History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 47

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280

USA > Vermont > Windsor County > Royalton > History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911 > Part 47

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).

The Orange County Telephone Company extended its line into Royalton in 1902. This is a co-operative company, and many of the farmers availed themselves of the opportunity of erecting lines on their farms at a much less rate than by other lines. It has greatly facilitated business and saved the farmer many a trip to market. The central office is in the drug store of M. J. Sargent & Son.

The mercantile business of a town is always an important factor in its history. To the merchant the farmer looks for an exchange of goods, enabling him to dispose of the products of his land without the time and trouble of long journeys to market. Merchants have always held an influential place in the com- munities where they have been located. For this reason some space is given to the stores and shops of Royalton, from the earliest days to the present time. The first merchants combined with their business the manufacture of potash and pearlash, which at that time seemed an almost indispensable adjunct in increasing their profits.

John Crane on Oct. 14, 1790, bought of Cotton Evans one-half acre and five square rods of land northwest from the north end of "Stevens' " bridge with all the appurtenances thereunto be-

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longing. What these appurtenances were is not stated. As no grand list exists prior to 1791, it cannot be told whether Cotton Evans was a trader or not, but during his residence in Royalton he was not thus listed. In 1791 John Crane was assessed £10 under the heading, "traders and owners of mills." It is quite certain that he had potash works, and that would probably place him in the list of traders. He sold to Abner Mack, April 25, 1793, thirty-six square rods with a potash outfit on it.

In 1793 Abner Mack and Amasa Niles bought of Jesse Rich- ardson one-fourth acre at the north end of the "Great Bridge." This was in the same place as the "Stevens" bridge. Mr. Niles, Jan. 17, 1795, sold to John Flint and Jonathan Jennings his interest in this one-fourth acre and in the store which was on it, and occupied at that time by Flint & Jennings. This last men- tioned firm got from Abner Mack by execution on April 18, 1796, his interest in this same land and store, and the next month John Crane secured by the same means from Mr. Mack 319/744 of the potash and pearlash works. Niles and Mack, then, had a store as early as 1794; perhaps it was built in the preceding year. Mr. Niles was first listed in 1792 and Mr. Mack in the following year.

The firm of Flint & Jennings succeeded Niles & Mack, and conducted the store and the potash works. Mr. Jennings does not seem ever to have been in Royalton. In 1795 he was in Windham, Conn., and Mr. Flint was the merchant here. They bought other small lots of Zebulon Lyon, and of Mr. Niles, and got control of the potash outfit. A house was on the Lyon lot. It can be imagined how the little settlement looked in the vicin- ity of the Yuran place, with its diminutive store, two or more houses, in one of which Mr. Crane had lived, and its potash works, extending six rods on the road and six rods back. Mr. Crane's house was situated about two rods from a little run.

In 1802 Jennings sold out to Flint, and in 1808 Mr. Flint sold to Amasa Dutton and Daniel Ashcraft. From this time the store was called the "Ashcraft" store. Ashes were received at the store in exchange for goods. The late Dr. Alden C. Latham at one time related the following anecdote: David Ames, who was rather eccentric and made his own buttons and like economies, brought a load of ashes to Mr. Ashcraft. He was not satisfied with the price offered for them, and said if they would pay no more, he would dump them into the stream, and tradition says that he did dump them, but this is not probable. Mr. Ash- craft held the property for about twenty years.

Co-existent with this incipient settlement was another at the center of the town. Zabad Curtis was assessed £10 in 1791, and Elkanah Stevens was assessed a like sum the next year.

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These men held lots in the prospective village of Royalton. Mr. Curtis had potash works, and Mr. Stevens also had a similar out- fit at a later date, and may have had it at this time. Mr. Ste- vens had a store, as is indicated by a deed of Levi Mower to Asahel Cheney in 1807. He states that he sold what he had of David Waller, that a store was on it which had been occupied by Elkanah Stevens. In a newspaper issue of Dec. 20, 1803, Mr. Stevens asks all indebted to him at Royalton and Stock- bridge to settle their accounts. In 1793 he bought 252 square rods near Lyman's fordway, mortgaged this in 1805 to Nathaniel Merriam of Boston, and sold it the next year to David Waller. Mr. Cheney sold it to John Marshall in 1809, and he used it for a cabinet shop. It passed to Timothy Eaton and B. F. Hall, and when they sold it to Maurice White in 1819, they said it was nearly in front of John Francis' premises, and extended east to the brick store. Mr. Marshall was probably the finest cabinet maker ever in Royalton. He worked with the most expensive woods, and took infinite pains in turning out handsome and elab- orate articles. There still is to be found in town some of his handiwork, in the shape of bureaus and other furniture, which would bring large prices if found in city shops today.

