History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 34

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 34

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The Eagle says that the pike are " not indigenous to (in ?) our waters," and proceeds to trace their pedigree from " Long Jim " Wilson of N. H., Judge Chipman of Richmond, President Olin, and other

1 Here " the following beautiful original valentine " should have been inserted, according to the ed- itor's first intention - which either repented him or else slipped his mind.

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distinguished savans and bon vivants, who, upwards of a quarter of a century ago, translated the pro- genitors of this ferocious fish from our Lake to Otter Creek, " above Middlebury Falls," whence they were lifted over the mountain into Plymouth ponds. whence they escaped into the Connecticut and its accessible tributants by means of a miniature delnge that arose from a miscellaneous "breaking loose" of one of the Plymouth ponds " a few years ago." The Brattleboro branch of the ancient family of the " escoes " is, therefore, very respectably descended, and the excellent Representative in Congress from the First District, as well as Mr. Pettis, one of his constituents, can bear witness that they are a noble fish to " kill." Exploits have been performed hy the first named amateur and a grouty friend of his, in the great eddy below Bellows Falls, on temporary and dissolvable rafts, floating ice, and other frail and treacherons moorings, which would make "old Izaak Walton or Sir Humphrey Davy stare, if not smile. If Mr. Pettis understands his duty, he forwarded the pectoral fin of his largest victim to Wash- ington, to remind his representative that "there are a few more left," such as he will find it nseless to- " bob for " from the Potomac bridge !

A most interesting study is afforded by the advertisements which appear in some of the older Chittenden county newspapers. People had a quaint and naïve way of making known their wares and their wants in those days, which irresistibly provokes a smile from the reader of the present time. Here is a collection of advertisements, taken at random from early files of the Burlington Sentinel and the Burlington Free Press :

I. A polite notice from a jeweler :

NOTICE .- Our Friends and Customers who call to compare their Watches by our Regulator are re- spectfully desired to walk in and close the door while doing the same.

2. A would-be facetious trader informs the public -

BY TELEGRAPH, just received Fresh Oranges and Lemons.

3. An accommodating druggist announces that,

The doctor will be always on hand and good advice will be given gratis.

4. That our fathers were aware of the excellence of tobacco as a prevent- ive for moths and a soother of earache, and used occasionally to buy a pound or two of the vile weed for these purposes, appears from the proclamation of a local trader in Burlington that he has

Just received 40 bbls. Chewing Tobacco, 50 bbls. Smoking do., 500 bladders Scotch Snuff, 300 jars Macoboy snuff.

5. The kind of music in which the people of those days " twinkled their heels " is indicated by the advertisement of the leader of a band, who

Is prepared to furnish good music for Ball Parties, &c. on reasonable terms. His band consists of a Clarinet, Post Horn, Ist. and 2nd. violins and Opheclyde.

6. That people were no less careless than now-a-days about their domestic pets, would appear from the following proclamation :

Came into the enclosure of the subscriber about the 4th. inst. a White Pig. The owner will pay charges and take it away.

7. Anasthetics were a novelty in Vermont thirty years ago. A Burling- ton druggist advertises :

CIILOROFORM-A supply of this new and celebrated preparation, manufactured by W. B. Little of Boston, just received and for sale.

8. Attempt at humor in a Burlington price current :

PROVISIONS - Buckwheat flour is plenty, and as a natural consequence pancakes have been going down for several days, and are now reported " flat." We noticed, however, at the meeting of " the board" this morning, a very general disposition to " operate " in the article, and some heavy lots were taken on individual account, parties appeared to regard them as a good investment.

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9. The following announcement shows the varied methods of cajolement practiced by editors at that time :

A few barrels of excellent soft soap for sale ; inquire of the printer.

IO. Duns were as frequent and as important in those days as now, and the warnings connected therewith were still more imperative :

NOTICE .- Those indebted to the subscriber, are requested to make immediate payment, and save both parties trouble.

II. In the Northern Sentinel for Friday, July 20, 1827, appears the an- nouncement for the old line of Lake Champlain steamboats, consisting at that time of the Phoenix and Congress.

