USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 37
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Felchville was established as the seat of a school district in 1827, but the school-house was not erected until the next year. In 1847 a larger and more commodious school building was erected. The other villages of the town also have good school accommodations, while the town out- side is divided into districts, some full and fractional or joint, as best suits the necessities of the several localities and the people that dwell in them.
Succession of town Representatives in the General Assembly : 1777 (convention at Windsor), Andrew Spear; 1778, no record ; 1779, An- drew Spear ; 1780-81, Thomas Hapgood ; 1782, Andrew Spear ; 1783, Joseph Sawyer ; 1784-89, John Weld : 1790-91, Elkanah Day ; 1792, John Weld ; 1793, Aaron Kimball; 1794-95, Abijah Stone ; 1796-97,
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TOWN OF PLYMOUTH.
David Hapgood ; 1798-99, Moses Chaplain ; 1800, Solomon Keyes ; 1801-08, Elias Jones ; 1809, Lemuel Ide; 1810, Solomon Keyes ; 1811, Jonathan Shedd ; 1812, Jonathan Shedd ; 1813-14, William L. Haw- kins ; 1815, Jonathan Shedd ; 1816-20, Sewall Fullam; 1821-23, Jon- athan Shedd; 1824-25, Samuel C. Loveland; 1826, Abel Gilson, jr .; 1827-28, Samuel C. Loveland; 1829-31, Simeon Buck; 1832-33, Will- iam Felch ; 1834-35, Shubael C. Shedd ; 1836-37, Bridgman Hapgood; 1838-39, Solomon Keyes; 1840-41, Benoni Buck; 1842-43, John Wheeler; 1844-45, Rufus Forbush ; 1846, John Wheeler ; 1847-48, Charles Buck ; 1849, Solomon Keyes; 1850-51, Luther Carlton; 1852, Hiram Goddard; 1853-54, Charles Buck; 1855-56, Samuel Herrick ; 1857, Samuel Herrick ; 1858, Josiah Q. Hawkins ; 1859, Washington Keyes ; 1860, Washington Keyes; 1861-62, Willard H. Dow ; 1863- 64, Merritt E. Goddard ; 1865-66, Sumner Fletcher ; 1867-68, Prosper Merrill; 1869, William P. Chamberlain ; 1870-71, Hiram F. Thomas ; 1872-73, Gilbert A. Davis; 1874-75, Gilbert A. Davis ; 1876-77, George H. Parker ; 1878-79, none; 1880-81, Eleazer Dexter ; 1882-83, John McCullough ; 1884-85, Azro White ; 1886-87, Orsemor S. Hol- den ; 1888-89, William W. Keyes.
CHAPTER XX.
HISTORY OF THE TOWN OF PLYMOUTH.
T HE town of Plymouth, as it is now and for nearly a century has been known, was chartered by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire, on the 6th of July, 1761, and was, therefore, one of the earlier chartered towns. The grantees under this charter were sixty-four in number, and headed by Jeremiah Hall. The town, however, was given the name of Saltash, and by that name it was known and called until February 23, 1797, when an act of the Legislature changed the name to Plymouth.
The town also seems to have been among those over which the prov- ince of New York sought to exercise control by specific acts, as well as the general authority she claimed to possess over this whole State; for
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
in the year 1772, soon after or about the time of the erection of Cumber- land and Gloucester counties, the governor of the province of New York made a grant of the lands of old Saltash to Ichabod Fisher and certain associates, the grant bearing date May 13, 1772, but it is not known whether or not the New York governor ever confirmed the Fisher grant by charter rights and privileges ; probably he did not. And it is not positively known whether Saltash was first settled by persons friendly to New York or Vermont, for when the first pioneer, of whom there is a record, came to the town, Vermont had become an independent State, and had succeeded New Hampshire in extending protection and juris- diction over the people of the districts or separate grants. But when the town was organized, in 1787 or about that year, New York had practi- cally lost control of the Vermont towns, although the rights of the latter were not then recognized by Congress, and the first officers were elected by the freemen in accordance with the laws of this State.
Geographically, the town of Plymouth occupies a position among the towns of Windsor county on the extreme western border, abutting the Rutland county east line ; in the north and south measurement of Wind- sor county the position of the town is central, being one of the six towns that form the central block in the county.
