USA > Vermont > Addison County > History of Addison county Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 72
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Volunteers re-enlisted .- J. Baker, W. Birchard, S. Chapman, L. G. Hack, J. Laquee, R. R. Lawrence, S. Miles.
Not credited by name .- Two men.
Volunteers for nine months .- H. J. Boardman, J. D. Boardman, M. C. Bump, G. H. Cloyes, T. E. Kelsey, J. Morse, N. Spencer, jr., S. Sumner, W. J. Thomas, F. A. Waterhouse, J. W. Whitney, F. Wilcox.
Furnished under draft .- Paid commutation, W. Dowd, R. Graves, A. K. Marvin, A. A. Ranney, A. Thomas, S. Thomas.
The fluctuations in the town's population are shown in the following fig- urės : 1791, 446; 1800, 44; 1810, 709 ; 1820, 721 ; 1830, 907; 1840, 942 ; 1850, 1,027 ; 1860, 853 ; 1870, 902; 1880, 775.
Manufactures and Industries .- We have briefly alluded to the growing of wheat as one of the prominent early pursuits of the farmers of the town. This continued with gradual diminution for thirty years, until the lessening crops told the farmers what would be the inevitable result. In later years only about sufficient of this grain has been raised for home consumption. Corn, oats, flax, beans, and buckwheat have always been raised here to a considera- ble extent. Dairying was carried on in the town from early years until about 1825, to which date it showed encouraging growth and prosperity ; but when the Merino sheep excitement began, very many of the farmers turned their attention to the new field, and dairying was much neglected. In recent years but little more has been done than to supply the home demand with butter. The sheep and wool industry has never reached the importance in this town that it has in many others of the county, though some flocks have attained con- siderable prominence.
In manufactures the first operations were towards the building of saw-mills ; such is the case in all new communities. Of the early mills and factories Mr. Weeks wrote as follows :
"The first saw-mill in this town was erected by Colonel Thomas Sawyer in 1783. A grist-mill was also put up in the same building, and set in successful operation early in the year 1784. These mills were afterward repaired, and if the author is correctly informed, were at least once rebuilt. The first forge was also erected by Mr. Sawyer, in 1791. Samuel Keep was his first bloomer,
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
and Stephen Gill made his first coal, and rendered him some other assistance in making iron. Nathaniel Chafey erected the first trip-hammer shop, a little below the place afterwards occupied by Chester Kingsley's woolen factory. Mr. Chafey erected this shop about the year 1794, and was a celebrated axe- maker. Another trip-hammer shop was put up by John Deming, about the year 1795, but it was afterward converted into a shovel factory. In 1811 a charter was granted by the Legislature of the State for the manufacture of glass, to Ep. Jones and other individuals, and accordingly a glass-factory was put up on the western shore of Lake Dunmore, in the following year, which went into successful operation under the direction of Mr. Jones in 1813. About forty operatives were employed in this factory several years. So great was the business done by it that money was made more plenty among us, a good home market was furnished 'for a part of our agricultural products, and all kinds of business rendered more active. As the company made its deposits at the Farmers' Bank of Troy, N. Y., it issued orders in the form of bank bills, which were stamped and struck off on bank-bill paper, and were in denominations of $1.00, $1.25, $1.50, $1.75, $2.00, and $3.00. These bills, or rather orders, were equally current with any other bank bills for a number of years. But owing to the sudden changes in the prices of glass, and other unforeseen cas- ualties which took place at the close of the war with Great Britain in 1815, the company was compelled to wind up its business. Eliakim Weeks rebuilt the saw-mill in the village in 1814, and Christopher Johnson rebuilt the grist-mill the same year. About the year 1815 a number of individuals living in Salis- bury and vicinity procured a charter from the Legislature of the State, form- ing a company to manufacture cotton cloths. A factory building was erected. For various reasons the venture was not a success. The factory was burned in 1827. This fire closed the cotton factory speculation in this town. The trip- hammer shop in the village, which had done a good service for many years in hammering iron for its various uses, in the year 1813 was converted into a shovel factory. From this factory several thousands of these useful implements, of a superior kind, were sent out annually for many years. About the year 1832 George Chipman and one or two other enterprising young men repaired the old glass-factory buildings at Lake Dunmore, and put it in successful oper- ation. The factory was now managed with some profit, until about the tenth year, when foreign competition reduced the price of glass so much that the manufacture of it in this town could not any longer be made profitable. In 1853 this glass-factory property was purchased by E. D. Barber, of Middle- bury, Vt., and soon after, through his agency, a stock company, called the Lake Dunmore Hotel Company, was formed, and the moneys thereof appro- priated to the building of a magnificent hotel and the purchase of accompany- ing lands. The tavern above referred to was taken down to make room for its more commodious successor. But in making all the improvements an immense
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TOWN OF SALISBURY.
