USA > Vermont > Windham County > Rockingham > History of the town of Rockingham, Vermont, including the villages of Bellows Falls, Saxtons River, Rockingham, Cambridgeport and Bartonsville, 1907-1957 with family genealogies > Part 10
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58
ZENO'S BAKERY, started next to the fire station on Rockingham St, was carried on for almost 45 years under Edward and Paul Zeno and the former's son, Bernard, on Westminster Street. For many years the only bakery in town, people de- pended upon it for their bread and pastry and every bride had her wedding cake made there. On Saturday afternoons trade was brisk in hot brown bread and beans and Zeno's carts were a part of village life. But it burned to the ground on Christmas Eve, 1945 along with two othere nearby houses. Rebuilt the next year, it was unable to regain its feet financially and in February, 1948, J. Emerson Kennedy was appointed receiver and it ceased operating pending a meeting of the stockholders. Creditors tried in vain to save it but just a year later a liquida- tion sale was held and the last of an old and vital concern was gone, leaving the town without a large scale bakery. The buildings were purchased by Hardy Merrill for storage. Brillant's Bakery on Rockingham Street which was purchased in 1949 from Mr. and Mrs. Fred Champagne who had run it about a year, is the only bakery in Bellows Falls today. Pre- viously Edwards' Bakery sold home-cooked foods on the same site but the scarcity of sugar during the war forced it to leave town.
"CHICKENS ON THE ASSEMBLY LINE," like cars in Detroit was what was termed "a cackling good business that started from scratch" in 1939 when Carl Parker, N. B. Small of Boston and the Hubbards of Walpole opened a new industry on the first floor of the Vermont Farm building. In this modern plant, chickens were picked and eggs candled, using the products of local farmers and picked up at their door steps within a 50- mile radius of the plant. Andrew Sudrabi of Boston was man- ager and Charles D. Keefe of Bellows Falls, his assistant.
80
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
In 1943 the business was going strong with William Dymond in partnership. That year they bought all the old Vermont Farm buildings in one of the largest property transfers in town. Chickens were raised right on the premises and an annual million dollar business developed. Later that year the business was sold to E. P. Hood Co. of Boston, Mr. Parker continuing to oversee the poultry dressing business. The next year a new company was formed, employing mostly women, by Parker, Merrill and Ellis in a chicken canning enterprise in the old office of the Vermont Farm. It was called R. J. Ubbinck, Inc. , with Russell A. Ellis of Boston president, Carl Parker treasurer, and Hardy A. Merrill director and clerk. The Ubbincks of West Townshend had been selling a high grade of glassed canned chicken for some years and continued with the company until it got onto its feet. In 1945 the business was sold to William Dymond and became known as the Vermont Poultry, Inc., using the two top floors of the building in which to raise chicks. But the big fire in November, 1952, put an end to everything as the whole building burned. Mr. Dymond moved his business to Walpole, N. H. returning later to an unburned building but sold out to United Farmers Co-operative of Fitchburg, Mass., which still carries on the business. Mr. Parker in 1951, purchased the old TIMES block and completely renovated it, providing office space for several concerns including his own real estate and insurance business.
THE BELLOWS FALLS FREEZER-LOCKER plant opened for business in January, 1944, priorities having been approved by the War Production Board and material made available. It is a co-operative and shares sold for $50 each with lockers renting for a dollar a month, available only to share- holders. Customers stored 10,000 pounds of meat the first week. Alfred Boule was the first manager and Elisha Camp of Saxtons River, chairman of the board of directors. One of the few services open to non-members was the smoking of hams for the general public. An annual meeting is held each April for shareholders when directors are chosen. With home freezers coming into the picture rapidly today, the future of the locker is uncertain. While it was feared that it would close in 1955, it was decided to keep going for another year. (This plant closed in 1957.)
