USA > Vermont > Lamoille County > Morristown > History of Morristown, Vermont > Part 7
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Mr. Gates operated his saw mill until 1830 when he sold it, together with the water power, to Elisha Cady of Stowe, from whom the village was named. Mr. Cady built a new saw mill and a grist mill containing three runs of stone which served the citizens of the town for years. After Mr. Cady's death the property passed in 1881 into the hands of Napoleon Manning, who conducted the busi- ness along the same lines as his predecessor and also manufactured chair stock. Ten years later George Brown bought the property and improved the saw mill by changing the old upright saw, the last one in this section, to a circular saw. T. S. Seaver then became the owner of Mr. Brown's interests and they were managed under the name of the Cadys Falls Mill and were enlarged by the addition of a shingle mill. With the construction of the municipal dam the property came into the possession of the Village of Morrisville, and the buildings were torn down.
At an early date a shop for the manufacture of carriages and sleighs was located here, which was managed at one time by Truman Ryder. In later years the products of the Lilley Wagon Co. were well known in this section, but that business was eventually moved to Morrisville.
For a time one of the largest enterprises of the town was situated near Cadys Falls, namely, the hide business of the late United States Senator Carroll S. Page. This industry was started by Mr. Page and his father, R. S. Page, in a small way in Hyde Park village. After the railroad was built, it was moved near the track to be more convenient for shipping and receiving stock. This loca- tion was in Morristown. Because of Mr. Page's business ability the enterprise grew to be one of the largest in green hides and calfskins in the world. He bought and sold in many foreign countries and employed over a hun- dred men. Sheepskins and wool were also handled and bone meal, poultry feed, and fertilizer were by-products of the business. In 1898, when the town line was changed, the district occupied by this plant was given to Hyde Park.
In addition to the business enterprises cited the village was supplied with all the other industries which character- ized that period, blacksmith shops, hotels, etc.
Mention of the hotel calls to mind another family long connected with Cadys Falls, the Towns. Samuel
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Town, Sr., settled on a part of lot number sixty-two, pur- chased of the Boardmans in 1819, and built himself a plank house, one of five such which were constructed here, and for a short time was associated with Mr. Sawyer in the iron business. He raised a family of seven children and his descendants of the sixth generation still live here. One son, Edmund, popularly known as "Mun" to distinguish him from his twin brother, Edwin, built a hotel at an early date. It was a two story building with ell and dance hall in the second story of the ell. Mr. Town managed it during his life time, but after his death it was bought, in 1883, by Fred and Ullie Dow, and has since been used as a dwelling house. Another son, Hiram, was. the father of George Town, who long served the county as Deputy Sheriff and Sheriff, and has left children to carry on the family name and traditions. A daughter, Jennette, married Hiram Kelsey, a well known citizen here for many years. Another daughter, Clarissa, first married Hiram Town of Stowe and later Allen Terrill, and died in 1898 at the ripe age of ninety. Another son, Nehemiah, was the father of Eli and Samuel C., whose son, William, has carried on the occupation of his great-uncle, Roswell, and of his father, that of stone mason.
Another man prominent not only in Cadys Falls but also in a wider field was Vernon W. Waterman, who was born in Johnson, Vt., July 30, 1811, the son of Aurunah and Rebecca (Noyes) Waterman. An an early age he went with his father to Montpelier to live, where he remained until he was nineteen. He then came to Morris- town, and entered the employ of his uncle, David Noyes, who was engaged in the mercantile business. When he became of age, he went into partnership with Mr. Noyes and continued it until eight years later when he went to Cadys Falls and went into the mercantile business for himself, and engaged in other business enterprises. He was active in securing the charter of the Waterbury Bank and upon its organization in 1854 he was one of its directors, a position which he held until the establishment of the Hyde Park Bank, when he resigned to become asso- ciated with that institution.
Mr. Waterman held many public offices, being Town Representative in 1844 and 1845, Assistant Judge two terms, Sheriff for two terms, Court Auditor for nearly thirty years, and a Delegate to the State Constitutional Convention at Montpelier in 1857.
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Through his family his influence was perpetuated as his son, George, was a prominent lawyer in the county for many years, and his daughter, Caroline, became the wife of H. H. Powers.
