The History of Washington County in the Vermont historical gazetteer : including a county chapter and the local histories of the towns of Montpelier., Part 2

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

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to their new homes on rackets, the husband and father coming in the year before and making his pitch, clearing two or three acres of land, and rolling up the old fash- ioned log house. Some came in, it is true, in stronger force and with more means, as Col. Jacob Davis, of Montpelier.

Nearly 60 townships had been granted by Gov, Wentworth before the organiza- tion of Vermont in 1778, and several of our western towns were among the N. H. grants. After the organization of the State, the Legislature took the power of making grants into its own hands, and both for the revenue and encouraging the further settlement of the State, proceeded rapidly to dispose of its lands. The process of procuring these grants seems to have been very simple, and followed with quick dis- patch.

A company of resident and non-resident men got up a petition to the Legislature for the charter or grant of a township, specifying the locality. The appointment of a standing committee to act upon such petition followed, and if the committee's report was favorable, which was usually the case, a simple resolution for making the grant was passed. Then the Gov- ernor, on the payment of the required fees, issued the charter. Our eastern townships, not having been laid out in the Benning- Wentworth grants, received their charters in this manner from the Legislature of Vermont, and were run out mainly by James Whitelaw, Surveyor-general of the State. After obtaining a charter, a proprietor's meeting was called by a justice of the peace or other authorized person, in the following form :

" Whereas application hath been made to me by more than one-sixteenth part of the proprietors of -, in this State, to warn a meeting of said proprietors ; these are, therefore, to warn the proprietors of said Township to meet at the house of Esq., Innholder, in - , on (here fol- lows the day, the time of day and month) to act on the following articles, to wit : I. To choose a Moderator. 2. A Proprietor's Clerk. 3. A Treasurer. 4. To see what the Proprietors will do respecting a Di- vision of said Township, and to transact

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what other business as shall be thought necessary when met." (Signed) Justice Peace.

In laying out Caledonia Co. there were run two gores in the S. W. corner, Goshen and Harris, which have been set to this County with the towns set off from that County to Washington Co. Goshen Gore, bounded N. by Marshfield and a part of Har- ris Gore, E. by Harris Gore, S. by Orange, and W. by Plainfield, contains 2,828 acres, mostly covered with excellent timber, great- ly enhanced in value by the Montpelier and Wells River railroad. Some 50 persons probably are residing within its limits. Harris Gore contains 6,020 acres ; runs to a point on the N., bounded W. and N. W. by Goshen Gore and Marshfield, E. by Groton, and S. by Orange. It was granted Feb. 25, 1781, and chartered to Edward Harris, Oct. 30, 1801. This tract of land is also well-timbered for the most part, though somewhat mountainous and diffi- cult of access. In 1840 it had 16 inhab- itants, and has received but very few additions since. Gunner's branch rises in this gore, passes through Goshen Gore, and unites with Stevens' branch in Barre. The area of the gores, added to the several townships gives us, nearly as can be as- certained, 396,233 acres, a large proportion of which is excellent for grazing and most of the cereals, and the balance the finest of timber lands, except the little crowning of the summits of different spurs of the Green Mountain range. Money was scarce, and trade was carried on mostly in neat stock, grain and salts of lye.

Wood ashes were a long time legal tender to the merchant, who sold his goods to the woodsman, and the merchant paid his bills at Montreal and Boston in black salts. The common price of wheat was 67 cents per bushel, best yoke of oxen $40, best cows $25, best horses $50, and salts of lye $4 to $5 per cwt.

For goods which the laborers paid for in these articles the merchant usually ob- tained fifty per cent. of profit ; among them -price current-rock-salt, $3 per bushel, common $2.50 ; sugar, brown 17 to 20 cents per pound, loaf 42 cents ; W. I. molasses

$1. 17 per gallon ; green tea $2.00 per pound ; broadcloth $8 to $10 per yard.

And still, with these prices for imported necessaries, and the low price of their products, the settlers, by their frugal habits and industry, got on very well on the road to competency.

