USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > Gazetteer and business directory of Chittenden County, Vermont, for 1882-83 > Part 16
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" Ily. Voted, That whereas, Ethan Allen, Remember Baker, Heman Allen, Zinri Allen, and Ira Allen, known by the name of the Onion River Company, who are proprietors in this Township of Burlington on said River (a Town- ship lately granted by the Governor and Counsel of Newhampshire and is now in the Province of New York) have expended large sums of money in cutting a road through the woods from Castleton to said River seventy miles, and clearing off encumberments from the said lands in them parts, clearing and cultivating and settling some of these lands and keeping possession which by us is viewed as a great advantage towards the settlement of these lands in general, especially the Township of Burlington.
"Whereas, The said Ethan Allen, Remember Baker, Heman Allen, Zinri Allen and Ira Allen laid out fifteen hundred-acre lots in said Township bounded on said river. Therefore in consideration of these services done by them, in consideration of their settlement of five families on said lots with those that are already on, and girdling five acres on each one-hundred-acre lot in two years from the first day of June next, improving same,
"It is voted ; if proper survey bills be exhibited to the Proprietor's Clerk of said Town and recorded in this Book by the first day of June next. the said lots are confirmed to them as so many acres of their rights and shares in said Township, said fifteen lots are to be laid seventy rods wide on the river.
" 2ly. Voted, That each Proprietor have liberty at his own cost to pitch and lay out to himself one hundred acres on one whole right or share that they own in said town, said lots to he laid out not less than seventy rods wide, exclusive of what hath already been granted to be laid in said town. Pro- vided, they clear and girdle five acres to said right within two years from the time said lots are laid out.
"" 3ly. Voted, That there shall be for each one hundred acres to be laid in the town of Burlington one hundred and three acres laid, which three acres shall be improved for the use of said town for public highways if needed in the most convenient place of said lot.
" 4ly. Voted, That the Proprietors' Clerk shall record all deeds of sale and Survey Bills of land in said Burlington that shall be offered to him if paid a reasonable reward therefore, and that the survey first recorded or received to record shall stand good without regard to the dates of said Survey Bills.
"5ly. Voted, That Ira Allen shall be a Surveyor to lay out said town.
"6ly. Voted, That this meeting be adjourned to Fortfraderick in Colches- ter on Onion River, to be held on the first Monday in June next at two o'clock in the afternoon.
" Ira Allen, Proprietor's Clerk. "
From this queerly worded, not very literary record, it may be seen that in 1774, the county was settled, and, to some extent, improved. The Onion River Co. mentioned owned, land, however, not only in this town, but in a great many others, both in and out of the county. At Winooski falls, just
I34
TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
over the line in Colchester, Ira Allen and the others mentioned had com- menced a settlement, and built a block-house which they named Fort Fred- erick, being the "Fortfraderick " mentioned in the record, and which was generally known as the " Allen settlement." Here several other proprietors' meetings were held during the year 1774, and one in 1775, after which none were held until after the Revolution.
The first to settle in the town was Felix Powell, in 1773, locating upon Apple- tree Point. He was followed, in 1774, by Stephen Lawrence, of Sheffield, Mass., who located in the northern part of the town on the River. During the same year contracts were made by John Chamberlin, Ephraim Wheeler. Stephen Clapp, Ichabod Nelan, and Benjamin Waite, for lands with a view to settlement, but nothing much was done by them before the Revolution. The next settlement was commenced by Lemuel Bradley and others, and during 1774 and 1775, clearings were made on the Winooski opposite the Allen settle- ment ; but during the latter year a majority of the families retired from the town, and were followed by those who remained, in 1776. Nothing was heard. from the proprietors from this time until 1781, when, on the 29th of January. they met at the house of Noah Chittenden, in Arlington, pursuant to a warn- ing published in the Connecticut Courant, and dated at Sunderland, No- vember 21, 1780. The following is a record of proceedings :-
" The proprietors met and voted, Ily, His Excellency Thomas Chittenden, moderator. 2ly, Ira Allen, clerk. 3ly, Ira Allen, treasurer. 4ly, To examine the proceedings of the former proprietors' meetings.
