USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Morristown > History of Morristown, Vermont > Part 16
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He set out the beautiful maple trees which still sur- round his former home at the Corners. It is told that he was annoyed by the practice, common among the attendants at the neighboring church, of hitching their horses to his young trees. One Sunday he went out and cut loose all the horses. £ This resulted in some interrup- tion to the Sabbath service and a confusion of vehicles, but put an end to the custom of using his maples as hitch- ing posts.
In 1813 he married Miss Anna Town and to them were born one son, Albert Byron, and four daughters. To his descendants he transmitted his love for his profession and each succeeding generation has furnished one or more physicians. His success in his chosen field enabled him to retire from active practice and his last few years were spent in farming at his pleasant home at the Corners, where he died April 19, 1860. His great-great-grandson, Charles Tinker, Jr., still carries on the family name here.
The third physician to locate at the Corners was Dr. Horace Powers, who was born in Croydon, N. H., in 1807, and was educated at the academy in Newport, N. H. When he decided to study medicine, he followed the custom which prevailed at that time of reading with a practicing doctor and located with Dr. J. B. McGregor of Newport, N. H., and was able to attend medical lectures at Dartmouth Col- lege. He received his degree of M. D. in 1832, from the "Clinical School of Medicine" at Woodstock, Vt., which had been established a few years before and later was known as the Vermont Medical College.
The next year, with his diploma and his newly wedded wife, Miss Love Gilman, of Unity, N. H., he moved to Morristown, where for more than thirty years he served his town, not only professionally, but in a variety of other ways. For twenty years he was a member of the Board of Civil Authority, was sheriff for a long period, a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1850 and senator from Lamoille County in 1853-1854.
With the outbreak of the Civil War he was made the examining physician for Morristown, and one of the vet- erans whom he examined related the following anecdote which illustrates his dry wit. After testing the prospec- tive soldier's heart and lungs, the doctor remarked: "Now let me look at your feet, for they will probably be what you will use most in your first engagement."
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Dr. Powers not only served as examining physician, but was one of several called to the front for special duty in the hospitals at Fredericksburg following the bloody Wilderness campaign of 1864. He died at a comparatively early age, in 1867, leaving one son, Horace Henry, to carry on and add honor to the family name.
The first physician to locate at Morrisville was Dr. Robert Gleason, who came from Claremont, N. H., in 1822, and was here about three years. He was followed by Dr. D. W. Putnam of Montpelier, who, for a half century, was a well known figure in town and died in 1879.
Dr. Almerion Tinker, youngest brother of Dr. James Tinker, began to practice in Johnson, to which place he came about 1830. After a few years he moved to Mor- risville, where he continued to live until his death, in 1880. He was not engaged in active practice the latter part of his life, but held many town and county offices.
One of the most typical doctors of the old school was Dr. E. J. Hall, who for more than thirty years traversed the hills and valleys of this and neighboring towns in all kinds of weather and over all kinds of roads. He and the roan mare which he drove in later years were familiar and beloved figures.
Dr. Elmore John Hall was born in Beansville, Ontario, on February 28, 1834, a son of the Rev. J. P. Hall. When he was six years of age, his family moved to Waterbury, Vt., where they lived for six years, and then came to Mor- ristown. He was educated at Peoples Academy and in Castleton and taught school here and in other towns. Having made up his mind to follow the profession of medicine, he studied with Dr. Horace Powers, and was graduated from the Medical College at Burlington. Later he took post-graduate courses at Burlington and New York.
Having completed his studies, he married Miss Ophelia Titus of Wolcott and began practice at Waterbury Center. He soon moved to Highgate, where he remained until August, 1862, when he enlisted as private in Company L, First Vermont Cavalry, and was promoted to the rank of assistant surgeon within a few months. In 1866 he de-
cided to move to Morrisville and from that date until one week before his death, on May 1, 1897, he gave himself unsparingly to the demands of his calling.
