USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. I > Part 20
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At the Flatts village, Charles Hubbell lived near the covered bridge that spans Brown's River; and Edward S. Whitcomb, Senior, owned thefarm and store situated where C. H. Hayden is carry- ing on the mercantile business. Robert Jackson lived on the farm now owned by Frank S. Jackson on the road leading to Underhill Center; and Luther Brown owned and lived in the brick house on the same road. The Arthur "Bostwick House," afterwards the "Dixon House," that was run as a hotel and summer boarding house for many years, stood on the road leading north through the main part of the village, a few rods north-westerly from said Whitcomb store building. L. M. Dixon lived where E. S. Whitcomb now resides; Julius H. Bost- wick owned and lived upon the premises where Samuel A. Hale lives; Isaac C. Bostwick lived at the corner of the said village road and the Race- way road; and Joseph Kingsbury lived on the op- posite corner on the farm where Walter E. Russell
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and his son John now reside. Amos Eastman lived in the next house north, nearly opposite of the Episcopal church. Samuel B. Bliss lived on the premises where his son Edwin Bliss resides, and carried on the blacksmith business there for many years; and George Claflin on the place on the op- posite side of the road. Stephen S. Brown, form- erly an eminent lawyer, resided westerly from the Claflin place, at the end of a spur of a road. Dr. A. F. Burdick lived many years where he now does, nearly opposite the Methodist church.
Benajah C. Buxton lived on the saw mill prem- ises on the south bank of Brown's River, on the road leading from where Homer Rawson lives to the "Cilley Hill," and Patrick Russell on the op- posite side of Brown's River, on the premises where Julia E. Moulton now resides. George B. Oakes owned the farm where Mrs. Henry L. Lane now lives; and Andrew J. Cilley lived on the farm where George White now resides. Spencer Cilley lived on the first farm on said "Cilley Hill" (so- called); and Walter E. Russell owned and occupied the next farm north till he moved on to the Kings- bury farm at Underhill Flatts (so-called) ; and George W. Smith lived for many years, and till his death, where his son-in-law, Henry T. White, now resides.
At the village of Jericho, sometimes called Jericho Corners, Rollin M. Galusha resided in the brick house below the bridge ; and Horatio B. Barney lived in the brick house below the "Tavern House" that was kept for many years by his brother, Martin C. Barney. Solomon Papineau
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lived where Joseph Bissonett now lives. George B. Oakes lived on the corner where E. B. Williams now resides; David Fish lived for many years where Charles E. Percival now lives; and Erastus Field, on the opposite side of the street. Anson Field, Sr., lived at the corner of the road opposite of the said George B. Oakes' place. Sylvanus Blodgett lived on the same premises where the Lu- cius Irish house now stands, and his son R. S. Blodgett a few rods further east; Orlin Rood lived for many years where his son, D. E. Rood, resides. Dea. Truman Galusha lived in the brick house on the hill where H. N. Percival now resides. R. Loomis Galusha lived on said Truman Galusha place, after the death of his father Truman, till his death.
The writer lived for many years above the Bar- ney "Tavern House," on the opposite side of the street; and Ferdinand Beach lived on the west side of the street as the street rises the hill. J. H. Hutchinson lived at the top of the hill west of the school house. Luther Prouty occupied the brick house and premises on the opposite side of the street from the school house where Horace S. Wood now resides. Joel Davis lived in the house west of the Methodist church, which house Calvin Morse afterwards owned and lived in, and is where H. A. Percival now lives. Dr. George Howe lived, before 1857, on the same street, in the house now owned by Anson Field; and Dr. Dennison Bliss lived on the south side of the street where Warren Fellows now resides. Anson Field lived where L. F. Wilbur now resides.
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John Oakes resided on the farm now owned by Glenn Booth, and William E. Oakes resided where Frank Howe now lives; and Nathan Porter lived where Mrs. M. B. Atchinson now lives, it being one of the oldest houses in the village. Simon Da- vis and Henry M. Field, his son-in-law, lived where Anson Field now does, on the street running north from the main street in the village; Joseph Jocko lived at the north end of the bridge, on the east side of said road; while Hiram B. Fish lived in the next house north from the Jocko place. John Fairchild lived on the opposite side of the road, adjoining the saw-mill premises.
