USA > Vermont > Washington County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury, Vermont, 1763-1915 > Part 10
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Luther, fourth son of Sylvester, Sr., was born in Waterbury in 1826. When he was fourteen years of age his father died, leaving his minor son's guardianship to the village selectmen, whose fidelity and ability in administering trusts were well
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PERIOD 1830-1850
established. Luther's education was had at Newbury Semi- nary. Upon attaining his majority he made some unsuccess- ful speculations in dealing in patent rights. In common with many other young law students, he entered the office of Hon- orable Paul Dillingham and was admitted to the bar of Washington County in May, 1849. He is described by a fellow member of the bar, L. L. Durant, in this language: "As a lawyer, he was never learned in the books; but in a knowledge of men and things, he was not to be excelled. With keen discrimination and quick discernment, he readily grasped the strong points of a case, and, bringing all his efforts to bear upon them, could not easily be led away. He was, so to speak, a natural lawyer, as all who entered the lists with him can testify." Mr. Henry was instrumental in building the Waterbury and Duxbury bridge across the Winooski. He was twice married; the first time to Miss Flora Taplin; the second, to Miss Kate Royce. Three children were born to him. He died January I, 1867, aged forty.
Franklin Sylvester Henry was the son of Sylvester Henry, second, and brother of Mrs. Albert Spencer. He served with the Seventeenth Regiment of Vermont Volunteers which went to the war in 1864. In the same regiment was Lieutenant J. Edwin Henry, his cousin, who was killed at Petersburg. Franklin Sylvester Henry was the loyal son of Waterbury who carried into effect the long discussed project of erecting a suitable monument to the memory of the brave soldiers of the town, whose deathless glory it was to outnumber any other town in the state in her ever-ready quotas of men. Pres- entation of this noble gift of Mr. Henry devolved upon Gen- eral William W. Henry (his cousin), Senator William P. Dillingham, O. A. Seabury and H. C. Whitehill, as a Board of Trustees in response to a request made the preceding year by Mr. Henry, before his death. Franklin Sylvester Henry became associated as traveling salesman with Henry, Curran & Company of New York, large dealers in drugs and medicines, after his return from the Civil War. He made his home in Cleveland, Ohio, and later engaged in business on his own account in that city, where he soon demonstrated his ability
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to handle large affairs. A few months after preferring his request that a monument committee be appointed, his health failed and he was obliged to seek relief at Hot Springs, Arkan- sas. A telegram was received in Waterbury, February II, 1914, announcing his death from pneumonia, just four days after the setting of the beautiful monument, so near his heart. Mr. Henry was a fine type of business man and was peculiarly adapted to cope with undertakings of magnitude. He was a strong man, of kindly impulses and sympathetic nature. He died at the age of sixty-eight years, leaving a wife, Mrs. Franklin Sylvester Henry (Mary Kirkpatric Wilson), a sister, Mrs. Albert Spencer of Waterbury, and a brother, Frederic Henry of Cleveland.
Stiles Sherman properly belongs to an earlier period. He was the father of twelve children, several of whom died in early youth. His youngest daughter was Mrs. Lyman Beebe of Burlington; her daughter, Mary Jane Beebe, became the wife of General Henry. The youngest son was Seth Chandler Sherman who was graduated with honors from the University of Vermont in 1829, and removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he married and died. Besides a brother of Seth Chandler, who went to central New York early in life, there was Heman Sherman, who died in Ogdensburg, New York, and was buried in Waterbury. An elder sister married Elam Carpenter, brother of Judge Dan Carpenter, and, on his death, married Luther Cleaves. There were a son (Sherman) and two daugh- ters of this family, who, with their parents, removed to St. Louis.
Many interesting stories are told of the old time festivities, incidental to corn huskings, sugar parties and the like, enjoyed by the young blades and damsels of Waterbury at the hospita- ble Beebe farm.
Among the famous wheelwrights of this region was Jesse Perry, whose daughter is Mrs. B. R. Demeritt.
"Perry Hill" is named for Benjamin Perry, the founder of the Waterbury family.
One of the eccentric village institutions was Sayles Hawley, keeper of a hotel on the site of the old Pride tavern. He was
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an incorrigible wag, whose wholesome good humor fairly radi- ated from his countenance. Two prominent politicians were once engaged in a wordy wrangle, which bade fair to end in fisticuffs, when Sayles Hawley, then a mischievous youngster of eighty years, quelled the row by quoting in his inimitable fashion the old rhyme admonishing little children "not to let their angry passions rise." Mr. Hawley married Miss Hub- bard of Montpelier.
