USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 44
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On the Ist of May, 1875, the Rev. Judson K. Richardson became pastor of the church, and was succeeded by the Rev. Charles A. Reese in 1883 (Sep- tember 1), who is at the present time officiating for the society. The present membership is 390, and that of the Sabbath-school 415.
The first church building was erected on Main street, on the lot a part of which is now occupied by the parsonage. This building was used until 1871, when on the 18th of July the corner-stone of the present handsome brick edi- fice was laid on Center street, and on the evening of February 1, 1872, the new house was opened with appropriate services. Its cost was about $42,000. The present church officers are John Murray, Luther Angier, Eri W. Horner, Benjamin W. Marshall, Dennison M. White, deacons ; D. M. White, J. E. Til- son and Thomas J. Lyons, trustees ; R. R. Kinsman, clerk; J. E. Tilson, Sun- day-school superintendent.
The Baptist Church at West Rutland was organized in June, 1884. The first pastor was H. C. Leavitt, who died in January, 1885, and was succeeded by the present pastor, Rev. A. N. Woodruff. The church edifice was built during the year 1884, and cost about three thousand dollars. The church membership is thirty-nine, and that of the Sunday-school sixty. The deacons are James Hazelton, Albert Fish. L. T. Barber is superintendent of the Sun- day-school.
· Methodist Churches. - When the preaching of the Methodist faith in this vicinity first began we have been unable to learn, but it was early in the cen- tury, as old residents remember services held in the school- house and private houses more than sixty years ago. The First Methodist Church organization was effected at Center Rutland in 1831, with a membership of fifty-two, and probably the first pastor stationed there was Rev. F. W. Smith, who officiated in 1834 and 1835. It is probable that the church was erected there not many years later - the building now occupied by Mr. Harris as a store. Mr. Will- iams was able to gather the following names and approximate dates of their service at Center Rutland : 1838, William F. Barnes; 1841, E. Hall; 1842, M. Townshend, Thomas Hunt; 1843, William Griffin, William H. Hull; 1844, William Griffin ; 1846-47, H. Warner, jr .; 1848-49, A. Lyon; 1850, C. Bar- ber ; 1852, William Ford. In 1854 the churches in Rutland and Center Rut- land, were united.
On the 12th day of March, 1853, James L. Slason and William A. Burnett
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were appointed a committee to make arrangements for Methodist preaching at the East Village during the year. They immediately took steps to employ a preacher, and to procure a place for holding meetings, and strange as it may seem now, they were refused the court-house, although it had been before, and was then and for some time thereafter, used by other religious societies. The result of their arrangements may be seen from the following " Notice," which was left at every house in the village : -
" Providence permitting, there will be Methodist preaching at the Railroad Depot in this Village, next Sunday afternoon at 5 o'clock, by Rev. John Par- ker, of the M. E. Church. Yourself and family - all are invited to attend. Per order of the Official Board.
"WILLIAM A. BURNETT, Secretary.
" Rutland, June 10, 1853."
The service was held, and from that time to the present there has been a Methodist Church in this village. Steps were at once taken to erect a church building, the corner-stone of which was laid July 27, 1854. The first pastor was Rev. John Parker, and there were but six members as follows : William A. Burnett and wife, Mrs. Mary and Miss Jane Thrall, and Misses Jane and Lucy Duncklee. Services were held for a time in the third story of the old Perkins block until the erection of the first church in 1855-56, which was followed by the present edifice in 1873 ; it cost about $5,000. The present site was do- nated by the late William Y. Ripley, whose heirs also purchased the old Cen- ter Rutland Church. The following are the names of the clergymen and the years of their service : 1853, John Parker; 1854, Alexander Campbell, An- gelo Carroll; 1855, Alexander Campbell, A. Carroll; 1856, John Kiernan, J. WV. Carhart; 1857, John Kiernan, C. H Richmond ; 1858, C. R. Ford, Ed- win H. Hynson ; 1859, C. R. Ford, George S. Chadbourne ; 1860, M. Lud- lum, W. W. Atwater; 1861, M. Ludlum, W. W. Atwater; 1862, George S. Chadbourne, J. E. Metcalf; 1863, George S. Chadbourne, Edwin H. Hynson ; 1864, Alexander Campbell, George S. Chadbourne ; 1865, A. Campbell, J. W. Elkins ; 1866, D. W. Dayton; 1867, D. W. Dayton ; 1868, A. F. Bailey ; 1869, A. F. Bailey ; 1870, Barnes M. Hall ; - 1871 ; H. F. Austin, 1875; Joel W. Eaton, 1877; J. M. Edgerton, 1879; J. W. Quinlan, 1881 ; D. R. Lowell came in the spring of 1882, and the present pastor in the spring of 1885. The present church membership is 377 and that of the Sabbath- school 300. The church officers are as follows : stewards, L. F. Southard, George C. Thrall, C. W. Nichols, F. W. Shedd, A. R. Howard, D. L. Morgan, S. P. Curtis, H. S. Howe, A. D. Slack, George Ellis, and E. W. Morgan. Class leaders, W. B. Clawson, C. C. Kinsman, T. B. Kelley, H. G. Bateman, George Proctor, C. H. Bunker, H. C. Harris, and Mrs. Mary Williams. The Sunday- school superintendent is D. L. Morgan, and W. D. Sherman is sexton.
