History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 60

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 60

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Fire Department .- The first fire company in Brandon was organized in about 1856, by the name of the Neshobe Fire Company, and a single brake engine was then bought. There were about forty members in the company, of which John Howe was foreman and Charles W. Briggs was clerk. Since that time the organization has been in existence without interruption. The engine was disused when the water works were completed. The present or- ganization, Volunteer Hose No. 1, was effected on January 15, 1880. The charter members and first officers were as follows: Foreman, C. S. Boynton ; Ist assistant, D. C. Luce; 2d assistant, A. C. Halsey ; clerk, F. H. Welch ; treasurer, C. O. Meacham; other members, F. C. Spooner, F. E. Kingsly, Charles A. Farr, F. W. Bacon, W. P. Wheeler, E. G. Whitcomb, George H. Rolfe, John Condor, W. F. Scott, Joseph Pippin, C. R. Fish, G. W. Olmstead, E. R. Campbell, L. J. Cahee, G. W. Scott, C. N. Pratt, F. C. Bliss The fore- men since Boynton's term have been Walter P. Wheeler, and Charles W. Briggs, the present foreman. The present officers are, foreman, C. W. Briggs; Ist assistant, A. J. Ives; 2d assistant, W. C. Fletcher ; clerk, W. F. Scott ; treasurer, C. O. Meacham. The membership now numbers twenty-five. The company possesses about 900 feet of hose and two carts, besides two old en- gines used only in case of fire.

Town Hall .- The town hall was built in 1861 under the supervision of John A. Conant, and was one of the finest buildings in the county in its time. The basement is of stone, the walls of brick and are from sixteen to twenty inches in thickness. The walls in the interior are thirty feet in height. The cost of the structure was exactly $10,000.

For an account of the Masonic lodge in this town see Chapter XVIII.

The history of the village of Brandon would be incomplete without men- tion of Senator Stephen A. Douglas. The early town records contain among the list of births that had occurred in the town within a recent date at the time of the writing, a statement of the birth of Stephen Arnold Douglas, on the 23d of April, 1813. The house in which he was born is still standing under the eaves of the Baptist Church. The father of the future senator was a phy- sician and died with the subject of this sketch in his arms, in June 1813. His

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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.

mother retired to the farm now owned by Henry L. Leonard, which she had inherited in common with her brother, the late Edward Fisk. Young Douglas remained on the farm until he was fifteen years of age, acquiring a good com- mon school education at the Arnold school-house and at the old academy. Being thwarted by friends in his desire to acquire a collegiate education, he en- gaged himself as an apprentice to the trade of cabinet-making. He worked at this trade about eighteen months, both with Mr. Parker, of Middlebury, and with Deacon Knowlton, of Brandon. He then further prosecuted his studies in the old brick academy a year, and later still in Canandaigua, Ontario county, N. Y., whither his mother and sister had gone as wives of a father and son named Granger. There he began to study law, and in the spring of 1833, started for the West, but was detained at Cleveland the whole summer by sickness. After passing through various experiences and suffering various privations, he opened a law office in Winchester, Ill., in March, 1834. His subsequent career, his wonderful successes and final defeat, even his abilities and characteristics are too familiar to the reader of this volume to need setting forth. He died in Chicago on Monday, June 3, 1861.

Ecclesiastical .- Congregational Church. It has already been stated that the first church organized in Brandon was of the Congregational denomina- tion, and that for a number of years it was supported by a town tax. The organization of this church was effected on September 23d, 1785, by the Rev. Mr. Sell, of Dorset, and it contained five of each sex, as follows : Jedediah Winslow, William Dodge, Nathan Flint, David Buckland and Moses Barnes ; Mrs. Sarah Larkin, Elizabeth Winslow, Elizabeth Dodge, Mercy Flint and Mary King.

Jedediah Winslow was the moderator of the organization and was chosen clerk, which he continued for several years to be. There was no settled pastor until 1792, when Rev. Enos Bliss was installed. It is supposed he was dis- missed within a year. In January, 1800, the Rev. Ebenezer Hibbard was or- dained in Brandon and installed as pastor at a moderate salary. He remained here until September 5, 1821, when he was dismissed, after laboring in Bran- don for almost twenty-one years, and leading a number of revivals of religion. During the years 1816 and 1817 about 120 members united with this church. For a period of eighteen months after Mr. Hibbard's dismissal the church and society hired miscellaneous preaching. Rev. Mr. Perrin, Dr. Bates, president of Middlebury College, and Professor John Hough, were the principal supplies. In the summer of 1822 Rev. Beriah Green, fresh from the Andover Seminary, accepted an invitation to preach as a candidate, and on the 16th of April fol- lowing was ordained. He was more of a preacher than a pastor, and remained here a trifle more than six years, being dismissed on the 11th of May, 1829. Dr. Bates and Professor Hough again supplied the pulpit until the summer of 1830, when Rev. Ira Ingraham accepted an invitation to become pastor of this

