USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110
The petition for the encampment was signed by Nathan B. Haswell, John S. Webster, George M. Hall, Charles P. Bradley, George Lowry, Hiram Ste- vens, Heman Green, Cyrus Allen, Dan H. Benjamin and John Nason. A dis- pensation was issued by Charles W. Moore, general grand captain-general of the General Grand Encampment of the United States, dated June 28, A. D. 1849, and the first conclave was held July 18, 1849, at Masons' Hall, Burlington.
303
FREEMASONRY AND ODD FELLOWSHIP.
The first officers named in the dispensation were: John S. Webster, eminent commander ; Nathan B. Haswell, generalissimo; George M. Hall, captain-gen- eral ; Hiram Stevens, prelate; George Lowry, senior warden ; Charles P. Brad- ley, junior warden; Heman Green, sword bearer; John Nason, standard bearer; Dan H. Benjamin, warder ; Nathan B. Haswell, recorder pro tem.
The following are the sir knights who have been elected to serve as com- manders of what is now known as Burlington Commandery No. 2:
Eminent Commander : 1850-63, J. S. Webster ; 1864, Louis. Follett ; 1865-66, Geo. W. Beckwith ; 1867-68, R. S. Taft ; 1869-71, E. A. Jewett ; 1872-73, Ormond Cole ; 1874-75, Geo. O. Tyler ;. 1876, Ormond Cole; 1877, Theodore S. Peck ; 1878-79, C. W. Woodhouse; 1880-81, Theodore F. Ed- gar ; 1882-83, Geo. H. Kinsley ; 1884-86, Homer M. Phelps.
Generalissimo : 1850, Jacob Rolfe ; 1851-54, N. B. Haswell ; 1855-63, Jacob Rolfe ; 1864, Henry S. Morse ; 1865-66, R. S. Taft; 1867-68, Wm. K. Taft ; 1869-71, P. D. Ballou ; 1872-73, Wm. Brinsmaid ; 1874-75, T. S. Peck; 1876, Albert C. Tuttle ; 1877, W. W. Henry ; 1878-79, Geo. O. Tyler; 1880- 81, Geo. H. Kinsley ; 1882-83, H. M. Phelps ; 1884-86, Henry R. Conger.
Captain-General : 1850, Daniel L. Potter ; 1851-53, Geo. M. Hall ; 1854, Jacob Rolfe ; 1855-63, David A. Murray ; 1864, Lemuel S. Drew ; 1865-66, Wm. K. Taft; 1867-68, E. A. Jewett; 1869-71, Ormond Cole ; 1872-73, Geo. O. Tyler ; 1874-75, Wm. W. Henry; 1876, Geo. J. Stannard ; 1877, C. W. Woodhouse ; 1878, Charles P. Thayer; 1879, T. F. Edgar ; 1880-83, Henry R. Conger ; 1884-86, Lowell C. Grant.
A . . A .. S .. RITE.
The A ... A .. S . Rite, commonly termed the Scottish Rite (as distin- guished from the Masonic bodies heretofore spoken of, termed the "York Rite "), was introduced into Chittenden county by Phineas D. Ballou, the first petitioner for
HASWELL LODGE OF PERFECTION.
Phineas D. Ballou, Edward A. Jewett, William L. Harris, George T. Smith, Joseph W. Roby, George H. Bigelow, Luman A. Drew, Daniel A. Van Namee, jr., and Lemuel B. Platt, jr., having received the grades of the rite up to and including the 32º in Boston, applied for a dispensation, which was granted June 26, 1868. On November 12 of the same year, Haswell Lodge of Per- fection U. D. was organized by Deputy William Barrett 33º and its officers duly installed. A charter was granted on June 15, 1870.
Officers-T .. P .. G. .. Master : 1868-72, P. D. Ballou, 33d deg .; 1873, Geo. O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1874-75, William Brinsmaid, 33d deg .; 1876-77, Homer M. Phelps, 18th deg .; 1878, George O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1879, William Brins- maid, 33d deg .; 1880-83, M. Wilson Johnson, 33d deg .; 1884, George H. Kinsley, 32d deg .; 1885-86, Henry R. Conger, 16th deg.
