay a fine of $75. Trial
at Canton last week. The Christians preach at Julius Peck's. Baptized to-day.
2 1 St. Miss Sylvester assisting the women, trying fat and taUow, and such
work as butchering leaves.
22d. Cold. Mr. Upham takes some meat for butchering.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 327
23d. Ground bare in spots. Henry Green says his mother is not so
well, inquu-ing for Mr. Dunton.
24th. Pleasant. Mr. Blodgett has eight pounds of tallow, paid $1.
25th. Paid the peddler the $4.67. Many buildings burned in New York
City. Had no papers this week.
26th. Sheals is unweU. Miss Sylvester left, worked one week, 75 cents.
27th. Sunday, Harmon and Sheals at meeting.
28th. Peddler called. Paid him $3 in money for 7 J^ yards cotton goods
at $ I ; 5 i/^ yards at $ I ; 3 yards at "js. 6d. ; dozen buttons 6 cents. Traded on
credit, calico 3 8 cents ; paper of pins 12^ cents ; J^ quire paper 12% cents ;
half box of percussion caps 3/. 6d. ; total on credit, $1.06 ; in the whole
$4.06. 29th. Six hundred and seventy-four buildings burned in New York,
mostly rich stores, loss of property estimated at $15,000,000, some say more.
30th. Been over to Mrs. Naylor' s. Sleighing not very good.
31st. Mrs. R. and Harmon gone to Parishville. Susan gone home.
Heard a boy in Potsdam has committed suicide by hanging. Clarinda and WU
ham Sheals gone to ParishviUe.
The Year 1836 — A new Sect called Christians — Death of John Hornby at
Potsdam — Mt. Risdon left Rupert, Vt., January 31, 1804, for Hopkinton —
Digs Hole through Snow fot Cattle to pass — The Christians hold Meeting
in Stone House — Geotge P. Fatrar dies March 5 — Nathan Peck, a
Pioneer, dies March 7 — Widow Hopkins and othets making Gtaveclothes
— Austin Kent licensed to Preach — Butial of Mts. Hitam Peck — Pigeons
in vast Numbers, shooting and ttapping them — A Plaintive Cry fot Spring
time — Daugbtet Mary matried to Asahel H. Chittenden Aptil 13 — A
sevete Wintet — Many Cattle die of Statvation — C. S. Chittenden loses a
Child — Sutveying fot George Parish — Women picking Wool — Death of
Mts. Barney Moon — Peter Post's Hogs sold — Ttaining at the Village
Septembet 5 — Does off a Room in Woodhouse — Shoemaket comes and
boots and shoes the Family — Att. Kent digging Potatoes with a Ctowbar
Novembet 4 — Sends Money in a Lettet — The Mt . Wheat Riot Suit —
The little Band in Stockholm claim to be able to raise the Dead — A
little History of the Band.
January I . Lucretia Green came with Clarinda and Sheals. Drawing
logs with chain to the door with two yoke of oxen.
2d. Did some writing for Mr. Harran, twelve and a half cents. A letter
from Mary, is weU.
3d. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. and myself at meeting. The sect caUed
Christians hold service at J. Peck's occasionally. Mr. Peck was lately baptized.
It is said others wiU be to-day.
4th. Sleighing is good. It is said that the boy that was supposed to have
hung himself in Potsdam lately was murdered. [This boy's name was John
Hornby. He was at work for or living with Timothy P. Nightingale at Pots
dam. There was, as I am told, some sort of an examination or inquest over his
death. He was a brother of the second wife of Reuben Abbott of- Hopkinton.]
5 th. Mr. and Mrs. Webb here. Do but Uttle besides chores.
6th. Surveyed a farm in MatUdavUle for Mr. Parish.
7th. Made out survey biUs. Harmon getting chains mended.

328 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
8th. No school. Sheals and Harmon getting wood to the door. Mr.
Culver had four bushels of ashes.
9th. Harmon and wife gone to Malone.
I oth. Sunday, snowing. No one to meeting. Waity Kent here.
I Ith. Mrs. R. and Clarinda washing. Mr. Smith after his gun.
1 2lh. Harmon returns from Malone, Mr. Webb with him.
13 th. Mr. Moon and Mr. Bruce thrashing. Harmon at ParishvUle.
1 5th. Sent a letter to the post office to G. Pratt. Mrs. R. quite unweU.
1 6th. Orange Moon and B. Bruce thrashing. It appears Mr. Smith and
his wife do not hve amicably with Mrs. Naylor, teU of leaving and moving in
with Mr. Rasey. [Mr. Rasey lived on road leading south from the RusseU
Witherell place and Orange Moon a little farther south now owned by Barney
ConUn. — Ed.]
17 th. Sunday, all the chUdren at meeting. Miss Meacham took tea.
Clarinda at Naylor' s in eve.
1 8th. Mr. Smith has left Mrs. Naylor and returned oxen he had of me.
1 9th. Sheals at school. Notified Mr. Stone that his grain is ready for him.
20th. Sheals and myself after cedar posts. Harmon at singing school.
2 1 St. Mr. Stone had fifty bushels of rye at five shUlings per bushel.
23d. My health is good, have labored for eight or nine days getting out
rails for the other place.
24th. Sunday, Harmon, wife and Sheals at meeting. Clarinda not weU.
25 th. Harmon and Sheals clean some wheat this evening.
26th. Harmon at mUl at East ViUage.
27th. Harmon and wife taking a sleigh ride, should be at work at the raUs.
28th. Mary returned from Potsdam Academy with Harmon and wife.
She is weU pleased with her school. G. P. Farrar has the consumption.
30th. Put hams in the smoke house. Mr. Shepard the schoolmaster
here. Mr. Moon and Mr. Bruce spUt 1,000 raUs for $7.50.
31st. Sunday, all except Mrs. R. and myself at meeting. Thirty-two
years to-day since I set out from Rupert, Vt., for Hopkinton, N. Y., twenty-
one years of age, young and healthy. I expected to remain here but one season
and then return to the Genesee country, where I had left my parents in the year
1800. Mr. Upham was taken sick at JuUus Peck's while at meeting. Nathan
Peck is unweU and has been for eight or nine months. Has been about, how
ever, untU lately.
February I. Harmon gone with Mary to Potsdam. Mr. Upham is no
better, cramps violently. Samuel Abbott lost a cow, bitten by a dog.
2d. Seldom colder, if ever. Do chores and sit by the fire.
3d. Harmon and Mary been to see Mr. Upham. Mr. Kent home from
Canada. ChUdren at singing school. Have not earned my board to-day.
5th. Mrs. Smith says that our American winters are more severe than in
England. Harmon takes some Indian meal and flour to Noah Post's.
6th. Been to Mr. Ehas Post's. Mr. Upham is better. Nathan Peck
is confined to his house.
7 th. Sunday, all the chUdren at meeting. Erasmus D. Brooks and sister
here. AU at singing school. Mr. Laughhn teaches.
8th. Mr. Phelps has been sick for some time.
9th. Snow drifts into heaps, tedious day.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 329
I oth. My watering places fiU with snow, difficult for cattle to get water.
1 1 th. Dug a hole through the snow on the hill for the cattle to pass for
water. Mrs. R. at her mother's this afternoon.
1 2th. Harmon and wife to ParishvUle with sleigh.
13th. The Indians caU February the " snow moon," meaning that more
snow falls in that month than in any other. We are buried in snow.
1 4th. Sunday, all the chUdren at meeting and at singing school in the
evening. Mrs. R. quite unwell.
15th. Gave a poor man with a broken arm three pounds of pork.
1 6th. John S. Roburds has the D. MerriU lot, provided he pays $5 on
it before March 10.
17th. Reuben Post at Norfolk. Harmon thrashing wheat.
1 8th. It is feared Mr. Peck will not live long, wastes away. Mr.
Phelps and Mrs. Moon are dangerously sick. ChUdren at spelling school at
East ViUage. 19th. Mathias, who figured at Sing Sing, etc., has, I beheve, passed
through town lately. Mr. Post here, read Mr. Webster's speech in answer to
J. Q. Adams on the Appropriation BUI.
2 1 St. Sunday, all the chUdren at meeting. The sect called Christians
hold a meeting in the stone house in our viUage to-day. Austin Kent preached
this afternoon. ChUdren at singing school.
22d. Peddler here for the night. G. P. Farrar is failing.
23d. Widow Peck is dangerously sick, also old Mr. Day.
26th. All at singing school this eve. Received a letter from my people.
27th. Mr. Hyde and wife called. The papers state that the snow is
four or five feet deep in Oneida County, and also in the eastern states. The
snow here is about two feet. Hay is $20 per ton in Vermont.
28th. Sunday, children all at meeting.
29th. Clear and cold. Colonel Jonah Sanford here.
March I. Moderate. Been over to town meeting.
4th. Clarinda and Sheals gone with sleigh to Stockholm.
5th. George P. Farrar is dead. Harmon gone to ParishviUe mUl. The
last day of the village school.
6th. Sunday, cold and very blustering. I hear the doctors meet to-day
to take off Mrs. Moon's leg. I hear R. H. Laughhn is sick, had a fit.
7th. Dr. Smith is doctoring our colt. Mr. and Mrs. Blodgett called on
their way to ParishvUle. Mrs. Green is no better. Mr. Farrar was buried to
day. Nathan Peck died at evening. Mr. Peck was one of the first settlers of
this town, a member of the Congregational Church, about fifty years of age.
8th. Widow Hopkins here assisting to make a grave robe for Nathan Peck.
Harmon and Sheals with teams breaking roads to Mrs. Peck's, fear difficulty in
getting down with the corpse.
9th. All the famUy except myself at the funeral of Mr. Peck. Mother
Post came to-day.
10th. Aunt Charlotte here. Mr. Roburds takes the D. Merritt farm.
1 1 th. Mrs. R. returns in the stage, says Mrs. Green is more comfortable.
1 2th. Mary H. watched with her mother's babe last night. A person
passed without coat, vest or hat, singing merrily. It is said he was crazy, and I
should say he was. Austin Kent has license to preach.

330 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 3th. Sunday, chUdren all at meeting. R. Abbott with them and at
singing school in evening.
14th. Reuben Abbott is around again, has a lame hand.
1 5th. My hay is nearly gone in my barns, not over two tons. Have
two stacks in the east field. Winter so severe we could not feed at the stacks.
1 6th. Harmon, his wife and Clarinda go to Potsdam after Mary. Gave
him order on G. Parish $5, and on H. AUen, Esq., $10.40. He paid Mrs. Smith
$15 in the whole for Mary's board fifteen weeks, tuition $6, other necessaries $3.
Widow Peck is dead. Rev. Bowles here, paid him in pork $ i for Harmon on
signment for ministerial labor. Have paid him in aU $19. He had to-day
thirty-six pounds of pork and $3 in money.
17th. Mr. and Mrs. Stanley here from Malone. Hiram Peck's widow
buried to-morow. [She was the mother of Hiram H. and Comer M, Peck of
Potsdam. — Ed.]
1 8th. Mary H. and Mary at R. Post's.
19th. Snow deep, difficulty in getting hay from stack.
20th. Sunday, children at meeting. Mother Post here. Elder Pratt
preached, a Baptist minister.
2 1 St. Finished drawing wood to the door. Had four months' sleighing.
2 2d. Samuel Abbott's chUdren here all night. Hay is $15 per ton.
23d. Mother Post gone to Reuben Post's. Mr. Blodgett of Stockholm
is moving to ParishvUle.
24th. Mrs. Rasey has a daughter born. Mary H. and Mary there.
25th. AU at work getting wood to the vUlage. There are 1,738,500
acres of land in this county.
26th. Sheals taken ten and one-half bushels of wheat to Parishville mill.
Harmon takes the girls with sleigh to Mr. Hyde's. Drew a log to I. R. Hop
kins's mill and the girls home.
27th. Sunday, all but Clarinda and myself at meeting. No signs of sugar
weather. The snow is two feet in the woods.
Cold, windy weather. My health is not good. The winters in this lati
tude are too severe for my constitution. For nearly four months the earth has
been hard frozen and covered with snow. Deep snows and the piercing cold
and cold, chUly winds confine me to the house.
A Cry for Spring.
Oh ! when will the spring return ? Oh ! return and once more cheer
this sad heart. Oh ! welcome ye soft southern gales and warm solar rays. Oh !
hasten. Bring with thee gentle showers. Dissolve the snow. Free the ice-
fettered earth, that again the woodman's axe, the teamster's hollow voice, the
lowing herds and the bleating flocks shall echo in praise the coming spring.
That again the redbreast, oh ! sweet bird return. Return with thy train of
summer birds and grace once more with cheering songs thy long-absent bowers,
that again all nature shall smile from winter's universal gloom, the landscape be
come adorned with her thousand shades of vivifying green, that man may go
forth, wandering over his long-hidden fields with delightfiil and heartfelt affec
tions raised to that Almighty Being who is the source of all the beauty and sub-
Umity in nature. But oh ! thou God of aU goodness, forgive, suffer not thy puny

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 331
creature man to arraign Thy wisdom, which shines so conspicuously in the
changing seasons with equal grandeur in winter as in summer.
z8th. Borrowed Mr. Brush's three-inch auger, also Deacon Moon's saw.
zgth. Hooping sap tubs. Women making candles.
31st. Pleasant day. Rider and Bruce cutting wood at the door. Mr.
Harberson, the peddler, here, traded nearly $7, paid $3. Tapping the sugar
bush. AprU I. Pleasant. E. Post has a yoke of my four-year-old steers to use
for their keeping tiU his spring's work is done.
zd. Robins sing this morning. Sleighing is mostly over for this season.
3d. Sunday, pleasant, wet under foot. Harmon and Sheals at meeting.
4th. Get a hive of bees of widow Sheldon. Saw two deer in the east field.
Put the oven wood into woodhouse.
5th. Pigeons are about. Set fires in the east field. Take hides to A.
Durrell. Eldred Baker here to-day. Made twenty pounds of sugar.
[In early days there were vast numbers of pigeons in these parts. They
came from the south in the last of April and first of May and remained tiU not
late in the fall. Many elderly people teU me of seeing them flying in such mul
titudes as to actually shut out the hght of the sun to a perceptible extent. They
were kiUed in large numbers by the settlers. When grain was ripening and after
harvesting, they would come to such fields in flocks of many thousands, first
alighting in near-by trees. The hunter would creep upon them from behind a
fence or bush and when ready cry out and just as they rose fire his gun filled
with shot. My father, Jonah Sanford, told me of killing eighteen at one dis
charge in this way. Edward B. Gray, very nearly eighty years of age, tells me
that he often killed ten or a dozen at a single firing when flying. His favorite
method of getting them, however, was to catch them in a net. This he did by
harrowing a piece of ground say ten by twenty feet, making it very level and
sowing wheat thickly upon the surface. Close to one end he made a hiding
place for himself with evergreens or bushes. At the other end stakes were driven
into the ground to hold one end of the net. The net had side pieces of heavy
wood, two or three feet in length to hold it down when pulled out and so it
wotUd fold up over by the stakes. To the near end of the net was attached a
cord, and when the ground was covered with pigeons he gave a lusty pull, straight
ening out the net and covering the pigeons. Many would be too quick for him,
and yet he often caught as many as fifty at a time. Their roosting and breeding
places were a little back in the edge of the main forest, oftentimes covering many
acres. Some hunters would find these and when the young pigeons were full
grown, though yet unable to fly, feU the trees and thus capture hundreds of them.
After some years they began to grow less in numbers, and about forty years ago
they ceased to come. There were a few when I was a boy, but I have not seen
or heard of one in many years. Why they quit coming or what has become of them
is more than I can tell. No one thinlts they were killed off or that they quit
through fear of the hunter, as they were simple and not easily frightened. — Ed.]
AprU 7. Surveying for I. R. Hopkins. Miss Putman and others here.
8th. Sap runs well. Men at sugar place. Stage on wheels.
9th. Summer birds are singing. Hay $10 per ton.
loth. Sunday, stormy, no one at meeting. Mr. Bruce has twelve and
one-half cents to buy spirits for his sick wife. Perhaps her case requires it

332 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
nth. E. Phelps wants assistance in drawing barn. Harmon goes with
his team. Stage on runners. C. S. Chittenden loses some sheep from the
cold. Clarinda feels poorly, says but little.
13th. Dr. Brooks's two daughters here yesterday. Gave our eldest
daughter, Mary, in marriage to Asahel H. Chittenden, son of Solomon Chitten
den. Married by the Rev. Joel Green of ParishviUe. All parties agree. All
amicable as far as we know.
14th. Sleigh runs weU. Young people take a ride. Paid A. Sheldon
thirty-four cents on school biU. Austin Kent preaches in Massena.
15th. Mrs. R. and Clarinda go to Mr. B. Moon's. Samuel Eastman
and his son's wife, Susan, here. Sealed three measures for him and one for
Mr. Bowles ; all took dinner.
1 6th. Stage on runners and at fiiU speed. Hay very scarce. Some have
not even any straw left. Corn seUs for $ i ; rye, seventy-five cents ; oats, forty-
two cents. Many cattle must die and are dying for want of food. It is said
the present winter exceeds the hard winter of 1780 in severity. TheNewburg
Gazette, Orange County, says hundreds of cattle are dying for want of fodder,
and that the average depth of snow and ice is now and has been for one him-
dred and twenty-one days about three feet over the whole county. A Boston
paper says there is ice in the streets formed from the snow that fell November 3,
more than four months ago, and good sleighing more than a third of a year.
17 th. Dr. Sprague passed in his cutter. No one at meeting. No preach
ing. Snow is off in spots.
1 8th. Mr. Rasey is not expected to live. Asahel takes Mary to his father's.
19th. Mary H. gone to Parishville in stage, Clarinda to the viUage.
Should be pleased to learn Mary's feelings on leaving her father's house.
20th. I drank cold water with my breakfast. I am firmly persuaded that
pure water is the most natural and most healthful drink. I am fond of tea.
2 1 St. Drove young cattle to the other place. Meribah Greene here.
2 2d. Wind and snow. Our seasons are very fluctuating. I have known
years when cattle could get sufficient feed in the last days of April. Last season
I fed hay to my cattle to the last days of May. Hear that C. S. Chittenden's
youngest child is dead, about one year of age. We have a book, "The Young
Man's Guide." I wish all our young people could read it.
23d. Asahel after Mary H. to assist in preparations of funeral of C. S.
Chittenden's chUd. He says that Mary is contented, and that his people are
pleased with her, which also pleases us. Snows merrily.
24th. We are having a Siberian spring on the back of a Siberian winter.
25th. E. Post returns the oxen, has no hay to feed them.
26th. Have two tons of hay here and half a ton at the other place yet
left. Austin Kent is very sick at Massena.
28th. Made fence on Hopkins's land ; also on Deacon Warner's.
29th. Clarinda is with Mary. Asahel has gone to New York.
30th. Surveyed for Mr. Chittenden; fee $1.00.
May I. Sunday, children aU at meeting.
8th. Surveying last week at ParishviUe for Mr. Parish. Surveying this
week for Mr. Parish at $2 per day and board.
14th. Surveyed for Mr. Parish by order of J. A. Sawyer. The fires
raged on Wednesday last. Mr. Warner lost his barn, wagon, harness, etc.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 333
I 5 th. Currant bushes are leafing. Forest trees show a change of color.
1 6th. Growing time. Sowed four bushels of wheat at the other place.
1 8th. Set out for ParishviUe in the stage. Surveying for Mr. Parish. J.
A. Sawyer, Mr. Parish's agent, paid me $20.
2 2d. Sunday, Mrs. R. and the children at meeting.
28th. Surveyed three days for Mr. Parish. The boys have chopped
logs in the hoUow and planted potatoes since I left.
29th. Sunday, the boys at meeting. James Squire preaches in the village.
30th. Had half bushel of seed corn from J. Remington.
31st. Planting corn. Mrs. Greene and Meribah, Mary and Asahel,
Colonel Jonah Sanford and wife here.
June I . Farmers complain of a little worm eating the corn. Ehphalet
Brush has ploughed his cornfield and sowed to wheat.
2d. Apple trees in blow. Leaves put forth fast.
3d. Clarinda came from ParishvUle. Darius Kent had two pigs at
seventy-five cents each.
5th. Sunday, pleasant day, children all at meeting.
6th. Harmon at training. R. Lawrence had two bushels of potatoes at
2s. 6d. per bushel.
7th. Shearing sheep. Susan picking wool with our women.
9th. Harmon and Mrs. R. gone to miU at Parishville. Barney Moon's
wife died yesterday.
loth. Slashing. Attended the funeral of Mrs. Moon.
I Ith. Sold the large oxen for $90.
1 2th. Sunday, all at meeting except Mrs. R. Asahel and Mary here.
1 8th. Have surveyed six days the past week for Mr. Parish.
23 d. Mr. Day from Genesee put up with us. Surveyed for Mr. Parish
near East ViUage. Mr. Naylor has come from New York.
26th. Sunday, all except women to meeting. Deacon Moon and Elder
Pratt took tea. Hear a man has been murdered on the Port Kent road.
27th. Been to ParishviUe. J. A. Sawyer paid me $10 on account.
Paid Hosea Brooks and Perkins for salt, $2.25.
July 2. Surveyed six days this week for Mr. Parish. Mr. Chamberlain
died to-day. Sheals after Susan SUvester to spin.
3d. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. to meeting. Rev. Bowles preached.
4th. Sheals and Clarinda and other young people gone to Potsdam.
5th. Surveyed for Henry Moon. Rider and Bruce take a job of clear
ing twelve acres fit for plough or drag for $90.
6th. Surveying for Mr. Short. Sent Judge Fine $42 in a letter.
7th. I. R. Hopkins returns from the west.
9th. Handed Asahel $5 for Mary. Mrs. Roburds and Mrs. Bruce here.
I oth. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. and John Sheals at meeting.
1 2th. John Roburds assists me surveying. Paid him seven pounds in
pork. Paid peddler for Mrs. R. and Clarinda, J4.59.
13 th. Harmon and wife gone to Malone. Surveymg for D. Kent.
1 5th. Mr. Rasey wants to sell me his farm. Jesse Moon caught a bear.
1 6th. Boys shooting squirrels. Mr. Green's boy shere. Harmon returns.
1 8 th. Commenced haying. Settled with Mr. Bendey, a peddler ; owe
him $4.47. Orange Wing had a pig at $1.

334 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
24th. Sunday, rainy. Mrs. R. has not risen, is unweU.
25th. Mr. Seeley took assessment. Mowing at other place.
27th. Solomon Chittenden and lady here to-day. Clarinda gone to
Potsdam. Had rather she had remained at home.
29th. Asahel and Mary took tea with us. Boys killing a calf.
30th. Surveying for R. Kent and selling land to James Smith.
3 1 St. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. to meeting. Mr. Bowles preached.
August I. Sealed three measures for J. P. Roburds, 3/. dd. Sent Judge
Fine $56 enclosed^in a letter.
2d. Peter Post and his John with us.
4th. P. Durfey here. Great speculation in the lead ore mine at Rossie.
6th. Casting land for Mr. Parish. Walked from ParishvUle home.
7th. Sunday, all at meeting but Mrs. R. and myself.
8th. Asahel here. Sold as constable Peter Post's three hogs which are on
my premises. Bid them off at $8. They are now mine lawfuUy. Mrs. Post
can have them, however, by paying me the $8. They are worth $10.
9th. Making map of the Short Tract for the assessors.
13th. Surveyed three days for Mr. Parish at Parishville.
15th. Assisting the assessors. Peter Post paid me $5, redeeming hogs.
20th. Surveyed four days this week for Mr. Parish.
27th. Surveyed five days this week for Mr. Parish. James A. Sawyer
paid me $35 on account. Had a frost the week past.
31st. Sheals and Rider's boys making brooms. Maria Abbott here.
Boys reaping wheat.
September i . Have now twelve in the family. Set two tables for break
fast, dinner and supper.
2d. Ate breakfast at sunrise. Post cradling oats and Harmon reaping.
4th. Sunday, aU but Mrs. R. at meeting. Sacrament day. Rev.
Bowles officiated.
5 th. Training at the vUlage. Have not attended before in fifteen years.
6th. Hard frost. Finished reaping wheat. R. Abbott here.
7th. The frost on the 6th was severe. Corn is mostly destroyed.
8th. Rider and Bruce wish to give up their job. I allow them to do so
and pay them $37 for what they have done.
1 4th. Harmon and Sheals off training at Potsdam. Reaping and logging.
1 8th. Sunday, aU the family at meeting. Mr. Pettibone preached.
24th. Surveyed six days this week for Mr. Parish.
26th. Harmon gone to Montreal with Chittenden's cattle. C. S.
Chittenden takes a pair of three-year-old steers at $50. Paid $25 on biU for
Mary's furniture.
29th. Rode in stage to ParishviUe in morning.
October i. Received of James A. Sawyer $5 for surveying for Mr.
Parish. Paid W. Dewey $5 for boots. [Mr. Sawyer was Mr. George
Parish's local agent at this time. — Ed.]
zd. Sunday, Sheals at meeting. Harmon returned from Montreal.
8th. Surveyed six days this week for Mr. Parish. Received of F.
Parker $ 1 5 to apply on the Blair farm. Cold. Boys digging potatoes.
9th. Sunday, children at meeting at ParishvUle.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 335
13 th. Finished digging potatoes. Ground covered with snow. Mary
sick. Mrs. Rasey weaving.
14th. Showery. Husking corn. Went out with my gun.
15 th. A gentleman from Ogdensburg here viewing die Short Tract. Been
out with him. He paid me $1.
1 6th. Sunday, boys at meeting.
1 8th. Boys digging potatoes for Reuben Post. Mrs. Rasey weaving.
20th. Mrs. Naylor had ten and one-half pounds of pork. Witherell had
one and one-half pounds of butter. D. Meacham here. Some snow.
2 2d. Have put into cellar one hundred and fifty bushels of turnips.
23 d. Children at meeting. Miss Meacham here.
24th. Sheals and I have worked for Reuben Post.
25th. Miss Witherell came to weave. Paid Miss Meacham seventy-five
cents for her work. Mr. Jones here making boots.
26th. Boys thrashing for mUl. Received some deeds from Judge Fine.
27th. I am doing off a room in my woodhouse, may Uve in it. Mary
Chittenden here to-day.
28th. Mr. Jones has made Harmon, Sheals and John each a pah of
oarse boots and Harmon and Clarinda each a pair of shoes. His biU $4.75,
cor which I receipted on his land account. Paid Aaron Warner $42.82 for
ftwenty-four sheep. Took twelve sheep of Mr. Butler for four years. These
are the same though doubled. Deacon Warner bought the bUl I gave Mr. But
ler. Strive not for riches. They are often left to thankless heirs.
29th. Orange Wing had fourteen pounds of pork. The ground is hard
frozen. Many potatoes are yet in the ground.
30th. AU at meeting but Mrs. R. and myself. Mr. Burnap preached.
31st. Reuben Post at work on house. Harmon at mill.
November I . Received three letters from Judge Fine.
2d. Had clapboards of J. Peck, $3.01. Gave A. Jenne $1 to get lime.
3d. WUham, John Sheals and myself dug turnips for Reuben Post.
4th. Art. Kent digging potatoes with a crowbar.
6th. Sunday, Mr. Taylor preached. Mr. WithereU brings six bushels of
¦Ume from MatUdaviUe [Colton].
8th. Second day of election. Building and bedroom back of woodhouse.
9th. Afternoon aU at election.
1 2th. Lathing the new buUding. W. G. Richardson paid for deed.
1 3th. Sunday, aU at meeting save Mrs. R. and myself. Darius Kent
took his deed in the evening. Paid to a peddler $10 for ten yards of comblet,
eight and one-half yards green flannel. Old Mrs. Fisk is sick.
1 6th. Many potatoes frozen in the ground. Plastering new buUding.
1 9th. Benjamin Sanford here for land.
zoth. Sunday, children all at meeting.
2 1 St. Harmon assisting EUas Post kUl hogs.
2zd. Lathed the bedroom. R. Hayden pays $25 on land. Mary has
finished my cloak, cost $12.
23 d. R. Post has buUt the chimney in my buUding.
24th. Surveyed for J. TrusseU.
26th. Stage on runners. R. Witherell had two pounds of butter.
27th. Sunday, all at meeting. Mr. Wheat put up for the night.

336 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
28th. Harmon moving the Murrays into a log hut on the Turnpike.
Clarinda commences school.
29th. Sent Judge Fine $35 by letter. Court at the village. The plaintiff
is Wheat. Wheat was made to ride a rail. Paid Julius Peck $2.10 for forty-
two lights window sash.
30th. Great doings at the viUage. The riot suit is stUl going on. Asa
Sheldon pays $44.88 on land. [Mr. Wheat, I am told, was a peddler and
very unpopular. The young men rode him on a rail for some reason and were
arrested and tried for a riot. I hear Judge Sanford prosecuted. — Ed.]
December i . John commenced school. Clarinda boards with her sister
Mary. Mary is unwell.
5 th. Received six deeds from Judge Fine. Bought eleven sheep from
Peter Post for $ 1 8 . 5 o. Reuben Post pays six and one-fourth cents to Bible Society.
7th. Mrs. Fisk died last evening, a good old lady.
8th. Mary H. at Mr. Fisk's making graveclothes. Reuben Post had auc
tion to-day. 9th. Attended funeral of Mrs. Fisk. Paid A. H. Chittenden my tax.
I Ith. All but John Sheals and myself at meeting.
13 th. It is said that there are some people in Stockholm who claim they
can and who are trying to raise the dead. I have a shop stove of C. S. Chit
tenden to use awhile.
[I learn from several elderly people that there were quite a number of per
sons who associated themselves into a sect or reUgious body and styled them
selves " The Little Band." The leaders in the movement, as I learn from
Emanuel Steenberge, now eighty-seven years of age, who met with them now
and then though he never joined them, were Ebenezer Hulburd, the pioneer, his
sons Juhus, Calvin, Ebenezer (his sons Hiram and Harmon did not join), and
daughters Clarissa, Lucina and Mary ; Colonel U. H. Orvis of Massena ;
Isaac Tilden, wife and several children ; Butler Hubbard of Lawrence ; Rev.
Austin Kent and Waity Kent and many others. Many of these were mem
bers of the Congregational Church at East Stockholm and felt and beUeved that
their church was not Uving up to its high calling as a Bible teacher and Christian-
izer and so left and formed this Band. They often met for Bible reading,
prayer and teaching at the home of Ebenezer Hulburd and also in the homes of
other members. At one time, as I am told by several elderly people, they be
lieved and taught that they could raise the dead and actually made a prolonged
effort to do so in the cemetery grounds over the body of a young girl. The so
ciety held together with gently vanishing fortunes, for some twenty years, as I
am advised. — Ed.]
14th. J. P. Roburds and R. Squire came to plaster room.
15th. Thanksgiving Day. Paid Peter Post $13 for the sheep I bought.
17th. KiUed a beef A. DurreU had one hundred and forty pounds at
four cents and the hide eighty pounds at five cents.
1 8th. Sunday, chUdren at meeting in sleigh.
22d. Sealed a half bushel for Orin Andrews.
23 d. The rioters are cleared. Women making candles.
25th. Sunday, children at meeting in wagon.
28th. KUled four hogs. EUas Post and Upham assisted.
29th. Meribah Greene here now.

. EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 337
The Year 1837 — Sends to Vermont for a Cook Stove — Mt. Blaisdell brought
it and it cost $26 — Mt. Wilkinson, the Tailot, cuts Coats and Pants —
Eli Robutds (Robetts), a Pioneet, dies suddenly — A man deeply in debt
loses his Independence — Running Hotses — Death of Mts. Henty C.
Gteene — Visits Old Camp, a Tender Tribute — Death of David Covey,
October 22 — Hatmon takes Mrs. Tatney and three Children to Poothouse
— Rev. Montague engaged — Hunting Wolves — The Pattiot Wat in
Canada.
January i . Sunday, all at meeting but John and myself. Paid R. Lenox
tax, $8. He wiU pay T. HaU & Co. $4 for the Spectator for me.
3d. Drew deed to Aaron Warner of lot I sold him.
5th. Boys cutting and drawing wood. Mr. Young here from Vermont.
Been to Jenne's and Roburds's to get contract signed.
7th. Been to Deacon Hobart's myself. Harmon to ParishvUle.
8th. Sunday, Harmon, wife and cousins at meeting.
nth. Seth Putnam paid $24.52 on land. Benjamin Sanford paid me
$2 fee on sale of land.
1 2th. Harmon gone to Ogdensburg.
14th. Sent to Mr. Brown by Sheals one doUar for the Bible Society,
also the six and one-quarter cents paid me by R. Post.
1 6th. Sent to Vermont for a cook stove. Owe R. Lawrence $1.13
for shoeing horses.
2 2d. Sunday, have six inches of snow. ChUdren at meeting.
28 th. All hands cutting and getting wood to the door.
29th. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. and myself at meeting.
3 1 St. We are all sick to-day. Mr. BlaisdeU has brought the stove. It
has every appearance of a good one. Paid him $26. Sold Mr. Selleck twenty
bushels of oats for $10.
February i. W. M. Gould paid me for WUham Short $25.
2d. Paid Isaac SneU $1.93 to balance all accounts.
4th. Reuben Post has my oxen to go to ParishvUle.
5th. Sunday, children at Mr. M.'s funeral.
6th. Sold the Dow farm on the Turnpike to Rufiis Greene for $113.16.
Paid Phineas Durfey fifty cents for seed corn.
7th. Mother and Charlotte Post here.
8th. Sent to Judge Fine $50 by letter.
9th. Mr. Wilkinson here, cut two coats and a pair of pantaloons. He
had two pounds of lard, twenty-five cents.
loth. A. Remington paid balance on his land, $38. Mrs. Rasey has a
cloak of Mrs. Risdon.
nth. Harmon and Sheals take twenty bushels of oats to seU it at
ParishviUe. 1 2th. Sunday, children at meeting. Asahel and Mary here in eve.
14th. Wheat is $2 per bushel, corn $1.50, rye $l.i2j^, oats fifty cents.
I 5th. Mr. Wilkinson has one hundred and twenty-seven pounds of beef
at four cents. Made a map for Mrs. Naylor, fifty cents.
1 6th. Had of Mrs. Naylor one hundred and thhty-four pounds stove
pipe, twenty-five cents per pound.
1 7th. Storm continues with unabated violence. Snow is deep.
1 8th. People are aU breaking roads.

338 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
19th. Sunday, children at meeting.
20th. Jasper Brownell pays $33 on Mr. Short's account.
2 1 St. Received of Mr. Moffit $50 on land contracted to Joseph Brownell
in 1827. He sold it to Mr. Wing, and Mr. Wing sold it to Mr. Norris, and
Mr. Norris to Mr. Moffit.
2 2d. Mrs. R. cleaning the new room.
23 d. Moved into our new room, that is, Mrs. R. and myself.
24th. Lodged in the new room last night for the first time, rather lonely.
Snow is deep, bad watering cattle.
z6th. Sunday, there was a severe storm in England the 25th and 26th.
28 th. Severe cold. Received two letters from Judge Fine.
March i. Smith and Murray thrashing. Mary and Asahel here.
3d. Cleaned up twenty-five bushels of wheat. Sold Mr. Johnson the
farm taken by Vaughan at $2.50 per acre. Murray had twelve pounds meal.
5th. Sunday, children at meeting save John.
7th. Town meeting day. Eli Roburds, one of the first settlers of this
town, feU and expired without a struggle.
9th. The famUy are aU at the funeral of Eli Roburds.
1 Ith. John Post at work for me cutting and pUing stove wood.
13 th. Sheals and John have been at school for better than three months.
1 6th. Mrs. R. at Ira Smith's in Stockholm.
20th. Drew oven wood. Snow eighteen inches.
2 2d. Sealed half bushel for Orin Andrews, twelve and one half cents.
24th. Drew sap tubs to the works.
26th. ChUdren at meeting in wagon. Clarinda returned with them.
No more school at present.
29th. Making sugar these days. I made broom in afternoon.
April I. Harmon painting the house.
2d. Sunday, children at meeting. Jane Peck is sick.
3d. H. Sheldon's wife died this morning.
4th. Harmon, wife and Clarinda at funeral of Mrs. Sheldon. Ingram
finished thrashing the wheat, thirty-eight bushels in all.
6th. Jane Peck died this morning. She was a promising girl of eighteen.
8 th. The family are at the fiineral of Jane Peck except myself.
loth. Sugaring. Sarah Sheals came from Ogdensburg.
13 th. Mary came, is quUting. Sheals, John and myself cut 200 rails.
1 6th. Sunday, children at meeting in wagon.
1 9th. Sealed four measures for Joe Gould. Harmon whitewashing.
2 1 St. Ground covered with snow. Have fourteen fine pigs. A man
deeply in debt has lost his independence.
22d. Harmon ploughing for E. Post.
23 d. Sunday, boys at meeting.
26th. Surveyed for Rufiis Greene, fee $1.25.
27th. Harmon and Mrs. R. to ParishvUle miU. Noah Post has two
bushels of wheat at $2 per bushel.
29th. Grass begins to show green in places. Gathered the sap tubs.
May 2. Took potash kettle to Asahel Kent.
5th. Thunder shower. E. and I. Squire had ten bushels of wheat.
Had a half bushel of grass seed of Mr. Corwin at $3 per bushel.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 339
9th. Some old snow in sight yet. Harmon surveying in Lawrence.
izth. Surveying for C. S. Chittenden. Paid T. H. Laughlin, P. M.,
$1 to be credited on postage account.
13th. Been to J. TrusseU's, paid me $4 for surveying.
14th. Sunday, pleasant. Been to meeting.
15th. Eldred Baker had one hundred pounds of pork at $15, also four
and one-half bushels of wheat $9.
1 6th. Hunger enters not the workingman's door.
1 7th. J. P. Roburds at work for me.
22d. Harmon at C. Thomas's, drawing building.
24th. Benjamin Bruce here. Planting potatoes.
28th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Taylor preached.
30th. Noah and EUas Post at work for me on bedroom and buttery.
Washed sheep.
June 3. Harran and his brother logging. Plastered the buttery.
5th. Jesse Moon paid $14 on land account. Shearing sheep.
8th. Women picking wool. Mrs. R. is an industrious woman.
1 Ith. Sunday, been to meeting. Pleasant day.
13 th. All hands at work on road, two yoke of oxen.
1 7th. Training day. No work to-day.
1 8 th. Sunday, all at meeting.
20th. Received a deed for Mr. Harran from Judge Fine.
22d. Harmon at East ViUage after rolls. Let Clarinda have 25 cents.
26th. Surveyed for Mr. Moffit, fee $1.25.
29th. Hoeing potatoes. Assessors here.
July I. John Post at Pierrepont. They are to run horses to-day, poor
business. Mrs. R. is at Mrs. SneU's who is sick.
3d. Lee Eastman had difficulty at the hiU. RosweU Eastman is sick.
4th. A. S. Harran paid $83 on land account. Orange Wing is feeble.
5th. Surveyed for W. Dewey, fee $1.50. P. Durfey and lady here.
7th. Surveyed for W. Eastman, fee $1. Sent Judge Fine $103 by letter.
9th. Sunday, all but Mrs. R. at meeting.
I oth. Sent a budget of contracts to Judge Fine by Colonel Sanford.
14th. Harmon shot at a deer. Making curb to the well.
1 7th. A. Parmelee preached a lecture.
1 8th. Harmon surveying for A. Parmelee.
2 2d. Harmon and I surveying for Mr. Howard.
23 d. Sunday, all at meeting.
Z4th. Attended court as witness at East ViUage. Have begun haying.
29th. Wrote to my Genesee people. Surveyed for Gaius Sheldon.
30th. Sunday. He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding.
August I. Very warm. Haying proceeds well. Keep clear from debt
and remain your own master. A man in debt is a slave to his creditors.
7th. It is thought Mrs. Greene wiU not live long. Mrs. R. is there.
1 2th. Hear that Mrs. Greene died this morning. Went into cedar
swamp, mosquitoes drove us out.
1 3th. The famUy are at the fiineral of Mrs. Greene. She was a cousin
of Mrs. R. and hved a near neighbor several years.

340 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
14th. Baldwin and Roburds haying at my other place. Those who Uve
by wit may faU for want of stock.
17th. I have performed the best day's work to-day in some time, have
raked hay. Heaven counteracts our plans for some greater purpose. Love
labor, exercise is the best medicine.
zoth. Sunday, all at meeting. Asahel and Mary here in the eve.
26th. Finished haying to-day. Settled with Benjamin Bruce.
27th. Sunday, all at meeting. A. Parmelee preached.
29th. Surveying for J. Roburds. Sent Judge Fine $56 by letter.
Harmon and Sheals at the miUtary drUl at Potsdam.
September I. Surveyed the Converse farm. Reaping wheat.
4th. Frost this morning. Training day, no one on the farm.
5th. Harmon gone to Parishville with cloth to clothiers. Boys reaping.
I bound some. Boys wiU reap for E. Post.
nth. Heavy rain. Gave Harmon a five-franc piece for 73 cents.
13 th. Boys all at training at Potsdam. Craddled Indian wheat. There
is no gloom in true religion, far from it. It gives Ufe, love and joy.
20th. Came from Canton, fere for myself and horse $1.50. Have as
little to do in law matters as possible.
24th. Sunday, children and myself at meeting.
30th. Been surveying the past week for Mr. Parish at $2 per day.
James A. Sawyer paid me $4 for Mr. Parish.
October i. Sunday, attended the funeral of Asahel Kent's youngest chUd.
Mr. Lawren preached.
2d. Circus exhibition at the viUage. Paid John Post twenty-five cents
and also Sarah Sheals for not drinking tea.
4th. Cold. Killed a deer, the first time since 1832.
6th. Digging potatoes. C. S. Chittenden takes six head cattle at $130.
8th. Sunday, Mr. Hunt, a peddler, here over the Sabbath.
9th. Bought the book in which I am writing of a peddler. Sent by
Asahel Chittenden, who goes to New York, for a rifle. Hard frost. Badly
hurt all corn not cut.
1 5th. Clarinda came to-day, been with Mary a few days past.
17th. Mrs. R. at Mr. Baldwin's. C. S. Chittenden takes a yoke of
oxen at $70. David Covey is sick.
19th. Received of Aaron Warner $19.20 in fuU for land.
2 2d. Harmon, Mrs. R. and myself at David Covey's. He died at
II A. ,M. while we were there.
23 d. Gathered two hundred bushels of turnips and three hundred
bushels of corn in the ear. Good yield for three and a half acres.
24th. Family at fimeral of David Covey. He married a sister of Mrs.
Risdon in Vermont, came to this county in 1804, and has been a resident of
this town nearly thirty years. He buried his father here in 1 8 n . Since then
he has buried his mother, his wife and two of his children. His son, Solon,
died of the smallpox in Orleans County last faU, aged twenty-seven.
28th. Plastering bedroom. Boys cutting stove wood. Asahel Chittenden
returns from New York.
29th. Sunday, widow Tatney and three chUdren here over Sabbath.
30th. Asahel Chittenden brings me a rifle; got it in Lansingburg for $15.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 341
3 ist. Harmon takes Mrs. Tatney and her three children to poorhouse.
November 3. Surveying for Mr. Short. Sheals and John with me.
BuUt a surveyor's shanty. Got some plank and boards of Jesse Moon.
7th. Drew some boards to my surveyor's shanty in the south woods.
loth. Surveying. Shot and wounded a deer.
12th. Sunday, young people at meeting. H. C. Green appears to be in
want of a wife, is hazing about. Visits Old Camp.
1 5th. Surveying for W. Short, Township fourteen, Hopkinton. Passed
the ruins of a hunting shanty buUt by Amasa Blanchard, Esq. , in the fall of 1 8 1 6.
I occupied the shanty with him on conditions that he should have a certain share
of the game caught in company. I also occupied the shanty for several years
after as the only proprietor and claimed the wilds around as my hunting ground
For ten years previous to this I had not visited my old habitation. I found the
roof fallen in and mostly mouldered away, the waUs of the buUding partiaUy fallen
and all covered with moss. Within the walls, among the remnants of the fallen
roof, the thistle and the brier had grown and seemed to hang their weeping heads
over the place where the hunter was wont to repose. In the yard and around
where the original forest trees had been cut away for fuel, the second growth of
timber, such as the poplar, birch and cherry, had grown to some height. AU
seemed pensive and lonely. A few partridges were quietly feeding on the little
ground berries that grew around. The raven croaked in upper air, the solemn
moan of the wind in the evergreen tops, the plaintive wild song of the jay as
she nimbly perched from tree to tree, the httle purling rill where we were wont
to go for water as it wound its course along, sometimes under ground, as if
modest and wishing to hide, chanted the same pleasing sound as of former times.
AU seemed to express a cordial welcome return and to whisper and say, " Why
so long absent?" Here, too, stood the old hollow birch in its majestic gran
deur, upon whose side a stroke from the axe would cause a sound to vibrate far
away through the wild woods and guide in the benighted hunter. Soon there
will be no trees, and every vestige of the hunter's camp wUl be obUterated. I
could hardly restrain the falling tear in this solitude. My friend Blanchard is no
more. Thou, Uke the works of thine hands, art also mouldering. How sweetly
thou slumberest in yonder graveyard. I have outUved old time and thee. I did
love thee, I love thee still. How pleasingly I am reminded !
17th. Been surveying the past few days, Sheals and John with me. O.
B. Moon has paid for his farm.
2 1 St. Great rain. Thrashing grain for mill. BoiUng cider.
24th. Corwin raised his house. Severe cold weather.
26th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Montague preached, who, we
expect, wiU continue with us awhile.
28th. John Post gone to Pierrepont. The probability is he wUl live with
us no longer. Clarinda at school, boards with her sister Mary.
29th. Been out with my gun, kiUed a deer.
30th. Thanksgiving Day, been to meeting. Mr. Montague wiU preach
to us for a year.

342 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
December 4. Surveyed for Albert and Hiram Sheldon. Judge Sanford
pays $50 on land account, and I send it, a fifty-doUar biU, to Judge Fine in a
letter. J. Roburds raised a log barn.
8th. Surveyed for Mr. Moffit, R. Newton and others. KUled nothing.
Sold land for W. Oliver.
nth. Hunting. Slept in shanty with five others. KUled nothing. Re
ceived three newspapers from my sister Charlotte.
1 6th. Stage on runners. G. C. Covey here.
1 8th. Been out with my gun. There seems to be a war in Canada.
Paid John Post $7, balance due him for work the past season. KiUed hogs.
2 1st. Harmon drives his eleven yearlings from the other place. He has
also fifteen calves. I winter at the old barn four cows, five steers and two horses.
2 2d. Yesterday the people were hunting wolves. To-day several are
after the hunters, who it is said have their feet and fingers frozen. They are
five miles south of here. The wolf is caught. Harmon and Sheals getting
wood for the minister. It is said that the wolf that was kiUed yesterday had de
stroyed fifty sheep lately.
26th. Mr. Wheelock cutting stove wood for me. It is said that one of
the wolf hunters who froze his feet will have to have his leg amputated.
30th. Been hunting three days in succession, saw but one deer and kiUed
it. Deer are more scarce than what they were once. Five seasons preceding
this I have hunted none.
3 1 St. Sunday, been to meeting, sacrament administered.
[The firing of guns which he heard was in what is known as the Patriot
War of 1 837-40. Many peop'e in the Canadian provinces, feehng aggrieved at
the way they were treated, sought to bring about certain reforms in the govern
ment. They went to that extent in their demands that they were arrested,
and in such numbers that they fiUed the prisons. Instead of pacifying them,
these wholesale arrests intensified and aggravated the discontent.
There were then as now a good many people on this side the river who
were looking for a pretext to invade Canada, some because it was an EngUsh
province, some for pillage and plunder, and others for the glory and honor
which foUow war. Many Canadians also fled to this side for safety and also to
enUst others in their cause.
The British steamboat "Sir Robert Peel" was boarded by these patriots.
May 30, 1838, while at the dock at Wells Island, in Jefferson County, and
burned. This act came near making a rupture between the two governments, but
was soon amicably arranged. The patriots from Syracuse, Oswego and other
villages came down the lake and river in November, 1838, on two schooners
with war munitions hidden from view in boxes. After a day or so of weak and
inefficient action without order or any plan of action, the schooners got over to
the Canadian shore and one of them stranded near the Wind MiU, a stone for
tress a mUe or so below Prescott, which they captured and hid themselves
within. The British stormed them in and about this MUl for five days and
nights. The patriots made a gallant and determined defence, and only sur
rendered when provisions and munitions had been consumed. There were fif
teen of the British killed and sixty-five wounded, and of the patriots I am un
able to ascertain. There were one hundred and fifty to sixty of the patriots
who surrendered November 13, 1838, and were taken to Kingston, Ont., for

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 343
trial. A very large part of them were sentenced to be hung. Those who
were not seem in every case to have been young men. However, only a few,
eight or ten, were actually hung. A few were released, quite a number par
doned and about fifty transported to Van Dieman's Land, where they suffered
incredible hardships and numbers of them died. After some years those who
had survived were also pardoned. In the hst of those who surrendered at least
nine-tenths of them are given residence in this state. Surely they should be
caUed patriots when nine Americans join one oppressed Canadian to help him
whip his government. Among those transports was John Thomas of Madrid,
a brother of the wife of Friend Warner of Hopkinton. He survived his imprison
ment and was a soldier again in our late CivU War. — Ed.]
The Year 1838 — Marriage of David Daggett and Meribah Greene — Mr. Wil
kinson Preaching — A Wolf Hunt — Wolves in Potsdam — Mr. Gray's Ex
perience — -Young People much engaged in Religion — Fate to Canton and
tetutn by Stage, $2.50 — Otange Wing dies Februaty 16 — Eliphalet Brush
joins Church — Doctor bleeds Mrs. Ri^on — Drew Barn on lower place to
south part of Farm — Goes to his Relatives in Ontario County — Account of
Trip — Mrs. Pliineas Durfey dies Septembet 27 — Goes hunting.
January i. Russell Kent came from the west with his family to Asahel
Kent's last evening.
zd. David Daggett was married this morning to Meribah Greene. [She
now resides with her daughter, Mrs. Vance, at Potsdam. — Ed.]
5th. Surveyed for Mr. Corwin. Orange Wing is not expected to Uve.
9th. Stage on wheels. A. Rasey here in the evening.
1 6th. Paid my tax to Roswell A. Eastman, $11.01. Also Colonel R.
Lenox's tax, $12.13. I subscribe $10 for one year for minister.
1 8th. Mr. Wilkinson here making me a frock coat and pantaloons. Mr.
Halsey, a minister, has preached here since the Circular Conference and appears
to have awakened some seriousness among the people.
22d. A wolf hunt and the wolf kUled near Champin I. Reeve's. Ira
Smith's two sons here. Have worked on my map of the Short Tract.
26th. Making another map for Judge Fine. Harmon has a fine daughter
born this morning, all well.
28th. Sunday, Mrs. R. and the chUdren at meeting in sleigh. Our
young people are much engaged in religion, assemble for prayers and conversa
tion on the subject most every evening.
31st. Clarinda had twenty cents. I am cited as juror at county court
at Canton. At work on map.
February 5. Gave a poor man his dinner and a sparerib. Finished Judge
Fine's map, fee $6. ReUgious meetings held often these days.
I oth. Went to Canton by stage on the 6th, fare there and return $2.50.
Expenses whUe there, $1.25. Received $4.50, cleared seventy-five cents.
nth. Sunday, J. Webb and wife here. ChUdren at meeting.
1 3th. Sheals, John and Sarah gone to Malone. Sealed a measure for
Nathaniel Baldwin.
1 6th. Sent $5 by John Sheals to Mr. Culver for Herald and credit.
Orange Wing is dead. He died of consumption supposed to have been brought
on by slashing in the summer of 1836.

344 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
23 d. Ros. Pettibone is in town. Aunt Charlotte here. Mary and our
little granddaughter came in to see us.
25 th. Sunday, chUdren at meeting. Mr. Montague is sick.
March 3. Cutting and drawing cedar raUs. SpUt 100 raUs myself
4th. Sunday, been to meeting.
5th. S. Abbott and his wife here in the evening.
6th. Town meeting day. Had twenty-two bushels of rye.
9th. Attended a lecture preparatory to sacrament.
I oth. M. Blair, with a thrashing machine, thrashed eighty shocks of
wheat for me.
nth. Sunday, sacrament administered, four joined the church, Eliphalet
Brush and three others.
1 2 th. Cleaned up fifty-six bushels of wheat for myself. Blair is thrash
ing Harmon's wheat.
13th. Mrs. R. has been at Asahel Chittenden's since Friday last.
Wolves in Early Times.
[Edward B. Gray of Potsdam was born in Dorset, Vt., May 30, 1818.
He is very nearly eighty-five years of age and hale and hearty. His father,
Edward Gray, was born at the same place in 1786 and settled in this town a
half mUe north of Crary Mills in 1822, some thirty rods north of the present
residence of Zorastus Brown and on the easterly side of the road. He buUt
him a log house there in the woods, and the rehc of the ceUar may stUl be seen.
Mr. Gray gives me this interesting story as a sample of the hardship of the
pioneers, and I do not need to ask any who know him to give it fuU credence.
In 1823 or 1824, when his father had cleared about seven acres around his
cabin, he felt that he must get some sheep to raise wool to make cloth. Ac
cordingly he obtained eight sheep of Mr. Thomas Conkey of Canton to double
in four years ; that is, to return sixteen sheep at the end of that time. He
buUt a pen or stockade near his house and into this he put the sheep. The very
first night the wolves got in and killed six of the sheep. The next day, think
ing to save the remaining two, he covered the yard or pen with poles, but a wolf
got in and kUled one of the two sheep. The next day, in utter despair, he kUIed
the remaining sheep. The deer were very plenty, coming into the clearing at
aU times, and the wolves did riot need the sheep, as is shown by the fact that
they did not eat them or even mutilate their bodies further than to chew their
throats and suck their blood. For several years after setthng there the howl of
the wolves was of almost nightly occurrence, and untU he got used to it he was
in boyish, mortal terror. And this was less than eighty years ago and within
eight miles of this village. — Ed.]
14th. Sheals and myself split three hundred and thirty raUs.
1 5th. Hear I have another grandchUd. Sheals goes to school.
1 6th. Want to see my grandchild very much.
1 7th. My grandchild, a healthy babe, is a daughter.
1 9th. Tapping sugar trees. The commissioner of schools has called on
me for $60 that I owe the town.
20th. Mrs. R. returns from Asahel's. Dr. Parker called.
23 d. Boys sugaring these days. The fields are bare of snow in spots.
25th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mrs. R. has a very sore eye.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 345
26th. Mr. Rider hewing timber for barn. Paid commissioner $34.
30th. Dr. Mason bled Mrs. R., appears some better. Janette is un
weU. She says she would like to get away from herself.
31st. Mrs. R. is better. Girls making pies, etc. Boys sugaring.
AprU I . Ground covered with snow. Made two hundred pounds sugar.
3d. James Blanchard commences work for me at $10 per month if he
earns it and less if I do not think he earns it. Pigeons in great flocks flying over.
4th. Surveying highway near I. R. Hopkins's mill.
6th. Harmon off somewhere. Blanchard sick.
I Ith. Old snow remains in woods and fence corners.
izth. Mary and our little granddaughter here. Sheals and I spht three
hundred fence caps.
14th. Blanchard at Orin Andrews's raising barn. Paid the tinker twelve
and one-half cents.
1 5 th. Sunday, children at meeting. The robins have been about and
sung a few tunes to us, but since the cold weather lately they are mute.
1 6th. Hewing timber. Seldom we have such cold weather in AprU.
17th. Julius Peck has come to frame the barn.
19th. Peck, Smith, Corwin, Harmon, Blanchard and Sheals gone over
framing barn.
20th. Sheals takes four bushels of wheat to ParishviUe mUl.
2 2d. Sunday, Harmon to meeting in wagon. The robins are again singing.
Z4th. Raised our new buUding. Have made 708 pounds of sugar.
26th. John Priest pays $19.20 on his land account.
28th. Paid Dr. Mason $1.50. Making fence at lower place.
zgth. Sunday, chUdren at meeting. Old snow in spots yet.
30th. Ground covered with snow. The birds sing even in the storm.
May I . Some difficulty in drawing the barn over the brook. Treat the
people with cake and cheese.
2d. Drew the barn at the lower place to the south part of the farm.
[Barn is stUI standing there. — Ed.] Chauncey D. Thomas had bushel of
wheat at $1.50.
3d. R. Abbott here. Fields begin to show green.
4th. Have only two tons of hay. H. Corwin gives up his land, and I
pay him back the $12.
6th. Sunday, Mrs. R. at meeting in wagon.
8th. Frosty morning. Boys at sawmUl. Women making soap.
1 2th. Reuben Abbott's father is planting corn. Trees dry as in winter.
13 th. Sunday, so cold in the meeting-house that I returned home.
15th. Washing seed wheat, sowed three acres of wheat.
17th. Blanchard not weU, moves slow. Mary here to-day.
1 9th. Been with Harriet Janet Sheals after cowshps. Mr. Emerson had
seven pounds of pork. Had six quarts of seed corn of Mr. Leach.
2 1 St. Received of Ansel S. Smith $12.89 ^°^ ^^^ Squire on his land.
23 d. How green and beautifiil the fields are ! Harmon has five barrels
of plaster to use.
25th. W. E. Collins here. Mr. Corwin takes two bushels of wheat.
27th. Sunday, currants in blossom. Trees show signs of life. Some
ice in dooryard yet.

346 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
28th. Paid Mr. Montague $10, my signment in fuU for preaching.
30th. W. E. Collins begins work at $15 a month. Mrs. R. at viUage.
June 1. No apple blows yet. Mrs. R. at Mary's.
3d. Sunday, ice under the chips in the dooryard yet. Been to meeting,
sacrament administered.
5th. Emerson, Otis and Colhns making waU. A few apple blossoms.
7th. Great rain. Noah Post making beehives for Harmon.
9th. Shearing sheep. Chauncey D. Thomas had three pounds butter.
loth. Sunday, leaves of the ash and butternut not out yet. Other forest
trees look finely.
1 2th. C. S. Chittenden takes the Hobart oxen at $50. Mr. Asahel
Kent framing building. Training day. Martin Greene called.
1 4th. Hoeing corn. Harmon after brick. Myself to work on the road.
17th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Everts preached.
22d. At work on road these days. Hoeing corn, potatoes, etc.
25th. Roofing new barn. Paid Mr. Hunt, a peddler, twenty-five cents
in money and a deerskin, fifty cents. Darius Kent raised building. WiUiam
Kent is sick.
29th. Harmon gone to Pierrepont. Surveying for commissioner highways.
July I . Old Mr. Chittenden and lady set out for Vermont.
4th. Very warm. No work on the farm to-day.
7th. Asahel raised his house. Harmon and Sheals at the raising.
8th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Everts of ParishviUe preached.
loth. Harmon off with new wagon. Mowed some in the orchard.
13 th. Sheals is sick. Haying these days.
15 th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Taylor preached.
17 th. KiUed a calf. Chauncey D. Thomas had one quarter. Mother
Post here. 20th. Mrs. Abbott here. Harmon goes to Lee's mill for boards.
27th. Mrs. R. at Ira Smith's. Haying these days.
29th. Sunday, very warm, Mrs. R. sick.
31st. Mr. Smith and his two sons and Mr. Green at work haying.
Green works for fifty cents a day.
August 8. Rider, Harmon and Sheals at work on the other place.
Green set out with them, fell on his scythe and cut his knee very badly.
1 2th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Woodruff preached in the forenoon.
14th. Cutting ten-acre meadow on lower place, formerly an old pasture.
Drew five loads into the Uttle barn.
20th. Harmon and Sheals at military drill. Been to vUlage.
2 1 St. Harmon and Sheals returned. Asahel and Mary here.
2 2d. The boys seem to feel driUed out after the drUl. ShaU start in the
morning on a visit to my relations in Ontario and Livingston counties.
23 d. Left town this morning. Took the stage for Ogdensburg, at five
o'clock went aboard steamboat " Oneida" for Rochester.
24th. On the way touched at several ports.
25th. Landed at Rochester early this morning. Took the stage for
Geneseo, in Livingston County. Arrived there at five o'clock in the afternoon,
being five mUes west of my brother's in Livonia. Walked a part and rode a

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 347
part of the way. Arrived there at sunsetting. My last visit there was twenty-
nine years ago.
26th. Sunday, attended meeting with my father, brother and others of
the famUy. My sister too unwell to attend.
27th. Went with my fether three mUes to see brother and sister Reed.
[His father's name was Onesimus, and by "brother" he means George Pratt,
who married his sister, Charlotte, and lived at Livonia, N. Y. — Ed.]
28 th. Went with my father and brother, George Pratt, to Springwater,
fifteen miles distant, to see brother and sister Wiley and brother Pratt's son.
29th. Returned to brother Pratt's.
30th. Spent the day with my father mostly visiting relations.
31st. Went with my father to brother Reed's again. [Wheeler Reed,
Esq*. , married Mr. Risdon' s sister Olive, who died May n , 1 8 1 6 ; and for a
second wife he married another sister, Hannah. — Ed.]
September i. Returned from brother Reed's to brother Pratt's.
2d. Sunday, attended meeting. Sacrament administered.
3d. Set out for home. Rode with brother Pratt to Rochester, twenty-
five miles. Viewed the city from noon tUl sunset. Went aboard of a canal-
boat for Syracuse, one hundred mUes distant.
4th. On my way to Syracuse, warm, beautiful weather.
5 th. Arrived there at 4 p. m. Took another boat down the Oswego
canal to Oswego viUage, forty miles.
6th. Arrived at the vUlage about noon. Took the steamboat " United
States" for Ogdensburg at 6 p. m.
7th. Arrived there about noon. Took a seat ui a wagon with Mr. Hunt
and rode to Canton and put up for the night.
8th. Arrived home at 2 p. m. All weU. Expenses of the trip, $19.
[This makes a trip of sixteen days at only an expense of $19 for fare and ex
penses on the way. It would cost about that to do it now by rail. The stage
of those days must have been run with great speed. He left home in the morn
ing and was on board the boat in Ogdensburg at 5 p. m. ^ — Ed.]
9th. Too tfred to go to meeting.
1 1 th. WiUiam Sheals, it appears, is at school at Potsdam Academy.
13th. Been out with my gun. Old Mr. Fisk caUed for the night.
17th. Surveyed for commissioner of highways near James Smith's. Har
mon takes wheat for me and himself to ParishviUe miU.
1 8th. Husking corn. Sun ecUpsed. Cloudy and dark at four p. m.
zoth. Going with Mr. Rasey and others to the pond [Ozonia] .
2 1 St. Returned. Came by way of S. Abbott's hunting camp home alone.
2 2d. Sheals came from Potsdam last evening.
23d. Sunday, great rain. Attended meeting, no preaching.
25 th. Surveyed land in Stockholm for Colonel Sanford, $2 per day.
zyth. Making map for Colonel Sanford. Mrs. Phineas Durfey died at
nine a. m. She, with her husband, was one of the first settlers of this town.
She was a daughter of Samuel Brooks of Bristol, Vt., and aged about sixty.
29th. Attended the fiineral of Mrs. Durfey. A UniversaUst sermon
preached. 30th. Sunday, very pleasant. Attended meeting.
October I. Colonel Sanford paid me $5 for surveying.

348 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
2d. Paid T. H. Laughlin $ i on postage account. Wrote my people.
4th. Surveyed for Curtis Sheldon. Digging potatoes.
8th. Harmon off with Sheals to Potsdam. Bruce at work.
1 2 th. Leaves are falling. Dug potatoes myself. Have seven hundred
and fifty bushels from two and one-half acres.
14th. Sunday, light snow again. No one to meeting.
17th. Gathering turnips. Asahel and Mary here.
zoth. Been out with my gun. Shot a deer, but did not get it.
Wheelock raised a log house on Andrews's farm.
2 1 St. Sunday, chUdren at meeting. Nature's beauty is 'fast dying away.
2 2d. Been hunting. John Smith with me, killed nothing.
25 th. Mr. Smith and Harmon carried stove to hunting camp.
26th. Been hunting, killed a deer. Our grandchild is sick.
27th. Roburds and Wheelock been after my deer, they take the fore
quarters. Mr. Smith has one quarter. Wounded a deer.
29th. Off hunting, Mr. Rasey with me. Spent three days, caught
nothing. Left Mr. Rasey in the woods. Slept in my camp two nights. Got
back tired, hungry and discouraged. Hunting is poor business.
November I. Asahel H. Chittenden takes a cow at $25. Stable cows.
4th. Sunday. Fields hold their green remarkably for this time of year.
Sheals from Potsdam.
5 th. First day of election. Calves are lousy, sheared one.
6th. Been over to election, also to Asahel's.
I oth. Snow again. Mrs. R. quite sick. No work but chores these days.
1 1 th. The Canadians have commenced war for their independence again.
1 2th. KUled a deer on my own farm.
1 3th. Been to my hunting shanty, returned sick.
1 6th. Returned from hunting. Lodged at shanty last night.
17th. Asahel here, gave me his coat. Mrs. Risdon's health is poor, has
a severe cough. I am afraid she is inclining to consumption.
1 8th. Sunday, chUdren walked to meeting. Mr. Montague wiU preach
to us no more. We can't agree to hire him.
19th. John Smith, a young man, son of Josiah Smith, our neighbor, has
commenced work for one year at $10 per month for six months and $12 for the
six summer months. I am to pay $25 March i next and the remainder the first
of March, 1840. Can hear guns in Canada.
2 2d. Chopping four feet wood for the stove. I assisted some.
25th. Sunday, the Methodists held a quarterly meeting at our house.
28th. Thanltsgiving Day. In cedar swamp getting out raUs.
30th. Asahel and Mary here. Drew eight loads of wood to the door.
December I. Clarinda commences going to school at the viUage.
2d. Sunday, children at meeting in the sleigh.
5th. WUham and J. Sheals at school. Cutting wood at door.
loth. Rogues have put Mr. Asahel Kent's sled over the stone wall. It
seems to irritate him very much.
I Ith. Caleb Wright's son and two daughters here this evening.
13 th. Have in woodhouse seventeen cords two and a half foot wood.
1 6th. Sunday, chUdren to meeting in sleigh.
1 8th. Been out with my gun. Cutting and drawing wood these days.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 349
2zd. Have drawn twenty-seven loads /)f wood to Harmon's door and
one to mine.
2 3d. Sunday, stormy. Cattle in stable and well fed. Wood in the
woodhouse and the family in good health, thank Providence.
25 th. My health is not good, have rheumatism. Dr. Parker called in.
28th. At work in cedar swamp, cutting wood, etc.
30th. Sunday, severe storm. Snow in great heaps. Clarinda here, wiU
wash to-morrow.
The Year 1839 — J. S. Chipman, Agent for William Short, makes Mt. Risdon
local ./^ent — Gid. Abbott calls, sits too easily in Chair — Erastus Reeve
died May 20 — The young Women ride out in white Dresses — Sends
Money to Justus Smith of Potsdam — Mr. Reeve names his Babe after Mt.
Risdon — Clatinda thtown ftom het Hotse July 4 — Asahel H. Chittenden
and thtee Others get capsized in Lake Ozonia — Peddler doesn't pay his Bill
— Death of Henry Btusn — The Ptesident of United States passes — Seeking a
Minister — Esthet Post died Septembet 14, Widow of Reuben — Death of
Mts. Eason Batchellot — Rev. Williams pteached fout Sabbaths, chatged $32
and left — Election held thtee Days — Caleb Wtight takes his own Life
Novembet 14 — James Upham attempts Suicide.
January 2. Killed four hogs. Chittenden takes one at $9 per hundred.
6th. Sunday, Mrs. R. and myself hve alone. Clarinda lives at Asahel's
and goes to school.
9th. Reuben Abbott and sister here. Good winter weather.
nth. William Sheals teaches school near Isaac SneU's. Piled some wood
near Mr. Roburds's cut by Mr. Wheelock last winter.
1 3th. Sunday, no preaching this winter. Isaac SneU's youngest child died.
1 5th. John and myself sphtting raUs. Been to funeral. Paid to Bible
Society $ I . Hear that a young man in Moira kiUed his father with an axe.
2 1 St. Paid Philo Abbott, Mr. Lenox's tax, $10.77, ^^^ '^7 °'^^ "^s^-
23d. Thrashing these days. Mother and Aunt Lucy here.
24th. Reuben H. Webb from Malone. Young people have a sleigh ride.
28th. Peddler had deerskin, fifty cents ; got an almanac, six cents ;
combs, four cents ; soap, eight cents ; tin pail, thirty-two cents.
3 1st. Sleighs run well on icy roads. Harmon and Mary at Asahel's.
February i . A difficulty in deal between A. Rasey and H. Corwin was
settled by Judge Sanford and myself this evening. Our fee $ I each. Mr.
Corwin is to pay me $1 by arrangement.
4th. Paid Caleb Wright $ I o and took up my note.
5th. J. S. Chipman here from Waddington. He verbaUy gives me the
care of WiUiam Short's lands in Hopkinton, the same power I possessed when
under Judge Fine, a former agent of Mr. Short.
7th. Mother Post here. Thrashing wheat these days. Nichols Webb
here. Shot a skunk in the woodhouse.
nth. Sold my gray colt to Nichols Webb, took his note for $60, pay
able March i, 1840. Clarinda here. [Reuben and Nichols Webb were
brothers of Mrs. Isaac Perkins of ParishviUe and cousins of Mrs. Harmon Ris
don. — Ed.]
1 2th. Have drawn twenty-six loads of wood and about twelve hundred
raUs. Drew the timber two and one-quarter miles.

350 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
14th. Lent Nathaniel Baldwin $10. Drawing wood near Mr. Roberts's.
1 6th. Received budget of contracts from J. S. Chipman. W. Green,
his mother and brothers here to-day. Mr. Green -wiU get weU of his lameness,
except perhaps a stiff knee.
20th. James Lytle has refiisal of lot number eight, east of Mr. Fletcher's.
24th. Sunday, children at meeting in wagon.
25 th. Aurelius Remington has lost his babe two weeks old. Cutting
wood and saw logs. People calling for land these days.
March 3. Sunday, Clarinda at home. Children go to Methodist.
4th. Clarinda washing. Finished thrashing wheat.
5th. Town meeting day. Paid Josiah Smith $25 on account of his son
John's work. Jehial Austin pays $65 on the I. N. Hobart contract. Jesse
Moon wUl take the farm he Uves on at $300.
8th. It is said sap runs. Harmon at the sugar place.
1 2th. My lameness from rheumatism continues. Jesse Moon has taken
Benjamin Sanford's contract and wiU not take the place he Uves on.
19th. Harmon and W. Sheals gone to Potsdam. Harmon takes $450 to
Justus Smith, to whom Mr. Chipman directs me to pay it.
2 2d. WiUiam Sheals has gone to Vermont, remaining this summer.
23d. Harmon surveying in Lawrence. Tapping the sugar works.
27th. Boihng sap. Harmon broke flax. Clarinda at writing school.
30th. Esq. Reeve has the rheumatism. Three inches of snow feU.
March has been a cold month.
April I . Warmest day since last October. Been out in the fields to-day.
3d. I attended the sugar making. Robins to be seen.
4th. Deacon Warner caUed ; wants a meeting-house built.
5th. Attended school meeting, voted for a library. Sheals returned from
Vermont. 7th. Sunday, the snow is mostly off in the fields. People up the Turn
pike getting in grain.
9th. Wilham Sheals has worked for J. Sanford this season.
izth. Harmon assisting Asahel draw away his old house. Noah Post's
wife is sick. Mary and Clarinda gone there.
14th. Sunday, Mrs. Post is better, children at meeting.
1 9th. Attended library meeting, elected librarian. Very poor sugar season.
20th. Went up to my hunting camp and took care of stove. Exhibition
at the village. Esq. Reeve is no better.
2 2d. Sealed measure for J. Sanford. A fire at Ogdensburg lately. John
Connor pays on land contract.
25 th. Dyer L. Merrill pays twenty-five dollars on land. Take a calf
and deerskin to Mr. Durrell for tanning.
28th. Sunday, Al. Covey here. Fields looking green.
30th. Boys filling an ash leach. Sold my white cow to D. L. MerriU
for $ 1 8 ; $ I cash and $ 1 7 by note.
May I . Women making soap. Been over to Sabbath School Conven
tion. Samuel Abbott's two daughters here.
3d. Heavy rain in the night. The women are cleaning their houses.
The boys assist, scrubbing and whitewashing.
4th. Harmon at the village as inspector of schools. Clarinda at Asahel's.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 351
6th. Gid. Abbott here, sits too easy to suit me. A healthy young man
should sit restless in a chair at this busy time of year.
7th. Harmon, Smith, Ainsworth logging. Paid $2.50 for library.
9th. Clarinda and Janet returned from Samuel Abbott's.
loth. Mother returns to Reuben Post's; been with us about three months.
1 2th. Sunday, been to meeting, also Mrs. R. Sent to Justus Smith by
C. Johnson $129.50.
1 4th. Young cattle out to grass. Currants in blow. Trees show Ufe.
I 5 th. Planting corn at other place. Esq. Reeve is faUing. Paid $6 for
insuring my buUdings.
1 8th. People are burning log heaps. Harmon and Clarinda at viUage.
zoth. Smith at Mr. Remington's guarding fire. Esq. Reeve died to-day.
2 2d. At the funeral Erastus Reeve, sermon by Elder Green, Sr.
26th. Sunday, pleasant, been to meeting ; no preaching.
29th. Planting potatoes. Washed the sheep this cold day.
30th. The young women rode out in their white dresses, resemble the
apple trees in blow.
June I. Survey for M. H. Covey and also for J. H. Covey ; fee, $2.
4th. Smith and Corwin shearing sheep. Hear Ezekiel Blair died sud
denly on Sunday last.
7th. Wrote four contracts for GUbert H. Covey. J. Sanford pays $100.
loth. Mr. Kent set out for Vermont. Sowing oats.
1 1 th. Mother Post is unwell. Mrs. R. there. Corn does not grow.
1 zth. Severe frost. Been up the Turnpike surveying for Mr. Connor.
The frost damaged beans, vines and corn in places.
13th. H. Smith's wife is buried to-day. Dyer L. MerriU pays his note.
1 6th. Mother Post is no better, her complexion is yeUow.
1 8th. Paid RusseU Witherell, commissioner, $10 I was owing the town.
19th. People wearing cloaks and coats. W. Baldwin pays $10 on land.
zist. Surveyed for Mr. Culver. Mother Post no better.
2 3d. Sunday, Mrs. R. with mother. Very raw weather. We have
not had a warm day since September last.
24th. Sent $141.50 to Justus Smith of Potsdam by Josiah Smith.
28th. Boys girdling. Wrote contract for Benjamin Reeve.
July 2. Boys hoeing. Connor, Frasier and Asahel here.
4th. Champin Reeve and his wife here, brought their babe, a son of
eleven months, as fine a boy as I ever saw. His name is Elisha Risdon, after
myself. [This son now resides at Albia, la. — Ed.]
5 th. Sarah in the ride yesterday fell from the carriage ; is some hurt.
Clarinda also feU from a horse in the morning of the same day. The Fourth
wUl be a day long remembered for accidents in the famUy. Asahel Chittenden
with three others went to small lake about six mUes distant for fishing and other
diversion. It appears from what I learn (have not seen Asahel) that whUe out
on the lake one-quarter of a mile or more their craft, a small canoe, sunk. By
the assistance of Divine Providence they were all successful in saving themselves.
[Mr. Norton F. Thomas of this viUage was then hving across the road
from the Post homestead. As it happened he saw the accident to Clarinda.
Her horse stumbled and she was thrown forward over the horse's head and to
the ground, but fortunately was not hurt, save her pride. Mr. Thomas ran to

352 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
her, but she was up before him. He assisted her to mount, when she joined
the party, though a little humiUated. — Ed.]
7th. Sunday, been to meeting. I have seen Asahel to-day. Speaking
of their providential escape from drowning, he observed that after the canoe had
sunk and the four of them were thrown into the water, that by exertion and pru
dence they clung to the canoe and forced it ashore.
8th. Mr. Upham was here last night. He was one of the four who were
immersed in the lake. Asahel Chittenden, as I have observed, a nephew of his,
and Hiram Sheldon were the others. It appears by their account almost a mir
acle that aU were saved. They had with them two good rifles and exercised
prudence in regarding them as valueless in comparison to saving themselves. Mr.
Upham thinks, however, that the rifles may be hooked up. Asahel and Mary
here to-day. Received a budget of deeds and contracts from Mr. Chipman,
have myself a contract for one hundred and fifty acres.
[The small lake he mentions is Lake Ozonia, seven and one-half miles south
of Hopkinton vUlage. It was at first caUed the Big Pond and afterwards and
until recent years Trout Lake. A few years ago Mr. Frederic M. Heath gave
it the name of Lake Ozonia, by which it is now known. It is a charming body
of water, three miles in length, from a quarter to a half mile in width, with shores
exceedingly free from dead and fallen timber, and with a perfect panoply of ver
dant forest sloping down the hiUsides aU around and coming to the water's
edge. It is no wonder that the hunters and others went there in early days, and
I only wonder that more do not go now. Mr. Heath has a fine hotel on a bluff
on the northerly end of the lake, and there are several cottages hidden by the
timber along the shore. There is now a good highway to the lake from Hop
kinton and also to the station at St. Regis FaUs, some six miles distant. The
hotel is supplied with water as fine and pure as can be found in the Adirondacks,
taken from a spring high up the hillside over across the lake by means of pipe
lying on the bottom of the lake. It wUl be noticed that Mr. Risdon attributes
the rescue of the party from drowning very largely to Providence, giving Mr.
Upham no credit. Mr. J. Henry Henderson, King S. Chittenden, Esq., and
several others who had the story from members of the party, tell me that it was
universally conceded at the time that their rescue was due to the coolness, courage
and swimming abiUty of Mr. Jas. Upham, who generaUed the party and finaUy
got them all to shore. The party consisted of Asahel Chittenden, his nephew.
Nelson C. Crouch, Hiram B. Sheldon, son of Oliver, and James Upham. Mr.
J. Converse, whose father huntedthere and knew aU about the mishap, teUs me
that the upsetting of the boat took place a quarter of a mile or so down the lake
from the hotel, and that Mr. Upham landed the party at some point along where
the cottages are to the left or easterly of the hotel. The rifles lost at the time
were never recovered. Pretty soon the diary wiU teU of this same Mr. Upham
attempting to take his own hfe. It would seem that one so brave and capable m
such a trying moment might fight life's batdes with greater fortitude, but, J sup
pose, there is no staying the promptings of a disordered mind. He was a very
poor man and Uved just north of the viUage. Wishing to go west, his friends
made him up a sufficient purse and he went many years ago. The picture of
the lake was taken by Charles H. Brush. — Ed.]
I Ith. Boys in the girdling. Reuben Abbott here peddling, paid him ten
cents for one-half quire of paper.

<!

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 353
13 th. I think of the providential escape of the young men every hour ot
the day. Their loss would have caused a mourning Hopkinton.
14th. Sunday, corn about ten inches high. Grass very hght.
I 5th. Gilbert H. Covey and wife here. Alzina left us this morning.
1 6th. Mrs. R. and Harmon gone to Norfolk. Surveying for Lytle.
1 9th. Surveyed a road for the commissioner of highways from Richard
son' s three miles south, then west to the Goss farm in CatharinevUle.
zzd. Mother Post is no better. Corn looks much more promising.
24th. Finished the road to the Goss farm, nearly four miles, commencing
at Richardson's on the Turnpike.
27th. Boys haying. Been on to my new farm. Mr. Dutcher has
slashed about five acres.
3 1 St. The peddler left this morning, he neglected to pay his biU for
horse keeping from Saturday night to Tuesday morning, seventy-five cents. I
beheve his name is George Moore.
August 2. Haying. I labor some. Mr. Smith works in place of son John.
4th. Sunday, twenty-eight years since my wedding day.
6th. Haying. Mrs. Brooks and Miss Blodgett caUed.
7th. Asahel here. Eliphalet Brush's son is sick.
9th. Surveyed for Jonah Sanford on the river.
I Ith. Sunday, famUy attended Elder Austin's meeting at the west
schoolhouse. Reuben Abbott, sister and Al. Covey here.
13th. The boys pulling flax. Sealed a measure for A. Phelps. Henry
Brush, son of EUphalet, a young man of about fifteen years, is buried to-day.
He died after only a week's sickness.
1 5 th. All hands haying. Get nineteen loads from twenty-four acres,
about one-quarter less than last year.
1 7th. All hands haying at the other place.
20th. Elder Austin and lady here, also our little granddaughter.
24th. The President of the United States passes here. Sold Dyer L.
MerriU some land.
25th. Sunday, Mother Post faUs slowly.
z6th. Harmon has left his haying and harvesting and set out with his
wife and chUd on a visit to her relations in Vermont. J. Smith and Ainsworth
at the mUitary drill in Potsdam.
27th. WilUam Sheals and Reuben Abbott here. Smith returns.
28th. J. Smith warning men to training. Dutcher has finished five acres
of his job of slashing. Two acres of wheat and ten of grass to cut and no
work done for three days past.
29th. Mrs. R. at mother's. Mary Chittenden also. Frost this morning.
3 1st. Haying at other place. Had frost three nights in succession. Corn
was not damaged much. A few have finished haying.
September 2. Boys all off to training. Sarah is sick.
4th. Sarah has the doctor. Mother continues to fail.
6th. The men hardly earn their board; no one to lead them.
8th. Sunday, had preaching. Dr. Witherell called to see Sarah.
loth. J. Smith gone to mill. Sarah and John Sheals are better. John
son at work with Ainsworth and Smith.
1 2th. Finished haying. Harmon, wife and child returned, aU well.

354 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
13th. Mother Post in aU probabiUty wUl not Uve many days. Mrs. R.
there. Attended a church meeting to devise some way to procure a minister.
14th. Mother Post is dead, died this morning at about one o'clock, aged
seventy-nine years. Has been a resident of this town over thirty-four years, a
member of the Congregational Church as long.
1 5th. Sunday, attended fiineral of Mother Post. Mr. WiUiams preached.
1 7th. Boys cutting corn and reaping oats. Hear Mrs. Eason Batchellor
is dead, been sick eight or nine years. She is a daughter of Samuel Eastman.
1 8th. Attended funeral of Mrs. BatcheUor. Smith at work at Brown's.
20th. Roburds and Ainsworth have cut my corn.
2 1 St. Boys all at training at Potsdam. Sent $25.39 ^Y Harmon to
Justus Smith. James Smith's brother come from England. W. Warriner here.
2 2d. Sunday, Mr. Wilhams preaches. The object is to hfre him, pro
vided he suits the people.
25 th. Husking corn. Surveyed for Ainsworth, Wheelock and Roburds.
26th. Harmon at Roburds's with team buUding mUldam.
27th. Been with J. Sanford surveying. Snows hard.
29th. Sunday, three inches of snow fell. Forest trees and vegetation as
green as in summer. Mary Chittenden has another daughter.
October i. Mrs. R. at Asahel's. Our young granddaughter is sick.
Mr. Leach has been aUing for a year. It is feared he has consumption.
2d. J. Sanford here, did some business for him.
4th. Husking corn. Our school district library has arrived. Josiah
Smith brought it from Ogdensburg.
6th. Sunday, Asahel here, brings me a thermometer at $1.75.
8th. Surveyed for J. Dewey. M. Crossman and lady here.
loth. Been to Samuel Abbott's. Mrs. R. paid $2. 50 in cloth for glasses.
1 2th. Digging potatoes. Reuben Abbott here. J. E. Lytle pays $29.
15th. Harmon gone to Potsdam. Boys raising Peck's sawmiU.
1 6th. Mr. Williams preached four Sabbaths, charged $32. Received
his pay and has left us.
1 8th. Mary and her two children here. Paid John Sheldon, collector
for Mr. WiUiams, my tax $2 for four Sabbaths' preaching. Austin Kent and
his lady at his father's.
20th. Sunday, Austin Kent preaches. Vegetation dying away.
2 1 St. Get seventy bushels of corn to the acre. Have gathered one
thousand bushels of potatoes.
24th. Sold Chauncey Thomas fourteen bushels of potatoes. Been up in
south woods with C. S. Chittenden.
26th. Gathered five hundred bushels of turnips. Rufus Greene pays fifty-
two cents library tax.
31st. Sheals has been here for some time and is sick.
November I . Light snow. Harmon gone to ParishvUle mill.
4th. John and myself assisted Mr. Walhs raise a shanty.
6th. Third day of election. Three inches of snow. Sealed two meas
ures for Mr. Daggett.
8th. Commenced doing off small room in the woodhouse. Surveyed a
private road for R. Brown.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 355
9th. Set out hunting, but soon returned. The bushes loaded with snow.
1 Ith. People using sleighs. Clarinda had twenty-five cents.
14th. Caleb Wright died suddenly by his own act. Harmon has let
two cows and two sheep to S. C. Remington to double in four years.
17th. Harmon and his wife at Caleb Wright's. I attended the fiineral
of Mr. Wright. Elder Joel Green preached the sermon to a crowded audience.
Heard a woman in Canton had hung herself.
1 9th. Hear that Mr. James Upham attempted to hang himself last even
ing. He is still aUve but very feeble. Two hours' rubbing brought him to Ufe.
The attempt was made in a clump of alders near where he lived, using a hand
kerchief for a cord. His life was saved with much difficulty.
2 1 St. Had of Julius Peck one hundred feet of pine plank and fifty of clap
boards, $1.75.
2 2d. Mr. Palmer of New York wishes some information of me as to the
WaUace tract which he owns. Paid Jane Green seventy-five cents for sewing.
Have a fulled cloth cloak, cost $10 ; pair of pantaloons, $2.50.
24th. Sunday, Mrs. R. quite unwell these days. Hear a young man in
Potsdam, Coohdge by name, has committed suicide by cutting his throat and
hanging himself.
26th. Wrote Mr. Palmer the owner of the Wallace tract. Sarah quite
unweU this fall. Ira Bicknell here.
28th. Thanksgiving Day. Been to meeting. Asahel and Mary here.
John Smith has worked his year.
30th. There is difficulty in Benjamin Sanford's family. His wife has
left him. It is thought generally, however, that Mr. Sanford is most to blame.
He has complained of feeble health for five years.
December i. Sunday, the Methodists occupy the meeting-house to-day,
a quarterly meeting.
4th. Gave Asahel $3 to buy me some stovepipe. Paid R. Post twenty-
five cents for a box of pills for Mrs. R.
6th. Sarah at Dr. WithereU's. Cut a stone for a stovepipe. Harmon
inspecting school-teachers.
8 th. Sunday, children at meeting in wagon. No preaching.
I oth. Put up a stone for stovepipe and built a short chimney.
14th. Clarinda gone home with Asahel. Sleighing again.
17th. John Sheals at school. Austin Kent lectures this evening in the
village. 1 8th. Lucretia Rasey married this evening, young people at the wedding.
20th. The sun has not been seen for a week.
24th. Harmon kUled thirteen hogs and pigs. James Upham assisted him.
26th. Been over to the vUlage, witness in court.
27th. Asahel here with Marion. Mr. Webb left for home.
31st. Severe storm last few days. The papers state that on December
I 5 and 1 6 there was a severe storm on the New England coast with loss of much
property and life. Stormy times in the House of Representatives.

356 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Year 1840 — Money scarce — Farm Produce very low — Death of Mr. Leach
and Joseph Seeley — Dr. Withetell attends his Family — Pigeons plenty — Boys
at Attillety Dtill — Att Kent shoots at his Geese — Death of Lewis Putnam —
Two Elephants in Town — Asahel Chittenden building Log House on Peck
Road — Rev. Bachellot, the Ministet — The Whigs -win Election — Heats
Guns toat to the West — Death of Mts. Olivet Sheldon — Rev. Jeremiah Bur-
chard causes great Religious Excitement — Sketch of him and his Preaching
— Pathetic Patting with the Yeat.
January i . Thermometer eighteen below zero in morning and twelve in
the evening. 2d. Signed for parsonage house, $20 ; and Harmon, $15.
4th. Sunday, Mr. Leach is in no great pain but faUing slowly.
7th. J. Smith, WilUam Sheals, WUliam Kent and sisters start for Vermont.
I oth. Mr. Rasey has made me a pair of moccasins. Dr. Witherell will
get some wood from my lot.
14th. Sealed a measure for John Sheldon and one for Hiram Sheldon.
1 5th. Mr. Weed and lady here from Vermont, also Miss Laughlin.
23 d. Paid Mr. Hyde for dressing cloth. Severe winter so far, deep snow.
24th. Tedious day. Snow deep, being blown in enormous piles. Har
mon has Judge Sanford's machine thrashing wheat.
25th. Money is very scarce. Cattle and all produce of farms are low.
Wheat only a dollar and corn fifty cents in money.
28th. Sheals, Kent and their sisters came from Vermont.
30th. Sealed a measure for W. Dewey. A powerful wind in night.
February 3. Mr. Leach died last evening. Mary making graveclothes.
4th. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at Mr. Leach's ; he wiU be buried at
ParishviUe. He bore up with great patience and died in a lively hope of a
blessed immortality.
6th. J. Smith and sisters returned from Vermont. David Leach pays
me a $20 bill on the St. Albans bank. If not current, to be returned to him.
9th. Sunday, mUd. Children at meeting.
loth. Paid PhUo Abbott my taxes, also Mr. Short's and Mr. Lenox's.
nth. Our minister called, also J. P. Roburds and lady. John Smith
begins work for Harmon.
14th. Mrs. R. quite unwell. No market for grain, beef or pork.
1 7th. Fields bare in spots. Thrashing wheat these days.
1 8th. Town meeting day. Joseph Seeley, a young man of twenty-four,
born in Hopkinton, dies suddenly.
20th. The stage is on wheels. Harmon and Mary at funeral.
24th. Old Mr. Merritt strayed away.
25th. Our little granddaughter, Charlotte, is quite sick ; Dr. Witherell
here and very attentive.
29th. Harmon visiting schools. Thrashing and drawing wood.
March I . Sunday, Nichols Webb and the girls at meeting.
2d. William Sheals at work for me at $1 1 per month.
9th. Wheelock, Ainsworth and Roburds making sugar on my land. A
few have tapped, but little sap.
1 6th. Sheals at work for Mrs. Sanford, fixing a room for her in J. Peck's
woodhouse. 1 8th. Tapping sugar works. Dyer L. Merrill pays me for map.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 357
20th. Mrs. Benjamin Sanford here. Paid Goodnow for shoemaking.
23d. Mrs. Sanford gone into Julius Peck's house. Surveyed for Baldwin.
26th. Boys at flax these days. Made map for J. Palmer of New York.
30th. Boys sugaring. The robins have come.
April 4. Sold James Blanchard seventy-five acres and he paid for it.
7th. Blanchard recants and wants his money back. I gave it to him.
8th. He decided to take it and pays me again.
1 7th. Surveying for Jonah Sanford these days. People on dry land sow
ing grain. Sent $48 by J. Sanford to Justus Smith, Potsdam.
23 d. Mrs. R. quite sick. Fields show a beautiful green. Ploughing.
27th. Have six inches of snow. Jesse Moon is unfortunate, lost two
cows and a heifer, all he had.
28th. Surveying the true line of Turnpike and crossroad from J. Sanford's.
29th. Asahel sets out to-day for New York. Sent papers to Mr. Lenox.
May 3. My cows lay out last night for the first time. Making soap.
5th. Snowed aU day. Bad for farmers without hay. Many pigeons.
8th. Have been confined to the house for four days. Plenty of pigeons.
1 3th. Surveying for Pickert and Laughlin. Cows live without hay.
17th. Sunday, been to meeting. Pigeons very plenty.
20th. Girls cleaning house. Shooting squirrels. Cherry trees in blow.
23d. Mrs. R. returned from Asahel's. Al. Covey and S. Abbott's
daughter here.
25 th. Dr. Sprague has trouble. Planting corn and sowing wheat.
28th. Wash sheep. Much smoke from burning these days. Lucy Ann
is mistress to-day.
June I . Paid Asahel Rasey seven dollars for a rifle which he can refund
and take the gun, or, if he does not, I am to pay him three doUars more.
2d. Frost last night. Three peddlers put up for the night.
5th. Boys all pigeon hunting. Finished planting potatoes.
I oth. Harmon and Sheals at Canton. Mrs. R. picking wool.
14th. Sunday, Mr. Taylor preached.
1 8th. Surveying for Mr. Palmer. Mrs. R. spinning wool.
2 1 St. Sunday, Methodest camp meeting in Stockholm.
25 th. John Smith raised log house in south woods. Been to Trout Lake.
27th. Boys all at artUlery training in the vUlage.
30th. Surveying for Mr. Palmer, Wallis and young Kennedy with me.
Lay in the woods over night.
July I . Mary and her two chUdren and Mrs. Crouch here.
4th. Harmon, young Walhs and E. Hayden with me surveying on lots
31,32 and 3 3 over the river. Stayed over night with Mr. Hayden. Viewed
Flat Rock falls on Lenox tract. Heard all the big guns within twenty miles.
8th. Surveyed a road leaving the Turnpike near John Sheldon's and run
ning south nearly four miles.
10th. Surveyed for Judge Sanford near Asa Squire's.
nth. Surveyed a line for a road south of E. Roburds's sawmiU.
This road is not finished.
1 2th. Mrs. R. at meeting. A new minister. Mr. Leonard has left.
I 5th. Run a hne for a road on the Short and Palmer tracts.
1 6th. At work on road near Hopkins's miU. Ther. 92 degrees in shade.

