USA > Vermont > Caledonia County > Ryegate > History of Ryegate, Vermont, from its settlement by the Scotch-American company of farmers to present time; > Part 20
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A cemetery in which no burials have been made for some years lies half in Groton and half in Peacham, on the old road between the two places, and a short distance from where Ryegate and Barnet corner on these towns. The spot is very solitary. Some of the Whitehills are buried here as well as other Ryegate people and there are many unmarked
Mr. Miller.
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graves. Flavel Bailey, a noted schoolmaster, was buried here in 1847. Here lies the dust of Capt. Ephraim Wesson, a noted man in his day. He was born in Groton, Mass., in 1721, served with great efficiency in the Old French War, being a captain in Sir William Johnson's expedition, 1755, also in that of Gen. Abercrombie's. He was at the siege of Louis- burg in 1758, and served in 1759 under Gen. Amherst. He was an early settler of Haverhill, and member of the Congregational church at New- bury, was also a member of the Provincial Congress at Exeter, and did efficient service in the revolutionary war. After the war he settled on the southeast corner lot in Peacham, where he died in March, 1812. "He was a brave and efficient officer, and was highly esteemed; a man of Puritan mould and principles." He has many descendants and his grave should not remain unmarked .*
A growing interest in these last resting places of the dead is evinced by the care which has succeeded an earlier neglect, and which is largely owing to the annual visitation of the veterans of the Civil War in which the graves of their comrades, and soldiers of the older wars are marked by flags and flowers. In March, 1900, the town voted to place its ceme- teries under the care of five commissioners, as provided by law. These serve without pay, and one member is elected each year. They have the general oversight of the cemeteries, convey lots by deed, hold in trust the money received from sales of lots, and are intrusted with the investment of funds which are given for the care of particular lots. The members of the original board were Wm. N. Gilfillan, N. H. Ricker, A. M. Whitelaw, W. D. Darling and C. L. Adams. In 1910 the members were Hermon Miller, W. T. McLam, Geo. Cochran, C. L. Adans and Wm. N. Gilfillan. Care is taken to secure members who reside in the vicinity of each ceme- tery. On Jan. 1, 1910, the fund with accrued interest amounted to $1072.57.
There were a few burials upon farms in different parts of the town, but the custom of farm burial never prevailed in this part of New England.
The poor we have always had with us, and the care of such persons as have been wholly or in part objects of public charity, has cost the town quite a large sum. At the first town meeting ever held in Ryegate, Patrick Lang and John Shaw were made overseers of the poor, and to their successors in office the task of providing for the shelter, food and clothing of such as were unable to care for themselves, has been intrusted.
* See also Miss Hemenway's Gazeteer, Vol. IV, pp. 1150-1157.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
A town is required to support any citizen in want who is a legal resi- dent, and there has ever been a desire to shift the support of any pauper upon some other town, when possible, and thus ease the tax payer of the burden. In early days there was a legal proceeding frequently resorted to called "warning out of town." This consisted in serving by the consta- ble upon any newcomer who might become a town charge a notice of which the following is a sample:
STATE OF VERMONT, 1
CALEDONIA CO. SS 1 To either Constable of Ryegate in said County, Greeting :
You are hereby commanded to summon A. B. and family, now residing in said Ryegate, to depart said town. Hereof fail not, but of this precept and your doings thereon, due return make according to law. Given under our hands at Ryegate this 26th day of Feb. A. D., 1811.
JAMES ESDEN, 1 Selectmen of Ryegate.
ALEX. HENDERSON,
This precept was read in the hearing of the person or head of a fam- ily who might become a town charge, and that person or family could not thereafter claim legal residence or be entitled to support. This pro- cess was profitable to the town officials, as the constable received a shill- ing for serving the warrant, and six cents for each mile traveled, while the town clerk received a shilling for recording the precept and the consta- ble's entry of service.
