History of Windsor, (Windsor County) Vermont United States of America

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Local History Notes:

WINDSOR, a county in the S. E. central part of Vermont, has an area of about 1040 square miles. It is bounded on the E. by the Connecticut, and is traversed by the White river and other smaller streams, which furnish abundant water-power. The surface is generally uneven, and in the W. part mountainous. The soil is fertile. Indian corn, potatoes, wool, and grass are the staples. In 1850, the county produced 312,581 bushels of corn; 613,297 of potatoes; 118,865 tons of hay; 1,741,228 pounds of butter, and 589,305 of wool. The quantity of corn, hay, and butter was the greatest produced by any county in the state. There were 3 cotton, and 22 woollen factories, 3 foundries, 4 machine shops, 7 flour mills, 3 grist mills, 12 saw mills, 17 manufactories of boots and shoes, 7 of farming implements, and 17 tanneries. It contained 79 churches, 4 newspaper offices, 1845 pupils attending public schools, and 340 attending other schools. Steatite and limestone are found here. The Connecticut river is navigable, by means of canals round the falls, along the E. border. The county is intersected by the Rutland railroad, and also by the railroad connecting Concord and Montpelier. Organized in 1781. Capital, Woodstock. Population, 38,320.

Biographies:

Sewall Sylvester Cutting, editor, was born at Windsor, Vt., Jan. 19, 1813. He was prepared for college at South Reading, Mass., in 1829, and decided to become a lawyer, but after studying one year he concluded to enter the ministry. He attended Waterville college, 1831-33, and then entered the University of Vermont, where he was graduated in 1835. On March 31, 1836, he was ordained pastor of the Baptist church in West Boylston, Mass., and in 1837 began a pastorate at Southbridge, Mass., which he resigned in 1845 to become editor of the Baptist Advocate in New York. He changed its name to the New York Recorder and remained its editor until 1850. He was then elected corresponding secretary of the American and foreign Bible society, and in 1849 became the editor of the Christian Review which he conducted until 1852. He occupied an editorial position on the Boston Watchman and Reflector, 1851-52, and in 1853 returned to New York to edit the Recorder. In 1855, with Dr. Edward Bright, he purchased the Baptist Register, consolidated it with the Recorder and formed the Examiner. He then accepted the chair of rhetoric and history in the University of Rochester, which he resigned in 1868 to become secretary of the American Baptist educational commission. In 1879 he was elected secretary of the American Baptist home mission society, and after serving one year, went on a pleasure trip to Europe. The University of Vermont conferred upon him the degree of A.M. in 1840 and that of D.D. in 1859. His published writings include: Historical Vindications (1859); Straggles and Triumphs of Religious Liberty (1876); and Ancient Baptistries. He died in Brooklyn, N.Y., Feb. 7, 1882.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Valentine Baxter Horton, representative, was born in Windsor, Vt., Jan. 29, 1802. He was a student at Partridge's Military academy, Norwich, Vt., and a teacher in the school when it removed to Middletown, Conn. He was admitted to the bar in 1830 and practised at Pittsburg, Pa., 1830-33; at Cincinnati, Ohio, 1833-35, and engaged in mining and manufacturing at Pomeroy, Ohio, 1835-88. He was a delegate to the state constitutional convention of 1850; a representative in the 34th and 35th congresses, 1855-59; trustee of Ohio university, 1848-88, and five times a member of the general convention of the Protestant Episcopal church. He died iu Pomeroy, Ohio, Jan. 14, 1888.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Gordon Saltonstall Hubbard, pioneer, was born in Windsor, Vt., Aug. 22, 1802; eldest son of Elizar and Abigail (Sage) Hubbard, natives of Connecticut. His father, a lawyer, had become poor by unfortunate speculations, and Gurdon obtained little more than acommon school education. He was employed by the American Fur company, and was sent to Mackinaw as an Indian trader. The larger part of his salary he contributed to the support of his family. He visited Fort Dearborn (the site of Chicago) in November. 1818, and established trading posts in Illinois and Michigan, by way of Chicago, to Mackinaw, making twenty-six trips, 1819-26. In l827 he engaged in the trading business on his own account, and when the business became unprofitable lie removed to Chicago. He served as a volunteer against unfriendly Indians, and represented his district in the state legislature in 1832. He erected the first large warehouse built of brick, in Chicago, and in 1836 he sold out his mercantile establisment and embarked in the commission business. He formed the Eagle line between Buffalo and the upper lakes. He was appointed by Governor Joseph Duncan one of the commissioners of the Illinois and Michigan canal in 1835. In 1836, as agent of ?tna Fire Insurance company, of Hartford, Conn., he wrote the first fire insurance policy ever issued in Chicago. He was a director of the State Bank of Illinois, and in 1841 aided in the organization of the board of trade. Previous to his remedial to Chicago he had brought a large drove of hogs into the village, and had slaughtered them for the garrison, and soon after his removal he engaged in the packing of beef and pork, which he continued on a large scale until the destruction of his packing house by fire in 1863, after which he engaged in the indirect importation of tea from China. He retired from active business in 1871. He was an organizer of St. James's Episcopal church, the first Episcopal church in Chicago; builder and owner of the first large hotel, and was a director in the first company to supply the village with water, in 1836. He was twice married: first, in 1831, to Eleaner Berry, of Ohio who died in 1838; and secondly, to Mary Ann Hubbard, of Chicago. In 1885 he became totally blind. He died in Chicago, Ill., Sept. 14, 1886.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor

Abiel Leonard, jurist, was born in Windsor, Vt., May 16, 1797; son of Capt. Nathaniel Leonard, of Woodstock, Conn., who served in the war of 1812, and commanded Fort Niagara at the time of the capture by the British in 1813; and grandson of the Rev. Dr. Abiel Leonard (Harvard, 1759), a chaplain in Washington's army. His mother was a granddaughter of Gen. Nathanael Greene. Abiel attended Dartmouth college, 1813-16, leaving on account of failure of eyesight. He studied law with Gould & Sill in Whitesbore, N.Y., and was licensed to practise in 1818. He made the journey of 1200 miles to Franklin, Mo. Ty., in 1818, where he established a school and at the end of six months a law office. In 1828 he became circuit attorney. In 1824 he fought a duel with Maj. Taylor Berry whom he mortally wounded. He was married in October, 1830, to Jeanette, daughter of Col. B. H. Reeves, of Kentucky; returned to Fayette, Mo., and was a representative in the Missouri legislature in 1835, where he carried through the liberal public school system of the state. He was one of the three justices of the supreme court of the state, 1855-57, filling out the unexpired term of Hamilton R. Gamble, who resigned to become governor of the state; and practised law in Fayette and St. Louis, 1857-61, when he retired owing to ill health. He died in Fayette, Mo., March 28, 1863.

From: Twentieth Century Biographical Dictionary of Notable Americans, Johnson, Rossiter, editor