Biographies of Windsor County Vermont
History of Windsor County Vermont
Lewis Cass Aldrich published in 1891
GILL FAMILY, The - The pioneer of this family in Springfield was a carpenter and mill-wright, who came from Exeter, R. I., about the year 1770. Previous to his becoming a resident of this town, the original proprietors at a meeting held by them March 1, 1763, voted to give any person starting a saw-mill on their grant twenty acres of land and furnish a set of irons for the mill, on condition that said mill should be kept in good repair for a term of fifteen years. This right had been secured by Simon Stevens and Page Harriman, and they by deed dated February 8, 1771, transferred it to Daniel Gill, the tract in question being located at the lower falls on the Black River, now the site of Gould's mills. Mr. Gill proceeded to blast the rock on his purchase preparatory to building, expending considerable time and money, but Richard Morris claimed the tract by title from the province of New York, and though overtures were made to Mr. Gill by Mr. Morris to settle the difficulty, he abandoned the project. He was elected a member of the Legislature of 1784 and 1792, and while attending the latter at Rutland was presented with a petition signed by 195 inhabitants of Springfield and vicinity, bearing date of October 19, 1792, appointing him with Captain Abner Bisbee as agents to select homesteads for them in Upper Canada, in response to a proclamation issued by John G. Simcoe, governor of that province. Returning from that mission he was taken sick and died at Sing Sing, N. Y. His wife's maiden name was Mercy Whitford, of Exeter, R. I., and they had six children, viz. : John, married, but left no children, and died in Springfield ; Amos Whitford, built the house now standing on the Gill homestead, located in the eastern part of the town and afterwards emigrated to New York State, where he died ; Betsey, married Mr. Dyke, of Weathersfield ; Mary, married Bradley Wilson and removed West; and Martha, married Mr. Ranney of Westminster, Vt. Amos, son of Daniel, was born in 1765, and married Sally, daughter of Roger and Huldah (Stodder) Bates, December 30, 1790. They had eleven children: Arnold, born September 26, 1791, moved to Hartland ; George R. ; Daniel A., born September 9, 1796, married Theoda Tower, and died March 7, 1886, leaving no issue ; Mary, died single ; Charles ; Martha, died single ; Sarah, died young; Amos, died unmarried ; Sarah (deceased), married Oscar P. Rice, of Grafton, Vt.; Nancy (deceased), married John C. Richardson of Westminster, Vt. ; Albert G. is a resident of Des Moines, la. Amos died November 13,-1847. George R., son of Amos, was born March 24, 1793, married Theodita Walker and had six children, viz. : John R. ; Horace, resides in Monticello, la. ; Martha, wife of Franklin Tolles, of Weathersfield ; Maryetta, wife of Honestus Stevens, of Felchville, Vt.; George, resides in Monticello, la., and Robert B. George R. died February 29, 1856. John R., son of George R., born in Springfield November 12, 1816, married Mary Chittenden, and has three children, viz.: George T., Mary, both residents of Springfield, and Kate, wife of Lewis Bowen, of Alstead, N. H. Robert B., son of George R., was born in Springfield, April 9, 1830, married Mary Ward and has two children, Sarah and Jennie O., and has been a resident of Weathersfield since 1866. Charles, son of Amos, born in Springfield September 14, 1801, married Sophia Healy and had five children, viz.: Ellen, wife of D. R. Judkins, of Rockford, 111.; Frank C, resides at Rockford, 111.; Daniel O.; Sophia, died young, and Henry C, of Rockford, 111. Charles died at Springfield, Vt. Daniel O., son of Charles, was born at Hartland, Vt., August 15, 1837, and was adopted by his uncle, Daniel A. Gill, when he was three years old, and has since resided in Springfield. He married for his first wife Helen C. Westgate. His second wife was Lucy J. Butterfield, and their children are Frank D. and Fred B. By consulting the political history of the town the reader will learn that Mr. Gill has been actively engaged in town affairs. Biographie Index
