History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170

USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 101

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853

TOWN OF WELLS.

early ; the latter died in 1847 ; he lived south of the village where William S. Norton owns and had a large family. Hallowel Merrills came early from Worthington, Mass., and settled on the farm owned and occupied by Henry and Harvey Johnson ; his son Thaddeus passed a long life in the town. Levi Merrills came from New Hampshire in 1813 and removed to Middletown in 1833. Timothy Morse, from Farmington, Conn., settled in town in 1772 ; he served in the French and Revolutionary Wars, and died in 1828, aged ninety. Elijah Parks came from Canterbury, Conn., in 1787, and settled where E. R. Pember now lives ; he was town clerk from 1790 to 1799 ; taught school nearly twenty winters, and removed to Granville in 1811. His son Joseph re- sided on the farm now occupied by his son Martin until 1848. He held many offices ; was representative three years from 1834, and selectman longer than any other person ; he died in 1868. Elijah Parks, jr., lived in the north part of the town and died in 1859. His son Hobert E. resided on the homestead until his death in 1868. Robert Parks was born in this town and always lived here as a leading citizen. Simeon Parks came from Canterbury in 1787 ; he died in 1817, leaving a large family ; his son Harvy lived on the homestead now occupied by his son, James H. Parks; he was a prominent citizen and represented the town two years, besides holding many other offices ; he died of cancer in 1867. His son James H. has also been in the Legislature and held various other offices. James Paul was one of the first settlers in the eastern part of the town, and died in 1805 aged eighty. His youngest son Stephen succeeded to the homestead and was born December 31, 1773 ; is said to have been thirteen years old when his father came to Wells. He died in 1843, aged seventy. Of his sons, Eliakim became a physician and practiced all his life in Middletown. His youngest son was Nelson, born in 1813; represented the town three years in the Legislature and held other offices. His son Hiland E., born December 31, 1836, was superintendent of schools four years and repre- sented the town in the Legislature in 1862-63. He is the author of the his- tory of Wells, from which we derive much of the information for this chapter. Jesse Parsons came into the town in in 1787, but removed to Genesee, N. Y., in 1804. John Pember settled in the north part of the town at an early day ; removed to Chautauqua county many years ago. His son Frederic lived on the place now owned by C. W. Burton; was a member of the Methodist Church nearly sixty years and much respected; he died in 1859; his family was prominent in the community. Captain William Potter was an early set- tler, coming from New London, Conn., to Pawlet and thence to Wells; he died in 1827, leaving a large family. His son William, jr., spent most of his long life in town and reared a large family. Dr. Samuel Potter practiced here a number of years and removed to Pawlet, where he died in 1835. Fayette Potter, of Pawlet, is his son. Seth Potter lived on the place now owned by C. A. Parker; he was a son of Captain William. Abel, another son, resided in

854

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

the village, but went to Rochester, N. Y., about 1826, where he died. John Pray, sen., came here with his son of the same name in 1778, and died a few years later. John Pray, jr., was a respected citizen and held the office of se- lectmen many years. He removed to Harmony, N. Y., in 1835 and died in 1844. Benjamin Rider came from Barnstable, Mass., in 1794; he died in 1824, leaving a large family. Elida Sprague settled on the place now owned by Wesley Rowe ; he had a family of six children and died in 1860. Peter Stevens came from Connecticut in 1786, and died in 1821. His son Abner lived on lands now owned by Hiram Francis, and died there. Gould Stiles, jr., settled in the north part of the town on the farm now owned by William Hicks ; he came from Middletown about 1805, and died in 1867. Amos Tooly came from Poultney about 1815 and lived in the northern part of the town ; he died in 1822, leaving a large family. Jason Tyler, from Connecticut, was one of the first settlers in the town and reared a numerous family ; he died in 1819. A. B. Tyler was a leading citizen, a justice several years and held other offices. Ziba Ware was one of the early blacksmiths of the town and died many years ago ; his son Lyman lived here until his death in 1839. David Ward was an early settler on the place owned by Darius Parks. Abijah Will- iams settled in the west part of the town and removed to Poultney in 1810. Daniel Wyman settled on the place now occupied by Alva Mitchell ; he died in 1787 and was the first person buried in the village burying-ground.

