Litchfield County CT Archives History - Books .....Lanesville 1882

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Book Title: HISTORY OF THE TOWNS OF NEW MILFORD AND BRIDGEWATER, CONNECTICUT, 1703-1882

CHAPTER XVIII. 
LANESVILLE.

QUIETLY sits the village with the above name on the great plains about half a
mile west of the Great Fails. It consists of a few sparsely located farmhouses,
one small store, and two old mills. The days of its first greatness have passed
away.

  The first work of civilization at the locality now called Lanesville, by the
falls on Still River, was the building of the first gristmill in the town by
John Griswold and William Gould about 1717. Previous to this some of the land
had been laid out along Still River for meadows. Mr. John Griswold's
dwelling-house-seems to have been located on the east side of the Housatonic,
two miles above the Falls, a little south of the residence of the late A. S.
Rogers, where he died in 1719, and where a large proportion of his seventy
acres, given him for building the mill, were located.

  Capt. John Warner began work on his farm on the Danbury road in 1725, at the
corner where the Methodist meetinghouse was erected about one hundred years
later; and about three years later his brother, Joseph Warner, settled a little
further south on the same road; and Joseph Waller, at the same time and place.
Capt. John Warner's farm was located adjoining the lower end of the Common
Field, the east and west fence of that field crossing the valley at the north
side of his farm, the corner of the field and the south gate being at the foot
of the hill west of his dwelling-house.

  Ezekiel Buck was the next settler in this immediate locality, about 1725 or 6,
and in 1734 a school was established for a part of the year, for these families,
as may be seen in Chapter XV of this book, the school-house being located at the
corners, at Capt. John Warner's.

  In 1733 the settlement began at what is called the Iron Works in Brookfield.
The settlers  more generally preferred to locate on the hills, and hence the
plain was left very much to the occupancy of the inhabitants of the town for
meadow lands, until about 1740, when the settlers began to increase more rapidly
on the adjoining hills, and gradually on the plains. Still River Neck, or the
elevated land between the lower part of Still River and the Housatonic River,
was taken up quite early after the Iron Works were commenced in 1733, and next
followed Wood Creek Hill, called afterwards Beers' Hill, and more recently
Carman's Hill. The elevated land called Still River Neck included what was
called Punkin Hill, Great Buck Hill, and Prospect Hill, and some considerable
portion of this ridge was called for many years Long Meadow, and is still known
by that name. At the foot of Punkin Hill, on the west side, Lazarus Ruggles
settled about 1755, and afterwards he erected the Iron Works at the falls in
Lanesville. In 1757 Samuel Brownson, Jr., seems to have owned the mill at
Lanesville, perhaps a saw-mill only, which had been built by John Griswold,
Sen., in 1717, or he may have built one there himself.

  In 1769 a school district was organized in that vicinity, including, probably,
all families on the east side of the plain, who were very few, perhaps none but
Lazarus Ruggles, but compassing quite a number on the east side of the
Housatonic River.

  "Voted, that there shall be a district for a school, beginning at Lazarus
Ruggles', including him; then cross the river, taking in Ebenezer Hotchkiss and
his sons, and Lemuel Bostwick, Isaac Bostwick, Richard Bristol, Josiah Smith,
Jr., Ezra Merchant, John Oviatt, John Wilkinson, Noah Brownson, Eunice Clark,
Joseph Bostwick, Lewis Wilkinson, Abel Gillett, Abraham Smith, Caleb Terrill, Jr."

  Several familes had been residing on the road from Lanesville to Wood Creek
meadows, before 1760, at which time Silas Hill purchased the farm of John
Prindle, who had been residing there near his brother Samuel some years.

  Capt. Lazarus Ruggles, son of Capt. Joseph, was born in 1730, and became an
influential farmer about 1760. He resided a time after his marriage at the Iron
Works in Brookfield, but purchased the Orange Warner farm in Still River Neck,
where he afterwards resided, and which farm is still known by his name. In 1775
Capt. Ruggles bought of John Buck, for £170, about fifty acres of land at Still
River Falls—north side —now Lanesville, with a dwelling-house and barn, and on
this land he erected Iron Works soon after. In January, 1783, he farm-rented
these, with nine acres of land, consisting of the "Iron Works, -two coal houses,
a saw mill, and blacksmith shop," to Richard Fairman, Esqr., and Eli Dunning,
both of Newtown, for the term of 999 years, on condition that a gristmill should
not be erected on these premises, and if it should be, the damages to be
recovered by him should be .£2,000; and Mr. Ruggles was not to build a gristmill
on the same stream under alike penalty. The object in these bonds seems to have
been to secure a monopoly of gristmill work at the Little Falls on the
Housatonic, where he had built, or did build soon after that time, a gristmill.

  Capt. Lazarus Ruggles obtained from his farm and Iron Works a comfortable, but
not a sumptuous subsistence for himself, wife, and thirteen children, and enough
to give his children such an education and cultivation as to place them in the
first rank in society and the enterprises of the times,, so that but few
families of the town have distinguished themselves more in public positions and
social life than his. The members of this family were distinguished for their
helpfulness toward each other; all the children growing to years of maturity
except the second, a daughter, who died young. Mr. Ruggles died in 1797, aged 66
years, at which time his daughter Hannah was 17 years of age, she being one of
the most beautiful young ladies of whom the town could ever boast. His son David
died when about 20 years of age, a prisoner in the British army on Long Island
in the Revolution. Philo Ruggles was the son next to David, and he was 32 years
of age when his father died, and he became a lawyer of prominence, first in New
Milford, then in Poughkeepsie, N. Y., and afterwards in New York City.

  Capt. Joseph Ruggles, an elder brother of Lazarus, was also a prominent
citizen, a large land-holder, and an energetic business man. In May, 1787, he
purchased of Eli Dunning half of the Iron Works at Lanesville, and in May, 1789,
he bought of Reuben Booth half of the mill property at Little Falls. This
consisted of a "gristmill, and a saw-mill, and dam, and bolting [works],
clothes-mill irons, casks, measures, &c., belonging to both mills." This
property Reuben Booth purchased of Lazarus Ruggles the day before he sold the
half to Joseph Ruggles, and the partnership continued ten years, until Joseph
Ruggles sold his half to Jared Lane, and Mr. Booth died one year later. Capt.
Joseph Ruggles died in 1802, aged 71 years.

