USA > Vermont > Washington County > Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1783-1889 > Part 2
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The division of the state into counties, and the formation of Washington county, is described in the "Bench and Bar," following the roster of offi- cers in the civil war.
TOPOGRAPHY.
The surface of Washington county is varied by high mountains, gentle hill slopes, and charming picturesque valleys. Camel's Hump lies on the western border, and rears its rocky crest more than 4,000 feet above the sea-the highest except Mt. Mansfield in the state. It is the best defined and most conspicuous peak of the Green Mountains. It is conspicuous from most parts of the county and the whole valley of Lake Champlain. It is accessible from Huntington, but is usually ascended from Duxbury. The views obtained at the summit in extent and "scenic beauty " are unsurpassed, and amply re- ward the tourist for his labor in making the ascension.
Other heights from which magnificent views are obtained are Mt. Hun- ger, 3,648 feet above "Old Ocean," on the line between Middlesex and Worcester, and Bald Mountain in Northfield, 2,636 feet high. The Wi- nooski, or Onion, river and its numerous branches contribute their utility and beauty to the territory, and the eastern part of the county is adorned with numerous gems of lakes and ponds. The town of Woodbury alone has twenty- three. The Winooski, the longest river in the state, rises in Cabot, receives an important tributary in Marshfield, flows in a southwesterly direction to Montpelier, and thence nearly northwest, which course it continues until it discharges its waters into Lake Champlain about five miles north of Burling- ton, and drains an area of about one thousand square miles. Its principal tributaries in Washington county are Kingsbury Branch, Stevens Branch, Dog river, Worcester or North Branch, Mad river, and Waterbury river.
There is indubitable evidence that the valley of the Winooski, from Mont- pelier to Bolton falls, was once the bed of a lake all along this valley between the places named. The rapid mountain streams would deposite a sediment in the still waters of this lake, which would settle and form terraces, as at Waterbury village. Mr. C. N. Arms informed the writer that in digging his well in that village he encountered a birch tree about twenty inches in diame- ter and well preserved, nineteen feet below the surface of the ground. The question is, how came it there ? The region of Bolton falls "is an excava- tion through the back-bone of the Green Mountains," says Professor Hagar. In Zadoc Thompson's Gazetteer of Vermont, Part III., page 197, is the fol- lowing description : " The channels which have been worn in the rocks by this river are a great curiosity. One of these between Middlesex and More-
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town is about eighty rods in length, sixty feet in width, and thirty feet deep ; the rock appearing like a wall on each side. Another of these channels is be- tween Waterbury and Duxbury, four miles below Waterbury village. Its depth is about one hundred feet, and the rocks on the south side are perpen- dicular. The rocks have here fallen into the chasm and form a natural bridge, which is crossed by footmen at low water. Among the rocks here are also several curious caverns. Holes also of cylindrical form are here worn into the solid rocks several feet in depth. There is abundant evidence existing that above this place a large pond formerly existed, whose waters were drained off . by the wearing down of the channel."
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 fundemental principles of the science.
Among men of science it has become the common, if not prevailing, opin- ion 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 the whole earth was once an immense ball of fiery matter-that, in the course of time, it was ren- dered very compact, and at last became crusted over, as the process of cool- ing 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 natur- ally become surrounded by an atmosphere heavily charged with minerals in a gaseous or vaporous condition. As the cooling advanced this etherealized matter would condense and seek a lower level, thus coating the earth with an- other rock. This is named the vaporous period. At last, however, another age was ushered in, one altogether different from those that had preceded it. The moist vapor which must of necessity have pervaded the atmosphere began 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.
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CLIMATE, SOIL, AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.
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 mechanical. structure along with the crystalline arrangements of the ingredi- ents. These are called secondary and transition. Lowest of all are found rocks having a decidedly crystalline structure, looking as if the different min -. erals of which they are composed crowded hard upon one another. These rocks are called metamorphic, hypozoic, and azoic.
