USA > Vermont > Franklin County > Gazetteer and business directory of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vt., for 1882-83 > Part 7
USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > Gazetteer and business directory of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vt., for 1882-83 > Part 7
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STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.
The material resources of the county are not large, though sufficiently so to entitle it to rank as not the least respectable and prosperous, though the smallest of the fourteen counties in the State. A great portion of the lands are exceedingly fertile, and yield nearly all of the different kinds of grains, fruits, and vegetables common to this latitude. The value and productive- ness of the soil averages nearly the same in all parts of the county, though the town of North Hero,-which contains the greatest proportion of arable land according to its area,-may be considered the most productive. The constituent properties of the soil are clay, loam and marl, with a substratum of coarse gravel and heavy clay, the latter predominating. A considerable pro- portion of the old pasture lands, however, begin to exhibit signs of impaired fertility. Both the soil and climate render the county admirably adapted to fruit culture, apples, plums, pears, cherries and grapes being produced at a fair profit. Dairying and stock-raising interests also occupy a large amount of attention, there being owned throughout the county some excellent herds of blooded cattle, and a number of flocks of Spanish Merino sheep. A better idea of the staple productions may be derived, perhaps, from the following statistics, taken from the United States census reports of 1870. During that year there were 36,872 acres of improved land in the county, while the farms were valued at $2,579,795.00, and produced 18,774 bushels of wheat, 205 bushels of rye, 21,073 bushels of Indian corn, 105,431 bushels of oats, 7,454 bushels of barley, and 26,876 bushels of buckwheat. There were owned throughout the county 1,285 horses, 1,457 milch cows, 12 working oxen, 16,087 sheep, and 545 swine. From the milk of the cows were manu- factured 160,653 pounds of butter and 11,388 pounds of cheese, while the sheep yielded 83,838 pounds of wool.
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
MANUFACTURES.
Owing to the absence of streams suitable for furnishing water-power, and the comparative scarcity of native fuel, manufacturing has never been con- ducted to any great extent. The census returns of 1870, show the county to have had twelve manufacturing establishments, operated by two water- wheels, employing thirty-eight hands. There were $7, 185.00 invested in these enterprises, while the entire product for the year was valued at $22,- 417.00.
COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.
The county seat is located at North Hero, where the supreme court meets on the third Tuesday in January, and county court on the last Tuesday in August, and the last but one in February. North Hero was appointed as the shire town of the county by an act of the legislature passed in 1803, and from that time until 1825, the courts were held in the only hotel ever built in the town, erected during that year by Jed. P. Ladd. It had for its site a position near the center of the town, overlooking the waters of a beautiful bay, and for twenty-two years a portion of it was made use of for judicial purposes, it being provided with a court-room and jail. The old building was torn down in 1857. Those who saw it daily while standing, remember it as a large, square, time-browned edifice, constructed after the ancient regime, and from garret to cellar looking rather shadowy and mysterious. These impressions were, in a measure, due to the various uses which it had served, having answered, in its time, as a court-house, church, and tavern, a singular trio to associate together. The court-room was 25 by 50 feet, and and also served as a ball-room. It contained a very convenient desk for the judges, and was supplied with fixed benches, surrounding the room. The jail was located in the upper story, and furnished with a ponderous oak door, barred and bolted in the most substantial manner.
The erection of the present court-house was commenced in 1824, and completed in 1825. It is a solid, substantial structure, 40 by 50 feet, and two stories in height, built of Isle La Motte marble. The first story contains apartments for the family of the jailor, and a "debtor's room " and dungeon, while the second story contains the court and jury rooms. The dungeon, or the "cell" as it is known, is constructed of blocks of marble three feet square, doweled together with stone of proper size. It has had but few inmates since its erection, however. The town of North Hero paid $500.00 towards the construction of the building for the privilege of using the court- room as a place of worship.
The first session of the county court was held in the old tavern, on the first Monday of March, 1806, when Asa Lyon presided as chief judge ; Nathan Hutchins and Alexander Scott, assistant judges; with Alpheus Hall, county clerk ; Amos Morrill, sheriff; Daniel Webb, high bailiff; and Philo Berry, State's attorney. The first cause tried was an action on a note, brought by John Martin against Edmund Barnes.
