Rev. Jeremy Packer, was born in Groton. Conn., July 2, 1762, and at a very early date his father removed to Guilford, Vt., where Jeremy was reared. He had no early advantages for obtaining an education, except those afforded by the common schools and academies, but he eventually became a clergyman of the Baptist church, and was ordained pastor of the church in Guilford, September 11, 1800, where he officiated till 1818. He then accepted a call from the Baptist church in the northern part of Hinsdale, where he was installed and continued its pastor twelve years, when his health failed and he was obliged to give up his charge. He purchased a small farm near his church, and remained in this home until his death, April 28, 1843. He married twice, and was the father of ten children. Most of his seven children by the first marriage went west. November 14, 1804. he married, for his second wife, Lydia Jewett, of Putney, Vt., who became the mother of three children, two of whom are living-Mrs. Lydia J. Wellman and Mrs. Zilpha H. Wellman-and reside in Hinsdale village.
