Barrows, Stephen S., was born in Bridgewater, Vt., October 3, 1820. His father and mother were natives of Massachusetts, and came to Vermont about 1816, and settled on the farm at Bridgewater Center now owned and occupied by Charles Dimmick. Stephen S. lived at home on the farm until he was nineteen years of age. His education was limited to attendance upon the district school winters. Upon leaving home, for three years and seven months he worked out by the month, first for Auirustus Bissell, of Rutland, then for Eliphalet Thomas, of Woodstock, receiving $10, $11, $12 and $13 per month, a steady advance. He was married, January 4, 1843, to Arvilla, daughter of Smith and Phebe (Avery) Whitman. She was born in Bridgewater, October 19, 1818. After marriage Mr. Barrows settled on the homestead farm which eventually came into his possession. His father lived with him until his death which occurred in 1851. His mother died in 1841. In 1854 he sold the homestead to Charles Dimmick and purchased the Atwood farm, but held it only one year. For the next three years he carried on a hired farm. In 1860 he purchased the Aaron Lamb farm near Bridgewater Corners, which he has since carried on. With perhaps one exception this farm is the best farm in Bridge-water for agricultural purposes. A number of years since Mr. Barrows was offered a large price for his farm by a gentleman who intended to develop a fine specimen of quartz rock, which is to be found in large quantities on the place. The death of this gentleman before the negotiation could be perfected prevented the sale. Good judges, who have seen specimens of this rock, have pronounced it a very valuable deposit and worth, in itself, many times the value of the mere land. Mr. Barrows was one of the original Abolitionists, then a Free Soiler, and a Republican since the organization of that party, with the exception that he cast a vote for Horace Greeley, when he was a candidate of the Democratic party. He has served as selectman of the town and justice of the peace for many years, and has often served as petit and grand juryman. Mr. and Mrs. Barrows have three children as follows: Mary Jane, born November 21, 1843, wife of Stephen French, resides in Rutland, and has two children, viz. : Grace H. and Gertrude M.; Elvin S., born August 29, 1845, married Harriet Mitchell, a farmer living in Clarendon, Vt; Helen A., born April 1, 1848, died January 29, 1879.
Bridge, Rodolphus D.-This family are of English origin. Simeon Voutt, grandfather of Rodolphus, lived and died in England. John Bridge, his son, was born in England in 1818. At the age of nineteen he came to America as an English soldier, and upon his arrival at Quebec, Canada, not liking the service, did what many another English soldier has done under like circumstances, deserted, changed his name from Voutt to Bridge, and was never known in this country by any other name. He first settled in Woodstock, Vt., then worked for five years on a farm in Pomfret for Nathan Dana. He married Harriet Augusta Briggs, a native of Plymouth. After marriage he settled on a farm in Bridge water. Besides farming he carried on the trade of a mason. He died at his house in Bridgewater, September 10, 1885. His wife died there April 8, 1888. Their children were Charles E., George S., Rodolphus D., Mary J., Emily A., Josephine A., Edwin J., Alberton H. Rodolphus D. Bridge enlisted September 14, 1864, in Company A, Ninth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, but after four months' service with that regiment he was transferred to Company C, Sixth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, Colonel Lincoln commanding. He received his discharge June 19, 18G5. He married January 21, 1866, Emma J., daughter of Albert L. and Mary A. (Pinney) Spaulding. Mrs. Bridge was born in Woodstock, May 20, 1848. They have one child, a daughter, Nora I., born June 17, 1870. Albert L. Spaulding, father of Mrs. Bridge, was a son of Azil Spaulding, of Woodstock, whose widow is still (1889) living at the advanced age of ninety-five. He was a drummer in Company H, Seventh Regiment Vermont Volunteers, and died at the Marine Hospital, New Orleans, in 1862. His children living are Emma J., Mary Isabelle, Albert Dighton, and Clara Anna. In 1873 Mr. Bridge built his residence and chair-stock and shingle-mill on the Quechee River in West Bridgewater. and has carried on that industry successfully since. He is Republican in politics, and is a member of the Free Mason Lodge, No. 31, Woodstock.
