USA > Vermont > Washington County > Waterbury > History of Waterbury, Vermont, 1763-1915 > Part 4
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The close of the eighteenth century found Waterbury fairly started on its course. There had been town representation in the General Assembly since 1792; the townspeople were energetic, thrifty and industrious; the farms were being tilled; shops, stores, taverns and mills had been erected; town govern- ment had been organized, and the first or formative period in the State, Chittenden County and town of Waterbury, had fairly passed. Washington County had not yet been organ- ized. Montpelier had begun town government on March 29, 1791, a year later than Waterbury, and so we are brought to the epochal nineteenth century.
CHAPTER II
1800-1830
The year 1800 was not particularly noteworthy in the town's annals. To be sure the people of Waterbury were keenly interested in matters political. George Washington and John Adams had earned the approval of the Vermont Legislature; Governor Isaac Tichenor appropriately praised their respective administrations in his speech to the General Assembly. It is a fair assumption that a majority of the electorate of Waterbury favored the reëlection of John Adams to the presidency, although he was the choice of the federalists. Thomas Jefferson was the then republican-democratic candi- date and was stoutly supported in the General Assembly when it was sought through a formal measure by republican mem- bers, to secure a choice of presidential electors by districts rather than by appointment by the Council and Legislature. This bill was defeated but the vote of ninety-five to seventy-three showed a decided republican increase within the year. Mr. Jefferson's success and his candid avowal that a difference of political opinions was not a difference of principles led many good Vermonters, and presumably citizens of Waterbury, to be misled as to his course regarding political patronage, but they probably profited by the lesson.
Chittenden County had been incorporated in 1782 and within its borders were included Stowe, Waterbury, Duxbury, Fayston, Waitsfield, Moretown, Middlesex and Worcester, which were afterwards taken into Washington County upon its organization in December, 1811, with Ezra Butler as county judge and John Peck as sheriff.
A story is rife at this writing concerning the choice of a State Capital which is not without interest. Among the towns bidding for the honor of becoming the seat of govern- ment was Waterbury; the story runs that an entirely unex- pected local opposition arose among some of the more promi-
33
34
HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
nent residents and settlers and effectually put a quietus upon the movement. It is fair to say that the compiler has not succeeded in verifying the story and it is given here for what it is worth. The Act fixing the capital at Montpelier was passed by a session of the Legislature held at Danville in October, 1805. At the two succeeding sessions in Middle- bury and Woodstock vigorous efforts were made to bring about a change in location, but the counter efforts of Secre- tary of State David Wing and Montpelier's town representa- tive, Honorable Cyrus Ware, prevailed and the Act remained as here given from the original certified copy now among the effects of the late Doctor Henry Janes, a grandson of Ezra Butler, named as one of the committee in the Act:
An Act establishing the permanent seat of Government at Montpelier. SECTION I. It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, that Elijah Paine, Ezra Butler, and James Whitelaw, be and they are hereby appointed a Committee to fix upon a place in the town of Montpelier for the erection of buildings for the accommodation of the Legislature of this State, and to prepare a plan for such buildings
SEC. 2. And it is hereby further enacted, That if the town of Montpelier, or other individual persons, shall, before the first day of September, which will be in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and eight, erect such buildings on the place designated by the aforesaid Committee, to their acceptance, and shall compensate said Committee for their serv- ices and, also convey to the State of Vermont, the property of said build- ings and the land whereon they shall stand, and lodge the Deed of Convey- ance duly executed, in the Secretary of State's Office, then and in that case, said Buildings shall become the permanent seat of the Legislature, for holding all their sessions.
SEC. 3. Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby further enacted, That if any further Legislature, shall cease to hold Their sessions in said Town of Montpelier, Those persons, who shall erect said Buildings, and convey the property of the same, and of the land as aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive from the Treasury of this State, the full value of the same as it shall be, then, fairly appraised .-
STATE OF VERMONT.
Secretary of State's Office.
Montpelier, 19 November, 1805.
I hereby certify that the above and foregoing, is a true copy of an Act of the Legislature of this State passed on the eighth day of November instant.
Attest: DAV. WING JR. Secry.
35
PERIOD 1800-1830
At about this time it became necessary to commission the presidential electors who had been chosen at the general elec- tion in the autumn of 1804. Governor Isaac Tichenor, there- fore, executed a formal commission, a true copy of which is given:
1162760
STATE OF VERMONT.
. VERMONT SEAL
By His Excellency ISAAC TICHENOR, ESQUIRE Governor in and over said State.
