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 45
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1798-99, Unanimous for Isaac Tichenor, the votes being 47 and 64.
1800, Isaac Tichenor 59, Paul Brigham 2, Edward Lamb I.
1801, Isaac Tichenor 51, Paul Brigham I, Israel Smith I.
1802, Isaac Tichenor 49, Israel Smith 13, Joseph Wing I.
1803, Isaac Tichenor 59, Jonathan Rob- inson 12.
1804, Isaac Tichenor 65, Jona. Robin- son 28, Lewis R. Morris 2, Jonas Galu- sha I.
1805, Isaac Tichenor 69, Jona. Robin- son 16, Israel Smith I.
1806, Isaac Tichenor 58, Israel Smith 23, James Fisk I.
1807, Isaac Tichenor 68, Israel Smith 21. 1808, Isaac Tichenor 117, Israel Smith 109; Wm. Chamberlain 2.
1809, Jonas Galusha 155, Isaac Tichenor 112, Paul Brigham 4, Charles Marsh and Edward Lamb I each.
1810, Jonas Galusha 147, Isaac Tichenor 107, Paul Brigham, Elijah Paine and James Fisk I each.
1811, Jonas Galusha 150, Martin Chit- tenden 103, Paul Brigham 2, Wm. Cham- berlain and Benjamin Swan I each.
1812, Jonas Galusha 163, Martin Chit- tenden 147, Paul Brigham 2, Timothy Merrill and Salvin Collins I cach.
1813, Jonas Galusha 172, Martin Chit- tenden 150, Paul Brigham and Willian Chamberlain 2 each, Chauncey Langdon 1
1814, Jonas Galusha 163, Martin Chit tenden 156, Wm. Chamberlain and Ed ward Lamb I each.
1815, Martin Chittenden 175, Jonas Ga lusha 171, Paul Brigham and Nahum Kel ton I each.
1816, Jonas Galusha none, Sam'l. Stron; none ; number of votes not recorded.
1817, Jonas Galusha 147, Isaac Tichenc 72.
1818-'19, Jonas Galusha 155, Chark Marsh 1 ; same each year.
1820, unanimous for Richard Skinner 191 votes cast.
1821-'22, Richard Skinner 172, Dudle Chase 2 ; same both years.
1823, Cornelius P. Van Ness 145.
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1824, Cornelius P. Van Ness 126, Sam- uel C. Crafts I.
1825, Cornelius P. Van Ness 227, Sam- uel C. Crafts 5, Wm. A Griswold I.
1826, Ezra Butler 189, Lemuel Whitney 56, Joel Doolittle 2, Samuel C. Crafts I.
1827, Ezra Butler 359; opposition vote not published ; no town record.
1828, Samuel C. Crafts 187, Joel Doo- little 2.
1829, Samuel C. Crafts 190, Joel Doo- little 74, Heman Allen II, Chauncey Lang- don 2, Ira Allen and Silas Craftș I each.
1830, Samuel C. Crafts 181, Ezra Meach 172, Wm. A. Palmer 37.
1831, Ezra Meach 234, Heman Allen 14I,Wm. A. Palmer 77, Samuel C. Crafts I.
1832, Ezra Meach 284, Samuel C. Crafts 163, Wm. A. Palmer 70.
1833, John Roberts 216, Wm. A. Palmer 193, Ezra Meach 114, Horatio Seymour 18, James Bell 3, D. A. A. Buck I.
1834, Wm. C. Bradley 347, Wm. A. Palmer 154, Horatio Seymour 118, Samuel C. Crafts I.
1835, Wm. C. Bradley 302, Charles Paine 115, Wm. A. Palmer 52, Wm. A. Griswold and Dudley Chase I each.
1836, Wm. C. Bradley 375, Silas H. Jennison 281, Wm. Slade I.
1837, Wm. C. Bradley 346, Silas H. Jennison 292.
1838, Wm. C. Bradley 388, Silas H. Jennison 305.
1839, Nathan Smilie 405, Silas H. Jen- nison 340, Timothy Goodale 3, Lyman Fitch I.
1840, Paul Dillingham, Jr., 428, Silas H. ennison 386, Solomon Sias 5, scatter- ng 3. .
1841, Nathan Smilie 445, Charles Paine 61, Titus Hutchinson 43, Samuel C. Crafts and H. F. Janes I each.
1842, Nathan Smilie 430, Charles Paine 72, Charles K. Williams 22, C. B. Wil- mms I.
1843, Daniel Kellogg 404, John Mat- cks 248, Charles K. Williams 26.
1844, Daniel Kellogg 420, Wm. Slade 8, Wm. R. Shafter 70, scattering I. 1845, Daniel Kellogg 382, Wm. Slade 8, Wm. R. Shafter 83, scattering 2.
