USA > Vermont > Orleans County > Craftsbury > Historical celebrations in Craftsbury, Vermont, 1889-1941 > Part 3
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It has been said that these early people who settled Ver- mont were fearless. I have spent a good deal of my spare time. the time I take-you might not call it spare time exactly-in reading early Vermont history and first-hand accounts that have been written either in longhand or in the laborious printing of that day and all through those records, I find that early Ver- monters and those who have lived in Vermont for generations since have had one fear, and that is a fear that some day they might have to be supported by somebody else. Evidently, from those early days Vermonters haven't felt that God owed them a living, or that their government owed them a living; but they have felt that the opportunity to earn their own living and to support themselves was about the highest privilege which could be accorded in this mortal world. (Applause)
Vermonters in those early days must have been imbued with more than their share of hope and gratitude. I read one ac- count written by a man who came to Vermont just before the be- ginning of the nineteenth century and he recorded his misfor- tunes about losing his wife, leaving him with a large family, and losing two of his children from disease, and he recorded the fact that he froze his feet one winter, that he was sick all one sum- mer with the fever and he finished up in the poorhouse. where this record was made, still thanking God for the blessings that had been bestowed upon him .- And if he could be thankful un- der those circumstances. I think that we folks who live here in Vermont today and look around at our green hills and our good crops and our good neighbors will also be in a position to thank God this fall on November 30th. (Applause)
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And I think another thing that ails Vermonters and causes us to be criticised in certain circles is the environment of the hills. There is something about them that makes us feel a little different. Another thing is the Town Meeting form of govern- ment which our early founders gave to us, and which we have found satisfactory ever since. And these Old Home Days have had their effect on the affairs of our country during the last few years. We are having Old Home Day or Sesqui-Centennial, or something that answers for an Old Home Day, in probably one hundred and fifty towns and villages in Vermont this year, as we have been doing it during the last few years. When the people come back from the other States and attend these meetings, they renew their faith in our American form of government, and when they leave us they go out into the rest of the country and they preach the gospel of Vermont, which has been very sadly needed in many parts of the Nation.
A couple of days ago I was over in Plattsburg where the army manoeuvers are being held. As I drove around there some of the time in no-man's land, between the lines, shooting at each other with all kinds of guns, fortunately loaded with blanks, for- tunately for me-I had rather mingled feelings. I had a feeling of pride that we have such a magnificent body of men to defend our country in case of need. And let me tell you that the boys from Vermont will stand up with the best of them over there, and I think a little better.
But mixed with this feeling of pride was a hope and a prayer that none of them would ever be called upon to give their lives in a foreign country, fighting a foreign war for a foreign cause. (Applause) I stopped for breath, and not applause.
And then I went to mess that noon and I ate dinner with the military observers from the foreign countries (I think there were twenty-three of them there representing twenty-one different countries). Those men talking Spanish and German and Japan- ese, and I don't know what not, were sitting down there, eating dinner together. I don't think one of them hated any other man there. They didn't act as if they did. I don't believe that the peo- ple of their country hate the people of the other foreign countries. The military attache from Japan sat down beside me. I didn't get the feeling that he wanted to kill me, I didn't get any idea that he even wanted to hurt me in any way. Yet every one of those military men there knows that perhaps tomorrow and per- haps next month and perhaps next year they and their people may be called upon to fly at the throats of the man sitting next to him.
And the reason today, I believe, that hundreds of millions of people in this world, living constantly in the shadow of war, and in fear that their boys may be called to a foreign country
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to die there, is due to the fact that in too many countries today the people of those countries have delegated the authority that properly belongs to them to a central government composed of one man, or at the most a group of men. And when we see the situation confronting us today, it should make us more deter- mined than ever that we will never delegate our own American form of government and the privileges and responsibilities that go with it to any central authority,-that sooner or later would abuse it, just as surely as it has been done in the countries of Europe.
