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HISTORICAL NOTES
JAMAICA
WINDHAM COUNTY VERMONT
COMPILED AND EDITED BY
WARREN E. BOOKER, D.D.S.
1940
COPYRIGHT, 1940 BY WARREN E. BOOKER
E. L. HILDRETH & COMPANY, INCORPORATED BRATTLEBORO, VERMONT
INTRODUCTION
T THE purpose of this book is to leave a record of his- torical items that may be of interest to the people of Jamaica and anyone who might be interested.
I wish to thank and give credit to the authors and pub- lishers of the following works which have been used by me for the early history of Jamaica : 1135575
Vermont Register, 1840. Hall's History of Eastern Vermont, 1856.
Map of Windham County, 1856.
Vermont Record, 1860.
Historical Gazetteer, Volume V.
Atlas of Windham County, 1869, Beers, Ellis & Soule.
Vermont Record and Farmer, 1876.
Windham County Reformer, 1882.
Child's History of Windham County, 1884.
Londonderry Sifter, Shanks, 1887. Jamaica Ginger, Mundall, 1890-92.
Maria Hemenway's Gazetteer of Vermont, 1891. The Vermonter.
Congregational Church Record Book, Jamaica. Baptist Church Record Book, Jamaica.
History of Londonderry, Cudworth.
Federal Government Reports for Post Office.
History of the Jamaica Savings Bank, Judge Water- man.
Remarks on Jamaica, Judge Butler, 1922.
Vermont State Geologist, 1935.
United States Geological Survey, 1936.
Also grateful acknowledgment to the many people who have helped me in regard to dates and items about
iv
INTRODUCTION
the town, and to those who have given me permission to use their photographic prints for illustrations : Lewis R. Brown, H. L. Chapman, John C. Henkel, Mrs. Ruth C. Robinson and Miss Caroline Lowe, also to Dr. B. T. But- ler for notes on local geology.
It has been impossible to verify all instances of birth- place and when date of birth is given and no mention of place, Jamaica is understood to be meant.
WARREN E. BOOKER, Jamaica, Vt.
February 28, 1940.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
I. Discovery, Description and Geology 1
II. Indian Period, Settlement and Charter 4
III. Schools, Town and Private 21
IV. Churches 33
V. Post Office 43
VI. Hotel, Inn, Tavern 47
VII. Banks 49
VIII. Railroad 60
IX. Military History 64
X. Industries 73
XI. Libraries 83
XII. Associations, Clubs and Societies 97
XIII. Villages 133
XIV. Physicians, Lawyers, Dentists 141
XV. Points of Interest 143
XVI. Sports 146
XVII. Camps and Homes Recently Bought in Ja- maica 152
XVIII. Cemeteries 156
XIX. Town Statistics 158
XX. Genealogy 173
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Map Showing School Districts in 1868 Frontispiece 6
Map Showing Numbered Roads
Caleb How Signature
14
Part Page of Credits from Caleb How's Book
16
Part Page of Debits from Caleb How's Book
18
Plan of the Village in 1868
32
Jamaica Savings Bank
34
Main Street, East
34
Baptist Church and Parsonage
34
Copy of Air Mail Cachet
45
Facsimiles West River Bank Checks
49
Reduced Copy of $10, West River Bank Bill
52
Bank Check of West River National Bank
52
Hamilton Falls
61
Railroad Cut and French Bridge
61
Revilo Howard House Remodelled by the Bookers, 1930
81
Memorial Library
83
Audience at Dedication
83
Children's Group at Dedication
83
Early Settlers, Pageant
108
Audience at Salmon Hole, Pageant
108
Turkeys
117
Part of Herd, Cows
117
Jamaica Farmer and Team, 1890
117
Minuet Dance, Pageant
127
Tea Party, Pageant
127
Maple Sugar Industry
129
View, South Hill
136
viii
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
View of Jamaica Village
136
Part of Flock, Sheep 136
Indians at Salmon Hole, Pageant August 7, 1930
143
Salmon Hole, Scene of Indian Raid May 31, 1748 143
Family Pet
154
Fountain and Sundial
154
The Homestead, Twitchell Farm
154
Resolute, Tamed by "Professor" Gleason 184
Vermont Coat of Arms 215
CHAPTER I
DISCOVERY, DESCRIPTION AND GEOLOGY
In May, 1535, Jacques Cartier, a French navigator, on his second voyage, with three small ships, sailed up the St. Lawrence river, and October 2, 1535 was shown the beautiful country belonging to the Iroquois, called "Iro- quoisia." Thus came the first Europeans upon the terri- tory now included within the limits of the State of Ver- mont.