outlay was made, the company became insolvent, the property was mortgaged, and finally passed into the hands of Messrs. Jones, Pratt, Wood & Dodge, of Florida. In 1833 Hinsdale McHurd built a small woolen factory, on the .ground previously occupied by the cotton factory, and manufactured the first woolen cloths made by machinery. This factory was burnt down in 1843, but was rebuilt during the same year on a more extensive scale by Henry W. Walker, and continued in successful operation, in different hands, up to recent years. Subsequently a forge was erected by A. B. Huntly, a young and en- terprising man, near the eastern part of the Indian Garden, and on the stream which flows from Lake Dunmore. This forge was built on the most approved modern plan, and was capable of doing an extensive business. But the ex- pense of building having been very great, and the reduction in the price of iron, on account of foreign competition, rendering Mr. Huntly unable to meet the expense of carrying on his business, after having made a few hundred tons of excellent iron he was compelled to give up his business. In 1851 Ebenezer Weeks and James Fitts, jr., put up a grist-mill in Salisbury village, which has been a great convenience to the town. This mill was made after the most modern plan, and fitted throughout with new machinery. Mr. Weeks after- ward sold out his interest in the concern to Mr. Fitts, who in turn sold to E. A. Hamilton. The mill subsequently burned, but was at once rebuilt, and has since changed hands several times, having been operated by Wells Utley, Jo- seph Lovett, Harvey Lampson, Melvin Stowe, and Joshua Barber. It is now owned by William Belknap, and was leased in July, 1885, by F. C. Rock. The saw-mill at Salisbury village, which has been alluded to, is now owned and operated by Henry Kinsman & Co., they having taken it in February, 1885. Its capacity is about 10,000 feet daily. What was known as the Salisbury Woolen Mills were built about 1842, and purchased by Chester Kingsley in 1859. In 1879 Charles and Denison Kingsley, sons of Chester, changed the woolen-factory building into a dry pulp-mill, for the manufacture of wood pulp for paper making. These gentlemen also started a wet pulp-mill a few years ago at the village, which turns out from two to three tons a day. The saw-mill of Newton & Thompson, on the east side of Lake Dunmore, manufactures about 600,000 feet of lumber annually. These comprise the principal present manufactures of the town.
MUNICIPAL.
The village history of Salisbury is necessarily brief. A post-office was es- tablished at the site of the village on the 3Ist of January, 1801. Since that date the following postmasters have held the office : Patrick Johnson, 1801 to 1809; Jacob Linsly, 1809 to 1815; Austin Johnson, 1815 to 1817; John M. Weeks, 1817 to 1824; Harvey Deming, 1824 to 1847; John Prout, 1847; Abram B. Huntly, 1847 to 1851; Sumner Briggs, 1851 to 1852; Will-
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
iam Rustin, 1852 to 1854; Keros K. Howard, 1854. Benjamin Eastwood suc- ceeded Howard, and L. N. Waterhouse, who built the Kinsman store and took the office about 1863, followed Eastwood and was succeeded by Jerome Con- verse, and the latter by Henry Kinsman, in 1879. He held the office until 1885, when he was succeeded by Keros Howard. Another post-office was established under the name of West Salisbury, July 19, 1850. J. S. Messer was the first postmaster and was succeeded by Royal D. Hedden. He was succeeded by A. J. Johnson, the present incumbent.