And these Old Home Days throughout Vermont and New England, and the rest of the country, as far as they reach, are one of our best assurances that this will never be done. Because we cannot have a meeting like this without renewing our faith, as I said in the beginning, in our own form of government, and just so long as our members of Congress show the courage that they have during this last session ; just so long as the Legislators of Vermont show the spirit they have in refusing to surrender that sovereignty that belongs to her, either because of the offer of bribes or the threat of reprisals if we don't-and just so long as the people of our State back up these public servants of theirs as they have done for me during the last two and one-half years, I don't think we need to worry that we are going to lose the right to be self-governing. Thank you.
ADDRESS OF HON. AARON H. GROUT
August 24, 1939
I sincerely appreciate the invitation of Gov. Graham which gives me the opportunity to be a participant in this most worth while memorial occasion, and to meet again with my Orleans County neighbors. It seems good to come home, and I assure you that Orleans County will be my correct spelling of "home" so long as I shall live. My dearest friendships, my most cher- ished memories and associations are here, and no matter where I may roam, the homing pigeon of my thoughts will often come to rest on the beautiful hills and in the charming valleys of this county and among you, my neighbors and friends.
The time has come in the age of our nation and its compo- nent parts when centennial and sesquicentennial observances of historic local or national events are quite the order of the day. How appropriate and fine it is that we pause in our busy lives and contemplate the doings of a hundred or more years ago, and pay homage to the men and women of that day, who, venturing bravely and suffering much, laid solid foundations upon which succeeding generations have built a superstructure symbolic of
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a national progress and prosperity and of an individual comfort and satisfaction far beyond that produced by any like period in the history of the world.
What parallels can be drawn and what comparisons can be made in the daily living, the comforts, the pleasures and advan- tages enjoyed by us and those enjoyed by the hardy pioneers of one hundred and fifty years ago who wrenched their homes from the virgin forest in the now county of Orleans and began that which has developed into the beauty and substance upon which your eyes now rest if you look in any direction, except toward the speaker. We have progressed from the tallow dip, through kerosene lamp to the electric light; from the ox team, through those "horse and buggy" days, which our modern young folks refer to with contempt, to our motor vehicles and 50 or more miles per hour ; from a trip of several weeks on foot or horseback to Boston town, through the stagecoach and railroad eras, to the airplane, which makes the journey in a mere couple of hours ; from the days when music, oratory and entertainment could be enjoyed only by those in the presence of the entertainer, to the radio which instantly transmits its program, including the advan- tages of liver pills, face creams, cure alls and what not, to a lis- tening audience by firesides in homes located in far distant reaches of the world; from the cooling agency of the rippling brook to the modern mechanically operated, automatic and ice- less refrigerator; from the weekly or less often bath in wash basin, pan or old swimming hole to the daily morning shower and the luxurious tub ; from the observance of Sunday as a holy day of rest from labor, to the morning church service, if nothing interferes, and the afternoon ball game and movies ; from a state legislature of 40 to 50 members, to a House of Representatives of 247 (but whether or not the last two spell progress I leave you to say) ; and finally from the beginning of our nation, conceived in a righteous indignation and the courage of a hardy pioneer people, through a startling and tremendous development, to the proud position we hold in the family of nations ; a beginning in poverty overcome by thrift and hard work, through disastrous depres- sions, also overcome by economy, to the tenth year of the last and longest depression in our history, witnessing the failure of seven successive years of unprecedented spending of public money as the only depression cure offered. How have we de- parted from the wisdom and experience of the past! How soon shall we see the end?
My invitation contained a very definite suggestion that I heed that old quip which tells us that "brevity is the soul of wit." Hence I cannot attempt detail or an analyzing of cause and ef- fect. The details, which were the cause, have been so many times published, and the effect, which is in plain sight about us, indicate that little more than a cursory review need be attempted.
