Polly Knowlton and Elliot Coolidge
(Exerpt from Knowlton Landing: A history of people and place by Michelle Nicole Knowlton Perry)
Polly Knowlton was among the first generation of children born in Stukely, Lower Canada (Quebec). Born March 10, 1802, Polly was the only child of Levi Knowlton (born Dec. 4, 1768, in Templeton, Massachusetts; son of Captain Ezekiel Knowlton and Ann Miles) and Mary ‘Polly’ Morse (born Dec. 26, 1778; daughter of Jacob Morse and Sarah Mary Hawes). Luke Knowlton Jr. (son of Judge Luke Knowlton) officiated the marriage of Levi and Mary ‘Polly’ Morse in Newfane, Vermont, on January 22, 1801. Earlier that month, Levi had placed an order for supplies with Samuel Willard, presumably for Levi’s move to Stukely. The ‘STUKELY-SUD Un survol de son passé’ by Jean-Paul Barrette and Jo-Ann Savage places the arrival in Stukely of brothers Levi, Lyman, Ezekiel, and Asaph in 1801. Their cousin Silas Knowlton and his brother-in-law Samuel Willard had settled in Stukely in 1796.
On October 1, 1802, Levi purchased lots 15 first range and 13 eighth range in Stukely from Samuel Willard (brother-in-law of Silas Knowlton). Levi made an additional purchase of lot 13 second range in Stukely from Jonathan Denning in Jan. 31, 1803. Shortly thereafter, Mary Morse died on March 28, 1803. Although the Morse family history states that she died in Newfane, no legible gravestone or death record has been found. The deed of sale of lot 13 in the second range to brother Lyman Knowlton contains access rights for Levi and his heirs to the graves of his family members, presumably son Ephraim who died in 1814 and possibly other children and/or his first wife Mary Morse. A preliminary search of the land in 2019 failed to find any trace of this early cemetery.
It is unclear whether Levi trusted the care of his infant daughter to one of his unmarried sisters Anna (married Captain John Brill of Bolton in 1832) and Lucy (married Amasa Elmer in 1806 before removing to Stukely), or his sister-in-law, Relief Whitcomb, who had several young children of her own. Alternatively, Polly may have been sent back to Newfane to live with relations. Levi did not remarry until Feb. 11, 1809, when he wed Philena Stone (Mrs. Buttersfield, first married to Ralph Buttersfield who died in 1800 leaving her with one or two small children who presumably died young) in Franklin, Vermont.
It is likely that Polly met her future husband, Elliot Coolidge (born Dec. 8, 1794, in Marlborough, New Hampshire; son of Hezekiah Coolidge and Esther Cleveland) in Stukely. Hezekiah Coolidge passed away when Elliot was only nine years old after falling from his wagon and sustaining a fatal head injury after the wagon wheel passed over his head. Esther remarried to Jonathan Frost, Jr., and her daughter Harriet married Asa Frost (Harriet’s step-brother). Asa’s uncles, Joseph and Jeremiah Frost, settled in Frost Village, Shefford, Quebec.
Elliot Coolidge first married Nancy Gates Jan 22, 1818, in Marlborough, New Hampshire. It is unclear when Elliot arrived in Lower Canada and whether Nancy accompanied him and when or where she died. Prior to the marriage, Elliot Coolidge (noted as being of Marlborough N.H.) had purchased lot 25 in the third range in Shefford township from his step uncle Joseph Frost. When Elliot purchased more land in Shefford, this time 43 acres located in lot 26 in the fourth range Shefford Township from Jeremiah Frost, Elliot’s residence was listed as Shefford township. Elliot began selling his Shefford township land. His residence in an 1824 discharge record is listed as Stukely.
Following Elliot Coolidge and Polly Knowlton’s marriage on June 1, 1826, the couple relocated to Bolton township having purchased lot 28 in the tenth range from Polly’s father, Levi Knowlton. It is located on the western shore of Lake Memphremagog in present day Sargent’s Bay. This 150 acre lot had originally been granted to Peter Weare as an associate of Nicholas Austin. Peter had deeded the lot to his son Jonathan in 1798 later relocating to Hatley on the other side of Lake Memphremagog. Jonathan sold the lot to Abraham Channel in 1810 with Jonathan still maintaining the lands right across the township line in Potton that would later become Knowlton Maplehurst Farm (lot 28 and 27 in the tenth range Potton). Channel is believed to have exchanged lot 28 in the tenth range Bolton with Richard Holland for the Camperdown property in Georgeville. Richard Holland is reported to have maintained an inn on the Bolton lot before returning the property to Channel prior to moving to present day South Bolton.