Plymouth is also reckoned among the more mountainous towns of the county, there being perhaps as large a number of peaks and high ridges as can be found in any of the county's towns. And the hills, too, do not appear to form a continuous range, but a series of broken mountain formations, with deep valleys between them, through which course large and small beautiful mountain streams. Many of these peaks have been dignified with distinguishing names, some given in allusion to the surname of an owner or prominent resident of their locality, and others applied from the peculiar characteristics of the mountain itself, as fancy or taste might dictate. In the northeast part are the so-called Blueberry Ledges, on the north side of which were the old Chamberlain cider and saw-mills of years ago. Then, still in the northern section, are the other hills-Allen's Hill, Morgan Peak, Smith's Hill, Mount Pleasant, Wood's Peak, Slack Hill, Plymouth Notch, East Mountain, and many others of equal prominence.
In the central part of the town are a number of mountains, to which
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have been applied respective names, - Mount Tom, Old Notch, Mount Ambrose, South Hudus Mountain and Blueberry Hill; while the south- ern part has its Weaver Hill, Dry Hill, Saltash Hill, Tinney Hill, and others of less prominence. In the southwestern part of the town, and north of Saltash Hill, is a spot that achieved some considerable notoriety many years ago, from having been the supposed general rendezvous and point of manufacture of a band of counterfeiters ; and for their peculiar craft no more favorable location could have been selected, for this region of the town has witnessed no settlement, even to the present day.
The general trend of the mountain system of Plymouth appears to be from south to north, with an inclination to the northwest. The town, too, possesses water privileges second to none in the county or perhaps in the State. The Black River is its principal stream, and has its chief source in Woodward's reservoir, although its extreme headwaters are in the towns farther north. From the reservoir the river flows southeast to a point a short distance from the old Ward lime works, where it broadens and forms a body of water known as Black Pond; thence continues its course to the southeast across the town and discharges into Plymouth Pond. This is a still larger body of water and from its area would be entitled to the more dignified appellation of "lake," should the citizens of the locality feel disposed to so designate it. The outlet of the pond is a continuation of the Black River, which flows thence into the town of Ludlow, crosses the other towns of Cavendish, Weathersfield and Springfield, and discharges its waters into the Connecticut in the town last named. The principal tributaries of the Black River in Plymouth are Patch Brook, Little Roaring Brook, Money Brook, Great Roaring Brook, and Tinker Brook, on the west side; and Kingston Brook, Read- ing Brook, Grass Pond, and Duck Pond, on the east side. Hollow Brook and Broad Brook, tributaries of the Otta Quechee River, also have their headwaters in Plymouth town. The several ponds of the town are stocked with fish of different varieties, and this with the other attractions of the locality have combined to make Plymouth a summer resort of some prominence.
A large proportion of the rock formation in the town is primitive lime- stone, and fifty and even less years ago the manufacture of lime was one of the important industries of the locality. Some of this stone made
50
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excellent marble, and as early as 1834 a factory, capable of operating one hundred and fifty saws, was built and run for a number of years. Some of this marble was of a white color and some was beautifully varie- gated. Near the vicinity of Mount Tom also there existed, and still does, a considerable bed of soapstone, but its production was not carried on to any marked extent.
The town of Plymouth abounds in natural attractions, greater than which there is none in southern Vermont, and the greatest and most celebrated of those in the town are what has been termed the Plymouth Caverns. These were first discovered early in July, 1818, and very soon afterward were explored. They are situate at the base of the mountain, on the southwest side of the river, and about fifty rods therefrom. They were caused by water running through the lime rock, thus making considerable excavations. The passage into the main cavern is nearly perpendicular, about the size of a common well, and ten feet in depth. This leads into the main room, oval in form, thirty feet long by twenty feet wide, and about fifteen feet in greatest height. The second room is reached through a broad, sloping passage, and is about half the size of the first. The third room is reached by a narrow passage, and the room is fourteen feet long, eight feet wide and seven feet high. The fourth room is thirty feet long, twelve wide, and eighteen high, while the fifth room of this cave is ten feet long, seven wide, and but four feet in height. The sixth and seventh rooms are about the same size, each being about fifteen feet long, seven wide, and four high. From the seventh room there extends a narrow passage into the rocks something like fifteen or sixteen feet, and then seems to terminate. When first discovered the roof and sides of this cavern were beautifully ornamented with stalac- tites, and the bottom with corresponding stalagmites, but curiosity hunters have broken and carried nearly everything away that was most desirable. A few rods to the westward of the cavern just described is another, about one-third less in size.
