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 59
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 59
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
wells in common family use, but none have been used medicinally to any extent except the above named. The water from the Missisquoi spring in particular is bottled and sent to all parts of the country. The specialty claimed for the water of this spring is a remedy for cancer, scrof- ula, and other diseases of the skin and blood. Many of the cases of bene- fit are very remarkable:
Hotels .- In the village is the Portland House, A. C. Marvin, proprie- tor, which is beautifully furnished and well fitted for summer guests, many of whom spend their summers here. The Riverside, located at Sheldon Junction, has recently been refitted and opened by G. D. Thomas, proprietor. Congress Hall, at Sheldon Springs, is the largest hotel in town, and is opened simply as a hotel for summer guests. F. West is proprietor.
The Raids in Sheldon .- The only advance made upon Sheldon dur- ing the Rebellion was on November 19, 1864, when about a score of "rebel raiders," or "robbers," led by Captain Young, rendezvoused at St. Albans, having their " base " in Canada, but having no distinct lines of "retreat." After robbing the banks and shooting some of the un- armed inhabitants they passed through Sheldon on their return to Can- ada. A route so circuitous was not their plan; they were wrongly guided. Being closely pursued by Captain Conger's party they set fire to the bridge that spans Black Creek at Sheldon, to prevent their cross- ing, but the inhabitants extinguished the fire before it had done any damage. The raiders attempted to enter the Missisquoi Bank, but fort- unately it was closed. Having appropriated to themselves horses and whatever they wished they hurried on, passing along the road on the south side of the Missisquoi until they entered the town of Enosburgh, where they crossed the river at Enosburgh Falls and rode rapidly towards Canada.
Again, on Monday night, June 4, 1866, Sheldon was the scene of an- other armed gathering. About 800 Fenians (some computing them as high 1,100), who had collected quietly and unobstructed among the Irish residents in the town of Fairfield, arrived. They composed nearly the whole of the Fenian right wing of the army, and passed through the town and village between the hours of nine and twelve at night. They were accoutered and armed, and presented not a poor idea of war. The
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TOWN OF SHELDON.
Fenians rendezvoused in the town of Franklin, where they camped over night and then left for Canada.
Railroads .- The Lamoille Valley Railroad was chartered by the Ver- mont legislature about 1867, and the following year a survey was made, but not being satisfactory three or four more were made in order to ascertain the more feasible route. Work was commenced in 1870, but owing to a lack of funds and the financial crash of 1873 the road pro- gressed slowly, the principal expenditure being made in advertising for help and getting them to work as long as they could by promises, and giving them plenty of tobacco and a few necessaries. They would thus keep the help for about two or three months. The cost to the company through this town was only about $3,000 to the mile till they were ready to lay the iron. In 1877 the road was completed and the first train passed over it July 27th, and soon after regular trains began to run. There are only about four miles of track in the town, and two stations, one at the village and one at the junction with the Missisquoi Valley Railroad. The road after being completed went through various changes. The name was changed in 1880 to the St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain Railroad and afterwards to the Boston and Lowell Rail- road, which company got possession of it by lease. It finally came un- der the control of the Boston and Maine Railroad, who now operate it.
The Missisquoi Railroad was chartered in 1869, and a survey was made at once and the work of construction followed, the road being completed in 1870. The first train from Sheldon was on the 4th of July, 1870, and regular trains were soon after put on. There are about eleven miles of the track of this road in town, and there are four stations: Sheldon Springs, Sheldon Junction, North Sheldon, and South Frank- lin. The name of the road has been changed to the Missisquoi Valley Railroad. For a year or so there was quite a business done by this company, but the Southeastern coming to Richford it fell off somewhat. At the present time the road is kept busy, the business having increased during the last few years.
The Sheldon Agricultural Library Association was formed about 1869, and was kept up for several years, but finally ceased to exist as a society, and about ten years since a private library bequest was made to the society by which some additional books were purchased, making
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
something of an addition to the books they previously had. The library at the present time has a fair patronage.
The Franklin County Agricultural and Mechanical Society was formed some twenty-six years ago. It has held an exhibition annually in Sep- tember since that time upon their grounds at the Junction. They offer $2,500 in premiums each year. From all parts of the county people attend, and bring stock, produce, etc., to compete for the prizes.
