USA > Vermont > Addison County > Shoreham > History of the town of Shoreham, Vermont, from the date of its charter, October 8th, 1761, to the present time > Part 8
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In some of the vallies, of this town, there is a rich alluvial soil, composed in great part of decayed vegetable matter, which, when properly drained, produces a great growth of corn. Near the centre of the town, north-westerly, commences what is called the Great Swamp, containing about seven hundred acres covered mostly with a dense growth of pine, black-ash and cedar timber, which is di- vided up into small lots of about seven acres, and parceled out to
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
the farmers, from which they procure timber and boards for building and rails for fencing, sufficient to supply their wants. The land adjacent to this Swamp, which has been cleared up, now yields from two to four tons of hay to the acre. The vallies lying along Lemon Fair River, and Prickley Ash Brook, produce an abundant and unfailing supply of grass, without the aid of the plow or manure, and are not surpassed in value by any other grass lands in any part of the world. The slaty lands are productive in early spring crops and with the aid of a little manure, improve by cultiva- tion, the soil becoming finer by the constant action of the plow, frosts and rains. The timber was originally a growth of pine and oak on the clay grounds, of maple, beech, black oak, ash, basswood, &c., on the higher grounds, and elm, black ash, tamarack, &c., in the vallies and swampy lands. The value of the lands in the township may be fairly computed from the products, as stated in the census returns of the number of cattle, sheep, horses ; tons of hay, and quantities of grain of the several kinds.
Previous to the Revolution, lands were considered of little value in this town. The doubtful nature of title, while New Hampshire and New York both claimed to hold jurisdiction over the territory, deterred settlers from coming in and prevented sales. The Proprie- tors regarded their rights as of little or no value, and many of them sold out for a mere trifle. Paul Moore bought one right in 1767 for twelve shillings, and three rights in 1768 for thirty-six shillings. James Moore bought one right of land of Daniel Ward in 1773, for twelve shillings. John Reynolds, then of New Concord, N. Y., paid to Roger Stevens, of Pittsford, £35 for one right, May 15th, 1775. For another right he paid £40 in 1776.
Samuel Wolcott had one hundred acres of land given him in 1774, by the Proprietors, to induce him to settle here; his son, Jesse Wolcott, had fifty acres given him in in 1783, by David Hemen- way, one of the Proprietors, and Seth and Abijah North had a hundred acres given them, in the same ycar, by the same individual.
In 1783, the price of land was from one to two shillings per acre, and in 1784 from three to six shillings. In 1785, Ebenezer Turrill paid £130 for one right, which was about $1,30 per acre.
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
From 1785 to 1791, the price was from one to three dollars an * acre, according to quality and location. After 1791, when Ver- mont was admitted into the Union, and the claims of New York were adjusted, the price of lands rose very rapidly. About the year 1800 improved farms were worth from fifteen to twenty-five dollars per acre. In 1803 Mathew Stewart sold to Andrew Birch- ard one hundred acres for $2700. Lands near the village, in small parcels of five or six acres, sold from forty to fifty dollars an acre. At the present time farms, with good buildings, sell at prices vary- ing from thirty to forty dollars per acre.
The soil is naturally fertile, in favorable seasons producing grass in abundance, and unsurpassed in richness of quality. For graz- ing purposes, it is not excelled by any other portion of our country. Some of the natural meadows have been mowed without intermission for more than sixty years, and without any supply of manure yield a crop of grass scarcely diminished in quantity. In the year 1846, Hon. John S. Larabee said an upland meadow of his, lying near the lake, without the aid of manure or irrigation, had annually yielded two and a half tons of hay to the acre for forty years. Mr. Samuel Northrup said he had kept, through the whole season, four hundred sheep on a pasture containing forty acres, and that through the whole time is furnished them with an abundant supply of feed. This was in the year 1833; a year in which there was a great abundance of rain. The old pastures now yield much less feed than they did then. As the soil is for the most part a clayey loam, the grass crop and pastures are sometimes greatly injured by the prevalence of an early drought, followed, as it sometimes is, by myriads of grasshoppers, destroying almost all kinds of vegetation. In no other portion of the globe, out of some river's bottom, can there be found a soil, which, without the aid of manure or irriga- tion, or rotation of crops, could better sustain its fertility for so long a time.
Some of the farms are, doubtless, less productive now than they were formerly. But the cause is obvious. What else could have been expected, from the practice of some, who have year after year,
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
without intermission, drawn all the manure made on large farms, upon a few acres better adapted to tillage than their stiffer soils ?
