USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Gazetteer and business directory of Lamoille and Orleans counties, Vt., for 1883-84, pt 1 > Part 26
USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Gazetteer and business directory of Lamoille and Orleans counties, Vt., for 1883-84, pt 1 > Part 26
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39
J. A. Lancier's saw, shingle and clapboard-mill, located on the outlet of Echo pond, cuts about 2,000,000 feet of lumber, 400,000 feet of clapboards, and 1,200,000 shingles per year, employing twenty-five men.
Willard & Goodwin's carriage shop, located on road 46, manufactures two wagons per day in addition to a general repair, painting and blacksmith business.
M. C. Davis's saw-mill and carriage shop, located at East Charleston, cuts 200,000 shingles and manufactures twenty-five wagons per year. He also leases a mill of R. P. Stevens which cuts 150,000 shingles and 60,000 feet of clapboards per year.
Charles E. Carruth's flouring-mill, located on road 38, has three runs of stones and grinds 15,000 bushels of grain per year.
None of the original grantees ever resided in the town, and but three, John L. Chandler. and Elisha and Andrew Brown, were ever known to visit here. The most of them lived in Cranston, Providence and Johnson, R. I. One of them, Charles Murray, lived in London, England, and never saw America. Samuel Knight, one of the voters of the organization of the town, settled in 1806, on a part of No. 5, Ist division of the right of said Murray. Some time after, others began to settle on the same lot. Murray then brought a suit against them and was acknowledged by the court as the rightful owner, as original proprietor of all the lot, excepting what said Knight had gained by possession. A few of the descendants of the original proprietors came here about 1831, and settled on their grandfather's "rights."
General James Whitelaw surveyed the town into ninety-eight lots, making each lot 196 rods in length, and 192 rods in width, receiving $256.00 for his services. According to this first survey the town was fourteen lots long and seven lots wide, the longest way of the lots being lengthwise of the town. Afterwards sixty-nine of these lots were made by draft at Providence, R. I., into first division lots, each containing 2362 acres. Abner Allyn surveyed the second division into sixty-nine lots, making each just one-third as large as the first division lots. The third division was surveyed by Charles Cum- mings into sixty-nine lots, each containing ten acres and thirty rods. A first, second and third division lot, consisting of 325 acres and fifty-six rods, con- stituted a share or "right."
For the benefit of the settlement of the town, thirteen of the proprietors
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gave fifty acres of land on each of the following lots, viz. : Nos. 4, 8, 12, 14, 24, 31, 44, 46, 53, 58 and 94 of the first division, and Nos. 9 and 23 of the second division. The first three roads were located by the proprietors, ac- cording to written contract. for the benefit of these lots and the settlements thereon ; the first from Brownington to Holland; the second, called the Westmore county road, passed from Burke through Westmore and the center of this town, on the west side of Echo pond, thence by Seymour pond and Morgan Four Corners, to Barnston, C. E. The third road from No. 4, on the Browington and Holland road. passed through Nos. 11, 17, 24, 31, 44, 73, 80 and 94. These three roads united the settlements of the town. In 1816, the fishermen and hunters, who were accustomed to come into the town, drawn thither principally by the abundance of muscalonge and other fish found in Echo pond, discovered that their route might be shortened from Mr. Wellman's, two miles north of Burke Hollow, on the Westmore road, through Charleston on the east side of Echo pond, connecting with said Westmore county road south of Z. Senter's, in said town. Through their efforts this new county road was laid, which was a great help for both East and West Charleston.
The proprietors and agents, together with the settlers on the gift land, ·entered into a written contract agreeing to have two sets of mills, one in the east, the other in the west part of the town. Col. Christopher Olney, of Providence, R. I., who owned two rights of land here, gave fifty acres on lot No. 9, second division, as an inducement for building the first grist-mill at West Charleston, provided he could have for the benefit of the settlement of East Charleston his pitch on No. 33, second division, instead of a draft- said lot containing the mill privilege-and also have the pine lot No. 88 left out of the draft of the second division. By this means the first mills in both East and West Charleston were erected some years after.
