History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

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 3

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

road crosses the mountain at this point, at an elevation of one thousand four hundred and fifteen feet above the level of the ocean, and the fossilized bones of the elephant were found at that height, in a peat bed east of what is now called the Summit Station. The basin in which the peat is located appears to- have been originally filled with water. A large proportion of the material which formed the lower part of the peat consisted of billets of wood about eighteen. inches long, which had been cut off at both ends, drawn into the water and di- vested of the bark. The peat was fifteen feet deep before the excavation was made for the railroad. In making this excavation the workmen found at the the bottom of the bed, resting upon the gravel which separated the peat from the rock below, a huge tooth. The depth of the peat at this point was eleven fect. Soon afterward one of the tusks was found about eighty feet from the location of the tooth. Subsequently the other tusk and several of the bones of the animal were found near the same place. Professor Agassiz, who vis- ited the spot, pronounced them to be the bones of an extinct race of elephant. They were presented to the Museum of Natural History of the University of Vermont, at Burlington, for preservation and for an illustration of the fossil geology of the State. The grinder tooth weighed eight pounds, and the length of its grinding surface was about eight inches. The tusks were some- what decayed and one was badly broken. The most perfect tusk measures. about eighty inches in length and its greatest circumferance was twelve inches.

Other fossils have been discoved in the county, markedly in a cave in Chit- tenden, where the bones of small animals have been found, such as are now extinct.

Unstratified rocks occur at Mount Holly fourteen hundred feet above the ocean, or thirteen hundred feet above Lake Champlain, and there are other similar ones on Danby Mountain. At the latter point marble quarries are opened at various heights, one as high as fifteen hundred feet above the valley. Hematite, manganese, beds of ocher and pipe clay exist in several sections at Brandon, Chittenden and Wallingford. Brown iron ore, which is important in making steel, is found in Brandon, Chittenden, Pittsford, Tinmouth and Wal- lingford. Yellow ocher is found in immense quantities in Brandon.

Among the novel geological products is one kind of asbestos, or, as it is sometimes called, " mountain leather." It occurs in paper-like masses, lying between different portions of a rock, and the fibres are so small and closely interlaced that the whole bears the appearance of leather. Another name given to what is essentially the same thing is mountain or rock cork, from the fact that its specific gravity is so light that it will float in water.

Kaolin, or porcelain clay, is found in several places in the county. Trap- pean rocks are found nowhere in Vermont except in the form of dikes in the towns of Clarendon and Mount Holly. The rock appears to be a greenstone, constituting one of those freaks of nature found in all hilly and mountainous.

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

country. The dikes in this county are exceedingly numerous and vary much in their composition and character. Some of them consist of well-character- ized greenstone ; others consist almost entirely of white or yellowish feldspar. The greenstone, or trap dikes, are generally straight and of uniform width, and may be frequently traced through a considerable distance. The other class of dikes are often crooked in character. In West Rutland is a dike running nearly east and west, and another of the same character in Pittsford. There are others in Danby and Wallingford; the latter is the widest greenstone in Vermont. There are a few more important dikes, of which detailed descrip- tion would be too lengthy for these pages.

Heretofore in this chapter an effort has been made to avoid technical and scientific expressions. In giving information, however, of the useful and val- uable minerals found in the several towns, it becomes necessary in some in- stances to use scientific and unfamiliar names. The following list gives the lo- calities of the minerals of value in Rutland county : -

Brandon .- Hematite, pipe clay, yellow ocher, braunite, marble, plumbago, galena, copper pyrites.

Castleton .- Roofing slate, slate pencils, jasper, manganese ore.

Chittenden .- Brown iron ore, specular and magnetic iron, galena, iolite.

Clarendon .- Iron ore, marble and asbestos, or "mountain leather."

Danby .- Marble, stalactites, galena.

Fair Haven .- Roofing slate, iron pyrites.

Mount Holly .- Asbestos, chlorite.

Pittsford .- Hematite, manganese ores, plumbago, marble.

Poultney .- Roofing slate, peat.

Rutland .- Gold, copperas, marble, brown iron ore, pipe clay.

