Gazetteer and business directory of Windham county, Vt., 1724-1884, Part 4

Author: Child, Hamilton, b. 1836
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal office
Number of Pages: 805

USA > Vermont > Windham County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windham county, Vt., 1724-1884 > Part 4

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The King, however, on June 26, 1767, declared the act of the New York legislature, by which the county of Cumberland was established, void. But numerous applications, stating the inconveniences to which the inhabitants of the disfranchised county were subjected, were made to the Crown, praying for a new charter. In consequence of these representations, the King, on the 19th of March, 1768, re-established the county, by letters patent under the great seal of the Province of New York, within the following limits :-

" Beginning at a point on the west bank of Connecticut river opposite to where the line run for the partition line between our said province of Mass-

WINDHAM COUNTY.

achusetts Bay and New Hampshire touches the east side of the same river, and running thence west, ten degrees north on a direct line about twenty-six miles to the southeast corner of a tract of land called Stamford ; thence north about thirteen degrees east on a direct line fifty-six miles to the southeast corner of the township of Socialhorough, in the county of Al- bany, in the south bounds of a tract of land formerly called Rutland; thence north, about fifty-three degrees east on a line thirty miles to the southwest corner of the township of Tunbridge; thence along the south bounds thereof and of Stratford and Thetford about eighteen miles to Connecticut river aforesaid, and thence along the west banks of the same river to the place of beginning."

Again, by an act passed by the New York legislature, March 24, 1772, the boundaries were changed, the limits then being constituted as follows :-

" Beginning on the west bank of Connecticut river opposite the point where the partition line between the colonies of the Massachusetts Bay and New Hampshire touches the east side of the river, and extending from thence north eighty degrees west until such line shall meet with and be intersected by another line proceeding on a course south ten degrees west from the north- west corner of .a tract of land granted under the Great Seal of this colony, on the 4th day of September, 1770, to James Abeel and nine other persons, and extending from the said point of intersection, north ten degrees east until such line shall meet with and be intersected by another line to be drawn on a course north sixty degrees west from the southwest corner of a tract of land granted under the Great Seal of this colony, on the 13th day of Novem- ber, A. D., 1769, and erected into a township by the name of Royalton, and running from the last mentioned point of intersection south sixty degrees east to the west bank of Connecticut river, and so down along the west bank of the river, as the same river winds and turns, to the place of beginning."

And finally, by an act passed April 1, 1775, alterations were inade so that the townships of Readsboro, and what are now Searsborough, Somerset and Stratton were added to the county. This, it must be remembered, was the old colonial Cumberland county, and not the Cumberland county as.estab- lished by Vermont, which was as follows : -

At the first session of the General Assembly of Vermont, in 1778, the State was, on the 17th of March, divided into two counties, the dividing line being rather indefinitely fixed by the line of the Green Mountains; but an act of the legislature, passed February 11, 1779, definitely fixed the divis- ion line as follows :-

"Commencing at a point in the south line of the Province of Quebec, fifty miles east of the center of the deepest channel of Lake Champlain, ex- tending south to the northeast corner of the town of Worcester [in Wash- ington county], and along the east lines of Worcester, Middlesex and Berlin, to the southeast corner of the latter town ; thence on a straight line to the northwest corner of Tunbridge [in Orange county], and on the west line of Tunbridge to the southwest corner of that town; thence in a straight line to the northwest corner of Barnard [in Windsor county] ; thence on the west line of Barnard and Bridgewater, and the east line of Shrewsbury [in Rutland county ], to the southeast corner thereof ; thence west to the north- east corner of Wallingford ; thence south on the east lines of Wallingford, Mt. Tabor, Peru, Winhall and Stratton, to the southeast corner of the latter

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town, and west on the south line of Stratton to the northwest corner of Som- erset ; thence southi on the west line of Somerset to the southwest corner thereof; thence east to the northwest corner of Wilmington ; thence south on the west line of Wilmington and Whitingham to the north line of Massa- chusetts."