The principal portion of the rocks of this territory is azoic, and 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 rock, sandstones, and conglomerates, limestones and dolomites. Talcose schist underlies a large portion of the towns of Worcester, Middlesex, Montpelier, Duxbury, Waterbury, Moretown, Fayston, Waitsfield, Northfield, Roxbury, Warren, and the west part of Berlin, Barre, and East Montpelier. Calciferous mica schist underlies a large part of the eastern portion of the county. Granite abounds in Berlin, Barre, Plainfield, Marshfield, Cabot, and Woodbury. A broad belt of clay slate extends through Roxbury, Northfield,. Berlin, Montpelier, East Montpelier, Calais, and Woodbury. Beds of serpen- tine and steatite exist in Roxbury, Warren, Waitsfield, Moretown, North- field, Duxbury, and Waterbury, also beds of copper and iron pyrites in: Waterbury.
CLIMATE, SOIL, AND STAPLE PRODUCTIONS.
Washington county is fortunate in having a clear and bracing atmosphere,. and is classed as one of the healthiest locations in the state. But like other northern locations, it is subject to extremes of heat and cold. Snow suffi- cient for sleighing frequently falls in November and remains until April. We append from information furnished by Mr. B. I. Wheeler, of East Montpelier, who has made accurate measurement of the snow-fall for more than forty years, the following reliable statistics. The first record is for the winter of 1846, when the snow fall was nine feet. In the winter of 1887 it was twelve feet two inches. The least depth of any year was in 1877, when it was five feet eight inches. The greatest depth was in 1873, twelve feet seven inches. We also have Mr. Wheeler's report of the temperature at East Montpelier. for thirty-seven years. The warmest weather was August 21, 1884, when the thermometer registered 101° above zero. The coldest weather was Decem- ber 25, 1872, January 6, 1884, and January 19, 1887, when it registered 400; . below zero.
The soil differs materially in different parts of the county, but in general
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WASHINGTON COUNTY.
it is strong and fertile. The intervales along the streams are the best lands in the county. An idea of the resources of the county is obtained from the following statistics shown by the census report of 1880. The county then had 3,229 farms, valued at $9,048,622, while its total debt, bonded and floating, was $261,030. These farms contained live stock valued at $1,320,- 474, and produced farm products valued at $1, 819,724. A very good show- ing for a small county containing a population of only 25,404 souls.
MANUFACTURES.
Washington county is not what may be called a manufacturing district ; yet, while it has many fine water-powers that are utilized, it has many more that await the hand of enterprise. As sketches of the resources and history of manufactories are generally given in the towns wherein they are located, we will dismiss the subject at this point with the following statistics from the census report of 1880. There were then 271 manufacturing establishments in the county, representing an invested capital of $1,245,997, and giving employment to 865 hands, to whom was paid $271,217 in wages. The total value of the material used was $1,243,992, and the total amount of manufactured goods was $3,920,210.
THE POOR.
Those who from age, infirmity, or otherwise become unable to support themselves, and are so unfortunate as to be obliged to rely upon public char- ity for support, are cared for, in conformity with the laws of the state, by the inhabitants of the town wherein they reside.
INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
Just as far back as we have any history, or tradition, the Winooski river was an Indian highway, from Lake Champlain to Montpelier, over which these "Lords of the forests " traveled to meet at their feasts, sent their ministers plenipotentiary to the august assemblies of their Confederation, or perhaps sent their braves to chastise some recreant tribe. From Montpelier there were, as there is to-day, two routes to the Connecticut river : one by way of Dog river, over the height of land at Roxbury, and down the White river to the Connecticut at White River Junction ; the other led the way by the head waters of the Winooski, and down Wells river, to its confluence with the Connecticut at the village of the same name. Their pale faced brothers, with all their boasted knowledge of the " fine art " of topographical engineering, have been compelled to imitate the " untutored savage " by locating their thoroughfares on precisely these old routes.
