USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 44
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Zion Church has a membership of ninety communicants, and is under the pastoral charge of Rev. J. C. Flanders.
For many years there have been residents of the town who were devoted to the teachings of Methodisnt, but they were so few in number that the per- fect organization of a society, or the ownership of a church home was by them deemed inexpedient until within a few years, when some of the prominent methodists of the township, headed by James E. McNaughton of Barnum- ville, determined to complete a society organization and erect a house of wor- ship. The necessary funds were soon subscribed, and the building erected during the year 1884. It is located in the upper part of the village of Man- chester Centre, opposite the park, and is a model of neatness and convenience. From the time of its erection regular church services have been held and the society is in a reasonably prosperous condition.
Succession of Postmasters at Factory Point and Manchester Centre .- Benja- min Roberts, January 23, 1828; reappointed May 2, 1837; Lyman Harring- ton, November 2, 1837; Moses Harrington, August 31, 1840; Augustus G. Clark, May 10, 1841; Lyman Harrington, July 13, 1843; Cyrus A. Roberts, June 7, 1845 ; John C. Roberts, May 4, 1849; Cyrus A. Roberts, May 7, 1853; Augustus G. Clark, August 2, 1861; Robert Ames, September 8, 1870; Charles K. Young, July 17, 1885 ; office changed to Manchester Centre, No- vember 15, 1886; Charles K. Young, reappointed November 15, 1886.
The Factory Point National Bank .- This is the one institution of the town the changing of the name of which was not necessitated by the change in name of the village and post-office. The bank was incorporated and commenced business on the Ist of January 1884. Its capital stock was $75,000, divided into seven hundred and fifty shares. The first officers were as follows: Pres- ident, Robert Ames; vice-president, Allen L. Graves ; cashier, James P. Black ; directors, Robert Ames, Allen L. Graves, George W. Farwell, D. S. Wilson, William Root, and Ira S. Weed. Since the organization of the bank there has been no change in officers, and the only change in the board of directors that has occurred was in the succession of John Curtis to the place of Ira S. Weed. That this bank is firmly established on a substantial basis, and doing a successful business; is evidenced by the fact that it shows a present surplus of $29,000.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
Battenkill Valley Industrial Society .- Although the corporate existence of this society extends back but about two years, the " Manchester Fair," as it is generally called, has been an annual occurrence for some twelve years past, and it has come to be an acknowledged fact that the annual meetings of this society, as were those of its predecessors as well, are the most successful in every respect of any held in southern Vermont. The average visitor can only view in wonder the vast crowd of people that assemble upon the association's grounds, but an inquiry discloses the fact that not only the towns of Benning- ton county contribute to the mass, but the surrounding counties of Vermont and State of New York are also represented by a strong contingent of their population. Taking the estimated attendance at the meeting held in Septem- ber, 1888, as a basis, and the attendance this year was not unusually great, at which fully ten thousand persons visited the grounds during the session, and it will at once be seen that the results cannot well be otherwise than success- ful. At this annual meeting the receipts from all sources were about three thousand dollars, while the total expenses were less than two thousand dollars, leaving a net balance in the treasury of the society of more than one thousand dollars with which to improve their grounds and buildings, and pay dividends. The Battenkill Valley Industrial Society, as successor to the Farmers' and Me- chanics' Fair, was incorporated in the year 1887, having a capital stock of five thousand dollars in shares of ten dollars each. Prior to the incorporation the society leased the land on which the annual meeting was held, but after the organization was perfected the land, thirty acres in extent, was purchased by the association. The grounds are located just north of Manchester Centre, and about equally distant from Main street and the road leading to Dorset, from either of which highways an entrance leads to the grounds. Here can be found ample accommodation for man and beast, with a special effort made to- ward providing for the display of all exhibits and stock of all kinds. Excel- lent quarters are also found for trotting horses. Floral Hall is a new and well arranged building having four entrances. It was built during the summer of 1888. The officers of the society are as follows : President, Egbert B. Smith, of Manchester Centre; vice-president, Frederick W. Cook, of Manchester Centre; secretary, D. K. Simonds, Manchester ; treasurer, Malcom Canfield, Manchester; directors, Dwight Taylor, of Rupert; Moses Sheldon, of Dorset; C. M. Russell, of Peru ; E. B. Smith, F. W. Cook, J. F. Page, and J. H. Whip- ple, of Manchester Centre; Caleb Andrew, and D. G. Barney, of Arlington; H. M. Bottum, of Shaftsbury ; W. H. Beebe, and G. M. Viall, of East Dorset; J. M. Kendall, of Winhall; M. Canfield, and J. J. Pettibone, of Manchester; E. A. Graves, of Sunderland, and C. E. Dewey, of Bennington. Article first of the constitution of the society reads as follows: "This association shall be called the Battenkill Valley Industrial Society, and shall be located at Manchester Centre, Vt., but for fair purposes it shall comprise the territory embraced in
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VILLAGE OF MANCHESTER DEPOT.
the following towns: Rupert, Dorset, Peru, Landgrove, Winhall, Manchester, Sunderland, Arlington, Sandgate, Shaftsbury, and Bennington."