To All Persons to whom these Presents shall come: Greeting. Know Ye,
That the Honorable Josiah Wright, Samuel Shaw, Ezra Butler, Nathaniel Niles, William Hunter and John Noyes of Guilford Esquires, have been duly elected, by the joint Ballot of both Houses of the Legislature of the State of Vermont, Electors of President and Vice-President of the United States agreeably to the Constitution of the United States and the Laws of the State, for the purpose of Electing a President and Vice-President of the United States for and during the Term of Four years commencing on the Fourth day of March which will be in the Year of our Lord, one Thou- sand eight Hundred and five.
In Testimony whereof, I have caused the Seal of this State to be here- unto affixed.
Given under my Hand at Rutland this Third day of November in the year of our Lord, one Thousand eight Hundred and four and of the Inde- pendence of the United States, the Twenty-ninth. (Signed) By His Excellency's Command ISAAC TICHENOR.
WILLIAM PAGE, Sec'y.
All this while religious instruction, as promulgated from the pulpits of churches, had languished not only in Water- bury but in the surrounding towns. Religious services were held when and where circumstances permitted. A copy of a subscription agreement entered into by some citizens of Rich- mond is given, which sheds more lustre on the intention of the signers than it does upon the ability to draft contracts then available. It is questioned whether the "somes hereafter annexed" would tempt a money-making twentieth century evangelist:
RICHMOND Decem" 4th A.D. 1804
WHEREAS Richmond, at present is destitute of Gospel preaching and it is the indispensable duty of all Parents and heads of familys to encourage
36
HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
the preaching of the Gospel, for the good of the rising Generation, in order to reform their morals as well as to give edification to those of Mature Years,-
.
We, the subscribers therefore do covenant and agree with Elder Samuel Webster, of Bolton to preach one half on every other Sabath for the term of three Months from the time of commencing in the School House, near Cap't Hodges' farm on the East side of Onion River in Sd Richmond; and if the somes hereafter annexed to our names may be sufficient encourage- ment to encourage the said Elder Webster, we promise (on condition that the s'd Elder Webster, do fulfil the aforesd agreement, to pay him severally the sumes which we shall sever'ly annex to our respective names at or before the expiration of s'd term in Grain delivered at our respective places of abode. witness our hands.
Names of Subscribers.
Ezra Moore X $0.75
Abraham Ford X 0.75
James Butler $0.50 Asaph Butler 0.75
Thos. Hall 0.75
John Stacy
0.50
Benoni Thompson 0.50 Joshua Beardsley 1.00
Reference has been made to a few instances of invalid land titles. Tax sales were not frequent and when land passed in this way it was generally redeemed,-sometimes at consid- erable risk and hardships as in the case of Colonel Sumner, a citizen of New Hampshire, owning land in Waterbury. The time to redeem was on the point of expiration when Sumner sent his son, David H., a youth, with money to redeem the land, by horseback, from his home in New Hampshire, seventy-five miles away. The way led through practically a trackless forest for much of the distance. The youth arrived safely in Montpelier at the home of Colonel Davis at sundown. After a brief stop there to rest and feed his faithful mare, he started on the last bit of his journey to Waterbury; mean- while, it grew dark and the going became rough and difficult; at a place near the foot of Rock Bridge, the mare stopped, refusing to move forward. Through the dusk David was able to see a huge bear, disputing the right of way, standing erect on his haunches. The sight was not one to lighten the difficulties of the situation, but young Sumner screwed up his courage and bided his time; having satisfied his comic curi- osity, Bruin departed leisurely through the undergrowth at the road side, allowing the boy and mare to pass to the river,
37
PERIOD 1800-1830
which they forded. Arriving at the house of the tax collector, Mr. Holden, the plucky boy found that he had just one hour in which to redeem the land by payment of the taxes.
The problem of building and maintaining passable high- ways in the town was then as now most burdensome. The early roads were little better than mere trails. One ran along the river through the Hog Backs to Middlesex, but was dis- continued for a better thoroughfare on the other side of the river. The old hill road to Stowe, and thence to the Lamoille River, was used as an artery of travel until a more level grade was found through the Center. The Waterbury River road to Stowe lay along the old hunters' trail and is still a pictur- esque traveled way.