  Jared Lane was born in 1745, and married in New Milford Aphia, daughter of
Lazarus Ruggles, in 1786. One tradition says he was born in England, another
that he was nephew to Partridge Thatcher, and if so was probably from Lebanon, Ct.

  In 1787, one year after his marriage, he is said, in a deed, to have been of
Sheffield, Mass., when he took a mortgage of Abel Weller on land near the Indian
field, which land came into his possession a few years later. In 1789, he is
said in a deed to be of Sharon, when he bought of John Carpenter land and a
dwelling-house in New Milford for £190. The same year he purchased of his
father-in-law Lazarus Ruggles fifty acres of land with a dwelling-house, "in
Still River Neck," which was in earlier times a part of the Orange Warner farm;
and is still known as the Jared Lane homestead. He was successful in farming and
became an influential citizen, being a representative several terms in succession.

  He introduced, it is said, the Lombardy poplar trees as an ornamental shade
tree; had a nursery to raise them for himself and for sale to the people of the
town. Mr. William Wanzer tells the story of giving two young apple-trees for one
poplar tree, and imagines now that he paid dear for his tree. At one time Mr.
Lane's farm had a row of poplars round it, and a picturesque appearance they
must have exhibited when seen from Wood Creek Hill. Between 1800 and 1820, the
poplars spread over the town in great profusion, and they are still seen
occasionally, so poorly clad with leaves as to be a disgrace to all other trees,
for the trees of New Milford, as well as the people, are prone to the wearing of
an elegant outfit of magnificent apparel. The splendor of this dark foliage
contrasted with the lighter shades of the variegated fields of grass and grain,
as seen from the top of Mount Tom, Town Hill, Carman's Hill, Guarding Mountain,
Great Hill, or many other points of elevated observation, is scarcely surpassed
by that of any other town in the state of Connecticut.

  The old Lombardy poplars have passed away from the Lane homestead, as have
also the once well-known occupants of that estate; but two rows of grand maples,
in the strength of vigorous and luxurious growth, approaching the zenith of age,
now adorn both sides of the ancient highway passing the renewed mansion which is
still in the possession of the heirs of Jared Lane and Lazarus Ruggles. Long may
they spread their branches to wave a welcome to the succeeding descendants of
Doct. Amaziah Wright and the United States Senator, the Hon. Elijah Boardman.
The voice of the soft summer breeze, waving the spreading branches of these new
trees in the place of the old, whispers in the silent moonlight, the
never-ending story, "all things pass away, and all things are made new." Jared
Lane had two daughters and one son; one of these, Maria Aphia, born in 1787,
grew to be a noted young lady, sustaining the high honor of the old Ruggles
homestead for elegance of personal appearance and cultivation, and when Doct.
Amaziah Wright, from Lebanon, Ct., came to this town, the young lady's graces
pleased him so well, that he sought and won her as his bride in 1809. They
removed to Poughkeepsie, and in a few years to New York city, where the doctor
was successfully engaged in his profession until just before the close of his
life, when he came to the old Lane homestead as a relief from business life,
where he soon after died.

  Anne Ayre Lane, the other daughter of Jared, married a lawyer of Poughkeepsie,
who was afterwards noted in fame as Judge Hiram Paine Hunt of Troy, N. Y. He was
in Congress from 1835 to 1843, and afterwards was judge of the United States
Circuit Court of N. Y.

  William Jared Lane, son of Jared, born in 1789, studied law in early life;
possessed fine reasoning faculties and great cultivation of taste, especially in
the fine arts. He was cashier of the Fulton Bank of New York city many years,
holding a very high standing among the business men of that city. A few of his
last years he spent in New Milford, where he died. His son, Thaddeus H. Lane,
born in 1821, held office sometime in the Fulton Bank; then held office some
years in the New York courts, but returned to New Milford, where he died. Susan
Maria Lane, daughter of William J., married Col. Milton Cogswell of the U. S.
Army. He graduated at West Point Academy; served there as professor; served in
the late war and was taken prisoner at Ball's Bluffs and remained in Richmond
some time. He was for a brief period, between superior officers, commandant at
Governor's Island, N. Y., in 1865, and in 1869 he commanded at Charlestown, S.
C., as military governor. He held office under President Hayes at the Soldiers'
Home in Washington, D. C., from 1877 to 1881, where he still remains.

  A perusal of the genealogy of this family reveals the fact that they have
occupied socially, professionally, and officially a very remarkably high
position, and quite many of its members have enjoyed a most brilliant life career.

  There was cherished in the home of Lazarus Ruggles another daughter who became
celebrated for her beauty and loveliness and the high position of her family.
This was Hannah, the youngest child, born in 1780, and reared on the old
farmer's homestead.

  About 1790, New Milford became famous for the elegance of its social parties,
and the attractions of its many well-cultivated young people. The law-school of
Judge Reeve of Litchfield took particular notice of this fact, for Reynolds
Marvin, Esqr., one of the professors in that far-famed institution, won as his
bride Ruth Welch, the accomplished daughter of the wealthy Paul Welch, Esqr., of
New Milford, some years before, and the social relations between Litchfield and
New Milford were very cordial. About the year 1795, there was a student in that
law-school who came to New Milford with a company of young people to attend a
ball, where he met the youngest daughter of Jared Lane, whom he thought the most
beautiful and charming young lady he had ever seen, the consequences of which
were that he, Samuel Hawkins, and Hannah Lane were married some few years later.
Samuel Hawkins is said to have possessed a remarkably elegant personal presence
and brilliant intellectual qualities. Tradition says he was born in England;
came to America when four years of age; was stolen by the Indians and retained
by them for a time, who, being charmed with his fair features and golden curls,
they named him the "Golden Lily," and were very kind to him, treating him as a
little king, until he was returned to his home. Mr. Hawkins and his young bride
settled in New York, where great favor was bestowed upon them by the elegant
society of that growing city. In the war of 1812, he received the appointment of
colonel, and became a great favorite in the army; and afterwards as a politician
resided in Washington, D. C., where his wife became celebrated as the belle, or
most beautiful woman of that city, and where he himself established a wide
political influence, and was the personal friend of Gen. Andrew Jackson, but did
not live to see him president of the United States, in 1828. Mr. Hawkins died,
leaving a widow and five children. The subsequent career of his sons was
brilliant, far beyond the attainments of ordinary mortals. Such are but a few of
the outlines of the history of one of the descendants of one of the early
families of the town of New Milford.