Bugbee, William C., was born in Cornish, N. H., August 28, 1827. His father, Howard Bugbee, born October 24, 1786, married April 20, 1814, Lavina, daughter of Samuel and Damaris (Saben) Chase, of Cornish. Lavina's grandfather and Chief Justice Salmon P. Chase's grandfather were brothers. Her father, Samuel, was the fifth generation from Aquilla Chase, who was born in Cornwall, England, in 1618. In 1838 Howard Bugbee moved from Cornish and settled in the northwest part of Bridgewater, where he lived until 1851. His wife died there October 24, 1849, aged sixty-four. He married, second, Lucinda Chase, sister of his first wife, October, 1851. The latter died at the residence of William C. Bugbee, December 20, 1860, aged seventy-one. Howard Bugbee also died there February, 1868, aged eighty-one. His children, by the first union, were Charles C, born at Cornish, February 6, 1815, married November 30, 1840, Betsey Giles, was justice of the peace, selectman, and overseer of the poor, and died in Bridgewater, February 16, 1884, his wife September 16, 1877; George H.; Henry M.; John F., a lawyer, who now lives in Canton, N. Y. William C. worked on a farm till he was twenty years of age, but from that time he began to devote himself to the business of carpentering and joining, for which he had a national aptitude, and he followed that trade up to the present time as his principal occupation. He has built some of the finest residences of Bridgewater and adjoining towns, the Congregational meeting-house. Dr. Rodiman's residence, Bridgewater village, and John J. Dewey's residence, Quechee, are specimens of his work. In 1873 he commenced the manufacture of chair stock at Bridgewater Corners, which he still carries on, but devotes a large portion of his time to his trade as a builder. He married, August 28, 1850, Esther S.. daughter of Horace and Mary (Shepard) Gould. Mrs. Bugbee was born in the town of Franklin, Franklin county, N. Y., December 26, 1833. Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee have had two children : Mary Lavina, born February 1, 1854, died April 21, 1856, and Ida May, born April 6, 1857, married January 1, 1877, George A. Rice, manufacturer and farmer. For nineteen years after marriage Mr. Bugbee lived on the place now owned by E. P. Perkins, jr. In 1871 he settled on the place at Bridgewater Corners, where he still resides. He is a Republican in politics; has been selectman for several years, and represented the town in the Legislature in 1870-71. Mr. and Mrs. Bugbee are members of the first Second Advent Church of Bridgewater, and Mr. Bugbee has been deacon of the church since 1868.
Capron, Jonathan, grandfather of Chester K., was a native of Marlboro, N. H., a blacksmith by trade and a soldier in the war of the Revolution. He married Lois Porter, by whom he had eleven children, all born in New Hampshire. About the year 1810 he moved from New Hampshire and settled in the town of Reading, Vt. He died at the residence of his son Stephen, in Bridgewater, May 4, 1837, aged eighty-four. His wife survived him and died in Keene, N. H., at the residence of her daughter, Mrs. Lois Ingalls.
Capron, Stephen, was born in New Hampshire in August, 1798. He was about twelve years old when the family moved to Reading. He married, in Reading, Mary Kellogg, and had a family of thirteen children. In the spring of 1829 he moved to Bridgewater and lived there till his death, which occurred May 21, 1804. His wife is still living with her youngest son, Colamer Capron, in Bridgewater.
Capron, Chester K., was born in Reading, Vt., September 29, 1824. He lived with his father until he was twenty-two years of age. He married, January 31, 1847, Eliza A. Cary, of Clyde, N. Y., where he resided from 1847 to 1851, then in Bridgewater one year. In 1853 he settled in Plymouth, where he resided thirteen years, and then moved back to Bridgewater, where he still resides. His children are as follows: Dexter S., born December 21, 1849, married Anna Brown. Their children were Lillian E., born March 15, 1874; Myrtie, born March 13, 1879; and Floyd, born March 18, 1888. Edward W., born April 11, 1852, married Mary Etta Rogers, of Weare Center, N. H. Their children were Gertrude F., born October 16, 1876; Ernest W., born November 22, 1877; Bernice E., born September 12, 1879; and Claude R., born August 10, 1886. Dexter S. and Edward W. are residents of Bridgewater village. Stephen B., born in Savannah. N. Y., December 31, 1847, a soldier in Company 6, Seventeenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, was killed at Petersburg, Va. April 2, 1865; he enlisted March, 1864.
