USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Gazetteer and business directory of Windsor County, Vt., for 1883-84 > Part 35
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" Beginning at the southwest corner of the town of Hertford [Hartland], then running north sixty-five degrees west, 440 chains ; thence north thirty- two degrees east, 602 chains; thence south sixty-two degrees east, 448 . chains to the northwest corner of the town of Hertford [Hartland]; then south thirty-three degrees west, 580 chains to the place of beginning."
On the same day, 23d of June, all the other grantees made over their right
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
and title to Mr. Willard and he became sole owner of the town, and in turn, on the same day, he conveyed 1,050 acres of land to Elisha Spencer, situated in the northwestern corner of the town, and now known as the Spencer tract, and the same amount to Dr. John Rogers, of New York, lying next easterly of the Spencer tract and is now known as the Rogers tract. On March I, 1784, the town was divided into two parishes by the legislature, called the north and south parish.
The surface of Woodstock is pleasantly diversified by hill and valley, the highest point being the summit of Mount Tom, near Woodstock village, 1,351.22 feet above tide-water. The soil is rich and deep in most localities, making up one of the finest farming districts in the county. The territory is watered by Quechee river, which runs through it in a northeasterly direction, and by two of its branches, one on the north side and the other on the south. That on the north is called Beaver brook, and originates in the northern part of Bridgewater and in the southern part of Barnard and Pomfret. That on the south is called South branch and originates in the southern part of the township. Several good mill privileges are afforded. The rock entering into the geological structure of the territory is entirely of the calciferous mica schist formation, except in the extreme southeastern and southwestern corners, where it is of gneiss formation.
In 1880 Woodstock had a population of 2,815, and in 1882 it was divided into fourteen school districts and contained seventeen common schools, em- ploying seven male and twenty-five female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $3,938.72. There were 607 pupils attending common school, while the entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 3 1st, was $4,688.59, with N. P. Wood, superintendent.
WOODSTOCK, the county seat, is a beautiful little village nestled among the hills in the northern part of the town, at the western terminus of the Wood- stock railroad. The boundaries of the village were established December 14, 1819, as follows :-
"Beginning at the easterly side of the highway at a point opposite the northeast corner of the barn nearest the road on the Wardwell farm, so-called [being the Blake farm, now owned by Benjamin S. Dana, ] ; thence southerly on a straight line by the easterly side of the brick house standing at the cor- ner of said highway and the turnpike to the south side of said turnpike road opposite the southeast corner of said brick house [the brick house on the east side of the road which was recently burned, belonging to Oliver T. Hatch ] ; thence southwesterly in a direct line to the large elm tree standing on the top of the hill east of the Oil-mill brook [Mount Peg] ; thence south- erly in a direct line to the southeast corner of Lyman Mower's meadow lot [now owned by Rufus Townsend]; thence on the south line of said lot, across the highway, and on the southerly line of said Mower's pasture to the southwest corner of the same [now owned by said Townsend]; thence in a direct line to the southwest corner of the house now owned by Jared Rickard [the Hiram Powers house] ; thence by the westerly end of said house, and on a line with the same, to the highway ; thence across the river to the two black-cherry trees on the north side of the highway, opposite L.
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
& B. F. Mower's mill yard [near where the house now occupied by Liberty B. Marble stands] ; thence on a direct line northerly to the northwest corner of the small dwelling house owned by Henry C. Denison, Esq., northerly of the clothier's shop [this house stood on the site, or near by, where Allen Thompson's house now is] ; thence by the northerly end of said house to the northeast corner thereof ; thence on a direct line to the southwest corner of the school house, near the dwelling house of the said H. C. Denison, Esq .; and thence easterly in a direct line to the place of beginning."