GILL, JAMES SEEL , was born in Leeds, Yorkshire, England, November 26, 1828, and was the eldest child in a family of six sons of Thomas and Elizabeth (Seel) Gill. His father was a man of wealth, his business being that of master dyer, but in consequence of the financial panic in 1837, he lost his property. In 1844 he removed his family to America, and settled in Northampton, Mass. James S. attended a private school in England, and about three years after his father's failure, he commenced to learn the dyer's trade, and continued the apprenticeship after the family removed to Northampton. At the age of seventeen he took charge of the dye house at the Thomas Bottomly Mill, Leicester, Mass., and was afterwards employed by James Roy & Co., of West Troy, N. Y.; C. L. Harding & Co., of Oxford, Mass.; and Edward Harris, of Woonsocket, R. I On account of his health he gave up his trade, and engaged in the mercantile business in Leicester and Holliston, Mass He carried on business at these places and was engaged in other enterprises till 1863, when he was again engaged as dyer by C. L. Harding & Co., who were at that time running the Burlington Woolen Mills located at Winooski, Vt. In 1868, he became a member of the firm of George W. Harding & Co., Ludlow, Vt., then operating the Ludlow Woolen Mills, and in 1878 he purchased the entire plant, and continued to run the business alone till September 1, 1885, when other parties became interested with him. Mr. Gill has always been a Republican in politics. In 1849 he married Miss Rachel M. Wood. An adopted daughter, Florence Harding, died in 1886. They have no other children. Biographie Index
GILLETTE, BENNIE BURTON , was born in Hartford July 21, 1865. After attending the local schools of his native town, in 1881 he entered St. Johnsbury Academy, St. Johnsbury, Vt, to prepare himself for college. He attended the academy till 1884 and the same year commenced his collegiate course at Dartmouth College, graduating in 1888. He early showed an interest in musical matters and during his youth received lessons on the piano and afterwards on the organ. When only fourteen years of age he was organist of the First Congregationalist Church at Norwich, Vt, afterwards at a church of the same denomination at Hartford, Vt. For four years he was organist at St. Thomas Church of Hanover, N. H., and during this last year in college had charge of the organ in the college chapel. Among his instructors in music was Professor S B. Whitney of Boston and on finishing his college course he removed to Boston and still continues his studies under Professor Whitney. Mr. Gillette has been for the last two years organist and choir master of the Church of the Holy Trinity of Marlborough, Mass. In June, 1890, he passed the initiatory examination of the American College of Musicians, which meets annually in New York city, thereby obtaining the degree of Associate of the College of Musicians Biographie Index .
GILLETTE, DANIEL O. This gentleman traces his descent back to one John Gillette, one of the fifty-one charter proprietors of Lebanon, Conn. He had a son John, who married Abigail, daughter of Stephen and Elizabeth (Woodward) Lee. They had several children, among whom was Ebenezer, born June 5, 1705. He was one of the charter proprietors of Hartford, Vt., and received as his share in the first division lot No. 16, lying on the Connecticut River north of White River. He never became a resident of Hartford, but made subsequent purchases, which he afterwards deeded to his sons, John and Israel. He married. September 23, 1730, Mary, daughter of Jacob and Rebecca (Wright) Ordway. She was born August 16, 1712. They had children as follows : Israel, Rhoda, Ezekiel, John, Mary, Isaac, Rebecca, Ebenezer, and Jacob. He died October 19, 1776; his wife September 4, 1791. Israel, of the above family, was born September 17, 1738, and married, first, January 8, 1761, Martha, daughter of William and Elizabeth Thrope, of Lebanon, Conn. She was born May 17, 1739, and died July 4, 1763, leaving one child, Daniel Ordway, born in Lebanon, Conn., March 23, 1762. graduated from Dartmouth College in 1787, went West and there died in 1823. He married, second, November 15, 1764. Susanna Durkee, of Woodbury, Conn. Their children were: Martha, born in Lebanon, Conn, September 21, 1765, married, December 9, 1802, David Haze, and was accidentally drowned in the Connecticut River, June 17, 1833; Roger, born in Lebanon, August 6, 1767, died in Hartford; Susanna, born January 31, 1769, died December 18, 1779; Mary, born July 22, 1770, married, October 19, 1809, John Smith, of Hanover, N. H.; Ebenezer, born June 27, 1772, died April 24, 1859; Abel, born May 17, 1774, died May 15, 1852; Israel; Rhoda, born April 17, 1778, died October 23, 1780; Jacob, born March 9, 1780, died in 1866 ; and Susanna R , born September 4, 1783, married John Smith, of Hanover, N. H. Israel