The Legislature granted a charter, in 1805, to a turnpike company for a road between Montpelier and Burlington. Little difficulty was encountered in disposing of sufficient stock to build the road which ran through the Village from the upper end down to Bolton. This turnpike was not a profitable enterprise after the ravages of a flood in the summer of 1830, which swept away its bridges and grading in various places. Two brothers, Thomas and Hezekiah Reed of Montpelier, took over the property, paying $10 a share for stock which had previously sold for $175. The Reed brothers rebuilt the bridges and regraded the road which became the main thor- oughfare for freighters from Boston and other eastern points. At that time freight wagons were drawn by oxen as well as horses, and a single trip would require between two and three weeks from Boston by way of Montpelier to Waterbury. After water routes were made possible by cutting the canal between the Hudson and Lake Champlain, teaming and traffic between Burlington and Montpelier were greatly increased and the turnpike became profitable. The charter of the Vermont Central provided for a purchase of the turnpike franchise. Under the terms of a settlement with the road company, the railroad applied the tolls to its own use after taking over the pike. Soon after the railway line began operations the turn- pike was abandoned to the towns through which it passed, and they have received the benefit of the road ever since.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
One of the early pioneers in mercantile life in the town was Amasa Pride who came here from Brookfield, Vermont, in 1802; he entered mercantile business and was the first suc- cessful merchant in the new village; he also opened a tavern on the site of the Eugene Moody place which was one of the few houses of entertainment in the place. Subsequently he . acquired a tract of land extending from the north side of the river across what is now Main Street to the rise across the railway tracks, known as "Pride's Pinnacle," west to the Ran- dall property and east to the Atkins corner. His residence was on the site of the present Waterbury Inn; from there he removed to the brick house now facing the common where his daughter, Mrs. D. C. Caldwell, now lives. In common with other citizens, Mr. Pride was enthusiastic over the build- ing of the Vermont Central Railway through the Village and was a subscriber to the stock offered by the road as a condi- tion of its extension from Middlesex.
The "common" between Main Street and the railway tracks was formerly known as the Doctor Drew place. This was pur- chased by Mr. Pride to be transferred by him to the railroad company. The negotiations for the station site and the other surrounding property were conducted through Governor Charles Paine and the conveyance has been erroneously re- ported to have been made on condition that the "common" should not be built upon so that a free and unobstructed view of the station might be had from the Pride residence. Mr. Pride was married twice; his second wife was Miss Polly Hill, to whom he was married September 1, 1836. Two daughters were born to them, Mary, who died unmarried, and Martha L. (Mrs. D. C. Caldwell), who still occupies the old Pride residence. The following obituary, printed in 1862, reflects the high esteem in which Mr. Pride was held by his towns- men :
Died in Waterbury, August 16, 1862, Amasa Pride, Esq., aged 85 years, 10 months and 3 days. Mr. Pride was born in Lisbon, Conn. In his four- teenth year he came to Brookfield, Vt., to which place his father had moved two years before. In 1802, in his 26th year, he opened a store in Water- bury, and became the first permanent and successful merchant in the place. He commenced business with very little capital, but, by his sound judg-
39
PERIOD 1800-1830
ment, sterling integrity, and great energy and enterprise, he accumulated a large property and became one of the most substantial and valuable men in the community. His hand was open to every call of charity and the public good. He had been a consistent member of the Congregational Church twenty-six years.
The property, formerly known as the Loomis Hill farm, occupied by Silas Loomis in 1797, lay south of a farm settled and cleared by Timothy Claflin from Croydon, New Hampshire, in 1802 or 1803, which is now owned by Henry F. Hill, the Loomis place being occupied by Edward Woodward. In 1805 or 1806 Abel De Wolf, coming from Conway, Massa- chusetts, took the farm now owned or occupied by Charles Stevens and son. Simeon Woolson was another farmer who began in 1798 on the place now owned by Henry Thurston. The Frank Morey place was the farm of William Kneeland in 1796. What is now known as the Bradley Shaw estate was the farm of Israel Thatcher in 1808. This was afterwards known as the Robert Broderick place. Solomon Newcomb took the place now owned by Nathaniel Sawyer in 1809 and lived there on an unimproved lot until his death in 1845. Otis Whitney began on the Fred Marks property in 1807, and Robert Parcher on the property of C. C. Robinson, Jr.