358 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
2 2d. People all engaged with haying. Mr. Bachellor, the minister, called.
25th. Bought a Bible, $4.50. AU hands haying.
26th. Sunday, been to meeting. Mr. Bachellor preached.
28th. R. Post, Winnie, Wallis and Ainsworth assisting our boys haying.
August 4. Clarinda at Asahel's. Paid $3 on Bible.
8th. Harmon has driven a large flock of sheep into the lot.
14th. Asahel, Mary and Miss Hulburt here.
20th. Cradhng wheat. Shooting squirrels. Mrs. Newman here.
24th. Harmon at mUitary drill. Ainsworth and brother cradling.
26th. Our geese got into Art. Kent's fields. He shot at them four
times, kUled one.
30th. Lewis Putnam, son of Seth, died last night after a short sickness.
He was a fine young man, aged twenty-five years. His loss is deeply lamented.
September 3. Surveyed for Mr. Ainsworth on Palmer tract.
6th. Sunday, Asahel's eye giving him some trouble.
9th. Raised hogpen. Noah Post made bookcases. Harmon at training
at Potsdam. I oth. Run a line to the lake for a road. Mrs. R. is at Mrs. Putnam's,
she is very sick. [This must be Lake Ozonia. — Ed.]
izth. Frost this morning. Harmon, P. Durfey, S. Abbott and others
returned from the lake where they went hunting, killed three deer.
1 5th. John Sheldon cutting corn. Severe thunderstorm.
zzd. Exhibition of two elephants and other foreign animals at the village.
26th. Surveyed for Stephen Reeve. Husking these days. Our minister
gone to Vermont. Mrs. Manley with the girls gone to Norfolk.
October 3. Mrs. Julius Peck and chUdren sick. Digging potatoes.
9th. Made a map for Mr. Palmer of his lands.
I zth. An old bear paid us a visit. Husking corn.
14th. Harmon tearing down and building better. Asahel Chittenden
building a log house on the Peck road on lands that I shall deed to him.
17th. Had three bunches of shingles of J. P. Roburds. Harmon doing
much fixing on old house.
1 8th. At meeting. Mr. Bachellor preached. Has moved his family here.
zoth. Surveyed a road at Trout Lake. Political meetings are held often.
25th. Mrs. R. returns from Asahel's where she has been several days.
31st. Doing much work on buUdings these days. Attended funeral of
Julius Peck's chUd, aged two years.
November i . Sunday, attended meeting, sacrament administered.
2d. First day of election. Had of Mr. Foster six lengths and two
elbows of pipe, $2.87^^.
4th. Attended election. Worked on house for Mrs. Benjamin Sanford,
also Harmon with team.
7th. Harmon drawing boards to Mr. Wheelock' s house in south woods
for Mrs. Sanford. Deeded one hundred and sixty acres to Asahel. He is to
pay me $100, the residue is dower to my daughter Mary. Whigs are wearing
smihng faces. The big guns are roaring loud in the west.
9th. Harmon is setting up a new stove. The Whigs will no doubt
carry this state and the United States.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 359
1 6th. Old Mrs. Mosher, formerly the wife of Oliver Sheldon, died very
suddenly to-day. Surveying for J. Sanford, Esq. Harmon at work on minis
ter's barn. 1 8th. Mrs. Mosher buried. Mrs. R. has the phthisic badly.
2 1st. At work on road in south woods, J. Smith with me.
24th. Burchard is preaching in Stockholm. Paid Jane Greene eighteen
cents for cutting pantaloons.
29th. Harmon and ghls at Mr. Burchard's protracted meeting in Stock
holm. [This refers to Rev. Jedediah Burchard, an evangelist of considerable
repute. He was, according to all accounts, an enthusiastic and eloquent preacher,
or at least had the power to exercise much control over his audiences. He
caused a great deal of excitement and reUgious fervor among the people wher
ever he went. However, he thought he had to have and did have the choicest
meats to support him in his arduous labors. I well remember my mother,
Clarinda Sanford, teUing me that people killed sheep 10 give him fresh mutton
and beeves to get him sirloin steaks. J. Wilson Culver, Esq., of West Stock
holm, teUs me that he would get so animated and excited that he would walk
about among the people in the audience on the top of the backs of the square
box pews, loudly and eloquently exhorting them to give up their wicked ways
and thus save themselves from eternal hell fire.
The Rev. Gideon S. Abbott, in his autobiography, speaks of Rev. Burchard
and of attending his great revival meetings in Stockholm. He states that he
was very eccentric and dramatic in manner and exceedingly radical and dog
matic in his views and teachings. On one occasion when he was present a very
tall young man, an acquaintance of his, arose quietly in the gallery to go out.
Rev. Burchard, noticing him, stopped in his discourse and loudly called to him,
" Sit down there, you great stack pole of hell." Of course aU eyes were turned
upon him, which so discomfited him that he did sit down and very suddenly.
There was a Miss Johnson, a quite talented young lady, whom he had
made especial efforts to convert, but without effect. Meeting her in the street
one day he greeted her in this very kindly and Christian spirit, " Good morning,
daughter of the devU." She, nothing daunted, quickly retorted, " Good morn
ing, father." On another occasion he asked a man by the name of Miller, sitting in the
audience with his children, this : " Mr. MUler, have you got religion.'' " The
latter replied, '' Not to brag of." " Do you belong to any church? " Mr.
Miller answered that he was a Universahst in belief, to which Rev. Burchard
retorted in a loud voice, " You are going to hell." At this Mr. Miller, ap
parently not in the least disconcerted or alarmed, asked him not to tell his
father, for he would feel Uke death about it.
In those first forty years or so in the history of the town, and of all the towns
for that matter, evangelists, exhorters and travelling ministers were coming and
going all the time, holding meetings in the various schoolhouses, groves, churches,
and getting a charge when they could and for as long as they could. Mrs. Mary
M. Dow of ParishviUe, daughter of Isaac Snell, gives another instance of the
radical views of Mr. Burchard, which she often heard her father relate when she
was quite young. He (Mr. Burchard), in one of his sermons heard by her
father, stated that in his travels he at one time visited a great seething, roaring

360 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
blast furnace, melting ore to a white heat Uquid, that hell was so much hotter
than that furnace that should one of its victims jump from the former into the
latter he would freeze to death in five minutes.
At another time the Rev. Bachellor was preaching in the log schoolhouse
near her fether' s home. He had thundered away for a full hour upon hell and
the devil when a tired auditor cried out, " Brother Bachellor, let us hear some
thing about Jesus Christ." The minister, greatly discomfited at this interrup
tion, turned and looking at the unruly member in amazement, asked, " Was
that you. Brother Durrell, that spoke?" He replied, "Yes, we have heard
enough about the devU ; teU us something about Christ." At this the Rev.
BacheUor stated that he was amazed and greatly disconcerted at the interrup
tion and that he would close the meeting. Prior to the coming of Rev. Bur
chard the Clara brothers, who were itinerant evangelists of the Presbyterian feith,
held revival meetings in town, as did others. In some towns the only preaching
the settlers had for the first years was by travelling preachers.
The theology taught in those early days, as all we learn goes to show, was
of a pretty severe, vigorous and radical kind. It was no doubt best, since we are
taught that the peoples of aU countries the world over hold to those doctrines
which seem best suited to their needs, condition and environments, and which,
following the great law of development among live races and people, mark at all
times the position to which they have attained. The Rev. Jedediah Burchard
died at Adams, Jefferson County, September 25, 1864. — Ed.]
December 2. John Sheals and Mary Walhs at school. Sarah gone to
Parishville. 6th. Children at protracted meeting in Stockholm.
loth. Harmon and Clarinda painting my room.
1 2th. Surveyed forjudge Sanford near Mr. Austin's. Mary gone home.
14th. Paid A. Jenny for bedstead in fulled cloth. Clarinda grinding paints.
1 6th. Harmon at Eastville mUl with corn. Clarinda painting house.
17th. Thanksgiving Day. Good sleighing on ice.
19th. Sunday, protracted meeting in Stockholm continues.
24th. Surveyed for Darius E. Kent. Winter in earnest.
29th. Harmon kiUed hogs. Nelson C. Crouch pays me for stovepipe.
3 1 St. Mrs. Julius Peck is sick, feared she has consumption. Thus ends
the year 1 840, with all our yesterdays numbered with the years beyond the
flood. So numbered are all the days, months and years of our childhood and
youth. How fondly age dwells through the mists of time on their remem
brance ! Although alternately transported and alarmed, fiUed with joys and
griefs, hopes and fears, for such was the condition of our birth, age, pensively,
though pleasingly, dweUs upon the recollection of the sunny days of childhood
and youth. I am now nearly sixty.
The Year 1 84 1. — Revs. Burchard and Bachellor get considerable Meat — Butchatd's
Meetings close — Death of Alonzo Seeley — Snow Fout Feet deep — Death of
Hannah Corwin — Settle Estate of Esther Post — Loses a $3 Bill " not Cuttent "
— Boys training— - Matriage of Petmelia Sanfotd and Erasmus D. Brooks —
Rev. Weeks at Patishville.
January I. Girls gone sleigh riding. Mrs. R.'s health not good.
2d. Girls return at three this morning. Very severe winter.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 361
5th. Burchard begins preaching at the village, good attendance.
1 5th. Thrashing these days. Mrs. R. and myself now comfortably
lodged in our little room.
1 6th. Been with J. Smith to get Mrs. Sanford's firewood. Mrs. Peck
no better. 1 8th. Mary Walhs is sick. Poor girl has a fever.
20th. Ros. Pettibone called. Thrashing machine here.
2 2d. Mr. Burchard called, had twelve pounds beef Rev. Mr. Bachel
lor one hundred and thirty pounds.
24th. Sunday, children at meeting, Mr. Burchard preached.
27 th. Mrs. Sanford had eleven loads of wood. I fear Asahel wUl lose
his eye. 29th. J. Austin with us last night.
31st. Sunday, Mr. Burchard's meetings conclude to-day.
February 2. WiUiam Sheals and J. Smith gone to Montreal.
4th. J. Sheals to ParishviUe. Asahel's eye is better.
7th. Sunday, Harmon has a daughter born this morning.
loth. Mary Wallis returned. Sold my oxen to C. Shepard for $85.
14th. Sunday, Clarinda is pretty steady at meeting.
I 5th. Mrs. Peck died this evening of consumption. Mr. Young here
from Vermont. Sent to Justus Smith $158 by Reuben Post.
17th. Mrs. Peck buried. Clarinda gone with John Sheals to Malone,
gave her twenty-five cents.
2 1 St. Measles are about. Hay is scarce. Sheals thrashing.
28th. Sunday, Alonzo Seeley died to-day, been ailing for a year.
March 2. Asahel, Mary and children here. Seeley buried.
4th. Mrs. R. quite unwell, also our little babe. Had a doctor.
8th. Aunt Lucy here, also Mrs. Abbott and daughter.
I oth. The sick are better. Ehphalet Brush and lady here.
1 2th. The snow is four feet in the woods. Severe storm, such as our
fathers tell of sixty or seventy years ago.
I 5 th. Several deaths from measles. But Uttle work since J. Smith left.
2 1 St. Sunday, at meeting. Elder Pratt preached.
27th. Stage on wheels. D. Sylvester at work for Harmon.
April 6. Sugaring. Robins sing even in the storm.
1 5 th. Asa Squfre here. I have a severe cough.
24th. Very springhke. Ploughing on Turnpike.
27th. Gid. Abbott here on his old mare. Seems loath to leave. Mis
trust Sarah attracts him.
30th. Abbott around again. Paid $1 for singing school.
May 3. Hannah Corwin no better. Ground hard frozen.
7th. Hannah Corwin is dead, a promising young girl of thirteen years.
8th. Mary left little Marion with us, a promising babe.
I zth. Mrs. Sanford sick. Ceased stabhng cows, for I have no hay.
14th. Clarinda at J. Moon's ; their chUd is dead.
1 8th. Backward season. Abbott's girls here.
24th. Vegetation now coming on. Cherry trees in blow. Washed sheep.
31st. Asahel dug up garden for me. I do not go out this spring.
Clarinda gone to Parishville.

362 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
June 2. Clarinda cleaning meeting-house.
6th. Sunday, Charlotte gone to meeting.
I oth. Harmon sold a sheep. Corwin shearing. Asahel and father here.
1 6th. Sarah more unwell. Take wool to machine. Ira Smith, S.
Abbott and thefr wives here setthng estate. Mr. Smith wiU go to Ohio soon.
[This was the estate of Esther Post, mother of Mrs. Smith, Mrs. Abbott and
Mrs. Risdon. — Ed.]
19th. Mary Walhs gone home. Boys at Methodist camp meeting.
22d. Mrs. R. at Asahel's. Hoeing these days.
29th. Mrs. R. spinning wool. Circus in the viUage. Mr. and Mrs-
Newman here.
July I. Gave the assessors a statement of my property to tax.
3d. Surveyed for commissioner of highways and for Mr. Corwin.
7th. Our boys are Daniel Sylvester, WUliam and John Sheals.
I oth. ArtUlery training. Been up to slash.
13 th. Harmon gone to Canton as a juror.
1 6th. Josiah Smith raising a barn. Harmon returns. Mrs. R. and
Clarinda spinning.
25th. Sunday, Mr. Bachellor has preached a year.
30th. Winnie puUing flax. Harmon cutting Asahel's grass over the
brook. Crops of all kinds look well.
August z. Eight hands at haying. My health continues poor.
8th. Mrs. R. and the gfrls to meeting. E. Hayden is dead.
loth. D. Leach pays me $1.50 for writing. Been to Mr. Roberts's.
Judge Sanford and others here.
I zth. John gone to Potsdam Academy. Surveyed for Mr. Eastman.
15th. Sunday, a stranger preached.
1 8th. Mr. Chipman returns a $3 biU as not current. I must lose it, as I
cannot tell from whom I got it.
1 9th. Read of the loss of the steamboat ' ' Erie ' ' on Lake Erie by fire, one
hundred and seventy lives lost.
23 d. Harmon, Sylvester and Wm. Sheals gone to military drill.
26th. Harvesting wheat. Surveyed for J. Sanford, Esq.
29th. Sunday, we have no preaching, only occasionally.
31st. Surveyed for Messrs. Covey and Glidden.
September i . Cast land for W. Eastman. Drawing in wheat.
5th. Harmon, wife and Mrs. R. at meeting. Mr. Bachellor preached.
6th. Harmon at Parishville training. Boys training at the vUlage.
8th. Boys at training at Potsdam. John goes back to school.
14th. Harvesting oats and cutting corn. Mr. Rasey takes his rifle. Old
Mr. Merritt is dead, aged seventy-three. He has been deranged several years.
1 6th. Attended funeral of Mr. Merritt and of a child of Mr. Irish.
1 8th. Paid to Mr. Hunt $3.50. Signed for Mr. Leonard's preaching.
Surveyed for Eben Squire.
2 1 St. Clarinda returns from Parishville. Boys stiU haying, too late.
24th. Jonah Sanford's boy broke my compass glass.
28th. Orange B. Moon pays my account. Hereford works here.
30th. Over to village with Henderson and Sheldon. Patrick Sheals pays
my fee.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 363
October i . Edna has a burnt hand. Cut a glass for my compass.
6th. Digging potatoes, husldng, etc. Harmon has much business away.
7th. Harmon gone to fair at Canton. He has three hired men and a gfrl.
8th. J. Sanford, son and daughter here. Mary weaving.
1 2th. Harmon kiUs a sheep and yet has pork.
15th. Paid Delong $14 for a rifle which he warrants to be a good one.
1 7th. Beatrice is sick. Clarinda there.
1 9th. Forest leaves yeUow and dry. Shooting with new gun.
2 1 St. Asahel gone to New York. Charlotte sporting in the snow.
24th. Sunday, part of the famUy at meeting in a wagon.
26th. Clarinda at Asahel's. Harmon to Potsdam. Snowstorm.
3 1 St. Asahel returns. Sunday, another short summer ended. Pensive
autumn is at hand. The green verdure and beauty of the season are fast fading
away. The sun is receding — the shadows are lengthening. I am often at
loss which most to admfre, the wisdom of Deity in the order, regularity and variety
of the seasons, or that spfrit of love which we are permitted to enjoy in them
as they succeed.
November i. Ffrst day of election. Mrs. R. at Asahel's.
3d. Boys at election. Paid Nathaniel Goodnow seventy-five cents.
6th. Harmon after gfrl. Sylvester hunting.
8th. Jonas G. Johnson pays me $1. Stage on runners.
loth. Wedding at Judge Sanford's. Daniel Sanford cutting stove wood
for me. [This marriage was that of Permeha Sanford to Erasmus D. Brooks,
late of Potsdam. Daniel was a son of Benjamin Sanford and resides at Hadley,
Mich. —Ed.]
1 2th. John Sheals returns from school. Cord wood in afternoon.
I 5th. Put down carpet. Pay Daniel Sanford twenty-five cents per cord.
1 8th. Harmon drives hogs into the woods for beechnuts. Daniel Syl
vester's time is out.
26th. Munson's factory burned. O'Neal and W. Sheals working for me.
30th. Harmon sold three cows. Now has more horses than cows.
December i. Clarinda at Noah Post's, his wife is very sick.
6th. Filling woodhouse. Have forty cords of two and half foot wood.
Will cut fifty so as to have a year's supply at hand.
9th. Thanksgiving Day. Daniel Sanford working for Harmon.
1 2th. Harmon and Clarinda attend Mr. Weeks's protracted meeting at
Parishville. He has large audiences.
14th. Women quilting. W. M. Gould pays me $2, if the biU is good.
19th. Sunday. Harmon, his wife and Sheals gone to ParishvUle meeting.
2 2d. Have thrashing machine. Women on third quilt.
24th. Found my old mare cast in the stable and dead.
26th. Sunday, young people to ParishvUle. The famUy laments the loss
of the old mare.
28th. Clarinda gone to Potsdam. WUliam Sheals and Sarah gone to
wedding at Ogdensburg.
31st. Stormy day. Wrote for A. Sheldon. Asahel with Marion here.

364 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The Yeat 1842 — Death of Eliafchn Seeley, a Pioneet — OM Mr. Silvestet's House
burns. Collecting Alms — Clarinda watches with Mts. Andtews — Death of
IVlts. Andtews— Mts. H. Dewey and Gaius Sheldon — Take Wheat to
Plattsbatg — Patish only pays fifty Cents for Cotn — Vety sickly Time —
Bting Hogs in ftom the Woods — Bones of a young Girl found neat Parish
ville Village — Examination of one Cook — Ptosecuted by Judge Sanfotd, his
great Earnestness — Sno-wstorm June J J — Hurts Mt. Peck's Feelings — S.
Hawley dtowned at East Village — Exhibition wild Animals — Burial of Mrs.
Ashbel Squfre, also Asa Moon — Death of Mrs. Judge Sanfotd.
January 2. Sunday ; Harmon, wife and Clarinda to ParishviUe. Old
Mr. Silvester's log house took fire and burned to the ground.
4th. EUakim Seeley died last evening, aged nearly seventy. He was one
of the first settlers of this town and a respected citizen. Ashael takes Marion
home. She has been with us nearly a week. She is a promising chUd. I have
been highly pleased with her company.
5th. Mr. Seeley buried. Sheals and Sarah return from Ogdensburg.
7th. Mrs. R. sick. Harmon and Asahel collecting clothing, provisions,
etc., for Mr. SUvester.
loth. KiUed my hog, Harmon a cow. A. Ainsworth and Winnie assist.
1 3th. Mr. Lovell buried a daughter of eleven years to-day.
1 5th. Daniel Sanford at work for Harmon by the month. Warren Clark
and John Conlin make payments. Grandchildren are the crown of old men.
1 6th. WUliam Sheals and Daniel Sanford watched with Mr. Bennett.
Clarinda only at meeting.
1 8th. Harmon gone to Ogdensburg. Money is very scarce.
19th. Mrs. Andrews is very sick. W. Green is better.
20th. Stage on wheels. Ann is sick.
2 1 St. Old Mrs. Rasey died in Pierrepont, aged seventy.
22d. Mrs. Rasey buried. Thrashing and cleaning wheat.
23d. Sunday, meeting held at west schoolhouse.
24th. Clarinda watched with Mrs. Andrews. Dr. Sprague been unwell
all winter. Mrs. EU Roburds sick.
25th. Clarinda at Mr. Roburds's. Very sickly time.
27th. Mary R. sick. Samuel Abbott and lady here.
29th. Jehial Austin pays $22 in Canada biUs. Dr. Witherell to see
Mary R.
30th. Mary R., Sarah, Charlotte and Edna sick, Charlotte quite so.
Have doctor.
February 2. Mrs. Orin Andrews died this morning, aged nearly forty.
She was one of our best women. Leaves a young family and a numerous circle
of friends and relatives to lament her death.
3d. Harmon at funeral of Mrs. Andrews with wagon. Charlotte Ul.
4th. Harmon at fiineral of Mr. Sampson's chUd. J. Henderson's child,
Fanny M., is dead. Sally Hopkins here.
6th. Charlotte is better. Edna has the doctor. H. Dewey's wife is
dead, aged about thirty-six. Mr. Foster holds meetings at the west schoolhouse.
7 th. Edna is quite sick, has the doctor. Sent money and tax receipts to
Justus Smith.
I oth. Mrs. Gaius Sheldon is dead. She was one of the first settlers.
Harmon has a sick house, two children and Ann.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 365
nth. Harmon, Mrs. R. and Mrs. Kent at fimeral of Mrs. Sheldon.
14th. Charlotte and Edna very ,sick children. Use wagons now.
1 8th. Dr. WithereU's child is dead. Joseph Allen, a young man, lives
with Harmon. 19th. Our children some better. Daniel Sanford is sick.
2 1 St. A good deal of wheat is being carried east to Lake Champlain.
24th. Making sugar in Potsdam. Children better,
26th. Mr. Bachellor buried a child. Sheals returns from Champlain.
March I. Harmon and Clarinda at funeral of Pomeroy's son.
4th. Boys at saw logs. Money is scarce. All grain very low.
6th. Sunday, have another granddaughter. Charlotte and Edna take
breakfast with me.
8th. Austin Kent, wife and two daughters at his father's.
1 1 th. Mrs. R. returns. Mary has a fine daughter, weighs eleven pounds.
1 2th. Clarinda and Sarah at Darius E. Kent's. Drive hogs to slash.
1 5th. Dea. Hurlburt here. Clarinda and Mary at Mrs. Conner's; she is ill.
19th. Making sugar night and day. J. Pomeroy buried another son.
22d. Another quilt on. What does it mean ?
25th. J. Cutler's son of eight years died this morning. Mary at Mr.
Jennie's ; his daughter is sick.
26th. Miss Lucina Jennie, aged fourteen years, died yesterday. Fatal
sickness prevails.
31st. March has been mild. No call for hay or grain. Money very
scarce and all prices low. Mr. Parish only pays fifty cents for corn at distillery.
April 2. Orange B. Moon makes payment. Asahel here.
5th. At funeral of Mrs. Lewis. Boys at sugar.
6th. Harry Smith buried two chUdren to-day.
loth. Sunday, Harmon, wife and Clarinda attend temperance lecture.
David Leach marries Mary Smith this evening. [Mrs. Leach is stUl living at
the old homestead on the Turnpike. — Ed.]
1 6th. W. Eastman buried two children this week.
1 8th. Mr. Eastman loses his third child. William Sheals lives with Dea
con Culver. C. Chubb's chUd is dead.
20th. Mrs. Kent does not improve, is very much deranged.
2 2d. Mrs. Artemus Kent died last night.
23 d. Family mostly at funeral of Mrs. Kent.
24di. Sunday, several baptized at west schoolhouse.
25th. Harmon and John to Potsdam. Yaiior Missionary Herald.
28th. Fields begin to look green. Many pigeons. Sowing grain.
29th. Samuel Abbott is sick. Clarinda has gone there.
May I . Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda at meeting. Ann has gone home.
4th. Sowing wheat at Newman's. Fields looking green.
6th. Clarinda watched at Reuben Post's. Harmon uses two yoke oxen.
8th. Sunday, some go to viUage and others to west schoolhouse.
I oth. Women at soap making. Not many pigeons this spring.
1 2th. Currants in blow. Swallows about. Mr. Manley here.
14th. Cattle feed on grass mostly. Asahel has quite a ffre on his land.
19th. A fine growing time. Women cleaning house.
2 1st. Boys bringing hogs from the woods, where they have been six weeks.

366 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
2 2d. Sunday, Harmon and Mary at meeting. A duel has been fought
between Wise and Stanly. [The Librarian at Washington says this difficulty
was between Hon. Edward Stanly of North Carohna, and Hon. Henry A.
Wise of Virginia, both Congressmen. A challenge was given, but the matter
was settled without a duel. — Ed.]
24th. Clarinda and Sarah gone to Parishville. Get a bottle of Moffit's
medicine. [A Mr. Moffit was a neighbor. — Ed.]
25th. A man was kiUed in Lawrence by the fell of a tree.
28th. Mary R. and Clarinda at Asahel's. Boys planting.
29th. Sunday, Methodists hold meeting in the viUage.
30th. Asahel, wife and youngest child set out for Vermont.
June 2. The bones of a young woman were found in ParishviUe, supposed
to have lain two years. No one can say who she was at present or account for
her death. Buried to-day.
[It was soon, as I am told, satisfactorUy ascertained that they were the
bones of a gfrl about fourteen years of age that one John ConneU, a teamster for
George Parish, drawing whiskey to French MiUs (Fort Covington), had secured
in Bombay as a helper in his family. The discovery of her remains caused some
feeUng and considerable excitement among the good people of ParishviUe. They
were found about a mile east of ParishvUle viUage on a temporary log road lead
ing south from the Turnpike, near a spring. The gfrl was missed in the fall and
this discovery made the second summer following. The indignation of the
people finally reached that point that charges of some kind were made against
one Paul Cook and an examination had before a justice of the peace. The
people employed Judge Sanford to conduct the trial or examination. E. D.
Brooks was then a merchant there and had only a short time previously married
Permelia, daughter of Judge Sanford. I well remember Mr. Brooks telUng me
this story of the trial, which is worth repeating.
Mr. Cook was a poor man and not overstocked mentally, — or at least a
little pecuUar or strange. Mr. Brooks and others beheved him utterly and ab
solutely innocent of any offence. Knowing Judge Sanford's tenacity and de
termination he feared the results, and so much so that, as he told me, he went
down to Potsdam and hired WilUam A. Dart, then a promising young lawyer,
to come up and defend him. The trial came on just after dinner and the hall
was packed. Judge Sanford drove up from his home and hitched his horse in
Mr. Brooks's shed adjoining his store, and proceeded to the court room with
vigor in his step and assurance in his mien. Mr. Brooks watched the trial for
a while and then went back to his store. At supper time he went over to get
them to go to tea. The Judge was learnedly and eloquently arguing some point
as to evidence. When he had finished Mr. Brooks asked him over to tea, as
he was his father-in-law, and Mr. Dart, as he had hfred him. After tea the
trial went on. At nine o'clock Mr. Brooks closed his store and went over to
the court room for his guests. Again the Judge was in the midst of an elaborate
argument to the justice. He got a seat and Ustened for some time. After a
while he made repeated efforts to get them to adjourn court till morning,
which Mr. Dart was anxious to do, but to no purpose. The Judge felt
that he was being unjustly excluded from giving certain testimony, and therefore
that he had got to educate the justice to his way of thinking. With this beUef
upon him nothing could swerve him or stop him. His energy and endurance

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 367
knew no Umit and apparently had no boundaries. Mr. Dart was already
fatigued and pacing the floor, as was his custom in after life. Whether he had
then formed the habit of clinching his fists and grating his teeth when disturbed
or annoyed I do not recall. Giving up getting an adjournment, as the Judge
would not desist or let up, at about midnight Mr. Brooks whispered to the Judge
and to Mr. Dart that he would leave his back door unbolted, with a Ught in
their rooms, and that they could come over when they got ready, that he was
going home and to bed. Arising in the morning he soon discovered that he had
no guests. The candles had well burned down and the beds were undisturbed.
HastUy going over to the court room he found the Judge on his feet, body bent
over the table, right arm extended, with forefinger almost touching the justice's
face, and as vehemently and as eloquently pleading as ever. But few spectators
were about and they, with the court, were drowsy and worn out. Mr. Dart
had given up, taking an inclined position on a bench with his back against the
wall. As Mr. Brooks entered he cried out, "For heaven's sake. Brooks, can't
you stop him ? ' ' When the Judge had finished he prevailed on them to ad
journ for breakfast. As they were crossing the street they passed close by Mr.
Brooks's store shed and, noticing a rig in there at that early hour, he remarked,
" I wonder whose horse is that ? " The Judge, awakening as from a dream at
the word horse, repUed, "It is mine." So they unhitched him and took him
along to breakfast also. Getting so enhsted in the trial he had forgotten the
horse entirely. His physical and mental endurance were phenomenal. It
would almost seem that he did not know such a thing as weariness or fatigue.
However, his pertinacity did not avail him in this case. He had Uttle or no
evidence, and therefore no case was made. So far as I can learn it was never
learned how the girl met her end or whether she was murdered or not. It is
one of the many unsolved mysteries. — Ed.]
June 4. Ploughing and planting. Apple trees now in blow.
7th. Dr. Sprague caUed to see me, have taken a puke. Clarinda and
Sarah at Samuel Abbott's quUting.
8th. Dr. Sprague called again. Mrs. Abbott here. Corn, beans, etc.,
hurt with the frost.
I oth. Confined in the house. Harmon and Clarinda gone to Parishville.
nth. Snow this morning. Lies on the roofs and trees. Thermometer
thirty- one degrees in the morning.
1 3th. Boys at sawmiU. Mr. Brown raised a store at the vUlage.
I 5th. Asahel Kent shearing sheep. Asahel brings me a rocking chair.
1 8th. Shearing sheep. Mary and chUdren here. Sarah rode out.
20th. Julius Peck here. By an unguarded expression I hurt, his feelings.
I was wrong and am sorry. Have good regard for him.
23 d. Boys at work on the road. Martin Covey is unwell.
26th. Sunday, young people at Methodist camp meeting in Bangor.
28th. Rode out with Clarinda and Sarah. Letter from J. S. Chittenden.
29th. Rode over to Samuel Abbott's with Asahel. School inspector here.
30th. A young man aged fifteen was drowned in the mill pond at East
VUlage. June has been a painfiil month to me. I am able to do some little
business but no manual labor.

368 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
July I. Harmon at the fiineral of Mr. S. Hawley, drowned yesterday.
Lucy Ann Sanford is dead. She was a daughter of Benjamin Sanford, aged
twenty-two, and died in Vermont. Her mother is here.
5th. Moving the old barn. Several people helping.
6th. Asahel and others assisting Mr. Silvester raise house. Harmon
boards twenty men, large family.
8th. Mr. Taylor made me a pair of pantaloons and mended my coat.
Harmon framing and buUding a shed.
loth. A fatal accident happened to one or more at Chateaugay on the 4th.
nth. I hurt Mr. WUham Kent's feeUngs by a thoughtless expiession.
I very much regret it, for I would have no other than the kindest regards for and
by my neighbors.
1 2th. Harmon gone to court at Canton as juror, his wife with him.
14th. Mr. Shearer, the tailor, left his biU. Harmon returns.
1 8th. Asahel, his father and the chUdren here. Children gone to an
exhibition of wUd animals at the vUlage.
2 1 St. Clarinda and Sarah gone to ParishvUle. Mrs. Laughlin here.
24th. Sunday, young people at meeting. Mrs. Ashbel Squire is buried
to-day. Mr. and Mrs. Squire were among the ffrst settlers of this town.
28th. Commenced haying. Have been at Asahel's for three days.
31st. Sunday, have a new minister. John here from Potsdam. [There
are no entries from August i to October 1 6, but a blank space was left, evidently
intending to make the entries later. At the foot of the space is this memorandum,
viz. :] The blank pages are left on account of inabihty to write. I suffered severely
this month. No one can describe my suffering unless it be some one afflicted with
the same disease. No other can do it.
October 16. Deacon Asa Moon is buried to-day. He was an old inhab
itant of this town. He died of a few days' sickness, aged about seventy-two.
Good old man.
1 7th. Harmon at work on his sheds. Digging potatoes.
2 1 St. Snow this morning. Boys husking.
26th. Harmon surveying for Jonah Sanford. Sent money to Justus Smith
by Caleb Wright.
28th. Sarah gone to Malone. Clarinda at Mrs. Benj. Sanford's.
30th. Sunday, chUdren at meeting. Sacrament administered.
November 3. My health is apparently better. I walk out some.
5th. Harmon has three hired men, large family. Doing fall work.
8th. Election day. Mr. Pettibone, Mr. Rider and others here.
I oth. Harmon surveying for commissioner of highways near Ainsworth.
I zth. Mrs. Kent is quite sick. Wrote J. S. Chittenden.
I 5th. Mr. Pearse gone to Ogdensburg for salt. J. Shields here.
1 7th. Mr. Pearse returns. His wagon broke down in Canton.
20th. Sunday, many people at meeting. Clarinda came from Asahel's.
2 1 St. Snow in the woods knee deep. A Frenchman is at work for me.
28th. Pearse gone after the salt he left in Canton.
December 3 . RUey Ainsworth boards with us. Thrashing machine here.
4th. Sunday, good sleighing. At meeting. Ezra Sheldon sick.
6th. Sickness in Lee Eastman's famUy. I am confined to the house.
8th. Thanksgiving Day. Harmon at ParishviUe mill.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 369
9th. Harmon and wife gone to Malone. Asahel and wife here.
1 3th. Mr. Newman and lady here. Drawing stove wood these days.
1 4th. Mrs. Jonah Sanford is a very sick person. Ann is sick also.
15th. Mrs. Sanford, wife of Jonah Sanford, Esq., died this evening at six
o'clock. [A letter written at the time by Judge Sanford says her trouble was
inflammation of the bowels. Very likely it really was appendicitis, a disease
which the doctors failed to discover tUl within thfrty years. — Ed.]
1 7th. Rufus Greene fails, it is feared has consumption.
1 8th. Sunday, the family mostly at the funeral of Mrs. Sanford.
zoth. Kilhng hogs. Paid Mr. Bentley, the peddler, one dollar and a half.
Z3d. Gfrls gone to John Shields's school at ParishvUle, Lower FaUs.
26th. Gfrls gone to Parishville singing school. Clarinda has new shoes.
28th. Asahel has a Canada bill to pass without discount or return it.
30th. Severe snowstorm. Cheerless days. [The next entry is June,
1843. A space was left but never filled in. — Ed.]
The Year 1843— A Lettet to Edna in May — Tender Tribute to Childhood —
Marriage of William Sheals- — Asa Newton buried — Mts. James Smith and
Child buried — Hatmon at Military Drill — Burial of Mrs. John Hoyt — Paid
Rev. Northrup $7 — James Smith and Mrs. Benjamin Sanfotd marry — Wil
son killed in Mill at East Village, Novembet 21 — Riley Ainswotth fiddling.
Charlotte is at school. Edna, in the absence of her sister, inclines to her
grandfather for company. She is a very little girl, very amusing and flatters
with an interesting grace. She is coming. I can hear her footsteps along the
platform. As she enters she says : " It is warm to-day, grandfether. I want
to go into the lot, up to the rock or to the barn. Here is your staff. Now put
on your cloak and take hold of my hand. ' ' The force of her artless eloquence
prevails. There is no escape. If am able to move I must go a short distance
if no further.
June 2. Planting potatoes. Young people from Vermont here. My
health is some better.
4th. Sunday, young people at meeting. Mary gains slowly.
7th. Little Edna and I walk out when pleasant. Planting potatoes.
9th. Wilham Sheals works on Nathaniel Baldwin's farm.
I Ith. Sunday, young people at meeting. Mr. Pettibone preached.
14th. Mrs. R. and Mary at Asahel's and Noah Post's.
17th. Harmon trying to wash sheep. Corn is up an inch.
26th. WiUiam Sheals is married, came here with his wife. Harmon sur
veying in Stockholm.
30th. Growing time. Reuben Post making cheese press.
July 2. Sunday, no one at meeting. Dense smoke in the east.
4th. Harmon and Mrs. R. go to Potsdam.
5th. Asa Newton buried to-day, been sick more than a year. One leg
taken off in the time. A. Kent building house for his son WUham.
7th. Clarinda and Sarah at WUham Sheals's quilting.
9th. The wife of James Smith died this morning. She died in child-
bfrth. Her death was sudden and unexpected. She with her chUd was buried
this afternoon. 14th. Charlotte goes to school. A backward season.

370 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 6th. Sunday, it appears Lucian Kent is disposed to leave the church.
19th. The church and Lucian Kent are having a row.
2 1 St. Paid Mrs. B. Sanford $1.25 on account of her son Daniel cutting
cord wood. Mrs. R. mUks three cows, Harmon mUks thfrteen.
22d. Women picking geese. Riley sick. I keep the house.
30th. Sunday, Mrs. R. at meeting. Old Mrs. Eastman sick.
August I. Harmon is helping William Sheals. John is at Mr. Kent's.
Riley at the other place. O'Neil is not here. Clarinda and Mary go to Fort.
2d. Harmon and O'NeU haying at Baldwin's for WiUiam Sheals.
7th. An old gentleman by the name of Blanchard at work for me.
8th. Harmon got me a pound of tea, two plugs of tobacco and three
quarts of old whiskey. Paid Itahan peddler $2.50 for eyeglasses.
9th. Mrs. Kent returned from the west to her husband, Austin Kent.
nth. Mrs. R. and Mary at Asahel's. Boys haying for Sheals.
1 2th. Mary Chittenden has the fourth daughter, born yesterday morning.
1 6th. Drew a sketch of vUlage lots for Miss Malcom.
20th. Sunday, Charlotte and Edna at meeting. Clarinda returns from
Asahel's. Miss Marion with her.
23d. Harmon gone to miUtary drill at Potsdam. Cradling wheat.
26th. Cradhng wheat these days. Fine weather.
30th. Sarah returns from Asahel's. Sphtting raUs, harvesting, etc.
September 2. John gone to Potsdam. Clarinda had of me 25 cents.
4th. Harmon at training. Been a painful day for me.
6th. Mary here with her babe. Blanchard is through work.
8th. Mary gone home. Mrs. R. at Newman's.
loth. Sunday, Harmon and wife at meeting.
I Ith. Frost this morning. O'Neil is absent. His wife is sick.
14th. Harmon surveying for H. Sheldon. Clarinda at Asahel's, chil
dren sick. 1 5th. Mr. Webb, Saunders and ladies here.
17th. John Sheals here from Potsdam school.
1 8th. Harmon at training in Potsdam, sent money to Justus Smith.
20th. Joseph Chittenden here from Vermont. Sarah quilting. Mrs.
John Hoyt of Parishville buried to-day.
2 1 St. Old Mrs. Roburds buried to-day. She was one of the first settlers.
2 2d. Josiah Smith at work on hog house for me.
23d. Mr. Asahel Kent plastering house for his son William.
24th. Sunday, Clarinda and Sarah at meeting.
27th. Lewis Hurlbut and lady here. Gathering corn.
28th. Sent tax receipts to James Lenox, New York, by Asahel.
30th. Paid Mr. Northrup, our minister, $2. Have paid him in aU for
year's preaching, $7. Gathering potatoes. Another short summer has passed
away. The fohage of the forest is taking on a pale yellow, and all vegetation is
decaying. It is a season for sober thought.
October 4. O'NeU had an old shfrt and shirt flannel of me worth
$1.62. Made a map.
5th. Harmon, wife and children gone to Malone. Young Dewey gath
ering apples.
8th. Sunday, RUey, John and R. Dewey here. No one at meeting.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 371
I oth. Paid peddler twenty-five cents for half pound of powder.
1 1 th. Clarinda and Sarah rode out into Stockholm.
13th. I am reading Comb's " Constitution ofMan" and "Phrenology."
I 5th. Sunday, the famUy mostly at meeting, walked.
1 7th. Finished potatoes, nearly six hundred bushels.
22d. Sunday, quite a snowstorm. Cattle in stable.
23d. Nathaniel Baldwin raising sawmiU.
25 th. Rockwell, a practical phrenologist, here.
26th. Harmon surveying for T. H. Laughhn. I formerly chased deer
on such snow as we now have.
30th. Blanchard wheeling in stove wood. Paid Bronson, the merchant
at Parishville, $6.50.
November 2. A. Jenne kiUed a deer with my gun.
4th. Sunday, road hard frozen. Stable the cows.
7th. Election day. Paid John Henderson Mr. Lenox's tax.
I oth. Ground covered with snow for three weeks. Hardly enough for
sleighing. I zth. Sunday, Harmon at meeting in sleigh. Mrs. Kent unwell.
1 4th. Josiah Smith carries Mr. Blanchard and two daughters to KeesviUe.
I made him a present of sixty cents and a pound of tobacco.
1 5th. James Smith, whose wife died in July, married to-day Mrs. Benja
min Sanford. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford separated about four years ago.
1 8th. John Sheals kUled a deer, so he says. Gathering onions, turnips, etc.
zoth. District school commences. Riley and John hve on their capital.
Roswell at school, boards with Harmon.
2 1 St. Samuel Wilson has lost his eldest son, a young man about eighteen.
He was kUled instantly in the machinery of the mUl at East ViUage or Nichol
viUe yesterday. Was badly mangled, head and hmbs broken.
2 2d. Mr. Wilson's son is buried to-day. Mary is better.
25th. Harmon surveying for Lee Eastman. Mrs. R. paid peddler
ten cents. 27th. Clarinda at select school in the village, boards at Asahel's.
29th. Got a chest of Aaron Jenne for the town's weights and measures.
Harmon gets James Rider's girl to work.
30th. I read Mr. Comb's work with much interest. I have been want
ing a treatise on the phUosophy of the mind.
December 2. Balch, the peddler, with two horses, overnight. Clarinda
returns from school, finished her education soon.
3d. Sunday. John Sheals gone to Malone to teach school.
4th. Clarinda learning arithmetic. Sarah sewing. Riley fiddling. Mrs.
R. winding yarn. I do some chores, mUk two cows, bring water now and then.
6th. Girls at WUliam Sheals's. Harmon at ParishviUe.
8th. Good wheeling. Post at work on our sheds.
I oth. Sunday, Harmon and wife at meeting.
13th. Turkey shoot in the viUage, many there. Clarinda at Asahel's.
14th. Thanksgiving Day. Newman and lady here.
1 6th. Have ten inches of snow. All hived up. Riley fiddles. Had
better quaUfy for teaching or some other usefiil employment.
1 7th. Sunday, Harmon, wife and Clarinda at meeting, Mr. Balch here.

372 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 9th. Asahel gone to Canton as juror. Harmon and wife to Potsdam.
22d. Turkey shooting and gambling occupy the mind of too many.
25th. Young people supped at Newman's.
27th. Jonah Sanford, Jr., cut himself badly. Mrs. R. returns from
Asahel's.
The Year 1844 — Marriage of Sarah Sheals and Stephen Wescott — Loss of Child
and Property — Snow four feet — Riley Ainsworth fiddling and Daniel Sanfotd
dancing — Both still living — Ministet goes West — Inventory of Ptopetty —
Burning Brush and Log Heaps — Militia ttaining — Potatoes totting — Dema
gogues in Politics — Rough Elections.
January 5. A snowstorm, such as the Yankees teU of in New England
seventy-five years ago.
6th. Lee Eastman and lady here, John Post also.
8th. John Post is here yet, fetched water for the gfrls to wash.
9th. Michael Johnson takes a pair of moccasins at seventy-five cents.
1 6th. Joseph Brush here. Harmon at ParishviUe mUl.
20th. Very cold, sixteen below zero. WiUiam Kent and lady return.
21st. Sunday, young people at meeting. Great cry for hay.
24th. Killed our hogs. Ehas Post cutting a hole in the ceUing for stove
pipe in the best room, other house.
25th. A good deal of fixing and dressmaking. I cannot say what it wUl
end in. Charlotte says they are going to have company.
26th. Very cold. Putting up stove in best room, cooking, etc. I ap
prehend something is up. I note smiling faces, except Sarah appears sedate.
27th. Preparations still going on. All business seems to be suspended.
The wheat thrashed a week ago lies on the barn floor, partially cleaned.
29th. Women washing, scrubbing house and cleaning gowns, caps, etc.
Mr. Wescott, a young man from Malone, an only son of a good famUy, is here
and is to marry Sarah Sheals, a daughter of Mrs. Asahel Kent, this eve at eight.
31st. Several young people from Malone and hereabouts were present last
eve, a v^ery respectable wedding. Mr. Stephen Wescott and lady will return to
morrow. [Mr. Wescott earned and acquired a fine ferm and property near Malone.
After some years he moved into Malone village and went into business with an
other or others. He got terribly involved and lost everything he had. His only
child, a promising boy, died at the age of sixteen. His wife, broken in spirit
and body by her son's death, sickened and died, and alone in the world he
sought work, an old man, as a hostler. He loved a fine horse and in his pros
perous days always had one or more fine steppers. I saw him last in this posi
tion at the hotel in ParishvilUe a few years ago. I had not learned of his mis
fortune, but I felt sure I knew him, aided much by the fact that he had but one
eye. After making myself known I endeavored to engage him in conversation
that I might verify my convictions as to his identity, but, to my surprise, he
seemed disinclined and I was compeUed to turn away, leaving him at the stable
with the horses and his musings. Poor old man ! My heart went out to him,
but he was too high spirited to receive it. He seemed not to ask or want the
sympathy or help of those he had known. He accepted his lot with stoicism,
and did his work well, dying, not long since, as he had lived. Brave man.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 373
Peace to his ashes. Such a spirit, after such a struggle and such a fate, should
meet his Sarah again. Not to do so would seem almost cruel. Sarah Sheals
and Clarinda Risdon were of about the same age and close friends from youth
to the end. They were also bright, pleasing, comely young women with a
large cfrcle of admfring friends. ¦ — Ed.]
February I. Harmon, Sheals and their wives accompany Mr. Wescott
and lady to Malone. Clarinda, Harriet and other young people will go as far as
Jefferson's. Sarah showed much tender feehng on parting with us.
5th. Paid Mr. Short's, J. Lenox's and my own taxes. Got nine yards
of full cloth of Samuel Abbott. Money is very scarce.
8th. Hay $8 per ton. Conlin at work for Harmon.
I oth. RUey and Lucina at school. A severe winter.
nth. Sunday, Harmon, wife and Clarinda at meeting.
1 3th. Old Mr. Wescott and lady here, also Mr. Northrup and lady.
1 5th. Davis Witherell here with four yards factory cloth. Mr. Smith
returns from Vermont.
1 6th. Harmon, wife and Clarinda at Lee Eastman's.
1 7th. Old Mr. Laughlin is not the same man as formerly.
20th. Town meeting. J. Rider and lady here.
2 2d. Wescott and Sarah here from Malone.
24th. Wescott, Webb and ladies return to Malone, Clarinda with them.
27th. Severe winter. Many catde only get straw and what they can by
browsing. The snow is four feet in the woods.
29th. Riley Ainsworth has boarded with Harmon. They have done
Uttle aside from chores. Thrashed with machine and wood cut a year ago.
March I . Harmon and wife away. Riley fiddling and Daniel dancing.
3d. Sunday, Clarinda returns from Malone.
5th. RUey has a lame hand, can't fiddle, so he and D. Sanford play
checkers. Too prodigal of youthfiil time.
9th. Exhibition at the viUage last evening. The fiddle a-going again.
I oth. Sunday, Mary, Clarinda and Lewis, the French boy, are at meeting.
1 2th. R. Post moving to Norfolk. Boys at the sugar works. Sheep
find some bare spots.
13th. Nelson Crouch buys the place where Reuben Post Uves.
1 8th. But few have tapped. There is much snow yet except in spots.
zoth. Mary Chittenden here. Tedious day. Boys sugaring. My ther
mometer is broken. Women quilting. Sleighing gone.
April 3. Snow two feet in the woods yet. Little Marion with us.
7th. Girls at meeting. Marion continues with us.
I oth. Sent money to Mr. Smith by T. H. Laughlin.
1 2th. Mr. GiUen has worked for me at thirteen dollars per month.
1 5 th. GUlen making fence, boys ploughing, farmers all engaged.
20th. Lewis and John ploughing at the other place.
2 1 St. No one at meeting. No preaching, minister gone to the far west.
26th. Been with Clarinda and Charlotte for cowshps. Bought a yoke
of oxen of Harmon at sixty doUars.
30th. Sowing wheat. The women have commenced cleaning house.
May I . Mrs. GUlen assisting Clarinda. Fine growing tirne.
8th. Asahel gone to New York. Making garden, my health is poor.

374 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
I Ith. Mrs. Kent, Mary and Edna gone to Malone. Apple trees in blow.
1 6th. Samuel Abbott's daughters here. Mr. Kent's house looks very
sleek after painting. Its splendor makes our home look the more humble.
17th. Sent money to Mr. Smith by Maria Abbott. Harmon is away.
19th. Harmon and Clarinda at meeting. Mr. Montague preached.
2 1 St. Mrs. Baldwin is sick. Mary is there. Nathaniel Goodnow' s
child is buried.
2zd. A Ught frost. Preparing land for potatoes.
31st. Abel from Vermont, Perkins of ParishviUe and Stanley's son from
Malone and women folks here.
June I. Harmon has seven calves, four horses, milks twelve cows, has
two yoke oxen. I claim one pafr however. He has five hogs. I have two
hogs, one horse, three cows, one is dry.
3d. Harmon on the road as commissioner. Mr. Grow planting corn.
4th. Been myself at work on road from Durfey's south to Turnpike.
5 th. Harmon on Northwest Bay road as commissioner.
6th. Mr. Culver took assessment. Abel has gone.
9th. Sunday, Harmon, Mary and Clarinda at meeting.
nth. Clarinda watched with Noah Post's sick child last night.
1 2th. Wescott and Sarah here. Planting potatoes. Meacham here,
14th. A man in Lawrence cut his own throat and is dead. A son of
P. Corwin [it may be Converse] about fifteen years of age was instantly kiUed
to-day by a wagon passing over his breast.
1 5th. Harmon surveyed on road to Gossville. People burning brush and
log heaps in various directions. Much smoke.
17th. Women washing at the brook. I have been to N. Crouch's.
19th. Charlotte and Edna at school. Mrs. R. and Mary at Asahel's.
20th. Wheat is $1.12 J^ and corn seventy-five cents. Asahel gone to
Vermont. 23d. Mrs. EUphalet Brush here. Harmon, wife and Lucina at meeting.
26th. Harmon shingling for Mr. Kent. GUlen at stove wood.
30th. Sunday, Harmon, wife and Clarinda at meeting, no preaching.
July 4. Cannons are roaring. Marion and Beatrice here.
6th. Horse racing, poor business. GUlen cutting wood for me.
loth. Women spinning. Cool nights and mornings.
1 2th. Asa Squire is badly hurt in his mUl.
13th. Old Mrs. Pfre is dead. Clarinda at Asahel's.
14th. Sunday, the family is at the funeral of Mrs.Pire.
1 8th. Edwin Post and his father working for me. Harmon borrowed
$10 to buy grain for family use.
19th. Clarinda and John gone to Potsdam.
27th. Clarinda gone to LawrenceviUe. She borrowed twelve and a
half cents of Lucina.
August 5. Poor hay weather. Mrs. R. making cheese.
loth. Haying at the other place these days. Clarinda making cheese.
1 1 th. Sunday, Harmon, Mrs. R. and Edna at meeting, had preaching.
13th. Mrs. R. at P. Mosher's. Mr. Webb and lady here.
1 6th. Harmon at widow Moon's bee. Commenced cradling.
1 8th. Harmon, Clarinda, Charlotte and Edna at meeting.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 375
22d. Showery time. There is much ripe wheat.
24th. Harmon at mUitary drUl at Potsdam. Boys harvesting.
27th. Aunt Lecta here. Wheat is growing and it stands in many fields.
September 2. MiUtia training. John and Lewis drawing wheat.
4th. Wedding at Winney's. Politics are the all absorbing topic.
6th. Harmon and Lewis gone to Potsdam training.
8th. Mr. Walhs's daughter, aged twelve, died to-day. Harmon and
Harriet at meeting.
I ith. Been with commission'er to find true line of road from guideboard
near East Village to S. Ducoy's farm.
13th. Boys spreading flax. Harmon at Gossville.
15th. Abbott's people here. Much excitement over politics.
20th. John and GUlen cut rowen for me. Whig and Loco, meetings.
2 2d. Sunday, my health is far better,, possibly may be restored.
23 d. Maron Crossman and lady here from Vermont. Hard frost.
24th. Been surveying on Short Tract. Paid H. Brooks, $5.
26th. Digging potatoes, husking corn. I have one thousand pumpkins.
28th. Harmon returns from a Whig mass meeting at Malone. Much
complaint all over the country of potatoes rotting, even after being put in cellar.
Many have taken them out to afr them.
30th. Mrs. R. at S. Abbott's. Henry Clay is again a candidate for the
presidency. So also is James K. Polk. The parties are making a tremendous
effort to elect their favorite. There are many demagogues on each side, and
they appear to have no scruples of conscience.
October i . Very cold. Ice an inch thick in wash kettle.
4th. John gone fishing. Lucina stiU with us. Mary has another girl.
6th. Sunday, forest leaves and vegetation are dying.
8th. Asahel gone to New York. John Winnie at work for me.
loth. Harriet returned from Malone, Clarinda at Asahel's.
1 2th. PoUtical mass meetings often. Wescott and Sarah here.
14th. Clarinda wiU stay at Asahel's tUl he returns.
1 6th. Killed five black and gray squirrels in Mr. Kent's woods.
1 8th. The political parties run too much to personal abuse and defamation.
19th. Powerfiil wind, many forest trees and fences thrown down.
22d. Been with John to Mr. WaUis's, very pleasant being about.
24th. Asahel has returned. Surveying for GUlen and Conlin.
26th. P. Mosher hands me $50 in Canada biUs. Artemus Kent is sick.
28th. Harmon gone to Potsdam. Mr. Kent's disease has settled in his
arm and hand. Tedious storm, cattle and sheep flock to barn for shelter.
30th. Seldom so severe a storm at this time of year. Now have fifteen
inches of snow.
November 5. Election day, have voted. Much noise and rough language
to be heard. Several got intoxicated. The result wUl be anxiously awaited.
6th. Been up to R. Greene's surveying. Ground covered with snow.
7th. WiUiam Sheals has court at the vUlage. Harmon and John testify.
8th. PhUip Mosher pays me $60 in Canada bUls. The Locos. wiU carry
this county by twelve or fourteen hundred.
1 2th. Harmon has thrashing machine. Clarinda at Asahel's.
14th. The Locos, will probably prevaU in this state.

376 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 5th. Franklin Blanchard is at work for me, wiU work a month for four
doUars in money. Harmon away with his thrashing machine.
1 8th. Reuben Post over night. Blanchard chopping.
24th. Atwood these days. Clarinda returns from Asahel's.
28th. Destructive wind and flood at Buffalo, N. Y., many Uves were
lost and much property destroyed. It seems a good part of city was inun
dated. The loss of life is shocking to read.
December 2. Drawing wood that J. Smith cut. Henry Post here.
3d. Sent money to Justus Smith by Josiah Smith.
4th. Old Mr. Chittenden here. Mrs. R. does the housework in Cla
rinda' s absence.
9th. Clarinda returns from Asahel's. Cutting wood these days.
1 2th. An infant school is being kept in the vUlage. Newman and lady here.
1 6th. Blanchard has worked a month. He has had two pafrs of flannel
undershfrts and two pafrs of drawers, $2.50 and twenty-two and one-half cents
in money. He will work awhile longer at $7 a month.
zist. Blanchard unwell. Has worked a month and six days. Quits.
29th. Sunday, young people at meeting at west schoolhouse.
The Yeat 1845 — People have to assbt the Stage — Death of Mts. Elisha Risdon,
Januaty 10 — A beautiful Tribute to her Memory — Rev. Roswell Pettibone
pteached and Judge Sanfotd took Chatge — Huldah Kent matries Mt. Tilden
— Death of Seth Abbott, a Pioneet — Many public Meetings and much Excite
ment ovet the Ptoject of a Raifroad thtough the County — A Histoty of
the Sttuggle fot the Road — A Child of eight Yeats Spinning — Book
opened in the Village for Subscriptions to the Railtoad — Log Fites in all
Ditections — Mts. Rbdon's Gravestone costs $40 — Judge Sanfotd marries
Hattiet Batney — Women dipping Candles — Death of /^ahel Jenne.
January 4. Winter weather. A daughter born to my son Harmon and
wife Mary. We now have seven granddaughters.
6th. Been with Eastman and Stevens on the Lenox tract. Sold them
some pine timber. Mary is quite feeble, baby is well.
8th. Went with Asahel for a ride into the south woods, to Gossville.
I oth. G. H. Covey and R. Post here. Harmon to Brasher.
1 2th. Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda gone to Stockholm to meeting.
14th. Clarinda gone to Norfolk with E. Post and lady.
1 6th. Manda Covey here. Paid Leander Perkins $2.88 for medicine.
1 8th. Mr. Webb and Nicholas here. Harmon gone with Nicholas to
Stockholm. Company in plenty.
20th. Luther Sylvester works Harmon's thrashing machine.
24th. Clarinda and Sarah at W. Sheals's. Mr. Wescott here.
27th. Wescott and lady return to Malone.
30th. J. Webb and lady here. Charlotte is sick. Harmon to Brasher' s.
February 2. Sunday, coldest day this winter so far.
4th. Very cold. Mrs. R. is sick. A Yankee storm is raging.
6th. The storm continues. The stage passes greatly out of time with
much assistance from the inhabitants. Mrs. R. is no better, is quite sick, has
had no nurse but Clarinda for three nights and days.
7th. The storm has abated. Mrs. R. continues sick. Mary R. caUed
in. Mrs. Kent came over and remained with Mrs. R. all day.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 377
8th. KiUed my hogs. Mrs. Risdon is no better. The doctor is here.
9th. Sunday, the doctor says Mrs. R. cannot live long.
loth. Mrs. Risdon breathed her last at about five o'clock this morning.
She has a pleasant smile on her countenance, lovely even in death. Mrs. Ris
don's constitution was not strong. She was troubled with phthisic in the latter
part of her Ufe. However her general health was quite good and along in the
fore part of winter was better than common for her. Monday previous to her
death she complained of feeling unweU. She was up, however, on Tuesday,
sat at the table for breakfast Wednesday and Thursday. Mrs. Kent, a neighbor
of her age, was with her aU day Friday. She conversed pleasandy and freely
with us aU day. We apprehended nothing serious. Saturday morning Dr.
Sprague was called in. He also called in the evening. I felt something
alarmed at this time. She was troubled with a cough but said she was free from
pain. Sunday morning the doctor caUed again. He was convinced at this
time she would not survive her sickness and notified her of her situation. She
heard it calmly and composedly, was entfrely resigned. She conversed freely
with her chUdren and her friends all day. Something was said about sending for
her absent brother Reuben, but she thought not best then. She did not expect
to die so soon. S. Chittenden, Sr., called in toward evening and prayed with
her. She took a deep interest in his prayer and in conversing with him and
others. It seemed to me that her last day was the happiest of her life. At
about twelve o'clock at night she fell into a drowse from which she never awoke
and passed away without a struggle or a groan. We were married in August,
1 8 II, have lived together over thfrty-four years. It was a severe trial for me
to give her up. Her peaceful death, nor the consolation of rehgion seemed to
avail anything in composing my troubled feehngs. She was a woman of strict
integrity and great benevolence. Hers was a native goodness, unadulterated by
art or design. She was unassuming in manner, free from vanity, and shrank
from any appearance of display of person, dress or abihties. She read much and
took a deep interest in all missions and charitable societies. She had read the
Missionary Herald, printed in Boston, for over twenty years and took a deep
interest in its work. The Bible was her darling book. She was an everyday
Christian and held great faith in the merits of her Saviour. She was a kind
mother, hospitable to the poor and needy, a notable housewife, neat and indus
trious. It was my misfortune to be much confined by sickness. During it all
her attentions to me were unremitted and always kind and tender.
I Ith. Many neighbors in and out. Mrs. Andrews assisting in making
graveclothes. 1 2th. Mrs. Risdon is buried. The funeral was attended by a large
audience. The Rev. Roswell Pettibone preached. Judge Sanford directed the
procession. The demeanor was very respectful. I felled the forest in 1806
where her remains lie and where mine shaU Ue.
14th. Harriet Sheals continues with us. Pensive and lonely days.
1 8th. Town meeting day. Wrote a letter to Ira Smith in Ohio.
25th. D. Brooks and lady here. Huldah, daughter of Asahel Kent,
married this evening to Mr. TUden of Stockholm, a young man of good famUy.
Soplironia Jenne, a girl of thfrteen years, died this morning.
26th. Clarinda and others making graveclothes for Miss Jeime.

378 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
27th. Miss Jenne buried to-day. Wrote brother and sister Pratt.
Stage on wheels.
March 2. Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda at meeting. No preaching.
4th. Luther drawing raUs. Been confined to the house for three weeks.
6th. Poor sleighing. Harmon at ParishviUe. Marion here.
8th. Tapping sugar works. Darius E. Kent is fast paying for land
bought of Mr. Short. [He became rich. — Ed.]
10th. Harmon and John at sugaring. Luther has left.
12th. Sent $146.79 by W. Partridge to Mr. Smith. Ellen Kent here.
13th. W. Davidson and Ainsworth cutting wood. Lucy and Harriet
cooked dinner.
1 6th. Sunday, Harmon at N. Post's ; his wife is sick.
1 8th. Take provisions, etc., for the sick at N. Post's.
zist. Rode with Mr. Stevens. Phi. Putnam here.
Z3d. Sunday, preaching at west schoolhouse.
24th. D. Morgan and L. Perkins make payment.
27th. Many pigeons. At work at flax.
30th. Sunday, summer bfrds singing. Harriet Abbott gone.
31st. Seth Abbott is dead. Died in Lawrence at his son-in-law's, very
suddenly. Aged about seventy-three ; one of the first settlers of this town.
[He died at the home of his daughter, Mrs. Lucetta Peck, in NicholvUle.
She now Uves at Potsdam, N. Y. — Ed.]
April I . Grow at work for me. Deacon Abbott buried in Hopkinton.
6th. Sunday, Mrs. W. Kent has a daughter. My health is bad.
8th. Grow and son at stove wood.
I oth. Boys at sugar, and cutting saw logs. J. and I shooting crows.
1 2th. Snow only to be seen in shady places.
15th. Clarinda at N. Post's. Painfiil day for me.
1 7th. Harmon drawing sugar ashes to the village.
2 ist. People beginning spring work. Made about nine hundred pounds
of sugar in all.
24th. Clarinda quUting. John and myself pUed wood.
27th. Sunday. It is now six months since I began to stable cows, and
stiU doing it.
30th. John at leach. Mary making soap. Dr. Sprague sick.
May 2. Clarinda at soap. Asahel and his father here.
4.th. Sunday, no one at meeting. Have a new minister.
7th. Clarinda at Asahel's. Cattle Uve on grass mostly.
1 2th. Smoke rises in various directions. Charlotte and Edna go to
school. Women cleaning house.
13 th. Mr. Pettibone with us last night, made us a friendly visit.
1 5th. Snowed all day. Leaves of the forest are considerably out.
Clarinda and John whitewashing.
17th. Asahel, Mary and aU their children here. Harmon at Samuel
B. Abbott's raising house. [John H. Leach house I feel sure. — Ed.]
1 8th. Aaron Jenne is in poor health.
2 2d. Asahel logging and clearing his land and putting in crops.
25 th. Simday, Mr. Warriner and Miss Goodell marry privately. Two
inches of snow have fallen.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

379

30th. Quite a frost. Ice in tubs and kettles.
31st. Been with Charlotte and Edna to Asahel's.
June I. Apples and currants destroyed by the frost.
6th. Harmon and Clarinda gone to Potsdam. Jane Abbott here.
9th. Smoke fills the air. Boys planting potatoes.
14th. Clarinda and Lucy at Harriet's school. Fine growing time.
1 6th. Paid Dr. Dunton $2 for counsel with Dr. Sprague in September.
19th. Shearing sheep. Mr. Grow and Crouch assisting. Lucy gone to
Malone in stage.
22d. Sunday, Methodists hold meeting in the grove at the Fort.
23d. Paid E. Jenne $4.48, Mr. Short's tax in school district No. 13.
25 th. Lucina here on visit. There is more talk of a railroad again.
27th. Mary with her babe and John gone to Malone. Samuel Abbott's
daughter here.
30th. Mary and John return from Malone. J. Wescott, it is thought,
wUl lose one of his eyes from an injury caused by a broken piece of board in
chastising a fractious cow. The railroad excitement prevails again with a good
deal of animation. Meetings are held and the question discussed in flowing
speeches in the several villages of this county, as also in Franklin and Clinton.
It is said that the mUlionaires of Boston advocating a railroad for that city to
Burlington on Lake Champlain in Vermont, that is, to communicate with the
Northern New York Railroad. Should Whitney succeed in his project of a
raUroad from Lake Michigan over the Rocky Mountains to Oregon, a com
munication will be opened by raifroads and steamboats passing through St. Law
rence County in the way from Boston on the Atlantic Ocean to the mouth of
the Oregon on the Pacific, crossing over all of North America. Enterprise and
industry wUl accomplish wonders.
July 2. Railroad excitement runs high, meetings are held often.
Story of the building of the Notthern Railtoad (O. and L. C.) and of the Potsdam
and Watertown (R. W. and O.).
[I am surprised to find that a raifroad was contemplated or even thought of
across the continent to the Pacific at so early a date as this. If I remember cor
rectly such a road was not completed — the Union and Central Pacific — untU
1869 or 1870. It did not terminate at the mouth of the Oregon as was thought
it would in 1 845, but at San Francisco. The expense of buUding a road was so
burdensome then that they sought to use water for as much of the route as pos
sible. The first steps taken to secure a raifroad for the benefit of this county
were by a meeting held in Ogdensburg, March 17, 1830, when a committee of
twelve was appointed to collect information. The project then was to build a
road from Ogdensburg by way of Lake Champlain to Boston. AppUcation was
made to Congress for aid, and this faihng petitions were sent to the state legisla
ture. A convention was held in Malone, December 17, 1831, for the purpose
of promoting the project, but nothing tangible was done, though personal work
was kept up tiU May 21, 1836, when the Champlain and Ogdensburg RaUroad
was incorporated with a capital of $800,000. Messrs. S. Gilbert and S. StUl-
weU of St. Lawrence, with others, were empowered to open books for subscrip
tion to stock. About this time the plan of a road from Ogdensburg directly
through to Albany was discussed, resulting in a pubhc meeting held at MatUda-

38o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
vUle, March 27, 1837. The moneys subscribed for the road to Lake Champlain
were first reloaned and afterwards reftinded to the subscribers. That company
faUing to organize, a convention was held at Malone, August 8, 1838, when a
committee was named to gather statistics. From their report I find there were
in this county then eight iron furnaces yielding thirty-seven hundred and ninety
tons ; seven foundries making seven hundred and eighty-five tons of castings ;
eight trip hammer shops ; sixty-three asheries yielding eighteen hundred tons of
pot and pearl ashes ; six merchant mills ; forty-two gristmills ; three lead mines ;
one copperas miU ; two plaster mUls ; four marble mUls ; one hundred and thirty-
seven sawmUls, eleven of which yielded annually seven hundred thousand pieces
of lumber ; two distUleries ; one brewery and two satinet and woollen mUls. The
product of the covmty in butter and cheese was annually five hundred and seventy-
one tons and the freight of the county estimated at $117,294. The result ot
this work was an act passed AprU 18, 1838, authorizing a survey of the proposed
routes not to cost to exceed $4,000. In May, 1 840, commissioners were ap
pointed to conduct the work and estimate the cost of a road. The Port Kent
route passed up the valley of the Ausable River, down the St. Regis River and
thence by way of ParishvUle and Potsdam to Ogdensburg. Its length was one
hundred and thirty-one mUes, and maximum grade ninety-five feet. The Platts
burg route led to Malone and Mofra, whence two routes were surveyed to Og
densburg, one by Norfolk and Columbia (Madrid village) and the other by
Potsdam. The distance by Norfolk was one hundred and twenty miles and by
Potsdam two miles farther. The estimated cost of the former was $1,778,-
459.24 and of the latter $1,923,108.09. An effort was then made to secure
state aid on the ground that it was of military importance in case of war, which
faUed. Nothing daunted, the friends of the project kept to work. In the ses
sion of 1845 the Syracuse and Utica sought to increase its capital. The roads
now composing the New York Central from Albany west were opposing the
bills for other roads. In turn they were opposed in their projects, and in order
to get help they had to help others. The bUl incorporating the Northern RaU
road was passed May 14, 1845, and signed by the governor only twenty min
utes before adjournment. Its capital was $2,000,000 in shares of $50. In
1845 James G. Hopkins of Ogdensburg, formerly of Hopkinton, issued a pam
phlet on the subject giving much valuable information. In June, 1846, a com
pany was organized with George Parish, president, James G. Hopkins, secre
tary, etc. I do not see as any one from Potsdam was in the directory, or from
eastern St. Lawrence, save J. Leshe RusseU of Canton. In the fall of 1847
contracts were let for the construction of the road within two years. It was not
fully completed tiU October, 1850, the last work being done near Deer River
bridge in Lawrence. The road cost, including fixtures and equipment, $5,022,-
121. 31. The freight of the county in 1838 was estimated to be $117,294.
I have been' over the freight of the county at the present time with a railroad man
and it figures over a miUion dollars and with passenger fares over a miUion and a
half doUars. The freight at the Potsdam depot alone must exceed that of the
entfre county in 1838 by more than $30,000, and including passenger fares by
more than $75,000. The butter and cheese product was then placed at five
hundred and seventy-one tons per annum. It is now estimated that the annual
product is five thousand tons.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 381
Mr. Charles W. Leete teUs me of the struggle, trials and disappointments
of the people of Potsdam over the location of the road, which wUl be of interest.
The road was built and handled by Boston and New England men and capital
assisted by local subscriptions to stock. They came to Potsdam and many other
vUlages in the country, holding meetings and getting the people much enthused.
The people subscribed liberally, every one taking all he could, beheving the road
would pass through the vUlage and on to Canton and Ogdensburg. Mr. Leete,
then a clerk, took two shares, $100. When they came to build it did not go
through Norfolk or Potsdam, but between these places. Just why cannot now
be ascertained. Some say it was due to the cheaper right of way, some to the
efforts of Benjamin G. Baldwin, who had located at Potsdam Junction, and some
to a lack of push and liberahty on the part of the leading men of Potsdam. Mr.
Leete is quite certain it was not the latter, as they took a deep interest in it and
subscribed liberally. Mr. E. H. Abram, born in 1828, though living in Par
ishville, took almost as much interest in its location as Potsdam people. As he
remembers it, the failure to get it to pass through Potsdam viUage was very
largely due to the mesmeric influence of Canton men, headed by SUas Wright,
over the leading men of Potsdam in getting the latter to join them, tie up to
them, insisting that the road should go to Canton from Potsdam. This the rail
road people did not wish to do, as it lengthened the road, and as they had a bee
line route from Potsdam to Ogdensburg with no grading or cutting to speak of.
SUas Wright was governor of the state for the years 1845 and 1846, and a pow
erful man in state and national matters. Sewell Raymond, as he remembers,
stubbornly opposed any alhance, offensive or defensive, with Canton, but with
out avail. He insisted in private and public meeting that Potsdam should look
after its own interests and Canton do the same, that if she did she would get the
road, and if she tied up with Canton there was great danger that she would not.
Mr. George S. Wright, born in 1824, says that as he remembers it was due to
the death of SUas Wright, who died suddenly August 27, 1847. The directors
of the road were to meet in Albany on a certain day and decide on the location
of the road. Mr. Wright had agreed to attend the meeting and look out for the
interests of Potsdam and Canton, but died a day or two prior thereto, which,
with his funeral, upset all thefr plans. As Mr. George S. Dayton remembers,
its location where it is was due to its straight hne, cheap right of way and the
strenuous effort and hberality of Benjamin G. Baldwin, who owned a large part
of the present viUage of Norwood and wished to make a viUage there. Mr.
Josiah L. Brown, born at Parishville Centre in 1831, remembers it as does Mr.
Dayton, excepting that he does not recall any particular effort or influence by
Mr. Baldwin. The right of way where it is was much cheaper, and the Boston
capitahsts were only looking to get to the lake by the shortest and cheapest route,
seemingly caring but little for the interior villages. George Parish was president
of the road. He took umbrage at something and never rode on the road.
When he went to Plattsburg he drove a team. Possibly the northerly location
of the road, as he owned the town of ParishviUe, was the cause of his feeling.
When it was decided to locate it where it is, the people of Potsdam were
greatly chagrined, disappointed and excited. Many of them refused to pay for
and take the stock for which they had subscribed and contested its payment in
the courts. They also went to the legislature with petitions seeking for some
legislation that would relieve them of the obligation, but all to no purpose.

382 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
They all had to pay for the stock subscribed. Disappointed but determined to
have a railroad, the leading men of the viUage of Potsdam set to work to build
a branch from their viUage to RacketviUe, now Norwood. Mr. C. W. Leete
hands me a copy of the St. Lawrence Mercury of December 4, 1850, printed
at Potsdam, W. H. Wallace, editor and proprietor. In this paper is a report
by T. J. Carter, engineer, who had surveyed two routes, one going down on the
east bank of the river to Union MUls (where Paper Company now is) and thence
bearing east. The other started on the lands of D. L. Clarkson on the east
side of Market Street, bearing east and crossing the FuUer road. This was
caUed the east line, and its estimated cost of completion was $60,017, ^nd that
of the former or west line was $57,716. A pubUc meeting was held in the
town haU, November 30, 1850, at which Hon. Noble S. Elderkin was chair
man and H. H. Peck, secretary. Speeches were made by Messrs. H. L.
Knowles, E. W. Plumb, Gardner Cox, WilUam H. Wallace, Judge AUen and
W. A. Dart. A committee of nine was appointed, consisting of H. L.
Knowles, W. A. Dart, W. M. Hitchcock, J. H. Sanford, N. Parmeter, Jr.,
Gardner Cox, Samuel Partridge, W. W. Goulding and H. H. Peck, to organ
ize a company, open books for subscription to stock and go ahead with the
work. They did so, but were unable to raise the necessary money and so turned
their attention to getting the road reaching Watertown extended to Potsdam.
The road from Rome to Watertown was then in operation or nearly so. This
road of course wished to connect with the Northern road, otherwise they could
not have secured its construction.
On April 7, 1852, an act was passed authorizing the construction of the
road when $5,000 per mile should be subscribed. The business men of Potsdam
and Canton subscribed not only liberally but heavUy for the stock, in order to
make up the amount required. Among the heavy subscribers remembered by
Mr. Leete were Augustus Fling, Joseph H. Sanford, Zenas Clark and W. W.
Goulding, some or all of whom took as high as $10,000, more than they could
afford to bear, hoping and expecting their neighbors would take some of it off
thefr hands. In October, 1852, $750,000 was subscribed and the directors
contracted with Phelps, Matoon and Barnes of Springfield, Mass., to build the
road. It was to be completed by July I, 1854. The dfrectors from Potsdam
were Zenas Clark, Samuel Partridge, Joseph H. Sanford and WUliam W.
Goulding. Zenas Clark, Esq., was made vice-president, and H. L. Knowles,
secretary. The road was not completed and put in operation, as Mr. Leete
tells us, till 1856, and it was built from Watertown north by sections, that is to
Evans Mills, then to PhUadelphia, then to Gouverneur, then to De Kalb, except
ing that the road from Potsdam to RacketviUe was in operation before there was
any road from Potsdam to De Kalb. The station at De Kalb was a Uttie west of
the present village, and there was a live hotel there called the Forest House.
The people going that way had to drive for some six months from Potsdam to
De Kalb. Mr. J. L. Brown's diary shows that the road was built from
Potsdam first to RacketvUle and then to Canton. Great effort was made to have
it completed to Canton in time for the fafr held there September 17, 1856, but
they only succeeded in getting it fit for cars to where the road crosses the high
way a mile east of Canton. As it was the people went over in vast numbers,
using one passenger car and several platform and box cars, walking to Canton
from the crossing. This was the first ride that many of them had ever taken

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 383
on the cars. The first depot in Potsdam viUage stood south of the present one,
nearer the river, and WilUam L. Knowles was the first station agent. The
present old depot buUding, I am told, is the same one that was built in 1856.
Mr. Leete says further that the railroad company soon found that they
must have more money, and so issued bonds and secured the same by a mortgage
on the road from Watertown to Potsdam Junction called the Potsdam and
Watertown Raifroad. Money was not as plenty then as now, and in order to
sell the bonds the Rome and Watertown road guaranteed their payment. A
broker in New York City intrusted with the sale of some of the bonds got into
trouble and failed to turn over the proceeds. The loss of these funds hampered
the road and with some other things brought it into discredit. A judgment was
obtained by a creditor against the road and the entfre road sold, subject to the
bonds. The Rome and Watertown road was the purchaser at this sale. It soon
after reorganized itself under the name of the Rome, Watertown and Ogdens
burg Railroad and buUt the branch from De Kalb Junction to Ogdensburg. The
sale on execution or possibly a foreclosure of the mortgage wiped out the stock
which the people had taken and paid for. Mr. Leete still has $2,500 of that
stock. A considerable amount of it was held in this vUlage, all of which was a
direct loss. However, Mr. Leete says the people suffered it with but httle
murmuring, nothing like what there was over the location of the Northern
road. They had at last secured a railroad and they were content. — Ed.]
July 4. Deacon Warner and Mr. Wood, our minister, called. Paid D.
E. Kent, trustee of school district No. 6, Mr. Short's tax.
6th. Sunday, chUdren at meeting. Mr. Ashman preached. George
Covey here, plays well on the flute.
9th. Young people at S. Abbott's. G. Covey returns here.
loth. Raifroad meeting at Malone. Marion and Beatrice here.
1 6th. Peddlers are plenty. John gone to Malone. Commenced haying.
23d. Sent $84 to Justus Smith. He returns $1 as spurious. I received
it of Thomas Clark.
26th. Haying these days. Asahel bought me a pair of pantaloons.
31st. Clarinda rode with Asahel to A. Jenne's. Aaron continues poorly.
August I. G. H. Covey and wife here. Severe rainstorm.
3d. Sunday, Charlotte and Edna at meeting, attend Sunday-school.
6th. Charlotte, my little granddaughter not eight years old, has spun to
day a small skein of yarn for the first.
8th. ChUdren at Harriet's school. Marion and Aunt Orpha here.
loth. Sunday, children at meeting. Growing time.
14th. Raifroad meeting and books open for subscription in the viUagCv J.
Sanford and sister called.
19th. Boys pulled flax. Orhn Peck cradled oats.
28th. John gone to Potsdam school. Shot five black and gray squirrels
near the large elm at the other place.
30th. Ffres in aU dfrections. Been to E. Jenne's. Mr. Wilkinson is a
sick man. Shot four black and gray squfrrels.
September i . Killed six black and gray squfrrels. Old Mrs. Chittenden
is sick. A. Jenne faUs. Shot two squirrels.
5th. Old Mrs. Disher is dead and buried. Our Uttie Frances is one of
the best babes in the world.

384 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 2th. Severe frosts. Boys logging these days.
1 7th. Harmon and his wife gone to Norfolk. Mr. Woodruff here with
gravestone. 19th. Mr. Woodruff is setting the gravestone. It is for Mrs. Risdon,
and cost $40. Harmon let him have a colt at $30 and is to pay $10 more in
grain. A deer came into the dooryard and escaped.
24th. Received a budget of contracts from Mr. Chipman. L. Sylvester
with thrashing machine this faU.
October 3. Chittenden and Brush have new goods coming. Walk out
in the fields with the chUdren, I enjoy them.
5th. Sunday, R. Post wiU leave for the west part of the state soon. He
now lives in Norfolk.
8th. Clarinda gone to East ViUage. Asahel sent me a powder flask.
Been with the children to the other place. They had a frolic in the woods.
1 1 th. Mrs. Smith, wife of Dr. Smith on the Turnpike, died very sud
denly. Clarinda and Mary have gone there. She leaves a babe of four weeks.
1 2th. Sunday, the famUy mostly at the funeral of Mrs. Smith.
13th. C. S. Chittenden driving cattle to market. John is tending store
for George Brush.
14th. J. Sanford, Esq., was lately married to a second wife. He has a
social party at his house this evening. Harmon, Mary and Clarinda there.
1 5th. Clarinda and Harriet spinning, Mary weaving, and Lucy at
housework. 1 6th. Mrs. Brooks and daughter-in-law here. Been to Mr. Crouch's.
17th. Been with Charlotte and Edna to Orlin Peck's.
1 8th. Been to my slash, three mUes south, where I have not been before
in four years
20th. Forest leaves are off. Feed cows on corn stalks.
2 1 St. Light snow. John and Lucy at Stockholm. Myself splitting wood.
23d. Old Mr. Chittenden here. Been to East ViUage with regard to road.
24th. Been over to viUage as witness in setthng the site of the road for
East ViUage to Mr. Dewey's.
25th. Been to see old Mr. Chittenden at Mrs. Crouch's. Let Harmon
have a pair of thick boots at $2.
28th. Harmon surveying for J. Sanford, Esq. I did the casting and
wrote the survey. Paid David WithereU $3.50 for cloth which I had of him
nearly three years ago. Lucy returns, been gone a week.
29th. John out with gun. Harmon collecting grain for use of his thrash
ing machine. 30th. Mr. Rasey called, was glad to see him, an old neighbor. Women
dipping candles. Harmon and Clarinda watched with A. Jenne.
November 4. Election day. A. Jenne is dead. Have a pafr new boots.
5th. Been with John into the south woods to Baldwin's sawmUl.
6th. The family at fiineral of Aaron Jenne, a young man of 37 years.
I oth. Harmon attending the thrashing machine. Stable the cows now.
1 3th. Harmon gone to Brasher. John in the woods hunting deer.
I 5th. Several deer have been kiUed on this snow. I wish I could go out.
17 th. Josiah Smith has fever and ague, is sick enough.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 385
zoth. J. Sanford's chUdren here with mine in the evening. Stormed, so
stayed all night.
2 1 St. Surveyed to find centre of the west road.
22d. Surveyed my O. B. Moon's farm.
[The diary is missing from this date to February i, 1846. — Ed.]
The Yeat 1846 — Baptism of his Grandchildren — County growing in Wealth —
Eclipse of Sun April 25 — William Kent moves to StocUiolm — Qrcus
at East Village — License ot no License the Question — Death of Thaddeus
Laughlin June 23, came to Tovim in 1804 — Show at the ViUage — Judge
Santefd in Constitutional Convention — Has Sputious Bill on Albany Ex
change Bank — Martiage of Hattiet Janet Sheals to Chatles P. Robinson —
Whigs fifing Cannon at ParishviUe.
February 2. Mrs. Abbott gone home. Harriet Abbott here.
3d. Harmon pays me $20 in Canada bills. Isaac Snell pays Gideon
Sprague $5 for me.
5th. Clarinda, Harriet, John and N. Crouch gone to Malone. Harriet
Abbott keeps house for me. [Mrs. Adsit of Perry, Ohio. — Ed.]
6th. Thrashing and cleaning wheat. Cutting saw logs. The chUdren
return from Malone.
7th. Old Mr. Laughhn lingers along, requires a good deal of waiting on.
8th. Sunday, Clarinda and Harriet Abbott gone to Asahel's.
loth. Julius Peck makes payment on land contracted to Abina Jones.
14th. Clarinda and Mary gone home with Harriet Abbott. Making out
Dr. Sprague's account since February, 18 17. [Harriet Abbott married a Mr.
Adsit and is now hving at Perry, Ohio. — Ed.]
1 5th. No one at meeting. Mr. Balch, the peddler, here.
1 6th. J. Sanford, Jr. , and sister here in evening with their music. [He
did play a flute a Uttle in his younger days. The sister must have been Celestia,
then thfrteen years of age. So he used music in his wooing. — Ed.]
17th. Walter Harriman, Ebenezer Cudworth and Johnson Welch make
payments on lands bought of Mr. Short.
19th. Charlotte A., Edna M. and Frances E. Risdon, also Maria R.,
Beatrice M., Olive A., Anna Maud and Solomon E. Chittenden, my grand-
chUdren, were baptized this evening by Rev. E. Wood. Settled and balanced
all accounts with Dr. Sprague.
zoth. Severe snowstorm. Harmon to Parishville mUl.
25th. Storm is over. Sent $135 to Justus Smith at Potsdam.
26th. Mrs. Kent's mother here, good old lady. Asahel and children also.
27th. Miss Adeline Peck here. Last day of select school. February has
been the coldest of the three past months. The winter has been remarkable for
mUdness and at the same time good sleighing.
March i . Sunday, John, Harriet and Adeline Peck at meeting.
2d. Joel Goodell called. James Smith and Julius Peck make payments.
4th. Harmon, Mary and Frances gone to Malone. John Neal pays
$274.25 on the Reynolds farm, so called.
5th. Paid Enos E. Wood, our minister, $5. Clarinda at Asahel's.
I oth. George P. Dustin, Charles Blair and B. B. Newton make payments.
1 2th. Wheat $1 per bushel. Knapp and a boy cutting stove wood.
I 5th. Sunday, hear the cotton factory in Malone is burned.

386 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1 6th. Boys at the sugar place. No money market for grain.
17th. Harmon gone to Montreal with oxen. Clarinda at the funeral of
Mr. Ainsworth' s chUd. Gave Asahel $8 in shiUing pieces, is to repay in biUs.
19th. Orin Oliver and P. C. Piper make payment. Stage on runners.
Been with chUdren to Mrs. Crouch's.
2 2d. .Sunday, John and the gfrls at meeting. Sap runs weU.
25th. Mary quilting. All hands at the sugaring.
27th. Robins to be seen. Harmon goes to Montreal again.
29th. Sunday, snow again. Orhn Peck married.
31st. H. B. Sanford pays $5 fee on purchase of the Lewis lot of seven
teen acres. Paid C. Woodworth, collector, $18 on tax for buUding school-
house ; $16.42 StUl due. The winter has been remarkably moderate, over one
hundred days in succession of good sleighing. Snow neither deep nor too thin.
Hay is plenty, provisions of aU kinds sufficient for man and beast. The county
s growing in wealth and population.
AprU 2. Clarinda at Asahel's. Lee Eastman's daughter here.
4th. Wheelock at the flax. Boys at the sugar works.
8th. Clarinda has a quilt on. Mrs. Culver and Mrs. Sprague here.
loth. Been to Gossville with Harmon, surveying for Blafr and others.
1 3th. Ground covered with snow. Harmon gone to the graveyard with
Mrs. Risdon's gravestone.
15th. More snow. Sap runs. Some had gathered their tubs.
17th. Another quilt on. It's Harriet's this time.
1 8th. Asahel and Mary here all night. Have made 600 pounds sugar.
2 2d. Frost, logging, ploughing. Fields quite green.
25th. Viewed the eclipse of the sun, a sublime sight. Women making
candles. Samuel Ainsworth dragging in wheat.
26th. Sunday, John and Mary at meeting. J. Sanford and sister here.
28th. Election day. Surveying a road on east line of Goss farm.
29th. Wilham Kent moved to Stockholm. Been straightening the road
from the Turnpike to Orlin Peck's.
30th. Maria Abbott, John Abbott, Mr. Wood and Joel WithereU here.
May I . Pat Sheals buys a lot of thirty acres at $4 per acre.
3d. Sunday, cattle feed mostly on grass, lay out for the first time this spring.
4th. Spent four days straightening road from Orlin Peck's north.
6th. Women cleaning thefr houses. The men logging and ploughing.
7th. Clarinda whitewashing, painting, etc. Paid balance of schoolhouse tax.
8th. Surveying road near the Goss farm. Rained, got wet.
nth. Snows, bad for sheep and cattle. Harriet commences her schobl
in Ainsworth district to teach.
1 4th. Harmon and John gone to Colton for plaster. Cfrcus at the East
Village. A few apple trees in blow.
1 6th. Charlotte goes to school. Harmon at S. Abbott's drawing barn.
1 8th. N. Crouch boards with Harmon. Severe frost. Ice in tubs
three-quarters of an inch. Town meeting. License or no license for retailing
liquor is the main question.
20th. Lightning struck several trees and set them on fire. Surveying lines
for a road at the Fort. John and others fish in the miU pond.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 387
2lst. Surveying on road from Caleb Wright's to Gaius Sheldon's. Cla
rinda at D. Warner's.
2 2d. Been to Parishville, Clarinda with me. Fair prospects for a raifroad.
23d. Man here with wolt's head. Boys fishing, plenty of fish in Bald
win's mUl pond. [This pond was just back of the  Smith place on Turn
pike. — Ed.]
26th. At W. Stone's surveying. Clarinda with me.
28th. Been to village, Asahel's and other places. Mrs. Lovel sick.
30th. W. Sheals here from the lake. Boys planting.
June 2. Washed sheep. Esq. Heath is dead. Crouch is sick.
3d. Been with Harmon on the Sheldon road. Miss Frances burnt her
arm. Clarinda watched with Mrs. Lovel.
4th. Surveying on west road. Clarinda with Asahel to Gossville.
7th. Sunday, children and some others at meeting.
8th. Harmon surveying on middle road all day [Sanford road] .
9th. Harmon on road east of Mr. Roburds's. Boys ploughing.
1 1 th. Surveying on road with Harmon. Sent a doUar to Mr. Boynton for
the Northern Cabinet.
1 2th. Been on road all day, John with me. Harmon to Potsdam.
14th. Sunday, very warm. Family at meeting. Mr. Crouch's hand is bad.
15th. The raifroad people met in Boston on the nth and elected di
rectors. Dfrectors met on the 1 2th.
1 6th. Shearing sheep. I caUed to see Mr. Laughlin. He is failing.
1 8th. Been on Peck road with Harmon. Perkins and lady here.
20th. Clarinda and Mary at Asahel's. Harmon at sawmiU.
23 d. Old Mr. Thaddeus Laughlin is dead, died in the night.
24th. Attended the funeral of Mr. Laughlin, one of the first settlers of
this town. He was a particular friend of mine and of the same age. We came
to Hopkinton at the same time, i 804.
26th. Surveyed for Mr. Jaquis, John with me. Also on the Jenne road.
27th. Harmon and I finding the line of the Turnpike road.
30th. Joshua Cutler faUs. People at work on the roads. Very warm.
July 2. Josiah Cutler is dead, been aihng two or three years. Thomas
Meacham had nineteen pounds of pork of me for a pair of thin pumps at $2.25.
3d. Mary and my little grandson (Solomon) here, promising boy. Sophia
Remington here with Harmon.
4th. The day is celebrated in several towns in this county. There is a
collection in our village.
7 th. Surveyed for Mr. WeUs a meeting-house plot at the Fort. Clarinda
had twenty-five cents, there is a show at the viUage.
8th. Been with N. Crouch to John Smith's and Harriet's school. Some
begin haying, grass is good this season.
9th. Clarinda and Mary have gone to WUliam Kent's at Stockholm.
14th. Marion, Beatrice, Ohve and Anna Chittenden here to-day. I
have been with them most of the time, pleasant chUdren.
15th. Marion and Beatrice at school with Charlotte and Edna. Dwi
neU' s son works for Harmon.
1 9th. Sunday, famUy at meeting. Preaching at southwest schoolhouse.

388 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
2 1 St. Harmon only has himself, John Smith and Foster boy at haying.
Labor is high. Harriet is sick and dismisses her school.
23 d. Judge Sanford is at home from the State Convention in Albany.
[The convention mentioned was the State Constitutional Convention of
1 846, of which Judge Jonah Sanford was a member. — Ed.J
26th. Most of the family at meeting. Harriet Sheals continues sick.
28th. Mary and her little grandson here. Very poor hay weather.
30th. Enghsh Smith at work for Harmon. Harriet continues unwell,
has one faithful friend.
31st. Showery weather continues. Kent and Sprague's daughters here,
fine young women.
August 2. Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda at meeting at the Fort.
4th. Clarinda making cheese. Asahel has ten men haying.
5th. Some are harvesting. Harmon has twenty acres of grass to cut.
I Ith. J. Winnie reaping wheat for me. Paid Dr. Witherell $4 to balance.
14th. Harmon has more help. Wallace, portrait painter, in village.
15th. Several acres of Harmon's grass cut in the night by village boys.
1 8th. Harmon wUl finish haying to-day. Harriet and Waity Kent go
to Stockholm. I find I have a spurious bill on the Albany Exchange Bank.
2 2d. H. Lawrence returns from fishing. A boy nine years old was
killed by a faUing tree on the Port Kent road lately.
25th. Mr. Saunders and lady in from Vermont. J. G. Richardson
makes payment on land.
26th. Harmon preparing thrashing machine for business. L. Sylvester
^wUl tend it.
27th. Harmon gone to Ogdensburg. It is amusing to walk out with
my grandchildren. 28th. Been to village with children. Attended church meeting. Our
meeting-house to be altered and repafred, painted over, etc., this summer.
29th. Children been to south woods school. I went to Mr. Gross's
and other places. John returns from camp meeting at Brasher.
3 1 St. Mr. Webb and lady here. Received of Francis Risdon five cents
for safe keeping.
September i . Saunders and Webb return home. Paid five cents postage
and six cents for pint whiskey.
2d. L. Sylvester gone with thrashing machine. Clarinda at village.
4th. David Leach pays me twenty doUars in Canada bUls. If there be
any discount on them he will allow it to me. Rode over to S. Abbott's with
Charlotte and Edna.
6th. Children at meeting. Very warm weather these days. Corn will
ripen this year.
8th. Maria Abbott here. Men all absent to-day.
I Ith. Stephen Wescott and lady here. They have a fine boy. Clarinda
and John at ParishviUe.
1 2th. Harmon, Wescott and ladies go to Stockholm. John goes to mUl
at East ViUage.
14th. Old Mr. Chittenden here, a good old man. John, Clarinda,
Wescott and Sarah over to J. Sanford's in the evening. Maria Abbott at work
for Clarinda sewing.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 389
1 6th. A company is collecting here. Four p. m. married by the Rev.
Enos Wood, Charles P. Robinson of ParishviUe to Miss Harriet Janet Sheals,
daughter of Mrs. Asahel Kent. Wescott and lady continue here.
17th. Young people rode to Parishville, except Maria and Harriet Abbott
and Clarinda. 1 8th Surveyed for Mr. Grove. Wescott and lady return home.
20th. Sunday, most of family at meeting. Gave Mr. Newton a pair of
shoes and stockings worth one dollar. He was burned out lately.
2 1 St. Sent eighty-four doUars by Edwin Post to Justus Smith. Clarinda
at Mr. Culver's.
2 2d. Uncle S. Eastman and son here. Harmon building hogpen.
24th. Mary and Clarinda at Miss Rockwell's funeral at ParishviUe.
26th. I surveyed a schoolhouse plot and road near Jared Dewey's. Lucy
Tucker here. All pleased to see her.
28th. Clarinda and John go to Mr. Robinson's, Parishville.
29th. John takes the stage this morning and will be gone some time,
30th. The forests are changing. September has been a warm month.
October 3. Been with Harmon to ParishvUle. Robinson and Harriet
here, also Miss Abbott and Maria. Boys husking corn. We miss John.
4th. Sunday, Lucy, Mary, Harmon and N. Crouch at meeting.
6th. Clarinda at S. Abbott's. Lucy Tucker here yet, had a sister who
called on her. There is something not right. Lucy has gone to Malone on
foot. Her sister continues here, is quite disconsolate, will return to-morrow also.
7th. Mary Chittenden was thirty-one years old September 14.
I oth. Ansel Smith here. Michael GUlen makes payment on Short's land.
1 2th. Sent eighty-seven dollars by Josiah Smith to Justus Smith.
I 3 th. Harmon and S. Abbott gone to view southeast quarter of Riversdale
as regards quality of land, timber, etc. Clarinda and Harriet Abbott quUting.
14th. Rode with Nelson Crouch to the Fort. Cutler and Ainsworth at
potatoes for Harmon.
17th. Snows merrily. Boys husking corn. Bad time.
1 9th. A hard freeze. Mr. Grow had of me a coat, pantaloons, and an
old vest worth perhaps four dollars and a half and is to pay for them in labor.
zist. Eastman and lady here. I hear that Mr. Thompson of Malone, a
popular man, is dead.
23 d. Had cake of soap of Mr. Culver, twenty-five cents. Clarinda
had twenty-five cents of me. H. Corwin pays two dollars for use of sugar trees.
25th. Sunday, family most at meeting. Robinson and lady here.
27th. Harmon at Parishville miU. N. Crouch does the chores.
30th. Asahel returns from New York. My health is miserable this fall.
31st. Ground hard frozen. Many potatoes not dug yet. Grandmamma
Nichols is with Harmon, probably wUl remain awhile. Good old lady, aged
about eighty-seven. [She was the grandmother of Harmon Risdon's wife. — Ed.]
November i . Harmon, Clarinda and Charlotte at meeting.
3d. Election day. Harmon and boys finished potatoes.
6th. Mr. GUlen at stove wood for me. Mr. Richardson doing off cham
ber for Harmon. Harmon surveying Mr. Laughlin's home farm for him.
9th. Cannons roar in the west, probably the Whigs have elected thefr
governor, etc. Peddler here for the night.

390 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
I oth. Harmon at miU at East Village. Surveyed there for Mr. Sprague.
13 th. Clarinda, Charlotte and Edna, gone to see Harriet at ParishviUe.
14th. Harmon gone to Brasher. Crouch ploughing. Lathing chamber.
1 6th. Charlotte and Edna attended school in viUage. Thefr father car
ries them. No schoolhouse in our district. Rev. Wood made us a friendly visit.
1 8 th. Cannon roaring at ParishviUe. The Whigs are having a jolhfication.
24th. Clarinda fencing mice from buttery. She and Crouch dressing
fowls in evening. Very bad roads for stage.
26th. Thanksgiving Day. Family took supper with Harmon. There were
Mr. Kent and wife, Newman and wife, Robinson and wife, N. Crouch and
Knapp. Balch, the peddler, here. Harriet is with Clarinda at present.
29th. Sunday, no one at meeting. That is not right. The horse, how
ever, is lame and the traveUing very bad.
30th. Clarinda finished her washing at nine a. m. Has now gone to
assist her sister Mary. Rode with the chUdren as far as the schoolhouse. The
miller is badly hurt in his mill at Parishville.
December I. Clarinda at Mrs. Kent's most of the day. Smith Morrill
called, been absent thirty years.
3d. Snow mostly off. I hear two feet of snow fell in south woods.
Clarinda and Harriet quilting.
4th. Hear that Mrs. S. Sanford is dead. Her death was something
sudden. She leaves a large family.
[I learn there was a Samuel Sanford living east of Parishville on the Turn
pike. I do not know that he was in any way related to Judge Sanford. This
lady must have been his wife. — Ed.]
6th. Mrs. Sanford is buried to-day, Sunday. Robinson and lady gone.
Harmon, Clarinda and Emma Cutler have gone to the house.
8th. Charlotte and Edna go to school at the viUage.
9th. Clarinda at Mr. Kent's quilting. Myself alone. Frances caUs often.
loth. Clarinda at P. Mosher's. Sent Asahel forty-five dollars to pay taxes.
Waity Kent up from Stockholm, OUve W. also.
1 2th. Clarinda received a letter from John Sheals. He is teaching school
near Cleveland, Ohio.
14th. Clarinda had of me fifty cents to pay postage. W. M. Hitchcock
of Potsdam writes me.
1 7th. Very little snow. People using wagons. Crouch drawing miU logs.
20th. Sunday, Harmon and Clarinda at meeting. N. Manley from
Vermont at Mr. Kent's.
2zd. Jesse Moon and N. C. Crouch assisting Harmon kUl hogs. Henry
Post and his cousin here.
24th. Clarinda gone with young people for a ride to St. Regis.
25th. The young sleigh riders will not have a pleasant time, as it thaws.
Christmas at Mr. Newman's. Robinson, lady and sister out.
27th. Sunday, Harmon and wife at meeting, no others.
29th. Harmon to ParishviUe. Asahel and King Chittenden caUed.
31st. Harmon surveying for J. Sanford, Esq. EUen Post with Clarinda.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 391
The Yeat 1847 — Mt. Risdon too unwell to Wtite — Four arrested fot Thieving
— Arrested one Perry — Clarinda matries Jonah Sanford, Jr., February 17 —
Mt. Hopkins makes his Will — Death of Rufus Greene, also of Mts. John
Sheldon — Mt. Newman's Batn butns — His Sistet Charlotte Pratt and
Husband visit Him — Death of Mts. Reuben Abbott — Bitth of Catlton E.
Sanfotd, Decembet 31.
January i. Asahel's chUdren here, lively at play. My health is miserable-
5th. Have taken powerful medicine. Have lain in bed. Mary is here-
7th. Old Mr. Chittenden and little Anna with us most of the day.
I oth. Sunday, Phila Baldwin is buried to-day. Robinson and lady here
and family at meeting. Mr. Eggleston' s son is dead.
I Ith. Harmon and Clarinda at Mr. Eggleston' s funeral. He was a fine
young man, aged twenty-four. CaUed away suddenly.
1 2th. Mr. Robinson and lady made us a visit. J. Brush, Mr. Kent,
Mr. Wood and Abel Mosher called.
14th. A mill burned in Lawrenceville a few nights since. The loss in
flour and grain was considerable. Crouch gone to Lawrence for stoves.
17th. Harmon and Clarinda at meeting. W. Eastman's chUd is dead.
1 9th. Harmon rode off with Balch the peddler. Waity Kent caUed in
awhile. The anniversary of the Bible and other societies is held this year and at
this time in Hopkmton. I am confined and cannot attend.
20th. Deacon Hurlburt, lady and daughter up from Stockholm. W.
Sheals here from the Lake [Champlain] .
2 1 St. Meetings continue. Harmon cleaning wheat. In afternoon and
evening he and Clarinda at meeting.
23d. Father is too unwell to write. (Clarinda.)
[The entries from this date to August i are in several different hands,
but mostly in that of his daughter Clarinda or son Harmon. His son-in-law,
Asahel H. Chittenden, N. C. Crouch, and some others made entries. All were
made at his request and some at his dictation. — Ed.]
24th. Father still unwell. Dr. Sprague called. No one at meeting.
26th. Father keeps to his bed. Hopkinton is likely to have a good rep
resentation in state prison. No less than four were taken lately for thieving.
Mr. Foster is being tried to-day.
27th. Father rode to Asahel's, took cold and feels poorly.
February i . Father has a bad day. Dr. Sprague caUed, also Rev. E.
Wood and lady.
3d. David Leach pays $15 on land of Mr. Short.
5th. Asahel and Mary here. Hear that Harriet Wescott is dead, sad
news. Mr. and Mrs. Kent return from Malone.
6th. Sat up with father. He was so nervous he could not sleep. Maria
Abbott came. (Clarinda.)
7th. Father has good courage and thinks he will get well. I shaved him
to-day. (A. H. C.)
9th. Josiah Smith pays $5.56 and John Smith $27.44 on Mr. Short's
account. The thieves broke jail Saturday night the 6th. A reward of $25 is
offered for them.
I oth. C. S. Chittenden and J. WithereU captured Perry, one of the es
caped prisoners.

