USA > Vermont > Grand Isle County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 27
USA > Vermont > Franklin County > History of Franklin and Grand Isle counties, Vermont : With illustrations and biographical sketches of some of the prominent men and pioneers. > Part 27
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
portions that it became necessary to still further enlarge the capacity of the roads ; and for this purpose a still further loan was required to be made by the management, as all the income and revenues then avail- able were needed in the payment of the obligations already outstand- ing, and the repairs and additions incident to the operation of the lines. Therefore, on due application, and the consent of the several interested parties, Chancellor Wilson, on the 13th of April, 1869, ordered and au- thorized the receivers and managers to issue their obligations to the . amount of $500,000, payable in not exceeding twenty years, and bear- ing not more than eight per cent. interest, and to be secured by the pledge of rolling stock not already hypothecated.
On the 26th of February, 1870, the board of management again besought the Court of Chancery, not for permission to negotiate a fur- ther loan, but for a decree of approval and sanction of their action, which in their trust and receivership capacity, and as officers of the court, they had performed. The petition in this application recited, among other things, the fact that the said receivers had found it neces- sary to the interests of the roads they represented as receivers and man- agers to negotiate a contract for traffic and transportation between the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain Railroad Company, on the one part, and the Vermont and Canada company and the petitioners on the other part, for all of which they asked the sanction and confirmation of their action by the court. This was granted by a decree made by Chan- cellor Wilson, of date March 1, 1870.
About this time there occurred events that occasioned a change in the personnel of the management of the roads. During the early part of the year 1870 Robert F. Taylor resigned his office of receiver and manager, which resignation was duly accepted by the court. And on the 9th of May of the same year the management sustained a most serious loss in the death of Lawrence Brainerd. As will be seen by reference to the preceding pages of this chapter, Mr. Brainerd first ap- pears in connection with the trust management of the roads as the suc- cessor of W. Raymond Lee, who resigned his office of trustee of the first mortgage bondholders during the month of June, 1856. But prior to this time, and even as early as the days during which the project of building a railroad through the county was first agitated and discussed,
Law yours Luily Imquay Smiths
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RAILROADS.
in an informal way, the name of Lawrence Brainerd was prominently associated with the subject, for he was one of the founders of the enter- prise, and one of the corporators of the Vermont and Canada company in 1845. With that company he continued in various capacities and relations for a number of years, and during that period, and after he suc- ceeded to the receivership, he was the safe counselor and faithful co- worker of his close friend, John Smith, the founder, in fact, of the road ; and when, in 1858, Mr. Smith suddenly died, and his place was filled by the appointment of his son, J. Gregory Smith, we find existing in the new board of trustees and managers the same spirit of harmony, the same wise and just course of policy and operation that had character- ized its predecessor. The last connection in which appeared the name of Lawrence Brainerd as one of the board of management of the roads in receivership was that which reported to the court the action of the board in making the contract for traffic and transportation with the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain company; which report, receiving the sanction of the Court of Chancery, may truthfully be said to have brought to Mr. Brainerd and his associates the grand realization of their cherished desire of causing their lines of road to form one continuous connecting thoroughfare of travel and transportation between the large New England cities and seaports and the great chain of lakes reaching to the far West. Worthington C. Smith and Lawrence Barnes succeeded to the vacancy in the board of management occasioned by the death of Mr. Brainerd and the resignation of Mr. Taylor.
