200-Year-Old Feud Is Laid to Rest
Descendants of Original Parties
Bury Hatchet at Picnic in Reading
[The following article appeared in the Woodstock, Vt., Newspaper on July 2, 1996.]
By Jerry Weil
Staff Report
More than two centuries of squabbling between the Hapgoods and the Baileys was finally laid to rest at the Spite Cemetery in Reading Tuesday night.
Sixth generation descendants of the two families, Greg Hapgood and S. David Bailey, along with about 100 local residents celebrated the end of the feud with an outdoor feat at Bailey’s Mills Bed and Breakfast.
The Spite Cemetery is located in the front yard of the bed and breakfast.
The feud started in 1790 when Levi Bailey came to Reading from Andover, Massachusetts, built a dam and a mill which was the beginning of an entrepreneurial empire. The mill, powered by the dam, offered local residents a slew of services including the sawing of wood, the grinding of grist, and the spinning of wool.
Bailey’s business thrived and he expanded into other areas, opening a store, a tavern, even a dance hall. To further extend his enterprises, Bailey sought to buy a choice bit of pasture land owned by David Hapgood who used it for grazing his sheep.
Hapgood would not sell. Bailey made offer after offer, each time increasing the price, but Hapgood would not budge. The reason for Hapgood’s stubbornness is not clear. He may have envied the younger man’s success. He may have had no use for flatlanders. No one knows. But he would not sell to Bailey.
Finally, Bailey told Hapgood, “I’ll have that land. You can’t live forever.”
Whereupon, for spite, Hapgood donated the land to the town of Reading, specifying that it be used for a cemetery. It seems his idea was that Bailey, whose house faced the land, would have to look at Hapgood’s tombstone every day of the rest of his life as a reminder that he couldn’t have that piece of land.
Ironically, David Hapgood and Levi Bailey are both buried in the Spite Cemetery, their tombstones only 10 yards from one another.
When Greg Hapgood of Marion, Iowa, recently contacted Barbara Thaeder, owner of Bailey’s Mills B&B, to tell her that he would be coming to Vermont this summer, combining a vacation with a genealogical quest, she decided to end the feud with a party.
She knew that S. David Bailey, whose grandfather’s grandfather was Levi Bailey, had a summer home in Quechee. It was a simple step to bring the two descendants together and put an end to two centuries of strife.
Hapgood is not as directly descended as Bailey. His grandfather’s grandfather was Asa Hapgood, the brother of David Hapgood.
Close enough, Thaeder decided.
The party featured horse-drawn wagon rides provided by Paul Kendall of Kedron Valley Stables. Hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks and ham were grilled over coals. And several tables were laden with dishes, salads and deserts brought by the guests. There was also wine and beer to help raise spirits and cheer.
When S. David Bailey and Greg Hapgood strolled amicably through the cemetery, their ancestors may have turned in their graves. But now they are officially at rest.
See also two essays by David Bailey:
"The Story of Bailey's Mills" and
"The Story of the Spite Cemetery"