The tract thus bounded was made a corporate village by an act of the leg- islature, approved November 11, 1836, and now has about thirteen hundred inhabitants, and is divided into five wards. The stranger visiting Wood- stock will at once be struck with its general air of quiet elegance and refine- ment. The broad, shaded streets are lined with tasty, and in many instances elegant residences, and cross and recross Quechee river, a bright, sparkling stream, that here affords a good mill-power, while near the centre of the vil- lage is a beautiful public square, comprising several acres of land, hand- somely laid out and thickly studded with fine maples. The visitor will also become conscious of the prevalence of a high religious sentiment, evinced by the heavenward pointing spires of the five imposing churches that meet his eye (Congregational, Unitarian, Universalist, Episcopal and Methodist,); while he will find his temporal wants looked after by a score or so of mer- chants of different kinds and a good hotel awaiting his arrival. The village has also a National Bank, Savings Bank, two weekly newspapers,- The Ver- mont Standard and The Spirit of the Age,-a flourishing graded school, a beautiful library building, a good court-house and a strong jail.
Now, if the visitor pleases, we will conduct him through "the labyrinth of faded years " and reveal to him the first steps taken towards building the beau- tiful village in which he has found himself. In 1771 Joab Hoisington, of Wind- sor, began to make arrangements for moving into Woodstock. He purchased a large tract of land of Jonathan Grout and Oliver Willard, the Willard pur- chase embracing a thousand acres, more or less, including the present site of the village. Upon this purchase he settled with his family, in the spring of 1772, building a log cabin upon the present site of the Eagle Hotel. He also took out a license as a tavern-keeper, at the June term of the court of common pleas of that year. His brother Asahel came from Windsor about the same time, though he located in the southern part of the township, upon lands he had purchased of Joab. In company with Joab and Asahel came John Hoisington, whom tradition asserts was the father of the brothers, though upon this point we are not clear. He purchased two hundred acres of land of Oliver Willard, covering the territory through which the lower half of Pleasant street now passes, and extending across Quechee river, taking in a part of what is now Mr. Billing's meadow, the fair ground, etc. For the site of his dwell- ing he selected a spot on the edge of the plain, about ten rods up the stream from the present brick church. Thus commenced the first settlement of the village of Woodstock. Joab Hoisington died in 1780, and in 1781 John left the town.
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
In 1789, within what is now the village, besides the rudiments of a court- house, the only buildings were a tavern, put up by Capt. Israel Richardson, " to accommodate the court folks,"* four dwelling houses, a dilapidated grist and saw-mill, built by Joab Hoisington in 1776, and a 30 by 40 feet barn, in which Rev. Aaron Hutchinson gathered the first church in the township. All that constitutes Elm street and its contiguous grounds and houselots, now one of the pleasantest in the village, was then an unbroken forest, and remained so for a little while thereafter, when it was purchased by Hon. Charles Marsh and opened for improvement.
In the year 1800 the number of inhabitants had increased to about two hundred, while nearly all the buildings were clustered around the park, or "Green" as it was then called, though a few dotted at long intervals the sides of the old town road that passed from the park down what is now Central street. Still, though the village was small, the town itself contained a larger rural population than it has to-day. The census of that year gave Woodstock 2, 100 inhabitants, nearly all of whom were living on the hillsides, engaged in farming, while the borders overflowed with young men ; for the West had not yet opened with her attractions to draw them away, neither was there any disposition yet developed to be leaving the rural districts and crowding into the villages.
BRIDGES.
For a few years after the settlement, as the inhabitants could not afford to build bridges over the Quechee, the river was forded at three different places in the present village, viz. : at the house of Elias Thomas, where Henry John- son now lives, at a point behind the brick church, and at the place where the old court-house bridge subsequently crossed it. After Woodstock became the shire town and the court-house was built, it was resolved to have a bridge at the " common." Therefore, at the sessions of the legislature at Newbury October, 1787, Benjamin Emmons, the member for that year, secured the passage of an act laying a tax of two pence on the acre of lands in Wood- stock, public lands excepted, for the purpose of building a bridge over Que- chee river. The following summer the bridge was built, located nearly on the site afterwards occupied by the so-called court-house bridge. This bridge lasted about nine years, when a new one was required. To meet the expense of building the same, Benjamin Swan and Moses Osgood obtained a grant from the legislature, in March, 1797, to raise $500.00 by a lottery. What resulted from this lottery business is not known ; but during the following summer a subscription paper for building a bridge was circulated, drawn up by Mr. Swan, which read as follows :-
"We, the subscribers whose names are hereunto annexed, do promise and agree to pay to Jabez Bennett the several sums set against our names, for
" The erection of Woodstock into a shire town, the building of a court-house, etc., are narrated on pages 33 and 34.