The same year that Ebenezer Herrick built his shoemaker's shop, 1799, Joseph Fessenden and Samuel Grant began a mer- cantile business in Royalton village. July 1, 1802, they pur- chased of Zebulon Lyon 136 square rods of land, beginning at the southeast corner of Elkanah Stevens' garden. Levi Bellows was then a member of the firm, and with them on this same day bought "Herrick's shop" a few rods west of their store. After a partnership of three years, Mr. Grant quit-claimed to Mr. Fessenden all land which they held in common with Levi Bel- lows. In 1808 the firm had become J. & J. Fessenden. In 1801 Joseph Fessenden had bought of Jacob Smith the "old society schoolhouse," and may have used this for a store. In 1806 he sold a share in the end of the store in which were Bellows, Dorr & Co., which portion Benjamin Thomas had occupied. It is difficult to determine just where his store was, but Mr. George Harvey thinks it was on the left of the lane running up the hill towards the "pinnacle."

The advertisements of the Fessendens in The Washingtonian printed at Windsor, give some idea of the goods displayed for their customers, and of the condition of the people. Under date of Dec. 7, 1807, they advertise silks, velvets, silk shawls, broad- cloths, etc. July 30, 1810, they appeal to the public by enumer- ating "English, East and West India goods, books, stationery, medicines, saddles," etc. They will take in exchange salts of lye, good butter, tow cloth, and geese feathers. On Aug. 6, they

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announce the dissolution of the copartnership, and state that hereafter the firm will be Curtis & Cutter. However, the fol- lowing December Mr. Fessenden advertises "elegant robes, la- dies' muffs, and tippets," and says he will furnish libraries at a handsome discount, which goes to show that there was a de- mand for these things. The Fessendens were not listed after 1810. In 1812 Joseph Fessenden was in Brattleboro.

The firm had competitors in Bellows, Dorr & Company. Dorr & Bellows of Hartford advertised in 1806 for flax seed, and said they would pay cash at the store of Bellows, Dorr & Co. at Royalton. Levi Bellows must have left the firm of Fes- senden & Grant after 1804. This new firm remained until 1810. John Estabrook, who was a member of it, remained in Royalton some years more, and carried on his potash works, but does not seem to have been in trade. Joseph Dorr was a prominent Hart- ford man, connected with milling interests there.

Chandler & Mower were listed first in 1801. They adver- tised Nov. 26, 1803, English and West India goods and liquors in their stores at Chester and Royalton. Samuel Chandler and Henry Mower were in company in Woodstock, owning mills and a distillery there. Mr. Henry Swan Dana, author of the His- tory of Woodstock, says the father of Samuel Chandler was one of the king's judges, that his sons set up a mercantile business in Boston, importing goods largely on their own account, and that they had branch houses in Chester, Putney, Woodstock, and Royalton.

Levi Mower came to Royalton. He had bought land in town as early as 1786. His first village purchase was a pew of Dr. Allen, Sep. 26, 1801, and the first land purchased in the village was Nov. 18, 1802, when he obtained of Walter Chaffee 100 square rods on the river, beginning at the southern corner of Jacob Cady's land. The firm bought of Zebulon Lyon, July 12, 1803, a lot which had a store on it. In 1807 Mr. Mower bought of David Waller one-fourth acre in the village. This had the store which had been occupied by Elkanah Stevens. Mr. Mower may have contemplated going into business by himself, but if so, the plan was changed. He sold this purchase to Asahel Cheney and Joseph Fessenden. His brother Henry had become dissatisfied and withdrawn from partnership with Samuel Chand- ler, and Levi Mower went to Woodstock and entered into part- nership with his brother Henry. He erected a store there on the west side of the common, a few rods above the court-house. Mr. Dana says this store was removed further up the common and converted into a dwelling house, which, in 1885, was owned and enlarged by James H. Murdock. Henry Mower lived only ten months after the partnership was formed, and in 1812 Levi

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Mower deeded to Samuel Chandler of Woodstock all the land which he owned in Vermont. Chandler & Mower had sold in 1806 to Curtis & Cutter the land where the "red store" stood. In April following Samuel Chandler made an indenture with Joseph Taggart of Hillsborough, N. H., to care for him and Anna. The earliest deeds here represent Mr. Chandler as from Worcester, Mass.

