USA > Vermont > Addison County > Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881- 82 > Part 28
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57
17
234
CITY OF VERGENNES.
furnace, air furnace, rolling, grist, saw and fulling-mill, wire factory, and forges, and not less than 177 tons of shot were cast here during the war. McDonough's fleet built here consisted of the brig "Eagle," the schooner "Ticonderoga," and ship " Saratoga."
The small territory covered by the city charter left outside of its limits many who were really a part of the business and society of the place. Judge Abel Thompson, who lived in Ferrisburgh just beyond the present site of the Vergennes depot, was a brother of Nathaniel, the father of Major John Thompson. Nathaniel lived north of Basin Harbor, and John, when a boy, had to cross Otter Creek, near the mouth of Dead Creek, to get up to Ver- gennes to mill. Phineas Brown, of Waltham, and Barton, Griswold, Haw- kins, and others of the same place, land owners, and engaged in making a clearing about their log houses, were interested also in the prosperity of Ver- gennes.
Hon. Enoch Woodbridge was a prominent citizen of the State from the early organization of its government after the Revolution, till his death in 1805, He was born at Stockbridge, Berkshire County, Mass., December 25, 1750, graduated at Yale College in 1774, entered the army soon after, and was at Quebec with Montgomery, at the battles of Hubbardton, Bennington, and White Plains, at the surrender of Burgoyne, and served till peace was proclaimed. He was soon after admitted to the bar, resided for a short time in Bennington County, and afterwards removed to Vergennes. In 1794, at the first municipal election held in Vergennes after its incorporation, he was elected mayor of the city, and served several years in that capacity. He was repeatedly chosen to the Legislature of the State, and was afterwards elected by the Legislature to the chief-justiceship of the supreme court. He died at the age of fifty-five years, after a patriotic and useful career, lamented by all, and without an enemy. Judge Woodbridge was a true representative of a long line of ancestors who, with others like them, constituted the true nobility of New England,-men of learning, pure and strong in their devotion to civil and religious liberty in its contests with royal and sacerdotal power and pre- rogative, since the dawn of the reformation. He was the third son of Hon. Timothy Woodbridge, of Stockbridge, Mass., who held many important offi- cial positions in Massachusetts, and who was himself son of Rev. John Wood- bridge, of West Springfield, Mass., and his wife, Jemima, daughter of Rev. John Eliot, an apostle to the Indians. The Rev. John W., of West Spring- field, was the eighthi clergyman of the same name in lineal descent, the first being recorded as the friend of Wickliffe, in 1492, and his own father having been the first of the line in this country, to which he came first in 1634, and married, in 1641, Nancy Dudley, daughter of Governor Thomas Dudley, was pastor at Andover, returned to England in 1643, when he was chaplain to the Parliamentary Commissioner, and again came to this country with his wife and twelve children, and officiated as clergyman, and later as magistrate at Newbury, until his death in 1695. Judge Woodbridge, of Vergennes, the
235
CITY OF VERGENNES.
worthy descendent of this most honorable line, married, in 1774, Nancy Win- chell, by whom he had two sons, Timothy and Enoch Day, and six daughters, viz : Sophia, married to Isaac R. Hopkins, of Hopkinton, N. Y .; Harriet, mar- ried to Benjamin Wait Hopkins, and after his death to Hon. Moses Strong, of Rutland ; Nancy, married to Thomas Geer, of Vergennes; Betsey, married to Hon. Villee Lawrence, of Vergennes, and Sally, married to Henry Weed, of Hinesburg. Timothy Woodbridge, eldest son of Judge W., married Lydia, daughter of D. Chipman, of Rutland, by whom he had several children. He removed at an early day with his family to the west, and died at Southport, Wisconsin. Hon. Enoch Day Woodbridge was born at Bennington, Vt., May 16, 1779. He studied law with his father and was early admitted to the bar. He married, October 12, 1806, Miss Clara Strong, the second daughter of General Samuel Strong, of Vergennes, and died in July, 1853. He was prominent and influential in public affairs in his neighborhood and the State, held many positions of trust by the votes of his fellow citizens, was repeatedly mayor of the city of Vergennes, and member of both branches of the Legislature. He was an able lawyer, a good citizen, a man of most kindly and generous disposition, true always to his own con- victions of