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 33
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 33
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" In 1808 the commerce was extensive enough to call for two military companies ' to protect it. In 1814 and 1815 sloops were built there. In 1823 the vessel heretofore described (the Gleaner) was built, and was the first to sail through to New York. In 1827 a steamboat was built at the Bay, and another in the year following.
" On March 27th, 1828, the inhabitants of St. Albans were requested to meet at Wilkins's Inn at the Bay, on Monday, the 31st inst., for the purpose of selecting a suitable name for the village and port at St. Albans Bay. Uriel Smith was chosen chairman, and George W. Brad- ford, secretary. The committee were Captain William Burton, Jedediah Freeman, esq., Rev. Orris Pier, and Mr. John H. Burton. Agreeably to the notice, etc., by the citizens of St. Albans a full meeting was convened. The committee appointed reported the highly favored name of Port Washington, which name was seldom used."
From the same writer, and from divers other sources of information, it appears that the Bay, or, more properly stated, Port Washington, increased and multipled, both in population and industry, until it became
These were probably Captain Christopher Dutcher's and Captain Day's companies, referred to heretofore .- ED.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
a village of much importance. The place had its banking house, stores, hotel, and a number of fine residences; some of the latter of brick, which are yet standing, though occupied mainly by persons not versed in the history of their ancient burgh. The old ship yards, 1 in common with nearly all its old institutions, have long since gone to ruin, but occasionally one sees some relic of the former greatness of the place. Even the old planing-mill owned and operated by James Madison Haynes has disappeared, but its former proprietor still lives in the neigh- borhood, still hale and hearty in spite of his advanced age. The business interests of the Bay at the present time are briefly enumerated, comprising the mercantile houses of George Younger and Nelson Cook, the black- smith shop of Peter Little, and some few others of less importance.
George Younger at this time enjoys the distinction of being the most extensive merchant of the locality. He came to the village in 1843 and set up a tailor shop, and engaged in making and repairing clothes. After eighteen years he started a small grocery, but gradually enlarged his stock and business until there are now but few more extensive and enterprising merchants in the entire town. From 1870 until about 1887 Mr. Younger was postmaster at the Bay. Nelson Cook then succeeded for a brief time, but in January, 1890, Mr. Younger was re-appointed, and so continues to the present.
Nelson Cook commenced business at the Bay during the period of the late war, and has been so engaged to this time. The immediate charge of his trade is left to his son, while he is engaged in various other callings, among them being farming and looking after his boating inter- ests on the lake and bay. Under President Cleveland Mr. Cook was postmaster at this point, but when the administration changed Mr. Younger succeeded to the office.
Peter Little has been the local blacksmith at the Bay since 1874.
' The St. Albans Steamboat Company was chartered by the state the 4th of Novem- ber, 1826, and organized by the election of Nehemiah W. Kingman, N. B. Wells, Luther L. Dutcher, John Lynde, and John Palmer, directors, and the appointment of Mr. Kingman as president, and Mr. Dutcher as clerk. In 1827 the company built the steamboat Franklin and in 1828 the MacDonough. The latter was commanded by Captain William Burton. She ran for several years between St. Albans Bay and Platts- burgh, and in January, 1835, was sold to the Champlain Transportation Company, together with the franchise and interests of the St. Albans Steamboat Company. In 1835 the Winooski, under Captain Flack, ran between Burlington and St. Albans Bay.
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TOWN OF ST. ALBANS.
The only other considerable industry of the locality of the Bay is that known as the St. Albans Point Creamery, which was started as a stock company during the year 1882. The industry, with various changes, has continued until the present time. The buildings were erected just north of Governor Smith's farm dwelling. During the spring of 1890 the creamery and part of its contents were destroyed by fire, but the buildings were restored and business resumed with but little interruption.
There are at least two other noticeable industries that have a place within the precincts of what may properly be termed St. Albans Bay, although neither is a part of the village itself. These are the farms and buildings of ex-Governor Smith and Mr. John M. Foss. Each com- prises several hundred acres, the former being the larger ; and it is a common remark that there are no better appointed or more productive farms in this county, if indeed there are in the state. Both owners re- side in St. Albans village, and operate their agricultural lands for pleas- ure and recreation, as well as the profit they find in that pursuit.