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
the purpose of building a bridge near the court-house, where the bridge now stands ; the payment to be made to the said Jabez, in material for building the said bridge, or any other payment to his acceptance.
WOODSTOCK, July 24, 1797. $ 20.00
Benjamin Swan.
Jason Richardson
30.00
Stephen Powers, Jr.
30.00
Elmer Darbe. . 10.00
Moses Osgood 10.00
J. D. Powers
10.00
John Holbut.
3.00
Israel Richardson, Jr .. 4.00
William Rice.
10.00
Nathaniel Johnson
10.00
James Pearce
10.00
Total
$147.00
This bridge was located some thirty rods further up the river, and did ser- vice until 1811, when it was swept away by a freshet. Many other bridges have been built since that time, and the village now has three good bridge structures, one at Elm street, one at Union street and one at Church street.
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WOODSTOCK GASLIGHT COMPANY.
The village of Woodstock is now well supplied with illuminating gas of a superior quality. The above-named company was incorporated by an act of the legislature, approved November 9, 1855, with a capital of $10,000. The first officers were Thomas E. Powers, president, and Thomas E. Powers, Solomon Woodward and George Mellish, directors. The construction of the works was immediately commenced, and gas was made the same year. The works are located just off Church street, near the river. Gas was first made from rosin, the machinery for its manufacture being brought from Providence., R. I. During the war, however, rosin became so expensive that the process had to be given up, and machinery for converting raw petroleum, or crude oil, was substituted. This process was in use until about 1873, when it was changed for that now in use known as the Butler patent, con- verting paraffine oil into gas. The pure gas is used ; that is, not mixed with oxygen, and is said to equal, in strength and brilliancy, five times the same quantity of coal gas. About two miles of mains are laid throughout the vil- lage, and the works have the capacity for manufacturing 5,000 feet per day. The present offices of the company are C. P. Marsh, president, and C. P. Marsh, Frederick Billings and Franklin N. Billings, directors.
BANKS.
The Woodstock Bank was originally chartered November 9, 1831, with a capital of $60,000, and with Job Lyman, president ; Lyndon A. Marsh, cashier ; and Job Lyman, Benjamin Swan, Lyman Mower, George W. Rice and Edmund S. Hayden, directors. On a re-organization, under a charter of
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
1844, the following officers were appointed: Oliver P. Chandler, president ; Eliakim Johnson, cashier ; and Oliver P. Chandler, Julius Converse, John Porter, Philo Hatch, Ammi Willard and William Skinner, directors. In 1865 it was converted into a National bank, and the capital has from time to time been increased so that it is now $300,000. The present officers are Freder- ick Billings, president ; Oliver P. Chandler, vice-president ; Henry C. John- son, cashier ; and Frederick Billings, Oliver P. Chandler, John Porter, Frank N. Billings and William E. Johnson, directors.
The Ottaquechee Savings Bank was chartered by the legislature, and commenced business in 1848, since which time it has been in successful op- eration. The object of the institution is to afford a medium for the industri- ous and economical for investing their money in a secure and profitable man- ner. It has at present 1,894 deposits, with G. R. Chapman, treasurer.
LIBRARY.
