FIRST CENSUS OF THE INHABITANTS OF FAIRFIELD- 1791
with Genealogical Notes
from "Some early records of Fairfield, Vermont"
Selected and Edited by Gilbert Harry Doane
Published in Commemoration of the 150th Anniversary
of the First Settlement of the Town
by the
Anniversary Committees
[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]
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This census has been copied from United States Bureau of the Census. Heads of Families at the First Census of the United States Taken in the Year 1790: Vermont (Washington, 1907), p. 24. This census was taken in 1791, since Vermont was not admitted to the Union until that year. It listed the heads of the families as of the first Monday in April 1791. The names have been arranged in alphabetical order, and annotated by the editor of this pamphlet. HEADINGS: White males over 16, including heads of Families. White males under 16 Females 1. Baker, David.....1.....0......2 2. Barsley, Nathaniel......1.....2.....2 3. Barsley, Whitmore.....1.....0.....0 4. Bradley, Andrew.....4.....2.....6 5. Brown, Brazilla.....1.....0.....3 6. Gregory, Keeler.....2.....1.....1 7. Gregory, Levi.....1.....1.....1 8. Gregory, Ralph K......2.....1.....2 9. Hawley, James.....2.....0.....0 10. Holt, David.....1.....0.....2 11. Leach, John.....3.....4.....4 12. Lobdin, Ebenezer.....5.....2.....1 13. Lockwood, John.....1.....1.....1 14. Luse, Isaac.....1.....0.....2 15. Northrop, Thomas.....1.....0.....4 16. Pangbowen, Jesse.....2.....0.....0 17. Roberts, Lemuel.....1.....2.....5 18. Smith, Daniel.....1.....1.....0 19. Smith, Jehiel.....2.....3.....1 20. Saul, Joseph.....2.....2.....2 21. Squier, Asa.....1.....2.....2 22. Taund, Edmund.....1.....2....1 23. Wakeman, Levi.....2.....0.....3 24. Wheaton, Joseph.....1.....0.....1 25. Wheeler, Joseph.....1.....1.....5 26. Wheeler, Zalmon.....1.....1.....2 27. Whitney, Sherad.....1.....0.....2 1. David Baker may have been identical with David, son of Samuel and Sarah (Barlow) Baker, born in Fairfield, Conn., 16 Oct. 1757. If so he married 1 Mar. 1789, Lucia Squire, and had a daughter Sarah bapt. in Fairfield, Conn., 19 Sept. 1790. Cf. D. L. Jacobus's History and Genealogy of the Families of Old Fairfidd [Connecticut], vol. 2, p. 34-3 5, 907. 2. Nathaniel Beardsley, as this name should be spelled, was a brother of No. 3, and of Deming Beardsley of the 1800 census. 3. Whitmore Beardsley, was the brother of Nathaniel above. He married Dolly Beard, daughter of Nathan and Sally (Smith) Beard. He was a Revolutionary soldier. 4. Andrew Bradley, son of Gershom* (Francis,* Francis*) and Jane (Dimon) Bradley, was born in Fairfield, Conn., 31 Jan. 1754; lived in Redding, Conn., in 1783, and New Fairfield in 1787. He married, first, Ruth Wakeman, daughter of William and Sarah (Hill) Wakeman, who was the mother of his seven children. He married secondly, Mrs. Jane (Dimon) Fanton. He married thirdly, Mrs. Orissa (Wilmarth) Barlow. He was survived by three daughters: Jane, wife of Abraham Northrop; Sarah, wife of Salmon Soule; and Eunice, wife of Ira Wheeler. His father was probably the Gershom Bradley who was one of the original proprietors of the town of Fairfield. 5. Brazilla Brown has not been identified. 6, 7, 8. A Ralph Gregory died in Shelby, Orleans Co., N. Y., 20 Apr. 1837, aged 65 years. He was born in New Fairfield, Conn., "settled in Fairfield, Vt., about 1790" and, on 5 Feb. 1818, migrated by ox-team to Shelby, accompanied by his seven sons. The story of their migration is told in Arab Thomas's Pioneer History of Orleans County, New York (1871), pp. 380-388. He was probably the son of the Ralph K. Gregory of this census, who was perhaps identical with the Ralph Gregory who married Pamela Terrill at Newtown, Conn., 30 May 1764. 