USA > Vermont > Bennington County > History of Bennington County, Vt. : with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 51
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In the convention at Windsor in January, 1777, this town seems not to have been represented, but at the adjourned meeting at the same place in June fol- lowing Major Clark and Gideon Olin were the representatives of Shaftsbury. Gideon Olin came to the town in 1776, his native place being Rhode Island, where he was born in 1743. He too was a major in the militia service under Colonel Herrick At a later period, 1793-94-95 and 1796, he was one of the governor's council; he represented Shaftsbury in the General Assembly for fifteen years, but not in consecutive sessions ; was seven times speaker of the house ; assistant judge of this county in 1781, and thenceforward for twenty years, with the exception of the years 1798-99; in 1807-08-09-10 was judge of the county court; was twice elected to Congress, serving from 1804 to 1807. He died in Shaftsbury in 1823. Another of the old pioneers who made a good record during the Revolution and subsequently was Captain Jonas Galusha who had command of a company from 1777 to 1780. both himself and men partici- pating in the Bennington battle. He represented the town in 1800; was coun- cilor during the years from 1793 to 1798, and again from 1801 to 1805; was sheriff of the county from 1781 to 1786; judge of the courts from 1795 until 1806, excepting two years; and finally was governor of the State from 1809 to 1812, and again from 1815 to 1819.
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TOWN OF SHAFTSBURY.
It would seem, too, from the record of proceedings of the old Council of Safety that even at that early day Shaftsbury had at least one manufacturing industry as the following order will show :
"TO CAPTAIN EBENEZER ALLEN :
"Sir: This day received yours of 6th instant, dated at Manchester, re- questing this council to furnish you with shoes. We have taken the same into consideration, and do hereby recommend to you to take some leather out of Marshe's tan-yard at Shaftsbury, and make mogasons to answer the present purpose until shoes can be procured. You are to make application to Captain Fitch or the person who has care of the yard. The leather is to be appraised and returns made to this board. THOS. CHITTENDEN, Pres't."
The above order was dated September, 1777, and the statement that a tan- yard was operating in the town at that, and even an earlier time, would seem to be confirmed by a further order dated October 3, 1777, in reply to a request from Colonel Herrick for shoes for his men, the part of the order being as fol- lows : "Shoes can be had at Shaftsbury as we are informed that there is some made there. Upwards of thirty pairs are ready, which you can send for at any time."
That the ancestors of the present highly respected families bearing the surname of Bottom were in the town at least as early as 1778 is demon- strated by President Chittenden's order dated January 22d of that year, which order reads :
"To MR. BOTTOM of Shaftsbury :
"Sir: You will please to deliver Christopher Roberts three sheep which you have in your custody, supposed to be the property of this State, his paying you reasonable charges for their keeping, etc."
Certain of the present generation of the Bottom family are quite promi- nently noted for the fine grade of sheep which they raise in Shaftsbury, there being no better found in the county ; and not only in the raising of sheep and cattle are the representatives of this family prominent, for within the township there are no citizens more public-spirited or progressive, whether in public or private life than those now bearing the family name of Bottom.
Again in May, 1778, when the governor and council were organizing the militia regiments west of the mountains, the town of Shaftsbury was represented by a company of which Abiather Waldo was captain, and John Sunderland was ensign. And the name of another old settler of the town is brought out by the proceedings of the grovernor and council at their February session of 1779, when it was " voted and resolved that Widow Wright be released from paying the rent of the farm she lived on last year. The same entered on her petition to this council and sent back to the said widow at Shaftsbury." At the fall election of 1778 the representatives elected for the town of Shaftsbury were Major Gideon Olin and John Millington.
