USA > New Hampshire > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 2
USA > Vermont > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 2
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During 1802, the same year the first boats passed through this canal, there was a "Carding and Fulling Mill" in operation, owned by Page & Atkinson. In 1812 the mills taking water from the canal had increased to two paper mills, two saw mills, two grist mills and a cotton mill, all of which were destroyed by fire during the night of May 11th of that year. From that time the number of mills here varied widely until the canal was acquired by the Russell interests, followed by the forma- tion of the Fall Mountain Paper Company in 1872, which was merged into the International Paper Company in 1898. These have been the principal users of the power until now, alhough there are still a number of manu- facturies recently changed from water power to elec- tricity. The power developed here by the water of the Connecticut river under the old and unscientific princi- ples during the last few years aggregated 20,000 horse power, which has now increased by the development of electrical energy to 60,000 horse power.
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
The era of the use of the canal for navigation was a most interesting one, and the traditions brought down to the present of the time when the boatman's song was heard up and down the valley, instead of the locomotive whistle, give present residents glimpses of primitive methods of living, and of the activities of long ago. A goodly-sized poster notice under date of January 14, 1811, headed "Bellows Falls Canal," says among other things, "All concerned are notified that, in consequence of expensive repairs at the canal and locks and more that are proposed-to accommodate the navigation of the river, punctual payments must be made. Boxes must not be run into the canal until after notice is given and directions had, as much inconvenience is caused thereby to the passage of boats ..
The locks at this time "would take in boxes 54 feet long and 18 feet wide, drawing no more than two feet of water," as stated in the notice. The "boxes" were rafts of logs passing down the river. The logs were round, fastened together by two-inch planks at each end and in the middle of each log. Through these planks a wooden pin was driven into each log, making a solid mass not more than 60 feet long and 18 feet wide. In coming down the river, except at points where they had to pass through canals and locks, these "boxes" were fastened together by a stout wooden pin at each corner of the box. These pins stuck up from 12 to 15 inches and over them were placed short planks with holes in them, thus yoking the boxes securely together, and the pins were also used for bracing the oars against for propelling and guiding the raft. Two boxes, side by side, and three in length, six in all, constituted a "raft," and it was in this form
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The Connecticut River Valley
that they passed down the river, except when it was necessary to "break up the rafts" into boxes to pass through the different canals.
By this old notice the tariff for "long sticks was 75 cents each, short ones, 50 cents. Two hhds. of liquors 70 cents. Salt the same." The notice was signed-"Charles Storer, Agent for The Company for Rendering Connecti- cut River Navigable by Bellows Falls."
William H. Fuller, a native of Bellows Falls and brother of the late Ex-Gov. Fuller, told the writer 25 years ago :
"I remember distinctly watching for the flat boats to come early in the spring and fall, but during the summer months they did not run unless there was very high water. I also remember the great rafts of logs and the lumber rafts with shingles, lath, clapboards and often wood and farm produce on board. We boys used to enjoy rides through the locks up and down, and it was a great treat for us when we could assist in pushing open the great gates that let them through the locks from one crib to another. I used to see them more above than below the dam as my home was on the corner of Rocking- ham and Green streets. When a heavy boat was pulled through the canal to the head above the dam, a number of men would tow it up to the bend of the river just at the head of Green Street, and I have known boats to tie up and wait there for a day or more for a breeze, then set sail and tack from one side of the river to the other till they were out of sight around the bend above Mr. Webb's. Before the railroad was built, the bend of the river just below Mr. Morgan's house used to be the place where boats and rafts tied up to piles driven for that purpose.
"The large rafts that came down the river were made in sections as large as would fill one of the cribs in the locks, were all pinned together and after tying up
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
in the bend above the dam, they were unpinned and dropped with ropes into the canal and when through the locks, were pinned together again and pushed out into the stream to go down.
"Some rafts contained twelve sections and had one or two shanties built upon them where the lumbermen slept and ate. There was but little traffic by boat after 1848, but rafts continued coming down as late as 1852. There was one class of navigators that interested the people intensely every year till as late as 1852; remnants of the Abenauqui tribe of Indians came down the river in the spring with their canoes and dugouts, pulled them up on the shore, and came up and pitched their wigwams at the foot of Oak Hill, bringing with them baskets, bows and arrows, mats, and a great many trinkets which were purchased by the people."