right, and of too stern principle to be a successful politician. His wife was a lady of rare beauty of character as well as of person, whose memory is fondly cherished by all who knew her. Their children who lived to maturity were, Samuel Strong, Susan C., Electa Strong, Francis, Frederick Enoch, and Henry Bloomer. Samuel was graduated at Williams College about 1827, was admitted to the bar, and practiced for a few years as partner with his father, and died August 25, 1834. He was a man of marked ability, and possessed great amiability of character, and his early death ter- minated a promising career. He married Frances, daughter of Captain Francis Bradbury, of Vergennes, but left no children. The second son, Major Frank Woodbridge, graduated at West Point in June, 1837, and was commissioned in the artillery, served in the Florida war and with Scott in Mexico, where he was repeatedly brevetted for his gallantry and good con- duct, and afterwards died at Fort Barrancas, Florida, in 1855. His wife was a daughter of B. B. Kerchwal, Esq., of Detroit, by whom he had a son, Frank K., now a lieutenant in the army, and a daughter, now the wife of Capt. Michaels, U. S. army. Hon. Frederick E. Woodbridge was graduated at the University of Vermont, at Burlington, in 1841, and was admitted to the bar in 1843, at which he very soon took high rank as an advocate and judi- cious counsellor, and speedily attained prominence and influence in public affairs. He held at different times the position of State's attorney, member of the Legislature, State auditor, and was elected to Congress in 1862, where he served till March, 1869, an eloquent, faithful and influential representative of a patriotic constituency, gaining a reputation by no means confined to his own section. Since 1869, Mr. Woodbridge has been again elected to the Legislature of his native State at different times, and retains to the fullest
236
CITY OF VERGENNES.
degree the confidence and esteem of his fellow citizens. He lives with his children about him in the old home of his father and grandfather. His wife, daughter of Major Silas Halsey, a veteran of the war of 1812-'15, who died at the Champlain Arsenal, of which he had charge, in 1848. They have a family of four sons-the eldest a young physician of great promise- and a daughter, the wife of Walter Scranton, of Scranton, Pa. Henry B. Woodbridge, the youngest of the sons of Hon. E. D. Woodbridge, who lived to maturity, was engaged for some years in commercial life, and when the war of the Rebellion broke out, was commissioned as purser in the navy, and sailed on the " Bainbridge" soon after to the Gulf of Mexico and Carribean Sea, and later died of Isthmus fever at Aspinwall. He was married to Rose Johnson, daughter of B. P. Johnson, of Albany, New York.
Hon. John Pierpoint, the late chief justice of Vermont, was one of Ver- gennes' most esteemed citizens, one whose death will long continue to be mourned. Mr. Pierpoint was born in Litchfield, Conn., September 10, 1805, and was a cousin of the late Senator Phelps, and a brother of the late Robert Pierpoint, of Rutland, who for many years filled most acceptably a seat upon the bench of Vermont. The means of Judge Pierpoint's parents did not allow them to give their son a college education, though he received a thorough training in his profession at the celebrated law school of Judge Reeve and Judge Gould, of Litchfield, which in that day sent forth many, since distinguished, lawyers. Early in life he came to Vermont, and pur- sued his studies with his brother in Rutland, where he was admitted to the bar, and soon after, in 1732, took up his residence in this city, entering upon the regular practice of the law, where his home was until his death. A few years after the establishment of his residence here he married a daughter of Hon. Villee Lawrence, of Vergennes, who now, with three children, survive him. In his professional life, Mr. Pierpoint soon ac- quired the confidence of the people residing in the region round about, becoming their most trusted counsellor, and was judge of the supreme court twenty-four years, and for eleven years previous to his death, chief justice of the State. He was early known at the bar as an excellent lawyer, singularly terse and clear as a speaker, and of such uniform candor and integrity that what he said always carried weight. Socially, Mr. Pierpoint was as much sought as for his legal qualities, expressing a warm, poetical nature, pliant and clinging as the ivy, his affection twined about any object upon which it was set with a tenacity that was unyielding. By his death, January 7, 1882, a cloud was cast over many homes, and many hearts made heavy with sorrow.
