USA > Vermont > Bennington County > Gazetteer and business directory of Bennington County, Vt. for 1880-81 > Part 3
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Bennington. About 10,000 to 12,000 bushels per month of coal is made and from 15 to 30 hands are employed.
The wagon and blacksmith shop of Knapp & Evans on road 1, gives employment to three or four men in the manufacture of heavy wagons and sleighs and general repairs.
The saw mill and box factory of F. R. Smith, of Bennington, on road 1, has been idle for some months; his mill at Bennington meeting the demands of his trade.
The first inhabitant of the town, according to Stephen Gleason in the Vermont Historical Magazine, was Caleb Moore, and about the same time Matthew and Zerah Scott settled. The first birth was that of Benjamin Reed Jr., son of Benjamin and Huldah Reed, August 4, 1779. The first inhabitants who took the free- man's oath in town meeting, held March 10, 1792, were as fol- lows :- Joseph Wilson, Caleb Moore, Obed Eddy, Zadock Pierce, Eli Pierce, Hezekiah Pierce, Benjamin Reed, and Samuel Orcutt. The first representative chosen was Obed Eddy, who utterly re- fused to serve, in consequence of which no suffrages were given for governor and other state and county officers and the meeting was adjourned.
'The first deed recorded of land sold in this town is dated April 21, 1792, for consideration of £7, 10 s. Ebenezer S. Barnum, of Monkton, county of Addison, conveyed to Isaac Clark, of the same town, a certain piece of land described as follows :-
" Beginning at stake and stones at east line of Bennington, three hundred rods south of where the great road enters Woodford, thence east 10 degrees south, 160 rods to stake and stones; thence south 10 degrees west, 100 rods, thence west 10 degrees north, 160 rods, thence north on Bennington east line to the bounds first mentioned, and containing 100 acres.
Attest, ZERAH SCOTT, Town Clerk."
The first road laid out in Woodford was that which bears to the left, between Captain H. L. Shields' place in Bennington, and the Woodford line. It ran up over the hill and struck Bolles Brook not far from Mr. Mallory's. An old cemetery established a'mit one hundred years ago by the side of this road on the hill. sur- rounded by a stone wall, is thickly grown up with trees and shrubbery, and one has to look sharply to find the many head-
26
TOWN OF WOOFORD.
stones. On a visit to this neglected resting place of Woodford's pioneers, the oldest inscription found, on a plain marble slab, was as follows :-
" In Memory of Mr. Otis Eddy, Who died Oct. 22d, 1794, In the 22d year of his age. Death, like, an overthrowing stream, Sweeps us away, our life a dream."
The old road was abandoned as a public thoroughfare about 1869, and is now used only for local and private purposes.
The old turnpike running through the southern part of the town, known as the "Elbow Road," was chartered about ISoo. There is a tradition that this road was originally cut by soldiers from Guilford and vicinity, during the Revolutionary war.
About 1801-2 the first forge was built in Woodford Hollow, for the manufacture of bar iron. Two or three years later, when the furnace was erected just west of the town line, in Bennington, a large forge was erected for the manufacture of anchors for gun- boats, for which, during the administration of President Jefferson, a large contract was awarded and fulfilled. A third forge for the manufacture of bar iron was built still later, and was operated most of the time during the life of the furnaces.
Settlements up Bolles Brook and on the mountain were of more recent date. One of the first to locate on Bolles Brook was Phineas Bolles, from Rockingham, N. H., about 1829-30. Jacob Harbour settled soon after.
The first settler on the hill at " Woodford City " was Zurial Cutler, near where C. W. Cutler now lives, about 1820. Next came Andrew Lyman, who built the second house erected on the hill, latterly occupied by Charles Sawyer. William W., son of Andrew and Ann Lyman, was the first male child born on the mountain. The third to locate here was William Park, and his son, William jr., about six months after Mr. Cutler. A saw mill had been erected by Mr. Cutler; coaling was started, the furnaces in Bennington being the market. The new settlement was fairly started, and although its growth has been slow, it has continued to be the chief place and the location of the only post office in the town. The hotel was built by Wm. Park, jr., who kept it for
27
TOWN OF WOODFORD.
several years, when it was sold to Alonzo Fox, the same now owned and kept by Ezra Crawford.
The first tavern built in the hollow, by Elisha Lyon, was some years ago kept by Amos Adrich. Another house was opened for the public in the eastern part of the town, near the present loca- tion of Adams' saw mill. It has been closed for many years.
