Category: People

One of the foremost leaders during the beginning years of what is now the State of Vermont was a man named Roger Enos. Roger lived in North Hartland, when it was still Hertford ,in a house on Dry Kiln Rd. The plank house was owned by Oliver Willard and then Zadock Wright but was confiscated as Wright “went over to the enemy”, a Tory. We have excerpts from a deed that Clyde unearthed.”in the Township of Windsor and Hertford in the County of Cumberland and State of Vermont for and in consideration of the Sum of Two Hundred and Seventy Pounds Lawful Money to me in hand paid before the (?) hereof by Roger Enos of Windsor in the County of Hartford and State of Connecticut and receipt whereof I do here by Acknowledge”. The deed says that it bordered property still owned by Oliver Willard and Willard’s mill dam, along both rivers and the “farm was forfeited by Zadock Wright by his Treasonable Conduct — Under the grant of the Governor of New York. In witness where of I have set my hand and seal this 20th day of October A.D. 1780 State of Vermont County of Bennington.”

One can only speculate about the reasons Roger might have decided to settle in Hartland, but I’m thinking it might have had something to do with the fine company that was already here. Enos was instrumental in the building of the North Hartland church with a Benjamin Waite of Windsor. This was an Episcopal Church that had been meeting in a barn prior to the erection of the building.

Roger was married in March 1763 to Jerusha Hayden of Windsor, Conn. and with her had five children. One was Jerusha Hayden Enos who married Gen. Ira Allen. They met at Castleton when Jerusha accompanied her father on Army business. Another daughter married Pascal Paoli who was one of the proprietors of Springfield, Ill. The Enos came to Hartland in 1779, settled Enosburgh in 1780, but there is no evidence that they ever lived there.

More glimpses of Roger : From Men of Vermont, History of Vermonters. “Enos, Gen. Roger – One of the few men in the secret of the Haldimand Correspondence, and Vermont’s military commander through that trying period, was born in Simsbury, Conn. in 1729, an adjutant in 1761, and a capt. in Col. Israel Putnam’s regiment in 1764. He also took part in the Havana Campaign of 1762. He was afterwards a member of the commission to survey lands in the Mississippi valley. He promptly took the part of the patriots at the outbreak of the Revolution and had command of the rear guard of Arnold’s expedition against Quebec. He left it, however, with a sizable detachment, in order to avoid starvation, as he claimed. He was afterwards court martialed under a charge of cowardness, in this action but was honorably acquitted.”

He had a long military career, served many terms in the General Assembly, was a trustee of the Vermont University, a member of the commission to adjust the trouble with New Hampshire and of the committee to consider resulutions of Congress for the admission of the state to the union.

After a long and illustrious life, Roger ran into money troubles and landed in debtors prison for 18 months, “disagreeably confined in the gaol in Woodstock in the County of Windsor” For most of his last 12 years he lived with his daughter, Jerusha Allen in Colchester , where he died in 1808 at the age of 79.

Pay special attention to your Hartland Tax bill. There will be a special opportunity to have your home and family recorded for the ages to come as we celebrate our 250th anniversary. CYM

Reprinted from the Vermont Standard, 2012, “Historically Speaking” by Carol Mowry.

This letter was written on July 3, 1859 from Adrian, Mich. to the author’s father J.R.D. (Densmore) in Hartland, Vt. A small portion of this letter is so important at this time, as we celebrate the 150th year since the beginning of the Civil War, that I wanted to pass it along for us to consider as we look back on that time. I am leaving out a great deal due to space but will include some of the personal thoughts of the author.

“Dear Father, It is a long time since I have written to you but I assure you it is not because I cease to think of you for I think of you every day and glad would I be if I could be with you and minister to you and comfort you for well I know how lonely you must be. I too am alone and desolate. Time does not efface the memory of the loved and lost and I cannot help thinking how different my circumstances might have been ” Of all the sad words of tongue or pen. The saddest of these it might have been”.

I find that I am growing old and my life is more and more desolate. My children will soon be grown up and gone and the place that knows me now will know me no more. I have only John and my youngest girl at home. Belle is with her grand mother and Marretta has gone to Ohio to spend a year with a cousin of mine who married and moved there about a year ago. ” (She has gone to learn typsetting at the newspaper where her cousin’s husband is editor and proprietor, called the Germantown Independant).

