The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 14

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064

USA > Vermont > Washington County > Montpelier > The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier. > Part 14

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long had the business of the town been done here, that they had come (and per- haps all natural enough) to consider them- selves the Mecca of the town. The day of the meeting came, the forces well mar- shalled on both sides, but those in favor of a change were too strong for the other side, and it was voted that,

Hereafter all meetings for doing pub- lic business shall be held at the school- house at the centre of the town, and the public property all except the pound (which consisted of the stocks and whip- ping-post) should be removed to that place.

It is said this was a hard blow to those living on the Plain ; but we cannot learn as they threatened to secede. In 1799, $22 was voted to defray town expenses.

The patriotism and high esteem in which the Father of his Country was held may be seen by the following record :

On the receipt of the news of the death of Gen. Washington a town meet- ing was called to meet on the 22d day of February, 1800, to see what the town will do on account of Keeping in Remem- brance the Life and Death of Gen. Wash- ington.

Voted that a committee of three be appointed to take charge of the assembly and conduct them in a becoming manner to the school-house there to listen to an Oration to be delivered by Lyman Hitch- cock, Esq. The committee appointed were Joseph Fisher, Thomas Osgood, Joseph Huntoon.

A large assembly gathered, and after the oration Esq. Horace Beardsley was directed to return the thanks of said town to the speaker for delivering so good an oration to the people.

1802, the town began to look towards retrenchment of expenses. Before elect- ing selectmen it was voted whoever should be elected should serve free of charge for their services ; and it does not appear that they had any trouble in finding men to serve ; doubtless they thought the honor paid. At the same meeting the first tith- ing men were elected : John Edgerton and Gershom Beardsley, whose duty it was to see that the Sabbath was not desecrated by persons hunting, fishing, or lounging about, and if any persons there found so

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doing, to arrest and bring them before a magistrate to be fined. Frequent votes appear after upon the records to remit the fines of those that had been fined for the violation of the Sabbath. It was also their duty to see that no one disturbed religious meetings; if they did to take them in charge.

There were some who were not pros- pered in their worldly possessions, and from year to year there were quite lively times in warning such persons out of town to prevent their becoming a town charge. The first order was given by the selectmen Oct. 3, 1803, for James Shepard and his wife Sarah, with their children, to depart said town, and in 1807, 12 families were warned to depart.

[If a family came to want that had been duly "warned out," the town was not obliged to assist them; but if not, the town was liable. A very uncharitable record to put down for all our early towns ; if we could not add, it was usually about as serious a matter as appointing a hog ward, to which office every man in town married during the year, even the minis- ter, was a candidate for at next March meeting. The old settlers were fond of practical jokes, and received them very complacently. I have seen the record where the warning out went so far every family in town was warned out .- Ed.]

On all public days whisky went around freely, and officers all had to treat. March meeting, 1806, tradition says the whisky was kept in the closet of the school-house where the meeting was held, which was imbibed so frequently by candidates and their supporters, some of them got so they hardly knew which way to vote. About middle way of the proceedings of the meeting it was "voted that the door lead- ing into the closet be shut and kept so for the space of one-half hour."

The first surveyor of wood and lumber, Oliver Walbridge, was elected in 1806, and the first jurors, petit and grand, for County Court, were drawn, and $20 voted this year for town expenses. This closes the first book of records-the notes and doings that appear most interesting. The | husbandman tilling the lonely soil.

succeeding records are about like those of the present day, with the exception of many more alterations in school districts, laying out of roads and such business as was incident to a new county.

In 1802, JOHN W. DANA came to the Plain, and opened a store in a building a little south of the yellow house. He being a man of ability, brought a good deal of business to the place. In a few years he was joined by John Damon, and they soon became the sole owners, or nearly so, of all that region, comprising nearly 1000 acres. They frequently wintered 100 head of cattle, beside a large amount of other stock, at the yellow house barns.

About 1810, business began to draw to the lower grounds, localities less exposed to the cold winds of winter, and in 1820, but little was left on the Plain save the old yellow house.

During the war of 1812, those engaged in smuggling made this old house their quarters. One mile north of here there is a small body of water called Smugglers' pond, from an encounter that took place between a custom house officer and some smugglers, in which the smugglers threw the officer into the pond. Another time several parties from this town, while start- ing some cattle for Canada, were inter- cepted by a custom house officer by the name of Young. They said they gave him a good smart threshing, but they were in- volved for it in a long and expensive law- suit.