The St. Albans Bay Methodist Episcopal church, the only society having a church home at the Bay, was organized during the year 1856, then having a membership of but twelve persons. However, services of this society were held in the locality at a much earlier day ; as early almost as those of the same denomination in any part of the town. Methodist meetings were held in the vicinity of the Point and Bay as early as the year 1809, and one of the most prominent persons connected with them was Nathan Green, the pioneer. This society held camp- meetings between the village and the Bay as early as 1815. The church here became a separate organization in 1856, with Rev Simeon Gardner as pastor. The first church edifice of the society was built of wood in 1857, but was replaced in 1874 by the more substantial brick struct- ure that still stands. Its cost was about $2,000. The present mem- bership of the society numbers about eighty persons.
The tannery industry referred to on preceding pages as having been in operation at the Bay was started there in 1790 by Christopher Dutcher, one of the pioneers of that locality, and one of the prominent men of the town at an early day. Mr. Dutcher was also captain of one of the local militia companies, the largest of the three that had an ex- istence about the time of the embargo war. But after a few years
45
354 HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Captain Dutcher moved his tannery to a point south of, and near, the village of St. Albans, locating on a small stream that afterward bore the name of Dutcher's Brook. Captain Dutcher lived in the town till 1814, when he died, his wife, Rosanna, having died the year before. Their son, James Clark Dutcher, died May 1, 1813.
Among the early settlers in the vicinity of the Bay were the families of the brothers Brooks: Eleazer, Adonijah, Azariah, Hananiah, and Asahel. They each raised to maturity large families, and many of their descendants still live in the locality. Julius H. Brooks has a fine farm just at the head of the bay, opposite to Governor Smith's large buildings ; and although somewhat advanced in years, Mr. Brooks is still in the en- joyment of good health and a comfortable fortune. Likewise Mr. Brooks has been a somewhat prominent person in town affairs, but he has never sought political preferment.
Eleazer Brooks, one of the brothers before mentioned, came to the lo- cality in 1785. He raised a large family of children, twelve in number. Eleazer Brooks, one of the sons, still lives on the home farm.
Adonijah Brooks is said to have come to the locality in 1788 or 1790. His wife was Betsey Gates, by whom he had these children : James, Halloway T., David G., Smith A., Betsey E., Victorice, Anson B., Luke H., Electa R. Smith A. Brooks, the fourth child born of these parents, still lives near the Bay and is now past his eightieth year.
Before concluding this branch of the present chapter, and before en- tering upon that portion that relates more particularly to the incorpo- rated village of St. Albans, previous custom has established the rule of furnishing the names of those persons who have served the town in the respective capacities of clerk and representative. These have been as follows :
.
Town Clerks .- Jonathan Hoit, 1788 to 1799 ; Seth Pomeroy, 1799 to 1807 ; Francis Davis, 1807 ; Seth Wetmore, 1808-09; Abijah Stone, 1809-13 ; Abner Morton, 1813-15 ; Abijah Stone, 1815-25 ; Elihu L. Jones, 1825-26; Abijah Stone, 1827-28; John Gates, 1829-36; William Bridges, 1836-62 ; Cassius D. Farrar, 1862-77; Joseph S. Weeks, 1877-87 ; Benjamin D. Hopkins, 1887-90.
Town Representatives.1-1788, Jonathan Hoit; 1789-90, Silas Hath-
' Those previous to 1852 compiled from Deming's "Catalogue."
1
SMITH A. BROOKS.
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VILLAGE OF ST. ALBANS.
