The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 148

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 148

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The harvest appeared, the fields were all white, The reapers came forth at the first dawn of Light; The reapers are those whom our God doth inspire, To gather up falsehood and burn it with fire: The Spirit of Truth is the sickle so keen, The luminous flame is the fiire which we mean; The temple of friendship and love is the place For the mind, when refined,'of the whole human race.

[We have but a few papers more in hand as yet for this town. We have re- quested a full second chapter for Barre, especially in regard to the early settlers, and think to have it for the supplementary part of our next volume; and there will also be space in the supplement for mat- ters of interest in other towns of this County, not yet included ; and every party who may have such facts or papers to con- tribute are invited to send them in, either through their town historian, or directly to the editor in the course of the next few months. We have arranged our papers beyond for this volume. We can only now fill a few more pages : but anon, if, as we look for, we are helped to complete our record for the Gazetteer, we will have the history of the Barre circuit and the Meth- odist church promised by Rev. J. R. Bart- lett ; and papers for other towns. ]

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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

BERLIN .- A song found in the carpet- bag of the late Maj. R. B. Crandall. It is a piece of more than usual merit, and the premonition of his own death in the last verse, must be touching to all the friends of this gallant and accomplished officer :

THE WHITE-CROSS BANNER. BY MAJ. R. B. CRANDALL,

Huzza for the Banner that bears the White Cross! Huzza for the Flag ever foremost in fight! On the storm-tide of battle it ever shall toss, Till the foes who oppose it are scattered in flight.

The soldiers who follow the Banner of Light Are true in devotion and strangers to fear; For God and for Country, for Union and Right, They will fight to the last, and then die with a cheer.

Oh! many's the time in the good days of yore When the Cross, all resplendent in glory, hath shone, But never since Christ it to Calvary bore, Hath it emblemed a cause more true than our own.

Young sister, art thou, O, Banner, war-born,

To our country's proud ensign, the cherished star- flag;

Our affection for both is only less warm Than the hate that we feel for the South's dastard rag.

Brigade of Vermont, dost remember the day When on Marye's stern heights, through smoke and the gloom,

How the Cross, on its bright field of blue, flashed its way-

Our hope amid death, but to traitors a doom.

Brave sons of New York, and ye strong men of Maine, How many a dying eye has been turned

From your ranks to that flag which, through glory and pain, You followed, tho' lightnings of death 'round you blazed.

Oh! patriot hearts, that have throbbed by our side, As we've followed that flag on fierce fields full a score!

Oli! glorious hearts, that have bled and then died, Your comrades are bearing that flag as of yore.

Ohl cause, that is worthy of lives such as these, Oh! cause, that is worthy of all we can give, We swear to uphold thee; tho' rivers and seas Shall pour from our veins, the Republic shall live.

Then anew gird your loins, shake out to the sun The bonnie blue flag, the White Cross adorning; Sound the clarions of war, be the battle begun,

And the night of our land shall be changed into morning.

But, oh! If I fall In a cause so sublime,

I shall join the brave souls that already have bled; Tell parents and friends to let the bells chime

In slow, plaintive strains for her sons that are dead. Brandy Station, Mar. 7, 1864.

[The battle-flag of the 2d division, 6th corps, the field Is of blue, with a white cross in the center.]

[The Song was set to music by N. L. Phillips of Barre, some 16 or 18 yrs. since. Mr. Phillips, noticed In Montpelier history, page 591, is a musical composer; has written several songs and ballads, no notice of whom in Barre, this volume, is one of the omissions there to be yet redeemed.]

CABOT .- The following legacies have' been left to the Congregational church in this town for the support of preaching and incidental expenses : 1866, Nathaniel Co- burn, $500 ; 1867, John R. Putnam, $100, Dea. Edward G. Haines, $200, A. P. Perry, $400, Ira Fisher, $600.

CALAIS POEMS.

INCIDENTS IN THE HISTORY OF VERMONT.

