USA > Vermont > Early history of Vermont, Vol. III > Part 3
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Bennington
$4,100
62.900
II
9
I
3
Windham
120,000
100,000
24
16
Rutland
170,200
143,040
26
.S
3
6
Windsor
269,090
134,045
34
25
Addison
127,600
107,200
15
13
2
15
Orange
177,000
177,000
19
19
Chittenden
125,000
110,000
S
S
Caledonia
135,000
110,000
12
IO
Franklin
32,600
40,400
7
10
Orleans
33,000
30,000
4
4
Essex & G. Isle 28,960
27 860
3
3
Amount
1,315.550
1,042.945
163
135
S
26
Many of these manufactured goods became ex- ports from the State, there being a surplus after supplying the wants of Vermont. The resolution
-
29
OF VERMONT.
of Congress was limited to manufactures, there- fore the above table did not embrace pot and pearl ashes, timber and lumber which were ex- ported in large quantities to Canada in the neigh- borhood of Lake Champlain, nor did it include ag- ricultural productions of wheat, pork, and other articles which were sent in large amounts, in those days to Albany from Western Vermont, and to Boston and Portland from Eastern Vermont.
The House and Council on Nov. 3, 1823, passed resolution instructing the Vermont delegation in Congress to support all lawful measures for the encouragement and protection of manufactures, and these instructions were complied with. A res- olution was also adopted on Nov. 2, 1824, that a committee of manufactures be instructed to in- quire into the expediency of exempting the work- men in cotton and woolen factories from military duty, and that the judiciary committee be in- structed to inquire into the expediency of enacting a law making it the duty of manufacturing com- panies incorporated by this State to give all chil- dren employed by said companies between the ages of six and fitteen, three months' schooling in each year. On Nov. 10, 1835, the Council received from the House an engrossed bill entitled "An Act to encourage the growing of silk within this State." . The Governor and Council concurred in the passage of the bill. This Act authorized a bounty of ten cents for each pound of cocoons : thereafter raised or grown within the State. Many persons in Vermont at that date had plant- ed the mulberry in their gardens, procured silk
30
EARLY HISTORY
worms in the egg, and with a reel and small spin- ning wheel manufactured sewing silk of the very best quality from the cocoons of their silk worms.
In addition to the various articles and fabrics for domestic sale, Vermont possesses facilities for extensive manufactures, which are equal if not superior to any of the United States. The water power of the State afforded by her rivers are un- limited, and fuel abundant. A list of the manufac- tures of the State, given by Thompson in his Civil History of Vermont according to the returns of 1840, were as follows, viz .:-
26 Furnaces, making 6743 tons cast iron.
14 Forges, making 655 wrought iron. Other metals, valued at $70,500. Granite, marble, &c. 33,880.
17 Paper Mills, making 214,720 value.
96 woolen factories, l
239 Fulling mills, 1 $1,331,953 value.
Silk, 39 pounds, $99 value.
7 Cotton factories, 7254 spindles, manufacturing $113,000 value.
Mixed manufactures, $155,276 value.
Hats, valued $62,432.
261 Tanneries (122,763 sides sole leather. (102,737 sides upper leather.
Maple Sugar, 4,647,934 pounds.
1 Brewery, making 12,800 gallons.
2 Distilleries, 3,500 gallons.
2 Glass Houses, $55,000 value.
S Potteries, 23,000 value
Potash, 7181/2 tons.
Soap, 50,300 value.
Candles, 28,687 Carriages. 162,097 ..
7 Flouring Mills-barrels of flour 4,495.
31
OF VERMONT.