The foregoing sketches embrace brief records of nearly all of the earlier settlers of this town ; other names will appear in connection with the business and professional interests. The labors of these forefathers have been efficiently supplemented by their descendants, placing this town on a level with others of the county, as regards its material advancement and its morality and intelli- gence. Ogden Mallory, the first settler, found the town an unbroken wilder- ness, inhabited by wild animals ; to-day it is made up largely of well-tilled farms and comfortable homesteads. In the language of Mr. Paul, " Since the early settlement of the town, time has wrought many and marked changes both natural and social. The first settlers here, full of courage and self reliance, brought but little with them, relying mainly on their own strong arms to fur- nish subsistence to sustain life. It was with great difficulty that they could obtain the necessaries of life for their families, when first they came here; for after erecting cabins to shelter their families and protect them from wild beasts, they were obliged to cut down and fall into heaps many a noble pine, as well as oak and maple, and then burn them in order to raise their wheat and corn." The lives of the inhabitants of Wells have been in the main peaceful and the growth and improvement uninterrupted, if gradual. The remarkable cold summer of 1816 caused considerable loss to farmers and some suffering. It is said that a flock of sheep owned by Jason Tyler in the west part of the town, were found frozen to death in June, having been sheared but a short time before.

855

TOWN OF WELLS.

A few of the settlers participated in the War of 1812 and as far as known sustained the patriotic reputation of Vermont, as others had done in the pre- ceding great struggle. And when the country was again plunged into a terri- ble war, this town was not behind any other in furnishing her required number of volunteers and the necessary funds for aid in the struggle. At the close of the war there was but a very small indebtedness against the town, which paid a gross sum of $15,057 for war expenses. The following list gives the names of volunteers in Vermont organizations from this town as nearly correct as may be : -

Volunteers for three years credited previous to the call for 300,000 volun- teers of October 17, 1863. - Herbert Barden, co. B, 9th regt .; Henry Beebe, co. I, 7th regt .; Albert Broskins, 5th regt .; Charles D. Castle, co. B, 2d regt .; Lewis Conger, co. G, cav .; Roswell S. Fuller, 5th regt .; Harvey Guilder, Uriel K. Howard, 7th regt .; William H. Lincoln, Hiram D. Monroe, co. E, 5th regt .; Albert J. Reed, Thomas C. Reed, Edwin T. Saunders, James Sprague, 7th regt .; Ozro Sprague, co. B, 2d regt .; Hiram Wood, 9th regt .; Willard Woods, co. K, 2d regt.

Credits under call of October 17, 1863, for 300,000 volunteers and subse- quent calls. Volunteers for three years. - Franklin Acome, Nye O. Blake, 9th regt .; Homer Bradley, co. K, 10th regt .; Charles C. Cowles, cav .; Peter T. Dickey, Thomas Downing, 7th regt .; William T. Fry, co. F, 9th regt .; Edward M. Gee, 1Ith regt .; George S. Livingston, cav .; John Moore, John Newcomb, Charles Ripley, 7th regt .; Andrew W. Taylor, cav .; John Upton, co. D, 6th regt .; John Watts, 7th regt.

Volunteers re-enlisted .- George W. Flanders, Thomas C. Reed.

Naval credits .- Cyrus Foster, Edwin F. Lewis.

Volunteers for nine months .- George F. Brown, Seth Geer, Merritt Lamb, Alfred Lewis, Wilder Lewis, William Moody, Lysander Palmer, Phineas C. Paul, Warren A. Pierce, Elisha Wales, David F. Young, co. K, 14th regt.

Furnished under draft and paid commutation .- Adam Barden, Marcellus Francis, George W. Hathaway, Edward Hopson, Hiram W. Lewis, Oretes J. Merrill, H. E. Paul, James H. Potter, Horace Spaulding Procured substitute, Harlan P. Lewis.

Following are the present officers of the town : Town clerk, James Mc- Breen ; treasurer, O. R. Hopson; selectmen, H. W. Lewis, H. McFadden, Wesley Rowe; constable, D. S. Parks; superintendent of schools, Duane L. Rowe; listers, E. R. Pember, M. Wood, William Cooper ; auditors, D. L. Rowe, George S. Goodspeed, E. R. Pember; trustee of surplus money, D. S. Parks; town agent, James H. Parks; fence viewers, Hiram Wood, George Chittenden and A. X. Lewis ; grand juror, M. F. Wood ; inspector of leather, George Chittenden ; pound-keeper, H. W. Lewis.

The following figures show the population of the town at the different dates

856

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

given : 1791, 622; 1800, 978; 1810, 1,040; 1820, 986; 1830, 880; 1840, 740; 1850, 804 ; 1860, 642 ; 1870, 483 ; 1880, 665.

Schools .- In the year 1799 the inhabitants of Wells voted "To divide the town into two districts, as nater has divided it for schooling." This is believed to refer to the Pond Mountain range as the dividing line, north and south. In 1786 the town was divided into six school districts ; this number has varied up to ten or eleven ; at the present time there are six. From four hundred and one scholars, between four and eighteen years of age in 1803, the number has gradually decreased, until now there are less than two hundred.

