USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > History of Chittenden County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 82
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
Lavater S. White was born in Burlington on the 15th of May, 1799, and was brought to Shelburne with the rest of the family in the following fall. He developed into one of the best men ever in Shelburne; was a natural me- chanic, so much so that he acquired remarkable skill without the form of serv- ing his time. He died December 3, 1876. His whole business life was passed in close association with Elijah Root, a sketch of whose life appears in later pages of this work, and whose wife was a niece of Lavater White. Mr. White resembled Mr. Root in his love for truth and hatred of sham. In person and countenance he was most agreeable, powerful of understanding, possessed of a keen and ready wit ; was amiable, generous, graceful and unaffected. He was a member of the Methodist Church, and was a great reader, his house being all the time flooded with books and newspapers.
John Tabor was an early settler in Shelburne, arriving here probably pre- vious to 1790. He was a native of Princeton, R. I., and removed with his father and family from there to Rutland county in 1788, the family bestowing their name upon the town of Mount Tabor. John penetrated farther into the wilderness to this town. He immediately took up land, a part of which was situated on Potter's Point, where he resided until his death in 1813, aged forty- seven years. He was twice married, and his numerous descendants are now scattered through several States. He was energetic, industrious, honest, cour- ageous, sensible and just.
The first settlement commenced at Shelburne Falls was in 1785, by Ira Allen, then a resident in Winooski village. A rudely-constructed log bridge was built across La Plotte River, a dam was constructed some ten rods above the present saw-mill dam, a saw-mill erected on the north side of the stream, and a forge on the south. In 1786 a dam was constructed at the lower end
1
679
TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
of the falls, and a grist-mill put in operation the next season. Clothing works were erected and put in operation between the grist-mill and saw-mill in 1789, by David Fish, which was purchased by Samuel Fletcher in 1805, owned and occupied by him until his death, April 23, 1852, after which time it remained unoccupied, and in the spring of 1862 was swept away by a freshet, as was also the old stone building formerly used as a grist-mill.
The first saw-mill erected in this town was located directly east of the public house, built by Benjamin Harrington, the dam extending from the high bank on the west side of the stream to the bluff rock on the east side. This was built by Lazel Hatch in 1784; the bottom being of light soil, and the dam but imperfectly constructed, it was soon carried away and the work abandoned.
The first dwelling other than a log house was the block-house on Potter's Point, by Hubbell & Bush, in 1784. In 1790 a house was erected by Moses Pierson in the southwest corner of the town. { }The first frame house erected was by Lazel Hatch, east of the village, near the saw-mill erected by him- a small building about 12 x 16 feet, in 1784. It was occupied as a dwelling house, as a store, a slaughter-house, a currying room, a cooper's shop, a join- er's shop, a barn, a hog-house, a lumber room, a hen-house, and for almost every conceivable purpose, and in various places. About the year 1855 it be- came rather the worse for wear, and was taken down by Nelson Newell, seven- ty-eight years from the time of its erection.
The second frame house was built in 1789 by Benjamin Harrington, a few rods west of the subsequent residence of Colonel Frederick Fletcher.
The public house was erected in 1796, and from the commencement of the nineteenth century frame houses began to multiply in all parts of the town ; but it was many years before log cabins wholly disappeared.
Town Organization and Proceedings. - The first town meeting in Shel- burne, of which Dudley Hamilton was chosen moderator, was held on the 29th of March, 1787. Caleb Smith was elected first town clerk; Moses Pierson, Timothy Holabird and Dudley Hamilton were made selectmen; Moses Pier- son, town treasurer ; Aaron Rowley, constable and collector; Joshua Isham, Joseph Power and Jared Post, listers ; Moses Pierson, leather sealer ; Daniel Barber, Jared Post, grand jurors ; Moses Pierson, sealer of weights and meas- ures ; Ziba Pierson, Sturgess Morehouse, Jirah Isham, Keeler Trowbridge, sur- veyors of highways ; Thomas Hall, fence viewers ; Thomas Hall, Keeler Trow- bridge, Uzal Pierson, Joshua Reed, tythingmen ; and Moses Pierson, Thomas Hall, Timothy Holabird, Aaron Rowley, Sturgess Morehouse, Daniel Barber, Ziba Pierson, Elnathan Higbee and Joshua Reed, petit jurors. The only vote taken at this meeting, if the records are complete, was to the effect that the annual town meetings should thereafter be holden on the first Tuesday in March, and that the selectmen should cause proper notifications thereof to be posted twelve days previous at the "several public houses in town." In the following year
680
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Ebenezer Barstow was one of the listers. It was voted at this meeting (March 4, 1788) that the selectmen "look out and appoint one or more places to bury the dead." On the 2d of September, 1788, Captain William Hubbell being modera- tor, it was " Voted that the town grant money to support the selectmen in car- rying on the suits of ejectment brought in favor of the publick rights of land in said town." Sixteen pounds and eight shillings were accordingly voted. No other mention of this litigation is made until July 13, 1791, when it was " Voted that selectmen take out of court the suits for the four publick rights against Mr. Moses Pierson, and refer the same to Messrs. John Knickerbacor, Roswell Hop- kins and Daniel Horsford for final settlement."