The wealth of history made by the town of Plymouth rests in the record made by the town practically during the present century. To be sure the town was chartered as early, almost, as any other of the county's sub-divisions, but from its somewhat remote and isolated situa- tion there was not the inducement here that attracted pioneers to other
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towns; and more than that, a settlement in the district of Saltash or Plymouth meant untold privations and hardships to the family of the venturesome pioneer who should make his abode within its limits. But notwithstanding all this, and in the face of all dangers and trials, the town was settled and peopled, and gained steadily in population and productions from the very first. The record has it that the first settler was John Mudge, and that he came to the town during the year 1777 ; and that he was soon afterward followed by the family of Aaron Hewett, during the same year. William Mudge, the son of John, was the first white male child born in the town, and from that event became entitled to and received the customary hundred-acre lot that was awarded to the first-born male of the town.
But pioneer settlement in Plymouth was very slow, more so, perhaps, than the majority of the neighboring towns, but no slower than others similarly situated. The first census, that of 1791, gives the town a population of but one hundred and six, which was contained and em- braced by about twenty families. Nine years later, or in 1800, the number of families had increased to nearly one hundred, and the popu- lation to almost five hundred. So near as can be determined, in the absence of any written record, the town was organized about the year 1787, when the number of its families could hardly have exceeded twelve or fifteen. Adam Brown is believed to have been chosen town clerk in that year. The first freemen's meeting, of which there appears a record, was held in March, 1789; and Jacob Wilder was chosen town clerk ; Samuel Page, Moses Priest and John Coolidge, selectmen ; Eben- ezer Wilder, Jonathan Wilder and Nathan Jones, jr., listers. These men were of course pioneers in the town, but there were others as well, whose names, some of them, can be recalled. John Taylor, Lieutenant Brown and Captain John Coolidge (both patriots of the Revolution), Jonathan Pinney, Isaiah Boynton, Luther Johnson, Nathan Hall, Asa Wheeler, and undoubtedly others whose names have been lost, together with those mentioned before-Jacob Wilder, Moses Priest, Samuel Page, John Coolidge, Ebenezer and Jonathan Wilder, Nathan Jones, the first town officers,-comprised in the main the little colony of pioneers who had the termerity and determined spirit to attempt the settlement of so uninviting a town as Saltash was at that period. These families are
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
believed to have settled in the town as early at least as the year 1800, and a number of them before 1790.
But whatever of hardships the pioneers of this town may have en- dured in effecting a permanent lodgment here, they seem never to have directly suffered under the smarting afflictions that attended pioneer- ship in many other localities, on account of the disturbances between New York and the independent State of Vermont; nor were the few settlers in the town at all embarrassed in their possessions by being called upon to furnish men and means with which to prosecute the war against Great Britain, for, at that time, the town had scarce a handful of men within her borders, and not enough to become noticed by the authorities of the State. The first representatives to the State legisla- tive body were chosen in 1778, but the town of Plymouth seems not to have chosen a representative prior to the election of Moses Priest, in I795.
As the town grew in population, as the various remote localities began to be populated, as the forests gave way to agricultural improvements and development, the fact became disclosed that Plymouth possessed other and richer resources than were contemplated, or even dreamed of, by the pioneers. These vast mountains which were supposed to be of no practical value, except for their forest growth, were found to contain mineral and other deposits that once bid fair to place Plymouth far ahead of any of her sister towns. Explorations brought to light the fact that these hills contained deposits of marble, lime, steatite, iron and gold, and other valuable commodities, but the revelations came by periods, and each was worked and exhausted in its turn, or else similar produc- tions in other States supplied the demand and rendered further opera- tions here unprofitable. The marble and lime producing industries of the town have already been referred to, so we may now refer to the enterprise that founded the village of Tyson Furnace, as formerly known, or Tyson of to-day.
The period of the iron excitement and development of Plymouth be- gan in 1835, about which year, or possibly a little earlier, the discovery of its deposit was made. Isaac Tyson was experienced in mining op- erations, and in crossing the mountains discovered by accident an iron deposit in the vicinity of Mount Tom. He examined its quality, and
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afterward sent to the locality an expert in iron ores, who prosecuted his explorations throughout the region with gratifying results. About the same time other mining operators became cognizant of the supposed in- exhaustible deposits of iron in the town, and they likewise sent prac- tical engineers to the town. In 1837 Mr. Tyson commenced the erec- tion of his works, which were put in operation the same year. They consisted of a large blast furnace, beside a smaller one for convenience. Several excavations were made by which ore was taken, a part proving to be of superior quality, such as is called steel ore.
