USA > New Hampshire > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 1
USA > Vermont > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 1
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Gc 974.3 H32c 1714736
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01188 0702
The Connecticut River Valley In Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
2
By LYMAN S. HAYES
The History of Rockingham
Bellows Falls Illustrated
Navigation of The Connecticut River
History of Cumberland County, Ver- mont Old Rockingham Meeting House
The Connecticut River Valley in Southern C
Vermont and New Hampshire
HISTORICAL SKETCHES
By LYMAN S. HAYES
RUTLAND, VERMONT THE TUTTLE COMPANY MARBLE CITY PRESS
Copyright 1929 by LYMAN S. HAYES BELLOWS FALLS, VERMONT
Printed in U. S. A.
3
1714736 Contents
CONTENTS
The Canals of the Connecticut River-Six Built and Others Were Projected for Navigation Purposes 9 Incidents Connected with the Bellows Falls Canal -- and Boating Days 19
John Atkinson of London who Built the Canal- Descendants Still in Bellows Falls 24 Boat Clubs-Motor Boating-Boats over the Falls -Captain Paul Boyton 27
Flat-Boating on the Connecticut River-Capt. Charles Davenport's Experiences
31
Noted World Traveler, John Ledyard, in Bellows Falls in 1772 34
Canals of the Connecticut River at Hartland and Wilder 37
Experiences of a Connecticut River Rafting Gang with Eighteen Rafts in 1854. 41
How Colonel Enoch Hale Lost the Toll Bridge be- cause of his Son's "Petting" 44
The First Telegraphic Train Order in the United States 46
First Telegraph Office in Bellows Falls in 1851- The Bain System 48
Dams Built by Beavers in this Vicinity 51
Indian Faces on the Rocks 53
A Bird's Footprint in Rock at the Falls 57
English Scouting Parties in the Connecticut Valley Were Paid for Indian Scalps 58
The Last Abenaqui Chief at Bellows Falls 61
Earliest Settlements in Rockingham and Surround- ing Towns 65
The Earliest Events of Importance to Bellows Falls and Vicinity 68
4
Contents
Court House and Jail at Chester for Cumberland County 72
Westminster, One of Vermont's Most Historic
Towns-The Massacre There 75 First Printing Press and First Newspaper in Ver- mont Was at Westminster 78
Ethan Allen's Marriage at Westminster 81
Windham County Rebellion-Ethan Allen Issues His Noted Proclamation 85
Military Matters of Bellows Falls and Rockingham -A Company in. 1770 90
Interesting Militia Records of Chesterfield, N. H ... 95 Rockingham Companies Which Took Part in Battles of the Revolution 99
Celebrating the Centennial of the Battle of Benning- ton-President Hayes in Bellows Falls 103
Vermont and New Hampshire Near to Civil War ... 106
Old Crown Point Military Road, 1759-1760 110
The First Post Roads and First Post Riders through Bellows Falls 111
First Post Offices Established in Rockingham and Bellows Falls in 1801 114
Stages over the "Forest Line"-Dean Butterfield
a Popular Driver-Time Tables 117
"Turn-Pikes" Used in Vermont between the Eras of "Post-Roads" and "Highways." 120
Early Stage Drivers between Rutland and Boston- Otis Bardwell and Dan Arms 123
First Railroads Built into Bellows Falls-and in Vermont 125
Racing Railroad Trains on the Old Vermont Valley and Cheshire Roads 132
Rutland Railroad Sold for $22 in 1855-Early Con- ductors and Stage Drivers-"Flying Switches"
a Dangerous Practice of Early Railroading .... 134
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Contents
The First Toll Bridge at Bellows Falls-Nathaniel Tucker Owned it Later 137
Bridges across the Connecticut River at Bellows Falls 143
The Bridge between Westminster and Walpole .... 144
The Toll Bridge between Windsor and Cornish- Data Regarding Cattle and Other Stock Pass- ing It 151
Dates of Building the Cornish-Windsor and West River Bridges in 1796 153
First Bridge across Saxtons River-Lotteries for Bridge Building Popular 156
