USA > Vermont > Essex County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 3
USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Gazetteer of Caledonia and Essex Counties, Vt. 1764-1887 > Part 3
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).
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 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93
At the principal village in Lyndon a remarkably high terrace exists, which may have formerly extended across the valley to form the end of a basin. Its lower strata are clayey, and are remarkably folded and curved. West of this terrace the level is lower, and here is the course of an old bed of a tribu- tary stream from the west. At the upper village of Lyndon the first terrace is about a mile wide, and the amount of terrace materials adjoining it is very great, and most of the materials are sand and fine gravel. Every tributary stream from either side has its large terraces to correspond with those of the Passumpsic ; and it is a characteristic of these terraces, in distinction from those on the Connecticut and its other tributaries, that while they are very large, their number is small ; in no case did the number exceed five, while on the latter streams the number often amounted to seven, eight and ten.
The third basin, whose limits are not marked, comprises that part of the Passumpsic river (east branch), which flows through the territory of Burke. At the village of East Burke several terraces were observed, and near it there are four on the west side, and No. I and No. 4 on the east side. Above East
20
CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.
Burke the valley rises so that its bottom appears like a terrace, with its steep slope crossing the valley at right angles ; and there are indistinct terraces up- on its sides. It seems to be too wide a valley to correspond with the size of the river, and may have been formed by some currents of water from foreign sources at an early date.
There is no county in the state so well supplied with muck deposits as Caledonia. It has often been said, though it is not entirely true, that every farm has one or more convenient muck deposits. In fact, such deposits are so abundant that almost every farmer can avail himself of the advantages that muck offers as an absorbent in the stable, and many farms are rendered much more valuable by its use ; and yet it should be much more used for that purpose than it is. It has little value when taken direct from the muck bed and placed upon the land ; but nothing is more valuable than that for fertilizing purposes, after it has passed through the pig-pen or stable as an absorbent.
It is a greater mine of wealth to the farmers of this county than all the gold mines of the state would be if the gold bearing rock was all condensed into the county. Let farmers take due notice and mine for their own ad- vantage.
ESSEX COUNTY.
Geologically the rocks here may be divided into two great classes, sedi- mentary and eruptive. To this first class belong all of those rocks which at some time have been derived from pre-existing rocks; but nearly all of the sedimentary have been greatly changed, not only in their general structure, but in their texture and composition. Some, however, have not. In some places on the east of the county, the sandstone is so friable that the grains of sand of which it is made up, can be easily separated by the fingers alone. The place where those rocks can be seen to the best advantage is outside of the county, in Newark, at a saw-mill on the road from East Haven to Island Pond. There are other places where the change is so great that we cannot tell whether they are stratified or not. In fact, Prof. J. H. Huntington has recently shown that some are eruptive, that were before considered stratified. Adopting the plan of the recent geological survey in New Hampshire, we find the following formations in Essex county :-
Stratified Groups.
Cenozoic.
Modified drifts, including river terraces, glacial drifts, etc.
Paleozoic.
Calciferous mica schist.
Upper Huronian.
Lyman groups.
Lower Huronian.
Gneiss, fibrolite schist, mica schist, and feldspathic schist.
Eruptive Masses.
Concord granite, syenitic granite, diabase and diorite.
21
GEOLOGICAL.
The granite rocks occupy a large V shaped area in the northern part of the county. Southward the apex of the V is in the town of Granby, south of the road from Guildhall to Victory. In this area are several kinds of granite. It some places it is desirable building stone, and is quarried in Nor- ton, Brunswick and Victory. In Ferdinand the granite is of an entirely dif- ferent character. That quarried at Brunswick is a fine-grained, light-colored granite of good quality. With the granite rocks, especially southward, there are schists, and in the north corner of Granby, not far from Moose river, there is a granite that closely resembles the Concord granite of New Hamp- shire. But here there is the clearest evidence that it is eruptive. It not only penetrates the schist, but it contains many fragments of it. This probably extends into Victory, but the forest hinders positive knowledge. Near Bruns- wick Springs, but about three-fourths of a mile from the river, there is a beautiful porphyritic granite. The crystals of feldspar are about an inch in length.
Syenitic granite .- In Lemington there is a granite rock unlike either of those we have mentioned, which probably forms the entire mass of Mount Monadnock, and extends into New Hampshire, where it has some marked peculiarities.