As the works became established, and the mining, blasting and cast- ing operations in full progress, a town was built up which was named after its enterprising founder-Tyson Furnace. Stores, a post-office, hotel and innumerable other business enterprises were established at the Furnace, and a large and successful business carried on there for a num- ber of years; but at length there came a decline, one embarrassment followed another, and in a few years more operations ceased and the locality lapsed into its former state. A number of the old structures are still standing, relics of a former age of progress and enterprise, but the hundreds of persons who found employment in connection with the mining and foundry enterprises have left the community, or sought other occupations.
Scarcely had this great wave of excitement died away and become lost in the past than there appeared another ripple on 'the surface of affairs within the town, and it continued to grow and increase until the people of the quiet town became almost wholly absorbed in the one subject of the vast deposits of gold that lay concealed in the depths of Plymouth's mountains. Bridgewater lay substantially within the same belt and gold was reported there in great abundance; therefore, why not in Plymouth ? About this time men, who had seen life in the gold fields of California, were returning to the East, and a party of them no- ticed a striking resemblance in the character of the soil in the two far apart places. Investigation followed, and the result proved that Ply- mouth, too, had gold deposits, but its quantity was unknown, altogether a matter of speculation. The first " claim" was staked out by William Hankinson, in 1858, in the vicinity of Five Corners (in the northeast part of the town), and within the space of a few square rods of land
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
more than four hundred dollars worth of the coveted mineral was found. Other operators dug in other localities, and even some of the staid and quiet towns-folk took up the pick and shovel and went in quest of sudden wealth. But heavy or extensive operators did not seem to take hold of the matter of gold mining in Plymouth to any noticeable extent, though the reports of the field had gone abroad some years before ; and the digging that was done, and the mineral that was found, was due to the efforts of local and some comparatively unknown parties. Still each was rewarded for his labor, but riches none of them ever acquired.
At last, to give the field a practical and thorough test, in the year 1880 a corporation was formed, known as the Plymouth Gold Mining Company. This company came to the field well equipped with capi- tal, tools and machinery, and commenced operations in the vicinity of Five Corners. They dug and mined along the streams and in the hills for a considerable time, taking out some gold of good quality.
Still later, in 1882, the Rooks Mining Company, comprised mainly of New York capitalists, began operations in the town, along the waters and in the headlands of the vicinity of the streams in the southeast part of Plymouth, the principal scenes of operations being the valleys of Reading Brook and its tributary, Buffalo Brook, also Gold Brook. For a time these companies were reported as having abundant success; but mining operators are a peculiar class of people ; if success is abundant they report to the contrary, thus hoping to keep out other operators and hold the whole field, and if success is indifferent they are not willing that the world should know of their mistakes.
But whatever of success the companies and private operators have met with is not at present generally known, but mining in Plymouth to-day is not prosecuted with any great degree of vigor, or at least with such vigor as is usually seen in highly productive gold regions.
All these various enterprises, whether permanent or otherwise, have been productive of good results to the people of Plymouth, enabling the lumbermen to realize well from the sale of their manufactures, the farmer on his products, the merchants from their stores, and to the will- ing laborer and mechanic they have furnished profitable employment for many years. And Plymouth, too, has held her population better than most similarly situated towns in the county, there having been less
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of decline in number of inhabitants than is noticeable in the majority of towns. Manufactures also have been kept up, and are now in as fair condition of prosperity as can be found in any town of the county. L. M. and H. E. Pinney are manufacturers of carriage rims ; Knight & San- derson, E. C. Pinney, of chair stock; E. C. and E. A. Hall, of lime ; Parker & Piper and Moore & Clay, of lumber; A. F. Hubbard, of lum- ber and chair stock; W. M. Cook, shingles and lath; A. A. Sumner, of butter tubs. And within the last five years the following firms, some already named, have been engaged in manufacturing industries in the town : Christopher C. Hall, Horace N. Ward, P. P. & H. P. Crandall and E. A. Hall, lime manufacturers; Frederick A. Butler, grist and saw-mill, and manufacturer of shingles and chair stock; John P. Al- ward, Parker & Piper, Fullam & Adams, S. F. Pinney, Lyman F. Pin- ney, Henry F. Pinney and Moore & Clay, sawmills; A. A. Sumner, A. F. Hubbard, saw and grist- mills; Sanderson & Sumner and George M. Whitney, chair stretchers; John W. Pierce, pail handles, butter stamps, lath, rolling-pins, etc .; Hubbard & Scott, cheese factory; Francis H. Cook, scythe stones.
