USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 73
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TOWN OF HINESBURG.
Notwithstanding these and other untoward events, the town continued a healthy and steady growth. In 1825 the population contained, for the most part, a different personnel than that of twenty-five years earlier, though many of the old settlers were still active and prominent. Erastus Bostwick was town clerk ; Nathan Leavenworth, Jared Byington and Erastus Meech were select- men ; William F. Marsh, son of Dr. William B. Marsh, was constable ; Jede- diah Boynton, William F. Marsh and Austin Beecher were listers ; William B. Marsh and William Hurlburt, overseers of the poor, and Lyman F. Clark and Eli Norton were grand jurors. Probably the most prominent man then in town was Jedediah Boynton, who came here from Shelburne in 1807, and estab- lished his residence on a beautiful eminence in the center of the village, which he purchased of Elijah Peck. He erected a store on the present site of the store of H. M. Hull, and was for years the most prominent merchant in the vicinity, furnishing goods to the inhabitants of Hinesburg and several of the surrounding towns. He was a man of great enterprise, a kind neighbor, a lib- eral citizen, and generously devoted to the growth, prosperity and honor of the town. He became the owner of considerable land in and about the village, and disposed of building lots on favorable terms to purchasers, and encouraged liberally all improvements upon them by mechanics and others. About 1820, in company with Mitchell Hinsdill, he opened the canal from Pond Brook to the north end of the village, and built on it a factory for cotton and woolen goods, which added greatly to the productive industry of the town. He made liberal donations for public purposes. He gave deeds for the land occupied as a cemetery in the village, for that occupied by the academy, and that occupied by the Baptist Church. He died in 1848, aged seventy-four years.
Jared Byington was at this time living about a mile south of the village, and deserves mention as being the patentee and inventor of the first steel pitchfork ever used in the United States. He also invented a nail machine of value, but never had it patented.
Hinesburg village was smaller in 1825 than it is now, though it was com- paratively more active. Among the more prominent residents, besides Mr. Boynton, was Nahum Peck, a sketch of whose life appears in later pages of this work, and who at this time was a young man just entering upon his profes- sional career. Lyman Clark lived on the site now occupied by Dr. J. F. Miles, and was followed in that place by Rev. William Arthur, father of ex-President Chester A. Arthur, who himself passed several of his childhood years here. - Lyman Clark was a blacksmith, and worked in a stone shop on the site of the present store of Louis Sanctuary. Rev. Otto S. Hoyt then owned and occu- pied the Congregational parsonage, the same building now used for the same purpose. The house now occupied by James Miner was then standing, and occupied by William Hurlburt, partner of Jedediah Boynton. Boynton & Hurlburt then owned and operated a distillery and a grist-mill about one and
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
a half miles south of the village on Baldwin Brook. F. W. Baldwin, son of Edmund, owned and operated a tannery on his father's farm, which he and his successors conducted prosperously until recent years. Another tannery was operated on the north bank of La Plotte River in the south part of the village, by Henry Benson and Allen Beach, the former of whom resided over the tan- nery. The building still stands there. Robert Beach kept a tavern in the south part of the town, where Edgar Degree now lives.
The village school was then kept in a two-story building which had been erected in 1815, on the site occupied by the present new structure, its suc- cessor. The old building was used for a school and as a Masonic Hall until it was removed in 1885, and the present structure erected. The old school- house now serves as a hall for the Grand Army Post of this town.
John Allen then lived where his son of the same name now lives, and kept a harness shop there, having moved from Main street, in the village. Thomas Gibbs also had a harness shop in the north part of the village. He built and occupied the house now used as the Baptist parsonage. He was postmaster for a long time. Bateman Stearns kept a hatter's shop in the first house north of the present store of Leonard Andrews. Another hatter's shop, kept by Eleazer Mead, stood nearly opposite that of Stearns. John Wheelock was a cabinet-maker and had a shop in the south part of the village, near the present dwelling house of Mrs. Julia Gage.
General Nathan Leavenworth owned a saw-mill on the place now occupied by Benjamin Adams, who operated it for him, and a saw and grist-mill and clothing works on Lewis Creek, just over the line in Charlotte. Nathaniel and Elijah Austin had a saw and grist-mill on Lewis Creek about where the cheese factory now stands and near the site of the old mill of Lemuel Bostwick. The Austins also had a blacksmith shop and kept a few goods for sale, such as to- bacco and the articles that were purchased frequently and in small quantities. Edmund Clark, in 1825, was running the clothing works established years be- fore by Giles Hard, near the Baldwin tannery.