Adoniram Lodge No. 42, F. and A. M., was chartered January 14, 1858, but prior to that had an existence and worked under a dispensation. There were twenty-four charter members, from whom officers were chosen as follows: W. M., Leonard Sargeant; S. W., Fowler W. Hoyt; J. W., Harvey K. Fow- ler. Adoniram Lodge has a present membership of about one hundred and ten persons, and meets in rooms over the Factory Point National Bank. The present officers are : W. M., I. H. Dench ; S. W., A. B. Conner ; J. W., O. G. Felt; secretary, James Black ; treasurer, John H. Whipple.
Adoniram Chapter No. 18, was chartered October 2, 1867, and E. G. Tut- tle was chosen high priest ; J. E. McNaughton, king, and G. W. Bennett, scribe. The present membership of the lodge is forty-nine ; the present officers are: James P. Black, H. P .; Lorenzo Shaffner, K .; P. D. Sischo, scribe. Chapter meetings are held in Adoniram lodge rooms.
THE VILLAGE OF MANCHESTER DEPOT.
The village known by the name of Manchester Depot is a small burg, brought into existence mainly through the construction of the Western Ver- mont Railroad, but now known as the Bennington and Rutiand Railway. This road was built during the years 1850 and 1851, therefore the village at this point is the youngest of the three that are made the subjects of special mention in this chapter. As is generally the case whenever a railroad is built through any locality, and a station established, a number of houses and a few stores will be constructed ; and in this manner was this town created. The business of the town has never been large, the majority of traders preferring to transact their business at the larger town of Manchester Centre, which is but half a mile distant. A number of years ago there were in existence in this vicinity sev- eral manufacturing industries, but they have successively disappeared except the extensive marble and granite works of W. H. Fullerton. Mr. Fullerton was born in Washington county, N. Y., and first engaged in the marble quar- ry and manufacturing business in this county about 1861 or 1862 in connec- tion with W. A. Terrill at South Dorset, which relation continued about three years. Then after about three months Mr. Fullerton became the sole proprie- tor. The shops at the Depot were built about twenty-one years ago, and at that time there was but one or two dwellings in the village.
The manufacture of marble for all purposes for which that commodity was used was the business engaged in by Mr. Fullerton, but when granite com- menced to replace marble and a general demand was created therefor, that branch of business was added, and both are extensively worked at these shops.
The mercantile business of Manchester Depot is confined to three or four stores, the most extensive being owned and conducted by John C. Blackmer.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
The town has no churches, and but one society or order-Skinner Post Y. 24, G. A R. This organization must be treated as an institution of Man- chester Depot, having its place of meeting at that point, although the men- bership of the post embraces residents of various parts of the township and perhaps elsewhere.
Skinner Post was organized by charter dated May 9, 1873, and the follow- ing charter members: George II. Sessions, John T. Beach, George Bradford, O. M. Howe, Wayland Adams, John C. Blackmer, Smith W. Jameson, T. B. Eaton, Edward Brockway, George P. Utley, William H. Smith, Isaac Wade, Fred. erick W. Cook, Charles H. Pond, E. W. Hill, Richard Roberts, George W. Ses- sions, D. K. Simonds, W. A Black, R. E. Baldwin. The post has a present membership of about fifty, and is officered as follows : Commander, J. C. Blackmer; senior vice-commander, William H. Smith; junior vice-commander, Almon F. Day ; adjutant, R. H. Lindsley ; officer of the day, O. O. Whitman ; officer of the guard, Charles H. Scott ; quartermaster, F. W. Cook ; surgeon, Dr. L. H. Hemenway ; chaplain, Rev. E. E. Brown; sergeant-major, George H. Swift; quartermaster sergeant, M. D. Marsh. Connected with the post is a regularly organized and effective order known as the Ladies' Relief Society.
About midway between Manchester Centre and the depot is situated a cheese factory, which, in its way, is a rather important industry. Every morn- ing, except during the winter season, the farmers of the township bring here their milk from which the cheese is manufactured. Each month the product is shipped to market, and the revenue derived therefrom is divided among the patrons according to the proportion of milk furnished by each. E. A. Jameson acts in the capacity of sales commissioner, and Thomas Lee as chieesemaker.