The merchants of the town, with their places of location, respectively, are as follows : Plymouth Union, L. B. Moore and A. N. Earle; Tyson, A. F. Hubbard; Plymouth Notch, G. M. Moore.
There has been, in past and present, five church societies in the town of Plymouth,-Congregational, Baptist, Methodist, Christian and Free Will Baptist. The Congregational church was formed in 1806, and over, it Rev. Prince Jenne presided for several years. The first Union meet- ing-house was built in the south part of the town in 1816. Another Union church was afterwards built at Plymouth. The only other church edifice, the Methodist, is at Plymouth Union.
Present town officers: Clerk, Mrs. L. B. Moore; treasurer, L. J. Green ; selectmen, C. II. Scott, E. H. Pinney, A. A. Sumner ; listers, Charles Carpenter, A. F. Hubbard, Henry Hudson ; constable, J. C. Coolidge ; superintendent, G. M. Moore; town agent, J. C. Coolidge.
Plymouth representatives in Vermont General Assembly : 1795, Moses Priest ; 1796-7-8-9-1800, Asa Briggs ; 1801, Elias Williams; 1802-3-4, Asa Briggs; 1805-6-7-8, Daniel Brown ; 1809 to 1817 (inclusive), Ephraim Moore ; 1818 to 1821, Asa Briggs; 1822, Ephraim
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Moore ; 1823 to 1825, John Lakin ; 1826, Joseph Kennedy ; 1827, none; 1828, John Lakin; 1829, Samuel Page; 1830, Levi Slack; 1831-32, Samuel Page ; 1833, Cephas Moore ; 1834, Samuel Page; 1835-36, John S. Fullerton ; 1837-38, none ; 1839 to 1842, Levi Slack; 1843-44, Moses Pollard, jr ; 1845-46, Jared Marsh ; 1847-48, Moses Pollard, jr .; 1849, Levi Slack; 1850, Abraham S. Day ; 1851-53, John W. Stick- ney ; 1854-55, Jarius Josselyn; 1856-57, Isaac Pollard ; 1858-59, James A. Pollard ; 1860-61, Calvin G. Coolidge; 1862-63, James S. Brown ; 1864-65, A. B. Martin ; 1866-67, Alpheus N. Earle ; 1868-69, Thomas Moore; 1870-71, Charles A. Scott; 1872-77, John C. Cool- idge; 1878-81, Alonzo F. Hubbard; 1882-85, Levi J. Green; 1886-89, C. A. Scott.
OLD FAMILIES.
It would be impossible within the compass of this work to give a genealogical sketch of each family that has been connected with the town. The remainder of this chapter is devoted to those who feel and have manifested an interest in preserving the records of their ancestors. For sketches received too late for insertion in this chapter please refer to a later chapter of this work.
Bailey, Warren, born in Chester, Windsor county, Vt, September 28, 1840, lived at home in Chester and Cavendish until he was twenty-one years of age. On the 23d of October, 1862, he volunteered as private in Company C, Sixteenth Regiment Vermont Volunteers, Colonel Wheelock G. Veasey commanding, and was with the regiment in all of its engagements, notably Gettysburg. He was mustered out August 10, 1863. He married March 9, 1865, Abbie W .. daughter of Andrew and Lydia Maria (Weston) Bald- win. She was born in Lowell, Vt., February 8, 1842. Her father was born March 8, 1805, in Cavendish, died June 5, 1880. His wife, born November 10, 1811, died April 2, 1887. Their children : Joseph A., born April 21, 1833; Edgerton, October 17, 1835; Mary E., August 20, 1837 ; Abbie W .; and Thomas, born August 14, 1845. After mar- rying. Mr. Bailey lived three years in Cavendish, then three years at North Hill, Lud- low. In 1871 he purchased the farm in Plymouth, known as the " Old Ballard Place," in the east part of the town, and has lived there since. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Bailey are Alfred S., born in Cavendish, December 30, 1866; Elwin A., born in Ludlow, February 26. 1869; Alva W., born November 29, 1872; Edson H., born September 8, 1876; and Mary C., born November 4, 1881. The latter three reside in Plymoutlı.
Cheney, George, was born in Mendon, Rutland county, Vt., November 16, 1828, the fourth in a family of seven children of John W. and Abigail (Eastman) Cheney. His father moved from Mendon to Shrewsbury, Vt., where he died in 1836, at the age of forty-two. When six years of age George went to live with Cephas Wilder, at the " Notch," Plymouth. He lived there until he was twenty-one years of age. He has been three times married. He married, November 13, 1855, Clara, daughter of Thomas
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