The Phoenix, J. R. Harrington master, will commence her regular trips, by leaving Whitehall every Tuesday and Saturday at 2 o'clock p. m., and St. Johns every Monday and Friday at 8 o'clock a. m. The Congress, G. Lathrop master, will be engaged in towing rafts until about the 20th of May, after which she will join the Phoenix in a regular line, due notice of which will hereafter be given.

The prices of passage, etc., are given, and then the following regulations : Children from two to ten years of age, half price ; under two years, quarter price. No passenger will be taken on board or put on shore, however short the distance, for less than 75 cents. For each dog or other animal, not exceeding the size of a sheep, one dollar ; they are to be tied on deck, forward of the capstan. Horses, Gigs, Waggons, etc., from Plattsburgh to Burlington the same as last year.

12. When a wife deserted her husband in 1818, she was served as follows : A notice taken from the Northern Sentinel of Friday, December 11, 1818 :

ELOPEMENT.

Whereas, Thankful, my wife, has conducted in an unbecoming manner and has left my bed and board : - this is therefore to forbid all persons, harboring or trusting her on my account, as I will not pay any debt or debts of her contracting after this date.

13. It seems rather strange to see a lottery advertised under the auspices of one of the New England States, but at this early date lotteries under the sanction of the State of Vermont were legal; as witness the following an- nouncement :

VERMONT LOTTERY.

First class new series for the benefit of a road from Rutland to Woodstock, 8760 prizes, amounting to $60,900 whole tickets, $3, quarters, 75 cents. In selling by certificate a package of ten tickets is warranted to draw four prizes of the lowest denomination ($4) which are deducted from the price of the tickets, and a certificate of their numbers is given, agreeing to pay all they draw over what is de- ducted from the price of the tickets.

14. People not infrequently used the advertising columns of the newspa- pers at this time as a medium through which to publicly settle their personal quarrels. The following instance of dissension in the camp is a case in point :

It can be seen by an article published in the News Journals at Burlington, that H. C. Nash of Wi- nooski Falls, Vt., belonging to the tribe of Rechabites of Tent No. 9 at that village, and heretofore acting as recording scribe of that Tent, has finally resigned his office. It is well known that Mr. Nash did publish an article accusing N. Richardson of drinking intoxicating liquor, which was (as has recently been stated) "a downright falsehood," and still another article has quite recently made its public appearance, purporting to emanate from Rechabite Tent No. 9, from Winooski, and signed by another soft pated Jackass ;- soft pated for the reason that the members of that tent can procure the name of no other individual than such, to subscribe, in any capacity, to an article wherein the more enlightened and respectable portion of the community can see set forth malicious and downright falsehood. By reference to their article, sec. 3rd, it can be seen that they have " requested " me to meet with them ; and still further (which I add on my own responsibility) some of them urged and even promised me to use all their influence for promoting me to the highest office afforded by their Tent! But their urg-

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ings and solicitations were in vain ; for the idea of associating with them was too repulsive to enter- tain, and would be to any respectable man, until they pay more regard to their own moral character, aside from getting drunk.

N. B. Let it be distinctly understood that reference is had in the above particularly to the Recha- bites of Tent No. 9, and to no other ; for it is well known that there are societies under the name " Rechabites," whose members sustain the highest respectability. N. Richardson.

From the above example it will be seen that the early newspapers of Chit- tenden county afforded much unique and curious reading in their advertising columns alone, which their readers must have appreciated to a certain extent, at least. Furthermore, the early newspapers of Chittenden county were, as a rule, liberally supplied with advertisements, and their publishers must have re- alized no small profit, as well as amusement, from this department.

