USA > Vermont > Addison County > Middlebury > History of the town of Middlebury, in the county of Addison, Vermont > Part 20
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Miss Althea Deming states, that her father that year went to Connecticut, and on his return purchased at Lanesborough a quan- tity of beans, peas, wheat and corn, and loaded his own horse and those of two young men in company. The sight of such a treasure was an occasion of great triumph to Mrs. Deming, as she had baked her last loaf. The family, she says, had restricted themselves to two meals a day, and after the cows were milked at evening, they finished the day with milk punch, seasoned with a small allow ance of whiskey ; and that many families lived for weeks without bread.
Mr. Asa Preston says that he well recollects the famine; that the family were destitute of all kinds of bread stuffs, as well as animal food. Their whole dependence was on the milk of two cows. In this dilemma, his father started on horseback for the south to pro- cure grain, and was gone some time. While his father was absent, he went to the woods and dug up a large quantity of the roots of leeks, which were dried and cooked, when needed, and eaten with their milk, and that this was their only food.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
CHAPTER VIII.
FACE OF THE COUNTRY-SOIL-AGRICULTURE-MINERAL SPRING.
ALTHOUGH a considerable part of the mountainous region, on the cast part of the town has been set off to Ripton, there still remains in Middlebury the first or western ridge. Some of this is valuable tillage land, and some suitable for pasture lands, but much of it is steep, and some parts difficult of access from the low lands, and a large share of it, although well timbered, is too steep and stony to be advantageously improved for farming. Of that part which lies west of the mountain, some of it is level, alluvial land, on the banks of Otter Creek and Middlebury River; but most of it is moderate- ly rolling. The principal elevation, and the only one perhaps, which rises to the distinction of a hill, is that which lies north-easterly from the village. This has generally borne the name of Chipman's Hill, because Hon. Daniel Chipman formerly owned the south end of it, and his residence was at its beautiful southern point. The members of college, who used formerly to assemble there annually in the spring for their celebration, gave it the name of the " Hill of Science." Dr. Merrill in his history of Middlebury proposed to adopt the name of "Mount Nebo," which has not been received with much favor, and neither of the last two names have been much used in common parlance. The prospect from the summit of this hill is among the finest in New England. From it are seen the el- evated mountains west of Lake Champlain, the Green Mountains in the east, including Camel's Hump in the north-east, and the less el- .evated mountains of Rutland County in the south, and the exten- sive undulating country enclosed by them. At one point, in a clear day, is seen the Lake itself in the north-west. Professor Hall says of this hill, "Its elevation by the barometer, above the level of the
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water in Otter Creek, below the fall, is four hundred and thirty- nine feet." The principal rivers are Otter Creek and Middlebury River, and the next largest stream is Muddy Branch, on which stand the saw mills of Nichols and Wheeler and Abbey and Lovett and the marble mill of Isaac Gibbs. The supply of water on this stream is sufficient for these works except in a dry season. Of the rivers sufficient account is given in the preliminary article on the County of Addison, and incidentally in this history.
Of the limestone some general account is also given in the sketch of the County. To this we add the following quotation from Pro- fessor Hall. "Lime stone, which, with comparatively moderate heat, may be changed into lime, exists in almost every quarter of the town." "Marble of the finest texture and susceptible of a high polish, is found here in an inexhaustible abundance. The soil indeed of the whole township appears to rest on a vast basis of marble. In more than a hundred places does the marble make its appearance above the surface. It is arranged in strata, somewhat irregular, and of different thicknesses, but all inclining more or less to the plain of the horizon. It is of various colors, from pure white to deep grey, verging to a black." Of the quarry owned by Isaac Gibbs, he says-" A white marble has been quarried and wrought, on a small scale, in the north part of Middlebury. It has received the name of Kirby marble. When polished, it strongly resembles the statuary marble of Italy. I have in my mineralogical cabinet specimens both from this and from Dr. Judd's quarry, which, in point of transparency, delicacy of texture and general beauty, are not surpassed by any Carrara or Parian marble, which has ever fallen under my observation."