Aside from his professional work he was influential in the life of the town. He served as village trustee, was
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for many years a trustee of Peoples Academy, acted as United States pension examiner for more than twenty years, and was an influential member of the Congrega- tional Church. In 1890 he entered into partnership with Arthur L. Cheney, having bought out the Woodward drug store, and took the initiative in building the three-story Centennial block in the corner store of which the drug business was located. He was survived by his wife, who died in 1929, and an adopted daughter, A. Belle Hall Donaldson, a talented musician, who passed on in 1927. No one carries on his name, but his influence upon the town will long be felt.
Another physician who for a generation ministered to the sick and afflicted of this locality was Dr. Charles C. Rublee, who was born in Montpelier in 1852, the son of Dr. Chauncey M. Rublee of that city. His mother was the daughter of Dr. Charles Clark, a veteran physician, of Montpelier, and his paternal grandfather was a doctor, so it was a matter of both inheritance and training that he should follow medicine as his life work.
Dr. Rublee was educated in the public schools of Mont- pelier and at Barre Academy when Jacob Spaulding was its head. He attended Dartmouth College one year, but in 1869 he began the study of medicine in the office of Dr. J. E. Macomber of Montpelier. He also attended medical lectures at Harvard and at Burlington, and in 1873 was graduated from the College of Physicians and Sur- geons of New York City. While at Burlington and in New York, he acted as assistant to Benjamin Howard, professor of surgery. When it came time for him to settle, he de- cided upon the small town rather than the city and cast his lot in Morristown, where he spent the remainder of his life, with the exception of a year in Montpelier and six months in the West. In 1873 he married Miss Kate Spicer of Waterbury, who died in 1897, leaving four chil- dren, Sarah J., who married Fred M. Pike of Stowe and is now deceased; Edna S., wife of Walter M. Sargent of Morrisville; Emily, who married Bloomfield Palmer of St. Johnsbury; and George, who is a successful doctor in Rochester, N. H. In 1898 he married Miss Lou Mooney of Burlington, who survives him.
In addition to his regular practice Dr. Rublee served as health officer several years, was for eight years chair- man of the Board of Pension Examiners, and at the time
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of his death was president of the Lamoille County Medical Association. He was a man of fine physique and seemed to radiate health as he entered a sick room. At the time of his death in 1905 he was the senior doctor in town and a generation who had grown up under his care regarded him as a personal friend.
Dr. Thomas J. Holbrook, although he did not practice in town so long as the others mentioned, was one of the old type of family physicians who made a large place for themselves in the life of a community. He was born in Hyde Park in 1835 and was graduated from the Medical College at Burlington, Vt. During the Civil War and be- fore he received his degree of M. D., he was a hospital steward. In the Seven Days' campaign before Richmond he received injuries, from which he never fully recovered. Upon his return from the Civil War he settled in Wolcott. but in the fall of 1890 he moved to Morrisville, where he practiced until his death, in 1899.
Dr. William Taft Slayton will be remembered not simply for his professional work, but because he was an active force in town affairs for many years. He was born in Elmore, Vt., in 1870, the son of Capt. Aro and Lucy Slayton. He was graduated from the Laconia, N. H., High School and received his medical degree from the University of Maryland in 1894. He did post-graduate work at Har- vard Medical College the year following while maintaining an office in Boston and served his internship at Guy's Hos- pital, London. Upon his return, in 1896. he settled in Hyde Park, but soon afterwards moved to Morrisville.
Dr. Slayton was an enthusiastic supporter of the de- velopment of the electric power in town and after the con- struction of the municipal dam at Cadys Falls in 1907 and the subsequent formation of Lake Lamoille, he conceived the idea of developing a summer resort on the new lake. The shores were improved and on the western side he built twenty charming cottages, together with a central dining hall, a club house. etc. He succeeded in attracting a fine type of summer residents. The first cottage was rented to Prof. Durant Drake of Vassar College, while W. J. Hen- derson of New York. dramatic and musical critic: Dr. Wi !- liam Hanna Thomson, physician and author ; Prof. T. Leslie Shear, lecturer on art and archaeology at Princeton Univer- sity : Dr. David G. Downey, general editor of the Abingdon Press: Dr. Frederick Whiting. New York surgeon. and
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others well known in their spheres have been connected with the colony.