Another name long associated with Cadys Falls is that of Terrill. Timothy Terrill, born in East Canaan, Conn., came there in 1817 from Fletcher, Vt., with his son, Moses, and settled on the river farm occupied by his descendants for more than a century. Moses soon found his bride here in the person of Matilda Weld, to whom were born three children. After her death he married Minerva Calkins, who bore him seven children. "Uncle Moses," as he was familiarly called, held several town offices and died in 1883.
His son, Moses Weld Terrill, was born in 1826 and in 1849 entered the general mercantile business, but his keen commercial instincts led him to seek a broader field, and in 1861 he moved to Middlefield, Conn., where he became president of a firm making washing machines, wringers, and other laundry utensils. Mr. Terrill was a successful man in the highest and best sense of the word. His daughter, May, returned to her father's native town as the wife of T. C. Cheney ..
Another son, Newton, remained on the home farm and married Mary Cheney. Three of his children became well known educators, Flora being a teacher of German until her retirement to California; Herbert filled responsible educational positions in New England and New York, and Bertha has been head of the Home Economics Department at the University of Vermont for many years. Another son, George, remained on the home farm, filling many important local offices until 1923, when he moved to California.
School District No. 3 was organized in the early days of the village, and the first schoolhouse was not far from the present one, only nearer the road. The earliest records to be found are in 1872 when the officers were: Moderator, David Drown; Clerk, H. J. Town; Collector, S. B. Clark; Treasurer, A. V. Wiswell; Committee, S. C. Town. Article 5 of the warning that year was to see if the district would vote to build a new schoolhouse, but it was passed over. In 1878 a similar motion was carried. and it was voted to build, the cost not to exceed $1.50 on a dollar of the Grand List of that year; one-half to be
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
collected that year, the remainder when the building was completed. When Morristown began to standardize its schools, this was one of the largest in town, and in 1930 the necessary alterations, including better lighting, heat- ing, and toilet facilities were made, and the building received its plate as a superior school that year from the State Department of Education.
Although affected by the hardships due to the Civil War, the people of this locality realized their community life was not complete without a church, and in 1865 and 1866 one was erected at a cost of about $2,000. At first it was used as a union church, and later was taken over by the Spiritualist Society, which occupied it more or less regularly until about 1887. It remained closed for several years, and in 1894 the Cadys Falls Hall Society purchased it and moved it to its present position, where it is used as a public hall.
MORRISVILLE
As the coming of Jacob Walker marked the beginning of settlement in Morristown and the rise of the Center, so the name of John Safford is forever connected with the early history of Morrisville.
He was born in Norwich, Conn., on August 14, 1738, and at the age of twenty-four married Sarah Plumb of Stonington, Conn. From Connecticut the Saffords moved to Windsor, Mass., but in 1796 migrated from there to Morrisville, and were for six years the sole residents of this part of the town. The family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Safford; a son, Jedediah, and three daughters. One daughter, Lydia, married Darius Felcher and died in 1799, her's being the first adult death in town. On Christmas Day, 1803, another daughter, Anna, married Abner Brig- ham and some years later, while mentally deranged, drowned herself. The third daughter, Sabria, married Gardner Clark of Milton, Vt., and the son, Jedediah, chose as his wife Miss Eunice Pratt, who taught the first school in town.
The Saffords were attracted by the water power afforded by the river at what was called the Great Falls, and here, in 1798, they built the first saw mill in town and later, in 1812, the first gristmill. The following descrip- tion of the river taken from Thompson's "Gazeteer" gives a vivid picture of the Falls as they then appeared :
..
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
"The river at this place (the Falls) pours itself into a channel cut directly across the stream twenty feet deep and thirty feet broad. On the west side of this chasm the rocky side rises perpendicularly thirty feet and the beholder standing upon the verge of this precipice, sees the whole volume of the river at his feet plunged into this boiling cauldron, from which it escapes through a channel cut at the south end and immediately spreading itself out, encircles numerous islands, whose high jagged points are covered with a thick growth of cedar and fir and altogether present a scene of grandeur and beauty seldom found surpassed."
No wonder that Indian Joe chose one of these islands for his home and today in spite of all the changes it is still a place of beauty.
