USA > Vermont > Addison County > Middlebury > History of the town of Middlebury, in the county of Addison, Vermont > Part 29
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We quote again from Professor Hall. "On the opposite side of
25
334
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
the river is another cotton manufactory, owned by Mr. John War- ren, who communicated the following facts. The building is of stone, fifty-eight feet in length, thirty-two in width, and forty in height, containing six hundred spindles, with all the necessary appa- ratus. They yield yarn enough daily for two hundred yards of sheeting. Adjoining this is a stone building in which are eight. power looms, weaving, on an average, one thousand yards of cloth a week. Under the same roof is a double fulling mill, or two stocks on one wheel, which for twenty years past has fulled twelve thou- sand yards annually, also a double carding machine, which cards from six to twelve thousand pounds of wool in a year."
This is the factory into which John Warren converted his grist mill, about the year 1813. He enlarged the building, and among others erected, at the north end a stone building, mentioned by Mr. Hall as containing his looms, and a wooden building over the shed at the south end, which was occupied as a tenement for his employ- ees. In the summer of 1825, this whole establishment was con- sumed by fire. It was rebuilt by Mr. Warren, Stephen Hinsdill of Bennington furnishing a portion of the machinery. In 1835 the whole establishmeut became the property of Hinsdill, and he put in the requisite machinery, and converted it into a manufactory of sat- inet. In February, 1836, the factory took fire again, and the roof and upper part of the building, to the floor of the second story, and the wooden building at the south end, were consumed. Not far from the same time, the stone building at the north end tumbled down, for want of a substantial foundation. The damage done by the fire was soon after repaired.
In November, 1835, the "Middlebury Manufacturing Company " was incorporated by the legislature, " for manufacturing cotton and woolen goods," with a capital of $200,000. In the summer fol- lowing, sufficient stock was subscribed and the company organized. In the fall of that year, the company purchased of Hinsdill his fac- tory, added new machinery, purchased a large quantity of wool, and prosecuted, with all their means, the manufacture of satinet ; intending, in the spring, to enlarge their establishment for the man- ufacture of woolen goods. As there was no means of transporting 1
335
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
their goods to market in the winter, a very large quantity had ac- cumulated by the spring of 1837. By the time the goods could be conveyed to market in that fatal spring, there was no market to be found for them. Many of them were sold at half their cost, and the sacrifice was so great and the market continued so much depressed, that the stockholders were discouraged from further prosecuting the business. The corporation still own the works, and have since pur- chased the works formerly owned by Capt. Moses Leonard and his son-in-law, Andrew Rutherford. The grist mill in the basement, and the saw mill, west of it, continued in operation, but the factory remained idle until 1840. At this time, Mr. Jason Davenport and Mr. Oliver P. Turner, two young practical manufacturers, took a lease of the factory, and part of the machinery, and prosecuted the manufacture of woolen goods, with great success and profit. Tur- ner died in 1847, and the business was continued by Davenport and Charles D. Nash, and by the latter until 1851. The factory re- mained idle again until 1854, when it was leased to Mr. Daven- port and Valentine V. Clay, as partners, who are still successfully prosecuting the business.
We quote again from Professor Hall. " Proceeding down the creek, on the western side, after passing two saw mills, two grist mills, a clothier's works and some other establishments of minor importance, you come to the Marble Factory. The marble in this village, which is now wrought on a large scale, and extensively dif- fused over the country, was discovered by Eben W. Judd, the pres- ent principal proprietor, as early as the year 1802. A building on a limited plan was erected, and machinery for sawing the marble (the idea of which had its origin in the inventive mind of the pro- prietor) was then first put in operation. In 1806, a new and com- modious building, two stories high, and destined to comprise sixty saws, to be moved by water, was erected. In 1808, this enlarged estab- lishment went into operation, and has continued to the present day." ·' The saws are made of soft iron, without teeth, and are similar in form to those, which are used in sawing marble by hand, in the large cities in Europe. The softer they are the longer they last." " The marble until lately has been obtained chiefly from a quarry,
336
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
situated within a few feet of the mill. During three or four of the last years, much has been procured, at the time of low water, at the bottom of the creek, immediately above the falls. It is raised from its bed, partly by means of wedges, but principally by blast- ing." "The marble, after being sawed into slabs, is manufactured into tomb stones, 'currier's tables, jambs, mantle pieces, hearths, window and door caps and sills, side boards, tables, sinks and vari- ous other kinds of furniture. These articles are transported to Mon- treal, Quebec, Boston, New York and even Georgia .- The machinery has sawn annually, from five to ten thousand feet since the year 1808."
