USA > Vermont > Addison County > Bristol > History of Bristol, Vermont, 1762-1959, 2nd ed. > Part 2
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Other interesting scenes were the appearance of Colonel N. F. Dunshee, nearly 90 years old, who as a young boy had joined the Califor- nia Gold Rush in 1849, and the re-enactment of the first wedding in town when Samuel Brooks took for his bride an Indian maiden, Betsy Rora- paugh.
The last historical incident to be shown was that of planting trees to beautify the streets which had been done by Harvey Munsill and his niece, Rose Moore.
The pageant was closed by a minuet and grand ensemble in which about 150 persons participated, dressed in old-fashioned clothes and Indian costumes. The pageant was repeated the evening of August 26 and was attended by a large audience as it had been the previous even- ing.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing in Bristol - Manufacturing in Bristol, as in any newly settled township, was first limited to the wants of the inhabitants so that the first mills to appear were sawmills, gristmills, and forges. The first gristmill of which there is a record is a gristmill which was built in 1792 by three brothers, John, William and James O'Brien. This mill was built in the southern part of the town on the brook which now bears their name. The first sawmill was built by Amos Scott in 1791. Forges were built in various parts of town for the making of bar iron, the ore being brought from the Monkton ore bed and from Crown Point, New York, the latter being a heavier ore which was combined with the Monk- ton ore in smelting. The bar iron thus made was used in making plow shares, crowbars, cart and wagon tires and many other tools and neces- sities. Some of the forges made more bar iron than was used in Bristol, and neighboring towns were supplied with the product.
There was an iron mine in the western part of the town. Rowland Robinson in his book, "Three Rivers," mentions this mine and says that
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ore was taken from it to make the cannon balls used by the American fleet in the Battle of Lake Champlain.
Eight forges in all were built, and the history of the one built in 1802 by Henry Franklin, Captain Gurdon Munsill, John Arnold and Obadiah Beal is so interesting that we quote an account of it from Harvey Munsill's history: "This forge did a good and profitable business for about seven years until the month of June, 1809, when it was burnt. This forge after it was rebuilt did a good, profitable business for seven years and then in the month of June, 1816, was again burnt. At this time the forge was owned by several different persons. It was again rebuilt by its owners very soon after its destruction the second time and continued to do a very large business for seven years more when again in the month of June, 1823, it was for the third time entirely con- sumed by fire. But not discouraged the owners again rebuilt the forge, and as before, continued to do a good, profitable business for about seven years, when on the 26th day of July, 1830, it was carried off by the great and memorable flood, leaving scarcely a vestige of the same, or of the dam across the river to mark the place where it once stood ... The forge has not been rebuilt since the great freshet ... "
Another gristmill, built of stone in 1818, in the east part of the vil- lage, was one of the four buildings which formed the foundation of the original Drake, Smith & Company factory. The upper part of the stone mill was used as a pill box factory. Between 100 and 200 cords of white birch were used annually in manufacturing these boxes, and several people were employed here. A sawmill built sometime before 1836 form- ed the easterly boundary of the gristmill and shortly after that, a tan- bark mill was built close by. About 1845 the fourth building, a carding mill, was added to this group by Israel Eddy who later passed it on to his son-in-law, Sam Hasseltine, who abandoned the mill about 1880, and the machinery was then moved to Hinesburg. In the meantime, Solomon Drake, owner of both the gristmill and the tan-bark mill, sold the former but retained control of the tannery which he left to his son-in-law, Horace Farr. As late as 1865 leather was tanned in the mill, and a cobbler and harness shop was operated in the Farr house on East Street, now occupied by Charles Stanton. In 1880 the carding mill building was sold to A. J. Eastman who manufactured butter tubs there for five years. He then sold to E. W. Smith and T. S. Drake, who formed the original partner- ship of Drake & Smith for the manufacture of beekeepers' supplies and boxes. They also bought the business which A. E. Manum had establish- ed for the manufacture of beekeepers' supplies. In the early '80's Drake & Smith acquired the rights of the gristmill, sawmill, and tan-bark mill, thus consolidating the four factories in one plant. About 1894 Charles Mc- Gee purchased several shares in the business and in 1935, in company with his son-in-law, Richard Smith, and grandson, Clement Smith, he bought the remaining shares from the heirs of E. W. Smith. The prop- erty for the first time came under the control of one family. After the death of Richard Smith and Mr. McGee, the plant was operated by Mrs. Richard Smith. A thriving business was done in the manufacture of wood- en boxes, silos, water tubs, door frames and sashes to order. The mill was closed down in June 1946, but reopened in February, 1947, with John Cragen, Sr., as owner. In June 1951 the mill was sold to L. Stearns Gay, Jr. of Ludlow, Vermont. In December, 1952, manufacturing was dis- continued at this location, and eventually, in 1953, the plant on the New
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Haven River was dismantled.