At the division in 1778, the territory on the west of the mountains was called Bennington county, and that on the east Unity county. The name as applied to the western portion of the territory was peculiarly appropriate, as "Bennington " had become almost a synonymous term for stolid, sturdy ad- herence to the American cause against Great Britain, and for bitter enmity against the authority of New York. But Unity proved to be a most inap- propriate title for the eastern section. Here was anything but unity, as will be shown further on, most, or at least a majority, of the people adhering to the cause of the mother country, and acknowledging the authority of New York. This inappropriate name for the infant county, however, was des- tined for a life of only four days, for on the 21st of the same month it was changed to Cumberland, the same as that of the New York county previously described. Possibly this change of name was advanced as a diplomatic measure, whereby the New York loving members of Unity county might re- tain the name that was dear to them, though called upon to acknowledge the authority of Vermont,

In the laws of Vermont, passed October, 1780, the county of Cumberland, as just described, is referred to as being divided into the half-shires of Cum- berland and Gloucester, the division line being identical with the northern boundary of what is now Windsor county. By an act of the legislature, passed in February, 1781, " for the division of counties within this State," the county of Cumberland, as established in 1778 and '79, was subdivided into the counties of Windham, Windsor and Orange. Windham county was de- scribed as all the land of Cumberland county lying south of a line " begin- ing at the southeast corner of Springfield, thence running westerly on the south line of said Springfield and Chester, to the east line of Bennington county."

Since the establishment of Windham county, as above noted, no important changes in its area have been made. Thus it lies to-day, in the southeastern corner of the State, between 42° 44' and 43° 16' north latitude, and between 4° and 4° 42' east longitude, being thirty-six miles long from north to south, and twenty-eight miles in width from east to west, containing an area of about 780 square miles, or 539,200 acres, bounded north by Windsor county, east by the Connecticut river, which separates it from Cheshire and Sullivan coun- ties, N. H., south by Franklin county, Mass., and west by Bennington county. It has a population of 26,736 souls, according to the census reports of 1880, and is divided into twenty-three towns, as follows : Athens, Brattleboro, Brook- line, Dover, Dummerston, Grafton, Guilford, Halifax, Jamaica, Londonderry, Marlboro, Newfane, Putney, Rockingham, Somerset, Stratton, Townshend, Vernon, Wardsboro, Westminster, Whitingham, Wilmington and Windham.

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WINDHAM COUNTY.

The surface of the county is varied by high mountains, gentle hill slopes and picturesque valleys, the western portion extending high up upon the Green Mountains, while in the eastern part lies the smiling valley of Con- necticut river. Manufactures are carried on to a considerable extent, though agricultural pursuits form the principal occupation of the inhabitants ; still, the unsurpassed facilities for water-power and railroad transportion, renders it a desirable home for both the manufacturer and the husbandman. Nu- merous streams lend their utility and beauty to the territory, the principal of which are Connecticut, West, Williams, Saxton's and Deerfield rivers. Con- necticut, the largest of these, whose early navigation facilities, etc., are men- tioned on another page, lies between Vermont and New Hampshire, belong- ing entirely to the latter State, its western bank forming, as previously mentioned, the eastern boundary of the county. Its name is derived from two Indian words, Quonnec or Unnec, signifying long, and Tucque or Tuck, signifying river. When the Indians spoke of anything happening along the stream, they used the expression Quonnec tucquok or Unneck tuckok, meaning " at the long river," and hence comes Connecticut. It originates among the mountains in the northern part of New Hampshire, and for some distance, forms the boundary between that state and Canada. After running between New Hampshire and Vermont, it passes through Massachusetts and Connecti- cut, falling into Long Island sound. The flats bordering it are in some places, low and extensive ; in others the banks are high and rocky. The in- tervales are not surpassed in fertility and beauty by any in the country, while their annual submersion by overflow has led to the river being called the "Nile of New England."

West River flows a southeasterly course through the county, receiving the waters from 440 square miles of territory. Its Indian name was Wantasti. cook, written also Wantastiqueg and Wantastiquet. It rises in Weston, Wind- sor county, thence flows south into Londonderry, receiving near the south line of that township Winhall river, from Winhall; it then takes a south- easterly course through Jamaica, Townshend, Newfane and Dummerston, uniting with the Connecticut in the northeastern part of Brattleboro. In Ja- maica it receives from the west Bald Mountain branch, which rises in Strat- ton, and another large branch from Wardsboro, and from the east Meadow branch, which rises in Windham. In Newfane it receives South branch and Baker's brook. This river has but few good mill-privileges, though there are many found on its branches.