Until the town hall was built, in 1840, town meetings were held either in the Congregational Church or the school-house.
There was never but one store of any importance outside of the village, and that was kept by Dr. William B. Marsh & Son. It was a small concern in the south part of the town, but had considerable local trade.
Mechanicsville, or Murray & Patrick's Corners, as it was then called, was of the same manufacturing importance that it is now, though the products of its factories were of a different kind. In 1816 Colvin Murray, father of Orrin Murray, who was born in Williston, June 1, 1800, came to this settlement with his family and erected a grist-mill for custom work on the site of the present woolen-mill. In 1825 this mill was operated by Orrin and David Murray, brothers. In 1822 Brigham C. Wright and Colvin Murray built a saw-mill at
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Isaiah Daw
ALITTLE.PHILA
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TOWN OF HINESBURG.
the outlet of Hinesburg Pond, and ran it a number of years. Among the more prominent men then living in Mechanicsville were Colvin, Orrin, David Murray, Daniel Patrick and Truman Averill, the last of whom manufactured chairs. Murray & Patrick had a shop for turning wheels in the frame of the old Bostwick mill, and in the same building carried on the carding and dress- ing of cloth. Orrin Murray then lived on the site of the house now occupied by Daniel Patrick, jr. Daniel Patrick lived more than a mile east of Mechan- icsville, on the Patrick farm, now carried on by John O'Brien. Truman Averill lived on the site of the present dwelling house of Isaiah Dow. (For a sketch of Isaiah Dow and his father, see biographical sketches in the latter part of this volume.) These were the most important industries the hamlet then possessed.
Present Business Interests .- Such is the past of Hinesburg. Its present interests are briefly enumerated below, with sketches giving an idea of their origin.
The Flanagan House occupies the site of the old tavern of Elijah Peck, built before 1790. The present frame was erected by R. W. Post, in 1860, since which time the town has not been without a good hotel. Nathaniel Miles was one of its earliest proprietors, and was followed successively by Baldwin, Burritt, Crandall, Lewis Ray and others. The present proprietor, George W. Flanagan, succeeded Reuben Wickware on the 10th of January, 1870. Mr. Flanagan keeps a good house, and has capacity for entertaining sixty or seventy guests. The house that stood here in early days was a favor- ite resting-place for drivers and passengers of the old stages.
Mercantile Interests .- The business now carried on by H. M. Hull and H. W. Fraser, under the firm name of Hull & Fraser, has succeeded to the oldest mercantile business now in the town. Elijah Peck kept a store on this site and perhaps in the same building in the very beginning of this century. A few years later Boynton & Hurlburt enlarged the business and kept a store here for years. Meanwhile, in 1826, Marcus Hull, father of H. M. Hull, started a store in the north end of the village, and after a time succeeded to the trade of Boynton & Hurlburt. At his death in April, 1873, H. M. Hull became pro- prietor of the business and carried on the store in company with P. J. Murphy several years, after which he was alone until the present partnership was formed in the summer of 1885.
The building now occupied as a store by E. L. Douglass was erected by A. S. and G. D. Weller in 1838, who kept store in it until about 1855. The last occupant before Mr. Douglass was P. J. Murphy, after whose departure the store was vacant until Mr. Douglass came. Mr. Douglass began to trade at the north end of the village in 1878, and came to the present building in 1880.
Leonard Andrews came from Shelburne, where he had for several years been engaged in the mercantile business, in September, 1863, and began to trade in the same building that he now occupies. 39
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Louis Sanctuary has kept a shoe store in the village about ten or twelve years, and carries a good assortment of goods.
The hardware trade of Read & Patrick was established about fifteen years ago by Allen & Read.