Davis, Hermon G.-This family are of Welch origin. The great-grandfather of Hermon G.. was a native of Wales. He was a Welch chieftain and belonged to the defeated Welch faction, in the time of a struggle between Wales and England. Being forced to leave Wales, he took refuge in France, was married there, emigrated to America, where he eventually settled in West Windsor. Jonathan Davis, his son, was born in West Windsor, and was a stonemason by trade He married Sophia Lull. Their children were Almon Lull, Caroline, Sylvester, Adaline, Miranda and Carrie. Almon Lull married Lydia Maria Gillet. He first settled in Sherburne, Rutland county, where he lived about fourteen years, then moved to Woodstock where he remained four years. In 1866 he moved to Hartland on a farm, known as the Aldrich place, where he still resides. Their children were Hermon G-., Emma E. and Claribel. Emma E. is the wife of David C. Hubbard, hotel-keeper in Wyoming, N. Y. Claribel is the wife of James L. Briggs, carrying on the homestead farm in Hartland. Hermon G. received his primary education in the district schools of Sherburne and Woodstock, his studies preparatory to entrance to college at South Woodstock Academy and the Canton High School, St. Lawrence county, N. Y. In 1869 he entered Tuft's College, Massachusetts, and was graduated from that institution in 1873. He studied law in the office of Governor Converse at Woodstock one year; taught school at Willow Park Seminary, Westboro, Mass., and, subsequently, six years in Middlebury Academy, Wyoming, N. Y. In 1880, again studied law with the Hon. Warren C. French in Woodstock, two years. He was admitted to the Bar in 1882. From 1882 to 1884 he was manager of the Chateauguay Steam Mill Company, in Bridgewater. From 1884 to 1888 he taught in Middlebury Academy and Union School at Wyoming. On account of an injury received by his father, whereby he was obliged to give up the management of the mill, he returned to Bridgewater, and has since taken the full management of that interest. He married, March 29, 1874, Nellie A., daughter of William P. and Amanda L. (Wood) Foster. Mrs. Davis was born in Woodstock, March 6, 1851. They have one child, Daisy Mabel, born January 9, 1882.
Derby, Augustus R., was born in Orford, Grafton county, N. H., November 14, 1846. His father, John Derby, was also a native of Orford, born in 1801, and died there in 1856. His mother was Fidelia S. Freeman, who, after tlie death of her husband, became the wife of Peter Shattuck, of Bridgewater. She died in Bridgewater in 1881. The children of John and Fideha S. Derby were Martha L., Henry B., George Edwin, Francis E., Charles F., Mary F., and Augustus R. The latter lived in Orford til he was twelve years old. He lived with his mother three years after her marriage to Peter Shattuck. He then worked on a farm summers, and went to school winters. In 1860 he went to Lawrence, Mass., where he was employed in the Pacific Mill up to the fall of 1879. He married, May 13, 1880, Eva S. Giles, who was born in Clifton, Me., October 3, 1857. They have one child. Will B. Since his marriage Mr. Derby has carried on general merchandising in Bridgewater village.
Furber, Dr. Zophar W., was born in Dublin, N. H., October 9, 1806. He was graduated from Oastleton Medical College, March 10, 1829. He married October 27, 1830, Caroline Edgerton, born in Hartford, Vt., October 8, 1808. He commenced the practice of his profession in Weathersfield, Windsor county, Vt, then in Charlestown, N. H., where he secured an extensive practice. He next settled in Quechee, where he remained about four years. In 1840 he settled in Bridgewater, where he practiced his profession until 1852. In the latter year he went to California, where he died January 22, 1860. Twice during that period he returned East, with the intention of remaining, but was obliged, on account of the climate not agreeing with him, to go back to California. His primary object in going to California was for gold, but he also practiced his profession while there. He was an early Abolitionist, and was a staunch Free Soiler. He was held in high esteem as a man and as a physician in every community where he lived. Eliphalet Edgerton, his wife's father, was a native of Norwich, Conn. He came to Hartland and married there Wealthy Willard, a descendant of one of the early settlers of Windsor county. The children of Dr. and Caroline Furber are Emily Edgerton, born August 21, 1831 ; Edwin Edgerton, born December 9, 1833, died November 15, 1867 ; Luther Edgerton, born May 5, 1843; and Mary Frances, born January 26, 1845. Emily and Mary have carried on a millinery and ladies' furnishing goods trade in Bridgewater for the last sixteen years. Luther Edgerton Furber married October 2, 1866, Ellen, daughter of Joseph and Lucy (Clark) Headle. Mrs. Furber was born in Plymouth, Vt., March 1, 1844, one of a family of ten children, seven of whom are living. Mr. Furber was educated in Bridgewater, and at Eastman's Business College, Poughkeepsie, N. Y. He was employed in the woolen factory now owned by F. S. Mackenzie, in different positions, for about twenty years. In 1870 he took charge of the company's boarding-house in the village of Bridgewater, and still retains that position. The children of Luther E. and Ellen Furber are Edwin E., born July 14, 1867, a student in the Harvard Medical College, Boston, and Alice E., born July 10, 1869, living at home.
