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 14
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The dam was raised in 1904 and again in 1909, five feet each time. Water meters went into effect in 1923 and two years later the water system of the village was estimated to be worth half a million dollars. Several thousand seedling trees have been set out since around the Pond, named for the Minard family who were early settlers in town and dwellers on the land. In 1950 Melvin Damon reported that three plans had been sub- mitted at various times for a storage basin at Webb brook. This was done that year. The same year also saw 2,000 feet of pipe laid to the Farr and Ellis brooks and an emergency pumping station instituted at Cold Springs, "under the hill," insurance of a water supply of an extra 250 gallons a minute from springs once used by the mills.
In addition to this, a ledge was cut at the Pond by the Whitcomb Construction Company, to carry water from the watershed going from the Barber Park area to the Pond and two acres of land were cleared by village employees. The ledge, however, proved so full of seams and water, instead of being solid a few feet from the surface as expected, that the cost far exceeded that which the village had planned on. But that April the water in the Pond stood at 14.7 feet compared to 8 feet the preceding autumn and with the population remaining
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reasonably static and with no succession of dry years ahead, Bellows Falls feels that its water supply is assured for a long time to come. June of 1953 was the installation of the venturi tube in the main line at the Pond, the first step in the new chlorination system.
In December, 1954, permission was given by the trustees to Richard Lagenbach of the Bragg Lumber Co. and the mill of the Walpole Lumber Co., to cut timber at the Pond over a three-year period, cutting 250,000 to 300,000 feet per year and using only horses in the woods, to protect the young growth. Today the watershed is not only an asset for the village water supply but a source of revenue through planned forestry and provides probably as fine a water supply as anywhere in Vermont.
It was in 1937 that probably the last of the ancient water system came to light when Mr. Barbieri was digging the founda- tions for the new State Theater. The men discovered one of the old wells which once provided water to certain sections of the village. It came as a surprise as everyone figured that the last of these had been safely buried when they built the new fire station on Rockingham Street in 1904 and covered up Quartus Morgan's old tavern well. The new-old well was 40 feet deep and contained 15 feet of water and once belonged to Samuel and Rozanna Guild whose son, George, was the father of Helen Guild, for many years a beloved music teacher in town. Later L. T. Lovell bought this property. But the old well was not done for yet as Mr. Barbieri used it to provide, ingeniously, cold water for the air-conditioning system in the theater. How the owners of that old well would marvel at its last use to the world! Many people would doubtless have been glad of the old well on that January day in 1941 when they were without water for 24 hours when the big 16-inch water main from the Pond broke!
For many years a familiar figure about town was superin- tendent Dan Wilder (streets, sewers and water) who retired in 1941 after 23 years on the job. (Could it have been that the failure of his water system that year was a blow to his pride?) He said that he had seen what progress does to roads as they changed from "dirt, dust and mud" to hard surfaces. When he took the job, he said that the only good street in town ran in front of Gould & Marble's store down to Burt Street. The gravel streets had to be "dragged" after a rain to smooth out the ruts and the only cement sidewalk in town ran from the top of the old wooden stairs into the Square, up to the McLennon house on Church Street. All village work, he remembered, was done with horses and from about 1919 to 1941, the village laid ten miles of cement sidewalks, hard-surfaced all roads, paved Mill Hill, improved the Square and built some cement roads on Bridge and West Streets. Mr. Wilder died in March, 1942. He was replaced by Lawrence W. Raymond, the present incumbent.
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THE ARMORY. The Armory on Westminster Street, was the first such building in Vermont. Much credit for it was due to the efforts of the Hon. Frederick Babbitt when he was senator in 1912 although he disclaimed the honor which he said belonged to .Gov. Fletcher. Since it usually takes more than one person to get things done, they were probably both to blame! The new Armory was finished in 1915, on the site of the Bancroft house which was razed to make room for it. Modeled after the armory at Waltham, Mass., it is also one of the finest in the state.
