History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 80

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 80

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The hotel formerly open in Jonesville, which Henry Gillett is now re-build- ing, was built originally by Roswell Hunt as early as 1815, and perhaps earlier. After he left it it was used for a number of years as a tenant house, until 1843, when Ransom Jones, then forty-three years of age, purchased it and repaired it. His first landlord was C. Stevens, wlio remained there until about the time of the opening of the railroad. Mr. Jones then went in himself as proprietor and remained acting the part of mine host until his death, on the 18th of July, 1858. Since then the house has been kept by different men, and some of the time has been allowed to rest untenanted.

Among those who were formerly engaged in the various manufacturing in- terests of the town may be named Nathan Fay, who carried on the business of carding wool and cloth-dressing at Fay's Corners, said to have been the first works of the kind in the county of Chittenden. Silas Rockwell early carried on the business of tanning and currying and shoemaking in the same neigh- borhood, and was succeeded by Asahel Murray. Murray and Talcott after- wards operated these works, and were followed by R. A. Jones and others un- til July, 1884, when the buildings were burned. The last proprietors were Ellis Brothers. William Rhodes, who has been mentioned before, was a black- smith and manufacturer at this place more than seventy years ago (1804), on the site of the present residence of his son Nelson. On the north side of the river, near the station at Richmond village, Winslow & Gay were early engaged in trade, and were succeeded by D. P. Lapham & Co. One Dumfries also had a hatter's shop on the south side of the river as long ago as 1817, which was destroyed by fire. The first grist-mill was erected by John Preston, father of Noah Preston, in the beginning of the century, on the site of the present saw- mill of S. & R. J. Robinson. In 1815 James H. Hudson built a carding ma- chine and cloth-dressing works in the same vicinity, which were destroyed by

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

fire four years later, and afterwards rebuilt by Daniel Fisk. The site of H. H. Frary's spool factory was first covered by the saw-mill of Joseph Whipple. Roswell Staples afterwards operated a woolen-mill on the same site, and was followed by Marcus Robbins & Co. Some time after 1850 Mason, Jewell & Green started a steam saw-mill and furniture factory on the south side of the river near the bridge, and on the west side of the road, which after a number of years of successful operation was burned. George Brown afterwards oper- ated another on the same site, but was not so successful.

The oldest manufacturing interest now in operation in Richmond is that of H. H. Frary on Huntington River near Jonesville. Mr. Frary manufactures spools and turned goods, a business which he has here carried on since 1866. At that time he bought out the old woolen-mill formerly carried on by Ros- well Staples and others. In 1877 Mr. Frary suffered a loss of about $6,000 by the burning of his mill, but in four weeks he had rebuilt and put in opera- tion his present mill. His income is now about $10,000 or $12,000 per annum.

The spoke factory and grist and cider-mill of S. & R. J. Robinson stands on the site of one of the first mills in town. In 1801 or 1802 John Preston erected there the first grist-mill in town, and was succeeded by his son Noah. After the death of Noah, John Hapgood operated it for some time, and was followed by Daniel Preston. The present senior partner, Samuel Robinson, bought the property in 1868, and in five years was joined by his son R. J. Rob- inson. The grist-mill is a custom mill. The spoke factory turns out about 1,400,000 spokes a year, while about 400 barrels of cider are manufactured every year in the other department of this varied industry.

In 1857 the carriage manufactory at Richmond village was established, and came into possession of the present proprietor, Stephen Freshette, in 1881.

The creamery of H. C. Gleason was started in the spring of 1885, by the present proprietor, who makes about 600 pounds of butter daily.

A. E. Crandall first operated his saw-mill at Jonesville, in October, 1885, on the site of a blacksmith shop which had been used for twenty-five or thirty years previously.

Present Mercantile Business. - Historically the oldest store in town is that of E. T. Jacobs and C. E. Woodworth, who under the style of Jacobs & Wood- worth conduct a business established much more than half a century ago by Henry Hodges, who built the present store, soon, indeed, after the opening of the old turnpike road. Trade, which before that had been confined to the south side of the river, began to set in this direction, and Henry Hodges conducted a successful business for a number of years, being finally followed by his son, H. A. Hodges. After an experience of about thirty-two years in this building, Mr. Hodges gave place to E. T. Jacobs, who carried on a thriving trade until the formation of the present partnership in March, 1883. The dry goods and general stock of this firm is valued at about $12,000.

Blokem Goodrich

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TOWN OF RICHMOND.