Written, and sung by J. M. DANA, a long time resi- dent of this town, before the Freemen of Calais, Sept. 1, 1840.

AIR :- ""We'll settle on the Banks of the Ohio."

When our fathers left their native climes and came among these hills,

They were pleased with these green mountains witlı the vallies and the rills;

They began to settle here, a hundred years ago or more,

Yes, Fort Dummer sure was built in seventeen hun- dred and twenty four.

In seventeen liundred and twenty four, Fort Dummer was the door;

Vermont was not then known in seventeen hundred and twenty four.

To these hills so green and pretty, New Hampshire laid a claim ;

And she made large grants of land to the settlers of the same,

But New York conceiving slie hrad the better riglit to sell,

Began contending with New Hampshire, and the issue is to tell.

Yes, the story is to tell- How the savages did yell-

And how many lives they took where we peaceably now dwell.

To the English crown the parties referred the case for time,

Decision formed York East unto the Connecticut line But New York was still dissatisfied and called out her men-

And the future State turned out under ETHAN AL- LEN then,

Under Ethan Allen then,

They would face the Lion's den ;

The green mountain boys were noted for their strength and courage then.

I, Ethan Allen, ask of you Ticonderoga's Fort,

' By what authority your claim,' to him was the re- tort;

'In the name of the Great Jehovah and of Congress' I am sent,

We surrender then to you and our massacre prevent, Yes, onr massacre prevent.

Not because onr powder 's spent,

But because of those green-mountain boys that Con- gress has you sent.

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COUNTY PAPERS AND ITEMS.

In seventeen hundred eighty, three hundred persons mostly blacked

Commenced the work of plunder and Royalton attacked .-

They killed all their cattle, with all their sheep and hogs,

Burnt buildings and made captives,-Oh, what cruel, saucy dogs!

Yes, what cruel saucy dogs,

Vermont has no such rogues,

But we met the same at Plattsburgh and they're all beneath the sods.

They had no form of government among the hills of yore,

But the hard fists of the yankees which their foes could never bear ;

In seventeen hundred seventy seven their first conven- tion cut

An independent government, and made their first debut,

Yes, they made their first debut, Called New Connecticut,

And sometimes it's called Vermont from the green hills and the hut.

The green mountain State Vermont had four claims upon it now,

Massachusetts and New Hampshire said she must unto them bow;

New York also said then her claim should not abate, But Vermonters said unto New York we think you'd better wait,-

Yes, we think you'd better wait And secure a better fate,

Than to meet old Ethan Allen here, for then 'twill be too late.

' He's the bravest of the brave,-he asks nothing but the right,

And if refused his honest claim, he's ready then to fight;ʼ

While thus he aided government, green-mountain boys were true,

They were fighting some at Guilford and at Benning- ton for you, -

Yes, at Bennington from you The British soldiers fiew,

These green mountain boys there beat them, and 700 of them slew.

In seventeen hundred eighty, an attempt was made to bring

Vermonters to the British rule and subject to the king, While Allen, joined with Warner, negociated well,

How these heroes cheated Briton then remains as yet to tell,-

But I'm now about to tell When my Lord Cornwallis fell,

These hill-boys thought their home-made laws would suit them quite as well.

Have you ever seen the man who drew his goods him- self by hand,

From Montpelier into Calais and the first beginning planned,

He still resides in town much respected by us all, His name Abijah Wheelock the first settler we call,- The first settler we call, But this is not quite all,-

An honest man we think he is as any since the fall.

His wife came in on snow-shoes eleven miles or more, The snow from two to three feet deep, and some say even four,

With an infant in her arms and some other luggage too, A task which few young women now in town have strength to do,

No, they have not strength to do What their mothers did pursue

In the good old fashioned days of yore which time takes our view.

In seventeen hundred eighty nine new Vermont agreed to pay,

Thirty thousand dollars cash from New York to get away;

She became an independent State, our Union then began,

She was voted such by Congress seventeen hundred ninety one-

In seventeen hundred ninety one,

With Chittenden her son,

Vermont assumed her place in seventeen hundred ninety one.

