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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01096 2741
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2019
https://archive.org/details/historyofbristol00unse
Vt. History of Bristol, Vermont
(1762-1940)
COMPILED BY
CARRIE K. HARVEY AND CLARA M. KELLOGG
FOR
THE OUTLOOK CLUB OF BRISTOL
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1:71814
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Outlook Club Members 1912
Back row standing, left to right: Mrs. Dana Hill, Mrs. Addie Hatch, Mrs. Elizabeth Rider, Mrs. Lena Denio, Mrs. Jennie Gove, Miss Evelyn Dumas, Mrs. Alice Sherwin, Mrs. Minnie Lawrence, Mrs. Lena Dickerman, Miss Kate Stewart, Miss Rosina Parmelee. Middle Row, seated: Mrs. Minnie Smith, Mrs. Jennie Wilson, Miss Anna Cooley, Mrs. Jennie Norton, Mrs. Ida Varney, Mrs. Seraph Sneden, Mrs. Fannie Grow, Mrs. Katherine Neal. Front row, seated: Miss Ella Norton, Miss Alta Cooley, Miss Helen Partch, Mrs. Mabel Bates, Mrs. Sarah Bristol, Mrs. Anna Bosworth, Mrs. Charlotte Estey, Miss Amy Sumner.
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HARVEY, CARRIE K. 84315 History of Bristol, Vermont (1762-1940) compiled by Carrie K. Harvey and Clara M. Kellogg for the Outlook club of Bristol. [Bristol, Vt., 1940] 115p. 25cm .
CONTENTS
Chapter
Page
Bristol History
7
Churches of Bristol
11
Bristol Schools
23
Manufacturing in Bristol
43
Military History of Bristol
55
Lodges and Societies
81
Interesting Spots in Bristol
93
Bristol Professional Men, Business Concerns and Town Officers
.
105
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Page
Page
Outlook Club Members 1912.
1
Aerial View of Bristol.
9
Baptist Church
13
Congregational
Church
17
Methodist Church.
21
North Street Showing Corner of Park
At Left.
71
Advent Christian Church
25
West Street Looking Toward Main.
71
Catholic Church and Rectory
29
Bristol High and Grade School.
33
"Gaige-Moore" Community House
33
Bristol House 1887.
37
Church Street Looking West.
37
Bristol Inn.
41
Bristol Inn Annex
41
Main Street About 1900.
47
Aerial View of Bristol with Main Range of Green Mountains in Background .. 53
Bristol Airpor
57
Holley Hall
61
Holley Hall and Drake-Farr Block.
. 61
Bristol Depot.
65
Bristol Baseball Team
77
Country Club House
85
South and Elephant Mountains from
Stony Hill.
91
Western Approach to Bristol Village .. 91
Looking East from Top of Stony Hill .. 97
Bristol Rock.
97
Aerial View of Lake.
103
New Ilaven River at Rocky Dale.
109
Baldwin's Creek in Drake's Woods
.109
Hogsback Mountain.
115
Bristol Village Reservoir
115
Bristol Railroad
65
To these women, by whose foresight and faithful effort the Outlook Club was founded, we gratefully dedicate this book:
Mrs. Lena Roseman Denio
Mrs. Ellen Beach Eastman
Mrs. Jennie Norton
Mrs. Joel Page
Miss Rosina Parmalee
Mrs. Carrie Patterson Partch
Mrs. Elizabeth Rider
Mrs. Ruth Norton Roberts
Mrs. Seraph Sneden Miss Kate I. Stewart
Mrs. Martha Parmalee Young
Mrs. Lillian Corey Boynton
Mrs. Jennie Everest Wilson
Bristol History
The town of Bristol is situated in the northeastern part of Addison County, bounded on the north by Monkton and Starksboro, on the east by Starksboro and Lineoln, south by Middlebury and west by New Haven. On the eastern side, running the entire length of the town is a spur of the Green Mountains composed of three separate mountains. known loeally as Hogsbaek, South and Elephant mountains. The only stream of import- anee in the town is the New Haven River which enters Bristol on the northeast from Lincoln and follows a southwest eourse into New Haven. Two small streams, both tributaries of the New Haven River are O'Brien Brook in the south part of town and Baldwin's Creek in the north part. There is a small pond in the northern part of Bristol, extending into Monk- ton, known as Bristol Pond or Lake Winona, which is of interest to fisher- men.
