St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1870-04-15
Il DerHtOHt WOitHy.


= Barnet, Vermont, on the 18th day ,
l. December, l19l, and died on the ol
Il homestead on the 30th of July, 1867
at the age of sevenly-tive, leaving hi
p, house full OF books and historical manu-
n scripts, the delight of his youth, til
t companions of his manhood, ard the so
itcc of his old age. His father was Emo
: Stevens, who from the age of - to - wa
: three years Il captive among the ST
Francis Indians of Canada, was one O
the original p,oprietors and first settler,
of Barnet undera New Hampshire grant
; was married at the age of fifty, and en-
l1ched his state with ten Green Noun
tam boys and girls. The father of En0>
was Capt. phincas Stevens, born at Sud
bury, Massachusetts, in 1907, served his
country in the Indian wars. and in
April, l1J7, defended successfully Fort
NJ. Four, on Connecticut river, against
;'n attack OF Il large body of French and
Indians for which gallant action he w;l-
cumpiimcnted with Il sword by Admiral
Sir Charles Knowles, whose fleet was
then IN Boston harbrr. the place thence
forward being called Charlc,town. after
! Sir Charles. He was sent to Canada in
| I.J2, by the government of NassaChu-
sets bay TO redeem captivcs. Not find
! in" cnou@h oi them tor his money. and
nccin. with New Hampshire youn.
man named John Stark, hc vcntured to
buy him on his own account of the In
d'an~ 10y exchanging u Shetland pony
tor which hc paid 5I5 livrcS, and - re
stored to his friends the future hero of
brmin4tun. Phncas was the son of
tyPriRI. who was the son of Cyprian
~vulrr. who was the ~Un of Thomas OF
London. Il supporter and friend Of the
Massachusetts colony, who WAS the son
Of Thomas Stevens OF DevonShirc. one of
the assignee, of Sir Walter Raleigh OF
h;- patent of Virginia. of March. l5SJ.
To return. Henry and the late Thad- |
deus Stevens, born within seven miles of.
each other. were chum- in bovhood III
Pcacham academy. and warm friends
through Itr. Leaving the academy al /
the are of Twelve. with only Il taste of
books, IL he expressed il. graduating az .
Nhtnrr>'s university, he hcramr self
tau.h; man. The eldest ot ten children.
Ir hCcpmc Their guardian aud educator.
Ar father of - largc family. he sought
ON. 10 provid. for his children with t, J.
urat.uu. .,vi'- them 10 hoe their OWL
flows. He was a farmer, an innkccper.
a uIi.i-owurr. a landlord. and the squire.
t'y courtesy, ot Stevens village. An
and book collector. hi,
uCu-c WIS the resort Of the intelligent.
lie WAS a LIBERAL and public spirited
citizen, u d,-,ntcrc>tcd politician. an i'm
partial justice, an Industrious rcprcsen-
tatlyc III thc state Legislature. an ohli-
-m- postmaster. 4 promoter of a4rirul-
,,.rr, AMI an advocate OF temperance.
\ klud ucigubrr, h" pasturcd the Wild
~ = COW. protected the tath,ric><, and ,
supplemented his mini~trr-taX
with one !nnl OF nay and two bushels of
rLi,c beans. He was a collector and .
'4"ler OF newspapers, a hoarIcr ul pam
'..rt~, and 4 gattcr,r ot the uncon>id- n
ret .rii,- ot the day lie Ir,tursl on !
'inp""aucc, agriculture. and education. +;
,ul con,radri that Vermont should he o
nIuur,d all over with school houses. !
l. was a slron@ advocate Of internal ,
and domestic manutac- ,
urr>. Through life he was u wuul- q
r,wrr and al> clothes were humr-pun.
- knpwlrd@r of the >atatiStir> of his i
"unIrv few were his equals. and none Il
Va lIj> superior in the history OF his T.
wu state and t ,. early Green mountain /,
py~. lie was a confidential agent OF Fl
hr secretary ot the treasury al Wash .
p-tun, t"r collecting information respect .
= Ihc New England manufactures. and
he stale of Vermont owes TO him the /,
olicctlou and arrangement of her histor- h
al papers. y
Many OF his books and historical pam n n
hl't>. Ike those from Wa,hington's Ii !;
rdry, found their way through the wri- T.,
r INTO the library OF the British muse -
M. In january, 1857. some 2OO0 !.
olume~ OF Vermont newspapers. 5000 ;,
'actS, and many OF his valuable histori-
Al manuscripts were burnt with the state Il
"us2, Montpelier, an irrcparablc loss to Y
Im>cL! and 10 pustcrity. His widow =,
uw possesses about 25O large quarto d,
nd folio volumes OF historical manuscripts =.
dating 10 the New Hampshire grants. Il
J crmon;, and 10 the controversy with l.,
'ew York. among which are the E,atl.an i,
ad Ira Allen papers, the papers OF RI
lc iir>t three survcyorS-Tcncral. miscel- :,
ncouS correspondence, etc. in many Fl
olumcs will be found his book-platc, f.
1mprl>lng the arms OF Vermont over 90.
Is name and address, aud these lines - -,
in raradi-e the tr,c :.
OF knowledge was the pride; :.
By Cod's supreme Decree va
The who cat-thcn died Dl
But Heaven in mercy since
Does him who tastes forgive: III
To know, il no ofTcncr; &C
Now, he who cats-sha live to
MIR. stevens represented Barnet two 1t
';lrs IN the State Legislatures lie was tr
} speaker, bat generally managed to >h
Iry his point by force OF native talent ne
nj ingenious surprise. At one time the 1t
,g>lature was at a deadlock on the -
'polntment OF some officer, and neither
Irty would yield. The opposition con
ndcd that the candidate was not equal
the place. The gentleman from Bar
t gained the floor ''NIr. Speaker
ID he, ''may | ask if this candidate is 4.
c man who, unarmed, recently hugged
bear to death - lie is" Then, tn
p, think hc is not the man to finch i'm
der any circumstances,-he shall have 90
y vote" and amid roars of laughter to
{ candidate was unanimously elected a
ears after he generally attended the