Middlebury, we think, as a whole, has not much cause for boast- ing of its soil or agriculture. There is much good land, in different parts of the town, and many fine farms. But a large proportion of the soil is a stiff and not very fertile clay, which requires too much labor for thorough tilling, to encourage the farmers to make the needed effort. Much of the dry upland was originally covered with hemlock and pine, which do not furnish so much fertility to the sur- face of the soil, as deciduous forests by their annually falling leaves.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
There is also little silicious, vegetable, or other fertalizing substances in the soil itself. But it has clay in abundance, which is one of the essential ingredients of a fertile soil, and probably sufficient lime. Other ingredients may be added, which will destroy its tenacity, and render it fertile and susceptible of more easy tilling. We have known some of the most productive gardens made on the stiffest clay, by mixing with it sand, muck or rotten chips and barnyard manure. The land, in such case, should be ploughed or thrown up into ridges in the fall, so as to be exposed to the action of the frost, and drain off the surface water in the spring. This would require considera- ble labor and expense. But we think that, where the materials can be conveniently obtained, the farmer would be well paid by thus gradually preparing so much of his land as he may need for tilling. The lands, which are not sufficiently dry, should also be thoroughly drained. But some dry lands, in their natural state are sufficiently mixed with other ingredients to be easily, if rightly, tilled without any additional mixture. And much of the lower lands, which wero originally covered with ash, elm and soft maple, have proved to be good for grass, without any artificial preparation. The alluvial lands and the higher parts of many hilla, which were originally cov- cred with maple, beech and other upland wood, have lighter soils, are easily tilled and adapted to the production of corn and other crops, which require hoeing.
Lands on the east street near the mountain, some of which are sandy, and others more properly called loam, have heretofore been undervalued, and have been slow in their settlement. But more re- cently they have risen in public estimation, and are now regarded as among the most valuable. Much of the land in the neighborhood of the village, in the east part of the town and elsewhere, was orig- inally covered with a heavy growth of pine, which is very valuable for its timber, but not likely to be selected for farming. We repeat therefore, that while we have much land of the first quality, Mid- dlebury has not been distinguished for a high agricultural reputation, among its more distinguished neighbors. The smaller town of Cornwall, at the first census of 1791 had a population more than double that of Middlebury, and several other towns in the county nearly double.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
The nature of our soil has induced the farmers to devote their ef- forts to the raising of stock rather than tilling. The tendency of this has been to reduce the number of farmers, and the population in the agricultural parts of the town. But we think our agricul- ture is improving, the farms are generally in good and more per- manent hands, and we trust, ere long, we may be able to stand a com- petition with our neighbors without discredit.
Peaches and quinces are not raised here with any success. But apples, pears, plums, cherries and all other fruits, common to this latitude, arc raised in the highest perfection ; as are also all gar- den vegetables.
MINERAL SPRING.
The following is copied from the history of Middlebury, by Dr. Merrill, who was much better acquainted with the subject than we are. "About thirty or forty rods to the right of the road, leading north-east from the village, and nearly two miles distant, on very low land belonging to Messrs. William and Edwin Hammond, within a circuit of twenty feet radius, are seven springs,-the Scptennary Springs. They appear to be independent of each other, as digging a channel and lowering one does not affect the others. They have de- posited, especially the western ones, in abundance, calcareous tufa, which much resembles that of Clarendon. Some of this tufa exhib- its traces sf iron, and all of it probably, when exposed to intense' heat, would show the presence of sulphur. Some of them, espe- cially the largest and most southerly one, have often proved beneficial in cutaneous diseases ; and in cases of poison, they are said, when drunken freely and used for washing the affected part, to afford a very speedy and certain cure. When the water about these springs shall be so drained off, that they can be thoroughly tested, they may yet be turned to a valuable account.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
CHAPTER IX.
SETTLEMENT OF THE VILLAGE-ABISHA WASHBURN-PAINTER'S . MILLS-FOOT'S MILLS-HOP JOHNSON-COL. STORRS-PAINTER IN THE VILLAGE-FIRST STORE-SAMUEL MILLER-S. DUDLEY -B. GORTON-JOIIN DEMING-S. FOOT-B. SEYMOUR-M. POST.
