USA > Vermont > Addison County > Bristol > History of Bristol, Vermont (1762-1940) > Part 4
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The order of American Legion, Post Number 19, was organized in Bristol soon after the World War with Dr. Williamson as Commander. Meetings were first held in the Town Hall, then in the old Grange Hall on Garfield Street. There was very little interest shown for some years and the charter was surrendered. They reorganized about five years later and now, in 1940, have 43 members. The post ineludes veterans from Lincoln as well as from Bristol. Meetings are now held every two weeks at the Community House. The present officers are: Commander, Lyle Churchill; 1st Vice Commander, John Parent; 2nd Vice Commander, Irving Warburton; See- retary and Treasurer, Melwood Shephard.
The American Legion Auxiliary was also formed, functioned a short time and then gave up its charter. The Auxiliary reorganized in 1935 and now has a membership of 29. The present officers are: President, Mrs. Bernard Hayes; Secretary, Mrs. Russell Lowell; Treasurer, Mrs. Mel- wood Shephard.
BRISTOL HERALD
Bristol was without a paper published in town until 1879. In the spring of that year, Myron F. Wilson who had worked for the Burlington Free Press and who wanted a paper of his own, came to Bristol with his three sons, Myron W., James and Ben, at the direction of Solon Burroughs of Vergennes. They were well pleased with the reception given them and set up their hand press in rooms over Bush and Patterson's store where the first Bristol Herald was printed in May, 1879. A fourth son, Preston K., who had been working in Minnesota soon joined the staff.
The second Herald office was in the Drake-Farr block and the third and last location is its present one on South Street. The paper was always printed under the firm name of Wilson Brothers but before it had reached its 50th anniversary Ben and P. K. Wilson had died and James' son, Donald, had entered the firm. In the late spring of 1929 the Herald was sold to Ralph Merritt, editor of the Middlebury Register, and the two papers were published in Middlebury by the Middlebury Register and Bristol Herald Company, Inc. In 1934 the Brandon Union was joined with these two and the publishing company is now known as the Otter Valley Press. The present editor of the three papers is Wilder Foote of Middlebury. The Herald Office in Bristol is kept open for job printing and for receiving local news. Mrs. J. C. Norton is in charge.
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The only one of the Wilson Brothers surviving is James. Myron W. died in 1930 and just before his death Dr. E. F. Johnstone wrote this poem in his honor:
Myron at eighty, still one of the boys, Loved and respected by sinner and saint, Sharing their sorrow as well as their joys Fighting the battle without a complaint. Cheerful and human, as well as humane, Always believing that right must prevail Laughing alike in the sunshine and rain Always with those who are blazing the trail.
Prophet and patriarch, teacher and sage, Friend and philosopher, always serene Calm and resourceful while multitudes rage Peacemaking general, standing between. Say it today, do not wait till tomorrow Not in a whisper subdued, but a shout Ever in sorrow and ever in gladness Myron we love you, you faithful old scout.
In 1890, three years before his death feeling that he did not have long to live, Myron F., the founder of the "Bristol Herald," eonccived the idea of utilizing the iron areh from the 125 year old Tuff hand press which he had used for so many years as a base for the marble headstone set on the Wilson lot in Greenwood Cemetery. This unique idea of Mr. Wilson's received notiee in the "Newspaper News," printed in Sydney, Australia, a clipping from which was sent to the Otter Valley Press by L. H. Shipman, a former resident of Vermont.
HOLLEY HALL
It is apparent that the residents of Bristol found the town room in the school building unsatisfactory and at a special meeting May 24, 1882, they voted to sell the town room and all its appointments to the school district for $480.00. March 6, 1883, at the annual meeting it was voted to appoint a committee of three to investigate the matter of building a town hall. Their report, which was to have been given in May, was not given until July. At the meeting at that time Mrs. Cornelia Holley Smith, daughter of Winter Holley and granddaughter of Robert Holley who settled in Bristol in 1795, offered to give the town the land on which her father's store had stood, providing that they would build a town hall upon that site within the next three ycars. The offer was accepted, the building was completed in September, 1884, and was named Holley Hall after Mrs. Smith's father. It is a brick building with a cloek in the belfry. The big room inside where town meetings are held has a seating capacity of 500. For many years it was rented to churches and various organizations when-
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HISTORY OF BRISTOL, VERMONT
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Holley. Hall
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Holley Hall And Drake-Farr Block
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ever a large auditorium was needed. Until 1930 when the school auditorium and gymnasium was built it was rented to the school for all public gather- ings and had served for eight years as a place for basketball practice and games. From about 1910 to 1917 Mr. Flagg of Brandon rented the hall one or two nights a week for moving pictures and in 1930 sound equipment was installed for talking pictures which were shown here for two years. Until 1933 rentals showed a favorable margin over running expenses but now there are comparatively few rentals. In 1929 two rooms were finished off in the basement for the town clerk's office and a vault was made to hold the town records. A cement walk on the south and east side of the hall was laid at this time.