Edward H. Green, who later in life married the great financier, Hetty Howland Robinson, told the writer in 1898 :
"As a boy, I was one day watching a raft passing through the canal, handled by old Jack Adams, one of the best known river-men of his day. I stood on the old wooden bridge, first built across the canal just below where the present cement arch bridge is now on Bridge street. There was a long log on cach side of the bridge to keep the teams from running off, and in my eagerness I leaned over the log too far and fell into the water 20 feet below, but Jack fished me out safely, and with no injury except a thorough ducking and great fright."
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The Connecticut River Valley
JOHN ATKINSON OF LONDON WHO BUILT THE CANAL-DESCENDANTS STILL IN BELLOWS FALLS
In the village of Bellows Falls on an eminence in the rear of the new town hall, and within a stone's throw therefrom, stands a pretty dwelling which many resi- dents who have been here several years have never seen or known of its existence. It is partially surrounded by the stately trees which formerly gave to the hill the name of "Pine Hill," the north end of which has now been cut away and gravel, of which it was composed, has been spread well over both Rockingham and Walpole during the last few months. It is near the north side of Immanuel cemetery, at the end of a road, so there is no passing it.
This residence is still owned by descendants of Samuel C. Fleming. He was well known as one of the earliest passenger conductors running into Bellows Falls and later gained prominence as a hotel proprietor. He was a descendant of John Atkinson who came from London and built the Bellows Falls canal between 1792 and 1802. At the present time the pictures of seven generations look down from the walls of the house, while most of the people lie buried in the old church yard between it and Immanuel church, that John Atkin- son founded, and to the interests of which his descend- ants have been devoted for more than a century and a quarter.
John Atkinson came from London before the Revo- .utionary War. He married a daughter of Ebenezer Storer, one of the early treasurers of Harvard College,
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
and settled in New York City, where he was a most prosperous and public-spirited man of its early days. His only weakness seems to have been too great a faith in the immediate future of his adopted country. He bought great tracts of land in Virginia, Ohio, Western New York and Vermont. Finally he purchased the water rights at Bellows Falls and built the canal here, as well as a number of the earliest manufacturies of various kinds. At Bellows Falls he spent a portion of his summers, and when his optimism and a period of financial depression had brought him business troubles he was able, with the help of his English relatives, to retain his canal properties here and came here to live permanently. He died in Bellows Falls September 29, 1829, and sleeps in the cemetery near to the church which was so dear to him, and which he, in common with Dr. Samuel Cutler, was so instrumental in organ- izing in 1798. The Bellows Falls canal was retained in the ownership of the Atkinson family until June 16, 1866, when it was sold by them, with all the water rights and real estate here owned by them, for about $65,000, which was but a small percentage of what it had cost them, and it had always been a losing proposition.
In 1817 Col. Alexander Fleming married Emma Seton, a daughter of John Atkinson, and in 1819 Henry F. Green married another daughter, Caroline Francis. These two men were destined to become important factors in the business of Bellows Falls, as, under the firm name of Green & Fleming, they managed the canal for the Atkinsons from about the above years until their deaths, Col. Fleming being the clerk of the Canal Company 47 years. The firm erected a paper mill, which was de-
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The Connecticut River Valley
stroyed by fire in 1846, and they had other manufactur- ing interests, as well as joint investments. Green street of this village was named for Mr. Green, through whose land the street was cut. The firm built in 1829 the two prominent residences on the Terrace, one now owned by James H. Williams and the other owned and occupied by the Rockingham hospital.
The intimate relations between these two men are shown by the fact that these two residences were erected with the firm's money without any decision as to which would occupy either. When they were completed they sat down and played a game of cards to decide the choice. Captain Green won the game and chose the Rockingham hospital building. In 1826 Captain Green had built the house now known as the Fleming house, described earlier in this sketch, and it was occupied by his family until the completion of the two residences in 1829.
