USA > Vermont > Rutland County > Rutland > Historical Rutland; an illustrated history of Rutland, Vermont, from the granting of the charter in 1761 to 1911 > Part 3
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The Rutland and Washington Railroad Company was organ- ized under an act approved by the Legislature November 13, 1847. The road was opened through to Salem, N. Y., form- ing a continuous line from Rut- land to Troy. Horace Clark, a leading spirit in the movement, superintendent and treasurer, died on the 25th of February, 1852, the day appointed for celebrat- ing the opening of the road being observed for his funeral. The
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From left to right: Verder's Bakery; Landon & Bates, Hardware; M. Balch, Millinery ; Hilliards & Oaks, Dry Goods. Built in 1864. Destroyed by fire 1867. Merchants Row. Located on the present site of Wilson Clothing Co. and Hulett Block.
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This building was built by B. M. Bailey in 1853, and occupied by him as a jewelry store. Destroyed by fire in January, 1868. It stood on the present location of Tyrrell's jewelry store on Merchants Row.
Incorporation of Hillage
It was about this time that the village was incorporated, under an act of the General Assem- bly passed November 15, 1847. The village was divided into seven wards in 1856.
The first section of the act of incorporation reads as follows :
"That part of the town of Rutland embraced within the following boundaries to wit: Beginning at the east side of the high way at the northern corner of land owned by Charles K. Williams; thence east on the north line of the said land, and in that direction 100 rods; thence due south to the south bank of Moon's brook; thence west along said bank until it strikes Truman Moulthrop's land ; thence in a stranght line to the southeast corner of Jonathan C. Thrall's land; thence north on the east line of said land to the northeast corner of the same; thence due north to the north line of land set off to Lydia Fay, as dower in her husband's
cost of the road was about one million dollars. Jay Gould became superintendent of the road, Jan- uary 1, 1864, and for two years resided in Rut- land, with headquarters at the Bardwell. In July, 1876, the road was sold to the Delaware & Hud- son R. R. Company.
The Champlain and Connecticut River R. R. was incorporated November 1, 1843. The first meeting of stockholders was held in Rutland, May 6, 1845, and subscriptions for stock were opened June 10th of that year. In two days more than 2,000 shares had been subscribed. The first blow in its construction was dealt in the town of Rockingham, near Bellows Falls, in the month of February, 1847. In two years and nine months the road was completed and opened through, December 19, 1849. The name of the road was changed to the Rutland and Burlington R. R. by act of the Legislature, November 6, 1847. It was subsequently changed to the Rutland R. R. Company. January 1, 1871, it was leased for a period of twenty years to the Vermont Central R. R. Company. The road is now (1911) the Rutland Railroad and is a part of the New York Central Lines. An extension has been built from its Burlington terminus through Grand Isle County to connect with the western branches of the New York Central Lines.
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MERCHANTS ROW LOOKING SOUTH 'S FROM WEST STREET, 1866.
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estate; thence east on the north line of said land and in that direction to the east side of the highway first mentioned; thence to the first mentioned bounds, shall hereafter be known by the name of the village of Rutland, and the inhabitants of said village are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate with the usual powers incident to public corporations, to be known by the name of the village of Rutland."
These boundaries were afterwards somewhat changed but as given sufficiently locate the boun- daries of the village as at first incorporated.
The precursor of the sewer system is found among the instructions to the trustees at the July meeting of 1850, in which they were directed to "clear out and cover up such ditches as they shall think proper." They were also instructed to "ex- tend the plank walks and construct them through the Main street north and south from Mrs. Temple's to Mr. Perkins's on both sides; also, on the street from Mr. Perkins's east on the north side as far as they think proper." One of the regula- OLD DEPOT, ROUND HOUSE AND MACHINE SHOPS. tions adopted the following year (1851) was as follows: "No person shall drive on or ride any horse or other beast upon the plank sidewalks, except to cross the same; penalty fifty cents."
The march of progress is further noted in the record of a meeting called in June, 1858, to see if the people would aid in putting up gas works, and in the same year $500 was appropriated to erect fences around the parks on Main Street. In March, 1859, a proposal was advanced at a meeting, that the people buy the land between West and Center Streets and west of Court Street, for a public square, and to see if the corporation would purchase a vacant lot between Washington and Center Streets and east of Dr. Page's residences and the new bank, for a public park. This proposition called out from some facetious person, a proposal to buy three acres in "Nebras- ka" for musters and bull fights.