In 1862 Howden, Daniels & Company incorporated and began the manufacture of doors, sashes and blinds in a factory at the foot of Mill Hill. In 1867 David Bosworth bought Daniels' interest and the firm became known as Howden, Bosworth & Company. Competition in the manufacture of doors and blinds was too keen for the company to be very successful, and a change was made after the flood of 1869 had caused some damage to the plant. At this time it was decided to manufacture caskets, the first made by this firm being put on the market in 1870. In 1877 the name was changed to the Bristol Manufacturing Company, known for a number of years as one of the largest casket manufacturing concerns in the country. The firm was very active for a period of some forty years, at times employing 150 men and women, and using over a million feet of lumber a year. Soon after 1910 the business began to decline, and in 1936 it went into the hands of receivers. Under new management is was reopened, but closed in 1939. The following year the plant was purchased by Perley Eaton, who did some business there until the fire of 1947 which destroyed nearly all of the buildings. A few years later the remaining buildings were leveled by fire.
For a number of years, while the Bristol Manufacturing Company was manufacturing caskets, a separate industry known as the O. K. Clothes Dryer Company was housed in the factory belonging to the Bristol Manufacturing Company, and manufactured clothes dryers of maple wood. The manufacture of clothes dryers was discontinued sev- eral years before the casket factory was closed.
Close to this plant, but independent of it, was the James Whitney Chair Company, founded about 1850. Whitney finally gave up the man- ufacture of chairs and in company with M. P. Varney began making caskets. This enterprise was not very successful and the plant was sold to the Bristol Manufacturing Company which tore down one of the two Whitney buildings and erected a paint shop on the site.
Another manufacturing concern in Bristol which was very success- ful for a time, and one of the largest of its kind in the country, was the Bartlett Plow Manufactory. Much of the sod on the western prairies was broken by the plows manufactured at the Bartlett plant in Bristol. In 1847 a small plant burned, in which plows were made near Quaker Street in the town of Lincoln. The plows were made by David Tabor, Russell Tabor, and Stephen Bartlett. A new manufacturing site utiliz- ing water power was sought, and finally located at the junction of the New Haven River and Baldwin's Creek. After this land was purchased the new site was named Rocky Dale. Five dwelling houses were built, and while a water mill and larger separate foundry were being con- structed, a temporary foundry and shop for continuing the plow business were built and operated by steam. The Tabors sold to S. Bartlett & Co., who built a larger water mill containing a sawmill, with flutter wheels to operate the sawmill, and a large Brest Water Wheel to run the plow machinery. Castings for the large water wheel and sawmill parts were made in the first foundry, as well as parts for the manufacture of road scrapers, cultivators, plows, hay cutters, drags, and harrows. Some years after the larger water mill was constructed, means for utilizing water power were much improved and later makes of water wheels were used. Clapboards, spruce lumber, and nail keg staves were added to the line. After spruce lumber began to become scarce, the manufacture of pill boxes and small turned wood parts from white birch was added.
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About 1880 fire destroyed the factory of the Bartlett Plow Works but the machinery and the right to manufacture plows had been pre- viously sold to the Patrick family in Hinesburg.
Near the plow factory was Rockwood Barrett's chair stock and butter tub factory which employed 12 men and used 500,000 ft. of lumber annually. Mr. Barrett was a Rutland man and eventually moved the firm to Rutland.
A sawmill in South Bristol, owned by a Mr. Varney, changed hands in the late 1870's and the new firm of Sumner & Prime began the man- ufacture of beekeepers' supplies. Later C. E. Gove bought into the firm which became known as Prime & Gove. The mill burned in 1894 and was not rebuilt.