304
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
G .:. Sec .. K ... S: 1868-70, Luman A. Drew, 32d deg .; 1871, George H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1872, George T. Smith, 32d deg .; 1873, E. A. Jewett, 32d deg .; 1874-75, J. B. Hyndman, 32d deg .; 1876-78, George S. Wright, 18th deg .; 1879-81, Ethelbert Selden, 32d deg .; 1882-86, Warren G. Reynolds, 32d deg.
JOSEPH W. ROBY COUNCIL, PRINCES OF JERUSALEM,
Was instituted June II, 1873, and was chartered November 13, 1873.
Officers. - Sov .. P .:. G ... Master: 1873, George J. Stannard, 32d deg .; 1874-77 George H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1878-80, Theodore F. Edgar, 32d deg .; 1881-82, George H. Kinsley, 32d deg .; 1883, M Wilson Johnson, 33d deg .; 1884-86, Luman A. Drew, 32d deg.
S . . K ... of the S .. and A .. : 1873, George O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1874, J. B. Hyndman, 32d deg .; 1875, Sayles Nichols, 32d deg .; 1876, Milton B. Kin- ney, 32d deg .; 1877, Fernando H. Wood, 32d deg; 1878, George S. Wright, 18th deg .; 1879-81, Ethelbert Selden, 32d deg .; 1882-86, Warren G. Reynolds, 32d deg.
DELTA CHAPTER OF ROSE CROIX, H-R-D-M.,
Was instituted June II, 1873, and was chartered November 13, 1873.
Officers. - Most W ... and P .. Master: 1873, George O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1874-75, Theodore S. Peck, 32d deg .; 1876-77, Robert J. Wright, 32d deg .; . 1878-80, Horace L. Johonnott, 32d deg .; 1881, George J. Stannard, 32d deg .; 1882-83, Sayles Nichols, 32d deg .; 1884-85, George H. Kinsley, 32d deg .; 1886, M. W. Johnson, 33d deg.
R .:. and P .:. K .. Secretary : 1873, George H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1874- 75, J. B. Hyndman, 32d deg .; 1876-77, H. L. Johonnott, 32d deg .; 1878, D. Noyes Burton, 32d deg .; 1879-81, Ethelbert Selden, 32d deg .; 1882-86, War- ren G. Reynolds, 32d deg.
VERMONT CONSISTORY, S ... P. R .: S ...
Was instituted June 11, 1873, and was chartered August 19, 1874.
Officers. - Commander-in-Chief: 1873, P. D. Ballou, 33d deg .; 1874-75, George O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1876-78, Levi Underwood, 33d deg .; 1879-81, Russell S. Taft, 32d deg .; 1882, William W. Henry, 32d deg .; 1883-84, Sayles Nichols, 32d deg .; 1885-86 William Brinsmaid, 33d deg.
First Lieutenant Commander : 1873, George O. Tyler, 33d deg .; 1874, George H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1875, Levi Underwood, 33d deg .; 1876-78, Rus- sell S. Taft, 32d deg .; 1879-84, George H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1885-86, Geo. H. Kinsley, 32d deg.
Secretary : 1873-76, J. B. Hyndman, 32d deg .; 1877, Robert J. Wright, 33d deg .; 1878-81, M. Wilson Johnson, 33d deg .; 1882-86, Warren G. Rey- nolds, 32d deg.
305
FREEMASONRY AND, ODD FELLOWSHIP.
VERMONT COUNCIL OF DELIBERATION.
This body first assembled in Burlington, January 26, 1875.
Officers .- Commander-in-chief : 1875-86, George O. Tyler, 33d deg.
First Lieutenant Commander: 1875, R. S. Taft, 32d deg .; 1876, Levi Un- derwood, 33d deg .; 1877-79, R. S. Taft, 32d deg .; 1880, Theodore S. Peck, 32d deg .; 1881-83, Wm. Brinsmaid, 33d deg .; 1884, Sayles Nichols; 1885-86, Howard F. Hill, 33d deg.
Secretary: 1875-76, J. B. Hyndman, 32d deg .; 1877, Geo. H. Bigelow, 33d deg .; 1878-81, Geo. J. Stannard, 32d deg .; 1882, Frank H. Bascom ; 1883-85, Wm. C. Bradbury, 32d deg .; 1886, Warren G. Reynolds, 32d deg.