The following list shows all those who had engaged in mercantile business in the town down to 1860, and is from Mr. Weeks's book : Josiah Rossiter 1797, Libeus Harris 1802, Merriam & Kilburn 1804, Bela Farnham 1804, Ambrose Porter 1805, Brooks & Merriam 1805, Joshua Brooks 1806, Weed & Conant 1806, Patrick Johnson 1807, P. & A. Johnson 1808, Dickinson & Brooks 1810, Aaron Barrows 1815, James I. Catlin 1815, Catlin & Atwood 1817, Jason Rice 1826, Parker & Ives 1826, Barrows & Kidder 1828, Abiel Manning 1829, John Beckwith & Co. 1831, Linsly & Chipman 1832, Howard Harris 1844, William Rustin 1851, E. A. Hamilton 1852, S. E. Waterhouse 1852, James Fitts, jr., 1858, William Rustin & Co. 1858, Benjamin Eastwood 1859. At about the time of the opening of the railroad through the town a union store was established in the depot building at West Salisbury, under management of J. S. Messer. It was soon closed. E. H. Packard has had a general store near the station since 1884; it was previously kept for a number of years by F. W. Atwood. Henry Kinsman has kept a general store at the villege since 1879. Jerome Converse traded on that site a number of years previous.
Hotels .- The old Howard Hotel, which stood on the north side of the river, was burned in 1875. This house was built and kept many years by Ellery Howard, and later by his sons. The building in which Keros Howard now keeps a tavern, on the north side of the stream, is one of the oldest structures in the place. It was taken by Mr. Howard when the other house burned. It was long used as a public house, R. T. Howard, Elnathan Darling, Abiel Manning, Thomas W. Kelar, James Cook, and others having kept it. The Lake Dun- more Hotel has been alluded to as having been built by the Lake Dunmore Hotel Company. This house is beautifully situated in a wild and romantic spot at the foot of the picturesque lake, and is a popular summer resort. It is now under management of W. H. Merritt.
Physicians .- We give below a list of the physicians who have practiced in Salisbury, some of whom have received notice in the medical chapter in this work : Darius Matthews 1789, Eliphaz Perkins 1791, Thomas Dunbar 1796, Paul Thorndike 1801, John Horton 1802, Henry Porter 1802, Rev. Abiel Jones 1804, Rufus Newton 1805, Eli Derby 1808, Harvey Guernsey 1808, Josiah W. Hale 1812, A. G. Dana 1821, Washington Miller 1822, Luke Hale 1829, Will- iam Fitts 1830, M. H. Kanney 1835, O. G. Dyar 1846, J. N. Moore 1851, C. S.
W. H. MERRITT.
A.LITTLE.PHIL A
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TOWN OF SALISBURY.
Chase 1856, H. C. Atwood 1859. Dr. Orton C. Bump, at present practicing in the town, was born in Salisbury May 22, 1832. He studied in and was gaaduated from the New York College of Medicine and Surgery, and first prac- ticed in Shoreham. He then removed to Cambridge, N. Y., and his health becoming impaired he engaged for a time in other business. He subsequently returned to Salisbury and now resides with his venerable father, Cyrus Bump. Dr. E. H. Martin was born in Foo Chow, China, in 1861. He studied medi- cine in the University of Vermont and was graduated in 1884; he has since practiced in Salisbury.
Attorneys .- There is no lawyer at present practicing in the town. The people are seldom in urgent need of an attorney's services and can afford to go to Middlebury for them. Mr. Weeks gave the following as the names of law- yers who were resident here at the dates mentioned : Horatio Waterous 1802, James Andrews, jr., 1809, Thomas French 1811, S. H. Tupper 1816, Theoph- ilus Capen 1817, Robert Bostwick 1823, E. N. Briggs 1826, John Prout 1838, John Colby 1848, A. W. Briggs 1859.