Jamaica, Windham County, Vermont. Latitude 43° 5' North, Longitude 4° 11' East, from Washington, D. C. Area, 42 square miles, 27,017 acres. Elevation, 688 feet.
From a Spanish word, "Haymaca," meaning "Isle of Springs," "Island of Fountains," or "well watered."
Population
1791
1800
1840
1860
1880
1939
263
582
1586
1606
1252
600
Width of highways is not less than three rods. This does not apply to trails, crossroads, lanes, and pent roads. "Laws of Vermont 4743."
Elevation of Hills in Township
The Pinnacle
2504 feet
West Jamaica Hill
2060 feet
College Hill
2051 feet
Sage Hill 2040 feet
Shatterack Mountain
1900 feet
Turkey Mountain
1800 feet
Ball Mountain
1765 feet
South Hill
1700 feet
Tom Thumb Mountain
1050 feet
2
HISTORICAL NOTES
Ponds
Adams Cole's or Jamaica
Esterbrook Grover
River and Brooks
West River
Howard Brook
Ball Mountain Brook, North and South Branch
Sharp Brook
Turkey Mountain Brook
Cobb Brook
Whetstone Brook
Waterfalls
Hamilton Falls, Cobb Brook
Pikes Falls, North Branch, Ball Mountain Brook
Jamaica is in the eastern foothills of the Green Moun- tains, which are made up of rock of very old gneiss of Archeozoic age, which is about as old as any rock known in the United States.
This rock literally forms the backbone of this region, as all the strata of younger age lie upon it, both to the east and west.
The hills and mountains after many thousands of years of weathering filled the valleys and formed a peneplain, and these hills of resistant rock, standing in the plain are called monadnocks; College Hill and The Pinnacle are examples of this formation in Jamaica.
Jamaica, like the entire State, was covered by moving ice many hundreds of feet thick during the Glacial epoch, and much scratching and scouring resulted. Many valleys were filled with stones, gravel and sand by the slowly mov- ing ice mass, especially valleys running across the path of the ice. Streams today are removing this boulder filled material. At this period many boulders were left in pe- culiar positions throughout the country. Balancing Rock near the French Bridge is one.
The earth is made up of rocks of many kinds and con-
3
JAMAICA, VERMONT
ditions, even sand being included, as it is merely former rock that has been reduced to fine grains, by the wearing down by erosion. Unconsolidated rock includes also gravel and boulders, so common in Jamaica.
Most rocks are composed of minerals, oxides, carbon- ates and silicates in which sulphides often occur. Most minerals can occur in the crystal form. Very little of the metallic group is found here, iron pyrite, FeS2 (fool's gold), is quite common. The non-metallic minerals, quartz, feldspar and mica are common, talc and garnet are found in small quantities, rocks found are gneiss and mica schist, with perhaps some local beds of old crystalline limestone. Most talc is a schistose rock. College Hill and Sage Hill seem to be made up of gneiss, a coarse rock more compact than schist. It is very much changed from its original structure and has been injected by quartz, granite and pegmatite veins and dykes. It is undoubtedly Archeozoic in age.
Ball Mountain Brook valley was choked by boulder de- posits during the Ice Age. Some of the gravel pits now being used, Twing's at Pikes Falls, and Butler's at East Jamaica, show stratification, showing that they were de- posited in water. Twing's was probably a small lake at the edge of the ice-filled valley during the waning period of glaciation. Other deposits along the West River could have been formed during floods ages ago, before the river had cut down to its present level. The high flat terraces indicate this.
CHAPTER II
INDIAN PERIOD, SETTLEMENT AND CHARTER
Scouts under command of Capt. Eleazer Melvin of Northfield, Mass., left Fort Dummer early in May, 1748. Going westward they reached Lake Champlain opposite Fort Frederick, a French outpost, when a party of In- dians in canoes was discovered. It seems that a company of about thirty Indians had left Canada May 1 for the frontier, under command of Sieur Manot. The Indians re- treated at the first firing, which also alarmed the men at the fort. Three cannon were discharged, and one hundred and fifty men turned out in pursuit of the enemy. Captain Melvin retreated across the mountain to the head of the West River, halting in what is now the town of London- derry, May 30. Next morning, while shooting salmon for breakfast at Salmon Hole, unaware that their trail had been followed by a party of two Frenchmen and nine In- dians under Sieur Louis Sumblin, creeping under the bushes until near their prey, the Indians pounced upon them. The English, who were careless in being separated from their arms, were surprised and five were killed: John Howard, Isaac Taylor, John Dod, Daniel Mann, and Samuel Severence, and Joseph Pettie wounded. After only a slight resistance Captain Melvin climbed the cliff and shouted orders to his men that each was to make for Fort Dummer.