RUGG'S EXPRESS started in 1916 when L. M. Rugg and A. J. Wainright went into business together, Rugg bought out his partner in 1930 and until 1946 when Mr. Rugg retired, he was in demand for anyone who needed anything moved. At that time it was taken over by Albert Bushey of Gageville. Mr. Rugg was a pioneer in the express business and when he and his partner started out, each man had his own horse and wagon. When they bought out the Jones & Blood Co., they acquired five more wagons and horses for their expanding business. But it was a red letter day when they daringly purchased an old
--
OLD MORGAN HOUSE ON TUTTLE AND ROCKINGHAM STREETS Now Replaced by a Gas Station
School St.
Bellows fatty, VF 375
SCHOOL STREET, BELLOWS FALLS, VT.
.....
CONNECTICUT RIVER NORTH OF BELLOWS FALLS SHOWING PIERS
-
1927 FLOOD
1937 FLOOD
MARCH, 1936 FLOOD ABOVE ARCH BRIDGE
MARCH, 1936 FLOOD
MARCH, 1936 FLOOD, BELLOWS FALLS
81
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
Indian truck a little later, the beginning of their larger business. Mr. Rugg died in 1950.
THE CHAMBERLAIN MACHINE CO. Ralph Boynton of Keene, N. H. moved his machine shop here from East Alstead, N. H. in 1944 to the second floor of the garage building on Rockingham Street, once the Porter garage. In his small farm shop he had employed 10 men but he needed ten more for the night shift on sub-contracting work here, with more Jobs than he could handle. The business was started in the East Alstead shop in 1928 by Charles J. Chamberlain of New York City.
BROOKS SALES STABLES. In 1930 Raymond Brooks opened his well-known sales stables, one of the largest in the locality, just north of Bellows Falls. He provided a co-operative business, the biggest outlet in this section for farmers' produce. He bought, traded and auctioned everything from bantam hens to iron bedsteads. He brought in large shipments of horses from Canada and his Saturday afternoon auctions in the barn, all the year round, still draw a crowded house as "Colonel" Earl Thompson pounds the gavel for everything from long underwear to yokes of oxen. Besides consignments of cattle, sheep, chickens and geese there are lots of furniture and each week a carload of clothing brought up from Holyoke, Mass, by Hugh Hicks who buys up bankrupt stores.
But long before this, there was much excitment about 1916 in a cattle sales stable for this district. Several auctions were held on the first floor of the shirt factory which was about to close down for lack of help. Cattle consigned to the sale were housed in the basement and sellers filled the Hotel Windham, the Saxtons River Inn and every lodging house and hundreds of dollars were spent in town besides the prices for pure-bred Holstein cattle. It promised a lucrative future for the town. Interested men including John Prentiss of Alstead and Lewis C. Lovell who were among the "fathers of the pure bred cattle sales," attempted to buy the factory for this purpose but were unsuccessful and the sales moved to Brattleboro where for many years the Pure Bred Livestock Sales Co. did a thriving business from which Brattleboro reaped the benefits.
THE ROCKINGHAM PRESS, probably one of the oldest printing shops in the state, began when P. H. Gobie came here from Lebanon, N. H., bought the old Times Job printing plant, put it on the third floor of the Times block in the Square and called it the Times Press. In 1906 he moved to the Island House and called his business the P. H. Gobie Press. When he was burned out the next year, he located on the second and third floors of the Conant building on Bridge street. In September, 1917, the new brick 101'x 62" building on Rockingham Street was begun and finished in June of the next year and Mr. Gobie moved into it, using the first floor and basement with one of the
82
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
best equipped job printing plants in New England outside of the large cities.