In seventeen hundred and ninety one the roads were very poor,

Thro' the woods on foot we traveled with our marked trees on before,

But when winters's snows came on, say four feet or more it fell,

Such music with the deer we had as no one now can tell,-

No there's no one now can tell,

How the hounds would scream and yell,

When they drove their game up to us and at our feet it fell.

Vermont's first inhabitants a hardy set of men,

Hewed the lofty maples down with some fighting now and then;

Their wives would use the sickle and the rake when in the field,

And the husbands oftentimes to the women had to yield,-

Yes, the husbands had to yield.

(Not for work done in the field,)

But the number of the skeins of yarn their wives quite often reeled.

In the good old days of pumpkin pies and checkered aprons too,

The farmers wore their home-spun coats, and linen frocks would do,

The women made their cloth so stout 'twas not called poor or thin,

And 'twas really entertaining, to see them card and spin,-

Yes, to see them card and spin, Mid their weaving, warping din,

O! the times gone by have charmed me, so I wish they'd come again.

Great Britain's on our north, yet we never mean to fear,

On the East a sister State known as Granite New Hampshire,

On the South is Massachusetts and New York is on the West,

But of all the States around her Vermont is still the best,-

Yes, Vermont is still the best,

For in evergreen she's drest,

Like the country maid with milk, green becomes us much the best.

Sir Geo. Prevost at Plattsburgh, tho' in a sister state, . Said Vermont has sent her boys to fight, defeat is sure our fate,

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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

To his fourteen thousand men he said we leave this ground of Platts,

Don't you see them Vermont boys have come with green sprigs in their hats,- With green sprigs in their hats, They 're ready for combats,

I had rather fight the devil than these Vermont demo- crats.

Commodore Downie now came up for battle but in vain,

McDonough whipped him well on our little Lake Champlain,

He made for home 'tis hoped and has not again been seen,

Since the eleventh of September, eighteen hundred and fourteen, --

In eighteen hundred and fourteen, A treaty made between,

Stop'd our fighting on the water and our merchantmen are seen.

The many ponds in Vermont are well stored with fish, You can take the salmon trout or the pickerel if you wish,

Should you prefer the scaly perch, the sucker or the dace,

You can take a back-load of them out almost at any place,-

Yes, almost at any place, Ifyou've the fishing grace

If not you may not have a bite 'twill alter some the case.

Our farmers cultivate the soil not as they did of old, For then they could not get such plows as in Vermont are sold,

The hoe, the horse-rake, spring-steel fork, the scythe, the snath, the ax,

We have, and when we use them well a good round price we tax,-

Yes, a good round price we tax, For to none we turn our backs,

In the chopping, mowing, pitching line, we're speaking now of facts.

Just one word more we wish to say should you pass thro' the State,

You'll find these tough Vermonters work both early, sure and late,

But if one calls to see our friends from distance or near home.

The best they have enough of it-you're welcome when you come.

Yes, you're welcome when you come, We're not disposed to gnm,

We'll take some good old cider now-my friend, won t you have some ?

The happiest people in the world on Vermont hills are found,

Thelr charity begins at home, extends to all around, [Should fortune smile or even frown or trouble ere confront,]

On these green hills there is a balm you'll find it in Vermont,

You'll find it in Vermont, The green monntain state Vermont,

Spontaneously it grows among the green hills of Ver- mont.

[See Woodbury, pp. 882, 883.]

MEMORIAL.

BY MRS. IRENE D. DWINELL.

An elegy on the death of Sergeant WY- MAN R. BURNAP, who died of wounds re- received in battle, Sept. 21, 1864.

To free our country from the tyrant's thrall, We mourn to-day a patriot brave; To lift from off her face that dark'ning pall, Has made for him that soldier's grave.

Full oft that voice in " gone-by " days Has thrilled the sense to concord sweet; Those brightened hours, in after lays, The soldier's tent no more may greet.