Two postmasters were Thomas B. Scagel and his son, Emery D. Scagel. The first named lived where Doctor Bidwell's house stands. The son engaged in the drug business.
Daniel Demmon, a farmer, was the father of two sons. Daniel, Jr., and Jared Demmon, for a short time a law partner of Paul Dillingham.
The Atkins family was a numerous one and boasted several giants. They were locally known and sometimes feared as wits and jokers, particularly Henry and Albro. Horace and Henry were house builders and carpenters. Captain George's name is in the list of the famous forty volunteers recorded as being at the Battle of Plattsburg. David was a deacon and, like most deacons, a town officer. John very early incurred the reputation of being "queer" because he was said to gather sap with one pail, whereas most sugar makers used two if working without a team. John's method was too revolu- tionary to escape comment. Jerum Atkins, son of John, was by way of being a mechanical genius. He put in his early years with Henry Carter, a wheelwright; then he went West and became the inventor of the first grain raking attachment to the famous McCormick reaper. Like many inventors, Jerum Atkins sowed for others to reap. Lack of means, ill health, bad business management and sordid over-reaching on the part of patent pirates, all contributed to deprive Atkins of the fruits of his genius.
One of the old time medical practitioners was Doctor Oliver W. Drew, who came from South Woodstock to Water- bury in 1820. His father before him was a physician and his son, Frederic, also. Doctor Oliver Drew practiced medicine in Waterbury for fifty-five years and, upon his retirement,
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took up his residence with his only daughter, the wife of a clergyman in Acton, Massachusetts. He died in Massachu- setts in 1878, and his remains were interred in the cemetery here. His first wife was Lucretia Arms, the mother of Doctor Frederic Drew and one daughter; his second wife was Mar- garet Woodward, daughter of Doctor Woodward of Mont- pelier, and one time resident of Waterbury; his third wife was Olivia L. B. Atherton.
Doctor Frederic Drew pursued a classical course in Burling- ton at the University of Vermont and acquired his professional training at the Woodstock Medical College and the College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York, from which he was graduated in the spring of 1857. He started in practice in Attica, Indiana; thence he removed to Junction City, Kansas, in 1859. After two years he was made postsurgeon at Fort Riley, where he remained until his death at the age of thirty- five years, during the Civil War. He left a widow, Nelly (Cheney) Drew, whom he had married in Attica, Indiana, in December, 1861.
The elder Doctor Drew was one of Waterbury's sturdy oaks; dependable, sensible, practical, trustworthy, conscien- tious and industrious, he realized to the full the highest type of physician, adviser and public-spirited resident. Doctor Frederic Drew's reputation as a surgeon had already become widely known in Kansas when he died. He was also regarded as a man of well-disciplined, scientific mind, gentle culture, kind sympathy and generous heart.
Among the lawyer graduates from the office of Paul Dilling- ham was Columbus F. Clough, son of Thaddeus and Clarissa (Morse) Clough, formerly of Stowe, but latterly of Waterbury. Thaddeus Clough was a farmer and man of affairs. He served as selectman twelve successive years and was town representa- tive in the General Assembly in 1836, 1847 and 1848. He died November 28, 1883, aged eighty-two years. His wife died September 30, 1876, at the age of eighty-four. Columbus, the son, was born June 28, 1833. His early life and training was much the same as that of his boy companions,-doing farm work and attending school. Later he attended Bakersfield
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and Morrisville Academies in preparation for college. He was dissuaded from pursuing a college course and began his law studies in the office of Paul Dillingham. The four years spent under the tutelage of so experienced a preceptor fitted him for admission to the bar at the age of twenty. He was obliged to wait until he attained his majority before applying for admis- sion. After being admitted to practice, March II, 1856, Mr. Clough became immersed in business and legal practice until he removed to Waitsfield January 26, 1861. Here he remained attending to a growing practice in Washington, Windsor, Orange, Chittenden and Lamoille Counties, until October 17, 1867, when he returned to Waterbury. At differ- ent times he was associated in legal partnerships with Judge Hiram Carleton and Edwin F. Palmer, Esq. Mr. Clough married Persis L. Allen (daughter of Charles S. and Nancy Allen, and granddaughter of Deacon Asaph Allen) July 29, 1861, who now lives in Randall Street, Waterbury. Mr. Clough was a painstaking, careful adviser and soon acquired prominence as an advocate. He was a man of strong con- victions and belonged to the then justly celebrated group of Union Democrats. He was accidentally killed by an electric car near Mill Village, July 27, 1899.