Salmon Green has been in the mercantile business in town since 1858, when he went in with F. M. Pierce, in what is now the hotel building. In a few years this relation was dissolved and a new one formed between Mr. Green and his father, I. Green, under the name of I. Green & Son. Soon after his father re- tired from the trade and since that time the present proprietor has been alone. He had a general trade there until 1876, when he removed to the part of the village near the station and confined himself to the grocery trade.

The store building now occupied by Sayles & Eddy, at Jonesville, was erected in 1856, by Amasa Grovenor. I. W. Sayles started a general trade in it in 1859, and two years later was joined by his present partner, A. Eddy. They now carry a stock of about $1,500; though in the palmiest days of Jones- ville they transacted about $12,000 worth of business per annum.

The firm of Sayles Brothers & Co., composed now of I. W., H. L. and G. W. Sayles, and Ansel Eddy, was formed in the spring of 1867, though at that time an older brother, E. M. Sayles, was one of the partners, and died in 1877. They have occupied the present building from the beginning. It was erected by E. M. Sayles and his father, Steven Sayles, and finished in the fall of 1866. The firm now carry a stock of about $10,000 to $15,000.

The business now conducted by Hilton & Stevens was established, and the building which they occupy was erected, by Hodges & Humphrey, more than a quarter of a century ago. Mr. Hilton came here in 1867 as a member of the firm of Firman & Hilton, the senior partner, R. Firman, having been in business here some time previously. The present relations between Mr. Hilton and Nelson Stevens were established in 1873. They now carry a stock valued at about $10,000.

J. B. Norton & Co., dealers in hardware, stoves, tinware, etc., formed their partnership on the 1 1th of February, 1885, succeeding D. J. Burleigh, who had carried on the business about five years. His predecessors, Place & Young, were themselves preceded by G. E. Barnum, who had been here nine years, and whose brother, Jerome Barnum, built this block in 1871.

George W. Green, dealer in furniture, succeeded Iddo Green in the business about 1876. Iddo Green was by trade a carpenter and builder, and for years had manufactured and dealt in furniture. He built a great many of the houses now in town.

The boot and shoe store of E. E. Miller has been under the care of the present proprietor since March, 1886. C. H. Pino was in the business here about two years previously, and was preceded by R. A. Jones, who had carried on the concern for some time.

C. J. Shedd began repairing jewelry in Richmond village in 1880.

C. W. Howe has been engaged in the hardware business in town about two years, and has occupied the present building more than half that time.

J. F. Whitcomb established his trade in groceries in Richmond village on the Ist of January, 1886. He carries about $2,000 worth of stock.

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

The drug store of E. W. Freeman was established by the present proprie- tor on the Ist of January, 1886. The building was previously occupied by W. K. Christian.

The Professions. - The first physician to practice in Richmond was Dr. Matthew Cole, who died in Burlington in 1809, and has been followed by Drs. Seth Cole, Sylvanus Church, Reuben Nims, William Foss, Carlos Allen, James M. Knox, G. P. Conn, George Benedict, Loren Chamberlain, William Root and others. The present practicing physicians are Drs. G. W. Bromley, M. L. Pow- ers and B. J. Andrews.

Dr. Bromley was born on the 17th of September, 1818, at Pawlet, Rutland county, Vt., and received his medical education at the medical college at Cas- tleton, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1844. He first practiced in Huntington until 1869, when he came to Richmond. He and Drs. Carpenter, of Burlington, and Fairchild, of Milton, are the three physicians of longest practice in the county.

Dr. Powers was born on the 18th of May, 1852, in Ripton, Vt. He re- ceived his medical education at the Homeopathic Medical College in Philadel- phia, and was graduated from the Hannemann Medical College at Chicago, in the spring of 1877. He came at once to this town.

Dr. Andrews was born at Jericho, Vt., on the IIth of January, 1850. He received an academical education at Fairfax, and prepared for the practice of his chosen profession at the medical department of the University of Ver- mont and in New York city, receiving his diploma from the University of Ver- mont in June, 1885. He began to practice in Richmond on the 10th of February, 1886. He is a grandson of Deacon Isaac Andrews who has been mentioned as one of the early settlers of Richmond.

The legal profession has been represented in town by Harry Brownson, Wm. P. Briggs, Wm. S. Hawkins, Edward A. Stansbury, Aaron B. Maynard, B. E. B. Kennedy, F. A. Colton, Joseph W. Allen, P. K. Gleed, and at present by S. Homer Davis. Undoubtedly the most prominent of those who have gone was Wm. Penn Briggs, who was born at Adams, Mass., on the 14th of. March, 1793. (See Chapter XI.)