moved from Lebanon, Conn., to Hartford, Vt., about 1768, and first settled in the immediate vicinity of the village of Olcott. He built and lived in the house now occupied by his grandson, Daniel O., where he died July 8, 1829. His wife died July 26, 1821. He participated largely in the affairs of the town, was selectman from 1769 to 1771, one of the Committee of Safety in 1777, took an active part in military matters and was a lieutenant. Israel, son of Lieutenant Israel, born April 7, 1776, married Mary Sanborn, of Haverhill, N. H. She was born May 12, 1779. He was a farmer in Hartford. His children were: Elizabeth S., born September 21, 1801, married Edward P. Harris; Nathan, born September 18, 1803, died in Hartford, July 15, 1878 ; Justus, born April 12, 1806, died December 22, 1845 ; Martin S., born June 26, 1808 ; Athela, born July 17, 1810, married Jedediah Sprague ; Nancy M., born February 27, 1813, married Albert Buel; John, born in 1815, died aged twenty-four years; Mary, born January 15, 1817, married Wolcott Hatch; Cummings, born in 1821, died in Michigan when twenty-one years old; and Daniel O. Israel died January 5, 1835 his wife February 29, 1856. Daniel O., the youngest of the above family, was born March 21, 1819, and married, September 20, 1843, Julia A., daughter of Jacob B. C. and Susan (Loveland) Burton. She was born October 23. 1821, and died October 21,1873, leaving two children, Susan A., born October 8, 1850, married, November 29, 1879, Charles C, son of John and Julia A. (Heath) Kinsman. He was born July 30, 1852. They have children as follows: Harry G., born January 16, 1881 ; Julia B., born February 28, 1884; Belle H., born August 10, 1885 ; and Lawrence C, born June 11, 1888. Bennie Burton, born July 21, 1865, graduated from Dartmouth in 1888, an organist and teacher of music in Boston. Daniel O. is a farmer and extensive landowner, resides on the old homestead, was selectman from 1858-65, and is a public spirited, hospitable and worthy citizen. Biographie Index
GRAVES, LELAND J., M. D. , was born in Berkshire, Franklin county, Vt., May 24 1812. His grandfather, a native of Massachusetts, married a Miss Jewett, reared a family of ten children, four sons and six daughters, all except one of whom reached adult age and reared families. His father, David J. Graves, born October 29, 1785, at Leominster, Mass., was the second of the boys. After the death of his father his mother married for her second husband Colonel John Boynton, and he came with the latter from Massachusetts and settled in Weathersfield, Vt. He married at Chester, Vt., first, Mary Leland, born at Grafton, Mass., December 26, 1786, and had children as follows: Sereno W., born October 11, 1810; Leland J.; Calvin Jewett, born April 17, 1814; and Zuinglius Franklin, born September 10, 1815, died March 7, 1829. Sereno W. and Calvin J. are farmers, living in Rut land, Wis. Mary Leland Graves died at Berkshire, Vt., July 4. 1817. David J. married, second, Sarah Colbath. The children by this union were Mary L., born June 16, 1818, died June 11, 1871 ; Hannah B, born November 17, 1820, died December 31, 1870; she was the wife of Simeon Morse; Lydia S., born September 13, 1824, married, first, a Mr. Robson, second, Hiram Spenser; Joanna, born in 1826, married, first, Mark Hardy, second, Platt Gregory. Lydia S., a widow, and Joanna are residents of San Jose, Cal. David Jewett Graves died at Rutland, Wis., December 31, 1873, aged eighty-nine. Leland J. lived at home until seventeen years of age, and up to this time had been kept upon the farm, with extremely limited attendance at school. Having a thirst for education, he left home in 1829, and hired out to his uncle, Cyrus Boynton, of Weathersfield, with the stipulation that he should have three months' schooling during the year. This life of hard labor was continued for four years, his father receiving all his wages beyond what he needed for clothes. On attaining his majority his first thought was school, and having made good use of his scanty advantages he had prepared himself for teaching, and he taught for nine successive winters, working at farming in the summer. At intervals he attended the academies at Chester, Cavendish and Ludlow, and in these schools was fitted for college. But his unceasing labors in school and on the farm proved too much for his health, and a long disease, from the effects of which he has never recovered, held him prisoner during the four years he had proposed to pass in college. The treatment, or, as