392 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
I Ith. Chittenden and WithereU gone to Canton with Perry. They re
ceived the bounty of $25.
1 2th. The " Little Band" at A. Kent's. Mr. Risdon contmues poorly.
13th. Francis Parker pays $50 on land account.
1 5th. Mr. Risdon some better. Mr. Abbott, Asahel and Mary here.
Oxen and cows in good demand.
1 6th. Town meeting. One hundred and ninety-six votes cast, much
hard talk. C. S. Chittenden, supervisor ; E. Post, town clerk.
17th. Clarinda married to Jonah Sanford, Jr., eight o'clock evening, by
the Rev. Enos Wood. There were a number of welcome guests present. The
evening passed off pleasantly. Asahel and family were here.
1 8th. Mr. and Mrs. Sanford left here for their Father Sanford's this
morning with the expectation of meeting thefr young associates in the evening.
Should have been one of the number had it not been that my mother arrived this
morning from Vermont. Mr. Risdon has had a bad day, troubled with asthma.
(Nelson C. Crouch.)
19th. Mrs. Abbott gone home. Jonah and Clarinda at Parishville.
2 1 St. Jonah and Clarinda at meeting in ParishviUe. Mr. Risdon better.
23d. Paid Maria Abbott $2.20 for sewing. EUen Post helped me some.
Crouch is repafring his house, happy time for him.
24th. I shall watch with Mr. Risdon to-night, he is too unwell to write.
(Edwin Post.)
25th. Clarinda has gone to her Father Sanford's. Gave her $19.25.
26th. Father not so well. Carried Grandmother Nichols home. Rev.
R. Pettibone called to-day. Dr. Sprague and lady here. (E. H. R.)
28 th. Sunday, Dr. Sprague here. Operated upon father and gave him
much relief.
March 2. Dr. Parker called in for counsel with Dr. Sprague. They
operated upon him again. Isaac R. Hopkins assists father in making his will.
3d. Another painful operation. Seth Putnam pays $69.39 on account.
4th. Dr. Sprague here twice to-day. Mr. Risdon very sick at the stom
ach from the effects of piUs.
14th. Clarinda gone to J. Sanford's this morning. Father about same.
1 8th. Thomas Stone pays $50 and Martin Blair $20 on land account.
24th. Tapped sugar works. Mr. Risdon quite comfortable, put on his
pantaloons this evening. Clarinda here.
28 th. Sunday, severe storm. People turn out to break roads. Clarinda
and Jonah here.
April I . Have a grandson born this morning. Father no better.
6th. R. Wells pays for surveying the meeting-house lot at the Fort. Father
has changed his room and feels well pleased. Mr. Rufus Greene died to-day,
been sick about six years, endured a great deal of suffering.
8th. Mr. Greene buried to-day. Making sugar. Mr. Risdon better.
1 6th. Mrs. John Sheldon died this morning very suddenly.
1 8th. Sunday, very cold. Mrs. Sheldon buried to-day, very affecting.
She leaves a kind husband and eight children, with others, to mourn her loss.
Charlotte returns after a two weeks' absence.
20th. Mr. Risdon had on his clothes and played with the children.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 393
24th. W. OUver paid $35 on the H. Dewey lot to save it. Quite a
snowstorm. 27th. Town meeting. The question is Ucense or no hcense. There is
a majority for hcense.
May 7. Mr. Risdon rode out about a mile and walked about the yard.
1 6th. Sunday, Harmon, Charlotte and Edna at meeting.
23d. Mr. Risdon has been poorly for a week past. Farming these days.
[The next entry is August I and in Mr. Risdon's hand. A blank space
was left, but never filled in. — Ed.]
August I . Jesse Moon and Milton Snell here at work. My health is
some better, but confined to the house.
5th. Mr. Newman's barn was burned with contents of hay, etc., this
morning. His loss is about $200, no insurance.
I oth. Mr. Newman's loss operates severely on his and his wife's mind.
Mr. Kent has finished haying, Harmon nearly so.
1 2th. People at work getting out timber for a barn for Mr. Newman.
Jane is absent a few days.
14th. Dr. Sprague's son Henry is dead. The doctor goes to Vermont.
20th. Been to Mr. Winnie's ; they are sick, the babe in particular.
27th. Mr. Winnie's child dead. My health continues poorly.
28th. Harmon and wife have gone to W. Kent's in Stockholm. News
reaches us that Silas Wright is dead. [He died at Canton, August 27, 1847.]
29th. Sunday, Winnie's child buried to-day. Mr. Burnap of Parishville
preached, Mr. Wood being absent.
September 4. Judge Sanford and lady, Webb and lady called.
5th. Sunday, Clarinda here. Paid Charlotte and Edna eighty cents.
loth. Brother Pratt and wife, my sister, here from Livingston County on
a visit ; glad I am to see them.
I Ith. Mr. Pratt walked to village and called on C. Foster, an old
acquaintance. 1 2th. Sunday, brother and sister at meeting.
13 th. Alanson Blair pays $120. Brother Pratt and Harmon rode out.
14th. Brother and sister at Asahel's, myself in afternoon, stayed all night.
15 th. Asahel and Mr. Pratt rode to East ViUage and down the river on
the other side to the Fort. In afternoon brother Pratt, sister, Harmon and wife
and myself at Judge Sanford's. Heard while there that Reuben Abbott's wife
is dead, died very suddenly, leaving a babe a few days old.
[This babe is Robert S. Abbott, now living at Perry, Lake County, Ohio.
His aunt, Harriet Adsit, who cared for him on his mother's death, resides with
him and is the sole survivor of the chUdren of Samuel Abbott. She was born
on the farm, soon after taken by EUsha Risdon on the Turnpike, September zo,
i8zo. Her mind is bright and clear at eighty-one and has helped materially on
several points in the editing of the diary. — Ed.]
1 6th. A frost. A large flock of sheep left this morning. Brother Pratt
and wife took the stage at ten o'clock for home. He was Ul last night, not feel
ing just right when he left.
17th. I am pensive and lonely; been over to Mr. Winnie's and Mr.
Crouch's. E. Post's children with me.

394 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
z8th. Harmon and wife gone to Malone. Frances is sick. N. Good
now' s chUd is dead.
30th. Harmon returns from Malone ; James Sheals, a cousin, with him.
October 4. Rode to Judge Sanford' s. William Kent and wife at his father' s.
5th. At Judge Sanford's with Clarinda. Much complaint of rotten potatoes.
8th. James Sheals sick, doctor caUed in. MUton SneU at work with
Harmon at apples.
I oth. Sunday, cold, stormy. James Sheals is a sick boy.
13 th. My health is miserable. Mary Wallis here. James Sheals is better.
z8th. Clarinda here cooking, etc. James Brown at work for Harmon.
November z. Election day. Jasper BrowneU, Hiram Newton and S.
Tucker took dinner.
14th. Paid Lee Eastman $13 on my note of $60. Am confined to
house pretty much.
17th. Harmon gone to Massena. Mr. Robinson and lady here from
ParishviUe. A shoemaker here at work.
1 9th. Mr. Winnie had a pafr of pantaloons of me and one and one-half
yards fulled cloth at $2.50.
20th. Sold to Judson S. Shaw twenty-five acres for $50 in Short Tract,
lot thirty-four. Lent $1 to James Brown, a young man living with Harmon.
24th. Ira Squire makes payment of $10 on joint contract with WalUs and
Squire. I am very nervous, my days and nights are shaded with gloom. In
the morning I say, when wUl the day be gone, and at night, when will the
morning come.
December 10. Mehssa GoodeU and Ellen Post here sewing for Harmon.
Emma Cutler, a fine young girl, boards with us and attends school.
14th. Sold Wilham G. Richardson twenty-five acres for $50.
1 8th. Lent Josiah Smith $11 for a few days. Harmon surveying.
20th. Received a letter from J. S. Chipman and J. Lenox.
22d. A man in Lawrence was sent to jail the past week for abusing a
little girl. Asahel is in Canton this week as a juror.
24th. Sold Lyman Weeks one hundred acres lot number six, Lenox tract.
31st. A son was born to-day to Clarinda and Jonah. [That son is now
editing the diary. — Ed.]
The Year 1848 — Health continues poorly — Religious Meetings at the Village
and in his Home — Shooting of Burr Seeley by Constable in the ViUage —
A Full Account of the Affair — Death of Onesimus Risdon, his Father —
Lyman Page builds Schoolhouse on the Turnpike — The Tavern House
in the Village burned May 5 — Rev. Enos Wood preaches one yeat fot $370 —
Death of Sally Abbott- Much Thievhig— Death of Mts. Seeley, a Pioneer
— Jonah Sanfotd, Jt„ dtives Cattle to Boston — Send latge Sums of Money
by Lettet — Death of Jonathan B. Abbott.
January I o. Sold to John Chase one hundred acres, lot thfrty-four. Short
Tract, for $200. Eastman and Stevens pay $50 for twenty-five acres in lot six,
Lenox tract. Paid Lee Eastman $5 on note.
2 1 St. Asa Squfre will take ten acres in lot number three, Lenox Tract.
Clarinda gets along poorly. I have a good deal of anxiety on her account.
Her sister, Mary Chittenden, with her yestesday and to-day.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 395
24th. My health continues poor, but on the whole think it improves.
David Leach makes payment of $5.75.
26th. Wagons pass for business and pleasure the same as in summer.
Mr. Smith of Stockholm here over night. Mr. Pulsifer works for Harmon.
30th. Sunday, rehgious meetings in afternoon and evenings in the viUage
and said to be very interesting.
3 1 St. Judge Sanford called, says Clarinda is more comfortable. Forty-
four years to-day I left Vermont for IsUngton. The snow in the Chateaugay
woods was then four feet deep and on the first of March it was five feet all over
this country. February 2. Rehgious services held here in evening. Clarinda is better.
3d. The trustees of the school district meet here to-day, making arrange
ments for building a schoolhouse
7th. Mild weather, Uttle snow. Mrs. Steambard (or Heambard) here
making drawers for me. She is a sorrowful woman, driven from her famUy and
Uttie children by the Ucentious conduct of her husband. She loves her chUdren.
8th. Pope says, " Blindness to the future is kindly given." Had I had
in 1 840 a full sense of the misery I was doomed to suffer for the seven suc
ceeding years, I must have sunk into despair and death.
February 9. Sleighs more lively. Mr. Robinson and his children here.
1 2th. Mrs. Risdon was buried three years since to-day. Mr. Kent
and wife at Stockholm.
14th. D. S. Fletcher pays $183 and Isaac Snell $25 on Short's land.
15th. Mary Chittenden and Clarinda Sanford here with their babes.
Clarinda has a fine boy. Sold Clark Adams fifteen acres south of Judge Sanford's.
17th. ReUgious meeting held here. Charlotte spent the evening at Lee
Eastman's. Stephen Wescott, wife and son from Malone. Sarah appears as
young as ever.
19th. Harmon, Wescott, Webb and wives with each a babe gone to
Mr. Robinson's. 23 d. Sent two hundred and forty-one doUars by Harmon to Justus Smith.
Ellen Post sewing for me.
24th. Great excitement in the village. A man is shot in the knee by
a constable; his wound is bad.
25 th. There is a law trial in the vUlage over the shooting of the man.
26th. Paid Charlotte and Edna twenty-five cents each for favors done me.
29th. Sold to S. S. Sanford thfrty acres east of Mr. Newton's. The case
of the man who was shot in the village is likely to make lucrative business for
lawyers, sheriffs and doctors. Who wUl foot the bUls is to be yet known.
March i . Judge Sanford and wife called. Mrs. S. made us a family
visit. Our little boy is quite worrisome, to his mother in particular.
6th. The man who was shot in the knee February 23 fled from Canada,
it is said, for forgery. He was pursued by sheriff and constables into Hopkinton
and there taken. His wound is bad, and it is thought by his physicians that he
must lose his limb if not his life. There are quite a number imphcated in the
riot, as it is called. Probably the case wUl be investigated.
I Ith. The mah's limb is taken off to-day. His case causes a great deal
of excitement, is in aU the papers.

396 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
[The shooting and arrest of Mr. Seeley probably caused more feeUng among
the people and divided them in factions or parties more sharply than anything
else that ever happened in town. Briefly, the story, as I gather it from the law
books, county clerk's office and elderly people with whom I have talked, is about
as follows : It seems that Burr Seeley came into town from the east through
NicholviUe with a horse and sleigh and that he was followed by John Roberts
and L. C. Wrisley of Chateaugay, and by Alonzo A. Greene, a constable of
Nicholville, whom the former got to help them as they came along. Seeing or
fearing that he would be overhauled, he turned in at Joseph Brush's and asked
for a room where he could be by himself Mr. Brush let him into a bedroom
off the sitting room. Presently the officers came and demanded the stranger.
Mr. Brush toyed with them a httle, but seeing that " trouble was up," mo
tioned to the bedroom door. Mr. Roberts rushed into the room, closing the
door behind him. Hearing nothing, Mr. Brush opened the door, and there
the two men stood feeing each other with drawn pistols. Mr. Brush was a Uttle
lame, but he made some very hvely steps retreating. His curiosity was entfrely
satisfied, as he told Truman E. Post, who gives me this particular. A truce was
arranged whereby he agreed to proceed to the village and surrender. Accord
ingly, he rode with one of the men to the viUage, carrying his pistol in his
hand. Reaching a point near where Chittenden's store now stands, he had
changed his mind, and jumping out bade them defiance. He had two pistols,
and one of them was rigged out with a dirk, which stUl may be seen at the Chit
tenden store. With these, barking up and down the street, he held them all at
bay. Messrs. Roberts and Wrisley reported that he had committed a murder in
Montreal and that there was a reward for his arrest. Thus the people, who soon
congregated in large numbers, thought they were face to face with a real mur
derer and became much excited. They circled about him, but he successfiiUy
stood them off with his guns. There are some who say his pistol was a cheap,
rusty affafr incapable of being fired. What the truth is in this respect I cannot
say. At any rate, failing to capture him, a warrant was got of Isaac R. Hop
kins, Esq., justice, on the complaint of one Horatio A. Nelson. This was read
to him and a command made to surrender, but he was as defiant as ever. The
good people of Hopkinton felt insulted and enraged that a stranger chased into
town should defy the law and bid defiance to thefr majesty. At last some one
handed Mr. Greene a gun. Who did this is not known, so far as I can learn,
with certainty. Several cried out to shoot him, but who they were is not known.
Every one denied it pretty soon afterwards when they had cooled down. The
constable did as he was bidden, shooting him in the knee, when he feU and gave
up. As they were carrying him into the hotel the constable cried out, " He is
eating my warrant." Back came the excited dfrection, " Choke him, damn
him, till he gives it up," which he proceeded to do, rescuing the mandate of the
law. The warrant was a hasty production and very defective. Afterwards they
regretted they did not let him eat it, as it was thought that would have made a
good warrant of it, removing it from criticism. Mr. Seeley was a stranger in
these parts, knowing no one except the late Dr. John B. Nichols of Potsdam, for
whom he sent. Mr. Nichols, who knew him very slighdy, caUed on him as
requested. After being shot he made known that he was a member of some se
cret order and took Isaac R. Hopkins into his confidence. To him he stated
that he had been in the brokerage business in Montreal and had failed, that a

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 397
reward was offered for his arrest, that he had rather die than be taken back there
to lie in jail till he died, as he could never pay.
As the diary states, his leg was amputated on March 1 1 . Dr. Socrates
N. Sherman of Ogdensburg came down to perform the operation, assisted by
Dr. Gideon Sprague and possibly others. The feeling among the people had
now become tense over the whole performance, and Dr. Sherman did not satisfy
or mollify it in the least. As I am told he bitterly and vehemently abused and
denounced every one who was present at the time of the shooting. The diary
states that a trial was had, which was probably an examination, and before Isaac
R. Hopkins, Esq., who issued the warrant. It was held in the old stone town
house, and there was a large attendance of people. The attorneys on the hear
ing were WilUam A. Dart, Henry L. Knowles and Judge Jonah Sanford. As
I am advised no case was made, and Mr. Seeley was discharged. The matter
culminated in a suit in the supreme court by Mr. Seeley against Alonzo A.
Greene, Clark S. Chittenden, Asahel Chittenden, John Roberts, Artemus Kent
and Lemuel C. Wrisley for damages for assault and battery and false imprison
ment. Messrs. James and Brown of Ogdensburg were Mr. Seeley's attorneys ;
E. B. Smith for Wrisley, and WiUiam A. Dart for the other defendants. The
case was tried at the June term of the court, 1849, beginning on Saturday and
closing on Monday, Hon. Ira Harris, justice ; Edwin Dodge, county judge ;
James C. Barter and Joseph C. Barnes, justices of sessions. The witnesses for
Mr. Seeley were : Dr. Gideon Sprague, Isaac C. Snell, John Harran, Nathaniel
Goodnow, Dr. Fayette P. Sprague, James C. Moore and Isaac Young. The
witnesses for the defendants were : Thomas G. Howe, Carr Fortune, Thaddeus
H. Laughlin, George Brush, WiUard Knapp, Hfram B. Sheldon, Calvin Cutler
and Timothy Gibson. At the close of the evidence, on motion, Mr. Seeley
was nonsuited as to Artemus Kent. The jury brought in a verdict against the
other five defendants for $2,000 damages. It seems that it was the testimony
of Mr. Isaac Young that carried the verdict. Mr. Clark S. Chittenden by his
attorney made a motion at the special term held in Canton in August, 1 849,
for a new trial on the ground of newly discovered evidence and the surprise of
Mr. Young's testimony which, though plaintiff's witness, was not put in till
the very last moment, which was granted. The decision on this motion may be
found in 4 How. 265. An appeal from this order was taken by Mr. Seeley's
attorneys, but the decision of the court below was not disturbed. It is reported
in 10 Barb. Mr. John A. Harran says that the case was adjourned two or
three times when Mr. Seeley died in PhUadelphia, which ended the whole
matter. A few years after this Mr. Clark S. Chittenden was a member of As
sembly, which put him on the "bench," so to speak. Judge Harris was a
candidate for United States senator, and he pleaded hard with Mr. Chittenden for
his vote, but without avail. — Ed.]
14th. Clarinda and her babe here, a fine boy ; Mrs. Pulsifer and babe
also. Clarinda at Asahel's, Beatrice here. Last day of school.
19th. Received a letter from my sister, Charlotte Pratt. My father,
Onesimus Risdon, is dead, died the first day of March after a sickness of four
or five weeks. I beUeve he was in his ninetieth year. My mind was prepared
for the news, for I have been expecting to hear of his death for some years past.
His advanced age and peaceful turn of mind leave no occasion for mourning,
rather of rejoicing. However, ruminating through the mists of many years upon

398 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
scenes and reminiscences in which he took a part, I could not, here in my soU-
tude, restrain the falUng tear. We all must die. My father and mother were
about of the same age, married young, raised a family of thfrteen to men and
women grown. But five, however, now survive. My mother has been dead
about thirty years. My father was a soldier in the Revolution, was at Ticon
deroga with Schuyler and also in the batde at Bennington and in other skfrmishes.
He drew a pension for a whUe, but lost it on account of the dishonesty of Ver
mont officials.
[His fether was a httle over eighty-eight years of age, having been born
February i8, 1760. He died at the home of his daughter Charlotte (Mrs.
George Pratt) at Livonia, Livingston County, N. Y., where he had Uved for
some twenty years previous and is buried. Previous to this he had Uved at
Richmond, a few miles distant in Ontario County, where he conducted a black
smith business. He served two hundred and sixty-six days as a soldier in the
War of the Revolution between July, 1777, and November, 1780, as I learn
from the adjutant-general of the state of Vermont. — Ed.]
20th. Mr. Lyman Page of the East Village is buUding a schoolhouse for
our district, brings the material finished as far as possible from his place. [I
think this is the present building so long known as the red schoolhouse and where
I attended select school in' thefaU, taught by Edna Risdon. — Ed.]
23 d. Emma Cutler, a fine young girl of seventeen, wUl continue with
Harmon through the summer. He will mUk fourteen cows. [She married
John A. Harran and hves in Hopkinton village. Mr. Harran, a highly re
spected citizen, died suddenly in the summer of 190Z. — Ed.]
25th. Have agreed to renew S. B. MerrUl's contract, provided he pays
all the back interest.
28 th. For over seven years I have been in more or less distress, yet I do
some business. The fields free of snow. The people at spring's work.
AprU I . Paid Darwin Brooks my account in fiiU.
7th. Mr. Kent suffers from rheumatism. Mrs. R. at Josiah Smith's.
I oth. Lucina Claflin and babe here. Made four hundred pounds of sugar.
1 1 th. Mrs. E. H. Risdon wiU take her hitle son to Massena Springs.
His rash does not improve. He requires much attention.
1 2th. Religious meetings are held here in the house every Wednesday
evening. 1 7th. My disease is of a rheumatic nature and settled in the breast and
stomach. Am very nervous.
19th. Mr. Winnie, a neighbor, poor and with considerable of a famUy,
has lost his only cow. He will need assistance.
20th. Mrs. Art. Kent and Mrs. Goodnow here. Harmon at work on
schoolhouse. 2 1 St. Harmon, Mary and Bub, our little boy, gone to Massena Springs.
Mary wiU remain there with him for a while. Jane Twitch, Ellen and Emma
here, good company.
26th. Paid to Roswell Laughlin $5 for Rev. Enos Wood.
27th. Raised our schoolhouse. Harmon and the children gone to
Clarinda' s. Women cleaning house.
30th. Harmon at Massena. The prospect from my window to the
northwest over Mr. Kent's fields into his woodland is very fine. There are

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 399
beautiful elms, maples and basswood of great growth, but there is one gigantic
elm, more powerful and majestic than the others. It has stood there while
ages and ages of the human famUy have passed away. And still it lives and
grows and may for ages to come. [I do not wonder that great trees grew on
that soU, but the trees which so enraptured him have, Uke the men and women
who admired them, passed away. The field he saw is now a fine meadow.
— Ed.] May 3. Harmon returns from Massena. Clarinda with me to-day.
Warm, no fire in my room.
5th. The tavern house in the vUlage was burned down this morning.
How Mr. C. S. Chittenden should be so highly favored as to save his buUd
ings is almost a miracle.
7th. Harmon and two eldest daughters, Charlotte and Edna, at meeting.
9th. Harmon to Massena after his wife and child. Farmers are all en
gaged at thefr work. Fields look fine. Mr. Seeley, the man whose leg was
taken off in the winter past, rides out; is at Asahel Kent's this afternoon. The
chUdren are anxious to see their mother and Uttle brother.
loth. Harmon returns. Bub is much better, face smoother, is playfiil
and at home. Harmon gone to Canton for Ume.
1 2th. Mr. and Mrs. Newman here, also Mr. WUson the shoemaker.
1 3 th. Mr. Seeley, who was shot in the knee, has left Hopkinton. Good.
Harmon pays his school tax by work on the new schoolhouse.
1 5th. Eliphalet Brush called in awhile. Currant, cherry and plum
trees are in blow. Had one of my severe turns.
1 8th. Mrs. R. and her mother gone to see Harriet. Our Uttle boy
walks about Uke a man.
2 1 St. Sunday, Clarinda and Jonah with the Uttie grandson here. They
are very good, call often.
2 2d. P. Mosher and lady called. Asahel did not do my business in New
York and I am much disappointed.
23d. Children playful, Edna with a beU tied to her foot. Mr. Marsh,
ParishvUle agent here. Emma with others cleaning new schoolhouse. [The
chUd Edna is Mrs. George W. Crosley of Webster City, Iowa. — Ed.]
24th. Maria Durfey and Maria Abbott called awhUe. RosweU Laughlin
caUed with a subscription for Rev. Enos Wood. I signed five doUars. He
wUl preach one year for three hundred seventy doUars.
26th. Mary Chittenden, Clarinda Sanford and their babes here. Olive
Chittenden with the children sporting about, happy chUdren.
Z7th. Rode to Mr. Jennie's and to the viUage. E. Post raising a buUding.
28th. Sunday, Harmon, Emma and Mary at meeting. Sally, daughter
of Seth Abbott, Esq., is buried to-day, aged about forty. Died in Potsdam.
I taught her the alphabet in 18 10, forward litde gfrl then. Jonah and Clarinda
at the funeral, left thefr babe here. C. Foster has returned from Livonia.
29th. My sister Charlotte sent me my father's walking cane by Mr.
Foster. I am pleased to have it.
30th. Harmon and Mary at viUage. EUen here sewing. Pierce and
son painting schoolhouse.
June 2. John Smith confined with rheumatism. Friend Warner about
raising a house.

400 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
3d. Maria and Harriet Laughlin with Marian Chittenden here.
5th. Rode with Frances. Harmon and others wash sheep. Lent Sophia
Remington $3 to obUge her very much, she says she will repay it in one, two
or three months.
6th. Our school commences, Clarissa Witherell, teacher. Harmon sur
veying. Charlotte and Edna go to school. [The teacher is the widow of
Larned Warner. — Ed.]
I oth. John Smith suffers much with rheumatism, can't move. Harmon
surveying in GossviUe.
I Ith. Sunday, the Methodists hold quarterly meeting at the Fort to-day.
Edna, Frances, James, Clarinda and Jonah with their babe here.
14th. Sophia Remington and EUen Post continue sewing for Mrs. R.
The former paid me twenty-five cents on recent loan.
1 7th. Joel and Nelson WithereU and Nelson Crouch here shearing sheep.
Mrs. Winnie assisted in picking wool.
1 9th. Mr. Foster will take letter to brother Joel in Ohio, sister Pratt in
Livonia, New York. The people are after a rogue. It seems a store was
broken open at East VUlage and goods taken.
20th. Harmon and Mary assisting in cleaning meeting-house. The
people are after another rogue. A horse was stolen last night.
2 1 St. Harmon and Asahel are building a house for Mr. Newman. E.
Jennie has raised a house. Emma sick and gone home.
24di. Miss Abel from Vermont is here and gone to see Harriet.
25th. Sunday, James only at meeting. Mrs. Seeley, the widow of
Ehakim Seeley, is dead. She was one of the first settlers of this town.
26th. Mrs. Seeley is buried to-day, age sixty-six. Harmon, Mary and
Clarinda attended the funeral. Mr. and Mrs. Kent, Mr. and Mrs. Webb,
Mrs. Perkins and Miss Abel here in afternoon, good company.
July 4. Bad day for me, had the doctor. Young people riding out.
Josiah Smith raised a small barn.
8th. Rode home with Harmon from Asahel's, where I have been since
the last of June.
1 8th. Harmon commences haying. Cutler and Pulsifer at work for
him. All crops look finely.
20th. Clarinda here. Jonah Sanford, Jr., gone with cattle to Boston.
Charlotte gave ten cents to a poor man.
2 2d. Harmon surveying for Hamilton. Clarinda and Mary at Newman's.
25 th. Paid EUen Post $1 for making four shirts.
29th. Clarinda continues here with her babe, a fine boy indeed.
31st. Clarinda at her home, her babe is unwell. My health improves.
August 9. People are now harvesting grain. Harmon haying at the other
place. Very sickly in Stockholm. Mr. Wheelock is dead. Several chUdren
have died. 19th. Very wet time. But few have finished haying. Sent to James
Lenox $225 in biUs. I cut them into halves and sent one-half.
20th. Sunday, the family mostly at meeting. Five o'clock meetings are
held at our schoolhouse.
2 2d. Sent Mr. Lenox the remaining half of the bank bills by mail.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 401
24th. Took dinner to the work people. Asa Squire worked Mr. Lenox
road tax.
28th. Waity Kent called. Have been to see Clarinda. She is better.
30th. Rode with Harmon to Gossville, ParishviUe, etc.
September 2. R. L. Maitland of New York acknowledges the receipt of
the two hundred and twenty-five dollars. I paid the postage, ten cents. Some
farmers have grass to cut yet.
3d. Sunday, Jonathan Abbott is dangerously sick. Harmon and Mary
are over there.
4th. Jonathan B., son of Samuel Abbott, is dead. He was about twenty -
three, and a week ago was healthy and active and bid fair for a long life. [His
son, E. W. Abbott, hves in Gouverneur, N. Y. — Ed.]
5th. Mr. Abbott is buried to-day. A large concourse of people attended
the funeral. A good many mourners. The famUy takes the death hard, the
father in particular.
6th. Rode over to see Clarinda. Judge Sanford has finished haying.
8th. District school dismissed. I took cold on my trip.
9th. PhUinda Cutler is here. Her health is better. Her mother con
tinues spinning. The loom is set up.
I oth. Sunday, Harmon, Mary, Charlotte and Edna at meeting. Rob
inson and lady here.
[No entries tiU October 8.]
October 8. Sunday. Returned yesterday from Asahel's, where I have
been for two weeks. In the time went with him to Stockholm, Brasher, etc.
Paid the famUy seventy-five cents.
9th. Human suffering seems to be my fate, now on the seventh year and
have suffered severely to-day. When will it end ? Gave Charlotte and Edna
twelve and one-half cents each, and Emma twenty-five cents for waiting on me
when sick and unable to help myself
1 6th. Harmon, WilUam Sheals and J. Winnie husking corn. Harmon
cut his hand with an axe.
27th. Moved my bed into the south room out of the noise of the family.
[The book in which he kept the diary is full at this point. The foUowing en
tries are on the fly leaf and cover. If he kept a diary after this it is lost. — Ed.]
The Year 1849 — Deaths of Moses Kent, John Henderson and Thomas
Meacham — A Short Story of the Latter's Life.
May 12. Moses Kent died on the loth and buried to-day. Mr. John
Henderson was buried the day after on Sunday. After years of suffering
they now he sweetly slumbering in their graves. Thomas Meacham, the noted
hunter, died a few days previous. He also suffered severely, was neglected,
died in his chafr, no one to console him in his last moments.
[Thomas Meacham was the noted hunter, probably the greatest that ever
lived in the county. He died May 7, 1849, aged seventy-nine years. He
kept an account of the animals killed by him, which is as follows: Wolves
two hundred and fourteen, panthers seventy-seven, bears two hundred and ten,
and deer two thousand five hundred and fifty. His traps were always out, and
one day in examining them he found two wolves and a bear and shot another
on the way. His bounty for these was $185. An account of his Ufe and

402 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
record as a hunter was published by Wilham H. Wallace, editor of the St.
Lawrence Mercury, December 19, 1849, all copies of which were lost in the
fire of 1 86 1. He died in a poor log cabin, situate up the Northwest Bay
road on south side of river above NicholviUe, just over the line in FrankUn
County. With all his success in hunting he got along but poorly, living a hard,
lonely life. Zebina Coolidge was at his cabin several times while Meacham
was hving there, and he tells me the following story of the man as it was
current in his boyhood days. He says that at first Meacham hved only a short
distance up the Northwest Bay road; that after parting with his wife he went
down to Essex County and returned with the wife of Eben Call; that she got
on the horse behind Mr. Meacham, and as they started off Mr. Call came to
the door with their child in his arms crying and entreating her not to leave him;
that she caUed out to him, " Go back in the house and not stand there like a
fool." When he reached Hopkinton the people were so indignant that he had
to move up the road across East Brook in FrankUn County, where he built a
log house in the woods, in which they lived till the end, she dying a few years
prior to his decease. After her death he hved there alone. While thus situ
ated Mr. Coohdge made his last call at the cabin. He was in the neighbor
hood fishing, and as the premises looked deserted he went into the cabin. After
he had entered he still thought they were, but presently Mr. Meacham came
feebly and totteringly out of what was called a bedroom to see who had entered.
He was then gray and grizzled and just able to get about the house and yet aU
alone. From the diary it seems he thus died.
He had one or two children by the wife and two or three by the second union.
Stephen Meacham, " Uncle Stephen " as he was called, was his son by his mar
riage. He married and had, as I remember, five daughters and two sons. He
went west, using an ox team and cart, and finaUy settled at or near Nauvoo, 111.
His wife became converted to Mormonism and joined them. The Mormons
took her and the children, discarding poor old Stephen, who found his way back
to Hopkinton. A sketch of his disconsolate life is given on pages 165, 166. —
Ed.] October zo. I still remain and most of the time confined to my bed.
25th. Paid Z. Culver $1.08 for window blinds, at eighty-one cents each.
November 6. Paid Clarinda Sanford, my daughter, $3 for carpets. Paid
Charlotte and Edna, my granddaughters, in the course of the year past, $2.68
for thefr attention waiting on me, and Emma Cutler, the hired girl, seventy-five
cents. Deer Killed by Elisha Risdon.
[On the last page of one part of the diary is an account of the deer killed by
him. I give it entfre as written by him since many people will read it with in
terest and regard it as a creditable achievement. The record is as follows. — Ed.]
The first deer I ever kUIed was at the Genesee in the year 1 800, and no
more tUl the year 1804. That year I killed two in the town of Hopkinton.
The next season, 1805, killed ....... 4
The next season, 1806, killed with a gun called the "Handsome Rifle,"
bought of Eli Squire and sold to him again .... 7
In the year 1807 kUled but one, went to the Genesee country . . I

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

403

In the year 1809 kiUed with the long smooth bore that I bought of Hor
ace Train and sold to John Thomas ....
The next season, 1 8 1 o, killed, same gun ....
The next season, 1 8 n , killed with a short rifle that I bought of Captain
Hoard and sold to Joel Goodell
The next season, 1812, killed, same gun
The next season, 1 81 3, killed with a Pennsylvania rifle that I bought of
Ehsha Brooks ......
The next season, 18 14, killed but one, was sick
The next season, 1 81 5, kUled fifty deer and one wolf
The next season, 1 8 1 6, kiUed ......
The next season, 18 17, killed ......
The next season, 18 18, killed ......
The next season, 18 19, kiUed ......
With the last mentioned gun I killed two hundred and twenty deer
In the season of 1820 kiUed ......
Thfrty of these were kiUed with a rifle I had of Hugh Kennedy.
In the season of 1 82 1 killed ......
In the season of 1822 kUled ......
In the season of 1823 killed ......
In the season of 1824 kUled ......
I have hunted two years now with a rifle I purchased of Mr. Fos
ter, the gunsmith at Parishville. I killed five deer also with the same
gun in 1822, making in aU with this gun sixty-six.
In the season of 1825 killed
'In the season of 1826 killed
In the season of 1827 killed
In the season of 1828 kiUed
In the season of 1830 kUled
In the season of 1 8 3 1 kiUed
In the season of 1832 killed
In the season of 1 8 3 3 kiUed

13
2325 2523 I
50
41 39 32 3437
43 34
40 21

15 9
18 9
13 8
6 5

579

CHAPTER XV.
Town Officers from t806 to t902 — The Town of Parishville was
taken from Hopkinton in I8I4 — The Sotith Part of Chester
field, lying north of the River, was taken from Hopkinton
in the Organization of the Town of Lawrence in 1828.
Supervisors.
1806, Roswell Hopkins ; 1807, Benjamin W. Hopkins ; 1808, Henry McLaugh
lin ; 1809, Roswell Hopkins; 1810, Benjamin W. Hopkins; 1811-1819, RosweU
Hopkins; 1820-1822, Thads. Laughlin; 1823-1826, Jonah Sanford; 1827-1829,
Isaac R. Hopkins; 1830-1832, Joseph Durfey; 1833, Isaac R. Hopkins; 1834, 1835,
Thads. Laughlin; 1836, Phineas Durfey; 1837, Eliakim Seeley; 1838, Thads.
Laughlin; 1839, Isaac R. Hopkins; 1840, Clark S. Chittenden; 1841, C. S. Chitten
den; 1842-1844, Elias Post; 1845, Gideon Sprague; 1846, 1847, C. S. Chittenden;
1848, 1849, Elias Post ; 1850, 1851, C. S. Chittenden ; 1852, 1853, Joseph B. Durfey ;
1854, C. S. Chittenden; 1855, Roswell Hopkins; 1856, 1857, Fayette P. Sprague;
1858, 1859, Caleb Wright; i860, 1861, David F. Henderson ; 1862, 1863, George S.
Wright; 1864, Ezra R. Sheldon; 1865, 1866, David F. Henderson; 1867, i868,
Franklin Kellogg; 1869-1873, Jonah Sanford; 1874, 1875, ^- F. Henderson; 1876-
1885, Jonah Sanford; 1886, 1887, J. S. Kellogg; 1888-1893, K. S. Chittenden;
1894-1901, A. A. Atwood.
As Mr. Hopkins was not eligible, a special town meeting was held March 13,
1855, when Howard Z. Culver was elected supervisor.
Mr. Culver having left town another special meeting was held September 15,
1855, when Fayette P. Sprague was elected supervisor.
To^rn Clerks.
1806, Henry McLaughlin; 1807, Roswell Hopkins; 1808-1810, Benjamin W.
Hopkins; 1811, 1812, Sidney Dunton; 1813-1833, Elisha Risdon; 1834-1838,
Elias Post; 1839-1845, Asahel H. Chittenden; 1846, George Brush; 1847, Elias
Post; 1848, 1849, Caleb Wright; 1850, 1851, Howard C. Culver; 1852, Fred I.
Hopkins; 1853-1856, Nathaniel Goodnow; 1857-1859, K. S. Chittenden; 1860-
1868, V. A. Chittenden; 1869, S. E. Chittenden; 1870-1891, V. A. Chittenden;
1892-1899, Jay H. Chittenden; 1901, W. S. Clifford.
CoUectors.
1806, Abraham Sheldon; 1807, Samuel Goodell; 1808, Gaius Sheldon ; 1809,
Caleb Wright; 1810, Nathaniel Rudd; 1811, 1812, Samuel Eastman; 1813-1815,
Willis Warriner ; 1816, Artemus Kent; 1817, John K. Wead; 1818, 1819, John
Henderson; 1820, Joseph Brush; 1821-1823, Hosea Brooks; 1824, George P.
Farrar; 1825-1829, Harry Palmer; 1830, Homer, Wright ; 1831, Elias Post; 1832,
Harry Palmer; 1833, 1834, Elias Post; 1835, Asa DurreU; 1836, Asahel H. Chit
tenden; 1837, Roswell H. Eastman; 1838, 1839, Philo Abbott; 1840, Asa DurreU;
404

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 405
1841-1843, Fred P. Sprague; 1844-1852, Ezra R. Sheldon ; 1853, George A. Brush ;
1854, George Rockwood, 1855, Milo Adams; 1856, John A. Harran ; 1857, George
Rockwoood; 1858, William A. Sheals; 1859, Daniel Landon; i860, James N.
Fleming; 1861, L. D. Atwood; 1862, Rollin O. Sanford; 1863, H. H. Sheldon;
1864, J. H. Macomber; 1865, F. W. Davis; 1866, Daniel Landon ; 1867, Heman S.
Rockwood; 1868, 1869, David Post; 1870, D. F. Hamilton; 1871, William A.
Sheals; 1872, H. H. Sheldon; 1873, Wallace Kimpton; 1874, M. D. Quinn; 1875,
E. A. Dove; 1876, Arthur Flanders; 1877, Daniel Landon; 1878, 1879, William
Chaffee; 1880, Charles Hodgkins; 1881-1884, Lumau Chandler; 1885-1889, Ed
mund E. Roberts; 1890-1894, John F. Lindsay; 1895, J. Mark Harran; 1896-
1898, George T. Smith ; 1899, G. A. Downey ; 1901, J. J. Livermore.
The town officers elected in 1899, under the new biennial law, held their offices
for two years. Those elected in 1901 were the officers for 1902.
Assessors.
1806, Amasa Blanchard, Jasper Armstrong, Reuben Post ; 1807, Amasa Blan
chard, Henry McLaughlin, Phineas Durfey; 1808, Amasa Blanchard, Jasper Arm
strong, Seth Abbott ; 1809, 1810, Amasa Blanchard, Henry McLaughlin, Seth
Abbott; l8n, Amasa Blanchard, Benjamin W.Hopkins, Phineas Durfey; 1812,
Amasa Blanchard, Jasper Armstrong, Daniel Hoar;* 1813, Amasa Blanchard, Ben
jamin W. Hopkins, Abijah Abbott; 1814, Amasa Blanchard, Benjamin W. Hop
kins, Reuben Post; 1815, Amasa Blanchard, Thads. Laughlin, Samuel Eastman ;
1816, James Trussell, Thads. Laughlin, Isaac R. Hopkins; 1817, Eliphalet Brush,
Thads. Laughlin, Aaron Warner; 1818, Amasa Blanchard, Thads. Laughlin, Aaron
Warner; 1819, Amasa Blanchard, Thads. Laughlin, Phineas Durfey; 1820, Eli
phalet Brush, Isaac R. Hopkins, Jonah Sanford; 1821, 1822, Eliphalet Brush, Isaac
R. Hopkins, Aaron Warner ; 1823, Simeon Bushnell, Isaac R. Hopkins, Aaron
Warner; 1824, Myron G. Peck, Jacob Phelps, Joseph Durfey; 1825, Myron G.
Peck, Isaac R. Hopkins, Joseph Durfey; 1826, Zephaniah Piatt, Isaac R. Hopkins,
Joseph Durfey ; 1827, Zephaniah Piatt, Jonah Sanford, Joseph Durfey ; 1828, Cal
vin Convers, Eliphalet Brush, Philip Mosher ; 1829, Jacob Phelps, Eliphalet Brush,
Aaron Warner ; 1830, John Henderson, Phineas Durfey, Joseph Brush ; 1831, Caleb
Wright, Homer Wright, Jacob Phelps ; 1832, Caleb Wright, Asa DurreU, Jacob
Phelps ; 1833, C. S. Chittenden, Eliphalet Brush, Joseph Durfey ; 1834, Henry D.
Laughlin, Phineas Durfey, Jonah Sanford ; 1835, Isaac R. Hopkins, Aaron Warner,
Jonah Sanford; 1836, Eliakim Seeley, Thads. Laughlin, Joseph Durfey; 1837,
Gideon Sprague, Philip Mosher, John Henderson ; 1838, Phineas Durfey, Isaac R.
Hopkins, EUphalet Brush; 1839, Seth Putnam, C. S. Chittenden, Eliphalet Brush;
1840, Seth Putnam, Isaac R.Hopkins, Aaron Warner ; 1841, Isaac R. Hopkins,
Reuben Wells, Zelah Canfield; 1842, George Eggleston, Jonah Sanford, S. C.
Remington; 1843, Aaron Warner, Cyrus DwineU, C. S. Chittenden ; 1844, Zoraster
Culver, F. Sweet, Frank Kellogg ; 1845, Isaac R. Hopkins, John Henderson, Elias
Post; 1846, Isaac R. Hopkins, one year; John Henderson, three years; John S.
Roberts, two years; 1847, Safford Cady; 1848, Nelson C. Crouch; 1849, Isaac R.
Hopkins; 1850, James W. Parker; 1851, Jacob Phelps ; 1852, Charles B. Weller;
1853, E. Harmon Risdon ; 1854, Caleb Miller; 1855, William E.Eastman; 1856,
Myron H. Wait; 1857, Charles Faulkner; 1858, Jonah Sanford, Jr. ; 1859, Dyer L.
* Messrs. Hoar and Abbott resided in Cookham. Prior to this Mr. Hoar had changed his name
to Hoard.

4o6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
MerriU; i860, Joel WithereU; 1861, E. H. Risdon; 1862, WiUiam E. Eastman;
1863, John A. Harran ; 1864, G. R. Clark ; 1865, E. H. Risdon; 1866, Joel Wither
eU; 1867, J. B. Durfey ; 1868, George Smith; 1866, Charles Sweat ; 1870, George
Burt; 1871, Alta West; 1872, Charles Sweat ; 1873, Charles Benham ; 1874, R. H.
Freeman; 1875, George S. Wright; 1876, Royal Lawrence; 1877, Charles Sweat;
1878, Philo A. Davis; 1879, H- S. Haselton; 1880, C. A. Sweat; 1881, P. A. Davis;
1882, H. S. Haselton; 1883,8. E. Eastman; 1884, L. D. Atwood; 1885, H. S.
Haselton; 1886, Charles Benham; 1887, L. D. Atwood; 1888, Howard P. East
man; 1889, Charles Benham; 1890, L. D. Atwood; 1891, Howard P. Eastman;
1892, Charles Benham; 1893, John Leach; 1894, H. S. Hazelton; 1895, Morris
Day ; 1896, Isaac G. Gurley ; 1897, A. A. Hawkins ; 1898, Charles Benham; 1899,
J. R. Gurley, two years ; E. J. Macomber, two years ; John Harper, one year ;
1901, John Harper. Justices of the Peace.
RosweU Hopkins, appointed March 5, 1805, by Governor Morgan Lewis ; Ros
well Hopkins, reappointed April 8, 1808 ; Dr. Stephen Langworthy, appointed March
2, l8og, by Governor Tompkins; Roswell Hopkins, appointed March 27, 1810, judge
of the Court of Common Pleas ; Roswell Hopkins, Henry McLaifghlin and Reuben
Post, appointed March 6,1811, by Governor Tompkins; Joseph Merrill, appointed
June 5, 1812; Stephen Langworthy, commissioned assistant justice Common Pleas,
June 5, 181 2; Isaac R. Hopkins, Abijah Abbott, Abijah Chandler and Amasa
Blanchard, appointed April 2, 1813, by Governor Tompkins (Mr. Abbott lived in
Cookham and Mr. Chandler in Chesterfield) ; Reuben Post and Seth Abbott, ap
pointed April 15, 1815, by Governor Tompkins; Aaron Warner, appointed March
21, 1816 ; Jonah Sanford, Isaac R. Hopkins and Seth Abbott, appointed March 16,
1818, by Governor De Witt Clinton; Isaac R. Hopkins, appointed March 29, 1821 ;
Jonah Sanford, appointed one of the judges of the county court, March 26, 1834, by
Governor Marcy.
1830, a vote for justice resulted as follows: Joseph Durfey received eighty-
two votes, Alanson Hale sixty-one and Eliphalet Brush fifty-eight ; 1831, Isaac R.
Hopkins eighty-two votes, S. C. Remington forty-four. Homer Wright and Asa
Durrell forty-two each ; 1832, Eliphalet Brush sixty-three and Horace N. Branch
forty-one ; 1833, Jonah Sanford, Artemus Kent ; 1834, Isaac R. Hopkins (Jonah San
ford was appointed one of the judges of the county court March 26, 1834, by Gov
ernor Marcy) ; 1835, Roswell Hopkins ; 1836, Zoraster Culver; 1837, Elias Post ;
1838, Jonah Sanford, Isaac R. Hopkins, Gideon Sprague ; 1839, Roswell Hopkins ;
1840, Clark S. Chittenden ; 1841, Seth Putnam, Jonah Sanford; 1842, I. R. Hopkins ;
1843, Roswell Hopkins ; 1844, C. S. Chittenden; 1845, Elias Post ; 1846, I. R. Hop
kins, J.T.Gould; 1847, Franklin Kellogg; 1848, RosweU Hopkins; 1849, C. S.
Chittenden; 1850, Isaac R. Hopkins; 1851, Frank Kellogg, Nelson C. Crouch (va
cancy) ; 1852, Nelson C. Crouch ; 1853, RosweU Hopkins ; 1854, Jonah Sanford, Jr.
(vacancy), Ezra R. Sheldon ; 1855, J.B.Williams; 1856, RosweU Hopkins; 1857,
C. S. Chittenden, Frank Kellogg (vacancy) ; 1858, Ezra Sheldon, Loren Smith (va
cancy) ; 1859, D. F. Henderson; i860, Loren Smith ; 1861, C. S. Chittenden; 1862,
Franklin Kellogg; 1863, Jefferson RoweU ; 1864, David F. Henderson; 1865, C. S.
Chittenden; 1866, Franklin KeUogg; 1867, RosweU Hopkins; 1868, G. R.Clark;
1869, C. S. Chittenden; 1870, Franklin Kellogg; 1871, J. H. Macomber; 1872, Ros
weU Hopkins ; 1873, G. S. Chittenden ; 1874, F. W. KeUogg ; 1875, Silas H. Sanford ;

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 407
1876, Henry B. Sanford; 1877, John J. Shields ; 1878, Fayette N. Kellogg; 1879,
George Smith; 1880, George O. MerrUl, J. S. KeUogg (vacancy); 1881, C. S. Chit
tenden ; 1882, J. S. KeUogg ; 1883, George Smith, H. L. Hoyt (vacancy), C. H. Hodg
kins (vacancy) ; 1884, Luman Chandler; 1885, G. Rollin Clark (vacancy), L. D. At
wood; 1886, Charles Hodgkins, H. F. Hilliard (vacancy), L. D. Atwood (vacancy) ;
1887, George Smith ; 1888, H. F. Hilliard, J. F. Lindsay ; 1889, Lorenzo D. Atwood,
Emery P. Gale; 1890, C. H. Hodgkins, J. F. Lindsay ; 1891, George Smith ; 1892,
H. F. Hilliard ; 1893, Isaac R. Hopkins ; 1894, C. H. Hodgkins ; 1895, John Leach ;
1896, H. F. Hilliard, Henry Adams; 1897, Adelbert Smith, WiUiam Larabee ; 1898,
Henry Wells, William Johnson; 1899, R. H. Higgenbotham, M. L. Clifford; 1901,
John H. Leach, H. F. HUHard, A. S. Smith.
Conunissioners of Schools.
1813, Benjamin W. Hopkins, Amasa Blanchard, Samuel Eastman ; 1814, Amasa
Blanchard, Benjamin W. Hopkins, Samuel Eastman; 1815, Abijah Chandler, Isaac
R. Hopkins, Seth Abbott; 1816-1820, Eliphalet Brush, Isaac R. Hopkins, Seth
Abbott ; 1821-1824, Isaac R. Hopkins, Seth Abbott, Eliphalet Brush ; 1825, Aaron
Warner, Artemus Kent, Jacob Phelps ; 1826, B. C. Dimick, Zoraster Culver, Jacob
Phelps; 1827, 1828, Zoraster Culver, Artemus Kent, Aaron Warner; 1829, Zoraster
Culver, Elias Post, Aaron Warner ; 1830-1832, Homer Wright, Caleb Wright, S. C.
Remington ; 1833, Jacob Phelps, Caleb Wright, John Henderson ; 1834, Horace N.
Branch, Zoraster Culver, Lee Eastman ; 1835, Eliphalet Brush, Zoraster Culver,
Elisha Risdon; 1836, Zoraster Culver, Gideon Sprague, Lee Eastman; 1837,
Zoraster Culver, Phineas Durfey, Russell .Squire ; 1838, Zoraster Culver, Thads.
Laughlin, Gideon Sprague; 1839, William S. Phelps, Artemus Kent, Philander
Brown; 1840, William S. Phelps, Artemus Kent, John Sheldon; 1841, Artemus
Kent, William S. Phelps, John Henderson; 1842, Samuel Abbott, Russell Squire,
Frank Kellogg; 1843, Zoraster Culver, Russsell Squire, T. H. Laughlin; 1844-1846,
Jason Brush ; 1847-1850, Fayette P. Sprague ; 1852, Caleb Wright ; 1853, Fred H.
Kent; 1854, Roswell Hopkins ; 1856, Fred H. Kent.
School Inspectors.
1813, Roswell Hopkins, Reuben Post, Eliphalet Brush, Abijah Chandler, Seth
Abbott, Abijah Abbott; 1814, Eliphalet Brush, Gideon Sprague, Caleb Wright;
1815, Eliphalet Brush, Hiram S. Johnson, Abijah Chandler; 1816, Jonah Sanford,
Caleb Wright, James^Pearse ; 1817, Thads. Laughlin, John K. Wead, James Trussell ;
1 81 8, Elisha Risdon, Artemus Kent, James Trussell ; i8i9,|Elisha Risdon, Thads.
Laughlin, Henry C. Greene, Daniel Rockwell, Sylvanus C. Hersey, James Trussell ;
1820, Elisha Risdon, Hosea Brooks, Elias Post ; 1821, Elisha Risdon, S. C. Reming
ton, Harry Wead; 1822, Thads. Laughlin Gideon Sprague, Isaac R. Hopkins;
1823, 1824, Myron G. Peck, Gideon Sprague, Elias Post ; 1825, Gideon Sprague,
Dan. Wright, Elias Post ; 1826, B. C. Dimick, Zoraster Culver, Jacob Phelps ; 1827,
Myron G. Peck, Gideon Sprague, Elias Post; 1828, G. P. Farrar, Gideon Sprague,
Elias Post; 1829, H. D. Laughlin, Gideon Sprague, Roswell Pettibone; 1830,
Gideon Shaw, H. D. Laughlin, D. S. Shaw ; 1831-1835, Gideon Sprague, H. D.
Laughlin, Elias Post ; 1836, Gideon Sprague, H. D. Laughlin, Russell Squire ; 1837,
Philo Abbott, Frederick Sprague, Elias Post ; 1838, Elias Post, Isaac R. Hopkins,
Gideon Sprague; 1839, Henry M. WithereU, Roswell Hopkins, Elijah H. Risdon ;
1840, Henry M. WithereU, Lucien Kent, Elijah H. Risdon; 1841, Henry M. With-

4o8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
erell, Seth R. Putuam, Lucien Kent; 1842, N. C. Crouch, H. F. Lawrence, Isaac R.
Hopkins; 1843, N. C. Grouch, H. F. Lawrence; 1844, Jonah Sanford, George
Eggleston ; 1845, Artemus Kent, H. N. Bickford, Roswell Hopkins ; 1846, Artemus
Kent, I. P. Lovel, Philip Mosher ; 1847, Aaron Warner, Russell Squire, Philip
Mosher; 1848, Nathaniel Goodnow, William S. Phelps, Philip Mosher; 1849,
r85o, Aaron Warner, Russell Squire, Joel Goodell, Jr. ; 1851, Caleb Wright, Hiram
B. Shelden, Joel Goodell, Jr.; 1852, Dyer L. Merrill, Nathaniel Goodnow, Joel
Goodell, Jr.; 1853, L)- E. Henderson, RusseU Squire, Joel Goodell, Jr.; 1855, D. F.
Henderson, John Harran, J. S. Cady ; 1856, Jesse Phelps, Israel Putnam, Joseph
A. Brush; 1857, Jonah Sanford, Jr., D. F. Henderson, WiUiam A. Sheals; 1858,
Russell Squire, Israel Putnam, William S. Phelps; 1859, George Smith, R. P.
Abbott, Charles Weller ; i860, G. R. Clark, Russell Squire, R. H. Freeman.
Commissioners of Highways.
1806, Abraham Sheldon, Reuben Post, Henry McLaughlin; 1807, Abijah
Chandler, Seth Abbott, Benjamin W.Hopkins; 1808, Ephraim Martin, Abraham
Sheldon, Jonas Harwood ; 1809, Samuel Goodell, Sydney Dunton, Phineas Durfey ;
1810, Eli Roburds, Sydney Dunton, Samuel Eastman; 1811, Samuel GoodeU, Elia
kim Seeley, Jonas Harwood ; 1812, James Trussell, Reuben Post, John Thomas;
1813, Samuel Goodell, Joseph Merrill, Joel Hawkins; 1814, James Trussell, Eli
phalet Brush, Phineas Durfey ; 1815, James TrusseU, Eliphalet Brush, Caleb Wright ;
1816, Jonah Sanford, Eli Roburds, Abijah Chandler ; 1817, James Trussell, Joseph
Brush, Phineas Durfey; 1818, James Trussell, Artemus Kent, Jonah Sanford; 1819,
Samuel Goodell, Isaac R. Hopkins, Samuel Eastman ; 1820, James Trussell, Eli
Roburds, Joseph Durfey ; 1821, 1822, Joseph Durfey, Eli Roburds, Joseph Brush ;
1823, Horace Higgins, Jacob Phelps, Joseph Durfey; 1824, Horace Higgins,
Thads. Laughlin, Asa Moon ; 1825, Eliphalet Brush, Thads. Laughlin, Phineas
Durfey; 1826, Horace Higgins, Eliphalet Brush, Asa Moon; 1827, James Trus
sell, Eliphalet Brush, Phineas Durfey ; 1828, George P. Farrar, Thads. Laughlin,
Asa Moon ; 1829, Joseph Brush, Thads. Laughlin, Samuel Eastman ; 1830, Ben
jamin Sanford, Anson Griswold, W. N. Gould ; 1831, Phineas Durfey,
Anson Griswold, Aaron Warner; 1832, Phineas Durfey, C. S. Chittenden,
Joseph Brush ; 1833, Phineas Durfey, Asa Durrell, Joseph Brush ; 1834, Gideon
Sprague, Abiel M. Hobart, Asa Moon ; 1835, C. S. Chittenden, Samuel Abbott,
Gideon Sprague ; 1836, Philip Mosher, C. S. Chittenden, Samuel Abbott; 1837,
Thads. Laughlin, Caleb Wright, Lee Eastman ; 1838, Gilbert H. Covey, Jonah San
ford, Asa Durrell ; 1839, Stephen R. Witherell, John S. Roburds, Joel Gould ; 1840,
Eliphalet Brush, Joseph Brush, John Dwinell ; 1841, Roswell Hopkins, William M.
Gould, Artemus Kent ; 1842, Lee Eastman, H. H. Branch, Thads. Laughlin ; 1843,
Samuel Abbott, Frank KeUogg, Clark Adams ; 1844, C. Dwinell, Joseph B. Durfey, E.
Harmon Risdon ; 1845, Jo^l Witherell, T. H. Laughlin, RusseU Squire; 1846, E. Har
mon Risdon ; 1847, Samuel Abbott ; 1849, J- B- Durfey ; 1850, Joseph B. Durfey ; 1851,
W. F. Warner; 1852, T. H. Laughlin ; 1853, Alonzo Parker ; 1854, Joseph A. Brush ;
1855, George S. Wright ; 1856, WiUiam Oliver ; 1857, Joel GoodeU, Jr. ; 1858, Lyman
OUver ; 1859, Joel WithereU ; i860, Joseph A. Brush ; 1861, WiUiam S. Howe ; 1862,
Joseph B. Durfey ; 1863, Orville Parker ; 1864-1866, Joseph'A. Brush ; 1867, William
OUver; 1868, George S. Wright; 1869, E. H. Risdon ; 1870, 1871, Iva A. Brush ; 1872,
Joel GoodeU; 1 873-1 875, H. S. Haselton ; 1876, R. S. Bedee ; 1877, Joseph Clifford;
1878, 1879, Joseph A. Brush; 1880, i88i, D. A. Moore; 1882-1887, John A. Harran;

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 409
1888, H. S. Haselton; 1889-1891, John A. Harran; 1892, Arthur Flanders; 1893,
John A. Harran; 1894, Martin Clifford; 1895,  ; 1896, Martin L. Clifford;
1897,  ; 1898, John Leach ; 1899, Isaac R. Hopkins ; 1901, Arthur Flanders.
Overseers of the Poor.
1 806, 1 807, Amasa Blanchard, Seth Abbott; 1 808-1 81 o, Amasa Blanchard, Henry
McLaughlin; i8ii, Joseph Merrill, Seth Abbott; 1812, Eli Squire, Eli Roburds ;
1813, Eli Squire, Jonathan M. Derby; 1814, 181 5, Oliver Sheldon, Aaron Warner ;
1816-1819, Jasper Armstrong, Aaron Warner ; 1820-1823, Eliphalet Brush, Aaron
Warner; 1824, 1825, Jacob Phelps, Philip Mosher; 1826, Jacob Phelps, Caleb
Wright ; 1827-1830, Joseph Brush, Caleb Wright ; 1831, 1832, Philip Mosher, Caleb
Wright ; 1833, Artemus Kent, Aaron Warner ; 1834, Philip Mosher, Eliakim Seeley ;
1835, Joseph Brush, Eliakim Seeley ; 1836, John Henderson, Asa Moon ; 1837,
Zoraster Culver, Nathaniel Baldwin ; 1838, Aaron Warner, Asa Durrell ; 1839, Aaron
Warner, Phineas Durfey; 1840, Reuben Post, Joseph Howard; 1841, Nathaniel
Goodnow ; 1842, C. DwineU, Philip Mosher ; 1843, Frank KeUogg, Clark Adams ;
1844, WiUiam E. Eastman, Orin Andrews ; 1846-1848, Philander Brown ; 1849, Albert
Sheldon; 1850, Elias Post. [The question as to whether there should be any dis.
tinction in the distribution of alms among the poor being put to vote resulted in
thirty votes in favor and nineteen against. Did I know the names of the nineteen
I would gladly insert them. — Ed.] 1851, 1852, Joseph A. Brush; 1853, Albert
Sheldon; 1854, RusseU Squire; 1855, 1856, Thads. H. Laughlin; 1857, George
Smith; 1858, EUas Post; 1859, Joseph A. Brush; i860, John S. Roberts; 1861,
Cyrus Drake; 1862, Francis Davis; 1863, Dyer L. Merrill; 1864, 1865, Francis W.
Davis; 1866, C. B. Foster; 1867, F. W. Davis; 1868, J. A. Harran; 1869, G. H.
Brush; 1870, 1871, L. L. Greene; 1872-1874, John Sheldon; 1875-1894, F. W.
Davis; 1895, 1896, V. A. Chittenden; 1897, Frank Kellogg; 1898, Charles H.
Hodgkins; 1899-1901, A. E. Ober. Constables.
1812, Tim Molthroup ; 1813, Ephraim Smith; 1813, 1814, Abijah Chandler;
1815, Silas Massey ; 1817, John Henderson; 1818, 1819, Thads. Laughlin; 1820,
Hosea Brooks, Stephen Wead ; 1823, George P. Farrar ; 1824, Harry Palmer ; 1825,
¦Otis Farrar; 1826,1827, Calvin Converse; 1828, Anson Griswold; 1829, Homer
Wright; 1847, 1848, R. H. Laughlin ; 1849, Hiram SneU ; 1850, Milo Adams, E. M.
Roberts, R. H. iaughlin, Joel WithereU; 1851, George Rockwood, WiUiam A.
Sheals, Guy Griggs ; 1852, Ezra R. Sheldon, R. H. Laughlin, Thomas L. Howe ; 1853,
James Fleming; 1854, James Fleming, George Brown, Porter Eggleston ; 1855, Milo
Adams, Willard Knapp, C. Kimpton; 1856, Benjamin Page, George W. Eggleston,
H. D. Post ; 1857, James Fleming, T. E. Post, Thurman Roberts ; 1858, J. H. Mac
omber, Loren Smith, Edwin WithereU; 1859, J. H. Macomber, WUliam A. Sheals,
H. E. WithereU ; i860, R. O. Sanford, D. Landon, H. E. WithereU; 1861, J. H.
Macomber, E. H. WithereU, Rollin O. Sanford; 1862, Warren Ives, William D.
Eastman, James Flaninger ; 1863, Edwin WithereU, William D. Eastman, James
Flaninger ; 1864, J. H. Macomber, C. W. Newton, Jefferson Rowell, J. C. Conlin,
Jerry Meekham ; 1865, J. N. Fleming, Judson Freeman, John Conlin, N. N. Roberts,
J. H. Macomber ; 1866, James Hodgkins, WaUace Kimpton, Daniel Landon, N. N.
Roberts, D. F. Hamilton ; 1867, H. S. Rockwood, James Hodgkins, Darwin HamU-
ton, WaUace Kimpton, J. C. Conlin ; 1868, Wallace Kimpton, WiUiam A. Sheals, G.

41 o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
R. Witherell, Norman Smith, David Post, J.E.Cheney ; 1869, Darwin Hamilton,,
David Post, Jefferson Rowell, Wallace Kimpton, William A. Sheals ; 1870, Wallace
Kimpton, William A. Sheals, Charles Macomber, D. F. Hamilton, Orson J. Pelsue;
1871, D. F. Hamilton, Orson J. Pelsue, S. D. LinendoU, William Kimpton, William
A. Sheals ; 1872, Wallace Kimpton, C. E. Macomber, D. Hamilton, O. J. Pelsue,.
Daniel Landon; 1873, O. J. Pelsue, Wallace Kimpton, C. E. Macomber, Arthur
Flanders, D. F. Hamilton ; 1874, Arthur Flanders, D. F. Hamilton, W. W. Kimpton,
M. D. Quinn, C. E. Macomber ; 1875, Henry Shannon, Arthur Flanders, W. W.
Kimpton, D. F. Hamilton, George Norton, E. A. Dove ; 1876, Arthur Flanders,,
Charles Hodgkins, George Berdrow, I. R. Hopkins, Clark S. Cheney ; 1877, Hiram
Ballou, W. A. Sheals, Arthur Flanders, E. C. Moses, D. F. Hamilton ; 1878, Daniel
Landon, D. F. Hamilton, William A. Sheals, A. F. Hilliard, Hiram Ballou, Arthur
Flanders; 1879,0. H. Hodgkins, Hiram Ballou, Arthur Flanders, W. A. Sheals,
Hudson F. HiUiard; 1880, W. A. Sheals, Hudson F. HiUiard, D. F. Hamilton, C.
H. Hodgkins ; 1881, D. F. Hamilton, C. H. Hodgkins, H. F. Hilliard, W. W. Lock-
wood, William A. Sheals ; 1882, W. A. Sheals, D. F. Hamilton, Charles Hodkgins,
Albert Hawkins, J. R. Rhodes ; 1883, W. A. Sheals, D. F. Hamilton, I. R. Hopkins,
P. M. Kendrick, Laman Chandler ; 1884, P. M. Kendrick, John Lindsley, I. R. Hop
kins, D. F. Hamilton, Peter Votary, Jr. ; 1885, P. M. Kendrick, John Lindsley, Jr.,
George T. Smith, A. C. Smith, Wilbur Smith; 1886, Jonn Lindsley, five years, Wil
bur Smith, four years, William A. Fletcher, three years, Albert Hawkins, two years,
Martin Clifford, one year; 1887, Martin Clifford; 1888, M. L. Clifford, S. H. Mar-
den, J. R. Parker, J. R. Rhodes ; 1889, M. L. Clifford, S. H. Marden, Cyrus Parker,
J. R. Rhodes ; 1890, M. L. Clifford, WiUiam Fletcher, I. R. Parker. A. M. Lonkey ;^
1891, C. H. Kellogg, Willard Fletcher, Josiah R. Parker, A. M. Lonkey ; 1892, M.
L. Clifford, P. R. Fitch, Josiah R. Parker, John Chaney; 1893, E. J. Macomber, J.
N. Harran, W. H. Storrs, L. E. Hoit; 1894, O. H. Holmes, J. R. Parker, W. A.
Fletcher, W. H. Pierce; 1895, O.H.Holmes, J. R. Parker, E. P. Gale, Dustin
Parker; 1896,0. H. Holmes, J. R. Parker, Daniel McLane, Frank C. Locke; 1897,.
A. Jenne, J. R. Parker, Howard Pratt, Frank C. Locke ; 1898, A. Jenne, J. R.
Parker, Charles Getman, Alexander Clark ; 1899, E. D. Beede, J. R. Parker, Fred
Seymore, W. Cudworth ; 1901, O. H. Holmes, J. R. Parker, Fred Seymore, George
T. Smith, Jr. Inspectors of Elections.
1843, Jonah Sanford, George Eggleston, I. R. Hopkins ; 1844, Jonah Sanford,.
George Eggleston ; 1845, Artemus Kent, H. N. Bickford, Roswell Hopkins; 1846,
Artemus Kent, I. P. Lovel, Philip Mosher; 1847, Aaron Warner, Russell Squire,
PhiUp Mosher; 1848, Nathaniel Goodnow, RusseU Squire; William S. Phelps;
1849, Aaron Warner, Russell Squire, Joel GoodeU, Jr.; 1850, Aaron Warner, Joel
GoodeU, Jr., RusseU Squire ; 1851, Caleb Wright, Joel GoodeU, Jr., Hiram B. Shel
don ; 1852, Dyer L. Merrill, Joel GoodeU, Jr., Nathaniel Goodnow ; 1853, David F.
Henderson, Joel Goodell, Jr., RusseU Squire; 1855, David F. Henderson, John
Harran, J. S. Cady; 1856, Jesse Phelps, Israel Putnam, Joseph A. Brush; 1857,
Jonah Sanford, Jr., D. F. Henderson, William A. Sheals; 1858, RusseU Squire,
William S. Phelps ; 1859, George Smith, Charles Weller; i860, G. R. Clark, RusseU
Squire; i86i, George H. Brush, George Smith, R. H. Freeman; 1862, H. H. Shel
don, R. B. Squire, George Smith ; 1863, R. O. Sanford, Francis Davis, Amos Wells;
1864, Charles Foster, RusseU Squire, WiUiam A. Sheals; 1865, Jonah Sanford, Jr.,.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 411
W. A. Sheals, William Downey ; 1866, WiUiam Downey, W. A. Sheals, R. H. Free
man ; 1867, William Downey, John A. Harran, F. E. Post; 1868, A. F. Parker,
Charles Sweat, Israel A. Putnam ; 1869, J. H. Macomber, Sanford Kellogg, William
Downey; 1870, F. B. Winnie, William Downey, R. H. Freeman; 1871, Alanson
Parker, Charles Hodgkins, John Harran; 1872, Jefferson Rowell, Charles Hodgkins,
Roswell Andrews ; 1873, Henry Sweat, Charles Hodgkins, Royal Lawrence; 1874,
R. O. Clark, Charles Hodgkins, Royal Lawrence; 1875, Samuel E. Eastman, Charles
Hodgkins, Royal Lawrence ; 1S76, Philo A. Davis, E. C. Moses, Thomas Conlin;
1877, S. W. Kellogg, C. A. Chittenden, Philo A. Davis ; 1878, Charles H. Hodgkins,
Henry Wells, PhUo A. Davis ; 1879, SUas H. Sanford, I. R. Hopkins, Howard P.
Eastman ; 1880, Silas H. Sanford, D. F. Henderson, John A. Harran ; 1881, Silas H.
Sanford, D. F. Henderson, I. R. Hopkins; 1882, Silas H. Sanford, Judson L. Smith,
F. W. Hopkins; 1883, SUas H. Sanford, Judson L. Smith, J. H. Macomber; 1884,
Howard P. Eastman, Charles Hodgkins, I. R. Hopkins ; 1885, Silas Sanford, Charles
Hodgkins; 1886, H. S. Haselton, L R. Hopkins, J. W. Pratt; 1887, J. F. Lindsley,
J. W. Pratt, I. R. Hopkins; 1888, A. A. Atwood, C. H. Hodgkins, I. R. Hopkins;
Dist. 2, H. C. Maynard, E. P. Gale, Addison Childs ; 1889, same for both districts ;
1890, A. A. Atwood, R. W. Smith, John Leach ; District No. 2, E. P. Gale, H. C.
Maynard, Addison Child; 1891, A. A. Atwood, Charles Hodgkins, I. R. Hopkins ;
1891, No. 2, A. A. Atwood, R. W. Smith, John Leach ; 1892, A. E. Ober, Charles
Hodgkins, J. Mark Harran ; No. 2, E. P. Gale, A. M. Lonkey, W. Pond.
1893, Charles Hodgkins, A. A. Atwood, Philo Dain ; No. 2, Alvin Gale, W.
F. Spear, W. A. Pond.
1894, A. E. Ober, L. D. Atwood, P. A. Davis ; No. 2, E. P. Gale, Alvin Gale,
W. A. Pond ; No. 3, SUas H. Sanford, W. A. Fletcher, J. M. Harran.
1895, No. 1, H. S. Haselton, A. E. Ober, G. A. Downey, J. T. Flood ; No. 2,
W. A. Pond, E. P. Gale, H. C. Maynard, Thomas RodweU ; No. 3, W. A. Fletcher,
E. E. Smith, John Corwin, J. M. Harran.
1896, No. I, C. H. Brush, A. E. Ober, G. A. Downey, N. N. Adsit; No. 2,
E. P. Gale, H. C. Maynard, N. A. Pond; No. 3, W. A. Fletcher, E. E. Smith, John
A. Harran, I. R. Hopkins.
1897, No. I, Charles H. Brush, Alex. Clark, G. A. Downey, E. J. Macomber;
No. 2, D. C. Randall, E. P. Gale, W. A. Pond, Ira Dox ; No. 3, W. A. Fletcher, E.
E. Smith, Thos. Conlin, J. A. Harran.
1898, No. I, A. E. Ober, Josiah Smith, E. J. Macomber, A. Converse; No. 2,
D. C. RandaU, E. P. Gale, W. A. Pond, W. D. Pond ; No. 3, S. L. Warner. Earl
Beede, Michael O'Leary, John Converse.
1899, No. I, J. H. Smith, John Murphy; No. 2, E. P. Gale, Samuel Wells;
No. 3, E. D. Beede, S. L. Warner.
1901, No. I, C. H. Brush, A. J. Clute, E. J. Macomber, Clark TharaU; No. 3,
E. E. Smith, S. L. Warner, John Corwin, Michael O'Leary.
Ovetseets of Highways,
1806, Henry McLaughlin, E. District ; Eli Squire, W. District.
1807, Samuel Eastman, Benjamin W. Hopkins, Abraham Sheldon Abijah
Chandler. 1808, Elisha Allen, Jared Dewey, Eli Squire, Oliver Sheldon, Gaius Sheldon.
1809, Abijah Chandler, Horace Train, Jasper Armstrong, Gaius Sheldon,
Samuel Eastman.

412 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
1810, James Pearse, E. District ; Horace Train, S. E. District ; Jasper Arm
strong, Centre District ; Aaron Warner, W. District; Joseph Merrill, N. W. District.
1811,'Aaron Warner, Samuel Eastman, Charles Gibson, S. W. District; Joseph
Merrill, Silas Massey, N. E. District ; Eliphalet Brush, Centre District ; Jonathan
Pearse, E. District ; John Perry, S. E. District.
1812, Silas Massey, Horace Train, Eliphalet Brush, Gaius Sheldon, Joseph
Durfey, W. Disrrict; Charles Gibson.
1813, Abijah Chandler, Jr., E. District; Horace Train, B. W. Hopkins,
Eliakim Seeley, N. W. District ; Samuel Eastman, Nathaniel Baldwin, S. W.
District ; William Miller, E. District in Cookham ; Luke Brown, W. District in
Cookham ; George A. Flower, N. District in Cookham.
1814, Abijah Chandler, Amasa Blanchard, S. E. District; Caleb Wright,
Aaron Warner, Centre District ; Gaius Sheldon, Nathaniel Baldwin, S. W. District.
1 81 5, Seth Putnam, S. W. District; Joseph Durfey, Gaius Sheldon, Aaron
Warner, James Pearse, John Perry, S. E. District ; Asahel Griffin, N. E. District.
1816, Simeon Bushnell, E. District; WiUiam Brush, S. E. District; Samuel
Eastman, Heman Sheldon, S. W. District ; Aaron Warner, Eliakim Seeley.
1817, Silas Massey, Samuel Goodell, Thads. Laughlin, Gaius Sheldon, Thomas
Remington, W. District ; Jonah Sanford, S. W. District.
1818, Abijah Chandler, Anson Potter, S. E. District; Thads. Laughlin,
Jasper Armstrong, Thomas Remington, Nathaniel Baldwin, S. W. District.
1819, Lemuel Chandler, N. E. District; Horace Train, S. E. District; Phineas
Durfey, Henry C. Greene, S. W. District; Aaron Warner, Jasper Armstrong.
1820, Abijah Chandler, N. E. District; Joseph Brush, S. E. District; Aaron
Warner, Samuel Eastman, Jasper Armstrong, Seth Putnam, S. W. District.
Every year is not given in full. When a new name appears in a district it is
given to help locate people.
1821, Asa Moon, S. W. District.
1825, Zoraster Culver.
1826, Phineas Durfey, i ; Seth Putnam, 2 ; Asahel Kent, 3 ; Philip Mosher, 4 ;
T. H. Lyon, 5 ; Joseph Brush, 6; John Henderson, 7; Myron G. Peck, 8; B. C.
Dimick, 9 ; Samuel M. Simonds, 10; S. C. Remington, 11 ; Hubel Dewey, 12.
1828, Samuel Eastman, i ; Lee Eastman, 2 ; Elisha Risdon, 3 ; Artemus Kent,
4 ; Eliakim Seeley, 5 ; James Thomas, 6 ; Joel Gould, 7 ; Jude Clark, 8 ; Danforth
EUithorpe, 9; Isaac Trussell, i o ; Gaius Sheldon, 11 ; WilUam Oliver, 12; Alvan
Plummer, 13; Jesse Derby, 14; Chauncey Chittenden, 15; WilUam Gould, 16.
1830, Phineas Durfey, 1 ; Nathaniel Baldwin, 2 ; Barney Moon, 3 ; Russell
Squire, 4 ; William Phelps, 5 ; James Thomas, 6 ; John Henderson, 7 ; Hiram
Saunders, 8 ; Hiram Mead, 9; Gaius Sheldon, 11 ; Isaac D. Stark, 12 ; N. Vaughn, 16.
The town was redistricted into road districts in 1834 as follows; No. i,
Phineas Durfey neighborhood. No. 2, Jonah Sanford locality. No. 3, Turnpike
from viUage to pinnacle, near Isaac SneU's, and roads south. No. 4, from village
west near Caleb Wright. No. 5, viUage to Laughlin's east line and north from Phi
lander Brown's, Chittenden's store corner to Stockholm. No. 6, from Laughlin's
east line to centre of bridge over St. Regis River at East Village. No. 7, road from
Joel Goodell's southeast to town line. ^No. 8, from bridge over Jakeway Brook to
Joel Gould's and south to Joseph Howard's. No. 9, from Joel Goodell's southeast
corner north to end of Mead road. No. 10, roads north from cemetery and by Isaac

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 413
Austin. No. 11, from pinnacle near Isaac Snell's to ParishviUe and by-roads. No.
12, all the roads in that part of the town called Gossville.
A Mr. Goss was an early settler and had quite a large tract southeast from
ParishviUe in Hopkinton up near Squire's mills, which section took the name
of Gossville, as I learn from an old map.
1835, Samuel Eastman, i; Nathaniel Baldwin, 2; Jesse Moon, 3; Philip
Mosher, 4 ; Asa Durrell, 5 ; Eliphalet Brush, 6 ; Warren Blanchard, 7 ; Tyler Gove, 8 ;
Richard Rose, 9 ; Harry Wead, 10 ; William P. Richardson, 11 ; W. M. Gould, 12.
1837, Samuel Abbott, i ; Darius E. Kent, 2 ; John Leach, 3; Roswell Hopkins,
4 ; Alonzo Seeley, 5 ; Hiram B. Sheldon, 6 ; Isaiah Blanchard, 7 ; William Dewey, 8
(now living at Western, Minn. ) ; Jonathan Cole, 9 ; Isaac Austin, 10 ; Jasper Brow
nell, II ; Benjamin Bruce, 12.
1838, William E. Eastman, i ; Ezra Sheldon, 2 ; Alfred S. Harran, 3; Warren
F. Warner, 4 ; Joseph P. Seeley, 5 ; Eliphalet Brush, 6 ; Hiram Blanchard, 7 ; Joseph
Howard, 8 ; Hiram Mead, 9 ; Joel WithereU, 10 ; Ruel Hayden, 11 ; Walter E. W.
Collins, 12.
1840, Joseph B. Durfey, i (living at Parishville, N. Y.) ; Lee Eastman, 2 ; S. R.
Witherell, 3 ; Reuben Wells, 4 ; William S. Phelps, 5 ; John Henderson, 6 ; P. N.
Weller, 7 ; Curtis Howard, 8 ; William Moses, 9 ; Champin Reeve, 10 ; William H.
Hamilton, 11 ; Edmund Hayden, 12 ; Asa Sheldon, 13.
1841, W. E.Eastman, i; Nathaniel Baldwin, 2; Josiah Smith, 3; Aaron
Warner, 4 ; T. H. Laughlin, 5 ; Hiram Mead, 6 ; A. Woodruff, 7 ; John Lindsay,
8; Henry B. Sanford, 9; Isaac Austin, 10 ; Jasper BrowneU, 11; Alanson Blair,
12 ; Elijah Ober, 13^; J. P. Roberts, 14.
1842, W. E. Eastman, i ; J. T. Gould, 2 ; Josiah Smith, 3; I. R. Hopkins, 4 ;
F. P. Sprague, 5 ; Hiram Mead, 6 ; I. W. Blanchard, 7 ; O. Howard, 8 ; Joel
Sweetland, 9; I. R. Foster, 10; Clark Adams, ii ; W. M. Gould, 12 ; Asa Sheldon,
13; Ezekiel Jenne, 14.
1843, W. E. Eastman, i ; Orin Andrews, 2 ; Josiah Smith, 3; Aaron Warner,
4; Cyrus Dwinell, 5 ; George Eggleston, 6; Charles Weller, 7; Orlando Howard,
8 ; B. C. Eggleston, 9; William A. Nay, 10; Jasper Brownell, 11 ; Alanson Blair,
12; Gaius Sheldon, 13; Stephen Miller, 14; D. L. Merrill, 15; Lynus Lyman, 16;
John Miller, 17 ; Joel Claflin, i8.
D. L. Merrill first settled on crossroad south from Jonah Sanford, two-thirds
the way to the Turnpike. No trace of habitation now remains and the land about
is a sand waste.
1844, W. E. Eastman, i ; S. R. Putnam, 2 ; Asahel Kent, 3 ; Aaron Warner,
4 ; C. DwineU, 5 ; Joel Goodell, 9 ; George Allen, 7 ; O. Howard, 8 ; Joel Gould, 9 ;
W. A. Nay, 10 ; H. C. Capell, 11; James Lytel, 12; Asa Sheldon, 13; Aaron
Jenne, 14; S. S. Sanford, 15; C. Chittenden, 16; James Blanchard, 17; Thomas
Stone, 18; A. D. Ainsworth, 19; — r-Hendrick, 20.
1845, W. E. Eastman, i ; D. L. MerriU, 2 ; A. L. Harran, 3 ; Aaron Warner,
4 ; A. H. Chittenden, 5 ; Joel Goodell, 6 ; Jacob Palmer, 7 ; H. Hayden, 8 ; P. J.
Cheney, 9; Thomas Swett, 10; William Oliver, 11; Adison Jaquis, 12; Guy
Griggs, 13 ; H. Corwin, 14 ; S. S. Sanford, 15 ; Noah Post, i6 ; Alonzo Weller, 17 ;
Thomas Stone, 18 ; R. T. Wheelock, 19 ; A. W. Gilbert, 20.
1846, Alanson Fisher, i ; E. R. Sheldon, 2; S. R. Witherell, 3; Philip
Mosher, 4; A. H. Chittenden, 5; Albert Sheldon, 6; Hiram Taylor, 7; Hiram
Lindsay, 8; Elisaph Smith, 9 ; WiUiam A. Nay, 10 ; Hiram Newton, 1 1 ; Jesse

414 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Phelps, 12 ; Elijah Ober, 13 ; Loren Grow, 14; WiUiam Smith, 15 ; L. Lyman, 16;
John S. Roberts, 17; Thomas Stone, 18; A. D. Ainsworth, 19; L. C. Knapp, 20.
1847, J- B. Durfey, i ; Henry B. Sanford, 2 ; Josiah Smith, 3 ; Aaron Warner,
4 ; Cyrus Drake, 5 ; George Eggleston, 6 ; S. Tilden, 7 ; Hiram Goodnow, 8 ; Harry
Brown, 9 ; Isaac Austin, 10; Clark jAdams, 11 ; Alanson Blair, 12; Guy Gregg, 13;
Asahel Jenne, 114; Jehiel Austin, 15; C. Chittenden, 16 ; Elkana Shermond, 17 ;
Martin Blair, 18; L. C. Sylvester, 19 ; Noble McCarter, 20 ; Asa Squire, 21 ; N. C.
Crouch, 22.
1848, Joseph B. Durfey, 1 ; Jonah Sanford, Jr., 2 ; Melville Greene, 3 ; Aaron
Warner, 4 ; WiUiam S. Phelps, 5 ; George Eggleston, 6 ; Charles Weller, 7 ; A. S.
Smith, 8; Harvey Brown, 9; Thomas Swett, 10; Lyman Oliver, 11 ; Marion
Castle, 12 ; Gaius Sheldon, 13 ; Gilbert Cutler, 14 ; Jerry Richardson, 15 ; C. Chit
tenden, 16 ; WiUiam Hoyt, 17 ; I. C. Cady, 18 ; Orlin A. Peck, 19 ; J. Hancock, 20 ;
Asa Squire, 21 ; Nelson C. Crouch, 22.
1849, George S. Wright, 1 ; George Rockwood, 2 ; Alfred Harran, 3; Roswell
Hopkins, 4 ; Ephraim Roberts, 5 ; Jason Brush, 6 ; George W. Eggleston, 7 ; Hiram
Lindsay, 8 ; Hiram Taylor, 9 ; John Sweat, 10; Lyman Oliver, 11 ; Patrick Parker,
12; Guy Griggs, 13; Loren Grow, 14; J. Richardson, 15; Hugh Kennedy, 16;
Chandler Hoit, 17 ; Thomas Stone, 18 ; Nelson Witherell, 19 ; Joseph Wilcox, 20 ;
S. Claughlin, 21 ; Roswell H. Laughlin, 22.
1850, George S. Wright, i ; Lee Eastman, 2 ; John Harran, 3 ; Fred Hopkins,
4; E. M. Roberts, 5 ; W. S. Wing, 6; G. W. Eggleston, 7; Hiram Lindsay, 8;
Harvey Brown, 9 ; John Sweat, 10; Hiram Newton, 11 ; L. Richardson, 12; Parker
Converse, 13 ; Loren Grow, 14 ; David Leach, 15 ; C. Chittenden, 16 ; S. R. Ward,
17; Martin Blair, 18; N. Witherell, 19; Ed. Sanborn, 20; Asa Squire, 21; F. P.
Sprague, 22.
1851, Reuben P. Abbott, i; Dyer L. MerrUl, 2; Alfred S. Harran, 3; Ira
Squire, 4; WiUiam S. Phelps, 5 ; William S. King, 6; Alvin Woodruff, 7; Hiram
Lindsay, 8; Joel Gould, 9 ; Charles Austin, 10; William H. Hamilton, ii; L. G.
Richardson, 12 ; Elijah Ober, 13 ; Asahel Jenne, 14, Jonah Sanford, Jr., 15 ; Frank
KeUogg, 16; George R. Ward, 17; Thomas Stone Jr., 18; Silas Wood, 19; William
Robinson, 20; John Chase, Jr., 21 ; E. M. Post, 22.
Jonah Sanford, Jr., was then living on the Turnpike where Thomas Conlin
does now. 1852, Reuben P. Abbott, i; Jonah Sanford, 2; Josiah Smith, 3; Norris S.
Mosher, 4; George W. Brown, 5; John Goodell, 6; Calvin Griffin, 7; Hezekiah
Wilson, 8 ; EUsaph Smith, 9 ; Joel Witherell, lo, Henry C.'Capell, 11 ; William H.
Dewey, 12, Parker Converse, 13; James Smith, 14; William Richardson, 15; C.
Chittenden, 16; Joshua Brooks, 17; Jacob S. Cady, 18; William A. Sheals, 19; Z.
White, 20"; John Chase, 21 ; Nelson C. Crouch, 22.
1853, William Newton, i; Lucien H. Kent, 2; E. H. Risdon, 3; Larned
Warner, 4 ; George Brown, 5 ; Joseph A. Brush, 6 ; W. Blanchard, 7 ; John Lindsay,
8; A. Grandy, 9 ; T. Swett, 10; Lyman Oliver, 11 ; Hubel Dewey, 12; Francis
Davis, 13; F. Goulding, 14; John Conner, 15; F. Kellogg, 16; E .Austin, 17;
Thomas Stone, 18; W. A. Sheals, 19; J. Hancock, 20; David Currier, 21 ; Fred
Kent, 22 ; A. Harriman, 23 ; Orville Parker, 24.
1854, WiUiam Newton, i; Darius E. Kent, 2; George Smith, 3; Philip
Mosher, 4 ; E.N. Roberts, 5 ; John Sheldon, 6 ; Henry Henderson, 7 ; Horace
Hayden, 8 ; Lewis White, 9 ; J. Kimpton, 10; William Oliver, 11 ; Charles Faulk-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 415
ner, 12 ; Parker Converse, 13 ; Ansel Pulsifer, 14 ; Diah Hazen, 15 ; Caleb Wright,
i6; Edwin Cluff, 17; J. S. Cady, i8; W. A. Sheals, 19; Isaac Bigelow, 20; David
Currier, 21 ; Nathan Goodnow, 22 ; Eber Pinney, 23 ; Jerry Ford, 24.
1855, Samuel O. Kennedy, i ; Israel Putnam, 2 ; Fred Hopkins, 3 ; Reuben
Wells, 4 ; William S. Phelps, 5 ; Joseph A. Brush, 6; W. Blanchard, 7 ; George
Lindsay, 8 ; Paul J. Cheney, Jr., 9 ; Josiah Kimpton, 10; D. Hamilton, 11 ; Charles
Blair, 12; Edward Remington, 1 3 ; Dimick Osgood, 14; J. Richardson, 15 ; Frank
Kellogg, 16; N. Clough, 17; Thomas Stone, 18; L. Chapman, 19 ; James Duffy,
20 ; Erastus Farr, 21 ; Elias Post, 22 ; Eber Pinney, 23 ; Orville Parker, 24.
1856, George S. Wright, i; Dyer L. Merrill, 2 ; George Smith, 3; RosweU
Hopkins, 4; C. Vincent, 5 ; D. F. Henderson, 6; A. Woodruff, 7 ; George Lindsay,
8; William Dewey, 9; Robert Wells, 10; Dar. Hamilton, 11; A. Blair, 12; Asa
Sheldon, 13 ; Dimick Osgood, 14; J. Richardson, 15; P. Clukey, i6; N. Witherell,
17; J. Meekham, 18; Calvin Cutler, 19; Martin D.Blair, 20; Myron Ford, 21 ;
Fred H. Kent, 22 ; WiUiam Robertson, 23 ; Reuben Davis, 24.
1857, Frank WiUiams, 1 ; Israel Putnam, 2 ; Frank Snell, 3 ; Philip Mosher
4 ; William S. Phelps, 5 ; D. F. Henderson, 6 ; C. B. Weller, 7 ; H. Goodnow, 8 ;
G. R. Clark, 9; J. Kimpton, 10; Dar. Hamilton, 11; Alonzo Parker, 12; Daniel
Bates, 13, James Smith, 14; Thomas Conlin, 15 ; Peter Clukey, 16; John Chase,
17 ; William A. Sheals, 19; M. D. Blair, 20; Asher Castle, 21 ; John S. Roberts,
22 ; E. Haselgrave, 23 ; D. Squire, 24, Anson Potter, 25.
1858, George S. Wright, i; Charles Wing, 2; Loren Smith, 3 ; L. C. Cool
idge, 4 ; Peter Clukey, 5 ; Albert Sheldon, 6 ; H. Henderson, 7 ; H. Goodnow, 8 ;
Harry Brown, 9; Joel Witherell, 10; Henry C. Capell, 11 ; Hubbel Dewey, 12; Asa
Sheldon, 13; Dimick Osgood, 14; John Cutler, 15; Caleb Wright, 16; Thomas
Stone, 18 ; Atoine S.  , 19 ; RusseU Smith, 20 ; Asher Castle, 21 ; T. H. Laugh
lin, 22; E. Haselgrave, 23; Otis Cudsworth, 24th; Anson Potter, 25; A. Pul
sifer, 26 ; Samuel Chaney, 27.
1859, George S. Wright, i ; Charles Wing, 2 ; David Leach, 3 ; Phelps WeUs,
4 ; Cyrus Drake, 5 ; John Goodell, 6 ; M. Giffin, 7 ; Anson Cole, 8 ; W. Huntley, 9 ;
Robert Wells, 10; D. BrowneU, ir ; A. Jaquis, 12 ; Park Convers, 13 ; Stephen Miller,
14; I. P. L. Hazen, 15; J. Hodgkins, 16; Warren Fish, 18; R. Wheelock, 19; E.
L. Morgan, 20 ; Myron S. Ford, 21 ; C. Macomber, 22 ; Zeb White, 23 ; O. Cudworth,
24 ; Noble McArthur, 25 ; Asahel Jenne, 26.
i860, WiUiam Newton, i ; William Robinson, 2 ; William S. Howe, 3 ; Ros
well Hopkins, 4 ; Stephen Smith, 5; George H. Brush, 6; Arden Weller, 7; N.
Goodnow, 8 ; Rollin Clark, 9 ; Robert Wells, 10 ; William Oliver, 1 1 ; Alanson Blair,
12 ; Philo Davis, 13 ; Stephen MiUer, 14 ; Thomas Conlin, 15 ; Caleb Wright, 16; S.
D. Cady, 18; D. Cutler, 19; S. Drake, 20; Jeremy Ford, 21 ; T. E. Post, 22; WU
liam Robinson, 23 ; O. Cudworth, 24 ; Orlin Potter, 25 ; Arthur Noble, 26 ; Samuel
Chaney, 27.

CHAPTER XVI.
Abstract of the Minates of the Town Meetings from J807 to I90J
— The Proceedings for the Year 1806 (first Town Meeting) are
given entire in the Chapter on the Organization of the Town.
Minutes, 1807.
Voted, first, that a bounty of ten dollars be raised for each wolf kUled in
town. Second, that a lawful fence shall be made five feet high of logs, rails, stone or
other material, and three feet from the bottom the open space between the rails or
poles not to exceed six inches. Minutes, 1808.
Voted, first, that Messrs. McLaughlin, Blanchard and Abbott be a committee
to regulate the manner in which the inoculation of smallpox shall be administered
in town. Second, the sum of sixty doUars for two sets of statute laws and other books
for use of town.
Third, that the schoolhouse in the centre district be the place for holding town
meetings. Fourth, that all marks for cattle, sheep, etc., be recorded with town clerk.
Fifth, that $5 be paid for each wolf's pate, and the sum of f 100 be raised
for such purpose.
Sixth, that the sum of $250 be raised for the support of the poor.
(They voted very generous appropriations for many years, but they were not
all levied or collected and a good part of what were actually assessed was paid by
way of offset, labor, bounty, etc.)
Minutes, March, 1809.
Voted, first, to raise $15 to pay for three wolves killed last year.
Second, to only assess three days' work on road to each assessable inhabitant,
provided they will agree to work the rest on road through town No. 7 to Malone
and through Stockholm to Potsdam Falls.
Third, that Sydney Dunton, Stephen Langworthy and Amasa Blanchard be a
committee to audit accounts of officials since town was organized.
Minutes, March, 1810.
The following propositions were voted: Support of poor, $100 ; each wolf
killed, jSio; for standard brass yard and weights and measures, $115.
Special Meeting, June 20, 1810.
Voted, that the commissioners be requested to lay out Turnpike where road
now runs from Benj. W. Hopkins's house to the bridge over St. Regis River near
Esq. Blanchard's ; also from St. Regis bridge to where new road crosses Deer
416

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 417
River. Judge Atwater, a director in the Turnpike Company, then in town, stated
that he had not the power to direct the laying out of the road as requested, but if
the town would contribute JS500 and do something handsome in the way of work,
he would use his influence to have it done. On motion of Roswell Hopkins the
sum of $500 was voted to be given to said company.
(It is morally certain that Benjamin W. Hopkins then lived in the present
John A. Harran residence on the west bank of Lyd Brook and south side of road in
Hopkinton viUage. Amasa Blanchard then lived at or near where the iiouse of A.
A. Hawkins now stands. This shows conclusively that there was then a bridge at
or near the present bridge in NicholviUe.)
Special Meeting, January 15, 1811.
Voted, that the Legislature be petitioned to increase the tax from $75 to
$150 on each town through which the Northwest Bay road runs for its benefit ;
that Hopkinton be added to such towns ; that the Legislature authorize a lottery to
raise $10,000, for repairs to said road ; that Hopkinton be exempt from jury duty for
four years.
Minutes, March, 1811.
Voted, $150 for a pound in western, centre and eastern district ; $100 for
the poor ; $1 5 for Dr. Stephen Langworthy attending Asahel Rasey while sick at
Amasa Blanchard's ; $4 for Samuel Brooks for killing wolf ; that the line between
Hopkinton and Massena be surveyed, and that B. W. Hopkins, Thaddeus Laughlin
and James Trussell direct it.
Special Meeting, May 2, 1811.
Voted, on motion of Dr. Stephen Langworiliy, to raise $200 to clear off and
fence burying ground now in use near Roswell Hopkins's dweUing, and that Roswell
Hopkins, Eli Roburds and Reuben Post take charge of it; that $100 be raised to
encourage the destruction of wolves.
(This refers to the cemetery grounds in behind the Dr. Gideon Sprague lot. It
would seem from this that Roswell Hopkins must then have lived on that corner or
just north of the town house. The road to Jared Dewey, also to Horace Train, sur
veyed out in June, 181 1.) , Minutes, March, 1812.
Voted, to divide Cookham into three road districts : viz., the Western, to in
clude all west of Daniel Hoar's barn where the Market road intersects the Turnpike,
with Ira Collins, overseer ; the Northern, to include all on the Market road and west
of St. Regis River, with Jonathan Darby, overseer ; the Eastern, to include all west
of Hopkinton to where it intersects the Market road, with John Brownell, overseer ;
J200 for poor; $100 for wolves, with $5 for each wolf killed ; that all ox sleds
be four feet wide, and that a fine of $2 be imposed on all using a sled narrower on
the public highway ; that a lawful fence shall be four feet high, well erected of tim
ber, rails or stone. Minutes, March, 1813.
Voted, to pay JS5 for each wolf killed ; that Oliver Sheldon's barnyard be
a lawful pound ; that double the amount received from school fund be raised for
schools. Minutes, March, 1814.
Voted, $100 for poor, $100 for wolves, to raise double the school moneys.