William's river derives its name from the celebrated Rev. John Williams, who was taken by the Indians at Deerfield, Mass., in 1704, and who, at the mouth of this stream, preached a sermon to his fellow captives. It is formed in Chester, Windsor county, by the union of three considerable branches, which originate in small streams in the townships of Ludlow, Andover, Wind- ham and Grafton. These three branches unite about a mile and a half to the southeast of Chester village, and their united waters, after running fifteen

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miles in a southeasterly direction, fall into Connecticut river in Rockingham, three miles above Bellows Falls.

Saxton's river receives its name from a Mr. Saxton, who, at an early date, fell into the stream while crossing it on a log for the purpose of surveying the line between Rockingham and Westminster. It is formed in Grafton by the union of several streams from Windham, and running an easterly course about ten miles, through the southern part of Rockingham, falls into Connecticut river in the northeastern corner of Westminster, about one mile below Bel- lows Falls.

Deerfield river rises in the northern part of Stratto.1 and flows south through Somerset into Scarsburg, thence southeasterly into Wilmington, thence south- westerly through the corner of Whitingham, and finally leaves the State after flowing three or four miles on the line between Whitingham and Readsboro. After entering Massachusetts it takes a southeasterly course and falls into Con- necticut river, between Greenfield and Deerfield, about eighteen miles below the State line. The whole length of the stream is about fifty miles, twenty- eight of which are in Vermont, and it receives the waters from 320 square miles of territory. There are, of course, other streams of considerable im- portance in the county, though these we have mentioned form the principal water-courses. The minor streams will be described in connection with the several town sketches.

GEOLOGICAL.

The science of geology is ever an interesting study, and as related to this county it is exceedingly so; for here the record of the changes, or "foot- prints," that time has left in the succeeding ages since the earth was created, are numerous and well developed. Before mentioning the several rocks that enter into the formation of the territory, however, it may not be considered superfluous to briefly note the fundamental principles of the science.

Among men of science, it has become the com non, if not the prevailing. opinion that in the beginning all the elements with which we meet were in an ethereal or gaseous state -that they slowly condensed, existing for ages as a heated fluid, by degrees becoming more consistent-that thus the whole earth was once an immense ball of fiery matter-that, in the course of time, it was rendered very compact, and at last became crusted over, as the process of cooling gradually advanced, and that its interior is still in a molten condition. Thus, if the view suggested be correct, the entire planet in its earlier phases, as well as the larger part now beneath and within its solid crust, was a mass of molten fire, and is known to geologists as elementary or molten. Following this came another age, in which the molten mass began to cool and a crust to form, called the igneous period. Contemporaneous with the beginning of the igneous period came another epoch. The crust thus formed would nat- urally become surrounded by an atmosphere heavily charged with minerals in a gaseous or vaporous condition. As the cooling advanced this etherealized

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matter would condense and seek a lower level, thus coating the earth with another rock. This is named the vaporous period. At last, however, age was ushered in, one altogether different from those that had preceded it. The moist vapor which must of necessity have pervaded the atmosphere be- gan to condense and settle, gathering into the hollows and crevices of the rocks, until nearly the whole surface of the earth was covered with water. This is called the aqueous period. As these waters began to recede and the " firmament to appear," the long winter that intervened, while the sun was obscured by the heavy clouds, would cover the earth with mighty ice floes and glaciers, forming a drift or glacial period.

A great difference also exists in the consolidation and structure of the rocks thus formed. The very newest consist of unconsolidated gravel, sand and clay, forming alluvium. A little farther down we come to the tertiary strata, where are some hardened rocks and others more or less soft. Next below the tertiary is found thick deposits, mostly consolidated, but showing a me- chanical structure along with the crystalline arrangement of the ingredients. These are called secondary and transition. Lowest of all are found rocks having a decidedly crystaline structure, looking as if the different minerals of which they are composed crowded hard upon one another. These rocks are called metamorphie, hypozoic and azoic.

A large portion of the rocks of this territory are azoic, and are known as talcose schist and calciferous mica schist, though there are several beds and veins of other formations. Talcose schist proper consists of quartz and talc, though it has associated with it, as integral parts of its formation, clay slate, gneiss, quartz, sand stones, and conglomerates, lime stones and dolomites. It underlies a considerable portion of the towns of Windham, Jamaica. Town- shend, Wardsboro, Newfane, Dover, Marlboro and Halifax.