In 1840 the demand for a more direct route between Benning- ton and Brattleboro brought about the construction and opening to the public in 1832 of the new turnpike through Searsburg, since which time the old or southern route by the " Elbow " has gone into disuse except for local purposes.
Formerly deer abounded in this town, and bears were plenty, even at the present time several bears are killed every year.
This town has sent out into the world some noted men. Hon. Trenor W. Park, an able lawyer in this county, afterwards one of the most eminent attorneys in the State of California, and laterly largely interested in railroads and banking, was born in this town. He is now president, and we believe principal owner, of the Pana- ma Railroad, and also president of the Bennington and Rutland Railway, with his summer residence at North Bennington.
A terrible freshet swept down the Roaring Branch, Oct. 4, 1869, which carried death and destruction before it. Every bridge in town and F. R. Smith's saw mill, and the house of Wil- Jard Knapp were swept away. Charles Potter and his wife were in Knapp's house, and both were lost. Lyman Knapp while en- deavoring to help his neighbors, was swept away in the flood, and Lewis Rivers while on horseback, picking his way along the un- even road-bed already covered quite deeply, did not discover that a portion had been badly washed out, until his horse stumbled and threw him into the boiling flood, and he was seen no more alive. His horse came out considerably exhausted. Four lives and some $20,000 worth of property were sacrificed to the hungry tide.
The Advent Christian Church at Woodford Hollow, was organ- ized with 12 members, July 30, 1871, by Elders R. L. Harrison and Wm. J. Blanchard. The house of worship was erected of wood in the same year, at an expense of $1,200, and will comfortably seat 125 persons. The present estimated value of church prop- erty is $1,400. There are 18 members who are under the spiritual guidance of Elder W. O. Higley, the first and present pastor. Since the organization of the Church, two members have died and two have been dismissed by letter.
The Union Christian Church at Woodford City, was organized with six members by a union of Christian clergymen, in 1873. The church building, of wood, was erected the same year at a cost of. $1,800, and will seat 140 persons. The church property is now valued at $3,000, and the number of members is seven ; services are held occasionally by supply from other parishes.
CENSUS TABLE.S
Population of the Towns in the County of Bennington at the several dates when the Census was taken by the U. S.
1791
1800
1810
1820
1830
1840
1850
1860
1870
1880
Arlington ....
991
1597
1463
1354
1207
1035
1084
1146
1636
1531
Bennington
2377
2243
2524
2485
3419
3429
3923
4392
5760
6341
Dorset ...
958
1286
1204
1359
1507
1432
1700
2090
2195
2199
Glastonbury
34
18
76
48
52
53
52
47
119
241
Landgrove ...
31
147
299
341
355
345
.337
320
302
246
Manchester
1276
1397
1502
1508
1525
1500
1782
1688
1897
1929
Peru ....
71
130
239
314
455
578
567
543
500
558
Pownal.
1746
1699
1655
1812
1835
1613
1742
1733
1705
2016
Readsboro.
64
234
410
530
632
767
857
929
828
744
Rupert ....
1033
1548
1630
1332
1318
1091
1101
1103
1017
957
Sandgate
773
1020
1187
1185
933
777
850
805
708
681
Searsburg ..
$
9
40
120
201
263
235
232
Shaftsbury.
1999
1895
1973
2022
2143
1835
1896
1937
2027
1892
Stamford ..
272
383
378
490
563
662
833
760
633
726
Sunderland.
414
557
556
496
463
437
479
567
553
654
Winhall
155
202
429
428
571
576
762
741
842
722
Woodford.
60
138
2.4
212
395
487
423
379
371
88
Total.
12254
14617
15892
16125
17470
16879
18589
19443
21325
22157
.
..
CENSUS TABLE.
28
.
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BENNINGTON COUNTY.
At the organization. of the State of Vermont, in 1778, it was divided into two counties, the Green Mountains being the divid- ing line. The portion on the west. was called " Bennington," and that on the east "Cumberland." In each county were half shires. By act of the General Assembly, February 13, 1781, Bennington County was circumscribed to its present limits, while the portion to the northward was formed into Rutland County. The same Assembly passed an act declaring Bennington and Manchester "to be half shires for holding courts in the county, provided the town of Bennington comptete a goal by the first day of June next, and a court house by the first day of October." The courts were to be held alternately in the two shires.
