USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Ludlow > History of Ludlow, Vermont > Part 13
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
O. O. HOWARD POST, NO. 33, G. A. R.
This post was organized July 4, 1868, and was named for the distinguished Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard of Maine. The original number of members of the post, was ten, the following being the charter members: H. O. Pea-
157
body, Linus E. Sherman, R. E. Hathorn, J. H. Putnam, L. Shaffner, J. F. Farnham, John Barrett, Fred A. Fish, Alphonso Sawyer, and Geo. Snowdon Redfield. The post was reorganized May 10, 1883, the first officers being
O. O. Howard Post, No. 33, G. A. R. 1868
R. E. Hathorn, P. C., James Pollard, S. V. C., H. A. Flet- cher, J. V. C., W. D. Ball, adjutant, A. T. Moore, Q. M., George Spafford, surgeon, Elihu Snow, chaplain, Oscar Gassett, O. D., F. H. Fuller, O. G., D. C. Sheldon, sergeant major, H. G. Hemenway, Q. M. sergeant. No society has a more affectionate, brotherly feeling among its members, than was manifested by this order.
SPANISH AMERICAN WAR
Only two men from Ludlow served in this war. Grant Colton, son of E. S. Colton, served nearly two years, and returned safe. Leon D. Cooledge, son of Dr. D. F. Cooledge, enlisted from Chicago, Ill. in Aug. 1899, in Co. M., 37th Regt. U. S. Vols. He died of typhoid fever in the Phil- ipine Islands, July 31, 1900. His remains were brought to Ludlow for burial.
158
THE WORLD WAR
The United States declared war on Germany April 6, 1917, but many Americans had already entered the ser- vice, impelled, doubtless, by interest in the European coun- tries that were struggling against destruction. Ludlow's Roll of Honor contains the names of those who enlisted from this town, from 1914 to 1918:
Lowell Adams
Fancis Hart Leslie Hill
Joseph Alger
Ernest Bachelder
Harold Hines
Frederick Ballard
Harry Hobart
Jack Ballard
Timothy F. Horan, Jr.
Howard Beswick
John Howley
John Biagiotti
Gardner Jolly George Kearney
Joseph Blanchard
Frank Keating
Louis Burnes
Carmi Kelley
Allen Buswell
Walter Kelley
Alex Ciufo John Ciufo
Joseph Kerrigan
William Comstock
Frederick H. Knight
Arthur Connors
Alex Lacz
Frank Connors
Ben E. Lamere
Clyde Cook
Joel J. Lamere
Richard Crossley
Walter Luce
Clifford Derosier
Ralph Lawrence
Lovering Devereaux Albert Ellis Leon Ellison
Orlyn Martin
John Files
Robert Martin
Jay Flanders
Vere Martin
Allen M. Fletcher, Jr.
Arthur Maynard
Richard Flynn
William Morgan
Russell Ford
Raymond Mudge
Leonard Gardner Fred Gerth
Patrick Nealon, Jr.
Albert Goddard
Olaf Naess
Arthur Godin
Ralph Parker
Ernest Graves
Ralph Pearsons
Roger Hammond
Edward F. Phelan
Carleton Burney
Harry Kelley
Clayton Carlisle
John Kennell
John P. Kerrigan
Loreston Manley
Vernon Manley
Harry Murphy
159
Archie Brown
Maurice Pinney Ernest Pratt Elmer Provo
Bert Snow
James Snow Henry Soulia
Rudolph Ragucci
Clyde Spaulding
Charles J. Regan Joseph Riechiedski Curtis Robinson Fred E. Rowe
Walker Spaulding Henry Stickney William Stickney
Henry Rowe
Harold Stoddard
Joseph Rushlow
Wm. Tapper, Jr. William Terry
Ben Russell Ernest Schoenfeld
Arthur Thomas
Glenn Sears .
Ralph Sears, Jr.
