Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1783-1889, Part 49

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836-, comp; Adams, William, fl. 1893, ed
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 898

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1783-1889 > Part 49

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Roger G. Bulkeley came into Vermont from Colchester, Conn., where he was born May 6, 1786. After being in Yale College awhile he commenced the study of law in his native state, but completed his studies in the office of Charles Bulkeley, at Montpelier. He was admitted to the bar in Orleans county,

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TOWN OF MORETOWN.

August 8, 1809, and immediately commenced practice in Williamstown, where he remained until the War of 1812. He enlisted and served through the war, and returned holding the warrant of a non-commissioned officer. His home was in Washington a part of the time through the war and until 1817. At that time he moved onto a farm in Duxbury, and finally moved to Moretown, where he resided until his decease, February 2, 1862, and was a pensioner at the time of his death. Mr. Bulkeley was justice of the peace,. town agent, lister, selectman, and an active member of the Constitutional Convention of 1857. He married Sally Taylor, of Berlin, about 1808, and they were parents of twelve children who lived to mature age, five of whom are now living, George, Harry, and Lucy (Mrs. Austin G. Prentiss) in More- town, Charles in Clinton, Conn., and Rowland T. in Illinois. George Bulkeley has held the positions of lister, town agent, and selectman, and was representative in 1863. Harry has represented Duxbury in the legislature several terms, and is now the agent of Moretown.

Lester Kingsley, M. D., the venerable doctor of Moretown, was fifty-two years in active and successful practice here. He settled in town in 1827, and died January 4, 1881, aged seventy-six years. Dr. Kingsley was elected town clerk in March, 1832, and held the position continually thereafter until his death, a period of nearly forty-nine years. He was postmaster from 1837 for the ensuing twenty five years, and represented his town in the legislature of 1841 and 1842.

James Haylett, M. D., was born in North Hero, Vt., in 1844. He studied medicine with Dr. G. N. Brigham, of Montpelier, and graduated from Hahn- emann Medical College, of Philadelphia, in 1869, and located that year in Moretown, where he has built up a fine reputation and a successful practice. Dr. Haylett succeeded Dr. Kingsley as town clerk, in 1881, and holds the position at the present time (1888). He was elected to represent Moretown. in the legislature of 1886.

The following account of a most extraordinary thunder-storm was writ- ten by the late Hon. D. P. Thompson, of Montpelier :-

" The most remarkable instance of a sudden and great fall of water, which was ever known in this region, occurred about thirty years ago [now about fifty or sixty], round the sources of Jones's brook, a small mill stream that rises in Moretown Mountains and empties into Winooski river three miles below Montpelier. The mountains round the source of this stream rise to the height of about 2,000 feet, with unusual abruptness, and, at the same time, so curve around as to leave the intermediate space in the form of a deep balf basin, down the precipitous sides of which a sudden shower descends almost as rapidly as water rushing down the steepest roof of a house, and, collecting at the bottom, pours in a raging river down the valley to the outlet of the

stream. It was over this mountain-rimmed basin that burst the extraordinary thunder-storm which I have undertaken to describe, and which passed among the inhabitants under the mame of the bursting of a cloud.

" The inhabitants of the basin, when the storm burst upon them so suddenly and unexpectedly, were struck with astonishment and alarm at the unwonted.

TOWN OF MORETOWN.

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quantity of water that descended upon them, from the seemingly flooded heavens. A settler who lived nearest the foot of the mountian described the rain as 'coming down in bucketsful.' ' I was in a field a short distance from my house when it struck, and was so astonished at first I knew not what to do. But the rain, if it could be called rain, coming thicker and faster, I ran with all my might for the house, but was almost drowned before I got there, and then it was only to find the water gushing into the house on all sides till it was nearly knee deep on the floor.' And so with all the inhabi- tants of the basin. No place afforded them any protection ; rivers were within all their houses, and rivers, rising into seas, were all around them without ; and they looked on with mute consternation at that tremendous outpouring of the clouds. But they were the first to be relieved. The rain, after a brief duration of less than half an hour, ceased as suddenly as it came, and the inhabitants ran out of their drenched houses just in time to behold the numerous uniting streams, that had come pouring down the encirculing mountain, gathering into a mighty river that swept away shanties, fences, old trees, logs, lumber, and everything in its path, and bearing them in wild con- fusion on its surface, went foaming, trembling, and roaring like a cataract, with amazing force, down the valley towards the outlet three or four miles below.

