USA > Vermont > Addison County > Gazetteer and business directory of Addison County, Vt., for 1881- 82 > Part 5
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Of course there are no flocks of such large numbers in Addison County as are to be found on the immense farms in Texas, California and other States of the West, but the great value of the Merino breed consists in its ability to form crosses with these common flocks, thereby not only increasing the quality of the wool, but also increasing its quantity several pounds to the fleece. About the year 1843, the great business of exporting these sheep for this pur- pose into other localities was commenced by Rollin J. Jones, who. began the trade in a small way by driving a few sheep into adjoining counties, and ped- dling them on the way. It was thence extended into Western States, and finally he crossed, by way of the Isthmus, to California, where an immense trade soon sprang up. Others took up the business after Mr. Jones, and at
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the present time it amounts to thousands of heads per year, shipped to all parts of the country, giving employment to hundreds of dealers.
ADDISON COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
At an early day in the history of the county, an agricultural society was formed and continued an annual fair for several years ; but soon declined for want of legislative encouragement, and from that time until 1844, the county had no society. On the 22d of January of that year, a convention was held at Middlebury which resulted in forming the present society. The constitution was adopted and the society organized under an act of the Legislature passed the year previous, authorizing the formation of agricultural societies in cach county, which, when organized, became legal corporations with the usual pow- ers necessary to accomplish their design, and in which the object of them is declared to be "to encourage and promote agriculture, domestic manufac- tures and the mechanic arts." The Treasurer of the State is authorized to pay annually to each society a share of two thousand dollars, appropriated for the whole State, in proportion to the population of the county in which it is established, provided that as large a sum shall have been otherwise raised. The first meeting was held on the same day the society was organized, and Hon. Silas H. Jenison was elected president, and Harvey Bell, Esq., secre- tary. The first fair was held at the Court House and adjoining grounds in Middlebury, October Ist, 1844. The fairs of 1845 and 1847, were held at Vergennes, while that of 1849 was held in Shoreham, and all the others up to the present time having been held at Middlebury. The following is the pres- ent list of officers : D. W. Nash, of New Haven, president ; Frank Moore, of Shoreham, and John H. Sprague, of Waltham, vice-presidents; John A. Child, of Weybridge, secretary, and Calvin Hill, of Middlebury, treasurer.
MANUFACTURES.
The manufacturing interests will be spoken of in detail in connection with the histories of the various towns, therefore, suffice it to say at this point, that of the manufacturing interests taken as a whole, that of marble and slate in their various branches are the most important ; although much capital is employed in the manufacture of various kinds of furniture, window-sash, doors, blinds, paint, paper stock, horse shoe nails, etc., etc., while in some of the towns, lum- bering, with its various product, is the most important. According to the United States census report of 1870, the county had 342 manufacturing estab- lishments, operated by four steam engines and 149 water-wheels, giving em- ployment to 1,275 persons. There was $1, 111, 170.00 capital invested in manufactures, while the manufactured products of that year were valued at $1,950,775.00. However, statistics from the census of 1880, when tabulated and given to the public, will doubtless show a large increase in these figures.
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ADDISON COUNTY.
COUNTY BUILDINGS.
The first session of the County Court was held at the house of Benjamin Paine, at Chimney Point, and subsequently at this place and the houses of Zadock Everest and Jonah Case. In Middlebury, the courts were held for some time at public houses ; in the years 1792 and 1793, at the public house of John Deming, which stood on the ground now occupied by the Congrega- tional church. It is a two story building, erected by Deming in 1790, and now stands on Seymour street, next to the Congregational church, and is oc- cupied as a dwelling by Mrs. S. T. Rowley. Afterwards, until the court house was completed, at the public house of Samuel Mattocks. Work upon the court house was begun in 1796, but it was not completed until 1798, and was first occupied in that year. The funds for its construction were raised by subscription of the citizens of Middlebury and vicinity, and it stood upon the brow of the hill between the Addison House and Mrs. R. Wainright's house, which was built in 1800, by Gamaliel Painter, who deeded to the county one acre and sixty-five rods, " for the express purpose of erecting a court house and jail thereon, and as a common, never to be divided or put to any other use." The jail had been previously built, in 1793, of wood, and contained a tenement for the family of the jailor, as well as a dungeon and other rooms for prisoners. This jail finally became unsafe for the purpose for which it was designed. Accordingly, in November, 1809, the legislature passed an act assessing a tax of one cent on a dollar on the lists of the several towns of the county, (except the city of Vergennes, which maintained a jail of its own,) for the purpose of erecting a new jail. Daniel Chipman was appointed to superintend its erection, and in 1810 a stone building was completed at a cost of about $4,000.00. This building was used until 1846, although it had for some time been considered unsuitable for the purpose for which it was de- signed. During that year the present commodious two story brick structure, located on Court street, was commenced and completed at an expense of about $8,000.00.