41 8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
The town of ParishviUe was now organized March i8, 1814, and so took no
part in this town meeting.
A road was laid out in November, 1814, beginning a few rods east of Abijah
Chandler's house running north forty-five degrees east two hundred rods to inter
sect the Martin road twenty-two rods south of Silas Massey's house.
Minutes, March, 181 5.
Voted, for poor, jSioo; for wolf bounty, $100, $10 for each wolf and $$ for
whelp ; that town clerk's salary be jSio, to raise three times public school moneys,
to build only one pound this year, to pay R. Post and J. MerriU $5 for auditing
supervisor's accounts ; that all rams found in highway between August 20 and
November 1 shall be forfeited. Minutes, March, i8i6.
Voted, that Roswell Hopkins, Abijah Chandler and Elisha Risdon ascertain
the line between Hopkinton and Massena. Other matters voted about the same as
last year. In May, 1816, a. private road was surveyed beginning 3^ feet south of the
northeast corner of Ebenezer Frost's lands, near the meeting-house, running due
west 27 rods to the west bank of Lyd Brook.
Minutes, March, 1817.
Voted, to pay Eastman and Chubb $20 killing two wolves, to pay $2 for each
fox killed, to raise three times the school moneys, to pay Mr. Meacham ^50 for
killing two panthers ; that all rams in highway between September i and November
20 shall be forfeited. Minutes, March, i8i8.
Voted, to raise for schools three times the school fund moneys, to pay jSio
for every catamount killed. Minutes, March, 1819.
Voted, $20 for each catamount, $10 for each wolf, $t for each fox, $2 per
week out of town interest moneys for support of Miss Harris till next harvest.
Minutes, March, 1820. .
Voted, for each wolf Jio, catamount $15, one cent for every mouse killed, six
cents for every squirrel ; that all thistles in road districts be cut, and that all rams
at large between September i and November 10 be forfeited.
Minutes, 1820.
Voted, to assess three times school money allowed the town ; for wolf, $$ ; for
catamount, $15 ; for bear, $2 ; for fox, $2 ; that salary of town clerk be S15.
Surveyed the road on west side of present cemetery grounds (" near old grist
miU ") in June, 1821.
Also surveyed road beginning four rods from Samuel Wilson's house (foot of
hill) and running down on bank of St. Regis River one hundred and twenty-five rods
to John Thomas's still. Minutes, 1821.
Voted, to pay $5 for wolf ; $15 for each catamount and $7.50 for each young
catamount ; for every bear, $2 ; for every fox, $2, and young fox, $1 ; to pay town
clerk, Jis salary ; and that all rams at large between September i and November 10
be forfeited.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 419
Minutes, 1822.
Voted, for building a pound, $40, on east side of brook south of Turnpike ; for
standard weights, measures and brass yard, $2 5; that Mr. Risdon be town sealer;
that horses and hogs shall not be free commoners from April i to December i ; that
all rams at large between September i and December t be castrated ; that Elisha
Risdon and Daniel C. Bastin ascertain the line between this town and Massena.
Surveyed road between Joel and Samuel Goodell's farms north one hundred
and sixty rods, west near six rods and thence north thirty rods.
Minutes, 1823.
Voted, to raise double the moneys appropriated for schools ; that sheep, horses
and hogs be free commoners ; that the new pound be accepted.
Minutes, 1824.
Voted, to raise as much money for schools as the law will allow ; that horses,
bulls, hogs nor sheep shall be considered free commoners ; that all boars found at
large be castrated; that $10 be paid for each wolf killed and {5 for each whelp.
Surveyed road between Lee Eastman's (then Asa Squire's farm) and Heman
Sheldon's farms south to Turnpike. Minutes, 1825.
To raise all the school moneys the law will allow; that hogs, sheep and horses
shall not run at large ; that rams at large between September i and December be
castrated ; to raise $30 additional for weights and measures ; to pay $5 for each wolf
and half that for each young wolf. Minutes, 1826.
Voted, the letter H a proper device for officiating weights and measures ; that
Elisha Risdon be the sealer for the town.
Minutes, 1827.
Voted, to raise double school funds ; to castrate all bucks at large between
August 15 and November 15; that horses, hogs and sheep be free commoners; to
raise $10 for bookcase for town clerk.
Surveyed a road beginning at a point in the Potsdam road sixteen rods west
of the centre of Lyd Brook ; thence north six degrees east one hundred and sixty-
five rods to a point in Stockholm road eight rods twenty-one links west of the
centre of said brook. Minutes, 1828.
Voted, to raise double this town's proportion of school moneys ; that all rams
and boars at large between November 20 and December r be castrated.
Minutes, 1829.
Voted, to raise all the school money the law will allow ; that all horses, hogs
and sheep be free commoners.
Surveyed road between Joel and Samuel Goodell's farms north eighty rods to
south bounds of John WithereU's farm.
Minutes, 1830.
Voted, the surplus moneys to schools, to raise double the school moneys, hogs
not free from April 1 5 to November 1 5 ; that all rams at large between August 1 5
and December t be castrated ; Elisha Risdon, sealer.

420 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Minutes, 1831.
Voted, that Caleb and Homer Wright and Dr. Sprague settle accounts with
Mr. Risdon ; that a lawful fence be four and one-half feet high ; that double the town's
school moneys be raised.
Isaac R. Hopkins received 82 votes for justice, S. C. Remington 44, Homer
Wright 42, and Asa DurreU 42. Minutes, 1832.
Voted, that school inspectors and commissioners have jSi per day, collectors
have five per cent for collecting taxes. Eliphalet Brush received 63 votes for justice,
and Horace N. Branch 41.
Surveyed a road between the farms of Orin Andrews and Julius Peck on the
east and Jonah Sanford on the west, beginning near schoolhouse just east of Seth
Putnam's and extending south to Turnpike near Joseph Brownell's. [I never knew
or heard of a road at this point. — Ed.]
Minutes, 1833.
Voted, that the moneys in hands of supervisor and poormasters be appor
tioned to schools, to raise double the amount of the town's proportion for school
purposes. Minutes, 1834.
Voted, Elisha Risdon, sealer ; fence viewers have jSi per day, also school in
spectors ; that all surplus moneys be turned to common schools.
The commissioners of schools reported having received and expended $220.
There were then nine districts with 273 scholars ; district No. i had 31, No. 2, 65,
No. 3, 60.
The overseers of the poor turned over noted to them against R. Hopkins
J734, Eli Squire $141, Elisha Risdon $247, and others.
Minutes, 1835.
Voted, to raise $1.75 for James Thomas and I1.97 for Harry Wead, to deduct
$1 from Barney Moon's note for $5 for use of cow ; that commissioners of schools
discharge judgment against Samuel Wilson and take mortgage on his freehold ; that
Roswell Hopkins and Eli Squire's notes be filed in clerk's office; that $75 of poor
money go to schools.
Road moneys received JS508.75, expended $270.30.
School moneys received from all sources $293.40, expended $205.74. The
commissioners held notes, etc., for $1,403.91, of which only $521 was considered
good. Minutes, 1836.
Voted, that there be only one constable ; that J75 of poor funds go to schools ;
that $40 and all interest be indorsed on judgment against Samuel Wilson.
Minutes, 1837.
Voted, to pay Samuel Wilson $40 for work done on bridge at East Village
(Nicholville), which sum was exacted of him for damage done tp said bridge by his
dam, to raise double the school moneys allowed the town, to use $75 of old poor
fund for schools. Minutes, 1838.
Voted, to raise by tax double the school moneys, to use the percentage $23.75
on non-resident taxes on roads and bridges, to appropriate $100 of poor fund for
schools.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 421
Minutes, 1839.
Voted, to give percentage on non-resident taxes $24.50 to the schools for
libraries, to raise for schools same amount as town gets from common school fund,
to pay Seth Putnam and O. Andrews $15.39 to be by them divided among the heads
of families according to children between the ages of five and sixteen.
School moneys from county treasury $46.05, from town $92.10, and from poor
fund debtors I220.34, making in all $358.49, of which was expended $238.15.
Moneys received for roads and bridges $710.26, expended $431.88.
Minutes, 1840.
Voted, to give percentage on non-resident tax $25.40 to schools, to raise by tax
for schools double the amount the town gets from the common school fund.
Minutes, 1841.
Voted, to petition the Legislature to authorize the Board of Supervisors to levy
a tax on this town for $250 to repair the town house ; that the percentage on non
resident taxes $29.15 be given to schools. Minutes, 1842.
Voted, that Jonah Sanford, C. S. Chittenden and R. H. Laughlin have control
of town house and to say for what it may be used ; to raise $30 to repair fence
about burying ground. Minutes, 1843.
Voted, that Elisha Risdon's note that is in the hands of the commissioners of
highways, $19.68, be given up to him ; to finish burying ground fence and get a lock
for the gate ; that the interest on Ezra Sheldon's note be allowed to him ; that Noah
Post be sealer. Minutes, 1844.
Voted, that school superintendent coUect interest on notes in his hands and
a judgment against Samuel Wilson ; that the notes of Amasa Blanchard and Barney
Moon be destroyed; to use percentage on non-resident taxes^in painting town house
and lock for door, and that Aaron Warner have charge of it.
Minutes, 1845.
Voted, that judgment against Samuel Wilson be cancelled; that L. C. Knapp
be paid ninety-five cents out of non-resident percentage and balance go to schools.
Minutes, 1846.
Voted, that there be only one commissioner of highways and one poormaster ;
that town clerk have no salary. Minutes, 1847.
Voted, that Jonah Sanford, C. S. Chittenden and R. H. Laughlin have charge
of town house, and if used for schoolhouse then to collect rent. Total school moneys
used, J387.02. Raised by tax, $302.92 ; in hands of county treasurer apportioned
by state, $151.46; making for current year, $454.38.
Minutes, 1848.
Voted, to raise $10 for bookcase for town clerk ; to raise for schools double the
school money. School moneys by tax, $302.92, and from state, $151.46.
Minutes, 1849.
Voted, to raise $10 to repair town house and purchase a stove ; to raise double
school moneys ; to raise $50 to repair fence around burying ground. School moneys
by tax, $302.92 ; from state, $157.03.

42 2 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Minutes, 1850.
Voted, that no more school shall be kept in the town house when there is a
school in the lower room of said town house.
[Evidently the town house was thought to be getting dangerous. The bridge
Over St. Regis River at Nicholville was rebuilt in 1850. — Ed.]
Minutes, 1851.
Voted, to raise $200 highway money ; to raise $75 for the purpose of purchasing
a hearse. Minutes, 1852.
Voted, to remit $10 of the fine imposed on John Conner for assault on Thomas
Mains; to raise $250 for highways ; school moneys by tax, $445.87, and from county
treasurer, $348. Minutes, 1853.
Voted, to raise $50 to purchase addition to burying ground ; that William S.
Phelps, Franklin KeUogg and T. H. Laughlin be a committee in charge.
School moneys from state, $772.26. Minutes, 1854.
Voted, to raise an additional $75 for burying ground purposes.
Minutes, 1856.
Voted, to remit to Parker Converse $4.30, to raise $50 to purchase burying
ground in Catharineville. Minutes, 1857.
Resolution adopted at town meeting : Resolved, That the inhabitants of this
town request the Legislature at this session to appropriate $50,000 to the St. Law
rence University. Minutes, 1858.
School moneys received from county treasurer, $1,049.33.
Minutes, 1859.
School moneys from county treasurer, $1,081.21 ; highway money, $406.10.
Minutes, i860.
School moneys paid treasurer, $947.76 ; highway moneys expended, $247 ; and
on hand, $257. Minutes, 1861.
School moneys received, $947.16. Paid out, $941.60. Highway money from
collector, J250, and from ex-commissioner, $252.20; expended JJS247.12.
Minutes, 1862.
The Civil War began April 14, 1861, in earnest by the Confederates firing on
Fort Sumter on that day. There was keen and intense excitement everywhere as
the news of that event passed over the country, as I well remember as a boy of
fourteen. Men everywhere stopped their work when told of what the rebels had
done, and said : " I guess we have got to have war after all. I thought the South was
only bluffing, as its statesmen have been doing over the slavery question for thirty
years, but if they mean to disrupt this Union on account of slavery they will find
they cannot do it. The North will rise in mass and whip them in ninety days."
The prevailing opinion was that it would soon be over, that the North would soon
stamp it out. The war was the talk in the field while at work, at the fireside, at the
village where people congregated to get the news, and in fact wherever men met.
The women partook also of the spirit of patriotism which swept over the country

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 423
and joined heartily in every move to crush the insurrection and save the Union.
There were a few men, I am ashamed to admit, in the North, in St. Lawrence County
and even in the grand old town of Hopkinton, who were not loyal to the Union cause.
Only the very boldest, however, were outspoken in their expressions of disloyalty,
and even they spoke in a guarded way when in the presence of men of vigor and
courage. I can remember nearly all the Copperheads, as they were called, that
lived in town. There were not many of them, probably not to exceed a dozen,
who had the effrontery to talk in favor of the South, or rather to attack President
Lincoln and all that his administration did and were doing to put down the rebel
lion. I am tempted to give the names of those I can remember, but it would do no
good. Nearly all of them lived to see the Union restored and to partake of the
blessings of that restoration. Nearly all of them, all but one that I now recall, have
gone the way that awaits us all. Seeing the error of their ways the most of them
were afterwards ashamed of what they said and did, to their credit be it said.
President Lincoln issued his call for seventy-five thousand three months' men
on the day following the attack on Fort Sumter. The call was prepared on Sun
day, as I learn from Dr. Edward Everett Hale in the Outlook, but dated the next day.
This shows, too, that the President then thought the insurrection could be put down
in three months. Matters grew rapidly worse, when it soon became evident that
there was to be a real and terrible war. Accordingly on the 2d of May, July 22
and 25 the President issued calls for a total of five hundred thousand men. Two
companies of the i6th Regiment were raised in eastern St. Lawrence, viz., Co. B,
with James M. Pomeroy, captain, Wilson Hopkins, lieutenant, and George L. East
man, ensign ; Co. F, with John C. GUmore, captain, John A. Vance, lieutenant, and
Henry T. Sanford, first sergeant. Captain GUmore has remained continuously in
the army from that time. He is now a general in the regular army. There were a
number of young men who left the old St. Lawrence Academy and joined these com
panies. The battle of Bull Run took place July 2, 1861, not a very great distance from
the city of Washington. The troops were raw on both sides, and I suppose it was
about as irresolute, weak and inefficient a battle as was ever fought, considering the
number of men engaged, — some thirty thousand on each side. Our people had
the day won when they became panic-stricken and ran for Washington a fleeing
broken, disorganized mass. The news of this defeat as it went over the North
created consternation and alarm everywhere. The Copperhead put on a smiling
face and greeted his neighbor with, " What do you think of it now ? Hasn't it
turned out just as I told you ? I tell you it will take three northern men to match
one man of the South. They are born fighters down there." Discouraging as was
the news, in fact it served only to stiffen the backbone of the North. It knit the
people of the North more firmly and compactly together. They plainly saw that
they must fight and fight in earnest if they would save the Union and stop the
spread of slavery, and they did for four years at a fearful cost of manhood and
treasure. But I am not writing a history of the war. All that I am called on here
to do is to give the official action of the town in connection with that war. I regret
very much that the records on this subject are very sparse, and, it would seem, in
complete, since there are only a few entries and resolutions concerning that great
war. The first entry that I find is the report of a special meeting held at the town
house, agreeably to a call therefor, September 2, 1862. At this meeting Clark S.
Chittenden, Esq., was made chairman. The committee on "paying bounties" was

424 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
called on to report what they had done. Who constituted this committee or when
or by what authority it was appointed the minutes do not show. Joseph A. Brush
must have been a member, since he responded^as follows : " The committee has be
come responsible for $440, and has secured subscriptions for $336." David F- Hen
derson stated that he had paid $30 to volunteers, making the total subscribed
$336, and leaving a, balance due the 'committee of $104. Whereupon S. C.
Remington moved that further effort be made to raise by subscription what was
due the committee, and to pay every volunteer thereafter the sum of $10 until
the town's quota was filled. This motion being put was lost. Thereupon Jonah
Sanford, Jr., moved, seconded by Jacob LinendoU, that the sum of $275 be raised
by a tax upon the town, that the committee be paid therefrom, and the balance be
paid to volunteers. George S. Wright moved an amendment, seconded by Philo
A. Davis, that there be raised by a tax upon the property of the town the sum of
$50 for each volunteer for three years, until the " town's quota for volunteers or
drafted militia " be filled over and above the amount due the committee. The
amendment, being put, was adopted.
On motion, meeting adjourned.
The money so subscribed and paid by various citizens was afterwards and in
April, 1863, audited by the town board and made a charge upon the town under the
act so authorizing. Minutes, 1863.
A special town meeting was held at the town house, December 15, 1863. It
was like the one in 1862, a war meeting. C. S. Chittenden was again chairman.
On motion the chair appointed the following committee on resolutions : viz., David
F. Henderson, Jonah Sanford, Jr., Milo Adams, RosweU Hopkins and Franklin
Kellogg. The committee reported the foUowing resolutions, which, as they are so well
put, I give verbatim :
Resolved, first, that a certificate be issued and signed by the supervisor 'and
town clerk for the sum of $300, with interest on the same from the date thereof
until paid, and be delivered to each volunteer who has or shall enlist and be
mustered into the service of the United States for this town under the last call of
the President of the United States for three hundred thousand men, payable to
said volunteer or his order, to be paid on or before the first day of February, 1865,
said certificate to be issued and dated when sufficient evidence shall be furnished to
said supervisor and town clerk that said volunteer has so enlisted and been
mustered into the United States service.
Resolved, second, that the sum of $6,500 be levied upon the taxable property of
this town at the next meeting of , the Board of Supervisors of St. Lawrence County to
be collected at once from said taxable property for the purpose of paying the cer
tificates mentioned ; also that the said certificates be paid by the supervisor, and
that the surplus, if any, of said moneys after paying said certificates be applied to
the general purposes of the town.
The above resolutions were read and after discussion adopted, with only one
dissenting vote. Meeting adjourned.
Such resolutions, imposing such a tax, with such a vote on their adoption,
speak well for the patriotism of the people of the town.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 425
Minutes, 1864.
A special meeting was held February 16, 1864, and David F. Henderson made
chairman. It being discovered that a legal meeting could not be held as sufficient
time had not been given in the notice, the meeting became an informal one, voting
that the sum of $400 be paid each volunteer.
A special meeting was held at the town hall, February 24, 1864, when David
F. Henderson was again made chairman, who read a tabulated statement from the
provost marshal of the district showing that the quota for the town was full. There
being no business, meeting adjourned.
The fact that the quota of the town was full speaks better than words for the
loyalty of its people.
A special meeting was held at the town hall, March 30, 1864, when David F.
Henderson was made chairman. C. S. Chittenden, Esq., offered resolutions, sec
onded by Ezra R. Sheldon, that the town pay the sum of $300 to each volunteer
under the call of the President of February 15,1 864, for two hundred thousand men ;
that certificates be issued payable on or before the first day of February, 1866, and
that the sum of $4,800 be levied by the Board of Supervisors upon the taxable prop
erty of the town to pay such certificates, which were duly adopted.
Minutes, 1865.
At the annual town meeting held February 14, 1865, the following resolutions
were adopted :
Resolved, first, that all certificates or any money heretofore voted for the
purpose of paying bounties to volunteers, not liable to be called for that purpose,
and the unexpended balance of bounty money received from the county, be applied
so far as is necessary in the payment of bounties to volunteers under the last call of
the President. Resolved, that King S. Chittenden, Dr. Fayette P. Sprague and David F.
Henderson be a committee for the purpose of paying said bounties, and that they
should pay said volunteers the sum of $200 out of said money and certificates.
This committee reported in February, 1866, that they had received from the super
visor, $583.31, and from town certificates, $2,800, and had paid seventeen volunteers
$200 each. Minutes, 1866.
The sum of $600 was voted to build a bridge across the Racket River in
Hollywood. Minutes, 1867.
It was voted to raise the sum of $1,000 for a bridge at NicholviUe.
Minutes, 1869.
The total cost of the bridge at Nicholville was found to be about $10,250,
one-half to be borne by Lawrence. Minutes, 1870.
At the annual town meeting, held February 8, 1870, resolutions were offered
by Loren Smith that a new town house be built, on the present site provided good
title thereto be obtained ; that the sum of $3,000 be raised for such purpose ; that the
Board of Supervisors be instructed to levy the same on the town, and the Legisla
ture requested to pass an act legalizing the same. The vote on the same was by
ballot kept by R. H. Freeman, and resulted in one hundred ninety-two votes for,
and seventy-two against. Title to the lot was obtained and the hall built in
1870 under the direction of a committee. The total cost of the building was
$4,093.12. (See story of old town hall.)

426 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Minutes, 1874.
The sum of $150 was voted to improve the cemetery grounds, and |2o the
cemetery grounds in CatharineviUe. Minutes, 1877.
School moneys from county treasurer, $1,643.75.
Highway money all told, J789.77. Minutes, I881.
Voted $300 for building Day bridge above Nicholville.
Minutes, 1883.
Purchased the southerly end of present cemetery grounds of Mrs.- Dickinson,
at $225. Lower bridge at Fort Jackson rebuilt in 1883, 1884.
Minutes, 1885.
In May, 1885, the supervisor, town clerk, commissioner of highways and
justices met and decided to replace the upper bridge at Fort Jackson with an iron
bridge and to raise $2,000 for that purpose. The bridge cost $2,524.50.
Minutes, 1887.
In June, 1887, the same officials met and decided to borrow $1,200 for the
purpose of building a bridge at Squire's MiUs and across Lyd Brook near Benjamin
CoUins's. Minutes, 1888.
The matter of a railroad being built through the town came up in town meet
ing, when a committee was named to get subscriptions in its aid, should the project
materialize. Minutes, 1889.
School moneys from county treasurer, $1,895.60.
Supervisor received from tax on town and expended a little over $2,100. The
commissioner of highways received $578, and expended $383.
Minutes, 1890.
The sum of $400 was authorized for the building of a stone bridge over Lyd
Brook in Hopkinton village. Minutes, 1900.
On December 11, 1900, by an act of the Board of Supervisors the townships of
Piercefield and Atherton were set off from Hopkinton into a new town by the name
of Piercefield. In the adjustment of matters between the two towns the situation of
affairs was found to be as follows :
Valuation of town before division ... ... $1,334,240.00
Valuation of new town .... . . 592,380.00
Valuation of present Hopkinton  . 748,860.00
Ratio, Hopkinton, 556; Piercefield, 444.
Indebtedness of Town.
Bonded indebtedness  $2,500.00
Poor account  . 85.10

Temporary care of poor
Town hall .
Cash on hand
Town safe

Assets of

TOWN.

1 14.32
$1,250.00 442.54 185.00

CHAPTER XVII.
Genealogical Records of the Pioneers.
In this chapter is given the genealogical records of many
of the pioneers of the town, of all that I have been able to
gather sufficient data and information to make a fairly full
record. The preparation of these records has required much
time, labor, correspondence, persistence and patience. Had I
had in the beginning a full comprehension of the tedious
labor required, I now feel sure I should not have undertaken
it. That there are some errors in dates and possibly a few in
names I am quite satisfied, since considerable of my informa
tion came from elderly people who wrote feebly and indis
tinctly. I think it will be readily understood, if the reader
will bear in mind that it is in continuous order ; that the first,
second, third and fourth generations are each carried slightly
to the right, and that each generation always has the same
indentation. SETH ABBOTT, b. June l6, 1770; d. March 30, 1845 ; m. Sally
Beebe, b. May 10, 1769 ; d. March 18, 181 2 ; m. 2d, Elizabeth Webster,
b. March 12, 1784; d. June 16, 1850. He was born in  , Conn.
Was in New Lebanon, N. Y., in 1792, and soon after moved to Addison,
Vt., whence he came to Hopkinton in 1806. He was quite a cripple, using
two canes to get about. His daughter, Mrs. Lucetta Peck, of Potsdam, has
the staffs. He first built a log house close to the brook near Ashbel Squire's,
whose house stood where F. Macomber' s now stands. Upon making cor
rect surveys, it was found that his house was on Mr. Squire's land and he
had to abandon it. He then built a frame house on the knoll some eighty
rods west, near Caleb Wright's. He did his family shoemaking. He sold
farm to Reuben Wells and moved into the Olin neighborhood in Canton,
where he lived eight years, when he and wife went to live with their daughter,
Mrs. Lucetta Peck, at Nicholville, N. Y., where he died. Had ten chil
dren by first marriage and seven by the second:
Jonathan B., b. July 19, 1789; d. March 31, 1825 ; m. Daraxa
Russell, b.  , 1794 ; d. April 20, 1885, aged ninety years. His
widow married Stephen Eastman and died in Edwards, N. Y. Had
two children by first marriage:

428 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Emory W., b. July 26, 1819; I. Gouverneur, N. Y.; m.
Hannah S. Pickit, October, 1839; ''• March 20, 1819;
d. September 5, 1878. He was a member of Assembly for
the years 1856, 1857, and is a reputable and highly re
spected citizen of his town. Had three sons:
J. Henry, b. July, 1840, in Fowler ; 1. Gouverneur,
N. Y. ; m. Harriet E. Phelps, February 11, 1862;
b.  , 1839. Had three children:
Emory W., 2d, b. August, 1864; 1. Gou
verneur ; m. Sada Wistemier, December 4,
1890.
Morton P., b. April i, 1866; 1. St. Albans,
Vt. ; m. Maud Graves of Nevada City,
Minn., June 8, 1897.
Arthur H., b. June 7, 1873; 1. Gouver
neur; m. Bertha M. Clapp of Gouverneur,
October 17, 1901.
Justus B., b. October 23, 1842, in Fowler; 1.
Gouverneur; m. Frances A. Wright, May 5, 1864;
b. October 30, 1841. Had three children:
A. Sherman, b. March 18, 1865; m. Mary
Rob, October 12, 1887. Had three chil
dren: Hazel, Ruth and Robert.
H. Lester, b. November 11, 1868; 1. Gou
verneur; m. Jennie Fitzgerald, February 14,
1895. Had three children:
Harry, Ross and Hope.
Wright v., b. June 15, 1877.
Vasco P., b. May 20, 1847, in Fowler; 1. Gouver
neur; m. Anna E. Farmer, December 21, 1872; b.
May 2, 1 85 1. He is an able and very successfiil
lawyer, was surrogate of the county twelve years,
from 1880 to 1893. Had two children:
Worth P., b. August 30, 1879.
Hugh, b. June 5, 1884.
Caroline M., b. September 27, 1822; d. November 17,
1898; m. Charles V. Haile; b. October 14, 1823; d. Sep
tember 6, 1 891. Had one child :
Celia D., b. November 29, 1851; single; 1. Gouver
neur.
Samuel B., b. January 19, 1792; d. July 6, 1878; m. Hadassa
Post. (See his record.)
Hannah S., b. January 10, 1794; died March 12, 1855; m. Ai
Powers, September 26, 181 1; b. April 24, 1783; d.  , 1865,
Potsdam. Had ten children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 429
Sarah R., b. September 11, 1812; single.
Harriet, b. September 26, 18 14; d. May 4, 1891, Gar-
nett, Kan.; m. Phineas Austin; b. March 18, 1807; d.
March 25, 1896, Garnett, Kan. Had three children:
Addie H., b. July 6, 1851, Potsdam; 1. Fremont,
Neb.; m. John W. Andrews, March, 1874, Sterling,
111. Had six children:
Herbert R., b. August 19, 1875.
Hugh C, b. November 10, 1876; d. March
31, 1878.
Leon J., b. February 22, 1882.
Francis C, b. September 2, 1884.
Gertrude A., b. July 16, 1888.
John A., b. December 17, 1891.
Edward Ai, b. June 9, 1853, Potsdam; 1. Topeka,
Kan.; m. Carrie Snow, April, 1883; b. August 12,
1863. Had three children:
Jean E., b. August 19, 1885.
Charles, b. July i, 1891.
Roger S., b. January 5, 1898.
Ella Bertha, b. June 24, 1857, Potsdam; 1. Mont
Ida, Kan.; m. Elery D. Parks; b. May 9, 1857,
Lyndon, Ind. Had two children:
Fred Austin, b. March 17, 1880.
Sylvia A., b. July 21, 1889.
Mary M., b. May 19, 1818; 1. Potsdam; m. Levi Maynard;
b. July 8, 1822; 1. Potsdam. Had one child:
Herbert C.,b. March 9, 1851; L Childwold, N.Y.;
m. Sarah E. Taylor, October 17, 1878. Had four
children: Mabel G., b. July 31, 1879.
Anna J., b. June I, 1884.
Emma L., b. December 19, 1886.
John L., b. September 3, 1888.
Salmon, b. July 28, 1820; d. March 10, 1900, Neosho,
Mo.; m. Susan Depew, October 2, 1844, Hopewell, N.Y.;
b. November 16, 1821; 1. Neosho, Mo. He served three
years and two months in Co. F, 2d Iowa Cavalry, in Civil
War. Had six children:
M. Ai, b. June 27, 1848; 1. Iowa Falls, Iowa; m.
Emma Martin, March 3, 1872. Had three children:
Harvey Salmon, b. March 18, 1873; ™-
Ida Lowry, March i, 1899.
Nellie I., b. December i, 1875.
Maud, b. July 27, 1883.

430 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Esther Emily, b. February 7,1851; L Neosho,Mo. ;
m. Dewitt E. Bingham, August 7, 1867; killed in
railroad accident; m. 2d, Austin E. Merrill. Had
three children by first marriage:
Eugene, died in infancy.
Nora, b. September 10, 1870; 1. Savannah,
111. ;m. George P. Lindsay, November, 1890.
Oral, b. September 3, 1876; 1. Kansas City,
Mo.;m. Ellsworth M. Eckman in 1898.
Mary Antoinette, b. December 17, 1852; 1. Web
ster City, Iowa; m. A. B. Millard, December 17,
1 8 7 1 . Had three children :
Rossa, b. October 27, 1872; 1. Redlands,
Cal.; m. Edgar D. Meissner, August 29,
1894.
Myrtle, b. December ig, 1876; 1. Webster
City; m. Percival Stearns, August 16, 1899.
Fern, b. September 12, 1887.
Emma C, b. September 13, 1855; d. October 28,
1 89 1; m. Thomas J. Walker, November 12, 1878.
Had four girls:
Susie, b. September, 1880; 1. Neosho, Mo.
Mabel, b. June, 1882; 1. Neosho, Mo.
Grace, b. August, 1887; 1. Neosho, Mo.
Glenn, b. November, 1899; 1. Neosho, Mo.
Seth F., b. July 10, 1856; died October 3, 1870.
Scott B., b. June 7, 1861; 1. Waterloo, Iowa; m.
Cora E. Freeborn, March 11, 1883. Had one child :
Frank, b. July 21, 1889.
Martha M., b. May 9, 1822; d. in Potsdam; m. Fielding
Smith. No issue.
Joseph, b. February 5, 1824; d. single.
John D., b. May 7, 1826.
Seth A., b. February 7, 1829; d. single.
Cynthia E., b. August 13, 1833; d. in childhood.
Hartwell A., b. January 19, 1835; 1. Cincinnati, Ohio;
m. Naoma Pennoyer. Had four children:
Odiorne S., b. January 17, 1867; 1. Cincinnati, Ohio.
Ruth, b. December 12, 1870; d. May 12, 1872.
Agnes Rose, b. January 7, 1873; 1- Lyndon, Ohio;
m. Smith G. Dunning, June 29, 1899. Had one
child: Normal Pennoyer.
Charis B., b. December 2, 1877; 1. Cincinnati, Ohio.
Seth, Jr., b. June 10, 1798; d. November, 1877; m. Emily
Cleveland. No issue. He was a Wesleyan Methodist minister and
died at Crown Point, N. Y., where he had lived many years.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 431
Rhoena H., b. September 13, 1800; d. June 6, 1825, at Fort Jack
son; m. Eben Wright, January i, 1820, died in Michigan. He
m. 2d, Lucy McAllister. Had two children by first and three by
second marriage. Children of Rhoena only given:
Amelia, b. March 5, 1821; d. 1850, in Michigan; m. Ben.
Mallory, b. in Michigan. Had one child:
Alzada.
Sarah, b. December 12, 1823; 1. Castleton, Ont.; m.
Oliver Pettet; d. July 22, 1847, Castleton; m. 2d.
Nathaniel GalEeld, b. February 14, 1823; d. May 4,
1900, Castleton. Had two sons by each marriage:
Alanson, b. April 21, 1842; d. 1853, Castleton.
Digene, b. May 4, 1845; 1- Lake Geneva, Wis.;
m. Harriet Gregg. Had three children:
Gertie (Mrs. Dr. Perry Corune), Ypsilanti,
Mich.
Herbert, b. 1870; drowned January 14,
1889.
AUie, b. 1884.
Oliver, b. April 5, 1851; d. December 25, 1862,
Castleton.
Nathan, b. August 29, 1853; 1. Castleton; m. Eliza
beth Gerow, b. December 11, 1857; d. June 9,
1885; m. 2d, Johanna Leslie, b. February 26, 1868.
Had three children by first marriage and one by second:
John L., b. October 13, 1878, teacher,
Frankford, Ont.
Arthur G., b. June 13, 1881; 1. Castleton.
Sarah M., b. August 16, 1884;!. Castleton.
Olive A., b. February 2, 1894; 1. Castleton.
Philo, b. January, 1803; d. in infancy.
Sally, b. July 12, 1807; d. May 26, 1848; m. Luther Humphrey,
May 23, 1837. Had two children:
Ellen A., b. 1845; d. same year.
Frank M., b. March 31, 1847. (See Lucetta Peck.)
Lucetta, b. June 9, 1809; d. September 29, 181 3.
Infant, b. July, 1 8 1 1 ; d. in infancy.
Infant, b. March 18, 18 1 2; d. at birth. The mother died a few
hours later and was buried with her babe in her arms. (See diary. )
Lucetta, b. February 3, 1814; d. April 14, 1903; m. Alphonso R.
Peck, May 10, 1838; b. June 22, 1813; d. May 28, 1883.
Adopted the son of her sister, Mrs. Humphrey, Frank M. Peck, b.
March 31, 1847; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. ; m. Addie B. Henderson, De
cember 31, 1874; ''• J*"^^ ^^» 1854; d. February 4, 1902. Mr.
Peck has been cashier of People's Bank since 1896. He adopted
Etta Kingston, b. October 18, 1879.

432 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Philo, b. March 22, 1815; d. January 10, 1897, Greeley, Cal.; m.
Adaline Chandler, September i, 1842; b. October 10, 1823; d.
August 24, 1 90 1 . He was nominated for county clerk at opening of
the Civil War. The Republican leaders prevailed on him to step
aside that they might put a " war Democrat," James F. Pierce, on
the ticket in his place for the good of the cause, with their pledge and
promise that he should have it next time. When the next nomination
came around they had forgotten their promise and utterly ignored him.
He needed it, and it hurt him. Had twelve children:
Ellen L., b. October i, 1843; 1. Pueblo, Colo.
Eugene H., b. April 29, 1845; m. Marion B. Getty; 1.
Greeley, Colo. Had one son:
James F., b. September 27, 1876.
Charles C, b. December 22, 1847; d. September 6, 1848.
Marriah, b. August 16, 1849; d. May 13, 1850.
Frances W., b. August 28, 1851; d. May 9, 1 88 1.
Frederick P., b. June 26, 1853; d. May 26, 1857.
Jennie E., b. March l, 1858; m. Melton P. Henderson;
1. Greeley, Colo. Had two children:
Alice M., b. August 30, 1881.
Ralph P., b. June 2, 1884.
Adaline C, b. January 26, i860; d. March 24, 1889; m.
Adolph W. Petrikin. Had two children:
Lloyd A., b. April 13, 1883.
David L., b. December 28, 1885; d.
Alice C, b. October 31, 1861; I. Pueblo, Colo.; m. Fred
H. McDonald. Had one child:
Alfred S., b. April 1, 1889.
Sylvia M., b. October 29, 1863; 1. Greeley, Colo.; m.
Joseph R. McRoberts. Had one child:
Margurette A., b. September 30, 1889.
Flora M., b. July 7, 1865; d. May 4, 1891; m. Fred B.
Henderson. Had one child:
Fred, b. April 29, 1891.
William P., b. August 16, 1867; 1. Laramie, Wyo. ; m.
Annie Cook. Had two children:
Florence M., b. April 14, 1899.
Ruth A., b. May, 1901.
Annie W., b. September 26, 1816; d. young.
Elizabeth, b. September 8, 1817; d. young.
Babe, d. young.
W^ebster, b. November 18, 1821; d. December 31, 1878, Van
couver, Wash.; m. Mary L. Coffey, December 23, 1853, in San
Francisco; 1. Vancouver, Wash. Had eight children:
Frances Heman, b. September, 1854; d. October, 1855.
Alice Ella, b. January i, 1856; d. November 21, 1863.
Lucetta Caroline, b. May 14, 1859; '^- November 19,
1863.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 433
Flora May, b. August 31, 1861; d. November 18, 1863.
Minnie Alabama, b. December 16, 1864; d. July 22,
1880.
Robert Edward, b. August 6, 1867; d. March 8, 1868.
Henrietta Mackay, b. January 24, 1869; teacher, Port
land, Ore.
Webster, b. October 2, 1871; 1. old home, Vancouver,
Wash.
Elizabeth, 2d, b. February 17, i824;d. May 19, 1896, at Oshkosh,
Wis.; m. James M. Olin, October 10, 1842; b. October i, 1820,
Canton; 1. Oshkosh, Wis. Had two children:
Frances A., b. August 25, 1845; 1. Oshkosh, Wis.; m.
Richard E. Bennett, May 13, 1869; b. September 9,
1838; d. February 9, 1902. Had four children:
Carey L., b. July 27, 1870; d. December 8, 1889.
Anah C, b. March 10, 1872; m. William A. Fair,
October 3, 1894. Had two children:
Catherine L., b. October 3, 1897.
Robert B., b. September 23, 1899.
Floy Elsie, b. December 4, 1873; "i- September i,
1875, at Oshkosh.
Ida May, b. May 2, 1875; teacher at Oshkosh.
Millard M., b. September 20, 1850; 1. Lanark, ID.; m.
Lulu May Reasoner, September 16, 1897, at Lanark, 111.
No issue.
SAMUEL B. ABBOTT, b. January 19, 1792, New Lebanon, N.Y.;
d. July 6, 1878, Willoughby, Ohio; m. Hadassa Post, b. February 13,
1786, Dorset, Vt. ; d. September 29, 1867, Hopkinton. He was son of
Seth Abbott. He worked some four years for Mr.. Hopkins, when he married
and moved on to a tract on the Turnpike, a mile and a half southwest of
Hopkinton viUage, in 18 14. An old map of Mr. Hopkins's shows that
this "farm" was first booked to one Rockwell, whose betterments Mr.
Abbott purchased, including a small clearing and a log house and barn. He
in turn sold his betterments and rights to his brother-in-law, Elisha Risdon,
in 1825, when he built the frame house next west of Phineas Durfey. He
later built the house next west of this, where John Leach now resides. He
hunted falls and winters as a business. On one of his trips he was with Asa
Squire and Albert Dewey when they got lost. Mr. Dewey froze his foot
so badly that it had to be amputated. Messrs. Abbott and Squire were com
pelled to cut boughs and whip him severely to keep him awake and moving
till they could find their camp. His daughter, Mrs. Harriet Adsit, living at
Perry, Ohio, is the sole survivor of the family. She has helped materially on
several points in the preparation of this work. (See also Elisha Risdon's
record.) Had seven children:
Reuben P., b. June 23, 1815; d. June 8, 1882, Willoughby, Ohio
m. Betsey (Hornby) Pike, January 2, 1844; b. May 24, 18 19
d. September 15, 1847; m. 2d, Louisa Covey, January 27, 1848
d. October, 1880. Had one child by first marriage:

434 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Robert S., b. September 12, 1847; 1. Perry, Ohio; m.
Julia Ann Pearson, August 28, 1867, Bluffton, Iowa; b.
October 4, 185 1. His mother died at his birth, when his
aunt Harriet cared for him, and now he is caring for her.
Had five children:
Ellen Jane, b. March 10, 1869; teacher, Painesville,
Ohio.
Reuben Isham, b. January 2, 187 1, Bluffton; d.
February 22, 1873.
George Frederick, b. January 22, 1874, Dimond,
Kan.; 1. Madison, Ohio; m. Esther Tyler, August,
1899. Had two children:
Julia Estelle, b. January 26, 1901; d. June
29, 1 90 1.
Gertrude Esther, b. July 14, 1902.
Lucy Maria, b. November 4, 1876; 1. Perry, Ohio;
m. Max Craine, December 29, 1896. Had two
children :
Alara, aged four years in 1902.
Roger Paige, aged two years in 1902.
Will Arvil, b. August 22, 1879; ^- Freedom Station,
Ohio; m. Lilla Bradford, December 18, 1901. No
issue.
Gideon S., b. April 6, 1817; d. San Jos^, Cal., May 10, 1894;
m. Eloise A. Miles, January i, 1843; d. San Jose, March 17, 1882;
m. 2d, Caroline A. Brown; 1. Akron, Ohio. Attended at the old Acad
emy, Potsdam, was there in 1834, had a room on third floor in dormitory
with small stove and table at g 5. 50 per term. At first it was an even
struggle whether he or the bedbugs would hold the room. He be
came a Universalist minister, and later settled on the farm a half mile
south of Jonah Sanford, where Orman Beecher now lives. His first
wife wrote a book entitled " Personal Recollections and Essays."
Had two children:
Marion A., b. January 2, 1849; 1. San Jose, Cal.; m. Dr.
Albert O. Hooker, September 19, 1871, Montpelier, Vt.
Had four children:
Leda Verus, b. July 1, 1872.
Iva Eloise, b. January 19, 1874; 1. San Jos^, Cal.;
m. Joseph R. Prevost, June 12, 1900.
Francis Albert, b. September 19, 1877.
Edwin Davis, b. April 9, 1880; 1. San Josd, Cal.;
m. Vernia Moore, August I, 1900. Had two children:
Gladys Eloise, b. May 2, 1901.
Vernia Agnes, b. July 21, 1902.
Francis L., b. April 12, 1850; d. December 30, 1868,
Lawrence, Mich. He was a fine scholar and had he lived
would have become a highly cultured man.

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JOSEPH BRUSH.

JOSEPH A. BRUSH.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 435
Lucy Maria, b. November 12, 181 8; d. May 16, 1900, at
Painesville, O.; m. Sheldon Allen, January 4, 1855; d. February,
1873. No issue.
Harriet, b. September 20, 1820; 1. Perry, Ohio; m. Alvin Adsit,
November 14, 1867, of Essex, N. Y.; d. November 5, 1895. No
issue.
Sarah E., b. June 7, 1822; d. February 20, 1897, Willoughby,
Ohio; m. Alvah Brownell, August, 1842; b. January 5, 1820; d.
June 8, 1894. Had seven children:
Martha C, b. 1843.
James F., b. 1845.
Celestia, b. 1846.
Ellen C, b. 1848.
George W., b. 1857.
George F., b. 1862.
Hattie M. All died young except Celestia, who died August
29, 1863, and Hattie. She is Mrs. Elwie Stoddard of El-
mira, N. Y., and has two sons:
George Brownell, b. October 2, 1885.
Gail Elwie, b. June 15, 1887.
Jonathan B., b. May 27, 1825; d. September 3, 1848, from a
kick in the stomach by a horse.
Jerusha Jane, b. August 8, 1828; d. March 8, 1896, Willoughby,
Ohio; m. George Newton in 1854; '• Willoughby, Ohio. Had
one child: Jennie, b. April 28, i860; m. Nathan Downing, December
25, 1876; 1. Cleveland, Ohio. Had eight children:
Lloyd N., b. June 25, 1878; m. Myrtle C. Johnson,
September 9, 1897.
William N., b. April 2, 1880.
George N., b. August 3, 1882; m. Grace-L. Roe,
January 16, 1902.
Mabel J., bom May 10, 1884; m. William A.
Seaton, February, 1899. Had one child:
Dorothy B., b. September 14, 1900.
Harrison M., b. September 23, 1888.
Bernice A., b. February 8, I 891.
Esther H., b. February 13, 1893.
Paul N., b. April 2, 1897.
ELIPHALET BRUSH, b. November 12, 1781, Bennington, Vt.; d.
January 11, 1872; m. Polly Tomlinson, d. April 26, 1810; m. 2d, Me-
linda Pier, February 14, 181 1; b. May 21, 1790; d. September 15, 1862.
Mr. Brush was one of the six pioneers who came into Islington in 1 802. He
worked for Mr. Hopkins summers and went back to Vermont and taught
school winters at Vergennes and Ferrisburg till he had paid for his farm. Mr.
Hopkins's old account book states that Mr. Brush began to work for him

436 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
March 5, 1803. No doubt he came in with the settlers of 1803, as such
employee, or- came in with supplies at divers times during the year. It is
tradition in the family that he drove the first ox team into town. If so, he
must have done it in 1803 or possibly 1804. The old account book shows
several ox teams in town in the latter year. He took up one hundred acres
where his grandson, Charles H. , now resides. His deed to it bears date Feb
ruary 25, 1 804. The story has come down that he desired later to get a farm
near Caleb Wright's on a fine brook there, but others got ahead of him. He
lived to the ripe age of ninety years and ten months. He had four brothers,
all of whom lived to an advanced age. They held a reunion in Hopkinton
June 10, 1870. The brothers were Justice R. W. Brush of Stockton, Cal.,
then a little over 79 years; Alexander of Vergennes, Vermont, 81 years; George
of Montreal, 77 years ; Joseph of Hopkinton, 87 years ; and Eliphalet,
89 years. They had not all before met in seventy-one years. Their
combined ages aggregated four hundred and thirteen years. Mr. Brush was a
highly respected citizen, of industrious habits and rugged Christian character.
Had one child by first marriage and six by second marriage:
John T., b. April 26, 1810; d. May 13, 1845; m. Sarah Farar.
Had four children:
George, b. December 15, 1838; d. March 28, 1902; m.
Mary L. Loomas, b. February 4, 1858. Had two children:
Carrie, b. December 9, 1875; m. H. T. Dudley;
1. Indianapolis, Ind.
Cora, b. May 13, 1878.
Mary, d. aged fifteen years.
Carrie, b. September 9, 1842; d. September 9, 1874; "*¦
L. O. Putnam.
John T., b. June 15, 1845; 1. Indianapolis, Ind.; m. Mar
garet A. Ewart, b. December 26, 1855; d. June 9, 1888;
m. 2d, Elsie B. Lombard, b. November 26, 1869. Mr.
Brush has been very successfiil, has the largest clothing store
in the state and is one of the baseball magnates of the country.
Had two children by first and one by second marriage:
Eleanor G., b. March 18, 1871; m. H. N. Hem-
stead. Had one child:
Gordon B., b. December 28, 1899.
Adalade. Natalie L., b. January 15, 1896.
James, b. March 3, 1813; d. June 17, 1832.
Jane E., b. June 30, 1817; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. ; m. Rev. Enos
Wood. He was a most highly esteemed man and Presbyterian min
ister. He preached at Hopkinton for fifteen years, from 1845 to
i860.
Jason, b. January 21, 1822; d. May 25, 1891; m. Olivia Chitten
den, January i, 1856; b. November 8, 1830; d. September 7,
1858; m. 2d, Annie P. Ayers, November 5, 1862; b. October 27,
1 841; 1. Hopkinton. He was a tall man, courtly in bearing, intelli
gent, respected and influential in all town affairs. He attended the

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 437
first Republican meeting ever held in the county, called by Preston
King, and was first a good Whig and then a Republican to the end.
In the Congregational Church he took an active interest. Had one
child by first and two by second marriage:
Ella O., b. May 6, 1858; L Potsdam, N. Y.; m. Arthur
L. Bonney, May 25, 1881 ; b. July 17, 1854. Had one
child: George W., b. January 15, 1891.
Charles H., b. November 4, 1866; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y.;m.
Jessie O. Colton, October 21, 1896; b. July 14, 1867,
Frasburg, Vt. Had one child:
Dorothy, b. December 22, 1899.
Grace L., bom January 17, 1869; 1. Potsdam; m. William
L. Pert, November 10, 1892; b. April 11, 1865; d. De
cember 26, 1900. Had one child:
Josephine, b. April 4, 1894.
Henry, b. April 25, 1823; d. August 11, 1837.
Lucretia M., b. April 25, 1826; 1. St. Paul, Minn; m. Jesse H. Pom
roy, November 12, 1858; b. October 23, 1821, Hopkinton; d. July
31, 1900, St. Paul, Minn. Had two children:
Linda Carrie, b. November 29, 1861; St. Paul, Minn.; m.
James F. Jackson, June 4, 1885. No issue.
Frank Brush, b. August 28, 1865; 1. St. Paul, Minn.; m.
Emma C. Yerken, June i, 1886, Hudson, Wis. Had four
children: Alice Lucretia, b. March 29, 1887.
Jesse Herbert, b. November 30, 1889.
Albert Brush, b. May 27, 1892.
Francis Brush, b. August 6, 1897.
Ella, b. August 5, 1832; d. April 22, 1855; single.
AMASA BLANCHARD, Sr., m. Edna Norton. They came from
Rudand, Vt., in 1803, as we know by Mr. Hopkins's old account book.
They had twelve children, all of whom lived to be over fifi:y years of age,
except one. The tract he took up was next east of Eliphalet Brush. He took
a prominent part in all town matters. He and Mr. Risdon were hunting as
sociates for some years. His grown children must have been a welcome ac
quisition in the town. It has been impossible to get the record more completely
than is here given. Had twelve children, but can find record of eleven only :
Amasa, Jr., b. 1784; d. March 28, 1843; m. Lucy Hopkins, De
cember 24, 1804; b. 1785; d. October 28, 1873. She was a
daughter of Isaac, brother of Roswell Hopkins, and was married by
Asa Wheeler, J. P., of Vergennes, Vt., brother-in-law of Roswell.
Had thirteen cliildren:
Isaac, b. January 22, 1806.
W^arren, b. June 19, 1808.
Franklin, b. February 9, 1 8 10; d. September 8, 1882; m.
Freelove Thomas. Had three children:

438 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Susan L., b. May 8, 1842; 1. Nicholville.
Sally B., b. August 24, 1846; 1. Nicholville.
Edna S., b. September 20, 1849; 1. Lawrence; m.
Luther Cole. Had four children:
Lavina, Frank, Amelia and Gordon.
Sarah, b. September 30, 1811; m. Lisaf Smith.
Harriet, b. July 7, 181 3; m. William W. Dewey.
Jane, b. December i, 18 15; m. Loyal Atwood.
James, b. December i, 1817.
Betsey, b. April 14, 1819; m. Hiram Sheldon.
Mary, b. August 6, 1821; m. William Wakefield.
Fidelia, b. June 2, 1824; m. Albert Copeland.
Lorenda, b. January 17, 1828; d. aged five.
Lorenzo, b. December, 1830; d. at six months.
Loretta, b. February 8, 1832 (Mrs. Daniel Emmons, Nich
olville) .
Burton. Left town early and nothing known of.
Rivers. Left town early and nothing known of.
Benjamin. Followed rafting on the St. Lawrence River. He 'drew
his money from a Kingston bank and went back to the raft. When
down near Cornwall a small rowboat got adrift. Mr. B. took off his
coat, etc., and swam out to get it, leaving his watch and money on
the raft. There was much suspicion that he was not allowed to get
back on the raft or at least not given any help, and so drowned. His
body was recovered by some Indians on a reward of g 1 5 by his
father.
Edy, b. December 9, 1787; d. April 4, 1868; m. Aaron Warner in
1805. (See his family. )
Anna, b. May 2, 1780; d. October 2, 1858; m. David Walker; m.
2d, Richard Newton, b. October 10, 1785; d. October 24, 1868;
1. on crossroad south from Lee Eastman's. Had two children by
first and four by second marriage:
David, m. and had three children:
Louella, b. 1852; m. John Gillispie of Rhode Island.
William, b. 1861; 1. Wisconsin; m. Sarah D. Ham
ilton.
Sarah, b. 1863; d. ten years ago (1903).
Roxie, family unknown; m. Erastus Hamilton; m. 2d, John
Vebber.
Benjamin, b. 18 18; killed in war July, 1864.
Hiram, b. May i, 1820; d. January 2, 1893; m. Lovina
Adams, December 7, 1843; b. March 4, 1824; d. November
18, 1894. Had seven children:
Merilla, b. October 3, 1844; d. September i, 1849.
Lovina, b. December i, 1849; d. September 27,
1886; m. Elijah Bundy, September 27, 1870. No

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 439
Lovisa, 1. Parishville; m. Martin Hatch. Had four
children: Carlisle, b. February 28, 1870; m. Lula
Meacham, December 8, 1897. Had one
child: Corinne, b. February 15, 1901.
Mary, b. July 14, 1874; ™- William Jones,
November 24, 1897. Had one child:
Calista, b. March 23, 1901.
Henry, b. August 30, 1876; m. Blanch
Rivers, July 30, 1902.
Alice, b. August 11, 1878; m. Milton
Brownson, December 27, 1899. Had two
children: Dewitt and Beatrice.
Velora, b. August 6, 1855; d. July 27, 1857.
Henry, b. July 6, 1S58; d. November 29, 1879.
Eva, b. August 6, i860; d. April 2, 1880.
Melvin, b. October 15, 1863; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Dora Courser, May 11, 1888. Had two children:
Marion, b. November 6, 1890; d. June 13,
1895.
Bernice, b. July 25, 1899.
^A^arner, b. February 8, 1822; d. July 8, 1828.
Warren, went west.
Sophia, m. William Hamilton, neighbor of Richard Newton. Had
four children: ^Villiam, Darwin, Lucius and Luna.
Hannah, m. Chauncey D. Thomas. (See his family. )
Marilla, m. Joseph Clemonds. Had four children:
Alva, Morse, Adaline (Mrs. Henry Cornish), Julia
(Mrs. William Sexton).
Sally, b. March 27, 1801; d. August 14, 1881; m. Samuel Wilson.
(See his family.)
Hiram, b. 1803; d. February 11, 1882, at Nicholville; m. Char
lotte Freeman in 1827; d. June 3, 1 891, aged eighty-five. He was
a good mechanic and millwright, and built the first mills at Hewit-
ville, Colton and Duane, N. Y. He was the last to survive of the
children. Had six children:
Lorison, Hiram, Mortimer, Leonard, Sophronia
and Losepta.

440 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
JOSEPH BRUSH, b. September i8, 1783, Bennington, Vt.; d. Janu
ary 18, 1879; ™- Clarissa (Armstrong) Sheldon in 18 14; b. 1782, Pawlet,
Vt.; d. October 6, 1868. She was the widow of Abraham Sheldon. (See
his record.) Mr. Brush came into town in 1808. (See story of his early
experiences among pioneer settlers. ) He lived to the advanced age of ninety-
six years. Many people now living knew him well and all speak of him as a very
genial, fine old man. He was a veteran of the War of 1812. (See Eli
phalet Brush for reunion of the brothers.) Had two children:
Joseph A., b. May 10, 1816; d. December 4, 1884; m. Ada-
line Wright, September 12, 1842; b. February 5, 1818; d. Febru
ary 25, 1897. No issue. Mr. B. was an active man in town
affairs and held various positions. He had a fine farm across the road
from his father, where he built a commodious residence. The farm
is now owned by the Hurley brothers.
George H., b. December 25, 1819; d. March 12, 1888, at Lamoille,
111.; m. Caroline M. Morton; d. April 26, 1898, at Lamoille, IU.
He kept the old homestead of Abraham Sheldon or rather the west
part of it. He sold it about 1880 to Silas Haselton and went to
Illinois. Had one child:
Earl M., b. October 6, i860; 1. Chicago, 111.
NATHANIEL BALDWIN, b. 1776, Amherst, Mass.; d. 1826; m.
Betsey M. Flint. Came from New Hampshire in 181 1, selected what is
known as the Dyer L. Merrill farm, made a little clearing in the unbroken
forest, built a log cabin near where the present residence stands, went back to
New Hampshire and came with his family in the spring or early summer of
1812. On his death his son Nathaniel, Jr., conducted the farm till 1843,
when it was sold to Horatio N. Barnes. Had twelve children:
Betsey, d. in Hopkinton; m. Orange Moon. Had three children:
Mary Ann, m. an officer in the regular army and d. in
Florida.
Norman and James C. The latter at two years of age and
on his mother's death was, by her act, adopted by Dr.
Gideon Sprague.
Nathaniel, Jr., b. August 19, 1805, in Litchfield, N. H.; d. Janu
ary 25, 1888, Albion, Iowa; m. Cynthia Hobart, April 13, 1833;
b. 1807; d. December 11, 1887. He was appointed administrator
of his father's estate when twenty-one. He built a sawmill just south
or back of the John C. Smith place on the Turnpike, but it proved a
poor venture owing to a lack of water. In 1 846 he bought a farm
on the Mud Street road in Parishville, where he lived till 1857,
when he moved to Potsdam. In 1863 he went to Iowa, where he
prospered, dying at Albion, highly respected. His wife was a daugh
ter of Deacon Isaac N. Hobart of Lyme, N. H., but later of Hop
kinton. Had four children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 441
Luman E., b. October 9, 1835, in Hopkinton; 1. Brook
lyn, N. Y.; m. Susan E. Vermilyea, December 3, 1867; b.
November 25, 1847; d. April 14, 1885; m. 2d, Marion
Sill, April 14, 1888; b. February I, 1843. Enlisted
August 9, 1862, at Ogdensburg, N. Y., in i6th Regiment.
He was in twenty-two battles, slightly wounded at Chancel-
lorsviUe, and also at Spottsylvania Court House. Discharged
from 12 1st Regiment, July 9, 1865, at Albany, N. Y. Had
five children by first and two by second marriage:
Frank E., b. March 10, 1869; m. Ervie Mc-
Cutcheon, August, 1899. Had one child:
Frank E., Jr., b. March 23, 1901.
Isaac J. v., b. November 19, 1872.
Alfred H., b. August 17, 1875; m. Jennie Grundy,
1896. Had one child:
Emma E., b. March, 1898.
Susan E., b. August 19, 1877; d. September 19,
1877.
¦William F., b. February i, 1881; m. Theresa
Maner. Had two children:
Mariam, b. January, 1900; d. February,
1900.
Samuel L.,b. December 23, 1901; d. July,
1902.
Marian J., b. December 14, 1888; d. August 25,
1890.
Julia M. F., b. October 12, 1890.
B. Frank, b. January 25, 1839; d. December 28, 1894,
Denver, Colo. ;m. M. Elizabeth Anstead, May i, i860; m.
2d, Emma Crowe. Enlisted in i6th Regiment and was
wounded in battle near Burketsville, Md. He settled in
Iowa and was long in the employ of the Chicago and North
western Railway Company. He had two daughters, Addie
and Minnie, and is survived by only the latter, Mrs. Minnie
Crandall of Denver, Colo.
Alzina C, b. May 18, 1844; 1. Albion, Iowa; m. J. D.
Armstrong, October 16, 1861, of Cornwall, Ont.; m. 2d,
J. B. Cripps, January 25, 1872. Had two children by first
and one by second marriage:
J. Freddie, b. July 23, 1863; d. August 16, 1868,
by accidental shooting.
Cora C b. November i, 1867; 1. Albion; m. F.
H. Huntington, December 14, 1892; b. January 30,
1863. Had one child:
Carol, b. June 6, 1899.
Clara C, b. November 30, 1874.

442 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Martha J., 1. Moville, Iowa; m. Henry Babcock, September
20, 1863, Hogansburg, N. Y. Had nine children:
Frank, Carrie, Harriet, Anna, Nellie,
Charles, Martha, Benjamin and Clarence.
William G., b. April 27, 1807, Bedford, N. H.; d. January 17,
1892, Mount Hope, Ga. ; m. Martha G. WUlis, b. August 10,
1825, Foxborough, Mass.; d. May 14, 1902, Chicago. They
were married in Concord, N. H., August 2, 1846. Had eleven
children: Edgar Frank, b. May 30, 1847, Concord, N. H.; 1.
Chicago; m. Louisa Hazen, November 17, 1867; b. May
12, 1846, Alburg, N. Y. Had five children:
Lillian M., b. August 23, 1868; d. April 10, 1876,
Chicago.
Robert, b. Febraary 20, 1871, Alburg; 1. Chicago.
Lettie L., b. April 22, 1873; L Norfolk, N. Y.;
m. Edgar G. Spottswood, June 3, 1891; b. 1863,
Norfolk, N. Y. Had three children:
Nettie L., b. February 24, 1893; d. Octo
ber 10, 1899.
Mabel G., b. July 4, 1895, Lagrange, 111.
Loretta M., b. October 14, 1898, Lagrange,
111.
William, b. March 8, 1877, Alburg; 1. Chicago.
Merton, b. December 20, 1879; d. March 21,
1886, Chicago.
Julia A., b. August 30, 1848, Concord, N. H. ; d. June 5,
1900, in Chicago; m. Edwin S. Varnum, August 29, 1872;
d. November, 1877, at Sharon, Vt. Had two children:
Mattie E., b. June 12, 1873, Deerfield, Mich; L
Chicago.
George H., b. April 28, 1875, Sharon, Vt. ; L
Chicago.
Oscar W^., b. January 12, 1850, Pierrepont, N. Y. ; 1.
Chicago.
Newton H., b. May 13, 1851, Pembroke, N. H.; d. March
6, 1888, in Chicago.
Frederick W., b. June 3, 1853, Andover, N. H. ; 1. Chicago;
m. Marriette Wilson, September 3, 1876; b. February 24,
1849, Sharon, Vt. ; d. June I, 1900, in Chicago. Had one
child: Elsie B., b. June 6, 1879, Sharon, Vt.;l. Chicago.
Daniel 'W., b. September 24, 1854, Royalton, Vt.; d.
May 31, 1 90 1, in Chicago.
Mary M., b. April 5, 1857, Royalton, Vt.; d. November 25,
1858, at Hogansburgh, N. Y.
Cora M., b. June 26, 1859, Hogansburgh, N. Y.; 1. Illinois.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 443
Laura T., b. October22,i86i, Lawrence, N. Y.;l. Chicago,
111.; m. Charles M. Kemp, June i, 1880, Sharon, Vt. ; b.
May 28, 1852, Momence, 111. Had three children:
Mabel B., b. February 15, 1885; 1. Chicago, 111.
Maud L., b. August 20, 1888; 1. Chicago, 111.
Earl Le Roy, b. March 12, 1893; 1. Chicago, 111.
Mary Jane, b. February 15, 1864, Lawrence; 1. Chicago.
Lillian M., b. May 21, 1866, Hopkinton; 1. Chicago;
m. David P. Caldwell, April 30, 1895; b. November 29,
1854. Had three children:
Daniel B., b. September 13, 1896.
^A^infield A., b. January 3, 1898.
Dorathy L., b. June 19, 1901.
Lorena, d. in ParishviUe; m. David Eastman. (See Samuel East
man.)
Nancy, d. in ParishvUle.
Lyman, d. in Hopkinton; m. Sarah Post. Family extinct. Had two
daughters: Caroline and Emily.
Alvin, b. February 11, 181 5, in Hopkinton; d. April 23, 1852, in
Stockholm; m. Sarah De Long, b. 1817; d. May 15, 1857. Had
one child: Amos Alvin, b. December 23, 1 85 1 ; 1. Brasher Falls, N. Y. ;
m. Nancy Ann Church, October 20, 1873; b. October 4,
1853. He was born in Stockholm, lived in Ontario, Mich.,
and also in the eastern states, where he was superintendent and
designer in several woollen mills. Since locating at Brasher
Falls he has held the position of worshipfiil master nine years,
president of Board of Education six years and justice of the
peace twelve years. His business is that of printer, author and
publisher. In the last twelve years he has published the fol
lowing works on designing and weaving: viz., "The Self-In
structor in Textile Designing," " A Treatise on Designing
and Weaving," " The Loom Fixers' Manual" and "The
Designers' Chart." Mr, Baldwin is a recognized authority in
the art of textile designing, and his works have won an envi
able reputation. Had two children:
Roscoe Reuben, b. June 2, 1876; d. April 10,
1878.
Bessie Maude, b. February 12, 1880, W. Eaton,
N. Y.
Caroline, b. 1817; d. 1840 at Massena; m. Samuel Clark; d. 1864
at Alexandria, Va. Had two children:
Mary, b. 1836; d. March, 1865, Edwards, N. Y. ; m.
Daniel W. Sprague, January i, 1854; 1. Spragueville, N. Y.
Had one child:
Fred Clark, b. November 10, 1859; d. AprU 15,
1864.

444 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Joseph Clark, b. AprU 4, 1839; 1. Massena Centre, N. Y.;
m. Mary F. Cramer, June 16, 1870; b. June 26, 1842.
On the death of his mother and when only a few months old he
was adopted by a Mr. Robinson, by which name he has since
been known. He was in the Civil War and reached the
rank of major, by which title he is still called. His only
recollection of meeting his father was in finding him in his
command during the war. Had three children:
Mary Edith, b. November 26, 1871, Lyons,
N. Y.; 1. New York City; m. Alex. G. Mercer,
June 6, 1899. Had one child:
Alice Ruth, b. July 9, 1902.
Alice Nelson, b. March 19, 1877; 1. Massena
Centre.
Clarence C, b. October 22, 1879.
Philo, d. in ParishviUe.
George H., b. January 2, 1822; d. March 19, i860, in Lawrence,
N. Y.; m. Rhoda R. Osgood, AprU 18, 1850; b. October 12,
1832; d. August 20, 1852; m. 2d, Nancy Burlingame, d. 1883.
Child by first marriage:
George R., b. April 30, 1852; 1. Dickmson Centre, N. Y. ;
m. Ellen M. McComber, Febmary 28, 1882; b. February
22, 1852. Had three children:
George Merton, b. December 6, 1884.
Hattie Sophia, b. September 15, 1887.
Frank P., b. February 21, 1893.
Mary J., b. September, 1824; 1. Waterloo, Iowa; m. Dr. J. C.
Corey; d. November, 1893; incomplete. A very prominent physi
cian.
Benjamin Frank, d. in Potsdam; m. Henrietta Wheeler (now Mrs.
John J. Dutcher, Potsdam).

ABIJAH CHANDLER, b. 1762, E. Hartford, Conn.; d. November
4, 1830; m. Sabra Mann, b. 1763; d. June 19, 1837. He was a
son of Daniel and Violet Chandler of East Hartford, Conn. He and
his brother Daniel opened a store at the outlet of Enfield Pond, near Lebanon,
N. H., taking the goods there from East Hartford, but were not successful.
Dr. Hough states that he and five others came into town from Lebanon in the
fall of 1806. He selected a tract about half a mUe northeast of the present
village of NicholvUle and on the northerly side of the Turnpike, which was then
only a traU. Very Ukely he then built a cabin, since it is moraUy certain that
he moved into town the following spring with his wife and children. It is
tradition in the family that his youngest child, PoUy, born December 28, 1805,
was only six weeks old when he moved to town, which would show that he came
in advance of the party stated by Dr. Hough. Dr. Hough states and it is also
tradition in the town that she was the first white woman to settle in Chesterfield.
When the Turnpike came to be laid out (no doubt following the old traU) it ran
across the corner of his tract, leaving him a small triangular piece on the south-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 445
erly side. To this he added, holding at one time the Rufus Alden (now Eli
jah Bibbins) farm, though never taking title to any land. His log house was
on the northerly side of the road, nearly opposite the present Bibbins residence.
After a little he built a frame house on the southerly side, where he lived till
his death. Getting into difficulty owing to indorsement for others, his sons,
Hiram and Lewis, took title in 1824 to the tract on the northerly side of the
road and Rufiis Alden to that on the south side in 1836. Mr. Chandler at once
took an active part in the affairs of Hopkinton and also in religious matters, be
ing one of the early organizers of the Baptist Church. He held various offices,
as wiU be seen by a reference to the town records, and was evidently the fore
most man in that part of Hopkinton. He was a stone mason by trade and
took charge of or assisted in the building of the stone gristmill at NicholvUle
in 1827. Had eleven children:
Abijah, Jr., b. November 5, 1786; d. September 7, 1864; m. Olive
Chaney, October 26, 1816; b. June 19, 1800; d. November 15,
1842. He went to Portage, N. Y., in 1838, then Boston, N. Y.,
and died at the home of his son, Lucius D., in Concord, N. Y. Had
nine children: Abijah B., b. September 27, 1817; d. 1873; m. Elmira S.
Smith, October 13, 1842. Had three children:
Frances E., b. September, 1844; d. May 18, 1850.
Olive E., b. November 16, 1849, Elkhorn.
Jane A., b. January 2, 1852; d. 1866, Delavin, Wis.
Olive H., b. January 9, 1821; d. December 26, 1870; m.
Rev. WiUiam A. LighthaU. No issue.
George Hubbard, b. September 26, 1823; d. ; m. Lydia A.
Dennis, June, 1848; m. 2d, Fanny A. Davenport, October
II, 1850. Had nine children:
Nelson, b. April 19, 1849; m, Hannah O. Early,
AprU 22, 1875. Had four children:
Clara Etta, b. July 15, 1876.
Lydia W., b. August 28, 1878.
Hannah C, b. July 17, 1880.
^Villiam Nelson, b. June 28, 1882.
Lydia A., b. November 14, 1852; d. May, 1895;
m. P. De Lair, May 5, 1867; m. 2d, Hector
Urquhart, AprU 30, 1877. Had three children by
first and five by second marriage:
William, b. February 4, 1868.
Clara Grace, b. September 22, 1869; d.
December 28, 1888.
Emma E., b. December 22, 1871.
Jessie Dolena, b. September 17, 1879.
Fannie May, b. November 11, 1881.
Cristilla, b. 1884.
Donald Ross, b. May, 1887.
Lillian, b. April, 1890.

446 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Frances Olive, b. July 6, 1854; m. Louis Perrault,
October 11, 1867; d. August 26, 1902. Had two
children: Mary Florence, b. September 11, 1868;
1. Pittsburg, Pa. ; m. Lew Raphel.
Maud Olive, b. September 14, 1871; m.
P. EmUio Crutte; 1. Buder, Pa.
Orin A., b. February 14, 1856; 1. McDonald, Pa.;
m. Lucy Bates, September 16, 1880. Had two
chUdren: Olive Cecil, b. January 7, 1882; d. 1900.
Clara C.
Mary A., b. March 29, 1858; 1. East Liverpool,
Ohio; m. Smith Sechler, d. February 7, 1890; m.
2d, William T. Davis, September 15, 1892. Had
four chUdren by first and three by second marriage:
Charley Clarence, b. August 5, 1878.
Annie Pearl, b. May 13, 1883.
George Smith, b. February 2, 1885; d.
May 7, 1902.
Mary Edwina, b. July 2, 1889.
Frank \Vesley, b. June 9, 1895.
Ester Alice, b. November 13, 1897.
Edwin Meacon, b. March 10, 1902.
Clara C, b. September 20, i860; 1. McDonald, Pa.;
m. H. Reddick; incomplete. Had five children; only
three given:
Lucius W., b. November 15, 1862; d.
May 21, 1863.
Harriet M., b. January 2, 1865; d. Octo
ber 13, 1875.
Edwin A., b. December, 1868; 1. East
Liverpool, Ohio; m. Martha E. McAUister,
December 24, 1889. Had one child:
Otto M., b. December 25, 1891.
Clarinda S., b. June 24, 1825; d. May 5, 1871; m. Isaac
Dennis of Pike, N. Y. No issue.
Eunice A., b. August 26, 1827; d. March 3, 1857, Free
dom, N. Y. ; m. George N. Powell, November i, 1854.
No issue.
Lucius Daniel, b. September 6, 1829; 1. Springville,
N. Y. ; m. Susan O. Fowler, November I, 1854. Had
four children: Charles S., b. July 20, i860; d. April 15, 1866.
Mary L., b. November i, 1865; 1. Springville,
N. Y. ; m.  Brown. No issue.
Elmer A., b. December, 1867; 1. Buffalo, N. Y.;
m. Maud Edsall. Had one child:
Harold.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 447
Arthur L., b. February 14, 1873; 1. Buffalo, N. Y. ;
m.
Amanda M., b. September 16, 1831; d. December 29,
1853, Pike, N. Y.
Frances A., b. February 18, 1834; d. July 6, 1851, Boston,
N. Y.
Oscar F., b. September 8, 1837; d. AprU 29, 1850.
Sabra, b. March 6, 1790; d. March 3, 1843; m. James Trussell,
December, 1805; d. 1843. Both died of a malignant fever (epi
demic) that desolated NicholvUle that year, and were buried in the
same grave.
Amy, b. January 7, 1791; d. December 3, 1868, Fond du Lac,
Wis.; m. Heman Gray, b. August 21, 1787; d. October 31,
1814; m. 2d, Joseph Stevens, b. July, 1789; d. June 9, 1857.
Had two children by first and five by second marriage:
Isaac C, b. June 29, 1811; d. June 4, 1898; m. Mary
Gray, November 22, 1838; d. July 28, 1843; m. 2d,
Elizabeth P. Waste, January 8, 1845; d. March 2, 1890.
Had two children by first and four by second marriage:
Amy L., b. October 9, 1839; 1. Montana; m.
Thomas TyrreU. Had four chUdren:
Lizzie, Clara, Fred and Julia.
Mary, b. July 26, 1843; 1. Plainfield, Wis.; m.
Charles Lawton; m. 2d, John Estrum. Had four
children :
Minnie L., Warren L., Arthur L.
and Jennie L.
Irvin, b. July 5, 1847; 1. Ogdensburg, Wis.; m.
Jennette M. Dean, January i, 1889. No issue.
Martha, b. September 20, 1849; 1. Ogdensburg,
Wis.; m. Seymour J. Colby, December 31, 1871.
Had three chUdren:
Jennie, b. June 24, 1874; d. August 30,
1881.
Elma, b. November 18, 1877; d. October
8, 1879.
Ethil, b. June 12, 1889.
Sarah Jane, b. December 13, 1851; d. November
2, 1888; m. George Gray. Had one child:
Oscar, b. July 25, 1887; adopted by his
uncle Irvin.
Lydia E., b. September 22, 1857; d. July 20, 1867.
Lucina, b. August 21, 1813; d. 1878, Fort Atkinson, Wis.;
m. Eason BacheUer; d. December 19, 1883, Chilton, Wis.
Had five children:
Amy, b. May 3, 1839; 1. Ohlman, IU.; m. Rev.
Phillips F. Gay. Had three children:
Minnie, Frank and Flora.

448 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Charles R. ; wounded; d. a prisoner.
Mary L., b. November 17, 1843; 1. Iron Mountain,
Mich.; m. Andrew Crawford, d. January 21, 1899.
Had six chUdren.
Hattie, b. May 10, 1862; L Portland, Ore.;
. m. Thomas E. Cone. No issue.
Mamie, b. October 10, 1868; 1. Iron
Mountain, Mich.; m. Albert H. Hooper.
Had four chUdren:
George, b. March 31, 1891.
Harold, b. February 15, 1893.
AVilliam, b. July 25, 1895.
Alice, b. January 21, 1897.
Ida, b. December 29, 1871; 1. Ontonagon,
Mich.; m. WiU E. Barber. Had four
chUdren: Irene, b. AprU 11, 1892.
Andrew, b. May 18, 1894.
Eugenia, b. August 20, 1896.
Dorothy, b. June 21, 1900.
Lottie, b. March 10, 1874; 1- Chilton, Wis.;
m. John C. Harper. No issue.
Hazel, b. February 8, 1889; 1. Iron Mt.
Jesse, b. August 27, 1877; d. October 5,
1877.
Frank H., 1. Welcome, Wis. Had two children:
Frank.Mary.
Joseph, 1. Durand, Wis.; married. Had four
children :
Amy S., b. August 5, 1877; m. Arthur
Holden.
Eason C, b. February 13, 1882.
Flora, b. June 3, 1885.
Gilbert, b. February 8, 1889.
Henry C, b. September 11, 1821; d. December 27, 1876,
in Canton, Wis. ; m.  Pike; m. 2d, Laura Wilson, d.
July 26, 1896, in Peru, Wis. Had four children:
Coit, b. October 23, 1846; d. April 13, 1865; a
soldier.
Sarah E., b. May 7, 1850; 1. Eau Galle, Wis.; m.
Wm. Cumpston, 1871. Had two children:
Frank, b. February 17, 1872; 1. Eau Galle;
m. Ira Vanderpool, December 25, 1896.
Had one child:
Jessie, b. August 15, 1 901.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 449
Minnie, b. August i, 1873; 1. Eau GaUe;
m. James Vradenburg, May i, 1894. Had
one child :
Blanch, b. August 2, 1898.
Charles L., b. July 12, 1855, Brasher, N. Y.;
1. Eau GaUe; m. Mary Vradenburg. Had four
children: Lottie, b. September 15, 1880; m. Edward
Baskin, September 18, 1 90 1 . Had one chUd:
RusseU, b. September 5, 1902.
Glenn, b. September 11, 1882.
Herbert, b. November 10, 1885.
Ernest, b. August 31, 1889.
Sidney, b. August 17, 1857; d. August 27, 1873.
Charles L., b. AprU 3, 1823; d. April, 1849.
Jerusha, b. May 16, 1826; 1. Eau Claire, Wis.; m. Rob
ert Felton, AprU, 1850; d. October 21, 1880. Had four
children: George W^., 1. Quincy, IU.
Charles S.,b. August 8, 1852; 1. Eau Claire, Wis.;
m. Henrietta Cummings, 1884. Had two chUdren:
Jessie, b. April 19, 1885; d. January 19,
1895.
Edward C, September 18, 1891.
Adelbert A., b. October 24, 1854; 1. Eau Clahe,
Wis.; m. Almerta Roberts, May 5, 1884. Had
eight children:
Luman R., b. August 23, 1886.
Floyd H., b. April 15, 1888.
Harry I., b. March 6, 1889.
Roy W., b. November 4, 1890.
Rafter S., b. February 19, 1892.
Gertie B., b. November 26, 1894; d. 1895.
Harold G., b. November i, 1897.
Adelbert, b. September 7, 1900.
Hattie, b. August i, 1862; 1. Eau Claire, Wis.; m.
George W. Pond, November 24, 1880. Had five
children :
Kathryn, b. August 12, 1881.
George A., b. February 20, 1886.
Robert W., b. July 30, 1890.
Margaret E., b. January i, 1898.
Raymond, b. March 30, 1902.
Sarah A., b. June 9, 1828; d. November 30, 1882, Mas
sena, N. Y. ; m. James Forsyth, February, 1849; m. 2d,
WiUiam CarvUl. Mr. Forsyth died in a rebel prison at
Richmond, Va. Had five chUdren by first and one by
second marriage:

450 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Charlotte N., b. February 26, 1850; 1. Massena
Centre, N. Y. ; m. Nathan H. Denison, November
7, 1877. Had three children:
Laurens A., b. July 19, 1879.
Iran R., b. October 10, 1882.
Rilan S., b. November 4, 1884.
Margaret R., b. May 7, 1853; 1. Port Dover,
Ont.; m. WiUiam Stamp, December, 1876. Had
four chUdren: Roy, b. July 7, 1879.
Earl, b. July, 1883.
Bessie, b. September 27, 1886.
Vera, b. July 5, 1893.
Lucina, b. March 22, 1855; d. January 8, 1899.
W^ alter J., b. December 21, 1858; 1. South Shore,
S. D.; m. Mary Farnham. Had four children:
Sarah, Elsie, Minerva and W^alter.
Robert A., b. September 21, 1861; d. October 20,
1891.
William E., b. April i, 1868; 1. Nyando, N. Y.;
m. Lottie Hepburn, November 19, 1892. Had one
child: Robert, b. August 14, 1894.
Heman G., b. October 21, 1830, Canton, N. Y. ; d.
March 17, 1901; m. Jane M. Campbell, AprU 8, 1857; 1.
Fond du Lac, Wis. Had six chUdren:
Clayton C, b. May 19, 1858; 1. Sebastapol, Cal.;
m. Mrs. Amanda McNutt, March 6, 1896. No
issue.
Alta B., b. February 14, i860; 1. Santa Barbara,
Cal.; m. John R. Purdy, May 9, 1882; d. Febru
ary 7, 1900; m. 2d, J. W. Miller, June 4, 1902.
No issue.
Dr. Frank Tyron,b. March4, 1867; 1. Mt. Pleas
ant, Iowa; m. Emma K. Griffin, November 26,
1896. No issue.
Fred H., b. December 18, 1868; drowned August 5,
1874.
Birdie Emily, b. June 30, 1873; '^- May 7, 1891.
Claude H., b. November 21, 1876; m. Bertha
Folts, August 27, 1 90 1. Had one child:
Teah Jane, b. August, 1902.
Sophia, b. March 12, 1793; d. 1805.
Lemuel, b. May 10, 1796; d. April 20, 1877, NicholviUe; m.
Rosina O. Brown, February 9, 1818; b. August 6, 1801; d. AprU
14, 1851; m. 2d, Harriet Squire, March 15, 1859; ^- Had seven
chUdren:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 451
Mary R., b. December 27, 1818; d. August 29, 1878; m.
Titus Simonds, November, 1840; b. July 11, 18 16, Shel
don, Vt.; d. May II, 1896. Had four children:
Caroline C, b. March 17, 1845; 1. Soudiem Pines,
N. C. ; m. Smith S. Thomas, September 13, 1864.
Had five chUdren:
Franklin D., b. June 12, 1866; d. March
17, 1894.
Flora A., b. September 4, 1868; d. July 23,
1893-
Bertha M., b. October 8, 1877; d. May
25, 1895.
Agnes R., b. September 26, 1879.
Arthur J., b. December 15, 1881.
Jerome A., b. June 15, 1849; 1. Potsdam, N. Y.;
m. Eleanor L. Wright, June 19, 1883. Had one
chUd: Mildred W., b. December 13, 1885.
Jennie A. E., b. March 15, 1858; 1. Denver,
Colo.; m. Clinton G. Hickey, January 31, 1885.
Had four children:
Ethelwyn E., b. March 14, 1886; d. No
vember 10, 1 89 1.
Muriel M., b. July 11, 1887; d. November
14, 1891.
Harold L., b. November 15, 1892, at Den
ver, Colo.
Dorothy S., b. February 17, 1895, at Den
ver, Colo.
Olive M., 1. Hopkinton; m. A. A. Atwood. (See
Phelps family.)
L. Henry, b. June 23, 1821; d. 1895, San Diego; m.
Caroline Clark, December, 1852. No issue.
Ann Eliza, b. August 6, 1823; d. June 29, 1858; m.
James Brownell. No issue. He kept hotel at N. Law
rence, Norwood, N. Y., etc.
Horatio, b. February 3, 1827; d. December 24, 1901,
Keswick, Cal.; m. Malvina O'Neill, 1858. Had six chU
dren: Edwin A., b. i860; 1. Red Bluff, Cal.; m. Maud
B. Gardner, 1888. Had three children:
Earl, b. 1889.
Leo T., b. 1891.
Velma M., b. 1898.
Minnie, b. 1863; 1. Hood River, Ore.; m. Homer
M. Wood, 1886. Had three children:
Homer, b. 1887.
Horatio T., b. 1890.
Harold O., b. 1891.

452 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Lemuel, b. 1866; 1. Palmer, Ore.
Warren, b. 1870; 1. Almeda, Cal.; m. Alice JoUy-
mour, 1893. Had three chUdren:
Raymond ^V., b. 1894.
Genevieve A., b. 1895.
Gertrude T., b. 1897.
May F., b. 1878; I. Sacramento; m. Wallace W.
MacFarland 1 902.
Alma C, b. 1880; 1. Sacramento.
Jerome P., b. March 9, 1832; d. August 25, 1848.
Benjamin F., b. May 5, 1834; d. May 20, 1842.
Clarissa R., b. October zo, 1840; d. March 3, 1848.
Harry, b. February 14, 1798; d. September 19, 1872; m. Dolly
Ferris of WUliston, Vt., March 5, 1825; b. September 17, 1801.
Had six chUdren:
Hector, b. March 6, 1826; d. March 9, 1832.
Helen M., b. March 2, 1830; d. September 25, 1892; m.
Edson J. WUson, May i, 1851; b. March 4, 1829; d.
September i, 1894. Went to California in 1854 and was
very successfiil. (See Samuel WUson family. )
Frederick B., b. July 17, 1832; 1. Vacaville, Cal.; m.
Rosalia ElUthorpe, b. May 2, 1839; ^- ^^7 2, 1869; m.
2d, Susan L. Brock in 1874; b. August 28, 1852. On
September 15, 1852, he started for CaHfornia by way of the
Isthmus of Panama, which he mostly crossed on foot. He
worked over two years in the mines at Shasta, Cal., then for
a time in a soda factory at Shasta City, and then he and
cousin Horatio run a store and stage line at Horsetown. In
1 86 1 he sold out to his brother T. Harry, and bought the
Empire Livery and Sales Stables in Shasta City. WhUe in
Shasta he was twice elected county treasurer. In 1870 he
went into the lumber business at a place now called Elmira.
He has a fine farm near Vacaville. Had two chUdren by
first and four by second marriage:
Anna S., b. October 7, i860; 1. VacaviUe; m. Pro
fessor James F. Duncan, b. February 23, 1857. No
issue.
Harry D., b. January 10, 1864; 1. Vacaville; m.
Jessie M. McCrory, b. AprU 28, 1869. Had six
chUdren: Rosalia C, b. June 27, 1890.
Russell R., b. September 26, 1891.
Helen Ruth, b. March 26, 1893.
Harry D., Jr., b. November 9, 1898.
Lloyd McCrory, b. March 25, 1900.
Son, b. August 6, 1902.
Edson J., b. April 4, 1875; d. October 7, 1893,
by accidental discharge of gun.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 453
Ellen, b. October 7, 1876; d. November 20, 1876.
Frederick B., Jr., b. October 3, 1878.
Walter W., b. October 22, 1880.
Infant Son, d. April, 1833.
Marion ^V., b. July 2, 1837; d. February 2, 1900; m.
Aruna H. Bronson, September 22, 1859; 1. Wintero, Cal.
Had five chUdren:
Frankie, d. age four years.
Flora, m. Thomas McLeod, 1878. Had three chil
dren: Ethel, Earl and Fred.
Girl, b. October, 1862; m. Joseph Young. Had
two chUdren: Walter, b. May, 1882.
Herbert, b. May, 1887.
Rose C, b. October, 1867; m. Lee Stiltz, 1892.
Had one child:
Marion.
Mamie, b. October, 1873; m. Eben Cheetham.
Had three children:
Ruth, Myron and Lawrence.
T. Harry, b. December 13, 1839; 1. San Francisco, Cal.; m.
Frances A. McCargar in 1879; d. May 11, 1884. He
went to California at the age of eighteen, and was in the
livery business at Horsetown till 1861. He then was in
business at Vallejo, Cal., Virginia City, Nev., St. Louis,
Mo., Oakland, Cal., Portland, Ore., and San Francisco,
Cal. He is now retired from active business. No issue.
Clarissa, b. March 28, 1796; d. June 24, 1831; m. Ebenezer
Frost, AprU 28, 18 17; b. October 9, 1790; d. January 26, 1863.
He buUt and conducted a trip hammer shop in Hopkinton vUlage
from 1 81 5 to 1820. (See record of his family.)
Philo C, b. September 9, 1800; d. May 9, 1883; m. Nancy M.
Castle, December 31, 1822; d. January 23, 1895. They kept
hotel in North Lawrence and other places, when they returned to
NicholvUle and built the last house east on Church Street, north side,
now owned by L. C. Chandler. Had seven chUdren:
Adeline, b. October 10, 1823; d. September, 1901; m.
Philo Abbott, September i, 1842. (See his family.)
Edgar, b. May 14, 1825; d. December 21, 1825.
Loraine S., b. June 3, 1827; d. October I, 1847, Nichol
vUle; m. Alonzo Greene, December 5, 1844; b. May 5,
1 81 2; d. Had two chUdren:
Eva L., b. August 28, 1845; 1. Quincy, IU.; m.
Charles P. Hyde, Septemtser 28, 1881; d. June
20, 1884, NicholvUle. No issue.
Alonzo C., b. July 3, 1847; I. Quincy, 111. ; m.
Mrs. Mary Richards, January, 1871; d. August 5,
1895. No issue.

454 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Eleanor M., b. May 24, 1829; d. June 28, 1829.
Rosamond C, b. September 13, 1831; d. October 18,
1831.
Frances N., b. August 19, 1834; L Quincy, IU.
Ellen M., b. January 28, 1838; d. June 14, 1842.
Hiram, b. October 10, i8oi; d. June 27, 1869; m. Lucinda Peck.
He Hved on the home place tiU the death of his parents and in his
later years in the first house east of Depot Street. Had three children:
Lorenzo, b. August 13, 1834; d. January i, 1894; m.
Ellen Partridge, March 11, 1854; 1. HoUiston, Mass. He
enHsted as a private in Co. H, 1 06th Regiment and was ad
vanced to Heutenant. He died in Soldiers' Home, Hamp
ton, Va. Had two chUdren:
Frank L., b. July 19, 1856; 1. Newark, N. J.; m.
Calista P. C. Sanford, January 14, 1883. Had two
children: Rose E., b. June 27, 1885; d. June 10,
1898.
Grace C, b. March 18, 1889.
Ellen L., b. September 4, 1859; m. Edward E.
Leonard, September 7, 1876. Had two children :
Bertha E., b. April 7, 1879; d. May 4,
1879.
William F., b. December 28, 1885.
Lewis P., b. October 11, 1836; 1. Malone, N. Y.; m.
Phebe Hall, AprU 22, 1858; m. 2d, Maria Beardsley. En
listed in Co. H, 1 06th Regiment, and served his fiiU time.
Was in trade in NicholvUle some years. Had one chUd :
Mabel.
Luman C, b. November 17, 1840; 1. Nicholville; m. Amy
Weller, January, 1863. No issue.
Lewis, b. September 16, 1804; d. February 8, 1866; m. Orinda
Beecher, b. August 14, 1815; d. May 12, 1894. She was a
daughter of Austin and SaUy Beecher of New MUford, Conn. Mr.
Chandler built a house on the southerly side of the Turnpike in Nichol
viUe, a quarter of a mUe east, now owned by Byron Reed. Had four
chUdren :
Flora A., b. November 23, 1840; d. June 21, 1851.
Emily F., b. July 24, 1843; 1. NicholvUle; m. E. Allen
Wood, January 15, 1868. Had four children:
Benjamin W^., b. November 9, 1868; m. NelUe
McClellan, December 17, 1892. Had one child:
Emily, b. December 6, 1896.
Hiram L., b. December 6, 1870.
Alice Viola, b. July 15, 1873.
Grace Towne, b. June 25, 1875.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 455
Clayton A., b. October 6, 1847; d. June 29, 1877; m.
Alma Hall, August 23, 1869. Had two chUdren:
Flora L., b. August 29, 1872.
Mabel L., b. May 10, 1875.
Henry B., b. September 10, 1850; m. Julia M. Preston,
September 5, 1877. Had one child:
Anna Stella, b. August 23, 1878.
Polly, b. December 28, 1805, Lebanon, N. H.; d. September 8,
1894; m. Otis Farrar; b. June 14, 1791, Townsend, Mass.; d.
August 25, 1875. Had seven children:
Julia, b. May 8, 1828; d. December, 1879; m. Alonzo
White, February z8, 1850; b. November i, 1822; d.
October i, 1883. Had three children:
S. Olin, b. July 10, 1855; d. January 4, 1883,
Denver, Colo.
Flora M., b. May 13, i860; d. June 25, 1863.
Flora E., b. April 21, 1864; 1. Ithaca, N. Y.; m.
Professor Frank D. Boynton, June, 1886. Had
three children:
Frank D., Jr., b. February 14, 1896.
Barbara, b. February 14, 1896.
Paul W., b. November 5, 1897.
Catharine, b. September 14, 1829; d. September i, 1863;
m. Mark White, Esq., d. September 6, 1869; lawyer and
postmaster at NicholviUe. Had one child:
Ella K., b. June 15, 1859; 1. NicholviUe; m. Azro
L. Blake, November 3, i8gi. Had one chUd:
Winona, b. September 9, 1894.
Amanda, b. December 29, 1830; 1. East Knox, Me.; m.
Sanford Smith of Dickinson. No issue.
Otis, b. January 9, 1833; 1. East Knox, Me.; m. Charlotte
Kimpton; m. 2d, CaUsta Chase. Had four children by first
and two by second marriage:
Elsie, b. December 31, i860; 1. La Crosse, Wis.;
m. E. Smith, La Crosse, Wis. Had one child:
Lark.
Lillian, b. January 7, 1863; 1. Providence, R. I.; m.
W. Hayden of Providence, R. I. Had one child:
Belle.
William, b. November 16, 1864; 1. Salt Lake City,
J. Burton, b. January 24, 1868; 1. Fort Jackson; m.
Cora Ober. Had two chUdren:
Mildred, b. March 31, 1889.
Lillian, b. March 6, 1896.
Maud, b. April 3, 1880; 1. East Knox, Me.; m. W.
F. Wentworth, November, 1898. Had one child;
Mabel E., b. AprU 9, 1900.
Myrtle, b. August 3, 1884; 1. East Knox, Me.

456 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Columbus, b. April i6, 1836; 1. Dickinson Centre; m.
Laura TUden. Served in 96th New York Volunteers for four
years. Had seven children:
Bertha, b. April 25, 1872; 1. Worcester, Mass.; m.
James Loveland. Had one child:
^V alter, b. June 18, 1892.
Ida, b. February i, 1874; 1. Boston, Mass.;m. How
ard Carey. Had two children:
Ralph, b. May 13, 1900.
Howard, b. October 29, 1902.
Milton, b. August 23, 1876; 1. Dickinson, N. Y.
Martha, b. June 22, 1878; 1. Worcester, Mass.; m.
Levi Barton. Had two children:
Forest, b. February 16, 1901.
Lester, b. September 30, 1902.
Lee, b. November 8, 1880; 1. Dickinson Centre,
N. Y.
Carl, b. Feburuary 24, 1886; 1. Dickinson Centre,
N. Y.
Anna, b. November 4, 1889; 1. Dickinson Centre,
N. Y.
Emily, b. April 23, 1839; 1. Milwaukee, Wis.; m. Chase
Roys, July 30, 1862; 1. Washington, D. C. Both were
teachers in Washington, D. C. Had nine chUdren:
Lawrence P., b. June 14, 1863; 1. Carthage,
N. Y. ; m. Jennie Servis. Had one chUd:
Leland P., b. March II, 1 89 1.
Frank D., b. September 18, 1866; 1. Washington,
D. C; m. Daisey Mobley in 1887. Had one child:
Maggie, b. 1888; d. 1889.
Fred T., b. March 10, 1868; L Washington, D. C;
m. Mary Lanham in 1891. Had two children:
Lawrence P., b. March 10, 1894.
Frank S., b. April 11, 1902.
Filius Q., b. December 9, 1869; d. October 18,
1871.
Rose, b. December 19, 1 870; d. December 18, 1871.
Nellie, b. October 13, 1874; 1. Milwaukee, Wis.;
m. David H. Carr, October 29, 1892. Had five
children: Nettie Belle, b. July 24, 1893, Washington,
D. C.
Emily May, b. August 30, 1895, Washing
ton, D. C.
David Willie, b. November 2, 1896, Wash
ington, D. C.
Mary Blanch, b. April 25, 1899, Milwaukee.
Willford W., b. November 3, 1900, Mil
waukee.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 457
Nettie, b. October 13, 1874; 1. Milwaukee; m.
Clarence A. Harding. Had five children:
Nellie D., b. January 7, 1894, Washington.
Clarence C, b. July z, 1896, Washington.
Chase R., August 21, 1898, Milwaukee.
Merville A., b. January 13, 1 900, MUwaukee.
Gladys P., b. May 30, 1902, Milwaukee.
Carrie, b. May 19, 1876, Washington, D. C. ; d.
1883.
Julia, b. March 6, 1880; d. February 27, 1891.
Carrie, b. November 9, 1841; 1. Nicholville, N. Y.; m. Mark
White, January 28, 1868; d. September 6, 1869. No
issue Uving. He was appointed postmaster at Nicholville,
April 23, 1 86 1, and on his death his wife was appointed to
the same office and held it for very nearly twenty years.
DAVID COVEY, d. October 22, 1837; m. Lynda Post. He was mar
ried in Vermont and first settled on Madrid road in Potsdam in 1804. He
came to Hopkinton about 1807 and lived in a log house on north side of the
road some twenty rods west of the present residence of John Leach, being
part of the Samuel Abbott farm. He afterwards took up a tract a half mile west
of this, now owned by Michael Conner. His house there was a log one
and stood a few rods east of the present house. He and wife both died at
this place. No trace of either home remains. He, EUsha Risdon, Samuel
B. Abbott and Ira Smith married sisters. (See sketch among settlers. ) Had
ten chUdren: Gilbert, b. 1805; d. August 4, 1853; m. Lucinda Delong, October
18, 1829; b. January, 1812; d. July 29, 1892. Mr. Covey was
the first male chUd born in Potsdam. Had twelve chUdren:
Marion R., b. November 28, 1830; d. March 29, 1900,
BeUeville, N. Y.; m. Daniel H. Chapman, December 20,
1848; d. April 26, 1895. Had two children:
Carrie D., b. June 17, 1855; 1. BelleviUe, N. Y.;
m. William B. Doane, June 14, 1876. Had two
children: Helen Marion, b. March 4, 1887.
Daniel W^illiam, b. July 6, 1895.
Henry Herbert, b. May 2, 1863; 1. BellevUle; m.
Helen S. Sprague, January 4, 1889. Had two
chUdren: Niles Henry, b. July 14, 1891.
Orren Daniel, b. October 17, 1897.
Edwin R., b. October 6, 1832; d. June 12, 1890, New
Richmond, Wis.; m. Cordelia A. Billings, January i, 1857;
1. Roberts, Wis. Was a member of Co. E, io6th New
York Volunteers. Had one child:
George Kirk, b. September II, 1857; d. AprU 12,
1870.