Up to the year 1863 no effort was made towards lighting the streets, except the limited use of lamps provided by private enterprise. In that year a charter was obtained for the organization of the "Rutland Gas Light Company." This company erected gas works, laid pipes and started manufacture, continuing until 1867, in which year a special meeting was called to consider the pro- ject of lighting the village with gas, and a com- mittee was appointed to confer with the owners of the stock of the Rutland Gas Light Company as to the purchase of their works; General Baxter then holding the majority of the stock. On March 28, a charter was obtained for the "Peoples Gas Light Company," with an original capital stock of $60,000. This company pur- chased the entire plant of the original organization, made necessary improvements and put the works upon a thorough-going basis. This was the genesis of the present-day system of street lighting and gen- eral illumination. Geo. A. Tuttle was the organizer and for a long time treasurer of the company.
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WASHINGTON STREET, 1865. 1. Geo. A. Tuttle Printing Co. and Book Store. 2. Residence of Geo. A. Tuttle, now residence of C. H. Murdick.
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TRINITY CHURCH FROM CENTER STREET, 1866.
City Charter
The first effort that was made towards secur- ing a city charter for Rutland dates back to the year 1880. On the first of October of that year, a committee was appointed to consider and act upon the matter. The committee, consisting of George H. Cheney, F. A. Field, R. Barrett, M. J. Francisco, H. C. Tuttle, W. Y. W. Ripley, J. W. Cramton, J. M. Haven, A. F. Walker, Charles Woodhouse, James Levins and D. C. Pierce, met October 13, 1880, at which time Colonel Walker presented an outline of a city char- ter and was instructed to draft a completed charter and report at a subsequent meeting. One week later a meeting was held, the charter presented, a thousand copies ordered printed and distributed, and the matter laid over for another week. After some further revision extending over a fortnight the charter was accepted and a committee appointed to lay the matter before the Legislature. But the whole project came to naught, for various reasons, and nothing further was done for several years.
In the year 1886 residents of the western part of the town of Rutland asked the General Assembly to set them off as a town by themselves, and a similar request was made by the citizens of the northern part of the town. After prolonged hearings, the Legislature, November 19, 1886, set off and incorpor- ated as the town of West Rutland, about one third of the town of Rutland on the west side, and by an act approved November 18, 1886, set off from the north portion some six square miles which, together with a small amount taken from the town of Pittsford, was incorporated as the town of Proctor.
The city of Rutland was incorporated November 19, 1892. It comprises the original village of Rutland, which the city succeeds, together with with about as much more territory taken from the town of Rutland outside the village limits. The city contains about eight and one-quarter square miles. The greatest distances are north and south three and one tenth miles and east and west three and one-tenth miles. The remainder of the original town of Rutland extends all around the city vary- ing in width from one-quarter to two and one-half miles. 1
The 30,000 (approximate) acres embraced in the original town of Rutland is now divided about as follows; city, 5,300 acres ; town, 11,700 acres; West Rutland, 9,200 acres; Proctor, 3,800 acres.
The seal of the city is circular in form with a rope border, and leaving in the margin, in capi- tal letters and figures the following inscription : "Seal of the City of Rutland, A town Sep. 7, 1761-A city Nov. 19 1892." Upon the disk within the inscription is a scroll upon which is a view of the Green Mountains, with the word "Vermont" above the horizon, and a representa- tion of the city hall, a railroad train and a quarry
MERCHANTS ROW, 1864. Central House (Present Location Clement Bank); Kingsley's "Old Red Store"; J. Auld, Fish Market; Clifford, Meat Market; Ripley Block and Opera House.
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A. F. DAVIS, LUMBER YARD AND MILLS, 1865. Present location, City Hall, opposite Bardwell.
and derrick, in the foreground. To the right of the scroll is a representation of an inverted horn with agricultural products issuing therefrom, and a sheaf of wheat, and to the left a scale, anvil, hammer and gear wheel.
The first mayor of the city, 1893, was Dr., now Governor John A. Mead; President of the Board of Aldermen, Thomas C. Robbins; City Clerk, H. B. Whittier; Judge of Municipal Court, F. M. Butler. The first aldermen were: Ward 1, John A. Sheldon; Ward 2, Thomas C. Robbins; Ward 3, J. R. Hoadley; Ward 4, N. S. Stearns; Ward 5, Edward V. Ross; Ward 6, Albert Brous- seau; Ward 7, T. H. Browne; Ward 8, John W. Brislin;
Ward 9, Leon G. Bagley; Ward 10, John McGuirk; Ward 11, Samuel T. Braley.