ECCLESIASTICAL.
The Congregational Church of Salisbury was organized in February, 1804, with the nine following members : Solomon Story, John Holt, Aaron L. Beach, Gilbert Everts, jr., Eliakim Weeks, Hannah Weeks, Anna Copeland, Elizabeth Beach, and Hannah Everts. The record of organization is signed by Revs. Jedediah Bushnell and Benjamin Worcester. The church had no settled min- ister until 1811, and no deacons were elected until May 8 of that year, when Aaron L. Beach and John Holt were chosen. October 15, 1811, Rev. Rufus Pumroy was settled as the first pastor. He remained until November, 1816, and was succeeded by Rev. Joseph Cheney, eleven years, Rev. Eli Hyde, three years, when the church was vacant until 1845. Rev. George W. Barrows was the next pastor. The present pastor is Rev. S. P. Giddings, who came No- vember, 1884. The membership is now about seventy-five. The officers of the church are Cyrus Bump and Horace Sheldon, deacons, John E. Weeks, clerk. Cyrus Bump is Sunday-school superintendent.
Methodist Episcopal Church .- The nucleus of this church was formed about 1799, but of how it prospered between that date and 1836 very little is known. In 1836, when the Hon. Henry Olin settled in the town, the church began a period of prosperity, owing largely to his energetic efforts. In 1837 meetings were held for the purpose of awakening interest in the building of a church, which was accomplished in 1838, and regular preaching was begun. We can- not follow the long list of pastors, with the numerous changes; but Rev. James A. Heath came to the church in April, 1885. The stewards are O. P. Mead and J. Walley. The membership is small at the present time.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
CHAPTER XXXII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SHOREHAM.1
T HE town of Shoreham is situated in the southwestern part of Addison county, and is bounded north by Bridport, east by Cornwall and Whiting, south by Orwell, and west by Lake Champlain, which separates it from Ticon- deroga, N. Y. It lies to the south of Burlington a distance of forty miles, and southwest of Middlebury twelve miles.
The area of Shoreham is 26,319 acres. The surface is low and gently rolling, the highest elevation, "the Pinnacle," in the eastern part of the town, rising to an elevation of about five hundred feet above the level of the lake. From its summit fine glimpses of Lake Champlain can be obtained, including old Fort Ti, and of the Green Mountains, from Killington Peak to Mount Mansfield, and of the Adirondacks on the west. The soil along the lake is a fertile clay. About one mile east of the shore the land rises above the clay to a stratum of argillaceous slate, in a range of hills which extends, with an occasional break, more than half way through the town from the south line. The higher land, for the most part, is composed of a strong loam, good for grains of all kinds, and grass. "Cream Hill," which derived its name from its remarkable fertility, is two miles long and one broad, and lies in the north part of the town more than one mile from the lake. "Barnum Hill," which received its name from that of a number of families which settled on it in early days, and "Worces- ter Hills," so named because the early residents thereon came from Worcester, Mass., are composed of a similar soil, and bear on their sides some of the finest farms in New England. "Mutton Hill," in the north part of the town, is said to have derived its name from the reputation of a family living on one of its declivities, who were accused of filching from the neighbors' flocks. Near the center of the town lies what is called the Great Swamp, which formerly con- tained about 700 acres covered largely with pine, black ash, and cedar timber, but which has been greatly reduced within the last twenty years.
This town was chartered by Benning Wentworth, governor of the Province of New Hampshire, on the 8th day of October, 1761, to sixty persons who are believed to have had no personal interest in the grant. The charter was ob- tained through the agency of Colonel Ephraim Doolittle, and bears an earlier date than that of any other town west of the Green Mountains, lying north of Castleton.
Colonel Ephraim Doolittle was the most prominent man in procuring the charter and effecting the first settlement in town. He was a captain in the
1 For the matter contained in this chapter we are greatly indebted to the most valuable History of Shoreham, written in 1861 by Rev. Josiah F. Goodhue, and to the courtesy and information of Mr. El- mer Barnum.