Josselyn, Josiah, was born in Pembroke, Plymouth county, Mass., August 25, 1799, the eldest in a family of six children of Josiah and Ruth (Howland) Josselyn. Charles Josselyn, his grandfather, married Rebecca Keene. Their children were Charles, Jabez, Jacob, Elisha, Josiah and two daughters. Josiah was the youngest of his children. He moved from Pembroke with his family and settled in Woodstock, Vt., on a farm purchased of Josiah Crocker, in the southwest part of that town. He remained here till the death of his wife, which occurred August 16, 1848. He was a shoemaker by trade, but carried on merchandising in Pembroke. He was a life-long Democrat. He survived his wife sixteen years, and died in Tyson, town of Plymouth, at the residence of his son, Jairus Josselyn, April 30, 1864, and was burried beside his wife in the Bridgewater cemetery. With the exception of a daughter, who died in Pembroke, the following were his children: Jairus, Lewis, Ruth and Robert. Josiah Josselyn was sixteen years old when his father moved to Vermont. He learned the " clothier " trade of Elihu Smith. He remained at home until he was twenty-one years old, and for the next four years he followed peddling in Vermont and New Hampshire. Starting with nothing but credit, he closed his peddling career $2,000 ahead. He married in Bridgewater, October 16, 1825, Ann, daughter of James and Abigail (Dimick) Topliff, who was born in Bridgewater, November 19, 1803, and died at their residence, October 3, 1876. For two years after marriage he was in trade in Woodstock, in company with his brother Lewis. In 1827 he came to live with his father-in-law, Mr. Topliff and in 1830 he purchased the Topliff farm, and from that time to the present (1890) Las owned and carried it on. He has always taken a deep interest in every movement looking to the elevation .and betterment of the farmer. He built the finest Grange hall in the State, known as the " Josselyn Hall." He has been a life-long Democrat." He has filled most of the town offices, and represented the town two terms in the Legislature. Lie is liberal in his religious belief. The children of Josiah and Ann Josselyn are Andrew Jackson, born April 10, 1830, married September 18, 1855, Roxa, daughter of Peter and Ruth (Freeman) Shattuck, born in Bridgewater, June 6, 1836. He lives at the homestead and carries on the farm. Their children are Lewis E., Charles H., and Arthur A. Lewis E. married Nellie A. Blake, March 23, 1885. She was born in Bethel, June 18, 1866. Calvin Topliff, born March 16, 1836, married October 6, 1859, Ellen A., daughter of Charles and Arminda (Fales) Walker, who was born in Unity, Sullivan county, N. H., September 9, 1839. Mr. Josselyn represented the town of Bridgewater in the State Legislature in 1876, is now (1890) serving his second term as selectman, and was superintendent of the schools two years, and has taught in the schools of Bridgewater and neighboring towns twenty winters. For the last nineteen years he has owned and carried on the farm nearly adjoining his father's in Bridgewater. Their children are Iney May, born May 29, 1861, wife of A. H. Morse, of Ascutueyville ; Horatio Seymour, born May 13, 1863; Chandos Fales, born October 20, 1867; Ann A., born August 21, 1869, wife of Charles B. Weeden, a spinner in the Bridgewater woolen-mills ; Charles Josiah, born March 23, 1877; and Nellie, born May 13, 1879.
Madden, Alonzo, was born in Sherburne, Rutland county, Vt., December 10, 1834, the eighth in a family of twelve children of Michael and Electa (Johnson) Madden. His father was born in Cork, Ireland. When twelve years of age he was taken by a press gang on board a British man of-war, where he was kept for three years and six months. Upon the arrival of the ship in a Canadian port, in company with three boys who had been imprisoned with him, he deserted, and eventually brought up in the town of Chester, Windsor county, Vt, where, for three years, he worked on a farm for Blaney Sargent. He next worked for Jonathan Hall, in Plymouth, at lime-burning and farming. In 1816, at the age of twenty-two, he married Electa, daughter of Ebenezer and Dilly Johnson. Their twelve children were Ellis S., Michael, jr., James H., Sidney, George W., Edward A., Nelson, Lydia A., Alonzo, Margaret M.. Mary M., and Charles A. After marriage he farmed it in Plymouth and Bridgewater, but for the last forty years of his life he carried on a farm in Sherburne, where he died April 11, 1875, aged eighty-one. His wife died April 2, 1857. He afterwards married Roxanna M., widow of Aaron G. Holt. The latter died July 3, 1877. Of the twelve children only six are living. Charles A., Margaret M. and Mary M. are living in Sherburne, the two former on the homestead. George W. and Lydia A. are residents of Iowa. Alonzo Madden married December 2, 1857, Sarah M., daughter of Aaron G. and Roxanna Holt. She was born in Sherburne, September 19, 1838. Her father died March 31, 1855, and her mother subsequently married her husband's father Her brothers and sisters were Esther A., Henry H., Ellen M., Diana P., Albina M. and Ezekiel A. Mr. Madden went to California soon after his marriage, and for more than a year was engaged in gold mining. December 10, 1861, he enlisted in Company H, Seventh Vermont Volunteers, Colonel Roberts commanding. He received his discharge August 22, 1863, under a surgeon's certificate of disability. The regiment was at New Orleans under General Benjamin F. Butler. Mr. Madden receives a pension on account of disabilities growing out of the service. Mr. Madden has in the main followed farming as a business, but for the last four years has owned and kept the Ottaquechee House at West Bridgewater. He has filled a number of the town offices of his native town. Mr. and Mrs. Madden have but one child, Carleton W., born January 9, 1871.