" But the principal scene arising from the destructive and fatal progress occurred at the saw-mill of Oren Clark, and situated about a mile from the mouth of the stream. Mr. Clark and his hired man were at work in a field near the mill, and being warned by the appearance of the clouds that a flood would soon be down upon them, ran to the mill to make some necessary pro- tection for its safety. While thus engaged, they were aroused by a deafening roar, that burst suddenly upon their ears from the stream but a short distance above the mill ; when looking up they beheld, to their astonishment and alarm, a wild, tumultuous sea of commingling flood-wood and turbid waters, with a wall-like front, ten feet high, tumbling and rolling down upon them with furious uproar, and with the speed of the wind. They attempted to secure a retreat over the log-way which extended from the mill to the high ground five or six rods distant. Over this they made their way with all possible speed. But such was the velocity of the on rushing torrent, that they had not pro- ceeded half way before the mill came down, with a crash, behind them, the log-way was swept from beneath their feet, and they were struggling for their lives in a flood a dozen feet deep, foaming, boiling, and so filled with trees, timber, and all sorts of ruins, that it did not seem possible for a human being to be borne along in the frightfully whirling mass and live a single minute.

" Mr. Clark said, 'I saw Eastman once more when I rose to the surface after the first plunge. He was struggling desperately to get his head above the flood-wood. But I saw him no more. The next moment a raft of logs swept over me, and I was whirled onward, sometimes with my head above and sometimes below the water, until I neared the wooded bank down and on the opposite side of the stream, when I came within reach of a small tree which I grasped, which about as soon came up by the roots, and I was again plunged into the flood. I struggled on and soon was so fortunate as to grasp another sapling, and drew myself ashore, and fell down half dead from bruises and half drowned.'

"The remains of poor Eastman were found next day near the mouth of . the stream."

A Congregational church was the first religious society organized in More- town. The meeting for its organization was held in the first log school-house.

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

The members that composed it were Reuben Hastings, John Stockwell, Samuel Eaton, Mrs. Eleazer Wells, and Mrs. Stockwell. Deacon Nathan Benton and Philemon Ashley were among its early and prominent members. The school-house and afterwards the town house at the village were used as places of worship. This church continued a separate organization until some time between 1836 and 1840, when the membership was so small that the church was dissolved and merged in the Congregational church at Duxbury.

The Methodist Episcopal church of Moretown is located in the village of Moretown. Rev. Amasa Cole was probably the first one of that order who preached in this tour. In 1809 Joshua Luce, a local preacher, settled in town, . and was the pioneer of Methodism here. By his efforts, aided by his wife and daughter, a Methodist class was organized. They held meetings in barns and school-houses. Moretown became a part of the old Barre circuit, and for several years had no resident pastor. Their first meeting-house was built on the Common in 1832, and was occupied until 1854, when their present church edifice was erected at the village. It is a wooden building, will com- fortably seat 250 people, and with grounds and all other church property is valued at $4,000. Rev. William H. Dean is the pastor, and the church has sixty-two members.

The first Catholic priest who officiated in Moretown was Father Jeremiah O'Callaghan, and he is said to have been the first resident Catholic priest in Vermont. In 1853 Col. Miller, of Montpelier, and Frank and Peter Lee gave to the Catholic society here the site for a church and land for a burying- ground. In 1860 Rev. Z. Druon built their present church edifice, a little more than a mile east of the village. Previous to this time the mission had occasionally been visited by Rev. Fathers O'Callaghan, Daly, Drolet, Maloney, and Coopman. The number of Catholic families in this mission is forty or fifty, mostly farmers. They are attended now by Rev. J. Brelivet, from North- field.

N ORTHFIELD lies in the southern part of Washington county, in latitude 44° 8' and longitude 4° 2', and is bounded northerly by Berlin and a part of Moretown, easterly by Williamstown, southerly by Rox- bury, and westerly by Waitsfield. The township was chartered by Gov. Thomas Chittenden, in the name and by the authority of the freemen of Ver- mont, October 10, 1781, to Joel Matthews and sixty-four associates, with the usual reservation of the college, county grammar school, and first settled minister's rights, and right for the propagation of the gospel. The original grant contained 18,518 acres. November 7, 1822, the area of Northfield was enlarged by annexing to it about 6,000 acres taken from the east part of Waitsfield.