COLONIAL THEATER
The Colonial Theater was built in 1916 by George Farr and W. H. Cardell and pictures were shown there regularly until 1930. At this time sound equipment was installed in Holley Hall which was rented for two years by Ernest and John Sherwin who showed pictures there for that period. In 1932 John Sherwin moved to the Colonial and has shown pictures there ever since. In 1940 the theater was remodeled and is now known as the New Colonial. Pictures of very good quality are shown here nightly, including Sundays.
DRAKE-FARR BLOCK
In 1892 the Drake-Farr block was extended from the E. S. and S. D. Farr store to South Street. This necessitated the moving of the Gale store, formerly occupied by N. F. Dunshee and Willis Peake, which stood on the corner of Main and South Streets. This was moved to the place now occupied by Varney's Funeral Parlors and the house which had stood there was moved to some location on West Street. The postoffice was installed in the new block in 1898 and for a time the Bristol Herald had its rooms in the basement. In 1914 the new part of the Drake-Farr block was destroyed by fire and the original Farr store was badly damaged. The postoffice was moved to the Grange Hall on Garfield Strect. The Farr store was soon rebuilt and in 1916 N. Lathrop and Son bought the corner lot and built the block which now bears their name and where the postoffice is now situated. The telephone exchange is on the upper floor of the Lathrop block. The space between the old Farr store, where the Tomasis now have a fruit store and ice cream parlor, and the postoffice has remained vacant.
VERGENNE-BRISTOL PLANK ROAD
In 1850 a group of Vergennes and Bristol citizens formed a company for the purpose of building a plank road from Bristol to Vergennes. This company, known as the Vergennes and Bristol Plank Road Company was composed of Datus Gaige, Luman Munson, Solon Burroughs, Samuel Holley,
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Harvey Munsill, Elias Bottum, William White, Samuel Strong, William Parker, Samuel Morgan, William Pope, William Worth 2nd, John Roberts, Benjamin Ferris, Mosely Hall, Carlton Stevens, Henry Spaulding and Hiram Adams. The franchise was granted them November 9, 1850, and they began the construction of the road at once. This road started west from North Street just above the place where the depot was later loeated and continued past what is now the Catholic Cemetery and the Wright Ferguson corner north of New Haven Street, from which it followed an almost straight line to Vergennes, coming out on the road a little east of the eity, a distance of approximately seven miles. The planks and sleepers in this road were made from virgin pine. Nine years later the eompany was released from all obligation to keep the road planked and was allowed to repair the road with earth and gravel in the usual manner of repairing turnpikes. It is evident that the planks had all worn out in that space of nine years and the toll did not pay for the upkeep of the dirt road so in 1861 the company was allowed to surrender the charter and the turnpike. Mr. Frederiek Wood in "Turnpikes of New England" says that the very few plank roads in New England were all located in Connecticut and Ver- mont, with the exeeption of one in Massachusetts.
In 1855 the Vermont Legislature granted a charter to a company planning to construet a toll road from Bristol to Huntington. In 1860 a company was ineorporated to establish a turnpike from Bristol to Fayston. No further record of these two roads is available so it seems evident that for some reason the projeets were abandoned.
BRISTOL RAILROAD
The Bristol Herald, soon after its establishment, began a vigorous campaign for a railroad which should connect Bristol with the Rutland Railroad. Several meetings were held in the early eighties to discuss the subject, after which J. J. Ridley introduced a bill in the legislature incor- porating the Bristol Railroad Company. In 1890 a survey was made of tlie route and on November 11, 1890, a special town meeting was held and six men were authorized to issue $15,000 worth of bonds to aid in the construction of the road. Work was begun on the road bed in 1890, but much trouble was experienced with those in charge of the work and for a few months all activity ceased. Apparently the plan was doomed to failure, but it was taken up again by P. W. Clement who took charge of the project and finished it in January, 1892. The first train ran from Bristol to New Haven Junction, January 5, 1892, in charge of R. S. Smith who was superintendent of the road.