In 1814, by reason of the growth of the village and the opening of new streets, it was deemed necessary to remove the court house from the exposed condition it then occupied. Accordingly during that year it was removed to its present location, south of the Masonic Hall building, under the direction of Wightman Chapman. The site was deeded to the county by Gamaliel Painter "for the express purpose of erecting, keeping and having a court house for the county of Addison, on the said premises, where the same is now erected, so long as the premises shall be used for the purpose aforesaid, and no longer." The building originally was not divided into two stories ; but the room was so high and large that some difficulty was experienced in heat- ing it, so much, indeed, that the Supreme Court held its sessions, for several winters, at the public houses. Therefore, during the year 1829, it was decided to divide the building into two stories, the upper story to be used for the ses-
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sions of the court, with one room adjoining for a consultation room, and three rooms below for jury rooms and other uses. Other than these, no material changes have been made in the building, and it stands to-day, with the excep- tion of a few external repairs, just as it did in 1829.
THE POOR.
The poor of the county, in conformance to the laws of the State, are sup- ported by the towns wherein the applicants reside, and to the credit of some of the towns, be it said, the appellation of " pauper " is known only in name.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
The Champlain & Connecticut River Railroad was incorporated Novem- ber 1, 1843, the first meeting of stockholders being held at Rutland, May 6, 1845, with Timothy Follett, of Burlington, chairman, and Ambrose L. Brown, of Rutland, clerk. At this meeting it was voted to open subscriptions for stock, June 10, 1845. Accordingly, on the 12th of June of that year, more than 2,000 shares having been subscribed to the capital stock, stockholders were notified to meet at the court house in Rutland for choice of nine di- rectors, which were chosen as follows: Timothy Follett, Samuel Barker, Ira Stewart, Charles Linsley, John A. Conant, Chester Granger, George T. Hodges, William Henry, and Henry N. Fullerton. Subsequently, January 14, 1846, the following were chosen directors in place of the first board : Timothy Follett, Samuel P. Strong, William Nash, Charles Linsley, John A. Conant, Chester Granger, George T. Hodges, Nathaniel Fullerton, William Henry, John Elliott, Horace Gray, Samuel Dana, and Samuel Henshaw, with Timothy Follett, president. During the month of February, 1847, the first blow towards the construction of the road was struck in the town of Rock- ingham, near Bellows Falls. Two years and nine months from that date the road was completed, and was opened through, December 18, 1849.
By an act of the Legislature, Nov. 6. 1847, the name of the road was changed to the Rutland & Burlington R. R. Co., and subsequently to the Rutland R. R. Co. Hon. John B. Page, of Rutland, being now president, and Joel M. Haven, treasurer. From this time the road passed through various changes and vicissitudes, litigations and bankruptcy, until finally, on the Ist of January, 1871, the whole line, its buildings, etc., were leased for a period of twenty years to the Vermont Central R. R. Co., since which time, and under the new organization of the Central Vermont R. R. Co., it has rapidly grown in prosperity.
The Addison Branch of the Central Vermont Railroad was a project of the managers of the Rutland Railroad, which was put into execution by them in 1870. The road extends from Leicester Junction west through Whiting, Shoreham, and a portion of Orwell. thence across the lake into New York, a distance of fourteen miles in all. The contract for building the road was let
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to W. Phelps & Son, who completed the work in 1871, costing $500,000, in- cluding a bridge across the lake. It is now included within the lease of the Central Vermont.
The Vermont Central Railroad, operated by the Central Vermont R. R. Co., passes through a small portion of the north-eastern corner of Granville, in the eastern part of the county.
NEWSPAPERS.