The county lies in the south-west. corner of the State, between 42° 44' and 43° 18"north latitude, and between 3º 46' and 4º 14 longitude, east of Washington. It is bounded north by Rutland County, east by Windham County, south by Berkshire and Frank- lin Counties in Massachusetts, and west by Rensselaer and Wash- ington Counties in New York. It contains seventeen towns, Arlington, Sunderland and the towns north of those composing the Manchester or northern shire, while those to the south com- pose the Bennington or southern shire. Each shire sends a senator and each town a representative biennially to the General Assembly. Each of the shires constitute a probate district.
The county is centrally distant from Montpelier, the State capitol,-about ninety miles,-and contains about 610 square miles of territory. Its physical features are marked by the elevated peaks of the Taconic Mountains, cut by fertile valleys in the west, and the unbroken barrier of the Green Mountains in the central and eastern portion. - The highest point is Equinox
30
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Mountain in Manchester, which, according to the admeasure- ment of Prof. Arnold Guyot, of Princeton, is 3872 feet above tide-water. Joel W. Andrews, of Albany, N, Y., found the highest point of this mountain to be 2917 feet above Manchester village, and 3787 feet above the ocean. Other peaks in the Taconic range, though not so high, afford pleasing variety to the scenery in the several towns in the western part. Mount Pros- pect in Woodford, Bald Mountain in Bennington and Glasten- bury, Glastenbury Mountain and Mount Tabor in Peru, are elevated peaks in the Green Mountain system.
At the summit of the Green Mountains, in Woodford, is a platteau of several miles in width, from which the occasional peaks projecting appear like ordinary hills, the mountainous aspect of the immediate surroundings being lost.
Between these two systems of mountains are broad and fertile valleys, capable of profitable tillage. The timber of the county is principally spruce, hemlock, beech, birch and maple, with some pine, basswood, poplar, oak and other deciduous woods. The mountains have for many years afforded large supplies, which have been worked up in the saw mills, otherwise manufactured, or burned in the numerous charcoal kilns. While to a novice it would seem that the supply of timber is practically inexhaust- able, the lumber manufacturers find more difficulty now than formerly in securing the largest and best qualities. Nearly all the mills in the county are provided with circular saws and other improved machinery, and the natural desire to push business to its utmost is fast stripping the country of the timber which is so largely depended upon as a promoter of wealth.
The county is well watered by numerous streams, whose sources are near the mountain tops, and which by their rapid descent afford mill privileges at almost any point in their several courses.
·
The principal streams are Hoosick River and the Walloomsac, (a branch of the Hoosick,) in the south-west, and the Battenkill flowing southerly and westerly through the central part, and all discharging their waters into the Hudson River. Pawlet River and its branches, and Otter Creek and branches flowing into Lake Champlain, and branches of West River in the north-east, and
31
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Deerfield River and branches in the south-east flowing easterly into the Connecticut. Several small ponds are located in Stam- jord, Pownal, Woodford, Readsboro, Dorset, Arlington, Peru, Sunderland, Bennington and Manchester.
GEOLOGICAL.
The rocks of the county are, the Georgia slate, which first en- ters Vermont from New York in the town of Sandgate, passes north through Rupert into Rutland County. The Talcoid schists enters the State at Pownal, and passes north through Bennington, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Sandgate and Rupert. The general feature of this group is that of a great (the Taconic,) range of mountains, steep on the eastern sides, but with a gradual western slope. The thickness of the talcoid schists of these mountains averages more than 2,000 feet. Native gold is found, according to Prof. Hager, in the alluvium derived from the abrasion of these schists in Dorset and Sandgate; it has also been found in Sears. burg and Arlington. It is probable the gold found in Manches- ter, Shaftsbury and Bennington was originally derived from quartz veins in these schists. Large masses of milk quartz are abundant in these schists, and boulders of white quartz are common over the surface underlaid by this formation.
The Folian limestones, two ranges of which enter Pownal from Massachusetts, unite near the north border of that town, and extend through the towns of Bennington, Shaftsbury, the east_ ern part of Arlington, north-west corner of Sunderland, through Sandgate and Manchester, between Mt. Equinox and the Green Mountains, and through Dorset on both sides of Mt. Eolus. In Dorset, marble quarries have been opened high up the mountain, the products of which have long since made the name of Dorset famous throughout the country. Inferior marbles, quarried prin- epally for building purposes, are found in Arlington, Bennington and Pownal.