Marsh, Ziba Aldrich.-Joseph Marsh, grandfather of Ziba A., born in Henniker, N. H., August 6, 1750, married Mehitable Harriman, June 17, 1784. The latter was born January 24, 1767. They died in Henniker, the former July 7, 1837, the latter March 24 1816. They had sixteen children, of whom Joseph, father of Ziba, was the seventh child. He was born in Henniker, March 26, 1703, married Betsey (Aldrich) Hathorn widow. Two children, Ziba A. and Mary, were the issue of this marriage. The latter became the wife of Charles Rice, of Lansingburg, N. Y. Lyman Hathorn, son of Betsey by a former husband, is now living in Cuttingsville, Shrewsbury, Rutland county, Vt. Joseph Marsh died in Henniker, September 11, 1823. His wife subsequently married Elisha Johnson, of Shrewsbury, Vt., and she died there. Ziba A. Marsh was born in Henniker, December 21, 1818. He was ten years old when his mother married Mr. Johnson, and he lived four years with his stepfather in Shrewsbury. In 1832 he came to Bridgewater, where he learned the shoemaker's and tanner's trades, with Messrs. Flint & Bailey, remaining seven years with them. He married, April 23, 1840, Orpha, daughter of Emanuel and Submit (Foster) Sawyer. Mrs. Marsh was born in Plymouth, Vt., July 14, 1820. Her father settled in Plymouth before his marriage (May 20, 1804). There are ten children in the family, three of whom are deceased, six are still residents of Windsor county, and one a resident of Detroit, Mich. Her mother died in Plymouth, her father in Bridgewater, and both are buried in the Bridgewater cemetery. After his marriage Mr. Marsh settled in Bridgewater village, and lived there till his death, which occurred May 6, 1885. He carried on the boot and shoe business at the stand now occupied by E. A. Davis for twenty years. He was postmaster of the village for twenty-four years, justice of the peace two years, and overseer of the poor fourteen years. These positions of public trust sufficiently attest the estimation in which he was held in the community where he lived. An only child, Mary A., born June 30, 1842, became the wife of Clarke Raymond. She died June 28, 1866. Two children, the issue of this marriage, died in infancy.
From William Shattuck, as their common progenitor, have descended nearly all, if not every one, of those who now bear the name in America. He was born in England in 1621 or 1622, and died in Watertown, Mass., August 14, 1672, aged fifty years. Though a weaver by trade, agriculture was his principal employment. He sustained the character of a sagacious, energetic and successful business man, of an honest, upright and worthy citizen. He married about 1642. His wife's christian name was Susanna. They had ten children, five sons and five daughters, of whom second, William, born in Watertown in 1678, married Susanna Randall. He died October 19, 1732, in the eightieth year of his age; his wife died May 8, 1723. They had eleven children, six sons and five daughters, of whom third, Benjamin, born in Watertown, July 30, 1687, married Martha Sherman, whose father, John Sherman, was grandfather of Hon. Roger Sherman, ex-United States Senator from Connecticut. Benjamin Shattuck was a graduate of Harvard College in 1709, studied divinity, and was ordained the first minister of Littleton, December 25, 1717. They had eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom fourth, William, the fifth child, was born in Littleton, January 1, 1718. He was a leading man in the town affairs of Littleton, as afterwards in New Ipswich, N. H. He was eight years its selectman, a delegate to the Provincial Congress, a representative to the Legislature in 1776. In 1794 he moved to Jaffrey, N. H., where he died, January, 1806, aged eighty-eight. He married, November 20, 1750, Abigail Reed, born in 1733, died in February, 1820. Of their eight children, fifth, Peter, was their fifth child, born in Littleton, in 1762. He was thrice married. His first wife was Lydia Henney. In 1800 he moved to Bethlehem, N. H., where he died, July 18, 1824. Sixth, Peter, eldest child of Peter and Lydia, was born in New Ipswich, July 15, 1778; first settled in Lunenburgh, Mass.; in 1806 removed to Canaan, N. H.; in 1820 to Lebanon; and in 1830 to Bridgewater, Vt., where he was killed by a tree falling upon him, April 20, 1835. He married in Lunenburgh, January 1, 1803, Ruxbey Whiting, born April 20, 1782, daughter of Leonard and Mary Whiting. She died in Bridgewater, October 23, 1851. Peter Shattuck, the eldest of five children of Peter and Ruxbey Shattuck. was born in Lunenburgh, December 19, 1804. He was employed in the grist-mills at Lebanon and Hartford from the time he was sixteen until he was twenty-six years of age. In 1830 he settled in Bridgewater, on what is known as "Shattuck's Hill," on the farm where he still resides. He married, February, 1830, Ruth H., daughter of Caleb F. Freeman, who died April 10, 1858. He married, December 2, 1858, Fidelia Derby, widow of John Derby, and sister of his first wife. His children by the first marriage were George P., born December 12, 1830, died May 12, 1832; Roxey, born June 6, 1835. wife of Andrew J. Josselyn, of Bridgewater; Abel Storrs, born February 11, 1839, married, September 18, I860, Addie 0., daughter of Ebenezer K. and Elizabeth (Holmes) Bartlett. She was born in Plymouth, November 20, 1838. They have one child, Mary Ruth, born December 3, 1871. Abel Storrs carries on the homestead farm. Cyrus E., born January 9, 1844, died March 10. 