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 33
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After the Federation of churches which took place Septem- ber 20, 1936, the first pastor was Rev. Bert Richards who served for three and a half years with an average attendance of 137 against 176 as a separate church. Following Mr. Richards came two Baptist pastors, Rev. Joseph Peacock who served
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from June 1940 to October, 1943 and during whose pastorate the church, in the spring of 1941, was redecorated and repaired at a cost of over $1,000. This included a new carpet and art squares for the pulpit and the next year the church received the gift of a gold cross to hang behind the pulpit. Rev. John Gordon served the parish from January 16, 1944 to May, 1949, during the difficult war years, a man devoted to his work and beloved by young and old. From June, 1949 to December 15, 1951, Rev. Edwin Alexander was with the Federated Church, during whose administration there occurred some friction among members of the two churches who were discovering that al- though united physically, they were still separate groups. Rev. Charles Blakney came to the church January, 1952, his first full pastorate where he sincerely endeavored to create one "united" church. In October, 1952, the Articles of the Federa- tion was revised and the name Federated Church changed to Christ Church of Saxtons River. In 1953 there were 18 new members joining the church on both Congregational and Baptist rolls and new by-laws for both societies created a more unified church. Both churches were recently painted outside and improvements made on the heating system at Christ Church and the vestry remodeled.
During Mr. Blakney's pastorate, the Religious Education Company was formed, a Board of Outreach and a Cabinet and regular meetings of the Deacons and Trustees held. Vermont Academy students and Warner Home girls still help to swell the congregation which otherwise is under 100 but the church today seems to have a new lease on life with a thriving Woman's Association, a Sunday School enrollment of 150 and an interested junior choir. After some stormy and uncertain years, church members feel that they are at last headed in the right direction and will continue to exert their good influence on the commun- ity. In May, 1955, Rev. Blakney and his wife Lorrayne, after a year's study at Hartford Seminary, Hartford, Conn., were ordained in the Saxtons River church as Congregational career missionaries to Africa by the American Board of Southern Rhodesia of Boston, Mass. Their work will take them to South- ern Rhodesia, Central Africa, along with their two small children, their interests lying in primitive cultures and the question of the possibility of adapting Christianity apart from western culture. The various Protestant churches in the area raised funds to pro- vide the Blakneys with a jeep for their new work in Africa. All churches in Vermont have undertaken the support of these devoted young people, through financial aid, prayers and loyalty and the Saxtons River Church is proud of sending them forth from its parish. In July, 1955, Rev. Jack A. Smith of Paines- ville, Ohio, where he was ordained in 1953, became the new pastor of Christ Church. Formerly a business man and his wife an accomplished musician recently graduated from Overlin
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College, the church looks forward to the new pastorate with enthusiasm.
CATHOLIC CHURCH OF SAXTONS RIVER
The new Catholic Church in Saxtons River, finished in 1952, with its 52 panes of colored glass called hammered cathedral and its grey and white interior finish, is an excellent example of the small modern church of today. The first service was held on June 29, 1952 and the formal dedication July 13 with the Most Rev. Edward F. Ryan, Bishop of Burlington, officiating. The church stands on a 125' x 112' plot with three entrances and a suspended staircase with a seven-foot gold leaf cross topping the ten foot tower. In the sacristy is the Chronobell system which regulates and controls the bell ringing and which is re- layed to a loud speaker. The church seats 196 worshippers and took about a year to build. As in many of today's buildings, the keynote is glass. The side windows are of corrugated struc- tural glass to be supplemented later by stained glass. Grey- stained fir planks form the ceiling and all other furnishings are grey-stained oak. A statue of St. Edmund of Canterbury, patron saint of the church, stands in the rear on a special shrine and was made by sculptor Oronio Maldarelli, instructor at Columbia University and summer resident at Townshend.
For many years before 1946, the Catholic people of Saxtons River, Cambridgeport, Athens, Grafton and Westminster West were served by the Bellows Falls Church. That year the Fathers of the Society of St. Edmund located at St. Joseph's Novitiate at Putney, Vt., were appointed by the Bishop of Burlington to take charge of Saxtons River and nearby towns and services were held in the Old South Meetinghouse for six years with the first Sacrifice of the Mass in June of 1946. The parish was served consecutively by the following pastors: Rev. Anthony McCue, S.S.E .; Rev. Francis Moriarty, S.S.E .; Rev. John F. Walsh, S.S.E. and Rev. George E. Demers, S.S.E., the present pastor of the new parish. There were about 100 pa- rishioners in 1946; in 1952 there were 200. The pastor continues to live in Putney but works with his people daily.