A new Methodist Church was organized at West Rutland in 1884 and a
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church built in the same year at a cost of about $5,000. The society has less than fifty members and is ministered to by Rev. J. G. Perkins. The stewards are Asel W. Ward, E. D. Poronto and A. E. North.
Trinity Church .- The first notice that we have of the Protestant Episco- pal Church in Rutland is a notice that appeared in March, 1784, that Rev. Mr. Chittenden would deliver a sermon to the Episcopal Society, in the State- house, Rutland, and on the 30th of September of the same year it was an- nounced that " a Protestant Episcopal Church is formed in Rutland and vicin- ity under the pastoral care of Mr. Ogden." No results appear to have fol- lowed from this organization, although the annual conventions of the church were held in Rutland, and the parish was represented by lay delegates in 1795, 1802 and 1807. In 1817 another attempt was made, and February 19 of that year " the Protestant Episcopal Society of Trinity Church, Rutland," was organized by the Rev. George T. Chapman, then of Greenfield, Mass. On the 13th of September, 1818, Bishop Griswold, of the eastern diocese, visited Rutland, and in his annual address says that this church has been very desir- ous to obtain the permanent services of a settled minister, and has manifested a very laudable liberality in offering to subscribe for his maintenance. They have been disappointed and disheartened.
In 1826 " St. John's Church, Centerville, Rutland," was received into con- nection with the convention, and Rev. Louis McDonald, as minister, in June 1826, reports that " services have been kept up between this and the east par- ish alternately since February last."
In 1831 Rev. Moore Bingham officiated for some time, but for how long it is not possible to ascertain, as "visiting minister " of St. John's Church, and from this time that church seems to have ceased to exist.
The parish had no permanent place of worship until 1833, when they erected a church on Main street not far from West street. They subsequently sold the building for $1,000 and erected the elegant new structure in 1878 at a cost of $40,000. The corner-stone was laid by the Rt. Rev. W. H. A. Bis- sell, D. D., bishop of Vermont. He also consecrated the church December 4, 1879.
In January, 1832, Rev. John A. Hicks accepted the rectorship of Trinity Church, and from that time the real existence of the church may be dated. Rev. John Augustus Hicks, D. D., was born in New York city, February 21, 1800, and graduated at Columbia College in 1823, and at General Theological Seminary in 1826. He was ordained deacon by Bishop Onderdonk in Grace Church, Jamaica, August 22, 1826, and ordained priest by Bishop White, May 28, 1828, in Philadelphia. He was for a short time assistant minister to the Rev. Evan M. Johnson, in Jamaica and Brooklyn. He was rector of Trinity Church, Easton, Penn., from April 1, 1827, to April, 1831, when he accepted a call to St. John's Church, Troy, N. Y., which he resigned in January, 1832,
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on being invited to the rectorship of Trinity Church, Rutland. He remained in Rutland twenty-eight years, resigning July 7, 1860, to accept the Will- oughby professorship in the Vermont Episcopal Institute, with the general charge of the theological department, he having been a member of the board of trustees from its organization in 1856. In 1865 he resigned his trusteeship and professorship, and had since that time devoted himself to missionary work in Georgia, Milton and Fairfax. He had been a member of the standing com- mittee of the diocese for over twenty years ; a member of the board of trust- ees of the General Theological Seminary; a member of the board of law agents since 1847, and since 1857 secretary and treasurer of the board. He represented the diocese of Vermont in general (triennial) conventions of the church for the United States at ten different times. He received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from the University of Vermont and from Trinity College. He died at Burlington November 4, 1869, at the age of sixty-nine years.