  Silas Hill, born in Massachusetts, came to New Fairfield; enlisted in the
French war; served about one year, and in 1760 purchased of John Prindle a farm
and dwelling-house on Wood Creek road, where Mr. Charles Hatch now resides, and
made himself known during thirty years as one of the most energetic farmers of
that part of the town. He was a little eccentric; resolute, even to roughness;
enterprising to his own cost. He was engaged very much during twenty years in
buying and selling land, there being, perhaps, not over a half dozen men in the
town in his day who bought and sold more acres than he. He became more
celebrated by a little circumstance than for all the hard work he did in forty
years. There was a little brook running from near his dwelling, across the
plain, to Still River, and on it he erected a small saw-mill for his own
convenience; but when the mill was built he could not raise the water to a
sufficient height to obtain fall enough to make the mill go. This failure of the
mill set all the poets at work, and, after a great amount of grinding out of
poetry, the following lines were ordained for the age of Methuselah:

" Silas Hill built a mill 
On Pinchgut sandy plain; 
There was no water in a mile and a quarter 
Except there came a rain, 
A chipping squirrel in his cheeks 
Could carry corn enough to grind six weeks."

  This mill was located on Three Mile Brook, and this poetry was not exactly
truthful, since there was abundance of water for two or three months in the year
to carry an ordinary mill, the only difficulty being that it was on a level
plain, and hence no fall to secure power.

  Mr. Hill was not lacking in shrewdness in business transactions and the saving
of money, while he was also quite generous when the spirit came upon him. Having
traded horses on Sunday with Gaius Norton, both were brought before the court
for Sabbath breaking, when Mr. Norton, being called upon to plead, said, "Not
guilty," meaning that he felt no guilt for what he had done. The court therefore
proceeded to try him, and fined him with a large amount of cost. Mr. Hill,
seeing how the matter went with Norton, when they called on him to plead, said:
"Guilty, guilty, guilty as the devil." Upon which the court announced only the
small amount of fine for breaking the Sabbath, without any costs, which was very
gratifying to Mr. Hill.

  When he built his mill-pond, he said he would eat the first thing that should
be caught in the pond, supposing it would be some kind of fish; but the first
thing was a water-snake, and, true to his word, he had a piece cooked, and he
ate some of it; but the thoughts of what kind of fish it was deranged his
appetite so that he ate very little, yet that little made him fearfully sick,
and he was made sensible that it was a fortunate thing that his appetite failed
so soon.

  Nicholas Wanzer a little time before 1800, then of New Fairfield, erected the
frame of a grist-mill, but found that a proper dam, when constructed, would
overflow a large amount of meadow-land, which he did not like to lose; therefore
he took down his frame, brought it to New Milford, and, in connection with
Daniel Sherwood, erected it at the Great Falls, on the Housatonic River.

  It has been supposed that Mr. Wanzer's mill was the first erected at the Great
Falls; but the records show that Capt. Isaac Bostwick had a grist-mill there
about twenty years before; which, when he lost his property by being county tax
collector, immediately after the Revolutionary War, fell into the hands of the
town of New Milford, and was afterwards sold to Reuben Booth and Reuben Bostwick
(son of Capt. Isaac). Silas Hill bought the Reuben Bostwick half of this
property in 1792, and gave it to his son, Silas Hill, Jr., in 1794, it
consisting of a gristmill, dwelling house, barn, and nineteen acres of land,
lying between Still River and the Housatonic River. This property was rented
some years by Daniel and Reuben Sherwood.

  It is said that Cornelius McMahon was the engineer who blasted out the channel
in the bed rock of the river, at the west end of the falls, for the
accommodation of the mill,—the channel which has been much observed as long as
any person remembers, but which by recent operations has disappeared.

  Nicholas Wanzer held an important place at Lanesville in business transactions
for a number of years. His store was at the four corners now occupied as a
dwelling by Doct. Knowles.

  Daniel Sherwood engaged with Nicholas Wanzer in the grist-mill at the Great
Falls. It being a part of the business to ship grains and corn-meal to distant
ports, and having had good success, he ventured to load a ship at Bridgeport, in
connection with a Mr. Hubbell, with wheat, and send it to the West Indies, where
the exchange was made for a full cargo of rum and molasses. Just before the ship
arrived at the port of New York, Mr. Hubbell made a consignment of the whole
cargo, worth nearly $100,000, to his creditors, whereby Mr. Sherwood lost a
large part of his property, and, although he had a comfortable living
afterwards, yet he never recovered his independent fortune lost by the infamous
Hubbell.

  Ezra Ruggles, son of Lazarus, Sen., born in 1771, built a house at Lanesville,
near the mills, in 1812, and kept a store there for many years. He was a good
man, well known, and much liked, and died in 1838, in his sixty-eighth year, not
married. How it should happen that a young man, with six so unusually attractive
sisters, should never marry is a mystery, unless it was that he feared he should
never find their equal. He possessed a fund of good-natured wit and humor, which
was also characteristic of the whole family, and his store was the place for the
full display of amusing anecdote and conversation " in ye olden times."