9. According to F. Phelps Leach, James Hawley was the son of Matthew Hawley, of Huntington, Conn. He was born about 1760 and died in Sheldon, Vt., 14 Apr. 1836. He married, first, at Huntington, 26 Oct. 1780, Bridget Stanton, who died in Fairfield in Aug. 1791, aged 26 years 3 months, and was buried near their cabin (her stone was still standing a few years ago in the calf-pasture on the Loren Gilbert farm). He married secondly, 12 Feb. 1793, Mrs. Martha (Stevens) Waterhouse, and moved to Sheldon. It is more probable that he was a son of Wolcott Hawley and returned to Connecticut. 10. David Hoyt, as the name is now spelled, was the son of David Hoyt, and was born in Connecticut. He came to Fairfield from Ridgefield, Conn., in 1788. His wife, Ellen, married secondly, John Andrews [Town Records, Book 1, p. 92]. The births of five children are to be found in the Town Records, Book 1, p. 38; they were Polly (married James Bradley), Laura, Betsey, Orsamus and Zimri (who died in Dickinson, N. Y., in 1840). 11. John Leach, Sr., was the son of Amos* (James,* James,* Laurence), born in New Fairfield Conn., to Aug. 1735. See F. Phelps Leach's Leach genealogy for his descendants. He settled in Fairfield about 1788, and was the father of John Leach who is listed in the census of Smithfield [q.v.]. 12. Ebenezer Lobdell, to give this man his correct name, was the son of Ebenezer (Joshua,* Simons) and Rachel (Benedict) Lobdell. He was born 13 July 1735, and married Eunice Bradley, daughter of James and Abigail (Sanford) Bradley. She was a sister of Ezekiel Bradley, who settled in Fairfield a year or two later. 13. John Lockwood was undoubtedly the Lockwood who married one of the daughters of Joseph Wheeler [No. 25], according to the Wheeler genealogy. 14. Isaac Luce, as this name is now spelled, has not been identified. He was probably related to the wife of Edmund Towne [see No. 22]. 15. Thomas Northrop, son of Thomas* (Thomas,* William, Thomas) and Joanna (Leach) Northrop, was born in Fairfield, Conn., 7 Nov. 1762. He married Clarissa Cone, daughter of Thomas Cone, a Revolutionary soldier who is reputed to have died on a British prison ship in New York harbor in 1779. 16. This name should be spelled Pangborn, and this man probably removed to Malone, N. Y. 17. Lemuel Roberts, probably born in Connecticut, died in Enosburg or Franklin. He was the author of a volume called Memoirs of Capt. Lemuel Roberts (published in Bennington, 1809), which is entirely religious in nature and, unfortunately, contains no reference to his experiences as one of the earliest settlers of Fairfield. This was probably the first book to be written by an inhabitant of Fairfield. It is very rare, but there is a copy in the Library of Congress in Washington. 18. Daniel Smith may have been a son of No. 19. 19. Jehiel Smith, son of Daniel* (John,* John* Johns) and Sarah (Price) Smith, was baptized in Greenfield, Conn., 3 June 1745 ; he was living in Fairfield in 1792, when he deeded some land in Connecticut to his brother Ebenezer; but removed to the Province of Quebec before 1796. For his ancestry see D. L. Jacobus, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 883-86 20. Joseph Soule, to correct the original editor's mistake in transcribing his name, was the son of Timothy* (Nathan,* George,* Georges) of the Mayflower (1620) and Elizabeth (Allen) Soule. He came from Dover, or Pawling, N. Y., to Fairfield about 1790. 21. Asa Squier, born in Connecticut in 1764, died in Strongsville, Ohio, in 1852; served in the Revolutionary War as a youth. He married 23 Oct. 1783, Eunice Wakeman, daughter of Ebenezer and Elizabeth (Webb) Wakeman. See Wakeman genealogy (1900), p. 186; D. A. R. Lineage Books, vol. 124, p. 21; Jacobus, op. cit., vol. 2, p. 999. 