One amusing incident is gleaned from the Bristol Herald's account of the first trip, which records the fact that it took only twenty-five minutes to make the trip to the Junetion but it required thirty minutes to return because the up-grade at Tueker's Crossing was too much for the engine
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Bristol Depot Bristol, Ve.
Bristol Depot
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BRISTOL
BRISTOL RAIL RALO
Bristol Railroad
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which was soon replaced by a new and more powerful one. The new engine, gilt trimmed, bore the inscription "Bristol Railroad, No. 1" in bold letters and was a two-way one with a cow catcher at each end.
In 1893 a depot was built at Bristol and like everything connected with the railroad no expense was spared in its construction for the road was built for permanency. Two stops were made between Bristol and the Junction, at Tucker's Crossing and New Haven Village where simple shelters were erected. A third shelter was erected at Hubbard's Crossing where stops were madc.
For a few years the Bristol Railroad was very successful but its passenger service declined as the use of automobiles increased and in its last years the railroad depended almost entirely on its freight service. When the manufacturing in Bristol began to decline the road became a liability and was discontinued in 1930.
This affected the transportation of two vital necessities, coal and milk. The railroad was the medium through which P. W. Clement of Rutland had furnished coal to Bristol. After the road was discontinued in 1930 the coal business was purchased by C. E. Lathrop and Glen Jack- man, who are still operating it under the name of the Jackman Coal & Coke Co. The Whiting milk plant continued to operate for a short time after the road was closed, sending the milk to Rutland by truck, but it soon closed the Bristol plant.
In 1930 the Public Service Commission granted permission to V. I. Patnodc to operate a bus between Bristol and New Haven Junction for the transportation of passengers, mail and freight. At the present time there is no regular passenger service but Mr. Patnode maintains a taxi service and the mail and freight is transported by Kenneth Hunt who meets all trains at the New Haven station.
The memory of the Bristol Railroad brings with it the memory of Levi Bates, one of Bristol's most loyal citizens. He was connected with the railroad for twenty-eight of its thirty-eight years of service, first as con- ductor and later as station agent.
The names of 2 other men who labored faithfully for the Bristol Railroad come to mind-Ralph Dennis who loyally served the Railroad for 25 years as superintendent and Fred LaParl, engineer for about 15 years.
ELECTRIC LIGHTS
(Compiled by Mrs. Durfee and Mrs. Estes)
The 1890's proved a successful decade for Bristol. The first train ran fron Bristol to New Haven Junction in January, 1892, and on the evening of December 23, that same year, the switch was thrown providing the stores and hotels of Bristol with their first electric lights. Four days
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later a 1200 eandle power are light was installed between the Bristol House and Holley Hall.
The first eleetrie plant was located about 30 feet above the second Rocky Dale bridge and had a fall of only 25 feet. The station was equipped with the latest model apparatus by the General Electric Company of Boston and was considered one of the best plants in the state at the time. The dam was built by E. B. Palmer and the penstoek eonstrueted by E. M. Smith who also installed the wheels. The plant was owned by Mr. Barrett of Rutland and T. S. Drake of Bristol and operated for nearly five years by George Randall. The life of the plant was short for it burned in 1897.
A new plant was built adjacent to the highway near the upper covered bridge and was taken in May, 1897, by W. N. Hughes who operated it until 1912. Mr. Hughes not only built the second plant but also the present one now in use and superintended building the tube. The present plant has a fall of 100 feet. In 1905 the Hortonia Power Company of Lake Dun- more bought the Plant from Barrett and Drake and later Edward Blaek- well beeame manager. The Bristol line became connected with the Hor- tonia lines and remained thus until the plant was sold to the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation, with headquarters in Rutland, in 1926.
Improvements in the present plant have been made several times and it is now run semi-automatieally. Mr. D. W. Durfee has had eharge of the plant sinee 1927. During the hurricane of September, 1938, the dam was almost entirely washed away. In order to repair the damage land was purchased by the Central Vermont Corp. and the main works changed from the south to the north side of the river.
There has been one fatality eonneeted with the existence of the eleetrie plant, the death of Mr. Tart in 1901. He was cleaning ice from one of the raeks in the dam when he was swept into the high water. His body was discovered a few days later down the river.
LAWRENCE MEMORIAL LIBRARY
The Bristol library was started January 20, 1893, when a group of public spirited citizens met and formed the Bristol Library Association. Only one of the original members survives, Mrs. Elizabeth Rider. The library was opened in one room over the Patterson store in August, 1893. The library was financed by membership fees of $2.00, yearly tickets of $1.00, private contributions and publie entertainments. A rental collection was also kept which aided in financing the projeet.