  There was a store kept at this place before Ezra Ruggles built his. It was
owned by Richard Fairman and Luther Dunning. Mr. Fairman sold his half to Silas
Hill in 1789,—the half of the goods, the store, and the land for £15, lawful money.

  Doct. Dobson Wheeler resided on the Wood Creek road, near Silas Hill's home,
and pursued his professional life and that of a farmer for quite a number of
years. He married the widow of Nathan Talcott, and had several children; one of
them, Mary, married Cornelius McMahon, the engineer miner.

  Cornelius McMahon is said to have come from New Jersey to New Milford as one
accustomed to work in silver and copper mines. He married Mary, daughter of
Dobson Wheeler, and purchased his first land in New Milford Nov. 7, 1781, on
Wood Creek Hill. He seems to have settled half a mile north of Lanesville four
corners, on the north side of Two Mile Brook, Danbury road. He purchased land to
the amount of several hundred pounds money, and became a successful farmer. He
was employed to blast out the channel in the rock at Great Falls for the first
grist-mill erected there, and also to blast a tunnel from Green Pond for an
outlet to secure water to run a mill in Sherman. In one of these pieces of work
he unfortunately injured one of his arms by the premature explosion of a blast,
which caused the loss, in a great measure, of the use of his arm. Doct. Dobson
Wheeler took him to his house, and there treated his arm so skillfully that he
recovered very much the use of his hand and arm, and then he married the
doctor's daughter.

  A little circumstance occurred with Mr. McMahon, which is amusing, although a
little disastrous to him. He had a place where he salted his sheep on a rock,
which rock he proposed to remove, and after drilling a hole in it and putting in
the powder he arranged for the blast. Just as he went to the rock and stooped
over to light the fuse, the sheep saw him, and expecting to find salt they all
ran for the rock; and in great consternation he exerted himself to frighten them
away, but they seemed the more determined to get some salt and drove upon the
rock, all in a cluster. Having stayed as long as he dared he cried out: shew,
shew, you devils, and ran with all his strength to save himself, when, away went
the sheep, sky high. On viewing the remnants he remarked pitifully to the poor
things: "I told you so; why didn't you mind?"

Falls Mountain and the Great Falls.

  A little over half-a-mile east of Lanesville are the Great Falls and Falls
Mountain. The former of these is celebrated as the place where the Indians
caught lamprey-eels, and the latter as affording the high cliff, called Lover's
Leap, and the monument to Waraumaug's grave. These natural wonders are more
fully described in Chapter VIII, of the Indian History published by the author
of this book. The mountain is not very high, but the river has cut a gorge
through the mountain, a distance of a quarter of a mile or more, leaving the
rock on each side abrupt, sometimes overhanging the water. At the lower end of
the gorge the rock is the highest, and on the east side it is called Lover's
Leap. The legend is that the daughter of the Indian Chief became attached to a
young white man and he to her, and the match not being acceptable to the old
Chief, the lovers repaired to this rock, and in each others' arms threw
themselves off the point of rocks into the river, and from this came the name,
Lover's Leap. The place is romantic and beautiful, but so far as the legend is
concerned, it is almost impossible to have occurred after the white people came
into the country without having left more recognizable traces of its truthfulness.

  The falls afford a wild-appearing rush of waters, but the hand of art is
diligently at work erecting a large manufactory on the west side, on the site of
the old grist-mill, and the bustle of city life is likely soon to begin there,
on the site, perhaps, of the celebrated tent-palace of the renowned Chief
Waraumaug.

  Just below Falls Mountain at the Cove, on the west side of the Housatonic
River was located the Fishing Place, which consisted of a narrow strip of land
with the right to catch fish at that place. It was first leased for the purpose,
on the nth of August, 1773, by Benjamin Hawley, for 999 years, to Seth Lacey,
John Fairchild, Joseph Stevens, Stephen Mead of New Fairfield, and James
Benedict, Isaac Barnum, Daniel Jackson. Amos Northrop, Ephraim Jackson, and
David Jackson, Jr., of Newtown, and David Wakelee, Levi Merwin, and Clement
Max-field of New Milford, upon the condition that they should deliver to him—the
said Benjamin Hawley—and his heirs, every thirteenth fish they or their heirs
should catch at that place. This amount of rent must have been, at times, quite
burdensome, for it is recorded that Sherman Boardman said he had known the
finest shad sold, as many as any one desired, at one penny each; and it is also
said that fish were often given away to any persons who would take them away.

  The shares of the Fishing Place were quite a stock in the market at New
Milford for about 100 years—even to the building -of the great dam at Birmingham
across the Housatonic river.

  This Fishing Place was different from the fishing for Lamprey-eels at the
Great Falls, just above Falls Mountain. Fishing for the eels was done at night
by torch light, with long poles upon the end of which were iron hooks. The eels
would cling to the rocks just under the sheet of water which flowed over the
falls, and with these hooks the eels were drawn or thrown out upon the dry
rocks. The parties took their turns—Indians and all— according to certain
rules,—and continue the work all night, from week to week, in the season for the
eels. Often, in consequence of the rum bottle, there were some rough times, the
noise of which was heard on the night air one and two miles.

Quaker Meeting-House at Lanesville.

  Silas Hill sold to Nicholas Wanzer, Oct. 3, 1788, "one acre of land to set a
Meeting-House on, and for a Burying Ground and other conveniences belonging.
thereto, and for no private use." This land was that on which the Quaker
Meeting-House at Lanesville now stands, and that which is occupied by the
Burying-place adjoining that Meeting-House.

  The Quaker Meeting-House was removed not long after this deed was given, from
the first site near the old burying-place, and erected on this land. Mr.
Griswold's sermon says it was removed before 1801, and therefore it is probable
it was accomplished soon after the deed was given. That house was completed and
occupied some years, and then another was built on the same site, probably in or
about 1805, which is still standing, but is not often used.