312 Grist mills, ) $1,083,124 value 1081 Saw mills, manufactured.
20 Oil mills
29 Printing offices,-Binderies, 14.
2 Rope Walks, $4,000 value man'd.
Music instruments, $2,290 16
Home made goods,
$674,548
Machinery made,
101,354
Hardware, 16,650
Small arms,
1,156
Precious metals,
3,000
Granite and marble,
62,515
Bricks and lime, 402,218
Value of vessels built, 72,000
Furniture manufactured, 83,275
Houses. 72 brick, 468 wood, cost 344,896
Medicines, drugs and dyes, 38,475
Other manufactures, 488,796
For the purpose of comparison, we introduce the following abstract of manufactures in Ver- mont, copied from the returns in 1810 :--
S Blast furnaces, 986 tons iron, @ $100, $97,600
2 Air furnaces, 260 pig 90, 23,400
26 Forges, 1817 " crude, 120, 98,040
[104 refined 150, 15,600
67 cut nail factories, 14tons nails, @ 240, 34,560 65 trip hammers-value of the work done, 78,574 11 paper mills-23,350 r'ms, @ $3 pr. r'm, 70,050 26 oil mills-50,637 gallons, ( $1 pr gal. 50,637 125 distilleries, 173,285 do 75 cts. 129,964 205 tanneries-773 tons leather, @ $500, 386,500 166 fulling-mills dressed 942,960 yds.a25, 235,740 139 carding machn's, 798,500 lbs. wool
@ .06, 47,910 Woolen cloth-1,207,976 yds. @ 75 cts. 905,982 Cotton cloth -- 131,326 yards, @ 30 cts. 39,397 Linen cloth-1,859,931 yards, @ 35 cents, 650,976
32
EARLY HISTORY
Mixed cloth,-191,426 yards, at 38 cents, 72,471 14,801 looms, weave 240 yards each, @ 8,276,179 67,756 spin'g wheels, spin 70 sk's ea. @ 4, 189,716 23 jennies, equal 804 spindles, 3, 1,688 96,760 hats at $2 193,520
65,580 pairs boots, at $3 $196,740
138,700 pair shoes, at 75 cents, 179,025
Saddles and Harnesses, amount of value, 127,840
Cabinet work, do do 118,450 Maple sugar, 1,200,000 lbs. at 10 cts. 1b. 120,000 Potashes, 1500 tons at $100 pr. ton, 150,000
There are many other manufacturing enter- prises, including the unlimited marble and gran- ite industries, that have been more recently devel- oped, a description of which will be given in a fu- ture volume.
The project for a canal from Lake Champlain by way of Onion River to the Atlantic by way of Portsmouth, N. H., and to Boston, Mass., that lie near the hearts of the people of Vermont, having failed, the attention of persons interested in inter- nal improvements was turned towards railroads. At that time there were no railroads of any con- siderable length in operation in the United States, but railroads had been in successful operation for several years in Great Britain. John L. Sullivan, one of the engineers connected with the United States Board of Internal Improvements, insisted that transportation would be cheaper from Bos- ton to Lake Erie by railroad by the northern route to Ogdensburgh than from New York City to Lake Erie by canal. The route indicated by Sullivan was from Boston by way of Concord, Lebanon, and down the valley of Onion River to
33
OF VERMONT.
Burlington, Vt., thence by a ferry to Port Kent, N. Y., and from thence by railway to Ogdensburgh.
In 1830, great interest in railroads prevailed in Vermont, and the several schemes discussed enlist- ed the aid of capitalists of Boston and vicinity. Meetings were held at Brattleboro, Windsor and Chelsea and a series of meetings at Montpelier. A report was made to the Legislature of Massachu- setts in January, 1830, in favor of granting a charter for a Railroad from Boston to Lowell, Mass. This seemed to stir the people of Vermont to action. On the evening of January 26, 1830, citizens of Montpelier met and appointed a com- mittee on the subject, who reported on Feb. 2, ex- pressing the opinion that a railroad "cannot be constructed on any location where it could afford more advantages to the inhabitants of New Eng- land, and the nation generally, than one from Boston, Mass., to Ogdensburgh, N. Y.," and adopted the following resolution :-
"RESOLVED, That the public good requires vig- orous and persevering efforts on the part of all in- telligent and public spirited individuals, all friends of their country and of internal improvements, un- til, by the enterprise of individuals, the co-opera- tion of State Legislatures, or the aid of General Government, the survey and completion of a route is accomplished, for a National Railroad, from the seaboard at Boston, through Lowell, Mass., Con- cord in New Hampshire, and thence by the most convenient route through the valley of Onion Riv- er to Lake Champlain, and thence to the waters of Lake Ontario, at Ogdensburgh, N. Y." 3
34
7
EARLY HISTORY
This resolution was signed by Lyman Reed, Eze- kiel P. Walton and Sylvanus Baldwin as Commit- tee. At this meeting another committee was ap- pointed to report to a County convention. The County convention, consisting of citizens of the Counties of Orange and Washington, met at Mont- pelier February 17, 1830, when the committee, through General Parley Davis, made report on the different routes and came to the conclusion that a railroad from Boston via. Concord, N. H., and On- ion River, Vt., to Ogdensburgh was feasible, and that the productions transported on the great Western lakes would find a quicker and cheaper conveyance to the seaboard at Boston than they possibly could to the City of New York. Many meetings in the interest of the project were called along the line of the proposed routes during the year 1830, at all of which, except the one held at Burlington, they took action looking to secure aid from the National Government in the construction and survey of the road. The convention at Burling- ton resolved that the resources of the States inter- ested were amply sufficient to accomplish the ob- ject. Subsequently a general convention was called to meet at the State House at Montpelier Septem- ber 6th, 1830. The convention consisted of 5 dele -- gates from the City of Boston, 10 from the State of New Hampshire, 26 from the State of Vermont, and 7 from the State of New York, and they held a two days' session. Luther Bradish of Franklin County, New York, was the President of theconven- tion, who, at its close, made an impressive speech, emphasizing the project which had been particu-
.