This was the first manufacture of marble upon an extensive scale established in this state, and the machinery for sawing on this plan was first put in operation by Dr. Judd,* and has since been exten-
*There is no doubt, we think, that Dr Judd was the first to put in operation the machinery for sawing marble by water on this plan, now so extensively used through. the country; and it is the general understanding that he invented the machinery. But it is now said that Isaac Markham, who was afterwards known as a very inge- nious mechanic, and then only ten years of age, first conceievd the plan, and exhib- ited a model to Dr. Judd, who built his first experimental factoryfor the purpose of trying it. This is now understood to be the fact by the family connections of Mark- ham, and his mother, who was an observing and intelligent woman, often so stated in her life time. And it is thought, that was the reason Dr. Judd did not then take out a patent for the invention. In 1822, he obtained a patent for machinery, which he invented for raising and lowering the saws, as required in their operation. It is stated also on the same authority, that about the same time, two men were engaged secretly in contriving and building a picking machine. No persons were admitted to a sight of the machine, lest the secret should be discovered, before & patent was obtained. But Isaac, being a boy, was admitted without suspicion. When he went home he said he could contrive a better machine, and, with such tools and materials as he had, formed a model, which, it is said, was adopted by the men, instead of their own. Dr. William McLeod, of Poultney, a son of Mrs. McLeod, mentioned elsewhere, and a nephew of Isaac Markham, in a letter to his brother Thomas H. McLeod of this place, dated March 11, 1859, says-" In the year 1806 or 1807, when I first came to Middlebury, or shortly after, while uncle Isaac Markham was living at his father's house, I frequently saw a model of what was called a stone saw mill, in a room he occupied as a shop. I also very well recollect of hearing the subject conversed upon in the family, and I feel confident by others also, for some time after, in reference to the machine or its principle having been taken or borrowed from his model and applied to a factory erected by Mr. Judd for sawing marble." " I recollect hearing the subject of the invention of the picking machine conversed about at the time referred to." " On another oc-
337
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
sively adopted elsewhere. He was an ingenious and somewhat scientific man, and having been committed to the liberties of the jail here, on a judgment of the United States court, he set himself to contrive some mode of employing his faculties, and obtaining the means of subsistance. In anticipation of establishing the manu- facture of marble, in the spring of 1803, he obtained from Apple- ton Foot a lease for 999 years of the right to dig marble on any part of his lot, between his house and the creek, the foundation of which was marble throughout, and the privilege of erecting a mill. He afterwards obtained a title to the land in fee, and occupied the house on it, until he built, on the same site, the large brick house, now owned by Dr. Nathaniel Harris.
Dr. Dwight, on his visit in 1810, says of this marble and its manufacture, " A quarry of marble has been discovered in the bank of the river just below the bridge, a continuation of the ledge, which forms the falls. It is both white and dove-colored, elegantly. variegated, and of finer texture than any other, which has been wrought hitherto in the United States. It is sawn, ground and polished by water machinery ; and is cut and carved, with an ele- gance not surpassed on this side of the Atlantic.".
After Professor Hall's account above quoted, Dr. Judd purchased the quarry of beautiful block marble, on the lake shore in Shore- ham, which he transported by teams and extensively manufactured at his mill here. In the year 1820, he received into partnership his son-in-law, Lebbeus Harris, son of Lebbeus Harris, Senior. By them the business was largely prosecuted, and agencies for the sale established in some of the large cities, and in Western New York. In 1837, the whole establishment was brought to a close by the death of both the partners. Mr. Harris died in April, at the age of forty-five, and Dr. Judd, in September, at the age of seventy- six. The mill has never been in operation since. Dr. Nathaniel Harris, a brother of Lebbeus, who had also been engaged in the
casion. when uncle was employed in Waltham, Mass., he, in showing me the machinery of the factory, referred to the picker, and remarked to me, that he was the inventor, and also referred to his being the inventor of the machine for sawing marble."
338
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
business in various ways, continued the manufacture on a small scale for a few years, but has now, for many years been in the prac- tice of dentistry. Mr. Daniel Judd, son of Dr. Judd, still prose- cutes the business on a small scale in a shop near the former factory.