Diabase and diorite .- These rocks generally occur in narrow dikes, and are of a dark green color, compact and tough. Every town contains more or less of the dikes, but a remarkable one crosses the Portland and Ogdens- burg railroad near Miles pond, in Concord, containing twenty-two and one- half per cent. of iron.
Stratified rocks-gneiss and feldspar, mica schists .- There are two well marked areas of these rocks. That on the east side of the county begins on the south (probably in Granby), extends northwest through Maidstone. Well marked outcrops can be seen near Maidstone lake, thence it continues through Brunswick. The Notch Mountains, south of the Nulhegan, are com- posed of this rock. The western band begins near Miles pond, embraces Miles Mountain, where the rock is largely gneiss and contains fibrolite. Ex- tending northward it is interrupted by the graphic granite south of Island Pond in Brighton, to appear again in Bluff Mountain, which is its probable limit northward.
Fibrolite schist .- In the west of Granby, there is quite an area of an argel- litic mica schist that contains an abundance of fibrolite and andalusite, and there is a repetition of this rock in Victory, extending into East Haven. It is also found in a limited amount on the east side of the county, and with the feldspathic mica schist and gneiss.
The Lyman group .- These rocks are so called from their great abundance in the town of Lyman, N. H., from whence they extend northward to the line of the Provinces. These rocks occupy a large area in the towns of Concord, Lunenburgh and Guildhall, extending also into Maidstone, where they cross the river into New Hampshire. They consist almost entirely of light gray
2 *
C
22
CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.
agillites, and besides these are a few black slates. The Essex copper mine, in Concord, is formed in this rock. The vein of copper is very irregular, and though much money has been spent but little return has been made, and it is now abandoned. Several other small veins in Concord and Lunenburgh have been partially examined, but none of them have proved valuable. Sev- eral fine specimens of gold have also been found in Lunenburgh. Most of them are on the land of H. A. Cutting, near the village, and on the farm of Cornelius A. Smith. Some fine gold has also been washed from the Connecti- cut river bottom against Maidstone.
Calciferous mica schist .- This rock occupies a limited area in the county, and is confined to the western part of East Haven and Brighton. It consists- of argillites, silicious limestones and friable sandstones, some of the richest soil of Vermont.
Glacial drift .- Everywhere we find that the material which makes up the soil, and the bowlders that are found so abundant in some sections, have all been transferred from points northward of where they are now found ; so that the soil is often composed of an entirely different material from the rock on which it rests. The bowlders in an open country can be traced to the ledges from which they were derived ; but on account of the forests in this county, this in most places would require much time and labor ; still in every neigh- borhood are many curious and wonderful things to be seen by any one who will carefully observe the rocks.
Modified drift .- On the Connecticut river, particularly in Lemington and Colebrook, are many interesting gravel ridges that are supposed to have been formed by glacial rivers, as the ice retreated up the valley. There is also a very peculiar ridge of coarse material in the vicinity of Island Pond. River terraces border the Connecticut from the Province line to the southern bor- der of this county. They consist of the present flood plane, ten or fifteen feet above the ordinary stage of water, and a terrace from forty to one hun- dred and twenty feet in height. They are from one-fourth to one third of a mile in width. Doubtless a barrier formerly existed at the bend of the Fifteen miles fall on the Connecticut, and that the river valley was then the bed of a great lake, the outlet of which was through Whitefield, not far from the present line of the White Mountain R. R There are places beyond the height of land toward Littleton where the old river bed is so distinct as to leave no reasonable doubt of this theory being a fact.
Minerals .-- In addition to the copper in Concord, " Essex mine" and gold at Lunenburgh and in the Conneticut river above Bloomfield, there has been found copper at several places in Concord, as on the farm of William H. Darling, and on the land formerly owned by J. M. Darling, in " Texas," so- called ; also near West Concord, and combined with magnetic iron in a vein crossing the railroad at North Concord ; also in Lunenburgh on land owned by John Moneghan, and on land owned by George S. Balch. In Brunswick, on land owned by Dr. H. Coe, where fine specimens have been
a
23
SOIL AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.
found. Galenite has also been found in Guildhall on a farm formerly owned by Mrs. Dr. Dewey, in the old meeting-house neighborhood. This vein seems to run northerly and crop out again on property now owned by Isaac Bowles on the hill. Here it is largely sulphurette of copper. It would seem quite probable that something of value might be developed by reasonable outlay in this section.
