History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 22

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054

USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 22

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The last of our three classes of occupations was that of lumbering. This was necessarily an industry of slight importance in the early history. Belknap speaks of lumbering thus deprecatingly : "Those who make the getting of lumber their principal business generally work hard for little profit.

They are always in debt and frequently at law. Their families are ill provided with necessaries, and their children are without education or morals."1

With this brief account of the occupations of the people we can the better appreciate the peculiar customs, religious, educational and social, which char- acterize the time.

Religious observance was a matter of great moment with the early Ver- monters. Of religious extraction, and accustomed to look upon life in a sober and earnest spirit, they made religion a matter of the heart and conduct. The Sabbath began at sunset Saturday night and while there was little of the rigorous Puritanism of Massachusetts in the observance of the holy day, there was in general the decorous and sober mein becoming men and women of the serious disposition of our Vermont fathers and mothers. The minister was everywhere regarded with veneration and respect. His opinion on any sub- ject was obediently deferred to. He was always welcomed at the board of his parishioners and served with the best in the larder, and was always the privi- leged taster of the white bread (then a great luxury), since the rye bread was supposed to give him the heartburn. The sermons, which in common with the discourses of the entire clergy of New England, were fraught with abstruse theology, were listened to with the greatest attention by the congregation, many with pencil and paper in hand. The discussion of the sermon was pro- longed throughout the week with the zest of men of acute and intelligent minds. An afternoon service of no mean length often followed that of the morning. Often of a Sunday noon there might be seen gathered about the " meeting-house " steps groups of those who had come from a distance and were waiting for the second service, as they ate their lunch, talking over the morning discourse, with an occasional reference to crops and politics,-iron-

1 This refers more particularly to New Hampshire.

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visaged farmers, kindly-faced mothers, and brown-fisted youngsters preserving with effort a decorum beseeming the Sabbath.

The tithing-man is too familiar a personage in literature to call for a description.

A full account of the political customs would necessitate an account of political history, which it is not our intention to undertake. A reference may not improperly be made, however, to that old-time land-mark of the village common, the " sign-post." This was a roofed bulletin board on which were posted notices of town meetings, public warrants, and lost, strayed or stolen animals. The " sign-post " served the functions of town-crier and daily news- paper. The town meetings were usually held in the meeting-house or the school-house, and were occasions of great interest and importance in those days.

The education obtainable in the schools of early Vermont was of a rigidly practical nature. The " three R's " were not looked down upon in those days when a " winter's schooling " was supposed to bring no small accomplishment to the fortunate pupil. The teacher, in a community where muscle was more required than " brains," was often hardly dealt with by the stalwart lads who were forced to attend. A history of Vermont schoolmasters would be a vol- ume of thrilling interest, but the historian has yet to appear having fit talents for the task. As an instance of what such a book might contain, the writer will be pardoned if he relates a " true story " which was told him not fifty miles from the site of the university. One summer afternoon in the midst of the drowsy buzz of the scholars over their tasks, the teacher of one of the " dee- strict " schools was startled by the drawling voice of one of the " big fellers," who, stretching his arms with a yawn, announced: "Well, boys, I'm goin' berryin' ; whose comin' ?" Several of the bolder ones signified their assent, the band arose from their seats and started for the door. But the master was in this instance a " bold 'un " when put to bay, and seizing the heavy poker which lay by the stove, he posted himself at the door and announced that there would be no berrying just then. The first of the insurgents endeavored to pass and received a blow from the poker which felled him to the floor. Whether the rest experienced the same merited chastisement or not the writer cannot positively affirm, but the master was victorious. Not all struggles, however, ended so fortunately for the young schoolmaster. Not infrequently he was carried out and "flogged," but though roughly treated in his own king- dom, the schoolmaster (who was often a young divinity student earning a tem- porary stipend to meet the expenses of his study) was a welcome guest at the " husking bees," and received some degree of admiration for his " book larnin'."

" Boarding round " has not yet become so far extinct as to come within the province of the historian.

The doctor was in every sense a public servant, always at the call of the

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neediest patient, riding through storm and cold, day and night to minister to the wants of the sick ; present at every funeral, birth and death, he was known and loved of all, and, as the " servant of all,", he was in a real sense the greatest among them. The science of medicine was in those days very imperfect. Cupping and leeching were universally practiced. Medicines in death-giving quantities-senna and manna, rhubarb and molasses, were swallowed by the igno- rant patient at the slightest symptom of disease. The fever patient was denied water and allowed small quantities of clam juice in its place. Fortunately na- ture was generally strong enough to counteract these ill-conceived remedies.