It was dedicated in June of 1915 with appropriate exercises and officially turned over to Capt. Harold Cady of Co. E., 1st. Vt. Infantry, Vt. National Guard, who replaced Capt. Ralph Knight. An orchestra was engaged from Worcester, Mass. and 50 officers of the 1st Vt. Infantry, attending school here, marched into the drill shed. On the speakers' platform were Col. Herbert T. Johnson of Bradford, Vt., Dr. A. L. Miner, E. L. Walker, C. W. Osgood and N. G. Williams. Adjutant Gen. Lee S. Tillotson presided, assisted by ex-senator Frederick Babbitt, ex-Gov. Allen Fletcher, Gov. Charles Gates and Capt. Harold Cady. Co. E was obliged to appear in civilian clothes that day as their dress uniforms had been called in by the government and their service uniforms seemed to them as hardly fit for the occasion.
Shortly after the end of W.W.I, Congressman Dale introduced the following bill in the House of Representatives, which was referred to the Committee on Military Affairs; "Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the secretary of War be, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to donate to the Bellows Falls Company of Vermont State Militia, of Bellows Falls, Vermont, two cannon or field guns, suitable carriages and ammunition, captured by the American Expeditionary Forces from the military forces of the Imperial German Government, for the use of the State Armory at said place for decorative purposes; provided, that the United States shall be at no ex- pense in connection with the inland transportation of such ordnance within this country." Also in 1920, soon after this gift of German field pieces, through the efforts of Lt. Col. F. L. Thompson, the War Department loaned the town a 3-inch field piece, belonging to the U. S. Forces, to balance the Civil War cannon on the front lawn of the Armory. This was definitely understood NOT to be a war relic as it was never taken overseas or used. Various people can remember these various pieces of lethal machinery but where they ended up is still uncertain. CO. E has always been synonomous with Bellows Falls-even when it went by another letter of the alphabet! Today it is Co. A. Organized here in 1906, it was vainly coveted by Spring- field, Vt. in 1929 and the town held its breath until it was as-
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certained that Co. E would remain here and that Bellows Falls would not lose its prestige-or its $17,000 a year wages! It has regular drill nights and for many years a famous basketball team which won the state championship in 1915 and in 1921, it drew the biggest crowds ever, in the Armory, with "big Bill Hayes" as its star man. In 1931 it had the honor of having one of its members, Sgt. Edgar Boucher, accredited as the best rifleman in Vermont.
THE BELLOWS FALLS FIRE DEPARTMENT. On August 15 and 16, 1952, the Bellows Falls Fire Department was host to the 64th annual State Fireman's Convention. The snappy uniforms, the modern equipment, are a long cry from the old Fire Company, started in 1826 "to combat the menace of fire." While water was problematical in 1833, when the first village lines were laid out coming from wells and reservoirs, today the great water power of the hoses keeps practically any fire from spreading. At a meeting of the Southern Twin State Fire Mutual Aid Assn. in 1954, to which the local department belongs, it was voted to have the fire pumps of each member of the Association, tested every five years and that each pump must function at the rate of at least 500 gallons a minute. The old hand-pulled hose carts are a pathetic curiosity today.
In 1860 practically the whole business section was wiped out in a disastrous fire which set the town fathers up on their heels to the extent of buying a hand engine for $1,363 which was sold three years later for $22.50. In 1888 the village was aided by the Fire Department of the Fall Mt. Paper Co. which bought two large steam pumps and a power pump to augment their equipment on hand. Until 1927, the fire whistle was located on top of one of the mills "under the hill."
The No. I Fire Station on Rockingham Street, still in use, dates from 1904 and in 1910, after turning down the Diggins lot on Green Street two years before, the Oak Street station was dedicated. It cost, including the land, $13,444 which was $500 below the appropriation. This was the scene of much gaiety and oratory that evening in May when, with speeches and dancing, the new building was christened. There were even refreshments and it was a red letter day for the firemen and Chief John McCann. There were those who wanted it called the Shamrock Building as it was built on the site of the old Shamrock Hose Company to which end Dan Cray made a reminiscent and sentimental speech.
"You don't know the sentiments of the people in this section," he shouted to the trustees. "While there is an ounce of blood in our veins, this will be the Shamrock Building." And while to most people today it is the Oak Street Fire Station No. 2, there are doubtless still loyal hearts among the old timers who still think of it, fondly, as the Shamrock Building.
In the new station was housed the Hook and Ladder and
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the No. 2 Hose Company made their headquarters there. The village was proud of it as well as the added security against fire, although it boasted that with one station and 37 men on call there had been no disastrous fires which spread to adjoining property since 1868. No. 2 Station was and still is, a two-story brick building, 45'x 88' with a hose tower 60 feet high from cellar to top where the hoses could be dried. There was a heating apparatus in the basement, a stable with two stalls and an up- to-date barn from which the fire horses thundered at the first shriek of the alarm. The equipment of the Street and Water Department is kept in the basement today which is also used as a workshop.