22. Edmund Towne, to correct the spelling of his name, was the son of Edmunds (Ephraim,' John,* Jacob,* Williams) and Abigail (Brewer) Towne. He was born in Massachusetts about 1756 and died in Georgia, Vt., 24 Aug. 1800. He was elected the first town clerk of Fairfield in 1791 and apparently held that office until his death. His first wife was Lydia Luce [perhaps a sister of Isaac Luce, no. 141; his second wife was Mrs. Polly (McMasters) Sabin, daughter of Robert and Elizabeth (Young) McMasters, of Williamstown, Mass,, and widow of Benjamin Sabin, of Georgia, Vt. 23. Levi Wakeman was probably the son of William and Sarah (Hill) Wakeman, and brother of the first wife of Andrew Bradley [No. 4]. 24. One of the daughters of Joseph Wheeler [No. 25] married a Wheaton. This was probably the man. 25. Joseph Wheeler, ante, p. 5. 26. Zalmon Wheeler, one of the sons of Joseph and Frances (Hill) Wheeler, married Hannah Butler. She married secondly, Peter Thurston, and died in Centerburg, Ohio, 23 May 1866, aged 97 years. Zalmon Wheeler's eldest son, Almon, was the father of William Almon Wheeler, Vice-President of the United States. 27. This man's name was Sherwood Whitney. He was the son of Silas' (Samuel, Richard, John) and Esther (Sherwood) Whitney. He married Abigail Lobdell, daughter of Ebenezer [No. in above] and Eunice (Bradley) Lobdell. FIRST CENSUS OF THE INHABITANTS OF SMITHFIELD---1791 Smithfield was originally a separate town, located between Fairfield and Sheldon. In 1792 it was annexed to Fairfield except for a narrow strip of land at the east end, which became a part of Bakersfield. Since every one of the families listed in this census lived in that portion of the town which became part of Fairfield the record is given here. It has been copied from the same source of that of Fairfield on the preceding pages, and annotated by the editor of this pamphlet. Headings White males over 16, inc. heads of families. White males under 16. Females. 1. Barlow, Diamond.....3.....1.....1 2. Barlow, Hubbart.....6.....1.....2 3. Beaton, William.....1.....2.....2 4. Burlington, Clark.....2.....2.....7 5. Burr, Jabez.....2.....1.....1 6. Hall, Lewis.....4.....2.....3 7. Hollister, Samuel.....1.....0.....0 8. Jewett, Elnathan.....1.....0.....0 9. Leach, John.....2.....1.....3 10. McNamar, John.....1.....0.....0 11. Mitchell, John.....1.....2.....3 12. Noble, Asahel.....2.....1.....3 13. Sherwood, Gabriel.....1.....1.....1 14. Sunderland, John.....1.....0.....2 1. Dimon Barlow was one of six brothers who were among the earliest settlers. They were probably the sons of David (David, Samuel, John, John) and Sarah (Bradley) Barlow, of Fairfield, Conn. In fact on the gravestone of Col. Bradley Barlow, one of the brothers, it is stated that he was born in Fairfield, Conn. David Barlow's mother was Susannah Hubbard, which accounts for the name of Hubbard Barlow [see below]. Sarah (Bradley) Barlow's maiden name accounts for the name of Bradley Barlow. Her mother's maiden name, (Sarah was the daughter of Gershom and Jane (Dimon). Bradley, and was a sister of Andrew Bradley, an early settler of Fairfield [see ,above]) accounts for Dimon Barlow's name: Thus circumstantial evidence is so strong that it is practically a certainty that these brothers were the sons of David and Sarah (Bradley) Barlow, of Fairfield, later of New Fairfield, Conn. This David was undoubtedly one of the original proprietors. 