SAXTONS RIVER ORGANIZATIONS
NATURE CLUB
The Nature Club was an outgrowth of the old Parliamentary Club and the first minutes of the newer club are dated March 31, 1903 with 20 charter members and Mrs. Walter Glynn, now of Bellows Falls, as the first secretary. The original objective of the club was the study of nature but today it includes travel, book reports, music, art and related subject in its monthly
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meetings, summers excepted. At a special meeting in the schoolhouse in Saxtons River in 1941, the Saxtons River Civic Association was formed with Humphrey B. Neill, President.
SAXTONS RIVER GRANGE, No. 298
Organized March 28, 1902, Saxtons River Grange rented the Odd Fellows Hall (which they still use) for a dollar a night and paid the janitor a quarter to "open up and clean up." That June 20 men and 9 women were listed as charter members. The first meetings were held on the second and fourth Fridays of each month but seemed to be governed largely by nature; on June 14, 1929 the records read "thunderstorm-no meeting." "Dancing after the meeting was frowned upon as liable to reduce the membership but was later conceded, as proper entertain- ment for those who wished to indulge in it." In 1926 things did not seem to be going too well and at the December 30 meet- ing, the matter of discontinuing the organization was voted on with the result that it was agreed to continue for another 6 months. By March 1946, the membership was 62 and the Grange is still a strong arm of the community, sponsoring the 4-H Clubs and Scouts and celebrating Booster Nights and Neighbor Nights. In 1949 the light opera PATIENCE was given and in 1952, PINAFORE. The 30th anniversary was observed in 1932 with a history of the Grange, readings, original poetry and a one-act play. Silver certificates for 25-year mem- bership were awarded at that time to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Leola Morrison, Helen Kelly, Lawrence and Hazel Burgess, Harlan and Carrie Barnes, Abby Hammond and John Alexander. In 1952 the 50th anniversary was celebrated with Harlan and Carrie Barnes and Abby Hammond receiving the Gold Sheaf Certificates for 50-year membership. Members who labored to make this event successful included Mr. and Mrs. Herman Weston, Gladys Stearns and John Patch. Among those who have worked faithfully over the years in the Grange were Henry Thomas, Otis Wilson, John Alexander, Joseph Barnes, Clark Simon, Leamon White and Harlan and Carrie Barnes.
The first officers of this Grange were Master, John Austin; Overseer, Colin C. Lake; Lecturer, Corinne E. Wiley; Chaplain, Clark S. Lake; Stewart, H. Ellsworth Richardson; Assistant Steward, Edwin Lake; Treasurer, Rodney Ober; Secretary, Elizabeth Lake; Gatekeeper, S. I. Thomas; Ceres, Mrs. Melvin Swain; Pomona, Mrs. Rodney Ober; Lady Assistant Steward, Anna Richardson. Of these officers, two are living today, Colin C. Lake and Mrs. Anna Richardson Paul. Officers for 1957 are Master, Alvin Paige; Overseer, Alice Paige; Steward, John Patch; Assistant Steward, Arthur Smith; Chap- láin, Olive McBride; Lecturer, Marjorie Patch; Treasurer, Harley McBride: Secretary, Richard Barnes; Gatekeeper, John
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Benson; Ceres, Myrtle Fletcher; Pomona; Elizabeth Barnes; Flora, Gladys Stearns; Lady Assistant, Alice Packard; Pianist, Frances Weston.
Past Masters have been:
John Austin
1902
C. C. Lake
1903
H. E. Richardson
1904
John F. Alexander, Jr.