Skipping forward, we come to this “Tomorrow is the Fourth of July and people will get together and fire cannon and make patriotic speeches and tell about our glorious country, it’s liberty and freedom, when four million of our brothers and sisters are bought and sold and driven in chained gangs from market. At the same time our Supreme Court decides that a coulard (sic) man has no rights that a white man is bound to respect.

For my part I think that we as a nation should sit in sackcloth and ashes until this great wrong shall be abolished. I cannot think of celebrating the 4 with any kind of patience”.

The author then returns to family matters and finishes with “Write me as soon as you receive this and believe me as ever yours. M.T. Densmore”.

How astounded M.T. would be if he could come back and celebrate the 4th today in a country where blacks hold leadership positions all the way up to and including the presidency. C.Y.M.

The Vermont Historical Society (Montpelier, VT 05609-0901) has an extensive collection of material related to Eli English (1789-1852) and his son Nathan F. English (1822-1902) and his son-in-law Benjain Livermore (1829-1871). A complete description and inventory is available at their website. Here is the summary at the beginning of their document.

The English-Livermore collection consists of the miscellaneous papers of Eli English (1789-1852), of Norwich, Vermont, Eli’s son, Nathan Frederick English (1822-1902), and Eli’s son-in-law, Benjamin Livermore (1829-1871), both of Hartland, Vermont.

Nathan Frederick English, known as Frederick or Fred, was a machinist, model maker, and inventor. Many of the letters, legal papers and accounts relate to Frederick English’s inventions, as well as those of his partner and brother-in-law, Benjamin Livermore. The collection also includes in letters exchanged between Frederick and his wife, Emily Livermore English (b. 1825), as well as other family correspondence.

The papers are shelved in two flip-top archival boxes and occupy one linear feet of shelf space. The papers are part of the Harold G. Rugg manuscript collection and were housed in Doc. 87 before they were reprocessed in 1998.

A handwritten note in the collection indicates that Mr. Rugg acquired the papers from the estate of Ernest A. English, son of Nathan F. English. Ernest English died in Hartland, Vermont, in 1939.

From The story of Dartmouth By Wilder Dwight Quint:

Oliver Tucker Cushman, ‘63, enlisted in his junior year in the First Vermont Cavalry. From sergeant to second lieutenant, to first lieutenant, to captain, he made his way. Terribly wounded in the face while charging with General Farnsworth at Gettysburg, he returned to Hanover, but could not rest content. He rejoined his regiment in October and then, its term of enlistment having expired, he re-enlisted and kept on fighting. His hour of fate came at Hawes’ Shop near Richmond, June 3, 1864, just as he was about to receive his commission as major. Of him said General William Wells: “He was not only one of our bravest, but also one of our best men, and had he lived would have obtained a high rank in the army. His company was devotedly attached to him, and his superiors in command, as well as all his associates, bear witness to his high character as a soldier and a man.”.

From Biographical sketches of the class of 1863, Dartmouth College by John Scales, Dartmouth College. Class of 1863:

CAPTAIN OLIVER TUCKER CUSHMAN, son of Clark and Abigail (Tucker) Cushman, was born at Hartland, Vt., May 5, 1841. His father was a farmer and sent his son to Kimball Union Academy, Meriden, N. H., where he fitted for college and entered Dartmouth in 1859, and remained till the Civil War began in 1861; soon after this he left to join a company of Vermont Cavalry, in which he was appointed Sergeant. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant April 10, 1862; to First Lieutenant February 1, 1863; to Captain March 7, 1863, and remained one of the most daring, the most skillful, and the most successful company cavalry commanders in the Union Army. There was nothing he would not dare to undertake in the way of a raid or a charge upon the ranks of the enemy. On July 3, 1863, at Gettysburg, he was dangerously wounded in his face and taken prisoner. As soon as he was released he returned to Hanover and placed himself under the care of Dr. Dixi Crosby, where he remained several weeks, till he was able to return to active service in the army, in October, 1863.