458 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Louisa Helen, b. August 2, 1834; '^- J^^Y H» 1841.
Charles Carroll, b. March 10, 1836; d. August 12, 1865,
Potsdam; single.
Elvira L., b. January 18, 1838; d. in Dartford, Wis.; m.
William H. Morgan, November 29, i860; m. 2d, Richard
Cave. Had one chUd:
Carrie Marion, 1. Billings, Mont.; m. Charles
Chaffee. Had two chUdren:
Marion and Miles.
David Martin, b. March 14, 1840; d. December 26, 1844.
Martha H., b. April 4, 1842; 1. Belleville, N. Y.; m, Os
good Ingraham, November 7, 1861; d. AprU 8, 1896.
Mary Ellen, b. April 4, 1842; d. April 3, 1843.
Henry Gilbert, b. November 28, 1844; d. April 22, 1885,
Norwood, N. Y.; Co. A, 60th New York Volunteers; m.
Julia Dufur; d.; m. 2d, Anna Rexford, November 13, 1870;
1. Springfield, Mass. Had one chUd by first and two by
second marriage:
Clara.
Mary E., b. February 10, 1872; 1. Utica, N. Y.;
m. W. M. Hubbard, February 28, 1893. Had
two children: M. Henry, b. March i, 1896.
¦William Francis, b. June 28, 1901.
Frances, b. March 22, 1873; ^- Springfield, Mass.;
m. C. P. Staunton, December 20, 1888. Had
three children:
Sarah 'Winifred, b. March 21, 1890.
Arthur Clifton, b. April 23, 1892.
Lee Ralph, b. September 13, 1894.
Mary Esther, b. November 2, 1846; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. ;
m. Thomas RUey, June 8, 1876. Had five chUdren:
Fred W., b. November 6, 1877; m. Elizabeth
Peino, AprU 19, 1899. Had one child:
Marion Esther, b. November 22, 1901.
Mary Louise, b. July 29, 1879.
Kittie Augusta, b. September 25, 1882; d. March
26, 1888.
William Thomas, b. June 26, 1884; d. August
8, 1885.
Charles Gilbert, b. October 20, 1885.
George M., b. August 30, 1849; d. May 26, 1854.
Frances M., b. July 21, 1852; 1. Belleville, N. Y.; m.
Seward Church, February 24, 1870; 1. Belleville. Had
one chUd: May, b. March 24, 1881.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 459
Julia A., m. Carlos Humphrey. He had a blacksmith shop at Fort
Jackson and went west. Nothing has since been heard of them.
Solon, d. in New Orleans County, 1836, single.
Cautius Climetus, b. October 15, 1810; d. November 17, 1852;
m. Mary A. Hamlin, b. Bridgeport, Vt., February 6, 1 8 14; d.
November 22, 1887. He settled and practised law in Marietta,
Ohio, and stood well as a lawyer and politician. For a time he was
the antagonist of Salmon P. Chase. He was twice elected state sen
ator from the fourteenth district of Ohio, and was such at the time of
his death. He was a passenger on the steamer " Buckeye Bell" on
the Muskingum River when its boiler exploded and he was killed by
the explosion or drowned. Of their five children only Kate and Mary
survived chUdhood:
Kate, b. June 16, 1842; m. Captain John Ticknor; 1.
Montague, Mass. ; m. 2d, B. F. Miner of Montague, Mass.
Captain Ticknor was killed at the battle of Gettysburg. Had
three children:
Karl, Birch and Lewis.
Mary, b. February 14, 1852; m. Hon. John M. Barlow,
New Lisbon, Wis. ; 1. New Lisbon, Wis.
Mary E., b. August 22, 1814; d. November 6, 1856, at Hopkin
ton; m. Isaiah B. B. Hale, October 12, 1841; b. July 6, 1816, in
Vermont; d. November 6, 1859, Wernerville, Wis. He taught
school in the Durfey district several terms. They were married at
McConnellsville, Ohio, moved to Wheeling, Va. , for seven or eight
years, then to Marietta, Ohio, tiU 1854, and then to Werner, Wis.
He was a lawyer but soon went into business and politics. Had six
chUdren :
Virginia E., b. July 6, 1842; d. November 28, 1872,
Plainview, Minn.; m. D. M. Davies.
William E., b. May i r, 1845; m. EUa C. Sutherland.
He is a successful lawyer in MinneapoHs, Minn.
Charles R., b. December 11, 1846; 1. Merrill, Wis.;
married.
Mary, b. 1850, at Williamsport, Va. ; d. in infancy.
Alice N., b. March 7, 1852; d. 1883, Plainview, Minn.;
m. James Dodge.
Frederick C, b. June 20, 1856, at Werner, Wis.; d. 1856.
Amanda, m. Aaron Vanderker. It has been impossible to get any
trace of her or her family.
Martin H., b. October 15, 1818; d. October 25, 1863, Stockholm;
m. Mary A. Glidden, February 26, 1843; b. August 19, 1820; 1.
Granton, Wis. Had two chUdren:
Martin, Jr., b. December 28, 1843; d. September 29,
1888; m. Mary MacCumber, July 5, 1865. Had five chil
dren: Amy, b. June 20, 1866; 1. Marshfield, Wis.; m. Jo
seph C. Marsh, July 21, 1885. Had two children:

460 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Martina, b. September 28, 1888.
Joseph, Jr., b. May 6, igoo.
Alice, b. October 22, 1868; 1. PhUHps, Wis.; m.
Nathan E. Lane, November 6, 1891. Had two
chUdren: Lyde, b. April 6, 1893.
Gladys, b. December 29, 1901.
Anna, b. February 22, 1871; 1. SpokevUle, Wis.; m.
John Grasser, December 24, 1892. No issue.
Viola E., b. January 6, 1872; 1. Withee, Wis.; m.
W. C. Tufts, December 20, 1895. Had two chil
dren: Ruth A., b. March 16, 1897.
Katharin M., bom October 2, 1901.
Edward V., b. June 8, 1881.
Mary Ellen, b. June 20, 1858; 1. Granton, Wis.; m. Cas-
sius H. Ide, October 29, 1900. No issue.
Adaline, b. 1824; d. July 22, 1865, CaldweU, Ohio; m. James M.
Hull, June 12, 1849; d. March 20, 1873. Had four chUdren:
Mary A., b. April 8, 1850; 1. Bellefourche, S. D.; m. John
W. Caldwell.
Linda Post Hull, b. July 12, 1852; 1. Spearfish, S. D.;
m. Hiram Dotson.
Nora E., b. January 24, 1855; 1. ChUlicothe, Ohio; m.
Edward Ogden.
Cautius C.,b. March 27, 1857; 1. Spearfish, S. D.; m.
Elizabeth E. Yeman; d. August 15, 1894. Had four
children: Eleanor Adaline, b. March 29, 1881.
James Frederick, b. July 19, 1883.
Mary Emma, b. November 30, 1886.
Clifford Clayton, b. October 15, 1893.
George, b. August 6, 1825; d. HuntsviUe, Mo., August 21, 1 88 1;
m. Martha F. Bradley, July 30, 1854; b. March 13, 1838; 1.
HuntsviUe, Mo. He enHsted in the Mexican War and served for a
time. He came back to Hopkinton on a brief visit, and after leaving
nothing was heard of him tiU December, 1 90 1 . He took for some
reason the name of Edward George St. Clair, and learned the trade
of printer and pressman at Cincinnati, Ohio, and in 1854 went to
Missouri, where he married and followed his trade principally at
HuntsviUe. In August, 1881, he was accidentally and fatally in
jured by the cars, dying ten days later. The paper on which he
worked and the Moherly Chronicle gave him high commendation as
printer, citizen and man. By his marriage he had thirteen children,
nine of whom survived him. I get most of this information from
the notices printed on his death. Had thirteen children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 461
Ada M., b. April 7, 1856; d. June zz, 1858.
Edward G., b. June zi, 1858; I. Meadville, Mo.; m. Mary
M. Dye, June 26, 1887; b. May 4, i866. Had four
children :
Shirley F., b. June 9, 1889.
Rachel H., b. November 3, 1891.
Florence E., b. March 21, 1894.
Mary M., b. August 19, 1898.
Annie B., b. November 11, 1859; 1- Richmond, Mo.;
m. George W. Eadington, December 12, 1882. Had
seven chUdren:
William R., b. March 28, 1884; d. August 9,
1884.
Harry C, b. July 12, 1886.
Lillian F., b. December 31, 1890.
Ella N., b. February 9, 1894.
Clarence E., b. February 9, 1894; d. June 18,
1894.
Mary E., b. July 28, 1895.
Velma G., b. June 30, 1900.
Florence S., b. March 4, 1862; L MeadviUe, Mo.; m. R. T.
Dye, October 29, 1885. Had eight children:
Etta L., b. November 5, 1886.
George O., b. February 7, 1888.
Mary F., b. February 28, 1890.
Robert N., b. June 9, 1891.
Henry E., b. February 24, 1893.
Stella, b. January 11, 1895; d. January 25, 1895.
Florence M., b. February 25, 1896.
Virginia A., b. September 13, 1898.
Ernest L., b. September 22, 1863; d. November 25,
1865.
Virginia L., b. October 25, 1865; 1. HuntsviUe, Mo.; m.
Victor Vanderbeck, June 28, 1893. Had four children:
Zella M., b. April 2, 1894.
Victor F., b. July 27, 1896.
Arthur R., b. October 24, 1899.
Virginia P., b. June 3, 1901.
Everett S., b. December 6, 1867; d. Januaryl, 1899.
Fannie M., b. February 25, 1870; d. same day.
WiUiam R., b. February 3, 1871; 1. Clifton Hill, Mo.; m.
Nettie Harmony, March 11, 1900. Had one child:
Vesta C, b. AprU 8, 1901.
Harry K., b. September 13, 1873; 1. Lexington, Mo.
Maggie P., b. April 26, 1876; d. April 25, 1877.
George W., b. July 26, 1878; 1. HuntsviUe, Mo.
Lucretia, b. April 21, 1880; d. April 12, 1902.

46z EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Norman, a son of David Covey, fell into a well when a child and
was drowned. His mother missed him and after searching for him
without avaU went to the well and was horrified to see his crust of
bread floating on the water below. Frantic as she was, she went down
the weU to investigate, when all her fears burst full upon her. Hero
ically she brought him up, brave woman that she was, but it was too
late. His Httle spirit had taken its flight.
SOLOMON CHITTENDEN, b. September 14, 1761, KilHngworth,
Conn.; d. February 9, 1855; m. Susannah Sanford, June, 1785; b. January
20, 1767, Old Woodbury, Conn.; d. August zz, 1855. He was a soldier
in the war of the Revolution, serving two enHstments of three years each
and some months, and drew a pension of $8 per month for a great many
years. Both lived some years in and died and were buried in Hopkinton,
highly respected. Had twelve chUdren:
Nathaniel, b. October 12, 1786; d. aged twenty-one, at Troy.
Oliva, b. February 8, 1788; d. January 19, 1867; m. John Crouch;
1. in Orwell, Vt. Had two children:
Nelson C.,b. August 2, 1820; d. June 9, 1897, ParishvUle;
m. Margaret M. Abram, June 16, 1852; d. May 26, 1893,
aged sixty-seven years. Had two children:
William N., b. April 5, 1854; ^- Norwood, N. Y.;
m. Florence M. Holmes, September 4, 1878. Had
four children: Nelson H., b. October 16, 1879.
Charles E., b. July 11, 1881.
Harry B., b. August 21, 1883.
Arthur W., b. November 12, 1885.
Oliva C, b. May 5, 1861; 1. Aliens Falls, N. Y.;
m. EUas Bell, June 16, 1881. No issue.
Mary A., d. August 6, 1873, aged fifty-three years; m.
Henry Thatcher. Had one child:
Emma E., d. June z6, 1877, aged twenty-five; m.
Elias BeU, January 4, 1870. No issue.
Polly, b. February 7, 1790.
Joseph N., b. January 2, 1792; d. May 3, 1869, at OrweU, Vt.;
m. Olivia Ormsbee; m. 2d, PameHa Brewer. A very prominent
and successfiil man of Orwell, Vt.; a member of Assembly and
colonel in the militia. No issue.
Chauncey, b. January 10, 1794; d. February 27, 1868; m. Malmda
Wicker, November 7, 1816; b. August 2, 1796; d. August z8,
1868. He held a fine farm on south side of the river and just west
erly of Fort Jackson. Had seven children:
Harriet J., b. September 17, 1817; d. May 7, 1894; m.
Abel Gage, January 31, 1 851; died December 13, 1878.
Had five children:
Justice B., d. in infancy.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 463
Sarah M., b. July 4, 1852; single; 1. Winthrop, N. Y.
Julius C, b. July 5, 1854; d. June 2, 1880.
J. Alton, b. July 5, 1856; 1. Ontario, Cal.; m.
Hattie Rose, March i, 1881; d. February 3, 1884;
m. 2d, E. A. Dow, December 10, 1884; d. August
7, 1 90 1. Had one child by first and two by second
marriage: Clifton E., b. March zo, 1883.
Ernest D., b. July 9, 1886.
Bessie M., b. September 10, 1889.
R. Chauncey, b. January 31, i860; 1. Fort Jackson;
m. Sarah E. Rose, September 14, 1882. Had four
chUdren: Ethel H., b. July 23, 1886.
Helen M., b. September 8, 1891.
Roy C, b. December 20, 1894.
Homer D., b. March 5, 1900.
Jane Ann, b. July 8, 1819; d. August 5, 1898; m. Wilson
Kelsey, January, 1842. I have been unable to get this
famUy further than to learn that there is a son. Dr. J. H.
Kelsey, residing at MinneapoHs, Minn.
Carlos C, b. November 19, 1821; d. January 16, 1899;
m. Emily Phelps, August 31, 1846; b. March 2, 1828; 1.
Hopkinton. Owned a large farm two miles north of Fort
Jackson, where he died. Had three children:
Alanson P., b. June 9, 1847; d. December 29, 1897;
m. Mary A. Bristol, November 29, 1873; b. Feb
ruary 18, 1850; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. Had one child:
Luta Mabel, b. June 16, 1884.
Alonzo J., b. August 5, 1848; 1. Potsdam; m. Sarah
N. Lawrence, December 29, 1885; b. October 9,
1863. Had two children:
Maud Isabelle, b. October 16, 1891.
Mildred Helen, b. March 19, 1898.
Eva P. , m . Isaac R. Hopkins. ( See Roswell Hopkins. )
Susan S., b. December 21, 1823; d. September 15, 1850.
Helen M., b. April 23, 1827. (See Caleb Wright.)
Caroline L., b. March zz, 1831; d. February 8, 1892, in
Parishville; m. James Fleming, July 3, 1858; b. January 21,
1829; d. September 16, 189 1, at Fort Jackson. Had six
chUdren, born at Fort Jackson :
Nellie S., b. May 27, i860; d. ; m. James Fadden
of Dickinson Centre; 1. District of Columbia.
Clara H., b. August 22, 1862; d. March 2, 1901,
ParishvUle; m. L. Jasmer, June 18, 1881. Had
one child:
Katie W.

464 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Freddie and Hattie, d. in infancy.
Wright I., b. July zz, 1870; 1. Troy, N. Y.; m.
Anna B. Holmes, May Z5, 189Z. Had one chUd:
Keziah D., b. January 10, 1895.
George L., b. April 28, 1874; 1. Valley Falls, N. Y.
Clark W., b. May zi, 1840; d. November iz, 1885,
Madrid, N. Y. ; m. Izannah Keeler, August z6, 1859; b.
August z6, 1838; d. January 9, 1891. Had three children:
Fannie O., b. November 6, i86z; I. Madrid, N. Y.;
m. Robert B. Watson, AprU 6, 1887. Had three
children: Clark R., b. March Z4, 1888.
Roy C, b. March 3, 189Z.
J. Wesley, b. October 8, 1896.
Helen M., b. August z8, 1869; 1. St. Albans Bay,
Vt.; m. Buel A. Greene, October zz, 1887. Had
one chUd: Mae E., b. May zz, 1889.
Mae C, b. May l, 1877; 1. S wanton, Vt.; m.
Heman R. Merritt, December I, 1896. Had two
chUdren: Clark H., b. March 19, 1900.
Zanniah, b. September zi, 1901.
Nathan, b. March 3, 1796; d. at age of fourteen.
Ann, b. April, 1798; d. March Z4, 1877, in Lawrence, N. Y.; m.
David White, d. May Z4, 1877. No issue.
Clark S., b. May 16, 1803, Benson, Vt.; d. May 18, 1890; m.
JuHa Sheldon, January 8, 1828; b. May 27, 1808; d. May 19,
1880. His wife was a daughter of the pioneer, Abraham Sheldon.
He came to town about 1 8 2 1 , and soon engaged in the mercantUe
business, which he followed for many years and very successfiiUy,
becoming one of the strongest men in town. His store stood on the
north side of the street, just west of and close to his residence shown
in the picture of the present stone store buUt by his sons, K. S. and
V. A. Chittenden, in 1868, 1869. He was supervisor of the town,
justice of the peace for many years, and member of the legislature.
He was a man of strong will, decided convictions and rare judgment.
Had five children:
Olivia, b. November 27, 1831; d. September 7, 1858; m.
Jason C. Brush, January i, 1856. (See Brush record.)
King S., b. February 26, 1833; 1. Hopkinton; m. Sarah
Hopkins, October 9, 1859; b. November 15, 1834. No
issue. He began business in the store of his father and fol
lowed that and farming for many years. He and his brother
were in trade under the firm name of K. S. and V. A. Chit
tenden from 1857 to 1874, when the latter took the business.
They did business in the old store of their father (torn down
some years ago) up to the time of their building the present

CLARK S. CHITTENDEN.

DAVID F. HENDERSON.

wQ
« H
Hs
O

w pWHH
sO

o 5

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 465
stone store in 1868, 1869. He was town clerk for the years
1857, 1858 and 1859, and supervisor for the years 1888 to
1894, and covdd have held it longer had he wished. He
has been quite successful, and is a bright, intelHgent, genial
man and most highly respected.
RosweU, b. April 23, 1836; d. AprU 17, 1837.
Varick A., b. February 6, 1838; 1. Hopkinton; m. Char
lotte A. Risdon, February 16, i860; b. January 26, 1838;
d. March 5, l87l;m. 2d, Laura A. Lawrence, September 1 1,
1872; b. February 14, 1837. He foUowed the business of
merchant with his brother as stated, and afterwards alone tiU
1892, when he passed it to his son Jay, who now conducts it.
He was town clerk continuously from 1859 to 1892, with the
exception of the year 1869. Standing so highly for integrity
and probity, he has been guardian, trustee and executor in
many estates. He has ever taken a great interest in the Con
gregational Church and looked after its welfare with assiduous
care and attention. Had three chUdren by first and two by
second marriage:
Bertha Olivia, b. March zi, i86z; 1. ParishvUle;
m. Herbert J. Sanford, June 28, 1882. (See Sanford
family. )
Edna Mary, b. July 12; d. June 27, 1897, West-
field, N. Y. ; m. Elmore M. Kent, June zo, 1889.
No issue.
Jay H., b. June 7, 1870; 1. Hopkinton; m. Gertrude
Hoyt, September 19, 1893; b. November 11,
1871. Had one child:
Clark S., b. April 8, 190Z.
Mabel, b. April zz, 1874; d. December, 1877.
Lawrence, b. August 11, 1876; 1. Hopkinton.
Jay H., b. November zg, 1844; d. February 27, 1863.
Sally, b. April 22, 1805; d. AprU 16, 1847; m. John Sheldon.
(See Sheldon record. )
Twin babes, d. in infancy.
Asahel Handy, b. August 25, 18 11, OrweU, Vt.; d. August
24, 1858, Potsdam, N. Y.; m. Mary Risdon, AprU 13, 1836; b.
October 7, 1815; d. March 4, 1875. She was a daughter of
Elisha Risdon, the pioneer. Had eleven chUdren:
Marion Risdon, b. March 15, 1838; d. April 8, 1861.
Mary Beatrice, b. September 29, 1839; 1. Brasher FaUs;
m. Henry M. Hulburd, May 16, i88g; d. February 8,
i8g6.
Olive Anzonette, b. March 5, 1842; d. February 26,
1869, LawrencevUle, N. Y.; m. Charles V. McEwen,
June 10, 1863; b. September 12, 1839; d. September 9,
1869. Had one child:

466 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Marion Chittenden, b. April 6, 1866; 1. Yonkers,
N. Y.; m. Edward Crabbe, March 2, 1897. Had
three chUdren:
Emily McEwen, b. December 8, 1897.
Marion Georgiana, b. September 18, 1899.
Edward Luis, b. July 12, 1902.
Anna Maria, b. August 12, 1843; d. February 19, 1876,
Webster City, Iowa.
Solomon Elisha, b. November 27, 1845; d. July zz, 1875.
Sally Susannah, b. May 19, 1847; 1. Brasher FaUs,
N. Y. ; m. Corydon Capell, December Z7, 1877; d. April
4, 1880. No issue.
Julia Amanda, b. August Z3, 1849; 1. Brasher Falls,
N. Y.; in. Sanford W. Hulburd, August 17, 1870; b. June
IZ, 1845. Had four chUdren:
Le Roy Chittenden, b. May 6, 1873; L RosweU,
Ga.; m. Bertha Ola Wood, December 31, 1902.
Mary Cordelia, b. AprU 30, 1875; ^- January 8,
1876.
Lucius Sanford, b. June z, 1879.
Ethel Olive, b. July 16, i88z.
Clark Asahel, b. August iz, 1851; d. August 5, 1877; m.
Frances Moses, September 5, 1876. Had one child:
Clark Aimer, d. September Z7, 1877, a baby of
three months.
Kate Clarinda, b. September z7, 1853; d. February 26,
1875.
Ellen Augusta, b. September i, 1855; 1. Brasher FaUs; m.
Thomas M. Grant, July 6, 1880; b. May 18, 1843, Lex
ington, Ky. Had six children:
Floyd Marshall, b. May 23, 1881; 1. Brasher
Falls.
Stuart Ashley, b. March 10, 1883; 1. Brasher
Falls.
Archie Chittenden, b. February 23, 1885; 1.
Brasher FaUs.
Hope Beatrice, b. October 9, 1886; 1. Brasher
Falls.
Baby boy, b. and d. November 11, 1888.
Sanford Chittenden, b. August 8, 1892; L
Brasher Falls.
SanfordHarmon, b. Junez3, 1 857; d. December zz, 1887;
m. Emeline S. IngaUs, June l, i88l; b. November 17,
1858; 1. Hopkinton. Had three children:
Sanford King, b. February Z3, 1883; L Hopkinton.
Sydney Ingalls, b. March zg, 1885; 1. Hopkinton.
Emma I.,b. April zi, 1887; d. Jiily 13, 1887.

SOLOMON CHITTENDEN.

ASAHEL H. CHITTENDEN.

MRS. MARY (risdon) CHITTENDEN.

\H* .-^^f ^yo¦^

__.Jy^s^a:^$i£i&gg:lg|ig,

PHINEAS DURFEY.

JOSEPH BROOKS DURFEY.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 467
ZORASTER CULVER, b. July, I7g6, Lenox, Mass.; d. January 7,
1878, Oberlin, Ohio; m. Sarah Hayward, b. May, 1800, Bridgeport, Vt. ;
d. July Z5, 1876, Oberlin, Ohio. They were married in May, 18Z4, and
came to Hopkinton that year or possibly the next, where he kept a store for
some forty years. It was not exactly a department store, yet he kept about
everything which any one in town would want to buy. The store stood a
litde north of the present Culver residence and up to the line of the village
Green, and was the social centre for the whole community. He was a man
deeply reUgious from boyhood, and during the larger part of his residence in
town was a deacon and model churchman. His home was the natural
"annex " to the church, and if a minister came he was expected as a matter
of course to go there. He was much respected and admired by all. Al
though the last ten years of their lives were spent in OberHn, Ohio, that they
might be near their daughter, Mrs. Hiram Hulburd, they were continuaUy
living over again in loving thought their long-time life with the good people of
Hopkinton. Several of their sons attained much prominence as financiers
and business men. Had seven chUdren:
Amelia, b. October 5, 18Z5; d. October zi, I go I, at Chicago, IU.;
m. Hiram Hulburd of Stockholm in 1846. Had three children:
Clarence, b. June, 1847; d. in infancy, July, 1848.
Charles H., b. May, 1850. Resides in Chicago, IU., and
is president of the Elgin Watch Company, besides having
other important business interests.
DeForest, b. June, 1856; died June, 1866.
Howard Z., b. May, 18Z7; d. November 5, igoi, at Washington,
D. C. ; m. Emma Foster in 1850, at Andover, Mass. He was the
senior member of the firm of Culver, Page, Hoyne & Co., whole
sale stationers of Chicago, and helped to organize and for twenty
years was vice-president of the Elgin Watch Company. Had two
children: Isabella (Mrs. FrankHn WUder).
Allen M., b. January, 1855; 1. 1545 Lafayette Street, Den
ver, Colo.
Beldin F., b. September, i8zg; d. November 12, 1902, at Ashe-
ville, N. C; m. JuHa Barry of Chicago in i860. He was a mem
ber of the weU-known firm of Culver & Co. of Chicago. He was
also a member of the commission appointed by the governor to lay
out Lincoln Park, and its second president; one of the founders of
the Chicago Historical Society; a charter member of the Chicago
Academy of Sciences; a supporter of the Academy of Design; and a
member of the Board of Trade of Chicago for twenty-four years.
Had five chUdren:
\Villiam B., b. February, l86z; d. at sea, November, 1873.
Julia, b. February, 1864; 1. Chicago, IU.
Hayward, b. 1867; d. 1874.
Bertram, b. 1870; d. 1874.
Agnes, b. October, 1874; 1. Chicago, IU.

468 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Charles E., b. August, 1831; d. June 23, i8go, in Chicago; m.
Viola ManviUe of Watertown in 1855. He went to Chicago in
1854 and was very successfiil in business. Because of his integrity
and thorough conscientiousness he was highly respected. He was a
member of the Board of Trade from its origin, and once, if not twice,
its president.
Sarah E., b. December, 1833; d. October zg, i goo, at Chicago, IU.
George N., b. September, 1836; d. May, l8g4, in Chicago; m.
Lois Hulburd of Stockholm in 1862. He went to Chicago in 1868
and soon became a member of the firm of Culver & Co. He was a
man of culture and one of the best judges of art in the city, being at
one time trustee of the Chicago Art Institute. He possessed great
abiHty as a financier and business man and held many responsible
positions at his death. Had one chUd:
Frank, who d. in infancy.
Celia C, b. February, i83g; residing Chicago, IU. ; m. Rev. Simeon
Gilbert, D. D., of Pittsford, Vt., in 1864. Had one child:
Clara C, b. 1870.
JARED DEWEY, d. December 13, 1850; m. Rachel Webster, d.
June IZ, 1858. He came into town in 1802 with Roswell Hopkins and
others. Mr. Hopkins married his sister Lydia. It is accepted tradition that
Mr. Hopkins gave him his choice of tracts for a farm. He could
have had the Eliphahet Brush farm, but took a hundred acres a
mUe or so south from Nicholville on account of the fine springs on it.
His son, WUHam W. Dewey, ninety-one years of age, claims that his father
cut the first tree in Hopkinton on the farm of Joel GoodeU. Dr. Hough's
history gives him the credit for this act. He resents with some indignation
the claim for this act by any other. The record of the famUy is very incom
plete, but it is the best I have been able to obtain. Had five children:
Ira B., b. in Vermont, August 31, 1804; d. young.
Diadama, b. February 24, 1808; d. June 12, 1888; m. Aaron T.
Smith in 1844 (second wife); d. in Minnesota in i8g6. Had two
chUdren: Eunice A. Smith, Fergus FaUs, Minn.
Adah E., Twinsburg, Ohio; m. Charles H. MarshaU.
William W^., b. August 24, 18 10; Hvmg at Western, Minn. ; m.
Harriet Blanchard, November 18, 1835. Had five children:
Alzina R., d. in Hopkinton, 1862; m. Francis White.
Martha A., d. Lawrence, Minn., 1883; m. J. G. Marple.
Mary M., d. Western, Minn., 1875; ro- George W. Shel
don.
Rhoda M., 1. Western, Minn; m. I. J. Brown.
W^illiam B., 1. Western, Minn.; m. Ella M. Toombe.
Sally, b. July ig, 1812; m. Benjamin Page. Had four children:
Edgar, Mary, Jared and Ara, but no information of them
has been obtainable.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 469
Jared L., b. 1813; m. ist, Eliza LoveU. Had seven children:
Ira, Abner, Emeline, John, Jared, Lucy (adopted by
Israel Putnam, now Mrs. Ashley Dudley of Michigan) and
William, of Fort Jackson, N. Y.
PHINEAS DURFEY, b. March 18, 1780, ElUngton, Conn.; d. May
25, 1865; m. Ruth Brooks, b. in Charlemont, Mass.; d. September 27,
1858. They were married in Bristol, Vt., and came from there to Hopkin
ton in 1 8 — . and took up a tract three mUes west of Hopkinton vUlage stiU
known as the " Durfey place." After a few years he began keeping an inn
and at one time had three log houses standing a Httle north and east of the
present stone house, which latter was buUt by him in 181 8. The celebrated
"old Grimes " was an occasional guest with Mr. Durfey. He held various
town offices and was a prominent citizen. In the mUitia he held the position
of ensign in 181 1, lieutenant in 18 19, captain in 1820, 1821. (See story
of the farm, among pioneer settlers.) Had three chUdren:
Harriet, b. December 5, 1807; d. November 29, 1876, at Hender
son, Ky. ; m. Samuel Flanders, d. 1841, at Otsego, Ohio. Had
three chUdren:
Calista Lovisa, b. June 9, 1832; 1. Decatur, IU.; m. Dr.
Oscar F. Parker, d. December 16, 1897, in Decatur, IU.
He practised medicine at ParishviUe for some years with suc
cess. Had one child:
Minnie Alice, m. Virgil N. HostiUer. Had one
child: Ruth Brooks.
Harriet Melissa, b. April 20, 1834; 1. Henderson, Ky.;
m. Gabriel Decatur Sugg, October 21, 1858. Had three
children: Dr. Oscar F., b. September 12, 1859; '• Union
City, Tenn.; m. Georgie Posey of Henderson, Ky.
Had one child:
Cameron P., b. June 25, 1895.
Ruth K., b. July z8, 1861; 1. Wickliffe, Ky.; m.
Edman Hopkins of Henderson, Ky. Had seven
chUdren :
Strother B., b. October z6, 1883.
¦W. Irving S., b. December 17, 1885.
Walter Alves, b. December 6, 1887.
Ella Clara, b. November 21, i88g.
Ruth Brooks, b. May 8, 1892.
Frances P., b. May 15, 1897.
Marie L., b. March 20, 1 901.
Clara E., b. March 28, 1878; 1. Henderson, Ky.
Lovisa Maria, b. April 6, 1840; 1. Deming, N. M.; m.
Morgan Swope, November 6, 1862; d. June 11, 1902.
Had four children:

470 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Dr. Samuel D., b. November 5, 1864, Henderson,
Ky.; 1. Deming, N. M. ; m. Susan L. Weaver,
December 26, i88g. Had three children:
Mary Lovisa, b. May 6, i8gi.
Helen Harriet, b. February ig, i8g3.
Minnie W^eaver, b. December 31, i8g6.
Martha M., b. December 27, 1866; 1. Barlow, Ky.;
m. Robert S. Hicks, October 7, 1882, at Shawny-
town, IU. Had nine children:
Morgan S., b. October 29, 1883.
Annie Lockett, b. October 25, 1885.
Lovisa Flanders, b. September zi, 1887;
d. AprU IZ, 1895.
Robert Sherwood, b. September Z3, i88g.
James Lockett, b. March 7, i8gz.
Albert Q., b. January 31, i8g4.
Henry Sw^ope, b. May 13, i8g6.
Elizabeth Loretta, b. January 10, i8g8.
Martha Laura, b. April 15, igoz.
Morgan P., b. August I, i86g, Henderson, Ky.;
accidentaUy kiUed June 17, l87z.
Albert Joseph, b. August 7, 1871; d. June 3,
i8g8; single.
Joseph B., b. November z6, 181 1; d. February 9, 1903; m. Lovisa
A. Parker, February 19, 1840; b. January zi, i8zo; 1. ParishviUe,
N. Y. He was the first chUd born in town after the coming of Dr.
Gideon Sprague, and was the oldest person born in town save WiUiam
Dewey, born in 1810, Uving at Western, Minn., when this was
written. Mr. D. was remarkably well preserved for one of his years.
He was a quiet, reserved, honest man, and won and held the respect
and esteem of aU who ever knew him. Had one child:
Sarah L., b. December Z4, 184Z; 1. ParishviUe, N. Y. ; m.
Charles W. Clapp, March 23, 1870. Had one chUd:
Eva L., b. AprU 15, 1 871.
Maria, b. May 10, 18 16; d. March 7, 1894; unmarried. She was
a gentle, affectionate and loving woman, and gave much of her Hfe
to nursing and caring for the invaHd and sick. She was a noble
woman and highly beloved by all.

JOSEPH DURFEY, b. August, 1785, Ellington, Conn.; d. April g,
1854; m. Charlotte Hopkins, b. October 24, i7go, Pittsford, Vt. ; d.
January 27, 1880. He came to town as early as October, 1805, and soon
took up a tract just west of his brother, Phineas, where Alanson Fisher after
wards long resided, and where his son Herman now lives. He buUt a log
house a few rods west of the present residence, and was married January 3,
181 1. About 1830 he buUt the present house. All his children except
Charlotte were born in the log house, no trace of which remains. Mr.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 471
George S. Wright says that Mr. Durfey had the reputation of being as honest
a man as there was in town. He moved to Troy, Ohio, in October, 1836,
going with a team aU the way, and died there in 1 854. Had seven children:
Jerome, b. September 15, 1812; d. January 27, 1813.
Phineas H., b. AprU 24, 1814; d. July 10, 1887, FiUmore, Minn.;
m. Clarissa Owen, b. November 12, 181 5; d. June 20, 1878,
Lima, Iowa. He was apprenticed to Samuel Flanders. In 1855
he went to Rochester, Minn. , and at that time he could kiU deer from
his doorstep. He buUt the first flour mUl and was the first post
master. This place now has seven thousand population. In 1861
went into mUling business at Fillmore, Minn., and in i86g moved to
Lima, Iowa. Had six chUdren:
Joseph O., b. 1843; d. aged one year.
Marion A., b. June 22, 1845; 1. Riceville, Iowa; m. PhiHp
M. Mosher, December 3, 1865; b. March 7, 1844, Can
ton, N. Y. Had five children:
Halsey, b. April 11, 1867; single; 1. Miles City,
Mont.
Lucian M., b. March 18, 1870; 1. RicevUle, Iowa;
m. Helen Fellows, September 10, 1895; b. AprU
14, 1868. Had one child:
Philip J., b. May 11, 1898.
^Vinnefred E., b. July 5, 1873; '• Sumner, Iowa;
m. Robert D. McCook, Sumner, Iowa, September
29, 1896; b. June I, 1873. Had two children:
Marion, b. May 4, 1900.
Ernest M., b. March 5, 1902.
Grace R., b. September 12, 1876; single; 1. Rice-
viUe, Iowa.
Harry E., b. June 20, 1879; 1. RicevUle, Iowa.
Martha A., b. June 31, 1847; d. June 10, 1900, Villard,
Minn.; m. Sylvester. M. Sherman, September 14, 1867, at
Chatfield, Minn.; 1. Duluth. Had five chUdren:
Frank S., b. September g, 1868; 1. Stacy, Minn.;
m. Mattie E. Cooper, January 1, i8g6; b. March
6, 1877; is postmaster. Had four children:
Chester C, b. October 17, i8g6; d. Novem
ber 25, i8g6.
Eunice M., b. May 21, i8gg.
Lucille L., b. May 21, i8gg.
Fern F., b. November zo, igoi.
Merrit F., b. AprU 14, 1870; d. July 22, 1873.
Ami W., b. May 11, 1873, MinneapoHs; L Stacy;
m. Eva L. Lent, October g, i8g5; b. October 10,
1877, at Stacy; is a merchant. Had two children:
Harry L., b. January g, i8g7.
Hyacinth I., b. March 24, igoi.

472 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mabel C, b. April iz, 1876, MinneapoHs; 1. St.
Paul, Minn.; m. Miles E. Cooper, February Z5,
I go I, at St. Paul.
Fred D. L., b. March z6, 1878; L Gray Eagle,
Minn. ;m. Fannie M. Webster, April 17, I goo; b.
May 17, 1880; editor of paper. Had one chUd:
Merrill F., b. August 6, igoi.
Dayton W^., b. February 18, i84g; 1. Chatfield, Minn.; m.
Rebecca J. Stewart in i86g, FUlmore, Minn. Had six
children: Marion J., b. August 13, 187Z; m. Irvin Persons,
June 30, i8g7; 1. Pilot Mound, Minn. Had two
chUdren: Louisa J., b. May g, i8g8.
Alice M., b. January zi, igoo;d. September
zo, I goo.
Henry B., b. March 17, 1874; single; L Wykoff,
Minn.
Eliza A., b. May 22, 1876; teacher; L Chatfield,
Minn.; m. DaUas Arnold, June 30, igo2.
Bessie R., b. August z6, 1888; d. October z8,
1888.
Phineas D., b. December 15, i8go.
Ellen C, b. December zg, i8g2.
Dresden L., b. March 16, 1850; 1. Volga City, Iowa; m.
Mary E. Stearns, AprU 7, 1878, Lima, Iowa; b. February
g, 1845. Had four sons:
Fred C, b. May 3, 1880; m. Eugenia E. Herring;
1. Riceville, Iowa.
Charles D., b. March II, 1882; I. Volga City,
Iowa.
Herbert P., b. April 6, 1885; 1. Volga City, Iowa.
Henry I., b. March 2, 1887; 1. Volga City, Iowa.
FoUett F., b. AprU 11, 1852; 1. Luna, Iowa; m. Hattie
Ward, 1876, Fayette, Iowa. Had five chUdren:
Elizabeth M., b. July 26, 1878, at Lima, Iowa;
1. Fayette, Iowa; m. Ernest E. Kelley, February 23,
i8g8. Had three children:
Lewis C, b. April 25, i8gg.
Arthur L., b. November 8, igoo.
Elsie Irene, b. June 15, igo2.
Mabel R., b. June 14, 1880, at Lima; d. January zi,
1902; m. Charles A. Kuhnes, December 30, 1896;
1. Lima, Iowa. Had two children:
Olive F.,b. July 14, 1898.
Zella L., b. April i, igoi.
Arley I., b. September 7, 1884, at Lima, Iowa.
Robert R., b. November 3, 1888, at Fillmore, Minn.
John Merl, b. May l6, l8gz, at Albany, Iowa.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 473
DilectUS ^V., b. June 1 6, 181 5; d. Fort Seneca, Ohio; m. Diana
D. Greene, d. 1872. Had four children:
Darwin D., died at the age of three years.
Homer A. He was a member of Co. B, 55th Regiment,
mortally wounded at second battle of Bull Run, and died Sep
tember 12, 1862, aged eighteen.
Julina H., d. in 1847, aged nine months.
Lavinia H., d. in 1848, aged two years.
Lucius E., b. September 15, 1817; d. Chardon, Ohio, November
II, i88g;,m. Sophia Tinkham, December 31, 1851; b. October i,
1825; 1. Chardon, Ohio. Was admitted to bar in 1847, settled in
Chardon in December, 1852. Had three children:
Louis B., b. March 3, 1861; d. May 20, 1863.
Lucius L., b. March 3, 1861; 1. Boise City, Ida.; m.
Fanny M., daughter of Colonel William Van Home, Octo
ber 20, i8gi. He graduated from West Point Academy in
June, 1886; served in war with Spain and three years in
PhiHppines. He is now captain and commandant at Boise
City, Ida. Had three children:
Gordon A., b. August 17, l8g2, at Cheyenne, Wy.
Lloyd Van Home, b. December 23, i8g5, Co
lumbus, Ohio.
Francis A., b. September 15, 1 8g7, Columbus, Ohio.
Joseph A., b. January 27, 1867, at Chardon, Ohio; 1.
Pueblo, Cal.; m. Emma M. Case, September 22, i8g2; b.
February 14, 1869. Is superintendent in works of Colorado
Fuel and Iron Co., Pueblo, Colo. Had one child:
Maude L., b. July 19, 1897.
Abigail Alice, b. October 14, 1824; 1. Grand Rapids, Mich.; m.
A. Flummerfelt, October 20, 1845; d. August i, 1883. She is a
bright, inteUigent old lady, and the sole survivor of her father's famUy.
She greatly assisted in this record. Had three chUdren:
The eldest d. in infancy.
Rosalia A., d. at five years.
Charlotte L., d. at three and one-half years.
Joseph G., b. January 7, 1828; d. December 15, 1880, Garrets-
vUle, Ohio; m. EHzabeth C. Smith, July 2, 1851, Cardon, Ohio;
d. 1882. Had three children:
Hattie E., b. May 2, 1852; d. AprU 30, 1866.
Henry C, b. May i, 1854, Parkman, Ohio; 1. Kansas City,
Mo.; m. Ida P. Wales, September 24, 1874; ^- December
21, 1887; m. 2d, Etta Corey, January i, 1890. Had one
child by first and one by second marriage:
Hattie E., b. June 25, 1875, Troy, Ohio; m. Louis
E. Burgner; 1. Oberlin, Ohio. Had one child:
Reba D., b. September 4, igoo.
John Henry.

474 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Gracia Maud, b. June 27, 1870; m. E. W. Bennett, No
vember ig, 1888. Had two children:
Elizabeth D., b. July 23, igoo.
Jennett B.
Charlotte C, b. October Z4, 1833; d. August 19, 1884, Grand
Rapids, Mich.; m. Marly G. Colson, d. October 16, 1861,
McGregor, Iowa. Had one child:
Lottie Alice, d. January 16, i8go; m. Dr. A. E. Luton; 1.
Grand Rapids, Mich. Had four chUdren, three now Hving:
Edith L., Alice L. and Lottie C. Mrs. Flum
merfelt lives in this family.
SAMUEL EASTMAN, b. I76g; d. May, 1852, age 83; m. Sarah
EHzabeth Lee, d. September 2g, I7g7, Lincoln, Vt. ; m. 2d, SaUy EUiot,
b. Beverly, Mass.; d. October 7, l84g. He was born in Hopkinton,
N. H., moved to Lincoln, Vt., and came to this town In 1803 or 1804.
Being then a man of family he no doubt at once took up the two hundred
acres, lots five and six, which have been in the famUy ever since. His deed
to them bears date February 24, 1808. His log house stood in the yard
just a Uttle west and north of the present residence, the front part of which
he buUt. The diary of Mr. Risdon speaks of his being hurt by a bull in
1 8 — . Mr. George S. Wright says the bull caught his horns in his clothing
in the first lunge and threw him over the yard fence, thus saving his Hfe. He
was an active, pubHc spirited and successful man for his time. The farm
was held by his son WilHam E. and is now held by his grandson,
Samuel E. He was a fine man, good height, very close in his dealings,
wore a Hnen or tow frock down to his knees, a strong Baptist and a man of
very decided convictions. He owned the first buggy that was in the town.
His wife, born in Beverly near Salem, Mass., the home of witchcraft in this
country, was a believer in it and often told her children of the means adopted
to thwart the witches and their evU influence. Had four children by first and
six by second marriage:
Sally, b. February 16, I7g4, Hopkinton, N. H. ; d. September 26,
l86g; m. Daniel Kelley, July iz, 1818; b. August 29, 1796; d.
May II, 1857. They Hved at Fowler, N. Y. He died from
drowning at Gouverneur, N. Y. Had six children:
Harriet, b. AprU zg, i8zo; d. September Z4, 1847, at
Fowler, N. Y.; m. Galusha M. Hazelton, September 19,
184Z. Had three children:
Amelia L., b. May z8, 1843; d. February i,
i875;m. AndrewL. Carr, February 8,1865; L Hart,
Mich. Had three children:
Bower M., b. August 30, 1866.
Etta P., b. June z, iSyz.
Edgar A., b. September 8, 1874.
Edgar G., b. September z8, 1844; d. October 22,
i89g, Kenosha, Wis.; m. Eveline Price. Had one
child: Blanch, b. July 3, 1876; 1. Kenosha, Wis.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 475
Sarah Anna, b. May, 1846; 1. RusseU, N. Y.; m.
Jerome A. Jenne, b. December, 1843. Had seven
chUdren: Bell, b. July, 1868; 1. RusseU; m. Joseph
Clark, July, 1883. Had two chldren:
Harry, b. October, 1886.
Anna, b. June, i8g3.
May, b. May, 1870; 1. Gouverneur, N. Y. ;
m. Eben Briggs, July, i88g. Had one
child: May Jennie, b. December, l8go; 1.
Gouverneur.
Myrtle, b. March, 187Z; 1. Edwards; m.
Daniel Barraford, December, 1891. Had
three chUdren:
Ruth, b. October, 189Z.
Jennie, b. May, i8g6.
Everett, b. July, i8gg.
Jerome, b. February, 1874; 1. Perth, N. D.
Frank, b. April, 1878; 1. RusseU, N. Y.
Hazelton, b. May, 1886; 1. RusseU, N. Y.
Bessie, b. August, i8g4; 1. RusseU, N. Y.
Betsey, b. October 3, 18Z4; d. May i, 1885, at YorkviUe,
IU. ; m. Gordon Palmer, March 5, 1844. Had eight
children: Dr. Ira F., b. May Z3, 1845; 1. Onarga, IU.; m.
Emma A. Wood, November zy, 187Z. Had two
children: Paul J., b. December Z7, 1874; 1. Orange,
111.; m. Dessa Hastings, December 5, igoo.
Had one chUd:
Son, b. September ig, igoi.
Clifford G., b. March 17, 1880; L Jasper
City, Mo. ; m. Florence Wood, January i ,
1901.
Lucy A., b. October Z3, 1846; 1. YorkviUe, IU. ; m.
Albert Young, January 8, 1867. Had five chUdren:
Fred G., b. October iz, 1867; 1. Bristol,
IU. ; m. Margerite Raymond, February 5,
1890. Had one chUd:
Ethel E., b. April i, i8g6.
J. Frank, b. September 14, 187Z; 1. Aurora,
IU.; m. Jennie Shownde, AprU z, igoz.
E. Hazelton, b. December iz, 1876; 1.
YorkvUIe, IU.; m. Clara B. Cooper, June 5,
I go I. Had one chUd:
Edgar C, b. May 26, igoz.

476 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Bessie A., b. January 12, i88z; 1. YorkviUe,
IU.
Edna E., b. June Z4, 1884; 1. YorkviUe, IU.
Harriet Alida, b. July Z5; 1848; 1. YorkviUe, IU.;
m. John H. Nichols, December 10, 1867. Had five
chUdren: Ina A., b. August 10, 1868; 1. PaviHon,
IU. ; m. E. L. Matlock, October 13, i8gi.
Had five children:
Gerald E., b. September 14, iSgz.
Alida L., b. July 3, 1894.
John R., b. August g, i8g6.
G. West, b. March 4, i8g8.
Robert L., b. May Z7, igoi.
Hattie A., b. December 8, i86g; 1. York
viUe, IU. ; m. E. W. Smith, September i8,
l8g5. Had two children:
Howard 'W., b. December 13,
i8g6.
Olive L., b. November i, igoo.
J. Gordon, b. AprU 15, 1874; m. Stella L.
Solfirburg, October 11, i8gg. Had one
chUd: Irene M., b. August 11, igoo.
Lavern P., b. July 5, 1876; L Ottawa,
Kan.
Marion A., b. December zg, 1883; 1. York
viUe, IU.
Helen A., b. May 14, 1850; 1. Gouverneur, N. Y.;
m. Lyman L. Austin, October iz, i88z. Had one
chUd: Bessie E., b. March 18, 1884.
Fred Gordon, b. October zg, 1855, at Fox, IU.;
1. YorkviUe, 111.; m. Jessie Ballard, September z,
1885. No issue.
Daniel F., b. March 20, 1857, at Fox; 1. YorkviUe,
IU; m. Hattie A. Healy, February 14, 1882. Had
two children: Hugh G., b. November 23, 1885.
Glenn D., b. March 4, i8g3.
Elizabeth L., b. Febraary 2Z, i860; 1. Aurora,
IU.;m. WiU H. Healy, February 13, i87g. Had
one child. Ruth A., b. June 5, 1888.
Jennie E., b. March 23, 1862; 1. Aurora, IU. ; m.
Arthur N. Healy, January 12, 1882. Had two
children: Paul V^., b. December 10, 1884.
Fred A., b. July 7, i88g.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 477
Daniel A., b. January 17, i82g; d. August 8, 1878, De
Kalb, IU.; m. JuHa M. Rasey, November ig, 1857; b.
August ig, i82g, Trenton, N. Y. Had three children:
George A., b. May 15, i860; 1. Aurora, IU. ; m.
EmUy A. Dunbar, September 2g, 1885; b. August
25, 1 8 6 1 . Had five chUdren :
Myrtle B., b. June 23, 1888.
Maude E., b. January 25, i8gi.
Ray A., b. October 14, i8g3.
Ralph D., b. December i, i8g5.
Floyd R., b. June 30, i8g8.
Fred D., b. February 14, 1862; 1. Chicago Heights;
m. Mary E. Clark, September i6, 1891. No issue.
Eugene D., b. March 9, 1867; 1. Aurora, IU.; m.
Clara Ramer, February 18, 1892; b. November 27,
1866. Had one child:
Edgar Eugene, b. April 9, 1893; d. May
4, 1893.
Samuel Lee, b. June 20, 1831; d. November 29, i8g8.
Fowler, N. Y. ; m. Emeline Woodcock, December 27,
1857. Had five chUdren :
Hattie L., b. February 22, 1859; 1. Potsdam, N.
Y.; m. C. W. Hazelton, March 11, 1885. Had
three chUdren:
George L., b. November 30, 1887; d. Feb
ruary 18, 1890, at Potsdam.
Altha E., b. September 11, i88g.
How^ard C, b. January 24, i8g5.
Daniel P., b. April 13, 1863; 1. Fowler, N. Y.;
m. Lida Hazelton, March g, 1887. Had three
children: Howard H., b. November 11, i8gz; d.
Febmary 3, i8g8.
Gladys, b. October 11, i8g5.
Martin, b. December 17, 1897.
George W., b. August 15, 1864; 1. Fowler, N.Y.;
m. Anna Goodnough, October, i8go. Had two
chUdren: Louise E., b. November 14, i8g3.
Lee G., b. March zz, i8g6.
Nettie, b. November 14, 1870; 1. Fowler, N. Y.;
m. Myron Huntley, June z6, i8g5. Had four
children: Guy K., b. May 11, i8g6.
John, b. AprU z8, i8gg.
Edith M., b. May 15, igoo.
Nettie L., b. March 18, igoz.
Anna Lea, b. October ig, l87g; 1. Fowler, N. Y.;
m. Joseph J. Latham, June 11, igoz.

478 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Eunice, b. April g, 1833; d. March 3, 185Z, at Fowler.
George W., b. November g, 1836; d. February 24, 1886,
at Fowler; m. Anna E. Austin, i869;l. Gouverneur, N. Y.
Had five children:
Daniel Austin, b. Febraary z8, i87z; d. December
7, 189Z.
Leona, b. July z6, 1873; ^- March, 1875.
Lena, b. March z8, 1876; d. November, 1876.
Hazelton, b. May z6, i88z; 1. Gouverneur.
Helen, b. March 17, 1886; 1. Gouverneur.
Stephen, d. June, 1888, in Hopkinton; m. Daraxa, widow of Jona
than B. Abbott. (See Samuuel Abbott record. ) Had one chUd:
Mary, deceased.
Samuel, Jr., b. Lincoln, Vt., November 6, I7g6; d. July zz, i86g;
m. Phebe Orvis, Febraary 5, 18Z3, at Lincoln, Vt. ; b. October 21,
1 801 ; d. September 24, 1 868. Lived about two mUes west of his father.
His grandson Frank now holds the farm. Had eleven chUdren:
Henry C, b. May 7, 1824; d. March 8, l86z, at Balti
more, Md. ;m. Sarah A. Harrington, March 14, 1850; b.
February zi, i8zg; d. September 4, 1870. Had three chil
dren: Elmina S., b. September iz, 185 1; d. March 11,
I go I, at Converse, N..Y. ; m. Lafayette Samson, d.
Febraary 10, 1901. Had two children:
Leon L., b. August 18, 1878; 1. Nicholville;
m. Anna S. Chandler, June zz, 1902.
Frank L., b. June zz, 1880; 1. Converse.
Mary E., b. May 14, 1854; m. John Kelsey, De
cember I, 1 87 1; 1. Lawrence, N. Y. Had three
chUdren: Ora, b. September 17, 1876; 1. LawrenceviUe,
N. Y. ; m. Lulu Copp, September, 1898.
Nina, b. February 10, 1879; !• Lawrence,
N. Y. ; m. William Taylor, November 17,
igoz.
Emma, b. December 5, 1886.
Henry C, b. September 21, 1861; m. Nettie Hall,
October ig, 1882; 1. ParishvUle. Had two children:
Vadne, b. September, 1888.
Merle, b. March, i8gi.
Mary E., b. Febraary 13, 1826; d. January 18, i8g8, at
Colton, N. Y.; m. Graton M. Hastings, December 8, 1852;
b. December 3, 1818; d. September 4, 1872. Mr. Has
tings first married EUen Haywood, by whom he had two
sons, Ryland Wilmot and Franklin H. Had two chUdren:
Mary EUen, b. November 22, 1857; d. March 3,
1870.
Myron G., b. January 18, 1861; 1. ParishviUe; m.
Eva Hepburn.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 479
Lucinda A., b. March zi, i8z8; 1. Converse, N. Y.; m.
OUvet Kirk, October 10, 1861; b. July 3, 1816; d. May
14, 1868. Had one child:
Lucinda S., b. June 13, l86z; single; 1. Converse,
N. Y.
James O., b. July z, 1830; d. June zo, 1884; m. Mrs.
JuHa A. Wright, December 19, 1868; b. AprU 13, 1830;
1. Converse, N. Y. Had one chUd:
Frank J., b. October z, 1870; m. Lola Kirk, De
cember Z4, i8go; d. November 16, l8g7; m. zd,
Minnie Turner, August 15, 1899; 1. old homestead.
Samuel S., b. August 10, 1832; d. October 4, 1876, in
Brasher, N.Y.;m. Mary I. Harrington, AprU i8,i86i. Had
one child: Charles, d. aged three months.
Phebe H., b. October 26, 1834; d. August 16, 1870; m.
Horace H. Harrington, February 15, i85g; b. July 18,
1833, Canton, N. Y. No issue.
Infant daughter, b. September 21, 1836.
Martha M., b. September 23, 1837; 1. West Stockhohn,
N. Y.; m. Thomas Western, January 4, 1862; b. March
10, 1838, Converse, N. Y. Had three children:
Henry E., b. May 3, 1871.
Mary F., b. June 10, 1875; '^- J"iy 25, 1876.
Minnie A., b. March 7, i87g.
Joseph B., b. Febraary i, 1840; d. March 17, 1841.
Sarah L., b. July 24, 1841; d. July z, igoo, in Minne
apolis, Minn.; m. William C. Kelsey, August 28, 1864; b.
September 18, l83g. Insane, Rochester, Minn. Had three
chUdren: Phebe H., b. May 2, 1868; m. George H. Mar
quis; 1. Clear Lake, S. D.
George R., b. May g, 1872; m. Sylvia Colby; 1.
Milbank, S. D.
Edith, b. February 2, 1875; m. WUton L. Barclay;
1. St. Paul.
Joseph B., b. August 26, 1843; 1. Parishville; m. CaroHne
Carbino, March 2, i86g; b. April 4, 1844.
Lee, b. Lincoln, Vt., I7g8; d. July ig, i87g; m. Harriet Hazel
ton, June 10, 1830; d. April 16, 1831; m. 2d, Martha W. Lock-
wood, March 27, 1832; d. March 21, 1874. He took up a tract
on the " middle road " soon after he was twenty-one. He buUt a
fine stone house in 1 8 — , getting the stone at Fort Jackson. Was of
medium height, spare and sharp featured. He was something of a
hunter, frugal, industrious and one of the most successful men of the
town. His loyalty to the Union cause during the Civil War was
very pronounced. Had one child by the first and six by the second
marriage:

48o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Harry H., b. April 13, 1831; d. October 17, i8g4; m.
Annette M. Towie, December Z5, 1871. Had two
children :
Harriet M., b. October g, 187Z; 1. MinneapoHs,
Minn. ; m. Arthur G. Morey. Had one chUd:
Adelaide E., b. March g, 1899.
Abigail T., b. October 13, 1874; d. July g, i8gz.
Harriet M., b. December 11, 1833; d. January 15, l8g4;
m. George S. Wright. (See his famUy.)
George L., b. August 11, 1836; d. November 11, 1891, at
Potsdam; m. Eunice J. Merriam, b. January 7, 1850; L
Potsdam. He was Heutenant in Co. B, 1 6th Regiment, in
the CivU War, and postmaster at Potsdam at time of death.
Mrs Eastman and son Lee are proprietors of the Potsdam
Recorder. Had five chUdren:
Harry M., b. July i, 1873.
Susan L., b. December 17, 1875; teacher.
Lee J., b. July 8, 1877; editor.
Ruth Margaret, b. August 25, 1881.
George L., b. August 6, 1887.
Adelaide A., b. August iz, 1840; d. February iz, 1903;
m. Charles R. Holmes; 1. Potsdam. Mrs. H. was a fine
lady and a most noble woman. Had one child:
Mildred, b. August zg, 1883.
Infant daughter, b. 1842; d. aged one week.
Howard P., b. November 25, 1847; 1. Potsdam; m. Emma
C. Faulkner, b. November 18, 1848; 1. Potsdam. Had
seven children:
Grace M., b. September ig, i86g; m. Dr. Jesse
J. Foote; 1. ParishvUle. Had one child:
Howard E., b. August 11, i8g3.
Georgia F., b. September 22, 1872.
Rose Wright, b. May 13, 1878.
Adelaide A., b. October 17, i87g; m. CHnton
Houghton, November 2 g, igo2.
Marion L., b. March 16, 1882.
Celestia L., b. March 16, 1882.
Katherine I., b. January 30, i8g3.
Roswell H., b. October 28, 1850; d. July, 1852.
Rosv^ell H., b. 1804; d. September 20, 1842; m. Mary Ann Poor,
b. Madrid; d. February 7, 1843, aged twenty-eight. He con
ducted a tanner and currier's business on south side of the road in
Hopkinton for some ten years, when he went on to a &rm in Stock
holm for a year, and then to the farm next east of his brother Samuel,
Jr., previously held by his brother-in-law, Eason BacheUor. The
remains of old fireplace and walls are stUl prominent. Had four
chUdren:

JOEL GOODELL.

MRS. JOEL GOODELL.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 481
Alzina M., b. March zg, 1833, Hopkinton; 1. Pine Grove,
III. ;m. Samuels. Benson, August 16, 1871; b. May 4, 1 821.
Caroline M., b. February 1835; m. Dan Wright KimbaU,
December 18, 1854; d. 1883. Had five children:
Dan E., b. 1857.
Roswell, b. i860.
Carrie, b. 1863.
Nellie M., b. i86g.
George, b. 1871.
Betsey, b. 1838, Hopkinton; d. August Z7, 1857, Beverly,
Mass.
Catherine E., b. June 14, 1841, Stockholm; d. June 15,
1842, Hopkinton.
Betsey, b. January 17, 1806; d. November 11, 1882; m. Aaron
T. Hopkins, May 3, 1827; b. November 19, 1800; d. Septem
ber 28, 1883. He was one of the leading men of Potsdam, and no
one stood higher for probity and sterUng worth or was more highly
respected. Had six chUdren:
Emeline, b. February 25, 1828, Ogdensburg; d. AprU 2,
1895; m. John W. Ingalls, October ig, 1853; b. June 15,
1826, WhitehaU; 1. New York City. Had five chUdren:
George H., b. August 28, 1854; 1. WhitehaU; m.
DoUie Wills, September 6, 1877; 1. WhitehaU.
Had two children:
Charlotte E., b. June 2, 1886.
Frederick J., b. September 26, i88g.
Frederick H., b. February 14, 1857; 1. Sharon,
Pa.;m. Minnie McGhie, July 28, 1878; m. 2d,
Sarah Bowers, September 10, i go i . Had two
children by first marriage:
Edith M., b. September 25, 1882.
Florence E., b. December 2, 1884.
Emeline, b. November 17, 1858, WhitehaU; 1.
Hopkinton; m. Sanford H. Chittenden, June 1,
1 88 1. (See his record.)
John W., b. May 2g, 1861, WhitehaU; d. March
7, 1881.
Charlotte E., b. March 2g, 1863, WhitehaU; d.
July 26, 1864.
George, b. September 5, 1830, Potsdam; d. November 17,
1852.
Mary, b. May 7, 1832, Potsdam; d. January 31, i8gg; m.
Joseph H. Sanford, May 17, 1854; b. May 2, 1831; 1.
Potsdam. He was a son of Joseph H., and born at Sanford-
ville in Stockholm. His father moved to Potsdam, Decem
ber 24, 1824, when he was eleven years old, where he has
ever since resided. Had seven children:

482 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
William H., b. October 10, 1855; d. January 29,
1882; m. Sarah E. Roberts, October 5, 1876.
Had two chUdren:
Frank Hopkins, b. March 31, 1878; d.
March 31, 1891.
Betsey Elmira, b. August 5, 1880.
Frank Hopkins, b. December 20, 1856; d.
March 5, 1870.
James Henry, b. March 2, 1858; d. August 27,
1859.
George Hopkins, b. September 3, 1859; L Win-
lock, Wash.; m. Ida Parsons, November 10, 1885;
b. March 14, 1866. Had three children:
Oscar Horace, b. February 25, 1887.
George Hubert, b. February 15, 1890.
Frank Harold, b. February 11, 1895.
Mary E., b. October 31, 1863; teacher, Pueblo, Colo.
Sarah E., b. March 20, i 866; 1. Binghamton, N. Y.;
m. Harry B. Sears. Had one child:
Sanford C, b. July 13, igoi.
Charlotte A., b. March 4, 1870; 1. Brooklyn,
N. Y. ; m. George Sinsabaugh. Had one child:
Mary, b. June 6, 1899.
Sarah E., b. November 15, 1833; 1. Hopkinton; m. King S.
Chittenden, October 10, 1857. No issue.
Calista E., b. June 3, 1836; d. August 25, 1877; m. John
T. Gill, May 9, 1855; b. May 10, 1828, Hamden,
Conn.; d. June 12, 1867. Had two children:
John T., b. September 23, 1861; 1. New Haven;
m. Addie E. RusseU, May 6, 1884; b. November
7, 1863. Had two chUdren:
Ruth Calista, b. May 8, 1886, New
Haven, Conn.
Allen Russell, b. September 11, 1894,
New Haven, Conn.
George H., 1. New Haven, Conn.; m. Charlotte
Bromley, June 17, i8go. Had one chUd:
Aaron Hopkins, b. May 8, 1894.
Charlotte C, b. September 3, 1840, in Potsdam; 1. New
York City; m. George H. Allen, November 12, 1862; b.
April 26, 1840, Granville, N. Y. Had one child:
George M., b. August 15, 1863, at WhitehaU; 1.
New York City; m. Grace Fanshawe, June 3, 1896.
Had one child:
Loraine, b. July 6, i8g8.
Mary, b. 1807; d. April zi, 1881; m. Benjamin Reeve, November
I, 1832. (See Erastus Reeve. )

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 483
David, b. 181Z; d. March 16, 1862, aged fifty years; m. Lorena
Baldwin, d. November zz, 1862, aged fifty-three years. Lived
across the road from his brother Samuel, Jr., and was quite a hunter.
Went to California in 1 849, lost his health and came back to the old
farm where he died. Had five children:
Sally, b. 1828; d. August 29, 1848.
Betsey, b. 1831; d. April 3, 1847.
W^illiam.
Josephine (Mrs. J. Monroe Kennedy), d. February 17,
i8g7. No issue.
Caroline (Mrs. Horace Heath), d. in Wisconsin in 1882.
Sophronia, b. 1810; d. September 17, i83g; m. Eason BacheUor,
b. June 2, 1805. No issue. He m. zd, Lucina Gray. (See
Abijah Chandler.)
William E., b. December 16, i8iz; d. December 13, 1887; m.
Susan M. Covey, October i, 1834; b. November 16, 18 16; d.
March, i88g. Kept the home farm tiU his later years when he
moved to Fort Jackson where he died. He rose to the rank of cap
tain in the miHtia, and was a very large, portly man. Had nine
chUdren: Samuel, b. AprU 30, 1837; d. April 11, 1842.
Maria A., b. March 31, l83g; d. AprU 18, 1842.
Lorenzo C, b. February 17, 1841; d. AprU 14, 1842.
Susan M., b. March 11, 1843; d. January 17, 1847.
Sophronia, b. March 27, 1845; d. April 16, 1862.
Royal S., b. March 17, 1847; 1. Norfolk Downs, Mass.; m.
Libbie L. Seeley. No issue.
Samuel E., b. August zg, 1849; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y. ; m.
Harriet B. Sanford, December 21, 1871.
Martin C, b. November 29, 1851; d. June 14, 1852.
Florence A., b. September 13, 1861; 1. WoUaston, Mass.;
m. Judson L. Smith. (See Smith record.)
EBENEZER FROST, b. October 9, 1790, Brattleboro, Vt.; d. Janu
ary 26, 1863; m. Clarissa Chandler, April 28, 1817; b. March 28, 1796;
d. June 24, 1 83 1; m. 2d, Caroline Harwood, October 24, 1 831; b. April
20, 1806; d. September 18, i87g. Both wives resided in Chesterfield
(Lawrence). The first wife was the daughter of Abijah Chandler, one of
the original pioneers. Mr. Frost's parents moved to Barton, Vt., where the
son learned the blacksmith trade. During the War of 1 8 1 2 he attached
himself to the army as a blacksmith. The war over he wended his way west
on foot through the woods, with only now and then a cabin along the way,
settling in Hopkinton vUlage, where he proceeded at once to build a dam on
Lyd Brook some fifty rods north of the main road, and also a trip hammer
shop. A few pieces of this old dam and a large bowlder with a square hole
in the top used in the shop stUl remain. In 1820 he moved to Canton,
N. Y., and opened a shop, and in 1836, getting into some trouble with Silas
Wright, went to Canada and after an effort at Hawkesbury, Ont., and Hull,

484 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Quebec, settled in l83g at Smith's Falls, where he opened a small shop for
the manufacture of ploughs, kettles, etc., and steadily prospered. The litde
shop then started has become a great manufacturing industry and is known
as the Frost and Wood Co., Ltd., employing over six hundred hands with
branches all over the Dominion and in Europe. Two of his sons hold the
positions of president and vice-president. Had two chUdren by first and six
by second marriage:
Elvira, b. September 6, 1821, Canton, N. Y.; 1. Smith's Falls; m.
RusseU W. Bartlett of Smith's Falls, December 4, 1 844. Had three
children, but aU died in infancy.
James Trussell, b. December z, i8z8; d. Febraary 6, 1865; m.
Jeannette Stinson, May z8, 1858; b. in Canton; d. April 28, 1868.
Had three children:
Helen Elvira, b. Febraary 18, 1859; m. George F. Mc-
Kim, January 30, 1889. Had four children:
Charles Harwood, b. February 14, i8go.
Helen Powell, b. September Z3, i8gi.
Edwin Frost, b. March 4, i8g5.
Fred Gordon, b. November zi, igoi.
Caroline Lydia, b. January 15, 1861.
James Edwin, b. July 15, 1863; m. Laura O. Meighen
of Perth, Ont., June iz, igoo.
Clarissa, b. July zg, 183Z, Canton, N. Y.; single.
Edwin, b. July 30, 1834, Canton; d. January 31, 185Z.
George, b. July g, 1838, Hawkesbury, Ont.; 1. Plainfield, N. J.; m.
Louisa Hunt of Chicago, December 3, 1868. He graduated from
McGill CoUege, Montreal, in 1861, as a civil engineer and in 1875
at Chicago founded the Engineering News, which he moved to New
York City in 1880, where it has become the greatest engineering
newspaper in the world. He is the president of the company. Had
four children: Charles H., b. February zz, 1870; 1. Smith's Falls, Ont.;
m. Marie G. Hemming, January 23, i8g6, of Drummond-
ville. Que. Had three children:
Marion Louise, b. January 6, i8gg.
Emlyn Gertrude, b. February 6, igo2.
Frances Dorothy, b. February 6, igoz.
George Harwood, b. February 12, 1872, at Smith's FaUs.
He is manager for the Frost Wood Company, Limited, and
located at 63 Queen Victoria Street, E.C., London, England.
Edwin Hunt, b. July 23, 1874; 1. Plabfield, N. J.; m.
Sara M. Scribner of Yonkers, N. Y., October 8, igoz.
Francis Willoughby, b. March 23, 1876; 1. Plainfield,
N.J.
Charles, b. August 26, 1840; 1. Smith's Falls; m. Emily Harwood
of Bennington, Vt., October 3, 1878; d. December 3, 1893. He
succeeded his father in the care and management of the business and
is the president of the company. No issue.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 485
Francis T., b. December 21, 1843; L Smith's Falls; m. Maria E.
PoweU of Madrid, N. Y., June 3, 1868. He joined his brother
Charles in the conduct of the business and is the vice-president. He
was elected to the Dominion Parliament in 1896 and held the posi
tion for five sessions, and in March, 1903, received the distinguished
honor of an appointment to the Senate. No issue.
William, b. November 10, 1847; 1. Smith's Falls, Ont.; m. Fanny
Burton of Manchester, Vt., June 6, 1877. In 1878 began the
manufacture of malleable iron at Smith's Falls and has been very pros
perous, now employing two hundred and fifty workmen. He has
also held various municipal and county offices. Had five chUdren:
Clarissa Adaline, b. July 27, 1878; 1. Passaic, N. J.; m.
Frederick C. Clayton of Ottawa, Ont., September 18, igoo.
Laura Agnes, b. May 2, 1881.
Burton Hunt, b. October 28, 1883.
Ebenezer Theodore, b. February 5, 1885.
George Bartlett, b. February g, 1890.
JOEL GOODELL, b. January 6, 1781, Hartford, N. Y.; d. October
21, l86g; m. Lydia Henderson, February 7, 1804; b. February 25, 1786;
d. April 21, 1876. He was a pioneer of 1802, built a log house on the
north end of his farm, where he Uved six or seven years, then built a log
house some thirty rods west of the present brick residence, and in 1 8 1 7 buUt
a two-story frame house where the brick one now stands. This was taken
down by his son Joel about 1870, who buUt the present brick house. Had
ten children: Betsy E., b. January 26, 1805; d. April 24, 1864, Hopkinton;
m. Samuel McEvory. Had three children:
Cornelius J., b. 1827; d. September 4, 1830.
Mary M., b. 1829; d. September 18, 1830.
Henry H., b. October i, 1830; d. February 2, i8gz,
O'NeU, Neb.; m. Eliza Bitney, AprU zy, 1850. (Incom
plete. )
John, b. September zz, 1806; d. July 16, 1874, Hopkinton; m.
Achsa Smith, December, 1856; b. August 15, l8iz; d. No issue.
Lydia, b. October zg, 1808; d. June 26, i8g3, NicholvUle; m.
Rev. Silas Pratt, December 3, i82g; b. July g, 1802; d. AprU 12,
1 8 8 1 . Had five chUdren :
Silas Judson, b. December 15, 1831; d. August 9, 1895,
Chinese Camp, Cal. ; m. Jane Norwood. Had three children:
Norwood, Nellie and Clarence.
Aaron Boardman, b. January 31, 1833; d. September 21,
1 8g8, Albany; m. Jane McEntee. No issue. He was a
lawyer at Albany, N. Y., and stood well.
Joel ^Vade, b. July 13, 1836; d. July 23, i8g4, Hopkin
ton; m. Mary E. Humphrey, July 16, 1863; d. February
25, igoo. Had six children:

486 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Luther J., b. October 13, 1864; d. Febraary 13,
1865.
Judson L., b. October 13, 1864; d. January 21,
1865.
Howard W., b. January 28, 1870; 1. Buffalo; m.
Harriet French, October 11, i8gg.
Mary E., b. November 4, 1872; teacher; 1. Earl-
ville, N. Y.
Anna B., b. July 18, 1877; 1. Potsdam; m. Frank
Moulton, June 16, i8g6. Had one child:
Harold P., b. July 8, i8g7.
Nellie O., b. June 17, 1882; d. March 22, 1888.
Fanny Mariah, b. October 2g, 1838; 1. Hopkinton; m.
David F. Henderson. (See Henderson family.)
Lydia Adelphia, b. May 28, 184Z; 1. NicholviUe; m.
Edwin D. Sanford. (See Sanford family.)
Joel, Jr., b. August zz, 1810; d. February 14, l8g3, Hopkinton;
m. Rebecca S. Hawley, December 6, 1840; b. September 23,
1817; d. November 11, 1868. He kept store for a time at Nich
olvUle (Hopkinton side), went to California, where he was success-
fill, returned and bought old home farm, and built the present brick
residence. Had six children:
Amelia B., b. July 7, 1841; single; 1. Hopkinton.
Eliza M., b. April 17, 1843; d. January 16, 1899, Hop
kinton.
Mary E., b. September 29, 1846; 1. Nicholville, N. Y.
Sarah M., b. December 9, 1849; d. June 6, 1850.
Martha L., b. October 18, 1852; m. Charles A. Sanford.
(See Sanford family.)
Kate H., b. July 3, 1857; d. December 20, 1858.
Ann, b. July 13, 1812; d. November 21, 1896, N. Lawrence; m.
Ira Butler, March 12, 1848; b. June 18, 1803; d. December 9,
1883. No issue.
Melissa, b. March 17, 1 81 5; d. Febraary 2, 1888, N. Lawrence;
single.
Elvira, b. May 14, 1817; d. January 26, i8g2; m. Silas H.
Leach, January 12, 1845; b. December 16, 1817; d. April 16,
1879. Mr. Leach was born in Washington, Vt., came to town in
1 832, lived on farm in Dickinson from 1845 to 1853, then in Nich
olville twelve years, then two years on Joel Goodell farm, when he
bought the farm now owned by his son, known formerly as the Samuel
B. Abbott farm, and situated a hundred rods west of the Phineas Dur
fey farm. Had two children:
John H., b. December 11, 1845; 1. Hopkinton; m. Libbie
M. Goulden, February z8, 1899. Had one child:
Paul Silas, b. April 17, 1900.
Ellen, b. July 8, 1850; 1. Hopkinton.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 487
Malinda, b. March 6, l8zz; d. August 18, 1831.
Mary E., b. May 4, 18Z4; d. December Z4, i8g8, Knapps Station;
m. Hiram Warriner, May 15, 1845; b. December i, 18Z3; 1.
Knapps Station, N. Y. Had three children:
Orville S., b. July 18, 1846; 1. San Francisco, Cal. (30ZZ
Pine Street).
Sarah A., b. September 10, 1850; 1. Knapps Station; m.
Myron Morgan, September 28, 1882. No issue.
Henry L., b. June 10, 1852; d. May i, 1885; m. Libbie
B. Willsie, June 14, 1876; 1. LawrencevUle, N. Y. Had
two chUdren: Orville, b. December 22, 1877; 1. Grand Isle, Vt. ;
m. Lucy Coughlin, September 4, 1899. Had two
children: Henry, b. August 26, 1900.
MaryE.,b. October 18, 1901.
Fred, b. April ig, 1882.
Fanny M., b. January 4, 1833; d. May 31, 1834.
SAMUEL GOODELL, b. June 2, 1778, Salem, Mass.; d. May 10,
1822; m. Delaney Woodworth, February 6, 1804; b. July 6, 1786, Cam
bridge, N. Y. ; d. AprU 25, 1859. He was one of the six pioneers of 1802
and buUt his cabin on the north end of his farm, but very soon built on the
south end, where Josiah Smith now resides. He was a blacksmith and worked
on Mr. Hopkins's gristmill in 1803, 1804. He built himself a shop just
across the creek east from his house, and it was the first blacksmith shop be
tween Malone and Ogdensburg. In 1 8 1 8 he built a two-story frame house,
which was used as a public house and for school and religious purposes more
or less for many years. When the British took the flour in 18 14 some of the
officers compeUed him to hitch up and carry them some distance on their re
turn. Of his children Rev. Seymour C. was the only one to remain and die
in these parts. Had six children:
Semantha T., b. July i, 1805; m. Horace Plummer. They went
west and settled in Central City, Iowa, where they raised a large
family. It has been impossible to learn any further particulars.
James W., b. August 8, 1806; d. when a young man.
Layton B., b. August 4, 1808; d. June 7, 1894, Edinboro, Pa.; m.
Mary Goodell in i8z8; d. June 17, 1877, aged seventy years. Had
seven children:
Caroline M., b. March 23, 1830; d. October 20, 1874;
m. Martin Stafford, January, 1858. Had one child:
George C, b. October 12, 1862; d. 1900.
John AV., b. August 22, 1833, Edinboro, Pa.; 1. Sedan,
Kan.; m. Ruhannah Sherrod, October 2, 1859. Had four
children: Fannie P., b. August 24, i860; 1. Edinboro; m. D.
E. GiUaspie, April 24, 1879; banker. Had five
chUdren:

488 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Lena G., b. March 26, 1880.
Jessie F., b. September 16, 1884; d. Sep
tember 14, 1886.
Janet A., b. December i, 1887.
Fannie L., b. April 15, 1892.
Doris R., b. Febraary 11, i8g6.
Lena C, b. March 22, 1863; 1. Cedar Vale, Kan.
M. Guy, b. July 10, 1867; 1. Denver, Colo.
Clara D., b. December 24, 1868; 1. Arkansas City,
Kan.; m. Edwin McCuUum Druly, January Z5,
i8g8.
Seymour C, b. August zz, 1833; d. October 8, 1834.
James A., b. August 3, 1835; d. April 13, 1896; m. Clo-
rinda Webster, October 2, 1856; 1. Mattoon, IU. Unable
to give family.
Mary A., b. August, 1838; d. August 25, 1839.
Martha D., b. July 5, 1840; 1. Buffalo; m. Alfred E. Wa
ters, September 10, 1856. Had three children :
Flora M., b. July 25, 1857; d. November 25, 1857.
Layton B., b. November 25, 1858; 1. Buffalo; m.
Lavina Morton, June, 1892. No issue.
Alfred H., b. July 25, 1866; 1. Buffalo; m. Frances
Knapp, June 22, 1893. Had one child:
Bently John, b. October 4, 1894.
George S., b. May 18, 1842; 1. Edinboro, Pa.; m. Nancy
Gleeton, 1870. Had three chUdren:
Ned, b. June 30, 1872; m. Have a son.
Tod, b. June 5, 1875.
Maud, b. 1 88 1.
Delaney M., b. August 27, 181I; d.June 20, 1838, in Hopkinton;
m. Reuben Cooper. No issue.
Sally C, b. September 3, 18 16; d. August 7, 1885, at Volga, Iowa;
m. Israel Phillips, October 6, 1833; b. July 26, 181 3; d. February
14, 1873. They moved to Rockford, IU., in 1854, and then to
ArHngton, Iowa, about 1856, and settled at Volga City, where they
died. Had nine children:
William S., b. Febraary 14, 1835; d. January 27, 1874;
m. Mary I. Finuf, April 16, 1853; b. January 21, 1835;
d. February 7, 18 98. Had four children:
Marion M., b. May 22, 1854; 1. West Union,
Iowa; m. W. S. St. John, AprU 29, 1876; b.
February 11, 1852. Had seven children:
Ruth E., b. August 5, 1877; d. January 21,
i8g8.
Naomi, b. August 21, i87g.
William Monroe, b. September i6, 1881.
Freeman, b. March 3, 1885.
Irving, b. July 20, 1887.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 48g
Lewis H., b. February 5, i8go.
Walter S., b. July 11, i8g2.
\Villiam P., b. November 25, 1856; 1. Arlington,
Iowa; m. Abbie Hall, November 7, 1875; b.
November 25, 1856. Had three chUdren:
GoodeU, b. June 5, 1877.
Hattie, b. 1881.
Leavitt, b. May, 1884.
Israel J., b. November 17, 1858; 1. Elgin, IU. ;
m. Sarah Shafer, October i, 1884; b. May 22,
1864. Had one child:
Leota, b. April 23, i8g4.
Erminie I., b. August 18, 1866; 1. Wisconsin; m.
Rev. E. Cronk, 1894, at Arlington, Iowa.
Ruth D., b. December 17, 1836; d. 1859; ™- Chandler
Hoit, 1853. They had a daughter who married a Mr.
Warner and lived in Oregon.
Amity L., b. May 27, 1839; ^- h^Y 1> 1842.
Minerva E., b. May 16, 1841, Hopkinton; d. AprU 28,
1853-
Syrena R., b. August 11, 1843; m. John Wood, August 6,
1864; d. July 18, 1876, in Iowa. They had a son and a
daughter Mary, who married Chandler Warner, now of
Dayton, Ore.
Israel J., b. August 8, 1845, Hopkinton; d. January 18,
1853-
Samuel G., b. June 2, 1848; single; 1. Volga City, Iowa.
Reuben ^V., b. June 20, 1850; 1. Volga City, Iowa; m.
Catherine E. Smith, June 15, 1882; b. August 31, 1862.
Had two children:
Israel L., b. December 6, 1883.
Harry G., b. May 3, 1886.
Seymour H., b. September 5, 1855; single; 1. Volga City.
The three brothers, Samuel G., Reuben W. and Seymour
H., are the proprietors of the Mountain Home stock farm.
Seymour C, b. August 28, 1818; d. January 24, 1893, on old
homestead; m. Mary Witherell, December 8, 1839; b. September
25, i8ig; d. January zg, 1893. He was a Methodist minister and
a capable man.
CHARLES GIBSON, b. July 8, 1782; d. May 16, 1857; m. Rhoda
Phillips, b. October 15, 1785; d. January 11, 1861. They were born
near Boston and soon after marriage settled, near Montpelier, Vt., where they
lived for a time, when they came to Hopkinton, or at least he did. George
S. Wright tells me that Mr. Gibson first took up the hundred acres on the
south side of the road, where his present residence stands. After making
something of a clearing he sold his betterments to Caleb Wright and went
over in the woods and settled on what is known as the Jonah Sanford, Jr. ,

490 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
homestead. His name does not appear among the pioneers who had deaUngs
with Mr. Hopkins from March, 1803 to 1807, yet he may have, and I
think did, come during those years. His oldest granddaughter, Mrs. Mary
M. Stone WilHams, of Bradford, N. Y., says he remained two or three
years, when he went back to Montpelier. He was certainly on the Sanford
homestead in 1 8 1 1 , since I find he was elected overseer of highways for that
district in that year. He buUt a log cabin in the dooryard a few rods north
and east of the present house, which had an east and west room. He sold
the place to Deacon Asa Moon in 1819, and moved to the Capell road in
Parishville, first farm southerly of the Daniel Hoyt place, where he lived
till his death. The buildings have long since disappeared. Had nine chUdren:
John, b. October i6, 1808; d. 1866, Louisville Landing, N. Y.; m.
Fanny EUsworth, b. 181 5; d. 1888. Had eight chUdren, but it
has been impossible to get the record except as follows:
Adelia M., Jenny M., Frances E., Silas, who married
Ester A. McLee, who had four children: viz., John E. and
Albert F., who married Emma J. Bartlett, and had a
daughter. Ester Adelia; Charles D. and Fannie E.,
who married Frank Drake; John S., Horace E. and
Eugene C, who married Fannie E. Wilson, who bore two
chUdren: viz., Edgar F. and Jessie Eugenia.
Charles Carlos, b. November i, 181 1; d. August 29, i8g2, La-
fargar, Canada; m. Kate Triller. Had three children:
Melissa, 1. Parishville, N. Y.; m. George Hoyt. Had two
children: Carlos and Kate.
Emily and Minerva.
Minerva, b. August 19, 181 3; d. July, 1882, at Bedford, N. Y. ;
m. WUliam Stone. Had three children:
Mary Minerva, b. 1836; 1. Bedford, N. Y. ; m. James F.
Williams, b. 1831; d. March 12, 1892. She was born in
ParishvUle. After marriage Hved five years in Hopkinton,
when she went to Bedford. Had nine chUdren:
James F., b. October 21, 1856; 1. Springfield,
Mass.; m. Clara Barrett, b. October 7, 1855. Had
five children: Fred Barrett, b. August 16, 1885.
J. Frank, b. September 16, 1886.
Harry St. John, b. December 11, 1888.
Mary Gibson, b. April 29, i8gi.
Carlos Frost, b. October 28, 1894.
Esther Minerva, b. July 10, 1858; d. July 4,
i8gi; m. George W. Bedell, b. AprU 26, 1854.
Had four children:
Mary Edna, b. August i, 1887; d. Sep
tember 3, i88g.
Frances Villette, b. April g, i88g.
George Harold, b. May 23, i8gi.
Lillian Ruth, b. May 30, i8gz.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 491
Hattie A., b. March 4, 1863; 1. Mt. Kisco, N. Y.;
m. Harry C.  , b. October 20, 1861; d. De
cember, i8gi. Had five children:
H. Merrill, b. September 28, 1884.
Samuel E., b. October 6, 1887.
Mary F., b. July 19, i88g.
^Villard P., b. August 27, i8go.
James W^., b. October 11, i8gi.
LiUie E., b. April g, 1864; 1. Bedford, N. Y.; m.
Charles E. Hoyt. Had one chUd:
Julia C, b. November z, i8g7.
Annie Jane, b. May i, 1865; 1. White Plains, N.Y.;
m. Bertram H. Fancher, b. December 15, 1865.
Had one chUd:
George Carleton, b. AprU 6, 1893.
Fred A., b. December 23, 1866; 1. White Plains;
m. Susan E. Clark, b. September 28, 1870. Had
three chUdren:
Mary Elizabeth, b. October 2g, i8g5.
John Francis, b. December 6, i8g8.
Lucy Clark, b. October 14, igoo.
Phebe Frost, b. November 13, 1868; L Bedford;
m. Palmer H. Lewis, b. August 17, 1868. Had
two children: William H., b. January 17, i8g3; d.
March 2, I go I.
Mary Palmer, b. May 10, 1902.
Lettie Butler, b. January l, 1870; 1. Bedford.
¦William Davis, b. July 27, 1872; 1. Bedford.
Charles, b. August 13, 1843; d. February 26, 1901; m.
Josephine Hayden, b. November 20, 1846. Had two
children: Harvey, b. November 3, 1867; m. Abbie Arm
strong, d. September 19, 1899; m. 2d, Effie Mae
Riggs. Had two children:
Harold, b. April 7, 1899.
Hildred, b. July 20, 1901.
Leon, b. November 4, 1878; 1. ParishviUe; m. Ella
 . b. October 26, 1875.
Frank, b. March II, 1850; 1. Parishville; m. Ida Jaquish, b.
August 2g, 1853. Had two children:
Gerald, b. May ig, 1882; d. July 21, i8gg.
Mary, b. April 26, 1888.
Philo P., b. July 6, 1816; d. November 17, 1857, at Morley,
N. Y. ; m. Ellen Parker. Had two chUdren:
Charles and Frank.
Jane M., b. January 26, 1818; d. June 6, 1845, at St. Louis, Mo.;
m. George Capell. No issue.

4g2 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
James P., b. July z, i8ig; d. June 5, 1854, at Morley; m. Lucy
McKuen. Had one chUd:
James, d.
HepsibalM., b. May 17, 1821; d. August 14, 1843; m. WUHam
Shepard of ParishvUle. No issue.
Mary B., b. November 18, 1823; d. November 18, i84g, at Mor
ley; m. William P. Whitney, d. December, z8, 1866. Had one
chUd: William D., m. Theresa Pray; 1. Lowell, Mass. Had two
children.
Emily R., b. April z, i8z6; d. 1864, at Parishville; m. William
Wilkinson, d. May g, 1858; kept homestead. Had two children:
Charles, b. July z6, 185Z; m. Lucy Spears. Had two
chUdren :
William, b. March 18, i88z.
Clarence, b. March iz, 1888.
Minnie, b. May zi, 1856; m. Frank Hoxie, b. May i,
1855.
HENRY C. GREENE'' (Rev. Henry «, Job^ Henry ^ Benjamin",
John^), b. Wallingford, Vt.; December zo, i7go; d. August zo, 1873,
Parishville, N. Y. ; m. Clarinda Post, December 24, 181 1, CornwaU, Vt. ;
d. August 12, 1837, Parishville, N. Y. ; m. 2d, Mrs. Myra Peck in Ma
lone; d. in Illinois, aged ninety-two. He settled on the Loren and George
Smith farms about 1817. Had five children by first marriage:
Dr. Martin, b. January 20, 181 3, CornwaU, Vt. ; d. i84g; m.
Mary Masters. Was surgeon in United States army eight years at
Leavenworth, Kan., and went to Texas in 1845. Had two children:
William H., b. November 25, 1843; d.
Charles R., b. 1845; 1. Corinth, Texas; m. three times.
Had six chUdren:
Mary, b. January 13, l87g.
Emma, b. January 13, i87g.
W. H., b. 1881.
Meribah, b. February 21, 1885.
Charles R., b. November 25, 1887.
Ruth, b. i8gi.
Meribah C, b. April i, 1815, Shoreham, Vt.; L Potsdam, N. Y.;
m. David Daggett, January 2, 1838; b. August g, i8og, CornwaU;
d. May 21, i8gi. Was a merchant in Hopkinton for a few years,
then at East Stockholm a short time, and then at ParishvUle. Had
four chUdren: Clarinda, b. February ig, 1840, Hopkinton; 1. Potsdam; m.
John A. Vance, August 16, 1864; b. October 8, 1836,
Osnabruck, Ont.; d. May 2, iSgg. He was an attorney,
deacon in Presbyterian Church, trustee of Normal School,
surrogate of the county from January I, 1891, tiU his death.
Had two chUdren:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 4g3
Carroll H., b. September 14, 1866, Parishville; 1.
Malone, N. Y.; m. Bertha M. Glanz, July zg,
1893, Grand Rapids, Mich.
Ethel M., b. February 15, 1871; 1. Potsdam, N. Y.
Henry L., b. April 28, 1842, East Stockhohn; 1. Parishville;
m. Marion A. Church, November 24, i86g; b. May g,
1850. Had two children:
Grace E., b. May 3, 1873; "i- Clark F. Adams,
September 14, i8g7.
Arthur D., b. August 27, 1876; m. Edith Collins,
June 26, I go I.
Mary E., b. November ig, 1844; 1. Potsdam, N. Y.
Herbert M., b. October 19, 1846, in Stockholm; 1. Elmira,
N. Y. ; m. Myra S. Smith, December 15, 1869; b. Sep
tember 4; 1 85 1. Had five chUdren:
Mabel Amelia, b. June 12, 1873, Parishville.
Herbert Myron, b. April 20, 1875, Parishville; m.
Jessie C. Eldred, September 6, 190 1.
Clara May, b. October 17, 1877, ParishvUle.
Henry David, b. January 20, 1884, Potsdam; d.
October 6, 1891.
Gertrude Emorette, b. February g, 1891, in El
mira, N. Y.
Clarinda Lucretia, b. March 27, i8zi, Hopkinton; 1. Ionia,
Mich.; m. Martin Welch, b. June 5, 1714, Canaan, N. H. Had
three children:
Henry M., b. November z8, 1843; d. June, 1889, at Pots
dam, N. Y. Practised dentistry in Amorette Pond.
Frances L., b. 1846; L Ionia, Mich.; m. N. A. Rich.
Erean C, b. March 3, 1854; '• Ionia, Mich.
Henry, b. October i, 18Z3, Hopkinton; d. July, 1850, in Wiscon
sin; m. Mary Perkins. No issue.
Rollin Sanford, b. April 14, 1826, Hopkinton; d. August 17,
1901; m. Harriet CaU (lives with her son). Had one child:
Charles R., 1. Shelbume Falls, Mass.
ROSWELL HOPKINS, b. May 17, 1757, Amenia, N. Y.; d. Sep
tember 5, l82g; m. Lidia Dewey, June 22, 1780; b. April 13, 1761; d.
June 15, 1816; m. 2d, Mary Armstrong, i82g;d. August 27, 1850. At
an early age he took part in the war of the Revolution and was present at the
battle of Bennington, and also at the capture of Burgoyne near Stillwater.
He held the position of Heutenant colonel in Col. Morris Graham's regiment,
stationed at Fort Independence, and I think rose to the rank of brigadier-gen
eral. He was clerk of the CouncU of Safety. He was also a volunteer in
two campaigns at West Point and vicinity. At the latter place he was taken
prisoner and confined on board a British prison ship and eventuaUy incarcerated
at Newport, R. I., for a considerable period. He was released on parole
near the close of the war and settled in ArHngton, Vt., where he resided un-

494 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
tU after he was appointed secretary of state, when he removed to Bennington,
the then capital of the state, where he conducted the first drug store in the
village. He was re-elected by the General Assembly for ten years, according
to Dr. Hough and the inscription on his tombstone, but according to a memo
randum of his life evidently written by himself, handed to me by his great-
grandson, Isaac R., he held this position for fourteen years. This memo
randum also states that he was a practitioner of physic, justice of the peace
and clerk of the Addison County court, and that he moved into St. Lawrence
County in 1803. He was the first justice of the peace in Hopkinton, having
been appointed by Gov. Morgan Lewis in 1805, immediately on the organi
zation of the town, and nearly a year before the election of town officers.
He was several times reappointed and also as a judge of the Court of Common
Pleas. He was the first supervisor of the town and several times re-elected,
besides holding other positions in the town. For four years, 18 10 to 181 3,
he was elected to a seat in the legislature of this state. The inscription on
his tombstone states that he was the first president of the St. Lawrence County
Bible Society. As his Hfe in Hopkinton is so fully given in the history of the
town, reference is made thereto. According to the memorandum which I
have, he was the third of eleven chUdren. Had seven chUdren:
Roswell D., b. May 5, 1 78 1; m. Mary Strong, September 12,
1805; m. 2d, Sarah Ferris. His first wife was a daughter of Gen.
Samuel Strong of Vergennes, Vt. Had ten chUdren by first marriage:
Gen. Roswell J., b. November 5, i8og.
Mercy Maria, b. September ig, 181 1; m. Thads. H.
Laughlin. (See his family.)
Hannah M., d. aged eighteen years.
Lydia Ruth, b. January 3, 1 8 14; m. Luman Moody, Octo
ber 20, 1834, of Canton, N. Y. ; 1. and d. at Canton,
N. Y. Had three chUdren:
Mary Strong, b. July 22, 1835; m. OswaU R.
Bogue, February 17, 1857; d. August 10, 1873,
Chicago. Had three chUdren:
Luman M., b. January 17, 1858; 1. Denver,
Col. ; m. Helen CresweU. Had two chUdren:
Genevieve C, b. August 20, i8go.
Joseph C, b. March 13, i8g2.
Warren C, b. September 28, 1861; 1. Salt
Lake City; m. Annie Austin. Had four
children :
Warren C, Jr., b. June 14, 1888;
d. July ig, 1888.
Dora Watkins, b. November 18,
i88g.
Mary A., b. July 7, i8gi.
Annette W., b. AprU 12, i8g4; d.
June 23, i8g4.
John H., b. June 18, 1867; 1. Chicago; m.
Cora B. Reynolds. No issue.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. • 4g5
Clarissa Maria, b. April i6, 1845; 1. Chicago, IU.;
m. Charies H. Smith of Madrid, N. Y. Had four
chUdren :
David E., b. December 20, 1867; 1. Min
neapolis; m. AHce C. Dyer, September 23,
i8g6. He is a physician in that city. No
issue.
Samuel H., b. December 20, 1867; d.
December 22, 1867.
Ruth Lydia, b. June 24, 1874.
Mary Moody, b. March 18, 1878.
Silas Wright, b. March 17, 1851; 1. Boise City,
Idaho; m. Mrs. Alice Young, March 17, 1885. Is
a practising lawyer. No issue.
Samuel P., b. January 18, 18 16; bachelor.
Clarissa Elizabeth, b. March 6, 1818; d. aged five years.
Mary Strong, b. December 4, 1821; m. Farrand Gaines.
Sally Raymond, b. January 25, 1823; 1. Panton, Vt. ; m.
Gerry Warner.
¦William S., b. February 28, 1825; d. May 8, 1892; a
bachelor; physician.
George ¦Wait, b. July 14, 1828.
Benjamin ¦W.,b. February 16, 1783; d. August 13, 1819, Havana,
Cuba; m. Harriet Woodbridge, January 16, 1804; d. March 12,
1870. After assisting and aiding his father in the Hopkinton project,
he took a government contract to buUd some fortifications at Mobile
Point, Ala. While engaged in this work he went to Havana, Cuba,
on some errand on the schooner " Halifax," when he was taken sick
with yeUow fever and died. His father and Thaddeus LaughHn of
Hopkinton were his bondsmen for the fuU performance of the work.
For some reason which I do not learn judgments were taken against
the bondsmen. His suretyship or his efforts to complete the contract
of his son Benjamin caused him great loss and an endless amount of
trouble. Directly after the son's death RosweU went to Mobile
Point. (See diary September 20, i8ig.) After Benjamin's death
Congress passed private bill number six, for the reHef of his widow
and children, appropriating ;^i 3,270 less the amount of judgments
against Roswell Hopkins and Thaddeus Laughlin. At this time his
widow had married Moses Strong of Rutland, Vt. The foregoing
facts I get from James Hopkins Gibbs, Esq., of Detroit, Mich.,
great-grandson of Roswell. He has letters and papers in his hands
from which the information is taken. In them Benjamin W. is often
called colonel. It is evident that he was a man of fine abilities and
much force. (See diary for September ig and 20, l8ig.) Had
three children:
Edwin ¦W., b. February 4, 1805; d. June 29, 1850; m.
AbigaU Seymour, June 6, 1 8 3 i .
Maria A., b. June 14, 1807; m. Edgar L. Ormsbee.
Helen J., b. March 15, 1814; d. July 5, 181 5, Hopkinton.