As time moved on, one building after another pertaining to the old yellow house was torn down, till at last, in 1855, the old landmark had to succumb, and share the fate which sooner or later all old and hon- ored structures must. And now upon those broad acres, so beautifully spread out on the upland of the township, where the pioneers endured so many privations, and reduced the heavy-timbered forest to the fertile farms which for so many years teemed with business and thrift-along the whole street nought is now seen but the herds quietly feeding and an occasional

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CABOT VILLAGE.

In 1788, Lieut. Thomas Lyford, the third settler in town, and the first settler at the village, bought a lot of land of Jesse Levenworth and Lyman Hitchcock. On this land the village of Cabot now stands. The Winooski river runs through the grounds. Mr. Lyford was a mill-wright ; there was no saw-mill within ten miles ; he decided to build a saw-mill upon his lot upon the Winooski river. He selected the spot where John Brown's shop now stands. Here the first blow of the axe fell to sub- due the thick wood to the fair vale, in which a beautiful and pleasant village was to grow. At that time this spot was quite a high elevation of land, and until within a few years was always spoken of as Saw- mill Hill. The timber was cut and framed upon the spot ; the irons were made at Newbury, and drawn on a hand-sled to the spot the winter before. The mill and dam were not completed and got to run- ning till the spring of 1789. At that time this was regarded an extra water-power and a very smart mill. The pond covered then all of what is now the meadow to the upper end of the street. The mill had what is called an up-and-down saw; a good, smart man would run out 2000 ft. of lumber in a day.

Lyford and his son, Thomas Jr., next built a grist-mill, where the grist-mill now stands. This mill had but one run of stone, split out of a granite stone where Allen Perry's house now stands, and used or the steps of the present mill. Thomas Lyford, Jr., took charge of the mill. He built a camp on the rise of ground before t, and stayed there from Monday morning ill Saturday night, when he returned to his father's on the Plain. The mill did he grinding for this town and the towns or 10 or 12 miles around. About 1794, Lieut. Lyford built the first house in the illage, where Mrs. Jos. Lance now lives. Iis son, Thomas Jr., attended to the hills and commenced clearing up the land. `or the next 12 years but little addition zas made to the new neighborhood.

The second house was built by Samuel

Lee, where Enoch Hoyt and his son, George Hoyt, now live ; the third by Elias Hitchcock, where the garden of Caleb Fisher now is. John W. Dana, on the Plain, bought a small house that stood where Mrs. Haines' house now does, and fitted it up for a store-the first mercantile business here. After a few years, George W. Dana built quite a large store. It was becoming evident that this was to be the business centre of the town. John W. Dana, a keen-sighted man, came from the Plain and bought nearly all the land now included in the village. By selling build- ing-lots to the farmers, he contributed largely to building up the village. In 1817, a distillery was put up where Union Block now stands. Marcus O. Fisher bought the site and put in a tannery, en- larged the building, using part for a cur- rying and shoe-shop. " The old red house " was one of the landmarks of the town for years. In 1825, he built a larger tannery where the bark was first ground between two stones by horse-power. A man and a horse could grind from one-half to a cord in a day. This stone is now in the yard of J. M. Fisher as an old town relic. About 1840, water-power was sub- stituted for the horse. Mr. Fisher carried on the business successfully about 35 years, and his son, Edwin till 1868, which ended the tanning business in Cabot. It was sold to a stock-company who erected the handsome union block for stores, offices, etc., on the site.

The next business started was wool- carding and cloth-dressing, by George Fielding, who built a shop on the site of the present carriage-shop in the spring of 1833. In August, the highest waters ever known on this river, carried away the shop before finished. He rebuilt in 1834; carried on cloth-dressing for a year and sold to Jason Britt, who carried on the business of wool-carding and cloth- dressing here 44 years; building on the same site in 1855, a larger and better shop, a part of which was used for a carriage-shop by different parties till 1874, when it was enlarged and an exten- sive business undertaken by A. P. Marshall

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and W. W. Buchanan, known as the "Cabot Carriage Co.," which run 3 or 4 years and closed up. The property came into the hands of J. A. Farrington, by whom the business is now conducted on a smaller and more sure basis. On the op- posite side of the river, William Scales built, in 1826, a blacksmith-shop and small foundry, where caldrons, five-pail kettles, cog-wheels and other iron castings were made.