John Safford died in 1813, leaving his son, Jedediah, to carry on the business enterprises which they had estab- lished, and these mills were kept in the Safford family for more than a century, for it was not until 1899 that the grist mill was purchased from Hiram Safford by H. A. Slayton.
Others were attracted by the natural advantages of the place and soon there grew up the different kind of industries that characterized the village of that day. A clothing mill was established by David P. Noyes, one of the leading men of the village; a tannery was opened by Calvin Burnett; a cabinet shop by Daniel Gilbert; a general store by Clark Noyes; and a blacksmith shop by William Brockway. Soon a doctor, Robert Gleason, located here, and a lawyer, George Mason, was prepared to settle any legal difficulties; and steps were taken to educate the children. . The first school was held in David Noyes' barn, with Sarah Gates as teacher, while the winter term was housed in more comfortable quarters in Mr. Safford's back kitchen. In the winter of 1822 a small schoolhouse was built on Randolph Street near the site of the house so long occupied by William Howard. This building was after- ward moved up near the building which was the home of Peoples Academy for so long a time and was used as a primary school building.
Another factor contributing to the growth of Morris- ville was the development of the Randolph and LaPorte Districts. The first settlers in the former section were the Smalls, who were not only the first here, but were
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
pioneers in the United States as well. William Small, the progenitor of the family in this country, came to Salem, Mass., on the third trip of the Mayflower, in 1634. Among the household goods which he brought was a comb back chair, which is now in the possession of his descendant, Fred M. Small. More than a century later, a Small fought in King Phillip's War and received in return a grant of land in Amherst, N. H., to which his descendants moved, about 1750. From that town in June, 1811, came William Small, Jr., and a cousin, Levi Secombe, to Morristown, built a house which in 1935 is still standing on the farm owned by his great-grandson, Fred M. Small. In the fall they returned to New Hampshire, but came back in the spring with William's two brothers, George and Luther, built a house, and cleared a few acres of land. The fol- lowing February, 1813, their father, his wife and six children came to take possession of their new home. They exchanged their place in Amherst with Levi Secombe for his lot here, thus adding to their original holdings and forming the fine farms which their descendants have occupied for a century and a quarter.
William Small, the elder, married Patience Lovejoy, granddaughter of the first William Bradford, and perpet- uated her family name in that of his oldest daughter, Patience Lovejoy Small, and another daughter, Nancy Brad- ford Small. The latter, familiarly known as Aunt Nancy, was a well known figure in town, a school teacher, who died in 1894, having lived more than eighty years in the same house. Of William's eight children who came to Morris- town, three of them, William Milo, George, and Sarah, married and settled here. Sarah married Amherst Palmer in 1823 and had four children, two of whom, Luther and Sylvester, were well known residents of the southern part of the town. The latter married Rosepha Cleveland, the granddaughter of Oliver Luce, the first settler in Stowe, Vt.
William Milo Small married as his first wife Loretta Dyke, and as a second, Harriet E. Bennett, and by the latter union had two children, William H., who died unmarried, and Fred Milo, who occupies the home place and has two sons, William D. and Wayne A., to carry on the family name.
The second son of this early settler was Levi S. Small, who married Martha Harris, and left four children,
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Walter, Henry, Frank, and Allen. Two of them, Henry and Allen, are prosperous farmers in "the Small neighborhood."
The only daughter of William Small to grow up . was Viola, who married John M. Campbell and had five children who grew to maturity. Their oldest daughter, Arlie M., became the wife of Harry D. Neuland and they have one son, Paul, and occupy one of the best farms in this Randolph District.
The youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, Hugh, married Mary A. Johnson, and remained in his home neigh- borhood, and has three children, James, Lois and Lucy.
Another son, who came from Amherst, N. H., to help found the new home, was George F. Small, who took as his bride, Orpah Wilkins, from his native town. They had ten children, two of whom were life-long residents of Morristown. George F., married Caroline Keeler and is survived by one son, Albert G., a merchant here for many years, who has two daughters, Dorothy and Barbara. Hiram M. took as his wife Laura Edson, and had one son, Charles, who married Ella Spaulding and still resides here, as does his son, Charles Lyle.