Curtis & Cutter were destined to remain a longer time in trade in Royalton than any of the three firms which had preceded them. Their purchase of the "red store" has been mentioned. They soon got control of three potash and pearlash works. They purchased of Zenas Newell in 1806 one-half acre and seventy square rods for $1,500, described as beginning at the northwest corner of Elkanah Stevens' store. The first mention of the brick store is found in a deed given by Abijah Burbank to Moses Cut- ter, May 13, 1816. Mr. Burbank says it is what he had of Jo- seph Fessenden, except one rod and the land the brick store stands on. Mr. Fessenden sold this in 1811, and no mention of a store was then made, but one rod was excepted which Daniel Carrington held, and a piece near Stafford Smith's horse sheds. Mr. Smith was then in the hotel. Mr. Fessenden sold this piece which was excepted to Samuel Grant, he to Artemas Ainsworth, next Dr. Denison had it, and after Jireh Durkee went to Bur- lington he got a deed of it from Dr. Denison. This seems to be the same one-fourth acre which David Waller got from Elkanah Stevens, and which Dr. Denison deeded Jireh Durkee, in which deed it is stated that Mr. Durkee built the brick store. This does not fix the year, but it was between 1811 and 1816. As Mr. Durkee was at first in the Fessenden store, he must have built this later.

The firm of Curtis & Cutter was made up of Zebina Curtis of Windsor, who did not come to Royalton, and Moses Cutter. The firm was dissolved Aug. 24, 1813, and the demands were to be made over to Mr. Curtis. Zenas Newell had been a partner for a time. Although the dissolution was announced, the firm was listed under the old name until 1823, or later. In 1821 Judah D. Throop, Frederick Orvis, Oel Billings, and Asa Fran- cis join with Curtis and Cutter in giving and receiving deeds, and two firms are listed, the second one under the name of Cur- tis, Cutter & Francis. This firm was extensively interested in land speculation, and controlled a good deal of real estate in town. They had a store in Bethel. In 1823 the firm is com- posed of Curtis and Cutter and Oel Billings, under the firm name of. Oel Billings & Co., and a share was sold to Jacob Fox. Per- haps they had a store at Foxville. In 1828 the firm bought the tavern and brick house opposite, and the same year the firm dis-

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solved, owing to the death of Mr. Curtis. At this time Franklin Hunter was in the "red store." Moses Cutter sold to Elias Lyman on April 16 of that year the land which he had of Abijah Burbank, and the brick store on it. He was in Middlebury the next year, but went later to Ohio. He lived in Royalton over twenty years. Mr. Cutter seems to have conducted his business on a safe basis, and to have contributed in various ways to the welfare of the village and town.

There were several smaller traders in town previous to 1820. Jireh Durkee has already been mentioned. In May, 1811, he formed a partnership with Asa Egerton, under the firm name of Durkee & Egerton. In one deed they are said to occupy "Ly- on's" store. The firm soon dissolved, and in 1812 Mr. Egerton advertised a cash store, with mixed goods, rum, brandy, wines, by the barrel or the keg. In a later issue he tempts his feminine patrons with "Ladies' Twist Harris tobacco." He seems to have taken in Warren Lovejoy as a partner, and notice of the dissolu- tion appeared Sep. 28, 1813, and the announcement was made that Mr. Lovejoy would continue the business.

Elias Lyman of Hartford, who bought the brick store, put his son George in charge of it, who remained eleven years. Elias Lyman died while his son was in Royalton, and the heirs in 1833 quitclaimed to George Lyman the brick store. It is related of Mr. Elias Lyman, who was a remarkably thrifty and energetic man, that he drove from Hartford to Royalton one morning, reaching his son's residence before George had arisen. "Get up! Get up, George !" he called, "or the mortgage will eat you up." George Lyman sold the store to Job Lyman of Woodstock in 1839, and two years later it came into the hands of John Fran- cis, who turned it over to Dr. Denison, from whom his son, Dr. Joseph, Jr., and William Skinner purchased it the next year.

Mr. Skinner conducted the business alone for some years, then went into partnership with Elijah D. Blodgett, under the firm name of Skinner & Blodgett, though some of the time the firm was called E. D. Blodgett & Co. About 1855 Mr. Skinner retired from the business, and the firm became Blodgett Bros., Pearl Blodgett, the brother of Elijah, joining in the business, which they continued about two years longer.

In 1838 Downer & Nevens were dispensing goods in the store having "the currant garden in the rear." Two years later Downer & Fish had the "old store" now owned by Bancroft Fowler, and in 1845 E. P. Nevens rented for five years of Mr. Downer his store, while William T. Gleason & Co. were in the brick store. At North Royalton, David W. Wells and Isaac Brown had hung out their sign on "Fox's brick store." The only record of a jeweler's shop in Royalton village is dated Sep.

