USA > Vermont > Windsor County > History of Windsor County, Vermont, with illustrations and biographical sketches of some of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 40
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
It was owned and operated by C. L. Rockwood. The citizens of Spring- field, not being satisfied with this line, formed a stock company in De- cember, 1823, of fifty shares at ten dollars each, and purchased the line. In the winter of 1849 the Rutland and Burlington Railroad began run- ning passenger trains, thus making a stage line unnecessary beyond Springfield in that direction.
The present line of stages at one time made through trips to Wood- stock, Vt. They now run only from Charlestown, N. H., to Springfield, making five trips daily.
There is also a stage to Gassett's, Vt., once a day, connecting with the Rutland division of the Vermont Central Railroad, and a daily line that connects with other lines for Woodstock and Windsor, Vt.
Railroads .- There have been several attempts to construct a railroad within the limits of this town. As early as 1872 a route was proposed to follow the Black River valley from the Connecticut, passing through the villages of Springfield and North Springfield, and connecting with some point on the Rutland division of the Vermont Central Railroad. It was to be known as the Ascutney Railroad; an act of the Legislature was obtained, giving the town the right to bond itself for eight times the amount of the grand list. At a town meeting held in 1872 the town voted to bond itself for four times the amount of the grand list, to en- courage this enterprise, but the action thus taken was afterwards re- scinded in 1873. In 1886 the Springfield Railroad Company contem- plated building a line from Claremont Junction to Gassett's, but after considerable work had been done on it, the matter was dropped. The town was surveyed in 1888 for a railroad. The route selected was the same as that proposed by the Springfield Railroad Company.
Temperance .- The records inform us that on the 8th of November, 1794, Lester Flagg was granted a license to sell spirituous liquors ; but it appears that he located too close to the house devoted to church pur- poses, for in the following year a complaint was made and he was re- quested to move his place of business.
As late as 1838 ardent spirits were furnished at the town expense to its employees. Before this time a gin distillery was operated for a num- ber of years west of Springfield village. A petition was addressed to the selectmen in 1839 requesting them not to issue any licenses the fol-
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
lowing year to any retailers of spirituous liquors; but this was defeated in town meeting by a vote of 57 ayes to 93 nays. An attempt was made in the following year to have this vote reconsidered. A memo- rial was signed by 119 ladies and presented, favoring the non-issuing of licenses ; but again the enemies of temperance were successful, as the former action was sustained by a vote of 86 ayes to 134 nays.
The efforts of the friends of temperance were, however, at last crowned with success. In 1844 it was voted that no license should be granted to any house of public entertainment to sell intoxicating liquors. Since that time the majority of the citizens have been in favor of tem- perance. In 1846 the vote was 160 in favor of license to 254 against. Four years later it was decided that the public good did not require the granting of licenses to victualling places, shops, or cellars in the town. In the same year Jonas B. Spencer received a license to sell small beer and cider at the village, but in 1852, according to the statute passed by the Legislature, a town agent was appointed in whose hands was placed the sale of all liquors, and the business is conducted in the same man- ner at the present time.
Hotels .- The first person who served the public as a landlord in this town was Roger Bates. He kept a house for the traveling public at " Eureka " as early as 1778. A few years later John Griswold, it is said, built the first frame house in the town about a half mile north of the center of North Springfield village. This house was used as a tavern and store. The building of the first church near the common, which was used as a town hall as early as 1792, led to the erection of a tavern at that place. During the early part of the present century Leonard Walker had a hotel at Parker Hill. Jonathan Williams also accommo- dated strangers where the present residence of George O. Henry stands, in the central village.
In 1815 Colonel Moses Fairbanks began keeping a tavern where the Springfield House now stands. He seems to have been unsuccessful, for in 1821 Horace Hall, of Charlestown, who had come into possession of the property under a mortgage, leased the premises to three persons, among whom was Justus Brooks, who kept the house a short time. After him George Kimball was the landlord and was succeeded by Rus- sell Burke, and he by Edmund Durrin. In 1835 Benjamin Sawyer, jr.,
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
came into possession of the hotel and conducted it for more than ten years. Since that time there have been many landlords, among whom may be mentioned D. D. Winchester, H. H. Mason, Frederick Barnard, Jonas B. Spencer, George O. Henry, Franklin Barney, jr.
The hotel was originally named the Black River House, but has been called the Springfield House for a number of years. The present pro- prietor, Willie F. Miner, has greatly improved the house, and serves the public in a satisfactory manner.