In 1920 Preston M. Sweet became part owner and the word "incorporated" was added to the firm name. Stockholders remained the same with Mr. Sweet president and manager; F. F. Wilson, vice president; Raymond Griswold, treasurer; Claude M. Sweet and George Ryder. Mr. Gobie retired and went to Florida in 1924, selling out to the new owners. In 1927 the name was changed to the Wyndham Press to avoid, Mr. Sweet explained, complications arising from the name of a non-resident at the head of the business necessitating checks being sent to Florida. For many years George Ryder was superintendent of printing and when the firm became the Rockingham Press about 1943, Fred F. Wilson became manager. The building is now owned by E. J. Lecuyer and the business by the H. A. Manning Co. of Springfield, Mass. whose main output is the printing of city and town directories. Book printing has been discontinued. An amusing incident occured soon after W. W. I when a red-haired girl, posing as a man, worked there for a short time.
ADAMS GRIST MILL. The only grist mill in town is run by E. Gerald Adams whose grandfather became proprietor of the mill on the canal in 1875 and whose father took it over until his death in 1929. The next year the present owner took it over who says that it is a long cry from the old mills with their stone-ground grain to today's big business in which the small mills have little chance against the big concerns, some of whom blow the grain right into the farmer's barn door. The Adams mill has the original rights to all the water "under the hill."
THE BELLOWS FALLS SKIRT COMPANY came to town in 1916, locating on the second floor of the Union Block. They manufactured ladies' dress skirts, a branch of a Boston firm and employed more than 100 people locally who finished the skirts which were cut out in Keene, N. H. Most of the employees came from New York with the only local girls being Ada Marsh, Sylvia Fuller, Mrs. Ada Tarbell, Frances Willis and Florence Brooks.
In Italy Luigi deBernardo was a friend of Camelio deMuzio who came to America and Luigi followed him in 1916, working for him in the tailor shop which he ran in Bellows Falls for many years. Luigi's son Guiseppe, known as Joe, came over in 1921 with his brother Alfred and Joe went to work for his father, now in business for himself, for two dollars a week. His father died in 1926 and Joe and his mother bought a garage in 1938 and built an ell onto it and established a dry cleaning business. He sold it once and bought it back again and put in new ma- chinery. THE BELLOWS FALLS DRY CLEANERS AND DYERS opened in the old Porter's garage in 1946 with Lloyd MacNeil and William Managan, returned servicemen as owners. A bad explosion and fire in 1948 curtailed business for awhile.
83
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
MacNeil sold out to Managan who ran the business until 1955 when he sold it to Armand W. Bertrand who remodeled the entire building and called it the Bertrand Cleaners.
FRANK W. WHITCOMB CONSTRUCTION CORP. operated a gravel pit for about 15 years on Route 103 north of Bellows Falls. This business was moved to the premises in Cold River, N. H. in 1955. In 1910 Mortimer Benton dealt in sand on Earl Street. Thomas Hannifin started a lumber mill on Route 103 in November, 1947. William Wright has had his own tax accounting business since 1942. Besides these industries in Bellows Falls there were also listed in 1910 the following; Baggage & Parcel Express, Park C. Mellish and Will Heald; Bellows Falls Screen Plate Co .; Bellows Falls Hide & Tallow Co., M. F. Harty (retired in 1942 after 30 years with Co.); Bogart & Hopper Mfg. Co .; Boston Tailoring Co .; John Bronson, sewing machines; coal dealers, J. F. Alexander, P. B. Leene; Standard Oil Co .; Bellows Falls Pulp Plaster Co.
In February, 1957, the New York Times remarked that the first commercial production of adhesives in this country has been accredited to William A. Hall of Bellows Falls, Vermont and that in 1900 he founded the Casein Company of America, now part of the Borden Company. (News and Notes, VT. HIST. SO., June, 1957.) The old Casein building was later occupied by various industries including the Liberty Paper Co. and pre- sently by the Wool Pullery.
HOTELS AND RESTAURANTS
THE HOTEL WINDHAM has passed through several fires and various hands in the last half century. In 1910 the proprietor was F. F. Shepard who was followed by F. C. Willis and in 1912 by W. P. E. Doyen and later by John A. Rowell of Chester. In 1920 the hotel property was purchased for $57,000 by the Hotel Windham Corporation which was formed that year. Signers of the Corporation were E. L. Walker, E. S. Whitcomb, F. P. Cullen, A. H. Chandler, A. I. Bolles and Judge Warner Graham. The hotel was leased to Mr. and Mrs. Jay Graves and was re- modeled with new kitchen and diningroom in the rear. W. W. Hall was the contractor. At that time the E. S. Whitcomb store moved into what was the old kitchen and diningroom.
