USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > Gazetteer and business directory of Chittenden County, Vermont, for 1882-83 > Part 11
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" His Excellency, Benning Wentworth, Esq.
" A Tract of Land to contain Five Hundred Acres, marked B. W. on the Plan, which is to be accounted two of the within shares.
" One whole share for the incorporated Society, for the propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts.
" One share for the Glebe for the Church of England, as by law established.
"One share for the first settled Minister of the Gospel, and one share for the benefit of schools in said Town.
" Province of Newhampshire, "June 7, 1763. "Theodore Atkinson, Sect'y."
The area of the tract thus chartered remained the same until October 27, 1794, when it was increased by the annexation of a portion of Huntington ; but the law on this point proving rather deficient, and lawsuits relative to titles arising in consequence, the same was re-annexed to Huntington, November 10, 1808, and all acts under the former law confirmed. Again, October 25, 1804, a part of Bolton was annexed to Richmond. Other than these no changes have occurred. The surface is very broken and mountainous, the rugged, rocky piles, with their steep cliffs and dark gorges, afford many wild, romantic points of scenery, so many, indeed, as to render the township noted in this respect. Just south of the central part of the town the Winooski River crosses the country in a nearly easterly and westerly direction, from which the moun- tains rise abruptly on either side, forming a deep, narrow valley, with a bitter, freezing temperature in winter, yet cool and moderate in the summer months, in consequence of the valley's forming a natural wind-guage through which Old Boreas passes and repasses in the same direction ; the north and west winds coming up the stream, while the south and east winds always blow down stream. Duck Brook, from the north, after many windings and wild
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TOWN OF BOLTON.
plunges over the cliffs, unites with the Winooski near the western line of the town. Preston Brook, from the southern part of the territory, flows a north- erly course, also uniting with the above mentioned river, while from the north, east of Duck Brook, the waters of Joyner and Pinneo Brooks help to swell the waters of the same stream. Mill Brook, upon which the village of West Bol- ton is situated, rises in the northern part of the town and flows an easterly course into Jericho. These, the principal streams, though there are many others of minor importance possessing equally picturesque courses, afford several very excellent mill privileges, of which more anon. The Joyner Brook drains a broad valley some four miles in length, well studded with fine maple, beech, spruce and hemlock, but which, from the nature of the country, could not be gotten at by the woodman, except by the construction of roads and passes at very great expense, until Nature, who is ever kind, opened the way on the 9th of April, 1852, through the medium of a heavy flood. The water in the stream was very low on this date, and the sun arose clear and bright, with no indication of the coming storm ; but in the latter part of the day the air began to grow hot and oppressive, the dead calm relieved only by occasional short angry whiffs, until towards evening the sky began to be over- cast with clouds through which the sun shone with a fierce, angry glare, until it was finally hidden by the deep murky cloud-banks. At about seven o'clock the dark mass broke, firing its fiery bolts back and forth across the valley, and pouring down upon the earth below such a deluge that in one hour's time the giant spruces and hemlocks that had stood for years upon the banks of Joyner Brook, were torn up by the roots and swept onward to the river below. Huge rocks, weighing hundreds of tons, were swept from their beds, while in one instance a whole farm, known as the Stone farm, was almost en- tirely destroyed, Mr. Stone and his family only escaping death by taking shel- ter in the branches of a giant sycamore which stood in his door-yard, where they remained until the flood had subsided. No lives were lost, while the damage to property was amply compensated by the passage hewn out by the torrent, which has since afforded an easy access to the rich timber-land be- yond, from which there has been taken thousands of dollars worth of timber.
The whole town of Bolton may be considered as a lumbering district, the principal part of the inhabitants being residents of the Winooski valley, and the valley of Mill Brook, in the northwestern part of the township. Still, there are many tracts of rich tillable land, and many fine, well cultivated farms. The hillsides have a deep soil of marl and clay, while many of the streams have upon either bank a rich intervale of sandy loam, second in fer- tility to none in the county :-
The varieties of rocks are disposed principally in ledges extending in a north and south direction. In the western portion of the town, for a distance of two miles east from the town line, they are mostly of gneiss formation, while in the residue of the township they are principally composed of talcose schist, though they vary much in their aspect and composition. There is much
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TOWN OF BOLTON.
chiorite and mica slate, the former containing the sulphuret of iron, and the sulphuret of copper. Veins of granite are found in a moderate quantity, from which some very fair specimens have been taken. In some parts, the rocks have a greenish and chlorite hue, a conglomerate, so thick bedded and compact as to form a very good building stone, though this variety is com- paratively small. Gold has been found in several localities, but not in quan- tities sufficiently great to warrant remunerative working.
