Home	Morgan Home

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Acknowledgements and Introduction
The Vermont of our Ancestors
 Part one: The Pinders and the Morgans
  Chapter one: Edmund Pinders and Mary Doran
  Chapter two: James Morgan and Catherine Pinders
  Documentation, Maps, and Photos
 Part two: The Hayes and the Pendors
  Chapter one: Martin Hayes and Bridget O'Connell
  Chapter two: Micheal Pendors and Julia Hickey
  Chapter three: Jane Hayes and Thomas Pendors
  Documentation, Maps, and Photos
 Part three: The Hayes of Fair Haven
  Chapter one: Thomas Martin Hayes and Mary Agnes Morgan
  Chapter two: Three Generations of Descendents
  Documentation, Maps, and Photos
  Hayes Address Book
  Quick Reference Pedigree Chart

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I would like to thank all of my sources for this paper and especially the two greatest sources; my mother, Mary "Babe" Hayes Christensen, whose steel trap memory was the basis for all research; and Mary Therese Hayes, who started off our correspondence with the statement, "I'm afraid I'm not a very good source," and then went on to be a source for at least a quarter of this paper. I would also like to thank those who have helped with the considerable financial burden of this research. I am also indebted to the research of David Larson and Lisa Dougherty for much of the new information in this 2006 revision.

I began researching the Hayes and Morgan genealogies in 1988 with the very specific goal of finding out where my ancestors came from in Ireland. As I progressed in my research, my goals changed as I got to know about the generations closer to me. The project brought me in contact with the extended family I had always missed and I've gained personal insight and strength from my new familial relations and my understanding of my families of origin. Nothing has been a more important result of this research than the relationships I've formed with my larger family.

I have interviewed, for varying lengths of time, twenty relatives, seven in-laws, and seven people who are sources of local history for this project. It was a pleasure making the acquaintance of these people and we are indebted to them for any "meat" you may find on the "bones" of the dry statistics of the written records.

The records I have consulted to write these chapters are many. I have likely exhausted all civil and church records in the United States that will give us a clue as to the origins of our families in Ireland. I have also studied Irish records available to me. Some of these records include: Town Hall and town meeting notes; Irish and Vermont church baptismal, marriage, dispensation, and burial records; U.S. Census records; Irish Census and land valuations; town histories; military and W.P.A. records; naturalization records; obituaries; cemetery records; and Veteran and Mental Hospital's records.

With all this digging I inevitably discovered what some might consider "family secrets". These circumstances and tragedies happen in every family and, from a historical point of view, were often turning points and landmarks in those families' lives. From a literary point of view they let future generations identify with their heritage in a human and empathetic way and are the most interesting passages in the family story

As a trained historian, former practitioner in the field of psychology, and responsible family member, I will try to walk in balance and neither offend the living or deny those yet to come of their heritage. At times I may repeat gossip, (there is little else to repeat when primary sources have been dead for 40 to 100 years) but it will be identified as such. Remember, all texts, written or oral, rely on the same sources and all sources unconsciously interpret what they have experienced for their own subjective uses. The vast amount of age discrepancy from census to census gave me a quick lesson on the overrated sanctity of written over oral sources...and yes, gossip is a secondary oral source. Enjoy.

Although there are three towns (Castleton, Benson, and Fair Haven) that our ancestors settled in, our ancestors were all introduced to Vermont life nestled along the mill stream between Glen (Corkscrew) Lake and Lake Bomoseen in the hamlet of West Castleton.

The town of Castleton was first settled in 1770 and in 1775 provided a meeting place for Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys before their capture of Fort Ticonderoga. Later a British fort was built at the hamlet of Hydeville, and that held the town for most of the rest of that war. The area of Castleton is 23,360 acres. The land west of Lake Bomoseen is suitable for forestation and the rest for dairy farming. In the 1800's the town contained the hamlets of Castleton, Castleton Corners, Hydeville, West Castleton, and later Cookville. Castleton's population peeked in the 1870's.¹

The railroad came about 1850 and with its arrival new markets were opened for Vermont slate. The slate industry boomed at Hydeville and West Castleton. Experienced and ambitious Welshmen were lured from the slate district in Northern Wales. They quickly purchased ledgey farms with slate deposits and applied their knowledge of efficient large scale quarrying. The Welsh were followed by the Irish.

Ireland also has slate deposits, but not to the extent of Wales. One large slate producing area was the Arra Mountains in the western part of Co. Tipperary. This area looks like, and has the same "feel" as Castleton, Vermont. The grave stones in the Catholic cemetery in Fair Haven attest a number of "Arra mountain folks" that transplanted to West Castleton. Later, French and Slavic immigrants joined the Welsh and Irish.²

When our ancestors came to West Castleton, there was only one slate company in town -- The West Castleton Railroad and Slate Co. The company had many of its own quarries and processed (milled) the slate from small private quarries in the area. Business was good supplying the demand for roofing tiles, fireplace mantles, billiard tables, blackboards, and tombstones. Where slate was readily available in surface deposits, it was used as foundations and steps of the new company town of West Castleton.

Slate mining was hard and dangerous work. Early quarries used blasting, manual labor and animals to remove slate, rubble, and water. Workers were sometimes killed by collapsing rock or blasting accidents. The men worked ten-hour days for less than two dollars. In West Castleton the company owned housing, sold food and clothing, provided transportation, and generally controlled the workers' lives through its hold on their credit. The Catholic Church in Fair Haven established a mission, St. Josephs, in 1879, but even social institutions like the church and school relied on company support.

By 1888, slate was being quarried and milled for floor tiles, sinks, and wash tubs. The name and ownership of the mills changed and other companies started up in the following 70 years

Lake Bomoseen was also developing a tourist trade and its shore eventually became completely developed into residences and resorts. In the 1930's Alexander Wolcott, the famous "man of letters", owned the lake's island, Neshobe Island. His group of friends, Harpo Marx among them, became known as the "Neshobe Circle."

Throughout the early 1900's, the slate industry profited, but in 1929, the Lake Shore-West Castleton mill closed. Demand for roofing had declined, the quarries were nearly exhausted, and water and rubble removal had become difficult. Labor shortages during WWI, subsequent strikes, and the depression may also have contributed to the closure of the mill.

West Castleton was literally abandoned. The village remains as cellar holes, quarry gabbles, and mills scattered among twisted grapevines, goldenrod, and maple saplings. The area was donated by the heir of the last mill owner to the State of Vermont and is now the Bomoseen State Park. An excellent Booklet, "The Slate History Trail" (from which many of the preceding paragraphs were freely borrowed) is available at the ranger station and provides an excellent self-guided tour of the area.

The town of Benson is located in the northwestern corner of Rutland County. The Hubbardton River flows through the southeast corner of the 25,509 acre town. The town is suited for dairy farming with intensive cultivation. Benson contains the hamlets of Benson and Benson Landing and reached a peak in population in 1860 with 1256 souls.

In 1870, considerable interest was taken by the town in a project for a railroad line along Lake Champlain's shore. Nothing came of this project and dairy farming is still the only industry in town.³

Fair Haven served as the market town for West Castleton and Benson. Its church served the Irish Catholics in the area and later most West Castleton families migrated to the town. Traditionally, its industries involved slate and marble quarrying and processing, and there was a small clothing manufacturing core in the town for years.⁴

One social perception, passed down through the years, that played to the ego of the (none too wealthy) Hayes family was that, no matter how poor you were, if you lived on the business district's side of Fair Haven's railroad tracks, you were always "a bit better than those on the other side of the tracks."⁵

The name Pinders is one of many shortened versions of the name Prendergast. Indeed, some of the baptismal and census records of our own Pinders family in Ireland used the name Pendergast. The ancestor of the Prendergast families in Ireland was an Anglo-Norman magnate, Maurice de Prendergast, who came in the 12th century invasion and acquired considerable estates in Ireland. One branch of his descendants remained in the southeast where they are still found in Co. Waterford, while another settled in Connaught, where Prendergast families are found mainly in Mayo.⁶

Throughout my records search in Ireland and Vermont there were so many spelling variations of the Pinders name (Pender, Pindar, Pendars, etc.) that spelling seems to be of no use in keeping family relations straight. There were at least three, probably unrelated, branches of Pinders families living in Rutland Co., Vermont in the late 19th century. Naturalization records of the two families that spent time at Castleton shows that one family came from Co. Cork and one from Co. Clare. Coincidentally, the Hayes of Fair Haven are descended from both of these families and, in an effort to distinguish between the two, I will use the spelling of the family names from their Fair Haven tombstones (the final word so to speak) to identify them in this paper. The Cork family being "Pinders" and the Clare family being "Pendors." It should be noted, however, that most modern descendents of the Clare family go by "Penders."