The Baptist and the Methodist churches now occupied by those denominations respectively were built in the year 185S.
There are two places in Jericho with the build- ings thereon that have an interesting history that should receive more than a passing notice: viz., the Academy at Jericho Center and the Brick Church at the Village of Jericho.
At Jericho Center the Academy building and the land where it stands were conveyed by deed by Lewis Chapin on the 6th day of September, A. D., 1825, in words and figures following: viz .:-
"Know all men by these Presents that I Lewis Chapin of Jericho do by these presents give grant, convey and confirm unto the owners and proprie- tors of the building called the Baptist Meeting House and select School Room, the ground on it- the spot to contain 40 feet on the road and forty feet back-being forty feet on each of the four lines. To have and to hold the above granted and bar- gained premises to them;" etc.
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Said deed was received for record by John Ly- man, Jr., Town Clerk, and recorded in Vol. 4, on Page 500 of the land records of Jericho. On Oc- tober 28th, 1828, the Legislature of Vermont passed an Act of incorporation, by which Harvey Smith, Nathaniel Blackman, Wm. P. Richardson, Simon Bicknell, Hosea Spaulding, Simeon Parmelee, Septimeus Robinson, and Seth Cole, and their as- sociates and successors, were constituted a body politic and corporate, the Trustees and Mem- bers of Jericho Academy, with powers to hold property, real and personal, including a library.
At the Centennial anniversary of the organiza- tion of the First Congregational Church of Jericho in 1891, Professor Joseph S. Cilley, who was edu- cated at said Academy when the school there was having its palmy days, prepared and read at the anniversary a paper, which he gave me permission, before he deceased, to have appear in this book. The paper was as follows, Viz .:
"There are, in the lives of us all, occasions of special interest and of great importance. Seasons of success and failure, of victory and defeat; times of gladness and of sorrow; days of exceeding brightness and the deepest darkness; hours of the purest delight and of the deepest grief.
Nor are these times, days and hours ended when passed; they exist in memory forever, way marks in the journey of life over which we often pass in review to find return of joy or renewal of grief. This is a day especially calling for such re- view. One hundred years in the life of the First Cong. Church in Jericho end to-day. Most of
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those here assembled will find their review of life limited by much less than half the century, but others there are whose early recollections extend time much farther gone than that. Of that num- ber I am one, and I am glad to live over again in memory, for a day, my early life in Jericho, my un- ion with this Church in those boyhood days, and my pleasant hours spent as student in your acad- emy, concerning which Institution I was invited to speak to-day.
So to live again in my early home, with early friends, and amid the sports and delights of boy- hood days, is joy indeed, though lessened much by the thought that most of the things that then were, now are not.
In very early life Jericho was my home for two or three years, and again, years intervening, I was here a large share of the time for years in attend- ance at the Academy. And as I think of those bright days, I sympathize most fully with Holmes, as he exclaims:
"O, for one hour of youthful joy, Give back my twentieth Spring, I'd rather laugh a bright haired boy, Than reign a gray beard king."
But my recollections of the Academy go back of my connection with it. I well remember its Prin- cipal, Simeon Bicknell, who took charge of the school in the spring of 1827, I think. I remember him as my first teacher in Vermont, in a district school in that part of Jericho vulgarly called Bear- town. The next spring after that he became Prin- cipal of the Academy, and remained so about five years.
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Mr. Bicknell was a good man, a fine scholar, an excellent teacher, a Christian gentleman. So said the people, so said his pupils, and his praise was no less upon their tongues in after years than then. Under his administration Jericho Academy stood first, or among the first schools of the State, of its kind.
Scholars came in large numbers from far and near, many of whom stood high as students and afterwards attained eminence as men in the differ- ent pursuits of life, or as women in the noble works of her sex.
Those were the days of glory for the Academy and for the town of Jericho. Nor did that glory, though dimmed, fade entirely upon the departure of Mr. Bicknell. For several years the School flourished and prospered greatly in the hands of others.
