USA > New Hampshire > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 7
USA > Vermont > The Connecticut River Valley in southern Vermont and New Hampshire; historical sketches > Part 7
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original 13 states of the Union. Forty-five towns east of the Connecticut river had voted by large majorities to join themselves to the republic of Vermont, and Ver- mont had accepted them. For some months the majority and minority of these 45 towns had each had its own separate board of officers, and each had by this means a representative in the Vermont and also the New Hamp- shire legislatures.
A county known as Washington County, Vt., had been formed of towns in the New Hampshire territory, with Charlestown, N. H., as its shire town. Dr. William Page was high sheriff of this county under Vermont authority, and at the same time Col. Enoch Hale was high sheriff of Cheshire County, as the same territory was known in New Hampshire. As both governments had their own separate courts governing one and the same people, no decisions could be enforced by either side, owing to the opposition of the other. The legisla- ture of Vermont had met at Charlestown in October, 1781. A clash of authority was sure to come.
Early in November of that year Sheriff Page, under Vermont authority, had arrested two citizens of West- moreland for some offence. The legislature of New Hampshire, then sitting at Exeter, passed a special statute empowering Col. Hale to go to Charlestown and release these men "held under the pretended authority of Vermont." Failing to accomplish this, he was to call on the militia for assistance.
He went to Charlestown and demanded of Jailer Ely the release of the prisoners, Being refused, he made show of attempt at breaking into jail and was promptly arrested and placed in jail himself. The affair being
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reported to the governors of both Vermont and New Hampshire, Governor Chittenden of Vermont author- ized Dr. Page, with two Vermont justices of the peace, to go to Exeter and endeavor to arrange some peaceable solution of the difficulty regarding authority over this territory. Upon their arrival at Exeter they were all three promptly arrested by direct warrant from the president of the Council of New Hampshire and confined there in jail.
The governors of each state at once ordered a regi- ment of militia to be armed and equipped, ready to march at a moment's notice, to maintain the dignity of their respective commonwealths. In this situation, with both sheriffs in jail, and excitement running high among the people on both sides of the Connecticut, the strained conditions remained for some weeks. Governor Chitten- den opened a personal correspondence with General Washington (who was not elected as the first president until 1789) and through his calm and conservative ad- vice Vermont was induced to give up all claim to terri- tory east of the Connecticut river, although the indi- vidual towns still held by a large majority to their original wish to remain a part of this state. The west bank of the river was fixed upon as the dividing line and it so remains today although its location is variously questioned.
The sheriffs were released upon their own recog- nizances about January 1, 1782, and were never brought to trial. They both became a few years later prominent and influential business men of Bellows Falls, and were firm friends. Very soon after this Vermont was ad- mitted as the 14th state of the Union, this incident being
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one of the strong points in demonstrating the wisdom of the admission.
Col. Enoch Hale, a prominent resident of Rindge, Walpole and Bellows Falls, in 1785 built the first toll bridge across the Connecticut river and owned and managed it many years. He was a leading citizen and land holder in the town of Rockingham and village of Bellows Falls. He was moderator of the town meeting held September 1, 1795, and at different times held various town offices. He died in Grafton, Vt., in 1813.
Dr. William Page of Charlestown, N. H., with Gen. Lewis R. Morris of Springfield, Vt., was named as an incorporator of the Bellows Falls canal in Vermont in 1791, and in New Hampshire in 1792. He moved to Bellows Falls in 1798 and was the engineer in full charge of the construction of the canal, as well as overseer and projector of several manufacturing industries of the village. He was appointed as the first postmaster of Bellows Falls April 1, 1801, his office being in the same office as the Bellows Falls Canal Co., located in the rear of the present clothing store of J. J. Fenton & Co. He was the grandfather of the late Gov. John B. Page of Vermont and he died in Rutland in 1810.
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OLD CROWN POINT MILITARY ROAD, 1750-1760
The old Crown Point military road, the location of which, as it starts from the Connecticut river, is about nine miles from Bellows Falls on the farm of the late J. M. Butterfield, is plainly marked beside the Spring- field highway by two substantial markers, erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution chapter.