S. H. Davis was born on the 5th of July, 1829, in Hinesburg, Vt. He attended the academy at Franklin for a time, and afterwards fitted himself for college at the Hinesburg Academy, but was prevented by illness from con- summating his plans for an education. He first studied law with C. F. Davey, of Burlington, after which he studied successively with Roberts & Chittenden of that place, L. B. Caswell, of Fort Atkinson, Wis., and finally with Hon. E. J. Phelps, of Burlington, with whom he commenced to practice after his ad- mission to the bar of Chittenden county in 1860. He came to Richmond in October, 1861.

The Post-office .- Just when the post-office was established in Richmond is.

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TOWN OF RICHMOND.

not definitely known, though it was probably not far from the year 1800. The office was originally and until the opening of the turnpike road, on the south side of the river. We have not been able to obtain from headquarters at Washington the list of postmasters that we desired, and are therefore obliged to trust to those which are mentioned in Walton's Register, dating from the year 1824. That year was the last of the service of Moor Russell, who was followed by Mrs. Sally Brownson. Her successors have been as fol- lows : 1829 to 1831, Benjamin Bishop ; 1831 to 1837, Abraham Smith ; 1837 to 1841, Kilburn Whitcomb ; 1841 to 1843, Wm. Rhodes, jr .; 1843 to 1844, Charles M. Huntington ; 1844 and 1845, Kilburn Whitcomb ; 1845 to 1848, John Delaware, jr .; 1848 to 1849, Saul Bishop; 1850, John Kennedy; 1851 to 1853, Charles M. Huntington ; 1854, Reuben Nims ; 1854 to 1862, Francis H. Joyner ; 1862 to 1869, J. L. Mason ; 1869 to 1881, H. A. Hodges ; 1881 to January, 1886, E. T. Jacobs ; and the present incumbent, A. B. Edwards.

The office at Jonesville is first mentioned in 1852, with B. N. Jones as post- master. He has been followed by Jabez Jones, 1853 to 1854 ; R. Jones, 1855 to 1856 ; A. H. Grovenor, 1856 to 1860; H. McDonald, 1860 to 1863 ; Ira W. Sayles, 1863 to 1875 ; and Ansel Eddy, from 1875 to the present.

Present Town Officers .- The town officers for Richmond, elected at the annual town meeting of 1866, are as follows:

Salmon Green, town clerk; S. F. Cutler, Edward Hildreth and H. A. Hodges, selectmen ; A. K. Jacobs, treasurer ; Albert Town, overseer of the poor ; R. M. Conant, first constable; Ezra Stevens, S. F. Andrews, Frank F. Freeman, listers; U. S. Whitcomb, F. F. Gleason, H. C. Gleason, auditors ; Giles Howe, trustee of the United States fund; Benton A. Williams, Henry L. Barnes, and C. W. Howe, fence viewers ; C. W. Howe, and H. H. Frary, grand jurors ; Arthur Ellis, C. W. Howe, and Safford Colby, pound-keepers ; Edward Bassett, surveyor of wood and lumber ; R. M. Conant, George H. Fay, and Safford Fay, street commissioners ; Patrick Henley, inspector of leather; Henry Gillett, agent to prosecute and defend suits in which the town is interested.

Schools .- At a town meeting held on the 5th of June, 1795, the town was divided into six school districts. Since that time ,the highest number of dis- tricts has been eleven, and latterly it was seven, until March, 1886, when the town system of schools was adopted. There are now, counting the grades, nine schools in town, three of the grades being in one building.

Ecclesiastical History .- The earliest mention of religious affairs in the records appears under date of December 6, 1796, when John Hollenbeck, Asa Brownson, Ozem Brewster, Leonard Hodges, and Ezra Smith were chosen a committee to find a place on which to build a meeting-house, and to report their action to the town. Their report cannot be found. It seems that there was no regular church edifice in Richmond until 1813, when the sixteen-sided church was erected on the south side of the river by the united efforts of all

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

denominations, Wm. Rhodes being the principal builder. Isaac Gleason con- tributed the land for the site of the church at the same time that he gave land for a public common. It still stands a monument to the architectural ability of its builders. It is constructed of pure pine timber, and is furnished with interior galleries on all sides except at the side occupied by the pulpit, which is elevated to accord with old-time notions of acoustic propriety. The cost of its construction was about $2,500. It has not been used as a church for a number of years, but is, strictly speaking, the town hall. From its peculiar form it is known as the " Old Round Church."