At a town meeting held at the house of Captain Benjamin Harrington on Saturday the 4th of October, 1800, the following amusing resolution, illustrating the dawning enlightenment of the people in regard to small-pox, was passed : " Voted that the small-pox be admitted in the town by anocculation for the term of six months, or to the first of April next under the inspection and direc- tion of the selectmen agreeable to law." On the 2d of the next March it was voted in addition, " that the authority and selectmen have liberty to admit of the small-pox in town from the Ist of November to the first of March, under such regulations as pointed out by law." We cannot but wonder at the hardi- hood of the pioneers in opening their doors to the small-pox, even under the direction of the selectmen ; and whether the plague was ready to "depart the town" on the Ist of March, the records do not reveal.
The earliest New England towns were in the habit of including among the necessary officers those of grave-diggers and coffin-makers ; but Shelburne, we believe, is the only town in Chittenden county which regularly elected sev- eral of its citizens to the position. At the March meeting for 1811 Eli Thayer, Bethuel Chittenden and another were chosen coffin-makers. The two offices were continued until 1861.
The Town in 1835 .- The population of Shelburne in 1835 was about 1, 100. The village of Shelburne, now at the railroad station, was then in appearance very much as it is now. It had one church, the site for which, as well as that for the school-house and the public common, was given by Benjamin Harring- ton. L. M. Hagar, now of Burlington, was engaged in mercantile business on the same site now occupied by the brick store, and in the building now used as a storehouse, adjoining the brick building on the south. The only other mer- chants in the village were David Irish and Nelson Perry, who, under the firm name of Irish & Perry, conducted a store in a brick building on the opposite side of the street from Hagar, on the site afterwards used for the Methodist par- sonage. The only doctor in the village was Dr. Joel Fairchild, who lived in the next house north of the old tavern, the same building being now occupied by the widow of Hezekiah Comstock. There was no lawyer in town, Jacob Maeck's practice here occurring some time later. Levi Comstock then kept
68 1
TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
the tavern, his successors being George B. Isham, O. J. Baldwin and others, until the accession of Walter A. Weed, who terminated the dynasty of hotel proprietors in Shelburne about 1875. South of the hotel in 1835 stood the tannery of Robert Spear, the shoe-shop appurtenant to it being now used as a dwelling house by Prosper Bacon. Mr. Hagar made potash soon after 1835 south of the old hotel.
At the falls Joshua Isham still owned and operated the saw-mill and grist- mill, between these two buildings being the woolen-mill of Samuel Fletcher. On the hill west of the river Lemon Judson operated a tannery and shoe-shop, which in those days were always associated. Across the river from the woolen- mill Henry Fuller had a blacksmith and trip-hammer shop, while Ira Andrews was thus early engaged in the occupation of a wheelwright back of Fuller's shop. Soon after 1835 Dr. Jonathan Taylor settled at the falls, and practiced medicine until compelled by the infirmities of age to desist. The old red store of Joshua Isham was then a thing of the past, and its successor had not ap- peared. About 1840, however, Jirah B. Isham and William Russell, under the style of Isham & Russell, built a store on the west side of the river, and kept a stock of goods there for some time. The building was burned shortly before the last war.
Outside of the villages no business worth mentioning was done, except farming. The opening of the railroad through the town did not operate to di- vert the channels of trade, as might have been expected. The villages retained their relative size and importance, while the principal benefit accruing was felt by the farmers, for whom the better shipping facilities seemed to have been in- tended. Previous to that time cattle had to be driven to Boston. Moreover, distance was practically annihilated and the markets for farm produce brought within easy reach of the producers. In later years the station at Shelburne has been a great shipping point for dealers and growers of fruits. It is said that an average shipment of 8,000 to 10,000 barrels of apples is made here an- nually.