1846, John Smith 385, Horace Eaton 269, Lawrence Brainerd 99, Heman Allen 2.
1847, Paul Dillingham, Jr., 366, Horace Eaton 255, Lawrence Brainerd 100, Dan- iel Kellogg 4, Jedediah H. Harris I.
1848, Paul Dillingham, Jr., 376, Carlos Coolidge 258, Oscar L. Shafter 118.
After the Division of the Town.
1849, Carlos Coolidge 248, Horatio Need- ham 248.
1850, Charles K. Williams 259, Lucius B. Peck 236, John Roberts 12.
1851, Charles K. Williams 238, Tim- othy P. Redfield 223, John S. Robinson 14.
1852, Erastus Fairbanks 242, John S. Robinson 125, Lawrence Brainerd 89.
1853, Erastus Fairbanks 220, John S. Robinson 173, Lawrence Brainerd 68, Stephen Royce I.
1854, Stephen Royce 248, Merritt Clark 165, Lawrence Brainerd 9, Wm. C. Kit- tredge I.
1855, Stephen Royce 378, Merritt Clark 144, Wm. R. Shafter 3.
1856, Ryland Fletcher 284, Henry Keyes 155, scattering 4.
1857, Ryland Fletcher 197, Henry Keyes 100, scattering 2.
1858, Hiland Hall 236, Henry Keyes 124, Wm. R. Shafter 3, Philip C. Tucker I. 1859, Hiland Hall 265, John G. Saxe 123.
1860, Erastus Fairbanks 326, John G. Saxe 140, Robert Harvey 4.
1861, Andrew Tracy 199, Frederick Holbrook 146, W'm. R. Shafter 2, Hiram Atkins I.
1862, Frederick Holbrook 173, Paul Dillingham 19, B. H. Smalley 6, Levi Un- derwood 5, scattering 4.
1863, John G. Smith 318, Timothy P. Redfield 67.
1864, John G. Smith 399, T. P. Red- field 97, scattering I.
1865, Paul Dillingham 268, Charles N. Davenport 90.
1866, Paul Dillingham 327, Charles N. Davenport 125.
1867, John B. Page 288, John L. Ed- wards 112, B. B. Smalley I.
1868, John B. Page 457, John L. Ed- wards 175.
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1869, Peter T. Washburn 301, Homer W. Heaton 138.
1870, John W. Stewart 322, Homer W. Heaton 167.
1872, Julius Converse 424, Abram B. Gardner 265.
1874, Asahel Peck 301, W. H. H. Bing- ham 297.
1876, Horace Fairbanks 503, W. H. H. Bingham 369, scattering I.
1878, Redfield Proctor 378, W. H. H. Bingham 258, scattering 37.
1880, Roswell Farnham 540, E. J. Phelps 290, scattering I.
From the above record it appears that the town was Federal in politics from its organization until 1809, the year after the election of Mr. Madison as President : that in 1809 and until 1815 the Republicans of the Jeffersonian school were in the ma- jority; and that in 1815, the Federalists obtained a small majority. The vote of 1816 is not to be found in the town re- cords, and search has been made for it in the office of the Secretary of State, but without finding it. The representative elected in that year was a Jeffersonian Re- publican, and in 1817 the town was of the same politics by a vote of two to one. From that period there was no serious di- vision in State politics for 12 years. It was "the era of good feeling," following the successful close of the war of 1812 with Great Britain, and the people of the town were, with rare exceptions, substantially unanimous. On the election of Gen. Jack- son, a new organization of two political parties was made-known as the National Republican and the Democratic parties- and each was composed of men gathered from the old Federal and Republican ranks. These were speedily followed by the anti- masonic party, and the votes from 1830 to 1835 inclusive, reveal the existence of the three parties in Montpelier, and also that the Democratic party was in the ascendan- cy. In 1836 and until 1841, there were but two parties, Democratic and Whig, the latter being in the minority. In 1841, the anti-slavery party was developed, and three organized parties were in existence until the division of the town January I,
1849: but in all this period the Democrat- ic party was ascendant, and in fact elected the town officers in every year after 1830 until 1849. On the governor vote in 1848, the old town was exactly balanced between the Democrats on the one side and the Whigs aud Anti-Slavery men on the other.
AFTER THE DIVISION OF THE TOWN. .
In 1849, the number of parties was again reduced to two, by a fusion of the Demo- crats and Anti-Slavery men into what was called the Freesoil party, and the town was exactly tied on the vote for Governor, but it elected the first Whig representative in the person of the late Jackson A. Vail, Esq., a lawyer and legislator of great abili- ty, From that period until the formatior of the Republican party in 1854, the Whig! uniformly prevailed, as the Republican: have done since 1854, the election of Mar cus D. Gilman excepted.