Edmund Pinders was born sometime around 1814 and he lived in the townland of Lower Macroney, in the Civil Parish of Macroney, which is located on the northeast corner of Co. Cork where Cork borders on Co. Tipperary and Co. Waterford.⁷ The parish was described thus in the 1885 publication The Topographical Dictionary of Ireland:

"Macroney, a parish, in the Barony of Condons and Clangibbon, County of Cork, and Province of Munster, 2 miles (N.N.E.) from Kilworth, on the road to Lismore, contains 2788 inhabitants. The land, though in general of an inferior quality, is chiefly under tillage, a large portion of the mountain waste having been lately brought into cultivation; there is a small portion of bog. Limestone raised in the adjoining parish is generally burnt for manure, and slate was formerly worked in the vicinity. The river Araglyn, which separates this parish from Leitrim, winds through a vale covered on both sides with oak. There are two small cornmills on the river employed in grinding oats. Where the Counties of Cork, Tipperary, and Waterford meet, there is a station of the constabulary police. Castle Cooke, the seat of W. Cooke Collis, Esq., is beautifully situated on the Araglyn. The Roman Catholics are a part of the Union of Kilworth, and (the Catholics) have a small plain chapel in Coolmahon."

Edmund Pinders married Mary Doran, who was probably from a neighboring parish, in 1842. Mary was born around 1815. The couple had at least five children while living in Ireland; Catherine in 1843, Thomas in 1845, Mary in 1848, Edmund in 1851, and Hanna in 1853. From at least 1851 through 1853 the family co-rented, with Edmund Doran and Johanna Pindar (no doubt relatives), a tract of land from the Earl of Kingston. Sometime around 1854 the family immigrated to America. Their daughter, Mary, is not found in any Vermont records and is presumed to have died between 1851 and 1856.⁸

The family came to the slate company town in West Castleton, Vermont. They had another daughter, Mary, in 1857. Having declared his intention to become an U.S. citizen in 1856, Edmund was granted citizenship on Oct. 2, 1858. In 1860 Edmund was working as a "ledgeman" in the West Castleton quarries and his children were schooled in that town. At that time they were housed in company housing and Edmund had about $50 in personal assets. In 1861 Edmund and Mary sponsored the baptism of a neighbor's child, James White.⁹

In March of 1862, Edmund and his family embarked on a big change in life from the dangerous work of slate quarrying and the constricted control of a company town. Edmund purchased, for $700, 25 acres of dairy land (from David Potter) in the neighboring town of Benson. He bought an additional 9 acres from Potter in April of 1867. Edmund's property now straddled a section of the road that leads from the village of Benson to Orwell in the north. In 1870 he purchased an additional 65 acres.¹⁰

The biggest news ever to hit Benson was the proposal, in 1870, of a railroad laying tracks around Lake Champlain and going through the town. After much debate in a town meeting, it was voted to raise a levy to help the railroad. Edmund had to pay $9.50, a small amount compared to most of his wealthier neighbors. The railroad plan fell through and the biggest thing to happen to Benson never happened.¹¹

The 1870 Census found Edmund, Mary, and the three youngest children on the Benson farm. His farm was valued at $1500 and Edmund had $500 in the bank. His self-estimation of his literacy was that he could read but not write. By 1879 all of Edmund's mortgages had been paid off.¹²

By 1880 only one of their children, Edward, was living with them. A grandchild, Catherine's daughter, Hanna Morgan, was also staying with them. Edmund Pinders died of pneumonia on Dec. 9, 1882. Miraculously, he managed to sell the 130 acre farm to his son (no doubt to avoid probate expense and the division of the land) the day after he died! Mary Doran Pinders succumbed to heart failure on Dec. 16, 1891. Edmund and Mary are buried in the Catholic cemetery in Fair Haven with three of their children.¹³

(The information contained below was gleaned during the search for my direct lineage and is by no means exhaustive.)

Catherine Pinders was baptized in Ireland on Nov. 22, 1843. She married James Morgan and had 12 children with him. For more information on her and her family please refer to part two of this chapter.

Thomas Pinders was born in Ireland in Sept. of 1845. Per the Kilworth Parish register, he was baptized at Kilworth chapel on Sept. 20 and his godparents were John Sweeney and Bridget Doran. He was out of school, probably working in the quarries or as a farm hand, by the age of 13. He married Catherine O'Connell at St. Mary's in Fair Haven on Feb. 9, 1867. In 1870 he was living in West Castleton with his wife and sons, Edward (b. 11/7/1868) and Michael (b. 4/14/1870), and was working as a painter. Another child, Abigail, was born in West Castleton on 7/9/1872. By 1876 the family had moved to Benson where, in that year, Thomas Jr. was born. In 1880 Thomas was still living and working, as a laborer, in Benson. His oldest son had been "farmed out" to a neighbor. Thomas' wife, Catherine, died in 1891.¹⁴

He moved to the town of Poultney and took a new wife, Mary, around 1895. Per the Rutland Herald, Thomas died in Poultney on April 13, 1914. The fate of his children is unknown to me except the death of his boys Michael and Thomas in 1888 and 1908 respectively.¹⁵

Mary Pinders was born and baptized in Kilworth, Ireland in May of 1848 and her godparents were Thomas and Julia Doran. She was still living in 1851 per the census of Ireland. She is presumed to have died by the time her sister, and namesake, was born in 1857.

Edward Pinders was born in Ireland in April of 1851. He was baptized at Kilworth chapel on April 24 and his godparents were Mike Quirk and Mary Sweeney. Edward was a student at the school in West Castleton until at least 1860 and he moved with his family to Benson in 1862. He lived with his parents until he "inherited" the family farm on his father's death in 1882. He ran the farm with his mother until her death. Edward married Josephine Sullivan in 1890. Together they had four children: Mary A., born 8/2/1892; Edward B., born 5/4/1894 (died as an infant); Edward M., born 8/13/1895; and Paul, born 1/3/1898. Edward built up the family farm, and upon his death in 1907, its 239 acres and 23 cows were valued at $2875. Immediately after his death, Edward's widow, Jossie, sold the house and farm to George Jackson and the Jackson family lived on it until 1983. It was sold to Dick Tracy Mobile Homes and that company tore down the house. A barn still stands on the site with some mobile homes, and other mobile homes are dispersed along the roadside.¹⁶

Jossie Pinders moved, with her children, to a 15 acre property in Benson, on the Orwell border, on the road that is now known as Highway 22a. Jossies' daughter, Mary "Frances" eventually moved away and ended up living in Ballaporozo, Indiana where she owned and operated a newspaper. She never married. The rest of the family remained in Benson until, during the great depression, Edward decided that there was not enough money to go around to support both himself and his brother Paul's growing family. He left the house one day and was never heard from again. Paul went on to raise his three children but he was never the same after his brother left and he was plagued with bouts of despondency. Paul died in 1949 and is buried in the family plot in Fair Haven. His children: Allen Pinders of Springfield, Vermont; Eddie Pinders of Windermire, Florida; and Jane Underwood of Greenwich, Connecticut. Allen has three children and Jane has two.¹⁷

Hanna Pinders was born in Ireland in 1853. She attended school in West Castleton and lived with her parents until at least 1870. I have no other information about her.¹⁸

Mary Pinders was born in Vermont in 1857. She lived with her parents until at least 1870. In 1880 she worked as a servant for Henry Wright in Orwell, VT. She married and in 1926 she was living in Wisconsin under the name of Mary McDonald.¹⁹

James Morgan was born circa 1842 in the county of Armagh, Province of Ulster, Ireland. It is not known who his parents were, if he had any siblings, or what his parish of birth is. The name Morgan is a common Welsh surname (ranking among the 50 most common English and Welsh surnames) that was brought over to Ireland by settlers who established themselves in all four provinces, with a majority in Ulster. There were 122 Morgan families in Co. Armagh alone in 1864. The County of Armagh holds the ecclesiastical center of the country, and in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was the center of Ulster's linen industry. This industry and other farming activities made the county relatively prosperous and one of the most densely populated on the island. The county was less affected by the great famine of 1845-47 than most other counties, but even so its population was reduced by 15% between 1841 and 1851.²⁰

James Morgan immigrated to Vermont in the mid 1850's. It appears that James had no family in Vermont and that he made his way by working on farms. Although he remained, by self-report, functionally illiterate all his life, it seems that James attended school in West Castleton for a little while. In 1860 James was in Hubbardton Township as a live-in farm hand for William Bailess. Living with Mr. Bailess were his wife, his son Fredrick, and a domestic servant. James remained employed in Hubbardton until the American Civil War called him away.²¹

In Hubbardton, on Aug. 18, 1862, an officer named Captain Joseph Jennings enlisted James as a private into his unit as one of Lincoln's nine month volunteers.²² As Vermont was one of the best (per capita) represented states in the Union Army, James had a lot of company. By Sept. 3, 1862, James had joined other recruits from Fair Haven, Castleton, and Hubbardton, and on the 8^th they entered camp in Brattleboro as Company F of the 14^th Regiment of Vermont Infantry. They were brigaded with the 12^th, 13^th, 15^th and 16^th Regiments as the Second Brigade, and then placed under the command of Brigadier-General Edwin H. Stoughten. (He was subsequently captured and Brigadier-General George T. Stannard was assigned to the command until the expiration of the brigade's term of service.)