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church. His salary was $450 a year and the use of the parsonage, which had been purchased during the pastorate of Mr. Green. He remained in Brandon a little more than six years, when he was dismissed to engage as secretary and agent of the Vermont Domestic Missionary Society. The whole number of additions to the church during his ministry was 136. His successor, Rev. Harvey Curtiss, afterwards president of Knox College in Galesburg, Ills., was ordained on February 17, 1836, the day of Mr. Ingraham's dismission. At this time Rev. Jedediah Burchard, an evangelist, began a series of protracted meetings, in which all denominations united, and as a result, on the 20th of the following March, forty-one new members were admitted to the church. Dr. Curtiss was dismissed on the IIth day of December, 1840, after filling the pastorate with such success that on his retirement it was found that 152 addi- tions had been made to the church under his labors. Rev. Milo J. Hitchcock preached for about three months after Dr. Curtiss left, and was given a call, but did not accept. Again the professor of Middlebury College supplied the church with preaching until the spring of 1842, when Rev. William H. Marsh, after a short time, accepted a call to settle, and was ordained on June 29, 1842. Though of fluent speech, he did not succeed, and, at his own request, was for- mally dismissed on the 21st of March, 1843. On the following Sabbath, in his farewell sermon, he avowed himself an Episcopalian, but made no converts. On the 4th of January, 1844, Rev. William G. T. Shedd, having given satis- faction on trial, was ordained pastor. He remained until August 19, 1845, when he began the discharge of his duties as professor in the University of Vermont. The professors of Middlebury College again supplied the pulpit un- til the spring of 1846, when Rev. Moses Chase, formerly of Plattsburg, N. Y., began to preach here, and was consequently installed on the 3d day of Decem- ber, 1846. He left on the 8th of September, 1847. Rev. Mr. Ingraham then came here again and engaged to preach for one year, but did not accept the call which was extended to him. Early in the spring of 1850 Rev. Francis B. Wheeler accepted an invitation from the church, and was duly installed its pas- tor on the 29th of May in that year. He abode with this church until Sep- tember 7, 1854. From this time on recourse was again had to the college faculty until the summer of 1856. Rev. John D. Kingsbury was then invited to visit Brandon. He was installed on the 24th of September, 1856, and was dismissed on the 15th of August, 1860. The church was now without a pas- tor for five years, though the pulpit was supplied in the mean time by Rev. William Ford, a Methodist minister residing in town, and Rev. William J. Har- ris. Rev. Franklin Tuxbury succeeded to the pastorate on the 25th day of May, 1865. He remained here until November 18, 1875. During his stay here nearly 125 new members were added to the church, and the church man- ual was re-written, and the creed abbreviated, as a result of his ideas. He was followed, October 26, 1876, by Rev. S. P. Wilder, who was pastor until April

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18, 1880. During his pastorate Rev. Mr. Earl conducted a revival of ten days' length and fifty-one persons were added to the church. The present pastor, Rev. Walter Rice, preached his first sermon here on the 22d of May, 1880.

The first meeting-house was built of logs near the center of the town, a lit- tle west of the house now occupied by Deacon J. H. Vail. Beyond this Loren Larkins's house seems to have been a frequent place of meeting previous to 1797. At about that date the second house was built on the site of the pres- ent church ; it was burned before it was entirely finished. A new structure was soon erected on the old foundations, which was used until 1831, when it was demolished and the present handsome brick structure erected at a cost of about $5,000. The present officers of the church are : Deacons, John H. Vail, Dennison Blackmer, Milton P. June, John F. Potwine; clerk, C. M, Winslow ; treasurer, John H. Vail; financial committee (society), D. W. Prime, Dr. W. H. Wright, F. H. Farrington, C. M. Winslow and T. B. Smith ; treasurer of society, Charles H. Ross. The membership of the church is about 203. The choir, as an organization, has been in existence nearly one hundred years, and the greater part of the time the choristers have been three men, Judge June, William M. Field and Dr. Volney Ross, the present incumbent. The present value of the church property is estimated at not less than $15,000.