The town of Bristol was chartered by Benning Wentworth, Governor of New Hampshire, to Samuel Averill and 62 associates June 26, 1762 under the name of Pocoek, in honor of a distinguished English admiral of that name. The original eharter contained a grant of 23,600 aeres with the usual reservations of land for the governor, the support of the Gospel, the Glebe right, the minister lot and the sehools. The name was changed to Bristol by aet of the legislature, October 21, 1789 but no reason can be found in town or state papers for the change. It is quite possible that the new name was chosen after the town of that name in Conneetieut, for some of the early settlers eame from Connectieut.
The first settlement in Bristol was begun in 1786 by Samuel Stewart and Eden Johnson whose wives were sisters. The two families came together from Skenesboro (now Whitehall), New York. Mr. Johnson trav- eled by land to drive the eattle, while the rest traveled as far as Ver- gennes by boat. They ereeted the first building in town, a log eabin which they oeeupied jointly until Mr. Stewart eould build another one for his family. Mr. Stewart's daughter, Polly, was the first white ehild born in Bristol.
Although the Stewart and Johnson families are considered the first permanent settlers, when a committee of proprietors surveyed the town in 1785 they met a man who gave his name as John Brodt and said that he had lived in the town for 12 years since he fled from New York state, a fugitive. A pardon was seeured for him and he returned to New York leaving no mark of his stay in Bristol for he had ereeted only a very erude shelter for himself and eleared no land other than a small pateh where he raised a few vegetables.
The first male white child born in Bristol was Horaee Griswold, son of Benjamin Griswold. The first marriage was that of Samuel Brooks and Betsey Rorapaugh, an Indian woman, on March 16, 1791.
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8
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
The first proprietors' meeting on record was held at the home of Benjamin Griswold in Pocock, March 3, 1788. Miles Bradley was chosen moderator and Henry Mclaughlin, proprietors' clerk. The original survey of the town made in 1785 was reported and accepted and a tax of $2.00 was laid on cach proprietor's right to pay the expenses of surveying and laying out roads and bridges. A committee consisting of Timothy Rogers, Miles Bradley, Justin Allen, Cyprian Eastman and Henry MeLaughlin was chosen to lay out and care for the highways and bridges. The meeting was adjourned until May 13 when the proprietors were to meet at the home of Benjamin Paine in Addison. At this adjourned meeting it was voted to lay out 90 aeres to each right as the first division. The last unecting of the proprietors was held in 1816 but from 1795 to 1815 no proprietors' meetings are recorded.
It is evident that meetings were held prior to the one on March 3, 1788 for at that meeting the report of the surveyors, who were chosen in 1784 or '85, was given and these two statements are found in secondary sources --- "In the year 1785 John Willard, Jonathan Hoit and Miles Brad- ley-werc appointed a committee by the proprietors to-survey the town- ship," and "It is believed-that a proprietors' meeting was held in 1784 in Canaan, Conn."
The first town meeting was held in Bristol at the home of Justin Allen, March 2, 1789. Henry Mclaughlin was chosen moderator and town clerk; Amos Scott, treasurer; Justin Allen, constable; Cyprian East- man, Samuel Stewart and Robert Dunshee, sclectmen. The second annual meeting was held March 23, 1790 and a more complete list of town officers was chosen: moderator, Jeremiah Burroughs; town clerk, Samuel Renne; treasurer, Cyprian Eastman; selectinen, C. Eastman, Henry Mclaughlin and Gurdon Munsill; listers, Robert Dunshce, Amos Scott and Timothy Allen; constable, H. Mclaughlin. They also chose a tax collector, leather sealer, grand juror, pound keeper, tythinginan, two haywards, three fence viewers, three highway surveyors and a sealer of weights and measures.