Mr. Scales will be remembered by all who ever got him to do any blacksmithing, as a very nice man, but not one of the smoothest of workmen.

In 1840, a starch factory was built be- low the shops on the river, by Israel Cutting, which like everything else in his hands proved lucrative. In connection with his factory, he built a grist and a saw- mill which he run a few years.

The first tavern was built where Mrs. Joseph Lance's house stands, small, and one story. It was taken down in 1833, and moved over the river. The present hotel stands on the same site. Fisher was landlord 4 years, and sold to Horace Bliss, who kept it 10 years, when it was known as a first-class house. There was much heavy teaming on the road from the north of the state to Burlington, and this was a favorite stopping place for all team- sters, and also for the light travel. There are those now living who speak of Mrs. Bliss, the genial landlady, who always did so much to make the hotel a pleasant rest- ing place for her guests. The house was kept by different parties with little change till 1875, when it was largely repaired by William P. Whittier, who kept it until the death of his wife, April, 1881, after which he sold to the present proprietor, W. W. Buchanan.

April, 1822, John W. Dana deeded to the town for one dollar 1 } acre for a com- mon, conditioned to be kept clear from all incumbrance and free on all occasions to the public, especially for military pa- rading.

There are people now living in the vil- lage that well recollect when this common was a frog-pond, and filled with fir and

alder bushes, and was so muddy through the street, ox-teams were stuck in the mud before where Union block now stands.

Population of village, June 1, 1881, 258 ; 64 dwelling-houses ; 2 stores ; I millinery shop; I hotel; 2 blacksmith shops; I carriage manufactory ; I tin shop; 1 har- ness shop ; I cooper-shop; I grist-mill; I saw-mill ; I graded school ; 2 churches.

By an act of the Legislature, Nov. 19, 1866, the village was incorporated. The first village clerk, W. H. Fletcher ; first board of trustees : John M. Fisher, John Brown, Theron H. Lance, William P. Whittier, J. P. Lamson.

The village has a good fire department well equipped with engine, etc., etc. But few fires have ever occurred in the village. The most destructive was Jan. 5, 1881, at which time the fire department did excel- lent service.

THE CENTER.

This place is the geographical centre of the town, and has always been known by the name of the Centre. James Morse, Esq., from Barre, Mass., made the first settlement in 1789, where Henry Hill's house stands. Esq. Morse built his first log-house. He was moderator of the first town meeting, first justice of the peace ; to him nearly all the business of this office sthes fell for quite a number of years.

When first appointed, knowing he would be called to perform the marriage cer- cord emony, he wished to have some practice Nery before he appeared in public. He took his te m son David out, and told him to stand up Chiev Af lic gat by the side of a stump, and he would marry him to it. David did as directed, and the Squire commenced and went Fourth through, David assenting that he would fay. love, cherish and protect her. The Esquire stiller closed up in the usual form, saying that he felebra pronounced them husband and wife. Fas th is said David would not marry until the

In orat stump rotted down, which was quite late in life. The Esquire being of rather nerv- heath The ous temperament, at the next ceremony.

ceded got a little bewildered, and made the found groom promise to forsake her and cleave to all other women. At another time, it is 125 onc

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said, he forgot the ceremony, and was obliged to consult his notes.

At a later day he opened the first hotel in town, in a small log-house. The bar was in the square room, and a bed in the same room. This was in the early days of hotel keeping. The Esquire was said to be a man in whom all his townsmen had the utmost confidence ; a man of sound judg- ment, and his advice was often sought. He held all the offices from highway sur- veyor to representative.

