May 19 – Mr. Grant in Castleton

April 27, 1859 – Sarah Smith Horr (Castleton, Vt.) to her daughter Angelette Blakely (Pawlet)

Your Aunt Sarah[1] was here two weeks ago last Sabbath in company of Lucius[2] and a Miss Hotchkiss[3] from Hampton.  They came to attend Mr. Grants meeting.  They are quite in favor of the man.  I have heard him at three different times.  He seems truly humble and devoted in his appearance.  I think he seems very sincere, if he be in error. There are many opposers to the man.

 

March 10, 1862 – (“A Fast Day”) [envelope postmarked Apr 17]  Sarah Smith Horr (Castleton, Vt.) to her daughter Angelette Blakely (Pawlet)

Your Aunt Sarah Horr has been here and stayed a week with us.  Mr. Grant has been in Castleton again.  Her object was to attend his meetings.

               Who was this Mr. Grant?  He traveled to Castleton to make speeches, and people came from out of town to hear him.  By 1859, Sarah Smith Horr had already heard his speeches 3 times.  People are opinionated about his views.  Is he a traveling preacher?  An abolitionist agitator?  Is he a politician running for office?

              The most likely candidate I’ve found is Rev. Miles Grant, also called Elder Miles Grant, an Adventist who was famous for his passionate public debates against more mainstream theologians.

Miles Grant was 40 years old in 1859, as he was gaining such a great reputation as an orator and a loyal following.  The Smith-Horr families of Poultney and Castleton leaned toward Congregationalism, but seem to have felt friendly enough toward Methodists as well.  In other letters, we can see that Sarah Smith Horr looks down on “so-called Freewill Baptists,” but is willing to listen to a variety of ideas.

I'll explore those ideas in my next historical blogpost.

description of Miles Grant:  Life and labors of Miles Grant: with new-year glimpses from his daily journal through fifty years 1859-1908, by Fred LeRoy Piper.  Advent Christian Publication Society, 1915 - Clergy - 250 pages

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[1] Sarah Horr, age 51, single, Hiram Horr’s sister

[2] Lucius Hawes, age 21, from Poultney, Hiram Horr’s nephew through his sister Eliza Hawes

[3] Betsy Ann Hotchkiss from Hampton, NY, which is just west of Castleton and Fairhaven, Vt.  About a year later, Betsy Ann married Charles Boomer of Poultney, Vt., so they might have met during this trip, or they may have been courting already.