"5ly. Voted, That on examining the former proceedings of the proprietors, and considering the peculiar situation of the towns and New Hampshire Grants, being claimed by New York, and experience in defending, etc., and the proceedings appearing consonant with the laws and usages of the govern- ment of New Hampshire and the proceedings of the people of the New Hamp- shire Grants before the late Revolution, we do therefore hereby ratify and con- firm all the votes and proceedings of the several proprietors' meetings ashere- tofore recorded in this book respecting the division of the lands, recording of survey bills and every other matter and thing, as fully and amply as though said proprietors' meetings had been held under the present law and customs of this State.
"6ly. Voted, That future meetings be called by the clerk by notice in news- papers in which legal notices are inserted upon application by one-sixteenth of the proprietors.
" Adjourned sine die."
From the close of the Revolution, the town was rapidly settled. In 1783, Stephen Lawrence, who nine years before purchased a tract of land here, moved his famlly into town, the first to arrive after the war. He was followed during the same year by John Doxey, Frederick Saxton and John Collins, andi at the taking of the first census, in 1791, the population amounted to 332, and in 1800, to 815. John Doxey settled upon the intervale north of the village. but his settlement was submerged by an overflow of the river, so he removed to the road now running from High bridge to Hinesburgh. Stephen Lawrence,
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
Samuel Lawrence, Samuel Lane, and John Knickerbocker settled near the High bridge. John Collins, Job Boynton, Mr. King, and Mr. Keyes, on the lake shore where the city now is, and settlements were soon made at the head of Pearl street. The Loomis family and Frederick Saxton were early settlers at the latter place. Jonathan Hart, Zachariah Hart, Philip Walker, Isaac French, Jeremiah French, and John Downer settled quite early that part of Burlington east of Muddy Run (as it was then ealled), which was subsequently annexed to Williston. Timothy Titus settled at Muddy Brook, and erected the first saw-mill built in town, just above the road leading from Burlington to Williston, previous to 1788. Isaac Webb was one of the first settlers in the southern part of the town. John Van Sicklen settled in the southeastern part of the town.
In 1791, there were but three houses at the city, or Bay, as it was then called, situated near the foot of Battery street. Capt. Job Boynton lived in one of these, a large frame house built low on the ground. Capt. King kept a tavern in another, at the northeast corner of King and Battery streets, a two-story house with a kitchen in the rear, where the county courts were held for a few years after Burlington was made a shire town. Capt. John Collins lived in a frame house near the tavern. A Mr. Grant, a Scotchman, was engaged in the mercantile business in a small one-roomed log store. A few logs fastened to the shore was the only wharfing.
In 1793, during the winter, Prince Edward, the father of Queen Victoria, on his trip through this country, honored Burlington with a visit. There were then only seven framed houses in the village, and but one, that of Phineas Loomis, large enough to receive so large a company as his suite comprised. The forest was almost unbroken, except on Battery and Pearl streets. Dur- ing that year, also, Abram Brinsmaid, the patriarch of the present family of Brinsmaids, came to Burlington for the first time, being on his way from Connecticut to Montreal, and from a diary kept by him, and now in posses- sion of one of his sons, we quote the following : -
"July 2, 1793 .- When I came to the Bay [Burlington Bay] it gave me great satisfaction that I could look so far and not see woods. The bay is about fourteen or fifteen miles across. Burlington street is situated nearly north and south upon the bay, and has a fine prospect off upon the water. About four miles west of Burlington there is an island of about four acres [twelve acres], by the name of Juniper Island ; then off at a distance from that, at the north and at the south, there are two more, right back of which there is another that is not perceptible, which go by the name of the Four Brothers. Then south about the same distance there is Rock Dunder. to appearance about the size of a cock of hay, and some other curiosities that I have not time to mention. When I came to the bay, the boats had set out for St. Johns and were not expected back until the wind shifted, so I put up with Col. Keys, and had everything that I wished for my money. After all this, I went to bed, and rested exceedingly well.