The city continued under this form of government until 1909 when the present commission form of government was adopted.
Mayors of the City of Rutland
The mayors of the city of Rutland from its incorporation to the present time are as follows :
John A. Mead 1893
Levi G. Kingsley 1894
John A. Sheldon 1895
Died July 25, 1910
Thomas H. Browne 1896
Percival W. Clement 1897-1898
William Y. W. Ripley 1899
Died Dec. 16, 1905
John D. Spellman 1900
J. Burton Hollister
1901
Died Dec. 5, 1907
David W. Temple 1902-1903
Jack S. Carder 1904
J. Forrest Manning 1905
Charles E. Paige
1906
Rollin L. Richmond
1907
Henry O. Carpenter
1908-1909
P. W. Clement 1911
CORNER MERCHANTS ROW AND CENTER STREET, 1872.
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د
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H.C.ADAMS.
NORTH SIDE OF CENTER STREET, 1870.
Presidents of the Board of Aldermen
Thomas C. Robbins 1893
Leon G. Bagley .1894
Henry A. Sawyer 1895-1896
Died Oct. 6, 1899
Nathaniel S. Stearns 1897
Died Oct. 16, 1900
Albert L. Pratt 1898
Alvah H. Pierce 1899
Clarence H. Murdick 1900
Arthur Lyman 1901, 1903
Carl B. Hinsman 1902
Frank R. Blanchard 1904
Charles E. Paige 1905
Winthrop L. Davis 1906
John J. Lalor 1907
Henry C. Brislin 1908
George E. Lassor
1909-
Educational
The first constitution of Vermont contained this section: "A school or schools shall be established in each town by the Legislature, for the convenient instruction of youth, with such salaries to the masters, paid by each town, making proper use of school lands in such towns, thereby to enable them to instruct youth at low prices. One grammar school in each county, and one university in this state, ought to be established by the General Assembly."
The first general law of Vermont on the subject of primary schools was passed by the Legislature October 22, 1782. This law provided for the division of towns into school districts, and other necessary provisions for the building of school houses and supporting schools. This was the law under which the school system of Vermont started, although it is probable that there were some schools in the State prior to the passage of this law.
The old-time schools have been the object of wit and sarcasm from all sides. It is said that the "buildings were such as the farmer of today would not house his cattle in." "The teacher was not qualified for his work; he was paid seven or eight dollars a month in winter and from fifty cents to a dollar a week in summer and boarded around." "The rod or the ferule was his sceptre, with this he governed his school." "The government was arbitrary, the method of instruction coarse, rude and dictatorial; it was not such as to awaken the minds and hearts of pupils." While it is true that the methods of those early days lacked the im- provements of modern times, still it must be said that the educational systems as at first inaugu- rated produced men and women as patriotic as
WEST SIDE MERCHANTS ROW FROM WEST STREET, 1868.
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RUTLAND HIGH SCHOOL AND ASSEMBLY HALL.
ever existed and as intelligent as the light of their times permitted.
The average school house in Rutland County was a small building, sixteen by twenty feet, often built of logs. No paint was ever put on these houses, either inside or outside, and they were "open to the wind and the weather." The entrance was into a little room five feet square, con- taining the chimney and the girls' wardrobe. This passageway opened into the school room, some fifteen feet square. Writ- ing benches, as they were called, ran around three sides of the room, and in front of them were rough benches of hard wood slabs, with legs as rough as the slabs. On these were seated the larger pupils, all old enough to write, and in the center of the
room were lower seats for the smaller students. On one side of the room was a large fireplace con- structed of unhewn stone, the fuel being provided by the householders, a quarter or half a cord to a scholar, as the vote of the district might be. The teacher's desk in one corner might have cost fifty cents. On the desk lay a rule which belonged to the teacher, and over the fireplace on two nails driven in about two feet apart and on a level, rested "a twig of the wilderness," which, with the rule, was designed as a terror to evil-doers. In the corner near the desk stood a broom, which was used once a day during the noon recess, by one of the older girls attending the school, each taking her turn in sweeping the room.