During the World War Dr. Slayton volunteered for medical service and was stationed at Camp Meade, Md., with the rank of captain. In 1918 he was elected repre- sentative to the General Assembly and four years later he was senator from Lamoille County. While representative, he introduced an important health measure which divided the state into ten health districts, each in charge of a whole time health officer. The measure passed and made Ver- mont the first state in the Union to be entirely covered by trained health officers. From a professional point of view this was a distinct advance, but it proved to be somewhat more expensive than the old method, and after four years the appropriation for carrying out the provisions was re- fused. Dr. Slayton remained a member of the State Board of Health until his resignation in 1923, when he went to Miami, Florida, and became interested in the de- velopment of the city and made it his winter home until his death.
Dr. George E. Woodward was a well known figure for many years. He was born in Danville, Vt., in 1853, and was a graduate of Boston University, receiving his degree as a homeopathic physician. He came to Morrisville in 1874, and, at the time of his death, in 1907, he had prac- ticed here longer than any other doctor in the county had been working in one town. For several years he was also engaged in the drug business, but in 1890 he sold that to Hall & Cheney. The fact that for years he was the only homeopathic physician in a considerable district extended the circle of his practice.
Dr. Charles W. Bates was born in Colchester, Vt., although his parents moved to Morristown when he was a youth. He was a graduate of Rush Medical College in the class of 1881 and after completing his studies settled in Wolcott, Vt., but moved to Illinois in 1891. After nine years in the Middle West he returned to Vermont, locating in Hardwick. He remained there until 1905, when he came to Morrisville, where he was in active practice until his death, in 1919.
PRESENT PHYSICIANS
At present there are six doctors in town, of whom the dean in point of service here is George L. Bates, who is a native of Morristown and a graduate of the Medical College
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of the University of Vermont in the class of 1897. He began to practice in Morrisville that year and has been here since with the exception of the years from 1925 to 1929, which were spent in Florida, and one year in the late war. At the outbreak of the World War he volunteered and was called to service in the Medical Corps in August, 1917. He was stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, and Camp Grant, Illinois. In August, 1918, he was sent over- seas, where he remained until the following June when he was discharged with the rank of major and resumed his practice in Morrisville.
Dr. William M. Johnstone was born in Thompsonville, Conn., and was a graduate of the Medical College of the University of Vermont in 1906 and began to practice in town the year following. Since that time he has served his profession and the community in various ways. He has been secretary of the Lamoille County Medical Society for twenty-five years and secretary of the staff of Copley Hospital since it was opened; he was health officer for several years, village trustee five years, and was president of the Vermont State Medical Society in 1931-1932.
Dr. Archibald J. Valleau was born in Selby, Lennox County, Ontario, and was graduated from Queen's Medical College at Kingston, Ontario; in 1890, and from the Ontario Medical Council the year following. He special- ized in diseases of the eye, ear, and throat; and his study abroad was along those lines. He came to Morrisville in 1908 after some years of practice in Wolcott, Vt.
Dr. Anthony M. Goddard is a native of St. Armand, Quebec, and a graduate of the Medical College of the University of Vermont in the class of 1897. Two sons, Glendon and Philip, have also received the degree of M. D. from there, Philip being the fifth of the family to be graduated from that institution. Dr. Goddard began practice at Albany, Vt., but moved to Morrisville in 1918.
Dr. Philip Goddard, after completing his internship, spent several months studying in Vienna and in the autumn of 1934 returned to Morrisville to take up his profession, having specialized in surgery.
Dr. Seth H. Martin is a native of Alburgh, Vt., and was educated at the University of Minnesota and the University of Maryland, and studied in Vienna in 1927- 1928. He specialized in genito-urinary surgery and urology and has been on the staff of the Mary Fletcher
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Hospital in Burlington for several years and lecturer on those subjects at the Medical College of the University of Vermont. He joined the staff of the Copley Hospital in 1932 and came to Morrisville to reside in 1934.
COPLEY HOSPITAL
The agitation for a hospital in Morristown began as early as 1908 when the local newspapers contained com- munications from the doctors pointing out the advantages of such an institution and suggesting ways by which it might be financed. There was considerable interest shown and a Hospital Association was formed to promote the project. The Woman's Club conducted a Tag Day for its benefit and some money was raised in different ways, but the amount secured was not sufficient to warrant pushing the enterprise and it was dropped.