Their victors did not attempt to follow them but re- turned homeward to Montreal in triumph with five scalps. Melvin on reaching Fort Dummer that evening reported, and Capt. Phineas Stevens next morning led a company to the scene of the disaster, found the five bodies and buried them near the mouth of Ball Mountain Brook, but
5
JAMAICA, VERMONT
failed to find Pettie, who had given out and had been left by his companions in their flight; but later sixteen men from Northfield, Mass., after a search of five days found the body and buried it. These were the first deaths and burials in the town of Jamaica.
Asa Gage settled near here and in clearing the land found marked trees which he left standing, these trees were remembered by his son Sullivan Gage. It was sup- posed these trees marked the spot where the bodies were found. Philetus Kellogg and Mason Howard while work- ing in a field near where the railroad depot was built, found a ball of earth and on examining it they found a sun-dial compass about the size of a watch of ancient make, and old enough to have been used at that period. It was made and adjusted to the latitude of Massachu- setts. The cover screwed on, and the dial divided to quar- ter points, and was lettered for the Dutch. The needle works. Captain Melvin kept his journal showing observa- tions by such an instrument down to the time of the battle, and it is believed it was his and lost in the fight. This compass was in the possession of the Hon. H. H. Wheeler of Jamaica at one time. This is thought by some as proof that the fight took place at Salmon Hole. The compass is now in the Windham County Historical Museum at Newfane.
One of the men who took part in the skirmish at the Salmon Hole, Ensign Joseph Kidder, died April 19, 1817. Born 1725, he was 23 years old when the fight took place, was 92 years old at his death, and had six children.
The first permanent settlement in Windham County, Vt., was in the town of Brattleboro at Fort Dummer, built by the Province of Massachusetts Bay, for the protection of Northfield, Deerfield, and to the south. This was Feb- ruary 3, 1724.
The first settlers in Jamaica were William Hayward and his two sons, Caleb and Silas, from Townshend, who
6
HISTORICAL NOTES
had cleared some land the year before and built some houses into which they moved, June 16, 1775, near what is now East Jamaica, and the next day they heard the roar of the cannon at the battle of Bunker Hill.
MAP SHOWING NUMBERED ROADS.
I
50
52
54
32
3
Wint
H
N
stat
14
53
Sarth W
1
7
9
3
er
L
14
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004
79
24
P.O.
25
2.2
2
2
2
31
H 29
3
35
32
East Jamai(
Jamaica
İP.O.
4
C
44
46
7
9
Wardsboro
trattom P.O
West
16
.16 :
sbo
In early days all roads were numbered, and are so in the records of the township.
The night after their arrival, Elisha Hayward was born. Hemenway's "Gazetteer" says this was the first child born in Jamaica. But this is not in accord with
West
33
Brook
12
Ba
BA
Adams Pond 8
q Por
lle
Raw sons
S
P.O.
8
Jamaica
2
L 30.
R.O.
7
JAMAICA, VERMONT
"Childs" record, which says that this firstborn was Ban- yard, son of Paul Hayward.
Benjamin Hayward, now spelled Howard, came from Mendon, Mass., had six sons settle in Jamaica. Paul and Calvin were two of them.
By a resolution of the General Assembly of Vermont, passed on November 6, 1780, the township of Jamaica was granted a charter to Samuel Fletcher and fifty-three others, on a payment of nine pounds lawful money for each right. The charter was signed the next day, Novem- ber 7, 1780.
The conditions of the charter were that each proprietor of said township of Jamaica, his heirs and assigns, shall plant and cultivate five acres of land, and build a house thereon at least eight feet square, on each share or plight of land in said township, within the term of four years, and that all pine trees fit for masting the Royal Navy were to be preserved, and none such cut without special license, also one share for the first settled minister. This is known as "Ministerial Land," and the income from it to be used for the support of the church. The first Pro- prietors' meeting was June 5, 1781, and voted to lay out the township into lots, James Mack to be surveyor, and a committee of five was appointed for lotting off the township, and they should be paid two pounds and two shillings per week and also travel, and it was voted that silver money and Vermont currency should be used as a tender to the Proprietors' collector and no other.