To thee, dear Lord, the costly sacrifice,

We yield our brother, child and friend; Where "dust to dust " now sleeping lies, Let holy angels guard and tend. East Calais, Jan. 1, 1865.

ABIJAH WHEELOCK,

[BY JULIUS S. WHEELOCK, OF BERLIN.]

was born in Charlton, Mass., in 1764. He was a son of David Wheelock, who was one of the original proprietors of Calais. He gave his son Abijah a deed of lot No. I, in the second division of the town- ship of Calais, dated Charlton, Mass., April 17, 1788. David Wheelock was a son of Benjamin, son of Benjamin, son of Ralph, who was born in Wales County, Salop, in 1600; was educated at Cam- bridge University, where he took his de- grees in 1626 and 31 ; came to this coun- try in 1637; first located at Watertown, Mass., but removed in 1638 to that part of Dedham which became Medfield. He represented Dedham in 1639 and 40; was made clerk of the court in 1642, in place of Edward Allyen, deceased ; was the first representative of Medfield, in 1653, 63, 4, and 6; was the father of Benjamin, Sam- uel, Record, Experience, Gersham and Eleazer, and perhaps others. He died Jan. II, 1684.

Eleazer was the father of the 2d Ralph, born in 1682, who was the father of Rev. Eleazar, founder and first president of Dartmouth college. Ralph Wheelock was the father of the race of that name in this country, as there is no record of any other one coming to this country between 1620 and 1693, when emigration to New Eng- land stopped, when William and Mary as- cended to the throne of England.

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COUNTY PAPERS AND ITEMS.

MISS ELLEN O. PECK,

" daughter of the late Addison Peck, of East Montpelier, has become an industrious contributor to the 'Cottage Hearth,' Boston, 'New England Journal of Edu- . cation," 'Mrs. Slade's Magazine' and ' Good Times.' Among her press ar- ticles may be named '.The Early Home of Governor Peck,' and of her poems, her poetical address read before the alumni of the Vermont Methodist Seminary, 1876." We hope to receive " The Early Home of Gov. Peck," etc., with other papers from East Montpelier, for the general supple- ment .- ED.

SEPTEMBER SUNSET.

BY MISS MARY E. DAVIS.

Lol the evening spreads her banners In the far and radiant west, Where the crimson feet of sunset Linger on the mountain's crest; While the sun, that shining monarch, Of the fast departing day, Gathers up his robe of glory While he passes thus away.

Back upon the sky of azure Steals a bright and rosy hue,

Fringing all those clouds of purple, Sailing through the boundless blue; And far east, where blushing morning Breaks the silver glow of night, Even there the snow-white cloudlets Catch the melting, trembling light.

While o'er plain and wood majestic, Touched with Autumn's "mellow beam," And the hills, still bright with verdure, Rising 'mid the vales serene. .

As I watch the radiance glowing All around my cherished home,

Thoughts of wonder, thoughts adoring, Thrilling o'er my spirit come. 01 if earth may wear such beauty- Earth so stained with crime and sin, What must be that glorious City, Where no sin can enter in.

Miss Davis was born in Plainfield, this county, but now, and has for many years past resided at East Montpelier, and we reserved, when we compiled the paper for the Montpeliers, a notice of her and her poetical volume, except the brief notice in Mr. Gilman's bibliography for Mont- pelier, for Plainfield, which in making up Plainfield we overlooked till too late, but for a closing note. The above lines, sent to us some years since by the author, are all that we now have in hand of her writings .- ED.

UNDER THE APPLE BOUGHS.

BY EDNA M. SNOWS.

He lies 'neath the spreading apple boughs, My little brother Jim;

No care from the busy world around Casts its shadow over him.

The golden sheen of his tangled curls 'Mid the clover blossoms gleams;

He is floating out, on the tide of sleep, To the happy sea of dreams.

Dreaming there, with his bare, brown feet Kissed by the August sun; I think of the brave and earnest paths Our little boy may run- Toilsome and rough to the idle throng Who shrink from the summer's heat;

Of noble toil for those who tread With true and patient feet.