away ; 1791-92, Jonathan Hoit; 1793, Noel Potter; 1794-96, Silas Hathaway ; 1797, Levi House ; 1798-99, Silas Hathaway ; 1800-01, Seth Pomeroy ; 1802, Levi House; 1803-05, Seth Pomeroy ; 1806, Nathan Green ; 1807, Seth Wetmore; 1808, Asa Fuller ; 1809, Carter Hickok ; 1810, Nathan Green; 1811, Jonathan Hoit ; 1812, Abner Morton; 1813, Benjamin Swift; 1814, Jonathan Hoit; 1815, Abner Morton ; 1816, Nehemiah W. Kingman ; 1817, J. K. Smedley ; 1818, none ; 1819, Samuel Barlow ; 1820, Silas Hathaway ; 1821, Asa Fuller ; 1822-24, Stephen Royce ; 1825-26, Benjamin Swift ; 1827-33, John Smith ; 1834, Lawrence Brainerd ; 1835-37, John Smith; 1838, A. G. Tarleton ; 1839, Stephen S. Brown; 1840, Isaiah Newton; 1841-42, Cornelius Stilphen ; 1843, John Gates ; 1844, none ; 1845, Orlando Stephens ; 1846-47, William Bridges; 1848, H. R. Beardsley ; 1849, Benjamin B. Newton ; 1850-51, William Bridges ; 1852-53, C. N. Hayden ; 1854-55, T. W. Smith ; 1856-57, Hiram F. Stevens ; 1858- 59, A. G. Soule; 1860-62, John G. Smith; 1863, Worthington C. Smith ; 1864-65, Bradley Barlow; 1866, Charles Wyman ; 1867, E. F. Perkins ; 1868-69, George G. Hunt ; 1870-72, Edward A. Smith; 1874, Park Davis; 1876, J. W. Newton ; 1878, Edward Green ; 1880, Herbert Brainerd ; 1882, Guy C. Noble ; 1884, F. Stewart Stranahan; 1886, Spencer S. Bedard ; 1888, Henry M. Stevens; 1890, Edward C. Smith.
THE VILLAGE OF ST. ALBANS.
The history of the village of St. Albans is the history of its various institutions and business interests, the first of which were in being some years prior to the erection of the county itself, and long before there had been passed any act by which the village was separated from the town for municipal organization and conduct. In fact the village has never become entirely separate from the town, for there are annu- ally elected officers whose jurisdictions extend alike throughout the town and village, and who are chosen upon the joint ballot of both or- ganizations or bodies corporate. The first step taken in the direction of erecting the municipality of St. Albans occurred on the 25th of Janu- ary, 1855, when a petition was presented to the selectmen of the town, requesting that body to " establish a fire district in the village of St.
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
Albans," agreeable to the provisions of an act of the legislature, passed and approved the IIth of November of the preceding year-1854.
There appears no evidence tending to show that there was any munic- ipal organization of the village prior to that time, and in this respect this locality seems to have been an exception to the great majority of the villages of the state that held any considerable population. The first act of the legislature that authorized embryo village organizations was passed somewhere about the year 1818; and this empowered the select- men of the several towns of the state, upon the petition of resident free- holders, to define certain limits within which animals should not be per- mitted to run at large. But of the provisions of this act the people of the village of St. Albans seem never to have availed themselves ; and it was only in pursuance of the enabling act of 1854 that the limited vil- lage organization of St. Albans was effected soon after that time. The petition upon which the village of St. Albans was erected into a fire dis- trict was dated the 25th day of January, 1855, and was addressed to the selectmen of the town-Romeo H. Hoyt, Cornelius Stilphen, and Thomas Campbell, as follows :
"To the selectmen of St. Albans: We, the subscribers, request you to establish a fire district in the village of St. Albans, in accordance with an act of the legislature of this state, approved November 11th, 1854." Signed, "L. L. Dutcher, B. B. Newton, Charles Wyman, Theodore W. Smith, A. S. Hyde, C. H. Huntington, Levi Webster, Azel Church, William Fuller, E. B. Whitney, William Farrar, V. Adams, J. Saxe, William O. Gadcomb, S. S. Robinson, Bildad Paul, A. O. Brainerd, A. Evans, Charles B. Swift, L. Gilman, M. M. Beardsley, C. F. Safford, H. Livingston, A. Hagar, A. H. Huntington, I. L. Chand- ler, I. M. Brown."
In pursuance of the petition the selectmen caused a survey of the town to be made, the work being done on the 30th of January, 1855, by Heman Green, engineer and surveyor ; and in accordance with his re - port Fire District No. I of the town of St. Albans was established. The boundaries of the district are on record in the office of the town clerk, but are not considered of sufficient importance to warrant their publica- tion here.