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9
Aerial View of Bristol
TT
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
Churches of Bristol
Unlike most of the towns in the county which considered the support of the Gospel and the building of a meetinghouse town business to be taken up in town meetings, Bristol kept church and town matters separate. The first religious society in the town was the Baptist Church organized in 1794 by Elder Joseph Call with nine members. The first services were held in what is now known as Rocky Dale. The first Baptist minister was Reverend Thomas Tuttle who remained only a short time. The first settled minister in town, who received the use of the minister lot, was a pastor of this church, Reverend Amos Stearns who was ordained at the home of Robert Holley in Bristol, September 2, 1818. Services were held for the first few years in private dwellings, barns and schoolhouses. In 1819 the Baptists, Congregationalists and Universalists joined forces and built a meetinghouse which was to be shared according to their con- tributions of labor and money. In 1837 the Congregationalists sold their share to the Baptists and as the Universalist sect soon died out the Baptists came into full possession of the building which still serves them as their church. The first extensive remodeling was done in 1885 under the leadership of Reverend I. W. Koombs and an addition built on the north end of the church on land given by Mrs. Betsy Durfee. This addition was necessary to accommodate the church's first pipe organ which served until 1938 when it was remodeled.
In July, 1890 Reverend B. F. Kellogg was called to the pastorate of the Baptist Church and remained for four years. In June, 1894, while Mr. Kellogg was still pastor, the church observed its centennial anniver- sary.
For the following account of the Baptist Church history from 1894 to the present time we arc indebted to Reverend K. W. Sollitt.
Reverend Wesley A. Kinzie, a graduate of Rochester Theological Seminary in the Class of 1894 was called to the pastorate of the church in July of that ycar, coming immediately with his new wife to his dutics in this his first charge. He served the church for eight years and nine months most acceptably, was beloved by his people in consideration of his personal worth as a minister of the Gospel and a pastor, interested in all that concerned his church. During his pastorate many improve- ments were made on the church property. A new steeple was built, the cement work in front of the church was built, a cellar dug under the church and a furnace installed, a baptistry was built in the church and a new ceiling put in the auditorium. Under his leadership the present fine parsonage building was erected. After a long and successful pastorate he resigned in the spring of 1903, and on April 1 assumed his duties as pastor of the church at Barre, Vermont.
During the pastorate of Reverend Silas P. Perry who succeeded Mr. Kinzie a bell was placed in the belfry, the gracious gift of Mr. Ezra
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
B. Eddy, and a stove was purchased for heating water for the baptistry. Mr. Perry resigned January 3, 1907 to accept a call from the first Baptist Church at Richford, Vt.
A call was extended to Reverend I. E. Usher of Poultney which was accepted and he began his work September 12, 1907. During Mr. Usher's pastorate 38 were added to the church membership, and the church was reincorporated as the First Baptist Church of Bristol. Mr. Usher resigned May 1, 1911 to accept a call from the Baptist Church of Rupert, Idaho.
In June, 1911, Reverend E. M. Holman accepted an invitation to the pastoratc and his duties began August first. During Mr. Holman's stay, very gratifying progress was made in all departments of the church work and thirty-six names were added to the church roll. One of the outstanding characteristics of this pastorate was the prominence given to missions and the renewed enthusiasm aroused in this part of the church work. New chairs were placed in the vestry and other improvements made to the church property.
Upon Mr. Holman's resignation in May, 1915 to accept a call from the First Baptist Church of Fairfield, Mainc, the church extended a call to Reverend George C. Chappell of Montville, Conn., which was accepted. Althoughı Mr. Chappell's pastorate was of only a year's duration, the year was a prosperous one; there were thirteen new members added and all the services and activities of the church were in a flourishing condition. Needed repairs and improvements were made to the church kitchen, a new piano was purchased for tlic auditorium, a cement walk was laid from the church to the park and other alterations made.