Humor at this time was mostly an imported product. Occasionally an original witticism appears in a Vermont newspaper, but it was generally of local application and doubtful quality. Much of the quoted humor, however, has a flavor and aptness which shows that editors - and presumably their readers - appreciated and enjoyed the ludicrous side of life as genuinely as we do to-day. A few examples by way of illustration, the first being taken from one of the very earliest issues of the old Centinel, and the quaint spell- ing retained :

I. How to raise a devyle ? Contradycte your wyffe.

Which shows that the marriage relation had its terrors even to our sturdy ancestors. An attempt at an original pun is made in the following :

2. A schoolmaster in Vermont lately recommended to his pupils a very fine edition of Comb on the Head.

The writer alluded to is probably Combe, a favorite text in the schools thirty years ago. The same editor who coined this witticism remarks, in an- other place :

3. We see that pantaletts are now beautifully and politely termed shin-curtains.

And here is another equally refined production :

4. " I won't cover your heels, I'll be darned if I do," as the ragged stocking said to the novel- reading lady.

It never rains but it pours ; so the fun at the expense of the fair sex con- tinues :

5. It is currently reported and generally believed of the whole female sex, that they do not scruple to HOOK each others' dresses.

Here is something that is probably quoted. It is good enough for a bon- mot :

6. The weather-cock, after all, points to the highest moral truth, for it shows man that it is a " vane " thing to a " spire."

Here is one of the original versions of the antique coffee joke :

7. "Why do you set your cup of coffee upon the chair, Mr. Jones ?" said our worthy landlady, this morning at breakfast. " It's so weak, madam," replied Mr. Jones, demurely, " I thought I would let it rest."

It is also an interesting feature of this study of early journalism, to note something of the customs and manners - the everyday life of the people of that time. The older files of the newspapers of Chittenden county are full of

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interesting matter of this kind, but we have space for only one or two charac- teristic examples. The first relates to the science of inoculation for small-pox, at the time when it had first been introduced into this country, and shows something of the old-fashioned neighborliness and lack of conventionality among our worthy ancestors. The article in question is taken from an old copy of the Vermont Centinel, dated May 4, 1810, and relates to " a new mode of inoculating Kine Pock," which is "extending in practice with the happiest results."

When a child has been infected, instead of a physician coming, when the pock is mature, to take away the matter, and frighten the babe into tears and terror by his lancet, quills, &c., the parents an- nounce by a board fixed outside the door, that on such a day children in perfect health may be inoculated without expense, and with ripe living matter, provided they are brought by their mothers between the hours of 10 o'clock in the morning and 4 in the afternoon. The mother of the infant from whence the matter is to be taken is furnished only with a common sewing needle, the point of which she dips in the ripe vescicle, on the arm of her child, and then immediately with it she makes a slight puncture in the arm of that which is brought to receive the infection. No blood is drawn. If the children are asleep they are neither of them suffered to be disturbed. This mode of infection, with living matter, never fails, no inflammation ensues, and the whole of the operation is performed by the mothers only.

Everybody who has read colonial history and biography knows that at that time the country, in its sparsely settled condition, was considerably in- fested with footpads and outlaws, who made the infrequent journeys of travel- ers hazardous and dangerous. That Chittenden county was by no means free from these pests of society appears from the following graphic account of a

HORRID ROBBERY ! ! ! (From the Centinel.)

Since we published a short account of the robbery committed upon Joseph True, in last week's pa- per, we have received the following authentic, and we think correct, statement of facts, which was re- ceived from Mr. True and others, and communicated to us from the most respectable sources.

On the night on which this ontrage was committed, Mr. True was traveling in Wheelock in a cnt- ter, and designed to reach Mile tavern that night, so that he might with a weary horse arrive home at Derby the next night. As he was passing down the hill three-fourths of a mile north of Bradley's tavern, he was first alarmed by the discharge of a pistol aimed at his head from the back part of his sleigh, which did no other injury than to blow off his hat. True immediately seized a loaded pistol which he had in the hind seat of his cutter, and probably discharged it. He was soon disarmed of his pistol, then seized the seat to defend himself, against which a pistol was discharged, and the ball passed half through the board and then glanced off (!) Afterwards he seized his whip, and while in the act of defence received a blow over the head with a dagger or some sharp weapon which cnt a considerable wound on his forehead, and another on his left hand. Here the recollection of the party injured ceased. On examination of Mr. Trne, when his senses returned, it appears that in addition to the above injuries, he received a severe blow on the back-side of his head and a violent thrust through the left side with a dagger, which passed through all his clothes and made a small wound about an inch long, little more than skin deep. It was a great misfortune that True did not regain his senses until IO or II o'clock the next day, but was found at the door of Mr. Hawkins about day break besmeared with blood. His sleigh exhibited marks of a great discharge of blood, as well as the ground where the robbery was committed, and for some distance on the side of the highway northerly of the unfortu- nate spot. The amount of the money taken from him was about 1,400 dollars in the whole, consisting of bills and specie.