Henveel Lodge, No. 30, F. and A. M., is in a flourishing condition, and occupies a hall over the bank, which is elegantly fitted up. The lodge was formed in 1857. The present membership is about thirty- five.
Highways .- There are about fifty-eight miles of road in town, and owing to the frequent changes made in the laws by the legislature in reference to the highways and on account of freshets they have not been kept in as good condition for the past few years as formerly. The freshet of June 5, 1887, washed out several large culverts, causing about $1,200 damage, and a second one occurring June 15, 1888, caused a loss of about $4,000. In consequence of these freshets the town was ex- cessively burdened by taxes. A freshet the following year was not as severe as either of the other two, the damage amounting to only about $800. In 1890 a cyclone blew down a number of trees on the high- way, unroofed buildings, and nearly carried off the Missisquoi Railroad bridge from its foundation. It was unsafe for travel for some time.
There are several fine bridges in the town of Sheldon, the oldest being the one at the village, which was built about fifty years ago and thoroughly repaired about twenty- five years since. It is an arch bridge with a double roadway, and is 156 feet long. The single roadway arch bridge at North Sheldon, built some thirty years ago, is strong and dur- able, and is 180 feet long. The iron bridge at the mouth of Black Creek, erected in 1884 by the Berlin Iron Bridge Company, is a sub- stantial structure. It is a parallel truss eighty feet long with a fourteen- feet roadway. The state erected a bridge across the Missisquoi River opposite the Junction in 1887, which is of two spans of 148 feet each. It has a fine cut stone pier of Isle La Motte marble. The abutments are of native stone, all being built upon piles. The cost was about $13,000. The town in 1888 purchased of the Berlin Iron Bridge Company a sus-
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TOWN OF SHELDON.
pension bridge which they erected that year, and which is 250 feet long from center to center of towers. It has a sixteen-feet roadway. At the time this bridge was erected it was the only suspension bridge in the state. At the west end the anchors are fastened into the ledge upon which the west end abutment is built ; the east shore anchorage is also a ledge, but farther from the abutment and much lower than the floor of the bridge. The cost of the structure was about $7,000.
The Missisquoi Bank was chartered in 1847 by the legislature as a state bank, with a capital of $100,000, and it did a good business for sixteen or seventeen years. Mr. Hubbell went to New York with S. B. Green in the fall of 1865 and came back as far as Troy ; that was the last seen of him. Whatever became of him will ever remain a mystery, as well as some things connected with the bank near its close. Whether Hubbell was a defaulter or not those who, if alive, can tell never will ; if he was, in all probability there were others as deep in the mystery as he. The affairs of the bank were finally closed up under the receivership of the Hon. D. D. Wead some fifteen years later.
Schools .- The first school-house in town was built by Major S. B. Sheldon, on the north side of the creek, where the present school house now stands. A Miss Betsey Jennison was the first teacher in town. Sheldon is divided into fourteen districts, or from one to fifteen inclusive, district thirteen having been absorbed by others. Schools are kept in most of them six months each year.
Industries .- The principal industries are farming and dairying. The milk during the summer is mostly taken to separators and the cream to butter factories to be manufactured. Sheldon is one of the first dairying towns in the state. On an area of four miles square in the east part of the town are kept some 2,000 cows. There are at Sheldon Springs a saw-mill and grist-mill manufacturing lumber and shingles and doing Custom grinding. In the village there is a saw-mill and a carriage factory upon the west side of the creek. Upon the opposite side of the stream is a grist-mill which was built some seven years ago. It is well fitted up and has a side-track for loading and unloading grain. There are also two stores and three small groceries. At the Junction the milk from about 1,000 cows is manufactured into butter.