Manufacturing Interests .- On Pond Brook, which contains excellent mill sites, was erected the first mill. It is a small stream heading in Hinesburg Pond. The outlet of the pond is at the south end, where a dam seven feet high and three rods long is built, forming a good reservoir for the mills on the stream below, which courses along in a general southwesterly direction. It originally joined the La Plotte to the southwest of the village, but now joins just west of it, as its course was changed by building a canal, through which its waters are carried to the village, where they afford a water power of sixteen feet head. From the pond to the bridge near Rufus Patrick's, the brook has a fall of about thirty feet, and from there, in flowing three-quarters of a mile, it falls 250 feet, affording mill privileges which are unexcelled. The lots contain- ing the best of these mill sites were purchased of the proprietors by Beriah Murray, of Claremont, N. H., a famous hunter, who probably became acquainted with the spot on some of his excursions in search of game. He never located here himself, but sold the property to Lemuel Bostwick, and became an early settler in Williston. In 1791 Mr. Bostwick, in company with Daniel Sherman, erected a saw-mill just above the site now occupied by Daniel Patrick's mill, the first built in the town. It was a cheap affair, and lasted but a short time. In 1793 Mr. Bostwick erected a grist-mill just above the shop now occupied by John Edwin. It was a two-story structure. Some time between 1793 and 1800 Mr. Bostwick built a carding-mill on the site now occupied by the grist- mill. It was a matter of no small importance to the inhabitants, as previous to this all their carding had to be done by hand, or taken to Vergennes. About this time Joseph Wilcox built a saw-mill thirty or forty rods below, where the rocks formed a sort of natural dam, affording a head of eight or ten feet. About 1801 Mr. Bostwick, in company with Messrs. Eldridge and Peck, built a saw- mill a little to the northwest of the site now occupied by L. Murray's excelsior- mill. In 1812 the bearings to the grist-mill wheel again were ground off and it stopped.
In 1814 Thomas Wilcox rebuilt the John Wilcox mill, and during the fol- lowing year sold it to Colvin, Celah and Allen Murray, and Harmon Anger. Col- vin Murray bought out Lemuel Bostwick, and Brigham Wright ran the carding- mill for him that year. In 1816 Murray built a grist-mill where the factory now stands, the wall on a part of the south and west side being the same then built. Brigham Wright bought out Celah and Allen Murray and Anger. The card- ing- mill and the Bostwick, Eldridge & Peck saw-mill, being in ruinous condi- tion, were taken down and the carding-machines stored in a barn. In 1817 Captain Bacon built a wood-working shop midway between the two bridges,
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TOWN OF HINESBURG.
on a little brook that runs into the grist-mill pond, and in 1820 Boynton & Hurlburt put a " still " into this shop and manufactured liquor for several years thereafter. During this year Boynton & Hurlburt built the factory at the vil- lage which is now called the skating rink. In 1820 Abijah Lake put a set of carding-machines into the old grist-mill. In 1821 B. Wright took down his saw-mill and removed it to the site of the mill which burned.
During the year 1822 Samuel Hurlburt built a saw-mill just south of the present grist-mill. In 1823 Orrin Murray and John S. Patrick formed a part- nership, and finally came into possession of all of Colvin Murray's property on the stream, and continued the cloth-dressing business after Murray's engage- ment with Wright closed. During the year 1824 Murray & Patrick bought B. Wright's saw-mill, thus coming into possession of the pond. Colvin Mur- ray had built a dam at the outlet so as to hold the water back for his grist-mill years before. In 1827 Murray & Patrick bought out Wiley & Lake, Wiley taking the present grist-mill privilege in part payment, and, in company with L. F. Clark, built a large blacksmith shop, which they sold during the following year to Elanson Lyon, who added a wagon shop. In 1829 Murray & Patrick built the shop occupied by J. Edwin for their carding and cloth-dressing busi- ness. In 1830 they commenced manufacturing cloth, with two power looms. In 1831 Lyman Huntington erected a tannery on a little brook near the pres- ent residence of Joseph Bissonnett, whose house was then used for a bark and finishing shop.
In 1832 Lyon's shops were destroyed by fire, and Rufus Patrick and Loren Murray built the foundry where it now stands, and also bought the old carding- mill of Murray & Patrick for a shop. In 1833 the trestle-work that had served the old Bostwick mill as a foundation gave way. The machinery was taken out and the building used as a store-house, and a portion of it as a machine shop. Rufus Patrick and Mr. Murray commenced the manufacture of plows, laying the foundation for D. K. Patrick's business.
In 1835 Clark Whitehorn purchased a site just below Rufus Patrick's shop, where he established a small carding and cloth-dressing-mill. In 1840 Clark Whitehorn built the factory now known as the F. F. Lyman factory, and put into it two sets of carding-machines, using his old building as a dry-house. During 1842 Murray & Patrick purchased the factory building of Colvin and Loren Murray, and moved their machinery into it, and also built another set ; they also moved their machine shop to the factory. In December, 1844, Mur- ray & Patrick's factory burned down, the fire originating in the carding-room. During the following year they re-erected their factory upon its present site, and removed the grist-mill, converting it into a dwelling. Mr. Hull built a potato starch-mill also during this year, between L. Murray's mill and the road, a part of the foundations of which still remains. In 1847 L. Murray sold his carding and cloth-dressing business to E. Hoadley, who added to it the manu- facture of cheese-boxes.