Our Work is indebted to the Census Office, Department of In- terior, through the Hon. J. W. G. Kennedy, Superintendent, for the favor of the following summary of the Returns of Property and Products of Shoreham, by the Census of 1860. In respect to production, the year 1859 was esteemed very seriously below the average ; (one-third less was the estimate.) The closing item is properly to be credited chiefly to the commerce of the town.
Productions of Agriculture in the Town of Shoreham, Addi- son County, Vermont.
Acres of Land, improved, ... 23,292
Peas and Beans, bushels of, .. 1,370
unimproved, 4,393
Irish Potatoes, bushels of,. . 11,947
Cash value of Farms, ....... $975,660
Barley, bushels, of, 961
Value of Farming Implements
Buckwheat, bushels of, ..... 61
and Machinery, $25,625
Value of Orchard Preducts, .. $484
Horses,
610
Wine, gallons of,
14
Milch Cows,
1,138
Butter, pounds of,
118,986
Working Oxen,
124
Cheese, pounds of, 97,475
Other Cattle,
1,476
Hay, tons of, .. 7,669
Sheep,
11,168
Value of Live Stock,
$189,291
Maple Sugar, pounds of, . .
5,490
Wheat, bushels of,
4,132
Molasses, gallons of, 18
Rye,
845
Honey, pounds of,
1,555
Indian Corn, bushels of, . ....
5.252
Swine, ..
233
Oats, bushels of,
21,185
Value of Home-made goods, $175
Wool, pounds of,
54,353
Valuc of Animals Slaughtered $70,514
Grass Seed, bushels of, 49
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
CHAPTER XVII.
ROADS-STREAMS-MILLS-MINERALS-MANUFACTURES.
THE Old Military or Crown Point road, leading from Chimney Point, in Addison, to Charleston, N. H., (Old Fort Number Four, ) was commenced in 1759, by a detachment from General Amherst's army, but was not completed until some time after. It passed through Bridport and crossed the present road a short distance north of Daniel N. Kellegg's dwelling house ; thence through a pasture belonging to Isaac Chipman, Esqr., where it struck the northi line of this town, and run thence through a pasture belonging to Mr. Kellogg, and a pasture belonging to Stephen Barnum, crossing the road leading from the village to Bridport. a little south of the small brook and ravine north of said Barnum's house. Thence it ran through Mr. Barnum's land, on the east side of the road, through Alonzo Birchard's pasture, and crossing the road between Asa Sun- derland's and the mill place, it passed a little west of said Birch- ard's barn, on the west side of the brook, through a pasture be- longing to B. F. Powers, on the old Paul Moore place, to Prickly Ash Brook, where not long since there were the remains of the old bridge across that stream. Thenec it ran through a pasture form- erly owned by Noah and John Jones, on the north-east side of Roaring Brook, so called; crossed the road about half way between Samuel Moore's and Franklin Moore's ; passed near William Jolin- son's house, and from thence to the old Pond place, running on the side of the hill a short distance west of Henry Bush's house, until it reached the Lemon-fair, a short distance above the Pail Factory, and
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
crossing that stream by a bridge, it passed the place where Rim- mon Benton formerly lived, through land belonging to Reuben Cook, and the north part of M. W. C. Wright's farm, and over the hill by a spring, a few rods west of Solomon Bissell's waggon shed, where. evidently, parties of Indians, and the troops in the French and Revolutionary wars encamped, or stopped for refreshments. Indian relics, such as arrow-heads and pipes, gun flints, knives. broken earthen-ware and parts of soldiers' arms, were formerly found there. The road ran thence through part of Whiting, west of the old Walker place, in Sudbury, by the Sawyer tavern, and thence to Otter Creek, crossing that stream a short distance below Miller's bridge, and from that place passed on through Brandon to Pittsford.
The first road, laid out by the Proprietors of this town, was that which leads from Bela Howe's over Cream Hill and by Lot San- ford's and Deacon Lewis Hunt's, into Orwell. In early times, at several points, it ran further east than it now does. Work was done on that road at the expense of the Proprietors, in 1775. This was a part of the old Basin Harbor road, for many years the only north and south road through the town and the principal road for travel. In 1781 the road was worked which led from Colonel Ephraim Doolittle's to the site of the bridge across the Lemon-fair, at the DeLong place. In 1786, the first bridge at that place was built, and not long after this a road was opened from Shoreham to Mid- dlebury.