John Townsend Dennis Tyo
Roy Sears
Wallace Tyo
Hollis Shaffner
Joe Waskivitch
Daniel Sheehan
Marsh Whelden
John Sheehan
Richard Whelden
Horace Slocum
Robert Wilmoth
Ralph Smith
Walter Wood
Raymond Smith
One hundred and eleven names.
DESCRIPTION OF THE VILLAGE
The restless spirit of change in the white race led to the discovery of Ludlow. The energy and invention of the same race made it habitable. Though it is but a speck, it helps to hold together the crust of the great globe called the earth, and, apparently, the time alloted for its creation was limited, and therefore the surface was left only part- ly finished. However that may be, it swung with the other particles of our planet in the great balance of time, century after century, before the attention of the white man was drawn to its natural resources.
When the first settlers came, the first thought was for shelter and homes, the next was to establish a center of trade in the town. It was some time before the location was decided upon. Josiah Fletcher, one of the first settlers in town, settled and built the first frame house in town in 1790, on lower Main street. After his death in 1825, Silas
160
Raymond Spaulding
Warren lived on the place for many years. J. W. Kimball took down the old Fletcher house in 1870, at which time his own residence was built.
Shortly after Mr. Fletcher's arrival, Peter and Stephen Read, Ebenezer Gilbert, and Thomas Bixby settled north, and west of north of what is now 'Grahamsville, and they tried hard to locate the village or center of trade at that place. About this time, Arioch Smith, Avery Denison, and Jesse Fletcher, settled where Smithville now is. They, also, tried to encourage the growth of a village at the place where they had settled, but were no more successful than the settlers at Grahamsville. In 1801, Andrew Petti- grew came to town and settled on South Hill, where James Ward lived later. Mr. Pettigrew built a store there, and did an extensive business for those early days. He was a man of push, with considerable influence in the community and he, also, tried to have a village planted on South Hill. Josiah Fletcher's movements, however, seemed to exert a con- trolling influence in establishing the center of trade where the village now is. Others followed his lead, and built in the same vicinity, and favored by the position near the center of the town, the village kept on growing, till now Ludlow has approximately three hundred dwelling-houses within the corporation limits and twenty tenements in business blocks. In this description, all those buildings will be omitted whose description is found elsewhere. The follow- ing are some of the oldest houses, and a few of the more modern residences in the village.
In 1797, Eliakim Hall built a small house where Moses Townsend's house stands, on the corner of Lower Main street and Commonwealth Avenue. Mr. Hall lived in part of the building, and in the other part, had the first store kept in town. He continued to do business here till 1810, when he was succeeded by Simeon Burbank, who remained till 1825, and was followed by Abram and Shepard Adams. They did business at that place till 1843, when they re- moved the little red store to the place now occupied by the grounds of Mrs. F. A. Walker's residence, near the river, and was used as a blacksmith shop. In 1849, William Spaulding built the stone house that is now the Townsend
161
residence, and for several years kept store on the first floor, and lived on the second floor.
The next building of which any trace can be found, was a potash factory built in 1800 by W. M. and D. W. Hall, brothers. They are said to have lived in a part of the building where they carried on their business. It stood about five rods from the present highway, back of the Leland house on East Main street.
In 1800, Asa Fenn built a house nearly on the site of the F. A. Walker barn. He used this building for a hatter's shop, where he made fur caps, lining them with lamb's wool. It is said that he went around among the farmers in town, and bought the privilege of shearing their young lambs. He also manufactured the old-fashioned stove-pipe hat. About 1845, this building was moved down the street, and was later the property of Mrs. Angelette Strong. In 1801, Mr. Fenn built for his own residence, the house where Miss Jennie Sinclair once lived.
The William Spafford house was built in 1810 by Na- than P. Fletcher. Later Artemas Spafford built on the ell part. In 1835, Abram and Shepard Adams built the resi- dence where J. G. Sargent lives, known for many years as the Bailey place. The brick of which this house was built, was made in the brick-yard of Andrew Keyes.