First Connecticut River Bridges at Brattleboro,
Charlestown,
White
River
Junction
and
Hanover
158
Navigation of the Connecticut River 161
James Mulligan's Steamer once Traveled the Streets of Bellows Falls 167
Bellows Falls a Noted Fishing Ground-"Fishing Rights" 170
The Christening of Mount Kilburn in 1857 176
The "Poverty Year" or "Cold Year" of 1816 A Walpole, N. H., incident 179
Warm Winter of 1827 Recounted by William Hale, Son of Col. Enoch Hale 180
Spotted Fever Epidemic in New England in 1812- Serious in Rockingham 182
A Man who Had 386 Direct Descendants Living
when He Died-Josiah White
184
A Marble Monument for a Dog in the Westminster Cemetery 186
The David R. Campbell Legacy Fund and Its Donor -Other Benefactions 189
Capt. Green and Col. Fleming Played Whist for Choice of Residences 193
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Contents
Daniel Webster Spoke in Bellows Falls the Day after the Stratton Convention 196
Daniel Webster at Stratton in 1840 Slept at Luther Torrey's House 199
Early Schools in Rockingham 202
Leland & Gray Seminary at Townshend 206
"St. Agnes Hall," A Former Popular Young Ladies' Boarding School 209
Immanuel (Episcopal) Church, the First in the Village of Bellows Falls-Dates of Other Church Buildings 212
St. Charles (Catholic) Church-First Mass in 1848 215 The "Island House," a Popular Summer Hotel 1850-1885 219
Morgan's Tavern-Oldest Building in Bellows Falls -Morgan Family 222
"Turkey-Shoots," a Popular Diversion of a Century ago-Hotels Benefited 225
Baptisms in the Bellows Falls Canal
227
Barn Raisings with and without Rum-A Notable incident in Athens 228
Incidents of the Raising of the Old Rockingham
Meeting House-Gen. John Fuller, Builder .. 229 Langdon, N. H .- Accident at Church Raising- Tradition of Large Elm Tree. 233
Three Bellows Falls Residents Became Generals in the Civil War 236
Incidents of Bellows Falls and Vicinity during the War of the Rebellion 242
A Local Civil War Incident-"Hurrah for Mother with the Raspberry Pie" 246
Fourth of July Pranks in Early Times near Bellows Falls 248
Laughable Transposition of Signs-A Goat at Im- manuel Church Services 251
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Contents
Captain Charles Church-Used Liquors Freely-In- cident of a Rafting Crew 253
LaFayette's Visit to Vermont in 1825-Social Cus- toms of Early Days 256
Charlestown Bank Robbery Results in a Most Pecu- liar Manner in 1850 259
Four Bank Robberies Attempted at Bellows Falls .. 262
The Town Pound-Early Town Officers and Their Duties 265
Unique Cattle and Sheep Marks-Lotteries for Building Bridges and Churches 268
A Curious Custom of "Warning out of Town" All New-comers 271
Key to the Old Rockingham Meeting House Sold at Auction-Town Paupers Sold to the Highest Bidders 274
A Curious Census Error Reported Seventeen Slaves Held in Vermont in 1790 276
Azariah Wright of Westminster-He was not Ex- communicated 279
Thomas Green Fessenden-First Editor of First Bellows Falls Newspaper 282
Apprenticing Poor Boys-Document by Thomas Green Fessenden 285
Rockingham in the War of 1812 287
The First Paper Mill in Vermont Built in Bellows Falls in 1802 by Bill Blake 290
Bill Blake-First Paper Maker-First Printer First Newspaper Publisher 293
Paper Making in Alstead, N. H., in 1793-Earliest in this Section of New England 297
"Old Cady Parks"-Curious Blasting Accidents. . 300
William A. Russell Was an Important Factor in the Business of Bellows Falls 302
8
Contents
Bellows Falls Once Bred Silk Worms and Produced Real Silk 306
The Village of Rockingham and Its Early Industries 309 Two Mineral Water Booms in Bellows Falls 312 Linseed Oil Manufactured in Bellows Falls a Cen- tury Ago 315
Potash Manufacture was an Early Leading Industry in Bellows Falls 317
Distilleries near Bellows Falls Were Plenty in Early Times 319
