Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1900-11-05


ton. Mr.. Gray paid 2Sc. per pound for
the nails which he put into this barn and
paid for them in butter at eight cents
pound. Ebenezer Gray was a good man
who early made a profession of religion.
/ He became an honored deacon in the
/ Cong. church and reared family of six
children; of these Hubbard Gray alone
remains. One of his sons, Rev.A r. Gray,
graduating early from Middlebury college,
entered the ministry, and became the pas
| tor of the Cong. church here; and for four
! teen years, the longest pastorate the church
has ever had, ministered to the spiritual
needs of Coventry's inha bitants. I need
scarcely add that we have many of the
descendants of Ebenezer Gray with US to-
| day for they are well-known as faithful
and honored citizens in this place. Zebu-
| Ion Barrows came here in 1911 and his son
is still with US, hale and hearty gentle
man at the age of seventy-six.
There is at least one other name which
deserves more than passing mention; it
is that of Isaac Parker. He came here in
1903 and married Ara bella Cobb, daugh-
ter of Samuel Cobb, so the Parkers also
have pioneer blood on both sides. Judge
Hark6r Taught UuS SGCOuu SCuOO1 SV0I
tau hit in Coventry and the first taught
by male. He graduated from Middle
bury college in 1916, and afterwards es-
ia blished school in his own house. Sew
eraI persons who attained notable dis
tinction in the world. were fitted for col
lege by hin, among these being Isaac F.
Redfield afterwards justice of the supreme
court of Vermont, and Geo. 3. Ide, a
noted Baptist divine. If the Rev. John
Ide, the first minister of Coventry, is en-
titled to be called the father of religion IN
Coventry, then Judge Parker is certainly
entitled to be called the father of educa-
tion in Coventry.
Frederick w. Herman came here in 1909
and located on the place now owned by
Albert Smith. He was a native of Ger
many and on visit to England in 1776 he
was pressed into the British service in the
of the Revolution, but upon landing
in the Uniten States in Portland, Maine, he
deserted the service and joining the Am
erican army fought on our side through
that great conflict. George Herman and
Mrs. Albert Smith are grandchildren of
Frederick w. Herman.
In 1904 occurred the first death, that of
Mrs. Polly Farnsworth; there was neither
minister or doctor here then and Mrs.
Farnsworth died in great agony of both
body and mind. Her death, however,
though hard to bear, was not in vain for
out of it sprang the establishment of reli-
gion and the organization of a church.
She was buried in the corner of Mr.. Farms
worth's field near South hill, which field is
now owned by Mr.. Litchfield. stone
was placed at her grave which remained
until a short time ago when it was remov-
ed by Mr.. Litchfield. Mr.. Lichfeld in
forms me that in his attempt to remove
the remains he dug down six feet but
found no vestige of them, not even bone
or piece of wood or anything to indicate
that a human being had ever been buried
there.
In the year 1916 frost came on June 9th
which destroyed all Vegetation, even to
the foliage on the trees. This was follow
ed by snow that piled up in some places to
the depth of two feet, no crops We're raised
and there was considerable suffering in the
long winter which followed. The only
means of livelihood W hich was left to the
people was the manufacturing of salts, q
su distance which was procured by burning
hard wood tim Der and extracting the salts |
from the ashes. The settlers made these !
salts and took them to Barton where they
exchanged them for food. 1t was in 1921, /
five years after the famine, that the village I
of Coventry began TO be. In hat year /
came the Harmon's, three brothers, Calvin, !
Daniel and Argalus from Vergennes.
They purchased for the sum of three dol
lorC 40 site w hich bo will
stands. It was low cedar swamp, thought I
to be entirely useless. The Harmons were
men of push and energy and they imme-
diately began to clear land and inaugurate
business enterprises of various kinds.
Thomas Baldwin took the contract to
clear five acres, including the spot where
the Cong. church now stands, and he sub
let the job to Ami Burlington. Ami felled
the first tree and built the first house. It
was.of logs and built on the site occupied
by the house in which Nathaniel Sawyer
now lives. Early in 1922 the Harmons
built store and stocked it with goods and
New England rum. This store is the one
occupied by A. D. Thurber and is un-
dou btedly the oldest building in the vii
lage. The next building erected was
residence for Calvin Harmon, now owned
and occupied by William Barrows. Arga-
lus Harmon early built house and store
on the hill, just this side of where Joseph
Kidder now lives; the cellar to this house
is plainly to be seen yet. Things went on
merrily in the village where the Harmons
presided. Their reign, however, was short
lived, for in 1925 they sold out their store
any other interest to Elijah Cleveland.
|
epoch in the history of the village. Cleve-