35
1790973 OF VERMONT.
larly considered as one of national importance, and predicting that this and other similar projects of internal improvement throughout the country, would serve "as so many new and ever-brighten- ing chains to bind more strongly together ALL of the States of this great, highly favored and happy Union." E. P. Walton says in the "Governor and Council," that among the delegates of that conven- tion were, "Charles Paine of Northfield, and Tim- othy Follett of Burlington, who from 1845 during their lives, were the most distinguished railroad men of Vermont, and both were victims to their zeal in this service."
The work of the convention was for the future; at that time no corporation had been orgnized for the building a road on either of the contemplated routes ; even the Boston and Lowell Railroad was not organized until 1831. At that date there were but few that dared predict that Vermont some day would have enough lines of railroad so that a true map of the State would look like a checker- board by reason of the railroads running length- wise and across its surface, but it has become a re- ality. The idea of securing National, or even State aid for the construction of this class of improve- ments was abandoned, and those who were partic- ularly interested in them were thrown upon their own resources and the voluntary contributions of the people and the towns interested by their con- struction. The State of Vermont, while it would not aid in any of the railroad projects, it was nev- ertheless liberal through its legislature in granting charters for them. The progress made towards
36
EARLY HISTORY
the construction of railroads was slow. People were slow to make the necessary sacrifices.
In the spring of 1845, the commissioners re- spectively of the Vermont Central Railroad Com- pany and the Rutland and Burlington Railroad Company opened offices in Boston to canvass for subscriptions to the stock of the respective roads ; the presses of Boston and Vermont were employed in discussing the advantages of the two routes and the indispensable importance of either, to Bos- ton, if only one should succeed. It created two zeal- ous parties in Vermont by reason of the competing lines. Both secured capital for organization in 1845, and both roads were speedily constructed. The organization and construction of the Northern Cheshire and Sullivan in New Hampshire, the Ver- mont and Massachusetts, and the Passumpsic and Connecticut River and the Vermont and Can- ada, in Vermont, soon followed. The Vermont Central and the Rutland and Burlington Rail- roads were completed in 1854.
With the above named roads all the railroads more recently constructed in Vermont are con- nected. The original stock of most of the rail- roads chartered and constructed in Vermont, by reason of the large expense of building, furnishing and operating the roads. became worthless; the earnings of the bankrupt roads had to go to pay the running expenses of the road and the later pre- ferred stock or indebtedness. The embarrassment of the Central Vermont by reason of its overbur- dened debt plunged it into an expensive and pro- longed litigation and it was placed in the hands of receivers for many years.
-
OF VERMONT. 37
Since the charter and the building of the Cen- tral Vermont and the Rutland and Burlington Railroads, many railroads in different parts of the State have been chartered by the Legislature of Vermont and built by the different companies, so that the people of the State have great railroad facilities, and making the Green Mountain State one of the best summer resorts in the world. Without stating the dates of the different char- ters of the several railroads or the names of the different companies or the exact time when they were respectively constructed and commenced to be operated, it will not be out of place to state generally the several lines of railroads and their connections. At the present writing one of the north and south railroads enters the State at Connecticut River near the south-east corner of Bloomfield in the County of Essex and runs through the north-east corner of the State via. Island Pond in Brighton and enters Canada at the north line of the town of Norton; one line enters the State at its south-east corner in the town of Vernon and runs north up Connecticut River to the town of Barnet and to the mouth of Passumpsic River and up the last named river via. St. Johnsbury and Barton to Newport and Lake Memphremagog, and from thence one line runs through Derby into Canada, and the other branch runs through Newport and Troy and thence into Canada and connects with a rail- road at Richford. There is a short line running from Brattleboro via. Jamaica to Londonderry in Windham County. The Deerfield road en-
:
38
EARLY HISTORY
ters Vermont from Massachusetts in Whiting- ham and runs through the town to Wilming- ton, and another line from North Petersburgh, N. Y., via. Bennington to Glastenbury in Ben- nington County ; and a line from Bennington to North Bennington and from there westerly to New York State, and from North Bennington via. Manchester to Rutland. One road running from Eagle Bridge, N. Y., through Rupert, Pawlet,, Poultney and connecting at Castleton in Rut- land County with the road leading from White- hall, N. Y., to Rutland, Vermont. There is a short railroad running from White River Junction in Hartford to Woodstock and a long line running from White River Junction via. Randolph, Mont. pelier Junction, Essex Junction, St. Albans, and entering Canada at the north line of Highgate in Franklin County, and another branch of the same line running from Swanton Junction through the town of Alburgh to Rouses Point, N. Y. The last railroad constructed, completed and put in opera- tion in 1901, in the State, runs from Canada line through Alburgh, North Hero, Grand Isle and South Hero and across the eastern part of Lake Champlain to the main land near the mouth of Onion River and along the lake shore to Burling- ton and there connects with the Rutland and Burlington road. The Missisquoi Valley Road runs from St. Albans via. Enosburgh to Richford, Vt., and connects with the road running west from Newport. One of the railroads that crosses the State enters the State at Connecticut River in Lunenburg and runs via. St. Johnsbury, Danville,
39
OF VERMONT.
