Note |
- From Foote History and Genealogy:
DANIEL FOOTE, b. Apr. 27, 1724; m. Jan. 14, 1748, Martha, dau. of Dea. John Stillman, and great-grand-dau. of Lieut. Phillip Smith, of Hadley, Mass. She d. July 24, 1794; ae. 64. He removed from Simsbury, Ct., about 1764 to Washington, Mass., and cleared away the forest and made a farm. He moved next to Dalton, Mass.; purchased land and brought into cultivation a valuable farm. This he sold to Daniel, his oldest son, and moved to Middlebury, Vt., and bought one thousand acres of wild land, on which he built mills, felled the forest, and resided for many years. About 1783 he bought all of the land that is now in the village of Middlebury on the west side of the river and erected a grist mill and saw mill. This property was given by him to his sons Stillman and John, the latter selling his interest to Appleton in 1792. They built dwellings and improved the property. (See History of Middlebury.) Daniel Foote built the first bridge at Middlebury Falls. About 1801 he divided his property at Middlebury among his children, and went to Canton, N. Y., his son Stillman having moved there a short time before. In passing through Montreal, he took the small-pox and died a few days after he arrived in Canton. He was a man of great industry and indominable perseverance, and peculiarly fitted for a pioneer in a new country. He d. May 10, 1801, and was buried in an elm bark coffin. All of his twelve children were members of the church. His sons also were pioneers, and their children are now widely scattered over the United States.
|