1905-1906
William J. Wright
1907
C. H. Sanders
1908-1909
Mrs. Anna Wright
1910-1911
Harlan Barnes
1912
L. F. White
1913
John Austin
1914
L. F. White
1915
Harry Barnes
1916
David Stearns
1917
Clark Simonds
1918
Mrs. Nell Morrison
1919-1921
Ralph Cole
1922-1923
Mrs. Nell Morrison
1924
Theodore DeRoches
1925
William Smith
1926
Harlan Barnes
1927-1928
Lawrence Burgess
1929
Harlan Barnes
1930-1931
Charles Fancy
1932-1933
Henry Thomas
1934
Olin Clayton
1935
Joseph Barnes
1936-1937
Floyd Patnode
1938
Joseph Barnes
1938-1941
Marjorie Patch
1942 to May 12, 1943
Charles Fancy
May 12, 1943-1944
Aaron Mandigo
1944-1946
John Patch
1947-1949
Herman Weston
1950-1951
Richard Barnes
1952-1954
Alvin Paige
1955 ---
MOTHERS' RECREATION CLUB
This club was organized in 1912 with the following officers: President, Mrs. Blanche Osgood; Vice President, Bessie Fitch; Secretary, Carrie Wright; Treasurer, Cora Stearns. Meetings were held once a month in the afternoon and members were limited to bringing with them two children per member outside of the meetings held at Barber Park. One purpose of the club was to enable Mother to Have an Evening Out and Father takes
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care of the children the first Thursday evening of the month. Past Presidents have included Mrs. Blanche Osgood, Mrs. Florence Alexander, Mrs. Minnie Thompson, Mrs. Carrie Wright, Mrs. Ora Campbell, Mrs. George Buxton, Mrs. P. D. Colvin, Mrs. J. L. Reynolds, Mrs. Edward Harty and Mrs. Louise Harty. Membership is limited to 35 mothers and a Hospitality Com- mittee of two carries flowers to graves of deceased members each Memorial Day. It remembers sick members and deposits one dollar in the bank and presents a bankbook to each baby born to a member. The group supports all charitable and community drives and ends their year with a May Banquet.
INDEPENDENT ORDER OF ODD FELLOWS
The Saxtons River Lodge of I.O.O.F. was formed February 15, 1888 with the following members signing the charter: A. H. Sabin, G. R. Tower, M. A. Wilder, W. P. Cassidy, S. T. Sod- dard, E. A. Houghton, L. Howard, E. L. Field, T. H. Hughes, F. C. Rand, F. E. Young, C. F. Simonds, E. R. Cobb, C. H. Twitchell, C. L. Gale, E. R. Lake, R. A. Marsh. Officers were Noble Grand, George R. Tower; Vice Grand, E. A. Hough- ton; Secretary, A. H. Sabin; Treasurer, M. A. Wilder; Secre- tary, T. H. Hughes. Officers in 1957 are Noble Grand, Clar- ence Walker; Vice Grand, Edford Perkins; Secretary, Claude Tenney; Treasurer, Dr. Raymond Lawrence. The organiza- tion has met in its present hall for 60 years and the building was purchased by them in 1920.
CHAPTER XII
DISASTERS : FLOODS, FIRES, EARTHQUAKES, HURRICANES
From time to time disasters have descended upon the town with loss of life and property. Among these was one of the most disastrous railroad accidents to ever occur in this end of the state and the worst in the history of the Rutland Railroad. It happened on a quiet Sunday afternoon, March 13, 1920 at 4:50 o'clock when the Montreal Express No. 165 collided head-on with extra freight No. 28, three miles north of Bellows Falls. Seven people were instantly killed and three died soon after reaching the Rockingham Hospital. The dead included Cor- nelius Sullivan of Bellows Falls, engineer of the Flyer; George F. Cady of Rutland, formerly of Bellows Falls, engineer of the freight; William Farrell of Rutland, fireman on the passenger and John Lent and his son Frank from Rockingham, passengers, who had taken the train at Bellows Falls to return to their work in a lumbermill in Chester, the train passing their home just before the tragedy. Ralph Bean of Bellows Falls, fireman of the freight, saw the impending collision and leaped from his cab, rolling into the river as three freight cars piled in after him.
The passenger train was due out of Bellows Falls at 2:35 p. m. but did not leave that day until 4:33. Its orders were to meet and pass the freight at Bartonsville and the orders of the freight were supposed to read the same way. Some rumors said that the crew of the freight tried to make Bellows Falls before the passenger left there but at the hearing held by the public service commission in Rutland the next week, copies of the train order were found to be so badly written that the word "Bartons- ville" could easily have been mistaken for "Bellows Falls," and was misread by the train crew at Gassetts. It passed the Bartonsville siding- and there was no Green Mountain Flyer. The two trains met on the sharp curve, going only thirty miles and hour but the freight had 46 cars and had gained such momen- tum in the down grade that the engineer could not stop it.