The next house was built by Oliver Wal- bridge, where G. Noyes now lives. In 1790 Major Hitchcock, Capt. Jesse Levenworth and Asa Douglas, Esq., presented the town 8 acres of land for public use. 3 years after, 4 acres were cleared for a common, and a school-house built on it, and two years later the seat of government removed from the Plain to this place. The principal property to move appears to have been the stocks and whipping-post, which were set up at the Corner, where the road by Henry Hill's intersects with the Centre road. They were never used. The only st berson ever whipped for crime in town vas Ben. Parker, for breaking into a store rst hat stood where True A. Town's house tands. The crime, trial and punishment to vere not far separated. He broke into hoe he store Tuesday night, was tried Wednes- ay, and whipped Thursday, opposite the tore he broke into. The whip was of ord, and the officer said he did not whip cem ctid ery hard, only wanted to show him what e might expect if he persisted in his hieving course.

After 1796, town-meetings and all pub- c gatherings were at the Centre. The ourth of July, 1820, was a memorable ay. Two companies of infantry, one of tillery and one of cavalry assisted in the lebration. Capt. Crossman, of Peacham, as the president of the day. There was 1 oration, and bountiful repast furnished. There was a store opened by Luther heatley, who after a short time was suc- eded by Hector McLean, and the second und was built at this place, which was erally patronized in the olden time. It is once broken open and the cattle taken

out, which disturbed the peace and dignity of the town. It was expected this would be a village of considerable size, and pros- perous farmers, as once before at the Plain, invested in village lots, and here, as at the Plain before them, their hopes were disappointed, and already this place where public business was so long done is now desolate. The winds sing their dirge around where the store, the school-house and the sacred edifice once stood, and not far from this spot those who were once active in the business of the town are quietly resting in the bosom of their mother earth.

EAST HILL,

often called Whittier Hill, from its first settler, Lieut. JOHN WHITTIER, who came here in 1780, and commenced clearing up the farm now owned and occupied by Frederick Corliss. He built his first cabin a little north of the present house, near the brook, and brought his wife and one child to the Plain, March, 1790, with an ox team, and from there drew his effects on a hand-sled, his wife walking on the crust beside him, carrying her spinning-wheel. After they got to keeping some cows and sheep, one evening a large bear came into the yard where they were milking, and took a sheep. They gave chase, and the bear dropped the sheep, but he made his es- cape, and the sheep was killed.

Lieut. Whittier raised a large family. Several of the boys settled on farms made from the old farm. Mrs. Whittier was a descendant from Mrs. Dustin who scalped the Indians.

WILLIAM OSGOOD,

from Claremont, N. H., the second set- tler here, bought one square mile west of the Centre road, opposite Lieut. Whittier, on which he settled his six sons. Four of them came in March, 1791. First, they dug out sap-troughs and sugared, and then slashed 15 acres by the Ist of June, and returned to Claremont. They boarded at Lieut. Whittier's. In the fall Mr. Osgood came with his six sons. They cleared the slash, and built a log house, 40 ft. in length, where Solomon W. Osgood now

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lives. It is said this family were all strong, broad-shouldered men, able for the task before them.

DAVID HAINES

commenced on the farm south of George Gould's, so long occupied by his son Wm. Haines, in 1797. When he came to town he was not possessed of a great amount of cash, it may be inferred by the fact he was the owner of two pair of pants and two shirts, and he swapped one shirt and one pair of pants for a hoe and axe to begin work with.

These places are now all excellent farms and in good hands.

LOWER CABOT.

Settlement was commenced in 1799, by REUBEN ATKINS, on the farm now of W. S. Atkins, his grand-son. He cleared a spot, and built his log-house on the site of the present house. The first spring he made sugar in the door-yard. In 1800, he built a framed barn, now standing, in good condition. The farm has always been in the family, owned by one of the sons.

MOSES STONE,

from New Hampshire, in 1797, about half a mile west from Wm. Atkins, cleared the ground and built a saw-mill where the Haines Factory now stands, his family meantime living in a shed of Lieut. Whit- tier's, on Whittier hill. After he got his mill running, he built his house. It had a large stone chimney. His wife said all the way she could see any sky was to look up through that.

Fish in the river, wild game in the thick surrounding woods, were abundant. Stone was a strong man, not easily frightened. One evening in the fall he had been up to neighbor Atkins'. Returning, he, as he thought, met a man who had on a white hat and blue frock, to whom he said " good evening." The man made noanswer. He repeated it, but no reply. Stone said, "I'll know who you are," and grabbed around him, when to his surprise he found he was out of the path, and it was a large stump he was hugging.

In 1801, CLEMENT COBURN built a grist- mill where True A. Town's works stand.