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According to best authority it was one hundred fifty one years ago this summer that Col. Ebenezer Crafts, of heroic ser- vice in the Revolution, journeyed north to the wilderness acres which had been granted to him and others by the new republic of Vermont in recognition of the services he had rendered. He opened a passable road from Cabot, cleared several acres along what was later known as Trout Brook near the Creek Road from Craftsbury to Albany, built a cabin and sawmill. When winter descended upon his labors, as it still has a way of doing in this region, he was compelled to abandon the project until spring. With the spring of 1788 arrived the Trumbull and Cutler fam- ilies settling on what has been known as the Harriman Place, but Cutler alone braved the following winter and was, perhaps, the first really permanent settler in town. Undoubtedly Col. Crafts returned in the summer time to extend his land clearing, road building, etc., but so far as I can find it was in February, 1791, over snow so deep, at the end of the journey, that the men could travel only on snowshoes, drawing the women and supplies on hand sleds, when he brought his family from Sturbridge, Mass., to his new home, and with him came a goodly number of settlers, among them the Babcock, Corey, Mason. Lyon and Scott families, who, with the Crafts and Cutler families, lived to indelibly stamp their personalities and their characters on the development of the town, county and state.
Craftsbury was chartered as the Town of Minden in 1781. and so continued until 1790 when the name was changed to honor Col. Crafts who had broken the trail and pointed the way to the fertile acres and sylvan beauty of the town which was organized at the home of Col. Crafts, with full complement of town officers, on March 15, 1792.
When the town was chartered it was a part of Chittenden County. Later it was set off into the new County of Caledonia, and still later found its final geographical place as one of the towns in the newly created County of Orleans.
Thus, in a meager way, was Craftsbury started, amid all the privation and hardship of frontier life, when the nearest neighbor was miles away, when a trip to the nearest store was a day's journey, when it was weeks and months between letters from friends and relatives, when babies were born without the aid of doctors ; but what a magnificent result in progress and develop- ment has been attained by its loyal, intelligent and energetic citizens. It is a record equaled by few and bettered by none.
Craftsbury was the first town settled and the first town or- ganized in the northeastern part of our state. Before the settlers came little is known of the presence of white people in this vicinity. A few trappers, perhaps, prior to 1787, and, of course, the continuing of the military road ordered by Gen. Washington
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in 1776 to connect the Connecticut River at or near Wells River with St. Johns, Quebec, which was thrust through Orleans County in 1779 by Col. Moses Hazen to and through the notch which now bears his name and is a part of the present highway between Lowell and Montgomery. It is also probably true that some parts of the retreating ranger band of Major Rogers, re- turning to old Number Four of the Connecticut River after a successful punitive raid against the St. Francis Indians in Can- ada, traversed parts of Orleans County and perhaps Craftsbury. For ever and ever so long, of course, the Indians, both local and from Canada, had enjoyed the forests abounding with game and the lakes, ponds and streams teeming with fish, and probably considered them as their very own and an insurance against any want or need which their simple natures might conceive; but such natural abundance, beauty and soil fertility were bound to be taken from them by the more enlightened, ambitious and pro- gressive whites and by them converted into the fertile farms; the charming villages; the excellent schools; the homey homes; the beauty spots of hill and vale, of rippling brook and crystal clear lake and pond; the excellent churches; the adequate mer- chandising centers; and the modern highways which make neighborliness mean more than it did a hundred and fifty years ago.
Following settlements in Craftsbury and Greensboro, other pioneering minded families treked their way from Connecticut and Massachusetts to the upper reaches of Orleans County. One of my ancestors, on my mother's side, settled in Derby in 1791 and from about that time until 1917, a farm of substantial acreage with a homestead very dear to me, where I spent my boyhood days, the erection of which was begun in 1812 and com- pleted in 1815, it being the first frame house in that town, re- mained in the ownership and occupation of a descendant of the original settler, Benjamin Hinman. The war of 1812 materially slowed and even decreased settlement of the northern towns of the county, but soon thereafter the fear abated, more settlers arrived and those towns rapidly came forward and helped ma- terially to create, develop and maintain that finished picture which we now view with justifiable pride and know as Orleans County.
