History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 57

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 57

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Their report on the meeting-house is given under that head. This committee, Harry Bingham, John Marshall, and Jona- than Kinney, said nothing about the part of the common which had been sold to Lieut. Lyon. That some citizens felt the act to have been unwise, to say the least, is certain, for at a meeting in May, 1792, they chose a committee to treat with Capt. Durkee concerning that land. At their next meeting they voted to buy that land and a building near the meeting-house known as the "scenter schoolhouse" of Heman Durkee. The purchase was made and the building sold, so that part of the common had been regained. Elkanah Stevens, Isaac Skinner, and Jacob Smith were to dispose of the schoolhouse. Smith bought it of the other two acting for the town.

In September, 1796, at a special meeting they took up the article in the warning to see if they would exchange "Land with Jacob Smith Esq on ye meeting house Green," and voted "not to put away ye Land before ye meeting house," and to choose a "Committee of three to treat with Jacob Smith on account of his Land adjoining ye meeting house Green," and chose Elkanah Stevens, Luther Fairbanks, and Elias Stevens. This is probably the action referred to by the selectmen in their report, which is undated, but seems to have been made in 1834. Why the town should need to take a deed of Mr. Smith is not clear, seeing it voted not to exchange. Mr. Smith does not appear on record as having any part of the common, unless it was the land where the schoolhouse stood. Possibly he could claim this by right of possession. He held the building until 1801. He may have desired that land because it was near his home, the house where the Rev. Joel Whitney now lives, as it would form a part of the lawn extending from his house to the road. As the committee reported, no record has been found of any further action.

There was a considerable descent in the common from the meeting-house to the old academy. When it was decided to re- move the old meeting-house to the lower side of the common, the

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town appropriated $75 for leveling the ridge, so that the removal could be accomplished.

A revival in the public conscience, or some other influence led to the insertion in the warning for the March meeting, 1842, of an article "to see if the Town will direct the center School District to move their School house off from the common or take measures to affect the same." This was passed over, and the schoolhouse remained, and still remains, though it has lately been used for other purposes.

Lieut. Lyon provided for a small common in 1803, when he sold the "red store" and land to Mower & Chandler. He deeded the land where the store stood, and twenty feet back of it, and the use of the land between this lot sold and the currant garden fence. This last was to lie forever as a common, undivided, but he gave the town no control over it. The cemeteries controlled by the town are found in another chapter.

The agitation over the subject of public lands, which ex- tended over a period of years in the 1830's may have originated, in part at least, in the rivalry between the different religious bodies in town. The division of the income from the ministerial lands, in the early years, seemed to have no very definite basis, and again, as one society had been allowed to build on the com- mon, why not all? This feeling may have led to the passing of the following resolution, Mar. 4, 1839:

"Resolved that each of the Religious Societies in Royalton have the liberty to build a house of publick Religious worship on the com- mon, provided that no such house of publick worship shall be built in the central part of the Common nor when one or more of such houses shall be built shall any other house be built so near the house or houses already built as to incommode injure or interfere with the house or houses which have been built-also provided no one society shall occupy for their house more than one half of either end of the com- mon."

Neither the Methodist nor the Episcopal church availed it- self of this permission, when each soon after erected a house of worship at the center village.

THE SOUTH ROYALTON PARK.

Although the beautiful square which adds so much to the attractiveness of South Royalton is not really public property, the public has free use of it, and probably few have thought to inquire whether it was a public park or not. It has a checkered history. It was originally a part of the Lyman Benson farm, which, before he owned it, had been a part of the Joseph Park- hurst lot. In 1849 the Vermont Central Railroad bought several acres of land near the depot of Lyman Benson, and the park was included in the purchase. Later, the Railroad Corporation

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mortgaged this land, which came into the hands of Charles Dil- lingham by execution, was deeded by him to Paul Dillingham in 1865, and Paul Dillingham in 1868 quitclaimed to George Tarbell, with the stipulation that it was to be used for a park in South Royalton, not public unless the grantees chose to make it so. Mr. Tarbell quitclaimed to Lawrence Brainerd in 1875, who, in turn, quitclaimed to Daniel Tarbell, Jr., in 1878. Two weeks later Mr. Tarbell sold this land to Edson Bixby, Daniel Jones, and Martin S. Adams, and quitclaimed the land between it and the hotel and Mr. Adams. It was stipulated that it was to be a public park forever.