Just above the cheese factory, and between that building and the tannery is the feed and cider-mill of Reuben Colvin. The location was formerly used at the Peter Wyman Marble Mill, power being procured from the West Branch stream twenty or thirty rods distant. This property came into Mr. Colvin's hands in 1882.
The Battenkill River, which crosses the township in a generally southwest course, is now and always has been the chief source of water-power in the township. To enumerate the great number of factories of all kinds that have from time to time been erected along its banks would be a most difficult if not impossible task. In the early part of this chapter reference has been made to a number of mills that were in existence as early as 1805 and 1826, and any ad- ditional mention concerning them or succeeding like industries is unnecessary. In the north part of the town, on the upper waters of the Branch, still stand the ruins of a number of water-power marble-mills. The same is true of the vicinity of " Marbleville," as it was formerly known, but none of these are now in operation.
On the Battenkill River, about a mile above the depot, stands the saw and
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TOWN OF MANCHESTER.
!aber-mill of Judge Dean, a prominent resident of the town. Judge Dean onmenced operations at this point in 1868, and has since continued the same to the present time. The mill is under the direction of H. C. Reynolds, a man well known in the locality as a recent candidate for political preferment, but on account of the fact that the average majority of the Republican party in the town is about as four against one, and Mr. Reynolds being the Democratic nominee, his election was by no means expected. The Dean Mill is now about the only one in operation on the " Kill " in this town.
On Bourn Brook, a tributary to the Battenkill, there have been a number of mills, among them that known as the old Bourn saw-mill. Joseph H. Hicks, is now the owner of the only operating saw mill on that stream. On this same brook farther down is a planing-mill, the property of John V. Colvin, that was started in 1874. The proprietor formerly owned a grist and planing-mill at North Bennington.
On Lye Brook, an exceeding winding stream, there had been for many years a number of mills, noticably those known as Burritt Brothers and Petti- bone Brothers. The former name of Burritt recalls one of the carly families of the Lye Brook neighborhood. Some of the members of the Burritt family have been celebrated bear hunters, and the number of this species of animal creation that they have trapped and shot is simply astonishing. The Burritts are among the highly respected and prosperous families of the town. The Burritt mill is on the site of the first saw-mill built in the town of Manchester. The Pettibone Brothers, who also have for many years had a mill on Lye Brook, are descended from one of the old families of the town. There were two distinct family names of Pettibone in the town, and that just mentioned is in no manner related to the descendants of Samuel Pettibone, the pioneer. On the Battenkill, in the south part have also been mills, noticeable among which has been the Hawley & Fielding lumber and marble-mill, but now gone into disuse.
PERSONAL HISTORY.
It is the design of the following branch of the present chapter to devote some space to a personal record of families and persons, many of them pio- neers, and some whose residence has not been of long duration but who have in some manner been identified with the growth or interests of the locality, and thus entitling them to some mention in these pages.
It would be interesting, indeed, could there be recalled the names of cach of the resident medical practitioners of Manchester from the time of its first set- tlement to the present ; but this it is impossible to do. Unlike many States of the Union, no register of the practicing physicians is obligatory under the law in Vermont, therefore no record exists from which the names of each can be taken. Tradition says (we have no positive information, however, as to its
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
accuracy) that John Sage was the first physician of Manchester, and that I. came here about the year 1777. Dr. Lewis Beebe, as has heretofore be .... stated, became a resident of the town in 1780, and aside from his practice tor, an active part in the early events of the town's history. He served with 11 .- militia during the Revolution. Dr. Ezra Isham came to the town in 1798, and became the leading physician of the town. A further mention of him will !- found further on in this chapter. Dr. Elijah Littlefield will be remembered among the citizens of the town that took part in the second war with Gre ..: Britain, he holding a surgeon's commission in the regular army. He practiced here both before and after the war. These were among the pioneer physicians of the town. There may have been, probably was, others who are equally en- titled to mention, but whose names cannot now be recalled. At the present time there are in active practice in the town of Manchester four physicians each of whom bears, and is entitled to bear, the symbolic initial letters " M. D."