The road leading north from Shoreliam village, formerly passed east of Edson Birchard's, by the Landers' place. over Mutton Ilill, . till it struck the old Crown Point road, on the Paul Moore, or Doolittle place. The road leading from Cream Ilill to the middle of the town for many years passed by Andrew Birchard's late resi- dence, and Q. C. Rick's. The road from Smith Street to the cen- tre of the town, for many years, passed by John N. Hunt's and Al- vin Clark's. The road from Reuben Smith's by Levi O. Birch- ard's, was opened about 1798.
The old Turnpike road, leading from Bridport to Orwell and Benson, was completed in 1810. It commenced at the Cloyes farin
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
in Bridport and ran to the north line of Fairhaven, being intended to afford a more direct and level route through the intermediate towns, than any previously in use. The road was worked by Mo- ses Strong, the charter obtained in 1803. The road from Lara- bee's Point to Middlebury was laid out at different times, cach por- tion finding strong opponents to the straightening process. The road by Richiville to Whiting and Brandon, has also more than local importance.
Few of the existing roads follow the lines of the lots, and but few are run straight for any considerable distance. Their length, when surveyed by Mr. Prescott in 1856, was reported to be eighty- eight miles and forty-nine rods.
The chief route for northern business, for many years, was that by the Basin Harbor road, by which the great amount of trans- portation passed to and from market. Its general direction was preserved, and seeking rather than avoiding the high lands, its condi- tion was the more easily maintained. It was for years the thorough- fare of many towns ; farm-houses upon it became taverns ; over it the wheat ef the north for many years was exchanged for cash and the heavy and lighter imported goods of the distant markets below. In winter a share of this business passed by Smith Street to the Lake, striking it at Hand's or Larabee's Points.
Lemon Fair River has its sources in Sudbury, Orwell and Whit- ing, passes through this town, Bridport and Cornwall, and empties into Otter Creek in Weybridge. At Richville a dam extends across the river, which raises a pond extending nearly three miles up the stream, for the supply of mills below. There are at this place two saw-mills, two shingle-mills, one grist-mill and flouring-mill, and one tannery. Formerly this stream furnished an unfailing supply of water for the use of the mills the year around ; but in dry sea- sons, of late years, notwithstanding the large pond, there is some- times a deficiency. Two miles below this place, there is a saw-mill, and a small works for carding wool and manufacturing cloth.
On Prickly Ash Brook, which flows north from the Great Swamp, Alonzo Birchard, Esqr., has two saw-mills situated at the falls, and a run of stones in one of the mills for grinding corn. The supply
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
of water here is sufficient to run these mills only in the spring and fall. Formerly there was a grist-mill which did considerable busi-
ness. The other streams are small, and furnish no water power.
There is iron ore found in a bed lying a hundred or a hundred and fifty rods nearly east from Hon. M. W. C. Wright's, on land now owned, it is believed, by him. At an early day, some of the ore was worked In combination with ore from Crown Point, into bar iron, at the forge in Richville. It was thought, however, that it contained too great a quantity of sulphur to admit of being work- ed into wrought iron. Considerable quantities of it were made in- to cast iron at the furnace in Orwell, erected by Mathew Lyon, be- fore 1800, and it is said to have made good castings.
Limestone abounds in most parts of the town. At an early day there were several kilns for burning lime, but none is now made.
Black Marble is found in inexhaustible quantities on the shore of the Lake a little south of Larabee's Point. Considerable quanti- ties of it were quarried nearly thirty years since, and drawn to Middlebury and wrought into elegant tables and chimney pieces, at the factory of Doctor E. W. Judd. " This marble," says Doctor T. A. Merrill, " is a beautiful black, often equal to the Irish mar- ble. Though it is not capable of enduring the changes of the weather, and, of course, unfit for gravestones, it still makes very elegant inside work." A few years since a company was formed for quarrying this marble on an extensive scale, and considerable quantities were taken out in blocks and sent to market, but for some reason the enterprise was soon abandoned. Shells embedded in limestone and petrified branches of cedar have been found in rock by Mr. Herod Newell, where he is now excavating for a mill-race. Marble is also found, it is said, near Mr. Isaac Jennings' but its value has not been tested. If any important profit is to be devel- oped from resources of so choice and delicate a character as these deposites of nature, it may be when our own sons shall have mas- tered elsewhere the details of developing and working them, and may devote the intelligence it is so easy to command, to the achiev- ment of that prosperity which is seldom bestowed by strangers.
The report of Industrial, other than Farm Products in Shore-
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
ham, in the Census of 1860, gives the investments of E. S. New- ell and Davis Rich in lumber manufactures, and the cost and pro- duct for 1859, as follows : .