With the exception of a few private schools, the district schools constituted the only means of instruc- tion in Rutland until 1852. In that year an academy was open- ed in a new building on Main Street. That building now con- stitutes a part of the present high school building. Extensive ad- ditions have been made from time to time since 1879, the last improvement being the construc- tion of the commodious assembly hall in 1909. This academy ceased to exist as an institution with the spring term of 1855 and was superseded by the Union school. On April 6, 1855, a union district was formed in Rut- land, and soon after a high school was established. The graded school district was organ- ized April 9, 1867.
The population of the city by the census of 1910 was given at 13,546, with a school census of
MOUNT ST. JOSEPH ACADEMY.
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3,028. The total enrollment and attendance in the public, private and parochial schools is given in the annual report for the year ending December 31, 1910, as 2,876, divided as follows: enrolled in public schools, 2,191 ; enrolled in parochial schools, 616; enrolled in other private schools, 75. The regularity of attendance exceeds the general aver- age of the state and compare favorably with that of the best schools in New England.
The total expenditure for schools in 1910 was $52,068.29, of which amount $41,209.18 was paid for salaries, $5,270.25 for free text books and supplies. No city in the State has made greater improvements in recent years in school plant and equipment than Rutland. The erection of the Dana building materially increased resources and the addition to the High School building, which has now the largest and finest school assembly hall in the State, has made the successful handling of the increased enrollment in that school possible. The present teaching force consists of sixty-four OLD CITY HALL. Destroyed by fire March 24, 1901. teachers, of whom ten are college-bred, ten are normal-trained, and twenty-two are graduates of academies and high schools. The teaching force is strong and efficient and compares most favorably with that in other cities in New England the size of Rutland. The efficient superintendent is David B. Locke, formerly of Winchendon, Mass., and the successful principal of the high school is Professor Isaac Thomas, who has a deservedly wide reputation throughout New England as an educator of note.
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CITY HALL AND FIRE STATION NO. 1. Built in 1901-02.
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CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH.
Early in 1789 the Rev. Samuel Williams, LL.D., came to its pulpit, a man of wide learning, later a professor at Harvard, one of the founders of the Rutland Herald, and the earliest historian of Vermont.
Rev. Herman Ball (Dartmouth, 1791), was the first regularly settled minister in the East Par- ish, the vote of settlement being Aug. 2, 1796. Being a settled minister, he remained the pastor of the Church until his death, December 17, 1821. During his ministry, 1807, occurred the abolition of the duty resting upon towns and parishes to maintain public religious worship. In 1819 the Congregationalists built of brick a new house of worship, on the east side of North Main Street, just north of the Aiken Place where the residence of Dr. Delehanty now stands, and the old parish meeting house, which they had occupied until that time, was sold by the inhabitants of the parish. In 1818, the Sunday School was established by Deacon William Page, who remained its super- intendent until 1834.
Rutland Churches Congregational Church
The earliest settlers in Rutland were Con- gregationalists. October 20th, 1773, a Congre- gational Church was organized. The people at first worshipped in a log building near the Falls on Otter Creek at Center Rutland, though a house of worship on "Meeting House Hill" in West Rutland, was soon erected. Organized Congre- gational worship in what is now the city, dates from the division of the town into two parishes, by an act of the State Legislature, October 22, 1787. The East parish in Rutland was organized May 20, 1788. Rev. Augustine Hibbard was employed by the parish to preach until Novem- ber 1, 1788, and a Congregational Church with thirty-seven members was gathered October 5th. A meeting house was built, and the "Pew ground" was sold at "public vendue." This structure which stood on the west side of North Main Street near North Street was very plain, without tower or steeple, and fireless except for foot-stoves, as was the custom of that period.
ST. PETER'S CHURCH.
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Rev. Charles Walker, D.D., was called to the pastorate in 1823, and continued the pastor for ten years. It was during his ministry that a weekly prayer meeting was established, the first in the town.
In 1849, Rev. Silas Aiken, D.D., became pastor and in 1860 Dr. Aiken received Rev. Norman Seaver as associate who continued in this relation three years. Early in Dr. Aiken's ministry a plain frame of Chapel was erected on West Street. It was also while he was pastor that the present substan- tial church on Court Street was built and dedicated in June, 1860. Dr. Seaver remained pastor from 1863 to 1868 and was followed in 1870 by Rev. James Gibson Johnson, D.D., who was pastor for fifteen years. During his pastorate the Chapel with entrance from Center Street was built in 1874.
In 1886, Rev. George W. Phillips, D.D., was installed, coming from Plymouth Church, Worcester, Mass. During his pastorate extensive changes and improvements were made in the interior of the church. He was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. W. H. Spence, who came to Rutland from Cambridge. Mass., in the year 1907. He is a preacher of exceptional ability and has already acquired a wide reputation throughout the State.