Amusements were of a simple character and absorbed but little of the time or attention of a people so devoted to work. The unrefined jollity of a husk- ing bee or a Hallowe'en party, and among the less stringent an occasional country dance, formed the recreation of the young folks. The young men when not over-tired with their work contended in awkward athletics. Frequently after a heavy snow storm the young men turned out to " break out " the roads. This was an occasion of much rough sport which often culminated in a good time at the inn.

As for the " old folks," they had their social visits and long chats by the fire, when men discussed the political and theological questions of the day, as well as the more immediate subjects of local and personal interest. For the early Vermonters were, in their dry and common-sense fashion, shrewd observ- ers and excellent conversationalists.

While the Vermonter was singularly free from levity and light-headedness, he yet possessed a grim sort of humor, which found its most natural expres- sion in the enjoyment of " practical jokes." The older men seldom conde- scended to perpetrate such a joke themselves, but they laughed in their sleeves when their boys succeeded in an especially good one. The following, which actually occurred, may serve as an illustration. When the " Know-nothing" party was holding its secret meetings in every State in New England, an or- ganization having been formed in one of the towns of this county, excited con- siderable hostile curiosity in the minds of some of the big boys in the com- munity, and they determined to play a trick on the members. One night, knowing the fear which existed among the Know-nothings for the Irish Cath- olics, whose interests they were presumed to oppose, the boys gathered about the door of the hall at the hour of adjournment, and when the unsuspecting members issued from the door, the boys set up a yell like that of fiends, and took after the frightened victims, who fled in all directions. The pursuit was exciting. One man, hotly pressed by his pursuers and losing in his terror all presence of mind, dashed right into the mill-pond which lay in front of his house. While he was splashing and floundering in the water the boy pursuer stole quietly around the pond and into the house, when he busily concerned himself with the newspaper. Soon, to his astonishiment, his father came

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stumbling breathlessly in, pale and dripping, and announced in awesome and excited tones that he had been chased by the biggest Irishman he had ever seen, but that he had escaped by rushing into the mill-pond.

That in which the early inhabitants were at the greatest disadvantage was, perhaps, the inconvenience of travel and transportation. Rapid and commo- dious methods of transportation insure an enlightenment which cannot other- wise be obtained. In the facility of transportation our forefathers were very deficient. At first traveling was done entirely on horseback. Journeys were long and fatiguing. Often the roads were marked only by blazed trees. The horse was often obliged to carry "double." Ponderous saddle-bags supplied the place of baggage and express cars. When at length the roads were built and stage lines introduced, traveling was much easier and more rapid, though still attended with great hardship and difficulty. The main stage routes from Burlington were to the east and south, the former to Montpelier by the way of Richmond, and the latter through Charlotte to Middlebury and Rutland. Some of the long, low-roofed inns along the stage routes are still to be seen ; they were often the scenes of intemperance, though in those days, when the tem- perance movement was still a thing of the future, we must regard the "moder- ate drinking " of the abstemious farmers with a lenity proportionate to their ignorance of "liquor fiend " statistics.

In one movement in the history of material progress Vermont was in the van, though she has never received a due honor therefor. In 1808, the year following the launching of Robert Fulton's steamboat, there was launched in Burlington the second steamboat ever made, bearing the name Vermont. This fact will indicate the importance which the navigation of Lake Champlain early assumed. The introduction of the steamboat upon Vermont waters was the first step in that line of material progress which has been the history of all the New England States. Occurring so early as it did in her history, so far in advance of the other marked movements toward material perfection, it seems, indeed, an omen of progress. Steamboat, railroad, and telegraph, with their attendant influences upon material prosperity, have drawn for us the line for demarkation between the old and the new. Vermont, though she is wisely adopting the innovation of modern progress, has not so far made the transition from the old to the new as to have lost all reverence for the virtues and, strange as the word may seem, for the advantages of the past. What mean these virtues and advantages ? Williams in his quaint History of Ver- mont of the date of 1812, in speaking of agriculture as an employment, says : "Those employments which are the most necessary and the most useful to men, seem to be most nearly connected with morality and virtue." It is in this character, then, that our Vermont fathers held their pre-eminence. If, as has been recently supposed, the development of character, that is, morality and religion, is the true end of life, then may we well hold our forefathers in re-