In 1847, immigration and business interests received quite an impetus from the building of the Vermont Central Railroad, which crosses the town from east to west, following the northern bank of Winooski River. Work was begun in the spring of the above mentioned year, the contract being taken by Suel Belknap, of Burlington, who underlet this portion of the road to Mr. Barker and others. Its construction was pushed rapidly for two or three months, when funds began to run low, causing much discontent, and some open outbreaks among the Irish workmen, about three hundred of whom were employed; no blood was shed, however, though operations were discontinued and the laborers lost the money due them. In March, 1849, the enterprise was again taken up and pushed so vigorously that cars commenced running in the following November.
In 1880, Bolton had a population of 678, was divided into six school dis- tricts, and sustained five common schools, employing one male and seven female teachers at an aggregate salary of $474.00. There were 151 pupils attending common school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31st, was $565.35, with Mr. F. W. Hall, superintendent.
WEST BOLTON (p. o.), a small village located in the northwestern part of the town, on Mill Brook, contains a school-house, church (Baptist), store, saw- mill, grist-mill, and about a dozen dwellings.
BOLTON (p o.), a hamlet and station on the Central Vermont Railroad, is located in the central part of the town.
E. M. Colton's saw and shingle-mill, located on Mill Brook, manufactures 200,000 feet of lumber and 600,000 shingles annually. The saw-mill was erected in 1848, to which the shingle-mill was added in 1852, and has done a thriving business since, although it is operated but a part of the year, owing to low water. Mr. Colton employs four hands.
D. W. Tracy's saw-mill, located on Joyner Brook, is engaged in cutting common lumber, turning out 200,000 feet annually. The first mill erected on this site was built by Whitcomb & Willard, the property coming into the present owner's hands in 1872. He immediately substituted a circular saw for the old style of machinery, and also added a shingle-mill, though he has abandoned the use of the latter for the past few years, devoting all his time to the manufacture of common lumber.
J. G. Tomlinson's butter tub and cheese box manufactory was built by W. A. Hall in 1860, and came into Mr. Tomlinson's possession about four years ago. He employs from five to twelve men, manufacturing 12,000 butter tubs
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TOWN OF BOLTON.
and about the same number of cheese boxes annually, besides doing consid- erable other work in sawing, etc.
C. P. & G. W. Stevens, in connection with Spaulding & Larned, are largely engaged in the manufacture of lumber, on road 4. The Messrs. Stevens furnish the logs and convey the lumber to the depot, employing twenty-five men and teams in this capacity, while Spaulding & Larned attend to the sawing, the mill being operated by steam-power. Every facility for the rapid and economical manufacture of lumber has been brought into use, and they consequently do a large and profitable business.
From the date of the charter, 1763, up to the year 1770, we have no record that there was any meeting of the proprietors called, or that anything towards the survey or settlement of the town was done. But during this year, ac- cording to the records, the first proprietors' meeting was warned, and met therefore at the dwelling of Samuel Canfield, of New Milford, Conn .. on the roth day of May. when Samuel Averill, of Kent, was chosen clerk. This meeting was adjourned to the fourth Tuesday in September, when it was held at the house of Mr. Averill, in Kent. Other meetings were soon after held, and steps were being rapidly taken towards the settlement of their possessions. when the breaking out of the Revolution put a stop to their proceedings, as in the troubled times of that period it was impossible to attempt a settlement with any degree of safety to the pioneers. No white man had disturbed the quiet solitude of the forest, no roads had penetrated its solemn depths, except per- haps here and there an Indian trail, left by the Redmen in their numerous incursions in search of game, when, during the Revolution and soon after the burning of Royalton, a party of twenty-four, with John Barnet at their head, started from Piedmount, on the Connecticut River, to explore the wilderness down the Winooski River as far as the shore of Lake Champlain. Passing over an Indian trail through this town into Richmond, they were there attacked by a party of Indians and Tories, and their leader, Mr. Barnet, killed. This is the first record we have of any white man's visit to Bolton. Soon after the close of the war, however, settlement was commenced by John and Robert Kennedy, Peter Dilse, Amos Palmer, Noah Dewey, Augustus Levague, Jabes Jones, Daniel Pinneo, James Craig, John Preston, John Moore, Robert Stinson, and Samuel Barnet. At the taking of the first census, in 1791, the inhabitants numbered eighty-eight, which, in 1800, had increased to 219.