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
In 1848 B. & H. Boynton failed and the factory at the village ceased oper- ations, and was opened the following year by David Frazier. In 1850 Rufus Patrick built the shop now occupied by D. K. Patrick. In 1851 Murray & Patrick closed up their factory business, and the property passed into the hands of J. & J. F. Peck, of Burlington. In 1853 Daniel and Rufus Patrick, Her- man Murray, Walter Abbott, and Morton Crossman built the grist-mill now owned by Russel Cary. In 1854 Murray & Patrick built a saw-mill where the old Bostwick mill had stood. In 1855 Loren Murray commenced the manu- facture of cheese-boxes in the carding-mill. In 1857 Murray & Patrick dis- solved partnership, Patrick retaining the mill property and most of the farm. In 1859 A. D. Rood and W. K. Patrick bought J. S. Patrick's machine shop and continued the machinist and millwright business. In 1863 C. C. & H. Post bought the starch-mill property, took down the old saw and starch-mills, and built the shop now occupied by L. Murray, starting the business of manu- facturing sap buckets and pails. In 1865 Mr. Murray purchased the property, and subsequently commenced the manufacture of excelsior, being still in the business.
The Hinesburg Woolen Mill was purchased in the spring of 1856 by An- drew Dow, Nelson M. Nay and Isaiah Dow, who then began the manufacture of woolen goods. They and their successors have conducted this manufacture with varying degrees of success until the present time. It is now considered the best equipped mill of its size in the State. For a more detailed sketch of the concern, see biographical sketch of Isaiah Dow in later pages.
The grist-mill at Mechanicsville, now owned and operated by Russell Corey, was built by Murray & Patrick and Daniel Patrick in 1852 or 1853, who ran it for several years and sold out to Russell Wells. The present owner succeeded Samuel Fletcher several years ago.
The Valley Cheese Factory was established by a stock company in 1866. It is now owned by C. G. Peck, Herman Post, the estate of Frederick Maeck, Albert Ray and Eli Brownson. While this was the only factory in town it used the milk from about 1,000 cows, but other factories in this and neighbor- ing towns have reduced its business to some extent, though it now turns out an excellent quality. It uses the milk of about 400 cows.
The Union Cheese Factory was also started by a stock company in 1871, and is now owned by Daniel J. Walston.
Charles Murray's excelsior manufactory, on Pond Brook, was commenced in 1873 by its present proprietor. He employs two or three men and manu- factures about one hundred tons of excelsior per annum, using basswood and poplar.
Patrick's butter-tub and cheese-box manufactory and saw and cider-mill was established by R. Patrick & Sons in 1868. The works now employ from three to six men, who manufacture 5,000 feet of lumber a day, 3,000 butter-tubs and
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TOWN OF HINESBURG.
12,000 cheese-boxes per annum, while the cider-mill has the capacity for mak- ing sixty barrels of cider per diem.
Patrick's iron foundry, at Mechanicsville, was built in 1832 by Rufus Pat- rick, and operated by him until 1876, when he was succeeded by his son, D. K. Patrick, who still carries on the business, manufacturing agricultural imple- ments, and employing two or three men.
Professional Men .- The first physician to practice in Hinesburg, after Mrs. George McEuen, was William B. Marsh, who was born in Windham, Conn., May 23, 1769. He came to Hinesburg in 1788 to practice, then a boy of nineteen years. In 1792 he married Esther Holcomb, a native of Canaan, Conn., who had come with her parents to Starksboro two years before. Be- sides his eminent success in his professional life, he was an active citizen and shared largely in the confidence and good will of his townsmen. He was chosen three times to the Legislature, and filled other offices of trust to the satisfaction of his constituents. He died December 2, 1827. His residence was less than a mile directly south of the village. Dr. Sylvester Church, who lived on the same road farther south, came here in 1811, and died in 1812. Dr. George Dudley, father of Mrs. Dr. Beecher, came early from New Hamp- shire, and boarded in the village until he built the house in which Dr. J. W. Miles now lives, about 1820. He died in 1822. Dr. Daniel Goodyear came from Cornwall in 1816, and occupied the brick house in the village now occu- pied by his granddaughter, Emma Boynton. He died about 1877, aged eighty-seven years. Dr. David C. Deming lived a few years where John Gil- bert now resides. About 1833 he went to Michigan. Dr. John Work also practiced a short time in town, having his residence in the village. He left town about 1838. Dr. Hugh Taggart studied and lived about half a mile west of the village. He died in Shelburne a few years ago. Hector Taylor is also one of the physicians of the past. Dr. Carleton E. Miles was a brother of Dr. J. W. Miles, and lived in the house now occupied by Dr. J. F. Miles, after- ward building a house in the north end of the village. He died in 1848.