he regarded it, the maltreatment of his case, determined him in his choice of profession. He became satisfied an improvement ought to be made upon the practice of physicians, with whom salvation and salivation were synonymous terms. He entered the office of Dr. Lowell, with whom he studied one year. He then attended medical lectures at Woodstock, Vt., and afterwards was a private student under Drs. Crosby. Peaslee and Hubbard, and was graduated from the Medical Department of Dartmouth College, May 10, 1842. On May 24, 1842, he located in practice at Langdon, N. H. From this as a center it extended eventually into the neighboring towns of Alstead, Acworth, Walpole, Charlestown, Bellows Falls, and other towns. He remained at Langdon twenty-six years. In 1868 he purchased the home in Claremont, N. H., where he has since resided. It was his intention to retire from active practice, but he has continued to answer calls of some of his old families. He married, May 24, 1843, Caroline E , daughter of Reuben and Elizabeth (McEwen) Strow, born October 6, 1819, in Weathersfield, and died in Claremont, August 29, 1885. She was a woman of superior mental endowment, and previous to her marriage was a teacher in the Unity Scientific and Military School, where she gave great satisfaction. She was a highly conscientious and religious worker, and possessed richly of those Christian virtues which so round and complete character. She was universally esteemed and at her death was mourned by a large circle of friends. Dr. Graves is a member of the Connecticut River Medical Association and New Hampshire Medical Association. Whig and Republican in politics, he represented Langdon in 1867-68 in the State Legislature. As a laborer in scientific fields, the Doctor was well-known. He has pursued the studies of botany and geology with zeal. His botanical researches have extended from Maine to the Rocky Mountains, and few have been more conversant with the practical details of the scientific analysis of plants. He has made a large geological collection, which has taken years to gather. He has always taken an active part in all public enterprises, especially those relating to education. He was fourteen years superintendent of schools. In religion he is a Baptist; a member of that church in Springfield fifty years, now of the Claremont church. He has been for many years a prominent member of the order of Free Masons. Dr. Graves stands well with his professional brethren, has honored his social and official relations, and enjoys in the highest measure the esteem of the entire community where he resides. The children of Dr. and Mrs. Graves were Mary E., born January 9, 1846, principal for eleven years past of the Acadia Female Seminary, Wolfville, Novia Scotia, now a student of German Literature and Art at Berlin, Germany; Harriet M., born October 17, 1849, died in Kansas City, June 21, 1886, was the wife of James M. Coburn, and who left two children, Mary Agnes, born January 3, 1874, and Grace Eleanor, born August 25, 1876; Agnes J., born March 20, 1851, married, October 15, 1879, Pascal P. Coburn. She resides at the homestead. They have two children, Elizabeth Ames, born July 30, 1881, and Harriet Graves, born April 27, 1889. Biographie Index
GREEN, Dr. GEORGE BARRETT , was born in Windsor, Vt, April 14, 1798, the fourth in a family of seven children of Dr. Isaac and Ann (Barrett) Green. George Barrett Green was a life-long resident of Windsor, Vt. He fitted for college with the Rev. Mr. Chapin of Woodstock and entered Middlebury College, but did not graduate, though he received the degree of A. M. in 1857. He began the study of medicine with his father, but never entered upon the practice of the profession, though he was always called " Doctor Green." He manufactured and sold on a large scale the celebrated " Oxygenated Bitters," of which his father, together with himself, were the proprietors. He also carried on a general dry goods trade in company with Joseph D. Hatch, of the firm of Green & Hatch, for a number of years. He married first, November 9, 1829, Mary Hatch, daughter of Darius and Elizabeth B. (Hatch) Jones. She died August 3, 1840, in Manchester, Vt., while on a visit to her sister. He married second, January 3, 1854, Mrs. Hannah Adams Deane, only daughter of the Hon. Chester Baxter, of Sharon, Vt. ; she died August 1860. His children, all by the first marriage and all born in Windsor, were:
(1) Ann Elizabeth, born August 28, 1830, married, September 28, 1879, George Wardner .