At an early day, Rufus Wainwright and Jonathan Wainwright, Jun., sons of Jonathan Wainwright, Esq., of Salisbury, established themselves in the tin and iron business, on a small scale, and having enterprize and energy, they enlarged their business from time to time. Not long after the close of the war of 1812, they erected a furnance below the mills, built by Appleton Foot, on the site of the former forge, for casting stoves and other articles. They purchased the store now occupied by Mr. Davenport, for their place of busi- ness, and greatly enlarged it, as their business increased. In the summer of 1826, their furnace was consumed by fire, with the neighboring grist mill and trip hammer shop. They then purchased the water power on the east side of the paper mill falls, and erected there a new furnace and machine shop on an extensive scale. Their principal business was the manufacture of stoves, which then went into all parts of the state and into Canada, where they had agencies for the sale of them. Rufus Wainwright, some years before his death, withdrew from the concern, and devoted himself to his farm, and by his labor and counsel, and liberal contribution from his large estate, to the promotion of every important interest; our literary and religious institutions and every important enterprise exhibit the effects of his large liberality.
The business was continued by Jonathan Wainwright until his death. In the meantime, after the death of Judge Painter, they purchased his beautiful residence, together with a part of his lands. Rufus occupied this house with his family until his death, and fit- ted it up in an improved style. They also built, for a residence for Jonathan, the large brick house, now owned by Hon. Joseph War- ner. In this his family resided until his death. In their business they were not only enterprising and judicious, in all their transac- tions, but liberal with their employees and others with whom they dealt. Jonathan Wainwright died in September 1845, aged fifty- nine, and Rufus in March 1853, at the age of sixty-seven.
L.Grozelier, Lith. Boston
Rufus Wainwright
339
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
After the death of Jonathan Wainwright, Jason Davenport pur- chased the furnace and machine shop, and the store which had been the place of business of the partners, as well as of Jonathan, and . became their successors in the iron and tin business, which he still prosecutes. His stove business is principally confined to sales at home, but his other business has been greatly extended, so as to em- brace every department of iron, hardware and agricultural tools.
In the fall of 1851, Mr. N. H. Hand established a pail factory, and for that purpose purchased the building erected by Dr. Judd for his marble factory. In this he has established an extensive man- ufacture, not only of pails, but of butter tubs, keelers and other articles in that department. The timber which he uses is sapling pines and white cedar. His works, when in full operation, are ca- pable of manufacturing six hundred pails daily. He has added recently a mulay saw mill, on a new and ingenious plan, which he thinks will saw double the quantity of lumber sawed by common mills .*
In addition to the fires, already mentioned, which have destroyed factories and mills in this neighborhood, we notice one or two more, which completed the entire destruction of all the buildings originally erected there. At an early period of the present century,-the ex- act date we have not ascertained,-the forge and gun factory were consumed. In March, 1831, at midnight, a fire broke out at the south end of the bridge, which consumed the saw mill, then owned by Daniel Henshaw, the building built by him on the lower side of the bridge, in which Gen. H. Warren and Timothy Harris had a dry goods and grocery store, Jared W. Copeland his printing office, and John Vallett his shoe shop, and on the opposite side of the bridge, the building erected by Joshua Henshaw, and then owned by David Nichols, t in which Mr. Nichols had his leather store, and Ephraim R. Smith his dry goods and grocery store, and a part of which was occupied as a tenement.
.
'. * Since the above was written, the establishment has fallen into the hands of J. M. Slade & Co.
+Mr. David Nichols, mentioned above, was a tanner and currier, on an extensive scale He owned a small dwelling house, in which he resided, and a tannery on
-
340
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
CHAPTER XX.
PRINTING-NEWSPAPERS AND OTHER PERIODICALS-BOOKS-POST' OFFICE AND MAILS.
THE first printing office was established in Middlebury by Joseph D. Huntington and John Fitch, young men from Windham, Conn., in 1801. They commenced the publication of the Middlebury Mer- cury, the first newspaper, on the 16th day of December of that year. Their business was commenced in the building at the south end of the bridge, where Nichols' brick building now stands, and. was afterwards, in February, 1804, removed to the building erected® by Jabez Rogers for a dwelling house, which was removed for the' rail road track. In 1806 the partnership was dissolved, and the' business was continued by Huntington, and the Mercury was pub- lished by him until 1810. To their establishment was soon added the business of book binding. They also kept for sale at their office a few books, such as were more generally needed in the country ; especially school books, blank books and almanacs. In the fall of 1802, Huntington and Fitch published the first Vermont Register, and the publication was continued by them and by Huntington until 1810. They published numerous pamphlets, and a few other books, and among them the " Law Magazine," by John Simmons, Esq., in 1804, the first book of forms published in the state, and " Dis- courses on Religious subjects, by the late Rev. Job Jwift, D. D., to which are prefixed sketches of his life and character," in 1805.