As our County began to be settled im- mediately succeeding the heroic epoch of the State, the military system was an im- portant feature of its early history. Every township enrolled all of its able-bodied men between the ages of 18 and 45, and com- panies were formed with commissioned and non-commissioned officers, who were re- quired to give them one annual drill at least-in the month of June. The annual "June training " was a day of jollity for old and young ; a regular carnival of fun and masquerade, as well as parade-a display of the cocked hat, gorgeous epaulette and bright cockade ; day of salutes, waking up of officers ; which wake up was a rousing volley from the under officers and privates, sometimes taking the door off its hinges, to be followed with a treat, marching and countermarching, drinking, toasting and sham fights ; a day opened with the ob- streperous clamor of the Sergeant's call, and followed with the shriek of the fife and the noise of the drums. The roads lead- ing out of the village where this annual inspection and drill was to take place were filled with old and young, on foot and horseback, in carriages of all patterns, from the " one-horse-shay " to the poor apology of a kanuck two-wheeled turnout, and all crowding on in the grotesque and fun- seeking tide, to enjoy the great military frolic, called an inspection and drill, or, in common parlance, June training. Yankee Doodle, fizzle-pop-bang, and the mock cap- ture of the Red Coats, were all there. June training was an institution, and the militia, so stigmatizingly called the " Old Flood Wood," figured very conspicuously in the history of the county at not a very remote day. This, with " Election Day" of the old style, must now be considered as fairly laid on the shelf, and belong only to his- tory.

In 1805 a turnpike was chartered from

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Burlington Court-House, to pass on or near the Winooski to the north end of Eli- jah Paine's turnpike in Montpelier. The Corporators were Daniel Hurlburt, Thad- deus Tuttle, Salmon Miller, John Johnson, Martin Chittenden, Jacob Spafford, Charles Bulkley and David Wing, jr .; corporate title, " The Winooski Turnpike Compa- ny." The road was opened to the public in 1808, the spring before the first session of the Assembly in the new State House at Montpelier. Gov. Martin Chittenden rendered such aid in its construction and was so largely interested in it, it was at one time called the Chittenden Turnpike. Later the stock was mostly, or all, pur- chased by Thomas and Hezekiah Reed of Montpelier, who were its owners at the time it was bought up for the road-bed, where it could be thus used, of the Vt. Cen. R. R. This old road, with fine coaches and swift horses, was for a long time one of the most popular thorough- fares in New England. Particularly when the stage lines were in the hands of Mah- lon Cottrill, the road was patronized large- ly at home and from abroad. Its toll- gates and numerous taverns along the line are remembered by many : land-marks gradually lost in the progress of the cen- tury.

This turnpike with that of Gov. Paine, running south from Montpelier, was the through line of the country from the Lake and Canada to Boston, over which passed an immense tonnage and very brisk lighter travel, and to which the County road in the northeast part of the County was quite a tributary.

In 1824 John Quincy Adams sent a top- ographical party into the State, to make surveys with reference to the construction of canals. Hon. Daniel Baldwin, a mer- chant of Montpelier, received the appoint- ment on the commission, and consequently interested himself in the public works of the State. While holding this appoint- ment, he received a communication from Elkanah Watson, that it was better to look for routes of railways than canals, as it was prophecied the railroad system would soon supersede the canal. Mr.

Baldwin conceived the idea of a rail transit from this point to the foot of navigation through the State, over much of the route now traversed by the Ogdensburgh and Vermont Central roads, but down the Gulf through Williamstown, instead of over the summit at Roxbury and down to White River-proposing to connect with the Lowell and Boston road then being projected toward the Conn. River valley. This he laid before the merchants of Bos- ton as early as 1827, in his business visits, and in meetings later held for devising better communications with the North and West. In 1832, Boston merchants and others interested, held a meeting to con- sider the feasibility of this route, at which Mr. Parish of Ogdensburgh presided. In 1833, a charter was granted by the Legis- lature for a road by rail through Central Vermont. Governor Paine was an able manager among the corporators and was instrumental in pushing the road forward and diverting its proposed route to its present line.

The railroad changed much of the local and all the through travel from the turn- pike to the rail.

CONTEST FOR THE STATE HOUSE.