The Missisquoi Railroad Company was brought into existence by virtue of an act of the Vermont legislature, passed the 13th day of November, 1850; and in pursuance of the authority conferred by the act the company was organized and proceeded upon the construction of their road, which extended from the village of St. Albans to the village of Richford, a distance of about twenty-eight miles. But before the road was completed, in pursuance of a lease made and executed by and between Homer E. Royce, agent appointed for the purpose by a vote of the stockholders of the road, and the board of managers of the Vermont and Canada and Vermont Central companies, the completion, equipment and operation of the Missisquoi road devolved upon the man- agement aforesaid. The lease aforesaid was entered into under the 37
290
HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
authority and with the approval of the Court of Chancery, by an order dated September 26, 1870. On the 31st of October, 1870, the Court of Chancery, in furtherance of the business interests of the road, upon the presentation of a petition from the board of managers, ordered and decreed that the action of the management and Vermont and Canada company, in contracting for traffic with the Northern Railroad Company and the Boston and Lowell Railroad Company, be ratified and approved. Also on the 5th of January, 1871, the court made a decree confirming the lease of the Rutland Railroad, entered into between that company and the Vermont and Canada, and the trustees and managers. Still further, on the 17th of May, 1871, Chancellor Royce, upon petition asking therefor, authorized the Vermont and Canada company to issue additional stock, amounting to $500,000; also a loan of $100,000, guaranteed by the said Vermont and Canada company. Chancellor Royce also, on September 18, 1871, ratified the action of the manage- ment in entering into a contract with the Northern Transportation Com- pany of Ohio.
On the 6th of December, 1872, the trustees and managers were again brought into court on the suit of the Vermont and Canada company, and others who, in the prayer of their petition, asked that they be paid arrears of rent under their old lease, to the amount of $120,000, the moneys for which payment, they claimed, had come into the hands of the management, but had not been paid, but used for other purposes, unauthorized and unlawful, and in violation of the trust relation ; and the Vermont and Canada company also filed a petition in chancery by which they asked and demanded that the board of management be re- moved and ousted, and that the petitioners be again restored to the pos- session and operation of the roads. And on the 19th of February, 1873, another suit was brought against the above defendants, the board of managers, by certain bondholders of the Vermont Central company, who also asked that the managers be removed from their office. The first named suit came before Judge Royce, as chancellor, for hearing and determination, on the 17th of March, 1873, with the result of a with- drawal of their petition on the part of the plaintiffs. But before the commencement of the actions above referred to, there was in progress a ยท movement on the part of interested persons, having for its object the
291
RAILROADS.
concentration, harmonizing, and consolidation of conflicting interests in the several lines of road then and previously operated by the board of managers. The first definite action in this direction was taken when, on the 23d of November, 1872, the legislature passed an act incorporating the Central Vermont Railroad Company, with an authorized capital stock in amount sufficient to purchase and retire the first and second mortgage bonds of the Vermont Central Railroad Company, and such additional amount as should be authorized by vote of a majority of the stockholders voting for that purpose.
The first section of the act of incorporation reads as follows : "Such bondholders under the first or second mortgages of the Vermont Central Railroad, and such other persons as shall hereafter become stockholders, are hereby incorporated under the name of the Central Vermont Rail- road Company, for the purpose of purchasing the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada Railroads, or either of said roads, and for the pur- pose of purchasing or retiring, by exchange or otherwise, the stock and bonds of the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada Railroad Com- panies, and for the purpose of operating and maintaining said roads," etc.
In pursuance of the authorization, and for the purpose of carrying out the objects of the company, an organization was effected on the 21st of May, 1873, by the choice of directors, as follows : William Butler Dun- can, S. L. M. Barlow, Trenor W. Park, J. Gregory Smith, John B. Page, Benjamin P. Cheney, John Q. Hoyt, George H. Brown, John S. Schultze, Worthington C. Smith, Joseph Clark, J. G. Mccullough, and James R. Langdon. On the 27th of May, following, these officers were elected : J. Gregory Smith, president; W. C. Smith, vice-president ; George Nichols, clerk ; J. Gregory Smith, S. L. M. Barlow, Trenor W. Park, John S. Schultze, executive committee. Also, Duncan, Sherman & Co. were chosen financial agents; J. W. Hobart, general superintendent ; L. Millis, general freight agent.
With the Central Vermont Railroad Company thus fully organized, the old board of management, comprised of J. Gregory Smith, Joseph Clark, Worthington C. Smith, Benjamin P. Cheney and Lawrence Barnes, presented their petition to the Court of Chancery on the 2d of June, 1873, and asked that the Central Vermont Railroad Company, or- ganized and officered as above stated, be substituted in their place and
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
stead, and clothed with the same powers and authority as they had been, and subject to the order and direction of the court. Upon proper pres- entation, and due notice to all interested parties and corporations, Chan- cellor Royce, on the 15th of July, 1873, ordered and decreed that the Central Vermont Railroad Company " be and they are hereby consti- tuted and appointed receivers and managers, from and after the date of this order, in the place and stead of the said J. Gregory Smith, Worth- ington C. Smith, Joseph Clark, Lawrence Barnes and B. P. Cheney, and as such they are authorized to assume the possession and control of all the railroads, lines of transportation and other property now under the control of said receivers and managers, as aforesaid."