While this settlement was made in the southern part of the town, farther to the north came David Thomas, in 1825 or 1826, and made a beginning on the farm owned in 1935 by Mrs. Stillman Ring. He replaced his first log cabin by the brick house which is still used. As was the custom in those early days, he returned to Tunbridge, Vt., for the winter, but the following spring came with his family. His five children, William, Martha, Almon, Norman, and Henry, were born here, with the exception of the oldest, and resided here as respected citizens through- out their lives. William's son, Don, with his two children, Donald and Maurice, still live here, as does Mrs. Elizabeth Thomas, the widow of Henry, while Henry's son, J. Frank. has but recently moved to the neighboring town of Hyde Park.
At about the same time came James Kibbie, Mr. Thomas' nearest neighbor, and several other settlers, so many of whom were from the town of Randolph, Vt., that they gave that name to the locality.
The LaPorte District was first settled by Stephen Spear, who built his house on the LaPorte Dairy Farm, but later sold to Isaac Allen. This road received its name from
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
the fact that in early days a settler by the name of LaPorte lived there. He was a great wrestler and the neighbors used to speak of going over to LaPorte's for a wrestle and gradually the name became attached to the entire locality. This district was soon occupied by thrifty, prosperous farmers, such as Frederick Powers, John Ferrin, Wingate Webster, George Poor, Moses Weld, Jona- than Cooke, and others. The most convenient trading center for them and for the Randolph District was the hamlet at Morrisville.
In 1840 the mail route which had run from Waterbury to Hyde Park and beyond, via the Four Corners, was changed to pass through Morrisville. So marked was. the trend towards the younger village that in 1840 the Congre- gationalists in building their new church located it at the new metropolis, and the union church of the Methodists and Universalists was also erected there.
Some years previous to this, steps had been taken to define the bounds of Morrisville as the following entry in the Town Records shows:
"Whereas applications in writing has been made to the undersigned selectmen of the town of Morristown in Orleans County, state of Vermont, signed by more than seven freeholders of said town requesting us to lay out and establish bounds and limits to the village near Safford's Mills in said Morristown, we hereby certify that in com- pliance with said application we have layed out and estab- lished limits and bounds to said village as follows: viz. beginning at the bridge below Jedediah Safford's mills and running up the Lamoille river on the south side thereof to the east line of Jedediah Safford's land and running thence south on said Safford's line to the south east corner of said Safford's land thence west on said Safford's south line to the brook that crosses the road near Calvin Burnett's; thence down said brook to the river thence up said River to the Bridge or bound begun at.
"Given under our hands at Morristown the 18th of Feb., 1829.
"LUTHER BRIGHAM "ISAAC ALLEN Selectmen"
The Calvin Burnett house was the one on East High Street now owned by George Cole.
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
From the bounds thus laid out considerable growth had been made. Local advertisers in the "American Observer" of 1852 and 1853 included D. Gilbert, with a supply of readymade coffins constantly on hand; Thomas Tracy, carriagemaker; Joseph Somerby, mason; C. H. Fox, fash- ionable tailor ; shoe shop, W. F. Hutchins; a co-partnership of Jos. Somerby and M. W. Terrill to carry on a mercantile business; Morrisville House, F. L. Matthews; Charles Robinson and Leander Small, attorneys-at-law; S. L. Gilbert, straw bonnets, artificial flowers, etc .; Thomas Gleed, attorney and counsellor-at-law.
Twenty years later, in 1873, the following business cards appeared : Dr. C. A. Jackman, homeopathist; C. W. Fitch, architect and builder; C. C. Rublee and E. J. Hall, physicians and surgeons; A. M. Burke, Geo. W. Hendee, Powers and Gleed, A. A. Niles, lawyers; D. Gilbert, furni- ture and caskets; O. Hitchins, painter and paperhanger; B. H. Dickinson, millinery and ladies' furnishings; B. B. Hawse, practical house builder and mechanic; A. O. Gates, apothecary ; D. C. Hardy and D. L. Eaton, auctioneers and deputy sheriffs; C. R. Page, wholesale and retail dealer in flour, feed, etc .; Dunham and Spaulding, boot and shoe- makers; Geo. P. Hardy, gent's furnishing goods; Merriam and Jockow, foundry; B. S. Wilson, Morrisville House; J. A. George, H. H. Elmore, and C. A. Rich, groceries ; W. M. Clark, barber; R. G. Gilbert, dentist; Geo. J. Slayton & Co., D. A. Gilbert, Stoughton & Tift, general merchan- dise; Dodge and Shaw, insurance; Danforth & Stone, marble works; W. F. Moulton, water tubing, and G. W. Doty, carriages and wagons.