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memberance and reverence, for in this respect they were in many respects our superiors. First, and most eminently, they were our superiors in courage; the courage born of patient endurance of hardship, the courage which can face a dreary outlook of work and privation without flinching, the courage which can battle with a sudden evil with an over-mastering fortitude - this courage was theirs, and it was not merely a physical courage, but a deeper, moral courage. As Beckley in his History of Vermont says, they were no dough-faces nor doe- faces. All honor from those who, in the midst of the refinements which science is so rapidly multiplying, can with difficulty endure physical discomfort, or meet moral danger, to those early Vermonters who left the fruit of their cour- ageous toil, and their more courageous character, to their children and their children's children. Around the central virtue of courage are grouped the characteristic Vermont virtues of hardihood, hospitality, and frankness. En- terprise and intelligence have given force to Vermont influence, and make for her a place in American history which is worthy of pride. If by contemplat- ing the fine type of character possessed by the fathers and forefathers of Ver- mont, as developed in that rough pioneer life, we can reproduce in ourselves anything of their sterling qualities and kindly virtues, it is well to speak often and think often of early Vermont.

CHAPTER IX.

HISTORY OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS.

Methods of Constructing Early Roads - Movements Towards the Building of Post and Stage Roads - Turnpike Roads - Plank-Road Companies -- Railroads.

T HE first measures looking to the development of the internal improve- ments in the county of Chittenden were adopted before the organization of the county by the several towns now composing it. One of the first duties of the proprietors was to lay out and survey such roads within their grants as the necessities of the future inhabitants should require. On the organization of the towns the settlers themselves improved, altered and added to the roads and bridges constructed by the proprietors, according to the growth of their needs. The first act of the General Assembly in relation to the development of facilities for travel was passed on the 9th of March, 1787, and provided that upon the application of any person interested, showing the necessity of laying out a new highway from town to town, or from place to place, or of altering old highways, the selectmen of the town in which the construction or alteration was wanted should immediately proceed to effect the required improvement. As early as 1798 an act was passed enabling Israel Converse, Josiah Edson,

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Stephen Fisk and Timothy Mitchel to run a stage over the most direct road from Windsor to Burlington. Post-roads and stage-roads were generally in process of construction at that time. The General Assembly passed an act on the 18th of February, 1797, appointing committees to lay out a stage or post- road from the court-house in Vergennes to the court-house in Burlington, and from Onion River to the Canada line. The next few years filled many pages. of the statute books with enactments promoting the construction of roads, among which it may be pertinent to mention the following:

On the 9th of November, 1802, an act was passed appointing Thaddeus- Tuttle, Daniel Hurlbut and Parley Davis a committee to "look out," lay out and survey a public highway for a permanent post or stage-road from the court-house in Burlington, "in the most direct and convenient course," to the bridge over the main branch of Onion River, in the town of Montpelier; a subsequent act required them to enter upon the work by the 15th of June, 1803. On the Ist of February, 1804, David Russell, Joshua Isham and Ben- jamin Harrington were appointed a committee to lay out a stage-road from the court-house in Burlington to meet the road previously constructed from Onion River to the Canada line.

On the 7th of November, 1805, there seemed to be a general movement in the towns and counties in the western part of the State to connect all the im- portant points between Bennington and the Canada line by turnpike roads. One act passed on that day incorporated the Sand-bar Turnpike Company, which was composed of Francis Child, Thaddeus Tuttle, Benjamin Boardman, William Munson, William V. Woods, Richard Mott, Joseph Phelps, John Stark, Philo Berry, Carlisle D. Tyler, Simeon Clark, Samuel Davidson and their asso- ciates. The turnpike which they were to construct was to lead from the lower bridge over Onion River, in the town of Colchester, by the sand-bar to the ferry from Middle Hero to Cumberland Head. On the same day the General Assembly passed another act incorporating the Mount Tabor Turnpike Com- pany, which was to build and keep in repair a turnpike from Danby to Man- chester ; the Dorset Turnpike Company, to build a turnpike from the " stage- road " in Dorset to Danby ; the Pawlet Turnpike Company, to build and keep a turnpike from Fitch's Mills, in Pawlet, through "Reupert " to Salem, N. Y .; the Waltham Turnpike Company, to build and keep a turnpike from Middle- bury to Vergennes ; the Fairhaven Turnpike Company, to build and keep a turnpike from Fairhaven through Orwell for Vergennes; the Poultney Turn- pike Company, to build and keep a turnpike from the Hubbardton turnpike to. the south line of the State ; the Bennington Turnpike Company, to build and keep a turnpike from the south line of Pownal to the Bennington court-house ; and the Winooski Turnpike Company, consisting of Daniel Hurlbut, Thaddeus Tuttle, Solomon Miller, John Johnson, Martin Chittenden, Jacob Spafford, Charles Bulkeley and David Wing, jr., with their associates, who were to con-

