Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 11

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders
Number of Pages: 886

USA > Vermont > Essex County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 11
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 11

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

BENCH AND BAR.

Judge Redfield's opinions were perhaps more distinguished in the depart- ments of equity, commercial and railway law. It would be interesting to advert to some of the more important of them, and to trace their influence in the deliberations and conclusions of other courts ; but the limits of this brief sketch do not admit. Judge Redfield was a diligent student at all times, thoroughly acquainted with the course of English and American decisions, drawing largely upon their reasoning, and in no respect undervaluing their authority, established principles and a strong sense of justice and of right were, after all, the controlling element in bringing him to results. He was never brought " by learned reasons to absurd decrees." Technicalities were not allowed to subvert justice when, by any fair means, they could be sur- mounted or escaped.

He was a man of unfailing courtesy and kindness, amiable temper, un- questioned and unquestionable purity of character, with unassuming dignity and quiet decorum, with which he invested the proceedings of his court. He retired from the bench in November, 1860, and in 1861 removed to Boston, where he lived during the remainder of his life, engaged in publishing his treat- ies on the Law of Railways, which has given him a national reputation, and other works of equal merit, and for more than twelve years was one of the editors of the American Law Register. At the close of the civil war he was appointed, by Secretary of State Seward, in conjunction with Mr. Caleb Cushing, the special counsel of the United States for the purpose of defend- ing the claim of this government to a considerable amount of Confederate property in Europe, principally in England. The American claims against Great Britain for the heavy losses sustained by privateers fitted out in England, were also then adjusted. Some of the claims were compromised, and all brought to a satisfactory conclusion.

He was twice married, first to Miss Mary Smith, of Stanstead, Canada, and second, to Miss Catherine Clarke, of St. Johnsbury. He died in Charles- town, Mass., of pneumonia, March 23, 1876, near the completion of his seventy second year, and was buried at Windsor, Vt.

Marshall Montgomery was born in Walden, March 26, 1839, attended common school there, and afterwards the academy at Peacham a few terms, where he fitted for college in 1859. In May, 1861, he enlisted as private in Co. G, 3d Vt. Vols., and served in that company and regiment until Nov. II, 1863, when he received a commission as captain of Co. D, Ioth U. S. Colored Troops, in which organization he served in Virginia and Texas, until May 17, 1866, when he was mustered out of service at Galveston, Texas, having served five years and three days, with no absence from his command except on one leave of absence of twenty days, and a few days while waiting in Washington to go before the examining board when he received his com- mission. He began the study of law before leaving the service, and con- tinued it at Danville, Vt., in the law office of B. N. Davis, and was admitted to the bar at St. Johnsbury in June, 1869, and has since been in practice at

CALEDONIA' AND ESSEX COUNTIES.

that place and at Walden. He was elected state's attorney in 1884, and has been justice of peace two years.

Joseph Thomas Gleason, was born in Lunenburg, Vt., June 18, 1844, and received his early education at the district school. At the age of seventeen years he left school to enlist in company K, 8th Vt. Vols., for the war, but his health being imperfect he was rejected after having drilled some time with the company. He subsequently enlisted again in Co. A, 15th Vt. Vols., was accepted and served about one year. He studied law with J. P. Lamson, at Cabot, and W. W. Eaton, at West Concord, and was admitted to the bar at Guildhall, September, 1876, practiced two years in West Concord, and located in Lyndonville in the fall of 1878, being the first lawyer to establish an office in that place. He married, September 9, 1884, Mary S. Aldrich, of Concord. She is a daughter of Roswell Aldrich, who now lives in Guildhall, aged eighty-five years.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

CALEDONIA COUNTY.

The first roads in this section of the State were made by the Canadian In- dians, long before the territory was visited by white men. Of steamboat en- terprises an account will be found further on under head of " Essex County."

As early as 1776, in the midst of the revolutionary struggle, the military road was commenced by Gen. Bailey, which was to extend through from Peacham to Lake Champlain. In 1779 it was extended, by Col. Hazen, whence it took the name of the Hazen road, through Cabot, Walden, Hard- wick, Greensboro, Craftsbury, and Albany, to Lowell. He had cut the road to the notch in the mountains which still bears his name, when the news of peace came, and he left the unused road for the benefit of the settlers that were soon to come in.