This road was cut through the wilderness in 1759 and 1760 for the purpose of making it possible for the British army to cross the Green Mountains to Lake Champlain, and thence up the lake on their way to capture Montreal, then held by the French. Williams, in his early history of Vermont, writing of the comple- tion of the road, says: "They made such dispatch as to join the army at Crown Point on the 31st of July, where they embarked with Col. Haviland in batteaux and whaleboats and sailed up Lake Champlain for Can- ada. The three divisions of the English forces under Gen. Amherst, Gen. Murray from Quebec and Col. Havi- land, met near Montreal, which city surrendered with- out a struggle, and the French power passed away for- ever from Canada.".
The road was begun in 1759 by Capt. John Stark (later the general who commanded at the battle of Bennington). The section on the west side of the moun- tain was completed that year, and in the spring of 1760 the start was made from the Connecticut river and the road completed, being an important adjunct to the sub- jugation of Canada. The building of the east end of the road commencing at the Connecticut river was done by Col. John Goffe and a regiment of 800 men of the English army.
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THE FIRST POST ROADS AND FIRST POST RIDERS THROUGH BELLOWS FALLS
The Legislature of Vermont, October 27, 1795, authorized the building of the first post-road through this town, to be part of a road to be laid out from the south line of Vermont to the north line of the town of Newbury. Dr. Samuel Cutler and David Sanderson of Bellows Falls, and Adjutant Eliakim Spooner were ap- pointed a committee to lay out this road through Wind- ham County, and it was "to be laid out near Connecticut river." The definite survey of the road through the town of Rockingham showing each turn and the points of compass was filed at the town clerk's office in 1796. Its location has never been changed in any material degree, except for a few rods at the north end of the village of Bellows Falls, necessitated by the building of the "Champlain & Connecticut Railroad" (now the Rutland Railroad) in 1847. It was a part of a system of post- roads of this section of New England, being a post route, or "a road on which the post or mail is conveyed."
"Post-riders" were employed, and an important part of their work was the sale and delivery of the dif- ferent newspapers published in this vicinity. At the time this post-road was built, there were papers published at Westminster, Walpole and Windsor, and the post- riders had control of their circulation upon their routes.
Two advertisements in the Vermont Intelligencer and Bellows Falls Advertiser in 1818, the second year of its publication, were as follows :-
"POST RIDERS NOTICE
"Reuben Prentiss proposes to ride Post for the pur- pose of distributing the Vermont Intelligencer for the
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term of one year from the 26th of January last, and will supply gentlemen, who may be disposed to take said paper on the most accommodating terms in any part of his route, which will be from Bellows Falls to Saxton's River village, Westminster west parish, Putney, Brook- line and Townshend, to Athens.
"Said Prentiss will likewise perform errands and transact business with which he may be entrusted, with faithfulness, punctuality, and at a reasonable rate.
February 16, 1818."
"A POST RIDER
"Wanted immediately, to distribute the Vermont Intelligencer in Rockingham, Springfield, Weathersfield, Reading and perhaps further north. There are always about one hundred subscribers on a part only of said route, and it is believed that more might be obtained. Apply at the printing office.
February 16, 1818.
BILL BLAKE & CO."
An earlier post-route, which had accommodated the inhabitants of this section of the Connecticut valley, was laid out down the Connecticut on the New Hampshire side. Page 263 of the Records of the New Hampshire Committee of Safety shows that July 27, 1781, John Balch was appointed a post-rider for the term of three months, and they agreed that said Balch set out from Portsmouth on Saturday morning and ride to Haverhill by way of Conway, Plymouth, thence down the river to Charlestown, Keene and to Portsmouth again, every fourteen days during the term, for which service he was to receive "seventy hard dollars, or paper money equivalent."
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In 1792, a post-rider carried the mail once a fort- night from Concord through Weirs, New Boston, Am- herst, Wilton, Peterboro, Dublin, and Marlboro to Keene, and thence through Westmoreland, Walpole, Alstead, Acworth, Charlestown, Claremont, Newport and Hop- kinton to Concord. Thomas Smith of Surry was post- rider on this route. His compensation was twelve pounds per year and the perquisites on papers and private pack- ages. The postage at that time was six-pence (about twelve cents) on each private letter for every forty miles and four pence for any number of miles less than forty. Mr. Balch continued to ride for two years and was succeeded by Timothy Balch of Keene, who was re- appointed in 1785.
