USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Morristown > History of Morristown, Vermont > Part 25
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One of his marked traits was his independence of thought and action. The fear that he might be on the unpopular side of a question never deterred him from espousing the cause in which he believed. This was true in politics as in other things, but never seemed to diminish the votes he received at election time.
A conservative in politics, he was a liberal in his religious views and a staunch friend of the local Univer- salist Church, yet this did not prevent his being interested in the building of the Catholic Church, and the priest who had that in charge testified to his council and help. In fact, he was concerned with anything that affected his native town, with whose history he made himself familiar and much of which he preserved. During the last few years of his life he was a familiar and striking figure about the village, and after his death, on December 8, 1913, his townsmen missed one who, in his home, in his state, and in the nation had been an honor to himself and to his community.
LESLIE MORTIER SHAW
Although Morristown can claim little part in shaping the career of Leslie M. Shaw, she has always been proud of the fact that his birthplace was within her borders. In a log cabin on a hillside farm in the western part of the town, on a road now abandoned, he was born on November 2, 1848. His parents, Boardman O. and Louisa Spaulding Shaw, were of that sturdy, sterling stock that made New England and contributed largely to the shaping of the Middle West. When Leslie was but a boy, the family moved to another farm in Stowe, and so thrifty and industrious were they that later his father retired to Mor- risville in comfortable financial circumstances. It was at Peoples Academy that he got his education. His own mother died in 1865, and two years later his father married
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Susan A. Mason of Morristown, for whom the stepson cherished a strong affection. Upon attaining his majority young Shaw looked about for the best place in which to begin his life work and chose the promising young state of Iowa, settling in Denison. Realizing the importance of a college education, in 1870 he entered Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa, from which he was graduated four years later. He decided to enter the legal profession. and for two years was a student in the Iowa Law School at Des Moines, Iowa. After receiving his diploma, he was admitted to the Iowa Bar and opened his office at Deni- son. He soon became interested in the banks of Denison, Manilla, and Charter Oak, and later was chosen president of the first two. Because of this connection, he began to make a careful study of the whole question of finance. Thus when the free silver movement swept the Middle West, he was one of the few men who had thoroughly investigated the question. His study led him to align himself with the gold standard forces, and in 1896 he stumped the state of Iowa for McKinley and his forceful, persuasive arguments for the gold standard attracted the attention not only of his adopted state, but of the nation. The following year he was elected governor of Iowa, in which office he served two terms. His election as perma- nent chairman of the Monetary Congress at Indianapolis in 1898 gave him still more prominence in financial circles. So it was but natural that Theodore Roosevelt, who had heard him speak during the free silver campaign. should call him to be secretary of the treasury, where he served until 1907. Some time after his retirement from this position, business reverses led him in his later years to write and lecture, and for a time he traveled over the coun- try as a lecturer for the American Bankers' Association.
He was a man of varied interests, among which were education and religion. He was responsible for and con- tributed freely to the establishment of a Normal School at Denison and was for a time its president. He was also a generous supporter and trustee of his alma mater, Cornell College. Brought up in the Methodist faith, Mr. Shaw never departed from it and four times he represented the Des Moines Conference in the Quadrennial General Conference of the denomination. He was a man with a keen sense of humor. strong convictions, and deep loyal- ties, and at his death, in 1981. he received from the press of the country high commendation for his life and work.
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FREDERICK GLEED FLEETWOOD
The third man whom Morristown sent to represent the First District at Washington was Frederick G. Fleet- wood, a native of St. Johnsbury, who came to make this town his home when his mother married Philip K. Gleed. He received his secondary school education at St. Johns- bury Academy, studied at the University of Vermont and was graduated from Harvard in the class of 1891. Having decided upon the law as his life work, he began to read in the office of his stepfather, Mr. Gleed, and was admitted to the Lamoille County Bar in 1894 and the year following entered into partnership with Mr. Gleed.