(2) Isaac, born May 13, 1832, married, September 22, 1853, Frances Elizabeth, eldest daughter of Joseph Denison and Frances Spooner (Forbes) Hatch, a merchant and at one time mayor of Lacon, Illinois. He was a soldier in the War of the Rebellion, enlisting in Company A, Eighth Regiment of Minnesota Volunteers ; he died suddenly, June 17, 1863, in Red Wing, Minn., and is buried there. His wife died June 17, 1860, in Windsor. Their children were, (a) George Baxter, born and died in Lacon, ILL., April 1855; (b) Frances Hatch, born August 21, 1856, in Lacon, ILL., died there February 1857; (c) Mary Hatch, born in Windsor, August 31, 1857, married, September 11, 1879, Dr. William Reid Prime, eldest son of Dr. Thomas Merrill and Amity (Paige) Prime of Knowlton, Quebec, Canada. He was born in Fairfield, Vt., October 17, 1857, graduated from McGill Medical College, Montreal, and the University Medical College, New York, in 1859. They now reside in Burlington, Vt., and their children are, Mary Frances, born in Manchester, N. H., June 30, 1880; William Isaac, born in Richford, Vt, May 29, 1883 ; Thomas Benjamin, born and died in Richford, Vt., November 24, 1888. (d) Frances Elizabeth, born in Red Wing, Minn., September 22, 1858, married, December 12, 1878, Frank Hallett Fisher, of Burlington, Vt., who was for three years cashier of the Howard National Bank, and is now special eastern agent of the Northwestern Guaranty Loan Company of Minneapolis. Their children are, Wilson Hatch Fisher, born September 12, 1879; Louis Edwin Fisher, born November 6, 1880; John Marcus Fisher, born November 12, 1882, died August 16, 1883; Josephine Forbes Fisher, born July 24, 1884, died January 3, 1888, and Florence Martha Fisher, born November 24, 1888.
(3) Charlotte Eloise, born January 30, 1834, married July 9, 1863, Rev. Henry A. Hazen, and died in Auburndale, Mass., February 8, 1881 ; buried in Christian Street burial-ground, Hartford, Vt. Mr. Hazen was born in Hartford December 27, 1832, graduated from Kimball Union Academy, Dartmouth College and Andover Theological Semi nary; was pastor of Congregational churches in Plymouth, Lyme and Pittsfield, N. H., and in Billerica, Mass, and since 1880 has resided in Auburndale, Mass., in the service of the A. B. C. F. M. until 1883; secretary of the National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States, and editor of the Year Book from 1883 ; trustee of Kimball Union Academy and of the Howe School of Billerica ; secretary of Andover Alumni Association, 1880-90, of the New Hampshire General Association, 1872-74, and of the Massachusetts General Association since 1888; editor of the General Catalogue of Andover Theological Seminary, 1880. and author of History of Billerica with Genealogies, 1882. Their children were, (a) Mary, born in Plymouth, N. H., November 23, 1864, died September 30, 1865 ; (b) Emily, born August 5, 1866, graduated from Smith College in 1889, and now teacher in the Mary Burnham School, Northampton, Mass. ; (c) Charlotte, born in Lyme, N. H., November 6, 1868.