The first contest for the location of the State House was in 1805. In 1792, Cale- edonia County was incorporated, but it does not appear that the county was fully organized until 1796 or '97, when David Wing, Jr., was elected one of its Judges. Mr. Wing was a resident of Montpelier, and, so far as we know, the first Judge upon the bench elected within the present limits of Washington County. Mr. Wing was Secretary of State in 1803. The County of Washington was incorporated in 1810, and Dec. 1, 1811, the Legislature having elected in October the Court and County officers-it was fully organized. Ezra Butler was chief judge; Salva Col- lins and Bradford Kinne, associate judges ; John Peck, sheriff ; Timothy Merrill, State's Attorney ; and David Harrington, judge of probate : George Rich, County clerk; J. Y. Vail, register of probate. The Court held its sessions in the Council

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Chamber in the first State House, until the year 1818, when a new wooden Court House was built adjoining the State House grounds, that was used until 1843, when a brick building was erected, which was burned down during the November term of the Court, the same year. In the sum- mer of 1844, the present commodious and elegant brick edifice was erected. During the October session of the Legislature of 1805, holden at Danville, an act was pass- ed establishing the permanent seat of the Legislature at Montpelier. The location of this place so near the geographical cen- ter of the State, no doubt, had more than anything else to do with the decision. It will be remembered the old line between Bennington and Cumberland Counties, made by the first legislative body of the people, was only about a mile below the village, while dividing the State from north to south. It is the nearest to the cen- ter of any proper convening point. Still, in this, as in other controversies, Mont- pelier and the County were not without their able managers and advocates. Da- vid Wing, a man of great affability of man- ners and highly respected in the State, was Secretary of State, and the Hon. Cyrus Ware, a profound debater and a great wit, was representative of the town. At the next sessions, one at Middlebury and the other at Woodstock, there was an attempt to effect a change in location, but neither proved successful. Thus in 1807, four years before its organization, Washington County finds the Capital of the State with- in its limits, which has had much to do with its history and prosperity as a County. The beginning of a period so important to the County deserves something more im- portant than a passing notice. We tran- scribe a copy of the legislative action :

An act establishing the permanent seat of the Legislature in Montpelier.

Sec. I .- It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont, that Elijah Paine, Ezra Butler and James Whitelaw be, and they are hereby, ap- pointed a committee to fix upon a place in the town of Montpelier for the erection of buildings for the accommodation of the

Legislature of the State, and to prepare a plan for such buildings.

Sec. 2 .- And it is hereby further en- acted : that if the town of Montpelier, or other individual persons, shall before the first day of September, which will be A. D. 1808, erect such buildings on the place des- ignated by the aforesaid committee for their acceptance, and shall compensate said committee for their services, and also con- vey to the State of Vermont the property of said buildings and the land whereon they shall stand, and lodge the deed of conveyance, duly executed, in the Secretary of State's office ; then and in that case said buildings shall become the permanent seat of the Legislature for holding all their ses- sions.

Sec. 3 .- Provided nevertheless, and it is hereby further enacted : that if any future Legislature shall cease to hold their ses- sions in said town of Montpelier, those persons that shall erect said building and convey the property of the same and of the land aforesaid, shall be entitled to receive from the treasury of this State the full value of the same, as it shall be then fairly appraised.

Passed November 7, 1805.

A true copy.

Attest. DAVID WING, Jun., Secretary.

The committee appointed by the Legis- lature located the buildings of the new Capitol on grounds a little S. E. of where the present State buildings now stand, and the Assembly in October, 1808, there met and held its session, since which time Montpelier has been the permanent-seat of the Legislature. The old State House be- coming somewhat dilapidated and insuffi- cient for the growth of the State, in 1832, the Legislature passed a second act to es- tablish the Capitol at Montpelier, and pledging the erection of a new building, provided Montpelier would pay into the Treasury of the State $15,000, one-half within one year and the other half in two years from the passage of the act. The proposition was accepted, and Lebbeus Egerton, Supt., and Ammi B. Young, arch- itect, commenced the work in the follow- ing spring. A spur of rock was blasted from the hill in rear of the old buildings to a level desired, and making room for a driveway-at cost of $10,000, but giving a foundation of solid rock. The elegant granite edifice, with its capacious dome,

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massive arch, and classical columns, so light, so unique, might almost be taken as a model of art. Good judges have doubted if its equal as a work of art was to be found anywhere else in the country. It was built of the Barre granite-cost $132,- 077,22. Unfortunately it was accidentally destroyed by fire Jan. 6, 1857, when came the memorable contest. A special session called by the Governor, met in the old Brick Church in Montpelier, Feb. 18th following, to adopt measures for rebuilding or remov- ·ing the State House. For parliamentary ability and adroitness in management, as well as the display of wit and eloquence, .

this session stands the rival of any House of Representatives of Vermont, or any other State. We can give by a few passa- ges from the records a faint, and but a faint idea of the warmth, tact, wit and logic in the statement of arguments which moved in this controversy, the vacillating tides of feeling and opinion.