The first meeting to complete the organization of the district was held
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VILLAGE OF ST. ALBANS.
on Wednesday, the 7th day of February, 1855. Romeo H. Hoyt pre- sided, and Asahel H. Hyde was chosen clerk, Henry M. Stevens was elected collector, and Theodore W. Smith, Victor Atwood, and William Farrar were constituted the prudential committee. The establishment of the boundaries of the fire district by Surveyor Green gave rise to a slight feeling of dissatisfaction in certain quarters, and resulted in another petition signed by twenty interested citizens, asking that the lines be altered and re-established. This request was presented to the select- men, Hiram F. Stevens and Jeptha Bradley only acting, and they, on the 28th of December, 1855, caused the district to be altered according to the prayer of the petition so that the village embraced something less than 640 acres area, a little less than one square mile. On the 20th of April, 1855, the people of the district were called together for the pur- pose of acting on a proposition that/ contemplated an outlay of not ex- ceeding $3,000 for the purchase of apparatus to be used as a protection against fire. The proposition, however, on being put before the meet- ing, was dismissed.
This was the character of the first recognized municipal organization of the village of St. Albans ; and, such as it was, was necessitated by the rapid, almost phenomenal, growth of the place, brought about mainly by one single enterprise, the construction of the railroad through the town and the establishing of the main offices of the company in the village. But it was not alone the location of the business departments of the road here that occasioned this wonderful and sudden increase in population, as one of the chief factors in working the village's early prosperity was the starting of the construction and repair shops, which act of itself brought to the place a large number of people and caused it to grow and increase constantly until it soon became the third in point of population and commercial importance among the municipalities of Vermont, a position it has maintained to the present time. But St. Albans was not destined to long remain in the character of a fire district ; that was but the first step in the march of municipal advancement. It was sufficient for the occasion, but not of the class of government to which the village soon thereafter became entitled to belong.
The village of St. Albans was incorporated by virtue of an act of the legislature of Vermont, passed and approved the 18th day of November,
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
1859, the first section1 of which act was as follows: "That part of the town of St. Albans included within the limits of the fire district in said town, recorded on the town records in said town, in volume twenty sec- ond, page seventy-nine, and such part of the town of St. Albans as has been included in said village corporation since November, 1859, shall hereafter be known by the name of the village of St. Albans ; and the in- habitants of said village are hereby constituted a body politic and cor- porate, with the usual powers incident to public corporations, to be known by the (name of the) village of St. Albans ; and they may alter the bounds of said village with the consent of the person or persons whose residence or property will be included or excluded thereby ; such alterations and written consent being first recorded in the town clerk's office in said St. Albans."
Subsequent sections of the same act made provision for the character of government of the village, designated the several offices to be filled, and the powers and duties of whoever should be called to fill them. To the act amendments were made from time to time, as occasion required ; but in November, 1876, at the meeting of the legislature of that year, there was passed an amendatory or supplementary act that had the effect of substantially revising the village charter, or, perhaps better, creating a new one, so radical were the changes made and so greatly increased were the powers conferred by the act passed at that time. Under the provisions of these acts of the legislature has the village of St. Albans been governed to this present time. In its several departments the proper officers have been chosen for the conduct of its affairs, and than this there is no better regulated municipality in the state of Vermont. The chief object in separating the village from the town was that the former might have the benefits of such improvements as its people, through its officers, saw fit to inaugurate from time to time, which im- provements were designed particularly for the village alone, and for the expense of which the residents outside were not willing to contribute, either by subscription or by tax on their property. It could hardly be expected that the jurisdiction of the fire department should be made to extend beyond the village limits, and, as it thus afforded no protection to outside property, the people not benefited could not be charged with
1 The amended section.
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VILLAGE OF ST. ALBANS.
the expense of its apparatus or its maintenance. So, too, with the water supply of the village and its other local improvements usual to municipal corporations. But it can hardly be considered proper, in this connection, to enter into a discussion of the various causes that made it necessary that the village become incorporated, and thus separated from the town to which it belonged prior to the passage of the act of 1859.
But the district of territory that now comprises the beautiful village of St. Albans had an existence in the nature of a hamlet almost as ancient as the town itself. The first permanent settlement in the town was made during the years 1785 and 1786, by a handful of venturesome pioneers, who came and occupied the lands under the rights conferred upon the grantees in the New Hampshire charter. And one of the provisions of that charter declared for the laying out of town lots as near as practicable to the center of the town, thus contemplating the after-building up of a village on the designated lands. In carrying out these provisions Robert Cochran and Seth Ford set the proverbial stake for the center of the town, about which the town lots were to be laid out; and by that action they located what afterward became and now is the village of St. Albans. The report of their proceedings was made to the town on the 28th of June, 1792.