I do not know the name of the immediate suc- cessor of Mr. Bicknell, but am sure that Eleazer J. Marsh soon followed him as principal, and that he remained a year or two. Mr. Marsh was my first teacher in the Academy, and to him I owe much of the delight I have since found in study, and for whatever success, little though it be, I have had in my life work. He was a noble man and a good teacher, respected and beloved by his pupils. Under his instruction I learned to read most of all, and I have since acted in accordance with my view, that when one has learned to read, he may further educate himself, if he will.
John Boynton, my second teacher, succeeded Mr. Marsh. He was the superior of Mr. Marsh
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in some respects, and inferior in none. Under him the Academy flourished. The people approved and his pupils rejoiced in his instruction and his coun- sel. He was a brilliant genial, kind hearted, man- lv man. He was courteous to all, but especially kind in manner to the poor and ignorant asshown in his daily intercourse with the people. He des- pised empty show and vain pretense, but honored solid worth whether in rich or humble garb. Dear, good man, long since he passed from earth away to rest, I trust in the presence of the God to whom with his pupils he offered his morning prayer.
My third and last teacher at the Academy, was James T. Foster; a kind, pleasant man, and a good teacher, though hardly the equal of either Mr. Boynton, or Mr. Marsh.
After him there was but little of permanence in instruction at the Academy, and the interest of former days began to decline. There were many teachers, one after another, for several years, but no special success attended the administration of any.
I was here during the summer of 1839, while a Rev. Mr. Kingsbury was principal of the school. He was a good man, no doubt, and I presume was competent to instruct, but he had no power to control. Simply an apology for a teacher, he ought to have apologized to all concerned for en- gaging as such, as ought every one who is in the position of a teacher and yet has no power of dis- cipline, no vim.
To lack of this, in most of those engaged as teachers in subsequent years, ( though other things
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tended the same way,) was due the steady de- cline of interest and prosperity in Jericho Acad- emy. So positive was that decline that the re- turn of Mr. Bicknell, the first able Principal, failed to restore its ancient fame. Though he was still the same able and efficient teacher and in a mea- sure successful, the decline continued, after his short stay, and death followed.
The building still remains but its halls echo not the steps of the student as once they did. Humble in its origin, never pretentious, and now plain in appearance as at first, but for those educated therein, it stands a reminder of pleasant hours, months, and years of joyous student life.
Incidents in my early life here, and especially of my school, so throng upon my memory that I can not dismiss them all, without a word of joyous remembrance or of sad recollection. My remem- brance of those days is very fresh and clear.
To the days of my school life here I refer now with special interest. It was on this wise: it was my fortune to be the son of a poor man; upon my importunity, he said to me, you may have your time and attend school, if you wish, having your home here whenever you desire it, but you must pay your own bills at school.
I was soon on my way here, rejoicing in the privilege given me. On my way, as I was just starting out in life for myself, I thought it well to take an inventory of stock. Doing so, I found a decent suit of clothes, books sufficient for present need, and down deep in my pocket my cash depo- sit, 25 cents, an old American quarter. That was
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my outfit. How I was to succeed I did not know, but I had faith and hope. I had already learned that this Jericho was not the place for one to fall among thieves, but I knew that I must find a good Samaritan to take me in, and I found him in the person of Mr. Nathaniel Blackman, who said he would board me for one dollar per week, and I might pay him when I could. And I found another in the Preceptor of the Academy, who also took me in on trust. The year was one of great pros- perity for me. Considerable progress was made in study; the winter was spent in teaching; in the spring my bills were all paid; and I had 300 per cent on my cash deposit, so that I then had a full round dollar, and that I paid for a second hand Latin Dictionary; and then, pennyless, I again went on iny way rejoicing. Nor was I alone in the struggle with poverty. Others there were reli- ant alone upon themselves. Among these I remem- ber Paraclet Sheldon, who became an eminent teacher; Charles C. Parker, afterwards an able and successful minister of the gospel, and Burr Mavn- ard now an eminent lawyer in Detroit. Others of this class were successful in the struggle, and among them a very dear class mate, Lester War- ren, now an able and respected clergyman. There were noble ladies in this class who struggled hard for victory and gained it. But by far the larger number of students had help in their course, and by their scholarly attainments and virtuous ac- tion they well repaid parental care and friendly aid. Mr. Chairman, there were scholars in the days of that Academy, made so by hard study.