The oldest physician now in town, though he has not for years engaged actively in the practice of his profession, is Dr. Elmer Beecher, who was born on the place now occupied by his. cousin, Harmon A. Beecher, about half a mile north of the village, on the 10th of June, 1811. In 1813 his father, Lyman Beecher, removed to the south part of the town on the Center road. He studied medicine with Dr. Goodyear, and took a full course at the Castleton Medical College, receiving his diploma in June, 1835. After a year or two spent at Havana, N. Y., he began to practice in Shelburne, Vt., where he served as town clerk for a time. In March, 1840, he came back to his father's farm, where he remained until 1860. He then took up his residence in the village. He has not practiced actively for a number of years. He was elected to the offices of town clerk and town treasurer every year from 1865 to 1880
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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
inclusive, and was two years in the Senate of the State, in 1860 and 1861, a contemporary with Senator Edmunds. He was first married in 1836 to Ruth Dorwin, who died June 9, 1839, and a second time to his present wife, Em- eline Dudley, June 16, 1842.
Dr. J. W. Miles, son of John Miles, was born in Hinesburg on the 14th of April, 1812, and was educated in the schools of his native town and the Wil- liston Academy. He studied medicine with his brother Carleton, and was graduated from the Woodstock Medical College in 1839. Excepting the first six months, when he had an office in Monkton, he has practiced in Hinesburg.
Dr. J. F. Miles, son of Nathaniel Miles, was born in Hinesburg on the 2d of January, 1820, and studied medicine with his uncle, Carleton E. Miles. In 1839 he attended a course of lectures at Woodstock, and in 1843 at Castleton, but was not graduated from either institution at that time. He practiced, how- ever, until he received his diploma in 1860, and afterwards received another from Dartmouth College. He has always practiced in Hinesburg, excepting the first three months, when he lived in Williston.
Dr. E. B. Whitaker was born on the 29th of December, 1845, in Bethel, Vt., and received his medical education at New York and at Cleveland, Ohio, graduating from the New York Homoeopathic Medical College on the Ist of March, 1868. He came at once to Mechanicsville to practice.
Dr. Charles J. Russell was born on the 3Ist of March, 1859, in Bridport, Vt., and received an academical education at New Haven and in the Normal School at Castleton. He received his medical education in Howard University at Washington, D. C., from which he received his diploma on the 6th of April, 1883. He was a resident student in the hospital at Washington for a time, and after a few months in Monkton came to Hinesburg in July, 1884.
Hinesburg has not for some years afforded very great encouragement for the residence of attorneys. The only names of those who have resided here as members of the Chittenden county bar are Nahum Peck, John M. Eldredge, John E. Mc Vine, Joseph Adams, Mitchell Hinsdill, Newell Lyon, Elisha F. Mead, and Edward Vansicklin. Most of these were residents of the town for only a short period.
John M. Eldredge, the first attorney in town, was very prominent. He re- moved to Burlington about 1835. While here he built and occupied the house in the south part of the village now owned by Mrs. Thompson, of Burlington.
For a sketch of Nahum Peck see sketch of C. G. Peck, in the latter part of this volume. There are no attorneys now in town.
Present Officers .- Following are the officers elected at the annual March meeting in Hinesburg for the year 1886: Dr. J. F. Miles, clerk and treasurer ; W. R. Patrick, Andrew Somers, and S. W. Pierce, selectmen ; G. D. Boynton, constable ; Daniel Patrick, 2d, overseer and poor-farm director; Guy D. Boyn- ton, Russell A. Corey, and Dr. Elmer Beecher, assessors ; H. M. Page, E. W.
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TOWN OF HINESBURG.
Whitaker, and F. W. Perrey, auditors ; Dr. J. F. Miles, trustee of the surplus money ; Frederick Maeck, R. Wickware, and Charles Livermore, fence viewers ; Andrew Curry and Joseph Landon, town grand jurors; William Sanctuary, in- spector of leather ; O. H. Wright, pound-keeper ; C. F. Mead, inspector of wood and lumber; Elmwood Russell, agent to prosecute suits ; J. H. Allen, Jacob Rood, Charles H. Weed, C. F. Mead, S. C. Ray, grand jurors to the County Court ; George R. Ray, Josiah Barker, Frank Perry, street commis- sioners ; A. H. Weed and M. J. Finney, school directors.
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