Present Interests .- There are only two stores in town at present - that of George W. Curry, at the falls, which is several years old, and that conducted by H. W. Tracy and C. P. Van Vliet at the village, under the name of Tracy & Van Vliet. This partnership was formed in 1878, and a stock of about $8,000 value is carried. The store was built by John Simonds about thirty- five years ago. The predecessors of the present merchants were Mead & Tracy, who were preceded by the senior partner, E. O. Mead.
There is no lawyer in town, and but one physician. Dr. F. R. Stoddard was born in Westfield, Vt., on the 16th of December, 1855, was graduated from the medical department of the University of Vermont in June, 1882, prac- ticed in North Troy, Vt., until the following December, when he came to Shel- burne.
682
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
The Shelburne flouring-mills at Shelburne Falls, lineally descended from the mills of Ira Allen and Joshua Isham, are now owned and operated by James Denham, successor to D. L. Spear. Mr. Denham also owns and ope- rates the saw-mill at the falls. The Champlain Transportation Company's ship-yard, which has for many years been situated on the eastern shore of Pot- ter's Point, affords the finest protective harbor for wintering crafts on the lake. Here were made, among others, the following well-known steamers : Gen. Green, Winooski, Burlington, Saranac, United States, Ethan Allen, Boston, Adiron- dack, Vermont. The yard is connected with Burlington by telephone.
The Post-office .- There seems to be record outside of the department at Washington which will give the date of the establishment of a post-office in Shelburne. About 1824 Oran Isham held the position of postmaster, and was succeeded in 1825 by Cyrus McLaughler. Following him have been : Garrad Burritt, 1828-36 ; Henry S. Morse to 1842; George B. Isham to 1854; Cas- sius P. Williams to 1855 ; George B. Isham to 1860; C. W. Adams, 1861 ; C. H. Harrington, 1862; J. J. Simonds, 1863 ; Benjamin Maxham, 1864-65 ; Mrs. A. M. Lowry to 1880; Benjamin Maxham, 1881 ; Mrs. A. M. Lowry, 1882 ; H. W. Tracy, to 1886; and Miss Agnes Gribbin, the present incum- bent. In 1880 R. D. Estabrook was made postmaster of North Shelburne office, and was followed in 1884 by I. A. Morse.
Present Town Officers. - The officers elected by the town of Shelburne for the year 1886, are as follows : W. H. Tyler, town clerk ; W. H. Harmon, deputy clerk; D. L. Spear, M. Quinlan, R. J. White, selectmen ; James F. Wells, treas- urer ; James E. White, overseer of the poor and director of the poor farm asso- ciation ; G. N. Roberts, first constable and collector ; Edgar Nash, J. B. Sut- ton, James E. White, listers ; H. S. White, W. A. Weed, Benjamin Harring- ton, auditors ; James F. Wells, trustee of United States deposit fund ; William Whiteside, John K. Weed, John Bulbo, fence viewers ; D. L. Spear, agent to prosecute and defend suits in which the town is interested; Dr. F. R. Stoddard, superintendent of schools; W. A. Weed, James E. White, D. C. Smith, high school commissioners. There are now eight school districts in town and a school in each district, besides a high school in the upper story of the school-house in the village, district No. I. The school-house here was erected about fifteen years ago.
Town Hall. - From the records it appears that the town hall was built early in the year 1867. On the 26th of March in that year, William Harmon, H. S. Morse and C. P. Williams were chosen a committee to build a town house " on the north side of the old white meeting-house recently burned." And on the 17th of the next August it was voted in town meeting "that the town house be open to all denominations for religious services, under the supervision of the selectmen."
683
TOWN OF SHELBURNE.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
Very soon after the town was organized the citizens began to agitate the question of preparing for the preaching of the word; but probably because of great diversity of opinion with reference to the denomination of the church or- ganization, and the preacher, it took a number of years to accomplish the de- sired object. The first reference in the early records to the subject appears un- date of March 1, 1791, when it was voted "that the town will agree on a place for a house of publick worship," and Moses Pierson, Phineas Hill, Captain Daniel Comstock, Ebenezer Barstow, Caleb Smith, William C. Harrington and David Nichols were appointed " to agree on a place for setting the meeting- house." On the 5th of June, of that year, Daniel Comstock, Moses Pierson and Timothy Holabird were chosen "to hire a preacher of the gospel for a few Sabbaths." It was easier in those days, however, to appoint a committee, than it was for the committee to hire preaching, when the preachers, few enough, had so wild and wide a territory to cover, and had to accept their temporal re- ward in grain or cattle; and there is nothing in the record to show that the committee succeeded in their undertaking. A hint of what may have been a warm denominational discussion is revealed in a vote taken on the 26th of De- cember, 1791, to " hire a preacher for the year ensuing, and that he be of the Baptist denomination." On the 7th of April, 1807, a committee was appointed to "stick the stake for a meeting-house." A Congregational Church was or- ganized in Shelburne on the 29th of January, 1807, by the Rev. Jedediah Bush- nell, of Cornwall, with a membership of three men and seven women. Their numbers were always small, and before 1835 concluded to unite with the Meth- odist Church. On the 27th of March, 1851, another organization was formed by the Congregationalists, but they they have never erected a house of wor- ship nor attended separate services.