A number of public-spirited citizens joined with the three owners of the land in forming a plan for its purchase, to become eventually the property of South Royalton. The whole was di- vided into 100 shares, of which the grantors took seventeen shares at $6 each, Charles Woodward took five shares, William H. Mar- tin, M. J. Sargent, H. H. Whitcomb & Son, J. B. Durkee, A. P. Skinner, Simon C. Sanborn, L. C. Dickerman, H. M. Doubleday, C. C. Southgate, James Pike, and Richard Wills took four shares each; Miss Alice L. Winslow, three; D. W. Cowdery, Phineas Pierce, J. O. Belknap, C. P. Tarbell, J. H. Hewitt, Mrs. H. A. Moore, two shares each; S. W. Davis, Charles West, Amos H. Lamb, S. C. Drew, B. C. Latham, H. M. Bingham, Dr. F. Leavitt, Daniel P. King, Rev. Sidney K. B. Perkins, Oliver S. Curtis, Benjamin Flint, James H. Buck, Edward Foster, J. H. Haynes, Edwin Parkhurst, W. V. Soper, Seymour Durkee, J. S. Shepard, and Thomas Prindle, one share each. The three owners deeded the park to these grantees, with the stipulation that the land was to be deeded to the South Royalton village free of expense, when- ever it should be incorporated.

This Park Association had the care of the park through its proper officers, until it turned the same over to the Village Im- provement Society in 1900, having served as care-takers of the park since 1881. Since the fire of 1886 no buildings have been allowed on the park. In the fall of 1887 the selectmen widened the so-called Chelsea street by purchasing of Lewis Dickerman, Mrs. Georgia Dickerman, George Tarbell, John Mudgett, J. B. Kenworthy, and A. N. King the land adjoining the park, on which the stores had stood on the south side of the street, and which were destroyed by the fire of 1886. The sum paid for this was $3,175. A part of the land thus secured was incor- porated in the park, and the rest used to broaden the street. The bounds of the park are now well defined by stone posts.

The "South Royalton, Vermont, Village Improvement Asso- ciation" was organized May 22, 1896. The object was "to pro- mote the growth and improvement of the village financially and

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socially." Any lady could become a member by signing the constitution and by-laws, and any gentleman of good standing by doing the same and paying an annual fee of one dollar. The original members were J. O. Belknap, S. M. Pike, H. M. God- dard, Will Sargent, E. B. Doyle, M. J. Sargent, W. P. Noyes, A. G. Whitham, J. H. Hewitt, W. P. Hubbard, John Woodward, D. L. Burnett, Edward Foster, J. Euclid Fish, E. J. Fish, J. B. Durkee, J. A. Schontag, W. V. Soper, G. H. Hackett, J. G. Ash- ley, A. P. Skinner, and Charles P. Tarbell. The committee to draft the constitution and by-laws were C. P. Tarbell and Drs. Fish and Burnett.

At a meeting on the 29th of May the list of members had been increased by twenty-one gentlemen and thirty-seven ladies. Mr. Belknap was elected president; J. B. Durkee, vice-president ; A. G. Whitham, secretary; and Will O. Belknap, treasurer. A general committee and an executive committee were appointed.

The association strove to interest the public in the move- ment. To this end on Memorial Day, 1898, a patriotic entertain- ment was given in the Methodist church. An Outing Club was organized, made up chiefly of members of the association. It leased the grounds at "Lake John" for a period of five years. In the fall of 1899 a picnic was held at these grounds. The clergymen of the village and others, including Mrs. Jennie Hagan Jackson, made addresses, which were highly enjoyed.

The money received the first year was chiefly used in adver- tising the village, by rehearsing the attractions of South Roy- alton on the reverse of letter-heads, and in one or two city papers, and in other ways. Then the association gave its at- tention to sidewalks and street lamps. Free concerts were given under the direction of Miss Belle Shepard and Mrs. E. J. Fish, at which collections were taken, which helped to swell the fund for improvement purposes.