The first town meeting was held at the house of James Moore, a quaint, question-loving Yankee, the first hotel keeper in the town, on the second Tuesday in March, 1794, at which meeting Samuel Bell was chosen modera- tor ; Jabez Jones, town clerk ; Francis Joyner, William Rogers, and Samuel Bell, selectmen ; Robert Kennedy, constable ; and James Moore, town treas- urer. The first representative after the organization of the town was Jabez Jones, elected at a meeting held on the first "Tuesday in September, 1794, though the town had been represented before it was regularly organized, the
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TOWN OF BOLTON.
first representative being Samuel Bell, chosen in 1795. The first justice was Stephen Royce, chosen in 1794, and continued in office eleven years. Among others who held the office for a number of years was John Pinneo, thirty-nine years ; Samuel B. Kennedy, twenty-eight years ; Moses L. Colton, twenty- five years ; Asa Stockwell, twenty-four years, and John White, twelve years. Rev. William L. Hurlburt was the first settled minister, and received the minis- terial lot provided by charter.
John Kennedy, one of the first settlers of the town, a native of Massa- chusetts, was an old hero of the Revolution, personally acquainted with Gen. Washington, and was with Allen at the taking of Ticonderoga, receiving $80.00 as his share of the prize taken from the British. After the close of the war, he purchased land in Waterbury, worked there during the summer and fall, harvested his corn and put it in a crib, and then returned to his family in Newbury. On his return the following spring, he found his corn had been stolen, and that there were adverse claims upon his land, proving his title worthless. He then removed to Bolton, where he resided until his death, in 1820, in his seventy-seventh year.
John Morse, a native of Massachusetts, came to Waterbury in 1782, when there were but few houses in that town. During the next season he removed to Bolton, and located upon the farm now included within the John Pinneo estate. His family consisted of wife and five children. Joseph, the fourth son, located on the farm now owned by his son, R. J. Morse, where he died at the age of sixty-three years. During his life he held many offices of trust in the town, and in the year 1839, was the only representative of the Whig party in the township. R. J. Morse, residing on road 13, was born on the farm he now occupies. Early in life he was a Whig, but in 1868, he joined the Republican party. He has held many of the town offices, was at one time assistant judge, and town collector twenty years, his term of office ending in 1874. His family consists of three children, one son and two daughters.
John Sabin, at an early day removed with his family to Duxbury, from New Hampshire, and thence to this town, where he resided until his death, aged seventy years, leaving a family of eight children. Five of his grand children, children of William, now reside on road 6, viz .: Ransom J., Elisha B., Elijah H., Allen M., and Jennie, wife of Wm. A. Bohonnon. The four sons reside together upon a farm they have leased for a period of sixteen years.
Asa Stockwell, from Connecticut, came to Bolton about 1800, and located on road 16. His son, Eleazer, now resides on road 18.
Joseph, Samuel, and Asa Lewis, from Bradford, Conn., came to this town in 1801, or 1802. Asa and Samuel located upon a farm on road 18, and Joseph settled near them, across the brook.
Moses L. Colton come to Bolton in 1825, and located in the western part of the town, where he soon after erected a saw-mill, the first built in that locality. In this mill he continued business until his death, in 1872. He was one of the prominent men of the town, and held many positions of honor and
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trust. E. M. Colton, his son, was born here in 1826, and has since resided on the old homestead. He has been very successful in the manufacture of lumber, and has also held many positions of public trust.
Asher Hall, from Jericho, located in the western part of Bolton in 1835.