The calciferous mica schist rang?, which underlies a large part of the east- ern portion of the county, is supposed to have originally been a limestone formation, charged with a good deal of silex, and perhaps with silicates and organic matters, and that in the process of metamorphism the carbonated or alkaline water with which the rock had been charged has dissolved and ab- stracted a good deal of the carbonate of lime and formed silicated minerals, such as mica and feldspar, which have more or less, and sometimes entirely, changed the rock into mica schist and gneiss. Thus will be found a large bed of gneiss rock underlying nearly the whole of the western part of the county, while another bed lies between the beds of talcose and calciferous mica schist, extending through the towns of Grafton, Athens, Townshend, Newfane and Marlboro, into Halifax.

Clay slate is the predominant rock in the eastern part of the towns bor- dering on the Connecticut. Veins of hornblende schist are found in Guil- ford, Brattleboro, Halifax, Marlboro, Newfane and Windham. Beds of saccharoid azoic limestone are found in Marlboro, Wilmington, Stratton, Townshend, Athens and Whitingham. Steatite is found in Marlboro, New-

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fane, Townshend and Windham. Detached bowlders of granite are scattered throughout the county. Iron ore has been discovered in Dummerston, Somerset, Lodonderry and other localities. Gold has also been discovered in Somerset and other places, though in very small quantities.

Numerous evidences of the aqueous period are met with throughout the State, and evidences so conclusive that there can be no doubt that Vermont at least was once the bed of a mighty ocean. Perhaps the most positive of these are the many marine fossils that have been brought to light ; for instance, the fossil whale found in Charlotte in August, 1849, and many others that might be mentioned. In this county are found many remains of ancient sea beaches. They consist of sand and gravel, which have been acted upon, rounded and comminuted by the waves, and thrown up in the form of low ridges, with more or less appearances of stratification or lamination. The manner in which they were formed may be seen along the sea coast at any time in the course of formation, as they have the same form of modern beaches, except that they have been much mutilated by the action of water and atmospheric agencies since their deposition. Good specimens of these beaches are found in the valleys of Williams and Saxton's rivers, in Rock- ingham, and another good one in the western part of Marlboro. Very fine specimens of river terraces are also found throughout the county, especially in the valleys of Connecticut, West, Williams and Saxton's rivers.

Evidences of the drift or glacial period are left here by large bowlders scat- tered over the county, by drift scratches and by moraine terraces. Drift scratches are grooves or scratches worn in the rocks by glaciers, or vast rivers of ice, which, starting from the summits of the mountains, moved slowly down the valleys as far as the heat of summer would permit. Though they rarely ever advanced more than two feet a day, their great thickness and the weight of the superincumbent snow caused them to grate and crush the rocks beneath, leaving marks that ages will not efface. Moraine terraces are eleva- tions of gravel and sand, with correspondent and scarcely describable forms. The theory of their formation is that icebergs became stranded at the base and on the sides of hills, and that deposits were made around and upon them, and that they would have been level-topped if the ice had remained, but in consequence of its melting they became extremely irregular. Good speci- mens of these formations may be found in Windham, Jamaica, Londonderry and Stratton.

For further facts relative to the geological structure of the county, we refer the reader to the sketches of the several towns.

SOIL AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.

The soil differs materially in different parts of the county, though in gen- eral it is inferior to none in the State. The valley of the Connecticut is pro- verbial for its fertility. In Windham county the rocks of the valleys are mostly schistose and thus disintegrate rapidly, constantly adding new richness

WINDHAM COUNTY.

to the soil. Then, too, the the alluvial terraces found so plentifully in the valleys of West, Saxton's and Williams rivers, afford large areas of land pos- sessing a deep, arable soil. Upon the higher lands, where the country is not too broken, large areas of grazing land are afforded. Some idea of the re- sources of the territory may be obtained from the following statistics, shown by the census report of 1880, according to which the county had 3.244 farms, representing an area of 301,313 acres of improved land, valued at $7,334,- 220.00, while its total public debt, bonded and floating, is $401,232.00. These farms supported 4,890 horses, two mules, 3,066 working oxen, 10,807 milch cows, 19,831 other cattle, 33,246 sheep, and 6,069 swine. The stock products for the year were 171,383 pounds of wool, 121,438 gallons of milk, 1,190,059 pounds of butter, and 76, 119 pounds of cheese. The products of these farms were 11,865 bushels of barley, 9,282 bushels of buckwheat, 199,- 576 bushels of Indian corn, 149,668 bushels of oats, 4,500 bushels of rye, 3,556 bushels of wheat, 79,872 tons of hay, 2,685 pounds of hops, 271,243 bushels of potatoes, 127,219 pounds of tobacco, and orchard products to the value of $91, 586 oo. Surely not a bad showing for a little tract of country having a population of only 26,736 souls.