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
In 1780, when the board of war was making provision for the maintenant and support of the army, each town was called upon to raise thirty pounds .. salt pork for each man furnished. From a list showing the number of me ... raised in each town it is seen that Shaftsbury then had eighteen militia men in the service (being outnumbered only by Bennington with her twenty-four men, and that according to this number Shaftsbury was required to provide the board with five hundred and forty pounds of this article. This of course does not represent the total number of men furnished by Shaftsbury for the militia service, as it was not unusual for calls to be made at the beginning of each year's campaign, or at any other time when their services were required. In 1781 the town was called upon, as were other towns, to provide thirty-one more men for service in Colonel Herrick's regiment, and in response to this request a meeting of the freemen was assembled at which Major Gideon Olin presided in the capacity of moderator. Raising men and means at this period of the war was quite difficult, and while the town was by no means lacking in patriot- ism or loyalty, it was found necessary to offer a bounty for recruits for the serv- ice. The proceedings of the meeting above referred to as shown by the rec- ords were as follows:
" Ist. Voted unanimously to raise a bounty and our quota of State troops for the ensuing campaign on the list of the polls and the ratable estate of the town.
"2d. Voted to repose, and do hereby repose the trust of enlisting our quota of troops for this campaign in the hands of Captain William Dyer, Captain Jo- nas Galusha, Captain B. Lawrence and Lieutenant David Galusha, and to allow one dollar in hard money for enlisting each man.
"3d. Voted to give Mr. John Olin and Peter Mattison twenty shillings each for collecting said tax in the compass of Captain Galusha's company, and Da- vid Cutter thirty shillings for collecting in the bounds of Captain Lawrence's company ; and they are hereby appointed for said purpose.
"4th. Voted to give twenty dollars to each soldier and twelve shillings more for bounty.
"5th. Voted a tax of seven hundred dollars in hard money or Continental at the current exchange, to be raised forthwith for the above purpose."
The towns were required to raise other things than men and money for the purposes of the campaign. By a law passed in October, 1780 the quota of provision set for Shaftsbury was 12,559 pounds weight of flour, 4, 1862 pounds of beef, 2,0934 pounds of salted pork, 354 bushels of Indian corn, and 177 bushels of rye. This was a considerable drain upon the resources of the strug- gling inhabitants of the town, but as the like assessment was made upon all the towns of the State then organized, and in proportion to population and paying ability its severity was felt no more in this than any other locality. To raise the provisions required another freemen's meeting was assembled, the sub-
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TOWN OF SHAFTSBURY.
; ct discussed, and a resolution voted as follows: "That each man be assessed als equal proportion according to his list of the beef, pork, corn, flour, and rye. The meat to be delivered at Captain Waldo's, the flour and grain at Captain Galusha's, innkeeper." Further provision was made for the raising by the town of eighty seven bushels of wheat, from the avails of the sale of which barrels were to be purchased. And it was further provided that, " if any per- "on or persons shall neglect to bring in his quota of provisions, the selectmen shall issue their warrant against the estate of such person to the amount of a sufficient sum of money to purchase said provisions together with the damages for such neglect or neglects." There were of course some delinquents in the payment of this extraordinary tax of money and provisions, but generally they were promptly brought in. To facilitate their delivery three persons were ap- pointed a committee to receive the provisions from the inhabitants, each of whom should store whatever he received at his own house except in one in- stance. These persons were Ichabod Cross, Bliss Willoughby, and Freegift Cole, the latter to store whatever provisions he should receive at the house of Parker Cole.
The events of the year 1782, so far as the town of Shaftsbury was con- cerned, were important only from the fact that the governor and council held a meeting then at the house of Captain David Galusha, commencing on March 7th and continuing but a few days. The most important event of this meeting was the return of Jonas Fay and Ira Allen, the agents of Vermont, who had been sent to represent the interests of the people of the State in their proceedings relative to admission to the United States. These worthy per- sons made their report to the assembled council at the home of David Galu- sha on the 8th of March, 1782. This was the only meeting of any of the representative bodies of the State in this town of which there appears any au- thentic record except, possibly, the meeting of the land commissioners, of which body Major Gideon Olin was chairman, and which meeting was held March 15, 1788. Turning again, and but briefly, to the proceedings of the freemen of the town in 1782, it is found that at one of their meetings it was voted to choose a committe of three, Gideon Olin, David Galusha, and Nathan Leon- ard, "to inform his excellency of the forwardness of this town in raising his cota (quota) of provisions the last year and the disadvantages which we seem to labor under in the present year of collecting our cota on account of the cur- rent report that so great a number of other towns which did the last year so much neglect to collect their cota. And said commissioners make report to the selectmen of this town."