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The Hewitt New Grain Mill and Elevator.

Childhood Home of Home of Dr. Dana E. Dearing, Rev. Martin Tullar. part of the Elisha Kent farm. House built by Mrs. William H. Martin on the site of the Pierce Tavern. Old Academy, now the Town Hall. Gen. Elias Stevens House, known as the Howard place. The George Cowdery House on farm occupied by Robert Havens, the First Settler in Royalton, 1771.

SOUTH ROYALTON AFTER THE FIRST FIRE, FEB. 6, 1878.

NEW IRON BRIDGE, SOUTH ROYALTON, 1903.

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16, 1854, when William Fay sold Leonard B. Mellish of Wood- stock a building opposite the passenger depot, which had been occupied by Algernon S. Mellish as a jeweler's shop.

A Union store was started in the village about this time, which employed N. M. Russ as its agent, and which had an ex- istence of only a few years. Mr. Russ continued the mercantile business for a considerable period of time. J. P. Smith as mer- chant tailor, and E. A. Maxham as druggist added to the facili- ties for trade in the village.

This period of prosperity was destined not to last. One by one the stores fell by the wayside in competition with the new firms starting in business in South Royalton, and some of the village traders seeing the inevitable trend, moved their stock in trade to the newer settlement. Finally, only the old stand-by, the brick store, remained. This for a time was occupied by N. & C. N. Parker. After the death of Charles N. Parker, it was rented and later purchased by George A. Laird, who keeps a stock of general merchandise, and also deals quite extensively in grain and flour. By strict attention to business and fair deal- ing Mr. Laird has gained the confidence of the public. The "old store" was made over into a dwelling, purchased by the widow Felch, and burned in the early 1890's. This is the same store called the "red store" in various deeds.

The growth of business in South Royalton will be found in the sketch of that village.

In 1854 Sylvester Davis of Claremont, N. H., assigned to Silas R. Williams, G. W. Bradstreet, Franklin Joiner, Harry Goff, Dr. J. Manchester, H. Phelps, William Hoyt, Mark J. Met- calf, Joseph A. Denison, Calvin Skinner, Calvin Davis, David Dutton, P. G. Sewall, and Oscar Henry, the right for the town of Royalton to use his patent on bee-hives, which he secured July 26, 1853. He received $75 for this right. How much use of this was made is not known, but Dr. Manchester did manufac- ture bee-hives of improved pattern.

About 1852 Daniel Tarbell erected a boot factory in South Royalton, which stood where the Dickerman store which was burned in 1878, stood. This employed but a few hands and did not run long. A tallow chandler's shop did business where the garden of J. O. Belknap now is.

Two laundries have flourished for a time in town, one run in South Royalton in 1880 by Miss Mattie Sherlock, and the other a steam laundry owned by Clark Turner, about ten years later.

Mention should be made of some of the women who have added to the mercantile record of Royalton village. The "Ad- vocate" is the only source from which early information of this sort has been obtained. On Dec. 20, 1826, Mrs. Isabella Car-

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rington advertised her millinery and dressmaking business. She had a competitor in Miss Sophronia Lyman, who stated that she had the latest New York and Boston fashions. In 1827 Miss West offered her services as tailoress. In the fall of that year Miss B. G. Winnek told the public that she had moved her mil- linery shop to the house formerly occupied by Mrs. D (olly ?) Smith. About two score years later Miss Elizabeth Lyman, afterwards Mrs. James Henry, furnished finery to adorn the heads of the ladies, and still later Mrs. Anna Hastings, now Mrs. George Waterman of South Royalton. For many years the la- dies of Royalton village have had to seek millinery supplies else- where. In recent years Miss Ida Lyman and Miss Hattie Hanks have been successful dressmakers in the village.

In the earlier days the shoemaker and the tailor went from house to house, and shod the family, and gave a style to the clothing of the male portion that the more clumsy hands of the housewife could not attain unto. Dr. Gardner Cox has very brightly given a sketch of one of these journeymen tailors, whom some still living remember as working in their homes. This man was Matthew O'Keefe, who was born in the southern part of Ireland, and came to America in the 1830's, finding his way to Royalton, and later to Barnard. He plied his trade in both towns. He had no relatives in this country, and was unmarried. His price was from fifty cents to $1.00 a day. His home when in Royalton was at Horatio Freeman's, who was the administra- tor of his small estate of $500, which he left, when he died at the home of Mr. Farrell in Barnard, Aug. 27, 1866, aged about sixty years. He was buried in the Catholic cemetery in Clare- mont, N. H.