In the last half of the century several industries developed which had a short existence and in many cases the dates of the starting and closing of the firms cannot be obtained. There was a mill for tar coating of shingles which was situated beside the O'Brien Brook in South Bristol, and the wagon shops of Albert Dunshee & Son (Herbert), Arba Mans- field, and J. H. Wright. Three other wagon makers who also added blacksmithing to their trade were F. Greenough, Octave Cushman, and N. McIntyre. Harnesses were made by Ira Farnham and William Battles and later by Ira Eastman, Heman Hill, and J. Z. Gaudet. Peter Lander operated a cigar-making factory for a time, employing about 20 hands.
The flood of 1869 destroyed the old red gristmill, at the foot of Mill Hill, but the owner, R. D. Stewart, rebuilt it. Later the Bristol Manufac- turing Company took it over as part of their plant and Mr. Stewart open- ed a feed store in the Gale store which had been moved to South Street. In 1896 Arthur Kilbourn and E. W. Smith formed a partnership and started the Cyclone Gristmill for custom grinding and a feed store. In 1900 Mr. Kilbourn bought his partner's interest and became sole owner. The 1924 fire destroyed the Kilbourn mill but it was soon rebuilt and a separate office building was added. In addition to this mill there is now a branch store at New Haven Junction which serves as a warehouse and feed store. Since Mr. Kilbourn's death in 1944 the business has been operated by his sons John and Francis. Farm machinery, cement and fertilizer are now sold as well as grain.
In 1897 the Cold Spring Creamery on the New Haven River, owned by Evarts and Eastman, was doing a thriving business and had just installed new machinery at its branch creamery in New Haven Mills. At this time the Riverside Condensed Milk Company was formed and built a factory across the river from the creamery at a cost of several thou- sand dollars. Evarts and Eastman were both members of the Riverside Company which took over control of the creamery. At first the firm prospered taking in from 30,000 to 40,000 pounds of milk daily, but trou- ble soon arose. The condensery was closed and the machinery was sent to Worcester in 1901. Mike Hannon bought both the creamery and condens- ery buildings at auction. In 1903 he leased the creamery to a Boston firm and there is no further record of its activities. Except for two winters when it was used for roller skating, the condensery building remained idle until 1910 when Mr. Hannon sold it to Homer Hewitt and Fred Wright who established a wood turning factory employing from 8 to 10 persons and doing a yearly business of $5,000 to $8,000. The factory burned in 1914 and was not rebuilt.
The same year the condensery was built, 1897, A. L. Cain leased a section of land at the corner of Pine and Maple Streets and began the
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construction of a factory for the making of wood novelties which was finished the next year. The factory, which was a successful enterprise, employed from 10 to 20 hands. After the factory burned in 1903 Mr. Cain was too disheartened to rebuild, but local men formed a stock com- pany, known as the Bristol Novelty Company, and rebuilt the plant. After a time the business ceased and the factory was left vacant.
In 1912 the factory of the New Haven Mills Manufacturing Company at New Haven Mills, owned by M. I. Thomas, burned. A special village meeting was immediately called in Bristol, at which it was proposed that the village buy the Novelty Company factory and present it to Mr. Thomas, with tax exemption for five years, provided that he would locate in Bristol. The village officers, however, found that they had no author- ity to buy property. Mr. Thomas offered to pay $2,500 for the building. This offer was accepted and the remaining $1,500 of the purchase price was provided by the townspeople, who were very anxious to have the plant located here. This was the beginning of the Vermont Box Company which was operated by Ford Thomas, son of M. I. Thomas, until his retirement in 1952. In September, 1952, Mr. Thomas' majority stock interest in the corporation was sold to L. Stearns Gay, Jr., the other portion being retained by Reginald B. Sentenne. Stockholders, who were also officers and directors of the new corporation were: Reginald B. Sentenne, president; L. Stearns Gay, Jr., treasurer ; Richard P. Mullin, vice president ; Barbara S. Gay, clerk; Leon S. Gay and George E. Squier, directors.
Shortly after this change of ownership, the manufacture of furniture was begun on a small scale. By 1954 the pine furniture of this company was being shipped into all of New England, while at the same time the wooden box business was showing some decline. To more properly iden- tify the firm as a furniture manufacturing concern, the corporation changed its name in September 1956 to Drake, Smith & Company, Inc., (Mr. Gay having retained right to this trade name from the former business). The company discontinued manufacture of boxes and con- centrated on pine furniture and wooden counter display units.