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
The first important criminal case tried was that of Isaac Stevens, for theft, at the March term, 1808, before Judge Benjamin Adams. Solomon Morgan, State's attorney, appeared for the prosecution, and Hon. C. P. Van Ness, for the defense. The following named persons were impanelled as jurors ; Nathan Donglass, Thaddeus Landon, Joseph Boardman, Samuel Davison, Kimball Kinney, John Thomas, Peter Minkler, Daniel Hoag, Wyman Chamberlain, Jacob Mott, John Borden, and Joseph Hazen. After a verdict of "guilty" had been rendered by the jury, the judge addressed the prisoner and pro- nounced sentence as follows :-
" You, Isaac Stevens, are brought before this court for feloniously taking, stealing and carrying away three yards of blue broad-cloth, and forty dollars .n silver, the just property of James Gillert. You have pleaded " not guilty" of the crime; you have shown no signs of repentance, but have behaved with a show of arrogance. The court notwithstanding, have feelings for you as men, and sincerely lament your deplorable condition ; but as ministers of the law, they cannot flinch from their duty.
"Therefore, the court give judgment and pronounce sentence, that you, Isaac Stevens, shall, between the hours of twelve o'clock, noon, and two o'clock in the afternoon of the 12th day of March, A. D., 1808, receive twenty stripes on the naked body, and pay forty-five dollars as treble damages to the party agrieved ; pay costs of prosecution, and stand committed until judg- ment be complied with."
This sentence was duly carried into effect, on the date aforementioned, when a large crowd of people congregated to witness its execution. Stevens was brought down from the jail, bound to one of the posts supporting the shed, and received the twenty stripes with apparent indifference.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Grand Isle county, though the best in the State in some respects, so far as natural resources go, has suffered one great inconvenience, which her inhabi- tants have had to contend with from the first, arising from the fact of being cut off by the waters of Lake Champlain from the rest of the State. Grand Isle, containing the towns of South Hero and Grand Isle, was the first to remedy this, by building what is known as Sand-bar bridge. This work was completed in 1850, the cost being $18,000.00, which was borne by the peo- ple of the island, aided by private subscriptions from citizens of Burlington. Now another island has lately been connected with the mainland-Isle La Motte. This bridge extends from the northern end of the island across to Alburgh, which is connected naturally with the mainland, from which it pro- jects its "tongue " down into the lake, between Isle La Motte and North Hero. This bridge, finished in August, 1882, was built by Messrs. Adgate & Weston, of Keeseville, and is 2,oco feet long. It is composed entirely of stone filling, with the exception of the draw, thirty-one feet wide, which is 800 feet from the Alburgh shore, and 1, 169 feet from the Isle La Motte shore. The " fill" is fourteen feet wide on the surface, which is well up above high-water mark, the sides sloping at an angle of forty-five degrees to the bed of the
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
lake. The water under the draw is sixteen feet deep at low water, and the draw itself is simply a movable track fifty-two feet long, which slides back easily upon the line of the bridge by means of a rack and pinion, being strongly trussed, and weighted at the shore end, so as to prevent tilting down- wards of the end as it leaves its supporting pier on being slid back. These piers at either side of the channel are of solid masonry, thirty-two feet square. The natural channel here is only 250 feet wide, the water for that distance having a depth of from ten to sixteen feet, while the rest of the way across the water is quite shallow. Along the shore of Isle La Motte and through the channel, the bottom is rocky, but from the channel to the Alburgh shore there is a mud bottom. The cost of the bridge was $15,000.00, of which the State furnished $7,000.00, the town of Isle La Motte paying the balance.
The building of the Vermont and Canada railroad (see page 30) across the town of Alburgh, was an important era in the history of the county, as it afforded a more convenient and ready means of communication with market towns, and its value to the county will be much enhanced by the building of this bridge. This system of communication with the outside world will prob- ably prevent much loss of life and property through the ice and from ferries, which has been going on to a greater or less extent ever since the settlement of the county. It will doubtless not be long before the other island, North Hero, will be connected by bridge to the mainland.
ABORIGINAL OCCUPANCY.
A branch of the Abenaquis tribe of Indians, called the Zoquageers, were the aboriginal occupants of thissection, and had a village in the present town of Alburgh. Another subdivision of the Abenaquis, called the Loups, or Wolf-tribe, are supposed to have resided at the sand-bar in South Hero, and departed from that place many years prior to the commencement of any settlement by the whites; but this supposition is founded upon uncertain tradition. There were Indians at the sand-bar, but they may have been a portion of the same tribe that occupied the town of Alburgh. We have no evidence to show that other parts of the county were inhabited by the aborig- ines ; and there are but few traces of them remaining in tbe localities before named. The territory occupied by the Abenaquis was called, on the old- est maps, the country of the Irocoisa, or Iroquois, whom, tradition affirms, were primitive dwellers on the lands embraced within these limits ; but it is well known that the Iroquois never had a permanent residence in this county. During the progress of the old French and English colonial wars, a branch of the Iroquois, known by their aboriginal name as No-tsi-io-ne, invaded the Abenaquis territory, and after many a stern conflict, the Zoquageers were driven off, thus virtually terminating the Indian occupation of this locality.
