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ENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01085 9749
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/centennialhistor00adam 0
A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
OF - -
ST. ALBANS,
VERMONT.
ORGANIZED JULY 28TH, 1788.
By HENRY K. ADAMS.
ST. ALBANS, VT .: WALLACE PRINTING COMPANY. 1889.
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1255307
PREFACE.
The question has been frequently asked by non- residents, how can you write much concerning St. Albans, that will prove profitable and interesting, when its whole history is notorious for its sensa- tions, a place only noted for its salubrious climate and beautiful scenery? Also, that there is no evidence of any permanent residence of, Indians here, it having been but a mere battle and hunt- ing ground, extending from the Lake shore to the hill tops. That there were no settlers within the present limits of our town, before the Revolution, while several towns in our own, and neighboring counties, had their Indian villages, and French settlements, with their Jesuit missions, and churches, prior to being under English rule. Also that several towns in these counties, after this period, had their settled physicians, and schools several years before St. Albans had them, in other words you cannot make a history without the sen- sations, and why should you, who is under no ob- ligations to your fellow citizens, for any honors,
(III)
PREFACE.
leave them out ? Conceding all this to be true the writer will endeavor to step over these stumb- ling blocks, and prepare as interesting an account of our historic life, as the scanty material will afford, leaving the flora, the fauna, and our geo- logical history to an abler pen. Neither will he elaborate upon the biography of all our past and present inhabitants, which if attempted, no limit would be reached, and which would swell the work into a voluminous volume, without furnishing much interest to the reader, while many of our present inhabitants might feel aggrieved if their ancestors were unintentionally omitted.
July 28th, 1888. THE AUTHOR.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PREFACE, - -
-
III
TABLE OF CONTENTS, - - -
INTRODUCTION, - - - - VII
OUR TOWN A PART OF NEW FRANCE,
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ENGLISH RULE, - - -
4
HER FIRST SETTLERS, -
5
OUR FIRST TOWN MEETING, - -
8
OTHER SETTLERS, -
9
THE GREAT MOGUL OF ST. ALBANS, 1 2
DISTILS AND HOTELS, - -
14
OUR SCHOOLS, - -
22
FRANKLIN COUNTY GRAMMAR SCHOOL, -
25
A PLEA FOR TEACHERS, -
27
OUR PRESENT SYSTEM, - 29 -
OUR WRITERS, - -
32
OUR RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS AND SPIRITUAL TEACHERS, 39
OUR PHYSICIANS, -
53
REMARKABLE INSTANCES OF LONGEVITY, 56
ST. ALBANS AS THE SHIRE, AND OUR EARLY LAWYERS, - - -
57
THE SHIRE AGAIN, - -
59
(V)
VI
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
OUR BANKS,
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62
OUR NEWSPAPERS,
62
ST. ALBANS BAY, - -
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78
A CARD, - - -
86
OUR REPRESENTATIVES, -
86
OUR TOWN CLERKS, -
88
OUR PRIMITIVE CUSTOMS,
89
OUR SOCIAL LIFE, -
94
ALDIS HILL,
98
PARSONSVILLE, -
IO2
PROSPECT HILL,
106
OUR OLD FARMS,
III
NOTES AND COMMENTS,
119
OUR MUSIC, -
I37
OUR MILITIA,
I39
THE CANADIAN REBELLION, -
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140
THE SECOND CANADIAN REBELLION, - 143 -
OUR LATER MILITIA, - -
147
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INTRODUCTION. JULY 28TH, 1888.
A century in our history has passed away. The primeval forests that echoed to the whoop of the savage, and the howl of the beasts, have returned in dust and ashes to whence they came, and the log cabins of our early settlers have also returned to their pristine element. But from their death and decay have sprung new organisms in "the green spear," "the beaded ear," and "the sub- stantial homes," that now adorn the face of nature and gladdens the hearts of men.
So to, generation after generation of "our hu- manity," have flowed on to "Times Shadowy Shore," and the tide rolls back, laden with the joys and griefs, yea, the bright hopes, and the golden mem- ories of our past, for with every cycloid of "the harvest," new forms and new faces have greeted the vision, but " the stream of time," with its cra- dles and coffins, still rolls on, forever rolls. And ere the shadow and the sunset comes upon us, and we, too; flow on with the tide, let us review together the history of our town.
(VII)
" What is history ? It is truth alive and actual- truth embodied-truth clothed in our kindred clay. It is knowledge not afloat on the mist bounded sea-the shoreless abyss of speculation-butknowl- edge, coasting it in sight of the familiar landmarks of time and place."-Dr. I. Hamilton.
