USA > Vermont > Rutland County > History of Rutland County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 62
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When he was about seventeen years old he came to Castleton to attend school at the academy. Not long after he sought and obtained a position as clerk in the store of James Adams. He served in this capacity five years,
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
receiving the sum of five dollars a month. At the end of that time he was received as partner in the business. This connection continued about five years when he bought the interest of Mr. Adams and associating with himself his brother, Oliver M. Hyde, commenced mercantile life on his own account. He was the " middleman " of a large agricultural community, buying whatever the farmers had to sell ; he also furthered every public interest, aided with coun- sel and money the development of every resource, and in 1828 commenced the erection of the building now known as the State Normal School. In the fol- lowing year the building was completed and furnished sufficiently for practical purposes. He erected a number of buildings now standing in the village, among them the Mansion House, which has since given place to the Bomoseen House, three brick houses on Seminary street, the marble block on the corner of Main and Seminary streets, and a considerable number of frame houses in other parts of the village, many of which are on streets laid out and opened by him. He closed his mercantile operations in 1834. During the next two or three years he was occupied in the settlement of past business transactions and in arranging to enter new fields of operation.
In 1837-38 he purchased of Ebenezer B. Dewey of Hubbardton, the lines of stages extending from Castleton to the most important stations in Vermont and Eastern New York. During the five years from 1839 to 1844, when he sold out, he, as a stage proprietor and mail contractor, was as well known throughout the country, and at the post-office department at Washington, as many of the railroad kings are at the present time.
In 1872 he purchased a water-power and mill-site at what was then known as Castleton Mills, now Hydeville, and built the second marble mill of any pre- tensions in Rutland county. Having become the owner by purchase of a mar- ble quarry at West Rutland, he energetically entered into the business of quar- rying and sawing marble.
He was earnestly engaged in the railroad controversy of 1848 in relation to the proposed routes; after the ultimatum was reached, and the opening of the Rutland and Whitehall Road for traffic, he was made president of the com- pany, which office he held for nearly twenty years. He was among the first interested in quarrying and manufacturing roofing slate and marbelized goods, and was actively engaged in this business up to the time of his death.
The authorities at Washington named the place where he had passed so many years Hydeville, in his honor. He had no taste for a political career and he never held an office in his life. He was killed in October, 1874, by a loco- motive at the Hubbardton crossing, near the site of old Fort Warren.
John Meacham was born in Williamstown, Mass., in 1776, and died in 1848. His father settled in Fairhaven. He served an apprenticeship at the nailing business, but soon after he became of age engaged in mercantile pursuits, first with Ebenezer Langdon ; afterward with John Adams. He was trustee of the
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TOWN OF CASTLETON.
grammar school, town treasurer, town representative, and judge of probate. His first wife was Mary Langdon, by whom he had one daughter, Mrs. Hiram Ainsworth, whose husband now occupies the old homestead.
James Adamıs, born in Simsbury, Conn., in 1775, settled as a grocer at Hydeville, in 1801. From Hydeville he removed to Castleton village and en- tered into partnership with Judge Meacham in mercantile business. After this partnership was dissolved, Mr. Adams traded by himself till 1829; then in company with C. N. Dana. In 1831 the stock was sold to Albert Langdon. Mr. Langdon sold to Israel Davey and B. F. Adams in 1836. Mr. Adams, with most of his family, joined the Congregational Church in 1831. He died about the year 1857.
Deacon Enos Merrill, a native of West Hartford, was one of the early set- tlers, arriving here about 1785. His early training was strictly Puritan. He was a pillar in the church in Castleton for nearly sixty years.
Among the early settlers in Castleton was Captain John Mason, who came here about the year 1785. He was a magistrate, a member of the State Leg- islature, and of the Governor's Council, a presidential elector, and a trustee of the grammar school. He died at his residence in Castleton, two miles north of the village, aged eighty-two years.
Rufus Branch came to this town from Bennington, Vt., immediately after the close of the Revolution. His eldest son, Darius, came from Orwell after- wards and remained here until his death in his eighty-fourth year.
James Palmer settled early in the northeastern part of the township in a place called Belgo. He was the father of Dr. David Palmer and Allen Palmer.