Craftsbury, it seems to me, was distinctive in its early re- ligious life and in its attitude toward education. Several of its first settlers were college graduates and they brought to their new wilderness homes a culture not always found in new places, but which had a distinct and powerful influence on the moulding of the town and the character of its people even to the present day. Schools were early in the thoughts of the settlers and pro- visions adequate to the time were made without delay, to be followed as early as 1829 with a chartered academy, which for
-
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more than a century has well cared for the intellectual needs of higher education in the classics and in character building and in fitting boys and girls for college.
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One name stands out prominently in the early history of this town. Samuel Crafts, son of Col. Ebenezer, served his town, county and state in about all the offices of public service. He was, among other positions held, town clerk for a long period, judge of the County Court while Craftsbury was one of two county seats in the County of Orleans, member of the State Leg- islature, and for several sessions the only member residing in Orleans County, governor, member of Congress and United States Senator. His record as a public servant was enviable from every angle, and his name and good works bring glamour, honor and romance to the history of the town which recognized his ability and started him on his career.
From Gov. Crafts time to the present the roster of Crafts- bury's citizens has contained the names of many men and women who have contributed nobly and well in public service to the bet- terment of their town and county and whose influence has been felt for good in the affairs of our state and even beyond. To name them all would take up the balance of my allotted time, but I cannot pass on without mentioning our dear friend and valued public servant, Gov. Graham, who, I am thankful to say, has been spared to preside at these exercises and who. I hope, may be spared for many years to come; and that young woman who has graced the public service of this town in the State Legisla- ture, performed valuable service in the archives of the United States Senate and is now leading and guiding the young women of our state university with her wise, kindly and sympathetic ad- vice, Miss Mary Jean Simpson.
On occasions of this kind we are inclined to remain in retro- spect and dwell upon the past and all the fine things which that past has made possible. I hope I may be pardoned if I leave the retrospect and dwell for a time in the present and immediate future.
Thrift, economy, sound business judgment and carefulness and slowness in jumping into new fads and fancies are typically Vermont characteristics, coming to us direct and without filtra- tion from our forbears who laid the foundation of the prosperity and good fortune we have enjoyed most of the time up to the last decade. During this last decade a revolution has been in proc- ess, not a revolution of bloodshed and fighting, but a very appar- ent change and evolution in political and economic thought. This evolution is not superficial nor a mere passing fad. It is fundamental and dips down to the very bottom of our political and economic set-up.
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I was once privileged to listen to a most able speaker who outlined the evolution of civilization, moving from plane to plane, through revolutions, either mental or in actual warfare, out of each of which disturbances a higher plane emerged which brought to the people of the world a higher culture, better living conditions, greater freedom, and an expanded industrial activity. The world is now in the midst of such a revolution from which we hope a higher plane will be reached after all the issues and ideas of a dissatisfied and groping universe have been tested and sifted. In such transition periods many strange and even start- ling theories are to be expected. Out of the armed revolution of the 13 colonies, in a short transition period, emerged the high- er plane of democracy with its blessings of liberty, free speech, free thought, incentive to individual effort, freedom of choice in religious preferences and a government by and for the people. From our Civil War emerged the abolition of human slavery in all civilized lands.
When Germany set out to conquer the world in 1914, the transition period through which we are now passing had its in- ception. As the clouds of battle rolled away after the armistice, practically the whole world found itself in a most unsettled frame of mind. Out of the mental chaos following that war we have seen the rise of that startling experiment known as Com- munism, in Russia, by no means an acknowledged success but rather apparently losing its grip. We have seen the Fascist dic- tatorship of Italy and its unregenerate off-spring, the Nazi lord of Germany, deliberately cruel and erasing all individual liber- ties. We have seen the greedy, clutching hand of these dictator- ships reaching for the control of small and helpless nations, while the pacifist controlled big brothers of the helpless are loud with talk but meek in defending against the bully's demands.
