Article – Page 11 – Hartland Historical Society

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Cutts Family

On Clay Hill Road there still stands a stately old home that went through some rough times in her old age, but luck was with her and love and care have returned her to stately elegance. People now-a-days refer to it as Fairview Farm but during the time that we are studying, it was known as Woodland. The Hon. Hampden Cutts lived here with his family. They moved there from Portsmouth, N.H

“—the family decided to move to Vermont where the young man’s father-in-law had offered him a valuable estate in Hartland if they would reside there. So in accepting the offer, he was accompanied by his mother and sister, Miss Mary Cutts , as well as his wife and son. He was admitted to the bar in Woodstock and represented the town of Hartland in 1840,41,47 and 1858. Windsor County in the Senate in 1843, and was Judge of the Windsor County court in 1849-51.

Mr. Cutts was known as a literary man and particularly as a public reader and lecturer. As a reader of Shakespeare he gained a very high reputation, and appeared many times in public. He was an officer of the Windsor County Agricultural Society and an active member of the Vermont Historical Society, before which he read several important and interesting papers At his death he was Vice President from Vermont, of the New England Historical Genealogical Society, of which he had been a member for years.

[Mr. Cutts wrote the History of Hartland for publication in Abby Hemenways’s Vermont Historical Gazetteer .. Unfortunately she was publishing her works by county alphabetically as she was able to raise the money and Windsor County burned before it could be published.]

During the time he lived in Hartland, from 1833 to 1860, his home was the scene of many interesting entertainments, and he and his children and wife did every thing possible to help make the religious life of the place what it should be, by constant attendance and contributing generously to the support of religious worship. There 8 children were added to the one they had on arrival, and 5 had been laid to rest in the adjoining cemetery (Cutts/Paddleford) before they reached mature years. His mother was also buried there at an early day, as she only lived to 1847

In April 1860 they moved to Brattleboro, Vermont, soon after the death of Consul Jarvis, where Mr. Cutts had found college classmates and where their three daughters, Anna, Lizzie and Hattie were married. Their eldest son Edward, had married and moved to Fairbault, Minnesota before they left Hartland.

At the outbreak of the Civil War he( Hampden) was very desirous of taking command of a regiment, but on account of his age, he did not receive the appointment

He said at the time, “It is hard, hard that they will not let me fight for my country.” He felt as capable as ever in this regard.

His death occurred April 27, 1875, in Hartland, on the old home place, where he and his sister happened at that time to be spending a vacation, and the place had never left the family, for over 40 years. It was known then as the “Governor Spooner Farm” , and situated near the North Hartland. Services were held at the house attended by his widow, his daughter Harriet, one grandson, and his devoted sister, as well as many relatives. The internment took place in the adjoining cemetery, where his mother and children were buried. He was survived by his widow, Mary P.S.J. (Pepperell, Sparhawk Jarvis) Cutts, the author of a life of her father Consul Jarvis.(Consul Jarvis ,Wethersfield, Vt. introduced Merino sheep to Vermont , bringing them from Portugal where he was Consul. I have tried to find evidence that sheep were raised on the farm in Hartland but all I have found to date is accounting with the Mallory Woolen Co. of Hartford., which began in 1836. This may have just been an investment.) His son and grandchildren( Capt E.H. Cutts of Fairbault, Minn, His daughter Mrs. Anna Holyoke Cutts Howard ( more on her later) and daughters Anna and Harriet. . . .”

Author unknown.

Reprinted from the Fall 2006 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter

2017-03-20

Largest black walnut tree in Vermont

This tree, located on Route 5 in North Hartland has been judged to be the largest black walnut tree in Vermont for 2014. It has been the site of many family picnics and while the farm was under the ownership of Philo and Vivian Withington, the Shorthorn Society of Vermont met in it’s shade.

Largest black walnut tree in Vermont

2017-03-20

Original “Center Cemetery”

From “In Sight Of Ye Great River”:

Ainsworth Cemetery: According to Nancy Darling, “The E. S. Ainsworth farm at The Centre has on it one of the oldest local landmarks – the broken headstones of the graves of pioneers.”