On the resignation of Rev. Dr. Hicks, the Rt. Rev. John Henry Hopkins, D. D., LL. D., D. C. L., Oxon., officiated until the first of October, 1860, when he was elected and accepted the office of rector for two years.
Bishop Hopkins was born in Dublin, Ireland, January 30, 1792, and came to America with his parents in 1800, and was educated chiefly by his mother. He was originally a maker of iron, then studied law and was admitted to the bar and practiced his profession at Pittsburgh, Pa., and was rapidly rising in eminence, when, in 1823, he left the bar for the ministry, and was ordained a priest in May, 1824, and immediately became rector of Trinity Church, Pitts- burgh. In 1831 he resigned and became assistant minister of Trinity Church, Boston, where he remained until he was elected the first bishop of the sepa- rate diocese of Vermont in May, 1832, and was consecrated in New York Oc- tober 3 Ist of the same year by Bishop White. He immediately came to Ver- mont, accepting at the same time the rectorship of St. Paul's Church, Burling- ton. He resigned the rectorship of that church in 1856, in order that he might devote himself more unreservedly to diocesan work and the building up of the " Vermont Episcopal Institute." He died at Burlington January 3, 1868.
Rev. Roger S. Howard, D. D., succeeded Bishop Hopkins, and became rector December 1, 1861, and remained until June, 1867, when he resigned. Rev. Dr. Howard was a native of Vermont, and graduated at Dartmouth Col- lege in 1829. He represented the town of Thetford in the Legislature of Ver- mont in 1849. He subsequently studied for the ministry, and before coming to Rutland was rector of a church in Greenfield, Mass., and subsequently in Portland, Maine. From here he went to Woodstock, and on the first Sunday of July, 1867, became rector of St. James Church. He remained here some over a year, and then resigned to accept the presidency of Norwich University and the rectorship of St. Mary's Church, Northfield. Rev. Dr. Howard was
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succeeded by Rev. John Milton Peck, who assumed the rectorship of the church August 1, 1867, and remained here three years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Walter Mitchell, who was followed by the Rev. H. M. Denslow, he hav- ing had charge of the parish until 1885 ; the church is at present without a rector. The present church officers are : Charles Clement, senior warden ; George R. Bottum, junior warden; George E. Graves, treasurer ; Benjamin Burt, W. F. Lewis, O. Wooster and Levi Kingsley, vestrymen.
In 1859 an Episcopal church and society was organized at West Rutland by the name of Grace Church, and was admitted into the union with the con- vention of the diocese June 6, 1860. Rev. D. Wills had pastoral charge of the church during a part of the years 1859 and 1860. After him Rev. Albert Bailey took charge of the church, officiating one-half of the time. In the year 1878 a neat church was erected and in the following year the Rev. Ed- ward P. Lee became rector and has remained to the present time. The ves- trymen of the church are W. W. Felt, Henry J. Harmon, E. Tremaine, David Peters, Dr. D. Fosburgh. Judah Dana is secretary of the vestry. The Sabbath-school has a membership of about twenty-five and the church fifty- five.
St. Paul's Universalist Church. - The first preaching in this faith was by Dr. Charles Woodhouse in the year 1836, when he conducted services in the old court-house and when that proved inadequate, in an open grove. He re- moved to Clarendon in 1844 and presided over the church in that place for several years, returning to Rutland in 1855 ; he remained here two years, dur- ing which period the Unitarians and Universalists of the vicinity united in their worship, their meetings being held in the second story of the old Perkins block, corner of West street and Merchants Row (now the Landon block). There was no regularly organized society and parish until January 1, 1885, when the following officers of the parish were selected : Benjamin Billings, jr., moder- ator; A. P. Fuller, clerk; D. H. Barber, treasurer ; Dr. J. E. Thompson, E. H. Wood, and O. L. Hill, trustees. The officers of the society are J. G. Put- nam and O. L. Hill, deacons. Rev. G. W. Perry has charge of the church and it is hoped to erect an edifice during the year 1886.
Second Advent Church .- This society was organized with forty-two mem- bers in 1858 by Miles Grant, with Rev. Matthew Batchelder as first pastor. During the following year a modest church was erected on West street. This was torn down and in November, 1883, a neat new church was erected. The present pastor is Rev. T. L. Drury, who came in the spring of 1882. The so- ciety has about sixty members. J. M. Ballou is deacon.
Roman Catholic Churches .- " Prior to 1837," wrote Mr. Williams, " there . was no organization of the Roman Catholic Church in Rutland, and in order to attend the services of their own church the members of the denomination were compelled to, and did, go to Castleton and other places. During that
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year, or the next, this was made a " missionary station," and the Rev. J. Daly occasionally held services here and at other points in Western Vermont.