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struct and keep in repair a turnpike from the Burlington court-house, to pass " on or near the Winooskie or Onion River, to the north end of Elijah Paine's turnpike, in Montpelier."

The raised part of these roads was to be not less than eighteen feet wide. The Fairhaven and Winooski companies were to have as many gates as they should think proper, not exceeding at the rate of one gate for each eleven miles. The usual provision was inserted that " no toll shall be demanded at any turnpike gate of any person being a citizen of this State, and living within eight miles of such gate ; but such person shall at all times pass free with his horse, carriage or team ; also at any greater distance, when going to or from public worship, or on military duty, or to or from any grist or saw-mill." It was further provided that the roads were to be begun within one year, and completed within five years after the passage of the act. The Winooski Com- pany was obliged to procure an extension of time for the completion of the road, which was finally accepted in October of the year 1811. This corpora- tion performed its duties, and enjoyed the benefits flowing from its franchises, until a few years after the opening of the several railroads through Chittenden county.

On the 6th of November, 1806, an act was passed granting to Daniel Hurl- but, of Burlington, and his associates, the exclusive privilege of building a toll- bridge over Onion River, between Williston and Essex, at or near Hubbell's Falls. The period of the privilege was for thirty-five years. John Johnson, of Essex, Joseph Beeman, jr., of Fairfax, and Samuel Hubbard, of Huntsburgh, were on the 8th day of November, 1808, appointed by the General Assembly a committee to lay out a road from Daniel Hurlbut's bridge over Onion River at Hubbell's Falls in Essex, by the most convenient and direct course, through Essex, Westford, etc., to the Canada line. On the 10th of November, 1813, was incorporated the Burlington Turnpike Company, composed of Ziba Pier- son, of Shelburne, Amos W. Barnum, of Vergennes, Ebenezer T. Englesby, of Burlington, William W. Gage, of Ferrisburgh, and Israel Harrington, of Shelburne, who were to construct a turnpike from the court-house in Ver- gennes to the court-house in Burlington. Daniel Chipman, Ezra Hoyt and Henry Olin were appointed to lay out this road. At the next session of the Legislature they were allowed three years for its completion. The General Assembly passed an act on the 23d of October, 1816, appointing Gideon Wing, of Monkton, Nathan Leavenworth, of Hinesburg, and Zadoch Wheeler, of Charlotte, a committee to lay out a stage-road from the court-house in Middle- bury through New Haven to the Methodist meeting-house in Monkton, thence to the Baptist meeting-house in Charlotte, and through Shelburne to the lower falls on Onion River, in the town of Burlington. On the 5th of November, 1816, Ezra Hoyt, of New Haven, Thomas D. Rood, of Jericho, and Charles Stevens, of Enosburgh, were appointed a committeee to lay out and survey a

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public road from Middlebury to the Canada line. On the 11th of November, 1819, Luther Dixon, of Underhill, Daniel Dodge, of Johnson, and Joseph Bar- rett, of Bakersfield, were appointed a committee to lay out a road from Ziba Wood's, in Westford, through the corner of Fairfax and Fletcher, to Cambridge Borough. Other committees were appointed and other companies organized after 1820, but they did not have much to do with Chittenden county.