We have a picture of the only standing gravestone from this cemetery, on private property, that of Nathaniel Rogers in our cemetery database.

Gravestone of Nathaniel Rogers in the original Center Cemetery

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Reverend John Smith and the Underground Railroad

Reverend John Smith, also known as “Lame” John Smith, was a Methodist Minister in Hartland for a few years (likely 1860-1862). Hartland was as part of the underground railroad and John Smith was involved in that. There are various tunnels and secret compartments in houses throughout Hartland but we do not know which ones John Smith was involved with other than to say the underground railroad as a whole.He was friends with Taylor Groce and Solomon Northrup, the latter being a free man who was put into slavery and it took 12 years to win his case and free him. Harriett Beecher Stowe used Solomon as a basis for her book Uncle Tom’s Cabin and a movie was made called “Twelve Years A Slave”.

After leaving Hartland, Smith was involved with Groce and Northrup in the Underground Railroad in New York state.

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The Smallest Library

“Smallest library, now closed, Hartland Four Corners, VT 1994″ is part of the book “The Public Library” by photographer Robert Dawson. Images are presented in striking juxtapositions, including some taken during Dawson’s vacations in the Upper Valley. A 2009 photograph of the “nation’s smallest library,” assembled in Hartland Four Corners in 1944 out of two rooms from a sawmill office, sits across from the angled, mirrored matrix of Central Library in Seattle, an 11-story glass-and-steel building that opened in 2004. (The tiny Hartland library, deemed structurally unsound, has since been demolished.)

Smallest Library

Extracted from The Valley News, July 18, 2014.

2017-03-20

Dr. John Harding, Sr. 1766-1814

Dr. Harding’s native place was Sturbridge, Mass where he was born to John and Vashti Harding. His father was a farmer. I have not been able to procure much information in regard to the subject of my sketch prior to his 18th year (note: this would have been during the Rev. War years) He shared the educational and other narrow advantages of his day.

I find by Dr. Harding’s memorandum books and other papers that he concluded to adopt the profession of medicine for his life work at about the age of eighteen years. His preceptor was Dr. Jacob Corey of Sturbridge, Mass. Having obtained the medical education of the period he takes leave of his preceptor and fellow pupils in a farewell address at the request of the former. It was given June 16th 1788 so our young physician was a little over 21 years of age. “I am going forth into the world to obtain subsistence by the practice of medicine, expect to meet with troubles, trials, opposition; but be that as it may, I am determined to do for my fellow beings whenever opportunity offers, all that lies in my power in assisting nature in the restoration of health.”

Next we find our young physician moved by a spirit of enterprise and a desire to better his condition in company with his faithful life partner (Jemima Morse of Medfield, Mass ) and probably a few more friends in the year 1790, journeying
through and across the valleys and hills of our beautiful New England to the wilds of Vermont, more than 100 miles to the North.. Finally the chosen home is reached in Hartland. Very soon the young Doctor finds ample employment in attending
to the sick and caring for his family of children. His residence for the most part was at the George Marcy homestead one mile south of our West village. (still standing at the corner of County and Brownsville Roads ) Harding’s medical practice, I gather from his papers and hearsay, was partly old school or Allopathic, partly Botanic, with leaning to the latter as being the safer. He used the medicinal plants of this vicinity.

He was pleasant, lively and agreeable with a fair share of the lively wit and quick sense of humor that characterizes the sons and daughters of New England. I will here give an anecdote from an aged friend of the doctor and his little boys. He is just ready to start out on his horse to a patient, calls the boys and requests them to do a little piece of work, perhaps to hoe a small potato patch, something that looked rather formidable to the little fellows,” Oh no, couldn’t do it, didn’t feel well , were sick.” The doctor says nothing, rides away over the hill but very soon returns and finds the boys having a very good time for sick boys. He only says he concluded they ought to have some medicine and forthwith mixes the most nauseating and villainous preparation he could compound and duly administers the same. We know the medicines of that day were bad enough at best, and it is safe to say the boys were not sick again soon unless obliged to be.