Philip C. Tucker, another of Vergennes' shining legal lights, was born in Boston, Mass., January 11, 1800, receiving his education in the public schools of his native city. In 1815, he made Vergennes his residence. At the age of nineteen he commenced the study of law, and was admitted to the Addison County bar in 1825. In preparing his causes he was dilligent and
237
CITY OF VERGENNES.
searching, and in arguing them he was animated and vehement, oftentimes eloquent and also logical. He had often positions of trust conferred upon him by his fellow citizens. Early attaching himself to the Democratic party, he was an earnest and honest advocate of the principles of that party. He was often nominated by them for many of the highest offices. In 1849, he was nominated on the State ticket for Lieut .- Governor. In 1828, he repre- sented the city in the constitutional convention, and in 1829 and '30, was a member of the Legislature. For thirty years he was a justice of the peace, and in 1853, was appointed postmaster of Vergennes, which office he held until the time of his death. He died in April, 1861, and his widow and two of his daughters, still residing in the city, and one son, a lawyer in Texas, survive him.
Hon. George W. Grandey, a popular lawyer of Vergennes, was born in Panton, and is now sixty-seven years of age, having resided in Vergennes since 183r. He studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1841, and a few years later, to the bar of the United States supreme court, at Washington, D. C. He has been a representative in the general assembly thirteen years, and senator two years ; was speaker of the house in 1854-'56, and at the extra session of 1857 ; was speaker in 1868-'69; was county superintendent of schools in 1846-'47, and superintendent for Vergennes twenty-four years ; was a member of the State board of education in 1873-'74, and State's attor- ney for Addison County in 1845-'47, and again in 1869-'71 ; was chairman of the Vermont electoral college at the presidential election of 1868, and delegate at large from Vermont to the national Republican convention in 1872; was chairman of the Republican State committee during the last three presidential campaigns. Is now court auditor for Addison County, and for the past five years has been national bank examiner for Vermont.
Roswell Hopkins came to Vergennes in 1790, and bought of Ira Allen, then an extensive land owner here, a lot where Everest's hotel now stands, paying £300 therefor.
John H. Sherrell, born in East Hampton, R. I., August 28, 1767, came to Vergennes in 1795, locating on West Main street, where the curtain roller factory now stands, on which place he resided until his death, in 1836. He had a family of four children, Elliott, Fanny, Esther, and Harriet. Elliott continued the business of wool carding, cloth dressing, etc., which his father had established, until 1850, when he sold the property to F. M. Strong. He married Laura, daughter of Justus Bellamy, who was an early settler from Connecticut. Fanny married Edward Flint and removed to Ohio. Esther married Augustus Stephens, and also removed to Ohio, while Harriet mar- ried William T. Ward, for many years a merchant of Vergennes, and who subsequently removed to Cleveland, Ohio. Elliott had a family of three children, one son and two daughters, William A., Jane, and Frances. Jane married William E. Green ; Frances, Rowland R. Brush, and William A., Rhoda Bellamy. Elliott held all the principal town trusts, and was prom- inent in building most of the churches, factories, etc., of the city.
238
CITY OF VERGENNES.
Belden Seymour, from Norwalk, Conn., came to Vergennes in 1796, locating on Main street, where the Sherman block now stands, and com- . menced the hatters trade. He soon became quite prominent among his townsmen, whom he twice represented in the Legislature, and also held all the municipal offices, from mayor down. He was the father of seven chil- dren, only one of whom, Edward, now resides in the State. Edward, now seventy years of age, is one of the prominent men of the city, having repre- sented his townsmen in the Legislature four years, and the county four years in the Senate, and for many years has been prominently connected with the banking interests of the city.
Villee Lawrence, from Connecticut, came to Vergennes at the age of ten years, in 1799, and subsequently became a clerk for his half-brother, Edward Sutton, with whom he afterwards was connected in business. He married Betsey, daughter of Enoch Woodbridge, December 4, 1814, and had a family of nine children, six of whom arrived at maturity. He was a captain of militia. stationed at Fort Cassin, at the mouth of Otter Creek, during the war of 1812, and afterwards became major-general of the militia of Vermont. He also held the various civil offices of the city at different times, and died in 1866, aged nearly seventy-seven years. Of his children, Henry now resides in Illinois ; Sarah M., widow of the late Judge Pierpoint, resides in Vergennes ; Charles B. is a distinguished lawyer of Chicago, and ex-chief justice of Illinois ; Elizabeth W. is the wife of Hon. E. W. Blaisdell, of Rockford, Ill .; Edward is a farmer in Mills County, Iowa, and Abbie, now deceased, was the wife of Dr. Lemuel H. Aiken, of Rockford, Ill.