If it be thought that undue space is being given to Ezra Butler in these pages, the reader is reminded that he was so indissolubly connected and bound up with the first half cen- tury of Waterbury's life that he literally made the town's history, assisted, of course, by his neighbors and fellow pio- neers. It is difficult to conceive how a staid Elder of the Bap- tist Church, ordained in 1801, could have run the gamut of judicial, legislative and executive experiences and yet remain always a person of Christian meekness, dignity and propriety. Indeed, it must not be supposed that his meekness was of the sort that deprived him of controversial force when he thought his rights were being infringed, nor did it paralyze his political acumen in any noticeable degree. For example, when a question arose as to who was "the first settled minister" within the meaning of the charter provision as to the ministerial right of land, the question of priority of ordination arose be-
40
HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
tween Reverend Ezra Butler and Reverend Jonathan Hovey. Mr. Butler had been ordained in 1801; the church called Reverend Hovey to settle over them in 1802; Mr. Hovey questioned the regularity of Mr. Butler's ordination, which Mr. Butler vigorously upheld; he laid claim to the right of land, not because he wanted it for himself but because he wanted to see it applied for school purposes. At a town meeting in 1802 it was voted: "that we do consider the right of land granted to the first settled minister to be Elder Butler's in consequence of his ordination in this town. Voted to choose a committee to wait on the council that is to ordain Rev. Jona. Hovey. Voted that the committee consist of these persons: Ezra Butler, Richard Holden, David Atkins, George Kennan and Daniel Bliss. Voted that the committee state to the council the proceedings of this meeting and the difficulty that may arise in town, and with a request that the ordination might not take place unless that Mr. Hovey will agree to quit claim the right of land granted the first settled minister to the town of Waterbury for the use of the common school." In 1806 the selectmen were directed to take "the most wise and prudent manner to get and keep the possession" of the ministerial lot. And that the selectmen "lease out the right, etc., also to choose a committee to Council with the Selectmen," upon which were Ezra Butler, Isaac Woolson, Thomas Gubtail, Isaac Parker and David Austin. Mr. Hovey was dismissed, December 31, 1807, for lack of adequate support and removed to Piermont, New Hampshire, whence he continued to wage battle for his claim. In 18II a settle- ment was proposed whereby Dan Carpenter and Humphrey Gubtail were authorized to pay Mr. Hovey for betterments and improvements not to exceed $250, and to take a deed from him. Mr. Hovey's tenacity drove him finally to bringing suit in the United States Court, nominally against Lemuel Lyon, to recover possession of the ministerial lot, and, as late as 1814, the town voted to appoint John Peck as agent to defend the suit, which ultimately resulted in the title being vested in the town for school purposes. Throughout this controversy the fine Italian hand of Mr. Butler is visible; he was resourceful
41
PERIOD 1800-1830
and astute in counsel and vigilant and untiring in watching the moves of his opponents. Wherever the political storm center happened to be located, one had not far to seek for his aggres- sive presence and personality.
Mr. Butler divided the honor of being town representative with Mr. George Kennan for the first fifteen years of the town's representation in the General Assembly, Mr. Butler serving from 1794 to 1798, Kennan in 1798, Butler again from 1799 to 1805, Kennan again in 1805 to 1806; Butler was reëlected in 1807 and 1808, and the latter term must have been divided by him between the House of Representatives and the Council, for the records show that he was elected to both bodies in the same year. Mr. Parker suggests, as an explanation, the fact that the Council was elected by a general ticket, votes for which were enumerated by a committee of the General Assem- bly and that Mr. Butler probably remained in the House until after the result of the vote became known when he took his seat in the Council.
Not the least important of Ezra Butler's official functions, and always along the lines of sound public policy, were the ceremonies of marriage he performed in his several capacities of justice of the peace, chief judge of the County Court, regu- larly ordained minister of the Gospel and member of the State Council. There is reason to believe that his official action in this regard, evidenced by the town records of some thirty-five marriage ceremonies, was of vastly greater service to the state than if he had signed so many decrees of divorce. It is not unlikely that he adopted the graceful course of presenting the marriage fees to the brides, afterwards followed by other Waterbury justices.
Mr. Butler's fame and influence increased steadily and so when a chairman was required to preside over the war meeting at Montpelier, which had been called by the Democratic friends and supporters of President Madison's war policies to take appropriate action thereon, almost, as of course Ezra Butler, a good Democrat (or then a Republican) and member of the ascendant party in the state and county, was chosen as chairman. The war measure referred to in the Robinson
4
.