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

The surface of Northfield is uneven, hilly, and in part mountainous. Two- ranges of highlands extend north and south across the township, one on each side of Dog River valley. The soil is generally good. The timber was prin- cipally maple, beech, birch, hemlock, and spruce, with a mixture of fir, pine, ash, and butternut in some places.

Dog river is the principal stream, which, with its numerous tributaries from the highlands and springs, affords an abundant supply of pure water to the entire population. The river is formed in Northfield by the union of several streams, principally from Roxbury and Brookfield, and takes a northerly course through Berlin and enters the Winooski about half a mile below Mont- pelier. In its descent it affords numerous fine water-powers.

The rocks that form the geological structure of this town are of the talcose schist, clay slate, and calciferous mica schist formation. The latter predomi- nates and occupies more than half of the territory in the western part of the town. Adjoining this is a broad belt of clay slate that extends across the town, and the extreme eastern edge, along the line of Williamstown, is formed of calciferous mica schist. There is a bed of serpentine in the western part of the town, and traces of gold in alluvium are found along the brooks. There is also a quarry of silicious talcose schist, from which an excellent quality of scythestones have been made. This quarry is near the junction of the talcose schist and clay slate, and about three-fourths of a mile northeast of the village. -

The first meeting of the proprietors of the township was held at the house of William Gallup, in Hartland, Vt., November 11, 1783. Later they held meetings from time to time in Hartford, Windsor, Hartland, and Pomfret, until the town government was organized in 1794. At one of these meetings the proprietors

" Voted that Mr. Marston Cabot be allowed 27 days in surveying North- field.

£. s. d.

" At gs per day . 12 3 O

"And 18s expense money . O I8 O

"And for three gallons of West India rum at 8 / per gal. and one of New England ditto at 5 / 6 per gal-

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14 IO 6."

At a meeting of the proprietors held at Burch's inn, in Hartford, Vt., the second Tuesday of November, 1784, it was voted that Elijah Paine should have the privilege of pitching at his option the 200 acres in Northfield if he would build a good saw-mill in said Northfield within eighteen months, and 200 acres if he would build a grist-mill in a year. He selected for the pur- pose a site in the ravin on a brook near the road to Williamstown, where he built the mills, and this grist-mill was the only one in the town for many years. Again, on the 5th of August, 1788, as an inducement for permanent

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

settlement, " Voted that the proprietors of Northfield will give to the wives of Stanton Richardson and William Ashcroft, each, one Lot of land in the second division of Northfield, to be to them, their heirs, and their assigns forever ; on condition that said Stanton and William shall continue to live in Northfield five years each, and the above women to have an equal share in the second division."

The first permanent settlement was made by Amos and Ezekiel Robinson and Stanton Richardson, in May, 1785. Kezia, daughter of Amos and Batheny Robinson, in 1787, was the first child born in Northfield. She mar- ried Ira Sherman, of Waterbury, and died in 1877. The first town meeting was convened at the house of Dr. Nathaniel Robinson, March 25, 1794, by the order of Cornelius Lynde, Esq., of Williamstown. At said meeting the following list of officers was elected : Cornelius Lynde, moderator ; Na- thaniel Robinson, town clerk ; Stanton Richardson, Amos Robinson, Ezekiel Robinson, selectmen ; David Denny, constable; William Ashcroft, Stanton Richardson, Ezekiel Robinson, listers ; David Denny, collector of taxes ; Aquillo Jones, Samuel Richardson, highway surveyors.

The town was first represented in the legislature in 1801, by Amos Robin- son. The total amount of the grand list of 1794, which is the first on the records of the town, is £295, 5s. In 1797 the grand list was first given in decimal currency,-amount, $1,738.35. The amount of the grand list for 1888 is $11,672.42. The first recorded freemen's meeting was held Septem- ber 1, 1801.

Rev. John Gregory states, in his history of Northfield, that in 1800 the first votes were cast in Northfield for governor, lieutenant-governor, and twelve councilors ; that each received twelve votes, on the ticket headed by Isaac Tichnor for governor, showing a complete unanimity of the voters. He adds, " which must have been near the number of legal voters in town." The next year (1801) three school districts are reported, with an aggregate of ninety- six children of school age, and the names of twenty-nine men who were the fathers of these children. By the census of 1791 we find that Northfield then had a population of forty souls, and in 1800 two hundred and four. This would, by Mr. Gregory's estimate, make the ratio of the voters as one to seventeen, when, in fact, it would be about as one to five; and instead of there being but twelve voters in Northfield in 1800, there must have been forty at least.