Now, before further pursuing the subject on the line of the narration thus far adhered to, the attention of the reader is for the moment di- rected to the work accomplished by the receivers and managers, Gov- ernor Smith and his associates, who were in control and operation of the joint lines of road, in their peculiar capacity as officers of the Court of Chancery. The original board of managers and receivers were author- ized and directed to operate the lines of road owned by the corporations known as the Vermont Central and Vermont and Canada companies. Had the efforts of the first receivers and their successors only and solely been directed to the operation of those lines it is a serious question whether they could have been sustained and maintained for a single year but the necessities of the public convenience, the interests of a vast mul- titude of people, the welfare of the state of Vermont, and as well the en- largement of interests outside the state, demanded that the lines of road under receivership be increased and extended. It became necessary to do all these things, and even more ; it became necessary that the receiv- ers and managers should, at certain times, antagonize other interests, and create, as they undoubtedly did, contentions and strifes, with their con- sequent ill-feelings and litigations. But now, when the passion and ex- citement of the period have been allayed by time, no man will seriously assert but that whatever was done was for the greatest good to the great- est number of people. The history of railroading in this country, from first to last, should it be investigated by the reader, will disclose the truth of the fact that the management of the Vermont roads, during the period of their receivership, was not materially different from that of
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RAILROADS.
other roads in other states, nor were the rulings and orders of the Court of Chancery at variance with the decisions in other commonwealths by similar courts. It so happened, in the course of events, that the condi- tions arose in Vermont earlier than in other states, and that the prece- dents were mainly established here; and when like conditions arose in other localities there were always the same grievances, the same conten- tions, the same hurling of anathemas, epithets, charges of unfairness, and charges of subornation of the courts, juries and legislatures alike as characterized the feeling in certain quarters in this state. But now, when all the animosities are healed, when all the differences and difficulties are settled and adjusted, all conflicting interests consolidated, who shall say that what was done was not for the best, or all that under the circum- stances could have been done ?
When the Court of Chancery ordered and directed that the Central Vermont company be substituted in the place of the preceding board of management, and subrogated to its rights, powers, privileges, and lia- bilities, there were transferred to the former, by formal act, and they be- came the managers of the several original and extended lines of road, as follows : The Vermont and Canada, the Vermont Central, the boats of the Northern Transportation Company, the Ogdensburg and Lake Champlain, the Stanstead, Shefford and Chambly, the Rutland road, the Vermont Valley, the Vermont and Massachusetts, the Addison, and the Missisquoi, all of which were in operation by the board of management, or, more particularly, the trustees, receivers, and managers, constituted and appointed and under the direction of the Chancery Court. By the time the transfer and substitution were made the business of the man- agement had assumed such proportions that it became imperative there should be established an organization more in conformity with the gen - eral character of railroad corporate companies, not alone for the inter- ests of the business itself, but for the general public good, and the wel- fare and proper conduct and reputation of the several lines and branches of road brought within the control of the informal and limited manage- ment, and made a part of a single system. Therefore the Central Ver- mont company was chartered and organized with executive and depart- mental branches in the same manner as are all well conducted railroads throughout the land.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
The Central Vermont company assumed the management of the sys- tem of roads immediately upon the order of the court, and have been in its operation from that time continuously to the present. But during this period the character of the ownership of the stock, and therefore of the roads themselves, has undergone a material change, brought about by foreclosures of mortgage liens, and other similar processes of law and the courts, which resulted in the centralization and consolidation of in- terests, and finally culminated in the organization of the Consolidated Railroad Company of Vermont, an association formed under the pro- visions of the revised laws of the state, on the 23d day of April, 1883, which company is now the recognized owner of the roads, while the Central Vermont company operate and manage the lines in the charac- ter and capacity of lessees. The consolidated company was organized at Boston, on May 10, 1883, by the election of a board of directors, com- posed of J. Gregory Smith, Joseph Hickson, James R. Langdon, E. C. Smith, B. P. Cheney, E. H. Baker, and W. H. H. Bingham. Officers : J. Gregory Smith, president; James R. Langdon, vice-president; D. D. Ranlett, treasurer; George Nichols, clerk. The present directors of the consolidated are J. Gregory Smith, Joseph Hickson, J. R. Langdon, E. C. Smith, B. P. Cheney, John Bell, W. H. H. Bingham ; and of the Central Vermont, J. Gregory Smith, Joseph Hickson, J. R. Langdon, E. C. Smith, B. P. Cheney, Robert Wright, and W. H. H. Bingham. The officers of the Central Vermont company are J. Gregory Smith, president ; James R. Langdon, first vice-president ; E. C. Smith, second vice-president ; J. W. Hobart, general manager ; D. D. Ranlett, treas- urer; E. G. Lucas, general auditor; J. M. Foss, general superintendent ; S. W. Cummings, general passenger agent ; George T. Childs, clerk. Superintendent Missisquoi division, Thomas M. Deal.