WHEN FIRST SETTLED BY THE WHITES.
It has long been claimed by most local historians that the first occupation of the State by civilized people was in 1690, when Capt. Jacobus De Narm,
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
from Albany, erected a small stone fort at Chimney Point, in Addison county. This, however, is erroneous. Fifty-five years after the discovery of the lake by Champlain, in 1664, M. De Tracy, Governor of the French possessions in America, entered upon the work of erecting a line of fortifications from the mouth of the Sorel river into Lake Champlain. The first year he erected three forts upon the river, and the next spring, 1665, he ordered Capt. De La Motte to proceed up the lake and erect another fortress upon an island which he designated. It was completed the same year and named Fort St. Anne, and afterwards called Fort La Motte, from the name of its builder, and which in the end gave the name to the island on which it stood. In 1666, an important expedition under De Tracy was fitted out, and proceeded from this place against the Mohawk Indians. The fort faced north and west at a point commanding the passage of the lake, where portions of its ruins are still discernable. Settlements were also commenced in Alburgh as early as 1731, and again in 1741. The settlement of Fort La Motte precedes that of any other in the State by nearly half a century, and was sustained by the French, and the English after them, together with Alburgh and North Hero, where were located block-houses, with some interruptions, nearly up to the year 1800.
The first permanent settlement of the county, however, was commenced in Alburgh, by a party of French emigrants from St. Johns. For accounts of the settlements made subsequent to this, together with records of their growth, etc., we refer the reader to the sketches of the several towns, found on other pages.
Numerous grants of land lying within the present limits of the county, were made by the French, causing much trouble relative to titles in after years. The titles to the lands embraced in the town of Alburgh, were for many years a fruitful source of controversy. Sir George Young claimed the territory as a grant from the Duke of York, but his title was never recog- nized. The governor of Canada subsequently granted the lands to Henry Caldwell, of Quebec, from whom the early settlers mainly derived their titles ; and, prior to 1787, the township was called Caldwell's Upper Manor. In 1781, the legislature of Vermont granted the township to Ira Allen and others ; but their attempts to take possession of the lands were legally re- sisted by the settlers, who, after several years of litigation, secured complete triumph. North Hero, called by the French Isle Longue, was granted by the governor of Canada, to M. Contrecour, in 1734, with the condition that a settlement should be established within a period of five years, or the grant thereby become invalidated ; and as it appears not to have been settled within the prescribed time, M. Contrecour forfeited his claim to the island. Isle LaMotte, together with the town of Chazy, N. Y., was granted by the French to Maj. Pean, of Quebec, about the year 1733; but it was never occupied by him, nor by any other persons claiming proprietorship under him. The south Island does not appear to have been included among the French and
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GRAND ISLE COUNTY.
English grants, and no disposition seems to have been made of it until char- tered to Ethan Allen and others, in 1779. Prior to this time, the governor and legislature of Vermont received numerous applications from private indi- viduals, for grants of the islands, but they preferred to donate them to such persons as had performed honorable service in the Revolution.
Here we leave our sketch of the county, only to be taken up in connection with the town chapters. Many of the Revolutionary heroes settled within its limits, some of whom bore honorable part in the war of 1812. But the meagre space we are at liberty to devote to the record of those interesting themes, will be found incorporated with the sketches under these heads in the Franklin county chapter. The roster of officers who went from this county, and served in the war of the Rebellion, will also be found incorporated with that county.
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GAZETTEER OF TOWNS.
FRANKLIN COUNTY.
VERY'S GORE is a rough, mountainous tract of land containing an area of about 9,723 acres, having Montgomery on the north, Bakers- field on the west, Belvidere in Lamoille county on the south, and Lowell in Orleans county on the east. A number of small tracts of land were formerly granted to Samuel Avery, by the above name, but all except this one have been annexed to other townships. This was granted October 29, 1791. The soil is mostly owned by parties in New York, and it contains but few in- habitants. Settlements have been made in the northwestern portion, along the Bakersfield line, by a few families, and nearly as many in the northern part, and along a road which has been opened through, from Montgomery to Belvidere. Ebenezer Wellman was the first settler, having moved across the line from Montgomery, about the year 1828. The land is not of a quality to attract settlers, and those who have gone in are mostly poor, and sustain no schools or mechanics among them. The Gore is legally under the juris- diction of the town of Montgomery.