Plank Roads .- Although there have never been any plank roads con- structed in the county, it may be well to make a few passing observations on the several plans entertained by prominent residents looking to the improve- ment of the highways by converting them into plank roads. A company by the name of the Shelburne and Hinesburg Plank Road Company was incor- porated by the Legislature on the 4th of November, 1850, and was the first company of the kind in Chittenden county. Its capital stock was $25,000. The road was to be constructed from Hinesburg village through Charlotte to the Rutland and Burlington Railroad in Shelburne village. Commissioners to receive subscriptions to stock were Joseph Marsh and William C. Benton, of Hinesburg, Henry S. Morse, E. Meech, jr., and John Simonds 2d, of Shel- burne. On the 9th of November, in the same year, the Williston Plank Road Company was chartered, with a capital stock of $20,000. The commissioners were Harry Bradley, Carlos Baxter, Joseph D. Allen, Harry Miller, James W. Hurlburt, David A. Murray and David French. The road was to lead from the village of Williston to the village of Burlington. The Williston and Jericho Plank Road Company was incorporated on the IIth of the same month, with a capital stock of $10,000, for the purpose of constructing a plank road from the Winooski turnpike at Eagle Hall in Williston by the nearest route to the " Four Corners" in Jericho. David French, David A. Murray, Roswell B. Fay, Truman Galusha and John H. Tower were appointed commissioners to receive subscriptions. Two days after the chartering of this company the Hinesburg and Burlington Plank Road Company was incorporated by the Leg- islature with a capital stock of $25,000, with power to build a plank road from Hinesburg to Burlington. The commissioners were Joseph Marsh, Daniel Good- year, Marcus Hull, of Hinesburg, and Henry B. Stacy, Henry P. Hickok and Cassius P. Peck, of Burlington. The construction of railroads prevented the consummation of these several plans for connecting the different towns in the county by the Utopian thoroughfares known as plank roads, capital and enter- prise being diverted from the latter to the former.

Railroads.1- The first effectual act incorporating a railroad company whose road should run through Chittenden county, was passed by the General Assembly of Vermont on the 31st of October, 1843. By its provisions the persons who should thereafter become stockholders were constituted a body

1 For an interesting statement concerning the circumstances which governed the construction of the railroads in this county, the reader is referred to the sketch of Thomas H. Canfield.

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corporate by the name of the Vermont Central Railroad Company, to con- struct a road with a single or double track from some point on the eastern shore of Lake Champlain, thence up the valley of Onion River and extending to a point on the Connecticut River most convenient to meet a railroad either from Concord, N. H., or Fitchburg, Mass., to said river. The capital stock of the new corporation was $1,000,000, divided, as usual, into shares of one hundred dollars each. Charles Paine, John Peck, Wyllys Lyman, Daniel Baldwin, E. P. Jewett, Andrew Tracy and Levi B. Vilas were appointed by this act commissioners to open books for subscriptions to stock at Montpelier and Burlington. The first officers and directors of this company were as fol- lows : Directors elected at Montpelier, July 23, 1845, Charles Paine, North- field; Robert G. Shaw, Samuel S. Lewis, Boston ; Jacob Forster, Charlestown, Mass. ; Daniel Baldwin, Montpelier; John Peck, Burlington ; James R. Lang- don, Montpelier. The officers elected the same day were: Charles Paine, president ; Samuel H. Walley, treasurer ; E. P. Walton, clerk. The work of constructing the road was not commenced until the spring of 1847. Unlooked- for difficulties then delayed its completion until 1849, in November of which year the first train of cars passed over it. Its route was finally established as follows : Commencing at Windsor, it follows the Connecticut River to the mouth of the White River ; thence up that stream to the source of its third branch ; thence, reaching the summit in Roxbury, it passes down the valley of Dog River and enters the Winooski valley near Montpelier ; thence continu- ing in the Winooski valley, it reaches its terminus at Burlington, a distance of 117 miles from Windsor. In accordance with the expressed wishes of a majority of the freeholders of Burlington, the road was first built from the river and lake through the ravine that divides the city of Burlington, across North, Pearl, College and Main streets to the rear of the site of the court- house and to its station on St. Paul street, which was the house now occupied by F. J. Hendee. The present route was not ready for use until 1861, when one train passed over it, and it was not regularly used until 1862. After the fall of 1862 the new route was used exclusively for freight and passenger trains, excepting for a day or two in April, 1863, when the old route was resorted to, owing to a slide on the new tracks. Negotiations respecting the maintenance of highway bridges over the new road were not completed until 1864.1

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 22

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.) Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co. Number of Pages: 1054

Author: Rann, W. S. (William S.)
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y. : D. Mason & Co.
Number of Pages: 1054