There are at present four live weekly newspapers published in the county, edited, with one exception, by tried veterans in this field of labor, and all of them, we believe, conducted on sound and liberal principles. The first paper ever published in the county was the Vergennes Gazette, begun at Vergennes by Samuel Chipman, in August of 1798, and issued weekly. This publica- tion lived several years and was finally discontinued, when from that time until 1825, no paper was published in Vergennes; but during that year, Gam- aliel Small commenced the Vermont Aurora, which was issued by him un- der this name every Thursday until 1831, when the title was changed to the Vergennes Gazette, and subsequently to the Vergennes Citizen and to the Ver- gennes Palladium, published respectively by Messrs. Hawkins, Blaisdell, and Cory, the latter selling the property to Rufus Wilmot Griswold, on the 8th of February, 1838, when the name was changed to the VERGENNES VER- MONTER. Griswold continued the paper under this title until April 29, 1839, when it was purchased by J. E. & H. Roberts, who were succeeded by E. W. Blaisdell, Sr., October 6. 1841. During the following year, the publi- cation was taken by Grandey & Lawrence and continued by them about two years, when it again passed into the hands of Blaisdell. From this time until 1881, it was published successively by Blaisdell, Henry G. Judd, H. C. John- son, William G. Cambridge, H. C. Johnson, and G. M. Wilmarth. In 1855, the name was changed to the Vergennes Citizen and subsequently to the Vergennes Independent, and finally back to the VERGENNES VER- MONTER again, which, on April 29, 1881, was purchased by the present publisher, Mr. James Crane, a veteran editor and typo, under whose manage- ment it cannot fail to increase in popularity.
The first newspaper published in Middlebury was the Middlebury Mercury, a weekly, commenced by D. Huntington and John Fitch, December 16, 1801. Their printing office was the first ever established in Middlebury, and was located at the south end of the bridge where the Dyer block now stands, and afterwards, in February, 1804, removed to the building erected by Jabez Rogers for a dwelling house, which was removed for therailroad track in 1848. In 1806, the partnership was dissolved and the business continued by Hunt- ington, who continued the publication of the Mercury until January 1810, when it was discontinued. From that time till September, 1812, no paper was published here ; but on that date, Samuel Swift issued the first number of the Vermont Mirror, which was continued by him and T. C. Strong till Sep-
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tember 11, 1816. The Columbian Patriot was first issued by N. H. Wright, September 1, 1813, and continued under various changes in the title by Wright, W. Slade, and Copeland & Allen, until, as the National Standard, it was dis- continued March 24, 1831.
The Christian Herald was commenced by T. C. Strong, September 25, 1816, only six numbers being issued when it was changed to the Christian Messenger, and subsequently taken by F. Burnap, who continued its publica- tion until November 23, 1819, when it was discontinued.
The Religious Reporter was begun by Copeland & Allen, April 8, 1820, and discontinued on September 30th of the same year.
The Vermont American, started by Ovid Miner, April 16, 1828, was con- tinued until September 1, 1830.
The Anti-Masonic Republican, by E. D. Barber, was commenced October 28, 1829. This paper, after passing through several changes, both of pub- lishers and title, was finally discontinued by E. R. Jewett, October 2, 1837, under the name of the Middlebury Free Press.
The Northern Argus was started by C. C. Waller, October 2, 1831. After changing its name to the Vermont Argus, Argus and Free Press, and pub- lished respectively by Waller, E. H. Washburn, H. & E. W. Drury, Goodale & Cobb, Barber & Russell, and J. M. Stearnes, it was discontinued under the title of Argus and Free Press, in 1841.
The American was commenced by H. H. Houghton, November, 15, 1831, and continued by him, O. Seymour, and J. P. Wheeler, until April, 1836, when it was changed to the People's Press by E. Maxham. In the spring of 1841, it was purchased Dy H. Bell, who commenced the publication on the IIth of May of that year, and the paper was continued in his name until April, 1849, some months after his death. The name was changed in November, 1843, to the Northern Galaxy, and in January, 1848, to the Middlebury Galaxy, and finally, in January, 1850, to the MIDDLEBURY REGISTER, which name it still retains. J. H. Barrett and Justus Cobb had contracted for the purchase of the establishment previous to Mr. Bell's death, and commenced the publication in their names in April, 1849, con- tinuing the publication until Mr. Barrett withdrew from it in April, 1856. Since that time it has been published by Cobb & Fuller, Justus Cobb, Rufus Mead, and others, until finally taken by the present publisher. Mr. R. M. Bailey, under whose management it is in very successful operation.
The Green Mountain Argus was commenced in 1832, by D. C. Goodale, who published it several years, when it was discontinued.