He passed through the different. local offices which the political aspirant naturally fills. He was secretary of the Commission for the Revision of the Vermont Statutes in 1893 and 1894, town clerk from 1896 to 1900, state's attorney from 1896 to 1898, represented the town at Mont- pelier in 1900 and that same year was chosen presidential elector, being the one selected to take the official vote of the state to Washington. From 1902 to 1908 he was secretary of state, and again in 1917 he filled out the term of Guy W. Bailey, when the latter was elected president of the University of Vermont.
During these years Mr. Fleetwood had become well and favorably known in all parts of the state. He was in demand as a public speaker not only within the state, but well beyond its borders, so that it was only natural that when Porter H. Dale was promoted from the House of Representatives to the Senate, Mr. Fleetwood should be a candidate for the position of representative and be elected. He knew the routine work of his office as he had acted as secretary for Congressman H. H. Powers in 1894. Soon after going to Washington, he was struck by a truck, an accident which incapacitated him for some time. After his recovery he performed his duties ably and conscien- tiously, serving upon the committee on public lands and the committee on insular affairs. At the end of his term he refused to be a candidate for re-election and returned to resume the practice of law in Morrisville.
No better illustration of his standing in the com- munity can be given than the following incident : In 1910 he was a candidate for the office of governor. He was late in entering the contest, to the practical politician he
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was too much of a "scholar in politics," and he was defeated by John J. Mead. £ On the evening after the con- vention a large number of the residents of the village and town turned out to greet Mr. Fleetwood at his Park Street residence. Victorious candidates are often treated thus, but not often is the defeated one the recipient of such a spontaneous expression of the affection in which he is held by his fellow townsmen.
Mr. Fleetwood is a student of world affairs and finds his greatest pleasure at home in his large library. In 1928 he married Miss R. Louise Slocum of this town, thus making the Gleed house once more the center of hospitality.
GEORGE MCLELLAN POWERS
Among the many different lawyers who have studied or practiced here, the one most highly honored by the state is George M. Powers, who has for several years served in the highest judicial position in the state, that of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.
George M. Powers was born on December 19, 1861, the son of H. Henry and Caroline (Waterman) Powers. The year following the family moved to Morrisville, where the son received his education in the graded school and at Peoples Academy. He was graduated from the Univer- sity of Vermont in the class of '83, and at once took up the study of law in the office of P. K. Gleed. He was admitted to the Lamoille County Bar in 1886 and entered into partnership with Hollis S. Wilson, former principal of Peoples Academy. He served his apprenticeship at Montpelier in various positions which made him thoroughly familiar with laws and the methods by which they are made. He was assistant clerk from 1884 to 1888 and secretary of the Senate for the six years following. He was reporter of the decisions of the Supreme Court from 1902 to 1904, when he was appointed associate judge of the Supreme Court, succeeding Judge Wendell P. Stafford. who resigned. Thus at the early age of forty-three he began his judicial career.
In 1906, when a reorganization of the judicial depart- ment was made, the number of the Supreme Court was reduced to four and he was elected a judge of the Superior Court, but in 1909 he again became an associate judge of the Supreme Court. It had been customary to apply
CHIEF JUSTICE GEORGE M. POWERS
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the seniority rule in the advancement of judges, but when Chief Justice John W. Rowell retired in 1915, Judge Powers, though one of the younger men, was made chief justice, a position which he held until February 1, 1915. The Legislature of that year restored the succession and he was elected an associate justice of the court, and con- tinued in that position until December 14, 1929, when, upon the death of Chief Justice John H. Watson, he again became chief justice, which office he has filled to his own credit and to the satisfaction of the state.
Although Chief Justice Powers' name has often been mentioned in connection with the office of United States representative and senator, he has not seemed inclined. to follow in the steps of his father and give up his judicial career for political honors.
In 1893 he married Gertrude Woodbury of Burlington and to this union were born four children: Horace Henry, who is an attorney in St. Albans, Vt .; Dorothy, who mar- ried Warren L. Peck of St. Johnsbury, Vt .; Elizabeth, who is the wife of Donald Cockcroft of Albany, N. Y .; and Roberta, who, after graduation from the University of Ver- mont, did post-graduate work at Simmons College, and now holds an important secretarial position.