Sherburne .- Limestone, brown iron ore.

Shrewsbury .- Magnetic iron, copper pyrites, iron pyrites, smoky and milky quartz.

Sunbury .- Statuary marble.

Tinmouth .- Hematite, iron pyrites, magnetic iron, marble.

Wallingford .- Marble, hematite, manganese ores.

Wells .- Roofing slate.

West Haven .- Roofing slate.

This list comprises the more valuable and commercial minerals. Galena and quartz crystals have, however, been found in Mount Tabor and calcite at West Rutland and Danby. Galena is found in several towns of the county. A portion of the lead reduced from this ore gives a small quantity of silver. Professor Charles B. Adams said of a quantity found at Brandon, which he an- alyzed : " It was equal to one-fifth of one percentum, which is four pounds of silver to the ton of metal. This quantity will be well worth working, provided the lead is abundant. Probably one pound of silver in a ton of lead would

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

more than repay the cost of extraction, as lead yielding only four ounces to the ton is said to be profitably cupelled in Great Britain."

Quick lime, a valuable product, is scattered with beneficent profusion throughout the county, there being scarcely a town in which it is not found, either in a state of comparative purity or in combination with other rocks. Except upon rich cultivated meadows no portion of the State is so fertile as that upon the limestone of this section. Perpetual kilns are erected, and the business of manufacture is extensively carried on during all seasons of the year. The purest limestone is selected and the product of the kilns is as white as chalk. Most of the perpetual kilns are built contiguous to railroads, and thus the expense incident to transportation by team is avoided. At Brandon about 25,000 barrels of lime are obtained per annum by one company. Its purity renders it very valuable for bleaching and other similar purposes to which it is applied.

As the marble quarries and industries are to be considered in another chapter, only brief reference will be made to the subject here. Marble is a name applied to those varieties of carbonate of lime that can be quarried in large blocks destitute of fissures and sufficiently compact and uniform in struc- ture to receive a good polish. The value of marble, when found in workable quantity, depends upon the purity of its whiteness, or upon the beauty or agreeable association of color in the variegated kinds. Many varieties are often found in the same quarries - the white and gray, the mottled and striped ; but each is restricted to certain " tiers," " layers," or " beds," and generally continues with them sometimes several hundred feet. The variety of marble most extensively worked in Rutland county is the white granular variety, in structure and color similar to the Carrara marble of Italy. The translucent white marble, so highly held in regard by the ancients, has its equivalent in small quantities in the fine translucent marbles of Brandon. Quarries of the white marble are found in Rutland, Sudbury, Brandon, Pittsford, Clarendon, Wallingford, Tinmouth and Danby. It may be proper to here remark that until 1804 marble was not sawed in New England, but quarries were selected where " sheets " could be split off, which afterward were worked smooth and to the desired shape with chisels in the hands of workmen. Then the plan of the marble workers who lived in the time of Pliny was adopted, and the first marble in this section was sawed with a smooth strip of soft iron, with the help of sand and water-the plan now universally adopted. There have been many improvements, however, both in sawing and cutting marble that will be de- scribed in the chapter before alluded to, and sketches of the various enterprises in quarrying and working marble will be given in the history of the towns in which they exist.

The roofing slate of Vermont exists in three distinct divisions, the largest and most valuable being confined to Rutland county. The western division

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

extends through the towns of Castleton, Fair Haven, Poultney, Wells and Pawlet, and passes into the State of New York at Granville. The color resem- bles that of Wales, being of a dark purple with occasional layers of green inter- mixed. There are also strata in which pea green is the prevailing color, from which large quantities of that shade are obtained. Slate of a red color is also found. It now forms one of the leading industries of the county and proves remunerative to those who have embarked in the enterprise of working the quarries. In 1845 Hon. Alanson Allen, of Fair Haven, began the working of slate, and for several years limited his business exclusively to manufacturing school slates, turning out one hundred per day. In 1847 he began the manu- facture of roofing slate. In 1850 a new vigor was given to the slate business. Intelligent Welshmen, accustomed to working slate, emigrated to Fair Haven, Castleton and Poultney, made purchases of slate lands and opened quarries, and such was the character of the slate produced that the prejudice which had existed in various localities against the Vermont product disappeared. Im- proved machinery was introduced and the price of roofing slate in the market was so materially reduced as to seriously affect those who did not rely upon the cheap labor of Europe. At the present time the production per annum exceeds three times the whole amount of slate imported from all foreign coun- tries. Sawing and planing slate for black boards, billiard tables and tile have also been introduced. In 1855 the process of enameling slate was begun and now mantelpieces, bracket shelves, tables and other articles are largely manu- factured. They excel in beauty or finish the finest marbles and sell at about one-fourth the price of the marble which they quite faithfully represent. A description of the different slate industries will be given elsewhere.