The agitation of the need of street lamps stimulated a num- ber of residents to put in lights at their own expense. The association set up six in 1898 and fourteen the next year. At the March meeting, 1900, the town voted to light eighteen lamps in South Royalton village. These lamps had been in use but two years, when the selectmen decided to put in electric lights in the two villages. The association then disposed of this idle property as best they could.

At first a bee was formed for making new gravel sidewalks. They had not money enough to do more than this, but there was idle talent in the village, and willing feet and hands. Mr. and Mrs. Perley S. Belknap put their shoulders to the wheel, and the result was the presentation in 1900 of the grand opera, Queen Esther, which netted at two recitals $97.00.

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HISTORY OF ROYALTON, VERMONT

At their May meeting that year they voted to assume the care of the park, if the shareholders would consent to such an arrangement. This consent was secured. The fountain and fence were thoroughly repaired, and walks laid out across the common.

Meantime the effort to advertise the town went on. A neat folder was prepared, and sent out, and in 1901 they improved on this by enlarging the folder, and inserting cuts of the vil- lage, of the Methodist church and of several houses. This at- tracted considerable attention, and won favorable notice from a number of newspapers. The picnics at Lake John were now a yearly event, and drew large numbers.

On Memorial Day, 1901, a play was given at Woodard's Hall, under the direction of Ernest J. Hewitt, which netted a nice sum. Trees were set out along the line of the railroad. Since that time the association has devoted its attention chiefly to the park, which is one of the best kept parks in the small vil- lages of the state. The fence has been removed, and the fountain and the cannon keeping guard near by yearly receive a fresh coat of paint.

From the time of the organization of the association to 1907 over $300 had been realized for improvement purposes, of which sum about $200 were received from entertainments by local talent. The association died out, apparently from lack of something to do, and the care of the park has reverted to the members of the South Royalton Park Association who are now living here. Out of the thirty-nine members purchasing the park in 1881, but twelve are now living in town.

This last named association depended upon the payment of subscriptions to carry on its work. Its books show that only five . paid in the amounts due, the whole sum received from this source being $58.80. A dramatic company was organized, and gave entertainments, which in five years netted the sum of $283.43. Private individuals contributed to the funds of the association in a modest amount. The fountain was put in in 1886, costing with work over one hundred dollars. A new fence was built in 1887, and walks were repaired and new ones laid. No doubt the few who remain will be as faithful as they formerly were in making the spacious park a thing of beauty.

TOWN BUILDINGS.

According to an agreement between Lieut. Lyon and the town, the town had a certain right in the meeting-house which he built, but only for ten years. That building became the town house whenever the weather was not so cold that it necessitated

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an adjournment to private houses, but it could scarcely be called public property. The next move in the direction of owning a town house was when action was taken for building another meeting-house. The plan of the house was directed by the town, and it attempted to raise the money needed for the erection of the building, but a reference to the history of the meeting-house built in 1790-91 will show that the "Society" took the responsi- bility upon its own shoulders, and the town could not legally claim a right in it, although it was located on town land, and the town had occupied it from time to time for its meetings. This fact was reported by the selectmen in 1835, after a thorough in- vestigation.

When the Society decided to build anew in 1839, the old meeting-house was moved to the lower side of the common, crowded in between the academy and the building occupied for many years by Frank Bosworth. The academy then stood about where the present town house stands.

From the time of the selectmen's report until 1839 the town meetings were held in the meeting-house as before. At the March meeting that year it was voted that the selectmen have the power to furnish the town with a town house, either by buy- ing the Congregational meeting-house, or by building a new one, either of which was not to cost over $600, and it was to be pre- pared that season. The selectmen objected to taking the re- sponsibility, and Edwin Pierce, Stephen Freeman, Oramel Saw- yer, George Lyman and John Marshall were chosen a committee in the place of the selectmen. The old meeting-house was bought by the selectmen for $125, as recorded in the selectmen's book of orders drawn. This was paid Feb. 29, 1840, to Garner Rix, Jonathan Kinney, and Josiah Douglass, acting for the Congrega- tional Society. No deed appears on record. The house was moved in November at a cost of $200, besides work contributed by citizens of the town. The leveling of the common so that the building could be moved cost $69.83.