SOIL AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.
CALEDONIA COUNTY.
This county, as we have already intimated, possesses a good soil and is a rich farming district, as may be seen by the following statistics from the census reports for 1880: There were 240,535 acres of improved land in the county, while the farms were valued at $7, 136,435.00, and produced 38,- 880 bushels of wheat, 1,345 bushels of rye, 284,369 bushels of oats, 70, 125 bushels of Indian corn, 39,714 bushels of buckwheat, 32,501 bushels of barley, 324,273 bushels of potatoes, 74,689 tons of hay, and $25,867.00 worth of orchard products. There were also in the county 5,913 horses, 13,923 milch cows, 1,525 working oxen, 28,945 sheep, and 5,089 swine. From the milk of the cows was manufactured 1,972,781 pounds of butter, and 32,913 pounds of cheese, while the sheep yielded 167,812 pounds of wool, or nearly six pounds to the fleece, providing each sheep was sheared.
ESSEX COUNTY.
The soil here is a rich alluvial drift, and though considerably stony in- some sections, is a remarkable good soil, especially for grass and potatoes, and the average crop of grain is better than in most sections of the state.
The valley of the Connecticut furnishes many acres of alluvial soil inferior to none upon its banks, and the bows and meadows are only inferior to those in Newbury. Upon the hills are many as good pastures as are found within our state. They are well watered, and have a surprising fertility. Some idea of the resources of the county may be gained from the following statistics from the census reports of 1880, though it must be remembered that a large portion of the county is still in original timber, though it is now fast being cut off: Number of farms, 752, of which 695 were cultivated by their owners ; land in farms, 193,357 acres ; improved, 83,425 ; tillage, 46,657 ; in natural grass and orchards, 36,768 ; total improved land in farms, 109,932 acres ; and the woodland on farms, 106,677 acres ; unimproved and not devoted to wood, 3,235 acres ; value of farms, $1,716,730.00 ; value of live stock, $323, 192.00 ; value of farm products, $424.526.00 ; average value of product for each farm, $565.00 ; hay cut, 20,831 tons ; grain raised, 133, 162 bush- els ; poultry product, 8,984 fowls, and 40,296 dozen eggs; honey, 4,226 pounds ; apples, $4,435.00 worth ; horses, 1,617 ; cows, 3,050 ; other cattle,
30-
24
CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.
4,489 ; sheep, 5.397 ; swine, 1,492 ; amount of butter made, 310,354 pounds ; and cheese, 27, 156 pounds. Surely this is not bad for so small a population that are inclined to neglect their farms for the lumbering interest. When the census was taken the capital invested in lumbering was small compared to the present, and yet over $97,000.00 were thus disposed of, and it is esti- mated the present product is $400,000.00 per annum.
THE WEATHER.
It is not unusual for Vermont people to express themselves upon the changes of the weather in no measured terms. Its climate is sometimes styled the " worst climate in the world," when in reality it is the best. "Live in New England and die of consumption at an early age ; while Florida, and many other sections, are ten times more healthful," was heard from the lips of a man lecturing in the Representative's hall at Montpelier. Yet this statement is very far from the truth. Of all the globe, there is no more healthful country than Vermont. Of all the globe, there is no place so sure of its usual harvest as Vermont. No plains are more fertile, and no valleys better watered; no crystal springs more enduring, and no breezes more health-giving, than those of this favored state.
Before we speak of our climatic changes, let us briefly review the changes in other countries. In Asia, large sections of country are every year without their usual rain fall. Rev. E. W. Parker writes from India, that as often as once in six years the section of India where he is located is without rain ; and from all the historic evidence we can get, it has ever been so. During those years of famine, thousands, tens of thousands, and sometimes hundreds of thousands, perish of hunger. Such things have never been in this section. The thermometer in India ranges from 122 degrees above zero in the south- ern parts, to a few degrees below among the mountains at the north. It is really a country of epidemics. The cholera, the malignant fevers, the plague, the black death, the small-pox, and the leprosy, all originated, as it is believed, in that unhealthful climate.
