USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 23
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The old log church west of the North Village was required to serve the purposes of the society (with other places temporarily used) from
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
the time of its erection, in 1781, until the erection of the more com- modious church edifice on lands offered for the purpose by Mr. Charles Marsh. This building was commenced in 1806, and was so far com- pleted during that and the succeeding year that services were held in it in October, 1807, although it was not entirely finished until 1808. (For the history of this church and society subsequent to the year last men - tioned, the reader's attention is directed to that portion of the present chapter relating to the village of Woodstock.)
Small Villages of the Town .- Among the small and unincorpo- rated villages of Woodstock town that known by the name of Tafts- ville is perhaps the most important ; and this importance is derived from the fact of its having the benefits of the water privileges of the Que- chee River, and the shipping facilities afforded by the Woodstock rail- road, on the line of which the village is situate. Taftsville was so named in honor of Stephen Taft, one of the first settlers in the extreme north - east part of the town, where the village is located, and who came there in 1793, constructed a dam across the river, built a small water-power shop, and commenced the manufacture of scythes, axes and other edged tools. In 1794 Daniel Taft, brother to Stephen, caine to Woodstock, and in 1795 joined with Stephen in building a saw-mill on the river, op- posite the scythe factory. Subsequently another brother, Seth Taft, became interested in the business at this point, and from the initial labors of these brothers the village grew and prospered ; and it is a fact that the industry here established by Stephen Taft in 1793, with numer- ous enlargements both in buildings and manufactured products, has been in operation to the present day, and that, too, by some of the descend- ants of the founders. Taftsville now forms a part of school district No. 7. A school was built in the locality prior to 1800, but the district has experienced a number of changes since the first town division pro- vided for in 1779. A post-office was established at Taftsville soon after 1840, with Dexter Bates as postmaster.
Next in order of importance, perhaps, among the hamlets of the town, is that usually called South Woodstock, or the South Village as formerly known; a small village situated in the southeast part of the town, on the upper waters of the South Branch of Quechee River, having no railroad, but communicating with the county town by means
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
of a stage line. Among the early settlers, and perhaps the first in this locality, was the Cottle family, of which there were several members, some of whom took an active part in the affairs of the town during its pioneer period. A grist-mill was built at the South Village by Jabez and Warren Cottle as early as 1780, possibly before, but after a few years it was changed into a cloth or fulling-mill, and operated by John A. Cottle and Jabez Cottle, jr. About 1812 Abraham P. Mather be- came proprietor of the mill. In 1781 Jabez Cottle and Joseph Sterlin built another grist-mill near the village, but farther down the brook; and still another was erected at the same place about 1806. To the Cottle family also attaches the credit of having furnished the pioneer of the mercantile business at this village, Warren Cottle being the founder of it, but he after- ward took Amasa Ransom a partner. This store was opened not far from the year 1793. The firm of Field & Perry, merchants, was estab- lished here in 1796, and two years later the pioneer concern failed.
In 1828 a mail route was established to pass through the South Vil- age, and soon thereafter a post-office was established at the place, Richard M. Ransom being the first postmaster. During the fall of the same year Richard Ransom succeeded to the office and remained post- master until 1836, when Oliver Baily was appointed.
South Woodstock is the only hamlet of the town that enjoys the ad- vantages of having a church building within its precincts. This is of the denomination of Universalists, and its society was formed in 1834, under the pastorate of Rev. Russell Streeter. His leading charge was at the North Village, but after his connection with that society was ended he continued pastor of the South society until 1847.
The present business industries and other institutions of South Wood- stock are less in number and importance than they were half or three- quarters of a century ago. Still it has two hotels, two stores, several shops, saw and grist-mill and some other manufacturing industries, a church and a school. The village is located in school district No. 15.
The hamlet known as West Woodstock, but originally as Bennett's Mills, received whatever of distinction it ever had from the fact of its be- ing a manufacturing point of some note at an early day. The water privilege here was sold by Jesse Safford to Jabez Bennett and others in 1778, and soon afterward a saw and feed or grist-mill were built, Mr.