Chief Justice Powers has always been a loyal son of Morristown and keenly interested in its welfare. He has been one of the water and light commissioners since the inception of that department, and has held various town offices. Keenness of mind and wit, eloquence, dignity, conservatism, and integrity-all these and many other qualities-are a part of the composite picture of this well known son of Morristown.
CHAPTER XIX MISCELLANY
THE FLOOD
T HE great flood of November 3 and 4, 1927, which will always be a mile-stone in the history of the Green Mountain State, did not take any toll of life in Morris- town, but left scars which can never be effaced. While it was the most disastrous occurrence of this kind in the state, it seems it was not the only one. In September, 1828, the Lamoille Valley, in common with other sections of the state, suffered from a severe freshet which did much damage to the intervales, the roads, and bridges. In Mor- risville, Mr. David Noyes was one of the greatest sufferers as his carding mill and clothing mill, situated above the present power house, were carried off, and Mr. Seth Bagley was swept away in the clothing mill. His remains were found three days later on what was known as Joe's Island, a short distance below the falls.
About forty years later another period of high water affected the town, and a special town meeting was called on January 4, 1870, to vote a tax to pay the extra expense of repairs on highways and bridges damaged by the flood ; and, at the regular March meeting following, six men who suffered loss either had their taxes abated or were given orders by the selectmen toward the same.
Spring freshets often did damage, but it remained for the flood of 1927 to set the highwater mark in a very literal way. It began to rain in Morristown about nine o'clock in the evening of November 2 and continued with more or less intensity for forty hours. According to unofficial records seven and three-fourths inches fell upon ground already filled by copious autumns storms. The climax was reached about midnight of November 3 when there seemed to be a prolonged and continuous cloud burst. The water was then running over the floor of the iron bridge below the railroad track and four feet of water flowed over the wing wall of the new dam which had a cement core banked with earth. Unable to withstand the terrific pressure it gave way, thus doubtless saving from
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destruction the new power plant. 3 According to the report of the consulting engineer of the committee appointed by the Legislature to recommend flood control methods, the flood flow per second of the Lamoille at Cadys Falls was 36,600 cubic feet. The night of November 3 will never be forgotten by residents of the town. The electric light plant was disabled early in the evening so the village was in inky darkness. About eight o'clock the fire alarm sounded, calling for helpers; and out into the storm went every able bodied man on some kind of rescue work, either attempting to save Ward's mill, which was threatened, moving goods from houses which were doomed, acting as guard at various strategic points, working to save the electric station, or in some other activity.
When the residents were able to take account of stock, they found six dwelling houses had been swept away and two more undermined so that they were carried off later; the foundry, Morse's mill, and the tannery had been flooded and the latter almost completely wrecked; the Tenney bridge, the bridge across the Lamoille at Cadys Falls, the one across Ryder Brook on the Stowe Road and most of the smaller bridges and culverts all over town were gone. But most spectacular of all was the great gorge cut by the river south of Bridge Street from the north end of the new dam through the pasture and Clark Park, a chasm from forty to sixty feet deep and fifteen to eighteen hun- dred feet wide where the soil was completely eroded, leaving only huge boulders and debris.
The report sent to the Vermont Flood Survey esti- mated the losses to private property in Morrisville at $23,200, to municipal property $15,000, to manufacturing plants $75,000, and to bridges and highways $150,000. This does not include losses to farmers from erosion, flooded areas, etc.
One of the most thrilling features of the disaster was the rescue of twenty-seven people who were marooned on the island resulting from the new channel of the river. A rope was stretched across the chasm from tree to tree, and the refugees were brought to safety in a breeches buoy.
One of the landmarks swept away was the Tenney bridge which, the day after the deluge, rested on the meadow north of Park Street. In 1830 there was the following article in the warning for town meeting, "to see if the town will build a bridge across the Lamoille near
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Colonel Tenney's to accommodate the road leading from said Tenney's to Safford's mills, if thought best." The article was dismissed and the proposal was voted down again at a special town meeting called in 1831, but on October 5, 1831, after a public hearing at Truman Ten- ney's, the road commissioners ordered the building of this bridge at a cost of $400, and the construction of a road from this bridge to intersect the road leading from Morris- town through Elmore to Montpelier; and on January 5, 1833, the town so voted. The Cadys Falls structure was nearly as old, having been built about 1834 or 1835 with the surplus money deposited by the United States govern- ment with the several states in Andrew Jackson's admin- istration. This bridge did away with the necessity of fording the stream at a point a little below the site selected for the bridge, which had previously been the custom.