The Second Brigade went to Virginia and found a good camping ground on an estate called "Spring Bank." There was timber nearby for fuel and this proved to be valuable because the winter opened early in Virginia that year. Five inches of snow lay on the ground on the night of November 7^th (this was a month earlier than snow fell in Vermont that year). Spring Bank was soon called "Camp Vermont."

The main duty of the brigade was the picketing of a portion of the line encircling Washington, D.C. This line extended from a point on the Potomac, two miles north of Mount Vernon, and continued six miles to the north, to the vicinity of the Orange and Alexandria railroad. To this job was added fatigue duty on the outworks of Fort Lyon (half a mile north of Camp Vermont) for which 1500 men from the brigade were detailed daily. The men prepared for winter by building barracks of oak logs, but few had been finished before orders came to leave them.

While in Camp Vermont the 14^th Regiment exchanged the old French and Belgian muskets with which the government had armed them on leaving Vermont, for Austrian and Enfield rifles. On the 28^th of November, the 14^th Regiment was sent to the neighborhood of Union Mills, to picket the line of the Occoquan and Bull Run and guard the railroad. On December 5^th the 14^th Regiment returned to Camp Vermont at nightfall amidst a heavy snowstorm. Being without tents, they were glad to find shelter in the tents and quarters of the other regiments. The brigade remained at Camp Vermont for a week longer, doing picket duty in rain and snow and sometimes on frozen ground with the mercury 18 or 20 degrees below freezing.

On the 11^th of December, the brigade was ordered to replace a corps that had moved up to support Gen. Burnside in his ill-fated Fredericksburg Campaign. The brigade moved to Fairfax Court House, Virginia on the 12^th. The men started this march in excellent spirits (though many were sorry to leave the comfortable log huts which they had just completed) and marched twenty miles in ten hours. The roads were slippery as the frozen ground thawed under the sun, but even with heavy knapsacks there was little straggling. At four in the afternoon the regiment halted and they camped among the pine trees near Fairfax Court House where the full regiment remained for three months.²³

While still in the early morning of this march, a tree limb poked James Morgan in his right eye. Although he did not go to the hospital at this time, he attributed this injury to his later blindness of the same eye. At the time Morgan had been under the impression that the march was being driven by activities of rebel Cavalry Commander J.E.B. Stuart.²⁴

The brigade now had to picket a front of five or six miles, along Bull Run and Club Run Creeks, in the outer line of infantry pickets around the defenses of Washington. In front of the pickets Union cavalry were posted.

The station at Fairfax was a military village of sheds and store tents, and was the base of supplies for the thousands of troops at Centreville, Fairfax Court House, Union Mills, and other points in the vicinity. Heavy rainstorms proved too much for the roads in the area to handle, and in addition to picket duty, the regiment had to turn out and corduroy the roads, leading from Fairfax Station to Wolf Run Shoals, in order to make them passable for the loaded army wagons. What with this labor, the digging of rifle pits to guard the fords across the Occoquan, the stockading of their tents, and the leveling of some confederate fortifications on the south side of the river, the men did not languish much in idleness. They were so busy that drills were abandoned for a time.²⁵

It was in April and May of this spring that James Morgan claimed to have developed "rheumatism" in his right knee that in later life continued to his hip, back, and shoulders.²⁶

The picket duty of the 14^th Regiment was uneventful except for raids by a Confederate partisan (formerly of J.E.B. Stuart's command), named Mosbey, whose cavalrymen harassed the Union roads of the area.

On June 23, 1863, General Stannard was notified that his brigade had been attached to the First Corps of the Army of the Potomac; that he was to hold his line till all the rest of the army had passed on; and then he was to follow the column to the north towards Pennsylvania. On the 25^th the brigade was concentrated at Union Mills and, starting at 3:00 PM, marched eight miles and bivouacked nine miles beyond Centreville. The troops and long trains of artillery and wagons of the Sixth Corps passed the regiment and the regiment followed them, forming the rear guard of the army. They moved to Herndon Station, along the Alexandria and London Railroad, past Guilford Station, and that afternoon crossed the Potomac on the pontoon bridges at Edwards Ferry and marched nearly to Poolesville, MD. On June 28^th the brigade started at 8:00 AM, crossed the Monocacy at its mouth at noon, and marched hard to two miles beyond Adamstown, on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The marching was so hard that many soldiers discarded knapsacks and blankets on the way. Moving again, in a steady rain which lasted all day of the 29^th, the brigade halted for three hours at Frederick City. The march was telling on some of the men. Because the chief quartermaster did not think it worthwhile to issue new shoes to troops whose term of service was so soon to expire, most of the men had blistered and bleeding feet. Ninety disabled men were left at Fredrick City. Marching due north, the brigade bivouacked that night near Cregertown. Here a rumor that the rebels had sacked Harrisburg stirred the blood of the tired soldiers.

On June 30^th, after another hard day's march in the mud, the brigade reached Emmittsburg, two miles from the Pennsylvania line. It had marched 120 miles in six days, which was doing well for troops unused to marching. The next morning the Corp Commander, General Reynolds, was assigned to command the left wing of the army and he turned the command of the First Corps over to Major General Abner Doubleday (the same Abner Doubleday who later invented baseball!) The second Vermont brigade had been attached to Doubleday's Third Division and his vacated command was filled by Brig. General T.A. Rowdy. Everyone in the camp understood there would be a pitched battle the next day. The Armies of the Potomac and of Northern Virginia were about to engage in the bloodiest and most momentous battle since Waterloo. General Meade of the Union Army had 91,000 men and 327 guns, while the Confederate General Lee had 80,000 men and 268 guns. The numbers that actually took part in the fighting, however, were about equal.

When the first shot of the Battle of Gettysburg was fired at 9:00 AM of Wednesday, July 1, 1863, the Second Vermont Brigade, with James Morgan, was lying where it had bivouacked, a little outside the village of Emmittsburg. At eight o'clock the third division got its order to move towards Gettysburg. At nine o'clock half the division's regiments were ordered to guard baggage trains while the 14^th Division (James Morgan's) continued its march north.²⁷

On the evening of the 2^nd of July the remaining regiments of the brigade were moved to the front line, to fill the place of troops that had been shattered by the onslaught of the enemy. Upon arriving the 13^th Regiment made a "gallant" charge and retook a Union gun position that the Confederates had just then captured. The front line was reestablished and the brigade would hold it for twenty-six hours. At about two o'clock on the third of July, the Confederates again attacked. The Vermonters' position was subjected to an hour and a half of the severest cannonade of the whole battle from nearly one hundred guns. The enemy charged with a heavy column of infantry aimed directly towards General Stannard's command in the center of the brigade's line. Due to the goodly amount of fire from that position the enemy column changed its course to the right of General Stannard. Under Stannard's orders, other regiments quickly took advantage of the enemy's exposed flank and fired at close range until the majority of the column surrendered. Almost immediately another column advanced to Stannard's left, directly at the 14^th Regiment. The 14^th Regiment offered them devastating fire and an identical flank maneuver forced the enemy column to be taken prisoner en-mass by the Vermonters. The 16^th Regiment, who had performed both textbook executed flank maneuvers, took the regimental colors of the second Florida and eighth Virginia regiments, and the battle flag of another rebel regiment.

In General Stannard's words, "Officers and men behaved like veterans...the movements were executed in the open field under a heavy fire of shell, grape, and musketry, and they were performed with the promptness and precision of battalion drill. They ended the contest on the center and substantially closed the battle."

The total killed in the brigade was reported as thirty-nine, and wounded two hundred and forth-eight; of these James Morgan's regiment, the 14^th, lost the most with seventeen killed and sixty-eight wounded. The brigade was transported back to Vermont and its regiments were mustered out. James Morgan left the army on July 30^th, 1863.²⁸

Soon after returning home, James Morgan paid $65 in promissory notes to buy a 30 acre farm in Benson Township. After waiting for the previous occupant to leave, James moved to the farm in 1864. On April 9, 1866, at the beautiful marble church of St. Bridget's in West Rutland, James Morgan married fellow Benson resident Catherine Pinders.²⁹

Catherine Pinders was the first child of Edmund Pinders and Mary Doran. She was born late in 1843 in the townland of Lower Macroney, Macroney Parish, Co. Cork on the Waterford-Cork border. She was baptized in the Roman Catholic Church of St. Martin in Kilworth Parish and her godparents were Michael Doran and Norry Buons. She was joined by a brother, Thomas, in 1845, a sister Mary in 1848, and another brother Edmund in 1851. By 1855 the family, with a new member, Hanna, who was also born in Ireland, had sailed to Vermont and were living in West Castleton. The next year Catherine's last sibling, another girl named Mary, was born.³⁰

During her years in Vermont, Catherine attended the school in West Castleton but, probably due to her late start in schooling and her sporadic attendance, never recognized herself as fully literate (as evidenced by census). In 1859, at the age of 14, a West Castleton school attendance book shows that she attended 14 days of school between May 9^th and August 27^th and she was tardy on half of these days. This can be compared to her younger siblings' attendance of 74.5 days during this same time period. In the 1860 census, Catherine was not enumerated with her family and was probably "farmed out" as a household servant. It seems she returned to her family when her father, who had been working in the slate quarries, bought a farm in Benson Township in March of 1862. Although she might have known James Morgan as schoolmates, their relationship developed into a marriage when they became Benson residents together.³¹