IN the year 1774 or 1775, Abisha Washburn, of Salisbury, Conn., undertook to take possession of the water power on the east side of the falls. He did not come within the conditions of the vote of the proprietors in March 1765, one of which was that the saw mill should be built within "fifteen months." But, in consequence of some subsequent vote or the general understanding of the proprie- tors, it seems to have been considered by him and others, that build- ing a saw mill would give him a claim to the privilege and the lands adjoining. The adjoining lot was called the mill lot, even before the survey of Judge Painter. Washburn did not bring his family here, but spent one summer in getting up a saw mill on the falls. Whether it was put in operation we have not ascertained. He returned to Salisbury in the fall, and the revolutionary war then threatening, or having commenced, the authorities of Massachusetts engaged him to undertake the casting of cannon at Salisbury, for their use. He did not therefore return to Middlebury until after the war. In the meantime, his mill, whatever it was, was destroyed by the Indians. Some of these facts we have obtained from Miss Bradley and Mrs. Horace Loomis of Burlington, both grand daugh- ters of Mr. Washburn. This was the beginning of operations in the village, and the only one before the war.
In the spring of 1784, Washburn returned for the purpose of re-building his mill, and by the aid of Col. Chipman and Judge Painter, a new mill was completed and put in operation in 1785,
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but was swept away by the succeeding spring freshet. Afterwards, by an arrangement between Washburn and Judge Painter, the latter secured the privileges which Washburn was understood to possess, and pitched for himself the fifty acre lot, including the falls, called the " mill lot," and for Washburn another fifty acres, south and cast of his own, which he soon purchased. Neither of these pitches was founded on any claim for building the mill, but were probably a part of the arrangement, in the transfer of the supposed claim. These pitches embrace the whole of the village east of the creek and south of Ilyde's pitch, afterwards occupied by Freeman Foot as his farm. Painter, soon after, proceeded to erect mills, and in 1787 had put in operation a saw mill, and in 1788 a grist mill. The former was built on the rock at the head of the falls, near where the present grist mill is, and the latter partly below it.
In the meantime, in 1783, John Hobson Johnson,-more gener- ally known as Hop Johnson,-built a cabin, at the head of the rapids on the west side of the creek, then in Cornwall, a little below the abutment of the rail road bridge, on that side of the river. This was the stopping place for all travellers on the creek, and he kept a ferry and a place of refreshment for them. He continued hig possession and business here until about the year 1789, when he left the country for "parts unknown," leaving his wife and several children in possession of his house and ferry.
After Daniel Foot discovered the failure of his title under the Weybridge charter, he purchased the right of pitching under the charter of Cornwall, and laid out one hundred acres, embracing the whole of the falls on Cornwall side, extending about forty rods south of them to the " old Weybridge corner ;" and the same year 1784, erected a large building, sufficient to accommodate a saw mill and grist mill. The former went into operation in July, and the latter in November, 1785. Until a short time previous to the com- pletion of this grist mill, the inhabitants were obliged to go to Pitts- ford for their grinding. The grain was taken in boats, or on rafts up the creek, to Pittsford. A few weeks before Foot's mill was in ope- ration, Col. Sawyer had completed a grist millon Leicester River, at Salisbury village, and, during that time, the resort was to his mill.
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
Mr. Foot soon gave up the possession of his mills and lands in Cornwall to his sons, Stillman Foot and John Foot, and in 1789. deeded to them his mill lot, with mills and other buildings and im- provements. Previous to this, one or more small buildings near the mills had been erected ; and Stillman Foot, in 1786, had erected a dwelling house for his own family, which is the oldest dwelling house of any description now remaining, and is the dwelling house, with considerable alterations and additions, occupied by Daniel Hen- shaw, for many years, and which is now occupied by J. S. Bush- nell, Esq., his son-in-law.
About the year 1791, John Foot sold his share of the property in Cornwall to his brother Appleton Foot; but remained in the vil- lage two or three years. In July 1794, Stillman and Appleton divided their property in Cornwall, and arranged between themselves the privileges of the water, which they had before held in common. Stillman took the upper part of the falls, where the woolen factory now is, extending to the bridge, and Appleton the privilege below his, and the land on the creek north of the road leading west across the college or academy common, and extending north to the north line of the mill lot. Stillman took the land up the creek, south to Col. Storrs' land and extending went over part of the college common.