John Whitlock came here in 1775, and settled a little north of the village. The farm he cleared is still owned by his descendants and occupied by Anson Clark. He was a Tory in sentiment, but was of a peaceable disposition. Peter Cogswell settled east of the village in 1776. He was a blacksmith and farmer. He was the father of General Eli Cogswell, who afterwards attained prominence here. In the same year, 1776, Benjamin Carver came to the Corners near where Leander Jones now lives. He married a daughter of Colonel Noah Lee. Colonel Isaac Clark established a settlement about this time on the place owned by Al- bert I. Johnson. He has descendants in town now. He was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and a Colonel in the United States army in the War of 1812. Colonel Clark was chief judge of the county court from 1807 to 1811. He died in 1822 at the age of seventy-four years. Other early settlers were : Hyde Westover, who kept the noted Westover House at Castleton Corners, and has descendants there now; Ira Hartwell, who also has descendants in town; William Sanford (father of Dr. James Sanford), who resided here from October, 1799, until his death, March 24, 1866; Jacob Wheeler; Dwyer Bab- bitt, who settled in 1803 between Castleton Corners and Hydeville, and others.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
The importance of Castleton as a military rendezvous during the Revolu- tionary War, for the American forces, may best be remembered from the fact that here, in a small farm house built by Richard Bently, and standing just in front of the old Congregational parsonage, occurred the angry midnight dis- cussion between Benedict Arnold and Ethan Allen as to which should com- mand the expedition against Ticonderoga. This was on the 8th of May, 1775- The subsequent retreat of the American forces laid open the entire region around Castleton, indeed all Western Vermont, to British and Indian depreda- tion. On a Sabbath, July 6, 1777, a skirmish occurred about half a mile east of the village, around the residence of George Foote, where Fort Warren was afterwards constructed. Captain John Hall was mortally wounded in this en- gagement, while Elias and Alpheus Hall, George Foote, and others were taken to Ticonderoga as prisoners, but soon after effected their escape.
The body of Captain Williams, wrapped in a blanket, without a coffin, was rudely buried at the foot of a tree near by. Forty-four years after his remains were disinterred, and the bones laid together in order by Luther Deming (a man perfectly blind), and re-buried in the village graveyard, with appropriate ceremonies. A short time after this skirmish a fort was erected near the scene, concerning which Dr. John M. Currier, of Castleton, has kindly furnished the following : -
Fort Warren at Castleton, and the Fort at Hydeville.1 - Fort Warren was located one-half mile east of Castleton village, on a natural plateau, with an area of less than three acres. This plateau is about fifteen feet higher than the surrounding meadow in a bend on the north side of Bird's Creek, or Castleton River, and immediately north of the highway leading through Castleton to Rutland, about twenty rods west of the mouth of Mead's Brook, now commonly called Hubbardton Brook. This plateau was connected with a plain to the north, of many acres in extent, by a narrow neck of land on the same level. When the Rutland and Washington Railroad was being built in 1850 this neck of land was dug away to make the dump across the meadow west. A strip of this plateau, thirty or forty feet wide on the north side, and about one-half of the west end of it, were also dug away, for the same purpose, to the depth of eight or ten feet. On the north side of the railroad, and parallel with it, a new channel was cut by the company, at the same time, and Hubbardton Brook was turned into it, which saved building a railroad bridge across the old channel, but necessitated building a bridge for the public travel across the new channel in line of the Hubbardton Road, which crossed the old fort ground. The general features of this old landmark have thus been materially changed ; only about one-half of the original plateau, at the east end, is now left as it was in the Revolutionary period.
The fort was built on land owned by George Foot on the east and Peter Cogswell on the west. The stockade enclosed the dwellings of both these men.
1 Prepared by Dr. John M. Currier.
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TOWN OF CASTLETON.
The entire ground is now owned by John J. Langdon, and his dwelling- house stands near the eastern boundary of the stockade.
The road to East Hubbardton then passed east of Mr. Foot's house. It was not a well-worked road at that time. It had been laid out and surveyed by a committee through to Hubbardton line on May 3, 1776. It was by that con- mittee located on the line between George Foot and Peter Cogswell, six rods wide, taking three rods from each one's land. But, in all probability, it was not worked until after the war, for the survey was not received by the town clerk and recorded until January 24, 1784. The road now follows that survey, and the railroad clips the northeast corner of the site of the old plateau.
All around the brow of this natural plateau, and across the neck in a straight line, were set deeply in the ground large logs, rising above the ground sufficiently high and thick together to afford protection from musketry. The upright logs were sharpened at the upper extremity, which rendered it difficult scaling them.
Surrounding this stockade was an abatis of entangled trees with sharpened limbs, which reached to the foot of the embankment. A deep ditch surround- ed the abatis.
