Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1886-04-16
Early SETTLEMENTS IN MIDDLEBURY
NEAR THE FOOT OF THE MOUNTAIN.
BY EZRA BRAINERD.
No. Ill.

HOME LOT lS.-In 1895 Brainerd Hook
er purchased that part of the lot that lies
east of the highway and Is acres of lot
lying east of it, ''pitched for Widow
Coon" as we are told in the old Proprie-
tors Records. He purchased also in 1905
an adjoining strip of home lot II, l6 rods
in width on the road. The old Hooker
house is part of it, still standing, though
no longer used as Il dwelling: it is the
first house south of the brook on the east
side of the highway. Brainerd Hooker
died in lSOS, aged 81; his son Charles oc-
cupied the farm until 1914, when he went
West.
1t is a fact worthy of note that nearly
all the sons or grandsons of the first set
tiers have emigrated to other parts of the
country. OF the twelve or more settlers
already mentioned in this article, not one
has left in this region a descendant bear
ing his name. This we attribute not to
any lack of offspring, nor to any want OF
home attachment, nor to the hardships
or poverty of the first settlers. On the
contrary. they had most of them come
here poor and had secured from the for
est fertile and valuable farms and com
Portable dwellings. The sons when they
came of age were disposed to do as their
fathers had dOne-push on to where wild
land could be had for a nominal sum.
and where in Il few years they could at
tain to the wealth and comfort which
their fathers had achieved. 1t was Il part
of the movement by which the sons of
New England have spread themselves
across the continent to the very shores of
the Pacific.
HOME Lot l9.-Wm. Coon appears to
have been the first settler on home lot 10,
But in February l79S, he sold to Warren
Gibbs the part lying east of the highway
and the remaining 81 acres of the above
mentioned lot pitched for ''Widow Coon"
his mother. Mr.. Gibbs lived in log cabin
- rods north of the house now standing
on the lot, until in 1900 he moved to lot
IL, as has been already noticed He con-
tinued. however. to own the lot until
about 1881, when he divided it among
his children.
HOME LOT 20.-Dea. Ebenezer Sum
mer in 1902 decided home lot 20 to his son
Samuel. who cleared it and resided ON it
for several years in the house now Occu-
pied by Charles SullenS. The south half
of the farm is now owned by Charles
Landon.
HOME LOT 2l was first settled by
Daniel Beadle. who purchased it in
March, 1926. of Alfred Wainwright. The
house that he built. since destroyed was
on the east side of the road. Just north of
the present trout pond. The present
house near the south line of the lot was
built by Chandler Tillotson and was kept
open as IA tavern for several years by a
Mr.. Dean.
HOME Lot 22.-James sumner. another
son of Dea. Ebenezer Sumner. began to
clear this lot in 1911. though he did not
receive Il deed of the lot from his father
until March. 1925. On this lot he resid-
ed with his family until his death in 1874,
at the age of 50. His son, Andrew j.
sumner, now owns the property and
lives in the old homestead.
The great longevity of these early set
tiers deserves passing notice. We have
the ages of ten of those that are mention
ed III these papers, ascertained mostly
from their tomb-stOnes in the interesting
little cemetery half mile north of the
old red SchOOl-houSe The average age
of these ten is 10 - years. No wonder
the sons could not wait to inherit the pro-
perty of their fathers. and rs IA rule went
off to seek their own fortunes,
HOME LOTS % and 24-In April. 1911.
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