Kaolin, or porcelain clay, commonly known as " pipe clay," " paper clay " and " putty," is found in several places, associated with ochers of iron and manganese. Unlike most clays, it is of snowy whiteness, slightly coherent and does not change color upon being burned ; it is extensively used in the manufacture of stone ware, fire-bricks, white earthen ware, paper, vulcanized India rubber, porcelain and other like articles. The largest and best deposit in this county is at Brandon, where fire-bricks are made, and large quantities of it are sold under the name of paper clay and used in paper-making. The bed at Brandon has the greatest thickness of any in the State. It is also found in small quantities in Chittenden and Wallingford. Clay for bricks is found in nearly every town of the county.

Pigments of various kinds are found in different parts of the county, and in such quantity as to be profitably worked. Paints have been extensively manu- factured in Brandon, and in this town there is found a greater variety of mate- rials suitable for pigments than in any other in the State; possibly greater than in any other in New England. The several colors of paints produced are yellow, brown, red, roofing paint, and raw and burnt umber. The Brandon

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

paints have been thoroughly tested and approved and they are recognized as among the best in the market. There are other points where manganese is found in isolated beds, independent of iron ore. Ocher beds often exist where workable ore is not found. Manganese is found in Brandon, Chittenden, Pitts- ford and Wallingford, and probably at other places.

The rocks of Rutland county, whose ages are determined by their imbedded fossils, are too old to contain workable beds of coal ; but persons unacquainted with geology, and perhaps regarding the occurrence of coal as accidental and governed by no fixed laws, have vainly sought for it among the silurian rocks of the Otter Creek valley, confiding more in the evidence upon the glazed sur- face of the black slate than in well-settled facts of science. Brown coal, com- posed of carbonaceous matter capable of sustaining combustion and emitting heat, is sometimes found. At Brandon it has been discovered in a bed having an area of twenty-five feet square, which has been penetrated to the depth of eighty feet perpendicularly and the coal removed and used as fuel in driving an engine.

Many of the iron ores are found in this county, of which the hematite is the most abundant and valuable for smelting. We cannot attempt more than a brief description of the principal beds and veins in the county. At South Wal- lingford iron ore is found, and has been worked, but the beds are now aban- doned. In Tinmouth the Chipman Bed was successfully worked more than thirty years, but this is also now abandoned. Another bed known as the Phillip Iron Mine, was opened and worked fifty years ago, and was not abandoned until a few years since. It is favorably situated for working and the ore ob- tained of good quality, but the ore has probably been mostly removed. In Pittsford and Chittenden beds of ore are still worked and considerable com- mercial value is put upon them. Iron ore was first discovered in Brandon in 1810, and soon afterward a forge was built and bar iron of a superior quality was manufactured for several years. In 1820 a furnace was built for reducing the ore, which met with success; it is to this furnace that Brandon is indebted for an impetus then given to its business growth and prosperity, the influence of which is still felt. The Blake Ore Bed, near Forestdale, was successfully worked for many years, but is not now in operation. To describe minutely the numerous beds of bog ore found would be a difficult task, for they exist in every town, but not one would, as far as known, produce iron enough to pay the expense, nor of a quality valuable for smelting.