The Church of the Restoration, Universalist, was organized by Rev. S. C. Hayford in 1879, with a membership of seventeen. Their house of worship, a neat wooden structure, capable of seating 250 persons, was built in 1880, and is valued, including grounds, at $9,000. The original cost of building was $7,000. The society now has eighteen members, though between thirty and forty families contribute to the support of services. The present pastor, Rev. Edward Smiley, succeeded Mr. Hayford in the spring of 1884. The Sabbath- school superintendent is Mrs. L. M. Smiley, while the average attendance at Sabbath-school is about sixty-five, the regular membership being ninety. The present officers of the church are the prudential committee, which is composed of Henry Gillett, C. P. Rhodes, and Wm. Freeman.

CHAPTER XXVII.

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF ST. GEORGE.

T. GEORGE is the smallest town in the county, lying about eight miles S southeast from Burlington, and twenty-eight miles nearly west from Mont- pelier. It is bounded north and northeast by Williston, south by Hinesburg, and west by Shelburne. It was chartered by the royal governor of the prov- ince of New Hampshire, on the 18th day of August, 1763, and was supposed to contain the township area of 23,040 acres, bounded as follows :

"Beginning at the southeastern corner of Shelburne, a township this day granted, being a stake and stone on the northerly side line of Hinesburg, and from thence running east six miles to a stake and stone ; thence turning off and running north six miles to a stake and stone ; thence turning off and run- ning west six miles to the northeasterly corner of Shelburne aforesaid, thence running south six miles by Shelburne aforesaid, to the southerly corner there- of, the bound began at."

But upon surveying the several towns in this part of the county it was dis- covered - owing, perhaps, to a misapprehension as to the course of Winooski

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TOWN OF ST. GEORGE.

River - that the area was not sufficiently large to allow each town the whole number of acres designated in its charter ; and as it happened, it fell to the lot of the grantees of St. George to suffer the misfortune of a considerable abridg- ment.

The towns of Charlotte and Hinesburg were granted in 1762, and their boundaries marked. The year following the towns of Burlington, Williston, St. George, and Shelburne were granted, and as Winooski River, by the terms of their charters, was to form the north lines of Burlington and Williston, their boundaries were readily established, beyond dispute. But upon survey- ing those towns, such was the course of the river, it was found that the S. E. corner of Williston reached quite to the north line of Hinesburg, thus leaving a triangular piece some six or seven miles broad on the lake, and narrowing to a point at about ten miles back from the lake, which only remained to form the towns of Shelburne and St. George. And as Burlington and Williston had a few days' priority in the date of their charters over those of Shelburne and St. George, there was no alternative left to the two latter but to take what remained. St. George, unfortunately having the small end of the wedge, came near being crowded out entirely. As it is, however, it has an area of . 2,200 acres.

The name of the town is said to have been given in honor of the then reigning king of England. The pious prefix of the name would seem to indi- cate a high degree of reverence on the part of the proprietors who proposed the name for that august monarch; but had it been a few years later, when the burden of the stamp act and other kindred acts began to weigh heavily upon the colonies, they would, no doubt, have left off the Saint, and perhaps have substituted some other quite as significant title.

When it was finally ascertained to what an extent the town was reduced by an actual survey, the proprietors-none of whom resided on their grant- determined to make the best of their misfortune; accordingly, they had the town laid out into thirty-acre lots, each proprietor having one lot, or thirty acres, instead of 360, as they would have had if it had proved a six-mile town- ship ; but as their charter was for a full-sized town, and the number of grant- ees sixty-four, it was very easy for any one unacquainted with the facts to com- pute the number of acres in a "right " to be 360; therefore their "rights " sold in the market for the same price as those of other towns.

The names of the grantees who thus suffered and skillfully translated their sufferings to others are as follows :

Jesse Hallock, Samuel Farmer, Christian Farmer, John Farmer, Christian Farmer, Robert Farmer, Peter Farmer, Jeremiah Leming, Thomas Ellison, William Ellison, Simon Ransom, Shem Ransom, Isaac Sears, Jasper Drake, Joseph Sacket, Joseph Sacket Doctor, Francis Sacket, William Butler, John Mann, Thomas Mann, William Mann, Ermes Graham, John Jeffrys, Isaac Un-

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HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.

derhill, Benjamin Underhill, Henry Frankling, Jona. Courtland, Uriah Wol- man, Amos Underhill, Richard Willik, Samuel Willik, Jacob Watson, Benjamin Ferris, Daniel Prindle, Joshua Watson, Benjamin Leaman, Edmund Leaman, Richard Leaman, Richard Titus, Isaac Mann, Isaac Mann, jr., Peter Vander- wort, William Hayris, Magnes Gurrat, Robert Ling, John Dervicos Murphy, Edward Ferrol Murphy, Jno. Deveeanose Murphy, jr., Thomas Wright, Caleb Wright, John Wright, Tim. Whitmore, Benjamin Clap, Benjamin Clap, jr., Henry Clap, Daniel Quimby, Jona. Wake, Jona. Quimby, The Hon. John Temple, esq, Theo. Atkinson, esq., William Hunk, I. Wentworth, esq., John Fisher, esq.