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TOWN OF WOODSTOCK.
Bennett being the leading person in the enterprise, and from him the locality received its name. Mr. Bennett continued here in business for upwards of thirty years. These industries led to the erection of others, among them the cloth-mill of Seth Sylvester, but afterward owned by Ephraim Eddy. The present leading industry of the village, the Daniels Machine Company's works, was established by Reuben Daniels and Thomas E. Blake, under the firm of R. Daniels & Co., in 1831, that be- ing the year in which the property and privilege were conveyed to them. The firm manufactured woolen jacks, wool pickers, and other machines used in woolen manufacture. In 1842 the firm suspended, after which and until 1850 business was carried on by various parties, but in the year named the firm of Daniels & Raymond was formed and business revived. In 1864 the building was burned, but rebuilt during the next year, and operated as the Daniels Machine Company. In 1869 the property again suffered great damage, an extraordinary high water carrying out the dam. Then followed ten years of changes, and until 1879, when the machine company resumed again under the old name, using both steam and water for power, since which it has been so conducted without seri- ous interruption either to property or business. A post-office was estab- lished at West Woodstock on January 1, 1885. Within what may be called the village proper are a dozen or fifteen houses. A fine store building is in course of erection at the place.
In the extreme northwest corner of the town, having its principal location on the stream called Barnard Brook, is the hamlet known as English Mills; but English Mills " aint what it used to be," and the in- dustries at this point are but wrecks of former greatness. The locality was so named in honor of Joel English, who in 1789 bought a hundred acres of land out of the so-called Spencer tract, and became one of the most enterprising and progressive of the settlers in that locality. The first industry here, however, was established by Simon Davis, by the building of a grist-mill, and very soon thereafter a saw-mill, the latter in company with Samuel Fuller. In 1793 Joel English acquired an interest in the saw- mill, and in 1795 in the grist-mill, in the latter industry Jabez Bennett owning a share. The dam across Barnard Brook was built in 1839, by William S. English, son of Joel English. It was the intention of William to establish a starch factory at this point, but some interfering
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
event prevented that plan from being carried out, therefore the building was put to use as a rake factory, the proprietors of the business being Mr. English and Austin Miller, but the firm lasted only a year, when Mr. English became sole owner. In 1884 B. H. Pinney succeeded to the proprietorship and has since continued manufacturing there, but the products comprise other articles than hand rakes. Other than these named industries the locality known as English Mills has no manu- facturing prominence, although some of the old mill structures are still standing.
THE INCORPORATED VILLAGE OF WOODSTOCK.
For the purpose of this sketch it is hardly advisable to refer at any length to the original buildings on the district of land that is now included within the limits of the corporate village of Woodstock, other than may be necessary to record the history of some of the institutions of the place. In the recently published history of Woodstock the editor, Mr. Dana, has taken each locality and each separate parcel of land, and given its history from the time of the erection of the first structure thereon to a recent date; and that work, being so generally circulated throughout the town, renders unnecessary further efforts in that direction as a part of this chapter. And should an attempt be made to repeat what has already been written so thoroughly and well, no new facts worthy of publication could be brought to light that would afford the slightest interest to the reader.
The lands whereon is situated the main part of the village of Wood- stock were purchased by Joab Hoisington from Oliver Willard and Jona-
than Grout in the year 1771. The entire Hoisington purchase embraced something like one thousand acres of land. The tract to the north and east of Joab's, and which is now partly if not wholly included within the village, was likewise purchased from the same grantors by John Hoising- ton, who is believed to have been Joab's father. But at that time neither of these worthy proprietors could have entertained even the faintest idea that their purchases would ever be the site of a beautiful village, and, above all, the seat of justice of the county ; and neither of them lived to see that consummation. Joab Hoisington died in 1777, at Newbury, while performing duties as an officer of one of the regiments of Cumber- land and Gloucester counties militia, during the Revolutionary period ;
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VILLAGE OF WOODSTOCK.
while John Hoisington sold the last of his purchase in 1781, and was no longer known to Woodstock.