John and James Withington built the old house known as "The Beehive" in 1810. They lived in part of the house, and used the other part for a cabinet shop. The first furniture offered for sale in Ludlow, was at this place. The building was taken down in 1897 and replaced the same year by a new one built by J. W. Kimball and Prescott Adams.
In 1825, Capt. Joseph Patterson built the house where Mrs. Martin Meehan later lived. It was first used for a comb factory, by Daniel Thompson. He made coarse, fine and or- namental combs from both horn and gutta-percha, and found a market for his goods in Boston and New York.
About 1835, the Withington Bros. removed their cabinet works to that building. They made all the coffins then used in town. None were kept in stock and when they received an order for one, they frequently worked all night in order to have it ready. The ornaments were plain and but few
162
used. The price ranged from two dollars to three and a half.
The Frank A. Walker house was built by Abram and Shepard Adams in 1843. It was built for a store, and occu- pied by them until 1851, when they failed. The failure caused much inconvenience to many people, of this town, as nearly all had unlimited confidence in the soundness of their financial standing. They did a very extensive business in the mercantile line. This residence was thoroughly re- paired in 1897, when the verandas and tower were added to the building. It will be remembered by many of Lud- low's former residents, as the home of the late Judge Wm. H. Walker.
In 1820, Thomas Haild built a small shop on the ground now occupied by the Catholic Church. He made nearly all the wooden plows then used in town. They were made entirely of wood, excepting a small steel point which was fastened to the mold-board. This kind of plow was called the land plow. Swivel plows were unknown in those days. Arioch Smith of Smithville forged the points for the plows. As he had not learned the art of tempering them, the points were sent to Rutland, Vt., to be tempered. Mr. Haild also built the old-fashioned sleighs, ox-sleds, carts, and ox- yokes, and did general repairing. He built a small house at about the time he built his shop, which stood in front of where the present Catholic parsonage stands.
A petition of incorporation for Ludlow village was pre- sented to the legislature by Jesse Bailey, then representa- tive from Ludlow, at the session of October, 1819, and it was incorporated Mar. 29, 1820.
Previous to 1820, Josiah Fletcher owned all the land now occupied by the village on the south side of the river. In 1800, Mr. Fletcher offered for sale, all the land along Black River, from the bridge near the Black River Woolen Mills to Jewell Brook, at thirty-seven and a half cents per acre. This land was again offered for sale in 1826 at ten dollars per acre and in 1893, building lots were sold on Pleasant Street Extension, at the rate of $3,200 per acre.
In 1795, a temporary bridge was built across the river where the iron bridge now stands and the felling and burn- ing of the forest then commenced, but no attempt at
163
settlement was made for several years afterward, and as the ground was low and wet, and flooded in the spring and fall, willows and swamp alders sprung up. All through where Main and Pleasant streets now are, the land was nearly worthless. Aug. 26, 1822, Asa White purchased of Nathan P. Fletcher, one acre of land. This land is now occupied by the Ludlow Woolen Mills, and that portion of Main street adjoining. Apr. 14, 1825, Mr. White pur- chased of Emery Burpee, fifty-four square rods of land, it being that portion of Main street west of Depot street, and that occupied by the R. E. Hathorn store, the Okemo Tavern, and the Howard furniture store. Mr. White built a house where the hay-scales formerly stood. The frame was raised June 25, 1825, this being the first house erected in Ludlow village, south of the river. In the same month, Mr. White sold to the town, a strip from the south side of his land, and Main street was laid out, and also Depot street from the old Congregational church to Moses Mayo's house on South Hill, where Harold Ford now lives. The town then built a suitable bridge where the Fletchers had built the temporary one, and the same year, built a bridge where now is the "Mill Bridge". The freshet of 1828 washed away the bridge where the new concrete bridge, built in 1928 at a cost of $39,000. now is. It was immediately re- built, and stood until 1850, when it was replaced by a covered wooden bridge, which, in turn, was replaced by the iron bridge in 1885.