The following description of thoroughfares, together with those mentioned, will give the reader a fair idea of the state of the county in this respect in 1815. A road from Newbury to Derby, built in 1794, passed through Rye- gate, Barnet, St. Johnsbury, Lyndon, Wheelock Hollow and Sheffield, where it received the travel from Danville Green, and thence via Sheffield, it passed Barton Mills, where it received the Montpelier travel, and thence extended to Brownington, where it received the Albany travel, and proceeded west of Brownington Pond through Derby into Canada. A second road from New- bury to Stanstead, Canada East, passed up the Connecticut river to Guildhall, thence through Brunswick, Wenlock, and Brighton, into Morgan and through Holland into Canada. In the autumn of 1807 a road from Irasburgh to Troy was cut through by parties from Danville and Peacham, to open more conveniently this great northern route through the county. Over this route were transported hundreds of tons of salts and pearl ashes to Montreal and Que-

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

bec. In 1808, large quantities of this commodity being left in the county after the embargo times, Barton river was cleaned out, and the casks were put upon rafts and barges and transported by water to Quebec. This cir- cumstance gave the name of " The Landing " to that part of Barton near the Irasburgh line where the merchandise was put on board the boats. It must be remembered that at this time the principal support of the inhabitants of the northern part of the state consisted in the manufacture of and traffic in these ashes.

As the country was cleared up and one farm after another was reclaimed from the wilderness, and manufactures of different kinds increased, it became necessary to have better facilities for transportation than could be afforded by the old turnpikes. The want of a railroad was sadly felt. And when the desired result was obtained it gave a great inpetuous to the growth of the country, opening up new enterprises and stimulating agriculture to a vigor to which it owes its present proportions.

On November 10, 1835, the Connecticut & Passumpsic Rivers railroad was chartered by the legislature ; but owing to the difficulty experienced in securing subscription to stock, nothing was done toward building the road, so the charter became void. It was revived, however, October 31, 1843, and the time for the beginning of its construction limited to three years. . As originally chartered, the road was to run from some point near the Connecti- cut river on the Massachusetts line, up the Connecticut and Passumpsic valleys, reaching Canada at some point in Newport or Derby, as might be feasible. By an act of 1845, the right to " divide the route at the White river, near its mouth," was granted, recognizing the northern half as the Con- necticut & Passumpsic Rivers railroad, and allowing that portion to retain all subscriptions to the stock already received.

The company was organized in January, 1846, with Erastus Fairbanks, president. The survey was begun in April, and grading commenced soon after. October 10; 1848, the road was formally opened to Bradford, a dis- tance of 28.37 miles from White River Junction, and November 6th of the same year was opened through to Wells River, 40.17 miles. St. Johnsbury was reached in 1852, and Barton became the terminus in 1858-59. Thus the work proceeded gradually, as stock was taken and funds procured. New- port became a railroad town in 1863, during which year the grading was com- pleted to the Canada line. This point gained, another halt occurred until the connecting link from the Grand Trunk line, at Lenoxville, Can., 33.75 miles, should be assured. On the first of July, 1870, this link, under the title of the Massawippi Valley railroad, was ready for trains, and has been operated since by the C. & P. R. R. R., under a contract for 999 years. Practically, however, the terminus of this road is at Sherbrooke, three miles farther north, where its round-house is located, using the Grand Trunk road this distance. The total mileage of the road is thus 145 miles, with connec- tions as follows: at White River Junction with the Central Vermont and

CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.

Northern railroads ; at Wells River with the Boston, Concord & Montreal, and Wells River & Montreal lines; at St. Johnsbury with the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain division of the Portland & Ogdensburgh road ; at Newport with the South Eastern railway; and at Sherbrook, P. Q., with the Grand Trunk road.

The portion of the road south of White River Junction, as originally chartered, was given over to another corporation, when the division was made, to be known as the Connecticut River railroad, and is now leased and oper- ated by the Central Vermont Railroad Co. The handsome steamer, " Lady of the Lake," plying on Lake Memphremagog, is leased by the C. & P. R. R. R., and is run as an excursion boat, making regular trips during the summer. The company also owns the Missisquoi & Clyde Rivers railroad, extending from Newport to Richfield, it having come into their possession by mortgage. It is operated under lease by the South Eastern railway.

The Passumpsic railroad repair shops were located at St. Johnsbury until destroyed by fire early in the year 1866. This event caused the management to look about for a new location where they could have room to grow as their needs increased, and the plains of Lyndon having been selected, the several farms comprising the present site of Lyndonville were purchased by the cor- poration. July 4, 1866, preparation for the new shops was begun. The ground where they stand was then covered with a sugar grove of old maples. These were "pulled up by the roots " by means of a hawser attached to a locomotive. The tall chimney was the first structure erected. About it the brick walls of the shops were soon completed, and in March, 1867, the ma- chinery was set in motion. In the spring of 1868 the railroad offices were removed to Lyndonville, which has since been their headquarters. .