Schools .- Springfield is noted for its excellent schools. As early as 1782 action was taken by the town towards looking up the school lands, and two years later a committee was appointed to divide the town into school districts and to take measures to maintain a school. But it was not until 1788 that Dr. Samuel Cobb, Captain Nathaniel Weston and William Lockwood, a committee appointed for that purpose, laid out the town into school districts. These districts were afterwards sub-divided and at one time there were nineteen districts, each equipped with a sub- stantial school building. The question arose previous to 1867 of uniting districts numbers 7, 8 and 16, they being located in and adjacent to the village of Springfield. On March 30th of that year this action was taken and they became known as district number 7. At the same time the graded system of schools was introduced into this district. There was no change in the system of schools for a number of years, but in 1876 it was voted in town meeting that if district number 7 would so vote, the system then in force should be abolished, and the town system adopted ; but no action was ever taken on the proposition by district number 7. This question of adopting the town system was agitated from year to year, and finally by a vote of 125 to 120, in 1886, it was voted to make the change. The act of the Legislature giving the town the right to make this change provided that it should be made for five years, but in 1887 the act was amended making the stipulated time two instead of five years. The first committee elected to have charge of the schools under the town system were William J. Johnson and Horace L. Howe for one year ; Jerome W. Pierce and Daniel O. Gill for two years; Charles A. Forbush and Fred G. Field for three years. In 1887 Hermon W. Harlow and Simeon Grow were elected for three years to take the place of those whose terms expired.
Gec.M. Walker8-Co Lity BOSTON.
Charles & Forbush
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
As soon as the laws of the State would allow it, at the annual town meeting held in 1888, by a vote of 191 for the town system to 215 against it, the district system was again adopted. District number 7 still continued her graded system.
The committee of the district, elected June 25, 1889, were Rod- ney G. Britton, for three years; George F. Leland, for two years; and Jerome W. Pierce, for one year.
Cemeteries .- At the time of the building of the Crown Point road an epidemic broke out among the soldiers and many died. The bodies were buried at a spot east of the line of the road, not far from the present resi- dence of C. Horace Hubbard. This was afterwards used by the early settlers at Eureka for a place of burial. As early as 1784 the matter of providing a suitable place for the burial of the dead was agitated in town meeting and the following year the location was selected near the old meeting-house. Somewhere about the first of the present century the cemetery near the common was begun, and though we find to-day tomb- stones recording deaths previous to this date, we are satisfied that they were removed here from other burying places.
The first receiving tomb was built in 1835, and within the last year this has been replaced by a new one. The cemetery was enlarged in 1862 and now embraces about five acres. Within these sacred grounds lie the remains of those who were the means of making Springfield the most substantial and thriving town in the county. Her early pioneers, in set- tlement and manufacturing, her lawyers and doctors, with their families, are here buried. The first death recorded on any stone is that of Isa- bella, wife of Simon Stevens, who died at the age of nineteen, January II, 1771. This is a double stone, and also states that Lydia, wife of Simon Stevens, died February 20, 1781. At another place is a stone on which it is recorded that the son of Dr. Samuel Cobb died at the age of three years July 27, 1789 ; also one to the memory of the first town treasurer, Simeon Bradford, who died October 7, 1793. The first monu- ment erected on the grounds was by A. N. Johnson, to the memory of his wife, who died June 11, 1844. Many fine monuments now ornament this cemetery.
There is another cemetery located at North Springfield which belongs to the town. A receiving tomb was built there in 1857. Besides these two there are a few private burial places in various parts of the town.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Town Poor .- Previous to the year 1832 the poor of the town were provided for by selling out contracts for their support to the highest bid- der. The earliest evidence we find of such a sale shows that in 1792 the support of Silas Call and wife was bid off to Colonel John Barrett for six shillings for a week's board for the term of three months at the public market-place.
In 1832 a farm was leased for the purposes of the support of the poor, and later one was purchased and stocked. The present town farm, situ- ated in the northern part of the town, was purchasedin 1846, there being at that time twenty-two paupers. New buildings were erected in 1862. In 1876 a donation was made to the town by David R. Campbell, of Windsor, the interest of which was to be applied to maintaining the in- digent poor of the town.