It were almost supererogatory to ascribe to the climate and environment of Waterbury the great longevity of its residents when the same might with equal truth be predicated of every other town in Vermont. At all events, Waterbury has not derogated from the reputation of the rest of the state in that respect. Among the early families, Betsy (Partridge) Car- penter, widow of Judge Dan Carpenter, lived to the age of 93 years; a Mrs. Woodward, to the age of about 95; Elizabeth Corlis, 94; Mr. Heaton, 96; D. Stowell, about 92; John Mont- gomery, over 85; Enoch Coffran, over 87; Moses Nelson, over 85; Nancy Frink, 86; Mrs. Daniels, about 97; Henry F. Janes, 872; Mrs. Janes, nearly 82; Doctor Henry Janes, over 83; John Seabury, 87; L. Hutchins, about 80. (These ages are taken for the most part from Hemenway's History of Washington County, p. 871.) At this writing, George W. Randall is 90 years of age. Governor Paul Dillingham was 92 at the time of his death.
CHAPTER IV
1850-1875
From a population of 1,992 souls in 1840, the growth of Waterbury in the decade of 1840-1850 was not especially en- couraging. The town with a grand list of $5,304.78 showed a population of 2,352 in 1850. During the Taylor-Fillmore ad- ministration (1848-1852), the Anti-Slavery, Free Soil and Abolition agitation continued locally as in other towns of the state. Business recovered slowly from the stringent period of the late 30's. The merchants of the town were Goss & Delano, S. C. Hutchins, Stimson & Arms, James Cristy, E. G. Scott & Company, J. D. Smith, D. Tarbell & Company, A. Prime, W. H. Woodward, J. C. & S. Brown, S. D. Sturtevant. The manufacturers were Thompson, Seabury & Blanchard, woolens. V. R. Blush, S. S. Spicer, leather. Lucius Parmelee, S. G. Howe, E. W. Bates, boots and shoes. Hutchins & Wade, starch. A. A. Atherton, Horace Atkins, furniture. C. Graves, stoves and tin ware. O. Howe, G. H. Lease, trunks and harness. H. W. Wells, A. Hills, G. P. Hills, D. D. Wood- man, C. Simmons, wagons and sleighs. D. Stowell, planing machine.
Mill Village, lying at the lower falls of Thatcher's Branch on the Stowe road, derives its name from the early mill sites located there. The water power has its source in a succession of three falls within a quarter of mile, affording an equal num- ber of mill privileges. The first mill is now a flour and feed mill, owned by and conducted for the E. T. Seabury estate, under the management of W. H. Seabury. There is no authentic record showing who the first builder was, but it is believed that Isaac Woolson built it in about 1807; a deed from him of a mill of its description to Oliver C. Rood, dated in 1810, is still in existence. William W. Wells bought the prop- erty of Dutton and improved it inside and out, remodeling it for a flour mill. The chain of title appears to be as follows: Isaac 8
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Woolson to O. C. Rood, 1810; O. C. Rood to Carpenter & Eddy, 1826; Carpenter & Eddy to David Dutton and Atkins, 1827; David Atkins to William W. Wells, 1835; Wells estate to John Q. and E. T. Seabury, 1870. In 1857 new model waterwheels were installed in place of the huge old twenty- four foot over-shot wheel; these were soon replaced by others. . Mr. Wells undertook to do a large business in manufacturing and dealing in flour and feed without a suitably adapted water-power. His successors, J. Q. and E. T. Seabury, ran the mill for ten years. J. Q. Seabury then sold his share to his brother and went to California, where he died in 1908. E. T. Seabury died in 1899, since which time the mill has been conducted as above described. The village found it necessary to take certain springs for its water supply from the sources of the mill stream and thereby lessened its flow. It soon became necessary to build a dam for the conservation of the water, to replace the water-wheels with others better adapted to small streamsand to increase the head by several feet to offset the loss of the spring sources; these improvements were made in 1903.
The first grist mill in Waterbury is said to have been erected by Caleb Munson, the third settler in the town, about fifty rods above the Seabury mill and on the opposite side of the stream. This mill was destroyed by fire sometime in the 30's.