(4) Ellen Shepherd, born March 13, 1836, married in Windsor, Vt, September 29, 1857, to Samuel Willard Foster. Mr. Foster was born in Frost village, Quebec, educated at the academy in Concord, Mass., and the University of Vermont, studied law with the Hon. H. Bailey Terrill, of Stanstead, and the Hon. Judge Secotte, of St. Hyacinthe, Quebec, and was admitted to the bar of Lower Canada February 6, 1854. They reside at Knowlton, Quebec. Their children, all born at Knowlton, are (a) George Greene, born January 28, i860, educated at McGill College, Montreal, is a member of the law firm of Archibald & Foster, Montreal, Canada; (b) Samuel Baxter, born December 5, 1861, graduated at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, married Minnie M., daughter of Nathanial Norton of Chicago, ILL., October 8, 1885, is a lawyer and the attorney for the Grand Trunk Railway in Chicago, ILL., where he resides; their children are Samuel Norton, born August 8, 1888, and George Getty, born February 14, 1889; (c) Ellen Gertrude, born November 19, 1864, married, June 3, 1886, Gardner Stevens, eldest son of Hon. G. G. Stevens of Waterloo, Quebec, where they now reside, and their children are Gertrude Foster, born April 26. 1887; Harold Gardner, born March 14, 1889; Ellen Greene, born October 25, 1890.
(5) Mary Harriet, born February 20, 1838, married, October 8, 1861, Gilman Henry Tucker. She died in Boston, Mass., January 28, 1869; buried in the Tucker lot in Raymond, N. H. Mr. Tucker was graduated, as were his wife and her sisters, Anna and Ellen, from Kimball Union Academy. He graduated at Dartmouth College and read law, but became agent or manager of the school-book department of Charles Scribner & Co., in Boston, 1866-78; in New York, 1878-83 ; secretary Publishers' Association, 1883-90, of American Book Company, 1890-and has been since 1887 president of the Dartmouth Alumni Association of New York.
Dr. George B. Green died May 31, 1866. He is well remembered in Windsor as a large-hearted, generous man, very hospitable, with ready sympathy for all in distress and trouble, and sure to express his sympathy by acts of benevolence. He was a true and firm friend, very decided in his opinions, and fearless in expressing them. He was especially kind and indulgeut to his children, who were left at an early age without a mother's care. He gave to all of them a good education, and trained them to habits of virtue and usefulness. He was interested in a variety of things, medicine, horticulture, farming, the raising of fruit, landscape gardening, as well as in plans for the improvement of the village in which he lived. At one time he owned a large amount of real estate in Windsor, and he was always very pleased to do his part in aiding public improvements. He was devoted to his church, the Old South, and a regular and devout attendant upon its services. In his will he provided that the church should share equally with each of his children in his estate. Biographie Index
GREEN, Dr. ISAAC , was born in Leicester, Mass , March 11, 1759. He descends the sixth generation from Thomas, born in England about 1606, emigrated in 1635 or 1636, lived in Ipswich till 1649 or 1650, moved to Maiden, Mass., selectman there in 1658, married, first, Elizabeth , the mother of all his children, second, Mrs. Frances Cook. He died December 19, 1667. Of his ten children, Thomas, the second child, born in England about 1630, married Rebecca Hills about 1653, resided in Maiden and died February 13, 1671. His widow died June 6, 1674. Of their five children, Captain Samuel, born October 5, 1670, married about 1692 Elizabeth Upham, resided in Maiden till about 1717, when he removed to Leicester, of which town he was one of the original founders. Greenville, a village in the south part of the town, is named in honor of him. He died January 2, 1735, his wife in 1761. Of their eight children, Rev. Thomas, the only son of Captain Samuel, born in Maiden in 1699, married Martha Lynde January 13, 1725. He first studied medicine and practiced