It is an evident fact that Woodstock as a village would not have had an existence if the county seat had not been located here, but it is equally evident that the village would never have attained that promi- nence it has in the county but for that location ; and the one thing more than all others that contributed to making this a beautiful, thriving and prosperous muicipality, was the designation of Woodstock as the shire town of the county of Windsor, and that brought about through the per- severing efforts of Benjamin Emmons, whom the generations of inhabit- ants of the village and locality will ever hold in grateful remembrance.
With the erection of the first court-house and the county buildings the village entered the early stages of municipal being, although more than a score and a half of years thereafter elapsed before any direct measures
looking to such an existence were taken. In the year 1819 the General Assembly passed what is generally known as an "enabling act," by which the selectmen of any town in the State, upon the application of resident freeholders, were authorized to prescribe certain limits within which cat- tle and other animals should not be allowed to run at large. Under the provisions of this act the following petition was presented to the select- men of Woodstock :
" To the selectmen of the town of Woodstock in the county of Wind- sor and State of Vermont :- We, the subscribers, freeholders of said town, hereby request you to lay out and establish the limits and bounds of the village at and about the court-house in said town, and notify the same according to law ; that cattle, horses, sheep, swine, geese and mules, and other creatures related to mules, may not lawfully go at large in said vil- lage. Woodstock, December 19, 1819. Signed :-- Titus Hutchinson, Benjamin F. Mower, Benjamin Swan, Nathaniel Waldron, jr., Joseph Parker, Daniel Dana, Robert Barker, H. C. Dennison."
Upon this presentation the selectmen established the boundaries under this order : " Whereas application has been made to the undersigned, selectmen of the town of Woodstock, agreeable to an act of the General Assembly, passed November 11, 1819, entitled ' An act to restrain cer- tain animals from running at large within the villages of the State,' to lay out and establish the limits and bounds of the North Village in said Woodstock. 32
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
" We do, therefore, in pursuance of said application, and the act afore- said, hereby establish the following as the limits and boundaries of said village, viz. : Beginning at the easterly side of the highway at a point opposite the northeast corner of the barn nearest the road on the Ward- well farm, so called, (being the Blake farm now owned by Benjamin S. Dana,) thence southerly on a straight line by the easterly side of the brick house standing at the corner of said highway and the turnpike, to the south side of said turnpike road, opposite the southeast corner of said brick house-(the brick house on the east side of the road which was re- cently burned belonging to Oliver T. Hatch)-thence southeasterly in a direct line to the large elm tree standing on top of the hill east of the oil- mill brook, (Mount Peg)-thence southerly in a direct line to the south- east corner of Lyman Mower's meadow lot-(now owned by Rufus Townsend)-thence on the southerly line of said lot, across the highway, and on the southerly line of said Mower's pasture to the southeast cor- ner of the same-(now owned by said Townsend)-thence in a direct line to the southeast corner of the house now owned by Jaud Rickard, (the Hiram Power's house)-thence by the westerly end of said house, and on a line with the same, to the highway ; thence across the river to the two black cherry trees, on the north side of the highway opposite L. & B. F. Mower's mill yard (these trees stood near where the house now occupied by Liberty B. Marble stands) ; thence on a direct line northerly to the northeast corner of the small dwelling house owned by Henry C. Deni- son, esq., northerly of the clothier's shop (this house stood on the site, or near by, where Allen Thompson's house now is) ; thence by the north- erly end of said house to the northeast corner thereof; thence on a direct line to the southeast corner of the school-house, near the dwelling house of the said H. C. Denison, esq. ; thence easterly in a direct line to the place of beginning."
It is indeed doubtful if there are a dozen persons in the village who could follow the boundary lines above described, having no other guide than the description itself. In the year 1881 these boundaries were made a part of a pamphlet publication of the village by-laws, and for the purpose of having them properly understood, the portions included within the parentheses were added; and it is quite possible that the expla - nations then made will not apply to the bounds as now standing.
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VILLAGE OF WOODSTOCK.