The first town meeting was held September 3, 1781, at the house of William Hayward, on road 28 at East Ja- maica, and elected the following officers :
Lucius Wilson, Moderator William Howard Church, Town Clerk Benjamin Howard William Hayward Selectmen
William Church
8
HISTORICAL NOTES
Calvin Hayward, Constable Peter Hazeltine, Treasurer Paul Hayward, Lister Caleb Hayward, Surveyor
Among the original grantees were His Excellency Thomas Chittenden, Col. Samuel Fletcher, Benjamin How, Col. Moses Robinson, Ira Allen, Esq., William Hay- ward, William Church, Caleb Maynard, Peter Hazeltine, Eleazer Harris, Stephen Rawson, John Butler, Paul Hay- ward, and about forty others.
In the early days Vermont was called the "wilder- ness," and was said by some to be composed of two stones for each bit of dirt. But little by little the wilderness be- came a garden of beauty, and the township of Jamaica has its share. The signs at the entrance of the village give as points of interest College Hill, Salmon Hole, and Balancing Rock. Of course there are many others, and some of them are described elsewhere in these pages. There are many magnificent views and landscape pic- tures, and in October the coloring and cloud effects are beyond description, and should be seen to be appreciated.
In 1784 the road from West Townshend to Peaked Rock was built. At this point there was a ford, and Aaron Butler who lived near had a log canoe, and made a charge of four pence half penny. He had a horn hanging on a tree, and when it was blown he came and ferried across. This road was built to Winhall in 1790, but there was no bridge for many years where the bridge is now known as "The French Bridge," so called because J. Clark French had his home and farm at this location on the south side of the river. There were very few roads, and travel was by stage-coach, and the freighting was by six-horse teams.
The winters were long, but not much time was wasted. Many things had to be done beside the regular chores for men, women, and children: butchering of beef and hogs;
9
JAMAICA, VERMONT
trying out of lard and tallow; making candles and soap; shelling of corn; thrashing oats, wheat, rye, and buck- wheat; making sled stakes and handles for axe, hoe, fork, and shovel, using hickory and white oak for these. After splitting straight-grained ash, it was beaten with a maul, the wood would separate and it was used for basket work. The wood parted better if cut in the spring when the sap was running. Milk pails, sap buckets, barrels, and hoops were all made of wood; also pumps, and pump pipes to carry water to the houses. For tools, about all they had were saw, drawshave, adz, axe, and knife. Working this ash wood into basket material was a hard job, and you could hear the steady thump of the maul for hours at a time, but it did separate the wood and made good stock of splint for all sizes of baskets. Candle dipping was one of the many tasks of the housewife. The tallow was melted in a large kettle, six or eight strings for the wick being strung on a slender stick, about one-quarter inch in di- ameter, and as long as one could handle, so they did not touch each other. The strings were dipped in the hot tal- low and raised to drain and cool, then dipped and cooled until the size of the candle wanted was made. This was before the candle mould of tin was in use.
In the early days each family tried to be self-support- ing as much as possible, making sugar, butter, cheese, apple jack, and many families dried apple to take to the local store for barter, receiving from two to five cents a pound. Many homes had the spinning wheel, to spin the yarn for weaving, knitting of stockings, mittens, tippets, and galluses.
Many beds had corn husks for mattresses.
The housewife depended on the roots, bark, and leaves of the medicinal plants she gathered in season and dried and prepared for use, in sickness and pain, the doctor not being easily reached in time of trouble. Some of the more common herbs used were : aconite, calomel, catnip, fennel,
10
HISTORICAL NOTES
hellebore, lobelia, rhubarb, sage, sassafras, sumac, thor- oughwort, wild cherry.
Making maple sugar is another of the hard jobs for the men. Many cords of wood have to be in readiness before the sap is gathered, for when the fire is once started it must be kept going, and one is surprised at the amount of wood it takes, for the fire is burning night and day.
Gathering sap was most always a case of wallowing around in the wet snow, with a pail in each hand, and sometimes not as full as it should be. Even if you were handy with a sap yoke, the sap would slop. It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make a gallon of syrup. However, there was some fun with all the work. One of the pleasures for the visitor was the sugaring off with the hot syrup and clean white snow, the syrup making the sticky fine grain of sweet that is of the pure flavor of Vermont maple sugar.
After a heavy fall of snow everybody was expected to get out and break roads. Six-horse teams dragged the snow rollers, and many a pair of oxen would pull a front pair of sled runners, with a bushy evergreen top on either side, chained so as to act as a side sweep.
Getting in the winter's wood was another big task. Most trees are cut in the winter. Any timber fit for plank or boards is made into logs and sent to the mill. Most of the wood is cut into four-foot lengths, and hauled and sawed into size for fireplace, kitchen, or chunk stove. This chopping wood is dangerous work, as the limbs are slip- pery with snow and frost, and the footing is never very good, and a slip may mean a bad cut, as all axes are kept at a very sharp edge, and if it does hit you, it may mean a serious accident.