The driver of the hook and ladder truck, Timothy Drislane, had the fine new quarters on the second floor, a neat little four room tenement with pantry and bath and the woodwork of North Carolina pine which had taken seven months to build. Today no fire horses breathe fire and smoke when the whistle blows and the bell rings but No. 4 truck still lives there. A modern alarm system replaces the old one whose whistle was interspersed with the bell in the Methodist belfry. In 1926 the whistle was moved from the I. P. Mills to the Fire Station on Rockingham Street. The new system, in 1942, cost the town $7,500 although the town voted $8,000 for it. It was supervised by the late Herbert Johnson, fire alarm superintendent. In 1953 another system was tried out which had the effect on citizens, and gained the appropriate cognomen of, "the dying cow." The town soon had enough of the mournful wail and, it was returned, with thanks, and the old familiar hoot is again heard and which carries for several miles on a clear day. The bell still rings in the steeple of what is now the Grange Hall and the town has paid, for many years, $25.00 a year rent for its use.
One Sunday evening in May, 1909, the Hapgood Street stairs got on fire and the Combination Wagon responded. In 1913 the village decided to go all out for a new hook and ladder truck which was used until July, 1946 when it purchased the Keene, N. H. truck for $1,000. It was secondhand and is still in use, now more than 32 years old. In 1919, a two ton, 40-horse power Oldsmobile hose wagon was added to the apparatus and in 1926 the American LaFrance, a 750 gallon pumping engine, which also is still in use, was added. And back in 1916, the village refused the gift of $500 from Fred Babbitt towards a new fire truck, the year that Old Tom, the faithful fire horse died! When one of the big, black horses died in 1924, the moot ques- tion was again raised of motors or horses for both fire trucks and the street department. The world was slowly becoming motorized.
In 1933 the village manager and the fire chief tried to convince the town that it needed a motor truck to replace the horse drawn ladder truck. It put the pressure on, year after
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year, with the tax payers regularly and firmly, turning thumbs down on it. Finally the present 500 gallon pumper, mounted on a Ford truck, bought in 1936 and has proved itself at many fires. In 1948 a new American LaFrance, a 750 gallon pumper, was purchased. But in 1953, so great was the need for new equip- ment including pumper and aerial ladder, that both Chief Keefe and some of the firemen threatened to resign unless the town did something about it. Today the station on Rockingham St., once the boat of the town, is expressing a need for more room, at least enough to get to a fire which the traffic on that street seriously prevents. They have their eye on the now empty Atkinson St. school, or the "south end school," with its spacious playground and large brick building.
During both world wars, the department was intensely handicapped by the loss of its men, the first war taking ten men away and the second war making them short-handed with drivers and others leaving for service. In W. W. I the force stood by, ready for an emergency air raid alarm by equipping two of the old hose carts with 112 in. hose and other equipment which was placed strategically about town. Many business and professional men pitched in to replace the regular firemen dur- ing this war. But everyone was deeply chagrined when, in 1917, the Liberty Paper Co, went up in smoke and the famous "Mt. Kilburn" steamer refused to work and North Walpole's "The Glen" had to take over.
Each year the department holds a "fire prevention week," checking business places and institutions, urging the public to check their own homes to "prevent a fire before it starts." It has been outstanding in educational work during this week for many years and the town believes that it is due to the efforts of these men that fire losses, while seeming immense, could have been much greater. In 1953 there was a total fire loss of $19,150 which is actually small with 106 fires that year, over half of which were in private homes. In 1952 the fire loss totaled only $1,968 outside of the terrible Vermont Farm fire which even a city department could not have prevented.
The list of Fire Chiefs is a list of those who have done their duty. D. F. Lawlor became chief in 1913, replacing Chief McCann who resigned; M. J. Manning followed Lawlor in 1919 and Eugene Cray had the job for awhile until Joseph Grignon began his long service of 24 years in 1922. He was followed by the present chief, John Keefe, appointed on Feb. 1, 1946. He was appointed also to the board of directors of the newly formed New England Division of Fire Chiefs at a convention of the International Assn. held in New York City in 1954. A Fire School was held in Bellows Falls in 1954 as part of the Vermont State Firefighters Assn.