At their wedding, Catherine's brother, Thomas, served as James' best man and an old West Castleton friend, Ann Minogue, was Catherine's bridesmaid.³²

The newlyweds wasted no time in building a family and Fredrick Thomas Morgan was born in January of 1867. (The child's first name might have derived from the son of James' previous employer, Mr. Bailess, but the child would soon be called Thomas F. Morgan). The child's godparents were Catherine's brother, Tom, and sister Hannah.³³

In August of that same year James and Catherine refinanced their 30 acre farm and paid off the old promissory notes. They now, however, took an even larger mortgage, probably to finance improvements or another land purchase. Soon afterwards, the couple cosigned the mortgage on a fifty acre farm that was situated in all three of the towns of Benson, Hubbardton, and Castleton. (As far as I can tell the house and buildings of this dairy farm were on Moscow Road, a road heading directly north from West Castleton to Hubbardton. The house was just on the Castleton side of the town boundaries and the foundations of house and buildings can still be seen at a point on Moscow road where the Castleton snowplow turns around.)³⁴

The neighbors in this part of West Castleton were Ulstermen, like James Morgan, but they came from County Armagh's neighbor, the County Down. Collectively they were jokingly referred to as "the Far Downers" by the other West Castleton Irishmen.³⁵ Although it was the law that anyone serving in the Union Army received U.S. citizenship, James applied for citizenship in 1868 anyway. The couple's second child, Mary was also born that year. The census of 1870 found James and Catherine with their two children, but later in that same year another son, John Edward, was born. The family grew steadily with James C. being born in February 1873, Anna in May 1874, Francis in 1876, and Catherine in 1877.³⁶

1878 was a tragic year for the Morgans as diphtheria took three of the Morgan children ill. The doctor ordered that parents were not to give the children liquids even though they were crying out for drink. After his daughter, Mary, and son, Francis, died in agony, James decided to let his other daughter die with the comfort of water to drink. Facing a fever and dehydration, the water saved the child.³⁷

Despite this setback the family continued to grow with the birth of Mary Agnes in April 1880. Two months later, when the census taker came, the family was still all together except their daughter Anna, who was living with her grandparents and uncle in Benson.

There is a record, recorded in Benson in 1882, of James Morgan borrowing a large sum of money from his brother-in-law, Edward, and guaranteeing it with his land. This was probably to finance another farm expansion because in 1881 James Morgan purchased 250 acres, located in the towns of Hubbardton, Castleton, and Benson bringing his total acreage to over 300 acres. In 1882 a daughter, Elizabeth, was born. It was also in that year that Catherine's father died. Catherine's brother, Edward, assumed ownership of the Pinders farm and took care of her mother.³⁸

In 1883 it is obvious that the Morgans were having difficulty paying off their mortgage and they got a second mortgage from Horace Ellis, who was a neighbor and a man who seems to have been on friendly terms with James Morgan. In the agreement James took on the added burden of fire insurance on his buildings. Later Mr. Ellis would die and his heir, a New Yorker, would not have those "friendly ties" with James.³⁹

Between 1882-1889 it is believed that Catherine had two children; one that died shortly after birth, and one named Ellen, born 17 April 1886. During the same period James Morgan became increasingly unable to perform routine tasks because of rheumatism, blindness in one eye, and hemorrhoids. In 1889 he applied for a disability pension from the army, claiming that his problems all had their origin in the service during the war. It was concluded by the government that he was partially disabled.⁴⁰

Also around this time James began to sell and lease tracts of his land, possibly hoping the rents would help him pay his mortgages.⁴¹ In 1890 came another child (and mouth to feed), Margaret. The family's financial problems worsened. To add to the bad news Catherine's mother died in 1891. Towards the end of 1893, a court hearing, that Morgan did not attend, foreclosed on all of the family's property. In November 1894 they were forced to leave their home. They still had at least four of their daughters living with them. After the loss of the farm, James again applied for a disability pension and was awarded an $8 monthly pension. In June 1898 James entered the Vermont State Soldiers Home in Bennington Village.⁴² Catherine Pinders took over management of a boarding house for quarry workers in West Castleton and the 1900 census found her and four daughters living with a large number of boarders.

In July of 1902 James Morgan left the Soldiers Home and came to live with his daughter, Mary Agnes (Morgan) Hayes on Creek Road, Hydeville. James Morgan died of a cerebral hemorrhage at that location nine months later on April 20, 1903.

James Morgan left his family no estate and Catherine was entirely without means other than her manual labor and help from her children.⁴³ Because her daughter Margaret was still a minor she was able to receive a widow's pension from the government in 1903. At this time she was living with Margaret at 29 Grape Street in Fair Haven. By 1910, Margaret had moved out and Catherine's daughter Anna had moved in with her family. Margaret died in 1916. Anna's husband died in 1919 leaving the two women to raise Anna's children. Catherine Pinders Morgan died on October 6, 1926. James, Catherine, and Margaret are buried next to Catherine's parents' grave under stones marked "Father," "Mother," and "Margaret" on the northwest side of St. Mary's Cemetery in Fair Haven, Vermont.

There is nobody now alive who knew James Morgan to testify to his looks, his ways of daily living, or his personality. We do have two separate army records that attest that he was 5 feet 8 inches tall with dark complexion, eyes, and hair. We know, from a West Castleton Hazzard Slate Co. store ledger, that at one time in 1883, he purchased kale, a barrel of flour, and two "shorts".

Of James Morgan's personality we have only the following to relate. His obituary, in the "Fair Haven Era", states that he was an industrious man and well thought of by his friends. While that does not say much, it is clear from his double and triple mortgaging of property to expand his farm, he was at least an ambitions man.

There is a story attributed to James Morgan by a West Castleton historian, Peter Patten, that Margaret Vaughn, James' granddaughter, stated was very similar to stories that she heard from her father about her grandfather.

The story relates to the group of farmers who used to meet periodically on the steps of the Hazzard Slate Company Store. They would sit and gab for hours, but as night was coming, one of their members, James Morgan, would try to break up the group. The other men would tarry, to egg him on, because they knew he was afraid of the dark road home (because the "fairies" or "Little People" were supposed to be active at night) and he was also afraid to leave the assembled group in fear that they would talk about him behind his back.

Family lore (gossip if you will) says that, as he aged, James Morgan became slightly mentally unbalanced.⁴⁴ Considering Morgan's disabling physical illnesses, his foolhardy farm expansion, his need for the Soldiers Home care, and the above story, it is probably fair to say he was at least a local character.

In 1992, when this paper was first published, there were still people around who remembered Catherine Pinders and there are even two photographs of her with some of her grandchildren in existence. All sources agreed that she was very lady-like and Mary T. Hayes remembered her as always pristine in her full length, black dress with a high Victorian neckline, a spotless white linen apron, and a white hand-made shawl. Mary T. said that in her later years she seems to have made a decision to become "a lady of leisure" and her daughter, Anna, waited on her hand and foot. Margaret Vaughn remembered that she spent many hours teaching her grandchildren, whom she always had time to see, to read aloud while she sat in her rocking chair and knitted. The knitting supplied all of her grandchildren with a yearly supply of socks and mittens.⁴⁵ Mary T. remembered two of the many old sayings she loved to use were; "There are plenty who are married that don't keep a good fire." and "When you talk untruths about someone, it's like opening a pillowcase" (you can never get all of the feathers back in). Mary T. went on to say that her grandmother encouraged learning in her family (despite her own poor school attendance!) and that she gave Mary an example of independence and a perspective that happiness in the life you live is what is important.

(The following information was brought to me while investigating my direct lineage and the research involved was by no means exhaustive.)

Thomas Fredrick Morgan was born in Benson in January 1867. He was baptized at St. Mary's in Fair Haven and his godparents were Tom and Hanna Pinders. He lived with his family until at least 1880.⁴⁶ Thomas married Mary A. Sloan (a local Vermont/Irish girl) in 1892. The couple moved to Bangor, PA where Thomas worked in the slate industry there. In 1900, Thomas was working as a foreman in a slate mill in Bangor, PA, but according to his father's obituary, he was again living in Castleton in 1903.

No grouping of Thomas' complete family was found in the 1910 census, but we do find him in the Bronx, NY...and it appears he remarried. The Bronx census describes Thomas Morgan as a 43 year old marble worker from Vermont with Irish born parents, with a wife named Pauline (born in PA), and three daughters; Mary 11 yrs, Sena 10 yrs, and Marrina 6 yrs. None of the daughters were Pauline's. Two of Thomas' children were living in Fair Haven, VT in 1910. As it was clear in the 1900 census that that Mary Sloan had born only 4 children, we must assume that "Mary" is Leona. Thomas Frederick Morgan died in Manhattan, NY on January 9, 1919. His death certificate identifies his parents by name and states that he was a marble cutter and was buried in the Bronx.