" Historians rarely descend to those details from which alone the real state of a community can be collected. Hence posterity is too often deceived by the vague hyperboles of poets and rhetoricians." -Macauley.
" History is neither more nor less than biogra- phy on a large scale .- La Martine.
"History is only time, furnished with dates, and rich with events .- Rivarol.
A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
-OF - -
ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
In tracing our historic career through its various mutations, from aboriginal occupancy to the pres- ent time, I discover that our town was a part of the ancient Irocroisia, but no evidence has ever been discovered of the territory known as St. Albans being the abiding place of the Indians for any length of time. It is, however, known that when an early settler located on the Weeks farm, east of the village, a few rods north of the present dwelling, there were a tribe of St. Francis Indians. They of this name were previously called the Ab- nenaquis-a branch of one of the six nations that constituted the Great Confederacy, known as Iro- croisia-which has been aptly styled "the first republic on American soil."
These tribes of the great branches of Irocroisia were constantly at war with each other-especially the Algonquins, who by conquest, nearly encircled " the mother of the Confederacy." The The Abne- naquis, however, were probably the primitive
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
dwellers in this region, as it is stated in the Jour- nal of Champlain, that what is now the western part of our state, was in the possession of "the Irocrois," and those in " this county " and vicinity were called Abnenaquis, but as a writer in the 16th Century observed, "that of all the numerous branches of 'the Irocroisia,' the Abnenaquis were the most inclined to Christianity, and rather supe- rior to the other tribes and branches in intelligence, and who, coming under the influence of the Jesuit Missionaries from France, changed their name in honor of their founder, 'St. Francis, of Sales.'" This tribe of one of the great branches continued to reside in different parts of the state, or rather county, until about 1760, when the black measles so depleted their numbers they fled panic stricken to their capitol, " the village of St. Francis," named after the founder of the Franciscans, viz., St. Francis, of Assisses. Since then, we learn of dele- gations of these Indians visiting our legislatures in various places, seeking pay for their lands here- abouts ; the first being in 1777, before Vermont was admitted into the Union, also, in 1798, and every few years since, but the writer never heard of their receiving much money, nor of being placed in possession of the town of St. Albans.
This seems to be the extent of our Indian his- tory, and in this connection the writer regrets that
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OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
he has no romantic legends and historical marvels to relate.
OUR TOWN A PART OF NEW FRANCE.
It appears that Jacques Cartier, as early as 1535, claimed what comprises our part of the state and Canada, for France, whose monarch appointed Jean Francois de la Roque as Viceroy.
In 1603 Henry the 4th made Champlain Lieu- tenant-General of the same, in fact over all the territory in latitude from Philadelphia to Montreal. In 1609, Champlain allies himself with the fierce Hurons against the great nations of which Irocroi- sia was composed-who explored the region about our Lake-then known by its Indian name of Lake Irocroisia. See ancient maps of 1662 and 1671 on which it is styled Mere des Iroquois. The Abnenakees called it Petonbonque, the waters which lie between them and the Iroquois. Th Iroquois, however, called it Caniaderi Guarunti, " the lake that is the gate of the country. The lake afterwards received the name of Champlain; of which the Dutch and English attempted to rob him by calling it Corlear, but, notwithstanding this English presumption, it still retains its French name of Champlain, as our own bay does its charming Indian name of Belle Maqueen.
In 1664, all New France from Hudsons Bay to
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Florida and Virginia were bestowed on France, for- ever to be held by the crown in trust for the great company of the west, the king signing the edict so creating it on May 24th, 1664.
And what now constitutes the towns of St. Albans, Swanton, Highgate and Georgia were formed, as in Canada, into French Seignories, St. Albans being known as that of La Douville, which included the western part of Swanton and Georgia. The eastern part with Highgate, has been desig- nated as the Seigniory of De Bauvais, and so re- mained until France surrendered to the English in 1760. This subject of French Seigniories in our own vicinity is a very unique but interesting one to reflect upon.
ENGLISH RULE.
After the English obtained mastership, our town was included in what was known as the New Hampshire grants, and was chartered Aug. 16th, 1763, by Benning Wentworth, the Royal Governor of New Hampshire, into seventy shares, but not one of the original grantees took possession. St. Albans, as a part of New Connecticut, alias Ver- mont, declared her independence in 1777. In re- lation to the name of our state, it is stated that it was named by the Rev. Mr. Peters, the first clergy- man who ever visited the Green Mountains, and de-
5
OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
rived from the two words, verd and mont. This is disputed by some historians, who claim it was named after and by the Abbe de Vermont, reader to the Queen of France, in the 16th Century, and that the Reverend Peters merely rechristened it in 1763, then observing "the name was purely French."