1850. Mr. Shattuck has followed farming in Bridgewater, and made it a success. He has filled a number of town offices. For the past five years he has failed in his eyesight; though not totally blind, he is not able to recognize faces. He enjoys in the fullest measure the confidence and esteem of the community in which he lives. Lemuel Shattuck, a younger brother of Peter, and living in Bridgewater a near neighbor, has been connected largely with educational interests, and has been prominently identified with the public affairs of the town.
Taft, Andrew J., was born in Woodstock, September 3, 1825, the fifth in a family of six children of Timothy and Jerusha (McWain) Taft. Artemus Taft, his grandfather, married a Miss Staples, and raised a family of six children. Artemus Taft died in Rutland, his wife in Woodstock. Timothy, born August 25, 1777, married Jerusha, daughter of Andrew and Rebecca (Seaver) McWain. After marriage he settled on the farm in Woodstock now owned and occupied by C. J. Taft, his grandson. He subsequently exchanged farms with Jesse Williams, a place now owned and occupied by Mrs. Lucia Taft, widow of his son, Wales A. Taft. Here he died July 16, 1861, aged eighty-three. His wife died May 26, 1856, aged sixty-one. Their children were Charles F., Wales A., Edwin S., Adaline L., Andrew J., Marshall W. Andrew J. lived until he was thirty-one years of age on the homestead in Woodstock, and received his education in the district school of the town. He married April 18, 1858, Emily, daughter of Israel and Clarissa (Seaver) Blake. Mrs. Taft was born in Bridgewater, January 10, 1830. Her father was born in Keene, N. H., April 29, 1795; her mother August, 1800. He died March 28. 1873; she died March 8, 1872. Mrs. Taft, and a brother, Henry T., are their only children living; the latter a farmer living in Stockbridge, Vt. Mr. and Mrs. Taft lived the first three years after marriage in the village of Bridgewater; the next twelve years on a farm in Woodstock. In 1873 he purchased the Gilman White farm in Bridgewater, one-half mile north of the village, where he still resides. Andrew McWain, his grandfather on his mother's side, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, serving from the beginning of the war to its close, and lived to the advanced age of ninety-nine years, one month, and thirteen days. He died in Woodstock, Vt., at the home of his son-in-law, July 29, 1837. The children of Andrew J. and Emily Taft are Ethan A., born July 29, 1863, living at home; Hattie A., born July 4, 1869, wife of Forest E. Taylor, living in Bridgewater village.
Washburn, Oscar F., was descended from one of two brothers who emigrated from England and settled in West Bridgewater, Mass. His grandfather, Nehemiah, and his father, Hattil, were both born there. When eight years of age his father went with Dr. Silas Burgess to Goshen, Mass., and there married Martha Putney. They had a family of ten children. Hattil Washburn died at the residence of his son, Amos, at Vernon, Vt., in 1860. His wife died in Goshen in 1846. Of their ten children, only three are living, Amos, Oscar F., and Martha, who married William Webster, of Springfield, Mass. Oscar F. lived with his father in Goshen until he was thirty years of age. He married November 29, 1845, Mary A. Wing, of Goshen, who died in March, 1849. Marion O. is their only child. Mr. Washburn married May 30, 1851, Eliza J., daughter of William and Eunice (Brooks) Lacore. The latter was born in Southampton, Mass., September 15, 1838. The children by this union are as follows: Hattie A., Oscar F., Mary E., Lydia M., Lizzie B., Carrie G. and Florence G. Mr. Washburn carried on the watch making trade in New York city ten years. In 1863 he came to Bridgewater, Vt., to explore the gold bearing rocks of that town, and for five years was manager for the '' Quartz Hill and Pioneer Gold Mining Company," remaining with them until their failure. The yield of gold obtained varied from 5 to 37 cwts. per ton, 21 1/2 karats fine. Thereafter, for several years, he carried on the mill on his own account. In 1869 everything was carried away by a freshet, which left him penniless. He then engaged as superintendent for Senator Pomeroy, in the " Portis Gold Mine," in North Carolina. He occupied that position five years. Upon his return North he invented " Washburn's Automatic Fire Escape," and remained in New York city during the disposal of the patent. In October, 1888, he returned to Bridgewater, Vt., where he engaged in the development of his gold mining interests. He is now (1890) sixty-six years of age.