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How their names stand out in memory. George Lee Lyman, George and James Blackman, Lucius and Edgar Lane, Emerson Chapin, George Bliss; and from away, were John A. Kasson and Luke P. Poland, men of national reputation, and dearer still do I remember as school mates, Whipple Earl and Torrey E. Wales. Nor are the ladies forgot- ten, Lucinda Bartlett, Irene Blackman, Hannah Richardson, Marcia Howe, Valencia and Minerva Lane, Esther G. Smith and many more of whom I can not speak now, live in memory with you as well as me. There was not a dishonored name among all I have mentioned or with whom I was associated in the school, so far as I know.
But, ah me! Where are the glad, joyous, hopeful and happy ones that thronged the Academy in those well remembered days ? Silence would. re- spond to the roll call of most of their names. But very few live in this vicinity. Some are far away. vet useful and happy, I trust, but most of them live only in the memory of the few who survive. The noble men and women who lived in these homes, fifty, sixty, seventy years ago, now rest vonder in their silent, windowless places of rest. The support of school and of the church, nobly borne by them, now rests upon their children who are themselves fast becoming old men and women. May this support so essential to the prosperity. happiness and eternal welfare of the people, never fail the good old town of Jericho.
Jericho Academy, like many others, stands to- day silent and alone, but those prepared therein for College, for teaching, for business, or for study
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of the professions, can never look upon it but with reverence and gratitude for the good there received, and will never think of it but with pride in its ancient fame, and sorrow for its present desola- tion."
The old Brick Church at Jericho Corners, which has been so handsomely repaired and furnished. and rededicated to the service of God, has been sul)- ject to many changes and has quite a history. The house was built in 1824 and 1825, on the land of Dr. George Howe, by an organized association called the "Brick Meeting House Society of Jeri- cho," under an "act of the Legislature for the sup- port of the Gospel," passed October 26th, 1798; that said Howe by deed conveyed said house and the green or common on which it stands to Oliver Lowry, Luther Prouty and Wm. A. Prentiss, April 3d, 1834, in trust to be used for religious worship, with a condition that it should revert to said Dr. Howe and his heirs if the owners and proprietors of the house should neglect to occupy the same for the purpose for which it was granted. Dr. Howe died in 1857, testate, leaving his property to his wife, who survived him. The Second Congrega- tional and Baptist churches occupied the house for public worship each on alternate Sabbaths from 1826 down to 185S. In 1S5S the Baptist church and society built a house of their own and aban- doned the "Old Brick Church." The Second Con- gregational church at that time was weak, but they continued to occupy the house for religious worship till 1865, when, by reason of their inabil- ity to support preaching, it was voted to suspend
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meetings, and no meetings were afterwards held in it. No care was taken of the house by anybody and the windows were soon all broken out and it appeared as though it was truly forsaken, and most of the people thought the conditions of the deed had not been kept and that it had reverted to the widow of Dr. Howe. At that time the village was in need of a school house, and, as the walls of the Old Brick Church were sound, the school dis- trict took measures to acquire a deed of Mrs. Howe of the Old Brick Church and common, to be used for school purposes, and appointed acommit- tee to remove the pews from the house and fit it up for a school house-which work the committee proceeded to do. But before they had proceeded far in their work, those who were opposed to con- verting the church into a school house, and believ- ed that the Second Congregational church had not abandoned the house but merely suspended reli- gious meetings for the time being, brought their bill in Chancery against the school district and its committee, enjoining them from converting the building into a school house. After a long litiga- tion the Supreme Court decided that the house had not reverted, and said that "it could not be as- sumed but that a time of strength and prosperity will follow their time of weakness." And time has shown the wisdom and correctness of their decis- ion. After the title of the property had been thus settled, one of the original owners of a pew brought suit against the school district committee to recover the value of his pew, and after another long litigation the Supreme Court decided that in-
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asmuch as the owner of a pew is only. entitled to the right of sitting, and the house was in no con- dition to be occupied for religious services, his re- covery must be limited to one cent damages and one cent costs. The title having become settled by these suits, the house stood in the midst of the beautiful village an unsightly object and a disgrace to the people, till November, A. D. 1876.