No further events of particular importance occurred in Shaftsbury or the adjoining towns during the continuance of the war, and when that was closed by the final treaty of peace, and even before, the militia on the frontier were permitted to return to their homes and turn their attention to the improve-
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
ment and cultivation of their farms and lands which had been neglected dur- ing the period of contention. In the negotiations that were then being carried on looking to admission to the Union of States, the people of the town were deeply interested, but their action was mainly through discussions of the ques- tions of the day with their fellow mien.
It is possible that some of the older residents of the town have a traditional remembrance of what is known in history as "Shay's Rebellion in Massachu setts," and the prominence that was given to Shaftsbury in connection with that insurrection. Without explaining the nature or cause of that disturbance, for it did not affect the people of this region directly, mention only will be made of the incident that occurred in Shaftsbury, and that as stated in the Vermont Gazette of May 7, 1787:
" Messrs. Printers .- As many unfavorable allegations have been spread abroad to injure the good people of Vermont, relative to their harboring the insurgents from Massachusetts, the following transaction may serve to show our disposition not to encourage factious and rebellious fugitives who have fled from justice : On Monday se'n night (April 30), about one hundred of the rebels from Massachusetts, who fled from justice, met at Captain Galusha's in Shaftsbury, in convention, to agree on measures for continuing their opposi- tion to that government. The authority of Shaftsbury, being alarmed at such an illegal collection, immediately met and demanded of the insurgents the oc- casion of their meeting. A committee consisting of a Colonel Smith, (who was appointed their president) and four others, were chosen to make answer to this demand which was, 'that they were driven from their country, and had convened with a view of concerting measures whereby they might return and enjoy their properties;' and on being duly questioned they produced two let- ters, one from Shay and one from another of their principals, encouraging them to hold out and be spirited in their opposition for a few weeks longer and they might be assured of relief. Judge (Gideon) Olin, who acted as principal on the part of the authority, conducted with a spirit truly patriot and noble. He informed them that if they were met for the purpose of petitioning the le- gal authority of Massachusetts for pardon and leave to return that their pro- ceedings would be deemed highly commendable, but if their views were hostile and their business was to concert plans for committing depredations and con- tinuing their opposition to that government they must disperse immediately. for no such unlawful assembly would be allowed in Vermont Colonel Smith answered that the hope of any advantage by petitioning was at an end. The sheriff of the county (Jonas Galusha) who had been previously notified, was present for the purpose of dispersing them in case they refused to withdraw. The rebels plead for leave to be by themselves for a few minutes which was granted, after which they dispersed, and proceeded immediately to White Creek, in the State of New York, where we have understood there was a con-
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TOWN OF SHAFTSBURY.
. derable body collected, who sat in convention from day to day without op- position."
This was the last connection in which the town of Shaftsbury was promi- nently mentioned. At that time and for many years thereafter it was second in point of population in the county, and its farming classes, even to this day, have been acknowledged to be as thrifty, progressive and rich as can be found anywhere in the section. It is something remarkable that a township situated in the county as this is should have acquired a population in 1791 of two thou- sand persons; and another singular coincidence is that from that to the pres- ent time the aggregate population has never varied more than one hundred and sixty, either above or below the figures of 1791. The greatest population was reached in 1870 as shown by the census of that year, while the least number was found in 1840, there then being 1,835 inhabitants. And there has been dur- ing this hundred years or so but little floating or transient population, and this in spite of the fact that Shaftsbury has had as many milling industries as almost any town in the county. The older residents of the town will easily remember when it was impossible to travel a mile along any of the water-ways of this locality without finding a mill of some sort, generally a saw-mill, in full opera- tion; but these have nearly all gone, and scarcely any are to be found; and with them has also gone the greater part of the workable timber with which the town was formerly abundantly supplied. The milling industry is generally un- derstood to bring to any locality a large transient population, who, when the timber is exhausted, go to other parts ; but in this town the majority of the mills have been owned and operated by residents, and that industry made aux- iliary to agriculture, or at least carried on in connection with it.