I know there are snares for heedless steps In the luring haunts of sin ; There's fruit so fair to the passing gaze, But ashes and dust within. And I kiss the sleeper's trustful lips, With a swift and silent prayer

That the God of his childhood's love and faith Be his leader everywhere.

-From " The Little Corporal."

EMERY G. JUDKINS, M. D.,

[FROM OBITUARY BY S. A. SABIN.]

Died in Waitsfield, June 29, of diphtheria, after a sickness of but 5 days, aged 33. He was born in Unity, N. H., received his early education in this town, was appoint- ed at 19 to the United States Coast Sur- vey, and server one year under Capt. Cram. He studied medicine with Dr. Nathaniel Tolls, of this town, and graduated at Dartmouth College in 1852, one of the first in his class. He immediately received an appointment in the Hospital at Blackwell's Island, where he remained one year, when he returned to this town, and entered upon the practice of his profession; in 1861, was appointed acting assistant surgeon in the United States Navy, and served in that capacity until the spring of 1862, when he removed to Waitsfield, where he had an extensive practice and many friends, and will be remembered by many. Having known Dr. Judkins from early youth, and having been for several years most inti- mately connected, the writer feels by his death he has lost a valuable friend, and the medical profession an honorable mem- ber. He leaves a young wife,

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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.

MEMORIES.

BY MRS. LAURA BRIGHAM BOYCE.

From our historian of Fayston to her sister, Mrs. Sarah Brigham Mansfield, our historian of Roxbury, on the occasion of her silver wedding, celebrated at Roxbury a few years since. Mrs. Boyce and Mrs. Mansfield being the only two sister his- torians in the Gazetteer, we will thus give to them the compliment of the closing column in this County.

Are you thinking to-night, O sister mine, Of the years so long ago? Of the visions that danced in your merry head As we lay at night in the trundle bed ? Of the tales we told as we sank to rest, With our heads upon our pillow pressed ? In such rest as children know:

Are you thinking to-night, O sister mine, Of the old white rock on the lea ? Where we " kept house " in the summer days, -- Went " visiting " with such old, old ways, One would have deemed we were grand-dames sure, With faces drawn in such look demure, While eyes danced in hidden glee.

Are you thinking to-night, O sister mine, Of the orchard, and its spring, With its sparkling water pure and cold? The mossy green that its banks enfold, And the " spring tree " bending o'er it too, As if its shadow it loved to view, Like a valn and girlish thing.

Are you thinking to-night, O sister mine, Ot the happy autumn days? When we gathered apples in merry glee From the spreading boughs of the white " full tree," 'Neath the old " stoop-tree" that bent so low, And that was Sarah's tree, you know; While only a little ways

Above it stood our " Mother's tree "; The white " full tree " is Ilving to-day, And " Mother's tree " will blossom in May ? But where are now that merry band, Who gathered fruit with dextrous hand, And laughed In their childish glee?

Scattered and sundered far and wide! Broad lakes and pralries lie between, Those wanderers and the mountains green, And in the churchyard 'neath the liill Others are lying pale and still

In their cold graves side by side.

And now of all that merry crew We three, alas! are left here alone; And we so stald and sober have grown, That we scarce remember the wild ways We had in our childhood's olden days, Nor half of the pranks we knew.

Ah well! time flies! proverbial of truth; And twenty-five years have borne away Some friends who loved us in youth's bright day ; Summer is ne'er what the springtime seemed- The hopes we cherished, the dreams we dreamed, Are gone with our vanished youth.

We are growing old, O sister mine! There are lines of care on cheek and brow, And children who call us mother now Are more like the selves we used to be Twenty-five years ago, than you or me As we are to-day in look or sign.

How the time goes on! but yesterday As it seems to me since you' were wed- "Tis twenty-five years! where have they fled ? We have hardly marked them in their flight, Yet by this festive scene to-night We know they have passed away.