The Sunday-school was organized about 1826 by Jonathan S. Green, brother to the then pastor, in the Ladies' Seminary building, near the present residence of Mrs. L. G. Case. The present superintendent, Dr. W. H. Wright, has been either superintendent or assistant continuously since 1861, alternating with Charles M. Winslow, the present assistant. The average attendance at the Sunday-school now is about eighty-three.

Baptist Church .- The Baptist Church in Brandon was constituted in 1785, consisting of twelve members. In September, 1789, Isaac Webb, who had been with them a while as their preacher, was called to ordination and settle- ment as the first pastor of the church. The council called to assist in the or- dination of Mr. Webb included the Rev. Caleb Blood, of Shaftsbury, Rev. Henry Green, of Wallingford, Rev. Isaac Beal, of Clarendon, Rev. Elnathan Phelps, of Orwell, and Rev. Elisha Rich, of Pittsford. The pastorate of Mr. Webb was short and followed by the successive pastorates of Calvin Chamber- lain, - Peck, Moses Ware, Joshua Young, Abial Fisher, Elisha Stark- weather, Isaac Sawyer, Joseph Sawyer, William Hutchinson, George B. Ide, C. A. Thomas, D. R. Watson and D. E. Post. Rev. Dr. C. A. Thomas was ordained and settled in October, 1835, and remained until early in 1876, a pas- torate of more than forty years in duration. Rev. D. R. Watson remained until April 1, 1881, and his successor, Rev. D. E. Post, resigned in the fall of 1885.

The church in its infancy held meetings for several years in dwelling- houses, with only occasional preaching. In 1790 a log house was erected for

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their use, and in 1800 a more commodious framed house was built, and occu- pied as a place of worship until 1832 ; the present substantial brick edifice was then erected and first occupied. It has since been remodeled and repaired several times. The entire value of the property at the present time is said to be about $14,000. The present officers are : Deacon Jacob Powers ; clerk, S. B. Ryder; treasurer, Robert Forbes; Sunday-school superintendent, Levi Hazeltine. The church membership numbers about 150, and the average at- tendance at Sunday-school is from sixty-five to seventy.

Methodist Church. - The Methodist Episcopal Church of Brandon was or- ganized in 1801 by Daniel Pomeroy, with Elder Hulbert, pastor. The mem- bership was very small; a class had been formed on the 14th of August, 1798, with Major Gideon Horton as leader and circuit steward. The earliest meet- ings were held in Potato street, now the McConnell neighborhood. Dwelling- houses, barns and school-houses were used for purposes of worship. Among the early members were Major Gideon Horton and his wife Thirza. Dr. John Horton, Gideon Mott, Henry and Eli McCollom, Daniel Hendee, Daniel Pom- eroy, Benajah Douglas and Nathaniel B. Alden. The church prospered for several years, and before 1808 arrangements were made and materials collect- ed to build a church near the site of the present edifice. A bitter feud, how- ever, between Benajah Douglas and Gideon Horton, who were political rivals, created dissensions which caused the abandonment of this enterprise.

In 1814 William Clark, a devoted Methodist, came to town, and with Eli McCollom established meetings and made Brandon again a preaching appoint- ment, which it has continued to be to the present time. In 1817 a great re- vival was held in town. In 1831 and 1832 a camp-meeting was held near the village in Brandon, Elder Tobias Spicer presiding at both. Bishop Elijah Hedding attended the first one.

Rev. Peter P. Harrower was appointed to this charge in 1834 and for the succeeding year. When he came he found about thirty members. About the first of September a revival began and continued for some eight months, about sixty converts joining the church on probation and nearly all uniting with the society.

The First Methodist Sunday-school was established by Mr. Harrower the same year, and it had much to do with the revival. The minister was super- intendent for a time, and was followed by Harry S. McCollum. Later super- intendents have been Charles Sullings, jr., Rev. William Ford, Henry L. Leon- ard, J. S. Stafford.

A legal society was organized for building a Methodist Church October 4, 1836, and on the 18th Levi Bacon, Edward Fisk, and Lorenzo Washburn were chosen trustees and Daniel Pomeroy, building committee. The brick church was built in 1836-37. Rev. John W. Belknap was appointed as the first pas- tor in the new church and through his efforts, in connection with the pastors

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of the Baptist and Congregational Churches, special services were held at For- estdale, the Arnold neighborhood and in other districts ; a great revival fol- lowed. A large number of converts were also made at the Arnold school- house under the labors of Rev. Daniel F. Page, in 1841. Rev. C. R. Ford was pastor in 1855-57, and the reports show that many joined the church during his term. The largest number of members ever reported to conference since Brandon became a separate charge, was 131 members and eleven probationers, reported by Rev. B. D. Ames, in 1862.