The most serious blow that threatened the town as a result of the flood was the loss of the railroad, the story of the damage and rehabilitation of which is told elsewhere.
But the flood had its bright side as well, and the spirit of real self-sacrifice with which the citizens aided their more unfortunate friends in Waterbury and Johnson, the alacrity with which the Red Cross shouldered its burden of caring for the homeless here and elsewhere, and the cheerfulness with which all met the deprivations caused by their isolated condition was heartening.
CEMETERIES
Soon after the settlement of the town there came of necessity the sad task of planning for a cemetery or bury- ing ground, as our forefathers termed it. Often in those early days it was the custom to lay the loved ones away on the home place, and doubtless more than one such grave is now unknown and unmarked. Sometimes these private grounds were discontinued and the occupants removed to other cemeteries. For example, the Boardmans at Cadys Falls had their own private place of interment near the Page hide house. When the railroad was surveyed and found to pass through this section, removal was made to Morrisville.
Eight cemeteries have been established as follows: Pleasant View and Riverside at Morrisville, the Wheeler southeast of Morrisville near the farm formerly owned by
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Luman Wheeler, Mountain View at the Corners, Green- lawn on the Plains, Lake View at Cadys Falls and LaPorte and Randolph on these roads. A visit to anyone of them arouses admiration for the good judgment and taste shown by the early settlers in selecting such beautiful locations. One is bound to say with the poet
I like that ancient Saxon phrase which calls The burial-ground God's Acre: it is just. It consecrates each grave within its walls And breathes a benison o'er the sleeping dust.
As one stands in these cemeteries and lifts his eyes to Elmore Mountain or to more remote Sterling and Mans- field, or follows the windings of the Lamoille, in whatever direction he looks, beauty greets him and he feels such a name as God's Acre is not only "just" but fitting.
In June, 1809, Nathaniel Morse deeded "to the inhabitants of Morristown a part of Lot No. 4 in the second division lying on road that leads from Four Corners · to Elmore." It must be remembered that the first road from the Four Corners to Elmore ran across the flat past the house occupied in 1935 by R. H. Farr, and then followed very nearly the line of the George Washington Highway past the Copley Hospital, the B. L. Stewart farm, etc. This cemetery was once known as the Burnt Ground Cemetery, and here as early as 1810 Daniel Sumner, the first man in town to die of the dreaded disease, smallpox, was interred. Here rest Nathan Gates, Jr., and his family, many of the Brighams, the Earles, and the Revolutionary soldier, Josiah Roberts.
No deed of the transfer of land for a cemetery at Mor- ristown Corners has been found, but a study of the names and dates of the stones indicates that it was probably the second to be occupied. Here one sees many of the names connected with town beginnings, including Jacob Walker, the first settler, and his family; Comfort Olds, who first wintered in town; the Hurds; the Roods; and the Revolu- tionary soldiers, John Cole, Samuel Cooke, Crispus Shaw, and Moses Weld. In 1919 this cemetery was enlarged by the purchase of adjacent land.
Greenlawn on the Plains is the smallest of the group and at first seems to be almost a family plot, for here lie Eliphalet Whitney, his wife, and relatives, including the
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large families of his sons-in-law, Ebenezer Shaw and Seth Haskins. Other familiar names are the Metcalfs, Kim- balls and Wheelers.
Not long after the first settlement on the Randolph Road, that burial ground began to be occupied. Here may be found the lot containing Elisha Herrick, Esq .; the Revolutionary soldiers Barzillai Spaulding and William Small, with five later generations of Smalls; Laura Kibbey, wife of one of the first settlers in that district, and others.