The first settlement was commenced by Abner Allyn. In June, 1802, he felled the first trees in the town, on lot No. 4, first division, and planted potatoes the 5th of August, which he brought on his back from Barton, a distance of twelve miles. He had a good yield of large potatoes, which were well preserved in an out-of-door cellar until the next spring, when he planted them and had early potatoes, and also sowed grain. In July, 1803, he moved his family here from Barton, where they had lived preparatory to their more pioneer life in the wilderness. During his residence in Barton, he had been an active citizen in all that pertained to the public good, and was first town clerk of that town. He moved into a log house in Charleston, the floor of which was made of hewed logs, and the roof covered with bark. Andrew McGaffey moved his family into town, from Lyndon, in the summer of 1803, a few weeks before Allyn moved his here ; but Allyn being here one year previous, made the first clearing and raised the first crop. McGaffey having seen No. 11, adjoining No. 4, found an arm on the great swamp from Brownington line, on the line between No. 4 and 1I, containing twenty-five
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acres of swamp. Here he took John L. Chandler, one of the original pro- prietors, and kept him in the swamp nearly all day, thus succeeding in making him suppose that such was the face of the greater part of the lot, and he sold to McGaffey his whole right for an old $30.00 horse. McGaffey's wife was sick with consumption when they moved into the town, and died in October, 1803, the first death in the town. Before the snow fell that year, McGaffey moved back to Lyndon, leaving Abner Allyn for the two succeed- ing years with no neighbor nearer than Judge Strong, in Brownington, four and one-half miles distant.
Joseph Seavey moved his family into town in 1804, locating on No. 58, first division, two miles from the Westmore settlement, and five miles from Allyn's. In 1805, Orrin Percival moved his family on to lot No. 12, one mile from Abner Allyn's. Robert H. Hunkins moved on to lot No. 7, in 1806. On March 31st, of that year, the town was organized by Elijah Strong, justice of the peace from Brownington. The voters then were Abner Allyn, Joseph Seavey, Orrin Percival, Lemuel Sturtevant, Robert H. Hunkins, Samuel Mor- rison, Amos Huntoon, Jonathan Richards, and Samuel Knight. The follow- ing officers were chosen, the meeting being held at the house of Robert H. Hunkins : Amos Huntoon, moderator ; Abner Allyn, town clerk ; Robert H. Hunkins, Amos Huntoon and Jonathan Richards, selectmen ; Robert H. Hunkins, treasurer; Abner Allyn. Orrin Percival, and Lemuel Sturtevant, listers ; and Orrin Percival, constable.
The first justices were Abner Allyn and Robert H. Hunkins, in 1807. Mr. Allyn was elected representative that year. Lemuel Sturtevant and Stephen Cole built the first grist-mill at West Charleston, in 1810. Stephen Cole also built the first frame house at West Charleston, 1811. The first saw-mill at East Charleston was erected by Jonas Allen in 1824. Stephen Cole put a small run of stones in the lower part of his saw-mill in 1827. John Cushman built a good grist-mill here in 1834. The first saw-mill at West Charleston was built by Jonas Warren, in 1809. The first hotel at West Charleston was erected and kept by Ira Richards, in 1822. The first hotel in the eastern part of the town was kept by John Cushman, in 1827. The first carding-machine and clothing works were erected at East Charleston in 1831, by Harvey Holbrook, and run by Harvey H. Cloud, both of Waterford, Vt. The first merchant was Ira Richards, in 1822. Lewis C. Bates was the first merchant in the eastern part of the town, in 1831. The first physician in West Charleston was Ezra Cushing, in 1822. The first physician in East Charleston was Cephas G. Adams, in 1855. The first lawyer was F. C. Harrington, who was also editor of the "North Union," the first newspaper printed in town. The first military company was formed in 1822, with Ira Richards, captain. The first blacksmith was Timothy Hazeltine, who moved into East Charleston in 1828. The first shoemaker was Chauncey Fuller, who moved into West Charleston in 1824. The first two marriages were of Ebenezer Bartlett and Eunice Cole, and Elisha Parlin
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and Elizabeth Warren, February 3, 1815, by Ira Levens, justice of the peace, of Morgan. The first birth was that of Orrin Percival, Jr., about 1803. The first school was kept in Orrin Percival's barn. The first school-house was erected in 1822, where the West village now is.
Philip Davis was an early settler, locating where Milo Gay now resides. He paid twenty-five cents per pound for nails to build his first house. He died in 1868.
Martin Barney, from New Hampshire came to this town about 1825, and located on road 34, where his grandson, Curtis Barney, now resides. He resided here about twenty-five years, then returned to New Hampshire. Nelson Barney came here with his father, being then about twenty years of age. He married Fanny Stacy by whom he reared nine children, five sons and four daughters, and died January 1, 1869. His widow resides on the old homestead. James Barney, brother to Martin, came here several years subsequent to Martin's settlement. He married Nancy Reed and had two children, a son and a daughter. The son, William N., married a daughter of Nelson, and now resides on road 32.