2. Hubbard Barlow [his name is spelled both ways, ending in a "t" or a "d," in the early records] became the largest single land-owner in early Fairfield. Today he would be considered a "realtor" of the first rank! He was a surveyor and probably the most important early inhabitant of the town. He died 11 Mar. 1804 in his 39th year, and was buried in the Village Cemetery, where his "table monument" may still be seen, although it is sadly weathered. He married, 10 Jan. 1788, Mary Hubbell, daughter of Eleazer and Anna (Noble) Hubbell. Their only child, a daughter called Polly, is reputed to have been the first white child to be born in Fairfield. She died in infancy. Mrs. Mary (Hubbell) Barlow married secondly, as Aug. 1804, Bushnell Bostwick Downs, of St. Albans. She married thirdly, Col. Joshua Danforth, her sister's widower, of Pittsfield, Mass. She died at the home of some relatives in Shelby, N. Y. The five males over 16 in Hubbard Barlow's family in this census were probably his brothers, David, Bradley, Ebenezer, Samuel and Gershom. 3. William Beden, as the name should be spelled, achieved fame as the father of the first white male to be born in Smithfield. This child was named Smithfield Beden, and was given a grant of 100 acres of land by the proprietors. Beden Hill was named for the family. William Beden married 18 April 1784, Caty Sunderland, daughter of John Sunderland [No. 14]. William Beden probably removed from Fairfield between 1810 and 1820. 4. This man's name was Clark Burlingame, not Burlington as the editor of the first census transcribed it. He probably descended from the Rhode Island family of this name. According to Hemenway he was the first representative of the town in the State Assembly, but this is not substantiated by Deming's Vermont Officers (1918 edition, ed. by John Comstock). He removed from town, perhaps to Shaftsbury. 5. Jabez Burr, son of Jabez and Elizabeth (Hull) Burr, came from Redding, Conn., where he married in Feb. 1778, Mary Bartram [not Bartlett as has been stated], daughter of Paul and Mary (Hawley) Bartram. He was a Revolutionary soldier. They had an only child, Aaron, who married Rebecca Cook, and was the father of 11 children. The family lived in St. Rocks. 6. Lewis Hall is said to have come from New Milford, Conn. His wife's name was Mabel, and they had children: Edmund L., Orange, Thomas, Salmon, and perhaps Levi. Orange Hall was a surveyor, and was one of the first men in Fairfield to die. 7. Samuel Hollister married 29 Jan. 1792, Mary Hendrick, daughter of John and Eunice (Bradley) Hendrick. They had at least four children [record in Town Records, Book I, , p. 383: Amara, Selina, Bradley and Elen. A Phebe Hollister married in Fairfield, 26 Aug. 1813, Samuel Montague, of Cambridge. She may have been connected with Samuel. Samuel Hollister does not appear in the census records after 1810. 8. Elnathan Jewett removed to St. Albans. He does not appear in the Jewett genealogy, but was quite possibly a relative of Elam and Eleazer Jewett, the former of Berkshire, Vt., and the latter of St. Albans. 9. John Leach was the son of John Leach, of Fairfield [q.v.]. 10. John McNamara was a Revolutionary soldier and removed to Swanton. 11. John [Benjamin] Mitchell, a Revolutionary soldier, from Connecticut. He married in Stratford, Conn., 30 Oct. 1783, Jemima Sunderland, daughter of John Sunderland [No. 14 below]. She lived to be 102 years old and died in 1862. According to a Bible record their children were Truman, Joanna, Roswell, Susanna, Hubbell, Hepsibeth, Polly, Lydia, Delia. [Robert Mitchell, of Sheldon, was not their son, as has been stated. His name was originally Robert McMitchell and he came from Palmer, Mass.] 10. Asahel Noble has not been identified, but he may have been identical with the man of this name living in New Milford, Conn., in 1790. Several New Milford families removed to Fairfield. 