"Holy God, there she is!" Cady shouted. Passengers said later that the emergency brakes were applied on the express but the impact was so great that the passenger was completely demolished and hurled to one side of the tracks and the freight to the other. The passenger was made up of two milk cars behind the engine, then a combination baggage and smoker, the latter next to the milk cars; also a passenger coach and dining car and pullman. The terrific force of the collision
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smashed the milk cars to nothingness and the wreckage of them pushed through the front end of the combination car, instantly killing three people. Had the passenger car been next to the milk cars, many more lives would have been lost. Three more people died at the hospital. One man, in some way, escaped unscathed, crawling out on his hands and knees. The rest of the cars did not leave the tracks and although the passengers were shaken up, they did not realize what a terrible thing had happened. Although train men attempted to keep them in their seats, they were forced to open the doors for them who helped remove the dead and injured. About 15 freight cars telescoped each other, some hurled rods from the track and car loads of grain were piled on top of the passenger locomotive. William Farrell, fireman, died with his shovel in his hands and Cady's body has to be cut out with acetylene torches. Sulli- van wasn't found for three days, buried under his locomotive.
The only eye witness of the disaster was William A. Busha of Underhill Avenue who was walking down the tracks after a day of trapping. He jumped over a fence into a field when he saw the impending tragedy which sent live steam 200 feet into. the air from the punctured boilers and prevented anyone approach- ing the scene. Busha helped Bean from the icy water and they both aided in getting out the injured. Bean did heroic duty, his face cut, in freezing garments, as he chopped doggedly at the. wreckage. His presence of mind and iron nerve saved his own life and probably the lives of the trapped victims. The first phone call for help came from Howard Illingworth and William Murphy who were on the ice of Williams River and who rushed to the home of the ill-fated Lents. One passenger, a Middle- bury College professor, suitcase in hand, waded up the steep, bank through the deep snow to the home of Lewis C. Lovell to give word of the accident.
At once a special train with two doctors and railroad em- ployees from Bellows Falls was sent to the scene. Passengers were returned to. Bellows Falls on the train with the injured which found the depot jammed with half the people of the village. . A wrecking crew from Rutland was sent for and at 7:30 p. m. a similar crew from Bellows Falls left for the acci- dent and searched for the dead until 1 a. m. At that time, a train carrying bodies returned to Bellows Falls. The first train went through on Monday at 3 p. m. and for 100 yards along the track, in the snow were china, grain and rolls of newsprint churned together in a horrible hash. Hundreds walked up the tracks all that Monday to view the wreck and many hired sleighs and drove to the Lovell farm from where they waded through drifts waist-high, down to the river. There was so much excite- ment that stores excused their workers and motion picture men and photographers were busy all day. A tragic note was that Engineer Sullivan's son, James, was a passenger on the express
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and rushed through the train trying to find his father until he saw a dead man whom he supposed to be he, whereupon hẹ rushed home to break the sad news to his family.
7
The final evidence was that, contrary to procedure, the engineer was not consulted on the jumbled orders, there was no exchange of signals and the plug in the caboose for applying air in emergencies was not used. No blame was attached to Sulli- van who was 35 years an engineer on the Rutland Railroad, the oldest engineer in the company's service on that road out of Bellows Falls.
On October 29, 1931, ten freight cars were tossed from the rails near the Bartonsville station, several of them plunging down a 30-foot bank into the Williams River. The accident was caused by a broken wheel on one car which left the track and dragged the rest with it. No one was injured but traffic was held up on the road all night. One car was loaded with dynamite and tipped into the river, fortunately. Grain was liberally sprinkled over the tracks from another car and was bought on the spot by an enterprising farmer.
FLOODS
The first of several disastrous floods in this century occured on Sunday, March 30, 1913 when water reached the highest level since 1895 after almost a solid week of rain which melted the snow and sent tons of water into streams everywhere in- cluding the Connecticut. Here the gauge at the dam reached a high point of 18.9 ft. To add to the danger, 3,000,000 ft. of logs owned by the Champlain Realty Co., came hurtling down' river and dynamite was used to prevent destruction of the three railroad bridges. The tunnel under the Square, always a danger spot, was sand-bagged when the I. P. Mills went under 6 ft. of water, ruining extensive machinery while crashing logs ruined their blacksmith shop. Trains stopped running as wash- outs undermined the tracks. At the depot, water stood deep on the platform which was choked with baggage and sacks of mail which could not be moved. Travelers who got into town, couldn't get out and the Hotel Windham put up 77 people the night of the 29th while restaurants and saloons and photographers did a land office business. Signs said that Bellows Falls was the only town in Vermont that could be reached. The water receded on Saturday afternoon and train service was resumed only to have 40 ft. of track at East Putney, on Sunday morning, drop into the river carrying with it the caboose and drowning fire-, man Willis Parrott. Less than an hour before, the crowded New York passenger train had passed over this same track. Jim Allbee, on the Rockingham Road, was marooned on the first floor of his house and refusing to leave, was removed by force from his bedroom window into a boat rowed by two high)
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school boys but unfortunately the boat came to pieces at the crucial moment which irritated Jim no end and slowed up proceedings. It was Jim's private opinion, vouched in incendiary terms, that it was no accident!