"Tuesday, July 3, 1793 .- I awoke in the morning and looked out of my chamber window and found the wind was fair to bring the boats back again
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to-day. I waited till the afternoon and they had not come, and the prospect for their coming was not so good as it had been, so I got up my horse and went up to 'Squire Stanton's and staid that night. The next day, in the afternoon, young Mr. Stanton and myself got up our horses and rode down to the bay to see if there was any opportunity to get a passage to Canada; but the boat had not returned yet, and the wind was unfavorable, so we drank some porter, amused ourselves one way and another, and went home again. The next morning I concluded it was so uncertain when I could get a passage from the bay, that I would go on a little further by land, and trust to getting a water passage again. So I started on before breakfast and went to Milton River and crossed to Amos Mansfield's, then went to the sandbar and got old Daddy Joslin to go with his canoe and put me across the bar,"
Mr. Brinsmaid was disappointed in Canada, and returned to Burlington in August of the same year, and settled here for life, carrying on the business of clock making and plating.
In The Letters of John A. Graham, a book published at London, in 1797, we find the following description :-
" Burlington is situated on a fine Bay of the Lake, distant from Fort St. John's about eighty miles, and is laid out in the most regular and best man- ner. For local advantages and surrounding scenery, Burlington has not its surperior in the Northern parts of the State. The University of Vermont, and the Sessions of the Supreme and County Courts are established here. A house for the President of the College, and several others, are now building. The office of the Customs for the Port of Alburgh, the only Port in Vermont, is kept at Burlington by Col. Keys. This gentleman, Messrs. Pearl, Lee, Stanton, Law, and Coit, are the leading people. Mr. Lee was bred to the law, but declined the practice, and afterwards turned his attention to the Presbyterian system of Divinity, in which situation he conducted himself in such a manner as to be looked up to, and venerated by persons of every de- scription and every sect, who all unite in paying to his character the tribute such excellence deserves. To unaffected piety he joins the highest classical knowledge in the Greek and Latin languages. Between Burlington and Colchester, about one mile from the Bay, is the great Fall on Onion River, belonging to Mr. Ira Allen ; on the Fall are built large mills, forges, and iron foundries. In Colchester (the North side of Onion River) is this Gentleman's seat ; the place where General Ethan Allen for some time resided previous to his death. Of the Allens, there are seven brothers, all of whom are now dead except Levi and Ira. This family emigrated to Vermont from Salisbury in Connecticut ; but their native place was Roxbury, Litchfield County."
The town was organized, by proper election of town officers, March 19, 1797, at which meeting Samuel Lane was chosen town clerk ; Job Boynton, constable ; and Stephen Lawrence, Frederick Saxton, and Samuel Allen, selectmen. The first justices of the peace were Samuel Lane, and John Knickerbocker, elected in 1789. Samuel Lane was also the first representa- tive in the legislature, chosen in 1786. The first meeting for the election of State officers and councilors was held at the house of Benjamin Adams, on the first Tuesday of September, 1794, when the vote for governor stood as fol-
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lows : Isaac Tichenor, twenty-three ; Thomas Chittenden, seventeen ; Ira Allen, three ; and Nathaniel Niles, one. The first election for representative to Congress (on record) was held at the same place on the last Tuesday in De- cember of the same year, when the ballot stood as follows: Israel Smith, seven ; Isaac Tichenor, seven ; Matthew Lyon, four ; William C. Harrington, two ; Nathaniel Chipman, one; and Noah Smith, one.
The first marriage on record was that of Samuel Hitchcock to Lucy Caro- line, daughter of Gen. Ethan Allen, May 26, 1789. The first birth recorded was that of their daughter. June 5, 1790.
On the rith day of June, 1798, the last meeting of the proprietors was held at the court-house, with Gideon King, chairman ; William C. Harrington, clerk ; Zaccheus Peaslee, treasurer ; and Stephen Pearl, collector. William Coit, Stephen Pearl, and Zaccheus Peaslee were chosen a committee to examine the old surveys and make further ones, to make a division of the lands, and also to ascertain what right's had been owned by Ira Allen, as Allen had avoided mentioning the names of his grantors in his deeds to the settlers. On the 16th, 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th days of June, the division of lands was made, which is on file and recorded in the town clerk's office, and which prevails at the present day. At an adjourned meeting, held on the 26th day of the same month, it was voted "that two acres and one-half of land whereon the court-house and goal are built in said Burlington, shall be and is hereby set off for the use of the publick for the erecting of all neces- sary county and town buildings for publick use."