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FREE MASONRY.
CHAPTER XVIII.
FREE MASONRY IN FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.1
F REE MASONRY in Vermont antedates the admission of the state into the Union, and its centennial as an organization will be cele- brated but three years later than that of our commonwealth. The first charter for a lodge in this jurisdiction bore the autograph of Paul Revere, and the first warrant for a chapter that of De Witt Clinton. Vermont Lodge received its charter from St. Andrew's Grand Lodge of Massachusetts, November 10, 178 1, and was located at Cornish. For some time its meetings were held on the other side of the Connecticut in Charlestown, later in Springfield, and it finally found a permanent home at Windsor. North Star Lodge, of Manchester, was chartered by the same Grand Lodge, January 20, 1785; Dorchester Lodge, of Vergennes, received a warrant from Sir John Johnston, Bart. grand master, of the Province of Quebec, under date May 5, 1791 ; while Temple Lodge, of Bennington, and Union Lodge, of Middlebury, received their charters from the Grand Lodge of Connecticut, dated respectively May 18, 1793, and May 15, 1794.
On the 7th day of August, 1794, representatives of these lodges met at Manchester and by adjournment at Rutland, October 10th, where they remained in session five days. The result was the formation of a body styled and known as the "Grand Lodge of the Most Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of the State of Vermont, independent and gov- erned solely by its own laws," a title which it bears to-day, and a pre- rogative which it has always maintained. To men who had won their independence and bought their laws by dearest blood the last clause had a peculiar significance, and the history of the Grand Lodge clearly dem - onstrates that the sons have not failed to appreciate the legacy of the fathers.
For thirty-five years Free Masonry had a steady growth in the state, and numbered among its members men occupying high positions in the councils of the state and nation. The Grand Lodge during that time
| By Alfred A. Hall, Past Grand Master, etc.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
added, to the original five, sixty-eight lodges, five of which were located in the county of Franklin and two in the county of Grand Isle.
A Grand Chapter of Royal Arch Masons was organized at Rutland, December 20, 1804, and a Grand Encampment (now styled Command- ery) of Knights Templar in 1824. Owing to the intense feeling created in this state by what is known as the "anti- Masonic war," resulting in Vermont's casting its electoral vote, alone, for the anti-Masonic candi- date for President, the Grand Lodge practically suspended labor from 1833 to 1846, and many of the subordinates followed the example, while a few determined and fearless members, conscious that the organization to which they belonged, instead of being the enemy to good order and law, was the hearty supporter of both, and that they were bound by their obligations "to' support the government of the country in which they lived," continued to hold meetings during the darkest days of prej- udice, at the expense of social and political position, and lived to rejoice over the fact that they neither surrendered nor joined in a truce.
In 1846 the Grand Lodge re-organized; the Grand Chapter and Grand Commandery resumed work soon after. In 1854 a Grand Coun- cil of Royal and Select Masters was formed, and in 1868 the Grand Con- sistory, Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, was established in Ver- mont. Since the re-organization Masonry has been in a flourishing condition, steadily increasing in numbers, influence, and popularity, and it stands to-day as the leading moral and beneficial society in the state.