Thomas' and Mary's children were:

1. Henry Patrick "Harry" Morgan was born on June 24, 1892 in Bangor, PA. He married Mary Gerzmokinsky in Bronx, NY on February 22, 1914. They had three children: Helen "Dorothy" Morgan (1915-1939), Florence Anna Morgan Maier (1917-1999), and Henry Thomas "Hank" Morgan (1919-1982). Florence had a daughter, Linda, and Henry had three children: Henry ("Brad"), Mark, and Maureen. Jobs that Harry performed over the years were: freight checker, chauffer, foreman, and building superintendent. At the time of his brother's death in 1959 he was living in Bronx, NY. Henry P. Morgan died on February 18, 1973 in Philadelphia, PA.
2. Thomas "Earl" "Pete" Morgan was born September 23, 1893 in Bangor, PA. He married Helen Russett but they did not have children. In 1910, the census taker found Earl living with his aunt Mary Morgan Hayes in Fair Haven, VT. Earl served in the Army in World War I and then lived in Hartford, CT for 40 years. At the time of his death on January 29, 1959, he had worked for the States Company for 35 years and was an "assembler."
3. Helen Morgan (Stern) was born in February 25, 1897 in Bangor, PA. She was with her family in the 1900 census but was living in Fair Haven, VT with her aunt Mary Morgan Hayes in 1910. Mary T. Hayes, her cousin, believed that Helen left school in Fair Haven in 9^th grade to marry a man named Freedman in New York. From her brother's obituary, we know that she was married to William Stern and lived in Long Island in 1959. It is believed that she died on Long Island on the 13^th of February of 1994. They had two children.
4. Leona M. "Mary" Morgan (Fitzgerald) was born in Bangor, PA on July 31, 1899. At the time of her brother's death in 1959, she was married to Frank Fitzgerald and lived in New York City. They had five children and the oldest child was Frank Jr.
5. Margaret "Honey" Morgan (Johnson) was born after 1899. She was married to Albert Johnson and lived in New Jersey in 1959. They had three children.
6. Sena (b. 1900) or Marrina (b. 1904). It is not clear which of Thomas' daughters lived to be known as Mrs. Margaret Johnson. Kathrine Pinders' obituary in 1926 implied that only five of Thomas' children were alive at that time.⁴⁶

Mary Morgan was born on the Moscow Road Farm in 1868. She was baptized that year and her godparents were Edward Pinders and Johanna Finnegan. She lived on Moscow Road all her life and died of diphtheria on June 26, 1878.⁴⁷

John Edward "Ed" Morgan was born on the Moscow Road Farm on December 16, 1870. His godparents were Edward and Mary Pinders. He was baptized in the West Castleton mission church of St. Joseph's on the 30^th of June, 1903. His wife, Mary Larken, was born in Rutland in 1876. She would later work as a cook at Castleton College. John worked in quarries and as a carpenter.⁴⁸ When John's father died in 1903 his obituary reported that John was living in "the West". Later John lived in Fair Haven and had quite a reputation as a tightwad, an exponent of conservative politics, and a very intelligent man. He had a very good friend in Mary Lawlor Hayes. He would visit with her almost daily after having his regular argument about the New Deal with his nephew Harold. His thrift caught up with him when coal gas, caused by poor ventilation due to his fear of costly heat loss, overcame him one day. This weakened his heart considerably. While at Mary Lawlor Hayes' bedside, after she had given birth, he felt weak and asked Harold to take him home. When they got to his house he died in Harold's arms. The couple had no children. J.E. Morgan died in 1937 and his wife died in 1939. They are buried at St. Mary's Cemetery.⁴⁹

James C. Morgan was born at West Castleton on February 14, 1873. His godparents were John Burns and Kate Connell. He never married and for many years he had a garden patch in the countryside and he would sell his vegetables from a wagon in Fair Haven. His nephew Paul Hayes, who used to work for him for $.75 a day, said that he was a nice man and never worried about money if a person was too poor to pay. He was also a professional photographer. One story goes that during WWI James was going door-to-door promoting his photography, when one of his potential customers scolded him for being a slacker when there was a war on. James was a big fan of the "legitimate theater" and in particular the Barrymore family. James died of T.B. in his sister Kate's care at Orwell on December 31, 1933 and left his estate to his siblings.⁵⁰

Anna (Morgan) Nolan was born at the farm on May 23, 1874. In 1880 she was living with her grandparents in Benson. Anna Morgan married Patrick Nolan (1871-1919) on October 12, 1904 and they had two children:⁵¹

1. Francis Nolan, born in 1907, became a house painter who worked for his aunt's husband, Harry Sullivan, and was a very well liked man in town. He never married and lived with his mother all his life. He died of asthma in 1951.⁵²
2. Charles Morgan Nolan was born on January 10, 1910. He married Lexina LaRoque, of Rutland, and the couple had three children: Patrick (b. 1937), Richard (b. 1945), and Judy (b. 1948). While in Vermont, Charles was a baker by trade and worked a baker's hours (night). The family moved to California in 1957 and he was employed as a maintenance man. Charles died in 1989 in California.⁵³

By 1910, Anna and Patrick, who was a stationary engineer at a slate quarry, had moved, with their family, into her mother's house on Grape Street and Anna took care of her mother. Anna's husband died of diabetes in 1919. When her mother died in 1926, she supported herself by sewing shirts at home for a shirt factory in Fair Haven. She would sometimes use shirt scraps to sew her godchild, Mary T. Hayes, a dress. Her son Francis helped her out with the bills. Anna was a member of the Catholic Daughters and liked to play bridge and babysit the grandchildren. She was a good person and always strong in a family crisis. In 1957, she went to California to live with her son. She died on August 26, 1961 and is buried (next to her son) in Queen of the Angeles Cemetery in Covina, California.⁵⁴

Francis Morgan was born in 1876 and his godparents were Barney Ridy and Mary Fitzgerald. He died of diphtheria at the age of two on June 26, 1878.

Catherine (Morgan) Ryan was born on November 7, 1877. Her godparents were Patrick and Mary Burns. In 1900 she was living with her mother in West Castleton. At one time she waited tables at the Allen House in Fair Haven. She married Robert Ryan, a mail carrier, in 1920, but had no children. She and her husband lived in Orwell, VT and had a summer cottage on a Benson lake. Robert Ryan was a wonderful kind-hearted man but his wife was not so well liked. It seems she had a real "thing" about cleaning and would become very upset over the smallest mess. She would treat her guests like royalty but they had better be neat. After her husband retired she started to drink a bit. When her husband died in 1948, she had to sell her property and move in with her nephew Charles Morgan Nolan. She stopped drinking as much and became more socially appropriate. She died on August 1, 1961 and is buried at St. Paul's Catholic Cemetery in Orwell.⁵⁵

Mary Agnes (Morgan) Hayes was born in April of 1880. She married Thomas Hayes in 1898 and they had 10 children. She died in 1958. For further information on Mary Agnes Hayes and her descendants please refer to her chapter later in this volume.

Elizabeth E. (Morgan) Sullivan was born on the Moscow Farm on April 18, 1882. She was living with her mother in 1900. She married Harry Sullivan, a well respected, charming, and much-loved man in Fair Haven, on June 28, 1911. Harry had a remarkably long career as a house painter. They had three children:

1. Mary (Sullivan) Bird (b. April 27, 1912) married Joe Bird and they had one daughter, Mary Anne "Nancy" Bird. Joe owned and operated a filling station. He died in 1990. Mary died on April 1, 1994 and is buried in Fair Haven.
2. George Sullivan (b. 1913) worked for his father in the painting business. He never married and died on November 6, 1971.
3. Margaret (Sullivan) Vaughan (b. March 5, 1917) married Rodney Vaughan and they had four children together; William (b. 1941), John (b. 1944), Tom (b. 1946), and Mary Kaye (b. 1949). Rodney worked as a machinist in Springfield, Vermont until he had to leave due to health reasons. Margaret died on July 24, 2001 and is buried in Fair Haven.