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TOWN OF SHOREHAM.
army under General Amherst in the French War of 1755, and served under him at the capture of Ticonderoga and Crown Point. He was afterward colonel of the Massachusetts militia in the Revolution. Early in the year of 1766 Colonel Doolittle with twelve or fourteen other persons, among whom were Daniel and Jacob Hemenway, Robert Gray, James Forbush, Paul Moore, John Crigo, Daniel Southgate, Nahum Houghton, Elijah Kellogg, and others, came together in a company from Worcester county, in Massachusetts, and selected a spot on which they built a log house. This was situated a few rods east of a stream called Prickly Ash Brook, and known as the Doolittle farm. In this house they all lived, the first year in one family, the men taking turns in doing the cooking. During the first summer this company cleared about twenty- five acres of land lying at the base of Mutton Hill on the north and east of Prickly Ash Brook. Colonel Doolittle did not move his family into town until after the Revolution, but spent much of his time here, with several hired men, who were employed in clearing lands and making improvements. He moved his family here in 1783, and owned the mill-place and mills, and built a house where Mrs. J. F. Birchard now lives. He died in this town in 1807. Colonel Joel Doolittle, his son, came and lived with his father in 1783, and in 1784 be- came joint owner with him of the mills and all his real estate in this town. He also died in this town, in the year 1828.
Early Settlements .- Paul Moore, who was one of the company that visited this territory in 1766, was, with Colonel Doolittle and John Crigo, the first set- tler in Shoreham. He was born in Worcester, Mass., in 1731; ran away from home at the age of twelve years and went to sea, passing thereafter more than twenty years of his life upon the ocean. After relinquishing the seaman's life he came to Vermont with some of the soldiers in the French War. As early as 1763 or '64 he passed much time in hunting in the vicinity of the lake, and in the fall and winter of 1765 he remained six months in Shoreham, in a hut which he constructed of pine and hemlock boughs. He did not see another human being during the whole winter. That winter he caught seventy bea- vers, and for several winters afterward continued catching them until he had accumulated a small fortune. He lived to an advanced period of life as a bachelor, and was married when past fifty years of age. He died in 1810, aged seventy-nine years. His first log house, which was burned by Indians, stood on the farm upon which he afterward erected the two-story house now occu- pied by J. Q. Caswell.
In the fall of 1773 Samuel Wolcott, from Goshen, Conn., settled with his family on the farm now owned and occupied by Deacon Almon Wolcott. He and his son Samuel, jr., were with Allen's party at the capture of the fort. Becoming alarmed by a party of Indians that appeared in the vicinity, he and his family fled to Berkshire county, Mass., where they remained until 1783. They then returned to the farm they had left. He died while on a visit to friends in Massachusetts and Connecticut.
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HISTORY OF ADDISON COUNTY.
Amos Callender came from Sheffield, Mass., with his family, in the winter of 1774 to Shoreham. He and his family fled from the Indians in June, 1777, and returning after the war found the brass kettle and other household utensils which they had buried. They reached Shoreham on their return on the 14th of February, 1783. In 1793 he built the brick house now occupied by R. H. Holmes, and kept a noted hostelry there for many years. His farm included the present Cream Hill Stock Farm.
Elijah Kellogg, one of the company that came here in 1766, was from Sheffield, Mass., and was one of Allen's party in the capture of Ticonderoga in 1775, and is said to have been the first man who entered the fort after Allen and Arnold. At the close of the war he settled on the farm where his grand- son, Ransom Kellogg, now lives.
Daniel Newton, from Shrewsbury, Mass., was here surveying lands allotted to proprietors before and after the Revolution. He took up several lots in town, commenced an improvement on Cream Hill east of the road, nearly op- posite to the house of the Cream Hill Stock Farm ; sold that place, and began to make another improvement on the farm now owned by Myron Platt. He died in 1834, aged eighty years.