Today the Fire Department consists of a permanent Chief
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and Deputy Chief, seven night men who sleep at the station to act as drivers and officers during a night fire. This is augmented by 41 call men, five pieces of apparatus and a complete Game- well Fire Alarm System. While there has, from time to time, occurred misunderstanding about fees for attending fires in another town, Bellows Falls having higher rates than most surrounding towns, an agreement has been reached with out- side localities in a mutual aid system with such towns as have similar apparatus to offer us in reciprocation. The only charge is for the men which is paid by the town receiving help. The village of Bellows Falls doubtless has as efficient apparatus today as any town of its size.
CEMETERIES: There are four cemeteries in the town of Rockingham, Oak Hill and Restland in Bellows Falls and Rockingham and Saxtons River Cemeteries, in their respective villages. Commissioners of the first two are Preston H. Hadley, Elmer E. Pierce, Norman F. Faulkner and O. Gordon Noyes. Commissioners for Saxtons River Cemetery are Clarence B. Coleman, Guy M. Simmonds, George S. Buxton, Raymond S. Heminway, Robert W. O'Connor. Commissioners for Rock- ingham Cemetery are Ralph W. Wright, Frank W. Weeden, John B. Abbott, George F. Webb, George P. Kenyon.
Besides the Soldier's Monument in the Oak Hill cemetery, are others which claim attention, among them the Spicer monu- ment which is remarkable for its uniqueness. Placed on the family lot in 1939, the marble niche encloses a figure of Psyche who personifies immortality, behind glass, weighing 100 pounds and valued at $500. It is made of Vermont marble and was sculptured by Charles Spicer, brother of Fred and completed in 1888 and presented to his brother. He was never heard of again and many years later Fred had the lovely little statue placed on the family lot. He was laid to rest beside it in 1944, four years after he retired, age 75, from the painting and paper- ing business in which he had been engaged in town since 1889. For over 50 years his truck had been seen on the streets of Bellows Falls. His lot is one of the beauty spots in a cemetery known for its unusual lovliness. The small burying ground between Bartonsville and Brockways Mills, on the side hill above the "back road" between those two villages, is still extant although its care seems to be left to nature. This was the family lot of Solomon Wright who died July 18, 1827.
POST OFFICE: After the fire of 1925 which destroyed the Town Hall building, in which was located the Post Office, that institution was moved around from place to place for six years until it came to rest in 1931 in the new Federal building on Bridge Street. As was said of it before it settled in the old Town Hall building, it should have "been on wheels." The post office in Bellows Falls was, for many years, a sort of roll- ing stock! In 1925 it moved first to the Hotel Rockingham for
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a brief three months then to the Central House from where it went down on Canal Street to where the liquor store is today, in the Brown block, its last move before its final location. The Federal Post Office was opened with appropriate ceremonies with Gov. and Mrs. Stanley Wilson present as well as Congress- man Gibson who seems to have attended, in some capacity, many of Bellows Falls' celebrations over the years. This was a joint ceremony for the new TIMES building also and held on the steps of the Post Office in October. There were various luncheons in town that noon for visiting celebrities and a free dance and vaudeville acts in the Armory.
The local office, like others, has seen many changes since its installation here in 1801. In 1911 the U. S. Postal Savings System was inaugurated and the first parcel post moved out of Bellows Falls January 1, 1913. In 1906 postal receipts were listed as $23,719 against $57,000 in 1949 when it served a popu- lation of over 7,000 including North Walpole, N. H. and North Westminster, Vt. In 1950 it was handling 850,000 pieces of first-class mail. But the local office did not become a First Class Post Office until 1943; ten years later parcel post rates went up. This office also maintains Star Routes to Newport, and Hancock, N. H., jobs which are "bid off" instead of being under the civil service system. Mail also is carried by truck to Springfield and Rutland, Vt. from the local office, since the discontinuance of the Rutland Railroad.
Another job which goes to the highest bidder is that which William P. Shaughnessy held for 35 years until he retired in September, 1952, after meeting, he said, more than 100,000 trains as he picked up and delivered the mail from the depot to the post office. This position is held today by Stefan Ponek.