The Scottish Rite in Vermont owes its success to the energy and faithful- ness of George O. Tyler, who has since 1873 been its most devoted adherent. He holds the office of grand captain of the guard in the Supreme Council of the Northern Jurisdiction of the United States. The bodies in Vermont are under his charge as deputy for Vermont. The following is the list of those who have attained to the 33d deg., with the date of their patents :
George O. Tyler, 33d deg., active, August 19, 1875; Levi Underwood, 33d deg., honorary, September 19, 1877 ; George H. Bigelow, 33d deg., hon- orary, September 16, 1879; William Brinsmaid, 33d deg., honorary, Septem- ber 24, 1884 ; M. Wilson Johnson, 33d deg., honorary, September 15, 1885.
I. O. O. F.
The growth of Odd Fellowship in this county since its inception at Balti- timore, where, on the twenty-sixth day of April, 1819, Thomas Wildey and his four co-adjutors organized the first lodge in the United States, has been something wonderful. From this small beginning made in a little room at a hotel known as the "Seven Stars," the order has spread to every State and Territory in the Union, to Mexico, South America, Europe, Asia, and the isl- ands of the ocean. More than half a million men have ranged themselves un- der the ample folds of its banner. Its annual benefactions may be safely stated at a million dollars, and its vast fund for the benefit of widows and orphans, and for other benevolent purposes, at millions more. Odd Fellowship in Vermont had its beginning in Chittenden county. In December, 1844, the Grand Lodge of the State of New York granted to six members of Whitehall Lodge a dis- pensation to withdraw for the purpose of forming a lodge in Burlington, Vt. Their names were W. H. Smith, W. W. Wheeler, John C. Housey, T. D. Chapman, L. J. Stark, A. R. Lemon. These six men, accompanied by ten other members of the order to assist at the installation, came from Whitehall, N. Y., to Burlington in three sleighs, and on the 14th day of January, 1845, in the old Masonic Hall, at 2 P. M., installed Green Mountain Lodge No. I, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, with the following officers : T. D.
306
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Chapman, N. G .; L. J. Stark, V. G .; J. S. Housey, secretary ; W. W. Wheeler, treasurer.
The first regular meeting of Green Mountain Lodge No. I was held at five P. M. of the same day, at which thirteen new members were initiated. At ten o'clock the same evening another meeting was held at which those members who had come from Whitehall pursuant to a dispensation from the Grand Lodge of the State of New York to install Green Mountain Lodge No. I, were granted cards of clearance and returned home. Four of them were still liv- ing on the Ist of June, 1886; namely, L. J. Stark, of New York city, John C. Housey, at Waterford, N. Y., W. W. Wheeler, at Whitehall, and A. R. Lemon, at Burlington. Of those initiated at the first meeting, Amos C. Spear, of Bur- lington, still remains, and is the oldest member of the Green Mountain Lodge No. I. Its present membership is one hundred and three. It continued to work'as a subordinate lodge under the jurisdiction of the Grand Lodge of the State of New York until the installation of the Grand Lodge of the State of Vermont, from whom it then received its charter bearing date December 29, 1847, signed by James Mitchell, grand master of Burlington. In all its history of over forty-one years its regular meeting on Monday evening has never failed.
Winooski Lodge No. 37 was organized in July, 1875. The following are names of charter members : S. Bigwood, J. M. Isham, F. H. Whitney, H. W. Mason, John Benham, John Craven. In March, 1886, it surrendered its charter to the Grand Lodge of Vermont and ceased to exist, its members uniting with Green Mountain or Hamilton Lodge according to their individual preference.
In 1879 a strong desire was manifested by many members of the Green Moun- tain Lodge to establish a new lodge in Burlington, but in consequence of the fail- ure of a lodge, which had been organized some years before, to establish itself on a firm financial basis, and its subsequent dissolution, the project was strongly op- posed, and it was not until February 1, 1882, that a charter was obtained from the Grand Lodge of the State for the installation of a new lodge to be known as Hamilton Lodge No. 14. The following are the names of the charter members: M. R. Tyler, W. B. Lund, H. H. Davis, W. H. Lang, C. R. Nash, S. C. Kim- ball, C. L. Hart, T. W. Downer, H. H. Crandall, H. K. Weaver, H. Rumsey, W. L. Wellington, G. D. Wright, G. L. Draper, B. F. Ostrander, F. W. Nash, and John Marks. Its present membership is about seventy.