But our town, as a part of Vermont, was impos- ed upon, trifled with, and almost ignored by Con- gress, but after many trials and much tribulation, was admitted into the Union in 1791, and was the first child born into our great family of states. Before its birth, the infant was claimed by the In- dians, the French and the English; also, by the states of New Hampshire and New York; while Massachusetts and Connecticut stuck their noses into the mess. She must have been a precocious child to have maintained her independence in the face of so much opposition ; and it is unnecessary to add that this characteristic of the parent has been inherited by one of her offspring, viz .: St. Albans.
HER FIRST SETTLERS.
Previous to the Revolutionary War, there were no settlers in what is now our village. The first known settler in the town of St. Albans was Jesse Welden from Connecticut, who first emigrated to
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Sunderland, Vt., from hence to what is now known as Balle Island on ancient maps, situated in Lake Champlain, but in our town, and was the first clearing in our town, hence the more modern name of Bald Island. This was in 1774.
And he afterwards removed to our bay, locating a few rods south of the meeting house. Two other settlers coming in the same season, one pitching south of the four corners leading to the Brackett place. The other located south of the bay, on what is known as the Nelson Buck place, where now stands the orthodox looking house, occupied by the son-in-law of Mr. Buck.
At the commencement of the Revolution, Mr. Welden retired to the seclusion of his island home where he found himself in more danger, being taken prisoner by the British, from whom he escaped and appeared before "the Council of Safety " at Bennington, Vt., soliciting permission to hunt in Northern Vermont, of which is the fol- lowing notice taken from the records of Council of Safety and of State.
In Council, Bennington, Vt., Feb. 4th, 1778. " The bearer, Jesse Welden, having this day taken the oath of allegiance to the United States, within this state, and is there to remain unmolest- ed until further orders from this Council."
By order of Council,
JOSEPH FAY, Sec.
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OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
ยท Mr. Welden undoubtedly intended to return in 1778, as the following pass demonstrated.
In Council, Bennington, Feb. 4th, 1778.
The bearer, Jesse Welden, having this day taken the oath of allegiance to the United States of America, is permitted to pass to his home in St. Albans, within this state, and there to remain un- molested until further orders from this Council.
By order of the Council,
To whom it may concern. JOSEPH FAY, Sec.
He did not, however, avail himself of this liberty and protection from the government until the close of the war, when he returned to the Bay in 1785, and located on what is now known as the Crosby place.
In 1786, Mr. Welden removed to this village, clearing about seventy acres of land and building a log house, a few rods south-west of the Hough- ton house, where his hearthstone was visible a few years ago. In 1787, he again changed his resi- dence to the opposite side, near the home of Dea. H. M. Stevens, in which latter residence of Mr. Welden our town was organized July 28th, 1788, one hundred years ago. Mr. Welden continued to reside there, holding various town offices, until 1795, when he was drowned in the autumn of the same year, when returning from Plattsburgh in a log canoe, his body being recovered the following spring, and was not buried here, as history informs
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
us, but on Isle La Motte, famous not only as the burial place of our first settler, but as the location of the ancient fort of St. Anne, antedating all other settlements in Vermont by over fifty years. Mr. Welden, for a half-breed Indian, possessed many humanizing elements of character, as he subscribed fifty dollars towards the prospective University of Vermont, and possessed a Bible prized at over six dollars. One of his daughters married William Griffin, both of whom I remember. His grand- daughter married here, and his great-grandson is among us at this time. In which connection the author would venture to remark, that inasmuch as the young man had been in the employ of one of the Centennial committee, it would have been a simple act of courtesy to have invited him to an honorable position during the celebration.
OUR FIRST TOWN MEETING
Which was held, according to the warning, at the house afore named of Jesse Welden. It was dated at Georgia, Vermont, and signed by John White, Assistant Judge, who resided in that town. Al- though a representative to the Assembly was elected that year, and the same citizen having been appointed a Justice of the Peace the year before the organization of the town, yet a full board of officers were not elected until the following year,
9
OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
I789, as follows : Silas Hatherway, Moderator ; Jonnathan Hoit, Town Clerk; Andrew Potter, David Powers and Silas Hatherway, Selectmen ; Alfred Hatherway, Town Treasurer ; Daniel B. Meigs, Constable ; Jonnathan Hoit, Alfred Hath- erway and David Powers, Listers ; Daniel B. Meigs, Collector ; David Campbell, Grand Juror ; Jesse Welden, Pound Keeper; Andrew Potter, Tithingman ; Silas Hatherway, Hog Hayward ; Jesse Welden, Fence Viewer ; Andrew Potter, Jesse Welden, Benjamin Bradley, Surveyors of High- ways ; Noel Potter, Benjamin Bradley, and Timo- thy Winter, Petit Jurors. The first Justice was Jonnathan Hoit.