The Sheldon Poor-House Association .- In the western part of the
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
town is the poor-house farm owned and its expenses paid in propor- tion to the grand list by the following towns, each having the privilege of sending here their poor, irrespective of numbers : Berkshire, Enos- burgh, Fairfield, Franklin, Highgate, Sheldon, St. Albans, and Swan- ton. The farm contains about 300 acres, and is well stocked. The average number of inmates is fifty-nine. There were four deaths and three births the past year. The following is a list of inmates present January 1, 1890: Berkshire, five; Enosburgh, three ; Fairfield, three ; Franklin, ten; Highgate, seven; Sheldon, seven; St. Albans, fifteen ; and Swanton, ten; total, sixty. The total expenses of the association for 1889 for repairs on buildings and maintaining the poor was $2,- 220, 02. These expenses were apportioned as follows : Berkshire, $177.40; Enosburgh, $177.40; Fairfield, $200.25 ; Franklin, $163,38 ; Highgate, $178.30; Sheldon, $159.90; St. Albans, $771.90; and Swan- ton, $330.67. It cost seventy cents per week to maintain each inmate, aside from the products of the farm. They are well fed and clothed. and the children attend school. They have divine services every two weeks. Mr. and Mrs. L. E. Lampher are superintendents of the house and farm for 1891.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF ALBURGH.
T HE town of Alburgh, like many other towns in Vermont, passed through the most interesting period of its history during the first half century of its existence. To Vermont the town as one of the sub-divis- ions of the commonwealth first became known when, in 1781, a charter was granted, including its lands, to General Ira Allen and his sixty-four associate proprietors. But long before the Vermont charter was made, and as early even as the beginning of the first French and English wars, in the year 1744, on the Ist of November, the king of France granted the lands now comprising Alburgh, and then known as a seigniory, to Francis Focault, a subject of France. After the conquest of Canada
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TOWN OF ALBURGH.
and the final overthrow of the French dominion in America this grant was confirmed by the king of Great Britain ; and confirmed, it is confi- dently believed, for the reason that Focault transferred his title to Gen- eral Haldimand, the instigator of the friendly negotiations with Vermont during the latter years of the Revolution. From General Haldimand the title passed to Henry Caldwell, and from him to John Caldwell, all British subjects. During the ownership in the Caldwells the region of the town became known as Caldwell's Manor, and in the same control the manor was settled, occupied, and improved.
As has been stated, the grant of the seigniory comprising what after- wards became Alburgh by the French sovereign was confirmed to its subsequent British owner. However, the American colonies and the mother country at length found themselves involved in a long and terri- ble war, with the final result of the defeat of the latter and the success of the former, followed by the peace treaty of 1783, and the establish- ment of the boundary lines between the United States and the British provinces in America. And one of the articles of the treaty of 1783 provided that Congress "earnestly recommended to the legislatures of the several states to provide for the restitution of all estates, rights, and properties which have been confiscated, belonging to real British sub- jects, and also of the estates, rights, and properties of persons resident in the districts in the possession of his majesty's arms, and who have not borne arms against the United States." This Congress did in due time recommend ; but even before that recommendation was made, and while there was yet existing the possibility of British success in the then waging war, before the treaty was made, Governor Chittenden made the grant to General Allen and his associates.
But Great Britain insisted that the above quoted article of the treaty had been violated by the United States, in that the manor had been permitted to be granted by state authority and that settlements and transfers of its lands were being prosecuted, and acts of jurisdictional authority were being attempted ; upon which the British commander in Canada sent and maintained an armed force in the town and its immediate vicinity. But the action of Governor Chittenden in exercising authority over the district of Alburgh was based on strong and tenable grounds. By an act, to which Lord Dorchester himself was a party in 1766, the town
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
was severed from Canada and remained a part of New York, in law, until the controversy between Vermont and New York had been settled; it was assigned to Vermont by the resolution of Congress of August 20, 1781, to which New York consented in 1790; by the treaty of 1783 Great Britain confirmed it to Vermont, and Congress further confirmed it by the act of 1791, which admitted the state into the Union. Thus in 1792 Governor Chittenden had a perfect right to assert the jurisdic- tion of Vermont, and also to assert that the establishment of civil gov- ernment there had no bearing whatever upon the legal rights of citizens of the town claiming or possessing land there, or of Caldwell or other British subjects. The former had ample remedy in the state courts, and the latter, under the treaty of 1783 and the Federal constitution, in the courts of the United States.
In 1785 Henry Caldwell appealed to the sympathy and generosity of Vermont, in a letter in the nature of a petition, asking that his title to the manor lands be confirmed to him; but the prayer of his petition could not well be granted. The settlers under Caldwell, however, held their lands by possession, and Caldwell sold his other interests to He- man Allen, of Highgate, who resorted to the courts with the result of final defeat. The Caldwell title failed because, on one ground at least, it had not been recorded in New York state.