Postmasters for the last fifty years were Joshua H. Blakely, appointed December 20, 1906; Daniel Cray, February 20, 1915; Joshua H. Blakely, September 1, 1923; Thomas Fitzgerald, October 1, 1935; Francis A. Bolles, October 1, 1954. Under Fitzgerald, the assistant postmaster was Ernest Hamilton; under Bolles, Henry Bussey. Hamilton was also acting post- master from June 1, 1934 to October 1, 1935.
Employees who have retired after many years of service include Walton H. Farr who left in 1941 after 33 years and died in 1951, age 73; P. H. Fleming, retired November, 1927, age 65, after 15 years as letter carrier and 13 as clerk and who went to work there in 1889 when he came to Bellows Falls. He died in 1944. William A. MacDonald, retired at 65 after 43 years, being in the money order department during his last years there. He entered the office in 1896 and was secretary of the Civil Board of Examiners since it was established Novem- ber 1, 1899. He died in 1948. Philip Tidd retired in 1953 from ill health after 32 years in the office and died two years later at the age of 55. Nelson Ober retired in 1946 after 44
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years in five different post offices and under four postmasters. The last six years he was in the money order department and registry after the retirement of MacDonald. Jay Livermore retired in 1949 after 45 years as clerk. Michael Lawlor retired in 1948 after 43 years as carrier, when an auto accident injured one leg. Oscar Blossom retired in 1939 after 30 years as carrier. Willis Brown, after 35 years, retired in 1934 and died in 1950. Albert Halladay was the first substitute carrier in Bellows Falls and was also conductor on the B. F. & S. R. St. Railway at the same time. He was a regular since 1900 and retired in 1935, dying in 1948, aged 75. Eugene Trask retired about 1927 after 27 years as carrier and passed away soon after. Harry George, carrier, retired in 1943 after 45 years on the job. George, Livermore and Lawlor entered the post office only a few years after the R.F.D. was established, 56 years ago. In 1955 Lawlor was presented a Life Membership in the Letter Carriers' Assn. by the employees. Curtis E. Davis retired April 39, 1936 after 47 years and was assistant postmaster for many years.
Other men connected with the post office were Waldo Coolidge, carrier, still working around town; John M. Delaney, carrier who died suddenly in 1952 after 25 years of service. Robert Mark died, after a long illness, in 1952, aged 44, after 15 years as a clerk. Today's carriers are T. Kenneth Hallahan, Ralph D. Halladay, Charles Clark, Franklin J. Hall, Bernard Gallup, Arthur Morse and James Fitzgerald. Clerks are Ed- ward G. Vayo, George McAuliffe, Richard Crotty, John Blake, Edmund Lawlor, Joseph Donzello, John O'Hearne and Charles V. Vosburgh. Custodian employees are Claude Lindstrom and Henry Boucher.
The Rural Free Delivery began in the United States in 1896 and reached Bellows Falls September 1, 1900 but the first regular route in Vermont was in Windsor in 1903. Frank Mark was the first local carrier, jolting over country roads with a horse and buggy. The volume of the mail can be determined by the fact that Frank says that he went, two days a week, on a bicycle, to give his horse a rest. Today it requires a good sized car to transport the mail and parcel post. There was one woman carrier, Annie Benson Hunt, in 1910 who also used a horse. Ray Rand was killed on the route in 1925 when his car went over a bank on the road above the O'Brien farm. The only rural carrier to ever retire on the job was L. C. Lovell who left in 1952 after 26 years. This route is the only one out of Bellows Falls, an unusual feature as most towns have several rural routes. John Lawlor transferred from clerk in the office to the rural mail in 1953. In 1941 the Bellows Falls Post Office officially took over the Pleasant Valley Road as part of its R.F.D. route. The road from Bartonsville to Saxtons River was formerly in the territory of Chester, R.F.D.
Over the years many changes have taken place as the roads
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outside of town went from dirt to black top, as horses gave way to Fords. Once chloride was used to settle the summer dust except when it rained and no one in his right mind, thirty years ago, would have dared to take his car onto the road after the first snow or until the mud season was over. Often the mail- man today must be pulled from mud or snow by a farmer's truck or horses. But most of the 38.6 mile route is hard ser- faced today and mail boxes along it have increased from a hand- ful of nondescript containers mounted on anything from fences to milk cans, to 198 trim metal boxes, regulation U. S. style.
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