Rev. W. L. Hurlburt, born in Dorset, Vt., was the first settled minister here, and received the ministerial right of land allowed by charter, though Rev. Roswell Mears and Rev. Samuel Webster were the first itinerant min- isters. Thomas Mitchell was the first Methodist minister, having been in- vited here from Waterbury, by John Kennedy. Soon after, Lorenzo Dow preached here. In 1800 the first church was dedicated. It consisted of a high rock, and may be seen by the traveler situated at the back of a level meadow about forty rods from the railway, one and one-half miles east of Jonesville station. It is about fifty feet high, has a natural grotto, three regular stone steps, and a hollow, shaped like a boiler, which holds about four pails full, and is called the "Indian's kettle." Here was held the first Metho- dist quarterly meeting. The Rev. Shadrick Bostwick, of Baltimore, Md., was presiding elder. There was a large gathering on this occasion, and the society numbered about seventy-six members. Bishop Hedding preached his first sermon in Bolton, at John Kennedy's house, in 1800. Both the Calvinist and Freewill Baptists formed societies in town before the Methc- dists came.
The Baptist Church of West Bolton, located at West Bolton, was organized by Rev. William S. Hurlburt, with forty-five members, in 1875, and now has sixty-eight members, with Rev. D. F. Safford, pastor. The church building, however, was built in 1867, a wooden structure, capable of accommodating 250 persons, and cost $3,000.00, though it is now valued at but $2,500.co.
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UELS' GORE, a triangular tract of land containing an area of about 3,000 acres, forms the southeastern corner of the county, lying in lat. 44° 13' and long. 4° o', bounded north by Huntington, east by Fayston. in Washington Co., and south and west by Starksboro and Lincoln, in Addison Co. It was granted by Vermont, November 4, 1780, to Elias Buel and fifty-nine others, and then contained an area of 4,273 acres ; but was curtailed by the legislature, October 27, 1794, by annexing a portion of its territory to Hunt- ington. The first settlement was made by Abel Turner, John Fitch, and Samuel Fargo, about 1789. From that time until 1850, its population in- creased to eighteen, and since then has increased to twenty-four.
The Gore has never been organized as a town, has no church building. and no postoffice. Its residents all depend upon the adjoining towns for these matters, mostly upon Huntington ; and, indeed, it might almost be said to be a portion of that town. For this reason we have put what notes we have relative to its settlement, biographies, etc., into the Huntington sketch. The " Directory" will also be found combined with that of Huntington.
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
URLINGTON, the shire town, lies near the center of the west line of the county, on the lake shore, in lat. 44° 27' and long. 3º 52'. It was granted, according to the charter deed which now hangs, appropriately framed, upon a wall of the city clerk's office, by Benning Wentworth. the Colonial Governor of New Hampshire, under King George III., June 7, 1763, to Samuel Willis and sixty-three others, in seventy-two shares of 320 acres each, making a total area of 23,040 acres. Its original bounds were as follows :
" Beginning at the southerly or southwest side of French or Onion River, . so-called, at the mouth of said river, thence running up by said river until it comes to a place that is ten miles upon a straight line from the mouth of the river aforesaid, then runs upon a line perpendicular to the aforesaid ten miles line southerly so far as that a line to Lake Champlain, parallel to the ten miles line aforesaid, will, within the lines and the shore of the said lake, con- tain six square miles."
This area, however, was changed by the legislature, October 27, 1794, by annexing to Williston all the land lying east of Muddy Brook ; and again, by an act of the legislature, approved November 22, 1864, and accepted by the inhabitants of Burlington, January 18, 1865, all the township lying west of an irregular line drawn from the mouth of Shelburne Bay, northeasterly through the center of the township to the Winooski River, was incorporated into the City of Burlington, while the residue has since been known as South Burling- ton. But as they were so long considered as a whole, and so lately separated, we shall, in speaking of their surface, rocks, early settlement, etc., consider them as one-the old town of Burlington.