Mr. White lived in his first house but a few years, and then sold out to Ezra Woodruff. About 1830, the old house was moved to the ground now occupied by the store of the Fuller Bros. The old house was moved back to the rear of the store, and used for many years.
When Mr. White removed from his first house, he had built for himself in 1828, a second house on the ground now occupied in part by the east end of the Hammond block. The well which Mr. White dug there is still in con- dition to be used.
Mr. White was born in Washington, N. H., July 10, 1782, and came with his father to Mt. Holly in 1788. He married Lydia Dutton, and had ten children: Lucy, Maria, Lydia,
164
Alvin, William, Asa, Louisa, Selina, Olive, and Harriet. Mr. White died Mar. 28, 1853.
In 1828, Judge Reuben Washburn built the old house on the corner of Main and Elm streets which is still stand- ing. In the same year, Jacob Patrick built the house now owned by Mrs. T. S. Dailey. Mr. and Mrs. Patrick occupied this house for fifty-two years.
The first store built south of the river, was built in 1828 by Stephen Cummings and Elijah Gove, and was later occupied as a harness-shop, by R. E. Hathorn. This build- ing is the oldest one in the village, that has been occupied as a store. All the other old stores, with one exception, have succumbed to time with their founders. When this store was built, it attracted much attention, and encouraged the starting of other branches of business. Accordingly in 1829, Emery Burpee and Lyman Burnham built a grist- mill. It was erected on the site where the wooden part of the Ludlow Woolen Mills stands, near the bridge. This mill had four runs of stones, and four bolts, one for bolting wheat flour, one for rye, one for buckwheat, and one for corn. In those days, all the flour and meal used here, was of home production. The great West was then unsettled. This mill did much grinding for the people of Plymouth and Mt. Holly, the grists being brought mostly on horse- back. This was the best grist-mill ever erected in town. It continued in operation until about 1845. Jonathan Car- penter was the miller in this mill for many years. He lived in a small house that stood where Ed. Warner's machine- shop now stands.
In 1830, Asahel Smith and Moses Haven built a store on the ground now occupied by Jay Brown's block. Mr. Haven died the following year, and the business was carried on for several years by his sons, Augustus and Aaron, who, in 1835, built a small house west of the store, on the site now occupied by the west half of Brown's block. In 1869, it was purchased by Jerry Magoon, who moved it up the Brook road into Harrisville.
The old building occupied by A. F. Sherman for several years as a drug-store, was built by Barnard Tilden in 1834. On the day the frame was raised there was a thunder shower in the afternoon, and the lightening struck the
165
JOHN BARRE
DRUG STOR
Barrett Grocery and Sherman's Drug Store, 1868
north-east corner of the building. The damage was re- paired by putting in a new post. This building was first used by Mr. Tilden for a cabinet shop. It was next used by Owen Spaulding for a harness shop. Mr. Spaulding brought to town the first barrel of flour that was offered for sale here. It was sold in this building in 1840, and was brought by team from Whitehall, N. Y. The building was next used by Frederick Barlow as a harness store. Geo. E. Walker succeeded Mr. Barlow in the same business. The building was next occupied by John Barrett for a restaurant. The next occupants were Sherman Bros., druggists. Her- rick and Maitland Woodward used the cellar for a meat market for several years, and Jefferson Baldwin had a shoe-shop in the upper part of the building for many years. The building was moved in 1895, and now stands, the second house from the corner of Elm and Pleasant streets, on Pleasant street extension. A. F. Sherman's new block was erected the same year, at a cost of about $6.000. It has all the modern improvements, and is the most con-
166
venient, as well as the most substantial business block in town. Mr. Sherman did credit to himself and the whole town in building this block.
All the land lying between Andover and Depot streets, and from Main street to the railroad, was sown to wheat in 1826. Over a thousand bushels of wheat were harvested from this field.