  When this meeting-house was raised tradition says, the number of members of
the society being small, it was feared there would not be men enough to put up
the frame, and hence the news was circulated that Ezra Noble would be present in
a one-horse wagon. This drew a large number of people, for not only was it the
first wagon of the kind introduced into the town, but many declared that a wagon
could not be made light enough to bear a load and at the same time strong enough
to be drawn by one horse. Two-horse wagons had been introduced about twenty
years before.

  It has been some years since regular preparative meetings were held in this
society. A short time since an effort was made to re-establish them but it did
not succeed. Previous to that Mr. William Wanzer's family had continued for some
time an interesting Sunday-school, but when other officers were appointed, the
whole management was so changed that the arrangement soon came to an end.

  The monthly meeting held at Oblong in the eighth month.1777, gave permission
for a preparative meeting to be held in New Milford, which is thought to have
been the first liberty of the kind, and hence was the date of the real
organization of the Quaker Meeting in this town.

  Among the names found of persons appointed to attend the monthly meeting at
Oblong (Quaker Hill) from this preparative meeting are these: Joseph Ferris,
Robert Norton, Moses Powell.

  "Hannah Wheeler informs this meeting that she has a desire to go on a
religious visit as far as Westfield and Canaan.

  "Aaron Benedict, Stephen Osborn, Nicholas Wanzer and John Drinkwater, to
attend monthly meetings.

  " The following notice of marriage was given eighth of first month, 1778: John
Drinkwater informs this meeting that he has a desire to lay his intention of
marriage with Abigail Wanzer before the next monthly meeting, consent of the
young man's mother having been produced here."

  "This meeting being desirous that Lot Tripp, Jr., be recommended to the
meeting of ministers and elders as a minister, recommends it to the monthly
meeting's consideration."

  Samuel Walker was appointed to attend the monthly meeting.

  "Sixth of the fifth month, 1779. This meeting has been informed that Miriam
Norton is in want of some assistance, and we are of the mind that she stands
recorded as a member, which is recommended to the consideration of the next
monthly meeting." Bless the Quakers, they did as a church take care of their poor.

  "This meeting appoints Lot Tripp, Jr., Aaron Benedict, Robert Norton, and
Nicholas Wanzer, to make inquiry into the number of books belonging to this
meeting, and produce an account thereof when done; and also to write the names
of Lot Tripp, Jr., and Nicholas Wanzer in the books, they being appointed with
Robert Norton to have the care of them." The number of books given in the report
of the committee was twenty-nine, and the report, stated that twenty-eight books
were given to this meeting by Benjamin Ferriss of Wilmington, Del, and that
twenty of them were found still preserved.

  "Thirteenth of first month, 1780. A complaint came to this meeting by one of
the overseers, against Moses Wanzer for marrying out of the meeting of Friends
after having been pre-cautioned, which recommendeth to the monthly meeting."

  "Hannah Wheeler (she that was daughter of Zachariah Ferriss, and widow of
Nathan Talcott) laid a concern before this meeting that she has on her mind to
pay a religious visit to New Haven with some adjacent towns in Connecticut,
which is recommended to the monthly meeting." This woman is reported to have
been quite an efficient, successful preacher.

  "Third of the first month, 1782, William Parke and Nicholas Wanzer are
appointed to attend the monthly meeting." William Parke removed to Saratoga, N. Y.

  Ebenezer Wanzer's name and that of William Knowles occur soon after as

delegates to the monthly meeting.

  The members of this preparative meeting in New Milford, was continually
reduced from 1780, for forty years by emigration—they applying for and receiving
certificates of commendation to other Meetings.

  It is surprising also to learn the amounts contributed by this small society,
almost monthly, for the building of Quaker Meeting-houses, at Stamford,
Saratoga, New York City, and many other places. The Friends' school established
at the Nine Partners before 1800, received generous aid from this meeting.

  The families that have been most influential in this society in New Milford
were those of Ferriss and Wanzer. Benjamin Ferriss and David Ferriss and their
sister Hannah Ferriss (Talcott) Wheeler, were preachers of considerable note.
Nicholas Wanzer and Moses Wanzer were the strong reliable men in this society
many years; and last but not least is the family of William Wanzer, still
residing in the town—a family well known, not only for its energy and fidelity
of character, but also for its education and enterprise. Mr. Wanzer's wife was
Hannah Ferriss, and in her the credit of the name is not diminished as to
character or the grace of improvement of talents in the public services.

  The Quaker Burying-ground at Lanesville is adjoining the Meeting-house lot, on
the north side, and was included in the deed given by Silas Hill in 1788, for
which Nicholas Wanzer paid £32, lawful money. Among other sentiments entertained
in earlier years by the Friends, was that of the impropriety of erecting grave
stones at the tombs of the dead; and hence so many graves in the old
burying-place as well as in this one to which there are no gravestones.

  But why should not the place of the dead be made beautiful in
sweetly-cherished memory of those who have departed. The last of all that is to
be forgotten on earth is father and mother, and kindred dead.

  The following are the inscriptions in the Quaker Burying-ground at Lanesville.

  The perpendicular lines indicate the end of the lines on the gravestones, and
take the place of punctuation marks.

Inscriptions.

FANNY L
wife of
Harvey B Barter
died
Apr 19, 1866
AE 37 yrs 1 mo
& 11 Ds. 


LUCY M
wife of
Noah Bartram
Died
—April 20, 1872
AE 78 yrs.


In
memory of
GEORGE WASHINGTON
son of Rufus &
Mabel Beeman
who died
Oct. 11, 1846
aged 2 y'rs 3 mo
& 22 ds.


J A BEEMAN
Co H
2d Conn
H A.


CYNTHIA
wife of M Briggs
departed this life
13th of 3d mo 1869
AE 72 yrs.


MARIA A
daughter of
Miles &
Phebe Bronson
died
Oct 26, 1852 
AE 18 yrs.


Our Bertie.
BERTHA E
daughter of
Frank W &
Harriett E Chase
died
June 21, 1878
AE 7 yr 3 mo & 21 ds.


EDWIN
son of
Dennis &
Julia Ann Cosier
Died
May 28, 1848
aged 9 mo's.