Lafayette Uniformed Encampment was organized April 24, 1884. The following are the names of its charter members: W. W. Henry, M. P. Scullin, Eli Poquette, H. H. Davis, and J. T. Beach. In 1886 its name was changed to Canton Lafayette No. I. Its membership is about twenty-five.
At first and until January, 1847, the Odd Fellows used the old Masonic Hall on the west side of the park, but at that date the first Odd Fellows' Hall was dedicated in the third story of what is now the Howard National Bank, but then known as Harrington's block, which they occupied for more than
307
LAKE COMMERCE AND THE LUMBER TRADE.
than twenty years. They then fitted up a hall in Bank block, which they continued to use until the present year (1886). They now have a commodious hall richly furnished at 108 and 110 Church street, which is greatly admired by visitors and has no equal in the State.
CHAPTER XV.
LAKE COMMERCE AND THE LUMBER TRADE.1
Discovery and Early Events - Major Skeene's Sloop -Admiral Gid King and his Com- panions - Construction of Boats Before 1800-Vessels Built Before 1815-The Champlain Canal - Introduction of Long-Boat Lines Through to New York - Merchants' Line-Business Injured by the Opening of Railroads -Table of Vessels Hailing from or Owned by Citizens of Chittenden County -The First Steamboats-Steamboat Companies -The Champlain Trans- portation Company - Its Competition With the Railroads - List of Its Officers-Table of Steamboats on the Lake -- The Lumber Trade-Other Interests.
TN 1609, three-quarters of a century after the French had entered the St. 1 Lawrence, and eleven years before the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth Rock, Samuel de Champlain discovered the lake since called by his name. This event is especially worthy of note, inasmuch as it so directed the tide of affairs as to result in the subsequent establishment of "the great republic of States which now rules the Western World."
The importance of Cartier's discovery of the great gulf and river of Can- ada in October, 1535, was quickly appreciated by France, and her bold and active Jesuit pioneers, penetrating the interior wilds of this continent by the only feasible route of the great lakes, soon established posts which eventually became centers of powerful colonies from the St. Lawrence to the Gulf of Mexico. We have but to mention the names of Allouez Jolliet, Marquette, La Salle, and other French adventurers, to recall the opening of the northern and central portion of our continent to the civilized world. It was left to Champlain, the " father of the French settlements in Canada," as he has been called, to first suspect the existence of a continuous valley extending from the St. Lawrence toward the south, and realize the importance of its occupation by his government. Filled with zeal for this great undertaking, he returned for the third time to this country in 1608, and after laying the foundations of a permanent settlement at Quebec, he started, April 10, 1609, to take possession of the territory lying between the fortieth and forty-fifth degrees of latitude, called by him " New France." He reached the Falls of Chambly near the end of June, accompanied by a band of Algonkin Indian guides. On the 2d of July, with only two of his countrymen who had the courage to be his com-
1 Prepared by Charles E. Allen, of Burlington.
308
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
panions, and sixty Indians, in twenty-four canoes, he caught the first glimpse of the lake, and named it Lake Champlain. Twenty-nine days later he landed at Ticonderoga. The latter part of his journey he pursued his voyage of dis- covery cautiously, at night, for fear of being attacked by the Iroquois, known subsequently as the Five Nations, who claimed the country south of the St. Lawrence, and were deadly enemies of the Algonkins. At Ticonderoga he first met and defeated, with the assistance of his arquebus, a large party of Iroquois, and thereby brought upon the French name the lasting hatred of an Indian tribe " whose neutrality would have been of more importance to the French interests than the friendship of all other tribes." The conquest thus begun ceased only with the final abandonment of this valley by the French.
But another century was yet to elapse before the shores of the lake would be occupied by the hardy race of New Englanders, who then not only took possession of the Indian grounds, but were successful in maintaining their claims. From 1609 until the surrender of Canada to the English on Septem- ber 8, 1760, the navigation on the lake was confined to the predatory excur- sions of the Indians, and the several military expeditions of the French and English, to secure the occupancy of the lands which form its border. Among the more prominent of these expeditions was the one fitted out by the French on the 2d of October, 1666, from Fort St. Anne, on the Isle La Motte, for the purpose of bringing the Mohawks to terms. It proceeded up the lake to Ti- conderoga in three hundred bateaux. On the 13th of August, 1709, Captain John Schuyler embarked from Whitehall for the north, with twenty-nine men and 120 Indians in canoes. On the 22d he made an attack on La Prairie. That year the English built 100 bateaux and a large number of canoes at Whitehall, for the transportation of a projected expedition against Montreal. In 1755 Baron Dieskau went up the lake from St. Johns to Crown Point with 1,800 troops in bateaux, to meet Sir William Johnson at Lake George. Fort St. Frederic, at Crown Point, was erected by the Marquis de Beauharnois, governor-general of Canada, in 1731. In 1749 the Swedish naturalist, Kalm, visited the fort in a yacht or sailing vessel, which made regular trips between that place and St. Johns. This was the first sail vessel built on Lake Cham- plain. The next use of sail vessels was by the French in the construction of Fort Ticonderoga in 1756, when schooners as well as bateaux and canoes, were employed in transporting troops and supplies from place to place. In this year Major Robert Rogers, an English scout from the army of Johnson, seized a schooner laden with " wheat, flour, rice, brandy, and wine," to the north of Crown Point, and killed the crew. In 1757 Montcalm went up the lake from St. Johns with 200 canoes, manned by troops, for the reduction of Fort Will- iam Henry. In the following year Abercrombie entered the lake from the south, with a numerous army in 900 canoes and 130 whale-boats, to attack Ti- conderoga. In 1759 the French built three armed vessels to resist an expected
309
LAKE COMMERCE AND THE LUMBER TRADE.
expedition of the English under Amherst. Amherst began the fortification at Crown Point that season, and fitted out a small navy against the French. The next spring he was succeeded by General Haldimand, who captured Quebec in September, 1760.
After the close of the war between the French and English and the ac- knowledgment of English supremacy, emigrants from the eastern part of New England began to look to this portion of the king's dominions as a good place for settlement. As they usually came by the way of Skeenesborough (White- hall), Major Skeene built a sloop in 1770 for their accommodation and opened a communication with the settlements along the lake and in Canada. This was probably the first vessel that was engaged in commercial traffic on the lake, the others having served for the transportation of military supplies alone. The growth of any extensive trade on the lake was then interrupted by the War of the Revolution, which has been made the subject of a former chapter. After the termination of the war the population of the Champlain valley rap- idly increased, and Vermont began to assume the proportions of a separate province, which it claimed to be. In order to avoid passing through the ene- my's country during the war, the settlers had ceased traveling by the way of Whitehall, and had opened a road through the woods from Dorset, Benning- ton, Castleton, and Arlington to Vergennes, Shelburne, and Winooski Falls. Thus all encouragement to travel and trade on the lake was cut off. The con- troversy with New York, which was at that time so bitter, prevented any peaceful commerce with Whitehall, especially as the articles then in greatest demand, such as iron, salt, steel, etc., could be procured from St. Johns. After the admission of Vermont into the Union, however, such prominent men as Ethan and Ira Allen and Thomas Chittenden returned to their settlements at Burlington and Williston, and by their choice of a location attracted the atten- tion of many who were seeking a place for the establishment of their business in trade or manufacture. An extensive trade was soon established with Que- bec and Montreal, by which the necessaries of life were procured in exchange for the pine timber that grew here in great abundance and for potash, which was sent off in large quantities. But the markets in Canada were not suffi- ciently well stocked to supply the demands of the settlers, and it became evi- dent that vessels which could keep open the communication with Whitehall, for trade with Troy, Albany and New York, would be a source of great reve- nue to their owners. About this time, therefore, Job Boynton, Benjamin Boardman, and Gideon King began the construction of boats, and soon estab- lished a wide reputation as the pioneers of navigation on Lake Champlain. Boynton came here in 1780, and Boardman and King in 1788. Gideon King, jr., one of the four sons of Gideon King, afterward gained the sobriquet of " Gid King the Admiral of the Lake," and was the controlling spirit of com- mercial navigation for many years. He was known among the merchants of
1
310
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Montreal, St. Johns, and all the ports on the lake, and as the agent of John Jacob Astor had charge of the fur trade in this section. In connection with Jed, son of Job Boynton, he built two small cutters of about eight tons bur- den, which they ran across to Essex and Plattsburgh. About the year 1790 they went to Canada, and from some of the old war vessels which they found there fitted up two schooners, which they sailed between Burlington and St. Johns. They were heavy and difficult to manage, and would not be regarded as of much value at the present day. King's was called Horse-Boat, from the circumstance that it was adapted for the transportation of horses. Meantime Benjamin Boardman and a boat-builder that came with him from New London, Conn., by the name of Wilcox, built a sloop of about thirty tons burden, below the railroad bridge at Winooski, on the north side of the river, and floated it down the stream into the lake. At this time Plattsburgh was a small village, the inhabitants of which were largely dependent on Vermont for provisions . and grain. This sloop did a thriving business for years between the two ports. King and Boynton soon perceived the superior build of the new craft, and each engaged Wilcox to build a sloop after the same pattern. In the spring of 1793 the keels of the Dolphin, King's sloop, and Burlington Packet, belonging to Boynton, were laid, at the foot of King street. They were each of about twenty-five tons burden. Two years later Russell Jones built a sloop of thirty tons burden, at the same place, and gave her the name of Lady Washington. She was afterward fitted up with a false bulk-head for smuggling, and was extensively engaged in that profitable business. The same year Caleb B. Smith, father of Frederick Smith, constructed a sloop of the same burden, which he commanded himself. Thomas H. Canfield, in the Vermont Historical Magazine, related the following anecdote of him: "Smith was a courageous, daring man, and would go out in a storm when no others would venture. The consequence was, that on a passage to St. Johns which he had undertaken in a severe storm, he ran upon a reef north of Tobias's Landing, near Grand Isle, and nearly lost his life and vessel. This was the first discovery of the reef, and the sailors, glad to get up a joke at the expense of Smith, at once gave it the name of " Bull Reef," and his vessel the Bull Sloop.
The sloop Maria, of about thirty tons, was built by Admiral King in 1795. Richard Fittock, the master-builder, owned an old scow called the Old Lion, which was used as lighter for vessels that anchored some distance out. "Pork, beef, and liquors were thrown overboard and floated ashore, while dry goods and such articles were landed by the Old Lion." At this period the following were the principal navigators and captains: Gideon King, Beach Smith, Elijah Boynton, John Boynton, H. N. White, Daniel Davis, John Price, Russell Jones, Almas Truman, all of Burlington; Joseph Treat, Bridport; Robert White, Andrew White, Lavater White, of Shelburne; Caleb Barton, Ephraim Lake, Elijah Newell, Levi Hinkley, of Charlotte; Eben Holabird, Ruben Holabird, of Georgia ; Hiram Ferris, of Chazy, N. Y.
3II
LAKE COMMERCE AND THE LUMBER TRADE.
The following table presents a list of the vessels built upon Lake Champlain from 1790 to the year 1815 :
Names.
For whom Built.
Where Built.
Master Carpenter. Tonnage. Fcar Built.
Unknown
B. Boardman
Burlington.
Wilcox
.30.
.1790
Dolphin
. Gideon King.
do
do
.30.
.1793
Burlington Packet.
Jedediah Boyntou
do
do
.. 30
1793
do
do
Beach Smith
do
do
30
1796
Lady Washington.
Russell Jones
do
do
.30
1795
Maria
Gideon Kiug.
do
Fittock
.30.
1795
Unknown
do do
do
do
30.
1800
Union ..
Job Boynton
do
do
30
.1800
Elizabeth.
Daniel Ross.
Essex, N. Y.
Eggleston
.40
1800
Jupiter
. Gideon King do do
do
Wilcox
.40
.1802
Unetta
E. Boynton
do
Eggleston do
.. 30
.1803
Privateer
Gideon King do do
do
do
.50.
1809
Emperor
H. & A. Ferris
Barber's Point
Young.
50.
1810
Rising Sun
E. Boynton
Essex, N. Y.
Eggleston
1810
Eagle.
S. Boardman
Whitehall
do
60.
.1810
Essex
Gideon King
Essex
da
50
1810
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.