through Lamoille County, Fletcher and Sheldon to Swanton, Vt .; this is a part of a through line from Portland, Maine, to Ogdensburgh, New York. One road runs from the mouth of Wells River via. Groton and Marshfield to 'Montpelier Junction, also a road running from Montpelier via. Barre to Williamstown. The Burlington and Lamoille Railroad runs from Essex Junction in Chittenden County to Combridge Junction in Lamoille Coun- ty and thence connects with the road running from St. Johnsbury to Swanton. The Addison road runs from Leicester Junction westerly to Lake Champlain and Ticonderoga, N. Y.
These lines of railroads, and the fast multi- plying electric roads, together with the water- way facilities afforded by the Lake Champlain, supply the people of Vermont with convenient traveling facilities, and the farmers and business men abundant means of transportation of freight.
CHAPTER II.
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS TO THE STATE IN ITS EARLY DAYS.
The pages of this history show that Vermont, even at an early day, had many able citizens, wise in state-craft and well fitted for building up the in- terests of a new State; and the State had been honored by some distinguished guests. In the first summer after the State was admitted into the Federal Union, two of the most distinguished men of the nation, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, took a sail through Lake George and on Lake Champlain and as far as twenty-five miles north of Ticonderoga, when a farther ad- vance was prevented by head winds causing the visitors and their party to return-they proceeded to Bennington on the 4th of June, and remained there over the Sabbath, and then returned by the way of the Connecticut River Valley and through Hartford and New Haven, Conn., to New York and Philadelphia.
The next distinguished guest to whom we will refer is the man of "two worlds," the Frenchman, the disinterested patriot, the Marquis De Lafay- ette. He was born on the 6th of September, 1757, in the Province of Auvergne in the southern divi- sion of France. In the summer of 1776, he was
(40)
41
OF VERMONT.
stationed on military duty as an officer of the French army in the citadel of Metz. The first news of the opening struggle for American inde- pendence struck the key-note to Lafayette's fiery ardor. America fighting for its independence against British oppression, enlisted every sym- pathy of his heart. He threw up his office at Metz, returned to Paris and secretly made prep- arations to leave his native land and join the American Army to aid the Colonies in establish- ing their independence. It is not the purpose of the writer to give a detailed account of his invalu- able service in aid of the American cause, but suf- fice it to say here, he was commissioned by Con- gress, Major General, July 31, 1777, and had the full confidence of General Washington. After peace was declared at the close of the Revolutionary War, Lafayette returned to France. Lafayette having been invited by Congress to visit the Unit- ed States, he and his son landed at New York City on August 15th, 1824, and from that time until his departure in September, 1825, there was a continued ovation, extending to him the highest honors in every State in the Union, and Congress crowned it by a gift of $200,000 and a township of land.
The Legislature of Vermont in 1824, requested Governor C. P. Van Ness to invite Lafayette to extend his tour to Vermont, and directed the nec- essary military and other preparations. Accord- ingly, Governor Van Ness on Dec. 27, 1824, ad- dressed General Lafayette as follows :-
"SIR,-It has become my pleasing duty, at the
42
EARLY HISTORY
request of the Legislature, and in behalf of the people of Vermont, to invite you to visit this State previous to your return to France. It can scarcely be necessary, Sir, to assure you that we should feel both gratified and honored by such an event." * * To this Gen. Lafayette replied from Washington Jan. 15th, 1825, in part, as fol- lows: "It has ever been my intention not to leave this side of the Atlantic before I have visited the State of Vermont, in the feelings of which, the first times of our Revolution, I have heartily sympathized, while its services to the common cause were by none better felt than by me, who may boast to have been early distinguished by the kindness of the citizens of Vermont." The expres- sion in the above letter that "I have heartily sym- pathized," referred to the controversy with the adjoining States. His visit to Vermont was de- ferred till after he had made his contemplated visit to the Southern States.