In 1803, he sold a privilege to Joseph Co- burn, on the opposite side of the river, to put in a fulling-mill. Cloth being then spun and wove at home, this was needed. He carried on the business some years. Thomas Coldwill became next owner, who soon sold to Wm. Ensign, John R. Put- nam and Horace Haines, who moved the shop to where the factory stands, and added carding works. In 1835, Alden Webster bought the works, adding ma- chinery, a spinning-jenny, hand-looms, re- garded a wonderful improvement. He commenced the manufacture of full cloth. In 1849, he sold to Horace Haines, who continued the business with his son, E. G. Haines, building a new factory in 1849, with water-power looms and modern ma- chinery. Horace Haines and two sons in the business have died. It is now owned by Ira F. Haines. Quite an extensive business has been done sometimes here.

Carriage-making has been at different times carried on to some extent.

On the river opposite the factory, in 1827, Wm. Fisher put in a tannery, which he run till 1838, when he removed to Al- bion, N. Y., where he died in 1851: Tan- ning was afterwards carried on here by Q. Cook, G. W. Cree and others.

At present the most extensive business done in this village is by True A. Town, in the lumber business, in his saw-mill, and the manufacturing of the lumber into chair- stuff, boot-crimps, coffins, caskets, etc.

The first store in the place was started by a Mr. Oaks, on the spot where Town's house stands. The mercantile business has been carried on here for 60 years, by John Edgerton, Ketchum and others.

HECTOR MCLEAN

opened a store here in 1825. There were in the village at this time but 9 houses be- tween the Perkins bridge and Marshfield vil- lage. Mr. McLean helped very much toward building up the place. He put in another dwelling-house (for hi sfamily), started a potash, blacksmith shop, and other indus- tries, and in 1836, opened a hotel, where Nathaniel Perry lives, kept by different persons for some years.

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In 1870, a post-office was established here, Cornelius Smith postmaster. There are at present, (July, 1881) in the village 30 dwelling-houses, I meeting-house, I store, I blacksmith shop, a woolen factory, a wheelwright shop.

Situated in the valley of the Winooski, although at an early day it is said that one of the early settlers said he would not take the Coburn Meadow as a gift, it has some of the finest farms in the county.

SOUTH CABOT.

The first beginning here was made by Parker Hooker, in 1810. He built a saw- mill on the site of the present mill. He lived in Peacham, a distance of 4 miles through the woods, with no road or guide but marked trees. The first business at his mill was to saw the boards to cover a barn for himself at his home in Peacham. He snaked his boards with oxen through the woods, a stock at a time. He soon cleared two acres, near the present resi- dence of Mrs. Alvisa E. Hooker, and built a log-house. This mill was rebuilt by Liberty Hooker, in 1839.

In a few years the house now occupied by Lewis Paquin, was built by Enoch Blake. This · place now contains 13 dwelling- houses, one store, a post-office, saw-mill, grist-mill, blacksmith shop and school- house ; also a large shop for the manufac- tory of wagons, etc. There was formerly a large shop in which wood and iron work was done, which was burned in 1876. This place was formerly known as Hookerville.

EAST CABOT.

JOHN HEATH, son of Lieut. Jonathan Heath, the second settler of the town, in 1817 commenced in this locality, on the place now owned by Charles Howe. He cleared a few acres. His team to draw his logs together, to go to mill and to meeting was one stag. He made salts of lye and took them to Danville and Peacham for necessaries for his family. Very soon after William Morse, Leonard Orcutt, Ster- ling Heath, and several others commenced clearing and making farms. John Clark opened a tavern opposite the Molly pond, which in after years was known as the Pond

House, and George Rogers, Esq., made a fine farm near the school-house, now occu- pied by S. R. Moulton.

The road from Danville four-corners to Cabot was built in 1829. Esquire Orcutt was the moving spirit in the enter- prise. It was first used as a winter road, and Lyman Clark drove the first stage through from Danville to Cabot. Previous to this, the stage and all the travel went over the Plain. For 45 years this was the leading thoroughfare from Danville to Montpelier, over which a great amount of heavy teaming was done.

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The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 14

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890 Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press Number of Pages: 1064

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt. : Vermont Watchman and State Journal Press
Number of Pages: 1064