Ecclesiastical .- The people of this town took an early interest in religious matters. In April, 1774, the town voted to build a "meeting-house " on the east side of the channel which connects the two ponds that form Lake Austin, and in the following October a committee was appointed to hire a minister. In May, 1789, a committee appointed for the purpose selected ten acres of land, and on the tract the town voted " To build a church thirty-six feet in length by one story and a half high." The land is now owned by Alva Mitch- ell and is on the rise between the pond bridge and Pond Mountain, on the north side of the highway. In the next year, 1790, the church was erected, but it was never entirely finished on the inside. The building was blown down on the 27th of March, 1847. On the same tract of land the first burial ground was laid out and there were buried many of the early settlers.

In 1799 a committee of five men consisting of Simeon Francis, Joshua Cul- ver, Joseph Button, Samuel How and Jonathan Paul, was appointed to " cir- culate a subscription paper to procure means to build a house for public wor- ship and town privileges." In the following year the second church of the town was built on the site of the present Universalist (or Liberal Christian) Church ; the Methodists, Episcopalians and Universalists, in fact, all Chris- tians, worshipped in this church together. Meetings were held here until 1855.

Methodist Church .- There was a Methodist class in this town, with Na- thaniel Lewis as leader, about as early as 1780. In 1789 Rev. Darius Dun- ham came here as preacher, and a revival followed his labor in which there were some thirty conversions. After this revival a class was organized in the east part of the town with Michael Clemons as leader. Lorenzo Dow fre- quently preached in Wells in 1797-98. The first church edifice was erected at East Wells about 1805 ; it was not entirely finished, and was taken down in 1810 and removed to the site of the present church at that point; this was again demolished in 1856 and the present building erected. In 1842 a neat church was erected at the village. There are only occasional services held at East Wells and Rev. F. Cameron, of Pawlet, preaches at the village. The first Sunday-school was established at East Wells in 1823.

Protestant Episcopal Church .- Among the early settlers were several fam-

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TOWN OF WELLS.

ilies of this denomination. About the year 1810 Rev. Stephen Jewett came into this section and preached for a time. A Protestant Episcopal Church (St. Paul's) was organized at Wells in April, 1824. Rev. Palmer Dyer officiated as rector here and at Granville. A church was erected in 1840. The society has declined in numbers, and Rev. E. H. Randall, of Poultney, preaches alter- nate Sabbaths.

Universalist Church .- A number of the early inhabitants were of this faith, and in 1821 the Rev. Aaron Kinsman located here as a minister and a small church was built ; this gave place to the present church in 1855 and the mem- bership was for a time larger than that of either denomination ; but it declined and at present no services in this creed are held.

Physicians .- There is at the present time no practicing physician nor law- yer in this town. The medical profession has, however, been well represented in past years. Dr. Backus H. Haynes, now of Rutland, practiced here from about 1841 to 1855. Dr. Socrates Hotchkiss was one of the pioneers of the town and came from Cheshire, Conn., in 1795. He built the house now occul- pied by Joel S. Wilcox. He died in 1810 and was known as a skillful practi- tioner. Dr. James Mosher practiced here a few years, but died in the early part of his career in 1816. Dr. Joseph Munson came from Salem, N. Y., in 1828 and practiced until age unfitted him for business ; he lived on the farm occupied by Frank Fenton, who married his granddaughter, and died in 1852. Dr. Charles C. Nichols, from Castleton in 1856, practiced here many years.

Municipal History. - Wells village, the only hamlet in the town, is situated a little southwest of the center. Many of the early merchants and manufact- urers have been noted. The distilling of liquor was quite an industry in the town before the building of railroads in the vicinity, and four distilleries were in existence at one time. The first was owned by Peter King and located where the union store was afterwards carried on ; it was in operation before 1800. The next one was established by Abel Potter about 1809 and located at the foot of Pond Mountain. The next was established about 1826 by Samuel Rust, and was near the residence of Frank and George Goodspeed. The last was owned and run by Elijah Parks, about 1829, and was near the present res- idence of William Hicks. All of these have been abandoned many years.

The manufacture of potash was also carried on quite extensively in early years, and served as a means for exchange between the settlers and tradesmen when money was a scarce article.