496 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mary C, b. June 14, 1785; d. April 30, 1847, Ogdensburg; m.
Artemus Sawyer, November 15, 1801; d. in Massena, N. Y. He
was agent for Mr. Parish at ParishviUe. Had three chUdren:
RoS'well H., b. April 25, 1803, Vergennes; d. 1879, New
York City; m. Lucretia Miner of New York City. Had
six children: Mary Elizabeth, d. ; m. Thomas D. Skinner of
Ogdensburg.
Lieiitenant Colonel Roswell M., d. December
28, 1863, St. Louis, aged thirty-one. EnHsted in
1st Wisconsin as a private and rose to Adjutant Gen
eral of fifteen corps in Vicksburg campaign. Served
through the war and then entered Regular Army as
captain 25th Infantry.
William, Lucretia (who married Benjamin Kissam),
Horace and Sarah.
James A., b. July 29, 1805, Vergennes; d. September 27,
1855, Malone, N. Y.; m. Alzina Amsden of Malone. He
was the agent for Mr. Parish for some time and built the stone
store used by E. D. Brooks, and later by the Daggetts, in Par
ishviUe. Had five children:
James W., b. May 7, 1830, ParishviUe; 1. Malone;
m. Sarah P. Foote of Malone, October 26, 1858.
Had four children:
Nellie M., b. February, i86o.
Charles H., b. March, 1862.
Thomas, b. June, 1866.
Harriet M., b. January, 1868.
Harriet L., b. July 3, 1833, Parishville; d. March
26, i89g.
Alzina M., b. August 8, 1836, Parishville; I.
' WoodsviUe; N. H.; m. Charles B. Griswold of
Lebanon, N. H.
George A., b. June 18, 1838, ParishviUe; d. AprU
28, igo2, Malone; m. May L. G. Skinner of
Ogdensburg.
Lucretia M., b. April 2g, 1840, Parishville; d. Janu
ary 16, 1884; m. Tyler Westgate of HaverhiU,
N. H.
Harriet M., b. September 8, 1807, Vergennes; d. 1883,
Ogdensburg; m. Dr. H. D. Laughlin. (See LaughHn
family.) Had one child:
James (man grown, single) ; d. during the sixties.
Isaac R., b. January 28, 1788, Ferrisburg, Vt.; d. March 12,
1853; ">• Sophia Woodbridge, March 14, 1812, Vergennes; d.
January 4, 1857. Had seven chUdren:
RosweU, b. February 5, 1813; d. March 24, 1888, single.
Lived and died on old homestead in Hopkinton.
Eliza, b. January 18, 1815; d. June 30, 181 5.

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 497
Jane E., b. July 14, 1817; d. March 17, 1884; single.
Enoch W., b. December 17, i8i8; d. December 7, i86z,
Graysonville, Cal. ; m. Marion AUen of Ogdensburg.
George W., b. July 30, l8zz; d. AprU 9, 1823.
Dr. Francis ^W., b. September 30, 1824; d. September
16, 1886; single.
Frederick I., b. November 5, 1825; d. July 19, 1900,
Fort Jackson; m. Kate M. Kent, November 17, 1851; 1. Fort
Jackson. Had two chUdren:
Isaac R., b. August 17, 1853; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Eva P. Chittenden, December 29, 1885. Owns the
Hopkins homestead. Had three chUdren:
Marion, b. September 28, 1890.
Roswell I., b. AprU 29, 1896.
Ralph C, b. April 29, 1896; d. May 29,
i8g8.
Katie 'W., b. December i, 1859; d. December 24,
1879.
George, b. March 13, 1791; d. October 12, 1820, Columbus,
Ohio; m. Harriet E. Newcomb, September 28, 1819.
Sally, b. June 11, 1796; d. December 27, 1842, at Potsdam; m.
SewaU Raymond, July 7, 1814; b. August 30, 1786; d. July 31,
1 866. They were married at Hopkinton, Thursday evening, July 7,
1 8 1 4, by Rev. Ashbel Parmelee. Mr. Raymond was one of the
leading and influential citizens of Potsdam. Had seven children:
Roswell Hopkins, b. June 9, 1816; d. June 12, 1816.
Lydia, b. May 27, 1817; d. December 13, 1890; m. John
F. Rosseel, d. July 21, 1888. He was the second son of
Joseph Rosseel of Ogdensburg and agent of Mr. Parish at
ParishvUle after the death of Mr. Artemus Sawyer, and at
Ogdensburg after the death of his father. Had five children,
three of whom are Hving:
Fanny E., b. AprU 24, 1851.
Joseph, b. January 22, 1858.
Frank R., b. March 16, i860.
Hannah, b. January 11, 1819; d. May I, 1837.
Harriet Elizabeth, b. June 2, 1822; d. August 3, 1824.
George Blackmer, b. October 23, 1824; d. June 24,
1897, Potsdam; m. Harriet Goulding, September 28, 1848;
b. December 3, 1827; 1. Potsdam. Had two children:
Charles Blackmer, b. February 3, 1850; d. No
vember 20, 1856.
¦William Sewall, b. March 17, 1854; 1. Potsdam.
James S., b. June 13, 1827; physician in Ogdensburg; m.
Helen Partridge, b. May 30, 1830, Potsdam; d. May 13,
1898. Had four chUdren:
Julius B., d. aged six months.
Sarah Y., b. January 23, 1859; single.

498 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Mary E., b. June 6, i86z; 1. South Bend, Wash.;
m. W. H. Proctor.
George S., b. May ig, i866; single.
Sally, b. May zg, 1830; d. June 11, 1830.
James G., b. June 15, 1801; d. July 6, 1861, at Saratoga Springs;
m. EHzabeth Rosseel, October 23, 1832. Had three children:
Louisa Rosseel, b. March 20, 1835; d. March 27, i8g4,
Detroit; m. Calvin W. Gibbs, October 13, 1858; d. April
26, i87g. Had seven children:
James Hopkins, b. August 28, 1859; 1. Detroit;
m. Ida F. Moore, November 18, 1880. Had three
chUdren :
Frederick Rosseel, b. May 28, 1882.
Fannie Louise, b. May 8, 1885.
Dorothy Helen, b. March 24, 1895.
Louis Kimball, b. November, 1862; single; 1. De
troit.
Calvin 'W., b. August 16, 1867; d. November 3,
1893; m. Susan Stewart, November 7, 1888. Had
two children: Lauretta, b. June 10, 1890.
Gailey Louise, b. October 25, iSgz.
Louisa Rosseel, b. March ig, 1873; 1- Detroit.
Elizabeth Rosseel, died in infancy.
Ross Campbell, died in infancy.
Joseph Rosseel, died in infancy.
James Waite, b. August 9, 1837; d. February zz, 1863;
m. Jane Russell, October 23, i860; 1. Detroit. He was a
second lieutenant in io6th New York Volunteers and died at
Martinsburgh, W. Va.
Joseph Rosseel, died in infancy.

DAVID HENDERSON, b. July zi, 1756, Fitchburg, Mass.; d. May
8, 1 83 1; m. Lydia Fitch, b. Groton, Conn., October 14, 1760; d. June
z6, 1834. He setded in spring of 1814 and lived tUl he died in 1 83 1 a
mUe south of Nicholville on the farm now known as the Nelson ' Lindsay
farm. The house he built there is still standing and in use. He was a sol
dier in the Revolutionary War. Had seven children:
Chester, b. December 18, 1780, at Salem, N. Y.; d. 1845, Fort
Edwards, N. Y.
Anna, b. June zo, 178Z, Kingsbury, N. Y. ; d. 1845, at Fort Ed
wards, N. Y. ; m. Eben Thompson.
David, Jr., b. March g, 1784. Left home in 1806 and was never
heard of afterwards.
Lydia, b. February 25, 1785; d. April 21, 1876; m. Joel Goodell,
Sr., of Hopkinton, N. Y. (See his family.)

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 49g
John, b. May 23, 1788, Kingsbury, N. Y.; d. May zi, l84g; m.
Fanny Gove; m. zd, Alta Sheldon, Hopkinton, N. Y. (See his
record. )
Henry, b. December ig, I7g6, at Hartford, N. Y.; d. Febraary 10,
1883, at Greene Cove Springs, Fla. He was a sailor and captain of
ocean vessels for years.
Narcissa, b. Febraary Z5, 1801; d. February zy, 1887, Middle-
port, N. Y.; m. John Pomeroy in i8ig; d. Norfolk, N. Y., in
1850. Mr. Pomeroy came to Hopkinton in 181 5. He was a good
carpenter and took charge of or assisted in building the T. H. Laugh
lin, Artemus Kent, Deacon Culver and other residences. He^made
his home in Nicholville till his health failed, when Asa DurreU, for
merly of Hopkinton, gave him a home tUl his death. They had a
famUy of two daughters and six sons, one of whom, Jesse H. of St.
Paul, married Lucretia Brush, daughter of Eliphalet Brash.
JOHN HENDERSON, b. May 22, 1788; d. May 12, i84g; m.
Fanny Gove, October I, 1826; b. October 2g, 1803, Swanton, Vt. ; d.
March 5, 1833; m. 2d, Alta Sheldon, b. September 21, 1804, at Hopkin
ton; d. August 28, i8go. He was with the army about Lake Champlain in
the War of 1812 as an assistant and helper, though not an enHsted soldier,
owing to iU health. On the close of the war he followed his father, David
Henderson, to Hopkinton in 1 8 1 5 . For his second wife he took Miss Alta
Sheldon, daughter of Oliver, who, it is claimed, was the first child born in
Hopkinton, or at least the first female chUd. Had two chUdren by first and
four by second marriage:
John Henry, b. November 10, 1827; residing in Hopkinton; m.
Alzina A. Thomas, September zg, 1852; b. December 27, 1834,
Wilna, N. Y. ; d. August l, 1883. He has taken a great interest in
the preparation of this work and has assisted freely and kindly on many
occasions. Had three children:
Fanny S., b. January 2, 1854; d. July 24, 1878; m. Wil
Ham Hunter, b. August 12, 1846; I. Hopkinton. Had two
children: Gertie E., b. January 17, 1875; i- Saranac Lake,
N. Y.
Mary V., b. August 7, 1876; 1. Saranac Lake, N. Y.
Katie E., b. September i, 1858; 1. Hoquiam, Wash.; m.
Patrick J. Ryan, b. January 15, 1852; were divorced; m.
2d, George Clark, b. July I, 1846. Had one child by first
marriage: Claude O., b. April 2g, 1878.
Wilbur S., b. March ig, i860; 1. Salt Lake City; m. Leah
Cook, b. October 14, 1868, Springville, Utah. Had five
chUdren: Earl C, b. August 2, i8gi, Springville, Utah.
Blanche, b. December 27, i8g2. Salt Lake City.
Martha, b. August 11, i8g4.

50O EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Leah, b. August 31, i8g6.
John Henry, b. AprU 26, i8g8.
David F., b. April 30, 1830; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y. ; m. Fanny M.
Pratt, September 14, 1857; b. October 2g, 1838. Mr. H. is
a bright, inteUigent, poHshed man, has been often complimented with
town positions, and is highly esteemed and respected. Had four
chUdren :
Frank, b. August g, 1858; d. August 10, 1858.
Frances M., b. August 17, i85g; d. November 16, 1862.
Frederick G., b. April 11, 1861; 1. Hopkinton; m. Hannah
M. Lindsay, March 20, i8go; b. August ig, 1862. No
issue.
Kittie A., b. AprU 27, 1867; 1. Hopkinton; m. Charles O.
Meacham, November 23, 1887; b. November 8, 1864.
Had one child:
Mildred, b. December 2, 1899.
Chester S., b. December ig, 1834; d. August 31, 1902, at Ohio,
Colo.; m. AdaHne Bickford, 1862. Had one chUd:
Belle, b. March 8, 1867; 1. Denver, Colo.
Fanny M., b. July 18, 1837; d. Febraary 4, 1842.
Philo Gilbert, b. April 8, 1841; d. Febraary 15, 1886, in Hop
kinton; m. Kate Lindsay, January 17, 1875; ^- November 26, 1855.
Had two children:
Jessie Alta, b. October 16, 1875; 1. Detroit, Mich.; m.
Paul C. Worth, Toledo, Ohio, December, 1898. No issue.
Ray G., b. March 22, 1877; 1. Richland Center, Wis.
Sarah Jane, b. July 28, 1842; 1. Richland Center, Wis.; m. Ed
win A. Dove, May 2, 1879; ^- April 15, 1840. No issue. Her
mother, Alta, the first female child born in town, lived with them in
her last years and died at their home in Richland Center.
EZEKIEL JENNIE, b. AprU 2g, 1780; d. May 26, 1870; m.
Thankfiil Rasey, September 11, 181 1; b. September i, I7g4; d. October
II, 1872. Came from Jay, Essex County, and settled a half mile south from
Turnpike, where Asahel Jennie now resides, in June, 1830. Had ten
children :
Aaron, b. October i, 1812; d. November 7, 1845; single.
Philana, b. January 17, 1 81 5; d. January ig, 1850, in Pierrepont,
N. Y. ; m. Alex. Bradley, October g, 1834. Had four children:
Elisha, Orson, Aaron and Diena.
Abigail, b. December 21, 1817; d. December 2, i8g8, in Chicago;
m. Stephen MUler, January 30, 1838. Had nine children:
Philip, Harriet, Charles, Louisa, Anna, Evaline,
Mary, Louandia and Betsey.
Lydia, b. March 2g, i8zo; d. October 10, 1878, in Michigan; m.
Anson Rose, January 12, 1843. Had three children:
Louraney, Thankful and Jane.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 501
Lecta, b. November 25, 1822; d. October 16, 1875, in Hopkinton;
m. Harry Smith, October 11, 1853. Had four children:
Benjamin, Jane, Friend and Miranda.
Asahel, b. AprU 4, 1825; 1. Hopkinton; m. Priscilla Powers, March
II, 1847. He keeps the old home place. Had six children:
Orrilla T., b. December 20, 1848; m. Wilbur Smith, De
cember 2, 1874. Had four chUdren:
Etta L., b. December 26, 1875; ™- John A. Cor
win, January 21, i8gg; 1. Hopkinton. Had one
child: Anice, b. October 14, igoi.
Nettie, b. January g, 1877.
Henry, b. August 27, 1878; m. Maude Snell, Janu
ary 8, igo2. Had one chUd:
Helen, b. September 30, igo2.
Riley, b. August 2g, 1886.
George A., b. January 2g, 1850; m. Ettie Fletcher, January
7, 1877. Had three children:
¦William, b. July 21, i87g; m. Grace Coon, Sep
tember 18, igoi.
Asahel, b. December i, 1883.
Edith, b. November 14, 1886.
Lucena H., b. June 14, 1853.
Varick E., b. November 21, 1856; d. August 24, 1880;
m. EvaHne Peck, September ig, 1878.
Alice A., b. November 14, i860; d. January 30, 1881.
Adelbert A., b. January 16, 1867; m. Clara C. Rockwood,
November 27, i8g5; 1. Hopkinton. Had one chUd:
Lawrence E., b. May 20, iSgy.
Joel, b. September 3, 1827; d. a babe.
Lucina, b. June 22, 1828; d. March 25, 1842.
Safrona, b. May i, 1829; d. February 25, 1845.
Jackson, b. June 2, 1832; d. December 22, 1861, on his way home
from war; m. Rachel Vanorm an, September 11, 1856. Had two
children: Herbert and Elmer.

ARTEMAS KENT, b. Dorset, Vt., August 31, 1788; d. August 21,
1877; m. Sally Wead of Hinesburg, Vt., December 10, 1818; d. AprU
21, 1842; m. 2d, Rhoda Winslow, in 1845; d. June 28, 1875. He left
home October 12, 1809, and came by way of Utica and Black River, reach
ing Hopkinton, November 30. He bought the tract across the road from
the Truman Post farm, and soon returned to Dorset. On February 27,
1 8 10, he again set out with horse, cutter and some effects, reaching Esq.
LaughHn' s in eight days, where he remained till AprU 25, when he began
chopping on his land. While at this he boarded with Reuben Post. Mr.
Post bought the Post farm in 1808, and was then living there in the frame
house StUl standing and used by the tenant. He cut fifteen acres at this time

502 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
and worked by the day and job for others tUl November i , when he returned
to Dorset. In March, 1 8 1 1 , he and his brother Trassell set out with yoke
of oxen, sled and some goods, reaching Hopkinton safely after a time. His
brother, being sick, returned early in June, but he kept at work clearing his
land till December, when he began school-keeping in the west district for
three months. This was in the Caleb Wright district, and the first log
schoolhouse stood just across the north road east from Mr. Wright's. When
school was over he continued the clearing of his land till winter, when he
took passage in Harwood' s sleigh for Dorset. In January, i8iz, he returned
with horse and cutter and Hved with EHsha Risdon. Mr. Risdon married
Amanda Post in 1 8 1 1 , and at once moved into the log house, on Potsdam
road, which his father-in-law, Reuben Post, bought of Joseph Armstrong with
the " Post farm." This made Mr. Kent a tramp of nearly a mile across the
fields from his farm to his boarding place. He taught the same school again
till February 7, 181 3, when he took charge of Thads. Laughlin's hotel while
he went to Middlebury to attend his parents who were sick. In the spring
of 1 8 1 3 went into partnership with Thads. LaughHn. He got tide to the
Kent home lot in the village, October g, 181 5, still held by his daughter,
AdaHne. Mr. Kent practised law in local courts, took an active part in
church matters, and was a most useful and highly respected citizen of the
town. He was a cousin of the celebrated jurist, James Kent. The forego
ing data are largely taken from Mr. Kent's own diary. Had ten chUdren:
Julia H., b. October z, i8ig.
Huldah, b. March zi, i8zi; d. April 12, 1821.
Ellen J., b. AprU 27, 1822; d. April 6, 1823.
Ellen J., b. December zz, 18Z3; d. AprU zz, igoz, Detroit Mich.;
m. Edwin C. Hinsdale, b. July 30, i8zi, Hinesburg, Vt.; d. June
12, i8g4. He was a lawyer and treasurer of Detroit eight years.
Had three children:
Dorothy, b. July 22, 1853; d. December 30, 1854.
Genevieve S., b. September 28, 1855.
Mary C, b. December 2, 1857.
Adeline S., b. December 5, 1825; living at old homestead.
Dr. Henry B., b. September 8, 1827; d. October ig, i8g3; m.
Phebe V. Miller, 1864; b. August, 1838; d. October 12,
i8gi. He practised medicine in New York City for thirty-five
years. Had three chUdren:
Henry B., Jr., b. May i, 1866; 1. New Brunswick,
N. J.; m. Mary E. Kane, Febraary 24, i8g4. Had one
chUd: Virginia P., b. November 26, 1894.
Adeline S., b. April 14, 1868, Detroit, Mich.; m. Dr.
WilHam R. Chittick, April 30, 1894. No issue.
Virginia P., b. February 25, 1870; 1. Berlin, Germany;
m. Louis J. Magee, February 16, 1895. No issue.
Fred H., b. November 12, 183 1; bachelor; 1. Detroit, Mich. He
was a hardware merchant at SterHng, IU., for twelve years, and ten
years member of Chicago Board of Trade.

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 503
Mary H., b. October 10, 1833; single; I. Detroit, Mich.
Charles A., b. October 11, 1835; 1. Detroit, Mich.; m. Frances
E. King, AprU 30, 1874. No issue. He is a lawyer of most
exceUent standing at Detroit and was law professor at Ann Arbor
University for eighteen years.
Harriet M., b. October 15, i83g; d. AprU 2, i8g8.
ASAHEL KENT, b. October 17, i77g, Dorset, Vt.; d. July 23, 1866;
m. Olive Dunton, b. January 2g, 1785, Dorset, Vt.; d. AprU g, 1826; m.
2d, Charlotte Sheals (»eV Nichols), b. May 6, lygi, Jamaica, Mass.; d.
June 28, 1 86 1. Settled and Hved on the point formed by the union of the
" Sanford road " with the Turnpike, afterwards known as the E. Harmon
Risdon place. Came to town 18 14 with an ox team and few goods.
Had nine children by first and three by second marriage:
Flora, b. March 10, 1805, Burlington, Vt.; d. September 30, i86g;
m. Isaac SneU, September i, 1827; b. August 8, 1800; d. Janu
ary 6, 1882. Lived on south side of Turnpike opposite the old red
schoolhouse and had a blacksmith shop down on the road and close to
the brook with a frame outside of shop for swinging oxen to shoe
them. Cleared his farm of one hundred acres where he lived. Had
six children: John Milton, b. June 20, 1829; d. September 20, i8go, in
old home; m. Elnora Gouldin, September 11, 1853; m.
2d, Martha Gouldin, October 15, 1884. Had five children:
Frederick H., b. March n, 1855; 1. Mentor,
Ohio; m. Cora Lucas, 1885. Had three chUdren:
William, Helen and Elnora.
Nellie F., b. November 15, 1858; 1. Adams,
Mass.; m. Eugene Delancey.
Addison, b. June 20, i860; 1. Adams, Mass.; m.
Adah Kimpton, October 25, 1888; d.; m. 2d, Jennie
Kay, June 8, i8g8. Had two children:
Guy and Roy.
Milton, Jr., b. February 15, 1874; '• Hopkinton;
m. Elsie Conlin, February 12, i8g9. Had two
children: Malcolm and Milton.
Grace Elnora, b. December 14, 1875; 1. Parish
ville; m. Thomas Tucker, May 21, 1893. Had
three children:
Constance, Regnald and Melba.
Olive K., b. December 28, 1830; 1. Webster City, Iowa;
m. N. L. Gardner, October 23, 1854, of Berea, Ohio; d.
June 30, 1889. Had three chUdren:
Nettie, b. August 25, 1855, Berea; 1. Webster City;
m. O. O. Hall, August 27, 1877. Had two children:
Delia, b. April 9, 1878; d. 1898.
James, b. 1881.

504 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Georgiana, b. 1865; d. in infancy.
George N., b. February 9, 1868; 1. Webster City;
m. Clara Munson, February zz, 1893. Had one
child: George Lawrence, b. March Z5, igoz.
Franklin B.,b. June Z4, i83z;l. Columbia, Ohio;m. Jennie
Thompson, October 23, 1861. Had four children:
Herman, b. November 23, 1862; 1. Columbia,
Ohio; m. Hattie Mandville, AprU 6, i8gi. Had
one child: Mary, b. i8g3.
Flora, b. AprU 26, 1865; 1. Burbank, Ohio; m. John
T. Hoak, September 6, 1893. No issue.
Lulu, b. December 17, 1877; single; 1. Columbia,
Ohio.
John F., b. AprU I, 1881.
Caroline A., b. September 7, 1835; d. 1867, Middleburg,
Ohio; m. Parley Bassett in 1857; d. 1895. Had one child:
Clarence, b. i860; d. aged six weeks.
Mary M., b. May 2, 1840; 1. ParishviUe; m. Thomas
Dow, December 15, 1874; d. December 15, 1875. Had
one chUd: Ella Violet, b. October z6, 1875; 1. Parishville; m.
Leon Stone, November 15, i8gg.
Hiram K., b. November 14, 1844; 1. Madison, Ohio; m.
Emma Smith, March 7, i86g. Enlisted in Co. B, 8th
New York Cavalry, in September, 1864, and discharged July
I, 1865. Had three children:
Judson ¦W., b. June 11, 1870; 1. Madison, Ohio;
m. Winnifred Norton, June 2, i8g8. Had one
child: ¦Wayne Donald, b. April 20, igoi.
Florentine A., b. June 6, 1871; 1. Geneva, Ohio;
m. Thomas Patrick, October 18, igoi.
Sanford S., b. AprU 20, 1875; teacher. La Junta,
Cal.
Rhoda, b. Burlington, Vt., February 17, 1807; d. February 2g,
1880; m. Dr. Gideon Sprague. (See his family.)
Austin, b. Burlington, Vt., April 27, i8og; d. 1876; m. Louisa
BuUene. They resided in Stockholm. Had one child:
Edgar, resides in Oakes, N. D.
Harmon, b. BurUngton, Vt., in 181 1 ; d. in infancy.
Abigail, b. September 18, 18 12, Burlington, Vt. ; d. January 6, 1868;
m. Nathaniel B. Goodnow, b. September 17, 1808, Louisville; d.
May, 1885. Was a tanner and currier at Hopkinton. Had eight
chUdren: Mary K., b. September 7, 1837, Ottawa; d. January 31,'
1874, Norfolk; m. James Munson, d. 1888. Had one
child:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 505
Cassie A., b. November iz, 1867; 1. Webster City,
Iowa; m. George Gardner, February zz, i8g3.
Had one chUd:
George Lawrence, b. March ig, igoz.
Charles K., b. January iz, 1839, Ottawa; 1. Hutchinson,
Minn.; m. Eunice C. Stearns, May 6, 1869. Had five
children :
Morton S., b. July 4, 1870; 1. Hutchinson; m.
Caroline L. Day, September 7, 1897. Had two
children :
Donald D., b. August ZI, i89g.
Dorothy M., b. May 3, igoz.
Virgil P., b. March 31, 1872; 1. Buffalo Lake,
Minn.; m. Phebe E. Morrison, January 4, i8gg.
Grace G., b. January 18, 1874; ^- Hutchinson.
Charles DeForest, b. October 10, i87g; 1. Biscay,
Minn.
Warren Burt, b. March 8, 1881; 1. Hutchinson.
Maria L., b. October g, 1840; m. Warren J. Ives, b. Feb
ruary 22, 1838; d. March 2, i8gg. Had six children:
Ella F., b. December g, i85g; L Glenco, Minn.;
m. Frank D. Stocking, June 27, 1888. Had two
children :
¦Warren W., b. December 25, 1890.
Amy F., b. June 2, 1893.
Fred W., b. AprU 13, 1862, Hopkinton; 1. Hutch
inson.
Hallan Burt, b. October 14, 1873; i- Helena,
Mont.; m. Lola Brown, December 25, 1895. No
issue.
Matt C. G., b. September 14, 1875; 1. Helena.
Genevieve A., b. August 21, i87g; 1. Hutchinson.
Violet May, b. May 17, 1883; 1. Hutchinson.
Edgar, b. March, 1843; d. May 5, 1844.
Judson H., b. July, 1845; d. September 22, 1847.
Augusta R., b. August 22, 1847; I. Hutchinson; m. Aaron
J. HamUton, September, 1870. Had two children:
Grace A., b. January 10, 1875, Hopkinton; 1. Hutch
inson; m. W. D. Longfelt, August zg, 1901.
Anna M., b. January I, 1877; 1. Springfield, Minn.;
m. C. E. Huff, November 7, 1901.
Marcus A., b. February, 1850; d. December, 1853.
Fred S., b. August, 185Z; d. October, 1854.
William, b. February 25, 181 5, Hopkinton; d. February zo, 1873;
m. Ann Robinson, d. January 3, i86z; m. zd, Lodoskie M. Witters,
b. August ig, 183Z; d. July 19, i8go. Had three children by first
and one by second marriage:

5o6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Ellen M., b. April 6, 1845; 1. Fargo, N. D.; m. Rowlund
Johnston, b. AprU 7, 1847. Had one child:
William, b. May 15, 1870; m. Anna Vaughn, b.
February 24, 1868. Had one child:
George H., b. Febraary 22, l88g.
Judson B., b. June Z3, i84g; 1. Buckton, N. Y. ; m. Emma
J. MerriU, in 1873. -N^o issue.
Charlotte E., b. October 20, 1850; d. August zg, 1876.
Maud L., teacher; 1. SomerviUe, Mass.
Olive, b. September ig, 1817; d. March zz, 1875; m. WiUiam
Woodward, Stockholm. No issue.
Waity, b. March zo, 1819; d. February Z3, 1897; m. WUliam
Manley, Dorset, Vt. Had one child:
Fred, b. in Manley, Vt.
Huldah, b. June z, l8z2; d. December 7, 1 891; m. Calvin TUden,
b. 1824; d. July 30, i86g; m. 2d, Nathaniel B. Goodnow, March,
1870; d. May, 1885. Had four children:
Florence K., b. 1850; 1. Winthrop, N. Y. ; m. Wesley
Munson, July 8, i86g; b. 1844. Had ten chUdren:
Carrie, b. August 25, 1870; m. Parker Rose in 1892.
Had three children:
Carl P., b. April 26, 1893.
Mildred L., b. January 2, l8g7.
Marion F., b. October 14, i8gg.
Ernest, b. May ig, 1872; m. Mellrose HaU, 1896.
Had one chUd:
Arthur ^W., b. August 24, 190 1.
Burton, b. November 28, 1873.
Hal, b. AprU 26, 1876.
Cora, b. April 20, 1880; m. Orlo Ware in i8g9.
No issue.
Ida, b. January 12, 1882.
Jennie, b. September 5, 1884.
Hazel, b. August 31, 1888.
Fred, b. August 11, 1890.
Guy, b. December 16, i8g2.
Ida M., b. 1854; 1. Stockholm, N. Y. ; m. James Munson in
1 8 8 1 . Had three chUdren :
Myrtle, b. June 24, 1883; m. Wesley Kingsley in
igoo. Had one child:
Clarence, b. September iz, 1901.
Harry, b. February 4, 1887.
Ethel, b. January 19, i8gg.
Walter, d. aged five months.
RoUa M., b. June Z3, i85g; L Nashua, N. H.; m. Eva L.
Rhodes, November z, 1881. Had three chUdren:
Calvin R., b. January 17, 1883, in Stockholm.
Charles B., b. August iz, 1887, in Nashua.
Harold, b. June 23, 1888; d. December 23, i8g8.

•a

<

Z;

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 507
Catharine, b. March 24, 1831; resides at Ft. Jackson, N. Y. ; m.
Fred I. Hopkins, November ig, 1857. (See Hopkins record.)
James, b. April 16, 1833; 1. Buckton, N. Y.; m. Eliza Varney; m.
2d, Mary Schoolcraft, d. iSgy. No issue.
Charlotte N., b. November 25, 1835; d. September 30, 1837.
MOSES KENT, Jr., b. October 25, 1780, Dorset, Vt.; d. May 10,
i84g, Hopkinton; m. Jerusha Manley, b. January 2, I78g, Dorset, Vt. ; d.
January 3, 1850. He was the son of Moses, who was a son of Cephas,
who moved from Suffield, Ct., to Dorset, Vt., in 1773, where he kept an
inn. He was the first selectman of the place and on the Committee of Safety.
The town of Dorset was organized in 1774. He was the first representative
from Dorset in the state legislature in 1778. On the twenty-fifth day of
September, 1776, fifty-one delegates representing thirty-five towns held a con
vention at his house for the formation of an independent state which was con
summated January 15, 1777. He died December 5, i8og, aged eighty-five
years. His wife, Hannah Spencer, d. November 5, 1821, in her ninety-
fifth year. She was the mother of ten chUdren. Moses, Jr., grandson of
Cephas, came to Hopkinton in the winter of 1823 with ox team, sled and
famUy and stopped for a time in the vUlage when he purchased the tract on
north side of the "Sanford road " just west of the Orin Andrews place.
Mr. Andrews's log house was on the east side of the brook and Mr. Kent's on
the west side. His son, Darius E., held the farm for some years and the
father lived with him during his last years. Artemas, Asahel and Moses, Jr.,
were brothers, and cousins of the celebrated Chancellor James Kent. Had
three children:
Mary, b. 18 12, Dorset, Vt. ; d. 181 2.
Darius E., b. February 22, 181 3, Dorset; d. March 2, 1886,
Westfield, N. Y.; m. Jane A. Greene, February 7, 1842; b. De
cember 15, 1815; d. December z6, 1884. He held the home
farm until February, 1857, when he purchased the Eggleston farm,
four miles west of Potsdam village, where he remained tUl 1 860,
when he bought the Dr. Richard Lawrence place on Elm Street in
the vUlage of Potsdam. In 1866 he removed to the Malory farm
one mile from the village of Westfield, N. Y., and in i86g to a
residence on First Street in that viUage. He amassed a fortune for a
man with his opportunities. Had two children:
Salome Manley, b. October 10, 1844; 1. Westfield, N. Y.
Emma Jane, b. March 31, i84g; d. May 30, 1868.
Lucian H., b. August 4, 18 16, Dorset, Vt. ; d. March 9, 1900,
Westfield; m. Mary Fay McEwen, June 9, i84g; b. February zo,
18Z4; 1. Westfield. Very soon after his marriage he settled on the
Henry B. Sanford farm, a half mUe west of his father, on the south side
of the road opposite the Seth Putnam place. In 1857 he sold to Israel,
son of Seth Putnam, and setded at French Creek, N. Y., where he
remained till l86z, when he purchased the Overton farm near West-
field, N. Y. His wife was a daughter of Deacon George McEwen
of Lawrence and born at Hinesburg, Vt. Had seven children:

5o8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Elmore Manley, b. June 7, 1850, Hopkinton; 1. Westfield;
m. Edna M. Chittenden, June zo, i88g; d. June z6, i8g7.
No issue.
George Stanley, b. June 5, 185Z, Hopkinton; 1. Westfield.
Hermon Lucian, b. January 31, 1854, Hopkinton; 1.
Westfield.
Henry Brainard, b. October zi, 1855, Hopkinton; d.
June Z5, i8go.
Elwin Ransom, b. November 11, 1858, French Creek,
N. Y. ; d. November 14, 1890.
Alice Carrie, b. May 18, i86z, Westfield, N. Y.
Vernon Anson, b. January 17, 1866; 1. Westfield; m.
Mattie Arnold, March 12, 1885. Had three children:
Clara May, b. May i, 1887.
Emma Belle, b. September 3, 1888.
Marion Louise, b. January 16, 1895.

HENRY Mclaughlin, b. December 20, 1758, Lisbon, Ire.; d.
Middleburg, Vt., February 7, 18 13; m. Mary Dunton, b. November 9,
1762, WiUiamstown, Mass.; d. Middleburg, Vt., Febraary 14, 181 3,
Came from Bristol, Vt., in 1804, with his only son Thaddeus and purchased
a large tract south of vUlage Green. He opened a hotel very soon, at first
on south end of vUlage Green.
THADDEUS LAUGHLIN, b. September 13, 1782, Dorset, Vt.; d.
June 22, 1846; m. Hannah Kent, January 17, 1805; b. March 30, 1783,
Dorset, Vt. ; d. March 18, 1832; m. 2d, Huldah Kent. His wives
were sisters of Artemas, Asahel and Moses Kent. He came to town in
1804 from Bristol, Vt., with his father, Henry McLaughHn. They at once
built a log hotel and I am morally certain that it stood on the south side of
the village Green. Mrs. CaroHne A. Laughlin so told me and Mrs. Har
riet Sprague, daughter of Gideon Sprague, writes me that her father first Uved
in a log house on the Green. They soon built a log hotel on or near the
site of the present LaughHn residence, which latter I feel sure was built in
1 8 1 6, as Mr. Kent states in his diary that Mr. Laughlin then went to Vermont
for materials for a house. A hotel was kept there for many years. The
front west room was the barroom. He was the first postmaster, receiving
his appointment in 1 808, and holding the office for over thirty-five years. Had
six children by first and one by second marriage:
Henry D., b. September 17, 1806; d. June 18, 1865, at Ogdens
burg; m. Harriet Sawyer, of ParishviUe, who died March 20, 1879.
He was a physician in practice in Hopkinton tiU August, 1835,
when he went to Ogdensburg. Had one child:
James H., who died some years ago.
Thaddeus H., b. April 20, 1808;. d. June 20, 1878; m. Maria
M. Hopkins of Panton, Vt., Febraary, 1833; d. June 22, 1863;
m. 2d, Caroline A. Sprague, May 10, 1865; d. November 29,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 509
I go I. The first wife was a daughter of RosweU D. Hopkins and
the second a daughter of Dr. Gideon Sprague. Had one child by
first marriage: Hannah M., b. September 2, 1837; d. January 5, 1857.
RosweU H., b. December 13, i8og; d. December 24, 1893; a
bachelor.
Mary D., b. March 7, 181 5; d. October zo, 189Z, at Fond du Lac,
Wis.; single.
Hiram K., b. December 4, 1818; d. April 8, 1896, at Fond du Lac,
Wis.; m. EHzabeth J. Cary, October 12, 1858. Had one child,
who is the sole survivor of the LaughHn famUy:
Thaddeus ^W., 1. Fond du Lac.
Joseph, d. in infancy.
Frances K., b. February 5, l'838; d. March 25, 1850.

RUEL LA^WRENCE, b. in Hardwick, Mass.; d. in Hopkinton; m.
Lucy  , b. in Halifax, Vt. ; d. in Hopkinton. They came from HaU-
fax, Vt., to town about the year 1827, and lived in a house which stood just
north of the present residence of V. A. Chittenden, where both died. He
was a blacksmith and wheelwright and worked at his trades for some years.
Had seven children:
Hart F., b. in CornwaU, Vt.; d. in Ogdensburg. Was principal of
Ogdensburg Academy nine years, and a successfiil book merchant in
that city for thirty years.
Dr. Noah D., b. CornwaU; d. Omaha, Neb.; m. Maria WithereU
of Parishville; d. Omaha. For account of him see physicians of
NicholvUle. Had two children:
Frank E., who married Margaret, daughter of EHzabeth Cady
Stanton. He died at Coronado Beach, Cal.
Ella Maria, m. John J. Morrell of Omaha, where they reside.
Lorenzo J., b. Hopkinton; d. Brattleboro, Vt.; m. Flora Danforth
of Fort Covington. Had one child:
Alice A., m. William Percy; 1. Plattsburg, N. Y.
Lucy A., b. Hopkinton; 1. Ogdensburg; was preceptress in seminary
at Bloomington, 111., Baraboo, Wis., academy at Prescott, and also
Ogdensburg, N. Y.
Henry L., b. Hopkinton; d. while attending medical college at Casde-
ton, Vt.
George A., b. Hopkinton; 1. Ogdensburg. Was with Barnes &
Burr, pubHshers of New York City, for fifteen years, and still receives
royalties on his books.
Laura A., b. Hopkinton; m. Varick A. Chittenden. (See his family. )

5IO EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
ASA MOON, b. November 17, 1772; d. October 15, 1842; m. Hannah
Walker, b. May 9, 1774; d. February 26, i860. I do not leam when he
first came to town or where he first lived. He bought the Jonah Sanford, Jr.,
homestead of Charles Gibson and got a deed of it in 1 8 1 9. He buUt a very
. smaU frame house, which is the north end of the present Sanford residence.
The log house buUt by Mr. Gibson stood fifty feet or so northeast of the
frame house. Mr. Moon sold the farm in 1841 to Jacob T. Gould,
reserving the use of the log house tiU he got his new house buUt under the
hill a few rods down the "north road." He was a very religious man,
being one of the founders of the Baptist Church and its first deacon. Had
eight chUdren:
Benjamin, b. July 30, 1797; d. February 28, I7g9.
Isabel, b. February zi, l8oz; d. December Z3, 1876, in Hopinton.
Jesse, b. April z8, 1803; d. February 17, 1878; m. Sophia Baker,
September 10, 1 831. He and Natnaniel Baldwin, Jr., buUt a saw
mill back of the John C. Smith place on the Turnpike, where he lived
for some years. The mill was practically a faUure, owing to a lack
of water. After this he lived for many years south of ParishviUe,
where he died. Had eleven chUdren:
Hannah, b. April 16, 183Z; 1. Bradford, N. H.; m. Jesse
Burnham, June 7, 185 1. Had two chUdren:
Bloomfield U., b. December 6, 1853.
Ettie, b. August II, 1855.
Rhoda, b. September 3, 1833; d. single.
Maryetta, b. May 13, 1835; m. P. Johnson. Had two
chUdren: Henry, 1. Buffalo, N. Y.
Frank, d.
Priscilla, b. April zg, 1837; d. single.
Zelia, b. February zo, 1840; d. young.
Sophia, b. December 15, 1841; I. Bradford, N. H.; m. Jack
Ghastin. (Incomplete. )
Amanda, b. October zg, 184Z; 1. Bradford.
¦Winfield, b. August iz, 1845; m.  Delano. (Incom
plete. )
Asa, b. October Z3, 1847; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. ; m. Lucinda
Smith, October 18, 1877. Had two children:
Truman J., b. July 6, 1880.
Zelia.
Lewis, b. December 6, 1840; d. a babe.
Millard F.,b. November Z5, 1851; m.  Bryant. Had
one child: Frank, 1. Hartford, Conn.
Levinia, b. September 5, 1804; d. Kansas; m. John P. Roberts.
All I learn of family is as foUows:
Martha J., d. in Wisconsin; m. Caleb Lane in ForestviUe,
Iowa. Had two children:
Cordelia, 1. in Kansas; m. Irving Johnson. Have
family.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 511
Martin L., d. in 1865 at ForestvUle.
Abigail, 1. Cleveland, Ohio; m. Henry Spooner. Had five
chUdren, first died in infancy:
Myra, Eddie, Emma and Arthur.
Myron, m. Marion Johnson; d. in Kansas. Family went to
Washington.
Elisha R., m. twice; 1. Mason City, Iowa. Had one child:
Mildred, 1. Minnesota.
Anna L., married and Hves in Kansas. Has family.
Orange B., b. December zo, 1805, Hinesburg, Vt.; d. l8g5. La
Porte City, Iowa; m. Margaret Wing, November 17, 1831; b.
May 20, 181 3; d. 1900. They went to Kane County, IU., in
1844; to ForestvUle, Iowa, in 1856, and to La Porte City, Iowa, in
1876. On November 17, 1895, they celebrated the sixty-fourth
anniversary of their marriage. Had twelve children:
Zelia, b. 1832; d. young.
George 'W., b. 1834; d. November 22, igo2; m. Adelia
Wilber in 1868. Had three children, two died in infancy:
Fred ^V., married and lives in Chicago.
¦Walter, b. January 25, 1835; m. Mary C. Harris, Decem
ber 20, 1855; d. 1856; m. zd, Sarah A. Gilbert. Had
seven chUdren, three died young; only three given:
Mary, b. in ForestviUe; married and lives in Kansas.
Kate, m. Dr. Maine; 1. Loup, Neb.
Lillie, m. Edwin Anger; 1. Nebraska.
Phebe, b. May l, 1836; m. John Nimmo. Had three
chUdren. (Incomplete.)
Abigail, b. July zg, 1837; m. John Gilbert. Had eleven
children, six died young.
Myra, m. V. Krise; 1. in Oregon.
Ellen, b. September 10, 1838; m. WiUiam H. Out-
salt. Had two chUdren:
Henry H., married and lives in Montana.
Ellen M., b. February 5, 1875; m. Fred G.
Rupp; 1. Dixon, 111.
Deloeme, b. September 15, l83g; 1. Waterloo, Iowa; m.
James H. StuU in 1868. Had four children:
Frank, married and lives in La Porte City.
Arthur, married and lives in Waterloo.
George and Charles, 1. Waterloo.
Zelma L., d. in Illinois.
Giles W., b. 1844; d. January, 1845.
Lucy M., b. March 15, 1848; m. Mathia German; 1.
Missouri. Had four children.
Celia C, b. 1850; d. 1854.
Effie O., 1. La Porte City; m. Wist W. Cooper. Had diree
chUdren: Ray, Bulah and Paul.

5IZ EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Hannah L., d. September ll, l8gg; 1. Neligh, Neb.; m.
Peter J. Krise. Had two children :
Mabel and Zelle.
Abigail, b. February 14, i8og; m. S. RusseU WithereU. (See his
family. )
Rhoda S., b. November i, 181 z; d. September ig, 1 870; m.
Orange Wing, January, 1834; d. February 13, 1838; m. zd, Jacob
R. Norris, May 2, 1845; d. July 14, 1848. Had three children:
Charles M., b. October, 1834; d. November ig, i87g,
Riverdale, Kan.; m. Susan M. FairchUd. Had three children:
Alvan F.
Harry B., 1. Howeville, Colo.
Mary Annis, d. in 1879.
Annis P., b. November 14, 1835; 1. Hopkinton; m. Fullom
M. Corwin, June 15, 1858; b. October 16, 1834. Had
two chUdren: John A., b. August 18, 1862; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Ettie L. Smith, January 21, 1899. Had one child:
Annis O., b. October 14, 1901.
Delia J., b. August 23, 1876; 1. Hopkinton; m.
WilHam F. Crowley, August 29, 1895. Had two
children: Marion, b. August 20, i8gg.
Bernice, b. July 6, igo2.
Delia A., b. May 31, 1837; d. November 7, 1857.
Henry G., b. June 15, 1815; d. January 25, l8gi, Ticonderoga,
N. Y.; m. Lydia Ann Jenkins, in 1837; b. AprU 4, 18Z3; d.
December I, 1858, New York; m. zd, Fanny Peterson at Ticon
deroga; d. February 13, i8gi. Had three children:
Lydia I., b. October 3, 1838; 1. Massillon, Ohio; m. Cal
vin J. Stratton, November 11, i86z; b. November zg,
1837; d. February 4, 1886. Had three children:
Freddie, b. July 15, 1864; d. August 27, 1864.
Eva L., b. September 8, 1867; 1. Conneaut, Ohio;
m. Archie E. Matson, May 27, 1886. Had three
children: William E., b. December 7, 1887.
Homer L., b. March 20, 1891.
Florence E., b. August 4, 1893; d. May
7. 1895.
Daughter, b. August 15, 1871; d. August 15, 1 871.
Daughter, b. June 4, 1840; d. June 4, 1840.
Miner C, b. March 29, 1842; 1. Cleveland, Ohio; m.
Clara I. Hatch, December 24, 1873. Had three children:
Son, b. January 7, 1875; '^- satne day, Conneaut,
Ohio.
Lizzie Em, b. December 5, 1880, Cleveland, Ohio.
Henry H., b. October zz, 1883; d. November 21,
1886.

1-12W

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 513
DYER L. MERRILL, b. June 10, 1809, Tunbridge, Vt.; d. June 4,
i8gi, Nicholville, N. Y.; m. Susan C. Lamson, May 8, 1837; b. No
vember II, 1818; d. November ig, i8g3, NicholvUle, N. Y. They came
to Hopkinton about 1837. He was a large, powerful man, a good neighbor
and highly respected citizen. Mrs. M. was also equaUy respected as a wife,
mother and neighbor. I knew them weU. (See sketch among pioneer set
ders.) Had seven chUdren:
James H., b. March 25, 1838; d. November 17, 1858.
Samantha C, b. February 8, 1840; 1. Nicholville, N. Y.; m.
Sheldon P. Reynolds, AprU 2, 1863; d. December 28, i8g2. No
issue.
Sarah M., b. August 21, 1842; 1. Minneapolis, Minn.; m. Mark R.
Page, October 5, 1865. Had five chUdren:
DyerL., b. November 13, 1866; d. December i8, 1881.
¦Ward W., b. AprU 2, 1868; d. December 28, 1881.
Merton G., b. AprU ig, 1870.
Emma S., b. August 23, 1 871; d. August 17, 1872.
Alice M., b. December 26, 1876.
Silas ¦W., b. February 8, 1845; 1. NicholviUe, N. Y.; m. Carrie
L. Day, October 11, 1870. Has been a successfiil merchant,
supervisor of his town and is highly respected. Had three chUdren:
Grace L., b. October zg, 1874.
Maude L., b. July 31, 1880.
Bessie L., b. June zo, i88z.
Thurza A., b. August 11, 1847; d. September 27, 1862. She was
a most estimable young miss, rosy cheeked and vigorous. She and
the writer of this book were nearly of the same age and each struggled
hard to win the trivial prize for best spelHng. When he occasionaUy
would win it brought tears to her eyes. It was sad indeed to caU her
hence when so young and promising.
George O., b. March 28, 1853; '• Lawrence, Mass.; m. EUa E.
Day; d. December i, 1888.
Emma S., b. November 10, 1859; d. September 28, 1862.
REUBEN POST" (Lieutenant RosweU', Lieutenant and Deacon Abra
ham'', Lieutenant and Deacon Abraham^, Lieutenant Abraham^, and Stephen^,
of Cambridge, Hartford and Saybrook, and Mehitable (Jones) Post), b. October
^5> 1759; ^- August 2, 1815; m. Esther Harmon, b. 1759; d. September
14, i83g. The records in the War Department at Washington, D. C, show
that Reuben Post was a member of Captain Isaac Clarke's company of Ver
mont militia from March 2, 1778, to May 2, 1 778, when he was discharged;
also that he was a first corporal in Captain Samuel Allen's company from Octo
ber 13, 1780, to November 4, 1780, when he was discharged, and also that
he served as sergeant in Captain George Sexton's company of Colonel Eben
ezer Walbridge's regiment, and further that he served from September i to
November 20, 1781.
He came from Dorset in 1 804, and his wife and family very soon after.
He bought a strip of timber land with its southwest corner near where

514 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Chittenden's store now stands and extending east on present road to Nichol
vUle one hundred and sixty rods, and in depth north about twenty rods,
being known as No. 8 of Mechanic's lots. On this he built a log house
and resided. He early took up one hundred acres directly back of the
Eliphalet Brush farm.
In 1808 he purchased the present Truman E. Post farm from Joseph
Armstrong, and with it a narrow strip off the west end of Mr. Hopkins's
farm (adjoining EHsha Risdon's on the east), connecting the farm with the
Potsdam road. The Turnpike road had not then been cut. Mr. Armstrong
had previously built a log cabin on the north end of the strip next to the
road. The ruins of the old fireplace and cellar may stiU be seen over the
road fence in Mr. Hopkins's pasture. The Turnpike was cut out in l8og,
and Mr. Post, wishing to have his home on the main part of the farm, very
soon after built a small frame house, which, dressed over and enlarged, is stiU
in use as the farm tenant house, and may be seen in the cut of Mr. Post's
residence in the rear. His grandson, Truman E., is very confident that Mr.
Post continued to live in his cabin in the vUlage till he had his frame house
built. Mr. Risdon married the daughter of Mr. Post in 1 8 1 1 , and at once
moved into the log house on the Potsdam road.
Mrs. Post by letter from Dorset joined the First Congregational So
ciety of Hopkinton on its organization of nine members, September 6, 1808.
At the first town meeting held March 4, 1 806, Mr. Post was elected an as
sessor, and also one of three commissioners of highways. In 1 8 10 forty-five
persons having subscribed $115 for a library, he was elected one of eight
trustees. In 1 8 1 5 he was one of the three trustees who built the stone
schoolhouse. He was a mason by trade and assisted on the building. As it
was Hearing completion, a staging gave way and he with others fell to the
ground. His skull was fractured by the fall from which he soon died. Had
seven chUdren.
Hadassa, b. February 13, 1782; d. September 2g, 1867; m.
Samuel B. Abbott. (See his record. )
Lynda, m. David Covey. (See his record.)
Amanda, b. April 12, I7g2; d. February 10, 1845; m. Elisha Ris
don. (See his record.)
Noah, b. I7g5; d. 1872; m. Electa Pike. He lived and died at Fort
Jackson. Had four children:
Henry, 'William and David, all of whom are dead, unless
it be WilHam, who has not been heard from for years. The
fourth, a son, was drowned at Fort Jackson.
Lucy, b. October I, I7g6; d. February g, 1865; m. Ira Smith.
(See his record.)
Elias, b. September 31, 1798; d. December 25, 1885; m. Charlotte
Merritt, AprU 18, 1824; b. July 3, lygg; d. March 14, 1883.
He held the old home farm and was a prominent and successful citizen.
He was appointed captain, August 20, 1823, in the 153rd Regi
ment, 4gth Brigade, 12th Division, by Governor Yates. Had five
children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 515
Edwin M., b. December 20, 1824; d. November, i85g.
Ellen B., b. September 2, 1826; d. March 22, igoi;m.
George Smith. (See his family.)
Amanda, b. November 3, l82g; d. December 11, i8gg;
single.
Julia, b. February 7, 1832 (Mrs. Edwin Dove); 1. Hopkinton.
Truman E., b. February 21, 1834; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Harriett French, b. Febraary 24, 1838. He holds the old
homestead. Had one child:
Charlotte, b. May 31, 1861; 1. Hopkinton; m.
DeForest Fearl, June 5, 1885. No issue.
Reuben, b. October 10, 1800; d. August 12, 1883, at Gerry,
N. Y. ; m. Julia Shepard; b. June 5, I7g8; d. May 5, 1863.
Lived on old homestead, then went to Norfolk, N. Y., and from
there to Gerry, N. Y. Had four children, the oldest died in infancy:
Cornelia, b. October 21, 1834 (Mrs. W. Basmore); d.
March 18, 1863.
Charles S., b. July 14, 1835; m. AdaHne Atkins; 1. Sin-
clairvUle, N. Y.
Frances E., b. December 21, 1838 (Mrs. Orin Strong);
1. Sinclahville, N. Y.
NATHAN PECK, b. 1788, Middleburg, Vt.; d. March 7, 1836; m.
Ruth Witherell, d. June 2, 1870. He came to Hopkinton about 18 — , and
first settled on south side of Sanford road, opposite Seth Putnam's. He after
wards took a tract a mile or so south on what is still caUed the "Peck road."
His widow married John Hoit of ParishvUle. Had five chUdren:
Eliza, b December 22, 1812; d. March 2g, 1873; m. RusseU
Squire, AprU 7, 1830. (See Ashbel Squire.)
Orlin, b. 1814; d. March 8, 1883; m. Caroline Smith in 1846; d.
October 5, 1871. Had six children:
Jennie, b. May 2g, 1847; m. Horace Shomyo, AprU 22,
1872; 1. Malone, N. Y.
Ruth, b. May 15, i84g; d. Febraary 25, 1869.
Addie, b. September 6, 1853; d. September 22, 1897; m.
Charles Hodgkins of Fort Jackson. Had one child:
Earl.
Emorette, b. March l, 1858; m. Charles Stevens, Fort
Jackson. Had two chUdren:
Grace, 1. ParishviUe, N. Y. ; m. J. Fred Hoyt.
Blanche.
Celestia, b. June 30, 1862; m. George Smith, December 19,
1883; 1. Hopkinton. Had one child:
Ethel.
Nora, b. June 15, 1867; 1. Malone.
Jane, b. 1817; d. 1836.
Adaline, d. 1884.
Thomas Davis. He was a soldier in the CivU War and was reported
missing after a battle. Nothing further was ever heard of him.

5i6 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
SETH PUTNAM, b. 1788, Middlesex, Vt.; d. September, 1864; m.
Nancy Rockwell, b. lySg, CornwaU, Vt.; d. June, 1872. Came to Hop
kinton about 1 8og with his aU in a pack on his back, and soon after took up
the lot next west of the Moses Kent place, where he built a log house, since
known as the Putnam farm. That locality was then a practically unbroken
forest. He and Judge Sanford were fast friends and had many interesting dis
cussions on politics and religion. Both were then good Baptists. Had seven
chUdren :
Cynthia, b. 1812 ; d. 1852 ; m. Hon. Parker. W. Rose of Parish
ville in 1837. No issue.
Lewis H., b. i8i5;d. July 2g, 1840; single.
Seth R., b. 1 8 16; d. on way to California in i84g and buried at sea;
m. Jane M. Barber of Parishville. Had two children:
Celia, d. in Michigan; m. GUbert Smith of Parishville.
Cynthia, d. in Michigan; m. Charles Howe.
Mary P., b. May z, i8zi;d. August Z5, 1846, at Antwerp, N. Y.;
m. Rev. L. W. Nichols.
Lucinda, b. 18Z3; d. October, i8gi; m. David M. Holden; m.
zd, Sidney Briggs. Had two children by first and one by second
marriage: William, b. 1848; 1. Michigan.
Frances, b. 1850; d. 1875; m. Dr. O. C. Hutchins.
Charles, d. aged twelve years.
Amelia Ruth, b. November 10, i8z8; 1. Metamora, Mich.; m.
Horace Clark in 1856, of Dundee, C. E. Had one child:
Nancy E., 1. Metamora; m. Bert Foote.
Israel A., b. January 4, 1830; d. October Z5, 1874, on visit at
Ithaca, Mich.; m. R. Jane Corwin, January 5, 1853; b. November
ig, 1830; 1. Bangor, N. Y. They adopted Lucy Dewey and Sid
ney Blue, who became Lucy Putnam, now Mrs. Ashley Dudley of
Metamora, Mich., and Lewis Putnam, who now resides in Hop
kinton.

JACOB PHELPS, b. July IZ, 1780, Pittsfield, Mass.; d. AprU 2, 1864;
m. Lucy Webster, May I, 1803; b. November 11, 1784; d. February 10,
1881. Came to town June 14, 1 8 2 1 , and settled on the Jasper Armstrong
farm next south of the farm known as the WiUiam S. Phelps place. He was
about six feet in height and an upright, sterUng citizen. Had seven children:
Alanson W., b. March 5, 1804; d. October g, 1868, Stockholm;
m. Philanna Bachellor, March 7, 1827; b. AprU z, 1808; d. No
vember 14, 1854; m. zd, Mrs. Lydia Newbury; 1. Fort Jackson.
One chUd by first and three by second marriage:
Emily R., b. March 2, 1828; 1. Hopkinton; m. Carlos C.
Chittenden. (See Chittenden record.)
¦Warren ^W., b. August 2, 1858; 1. Winthrop, N. Y.; m.
Edith E. Chubb, July 10, i87g. Had one chUd:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 517
Eva A., b. October 13, 1880; m. Hugh Parr, Oc
tober 17, igoo. Had one child:
^Varren W., b. September 26, igoi; d.
December 23, 1901.
Alanson L., b. November 13, i860; 1. Avalon, Cal.; m.
Ella M. Meacham, September 18, 188 1. No issue.
Waldo H., b. October 20, 1862; d. March 9, 1901; m.
Harriet A. Chubb, March 15, 1882. Had two children:
Chloe E., b. September 14, 1884; 1. Stockholm.
Alanson H., b. June 4, i88g.
¦William S., b. January 26, 1806; d. Febraary 15, 1882; m. Laura
Palmer, b. March 30, 181 1, Lincoln, Vt.; d. July 26, 1877; m.
2d, Mrs., Martha Lyman, November 24, 1878; b. June 14, 1816;
d. May 27, 1899, Clinton, Mass. Had fifteen chUdren:
Cordelia A., b. January 14, 1 83 1; d. March 20, 1865,
Fayette, Wis.; m. Lorenzo D. Atwood, January i, 1850;
d. February 19, 1882. Enlisted in Co. E, 43d Regunent,
Wisconsin Volunteers; was justice twelve years, assessor nine,
and deacon twenty years in Hopkinton in Congregational
Church. Had two children:
Leona L., b. AprU 20, 1851; d. March 20, 1865.
Arthur A., b. May i, 1854; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Olivia M. Simmons, December 3, 1879; b. No
vember 16, i85g. Had two children:
Leon Roy, b. July 6, i88z.
¦Warren Carroll, b. September 4, i88g.
Carolina M., b. September z, 183Z; 1. Hartford, Conn.;
m. Daniel B. Landon, January 6, 185Z; b. March zo, 1832;
d. AprU Z3, i87g. He was a sergeant in Co. G, io6th
Regiment, and wounded at Monnocacy, Md., July g, 1864,
and discharged in May, 1865. Had six chUdren:
Herbert H., b. March zg, 1853; 1. Norfolk; m.
Lucy Pritchard in May, 1881. Had two children:
Florence M., b. February 17, i8g8.
Son, b. April, I go I.
Ella L., b. September Z3, 1855; 1. Hartford, Conn.;
m. Henry W. Johnson, April zo, 1880. Had one
child: Florence M., b. October iz, 1883; m.
Frederick F. Warren, October 15, igoz.
Will P., b. September 5, 1858; 1. East Hartford,
Conn. ; m. Meda Cooper, June, i88z. No issue.
Elizabeth L., b. April 10, i86z; 1. Buffalo, N. Y.
Lucy S., b. January 18, 1871; 1. Newington Junc
tion, Conn.; m. WiUiam A. DriscoU, October i,
1887. Had eight children:
Marion L., b. September z, 1888.
Dorothy C, b. February iz, i8gi.
Arthur T., b. November 30, i8gz.

5i8 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Henry J., b. March Z5, i8g4.
Clinton E., b. Febraary 11, i8g6.
Esther M., b. June zz, i8g7.
Laura P., b. January lo, igoo.
Elizabeth B., b. March z6, igoz.
Raymond D., b. June 6, 187Z; 1. E. Hartford,
Conn.; m. Agnes H. Oldfield, February 6, i8g5.
No issue.
Pauline S., b. December ig, 1833; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Lorenzo D. Atwood. (See Cordelia.)
Emeline E., b. September zg, 1835; d. July 11, i8g4; m.
Richard Gilmore, September 11, 1864; b. March 4, 1836;
d. June 6, i8g6. Enlisted in Co. — ¦, — Regiment. Had
five children: Leona, b. June 17, 1867; d. August 8, 1867.
May L., b. July, 1868; 1. UnderhiU, Vt.; m. George
H. Prior, AprU 30, i8gz. Had one child:
Ho'ward, b. September 4, i8g7.
Ida A., b. October zg, 1 871; 1. Hopkinton.
King B., b. December 8, 187Z.
Sarah L., b. December 16, 1874; '¦ Minneapolis.
Sarah M., b. March 10, 1837; 1. Sacramento, Cal.; m.
James R. Moore, August 6, 1861; d. February 8, i87g.
Enlisted in December, 1861, was sergeant in Co. G,
13th Regiment, Conn. Volunteers, discharged in July, 1862,
and died at Soldiers' Home in Dayton, Ohio. Had eight
children: Daughter, b. November 28, 1864; d. December i,
1864.
William H., b. February 22, 1866; 1. St. Louis,
Mo.; m. Mary Popham, October, 1887. Had six
children: Kathie, b. March 6, i88g.
Arthur, b. June, 1891.
Laura, b. July, 1893.
Harold, b. June, 1895.
Edith, b. March, i8g7.
Irene, b. June, igoi; d. June, igo2.
Laura P., b. January 23, 1868; 1. Maxwell, Cal.;
m. James W. MarshaU, December 18, i8g5. Had
one child: Dorothy Helen, b. November i, i8g8.
Jennie H., b. February 25, 1870; d. July 25, i8gg,
SaHna, Kan.; m. George F. HoUiday, October,
i8gg. No issue.
Joseph P., b. February 12, 1872; 1. Sacramento,
Cal.; m. Mary F. Lynch, July 3, igoi. Had one
child: Gertrude Eloise, b. AprU 9, 1902.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 519
James D., b. February 24, 1873; '• Sacramento,
Cal.
Mary ^W., b. February 24, 1873; d. November,
1884.
R. Victor, b. August 10, 1876; 1. Vina, Cal.
¦William H., b. January 10, 1839; '^- J^^ne 2, 1839.
Jane L., b. March 14, 1840; d. September 2, 1840.
¦William H., b. May 21, 1841; d. September i, 1841.
Laura J., b. August 18, 1842; d. September 17, 1848.
Lucy J., b. December ig, 1844; '^- November ig, 1848.
Myron A., b. January 3, 1847; d. August 31, 1848.
Alice P., b. January 21, i84g; d. AprU 26, 1850.
Alvah A., b. April 25, 1851; d. June 10, 1856.
Orville A., b. August 12, 1852; 1. Everett, Wash.; m. Ellen
J. Hewett, January 26, 1873. Had three children:
Guy A., b. November 17, 1874.
Roy, b. February 14, 1881; d. May, 1883.
Lossie Lutrelle, b. January 5, i8gi; d. December
26, i8g5.
Lillian L., b. March 17, 1856; 1. Minneapolis; m. Henry
Ingham, November zo, i87g. Had four children:
Laura Elizabeth, b. November zz, i8go.
Margaret, b. January zg, 1893.
Henry Phelps, b. September 14, 1895.
W^illie Bearden, b. October z8, 1897.
Lucy W., b. November 7, 1807; d. January zy, 1857, Stockholm;
m. Benjamin F. Nay, December 31, i8z8. Had eleven chUdren:
Salinda A., b. August 19, 1829; d. March 5, 1842.
Jacob P., b. March 19, 1831; 1. Owasso, Mich.; m. Mary
Riggs. (Incomplete.)
Lucy ¦W., b. March 9, 1833; d. October 25, 1839.
Helen M., b. December 26, 1834; d. ; m. Leander Pritchard.
Had four chUdren:
Mary, Betsey, 1. Norfolk, N. Y. ; m. Herbert Lan
don; Lydia and Rosa.
Lucinda E., b. February 8, 1837; d. April 24, 1868; m.
Lucius Kimpton. Had three children:
Frances, Stella and Luna.
¦William H., d. October 23, 1839.
Lucy ^V., b. June zz, 1839; 1. Saginaw, Mich.; m. Nel
son Conrad. Had two chUdren:
Myrtle and a son.
Betsy F., b. August i, 1840; d. May zo, 1885; single.
Zelma P., b. June 2, 1843; 1. Saginaw, Mich.; m.
Benjamin F., b. July 5, 1846; d. September 7, 1852.
¦WiUie P., 1. Perry, Mich.
Orsamus, b. September 16, i8og; d. May 6, 1810, Orville, Vt.
Lucinda M., b. AprU zi, 181 1; d. November 18, 1844, Ogdens
burg.

5ZO EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Edwin 0.,b. AprU Z3, 1813; d. April z6, 1894, Stockholm; m.
Priscilla Dwinell, November Z5, 1838; b. April ig, 1818; 1. Fort
Jackson. Had four chUdren:
Luman J. Phelps, b. May z8, 1840; 1. Faribault, Minn.;
m. Augusta E. Lawrence, May 28, 1 861. Had six
children: Nina A., b. April Z5, 1863; d. November, 1868.
Leonard L., b. March 11, 1865; 1. Long Prairie,
Minn.; m. IsabeUe Cyrus, November 15, iSgz.
Mark A., b. November zg, 1869; d. April zi,
1897, atW. Chazy, N. Y. ; m. Carrie Coyne, Janu
ary z8, i8g3. Had three children:
Vivian A., b. January 10, i8g4.
Leonard E., b. June 17, i8g5.
Lawrence M., b. June 10, i8g7.
Alice E., b. July 15, 187Z; 1. Malone, N. Y.; m.
Frederick Riley, April 17, i8g5.
Helen A., b. April 11, 1875.
Orville P., b. September zg, 1878.
Adelia P., b. February iz, 184Z; d. August 1 1, igoo. Col
lege View, Neb.; m. John Grover, October 9, 1867. Had
two children: Edwin P., b. November 14, 1868; d. May 15,
1873-
Clifton P., b. April zo, 1875; 1- New York City.
Celia R., b. March 16, 1846; d. May 8, 1875; "•¦ Charles
G. Hastings, September i, 1864; 1. Manchester, N. H.
No issue.
Alice E., b. August Z3, 1851; 1. Fort Jackson; m. Fayette N.
Kellogg, March z8, 1878. Had two children:
Pearle E., b. October zo, 1883.
Gladys G., b. October 30, 1889.
Polly, b. February 7, 181 5; d. October 11, 18 16, OrviUe, Vt.

ELISHAl^RISDON, b. March 15, 178Z, Dorset, Vt.; d. October ig,
1 85 1; nrr Amanda Post, August 4, 181 1; b. AprU iz, 179Z; d. Febru
ary 10, 1845. He was the son of Onesimus and Sarah (Wheeler) Risdon,
and the second of a family of thirteen chUdren. His father was born Febru
ary 18, 1760, at  , and he and his two brothers, John and Daniel, were
soldiers in the War of the Revolution. The records in the adjutant general's
office at Montpelier, Vt., show that Onesimus served as a private from July
ZI to December 3, 1777, in Captain John Warner's company in Lieutenant-
Colonel Samuel Herrick's regiment of Rangers ; also from March z to May
z, 1778, in Captain Isaac Clarke's company, raised by order of General de
Lafayette ; also as a private from October i to November Z4, 1778, in Captain
Joseph Briggs' s company; also as a private from October jz, 1780, for seven
days in Captain John Starke's company in Colonel Ira Allen's regiment.

SETH PUTNAM.

WILLIAM S. PHELPS.

JACOB PHELPS.

E. HARMON RISDON.

MRS. MARY (SHEALS) RISDON.

MR.S. EDNA (risdon) CROSLEY.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 5Z1
and also for five days in Captain Nathaniel Smith's company in the same regi
ment in October and November of the same year. He was at Ticonderoga
with Schuyler and also in the batde of Bennington and in other skhmishes.
He drew a pension for a while but lost it through the dishonesty of Vermont
officials. (See diary, March 19, 1848.)
Onesimus with his twelve children left Dorset, Vt., for the then west,
settHng at Richmond, Ontario County, N. Y., where he did a blacksmith
business. His last child, Polly, was born there July 19, 1801. AU his
children, or nearly all, married and settled at first in that locaUty. Robust as
young men and women, somehow quite a number of them died in early life,
as Mr. Risdon states in one of his letters. EHsha went back to Dcfrset in
1 80 1 to further attend school in the Dorset Academy, as we learn from his
letters. Onesimus, becommg again unsettled, started west once more, settling in
Sandusky, Ohio, where his wife died about i8zo, and is buried. He soon
returned to his old home, spending the last twenty years of his Hfe in the home
of his daughter, Mrs. Charlotte Pratt, wife of George Pratt of Livonia Centre,
N. Y., where he died March l, 1848, and is buried.
In preparing this work the only descendants of Onesimus of whom I
have learned (aside from those of Elisha) are Charlotte M. Coy and Edwin
R. Coy of Livonia Centre, N. Y. ; Rev. S. W. Pratt and famUy of Camp-
beU, N. Y., grandchildren of Charlotte Risdon Pratt, and Mr. Justus F. Coy
of Independence, Iowa, grandson of Olive Risdon Reed, and Mrs. Frances
(Risdon) Reed of Santa Barbara, Cal., and Charles Risdon of Los Angeles,
chUdren of Simus Risdon, who was a son of Onesimus, Jr., born January 6,
1784, at Rupert, Vt. Simus died at Santa Barbara, November 30, l8gg, at
the great age of ninety-one years and seven months.
Elisha left Rupert, Vt., January 31, 1804, for Hopkinton, being in
duced thereto by the proffer of large wages by a gentleman whose name he
does not give. The settlement of the town was then not quite a year old,
and there were then only a very few settlers here and there in the woods.
He worked for and lived more or less in the home of RosweU Hopkins for
three years.
In 1805 he purchased the betterments in and to one hundred and fifteen
acres on the south side of the Potsdam road, about a mile west of the viUage
of Asahel Wright, a brother of Caleb. When not employed by Mr. Hop
kins or engaged in hunting, he worked at clearing this tract. In September,
1807, he went to his father's at Richmond, N. Y., where he remained two
years, returning late in the summer of 1 8og. In the fall after his return he
made the hunting trip to Cookham of which he has given us a vivid and in
teresting account.
Joseph Armstrong had prior to this bought the present Truman Post farm
and a narrow strip of land of Mr. Hopkins lying along the east side of Mr.
Risdon's lot to enable him to get to the Potsdam road. A log cabin was
buUt on t'his strip close to the road by Mr. Armstrong. Slight relics of the
potato cellar and of the old stone fireplace and chimney may still be seen just
over the fence in Mr. Hopkins's pasture. In 1808 Reuben Post purchased
the farm and this strip and cabin of Mr. Armstrong. At this time he was
living in a cabin on the Chittenden store corner. Truman E. Post tells me

5ZZ EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
that his grandfather buUt the small frame house now dressed over and used by
him as a tenant house in l8og or 1810. Artemus Kent boarded with Mr.
Post in summer of 1 8 1 o while clearing his farm across the road from Mr.
Post's farm, and with Mr. Risdon in summer of 181 2. It is pretty certain
that Mr. Post lived in the log house on the Chittenden store corner untU he
had his smaU frame house over on the Turnpike ready for occupancy, which
is the understanding of his grandson, Truman E.
Mr. Risdon married Amanda, the daughter of Reuben Post, in August,
1 8 1 1 , and moved into the cabin on the Potsdam road, where he Hved tUl
i8z5 and where his three children were born, when he purchased the better
ments of his brother-in-law, Samuel B. Abbott, in a tract on the south side of
the Turnpike at the junction of the " Sanford road " with it, where he lived
tiU his death in 1 8 5 1 . No one living, so far as I learn, can recall his Hving
at any other place. A Mr. RockweU had taken up this tract, as I learn from
an old map, prior to Mr. Abbott and buUt a log house. Harriet Adsit,
daughter of Mr. Abbott, born in l8zz, so writes me. No one Uving can re
member this log cabin on the Turnpike or ever hearing of it. In a letter
written by Mr. Risdon in 1 8 3 1 to his father, he speaks of having recently
built a small frame house, which confirms Mrs. Adsit' s recoUection, and proves
to a moral certainty that his first house on the Turnpike was a log one.
Mr. Risdon, as I learn from many people who knew him and well re
member him, was a most worthy citizen and exemplary man. He was town
clerk from 1813 to 1833 and town sealer for many years. He was natu-
raUy a reader and student and possessed a bright, discriminating mind. As a
writer he was easy, clear, graceful and interesting, which his writings show
even in these days of culture. The tribute paid by him to his wife on her
death is a prose ode in gracefiil diction, feeHng and tenderness, and the letters
to Eliphalet Brush can hardly be improved. But a small per cent of the col
lege men of to-day can surpass this man of the log cabin and forest in ease,
grace and diction in composition.
He early took up surveying as we leam from Mr. Hopkins's old account
book, no doubt learning the rudiments of that art from Roswell Hopkins and
his son Benjamin, who seemed to understand it more or less. A little later
he became sub or local agent for WilHam Short, the proprietor of the Short
Tract and also for Mr. Lenox. His old arithmetic, now held and prized by
his granddaughter, Mrs. Susan Capell, is a curiosity. It was written with
a pen in 1803, just a hundred years ago. It has coarse paper covers with an
example under each heading or subject, with very Httle explanation. The
lad of to-day would be disgusted and throw it aside. The bounds of many
of the farms of Hopkinton were run and established by him.
He stood about six feet in height, rather slim of build, well proportioned,
brown or darker hair, cleanly shaven, clear complexion, somewhat ruddy,
quiet, modest and reserved. In figure, complexion, way and bearing his
daughter Clarinda gready resembled him.
His health was poor for many years, and for the last eight or ten years
of his life he was, most of the time, confined to his bed.
The diary which he wrote and kept, it is plain to gather, was never in
tended for pubHcation. Such a thought never entered his head. Had he had
that in mind what a history and story of those early times would he have

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 5Z3
given us ! However, as it is, he did, without intending it, give us many facts,
dates of death and other events which are nowhere else told, and quite a pic
ture of the early days in Hopkinton, for which I am sure aU are deeply
gratefiil. Had three chUdren:
Elijah Harmon, b. October 3, 18 iz; d. November 3, 189Z,
Webster City, Iowa; m. Mary HaU Sheals, Febraary 18, 1835,
Malone, N. Y.; b. March 28, 181 5, OrweU, Vt.; d. November
15, 1896, Webster City, Iowa. Had six children:
Charlotte Amanda, b. January 26, 1838; d. March 5,
1 87 1; m. Varick A. Chittenden, Febraary 16, i860. (See
Clark S. Chittenden record.)
Edna Mary, b. Febraary 7, 1841; 1. Webster City, Iowa;
m. George W. Crosley, April 16, 1864; b. March 4, 1839,
New Haven, Ohio. Mr. C. enlisted in spring of 1861 in
Co. E, 3d Regiment Iowa Volunteers, mustered in as first
sergeant, promoted to first lieutenant, June 26, 1861, and on
March 8, 1863, commissioned major, which he held until June
g, 1864, when he was honorably discharged. Subsequently
he was commissioned major in Hancock's First Veteran Corps
at Washington, D. C, and discharged May 11, 1865. His
mUitary history is identical with that of the famous Third Iowa.
He was brevetted lieutenant colonel and colonel for conspicu
ous service. After the war he located at Webster City, where
he has held many positions: postmaster, sheriff of HamUton
County, warden of the state penitentiary, member of Board of
Education and of the city council, etc. He is a member of
the Iowa ShUoh battlefield commission, now erecting a monu
ment on that historic field. Had four children:
George Risdon, b. March 17, 1865, Hopkinton,
N. Y.; I. Fort Madison, Iowa; m. Cynthia Al
bright, February 12, 1896; b. May 3, 1865, Fort
Madison, Iowa. Had one child:
Marion Albright, b. March 3, 1898.
Charles Carroll, b. March 11, 1868, Webster
City, Iowa; d. January 8, 1878.
Charlotte Elizabeth, b. June 19, 1871; 1. Web
ster City, Iowa.
Varick Chittenden, b. November 11, 1875; 1.
Webster City, Iowa.
Frances Eleanor Risdon, b. January 4, 1845; d. May
4, i8g6, Webster City, Iowa; m. Charles Wickware, Sep
tember 2g, 1868; b. December 28, 1840, Colchester,
Vt. ; d. May 4, i8g3, Webster City, Iowa. Mr. W. en
Hsted March 28, 1862, in Co. I, 6th Regiment Vermont
Volunteers, transferred by promotion to second lieutenant,
Co. B, 43d U. S. Cavalry. At Savage Station, June 2g,
1862, he was shot through the body, the musket baU enter
ing his left side and coming out the right side below the ribs.

524 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
He was left on the field for dead and made a prisoner, but
subsequently exchanged. Recovering from his wound he
rejoined his regiment, and on the 5 th day of May, 1864,
lost an arm in the battle of the WUderness. At Philadelphia,
December i, 1865, he was honorably discharged, thus com
pleting a record as a soldier second to none for bravery and
efficiency in the discharge of duty. After the war he settled
at Webster City, where he was highly esteemed, holding
many positions of trust, — deputy collector internal revenue,
deputy postmaster, auditor HamUton County, eight years,
mayor of the city, member of the Board of Education, also
city council, charter member of Winfield Scott Post, etc.
Had eight children:
Mary Harmon, b. July 21, i86g; 1. Webster City,
Iowa.
Sarah Risdon, b. May 12, 1871; 1. Webster City,
Iowa.
Bessie Miranda, b. February 8, 1875; 1. Webster
City, Iowa; m. Charles Maxwell Joy, February 18,
i8gg; b. November 14, 1875, Geneva IU.
Chloe Emma, b. February 24, 1877; 1. Webster
City, Iowa; m. Nelson C. Joy, December 31, i8g5;
b. October 3, 1877, Batavia IU. Had three chUdren:
Catherine, b. August 17, i8g6.
Gail, b. April 15, i8g8.
Maxwell Leslie, b. October i, igoi.
Elsie Lincoln, b. May 31, i87g.
Harriett Bell, b. July 17, i88i; 1. Webster City,
Iowa; m. Winfred Harold Douglass, June ig, igoi;
b. June 12, 1879, Osage, Iowa.
Kate Blaine, b. April 10, 1884.
Milton Dana, b. November 3, 1888.
Elisha Sheals Risdon, b. AprU i, 1847; d. January 8,
1852.
Sarah Clarinda, b. April g, 1851; 1. Webster City, Iowa;
m. Frank L. Currie, December 15, 1874; b. June I, 1 85 1,
Augusta, N. Y. Had four children:
Mary Ethelyn, b. January 2, 1876; d. March 22,
1877.
Earl Risdon, b. March 26, 1878; 1. Boulder,
Colo.
Clare Harmon, b. May 15, i88z.
Frank Shields, b. July 18, i8g4.
Harmon Herbert Risdon, b. November 4, 1853; L
Milton, Wis.; m. Jessie Cole, AprU 5, 1877. Had five
children: Charlotte Iza, b. March 10, 1878.
¦Willie H., b. February 4, 1879; d. February 10,
1879.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 5Z5
Herbert Cole, b. March 31, 1880.
Frank C, b. February 2, 1882.
Darl C, b. January 2, 1884.
Mary, b. October 7, 1815; d. May 4, 1875; m. Asahel H. Chitten
den, April 13, 1836. (See Solomon Chittenden record.)
Clarinda, b. June 22, 1822; d. October ig, 1893; m. Jonah San
ford, Jr., February 17, 1847. (See Jonah Sanford record.)
THOMAS REMINGTON, b. 1767; d. May i, i8ig; m. Mardia
Shepard, b. 1766; d. i84g. He was an acquaintance of the GoodeUs and
came to town in 1 804. The story of his settlement is given in the Hst of
pioneers. Had five chUdren:
Stillman C, b. March 3, 1800, Kingsbury, N. Y.; d. August 23,
i8g2; m. Rosalinda Holman, January, 1823; b. May 10, 1802; d.
August 2, 1880. Had eleven children:
Julius T., b. December 7, 1823; I. Rockford, IU. He was
twice married and was a major in the Civil War. Lost two
children in infancy and has two Hving:
Helen and Rose.
Jason, b. August 27, 1825; d. September 30, i8g4, Hop
kinton; single.
Edward, b. December 24, 1827; d. September, l8g7, Hop
kinton; single.
Emily A., b. May 2, i82g; single; 1. YpsUanti, Mich.
Jackson, b. July 27, 1831; 1. New York City; m. Hannah
Davis of Hopkinton; d. i8g5. (Incomplete.)
Achsa, b. July 2, 1833; d. February z6, 1870, in Hopkin
ton; m. Rufiis Bastin. (Incomplete.)
Marcia C, b. May 31, 1835; 1. YpsUanti; m. Gilbert
Brown. (Incomplete.)
Stillman J., b. April zz, 1837; 1. YpsUanti; m. Ellen
Boyle, d. I go I. Had seven chUdren, the last three died
young: '
Blanche, W^illiam, May, Ralph, Freddie,
Lee and Eddie.
T'WO babes, b. in 1839 and 1841; d. in infancy.
Clarinda, b. January 14, 1843; d. August 19, 1898; un
married.
Sally, b. August 31, 1802; d. Febraary 2, 1842; m. Orin Andrews,
December 25, 1823; b. March 8, 1801; d. September 17, 1884,
Cresco, Iowa. He was a son of Roswell and IsabeUe (Greene)
Andrews. IsabeUe Greene was the eldest of Elder Henry Greene's
children, and Abigail, wife of Judge Sanford, was the youngest. His
grandfather was a Baptist minister and escaped the Wyoming massacre
in Pennyslvania by fleeing with his family. Orin was born at Wal
lingford, Vt., where his parents died when he was four years of age.
He came to Hopkinton about 1822 and settled on what is known as

526 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
the Captain Freeman farm. He m. zd, Nancy Peck Moody, Sep
tember IZ, 184Z; b. August 15, 1803, Cornwall, Vt.; d. at Hop
kinton, November 19, 1857; m. 3d, Eliza Covey Menev, Septem
ber I, 1858; b. CornwaU, Vt., May z, 1804; d. at Malone, N. Y.
Had eight chUdren by first marriage:
Clarinda, b. January zo, 18Z5; m. George A. Harran,
January i, 1847. Had six children (incomplete):
Celia, d. single.
Martha, d. single.
Alma, m. D. Travis, January 3, 1875. Had two
chUdren: Morton, b. 1880; d. 1880.
Daughter, b. 1884. (Incomplete.)
Fannie, m. Harvey Pratt, June, i88z. (Incom
plete. )
Freeman, d. aged twenty-two.
Orin, d. aged one year.
RosweU, b. September zg, i8z6; 1. Hopkinton; m. Marilla
Cutler, March 7, 1855; b. November Z4, 173Z. Had
three children (incomplete) :
Nettie, b. April zg, 1863.
Augusta, b. July zg, 1868.
Harlow, b. December iz, 187Z.
Martha Isabelle, b. April zg, i8z8; 1. Fergus Falls,
Minn.; m. Reuben H. Freeman, January z8, 185Z; b.
May 7, 1 819; d. Febraary zo, 1901. He was born at
Cape Cod and was a sea captain, as were his four brothers.
His first wife was Rebecca Young, by whom he had three
chUdren, two dying in infancy; die third, Otis, m. Ducar
Doane and d. on the Pacific Ocean, 185 1. His zd wife was
a school-teacher and missionary. They were m. in Mobile,
Ala. Had two children:
John H., b. March 16, 1857; 1. Fergus Falls, Minn.;
m. Jennie Kelley. Had three chUdren:
Ella S., b. i8gi.
Edmund, b. i8g6.
Fae Francis, b. igoo.
Edmund, b. Marrhz, i85g; d. December Z5, 1884.
Mary S., b. March zi, 1830; d. AprU zi, 1871, Nevada,
Iowa; m. Alpheus B. Mitchell, December 11, 1851. Had
one child: Parker ^W. R., b. November, 185Z; d. AprU ig,
1874.
Sarah, b. May 10, 183Z; m. Nehemiah Sheldon, May zg,
1 86 1. Had three chUdren (incomplete):
Cordie, b. March 6, 1864.
Milo, b. May 11, 1866.
Martha, b. August zo, 1868.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 527
Henry Greene, b. June z8, 1836; 1. Ellsworth, Kan.; m.
Susan Shock. Had five children (incomplete) :
Orin, Martha, Celia, Fanny and Alma.
Josephine E., b. May 14, 1838; d. April 4, i8go, Ot-
tumwa, Iowa; m. Sanford L. Burnham, September 6, 1864;
b. May Z3, 1835. Mr. Burnham was born at St. Albans,
Vt., and was the son of PhUander and Electa (Beals) Burn
ham. Had two children:
Sanford A., b. October 5, 1868; 1. Chicago, IU.;
m. May Sarah Boulton, AprU Z5, i8g3; b. March
zg, 1870. Had three children:
Sanford B., b. February iz, i8g4; d. April
22, i8gg.
Josephine May, b. July 13, i8gg.
Daughter, b. September 8, igo2.
Frederick H., b. December 20, 1872; 1. Chicago,
IU. Messrs. Sanford A. and Frederick H. Burnham were
born in Ottumwa, Iowa, and are wholesale manu
facturers of gloves at 24 Market Street, Chicago.
Emeline, b. May 14, 1838; d. December 24, 1838.
Aurelius, b. AprU 25, 1805; d. July 17, 1894, in West Stockhohn;
m. Emily Greene of Cornwall, Vt., b. October 31, 1808; d. Sep
tember 3, 1883. He lived for years on the " Peck road." Had
five children: Rosella, b. August 13, 183Z; 1. West Stockholm; m. WU
Ham Clark, August 14, 1859. Had three chUdren:
Aurelius T., b. May zz, 1861; 1. West Stockholm;
m. Edith Fletcher, December Z4, 1888. Had one
chUd: Son, b. September 22, 1902.
Effie M., b. AprU g, 1864; 1. West Stockholm; m.
Walter T. Ide, October 14, 1886. No issue.
Lillie M., b. August II, 1875; 1. West Stockholm;
m. Ernest T. Greene, February 16, 1898. No
issue.
Melinda, b. February 4, 1837; d. AprU 22, 1893; m. GU-
man Foster, March 20, 1866; b. October 26, 1831; l.West
Stockholm. Had five children:
Orson R., b. January i, i867;d. January23, 1876.
Oilman D., b. October 7, 1868; d. January 24,
1876.
Emily S.,b. August 16, 187 1; d. January 23, 1876.
Benjamin G.,b. June 19, 1876; 1. West Stockholm.
Robert H.,b. April 27, 1879; d. October 18, 1896.
Sarah, b. March 30, 1842; d. ; m. Orson Pelsue, 1868; 1.
Stark, N. Y. Had one chUd:
Frank, b. November 4, 1871; 1. Tupper Lake, N. Y.
Babe, died in infancy.
Aurelius, Jr., b. May 5, 1847; d. May 4, 1859.

528 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Sophia, b. February 4, 1806; d. May 25, i8g4; single.
Sylvia, b. January 14, 1810; d. January z8, i8go, at Crary's Mills,
N. Y. ; m. John Lavery of Canton, N. Y., February 22, 1836; d.
October 17, 1862. Had three children:
Martha A., b. April 2, 1837; m. John F. Peck, April 4,
1 86g. She has taught school forty-six years, two of which in
St. Lawrence University and for the last twenty-nine in a pri
vate normal school at Ottumwa, Iowa.
Julius T., b. July 26, i83g; d. February 20, 1888, Canton,
N. Y. ; m. Lovisa M. Thomas, February 26, 1871; 1. Can
ton, N. Y. Had four chUdren:
Martha A., b. January 18, 1872; 1. Canton, N. Y.;
m. Alpheus Baxter, December 2g, 1897. Had two
children: Ilia E., b. February 2, i89g.
Addie L., b. August 30, igoi.
Warren J., b. AprU 13, iSyg; 1. Cawker City,
Kan.
Francis, J., b. May 20, 1884; 1. Canton, N. Y.
Addie L., b. February 25, 1886.
Roswell C, b. May 7, 1844; 1. Crary's Mills, N. Y.; m.
Elvira D. Hamilton, December 4, 1876. Had three chU
dren: Sylvia H., b. October 12, 1881.
Anna M., b. October 4, 1885; d. March 4, 1887.
Alfred E., b. September 12, 1887; d. AprU 28,
1888.
ELI ROBERTS, b. June 28, i76g, in Connecticut; d. March 7, 1837;
m. Abiah Sanford, b. March 3, 1773, in Connecticut; d. September ig,
1843. They were married at Hinesburg, Vt., AprU 6, I7g7, and came
from Vergennes to Hopkinton in February, 1807. He settled a mile south
of the vUlage and buUt a sawmUl at once on Lyd Brook. His ancestors were
French Huguenots and settled in Connecticut. The name was originally
spelled " Roburds " and is so spelled in all early writings and papers. Some
members of the family in Vergennes, Vt., stUl so spell it. Had seven children:
Fanny, b. July 5, I7g8, at Hinesburg; d. May 6, 1853; m. Joel
Gould, April 15, 1814; b. September z8, I78g; d. December z6,
1869, in Hopkinton, aged eighty. Had seven chUdren, all born in
Hopkinton: Juliette, b. January 14, i8i5;d. November 13, 1875, Mc-
Henry, III.; m. Dr. Orlando I. Howard, February 14, 1836;
b. October 12, 18 16; d. February 24, l8gg, Elgin, 111.
Started for Indiana, September g, 1844. Had six chUdren:
Lodema A., b. December 20, 1836; 1. Waukegan,
IU.;m. Samuel Thompson, November 26, 1857; d.
AprU 7, 1865, in CivU War; m. 2d, Curtis W.
Harvey, June g, 1870. Had three children by first
and two by second marriage:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 52g
Estelle J., b. May 14, i85g; m. Charles F.
Tonies; 1. Round Lake, 111. Had seven
chUdren: Mary, Maud, Inez, Myrtle,
Sara, Elsie and Mildred.
Hartly O., b. September 20, i860; m.
AdeUTyreU, November 1 8, 1885; 1. 426
West Randolph Street, Chicago. Had one
child: Sarah Lodema.
Arland H., b. April 3, 1864; m. Mary A.
Quinn, July i, l8gi; 1. 1533 Harvard Street,
Chicago. Had two chUdren:
Arland and May.
Inez M. Harvey, b. March 25, 1873; m.
William R. White, June ig, igoi; 1. Boyl-
ston Centre, Mass.
Ortis A. Harvey, b. July 16, 1877; m.
Bessie Cooper, January 24, igoo; 1. Wauke
gan, IU.
¦Wyman O., b. March 10, 1840; d. December 16,
1843.
Rachel Jane, b. March 15, 1843; 1. 1724 Banks
Avenue, West Superior, Wis.; m. Simon Kennedy,
October 13, 1864. Had seven children:
Julia A., b. February 6, 1865; 1. Chicago;
m. John Wentworth, AprU 21, 1887. No
issue.
Charlotte, b. September 23, 1866; 1. Chi
cago; m. Robert Crawford, August 13, 1886.
No issue.
Harvey O., b. June 30, 1868; d. Novem
ber 24, 1874.
Dwight H., b. June iz, i87i;m. Ida  ,
d. October 10, igoi. No issue.
Effiie R., b. August Z7, 1873; single.
Electa M., b. Decemlier z6, 1875; d. May
Z4, i88z.
Harry A., b. June z, 1881; d. May 10,
1 90 1.
Joel R., b. December 10, 1847; d. September 8,
1850.
Selora G., b. May 10, 1850; 1. yoz Raymond Street,
Elgin, IU.; m. Charles C. Fink, December 8, 1865;
d. March 7, 1870; m. zd, James S. Walsh, December
z6, 1 871 . Had one child by first and three by second
marriage: Cora A., b. July 14, 1868; d. June z6, i86g.
Louis A., b. August 7, 1872.

