The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-06-15
GOVERNOR DIX TO
BE GUEST HERE
SATURDAY
Hon. Seymour Van SantvOOrd
To Entertain
MANY DISTINGUISHED MEN
In Honor Of the 15oth Anniversary Of
the Settlement at Shadow
brook Farm

Hon Seymour Van Santvoord will
celebrate at Shadowbrook farm, his
beautiful country place on the Mount
Anthony road, next Saturday, June II,
the 150th anniversary of the settle
ment of the farm. This is also the
l50th anniversary of the settlement
of Bennington for the coming of Mrs.
Bridget Harwood and her son Peter
10 Shadowbrook farm was coincident
With the arrival of the first settlers
here on June Is, 1861.
Saturday, June II, 1911 marks the
completion of $50 years Of commun-
lty life in Bennington just as, in the
eyes of the law, man is OF age on
the day before his birthday so that
the holding OF the celebration on Sat
urday is just as fitting as though held
on the following day.
The celebration will be a purely
private and social affair for invited
guests only The celebration will
last from 4 o'clock to 8 o'clock and
there will be about 175 guests pres
ent.
Among the guests will be Hon.
John A. Dix, governor of New York;
Hon. John c. Mccullough, for
mer governor of Vermont; Hon. John
w. Stewart of Middlebury, former
governor of Vermont; Hon. Edward
Curtis Smith of st. Adams, former
governor of Vermont; Hon. Charles
S. Francis of Troy, former U. S. Am
bassador to Russia; Col Gibson, COM
mandant of the Watervliet arsenal;
Gen. c. Whitney Tillinghast of Troy;
Hon Frank NJ. Patterson of New
York: Gen. Amasa ]. Parker of AL
bany; Major Eckford DeKay. mill
tary secretary to Governor Dix, and
several members of Governor Dix's
staff.
These gentlemen and the other
guests of the occasion are coming.
not in any public capacity, but as
private citizens, personal friends of
MIR. Van Santvoord Governor Dix
was nominated In the Rochester con
vention last year by Mr. Van SAINT
yoord at Mr. Dix's personal request.
A tall flagstaff has been erected
lOudN vi lllt law II III AiOilt vi A9hAQ
OVERLOOK farmhouse and after the
guests are gathered here, will be rails
ed a large American flag The flag
raising will be followed by several
short addresses by Governor Dix,
Governor Mccullough and others.
Later collation. will be served.
Shadowbrook farm is one of the
places of greatest historical interest
in Bennington The house is one of
the very few old houses in Benning-
ton. IL. IL. Harwood, a former own
er and occupant of the farm, stated
that the house retains more of the
shape and appearance of the first
frame houses built in Bennington
than any other dwelling house now
standing" II was built in 1863 by
Peter Harwood, who came from Mas
sachusetts and who was the pioneer
settler on the property The house
was framed by Robert Cochran, who
afterward became q Lieutenant Col
onel in the Revolutionary war. The
old dwelling, which is so typical of
the first houses built by the prosper
Gus farmers of the eighteenth cen
fury. has appealed to Mr., Van SAINT
words love of the antique and the
venerated. 1t is his intention to re-
store the parlor and perhaps other
rooms in the old house to their or
iginal appearance and finish as when
Peter Harwood, the prosperous far
mer and prominent citizen, lived and
died there. A large amount of mon
ey has been expended in building
substantial stone walls, in ditching
in smooth grading for long stretches
along the highway and in many other
ways, not only to make the farm
more productive but to add to its at
Effectiveness and ornamentation. A
great deal that is interesting and his
torical clusters around the old farm.
1t was here that the first person
who died in Bennington passed away
Mrs. Bridget Harwood, mother OF
Peter Harwood, in 1852. Mrs. Har-
wood was the first woman that ever
set foot in Bennington. In company
with twenty or thirty others she ar
rived in the town June IS, 176l. The
party came on horseback from Mass
achusetts across the mountains by
the way of the Hoosick forts. AS the
marty neared the Bennington town
line the women We'd with each other
to see which would get over the line
first It is said that Mrs Harwood
led in the race, though the Robinsons
a numerous family in Bennington,
claim the honor. 1t was on this farm
that the first male child was born,
Henry Harwood, January II, 1852. lie
died on the farm after a useful lie
of eighty-nine years Here was also
planted the first apple tree in the
town. The tree lived and bore trult
for 1O9 years, when it was leyeled by
a high wind. Relics have been turn
ed from the wood as keepsakes Tor
friends
on the west side of the farm ana
within a wooded tract that trends up
the mountain Is a huge rock OF blue
limestone formation almost as large
as n small house. The side OF the
great boulder Is covered with rich
mosses and lichens and young trees
flourish on top. The base OF the rock
ON two sides has been eroded ana
worn away, probably by a little brook
that brawls down the mountain anu
which no doubt in ages past ran up
against the rock and wore II away
The rock there is beetling, the top
L.