A granddaughter of Alena Dorothy Blodgett sent an inquiry to the Waterford Historical Society last week via its Facebook page. So here are some notes on the Blodgett family, starting with material from Hamilton Child's 1887 Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt.:
Ephraim Blodgett, born in New Hampshire, in 1815, came here at the age of twenty-one years, and married Louisa Kidder. His four sons and two daughters were as follows: Ephraim A., Nelson V. who died in the army, Volney B. and Austin E., both of this town, Louisa M. (Mrs. J. M. Gannett), and Almira F. (Mrs. Fred Blodgett), of this town. Ephraim A. married Martha, daughter of Philip and Sarah (Winslow) Thomas, in 1872, and has two sons, Royal E. and Harley E. Mr. Blodgett is a farmer, and resides on road 40.
Today the Blodgett Farm Road connects Suitor Road to Duck Pond Road. There is a mention of the Blodgett barn here, indicating that it was built by a member of the town's noted barn design family, Frank C. Bullock.
Note the mention of Ephraim's son Volney B. [Brown] Blodgett. Here is a basic sequence of some family members:
Ephraim Blodgett (b. 1815)
Volney Brown Blodgett, Adell Maria Blodgett
Elbert Herman Blodgett (15 Sept 1853-27 May 1957), Bessie Adams Blodgett
Alena Dorothy Blodgett, grandmother of the person asking for information.
The Adams family (see Bessie, above) is also significant in Waterford history, and the sequence leading to Bessie is:
James and Submit Adams (perhaps Waterford's earliest settlers)
Charles Adams 1773-1845, Rebecca Morgan 1778-1858
Jonathan Adams 1811-1894, Roxana Ladd 1814-1881 [Roxana was the daughter of Moses Ladd 1791-1879 and Hannah Carr 1795-1890; Moses was the son of Thing Ladd 1762-1846 and Elizabeth Jimson 1764-1812]
Jonathan Adams 1840-1919 (bur. Grove Cem.), Elizabeth A. Babcock 1841-1916
Bessie Adams Blodgett (bur. at Passumpsic Cemetery in Waterford)
Going back to the original paragraph from Child's Gazetteer, let's follow Ephraim's son Ephraim A. (Alonzo):
Ephraim Alonzo Blodgett 1845-1912, Martha J. Thomas 1848-1923
Carl Henry Blodgett 1886-1947, mar. 1 Ada Mar Potter 1884-1914, mar. 2 Ona Ardelle Goss 1887-1947
Warren Blodgett 1924-2016, Virginia Larrabee
Some current residents of Waterford will have known Warren Blodgett. Here is his obituary, provided by NEK Genealogy:
Now, backtracking to the farm: In 1980 Allan Hodgdon included in the Vermont Historic Site and Structures Survey, at number 0316-19, what he called the Blodgett-Farrand Farm. He wrote, "The former Blodgett farm, also known as Valley Farm, was settled around 1815 by Ephraim Blodgett. The farm includes an early Cape Cod style house, a small barn, and a large Dutch type barn. In 1887 the Blodgett farm included 200 sugar trees, 7 cows, 20 sheep, 8 head of young stock, and 150 acres of land. The farm was inherited by Volney B. Blodgett, son of Ephraim and Louisa Kidder Blodgett." He listed the farm name in 1980 as the Carlton Farrand Farm. Here is Mr. Hodgdon's sketch of the farm location; "State Highway #3" is today's Duck Pond Road.
