Samuel Harwood: Personal Sketches The History of Braintree, Vermont Including A Memorial of Families that have resided in Town. By H. Royce Bass Rutland, VT: Tuttle & Co., State Printers. 1883 page 56-57 [While preference has been given to sketches of early settlers, yet no one has been denied a place, of whom the requisite facts for personal mention have been given us. It is desirable that this department be made as full as possible; but we have been wholly dependent on others for the necessary data, and because these have not been given, is the reason why many names do not appear.] Samuel Harwood Came to Braintree early in its settlement from Sutton, Mass. He drove hither two cows, and brought a few potatoes in his pockets. The potatoes were planted, and yielded the first year about two and a half bushels, nearly all of which were kept for seed. The next year he raised a good supply of potatoes and also of turnips. The milk of the cows (which were turned out to browse), a few potatoes and leaks comprised the chief part of the food of the family for some time. the business of Moses, his son, was to follow the cows and return them at night. Oftentimes he would eat a lump of maple sugar and drink a little milk in the morning, and have nothing more except leaks all day. The first summer Mr. Harwood cut bushes and planted beans and sowed a little barley; that fall he had land cleared on which he sowed winter wheat, and in the following year the harvest made him in comfortable cir- cumstances. He first lived in a log house that stood near the spot where he afterwards built a framed house, at the first bend of the road below Harrison H. Harwood's He bought a great deal of land from first to last, and gave a lot to each of his children; to Polly, the lot Dea. Copeland lived on; to Moses, the farm now owned by H. H. Harwood; to Samuel, Jr., the farm on which he lived and died, now owned by Ira Harwood; to Nathan, the home farm, Jusdson H. Fitts present owner; and to Aaron, what is not the Gooch farm at Snowville, on which he built a cider brandy distillery near the site of the hotel. But Nathan's wife objected to living with his parents, and in conse- quence he and Moses exchanged farms. One incident of Mr. Harwood's life that is related shows that he was spirited and quick witted. He once called at a house in Salem, Mass., at a time before witchcraft excitement had completely died out. The signal for a hanging a witch was, " Here's the man, here's the man!" or Here's the woman!" as the case might be. The lady of the house cried out "Here's the man!" He seized the fire poker and in a threatening manner demanded her to recall the statement or he would beat out her brains. She apologized, saying she was mistaken in the man, which she was most decidedly. His quickness and firmness saved his life. Mr. Har- wood held office more or less all his life. A marked characteristic was his patience and piety. The last fifty years of his life were burdened with a cancer. It first appeared on his left shoulder, near the neck, and he called it his death warrant. The cancer was drawn out four times, and it as often reappeared, each time higher up on the neck and face, the last time on his nose. After forty years of trouble with it, he remarked that the Lord had given him a respite of forty years. At last, and the age of eighty- seven, he was gathered home." Submitted by Tina S. Vickery © 1999 NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. It is always best to consult the original material for verification.