The first of these warrants is dated in 1783 when John Alexander Sapel and Anna his wife were warned to depart out of town within twenty days under penalty of being carried out. Of John and Anna we hear no more. Presumably they "went out and staid out." In 1787 two families were warned to depart, but the practice does not seem to have been in force again till 1810. From that time to 1817 when the law was altered, there were 77 such warnings. One of them includes eleven persons. It is noticeable that there are only three Scotch names in the list. Mr. Miller says that in 1816 the son-in-law of a prominent citizen, with his family, was warned out of town, and the "Squire," justly incensed, contrived to make things very uncomfortable for the selectmen in consequence. In 1813 the town instructed the selectmen to call upon certain families, "and let the children work out that can earn their living, and for the others pay for their support in the most prudent manner possible."
The town meeting in 1818 provided a very unique method for the support of the poor :
Voted, a tax of one cent on the dollar of the list of 1817 to be paid in wheat, rye, or oatmeal at the house of Alexander Miller on the first
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Monday of May next on which day the selectmen and collector are to attend at said place and receive said articles and set a price on them, and whoever neglects to bring said articles to the amount of their tax shall pay his or her tax in cash, which articles are to be at the disposal of the selectmen for the support of the poor.
The town has never owned a farm for the homeless poor and in earlier years much of the time at town meeting was taken up in discussing what should be done with them. It was customary to sell the keeping of indi- vidual paupers to the lowest bidder, and bind the children out during their minority. The number of persons wholly or partly supported by the town was much larger eighty years ago than now.
The warnings for town meetings down to about 1848 often contain articles like the following: "To see what the town will do for the relief of A. B. now in Danville jail for debt." Inprisonment for debt was very common in those days, and it happened sometimes that it was cheaper for the town to pay the debt for which some unfortunate but industrious man was confined, than to support his family during his imprisonment.
At the time of the settlement of the town, according to all the infor- mation we have, the use of ardent spirits was universal in Scotland and in America, and the first settlers of the town in accordance with the cus- toms of the time were what would now be called hard drinkers. This was because both malt and distilled liquors were then considered as food, and as indispensable as bread and meat, and it was not until long after that people began to question this, and finally to decide that their use was harmful. The poems of Burns and such of the Waverly Novels as deal with the period contemporary with the early years of this town show how deeply rooted and universal was the custom and its disas- trous consequences. The accounts kept by Mr. Whitelaw show how large a proportion of the expenses of the managers was for the purchase of rum. It would seem that to drink regularly and deeply was absolutely necessary to existence. It is significant of the change of personel among users of intoxicants that men like James Whitelaw and James Henderson would now be uncompromising temperance men. It must be remembered also that ardent spirits in those days were not poisoned by drugs and that the hard work of the pioneers in the open air dissipated their ill effects.
Among Mr. Miller's notes are anecdotes which need not be preserved, of the drinking habits in the first half century of the town. To cite no other authority, the early session records of Ryegate and Barnet show
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
how the evil interfered with the usefulness of the churches. "Intemper- ance," wrote Rev. David Sutherland of Bath in 1852, "was at the period of my settlement, the bane not only of my own church, but of all the churches in this vicinity of which I had any knowledge. Ardent spirits were set forth on every public occasion ; weddings and funerals were sea- sons of excess." In 1805 a prominent man, an elder in the church in this town, engaged a man to set up a distillery on his farm, where he made large quantities of whiskey, the minister himself being one of his most steady customers. The use of intoxicants was part of the dark side of the picture of the early days.
The account book of Thomas Barstow from which we have quoted, shows how large a proportion of the trade of a country merchant was in ardent spirits. Some of the items are rather amusing. One man in Ryegate whose name out of consideration for his numerous descendants we suppress, is charged with "1 Bible, 2 Testaments, 3 quarts Rum."
The educated classes were especially sinners in this particular. Arthur Livermore, in his "Recollections of Haverhill Corner," from which we have before quoted, mentions an old lawyer from the east part of the state who used to come to court there about 1820, whose invariable formula, after summoning the waiter with a tap of his cane to the foot of the stairs, was to order, "Waiter, bring a bottle of rum, a bottle of brandy, a pitcher of water, a bowl of sugar, four tea-spoons and a pack of cards!"
It is not possible to tell precisely when or by what motives induced, the temperance reform began. It is certain that as early as 1817 there was some kind of temperance organization in this town, which was addressed by Mr. Sutherland. The use of ardent spirits was not fatal to the hardy pioneers of the town. It was upon the younger generation that its effects were most disastrous, and it was by observing those effects that people began to think the use of ardent spirits an evil.