In 1926 the hotel was again renovated and run on the European plan under landlord and Mrs. E. M. Curran. There were many modern improvements such as white marble lava- tories, new metal ceiling and walls in the kitchen, maple desk and new furnishings in the lobby. The diningroom had the reputation of being one of the most attractive in Vermont with a new ceiling and wall treatment with awnings and window boxes outside. Charles Gilmore of the Vokem Hotel in Newport was engaged as chef and an excellent cuisine promised.
84
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
Mr. Curran died in October, 1927 of pneumonia and his widow carried on the business with clerk R. J. Hall becoming manager and bellboy Clifford Patterson elevated to day clerk. When the hotel burned again in 1932, it was torn down to the ground level, eliminating the steps which weary customers had to climb. At that time some form of construction was studied to stop the noise and vibration from trains which irritated store- keepers as well as patrons of the hotel rooms at night. These were often wakened by each train which passed through the tunnel which, in turn, passed under one end of the hotel as it still does. It was such vibrations and whistles which caused one traveling salesman, after being awakened several times, to call the hotel desk, so they say, and ask, acidly, to be awakened when they got to Chicago.
The hotel was reopened May 1, 1933 by the Corporation, Judge A. I. Bolles, president, with Mrs. Katharine Curran still in charge. Patterson returned the next year after an absence of several years. Arnold Murray of Bellows Fallss returned as day clerk and Camille Bruneau, former chef, became manager of the Coffee Shop with James Shattuck as second cook. Owner- ship changed again in 1943 when a partnership was formed with J. Emerson Kennedy, Roland W. Belknap and Preston D. Belknap taking over the business from Mrs. Curran in July, with Kennedy as active manager. He became sole proprietor, having bought out the business in 1944. It was transferred to Claire M. Kennedy in 1955. At the time of the bi-centennial in 1953, new murals were displayed on the walls of the diningroom, painted by Eleanor Dix Messer of Walpole and Brattleboro. These beautifully executed murals portray such early scenes of the town as Bill Blake's first paper mill in 1802, the sign from the old Morgan tavern and the Rockingham Meetinghouse. The new decor adds much to the atmosphere of the hotel. Below stairs, the Barn attracts many with its paintings of Vermont scenes, bar and entertainers.
THE ROCKINGHAM HOTEL, built by L. T. Lovell in 1889, was run by him until his death in 1913 when his daughter, Mrs. L. T. Moseley, acquired it from his estate. She sold the. business to David Cushion who was there in 1919. Will N Patterson of Ludlow became manager in 1922 and the business was purchased in 1925 by H. C. and George Wyman who sold it to Daniel O'Connor who in turn sold to Nettie Howard in 1929. In 1936 the buildings and business were bought by William Barbieri who still runs it as a rooming house with store space in the downstairs front but it lacks the atmosphere of the '90's when it had a reputation for fine food and when each Sunday and holiday special dinners were served which were very popular with local people. Mr. Lovell's farm provided fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and dairy products and it was said that "he set a good table." Fifty years ago the business cards
85
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
of the hotel advertised a free hack with "livery in connection," electric lights and "a large sample room" for those were the days before the traveling salesmen had earned their name and em- ployed a room at their hotel in which to display their wares.
Besides being an early manager of The Rockingham, L. T. Moseley also ran the depot cafe for many years until he sold it, in 1914, to A. F. Brothers. In 1921, the Union News Co. of New York City, the present owners, leased the cafe and news privileges and made many improvements.
