Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1866-05-11
James May.


1876. He came in company with Mr..
Asa Kimball whose wife was a sister
of Mrs. May. There were but two
families in town before they came
Another family came the same month,
making five in ALL 1t is not important
to enter much into the details Of the
hardships and privations endured by
them. They were similar to those
experienced in most undertakings OF
the kind, by the first settlers OF this
country.
Mr.. May came from Lyndon, upon
snow-shoes portion of the way, GER
tainly, his family and stores being
drawn upon sleds, through continu-
Gus forest of more than twenty miles.
The eutire county, and some ofthe adj
Joining ones were then an unbrokcn
forest. without roads or dwellings,. eX-
cept in a few places, with no supplies
for man or beast. and no means of OBJ
tanning any, except from the GARTH
This spare and discouraging manner
of subsistence continued through a
long period. Many towns that had
been considerably settled before the
war of 1912, and the cold seasons
which followed were so completely
exhausted and discouraged thereby
that they fed for shelter and support
to more genial regions and never re
turned. The SHOWS at that time fell
very deep. and continued to cover the
ground much longer than at the present
day.
But friend May continued to meet
all vircissitudes with the same I'M
ruffled calmness and composure. His
wife was the daughter of Hon. DAME
Owen, of Rhode IsIand, a man o
character and distinction in his day
who held the offices Of Lieut.. Cover
nor, and Judge ofthe Supreme Court
of that State at different periods, anC
whose family had been tenderly reared
and elegantly educated. Mrs. Ma,
had become devoted to the doctrine.
and usagcs of and and had united with
the society of Friends, the follower
of George Fox; with this sect. VIII,
are more commonly known as Quakers
her husband was connected after SIG
She was Il lady of great energy an,
force OF character, and of very uucOm
mon ability, and a high degree Of cul
ture, and did very much unquestion
ably, to form the character and ensur
the success Of her husband, whom sh
, survived few years. and deceased a
the advanced age Of nearly ninety-thre
years. on the % of August. 1863.
Friend May lived TO see grea
, changes. From an unbroken wilder
5 ness throughout almost half the nortl
ern section OF the State, he lived I
: see it one OF the rost fertile and higi
ly cultivated regions in New En@ant
= And from having no communicative
p with the outer world whatever. h
lived to see railway train pas5in
5 his own door almost hourly whereof
distance was almost literally mnih
= lated, and the IN 81 Of commerc
n brought to him, instead of being who
:. ly inaccessible, as for many years {
S his residence in this town. He ha
y been a magistrate for nearly half
+ century, probably; trusted and col
f. fided in by all. and was almost alway
/ selected as talesman upon jury,
e the higher courts, if present whe
/ such were required, he very oftc
=. Sc rived on the petit and grand juror
it in court, and tried probably as man
e causes, as court and juror, as almo
o any man in his county, and was new,
II suspected of any prejudice or passio
= in his decision; and went 80 his res
" at the age of lightweight years, ju
IL sixty-seven years to a day, from tt
e day he came to reside in Barton.
- The had a numerous family, nine
~ whom came to maturity, but more thu
| half of whom deceased before the
e parents.
n The writer feels that his intima
" and confidential relations with Il
family, may in some degree, have di
= qualified him from forming an entil
d ly dispassionate estimate Of the cha
IF acter of the parents, or the family
lg They were surrounded by influence
+ and subjected to kind of trainin
: that was calculated to keep them qui
f aloof from the ordinary striles al
r. ambitions of social life: but they we
&c on that account, more free from c
trancous and perverting applianc
rs and might naturally therefore, be c
~ pected to exhibit the fair resn
!; Ultimate faculties and domestic trai
" ing They were a family especial
1g formed upon original models, al
least of all subject TO the sIavish
o. fects of conventional laws.
r. But the writer believes that
i'll family in Northern Vermont w.