The present church edifice was dedicated on the 5th day of November, 1876, having been completed at an expense of about $17,500. The building committee was composed of J. S. Stafford, J. L. Cahee, H. L. Leonard, J. J. Simonds, A. J. Ingalls. The parsonage was erected in 1877, at an additional cost of $2,350. The present pastor, Rev. J. W. Quinlan, came in the spring of 1884, as successor to Rev. S. D. Elkins. The present membership of the church is 160. The present value of the church property is about $18,000.

The present officers are as follows : Stewards, J. S. Stafford, J. L. Cahee, C. C. Slason, E. Fuller, Luther Brown, Benoni Griffin, W. H. Williams, A. E. Kingsley, C. R. Phelps, Frank Ketcham, J. L. Barker, H. L. Leonard ; class- leaders, A. Cool. F. W. Bacon ; Sunday-school superintendent, J. S. Stafford. The average attendance at Sunday-school in 1884 was 100.

St. Thomas's Church. - This parish was organized on the 15th of June, 1839, at the house of Royal Blake, in Forestdale, by Royal Blake, Benjamin F. Greene, Charles Backus, Edward Sherman, Francis Webb, James Briggs and Charles Blake. The following officers were then elected : Charles Backus, sen- ior warden ; Edward Sherman, junior warden; Royal Blake, Francis Webb, Benjamin F. Greene, Charles Blake, vestrymen; Edward Sherman, secretary. Services were held for many years at the house of Royal Blake. The first rec- tor was Rev. J. Perry, succeeded by Rev. Samuel Bostwick.

The stone church is the first and only Episcopal Church edifice in the village and was erected in 1863. From September 1846 to 1850 Rev. A. H. Bailey was rector. He was followed by Rev. H. H. Loring, in 1857 ; Rev. J. Newton Fairbanks, 1868; the Rev. William Schouler, jr., 1872; the Rev. Daniel C. Roberts ; the Rev. J. M. Fulton ; the Rev. Henry Bedinger. The present rec- tor, Rev. William J. Tilley, was called at Easter, 1883, and has officiated since April 1, 1883.

The present church officers are: Hon. E. J. Ormsbee, senior warden ; Charles W. Briggs, junior warden ; John L. Knight, secretary of vestry ; George Briggs, licensed lay reader. As reported to the annual convention June, 1885, the present number of families is fifty-nine, comprising individuals, 229; individuals not included in families, twenty-six, total, 225. Teachers in Sun- day-school, six. Pupils in Sunday-school, forty-nine.

The Church of our Lady of Good Help. - The first Catholic priest who is

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TOWN OF BRANDON.

known to have visited Brandon is Father O'Callaghan, who resided in Burling- ton ; he had come to Burlington about the year 1830, and remained there twenty-two years. The next was Rev. John Daly. His field of labor was very extensive, reaching from Middlebury to the State line, and from Brattle- boro to Lake Champlain. He continued visiting the Catholics of Brandon until 1853. An Italian priest from Whitehall, named Father Olivetti, also made occasional visits to Brandon. In 1851 the French-speaking portion of the Catholic community addressed a letter to Father Mignault, of Chambly, Canada, who was then vicar-general of this portion of the Diocese of Boston, asking him to send them a priest from time to time. Complying with their request, he asked Father Quevillon, a priest residing in Burlington, to visit the Catholics in Brandon. He came here in the year 1851, and repeated his visits. He was wont to say masses in the old town hall, and sometimes in private houses. It is related that on one occasion he found so many children to be baptized that the room was not sufficiently large ; the children had to be brought into the room six at a time to receive baptism.

This reverend clergyman recommended the people to make a movement toward the erection of a church. Accordingly in the month of February, 1852, a subscription list for the building of a church was opened. The congregation at that time was small, numbering about eighty families, which were living in Brandon village, Forestdale, at the Old Quarry and Goshen. In the spring of 1852 the land on which the church and graveyard now are was purchased. The names of the committee which purchased the land are Francis Bachaud, Joseph Harper and Francis Fortier.