Eugene P. Cray, one of the larger property owners in Bellows Falls although now living in North Walpole, opened the Crayco Hotel in 1932 and added a third story in 1938. In 1940 he closed the restaurant on the ground floor and Whelan's Drug Store moved into this space. In 1936 he added a third story to the Cray building on Westminster Street to be used for bowling and in 1947 he rebuilt this block with modern shops. The Cray family has been a well-known and prominent part of the community for many years. Daniel H. was foreman of the I. P. paper mills and held various town offices including post- master. Rev. Eugene F. Cray was the first priest to be ordained from Bellows Falls and served St. Monica's parish in Barre, Vt. for 25 years.
In February, THE BUNGALOW on Rockingham street was opened as a restaurant by Mr. and Mrs. James Kelley, the place formerly run by Alfred Young as an eating place. This was later run as an appliance shop by George Fifield & Sons until sold to Johnson Dix of Springfield, Vt. It was later occupied by the Bellows Falls Cable Co. The Bungalow is probably best remembered as the Dairy Bar in 1940, operated by A. L. Young who tore down his old eating place, Young's Diner, on the corner by the Esso station. He had started in business for himself 35 years before at his home at Atkinson Street where he manufactured the famous Young's Velvet Ice Cream. At that time he and his brother Henry made 1,000 gallons of ice cream in ten gallon freezers which they sold at the White River Fair. An ingenious family, in 1937 they started a new soapmaking venture, the Kleen-All products on Green Street.
THE CHIMES CAFE opened in 1937 under John Goutas, present owner. Later remodeled and seating 120 people it was said to be the most modern eating place in southern Vermont. In 1950 it was redecorated by a Greek artist who used scenes from the Illiad and Odyssey from memory and the historic scenes are now a famous feature of the cafe, picturing the burning of Troy, the Trojan Horse and Hector killed behind the chariot of Achilles. The artist, a 67 year-old Greek, was born in Constantinople (Istanbul), brought up in Turkey, educated in Batoum, Georgia, a part of modern Russia and speaks the language of all these countries besides Persian and English.
86
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHEM
He did the job in 19 days, never painting the same scene twice, covering every wall in the big room. It is an education in Greek history to visit the Chimes Cafe. Today there is also a popular bar and private dining room downstairs called the Hide-away with entertainment and music. (This burned in 1958 and was not rebuilt.)
THE STAR HOTEL is run by Jerry Galatis. In 1915 his father, Mike, came to town with a fifteen dollar popcorn wagon. Born in Cephalonie, Greece, he worked in the woolen mills in Saxtons River, returning to his native land in 1912 to fight in the Balkan wars. He gave up his popcorn business to work in a grocery in Burlington, Vt. but passing through Bellows Falls one day, he noticed that the lower floor of the TIMES building was empty and after some argument, persuaded the editor to rent it to him. Mr. Belknap was afraid that some of his employees might object to the aroma of a restaurant under their feet-or perhaps he feared that it might detract from their working hours! Mike ran his restaurant for three years and 37 days before the building burned down. £ In 1921 he bought the old Grey block where he retired in 1950 after 34 years and turned everything over to his son. (Mike was famous for his 40c dinner which he served in 1927.) As a final gesture, remembering a Burlington hospital which cared for him when he was penniless, he named Sunday, February 19 that year as Charity Day with the proceeds from his restaurant going to the Rockingham Hospital. He gallantly planned on a $300 business but only $80 was realized as it seemed as if every fraternal organization in town was celebrating something that day.1
THE STAIRWAY RESTAURANT opened on the stairs September 14, 1948, in the Crayco block, run by Mrs. Willard Hanson and Mrs. Joseph Walsh, co-owners. Mrs. Walsh has run it alone for several years, having a reputation for serving excellent, home-cooked food as well as catering to outside events.
In 1910 the BURNETT HOUSE was run by Louis E. Burnett at 26 Westminster Street as a rooming house, over Cray's Market. M. C. Burnett ran Burnett's Lunch on the stairs, once Simon McLeod's restaurant. About the same time Waldo D. Stevens ran the Fall Mountain House on Depot Street.