About this time Appleton Foot built a dwelling house for his family, on the ground where the brick house now stands, occupied by Dr. Nathaniel Harris. In this he resided until he removed from town. Stillman Foot had a grist mill where the stone part of the woolen factory stands, and a saw mill further up stream, on the rocks back of the dry house. He built also a small house for his miller on his mill yard. Appleton built a stone grist mill and a saw mill just below Stillman's mills, and a part of what was called his mill house, now owned by the woolen factory company.
The first tenements, on the west side of the creek, were built along its western bank. A few rods south of Hop Johnson's house, James Bentley senior, father of Johnson's wife, built a small house, in which he lived after the war. On the lot now occupied by Mr. Bushnell was a small house called the Judd house. built by Still- man Foot for the use of his workmen. and on the lot occupied by
14
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
the widow of Judge Phelps, a small house called the " Red house," which was afterwards moved to the ridge south of Mr. Davenport's. Mrs. McLeod, a daughter of Capt. Ebenezer Markham, to whom we shall again refer, says, that, when a child, she often, in her ram- bles, saw the foundations of these several houses. She says also, that there was then a road to the creek from where Mrs. Cutter's house stands. Simcon Dudley, who was employed in building Foot's mills in 1785, erected a temporary shanty on the site now occupied by Mrs. Phelps, in which he lived two years without chim- ney or cellar.
Col. Seth Storrs, who had been in the practice of law at Addison, removed to Middlebury in 1794, after the courts were established here. We mention his settlement in this place, in anticipation of the details of our history, because he became one of the principal owners, who sold to others the lan Is, which now constitute the village west of the creek. Among other lands, he purchased the farm, on which he afterwards resided until his death, extending from the north line of his house lot and garden south to the home farm of the late Judge Phelps, and from the creek west to the top of the hill, and embracing the land where the college buildings stand, a large part of the academy common, and the residences on the streets included in these limits. He first resided in a gambrel roof house, built by John Foot, on the site of the present brick house, recently owned and occupied by Edward Wainwright, afterward by Samuel Shepard, and now by George C. Chapman. On this site he built in 1801 and 1802 the handsome frame house, which was burnt in 1831; and during the progress of erecting this, his gambrel roof house was removed off the ground and occupied by his family. Af- ter the destruction of the wooden house, the present brick house was erected by Professor Turner, his son-in-law, and was occupied by him and his family, with Col. Storrs and his family, until the death of each.
Col. Seth Storrs was a native of Mansfield, Conn., born June 24, 1756. He was educated at Yale College, and was graduated in 1778. After he left college, he was for several years associated with Rev. Timothy Dwight, D. D. in the instruction of a public
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HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
seminary at Northampton Mass. Soon after the close of the war he came to Vermont, then opening an inviting field for the enter- prise of young men, and pursued his professional studies in the office of the Hon. Noah Smith in Bennington. Having received license, he located himself in Addison in this county in 1787. The county had been incorporated in the fall of 1785, but the first court was held in the spring of 1786. Addison, at the time, was the most prominent settlement in the county. He continued in that place until he removed to Middlebury. While he resided in Addison, he boarded in the family of Hon John Strong, the first chief judge of the county court, and was married to his daughter. We believe he was the first lawyer, who settled in the county, except Samuel Chipman, a brother of Hon. Daniel Chipman, who was licensed the year previous and settled in Vergennes. Col. Storrs was appointed in 1787 the first state's attorney, and was annually appointed to that office for the next ten years. After his removal to Middlebury, he continued in successful practice here. He was also among the most active in counselling and contributing to measures to advance the prosperity of the village. He was forward in promoting the establishment of our literary institutions. In his deed, executed jointly with others, he conveyed to the corporation of Addison Coun- ty Grammar School a large share of the land, on which the build- ing of that institution was erected, together with the extensive com- mon connected with it. When the location of the college was re- moved, and the stone college built, he contributed the whole tract, which forms the handsome grounds of that institution. He was constituted by the charters, a member of both these corporations.