In our own country we have seen an unprecedented centrali- zation of the control of individual and state functions; curtail- ment of liberties, attacks upon the constitution and the inter- preting agency of that great guaranty of democracy, a wholly new economic theory which substitutes the useless hoarding of gold, a one-man power to determine at will the value of our cur- rency, and a huge spending of public funds, all to lift us from the depression, for the wisdom and experience of history which has taught us to rely for prosperity on thrift and saving ; on a sound currency value ; on the ownership of no more gold than is neces- sary to make our money circulation secure from fluctuation ; on the absolute integrity of the constitution as a guaranty rather than a mere convenient instrument to legalize fads and fancies ; on the full enjoyment of those personal and state functions which our forefathers so carefully planned for our benefit. Who knows? Perhaps these new theories are the solution which will lift us to our next higher plane of culture, comfort and pros- perity. It may be too early to judge fairly, but seven years of
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the failure of these theories to end the depression leave some of us cold and discouraged. And yet we must not lose sight of the fact that almost every step ahead in our history has found oppos- ers who have vehemently declared and honestly believed that the end of democracy and even of the country itself was near at hand if that which such opponents felt to be new, untried and unsafe, should prevail. How wrong they were and how right were the exponents of the new ideas! It only goes to show that a standpatter may utterly mire his feet in tried but outmoded policies.
Yes, indeed, we have always had our "old man Grundy." When a constitution was proposed for adoption in the new re- public of the United States, old Grundy said, and probably be- lieved, that its adoption would undo all that the recent blood- shed, sacrifice and suffering had accomplished, and bind us down with chains more galling than any Britain had forged. Yet that constitution was adopted and has proved its worth and the wisdom of adopting it. When the great Lincoln, confronted with the dissolution of our Union by rebellion, answered that that Union must be preserved and that no part thereof had the right of secession, the Grundys arose and prophesied dire and terrible things from plain defeat of Lincoln's dream to the very extinction of the Republic. And now history repeats itself while experiments with radically new ideas of economic stabil- ity are tried. For these new ideas now commonly called the "New Deal," very definite results were promised, within very definite times now long past, namely, that the problem of unem- ployment would be largely solved, and that the depression would end. A mainstay of the New Deal has been free and freer spend- ing of public money, yet after seven years of this experiment we are about where we started as to unemployment, and the depres- sion lifts only while the public funds are pouring out which must be repaid in the form of government bonds, and it rears its ugly head the instant government spending is curtailed.
To some of us who are open minded and quite willing to adopt any policy which will be of real benefit to all our people, it seems that the spending experiment has totally failed and that this nation is twenty five billion dollars nearer insolvency than it was seven years ago, for the resources of even this great nation cannot stand mounting deficits forever. That is a problem in subtraction which merely proves itself.
At the risk of being called a Grundy, which I should very much dislike, and reiterating that I am one of an army of open minds ready and anxious to join hands with any proposer of a plan which will actually bring results, I am free to say that, after seven years of famine, I want to try some new experiment, and that I look at the future with discouragement and even dismay if the New Deal, as now administered, holds over another four
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years. The New Deal has not shortened the period of revolu- tion which represents transition to a higher plane of civilization. This revolution must continue through more experiments until a solution of our problem shall at last be found.
You may laugh in your sleeves, but I am in a critical frame of mind. I am, rather, verging toward hopelessness be- cause our colic is no better after all the bitters we have taken. I care not from what political source the satisfactory solution comes. It may, even yet, emerge from the Democratic party. If the Republican party could win an election pretty soon, I would have confidence in that direction, but to win I fear there will have to be some change of tactics and some outspokenly pro- gressive suggestions with unity and harmony behind them, be- sides a big slice of votes from some other party. I say this de- spite the fact that I have never yet voted anything but the Re- publican ticket. Following our two crushing defeats a large number of loyal republicans have patiently awaited the an- nouncement of some constructive party suggestions in accord with changed political thought and designed to offer a better working plan than the one in use, but over the horizon has come only the New Deal for the people to think about with its many ramifications of money spending.
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