In 1800 the Rev. Henry Ryan, a Methodist clergyman preaching on the Vergennes circuit, established an appointment at Shelburne, and preached his first sermon at the house of Joshua Read. Other clergymen in town rather looked upon him as an intruder, and his services were principally confined to the east part of the town for several years. A society was soon formed, num- bering among its members Nathaniel Gage, John Simonds, Phineas Hill, and their wives. In 1833 the first church edifice was built of brick, and was used until the present elegant stone structure took its place in 1873. It will seat 300 persons and is valued at about $26,000. The present membership of the church numbers about 146, while the average attendance at Sabbath-school is about seventy-five. The present officers of the church are as follows: Class leaders, J. F. Wells, L. Gregg, N. R. Miller, J. B. Sutton, H. W. Tracy, and F. R. Stoddard ; stewards, Lee Tracy, Joel Bartlett, George W. Curry, Eli H. Palmer, Robert J. White, F. A. Weed, E. S. Rowley, Wm. McNeil, F. R.
684
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
Stoddard, H. W. Tracy, D. C. Smith. D. C. Smith is also the Sabbath-school superintendent.
There were many Episcopalians in this town and vicinity as early as 1790, during which year the Rev. Bethuel Chittenden removed here from Tinmouth, Vt. Services were undoubtedly held regularly from that time until Mr. Chit- tenden's death in 1809, after which occasionally lay readings took place, with now and then a visit from a clergyman. The communicants in town num- bered about twenty-five as early as 1810, and by 1820 increased to not far from eighty. From October 27, 1819, to September 20, 1827, Rev. Joel Clapp, the first regularly settled clergyman, officiated as rector of the parish, since which time services have been held with gratifying regularity. A short time ago a beautiful chapel was erected and finished, in which services are now held. The present rector is Rev. Mr. Hutchins, of Burlington.
CHAPTER XXIX.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF SOUTH BURLINGTON.
OUTH BURLINGTON stands with Richmond in being one of the two S towns in the county which derived their separate existence as towns from the authority of the Legislature of Vermont. This town was, as has been ex- plained in the history of Burlington, originally a part of the town of Burlington; but, by act of the Legislature, approved on the 22d day of November, 1864, ' and accepted by the inhabitants of Burlington on the 18th day of January following, all of the old township lying east of an irregular line drawn from the mouth of Shelburne Bay northeasterly through the center of the township to Winooski River, became a separate jurisdiction known as South Burlington. On the 15th of February, 1865, a majority of the inhabitants of South Bur- lington petitioned the selectmen of the old town to publish a warning for the first meeting of the town of South Burlington. The warning was accordingly published, signed by Carolus Noyes, L. B. Platt, and P. H. Catlin, selectmen of Burlington, for a meeting to be held on the 7th of March, 1865. At that meeting, held at what was known as the Eldredge school-house, Alexander Ferguson was chosen moderator of the meeting; John E. Smith was made clerk and treasurer ; John Van Sicklen, Alexander Ferguson, and Pierpont E. Smith, selectmen ; Henry Bean, first constable and collector, and overseer of the poor; Hiram Landon, Edward Van Sicklen, and Mark B. Catlin, listers ; George N. Slocum, John Williams, C. J. Pattridge, auditors ; C. J. Pattridge, Abel L. Owen, Chester J. Blinn, fence viewers; Frederick Hadley, town grand juror ; Hiram H. Harrington, leather sealer; E. Taft, J. Williams, R. M. A. Bar-
685
TOWN OF SOUTH BURLINGTON.
stow, Uzal Pierson, pound-keepers ; Edward W. Brownell, town agent; Au- gustus Kimball, superintendent of common schools ; Abel L. Owen, trustee of public money.
After the division of the town and the proper organization of South Bur- lington as a town and Burlington as a city, the board of aldermen of the latter place met the selectmen of the former, and a basis of settlement was agreed upon, settling all questions and dividing all property in which each had an interest. The payments due by virtue of this agreement are shown by the following statement, copied from the records, which may prove of interest to many :
BURLINGTON, June, 17, 1865.