B AKERSFIELD, an irregularly outlined town, lies in the southeastern part of the county, in 44° 47' north latitude, and longitude 4° 1º g' east from Washington,* bounded north by Enosburgh, east by Avery's Gore, and Waterville in Lamoille county, south by Fletcher, and west by Fairfield. The original of this tract was granted by the State, February 27, 1787, and chartered January 25, 1791, to Luke Knowlton, under the name of Knowl- ton's Gore, containing 10,000 acres. Knowlton retained the territory about one month, then sold it to Joseph Baker, the first settler, and in whose honor the town was finally named, for £500, the deed being given February 21, 1791. On the 25th of the following October, this tract, together with Smith- field and Fairfield, were formed into two towns, Fairfield and Bakersfield. Bakersfield remained thus until October 31, 1798, when Knight's Gore was annexed to it, and a part set off to Enosburgh, and, finally, October 26, 1799, a part of Coit's Gore was annexed to Bakersfield, so that it contained about 27,000 acres. Some changes in boundary have taken place since, however.
* As the whole county lies in north latitude, with longitude reckoned east from Wash- ington, the terms north and east will hereafter be omitted.
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TOWN OF BAKERSFIELD.
About 3,000 acres have been annexed to Waterville, and the boundary between itself and Enosburgh has been straightened, so that the town now contains only about 24,000 acres.
In surface, Bakersfield is broken into serrated hills, though not mountain- ous, and has a general altitude of about five hundred feet above the ocean, the highest elevation being bald mountain, situated in the southeastern part of the town, from which an extensive view of wild, picturesque scenery may. be obtained. The mountain has an elevation of about 1,000 feet. The soil is generally warm and productive, sustaining large crops of grass and grain, its timber being principally hard wood. The territory in watered by several small streams, tributaries of the Missisquoi river ; Black creek, flowing across the southern part of the town from east to west, being the largest, and none of them containing any extensive mill sites. A small pond, called Trout Lake, is situated in the southeastern part of the town.
Geologically, the formation of the town is of the rock known as talcose schist, and does not materially differ from others overlying that rock. There are two beds of limestone appearing in the northeastern, and a bed of soap- stone in the eastern part. Several mineral springs, and a small cave, known as Smugglers' Cave, situated in the southeastern part, are the only natural curiosities of the township.
In 1880, Bakersfield had a population of 1,248, was divided into fourteen school districts and contained fourteen common schools, employing four male and twenty-three female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $1, 176.24. There were 308 pupils attending common school, while the en- tire cost of the schools for the year ending October 31st., was $1,300.86. J. L. Forman was superintendent of schools.
BAKERSFIELD, a post village, is very pleasantly located near the central part of the town, with its main street extending nearly in a north and south direc- tion. It contains three churches, (Cong., Meth., and Roman Cath.,) two hotels, six stores, Brigham academy, a steam mill, meat market, shoe-shop. two livery stables, two blacksmith shops, two carriage shops, one cabinet maker's shop, a hose company, and the usual complement of dressmaker and milliner shops, etc. It has among its professional men three lawyers, two doctors, and one dentist. The village has, since 1840, when Bakersfield academy was established, been noted for its educational facilities, sustaining two fine academies most of the time. This reputation is still maintained by Brigham academy, founded in 1877, by Peter B. Brigham, of Boston, he hav- ing given the town $30,000.00 at that time as a permanent fund to be used for school purposes. The academy building, whose location is unsurpassed for beauty and healthfulness, together with the land upon which it stands, was donated by Mrs. Sarah B. Jacobs, Mrs. S. Jane Kendall, Mrs. Roxana B. Hankinson, and Mrs. Jonathan Northrup. The school was opened in September, 1879, since which time its primary object has been to provide an opportunity for the young people of the town to procure a liberal education,
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TOWN OF BAKERSFIELD.
though it solicits the patronage of a limited number of non-residents, as two hundred pupils can be accommodated. The course of study is the usual En- glish and scientific, and college preparatory. The first principal of the academy was Mr. F. L. Irish, but since 1880, it has been very ably conducted by the present principal, Mr. Otis S. Johnson.
Charles B. Brown's saw and grist-mill, located on road 19, is operated by water-power, and does custom work. The grist-mill has the capacity for grinding one hundred bushels of grain per day, while the saw-mill turns out about 200,000 feet of lumber annually.