The Topas, by Philip Battell, was first issued March 28, 1842, and con- tinued about one year.
On November 8, 1842, the first number of the Vermont Observer was issued by B. Brierly, who continued its publication about two years.
The Democratic Plowoman, started in June, 1842, by J. M. Stearnes, was only continued a couple of years.
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ADDISON COUNTY.
On June 7, 1843, the True Democrat was started by A. B. Bishop, printed at Burlington, but was continued only a short time.
THE ADDISON COUNTY JOURNAL was commenced April 22, 1876, by Cobb, Fuller & Smith, who continued its publication until Novem- ber 2, 1877, when Mr. Cobb withdrew from the firm and it was issued by Fuller & Smith, until March 5, 1881. From that time until the Ist of the following April its publication was suspended; but on that date it was resumed by Cobb & Fuller, who still retain the property, publishing a very creditable paper.
THE BRISTOL HERALD, published at Bristol by Wilson Bros., was commenced by them in the spring of 1877, since which time they have issued each Thursday, a very live and energetic sheet. This constitutes, we believe, all the weekly publications ever issued in the county. Those published monthly and semi-monthly are as follows :--
The Vermont Farmer and S. G., semi-monthly, published at Middlebury, from October, 1839, to October, 1840, by E. Maxham.
The Adviser, published monthly by the General Convention of Vermont, at Middlebury, from January, 1809, to December, 1815.
The Repertory, an occasional, published at Middlebury by an association, from April, 1812, to May, 1817.
The Episcopal Register was begun by Rev. B. B. Smith, in January, 1826, and published monthly, at Middlebury, until December, 1829.
THE UNDERGRADUATE, a monthly, published by the students of Middlebury College, was first issued years ago and after a time discon- tinued till 1875, when it was recommenced and is now in its seventh volume, a sound, sparkling little sheet that does credit to its publishers.
The Vermont Stock Journal, a monthly, issued at Middlebury, was started by D. C. Linsley, in January, 1857, and continued a short time, when it was removed to New York.
ABORIGINAL OCCUPANCY.
That Addison County was once the established residence of the Indian is almost conclusively proven by the numerous Indian relics found along the borders of Lake Champlain, Otter Creek, Lemon Fair, and other streams, as well as by general history. The Iroquois, or Five Nations, was a powerful confederacy composed of several tribes of Indians, who had planted them- selves in Western New York, on the shores of lakes Ontario and Erie, and were the inveterate enemies of the Canadian Indians. In the year 1609, a Frenchman by the name of Champlain, in company with several other French- men and about one hundred of the Canadian Indians, started from Quebec upon an expedition against their enemies, the Iroquois. Champlain's object being to explore the country and to assist the Canadian Indians in their wars against their enemies. After leaving the St. Lawrence they struck another river which the Indians called Iroquois, and soon reached a lake by the same
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name, to which Champlain gave his own name. As they proceeded up the lake they soon came in sight of the Green Mountains, upon the east side, and upon inquiry Champlain was told that this was the country of the Iroquois, but that their enemies lived still further to the south, upon the west side of the lake. Near Crown Point, as they expected, they met a war party of the Iroquois who defied them. But, when Champlain, at a single fire of his arquebus, killed two chiefs and mortally wounded another, and another Frenchman fired from anoth- er quarter, they fled in alarm at the new and unheard of warfare and were defeat- ed. Thus ended the first battle on Lake Champlain. Some of the tribes com- posing the confederacy of the Iroquois, emigrated to Canada at an early day, ally- ing with the French in their war against the British. As early as 1798, these tribes began to seek restitution from Vermont for their hunting grounds, claim- ing $89,600.00 for "all that tract of land lying northerly of a straight line from Ticonderoga to the great falls of Otter Creek, [Sutherland Falls,] from thence to be continued to the top of the Green Mountains, thence along said mountains which divide the water that runs into the Connecticut River and the water that flows into Lake Champlain and Mississquoi River, to the lati- tude of 45°."
To this very modest request Vermont, it is needless to state, failed to com- ply. The circumstance is merely mentioned as a proof on the affirma- tive side of a somewhat mooted question, as to whether Addison County was ever the permanent home of the red man. Of course, all decisions on the point must be, to a certain extent, conjecture, for the Indian has long since passed entirely from the territory, and all knowledge of his battles, his savage loves and wild wooings, as well as any definite idea of the territory he called " home," have all been buried, like his nation, in an oblivion from which the pen of the historian will never resurrect them.
