USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 31
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Although having been doing business only five years, the Windsor Bank has been a reasonably successful institution, from a financial stand- point, and now has an accumulated surplus of $3,600. The present officers are these : President, Ripley Clark; vice-president, H. P. Mc- Clary; cashier, J. S. Walker, jr .; directors, H. P. McClary, Ripley Clark, Rollin Amsden, Alvin Weston, John S. Walker, S. N. Stone, and L. C. White.
The Windsor Savings Bank .- This institution was incorporated by the Legislature of Vermont on the 13th of November, 1847, and opened its doors for business in January, 1848 ; first in a building on Main street, which is not now in existence, but was moved some years ago to the present location on State street, the building and property belonging to the bank. The first officers of the Savings Bank were Shubael Wardner, president ; Israel Hall, first vice president; S. H. Price, treasurer.
The bank now shows a total deposit account of about $640,000, and has an accumulated surplus of $27,000. The rate of interest on paid de- posits is liable to vary, according to circumstances, but it averages about four and one-half per cent. The present officers are as follows: Henry D. Stone, president ; C. D Penniman, first vice-president ; L C. White, treasurer ; Alfred Hall, T. B. Winn, Henry D. Stone, Harvey Miller, Charles Stone, C. D. Penniman, E. C. Howard, E. W. Oaks and L. C. White, trustees.
Manufacturing Interests .- There was a time in the history of this lo- cality when Windsor enjoyed the honor of being one of the manufactur- ing centers of Vermont, but that time is now passed, and of the extensive industries that formerly had their place here but half a dozen, perhaps less, remain ; and where once were employed hundreds of men and women, there stand idle factory buildings ; the employees now engaged in the manufactories of the village may almost be counted on one's fin- gers. The waters of Mill Brook have furnished the capitalists of this
Truly yours Hirum Harbour
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VILLAGE OF WINDSOR.
locality with one of the best and most powerful privileges in the county, but even that stream was taxed beyond its capacity by the press of factory enterprises thirty and less years ago, and steam-power was in- troduced into many of the buildings that continuous labor might not be retarded. The lower village of Windsor owed its existence to the manu- factories built up along the brook, but with the decline of industries there has been a corresponding loss of population in the locality.
There undoubtedly still live in the village some persons who remem- ber the organization and incorporation of the Windsor Manufacturing Company, which occurred in November, 1823, and of which Jonathan H. Hubbard was an active member. Then there was the old Windsor Cotton and Woolen Manufacturing Company that was brought into ex- istence by an act of the Legislature passed October 30, 1828, and of which Abner Forbes, Jonathan H. Hubbard, Allen Wardner, and E. R. Campbell were proprietors. And another of the old industries of the village was the Windsor Car and Rifle Company, afterwards known as the Robbins & Lawrence Company, the originators of the former being Samuel E. Robbins, Richard S. Lawrence, Shubael Wardner, Joseph D. Hatch, and Warren Currier. The first named company was incorpo- rated November 7, 1849, and its name changed to the Robbins & Law- rence Company November 6, 1850. This whole enterprise had its ori- gin in the industry established in 1845 by the firm of Robbins, Kendall & Lawrence, for the manufacture of fire- arms. But in 1859, in the vain attempt to enlarge the works and extent of manufacture, the company met with serious reverses and failed.
In 1856 the plant passed by purchase to Lamson, Goodnow & Yale, who, about the time of the outbreak of the Rebellion, resumed the manu- facture of fire-arms, which business was carried on actively and with suc- cess. In 1870 Jones, Lamson & Co. took the main building, put in new machinery, and commenced manufacturing cotton sheetings and other fabrics of cotton. The business of this firm was very extensive, furnish - ing employment to some four hundred persons; but, finally, reverses came, the business was no longer profitable, the firm suspended, and the machinery was sold and moved out of the village. The machine shops of Jones, Lamson & Co. were transferred to the Jones & Lamson Ma- chine Company, and were continued some time longer. However, in
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1888, some of the former employees of the shops, with the assistance of the local capitalists, organized the Windsor Machine Company, by which latter the business is at present conducted.
Another of the operating industries of the village is that owned by George W. Hubbard and Horace P. McClary, the firm being Hubbard & McClary, and their manufactures, novelties, principal among which are glazers and drivers. The firm was established and commenced business in 1877.