The Vermont Box Company, now known as Drake, Smith & Com- pany, Inc., at present manufactures a complete line of pine furniture as well as counter display units, at its plant at Maple and Pine Streets. Var- ious alterations have been made since the change of ownership, including a rather extensive addition to manufacturing space and a furniture show- room, which now extends the plant space from Maple to Munsill Avenue. An average of 75 employees have year-round employment, and the 1957 payroll was approximately $250,000. The furniture is sold to more than 500 dealers in 35 states and consists of a complete line of bedroom, living room and dining room furniture. Showrooms are maintained in New York City; Grand Rapids, Michigan ; and Los Angeles, California.
Charles Frary started a factory on the New Haven River, east of Bristol village in 1908 and conducted a successful wood turning business there until 1934 when he sold it to Frank Elliot. The factory is now demolished.
In 1917 Stafford & Sons of Morrisville took over a last block factory in Bristol which they later sold in 1932 to the Chamber of Commerce, with all the machinery and the tenement house. In 1934 the factory was sold to Carl Aldrich who operated a monument carving business for a short duration at this site.
In 1936 the A. Johnson Lumber Company purchased the Fred Ham-
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mond farm on Bristol Flats, where at a large outlay a number of build- ings were constructed. In 1938 the plant was moved to Bristol from South Lincoln where it had been operating for over 10 years. The com- pany had just gotten established in Bristol when the flood occurred in the fall of 1938, causing much damage and large quantities of logs and building materials were carried downstream by the New Haven River. Much of these materials were later recovered. The firm, under the man- agement of Fred Johnson and his son, Andrew, now operates on a large scale, buying logs in the vicinity and supplying all kinds of building materials as well as doing custom sawing.
The Frank E. Lee Company, manufacturing small turned wooden goods, was started in 1938 in a small building adjoining the home of Mr. Lee. It was then known as Peterson & Lee. The following year, as business expanded, more room was needed so they moved into the barn which was a larger building. In the Fall of 1940 this building was com- pletely destroyed by fire. The following Spring Mr. Lee rebuilt his fac- tory at its present location about one mile east of the village.
The Bristol branch of the Van Raalte Company was started in 1948 in the Tomasi Block. In 1952 Van Raalte purchased the two buildings owned by the Tomasi family and expanded their production. The local plant is one of the three Vermont plants which are part of the Saratoga, New York, unit; the other two being in Middlebury and Randolph. The Bristol branch is a sewing plant, manufacturing nylon underwear from fabric knitted and cut at other Van Raalte mills. At the present time the Bristol plant employs approximately 150 people from the town of Bristol and its environs.
The Claire Lathrop Lumber business moved from Waltham to its present location on River Street in Bristol in 1947. Eastern soft and hard woods are manufactured in rough and finished lumber, and twelve men are employed.
Kennedy Brothers located in Bristol in 1943, moving into a former garage building on Mountain Street. They are manufacturers and dis- tributors of giftwares, specializing in woodenware and items of wood combined with other materials, chiefly pottery, glass, and metal. With a branch store in Charlotte, they employ between 17 and 25 people.
Carlie Smith has operated a woodworking shop since 1950 in the old last block factory on Pine Street. He employs three men in the manufacture of parts for toys, makes handles and moldings, and does other miscellaneous woodwork.
Gus Kusch and wife located in Bristol in 1947. At their home they are turning out a variety of toys, novelties and an assortment of gifts such as book-ends, magazine racks, corner cupboards and Christmas Decorations. They have an attractive display stand in front of their home.
History of The Little Notch - The section known as the "Little Notch" is supposed to have derived its name from the fact that it is the smaller of two notches or clefts in the mountain range which extends through the entire length of the town of Bristol in a north and south direction. The Little Notch supplies the outlet for the watershed of the entire southeastern corner of the town, and covers approximately three thousand acres.
Five small streams from different directions join together forming what is known as the Notch Brook. This is the same brook which is cal- led "O'Brien Brook" in the early records of Bristol, after the three O'-
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Brien brothers who operated a mill on the stream. A body of water known as Gilmore Pond is situated about one and a quarter miles easterly from the main highway leading through the Little Notch. This pond formed by springs covers some ten acres, with a depth of three feet and a black muddy bottom. The outlet of this pond is one of the five streams that form the Notch Brook. The name is supposed to have been derived from a man by the name of Gilmore who at an early period had a mill about fifty rods down stream from the outlet. Decayed timber of the old flume and log dam can still be seen.
