January 12

Old Winter

And a mighty strong way he has withal,
And he drives a smart business too,
For he'll bridge the old lake from St. Johns to Whitehall,
Without charter from Gentile or Jew.
                -John Chattertion of Beekmantown, a student.
                            Plattsburgh Acadamy (1846-1850)

1762    Birth of Benjamin Harwood, son of Peter Harwood, the first make child born in Bennington.  In 1848 his picture was taken in a group with David Robinson (a brother of Gov. Moses Robinson), Abisha Kingsley, Aaron Robinson, Samuel Fay, and Samuel Safford (the first man to scale the Troy breast works), all six the last survivors of the battle of Bennington.

1865  The Rev. Henry E. Butler, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, was ordained by the Champlain Presbytery, the Rev. J.R. Herrick of Malone preaching the sermon.  The young man ministered to the Keeseville Presbyterian Church, receiving a formal call the following September.

1887  At the age of nearly 92, Benjamin Calkin, Elizabethtown's last survivor of the battle of Plattsburgh, died and was buried in the Calkin cemetery, Pleasant Valley (Elizabethtown).

 Today In the Champlain Valley History