Atwood & Sons is the name of a firm that occupies the old Lamson & Co. fork shop, and which is engaged in the manufacture of chair stock. The old village grist-mill is still in operation, the property being owned by the Harlow estate, and managed by William Tandy. These that have been mentioned, together with the shoe manufacturing indus- try conducted by Brackett & Co. at the prison site, comprise substan- tially all there is of the manufactures of Windsor of the present day.
Masonic Societies .- Vermont Lodge, No. 18, F. and A. M., was organ- ized under a charter of date January 10, 1850. It has now a member- ship of 150 persons, and was officered in 1889 as follows : Daniel Payson, W. M .; Deane Richmond, S. W .; George S. Blake, J. W .; Henry S. Williams, treasurer; J. C. Enright, secretary; J. Russell Brewster, S. D .; Charles E. Hoffman, J. D .; James Wassall, chaplain ; B. James Mullins, marshal; Frank E. Willis and Francis E. Monroe, stewards; Seymour S. Ashley, tyler. Regular meetings are held on each first Tuesday of the month.
Windsor Chapter, No. 6, R. A. M., was chartered August 14, 1851, and the charter members were as follows: Oliver C. Baker, William C. Dodge, Charles E. Colston, Calvin Spaulding, Seth Johnson, Josiah Perry, I. W. Hubbard, Jonathan Wood, Thomas Hammond, Charles Muns. The chapter has a present membership of 131, and was officered for the year 1889 as follows: J. S. Fairman, H. P .; W. H. Fullerton, king ; J. R. Brewster, scribe; G. E. Williams, secretary and treasurer ; C. H. Ingalls, C. of H .; W. W. Jones, P. S .; C. E. Hoffman, R. A. captain ; George H. Sisson, M. 3d V .; F. F. Munroe, M. 2d V .; W. H. Bradley, M. Ist V .; L. C Parkhurst, chaplain ; S. S. Ashley, tyler.
Windsor Council, No. 8, R. and S. Masons, was originated at Hart- land, but the main seat of the organization was subsequently moved to Windsor. The charter was dated March 17, 1856, and the original per-
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sons to whom it was granted were as follows: O. G. Woodbury, thrice illustrious G. M .; Samuel J. Allen, I. D. G. M .; Lewis Emmons, prin- cipal conductor.
The present number of members is eighty. one, and the officers are as follows: J. R. Brewster, T. I. G. M .; W. H. Fullerton, Dep. M .; L. C. Parkhurst, P. C. of W .; G. E. Williams, treasurer and recorder ; Daniel Payson, C. of G .; H. Gilchrist, conductor of council; S. R. Bryant, marshal; Deane Richmond, steward ; S. S. Ashley, sentinel.
Vermont Commandery, No. 4, K. T., was chartered January 13, 1857. The membership of this organization numbers 130, and was officered for the year 1889 as follows: Sir Marsh O. Perkins, E. C .; Sir H. S. Will- iams, generalissimo; W. H. Fullerton, C. G .; John H. Humphreys, P .; Daniel Payson, S. W .; Deane Richmond, J.W .; Geo. E. Williams, treas- urer ; Joseph. C. Enright, recorder ; Samuel Putnam, standard bearer ; Charles H. Ingalls, sword bearer ; Stanley Bryant, warder; Joseph S. Fairman, J. Russell Brewster and Edgar H. Austin, captains of guard ; Seymour S. Ashley, sentinel.
Windsor Lodge of Perfection, A. A. S. Rite, was chartered August 18, 1875. Its present membership numbers eighty-one persons. Stated meetings are held the last Friday of July, October, January and April. Present officers : John H. Humphreys, T. P. G. M .; Orlando N. Logan, H. of T. D. G. M .; Hugh Gilchrist, V. S. G. W .; George F. Flanders, V. J. G. W .; J. S. Fairman, grand orator; James H. Kiniry, G. K. S .; Milton K. Paine, grand treasurer; Marsh O. Perkins, grand secretary; J. Russell Brewster, G. M. of C .; William W. Jones, G. C. of G .; S. S. Ashley, grand tyler. Past T. P. G. Masters, Milton K. Paine, Marsh O. Perkins, Charles J. Jones.
Ascutney Chapter, No. 2,0. E. S., has a membership of sixty-four, and is officered as follows : L. C. Parkhurst, worthy patron; Mrs. H. Mc- Cormick, worthy matron ; Mrs. Jane P. Palmer, assistant matron ; Mrs. P. K. Whitney, treasurer; W. W. Jones, secretary ; Mrs. W. W. Jones, conductress ; Mrs. F. F. Munroe, assistant conductress ; H. McCormick, warder; S. S. Ashley, sentinel; Mrs. Emma Veasey, Ada; Myrtie Hoffman, Ruth ; Mrs. L. C. Parkhurst, Esther; Lizzie Chadbourne, Martha ; Mrs. J. C. Smith, Electa.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
CHAPTER XVI.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF HARTFORD.