The first road leading to the "Notch" left the main highway near the school house in South Bristol turning to the east and following up the westerly side of the Notch Brook. In the year 1859 the present highway leading up the easterly side of the Notch Brook was opened for use affording not only a better grade but also a connection with the road leading south from Bristol Village along the foot of the mountain, this section having being settled for some time. Late in the year of 1860 the road was completed over the mountain to the southern part of the town of Lincoln. At the point where the road crosses the divide into Lincoln the altitude is 1,899 feet above sea level.
The date of the first settlement in the "Little Notch" is unknown but it would seem that lumbering was the occupation that attracted people to this locality. Records show that on November 11, 1831, Rufus Barnard sold to Curtis ten acres off the south end of lot No. 6 for a mill site. This site was at the point where the five brooks unite and for one hundred years following a mill was in operation there. But nothing in the lumber industry of importance was established until the late 60's when Eastman and Durfee built a sawmill for the manufacture of lum- ber, clapboards and butter tubs which were in great demand at that time. The mill was soon destroyed by fire, thus ending the first real attempt of a lumber industry in the "Little Notch."
In 1879 Joseph Jimmo built a lumber mill below the Eastman site which he operated for a few years. In the summer of 1880 Noah Lath- rop and H. L. Parmelee purchased Mr. Eastman's mill site, together with two houses, a blacksmith shop and a barn. They then erected another mill on this site. In 1885 Mr. Lathrop bought Mr. Parmelee's interest in the firm. In 1903 the mill burned and was immediately rebuilt. That year Clarence Lathrop entered the firm which was known thereafter as N. Lathrop and Son. It grew to be the largest lumber concern in Addison County turning out dressed lumber, shingles and clapboards. The busi- ness continued until 1925 when all the timber of commercial value had been cut in this section.
Among the early settlers living in log houses in the decades 1850-80 were families of the following names; Harris, Peckham, Cormier, Cou- sino, Scarbough, Carpenter, Eubar, Odette, Jimmo, Parmelee, Booska, Pecott, Sears, Swinyer, Vincent, Rivers.
At first small clearings were established and log houses erected to be followed by frame houses. Farming on a small scale was attempted but the land was so uneven and the soil so rocky that it never proved successful. Many of the settlers turned to lumbering, selling their logs to the mill owners, while others converted their hardwood into charcoal which they sold to the owners, of forges in Bristol. There was a very good market for charcoal around 1850.
In 1879 school district Number 9 was organized and a school build- ing was erected. The school had an attendance of 14 pupils. As the
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Federated Church
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Lawrence Memorial Library
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lumber industry increased the population became larger and in the school year 1887-88 there was an attendance at the school of 50 pupils, all in charge of one teacher. About 1900 a two room school was built and for approximately ten years two teachers were employed. In the spring of 1938 the school was discontinued as there were not enough pupils to maintain it longer.
After N. Lathrop and Son discontinued their lumber business in 1925 the population decreased rapidly. Many of the homesteads have been sold for camps as it has become a very good deer and bear hunting haunt. The school house was moved by Roy Jimmo onto Bristol Flats for a home. The old Borzone place has been sold to city residents for a sum- mer camp. An excavation was made in the early 1900's which is filled from the source of a spring from the east base of Elephant Mountain. This land was sold to the Middlebury Water Works with a considerable amount of acreage by Noah Lathrop.
Many new camps have been built. A beautiful stream of water runs parallel with the road through the cool shade of the trees. Many speckled trout linger in the stream much to the delight of fishermen. Many people seek the coolness and quiet of Bristol Notch unmarred by even a picnic table.
Churches
Advent Church - The Advent Christian Society was formed in 1840 and held regular services in the Academy Hall until they leased their pre- sent building from the Congregationalists. Sometime prior to 1891, this building and the land on which it stood had been purchased from the Congregational Society by William Howden and Mrs. Susan Hall, mem- bers of the Advent Church. In 1891, these two people deeded the property to the Advent Christian Society for as long as they continued to hold meetings there in support of the Gospel. When meetings should cease to be held there, the property would revert to the heirs of the donors.
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