In winter the young folks, also the older ones, enjoyed the sleighing parties from the near-by towns, with danc- ing, singing, and a good supper at the hotel. Then at home there were candy pulls, quilting parties, spelling
11
JAMAICA, VERMONT
bees, huskings and a red ear now and then, and don't for- get the sugar on snow, with pickles and doughnuts, and ducking for apples.
Clocks were not in common use, and many a south window sill in the kitchen was scratched when the sun cast a shadow, on the twenty-first of June at midday, and this mark was to indicate to the housewife that it was dinner time. I wonder what they did when the sun did not shine.
Jamaica offers a rich field for the student in botany. There are many of the wild flowers, ferns, mosses, and vines to be found from early spring until late fall. Many of the orchids are to be found, and I once found a clump of the Hooker's with six in bloom-and it seems unusual to find so many in an area of about four feet. The fringed gentian is not so common as the closed variety, but when a plant in full bloom is found it is a very beautiful thing, and considered by many as the most beautiful wild flower. Clintonia is another blue shade-this time it is the ber- ries, in color that is called a true blue with no purple tinge.
Hurricane and Floods
1788 August. A great hurricane with dense black clouds rolled up from the northwest, wind roared with deep thunder and lightning, then came the rain and the rush- ing hurricane-one full blast that swept the forest to the ground, no swaying of the trees back and forth, but one steady rush of the mighty wind that felled many trees in its range for many miles up and down the West River valley. Many cattle were killed and many buildings were unroofed.
1816 was known as the "Poverty" year or "16 Froze to death," also known as the "summerless" year, there was snow in June and every month except in August.
1869. A great flood that did much damage to the high-
12
HISTORICAL NOTES
ways and bridges. The French covered bridge was car- ried off and sailed down the river and lodged on the meadow opposite the schoolhouse. Afterward the bridge was taken apart and rebuilt with the same timbers, and lasted for many years.
The bridge on North Street was carried away, and Wil- liam Carr who was on it at the time was drowned, his body being found the next day. He was a town officer for several years, acting as collector, lister, and deputy sher- iff.
1925. A severe windstorm, "twister," destroyed the long covered bridge at the railroad depot. It is very un- usual for a bridge to be destroyed by wind. This twister came down the valley, and below little Ball Mountain turned and blew up the valley and struck the bridge and laid it flat upstream.
The last covered bridge in town was the Howard bridge at Rawsonville. Built in 1889, a Howe truss with nearly a flat roof, it was torn down for highway improvement in 1939.
Many people coming here from out of the state, and seeing the brooks and small streams, in the dry season, cannot realize the damage that may be done each year at high-water time. This town has so many bridges, some are carried away and have to be replaced.
1927 November. Very high water, with much damage to roads and bridges. French and Wardsboro bridges at East Jamaica destroyed.
1936. In the spring unusually high water, with the dam- age to roads and bridges high, the new steel girder bridge, "Wards," was damaged and the girders twisted and bent so that they had to be made straight to be used again.
1938 September. Hurricane and rain destroyed seven- teen bridges and many miles of highway. No lives lost, but many mills were wrecked and some destroyed en- tirely, the Leon Cheney mill being one.
13
JAMAICA, VERMONT
Flood Control
Just now the interest about flood control by the Fed- eral Government brings to mind the excitement in 1923 about a dam for water power on the West River above the Jamaica railroad station at a point known as the "Ox Bow." The water level was to be at the 1200-foot contour line and would submerge Londonderry, South London- derry, Winhall Station, and Rawsonville, leaving Bond- ville on the shore of the lake. This level it is estimated would develop a pressure of about 200 pounds to the square inch. It was said at that time water-power inter- ests had agents seeking land values up and down the val- ley, but not above the 1200-foot level.
Stores
The first store goods were offered for sale by Nathaniel Cheney, in a building known as the noon-house, nearly opposite the Congregational church. This noon-house was a small square building with a fireplace and chimney. This was before stoves were generally used and the meet- inghouse was not warmed. A fire was started in the noon- house in the morning, and the people who came from a distance left their lunch in the noon-house, to keep it from freezing, and filled their foot-stoves, and went to morning service. After service they went to the noon-house and ate their lunch, and then went to the meetinghouse for an- other sermon and prayer. This noon-house was also used by the workmen in cold and stormy weather as a place to eat their lunches and have a noon smoke.
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