Mr. Bradley, in reply to the idea of en- tertaining the pecuniary condition, or put- ting up at auction the State House, said, " I, for one, do not feel like raising a rev- enue from a loan of our institutions, taking a town in our grasp, as I would take half a lemon, squeezing it dry, and then throw- ing away the rind and trying another." Re- plying to Mr. Stacy, of Burlington, he goes on to say, " the able representative of that town has told us, and truly, no doubt, of their wealth, their break-water, their custom-house, their steamers smok- ing in from all directions, their railroads built and to be built, their monument of the glorious Allen, whose dust is mingled with the earth of their town ; and I could not help regretting that the Giver of all good had not offered them one more boon -the blessing of content."

In Mr. Dorr's concluding remarks he added, " the capitol was located at Mont- pelier as a measure of peace. It was to build up from a divided, a united and homogeneous people. Fifty years of peace have been the product of this act of wis- dom. I am for going down to no Jerusa- lem on the East or the West." If Mr. Dorr was the Nestor of that debate, with

every quality of a parliamentarian and ad- vocate, learning, wit, satire, humor and subtle logic, as his argument everywhere shows, still the satirist and wit of that very remarkable assemblage of men was Moses E. Cheney, of Barnard. Alluding to a remark made by the member from Georgia where a town library was offered as a rea- son for removal, Mr. Cheney says "Mr. Chairman, why don't some of the friends of removal say that the Representatives and Senators might pursue a brief legisla- tive collegiate course of study at the Ver- mont University during their sessions ? Mr. Chairman, they say that Esq. Ed- munds, the counsel for Burlington, talked to us an hour, and very little to his credit as a man of talents. Sir, do people ex- pect a man to work miracles ? Those of us who were Representatives in 1855, saw too much of his ability to be made now to swallow these third house insinuations that Mr. Edmunds isn't much. We remember how he made us believe gas was cheaper than oil to light the State House with, when the contrary was the truth, and I am bold to say he would have made us believe that Burlington was the best place for the Capitol if we hadn't known all about it ourselves. But, Sir, the State of Vermont isn't so large but every man in it knows very nearly from his own observation where the middle is. Gas, Sir, many of us know little about." Mr. Chairman, the gentleman from Westford is much con- cerned about the morals of Montpelier. He says the fires of hell are here! Sir, I had heard of a heaven below, and of a hell upon airth, and I must own that when the gentleman was depicting the flames which seemed to be curling around us, my eye at the same instant catching a glance at his fiendish look, his horrific glare, for a moment I quailed, and inwardly exclaimed, I am in hell, for there stands Beelzebub. Mr. Chairman, during last Fall's session, occupying my old seat No. 190, which has since dissolved in smoke, with little to do but to gaze at the costly gas chandelier, which has since melted with fervent heat, I sometimes amused myself with reflec- tions upon various members of the house ;

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and, Sir, among them I discovered a Dan- iel Webster, a John C. Calhoun, a Henry Clay and a Patrick Henry. The gentle- man from Castleton, (Mr. Spencer,) be- ing out a few minutes since, I had almost hoped he would remain out until I had paid him a few compliments which might appear fulsome in his presence. But, Sir, it is not uncommon here in Committee of the whole, where wide debate is admissi- ble, for gentlemen to go very wide into praises of our most distinguished mem- bers. Sir, I would then beg leave to say that the gentleman from Castleton is my Daniel Webster, and I have seen new and striking resemblances between these two men during the present session, which have confirmed me in the belief of their simi- larity. For instance, it was said by Dr. Wheeler, in a eulogy pronounced upon Mr. Webster, that whenever Webster at- tempted to argue a bad cause he always broke down ; never otherwise. Well, Sir, the gentleman from Castleton fails in every effort he makes during this session. He is arguing a bad cause, and, like Web- ster, having no knack at it, he breaks down. In this respect we see how exactly like Webster he is. Mr. Webster was ac- cused in his latter days of being bought up. But it was not true. Well, it is sur- mised by some that the gentleman from Castleton is bought up ; but it is not true. I do not believe a word of it. The great Moses Stuart-as a fearless, good man should have done-undertook to make out that Webster acted from the best of mo- tives ; but it was all of no use. There were enough who pretended they knew · Webster had long been closeted with Cal- houn. Mr Webster had a great Moses to expound for him, but it didn't do any good. Mr. Spencer has a little Moses to apologize for him, but I fear it will be entirely use- less." This is but a brief synopsis of Mr. Cheney's method of satire, which convuls- ed the whole assembly for an hour. Com- paring the claims of Barnard, as contrast- ed with some other towns that had put in the plea of fine prospects and healthy lo- cations, Mr. Cheney goes on to say : " Is Barnard a whit behind any in these re- 2