The foregoing examples give a general idea of the character and contents . of the early Chittenden county newspapers. The method of their mechanical

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production was far more crude and primitive, as compared with the facilities of the modern newspaper printing-office, than their literary style and contents, compared with the contents of the modern newspaper. It was not until 1783 that the first printing press was brought into Western Vermont, by Anthony Haswell, who issued the first number of the Vermont Gazette from Bennington on June 3, 1783. This press of Mr. Haswell was a hand press, a cumbrous, crude, slow-working affair; but there was no material improvement in printing presses in Vermont for almost fifty years afterward. The earliest newspapers and periodicals of Chittenden county were all printed on the same kind of press - the old "Ben Franklin " style, with flat bed and horizontal platen, so familiar from cuts in the heads of old newspapers and in printers' catalogues. Every impression taken necessitated first the inking of the type by a hand roll- er, then the laying of the sheet to be printed over the type, care being taken that it was even and " square," then the taking of the impression by pulling down the handle of the press, which lowered the platen on the type, then the raising of the platen and removing the sheet adhering strongly to the ink with the hand. This process, of course, took a great deal of time, and was exceed- ingly laborious and vexing ; yet a single operator, or perhaps two, would work off the whole edition of a newspaper in little more than half a day. It must be borne in mind that subscribers in those days were few and far between, and a list of 500 was considered an enormous circulation for a local journal.

The Mercury and the early issues of the Centinel were set in the old Eng- lish style of types and spelling, and make a very quaint and curious appear- ance to-day. Editors were accustomed in those days-as to some extent now in country offices-to do a good deal of the mechanical, as well as the brain work, connected with their journals. Anthony Haswell, the proprietor of the Vermont Gazette, composed, we are told, with such facility that most of his printed matter was that of thoughts set up by himself in type, as they flowed from his mind, without having them first committed to paper.

Editors are proverbially poor-but in the early times of which we are writing they must have been even less burdened with wealth than they are supposed to be to- day. Their subscription rates were exceedingly low, and their subscribers remarkably few. Even the Chittenden county dailies were only four dollars a year, and they were well worth the money. Advertising rates were correspondingly low, as may be judged from the proportion of this class of literature to other matter in the daily and weekly journals. When an editor came to grief- was burned out, or suffered some other calamity for which he was not directly responsible-instead of borrowing money, or getting somebody to start a subscription paper, he applied to the Legislature for a lot- tery license, which was invariably granted, and the restored printer went on his way rejoicing with a scheme containing many blanks and few prizes. The lottery was a favorite method of exercising benevolence with our fathers, who

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never liked to cast their bread upon the waters without making some provision, however slight, to insure its possible return.

In conclusion something should be said more particularly about the politics of the leading Chittenden county newspapers, from the beginning up to the present day ; since a newspaper's politics are, as a rule, the reason of its exist- ence.

The earliest newspapers of Chittenden county were for the most part pro- nounced and firm adherents either of the Federalist party or of the anti-Fed- eralist or Republican party. State sovereignty, then imperfectly defined, was the prevailing idea in the minds of the anti-Federalists, and they took every opportunity to oppose any extended delegation of authority from the States of the Union. They contended that the power of the State should be supreme, and charged the Federalists with monarchical tendencies. When the Bill of Rights became incorporated in the constitution the anti-Federalists withdrew all opposition to that instrument, and changed the name of their party to Re- publicans. The tendencies of the two parties at this time are well indicated by the epithets they bestowed on each other. The Republicans called the Feder- alists "monarchists " and "the British party." The Federalists called the Re- publicans "democrats" - favoring the rule of the mob. During the Ninth Congress, which assembled on the 2d of December, 1805, the Republicans dropped their name and adopted that of Democrats, thus relieving the present student of American politics of the confusion likely to arise from the synony- mous use of these now far from synonymous political terms.