When Mr. Alexander H. Copley first thought of remembering his native town by large benefactions, he intended to erect a hospital on the plateau east of the village which he had owned for some years. £
When he investigated the expense of maintaining such a build- ing as he proposed to construct, and discovered the need for a new high school, he abandoned his first plan and gave instead the beautiful edifice which now dominates that part of the village. However, the thought of a hospital was not entirely forgotten. Learning there was still interest in the project and that the Wheelock place had possibilities of development, he finally bought that prop- erty. Located on a plateau southeast of the village, it contains about fifteen acres and is ideally situated for such an institution. The house, built by Mr. A. P. Wheelock of Dorchester, Mass., as a summer home and later occupied as a permanent residence, was well adapted to the uses of a hospital. Near the house was a large barn which was moved up and connected by a passage way with the house.
The work of reconstructing and equipping the build- ing was completed so that on September 26 and 27, 1932, the building was open for inspection and nearly 1,200 people, not only from Lamoille County, but from outside the state, passed through. On September 28 the Lamoille County Medical Association was host to a large gathering
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COPLEY AVENUE
COPLEY HOSPITAL
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of physicians from all parts of the state. Following the inspection of the hospital, a banquet was served at the Masonic Temple.
When opened, five rooms had been endowed as fol- lows: The Jane M. Copley Room, by the ladies of the Universalist Society, in honor of the donor's mother; the David Randall Room by Mrs. Ellen Child, in memory of her father, a well known physician of Lamoille County ; the Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Hickok Room by these summer residents of Morrisville; the Carrie Powers Room by Miss Powers, and a room by the Morristown Post, No. 33, Ameri- can Legion and Auxiliary.
In 1933 an Auxiliary was organized with committees in the different towns in the county, which carry on an annual drive for members and supplies, and meet to sew as occasion demands. Opened when the depression was at its height, the hospital exceeded the expectations of its friends by the way in which it met its financial and work- ing problems, and it soon won for itself a large place in the life of the county. Increased space became necessary in 1934 and was secured by further donations from Mr. Copley. No small part of its success was due to the efforts of Mr. C. H. A. Stafford, who had charge of the remodelling and equipping, and to its first superintendent, Mrs. Vivian Greene Isham.
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CHAPTER XII
CELEBRATIONS, GRAVE AND GAY
W E are apt to think of the lives of our forefathers
who lived before the days of the automobile, the motion picture, and the radio as dreary and colorless; but it is probable that we have entirely over-estimated. the dullness of that period. While no ceaseless round of social engagements claimed their strength and time, they often came together for work and recreation. The old- time quilting party, singing school, husking bee and apple parings have been celebrated in song and story and no doubt did much to relieve the monotony of life. No small part of their pleasure in the religious services was due to the social contacts which they offered, and other occasions were also seized as opportunities for merry making.
One of the annual events looked forward to by young and old alike was the Lamoille County Fair. Its early history has to be gathered for the most part from news- papers. From that source we learn that the officers and board of managers met to select not only the time, but also the place of the gathering and reports are extant of fairs held in Johnson, Hyde Park, and Elmore, as well as Morristown. Doubtless other towns of the county were included as well.
The fairs of that early period were devoted solely to the interests of the farmers and artisans of the district. The exhibits were held in the town hall or other public buildings, the cattle were hitched beside the road, and the racing, which was purely local in character, was held in the main street of the village. The "American Observer" of September 22, 1853, contained the following editorial: "We are anxious to see 'Spunky Lamoille' en masse at Johnson next Wednesday to take part in as well as to see the exhibition. It will be recollected that the Seventh Annual Exhibition and Fair of the Lamoille County Agri- cultural Society takes place at Johnson on the 28th inst. Let it be recollected that the best way that our County can be made still more prosperous is to take hold individ- ually and collectively and sustain our Agricultural Society and it will certainly Sustain Us. Suppose We dont all get
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a Premium. Are we too small souled to give the paltry sum of fifty cents (the price of membership) to an institu- tion whose only aim is to increase, improve, and beautify all that pertains to our industrious and thriving popula- tion? Who believes it? We wont anyway."