with great success. He afterwards became a preacher in the Baptist denomination and was ordained pastor in 1736 of a church in South Leicester. He died August 19, 1773 ; his wife June 20, 1780. Of their seven children, Thomas, their fourth child, born in Leicester in 1733, married, first, Hannah Fox of Woodstock, Conn., second, Anna Hovey of Sutton. Of his ten children. Dr. Isaac, the subject of this sketch, was the third child. He was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and in the suppression of Shay's rebellion and received a pension. He moved to Windsor, Vt., in 1788, and nearly or quite one hundred years ago built what is known as the " Green Mansion," one of the best preserved houses in Windsor village. On the same lot and nearer the main street, in 1804 he built the first brick building in Windsor, and occupied it as a store for many years. His trade throughout Vermont and on the New Hampshire side in medicines, largely imported, was quite extensive. He had also an extensive practice in his profession as a physician. The Doctor accumulated, for his time, a handsome fortune, but lost heavily by the failure of the old Windsor Bank, of which he was a director from its commencement. In his religious belief he was a Unitarian. During the later years of his life he withdrew from the active practice of his profession and from the active conduct of business. Dr. Green was truly a gentleman of the old school, a man of great self-control, industry, prudence and sagacity, shrewd, but honest, in all business matters, and very systematic. He married in Boston, January 1792, Ann, second daughter of Judge Samuel and Elizabeth (Salisbury) Barrett, who was born in Boston January 4, 1774. He died at the homestead in Windsor April 16, 1842; his wife died there March 19, 1847. They are buried near the homestead in the old South Church burial ground. Their children, born in the old homestead, were (1) Samuel Barrett, born December 1792, died February 9, 1793 ; (2) Elizabeth Salisbury, born May 17, 1794, died February 18, 1812; (3) Charlotte Eloise, born May 17, 1796, married, August 4, 1818, Robert Emmett Temple of Rutland, Vt., where he died, October 6, 1834. She survived him more than fifty years, a woman remarkable for intelligence and strength of character, widely and familiarly known as Madame Temple, dying May 13, 1887. Their children were George Green, died in Texas June 12, 1848 ; Charles, died in Wisconsin February 13, 1858; Helen Augusta, died March 2, 1854; Ann E., died in infancy, and William Granville, Admiral U. S. N., now residing in Washington. (4) Dr. George Barrett; (5) Harriet Sophia, born February 1801, died July 31, 1802 ; (6) Charles Gustavus, born September 1, 1803, married Susan Bigelow, daughter of Hon. Abijah Bigelow of Worcester, Mass., November 7, 1831. He studied medicine, practiced his profession in Boston from 1826 to 1830, when he returned to Windsor, but 1844 removed again to Boston, where for many years he kept a drug store on Washington street; he went to the war as surgeon and died while in the service, and is buried in Worcester, Mass. Their children were both born in Windsor, Vt, Charles, September 7, 1833, died the same day, and Elizabeth Bigelow, born August 18, 1837, is a well-known artist in Boston. (7) Caroline Frances, born September 26, 1811, married, July 31, 1832, Hon. Moses M. Strong, a lawyer living in Mineral Point, Wis. Biographie Index
GUERNSEY, Rev. GEORGE SMITH , was born in Westminster, Windham county, Vt., December 30, 1818. Amos, his grandfather, was born in Richmond, N. H., April 9, 1768, and married, first, August 30, 1789, Abigail Bolls. On the 9th of March following he moved from Richmond and settled in Westminster, Vt., and here five children were born. They were Lucy, born October 30, 1791, married Jedutham Russell, and died at Saxton's River ; Reuben, father of George S.; Eunice, born March 12, 1797, died in Pittsfield, Vt.; Phebe and Simeon both died in infancy. Abigail, his wife, died June 30, 1801. Amos married, second, March 