The Lake Austin Knitting Mills are located about half a mile west of the village. This site was purchased by John Blossom about the year 1814 and a clothing works built. In the year 1819 he sold the works to his brother Seth, who continued the business until 1823, when he sold to Henry Gray ; he added cloth machinery, using hand looms only. Mr. Gray continued the business until 1834 when he sold to Samuel Culver and Benjamin Lewis, the business

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

being then carried on under the firm name of Culver & Lewis, until 1843, when James Lamb bought Culver's interest and the firm was changed to Lewis & Lamb, who added power looms and other improved machinery which they continued to operate until the year 1848, when William Goodrich purchased Lamb's interest, the new firm continuing about one year, when Goodrich sold out to Lewis, he continuing the business alone until 1866, when his son, R. M. Lewis, became associated with him under the firm name of B. Lewis & Son. In 1873 the firm changed their business and engaged in the manufacture of knit underwear, shirts and drawers, since which time the mills have been known by their present name. The mill was leased to J. S. Wilcox during the years 1876, '77, '78, but was under the management of R. M. Lewis, the present owner. The mill has been twice destroyed by fire, the first time about the year 1830, and again in 1853. The main building is thirty-five by one hundred feet, two stories high, there also being connected with it a dye-house twenty- two by thirty feet, store-house twenty-five by twenty-five, picker house twenty- by twenty-five, and wood-shed twenty by forty feet. The product, amounting to about $20,000 per annum, is mostly sold in New York.

The first cheese factory was established in 1865 by James Norton ; in the year 1867 he manufactured from the milk of over three hundred cows. Since that date the dairying interest has greatly developed.

The Lewis cheese factory was built by Benjamin Lewis in 1875, and is now owned by Rodney M. Lewis ; it manufactures about 85,000 pounds annually. The Alfred Lewis cheese factory was built at East Wells in 1871, but has ceased business.

The Goodrich grist-mill, located in the southwest part of the town, on the outlet of the lake, was erected by Roswell Goodrich about 1808. In later years it passed to the Halsey Goodrich estate and is now owned and operated by Irving Goodrich ; it has four run of stones.

The Wilder Lewis saw-mill was originally built over fifty years ago ; it is on the outlet of Lake St. Catherine, and was rebuilt by Mr. Lewis in 1851. About 200,000 feet of lumber are manufactured annually.

Goodspeed's saw-mill, on Mill Brook, was built by W. Goodspeed in 1840, and now manufactures about 500,000 feet of lumber annually. A planing-mill and a bobbin factory, with steam power, have been recently added, and the mill is now owned and operated by G. & F. R. Goodspeed.

The mercantile business of Wells has never been large, and at the present time there are but two stores. One of these is owned by Leffingwell & Son, of Middletown, and is managed by Elmer E. Paul; it was started in 1884 and is located in one of the oldest buildings in the place. Allen Grover had a store in this building in 1836. Messrs. Hull & McBreen and W. C. Barker after- wards kept it. The other store is kept by O. R. Hopson, on the site of the store building which was burned in 1882. Mr. Hopson rebuilt and stocked the store.

859

TOWN OF WESTHAVEN.

The only post-office of the town is at this village ; it was presided over in early years by Levi Lewis, who was followed by Orlin Lewis. William H. Hull took the office about 1860, to about eight years ago, when R. W. Good- rich took it for about two years ; he was followed by J. C. Dean one year, and he by O. R. Hopson, the present official.

CHAPTER XLIII.

HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF WESTHAVEN.

W TESTHAVEN, the most westerly town in Rutland county, lies just east of Lake Champlain, and is bounded on the north by Benson, on the east by Fairhaven, and on the south by the Poultney River, separating it from White- hall, N. Y.

The surface of this town is rough and broken, the various ridges which cross it extending generally north and south. Bald Mountain, occupying the entire southern extremity of the town, contains about 4,000 acres of land which by its rough and irregular elevation renders it almost impossible of cultivation. The town is separated from Fairhaven by a natural barrier called the Great Ledge, which is not, however, so high nor steep as to offer any serious obstacle to highway travel. The country is drained by several small streams, of which the largest are Hubbardton River and Cogman's Creek, the former entering the eastern part of the town from the north and flowing into Poultney River about a mile west of Carver's Falls, while the latter flows in a parallel course about two miles farther west.

The territory of Westhaven was originally included in the town of Fair- haven, chartered by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, October 27, 1779. The warning for the March meeting in 1792 proposed for the peo- ple, among other considerations, " to see if they will agree to petition the Leg- islature of this State to divide this town into two, and to see if they can agree on a dividing line." James Witherell and Lemuel Hyde were constituted agents to present the petition to the Legislature. At another meeting, on the 22d of the same month, on the question as to the location of the dividing line, the vote stood against placing it at " Mud Brook " forty-eight to nine ; Hub- bardton River, forty-eight to nine, and in favor of the present line from Poult- ney River to a line on the hill parallel with the west line of Brooks's lot, thence along the Great Ledge to Benson, forty-eight to seven. At an adjourned meeting on March 27, it was voted that this part of the territory be called Westhaven. By an act of the Legislature, approved on the 20th of the follow- ing October, the separation was confirmed.