Thus a variety of professions were represented, together with a few business activities, although the village consisted for the most part of High and Main Streets with scattering houses in other sections. With the survey of the proposed railroad, land near that took on new value. Portland Street, now the principal business street of the village, was laid out and built up, and in 1873 we read that a movement was on foot to extend Portland Street from the depot across the flat bridging the river. This would open up the section known today as Brooklyn. The foundry, one of the oldest business enterprises, was built near the railroad, and Morrisville became the center of a brisk lumber trade, fostered by the mills scattered throughout the town, as well as a shipping point for agricultural products.
LOWER MAIN STREET IN LATE 60S
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UPPER MAIN STREET IN LATE '60s
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PECK'S CORNER IN LATE '60s
455.0176
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WHEELER'S CORNER IN LATE '70s
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HISTORY OF MORRISTOWN
Centennial year brought something of a boom, the results of which are evident in the village of today. In 1890 the Centennial block was erected through the enter- prise and initiative of Dr. E. J. Hall and the professional skill of C. W. Fitch, the architect and builder. The tan- nery, which has been on the whole the leading manufac- turing plant in town, was built in 1889 by Webster and Stafford. In 1891 the Union Savings Bank & Trust Co. opened its doors, with G. W. Hendee, President; C. H. Stearns, Vice-President, and a strong board of directors, and has been an increasingly vital factor in the business life of the community since. At first it was located in the rooms now occupied by the Water and Light Depart- ment, then the present home was built, with the bank occupying the first floor and the library the second. These quarters were soon outgrown, and in 1913, when the present library building was completed, the second floor was taken over by the bank. That does not provide sufficient room and the lot adjacent on Main street has been purchased with the idea of building. The stability of this institution is shown by the fact that in the crisis of March, 1933, when supposedly solid banks all over the country were closed for months, if not permanently, the Union Savings Bank & Trust Co. was ready to carry on business in a normal way except as it was obliged to meet the state- wide requirements, and local business was but little ham- pered by this financial emergency.
In 1892 the Waite block was erected at the foot of Portland Street, while at its head the old Morrisville House was moved back and the new Randall arose. In 1896 the Congregational Church was moved back to form the vestry of a handsome new edifice. There was a general spirit of progress.
The village bounds have been enlarged several times since its incorporation, the last addition being in 1923 when the section near the Fairground was included.
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CHAPTER VII
EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS
'THE winter of 1792 and 1793 Comfort Olds, with his wife 1 and two children, occupied their new home on the height of land on the hill road to Stowe and these children were the vanguard of that army of youth who have since made possible and necessary the public schools. They must have been instructed at home for a time, since it was not until 1799 that Eunice Pratt, who, afterwards married Jedediah Safford, taught the first school in a room finished off in the Boardman tavern at the Center. Here six chil- dren formed the nucleus of the system which has since been such an important factor.
In 1797 the State Legislature passed a law giving the several towns in the state power to raise such sums of money on the list of their polls and ratable property as they thought proper to be used for the support of English schools, and the money thus raised was divided among the several districts according to the number of pupils between the ages of four and eighteen years. In 1810 an advance step was taken when one cent on the dollar of the list of polls and ratable property was levied by the Legislature for the purpose of schooling for a term of two months. In 1824 the amount was raised to two cents, and, as the school movement gained impetus, the rate was increased until in 1842 it was nine cents. One-fourth was distributed equally among the districts and the remainder according to the number of children between four and eighteen years of age. The part of the cost of schools not furnished by towns was provided by the different districts, and the bone of contention was, "Shall the money be raised by a tax on the grand list or a tax upon the scholar?" Just how serious a matter this was may be seen from the following extract taken from the records of the Baptist Church : "Church met at Bro. Hocomb's the last Friday in Jan. 1831 agreeable to appointment on account of some difficulty about supporting the school. Some thought there was no morral right to injure one to benefit another but that we should do by others as we should wish to be done by and not do evil that good might come. Others thought it was
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