The Winooski turnpike, chartered November 7, 1805, and the Paine turn- pike were among the first enterprises of public interest in Washington
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INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.
county. These, in connection with others, formed a stage line and mail route extending from Boston by way of Burlington to Montreal. Later Mr. Ira Day, of Barre, made an improvement of the route by building a turnpike by way of the celebrated "Gulf route." This line was traversed by Cottrill and Day's famous stage lines, with their elegant coaches drawn by six and eight superb horses. At one time they carried the British mail to Montreal, which then came by way of Boston. A British soldier accompanied each mail, armed with a musket. These lines flourished until the advent of the railroads.
The Vermont Central Railroad Company, subsequently changed to the Central Vermont Railroad Company, was incorporated November 1, 1843, for the purpose, and with the right, of building a railroad "from some point on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, up the valley of Onion river and extending to a point on Connecticut river most convenient to meet a railroad either from Concord, N. H., or Fitchburgh, Mass." The route decided upon was up the Connecticut river from Windsor to the mouth of White river, thence up that stream to the source of its third branch, passing through the towns of Randolph and Braintree, in Orange county, thence reaching the summit in Roxbury, and passing down the valley of Dog river, it enters the Winooski valley near Montpelier, and thence, continuing in the Winooski valley, its terminus is reached at Burlington, a distance of 117 miles. Charles Paine was chosen president of the company, and ground was broken at Windsor, December 15, 1845, on the farm formerly occupied by Judge Elijah Paine, father of Charles Paine, where the latter was born, the first ground broken for a railroad in Vermont. Regular passenger trains first passed over the road from White River Junction to Bethel, a distance of twenty-seven miles, the first train, and the first regular passenger train in Vermont, run- ning over the route Monday, June 26, 1848. June 20, 1849, the road was opened through for business. The company also operate a branch from Montpelier to Williamstown, in Orange county, which it is expected will eventually connect with the main road in Royalton. The following are the present officers of the Central Vermont Company, with their offices at St. Al- bans : Hon. J. G. Smith, president ; J. W. Hobart, general manager ; J. M. Foss, general superintendent ; I. B. Futvoi, superintendent Northern divis- ion ; Jesse Burdett, superintendent Rutland division; E. A. Chittenden, superintendent of local freight traffic ; S. W. Cummings, general passenger agent.
Granite Railroad Company was chartered April 9, 1888. It is proposed to extend from Barre village to the granite quarries, and is to be operated by the Central Vermont Railroad Company.
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 incorpora- tion were R. R. Keith, J. A. Wing, I. N. Hall, Joseph Potts, Daniel Baldwin, O. H. Smith, Jacob Kent, Jr., and others. A preliminary survey, called
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WASHINGTON COUNTY.
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 incorpora- tion were Roderick Richardson, J. R. Langdon, E. P. Walton, David Bald- win, of Montpelier, I. N. Hall and J. R. Darling, of Groton, and including. names from the towns of East Montpelier, Plainfield, Marshfield, Cabot, Rye- gate, and Newbury. The incorporators met and partially organized in 1868, completing the organization in 1869 and 1870. The organization when com- pleted was as follows : Directors, Roderick Richardson, I. N. Hall, C. H. Heath, George B Fesenden,, J. G. French, Jacob Smith, Joel Foster, Jr., George Wooster, and I. W. Brown. Roderick Richardson was elected presi- dent. 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 "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. Sher- man, 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-pres- ident ; Joel Foster, secretary and treasurer ; W. A. Stowell, general superin- tendent ; F. W. Morse, cashier and general freight and passenger agent.
The Barre Railroad Company was chartered April 9, 1888. The road extends from Barre village to the granite quarries. It is already nearly com- pleted and is hauling granite down the mountain. It connects at Barre with the Barre Branch railroad.