Thomas Stevens, froin New York, came to Vergennes at an early period in its history, and had a family of four children, Carlton T., Charles O., Her- rick, and Mariette. Carlton T. and Charles established the Stevens House and conducted it until about thirty years ago. Thomas died in 1835, aged forty-six, and his widow, Sally Tappan, of Panton, is still living in the eighty- fifth year of her age. Herrick Stevens is interested in the city water-works. The family, by strict integrity and attention to business, have amassed a large property and gained a high position among the influential citizens of the county.
Edward Roberts removed from Philadelphia to Montreal, in 1811, where he remained until the breaking out of the war of 1812, when, being required to take the oath of allegiance, he removed to Whitehall, N. Y., and thence to Vergennes, in 1813. He was a ship carpenter by trade, and was engaged in building the McDonough fleet. He resided here until his death, in 1850, married Sophia Arhardt, by whom he had eight children, all of whom arrived at the age of maturity. John E., born in Canada in 1812, came here with his father, and married Elizabeth Bixby. John has been a justice of the peace since 1843, and an associate judge from 1874 to '76, and was also mayor of the city from 1868 to 1872.
John Hall emigrated to this country, from Scotland, previous to the seven-
239
CITY OF VERGENNES.
teenth century, and had two sons, Elihu and Elakim, who settled in Wallingford, Conn. Elakim had three sons, Isaac, Elakim, and Hezekiah. Isaac had seven sons, of whom Abner, the eldest, removed to Wallingford, Vt., and had three sons, Abner, Calvin, and David, by his first wife, and by his second, two sons and one daughter, Mosely D., Isaac, and Lucretia. Mosely D. located in Vergennes in 1832, where he became interested in the transportation busi- ness. He had a family of seven children, the eldest, Mosely E., being now an attorney and justice of the peace of this city. He has in his possession many interesting relics, among which, some of the old deeds dated at Wal- lingford, Conn.
H. C. Johnson, the present postmaster of Vergennes, came to this city from Burlington, in 1854, and subsequently for many years was editor and pub- lisher of the Vergennes Vermonter. He has held the position of postmaster twelve years.
Hon. John D. Smith came to Vergennes in 1862, and from that time until 1866, he followed farming, holding various offices of trust. From 1866 to'69, he held the position of postmaster, and in 1870, was elected probate judge, which position he has held ever since.
J. H. Lucia came to Vergennes in 1865, studied law with Mr. Woodbridge, and was admitted to the bar in 1868, and became State's attorney for the county in 1872-'74. He held many of the municipal offices, and is at present a justice of the peace and mayor of the city.
Stranger than fiction would seem to us now the tales Donald McIntosh, Jabez Fitch, Ebenezer Huntington, and a host of others whose names should be kept in lasting remembrance, might have related of the early settlement of Vergennes. And it is a matter of general regret that so much of this early history is buried in oblivion, that so little remains by which to trace the transactions of those hardy, fearless, patriotic pioneers. It is said that Ethan Allen was actively interested in procuring a city charter for Vergennes, believ- ing that a large city would be built about such a grand water-power. He at one time owned a large tract of land lying southeast of the bridge on Main street. The last that he owned was conveyed to Judge Hitchcock, whose house stood where the Catholic church now stands. Judge Hitchcock mar- ried Lucy, a daughter of Ethan Allen and lived in Vergennes five or six years, about the beginning of the present century. But we must here leave this short sketch of the early settlers and settlement of the city, and take a hasty glance at its church history.
CHURCHES.
The Congregational Church, located on Water street, was organized with eight members by Rev. C. M. Smith, September 17, 1793. The first pastor was Rev. Daniel C. Saunders. The church edifice, capable of seating 550 persons, was built in 1834. The society now has 263 members, with Rev. George E. Hall, pastor.
240
TOWN OF WALTHAM.
The Holy Family Roman Catholic Church, located on Elbow street, was organized about the year 1834. In 1854, a church edifice, built of wood, was completed, and which did service until 1872, when the present brick structure was erected, costing $2,500.00, about its present value. The society, con- sisting of one hundred families, is at present under the pastoral charge of Rev. J. Kerlidon.
St. Paul's Protestant Episcopal Church, located on Main street, was organ- ized by Cyrus Booth, Belden Seymour, John Pierpoint, George and William Parker, W. H. White, William T. Ward, and others, in 1833, who secured the services of Rev. Charles Day as their first pastor. During the following year, 1834, the church building was erected, a brick structure capable of accommo- dating 250 persons with seating room, and now valued, including grounds, at $4,000.00. The church has a membership of ninety-four communicants, with Rev. Charles John Ketchum, pastor.