The land thus set off corresponds with the present City Hall Park. The cut on next page illustrates it as it was in 1817, it was sketched by Hon. J. N. Pomeroy from his office window. The old pine tree, and near it the public hay scales, is doubtless remembered by the older citizens. The old tree was about eighty feet in height, and served as a whipping-post when that institu- tion was required under the early laws. It was cut down in 1830. A com- parison of the appearance of the square and its surroundings at that time, with its present appearance, fully illustrates the marked growth and improve- ment of the place.
The Free Press and Times of June 1, 1882, in an article on the death of the late Sidney Barlow, gives so good a description of Burlington as it was about the first quarter of the present century, that we take the liberty of quot- ing it in full :-
" In the death of Sidney Barlow, the last of the old merchants who in a former generation made Burlington the center of a wide and prosperous business, passed away. A list of the men who were in active business when he was, fifty years ago, would comprise such names as Horace and Luther Loomis, Col. O. Buell, Harry Bradley, Timothy Follett, Moses and Guy Catlin, John Peck, Samuel Hickok. E. T. Englesby, Philip Doolittle, and others, known as builders and pillars of the prosperity and public institutions of Burlington. One by one they have gone, most of them ripe in years, possessed of ample means, and respected and honored by all who knew them
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
DHỆ
(COURT HOUSE SQUARE IN 1817.)
-and Mr. Barlow, the youngest of their number, has in his turn followed them to his long home. Mr. Barlow. the son of David Barlow, was born in Fairfield, Vt., May 12, 1801. In 1817, he came to Burlington, a boy of sixteen, to be a clerk in the store of E. H. Deming. In 1822, at the age of twenty-one, he went into business for himself, in a small building near the head of Pearl street. on the north side of the street. The upper half of Pearl street was then one of the chief business centers of this region ; and in the stores (all of which have long since disappeared) of E. H. Deming, Luther
-
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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.
Loomis, Luther and George Moore, Vilas & Noyes, and Harry Bradley, on Pearl street, between the streets now known as Willard and Prospect streets, a large and widely extended business was transacted, and not a little money made, in those days. After the death of Mr. Deming, in 1828, Mr. Barlow bought the Deming store, at the head of Willard street, in which he had his first business training, and succeeded to the business. In the year 1828, he married and set up housekeeping, in the house on Willard street occupied by him for the remainder of his long life. His business grew and thrived under his enterprise and care, and at successive times he established branch stores in Winooski, Westford, and Grand Isle. He was one of the organ- izers and stockholders of the Burlington Woolen Mills, at Winooski, and was the agent of the company when it built the large factory and the dam, and for several years after, and he remained one of the larger owners of the prop- erty till it was purchased by the Hardings, shortly before the late war. Mr. Barlow's capacity for work, in his prime, may be inferred from the fact that he at the same time conducted the business of the Woolen Mills, as its agent, and carried on three stores, doing a general mercantile trade in as many towns. Mr. Barlow remained in business, at Winooski, till April 1, 1850, when he retired. He was for a number of years one of the directors of the old Bank of Burlington. He was one of the founders of the Merchants' Bank, and a large stockholder in it. In his day he held various minor town offices, and did his share of public and political work in the community. He was a constant attendant at the Unitarian Church, from his first residence in Burlington, and one of the liberal supporters of the Church and Society. He was thrice married-to Miss Harriet Reed. to Miss Caroline White, and to Miss Mary Pope, who survives him. He leaves six children-Frances, Ellen (Mrs. Geo. K. Platt), and Harriet (Mrs. Cushing, of California), by his first marriage; and Edward, Horace, and Mary (Mrs. Johnson), by the last.
" Mr. Barlow suffered from the usual infirmities of declining years, to which was added, in latter years, a disease (cataract) of the eyes, for which he under- went an operation three years ago ; but he was about his house and often out on the streets, till two weeks before his death, when his powers of body and mind began to fail and gradually sank, till he passed quietly away. He was a man of simple tastes, strong will, and thorough honesty. His word was as good as his bond. He was a good neighbor and a worthy citizen, and possessed the trust and respect of all who knew him."