General Lafayette and party, consisting of his son, George Washington Lafayette, and his secre- tary, and the representatives of Governor Van Ness, entered the State on the morning of June 28, 1825, and was met by the committee of arrange- ment at Windsor and welcomed by Hon. Horace Everett by a short address, after which Lafayette was introduced to Governor Van Ness who ad- dressed General Lafayette as follows : viz.,-
"Permit me to tender you the congratulations and the hospitalities of the people of this State, on your arrival within its borders. In the per- formance of this welcome duty, Sir, the first and
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43
OF VERMONT.
most pleasing points which present themselves, are the character and occurrences which have dis- tinguished and adorned your life: your publick and your private virtues-your exalted and inflex- ible patriotism-your ardent and uniform devo- tion to the great cause of liberty-and above all, as it regards us, your noble zeal, your disinter- ested sacrifices, and your eminent services, in that memorable struggle, which resulted in the establishment and independence of the United States. But to dwell minutely on these, could only be a repetition of what has been a thousand times said and published; and the recital of which, in new and glowing terms, has but recently greet- ed your ear, and, I trust, cheered your heart, at every step, throughout this happy and rejoicing country-a country, which at the same time ac- knowledges you as a father, and proudly claims you as a son.
"But though our tongues have been forestalled, our hearts are not the less full. They, have indeed, been constantly and tenderly alive to all your movements, and whatever concerned you, while traversing the Union; but it has been reserved to an hour in which our soil is hallowed by your tread, for them to pour out, without measure, the libations of their gratitude, and their affection. That these are now rushing forth from their over- flowing fountains, in torrents behind whose rapid- ity any language of mine cannot but lag, is suffi- ciently seen in the intense and adoring gaze of the croud by which you are surrounded.
"General, I have the honour to represent, on this
44
EARLY HISTORY
interesting occasion, a people plain and hardy, but intelligent and virtuous; industrious cultivators of the earth, but enjoying, on their lofty hills, and in their lowly valleys, comfort and independence. Sincerely attached to the constitution and govern- ment of their country, they will never shrink from any sacrifices necessary to support and defend them. And if it may become me, I would add, that their bravery and patriotism have been se- verely tested, in the darkest hours of peril and dismay, and found firm and immovable, as the mountains which majestically stretch themselves through the midst of them.
"It is, too, a source of no small gratification to me, that they can number among them many of the worthy veterans who served in the same cause, in which you so gloriously distinguished yourself. But if I am so inadequate to express the feelings of others, how far beyond me is it to de- scribe the emotions which must agitate the bosoms of those venerable fathers, on saluting, at this lapse of time, one of their old and beloved Generals, and. whom in all probability their eyes are to behold for the last time, on this side of the grave. With their bodies enfeebled by the ravages of many a year, and their locks bleached by the sun of many a summer, their hearts, yet warm as the warmest, and tender as the tenderest, will be lighted up and animated with a blaze, kindled by a spark from the altar of '76, but whose blissful warmth none but they and you can be permitted fully to realize."
General Lafayette replied as follows :-
4.5
OF VERMONT.
"The testimonies of esteem and affection be- stowed upon me by the people of Vermont and their representative and chief magistrate, are the more gratifying as I had eagerly anticipated the pleasure, in my happy visit through the United States, once more to behold those celebrated mountains, the very thought of which recalls to my mind glorious, patriotic, and endearing asso -. ciations. From this State, Sir, by a gallant band of patriots, and their worthy leader and proto- type, was, for the first time, proclaimed on the ramparts of a British fortress, the name of the Continental Congress. Nor ever did the vicinity of the enemy on the northern frontier, and family difficulties on every other side, one instant cool the ardor of the sons of Vermont to defend the cause of American independence and freedom. Now I have the happiness to see the hardy and the virtu- ous inhabitants of this State peaceably cultivat- ing their lofty hills and their handsome valleys, with the intelligence and spirit which characterise them; I see them, in common with their sister States, enjoying the blessings of the new Ameri- can social order, so far superior even to the least exceptionable institutions of Europe. What hith- erto was, at best, religious toleration, has been here exchanged for religious liberty and equality- privilege for right-royal charter mock representa- tives, inefficient compromises between nations and a few loyal and aristocratical families, for the sov- ereignty of the people, for truly representative and self-government.
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