Michael Bly came to Charleston, from Westmore, in 1825, and located on the farm now occupied by Oscar Elwood. He had a family of six children and died in Derby in 1873. Two of his children, John and Mrs. George W. Pierce, reside here. John married Ann Catharine, and has five children.
Theodore L. Tripp, from Maine, came to Charleston in 1826, and located upon the farm now owned by his son, B. F. Tripp. Seven of his ten chil- dren are living, one only in Charleston.
David Royce, many of whose descendants now reside here, located in the western part of the town in 1828, coming from Lyndon, Vt. One of his sons, Clark Royce, is one of the present selectmen of the town.
Samuel Waltham, from New Hampshire, located near West Charleston in 1829, and died here in 1879, aged seventy-eight years. Only one of his four children, C. F. Waltham, resides here.
Emerson Wolcott, from Barnet, Vt., came in 1829, and located on road 34, where George Pierce now resides. He had a family of nine children, of whom William and Hiram reside on road 34, near the old homestead. Mr. Wolcott came here two or three years before he moved his family on, and built a small frame house, which is now occupied by the present incumbent of the farm. He died March 27, 1860.
James G. Barnard came here, from Wethersfield, Vt., about 1830, and set- tled at West Charleston, where he carried on the blacksmith business until his death. Five of his eleven children are living, though but one, Rufus H., resides in this town. Rufus married Eunice Ruggles, who died in 1877, and has six children.
Jasper Robinson, from Brownington, located at West Charleston about 1830. He had a family of eight children, only one of whom, Mrs. Philander Balch, is living. One of the sons, John M., father of E. H., was a merchant
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here and died in 1870. Another son, Elijah, was a physician here for many years.
Daniel Streeter, from Concord, Vt., located near East Charleston about 1830, and died in 1872. Three of eight children are living, S. C., in this town.
William Sawyer, from Waterford, Vt., located in the eastern part of the town in 1831, where he cleared a farm and reared a family of five children. He died April 28, 1874.
Calvin Dunton came to Charleston from Littleton, N. H., in 1832, and located upon the farm he still occupies, at the age of seventy-three years.
Alvin Shedd, father of Lewis Shedd, of this town, settled in Derby about 1837, and was engaged in tanning until his death, in 1842. He reared a large family of children, of whom one son lives in Derby, and Lewis in this town. Mrs. Shedd is living in California.
Loren W. Clark was born in Wethersfield, Vt., in 1807, and came to Charleston in 1839, and established himself in the mercantile business at West Charleston. Mr. Clark was one of the most active business men of the town until about six years ago, when he received a shock of paralysis. He has been a justice of the peace thirty-nine years, represented the town twice in the legislature and was assistant judge eight years, being now seven- ty-five years of age. He has had a family of six children, three sons and three daughters. One son, William, was killed at Spotsylvania, July 2, 1864; George is in Portland, Oregon ; and Charles died in this town. The daugh- ters, Mrs. E. C. Bennett, Mrs. A. T. Whipple, and Mrs. W. A. Leland, are living.
Charles Carpenter, youngest son of Chester Carpenter, was born in Derby, Vt .: October 7, 1828. He attended school at Derby academy, and when eighteen years of age went to Burlington, and entered the store of Sion E. Howard, remaining seven and one-half years. In 1853, he came to Charles- ton and opened a store, remaining in trade until 1874, since which time he has beer. treasurer and managing director of the Vermont Emery Wheel Co. Mr. Carpenter is a deacon of the Congregational church, represented the town in the legislature of 1872-'73, was State senator in 1876, and has held other offices of trust. He was married in 1854, to Miss Betsey Hinman, a granddaughter of Hon. Timothy Hinman, an early settler in Derby.
The following pensioners of the Revolution have resided in the town : William Sawyer, David Streeter; Samuel Spaulding, and Martin Barney. Parker Langmayd was a pensioner of the Mexican war. During the late civil war Charleston furnished 121 enlisted men, thirty-five of whom were killed in action or died from the effects of wounds or disease contracted while in the service.
The Baptist Church of West Charleston was organized by its first pastor, Rev. Joseph Whittemore, June 7, 1863, with fourteen members. Their church edifice, a granite structure, was built in 1842, at a cost of $2,000.00, about its present value. The society now has sixty members, with Rev. D. I. Quint, pastor.
The Union Church, located at East Charleston, was built in 1856. It is a wood structure capable of seating 250 persons and valued at $2,000.00.