I. C. & S. Brown began business, in a small way, in a con- fectionery and grocery shop immediately after the advent of the railroad in a part of the old Washington House on the old site of the present inn. Thereafter they built a store on Park Row, which burned in 1857, but was rebuilt. The firm dealt largely in flour, food stuffs and produce, and was the first to ship fruit from Vermont markets to Montreal. They also shipped large consignments of fresh fish there. Sidney Brown was a shrewd buyer. On one occasion he cornered the New England market for salt salmon. The brothers came from Williamstown and began very early to deal in fresh fish, which they would freeze and supply to the surrounding markets. Apples were bought in standing crops by the buyer for the firm-an innovation that compelled the wonder and admira- tion of the growers.
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PERIOD 1850-1875
At a town meeting, February 21, 1850, it was voted:
That the town will surrender to the Lamoille County Plank Road Com- pany the present travelled road from Winooski Turnpike, northerly by Dea. Parker's, the Methodist Chapel and Silas May's to Stowe; and that Harvey Prescott, Henry F. Janes, James Greene, E. S. Newcomb and Richard Demeritt be a committee on the part of the town, to agree with said Plank Road Co. on the conditions upon which the surrender shall be made and that the said agreement when made, reduced to writing and recorded, shall be final.
Final action by the town was not taken until the March meeting 1857 when it was voted:
That this town will pay to the Lamoille County Plank Road Company at the end of each year from this date the sum of $450.00 while said Com- pany keep their road open for travel on condition and in consideration that the inhabitants of this town be allowed to travel except staging and per- manent teaming on said road its entire length free of toll and also that said Company from year to year keep the town harmless from damages for want of repair and further that they repay to those who have purchased passes for 1857 in proportion for the unpaid (unused?) time of said passes.
At the March (5th) meeting in 1850 it was voted "that the selectmen be instructed to take charge of the liquor business and procure pure liquor and employ an agent to sell the same at a low price, if the state vote is 'no licence' this year." This Utopian state of affairs could not last; in the first place, the vote raised an unexpected difficulty regarding the necessary qualifications of selectmen. Doubtless, the Doctor Wileys of the day would have scouted the very possibility of a select- man's knowing pure from impure liquor whatever he might know about low prices; added to this, there was the growing Washingtonian temperance influence everywhere throughout the state. So it was that all previous experiments in dealing with the liquor traffic were merged in the operation of the modified Maine Prohibitory Law which was enacted in 1853.
Owing to the pronounced anti-slavery sentiment in Water- bury, the election of Franklin Pierce to the Presidency and his administration were distinctly unpopular. Brave, indeed, would that protagonist have been who dared to point out the disinterested character of President Pierce's public service. There were those who suspected the motives of a man who
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not only resigned from the United States Senate but declined an appointment to fill a vacancy in that body, declined the nomination as governor of New Hampshire, declined an appointment as attorney-general of the United States, the Secretaryship of War and accepted, under protest, the nomina- tion of the Baltimore Convention for the Presidency. Water- bury, however, even in those days of smoldering political ani- mosities, was not without her heroes of peace who were willing to lend their support to the administration and, incidentally, enjoy the usual emoluments.
After President Pierce had become fairly settled in the White House, the burning question in Waterbury was that relating to the probable successor of Rufus C. Smith as post- master. Among the ardent Democrats of the town was O. C. Howard. The popular proprietor of the Washington Hotel, Mr. Howard boasted a wide acquaintance with all sorts and conditions of men; in fact, he had repeatedly qualified as a charter member of the "I-Knew-Him-When" Club. Mr. Howard claimed a close acquaintance with President Pierce and told tales of how he and "Frank" Pierce used to take fishing and other excursions in New Hampshire, long before General Pierce had become a figure in national life. So great was Mr. Howard's admiration of the President that he caused the walls of his hotel rooms to be decorated profusely with portraits of his distinguished friend and, by this means, inci- dentally he himself appeared by a reflected light.
To those interested in securing the influence of some local person with the appointive power in Washington, Howard appeared as a god-send; here, obviously, was the very man. Accordingly Mr. Howard made the trip, nothing loath to renew his acquaintance and intimacy with the Chief Execu- tive and, quite casually, prefer his modest request. Upon arrival in the Presence, to his incredulous dismay and hopeless mortification, President Pierce not only failed to recognize him but declined to recall the fishing and other excursions cherished in memory so dearly by Mr. Howard. Returning home mortified and chagrined, Mr. Howard ripped the Pierce portraits from the walls of his hotel and, walking to the head
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of the cellar staircase, kicked each picture into the cellar, in a frenzy of righteous indignation. Thomas B. Scagel was made postmaster.