H ARTFORD is one of the few exceptional towns of the county of Windsor; and exceptional in this particular : it is one of the very few towns in the locality that has shown an uninterrupted and continu- ous advancement in population, enterprise and development from the time of its first occupation and settlement to the present. This condi- tion does not arise from the fact that the town has a location in the county specially superior to a number of others, nor are its farming lands of any better quality than can be found in a number of the in- terior towns and some on the river ; but there has ever been shown on the part of the people of Hartford a spirit of enterprise, a spirit of progress, of which the majority of the towns cannot boast nor lay claim to possessing.
At the same time Hartford does enjoy advantages of situation not possessed by some others of the county's sub-divisions, and this has been and still is an important factor in contributing to the building up and maintaining the large population and important industries with which the town is supplied. And the splendid water-courses-the Con- necticut, Otta Quechee and White Rivers-are auxiliaries that, too, have materially contributed to the town's wealth of resources, and brought affluence to the citizens in every quarter. All these elements combined have placed Hartford in the front rank of Windsor county's towns. How could it well be otherwise, with these streams crossing or border- ing on the town ? The Connecticut River forms the eastern boundary ; the White River enters at the northwest corner, flows thence southeast and east and discharges into the Connecticut at White River Junction ; and the Otta Quechee, or more commonly called Quechee, enters at the southwest corner, and thence flows an exceedingly tortuous course, draining the entire southwest section of the town, and finally leaves the same about midway the south town boundary. No town in the whole county, or even the State, possesses natural water privileges superior to Hartford, and but few, if any, utilize these resources to a greater extent or with better results.
John Porter Ler
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TOWN OF HARTFORD.
And no town in eastern Vermont has better or greater railroad facili- ties than has Hartford ; and to state that this has not been an element of prosperity in the town would indeed be an error. From White River Junction direct and speedy communication is had in every direction- north, south, east and west. This village is joined with the county seat by means of the Woodstock Railroad, and the Central Vermont likewise connects it with the State capital, Burlington and Lake Champlain. In the same manner, and by other railroads, the large cities of southern New England are reached, while northern and eastern routes and connections reach to northern Vermont, Canada and New Hampshire. In the light of all these facts it cannot be a thing surprising that the population of Hartford should increase from nine hundred and ninety-eight, as shown by the census of 1791, to twenty-nine hundred and fifty four, according to the census of 1880.
Hartford was chartered in 1761. Ten years later, in 1771, under the authority of the province of New York, as a part of her claimed jurisdic- tional authority, a census enumeration of inhabitants was made by which this town was found to contain 190 souls. In 1791, the time of taking the first authorized census in the State, Hartford had a population of 988 ; and from that time forth each succeeding enumeration has shown as follows : In 1800, 1,494 ; 1810, 1,881 ; 1820, 2,010; 1830, 2,044; 1840, 2,194; 1850, 2,159; 1860, 2,396; 1870, 2,480 ; 1880, 2,954. Allowing the subsequent population to have increased in the same ratio as shown during the last thirty years, it is safe to estimate that Hartford has a present population of from thirty-five to thirty-eight hundred. A glance at the census compilations of Vermont will show but few cases parallel with this.
The town of Hartford is one of the few of the counties to enjoy the benefits and advantages of a thoroughly written history of its events in detail and at full length, and by a writer well prepared and equipped for that duty. In this volume, therefore, it will not be necessary, nor would it be expedient, to furnish more than a synopsis of the events of the town's history, for the reason that the people of Hartford can find no new historical facts recorded here, and the great majority of the readers of this work, who live in other towns than Hartford, would hardly be ex- pected to find much interest in the minute detail of the history of a town, other than their own.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Of the several towns that now form a part of Windsor county, Hart- ford was the second to be chartered under the authority of New Hamp- shire, the only previously granted town being Hamstead (now Chester), the original charter for which was made in 1754, about seven years ahead of Hartford. This town, Hartford, was brought into existence on the 4th day of July, 1761, by a charter executed by Governor Benning Went- worth of the province of New Hampshire, to sixty-two proprietors, and the lands divided into sixty-eight shares. The conditions and provisions of the charter were substantially the same as those by which a majority of Governor Wentworth's grants of land west of the Connecticut were made ; but some of the conditions are of sufficient interest and import- ance to demand some comment or a reproduction in these pages, and are as follows :
That every grantee, his heirs and assigns, shall plant and cultivate five acres of land within the term of five years, for every fifty acres contained in his share, and shall continue to cultivate and improve the same under a penalty of the forfeiture of his grant. The second provision had rela- tion to the preservation of all the white and other pine trees on the land of the town for use of masting the king's royal navy ; and any violation of this provision rendered the person so cutting or destroying the timber or trees so reserved amenable to any laws which Parliament might pre- scribe, together with a forfeiture of the destroyer's rights. The fourth and fifth conditions of the charter provided for the annual payment of the proverbial ear of Indian corn, and the shilling of proclamation money if lawfully demanded.