Lewis H. Hemenway was born in Siam (his father being a missionary clergyman at the time in that land) on the 30th of November, 1841. In 1856 he entered Burr Seminary, but left for Middlebury College in 1859, from which he was graduated in 1864. During this time, however, and in 1862, he en- listed in the Twelfth Vermont Volunteer Infantry for the nine months' service. He took a medical course at the University of Vermont, finishing and taking his " M. D." in 1866. Then for about two years he was further educating him- self at the Kings County (New York) Hospital, both in the general hospital and the insane department. In October, 1868, Dr. Hemenway came to practice in the village of Manchester, where ever since, except for a term of some two years spent in Minnesota for the benefit of his health, he has resided. Dr. Hemenway is a regular and general physician.
Seneca Sherman Clemons was born in Wallingford, Vt., January 23, 1842. He was graduated from the Medical Department of the University of Vermont June 1, 1865, and immediately came to practice in this town, taking up his abode at Factory Point, and succeeding to the practice of Dr. Stone. Prior to the passage of the act establishing medical boards of examination Dr. Clemons held the appointment of medical examiner for invalid pensions. Dr. Clemons is a member of the Bennington County Medical Society, and also of the Ver- mont State Medical Association.
Edmond L. Wyman is the only physician of the town that practices under the theory of similia similibus curantur, or as it is more commonly understood, Homeopathy. Dr. Wyman was born in Manchester, his father having come to the town during the thirties to engage in the marble quarries, and here he mar- ried Lucina Way, the daughter of Lyman Way, the latter being a pioneer in the marble business. In their family were two children, Henry A. and Ed- mond L. Henry A. was a soldier in the Fourteenth Vermont Infantry. He died in 1866 from disease contracted while in the army. Edmond was brought
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TOWN OF MANCHESTER.
up to learn the marble business, but desiring an education he entered college, from which he was compelled to retire at the end of his Freshman year on ac- count of failing eyesight. About 1872 he commenced a course of medical reading under the instruction of Dr. Hemenway, and afterward entered the New York Homeopathic Medical College, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1875. He then came to Factory Point where he has acquired an ex- tensive practice.
Edgar V. Trull, the youngest of the medical practitioners of the town, was born in New York State on August 26th, 1854. He read medicine with Dr. George H. Billings, of Cohoes, N. Y., after which he entered the Medical Department of Union University, and from that institution was graduated in 1877. After practicing about three years in New Scotland and Cohoes he came to Manchester, where he has since resided, and engaged in profes - sional work.
James W. Marsh has for a number of years been a resident of Manchester Center, practicing as an eclectic physician and making a specialty of the treat- ment of cancerous diseases.
In connection with the medical fraternity of the town this chapter would be incomplete without some allusion to the practice built up by Dr. John F. Page, veterinary surgeon. Dr. Page is not a native of this county, but was born in Windham county in the year 1850. In 1875 he entered the Veterinary Department of the University of Vermont for a course of medical lectures, after which he commenced practice in this town. He afterwards attended the New York Veterinary College, from which he was graduated. This is the only thor- ough institution of its character in the United States. Dr. Page has spent a great deal of time and money in perfecting himself in veterinary practice at which he is regarded wholly proficient. He is the owner of some of the best horses in the county.
The Roberts Family .- About the middle of the eighteenth century John Roberts left Dartmouth, Rhode Island, and went with a party of acquaintances to Duchess county, N. Y., where he lived some years, and then went to Sa- lem. From the latter place he came to Manchester. While in Rhode Island he was one of the "minute men," always ready, at a minute's notice, for de- fensive warfare against the French and Indians. When John Roberts came to Manchester, in 1764, or about that time, he was already married, his wife be- ing Samantha, the descendent of Admiral Mayhew's family, for whom the three islands, Martha's Vineyard, Elizabeth Island, and Nantucket (Nancy took it), was named. John Roberts was a man of commanding height and powerful frame. He was one of the original Green Mountain Boys, and a soldier in Seth Warner's regiment. He fought at the battle of Bennington, as did also four of his sons-Peter, John, William, and Benjamin - while the fifth boy, Chris- topher, was then conducting the remainder of the family back to Duchess 49
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