S30 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Edith L., b. December 8, 1878; m. Fred
W. Buck, Waukegan, IU.
Edward R., b. April 23, 1888.
Rollin A., b. February 10, 1853; 1. 226 Morgan
Street, Elgin, IU.; m. Electa Waite, AprU g, 1870.
Had three chUdren:
Robert R., b. June 3, 1871; m. Carrie M.
Mathews. Had one child:
Lloyd, b. October 24, i8g4.
Lawrence, b. January 24, 1875; m. Florence
Mathews at Elgin, 111.
Harold, b. AprU 14, 1886.
Mary A., b. August 17, 1818; d. October 20, 1826.
Harriet J., b. March 4, 1821; 1. Hopkinton; m. Harvey
Brown, January 10, 1843; b. October 4, 1821; d. October
24, I go 2. Had seven children:
Ira J., b. March 5, 1844; m. Rhoda Dewey, No
vember 25, 1865; 1. Western, Minn. He enHsted
in December, 1863, in the 7th New York Heavy
Artillery and was taken prisoner before Petersburg,
June 16, 1864, and confined in Andersonville and
Millen prisons five months and eight days. Paroled
November 24 at Savannah, Ga. Had five children:
Eli ¦W., m. May S. Gadward. Had two
children: Donald L. and Ralph ¦W.
Mattie M., m. Elmer M. Johnson. Had
five children: Ernest L., Eva, May, Ruth E.
and Ethel L.
Hattie M., m. Winfield S. Toombs. Had
three children:
Harold H., Grace R. and C.
Richard.
Harvey J., m. Gertrude C. Toombs. Had
one chUd: King J.
Jeanette R., m. Heman J. Berry. Had one
chUd: S. Leonard.
Eli ¦W., b. May 14, 1846; d. July ig, 1864, An
dersonville. He enlisted in December, 1863, in the
7th New York Heavy ArtUlery with his brother, Ira
J., RolHn O. Sanford and Ashford Roberts, was
taken prisoner before Petersburg, June 16, 1864,
and died in Andersonville Prison.
Christina, b. March 25, 1848, NicholviUe; m. El
wood Ballard, November 23, 1881; d. No issue.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 531
Elijah 'W., b. January 25, ig5i, BfeUows Falls, Vt.;
m. Mrs. Georgie Ferguson, October 15, 1875. No
issue.
Edmond J., b. May z6, 1853; L Roberts, Minn.;
m. Ada Blanchard, May z6, 1877. Had six chil
dren: Charlotte H., Ira M., Max M., Guy
L., Elwood E. and Orpha I.
Lucien S., b. December 10, i860; 1. Hopkinton;
m. Clara Lindsay, September 4, i88g. Had one
child: Myrtle A.
Fanny C, b. May 18, 1864; 1. Potsdam; m. Bert
Cheney, January I, 1884. Had two children:
Harriet M. and Leon E.
Eli S., b. June l6, 18Z3; d. October 30, i8z6.
Fanny C, b. February 8, i8z6; d. March 11, i8z6.
Adaline L., b. July zy, 18Z7; d. June Z5, i8gg. Fort Hill,
111. ;m. William Richardson, November i, i85g; b. February
I, i8zi; 1. Fort HiU, IU. Had seven children:
Orlando, b. May Z3, i860; 1. Graye Lake, IU.; m.
Cora Germett, May zz, 18 go. Had two chidren:
Villia Janet, b. August zz, i8gi.
Lionel Edmund, b. August i, i8g4.
Fanny M., b. March Z5, i86z; L Fort HUl, IU.;
m. Douglas Wait, December 13, 1883. Had five
chUdren: Amanda Eveline, b. May 18, 1885.
Charles Ethan, b. May 4, 1887.
Adaline Lucinda, b. September 14, 1888.
Levi Leason, b. December ig, i8gi.
Georgiana A., b. September 21, i8g5.
Eveline L., b. September 27, 1863; m. Henry
Horton, July 5, 1885. Had six chUdren:
Almena Serena, b. May 13, 1886; d.
December 13, l88g.
Irena, b. August 3, 1887.
Clarence, b. March 10, i88g.
Albert Orlando, b. September 30, i8g2.
Fanny Eska, b. June 23, i8g4.
Louretta M., b. March g, igo2.
Robert R., b. October 26, 1865; d. March 2,
i8g2, at Fort HiU.
Eli ¦W., b. June 27, 1867; single; 1. Chicago.
Jennie M., b. October 5, 1870; 1. Millburn, IU.;
m. Joseph Horton, March 25, l8go. Had four
children:

53 z EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Joseph E., b. November 30, 1891.
Floyd W., b. November 7, iSgz.
Lottie Mae, b. July 16, 1894; d. September
16, 1894.
Lome Ansel, b. September g, i8g6.
¦Willis B., b. March z, 1875; 1. Dixon, IIL; m.
Eva M. Ringler, July zo, i8g8. No issue.
Daughter, b. and d. May ig, 1830.
Joel M., b. March 17, l83g; d. September 10, 1853.
Angeline, b. September 15, 1800, at Vergennes; d. June 10, i8z8,
in Hopkinton; m. Chester Tupper, March 4, i8zz; d. Febraary 3,
1 86 1, in CaHfornia. No issue.
Mariette, b. July iz, 1803, Vergennes; d. November 8, i83g, at
Granby, N. ^Y. ; m. John Gould, May 3, 1826; b. August Z5,
1 801; d. July z8, 1850, in Iowa. Had seven chUdren:
Babe son, b. Febraary 10, i8z7; d. Febraary 11, 18Z7.
Carlton D., b. August 3, i8z8; d. August 19, 1839, at
Granby, N. Y.
Hellena D., b. February z8, 1830. HeUena and her sister
Henriette were in the west fifty years or more ago. HeUena
at least married. It was feared that they were killed by the
Indians.
Henriette S., b. November 14, 1831.
Eli, b. May Z3, 1836; d. June Z4, 1836, in Oswego.
Ellen, b. January zi, 1839; d. Febraary z6, 1839.
Joel M., b. January zi, 1839; d. September 8, 1853, *^
Hopkinton.
John S., b. February 3, 1806, at Vergennes; d. December 19, 1865,
in Hopkinton; m. Eveline D. Gibbs, March 9, 1831, at Norfolk,
N. Y. Had six chUdren:
Hannah A., b. May z6, 183Z; d. March 14, i886; m.
James H. Macomber, Febraary i, 1853; b. August 18,
i8z5; 1. Hopkinton. Had five chUdren:
Sanford E., b. December 10, 1853; d. Febraary
zy, 1856.
Leslie H., b. Febraary i, 1857; d. 1861.
Ethelbert J., b. July 6, i860; d. April Z5, i86z.
May H., b. May i, 1863; L Hopkmton; m. Fred
Sequare, AprU 6, i8go; b. March zo, i86z. Had
four chUdren: Floyd J., b. February 18, i8gi; d. January
4, i8g6.
Ralph S., b. November 17, i8gz.
Harold T., b. October Z4, i8g4; d. January
16, i8g5.
Almena M., b. June Z5, i8g6.
Ernest J., b. March Z5, 1865; L Hopkinton; m.
Effa C. Serviss, August i, 1887; b. March g, 1870.
Had four children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 533
Ella A., b. September 8, 1888.
Hazel Pearl, b. May iz, i8go.
Jenette Belle, b. September 3, i8gz.
Myrtle May, b. February zi, i8g5.
George Thurman, b. April Z5, 1834; ^- March 17, igoz;
m. Eleanor Starks, December 6, i860. He kept the old
homestead to his death. It is now in charge of his son.
Had four children:
George L., b. May 10, 1863; d. January zg, 1864.
Clara E., b. January 11, 1865; 1. WoUaston, Mass.;
m. Edwin E. Smith, December 15, 1886. No issue.
Eli S., b. September 4, 1871; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Viola M. Bruce, September 8, i8gi; b. September
IZ, 1870. Had three children:
Cecil B., b. March iz, i8g4.
Claude H., b. June 6, i8g6; d. December
8, 1897.
Dorothy G., b. December 13, i8gg.
Nettie M., b. April Z3, 1875; i- Sanford Corners;
m. Ruthford Cooper. Had one child:
Viola.
Ashford N., b. December 10, 1836; 1. Hopkinton; m. Mary
Clark, September 15, 1858; b. June zz, 1840, Hinesburg,
Vt. He enHsted in the 7th New York Heavy ArtUlery and
was severely wounded in the arm at the battle of Cold Har
bor, June 3, 1864. Had four children:
Eveline D., b. March 3, 1861; 1. Hopkinton; m.
Adelbert Smith, October zg, 1879. (See Josiah
Smith.)
Edmond, b. April 11, i86z; single.
Viola E., b. October zi, 1865; d. September g,
i8gz; m. Charles Peck, October Z7, 1886. Had
four children: Almena M., b. April z, 1888.
Roland R., b. August 16, i88g.
Sherman C, b. August Z5, i8go.
Harrison C, b. August 14, i8gz.
Almena E., b. AprU zz, 187Z; m. Sherman Nich
ols, September 18, l8go. Had one child:
Gerald A., b. March z, i8g3.
Ermina E., b. May zo, 1840; 1. Fort Jackson; m. RolHn
O. Sanford, March 15, i85g; d. July zg, 1864, Anderson
ville Prison (see Sanford family); m. zd, Russell Coolidge.
Janette A., b. May 6, 184Z; d. May 3, i86z.
Ida E., b. December zg, 1854; '• West Stockholm; m.
Myron Clark, February zz, 1875; b. Febraary 11, 1854;
d. December 11, i8gz. Had three children:

534 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Leslie, b. April 28, 1878; d. May 18, 1879, in
Stockholm.
Minnie E., b. August 8, 1880; d. August 31, 1880.
Leo Myron, b. June 20, 1892.
Clarissa, b. September 16, 1808, in Hopkinton; d. February 4, 1866,
Medway, Mass.; m. Elnathan S. Winslow, January 24, 1828; b.
Febraary 23, 1802; d. September 22, 1898, Woonsocket, R. I.,
aged ninety-six. Had seven children:
Angeline A., b. August i, 1830, in Pierrepont; d. August i,
1853, Potsdam; m. Samuel R. Leonard, January 14, 1849;
b. January 2g, 1828; d. AprU 22, 1877. Had two children:
Adelbert 'W., b. November 16, 1849; d. Decem
ber 9, 1885; m. Lizzie Burkett, d. March 8, 1902.
Had three chUdren:
Mabell, b. June 5, 1874; I- Maiden, Mass.;
m. Fred Nichols. Had four children:
Charles, Dorothy, Mildred and
Fred.
Harry A., b. February 7, 1876; 1. Augusta,
Me.; m. Emma E. Hordmann, December,
i8g8; b. July 12, 1874. Had two chil
dren: Adelbert ^V., b. December g, i8gg.
Franklin H., b. June 2, igoi.
Ella A., b. July 13, 1882; d. May, i8g8,
Everett, Mass.
Ella A., b. April 2, 1852; 1. Cambridge, Mass.; m.
Frank Delano Marsh, September 20, 1882. Had
one child: Mildred.
Alzina Ann, b. December 13, 1832; d. November 12,
I go I, Medway, Mass.; m. Lucius Taylor, October 14,'
1853, in Pierrepont. Had two children:
Leonard, b. i860; 1. Woonsocket, R. I.
Edgar, d. a babe.
Ellen M., b. September 3, 1835; 1. East Vassalboro, Me.;
m. George Edmund FuUer, September 3, 1 850; d. Sep
tember 7, i8gg. Had four children:
George Elgon, b. April 2, 1854; d. August 24,
igoi; m. Florence O. Hurd, November 26, 1875;
I. Dorchester, Mass. Had five chUdren:
Florence B., b. December zz, 1876; 1.
Dorchester, Mass.
Oscar H., b. May 4, 1878; 1. Dorchester,
Mass.
May Belle E., b. October 5, 1880; 1.
Dorchester, Mass.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 535
Elgon, b. January z, i8gz; 1. Dorchester,
Mass.
Elwyn, b. January 2, igo2.
Edmund W., b. November 28, 1857; 1. Brookline,
Mass.; m. Lucretia West, December 8, 1886. Had
three children:
Raymond, b. September 15, 1887.
Leroy, b. November 28, i88g.
Norman, b. March 7, i8g2.
Nellie A., b. November 7, 1861; I. East Vassalboro,
Me.; m. Frank A. Marden, June 10, 1885. Had
two chUdren: Tila Gertrude, b. May g, 1886; d. Sep
tember 15, i8g7.
Harold Chesterfield, b. July 28, i8go.
Frank S., b. October 4, 1867; d. December 8,
1884.
Edgar, b. October 16, 1838; d. November 3, 1838.
Edwin, b. October 16, 1838; d. November 3, 1838.
Francis H., b. July 8, 1846; d. November 15, 1846.
Clara D., b. April 11, 1850, in Medway, Mass.; m. Ferd.
C. Haywood; 1. Milford, Conn. Had two children:
Carl B., b. AprU 6, 1874; single; 1. MUford, Conn.
Edna R., b. June 2, 1875; m. Charles L. Stow,
December 15, i8g8; 1. MUford, Conn.
Hannah J., b. September 22, 181 1; d. March 4, 1863, in Grant,
IU. ; m. William Curtis Howard, March 7, 1838, at Hopkinton; b.
October 23, 1817; 1. McHenry, IU. Started for Illinois, June 10,
1844. Had six chUdren:
Eli Herbert C, b. March l, l83g, in Pierrepont; d. May
23, 1842.
Joseph Elverton, b. November 30, 1840; single; 1. Elgin,
HI. Was a soldier in CivU War. Insane from sunstroke.
Auletus H., b. November g, 1842, in Hopkinton; d. April
I, 1844.
Edson C., b. February 6, 1845; 1. Foxlake, IU.; m. Emma
Ribon, December 8, 1886; m. 2d. Had one child by first
marriage: Myrtle, b. December 8, 1885. Adopted by Edwin
Drury.
Chester S., b. November 3, 1847; 1. McHenry, IU.
Hannah A., b. December 25, i84g. Grant, IU. ; m. Edwin
Drary, AprU ig, 1871; b. November 12, 1842, Gages
Lake, IU.; 1. Wilmette, IU. Had three children:
Fred Howard, b. February 23, 1873; d. Febraary
23, 1874.

536 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Gertrude, b. March zo, 1875; d. December 13,
l8g8; m. John J. Spear, October 21, 1896; b. Feb
raary 18, 1 87 1. Had one chUd:
Mildred G., b. January zo, i8g8.
Myrtle Drury, daughter of Edson C. Howard,
adopted.
Eli B., b. August ZI, 1816; d. December 13, i8gi, in CaHfornia,
aged seventy-five; m. Martha R. Hunter, November 11, 1840; b.
June 4, i8z2; d. October 30, 1 881, in San Francisco, Cal., aged
fifty-nine. He went to Waukegan, IU., many years ago. He
started with an ox team and it is said took six months of time for the
journey. Had three chUdren:
Angeline E., b. November 7, 1841; d. December 3, 1841.
Rosalia Eugenia, b. July 31, 1843; d. San Francisco; m.
Charles W. Kinsman. No issue:
Martha (adopted).
Almond C, b. October, 1848; d. November, i84g, Wau
kegan, IU.
ERASTUS REEVE, b. i77g; d. May zo, i83g; m. Betsey Peck.
Came to Hopkinton in the spring of i8zi from Vermont and Hved for some
time where the Baptist parsonage now stands in Fort Jackson. He was a car
penter and millwright by trade. He later held a farm near " Beechertown "
in Stockholm, which is now held by his grandson Erastus. Had seven
children :
Sylvia, b. February z6, 1805; d. August Z3, 1871, Milwaukee,
Wis.; m. Milton H. Sherwood, February Z4, 18Z4, Cornwall,
Vt.; b. February 17, 1804; d. February 10, 187Z. Had twelve
children: Mary A., b. February Z5, 1825; d. ; m. David Hall, Feb
ruary 13, 1843. (Incomplete.)
Daughter, b. AprU 15, 1826; d. AprU 26, 1826.
Porter N., b. November 16, 1827; d. December i, i8g6;
m. Sarah V. Pinney, AprU 7, 1852; 1. Glencoe, IU. (In
complete. )
Lenora B., b. August 12, i82g; m. James M. Piper,
March I, 1848. (Incomplete.)
Alphon C, b. September 16, 1831; L Kenosha, Wis.; m.
Lizzie C. Noyes, December z6, 1865. (Incomplete.)
Oliver Ells, b. September 21, 1833; d. July 22, 1881; m.
Julia Haughton, June g, 1861. (Incomplete.)
Elba Eugene, b. August 2g, 1836; d. July 26, 1844.
Erastus ^Wyman, b. August g, 1838; m. Ellen Trues-
deU, AprU 8, 1862. (Incomplete.)
Elma Jane, b. April 14, 1841; d. January 17, i8g5; m.
Henry H. Pinney, February 22, 1879. (Incomplete.)
Milton H., Jr., b. February 14, 1844; <!• November 30,
1853-

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 537
Charles Elwyn, b. June 26, 1848; m. Mary A. Watson,
November 10, i86g. (Incomplete.)
Enna G., b. November 10, 1850; d. December g, l8g5;
m. WUHam M. Rowe, December 15, 1870. (Incomplete.)
Benjamin, b. September 2, 1807; d. Obtober g, i87g, Hopkin
ton; m. Mary Eastman, b. Febraary 20,, 1808; d. AprU 21,
1 8 8 1 . Had three children :
S. Milton, b. April 23, 1835; d. June 13, 1880; m. Har
riet J. Bisbee, September 23, 1857; b. May g, 1837; d.
March 30, l8g9. Had two children:
Helen May, b. July 20, 1858. (See Orman
Beecher. )
Milo Ellsworth, b. May 24, 1867; 1. Toulon,
IU.; m. NeUie E. Hendrick, March 6, 1894. Had
one child: Majol C, b. November 11, 1896.
Helen R., b. October 3, 1838; d. May 12, i88i; m.
Phelps S. Wells, March 31, 1857; b. October 23, 1829;
1. Winthrop. Had two children:
Carrie E., b. April 15, 1 861 ; L Fort Jackson; m.
Varrick A. Cuder, March 11, 1880. No issue.
Carroll, b. December i, 1874; 1. W. Stockholm; m.
Grace Brown, September ig, 1901.
Erastus, b. June 13, 1843; 1. Winthrop, N. Y.; m. Lois
A. Nichols, May 8, 1865. Had two children:
Rose E., b. December 11, 1865; teacher East Orange,
N.J.
Mary A., b. August 15, i86g; 1. LawrencevUle,
N. Y. ; m. Guy McEwen. Had three children:
Harold, b. Febraary 25, 1896.
Donald, b. March 17, i89g; d. Febraary
25, igoo.
Merrill, b. September 7, 1900.
Champion J., b. May 22, 18 10; d. September 4, 1896, Bristol,
Wis.; m. Harriet W. Warriner, b. Febraary 20, 181 5; d. March
7, 1856, Salem, Wis. Champion J. worked for Mr. Risdon and
his first son was named after him. Mr. Risdon speaks of the babe in
his diary. Had four children:
Mary A., b. June g, 1836; d. July 15, 1836.
Elisha Risdon, b. August 18, 1838; 1. Albia, Iowa; m.
Helen E. Newman, June 8, i87g; b. November zo, 1841,
New Berlin, N. Y. Had one child:
Grace Lulu, b. August 18, 1880; teacher.
Leonora M., b. March 31, 1847; single; 1. Lincoln, Neb.
Martha F., b. December 31, 1850; 1. Peoria, IU.; m.
George A. Robinson. Had two children:
Mary and Percy.

538 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Stephen D., b. January, 1811, Montpelier; d. February, 1868,
Salem, Wis.; m. RoseU Lunt, 1836, Montpelier; b. i8iz; d. June,
1883, Chicago. Had three children:
Orlin O., b. December zo, 1840; 1. Marinette, Wis.; m.
Lucinda C. Bundy, November zy, 1863. Had four children:
Minnie Esther, b. April 7, 1866; m. Frank A.
Sillman, February zz, 1888. Had four children:
Harold Arthur, b. January 9, 1889.
Gertrude B., b. March 4, i8go.
Grant Dana, b. April z8, i8g5.
Marion Ester, b. Febraary zy, i8g7.
Charles Sanford, b. April 11, i86g; m. Elizabeth
A. Mclntyre, August 14, i8g5. Had two chUdren:
Kenneth Sanford, b. February 14, igoo.
Lois Elizabeth, b. February 14, igoz.
Catherine R., b. October g, 1874; *"• John S.
Cooley, October zo, i8g8. Had two children:
Doris Catherine, b. January zy, i8gg.
Grace Scribner, b. June zz, 1900.
Claud O., b. January 9, 1877.
Sanford D., b. January 17, 1844; ^- ^°3 Loomis Street,
Chicago, 111.; m. Catherine Cutler. Had four children:
Lottie, Effie, Retta and Yolandus.
Eugene A., b. November 30, 1848; 1. Marinette, Wis.; m.
Bridget HooHhan, 187Z. Had three chUdren:
William Sheldon, b. July 14, iSyg.
Mary Louise, b. November g, 1887.
Thomas Raymond, b. May Z5, i88g.
Tapping, b. January 7, 1816; d November 14, 1878, Crete, Neb.;
m. Anna Nay, b. July zz, 1814; d. November 15, 1881, Edgar,
Neb. Had nine children:
Winfield S., b. April i, i83g; L Howard, S. D.; m.
Harriet Coles, b. February 7, 1843; d. 1877 at Riceville,
Iowa; m. zd, Anna Thompson, b. July 23, 1851. Had
three children by first and two by second marriage:
Fred G., b. October 2g, 1863; 1. Howard, S. D.;
m. Mertie M. Phillips. Had one child:
Clell Earl, b. October 13, 1885.
Bert T., b. August 5, 1869; 1. Howard, S. D.; m.
Susie Whiteley. Had one child:
Evert, b. February 8, i8g6.
Maud, b. June 26, 1876; 1. Madison, S. D.; m.
Marion Adkins. Had four chUdren:
Lucile, Leuella, Hattie and Mattie.
John Earl, b. August 22, 1886; L Howard.
Amy Zenia, b. August 3, 1888; 1. Howard.
Luthera A., b. July 23, 1841; d. August 14, igoo; m.
Charles H. Bundy; 1. Milford, Neb. Had two children:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 53g
Edith, 1. MUford, Neb. ; m.  Badgley. Had
one daughter.
Guy, 1. MUford; m. Had one child.
Jane A., b. AprU 4, 1843; d. August 15, i8g5, Milford,
Neb.; m. Edward Healy; 1. Milford, Neb. Had three chil
dren: Edna Jane, b. 1865; d. October 31, 1878.
Charles A., b. Febraary, 1877; d. March 28, 1878.
Anna Belle, b. October 29, 1881; 1. Waverly,
Neb.; m. John Munn, February i, 1900. Had
one child: Kathryn L., b. March g, 1901.
William T., b. January 19, 1845; 1. Sioux City, Iowa; m.
Laura I. Damron, February 2g, 1872. Served in CivU War
from June i, 1864, to March 14, 1866. Had one child:
Zenia, b. June z6, 1873; I. Sioux City.
Loretta P., b. December 17, 1847; 1. BurUngton, Iowa;
m. David F. Sinclair. No issue.
Laetitia A., b. March i, 1850; 1. Fairfield, Iowa; m. Rev.
WUHam V. Whitten, February 11, 1873. Had five children:
Ethel Julia, b. January 16, 1877; d. March iz,
1877.
Ethel Julia, zd, b. April g, 1884; 1. Fairfield, Iowa.
Vesey Reeve, d. January 10, 1887.
Laetitia Mae, b. March zg, 1888.
Anna M. L., b. April 11, i8g3.
Zenia R., b. February 13, 185Z; d. September Z3, 1873;
m. Leander McCummings. No issue.
¦Worth B., b. AprU, ig, 1854; 1. Aurelia, Iowa; m. Clare
Paddock. No issue.
Edna H., b. July 18, 1856; d. October i, 1857, Hopkmton.
Charles J. F., b. August ig, 1 818, in Vermont; d. May g, i8g6,
in Gravity, Iowa; m. Irene A. Bastin, December zz, 1 841 ; b. July 1 8,
18 1 8, Lawrence, N. Y.; d. March iz, i8g6. Had three chUdren:
Daniel C, b. January iz, 1844; 1. Gravity, Iowa; m. Jane
S. FitcheU; b. March g, 1851, Ogdensburg; d. October Z3,
1888. Had five children:
Charles E., b. October 17, 1868; single; 1. Horton,
Wy.
Agnes N., b. August 30, 1870; 1. Guss, Iowa; m.
Walter Langer, October 5, 1899; b. August 11,
1 87 1. Had one child:
Forest D., b. September iz, igoi.
Frank Roy, b. April 18, 187Z; d. February ig,
i8g6.
John J., b. October Z5, 1874; single; 1. Horton,
Wy.
Milton H., b. Febraary z, 1877; single; 1. Gravity,
Iowa.

540 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Ellen I., b. August z6, 1846; m. Singleton B. Smith, June
7, 1868; b. December zo, 1846. No issue.
Jerome C., b. March 30, 1851, Stockholm; 1. Gravity,
Iowa; m. Celestia Barton, February ig, i8go; b. May 7,
1868. Had one child:
Herbert L., b. June 6, i8gi.
Sheldon P., b. i8zi, Cornwall, Vt. ; d. 1883, Kenosha, Wis.; m.
Harriet M. Burditt, November i, i84g; b. 18Z4; 1. Englewood,
111. She was a stepdaughter of Horace Train. They had three
children: Etta, b. May 20, 1850, Cornwall, Vt.; 1. Kenosha, Wis.;
m. George Lugar, November l, 1874; b. 1851. Had one
child: Ray, b. September 6, 1874.
Ella, b. September 16, 1855, Salem, Wis.; 1. Slater, Mo.;
m. Alsup B. Lane, July 16, 1874; d. March 18, igoz.
Had two children:
Ethel, b. July 14, i88i.
Dustin, b. 1895.
Belle, b. i86i;l. Grand Island, Neb.; m. A. L. Austin,
April 3, i8go. No issue.
ABRAHAM SHELDON, b. in Pawlet, Vt.; d. in 18 10 in Vermont
from the kick of a horse; m. Clarissa Armstrong, b. lySz, Pawlet, Vt. ; d.
October 6, 1868. They first came to East Stockholm in 1800 or pos
sibly 1 801. There is a faint story that they went there to cook for Eben
ezer Hulburd. Dr. Hough says they came to Hopkinton in March, 1803,
with Roswell Hopkins, Eli and Ashbel Squire, and all with their famiUes.
He may have joined Mr. Hopkins and party as they came along or it may
be that he went back to Vermont in the fall of i 8oz and came in with them
from there. Mrs. Amanda Sheldon, widow of Deacon John, says that
Mrs. Sheldon told her that "one if not two of her chUdren were born in
Stockholm." Her first child was Marilla. It has been impossible to learn
the date of her birth with certainty. The " Sheldon record," gathered in
about 1845, gives the year only and as i8oz, and that of Hiram as 1804.
Had five children:
Marilla, b. i8oz; d. September z6, 1878, Kalamazoo, Mich.; m.
Rufus M. Crossman of Burlington, Vt. ; d. there in 1853. They
were married Febraary Z3, 18Z5, in Hopkinton by Rev. Hiram S.
Johnson. It is claimed that she was the first child born in the town
of Stockholm. Had four children:
Henry B., d. January 22, 1832, aged seven years.
Cornelius M., d. December 17, 1830, aged two years.
Newton Hopkins, bom January 21, i8z6; d. March 10,
i8go, Peru, Vt.; m. Harriett S. Danforth, October 27,
1856; d. July 5, 1886. Had four chUdren:
R. Mason, b. September 16, 1857; d. August 7,
1864.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 541
Fred R., b. December zg, i860; 1. Peru, Vt.; m.
Ina E. Turner.
Charles N., b. February 14, 1865; 1. Manchester,
Vt. ; m. Gertrude Taylor. Had two chUdren:
Hazel T. and Marion T.
Edward H., b. November zg, 1866; L Peru, Vt.;
m. Sarah Tifft. Had two chUdren:
Homer D. and Ruth H.
Marion M., b. July Z5, 1830; 1. Kalamazoo, Mich.; m.
J. H. Bostwick, December i, 1847; 1. Kalamazoo, Mich.
Had seven children:
Emma M., b. October 24, 1848; m. Mortimer
CahUl; 1. Chicago.
Marion A., b. May 17, 1850; m. H. M. Sidman;
1. Chicago.
Carlos G., b. April 17, 1852; m. Mary A. Perkey;
1. Detroit, Mich.
Frederick C, b. May 27, 1854.
Henrietta S., b. September 10, 1855; m. Henry
Deming; 1. Chicago.
¦William H., b. June 30, i85g; d. June 27, i8g3.
Matilda S., b. January 23, 1861; m. Frank J.
Lewis, Kalamazoo, Mich.
Hiram, b. in 1 803 or 1 804; d. April 1 5, 1 820. Dr. Hough states that
he was the first child born in town and that he was born in December,
1803. The "Sheldon record" gives the year as 1804. It is
moraUy certain that he was the first male child born in Hopkinton,
save possibly some Indian boy.
John, b. Febraary 7, 1806; d. January 6, 1882; m. Sally Chittenden,
b. in 1805; d. AprU 16, 1847; m. 2d, Amanda Kelsey, b. October
15, l8ig; 1. old homestead. Had nine children by first marriage and
one by second.
Susan, b. 1830, d. October 27, 1850.
Mary, b. 1831; d. October 14, 1850.
Carrie, b. 1833; d. May 25, 1881.
Son, died in infancy.
Adelia, b. March 24, 1835; m. D. W. Chittenden; 1. Fay
ette, Iowa.
Amelia, b. March 24, 1835; 1. Fayette, Iowa.
Sarah, b. i83g; m. Edward Mathews.
Ann, b. 18 — .
Eugenie, b. 1847; d. June II, i8g5.
John L. (by second marriage), b. 1858; 1. Pittsburg, Pa.
Julia, b. May 27, 1808; d. May ig 1880. (See Clark S. Chitten
den record. )
Hannah, b. June l, 1810; d. March 18, i8g6; m. Jabez F. Fuller,
June 17, 1841; b. May 14, 1814; 1. Sanford Corners, N. Y. Had
four chUdren:

542 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Clark S., b. August lo, 1842; m. Ella Morse; 1. La Fay
ette, Ind. Enlisted in Co. A, g4th Regiment, and served
through the war, was in thirteen battles, taken prisoner twice
and served nine months in AndersonviUe Prison. Had four
children: Clara B., b. February 7, i86g.
Charles C., b. March zz, 1870.
Orville M., b. April iz, 187Z.
Ella M., b. October 17, i87g; d. May Z3, 1886.
Charles ^W., b. April zy, 1844; 1. West Stockholm; m.
Mary C. Baker, January iz, 1870; b. June Z7, 1845. Had
one child: Carrie A.,b. November 30, 1875; 1. Le Ray, N. Y.;
m. Clinton Case.
Mary N., b. July Z5, 1847; 1. Sanford Corners, N. Y. ; m.
L. N. Herrick. Had three children:
Lulu v., b. AprU Z7, 1874.
Everette, b. October Z4, 1881.
Roy, b. November 30, 1883.
Adaline M., b. October 3, i84g; 1. Sanford Corners; m.
Reuben A. Spohn, b. Febraary 17, 1850. Had two
chUdren: Stanley, b. July 7, 1875; 1. Ilion, N. Y.; m. Julia
Allen. No issue.
Will, b. August Z4, 1877; 1. Sanford Corners; m.
Agnes L. Jabas. Had two chUdren:
Bonnylin E., b. June i, i8g8.
Leslie J., b. December 14, i8gg.
ELI SQUIRE. He was one of the very first setders of the town, being
a member of the first party to settle in March, 1803. He took the lot on
the north side of the Potsdam road opposite that of Elisha Risdon. Zebina
Coolidge tells me that Mr. Squire went into the smuggUng business during
the War of 181 z— 14, and the war coming suddenly to an end practicaUy
rained him. He exchanged his interest in the farm for the trip hammer shop
which he sold afterwards at auction for ^10. About aU I learn as to his
famUy and descendants I get from Mr. CooHdge. He tells me there were
seven children:
Levi, b. 1804. There are several people who think he was the first
child born in town.
Asa, m.  . He took up the lot on the south side of road, opposite
Lee Eastman's residence, and later went up south of Parishville where
he buUt a sawmiU. The place was for years caUed Squire's mills.
Had five children:
Darwi...
Royal B., d. in MinneapoHs; m.  . Had two children:
C. D., b. 1863; L Minneapolis.
Ray W., 1. Manila, P. I.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 543
James, 1. W. Bangor, N. Y. ; m.  . Had one child:
Letty, 1. Canton, N. Y.
Lucy, m. Lyman OHver. Had two children, who died.
Elzina. She married and has a daughter who is Mrs. George
H. Swindells of MinneapoHs.
Daniel.
James, was a Baptist preacher.
Orilla, m. WUder Dorwin of Vermont.
Lydia, m. Elder Grayton Brand.
Harriet, m. a Mr. Chandler.

ASHBEL SQUIRE, b. August 6, 1769, Addison, Vt.; d. March 18,
1855; m. Polly Smith, b. March 15, 1777, Addison, Vt.; d. Julyz3, 1843.
He came into town in March, 1803, prepared to settle and did settle. (See
the story of the first settlers for full particulars.) Had seven chUdren:
Laura, b. January z8, 1796; d. February 6, 1833; m. Isaiah Cool
idge, b. June 5, 1793; d. December ig, 1865. Mr. Coolidge m.
zd, Abigail Barrett, June 30, 1833; b. February 8, 1807; d.
August 3, 1883. Mr. Coolidge built a hovel for Mr. Risdon's
cattle, and helped him in his hunting. Was in War of 1 8 1 z, battle
of Plattsburg. Had six chUdren by first marriage:
Zebina, b. January 17, 18 16; 1. Fort Jackson, N. Y. ; m.
EHza Johnson of New Hampshire. Mr. Coolidge is now
past eighty-six, in good health and possesses a most remark
able memory. He has visited me several times at Potsdam
during the preparation of this volume, and his assistance ap
pears in many places. Had one child:
Laura J., d. 1898.
Lucy, b. March 26, 1823; d. in childhood.
Ira Smith, b. June 25, 1825; d. January II, l8g8; m.
Emily White, March 6, i86z; b. May 8, i83g; 1. Fort
Jackson. Had four children:
Retta L., b. December 5, 1863, Lawrence, N. Y.;
1. Lisbon, N. Y. ; m. Fred E. Lawrence, March 17,
1889; b. February 17, 1865. Had four children:
Lydia E., b. January 4, 1890, Lisbon, N. Y.
Lillie M., b. January 23, i8gi, Potsdam.
Jennie E., b. March z8, i8g5, Lisbon.
Maud E., b. January z6, i8g7, Potsdam.
Jessie E., b. January 17, 1868; 1. Dickinson Centre,
N. Y. ; m. Hubert Downey, November Z5, 18 go;
b. February ig, 1864. Had three chUdren:
Allen H., b. August zi, i8gi.
Ruth M., b. May Z4, i8g3.
Francis E., b. May z8, i8g8.
Ira A., b. November 4, 1870, Monson, Ohio; 1.
Fort Jackson.

544 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Charles H., b. October Z4, 1874; ^- fo^t Jackson;
m. Gertrude M. Williams, December 31, i8g5; b.
July 6, 1878. Had one child:
Daisy Belle, b. March z8, i8g6.
Russell, b. February 4, i8z8; d. in childhood.
Polly, b. August 10, 1830; d. October 11, igoo; m. Henry
Royce of North Lawrence. Had one child:
Loretta M., d. September Z3, i88g; m. F. A.
CooHdge.
Laurel, b. January iz, 1833; 1. Hopkinton; m. Roseltha
White of Canton, b. December 11, 1838. Had three
children :
Fred A., b. July iz, 1862; 1. Peoria, 111. ; m.
Loretta M. Royce, November, 1884; d. September
23, i88g;m. 2d, Mary Jasmer. No issue.
Keren I., b. March 23, 1871; 1. Hopkinton.
Ina M., b. May 26, 1878; 1. Hopkinton.
Children of Isaiah CooHdge by second marriage:
Laura E., b. May 8, 1834; 1. Kenosha, Wis.; m. Schuyler
Stearns.
Ellen, b. October g, 1835; d. February 15, i8g5.
Russell L., b. May 6, 1837; 1. Fort Jackson; m. Laura E.
Haywood, d. November, i86g; m. 2d, Mrs. Ermina E.
(Roberts) Sanford. (See Sanford family.) No issue.
Hannah A., b. March 5, i83g.
Eliza A., b. July 3, 1841; 1. Stockbridge, Wis.; m. Charies
W. Haywood, November 23, 1861; b. December 13, 1834.
Had four children:
Ada, b. December 4, 1864, Stockholm; d. March 12,
1865.
Hervie A., b. March 5, i866, Eaton, Wis.; 1.
Stockbridge; m. Dora R. Brooks, November 20,
i8g5. Had three children:
Harry E., Dale M. and Lois M.
Alvin M., b. January 21, 1868, Stockbridge, Wis.;
m. Gertrade Sanford, July 8, i8g8. Had one child:
Ralph A.
Abbie H., b. January 10, 1878; d. August ig, 1885.
Elzina M., b. June 12, 1845; d. January 24, i8g8; m.
Luke D. Adams, May 17, 1862; b. May 28, 1838; d.
January 14, i8g6. Had six children:
Delbert F., b. March 13, 1868; m. Carrie A.
Goodale, November 10, 1887. Had four chUdren:
Millard F., b. December 24, 1889.
Gladys L., b. March 31, 1891.
Glenn L., b. June 16, i8g2.
Fay A., b. August 6, i8g4.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 545
Effie I., b. October 24, i86g; d. June g, 1870.
Lilies N., b. September 15, 1873; 1- Potsdam; m.
Edward J. Strong, March 27, i88g. Had three
chUdren: Ethel B., b. March Z3, i8go; d. December
14, i8go.
Bernice E., b. June iz, i8gz; d. Decem
ber 4, i8gz.
Lloyd A., b. April 18, i8gg; d. May z6,
1899.
Cary C, b. May z8, 1875; d. AprU zz, 1876.
Vernie E., b. February zo, 1881; d. February 5,
1883.
Herrie M., b. May 7, 1884; d. March iz, 1885.
Frances, b. October 30, 1847.
Rachel, b. February Z4, lygg; d. November zg, 1886, at Russell
Squire's; m. Rev. John Simonds of Lawrence, February 11, i83g.
No issue.
Chloe, b. September 11, 1800; d. September Z3, 1869; single.
Russell, b. February 14, i8oz; d. March z, 1888; m. EHza Peck,
AprU 7, 1830. Had eight chUdren:
Adelaide E., b. March 4, 1831; d. December zo, 1845.
Ruth L., b. July 6, 183Z; d. January z8, 1880; m. Charles
Benedict, January iz, 1854; b. December 30, i8ig; d.
October 3, i8g3. Had three children:
Charles F., b. December 4, 1856; 1. CornwaU,
Vt.; m. Agnes B. Taggart, September 13, i88z.
Had four chUdren:
"Ward T., Stuart L., Ruth J. and
Arthur E.
Rollin S., b. January 14, i85g; d. March 5, 1897;
single.
Emma E., b. October 16, 1861; 1. Cornwall, Vt.;
m. Fred F. Dean, March 17, 1886. No issue.
Helen A., b. April 16, 1837; single; 1. Hopkinton.
Jane R., b. November 13, 1838; m. Homan H. Sheldon,
September 30, 1858; b. AprU 6, 1831; d. April 17, 1883.
Had six children, only two living:
Emily A., b. December zy, 1859; d. October iz,
1863.
E. Jennie, b. April 7, 1863; 1. NicholvUle; m. Fred
erick L. Day, September 11, 1883. Had three
chUdren :
Vera B., Vaughn C. and Donald S.
Maud A., b. January 31, 1865; d. April 4, l86g.
Florence E., b. May 31, 1868; d. September Z5,
1874.
Rollin C, b. July 4, 1870; smgle; 1. Nicholville.

546 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Ruth E., b. April zz, 187Z; d. August g, igoo;
m. Frank W. Bibbins, August Z5, i8g6; 1. Nichol
ville.
Emma V., b. May Z4, 1840; 1. Oak Park, IU.; m. Rollin
S. Williamson, September 4, i85g; b. May Z3, l83g; d.
August 10, 1889; m. zd. Dr. E. W. Wood. Mr. WU-
liamson was a judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County,
IU. No issue.
Russell S., b. August z5, 184Z; single; 1. Wisconsin.
Jerome B., b. July 9, 1848; 1. Hopkinton; m. Martha A.
TrusseU, December i, 1880; b. June z6, 1857. Had two
children: Sarah E., b. July 15, 1889.
Frank T., b. September 19, iSgz.
Addie B., b. July 7, 1852; 1. Hopkinton; m. H. Greeley
Fisk, February 24, 1875; b. June 5, 1853. Had three
chUdren :
Raldo A., b. December, 1876.
Merl A., b. June z, i88z.
Myrtle F., b. August zg, 1883.
Ira, b. March 6, 1804; d. March z8, 1883; a bachelor. Several de
scendants of Ashbel Squire claim that Ira was the first male chUd born
in town. (See topic of first child.)
Eben, b. October z, 1806; d. August z8, l88z; m. Olive WithereU.
No issue.
Huldah, b. July 24, 1807; d. July 10, 1856; single.
GAIUS SHELDON, b. May 20, 1781, Rupert, Vt.; d. February 21,
1863; m. Thankful Upham, January 5, 1803; b. 1783; d. Febraary g,
1842; m. 2d, Anna S. Griggs, who went to Iowa, where she died. He
came from Pomfort, Vt., in the fall of 1803 and settled on what is known
as the PhUo A. Davis farm, a mile north of George S. Wright's. Had six
children: Amos Curtis, b. February 24, 1805; d. February 13, i8go; m.
PoUy Daggett of Stockholm, b. 1802; d. Febraary 3, i860; m. 2d,
Mrs. Mary Blanchard, July 6, i860; b. AprU 5, 1819. Had five
children by first and one by second marriage:
Homan, b. 1831; d. AprU 17, 1883; m. Jennie Squire; 1.
NicholviUe.
Henry, 1. San ]os6, Cal.
Elmina (Mrs. Charles Loucks), 1. Hermon, N. Y.
Julia, b. 1839; ^- Septembers, 1858; m. Frank Davis of
Fort Jackson.
Harmon, b. 1842; d. August 22, 1863, in war.
Bertie, b. September 18, 1864; drowned July 11, i86g.
Alfred, b. April 21, 1807; d. July 3, 1874; ™- Arvilla Riggs, June
16, 1832; b. May 17, i8og; d. December g, 1877. Had six
children :

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 547
George W., b. May 22, 1833; m. Martha MerriU, July 7,
1852; m. 2d, EmeUne Huntley, July 9,18 54. Had five chil
dren: John, 1. Boston.
Mary, 1. Wooster, Vt. ; m. Fred Sands; m. zd, Frank
Jones.
Augusta, d.
Silva, 1. Buckton, N. Y. ; m. Henry Holmes. Had
one child: Ira.
Mina (Mrs. Shonyo).
Charlotte, b. March g, 1835; d. February 11, 1880; m.
John Y. MerrUl, January 3, 1853. Had eight children:
Mary, b. March g, 1855; d. October 6, 1882; m.
John Crowley, September 20, 1877. Had two
children: George, b. March 16, i87g.
Fred, b. July 5, 1880.
Alfred, b. March 27, 1857; d. January 4, 1862.
Abbie E., b. May 27, i85g; 1. Buckton, N. Y.;
m. Elmer E. Holmes, March 24, 1880; b. April
14, 1 87 1. Had three children:
Jessie M., b. March 14, 1882.
Bertha M., b. July 28, 1884.
Blanch D., b. November 11, i8g3.
Matilda, b. AprU 3, 1861; L Bangor, N. Y.; m.
Leslie Steenberge, February 22, 1884. Had one
child: Earl, b. November 2g, 1886.
Julia M., b. October 6, 1863; d. September 21,
i8gi; m. Azro M. Wilson, September 17, i87g.
Had two children:
Grace, b. July 12, 1880.
Lottie, b. November 20, 1885.
Delia E., b. December 11, 1865; d. September 23,
i8g2; m. Earl Wendell, September 15, 1888. No
issue.
Grant U., b. January g, 1867; 1. Colorado.
Robert E., b. July 28, 1870; m. Sarah Corbin,
May 15, i8gz. Had two children:
Beatrice H., b. November 19, 1894.
Elmer G., b. September 15, 1896.
Alfred, b. April 30, i83g; d. May i, i83g.
Ozias, b. AprU 30, i83g; d. May i, i83g.
Esther, b. January 7, 1841; 1. Buckton, N. Y.; m. C. E.
Reed, May 15, i85g; b. June 6, 1829; d. Had two
children:

548 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Florence A., b. October 30, i86z; 1. Fort Jackson;
m. Jonah Knapp, August iz, 1880; b. February 14,
185Z. Had two children:
Olon J., b. May 24, 1881.
Roy E., b. May 10, i88g.
Mary L., b. June i, 1870; 1. W. Stockholm; m.
Will Dewey, November zy, 1886. Had four chU
dren: Earl, b. September 10, 1888.
Ray, b. October 4, i8g2.
Mearl, b. January z, i8g4.
Floyd, b. June 17, i8g7.
Julia, b. November g, 1 844; 1. Buckton; m. WilHam Martin,
July 4, 1 861. Had one chUd:
Alice, b. May 5, i86z; 1. Buckton; m. Loren Wol
cott, September Z3, i88z. Had two chUdren:
Carrie, b. May ig, 1883.
Earl "W., b. November zg, 1887.
Asa U., b. May Z7, i8og; d. AprU i, 1875; ™- Adaline Cross,
183Z; d. 1835; m. zd, Sarah D. Billings, December z, 1835; b.
1 8 16; d. July 4, l8gz. Had five children:
Spencer, b. March 10, 1838.
Sarah Adaline, b. August Z3, i83g; 1. Potsdam; m. Rev.
Franklin C. MiUington, AprU 13, 1865; d. December zy,
1887, Denver. Had two children:
Francis W., b. May 17, 1866; 1. Wayland, N. Y.;
m. Elizabeth E. Ersfeldt, December Z7, igoo.
Sarah W., b. June 4, 187Z; d. March Z4, i8g8,
in New York City; m. Samuel B. Davis, June z8,
189Z. Had one child:
Cedric B., b. June 13, 1894.
King A., b. April zl, 1845; 1. Fort Jackson; m. Cleora M.
Hudson, AprU zi, 1866; d. February, 1880; m. zd, Han
nah Cotter. Had one chUd by first and five by second
marriage: Jay, Nellie C, d. aged ten; Ray, King, Anna
bel and Mary.
Emma L., 1. Hopkinton; m. George Woodward, d. 1898.
Had three children:
George, Roy and Gail.
¦Wright, b. February 6, 1855; 1. Hopkinton; m. Jennie E.
Conlin, October zo, 1885; b. October zo, 1865; d. De
cember 15, 1887; m. zd, Martha Larone, October z 3, 1888;
b. August 14, 1864. Had five children:
Babe, b. August z8, 1886; d. soon after.
Son, b. January Z5, 1890; d. soon after.
Henry Asa, b. February Z3, 1891.
Ruth Alma, b. January Z5, i8g3.
Burnard I., b. June 17, i8g5.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 549
Maria, b. November iz, 181 1 ; d. June Z5, 1893, in Stockholm; m.
John Riggs, July 17, 1853. No issue.
Lucina, b. September i, 1814; d. May 10, 185Z; m. John Riggs,
May 18, 1835; d. November zi, 1884. Had four children:
Adaline M., b. September z8, 1836; d. April zz, 1859;
m. Burrel Adams, May i, 1856; d. August I, 1897. Had
one child: Demis L., b. June 25, 1857; 1. Kendrick, Ida.;
m. Johnson Poole, December 3, 1874; d. July 6,
1896. Had four children:
AHce E., b. August i, 1876; 1. Chesley,
Ida.; m. Fred B. Smoots, March 24, 1894.
Had five children:
Claude B., b. March 30, 1896.
Gladys G., b. November g, 1897.
Jessie C, b. August 18, 1899.
Ruby M., b. March i, igoi; d.
March 25, igoi.
Ethel M., b. May 10, igo2.
Milo R., b. AprU 5, iSyg; d. September 25,
igoo.
Nellie M., b. February 6, 1881.
Walter F., b. September z, 1886.
Louisa T., b. September ii, 184Z; 1. West Stockholm; m.
Daniel R. Freeman, AprU 10, i860; m. zd, Louis Besaw,
November iz, i8g6. Had two chUdren:
Charles E., b. July iz, 1861; 1. Breckinridge,
Minn.; m. Tena Christenson, September iz, 1886.
Had four chUdren:
Georgia D., b. December 8, 1887; d. March
z6, i88g.
June, b. January z6, i8go.
Marvel R., b. January 6, 1899.
Lucina, b. February 17, 1900.
Henry J., b. April 15, 1866; 1. Fond du Lac, Wis.;
m. Lizzie Carberry, September Z5, 1886. Had
two children: Edward C, b. July 15, 1887.
Harry, b. August 15, i8gi.
Philo, b. May zi, 1847; 1. Buckton; m. Loretta A. Palmer,
March 31, 1868; b. August zo, 1848. Had three children:
Burt F., b. September 11,. 1870; d. Febraary zo,
i8gg; m. Edith S. Casde, December Z4, 1889.
Had two chUdren:
Raymond E., b. March 14, 1894.
Beulah B., b. January 4, 1897.

550 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Leslie E., b. Febraary 6, 1874; !• Buckton; m.
Etta May Preston, September 7, 1896. Had two
children: Rupert v., b. September 1, 1897.
Ralph, b. April 16, igoo.
Etta A., b. December 30, 1879; ^- Buckton; m. Jo
seph A. WeUs, February 6, igoi. No issue.
Lucina, b. May 4, i85z;l. West Stockholm; m. Horace A.
Moulton, September zz, 1875. Had one child:
Ernest A., b. December 18, i87g.
Louisa L., b. May 31, 1818; d. October 5, i84z; m. Elijah Ober
of Stockholm. No issue.

OLIVER SHELDON, b. 1779, Rupert, Vt.; d. April 9, 1817; m.
Sarah Gilbert, 1803; b. 1777; d. November 16, 1840. He was the eld
est of a famUy of nine chUdren, and settled in town at least as early as July,
1 804, when his account with Mr. Hopkins opened. He sprained his ankle
which resulted in the amputation of his leg. (See diaries of Messrs. Risdon
and Kent for an account of same. ) He secured a large and fine tract on the
south side of the road east of Hopkinton vUlage. Gaius and Heman, who
settled in Hopkinton, were his brothers. Had seven children:
Alta, b. September zi, 1804, Hopkinton; d. August Z3, i8go,
Richmond Centre, Wis. (first female chUd born in town); m. John
Henderson, January z 1 , 1834. (See his record.)
Albert, b. January I, 1806; d. August zg, 1887; m. Rosamund
Grandy, March 3, 1828; b. December 27, 1808; d. January 14,
1865; m. 2d, Julia Russell, October 10, 1866; b. May 17, 1804;
d. March 20, 1878. Had one child by first marriage:
James A., b. February 18, 1830; dentist, Winthrop, N. Y.;
m. Clara E. Rice, b. March 7, i8z8; d. August Z3, 1870;
m. zd, Mary Crowley, b. September 6, 1845; d. Novem
ber 6, 1886; m. 3d, Anna L. Gray, b. February 23, 1865;
d. August z8, 189Z; m. 4th, Mary E. Northrup, b. July
15, 1865. Had three chUdren by first and two by second
marriage: Ruth Rosamund, b. April zz, 1855; d. March
zo, 1858.
William Augustus, b. January 11, 1858; d. Feb
ruary z5, 1858.
Helen M., b. October Z4, i860. (See Clark A.
Warner. )
Albert H., b. October zo, 1871; 1. Buffalo, N. Y.;
m. Veva V. Vale, September 18, 1893; b. Octo
ber IZ, 1873. Had one child:
Ralph v., b. March i, i8g8.
Emma R., b. April 8, 1873; 1- Buffalo, N. Y.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 551
Philo G., b. September 4, 1807; d. June iz, i8g7, at Winsted,
Conn.; m. Matilda Westlake, August 18, 1835; b. January i,
1 817; d. AprU 10, i8gz. No issue.
Hiram B., b. May 7, i8og; d. June Z4, 1884; m. Alzina Hamil
ton, March Z3, 1836; b. September 13, i8lz; d. AprU 3, 1837;
m. zd, Betsy Blanchard, b. AprU 14, l8ig; d. September 8, 1885.
Had five chUdren by second marriage:
Alzina, b. July Z3, 1838; m. Charles E. Meacham. Had
seven chUdren:
Janette A., b. October Z4, 1858; 1. Winsted, Ct.
Hattie M., b. April 5, i860; 1. Hopkinton.
Emma E., b. November z8, i86z; m. Wilber G.
Manchester; 1. Winsted. Had two chUdren:
Gladys and Mary.
Charles O., b. November 8, 1864; m. Kittie Hen
derson; 1. Hopkinton. Had one child:
Mildred.
Daisy M., b. September Z5, 1867; m. John E.
Abercrombie, December 31, i8gz, Winsted, Ct.
No issue.
Martha B., b. December 10, 187 1; d. March 6,
187Z.
Earl S., b. May Z3, 1877; 1. Hopkinton.
Elizabeth, b. October 17, 1839; 1. Winsted, Conn.; m.
Thomas Doughty, AprU z8, 1857. Had five children:
John G., b. November 10, 1857; m. Eleanor
Thomas, February 16, 1898. Had one chUd:
Margaret, b. November Z4, i8g8.
Carrie Matilda, b. July 31, i860.
Alice Phebe, b. January 15, 1863; m. Joseph San
ford, August 2, i8gi.
Sophia Ann, b. November i, 1865.
Emily Elizabeth, b. Febraary 16, i86g.
Emily, b. November 18, 1841; 1. Winsted, Conn.
Oliver J., b. July 28, 1844. Was a soldier, Co. I, io6th
Regiment, and died in DansviUe Prison, January i, 1863.
King T. Sheldon, b. December 20, 1846; 1. 'West Winsted,
Conn.; m. Martha B. Smith. Had one child:
Miles Hiram, b. September 10, 1884.
Mary, b. August 5, 181 1; d. August 4, 1838; m. Foster Shaw, Jan
uary 25, 1831; b. November 24, 1805; d. January zg, 1844.
Had four children:
Sally L., b. November zo, 1831; d. March 31, l85g; m.
WilHam A. Clark, d. May 18, 1896. Had one child:
Myron B., b. February 11, 1854; d. December 11,
189Z; m. IdaE. Roberts, Febraary zz, 1875; b. De
cember zg, 1854. Had three cliUdren:

552 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Leslie 'W., b. AprU 28, 1878; d. May 18,
1879.
Minnie E., b. August 8, 1880; d. August
31, 1880.
Leo N., b. June 20, i8gz.
John W., b. March i, 1833; d. September 17, i88g,
AUens FaUs, N. Y.; m. Lucy A. Tichenor, b. December 5,
1 831; 1. AUens Falls, N. Y. Had four children:
Estella J., b. March 16, i85g; d. AprU 18, 1861.
Gilbert ¦W., b. May 10, l86z; 1. Woodstock, Vt.;
m. Anna Wilcox, March ig, 1888; b. March z8,
1858. No issue.
Clara A., b. June zg, 1868; d. February 8, l86g.
Rosa B., b. May 16, 1870; 1. Parishville.
Philo G., b. April 15, 1834; d. December z6, i860.
Oliver, b. March 17, 1838; d. December iz, 1838.
James Oliver, b. 1814; d. 1817.
Olive Jane; b. January 17, 1816; d. AprU 3, 1843; m. WUHam H.
Wakefield, b. April 5, 1810; d. April 15, i8go, Colton, N. Y.
He m. zd, Mary C. Blanchard, July Z3, l843;b. August zz, i8zo.
Had one child by each marriage:
Oliver J., b. Febraary zi, 1843, Lawrenceville, N. Y. ; 1.
Wahpeton, N. D.; m. Maria E. CUne, November 6, 1870;
b. August 31, 1847. Had one chUd:
Herbert Wellington, b. November 7, 1880.
Olive Jane, b. January 6, 1852; d. Febraary 19, 1890; m.
WUliam N. James, September, 1868, Colton, N. Y. ; b.
January 6, 1852. Had four children:
William Oliver, Herbert, Theron and Mary.
ELIAKIM SEELY, b. 1776; d. January 3, 1842; m. Ahnira ¦

b. 178Z; d. June Z5, 1848. He settled on west side of road, just north of
viUage, where Arthur Flanders now resides. He had a tannery on the back
end of his lot on Lyd Brook. The first town meeting was held in his house
in March, 1806. Had seven children:
Susan, b. 1805; d. March zy, i8z6.
Alonzo, b. 1807; d. February z8, 1 841.
Harriet, b. 1809; d. July 9, 181 1.
Julia A., b. 181Z; d. Febraary 17, 185Z; m. E. M. Roberts.
Joseph, b. 1815; d. February 18, 1840.
Almira H., b. 1818; d. August 10, 1858; m. D. M. Sylvester.
Jane, m. ¦  Lockwood, Canton.
DR. GIDEON SPRAGUE, b. January I, 1785, Salem, N. Y.; d.
August z8, i85g; m. Maria Pier, January 5, i8iz; b. February i, I7g3,
Salem, N. Y.; d. September Z3, i8z6;m. zd, Laura Pier, December 13,
i8z7; d. July 30, 1834; m. 3d, Rhoda Kent, Febraary g, 1835; d. (See
sketch among pioneer settlers.) Had five chUdren:

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 553
Frederick P., b. September 11, 18 14; d. October 17, i85i,Terre
Haute, Ind.; m. Naome H. Griswold at Benson, Vt., in 1846; d. ;
m. zd, Lydia Ganon. No child by either marriage.
Dr. Henry W., b. April 14, 1817; d. August g, 1847, WhitehaU,
N. Y.; m. Laura E. Griswold at Benson, Vt., 1841; b. July iz,
l8zi; d. July 6, 1884. Had one chUd:
William G., b. September 18, 184Z; 1. Maiden, Mass.; m.
CaroHne H. Blaney, b. Febraary z6, 1846, Boston. No
issue.
Harriet ^W., b. July z, l8ig; 1. Minden, Neb.; m. Dr. Charles
Azro L. Sprague, Benson, Vt., 1 841. Had six chUdren:
Charles A., b. April 3, 1846; drowned at sea; m. Nettie
Meaker. Had one child:
Clyde R., b. November Z5, 1878, Milton, Vt.; 1.
Anamosa, Iowa; m. Avis P. MUler, August 19,
1895; b. December ig, l87g. Had three children:
Hattie Alma, b. AprU zi, i8g7.
Daniel Fayette, b. January 10, i8gg.
Floyd H., b. November 5, igoi.
Sophia H., b. April 10, i84g, WUliston, Vt. ; d. July 1,
i88g;m. Wilber E. Chapin, August, 187Z. Had three
chUdren: Edgar D., b. March 6, 1874, Red Oak, Ind.; d.
February 6, l8gi.
Mabel H., b. August 16, 1877; m. WUHam H.
Raymond; 1. Lincoln, Neb.
¦Wilber E., b. January iz, 1880, at Seward, Neb.
Frederic, b. April l, 1 851; drowned June, l868, near Wil-
Hston.
Harriet W^., b. June 23, 1853; L Mmden, Neb.; m. N. C.
Rogers, October ig, 1876, at Seward, Neb. Had four chil
dren: Fayette F., b. July 10, 1878, at Seward.
Calvin S., b. June Z4, 1 88 1, Aurora.
Virginia N., b. Febraary 5, i8go, Minden.
Richard H., b. November 18, i8g6, Minden.
Calvin G., b. AprU 17, 1857, WUliston, Vt.; 1. Hopkinton,
N. Y.; m. Mary A. Hall, b. March 7, i85g. New Haven,
Vt. No issue.
Carolina M., b. November 6, i85g; 1. Minden, Neb.; m.
John L. McPheely, October 29, 1879, Seward, Neb., law
yer. Had two chUdren:
Kathryn M., b. November 6, 1880, at Seward,
Neb.
Anna, b. August 23, 1882; d.June 12, 1886.

554 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Dr. Fayette P., b. January I, 1822; d. Onalaska, Wis., May 8,
1876; m. Sarah A. Brown at Hopkinton, daughter of Philander. He
practised as a physician at Hopkinton till his removal west in 1866.
Had one child:
Oretta M., d. about 1870.
Caroline Abigail, b. December 2, 1824; d. November 2g, igoi;
m. Thaddeus H. Laughlin, May 10, 1865. No issue.

SAMUEL M. SIMONDS, b. April 4, 1782, Andover, Mass.; d.
October 25, 1866; m. Anna Langworthy, b. October 3, 1780, .^.ndover,
Mass.; d. Febraary ig, 1870. He came from Windsor, Vt., and settled
in Hopkinton some time between 1 808 and 1 8 10. His name does not appear
in the census of 1807 nor in Mr. Hopkins's account down to 1808, but it
does in the census of 18 14. At the time the British soldiers made the raid
upon the viUage of Hopkinton and captured some three hundred barrels of
flour they also forcibly took from Mr. Simonds all his stock of leather on hand
and manufactured boots. He kept a sort of commissary store and shoe shop
which stood just a Httle east of the present Chittenden store, as is shown by an
early map elsewhere given in this work. About the year 182 1 he purchased
a tract of land over in Chesterfield on the north side of the Turnpike about
midway between the schoolhouse and the EUithorpe corner. There he Hved
several years, seUing out to GUbert TrusseU and taking a farm about a mile
north from the EUithorpe place on the west side of the road. He and his
son, Solon C, got title to this place September 12, 1850. There he Uved
tUl the end. Had eight chUdren:
George A., b. September 17, i8oz, Windsor, Vt.; d. November
Z3, i8gz; m. Eleanor HaU, i8z8; b. Fairfax, Vt.; m. zd, EUinor
Briggs, January z, i860; b. Febraary z, 1830; 1. W. Stockholm.
His daughter, Clarissa A. Poor, tells me that some soldiers were
quartered where the church and town house now stand for a time, and
that her father was put into service as waiter and chore boy for the
commanding officers. I do not learn any corroboration of soldiers be
ing quartered in town, though they may have been, since we know
they passed through more or less. Wlien only fourteen he was sent
by his father to Plattsburg through the fifty-mUe woods for flour,
meal, sole leather, hams, etc. On one occasion he was followed by
wolves in the early evening, and to hold them at bay kept shooting at
them and now and then throwing out a ham for them to eat, till he
reached a settler. After his marriage he lived in Madrid, Potsdam,
Canton and Stockholm, where he died. Had four children:
Louisa, b. October 25, i8zg; d. Waddington, N. Y.; m.
Malvin Fulton. Had three chUdren, but unable to learn of
only one: Frank, 1. Morley, N. Y.
Clarissa A., b. October g, 183Z; 1. N. Stockholm; m.
George E. Poor, 185Z. Had seven children:

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 555
Maitland G., b. November 9, 1853; d. December
Z4, 1 88 1, Streator, IU.; m. Ada Warner. Had one
chUd: Arthur, d. in infancy.
Ella M., b. November Z4, 1855; 1. Mehose, Mass.;
m. James Russell, August zi, 1880; d. 1881; m.
zd, Elmer Shields, October zi, 1884. Had two chU
dren: Blanch C, b. July i, 1881; d. December
30, 1894.
Hazel D., b. January 4, i8gz.
Lyman A., b. Febraary 14, 1857; d. September 18,
l8go. Burns, Kan.
James L., b. August i, 1863; d. November Z5,
1878.
Arthur E., b. April 7, 1866; 1. Chicopee FaUs,
Mass.; m. Ella Swain; d. March 8, 1890, Concord,
N. H. ; m. zd, Fannie Ridgeway of England. No
issue.
Carrie L., b. January 13, 1868; d. December 25,
igoo, K Station, N. Y.; m. Isaac Wadsworth.
Had one child:
Ray G., b. July 2, i8g8.
Hannah E., b. January 6, 1870; 1. K Station, N. Y.;
m. Harry Peet. Had two children:
Fay C, b. August 7, 1900.
Eva A., b. June 14, 1902.
Eleanor H., b. 1833; d. July 4, 1868.
Hester A., b. November 25, 1835; d. November 30, 1835.
Louisa A., b. July 2, 1806; d. February 18, 1879; m. Henry A.
Erwin, 1838. Had four children:
EUen M., b. March 24, 1840; d. January g, igoi, Nichol
viUe; m. Byron G. Reed, November I, 1867; b. November
20, i83g. Had one child:
Charles B., b. February 21, 1872; 1. NicholviUe;
m. Mabel C. Chandler, September 28, i8g7. No
issue.
Laura L., b. February 4, 1842; d. March 10, i8gz; m. C.
L. Newell, October 4, 1865; b. December 23, i8zi; d.
November 30, igoo. Had five chUdren:
Vernon C, b. November zo, 1 870; 1. NicholvUle;
m. NelHe A. Mahony, February 11, l8g3;b. January
1 1, 187Z. Had one child:
Laura C, b. April 14, i8g8.
Varick C, b. October 4, 1875; d. November zz,
1881.
Elmer E., b. Febraary I, i87g; d. November 13,
1881.

556 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Everett E., b. December 14, i88z.
Wright M., b. October 16, 1884; d. February 10,
1 90 1.
Lucia, b. February 4, i84z; 1. Norwood, N. Y.; m. Oel
B. Austin. Had four chUdren:
Gertie L., b. October 15, 1866.
Evelyn L., b. August 11, iSyz; 1. Daily Ridge,
N. Y.; m. John G. Pringle. No issue.
Ervin N., b. September 11, 1881.
Clark H., b. March Z5, 1844; 1. NicholvUle; m. Jane E.
Walcott; Uved on old homestead, two mUes north of Nichol
viUe. Had one chUd:
Ernest G., b. December 6, 1876; 1. Nicholville;
m. Clara L. Bibbins, December 9, iSgg. No issue.
James, b. August 9, i8og; d. May 11, 1837, in Lawrence; m.
No issue.
Sullivan, b. Febraary iz, l8iz; d. October g, l8gi, at Sebec, Me.;
m. Almira Stacey, January l, 1833; b. July 6, 18 12; d. January 4,
i8g7. Had five children:
Henry C, b. October 15, 1833, in Lawrence; d. December
15, 1863; m. Julia A. Brackett, December 25, 1854; ^•>
m. zd, L. AveriU. Was a soldier and died in Baltimore,
Md. Had one chUd:
Daughter, b. i860; m. and Hves near Boston, Mass.
Laura A., b. May 6, 1835; 1. East Dover, Me.; m. Daniel
Severance, September 5, 1864, at Barre, Vt. Was a soldier
in the Civil War. Had three children:
Delbert A., b. March Z5, 1866, at Sebec; 1. Bangor,
Me.; m. Emma G. Curtis, October 3, 1886. Had
two children: Ola M., b. AprU 3, i8gi; d. January 17,
i8g3.
Leon E., b. October zi, i8g3.
Chester L., b. January 15, 1868; 1. East Dover,
Me.; m. Mrs. Clara Bearse, August iz, igoz.
Almira E., b. October 7, 1873; d. July 15, i8g6;
m. WendeU Hubbard, April 15, i8g3. Had two
children: Daniel A., b. January 7, i8g4.
Henry C, b. July 7, i8g6.
Laurinda A., b. April zg, 1839; d. October 31, 1884, in
Boston; m. J. B. Lyon, October z8, 1865. No issue.
Aaron A., b. May ig, 1843; 1. SomerviUe, Mass.; m. NelUe
Brasy, Febraary iz, 1864. Had three chUdren:
Frank, Leon and Bertie.
Lucia M., b. May zg, 1847, Potsdam;!. N. Guilford, Me.;
m. Walter D. Rogers, September 22, 1866, Monson, Me.
Had seven children, one of whom d. in infancy:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 557
Arthur D., b. January z8, i86g; 1. Shirley, Me.;
m. Mary Huff, June z8, i8g8. Had one child:
Lewis G., b. October 31, igoo.
Elmer S., b. November 5, 1 87 1 ; 1. N. Guilford, Me. ;
m. Edith V. Frost, July 3, 1901. Had one child:
Doris Vera, b. August 31, igoz.
George H., b. October Z3, 1874; 1- Abbott, Me.
Justin N., b. March zo, 1878.
Forest G., b. May 13, 1880.
Lawrence W., b. March 28, 1888.
Solon Cyrus, b. March 14, 1815, Hopkinton; d. May 11, 1881,
New York City; m. Martha Ann Rawson, 1842; b. 18Z4; d. August
z6, igoz,T. I. Park. In 1851 he went to Brasher Falls and in i85g
to Watertown, N. Y. Had three chUdren:
Albert, b. 1844, Lawrence; d. aged twenty.
Maria Temperance, b. April z, 1848; 1. New York City;
m. Hiram McGonegal, December Z4, 1873. Had four
chUdren :
Daisy Augusta, b. January Z3, 1875.
Alfred R., b. April 7, 1876; 1. Washington, D. C;
m. Margaret L. Welch, September z, igoi. Had
one chUd: Alfred R., Jr., b. September 13, igoz.
LiUian M., b. May zy, 1884, Plainfield, N. J.
¦Walter H., b. January 4, i88g, Hudson, N. Y.
Martin L., b. August 11, 185Z; d. May 30, l8g6. Water-
town, N. Y. ; m. Addie May Huntley, August Z5, 1881; 1.
Watertown. Had four children:
Grace Mae, b. August 14, 1884.
Lillian H., b. October 17, 1887.
George S., b. October 17, 1889; d. July 31, 1890.
Lorenzo M., b. April 15, 1891; d. September z,
1891.
Laura B., b. September zy, 1816; d. March 1, 187Z, at Nichol
ville; m. Clark Brownell, September 16, 1838; d. Lawrence, N. Y.
They went to Palmyra, N. Y., then to SulHvan, Wis., and back to
NicholviUe, where they died. Had seven children:
Charles C, b. November zz, 1840; d. March Z3, 1841.
George C, b. July 18, 184Z; 1. Palmyra, Wis.; m. Olive
Lee, October zz, 1864. Had six chUdren, three of whom
are living: M. Ella, b. September zo, 1867; 1. Palmyra.
Ira G., b. March 25, 1876; 1. Palmyra.
Dr. Frank ^W., b. January i, i87g; 1. Excelsior
Springs, Mo. ; m. Effie HuUen. No issue.
Pamelia M., b. AprU g, 1844; 1. NicholvUle, N. Y.; m.
George B. Stacy. (See his family.)
Louisa A., b. August 23, 1846; 1. NicholvUle; m. Hiram
Rose. No issue.

558 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Laura A., b. September 3, 1848; 1. NicholvUle; m. Philo
A. Munson, March 31, 1866. Had two children: •
Minnie A., b. February 23, 1869; 1. Boston, Mass.
George C, b. December 4, 1 87 1; 1. NicholviUe; m.
Pearl Weston. Had one child:
Majorie, b. June 30, iSgg.
Rhoda A., b. October 6, 1850, Sullivan; d. September 3,
185Z.
Mary J., b. September 6, 1853; d. February z8, 1854.
Lucia, b. December 5, 1818; d. July zz, 1843; m. James Sherar,
merchant at Nicholville. Had one cliild:
Pembroke, d. young.
Joseph M., b. December z, i8zo; d. AprU 17, igoo; m. Lucy E.
Carpenter, b. December 7, l8zz, at Jay, N. Y. He was a car
penter and highly respected. In 1866 he purchased the Chapman
place on the south side at NicholviUe, used in early times as a hotel,
where he died. On December z, i8g7, the fiftieth anniversary of
their marriage was duly celebrated. Had four chUdren:
Albert, d. when a child.
Emma, b. April g, 1854; 1. Malone, N. Y. ; m. Isaac
Palmer, March zy, i87g; b. May z6, 1850; d. AprU 7,
i8g6. Had three children:
Eva Lola, b. May Z4, 1886, in Dickinson.
Charles Porter, b. January zg, i8gi, Malone.
Albert L., b. January zg, 1891; d. October zg,
1891.
Eva, b. April 9, 1854; 1. Dickinson, N. Y.; m. Wellington
Roys, September 19, i88z; b. September g, 185Z. Had
four children: Christie L., b. September 10, 1883.
Gussie, b. September i, 1887.
Roscoe, b. October Z3, i8g3.
Beatrice M., b. January zg, i8g6.
Mary B., b. July 5, 1857; L DicKinson Centre, N. Y. ; m.
Frank McComber, December 14, 1881; b. March 10, 1858.
Had five children:
Frank E., b. May ig, 1886; d. February 24, 1887.
Pearl, b. May ig, 1886.
Thaddeus J., b. February zy, 1888.
George, b. December 11, i8gz.
Floyd, b. May 15, i8g4.
JONAH SANFORD' (Benjamin^ Jonah^ Joseph^ SamueP and Esther
(Baldwin), Ephraim^ and Mary (Powell), Thomas^ and Sarah Sanford), b.
December 31, 1 7 go, Cornwall, Vt. ;d. December Z5, 1867; m. AbigaU
Greene, March 14, 181 1; b. January zo, I7g3; d. December 15, 184Z;
m. zd, Harriet E. Barney, September zz, 1845; b. December z, i8iz; d.
February 9, 1898. His first wife was a daughter of Rev. Henry Greene

JUDGE JONAH SANFORD.

MRS. HARRIET E. (BARNEy) SANFORD.

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EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 559
of CornwaU, Vt., but later of ParishviUe. She was a very gentle, dutifiil
and noble woman. The second wife was a daughter of  Barney of
BeUvUle, N. Y., and a talented woman possessing a remarkable memory. She
could read a page of poetry, hand the book to another and repeat it, as also
poems and essays which she had committed, for hours and even days with
out cessation. His grandfather, Jonah, was in the War of the Revolution,
being a member of Captain Jesse Curtis' s company m Colonel Hooker's
regiment of Erastus Wolcott's brigade stationed at Barracks No. 3, Peekskill.
Also commissioned an ensign. (See page 500 of Connecticut records. War of
Revolution. )
Thomas, the pioneer of the family in this country, came to Boston in
163 1, only eleven years after the PUgrim Fathers, and settled at MUford,
Conn., where he died in 168 1. He was a descendant of Thomas de
Sanford, who went over from Normandy to England with WUliam the Con
queror in 1066, and was an officer in the battle of Hastings.
Mr. Sanford was a son of Benjamin Sanford and Sarah Marsh of Corn
waU, Vt., both natives of the town of Litchfield, Conn., where his grand
father, Jonah, also resided and died. Benjamin was born June 4, 1 761, and
moved up to CornwaU in 1785, where he died July i, 1833; his wife, Feb
ruary z8, 1818, aged fifty-two.
His chUdren were, viz., Orman, died March 3, lygo ; Daniel, who
has several descendants in and about Middlebury, Vt. ; Permelia, who mar
ried Edmond HiU ; Ozias ; John, who held the old homestead, which is stUl
held by his son Edgar; Benjamin, who settled in Hopkinton ; Sarah Ann,
died March, 1808 ; Mary Ann, who married Daniel M. Beecher and
settled at "Beechertown" in Stockholm; Josephus, died March, 181 3 ;
JuHna, who married Julius Delong, and Betsy, who married Zimri Pond of
Galesbury, 111.
Benjamin was a farmer and a man of some considerable position and
standing. He was a justice of the peace for many years and a member of the
legislature for the years 1805, 1806, i8zi— 18Z3 and i8z6.
The subject of this sketch attended the district school winters, where Ht
tle else was taught except reading, writing, arithmetic and spelling. He did
not, as he states in a brief sketch of his life, reach the beauties of the EngHsh
grammar. He married in March, 181 1, before he was twenty-one, and soon after
in that year came to Hopkinton and selected a piece of forest for a farm and
home where, as he states, he then made a " little beginning in the entire
wilderness." After making a little clearing and buUding a cabin, he went
back to Vermont. In the next three years he no doubt made trips to his
farm doing more clearing, though he did not permanently setde on it till the
spring of 181 5. The years l8iz— 1814 were stirring times along Lake Cham
plain and the St. Lawrence River, especially, and he enlisted and served for a
short time in the army at Vergennes and also as a volunteer in the battle at
Plattsburg, September 11, 18 14.
The war over he moved on to his tract to make a farm and a home. In
September of that year they met with a great sorrow in the loss of their
two children. Thus left alone in this cabin in the woods, their bereavement
must have been intense. Only stout hearts could have borne it. He was at

56o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
once recognized by his townsmen as a man of character and inteUigence, since
he was very soon and every year given some position. In the early part of
the summer of 1 8 1 8 he was appointed a justice of the peace by the governor
or appointing board. The state authorities did not then dare to give the elec
tion of justice to the people or else they held it for patronage. His first official
act was to marry a couple, which he did July iz, 1818, but unfortunately the
parties' names are not given. This position he held very nearly unbrokenly
for twenty-two years.
Conscious that he possessed abilities as a lawyer, and seeing the great
need of a" lawgiver " in the settlement of disputes, he very early purchased
a few law books and set to work to master the fundamental principles of the
law. Every new community or settlement is, as we know, for some reason
greatly given to contention and litigation. Sparse as was the population in
those times I dare say there were ten times as many justice's trials as there are
now. Every one went to court to hear the lawyer spout, wrangle, abuse the
court and tear aU opposing witnesses to pieces. There are a few " lawyers "
who still do this and a few people who think it an evidence of abiHty.
Beginning in a modest way he steadUy advanced until he became the
ablest and hardest fighting and most successful practitioner in the eastern part of
the county. For many years this work constituted a large part of his business
and his circuit took in the east half of St. Lawrence and a good part of Frank
lin County. He was a born debater, logical in reasoning, combative, abso-
solutely fearless, tireless and indomitable. Judge Henry L. Knowles, who was one
of the keenest and ablest lawyers in the county, once told the writer that he
had rather meet in a trial any other man in the county than the Judge, so tire
less, persistent and indomitable was he. His chief opponents in trials were
Dennis Stacy, Esq., of NicholvUle, and Henry Bickford, Esq., of Dickinson,
both able men. As showing his tireless energy and indomitable wUl, see trial
of one Cook in the diary for June z, 184Z.
He held the position of supervisor of his town for the years 18Z3— i8z6,
as also minor positions at other times. In iSzy he was appointed a com
missioner by act of the legislature to lay out a state road through fifty miles of
wUderness (Port Kent road) and subsequendy one of three commissioners to
build the road, which they did. He was a member of the Assembly for the
years 1 8Z9 and 1 830, and also a member of the second session of the Twenty-
first Congress from December 6, 1830, to March 3, 1831, tofiU out the un
expired term of Silas Wright.
He also took during these times an active part in the state miHtia, which
was then maintained in all parts of the state and for which he had a great lik
ing. In i8z7 he was commissioned a captain of a volunteer company of cav
alry. In i8z8 and 18Z9 he held the position of Heutenant colonel, and in
the two foUowing years that of colonel of said independent regiment. For the
years 183Z and 1833 he was commissioned a brigadier general of the state
miHtia. Several men now living tell me how superbly he sat his horse and
how proudly and grandly he handled the annual brigade encampment held in
the field about a mile southwest of Potsdam vUlage.
In 1 8 3 1 he was appointed a judge of the Court of Common Pleas, which
position he held for the term of six years and from which he derived the title

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 561
of Judge, by which he was universally known. In 1846 he held the dis
tinguished honor to sit in the state convention to revise the state constitution.
Brought up a Democrat, he affiUated with that party until the reorganiza
tion of parties in 1856 on the slavery question, when he became a most ardent
and loyal Republican to the end.
Aged as he was on the breaking out of the CivU War, his patriotism and
loyalty to the Union knew no bounds. Late in the summer or early in the
faU of 1 86 1 he set out to raise a regiment of men for the cause. He took
his horse and buggy and rode all over the eastern part of the county, enUsting
prominent men to help him in the various towns, and addressing war meetings
in every hamlet, as I well remember. Those were stirring times indeed. So
patriotic were the people and so energetically did he labor that in December of
that year his regiment was organized and went into encampment for drill and
further recruiting at Potsdam, N. Y. The barracks were built in the north
part of the viUage, and the present meadow field lying north of Grove Street
and west of Leroy was the driUing ground. The present house near the
southwest corner of this field was his headquarters.
The regiment was given the number ninety-two, and being fiilly re
cruited and equipped, left Potsdam on the first day of Febraary, i86z, for
the seat of war with Colonel Sanford at its head. A vast concourse of people
had gathered and lined the roadway and roofs of buUdings from the barracks
to the depot to see them off. The colonel and lieutenant colonel were in a
sleigh at the head of the regiment with the writer, a boy, standing on the
sleigh ranner and holding to the back of the seat. The band came next.
The march had not long proceeded when the weeping, sobbing and crying of
mothers, wives, sisters and sweethearts along the way was becoming painful.
At this juncture the leader of the band cried out, " Colonel, what shall we
play?" and he instandy replied, " The girl I left behind me." They did
so and it greatly inspirited and enlivened all. With "Godspeeds" and
" Colonel, take care of the boys," huzzahs and acclaims of all kinds, they
took their departure. He accompanied the regiment to the banks of the James
River, where his advanced age, seventy-two years, and ill health compelled
him reluctandy to abandon the field. He survived this extraordinary effort
over five years and kept up his zeal and work for the cause tUl the end of the
war. The regiment did heroic and valiant service in the field.
He was a large man, standing six feet and weighing fiiUy two hundred
and twenty-five pounds, erect of figure, with a mUitary bearing, which, with
his strong, inteUectual face, made him a man of imposing and commanding
presence. His nature was genial and very social, and he took a great interest
in the advancement of young men, as the writer can testify. Whenever a
matter of principle was involved or a conviction attacked he was resolute and
most determined. No man I have ever known was more loyal to his convic
tions or would battle for them more tenaciously than he. To have the cour
age of one's convictions is said to be and is a great virtue, and he certainly
possessed it. Indeed, so great was this quaHty of his nature that in his zeal
to estabHsh or maintain them he was utterly obHvious of aU consequences
which more discreet and politic men always keep in mind.
His endurance, both mental and physical, was marvellous. He seemed
to know no such thing as weariness or fatigue. Neither did he know such a

56z EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
thing as fear. He feared no man and shrank from no danger where duty or
honor called. He was a positive force wherever placed.
During the earHer part of his Hfe he was the close friend and associate
of Governor Wright, Judge Fine, Judge AUen, and later of Preston King,
Judge James and other prominent men. Taken all in all, he was a most re
markable man and assisted materially in the shaping and development of all
matters in his locality in those early pioneer times. Had ten children by first
and four by second marriage:
Ozias, b. September 1 8, l8iz, Cornwall, Vt. ; d. September 15,
1 81 5, Hopkinton, N. Y.
Calista, b. July z, 1814, CornwaU; d. September Z5, 1815, Hop
kinton, N. Y.
Henry B., b. July zz, 1816, Hopkinton; d. March zy, i87g,
Hopkinton; m. Casendana EUithorpe, October 14, 1838; b. No
vember zz, 1818; d. February zi, 1888. He took the Benjamin
Sanford farm just east of his father, then a farm in Lawrence and
afterwards a farm and hotel two miles east of NicholviUe. He was a
lieutenant in Co. F, gzd Regiment, N. Y. S. V. Had nine children:
Henry T., b. April 13, 1840; d. July 16, i8g7, Albany,
N. Y.; m. Louise A. Brewster, October 14, 1867; b. April
16, 1841; 1. Albany. Early in 1861 he enlisted in Co. F,
1 6th Regiment, was made orderly sergeant, then lieutenant
and captain, serving the full two years of enUstment. He
was in the battles of BuU Run, Fredericksburg, Fairfax Court
House, West Point, MechanicvUle, Gaines MiUs, Anrietam,
Golden' s Farm, Charles City, Cross Roads, Savage Station,
Malvern HUls, Salem Church, etc. After the war he studied
for and practised law at Albany, N. Y., tiU his death. He
was a large man, a good speaker and of commanding presence.
Had five children:
Carrie L., b. August 27, 1868; d. October 17,
1878, NicholviUe.
Roscoe C, b. July 10, 1870; attorney, Albany,
N. Y. ; m. Maude Graveline. No issue.
¦Waldo H., b. September 3, 1872; physician, Sara
toga, N. Y.; m. Hannah Hamlin, October 4, i8g8.
Had one chUd:
Katheryn H., b. November 7, i8g9.
Rollin B., b. May 18, 1874; attorney, Albany, N. Y.
Abbie C, b. August 19, 1878; 1. Albany.
Erasmus Jonah, b. May 13, 1842; 1. Nicholville; m.
Sarah A. Bibbins, AprU 19, 1865; 1. NicholvUle. He en
listed into Co. F, 1 6th Regiment, June Z4, 186 1, and
was honorably discharged May Z2, 1863. He was wounded
June zy, l86z, at Gaines MUls, losing the third and fourth
fingers of his left hand. Had one child:
Ira A., b. June 9, 1877; 1. Nicholville.

LIEUT. HENRY B. SANFORD.

CAPT. HENRY T. SANFORD.

JONAH SANFORD.

MRS. CLARINDA ( RISDON ) SANFORD.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 563
Edwin D., b. January Z4, 1845; 1. NicholvUle, N. Y.; m.
Lydia A. Pratt, AprU z6, 1866; b. May z8, 184Z. He
enHsted August 8, 1 864, in Co. E, 6ist Regiment, N. Y. V.,
and was discharged July 14, 1865. Has conducted a black-
smidi shop since the war. Had six chUdren:
-Edwin W., b. May 4, 1867; attorney, Albany,
N. Y.; m. Eveline). Thomas, August iz, 1891.
Had three children:
Lester E., b. October iz, 1893.
Carl T., b. September zo, igoo.
Donald E., b. September zo, igoo.
Velma A., b. November 25, 1868.
Frank B., b. May 12, 1871; physician, Morley,
N. Y.; m. Mildred M. Frauton, June 30, igoo.
Silas J., b. September 26, 1874; 1. NicholvUle; m.
Bertha Smith, November 16, 1897.
Jennie C, b. October 5, 1876; 1. NicholvUle.
Eugene B., b. June 22, 1878, Philippine Islands.
Darwin E., b. November 17, 1847; 1. NicholvUle; m.
Julia Lary, December 25, 1873; b. June 15, 1849. He
served as orderly sergeant in Co. F, 193d Regiment, and
was honorably discharged. Since the war has followed farm
ing and butter making as proprietor of Eagle Creamery at
NicholvUle. Had four chUdren:
Harrison D., b. November 14, 1877.
Scott 'W., b. April 13, 1885.
Jonah, b. December 10, 1887.
Erwin, b. May 10, i88g.
Calla C, b. June 24, 1850; d. February 8, 1854.
Calista P. C, b. December 10, 1852; 1. Newark, N. J.;
m. Eugene C. Moses, January i, 1877; b. June 3, i84g; d.
September 5, 1877; m. 2d, Frank L. Chandler, b. January
19, 1856. Had two children:
Rose Ella, b. June 27, 1885; d. June 10, 1898.
Grace C, b. March 17, 1889.
Charles A., b. January 29, 1855; 1. Nicholville; m. Mattie
L. Goodale, AprU 11, i876;b. October 18, 1852. Hadone
chUd: C. Ralph, b. May 27, 1893.
Anna C, b. November 11, 1857; 1. Dickinson, N. Y.; m
Azro M. Giles, January i, 1877; b. August 23, 1850
Had two children:
Melbourne Hiram, b. July 25, 1879.
Livonia EUithorpe, b. April 22, 1885.
Rose A., b. January 30, 1 86 1; 1. Newark, N. J.
Permelia, b. July 2, i8i9;d. October 16, 1886, Potsdam, N. Y. ;
m. Erasmus D. Brooks, November 10, 1841; b. March 6, 1818;
d. November 13, 1897. He was a merchant at Parishville, moved
to Potsdam in 1858, there a merchant also. He held the position of

564 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
member of Assembly in 1857, supervisor of his town, coUector of
internal revenue from 1862 to 1876, and was very successful in
business. He was an able and capable man. Mrs. Brooks was a
bright, fine looking and noblewoman. Had six chUdren:
George S., b. December 16, 1844; d. August 16, 1849.
Erasmus D., Jr., b. August 15, 1846; d. October 10,,
1885; m. Minnie Bridge, b. 1854; d. AprU 13, 1886.
Had one chUd:
Son, d. Febraary 25, 1883.
Herbert H., b. August 21, 1848; d. August 31, i84g.
Abbie S., b. July 19, 1850; 1. Potsdam, N. Y.; m. WilHam
S. Landers, October 30, 1877; b. January 8, 1849; d.
October 14, 188 1. Had two children:
Son, b. October 25, 1879; ^- October Z7, i87g.
Margaret B., b. June 16, 1881; L Potsdam, N. Y.
Henry Gurley, b. January Z3, 1853; d. October z, 1891;
m. Cynthia Everett, September 30, 1 891; 1. Potsdam. No
issue.
¦William H.,b. September 20, 1859; d. January 13, 1887.
Jonah, Jr., b. October 24, 1821; d. October 18, 1886, Hopkin
ton; m. Clarinda Risdon, Febraary 17, 1847; b. June 23, l8zz; d.
October ig, l8g3. He had charge of his father's farm untU l84g,
when he purchased the smaU farm on the Turnpike now owned by
Thomas Conlin. There he and wife worked arduously, he chopping
wood winters and drawing it to Parishville, and she with two babes
doing the household duties. In 1853 they moved to the farm next
westerly of Judge Sanford, where they Hved tiU the end, which farm
is now held by their son, Silas H. There they toUed as they had
before, buUding stone wall, 'adding new buUdings and additional lands,
making a farm of over four hundred acres. From about 1863 to 187Z
he run a potato starch factory situate on the brook just north of Judge
Sanford's residence, in addition to his farm, and very successfully. Of
this industry only a great hole in the bank remains. He was a justice
in 1853; assistant assessor of internal revenue from i86z to 1872;
supervisor, i86g to 1873 5 member of Assembly, 1874 and 1875;
supervisor, 1876 to 1885; chairman of the board for the years 1878
and i87g. In the latter year he was presented with a gold-mounted
cane by the members of the board, which he highly prized. He pos
sessed much physical power and no man ever more enjoyed sports and
games of all kinds, and especially feats of skill and strength. Though
Ul with diabetes for the last seven years of his Hfe, he would wrestle
with any man, and I do not recall his ever being thrown. He was
keen and bright, keeping all amused and interested with his wit or
tricks and games, which he never tired of playing on every one. In
business he was a decided success, for, starting with very little, he
gained a competence, and had he been placed with greater opportuni
ties I feel confident his success would have been correspondingly
greater. His discernment, estimates of value, and business sagaeity
equaUed, if they did not surpass, that of any man I have ever known.

CARLTON ELISHA SANFORD.

SILAS W. SANFORD.

MRS. CELESTIA (SANFORD) PRIEST.

ROLLIN O. SANFORD.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 565
His judgment in a deal or business venture was almost unerring. In
aU his Hfe no man ever had a more faithful, loyal and persistent assist
ant and helpmeet. Always kind and gende, never complaining, do
ing her duties as she saw them, with a grace and ease that were surpris
ing, nursing the sick, giving to the poor, consoling the afflicted, loving
all, she was herself lovable and beloved by every man or woman or
child that came into her sweet and benign presence. Such a spirit,
such a woman, was Clarinda Risdon Sanford, and I fear not to say it
since I hear it everywhere in compiHng this work, nine years after her
death. I would say more had she not requested that Httle be
written on her departure. If she now be conscious, and I feel sure
she is if any of all the dead are conscious, I trust the little I have
written is no infraction of her parting wish. Had four children:
Carlton Elisha, b. December 31, 1847; 1. Potsdam, N. Y. ;
m. Frances Merritt, December 21, 1893; b. March 12,
l85g. No issue. Attended school at Cornell University,
1869 to 1 87 1; studied law with Tappan & Erwin and at
the Albany Law School; admitted to the bar in 1873; prac
tised actively at Potsdam till 1892 and privately since. Or
ganized the People's Bank in May, l88g, been its president
since; took charge of organization of the Potsdam Savings
Loan and Building Association in i88g, and been its attorney
since; was an incorporator of and vice-president of the
Racquette River Paper Company from i8g2 to igoo; also
one of the incorporators of the Thatcher Manufacturing Com
pany and for some years its vice-president, which position he
still holds; sole executor of his father's wiU; alternate dele
gate to the National Republican Convention at Chicago in
1888, and delegate to the Minneapolis Convention in i8g2;
compiler and editor of this work.
Silas Harmon, b. March g, i84g; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y.
Alice Clarinda, b. May 15, 1852; 1. SomerviUe, Mass.;
m. Lester C. Shepard, September 2, 1873; b. September 15,
1850. No issue.
Herbert Jonah, b. April i, 1861; merchant, ParishvUle,
N. Y.; m. Bertha OHvia Chittenden, June 28, 1882; b.
March 21, 1862. Had four children:
Son, b. July 15, 1884; d. September 6, 1884.
Alice Edna, b. December 23, 1887.
Floyd H., b. January 5, i8gi; d. October 6, i8gi.
Varick Risdon, b. February 2, i8g8.
Abigail, b. February 11, 1823; d. August 5, 1835.
Cordelia, b. June 2g, 1825; d. August 25, 1826.
Silas W., b. February 11, i82g; d. in Omaha, Neb., 1896; m.
Mary Baker. No issue. Attended Burlington University, went to
CaHfornia and Australia in gold fever times. He was a short,
stocky man and of extraordinary agiUty and physical strength. His
feats as an athlete, wrestler, etc., are still told.

566 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Celestia B., h. March zg, 1833; d. March 8, i8g8, Helena,
Mont.; m. Valentine T. Priest of Parishville, April i, 1854; b. June
16, 1 83 1; d. January 8, i8go. Had five children:
Calista Abby, b. October Z5, 1855; d. June 11, 1856.
Permelia Clarinda, b. August 10, i85g; 1. Philbrook,
Mont.; m. Clarence M. GoodeU, August 15, 1880. Had
four chUdren: Homer Thomas, b. November 18, i88z.
Ruby Alice, b. April z6, 1885.
Garnet Alberta, b. August iz, i8gz.
Myrtle C, b. AprU 17, i8g4.
Mary Abby, b. June z8, 1861; d. January 15, 1865.
Celestia Sanford, b. August 13, 1863; d. January z8,
1865.
Alice Sanford, b. January 10, 1868; 1. Marysville, Mont.;
m. Frank Duff, June z, i8gz. Had one child:
Margurite Alice, b. March g, i8g3.
Rollin O., b. November zg, 1837; d. July zg, 1864, Anderson
ville Prison; m. Ermina Roberts, March 15, i85g; b. May zo, 1840;
1. Fort Jackson. He was a large and powerful man. He enHsted
into Co. L, yth New York Heavy Artillery, went through the
Wilderness campaign, taken prisoner before Petersburg and confined
in Andersonville Prison where he died. His widow afterwards mar
ried Russell CooHdge. Had three children:
Lillian C, b. March 31, i860; 1. Contoocook, N. H.; m.
Levi A. NeweU, August z6, 1884. No issue.
Jannette A., b. September 3, 1861; d. November Z5,
1863.
Rollin J., b. July zg, 1864; 1. Potsdam; m. Marium L.
MiUer, August z8, 1884; b. May zg, 1865. Had two
chUdren: Howard, b. January ig, l88g.
Carlton Miller, b. January 3, igoi.
Simeon H., b. AprU 3, 1847; d. April 13, i8gi; m. Alice P.
Phippen, May 4, 187Z; b. May 4, 1851; d. December iz, 1887.
He held the old homestead till his death and was the hardest worker
and the most optimistic person that I ever knew. Had four chUdren:
May, b. Febraary z8, 1873; d. August zg, 1884.
Roderic J., b. September Z3, 1874; d. March 13, i8g4.
Harriet C, b. September 6, 1881; teacher.
Ernest Jay, b. August 16, 1885.
Harriet Barney, b. March 4, 1850; 1. Hopkinton; m. Samuel E.
Eastman, December zi, 1 871. He owns the east part of farm of
his grandfather Samuel. No issue.
Twins, b. 1853, a son and daughter, died in infancy.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 567
HEMAN SHELDON, b. March 3, 1789, Rupert, Vt.; d. November
Z7, 1830; m. Esther Reed, February 4, i8iz; b. December 18, 1791,
Pawlet, Vt. ; d. March iz, 187Z. Had six children:
Ezra R., b. November Z7, 181 3; d. February z, 1893; m. Clarissa
Perkins, January 4, 1838; d. December 6, 1887. No issue.
Adopted daughters:
Almeda Freeman and Minnie Rockwood.
Permelia, b. October zg, 1816; d. April zi, 1891; m. Eleazer
Parker, September 14, 1837. Had six children:
Sarah A., b. July g, 1838; 1. Plumbrook, N. Y.; m. Carl
ton Wells, December iz, 1858. Had four children:
Hattie A., b. May ig, i86z; m. Newton I. Pres
cott, September, 1881. Had one child:
Roy WeUs, b. April 7, 1886.
Nina Belle, b. August z8, 1870; d. September i,
1874.
Robbie ¦Wells, b. January 10, 1876; d. AprU 10,
1876.
King Barton, b. June 4, 1878; d. June ig, 1886.
John S., b. September g, i83g. Served in 60th Regiment
during Civil War; married; 1. Hillsdale, Mich.
Henry A., b. July z8, 1842. Served three years in CivU
War in 60th Regiment; married and has famUy; 1. Gold-
thwaite, Texas.
Ezra S., b. October z8, 1844; 1. St. Agnes, Canada; m.
Mary Briggs, July 4, l86g; b. March 14, 185Z. Had
* three children :
Carrie I., b. November z, 1870; d. December 7,
1870.
Gertrude A., b. October 10, 1871; d.June 10,
i8g7; m. L. D. Crites, December 27, i8g4.
Floyd I., b. May ig, i87g; 1. St. Agnes; m. Bea
trice M. Donnelly, October 7, i8g8. Had two
children: Vance B., b. July 14, i8gg.
Luella, b. November 13, igoi.
Mary A., b. July 28, 1846; 1. Aultsville, Canada; m. Wil
Ham Henry Beach, November 9, 1865; b. AprU g, 1842.
Had three children:
¦WiUiam Fremont, b. October 3, 1866; 1. Aults-
vUle; m. EmmaB. Empey, October 5, 1887, New
ark, N. J. Had one child:
Winnona Beatrice, b. August 22, 1890.
Myrtie May, b. January 31, 1868; 1. Aultsville,
Canada; m. George W. Markell, September 20, 1887.
Had three chUdren:
Hazel Emma, b. April 11, 1889.

568 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Floyd Beach, b. June i8, i8g5; d. June
zo, i8g5.
Lloyd Wallace, b. June i8, i8g5; d. June
zo, 1895.
Cecil Parker, b. June 8, 1881.
Alice L., b. May 14, 1854; 1. St. Agnes; m. William
StoweU, June zy, 1881; b. June zz, 1835. Had five chil
dren: Georgiana, b. April zg, i88z; d. AprU Z3, i8g5.
Thomas W., b. September 6, 1884.
Myrtle M., b. September i, 1886.
Guy P., b. June z, 1891.
Mabel L., b. April Z3, 1894.
Almeda, b. May Z4, 1818; d. July 9, 184Z; m. James Freeman,
February Z3, 1837. Had two children:
Daniel R., b. March 31, 1840, Loyal, Wis.
Almeda C, b. July 5, 184Z; d. May 31, i86z.
Christiana, b. October zz, i8zo; d. October g, 1864; m. George
Rockwood, January Z5, 1844; d. October 8, l88g, at Wasioga,
Minn. Had eight children:
Dr. Heman S., b. November i, 1844, in Stockholm; 1.
Bombay, N. Y. ; m. Martha A. Davis, b. November 18,
1847. Mr. Rockwood enlisted in i86z in Co. E, io6th
Regiment, New York State Volunteers, was wounded May 6,
1864, in Wilderness and at the battle of Winchester, Septem
ber ig, 1864, lost his right arm. He is a physician at
Bombay, N. Y. Had five chUdren:
Fred A., b. November zi, 1873; d. June iz, i8go.
George E., b. August 5, 1876; m. Florence A.
Dunn. Had one child:
Grace C, b. March i, igoi.
Mabel L., b. March 21, 1882; d. AprU 17,1883.
Ezra, b. July 26, 1884; d. August 30, i8g6.
Henry J., b. October 15, i8gi.
Silas, b. July 24, 1846; 1. Hopkinton; m. Susan Sherman,
December 31, 1868. Had one child:
Clara, b. September 7, 187Z; 1. Hopkinton; m. DeU
Jenne, November Z7, l8g5. Had one child:
Lawrence J., b. May zo, i8g7.
Harvey A., b. October ig, 1848; m. AmeHa M. Lang in
1868; d. 1883, La Fayette, Ind.; m. zd, JuHa Etta Pride of
Monon, Ind., in 1886. Had two children by first and one
by second marriage:
Mary C. and Burton L.
Frances Willard, b. June 11, i8g5.
¦William ^W., b. April zz, 1850; 1. Curtis, Neb.; m. Nettie
Ford, October l, 1874, at Onarga, IU. Had two children:
Sidney William, b. May iz, 1883, Onarga, IU.
Pansy A., b. November z8, 1888, at Curtis, Neb.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 56g
Edward E., b. July 3, 1853; d. July 4, 1876. His death
was caused by the firing of an anvU as an early morning salute
at Jonah Sanford's, where he worked. He was a fine young
man and his death a sad one.
Fayette P., b. May 15, 1855; 1. North Adams, Mass.; m.
Emma M. Palsipher, December 13, 1876. Had three chil
dren: Muriel C, b. March ig, 1878.
Merton Reed, b. August zo, 1881.
Edward Eugene, b. July Z3, 1886.
Ettie M., b. January Z3, 1857; d. October 14, 1888; m.
Charles Faulkner, March, 1878. Had one child:
Harley, b. June Z4, i87g; 1. ParishviUe.
Minnie R., b. December ig, i860; m. Edwin H. BrowneU,
AprU 5, 1878. She was adopted by her uncle, Ezra R.
Sheldon. Had seven children:
WiUiam E., b. July 14, i88o; m. Blanch W.
Haven, February zz, 1899. Hadone chUd:
Fay, b. April 11, igoi.
Fred H., b. June 8, 1884; d. March 16, 1886.
Gerald L., b. June zz, 1886.
Mary A., b. September zg, 1887.
Grace M., b. August 7, i8go.
Earl H., b. March Z5, i8gi.
Gladys B., b. May 15, i8g3.
Phebe, b. February 17, 18Z4; d. November Z4, 187Z. Never
married.
Sarah, b. January 13, i8zg; 1. Hopkinton; m. Loyal T. Sprague,
b. December 6, 181 z; d. January ig, 1855; m. zd, Orman
Beecher, March 8, l85g; b. April 7, i8zi. Had one child by
first and five by second marriage:
Dr Loyal P., b. AprU 13, 1853; 1. Peoria, IU.; m. Hattie
F. Lang, June 18, 1874; ^- November Z4, 1880; m. zd,
Jennie Smidi, June, 1882. Had two chUdren by each
marriage: Harlie H. P., b. May 20, 1875; d. June g, i8g4.
L. Pyler, b. December 2g, 1878; d. May 2g, 1880.
Loyal P., Jr., b. July 27, 1884.
Mary Adelaide, b. March 21, i8go.
Carrie A., b. May 26, i860; d. August 27, i860.
Elmer S., b. June 27, 1861; 1. Peoria, IU.; m. Sarah Wade
January i, 1885. Had four chUdren:
Roy Orman, b. January 2, 1886.
Stella M., b. November g, 1887.
Jason, b. November 13, i88g.
Sprague, b. AprU 14, i8g2.
Almeda C, b. June 22, 1863; L Hopkinton.