Some forty men are employed in the shops upon repairs and building freight cars, while the total regularly employed upon the line is 550.

From the annual report for the year ending June 30, 1886, we condense the following statement: The gross earnings for the year were $758,930.47 ; running expenses $471,984.75 ; passengers carried one mile 7,732,331 ; tons of freight carried one mile 32,228,849 ; passenger trains ran 241,012 miles ; · other trains 412,898 miles. The equipment consists of thirty-three locomo- tives, eighteen passenger cars, one parlor car, twelve baggage, mail and smoking cars, one mail and postoffice car, ten saloon cars, I, IIo freight cars of various kinds, two boarding-cars, three crane cars, besides the necessary equipment for road repairs. The company also own five double houses, twelve cottages, one farm house, and 200 acres of land at Lyndonville, eighteen dwelling houses, two stores, the Memphremagog House, at Newport, and 2,000 acres of wood and timber land along the line of the road.

The entire length of the road is now laid with all steel rails. The author- ized capital of the company is $3,000,000, of which $2,500,000 of stock has been issued, leaving $500,000 to be issued. On April 1, 1887, the road was leased to the Boston & Lowell railroad for a term of ninety-nine years.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The present officers are A. B. Harris, of Springfield, Mass., president ; W. K. Blodgett, of Boston, Mass., vice-president ; N. P. Lovering, of Boston, Mass., treasurer ; H. C. Cleveland, of Coventry, Vt., secretary ; H. E. Fol- som, Lyndonville, superintendent. The directors are Emmons Raymond, Cambridge ; W. K. Blodgett, Amos Barnes, C. W. Pierce, Boston ; Alden Spear, Newton ; A. B. Harris, Springfield ; Oscar Edwards, Northampton, Mass. ; Frederick Billings, Woodstock, and S. S. Thompson, Lyndonville, Vt.

The St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain railroad extends from Maquam bay to St. Johnsbury. It was formerly called the Lamoille Valley railroad, and was completed through to Swanton, and the first train of cars passed over it on Tuesday, July 17, 1877. Soon after this the road was completed from the village of Swanton to the bay, about two miles. The first train passed over this portion of the road August 23, 1877. This road in con- nection with the line east to Lunenburgh, comprises the Vermont division ·of the Portland & Ogdensburg railroad. The present officers of the com- pany are Horace Fairbanks, president ; Jonas Hamilton, superintendent ; John W. Dana, treasurer ; C. H. Foye, general passenger agent. The road is now operated by the Boston & Lowell Railroad Company, under lease, and is known as the Vermont division of that line.

In 1849 a charter was obtained for a railroad from Montpelier to Con- necticut river, in the town of Newbury, under the name of the " Montpelier & Connecticut River R. R. Co." Prominent names in the act of incor- poration were R. R. Keith, I. A. Wing, I. N. Hall, Joseph Potts, Daniel Baldwin, O. H. Smith and Jacob Kent, Jr., and others. A preliminary sur- vey, called the "Kennedy survey," was made in 1850, with the maximum grade not to exceed sixty-five feet to the mile. To follow this grade would have ruined all the incorporators and their friends, and the charter failed by default. In 1867 another charter was obtained under the name of the " Montpelier & Wells River Railroad Co." Prominent men named in this act of incorporation were Roderick Richardson, J. R. Langdon, E. P. Wal- ton, David Baldwin, of Montpelier, I. N. Hall and J. R. Darling, of Groton, and including names from the towns of East Montpelier, Plainfield, Marsh- field, Cabot, Ryegate and Newbury. The incorporators met and partially organized in 1868, completing the organization in 1869 and 1870. The organization when completed was as follows : Directors, Roderick Richard- son, I. N. Hall, C. H. Heath, George B. Fesenden, J. G. French, Jacob Smith, Joel Foster, Jr., George Wooster and I. W. Brown. Roderick Rich- ardson was elected president. In 1872 I. N. Hall was elected president, and a change in four of the directors was made. N. C. Munson built the road by contract. The first through mail train passed over the line November 30, 1873. The company became embarrassed, and January 1, 1877, the stockholders surrendered the road and the franchise to the bondholders with the conditions that they (the bondholders) pay the debts of the company, and it was so arranged. The bondholders, organizing as the

CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.

" Montpelier & Wells River railroad," elected for their first directors D. R. Sortwell, of Cambridge, Mass .; S. S. Thompson, Lyndonville, Vt .; W. H. H. Bingham, Stowe, Vt .; E. C. Sherman, Boston ; and Joel Foster, Montpelier, Vt. Daniel R. Sortwell was elected president, and Joel Foster, treasurer and clerk. The present officers of the company are D. R. Sortwell, president ; S. S. Thompson, vice-president ; Joel Foster, secretary and treas- urer ; W. A. Stowell, general superintendent ; F. W. Morse, cashier and gen- eral freight and passenger agent.