Europe is better, yet in no part is so sure of agricultural products as Ver- mont. England, tempered by the sea, has a more equitable temperature, but her slow growing crops are more often injured by blight, mildew, or in- sects than Vermont's. While the thermometer marks no higher temperature than Vermont, it is never lower than 15° below zero, while northern Vermont has often marked 45° below. The year 1807 was remarkable for the great amount of cold weather. There was a great snow storm on the last day of March, accompanied by a terrible wind, which blocked the roads so they were not passable for several days. On the first day of May the snow in the woodland would average over four feet deep, and the weather was cold and forbidding. Many supposed we should have a famine, but the crops har- vested that year were better than the average. The year 1815 was also for-
ha
fe tal
50 es
nad Ist;
25
THE WEATHER.
bidding. but for several weeks the maple sap ran with great freedom and never before or since was so large a product gathered per tree. As is well known the year 1816 was the coldest year for New England. As there were no thermometers in the country the degree of cold is not known. In this sec- tion, on the 8th of June, five inches of snow fell, and it was so cold that all the leaves were killed and vegetation appeared to be ruined. As this was followed by great drouth, crops were much injured. There was a scant harvest which provided against starvation, but seed was very high priced the next spring.
In 1817, on June Ist, there was a hard freeze, killing all crops, and about one inch of snow fell. Vegetation recovered, however, and there was a fair harvest. The year 1820 probably gave the largest harvest ever known. Po- tatoes yielded from five to six hundred bushels per acre ; wheat, sixty bush- els and upward ; corn, about one hundred, and oats seventy five. In 1821 crops were greatly damaged by hail, and in 1824 there were severe frosts ; but the harvest was fair. In some sections there was a frost every month of the year.
The year 1842 was rendered remarkable by a series of great storms, mostly thunder storms, with wind and hail. Much damage was done by the hail, and some by the tornadoes. One tornado was in Victory. Its track was a for- est, but hundreds of acres were leveled with the ground, and its track is plainly seen at this time by the change of kind in the timber. In 1843 the hay crop was very light, but other crops good. In the spring of 1844 hay was sold as high as forty dollars per ton, but only in small quantities, as few had a ton to spare. The spring was backward, with a big snow storm April Ist ; and on the 5th of April snow would average four feet deep. The spring, however, soon opened, and crops were good.
In 1861 there were many hail storms in this vicinity. While some were of great extent, almost every town suffered more or less from local storms. Now and then one of these limited storms not only ruined the crops, but killed the fruit trees and damaged buildings, and in one or two instances injured cattle, as on Mr. Grant's farm, in Concord. January 1, 1862, snow fell fourteen inches. Then there came a high wind that drifted the snow so badly that not only were carriage roads blocked, but railroads had their trains delayed from one to two days. A St. Johnsbury farmer had to tunnel a drift as large as his barn to get his cattle out to water.
In 1865 there was no thunder or electrical phenomena of any kind during the year. That of 1868 was the warmest summer in this section, July 13, 14 and 15 the thermometer for several hours marked 100°, with many other days at 95°. There were also many heavy thunder showers. October 3, 4 and 5, of 1869, will long be remembered for the great rain storm ; from four to six inches of rain fell throughout New England, and much damage was done everywhere. Roads were washed away, buildings undermined, as at Fairbanks village in St. Johnsbury, and many mills destroyed.
In 1870, January 15th, there was a sharp shower of rain with the ther-
R.
:
26
CALEDONIA AND ESSEX COUNTIES.
mometer at zero, closing with it two degrees above. On the 12th of Febru- ary, there was about three mches of dirty snow fell. By melting it was ascer- tained that the amount of dirt was about three grains to the square foot, which would give 360 pounds to the square mile. As the storm extended over at least 400 square miles, 7,200 tons of meteoric dust fell in this storm. In the summer of 1870 there was hardly a day without a thunder shower in Vermont, and the showers passed over this section very frequently. Hay was in consequence secured in bad condition, and all crops were damaged. Lightning struck many times in Lunenburgh. June 20th it struck a green white-ash tree, shivering it to splinters and plowing nine furrows in different directions from the base of the tree, many of them several rods in length, and larger than could be cut with a plow. August 2d it struck a horse in pasture, burning off his hair, or pulling it out, also cutting a hole in his head two inches long, and throwing off his shoes. The horse recovered from the shock. October 20th was the great earthquake for New England. Brick walls and plastering in houses were cracked, many chimneys toppled over, and people generally frightened. The shock lasted from two to three min- utes.