If these gatherings were held each year, this would indicate that as early as 1847 the movement began when the county was only a lusty youngster. Perhaps the exhortation quoted might have produced results had not the weather man taken a hand in the affair. The "Ameri- can Observer" of September 29, 1853, contains the follow- ing account of the event:
"About dark on Tuesday night it commenced to rain and continued almost without intermission until sometime Wednesday night after the Fair. Rain and mud were more plentiful than specimens of industry or spectators ; but considering the disadvantages labored under, it was the most promising Fair ever held by the Society. There was a large number of excellent cattle and the best apples, or as good as can be found in or out of Vermont. Not- withstanding. the weather five hundred people were in attendance, one third of whom were females. The female department contained but few articles but those presented were very creditable to their fair manufacturers -some very well executed drawings, specimens of mil- linery, bed quilts and spreads and a rug, all as good as if made in Paris. Mr. J. L. Whittier's gloves were as good as the best. Some brass fastened rakes-an improvement. Nice onions, watermelons, and pumpkins and a large crookneck squash were presented. We shall publish the premiums soon."
Heminway's "Gazeteer" gives no date for the organi- zation of the society, but states that interest in it had almost died out so that in 1862 Elmore was the only town that still clung to the custom of exhibiting its products at a fair. Later Morristown joined with Elmore, and we find the Morristown and Elmore Agricultural Society and Farmers' Club holding its Sixth Annual Fair on the grounds at Morrisville on September 20 and 21, 1865, showing that the war had not entirely absorbed the strength and energy of the people. It is an interesting side light on changing agricultural conditions to note that on this occasion there were forty-eight yoke of oxen on exhibition.
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The advantages of a race track and distinct place of meeting had become apparent by this time and the level plateau east of Maple Street, owned by J. C. Noyes and still known locally as the "Old Fairground," became the regular place of meeting from 1865 on. Here a race track was laid out, a hall for exhibits was built and everything necessary for staging a real fair was provided. The management was reorganized and here was held on Sep- tember 25 and 26, 1866, what was proudly announced as the First Fair under the direction of the following officers: .
President, Hon. John West of Morristown; Vice-President, Edmund Phelps of Morristown; Recording Secretary, J. W. Bryant of Elmore; Corresponding Secretary, H. D. Bryant of Morristown; Treasurer, H. S. Kelsey of Morristown; Marshal, G. W. Doty of Morristown.
An address formed one of the main features of these early fairs, and on this occasion the Hon. H. H. Powers was the orator of the day. Following are some of the regulations which governed the organization:
"All members of the Society and all who become such by the payment of one dollar have certificates of member- ship which admit family to the grounds.
"Tickets to single persons are .10 only.
"A purse of $50 open to all for the best trotting horse three to enter and two to start and a second purse of $20. All competitors pay entrance fee of 10% of the purse con- tested for."
There was a long list of premiums on cattle, horses, sheep, butter, fruit, vegetables, grain, mechanical devices and on articles in the woman's department.
The fair of 1866 was marred by what is probably the only fatality in the history of the organization. £ At that time John B. Seaver of Stowe, a well known resident of that town, who married the sister of the Hon. George Wil- kins, was thrown from his sulky while driving a trotting horse on the track and struck the wooden instrument used in smoothing the track and was fatally injured.
The high spot in the history of the old fair ground was undoubtedly reached in 1869 when Horace Greeley, one of the well known figures in American life, soon to be a candidate for the presidency, was secured as the orator of the day. The "Lamoille Newsdealer" of September 28, 1869, gives the following account of his visit:
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"Mr. Greeley arrived about eleven o'clock on Friday and after an hour's rest, dined in company with the officers of the fair and a few invited guests at the Morrisville House after which he was taken to the Fair Grounds in a large wagon drawn by thirty yoke of fine oxen. The wagon also contained the officers and invited guests and the Morrisville Cornet Band. The oxen seemed inspired by the occasion and the music and took a lively pace for oxen, and the novel train made the circuit of the ground in order that all might witness the spectacle." Mr. Greeley then delivered an excellent address along agricultural lines for the edification of his large audience. Many white haired men and women remember the day when Horace Greeley, drawn by thirty yoke of oxen, came to the fair.
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