The temperance reform, which by 1840 had become vigorous and aggressive, had its origin among the young and middle aged men. If the clergy of an early time had countenanced the use of intoxicants by their example, their successors were among the most prominent in the reform.
A man had been taken sick and one Saturday the neighbors met to finish his haying. The jug circulated very freely and one man in particu- lar, an elder in the church, became very much "overcome " indeed. The minister, Mr. Hill, heard of it, and the next day preached a rousing tem- perance sermon. He called no names, but some of his remarks were so pointed that all knew whom he meant and some took offense. After the
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service one old Scotchman freed his mind thus: "If I had been that - buddy, I'd have ganged oup the pulpit and yankit oot that Hill buddy!"
But temperance reform has been as complete in Ryegate as any where. The old drinking customs have passed away. There are no longer tav- erns with open bars to tempt the unwary and only a very few votes are annually cast in favor of licensing the sale of intoxicating liquors.
The letter of Robert Hyslop of New York City, dated Jan. 15, 1798, referred to on a preceding page, raises a very interesting question. He inquires about some land in this vicinity, understood to have been owned by Commodore John Paul Jones who had lately died in Paris. He says, further, that a list of these lands had been forwarded to him by the American Minister at Paris, and asks Gen. Whitelaw to ascertain their location, the validity of the titles, and their probable value. We do not have Mr. Whitelaw's reply, but it would be interesting to know that Paul Jones once owned land in this part of the country.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MANUFACTURES.
SAW MILLS .- CONNECTICUT RIVER .- CLAY ISLAND .- THE NARROWS .- CANOE FALLS, AND EARLY MILLS THERE .- THE RYEGATE PAPER Co .- BRICK MAKING .- THE GRANITE BUSINESS .- THE GRANITE MANUFACTURERS' ASSO- CIATION .- THE GRANITE CUTTER'S UNION.
I N a new country the first thing to be done is to rear a shelter of some kind as a protection from storm and cold, which may at first be a mere hut to be superseded by more durable habitations, and in most new towns at the era of the settlement of Ryegate all the buildings for several years were of logs. But our colonists had located near a town already well provided with mills, and framed buildings were erected in the earliest year of the settlement. But it was many years before they became common, and nearly all the early settlers were forced to content themselves withi log houses and barns. One reason for this was the scarcity of all articles made of iron, especially nails, which in 1775 cost about eighteen cents per 100. Consequently the nails used in a building cost quite a sum and few of the colonists could afford to use many of them. The first barn built by Wm. Nelson was almost without iron of any kind, the boards being fastened to the frame with wooden pins.
We have given an account of the first mill built by the colonists, which was outside the town limits, but it was not many years before other mills began work in different parts of the town. For the first seventy-five years all the saw mills were of the vertical or up-and-down kind, which did good work in their day, and, with the exception of the crank and the saw all the machinery could be made and fitted by the local carpenter and blacksmith. They went out of use about forty years ago, and the names of their parts would be strange to the young people of the present day. Indeed so far has the old fashioned saw mill passed into oblivion that in an article upon Daniel Webster in the Century in 1901, an illustration represents the future statesman working in his father's saw mill-a fully equipped circular saw mill, which had only begun to come into use fifty years later.
1
RYEGATE LIGHT AND POWER CO. PLANT AT BOLTONVILLE.
RYEGATE PAPER MILL, EAST RYEGATE.
-
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MANUFACTURES.
It is not possible to give the history of all these mills in this town, but we may mention some of them. James Henderson built a mill on the stream which flows out of Ticklenaked pond, in which he and his son after him did a large business for many years.
. The first mill on Wells River in this town, according to Mason, was built about 1802 by John Craig at what is now South Ryegate, but which was for many years called "Craig's Mills " He also built the first grist mill there. After him the saw mill had several owners until it came into the hands of Dr. J. B. Darling, who carried on a large amount of business. When the Montpelier and Wells River railroad was built he furnished the lumber for the fences, bridges and stations between Wells River and the Summit, boards selling at that time for $12 per M., and bridge timber from $16 to $18. By the failure of the company he lost about $2,000 but gained much experience. In 1876, he sold a half inter- est in the mill to his son-in-law, M. F. Sargent, who later bought the other half, and is now sole owner. Dr. Darling bought and cleared sev- eral tracts of timber land, employing a large number of men, and erected some fourteen houses in the village.