During the years that Green & Fleming were the agents and managers of the Bellows Falls canal their office was in a small frame building which stood on the brow of the terrace in the rear of the present clothing store of J. J. Fenton & Co. All boats passing through the canal stopped there and paid the tolls charged for passing. The bank was steep and high above the surface of the canal, making quite an effort for the boatmen to get up there. It was said that many oaths were regis- tered on high against the rcords of the river-men, who swore roundly at the effort required to get up to the office.
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
BOAT CLUBS-MOTOR BOATING-BOATS OVER THE FALLS-CAPTAIN PAUL BOYTON
Boating on the Connecticut river has had various changes since the red man used it as a highway on his different errands of either fishing or more warlike ex- peditions. Its use as an artery of commerce during the era when it was used for freighting, and to a small extent for passenger service, from the time the Bellows Falls canal was completed in 1802 until the railroads were built in the middle of the last century, has been the subject of many interesting articles in newspapers in years gone by. Not so much attention has been given to boating of later years.
In 1859 both Brattleboro and Bellows Falls had active boat clubs that had much enjoyment from their experiences on the water. In May of that year the Green Mountain Boat Club of Brattleboro made an excursion up the river to Bellows Falls. They started from there at 5 o'clock in the morning and landed at the old canal locks here about one in the afternoon, having rowed about 27 miles. A number of Bellows Falls citizens dined with them here at the old Bellows Falls Stage House, the party comprising some of the most prominent citizens of both villages.
Each of the Brattleboro men wore a sailor's shirt neatly made of blue flannel. Their standard colors, then recently presented to them by the ladies of Brattleboro, were of tasty design and made quite a show as the party came up from the river. The boat was named "Swift Water" and was 42 feet in length. The officers of their club at that time were: president, Philip Wells; vice-
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The Connecticut River Valley
president, C. A. Miles, for many years the head of the schools there; secretary and treasurer, Dr. J. M. Come- gys; coxswain, Henry Goodridge; first assistant, W. H. Rockwell; second assistant, Charles A. Tripp. They started on their return trip a little past 4 o'clock, giving three cheers for Bellows Falls, which was immediately responded to by a large number of our citizens who lined the shore.
During that season the Swift Water Boat Club was challenged by the Wantastiquet Boat Club, also of Brat- tleboro, for a boat race to Bellows Falls for a purse of $400, each party to contribute $200 of it, and the whole to go to the successful boat. Considerable discussion arose over the terms and conditions of the challenge. Until the building of the Vernon dam Bellows Falls had the advantage of Brattleboro in the matter of about 15 miles of comparatively still water above the dam here, but at the present time the facilities for this sport are about equal.
In the year 1909, and for several years before and after, motor boating was enjoyed here to a great extent, there being that year 47 such craft in active commission, 12 new power boats having been put on the river that season. A large boat club was enjoying the river here and they had a well equipped club house just above the Vermont end of the steel arch bridge, with a large hall for dancing, and the basement was used to store the boats. Each evening, and Sundays, the river was alive with boats and throngs of people watched them from the shores and the bridge. The interest has gradually waned, until for the last few years only one or two pleasure
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
boats plow the waters, and the same is true at Brattle- boro.
The river falls 52 feet here where it passes from the north to the south end of the village. Because of the rapidity of the current, and the jagged rocks, it is often said no boat ever successfully passed through these falls, but that statement is erroneous. August 11, 1876, a party of river-men who were handling one of the large drives of Ross & Leavitt's logs then passing down the river, did the stunt. Five different boats passed through the entire length of the falls, each manned by two men. The men in boat No. 1 were Henry Davis and William Doane; No.2, Gorham Spencer and Frank Dudley ; No. 3, Ben Mitchell, John Murphy; No. 4, Frank Mohawk, Joseph Swartson; No. 5, Henry Wadleigh and John Murphy. The last boat went down twice, and Henry Davis did the same. Three of the boats dipped some water, but two went over dry. Each man handled one oar, guiding the boat from both the prow and stern. The water was very low at the time and the river-men became daring and conquered.
A few of the present residents remember the inci- dent of Capt. Paul Boyton passing through the falls and under the toll bridge in his rubber floating suit. He was on a pleasure trip down the Connecticut and arrived at the dam just at night, October 29, 1879. During the evening it became known that he would go through the falls the next morning and it was estimated that a crowd of 2000 people gathered to watch the feat. So many occupied vantage places on the toll bridge that fears were entertained for its safety and some were or-
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The Connecticut River Valley
dered off. The water was somewhat high and rushed through the gorge with mighty force.