The first warning for a meeting at the town house was issued Nov. 12, 1839. The previous meeting was held in the meeting- house in May, so the purchase by the town was consummated between those dates. The first meeting in the town house was held Nov. 25, 1839, the second Dec. 21st of the same year, when they adjourned to the academy, and the third March 2, 1840. This was the last meeting in that building, as before the next meeting, called April 8, 1840, the town house and the old acad- emy had burned, having caught from a spark which blew out from Bela Hall's forge in his blacksmith shop near by. The old building, dry as tinder, quickly was in flames, and it stood so near the academy that it was impossible to save that, with no

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equipment for extinguishng the flames except a pail brigade made up in part of academy girls. It is related of the plucky Emily Goff, afterwards Mrs. Benjamin Day, who had worked untiringly carrying water, a pail in each hand, that she was quite disgusted with an able-bodied man who stood by and did nothing but holler "More water! More water!" so when she came up one time with her pails filled, she set one of them down, and threw the other full in his face. "I was tired of hearing that great lout holler," she remarked, as she resumed her labors. "I guess that will cool him off."

The loss of these two buildings was a serious one to the com- munity and town. A meeting was called for April 25th at the schoolhouse, at which time the following preamble and resolu- tion were adopted :

"Whereas the town of Royalton needs a house to accommodate their Meetings and town officers, And Whereas the Corporation of Roy- alton Academy need a School room to accommodate their Preceptor and his pupils-and believing that a suitable building for both pur- poses may be built on one foundation and under one roof at an expense one third less than by erecting two separate buildings, and that said building will have a better appearance so constructed, Therefore, Re- solved that the town build a town house in conexion with the Corpora- tion of the Royalton Academy two stories high, and of suitable length and breadth, the lower story to be for the town house, and the upper story for the Academy excepting a room to be finished off for a town committee room. The entrances to said town house and Academy to (be) separate and distinct. The town to pay two thirds of the expense, and the Academy to pay one third."

Lyman Benson and David F. Slafter were chosen to act with one member of the Corporation of Royalton Academy in locat- ing and building the town house, and in locating it they were to be assisted by Elisha Rix, Garner Rix, Oramel Sawyer, Edwin Pierce, and Joseph A. Denison, Jr. The committee chosen for the academy was George Lyman. It was further voted that the build- ing be of wood, the upper part finished by the first of the next September, and the lower part by the first of the next March, and the selectmen were directed to borrow of the surplus money for the purpose of building, not to exceed $800.

The building committee must have vigorously pushed the work of erecting the new building, for the first meeting held in it was on Nov. 10, 1840. The committee rendered their report Dec. 26, 1840:

"Your committee appointed to build a Town house and Academy having attended to the business of their appointment beg leave to re- port as follows that they have built a house 50 feet by 32 feet two stories high the basement story for Town Meetings and the room above in the South West corner for the (use) of the Town to do their busi- ness in, the two other rooms above for the Academy and its apartments. Said house was so far done that the Academy School went into their

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rooms in October and the town rooms were completed the first of No- vember last and expense of the same as follows.

House exclusive of Stoves Pipe and Bell,

$1400.

Lyman Benson's bill as Committee

3.00

David Slafter's bill as Committee

3.00

George Lyman's bill as Committee

5.00

$1411.00

David Slafter Lyman Benson

George Lyman on part Academy."

The selectmen were instructed to look more closely after the safety of the house, and to effect an insurance on it, and to em- ploy some one to see that the town house was secured from all danger at all times, especially when used, and to keep the key. They voted to allow singing schools and other public assemblies to have use of the building.

The attendance at the academy increased to such an extent, that it was necessary to secure larger quarters, and the town in 1853 granted the use of the part owned by them when not needed for town purposes. Thus the town and the academy lived, as it were, amicably together for some years, until the new academy was built, and even later, as during the period of the academy's greatest prosperity in the 50's, it was necessary to use both buildings. Repairs were made on the building in 1857. At the time of the Civil War it looked upon the little city of tents on the common, where the soldiers encamped before start- ing for the front, and witnessed the sad partings which were final in many a case. It has changed very little since those days, except that now it has but one entrance, and the rooms in the second story have been converted into a hall with anteroom, which are used as a dining hall on festive occasions, and occa- sionally for the meetings of different organizations.