In addition to the conditions of the charter were the usual other res- ervations of "rights" and shares for various purposes-one share for the society for the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts ; one share for a glebe for the Church of England, as by law established ; two shares for his excellency the governor ; one share for the first settled minister of the gospel in the town; and one share for the benefit of a school in the town.
Thus vested with the rightful ownership and proprietary control of the town of Hartford (for it was so named in the charter) were the grant- ees named therein, the recipients of the worthy governor of New Hamp- shire province. For more than a year prior to the date of this charter
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TOWN OF HARTFORD.
Governor Wentworth had made no grants or charters of towns on what was known as the New Hampshire Grants, the last preceding having been made January 8, 1760, by which the town of Pownal was created. In the order of their granting Hartford was the eighteenth of those of the entire district.
No sooner had the proprietors become fully vested with authority over their town than they began to bestir themselves in the preliminary arrangements necessary to be completed before the town was ready for occupancy. To this end a proprietors' meeting was warned to be held at Windham, in the colony of Connecticut, on the 20th of August, 1761; which warning being duly published, the meeting was convened at the time and place stated above. The charter had provided for the meeting and had also designated John Baldwin as its moderator. The proprie- tors chose Prince Tracy proprietors' clerk and treasurer ; and further, voted that the selectmen. " William Clark, Prince Tracy and John Bald- win, be the assessors for the proprietors"; also, chose Major Joseph Blanchard, Silas Phelps and Moses Hebard collectors of taxes; also voted that they will choose "a committee to go and view said town, and lay the first division of land to each proprietor by lot, and that said committee shall consist of six men to be chosen for that purpose." This committee comprised " Captain William Clark, Lieutenant Prince Tracy, Silas Phelps, James Flint, Benjamin Wright and Elijah Bingham, who were directed to go and view the said town and lay out a town plot, or the land ordered in the charter to be laid out for town lots, and also to lay out convenient roads, or highways, so wide as said committee shall judge convenient, and so many as they shall judge necessary for the present use of said town; then to proceed to lay out as many lots. as there is (are) proprietors or equal shares, the least of which to contain fifty acres, and so to enlarge the quantity so as to make them as equal as they can ; having regard to the quality and situation of the land, and make a proper plan of their doings on good parchment, with the quan- tity, description and number of each lot therein contained." After vot- ing a tax of twenty shillings against each proprietor, to pay the charges of the committee, the meeting was adjourned to meet again on the third Tuesday (17th) of November, 1761.
Without referring at any length to the proceedings of the committee
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
charged with the duty of laying out the lots and lands, suffice it to say that the division was made and the shares awarded by lot, at a subse- quent proprietors' meeting. The lands of the town parceled out by this division amounted to slightly more than thirty-three hundred acres, whereas the town contained an aggregate of twenty seven thousand acres; but subsequent divisions and allotments were made from time to time until the whole territory of the town was allotted. Proprietors' meetings, as distinct from town or freemen's meetings, continued to be held until well along into the first quarter of the present century ; but at a meet- ing held in Windham, Connecticut, on March 19, 1765, the proprietors voted to hold their future meetings in the town of Hartford, this town, in accordance with a request made by the settlers therein. This was a right to which the settlers became entitled at that time, by virtue of there being a sufficient number of them in the town to own or represent one- sixteenth part of the grantees under the charter of the town.