In the northwestern part of this enclosure a block-house was built of heavy hewn timbers, two stories high, the upper story on all sides projecting a little beyond the lower story. This building was inpenetrable to musket balls. There were several portholes on all sides, convenient for firing through from the inside.
The water to supply the garrison and others staying inside was obtained from a well dug outside of the stockade, at the northwest corner at the foot of the slope. It was reached by a covered walk from the inside.
The form of this enclosure was oblong ; the west end was nearly circular, while the east end had square corners. There was a square bastion at the southeast corner which commanded in three different directions. It has been stated that there was a bastion on the west end, commanding in two directions, but the writer does not deem this statement sufficiently well authenticated to be positive in asserting it.
There were two gates into this enclosure, one on the north side and the other on the south side, nearly opposite.
Fort Warren,1 named in honor of Colonel Gideon Warren, of Tinmouth, then colonel of the Fifth Regiment of the Vermont militia, was built between April 2 and May 14, 1779, under the recommendation of the governor and Council, by the inhabitants of Castleton and the detachments of the militia of Vermont stationed there to guard the northern frontier. The object of this fort was to serve in the defense and protection of the frontier settlers from the in- vasions of the enemy from the north. The north line of Castleton, the west
1 Governor and Council of Vermont, vol. I, 295-6, 301.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
and north lines of Pittsford to the Green Mountains, was the line of defense be- tween the inhabitants of the State and the enemy.
The forts at Pittsford, Rutland and Castleton were garrisoned by detach- ments of the militia in varying numbers, all through the war after their estab- lishment. This line of defense was under the surveillance of the State authori- ties, and committees were appointed by the Board of War to make reports upon the condition of the frontier affairs, that they might be ready for any emergency.
The Board of War at Arlington, April 25, 1781, " resolved, that this Board do recommend that Commissary of Purchase, with the assistance of the Troops on the Ground, build in the cheapest manner a store-house and some Barracks, that they answer for the time being in fourt Warren."
The visiting committee for the northern frontiers for the Board of War at Bennington, June 23, 1781, reported : " We Begg leave to report first that the garrisons at Pitsford ought to be removed back from the place where it now stands nigh Sutherland's mills or such particular spot Col. Fletcher shall direct. 2d, That the garrison at Castleton ought to be removed West from where it now stands nigh to Blanchard's mills, that the fort to be built at Skeensbor- ough [Whitehall, N. Y.] ought to be built on a small hill where one Willson lives or Norwest about 5 or 6 hundred yards as Col. Walbridge shall direct, Taking into Consideration the conve'cy of Water. That Each of the above said forts ought to be built to Consist of a small picket and a strong block house. That the fortification at Castleton as it is most likely will be Consid- ered Hed Quarters ought to be much the Largest."
On the same day the General Assembly "ordered that a Committee of three be appointed to hold a conference with the within named persons re- specting removing the Garison at Pittsford, &c., and make report." The mem- bers chosen were Mr. E. Smith, Mr. B. Whipple and Mr. Post.
On June 26, 1781, " the above named Committee made a verbal report, whereupon resolved that it be recommended to the board of War to order about one hundred men to be stationed at the said garrison at Pittsford for the support of it."
On June 29, 1781, the General Assembly " resolved that Warrants be is- sued and directed [to] the respective Sheriffs in this State to Collect the Brit- ish prisoners which may be found within the limits of this State and Cause them to be Safely conveyed to Head Quarters at Castleton by the 10 day of July next."
Thus it appears that at Castleton was established the headquarters for the military forces engaged in the defense of the northern frontier on the west side of the Green Mountalns. Henceforth no evidence appears in the journal of the Governor and Council, or in the records of the Board of War, relative to the removal of the fort to Hydeville, or as then termed, Blanchard's Mills. But
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TOWN OF CASTLETON.
according to the evidence collected by the Rutland County Historical Society1 there remains no doubt that the headquarters of the military of the northern frontier west of the Green Mountains was removed to Hydeville in June, 1781, and that a picketed enclosure, block-house and other necessary buildings were there erected on an enlarged scale, sufficient to accommodate the increased number of forces at that time. The site of the enclosure was on the bluff and adjacent plain, south of Main street and east of the road leading from Hyde-
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PLAN OF FORT WARREN, CASTLETON, VT.