Danford Ayers' saw and grist-mill, located in the northeastern part of the town, on road 14, does custom sawing, and grinding of feed. The saw-mill is furnished with a circular saw, and is capable of cutting 5,000 feet of lum- ber daily.
John Rooney's saw-mill, located in the southern part of the town, on road 42, is supplied with a circular saw and planing machinery, and has the capac- ity for sawing 500,000 feet of lumber annually.
Rensselaer Tupper's tannery, located on road 26, manufactures uppers and harness leather, making about $1,200.00 worth annually.
The town poor-farm, located in the northern part of the township, contains 160 acres, owned by this town in union with Montgomery, Richford and Fletcher, with Amos W. Potter, superintendent. The buildings are com- modious, and kept scrupulously clean, while everything possible is done to make a pleasant home for the indigent ones, fifteen of whom are now har- bored there.
As previously intimated, Joseph Baker, after whom the town was named, was the first settler. The precise time of his settlement; is not known, though it was during the year 1789-'90. He was joined, in 1791, by his son- in-law, Stephen Maynard, and Jonas Brigham, with their families, after which no settlers arrived until 1794, when Jeremiah Pratt, Luke Potter, and Jona- than Farnsworth located in the town. In the winter of 1796, Thomas Pot- ter, from Brookfield, Mass., took up his residence here, making the fourteenth family to arrive, the whole population being then the families of the follow- ing named gentlemen : Joseph Baker, Jonas Brigham, Stephen Maynard, Jeremiah Pratt, Jonathan Farnsworth, Levi Brown, Samuel Cochrane, Solo- mon Davis, Aaron Smith, Elisha Boyce, Joshua Barnes, Edward Baker and Jacob Huntley. In 1800, the population had increased to 222, forty new families having moved into the town during that year.
The warning for the first town-meeting, dated at Cambridge, March 18, 1795, read as follows :-
" WHEREAS, there have a number of the inhabitants of the town of Bakers- field made application to us as the law directs, to warn the Town Meeting ; these are therefore to warn the inhabitants of the town of Bakersfield, that are qualified to vote, to meet at the dwelling house of Joseph Baker, Esq., in Bakersfield, on Monday, of instant March, at ten o'clock in the forenoon, for the purpose of choosing town officers, as the law directs, and to do any other business proper on said day."
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TOWN OF BAKERSFIELD.
Pursuant to this warning, the meeting was held on the 30th day of March, when the following officers were elected: Stephen Maynard, town clerk ; Jonas Brigham, Joseph Baker, and Stephen Maynard selectmen ; Amos Cut- ler, constable; and Jeremiah Pratt, hayward. At the first freemen's meet- ing, held September 16, 1796, the records show that there were nineteen votes cast for Thomas Chittenden for governor, and one for Isaac Tichenor. Jonas Brigham was elected a representative to the general assembly, an office he held for seventeen years. He was also the first justice of the peace, chosen in 1795, serving in that capacity twenty-six years.
Soon after Mr. Brown took up his residence here, a small party of Indians camped during the winter in the swamp back of the present Methodist par- sonage, and during their stay a papoose was born, the first child known to have been born in the township. The first white child born here was Betsey, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Maynard, January 13, 1793. She was a grand- daughter of Mr. Baker, in honor of which he gave her fifty acres of land. She became the wife of Hon. Austin Fuller. The first male child born was Cheney, son of Jonas Brigham, April 22, 1793. The first marriage was that of John Maynard to Elizabeth Knowles, in 1799. The first death was that of Isaac F. Farnsworth, August 17, 1798. The second was that of Elisha P. Pratt, November 20, 1798, aged eleven years and three months. Elder Joseph Call, a Baptist minister, preached his funeral sermon, the first sermon preached in the town. The first framed house was built by Jeremiah Pratt, in 1797 or '98. The first grist and saw-mill was built in 1794, by Elisha Boyce, upon the site now occupied by Charles B. Brown's mill. The first carding machine was set up by Carpenter & Jones, near the tannery. The first tannery was built by Joseph Baker, in 1796. The first hotel was kept by Samuel Cochran, in the southern part of the town. Stephen Maynard kept the first hotel at the center of the town. The first physicians were Ebe- nezer Williams, Thomas Lassel, and Amos Town. Col. S. Hazeltine kept the first store. The first resident lawyer was Eben Barlow. John Maynard was the first postmaster. The first militia company was formed in 1802, under Capt. Wilkinson. The first artillery company in 1806, under Capt. Start. The first school in town was taught by Foster Paige, in a log building a mile or so north of the present village, about the year 1797.
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