The records of the town for more than a century were kept in the dwellings of the different town clerks. In 1895 negotia- tions were entered into with Asa W. Kenney, who had purchased the bank building in Royalton village, after the bank went into voluntary liquidation, with a view of securing the property for the town, and a deed was given by Mr. Kenney, March 21st of that year. The town paid $700 for the bank building and lot. It has now one of the most commodious, well-equipped offices in the State of Vermont. Besides its records the office contains a considerable number of volumes dealing with the early history of the state, and its legislative action from 1775 onwards. A fireproof vault ensures safety to the records. The building is located very near the center of the town, accessible to all, and is used instead of the town house for committee meetings and the

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general business of the town, with the exception of town meet- ings.

The town seems to have got along very comfortably without a lockup until 1894, when it occurred to the voters that one should be provided, and they empowered the selectmen to use their discretion in furnishing one. Accordingly, an arrange- ment was made with Constable D. C. Jones, by which the town built an addition to his ice-house, and was to have the use of it for ten years as a lockup. This ice-house is near the Jones dwell- ing on the south side of the railroad track. The proximity of the lockup to the ice-house enabled the constable to cool off an offender, if he so chose. This contract terminated in 1904.

THE POUND.

In days when fences were rare, and what did exist were mainly the upturned stumps of trees, the public pound was more of a necessity than it is today. Most Vermont towns still re- tain their old pounds, which now only occasionally furnish a jail for an animal turned loose, or one tired of the restraint of rein or fence.

Royalton had a pound keeper before any record shows that she had a pound. Probably some yard more than usually roomy was called into service as a confining place for strays. The first pound or "key-keeper" was Elisha Kent, who was chosen at the March meeting, 1780. The pound was probably either on his farm or near him. His neighbor on the other side of the road, a little below him, was Daniel Rix, and at the next March meeting Mr. Rix was chosen pound keeper, and they voted "to Build a Pound at the Croch of the Road West of the old Fort." This was important, not as regards the pound, but as locating the fort, which is discussed under the caption of "Royal- ton Fort."

It is by no means certain that a pound was built because they voted to have one. No provision was made for its building, and no one appointed to attend to it, and it is very likely that a private yard furnished the pound for some time. At the next March meeting, 1782, they voted to build a pound on Lieut. Ly- on's lot, and he was chosen pound keeper. This was a transfer of this public convenience from the southern part of the town to the central. The following year both Mr. Rix and Mr. Lyon were chosen pound keepers, and as evidence that the town had not yet built a pound, it is recorded that two committees were appointed for this important action. The military element was predominant, three lieutenants forming one committee, Stevens,

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Parkhurst, and Benton, and Lieut. Lyon, Benjamin Parkhurst, and Nehemiah Noble forming the other.

The same pound keepers were elected the next year, but the following year John Kent and Comfort Sever held the offices. Comfort Sever lived some distance from Mr. Lyon, in lot 11 Town Plot, and the fact that he was pound keeper seems to show that the town did not own a pound near the center, or if one had been built, that it was a primitive affair. The next year only one keeper was elected, Calvin Parkhurst, but the following year he and Lieut. Lyon were chosen, and they voted to build a pound at the meeting-house lot.

From that time only one person was elected yearly. Lieut. Lyon at different periods served twelve years. In 1804 he took the oath of office. When the lawyer, Jacob Smith, came to town, the voters elected him to that office, and his work was so satis- factory that they re-elected him the three following years, his period of service being from 1795 to 1799. The voters next drew on the merchants for a keeper, and Levi Mower contributed his service for two years. Mr. Mower evidently brought his business experience to bear on the needs of the pound, for in September, 1800, the town voted "to build a good substantial Pound on the N. E. corner of the Green by the first day of December next." After an interval of two years Mr. Mower served again one year, 1803. Jacob Smith was keeper again in 1805, and Stafford Smith held the "key" for ten years, 1813, 1816, 1819-25, 1828.

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History of Royalton, Vermont, with family genealogies, 1769-1911, Part 57

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