Notes for Gardner Barton: From a letter sent to Dana Barton Berry by her cousin Thomas Newton Barton of Virgina in @ 1980:
"I had a great trip back to "Roots" this summer in Shaftsbury, Vermont -- the home of the Barton clan. The townspeople and the Historical Society greeted me well indeed. They recall easily the name Barton since several Bartons of our family were involved in Shaftsbury's paper work and old town records. I met a Mrs. Beckie Robinson who lived and grew up in the old Barton house with her brother Gerald. The house burned in 1951 and was finally destroyed in 1960 or so. She has a large marble piece (1' by 2') which once sat under the back porch and reads -- "Gardner Bartons Tannery 1805 We are one". This inscription is encircled by 13 stars and two flags crossed by an Indian figure. The Revolutionary War must have been fresh in Gardner's mind when he established the tannery. A wealthy family estate and business followed up until the time of our Grandfather Hiram." (Letter continued under Hiram)
Gardner Barton's birth is recorded as 1762 according to Warren Vit. Rec. vol. 1, p. 18, or 1763 according to another piece of information contained in the scrapbook Thomas N. Barton prepared for his cousins in the early 1980's.
In 1786 Gardner Barton purchased land from Royal Chase, ( Bristol County Deeds, vol. 65, p 382). Apparently shortly after this he removed to Shaftsbury, VT. where he set up a tannery. Tax records in Shaftsbury for 1832 and 1837: 1832: Gardner Barton: $300 cash, 1 horse $75.00, 12 acres cleard land, 1 house: Tax paid $120.00 1837: Gardner and son Hiram Barton: 88 acres cleared land, 2 horses $75.00 each, 10 carriages, a saw or grist mill, engaged in mechanical manufacturing: Tax paid $200.00
"Gardner Barton's signature appears in early town records of Shaftsbury, Vt., as early as 1788. Book III of Shaftsbury's Land Records mentions "Gardner Barton of Swanzey, Massachusetts." Book IV of the same shows Richard Barton. John Barton took the Freeman's Oath in September 1805. It is assumed that these early settlers of Shaftsbury, VT. were brothers who originated from Swanzey, Mass. or areas nearby.
Gardner Barton married and settled in Center Shaftsbury, VT. Near 1805 he established a tannery on Paran Creek where its north branch crosses the main road to Bennington. A marble stone (2' x 2') describes the tannery as "Gardner Barton's Tannery 1805". The inscripton also reads "We are one". These words are surrounded by 13 stars and two flags held by an eagle. This stone is now in the possession of Shaftsbury Historical Society." (From records copied by Thomas Newton Barton, descendant of GB.)
He died June 6, 1854 aged 91 years and was buried in the Shaftsbury Center Cemetery, near the Baptist Church (Shaftsbury Vit. Rec.)
He was married to Mariam Edminster, born 1764, daughter of James and Miriam Edminster. She was probably the daughter of the James Eiminister who was a resident of Bristol, RI at the taking of the Census of 1790. She died Nov. 26, 1855, aged 91 years, and was buried with her husband. (Shaftsbury Vit. Rec.). (Note: According to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City, UT, her name was Mariam Edmister and the marriage took place in Swansea, Bristol Co., MA on Sept. 14, 1788.)
From "Ordinary Heroes, The Story of Shaftsbury" comes the following descriptive sketch of "the present state of Vermont, 1797". :
Graham writes: "Shaftesbury, which we next visit, is a rich flourishing town, adjoining Bennington, and the state of New York: the land is admirable for raising every kind of grain, pulse, and vegetable. It also produces the finest apples, peaches, pears, plumbs, cherries, and qinces in the whole State. Nor is their beef, mutton, pork, butter, and cheese, inferior either in quantity or quality to their other productions. They export their superfluities to New City and Troy, at as cheap a rate as the inhabitants of Bennington. Pot a pearl ashes afford great assisance in making remittance for their imports; there is scarce a town in Vermont that exports more of these articles. I have known six thousand barrels sent off out of the state in one season since the war. "The inhabitants are rich farmers, principally emigrants from Rhode Island. There is no public building, except the Meetinghouse, which is handsome and commodious. The Rev. Mr. Blood is the minister, and an able Sandimoniam preacher. "Mr. Galusha is also one of the Council of State; he is a mild, benevolent, of a philosophic turn of mind, and of a clear, comprehensive understanding. Though not a dealer in many words, he gives his reasons with openess and candor, and always makes them plain to the meanest capacity. He despises party intrigues, and the little dirty duplicities of faction, and at the same time contrives to avoid censure. That such a man should be esteemed and beloved by all who know him, is but the just tribute due to such exalted worth! "Shaftesbury is finely watered, and has several corn and saw mills. They have vast quantities of white marble here, of a quality equal to any I have seen in Europe, though at present, they have not the art of polishing it too highly. They use it for fireplaces, tombstones, and the underpinnning for their houses. "The value of land in Shaftesbury is from twenty shillings to thirty pounds, per acre. the number of inhabitants about two thousand, their complexion resemble those of Pownal."
More About Gardner Barton and Mariam Edminster: Marriage: September 14, 1788, Swansea, Bristol Co., MA.38, 39
Marriage Notes for Gardner Barton and Mariam Edminster: The marriage is also recorded in Newport, RI.
Children of Gardner Barton and Mariam Edminster are:
+Hiram Barton, b. February 15, 1795, Shaftsbury, VT, d. October 07, 1880, Shaftsbury, VT.
Gardner Barton (b. November 28, 1762, d. June 06, 1854)
Notes for Gardner Barton: