History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

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 51

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At the time of this reception the Van Ness place on Main street embraced a tract of land which extended south far enough to include the mansion of Colonel Cannon and thirty acres of land adjacent, in all eighty-one and a half acres. Governor Van Ness purchased the property of Thaddeus Tuttle on the 9th of April, 1824, and owned it until July 12, 1845, when he deeded it to Henry Leavenworth, who opened streets through it.

Business Centers in 1827. - The following description of the square and Pearl street, and other portions of Burlington in 1827, is substantially the same as given by Mr. Frederick Smith, who made Burlington his home in that year. North of Pearl street there was not more than half a dozen houses, and they

1This tavern was then kept for a short time by Royal Gould.

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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.

were small. The only street that was opened north of Pearl was North avenue, which was then inhabited chiefly by several colored families in shanties of the most rude construction. Water street was also inhabited by the lowest families between the Battery and Main street, while south of that were a number of the most respectable faniilies in town. There were the same two hotels mentioned in the description of the street of a former period, kept in 1827 by the father of the late Miles Evarts, and by Cady & Doolittle, respectively. The principal store on the street was that of Mayo & Follett, which occupied the site now covered by the stone store of Van Sicklen, Seymour & Co. The square was surrounded by some of the most important of the business houses in town. Lemuel Page still occupied the old two-story framed dwelling house that stood on the northeast corner of College and St. Paul streets, and made shoes after the fashion of those times. The next building east of that was Howard's tav- ern. After passing the driveway just east of this hotel the visitor would see the story-and-a-half framed store building of Isaac Warner, which was entered by a short stairway. On the site of the Merchants' National Bank was the two- story brick store built by Jireh Durkee, and occupied until about this time by him. He was soon after succeeded by Burdick & Southgate. The next build- ing east was of about the same proportion, and was occupied by Dr. John Peck, who at that time occupied it solely as a drug store.

Dr. John Peck was a native of Litchfield county, Conn., and came to Bur- lington in 1804. He always lived on the premises now owned and occupied by his son, Edward W. Peck, No. 326 College street. At first his dwelling was a framed house, but he built, after years, the house in which his son now lives. He was one of the most extensive land owners in the town, and at different times had title to the best land in all parts of the town. At one time he owned a tract of about twenty-five acres, embracing the corner of Maple and Willard streets, and the residence of Hon. E. J. Phelps. He bought it of William C. Harrington. In the spring of 1816 he made his first purchase of land on the north side of the square, and from about that time until 1830 conducted an extensive drug business. In that year he enlarged the building which he had before occupied, or rather rebuilt it entire, with such an outlay of pains and ex- pense that the block was called the best in the State. It then, as now, included the buildings east and west of the store, which he and two of his sons occupied under the firm name of J. & J. H. Peck & Co., viz., the building now occupied by R. B. Stearns & Co. and that occupied by the Merchants' National Bank. From this block E. A. Stansbury issued the Burlington Courier, and afterwards Saxe the Sentinel. Stimulated by the sharp rivalry between the square and Water street, between the wholesale store of Follett & Bradley at the south dock and that of J. & J. H. Peck & Co., at the square, the latter became the most extensive house in Vermont, and scenes of great business activity were frequently presented, while the six-horse and eight-horse "land-ships " were lading for the different interior towns of the State. About 1854 this firm was

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

succeeded by E. W. Peck & Co. In 1868 the fourth story was added to the building by the present owner, who also lowered the front in the spring of 1875. Dr. John Peck died in 1863, aged seventy-seven years.

Emerson & Orvis occupied the next store to the east as a dry goods store. Frederick Orvis, who managed the business, occupied the same dwelling house in which we found Moses Jewett during the war, on the corner now occupied by the American Hotel. From the store of Emerson & Orvis to the corner of Church street would have been a vacant lot but for a little 8 x 12 barber shop kept by James Southard. Even as late as 1830 it was a fashion univer- sally observed for the men to be closely shaven. No beards were to be seen, so that we may suppose Mr. Southard had the opportunity for making a com- fortable living from his occupation. A second story was added to this build- ing in later days, which extended over a greater area than the first. The struct- ure now stands on the south side of Battery street just above Maple.

The northeast corner of Court-House Square was occupied by the tavern of Captain Henry Thomas. Church street ended at College street, and Cap- tain Thomas's barn stood south of the store of A. N. Percy & Co .; south and west of the barn was the frog pond mentioned before.1 There was a deep hole, still to be seen north of this barn on College street, and to the east some dis- tance was a knoll the summit of which was about on a level with the square. On this elevation were two buildings, the one on the south side being a little framed carpenter shop, and across from it the brick building which stands there yet, the property now of S. Beach, who occupies the basement as a bakery and confectionery store.

South of Thomas's Hotel was a driveway running east and west from the hotel barn to the square. Captain Thomas had by this time obtained license from the town to build a public or dancing hall over and a little south of this driveway, which was already quite a popular resort during winter evenings for dancing parties and dancing-schools. A few yards south of this hall was the old court-house, facing west. The pine tree whipping-post was still there, though it was not frequently called into requisition. The site of the present city hall had been taken up by Nathaniel Mayo, who had built a little brick meat market there and carried on the business himself. The place formerly occupied by Seth Pomeroy on the site of the post-office building was at this time in the possession of John N. Pomeroy. Mills' Row was the same as

1 This pond was a quagmire composed of quicksand, so yielding that at one time Captain Lyon easily drove an iron rod into the earth at that place a depth of eighteen feet. He is authority for the statement that the city hall virtually floats on this plot of quicksand. He was one of the building com- mittee at the erection of the city hall, and employed J. D). Allen to solve the problem of building a house on the sand that should not yield to the first attack of wind and rain. Mr. Allen accordingly calculated that the surface of Church and Main streets must be made sufficiently stiff to resist the press- ure from beneath that would inevitably follow from the weight of the walls of the proposed structure. The surface of the streets was therefore hardened with small stones and cement. The wisdom of this proceeding was afterwards demonstrated, when, upon the breaking of the surface of Main street for the laying of a sewer, the city hall was found to have settled for the first time.

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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.

during the war. Charles Adams had erected a small brick dwelling just south of it where he dwelt, Harvey Milliken lived across St. Paul, then Shelburne street, from Frederick Orvis, on the site of the Van Ness house, Samuel Hickok still resided on the northwest corner of Main and St. Paul streets, and carried on a mercantile business two doors north of his house. Haswell's auction store was at this period between Hickok's dwelling and store. The next building north of Hickok's store was used by Philo Doolittle as a store. Next was the store of E. T. Englesby, while a small harness shop was on the corner. E. T. Englesby had now completed his garden, which he laid out in 1819. It was called the finest garden in the State and took up the entire block north and west of the house. Mr. Englesby came to Burlington from the city of New York in November, 1797, after a journey by way of Whitehall and the lake of eleven days, and began a mercantile career as clerk in the store of Captain Thaddeus Tuttle, with whom he boarded. Several of his mother's brothers bore a conspicuous and honorable part in the Revolution. The family came from Massachusetts. In the spring of 1798 Mr. Englesby was initiated into the first degree of Freemasonry in the Washington Lodge at Burlington. He remained with Captain Tuttle two years and then formed a partnership with Joshua Isham, of Shelburne Falls, a store being opened at both Shelburne and Burlington. He assumed sole control of the business in the spring of 1802, and, from a position in the rudiments of financial success, in a few years at- tained wealth and prominence. He was made president of the Bank of Bur- lington in 1820 and officiated in that capacity until 1849, retiring then with the confidence and regards of his associates. He was four times married, his first wife being a sister of John N. Pomeroy, his second and third wives, daughters of Colonel E. S. Keyes, and his fourth wife, the mother of L. B., E. C., and Rosalind P. Englesby, was Adela Brush, of Massachusetts. Mr. Englesby died in February, 1854, aged seventy-seven years.

The first building north of College street on the west side of Church street was the same one now occupied by H. E. Adams & Son, jewelers.

North of the ground where the Chinese laundry now is was the jewelry store of Pangburn & Brinsmaid. A little way north of that was the tailor shop of Uriah Dubois, in the same building now occupied by Brinsmaid & Hildreth. Next was the low, two-story white framed store of Sion E. Howard, who was really the first proprietor of a cash store in Burlington. Previous to the sys- tem which he inaugurated here, the custom was for purchasers to run accounts with the several stores for a period of not less than six months, and to pay their bills in farm products, such as wheat, cattle, etc., at the market prices. Money was scarce, and our ancestors, civilized though they were, were forced to resort in their trade to the exceedingly primitive method of barter, without the intermediation of money. Howard's store stood about on the site of Frederick Burritt's drug store. The building was a small one with low rooms,

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

and "bulls'-eye" windows. Mr. Howard lived on the site of the brick house still occupied by his widow, on the southeast corner of St. Paul and Bank streets.

On the corner of Bank and Church streets, next north of Howard's store, was the historic Bank of Burlington, which had elegant furniture, and the chairs of which are now distributed among the heirs of the old directors. These chairs were equal in number to the directors of the bank, and were decorated on the back with paintings of the most prominent buildings in the town, chiefly residences of the directors themselves. The bank building was constructed of brick, with the entrance to the bank on Church street. In the rear were apart- ments elegantly fitted up for the home of the cashier, who at this period was Andrew Thompson. The entrance to this part of the building was from Bank street.

On the northwest corner of Bank and Church streets was the handsome two-story dwelling house of William A. Griswold. It was constructed of brick and faced Church street. The next building north was the little wooden tin- shop of Jesse J. Starr, who then dwelt in the same building in which James A. Shedd now lives on the southwest corner of Church and Cherry streets. The widow of Hawley Durkee, recently deceased, kept tavern in what is now Rowe's Hotel. North of that on Church street were several small houses de- voted to various purposes, the only dwelling being the same building now standing on the southwest corner of Church and Pearl streets.

South from Pearl street, on the east side of Church, the first building was the same one now standing in the same place, on the southeast corner of Church and Pearl streets. Some time after this George P. Marsh dwelt in this house. On the southeast corner of Church and Cherry streets was a brick building used by John Morse as a paint shop. The jail was the next struct- ure, and appeared nearly the same as it does now excepting that it was a trifle smaller. Between the jail and Bank street were a number of little shops, and the dwelling house of Dubois the tailor stood on the corner. Just across Bank street, in a wooden building, Samuel H. Peaslee carried on his trade as a harness-maker, or " saddler." The jewelry establishment of Curtis & Dun- ning was in the brick building that stood next south from Peaslee's, and be- yond their store was another cluster of rookeries. In a framed house on the corner now occupied by the Howard National Bank lived a grocer named Samuel Wainwright, who conducted his trade in the basement of this house.

The old store on the north end of College Green, erected and first occu- pied by Giles T. Chittenden, and afterwards occupied by the firm of Eddy, Munroe & Hooker, was vacant in 1827. The framed house of Colonel James Sawyer stood on the site of the Medical College, and his store was just west of his house on the corner. Harry Bradley subsequently carried on trade in a large brick store on this ground. On the northwest corner of Pearl and North

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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.

Prospects streets, where the Vilas house now stands, afterwards lived Luther Moore, who carried on his business of harness-making in a brick building west of his dwelling. Arabart Forbes had a store immediately west of this harness- shop, and some time later George Moore, brother to Luther, conducted a store in a two-story brick building west of Forbes. George Moore subsequently lived in a large framed house on the site of the present residence of Hon. U. A. Woodbury. Continuing towards the lake, the next house was the brick dwelling house of Truman Seymour, wheelwright, whose shop was some dis- tance farther south on the same side, near the ravine. On the site of Henry Loomis's present dwelling was the framed house in which Luther Loomis lived, whose store was just west of his house. Forty or fifty rods north of this store Mr. Loomis carried on a distillery, a perfectly respectable business in those days. Harry Bradley was some time after this a partner with Loomis in the distilling of whiskey. Horace Loomis lived next west of the store of Luther Loomis, in the same building now occupied by his daughter, Mrs. Brooks. Farther west was the store formerly owned by Eleazer H. Deming, in 1827, con- ducted by Sidney Barlow. This was a large brick structure, which stood about where Willard street now crosses Pearl. E. H. Deming's house was the next building west, and was the first one east of Seymour's wheelwright shop. Col- onel Ozias Buell lived a short distance west of Seymour's shop in a fine look- ing framed house, and carried on a mercantile business west cf his house. Across from the old white church, and about on the site of the present resi- dence of L. G. Burnham, was the furniture shop of Smith & Pangburn, an old, unpainted two-story building, with " the sign of the table," as they advertised.

Let us now start west from the head of Pearl street and enumerate, as well as possible, the buildings on the south side. The old Green Mountain House was then at the summit of its popularity, under the proprietorship of Eli Barn- ard, an inventive man, who was ever trying to invent what would now be called a "Keely motor." Mrs. Follett, mother of Timothy Follett and of Mrs. E. H. Deming, lived in the next house, a small one built of brick. The little framed house next west, which stands yet, was occupied by George Robinson. Dr. Harmon's drug store and dwelling, which was described in a former page, were next. Then the eye of the visitor fell upon the old landmark, then as now bearing the stains and wrinkles of antiquity, the residence of Phineas Loomis, and now of Edward C. Loomis, his grandson. The Loomis tan-yard was just west of this house. About 1796 or '97 Horace Loomis built a tannery just west of the present garden of E. C. Loomis, where a series of depressions now indicate the location of the old vats. The tannery building was of stone, two stories and a half in height, with a frontage of about twenty-five feet and a depth of about twenty. A brick currying shop adjoined it on the west, and a wooden extension was added to the rear. Horace Loomis operated the tannery from the time that it was erected until 1832, when his son, E. C. Loomis, took

HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

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charge of the business and operated it until about 1872. It was after that used several years for a basket factory, and finally torn down. Somewere "in the sixties " steam-power took the place of the old style of operation.

Below the tan-yard stood the house in which George P. Marsh, and after- wards President Wheeler, lived at different times. West of Willard street was. the building then occupied by Frederick, son and partner of Colonel Ozias Buell. He died soon after this. The house is now occupied by Edward Hun- gerford, whose wife is a daughter of Frederick Buell. Where Mrs. Marcia B. Follett now lives was then the home and office of Benjamin F. Bailey. The next house, now occupied by Dr. Carpenter, was then the residence of William I. Seymour, the hatter, whose shop was still in the building next east of the church grounds, now occupied as a residence. On the southwest corner of Pearl street and Winooski avenue, in the house now occupied by Dr. S. Wager, lived a Mr. Wadsworth, which stood immediately east of the residence of Rev. George G. Ingersol, pastor of the Unitarian Church. There was no other building between that and Church street except the one already mentioned, on the corner.

Many of the prominent citizens living here during the War of 1812-15 had passed away by this time, and a few had emigrated to other parts. Elnathan Keyes had removed to New York State. During the year 1813 had died Samuel Hitchcock, Dr. Cassius F. Pomeroy, General Ira Allen, and William C. Harrington. Dubartis Willard and Colonel Stephen Pearl died in 1815 and 1816 respectively. Job Reed and Daniel Farrand passed away in 1825 ; Cap- tain Gid. King died in 1826. This year, 1827, was quite fatal too, carrying away Colonel James Sawyer, aged sixty-six years ; the brilliant young attorney, Warren Loomis, aged thirty-nine years ; Harvey Durkee, former proprietor of the hotel on the northwest corner of Church and Cherry streets, and others.

The Glass Factory .- The year 1827 was remarkable for the introduction of the first extensive manufacturing concern in the town, the Champlain Glass Company, of which that pioneer in all kinds of enterprise in Burlington, Dr. John Peck, was president, and Professor James Dean was treasurer. The erec- tion of the buildings was begun in the fall of 1827, on the northeast corner of Battery street and Smith's lane, now occupied by the dwelling house of Fred- erick Smith. The buildings, numbering about a dozen, covered two acres of ground. John S. Foster, of Boston, was the superintendent of the works, and had under his control about 100 hands. In 1834 Frederick Smith, after an ab- sence of two years, hired the concern for three years, and during that time- made the establishment a decided success. The result was that in a few years he bought the property. He took in with him several partners, and conducted the business under the several names of Loomis, Smith & Co., Janes, Smith & Co., Smith, Wilkins & Landon, and Smith & Wilkins. They manufactured glass for many cities of the West, and had an agent in Chicago for years. In

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TOWN AND CITY OF BURLINGTON.

1850, however, owing to the high prices of fuel, the enterprise was abandoned. This business was the prime cause of the extension of the village to the north. Under the pressure of necessity, the town contracted with Mr. Smith for the laying out of Battery street, north of Pearl, in 1842, and of Front street, and the several avenues then opened. The greater number of inhabitants of Bur- lington now live north of Pearl street.

Burlington in 1850 .- During the period intervening between 1827 and 1850 Burlington had suffered many changes, some of which seemed to be ad- verse to her prosperity and growth. At this time the railroads had but re- cently been opened, and the event seemed ominous for the future of the town. During the previous years Burlington had attained great importance through- out the northern part of the State by reason of her natural position on the lake. Everything that went from Montreal or New York, or even Boston, to the interior towns was unloaded at Burlington and transhipped to its destina- tion. From the earliest history of the mercantile business of Burlington until that time, it had been the custom of most of the merchants throughout the county, and even as far east as Montpelier, to order their goods of Burlington merchants. All this was changed by the new system of traffic, and the com- mercial importance of the town, it was feared, was ruined forever. The rail- roads even discriminated adversely to the best interests of Burlington, and the wholesale houses of Canada, New York and Massachusetts, began to prosper at the expense of this village. Real property depreciated to ruinous prices. For example, when Henry Leavenworth erected in 1847 the block that bears his name, the value of the property was $20,000 ; in 1860 the same property sold for $5,200.I Fortunately the erection of the Pioneer Mechanics' Shops, and the creation of a lumber market here averted the calamity that was dreaded, and introduced a period of unprecedented prosperity, which it may be hoped has but just begun.

Other changes have taken place. The men that were in their prime a quarter of a century before, had relinquished their activity and bequeathed to their sons the business which they had established. Many, it is true, still lived who were prominent when Lafayette visited the village, but only a few of these had continued in the practice of their vocations. E. H. Deming died in 1828, at the age of forty-three years ; Hon. William Brayton died the same year at the age of forty-one years. Among those who had passed away be- tween 1830 and 1850, we may mention the following : Hon. John C. Thomp- son, 1831, aged forty-one years ; Benjamin F. Bailey and Colonel Ozias Buell, in 1832, aged respectively thirty-six and sixty-three years; Captain Thaddeus Tuttle in 1836, aged seventy-eight years ; John M. Eldredge in 1839, aged

1 Much of this difference in value, however, must be ascribed to the change of plan as to the location of the station. The block was erected in the belief that the site of the city market was to be occupied for a station, and the railroad filled up the depression in that place for that ostensible purpose.

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

sixty-three years ; John Van Sicklen in 1840, aged eighty-one years; Hon. Stephen Haight in 1841, aged fifty-eight years ; Luther Loomis in 1844, aged sixty-three years ; Dr. John Pomeroy, 1844, aged eighty years ; Hon. William A. Griswold, 1846, aged seventy years; and Samuel Hickok, 1849, aged seventy-five years. Among the more prominent men who had wholly or partly relinquished the active pursuits of life were Hon. Heman Allen, Dr. Will- iam Atwater, John Howard, E. T. Englesby, Nathan B. Haswell, Hon. Tim- othy Follett, and Phineas Atwater.

The year 1850 will be remembered as a part of the period of agitation of such political questions as free soil and loco-focoism ; when the slavery ques- tion was complicating all political calculations. At the beginning of the year Zachary Taylor was President of the United States, and Millard Fillmore suc- ceeded to this position on Mr. Taylor's decease, in July. Southern senators were pushing forward bills for the restitution of fugitive slaves. The schemes for the invasion of Cuba had but recently subsided. The people were not yet quieted in their apprehensions concerning the cholera, which had raged with fearful fatality during the preceding summer throughout France and England, in New Orleans and New York, and most of the principal cities of the country. Even Burlington was visited by this pestilence, and fourteen deaths had occurred here from cholera. Small-pox added its terrors to the ravages of cholera. Burlington had nine cases, though none of them was fatal. The California gold fever (not altogether so dreadful in its effects) was at its height. Notwithstand- ing all this, however, Burlington continued to grow. Between the years 1840 and 1850 the population of the town increased more than three thousand souls, and during the ten years following 1850, the population increased, but only about 125 persons.

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 51

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