Town Hall .- As early as 1778 a committee wasappointed by the town to select a site for a town hall, but it was not until 1792 that any action was taken. In that year the church located on the common, having been built by a land tax, was used for town purposes and continued to be until 1836, when the basement of the Union church in the village was leased for this purpose. This was occupied by the town until 1857, and in the intervening time the question of building a hall was frequently agitated. A committee was appointed in 1850 to secure a lot and plans for the building, but in the same year the church basement was repaired. In 1854 it was again considered expedient to build a hall at an expense not to exceed $2,500, and it was recommended to purchase a lot owned by John Holden for $1,000. This effort, however, proved fruitless. In 1857 the town purchased the present site, known as the Clements lot, and erected the present brick building, the appropriation being limited to $5,500. When the hall was first built it was voted that no smoking or chewing of tobacco should be allowed in the building. A person was to have charge of the hall and rent it for entertainments, the revenue thus arising to be expended for the purchase of a chandelier and other furniture. The town, feeling the need of a place of confinement for criminals, built a jail in the basement of the town hall in 1865, which was used for that purpose until about 1880. In that year five hundred dollars was expended in building the extension on the rear of the building.
Springfield Agricultural Society .- The formation of this society was
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
the outgrowth of a meeting held at the town hall September. 18, 1866 ; the call for the meeting was signed by Henry M. Arms and C. H. Hub- bard. At this meeting the society was organized and named the Springfield Agricultural Society. The following officers were elected : C. Horace Hubbard, president ; M. C. Roundy, vice-president ; Daniel O. Gill, secretary ; Henry Lock, treasurer. The first fair was held October 4, 1866, on the common in Springfield village. The two fol . lowing fairs were held on Seminary Hill, and were free to-exhibitors and spectators.
The society was incorporated by act of the Legislature, November 19, 1868. In 1878 a constitution was adopted and the following officers elected : President, C. H. Hubbard ; vice presidents, D. O. Gill and J. R. Walker ; secretary, R. W. Whitney; treasurer, R. S. Herrick ; directors, L. Barry, O. R. Hadwin, P. R. Grimes, E. B. Cutler, J. Bisbee, C. H. Hayward and A. B. Damon. The present grounds, comprising twenty-five acres, were bought in 1879 from the Springfield Driving Park Association and a fair was held October 9, 1879. In 1880 the town appropriated four hundred and fifty dollars towards purchasing the ground. Citizens also subscribed liberally for the purpose. Fairs have been held annually since 1879, and from 1882, excepting 1884, have been continued two days. In 1883 J. R. Walker was elected president and was succeeded in 1885 by R. W. Whitney, who held the office until 1888, when Daniel O. Gill was elected. The officers for 1889 were as follows: President, Daniel O. Gill ; vice-presidents, R. S. Herrick and H. W. Jenkins; secretary, Willie F. Miner; treasurer, E. C. Burke ; directors, L. M. Holmes, R. W. Whitney, F. G. Ellison, John R. Ford, Leon A. Cutler and Herbert Streeter; general superintendent, H. M. Arms; auditor, B. F. Dana.
Springfield in the War of the Rebellion .- The sons of Springfield re- sponded patriotically and nobly to the first call for troops made by President Lincoln, and a company was soon raised. At a town meeting held June 8, 1861, the town assumed the liability of supporting the the families of those who had volunteered, and voted to buy uniforms for the drummers, fifers and commissioned officers, viz .: Captain, W. G. Veazey ; first lieutenant, Frederick Crain ; second lieutenant, Horace W. Floyd. This company joined the Third Vermont Regiment as Com-
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
pany A, and did good service during the war. The town also abated the taxes of 1861 to those who volunteered.
In response to the call for 300,000 troops made in 1862 the town had some difficulty in filling its quota and offered a bounty of fifty dollars to persons enlisting previous to August 18 of that year. This was increased twenty-five dollars in September, 1862, and a bounty of one hundred dollars was given to nine months' volunteers. The town voted on August 15, 1863, to pay those men who had been drafted one hundred dollars a year as long as they were in the service, payment to be made to their families. Three hundred dollars bounty was also voted to those enlist- ing previous to January 1, 1864, and this was further increased in December two hundred dollars, but it was not to be paid to more than twenty-nine men. When the call was made for 500,000 troops in 1864 the town offered five hundred dollars bounty for volunteers and the selectmen were authorized to fill the quota by obtaining recruits from out of town. In 1865 the town voted a bounty of two hundred dollars to all her townsmen who had re- enlisted after having served two years and had received no previous bounty.
Such is an account of the action of the town during the war. For a further account of the part taken by her volunteers in the memorable strife the reader is referred to an earlier chapter of this work.
Following is a list of those soldiers of the town who received head- stones from the government : Homer E. Ball, Jasper W. Dutton, Orman A. Spring, Hiram Gould, Benjamin S. Kendricks, Major Gould, George Clark, Ebenezer M. Cook, Norman Morey, Hiram C. Fairbanks, David R. Ward, William J. Bosworth, Moses Olney, Alfred S. Earle, Benjamin Rice, H. H. Bemis, W. F. Robbins, George Dartt, Horace Leonard.