OTHER SETTLERS.
At the date of our organization it is noticed that other settlers had come in soon after Mr. Welden, some of whose descendants are with us at the present time.
Among them Daniel B. Meigs, the grandsire of Selectman Meigs, whose father, John Meigs, was the first male child born here. Also, Major Mor- rill, a Revolutionary officer, who built the stone house on the Buck farm, and purchased a govern- ment grant of 1,000 acres, which extended from the lake shore to Main Street. He was the only man whom the old inhabitants recollect as dress-
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
ing as a gentleman of the old school, with knee buckles and hair in a cue. Capt. Freeborn Potter, the father of our worthy citizen, Major Dan Potter, located on the hill farm of ex-Gov. Smith, after- wards known as " the hill of the Potter," until the first man ever hanged here, which was north of the farm barn in 1820; it was then changed to Gallows Hill, which was retained until my friend created a palatial home there, and the author re- christened it "Mt. Pisgah," which he has never acknowledged in suitable terms. About this date came the Greens. Job, the grandfather of ex-Sen- ator Green, settled on the farm where his present grandson now lives, which has been held by the family for over one hundred years ; while Nathan, the father of our friend Judge Henry Green, settled at the foot of Johnny-cake Hill, who often made his boast that he had his choice of all the girls in town, there being but two, he preferring the white one to the squaw. Near the date of the Greens, Potters, Meigs, and others settling here, came Levi Allen, a brother of the famous Ethan, who laid claim to a great part of our territory, whose celebrated brothers, Ira and Ethan, regarded as " a slippery character," to whom Levi retorts in the following bizarre terms, supposed to have been written in 1777 :
II
OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
Ethan .- Old Ethan once said in full bowl of grog Though I believe not in Jesus, I hold to a God ; There is also a Devil-you will see him one day In a whirlwind of fire take Levi away.
Ira .- Says Ira to Ethan it plain doth appear That you are inclined to banter and jeer ; I think for myself and I freely delare
Our Levi is too stout for the prince of the air ; If ever you see them engaged in affray,
Tis our Levi who'll take the Devil away.
Levi .- Says Levi, your speeches make it perfectly sure
That you both seem inclined to banter and jeer ; Though through all the world my name is enrolled For tricks sly and crafty, ingenious and bold, There is one consolation, which none can deny That there is one greater rogue in this world than I.
Ethan and Ira .- " Who's that?" they both cry with equal surprise.
Levi .- Tis Ira ; tis Ira ; I yield him the prize.
As no record has been discovered prior to the appearance of Levi here, of our town being named by any of the settlers, it is natural to infer that the Allens may have named it, as Levi humorously addressed a letter to his wife before locating here, as " the Duchess of St. Albans," which was un- doubtedly named after the St. Albans in England, "a place founded by the Romans, and after being raised to the dignity of a city was then called Veru-
I2
A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
lam, which was destroyed by the Britons 61 years after the birth of Christ. In 304, Alban suffered martyrdom for his religous faith, and was called the proto or first British martyr. In 755, an abbey was founded in his honor, which flourished until the 14th Century," which is the oldest church in England, and was restored in 1887 ; the place be- ing now known as St. Albans, and is the burial place of the great Lord Bacon.
THE GREAT MOGUL OF ST. ALBANS.
In 1788, Silas Hatherway came to look over the town ; as a result he moved here with his family the year following, and became worth a million in land, and was frequently called Baron Hatherway, in other words he was the Great Mogul, represent- ing the substantial element of St. Albans society. There is no doubt that he did more than any one else to promote emigration here. He resided in a log house, just south of the residence of the late Judge Hoit, until 1794, when he built the Hoit house for a hotel. After holding numerous offices, having represented the town eight times, was chosen delegate in 1791 to the convention to ratify the constitution of Vermont, Assistant Judge in 1799, and supposed by many to be the actual donor of the park. In 1799, he petitioned the legislature for a charter for a University, to be
I3
OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
located in St. Albans, which passed the House. Mr. Hatherway may well be regarded as our Great Mogul, as at that time he could travel on his own land twenty-five miles from Canada line.