Woodstock has also a fine public library and a beautiful library building. the latter was built in 1883, upon the site of the old Norman Williams home- stead, a present to the town from Dr. Edward H. Williams, of Philadelphia, a son of the late Norman Williams. The plan of the building is simple, con- sisting of a main building containing the library proper, and the entrance lobby communicating on the right with the reading-room, and on the left with the office and the conversation-room. This disposition gives a direct approach to any one of the rooms independent of the others; while the office, directly connected with the library and the reading-room, is isolated so as to be out of reach of any noise from the other three apart- ments. The conversation and reading-rooms have also a pleasant outlook front over the public park. The construction of the building is solid and substanstial in every respect, and the design quiet and dignified as befits a memorial building. The style is such as to admit of the use of local stone to advantage. The wall facing is of red Burlington stone, squared but not dressed, over a base of Barre granite, with cut work of Isle La Motte gray limestone. The front consists of a central gable over an arcade of three arches handsomely moulded, carried by two columns of polished gray granite, enclosing a porch which communicates with the main entrace hall. The reading room on the right and the conversation-room on the left form wings to this central gable, and complete a frontage of sixty-seven feet six inches. Above the arcade appears a band of cut stone work between moulded courses, containing the name of the building, "The Norman Williams Public Library ;" and over this in the upper part of the gable is a small, richly moulded window and an inscription giving the date of erection, "Ano Domini MDCCCLXXXIII." The flank presents a frontage of seventy-six feet three inches, of which the gable of the wing occupies thirty feet four inches, and the side of the library makes up the rest. The library will accommodate about 13,000 volumes, arranged in cases set at right angles to the wall. The
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
windows are high enough to clear the top of the cases, and the walls be- tween them up to this height (eight feet) are lined with polished Vermont marbles of different colors. The floor of the porch is also of marble. The reading-room, conversation-room and office are wainscotted five feet high, and the former contains a large open fire-place with a very handsome terra cotta mantel. The others have open fire-places with marble mantles. The build- ing is heated with hot air furnaces in the basement, and every precaution has been taken to ensure warmth during the severe winter weather.
EAGLE HOTEL.
This hotel is one of the landmarks of the village. It was built by Capt. Israel Richardson, in 1792. It then consisted of a two-story building facing the park, with an ell of one story in the direction of South street. The captain himself went “down to Boston " in August, it seems, and bought glass, paint, nails, etc., for this building and for the new court-house then in course of erection on the opposite side of the park. The ware first used on the table was blue, and in addition to the rum, ten gallons of brandy and ten gallons of sherry sufficed in stocking the bar. The hotel stood without change, except from necessary repairs, till 1822, when Titus Hutchinson put up the brick wing on the line of the park for a dining-room and hall. Lyman Mower had charge of building this wing, and Nathan Cushing drew the lum- ber and brick and assisted in laying the foundation. It was in the hall of this building that Dr. Joseph A. Gallup, in 1827, delivered the first course of lectures before the medical school that formerly flourished in the village. About the year 1828 or 1830, while it was the property of Col. Cutting, a third story was added to the wood part of the building and the piazzas put up. During the years 1830 and 1832, or thereabouts, an eccentric creature named Moody Heath lived in the village. He was an expert workman in all kinds of wood carving, and during his stay here was in the employ of Fisher & Mclaughlin, doing all their work of this kind. Among other things he carved the gilded eagle which has given name to the hotel and which still adorns it, doing the work in Joseph Churchill's paint shop. In 1867, Calvin A. Fairbanks began making thorough repairs and added a fourth story to the building, the house being ready for guests the following summer. The build- ing now has a dining-room thirty by thirty-four feet, two parlors and a sitting- room, office, and forty sleeping rooms. On December 11, 1848, Titus Hutchinson sold the Sons of Temperance the hall of the brick wing for $500.00, which they still continue to own and occupy.
MANUFACTURES.
The first manufactory erected in the village was the old saw and grist-mill, previously mentioned, built by Joab Hoisington in 1776. The next manu- factory of any importance, except, perhaps, for the manufacture of potash and pearl ashes, was the old oil-mill, built by Jacob Wilder, in 1793-'94. He
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
did a large business in the manufacture of linseed oil, which was prosecuted by various parties, down to 1829, when the oil-mill was converted into a furnace.
The Woodstock Woolen Mills gave a great impetus to the growth of the town. Their construction was begun by a stock company, who carried the enterprise forward until the walls were up and the roof on, when operations ceased. Thus matters stood for several years, the property coming into the posses- sion of Darius Blake, who, in 1847, sold it to Solomon Woodard, of Millbury, Mass. Mr. Woodard was born in Keene, N. H., in May, 1802. Here he re- sided until he was twenty-one years of age, when he went to Millbury and was employed in a woolen factory, where he learned his trade and remained until he came to Woodstock, in 1847. When he came here, some fears were enter- tained as to a permanent supply of water, so a pond and a tract of land were purchased in Plymouth, near the sources of the river, to insure an unfailing supply. Mr. Woodard's purchase was made mainly by contributions from the citizens of the town as an inducement for him to start the mill. He had previ- ously owned and run a mill in Millbury, Mass., and when he finally moved here a large number of the operatives, including two of his brothers, who had long been in his employ, came with him. It is needless to say that the colony thus established was mainly composed of men who were substantial citizens as well as good workmen, and so added materially to the prosperity of the town. Immediately on coming into possession of the property, vigor- ous measures were employed to put the mill in operation. These were so far successful that in January, 1848, the water was first turned on the wheels and the hum of machinery was again heard. Following this came as fast as prac- ticable other improvements. New houses were built for the operatives, others repaired and purchased, and the work of renovation was constantly progressing. In 1855 the old saw-mill and grist-mill were torn down and the present thor- oughly built and substantial structures were erected in their places. Mr. Woodard continued the business until 1877, when the property passed into the hands of Judge Hilton, as a part of the estate of A. T. Stewart, of New York city, when operations were ceased and the mills have since been idle. Mr. Woodard died May 1, 1879.