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COVENTRY.
OVENTRY, located a little north of the central part of the county, in lat. 44° 53', and long. 4° 54', is a township of about thirty-five square miles in area, being in form an irregular quadrangle, no two sides being of equal length ; and bounded northeast, six and one-quarter miles, by New- port and Derby ; southeast, four and three-quarter miles, by Brownington ; southwest, five and three-quarter miles, by Irasburgh ; and northwest, four and one-half miles, by Newport. The charter was granted November 4, 1780, to Maj. Elias Buel,-in honor of whom the town was named after his birth- place,-and fifty-nine others. The boundaries being defined in the charter deed, as follows :-
" Beginning at a beech tree, marked 'Irasburgh corner, September 26, 1778,' being the northwesterly corner of Irasburgh, and running north 36° east, six miles and sixty-three chains, to Lake Memphremagog ; then south- easterly on the shore of said lake. about twenty-seven chains, to a hemlock tree, marked 'Salem Line, 1778'; then south 45° west, two miles and two chains, to a great hemlock tree, marked 'Salem West Corner, September 30, 1778'; then south 45"east, six miles and twenty-one chains, in the southerly line of Salem, to a stake five links northwest from a cedar tree, marked 'Coventry Corner'; then south 36' west, four miles and four chains, to the north line of Irasburgh ; then north 54° west, five miles and sixty chains, to the bounds begun at."
Within these limits were supposed to be contained 16,767 acres, or about twenty-six and one-fifth square miles. To make up the six miles square usually included in a township, there were granted 2,000 acres directly south of Newport, called Coventry Gore, which still belongs to the town, and 4,273 acres in Chittenden county, east of Starksboro, called Buel's Gore. The northern part of Buel's Gore was annexed to Huntington in 1794, and it all now practically belongs to that town. That part of Coven- try which bordered on Lake Memphremagog, being in the form of a slip, 108 rods wide on the lake, and two miles, four rods long, was called Coventry Leg, somewhat inappropriately, as it was narrowest where it joined the body of the town, and widened as it extended north. In 1816, it was annexed to Newport. Five rights were reserved by the charter, one for the benefit of a college in the State, one for the benefit of a county grammar school, one for the benefit of schools in the town, one for the first settled minister, and one for the support of the ministry, as the inhabitants should direct. November 3, 1841, the name of the town was changed to Orleans, and altered back to Coventry November 1, 1843.
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The surface of Coventry is somewhat uneven, though not mountainous, with a very arable soil. Near the lake it is, in some places, clayey, and on Black river it is somewhat sandy, but through the township generally the soil consists of a deep, rich loam. The timber is mostly maple and beech, with some elm, basswood, birch, hemlock, spruce, fir, cedar, etc. Black river flows a northerly course through the central part of the town, into Lake Memphremagog. Barton river flows through the eastern part, parallel with the former, also emptying into the lake. These streams are from four to eight rods wide and very deep near their mouths. They have several tribu- taries, all of which united afford the town a number of good mill-sites. The other waters of the territory are South bay of Lake Memphremagog, in the northern part, and two small ponds, Bowley's and Daggett's, in the western part. The geological structure of the town is composed of rocks of the cal- ciferous mica schist, limestone, and clay slate formations. The two latter rocks being disposed in parallel ranges through the center of the town from north to south. No minerals of importance have been discovered. The products of this rich farming country, and also the manufactured goods, are afforded a convenient mode of transportation in the Passumpsic railroad, which extends through the eastern part of the town, with a station at East Coventry.
In 1880, Coventry had a population of 911, and in 1882, was divided into nine school districts and contained ten common schools, employing two male and eighteen female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $1,208.86. There were 232 pupils attending common school, while the en- tire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31, was $1,895.35, with C. F. Branch, superintendent.
COVENTRY, a post village located in the southwestern part of the town, on the falls of Black river, was commenced in the autumn of 1821, by Calvin and Daniel W. Harmon, when all that part of the town was a dense forest. It now contains two churches (Methodist Episcopal and Congregational), an hotel, two stores, one tannery, a saw-mill, two blacksmith shops, a harness shop, shoe shop, and about 150 inhabitants.
EAST COVENTRY (p. o.), a hamlet located in the eastern part of the town, is a station on the Passumpsic railroad.
G. S. Hermon's saw mill, located on road 15, is operated by water-power, employs seven men, and cuts 1,000,000 feet of lumber annually.