ESSEX COUNTY.

As this county became settled along the fertile valley of the Connecticut, and the settlements are largely in the valley of that river even at present, it was natural that the eye should wander up and down that stream with a be- lief that it would be utilized, and now and then a sanguine mind would antic- ipate the future, and plan for locks whereby steamboats could pass the falls. When Captain Samuel Morey first made his trial trip in a little steamer at Orford, N. H., on this river, the future usefulness of this plan seemed to dawn upon them. This was as early as 1793. Captain Morey's improvements. were watched, and Capt. John M. Darling, of Concord, visited Capt. Morey in 1805, and rode in his steamboat, an incident that he often told to his- children and grandchildren. In 1862, in answer to an enquiry about it by letter, he said he always believed that the Connecticut would be traversed by steamers, until the railroad became a fixed fact, and he had taken a trial trip, thereon ; when he gave all that up though he had felt sure when the govern- ment survey was in progress that such would be. This survey was made by De Witt Clinton, under the direction of the United States government, through the valley of the Connecticut, for a canal; but though the route was feasible, before the plan was matured the introduction of railroads superseded the. canal, and that project was abandoned.

The river above the fifteen mile falls seemed, however, to invite navigation, and in 1854 Mrs. Kate Sumner, wife of Hon. J. B. Sumner, having some. funds, invested them in a steamboat, which was built at Dalton, N. H., that summer. It ran rather irregularly between Dalton and Guildhall for two. seasons, and then was cut loose by some villain and floated down to the dam at Sumner's mills, there stranded, passing over and breaking in two. Thus. ended this enterprise.

In 1865 J. I. Williams, of Lancaster, N. H., built a fine pleasure boat which was run on the river by steam. It was used by pleasure parties. At. high water a year or two after, it was run up over the Guildhall falls to assist in transporting lumber. It was moored to the bank, and as the water fell in the river, it grounded and lurched over on its side, and when unexpected high water came it settled into the quicksand and was filled with the same ;. and has never been raised. It was a tidy boat and all regretted its loss.

INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

The Grand Trunk railway was chartered in 1848, and built through the county in 1853, passing through Bloomfield, Brunswick, Ferdinand, Brighton, Warren's Gore and Norton. The principal station, also custom-house build- ings, are in Brighton, at Island Pond. This is the end of the Portland divis- ion of the road. This railroad runs through a wild country. When it was. first surveyed it was intended to run up the valley of the Connecticut to Ca- naan, but on account of offers from the Canadians to build to Island Pond and establish the custom-house there instead of on the line-they then own- ing only the Canada end of the road, and the expense being greater to them in building to Canaan-it was finally changed to the present route. When it was first built moose were quite plenty, and in 1858 a large moose came upon the railroad track a few miles from Island Pond. When the engineer saw it, he put on steam for a chase, and the moose kept the track for about a mile, when the engine getting too near he wheeled about and succeded in getting round the engine, but came in contact with the second car, which. killed him but threw two cars off the track.

This road being a through trunk line has a very large business. Yet while it has stimulated hotels and the granite interests at Brunswick, the fires set by its engines that have consumed much of the forest left by the woodman's ax, has, with the facilities offered for transportation, left the mountain slopes. comparatively barren, and no one seems to have accumulated much money from a vandalism that results only in injury. May the sentiment change- before the prediction of the Indian at the burial place of his fathers, as rep -- resented by Bryant, be fulfilled :-

"But I behold a fearful sign, To which the white man's eyes are blind. Before these fields were shorn and tilled, Full to the brim our rivers flowed, The melody of waters filled The fresh and boundless wood.

And torrents dashed and rivulets played, And fountains sported in the shade. These grateful sounds are heard no more, The springs are silent in the sun,

The rivers, by the blackened shore, With lessening currents run; The realm our tribes are crushed to get May be a barren desert yet."

The Portland & Odgensburg Railroad, chartered in 1864, as the Es- sex County Railroad, and afterwards consolidated, was commenced in 1869,- and completed through Concord and Lunenburgh in 1876. There are four stations in Concord and one in Lunenburgh. It was built in the main part by stock taken by the towns through which it passes, which makes a heavy indebtedness, and in that respect really injures the towns through which it. runs.

,94

CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.

The Victory Branch railroad from North Concord through Victory, to the western corner of Granby, was commenced in 1882, its chief use being for lumbering purposes. The first loaded train was run over the line January 1, 1885.