' And so the years must still go on, And may your years that lie before Have joy and love and peace in store ; May Heaven's rich blessings on you rest, And all your coming years be blest Till your last year is done.

REV. WILLIAM SCALES,

died in Lyndon, Jan. 24, 1864, aged 58 years, 3 months and 27 days. He was a son of William and Rebecca (Smith) Scales, and was born in Lebanon, N. H., Sept. 28, 1805. In early life he removed to Cabot, and was there brought up. He was graduated at Middlebury in 1832, and im- mediately entered the Seminary at Ando- ver, but in 1835, he left, on account of ill health, and spent about two years princi- pally in teaching ; then returning to the Seminary, he was graduated in 1837.

His first settlement was at Lyndon, where he wns ordained pastor Dec. 27, 1837. Rev. Chester Wright of Hardwick, preached the sermon. He was dismissed June 16, 1841, and went immediately to Rochester, where, after two years of ser vice as stated supply, he was installed July 12, 1843. Rev. James Meacham of New Haven, who had been his classmate at Middlebury, preached the sermon. From this pastorate he was dismissed Aug. 3, 1847. He then became stated supply of the Congregational Church in Brownington, being at the same time preceptor of the academy at that place. Here he remained 4 years. In the fall of 1851, he removed to Conneaut, Ohio, and there remained, sometimes teaching and sometimes preach- ing, till May, 1855, when he returned to Lyndon, and became stated supply. He continued in that relation till his death, with an interruption of 2 or 3 years by pro- tracted ill health. The last sermon he de- livered was from Deut. 30 : 19 ; a text which his subsequent short sickness and death rendered singularly appropriate. P. H. W.

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CONTENTS.

WASHINGTON COUNTY INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER .- BY Dr. G. N. BRIGHAM, I- 23; RANDALL PAPER, 16-18.

BARRE.

CARPENTER PAPERS .- Early History, 23, 24; Town Officers, Col. Benjamin Walker, Maj. Nathan Harrington, Hon. James Fisk, Hon. Warren Ellis, Dea. Jonas Nichols, Capt. Joseph Watson, Hon. Denison Smith, Denison K. Smith, 27-31.

CHAS. A. SMITH PAPERS, Barre Academy, The National Bank, Norman W. Braley, M. D., 24, 25 ; Masonic papers, (by or from) 37, 38 ; The first Granite shop in Barre, 39; Soldiers of 1861, 43-47 .

PRIEST PAPER .- Goddard Seminary, 26, 27.

BLISS PAPER .- The Universalist Church, Rev. Wm. Farwell, Rev. John E. Palmer, 30, 31.

WOOD PAPERS .- Early business, Roads, Stage coaches and old time teams ; Stock and farming, Early postmasters, First merchants, Hotels, Landlords, Promi- nent men, Dr. Paddock, Dr. Van Sicklen, Dr. Burnham, Lawyers, Soil, Game, Barre Village, Cemetery, Library, Newspapers, Manufacturers, Fire Company, Cornet Band, Barre Boys West, Longevity, Old people, 31-37 ; Plattsburgh Company, Barre Com- pany Volunteers in the war of 1812, 41, 42 ; Judge Chapin Keith and Family, 47-49. CARLETON PAPER, 40.

William Clark, William A. Dodge, 40, 41.

HOLDEN PAPERS .- Town Officers, 38; Safford & Holden Mf'g Co., 51.

E. L. SMITH PAPER .- Barre Quarries, 38, 39.

PARKER PAPER .- Quarry and works, 39.

CLAFLIN PAPER .- War Report, 42.

D. P. THOMPSON PAPER .- Calvin J. Keith, 47, 48.

WATCHMAN PAPER .- Joshua Twing, 48, 49.

COGSWELL PAPER, 49.

BARTLETT PAPER .- List of M. E. Preachers in Bar. , 51.

TELEGRAPH OFFICE .- Samuel Goodell, 52.

CROSBY PAPER .- Johonnott Family Geneology, 917.

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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 148

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