In October, 1852, the church was dedicated, services being performed by Fathers Mignault and Quevillon. Father Quevillon continued to attend the Catholics of Brandon until 1855, residing however in Burlington. In October, 1853, the Rt. Rev. L. Degoesbriand was consecrated bishop of Burlington. The whole State of Vermont was detached from the diocese of Boston, and formed henceforth the diocese of Burlington ; in November, 1853, the bishop made his first visit to Brandon, and in the following year himself began to at- tend the parish. The records show that one of the first works accomplished was to render the church more comfortable by lathing and plastering and the putting in of pews. Father Druon, now of St. Albans, then stationed at Rut- land, came also from time to time to Brandon during the years 1855 and 1856. Father Riordan, since deceased, came also from Burlington occasionally to minister to the Catholics here. The bishop, however, continued his visitations until November, 1856. From this time until 1857 the parish of Brandon re- cieved the ministrations of two priests of the order of Oblates-Fathers Koop- man and Maloney, who resided in Burlington. In December, 1856, Father Boylan was ordained in Burlington. The day before Christmas he came to Brandon, and on Christmas day said mass to this church and administered his

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first baptism. He was appointed to Rutland, and did not return to Brandon for some years. In February, 1857, Father Duglue succeeded him, and was in turn succeeded by him. Father Boylan's pastoral charge here was of nearly nine years' duration. His successor, Father Halpin, who came here in 1867, was the first priest resident at Brandon. He conceived and carried into exe- cution the idea of enlarging the church edifice. In October, 1868, Father Caissy was appointed pastor. During his pastorate the priest's house was erected. The present pastor, Rev. J. C. Mclaughlin, came here in January, 1872. Since his arrival here a debt of $8,000 contracted for the building of the church and parsonage has been paid, and a new cemetery lot containing four acres purchased (1876) and improved at an expense in all of $1,000. The brick chapel near the parsonage was built in 1870 at a cost of $800. Since 1876 the pastor has been associated with a curate. The list is as follows : Revs. D. J. O'Sullivan, Charles Prevost, Dennis Lynch, P. J. Barrett, and the present incumbent, Rev. P. J. Houlihn. The value of the church property is estimated at about $10,000. One hundred and ninety families attend the church and about one hundred children attend the Sabbath-school. Father McLaughlin, in addition to the other improvements in his parish, has erected a Catholic school of two departments, the corner-stone of which was laid May I, 1885. The building extends fifty by twenty- five feet.

The money to pay off the debts and improve the edifices of this church has been raised largely by fairs, to which the people of Brandon without regard to sect have generously contributed. The last of these fairs was held in Septem- ber, 1883, by which the fund was increased $1,740

Schools. - The following brief account of the higher schools of this town was prepared with care by C. A. Thomas, who has been a resident of the place fifty years : -

The inhabitants of Brandon, aside from the laudable interest which they have taken in the organization and maintenance of their district schools, have not been lacking in providing means so that the young people who desired it could take up studies not introduced into the common schools.

Early in the present century the Brandon Academy was incorporated and organized ; and the oversight of its affairs committed to a board of trustees an- nually elected. The academy building was located on the north side of Co- nant square ; two stories in height ; the ground floor for the district school ; the upper story for the academy, and so arranged that the different classes might have separate rooms for study. A Mr. Manley is said to have been the first principal of the academy, and to have held the position many years, and to have been very successful in building it up. He fitted many young men, both resident and non-resident, for college ; and did much to raise the standard of intelligence and virtue in the community. After Professor Manley's retirement, Solomon Stevens, Ezra June, W. J. Parker and others followed as principals,

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until the time came for the academy to be discontinued, and the edifice re- moved to another locality and for another purpose.

Not long after the discontinuance of the Brandon Academy a new institu- tion, under the auspices of the Baptist denomination in the State, was located at Brandon. This institution was organized and incorporated as the " Vermont Literary and Scientific Institution," and combined in its first board of trustees some of the best men of the denomination in the State, both ministers and laymen. This board had several meetings to deliberate upon where in the State this institution should be located. Finally, as the citizens of Brandon made the best offer of aid in the erection of the building, it was decided that Brandon should be the place. The citizens of Brandon village subscribed generously towards the erection of the edifice ; John Conant, esq., and his two sons, then in active business in Brandon, contributed very liberally.

Many of the Baptists in Vermont at that time were desirous not only to have a school where their children could take up some of the higher branches of study, but they were especially desirous of an institution with a theological department annexed, where the young men inclined to the gospel ministry might be helped on in their preparation for it.

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History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers, Part 60

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