MARY CLUXTON
died
12 mo 6th 1842
aged 66 yrs.


HORATIO EGGLESTON
died
June 11, 1853
AE 62.

TAMAR
His wife
died
Oct. 26,1873
AE 80.
We miss thee.


CARRIE
Daughter of
Elvert B &
Abby Evitts
Died
Sep 16, 1872
aged 3 mo
& 6 Ds.


CHARLES FORD
died
May 15, 1874
Aged 72.


HANNAH
wife of
Charles Ford
died
Dec 4, 1856
AE 45.


CHARLES A their son
died
Sept 6, 1855
AE 4 mo.


MARTHA T FORD
Died
Dec 23,1862
AE 20.


AARON N FORD
Died
at Brashuer City L A
May 22, 1863
AE 26
A member of Co D
28 Regt C V.


CHARLES
FREEMAN
Died
July 23, 1847
AE 56.


ELIZABETH
daughter of
Henry C &
Sally Freeman
died
Dec 13, 1873
aged 6 years
& 10 mos.


LEWIS HAVILAND
died 8th mo 29th 1856
aged 65 y'rs 10 mo
& 21 d's.


MERCY HAVILAND
Died 7th mo 26th 1855
aged 61 y'rs
& 1 day.


PHEBE HAVILAND
died ist mo 14th 1827
Aged 36 yrs 3 mo & 28 d's.


EBENEZER HILL
died Aug 15, 1856
Aged 78.


PHILOTHETA
wife of
Ebenezer Hill
died
June 21, 1863
Aged 82.


In memory of
SARAH wife of Silas
Hill who departed 
This life April the 3d 1792 in the 56th
year of her Age.


In memory of
SILAS HILL who
departed this life Oct
1st, 1798, in the 66 year
of his age.


BENJAMIN HATHAWAY
died 10th mo 1st 1855
aged 21 y'rs.


WILLIS S HARTWELL
died
Oct 23, 1880
Aged 16 yrs 10 mo
& 17 Ds.
And we all do fade as a leaf.


IRA S HOYT born into the
Spirit world
Nov 18, 1857
aged 29 yrs.


PHEBE A
wife of
Ira S Hoyt
died
Dec 22, 1854
aged 25 y'rs
& 20 d's. 


MARY A
wife of
Lyman Jennings
died
Sept 5, 1877
Aged 44.


CARRIE V
Daughter  of
Lyman &
Mary Ann Jennings
Died
April 13, 1868
AE 1 y'r & 10 d's.


BETSEY E
wife of
Franklin Jewel
died
May 16 1851
AEt 22 yrs 1 mo
& 15 ds.
Farewell dear friends my memory keep
While in deaths arms my body sleeps
Short was my stay with you below
Sooner or later all must go.


CLARRY
wife of
Peter Jewel
died
Oct 29, 1851
AE 54 yrs 4 mo
& 13 ds.


ELIZA JANE
daughter of
Peter &
Clarissa Jewel
died
May 7, 1848
aged 20 yrs.


FRANKLIN JEWEL
Died
June 27, 1863
AE 41.
The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken
away, blessed he the name of the Lord.


CAROLINE A
Wife of
Charles D Sherwood
Died
Nov 24,  1855
aged 21 y'rs.


HANNAH
widow of
Richard Jewell and wife of Charles Osborne
Died
Mar 31, 1869
AE 46 y'rs.


RICHARD JEWEL
Died
Oct. 10th, 1862
AEt 37.
My children dear weep not for me, 
When in this yard my grave you see; 
My life was short and blest was he 
Who called me to Eternity.


CASSIUS L
Son of
Geo H &
Eliza Knowles
Died
Oct 2,1857
AE 3 mo & 12 D's.
My babe is cradled in the tomb 
Like some fair blossom torn away 
Before its perfect bloom.


CASSIUS N
son of
John &
Drusilla Knowles
died Aug 10, 1850
aged 3 y'rs
& 10 d's.

JOHN KNOWLES
died
Mar 12, 1876
Aged 74.


WILLIAM H
son of
John & Drusilla
Knowles
died
Aug 21st, 1871
Aged 28 years.


ABIGAIL wife of
Joseph Marsh
& daughter of
Samuel Waldo
Died
Jan 28, 1793
in the 29 year
of her age.


ABIGAIL E wife of
Allen Marsh
Died Mar 15, 1875
ae 78.
Great, O! great the gain
On the blessed shore 
Free from every pain
Happy evermore.


ALLEN MARSH
Died
March 21,1863
ae 65 y'rs & 9 mo.
The pure in heart their God shall see, 
Prepare for death and follow me. 
Oh! Jesus purify each heart 
That we may meet no more to part.


CAROLINE
wife of
Oliver C. Marsh
died
Dec 28, 1880
Aged 65 yrs
8 Mo & 14
Ds.
And there shall be no night there.


CHARLES H MARSH
Died
Jan 25,1867
AEt 27. 

DEBORAH wife of
Joseph Marsh
& daughter of 
Samuel Waldo
died
Jan 30, 1843
in the 81 year
of her age.


In
Memory of
GEORGE M MARSH
who Died
April 25, 1858, aged 69 y'rs.


JOSEPH MARSH
died
Dec 14, 1829
in the 76 year
of his age.


LUCENA
daughter of
Holman &
Lucy Marsh
died Jan 15, 1830
aged 6 years
& 6 mo.


OLIVER T MARSH
son of
Allen Marsh
died
Mar 24, 1843
aged 4 years.


OLIVER T
son of
Allen &
Abigail Marsh
Died
Mar 24, 1843
aged 4 y'rs.



FIORA M
daughter of
A & A A Murphy
Died
June 4, 1867
AE 2 mo & 4 d's.


IDA F
daughter of
Alfred &
Adelia A
Murphy, Died
May 1, 1866
AE 4 y's 4 mo & 10 d.
Then go dear one we give thee up,
Farewell, upon the other shore
We'll meet again, 0 blessed hope,
We'll meet again to part no more.