WHEN FIRST SETTLED BY THE WHITES.
The first settlement of white people in Addison County, as previously stated, was commenced in 1690, by Jacobus D'Narm and a small party from Albany, N. Y., who established an outpost or trading camp at Chimney Point. This settlement, however, was short lived, and the first real or permanent oc- cupation of any portion of the territory was by a few French families, who came up Lake Champlain from Canada and located on the site of the previous settlement, opposite Crown Point, in 1730. Here they erected a small fort - and windmill, and the following year troops were sent out from Canada and erected a fort on the opposite side of the lake at Crown Point, which was called Fort Frederick. Afterwards, in 1756, a fort was built at Ticonderoga, and a number of settlers had followed in the wake of the army.
Both the French and the British were fully aware of the importance attached to the control of the lake, affording as it did the most direct and convenient line of communication into each other's territory in the northern part of America. The French claimed exclusive control by right of discovery, and
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ADDISON COUNTY.
the British were equally persistent in their resolution not to allow them the alleged right. This led to repeated and unsuccessful attempts on the part of the latter to gain control and oust the French, covering a period of nearly the whole of the first half of the last century. After the breaking out of the French and Indian war, in 1755, their efforts were redoubled, but met with only disgraceful failure, until the year 1759, when General Amherst. com- mander-in-chief of the British forces in America, took command of the expi- dition, reached Ticonderoga, and without much opposition, captured the fort on the 27th of July; but before he reached Crown Point, the French garri- son had burnt their forts on both sides the lake and abandoned them. the settlers in the neighborhood also retreating with the army, which ended the French settlement in Addison County. They had cleared off the timber along the shore of the lake, three or four miles north of Chimney Point, most of it probably having been used in the construction of their forts and dwell- ings, the cellers and other remains of which were afterwards found by the English settlers, scattered over the whole tract, many of which are still to be seen there.
The first permanent English settlement was begun on this tract, by Benja- min Kellogg, John Strong, Zadock Everest, and David Vallence, in 1765 ; and John Strong, Jr., born in June of that year, was the first child born of English parents in the county. Previous to this time, beginning in 1761, Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, had granted fourteen of the townships in- cluded within the present limits of the county, and the year following, 1766, settlements were begun at Vergennes, Shoreham and Middlebury; and in '68 and '69 at Bridport and New Haven. From this time until after the Revolutionary war, the influx of settlers was not rapid ; but the ter- mination of these troubled times gave a new impetus to immigration, so that at the taking of the first census, in 1791, the county had 6,489 inhabitants. These early settlements, etc., will be spoken of in detail in connection with the histories of the respective towns wherein they occurred.
LAND TITLE CONTROVERSY.
The English settlements made within the limits of the present State, previ- ous to the year 1741, were supposed to be within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts ; but during that year it was ascertained that they were north of its northern line, and within the supposed jurisdiction of New Hampshire. So eagerly were the lands of this territory sought by adventur- ers, speculators, and settlers, that in a single year subsequent to 1760. Gov- ernor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, granted charters for not less than sixty townships of six miles square, and in two years more the number of such grants amounted to one hundred and thirty-eight. The territory began to be known by the name of "The New Hampshire Grants," and the number of actual settlers soon became quite large. But in 1763, the State of New York laid claim to the same territory, by virtue of a grant made by Charles II to
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the Duke of York in 1664, which included "all the land from the west side of the Connecticut River to the east side of Delaware Bay." Upon application of the government of New York, it was decided by George III in council of 20th of July, 1764, that the western bank of the Connecticut River should thereafter be regarded as the boundary line between that State and New Hampshire. The colonists were surprised and displeased at this decision. but peaceably submitted to it, supposing that it merely effected a change of the jurisdiction to which they were subject ; and the government of New Hampshire, which at first remonstrated, soon acquiesced in the decision. But on the 10th of April, 1765, Lieut .- Gov. Colden, of New York, issued a proclamation, giving a copy of the order of the king changing the boundary of the territory, and notifying his Majesty's subjects to govern themselves ac- cordingly. He also at once proceeded to grant the lands to others than the · New Hampshire claimants, and when the latter applied to the New York government for a confirmation of the grants they already held, such enor- mous patent fees were demanded as to make it impossible for them to comply.
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