13. Gabriel Sherwood was a son of Nathan (Joseph, David, Isaac, Thomas) and Joanna (Noble) Sherwood and was born, probably in New Fairfield, Conn., about 1769-1771; he died before 28 Apr. 1808, when his widow married the Rev. Isaac Hill. He married at New Fairfield, Conn., in Feb. 1788, Johanna Sunderland, daughter of John Sunderland [see. No. 14 below, and Nos. 3 and 11 above]. The names of his children are not known to the compiler, but he had at least five and probably more. 14. John Sunderland, probably a son of John and Jemima Sunderland, of New Fairfield, Conn., was a Revolutionary soldier. His wife was Jerusha and their daughter, Johanna, was baptized at Stratford, Conn., 9 May 1769. He had a son Wallis Sunderland who lived in Tinmouth, Vt. A CENSUS OF HEADS OF FAMILIES IN FAIRFIELD TAKEN in 1800. Copied from a photostat of the original now in the Vermont Historical Society collection, Montpelier. [Transcriber's note: There are so many categories for each head of household it boggles the mind. Forgive me for omitting it and just transcribine the names.] Abel, John Ayres, Benjamin Baker, David Baker, Solomon Barber, Elisha Barber, Francis Barber, Hiram Barber, Isaac Barber, Jesse Barber, Joel Barber, Philo Barkum, John Barlow, Bradley Barlow, David Barlow, Dimond Barlow, Eleanor Barlow, Hubbard Bartham, David Beardsley, Demming Beardsley, Nathaniel Beden, Wililam Bingham, Solomon Bliss, Rufus Blood, Abner Boardman, Amos Bostwick, Andrew Bostwick, Oliver Bowdish, Joseph Bradley, Andrew Bradley, Ephraim Bradley, Ezekiel Bradley, Ezekiel Jr. Bradley, Loyd Briggs, Joseph Briggs, Joseph Briggs, Michael Briggs, Thomas Brown, Barzilla Buck, William Burr, Jabez Bush, Lydiat Butler, Samuel Case, Abijah Chamberlin, Thomas Chandler, Benjamin Childs, Stephen Churchill, David Clark, Amaziah Clauson, Nathan Cobley, Luther Cooley, Moses Cotton, William Cowles, Eli Craw, Reuben Cutler, Benjamin Day, Reuben Dimon, Moses Dolph, Joseph Dowgle, David Draper, David Ebo, Francis Farnsworth, Joseph D. Farrand, Thomas Fitch, Hezekiah Foot, Elijah Foot, Russell Giddings, William Gilbert, John Gilbert, Louis Gilbert, Nathan Gilbert, Samuel Gilbert, Thomas Goram, John Grant, Joseph Gregory, Amos Gregory, Keeler Gregory, Lois Gregory, Stephen Hall, Edmund L. Hall, Levi Hall, Lewis Hall, Thomas Hatch, Henry Hawley, Isaac Hawley, James Hawley, James Hawley, Thomas Hendrick, Andrew Hendrick, Benjamin Hide, Robert Hide, Joseph Hoit, Nathan Hoit, Nehemiah Holbbut, Job Holister, Lemuel Howard, Benjamin Howard, John Howard, Jonas Hoyt, David Hubble, Timothy Hull, Jehiel Hull, Samuel P. Johnson, Nathaniel Johnson, Thomas Judson, Eli Judson, Jonathan Kingsley, Nathan Labaree, Alexander Leach, Asa Leach, James Leach, John Leach, John Jr. Lee, John Lobdell, Ebenezer Lobdell, Nathan Madison, David Meachum, Isaac Meachum, Jeremiah Meachum, Samuel Mitchel, John B. Morey, William Mott, Samuel Nelson, Solomon Northrop, Abraham Northrop, Amos Northrop, Thomas Osgood, Josiah Page, Solomon Phelps, Ebenezer Phelps, Elkanah Phelps, Martin Phelps, Philo Phelps, Phineas Pierce, Daniel Pittiss, William Prindle, Martin Ramsdale, Girsham Randal, John Richardson, John Sherwood, Gabriel Sherwood, Jededih Sherwood, Nathan Sherwood, William Sloan, James Smith, David Smith, John Smith, William Soul, Joseph Soul, Solomon Soul, Timothy Squire, Asa Stone, Othniel Storey, Francis Sturdevant, John Thompson, John Wakeman, Nathan Waring, Samuel Warner, Daniel Warner, Moses [Wanzer] Warring, Daniel Wheaton, Joseph Wheeler, Joseph Wheeler, (Widow) Whitehead, Aaron Whitehead, Isaac Whitney, Sherwood Willard, Windsor Wright, Abram Wright, Asahel Wright, Dorastus It is interesting to note that this census shows what a part young men played in the settlement of the town—or any frontier town, for that matter. The majority of the heads of families in this census were between the ages 26 and 45, just as the majority of the children were under 10. Fairfield reached its apex in population around 1850. The following data, compiled from the United States Bureau of the Census figures, shows how it has grown and declined since 1790.
Total population in 1790, including Smithfied: 196 |