The Rev. Z. Druon came here as a missionary in 1854, and in 1855 estab- lished St. Bridget's Church at West Rutland, and St. Peter's Church in East Rutland, both being in one parish. He remained until January 5, 1857, at which time the parish was divided into two separate parishes. During the year 1855 a small church was erected in the St. Peter's parish, which was used until 1869, when, on the 5th of July, the corner-stone of the beautiful and com- modious stone edifice, Rutland, was laid by the bishop of the diocese of Bur- lington ; it was finished in 1873 and cost nearly $60,000. Under the very efficient direction of Rev. Father Boylan, his church and schools have rapidly increased in membership. In the year 1882 the Mount St. Joseph convent was erected on grounds adjoining those of St. Peter's Church, which is managed on the general plan of an academy and boarding-school and is taught by the Sis- ters of St. Joseph ; its cost was about $75,000.
Upon the division of the parish, as before detailed, in 1857, Rev. F. Picart became pastor of St. Bridget's Church, where he remained until November, 1859. He was succeeded by Rev. Thomas Lynch, through whose exertions the funds for the erection of the beautiful stone edifice at West Rutland were mainly collected. He continued pastor until 1869, when he was succeeded by Rev. Charles O'Reilly, who still retains the office. The first church used at West Rutland was built of wood, and the present one was finished in 1861, at a cost of about $20,000 ; the entire property is worth about $25,000 ; the mem- bership is about thirteen hundred and that of the Sunday-school three hundred.
Church of the Sacred Heart of Mary. - In the year 1869 a Roman Cath- olic Church bearing the above name was organized from the French popula- tion of the vicinity, with the Rev. Louis Gagnier as parish priest. The con- gregation met for a time in Chaffee's Hall, but soon took steps towards erecting a church on Lincoln avenue, which was so far completed as to be used in the spring of 1870. The first pastor was succeeded by Rev. J. M. Cloarec, and in 1875 the Rev. J. M. Gelot came ; he still retains the charge and has been as- sisted since 1881 by his brother. This society has a branch church at West Rutland, bearing the same name and organized in the same year. A new church was built there in 1883 at a cost of about $5,000. In 1884 a French Catholic school was opened which has now about one hundred pupils. It is taught by J. L. Hernot and a lady assistant.
In February, 1857, a religious society calling themselves " Christians," founded by Elder Miles Grant, of Boston, was organized by the name of " Christ · Church." They, in 1860, built a church or chapel on West street, which is now known as the " Free Christian Chapel." The first regular preacher was Elder Matthew Batchelder, who remained about three years, and was suc- ceeded by Elder H. F. Carpenter, who was followed by Elder George W. Stet- son. The church is now, and has been for a number of years, vacant.
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A Liberal Christian Society was organized in Rutland, July 20, 1867. Since the society was organized it has been supplied from one to five Sabbaths each by Rev. Dr. Stebbins and Rev. William Tilden, of Boston, Rev. J. F. Moors, of Greenfield, Mass., Rev. Mr. Reynolds, of Concord, Mass. In addition to these temporary supplies Rev. C. A. Hayden, of Boston, supplied the pulpit one-half of the time for six months. Rev. F. W. Holland was employed by the society from the second Sunday of February to the second day of August, 1869. He was succeeded by the Rev. L. W. Bingham, who commenced his labors on the third Sunday of September, 1869, and remained until the second Sunday of September, 1870.
THE SCHOOLS OF RUTLAND. 1
In the organization and early settlement of the town of Rutland the subject of education was not overlooked, and a system of public instruction, similar to that adopted by the other towns in the State, and known as the "common school " system, was early inaugurated. It is essentially the system which, with some modifications, has, during the last two hundred and fifty years, been the basis of popular education in New England.
It is founded on the doctrine that State policy requires that the people of the State are, to a certain extent, educated.
Its aim is to give to the youth of the State such an education as will fit them for the ordinary duties of life.
Hence the State exercises a certain jurisdiction and supervision over its educational institutions. The work of the common schools has been and is the instruction of the youth of the State in the rudimentary branches of education, leaving the higher departments of learning to the academies, seminaries and colleges. Hence it is that a very large majority of the people receive from the common schools of the State all the education that they receive from any source. The common schools of Rutland have, during their history, compared favorably with those of the other towns in the State. There are at the present time, exclusive of the graded school, eighteen school districts in Rutland, with an enrollment of sixteen hundred and eighty pupils.