Mr. Chappell concluded his work October 1, 1916, and on January 1, 1917, his place was taken by Reverend Thomas B. Hughes of Mechanic- ville, New York. His work was successful, all departments of the church went forward and fifty-one members were added during his term as pastor. The Every Member Canvass was adopted and extensive repairs made to the church property. The church was unusually fortunate in this pastorate in that Mr. Hughes' wife so ably seconded his efforts, as she was able to occupy the pulpit during his absence very acceptably. His resignation took effect October 1, 1919, and an invitation was extended to Reverend J. Joseph Fowler of Rowley, Mass., to become pastor of the church and his work commenced in May, 1920.
Under Mr. Fowler's leadership the Church School of Missions was instituted which has been held for six weeks annually ever since. The Christian Endeavor was thoroughly reorganized and put in a flourishing condition by Mr. Fowler who also conducted a very successful Go-to- Church Band of children who maintained an average attendance at the Sunday morning service of about thirty for four years. Mrs. Fowler trained the choir which added greatly to the worshipfulness of Mr. Fowler's preaching services. In 1925 the church was extensively remodeled and completely redecorated at a cost of nearly $10,000. At the annual meeting of 1925 almost the whole of the amount needed was pledged and every penny that was pledged was paid, such was both the financial and the spirit- ual condition of the church at that time. The changes made included a new entrance, which made possible a center aisle in the main auditorium,
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
13
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Baptist Church
15
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
new memorial windows throughout the building, new pews (the generous gift of the Vergennes Baptist Church) new carpet, hardwood floors, chairs for the vestry, lighting fixtures, and the spire restored to its original form. Many were added to the membership of the church during Mr. Fowler's ten years as pastor, and the popularity of the preacher brought great crowds to the church each Sunday.
Reverend Woodbury Stowell followed Mr. Fowler and for thrce ycars did a fine spiritual work especially among the aged members of the parish. It was during Mr. Stowell's pastorate that the church hegan to feel the effects of the economic depression and certain curtailments of expenses were found necessary.
Reverend Kenneth Sollitt began his work as pastor of the church August 1, 1933. Like Mr. Kinzie, he came to the pastorate direct from Colgate-Rochester Theological Seminary bringing his bride to the parson- age which Mr. Kinzic and his bride had built. Over cighty persons have come into the church in the five and a half years since Mr. Sollitt has been pastor of the church, forty of whom have joined by baptism. Many have been lost by death and removal but there has nevertheless been a net gain of between thirty and forty. During the first year of Mr. Sollitt's pastoratc $135 was spent for an acousticon, or hcaring device for the hard- of-hcaring. The church and parsonage have been repainted and the church organ completely rebuilt at a cost of $1000, all of which has been paid for. Two successful daily Vacation Bible Schools have been held and it secms probable that the Vacation Bible School will continue year after ycar. The young people's group has grown in numbers and about one third of the Sunday morning congregation are children and young people of high school age or younger. The average attendance at morning worship was a fraction under one hundred for the first five years of Mr. Sollitt's pastorate, an average which to date is being consistently maintained. The spiritual condition of the church seems good and economically the church has found it possible to increase their pastor's salary twicc, increase their missionary giving by 20%, rebuild the organ and make the other improve- ments mentioned abovec.
The church clerk, Mrs. F. R. Dickerman, reports the present church membership to be 234 of which 196 arc resident members representing 107 families. The Treasure Scekers, with Mrs. B. E. Varncy as their president, has fifty-two members and does a fine work among the women of the Parish. The Young People's Union touches the lives of between twenty and thirty high school young people, while the Children's World Crusaders, a newly formed organization for younger boys and girls is reaching some ten or a dozen boys and girls not yet old enough for the young people's society.
Mr. Sollitt left the Baptist Church in Bristol in May, 1940, to accept a call to the Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, Baptist Church. He was succeeded in Bristol by Reverend Hugh Q. Morton.