Weybridge Street. He had purchased the building above mentioned for his leath- er store. After its destruction, he built the large brick building, which bears his name, on the same ground. He also, a few years before his death, built the large dwelling house on Weybridge street, now occupied by Professor Boardman. Hav- ing occasion to visit New York at a time when the Asiatic Cholera prevailed there, he was seized with that discase on his return home, and died in October, 1849, in the sixty-third year of his age.
26
lishers and names of the papers. Only six numbers of the Chris- The colons (:) in the above table, indicate a change in the pub-
NAMES.
. Middlebury Mercury. Vermont Mirror. Columbian Patriot : National Standard, Christian Herald : Christian Messenger, S Religious Reporter, Vermont American, Antimasonic Repub : Midd. Free Press, · Northern Argus : Vermont Argus : Argus & Free Press, The American : People's Press, Vt. Farmer, & S. G. - The Adviser, The Repertory,
Vt. Stock Journal,
PUBLISHER Y.
FREQUENCY
COMMENCED.
TERMINATED.
Weekly, Dec. 16, 1801. June 27, 1810 Sep. 30, 1812. Sept. 11, +16
N. H. Wright : W. Slade :
Sept. 1, 13. Mar. 24, 31
Copeland & Allen,
T. C. Strong : { F. Burnap, Copeland & Allen, Ovid Miner,
Apr. 16,
28. Sept 1; 30
¿ E. D. Barber : E. R. Jewett, S
Oct. 28,
29. Oet. 2,
37
C. C. Waller: E. H. Washburn :
H. & E W. Drury : Goodale & Cobb :
Barber & Russell : J. M. Stearns,
Oct 2,
31.
H. H. Houghton : O. Seymour : J. P. Wheeler : E. Maxham, E. Maxham,
& G. Nov. 15,
31.
semi-mo. Oct
39. Oct. 40
Gen. Convention of Vermont,
monthly Jan.
09 Dec.
15
occas'ly. April
12 May
17
Episcopal Register,
An Association, Rev. B. B. Smith, D. C. Linsley,
monthly Jan.
26. Dec.
29
monthly Jan.
57 moved to N. Y.
since published.
Since 1812, Weekly Newspapers have been published, without interruption, and frequently two and some times three, and occa- sionally other periodicals. But the changes of the names and pub- lishers have been too frequent to authorize a detailed history of them. We therefore take the liberty to copy from Dr. Merrill's account the following table with the addition of such as have been
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
341
Huntington & Fitch,
S. Swift : T. C. Strong.
Sept. 25,
16. Nov. 23, 19
Apr. 8,
20. Sept. 30, 20
342
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
tian Herald were published, when the name was altered to Christian Messenger. The Argus and Free Press were continued, when the table was published in 1841, but was discontinued not long after. The People's Press, in the spring of 1841, was purchased by H. Bell Esq., who commenced the publication on the 11th of May of that year, and the paper was continued in his name until April 1849, some months after his death. The name was changed in' November 1843 to the Northern Galaxy, and in January 1848 to' Middlebury Galaxy. J. H. Barrett and Justus Cobb, Esqrs., had contracted for the purchase of the establishmet previous to Mr. Bell's death, and commenced the publication in their names at the close of the year, in April 1849. They continued the publication until Mr. Barrett withdrew from it in April 1856. The following year it was published by Cobb and Fuller, and has since been pub- lished by Justus Cobb and Rufus Mead .* The name was changed in January 1850 to Middlebury Register, which is still retained. The office has been recently removed to the new building, erected by Mr. Cobb, at the north end of the bridge.
The following table of original books published here we copy also. from Dr. Merrill's history .
NAMES.
AUTHORS ..
PAGES.
VOL. SIZE,
YEAR.
Vermont State Papers,
William Slade,
568
1 8 vo.
1823
Fall of Palmyra,
N. H. Wright,
143
1, 24 mo.
17
Remarkable Events,.
Leonard Deming,
324
1 12 mo.
25
Christian Instructor,.
Josiah Hopkins,
312 1 12 mo.