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

The petition of Messrs Witherell and Hyde to the Legislature, convened at Rutland on the 8th of October, contained the following reasons why the divi- sion should be effected : -

" Ist, Because ' the public road goes more than 16 miles from the north- west to the southeast corner, at which extremes the town is inhabited.'

" 2d, Because it is 13 miles from the southwest corner to the east side of the town.

" 3d, Because there is a ' Great Ledge,' which nearly divides the east from the west part.

" 4th, The west part of the town having better land than the east part, yet a large share of it remaining in a state of uncultivation ; and the east part hav- ing natural accommodations for water works, and great roads through it, makes it consider its future importance ; - so that each part has its expenses while not considering the expenses of the other part, they cannot agree on a center as one town, yet when divided there is not the least difficulty, each being ready to agree on a center for itself.

"5th, The town being longer than a 6 mile square town, the inhabitants. have always expected to be divided, and although at times they might disagree about the place where to divide, yet each extreme has scarcely ever failed of wishing to get rid of the other, which has at times created difficulties which we do not wish to mention."

Against this petition the following persons protested that " they think the town so small that a division will be injurious, the Grand List being only £2283 and Ios., the number of freemen not exceeding one hundred, and the land on the west of the line of a vastly superior quality, therefore they pray that the town may not be divided : - but if it is to be, that the dividing line may ex- tend so far westward as to take in one-half of the whole number of acres in the town, and so far as to Hubbardton River": Samuel Stannard, Alexander Mc- Cotter, John Howes, Isaac Turner, Abraham Utter, Jonathan Orms, John War- ren, Amos Lay, Russel Smith, Ansel Merritt, Martin Merritt, James Merritt,. Daniel Cushman, Philip Priest, Timothy Goodrich, Daniel Munger, Peter Cra- mer, Henry Cramer, jr., Dan Smith, Joel Hamilton.

The two towns, however, continued jointly to elect one representative to. the General Assembly until 1823, since which time the elections have been separate.

The settlement of Westhaven is contemporary with that of its sister town. It may be inferred from the language of the charter of Fairhaven and from the general disturbance of affairs at the time, that during the War for Independence- the territory of the town was not extensively occupied or improved.

" Along the shore of the lake and the borders of the bay and rivers there were a few settlements commenced, as will be seen by subsequent records, but mainly the town was a wilderness, inhabited by wild beasts and traversed by

861

TOWN OF WESTHAVEN.

hunters' trails. We hear of bears and wolves in the town after it began to be settled, and it is probable that the deer had within our ancient borders many a favorite haunt and runway."1

Major Ebenezer Allen, of Tinmouth, and Captain Isaac Clark, of Castleton, had a " hunting camp " on one of the ledges in Westhaven, not far from the Benson line from which paths radiated in various directions, before the town was chartered. The proprietors met at this camp on the 21st of August, 1780, to begin the survey of the proprietary pitches. They allowed Major Allen the privilege of covering with a proprietary right a tract in the north part of this town which he had purchased of Joseph Hyde ; and Benoni Hurlburt a simi- lar privilege with a lot, on the bank of East Bay, which he sold in July, 1784, to Luman Stone, of Litchfield, Conn. Carver's Falls seem to have derived their name from one Joseph Carver, who, together with Joseph Haskins, Jona- than Hall and John Vandozer, claimed to have been unjustly deprived of pos- sessions in the vicinity which they had improved, " having fled " from southern New England to this State to " resume its liberties and promote its interests." He does not, however, seem to have effected a permanent settlement here. Samuel Stannard, afterward a resident of Fairhaven, resided for a time in the western part of Westhaven. In 1872 Beriah Mitchell came from Woodbury, Conn., to Westhaven by the way of Castleton, and settled on the farm now occupied by Mrs. Adelaide Hitchcock and her son, Willard. He was con- stable in 1784, and a leading man. He returned to Connecticut in 1786. The place passed from his hands into his brother's, Ichabod Mitchell, who came here about 1783, and kept a public house at the corner of the road.

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 101

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co. Number of Pages: 1170

Author: Smith, H. P. (Henry Perry), 1839-1925. 1n; Rann, William S
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Syracuse, N.Y., D. Mason & co.
Number of Pages: 1170