Bonded Debt .- There was issued in 1869 $40,000 of town bonds in $100 and $500 denominations, payable $5,800 annually, the first be- coming due January 1, 1881. In 1878 another issue of $25,000 bear- ing five per cent. interest and of the same denominations were sold, and of these $5,000 became due January 1, 1890, and the same amount matures thereafter annually.
Lawyers .- The first lawyer to locate in the town and practice his profession was Samuel M. Lewis, who resided at the central village about 1800, and had an office for a number of years where the Meth-
CLO.H. WALKER & CO. LITH. BOSTON.
Sauver Postup
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
odist church now stands. He was town clerk for nearly twenty years. A few years afterwards John Holton began to practice law at the central village, but he died in 1815, and his brother-in-law, Samuel W. Porter, succeeded to his business the same year. At this time Judge Porter lived in the brick dwelling house on Main street, now known as the Pingry block. About 1835 Henry Closson opened an office, and con- tinued to practice his profession until his death. John Ward, at present a prominent lawyer of Detroit, Mich., practiced law at Springfield in 1849. At the breaking out of the civil war Wheelock G. Veazey, one of the prominent judges of Vermont, was engaged in business at the central village and became captain of Company A, Third Vermont Regiment, which was raised in this town. The present lawyers are Albert M. Allbe and Jerome W. Pierce.
A more extended sketch of some of these men appears in a preced- ing chapter of this work. There have been others who have practiced here for a few years, but are not otherwise connected with the history of the town.
Physicians of Springfield .- The first person to practice medicine in this town was Samuel Cobb, who was located at Eureka. The next one was Simeon Brown, who practiced for some time in that part of the town, but finally located at the central village. Eleazer Crain came to Springfield village in 1815, and opened an office and practiced till his death, and during a part of the time his son, Henry Foster Crain, was connected with him, and after his father's death he continued the busi- ness until 1882, when he removed to Rutland, Vt., where he died in 1885. Leonard Chase was a physician at Springfield village for a num- ber of years, and practiced medicine over sixty years of his life. Moses Cobb, a son of Samuel Cobb, was engaged in this business at the village during his life, as was also Langdon Sawyer, Calvin Hubbard and Eb- enezer A. Knight. At the North village Ariel Kendrick was a prac- ticing physician and surgeon, and continued such for more than fifty- five years. Granville Knight, who now practices at Malden, Mass., was for a number of years at Springfield village. Mark Richards Crain, a son of Henry F. Crain, also practiced here, and is now at Rutland, Vt. The present physicians are Daniel W. Hazelton, William F. Hazelton, Andrew A. Haig, S. W. Worcester and Micajah Martin. The reader
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
is referred to a preceding chapter for further details of the medical pro- fession.
Political History .- The early settlers of Springfield having under- gone a great many hardships, owing to the dispute between the prov- inces of New York and New Hampshire, which had jurisdiction over them, gladly welcomed the tidings of the declaration of independence of the people of Vermont, and on June 22, 1777, Colonel John Barrett and William Lockwood were elected delegates to represent the town at a convention to be held July 2, 1777, at Windsor, to form a constitution for the new State. According to the constitution adopted each town having eighty taxable inhabitants was entitled to two representatives at the first election held for representative, in December, 1777. In 1784, Nathaniel Weston and Daniel Gill having been duly elected to repre- sent their fellow townsmen at the State capital, a committee was ap- pointed to instruct them in their duties and the wishes of those who, by their votes, had placed them in the honorable position. Following is a copy of those instructions :
" GENTLEMEN : You being elected by the town of Springfield as rep- resentatives to represent them in the General Assembly for this year, you are therefore to attend said Assembly with fidelity and constancy and to remember you are their servants, and all times accountable to your constituents for your conduct. You are closely to adhere to the Constitution, and not to give your vote in any matter or thing contrary thereto.
" You are to insist upon a full and final settlement to be made with the treasurer, and that all the public accounts be properly adjusted from the first existence of this State to the present day, with an intelligible account how much money has been raised by public taxes and other- wise, how and what way every part thereof has been used, that a copy of the settlement, together with all the acts of the General Assembly, be immediately printed, together with the yeas and nays on any ques- tion, vote or regulation of the Assembly agreeable to the tenth section of the Constitution. That no vote pass but in full assembly. That each town pay their own representatives. That the fees of State officers be lowered according to 23d and 33d section of Constitution. That all Courts of Justice where jurors are summoned to proceed to trial with-
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TOWN OF SPRINGFIELD.
out loss of time to the jurors. That the Assembly stop the collecting of the two last taxes till a settlement be made with the treasurer.