At Cuttingsville is found a deposit of copperas ore, a name given to pyrites of iron and copperas. The beds have been worked, but were abandoned many years ago, although favorably situated, being upon a hillside and within a few rods of the railroad. Veins of tin exist in this belt where it has been explored at sufficient depth. No silver has been found in the county, except as before stated, although fabulous stories have been told of its existence and some ex-

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

plorations have been made in past years in Wallingford. Native gold has been found in small quantities in the beds or on the beaches of some of the smaller streams.

No county of the same extent in Vermont equals Rutland in the amount of its agricultural productions. The soils, although varying materially in their construction and composition, are invariably such as are favorable to the growth of grass, and the rocky hillsides, which would fail to remuncrate those who would attempt their cultivation, afford excellent pasturage, and, unlike some others, the very hill tops as well as the valleys beneath, have in midsummer a greenness which makes the name vert mont appropriate.

It has been our intention to briefly present the geological features of the county in such a manner as to be understood by the unscientific reader, and hence we have avoided as far as possible all technical terms. It will have been seen that this subject is one of interest and importance in this locality, and the same may be said of the mineralogy of the county. Therein lies largely the source of future wealth and prosperity, and, therefore, if for no other reason, it is a subject to be studied by all into whose hands this work shall fall.

Topography. - Upon the nature of the geological formations of a country depend, in a great measure, the salubrity of the atmosphere and its tempera- ture, the purity of the water, the fertility of the soil, and the aspect of its nat- ural scenery. A brief outline only can be attempted of the topography of the county, its mountains, streams and lakes, or ponds, and a few of the more in- teresting views and objects, which aid to form the beautiful and charming scen- ery for which Rutland county is so generally distinguished.

The county is situated between the parallels 43º 18' and 43º 54' north lat- itude, and between 3º 41' and 4º 19' longitude east from Washington. The mean temperature of the climate is about 43º, while the rain fall averages forty to forty-three inches a year.

The most striking and characteristic feature in the scenery of Rutland county is the range of Green Mountains that extends through its entire length, in which tower heavenward peaks of great altitude and grandeur. The range is unbroken and forms a water-shed from which flow eastward some of the tributaries of the Connecticut and those of the Hudson River and Lake Cham- plain to the westward. There are no rivers breaking through the mountains, as in the more northerly parts of the range, affording good opportunities for roads, but occasional small streams merely indicate a passageway ; the roads are consequently laid over the rugged mountains, not unfrequently passing across the range at an altitude of two thousand feet above the ocean. The pass at Mount Holly, one of the most favorable in the south part of the range, was selected for the course of the Rutland Railroad, and is one thousand, four hundred and fifteen feet above tide water at the " Summit " Station.

The highest elevation in the county is Killington Mountain, or Peak, which 3

HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

latter is its popular name. It is situated in the towns of Sherburne and Men- don and about ten miles distant from Rutland, and has within the last few years become a place of popular resort. The admeasurement of the distinguished Professor Guyot makes its height 4,221 feet above the ocean.

Shrewsbury Peak, which lies south of it, is 3,845 feet in height. Pico Peak lies to the north, is cone-shaped, and 3,954 feet in height. Although much difference of opinion existed at a former day as to which was the highest of these mountains, Professor Guyot conclusively settled the question, and a per- son standing on the highest point of Killington will be easily convinced that its altitude is much greater than that of the surrounding peaks, upon which he can look down. Shrewsbury at the southeast lifts its wooded sides, while, crowding close on Killington, towers Pico, the dense forests of which have never been broken by the woodman's ax. The scenery is grand and impressive. The view from the summit is as extensive as that at Mount Mansfield in the northern part of the State, the height of which is 4,430 feet above tide water, and exhibits a landscape of far greater diversity. Instead of Lake Champlain with its numerous bays and verdant islands and the intervening cultivated farms, there is spread out before the beholder a scene more wild, solitary and rural. To the west thriving villages are in full view even to the banks of the Hudson and a portion of Lake Champlain, while to the north can be traced the ser- pentine windings of the Otter Creek, with numerous prosperous villages and substantial farm-houses upon its fertile banks. Turning the gaze to the east- ward the view of the wild surroundings of the mountain is quite as extensive. A hotel has been erected near the summit and a good road constructed ; in the seasons stages run daily from Rutland and many persons visit the mountain top in their own conveyances. Within eight rods of the summit are three springs of water, such as are found on nearly all the peaks of the Green Moun- tains, cool, pure and limpid and well calculated to refresh and invigorate the traveler.