Albert M. Allbe once "Knocked out" Sir Hiram Maxim, the Inventor 322
Telephones First Used in Bellows Falls in 1881 324 Stories of Bellows Falls Between 1841 and 1898 by George Slate 326
Masonry in Bellows Falls during the "Anti-Masonic Craze" of 1826-1855 332
Old Village Wells and Aqueducts of Bellows Falls .. 335
Origin of Names of Places, Including "Coward- Ice" and Horse-Heaven" 338
Phineas Gage Lived Nineteen Years after a Tamping Bar Was Blown through His Brain 340
Jabez Hills-The Most Eccentric Character in the History of Bellows Falls 341
Two Noted Educators Born in Rockingham-Pea- body and Sabin 345
A Noted Poetess once Lived at Bartonsville-Nancy Amelia Wakefield 349
Deacon Thomas Putnam of Charlestown Has an Un- pleasant Experience in Church 353
The Stories of Bartonsville and La Grange 356
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
THE CANALS OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER SIX BUILT, AND OTHERS WERE PROJECTED, FOR NAVIGATION PURPOSES
The Connecticut is the longest river in New Eng- land, and has been more generally navigated, and to a longer distance from tidewater, than any other river in the same territory. Its length from the source among the Connecticut Lakes in northern New Hampshire to the mouth, Saybrook Point on Long Island Sound, is 335 miles, measured by the railroad lines along its banks. The river's winding course makes its entire length a somewhat greater distance. The fall in the water from the Connecticut Lakes to the Sound is 1,589 feet.
The canals of the river, built between 1791 and 1828 at six different points to overcome by means of locks the various falls and rapids along its course, represented an outlay of large amounts of capital for those days, and were an important factor in the navigation problem, especially in transportation by flat boats and steamers, as well as the large rafts of lumber loaded with mer- chandise of various kinds for the city markets.
It has been generally understood that the Middle- sex Canal between Boston and Lowell, Mass., was the first canal built for navigation purposes in the United States, which is an error. That canal was started in 1794, Col. Loammi Baldwin, the engineer, removing the first turf in its construction on September 10th of that year. The Bellows Falls Canal, chartered in 1791, was commenced in 1792, and completed in 1802. The Middlesex Canal was opened for traffic during the year 1804, two years later than the Bellows Falls one.
10
The Connecticut River Valley
BELLOWS FALLS CANAL
The first of these canals to be chartered, and upon which work was commenced, was at Bellows Falls. It was in 1791 and was the first canal started on this con- tinent to be used for navigation purposes. The charter was granted at Windsor in that year, and it is interesting to note that it was the first Vermont legislature after the admission of the state into the Union. Its corporate name was "Company for Rendering Connecticut River Navigable by Bellows Falls." The capital for its con- struction was furnished by three brothers of London, England, John, Francis and Hodgdon Atkinson. They expended $105,338.13 in building the dam and canal before a boat passed through, and because of the nat- ural obstructions, and great fall of the river (52 feet), it took ten years, the first boat passing through it in August of 1802. It remained in the ownership of the Atkinson family seventy-two years, or until June 16, 1866, and was then sold by them for $65,000 to Ex-Gov. S. W. Hale and E. F. Lane of Keene, N. H. In 1871 the property was acquired from them by the purchase of the stock by Hon. William A. Russell, of Lawrence, Mass., who associated with him other enterprising and aggressive men, and from that time its more general utilization for water power has been an important factor in the business and growth of Bellows Falls.