FRANKLIN COUNTY.
Franklin Lodge, No. 4, St. Albans .- At the third annual communica- tion of the Grand Lodge held at Windsor, Oct. 13-14, A. L. 5797, the records show that "a petition signed by Ebenezer Marvin, Seth Pome- roy and others, praying a charter for a lodge to be holden at St. Albans, by the name of Franklin Lodge, was read, the prayer thereof granted, and it was ordered that a charter issue accordingly." This was the first chartered lodge north of Burlington and the fifth after the formation of the Grand Lodge. Its charter members were Ebenezer Marvin, wor- shipful master ; Seth Pomeroy, senior warden ; Solomon Morgan, junior warden ; Silas Waterman, John White, Asa Holgate, Enos Wood, Isaac Smith, Prince B. Hall, Aaron Heustings and William Nason. It was num-
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FREE MASONRY.
bered ten and held that number until the re-organization. It is proba- ble that early meetings were held on the site where S. S. Allen now lives, on S. Main street. At a later day they were held in the Barlow House (now American), in the Dr. Hoit house on the corner of Main and Hoyt streets, in the old Weeks's block, in a block on the site of Union block, in the Wheeler block, and for the past twenty years in Brainerd's block on the corner of Main and Bank streets. The charter under which the lodge now works is a copy of the original issued June II, 1869, and from the certificate upon the same it appears that the original and a former copy were both destroyed by fire. Although the records prior to 1867 are destroyed, it is well known that the lodge was purged by fire in 1821, again in 1869, and it is also thought that it suffered by the fire that destroyed the Weeks's block.
Among its early prominent members were Ebenezer Marvin, an emi- nent physician, who served as surgeon in the Continental army and subsequently held offices of honor and trust, among them that of county judge, discharging the duties with such fairness and ability as to win from the late Chief Justice Royce the high compliment of being " a great common sense lawyer"; Seth Pomeroy, its second master, was one of the first citizens of the county, and for many years clerk of the courts ; Rev. Jonathan Nye, a noted clergyman, and for many years grand chaplain and the third grand master of the Grand Lodge ; Will- iam Bridges, for many years judge of probate; Luther B. Hunt, an eminent lawyer and the co-laborer in office of Nathan B. Haswell and Philip C. Tucker, ranking between the two for several years until 1829, when he was elected to the office of deputy grand master, but declined in favor of his friend Tucker, and accepted a re-election as grand senior warden. The list would be incomplete without the name of General John Nason, who was as prominent in Masonry as in military and civil affairs.
The lodge had a healthy growth and furnished many of the charter members for Lamoille, Missisquoi. Columbus, Isle of Patmos, Seventy- six and Liberty Lodges, chartered in Franklin and Grand Isle counties prior to 1830. Owing to the anti-Masonic feeling, before alluded to, it suspended work early in the thirties and did not resume until about the time of the re-organization in 1846, under which it ranked as No. 4, and
38
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
has since held that position on the Grand Lodge register. It was soon re established upon a firm and healthy basis, and has steadily prog- ressed in growth and influence to the present time. Few lodges in the state have stood better or had greater influence in Masonic councils, and none have been more highly honored. Membership, 142.
Past masters : Ebenezer Marvin, Seth Pomeroy, Jonathan Nye, Eph- raim Little, Benjamin Chandler, Samuel H. Farnsworth, Nathan B. El- dredge, Asahel Langworthey, William Bridges, Luther B. Hunt, John Nason, Heman Green, Orlando Stevens, William M. Beeman, Seth R. Day, Park Davis, J. Pliney Fisk, George H. Kittredge, Alfred A. Hall, James Myers, Fred R. Woodward, Alfred G. Safford, George N. Willis- ton, S. S. Allen, George Cassidy, Arthur L. Weeks and Silas H. Dan- forth.
Past grand officers : Rev. Jonathan Nye, Park Davis and Alfred A. Hall, past grand masters; Luther B. Hunt, past grand senior warden ; Hiram F. Stevens, past grand senior deacon ; George Cassidy, past grand junior deacon
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