In surface, the territory is just broken enough to lend a pleasing diversity to the landscape, the western part rising, gradually in some places, at others abruptly, from the lake shore, to an altitude of about 300 feet, forming a very handsome beach scene as viewed from the lake. From the northern part of the shore, a long, narrow neck of land extends into the Champlain, terminating in Appletree Point, south of which, extending to Rock Point, is Appletree Bay. Rock Point, especially, is noted for its wild, picturesque aspect. It rises almost abruptly from the water, a bold, beetling, craggy, rock promontory, nearly a hundred feet in height. In the course of time, the ele- ments have wrenched huge crags and large bodies of rock from its sides, which have come crashing down to its base, where they now lie in a confused, picturesque pile, not unlike the ruins of some giant castle. About twenty feet from this mass, with a deep channel of water between them, rises Lone Rock, a solid mass of stone some forty feet in diameter, conical shaped. lift- ing its head to a height of twenty-five or thirty feet. South of this, extending to Red Rocks Point, is the broad, cresent-shaped Burlington Bay, with its long stretch of silvery-white sand beach, the finest harbor on the lake. About a mile southwest from Red Rocks Point is Pottier's Point, with the entrance to Shelburne Bay lying between them, extending south into Shelburne, and which may almost be termed an arm of Burlington Bay, as it opens directly
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
from it. Add to this, then, the beautiful country that forms a background to the scene, its handsome groves, fine residences, and the fair city and harbor of Burlington, the latter with its long docks and immense lumber piles, lying at the foot of the town, which extends up the slope of the hill until its summit is capped by the University of Vermont-the "Queen City's" crown, and you will have in all a picture of rare beauty. The southern and eastern part of the territory (now South Burlington) is low and level, and in the northeast- ern part it is an extensive pine plain. Muddy Brook bounds it on the east, separating it from Williston, an inconsiderable stream flowing north into the Winooski, containing no mill seats of any special value. The Winooski River forms the northern boundary, a stream that not only takes the pre- cedence in size, being seventy miles in length and watering 970 square miles of territory, but also is the first in Vermont in its curiosities and beauties of nature, as well as in historical interest. Since the earliest days, long before Vermont contained a settlement, in the time of King William's and Queen Anne's wars, the French and Indian outbreak, and indeed all through these earlier troubles, the Winooski bore warlike parties upon its bosom. But as we have already spoken at some length of this stream, on page 37, of its gorges, natural bridge, and derivation of its somewhat peculiar vegetarian name, we will only mention at this point its singular gorge, lying three-quar- ters of a mile above Winooski village. Here, the channel, which is about seventy feet in width, for a distance of forty rods, has worn its course through the surface to a depth of sixty-five feet, leaving a perpendicular wall of solid rock on either side, over which has been built a bridge, called High Bridge, a view from which is well worth a visit. There are also abundant evidences at this point that there formerly existed a large pond here, whose waters were drained off by the wearing down of the river channel. On the south the country is bounded by the town of Shelburne. No streams of any magni- tude, except those mentioned, flow through its soil, which is quite uniform, a general sandy loam, with a productive clay in the southern part, yielding large crops of fruits and grains indigenous to the county, with comparatively little labor. The original timber, of which little is standing, was mostly pine, hem- lock, cedar, spruce, maple, oak, and ash.
The principal rock entering into the geological structure of the territory is red sandrock, underlying nearly the whole of the central part of the country, affording a very.excellent building stone. The western portion of the north- ern part of the town is composed of Hudson River slates. The eastern portion of South Burlington, next to the range of red sandrock, the rock formation is of the Eolian limestone variety. The geology has been quite fully treated in connection with the county chapter, so we shall mention here only the above bare outline of facts. ( See page 43.)
BURLINGTON, the largest, and one of the only two cities in the State, was incorporated by the legislature, November 22, 1864, and organized, by the
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
election of the proper city officers, January 18, 1865. Its corporation is em- braced in the following limits :-
"Beginning at the east shore of Lake Champlain, at the northwest corner of one-hundred-acre lot number 163, thence easterly in the north line of said lot to the northeast corner thereof; thence northerly in the west line of one- hundred-acre lot number 155, to the northwest corner of said lot number 155, thence running easterly in the north line of said lot number 155, to the east line of the stage road from Burlington to Shelburne ; thence northerly in the east line of said stage road, to the northwest corner of one-hundred-acre lot number 165 ; thence easterly in the north line of one-hundred-acre lots num- bers 165 and 183, to the east line of Spear street ; thence northerly in the east line of Spear street, to the south line of Winooski turnpike ; thence easterly in the southerly line of said turnpike, to a point opposite the angle formed by the north line of said turnpike and the east line of the road leading northerly from said turnpike to Colchester avenue, east of the residence of Henry W. Catlin ; thence crossing said turnpike northerly to said angle; thence from said angle in a straight line to the centre of Winooski River, at the northern termination of the east line of one-hundred-acre lot number 18 ; thence, in the centre of Winooski River, down said river to Lake Champlain ; thence southerly on the lake shore, at low water mark, to the most western point of Appletree Point ; thence in a straight line to place of beginning."
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