Weeden, Benjamin F., was born in Hartland, Vt., May 23, 1835. His great-grandfather, Thomas Weeden, moved from Rhode Island to Hartland, Vt. Samuel, his third child by the first marriage, was born in Hartland, May 6, 1792. He was twice married. His first wife was a daughter of Simeon Willard, of Hartland. His second wife was Martha B. Cady, born December 11, 1800, died December 10, 1873. Samuel Weeden died July 29, 1870. Benjamin F. was .six years old when his father moved from Hartland to Reading. He lived in the latter town thirteen years. In 1854 he moved from Reading and settled on the farm in Bridgewater, which, upon his death, came into the possession of his son, Benjamin F., which he still owns and carries on. Benjamin F. married January 18, 1864, Sarah A., daughter of Moses and Sarah (Thompson) Shaw. She was born in North Bridgewater, August 30, 1834. Her father was a son of Isaiah Shaw, who located in Bridgewater in 1783. Her mother was a sister to Prof. Zadock Thompson, author of "Thompson's Gazetteer of Vermont."
West, Lorenzo 0., was born in Pomfret, Vt., January 2, 1841, the eldest in a family of nine children of Ezekiel, jr., and Mary E. (Stafford) West. The tradition in the family is that John West was the ancestor of the family in this country ; that he came from Ireland, was a bridge builder by trade, and lost his life by an accident while engaged in his occupation. Ezekiel West, son of John, born in Vermont, at an early day moved with his family to Lockport, N. Y., in that portion known as the Holland Purchase. Here Ezekiel West, jr., was born March 16, 1816. He married about 1839, in Pomfret, Mary E. Stafford, of Bridgewater. Ezekiel West, jr., died in Bridgewater, April 29, 1887. His wife died in Sherburne, in May, 1889. Their children were Lorenzo 0., Mary A. (deceased), Ezekiel, Emily M. (deceased), Luther N., John L., James L., Elsie M., and Edna M. (deceased). All those living are residents of Vermont. Lorenzo 0. enlisted as private in the First Vermont Light Artillery, January 2, 1862, and served in that battery ten and a half months. At the end of that service he enlisted in the regular service. First Regiment, Company F, Heavy Artillery, then serving as light artillery, and continued in that regiment three light artillery, and continued in that regiment three years. Upon his re-enlistment from the volunteer to the regular service, it was by orders of the general government, General Order 154, Special Order 501 for the Gulf Department. He received his discharge November 18, 1865. He receives a pension on account of injuries received in the service. He married, December 15, 1866, Nancy A., daughter of Isaac B. and Nancy F. (Bisbee) Grates. Mrs. West was born in Sherburne, Rutland county, Vt., June 23, 1846. Isaac B. Gates, her father, was the son of Abel and Judith (Chase) Gates. Isaac Bisbee, her maternal grandfather, was a Scotchman by birth, a soldier in the Revolutionary war. His wife was Mary Baker, of Cape Cod. Isaac B. Gates died in Woodstock, April 19, 1879 Nancy F., his wife, is still (1890) living in Woodstock. Their children were Benjamin F., Nancy A., Lestina S., Stella J., Thomas W., and an infant. Mr. West has followed lumbering and farming. He owns and carries on the " Leavett Wood " place on Bridgewater Hill. The children of Lorenzo 0. and Nancy A. West are Ida M., .Jessie L., Edith L., Arthur L., Herbert A., Vernon L., Flora J., and Perry 0.