The Congregational Church was organized in July, 1805, by Reverend J. Bushnell of Cornwall who occasionally preached here after that. No defin- itc place of worship was established until 1819 wlien the Congregationalist, Universalists and Baptists built their union church. In 1837 the Congrega-
.
16
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
tionalists sold their share in the building and built a meetinghouse for them- selves which faced the common from the south. This church they later leased to the Advent Christian Society which now owns it. Their first settled minister was Reverend Calvin Butler, ordained in 1842. In 1890 the Congregationalist Society in Bristol had nearly died out but it became active again in 1899 under the fine leadership of Reverend C. N. Thomas and built a new church on North Street. Since the federation with the Methodists in 1917 this church has only been used for three months each year. Following Mr. Thomas were Rev. William Millar, Rev. William Scott, Rev. E. J. Ranslowe, Rev. Julian Klock and Rev. W. G. MacFarlane. The last Congregational minister in Bristol was Reverend W. G. MacFar- lane.
The Methodist Church was organized in 1813 when services were held at the home of Ebenezer Saxton. The first serinon was preached by Rever- end Steplien Scovenberger. No meeting place was erected by them until 1819 when a chapel was built which served until the present building at the corner of North and Church Streets was erected in 1840. During Mr. Skafte's pastorship (1904-05) this church was extensively redecorated and com- pletely modernized. This building underwent extensive remodeling and redecoration in the spring of 1939. The Methodists and Congregation- alists were federated May 24, 1917, having been known since that time as the Federated Church. Since the Methodists far out-number the Con- gregationalists in the federation a Methodist pastor has always been in charge. Services are held in the Methodist church except during the sum- mer months. There are at present about 160 members under the pastor- ship of Reverend Loren Heaton. The Ladies Aid, composed of the ladies of the parish, now numbers 56 members with Mrs. Irene Wheelock as president.
The following list of pastors of the Methodist Church was donated by Reverend Loren Heaton. No records of the pastors previous to 1834 are available.
1834- -Hiram Chase
1870-71-C. A. Stevens
-A. C. Rice
1872-75-Simeon Gardiner
- Adams Jones
1876-77-E. L. Walker
1835- -J. A. Belknap 1878-79-A. L. Dibble
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-L. Prindle
1880- - W. B. Osgood
1836- -J. A. Belknap
1881-82-P. W. Bell
1837- -J. H. Brown
1883- -B. S. Taylor
1838- -J. H. Brown
1885- -A. H. Nash
1839- -W. Bullard
1886- J. W. Gregory
-
-J. B. Burnham
1887-88-W. O. Tower
1840-41-B. O. Meeker
1889- - E. Mead
1842-43-G. N. Coptrell
. - W. N. Bossun
-
- -C. Divoll
1884- -R. W. Smith
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
17
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L
Congregational Church
19
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
1844- J. P. Foster
1890-91-W. R. France
Richard Brown
1892-94-J. G. Kunz
1845- -John Thompson
1895-99-L. A. Bigelow
1846-47-W. Ford
1900-02-H. L. Kelton
1848- -E. B. Hoff
1903- - G. E. Cady
1849- -W. P. Graves
1904-05-G. C. Skafte
-C. H. Gridley
1906-07-Frank Fletcher
- -M. Auken
1913-14-C. N. Curtis
1851-52-C. Barber
1915-16-George Parker
1853- -E. B. Hoff
1917-19-E. W. Gould
1854-55-Mathias Ludlam
1920-24-F. M. Hagadorn
1856- - B. H. Loveland
1857- - Lewis Dwight
1925- - Ernest Blackman 1926-27-George Stright
1858-59-T. Dodson
1928-31-T. Stevenson
1860-61-W. J. Pond
1932-33-H. Richardson
1862-63-N. W. Atwater
1934-36-C. L. Corliss
1864-65-M. Morgan
1937-39-Ralph Finley
1866-67-L. C. Bancroft
1939-40-Loren Heaton
1868-69-J. E. Metcalf
The Advent Christian Society was formed in 1840 and held regular services in the Academy Hall until they leased their present church building from the Congregationalists. Sometime prior to 1891 this building and the land on which it stood were purchased from the Congregational Society by William Howden and Mrs. Susan Hall, members of the Advent Church, for in 1891 these two people deeded the property to the Advent Christian Society as long as they continued to hold meetings there in support of the Gospel. When meetings ceasc to be held there the property reverts to the heirs of the donors. There is no settled minister now but meetings are held several times a year when Reverend Burr Eggleston of Salisbury, the last settled minister, conducts meetings.