Of him and his work in Barnard, Dr. Cox says, "For nice work he had no competitor. Eliza Wood was the only one that went about from house to house, cutting and making boys' pants - - straight down to the floor, like a paper bag, and the rural youth counted it as his début into fashionable society, when the Tailor put a 'spring' into the discontented end of his panta- loon legs. The Tailor used to say, 'She cuts pantalets, and I cut pantaloons.' When about to unload his mind, he would begin, 'It is the beest of my opinion,' and if in trouble, 'I am between three fires.'

He sang and danced Irish jigs to perfection. When he unbraided his legs and descended from his high perch to attack a fresh 'goose,' he invariably pigeon- winged a circle around the room, whistling, or humming like a bagpipe, an Irish quickstep."

His dress is described as immaculate. "A cover crowned his pipe so that no ashes could soil his work. When he drew his pipe, it was as the Irishman fiddled, 'not by note, but by main

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strength.' He declared that the Garden of Eden was located in Ireland, and that Adam and Eve were the founders of the city of New York. 'You might know,' he used to say, 'that Adam and Eve were Irish, for long before they got able they raised Cain.' No one felt a slight more keenly, and if at a kitchen party he set out upon the journey of 'going to Rome,' woe to the Irish-American girl that did not pay proper respect to his passage, and hand over the proper amount of toll. 'Any- thing but a Yankeefied paddy,' he would say, 'sure no American girl would do so mane a thing.' "

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE GENERAL MILITIA.

Governor William A. Palmer, in his message to the General Assembly in 1834, stated that previous to the Revolution the greatest care was taken to keep the militia in an unorganized, inefficient state, that the provincial governors generally opposed the interests of the people, and appointed militia officers sub- servient to their own views. On the breaking out of the war the whole body of militia was reorganized.

This reorganization resulted in disciplining and drilling the raw troops, and bringing them to such a state of efficiency as secured finally the independence of the united colonies. When the war was practically closed, Vermont, in October, 1782, took steps for disbanding her militia, for paying the sums due them, and for settling down to the peaceful development of the new state, in the expectation that she would soon be admitted into the Union. The governor was requested to dismiss all troops except one sergeant, one corporal, and eleven privates. This had not long been done, before the action of Congress alarmed the leaders, and caused them to reinstate the militia. In the session of February, 1783, the militia was again regularly organ- ized and put in condition to defend the state. A Board of War was chosen, and 500 men ordered to be raised exclusive of offi- cers.

There was not only this breeze of opposition blowing with- out, but there was a lively one blowing within. There were still loyal supporters of New York. Guilford and neighboring sec- tions had joined in a formidable insurrection against the author- ity of the new state, encouraged, of course, by New York. The civil authority proved unequal to the task of quelling the dis- turbance, and in October, 1783, provision was made for raising 100 men under command of Col. Wait to bring the disaffected inhabitants to a state of obedience. By a firm, but conciliatory policy this end was secured early in 1784.

Though the maintenance of the militia was a burden which the state would have been glad to avoid, it was deemed a neces- sity, and has been continued in a more or less efficient state ever since its reorganization in 1783. The reliance placed upon it

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was well expressed by Gov. Galusha in his message to the Assem- bly in 1810, in which he said, "They are the guardians of our rights, the repository of our liberties, and the bulwark of our in- dependence," and he contrasted their loyal interest in the wel- fare of the state with that of mercenary troops.

All able-bodied men between eighteen and forty-five were subject to enrollment as militia men. Efforts were made at times to change the age, and to include only those between twenty-one and thirty-five. Many were exempt through holding of official or other public positions. Each man was to arm and equip himself, or if unable to do so, the town was required to furnish the needful articles, and look to the state for reimburse- ment. They were required to meet at certain times for drill and inspection of arms, and periodically a whole brigade was to be called out for parade. Appointment of officers was spe- cifically provided for by the very comprehensive militia act of 1818. This was not so much a change from previous regulations, as an authorization of the system already in use, and an effort to secure uniformity. In 1805 the Governor stated to the Coun- cil that there was no uniform way of numbering and distinguish- ing the brigades. From the first, however, the militia seems to have been distinguished by divisions, brigades, and regiments. The major generals of the divisions, and the brigadier generals were elected by a joint session of the Governor and Council with the House. The field officers were appointed by the captains and subalterns of their respective regiments.

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History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 47

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847- Publication date: 1911 Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company Number of Pages: 1280

Author: Lovejoy, Mary Evelyn Wood, 1847-
Publication date: 1911
Publisher: Burlington, Vt., Free press printing company
Number of Pages: 1280