TURNERS FALLS AND SOUTH HADLEY FALLS CANALS
A charter to "The Proprietors of the Locks and Canals of the Connecticut River" was granted by the Massachusetts legislature February 23, 1792, to build canals by the falls at Turners Falls and South Hadley
11
Southern Vermont and New Hampshire .
Falls. The names of many prominent citizens were among the incorporators, but the capital for the building of these canals was furnished largely in Holland, through the medium of the Dutch trading firms of the Connecti- cut valley. Two years after the charter was granted the company was divided and the South Hadley canal was built by the company of the above name. The Turners Falls canal was built by a corporation named "The Proprietors of the Upper Locks and Canals on Con- necticut River," the stockholders of the two companies being practically identical. The South Hadley canal was 21/2 miles long, having eight locks, and the Turners Falls canal was 3 miles long and had ten locks as finally completed. The cost of the two canals was $81,000 and the first boats passed through in the spring of 1795. In the early days of river navigation the Turners Falls canal was known as "Millers," and many misunder- standings have been caused.
THE CANAL AT HARTLAND, VERMONT
The canal and dam at Sumner's Falls, midway between Hartland and North Hartland, seven miles south of White River Junction, was chartered by the Vermont legislature in 1794 under the name of the "Com- pany for Rendering Connecticut River Navigable by Water-Quechee Falls." Perez Gallup, who owned the farm contiguous to the canal on the Vermont side of the river, was named as the sole incorporator, although the New Hampshire legislature in 1796 named Joseph Kimball with Mr. Gallup. This canal was short, there being only two locks, remains of which can still be seen. Mr. Gallup controlled the franchise until 1805 when he
12
The Connecticut River Valley
deeded a partial interest to several local citizens. They owned it until it passed into the hands of David H. Sumner, who built an extensive lumber mill, and sent large amounts of lumber and shingles to the down-river markets. The locks and mills were carried away for the second time in 1856 and the entire locality is deserted, nothing having been done toward rebuilding. The land and power rights are now controlled by the New England Power Association.
THE CANAL AT WILDER
The most northerly of the series of canals that were built was that at Olcott's Falls, now Wilder, Vt., two miles north of White River Junction. This canal had two sections with locks in each and was cut at the New Hampshire end of the dam. Each of the other canals was cut on the Vermont side of the river. This charter was granted by the Vermont legislature, October 21, 1795, but no work was done until incorporated by New Hampshire under an act approved June 12, 1807. This latter act was entitled "An Act Granting to Mills Olcott the Privilege of Locking White River Falls." It gave Mr. Olcott and his associates "the exclusive privilege of cutting canals and locking said falls and rendering Connecticut river navigable for boats and lumber from the head of said falls at the upper bar so called to the foot of the falls at the lower bar of the same, commonly called 'Phelps Bar,' " provided the same be completed within six years from the passage of the act.
Mills Olcott was a prominent resident of Hanover, N. H., at that time about thirty years of age. He, in company with others, began the erection of the dam and
13
Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
locks in 1810 and they expended about forty thousand dollars upon the enterprise. At first the amount of business done afforded no dividends, but later when navigation of the river was at its height it became a source of satisfactory revenue. After the building of the Passumpsic division of the Boston & Maine railroad the canal fell into disuse and a few years later a freshet carried the dam away. From then for two or three decades the location was deserted except as a picturesque resort for picnic parties, the dense woods on either side and the beautiful falls of the river making it an attrac- tive although lonely spot. About 1880 the rights were purchased by investors, a new dam built, mills erected, and today the village of Wilder containing about two thousand inhabitants nestles on the Vermont side of the river where fifty years ago there was not a dwelling in sight.
CANAL AT WINDSOR LOCKS, CONN.