St. Peter's Parish
The history of the Catholic Church in Rutland begins with the advent of Rev. Father Daly, an Irish priest whose field of work extended from one end of the State to the other; there was no Catholic edifice in Rutland during Father Daly's time, and Mass was celebrated in the house of some devoted Catholic. In the early fifties, Father Jeremiah O'Callaghan, another Irish missionary from Cork, Ireland, carried on the work begun by Father Daly. He died in 1861. The first Catholic Church in Rutland was built in 1856 on Meadow Street by the Rev. Father Druon, a French priest. The edifice was built of brick and continued in use by the Catholics of Rutland until 1869 when the Bishop thought it was time for the French Catholics to organize their own parish. The church property in Rutland is largely the result of the labors of the Rev. Charles Boylan, who died December, 1886.
The beautiful St. Peter's Church, St. Joseph's Convent, a five story brick edifice occupied by the Sisters of St. Joseph; St. Peter's Academy, a three-story brick structure on Meadow Street where the children of the Parish are taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph. The Loretto Home was erected by the Rev. Father Gaffney.
Rev. Father J. M. Brown is the present incumbant and carrying on the labors of the parish successfully.
Trinity Church
The first Church service was held in the State House on West Street in March, 1794. During the next thirty-eight years the parish had no legal organization and no house of worship. It existed merely as a congregation and was ministered to by as many as eight different clergymen at different times. Organization as a parish was effected on February 28, 1832, and on April 10th, the same year, the first rector was elected, Rev. John A. Hicks, D.D., of Middlebury. The year after he came to Rutland a Church building was erected on North Main Street, at a cost of $3,000. It was completed in April, 1833, and consecrated by Bishop Hopkins May 29th during the session of the diocesan convention. In 1848 a rectory was purchased. It stood on the southeast corner of North Main Street and Woodstock Avenue.
Bishop Hopkins accepted a call to the rectorship for two years, but served only half that time, resigning October 1st. 1861. During his residence, $8,100 were subscribed for a new Church, but the outbreak of the Civil War caused a postponement of the work. It was taken up and completed under his successor, the third rector of the parish, the Rev. Roger S. Howard, D.D., who assumed charge Decem- ber 1, 1861. The result was the present building on West Street. It was erected in 1863 and consecrated August 16, 1865, by Bishop Hopkins, by whom also the plans were drawn. The old building on North Main Street was sold and demolished three years later. The old marble altar mensa, some chancel chairs and the bell were preserved in the New Church. The cost of the present edifice was $35,000 and nearly half of this sum was contributed by Messrs. Charles Clement and H. Henry Baxter.
The fourth rector was the Rev. J. Milton Peck, who served three years, from August 1, 1867, to August 1, 1870. His successor was Rev. William J. Harris, D.D. During Dr. Harris' rectorship, the stone Chapel adjoining the church was built at a cost of $2,500.
The seventh rector was the Rev. Herbert M. Denslow, whose period of service lasted from April, 1882, to May, 1885. During these three years a small addition was made to the Chapel, and the present rectory was secured at a cost of $8,000. Rev. William B. Buckingham was rector from November 22, 1885 to December 11, 1889. His death followed only a month later, after some years of ill health. In
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TRINITY RECTORY, CHURCH AND PARISH HOUSE.
I.is rectorship the parish saw the extinction of its debt on the rectory and the introduction of its boy choir. On February 23, 1890, the Rev. Charles Martin Niles assumed charge as rector. Shortly after (April 21st), plans were begun for an elaborate recon- struction of the Church building and within a year the work was completed at a cost of $22,000, exclusive of many handsome memorial gifts from various parishioners. The Bishop of Albany re- opened the Church with a service of Benediction on January 22, 1891.
The present rector, Rev. Joseph Reynolds, is carrying on the work of the parish in a vigorous and satisfactory manner.
Baptist Church
August 17, 1804, thirty-five of the inhabit- ants of Rutland met at the house of Amos Weller, organizing themselves as the First Baptist Society of Rutland. January 11, 1805, a council assisted in organizing a Baptist Church in Center Rutland, where after ten or twelve years services were dis- continued and never after resumed. In 1818 a series of revival meetings at "Mill Village" was so successful that the new interest resulted in the organizing of the present Church, which was recognized November 25, 1823. February 17,
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