Of that portion of Burlington situated near the falls, as it was in 1822, Miss C. E. Collins, whose mother is one of the oldest residents of the town, says : " My mother, Mrs. Louisa E. Collins, became a resident of Burling- ton in 1822, she being then sixteen years of age. Less than two years after- wards she was married to Alphonso Collins, of Burlington, and has since resided here, near Winooski falls. During that time she has seen many changes, especially in this portion of the city and in Winooski village. Some of the old places, however, remain essentially as they were at that time. The house on Colchester avenue, now occupied by Mr. Murdock, and owned by the Underwood family, then belonged to Moses Catlin, who, with his brother, Guy Catlin, owned a large portion of the real estate in this vicinity. The house was surrounded by extensive grounds and well-cultivated gardens, kept in order by a gardener and assistant, making it a pleasant resort for the peo- ple of Burlington and Colchester, who spent many pleasant hours wandering
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over the graveled walks. The house situated on Colchester avenue just below the cemetery, long known as the Edgcumb place, and now occupied by members of that family, was then a tavern stand. The large house on the same avenue, now owned and occupied by Mrs. Orville Sinclear and family, was built in 1809, and, in 1822, was owned by Guy Catlin, who lived there some years afterwards, and finally sold the property to Alfred Day, a promi- nent business man here at that time. Nearly opposite this property is a tene- ment house, belonging to the Villas estate, which was then the only store in the neighborhood, and kept by a Mr. Harmon. On the site of the old flour mill, near the bridge, stood a grist and custom mill, owned by Mr. Catlin, and leased by George Edgcumb, who did an extensive business there for many years. On the road now called Chase street, were two or more houses, now standing, of which one, at present owned by Joseph Harrington, was a pleasant, well-kept place, for many years the residence of Lansing Barnard's family, who latterly built the house situated near the Chase residence, owned by Miss A. Edgcumb. The house nearly opposite Mrs. Harrington's, the property of S. Watson, occupies the site of a very old place, which was used as a tavern in 1805, kept by Stephen Lawrence, son of one of the first settlers of the town, and uncle to my father. My father came to this part of Bur- lington to reside, from the State of New York, in 1818. There were then large forges and iron works established at the falls, employing a number of men, while an extensive lumber trade was carried on, as large forests of pine and other timber were growing in the vicinity."
Samuel Hickok was born in Sheffield, Berkshire Co., Mass., Sept. 4, 1774, and died at Burlington, June 4, 1849, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. He came to Burlington at as early a period in its history as A. D. 1792, when he was eighteen years of age, accompanying thither his elder brother, William, from Lansingburgh, N. Y., to which place the family had removed, and where his father and grandfather now lie buried. The site of Burlington was then a forest, its two or three buildings standing on the lake shore. No wharf ex- isted, and goods brought in sloops from Whitehall, were landed in scows, or, if casks of liquor or molasses, were thrown overboard and floated ashore.
William Hickok opened a store in a small wooden structure which stood on the bank, a little north of the present stone store of Van Sicklen, Seymour & Co., and Samuel acted as his clerk. A sad event which transpired on its beautiful bay, on the 26th of December, 1797, greatly shocked the infant community of Burlington : William Hickok, Benjamin T. Pierce, a promis- ing young lawyer, and other young men, were out upon the bay skating. Hickok was skating rapidly, closely followed by Pierce, when they both fell through the ice in quick succession, and perished together. When the bodies were found, Pierce was clinging to the feet of Hickok. It was supposed that Hickok, being a very athletic and powerful young man, and a skillful swimmer, would have saved himself but for this entanglement. Samuel succeeded to the business of his brother.
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At that day, lumbering to Quebec, the purchase of wheat grown on new land, and the gathering of pot and pearl ashes, were the three leading branches of busi- ness. As customers came in from the east, the tendency of dealers was up town to meet them, so Mr. Hickok erected his second store on Main street, upon the site of the present residence of Daniel Roberts, Esq., and built the large square dwelling house, yet standing, on the corner of Main and Pine streets, above his store, where his three eldest children were born. In 1805, he built and occupied the three-story brick store on the west side of the Court House Square (now City Hall Park), next south of the present express office, and which is believed to be the oldest building of brick in Burlington. At this period he fixed his permanent residence in the large white house standing at the southwest corner of the square, now called the Quincy House. It then had a large garden attached, extending northerly to the store, was one of the ornaments of the town, and the seat of a liberal hospitality during his life. Henry Clay was entertained there when he visited Vermont, in 1838, and was received by Vermonters with an enthusiasm which should have foreboded his nomination and election to the Presidency, instead of Harrison's.
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