In April, 1833, Polly Poor, in consideration of $16 paid her by the inhabitants of Middle School District No. 10 of Morristown, deeded to the town one-half acre of land for a cemetery. Here were interred some of the Web- sters, the Rands, Deacon Jonathan Powers and others whose names are associated with the opening of this part of the town.
In 1838 land was purchased from the original Gates farm at Cadys Falls for Lake View Cemetery, which was enlarged and improved in 1894. Here are buried the Revolutionary veteran, Lieut. Nathan Gates; the Towns, the Watermans, some of the Boardmans, and others who were pioneers at Cadys Falls.
At the town meeting of 1846 it was voted "to pur- chase three-fourths of an acre of land of Jedediah Safford for a Public Burying Ground" at Morrisville. This orig- inal plot was added to as long as space permitted and here lie the Saffords, including the Revolutionary soldier, Joseph Safford, Judge Samuel Willard, the Felchers and many others who are gratefully remembered for their services to the town.
When this cemetery became so crowded that other accommodations had to be provided, the town bought the plateau south of the village in 1892 which they appro- priately designated Pleasant View Cemetery. In 1894 a board of Cemetery Commissioners, consisting of G. W. Doty, C. H. Slocum, G. M. Powers, E. J. Hall and G. W. Clark, were elected. Although no funds were appro- priated, yet from the sale of lots, they raised money with which they built a receiving vault, and hired an engineer to lay out roads, walks, and lots to the number of 2,600; and began to beautify the grounds. In 1916 it was thought best to enlarge this by the purchase of additional land to the east.
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Beautiful as the natural setting of these cemeteries is, they would doubtless have been as unkempt and neglected as many country yards are, had it not been for the efforts of two associations, the Morristown Cemetery Association, organized in 1907, and the Pleasant View Cemetery Association, in 1915. Before then a few
individuals cared for their lots. At Morrisville this was quite customary, but outside the village the grass was mowed only at haying time, grave stones had fallen and there was a general air of neglect. With the establish- ment of these two associations, a transformation took place. The grounds were put into shape so they could be well cared for, fences were rebuilt, sunken graves filled and stones cleaned and repaired. Now the visitor to any cemetery in town will find it neat and well tended. This has been accomplished through the work of the women who have taken the lead and secured the cooperation of the parties directly concerned. Many lots have been endowed, thus ensuring perpetual care.
STRANGE CUSTOMS
A study of the uninviting looking town records brings to light many strange customs which prevailed among these early settlers. In the first recorded town meetings one notes the election of tithing men, haywards and hogreeves. The tithing men were to maintain suitable decorum in church and one can in imagination see them keeping a watchful eye upon active youths and somnolent adults at the old brick church.
Haywards were men appointed to watch over the growing hay and to see that it suffered no damage from wandering animals. They were paid according to the number of sheep, cows, or horses that they turned out of any field, the owner of the animals being responsible for the fine.
It was the duty of the hogreeves to catch and put in the pound swine found running at large and tradition says the office was usually given to someone who had married since the last March meeting. These officers seem to have been discontinued after 1840.
Judging from the records this matter of the care of stock gave considerable trouble, for in 1816 it was voted that any ram found running at large between September
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1 and December 1 should be forfeit to the person finding. Cattle were branded or marked for purposes of identifica- tion. Jedediah Safford's mark for cattle and sheep was, "a half penny crop out of upper side of the right ear." In 1868 it was voted that every man's yard be a pound and every man who had a barn be a pound keeper.
In 1813 this entry was made: "To Abner Brigham, 1st Constable of Morristown Greeting :- You are hereby required to summon Nehemiah Randall and family now residing in Morristown to depart the same. Fail not and due return make according to law." This leads one to expect that he has come upon evidence of some undesir- able family and the proof of the zeal of the early citizens in ridding the town of such. It is surprising to learn that it was a curious custom in this period of New Eng- land's development to warn out every newcomer to a town on the assumption that he might sometime become a town charge. By serving this process our thrifty forebears relieved the town from any subsequent obligation to sup- port him; and such a warning carried no reflection upon the wealth, position, or character of the family.
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