spects ? Why, as to health, the people of Barnard seldom think of dying, and the children say they will never die. Some old men have lived till they were tired all out with life, and have died on purpose ; hav- ing told their old yarns over until the taste was all out of them, they said they had lived ever so far beyond all the promises, and they summed up by declaring they 'would not live alway,' and got up a contrivance for quitting the world and got off somehow." In a second speech, in reply to some strictures made by the gentleman from Westford on his previous speech, he gives this inimitable touch of satire : " Sir, those who say that my Webster and Hen- ry are unworthy the names, not only ad- mit that my Clay and Calhoun are good, but that my devil is perfect." The speech of Mr. Cheney, whose profession had been that of a singing-master, may well take rank with the wit and satire of Curran and Sheridan. He is a genuine native speci- men, with all the benefit of Barnard hills. Mr. Merrill, the member from Montpelier, a descendant of the Fassetts, of Benning- ton, distinguished himself as a parliamen- tarian. The final result of the long, keen contest was an act making an appropria- tion of $40,000 for re-building the State House on its old site in Montpelier.

SPIRIT OF 1812.

A second war was opened with Eng- land. Party spirit in politics ran high through the country. Our State and the Capital had its share in the excitement at- tending these contests. The Democrats thought our nation to have been injured and grossly insulted by Great Britain, and were staunch advocates of the war, the Federals, believing the war wholly unnec- essary, as bitterly opposed and denounced it. The Democrats in ascendency in the State, had a pretty decided majority in the County. And as the administration was ap- pealing to the country to be sustained, the friends of Mr. Madison thought it impor- tant some demonstration should be made at the Capital of the State. They called a war-meeting at the State House, and in- dustriously circulated the notice. This

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was in February, and the inhabitants poured in from the surrounding towns, and the neighboring districts, filling the high- ways with footmen, horsemen, and loads in single and double sleighs, to the place appointed for the meeting, as it was also understood that the Federal party would be there to prevent the passage of any resolutions encouraging Congress to a declaration of war. When the house had become densely packed, one of the com- mittee was sent to call on Rev. Chester Wright, the settled minister at Montpelier, and invite him to open the meeting with prayer. He shortly returned, and inform- ed his friends that on account of conscien- tious scruples, Mr. Wright declined the invitation. A low burst of indignation followed. The next moment were heard calls for " Uncle Ziba ! Uncle Ziba ! ! " Instantly a committee man mounted the platform, and cried aloud, " Is the Rev. Ziba Woodworth present ? If so, he is re- spectfully invited to come forward and open this meeting with prayer." Mr. Woodworth, who had a stiff leg, occasion- ed from wounds received at Fort Griswold, came forward, stumping through the crowd to the platform. Hastily drawing a chair before him, he dropped down upon one knee, and, throwing out the whole of the other leg with a jerk, raised his sharp voice, peculiarly emotional, in the invited invocation. After a very brief address, in the manner of a prayer, he entered into the political spirit of the meeting, showering a torrent of blessings on our rulers for their wisdom, patriotism and fearless stand in resisting the aggressions of British tyranny ; then he began to ask God's pity on the blindness of the enemies of the war, and enemies of our blessed country, and His forgiveness of their treasonable dereliction of patriotic duty, and still more treason- able opposition to the wise measures of our God-appointed rulers, in such language as involved the rebuke of a scorching sat- ire. At this stage of the prayer, Judge Ware, a prominent war Democrat of the town, who was a noted wag as well as a hot politician, standing by the platform and within reach of the excited speaker,

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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 2

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