On pages 394-5-6 of the “Century History of Battles and Leaders of the Civil War,” Vol. 3, is a map and fine description of what Captain Cushman passed through on that terrible day, riding two miles inside of the Confederate lines and capturing a large number of prisoners. He wore a white duck “fighting jacket” trimmed with yellow braid. A fellow officer suggested that he was dressed too conspicuously for a mark for the enemy; he answered, “A lady sent this to me, and said it was made with her own hands, and no rebel bullet could pierce it. It may be a good day to try magic mail.” He tried and the “magic mail” was not pierced, but his face was, most horribly. Before entering upon the last grand charge, in which his superior officer, General Farnsworth, was killed and he was wounded and taken prisoner, he threw a silk handkerchief over his cap, pinning it to the visor, and this he wore into the ranks of the enemy in that grand and terrific charge on the 4th Alabama, and later on the 15th Alabama, where he fell at General Farnsworth’s side, and, though terribly wounded in the face, fought with his revolver until he fainted. He was a notably handsome officer, and the Confederates mistook him for the Commanding General. Captain Cushman lay insensible and apparently dead until the next day, when he revived, and soon after returned to Hanover, N. H.

The term of his enlistment having expired in November, 1863, he re-enlisted and was granted ninety day’s furlough, which he passed at his home in Vermont. In March, 1864, he returned to his command. During the battles of the Wilderness he commanded a battalion and was brilliantly daring during that bloody campaign. His classmate, Prof. E. D. Woodbury, who was in that campaign and under Cushman’s immediate command, said at our class meeting in Hanover, June 23, 1903, that Captain Cushman was perfectly fearless, and, in fact, seemed to court death on the battlefield, not caring to survive the war with such a disfigured face as he had. He was killed at “Hawes’ Shop”, near Richmond, June 3, 1864. A Major’s commission was ready for him at Vermont, but it came too late. General William Wells of the Vermont Cavalry said of him: “He was not only one of our bravest, but also one of our best men, and, had he lived, he would have obtained high rank, in the army. His company was devotedly attached to him, and his superiors in command, as well as his associates, bear witness to his character as a soldier and a man.”

CHANDLER, N.C. – Howland F. Atwood passed away July 29, 2010 at the age of 91.

He was born in West Windsor, VT on September 14, 1918, the son of Clarence and Marjorie Atwood.

He went to primary school in Hartland, VT. He graduated from Vermont Academy in Saxon River, VT. He took a two-year program in horticulture at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and received a diploma in 1938. In June 2006, 68 years later, he finally received his Associate of Science degree.

On September 6, 1942 he married his childhood sweetheart, Priscilla M. Murphy.  He resided at various times in Vermont, California, Florida, Maine, Connecticut, and retired in Hendersonville, NC.

In Hartland he established one of the first privately owned nurseries in central Vermont. His knowledge about plants earned him a highly respected reputation throughout the state, and he could tell you the technical name of most plants from memory. He worked as a gardener at several large estates in Vermont and also at Huntington Library Cactus Garden and Descanso Gardens in southern California. On two occasions he owned a dairy farm in Hartland.  He worked for machine shops in Vermont and California as a tool and die maker, and as the Head of Housekeeping Departments for hospitals in California, Maine, and Connecticut.

As a young teenager he cataloged all of the family cemeteries located in the Hartland town ship. He spent over 70 years doing genealogy research. He wrote magazine articles for Better Homes and Gardens. He was an active member of the Pilgrim John Howland Society. He was active in several historical societies in Vermont, Connecticut, and North Carolina.

Howland is survived by five sons, Gary Atwood of Burien, WA;  Ehrick Atwood of Candler, NC; Mark Atwood of Calhoun, GA; Thomas Atwood of Wilder, VT; Dana Attwood of Bullhead City, AZ; one daughter, Allison Horton of Yucaipa, CA; two sisters Priscilla J. Knox of Gainesville, FL; Marjorie Shaw of Lake City, FL; 10 grandchildren; 11 great grandchildren; and one great great grandchild.

He was predeceased by his wife, Priscilla M. Atwood in 2005; and one brother, Deane F. Atwood in 1999.

Originally published in The Vermont Standard, August 12, 2010.