1927. What was no doubt the most terrible visitation of nature which this town or state has ever experienced, took place during November of that year of '27. To those who lived through it, it will never be forgotten and to those who did not, the story is a fantastic horror tale. While it was not felt as badly in the southern end of the state as in the north, the flood of '27 left Bellows Falls and vicinity in a state of desolation and isolation as the waters receded. Vermont suffered an impossible loss but borrowed 10 million dollars, paid it off and 30 years later, the state treasury had a larger surplus than in its whole history. (Vermont Tradition, Page 255. D. C. Fisher)
This storm was general over the northeast section of the country with a secondary storm centered over Massachusetts and south to Rhode Island and Connecticut. The maximum precipitation in the northern storm was over 9 in. in southern Vermont, covering about 457 square miles, the rainfall exceed- ing 8 in. over an area of about 1,660 square miles in the whole state. In 24 hours, 712 in. of water fell in the Black River drainage area, dumping 50,000,000 tons of water there in that time which emptied into the Connecticut. The deluge was the result of a tropical storm from the south, meeting a storm from the north over Vermont between two high pressure areas on the east and west which squeezed the water from the storm like a giant sponge. Other things accounted for the destruction such as soil, contour and slope of ground, its condition and that of streams and ponds at the time. The rugged slope of the Green Mountains in Vermont, with steep slopes and hard-pan soil, shed rain rapidly into the streams. The winter and spring of that year had been unusually dry with only about 17% of normal rainfall, a record equaled only four or five times in preceding years. The weather reversed itself with excessive rainfall in summer and fall. By November, the ground was saturated, ponds overflowed. Then came the head-on collision of storms and the land could not take care of the water.
Immediately after this storm, pressure was brought to bear by the government to create reservoirs to care for excessive water in future emergencies, villages have been inundated and more work is being planned along this line. Much legislative squab- bling has taken place since it was mainly upon the instigation of states to the south of Vermont, who received the bulk of the water pouring down the Connecticut, that this work has taken place. At present negotiations are under way for a dam which would flood parts of North Springfield and Perkinsville, Vt. In 1955 Philip Shutler, director of the Connecticut Valley Flood Control Commission, said that valleys still faced flood dangers
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and that dams should be built at once. Following is a blue- print chart of the Bellows Falls Canal Co., giving highwater at various dates.
March, 1913 water on dam 18.9 ft.
March, 1920 water on dam 13.6 ft. Nov. 4, 1927 water on dam 25.7 ft. Dec. 8, 1927 water on dam 11.72 ft.
The Journal of New England Water Works Association, (Vol. XLII, No. 2; Vol. XLVII, No. 2) gives the rainfall of the floods of 1937 as follows:
Nov. 3
.24
Nov. 4
4.07
Nov. 5
.18
Nov. 2-5, inclusive
4.49
Nov. 2-4, inclusive 4.31
Now for the flood as it affected Bellows Falls. On Thurs- day evening, November 3, the river was rising at the rate of a foot an hour beginning about 4:30 in the afternoon. At 1:30 Friday morning, the coffer dams guarding the entrance to the tunnel gave way, flood water rushed through to the lower en- trance of the canal where the new powerhouse parted the waves racing on to flood the Moore & Thompson and Babbitt & Kelly paper mills. From then on it was pandemonium. The water rose all day Friday until about 5:30 when it stood more than 25 ft. above the level of the old dam as the heavy rains to the north sent tons of water down the river. That meant that all bridges were threatened as well as the B&M tunnel under the Square where 8 ft. of water was thrown against the tunnel and a sand bag brigade was hurriedly set up by the New England Power Co., saving Adams Gristmill and International Paper Co. By noon, on Friday, Canal St. and the bridge to the station, were under four feet of water and cars loaded with coal were run onto the railroad bridge leading to the tunnel, to hold it down. The sand bags saved the whole Square from caving in as the sandy foundation would have washed out like sugar. So that such a nightmare could never happen again, the town afterward shared with the B&M Railroad the expense of $4,300 to have steel pilings driven deep as well as wide shoulders made to the head wall. In 1930, the suggestion was made to remove the tunnel to accommodate the new engines. But it still remains to shake the Hotel Windham as trains thunder through. In 1929 the B&M started to reinforce the tunnel with a protecting wall at the entrance with cross ties so placed that sand could be thrown against them in an emergency.
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