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FIRST POST OFFICES ESTABLISHED IN ROCK- INGHAM AND BELLOWS FALLS IN 1801
In the year 1783, while Vermont was an independ- ent republic without allegiance to other states or nations, Governor Chittenden and his council established the first post office in Vermont at Bennington and authorized the appointment of the first post-rider between that town and the office at Albany, N. Y. The man rode weekly carrying the mail in his saddle-bags. The next year the legislature of the state established four other offices, those at Rutland, Brattleboro, Windsor and Newbury, and the post-rider-the pioneer of the splendidly equipped railway post offices of today-between Brattle- boro and Newbury passed through Bellows Falls once each week, each way.
The rates of postage were the same as those of the United States, which then numbered but thirteen states. Anthony Haswell, Esq., of Bennington, was chosen post- master general of Vermont. The post-rider between Bennington and Brattleboro was allowed for travel three pence per mile, while riders on other routes were allowed only two pence, the additional rate being on account of the extremely mountainous country between Bennington and Brattleboro. These post-riders were allowed the exclusive privilege of carrying letters, papers and pack- ages on their respective routes, and any person who infringed upon their rights was subject to a fine of ten pounds. Upon the admission of Vermont to the Union, as the fourteenth state, in 1791, the post offices estab- lished in this commonwealth became a part of the gen-
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eral government, and increased rapidly during the next few years.
When regular stage coaches were started in this vicinity, about 1800, the mails were transferred to and carried by them. In the year 1818 stages and mails passed through Bellows Falls in four directions three times each week.
In 1808, the rate of postage required for letters was : eight cents for a single sheet (size not limited) for less than 40 miles ; over 40 and less than 90, ten cents ; over 90 and not exceeding 150 miles, 121/2 cents; 150 to 300 miles, seventeen cents; 300 to 500 miles, twenty cents ; and over 500 miles the rate was twenty-five cents. If two pieces of paper were enclosed the rate was double the above, three pieces was treble, four pieces, weighing one ounce, was quadruple those rates.
As late as 1861 each letter was required to be placed in a wrapper in the post office, and in the package was enclosed a "way-bill" showing the name of the addressee and the amount of postage upon it, similar to what was later done with express and freight parcels.
The first post office in this town was at Rockingham, that then being the largest village in town, Roswell Bellows being commissioned as postmaster January 1, 1801. The second was in Bellows Falls, this being estab- lished April 1, 1801. The first postmaster here was Dr. William Page, the grandfather of the late Ex-Gov. John B. Page of Rutland. He was the civil engineer who built the Bellows Falls canal, which was chartered under the name "Company for Rendering Connecticut River Navigable by Bellows Falls," The first post office was located in the office of that company, of which Dr. Page
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was the superintendent and engineer. The building overlooked the canal on the brow of the hill just in the rear of Mammoth block and the present location of the clothing store of J. J. Fenton & Co. The canal was not completed so that boats passed through it till the next year, and the canal tolls were all collected at this building for many years thereafter.
Dr. Page was postmaster four years, being succeeded by Quartus Morgan, proprietor of the old "Morgan Tavern," still standing on Rockingham Street, and that building was the second location. Since the office was established here there have been 23 different postmasters, and the office has been located in about as many different places.
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STAGES OVER THE "FOREST LINE"-DEAN BUTTERFIELD A POPULAR DRIVER-TIME TABLES
During stage times in this vicinity Dean Butter- field, a well known driver over the "Forest Line," used to relate the following anecdote to the "outside passen- gers" who rode with him. On those old coaches it was always considered the most desirable place to ride on the outside, and there were often as many as six on the top of the coach with the driver. Two or three sat on the driver's seat, and three or four on the stage roof, with their feet hanging down back of those who were with the driver. There was always an iron railing around the side and rear of the coach that extended to the front edge of the driver's seat so there was little danger of any person, or thing, falling off that was once placed on the roof. It was possible to enjoy the scenery here, and not the least appreciated part was the entertaining stories told by most of the drivers.