The Whig party had its origin in 1823-24, when the question of revision of the tariff with a view to the protection of home industry came up before Congress. The attack and support of the bill took much of a sectional aspect, Virginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia and some other States being unanimous against it. With this sectional aspect a tariff for protection began to assume a political aspect, being taken under the care of the party which was afterwards denominated "National Republicans," or Whigs. The presidential election of 1852 was the last campaign in which the Whig party appeared in national poli- tics, when its candidate, General Winfield Scott, was defeated by the Demo- cratic candidate, General Franklin Pierce. About 1852, when the question of slavery in the Territories, and its extension or abolition in the States, was agi- tated and causing sectional differences in the country, many Whigs and Demo- crats forsook their parties and took sides on the questions of the day. The political strife was aggravated by the large number of alien naturalized citizens constantly added to the ranks of voters, who took sides with the Democrats and against the Whigs. In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska controversy on the territorial government bill resulted in a division of the Whig party in the North, and it was then that the present Republican party was born, it being composed of all the Whigs at the North who were squarely and uncompromis-

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ingly opposed to slavery. The other division of the Whig party became what was known as the " Know-Nothing " or American party, a secret organization or order, which attempted to gain control of the politics of the country. After the failure of this party the Republican and Democratic parties alone were left in the field-the former the champion of the old Whig doctrine of the protec- tion of American industries, and opposed to the institution of slavery in the United States. This was the political aspect from 1854 up to the time of the War of the Rebellion.

The Burlington Sentinel was at first established as an independent paper, but as party politics became more and more the real and paramount issues of the day, and party lines began to separate men more widely than any other lines, the Sentinel ranged itself on the side of the Democratic (then called Re- publican) party, as against the Federalists. It adhered strictly thereafter to Democratic doctrines, and when the split in the Whig party came, arrayed itself against the Republican wing. It always remained true to Democratic principles, and after it was removed to Rhode Island became one of the lead- ing Democratic papers of that State.

It was probably this tendency of the Sentinel, evidenced as early as 1827, which caused the establishment of the Free Press by the staunch Whigs, after- wards the Republicans, of Chittenden county. From the the first the Free Press took the lead among the Republican newspapers of Chittenden county, a position which it has maintained with remarkable consistency and ability up to the present time. The Free Press supported John Quincy Adams for presi- dent in 1828, Henry Clay in 1832, William Henry Harrison in 1836 and '40, Henry Clay in 1844, Zachary Taylor in 1848, Winfield Scott in 1852, John C. Fremont in 1856, Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and '64, Ulysses S. Grant in 1868 and '72, Rutherford B. Hayes in 1876, James A. Garfield in 1880, and James G. Blaine in 1884.

The Burlington Times, which was not started until 1858, was an able and influential Republican journal while it existed. The Bigelow Brothers, who conducted it from 1861 until it was bought by the Free Press Association in 1869, have always been prominent newspaper men in Vermont, Lucius Bige- low -until recently editor of the Rutland Herald-being one of the strongest editorial writers in the State.

The Burlington Democrat-the short-lived successor of the Sentinel-was very strongly Democrat in its political utterances, but never gained the influ- ence and respect enjoyed by the Sentinel under the management of the Messrs. Hoyt.

The Burlington Clipper is a Republican newspaper with a tendency toward the independent or "mugwump" wing of the party. Its influence is chiefly felt in State politics.

The Chittenden Reporter is Republican, but " na bigoted." It confines it- self chiefly to local politics and news.

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The Burlington Independent is a Democrat paper of the strictest and most uncompromising sort. It is chiefly, as has been noticed, the organ of the local Democracy of Burlington, and pays most of its attention to the local interests of the party.

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 34

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