He went into the water just below the dam and with his paddle struck out for the center of the current, being carried swiftly down. He was caught a number of times in the eddies and carried round and round, giving him a hard pull to get out into the current. When at last he went through the place where the water rushes with the greatest force, just above the Fitchburg bridge, he went out of sight and did not appear seeming- ly for some minutes ; the hair of the spectators stood on end with horror.
He, however, soon appeared a long distance down the river and came out of the water from the eddy below. At Town's hotel that evening in discussing the day's experience he stated that it was the worst in his life, and that nothing would ever tempt him to try these falls again. He said the water bore him down with a terrible weight to the bottom of the channel, and for a few moments he confidently expected it would hold him there to his death.
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
FLAT-BOATING ON THE CONNECTICUT RIVER _
CAPT. CHARLES DAVENPORT'S EXPERIENCES
Present residents along the course of the Connecticut river can hardly imagine the fact that a century ago this river was teeming with both freight and passenger boats, and that it furnished the only means of transpor- tation north and south except the cumbrous ox teams over the most primitive roads imaginable. It is the longest river in New England, and has been more gen- erally navigated, and for a longer distance from its mouth. The railroads up the valley, built about 1850, entirely changed the conditions of transportation, and boating was discontinued, the happy songs of the boat- men being exchanged for the shrill whistle of the locomotive.
Twenty-five years ago there were a few of the old boatmen, and some who had served as captains of the river boats, still living at different places along the river's course. October 17, 1903, the writer secured personal reminiscences of Captain Charles Davenport, then living in the village of Saxtons River at the age of over 90 years. He was still vigorous, reading readily without the assistance of glasses. Among other things he said :
"I was born on a farm in West Dummerston April 21st, 1813. When 19 years of age my father licked me for some minor offense, and feeling aggrieved, I ran away. I hired out to the captain of a river boat as a deck hand. I followed boating on the Connecticut con- tinuously for 30 years with the exception of a few years' experience on the Mississippi river. The larger part of the time I was captain of different boats, and my boating
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The Connecticut River Valley
on the Connecticut was confined to flat-boats. Most of the boats on the Connecticut were 72 feet long and 111/2 feet wide, and when loaded to their capacity of 30 tons would draw two to three feet of water.
"The first boat I ran on was owned by Hall & Townsley of Brattleboro and ran from there to Hartford, Conn. Then I worked on one owned by William S. Bennett of Westminster. This I ran as captain for three years, in the neighborhood of 1835. Later, I com- manded the boat which was owned by Wentworth & Bingham of Bellows Falls. They were merchants, doing business in the two-story brick block on the south side of the Square, known then, and now, as Mammoth block. The last of my boating at about the time of the building of the railroads, I was in command of a boat running from Windsor to Hartford, Conn., owned by Hosea Reed of West Reading, Vt., who had two different boats. Benjamin Smith, who owned the boat on which L. S. Howard of Bellows Falls worked, lived at Cambridge- port, and at different times my two brothers, George and Austin Davenport, were his captains.
"During my boating career, I spent two years on the Mississippi river as assistant engineer of a steamer, of which my uncle, John Davenport, was chief engineer. While on that boat it was chartered and made three trips, transporting 900 Indians from New Orleans to a point 750 miles up the Arkansas river. They were Cherokees from Georgia and had swapped land in that state for a reservation in the Indian Territory. They were accompanied by a large number of negro slaves whom they owned. They stopped twice a day on the banks of the river to cook their food.
"Over 40 years after this three Indians came to Bellows Falls where I was laying stone. One slapped me on the shoulder and said, 'Me knowed you in Arkan- sas,' which he proved by telling the story of my saving an Indian from drowning on one of these trips. It seemed to me a wonderful recognition after so many
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
years had passed. One day while hunting in Arkansas, Uncle John and I came across a bear and two cubs. The bear escaped but we caught the cubs. Uncle John took one to New Orleans and sold it. The other I boxed up and brought cast all the way by stage. For two seasons, my bear, 'Betsey,' accompanied me in my boat- ing on the Connecticut, being chained on my boat. She was very playful, hugging and wrestling with me. She died at the end of the second season and was buried in Dummerston.