13, 1803, Mrs. Elizabeth Kittridge, nee Eaton, and by this marriage there were five children, viz.: Willard and Wilder, twins ; Allen and Deborah, twins ; and Corrinna C. Amos died August 21, 1841, in Westminster, aged 73 years. Reuben above, born October 18, 1793, married Achsah Smith, eldest daughter of George and Eurania Smith, of Westminster, Vt, born June 21, 1795, and had thirteen children, four of whom died in infancy. Those who grew to adult age were Lorinda, the wife of Ransom R. Farnsworth, and died at Saxton's River, aged 52 years; George S.; Amos P., blacksmith, lives in Pittsfield, Vt., and married Lucy C, daughter of Daniel and Lucy Abbott, of Stockbridge, Vt.; Lucy J., the wife of Jonathan H. Ranney. a farmer of Pittsfield, Vt.; Lucinda, widow of Norman Durkee, lives in Bethel, Vt.; Moses R., died in Barton, Vt., aged 24 years ; Lora Ann, was the wife of Charles S. Mason, of Ludlow, and died September 16, 1864, aged 31 years ; Lorilla, the wife of A. E. Baker, a farmer of Stockbridge; Ransom A., married Adelaide Brown, of Stockbridge, and is a coal merchant living in Hudson, Mass. Reuben, in the fall of 1834, with his family, moved from Westminster to Pittsfield, Rutland county, Vt., and bought the farm where he died. October 14, 1878, aged eighty-five. Achsah, his wife, died March 3, 1875, aged seventy-nine. George S. prepared for college at Burr Seminary, Manchester, Vt., and at the Liberal Institute, Lebanon, N. H., and was assistant teacher in the former and associate principal in the latter. He taught school six years, common and select, in Rochester, Vt., and vicinity, and had students in his family for private instruction for many years. Instead of entering college he entered the ministry, preaching his first sermon in Rochester on the third Sunday in August, 1843, ^^^ in the spring of 1844 became the settled pastor of the Universalist parish in said town, and occupied that position sixteen years. During his pastorate, and mainly through his influence, their present house of worship was built, being dedicated February 6, 1850, the pastor preaching the dedicatory sermon. Mr. Guernsey received the fellowship of the Vermont State Convention of Universalists at its session in Plainfield in August, 1843, and was ordained by a council held in Rochester, March 6, 1844. And while he has made Rochester his permanent home, he has filled the pulpits of his denomination at nearly fifty different places, and some of them for many years. He married, first, November 26, 1844, Elizabeth R., daughter of Samuel and Anna (Merrifield) Eaton, born in Westminster, Vt., March 23, 1824. They have two sons, George Rolla, born May 11, 1846, married, January 26, 1870, Susie B., daughter of Celim E. and Emmalissa E. (Chamberlain) French, of Barnard, Vt. They have one son, George French, and live in Windsor, Vt. Frank Eaton, born June 7, 1855, married, September 19, 1889, Louisa Frank, and lives in Cleveland, Ohio. Mrs. Guernsey died December 5, 1863, aged thirty-nine. Mr. Guernsey married, second, January 26, 1865, Mrs. Elmira Lamb, nee Steele, born January 22, 1833, in Roxbury, Vt., daughter of Israel and Ervilla Steele. Mr. Guernsey was town superintendent of schools for many years, and postmaster 12 years under the administrations of Presidents Pierce, Buchanan, Johnson and Cleveland. He has been an active member of I. O. O. F. for forty years. He has officiated at 553 funerals, and married 648 persons, and was secretary of the Vermont State Convention of Universalists for nine years. He now lives in the same house he moved into forty-seven years ago. Biographie Index
The information on Trails to the Past © Copyright 2024 may be used in personal family history research, with source citation. The pages in entirety may not be duplicated for publication in any fashion without the permission of the owner. Commercial use of any material on this site is not permitted. Please respect the wishes of those who have contributed their time and efforts to make this free site possible.~Thank you!