Capital invested,
$3.400
Value of logs consumed,
-
1.674
Cost of labor,
- - 1.440
Value produced,
- 4.100
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAMI.
CHAPTER XVIII.
MAILS-POST OFFICES-POST MASTERS.
THE mail was first carried through this town on horse-back, once a week, until a stage was put on by Comstock, of Whitehall, be- tween that place and Vergennes, about 1816 or 1817. The mail was then delivered tri-weekly. After the establishment of the Post Office at Larabee's Point, a daily mail was received. The stage to Middlebury commenced about 1826. The first Post Office was kept at a tavern at the Four Corners, on the Basin Harbor road, and continued there till the Turnpike road was opened and the third Postmaster opened his office at the present hotel place at the centre. Newspapers were distributed by post-riders having regular routes.
In the earlier volumes of the Middlebury Mercury, commenced in 1801, letters for Shoreham, as for many other towns in the County, are advertised quarterly by the post office at Middlebury. This continued as lato as 1809. The number advertised is never large, and it is probable that letters received at such a distance were carefully sought and by some system at least of good neighborhood regularly obtained. At how early a date they were obtained there we are not informed.
This work is indebted to the Appointment Office of the Post Of- fice Department at Washington, for tho complete statement of the time of the appointment and term of office of the several Post- masters within the town, from the first in 1806. More than usual care was necessary in meeting the inquiry, the books of that date
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IHISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
in the office referred to having been burned in 1836, and those of the Auditor's office being consulted. The inquiry was made through IIon. E. P. Walton, M. C., and answered under the direction of Hon. St. John B. L. Skinner, Assistant Post Master General.
SHOREHAM, ADDISON COUNTY, VERMONT.
Office established, probably, in April or May, 1806.
Gilead A. Lessey appointed Postmaster May, 1806. Reuben Baldwin do do November, 1809.
From this time on, the records of the office furnish the exact dates.
Barzillai Carey, appointed 2d September, 1811.
Perez S. Sanford, do 4th May. 1819.
Udney H. Everest, do 11th January, 1820.
Hiram Everest, do 28th December, 1820.
Moses Seymour, do 5th May, 1827.
David Hill, do 6th February, 1830.
Edmund B. Hill. do 29th March, 1833.
Asaph Brookins. do 18th May,
1849.
Thomas II. Goodhue, do 6th October, 1851.
Edwin S. Atwood, do 30th March, 1855.
Charles Hunsdon, do 12th July,
1859, who is the pres ent incumbent.
LARRABEE'S POINT, ADDISON COUNTY, VERMONT.
Office established on the 3d February, 1831.
Walter Chipman, appointed Postmaster, 3d February, 1831.
H. F. Johns. do do 17th November, 1237.
On the 19th December, 1838, the office was discontinued, but was re-established on the 8th June, 1840.
James H. Chipman, appointed Sth June, 1840.
Charles W. Larabee, do 1st March, 1842.
On the 13th of April, 1842, the office was again discontinued, but was re-established on the 23d July, 1849.
Charles S. Abbott, appointed 23d July, 1849.
Charles W. Larabee, do I.t October, 1849,
Henry S. Gale, do 10th January, 1852, who is the pres ent incumbent.
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM,
CHAPTER XIX.
BURYING GROUNDS.
The first place in town where the dead were buried, was on the farm recently occupied by Hiram Rich, on ground nearly opposite the Cream Hill school house.
Quite early in the history of the town, there was a burying place on the land now lying east of the area between the two churches at. the centre. Those interred here were removed to the yard now called the " Centre Burying Yard," in the year 1800.
The small lot on the " Goodrich place," in the west part of the town, has been used for burial purposes from 1790 until the present time. Mrs. L'Homodieu was the first person buried in it. Here Governor Jenison's remains lie, near the monument erected by his family.
The West or Birchard yard was laid out as a place for the dead near the beginning of the present century. The bounds have since- been enlarged so that it now contains two acres. Mrs. Stephen Barnum was riding by this place as early as 1798; casting her eyes upon it she remarked, "What a beautiful spot this would be for a grave-yard." Subsequently it was selected for this use, and Mrs. Stephen Barnum was the first person whose grave was made in it. Capt. Samuel Hand, Elder Chamberlin,-at an early day, a Baptist minister in town,-Capt. Lot Sanford, and Eli B. Smith, D. D., for twenty-eight years Principal of the New Hampton In- stitution, and members of the Birchard, Larrabee, Hunsden and Simonds families are buried here.