Next to the Eolian limestone deposits, and extending the whole length of the county near the base of the western slope of the Green Mountains, with a branch extending up the valley of Roar- ing Branch into Woodford, is a Pliocene tertiary deposit of nar- row limits but of considerable commercial value. In this de-
-- ---
. 32
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
posit the hematite ores, kaolin or pipe clays, and ocher are found; small deposits are also found in the valley of the Hoosick in Stam- ford and at Heartwellville.
A range of Quartz rock, never more than three miles wide, is found entering the State in Pownal, near the east line, from whence it takes a northerly course, with minor curves through Woodford, Bennington, Shaftsbury, Glastenbury, Sunderland, Manchester, Winhall, Dorset and Peru. In some localities it is entirel ob- scured by the drift, while in others, the highest and naked peaks of the Green Mountains, often seen glistening in the sun, are furmed of this rock. It crops out occasionally in the lower foot hills and is quarried to some extent for building purposes.
But little Granite is found in the county, and that only on the line of Stamford and Pownal, extending eastward perhaps one-third across Stamford, and north within a mile or two of Woodford line : a very little is found in Sunderland and Peru.
The most abundant of the rocks, is the Green Mountain gneiss, which enters the state from the south, and is deposited in Stamford, Readsboro, Searsburg, Woodford, Glastenbury, Sunderland, across the south-eastern part of Manchester, and in nearly all of Winhall, Peru and Landgrove. In Woodford, Glastenbury, Sunderland, Winhall, Peru, and Landgrove, this rock is mostly covered by drift, which prevents an accurate knowledge of its position or character. In the north part of Readsboro the feldspar is abund- ant, and the strata run nearly east and west and stand upon their edges. In the villages of Stamford and Heartwellville the gneiss almost passes into quartz rock, and the same belt of rock con- tinues to the north part of Searsburg.
Bog iron ore, or the earthy oxide of iron, is found in Ben- nington, Manchester and Dorset. Though rich in metal, the deposit is not large enough for remunerative working. Hematite beds of considerable extent have been found and worked in Ben- nington, both in the eastern and western part ; smaller beds of this ore are to be found in Stamford, Readsboro, Shaftsbury, Arlington, Sunderland, Manchester and Dorset. It is believed the beds in Bennington began to be worked about Iso1, but more extensively when Captain Moses Sage erected a furnace on Furnace Brook, and later one about two miles east of the village.
33
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
near the Woodford line ; but for a dozen years or more none of the beds in this county have been worked.
The yellow ocher beds at the base of the Green Mountains and in the Valley of Roaring Branch in Woodford, have for many years afforded pigments for paints, for coloring and filling papers, in the manufacture of floor oil cloths, and for other mechanical purposes. In this connection a description of the process of preparing the ocher may be interesting to many unacquainted with its manufacture. The beds of ocher are opened by running lateral shafts into the side of the mountain, from whence the ocher in its crude state, mixed with refuse matter, is moved in wheel barrows to the mill, where, after being broken up and thoroughly "washed," it is, with the water, carried down the sluice, the worthless material in the form of pebbles, iron ore, sand, &c., settles to the bottom, and the substance valuable for paint is held in solution and carried by spouts to a considerable distance, where it is deposited in large vats. Here it is suffered to remain, and the paint settles at the bottom. The water is then drawn off, and the operation repeated, until a sufficient deposit has accumulated in the vats to undertake the drying pro- cess. This is accomplished by first allowing the sediment in the . vats to become, by the action of the sun's rays, of the consist- ance of thick mud or clay, when it is cut or shoveled into pieces about the size of bricks, and laid upon shelves to dry in buildings prepared for the purpose. When perfectly dry it is run through a crushing mill, and packed in barrels for market. This paintis very similar to the celebrated French ocher, and has met with a large demand from various sections of the country. By placing the lumps of dried yellow ocher into ovens and calcining them, ved ccher is made, of a quality closely resembling Venitian red.
The process of manufacture of kaolin, or paper clay, as it is sometimes called, is similar to that of ocher, except that it does not undergo the grinding process, but is fit for market soon as it is dry. The kaolin manufactured in this county is principally used in the neighboring paper mills for "stuffing," giving a smooth surface and additional weight to paper, it is mixed with the pulp, and but a small per cent. is lost in the subsequent pro- vess of manufacture.
..
34
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Pyrolusite and Psilomelane, oxides of manganese, are found in Bennington and Stamford in connection with the hematite ores. The oxides of manganese and iron mixed together and sprinkled on the moist glazing, and suitably calcined, and united with the enamel, produce the shaded colors seen upon pitchers, spit- toons, and other ware, extensively manufactured and sent abroad from the Bennington Pottery.