Mr. Butterfield would inform any passengers who were timid at the coach being over crowded, that: "I once took 22 passengers safely from Bellows Falls into Boston including one man who weighed 280 pounds, and he rode all the way on a trunk placed for him on the top of this very stage. It happened on that trip that John Quincy Adams and his wife were among the inside passengers. They had been visiting Saratoga Springs. Mr. Adams asked me on arriving at Nashua, the end of my route, to continue on to Boston, because he 'felt perfectly safe with such a driver.' So I changed with the Lowell driver and went into Boston with my stage
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and 22 people all right. There was on the Forest Road at that time a very large amount of travel in the spring summer and fall-'people went to the Springs in the summer and to the Falls in the spring'-as the great Dodge used to say at his concerts. There were few mammoth trunks in those days and all baggage paid extra charges. In the winter the passengers were mostly business men going to and from Boston markets."
The "Forest Line" turnpike was an extension of the Green Mountain turnpike which came from Rutland, crossing the Connecticut river at South Charlestown, four miles north of Bellows Falls, and continuing via Alstead and Surry to Keene and Boston.
An advertisement in the Bellows Falls Gazette in 1839 gives information regarding the facilities of staging and railroad transportation between Bellows Falls and Boston in that year. The advertisement was surmounted by a large cut of an old-fashioned stage coach drawn by six prancing horses and was as follows :
"NEW ARRANGEMENTS "Forest Line of Stages
"LEAVES Bellows Falls, Vermont, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays 4 A. M. via Drewsville, N. H., Alstead, Marlow, Stoddard, Hancock, Greenfield, Lynde- boro, Wilton, Milford and arrives in Nashua in season for the 41%, o'clock Train of Cars for Boston the same day.
"RETURNING, leaves Nashua on the arrival of the Morning Train of Cars from Boston Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays, and arrives at Bellows Falls at 9 o'clock P. M.
"STAGES LEAVE BELLOWS FALLS the next morning for Troy, Albany and Saratoga via Townshend and Stratton.
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"For Montpelier via Charlestown and Woodstock- for Middlebury and Burlington, Chester and Rutland. "This is considered the best route from the Con- necticut river to Boston.
"BUSS, MORRISON & CO., Props.
"Bellows Falls, June 1, 1839."
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"TURN-PIKES" USED IN VERMONT BETWEEN THE ERAS OF "POST-ROADS" AND "HIGH- WAYS"
The era of "turn-pikes" in this section of the Con- necticut river valley, which succeeded the years of the old post-road, and later became a part of the present highway system, was inaugurated during the very last years of the 18th century, and continued in this town and vicinity until about 1840. The name "turn-pike" originated from the "gate on a road to obstruct passen- gers, in order to take toll-originally consisting of cross bars armed with pikes, and turning on a post or pin." A "turn-pike road" was a "road made by individuals, or by a corporation, on which tolls were collected," and their construction was a popular mode of investment.
The first through this town was the "Green Moun- tain Turn-pike," chartered by the legislature Novem- ber 3, 1799. It extended from the east line of Clarendon to Bellows Falls. Among its first owners and incorpora- tors were John Atkinson, the Englishman who invested his money in the building of the canal here and lost the most of it; Dr. William Page, the civil engineer who built the canal, father of the late Governor John B. Page, and the first postmaster of Bellows Falls; and Daniel Farrand, one of the first lawyers in this town, later judge of the Supreme Court.
There were to be four gates on the road, one near its east end in Rockingham, one in Cavendish, one in Ludlow and one in Shrewsbury. The tolls established by law varied from 30 cents for a single horse carriage or coach, to 56 cents if drawn by two horses, with a
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schedule of additions to be made for additional horses, and varying amounts for different animals. These rates were to be collected at each of the four gates. However, the charter provided that "no person shall be obliged to pay any toll at either of said gates who shall be going to or from public worship or to or from any grist mill or saw mill, or on any militia duty or on the ordinary duty of family concerns," which it might seem would cut out a material amount of the tolls. Among the other provisions of the charter, toll gatherers must not delay travelers, and the corporation should be liable for any damages because of the insufficiency of the road. If any person should turn out for the purpose of going around any gate he should forfeit triple toll as a fine, and plain signs should be displayd at each gate showing the rates of toll.