CHARLOTTE LEACH
died
9th mo 19th 1846
AE 74 yrs.


IRA LEACH
son of
William &
Charlotte Leach
died
5 mo 7, 1857
aged 49 yrs.


WILLIAM LEACH
died
11th mo 20th 1860
AE 89 yrs.


ABIGAIL T
wife of
Gaylord Odell
Died
April 16, 1859
aged 39 y'rs.


An infant
son of
Charles &
Jane Orton
Died
March 9, 1868
AE 11 m's.


JULIA ANN
daughter of
Gaylord &
Jennet Odell
Died
Aug 25, 1851
ae 6 y'r & 7 mo.
Thus fades the opening bud of hope 
Which death's cold hand has riven, 
The silver cord of life is broke 
The spirit's fled to Heaven.


ANNA A
daughter of
John &
Laura Osborn
died
Jan. 5, 1815
AE 1 Mo & 9 Ds.


DAVID OSBORN
departed this life
23d of 4th Mo 1858
AE 62 yrs & 9 mo.


FREELOVE
Child of
John &
Laura Osborn
died
Feb 27, 1825
AE 15 Ds.


HANNAH
daughter of
Stephen &
Sarah Osborn
died
Mar 1, 1854
aged 76 yrs.


HEPZIBETH
wife of
David Osborn
departed this life
9th of 4th mo 1858
AE 63 yrs & 6 mo.


JOHN OSBORN
departed this life
16th of 6th Mo 1855
aged 6
yrs & 6 mo.


ROYAL G
son of
John & Laura Osborn
died
May 29, 1821
AE 3 yrs.


SARAH
widow of
Stephen Osborn
departed this life
11 mo 24th 1833
Aged 84.


STEPHEN OSBORN
departed this life
3d mo 4th 1825
Aged 76.


ELLA G
daughter of
Egbert &
Betsey Pepper
Died
March 11, 1857
aged 2 yrs 3 mo
& 9 d's.
Here lies a rose, a budding rose, 
Blasted before its bloom, 
Whose innocence did sweets disclose 
Beyond that flower's perfume.
To those who for her loss are grieved 
This consolation given 
She's from a world of woe relieved 
And blooms a rose in Heaven.


FREDDIE C
Son of
Egbert &
Betsey Pepper
Died
Aug 26, 1860
ae 1 y'r 2 mo & 17 d's.
"We loved him yes no tongue can tell 
How much we loved him nor how well 
But we do hope God loved him best 
And took him home with him to rest.


NATHANIEL RIGBY
Died
Dec. 25, 1859
ae 58 y's 5 mo
& 15 d's.


DAVID M ROOTS
Died
April 18, 1868
Weary through this dark vale we stray 
With broken hearts and tearful eyes:
Yet the good Shepherd leads the way 
And pastures green before us rise.


In memory of
JUDSON
son of Ira &
Sally A Root
who died
Oct 18, 1849
aged 18 yrs 3 mo
& 5 ds.


SALLY ROOT
died
Jan 30, 1859
aged 66.

CHARLES H
Son of
Charles C & Sarah A
Sabin
Died
May 5, 1875
aged 38.


PHILATHETA L
Daughter of
Charles
C & Sarah A
Sabin
Died
July 1, 1861
aged 19.
She has gone to her grave when our hopes were the strongest,
For the sun of her beauty shed light o'er the scene,
Oh! we mourn not the blossoms that linger the longest,
Like those that decay while their branches are green.
How brief is the time since her voice was the clearest,
Her laughter the loudest amid the gay throng,
But the hand of consumption hath seized on our dearest,
And sealed are her bright eyes and silent her song.


WM FRED B
son of
Charles C & Sarah A
Sabin
Died
April 24, 1871
aged 21.


DANIEL SHERWOOD
Died
August 23, 1871
Aged 79 years.


E A S—E S—A S.


NANCY M HOYT
wife of
Orange Warner
Died
Feb 10, 1874
ae 70. 
When my father and my mother forsake
me then the Lord will take me up. Ps. 27. 10.


In
memory of
DANIEL SHERWOOD
who died
May 24, 1834
aged 77 years.

HEMAN SHERWOOD
Died
Mar 25, 1857
AEt 59. 


ABIGAIL SHERWOOD
Died
Feb 20th 1873
aged 76 y'rs & 6 mo. 


FANNY
wife of
Daniel Sherwood
Died
June 30, 1858
aged 63 y'rs.


POLLY SHERWOOD
died Aug 17,1839
aged 73 y'rs.


ANNA M
wife of
Henry Shove
& daughter of
Horatio & Tamour
Eggleston
died Oct 19, 1871
aged 33 years.
The Lord giveth, the Lord hath
taken away. Blessed be the name
of the Lord.


In
memory of
ABIGAIL
wife of
Daniel Smith
who died
June 19, 1859
aged 62 yrs.


LEVI E STUART
Died
July 4, 1875
ae 37 y'rs & 7 mo.
We part to meet again.



SOPHIA HUNGERFORD
wife of
Edward Treadwell
died
Dec 9, 1819
Aged 38 yrs.
I leave them in care of our
heavenly Father.


ELIJAH TURRILL
died
July 27, 1868
AE 55 yrs 4 Mo & 20 Ds.
Wrapt in the shades of death 
No more that friendly face I see 
Empty, ah! empty every place 
Once filled so well by thee.


T H b 1763
d 1852 A 89.


ABIGAIL
daughter of
John &
Grace
Wanzer
died
7 mo 3
day 1809
AE 6 yrs 10 mo
& 26 ds. 


ABIGAIL
daughter of
Jacob &
Phebe L Wanzer
died
7th mo 5th 1833
AE 2 yrs 6 mo.


ANNA WANZER
died 4 mo 6th 1842
aged 48 yrs.


ABRAHAM WANZER
Born 4 Mo 12 1793
died
6 mo 23 1878
AE 85.


BETSEY
wife of
Ebenszer Wanzer
Died
5th of 6 mo 1847
aged 81 y'rs.