The summer of 1871 was very dry, and closed into winter without the usual rains. Streams had not been as low for over fifty years. On the 5th of February the thermometer stood 40° below zero, and yet on the 23d of the same month we had thunder showers, also butterflies and grasshoppers (both in Vermont and New Hampshire). They both found it cold enough afterwards. March 9th several butterflies were seen about the streets of Burlington and also in Concord, N. H. There were also May flowers in March. April 8th was one of the warmest days of the season.
In 1872 the rain, as measured in Lunenburgh, was sixty-one inches, being a larger amount than was ever recorded. The number of rainy days was 180, which is about sixty in excess of common years. The greatest rain-fall for any month was August, being thirteen inches, though the average rain- fall for that month is less than three and three-fourths inches. The last week in June was the warmest week for ten years, and doubtless the warmest week in June ever experienced in this vicinity. In July the thermometer rose to 100° for one day, and was 95° for several days, but on December 25th it fell to 45° below zero at Lunenburgh, and to 50° below on the river, marking the coldest day known in this county since thermometers were introduced. A range of 150° in one year has never been known here only on that occa- sion.
On the 9th of May, 1874, it was cloudy during the morning and looked like rain, but while little or no rain fell it was very dark, and at noon lamps had to be lighted to conduct the usual business about the house or barn. About one o'clock P. M. it grew lighter and ended in a thunder shower. Doubtless the darkness was occasioned by very dense clouds. The weather had been very cold for the season during the spring, but from this time it was
27
THE WEATHER.
as warm as usual. January, 1875, was very cold and dry, many springs failed, and farmers had to inelt snow, not only for household purposes, but for their cattle. It was also very windy and snow badly drifted.
The spring of 1878 was remarkably forward. Red plums and strawberries were in full blossom on the 1st day of May, and apple trees blossomed on the Sth. Red clover headed this month. There was a slight frost on the 14th, but nothing was killed. Strawberries were ripe on June 7th, and a frost at the same time, but the fruit was not injured. The Ioth of December, 1878, will be ever remarkable for a great rain storm that caused an almost unprecedented freshet. Ice was cleared out of the streams, and an immense amount of damage done to railroads and highways. September 6, 1881, is likely to be remembered in this section as long as the dark day of 1780 has been in Connecticut. From daylight the sky presented a strange and unnat- ural appearance. It was not cloudy, but overhead a light olive, shading off to olive green at the horizon. The light that found its way through this strange atmosphere was a pronounced yellowish green in color, and caused a very strange and peculiar tint to clothe all nature. Houses painted white had a decided yellow hue, while the green of the grass was highly intensified, looking much more bright than usual. By nine o'clock, A. M., this darkness had much increased and lights were seen in nearly all houses, and dinners were eaten by lamp light. It was doubtless a repetition of the dark day of a century ago. It was certainly a peculiar phenomena and prevaded all New England. Some attributed it to smoke from the burning of the Cana- dian forests, others to pollen in the atmosphere. Let it be what it would it reminded many of the brassy hue described in the bible, as ushering in the last day, and many a one was scarcely at ease for fear, and the resolves to do better and live more acceptable lives doubtless lasted as long as the smoke that caused the darkness.
On February 3, 1882, there was a very heavy snow storm, twenty-two inches having fallen in many places during the previous night. The entire snowfall for the month was thirty seven inches. On October 4, 1884, over two and a half inches of rain fell in twelve hours, causing great rise of streams and the washing away of many bridges. It not only deluged this section, but was general throughout New England. Much property and some lives were lost.
July, 1885, was memorable for the many heavy showers and damage from lightning. It struck some thirty times that was known in Essex county, from the Ist to the 15th of the month, and showers injured highways to a great extent. A shower upon Cherry mountain, in the morning of July 10th, on the New Hampshire side of the Connecticut, against Lunenburgh, caused a land slide of over two miles in length, that destroyed the buildings and farm of Oscar Stanley, killed several cattle, and so injured Don Walker that he died a few days after.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.