The sixth, last and most southerly of the canals built upon the Connecticut river was that at Windsor Locks, Conn. At the foot of this canal the tides of the Sound rise and fall, while the descent of the river overcome by the canal is about thirty feet in its length of six miles. It was built by the "Connecticut River Company" under a charter of the state of Connecticut secured in 1825 and completed in 1828. It was a part of a large scheme of the corporation to buy up all the canals and dams on the river ; to spend large amounts in the improvement of the river bed; to erect other dams and canals, thus mak- ing navigation of the river more feasible, and freighting cheaper.
14
The Connecticut River Valley
MANY ADDITIONAL CANALS WERE PROJECTED THAT WERE NEVER BUILT
Besides the six canals that were built on the Con- necticut river, there were, during the period of naviga- tion, a number of other canals strongly discussed and some chartered at different places but not built until the bubble of river navigation burst. In 1825 the War Department had sent an engineer to Barnet who had surveyed three different routes from there to Canada. At large expense and resulting from mass meetings of citizens held in different localities surveys were made for a system of canals from Wells River over the Green Mountains to Montpelier, thence down the Winooski to Lake Champlain; from the Merrimac near Concord up the Pemigewassett to Wentworth, N. H., and then across to the Connecticut in the town of Haverhill, N. H .; from Concord to Claremont via the Contocook and Sugar Rivers; from the mouth of Millers River near Green- field to Boston; up the Deerfield Valley to the present Hoosac Tunnel, where the mountain was to be cut through and Troy reached via the Hoosac River, there to connect with the arteries of canals then being con- structed, and thus reaching all parts of the country. A canal was already being constructed northward from New Haven, Conn., to Northampton, Mass.
A CANAL AT BRATTLEBORO
In the office of the Secretary of State of New Hamp- shire is to be seen an act of incorporation for a dam and canal near Brattleboro, evidently intended to avoid the rapid water just below the bridge, which, it is needless to say, was never constructed. The act chartered "The
15
Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
Connecticut River Canal Company," the incorporators being Richard Kimball, Elias Lyman, Amos A. Brewster, Francis Goodhue, Henry Hubbard and Allen Wardner.
The company was authorized to construct a canal from some point in the town of Hinsdale to the mouth of Israel's river, with the right to cross Connecticut river and locate a part of said canal within the limits of the state of Vermont. The canal was to be not less
than 34 feet wide at the surface of the water, 20 feet wide at the bottom, and 4 feet deep. The locks were to be of a length not less than 80 feet in the clear, and of such width, not less than 12 feet, that boats which could conveniently navigate Connecticut river might float and pass through the same. The authorized rates of toll were based on each mile's transportation on said canal and included the following : On each boat carrying less than 20 tons, one cent per mile; on each boat carry- ing more than 20 tons, one and one-half cents; on each boat used principally for the transportation of persons, ten cents per mile ; and on each passenger carried three mills per mile. The capital stock of the company was exempt from all public taxes until the annual income should be sufficient to pay the necessary expenses and 6 per cent on the capital, but this provision terminated at the end of 30 years from the passage of the act.
CANALS AND LOCKS ON WHITE RIVER
The Vermont legislature on November 2, 1797, passed an Act granting to Elkanah Stevens and two others the exclusive right to lock White River from its mouth as far as "the Royalton Meeting House" under the name of "The Company for Locking White River."
16
The Connecticut River Valley
Locks and dams were to be constructed at such places as the incorporators should deem necessary and the work was to be completed within ten years. The toll named for each ton of freight was twenty cents at each lock, and the same for each thousand feet of lumber. It is needless to say this enterprise was never entered upon and the charter was forfeited.
THREE CANALS PROPOSED BETWEEN THE CONNECTICOT RIVER AND LAKE CHAMPLAIN
In the Vermont Watchman, printed in Montpelier, May 17, 1825, is the following account of a mass meeting in reference to projected canals :
"At a meeting of the citizens of the village of Mont- pelier, a committee was appointed to take into considera- tion the practicability of a canal to unite the waters of Lake Champlain and the Connecticut River. Three routes were examined starting from Burlington and following the Onion (Winooski) River to Marshfield, a distance of 48 miles, and thence to the mouth of Wells River, about 24 miles, making a total of 72 miles. At this point the committee divided, part of them exploring a route over the summit between Wells River and Marsh- field. On this route they found two large ponds, sur- rounded by hills and muntains. From these ponds and Molly's pond in Cabot, they found in their judgment sufficient water to supply a canal.