He was afflicted with a lingering sickness in his last years and often visited the sick when he was really not able to do so. He was some relieved in his last years by his oldest sons studying and practicing medicine with him. (John Harding, Jr. was also a physician in Hartland, building and living in the house now occupied by Peter Gordon.)

Dr. Harding is buried in the Walker cemetery, near where he lived. The epitaph on his stone says “He was ever more solicitous of his patients, then for medical fee or reward.” By all appearances, a life well lived.

This was taken from a biographical sketch prepared by a grandson , E.B. Harding in Hartland in 1877.

Extracted from the Spring 2006 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter.

2017-03-20

Get your tonsils out at Damon Hall!!

Some of you may remember this day and may have even taken part. It happened sometime between 1915 and 1922. Let us know if you can pinpoint it better. C.Y.M.

The clinic for the operations on the throat and nose for the benefit of the children of Hartland which was held at Damon Hall, August 9th and 10th, under the auspices of the local branch of American Red Cross, was most successful, as to the number of operations and results obtained. Fifty-one cases were corrected; many being of long standing and some of a very severe type, which would ultimately have proven a serious menace to health. All cases needed immediate attention. While many of the operations were serious, all the children were able to be removed to their homes within a few hours. The expense of the operations was the amount arranged with surgeons and doctors going downward from $15.00. The total expense of the clinic was $442.00 of which $293.00 was borne by the Red Cross, $149.00 being taken at the clinic.

There were in attendance four doctors, six professional nurses, five domestic nurses and many assistants in the various departments. The hall was temporarily converted into a hospital. The dining room was quickly turned into a ward containing 14 beds with all the necessary furnishings. The kitchen was used as the operating room. The Nature Club room was used for a dressing room; and here the children were prepared for the operations. The selectmen’s room was given over to the branch committee where a bountiful lunch was served both days free to all.

The auditorium was used as a rest room, and here was maintained the business office in charge of Mrs. H. H. Miller and Mrs. A.W. Martin. The offices of the Hartland branch American Red Cross take this opportunity to express their thanks and appreciation to all who rendered aid during the clinic. Never was anything conducted in Hartland that received more hearty co-operation or a better response from the citizens. Aside from the doctors, all services were given. We are glad to make public acknowledgment to the following who rendered valued assistance.
(This was followed by a great list of people who assisted in various ways. I will finish with the section that dealt with special thanks)

Especially did we appreciate the use of the Martin truck in getting furnishings to and from the hall, also the help of Miss Florence Sturtevant whose car was stationed in front of the hall both days to be on call when needed, and was frequently used. Miss Regis Daley, in charge of the preparatory work at No .Hartland, gave most substantial assistance, both before and during the clinic. Dr. Carlton was the operating surgeon, assisted by Miss Horton. Dr’s Ward and Eastman gave the ether, assisted by Miss Brown. Dr. Kidder, health officer, whose services were given, was in charge of the ward, also rendered efficient aid helping in various places as occasion demanded, thereby making it easier for the management. Miss Jacques, public health nurse, is deserving of special mention for the interest manifested and painstaking efforts to further the work of the clinic.
Public Health Committee (No record of who wrote this.)

Extracted from the Spring 2006 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter.

2017-03-20

Hartland Graveyards – editorial by Byron Ruggles 1907

We have been extremely fortunate to have had surveys [of our graveyards] made at different times over the years. Stones that were present in the 1907 survey by Byron Ruggles are not always still to be found. If a stone breaks and falls over, it doesn’t take long for nature to do its job of hiding it forever under leaves and grass that turn to dirt. People who are interested enough to carefully probe can sometimes find these stones and bring them back to light. The following was written by Byron Ruggles in 1907.