On July 4, 1818, Abraham Channel sold lot 28 in the tenth range Bolton Township (also known as Channel Place) to John Dimond of Brome. John Dimond was married to Susan Stone, the sister of Levi Knowlton’s second wife Philena Stone. On a subsequent deed in 1821 for property in Brome, John Dimond of Bolton is noted as an inn holder. However, John Dimond’s stay in Bolton was short. By 1825, he sold Channel Place (then called Dimond Place) back to Abraham Channel and purchased land in Stanstead township. Abraham Channel then sold the lake side property to Levi Knowlton three months later and it was subsequently sold to Elliot Coolidge (noted as farmer of Bolton) in 1826.
John Dimond drowned in Lake Memphremagog during a winter crossing in 1831. He left behind a wife and eight children. The youngest of these children, Eliza Dimond, was adopted by Polly Knowlton and Elliot Coolidge. She later married Orrin Rexford and their son Elson Irving Rexford, became an educator of note. John Dimond, Jr., like his father drowned during a lake crossing in 1860 and is buried in the Knowlton Landing cemetery in the coffin originally built for James Baker Hoyt, an associate of Miles Knowlton in the Mountain House building who was presumed drowned but who had in fact escaped from debts by moving to Minnesota.
Polly and Elliot Coolidge were active in the Bolton school at the corner of present day Mountain Road and Coolidge Road (now Austin township). Polly taught at the school and Elliot served as chairman of the District 4 School Board from 1832 to 1834. The school was later named the Coolidge school. Elliot also served as a Captain in the Township militia and justice of the peace. He contributed the use of oxen when the road leading from the ferry in Bolton through Brome was improved. Elliot is noted to have won a prize at the Stanstead Agricultural Society cattle show of 1845 held at Langmaid’s Flat (Hatley).
While Polly and Elliot had no biological children, they adopted Eliza Dimond and Betsey Melvina Burnham, daughter of Samuel Burnham and Margaret Davis after Samuel’s death in 1850. Samuel Burnham was a business associate of Levi Knowlton and neighbor. He is buried in the cemetery at Knowlton Landing. Betsey later married Charles Bullock, son of Increase Bullock of Georgeville. In 1872, Polly Knowlton “being in declining health” bequeathed to Eliza Dimond all of lot 28 in the tenth range along with “all cattle, sheep, hay, grains, farming utensils, household furnitures”, the western half of lot 25 in the ninth range, and the western quarter of lot 26 in the ninth range all in the Bolton township. In addition, she gave Betsey Burnham $250 and Coolidge Elliot Burnham (son of Samuel Burnham and Margaret Davis) $100 while providing for Polly her living arrangements for the remainder of her years including a yearly stipend of $15, travel expenses to Boston to visit her friends, and a “good, steady horse harnessed a waggon or sleigh with suitable buffalo robes”.
Elliot Coolidge died Aug. 5, 1859., and Polly Knowlton died Sept. 3, 1886. Both are buried in the Knowlton Landing cemetery although their gravestones have fallen and Polly’s name is no longer visible. The Coolidge road passed their former property still bears their name.
Polly Knowlton was granted the western quarter of lot 26 in the ninth range Bolton Township containing 50 acres by letters of patent on Jan. 23, 1869 (Sessional Papers, Volume 21, Issue 2 Pg 327).
The Coolidge school was built in 1830. An 1831 deed of sale from Moses George, Jr., of the Bay district of Bolton, for use as an elementary school. Some teachers include possibly Polly Knowlton, Samuel Burnham (1836), Eliza Dimond (1848; Sherbrooke daily record, 1897-1969, 23 février 1935, samedi 23 février 1935), possibly Emily Davis (listed as a teacher on the 1881 census), Belle Davis (1888-1889), Leena Greene (1914-1916), Miss M Hall of Farnham (1919-1920), Miss Marion Collins of Farnham (1921-1922), Miss Rose Joanette of Brigham (1922-1923), Miss Muriel Marshall of Henderson Vale (1924-1925), Miss Smith of Vale Perkins (1925-1926), Miss Knowlton of Knowlton (1932-1934), Miss Alice Norwood of Montreal (1935-1936), Miss Iris Armstrong of Brome (1940-1941), Elsie (Davidson) Knowlton (1942-1952).
The Coolidge homestead in Bolton was known for a while as Coolidge place. Later it was the site of the Orchard Farm House, run as a boarding house by Mr. Ducharme in 1924/6. The property was also known as Maple Leaf Lodge and later Woodacres. It was sold to Mr. Dale Perry (1929) then Monty Edison (1952) and Mr. Vendor who likewise operated it as a hotel. The original building first burned to the ground Oct. 1964. Mr. Vendor rebuilt a three story hotel in its place. It was bought by Mr. Ray Perry in 1974. He sold Woodacres to Mr. John Gilda who sold it to three people. One of the owners, Mr. Bourassa, operated the hotel until it burned to the ground New Year’s Eve 1982 killing a ten year old girl. The property was later purchased by a group of people who formed the St. Benoit Yatch Club.