county for safety. John Roberts, with some of his sons, was also with Ethan Allen when Ticonderoga was captured from the British. One of these sons, Christopher, was with Allen when he entered and surprised the garrison at the fort. Christopher seems to have been the only son of John Roberts that be- came a permanent resident of Manchester, and he likewise became a man prom- inently identified with the political history of the town. He rose through all the grades of promotion and became general of the militia, and faithfully served the State through all the troubles of the period during which Vermont was seeking independence, and during the war of 1812. The male children of Christopher Roberts were, Martin, Jonathan, John Peter, Benjamin and Serenus, of whom Jonathan and Serenus died in Manchester, leaving no children. The children of Benjamin did not continue in Manchester after his death, but moved to Clarendon, the native place of their mother, her maiden name being Sophia Hodges. Of the daughters of Benjamin, Mary married General Henry M. Bax- ter, of Rutland, and Cornelia married Mr. Kingsley, a leading merchant of the same place. The male descendants of John P. Roberts remained in Manchester. George was one of these ; he married Lydia Brounson, daughter of Rev. Olin Brounson, of Zion's Episcopal Church. George was a merchant of the town. John C., the second son, was a merchant at Factory Point, but shortly before his death he moved to Burlington. Cyrus A. Roberts, another son, still lives in the town, having no family. William, the youngest son, while a young man went to Alabama to live. Martin Roberts, the oldest son of Christopher Roberts, was born January 8, 1788, and became a prominent, influential man, well known and respected throughout the State. He was the father of seventeen children, fourteen of whom, seven boys and seven girls, grew up, married, and became themselves the progenitors of large families, now scattered through different States. There were present at one time at the Roberts homestead, on which Benjamin lived most of the eighty-six years of his life, at a family gathering, more than one hundred and thirty of his children and grandchildren, includ- ing sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. His first wife was Sophia Buckley, by whom he had four children, only two of whom, Marcius and Mary, grew up. The second wife of Martin Roberts was Betsey Stone, of Arlington, whom he married January 11th, 1806, and by whom he had thirteen children, of whom all, save one, grew to man's and woman's estate. They were Lucy, Dexter. Charles, Benjamin, Edward, Mira, Betsey Ann, and Julia Ann, (twins), Rich- ard, Belvediere, Elizabeth, and Henry Eckford. Of all these children, Dexter alone remained permantly at Manchester, and now lives on the homestead farm. Charles moved at an early day to New York City. Benjamin entered the mil- itary service and became a distinguished officer; he served through the Mex- ican war and the late rebellion, and died about 1872. Edward was born in 1812. In 1827 he went to Rutland and, with his cousin, E. C. Purdy, pub- lished the Rutland Herald. Two years later he went to Fishkill-on-the- Hud-
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on, where his preparatory education was received, after which, in the fall of 1831. he entered Williams College, but on account of illness was obliged to relinquish his studies before completing his college course. In 1840 Edward Roberts married Lucy Maria Benjamin, and in 1841 took up his residence in New York City where he engaged in business, and is still a member of the old firm of Roberts, Cushman & Co., importers of hatter's materials. He now owns, and during the summer season occupies, the old Roberts homestead although his principal dwelling place is in New York City. For beauty and desirability of situation the old homestead is unsurpassed in this State. From the elevated position it occupies there is presented to the eye of the beholder a view at once delightful and magnificent, comprehending the beautiful valley between the Green Mountains and Taconic ranges, while back to the north, within a very short distance, rears the sublime heights of Mount ÆEolus, com- monly called Dorset Mountain. Lucy, the oldest child of Martin Roberts, married Rev. Brainerd Kent of Dorset; Mira Roberts married John F. Sinclair of New York ; Betsey Ann married Amos Reynolds, and settled in Council Bluffs, Iowa ; Richard S. Roberts married Caroline Eastman of Brooklyn ; Bel- vediere Roberts went West with her sister, Mrs. Curtis, to Madison, Indiana, where she united in marriage with S. F. Smith, a successful merchant of the place, and who subsequently moved his family to Indianapolis; Elizabeth mar- ried Franklin Sanford of Castleton, this State; Henry Eckford Roberts, the youngest child of the family, is in New York, connected with the firm of Rob- erts, Cushman & Co .; he is married, but has no children. Martin Roberts acquired his knowledge of the mercantile business in the store of Joseph Burr, at Manchester, but about the beginning of the present century he embarked for himself in business near the old homestead, and built up quite a hamlet at that place, which was called " Robertsville" for a long time; and he run a line of stages between Boston and Saratoga, and kept postoffice at the store. He was quite successful in his business ventures, so that when the War of 1812 broke out he was estimated to be worth some $30,000; but towards the close of the war the stage line grew unprofitable, and this, to- gether with the failure to repay on the part of persons to whom he made loans, seriously impaired his fortune; but not one whit did these reverses detract from his personal popularity or influence in the community. He held, until the time of liis death, the high rank of general of militia of the State; also in the Ma- sonic fraternity he was for a number of years the chief officer in the State. Martin Roberts died in 1863, aged nearly eighty-six years. Elsewhere in this work will be found a page view of the old Roberts homestead. A portion of the building has now been standing since the beginning of the present century. On the left front will be noticed the magnificent elm tree that extends its pro- tecting branches far out on every side.
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