The town of Alburgh has been variously and numerously known, bearing, perhaps, a greater number of names than any town in the entire state. From its ancient Indian occupancy it was once known as Point Algonquin, a name applied by the French; also to the latter it was otherwise known as Point Detour and as Point Detouror. To the English the town at one period was called Turn About, from the story, it is said, of a certain man who journeyed to its southern extremity, ex- pecting to pass on south, but found himself obliged to turn about and retrace his steps. It was also called Missisco Tongue and Missisco Leg from the peculiar shape of its lands, forming a promontory and extend- ing far into the lake. Under the English confirmation of the French grant it was Caldwell's Upper Manor; and finally the name Alburgh was applied, the latter, it is understood, being a contraction of Allens- burgh, which name was received from its ownership by Heman Allen, purchaser of the Caldwell title, and from Ira Allen, one of the grantees
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TOWN OF ALBURGH.
under Vermont, and the active agent of the proprietary. The town was once advertised as Allensburgh.
As has already been stated, Alburgh occupied a singular and interest- ing situation with reference to the disturbances on the northern frontier. The lands here were occupied and settled by the English and a few French under the Caldwell titles, and these settlers were in actual pos- session when Governor Chittenden granted the town in 1781; and the settlers, too, had not only possession, but as well a sort of local or town organization, with such officers as were authorized under British customs and laws. And the manor extended north into the province, and was not comprehended within the compass of the Vermont grant. The mere act of granting the town by Governor Chittenden was not of itself sufficient to occasion much concern among the settlers nor the authori- ties, but was viewed by the Caldwells as dangerous to their titles. But when the proprietary under the Vermont charter sought and as- sumed to create titles of their own, and put settlers on the lands under those titles, then the provincial authorities, from their point of view, saw a flagrant breach of the treaty provisions, and they therefore thought fit to possess the territory with troops and exercise surveillance over the region, both of land and lake. Their garrisons were maintained at Dutchman's Point, in North Hero, and at Point au Fer, in New York state opposite to Alburgh. In addition they exercised a general sur- veillance over the whole country of this town, and Isle La Motte and North Hero as well. But there were no overt acts of hostility, nor con- flicts of authority, until the settlers under the Vermont charter attempted to organize the town in 1792. The period of the British surveillance commenced in 1783, and was continued until 1796, when, in compliance with the terms of Jay's treaty of amity and commerce with Great Brit- ain, the troops were withdrawn and the Vermont authorities left in un- disputed possession of the town.
The organization of the town of Alburgh under Vermont authority, which seems to have been the occasion of all the troubles in this particu- lar region, and came so near involving the countries in another war, was effected in pursuance of the following warning: "Pursuant to express orders from his Excellency the Governor of the State of Vermont to us directed, These are to warn all the Inhabitants of the town of Allburgh
1
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
qualified as the law directs to vote for town officers, to meet at the house of Michael Housinger's on the 7th day of June next at IO o'clock in the morning for the following purposes :
" Ist. To chuse a moderator to regulate said meeting.
"2d. To chuse such civil officers as the laws directs in the State. And to do any other business that may be found necessary to be done on said day.
"Given under our hands at Alburgh this 16th day of May, 1792. " SAMUEL MOTT, " BENJA. MARVIN, Justices of Peace."
In accordance with the warning the meeting was held, and these offi- cers elected : Town clerk, Thomas Reynolds; selectmen, Richard Mott, John Chambers, Joshua Manning, Jacob Cook; treasurer, Benjamin Marvin ; constables, Abel Parr, Joseph Mott; listers, Moses Parr, Joseph Weeks, John Ladue, Ichabod Babcock, Alexander Griggs; leather sealers, James Sweet and Gabriel Manning ; grand jurors, William Brandigo and John Ladue ; surveyors of highways, Richard Mott, Daniel Smith, Stephen Sweet, Sylvester Sweet, Titus Clark, Jacob Babcock, John Van Vleet, Philip Cook, Alexander Griggs; pound keeper, Michael Housinger ; fence viewers, Jacob Mott, Ichabod Babcock, Sylvester Sweet, James Fisher, Peter Carrigan, Frederick Hoxie ; haywards, Michael Duell, Dan- iel Beazall, Joseph Hayden, Peter Truman Joseph Mott, Conrad Burg- hardt, Joseph Sowles; petitjurors, Richard Mott, David Staunton, Michael Duell, John Griggs, Sands Helmes, Timothy Sowles, Abraham Hol- brook, James Andrews; tithingmen, Hendrick Miller and Thomas Rey- nolds; wardens, Titus Clark and Timothy Sowles.