Among the most interesting natural curiosities of this section are the Calico or White Rocks in Wallingford, where the water-worn quartz pebbles are piled and cemented together. In a ravine opening to the southwest ice exists dur- ing the entire year. These White Rocks are 2,532 feet in elevation and, although not so high as some other points, afford a view of great beauty. There are rugged precipices, and rocks piled on rocks, presenting a scene of wild gran- deur. This is sometimes called the home of cagles, on account of the weird ruggedness of the beetling cliffs and dizzy heights. Mount Tabor is an ele- vated point of this range, but it has no especial attractions except some natural ponds. Nearly two-thirds of the mountain are still in a primeval state, and upon its heights are some of the largest charcoal kilns in the country.

West of the Green Mountains and nearly parallel with them is a range known as the Taconic Mountains, which extend from Massachusetts and enter

NATURAL CHARACTERISTICS.

the county at Danby, continuing as far north as Brandon. In this range are numerous passes affording opportunity for roads, notably in the valleys of the Pawlet, Poultney and Castleton Rivers. So numerous are these gaps that the range is given the appearance of a series of isolated mountains wholly indepen- dent of each other. The measurement of several peaks in this range shows that they rise to the height of 3,000 feet or more above tide water. The tops and sides are often clothed with variegated verdure, scarcely ever seen on the western slopes of the Green Mountains. The most important peak in the Taconic range is Bird Mountain, in the town of Ira, a distance of a few miles from Castleton and some six miles from Rutland. Its elevation above the ocean is nearly 2,500 feet.1 The sides of this mountain are so precipitous as to render ascent difficult, except on the northeast side ; at this point, even, the ascent is so steep as to preclude the possibility of going on horseback the entire distance ; foot-paths, however, lead to the top, which is not more than a mile distant from the wagon road. The summit consists of rock and is nearly destitute of soil and vegetation. In this respect it differs from other mountains of the range. The prospect is not as extensive as from many other summits, yet it embraces many interesting scenes. There is on every hand an agree- able diversity of landscape - hills and valleys, woods and cultivated fields.

Herrick Mountain, also in the town of Ira, about two miles eastward from Bird Mountain, is 2,661 feet in height. This peak forms a prominent feature of the landscape and presents an outline the peculiarity of which is well calcu- lated to arrest the attention ; it has the appearance of two mountains with a chasm between. There are other mountains in this range worthy of notice, although less prominent than those noted. Danby Mountain, lying mainly in that township, is one celebrated for its quarries of marble, situated twelve hun- dred feet above the valley, to which the product is transported by a railroad down the mountain. The view from this peak is somewhat limited, but quite picturesque. Haystack Mountain, in the town of Pawlet, is a notable eminence in the southwest part of the town. It rises to a height of about 2,000 feet and the sides are so steep as to form an angle in many places of at least sixty de- grees. Its summit is sharp and rugged, while other peaks more rounded in contour are thrown around it, producing a scene of rare beauty. 1136133

1 The tradition concerning the name of this mountai . is to the effect that in the spring of 1767 Colonel Amos Bird and others visited this region, before unknown to them. They journeyed from Connecticut to Bennington and Manchester by well-known paths ; thence all was a wilderness and they sought their way by marked trees, following the Battenkill and Otter Creek until Clarendon was reached. They soon came upon the old military road leading from Charlestown, N. H., to Crown Point, N. Y., and passed along the northern border of the town of Castleton and so on to Ticonderoga. There they replenished their stock of provisions and went down Lake Champlain to Whitehall. In their travels they had passed by Castleton, the point for which they set out. The tradition says that in surveying the town Colonel Bird lost his way and in wandering about reached the top of a high mountain, where he passed the night. From this circumstance the mountain took its name - " Bird Mountain." There are other traditions upon this question, but this one is believed to be most authentic.

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 3

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