Israel Trudo's Tannery, located at Coventry village, was established by B. T. Hubert at an early day, and operated by him and Charles Hubert until 1878, when it was purchased by its present proprietor. He employs four men and tans 2,500 hides and 12,000 calf-skins annually.
Seymour Lane's flouring-mill, located at Coventry village, is managed by Seth Fisher, who grinds about 15,000 bushels of grain annually.
Samuel Burbank's starch-mill, located on road 18, was established by Elijah Cleveland, in 1838, who carried on the business about sixteen years,
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then sold out to the present proprietor. He manufactures seventy-five tons of starch annually.
At the time Coventry received its charter Orleans county was destitute of inhabitants and inaccessable by roads or thoroughfares of any kind, so the lands were of no value except for speculative purposes. In September, 1799. Samuel Cobb and his son Tisdale visited the township with a view to settle- ment, and, deciding favorably, proceeded to build a log house and returned for their families. In the following March they brought their families, making the first settlement in the town. Samuel's family consisted of his children, Samuel, Jr., Nathaniel and Silence. Tisdale had only his wife. They started from Westmoreland, N. H., March 15th, traveling on horseback as far as Brownington, which being the end of the road, they left their horses, and made the rest of the journey on foot. Samuel pitched on lot No. It, the farm now occupied by Stillman Church. Tisdale located on lot No. 12. In the following June, Samuel Cobb's wife, Silence Barney, born February 21, 1756, and his younger children, who had remained in Westmoreland while preparations were being made for their reception, joined their father. As soon as the Cobb's had fairly established themselves, they built a log-shop, in which they carried on blacksmithing. They were the only men of the trade in the northern part of Orleans county, and so had customers from all the region around.
There were no roads, no neighbors within two miles, no grist-mill nearer than West Derby, and facilities for procuring the most ordinary necessities, not to say comforts of life, were scanty indeed. The young men used to carry grain on their shoulders to Arnold's mills, in West Derby, there being no road that could be traveled by horses. In the winter they had an easier conveyance, by hand-sled on Lake Memphremagog. By most diligent toil, in which all the members of the families bore their parts, each man made a small clearing in the season of 1800, and raised grain and potatoes enough to secure them from fear of actual want. Each family had a cow which gained its living as best it could in the forest. It was the work of the younger girls to find the cows at night, and drive them home-oftentimes a laborious task requiring them to search the woods for miles around. To provide for the cows during the winter was a problem of no easy solution. No hay was raised, but a scanty supply was brought from Barton, and with the help of browse, which was abundant and close at hand, they were comfortably win- tered. So ended the first year of the infant settlement.
In 1801, Samuel Smith, of Brownington, built a saw-mill on Day brook. This was a great convenience to the settlers, as it obviated the necessity of going to Barton for boards and planks, or of using planks roughly split from logs, which was not an unusual kind of flooring in the early days. A grist- mill was lacking for some years longer, and, in the meantime, most of the grain was sent to Arnold's mills at West Derby, it being floated down Barton river and through South Bay, in canoes. At length David Kendall built a grist-
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mill on Day brook. It was driven by an overshot wheel, and as the brook was small and the supply of water sometimes insufficient, the miller was occa- sionally compelled to supply the lack of water by treading the buckets of the wheel after the fashion of a tread-mill. The stones of this mill were made of the nearest granite, and as there was no bolt in the mill, the meal which it made was of the coarsest kind.
Many of the former townsmen of the Cobbs came to visit them and their new settlement, and several families were added to the little colony in 1801 and 1802. Among those who immigrated from Westmoreland were jotham Pierce, Asa Pierce, William Estey, Simon B. Heustis, John Farnsworth, and John Mitchell. | [Ail the settlers 'prior to 1803, in the strictest sense of the phrase, " squatter sovereigns," having no deeds of any kind, but taking possession where they pleased, and procuring deeds when they could. Deeds were executed to them early in 1803. Jotham Pierce pitched on lot No. 15. He was a man of great energy, and became an influential citizen of the town. He was the first captain of militia, and magnified his office not a little, as was suitable he should in those days, when a captain was of more consequence than a brigadier general now is. William Estey pitched on lot No. 13, now owned by Luke Day. Simeon B. Heustis located on lot No. 50, John Mitchell on lot No. 51, and John Farnsworth on lot No. 52 ; Farns- worth brought with him the first ox-cart ever seen in the town. Daniel B. Smith came in the autumn of 1802, and made a clearing on lot No. 53, the first made west of the Barton river. He took an active part in town affairs, but remained only till 1805, when he sold to Samuel Boynton and removed. The first frame house in the town was built by him.
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