Elizabeth kept a lovely rock garden and was considered quite a proper lady. She died in 1952. Harry Sullivan died in 1986 at the age of 98. Both are buried at St. Mary's Cemetery in Fair Haven.⁵⁶

Ellen Morgan was born on April 24, 1886. She was said to have run away from home in her teens and went to New York City to live. She remained estranged from the family, but was very fondly remembered by her sister, Mary. When James Morgan applied for a disability pension in 1898 she was not listed as one of his surviving children.⁵⁷

Margaret C. Morgan was born on the Moscow Road farm on May 15, 1890. She was raised ostensibly by her mother and had moved out of her mother's house by 1910. She was reportedly a sickly child but was smart, able, and a nice girl. She could embroider, sew, and even make lace. She became an excellent teacher who had infinite patience and made all learning fun. She was engaged to be married when she died at the age of 26 in 1916. She is buried with her parents in St. Mary's Cemetery.⁵⁸

1. A: Castleton: Scenes of Yesterday and Today and B: W.P.A. Census Population Summary.
2. Comments from local historian Peter Patten and genealogist, Mary Yungfleish.
3. W.P.A. Record Survey of Benson
4. Beers Maps (circa 1869-1873), and common community knowledge
5. Mary T. Hayes.
6. A: Irish Family Names by Brian de Breffny. B: In 2002, Allen Pinders, a great grand son of Edmund Pinders, donated his DNA for a study the author was conducting. We have since been contacted by an Australian man named Maurie Prendergast who has a very close (25 out of 25 markers) genetic match to Allen. Maurie claims we are also closely matched (23 out of 25 markers) with a man claiming to be a direct descendent of Maurice de Prendergast. I have not examined the evidence for this claim. Maurie’s family came from Clonmel, Co. Tipperary which is close to Kilworth, Co. Cork.
7. Birth date derived from census, death record, and tombstone inscription. The establishment of Irish origin followed this path: A complete search of Vermont and U.S. records, for place of origin, turned up a naturalization record for Edmund Pinders of Castleton in a Rutland Court. The record states that Edmund was from Co. Cork, Ireland. A search of a comprehensive land valuation for all Irish land holders (Griffith's Valuation 1853) showed that there were only four parishes with Pinders families in Co. Cork, and only two of those parishes had Dorans in them. A letter to Kilworth church found correct age and names of Pinders children in baptismal book. (Edmund's birth predates the earliest register) A rare scrap of the burned 1851 Census of Ireland survived for this parish and shows a positive family grouping compared to Vermont Censuses.
8. A: As no marriage record existed in Kilworth, it was assumed that the bride's parish (traditional host to weddings) was a neighboring parish. B: The first four children's christenings were found in Kilworth's books. The last child was listed as born in Ireland in the 1860 U.S. census (Vermont). C: 1853 land valuation shows the three families on one lease from the Earl of Kingston. D: 1860 census reports a seven year old born in Ireland and land valuation sets emigration after 1853, but naturalization record, which requires six year residency would place emigration at 1852. As it was not unheard of for witnesses to lie at naturalization hearings (if a political party was trying to register voters) I will assume the naturalization document is in error.
9. A: 1860 U.S. census B: 1900 U.S. census C: Benson birth records D: Benson land records
10. Benson land records
11. Benson town meeting and special taxation record of 1870.
12. 1870 U.S. census and Benson land records
13. A: 1880 U.S. census B: Benson death record C: Benson land record D: Benson death record
14. A: 1860 U.S. census B: St. Mary's marriage register C: 1870 U.S. census, Castleton birth records D: Benson birth records E: 1880 U.S. census F: gravestone
15. 1900 U.S. census and gravestone
16. A: 1860 U.S. census B: Marriage date 1900 U.S. census C: Benson birth records D: Benson land records
17. A: Benson land records B: Interview with Allen Pinders
18. 1860 U.S. census & 1870 U.S. census
19. 1860 U.S. census, 1870 U.S. census, & 1880 U.S. census, & Catherine Pinders Morgan's 1926 obituary
20. A: County of birth derived only from naturalization record from Rutland Court. B: Information from, Irish Records, Topographical Dictionary of Ireland, Irish Families, and Griffith's Valuation.
21. A: The conclusion that James Morgan came to America alone is supported by statistics that show most Famine Immigrants were young, single, and traveled on ships without other family members. However, the conclusion was reached for the following reasons: A) there are no references to Morgan relatives in any civil document. B) Census returns show no other Morgans from Ireland in towns adjacent to Hubbardton. C) There were no Morgan relatives who sponsored James' children at baptisms. Without the names of siblings or parents, any Irish baptismal record candidate would be impossible to confirm. On top of this, the total recorded "year of birth" possibilities for James Morgan spans a seven year period and, with over 100 families named Morgan in Armagh during that period, it would be futile to try an Irish record search based on birth year. Nonetheless!... A search was commissioned from Armagh Ancestry to search the surviving parish records that existed around the time of James’ birth. Three possibilities were found, and each set of "candidate parents" had one name that was shared with the name of one of James’ children. (Irish tradition was to name children after parents). The author also reviewed all Morgans found in the Tithe Applotments (1820-30s) and the Griffiths Valuation (1864) (both "census substitutes") for Co. Armagh. Through an evaluation process that took into account: 1) the number of Morgan families in a parish in the census substitutes, 2) the number of Morgans with first names in common with James’ children in the census substitutes, 3) the completeness of parish records, and 4) the findings of the parish records, the author came up with a best guess for James Morgan’s home parish. If we can pretend, for a moment, that all of this is actually meaningful, the author’s best guesses are the Civil Parishes of: Armagh (city), Derrynoose, Forkill, and Jonesborough. B: An affidavit by West Castleton resident, James Fox, on behalf of Catherine Pinders' widow pension application, states that "(James Morgan and the affiant)" were schoolmates". C: 1860 U.S. census of Hubbardton.
22. James Morgan's "Muster in Role" for infantry
23. Liberally adapted and plagiarized from the books The History of Rutland County (H.P. Smith & W.S. Rann, 1886) and Vermont in the Civil War (G.G. Benedict, 1886-1888)
24. From 1889 pension application and 1890 Special Census of Union Veterans
25. See 23
26. See 24
27. Mary T. Hayes' mother told her that her own father (James Morgan) was at Gettysburg.
28. See 22 and 23
29. A: Benson Land record from Town Clerk's Office. B: Marriage record from St. Bridget's of West Rutland.
30. See 7 and 9
31. Marriage record at St. Bridget's identifies "Catherine Pinders of Benson"
32. See 29B
33. Benson birth register and Our Lady of the Seven Dolors (St. Mary of Fair Haven) baptismal book
34. A: James Morgan’s obituary said he died at his daughter’s house but the death record (with informant Thomas Hayes) says he died at the Solders home. B: See 29A
35. Interview with West Castleton historian, Peter Patten, in 1989.
36. A: Rutland Naturalization Records B: St. Mary's baptismal records C: Castleton vital records at Town Clerk's Office.
37. Mrs. Paul (Billy) Hayes supported by Castleton death records. As conveyed to her by Mary Agnes Hayes.
38. Castleton land records and vital statistics book.
39. Ellis had accompanied James Morgan to witness other transactions James had made.
40. 1900 U.S. census implies two births between 1882 and 1900 and one birth, Ellen's, is found in Castleton register.
41. This is implied in foreclosure papers as there were co-defendants listed as occupying James' land when James was taken to court.
42. 1900 U.S. census (Vermont), James Morgan's death record, and records at the Soldiers Home all confirm this.
43. Catherine's widow's pension application.
44. Mary Hayes Christensen, Harry Sullivan as reported by Mary T. Hayes and Margaret Vaughn, and Mr. Larmey, a mean-spirited neighbor of Mary T. Hayes.
45. Paul Hayes, Mary T. Hayes, Ned Hayes, Margaret Vaughn.
46. Thomas F: Morgan: Mormon IGI and James Morgan’s 1889 pension application for birth date, St. Mary’s parish register, and 1880 U.S. census. 1900 U.S. census (Bangor, PA). Marriage year derived from 1900 U.S. census response, Sloan last name from Earl Morgan’s death certificate. Because of the odd 1910 U.S. census (Bronx, NY) (a new wife and three unknown daughters), two separately compiled data bases for the 1870, 1880, 1900, 1910, & 1920 U.S. censuses were checked for a "Thomas Morgan born VT 1867" and there is no indication that there were two people who fit this description. Henry P Morgan: 1900 U.S. census, marriage record (NY) & death record (PA) both have birth date. Marriage record (NY). Helen’s death certificate and recent family knowledge from Maureen Morgan Larson for birth and death dates of Henry’s children. Jobs: H.T. Morgan’s birth record, 1920 census, marriage record, & 1930 census (respectively). Location in 1959 & death: "Earl" Morgan and Harry Morgan’s obituaries. Thomas Earl Morgan: obituary, Mary T. Hayes, & death certificate (CT). Helen Morgan: 1910 U.S. census (VT), exact birth and death date from Social Security Death Index., Earl's obituary, & Mary T. Hayes. Leona Morgan: 1900 U.S. census and Earl’s cbituary. Exact birth date from North Hampton Orphan’s Court birth record. Birth record states her middle initial is "M." which would explain her being listed as Mary in the 1910 U.S. census. Margaret Morgan: Earl’s obituary. "Honey" from Mary T Hayes. Margaret’s first name from Florence Morgan Maier. General: The names and numbers of the sister’s children came from their niece, Florence Morgan Maier, and were passed to Maureen Morgan Larson’s family.
47. Castleton vital statistics.
48. A: Castleton records & Mormon IGI B: St. Joseph's register C: Billy Hayes D: Ned and Paul Hayes and 1900 U.S. census.
49. Compilation Mary Christensen, Mary T. Hayes, and Ned Hayes.
50. A: Birth date from James Morgan's Fair Haven records
51. Mary Christensen
52. Lexina Nolan and Mary Christensen
53. Fair Haven death certificate (for husband) and compilation of interviews from Lexina Nolan, Mary Christensen, Mary T. Hayes, and Billy Hayes. On-line California Death Database at www.ancestry.com for Anna's birth and death date.
54. A: Birth date from James Morgan's 1889 pension application. Compilation of interviews with Mary Christensen, Bernadette Hayes Yoder, and Mary T. Hayes. B: Orwell and Fair Haven records.
55. Compilation of interviews with Margaret Vaughn, Mary T. Hayes, Mary Bird, Mary Christensen, and Billy Hayes.
56. Castleton record. Billy Hayes as conveyed to her by Mary Agnes Morgan.
57. Father's pension application. Fair Haven Era and Mary T. Hayes (whom she taught in grade school)

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Rutland County resources OFF SITE

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The Morgan and Pinders graves Fair Haven

James Morgan's Naturalization Document

From James Morgan's Army Record

Edmund Pinders' Naturalization Document

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The name Hayes is one of several Anglicized versions of the common Irish surname O'hAodha. There were about a dozen O'hAodha septs with there homelands spread all over Ireland. Around the time of Martin Hayes' immigration to America, there were 430 Hayes' households in his home county of Tipperary.