In 1874 and 1875, the state of things which the Supreme court thought might come to pass in re- spect to the condition of the church, was realized. The Second Congregational church in 1874, was reorganized and quite a large number have been added. In the year 1876 the church felt as though they must have a house of their own in which to worship, and during that year the church, with those who felt an interest in the "Old Brick Church" and common, at the expense of three thousand dollars made it a beautiful edifice. The audience and vestry rooms were tastily finished and furnished. This house was rededicated by the Second Congregational church on the 19th of De- cember, 1877, M. H. Buckham, President of the Vermont University, preached the re-dedication ser- mon from the text found in Acts II. 42, and the dedicatory prayer was made by Rev. Edwin Wheelock, of Cambridge."
The history of the litigation referred to may be found in two reported cases; viz, Howe and others vs. School District No 3 in Jericho, 43 Vt. Law Reports on Page 282; and Howe vs. Stevens and others 46 Vt. on Page 262.
In the year 1894 or 1895, the writer prepared
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for the press, and there was published in the Chit- tenden Reporter, a paper printed at Jericho, the following: Viz,
The town of Jericho was created by grant from Benning Wentworth, Gov. of New Hampshire, its charter being dated June 7, 1763. The township then consisted of 23,040 acres, but in 1794 about 5,000 acres was taken by an act of the Legislature to form, in part, the town of Richmond.
Most of the land of the town is well adapted to agricultural purposes. There are no swamps creat- ing miasma to render the town an unhealthy place in which to live. Proverbially it has been a healthy town in which to reside. Like most rural districts of Vermont, it has suffered in consequence of some of its enterprising citizens emigrating to the West, and many removing to the larger centers of population. Such changes have been our loss, but a gain to the communities to which they re- moved.
But it is in reference to its present prosperity and the advantages that all new comers will reap by becoming its actual residents, that I wish to speak. In the year 1874, the town bonded to the amount of $24,000 in aid of the construction of the B. & L. Railroad. The last of these bonds were paid the present year, and the town is nearly free from debt. Our railroad accommodations are now first-class. The people in the north-easterly part of the town are accommodated by the Under- hill depot, which is within ten rods of the line of the town; the south part of the town is accommo- dated by the depot at Richmond; the south-wester-
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ly part by the depot at North Williston, and the people of the whole town as well as the people of West Bolton and the eastern part of Essex, are well accommodated by the depot at Jericho.
There are more than 75 dairies in the town, ranging from 6 to 50 cows each, and more than 25 dairies of more than 15 cows each. There are four creameries in different parts of the town. There are three postoffices in town, located at Nashville, Jericho Center, and Jericho. There are three villages. The village of Underhill Flatts, (so called) the larger part of which being in Jericho, is a prosperous village. On the Jericho side of the line are four stores, a steam saw mill, a tin shop, two physicians, and an Episcopal and a Methodist church. The village at the Center has two stores, a blacksmith shop, and a Congregational church, in front of which is a handsome green park with shade trees.
The village of Jericho, sometimes called Jericho Corners, is the principal village of the town, sit- uated on Brown's River, on which there are sev- eral good mill privileges, some of which are im- proved and others where manufacturing industries might be greatly extended. At this village there are now two stores, three blacksmith shops, one har- ยท ness shop, a paint shop, two house painters, a car- riage painter, a lawyer and two physicians, one of the best grist mills in New England, where flour is manufactured by the roller process, a pump manu- factory, a saw mill, a manufactory for butter and cheese boxes, a manufactury for all sorts of wooden ware, a large tin shop, two millinery
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shops and a good hotel. There are also two weekly papers printed here, and offices where a large amount of press work is done. The village has first-class schools, run under the town system. Prof. J. S. Cilley resides here, who fits students to enter college. The village is pleasantly located, the streets are handsome, the buildings and resi- dences are kept in good repair. There are three churches-Congregational, Baptist, and Meth- odist-and a school house hall that can be used for meetings and entertainments. The gospel is dis- pensed here by ministers of four different beliefs, Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, and Epis- copalian. There is a Good Templar's organiza- tion, a Literary and Scientific Club that meets once in two weeks, and a Lecture Course has been provided for. With such facilities, time here will be pleasantly and profitably spent.
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