Three of these districts have each two schools, one has three schools, and one six. The other districts have each one school. The number of teachers employed at the present time is twenty-nine. The present town superintend- ent of schools, J. J. R. Randall, has held the office for many years.2
The Rutland Graded School is also a public school. It is, at the present time, composed of one high school, five grammar schools, four intermediate schools, six secondary schools, and five primary schools, with a total enroll- ment of eleven hundred and sixty-five pupils, and employing twenty-three teachers.
I Contributed to this work by J. J. R. Randall, superintendent of schools.
2 It should be noted that this office is distinct from that of superintendent of the Graded School.
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In the primary, secondary, intermediate and grammar departments are taught the branches established by the State to be taught in the common schools, while in the High School are taught the higher branches, including the Greek and Latin languages.
The Graded School is free to all pupils residing in the graded district. Non-resident pupils are charged tuition fee.
The course of study in the High School for the year 1885 is as follows : Algebra, English composition, physical geography, geometry, astronomy, phys- ics, United States history, English history, general history, English literature, Greek, Latin, declamation and composition.
With the exception of a few private schools, the district schools constituted the only means of instruction in Rutland until 1852. In that year an academy was opened in a new building on Main street. That building now constitutes a part of the present High School building, extensive additions to it having been made in 1879. Luther Lowell was the first principal of the academy, commencing in the autumn of 1852 and continuing until the close of the spring term in 1854. He was succeeded by George A. Weeks, who began in the autumn of 1854 and continued to the end of the spring term in 1855, when the academy ceased to exist as an institution, and was superseded by the Union School.
" The establishment of public high schools by the union of contiguous dis- tricts, for the benefit of the older and more advanced scholars of such districts, was authorized by the Legislature of Vermont in 1841." Under this act a union district was formed in the village of Rutland, by the separate votes of four districts. On the 6th of April, 1855, by a public meeting of the districts, the union was consummated, and soon after a high school was established.
The districts that united to form the Union school district were as follows : District No. 2, with its building on Green street; District No. 20, with its building on the "turnpike," now known as Woodstock avenue; District No. 19, with its building on the corner of West and Church streets; District No. 18, with its building on School street.
All of the above buildings are still standing where they then stood, except that on Green street, which was pulled down in 1882, and a new one was erected in its stead on the corner of Madison and Prospect streets in 1883. This new building was first used for the spring term of 1883.
At the time of the organization of the Union district the following named gentlemen were the prudential committees of the several districts that united in the Union district : No. 2, F. W. Hopkins, H. A. Dyer, Josiah Huntoon. No. 18, L. L. Whitcomb. No. 19, John Landon, Joseph Gaskill, H. G. Clark. No. 20. John B. Page, W. H. B. Owen, Ethan Judd.
After the organization of the Union district was completed the following named gentlemen were chosen as the officers of the Union district for the first
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year, 1855-56 : No. 2, H. R. Dyer, Josiah Huntoon, Moses Perkins. No. 18, Rev. E. S. Barrett, Charles R. Shaw, B. K. Abbott. No. 19, W. A. Burnett, W. W. Ingraham, H. G. Clark. No. 20, John B. Page, W. H. B. Owen, Ethan Judd. John B. Page, chairman ; James Barrett, moderator ; F. W. Hopkins, clerk; Newton Clark, treasurer.
Officers for 1856-57 : No. 2, Henry Hall, D. G. McClure. No. 18, Calvin Brewer, L. L. Whitcomb, Calvin Brewer, jr. No. 19, W. A. Burnett, J. H. Bowman, Daniel Verder. No. 20, John B. Page, Luther Daniels, James Ross. John B. Page, chairman ; Robert Pierpoint, moderator ; J. H. Bowman, clerk ; Luther Daniels, treasurer.
Officers for 1857-58 : No. 2, D. G. McClure, Dr. D. E. Page, M. L. Rich- ardson. No. 18, Hiram Haynes, E. S. Barrett, S. G. Hubbard. No. 19, John Landon, D. Verder, G. C. Ruggles. No. 20, J. B. Page, James Ross, Z. Terrill. J. B. Page, chairman ; James Barrett, moderator ; J. H. Bowman, clerk ; Luther Daniels, treasurer.
Up to that time the prudential committees of the several districts that formed the Union district had constituted the Union district committee. But the num- ber of members was found to be inconveniently large, and at the annual school meeting in 1858, it was voted that the committee of the Union district should be composed of the chairman only of the district committees and a member elected at large by the Union district.
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