The first action taken in town meeting in regard to a library was in March, 1901, when $50 was appropriated to help establish a public library. The appropriations were inereased to $200 in 1902 and 1903. In March, 1902, the Bristol Library Association turned over its property, which
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included 1095 books and a large collection of magazines to the town and tlic Bristol Public Library was established.
At the annual town meeting in 1910 the townspeople voted to accept the offer of W. A. Lawrence to erect a library building and present it to the town. At the same meeting $800 was appropriated for the use of the library that year. The building was completed and dedicated January 17, 1911. It was given in memory of Mrs. Lockie Partch Lawrence, first wife of Mr. Lawrence, and of his second wife, Mrs. Minnic Pect Lawrence, both of whom had been faithful workers in the Library Association. Mr. Lawrence, a man of considerable means and a dealer in farm machinery, left to the town a small real estate development containing four tenement houses, known as Lawrence Lane, to help finance the library which has been known since 1911 as the Lawrence Memorial Library. The library is now supported by rents from these tenements, funds and bequests from private individuals, yearly gifts from local organizations and appropria- tions from the town at annual meetings, varying from $800 to $1000. The library which now contains over 7000 volumes is open every afternoon and evening except Fridays and Sundays. Mrs. Eugenia D. Irish is the present librarian.
MUNSILL HOSE CO.
The hose company was started in the same year that the library was, 1893. The Rock Springs Water Company gave the first equipment which consisted of a hose cart and 700 feet of hose. Due to the generosity of the water company, of which Mr. Munsill was the chief stockholder, the com- pany was named the N. H. Munsill Hose Co. and the by-laws were drawn up by Mr. Munsill and have always been strictly followed. One of these by-laws is that the membership must remain between 20 and 45. The hose house was built in 1898.
The company has rendered faithful service to the village for 47 years and in 1934 it was voted in a village meeting to allow some of the cquip- ment to go outside of the village to aid in fire-fighting. New equipment was purchased by the company in 1937 which gives adequate protection for present needs. The present fire chief is A. J. Michaud and the clerk of the company is Chester Jacobs.
The business section on the north side of Main Street from the post office, which was then located on the side now occupied by the Tomasi fruit store, to and including the E. C. Dike store was destroyed by fire in 1898. The next distastrous fire occured in 1914 when the Drakc-Farr block was nearly all destroyed.
In 1924 Bristol suffered the worst fire in its history when Kilbourn's grist mill and Kate Stewart's barn were completely destroyed and other buildings on the south side of Main Street including Quinlan and Wright's grocery, the Rexall Drug Store, the bank, E. W. Varney's funcral parlors
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and Palmer and Day's store was so badly damaged that they had to be prac- tieally rebuilt. Mr. Varncy moved to his present location on South Street in what was formerly the Gale store. The rooms occupied by the G. A. R., the Women's Relief Corps and the Business Men's Association above these stores were also damaged and the records of these organizations were completely destroyed. It was at this time that the Business Men's Assoeia- tion reorganized and became the Chamber of Commerce. The tragedy of this fire is that much of it might have beeen prevented if an adequate fire alarm had been in use. It occurred in the middle of the night and the alarm, which was only a bell hung in the hose house, failed to awaken many of the fire fighting squad as the wind carried the sound in the wrong direction. Shortly after this an electrically controlled siren was installed which can be heard for a distance of more than five miles and is not affected by the direction of the wind. It is blown automatically at six o'eloek every night to prove that it is in working order.
The O'Neill bloek, a very old landmark, was destroyed by fire in 1929. Although this was a very good building at the time of its construction it had outlived its usefulness at the time of its burning. It was first used as a hotel, the last landlord being Daniel Willard. It was purchased by Patriek O'Neill about 1850 and remodeled to form a business bloek. At the time of the fire Dewey Kemp's restaurant and Dan Thomas' store were located here. The site is now occupied by the Socony filling station which is set baek mueh farther from the street to allow a driveway for cars.