MANUFACTURES.

Windham county is not what might be termed an extensive manufacturing district ; and as the manufacturers are spoken of in detail in connection with the sketches of the towns wherein they are located, we will dismiss this sub- ject with the following statistics for the year 1880: There were then 310 manufacturing establishments representing an invested capital of $2,288,135.00 giving employment to 1,539 hands, to whom was paid $603,596.00 in wages. The total value of materials used was $1,616,264.00, and the total product $3,219,079.00.

COURTS AND COUNTY BUILDINGS.

When Cumberland county was erected by New York, July 3, 1766, the in- habitants were granted all the powers and. privileges enjoyed by the other counties and towns in the province, excepting only the choice of members to represent the county in the Provincial Assembly. In another portion of the act provision was made for the erection of a court-house and jail. The freeholders and inhabitants of the county were authorized to elect supervis- ors, assessors, collectors, a treasurer and other county officers. At the meet- ing next after their appointment, the supervisors were directed to levy and collect of those residing or sojourning in the county, a sum not exceeding £200, to be applied in constructing a court-house and jail. Chester being considered the most convenient among the townships, and nearest the cen- ter of the county, was selected as the location for these buildings, and the sheriff was ordered to compute mileage from the court-house. By another

WINDHAM COUNTY.

act passed July 5th of the same year, the judges and justices were directed to hold yearly, in Chester, a court of common pleas, to hear, and according to the laws of New York to try and determine all suits, quarrels, controver- sies and differences which might arise. A court of general sessions of the peace was also established, and the first Tuesday in June and the first Tues- day in November in each year were selected as the days on which these judi- cators were to commence their sessions. The length of each term session was limited to four days, and the two courts were authorized to sit at the same time in order that business might be facilitated. Competent men were selected as judges and assistant justices of the court of common pleas. Justices of the peace and other county officers were appointed, and a founda- tion laid for administrating the law in accordance with the most approved methods.

When in 1768, a new charter was granted to Cumberland county, permis- sion had been given to the inhabitants to erect at their own expense a court- house and jail. Chester was again decided upon as the location for these buildings. Although there were objections to this place as the county town, both on account of its distance from Connecticut river and its backwardr.ess as compared with other settlements. yet these objections were for the time effectually silenced by Thomas Chandler, the first judge, by promising that he would "at his own expense build a good and sufficient court house and jail at Chester." How well his promise was observed will appear by the annexed extract from an old chancery document. The time to which the description applies is the latter part of the year 1770. That which " then was called a jail, " so runs the old document, "was a place made in the cor- ner of a dwelling or hut, the walls of which house were made of small hack- matac poles, locked together at the corners by cutting notches into the poles, and laying them notch into notch, so as to bring the poles as near together as conveniently might be. The cracks or vacancies between pole and pole were filled with tow, moss or clay. The chamber floor was laid with shingle boards, which were not nailed, but lay loose. Such was the house a corner of which then had the name of a jail, which jail corner may be justly de- scribed as followeth, viz. : small palisades or poles of the diameter of about six inches each were set up, one end of them on the lower floor and the other end reaching one of the joists on which rested the upper floor. These poles resting against the joists, hindered them from falling inwards to the jail part, and another pole at some inches distant was pegged up with wooden pegs, which pole was fixed about parallel with the joist, and prevented the pali- sades from falling outward from the jail apartment ; and, as many of the palisades were not fastened at the top or bottom, nor the chamber flour nailed, it was always in the power of any man who might be put into the jail apartment to push away the loose upper floor boards and move away the palisades and be at liberty." This jail stood where Coleman Saunders now resides.

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Gazetteer and business directory of Windham county, Vt., 1724-1884, Part 4

Author: Child, Hamilton, b. 1836 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal office Number of Pages: 805

Author: Child, Hamilton, b. 1836
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., Printed at the Journal office
Number of Pages: 805