EXPLANATION .- I, I, I, I, I, I, Double line of pickets. 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, Abatis surrounded by a ditch. 3, Bastion. 4, Spring, approached by a covered walk. 5. Peter Cogswell's house. 6. George Foot's house : a little to the east now stands the house of John J. Langdon. 7, Block-house. 8, 8, East and west highway through Castleton to Rutland. 9. 9, Present traveled road to Hubbardtun, nearly where it was surveyed in 1776. 10, 10, Rutland and Washington Railroad. 11, 11, Hubbardton Brook in its new channel, running west. 12, 12, Iron bridge over Hubbardton Creek.
ville to Poultney, a few rods southeast of the upper falls, on the creek leading out of Lake Bombazine. No description can be given of the building, nor any idea of the shape of the enclosure.
On October 24, 1885, Fort Warren was surveyed and a plan of it drafted by Hon. John Howe, of Castleton, assisted by his law-partner, Moses J. Har- rington, and the writer. His survey is herewith appended : -
1 Proceedings, vol. II.
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
Commencing at the southwest corner of said fort, it being at the north end of a rock on the north side of the highway running east and west through the village and town of Castleton, and distant n. 292° w. one chain and eighty- three links from the "McIntosh corner," so called; thence s. 732º e. five chains and nine links to the southeast or bastioned corner of said fort ; thence n. 132º e. four chains and eleven links to the center of the Rutland and Washington Railroad track, or northeast corner of said fort, thence n. 87º w. four chains and twenty-five links to the northwest corner of said fort, at a stake and stones standing sixty-six links west from the center of the traveled road on the Hub- bardton highway, so called; thence around on the west front of said fort, it being in an irregular circular form, to the place of beginning.
The names of the following men who were soldiers in the Revolutionary War from Castleton, have been preserved : Captain John Hall, killed in the battle of Castleton, June 6, 1777; Nehemiah Hoit, was with Colonel Ethan Allen at the battle of Ticonderoga, and taken prisoner with him at Montreal ; Lieutenant Elias Hall, taken prisoner at Castleton ; after his escape enlisted in the Continental army, was in the battle of Stillwater and present at the sur- render of Burgoyne ; Colonel Isaac Clark was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and colonel in command in the war of 1812; Rufus Burnet, in the battle of Bennington ; Jonathan Deming ; Cyrus Gates. Doubtless there were others whose names are not here.
Following is a list, undoubtedly incomplete, of the soldiers from this town in the war of 1812 : Major Milo Mason, of the regular army ; Colonel Isaac Clark, commander of the 11th Regiment ; Captain David Sanford, and Lieu- tenat Perez Sanford of the 11th Regiment ; Hyde Westover, Jacob Wheeler, Elam More, Samuel Shepherd, sergeant, Theodore King, Jonathan Eaton, Oli- ver Eaton, Augustus Finney, Mr. Higby, Eliel Bond, Darius Burnet, John Meacham, Elijah Burnet, Curtis Hulburt, Oliver Moulton.
Castleton was formed into a town in March, 1777. Eli Cogswell was the first town clerk, Jesse Belknap was the first justice of the peace, Zadock Rem- ington was the first representative after tlie organization.
No list of town officers approaching completeness exists prior to 1782, when the following were among the most important officers elected : Perez Sturdevant was moderator of the meeting; Brewster Higley, Reuben Moulton, Isaac Clark, selectmen ; Brewster Higley, town treasurer ; Eli Cogshel (Cogs- well), constable ; Stephen Hall, Zadock Remington, Eli Cogswell, listers ; Araunah Woodard, collector ; Nehemiah Hall, leather sealer ; Zadock Reming- ton, Gershom Lake, grand jurors; Perez Sturdevant and Peter Cogswell, tithing-men.
The early years of the colony were prosperous. In less than six years from the arrival of the first families about thirty log houses had been built, and six or eight framed houses, schools established, a place of meeting fixed upon,
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TOWN OF CASTLETON.
and measures were in progress to secure stated ministrations of the gospel. Measures were taken to secure preaching as early as 1775, and thereafter re- ligious services on the Sabbath were maintained pretty constantly. As has been stated, the place of meeting in war times was the house of George Foot. At the time of the skirmish before mentioned, a school-house on the corner opposite George Foot's house attested the educational aspirations of the col- onists. During the winter of 1778-79, two schools were kept in town, one near the house of Zadock Remington, taught by General Eli Cogswell, and one in the east part, near the residence of Reuben Moulton, kept by Alpheus Hall. In 1785 appears the first vote to divide the town into districts.