TOWN REPRESENTATIVES FROM 1792 t. 1882.
1792 to 1796, 5 years, Jacob Davis 1797, 8, 1800, 01, 4 yrs., David Wing, Jr. 1799, 1802, Parley Davis; 1803, 10, Jc seph Woodworth ; 1804, 14, 15, Edwar Lamb; 1805 to 1809, Cyrus Ware ; 181 12, Timothy Merrill ; 1813, Joseph Howe: after which for some years he was in th military service of the United States 1816, 17, 18, 20, 29, Nahum Kelton ; 1810 George Worthington; 1821, 22, 23, 2 Araunah Waterman ; 1824, 5, Samu Prentiss ; 1827, 8, 30, William Uphan 1831, 32, 33, Azel Spalding; 1834, Wm. Billings ; 1836, 7, Lucius B. Pec! 1838, 9, Royal Wheeler ; 1840, 41, HoI tio N. Baylies ; 1842, 3, Addison Pec 1844, 5, Jeremiah T. Marston ; 1846, Charles Clark ; 1848, Homer W. Heatc
REPRESENTATIVES AFTER THE DIVISIC OF THE TOWN.
1849, 50, Jackson A. Vail; 1851, Hezekiah H. Reed ; 1853, Eliakim P. W ton, recorded as E. P. Walton Jr. ; 18 Abijah Keith; 1855, Elisha P. Jewe 1856, 7, Ferrand F. Merrill ; 1858, George W. Collamer; 1860, 61, Geo C. Shepard ; 1862, 3, Charles Reed ; 18 5, Whitman G. Ferrin ; 1866, 7, Joel F
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ter, Jr. ; 1868, 9, James R. Langdon ; 1870, 71, Joseph Poland ; 1872, 3, Perley P. Pit- kin : 1874, 5, Marcus D. Gilman; 1876, 7, Charles T. Sabin ; 1878, 79, Hiram A. Huse ; 1880, 81, B. F. Fifield,-the six last for biennial sessions.
CITIZENS OF MONTPELIER WHO HAVE HELD CIVIL OFFICES IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.
Electors of President and Vice - Presi- dent-1836, Edward Lamb; 1840, Joseph Reed ; 1852, Ezekiel P. Walton ; 1872, Elisha P. Jewett. Augustine Clark and Wm. P. Briggs also held this office, but previous to their residence in Montpelier.
Senators in Congress-Samuel Prentiss, 1831 to 42, II years; William Upham, 1843 to 53, 10 years.
Members of Congress-Lucius B. Peck, 1847 to 51, 4 years ; Eliakim P. Walton, 1857 to 63, 6 years ; Charles W. Willard, 1869 to 75, 6 years.
U. S. District Judge-Samuel Prentiss, 1842 to 56, 14 years,
U. S. District Attorneys-Lucius B. Peck, 1853 to 57; B. Franklin Fifield, 1869 to 1881.
United States Marshal-George W. Barker, 1835 to 37.
Clerk of U. S. Circuit and District Courts-Edward H. Prentiss, 1842 to 59, 17 years.
Register of the U. S. Treasury-Stod- dard B. Colby, appointed in 1866, and died while in office.
Post-Office Department-Charles Lyman was appointed clerk in the Dead Letter Office in 1861, and is now in that depart- ment ; also Miss Emma Camp.
Treasury Department and General Land Office-Henry Howes.
Agents for Paying Pensions -- Azel Spald- ng, Thomas Reed, Jr., George Howes, Stephen Thomas. The office was re- hoved to New Hampshire while Gen. Thomas was incumbent.
Collector of Internal Revenue-Joseph oland, Sept. 1862 to Mar. 69; C. S. ana, Mar. 1869 to 81 ; J. C. Stearns, from ily 1, 1881.
In this list might be included the roll of ostmasters, sundry inspectors in the rev-
enue department, and the names of a few who have been employed in subordinate offices at Washington, but a correct list is impracticable.
CITIZENS OF MONTPELIER WHO HAVE HELD CIVIL OFFICES IN THE STATE GOVERN- MENT.
Members of the Council of Censors- Nicholas Baylies, 1813; Joshua Y. Vail, 1820; Ezekiel P. Walton, 1827; Joseph Reed, 1834; Hezekiah H. Reed, 1841 ; Joseph A. Prentiss, 1862 ; Charles Reed, 1869.
Members of Constitutional Conventions- Jacob Davis, 1793; Joseph Howes, 1814; Darius Boyden, 1822; Stephen Foster, 1828; Nahum Kelton, 1836; Jeremiah T. Marston, 1843, 1850; Oramel H. Smith, 1857 ; Eliakim P. Walton, 1870.
Councillors previous to the State Senate in 1836-Nicholas Baylies, 1814 to 15; George Worthington, 1827 to 31.