The officers of the Essex County railroad were, Horace Fairbanks, presi- dent ; Horace Fairbanks, Calvin Morrill, John W. Hartshorn, and S. S. Gould, directors. It was soon consolidated with the Western road at the Portland & Ogdensburg Vermont division, but was unable to pay its indebt- edness, and was sold, or a new company formed to stock and run it, and it was then called the St. Johnsbury & Lake Champlain, but it has now been leased to the Boston & Lowell railroad, and is known as the Vermont di- vision of that road.

There are other railroads chartered through the county, but no present pros- pect of any others being built.

[The following should have appeared following page 39, and the heading to the article on that page should have been " Admissions Before the Supreme Court."]

ADMISSIONS TO COUNTY BAR-CALEDONIA COUNTY.

J. E. Dow

Barnes Buckminster Jan., 1803

Nathaniel Goodhue . July, 1803

James R. Wheelock .June, 1810

Oliver P. Chandler.

William M. Pingry June, 1832

Alden Sprague. .

Joshua Y. Vail. Jan., 18II

Asa Grimes. .

George C. West

Dec., 1816

Humphrey Bennett.

Moses Hall. Dec., 1820

John Bridgman

John Beckwith Dec., 1838

Charles S. Dana Dec., 1840

William Mattocks, 2d. 1841

George C. Cahoon June, 1823

Oliver T. Brown Dec., 1841

Pres West, Jr., . Dec., 1823

Charles B. Fletcher. . June, 1842

Samuel B. Mattock. Sept., 1826

Timothy P. Fuller Sept., 1845 Samuel W. Fuller

Abel Underwood.

April, 1827

George W. Stone

John McLean Dec., 1846

Gustavus A. Burbank ..

Joseph P. Fairbanks.

John A. Gilfilları

Dec., 1847

Samuel A. Willard

April, 1828

Norman Davis

Andrew J. Willard.

June, 1848 George A. Bingham

Timothy A. Stanford. . John S. Wells ..

Sept., 1828

Sanford S. Peck

George M. Chase

George B. Manser .

.Samuel A. Chandler .. .

April, 1829

Eugene McDonald 1

Jesse Cooper, Jr. Sept., 1830

John S. Farnham

John H. Slack . Dec., 1832 Thomas J. D. Fuller. June, 1833

Thomas Bartlett

Titus Snell. Dec., 1833

George B. Shaw Dec., 1821

James Stewart .

William G. Hunter June, 1822

Gustavus G. Cushman. George B. Chandler. . . Theron Howard

Sept., 1827

James H. Smith

Benjamin F. Weeks. .

Bliss N. Davis . . . .... Jonathan D. Stoddard.

Henry S. Bartlett . Junę, 1849 Alfred Rix .

Charles Leland

Dec., 1850

NEWSPAPERS.

Peter H. Hale

Horace C. Bartlett .. . .

Marshall Montgomery . - June, 1869

Thomas J. Cree .

Edwin R. Cobleigh Dec., 1852

Henry C. Ide . . Dec., 1870

Richard H. Heath. . June, 1853

Lorenzo D. Smith . June, 1871

William Clement.

Albro F. Nichols

William D. Harriman June, 1854

Edgar Richardson

Francis G. Coakley June, 1875

George W. Cahoon June,

1855

William A. Armington June, 1876

"George D. Ladd. Dec., 1855

Charles J. Stoddard . . Dec., 1876

Oscar F. Harvey

Dec., 1857

William W. Grout

Andrew E. Rankin.

Nathaniel Blanchard. .

June, 1860

Charles H. Davis.

C. W. Willard. June, 1878

William Mason.

Fayette I. Foss

Charles H. Moore

June, 1879 !

Jacob Trussell

H. A. Newton

Edgar A. Twitchell Dec., 1879

Abial Fisher

June,

186 [

Edward D. Brown

E. H. Hoffman. June, . 188 I

Henry C. Belden

Dec.,

I863

I Putnam Dana ..

Joseph I. Scarry (

Dec., 1865

Wendell P. Stafford . June, 1882

John I. Tupper

June,

I866

Herbert I. Goss.

June, 1883

C. J. B. Harris

Dec., 1867

NEWSPAPERS.

The following is a sketch of the newspapers of the counties the names of the live papers being printed in SMALL CAPITALS.

CALEDONIA COUNTY.

PEACHAM .- The first newspaper published in the county, was at Peacham, about 1805-07, but under what title, or who the publisher, we are not informed.

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Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887, Part 11

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn Publication date: 1887 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders Number of Pages: 886

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836- comp. cn
Publication date: 1887
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., Syracuse Journal Co., Printers and Binders
Number of Pages: 886