B. F. Standish's tannery, located on the river, at Woodstock village, was built by Mr. Standish, in 1874, where he now does a large business. A tan- nery was established on this site abont fifty years ago by removing to it the old Union church and converting it into a building for that purpose. In 1859 Mr. Standish and Charles D). Perkins purchased the property, carrying on the business under the firm name of Perkins & Standish. This firm did business for the ensuing five years, when Mr. Standish became sole propietor and has continued the business since. In 1873 the buildings were destroyed by fire and were rebuilt the following year. About 10,000 sides of heavy leather and 5,000 calf skins are tanned annually, most of which are brought from the west.
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5288
TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
C. W. Sayward's sash, door and blind factory, located on Center street, is operated by water-power and gives employment to five men.
WEST WOODSTOCK is a pleasant little village, located about a mile south- west of Woodstock. It has one store, the Daniels Machine Co.'s works, a saw-mill, school-house, etc., and about twenty dwellings. The first settlement of West Woodstock, which for many years was known as "The Flats," was made as follows : On the 14th of June, 1776, Joseph Safford, of Hardwick, Mass., bought of Jonathan Grout, of Petersham, 300 acres of land, situated near the center of Woodstock, resting on the west bank of Quechee river and spreading out in a northerly direction with a surface beautifully varied by level and hillside. On the plain, removed back from the river some little distance, Safford built a house in due time, and thus was begun the first set- tlement of " The Flats," or West Woodstock. Col. Safford was a carpenter. Three years after his first purchase he deeded to his son Jesse eighty acres of this land, lying directly on the river and embracing the territory now occupied by the mills and underlying a large portion of the village which has grown up here. This spot thus early occupied by the Saffords became in due time a kind of center for the westerly part of the town. All the lands on the river up to the Bridgewater line and so back on the hills west and north were soon taken up by an excellent class of men. There were the Raymonds, the Churchills, Phineas Williams, the Delanoes, the Meachams, the Bennetts, and so on through a long list that might be mentioned. These people wanted mills and school-houses and churches. A site for a mill was chosen on Jesse Safford's land, a saw-mill and grist-mill were put up by solid Jabez Bennett, who continued the owner of the same for thirty years. Capt. Ephraim Eddy erected clothing mills in the vicinity and had his fulling mills in the lower part of the grist-mill. In the year 1804 carding mills were added. Probably about 1793, a school-house was built on the flat. It stood on the north side of the main road. It was a wood building over fifty feet long, with chimneys on each end and with two front doors, one an entrance for the boys and the others for the girls. The desks were arranged along the side walls and ex- tended the whole length of the school room.
TAFTSVILLE is a pleasant little post village located in the northeastern part of the town, on Quechee river. It has a store, school-house, several manufac- turing establishments and about twenty dwellings. The village was named in honor of Daniel Taft, its founder, who was born in 1778, and came from Mendon, Mass., to Woodstock, in 1792. He took up his residence with his brother Stephen, who had previously located at what is now Taftsville, and had built a dam there in 1790 and a saw-mill in 1791. In 1804 Stephen also built the saw-mill on the opposite side of the stream. Daniel and Seth Taft soon after purchased this mill of Stephen and carried on the business until 1811, when Seth died and his interest was purchased by Daniel. About the time the mill was built, Stephen also erected a factory for the manufacture of scythes and axes, which ultimately came into the hands of
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