Under all ordinary circumstances it would appear somewhat singular that the first meeting of the inhabitants should elect a full complement of officers for the town, but while such was occasionally done the occurrence was not frequent. Governor Chittenden and the proprietary had de - termined upon the full and thorough organization of Alburgh under Vermont authority ; they well knew the sentiment existing in the town on the part of the Caldwell and British adherents, for of the latter there was quite a number, and by his action the governor proposed to and did test the loyalty of the town, those holding under all claims to title ; and the result was an immediate conflict of authority and a threatened open
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TOWN OF ALBURGH.
rupture between the English government and the United States. In 1794 it was openly charged that the action of Vermont had endangered the peace between those countries. On the 10th of February, 1794, Lord Dorchester, then governor-general of Canada, publicly declared that he would not be surprised if there should be war with the United States in the course of that year; and the movements of the British troops in Canada and events in the states both inclined to establish this opinion. In response to the requisition of President Washing- ton, under an act of Congress of May 9, 1794, Governor Chitten- den, on the 2Ist of June, ordered the detachment of three regiments of Vermont militia, numbering 2,129 men in all, to be held in readiness as minutemen. Of these Major-General Ira Allen's division was to furnish one regiment. On the 30th of May preceding General Allen had or- dered the militia of Alburgh and the neighboring islands now forming Grand Isle county to be organized as an entire regiment, which of course surrounded the British garrison on North Hero. It is quite prob- able that he expected war on the frontier, but no collision of troops occurred.
General Allen organized his militia regiment in the island region, and desired and was able to drive the British troops and sympathizers out of the territory of the state; but from such action he was restrained by the counsel of Governor Chittenden, who had no desire to precipitate an- other war. But at this dangerous crisis the diplomatic correspondence and negotiations between the United States, represented by John Jay, and the British government took definite shape, with final result of a treaty that called for the withdrawal of the British troops from the re- gion before June 1, 1796. Still the militia organizations were main- tained and kept prepared for an emergency. In 1804 the militia of Al- burgh, with that of North Hero and Isle La Motte, formed a part of the Second Brigade, Third Division, of state troops.
In 1791, by an act of Congress passed and approved the 2d of March, the whole state of Vermont was formed into a district for the collection of duties on imports, and the town of Alburgh was made a port of entry, and the act required that the collector of the district should reside here. Stephen Keyes was appointed collector of the port.
It has already been stated that the British troops occupied the terri-
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HISTORY OF FRANKLIN AND GRAND ISLE COUNTIES.
tory of the northern region of Vermont, and particularly the vicinity of Alburgh, as early as 1783, but that no acts of hostility or oppres- sion were perpetrated until after the organization of the town in 1792. This action by the town seems to have aroused the enmity of the Brit- ish, who from that time forth, and until Jay's treaty was concluded, took every possible occasion to annoy, injure, and insult the people, prevent them the enjoyment of their liberties, and obstruct the administration of justice in every manner. Among the multitude of acts of this charac- ter there may be mentioned a few. In June, 1792, Enos Wood, a dep- uty sheriff of Chittenden county serving under Sheriff Pearl, was charged with the duty of executing a process in Alburgh ; but on reaching the place he was seized by the British officers and soldiers, and with his two companies was carried prisoner to St. John's and held there some days. From the facts in this case it appears that Wood was armed with his writ in an action against Patrick Conroy, in the execution of which he seized the defendant's cattle, and proceeded to drive them south to the ferry crossing to North Hero. Wood was accompanied on this bus- iness by Benjamin Butler, of North Hero, Nathaniel Wood, of Georgia, and Captain Hutchins, of North Hero. The cattle were found to be in possession of one Minard Youmans, in charge of Conroy's premises, the latter having gone to Missisquoi Bay; and as Youmans made some offer of resistance he was arrested, but subsequently released on promise of good behavior. But no sooner was he permitted to go than he reported the seizure to the British officers, and they at once started in pursuit of the sheriff's party, whom they overtook just at the ferry. They were made prisoners, and the cattle except one or two returned to Conroy.
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