Tipperary is an inland County with an area of just over 1 million acres, 80 percent of which is arable agricultural land. The Hayes name is the eighth most common surname in the county. Tipperary was relatively badly affected by the Great Famine of 1845-47. The population reached a peak of 436,000 in 1841. In the years 1845-47, the population declined rapidly. Almost 70,000 people died in the famine and about 190,000 people are estimated to have emigrated from Tipperary between 1841 and 1891.

The O'Connells were less numerous than the Hayes, with only 8 families in Tipperary. More common were "Connells" and these two names were often interchangeable by the record keepers of the day and the families themselves.

In mid 1800s Castleton, Vermont, we find that no less than five large Hayes families came from Tipperary roots. Several other individuals with the name Hayes lived in Castleton but were from Cork, Clare, or of unknown origin. At least one of the Tipperary Hayes families, the Cornelius Hayes Family, came from the Arra Mountain parish of Youghalarra. That parish’s main townland produced slate and shipped the milled product down the Shannon River. There is a strong verbal tradition in the Con. Hayes family, and our own, that they were not related to Martin Hayes. There is, however, reason to believe that Martin Hayes shared their Arra Mountain origins and that he did not come to America without familial connections.

It is known that Welsh quarriers were recruited to work in West Castleton and it looks, from the numbers of Arra Mountaineers that came to that town, a similar arrangement with the slate workers in Ireland might have existed. It is said that even the terrain of these two locations is similar. The fact that Martin Hayes chose the "backwater" town of Castleton to emigrate too, and that he took to this type of work (rather than farming), might imply that he knew where he was going before he left and that he knew he could do the work. It is also noteworthy that the only other name sharing Martin Hayes' headstone in Our Lady of Seven Dolors (St. Mary's) Cemetery is that of "Mike Hayes of Co. Clare." It is common sense to assume that people that share a gravestone are probably related. In the Irish society, as well as most societies before the transportation revolution, close relatives were usually not more than a few miles away from a central point of origin. The fact that one relative was from Clare, and the other from Tipperary would suggest that both lived somewhere near the boarder between these two counties and, in fact, the Arra Mountains of Tipperary lie across the River Shannon from Co. Clare.

Besides Mike Hayes, Martin had close relationships with other Hayes in Vermont. A "Jane Hayes" sponsored Martin's child, Jane, at her baptism in 1858. Other baptisms were sponsored by Catherine Hayes, Julia Hayes, and two were sponsored by Mike Hayes. Whether there were three separate Mike Hayes or just the one is not known.

There were several O'Connells living in the Castleton (Rutland County) area but there are fewer known ties to Tipperary. It is clear, however, that Martin and Bridget Hayes knew one of them, Catherine Connell, well enough to make her a godparent of their child and knew another, James Connell, well enough to be chosen as godparents to his daughter.

A search was made of Arra Mountain region Catholic parish registers for birth records of Bridget and Martin. No records were found for a Bridget Connell, and the only Martin Hayes found was more or less ruled out because his father's name, Daniel, was not in common with any of (our) Martin Hayes' known or suspected relatives. Yet this is still inconclusive because most of the parish registers in the Arra Mountains post date the years that Martin and Bridget were born.

Martin Hayes and Bridget O'Connell came from Co. Tipperary, Ireland to Castleton, Vermont sometime in the mid 1850s. Martin was born sometime between 1824 and 1840 and Bridget was born between 1827 and 1836. Bridget's father was James O'Connell. It is not known if the couple was married in Ireland or North America. Both Martin and Bridget probably had some family members in Vermont.

Martin found employment as a laborer in the slate quarries and mills of West Castleton. In 1856 Martin served as godparent to Holleman and Rachel Yause's son, George. Martin and Bridget's first child, Jane, was born on April 30, 1858 and she was baptized in the Church of St. Bridget's in West Rutland. In 1860 Martin, Bridget, Jane, and another daughter, Margaret (b. 1859, d. before 1870), were living in one of the slate company’s "shared dwellings." 1860 was also the year that Martin became a naturalized citizen of the United States.

The couple continued to have more children with James being born in 1861, Michael in 1862, Mary in 1864, Bridget in 1865 (she died with jaundice in 1868), and Johanna "Julia" in 1869. When the census taker visited the family in 1870, they were together in a single dwelling home in West Castleton. In 1865 the couple had been made godparents to James and Catherine (Sullivan) Connell's daughter Margaret.

Bridget had two more children in the 1870s; a second Bridget, born 1873, who only lived for a few months, and third Bridget, born in 1875, who died in 1877. A few months after the third Bridget's death, Bridget's oldest child, Jane, had a baby, Thomas Martin (Pendors) Hayes. Bridget cared for Jane's child and later adopted him as her youngest. In 1880, the family, except for Jane who had moved to Saratoga, NY, was still together. Martin was still working full time, year round, and now his sons James and Mike were working for the slate company and bringing in income.

Although functional as a worker up to 1880, Martin Hayes is recorded to have had difficulties in 1881. The selectmen of Castleton had petitioned the court in Fair Haven to have Martin committed to the insane asylum in Brattleboro, VT. No reason was recorded for this request but the possibilities are many: a late psychotic break that soon dissipated, a Manic or Depressive cycle, and back in the 1800s even chronic alcoholism or general unpopularity could lead to a commitment. The record shows that the petition was not granted because of "lack of prosecution". The Judge at Fair Haven says this could mean that the prosecutor hadn't prepared his case, hadn't shown up, or a deal might have been made with Martin's family around his behavior or care. (Perhaps, like in modern times, the threat of a commitment was often sufficient to modify the offending behavior)

Martin's son, James, took on more responsibility in the family from that point on. In 1882, James and Bridget purchased a house, and a plot of land, in Cookville for a hundred dollars. In 1893, Bridget purchased an adjacent piece of land from Ann Sheehan. The property had a small house, on a hill, a back yard, and an apple tree with a bench under it. It also had an acre of garden patch. Using slate from the small quarry that was on the land, James installed a slate walkway from the road. It is not known if Martin Hayes recovered from his illness or if he continued to live with his family. The Brattleboro Asylum claims that few early records exist and it had no record of Martin Hayes staying there. The Town of Brattleboro has no death record of Martin Hayes which means he did not die at the asylum. There is no death record for Martin Hayes in Fair Haven either, but his tombstone there states that he died on Sept. 10, 1893.

In 1900, Bridget was living in her mortgage free home with her three sons and a granddaughter, Jannie, who was presumably her daughter, Julia Keating's, child. By 1910 it was only her and her sons, James and Mike, in the Cookville house. In her last years Bridget showed signs of senility and her daughter, Julia, came from Connecticut to take care of the household. Bridget died on July 4, 1917 and was buried in Fair Haven, presumably with her husband as there is no tombstone with her name.

There is no one alive who knew Martin Hayes or remembers much about Bridget Hayes. We know they lived a hard life in the slate town of West Castleton and the census tells us they were neither fully literate (Martin could read) or wealthy. An old Hazard Company Store Ledger, in the possession of Peter Patton in Fair Haven, tells us that the Hayes had an account there. The items that they purchased there were sugar, coffee, tea, flour, pork, crackers, salt, smoking tobacco, a broom, cloth, a needle, "C. Lacte" and "1 Church". Makes you wonder where they put that church, doesn't it?

The Bridget Hayes Estate laid as "family" property for years, with different family members and renters living in the little house with its roadside garage. In the 1960's, after a period of disuse, a group of "hippies" moved in. At the request of a family member the hippies were evicted, but the house was burned down, presumably as revenge, shortly after. Ned Hayes and his siblings continued to pay taxes on the land until 1990 when, after 73 years, the land finally went to probate to determine title. Paul, Mary T., and Ned Hayes were awarded title and the land was sold soon afterwards. At this writing it still lies undeveloped behind a car turn off and next to an abandoned road on the west side of the road between St. Matthew of Avalon Mission Church and Bomoseen State Park. The slate cellar hole and old quarry can still be seen after entering the woods that have grown up on the property.

(Research on the Hayes children was not my prime objective and is, therefore, not extensive. All baptismal information was extracted from St. Mary's Church.)

Jane (Byrne) Hayes was born in West Castleton. For more information on her, read the chapter below.