The Catholic Church, St. Ambrose, was built in 1877 under the di- rection of Reverend Patrick Cunningham, pastor of the Middlebury Catho- lic Church. It is located just beyond the Bristol High and Graded School building and faces the common from the west. The first mass was celebrated here January 1, 1878. The first resident priest, Reverend Michael Carmody, was appointed in 1893. He had the parochial residence adjoining the church, built between 1893 and 1896. At the present time Reverend Thomas Liddy is in charge and the congregation numbers about 600 mem- bers. There are three parish organizations: The Catholic Women's Club, organized in 1935 and consisting of 49 members; St. Ambrose Ladies So- dality, organized in 1938, consisting of 80 members and the Holy Name Society organized the same year which consists of 97 men and boys.
1850- -W. P. Graves
1908-12-E. R. Stone
20
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
CEMETERIES OF BRISTOL
The earliest cemetery in town was located on Bristol Flats on the farm now owned by Alec Hammond. No trace of this now remains. The next cemetery in point of age is probably Greenwood situated at the foot of Stony Hill to the west of the village. Thrce stoncs in this cemetery bear testimony of early burial: one of a child, Amanda Soper, in 1802; the second a twin stone marking the graves of two daughters of George and Anna Sumner, one of whom died in 1804, the other in 1808. The third stone was placed there in memory of a Dafoote child who died in 1808.
Three other cemeteries which have been in existence for a long time and are still maintained are the Varney, Mcchan and Briggs Hill cem- eteries.
Land for the Catholic Cemetery, located north of Bristol village, was purchased in 1897 by Father Boyle and was blessed by the Very Rever- end Thomas Lynch in 1898.
21
HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
7
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Methodist Church
.
Bristol Schools
1789-1900
The first school in the town of Bristol was a simple building of logs erected by voluntary contributions of labor in March, 1789, and located on Bristol Flats. The first action in town meeting in regard to schools was in March, 1793, when the castern part of the town through the Notch was set off as onc entire school district. This was subdivided two years later, in town meeting, and at the meeting in 1803 two northeastern districts were reunited. The first official report of the schools was made in the census of 1810 and was attested by the town clerk, James Day. At this time all children between the ages of four and eighteen werc classed as scholars if they attended school at any time during the year. There was a total of 481 scholars in the ten districts which were named as follows; Center, North, Northeast, "Leg," United, Southeast, Hill, South, North Hill and Village. The district system of schools continued until March, 1893, when the ninc districts then existing were brought under control of one committec and the town system was adopted.
The first attempts toward secondary education in Bristol were made in 1837. A new schoolhouse had to be built in the village at this time so the members of the district built a two-story building hoping to establish a "select school" in the upper story, but their attempts proved inadequate. The next action was on October 26, 1852, when an act was passed in the state legislature incorporating a group of Bristol citizens into a body to establish a high school in the village. In town meeting in 1855 the selectmen were authorized to raise $600 during the next two years to aid in the con- struction of the "Bristol Literary and Scientific Institute" as the school was to be known. In return for this aid the town was allowed to hold town and freeman's meetings in a room on the second story. This room was used by the town until May 24, 1882, when it was sold to the school district for $480. The building was completed in 1856 and was opened September 3 of that ycar when Horace Thomas, the first teacher in the new building, started his classes.
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