"While on the Mississippi my steamer anchored about eight rods from the shore one night, near another steamer. One boat took fire and both were burned. 'Betsey' and I were the last to swim ashore, she reaching the shore first and waiting for me. I lost my clothing and $250, one season's pay, which had been given me the day before. Uncle John and I reached the shore without clothing and a merchant gave us each a suit of clothes, saying we might pay for them if we ever could do so. This we did the next fall.
"I know of no other person now living except Mr. Howard who worked on Connecticut river boats running as far north as Brattleboro. Capt Nelson Richardson, who died last year at Hinsdale, N. H., was the last one I know of. Patrick Tolles, who lived across the river opposite Bellows Falls, became captain of the Went- worth & Bingham boat when I resigned. I think he was a brother of the Matt Tolles of recent years. The last boat I ran was one owned at Dummerston. When boat- ing on the river was given up, the boat was pulled up on the shore near C. P. Gilson's and I dismantled it. Her hulk rotting on the shore there for many years was one of the last reminders of the old boating days on the Connecticut."
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The Connecticut River Valley
NOTED WORLD TRAVELER-JOHN LEDYARD -
IN BELLOWS FALLS IN 1772
About 30 rods north of the "Ledyard" or Hanover and Norwich bridge, about 40 miles north of here, is a monument to one of the most novel and unique char- acters who attended Dartmouth College in the early period of its existence. It is a plain slab of granite and records the following bit of history :
"John Ledyard, in 1772, a freshman of Dartmouth College, on this spot felled a giant pine, from which he made a canoe, and in it descended the river to Hartford, Ct. He was a traveler among the Indians, and associate of John Paul Jones, and an officer under Capt. Cook, traversing all oceans and penetrating all lands. He foresaw and foretold the riches of the Pacific coast and the advantages of commerce with the far East. When about to cross Africa he died in Egypt at the age of 37. He, too, heard the voice crying in the wilderness. His was the Dartmouth spirit. Anno Domini 1907."
Ledyard went up to Hanover in 1772, driving up from Hartford in a sulky, the first ever seen in this vicinity. The same year, leaving his lessons, in which he was no mean scholar, he went down to the banks of the Connecticut river, cut down a tall pine, and, as tradition relates, hewed from it a canoe 50 feet long and three feet wide, in which he placed a huge bear skin, two books, an Ovid and a Greek testament, some pro- visions of Indian bread, and started on his journeys around the world.
Pierpont's national reader (1839) says in its de- tailed account of the trip that
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Southern Vermont and New Hampshire
"He was deeply engaged in one of his two books when his canoe reached Bellows Falls, where he was suddenly roused by the noise of waters. (No dam or canal had been built there then.) The danger was im- minent as the voyage was performed in the last part of April, when the river was raised by the melting of snow and no boat could go down that fall without being dashed to pieces.
"With difficulty he gained the shore and through the kind assistance of the people, who were amazed at the novelty of such a voyage, his canoe was drawn by oxen around the fall and committed again to the water below. One account says that the young student im- pressed the people so favorably while resting here that every attention of kindness was bestowed upon him. From that time till he arrived at his place of destination we hear of no accident."
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Of his arrival at Hartford the same authority says :
"On a bright spring morning just as the sun was rising some people at Hartford standing upon a high bank which overlooked a small river which empties into the Connecticut, espied at some distance an object of unusual appearance, moving slowly up the stream. All were attracted by the unusual sight and conjectured what it could be till its shape assumed the obvious form of a canoe but by what impulse it was moved forward no one could determine. Something was seen in the stern but apparently without life or motion. At length the canoe touched the shore directly in front; a person sprang from the stern to a rock in the edge of the water, threw off a bearskin in which it had been enveloped, and behold John Ledyard in the presence of his uncle and connections, who were filled with wonder at the sudden apparition, for they had received no intelligence of his intention to leave Dartmouth but supposed him still there diligently fitting himself to be a missionary to the Indians. "
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