This action, on the part of the selectmen who established the above boundaries, (Howland Simmons and Lyman Mower,) was by no means an incorporation of the village, and gave it no form of municipality whatever, but only defined certain limits within which animals should not be allowed to run at large. This established boundary would not have any particular importance except for the fact of its being substan- tially the village boundary of the present time, and was referred to in the act of incorporation passed November 11, 1836, as the limits of the corporate village at that time established. The inclosed district was the village proper, nothing more.
On the IIth of November, 1836, the Legislature of the State passed an act entitled "an act incorporating the village of Woodstock," some of the sections of which were as follows: "That part of the town of Woodstock, in the county of Windsor, which has heretofore been estab- lished and recorded as the north village in Woodstock, in pursuance of an act passed on the IIth day of November, in the year of our Lord 1819, entitled ' an act to restrain certain animals from running at large within the villages of this State,' shall hereafter be known by the name of The Village of Woodstock.
"The inhabitants of said village, qualified by law to vote in town meeting, shall meet on the first Monday in January next, at two o'clock in the afternoon, at the court-house in said Woodstock, and shall, at that meeting, or an adjourned meeting, to be held in said month of January, elect a clerk, five trustees, a treasurer, and a collector of taxes, who shall hold their respective offices one year and until others shall be chosen in their stead.
" The inhabitants residing in said village are hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of The Village of Woodstock ; and by that name shall have succession and may commence, prosecute and defend suits or actions, in all courts whatever ; may have a common seal and alter the same; may purchase, hold and convey real estate for the use of said village ; may tax themselves and levy and collect taxes for the purpose aforesaid, or to carry into effect any legal vote or by law of said corporation."
Subsequent sections of the same act prescribed the duties of the sev- eral officers of the village, and also provided for the regulations and
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
internal government of the municipality. But, while this act of incorpo- ration erected the village into a state of municipal being, it did not entirely separate it from the town, and, in fact, never has been sepa- rated therefrom, but both join together in the election of such officers as are incident to the government of the town, and an officer of the town may be a resident of the village, but an officer of the village cannot be a resident of the town. In this respect the citizens of the village have advantages over those of the town; but then, whatever of disadvantages this may bring to the citizen of the town, he may find consolation in the fact that he has no village or municipal tax to pay. The last sentence of the ninth section of the act of incorporation reads: "The inhabitants and territory included in the limits of said vil- lage shall belong to the town of Woodstock, in the same manner as though this act had not passed."
From the time of incorporation to the present there have been but few amendatory or supplementary acts passed that materially modify the original act. To be sure there have been made some changes, and some lands formerly outside have been brought in, while others inside have in the same manner been voted out.
Some matters of interest in connection with the early municipal his- tory of the village could be presented in this place but for the fact that the early records cannot be found ; and the most dilligent search and in- quiry have failed to reveal the slightest trace of their whereabouts. As a result of this misfortune we are unable to furnish even the names of the officers of the village elected at the first meeting appointed to be held in January, 1837, or, for that matter, the names of any of the officers prior to the year 1867.
Nearly every one of the institutions of the village of Woodstock had their origin and founding prior to the time of the passage of the corpo- rating act. There were the same church societies and edifices for each, although some of the latter have been rebuilt within the last fifty years. The village, too, had its newspapers, banking house, business blocks, hotels, court-house and town hall, and other public buildings. The vil- lage even had its fire department, and although an unpretentious organ- ization, it was nevertheless effective, and numbered among its members some of the foremost men of the town at that time.
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VILLAGE OF WOODSTOCK.
The Fire Department .- As early as the year 1820 an organization for the prevention and extinguishing of fires was formed, and that under an act of the Legislature, by which the same was incorporated. On the 26th of October of the year stated there was passed " An Act incorporating certain persons therein named, by the name of the Woodstock Fire So- ciety." The " certain " persons named were Charles Marsh, Benjamin Swan, Titus Hutchinson, Lyman Mower, Isaac N. Cushman, Job Lyman, Norman Williams, Justus Burdick, James Pearl, Solomon Warren, John Pratt, Joseph Churchill, jr , Charles Dana, Benjamin F. Mower, David Pierce, David Watson, Henry B. Dana, Charles Williams, John D. Pow- ers, and their associates and successors, as "a body politic and corpo- rate, to all intents and purposes, by the name of the Woodstock Fire Society, and by that name may sue and be sued ; may purchase and hold property to the amount of two thousand dollars, and land sufficient whereupon to build a house for the safe keeping of an engine and other apparatus necessary for extinguishing fire."