From the time of his settlement here, Col. Storrs was an active supporter of the religious institutions of the place, especially of the Congregational church and society, to which he immediately attached himself, and was one of the first regularly chosen deacons of the former In the later years of his life, he was more generally em- ยท ployed in various offices of trust, than in the labors of his profession. He was many years town clerk, and clerk of the Congregational church and society, and was moderator and on committees in each.
Col. Storrs was a gentleman of what has been called the "old
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school," and no man was better entitled to the designation, which we have heard applied to him, of a "Christian gentleman." He died at Vergennes, while on a visit to his friends in that place, on the 5th of October 1842, at the age of 71 years.
After the completion of Daniel Foot's first mills, Simeon Dudley was employed by Painter in erecting his mills. In 1787, he com- menced the erection, near the grounds of the Addison House, of a shanty similar to that which he occupied on the west side, which took fire and was consumed before its completion. He then com- menced the erection of a more permanent building, which Judge Painter purchased, remodeled and prepared for his own residence. It was on ground now the front yard of Mrs. Wainwright's present dwelling, near the south line. To this house, in the fall of 1787, he removed his family from his farm in the south part of the town, and resided in it until the completion of his new house in 1802.
At that time the whole region was covered with a thick and gloomy forest of hemlock and pine, except small spaces about the mills and small tenements, which had been erected. At the first Christmas after his settlement here, he invited the settlers to a Christ- mas dinner. . Col. Sumner, who had just settled on his farm two miles north, Freeman Foot, who had built a house just north of the village, Stephen Goodrich and his sons on the Bass farm, the Foots and their workmen on the west side of the creek, and his own workmen, were the only near neighbors. But his invitations were probably extended further. Whatever the numbers may have been, the company, as is common in all new countries, probably had a merry time. Samuel Bartholomew,, who resided in Cornwall, was a man of some eccentricities, and given to rhyming, on extraordi- nary occasions. He had early planted an orchard of sweet apples, which became a common resort for the young folks to buy and eat apples, and he was therefore called the " Apple man." Among his eccentricities, he never wore shoes in the summer, except when he went to church, as he sometimes did in this village. On such occa- sions he carried his shoes in his hand until he arrived among the inhabitants, and then put them on and walked to the place of meet- ing. These incidents relate to a later period of his life. This
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entertainment being a proper subject for his muse, he composed the following doggerel verses on the occasion.
" This place, called Middlebury Falls Is like a city without walls. Surrounded 'tis by hemlock trees Which shut out all its enemies. The powwow now on Christmas day,
Which much resembled Indian play,
I think will never be forgotten Till all the hemlock trees are rotten."
This effusion, which never before had the honor to be put in type, was repeated to us by Mrs. Severance, before mentioned, who we think, was one of the guests at the entertainment.
- When Judge Painter became settled here, with his usual sagacity, he adopted his plans to make this a village and place of business of . some importance. For this purpose, he adopted a liberal plan for the disposition of his lands to settlers. His first deed of one acre, where the Addison House stands, was given to Simeon Dudley, on the 10th of September 1788; but no building was erected on it until Samuel Mattocks built his tavern house in 1794.
In January 1789, Painter deeded to Benjamin Gorton of Hudson N. Y., a small piece of land, below and adjoining the bridge, being the land on which the brick store of Gen. Nash was recently burnt, and on which Mr. Cobb has recently erected a large building for his printing office, and including the land on which Mr. Wood's meat room stood. Gorton was uncle to Jabez Rogers, Jun., and al- though he never resided in Middlebury, was extensively connected with him, as a partner, in real estate and the various enterprises, in which Rogers was subsequently engaged. On this lot Rogers soon erected a building and opened a store, which was understood to be the first store in the county. In 1796 he was succeeded by Sis- son, Dibble and Sherrill; and in 1800 Benjamin Seymour pur- chased the building and occupied a part of it, as a residence for his family, and a part for his hatter's shop. Here Mr. Seymour pros- ecuted for several years his business as a hatter, and afterwards ex- changed it for that of a merchant. A small piece of this lot was afterwards purchased by Nathan Wood, who owned the mill, and
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