" You are likewise to use your endeavors that an act be made in the Assembly that no persons professing the tenets of universal salvation be allowed the privilege of an oath upon evidence or otherwise in the State. That you use your utmost endeavors to have the tax for not raising men in the year 1781 taken off, as it is unjust and unequal."
At an election held for governor in 1794 seventy-eight votes were cast, and in the same year L. R. Morris received sixty. three votes and Jonathan Hunt three votes for member of Congress. Just one hundred votes were cast for governor in 1799, and three years after, by the town records, sixty persons were elected to fill town offices, though in the same year only ninety-nine votes were cast for governor. It would seem, therefore, that most of the legal voters of the town were supplied with an office for each.
The town was represented in the various constitutional conventions as follows : By Simon Stevens in 1791 ; Lewis R. Morris in 1793, who was elected secretary ; Asahel Powers in 1814; Leonard Walker in 1822 and 1828; Nomlas Cobb in 1836 ; Bezaleel Wood in 1843 ; and William W. Whitney in 1850.
During the troubles in Kansas over the efforts of the South to estab- lish slavery in that State, a meeting was held in Springfield, in 1854, at which the town unanimously adopted a set of resolutions vehemently protesting against the further extension of slavery in that direction, and pledging themselves to vote only for men who would use their influence to the same purpose. Those resolutions indicated the political feeling of the inhabitants of this town, whose ancestors had been strong suppor ers of the old Federal and Whig parties, whose watchword was the sup- pression of slavery. At the next election for presidential electors, in 1856, the town went Republican by a large majority, and has ever since followed in the same footsteps. In the following table the larger num- bers give the number of votes cast for Republican electors in the years named, and the smaller numbers the votes cast for opposition electors : 1856, 506, 72; 1860, 551, 84; 1864, 630, 47 ; 1868, 628, 53; 1872, 521, 97 ; 1876, 591, 154; 1880, 652, 185 ; 1884, 451, 146; 1888, 513, 125.
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HISTORY OF WINDSOR COUNTY.
Following are the lists of those who have filled the offices of State senator, representative, selectman, town clerk and town treasurer. Those who filled the last three offices held over until the March of the year fol- lowing that given :
State Senators .- Samuel W. Porter, 1836; Abner Field, 1842-43 ; Joseph W. Colburn, 1848-50 ; George Johnson, 1855-56 ; Albert Brown, 1867-68 ; Fred G. Field, 1880.
Representatives in the General Assembly .- John Barrett, March 12, 1778; Samuel Scott, October, 1778; Abner Bisbee, 1781, 1786-88 ; George Hubbard, 1783 ; Simon Stevens, 1783, 1794 ; Daniel Gill, 1784, 1792; Nathaniel Weston, 1784-85, 1791 ; Jotham White, 1787-90, 1797-98 ; Samuel Cobb, 1783, 1789, 1800-02; Lewis R. Morris1, 1795- 96, 1803-08 ; John Davis, 1807; James Davis, 1809; Joseph Selden, 1810; Asahel Powers, 1811-12, 1817 ; John Holden, 1813-14; Leon- ard Walker, 1815-16, 1818, 1826; Bezaleel Wood, 1819-20, 1825, 1836-37 ; Jonathan Whipple, 1821-22; Phineas T. Wales, 1823-24 ; Samuel W. Porter, 1827-28 ; William Thayer, jr., 1829-31 ; John White, 1832; Russell Burke, 1833-34; Abner Field, 1835, 1838, 1851 ; Henry Closson, 1839-40; Ormus M. Whipple, 1841-42 ; Hiram Harlow, 1843- 45 ; James Whipple, 1846-47 ; Moses White, 1848; Ephraim Walker, jr., 1849-50; Horace Weston, 1852; 2 Hamlin Whitmore, 1854; Jonathan Martin, 1855 ; Amasa Woolson, 1856-57; Henry Spafford, 1858-59; Joel Woodbury, 1860-61 ; Bezer F. Wood, 1862-63 ; Charles A. For- bush, 1864-65 ; Franklin P. Ball, 1866-67 ; James E. White, 1868-69; Fred G. Field, 31870-72 ; C. Horace Hubbard, 1874; Horace H. Howe, 1876; Frederick W. Porter, 1878; Robert M. Colburn, 1880; Adna Brown, 1882 ; Henry M. Arms, 1884; Daniel O. Gill, 1886; William H. H. Slack, 1888.
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