570 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Ruth A., b. August 4, 1866; m. John D. Murphy, Septem
ber 4, 1887. Had two children:
Glenn B., b. April i, 1887.
Alice M., b. September 17, i88g.
Azro E., b. February 5, 1872; 1. Parishville; m. EUa D.
Mclntyre, July 4, i8g4; d. August 26, i8g5. Had one
chUd: Milo R., b. August 25, i8g5.
Orman Beecher married for his first wife Ruth Moses, December 3 i ,
1851; b. 1826; d. July I, 1857. Had three children:
Alma A., b. April 20, 1853; d. May 18, 1853.
Charles M., b. February 21, 1855; 1. La Fayette, IU.; m.
Helen Mae Reeve, March 6, 1880; b. July 20, 1858. Had
four children: Carl Milton, b. October 22, 1883.
Verne Adelbert, b. February 21, 1886.
Nina Louise, b. February 7, 1888.
Helen Ruth, b. March 31, i8gi.
Miner A., b. May 24, 1857; d. September 17, 1857.
IRA SMITH, b. January 30, I7g7; d. March 4, 1874; m. Lucy Post,
September 25, 1823; b. October i, I7g6, Dorset, "Vt. ; d. February g, 1865.
He built a house across the road from the Post home, known as the Winnie
place, and moved to Stockholm about 1833, then to Dresden, Ohio, in 1841,
and to Reedsburg, Wis., in 1850. David Covey, Samuel B. Abbott, EH
sha Risdon and Mr. Smith married sisters. Had seven children:
Harry, b. July 26, 1824, 1. Reedsburg, Wis.; m. Urania Stanley; d.
February 16, l8g2. No issue.
Norman C, b. November 24, 1825; 1. Hamilton, Mo.; m. Hannah
Kelsey; d. No issue.
James M., b. August 2, 1827; 1. Aniwa, Wis.; m. Isabel Bernard,
May 23, i860; b. October 4, 1838; d. January 17, 1866,
Reedsburg, Wis.; m. 2d, Amanda Whitley, October 10, 1867; b.
AprU 27, 1842; d. November I, i8gg, at Reedsburg, Wis. Had
two chUdren by first and one by second marriage:
Lucy, b. October 7, 1861; d. August 21, 1885; m. Enoch
Shultis. Had three children:
Lee, b. November 24, 1881.
Isabel, b. September 30, 1883.
Clara, b. August 6, 1885.
Clara E., b. March 2g, 1863; 1. Lapwai, Idaho; m. Jay
N. Armstrong, May 8, 1886. Had four children:
James N., b. July 5, 1887.
Ervin A., b. December 18, i88g.
Max N., b. July 27, 1891; d. October 26, igoi.
Bernard S., b. October 17, i8g3.
Mary Belle, b. August 20, 1870; 1. Aniwa, Wis.; m.
August Halbeslaven. Had four cliildren:

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 571
Arthur A., b. August 31, i8g4.
Ruby A., b. May 11, i8g7; d. September 18, igoo.
James, b. January iz, i8gg.
Paul D., b. July z, igoz.
Esther, b. Febraary ig, 1831; 1. Reedsburg, Wis.; m. Jonathan
Nye; d. 1 8 8 1 . Had five children :
Sibley, b. May ig, 1856; d. January z6, I go I.
Lizzie, b. AprU 5, 1861; 1. Reedsburg; m. Enoch Shultis.
Had five chUdren:
Esther, b. June Z5, 1887.
Ross and Roe, b. June g, i8go.
Royal and Ruth, b. August 10, i8g7.
Ira, b. October 11, i86z; 1. Pullman, Wash.; m. Bertha Sar-
geant. Had five children:
Erie "Watson, b. March Z4, 1886.
Clark Stanley, b. September 11, 1887.
Ruby Ellen, b. December zo, 1889.
Ruth Esther, b. June 9, 1895.
Clara Irene, b. March 14, 1897.
Marion, b. March iz, 1867; 1. Reedsburg.
Mary, b. March iz, 1867; 1. Reedsburg; m. Montrose Pel-
ton. Had two chUdren:
Annie, b. November 11, 'i8go.
Nye, b. January ig, i8g4.
Hannah P., b. September Z5, 183Z; d. March 7, i85g; m. Rod
ney F. Cole, d. 1897. No issue.
Eliza L., b. June Z7, 1834; 1. Reedsburg; m. Clement Stanley, d.
June 15, 1877; m. zd, Harvey Tread weU. Had two children by
first marriage: Herbert, b. February 8, 1870.
Arthur, b. November z, 1871.
Jesse, b. December 30, 1837; 1. Reedsburg; m. Catherine Decker;
d. ; m. zd, Emmarine Corson. No issue.
BENJAMIN SANFORD, b. May 7, 1797, CornwaU, Vt.; d. Hadley,
Mich.; m. Lucy Simonds, 1 816; d. June zz, 1871. He was a brother of
Judge Jonah Sanford^ seven years younger than he, and took the second tract
east of that of the Judge, opposite that of Seth Putnam. When he came to
town is uncertain. The Judge did not actually settle in town tUl 1815,
though I think Benjamin must have secured his tract prior to this, though a
minor, else he could not have got it, since the settlers had gone on west of
this prior to 181 5. He Hved on the place tiU about 1840, when he sold
out to his brother and finally settled in Hadley, Mich., where he died. His
widow married James Smith and settled at Chateaugay Lake, where she died.
Had seven children:
Maria, b. January Z3, 18 17; d. Hadley, Mich.; m. Abner Greene,
1834. I hear she had five daughters, but I get the names of only
three:

572 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Edna, Marion and Flora, who married Byron Harris and
Hves at MayviUe, Mich.
Permelia, b. January 17, i8ig; d. May zi, i8g3, at Fort Jackson;
m. Franklin Kellogg, May Z4, 1837; b. Febraary 14, 1816; d.
March 17, 1877. Mr. Kellogg was born at Shoreham, Vt. He
was a large man, a blacksmith and settled at Fort Jackson, where he
opened a shop and prospered, soon buUding a large stone shop just
west of his stone residence. After a few years he opened a store at
the north end of the bridge with Caleb "Wright, and later biiilt the
present store at the south end of the bridge. In about 1854 ^e buUt
a fine stone residence across the road from the last store, which burned
down in 1 8g6. He was an inteUigent man, active in all pubUc
matters and held various town offices. Had nine children:
Harrison F., b. May 13, 1838; d. October, igoo, at
Chazy, N. Y. ; m. Minerva Ballou, November 25,
1857; d. 1881; m. zd, Mrs. Augusta (Lawrence) Phelps,
l88z; 1. Plattsburg. Had two children:
Charles H., b. April Z4, i85g; 1. Fort Covington;
m. Jane Langdon, November 30, 188 1. Had three
children: King, b. August zz, 1884.
Millard, b. June zo, 1886.
Minerva, b. March 4, i88g.
Addie L., b. September 11, 1863; 1. Nicholville;
m. Merton Day, October 31, 188 1. Had one
child: Howard, b. June 8, 1883.
Lourane Lucy Ann, b. June 16, 1841; d. July ig, 1844.
John Sanford, b. Febraary 14, 1845; 1. Potsdam; m. Lucia
Hazelton, November Z5, 1867; d. ; m. zd, Cora Blow, Sep
tember 30, 1887. Had seven children by first and three
by second marriage:
Cora Belle, b. October 6, 1868; 1. Carthage,
N. Y. ; m. Andy McGowan. Issue.
Guy Robert, b. July Z3, 1870; 1. Ogdensburg; m.
May Gardner. No issue.
Neva Lucy, b. January 16, 187Z; 1. Lynn, Mass.;
m. Charles Fisk. No issue.
John S., b. December Z4, 1874; 1- Potsdam; m.
EUa Fitzgerald, June 10, i8gg. Had one child:
Margaret Alma, b. June g, igoo.
Lulu May, b. February 7, 1877; m.  Sanford.
Issue.
Annetta, b. November 13, i87g; 1. Gouverneur,
N. Y. ; m.  Stevenson. No issue.
Elmer, b. August 13, 1884; d.
Roy H., b. September 13, 1888.
Ruth B., b. August g, i8g6.
Doris L., b. June 16, igoi.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 573
Loretta, b. October ig, 1847; d. November 2, 1847.
Fayette N., b. December 11, 1848; L Fort Jackson; m.
Alice Phelps, March 28, 1878. Had two children:
Paul, b. October 20, 1884.
Gladys.
Annette P., b. December 5, 1850; 1. West Chazy, N. Y.;
m. Henry WeUs, January i, i86g; m. 2d, George H.
Pringle, November 8, 1894. No issue.
James E., b. March 2, 1852; d. July 19, 1852.
Frank ^W., b. August 2, 1855; 1. Fort Jackson; m. EUa
Moody, 1 8 8 1 . No issue.
Lillian A., b. Jvme 22, i85g; 1. Potsdam, N. Y.; m. John
R. Peet. Had one chUd:
Marion.
Lucy Ann, b. January 23, 1821; d. June, 1842; single, Shoreham,
Vt.
Daniel, b. May 10, 1823; 1. Tawas City, Mich.; m. Annetta MiUs,
1840; d. May I, i84g, at Hadley, Mich.; m. 2d, Mrs. Philena
(Howell) Tower, January 30, 1850; d. January 3, 1900; m. 3d,
Mrs. Amanda Palmer, November 9, igoi. Had one chUd by first
and one by second marriage:
Permelia Annetta, b. April 10, i84g; 1. MilHngton,
Mich.; m. Henry B. Henderson, January 17, 1870. Is
postmaster. Had four children:
Heman Daniel, b. October 16, 1870; d. Decem
ber 26, 1870.
Amanda, b. Febraary 15, 1872.
Ralph Charles, b. April 14, 1877. Druggist.
Clare Sanford, b. July iz, 1881; 1. Badaxe, Mich.
Clara R., b. September 15, 1851; 1. MilHngton, Mich.; m.
WUliam Warren Summers, AprU i, 1880; d. March iz,
1887; m. zd, LabanahL.CardweU, March z6, i8go. Had
two children: Harry J., b. December zl, l88z; artist; 1. Chicago.
Theo Marguerille, b. August 15, 1891; d. June 2,
1 90 1.
Betsey Ann, b. May zo, i8z8; d. 1852; m. Hiram Bellows, 1852.
No issue.
Cynthia, b. September 26, 1830, in Hopkinton; d. March 16, 1868;
m. Lewis Bellows, Febraary 14, 1849; b. January i, 181 3; d.
June 17, 1886. Had five children:
Georgiana F., b. January 20, 1850; 1. Plattsburg; m.
James N. Mead; m. 2d, Zenona Richardson. Had two'
chUdren by first marriage:
Cynthia J., b. May 6, 1868; d. December 14,
i8gi; m. Warren W. Guibord, August 14, 1885.
Erastus S., b. May 30, 1871; 1. Boston, Mass.

574 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Millard S., b. September ii, 1852; 1. Chateaugay Lake;m.
Katherine Potter. Had three chUdren:
Lulie May, b. January 10, i88g.
Ena, b. December 17, i8gi.
Son, b. October, igo2.
Lucy Anna, b. January 30, l85g; 1. Malone, N. Y. ; m.
N. Monroe MarshaU, May 15, 1877. Mr. M. was
county clerk of Franklin County from 1886 to i8g2, and is
now president of the People's Bank of Malone, N. Y. Had
four children: N. Louie, b. May 6, 1878; d. October 25, 1886.
Jessie Georgie, b. July 10, 1880, Chateaugay Lake.
Aluin Quman, b. Febraary 10, 1885, Chateaugay
Lake.
Mildred Lulie, b. October 30, 1888, Malone.
May, b. May 17, 1863; 1. Trenton, N. J.; m. WilHam
Stacey; d. Had two children:
Millard, b. October 7, 1884, Lyon Mountain,
N. Y.
Richard, b. Febraary 3, i88g; 1. Norton Creek,
P. Q,
Chester H., b. April 5, 1867; 1. Lyon Mountain, N. Y.;
m. Agnes Brown. Had three children:
Leroy, b. August 23, i8go.
Lillian, b. March 12, i8g2.
Harold.
Harriet, b. May 30, 1835; 1. Plattsburg; m. John Winnie, Febru
ary 15, 1855. No issue.
JOSIAH SMITH, b. Tunbridge Vt.; d. August 28, 1863; m. SaUy
Corwin, b. April 7, I7g5; d. Junuary 21, 1872. Came to Hopkinton in
1833, setded, lived and died on farm purchased of Dr. Hosea Brooks next
westerly of Mr. Risdon. Had five chUdren:
John C, b. September 2, 1818; d. December 10, 1886; m. Cath
erine Winnie, September 4, 1844; b. February I, 1822; d. June
13, 1887. Lived on south side of Turnpike, very near what was
called the Pinnacle in that road. Had three chUdren:
Emily C, b. June 14, 1846; d. October zo, 1861.
Salina C, b. May zo, 1848; 1. Chelsea, "Vt. ; m. Hiram
Kingsbury, July zg, 1875. Had two chUdren:
Herbert J., b. January 13, 1877.
Emily, b. January Z3, i87g.
Josiah H., b. April 29, 1852; 1. Hopkinton; m. Eva Thar-
ret, June z, 1887. Had one child:
J. Floyd, b. April Z3, 1890,
Mary, b. May 15, i8zo; 1. Hopkinton; m. David Leach, AprU 10,
1842; b. August 30, 1 816; d. April 17, 1900. Had two children:

EdOOwo

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 575
Frances, b. September 27, 1843; d. April ig, 1859.
Ella H., b. March 31, 1845; d. September 4, 1900; m.
Carlos Colton, May 20, i8gi; b. AprU 5, 1834; 1. Col
ton, N. Y. No issue.
Loren, b. June 22, i8zz; d. June i, igoz; m. Helen M. Stacy,
August 20, 1847; b. June i, 1829; 1. Hopkinton. He kept the
old homestead now held by his widow and son. Had three children:
Emma, b. August 26, 1848; 1. Madison, O.; m. Hiram
Snell, March 7, 1869; b. May 7, 1841. Had three chil
dren. (See Isaac SneU family.)
Adelbert S., b. April 17, 1856; 1. Hopkinton; m. Eva
Roberts, October 29, 1879; b. March 3, 1861. Had four
chUdren: Carroll A., b. March 31, 1884; d. February zz,
1890.
Viola E., b. September 14, 1885.
Roy C, b. July 27, 1895; d. February 6, 1896.
Gerald R., b. August 16, 1901.
Hattie M., b. October 27, i860; 1. Worcester, Mass.; m.
John Lindsay, October z6, 1885; b. November 4, 1859.
Had one child:
Harry B., b. December 6, 1888.
George, b. April 7, 18Z4; d. July 5, 1896; m. Ellen Post, Septem
ber 15, 185Z; b. September 2, 1827; d. March zz, 1901. He
took east part of home farm and in 1870 purchased the E. Harmon
Risdon farm formerly owned by Asahel Kent, both now owned by
his son Royal. Mr. Smith and wife were in every way most highly
respected. Had seven children:
Amanda, b. August z8, 1853; 1. West Stockholm; m.
Charles Coffey, March 6, i8g5; b. August 10, 1853. No
issue.
Herbert, b. April 18, 1855; 1. Fort Jackson; m. Bertha
Gibson, January 3, 1883; b. November 16, 1858. Had
one child: George J., b. July z6, i8g3.
George, b. September z6, 1857; 1. Hopkinton; m. Celestia
Peck, December ig, 1883; b. June zg, i85g. Had one
child: Ethel, b. July Z5, i88g.
Judson, b. October z6, i85g; 1. WoUaston, Mass.; m.
Florence A. Eastman, October 15, 1884. Had two chU
dren: Marion F., b. November z8, i8gi.
Stanley E., b. July 15, i8g6.
Edwin E., b. August 6, 1861; 1. WoUaston, Mass.; m.
Clara E. Roberts, December 15, 1886; b. January 1 1, 1865.
No issue.

576 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Royal, b. March 31, 1863; 1. Hopkinton; m. Hattie Pierce,
March g, 1883; b. September Z7, 1863. No issue.
Emerette, b. AprU 3, 1865; d. July 13, i88z.
Hannah, b. November Z7, 183Z; d. February Z3, i8go; m. Carlos
Colton, May I, i860; 1. Colton, N. Y. No issue.

JOSEPH SHEALS, b. 1783; d. February 18, l8z8; m. Charlotte Nich
ols, b. May 6, lygi, Jamaica, Mass. ; d. June z8, 186 1. Joseph Sheals was
born in the County of Cavan, Ireland, and came to America in 1805, bear
ing testimonials from the pastor of his church, the magistrate of the parish and
from the several lodges of Masons, testifying to his high moral and Christian
character as a citizen, a member of a church, a regular Master Mason, an
honored member of the grand chapter of Royal Arch Masons and a knight of
the orders of Knights Templar and Knights of Malta. He settled in OrviUe,
Vt., where he married and where six of the seven chUdren were born. He
removed to Nicholville (Hopkinton side) in 18Z4 and kept a hotel. He
died in i8z8, and his widow married Asahel Kent. Had seven chUdren:
Nancy S., b. August 5, 181 3; d. in early girlhood.
Mary Hall, b. March z8, 18 15; d. November 15, i8g8;m. E. H.
Risdon, February 18, 1835. (See Elisha Risdon's record.)
"William A., b. September 17, 1817; d. July 2, 1888; m. Mehet-
able P. Lamson, June 22, 1843; b. October 14, 1820, Plainfield,
Vt.; d. February 25, i8g5. He worked for Elisha Risdon quite a
little, as the diary shows. He and Dyer L. MerrUl married sisters
and took the Baldwin farm in partnership, which Mr. Merrill after
wards owned and Hved on many years. Mr. Sheals bought a farm
three mUes south of Hopkinton village, and in February, 1856, while
chopping in the woods a tree feU upon his leg, which made him lame
for life. Later he removed to Hopkinton vUlage, where he died.
Had five children:
Harriet Augusta, b. September z6, 1847; d. June i, 185Z.
Augustus "W., b. March g, 185Z; attorney; 1. Brushton,
N. Y.; m. Sarah L. Taylor, February 15, 1888. Had five
children :
William Taylor, b. January zy, i88g.
Charlotte Elizabeth, b. March 7, i8gi.
Ralph A., b. March z6, i8g3.
Vincent A., b. January 30, 1897.
Helen E., b. July 1 1, i89g.
Dyer M., b. August 30, 1854; d. June zz, i85g.
Orra Alice, b. May 11, 1857; d. September z8, 1863.
Charlotte S., b. December 8, i85g; m. Asher B. Allen,
November g, i8g3; 1. Brushton, N. Y.
Aaron, b. September 17, i8ig; d. in childhood.
Sarah E., b. June zi, 1821; d.; m. Stephen Wescott, January 2g,.
1844. Had one chUd:
Cassius E., b. 1845; d. i86z.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 577
John J., b. February 5, 18Z4; d. May 11, 1882, Sharon, Ohio; m.
Eliza D. Andrus, 1853; b. i8z8, Newbury, Ohio; d. 1868. Had
two children: Clara E., b. June 6, 1854; 1. Wadsworth, Ohio; m. Solomon
Keller, October 3, 187Z; b. AprU iz, 1847; d. January 30,
igoo. Had three children:
Sadie, b. July 24, 1873; 1- Wadsworth, Ohio; m.
Girard Geisinger, July zz, i8gg; b. October 16,
1877. Had one chUd:
Clara, b. October 7, igoi.
Ethie, b. February iz, 1879; 1- Wadsworth, Ohio;
m. Frank Long, April z8, igoo; b. September 7,
1878. No issue.
Katie, b. November 13, 1885.
Le-wis L., b. January 9, 1861; d. October 15, 1894; m.
Mary Shaffer, March, i88z. Had four chUdren:
John C, b. March 2, 1883.
Fred, b. September 17, 1885.
Clara, b. October, 1888.
Kate, b. February, 189Z.
Harriet Janet, b. September 16, i8z6; d. April 7, i8g4; m.
Charles Porter Robinson, September 16, 1846; b. 18Z5; d. January
13, 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Robinson lived for some years near his
parents two mUes west of ParishvUle on the Colton road. They
removed to Nevada, Iowa, in 1857, where their only chUd was
born, and from there to Santa Barbara, Colo., in 1887, where both
died. Had one child:
James Lincoln, b. July 7, i860.

ZEBEL THOMAS, b. 1754, Claremont, N. H.; d. 1835, aged eighty-
one years; m. Lois Damon, b. Claremont, N. H.; d. 18 19. Came to
Hopkinton in 1805, and settled on the east part of the farm now owned by
David F. Henderson. The record is very incomplete. Had nine chUdren,
aU born in New Hampshire:
John, b. 1778; d. 1870, Browning, Vt., aged ninety-two years; m.
Asenah Mead; m. zd,  ¦ Vale, a widow. He buUt a hotel in
Ogdensburg, gristmill in Lisbon and then hotel with Masonic hall on
the corner where Chittenden's store stands. (See article on hotels
in Hopkinton for his experience with customs officers.) In i8zo,
1 8 z I , he buUt a distiUery on the bank of the river in the rear of the
residence of Samuel Goodell. After this he went to Ann Arbor and
built the first woollen factory in the state, also a brick yard. In 1838
he came back and built sawmill, gristmiU, etc., in Dickinson, when
all woods. Had two chUdren by first and two by second marriage:
Heman, d. in CaHfornia.
Mead, d. in Michigan.
Mason, d. in Ogdensburg.
Lucy, d. in Michigan; also her mother.

578 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Joseph, d. 1 88 1, Dover, Del. Wife's name not known. Settled
on one of the Crary farms in Pierrepont, went to Upper Canada in
1 8 30, and in 1 869 went to Dover, Del., to live with son Hiram. He
was insane for many years. Had five chUdren:
Lucius, physician, kUled by cars at Dover in 1894.
Stephen, d. in Dover in 1895, aged seventy-five years, and
rich.
Hiram, 1. Dover, Del.
Eber, 1. Dover, Del.
John, physician in Rochester.
William, d. in Bangor, N. Y. Settled m Bangor, went to Michi
gan and came back to Bangor. He married a widow McComber,
who is now living with her son, George McComber, in Dickinson,
at the advanced age of loi years, September 10, igoi. Had one
chUd by first wife:
Daughter.
Harvey. Wife's name not known. Was a pack peddler, went into
grocery and dry goods business in Ogdensburg, was a director in the
first companies to build a railroad to the lake, built waU on the bank
of the Oswegatchie, became insane, left a large property. Had one
chUd: Harvey, 1. Rochester, N. Y.
James, d. 1881, Lawrence, N. Y.; m. Martha Mead. Lived on
farm with father and then in Lawrence. Had one child:
Abner P., d. Febraary, i8g5, aged sixty-nine years.
Anna, b. 178Z; d. 1872, Norwood, N. Y., aged ninety; m. Abner
Paine of Hopkinton; m. 2d, Sidney Hale of Pierrepont.
Chauncey D., b. I78g; d. August 8, 1864, Lawrence, N. Y.; m.
Hannah Blanchard, September, 1 8 10; b. Rudand, Vt., 1788; d.
February ig, 1863. ' "Was a blacksmith, came to Hopkinton in 1807,
had shop just north of Chittenden store, was there at the time of the
British raid in 1 8 1 4. Kept hotel in log house in Russell in 1 8 1 5 ;
then moved to CHnton, Camden, Parish, ThomasvUle, etc. Had
ten children: Nancy M., b. March 14, 1812, Hopkinton; d. July 6, 1818.
Chauncey D., b. September g, 181 5, RusseU; d. 1863 in
war at Helena, Ark.; wife's name unknown. Had two
chUdren: Harry, 1. New Lebanon, Wis.
John, 1. Rochester, Minn.
Benjamin, b. i8i6;d. 1816.
Norton F., b. April 18, 181 8, Hopkinton; d. May 21,
igo3, at Potsdam, N. Y.; m. Lucy Chaffin, March 20, 1850;
b. Holden, Mass.; d. September 11, i860; m. zd, Sarah
Flagg, September iz, 1861, Worcester, Mass.; d. September
16, i88g. He is a wagon maker by trade, was foreman m
large shop at East Brookfield, Mass., and Elizabethport, N.J.
Bought a farm on Madrid road in 1865, and in 1895 sold it

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 579
and moved into Potsdam viUage. He has taken a lively in
terest m die diary and fiimishes diis record. Had two chil
dren by each marriage:
George, d. November zg, i86z, aged ten years.
' Jones W., d. December g, i86z, aged diree years.
George A., b. December 7, i86z.
Frank C, b. May 30, 1864; m. Belle Nesbitt; 1.
Chicago, 111.
Nathan W., b. August 15, i8zi; d. Rochester, Mmn.,
i8g7; m. Lydia E. Parker, Gouverneur.
Nancy M., b. 18Z3 (Mrs. James Ablard); d. February ^,
1885.
Hannah Jane, b. in CHnton, 18Z5; d. 18Z5.
Mary Jane, b. in Clinton, August 14, 18Z7 (Mrs. Ives
Munroe); d. October 6, 1885.
Henry M., b. May z8, i8zg; m. BeUe PhUHps.
JuUiette, b. 1835; d. Lee Centre, N. Y., 1846.
Lois, m. Charles Weller in Pierrepont; m. zd, Hiram Smith. Had
nine children by first and one by second marriage:
Philander, m. Cynthia Woodruff.
Charles, m. Susan Gibson.
Alonzo, m. Mary Preston.
Eliza, m. Hiram Taylor.
Clarissa, m. Turner TUden.
Laura, m. Alvin Woodraff.
Amy, m. Lewis Waste.
Melissa, m. Jason Gibson.
Almyra, m. Hiram Smith.
Norman Smith, m. Mary Gibson, Hopkinton, N. Y.

HORACE TRAIN, b. 1784; d. 1880, Salem, Wis., aged nmety-six;
m. Aritta Powers; m. zd, Rhodina Woodworth; m. 3d, Mrs. Lydia Corn-
stock; m. 4th, Mrs. Laveena Burritt, l83g; b. 1 800; d. 1873, Hokah,
Minn. According to Dr. Hough, he came to town in 1804 or 1805. His
account with Mr. Hopkins did not open tiU 1807, though that with Robert
Train did in 1 804. Horace took up a tract southeast of the vUlage on what
was caUed Independence HiU, where he Hved till about 1830, when he moved
to Stockholm, near the farm of E. O. Phelps. In about 1845 he moved to
Wisconsin. Had one chUd by first and nine by second marriage; only nine
given: Edson, d. in infancy.
Horatio C, went to Wisconsin early, then to Kansas City; d. there;
m. Had six chUdren:
Mary, Sue, Cora, Fred, Charles and WiU.
Harrison V., went to Wisconsin early, then to CaHfornia, where he
died. He married and was a minister.
Phynandia, setded in Ohio, where she died.

58o EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Abigail D., settled in Manston, Wis., where she died; m. Bliss D.
Hitchcock. Had three children:
Agnes, Eugene and Horatio.
Rhodina B., m. O. C. Bundy, settled in Wisconsin, moved to Mon
tana in 1888, now living with niece, Mrs. Adah Train Fisk, at
Helena. Mrs. Bundy is the only survivor and fiimished this record.
Hamilton B., was a physician, lived in Hokah, Minn., where he
died. Had two children:
Clarence and Theresa.
Pamelia, Hved and died in New York.
Edgar H., was a miner in CaHfornia, Oregon and Idaho; m. Phebe
GoodeU in Idaho City in 1865. Was a pioneer in Helena in 1866.
He died there June 11, l8gg. Had two chUdren:
Adah, 1. Helena, Mont.; m. Emmett M. Fisk of Helena.
Percy, m. Lena DiUard of Helena.

AARON WARNER, b. April z, 178Z, Hartland, Conn.; d. February
16, 1853; m. Edy Blanchard, 1805; b. December g, 1787, Rutland, Vt.;
d. April 4, 1868. A pioneer of March, 1803. The story has come down in
the famUy that Mr. Warner and his intended went on horseback through the
almost unbroken woods twenty-three miles to Madrid village to get married.
His wife was a daughter of the pioneer, Amasa Blanchard. In the old ac
count book of Mr. Hopkins I find perfect confirmation of this tradition in a
charge by Mr. Hopkins against Mr. Warner, May 14, 1805, for two horses
and saddles to Madrid, $2. Mr. Warner was a fine man and highly re
spected. (See story of first settlers. ) Had five children:
Affa, b. February zy, 1806; d. May 10, 1830.
Almira, b. July 8, 1807; d. March 18, 1887; single.
W. Friend, b. July zy, 1808; d. June zg, 1880; m. Sarah Thomas,
March 3, 1847; b. August 6, 1820; d. November 16, 1888, Nor
folk, N. Y. Had two chUdren:
Clark A., b. August ig, 1850; 1. Winthrop; m. Mattie H.
Sheldon, August Z7, 1884; b. October Z4, i860. Had
two children: Clayton, b. August z6, 1885.
Royce J., b. June 6, i8gi; d. January z, i8gz.
Henry F., b. November 8, 1854; m. Ora I. Griswold,
February 14, igoi; b. December 15, 1865. No issue.
Elvira, b. July 8, 1816; d. October 4, 183 1.
Aaron Larned, b. August 4, l8z6; d. March Z5, igoo; m.
Clarissa C. Witherell, December 30, 1849; b. December 15, 18Z9;
1. Hopkinton. Had two chUdren:
C. Elvira, b. June Z3, 1853; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y.; m. Ja
son J. Livermore, December z6, 1876; b. August iz, 1850,
Lowell, Mass.
Stephen L., b. May 10, 1857; m. Alice E. Allen, De
cember 31, i87g; b. March 8, 1861. Holds old home
stead. Had six chUdren:

GEORGE S. WRIGHT.

MRS. CALEB WRIGHT.

ORMAN BEECHER.

CALEB WRIGHT, JR.

A. LARNED WARNER.

EZRA R. SHELDON.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 581
Laura A., b. April 7, 1881; 1. Hopkinton; m.
George WithereU, December 31, igoo; b. August
26, 1865. Had one child:
Philip H., b. May 24, igo2.
Agnes J., b. August 13, 1882; 1. Shelton, Wash.;
m. Charies WithereU, September 2g, igoo; b. Feb
ruary 5, 1866. Had one child:
Stephen R., b. February 2, igo2.
Clara B., b. January 3, 1884; d. January 6, 1884.
Russell A., b. Febraary 11, 1885.
Vesta D. E., b. February 25, 1887.
Aaron F., b. December 31, i8g4.

CALEB WRIGHT, b. November 28, 1787, Weybridge, Vt.; d.
November 14, l83g; m. Rosalinda Smith, February 15, 1813; b. Febraary
25, 1784, Cheshhe, Mass.; d. August 8, i860. He was a son of Ebenezer
Wright and Rebecca Staniard and was the eighth of thirteen chUdren. His
brother Asahel first took up the Risdon place in Hopkinton and went to Buck's
Bridge, N. Y., in 1805, where he lived and died. Mr. Wright came to
Hopkinton in 1804 and worked for Mr. Hopkins pretty steadily for a few
years, according to his account with Mr. Hopkins. He first selected the tract
where Jonah Sanford, Jr., long resided and died. The only people in that
locaHty were a mile distant through the woods on the Potsdam road, and they
dissuaded him, telHng him there would never be a road through there, and
so he gave it up, taking a hundred acres on the north side of the " Potsdam
road," where he built a log cabin and his first chUd was born. He then built
a frame house across the road where the brick house now stands. That house
is now the tenant's house and stands on the site of the old log house.
Mr. Charles Gibson had taken the hundred acres on the south side of the
road and made a little clearing where the brick house now stands. Mr.
Wright soon bought his betterments when Gibson went over and took up
the tract where Jonah Sanford, Jr., so long resided. He next purchased the
betterments of John Harwood in the hundred acres next west of his first parcel,
and also two hundred acres north of this and his original lot. In addition to
these he purchased a tract and also a farm in Canton and several hundred acres
in Stockholm at sixty-five cents an acre. He was a man of great industry
and must have possessed fine business abUities, since in those arduous times he
became well to do, the wealthiest man in town. Had five chUdren:
Catharine, b. May 14, 1815; d. July g, 1875, Springfield, IU.; m.
John W. Priest, September, 1853. No issue.
Adaline, b. Febraary 5, 1818; d. February 25, i8g7; m. Joseph A.
Brush, September 12, 1842. (See Brash record. ) No issue.
Caleb, b. April 27, 182a; d. November 20, igoo, at LibertyvUle,
IU.; m. Helen Chittenden, July g, i84g; b. AprU 23, 1827; 1.
Libertyville, IU. Was a farmer near Fort Jackson, mercliant at that
place with Franklin Kellogg, went to Waukegan in spring of 1867 or
1868, where he remained two years, when he went to LibertyvUle.
Had two chUdren:

582 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Caleb F.,b. March 15, 1854; L Libertyville, IU. ; banker;
m. Emma J. Price, March ig, 1877; b. March 8, 1854.
Had seven children:
Wirt, b. June 6, 1878; m. Addie WisweU Stafford,
October 15, I go I.
Clark C, b. July 3, 1880.
Roy F., b. March 24, 1882.
"William P., b. May 4, 1885.
Helen A., b. May 7, 1887.
George C, b. April 25, i88g.
Robert M., b. April 22, i8g3.
George A., b. June i, 1856; 1. Libertyville, 111.; m. May
E. Willard, May 4, 1881; b. March 26, 1862. Had two
chUdren: Mattie H., b. AprU 23, 1882.
Frank J., b. December 15, 1885.
Louisa, b. October 11, 1822; d. August 14, 1823.
George S., b. May 28, 1824; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y.; m. Harriet M.
Eastman, October 8, 1856; d. January 15, i8g4. His wife was a
daughter of Lee Eastman. Mr. Wright keeps the old homestead.
In 1857 he buUt a spacious and fine brick residence on the site of the
frame house of his father. He has been one of the foremost men in
town, holding several positions of trust, and also one of the most suc
cessful. At the age of seventy-nine he is vigorous of body for one of
that age and as bright of mind as ever. He has been very kind and
, of considerable assistance on many points in the preparation of this
volume. Had two children:
Rosa L., b. March zl, i85g; 1. Hopkinton, N. Y.
Mattie, b. June Z4, l86z; d. January Z4, 1876.

SAMUEL WILSON, b. April 16, i7go, Keene, N. H.; d. March
z8, 1881; m. Sally Blanchard, l8zi; b. March zy, 1801; d. August
14, 1881. He came to Hopkinton in 1808 or i8og and worked in Roswell
Hopkins's sawmill, and lived in his family for some years. He took title to
the " Culver Corner " in 18 16 and built a house and store there that year, as
I learn from Mr. Kent's diary. It is also known that he built a dam and saw
mill at the East ViUage in 181 7. An account of what he did there is given
in the sketch of that village. He was a natural mechanic and millwright,
which made him a man of great service and usefulness in those early times.
He possessed remarkable abiHty in the matter of computations in his head,
using no pen or pencU. One evening in Culver's store a wager of two dollars
was made that he could not compute " in his head" in one hour's time the
seconds in forty years, aUowing three hundred and sixty-five days and six
hours for a year. The other gentlemen worked it out with pencil that they
might know the correct number. Mr. Wilson accompHshed the feat in fifty
minutes and correctly, and won the money. He was a great man to be oc-

SAMUEL WILSON.

EDSON J. WILSON.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 583
cupied with his thoughts, forgetting aU else. A good story is told of him as
to this peculiarity which I heard only recently by a judge. The bridge at
NicholviUe had two tracks with a heavy timber on the outer ends of the
plank and in the middle of the bridge to hold the plank in place. Going
over one evening, occupied as usual, and about to meet a team, he stepped over
the log, as he supposed, into the upper track, but, in fact, into the mill pond
twenty feet below. The banks were high and it took some time to get him
out. When they had, in response to a query how it happened, he repHed,
"Well, I thouglit I was in the lower track, but saw where I missed it as
soon as I stepped over." This curt reply was so often told for years that it
became a byword and is even still repeated. Had ten children:
N. Maria, b. January 16, i8zz; m. George Wilkins, July iz,
1846; b. December 6, 1817, Stowe, Vt.; d. March zo, igoz; 1.
Stowe, Vt. He stood well as a lawyer and held several political po
sitions and places of trust. Mrs. WUkins attained much distinction
as a teacher and even as a lecturer. She also wrote a history of
Stowe, Vt., which was well commended.
Hiram R., b. April g, 18Z4; d. March 9, i8z6.
Hiram F., b. May Z3, 1827; d. November 20, 1843. >^ >> "^
Harriet J., b. May 23, 1827; d. Febraary 20, 1828.
Edson J., b. March 4, 1829; d. September i, 1894, in Vallejo,
Cal.; m. Helen M. Chandler, May i, 1851; b. May 2, 1830,
Nicholville; d. September 25, 1892, Vallejo, Cal. He was post
master at Nicholville when twenty-one, buUt gang sawmUl and starch
factory. Went to California in 1856, where he was very successfiil;
was president of the VaUejo Commercial Bank. On his death the
VaUejo Chronicle spoke in the highest praise of him as a citizen and
man. Had three children:
George W., b. March I, 1852, NicholvUle; 1. VaUejo,
Cal.; m. Agnes McKnight, August 14, 1888; b. March
25, 1866. Mr. WUson is president of the VaUejo Com
mercial Bank. No issue.
Carrie Louise, b. November i, i860, VaUejo; d. June 17,
1861.
Hattie, b. July 6, 1862, VaUejo; d. December 15, igoi;
m. William J. Tobin, b. September i, 1861; d. December
g, i8g6. Had two children:
Albert Wilson, b. September 10, 1884.
Helen Maria, b. November 28, 1886.
Mary L., b. November g, 1831; d. September g, 1856, at Stowe,
Vt.; m. A. H. Slayton, September, 1855. Had one child:
Daughter, d. aged five years.
Friend W., b. February 28, 1834; 1. Weaverville, Cal.; m. Ella
Hickok, April 20, 1876, at Nicholville; b. June 10, 1852. He
went to CaHfornia in 1856, one year on trip to China. Had three
children:

584 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Charles Samuel, b. August 16, 1877, Coveland, Wash.
Earl Gray, b. September i, 1880, Nicholville; 1. Napa, Cal.
Alice May, b. May 3, 1882, Nicholville; 1. WeaverviUe,
Cal.
Luman O., b. August 10, 1837; 1. Nicholville, N. Y. ; m. Florence
Ferris, September 5, 1876; b. March 7, 1848. Had one child:
Laura Emily, b. August 26, i87g; 1. St. Albans, Vt.
Martha E., b. February g, i83g; d. December g, i83g.
Emily C, b. May 24, 1841; d. March 14, igoo, California; m. J.
Henry Swift of CoupeviUe, Wash.; d. May, i8g2. Mr. Swift
was a sea captain of considerable note. Had five children:
Hattie ^Wilson, b. June 9, 1872; 1. CoupeviUe, Wash.;
m. T. Puget Race, August 2, 1890. Had two children:
Henry Renald, b. November 29, 1891.
WiUiam Puget, b. September 12, i8g5.
Maude Maria, b. September 18, 1876; 1. Worcester,
Mass.; m. Henry C. FuUington, l8g5. Had two children:
Mary, b. i8g6.
B. Swift, b. igoo.
Miles Standish, b. May 16, 1878; d. April, 1880.
Mary Elizabeth, b. January 30, 1881; 1. Stowe, Vt.
George ¦Wilkins, b. August zg, i88z; 1. Seattle, Wash.

WILLIS WARRINER, b. New Hampshhe, July 16, 1785; d. July 27,
i88i,aged ninety-six years; m. Nancy Armstrong, March 3, 1808; b.
January 4, 1787; d. July 29, 1856. He came in by Northwest Bay road
and settled on the first place south of Jacob Phelps in Hopkinton village in
March, 18 10. Had nine chUdren:
Elijah R., b. December 20, 1808; d. October 2, 1809.
Elijah R., 2d, b. October g, 1810; d. August 21, 181 1.
Willis W., b. August 27, 1812; d. Salem, Wis.
Harriet W., b. Febraary 20, 181 5; d. March 7, 1856; m. Cham
pion I. Reeve, d. Salem, Wis. (See Erastus Reeve.) Mr. EHsha
Risdon on giving up hunting gave his gun to Mr. Reeve.
Mary Ann, b. August 25, 1819; d. September 7, 1856; m. Orville
Kelsey, d. Webster City, Iowa.
Mason C, b. July i, 1821; d. at Canton, N. Y.; single.
Hiram S., b. December i, 1823, P. O. North Stockholm, N. Y. ;
m. Mary E. GoodeU, d. December 24, 1898. (See Joel Good
eU.)
John S., b. June 16, 1827; d. May 17, 1848.
Henry L., b. August 27, 1833; d. September 13, 1847.
DR. HENRY M. -WITHERELL, b. August 12, 1811; d. January
24, i86g, Waukegan, IU.; m. Lucy Gile, January 4, 1837; d. l8g6,
Waukegan, 111. He was born at Leicester, Vt., and graduated in March,

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 585
1835, from the University of Vermont as a physician. In 1837 he setded
in Hopkinton, where he practised for nme years. His house and office were
next east of Clark S. Chittenden's residence. He also owned the first farm
up the " Peck road" on the east side, which he sold to his brother, Thomas
D., of Depeyster, N. Y. In late years it was and is now held by his
nephew, Edwin, son of Stephen R. Nathan Peck, who married his sister
Rudi, owned the farm next south of this. On Mr. Peck's death she married
John Hoyt of ParishviUe. In 1846 he went west by way of the lakes,
settling at Waukegan, 111., where he became quite distinguished as a physician
and surgeon. Had five children:
Eugenia Evaline, b. November 21, 1837, Hopkinton; d. February
II, 1842.
Cornelia, b. December 30, 1839; 1. Windmere, IU. ; m. AUen C.
Story, August i, 1863. He was educated at Genesee College,
N. Y., and at the University of Albany, and is a practising lawyer in
Chicago. Had one child:
Frederick ¦W., b. November 26, 1864; m. Catherine
Brazie, December 9, 1893. He was educated in the public
schools of Chicago and at the Northwestern University, and
is a member of the law firm of Story, Russell & Story, Chi
cago. Had two chUdren:
Myrtle Gile, b. February 12, 1887.
Cecelia, b. October 4, 1900.
Fern, b. December 11, 1841, Hopkinton; d. July 24, 1870, Wauke
gan; m. Dr. R. W. Clarkson of Waukegan in 1865. No issue.
¦William Gile, b. September 15, 1844; 1. Windmere, IU. ; m.
Maria Beattie, September 26, 1870; d. August 19, 1895. Had
four chUdren: William H., b. October 26, 1873; 1. Bisbee, Ariz.
Allan J., b. June II, 1875; 1. Bisbee, Ariz.
Harold B., b. August 12, 1878; 1. Bisbee, Ariz.
Edith, b. March 10, 1884.
Darwin, b. April 16, 1846; d. May 24, 1852, Waukegan.

S. RUSSELL WITHERELL, b. AprU 17, 1 79g; d. August 12, 1878;
m. AbigaU Moon, d. January, 1882. He came from Shoreham, Vt., set
ded and Hved on north side of Turnpike, half mile west of EHsha Risdon. It
has been impossible to get a full record of his family. Had five chUdren:
Clarissa, b. December 15, i82g; m. A. Larned Warner. (See his
family.)
Charlotte C, b. November 18, 1831; 1. Hopkinton; m. Seymour
Clark. (Incomplete. )
Henry E., b. July 31, 1835; L Hopkinton; m. Loisa MUler. He
now holds the old homestead. Had three chUdren :

586 EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.
Edna, m. Willard Shonyo; 1. Hopkinton.
George, b. August 26, 1865; m. Laura A. Warner, Decem
ber 31, igoo; 1. Hopkinton. Had one child:
Philip H., b. May 24, igo2.
Charles, b. February 5, 1866; 1. Shelton, Wash.; m. Agnes
J. Warner, September 2g, igoo. Had one child:
Stephen R., b. February 2, igo2.
George R., b. May 4, 1842; 1. in the west.
EUen E., b. May 5, i84g; 1. Hopkinton; m. WiUiam Hunter.
Have a family.

CORNELIUS "WINNIE, b. January 8, lygo, Northumberland, N. Y.;
d. June, 1863; m. Sally Fitch in 1820; b. 1800, Salem, N. Y.; d. l87g.
Mr. Winnie enHsted in the War of 1 8 1 z and took part in the engagement at
Sackett's Harbor. He first settled at OrweU, Vt., removing to Hopkinton in
18Z4, where he settled on Independence HUl. From there he afterwards
moved to a farm near Fort Jackson, and from there to the house buUt by Ira
Smith across the road from the Post place where he died. Had ten children:
Catherine N., b. i8zz; d. June 13, 1887; m. John C. Smith.
(See Josiah Smith's record.)
Jane E., b. 18Z4; d. June Z3, 1861, Fort Edward; single.
John C, b. i8z7; 1. Connecticut; married. He enlisted August 6,
i86z, in Co. G, lo6th Regiment, and served till close of the war.
Mary C, b. 1830; 1. Fort Edward, N. Y.; m. Daniel M. Viele,
d. June 15, 1886. Had four chUdren:
William C, b. June zg, 1856; m. Dora E. French, May
zg, 1883; d. October 18, 1885; m. zd. Bertha U. Ames,
January 11, 1887. (Incomplete.)
Edwin, b. May 30, 1859; d. September i, 1875, Fort Ed
ward.
Emma, b. July ig, 1873; d. April 5, 1875.
Estelle (adopted), b. l87g; m. Peter Bennett, l8g7; I.
Fort Edward, N. Y. (Incomplete.)
Melinda F., b. 1833; m. George W. Nash, September 11, 1856;
1. Brasher Falls, N. Y. Mr. Nash enHsted August 6, i86z, in
Co. G, 1 06th Regiment, and was mustered out at the close of the
war, July i, 1865. Had four children. (Incomplete.)
Jennie, b. August g, 1857; 1. Stockholm; m. Seth Weller.
Homer G., b. November 7, l85g; 1. Watertown; m. Emma
Schrier, 1887.
Mary, b. July 6, 1861; 1. Groveland, Mass.; m. Hervey
Parker, October 5, i8gi.
Frank, b. February zy, 187Z; 1. Brasher Falls; m.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON. 587
Laura M., b. 1835; 1. Troy, N. Y.; m. Henry Kirkham; m. zd,
John Roberts, d. January 10, 1884. Mr. Kirkliam was a member
of the 60th Regiment Band. Mr. Roberts did an express and dray
business in Troy.
Fitch B., b. February Z4, 1838; 1. Bennington, Vt.; m. Sarah A.
Haynes, November 6, 1868. He enHsted August 7, 1862, in Co.
G, 1 06th Regiment, but was rejected by the physician. He is now
manager of American Registry Company for New York state. Had
five children: George D., b. October 19, 1871; 1. Washington, D. C;
m. Beatrice J. Rosenburg, December 23, 1 8gg, Canal Dover,
Ohio.
May R., b. July 27, 1873, Fort Edward; 1. Bennington, Vt. ;
m. J. P. DalzeU, September 6, l8g6. Had one son.
Eva H., b. April 16, 1875, Fort Edward; 1. New Hartford,
Conn. ; m. S. G. Goodwin.
Emma, b. January 13, i87g, Hartford; d. i87g.
Anna, b. January 13, i87g, Hartford; d. i87g.
Rodilla C, b. 1840; d. January 8, 1886; m. Martin Heath; m. 2d,
Arch Durkee, d. Fort Edward.
Artie C, b. 1843; d. 1876, Fort Edward; m. Charles Warner of
Denver, Colo.
Aaron, b. 1845; d. 1847.

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

Assessment Roll.
The following assessment roll of the real and personal
property of the town of Hopkinton for the year 1850 was
made by Nelson Crouch, Isaac R. Hopkins and James Parker,
assessors :

Names of Residents.
Abbott, Samuel B.
Andrews, Orin .
Andrews, Roswell
Austin, Isaac .
Adams, MUo. .
Ainsworth, Riley
Austin, Charles .
Atwood, L. D. .
Ames, Peter .
Brownell, Jasper .
Brownell, R.
Brush, EUphalet .
Brush, Jason .
Brush, Joseph
Brush, Joseph A.
Blanchard, Isaac .
Blanchard, Warren
Blair, Alanson
Blair, Charles
Blair, Martin
Brown, Reuben .
Brown, Philander
Brown, Harvey .
Blake, Lewis .
Blake, L. and Austin
Blake, Henry
Brown, Silas .
Benam, Peleg
Brownell, Alvah .
Bryant, Benjamin
Bickford, Henry N.
Belden, D. K. .
Brown, Stoughton
Crook, Samuel .
Carpenter, Delany
Campfield, Joseph
Chittenden, Clark S.
Chittenden, Solomon
Chittenden, Chauncy

No. of
Acres. 160 70 54
225 85 55
1 20
46 5°

I
37
275
660 10
25

Value.
^75° 250 75
700 170 55
300 150 25

89

220

13

15

150

goo

35
189
287

280
975
1 1 00

go

200

145 76
65

300 76
65

20

20

50
47

125
360

I go

500

50

75

25

25

21

25

100 58

350 60

17
3636

20 3636

25

30

50

20

75
275
goo
4200 225 75

Names of Residents.
Convers, Parker
Crouch, Nelson C
Conlin, John .
Capel, Henry C
Covey, Thankful
Conner, John
CaU, Nat. .
Cheney, Paul I.
Cutler, Gilbert
Cutler, John .
Cady, I. S. .
Chandler, William
Castle, Merriam
Chase, John .
Cutler, Calvin
Clough . .
Clough, Hiram & Edward
Cudworth, Ebenezer
Claflin, Sylvanus
Clark, EmeUne
Cotton, John
Culver, Zoraster
Culver, Zoraster
Cutler, Darius
Crocket, George

Durfey,Dewey,Dewey,Dewey,Daggett,Dewey, Daniels,Dewey,

Joseph B.
Jared L.
William
Jared David .
Hubbell Malvan
Roswell

Eastman, Samuel
Eastman, Lee
Eastman, WUHam
Eastman, Samuel, Jr.
Eggleston, George .
Eggleston, Benjamin C.

No. of
Acres. 150
265 36 50 I I
66 I
67 50
go
162 10
39
100 5470 50505050
40
246 30 3
220 25
188 70 ¥2
8875 50

225 258 98
66 86

Value. 730 40
150140 66 50
67 30
125
300 20
40 75 50
70 50
2525 50
40
600 866 3050
750 25
250 125 100100 75 SO

IZZ51300 300
600 Z50

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

Names of Residents.
Eggleston, George W.
Eggleston, Sanford .
Eggleston, Ambrose
Eggleston, Harmon
Finuff, Paul I. .
Fisher, Alanson .
Fletcher, Dan S.
Fox, Thomas
Freeman, Clark H.
Faulkner, Charles
Fisk, Charles A.
FHng, Alfred
Foster, John R. .

GUlen, Michael .
Goodell, Joel
Goodell, Joel, Jr.
Gilbert, Proctor .
Gilbert, WUder .
Gibson, Charles
Griggs, Guy
Garland, Thomas
Gray, Hardy .
Griffin . . .
Goodnow, Nathaniel
Gould, Jacob T.
Goodnow, Emerson
Goodnow, Hiram
Goodnow, Horace
Grandy, Albert .
HamUton, WiUiam H
Hamilton, Darwin F,
Hayden, Horace
Herriman, Adna
Herriman, Walter
Herriman, Thomas
Hopkins, Isaac R.
Hopkins, Fred I.
Hopkins, Mary .
Hubbard, Harvey
Henderson, David
Hyde, Ezra .
Harran, Alfred, Sr.
Hodgkins, George R
Hoyt, Chandler .
Hancock, Jeremiah

No. of
Acres. 63 34 10

50
100150 zo 3
115 50
1 10 I

Z18 %
zo
40 10
3350
5055 4
100 50
5250
40 52
3736 12
50
20
118 17
zz 3
150
I2>^ 78
8770

Value.
^250 250 100150175
500300 20
200 175100
300 125

36 36

1550 100 2050 10
100 2550
80
200 500 505250
40
100100 70 12
50
ZO
950350
Z50 50
goo 300
234 100
175 70

Names of Residents,
Hoyt, Daniel
Howe, T. L.
Howe, Seymour
HUl, Reuben .
Jennie, Ezekiel
Jennie, Asahel
Johnson, Betsey
Kent, Darius E.
Kent, Artemas .
Kent, Asahel
Kent, Lucian
Kellogg, Franklin
KeUogg & Wright
Knapp, George .
Kennedy, Hugh .
Kennedy, Jacob .
Kendrick, David
Kimball, George .

Lawrence, Ruel .
Lawrence, Lorenzo
LinindoU, Jacob .
LinindoU, lona .
Leach, David
LaughHn, T. H.
Laughlin, T. H.
Lindsay, Hiram .
Lindsay, Henry .
LoveU, LP. .
Lyman, L.
Landon, Edward
MerriU, S. B. .
Merrill, Dyer L.
Moses, William .
Moon, Hannah .
Moon, Jesse
Mosher, PhUip .
Mosher, Alvan .
McArthur, Noble
Meacham, Thomas
Morgan, S. T. .
Mason, Hiram .
Mains, Thomas .
Newton, Hiram .
Newton, Hubbard

No. of
Acres. ZO
52>^ 48 SO
63 59 y2
i6z
zz8 104 100 9 3
60 SO z
35
77
z6 I
75 15
85
263 4
5051
60 4 I

188 5052 I
IZ
66 zz
60 54

58g
Value. ^20 375 100 40
zoo 75 50
6.5
1300 goo 500
Z50 zoo 60
125100 35
100
300 SO
175 30
•75
1Z50 zoo 125100100
150 50

izo 145
343 1250
70 z8o
50 150

670 Z50 5050 15
66 zz
17s 50

5 go

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

Names of Residents.
Newton, WiUiam
Nay, WUHam A.
Newman, John
NUes, Charles
Neal, John
Oliver, WilHam
OHver, Lyman
Ober, EHjah
Peck, Julius .
Peck, OrUn A.
Post, EUas .
Post, Noah .
Putnam, Seth
Putnam, Seth R.
Phelps, WilHam S.
Phelps, Jesse
Potter, Anson
Parker, Francis
PhUHps, Israel
Parker, Patrick
Parker, Solon C
Packard, Fayette
Pulsifer, Ansel
Priest, Francis

Remington, AureHus
Risdon, EHsha .
Risdon, E. Harmon
Remington, S. C.
Roberts, John S.
Roberts, EH . .
Roberts, Ephraim
Ransom, Stephen
Richardson, WUHam
Richardson, Lewis
Ring, WiUiam S.
Robson, WiUiam
Squire, Asa .
Squire, Ira
Squire, Eben .
Squire, RusseU
Squire, Levi .
Squire, Abner
Smith, Josiah .
Smith, EUsaph
Smith, Joseph

No. of
Acres. 141 8778 I
50
27
95 51

M

8z 89
27
100 5°
160 8060 I
zooZ64 48
118

Value.
^300 300200
100 50
75
175 100

179

500

130

250

88

400

2

50

125

500

100

300

357

1200

11

11

42

50

174

330

159

200

70

125

I

100

Z2

22

57

100

75

125

78

78

251

950

203

650

Z08

600

49

90

67

525

100 140 90
150 100150
650 300 300 25
ZZ5850 48
55°

Names of Residents.
Smitii, A. T. .
Smith, James .
Snell, Isaac .
Sprague, Dr. Gideon
Stone, Thomas .
Sheldon, Gaius .
Sheldon, Asa .
Sheldon, A. C. .
Sheldon, Albert .
Sheldon, Hiram B
Sheldon, John
Sheldon, Esther .
Sheldon, Ezra R.
Stoddard, A.
Swett, Thomas .
Stevens, Elander
Stevens, L. L.
Stevens, David
Shonyo, Antoine
Sherman, Elkanah
Sherman, Joseph
Sherman, WiUiam
Shaw, I. F. . .
Sanford, Jonah
Sanford, Jonah, nine par
cels of .
Sanford, Jonah, Jr.
Sanford, S. S.
Simpson, MayweU
Simpson, George W
Sanborn, Edmond
Turner, Stephen
Turner, Leander
Tucker, Zebra .
Tupper, Ezra
White, George .
Wilcox, Joseph L.
Warner, Aaron .
Warner, Aaron L.
Warner, W. F. .
WithereU, Nelson
WithereU, S. R.
WithereU, Joel .
WUson, Samuel .
WUson, T. N. .
Wilson, Hezekiah

No. of
Acres. 72
80

13
85
140 68 z
87 15
80 50
188 25
izg %
51
45 52zg
80 20
25
124
544
450 32
144 57
100

52
3375
40
135 70 88
100 68
140 I
z
100

Value. $12 150
300
460 85
500
350 125
450 ZZ5
400 ZZ5
6z5 75
400
100 5150
52zg80zo25
II 00
1493 800 32
144 57
100

iK 150

523375
40
750250
450 zoo 300
600 100 30
250

EARLY HISTORY OF HOPKINTON.

59'

No. of

No. of

Names of Residents. ^
Acres.
Value.
Names of Residents,
Acres.
Value.
WeUs, Reuben . .
izg
^560
WUkinson,'widow ' .
18
^36
Wright, Rosalinda .
470
1600
Winnie, Cornelius .
y2
25
Wright, Caleb . .
I z
80
Wood, Josephus .
75
125
White, Lewis
47
50
Weeks, Lyman, Jr. .
100
75
White, Nelson . .
y
50
Woodruff, WUHam .
60
75
Waller, Lyman .
52
50
Ward, George R. .
60
90
Weller, Charies B. .
go
125
Ward, Henry . .
7
zo
WeUer, PhUander .
223
ZZ5
Wadsworth, Henry .
60
60
Welch, Johnson . .
35
35
Wart, Frederick . .
60
60
Only the following
Eliphalet Brush, $100;
I300 ; Lee Eastman,
Aaron Warner, |2oo.
caped as there are now.
pie were still struggling
to forty years previous.
also a little surprising.
persons were assessed personal : viz.,
George Brush, I50 ; Samuel Eastman,
$600 ; Darius E. Kent, $500 ; and
Evidently there were some who es-
Judging by this assessment the peo-
though nothing like as poor as thirty
The low assessment of the farms
IS
IN D E X .

Abbott, Emory W., family of, 428.
Abbott, Jonathan B., property of, 167,
170 ; death of, 401.
Abbott, Philo, family of, 432.
Abbott, Reuben, death of wife, 393 ; son
Robert S., 393.
Abbott, Samuel, elector, 144a.
Abbott, Samuel B., farm of, 96 ; elector,
144a; property of, 167, 172, 588; lost
while hunting, 289 ; family of, 433.
Abbott, Seth, settlement, 39, 43 ; elector,
57, 144a ; built bridge, 62 ; farm of, 93 ;
his signature, 129; property of, 167;
death of wife and babe, 265 ; death of,
,37&; family of, 427.
Adsit, Harriet, story of her father's
log house, 96 ; keeps house for Elisha
Risdon, 385 ; sole survivor of children
of Samuel Abbott, 393.
Advent of white men, 8.
Ainsworth, Reuben, 119.
Allen, Elisha, elector, 57 ; property of,
167, 171.
Andrews, Orin, farm of, no; death of
wife, 364 ; family of, 525 , property of,
588.
Armstrong, Chester, elector, 167 ; settle
ment of, 171.
Armstrong, Jasper, settlement, 39, 118;
elector, 57, 144a; farm of, 84; prop
erty of, 167.
Arquit, Michael, elector, 167.
Assessments of 1807, 57 ; of 1821, 144a ;
of 1821,167; of 1850, 588.
Assessors of town, 405.
Atwood, L. D., family, 517 ; property of,
588.
Atwood, Mrs. Paulina S., old dam of
1803, 33.
Austin, Isaac, 180.
Austin, Phineas, family of, 429.
Axe, musket and Bible, work of, 15.

B
Bachellor, Eason, farm of, 98 ; family
of, 447.
Baldwin, Amos A., family of, 443.
Baldwin, Nathaniel, farm of, 114 ; elector,
1440 ; property of, 167 ; family of, 440.
Baldwin, Nathaniel, Jr., builds sawmiU,
371-
Baptist Church of Hopkinton, 183; at
Nicholville, 247.
Barter and exchange, 146.
Bastin, Joseph, elector, 144a.
Bastin, Daniel C, elector, 144a ; property
of, 167, 202.
Beecher, Orman, family of, 569.
Bellamy, Abner, elector, 144a.
Bellows, Lewis, family of, 573.
Bible, work of, 15.
Black salts, manufacture of, 146.
Black tongue, 301 ; black leg, 312.
Blair, Ezekiel, death of, 351.
Blanchard, Amasa, Sr., settlement in
town, 26, 39 ; account,''4i ; elector, 57,
144s ; assisted in building bridge, 62 ;
hunting with Mr. Risdon, 65 ; farm of,
81 ; signature of, 130 ; property of, 167 ;
family of, 437.
Blanchard, Amasa, Jr., elector, 144a ;
family of, 437.
Bostwick, J. H., family, 541.
Bowles, Rev. Charles, story of, 304 ; gives
notice of protracted meeting, 310.
Bread, how got at first, 14.
Breaking roads, 294.
Brinsmaid, Jas., elector, 144a.
British soldiers capture flour, 88.
Brooks, Mrs. Erasmus D., capers in
school, 113; taught school, 116; mar
riage of, 363 ; family of, 563.
Brooks, Hosea, 102; property of, 167;
settlement of, in Hopkinton, 300.
Brown, Harvey, family of, 530; property
of, 588.

593

594

INDEX.

Brown, Reuben, shop of, 233 ; property
of, 588.
Brownell, Clark, family of, 557.
Brownell, Joseph, 106.
Brush, Colonel Alexander, death of, 275.
Brush, Charles H., old guns of, opp. 7 ;
tintype of old hall, 126; one of com
mittee for rebuilding church, 141.
Brush, Eliphalet, came to town in 1802,
14; baked bread, 14 ; began work, 38 ;
elector, 57, 144a; when he came, 70 ;
letters to, by Mr. Risdon, 70 ; farm of,
81 ; signature of, 131 ; family of, 435 ;
property of, 167, 588.
Brush, Jason,'picture of house, opp. 79 ;
picture of lake, opp. 352 ; family of,
436 ; assessment of, in 1850, 588.
Brush, Joseph, settlement, 39 ; farm of,
81 ; his signature, 129 ; property of,
167 ; family of, 440.
Brush, Joseph A., on committee to make
alterations in church, 139; family of,
440; assessment of 1850, 588.
Brush, William, settlement, 39 ; account
with, 41 ; elector, 57, 144a ; farm of, 81 ;
property of, 167.
Buckingham, E., elector, 57.
Building of old Town Room, 126.
Burchard, Rev. Jedediah, sketch of, and
his preaching, 359 ; meat for, 361.
Burnham, Sanford L., family of, 527.
Burt, Enos, 220.
Burying ground, first and present, 123.
Bush, Eli, elector, 167 ; settlement, 171.
Bushnell, Simeon, settlement, 39, 171,
202 ; property of, 167.

Carding mill, 226.
Cemetery grounds, 123; at Nicholville,
261.
Census of 1807, 57; of 1814, 144a; of
1821, 167 ; comments on, 172 ; of 1835,
173; of 1850, 588.
Chandler, Abijah, settlement of, 39, 202 ;
elector, S7, 1440; signature of, 130;
property of, 167 ; family of, 444.
Chandler, Abijah, Jr., property of, 167 ;
had sawmill, 170.

Chandler, Harry, property of, 167 ; family
of, 452. ,
Chandler, Hiram, family of, 454.
Chandler, Lemuel, 450.
Chandler, Lewis, family of, 454.
Chandler, Philo C, family of, 453.
Chandler, Samuel, 167.
Chittenden, Asahel H., farm of, 118;
capsized in Lake Ozonia, 351.
Chittenden, Clark S., store of, 87 ; ashery,
170; postmaster,'i73 ; family of, 464;
property of, 588.
Chittenden, Chauncey, had farm, 179;
family of, 462 ; property of, 588.
Chittenden, Jay H., postmaster, 174.
Chittenden, King S., recollection as to
Harran house, 83 ; picture of house,
opp. 86 ; built store, 88 ; on committee
to build church, 139 ; experience with
tow pants, 154; postmaster, 173.
Chittenden, Mrs. Mary, washing at brook,
308 ; spinning, 320 ; good girl, 324 ;
attends Potsdam Academy, 326 ; mar
ries, 332 ; children baptized, 385 ; fam
ily of, 465.
Chittenden, Solomon, family of, 462 ;
property of, 588.
Chittenden, Varick A., picture of house,
opp. 86 ; record of old Town Room,
127; on committee to rebuild church,
141 ; postmaster, 174.
Chapman House, burned, 317.
Christians, The, 326, 327.
Chubb, Joseph, elector, 144a.
Church, Baptist, 183.
Church, Congregational, story of, 136;
pastors of, 141 ; poverty of, 142 ; disci
pline of members, 143.
Church, Methodist, 182.
Church, Roman Catholic, 144.
Church, Universalist, 185 ; at Nicholville,
257.
Citizens of 1807, 57 ; of 1814, 144a; of
1821, 167 ; of 1850, 588.
Clark, Orange B., family of, 217.
Clark, Ralsey, family of, 220.
Clemonds, Joseph, 167.
Clifford, Martin L., postmaster, 174.
Cloth, making of, 149; quantity of, 173.

INt)EX.

595

Collectors of town, 404.
Commissioners of schools, 407 ; commis
sioners of highways, 408.
Constables of town, 409.
Converse, Calvin, 167, 171.
Cook, Ivory, 167, 171.
Cook stove, story of, 314.
Coolidge, Isaiah, property of, 167.
Coolidge, Zebina, great memory, 23, 26 ;
settlement of Fort Jackson, 178 ; fam
ily of. 543-
Corwin, Mr. and Mrs. Fullom M., story
of Turnpike, 102; home of, 113;
school at " Sanford's," 116.
Covey, Cautius C, 298, 311, 323 ; family
of, 459.
Covey, David, farm of, 97; elector, 144a,
property of, 167; death of wife, 296;
death and sketch of , 340 ;family of, 457.
Covey, Gilbert, family of, 457.
Covey, Martin, location of, 85 ; property
of, 167 ; residence of, i8o.
Crosley, Mrs. George W., teaches, 103 ;
tribute to, 369 ; sketch and family of,
523-
Crossman, Rufus M., family, 540.
Crouch, Nelson C, buys Post place, 373
family of, 462 ; property of, 588.
Culver, Zoraster, picture house, opp. 78
location of, 87 ; ashery, 170 ; postmas
ter, 173 ; store of, 232 ; family of, 467
property of, 588.
Currie, Frank L., family of, 524.
Curtis, John, 167, 171.
Cutler, John, family of, 105.
Cutler, Josiah, death of, 387.
Cutler, Varick A., postmaster, 174.
Cutter, Dr. F. A., 162.

Daggett, David, in trade, 87 ; family of,
492.
Davis, Francis, built gristmill, 181.
Day, Lyman, 209 ; store of, 234.
Day, Thomas, property of, 167, 171 ;
family of, 208.
Dayton, Dr. David, 162.
Death, first, 124.

Deer hunting, 59, 68 ; killed by Mr. Ris
don, 402.
Dewey, Jared, came to town, 8 ; cutting
first tree, 12; elector, 57, 144a ; farm,
81 ; property of, 167, 58S ; family of,
468.
Dewey, William, oldest child of pio
neers, 48 ; property of, 588.
Distillery, 227.
Durfey, Joseph, settlement, 39 ; farm of,
97; signature of, 131; elector, 144a;
property of, 167 ; family of, 470.
Durfey, Joseph B., family of, 470 ; prop
erty of, 588.
Durfey, Phineas, settlement, 39 ; ac
count, 43; elector, 57, 144a; interest
ing letter to, by Mr. Risdon, 60 ; built
bridge, 62 ; farm of, 95 ; signature
of, 130; property of, 167 ; family of, 469.
Durfey, William S., property of, 167.
Durrell, Asa, tannery of, 157.

Eastman, George L., soldier in Civil
War, 191.
Eastman, Lee, farm of, 117; family of,
479 ; property of, 588.
Eastman, Roswell H., tannery of, 159.
Eastman, Samuel, settlement of, 39, 44 ;
elector, 57, 144a ; farm of, 95 ; signa
ture of, 130; property of, 167; raises
house, 274; hurt by bull, 31J ; family
of, 474.
Eastman, Samuel, Jr., family of, 478.
Eastman, William E., family of, 483 ;
property of, 588.
East Village, history of, 224.
Eggleston, Benjamin C, property ot, 588.
Eggleston, George, property of, 588.
Eggleston, George W., property of, 588.
Elections, intoxication at, 375.
Electors in 1807, 57.
EUithorpe, Danforth, family of, 219;
sawmill of, 241.
EUithorpe, Thurman D., 219; store of,
238.
Erwin, Henry A., family of, 555.
Essays of Elisha Risdon, 59.

5g6

INDEX.

Farrar, Otis, family of, 455.
Fireplace, picture of, opp. 46, 47.
First child born, 28.
First gristmill, also sawmill, 30.
First settlers, names of, 20.
First tree cut in town, 11.
First white woman in town, 24.
Fisk, Charles A., store of, 237.
Fisk, David, 104.
Flanders, Samuel, family of, 469.
Flax, manufacture of, 149.
Flood, Dr. J. Q., 162; postmaster, 173.
Flour taken by British soldiers, 88, 270.
Flummerfelt, Mrs. Alice, a handsome
girl, 97-
Fort Jackson, history of, 177 ; freshet at,
180; fire at, 181 ; men in business at,
182 ; postmasters and physicians, 186.
Fortune, Dr. William E., 247.
Freeman, Captain R. H., farm of, in ;
family of, 526.
French, David, settlement, 39 ; farm of,
no.
Frost, Charles, family of, 484.
Frost, Ebenezer, shop of, 86; story of,
276 ; family of, 483.
Frost, Francis T., family of, 485.
Frost, George, family of, 484.
Frost, James T., family of, 484.
Frost, William, family of, 485.
Fuller, Gibbs, elector, 57.
Fuller, Jabez F., family, 541.

Gibson, Charles, settlement, 116; signa
ture of, 131 ; elector, 144a.
Gold, digging for, under a spell, 106.
Goodell, Layton B., family of, 487.
Goodell, Samuel and Joel, account of
settlement in town, 9 ; cutting of first
tree, 11 ; first cabins of, 14; account
with Mr. Hopkins, 41 ; electors, 57,
1440; story of coming to town, 78,
79; signature of Joel Goodell, 130 ;
property of, 167, 588; Samuel a pris
oner, 271 ; raised house, 274 ; family of
Joel, 485 ; Samuel, 487.
Goodell, Joel, Jr., family of, 486.

Goodnow, Charles K., family of, 505.
Goodnow, Nathaniel B., tannery of, 158 ;
family of, 504 ; property of, 589.
Gould, Jacob T., farm of, 116, 588.
Gould, Jeremiah, 168.
Gould, Joel, elector, 144a ; property of,
167 ; family of, 528.
Gould, John, built steeple, 140.
Gray, Heman, elector, 144a; death of,
272 ; family of, 447.
Greene, Henry C, farm of, 102 ; prop
erty of, 167 ; family of, 492.
Greene, Job, settlement, 39 ; elector, 57 ;
farm of, 100.
Greene, Meribah, marriage of, 343.
Greene, Rufus, farm of, 104 ; death of,
392-
Griffin, Asahel, elector, 144a.
Gristmill, first built in town, 30, 55 ; at
Nicholville, 228 ; in Hopkinton vil
lage, story of, 275.
Guns from arsenal, 266 ; old picture of,
opp. 7 ; roaring of, 321.
H
Hamilton, Aaron J., family of, 505.
Harran, Albert S., farm of, 104.
Harran, John A., capture of flour, 88;
story of Turnpike road, 102 ; shooting
of Mr. Seeley, 396 ; death of, 398.
Harris, Samuel, settlement of, 39, 204 ;
elector, 57 ; property of, 168, 171 ;
family of, 204.
Hart, John, farm of, 109.
Harwood, Benjamin, settlement, 39 ; left
town, 40 ; farm of, 95.
Harwood, Jonas, settlement, 39 ; elector,
57-
Haselton, Moses, early settler, 179.
Hawley, S., drowned, 368.
Hay twenty dollars per ton, 279.
Henderson, Mrs. Alta, first female child,
28.
Henderson, Chester F., property of, 168.
Henderson, David, farm of, 82 ; elector,
144a ; family of, 498 ; property of, 589.
Henderson, David F., family of, 500.
Henderson, John, lot of, 89 ; property of,
168 ; death of, 401 ; family of, 499.

INDEX.

597

Henderson, J. Henry, Sheldon magazine,
29 ; account of storm, 306 ; family of,
499-
Pliggins, Dwight Noble, 212.
Higgins, Horace, family of, 2n.
Hine, Daniel, Jr., farm of, 85.
Hoard, Daniel, distillery burns, 292.
Hobart, E. N., farm of, 106.
Hodgkins, Charles H., soldier in Civil
War, 192.
Hoit, John, settlement, 39 ; elector, 57,
unable to locate, 99 ; death of wife,
370.
Hopkins, Aaron T., family of, 481.
Hopkins, Benjamin W., partnership with
father, 54 ; elector, 57, 144a ; contract
in Alabama, 125 ; death of, 285 ; family
of, 495.
Hopkins, Isaac R., signature of, 128;
scribe, 134; elector, 144a ; property of,
168, 588; built sawmill, 177; family,
496.
Hopkins, Isaac R., great-grandson, maps
and records preserved, 32, 37 ; lead
plate, 134; credit to, see Preface.
Hopkins, James G., family of, 498.
Hopkins, Roswell, founder of town, in
scription on tombstone, 8 ; sale of
land to Goodell boys, 9 ; specie lost in
river, 1 3 ; tract purchased, 1 7 ; early
struggles, 18; old account book, 37;
exceedingly great historic value, 44 ;
first justice of the peace, 52 ; partner
ship with Benjamin W., 54 ; elector,
57, 144a; built bridge, 62 ; house dis
tant from ford, 64 ; location of, 83, 90 ;
business troubles, 124; signature of,
131 ; builds town hall, 134; property
of, 168; sawmiU of, 170 ; makes draft
of soldiers, 266 ; begins gristmill in
village, 275 ; plate in corner stone of
schoolhouse, 276; death of wife, 279 ;
land sold at auction, 293 ; family of,
493-
Hopkins, Roswell D., family of, 494.
Hopkinton, map of, 16; town of, 49; act
. creating, 50 ; part of Chesterfield
taken, 51 ; first town meeting, 52 ;
soldiers from, 187; thirty-two guns

soldiers pass
British capture

from arsenal, 266
through, 269, 270;
flour, 270.
Hornby, John, death of, 327.
Hosford, Joel, tannery of, 156.
Hotels in Hopkinton, 160 ; picture of, 87 ;
the first at NicholviUe, 226; burned,
399-
Hough, Franklin B., history of town, i,
8, 12, 20, 31, 37, 75, 88, 201.
Howard, Dr. Orlando I., famUy of, 528.
Howard, William Curtis, family of, 535.
Humphrey, Carlos, shop of, 178.
Humphrey, WiUiam M., shop of, 97 ;
goes west, 305.
Hunting camp, Mr. Risdon revisits, 341.
Hunting trip to Cookham, 65.
Hutchins, Dr. O. E., 162.
I
Indians hunt on Mr. Risdon's ground,
289 ; drunken, call at his house, 302.
Ingalls, John W., family of, 481.
Inspectors of elections, 410.
Islington, township of, 17.
Ives, Warren J., family of, 505.

Jennie, Asahel, family of, 501.
Jennie, Ezekiel, family of, 500.
Johnson, Rev. Hiram S., first minister,
132, 137, 141, 143; farm of, 85 ; signa
ture of,'l28 ; resignation of, 142 ; prop
erty of, 168.
Justices of the peace, 52, 406.
K
Kelley, Daniel, family of, 474.
Kellogg, Franklin, postmaster, 1 74 ;
built store, etc., 181 ; family of, 572.
Kennedy, Hugh, property of, 168 ; resi
dence, 180.
Kent, Asahel.farm of, loi ; elector, 144a ;
property of, 168; in 1850, 589; family
of, SOS-
Kent, Artemas, home of, 89 ; farm of,
99; signature of, 129; property of,
168 ; in 1850, 589 ; diary of, 265, 278 ;
raised house, 281 ; family of, 501.

598

INDEX.

Kent, Darius E., very successful in busi
ness, III ; family of, 507 ; property of,
589-
Kent, Fred H., old Town Room, 126;
diary of father, 265 ; sketch, 502.
Kent, Henry B., family of, 502.
Kent, Lucian, farm of, 113; family of,
507 ; property of, in 1850, 589.
Kent, Moses, Jr., family of, 507.
Kent, William, family of, 505.
Knapp, Ephraim, elector, 144a.
Knowlton, J. H., mills of, 229, 241.

Lake Ozonia, 352.
Landon, Mrs. Caroline M., old dam, 33.
Landon, Daniel B., family of, 517.
Langworthy, Dr. Stephen, settlement,
39; elector, 57.
Laughlin, Dr. Henry D., 162 ; leaves
Hopkinton, 322.
Laughlin, Thaddeus, elector, 144a;
property of, 168; in 1850, 589; postmas
ter, 173 ; death of, 387 ; family of, 508.
Lavery, John, family of, 528.
Lawrence, Dr. Noah D., 244.
Lawrence, Ruel, 315; family of, 509;
property of, 589.
Lawrence, town of, settlement, 201.
Leach, John, story of GoodeUs' settle
ment, 9; old gristmill dam, 56; farm
of, 104.
Leach, Silas H., family of, 486.
Lead plate in corner stone, 134.
Leonard, Rufus, property of, 168.
Leonard, Samuel R., family of, 534.
Lewis, Lemuel, settlement, 107.
License or no license for retailing liquor,
386.
Life, what its purpose, 91.
Liquor, objects to, 308.
" Little Band," 336, 392.
Log cabins, first homes, 7.
Loss of money in river, 12.
Lyd Brook, naming of, 38.
M
Macomber, J. H., postmaster, 174, fam
Uy of, 532.

Making of cloth, 149.
Markets of pioneers, 145 ; no money
market for grain, 386.
Martin, Andrew, elector, 57, 144a.
Martin, Ephraim, elector, 57, 144a.
Massey, Silas, elector, 144a.
Matthews, Dr. H. J., 246.
Maynard, Levi, family of, 429.
McLaughlin, Henry, settlement, 39 ;
account, 42 ; elector, 57 ; location, 80 ;
hotel of, 160 ; death of, 268.
Meacham, Stephen, sad life of, 165;
property of, 168, 402.
Meacham, Thomas, great hunter, 401.
Meacham, Thomas, Jr., property of, i68.
Mead's, Mr,, dog, 166.
Merrill, Dyer L., location, 114; store,
237 ; family of, 513 ; property of, 589.
Merrill, Joseph, elector, 144a.
Merrill, Judson, elector, 144a.
Merrill, Silas W., merchant, family of,
513-
Methodist Church at Fort Jackson, 182 ;
at Nicholville, 254.
Mice plenty, 320.
Military drill, 354.
Miller, Calvin, postmaster, 174.
MiUer, Wm., elector, 144a.
Money lost in river, 13 ; scarcity of, 146 ;
not current, 362.
Moon, Asa, farm of, 116; property of,
168; death of, 368; family of, 510.
Moon, Barney, 105, 117 ; property of, 168.
Moon, Elias, death of, 311.
Moon, Henry G., family of, 512.
Moon, Jesse, 105, 116.
Moon, Orange B., family of, 511.
Moore, Bushnell B., tannery of, 157.
Moore, James R., family of, 518.
Mormons in town, work of, 162.
Mosher, Philip, farm of, 92 ; property of,
168 ; family of, 471.
Murder of girl, 366.
Musket, work of, 15. N
Nay, Benjamin F., family of, 519.
Newspapers of Potsdam and Canton
burned, 2.

INDEX.

599

Newton, Asa, death of, 369.
Newton, Samuel S., property of, 168.
Nichols, Andrew, elector, 144a.
Nichols, Josiah, elector, 144a.
Nichols, Rufus, elector, 144a.
NicholviUe, history of, 224 ; sawmills,
225, 241 ; carding mill, 226 ; hotels,
226, 240; distillery, 227; gristmiU,
228 ; freshet, 230 ; stores at, 232 ; tan
neries, 241 ; postmasters, 242 ; Day's
mills, 243 ; physicians, 244 ; churches
at, 247 ; lodges and societies, 258.
Nineteenth century, things accomplished
in, 46.
Northern Railroad, building of, 379.
o
Ober, A. E., postmaster at Fort Jackson,
174.
Officials, first, 53 ; from 1806-1902, 404.
Ogdensburg taken by British, 268.
Oliver, Lyman, farm of, 109.
Olmstead, C. S., 236.
Original pioneers, 8.
Organization of town, 49.
Overseers of the poor, 409 ; of high
ways, 411.
Ozonia Lake, 352. P
Page, Lyman, buUt red schoolhouse,
103 ; sketch and family of, 223 ; saw
mill of, 241.
Palmer, Clemens C, property of, 168,
171.
Palmer, Gordon, family of, 475.
Palmer, Harry, property of, 168.
Park in Hopkinton village, 121.
Parker, Eleazer, family of, 567.
Patriot war, 342.
Pearlash, manufacture of, 148.
Peck, Azariah, property of, 168.
Peck, Hiram, farm and family, 109 ;
death of wife, 330.
Peck, Julius, farm and miU, 103.
Peck, Myron G., and famUy, 213.
Peck, Nathan, location of, 112, 119;
signature of, 131 ; property of, 168 ;
death of, 329 ; family of, 515.

Peck, Orlin, family of, 515.
Perry, John, elector, 144a ; property of,
168.
Peter, Captain, noted Indian, 283.
Phelps, Edwin O., family of, 520.
Phelps, Jacob, property of, 168 ; family
of, 516.
Phelps, William S., family of, 517;
property of, 590.
Phillips, Israel, family of, 488.
Physicians in town, 162 ; at Nicholville,
244.
Pierce, James, settlement, 39, 202 ; elec
tor, 57 ; signature of, 131.
Pierce, Jonathan, settlement, 39, 202 ;
elector, 57, 144a; signature of, 131.
Pierrepont, Henry B., letter to, 268.
Pigeons in great flocks, 331.
Pioneers of town, mostly from Vermont,
3; amusements of, 4; first to settle,
8 ; from 1803 to 1808, 39 ; implements
of, 46 ; children of, now living, 48 ;
location of, 77.
Plow of settlers, picture of, opp. 46.
Pomeroy, John P., property of, 168;
built house, 171.
Post, Elias, property of, 168 ; famUy of,
514.
Post, Noah, shop of, 179.
Post, Reuben, settlement, 39 ; account,
41 ; elector, 57, 144a ; home of, 58 ; farm
of, 98 ; signature of, 128 ; builds Town
Room, 134 ; killed by fall, 276 ; death
of wife, 354 ; famUy of, 513.
Post, Truman E., contributes to build
church, 141 ; family of, 515.
Postmasters of town, 173.
Poverty of the people, 279, 315.
Powers, Ai, family of, 428.
Powers, Salmon, family of, 429.
Pratt, Rev. Silas, family of, 485.
Prices in 1804, 41 ; in 1835, 326, 332.
Priest, V. T., family of, 566.
Putnam, Seth, farm of, 112; his son
Israel, 112 ; signature of, 131 ; elector,
144a ; property of, 168, 588; death of
his son, 358 ; family of, 516.
Putnam, Seth, Jr., settlement, 114.

6oo

INDEX.

Railroad, Northern, building of, 379.
Ransom, Stephen, property of, 168; resi
dence, 172.
Raymond, Sewall, family of, 497.
Reed, John, property of, 168 ; settlement,
172.
Reeve, Benjamin, family of, 537.
Reeve, Champion J., family of, 537.
Reeve, Charles J. F., famUy of, 539.
Reeve, Elisha R., 351 ; famUy of, 537.
Reeve, Erastus, residence, 1 79 ; death of,
351 ; family of, 536.
Reeve, Sheldon P., family of, 540.
Reeve, Stephen D., famUy of, 538.
Reeve, Tapping, family of, 538.
Religion, austerity of, 143.
Remington, Aurelius, settlement, 118;
family of, 527 ; property of, 590.
Remington, Emily A., goes to school, 116.
Remington, S. C, property of, 168 ;
postmaster, 173 ; family of, 525.
Remington, Thomas, settlement, 39 ; ac
count, 41 ; elector, 57, 144a ; farm of,
96 ; signature of, 130 ; family of, 525.
Retrospect, a, things done in past hun
dred years, 45.
Richardson, WiUiam, family of, 531.
Richardson, William G., 105.
Riggs, John, family, 549.
Risdon, Elisha, settlement, 39 ; account
with Mr. Hopkins, 40 ; elector, 57, 144a ;
essay on deer hunting in 1805, 59; letter
to Phineas Durfey, 60 ; building bridge
at LawrenceviUe, 61 ; fording St.
Regis, 61 ; Dr. Hough's article, 63;
hunting trip to Cookham, 65 ; Turn
pike road cut out in 1809, 65 ; Parish
ville then unsettled, 66 ; essay on hunt
ing in 1813, 68 ; his great passion for,
68 ; letters to Eliphalet Brush, 70 ; ex
periences of pioneers, 71 ; schools, etc.,
72 ; farm of, 90 ; ruins of old cabin
and sad reveries they awaken, 91 ;
location on Turnpike, 100 ; property
of, 168 ; statement as to his diary,
264 ; goes to court at Ogdensburg,
266 ; property of, 267 ; drafted, 267 ;
going west, 269 ; doctor cannot help

him, 272 ; Mrs. Risdon's novel shocks
him, 273 ; hunting camp, 289 ; religion,
29: ; no shelter for cattle, 292 ; suffers
for want of a fire, 292 ; clerk of town
for twenty-one years, 303 ; digs well,
310 ; takes roof off old cabin, 312 ; fire
place smokes, 313 ; J. Brooks visits
him, 316; gloomy times, 318; no hat
to go to church, 319 ; left Rupert, Vt.,
January 31, 1804, 328 ; a cry for spring,
330 ; large family, 334 ; gets a cook
stove, 337 ; visits old camp, 341 ; goes
to Ontario County, 346; Mr. Short's
agent, 349 ; tribute to Edna, 369 ; a
prose ode on death of wife, 377 ; un
able to write, 391 ; sister Pratt visits
him, 393 ; death of father and story of
family, 398 ; deer killed by him, 402 ;
family of, 520; property of, 590.
Risdon, E. Harmon, baptized, 269 ; goes
to drill, 309 ; marries Mary A. Sheals,
316 ; his stock, 374 ; children baptized,
385 ; family of, 523 ; property of, 550.
Road on north line of Islington, 14.
Road to Potsdam, 54 ; road and bridges
in 1805, 60 ; breaking roads, 294.
Roberts, Ashford, family of, S33-
Roberts, Eli, settlement, 39 ; elector, 57,
144a; location of, 90; his signature,
129; builds hall, 134; property of,
168 ; death of wife, 370 ; family of, 528.
Roberts, George Thurman, family of,
533-
Roberts, John S., family of, 532.
Robinson, Charles P., marriage of, 389.
Rockwood, George, family of, 668.
Rockwood, Dr. Heman S., soldier in
Civil War, 197.
Roman Catholic Church, 144.
Rudd, Nathaniel, settlement, 39 ; elector,
57 ; location of, 85.

St. Clair, Joseph, elector, 144a.
St. Regis River, fording of, 60.
Sanders, John, elector, 144a.
Sanders, Jonathan, elector, 144a.
Sanford, Benjamin, farm of, 113; in
trouble, 355 ; family of, 571.

INDEX.

6oi

Sanford, Carlton E., views on killing
deer, 70 ; revery on birthplace of
mother, 91 ; stealing dinner of, 106 ; ex
perience with unbound load of lumber,
107 ; views on the inconsistency of
war with religion, 291 ; birth of, 394 ;
tribute to mother, 565 ; sketch of, 565.
Sanford, Mrs. Clarinda (Risdon), spin
ning at eleven years, 296, 307, 309 ;
gathering rye smut, 303 ; watching,
303 ; sits on plank, 312 ; goes to school,
313; ill but doesn't complain, 314;
care of lamb, 318; loquacious, 324;
falls from horse, 351 ; whitewashing,
386 ; washing at brook, 390 ; married,
392-
Sanford, Darwin E., soldier in CivU
War, 198.
Sanford, Edwin D., soldier in Civil War,
198.
Sanford, Erasmus J., soldier in Civil
War, 198.
Sanford, Henry B., farm of, 113; sol.
dier, 198 ; family of, 562.
Sanford, Captain Henry T., soldier in
CivU War, 198.
Sanford, Daniel, family of, 573.
Sanford, Jonah, tilt with Captain Free
man, in ; settlement in town, farm
of, 115; signature of, 131; property
of, 168, 590 ; soldier, 197 ; indomitable
wiU of, 366 ; death of wife, 369 ; mar
riage of, 384 ; member of Constitu
tional Convention, 388 ; life of, and
family of, 558.
Sanford, Jonah, Jr., breaks the speU,
107; farm of, 109, 116; builds town
hall, 136; cuts himself, 372; plays
flute, 385 ; sketch and family of, 564.
Sanford, Rollin O., farm of, 109 ; soldier
in Civil War, 198 ; family of, 566.
Sanford, Samuel, settlement, 109 ; death
of wife, 390.
Saunders, Avery, elector, 57.
Saunders, James, settlement, 39 ; elector,
57, I44<2-
SawmUl, first, 30 ; in operation, 44 ; lo
cation of, 55; at East ViUage, 225;
history of, 231.

Schoolhouse in Durfey district, 93 ;
Snell district, 103; when built, 398;
Hazen district, 106; Sanford district,
112; stone schoolhouse in village,
126.
School inspectors, 407.
Seeley, Eliakim, settlement, 39; account,
42; elector, 57, 144a; farm of, 85;
tannery of, 156; property of, 168;
death of, 364 ; death of widow, 400 ;
family of, 552.
Seeley, Burr, shooting of, 396.
Settlers, mostly from Vermont, 2 ; set
tlers from 1803-1808, 39; implements
of, 46 ; children of, now living, 48 ; of
1814, 144a; of 1821, 167; of 1850,
588.
Shaw, Foster, family, 551.
Sheals, John, teaches, 390.
Sheals, John J., family of, 577.
Sheals, Joseph, famUy of, 576.
Sheals, William A., rents Baldwin farm,
369 ; family of, 576.
Sheldon, Abraham, settlement in town,
19, 28 ; account, 42 ; elector, 57 ; farm
of, 78 ; family of, 540.
Sheldon, Alta, first female chUd born, 30.
Sheldon, Mrs. Amanda, story of Abra
ham's coming to town, 22, 28.
Sheldon, Asa U., family, 548.
Sheldon, Gaius, settlement in town, 27 ;
account with Mr. Hopkins, 38, 41 ;
elector, 57, 144a; farm of, 94; signa
ture of, 129; property of, 1 68 ; death
of wife, 364 ; famUy of, 546.
Sheldon, Heman, farm of, 117 ; signature
of, 131; elector, 144a; property of,
169 ; Ezra, son of, 117 ; family of, 567.
Sheldon, Hiram, first child born, 30.
Sheldon, Hiram B., famUy, 551.
Sheldon, Isaac, settlement, 27.
Sheldon, James A., bought first mowing
machine in town, 47 ; family, 550.
Sheldon, John, death of wife, 392 ; fam
ily, 541.
Sheldon, King T., picture of old hall,
126; family of, 551.
Sheldon magazine, 29.
Sheldon, Naam, elector, 57.

6o2

INDEX.

Sheldon, Oliver, settlement, 39 ; account,
43 ; elector, 57, 144a ; farm of, 80 ; pic
ture old house, 88; signature of, 129;
raises house, 266 ; foot amputated,
274; death of wife, 359; family of,
S50-
Sherar, James, 236.
Sherwood, Milton H., family of, 536.
Simonds, George A., family of, 554.
Simonds, Joseph M., family of, 558.
Simonds, Samuel M., signature of, 129 ;
elector, 144a; property of, 168; fam
ily of, 554.
Simons, Solon C, family of, 556.
Simons, Sullivan, family of, 557.
Slavery question, 251.
Smith, Dr. Hiram D., 245.
Smith, George, family of, 575.
Smith, Ira, farm of, 99 ; family, 570.
Smith, Ira, family of, 543.
Smith, Ira H., store of, 238.
Smith, Isaiah, property of, 169.
Smith, James, death of wife, 369.
Smith, John C, family of, 574.
Smith, Josiah, farm of, 102 ; family of,
574-
Smith, Loren, family of, 575.
Smith, Willard, 105.
Snell, Franklin B., family of, 504.
Snell, Hiram, location of, 86.
Snell, Hiram K., family of, 504.
Snell, Isaac, farm of, 103 ; family of, 503.
Snow in 1804, 395.
Soldiers in Civil War, 187 ; War of
1812, 268, 270.
Spencer, William, property of, 169, 172.
Sprague, Dr. Charles A. L., family, 553.
Sprague, Dr. Fayette P., 162 ; postmas
ter, 173.
Sprague, Dr. Gideon, came to town in
1 811, 88; location of, 88; picture of
house, opp. 88 ; signature of, 131 ; trus
tee of town hall, 134; elector, 144a;
property of, 168; sells his ride, 271 ;
death of wife, 308 ; family of, 552.
Squire, Asa, farm of, 117 ; property of,
169.
Squire, Ashbel, settlement in town, 19 ;
first cabin of, 23 ; account, 41 ; elector.

57, 144a ; farm of, 93 ; signature of , 131 ;
property of, 168 ; death of wife, 368 ;
family of, 543.
Squire, Eben, farm of, 97.
Squire, Ebenezer, 103.
Squire, Eli, settlement, 19; elector, 57,
144a; farm of, 92 ; property of, 169 ;
¦family of, 542.
Squire, Russell, family, 545.
Stacy, Dennis, and family of, 215.
Stacy, George B., 217.
Stage route, story of, 174.
Stark, George, location of, 86.
Stearns, Joseph E., and family of, 214.
Stephens, Augustine, elector, 144a.
Stewart, Chancey A., elector, 57.
Stone, William, family of, 490.
Story, Allen C, family of, 585.
Stove, when got, 314.
Supervisors of town, 404.
Sweet, Sumner, sketch of, 221 ; store of,
238.
Swift, J. Henry, family of, 584.
Sylvester, Daniel, farm, iig.

Tanneries in town, 156; in East Village,
241.
Taxpayers in 1807, 57; in 1814, 144a;
in 1821, 167; in 1850, 588.
Taylor, Ebenezer, property of, 169.
Taylor, Jonathan, property of, 169.
Thomas, Chauncey D., property of, 169;
taken prisoner, 271 ; family of, 578.
Thomas, James, property of, 169.
Thomas, John, settlement, 39; elector,
57,144^; signature of, 130; hotel of,
1 60 ; property of, 1 69, 170; carding
mill, 226 ; distillery, 227 ; raised store,
279.
Thomas, Zebel, farm of, 81 ; elector, 144a ;
family of, 577.
Tilden, Calvin, family of, 506.
Tinkham, A., property of, 169.
Town clerks, 404.
Town meeting, first, 52 ; officials, 53 ;
abstract of minutes from 1806-1901,
416.
Town officers, 1 806-1 902, 404.

INDEX.

603

Town Room, 126 ; diagram of, 133 ; lead
plate in corner stone, 1 34 ; new town
hall, 136.
Train, Harry, settlement, 39.
Train, Horace, settlement, 39 ; elector,
57, 144a ; built bridge, 62 ; farm of, 82 ;
property of, 169 ; family of, 579.
Train, Robert, settlement, 39; account,
42 ; elector, 57.
Training, military, 354.
Tree, first one cut in town, 11.
Trip hammer shop, 86 ; story of, 276, 284.
Trussell, Isaac, property of, 169 ; family
of, 210.
Trussell, James, signature of, 130 ; elect
or, 144a.
Trussell, Samis, property of, 169.
Turnpike, cut out, 66.
Tyler, Ebenezer, elector, 144a.
Tyler, Joseph, elector, 144a.
Tyler, Samuel, elector, 144*.
u
Universalist Church, 185 ; at Nicholville,
257.
Universalists, great meeting of, at vil
lage, 320.
Upham, James, upset in lake, 352 ; at
tempts suicide, 355.

Van Buren, Martin, in town, 322.
Varrick, Abraham, became owner of
land, 122.
Village Green, 121.
Voters of 1807, 57; of 1814, 144a; of
1821, 167; of 1850, 588.
W
Wakefield, Ebenezer, elector, 144/S.
War, CivU, soldiers in, 187; action of
town, 422.
War 1 81 2, 267, 269.
War, Patriot, 342.
Warner, Aaron, settlement in town, 26 ;
account, 421 ; elector, 57, 144^ ; assisted
to build bridge, 62 ; story of farm, 92 ;
signature of, 130; property of, 169;
raises barn, 266 ; family of, 580.

Warner, A. Larned, family of, 580.
Warner, W. Friend, family of, 580.
Warriner, Hiram, family of, 487.
Warriner, William, location of, 85.
Warriner, Willis, property of, 169 ; elect
or, 1443 ; family of, 584.
Wead, Harry, had house, 179.
Wead, John K., location of, 85 ; distress
in New York City, 86 ; property of,
169.
Wead, Stephen, property of, 169.
Wells, George, shop of, 182.
Wescott, Stephen, marriage of, 372.
Wheat two dollars per bushel, 280.
Wheelock, Royal T., Russell and Levi
D., 119.
Whitcher, Joshua, elector, 144^.
Whitten, Rev. WiUiam V., family of,
539-
Wickware, Charles, sketch and family
of, 523.
Wing, Orange, family of, 512.
Wilson, Edson J., sketch and family of,
583-
Wilson, Friend W., family of, 583.
Wilson, Luman O., family of, 584.
WUson, Mrs. N. Maria, 230.
Wilson, Samuel, 82 ; property of, 169;
sawmill of, 225 ; gristmill of, 228; his
tory of, 231 ; raised store and house,
279 ; raised sawmill, 281 ; son killed,
371 ; sketch and family of, 582.
Winnie, Cornelius, family of, 586.
Winnie, Fitch B., famUy of, 587.
Winslow, Elnathan S., famUy of, 534.
WitheriU, Dr. Henry M., farm of, 118;
- practised in town, 162 ; family of,
584.
WitheriU, Stephen Russell, farm of, 103 ;
famUy of, 585.
Wolves' bounty, 53; kUled sheep, 309;
hunting of, 344.
Wood, Rev. Enos, 142, 399.
Wood, E. Allen, 222.
Wood, Hiram, family of, 222.
Wood, Mrs. Jane E., story of bread, 14.
Woodworth, J. E., property of, 169.
Wool, manufacture of, 149.
Wright, Asahel, settlement, 27, 39,91.

6o4

INDEX.

Wright, Caleb, settlement, 39; account,
43; elector, 57, 144.5 ; assisted to build
bridge, 62 ; farm of, 95 ; signature of,
130; ^property of, 169, 591 ; death of,
355 ; family of, 581.
Wright, Caleb, Jr., merchant, 181 ;
sketch and family of, 581.
Wright, Eben, property of, 169.

Wright, Geo. S., picture house, opp. 92 ;
opinion of Joseph Durfey, 97 ; locates
Nathan Peck, in; attended school in
Putnam district, 113; Barney Moon
place, 117 ; sketch and family of, 581.

Young, Simeon, settlement of, 104.