In the 50's this mill was owned by Walter Buchanan, who built a new dam and its erection brought upon him a suit at law by Bradley Morrison who owned and occupied a farm one and one-half miles up the river. The latter claimed that the new dam being much higher than the old one had caused an" overflow of his meadows, and much damage to the growing crops. The case was in court for some years, entailing a large amount of costs, but was finally settled by arbitration. Judge Batchelder of Bradford and two others were the referees, the plaintiff's attorney being Thomas Wason, while Hon. I. N. Hall represented the defendant.
The second saw mill on Wells River was built at what is now called the Quint place, by Alexander Miller, who bought land there in 1809. Here he erected buildings, a saw mill and a grist mill, where he made great quantities of oat meal and hulled barley. The locality was called "Miller's Mills " for many years.
In the northwest part of the town John Hunter bought in 1822, Lot No. 6, in the 2d range of the north division, on which he built a saw mill on Mill Brook which was run till 1850. The machinery was then sold to W. F. Gibson who built a mill half a mile down the brook in 1852, and sold it in 1860 to Amos W. Abbott. It is now owned by his widow. A mill at the outlet of Symes' Pond was in operation many years. This mill, with a tract of adjacent lumber was sold to the Parker & Young Co., of Lisbon, who cut the lumber and moved the mill away.
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HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
Connecticut River and its mills are worthy of a more particular notice. In March, 1781, Mr. Whitelaw surveyed the river from the southwest corner of Bath to its northwest corner, and found the distance, as the river winds and turns, to be a little over fourteen miles, the distance between the two points in a straight line being 6 miles, 133 rods. In a clay bank known as Clay Island is a remarkable deposit of clay stones which have been noted for more than a century. They are beautiful and attractive, of almost every conceivable variety in size and shape of which great quantities have been carried away. The most remarkable of tliese stones are of a round or disc shape and vary in size from an inch in diameter to three or four inches, and are of very rare occurrence. Clay stones, say the geologists, are clay cemented by carbonate of lime, and where the matter is free to move in all directions are completely round, but in general they are flattened by the pressure of the bank above them.
A short distance above the mouth of the Amonoosuc and near the southeast corner of this town is one of the wildest spots in the whole extent of the river. The current, which a quarter of a mile above is about 300 feet wide is here compressed into a gorge 60 feet in width between the base of the mountain on the Bath side and a curiously shaped rock on the Ryegate side. A descent of several feet here increases the velocity of the current, and the spot, which is secluded by overhang- ing woods on the Vermont side, is rendered wild and stern by the moun- tain on the other shore. Even at low water the spot is worthy of a visit, but when the stream is swollen by spring or autumn rains the river rushes through the Narrows, as the place is called, with terrific velocity, which is checked by an abrupt bend in the wildest part of the stream, and the whole torrent of water is hurled against the ledge with a vio- lence which seems to shake the mountain itself. It is the wildest spot on the river above Bellows Falls, and lies in the midst of some of the most tranquil scenery in the Connecticut valley.
In 1828 the river road in Bath which before had climbed to a consid- erable height along the mountain side, was brought down to its foot and a new highway was constructed at considerable expense between the river and the rock. It is impassable at high water, and its abrupt turns, with the wild and savage grandeur of the scenery, invest its passage with an interest not unmixed with terror.
Halfway from Barnet line to Newbury line the current of the river is broken by a ledge over which the stream passes, and by rapids which form an insuperable barrier to navigation. The first settlers of Newbury and Haverhill called them the Canoe Falls and in an account of Ryegate written in 1824 for Thompson's Gazetteer, Mr. Whitelaw calls them by
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MANUFACTURES.
that name, by which they were still called by old people in Mr. Miller's boyhood. Yet they have gone by the name of Dodge's Falls, and for no other reason than that, many years ago, a family by the name of Dodge lived in Bath, near the falls. They were transient people, not identified with the spot in any way, but by a perversion of justice the falls have been called by their name. The old and euphonious name should be restored.