“To the Editor of the Standard;
During the summer of 1907 I visited all of the thirteen graveyards in town and copied the inscriptions on all of the stones I found. Some of the yards are so neglected and overrun with trees and weeds, brush, briars, vines and weeds that I am not sure that I found all of the gravestones, some being broken and down and covered with leaves and brush. Two or three of the yards are in fairly good condition. Two or three are barely passable and others are sadly neglected.
All of the yards are fenced and all but three or four with stone walls, but the walls are not all in a good state of repair. Eight of the yards have stones with dates previous to 1800, three dates at 1800 and the other two started at 1832 and 1844.
There are also from two to seven graves in each of six other places in town with eight or ten lettered stones in all of them I have been told but only a part of them can be found now. Only one of these family lots was ever fenced.
The smallest of the thirteen yards has 19 lettered stones, the next larger has 27 and the others range from 52 up to over 600 in the yard or cemetery at Hartland Village.
I found 2043 graves with stones having inscriptions and counted and estimated 431 graves that never had lettered stones.
Of the lettered stones, the oldest is the wife of Moses Barnes dated 1768. The oldest person is Grace Totman, died in 1832 aged 102 years.
Some of the inscriptions are quite short and some more elaborate. Among the later are those of Judge Elihu Luce, Dr John Harding, Griffin who was killed by the breaking down of a bridge, Elisha Gallup, the founder of the Vermont Medical College (this should be Joseph. CYM), Ephraim Carey, Peter Gilson and Granger Marcy, revolutionary patriots, and Capt. Timothy Lull, the first settler in town.
One of the shortest inscriptions reads: Frederick Remington, on a nicely polished Ascutney granite stone, and another on a marble stone is just Dr. Daniel Hall.
Some of the older gravestones are of hewed slate and soapstone, later sawed slate and soapstone, marble of five varieties, granite of eight varieties and sandstone and zinc.
On the more than two thousand stones there are 345 mottoes, quotations and items of original and selected poetry, from which I give a selection;

“She has left us to dwell with the angels on high,
She has gone to her home beyond the blue sky,
She has gone with the holy, the perfect to dwell,
She has gone and has bade us a final farewell”

Mr Ruggles has many more quotes but I would encourage you to go find your own. Beautiful fall days are a wonderful time to explore your local cemeteries and put yourself back in time. Finding a gravestone can be like opening a book to the story that lies within. The internet, the Clerks office and the Historical Society are great places to discover the life of the person you have just met. With that in mind, I decided to see what I could find out about the Aldrich family that for so many years made their home in one of the most beautiful parts of Hartland.

Extracted from the Fall 2008 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter.

2017-03-20

The Aldrich’s

Isaiah Aldrich was the first settler on the land that we think of as containing the Aldrich cemetery. A beautiful place on Town Farm Hill Rd, it’s not hard to imagine the joy he must have felt at being able to live and work in this setting. Isaiah was the son of Noah 1, who was born in 1709 at Scituate, R.I., and he was born in Glocester, R.I. in 1749. Noah was a member of the Society of Friends at East Hoosuck, Adams, Mass. Isaiah had five children with his first wife, the third being Noah 2, born Jan 21, 1787 in Hartland. Noah and his wife, Lydia Herrick had eleven children. Two of these children are of special interest to us but we must not forget the larger family when we imagine life on the Aldrich farm. At some point Isaiah disappeared from the Hartland scene and we don’t know where he went, where he died or is buried. He was listed on a school list in 1823 as a head of a family, along with Noah for five students in the 11thSchool District. Isaiah did have a second wife and maybe they moved out of Hartland. At any rate, Noah stayed in Hartland and is listed on the school list of 1827 as having five school age children and in 1831 with four. His daughter, Rebecca appears to have owned the next farm up Town Farm Rd. with her husband, Jude Adams. In 1831 they are listed as having 1 school age child. Staying also in Hartland was his son Lorenzo who was born in 1817 and married Sarah Strank of Hartland in 1840. It seems that he most likely stayed on the farm settled by his grandfather and occupied by his father and mother.