TELEPHONE SYSTEM
In 1895 the publie telephone system was installed. The following extract is from the October 17, 1895, issue of the Bristol Herald:
"We wish to eall your attention to an enterprise that is having a healthy growth in Bristol and vicinity, namely the Bristol Telephone Ex- change. The eentral is at Dr. Bisbee's drug store. The Doctor and his efficient clerk, Mr. Kingman, are very painstaking and render the best of service." We append a list of subscribers, in regular order: Dr. Bisbee, residence Dr. Prime, office South Side Drug Store
A. L. Cain & Co., offiee
B. C. Sargent, grocery and market
Dr. Edmunds, residence Dr. Norton, residence Bristol Railroad Co. Depot
A. E. Manum, residenee
Q. E. Grover, Park livery Bristol Manufacturing Co., office Bristol House Electric Light Station
Stewart and Hier, grocery and market
E. B. Palmer, residenee
Howard Clark, residence
Sargent and Clark, grocery, West Lineoln
Van Ness Dearborn, residence
Dr. Dodge, residence and office, Lineoln
Lineoln Lumber Co., Lineoln
E. M. Whitney, general store, So. Lineoln
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North Street Showing Corner Of Park At Left
West Street Looking Toward Main
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A. E. Evarts, residence John Orvis, residence, So. Starksboro E. B. Patterson, grocery D. H. Orvis, general store and post office.
F. N. Hill, feed store
The telephone exchange was later moved to the South Side Drug Store. In February, 1911 the Herald told its readers that W. W. Wilson of the telephone exchange had issued cards with the name and number of each subscriber. Hereafter all would be called by number. From this small beginning has grown three central offices, Bristol, Charlotte and Richmond, with service covering part, and in most cases all, of eleven towns and with between eight and nine hundred subscribers. The present tele- phone office is upstairs in the post office block and it employs four oper- ators. The line was first known as the Hanks and Gillette line, from its builders, Mr. W. E. Hanks and a Mr. Gillette. Later it became known as the Western Telephone and Telegraph Company. It is now under the man- agement of F. H. Chessmore of Richmond. While connecting with the New England Telephone & Telegraph Company, it is owned independently.
ADDITIONS AND IMPROVEMENTS IN BRISTOL-1897
1897 was a year of construction and improvement for Bristol. That year the town voted that part of the highway tax be used for building and maintaining sidewalks. Ezra Smart was in charge of the construction and Charles Corcy of purchasing the material for these first sidewalks which were of concrete. They were laid in front of the residences of Dr. A. M. Norton and Mr. C. K. Hodges.
In addition to the two factories previously mentioned, the condensery and A. L. Cain's Novelty Works, which were established in 1897 many buildings were remodeled and additions built. W. A. Lawrence built his new house at the corner of Spring and North Streets and had the old house which he had occupied for many years moved to Spring Street. The Lawrence house, due to its size, was leased by A. J. Choquet when he came to Bristol about 1930 and established his "Healthatorium" which he maintained here for approximately five years. The house is now owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. John Cragen.
FIRST NATIONAL BANK OF BRISTOL
The first bank in Bristol failed after being in operation only two years. S. M. Dorr's Sons of Rutland began their banking business in 1891 and closed the bank in 1893.
The First National Bank of Bristol was chartered in May, 1902. Among the officers and directors were Chase Bush, E. B. Patterson, W. E. Hanks, Ralph Denio, and F. R. Dickerman. In 1924, at the time of the big fire which destroyed so many buildings on the south side of Main
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Street, the bank building was burned and the following year the present brick structure was erected. 'The present officers and directors are F. R. Dickerman, C. E. Lathrop, R. C. Brown, A. E. Farr, Dr. H. L. William- son, Harlan Palmer, E. W. Varncy, R. C. Sweet and R. C. Martin.
WATER SYSTEM
Bristol village was incorporated in 1903. One major value of incor- poration was that the people of the village could now vote for an adequate water system to replace or supplement the Rock Springs system which had been established during the decade 1880-90. This system, better known as the Munsill system because N. H. Munsill was the leading stockholder, took its first supply of water from a spring on Hogsback mountain. Later the Rock Springs company laid a line from a spring back of Bristol Pond to the village and still later supplemented this by obtaining water from the spring in the Basin. At first this water was piped into tubs near the strect, one tub serving two families, but after the Basin Spring was added to the supply, water was pumped into the houses. At the time of incorp- oration this system failed to supply the needs of the whole village and by 1905 plans were under way to bring water from springs at the base of Mt. Abraham in Lincoln to a reservoir on Hogsback and the present gravity system was thus established. Some time after this the Munsill system ceased to operate, but the spring in the Basin came into use again in the winter of 1933-34 when part of the water mains in the village froze and a pump was installed there to pump water into the mains which were not frozen and to prevent a water faminc. At a village meeting in 1934 it was voted to buy the pump and equipment and install it permanently to be ready for emergencies.
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