In 1800, Asa Fuller ca ne hither, possessing the novelty of several thousand dollars in money, who purchased the place. Mr. Hatherway removed to Swanton Falls, representing that town in 1802. The following year he sold all the land comprising the present village of the Falls, some 5,000 acres, to the Ferris' for $5,000, and returned to St. Albans, where he died comparatively poor in 1831.
Asa Fuller began to improve the land soon after his purchase from Mr. Hatherway. The writer remembers when all the land north and east of this house, as well also, east of the homes of Mr. Ellis, Mrs. Bowman, Mr. Borley, &c., extending to the woods, were filled with fruit trees, so close that the apple blossoms caressed the maple boughs. He also brought on horseback from Connecticut, fourteen chestnut trees, which attained large size, and when in bearing were cut down in 1848, on account of the numerous picnics held beneath their branches They being the only ones in this region it was simply an act of vandalism.
With these earlier settlers were the Brooks' who settled on the Point, and Christopher Dutcher, at the bay, in 1790. Later on the Rugg place, South
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
Main Street. A few years after came the Hoits, Churches, Brighams, Whittemores, Dea. Samuel Smith, Beals, the Clarks, Jewetts, Tullars, Gates, Gilmans, Nasons, Walkers, Bells, Lasells, Eatons, Mitchells, Haynes, Wm. Weeks, Colonys, Wrights, and Col. Taylor ; all of whom have left worthy ex- emplars of their race. But equal to any of them was David Stevens, whom all the town called grandpa, and who gave his justice fees into the school fund, which is glory enough for his de- scendants.
DISTILS AND HOTELS.
In the early history of the town Distils and Hotels were more numerous than churches and schools. Of the former there was one at the foot of Howard Hill, another near the residence of Judge Bedard, and one at the foot of the hill on Congress Street, called " The Devil's Tea Kittle." The Potter House was a hotel about 1793. The Nason House, south of the cemetery in 1797. The Blaisdell House in 1796. The large house that stood where is now the house of H. Brainerd, I796. The Kendell House, 1798. The Branch Farm House, 1800. The hotel that stood oppo- site the Brainerd store as early as 1810. " The American," in 1815, and so on.
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OF ST. ALBANS, VERMONT.
OUR FIRST PLACES OF BUSINESS.
In 1792, Charles Whitney is supposed to have opened the first store in our town, which was sit- uated nearly between the gates, outside the front yard, of the Dorsey Taylor house, that house not having been built at that time. The second, occu- pied by William Jackson in 1793, stood where the Nason Hotel was, on the lot now filled by the resi- dence of S. S. Allen, south of the cemetery, which store was moved across the road on the corner of Nason Street, to make room for the erection of the Nason House in 1797, where it was occupied by Dr. Hoit for a drug store in 1802. Hall, Crane & Pomeroy had a store a short distance north of Whitney's, on the northwest corner of the Taylor yard. Daniel Ryan's was in front of the present residence of Mrs. Doct. Stevens, near the lamp post. Dr. John Stoddard built the store, corner of Main and Fairfield Streets, in 1808. This store of Dr. Stoddard was then on the south- west corner of the common, Fairfield Street from Main to Church, was not then opened, but the public road then ran diagonally from the present Episcopal Church to the Brainerd store, so re- maining a travelled road until 1842.
And in our early history there was a line of log houses, shops and stores, extending from the southwest corner of our park, to a log house in
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A CENTENNIAL HISTORY
the center of the present road at the foot of Johnny-cake Hill, the road then winding around the hill at the right hand.
Curtis & Foote traded on the lot now filled by Farrar block. The former built the Hougton house in 1800 ; and when his wife died she lay in state, arrayed in white satin, adorned with jewelry, and was buried in a solid mahogany coffin, but the husband died in the debtors room in the jail. Carter Hicock and Jo Munson did business in the rookery, so long occupied by Mr. Atwood, near the present store of J. A. Bedard. Mr. Rhodes erected the building, now standing on the corner of Main and Congress Streets, in 1802. and there did business. All of these traders quit before 1811. As before noticed, Dr. Hoit opened a drug store in 1802, on the corner of Nason Street, but in 1807 moved to the corner where now stands the American Hotel ; and still later to the brick store, near his residence, now occupied by a bakery. Mr. Kingman had north of the Dr. Waugh building, and later, near the head of the street that bears his name. Mr. Orange Ferris traded in the store, situated on the southwest corner of the park ; L. & S. Brainerd where now stands Brainerd block ; N. & H. Wells, in the first three-story building erected here, but now occupied by the still later Farrar
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