Waterbury has not been able to boast many latter day Democrats of prominence. In the case of Joseph Warren, born in Waterbury, July 24, 1829, it must be said that he left his native town before taking up his life work as a journalist. Mr. Warren was graduated at the University of Vermont with the class of 1851 ; going to Albany, he became assistant editor of the Country Gentleman, a widely-read publication of high class. As early as 1853 he became associate editor of the Buffalo Courier. Five years later he became editor-in-chief and continued in that capacity until his death. Mr. Warren succeeded that old Democratic war horse, Dean Richmond, as leader of the Erie County Democracy in New York. He was on the board of managers and chairman of the Executive Committee of the State Asylum for the insane, a member of the Board of State Normal School Trustees, a projector of the Buffalo Fine Arts Academy, a president of the Buffalo Y. M. C. A., member of the Council of Buffalo Medical School, president of the New York State Associated Press, and a member of Ancient Landmark Lodge of Masons. He left a wife and son.
It would be poor requital to Reverend Charles Carroll Parker, to whom we are indebted for his interesting historical address on Waterbury, even to seem to minimize his proper place in these pages. He it was who first urged the erection of a suitable monument as a memorial to the soldier dead of Waterbury. That this plan was not carried out until many years after Mr. Parker's death long remained a matter of keen regret, though the omission has since been nobly re- paired. Mr. Parker was born in Underhill, September 26, 1814, the son of Edmond and Hepzibah (Curtis) Parker. His early life was much the same as that of all farmers' boys, working on the farm and attending school during the winter and spring until he attained to eighteen years of age. At nineteen he began a long period of school teaching; for eight successive winters his work was that of a country school
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teacher. He prepared for college at Jericho Academy, Brad- 1
ford Academy, and under the private tutelage of Reverend Samuel Kingsbury in Underhill.
After a four years' course at the University of Vermont, during which Mr. Parker received no pecuniary aid from sources other than his own efforts, he was graduated in 1841, taught in the boys' high school of Burlington two years, entered Union Theological Seminary, New York, in the autumn of 1843, and taught the following year in Burlington. He acted as financial agent of the University until 1847; resumed the study of theology, and was ordained in Tinmouth in 1848.
Coming to Waterbury upon an invitation to preach, in the spring of 1853, he gave up his connection with the Tinmouth church and was installed as pastor of the Congregational Church in Waterbury, June 7, 1854. In the autumn of 1866 he was elected principal of the Ladies' Seminary in Gorham, Maine, and left Waterbury to take up his duties there. Mr. Parker's historical address on Waterbury was delivered Feb- ruary 10, 1867, within a month after his dismissal by the local Congregational Council.
After preaching three years in the Congregational Church in Gorham, Maine, he labored as a pastor successively in the Congregational Church in Orient, Long Island, and the Presby- terian Church in Passippamy, New Jersey. Mr. Parker was married, November 28, 1844, to Elizabeth McNiel Fleming of Burlington, and by her had one son and three daughters. He died at Passippamy, New Jersey, February 15, 1880.
Mr. Parker's name will always be held in grateful remem- brance not only for the intelligent service he rendered his townsmen in the preparation of his historical address but for many other acts flowing from his all-embracing public spirit. Official notice was taken of Mr. Parker's recommendations. regarding a soldiers' monument in the following way: At the March (5th) town meeting in 1867, a vote of thanks was given Reverend C. C. Parker "for his able remarks favoring the erection of a soldiers' monument in this town," and also it was voted "to perpetuate the sentiments contained in the
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PERIOD 1850-1875
remarks of Reverend C. C. Parker favoring the erection of a soldiers' monument." Beyond this formal official action nothing was done toward carrying out the long cherished project until Mr. Franklin Sylvester Henry of Cleveland, Ohio, infused new life into the plan and, by his own personal interest and munificence, accomplished in 1914 what was first proposed in 1867.
A political rally in the Fremont campaign was held in the large hall of the Washington House, at which the new Repub- lican doctrines were expounded. Many who had been Demo- crats were present; among the speakers were Luther Henry, Esq., and E. P. Walton of Montpelier, candidate for Con- gress.
If Franklin Pierce's election were received in Waterbury with mistrust and foreboding, James Buchanan's choice as President aroused bitter enmity. His non-coercive policy was regarded as little short of treason. To one reading Buchanan's messages and protests of the last year of his administration it is apparent that, though he stood with his back to the wall and buttressed by the decisions of the United States Supreme Court regarding powers of a territorial legislature, yet popular clamor and factional resentments were too strong for him on the question of the right of the Southern States to secede. Waterbury was no exception regarding this attitude.
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