In 1783 Jesse Wolcott, son of Samuel, sr., settled on the place now occu- pied by William Corey, where fifty acres of land were given him by one of the proprietors, and continued there until his death. Samuel Wolcott, jr., settled on land adjoining the Cream Hill Stock Farm on the south soon after the Rev- olution, and died there. William Wolcott, brother of Samuel, jr., located at the Center, in the house now owned and occupied by Wm. Anderson and Wm. Langlois. He afterward sold out to Levi Wolcott, and went to White- hall, N. Y., to live with his son, Dr. Wm. G. Wolcott. Alvin Wolcott, a son of Samuel, jr., settled on the farm now occupied by George H. Hall, where he remained until his death. Deacon Philemon Wolcott followed his father on the place on which Deacon Almon Wolcott now lives, and died there of the cholera on the Ist of September, 1832, in the sixty-third year of his age.
Thomas Rowley returned in 1783 to the farm he had left at Larabee's Point, where he lived until 1787 with his son Nathan, and then sold the place to John S. Larabee, and removed with his son to the place now owned by Mrs. Luther Parish. In 1795 he went to Cold Spring, in Benson, where he died about 1803, aged more than eighty years.
John Larabee came from New London county, Conn., in 1783, and settled on the farm now owned by Myron Platt. He was a well-educated man, and a surveyor. His son, John S. Larabee, came from Pownal, Vt., in 1783, at the age of nineteen years, and lived four years with his father, after which he cleared a place on Larabee's Point, then called Rowley's Point, where, with the exception of six years passed in Middlebury as clerk of the County Court, he remained the rest of his life. He established the first ferry at Larabee's Point,
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TOWN OF SHOREHAM.
under legislative grant, and managed it during his life. He held at different times the office of town representative, clerk of the County Court six years, judge of probate and of the County Court. He died on November 28, 1847, aged eighty-two years.
Abijah North came to Shoreham from Farmington, Conn., in 1774; cleared a piece of fifty acres of land, now a part of the Cream Hill Stock Farm, given him by one of the proprietors, planted seed for an apple orchard, built a log house a little west of the house now occupied by R. H. Holmes, and returned in the fall to Connecticut. The war intervening prevented his coming back until March 12, 1783, when he brought his wife and six children. In March, 1875, he removed to the Moseley place in Bridport, where, on the 3d day of May following, he died. Seth, John, and Simeon North, with their families, had come to Shoreham just previous to his death, and John North settled on the old farm of Abijah, where he died at an early day. Mrs. Seth North, being homesick, returned to Connecticut the next day after their arrival, by the same team that brought her here. Simeon North soon after went to Ticon- deroga, but returned here and finally went to Orwell, where his death took place. After the death of Abijah North his son Nathaniel went to live with Isaac Flagg ; married Sally Bateman, and lived with her father, Thomas Bate- man, whose house stood about on the site of the Congregational parsonage, which was erected by Colonel Nathaniel North in 1818. He removed to Ti- conderoga in 1831, and died there July 9, 1838.
Colonel Josiah Pond came from Lenox, Mass., in 1783, and carried on Paul Moore's farm one year ; purchased then the farm now owned and occupied by Edwin Johnson and his son William, and erected thereon a framed house and barn ; sold soon after to Isaac Flagg, and went on to the place now occupied by Antoine Dumas, where he cleared a large farm, and in 1790 built a saw- mill on Lemon Fair. Here he died on August 8, 1840, aged eighty-three years. He was one of the most eminent and influential men among the early settlers of this town. He was the first militia captain, and was the colonel of the first regiment of militia in Addison county. He was chosen to represent the town in the General Assembly in 1788, and was the second person elected to that trust in town. Six times his fellow citizens conferred on him the honor of that office. In 1791 he represented the town in the General Convention, called by the Council of Censors for revising the constitution of the State. He was at the battle of Bennington, and served his country for a few months after in the army of the Revolution.
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