Fossils of many varieties are found in the rocks of this county, of which the lack of space forbids mention. Conglomerates to some extent are found. "In Pownal, half a mile north of the State line, and upon the north-east bank of Hoosick River, is an inter- esting example of a calciferous conglomerate and sandstone. The process of consolidation seems to be going on every day ; the cement being the calcarious matter derived from subjacent lime- stone."
Moraine Terraces, formed when water covered a great part of Vermont, are found in great numbers in Pownal, in the valley of the principal branch of the Walloomsac River, between Shaftsbury and Arlington, they are met with frequently. At Arlington, west of the village, are conical and tortuose moraine terraces above the terraces on the Battenkill River. In the north-west corner of Sunderland they may be seen upon both sides of the valley, and in Manchester one of the most remarkable is south-west of Fac- tory Point, and is so steep as to be ascended with much difficulty on the south side, where it is 150 feet high. Extraordinary accu- mulations of these terraces also occur in the valley between East Dorset and Danby. A remarkable curved moraine occurs in Peru, a few rods north of the turnpike. It it perhaps 1000 feet in length, five or six rods wide at the base, and from three to six yards wide at the top, which has an elevation of about 150 feet. Moraines more or less remarkable are found in other sections of of the county. Something of the theory of the formation of these moraine terraces may not be uninteresting. "It was supposed that icebergs became stranded at the base and on the sides of hills, and that deposits were made around and upon them, and they would have been level-topped if the ice had remained; but in consequence of the melting of the ice they are now extremely irregular."
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35
1770828
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
At Shaftsbury Center there are very distinct evidences of an ancient sea beach, 643 feet above the present ocean level. "It may extend to Arlington upon a ridge in the center of the valley, much like a terrace. At Shaftsbury Depot the lithological character of the small sorted pebbles is so very marked, that not even the most inveterate opposer of our theory of their forma- tion could doubt that they were water-worn. We have not seen a finer example of a modern beach on any part of the shores of Lake Champlain."
Evidences of ancient sea bottoms are found in the alluvial deposits in East and Center Pownal and in Bennington.
Alluvium .- Under this head geologists include " all the loose or partially consolidated materials, that bave been worn from the older rocks at whatever period, and brought into their present state since the tertiary period. These materials, by whatever agencies first torn off from the solid ledges, have been more or less sorted and deposited by water in layers or strata, generally horizontal. The size of the fragments varies from that of enormous blocks, weighing thousands of tons, down to the im- palpable powder of the finest mud. The lowest part is called drift, and the superimposed deposit modified drift. It will not be difficult to form an accurate idea of drift, for in most every part of the county occur accumulations of bowlders, or large blocks of stone, with the angles more or less rounded, lying upon the solid ledges, or upon or in the midst of a mixture of smaller fragments, among which quartz, hard heads, predominates, with gravel and sand, the whole mingled confusedly together, and evidently abraded by some powerful agency from the rocks in places, and driven pell mell often to great distances ; for if the bowlders and fragments be examined, they will for the most part be found not to correspond to the ledges beneath, but to others many miles perhaps to the north or north-west.
The drift in the valley has generally been acted upon more frequently, until the soil has become finer and more compact, and hence is called modified drift. Where rivers or other erosive agencies have cut through the modified drifts, they generally dis- close the unmodified beneath. Right here it may be well to re- flect a little upon the service of this body of coarser drift, in re-
1
36
BENNINGTON COUNTY.
tarding the flow of water in our rapidly descending mountain streams ; were it not for the innumerable bowlders (denuded of the lighter portions of the original deposit by the action of the running waters,) that so thickly stud our streams, the danger from floods in times of freshets would be far greater than at present.
It is almost beyond the power of the human mind to conceive of the mighty forces which must have operated in the drift period, for we find near the tops of the highest mountains evidences of this wonderful transporting and grinding process. Immense
bowlders with corners and angles abbraded deposited high up and far away from the parent bed. If any one doubts the tre- mendous power exerted by the drift agency, let him pass up the hill west of Stamford toward Pownal, and he mill be amazed at the accumulation and size of the bowlders, chiefly of granite, here almost covering the surface and preventing cultivation. A huge bowlder, 12 feet high, 20 feet long and 18 feet wide, situated near the present Willmarth Hotel in Stamford, was used by an early settler as a buttress against which he built his house, and it now goes by the name of Rock Raymond.
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