The Methodist Episcopal Church of Vergennes, was organized with about thirty members by their first pastor, Rev, C. R. Williams, in 1840. Their house of worship was erected in 1841, of brick, costing $7,000.00. It has the capacity for comfortably seating 300 persons, and, including grounds, is valued at $ 10,000.00. The society is now in a flourishing condition with 125 members, under the able charge of Rev. M. A. Wicker.
The Baptist Church of Vergennes was organized as the result of the labor Rev. Joseph Freeman, their first pastor, September 17, 1868. The ves- try was completed and dedicated in 1877, though the main part of the building is yet unfinished. It is designed to accommodate 400 persons and to cost $14,000, though it is now valued at $10,000.00. The society has at present one hundred members, with Rev. David Foster Estes, pastor.
ALTHAM, a handsome little grazing and farming town, lies in the northwestern part of the county, in lat. 44° 8', and long. 3º 41', bounded north by Ferrisburgh and Vergennes, east and south by New Haven, and west by Addison, Panton and Vergennes. In point of size, it ranks among the smallest towns of the county, containing only nine square miles, or 5,760 acres, taken from the northwestern corner of New Haven in November, 1796, all except a small portion annexed from Addison, October 25, 1804. The tract never had a separate charter, and its name was given by Phineas Brown, the first moderator, in honor of his native town, Waltham, Mass.
The surface, except through the central portion of the territory from north to south, is moderately level, the highest point being Buck Mountain. This elevation, which extends nearly the whole length of the town, belongs to a range that extends through nearly the whole western part of the county, and
241
TOWN OF WALTHAM.
known as the Red Sandrock range, from the fact that the material entering into its composition is mostly of this rock ; and is the highest elevation in the county west of the Green Mountains, except Snake Mountain in Addison, having an altitude of 1,035 feet above sea level .* From its summit a rare view may be obtained, opening to the eye of the beholder a panorama of singular extent and beauty. To the west, the blue Adirondacks cleave the sky, keeping sentry o'er the shimmering lake, along whose shore lie dotted the villages of Port Henry, West Port, Moriah, and Essex, to Ticonderoga, while to the north, twenty-four miles distant, the city of Burlington appears to view, and eastward, the horizon is bounded by an ever scene of beauty, the Green Mountains. The picture enclosed within this boundary is one of pastoral beauty, rarely excelled or even equalled, with broad valleys where bend the graceful stalks of golden grain, the verdant hillsides affording sus- tenance to the many flocks and herds, all dotted completely over with " humble cot and lordly hall." Surely, the Artist painted well.
The soil of this town is principally clay and marl, with intervales of excellent alluvial tracts along Otter Creek, which forms its western boundary, and, with its tributaries, is the only stream of any importance. The princi- pal products are wheat, oats, rye, buckwheat, Indian corn, potatoes, hay and fruit. The most valuable export is wool. The timber is principally pine, oak, maple, beech, birch, walnut, butternut, ash and hemlock. The rocks un- derlying the eastern and western portions are the of Trenton and Black River limestone formation, while the central portion overlies beds of red sandrock and Utica slate all of which crop out occasionally in ledges, in some localities to such an extent as to retard cultivation of the soil.
In 1880, Waltham had a population of 248, was divided into three school districts, and had three common schools, employing six female teachers at an aggregate salary of $347.14. There were fifty-one pupils attending common school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year ending October 3 1st, was $372.45, under the superintendence of William S. Wright. As it is strictly a farming and grazing town there are no villages and no manufactories to record. The postoffice is in common with that of Vergennes. Several flocks of Spanish Merino sheep are owned here. Stephen and Solon Bur- roughs are extensively engaged in fruit raising, having been in the business in this locality for over thirty years, where they produce nearly all varieties indig- enous to Vermont, shipping large quantities to market each year. Harry Everts & Son, on road 12, are extensively engaged in dairying and breeding Jersey cattle. In 1878, they erected a barn 100 by 48 feet, which is a model of its kind, costing them $3,000.00. Here every modern device for butter making is used, their churns being operated by steam power. During the last season, from fifty Jersey cows they manufactured 1,600 pounds of butter.
Mr. F. D. Barton, located on road 11, has recently built, in 1880, one of the handsomest and most conveniently arranged stock barns in New England
* An error is made in both the Hist. Gazetteer and Thompson's Vermont in attributing to this point the highest elevation. Snake Mountain, in Addison, has an altitude of 1, 310 feet .- See page 876 Geol. of Vermont.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.