It is not certain who cut the first tree and cleared the first acre in North- field, although Judge Paine is credited with that honor. Judge Paine did not receive the proposed grant of land for building mills (before mentioned) until the close of the season for clearing land, and we find that Amos and Ezekiel Robinson, with their wives, were here in May, 1785. Dr. Nathaniel Robin- son was the first physician and first town clerk of Northfield. He settled on East hill, was a good doctor and very popular, and died of measles in 1813. John L. Buck was admitted to the bar in Montpelier, in September, 1825,

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

settled in Northfield some time in the next month, and was the first per- manent lawyer in the place. He had been preceded by Simon Smith but a very short time, who soon moved away.

The first church edifice erected in Northfield was the Union meeting-house, built by the united efforts of the town in 1820. All but twelve of the fifty pews were sold at auction for $760. This house was very plain, without a steeple, and was painted yellow. It is said to have resembled a barn. Hence, in derision, it had in the mouths of the wicked and ungodly the sobriquet of " God's yellow barn."

The early civil history of Northfield, like that of other towns, is a record of town meetings, levying necessary taxes, laying out highways, organizing school districts, records of people warned out of town, whether sick or poor, that they might not become a charge to it as paupers, and records of births, deaths, and marriages. Its pioneer settlers were hardy, energetic, and gen- erally young men who came from the southeastern part of Vermont, New Hampshire, and the older Eastern states. They were not afraid of the labor and hardships necessary to level the forest and build a town. They cut down the giant trees, built houses, barns, school-houses, and manufactories, good highways and turnpikes, and established mail routes and stage lines. They drove out the bears and wolves, and reared sleek horses, cattle, and sheep. They were prudent, honest, and plain ; their means were generally small, but their wants were few. The skillful housewives and their industrious daugh- ters spun, wove, and made the clothing for their families. Their tables were supplied with bread and vegetables from their own fields, and with pork and beef of their own growing. And they were so habituated to toil that labor to them was ne hardship. They were healthy, and consequently happy. "Why," said an old settler, "the forest lands, where we were generally at work, smelt so pure and sweet that we drank in health at every breath, and the doctors found mighty poor picking."

In 1880 Northfield had a population of 2,836. In 1888 it had sixteen common school districts and one Union graded school district, and employed two male and thirty-five female teachers, at an average weekly salary of $23.83 for the former and $4.78 for the latter. The whole number of scholars who attended any school during the year was 575, of whom thirty-nine attended private schools. The entire income for all school purposes was $6,773.30, while the whole amount expended was $5,070.95, with I. P. Booth, super- intendent.

NORTHFIELD (p. o.), commonly called the Depot Village, is incorporated, and has the usual complement of municipal officers. It is located a mile and a half or two miles east of the center of the town, on Dog river and the Cen- tral Vermont railroad. This village mainly sprung into existence on the com- pletion of the Vermont Central railroad, and the establishment of the offices and shops of that corporation here, about 1848. The village enjoyed a very prosperous existence from that time until the offices and shops were removed to

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

St. Albans. Since then its manufacturing interests have materially declined, but it is still an attractive village. It is built partly upon the Plain near the river, but mainly upon irregular and elevated terraces from thirty to 150 feet above that stream. It contains a fine park (Central Square), five churches (Congregational, Episcopal, Methodist, Roman Catholic, and Universalist), a National bank, a Savings bank, fifteen or twenty stores, a good graded and and High school, Norwich University, and is still a place of considerable manufacturing. Besides its excellent schools Northfield village supports a circulating library of 1,000 volumes.

GOULDSVILLE (p. o.) is near the north line of Northfield, and is also on Dog river and the railroad. The leading industry of this little village is the woolen-mills of J. Gould & Son, and which is the main support of the place.

SOUTH NORTHFIELD (p. o.) is situated on a mill stream, and has a main street extending along the brook which furnishes the power to run a sash and blind shop, grist-mill, and other machinery. It contains a school-house and from twenty to twenty-five dwellings.

NORTHFIELD CENTER is a hamlet just south of Northfield village. It con- tains a store and about thirty dwellings, built around a level three-sided park or common.