Wood, Barnabas, grandfather of Bazaleel, had four children, of whom John, father of Bazaleel, was the youngest. The latter was born in Rockingham, Windham county, Vt., August, 1786. He was four times married. His first wife was Anna Phippen, whom he married January 23, 1810. She died May 10, 1821. He married February 24, 1822, Lucy Phippen, a cousin of his first wife. She died September 27, 1828. His third wife was Abigail Buxton, whom he married June 23, 1829. She died April 14, 1830. He married, fourth, Barnice Facett, October 30, 1831. Bazaleel lived in Ira till he was twenty years of age; received his education in the district school of that town. He came to Bridgewater in 1852 and was married March 30, 1853, to Catharine, daughter of Charles and Rachel (Gates) Dimick. Mrs. Wood was born in Bridgewater, August 8, 1831. Her grandfather, Joseph Dimick, from Enfield, Conn., settled in Bridgewater in 1793, on the farm now owned by his son Chester Dimick, and died there. He reared a family of twelve children, four of whom, viz.: Charles, Chester, Mrs. Bulah Robinson and Mrs. Harriet Dimick, are residents of Bridgewater; Mrs. Julia Wheeler is a resident of Plymouth. Mrs. Wood's mother died February, 1835, and her father married, for his second wife, Servilia Lakin, widow of Nathan T. Lakin. Electa R., sister of Mrs. Wood, is the wife of Matthew E. Kennedy, farmer living in Bridgewater. In 1860 Mr. Wood settled on the farm at Bridgewater Center, where he has since resided. August 14, 1862, he enlisted as private in Company A, Third Vermont Volunteers, and received his discharge June 19, 1865. He was twice wounded at the battle of the Wilderness, on which account he receives a pension. Since the war he has followed the business of farming. Mr. Wood seems to have inherited the military spirit from his ancestors, as he had two great-uncles in the War of the Revolution, and his father was in the War of 1812, and was at the battle of Plattsburgh. Mr. and Mrs. Wood have one adopted child, Lizzie A, wife of Lewis E. Weymouth, residing in Quincy, Mass. She has two children, Katie H. and Lillie A.
Woods, John P.-Oliver Woods, grandfather of John P., raised a family of four children, viz.: Nehemiah, Elisha, Sally, and Betsey, all born in Groton, N. H. Nehemiah married Jerusha Stevens, and raised a large family. Nehemiah and his wife died in Peterboro. Sally died at the age of twenty. Betsey married William Alexander, and raised a family of three sons and three daughters. Jonathan Alexander, one of their sons, died in Bridgewater in 1889, leaving a widow. Elisha Woods was born in Groton, April 16, 1790, married about 1810 Mary Nay, born December 23, 1795. He moved from Peterboro, N. H., and settled in Bridgewater, March, 1814. He died in Chester, Vt., July 5, 1855. His wife died at the residence of her son Elisha, in Bridgewater, August 30, 1878. Their children were John P., Elisha F.. Russell N., James N., Sarah, Mary Ann, Lorenzo F., Elizabeth F., Caroline, Julia, and Angeline. All were married. Elisha F., Mary Ann and Angeline are deceased. John P. Woods was born in Peterboro, November 21, 1811. He lived at home until he was eighteen years of age. He has followed farming principally as an occupation, but has also followed stone cutting and laying. He worked one season on the State capitol, and was engaged on the stone work in the construction of the Woodstock Railroad. He married December 4, 1834, Betsey U., daughter of Hezekiah and Susannah (Dodge) Johnson, who was born in Amherst, N. H., November 7, 1816. After his marriage he moved onto a farm in Bridge water Center, upon which he lived twenty-three years. Here his wife died May 25, 1854. He married for his second wife Hannah Gr. Corbell, widow of Leander Corbell. He had no children by the latter marriage. In 1858 he moved to Chester, where he lived till 1888, since which time he has resided with his son, Charles H. Woods. The children of John P. and Betsey Woods are George H., born February 28, 1836; Sarah J., born May 5, 1838; Charles H., born February 24, 1841; Volney J., born August 5, 1843; Minerva, born April 5, 1847, died when twelve years of age; Charlotte A., born March 4. 1849. George H. was twice married; his first wife was Eliza Moore, his second Clara Follansbee ; had three children, Hattie, Mamie, and George. George H. is overseer for the Union Metallic Cartridge Co.. Bridgeport, Conn. Sarah J. married, first, Thomas Pratt; second, Sewell Wheeler, and lives in Boston. Charles H. married Lucy M., daughter of Jason L. and Harriet A. Spaulding, born in Bridgewater, December 29, 1842. Their children are Ida M., born July 21, 1863, married October 31, 1880, Lauris Barrows, and their children are Lynn W., born December 5, 1881; and Roy A., born March 23, 1886. Charles H. Woods carries on the blacksmith trade in company with his son-in-law, Mr. Barrows, in Bridgewater village. Charles E., born April 29, 1865; Etta M., born January 27, 1867, wife of Clifton R. Pinney, has one child, Marian L., born November 18, 1888; John J., born June 23, 1872; Eugene, born May 1, 1877; and Robert P., born October, 1881. Volney J. married Wealthy J. Chase; they have two children, Byron C. and Harry E. Charlotte A. is the wife of John Balch, a farmer living in Springfield, Vt, and they have two children, Eva M. and Ada A.