The earliest merchants in town were : Solomon Guernsey, who built and occupied the brick house where the Bomoseen House now stands, and was suc- ceeded by A. W. Hyde ; General Eli Cogswell, with a partner by the name of Graham. Samuel Couch, Mr. Baker, who sold to Meacham & E. Langdon, and Meacham & Adams in 1801; Dr. Selah Gridley, Albert Langdon, A. W. & O. Hyde, O. N. Dana, M. G. Langdon, Adams & Davey, Ferron Parker, James Adams, who retired about 1830, kept store in the building now occu- pied by his son. John Meacham, Merrill & Ainsworth, Lyman, Dana & Co., and B. J. Dyer, all kept store at different times in what is now the bank build- ing. Dyer, the last there, closed about 1851. Still other merchants have been William Moulton & Co., W. & C. Moulton, Goodwin & Jackman, John Goodwin, Rice, Root & Co., Root & Tomlinson, Harris Bartholomew, F. Par- ker & Co., Spencer & Wyatt, Spencer & Lyon, G. D. Spencer, Spencer & Armstrong, Armstrong Bros., Armstrong & Sherman, C. S. Sherman, A. L. Ransom, Post, Guernsey & Co.
W. & C. Moulton ran a store on the site of the Sanford House. M. G. Langdon & Co., William Moulton & Co., Goodwin & Jackson, William Moul- ton, M. J. Langdon & Son, all occupied the entire building now used by F. L. Reed, the last named firm closing out about 1860. Rice, Root & Co., and afterwards Root & Tomlinson, who closed about 1855, kept on the corner of Main and Elm streets, where Mr. Guernsey now is. Harris Bartholomew from 1838 to 1840, F. Parker & Co. from about 1843-51, Post, Granger & Co. for six months, William C. Guernesey until 1854, Spencer & Wyatt from 1859 -60, Spencer & Lyon one year, G. D. Spencer, three years, Spencer & Arm- strong, 1864, Armstrong Bros. 1864-68, all kept in the old marble store on the corner of Main and Seminary streets. The following, taken from Rev. Joseph Steele's History of Castleton, gives the names of the early business men in other departments of trade and industry : -
" Tanners and shoe-makers: James Kilbourn carried on business near Z. Remington's ; Deacon Enos Merrill, at the west end of village ; Milton McIn- tosh, east of the village ; Sylvester Pond, north, on the E. Hubbarton road. Ebenezer Parker and Captain Joseph Barney were the prominent blacksmiths. 34
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HISTORY OF RUTLAND COUNTY.
The hatting business was carried on early by Read Mead, in a building which stood where the Liberal1 Church now stands. Carpenters and joiners : Jona- than Deming, Mr. Thompson, John Houghton, N. Granger, T. R. Dake, Free- dom Brown, Clark Stevens & Son."
Previous to 1836 William Southmayd carried on the manufacture of brit- annia tea-pots, near the Congregational Church. He closed his business about 1835. John Meacham had until after 1830 an ashery which stood about where the railroad turn-table now is. Among the more important distilleries carried on in the town was one at the foot of Frisbie Hill, which was also closed about 1830, and the building purchased by A. W. Hyde, taken to Hydeville, and converted into a barn for the Hydeville Hotel. About 1841 Hall erected on his farm, two miles north of Castleton, a distillery for the man- ufacture of whisky for his own use and kept it as long as he ran the farm. The farm is now in the hands of John Ryan.
The tannery of Enos Merrill was sold in 1836 to Amsdell & Bansier. It was closed about 1841. From about 1823 to about 1860, or later, Almeran Branch carried on the wagon-making business. Another wagon-shop was started about 1839 by J. C. Stevens, on Elmer street. At his death, about 1844, F. S. Heath took it. Franklin Griswold then ran it until it burned about 1869.
Former Drug Stores .- In 1836 Theodore Woodward, M. D., opened in the west wing of his house a small drug store, the first in the town. He kept but few drugs. After the decease of Mr. Woodward his son, E. C., removed the stock across the road, and in 1841 associated with him his brother-in-law, Eg- bert Jamison, who soon erected a drug store on the corner east of the Metho- dist Church. There, in 1844, Jamison, after becoming the sole owner, did a large business, furnishing medicines to physicians in the vicinity, also to graduates of the medical college. He also sold them surgical instruments. Jamison sold to C. C. Nichols, he to J. N. Northrup, M. D., who soon took in his son, W. H., who from 1857 to 1875 did a large drug trade. Then the stock was sold to A. H. Kellogg, who took as partner W. C. Rice, who, in 1876, purchased the stock and took John Eastman as partner ; after some two years Mr. Eastman retired and Rice continued the business until 1882.
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