Bennington

CANFIELD Family

Vermont Historical Magazine, No XI, October 1867, p 134

Nathan CANFIELD, Esq., married first, Lola, eldest daughter of Capt. James 
HARD, and moved to Arlington [Bennington County, Vermont] about 1768. Their 
children were Enos, Parthena, Orilla, and Anna. By a second wife, Betsey 
BURTON, his [Nathan CANFIELD's] children were Albert, Nathan, Cyrus, Samuel, 
Anson, Orlando, Galen, and Betsey. In the troubles of the time, Esq. 
CANFIELD [Nathan CANFIELD], a man of great sagacity and prudence, retained in 
a great degree the confidence of both parties. His connections and his 
sympathies were probably in favor of the loyalists. Yet to the end he 
enjoyed the friendship of [Ethan] ALLEN, [Seth] WARNER, [Remember] BAKER, and 
the other leaders. On one occasion when a man from Sunderland [Bennington 
County] raised his gun to shoot him, Col. ALLEN rushed between them for his 
protection. He [Nathan CANFIELD] was sometimes arrested and fined, but 
succeeded in preserving himself from material harm. He represented the town 
[Arlington] in 1786. He [Nathan CANFIELD] died 16 April 1809, in his 
seventieth year.

Israel CANFIELD, who is supposed to have been a cousin of Nathan, married 
Mary SACKET, and came to Arlington from Connecticut, about the same time. 
Their children were Sacket, John, Nathaniel, and Anson Bassett. Israel 
CANFIELD was in the American service, but his wife was a most active 
loyalist. It is said that important messages between the British in Canada 
and their friends in this region passed through her hands. "Aunt Ann" 
HAWLEY, the bolder of the two, carried food to her son Eli, while to Molly 
Sacket, as she was called, a more quiet woman, was entrusted the duty of 
transmitting his messages. She [Mary, wife of Israel CANFIELD] died 18 June 
1817, in her seventy-fifth year. Her husband [Israel CANFIELD] followed 20 
March 1817, aged ninety-seven. Professing religion at the advanced age of 
eighty-three, he was nevertheless regarded as an exemplary christian. His 
strictness in observing the Sabbath, and other religious duty, was specially 
marked. [Excerpt from a section on the history of Arlington, Bennington 
County, Vermont.]

Submitted by Cathy Kubly