It seems to be a generally conceded fact that the first settler to make his abode within the limits of this town was Benjamin Wright, and that he came to the locality during the year 1763. This question was the subject of considerable discussion at one time, but the patient research of a recent historian seems to have established the fact, beyond reasonable doubt, that to Benjamin Wright must be accorded the honor of having been the pioneer of Hartford. The same writer was at one time con- fronted with a statement purporting to be a part of a request of certain of the proprietors of the town upon the authorities of New York for the purpose of acquiring a charter of Hartford's lands from that province; and it was stated in that document that during the summer of 1763 there were ten persons who entered and labored in the town; and that "in the year 1761 there were four persons (who) have moved on the said town with their families, and there dwelt ever since. And the said ten continue to improve the said second summer ; and others did enter on; and this present spring the men have gone on to improve, and about ten others intend to go immediately." This petition, however, contained so much that was known to be untrue that the whole of it is considered a "delusion and a snare," and absolutely discredited.
But Benjamin Wright did not long remain the sole occupant of the town, for during the next year other settlers came to the locality, who
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TOWN OF HARTFORD.
with their families are also entitled to the distinction of being called pioneers. Those of 1763 were Solomon Strong, Elijah Strong, Benajah Strong, Jonathan Marsh and Noah Dewey. It was upon the application of these settlers and Benjamin Wright that the New Hampshire justice called the meeting of proprietors, in December, 1764, in the town of Hartford, the first assemblage of that body in the town. From the proceedings of that meeting it is fair to assume that these men and their families comprised the whole colony of pioneers in the town, for no new names appear among the officers then chosen, and only one, Benjamin Wright, appears not to have been elevated to any office, while some were called upon to fill more than one position. This meeting was held at the house of Solomon Strong, on the 3d of December, 1764, and the officers elected were as follows : Moderator, Noah Dewey ; proprietors' clerk, Elijah Strong ; proprietors' treasurer, Solomon Strong ; collector, Elijah Strong ; proprietors' committee, Noah Dewey, Benajah Strong, Solomon Strong, Elijah Strong, Jonathan Marsh.
Again, and in order to bring to the attention of the reader the names of as many as possible of those who were connected with the affairs of the town during the pioneerhood, the following extracts are taken from the ancient proprietors' records : Israel Gillett, John Gillett and Joshua Hazen were chosen (November 2d, 1772) a committee to size the fifty acre lots. On November 22, 1773, Abel Marsh, Joel Marsh and Amos Robinson were chosen " a committee to lay out in lots that body of pine land that laid near the ' Pine Meadows,' one lot to each right." April 18, 1774, Captain Joseph Marsh chosen moderator of proprietors' meet- ing ; and Captain Joseph Marsh, Stephen Tilden and Elisha Marsh chosen a committee to settle the line between Hartford and Hertford (Hart- land). Meeting in November, 1776: "Voted to accept the return of pitches of acre lots made by Richard Hazen, Israel Gillett, Michael Clark, John Bennett, jr., Beckett Chapman, Joshua Hazen, Benjamin Wright, Joshua Gillett, Shephen Chapman, Stephen Tilden and Simon Chapman."
The reader will of course understand that the foregoing extracts are taken from the proprietors' proceedings, and cannot be presumed to have any direct relation to the proceedings of the freemen at the regular or customary town meetings, which were entirely separate and distinct from
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
the above. It has been generally understood, and so presented by past writers, that the organization of Hartford was not effected prior to the year 1768, but it has remained for Mr. William H. Tucker to correct this error, and, at the same time, to bring to the town of Hartford the dis- tinction of having the first regular town organization of any of the civil districts on the New Hampshire Grants, Bennington, the first chartered town on the grants, not excepted. Had it been the custom of the pro- prietors to organize the town at or about the time they organized. their own special body, there would, perhaps, have been nothing singu- lar or remarkable in this early town organization of Hartford ; but, gen- erally, and almost invariably, the town organization was not effected until some years after the proprietors' proceedings had been in progress, and until after the town itself had a sufficient population to justify in- ternal municipal organization.
Thus it was a fact that the town organization of Hartford was effected before the town itself had a single rightful occupant; and this proceed- ing was had, not within the town, or on the " grants," but in the prov- ince of Connecticut, on the 26th of August, 1761, on the occasion of the first proprietors' meeting. Of the proceedings relating to the sub- ject, and the officers chosen at the time, the record says : " At a town meeting of the proprietors of the town of Hartford, in the province of New Hampshire, legally warned and holden at Windham, in the colony of Connecticut, August the 26th, 1761, pursuant to a charter of said town, dated July the 14th, 1761. In said charter Mr. John Baldwin was appointed moderator of said meeting. At the said meeting chosen Prince Tracy, town clerk; chosen Captain William Clark, Prince Tracy, and Mr. John Baldwin, selectmen for said town ; chosen Prince Tracy, town treasurer."
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