25
Youth's Etherial Instructor,
Uzziah C. Burnap,
72
1 8 vo.
22 .
The Christian Instructor Instructed, Noah Levings,
237
1 12 mo.
27
Essay on Contracts,
Daniel Chipman,
224
1 8 vo.
22
Vermont Reports,
Daniel Chipman,.
640
2 8 vo.
24
Vermont Reports,
Supreme Court,
2306
4 8 vo.
37
The following have since been published : Life of Hon. Nathan- iel Chipman, LL. D., by his brother Daniel Chipman, 1846. Me- moir of Seth Warner, by Daniel Chipman, L. W. Clark, Pub- lisher 1848. Memoir of Thomas Chittenden, and History of the Con- stitution, by Daniel Chipman, 1849.
Catalogues of the Principal
*Recently-April 1859-Mr. Cobb has sold his interest in the establishment to William J. Fuller, and it is now conducted by Mead and Fuller as partners.
348
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
Officers of Vermont, 1778 to 1851, by Leonard Deming. Cata- logue of the Graduates of Middlebury College, embracing a Bio- graphical Register and Directory, by Thomas Scott Pearson, A. B. Several Pamphlets have also been published.
Previous to the year 1810, a limited assortment of books had been kept by printers, different merchants and by Olcutt White & book binder. In that year the writer of this sketch, believing the interest of the community required a more ready access to useful books for general reading, established a bookstore with a more gen- eral assortment; and about the year 1813, Hon. William Slade es- tablished another. Several religious and other books were pub- lished by each of these establishments. Jonathan Hagar, Esq., succeeded and for many years continued an extensive bookstore es- tablishment. Not long before his death in 1855, he relinquished the business; and Lucius W. Clark, who had previously opened a bookstore, continued it until his death in 1852. It was afterwards continued by his son Lucius Clark, and is now kept by Solomon Parker, in what is called Allen's Block. In the meantime Albert H. Copeland has, within a few years, opened an establishment for the sale of the periodical literature of the day,-newspapers and magazines,-with a general assortment of new publications and stationery, which has increased to an extensive establishment, and has lately been removed to Brewster's Block.
POST OFFICE AND MAILS, IN THE VILLAGE.
From a communication from the General Post Office, obtained at our request by Mr. H. L. Sheldon, it appears that the post office was first established in this place in July 1793, and that Robert Huston was appointed the first postmaster. The first three books in the post office department, having been burnt, in the destruction of the building belonging to that department, the exact date of the appointment of postmasters cannot be ascertained, but are suffici- ently learned by the accounts in the auditor's office. The following is the list of appointments, as furnished by the department.
" Post Office at Middlebury establishmed in the month of July, 1793
Robert Huston appointed postmaster do 1793
344
HISTORY OF MIDDLEBURY.
Samuel Foot
appointed postmaster
June
1797
Horatio Seymour
do
December 1800
George Cleveland
do
October 1809
Calvin C. Waller do
14
May
1829
Erastus W. Drury do
31
December
1836
Charles Bowen
do
5 March
1842
Edward D. Barber
do
16
May
1845
Emerson R. Wright
do
9
October
1849
Asa Chapman do
3
May
*1849
Emerson R, Wright
do
20
July
1853
William P. Russel
do
20 May
1857
We regret that we have not obtained the dates of the changes, in the frequency of the mails and the income of the office, from time to time, that we might the better ascertain the progress of the bus- iness in this department from its small beginnings. The office when first established was kept a mile from the village, and the mail was not probably received oftener than once in two weeks. The popu- lation, then scattered over the whole town, could not have been over five hundred ; there was little business which required the use of the mail for its transaction; the newspapers, which penetrated into the wilderness were few and the whole mail matter was small. Now crowds besiege the post office on the arrival of the mail every day, impatient for its distribution.
In the fall of 1793, the year in which the post office was estab- lished in Middlebury, the legislature passed an act, granting to Nathan Bellows of Poultney, " and his heirs and assigns the sole and exclusive right and privilege of running a stage or stages on the route from Rutland to Burlington," " for and during the term of ten years." "After the expiration of two years from the pass- ing " of the act, he was required " to run his stage from Rutland to Burlington and back again to Rutland in every two weeks for the term of four years," and after the expiration of six years, dur- ing the remainder of the term, he was required to perform the ser- vice every week, and he had the " liberty to suspend the running of the stage eight weeks in every spring and four weeks in every fall " during his whole term.
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