Pleasant street was laid out from the residence of Ed- ward Tapper, east to Elm street, Apr. 12, 1845. Reuben Washburn, at that time, owned nearly all the land along that part of the street. He, being dissatisfied with the lay- ing out of the street, brought suit against the town, with others who owned land adjacent. A justice court was held in Ludlow, and as no agreement of settlement was reached there, it was carried to county court, and on Nov. 7, 1850, a decision was rendered by the court, that the plaintiffs should be awarded one cent each as damages.
HOUSES AND CELLARS
When our first parents were placed upon the earth, the great law of attraction between man and woman was established, that, in all ages, has been the foundation of home-making. Among those savage or barbarous nations where polygamy is practiced, this law is violated, and among such people, no real homes are found. Adam, with his one "help-meet," has peopled the earth with his descend- ants, and now the several continents are divided into coun- tries, each with its own jurisdiction, and these again di- vided and sub-divided into states, townships, etc., till finally we come to the last division of all, which was the first, the homestead, or home place. Though man seeks a home for himself and mate, only as the birds build their nests, as an abiding place for himself and family, yet each is a government in miniature, and as the homes of a people are, so is the nation. From the well-governed homes of the God- fearing New England settlers, has come much of the en- terprise and prosperity of the American people, and the humble homes on the rocky hill-sides of Ludlow, have fur-
167
097 School Houses Marked O
abandoned Roads marked-tat
Houses + collar Hola worked . Saw mills Marked X
Brick yards . marked-B
Tanneries marked T
Old county
x ..
First steam
1863.
Sanders
410.3
7
95
LA
7 Mill.
129
S
40.7
40.5
127
1281
131
3
Turn Pike
west Branch
whyse
cooks fond
93
694
ookga
X
O
100 %
20 8
70.15
HO.10
101
719
69
r
36 M0.12
2
64
Loke
63
65.
518
81
83
·
70.10
$78
40.2
29 .28
gandoned Road
23
35
O
36
8
USS
·
7.04
1091
13
no.
FT
53
54
2
6
{ 40.6">
8
18
710.14
40.9
Joint
19
Map of districts and roads
168
RR. STATION
5 /2
12
40
x5240.4
PY X B
37
49
33
39
. 38
quarry
8.
williams River
70
M. Pow
Toll gate Sti
gnux Ake
0,05
Road Sod
Jewell
112
Brook
123
124
125
·
120
19
126
130
132
Rika
Road
*
·
1
Read Rutland R.R.
Rescue
84
no./
O
95
abandone
nished their quota of noble men and women. In the follow- ing pages is given a list of the home-builders in Ludlow, as far as they can be ascertained. They will be named in order, by location, rather than by date of settlement, to save space.
North Hill
The first settlement in Ludlow was made on North Hill, by James Whitney, who came in 1783 and built a log house, No 1. on the farm later owned by John Henry Whit- ney. The house stood about forty rods south-east of the present one, No. 112. When James Whitney came here, he found one vast, unbroken forest, and was the first man to commence the cutting and burning of the timber to bring his land under cultivation. In 1801, he built the house now standing on this farm. In 1805, Granville Whitney built the house east of this one, No. 2, later owned by Jesse Spaulding. James Whitney died in 1814, and from that time till the death of J. H. Whitney, which occurred Jan. 5, 1897, a space of nearly eighty-three years, there were no deaths in this house, which had been occupied by the Whitneys from the time it was built. No other house in town has had so remarkable a record.
In 1785, Elihu Ives came to town, and commenced clear- ing up the farm later known as the Solon I. Atherton farm. He first built a small log house, No. 3, at the foot of the hill, where his brickyard was located. In 1799, he built the large frame house which was burned on the night of Feb. 26, 1900. In 1825, Mr. Ives built a house on the site of the house later owned by Joseph Sanders and by Nel- son Pratt, No. 312. In 1852, Mr. Ives sold this part of the farm, and moved the house to where it now stands at the foot of the hill near the old brickyard. Curtis Giddings built the house now standing on the Sanders place in 1853.