BETSEY A WANZER
Died
8th mo 27th 1849
AE 17 y'rs & 9 mo.


CAROLINE E
wife of
Charles H Wanzer
died
Sept 14, 1867
AE 29 yrs & 10 mo.


CHARLES H WANZER
died
Mar 20 1871
AE 36 yrs 11 ms
& 20 Ds.


DAVID WANZER
Died
11th of 12th mo 1855
aged 68 y'rs.


EBENEZER WANZER
Died
24th of 4 mo 1839
aged 79 y'rs.


EBENEZER WANZER
Died
4th mo 7th l875
aged
75 y'rs 5 mo's
4 dys.


EDDIE
son of
Charles H &
Caroline E
Wanzer
died Sept 3, 1863
aged 9 mo & 15 ds.


ELIZABETH
daughter of
Charles H &
Caroline E
Wanzer
died
Dec 15, 1867
aged 4 mo.


FANNY E WARNER
daughter of
Charles &
Hannah Ford
died
Apr 5, 1859
AE 24.


GRACE
Wife of
John Wanzer
died
7 mo 15 day 1840
& 4 ds. [sic]


HIRAM WANZER
Died
June 3, 1834
aged 31 y'rs.


FLORA, wife of
Hiram Wanzer
and Daughter of
David Leach
Died
Aug 23, 1829
aged 29 years.


ITHAMAR
son of
John &
Grace Wanzer
died
8 mo 6 day 1823
AE 22 yrs 10 mo
& 23 ds.


IRA WANZER
Died
March 5, 1879
aged 82 y'rs & 10 mo.
All is vanity that is not honest and
there is no solid wisdom but is real piety.


JACOB
son of John &
Grace Wanzer
died
7th mo 12th 1841
AE 43 yrs 2 mo.


JANE
daughter of
Jacob &
Phebe L
Wanzer
died
11 mo 19 1860
AE 26 yrs & 6 mo. 


JOHN WANZER
died
1 mo 6 da 1839
AE. 72 yrs 5 mo &
23 ds. 

LAURA
wife of
Ira Wanzer
Died
April 30, 1880
aged 70 y'rs & 6 mo.


LEVI L
son of Hiram &
Flora Wanzer
Died
July 24,1842
aged 18 y'rs.


MARY
daughter of
Jacob &
Phebe L Wanzer
died
10th mo 11th 1856
AE 27 yrs 6 mo.


WANZER—AKIN

MOSES, son of Abraham Wanzer and Lydia Ferriss
Born Nov 10, 1782, Died Apr 10. 1860.
SARAH, Dau of Benj Akin and Martha Palmer
Born Oct 3,1788, Died Oct 2, 1861.
Married Oct 22, 1806 At Friends Meeting House, Pawling, N Y. 
Their children
Nicholas Born Feb 2 s, 1808, Died Dec 22, 1826.
Phebe Born Sept 3, 1809, Died Apr 7, 1847.
Benjamin Born Mar 16, 1811, Died Apr 4, 1825.
Elizabeth Born July 14, 1813. 
Martha Born Feb 14, 1815, Died Sep 17, 1834.
Jane Born Apr 20, 1817, Died Sep 14 1841.
Anna Born Aug 9, 1819. 
Sarah Born Mar 24, 1821. 
Lydia Born Jan 3, 1823. 
Moses Born May 31, 1824. 
Margaret Born Mar 3, 1826. 
Edward Born Apr 11, 1828.
Mary Born Aug 4, 1829, Died Feb 12, 1840. 
Harriet Born Mar 24,1831, Died Nov 26, 1863. 
Martha Born Sep 9, 1835.
  Because I live ye shall live also.


PHEBE L
wife of
Jacob Wanzer
& daughter of
William &
Charlotte Leach
died
1st mo 16th 1867
AE 61 yrs 7 mo.


WILLIAM L WANZER
died
Third Mo 26 1878
Aged 56.
A gem is from our household gone 
The voice we loved is still 
A place is vacant at our home 
Which never can be filled.


CHARLES E
son of
Warren C &
Betsa A Woodruff
Died
Aug 4,1861
AE 1 yr 7 mo
& 20 ds.


In
memory of
ANN MARIA
daughter of John &
Sarah Waters
who died
Nov 6,1845
aged 9 yrs
5 mo & 3 ds.


MARY
daughter of
John &
Lura Ann Waters
died
Aug 11, 1856
Aged 2 yrs 3 mo
& 16 ds.


MARY
wife of
Philo S Woodin
& daughter of
William &
Charlotte Leach
died
11 mo 30th 1875
AE 80 yrs 1 Mo.


In
memory of
SARAH wife of
John Waters
who departed
this life
July 9, 1841
AE 25.


In
memory of
SARAH A
daughter of
John &
Alura Ann Waters
who died

Sept 16, 1845
aged 2 yrs 2 mo & 12 ds.


In
memory of
THOMAS son of
John &
Sarah Waters
who died
Apr 21, 1842
aged 1 yr 10 mo
& 24 ds.


HARRIET
wife of
Rufus Way
Fell asleep in Jesus
May 24, 1855
AE 39.
Sleep on loved one in Jesus sleep 
Free from all care and strife 
Until the trump of God shall bring 
The sleeping saints to life.


SARAH J
wife of
Elijah M Wheeler
died
May 6th, 1852
Aged 30 years.
Sleep dearest mother sleep.


MIRA ANN
wife of
Thomas A Welton
Died
Nov 29, 1880, aged 65 y'rs.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

HISTORY OF THE TOWNS OF NEW MILFORD AND BRIDGEWATER, CONNECTICUT, 1703-1882,
BY
SAMUEL ORCUTT

AUTHOR OF THE HISTORIES OF TORRINGTON, WOLCOTT, AND DERBY, AND THE INDIANS OF
THE HOUSATONIC AND NAUGATUCK VALLEYS, CONNECTICUT.

HARTFORD, CONN.: PRESS OF THE CASE, LOCKWOOD AND BRAINARD COMPANY.











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