Due from the city of Burlington to the town of South Burlington. One-tenth of valuation of town hall,
$ 3,000.00
Basement of court-house 125.00
66 Balance in hands of treasurer in town of Burlington, 51.31
County order in favor of town of Burlington, 10.25
66
Balance due town of Burlington from town of Williston, 1.02
Uncollected rents of town hall, down to February 21, 1865, 6.06
Valuation of personal property of town of Burlington in town hall and in the hands of highway surveyors, 27.00
66
Balance due town of Burlington from town of Colchester, 4.74
66
" Uncollected town taxes in hands of Samuel Huntington, constable of town of Burlington, 28.09
" Excess of State taxes for 1864 in hands of said Huntington as said constable, 42.82
3,296.29 $ 3,296.29
Amount brought forward,
Due from the town of South Burlington to the city of Burlington.
$2,120.00
One-tenth of outstanding notes of town of Burlington above specified,
" Balance of judgment against town of Burlington in favor of the Merchants' Bank, 10.95
Interest on the United States deposit fund"for the year ending February 1, 1865, dne from the town of Burlington, 93.39
Excess of liabilities of town liquor agency over assets, 40.66
Receipts of liquor agency since February 21, 1865, paid into the treasury of the town of Burlington, 179.76
2,444.76
Balance due from the city of Burlington to the town of South' Burlington, $ 851.53
Early Settlements. - Something concerning the early settlement of this part of the old town of Burlington having been said in the history of the city of Burlington, it will not be necessary to dwell at great length upon the inci- dents or accomplishments of the pioneers of South Burlington. One of the first to settle in this part of the town was John Doxie, who located on the Bar- ber place on Fourth street. John Van Sicklen, the progenitor of the present residents of that name here and in the city, came when there was but one house at the lake shore, that of Captain Gideon King, and settled on Fourth street, some distance south of Doxie, on the farm now owned and occupied by his grandson, Edward Van Sicklen.
John Eldredge, one of the substantial men of the town in early days, was
44
686
HISTORY OF CHITTENDEN COUNTY.
born in Salisbury, Conn., on the 24th of December, 1742, and removed to Burlington about the year 1800, locating on the north side of the Winooski turnpike, on the corner of Fourth street, where he kept an excellent tavern until his death, January 5, 1813. His wife was Lydia Stoddard, a descendant of the great Stoddard family of England. Nathan Smith, 2d, married his daughter.
Nathan Smith, 2d, a minute-man in the Revolution and a surveyor under Ira Allen, settled about 1787 or 1788 near Mr. Van Sicklen on Fourth street, and kept a large tavern there until about 1822, when he removed to New Ha- ven, Vt. He died in 1835. A sketch of his life appears in connection with that of his grandson, Hon. John E. Smith, in later pages of this work.
Rufus Crossman was the first settler on the farm now owned and occupied by Hon. John E. Smith. He was a man of considerable prominence in town and was frequently mentioned in early records.
Moses Farnsworth and brother were two quite early settlers on Dorset street. A Mr. Tousley lived on the first place south of the present farm of John E. Smith. Abel Owen lived on Fourth street just west of John Van Sicklen. E. and T. Mills were early residents immediately south of John Doxie, and went from there to Burlington, where they were engaged for a number of years as publishers of the Northern Sentinel. A Mr. Underhill occupied a log house on Dorset Street, about one mile south of the farm of John E. Smith. Stephen Lawrence was mentioned in the chapter on the city of Burlington as an early settler near the High Bridge; Frederick Brewerton also lived near the High Bridge, and afterward erected a house on the turn- pike road, on the place now owned by Professor Petty.
Two stage routes passed through the territory now comprised within the limits of South Burlington, viz. : a mail route called the Hinesburg and Mid- dlebury route, which passed along Fourth street, and the route from Burling- ton to Vergennes, which was the principal stage line, passing along Shelburne street or the Lake Road, as it is indifferently called.
There have never been any prominent industries in this part of the old town, except the lime-kilns near the High Bridge, which were started early in the century by Dr. Jabez Penniman, on the other side of the river. The pres- ent proprietor of the kilns, which are now operated almost wholly on this side, is Sidney H. Weston, of Winooski, who purchased them of Robert Jackson and Alexander McGregor, severally, in 1866. Henry H. Hough has operated a soap-factory here for several years. The two principal taverns of early times were those of John Eldredge and Nathan Smith, 2d.
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.