The surface of the town is uneven, but the soil is generally good, and is for the most part composed of gravel and loam, with a margin of clay along the western boundary. It is well adapted for cultivation, though the inhabit- ants direct their attention chiefly to dairying. There are no streams of conse- quence, and therefore no mills or mill privileges - a deficiency not without its advantages ; for the people are subjected to no expense for the construction and repair of bridges, nor loss by inundations. The town contains no village, no church edifice, no manufactories and no stores.

The settlement of the town was begun in the year 1784 by the arrival of Joshua Isham and wife from Colchester, Conn. They settled in the western part of the town, and resided for some time in a house which Mr. Isham and a friend constructed in a single day, and in which Mrs. Isham lived for six months without seeing the face of another of her sex. Mr. Isham was drowned in Hinesburg Pond in December, 1837. Early in 1785 Elnathan Higbee and Zirah Isham, with their families, settled here ; and within the next four or five years came Jehiel Isham, Reuben and Nathan Lockwood, John Mobbs, James Sutton, Wheeler Higbee and others. By the census of 1791, seven years after the settlement began, there were in town fifty-seven inhabitants.

Jehiel Isham was one of the most active of the early settlers. He took an active part in the War of the Revolution, and after coming to this town be- came the father of numerous children, whose descendants are still here in good numbers. He died here in 1851, at the residence of his son, at the age of ninety-two years. His wife was Sarah Mobbs, who bore him a family of nine sons and four daughters, of whom only Amasa and Sophia are now living. Silas, his eldest son, whose death occurred but recently, kept the first and only tavern ever opened in town, being the same building now occupied as a private house by Edgar Hinsdill.

James Sutton and his brother Benjamin came early from Connecticut to Shelburne, whence, after a short residence, the former came to St. George. He finally died in Montpelier, whither he had gone on a business errand. His son Harry is still living in town.

Reuben Lockwood was a prominent resident of St. George for nearly sixty

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TOWN OF ST. GEORGE.

years, and removed to Irasburgh in 1856. At the age of twenty-eight years he represented St. George in the Legislature, and was subsequently re-elected nine several times. He also held the office of lister twenty-five years and that of selectman twenty-nine years; was elected town clerk in 1833 and con- tinued in that office twenty-two years.

Lewis Higbee was born in St. George in 1788. He was the first representa- tive of the town in the Legislature and was re-elected to that position several times. Although possessed of no more than ordinary profundity, he had an inexhaustible fountain, it is said, of wit and sarcasm, which made him an unde- sirable opponent.

The first child born in town was Martha, daughter of Joshua Isham, and afterwards the wife of Moses Bliss, of Shelburne. Lewis Higbee was the first male child. The first death is supposed to have been that of Heman Higbee, an infant son of Wheeler Higbee, September 17, 1791 ; while the first death of an adult was that of Rebecca Gilman, June 22, 1797. The first marriage was that of Jacob Hinsdill to Hannah Cook.

The first school-house was built soon after the settlement of the town was begun. It was made of rude logs, with a huge Dutch-back fire-place built of stones, and with greased paper as a substitute for window-glass. For a time the only text book in use was Dillworth's spelling-book. Amos Callender, of Shelburne, is believed to have taught the first school. There is now and for many years has been but one school-district in town.

The town was organized on March 9, 1813, at a meeting called for the pur- . pose, presided over by Lemuel Bostwick, of Hinesburg. Jared Higbee was first town clerk; Reuben Lockwood, Lewis Higbee and Levi Higbee, select- men ; and Sherman Beach, first constable. The other officers then elected were James Sutton, Sylvester Isham, Sherman Beach, listers ; Sherman Beach, collector ; Robert Pease, grand juror ; Joseph Isham, jr., Henry Isham, Jared Higbee, highway surveyors ; Levi Higbee, pound-keeper; Jacob Hinsdill, fence- viewer; Lewis Higbee, Jared Higbee, Reuben Lockwood, grand jurors; and Sherman Beach, James Sutton and Levi Higbee, pettit jurors. In 1825 the officers were Horace Ferris, clerk and treasurer ; Reuben Lockwood, Silas Isham, Horace Ferris, selectmen ; Horace Ferris, Reuben Lockwood, Sherman Beach, listers ; Nathan Lockwood, constable and collector, and Richard H. Osgood, grand juror.

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History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 80

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