The river, at the two spots mentioned, has claimed many victims, and Rev. David Sutherland in his address delivered in 1854 stated that during his pastorate of fifty years fourteen persons had been drowned in the river. Several lives were lost there before and after that period, rendering the Falls and the Narrows two of the deadliest spots on the river.
The falls at East Ryegate have been utilized a part of the time since the town was settled. In 1790 William Nelson built a wing dam which extended from the Vermont bank to a small island in the middle of the river. At that date a few Indian families still lingered in this part of the country, and they used to congregate upon the rock and view the pro- ceedings with much curiosity. Mr. Nelson erected a saw mill, and later a grist mill which did much business for a time. But the dam was washed away, and part of the saw mill with it. Mr. Nelson owned large tracts of land on both sides of the river, and in Monroe, and was one of the earliest to engage in the shipment of sawed lumber down the river.
In 1808 a charter was obtained from the New Hampshire legislature, and Mr. Nelson employed Calvin Palmer, who had constructed several dams on the river, to build a new one. In a description of Bath pre- pared in 1814 by Rev. David Sutherland, and published in the collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society for 1815, he stated that there was a saw mill and a grist mill on the west side of the river, but that no mills had been built on the east side. The saw mill did a large business for many years, and was fitted up with "gang saws," by which several boards or plank could be sawed at the same time. After passing from Mr. Nelson's hands the mills were operated by a Mr. Richardson, and by Samuel Hutchins and Jared Wells, and later by Samuel Moore and brothers, after which the property was allowed to go to decay, and the dam was washed away. In 1884, Capt. A. M. Beattie bought the land and mill privilege for a Mr. Marshall of Turner's Falls. While the mills were in operation a number of houses and a large boarding house were built near them, which have all disappeared. In 1829 a charter was obtained to construct a canal around the falls on the New Hampshire side but the canal corporation never got farther than its organization.
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ยท HISTORY OF RYEGATE, VERMONT.
Mr. Henry C. Carbee says that about 1843 a slip to run rafts of sawed lumber was built on the Bath side, which was in operation till the rail- road was completed to St. Johnsbury. This vast water power stood idle for many years, and several schemes for its development never material- ized.
In 1903 a corporation called the Ryegate Paper Company was organ- ized with a capital stock of $250,000, and incorporated under the laws of New Hampshire, which purchased the water privilege and adjacent land, and began in April, 1905, the construction of a paper and pulp mill. This mill was completed Sept. 1st, 1906, and began at once to operate. The mill, which is of brick, is constructed in the most thorough manner, and equipped with the latest improved machinery for the manu- facture of paper from wood. The daily production is about twenty tons of ground wood pulp, and twenty- five tons of high-grade newspaper. Although designed for a newspaper mill, some of the finest half-tone paper, made especially for cut and picture work, with special book and coating paper have been manufactured. It is claimed by high authorities . that this mill, although comparatively small, is one of the most compact and best arranged mills in the country. It employs sixty men, and has proved a financial addition to the town. In the four years of its opera- tion it has made a name for itself in the paper business of the country, and helps to advertise the town whose name it bears. A village has sprung up around the mills and the brick yards, which bids fair to become of considerable size.
For some years all the brick used in Ryegate had to be brought from Newbury. A few brick were made at different places in town. The large chimneys of those days required a great many brick, and brick houses came into fashion about 1820. In many places, especially in the vicinity of Montpelier, large two-story briek houses were built, but only two in this town. It is often remarked that when lumber was more plentiful and much cheaper than now, brick houses were often built, while now that lumber is high, brick houses are seldom erected in the country. The reason is that wood working machinery had not at that time come into general use, all the planing, and the making of doors and sash was by hand. Shingle were made by hand also, and clapboards were split. But brick could be made for about $1.25 per M, and a brick layer's wages in 1825 were usually $1.25 per day. Consequently it cost very little more to build a brick house than a wooden one, and the love of our ancestors for having things look substantial was gratified.
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