BANKING
All the banks in Rockingham are centered in Bellows Falls. These include the Bellows Falls Trust Co., the Windham National Bank and the Vermont Savings Bank. Just previous to the depression, the Trust Companies of the U. S. reported a gain of more than 3 million dollars in 1925 over the preceding year, with resources totaling over $81,000,000. In 1952 the Bellows Falls Trust Co. celebrated half a century of banking, opening for business September 2, 1902 after receiving its charter in 1900. 1 See Addendum
87
HISTORY OF ROCKINGHAM
It started out in the same building as it is today but with only half as much space, but ten years later, expanded. In 1927 it took over the space in its own building occupied by the Goodnow Co. The first directors were E. L. Walker, C. E. Howard, J. W. Flint, J. C. Day, Dr. O. M. George and W. C. Belknap with E. L. Walker elected president at a meeting of the directors. Also elected were C. E. Howard, vice president, A. H. Chandler, asst. treasurer and Daniel Edwards, bookkeeper. Mr. Walker retired as president in 1934 and died the next year, having also been a director of the National Bank of Chester since its organiza- tion in 1890. Chandler became president and Robert Clark, treasurer. When Mr. Chandler died in 1937, Robert C. Clark was elected president. Present officers are Erwin S. Whitcomb, vice president; Wilfred E. Leach, treasurer; Elmer E. Pierce, assistant treasurer and directors William B. Barker, Clark H. Bowen, Clark, Leach, Whitcomb and Frederick L. Osgood.
The assets of the Windham Bank were sold at auction August 4, 1939. It paid a final interest dividend of $40,000 and closed in 1940. It reopened with Willard Hanson as presi- dent and Harold Corwin, cashier, Hanson retired in 1948 and was succeeded by Boyd Richardson. Incorporated in 1832, officers in 1910 were Hugh Henry, president; Eugene Leonard, vice president and James Williams, cashier.'
The Bellows Falls Savings Bank, incorporated in 1847, celebrated 75 years in business in 1923. It was incorporated as the Vermont Savings Bank in 1946 with Paul Ballou of Chester president of the Bellows Falls branch and Edward Toomey, manager. On December 31, 1957, the Windham National Bank of Bellows Falls and Chester, Vermont, merged with the Vermont Bank and Trust Company of Brattleboro and Bennington under the corporate name of the latter. Samuel Hutchins, Jr. of Bellows Falls became executive vice president with headquarters in Brattleboro and Harry W. Allen of Bellows Falls, vice president in charge of the Bellows Falls and Chester banks.
CHAPTER IV RETAIL BUSINESS, MERCHANTS AND TRADESMEN, INTERESTS AND ACTIVITIES
Until recently the Merchants' Association was the only such organization uniting the shopkeepers in Bellows Falls under which various events were sponsored. The Christmas lights used each year in the Square, were owned by them although most towns rent them. They were responsible for the two large Christ- mas trees set up each year at the two ends of town. They supported the year books of the high school and surrounding schools. Among its civic projects, it was responsible for sending the American Legion to Boston in 1930 for the annual conven- tion there. It sponsored rain coats for all school children acting as traffic captains and was always interested in community projects.
The Association was first organized in January, 1913 and a contest for a seal and a slogan the next year was won by L. C. Thompson. It was reorganized in the fall of 1920 with dues of five dollars a year and by-laws providing regular meetings each month. Any merchant living in Bellows Falls or North Walpole was eligible to join including bankers, real estate dealers, insur- ance agents, automobile dealers or anyone retailing any mer- chandise. Only manufacturers and professional people were not admitted to membership. In 1916, Merchants' Week, held to attract out-of-town trade, provided free railroad transportation for shoppers from other villages. In 1938 members won the Southern Vermont amateur basketball title and in 1950, voted unanimously to close their stores on Saturday night and remain open on Friday night instead, beginning in February of that year.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.