Capt. Oliver Doolittle, grandson of Rev. Mr. Doolittle, the first settled Congregational minister in Northfield. Mass., was one of the early and prominent settlers of Hinsdale. He located on the Connecticut river, about three miles south from the village of Hinsdale, and became an extensive real estate owner. He married Sibyl Field, of Northfield. Mass., and had six children, viz.: Otis, Oliver. Sibyl, Susan, Seth, and Charles. Otis, a farmer, after moving twice, finally located upon the old homestead. He married Sophia Shattuck, and was blessed with a family of eighteen children, fifteen of whom attained a mature age. He also was an extensive real estate owner, and was owner, among other farms, of the noted Samuel Smith farm, in Winchester, containing 600 acres. He identified himself with the military of the town, and held the office of captain of infantry, but being identified with the party which was in the minority, he held no political positions. He died on the homestead, at the advanced age of eighty. four years. His widow survived him about eleven years, dying at the age of eighty-seven. Of their numerous family, only five are living, and but one, Jackson, in the town, who owns and occupies the southern portion of the old homestead. Oliver married Arathusia Whitney, of Warwick, Mass, and settled first in Lyndon, Vt., but subsequently returned to Hinsdale, and settled upon the farm where Dwight W. Stearns now lives. They were the parents of five children, none of whom are living in the town. Sibyl married Charles Foot, and moved out of the state. Susan married Obed Slate, a prominent citizen and farmer whose biography is given elsewhere- They reared ten children. Seth married Eunice Wright, of Winchester, settled on the Gordon place, in that town, and spent his life there, rearing eleven children. Their son Londus, an aged man, resides in Hinsdale village. Charles died in early manhood, unmarried.