Arad Ross built the house, No. 4, on the E. W. Johnson farm, north of the Sanders place, in 1835. Elisha Johnson, Sr. built the small house a little north of this in 1864.
Going back to the road leading to the Joseph Valentine place, a short distance up the hill from the Black River road, we come to an old cellar where Joseph Eaton Sr.
169
Ernest Moore
Jehial Simonds
William Bixby
built a house, No. 5 in 1795. It was a large, two story house, and had the most commanding view of Black River valley of any house in town. This house was burned on Christmas eve, 1885, Luther Wakefield then owned the farm. The old well with its old fashioned wooden curbing, rope, and bucket, still remain in its original design as its founder left it, and during its existance of more than a century, many hands have drawn pure refreshment from its depths.
Arza Smith built a house, No. 6, on the site of the house once occupied by Joseph Valentine, in 1820. In 1857, Al- fred Wakefield took down the old house and built the one now standing the same year. The house north of Mr. Val- entine's No. 7, later occupied by Oscar Mathewson, was built by Thomas Wetherbee in 1825.
Up this road, and east of it, once stood a house, No. 8, built by John Spafford in 1802, and a few rods farther north, John Goff built a house, No. 9, in 1795. These houses stood on land that now belongs on the east side of the old Mathewson place, once owned by Thomas W. Kierstead. The house on this farm was built by John Sargent in 1800. In 1814, Ira Mathewson built a house a little farther north, the cellar of which is still visible.
Following up the North Hill road from the village, west of the road on the land once owned by William Wilkins, and formerly owned by Artemus Spaulding, Jacob Shel- don built a house, No. 81/2, in 1798. The cellar is still visible. About seventy-five rods south west from the Sheldon place, on the land later known as the King lot and once owned by L. C. Howe, Thomas Hall built a house, No. 51/2 in 1815. The highway at the time these houses were built, ran by the Odd Fellows Home from High street, and joined the present highway near Mr. Sheldon's house. A little farther up the hill and east of the road, Thomas Warren built a house, No. 61%, about 1815. Before the house was quite completed, Mr. and Mrs. Warren went to spend Thanks- giving day with his brother, Capt. John Warren, on South Hill, leaving the children at home. When evening came on, the children noticed a mouse's tail hanging down through a crack overhead, and one of them, holding up a candle to burn the mouse's tail, set the house on fire. When Mr.
171
and Mrs. Warren returned home, they found their home in ashes, and the children shivering and crying, around what fire remained in the cellar.
Going up through the woods, a set of buildings once stood a little west of the schoolhouse, built by Asahel Smith, No. 10, in 1804. Jazer Smith, son of Asahel, owned the farm for many years. At one time it was called the best dairy farm in town, keeping from fifty to sixty cows. John Hayes was the last occupant. The buildings were burned in 1874. About sixty rods from the junction of the roads, on the road going southeast, a house was built by Asa Cald- well in 1803.
William Caldwell built the house, No. 11 where James Pollard now lives, in 1801. North of Mr. Pollard's was a farm, No. 12, known as the "John Boyle place". Zebulon Spaulding built the first set of buildings in 1805, which later were burned. They were replaced the following year and again burned.
On the farm north of this, No. 13, once owned by Henry L. Spaulding, the first house was a log house, built by Elijah Chamberlin about 1795. The house now standing was built by Phineas Spaulding in 1826.
The first house, No. 14, on the place once owned by Wil- lard R. Barker was built by Jonas Dunn, Sr., in 1807. It stood a few rods west of where the present buildings stand, and was moved by Parkhurst Dunn in 1842 to the present building spot. About 1848, Harrison Moore took down the old house, and built the present one the same year. A little log house, No. 13, once stood in the meadow north-east of the H. L. Spaulding house. It was built about 1800 by Capt. John Warren.
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.