Noah Aldrich 2 died Jan 15, 1848 AE 61. As they would not have been able to bury him in Jan. the gathering on the hill would have been at a later date, but as far as we know, his was the first Aldrich body to occupy that hallowed ground. There are three unmarked stones that we will never know the story of. They may be the bodies of still born children or they may not be Aldrichs at all. Perhaps someone who worked for them or someone they had taken in out of charity. The gathering for Noah 2 would have been substantial. Not counting friends, there was a large family in the area. How I would love to have a diary entry from that time, but unfortunately we have none that go back that far. The family provided Noah with a substantial stone and this verse:

“Unveil thy boson faithful tomb,
Take this new treasure to thy trust,
And give these sacred relics room,
To seek a slumber in the dust”

Imagine the sadness, two years later when two small daughters of Lorenzo died on March 28 and March 29, 1850. I have heard that they died from smallpox but can’t seem to verify that. One of the problems in research is that you get different information from different sources. I have 3 names for their mother. I have a genealogy listing her as Louisa, marriage record as Sarah and the gravestone says Laura. These were children # 3 and 5 in the Lorenzo Aldrich family. They eventually have nine children. There is also a fine stone for these children and the verse,

“We have wandered to regions more glorious far,
Mid flowers that never decay;
Unto him who did bless and receive such as thee
Bright spirits ye’ve soared away”

Moving on to the census of 1850 we find Jude and Rebecca living as neighbors of Lorenzo and Laura ( Laura in the census) with 12 members in their household, including Lydia, widow of Noah and 2 of Noah and Lydia’s children . Also two young Adams boys and a 77 year old woman that we know nothing about, as well as four individuals in their 20s. Hired help?? I wanted to make this out to be the poor farm but that didn’t happen until 1870. More mysteries.

Lydia dies in 1852. She is 61 when she joins her husband and grandchildren. It is June so the burial would have been prompt. The top of a hill in Vermont in June. How much closer to heaven can you get?? How they must have loved that land and that hilltop. Lydia’s stone got knocked over, broken and buried. However we do know its location and were able to expose the name Lydia with careful probing and hand digging. We know from Byron Ruggles that her verse is:

“Our Mother
Now gone from earth and it’s cares
To realms of bliss above
From grief and pain and trouble here
To meet a Saviour’s love”

In December of 1853 Jude Adams and Rebecca Aldrich Adams sold the Aldrich farm. All the lands were sold with the exception of the area designated as the “burying ground”. It was never intended that that special parcel ever be anything but a place for the dead to rest. The members of the Aldrich family never appear in a census of Hartland again but I must admit that I did not follow married children, particularly daughters, to see what paths they may have taken.
It is my understanding that many family members relocated in Illinois.

My thanks to Clyde Jenne, Hartland Town Clerk, Lori Bullock Sullivan, an Aldrich descendant from Burlington, Vt., Diane Bibby’s sister Hazel for a D.A.R. Descendants Database Search, Arthur Peale from West Hartford, a specialist in gravestone repair and cleaning and member of V.O.C.A. and our own records here at the Historical Society.
Carol Mowry, Editor

Extracted from the Fall 2008 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter.

2017-03-20

Henry Harding, M. AM. SOC. C. E.

Henry Harding

The Hartland Historical Society is the proud owner of surveying equipment owned by Henry Harding. We also have in our possession a note as follows,
“Washington Dec 14, 1857Dear Sir,
Your of the 11th inst has been received and I have enclosed it to the Hon John B. Floyd my successor as Secretary of War.
Very Respectfully
Yrs.
Jefferson Davis
Henry Harding Esq
Hartland, Vt.”

Having a hand written letter from the President of the Confederacy got my attention and I decided to see what else I could find out about the recipient.

