Billings, Martha Lucina
Birth Name | Billings, Martha Lucina |
Gender | female |
Age at Death | 79 years |
Narrative
NAME: On her marriage record it is LUCINDA, on her gravestone it is LUCINA.
Lucinda (Billings) CHATFIELD, 1818-1897.
While Lucinda was born in Tunbridge, she married Alonzo Chatfield in Middlebury in 1838. They moved up to his home in Ripton, and in 1839 they started farming the plot of land which we now call "The Widow’s Clearing". Local records indicate that their farm was rather poor, even by Ripton hill farm standards. When this site became known as “Widow’s Clearing” is not in the information which I have at my disposal, but it is clear that Lucinda was not widowed immediately – she was abandoned by her husband! In 1855 Alonzo left her and their four children, and moved to Michigan where he lived the rest of his life with his second wife. Accounts from that time also indicated that Lucinda was not openly distraught about this. Whether this was stoicism on her part, or a case of “good riddance”, we can only speculate. She owned and operated the farm until 1882, in later years with her son Parsons and his family, although it is not clear if she actually lived there all those years. It must have been a challenging hardscrabble existence for Lucinda and her family, as an 1871 map of Ripton shows “Mrs. Chatfield’s farm” as the most remote, and probably highest altitude farm in Ripton. Nonetheless, local records also show that by this time, the farm was more successful than it had been during the years of her marriage. In 1882, Lucinda, PARSONS, and his family relocated to Middlebury, and there is no record of anyone living at the clearing after that time. The widow passed away in East Bethel, VT in 1897 at the age of 79, and was buried in the Galvin Cemetery in Ripton alongside her parents. Kind of an interesting little story of the challenges of mountain life in Vermont!
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"A poem about Martha Lucinda Billings Chatfield called 'The Widows Clearing'."
THE WlDOW‘S CLEARING
Aunt Lucina Chatfield lived on Chatfield Hill,
But no one lives there now and no one ever will.
There broken fields of stump and stone
With fresh green trees are now o‘ergrown
While summer breeze and winter blast
Worn, "Nothing here can ever last."
Their youthful dreams have vanished, their brightest hopes have fled,
And those who made their clearing are numbered with the dead.
They built a house, a barn they made,
Their children came and romped and played.
Here they toiled, laughed, suffered, cried,
Then some of them left and some died.
But Aunt Lucina lived there still,,
Alone woman on a lonely hill.
Why she stayed I cannot tell;
She seemed chained by a magic spell
As hoping those who had gone away
Would soon return and with her stay.
But those she looked for never came.
Now all that's left is Lucina's name
On a slab of marble cold and bare—
All that's left of a mother's prayer.
It tells so little what is past,
But speaks so loud: "We cannot last."
If you find the Widow's Clearing,
Mute your voices, strain your hearing.
At fall of night near close of day
Perhaps you'll hear Lucina pray:
"Dear Lord God, if it be thy will,
I'll die right here on Chatfield Hill."
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There is a road in Ripton named "Billings Farm Road"
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The Middlebury Trailrunner
A blog for runners in and about Addison County, VT, USA
June 5th, 2010 at 10:15 am
The Widow’s Clearing
Posted by Jeff in Running
Between numerous signs labeling the Widows Clearing trail, the Widow’s Clearing trailhead, and the Widow’s Clearing itself, upon my return to my vehicle, I began to wonder, who was the eponymous widow? I was not able to find any information on my own, so I emailed my favorite expert on local history, Jan at the Sheldon Museum. She was not familiar with this mysterious widow, but she did some research, and eventually connected me with William J. Powers, Jr. of Lake Dunmore and Rutland. All of the following information comes from Bill and is the result of his unpublished research on the topic. This is just a brief synopsis of a much larger body of his work. Bill has also authored a history book on another of my favorite running destinations, Silver Lake, and those who are interested in learning more about the history of the lake and its surroundings can purchase his book at the Sheldon Museum.
Finally, Bill’s research also uncovered a picture of the view from the Widow’s Clearing, circa 1870. The wide open land stands in sharp contrast to the fully recovered forest of modern times.
Elmer Luther Chatfield was the great grandson of the widow of Widow’s Clearing. He passed away in 1997.
Narrative
Records not imported into INDI (individual) Gramps ID I8250:
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Events
Event | Date | Place | Description | Sources |
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Birth | 1818 | Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont, USA | ||
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Death | 1897 | East Bethel, Windsor Co., Vermont, USA | ||
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Burial | Galvin Cmtry., Ripton, Addison Co., Vermont, USA | |||
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Parents
Relation to main person | Name | Birth date | Death date | Relation within this family (if not by birth) |
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Father | Billings, Parsons | 23 September 1787 | 9 October 1867 | |
Mother | Alden, Eunice | 9 January 1795 | 1 November 1874 | |
Billings, Martha Lucina | 1818 | 1897 | ||
Sibling | Billings, Issue 4 |
Families
Family of Chatfield, Alonzo and Billings, Martha Lucina |
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Married | Husband | Chatfield, Alonzo ( * about 1812 + 30 March 1878 ) | ||||||||||||||||||
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Narrative |
Vermont, Vital Records |
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Children |
Name | Birth Date | Death Date |
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Chatfield, Laura Elizabeth | 22 April 1840 | 1 October 1924 |
Chatfield, William Horace | 17 April 1842 | 11 August 1909 |
Chatfield, Anna B | 8 August 1844 | 3 August 1877 |
Chatfield, Parsons Alden | 2 May 1846 | 26 November 1935 |
Chatfield, Lewis Israel | 5 July 1853 | 27 April 1935 |
Type | Value | Notes | Sources |
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_UID | 7EDB917434DFD511B337709A55C1000061C9 |
Media
Attributes
Type | Value | Notes | Sources |
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_UID | 9CDB917434DFD511B337709A55C100007FA9 |