By further provisions of the act the first meeting of the society for the election of officers was directed to be held at the house of Robert Barker in Woodstock, on the last Monday in December, 1820. The society was also authorized to appoint not to exceed ten fire wardens, who were clothed with supreme authority in cases of fire. The bounds of the vil- lage as laid down by the selectmen were the prescribed limits within which the society was to operate.
Whatever became of this old organization, how long it continued, what property it owned, or who its officers were, no citizen of the pres- ent day appears to know. It is certain, however, that their organiza- tion must have been completed and become effective, for the corpora- tors were men of character, integrity and worth, and would not allow their names to become associated with any undertaking of a public character not calculated for the public good. The society seems to have left no record behind it, and whatever is known of it is learned from the incorporating act.
But this was the germ from which grew the present fire department of the village; and when the latter became incorporated measures were at once taken to provide for such an organization, but the absence of the records prior to 1867 leaves the history of it a matter of untrustworthy
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
tradition. However, in 1847 the Legislature passed an act providing that such persons as should be elected fire wardens of the village should be vested with all power at times of fire for the protection of property and the maintenance of peace and order. It is quite probable that that act was an enlargement upon the previous authority of the fire wardens, and that such an office was created by the by-laws of the corporation when organized. In 1867 the village fire wardens were Benoni S. Thompson, William C. Barnard, John S. Eaton, Ransom M. Russell and Jasper Hazen, jr.
In 1881 an ordinance was adopted establishing a fire department, which was virtually an act of re-organization to place the department on a proper working basis, and by the provisions of which the wardens were authorized to choose department officers from their own body. The company officers were provided to be elected by the company members.
In pursuance of a vote passed February 26, 1883, the old engine- house was replaced by the present substantial structure. The depart- ment long ago passed the " bucket brigade " days, and entered upon the hand engine period, the latter being, with the hook and ladder appara- tus, the present equipments of the village for extinguishing fire. But the introduction of water into the village has made unnecessary the use of the hand engines, and resulted in again re-organizing the depart- ment, so that at present it consists, according to the last report of the engineers, of one Fire and Hose Company of twenty members, and one Hook and Ladder Company of ten members. The present board of fire wardens is as follows : C. W. Sayward, William Hewitt, Harold S. Dana, W. O. Taylor, Fred Delano, Lewis Bordo, Seth T. Winslow, and H. F. Dunham; engineers, O. G. Kimball, N. M. Hoisington, and M. S. Myers.
Woodstock Park and Surroundings .- This is one of the most attract- ive of the many beautiful locations of the village ; and, as well, it is one of the most ancient localities of the village, for here, around the green, as it was called, was centered the main business enterprises of one hun- dred or so years ago. Little did Joab Hoisington dream that an acre or two of the best lands of his large estate would ever be converted into a public park, or that on his lands would ever be erected one of the
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VILLAGE OF WOODSTOCK.
prettiest villages in Vermont. just how the old village " green" hap- pened to come into existence would be, perhaps, a subject difficult of explanation. Its lands were always a common, and were never called upon to yield to the husbandman's labors. It is said that the tract was originally covered with a growth of pine trees, and that they were de- stroyed by a forest fire that occurred some time after 1770, probably about 1772. In later years this tract became the property of Israel Richardson, and he, when the court-house and jail became fixed insti- tutions of the town, donated lands upon which they should be built, to the extent of a little more than an acre and a half. The deed of the conveyance bore date of May 29, 1788, but the donation in fact ante- dated that time. The court-house was built where the brick house now stands, at the corner of South street, and the jail was located farther west, about in front of where the Methodist church now is.
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