"Two other routes were also explored from the Onion River through the towns of Plainfield, Marshfield and Groton to the Wells River in Newbury. The com- mittee afterwards proceeded to examine a southern route from Montpelier through Barre and Williamstown to Brookfield, through the gulf and thence to Royalton on the White River. There are two ponds on this route near each other at the summit, the outlet of one taking
17
Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
a course south to the White River and the north to Onion River. These ponds they thought would supply plenty of water for a canal."
A later report of this committee closed with these optimistic words: "We most earnestly hope that the fever will not abate until the cooling waters of the Con- necticut shall meet and mingle with those of Lake Cham- plain."
CANAL FROM CONCORD, N. H., TO CLAREMONT
In the office of the Secretary of State of New Hamp- shire are excellent profile maps and drawings, made in 1816, for a waterway from a point on the Merrimac River just below Concord to the outlet of Sugar River in Claremont, made jointly in behalf of Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
The scheme which the drawings disclose contem- plated making use of the Contoocook, Warner and Sugar rivers, deepening their channels when necessary and pro- viding many locks. A resurvey by engineers of the United States was reported to the Secretary of War in 1828, just a hundred years ago.
PRESENT DAY IMPROVEMENTS ASKED OF CONGRESS
The whole subject of canals and navigation of the Connecticut river has during the past few years been again brought into prominence through the united efforts of the citizens and boards of trade at Hartford, Spring- field, Holyoke and places further north, looking toward again opening the river to navigation as far north as Holyoke. Measures have been before Congress for the
18
The Connecticut River Valley
past twenty years calling for an appropriation of a number of million dollars for the improvement of the lower river as far north as Holyoke, to bring again the benefits of water transportation 50 miles farther north than at the present time.
19
Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE BELLOWS FALLS CANAL-AND BOATING DAYS
The Bellows Falls canal and dam, which were during the years 1926, 1927 and 1928 entirely rebuilt for hydro- electric purposes, at an expense of about $4,500,000, has a most interesting history. Built between the years 1792 and 1802 under charters by both Vermont and New Hampshire under the name of "Company for Rendering Connecticut River Navigable by Bellows Falls," it was used for that purpose until about 1858. The building of the railroads up the valley between 1849 and 1851 removed the necessity for this slow and expensive mode of transportation. During all the years of its existence it has been used more or less in furnishing power for various mills. English capital played an important part in the cost of the six canals of the Connecticut river, but none were so absolutely and unreservedly in the hands of foreigners as this.
The two men named as incorporators of the "Com- pany for Rendering Connecticut River Navigable by Bellows Falls" were Dr. William Page of Charlestown, N. H., who became the engineer who constructed it, and General Lewis R. Morris of Springfield, Vt., who dropped out of the management within a few months. The first meeting of the stockholders was held in the "Tontine Coffee House" in the city of New York November 8, 1802, "present John Atkinson and James Carey."
By means of locks, of which there were nine at Bellows Falls, it was proposed to navigate the river upon an extensive scale as far north as Wells River and Barnet. In connection with this commerce it was pro-
20
The Connecticut River Valley
posed to have canals built across the states of Vermont and New Hampshire, practically where the different lines of railroad now are. It is interesting to note that the first survey made for transportation purposes under Hoosac Mountain, in Massachusetts, was made for a canal to be tributary to those on the Connecticut river. The most important era of water transportation along the Connecticut river was from 1820 to about 1836, and may be said to have been at its height just about a cen- tury ago. The interest in railroad building in New England during the succeeding decade had the effect of quenching interest in canals and navigation.
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