By this time, the year 1792, there were already built a number of dwelling houses, but they were scattered over the territory and erected wherever were the owner's lands. During this year Captain Charles Whitney started a store, the first of its kind, it is supposed, to be located here. In 1793 William Jackson also commenced merchandising in the south part of the village, near where was afterward built the Nason Tavern, the latter not having been opened until about 1797.
The part of the village in which the Nason Tavern was built seems to have been a strong rival to the section further north, about the common, during the early period, and the chief center of operations there seemed to be the tavern itself. It stood in the rear of what is now the residence of S. S. Allen, while the barns connected with the hostelry stood about on the site of the present Locke house. But all traces of these early occupancies have disappeared, and this is now one of the pleasant resi- dential localities of the village.
The road that is now Main street was constructed through the town
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
by the efforts of the proprietors under the leadership of Ira and Levi Allen. It was laid out at a width of six rods, or ninety-nine feet: a wise provision, and one for which all subsequent residents have ever been grateful to the proprietors, although its construction was a burden of expense to the early settlers. Naturally the majority of the early structures, of whatever kind, were built along this highway, and the lo- cality was more of the nature of a scattered settlement than like a com- pact village or hamlet.
But the designation of St. Albans as the shire town of the county was the first prominent event that promised a considerable population to the village in the then future ; and the selection of the site for the county buildings at once made the locality of the common a place of impor- tance, for here trade and settlement were destined to come and remain for all future time. Although it was a number of years after the selec- tion was made before the buildings themselves materialized, the growth of the place in their immediate vicinity was noticeable, and this region soon became the principal center of trade; and while the south village held its position for a time, it nevertheless gradually declined as the north part progressed. In 1801 the place was found to be of sufficient importance to warrant the government in establishing a postoffice at St. Albans, with the pioneer Daniel Ryan at its head, under commission from the proper authorities. This leads us to the succession of post- masters of the village, with the dates of the appointments of each, to the present time, which has been as follows :
Postmasters of St. Albans .- Daniel Ryan, April 1, 1801; Horace Janes, December 24, 1806; Samuel H. Barlow, May 15, 1829; Luther L. Dutcher, February 5, 1841 ; Oscar A. Burton, June 1, 1841; Luther L. Dutcher, February 15, 1843; Edward J. Hicks, September 27, 1848 ; Seth P. Eastman, May 30, 1849; Hiram B. Sowles, April 27, 1853; Charles H. Reynolds, December 18, 1856; John J. Deavitt, July 14, 1860; Horatio N. Barber, January 15, 1862 ; Benjamin D. Hopkins, March 30, 1871; George T. Mooney, August 3, 1886; Austin W. Fuller, May 7, 1890.
Educational Institutions of the Village .- The history of the village of St. Albans does not appear to have been marked by the founding and subsequent downfall of numerous academic institutions, such as has been
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VILLAGE OF ST. ALBANS.
the case in many other localities of the state similar to this; but from the very first those that have been established have been enduring, and were productive of much good. To be sure there have been changes, a number of them, and there have been schools of various degrees that were started, and afterward passed out of existence; but, at the same time, there has been a noticeable absence of rivalry among ambitious educators to found and have in operation during the same period several schools, each claiming superiority on account of special advantages afforded the youth of the community in the way of education.
There was no school established in the village and supported at the public expense prior to the year 1799, although there is evidence tend- ing to show that Rev. Eben Hibbard taught a select school for some time, in connection with his engagement as preacher in the community. But the worthy dominie by no means conducted a parochial school, for such things were hardly known at that time, but his was maintained that the youth of the town might learn from his store of knowledge ; and his goodly eye, too, might have seen visions of increased earnings by the way of tuition fees from the parents whose children attended his school, The period of Rev. Hibbard's teaching is said to have com- menced somewhere about the year 1792; and the place of his labors is believed to have been about where J. G. Moore's marble works now stand, at or near the corner of Congress and Main streets.
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