From the time that Vermont was admitted to the Union until the breaking out of the War of 1812, the peaceful arts of the people of this town remained undisturbed, and when that war came the people were in a prosperous condi- tion and well able to meet any demand that was made upon them for men and means. The sentiment of the people during and prior to that struggle was, in this community as in every other, divided, and the champions of "war" and the advocates of "peace" were earnest in their respective causes. At the April election in 1813 the main issue seemed to be confined to the contest over the councilors of the State, the nominees on the one side being called the " peace ticket," while opposed was the "war ticket." The result of that election in Shaftsbury showed eighty-three for the former and one hundred and fifty-three for the latter. Thus was the loyalty of the town shown during the second war with Great Britain ; and that notwithstanding the fact that the Bennington News-Letter, the Federalist's organ in the county, estimated that the expense to the town for that year's campaign would amount to the gross sum of $1, 838.
The loyalty of the town was again tried and proved during the disastrous war of 1861 and 1865, commonly known as the War of the Rebellion. The
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
roster of the town's soldiery in that war is unnecessary here, being found in t! regimental and company rosters in the military chapter, but it is not out; place to state that Shaftsbury was required to furnish for the service one lun- dred and forty-two men, while in fact it did provide and send five more than that number, or an aggregate of one hundred and forty-seven.
The principal business and trading point of Shaftsbury lies in the south port of the township and is known by the name of South Shaftsbury. The village, if such it may be termed, for it has no corporate existence, is a post station on the line of the Bennington and Rutland Railroad, and has a population of per- haps two hundred and fifty persons. But this population is much scattered, the houses reaching from the vicinity of the Eagle Square Company's works up the hill to the high ground. The Square Company have their buildings sonk. rods below the railroad station and on a level with the tracks in order to facili- tate the shipment of their products, while the village proper occupies the high ground further to the east, and at the latter place the mercantile business of the village is transacted. But to take from South Shaftsbury the industry known as the Eagle Square Manufacturing Company would reduce the place to the standard of the average country cross-roads settlement.
The immense business that is now carried on under the name of the above corporation had its inception in a little industry founded by Silas Hawes, who soon after the close of the War of 1812 took the old and worn out steel saws from the many mills of the town and vicinity and began forging them into join- ers' squares. Being quite successful from the outset Mr. Ilawes procured a pat- ent to protect his product and process. Therefore it is to the credit of this town that here lived and operated the first manufacturer of steel squares in the United States if not in the world. Stephen Whipple was the blacksmith of the village, and in his shop (now William H. Whipple's grist-mill) was a trip-hammer operated by water- power. On the anvil and with Whipple's hammer these squares were worked into proper forms. When finished they were supplied to the numerous peddlers who traveled the country, and thus found their way to ready markets, bringing a retail price of some six or seven dollars which would now seem to be a fabulous suni for that commodity. Factories were soon built in other localities but all of them for a time at least under the Hawes patent, as that brand was found stamped on their manufactures.
Mr. Hawes went out of the business about 1828, after which George Briggs and David Allen continued the manufacture. Others were connected with the industry from time to time, and material improvements were made in the ma- chinery used in making and finishing the squares. Among those who had to do with developing and perfecting the machinery was Judge D. J. George, and it was he who founded the Eagle Square Company, and became its president at the time of its incorporation in 1864. For five years before the company was incorporated the business was carried on under the name of the " Eagle
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TOWN OF SHAFTSBURY.
. mare Company," but as a partnership; and this partnership concern also added to the manufactures that of bedsteads, and this latter is now the leading product of the establishment. The department devoted to the manufacturing of sash and doors was added permanently in 1877, although something had been done in that line before.
The capital stock of the Eagle Square Company that formed in 1864 by incorporation was $30,000, but when the name was changed and the Eagle Square Manufacturing Company was brought into existence the stock was in- creased to $60,000. The company owns large tracts of timber land in various sections, and on these they have mills for sawing into proper sizes for work. In addition to this large quantities of timber and lumber are purchased from other mill owners. The works of the company at South Shaftsbury include numer- ous buildings, brick, stone and frame, and these with their yards cover an area of some five or six acres. Better than that steady employment is furnished to about eighty men, while some twenty or twenty- five men are also employed by the company in cutting and getting out materials at the saw-mills.