The Barre Branch railroad, chartered July 6, 1888, extends from the track of the Montpelier & Wells River railroad near " The Coffee House" to the Barre railroad at Barre, and is operated by the " Montpelier & Wells River railroad."
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NEWSPAPERS.
The following sketch of the newspaper enterprises that have been estab- lished in the county are arranged by towns, in alphabetical order, the names of live papers being in SMALL CAPITALS.
BARRE .- The first newspaper printed in Barre was The Barre Times, a spicy monthly, literary in character, published during the year 1871, by Still- man Wood, Esq.
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NEWSPAPERS.
The Barre Herald had a short existence of about nine months, in 1879. E. N. Hyzer, publisher.
THE BARRE ENTERPRISE was first issued December 11, 1880, by Lewis P. Thayer, of Randolph, who was its editor until W. F. Scott came into pos- session of it in the spring of 1881. Mr. Scott issued his first number of the paper April 16, 188t, and still continues its publication every week. It is a. bright, newsy, eight-page, six-column paper, has a liberal patronage, and looks. well after the interests of the thriving village of Barre and vicinity.
MONTPELIER .- THE VERMONT WATCHMAN .- The Vermont Precursor, the first newspaper published in Montpelier, was commenced in 1806, by Rev .. Clark Brown, a Unitarian minister. Mr. Brown was not fortunate in Mont- pelier, either as a preacher or publisher, and sometime in 1807 he sold his: paper to Samuel Goss, who was then publishing the Green Mountain Free- man, at Peacham, Vt. Mr. Goss removed to Montpelier and the two papers were the germ of the Watchman. Mr. Goss issued his first number of the Precursor in March, 1807. About December 1, 1807, he changed the name to The Watchman, and increased the size of the pages to twelve inches wide by eighteen inches long. He continued in charge as editor until October, 1810, when he transferred it to Ezekiel P. Walton and his brother, Mark Goss. This company continued its publication until 1816, when it became the sole property of Mr. Walton. In June, 1826, Mr. Walton gave it the new name of The Vermont Watchman and State Gazette. In 1836 an Anti- Mason paper, The State Journal, established in 1831, was absorbed by the Vermont Watchman and State Gazette, and the paper received its fourth christening- The Vermont Watchman and State Journal. Mr. Walton con- tinued its publication until 1830. From that time to 1853 he was assisted by his brother, Joseph S. Walton, for awhile, and by his son, Hon. Eliakim P. Walton. From that time until 1868 the last named gentleman was its editor and proprietor. Then Mr. Walton transferred it to Joseph and J. Monroe Poland, and in 1880 Joseph Poland owned it alone. April 1, 1882, Mr. Poland sold the paper to W. W. Prescott, who engaged Mr. Arthur Ropes as editor. The paper was then in folio form, pages twenty-one by thirty inches. It was then changed to quarto form, pages pasted and trimmed, and paper folded by special machinery. Mr. Prescott sold to D. W. Dixon, July 22, 1885, who continued its publication until July 5, 1888. The Watchman Publishing Company, organized for the purpose of buying THE WATCHMAN and the Rural Vermonter, newspapers and printing establishments; com- pleted the purchase and consolidated the two papers, and retain the old name of THE WATCHMAN. Both were journals of high character, and each had a large circulation. The WATCHMAN now prints 4,000 copies, and the number of its subscribers is steadily growing. Mr. Ropes's connection with the WATCHMAN began in January, 1880, during the proprietorship of Joseph Poland. The connection then contemplated related to business
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WASHINGTON COUNTY.