Henry was born and raised in the home now owned by Peter Gordon on the Brownsville Road in Hartland Four Corners. This beautiful brick home was built by his father, the second Dr. John Harding and his wife, Lucy Willard Harding with help from her Willard relatives. Dr. John and Lucy were married on Feb 27, 1820 and had nine children, some of which died in childhood, with Henry being number eight. Henry was born on Dec. 10 in 1837.

Henry Harding’s home

Henry’s obituary
Died October 23d, 1910
Henry Harding was born on December 10th 1837, at Hartland, Vt., where his father, Dr. John Harding, was a physician for many years.

He studied engineering under Mr. Job Atkins, a mining engineer of Richmond, Va., during 1859-60 and was afterward engaged on the construction of the Hudson River Railroad.

From 1865 to 1870, Mr. Harding was employed, under General Grenville M. Dodge, on the survey and construction of the Union Pacific Railway. He was also employed on the Adirondack, Housatonic, and Naugatuck Railroads, in charge of construction and in various other capacities.

From 1871 to 1895, he was engaged at intervals by the United States Corps of Engineers in charge of river and harbor improvements and other work, and was wont to recall with especial pride the construction of the fortifications of Fort Adams, at Newport, R.I. in 1871-73.

While in the employ of the Government, Mr. Harding contracted malaria, and, in 1895, he retired to his home at Hartland Four Corners, Vt. where he continued to live until his death.

Mr. Harding was a man of wide acquaintance and high reputation in his Profession, to which he was devoted, and, although living in a secluded country village, he kept well abreast of all the improved methods and was familiar with all the new instruments used in engineering work. At the time of his death, he was engaged as Engineer in charge of the construction of the new sewerage system of Windsor, Vt.

Mr. Harding was the embodiment of painstaking accuracy and scrupulous honor, and any work done under his superintendence was honestly constructed and fully served its purpose. He was of a genial and courteous manner, modest, kind-hearted, and drily humorous, an agreeable and interesting social companion. He never married, and is survived by several nieces and nephews.

Mr. Harding was elected a Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers on May 7th 1873.”

Although Mr. Harding’s health must have been impacted by the malaria, he did continue to be active in the engineering field as is indicated by the mention of the sewerage system in Windsor. We also have evidence of his activities from news clips of the time. C.Y.M.

1898 “ Civil engineer, Henry Harding was surveying in Plainfield Plain for water works last week.” “ Henry Harding, the distinguished civil engineer of this town, has put in two more of the Hodgkins patent double acting hydrolic rams, one being for Fred A. Rogers, the other for S.W. Clark of Plainfield Plain, N.H. Both of these rams are the No. 2 and each one delivers daily eleven barrels of water, and supplies both house and stock at barn by the introduction of a branch pipe to the latter. Mr. Harding is one of the best civil engineers in the state, having been actively engaged in the business since 1865. Now that he has settled down permanently here, a good opportunity is offered for obtaining surveys or advice regarding water supplies. There are two hydraulic rams now in successful operation in this village, one on the Steele, the other on the Daniels places.”
1900 “ Being at the Four Corners, Sunday, we made a brief call on Civil Engineer, Henry Harding, the sole owner of the John Harding estate. We found our friend had just put the finishing touches to a finely drawn plan of Hartland cemetery, for the better convenience of the officers of that association. It is an elaborate and beautifully executed piece of work, such as we should expect from this distinguished and experienced engineer. His library and working room has been much improved of late. New wallpaper of a light color and elegant pattern has been substituted for the old, dark paper, which gives the room a much lighter and more cheerful appearance. His library contains a vast number of works on all branches of civil engineering science, both ancient and modern. The Harding estate is easily one of the finest at the Four Corners village, and has never known an owner outside the family name”

1906 “ Mr. Harding is to superintend the construction of the new sewer to be built at Woodstock this season”

I have no idea why Henry was corresponding with Jefferson Davis in 1857 as this was before he became a student of civil engineering in 1859, but here again, we have an accomplished and interesting man who is a product of the Town of Hartland. C.Y.M.

Extracted from the Spring 2009 Hartland Historical Society Newsletter.