The manufacture of bedsteds is the chief occupation of the company at the present time, there being more men employed in this department than any other, and the annual production amounting to thirty or thirty-five thousand. Only about twenty men are employed in the square department. The present officers of the company are Edward C. Gale, president; William C. Mattison, vice-president ; Frederick L. Mattison secretary and treasurer. The company is now doing a large and successful business.
Aside from the small village of South Shaftsbury the only other hamlet worth mention as such is that known as Shaftsbury Center, which, as its name indicates, occupies a position in the central part of the township. Its business interests are exceedingly small, and but three public buildings are or have been situated here- the old town hall, the Baptist Church and a school-house.
In the matter of church societies and edifices the township of Shaftsbury has been as well supplied as any in the county similarly situated and condi- tioned, and in this connection the town has another prominent first event-the founding of the first Baptist Church society between the Green Mountains and the Hudson River; in fact the first Baptist Church in Vermont. The First Shaftsbury, or as it was otherwise called the West Church, was constituted in 1768. The name West Church was given it from its location in the west part of the town, but it was in fact in the southwest part, not more than a mile from the Bennington town line, and near North Bennington. The Second or East Church of the Baptists was constituted in 1780; the third in 1781, and the fourth in 1788. One of the first preachers of the Baptist Association in Shafts- bury was Rev. Caleb Blood, who removed from the town in 1807 and went to Boston. Isaiah Mattison was a minister of the association, and officiated in the town from 1804 until 1844. The only church that now remains to the Baptist
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HISTORY OF BENNINGTON COUNTY.
people of the town is that at Shaftsbury Center, which has been used by . society since 1844. In 1780 the Shaftsbury Baptist Association was formed the town. This was the first in the State, although others were formed afterward. The Second Baptist Church lost its existence in 1839, and the ti received many of its members. This is the church of that denomination : survived all the others, and here it was that Rev. Caleb Blood officiated. O !! who preached there at an early day were Isaiah Mattison, Elim Galusha, S ... uel Savory, Daniel Tinkham, Cyrus W. Hodges, Warcham Walker, Harn .. Ellis, J. W. Sawyer, Israel Keech, Lansing Bailey, and Arthur Day. The pre- ent pastor is Rev. G. R Wilkins.
In the village of South Shaftsbury, near the " four corners," stands a stone building that was erected by the people of the vicinity who had accepted ti ... teachings of Universalism. The church was built in 1836. The society was not very long-lived, and the building has not been used for Universalist ser- vices in many years, but is opened occasionally for election purposes or the trial of some important law suit.
The best attended religious services of the township are those held at the Methodist Episcopal church at South Shaftsbury, this society having been or- ganized in 1872, by Rev. S. W. Clemons. So far as membership is concerned, the Baptists, perhaps, have the lead in the township, but the Methodist So- ciety is rapidly increasing. The present pastor is Rev. Hitchcock.
'The records of the earliest town meetings of the freemen of Shaftsbury appear to have become lost, possibly were not preserved, but the other records are as well kept and intelligible as can be found in any town in the county. The first deed in the town is found to have been recorded in 1779, by Thomas - Mattison, and that officer's name thereafter appears as clerk up to 1784. In the latter year, by a warning dated March 4, Gideon Olin, Bliss Willoughby. and Charles Spencer, selectmen of the town, a freeman's meeting was assem- bled and the following officers chosen : Moderator, Bliss Willoughby ; town clerk, Jacob Galusha; selectmen, Bliss Willoughby, Major Gideon Olin, Thomas Mattison, Captain Amos Huntington, and David Mattison ; constables, Nathan Wheeler and Lemuel Bottom ; listers, Ebenezer Willoughby, Samuel House. Nathan Wheeler, and Lemuel Bottom ; listers, Ebenezer Willoughby, Samuel House. Nathan Wheeler, and Jacob Galusha; town treasurer, Nathan Hunt- ington. The representative of the town in the General Assembly, elected in the fall of this same year, was Major Gideon Olin.
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