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
The grave yard at the centre began to be used as a place for the dead about 1800. It has been enlarged from the original dimen- sions. Mrs. William Johnson's remains were the first interred here. Amos Stanley, an early settler, and Zeviah his mother, were buried near the monument erected by his widow. This is the burial place of the Bascom, Blinn, Chipman, Bush, Jones, Hemenway, Hunt, Moore, North, Northrup and Turrill families.
-- The east or " Cutting yard," was originally a lot given by An- drew Wright, and was long since used as a burying ground. It has been enlarged at two different times. Members of the Bissell, Cutting and Wright families lie here. "Bowker yard " is a small burying greund in the south east corner of the cown, and was used before 1800. There are several graves, made at an early day, on the beach, fifty rods north of Larabee's Point. There are several graves on the farm of Orville Smith, made before the public yards were laid out. Besides these public burying places, the Rich fam- ily have a tomb, and the Atwood, Callender and Russell families private burying grounds.
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAMI.
CHAPTER XX.
WAR OF 1812-ENLISTED SOLDIERS-VOLUNTEERS-PLATTSBURGHI.
The second war of the United States with Great Britain was de- clared by Congress June 18th, 1812, and was concluded by nego- tiations at Ghent, December 14th, 1814. In this war, Shoreham was liberally represented by volunteers on different occasions, and by officers and soldiers in the regular army. The following list contains the names of men from this town, who are known to have entered the United States service, in connection with this war.
Samuel H. Holley, Captain, was a resident of this town in the practice of Law ; had received a military education. He obtained a commission, and raised a company of a hundred strong, chiefly in Addison County. He was with them in command at Champlain, in the winter of 1813-14, but soon after resigned. A civilian, sup- posed by political influence, was introduced into the regiment as Major. Captain Holley, as the senior Captain, felt bound to notice the injury, and resigned. Captain McNiel, with the approval of his friend, retained his position in the regiment on account of his family, and was soon after promoted. Captain Holley received an intimation that his rank should be restored to him, but did not re- gard it, and returned to his profession. This statement is made from a memorandum obtained from the late Gen. Samuel H. Holley in 1850. His name is mentioned in another place.
Jason Ager, entered the army under Captain Holley, was or- dered to the Niagara frontier, participated in all the severe and
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
dangerous service under Generals Scott, Brown and Ripley in that quarter ; at the sortie of Fort Erie, September 17th, 1814, was wounded by a ball which shivered his right ancle, so that it was necessary to amputate the foot. He returned home, and died on Chilson Hill, Ticonderoga.
Hiram Ager, son of Jason, enlisted with his father and accompa- nied him, sharing the same dangers. In one of the battles he was shot through the left foot. He returned and afterwards resided in St. Lawrence County, N. Y.
Enoch Cooper, was a journeyman wheelwright, entered the army as sergeant, served in the battles of Chippewa and Bridgwater. In the official report of the battle at Bridgwater, in which all of the field officers were either killed or wounded, is found the following- " Eleventh Infantry, Officers wounded, Second Lieutenant Cooper, slightly, contusion in the breast." He returned home, married. re- moved to Orwell where he resumed his trade, still later removed to Palmyra, N. Y., where he died of consumption.
Davis Conant, at first volunteered to go to the Vermont and Can- ada frontier, afterwards enlisted for the war, and served through it, living to come back. and died of a brain fever the winter after.
Stephen Conant, a brother of Davis, enlisted as a fifer at fifteen, was sent home as too young for the army, stayed four months and re-entered the service as a soldier, and remained till the peace. The brothers belonged to the Second Regiment, Light Artillery, and took part in the hotly contested battle of Williamsburgh, on the St. Lawrence, November 11th, 1813.
William Eidridge, served on the Niagara frontier under Generals Brown and Scott. While in the army suffered severely from the camp disease.
Eldridge, son of the preceding, served with his father in Canada.
Samuel Extell, died not long after entering the service.
Odell Fleming, fought at Chippewa, Bridgwater and Fort Erie.
Isaiah Gooodnow, was enlisted by Captain Holley. He came home sick ; subsequently removed to Steuben County, N. Y., where he died about 1857.
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HISTORY OF SHOREHAM.
Marcus Hewitt, belonged to the Second Regiment, Light Artil- lery, and died at Sackett's Harbor the winter after his enlistment.
Henry Jones enlisted under Captain Holley, March, 1813, with the rank of Sergeant ; was in the skirmishes at Odeltown and Chat- eaugay river under General l'ampton, in Scott's brigade at Lundy's Lane, Chippewa and Fort Erie in 1814 ; was wounded in the right arm, in the siege of the latter : after the war returned, and is now living in this town at the age of 73.
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