Margaret Hayes was born in 1859 in West Castleton. She was baptized on August 10 of that year and her godparents were Mike Hayes and Catherine Hayes. Margaret was recorded in the 1860 census but is assumed to have died before 1870.

James Hayes was born in 1861 and baptized that same year. His godparents were Patrick Malone and Catherine Williams. He attended school in West Castleton, but was working in the quarries by 1880. He took the role as family head after his father's illness, and his nephew (adopted brother), T. M. Hayes, considered him a father figure. He was a somber, responsible man of substance, who rarely showed emotion. Mary T. Hayes remembers he presented her with a necklace when she was a child. When Julia Keating moved back home to help with the household, he also became the primary male figure in her children's life. After his mother’s death, he continued to live in Cookville until throat cancer caused him to need care. He moved to Saratoga, NY where his sister Jane's daughter, Elizabeth Byrne, cared for him until his death on Oct. 24, 1937. He is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery, with his sister Jane, in Saratoga. James never married.

Michael Hayes was born in 1862 and was baptized on Dec. 28 of that year. His godparents were Mike Hayes and Julia Hayes. By 1880 Mike was working in the West Castleton slate mill as a sawer. Mike was well known as a portly, happy-go-lucky jokester and his "mucking about" earned him the nickname "Muckler Hayes". Mary T. recalls that he would become roaring drunk once a year and sleep it off at Catherine Pinders Morgan's house in Fair Haven. His nephew, Paul, remembers that he would always have trinkets for the children on his infrequent visits to his "brother" Tom's house. Mike worked for different slate companies all of his life and lived, a bachelor, with his mother and brother in Cookville. While ice fishing at Avalon Beach, on April 11, 1920, Mike fell through the ice and drowned in eight feet of water.

Mary "Mame" (Lawrence) Hayes was born in 1864 and was baptized that same year. Her godmother was Mayanta Clifford. She was still living with her parents and going to school in 1870, but was not with her family in 1880. She married John Lawrence, a man from a wealthy family, and they moved to New Haven Connecticut. They had three children:

1. Frances Lawrence taught arts and crafts at the University of Vermont and would visit Fair Haven in the summers. She married Sammuel Bennet late in life and had no children. She left New Haven and lived in Palo Alto, California for many years. She is presumed to have died in the late 1980s.
2. Thomas and...
3. ...John Lawrence both served in the military during WWI. Thomas died and John developed T.B. while in the service. John died in the Cookville house while there to convalesce.

Bridget Hayes (1) was born in 1865 and was baptized on Nov. 26 of that year. Her godmother was Catherine Connell. Her death certificate reports that she died of jaundice in 1868.

John "Jack" Hayes was born in 1867 and was baptized on June 16 of that year. His godparents were John Hogan and Ann White. He was still living in West Castleton in 1880 and was an unmarried, sawer in a slate mill there in 1900. He married and had at least one child, Margaret. Mary T. Hayes remembers only that her uncle Jack had a disease that caused his body to bloat and that he lived near Boston (possibly Watertown or Dorchester). Mary T. last heard from Jack's family when she was in her teens. According to his brother Mike's obituary, Jack died prior to 1920.

Johanna "Julia" (Keating) Hayes was born on July 17, 1869. She was baptized that same year and her godparents were Cabech Dellahanty and Julia Quyler. She was raised in Cookville, but moved to New Haven, Connecticut.

She married John Keating and they had four children: John Jr., who died June 29, 1977; Edward, who sired a son, David; Jane, who took nursing as a profession; and William, a friendly and talkative man whose death in 1989 ended his generation. William did the lion's share of raising his nephew, David, but had not heard from David for four years prior to 1989. (David, whose whereabouts are unknown, was the only Keating of his generation.)

Julia's husband, John, left her in the early 1900s and Julia came to Cookville, with her children, to live and care for her mother. After her mother’s death, she moved back to New Haven, but continued to visit the Castleton area in the summer. Julia was a dominant Irish mother whom, in Mary T.'s opinion, would have made a good politician in a more modern era. She certainly ruled the roost in her own home. She was a ball of fun to be with and loved dancing. She had one career after another, including a canteen job at Yale University. She died at an old age in New Haven.

Bridget Hayes (2) was born in Oct. 1873 and died two months later on Dec. 12 1873.

Bridget Hayes (3) was born in 1875 and died in 1877.

Because genealogy is the study of genetic relations, I have included this chapter on the biological parents of Thomas Martin Hayes. Neither of these two people had much, if anything, to do with the raising and social or cognitive development of T. M. Hayes and, therefore, the research on these two has not been as extensive as for other ancestors.

Jane Hayes was born in Castleton on April 30, 1858 to Martin Hayes and Bridget O'Connell. She was baptized on May 15 at the West Rutland church of St. Bridget's and her godparents were John Walsh and Jane Hayes. She appears in the 1860 census, with her parents and baby sister, in a shared dwelling in West Castleton. By 1870 she was going to school and living with her increasing number of siblings. The next record we have of her is for the birth of her first child, Thomas Martin Hayes on Oct. 24, 1877. Thomas Pendors, a laborer born in Vermont, had fathered the child. The circumstances around Jane and Thomas' relationship are unknown, but they were neighbors of the same age who almost certainly knew each other at school.

Thomas Pendors was the fifth child of Michael Pendors and Johanna "Julia" Hickey. In about 1850, Michael entered Vermont from Co. Clare Ireland with at least two, and possibly as many as four, siblings. Mike (b. approx. 1825) and Johanna (b. approx. 1830) had six children in Vermont between 1852 and 1860: John, in 1852; Bridget, in 1853; Michael, in 1854; Henry, in 1856; Thomas, in 1858; and Margaret, on Oct. 9, 1859. We know that Henry was born in Brandon, Vermont, but we know nothing else about the families’ movements that brought them to Rutland by 1859.

In 1860 Mike was living in Rutland with his wife, children, and his younger brother, Henry. The other brother (that we are sure about), Thomas, was living with his new bride down the street. All three men were working as quarry hands.

By 1870 the whole family had move to Castleton, with Mike in West Castleton and Henry and Thomas living in Hydeville. All three had large families. Mike and Johanna had two more children by then: Johanna, born in 1861, and James, born in 1866. After 1877, and despite a good search, Mike and Johanna disappeared from records until Mike's death on March 26, 1900. His obituary, and later his wife's death record, list his name as Thomas, but it is clear, from his own death record and the familial relations in his obituary, that it was Mike. Johanna Hickey Pendors, who was living apart from her husband when he died, moved into her daughter's house in 1901. She died there on July 3, 1911.

Mike's brother, Henry, went on to have a family with eight children and was living in Rutland in 1880. He died while living in Proctor in 1899. Mike's other brother, Thomas, married twice, sired 14 children between two wives, and his family moved to Cohoes, NY, near Albany.

We know little of the fate of Mike Pendors' children, and nothing of the movements or fate of his son Tom. We do know that Mike's oldest, John, died of T.B. in 1876. It is his gravestone, in Fair Haven, that gave me the spelling that I am using for this family's surname. Although his name is alone on the headstone, it is assumed that the grave sight is also the resting-place of his parents. Mike's son, Henry, married in 1878, but we know nothing else about him. Finally, we know that Mike's daughter, Bridget, married Patrick H. Downs in 1875. The couple had 8 children and lived the rest of their lives in Castleton. She cared for her father, at least on his deathbed, and later took in her mother for the last ten years of her life. Bridget died in 1912, a year after her mother.

Getting back to Jane Hayes, we know that she left her son with her mother, and went to live in Saratoga Springs, New York. In 1880 she was living, as a domestic servant, at the home of a jeweler named Robinson C. Brown. She returned to Cookville in 1881 to marry Maurice Byrne, who was, reportedly, also from Castleton.

Moving back to Saratoga Springs, the couple had six children:

William E. 5/22/1882 - 5/8/1912
Martin E. "Matt" 11/2/1884 - 11/19/1947
twins 9/12/1885 - 9/12/1885
Mary 3/12/1887 - before 1900
Elizabeth 5/28/1892 - 5/30/1979

In 1900 Jane, her husband, and their three surviving children were still living in Saratoga. Her oldest, William, was a clerk, while her two youngest were still in school. Her husbands occupation was listed as "Athlete" and as Saratoga's claim to fame is horse racing, it can be conjectured that he was some how involved with that sport.

When the census was taken in 1910 Jane's husband was away, and her son, "Matt" Byrne, had moved out of the house. Jane's husband died in 1911 and her son William died a year later.

Jane lived with her daughter, Liz, and they ran a gambling parlor and boarding house during racing season. Jane would sometimes visit Fair Haven in a chauffeured limousine, provided by her son Matt. Matt had become wealthy by running a "Speak Easy", The Chicago Club, with his partner, the famous gangster, Lucky Luciano. Jane died on Oct. 29, 1927 and Matt died in 1947. Liz, who worked in a local factory, continued a life as a devout Catholic in Saratoga until her death in 1979. The family is buried at St. Peter's Cemetery in Saratoga Springs. The children that Jane Hayes had with Maurice Byrne had no children of their own.

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