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HISTORY OF WATERBURY, VERMONT
letter to Butler, given below, had passed in January and its ratification was sought at this meeting the following month. If accounts of that occasion now available may be trusted, Pat- rick Henry's fiery utterances of treasonable sentiments in the Virginia House of Burgesses were merely mild remonstrances . as compared with the vitriolic, vituperative charges and coun- ter-charges of treason in that Montpelier meeting. With that never-failing sense of observing due decorum at the beginning of the meeting, one of the committee was despatched to request the then settled minister of Montpelier to open the meeting with prayer. The committeeman soon reported that the ministerial gentleman had declined on the score of conscientious scruples. In this situation Reverend Ziba Woodworth re- sponded to a call for an opening prayer, which was a master- piece of contumelious satire and downright abuse of the Feder- alists as "enemies of our blessed country" and as being guilty of "treasonable opposition to the wise measures of our God- appointed rulers." Meanwhile, Mr. Butler had resigned the chairmanship of the meeting and, although succeeded by Esquire Bulkeley, a strong Federalist, as chairman, he saw the war party carry everything its own way, even to the affixing of the chairman's signature to the very resolutions Bulkeley meant to defeat.
The war of 1812 loomed threateningly as the first rock of importance upon which the hitherto comparatively harmoni- ous General Assembly was destined to split. The Federalists deemed the war premature and impolitic, while the Republi- cans favored it as a wise and far-sighted policy declaring it their duty as citizens to support the declaration of war; other- wise they would identify themselves with the enemy "with no other distinction than that of locality." We are able to give the text of a letter dated January 10, 1812, from one of Vermont's United States Senators, Jonathan Robinson, to Ezra Butler, which, while breathing sentiments of the loftiest patriotism, betrays a certain anxiety as to how the people would receive the joint action of President Madison and the Congress, as will be seen:
1
« BY HIS EXCELLENCY,
JONAS GALUSHA, ESQUIRE,
CAPTAIN-GENERAL, GOVERNOR, AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF, IN AND OVER THE STATE OF VERMONT.
TO Henry Fish & Janes
ESQ. GREETING.
YOU BEING ELECTED Ensign of Capt, Con
Company of informain the 2020 igad
of Trusteesy this State, And reporting Special truff and confidence in your Patriotifm, Valor, and good Conduct-IDO, by virtue of thefe Prefents, in the name and by thejauthority of the Freemen of the State of Vermont, fully authorize and empower you, the faid
Mariny Fisk Janco to take charge of the faid Barbary
25 their Ension pursuant atrancut for rainsy a Corps of Voluntaris bay are at 20, Ett 1812
YOU WILL, therefore, carefully and diligently difcharge the faid duty, by doing and performing every matter and thing thereunto relating. You will obferve and follow fuch orders and directions as you fhall from time to time, receive from the Governor of the Itate, for the time being, or any other your fuperior officer according to military difcipline and the laws of this flate : and all officers and foldiers under your command are to take notice hereof, and yield due obedience to your orders, as their Girocard. » in purfuance of the truft in you repofed.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF, I HAVE CAUSED THE SEAL OF THIS STATE TO BE HEREUNTO AFFIXED. - GIVEN under my hand in council chamber, at Montpelier, this day of Felyb in the Year of Our
Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Therain and of the Independence of the United States the thirty Derwent BY HIS EXCELLENCY's COMMAND.
SECRETARY. Jonas Galucha
AlMallars
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PERIOD 1800-1830
WASHINGTON, Jany 10 th 1812
My respected old friend.
Sitting in the Senate this morning and having answered all my corris- pondents my mind turned on the . conversations we held in the Capital at Montpelier. The President & both Houses of Congress have united in their Opinion at last that the accumilated Injuries and aggravated Insults of the English government ought no longer to be borne by a Gener- ous but brave people whose conduct has for years exhibited a forbearance unequalled in the annals of Civilized Nations. The blood of our brave countrymen lately murdered on the Wabash by Indians excited to murder and desolation by that unprincipled Nation call for Vengeance and I think I can lay my hand on my heart and appeal to the God of armies with an honest conscience and ask his protecting aid in our measures. We have this day passed the long contended and delayed Bill to raise 25,000 men and nothing but the President's signature is wanting to its becoming a Law. We, of course, call on you all to recommend to us good, firm, patriotic and brave men as officers for captains and subalterns and we do most ardent hope every effort will be made by our friends to aid inlistments that we may have a short war and a popular one; before next summer I hope you will see an army marching to the North; if Canada is ours war with the Indians under the Jeffersonian policy is forever at an end. Your wishes in a postmaster is gratified. Recollect me to friends. Your cordial friend. JONATHAN ROBINSON
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