The proprietors of Northfield saw that they could serve their own interests: in the sale of their lands if they could provide a saw-mill to cut lumber for the pioneers to build their cabins, and a grist-mill to grind their grain. Hence they made provision for building both, several months before there was a single inhabitant in town. Soon after Judge Paine built the first mills in town, Aquillo Jones built a saw-mill near the Williamstown line, on the same stream, near the outlet of Bennett's pond. When the water is very high a stream also runs north from it into Berlin pond. As the settlements of the town increased saw-mills were built at convenient distances, so that the inhab- itants of Northfield escaped the hardships of going long distances for the indispensable necessaries of food and lumber. J. K. Egerton says : "There have been seventeen saw-mills in Northfield, and nine grist-mills at different times." Wool-carding and cloth-dressing was also one of the early indus- tries. Judge Paine built a woolen-mill, to manufacture broadcloth, at a cost of $40,000, so early that it is said to have been built in the woods. He em- ployed from 175 to 200 operatives. Brickmaking was once an important industry.

The Northfield Black Slate Company was incorporated in July, 1885, with George Nichols, president ; C. A. Edgerton, clerk and treasurer ; and A. E. Denny, manager. The quarry is located near Northfield village, and was opened about twenty years ago by parties from Boston under the firm name of " Adams Slate and Tile Co.," which continued the business about fifteen years, when it was succeeded by the Hillside Slate Co. This firm continued the business until the property passed to the present company. The produc-

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TOWN OF NORTHFIELD.

tion is now about 3,000 squares per year. For depth and durability of color, softness and tenacity of texture, this slate is unsurpassed by any in America.

Albert C. Chase's carriage shop, opposite the depot, was built about 1870. Mr. Chase, with various partners, carried on the business the ensuing eight years. The last ten years Mr. Chase has conducted the business alone. He gives his attention to building fine carriages to order. His specialty is in manufacturing hearses, top-buggies, and sleighs.

J. Gould & Son's woolen-mills are located at the village of Gouldsville, on Dog river, which furnishes the power, with steam as auxiliary. This firm manufactures white flannels, and employs sixty-five hands in all departments. The mills contain forty-six looms, and the necessary carding and spinning machinery. In the language of the manufacturers it is a " five set " mill. As early as 1833 or '34 James Gould and Erastus Parker were manufacturers. here, and on the same site. John Gould and William Moorcroft operated the mills from 1852 to 1857, when Joseph Gould purchased the entire prop- erty. In 1866 Joseph W. Gould became a partner with his father, with the firm name of J. Gould & Son. Under this title this leading industry of Northfield has since been conducted. In 1868 J. Gould & Son purchased the mill built by Walter Little, standing just below theirs, which added two sets of machinery to their manufacturing capacity, and increased it to five sets. These buidings were all of wood, and were entirely destroyed by fire January 31, 1873. The present first-class brick buildings were erected in 1874. The main building is 110x55 feet, four stories and basement. At- tached is an ell two stories high and 25x40 feet.

G. B. Andrews's saw and grist-mills are located on the east branch of Dog river, on road 33, and have been owned and operated by him since 1879. He has rebuilt both of these mills. The grist-mill is furnished with one run of stones, driven by water-power with a fall of twenty-three feet. He sells from six to twelve car-loads of corn and meal, six of feed, and one of flour per year. He also grinds for merchants about fourteen car loads of corn, and besides does a large amount of custom grinding annually. His saw-mill, with a fifteen-feet water-fall, turns out of rough lumber annually from 100,000 to 300,000 feet, and his shingle-mill, with a water-fall of eighteen feet, cuts 2,500,000 shingles. Mr. Andrews employs from six to eight men.

George F. Glidden's steam saw-mill, located on road 19, has been owned by him since 1865. He built his present mill on the site of the old one, in 1872, and a few years later put in steam-power. The mill is fitted with saw- ing, planing, matching, shingle, and clapboard machinery. In 1887 Mr. Glid- den cut about 300,000 feet of lumber and 300,000 shingles, and employed three hands.

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Gazetteer of Washington County, Vt., 1783-1889, Part 49

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836-, comp; Adams, William, fl. 1893, ed Publication date: 1889 Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers Number of Pages: 898

Author: Child, Hamilton, 1836-, comp; Adams, William, fl. 1893, ed
Publication date: 1889
Publisher: Syracuse, N. Y., The Syracuse journal company, printers
Number of Pages: 898