A charter was granted in 1807 to a company for the building of a turnpike connecting with the Green Moun- tain Turnpike at Chester and continuing over the moun- tain to Manchester, Vt. This later became a part of the most popular stage route between Boston and Saratoga Springs, and one toll gate on the west side of the moun- tain has been kept in use collecting toll until within a very few years, being the last gate on a turn-pike in Vermont.
Another charter was granted by the legislature of 1800 to the Connecticut River Turn-pike Company to build a turn-pike through Rockingham. It was em- powered to build a road "from the new turn-pike north of the bridge at Bellows Falls to the south line of Thet- ford, in such place or places as said corporation shall Choose." There were to be four gates in the distance,
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and the rates were the same as those quoted for the Green Mountain Turn-pike except that they began with 31 cents instead of 56, and all were correspondingly lower. It was provided, however, that "no one of the gates contemplated in this act shall be erected in the Town of Windsor."
These turn-pikes were built and maintained by pri- vate capital for about forty years, after which the dif- ferent towns through which they were laid arranged to purchase them and they became important parts of the present highway system of the state.
Older residents still refer to certain sections of road as "the turn-pike."
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EARLY STAGE DRIVERS BETWEEN RUTLAND AND BOSTON-OTIS BARDWELL AND DAN ARMS
More than twenty-five years ago, while gathering historical facts regarding the vicinity of Bellows Falls, the writer had the following statement from Newman Weeks, then a well known resident and business man of Rutland.
"In regard to my trips by stage in my younger days, some peculiar incidents came under my observa- tion and they still cling to my memory. The people of Bellows Falls and Brattleboro I knew about, especially the old stage, railroad and military men.
"The Old Cheshire hotel in Keene was the noted stage lodging house from which the four- and sometimes six-horse, 16-passenger coaches left in the morning for Fitchburg and Boston. The stage agent, located at the Cheshire house, was a very large man and as stern and savage as he was large. One very popular stage driver was 'Bill Hodgkins.' He always wanted the seats on the box outside to be reserved for the good-looking ladies. The stages in those early days landed at the 'Old Stage Tavern,' on the narrow Elm street in Boston, Mass. Time from Rutland, Vt., to Boston was three days, and the fare was $8. The driver expected the cigars and drinks would be free at all the points where horses were exchanged.
"Now for two incidents: In 1848 I was in trade in Clarendon, Vt., with a nephew, D. W. C. Gaskill. He was going to Boston to buy a stock of goods. The cashier of the bank in Rutland asked him to take a package of $5000 to be left at the Suffolk bank, Boston. To send by express was quite expensive, and they would take the risk. He took a peculiar way that proved safe. He used an old, badly worn sheepskin valise ; put the money
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package in a stocking leg with other stockings, shirts, etc .; put in some old newspapers; had no lock but fas- tened it with straps. The old valise was put with many others on top of the stage coach and at hotel stopping places over night it was thrown off and piled with the other baggage in the wide front hall of the hotel. There was no special care taken of the old worn valise and the cash reached the old Boston bank all right.
"On one of my return trips from Boston, Otis Bard- well was keeping a stage tavern at Walpole. Horses and drivers were changed there. The four-horse coach was driven to the door and little Dan Arms took the reins and was waiting for the word, 'All aboard.' One large, digni- fied, gray-haired passenger was walking back and forth on the piazza. Mr. Bardwell very politely informed him that the coach was waiting for him. He said, 'Where is the driver ?' He was informed that the man on the coach was the driver. 'What! That boy to drive us over the Vermont mountains to Rutland ?' 'Yes,' said Mr. Bard- well, 'and if he doesn't get you there all right I will pay all damage on demand.' Little Dan, as a young, single man, was popular because he was so very accommodating. If a good-looking school teacher had a long ways to walk, the stage would wait for her to fix her curls, and get all ready to sit on the box and watch the horses. Little Dan Arms had lots of friends, as stage driver and later as conductor on the railroad."
The Daniel Arms referred to by Mr. Weeks as so popular a stage driver lived many years at Bellows Falls, and was one of the first passenger conductors on the Rutland railroad. Later for some years he was ticket agent at the Bellows Falls station and died while holding that position.
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