affairs and was of a temporary character, but Mr. Ropes soon began to assist in work on the newspaper, and, besides keeping the accounts and making the collections, did a large part of the editorial writing and the general work on the WATCHMAN. When Mr. Prescott bought the WATCHMAN property, in April, 1882, Mr. Ropes was made editor. His connection with the paper ended upon its purchase by Mr. Dixon in July, 1885. In May, 1886, he began the publication of the Rural Vermonter at Montpelier. In the summer of 1888 Mr. Dixon made a proposition to the Vermonter BOOK & JOB PRINTINGA company to sell the WATCHMAN, and nego- tiations finally ended in the formation of the Watchman Publishing Company, composed of a number of the leading men of Montpe- VERMO T.CHRONICLE lier, and the consolidation in July, under that title, of the Vermonter and the Watchman establishments. The paper retained the name of THE WATCHMAN. Mr. Ropes was made editor of the united journals and manager of The Wermont Watchman. the publishing company. Col. Fred E. Smith is president, and T. J. Deavitt is treasurer of the company. Dr. Hoskins, of Newport, Vt., a practical farmer, and one of the most eminent writers on agricultural and economic subjects in New England, is editor of the ARWAOL agricultural department of the paper. From this office are also published the VERMONT WATCHMAN BUILDING. CHRONICLE and the NEW HAMPSHIRE JOUR- NAL, the organs of the Congregational churches of Vermont and New Hampshire.
The Freeman's Press, Derick Sibley, or Wright & Sibley, was commenced about 1813. This was the organ of the Jeffersonian Republicans as the Watchman was of the Federalists. The paper was discontinued about 1816 or 1817. Mr. Sibley, an estimable gentleman, emigrated to Rochester, N. Y.
Vermont Patriot and State Gazette was first issued by George Washington Hill & Co., January 17, 1826, Jacksonian Democrat in politics. The Ver- mont Patriot was published some years by its founders. From 1834 to 1854 successively it was owned by William Clark, Jeremiah T. Marston, and East- man & Danforth, and then was conducted by C. G. Eastman until his death in September, 1860. Mr. Marston was an able editor, and Mr. Eastman was both an able editor and the favorite of his party. In his hands the Patriot had a powerful influence. In 1863 Mr. Hiram Atkins, then editor and pro- prietor of the Argus, which he liad established at Bellows Falls in 1853,
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NEWSPAPERS.
bought the Patriot and removed to Montpelier, consolidated the two papers, and gave it the name it now bears, ARGUS AND PATRIOT.
THE ARGUS AND PATRIOT, as were its predecessors, the Patriot of Mont- pelier and Argus of Bellows Falls, is unmistakably Democratic in politics. The character of the paper is so aggressive that its editor, Mr. Atkins, is denominated the " War Horse " of his party, and his power as a leader is not only felt and acknowledged by his own party, but hv his opponents as well. This printing establishment is one of the largest in New England out- side the large cities, and besides printing the ARGUS AND PATRIOT Mr. Atkins does a large amount of job work. The subscription list numbers more than 6,000 names. To be assured that the ARGUS AND PATRIOT has present success one STATIONERY H.ATKINS. need only to make a tour through its own large three-story building, which is furnished with improved presses, an automatic paper folder, ARGUS AND PATRIOT BUILDING. and other accessories for successfully conducting the printing business. Mr. Atkins also deals largely in paper, pens, pencils, envelopes, blank books, legal blanks, wrapping paper, etc.
The State Journal, published by Knapp & Jewett, was first issued Novem- ber 1, 1831. This was an Anti-Masonic organ, and continued until Decem- ber, 1836, when it was merged in the Watchman.
The Voice of Freedom, regarded as the organ of the Anti-Slavery society of the state, was really an individual enterprise, commenced January 1, 1839, by Emery Allen and Joseph Poland (firm name Allen & Poland), Hon. Chauncey L. Knapp, editor. At the beginning of the second volume the State Anti-Slavery society became its owner and Mr. Knapp remained its editor. In a few months the paper passed into the hands of Jedediah Holcomb, of Brandon, who removed it to that place, and later it was discontinued.
The Harrisonian, a campaign paper issued in 1840 from the Watchman office, was edited by E. P. Walton, Jr.
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