State Senators- Araunah Waterman, 1836-8 ; Wooster Sprague, 1842, 4; Or- amel H. Smith, 1845, 7 ; Charles G. East- man, 1851, 3; Joseph Poland, 1858, 60; Charles W. Willard, 1860, 62 ; Roderick Richardson, 1862, 64 ; Charles Reed, 1864, 7; Charles Dewey, 1867, 70; Eliakim P. Walton, 1874 to 1878.
1
State Treasurers-Augustine Clark, 1833 to 37 ; John Spalding, 1841 to 46; Elisha P. Jewett, 1846; George Howes, 1847 to 53 ; John A. Page, 1853 ; and again elected in 1866, and is still in office.
Secretaries of State-David Wing, Jr., 1802 to 6; Timothy Merrill, 1831 to 36; Chauncey L. Knapp, 1836 to 41 ; James McM. Shafter, 1842 to 49; Ferrand F. Merrill, 1849 to 53 ; Daniel P. Thompson, 1853 to 55 ; Charles W. Willard, 1855 to 57 ; Geo. W. Bailey, Jr., 1861 to 65.
Secretary of Governor and Council- George B. Manser, 1832 to 36.
Secretary of Civil and Military Affairs- George B. Manser, 1836 to 41.
Clerks of House of Representatives- Timothy Merrill, 1822 to 31 ; Oramel H. Smith, pro tem., 1835; Ferrand F. Mer- rill, 1838 to 49; George R. Thompson, 1856 to 58.
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Fudges of the Supreme Court-Samuel Prentiss, 1825 to 29, and chief justice one year ; Nicholas Baylies, 1831 to 33; Isaac F. Redfield, 1836 to 59, 24 years, and chief justice 8 years ; Asahel Peck, circuit court 1851 to 56, Supreme Court, 1860 to 72, 13 years ; Timothy P. Redfield, 1872, and is in office.
Judges of the County Court-David Wing, Jr., Caledonia County Court, 1797- 1807, 10 years ; Cyrus Ware, chief judge of Caledonia County, 1808 to II ; Salvin Col- lins, Jefferson (now Washington) County, 18II, 12; Joseph Howes, 1819 to 27 ; Shubael Wheeler, 1827 to 31 ; John Spald- ing, 1840 ; Daniel Baldwin, 1846 to 8.
State's Attorneys-Timothy Merrill. 1811 to 13, 1815 to 22, 9 years ; Nicholas Bay- lies, 1813, 14, 25; Wm. Upham, 1829; Azel Spalding, 1830 to 35; Homer W. Heaton, 1839, 41, 60, 61; Oramel H. Smith, 1842, 43, 44 ; Charles Reed, 1847- 8; Stoddard B. Colby, 1850, 51 ; Ferrand F. Merrill, 1854-56; Clarence H. Pitkin, 1880, and is now in office.
Judges of Probate Court-David Har- rington, 1811, 1812 ; Salvin Collins, 1815 to 1820 ; Jeduthan Loomis, 1820 to 1830 ; Joseph Reed, 1830 to 1833; Rawsel R. Keith, 1833 to 1836; Daniel P. Thomp- son, 1837, 38, 39; George Worthington, 1840; Azel Spalding, 1842 to 45; Jacob Scott, 1850, 51 ; Joseph Poland, 1852, 53; Nelson A. Chase, 1854, 55 ; Timothy R .. Merrill, 1860 to 70.
Clerks of Supreme and County Courts- George Rich, 1811 to 19, and clerk of the Supreme Court only, 1819, 20; Joshua Y. Vail, clerk of County Court, 1819, 20, and of both courts, 1821 to 39, 18 years ; Still- man Churchill, 1839 to 44; Daniel P. Thompson, 1844, 45 ; Jackson A. Vail, 1849; Shubael Wheeler, 1846 to 9, 50 to 58, II years; Luther Newcomb, 1858 to 77, 19 years : Melville E. Smilie, from 1877, and still in office.
High Sheriff's-George Worthington, 1814; Rawsel R. Keith, 1825 to 32 ; Isaiah Silver, 1840; Andrew A. Sweet, 1841, 42 ; George W. Barker, 1843 to 46; Addison Peck, 1846, 47 ; Joseph W. Howes, 1849 ;
I. W. Brown, 1871 ; John L. Tuttle, 1877, and still in office.
BUSINESS HISTORY.
From the peculiar location of Montpelier village, in a basin into which all the main roads converged through river valleys from the north and the south, the east and the west, it has from the beginning been an important business place, tempting to merchants and professional men, and re- paying good endeavors with abundant success. Not long before his death, the late venerable Arthur Bostwick, of Jer- icho, informed the writer that in his early career as a business man, Montpelier, in- stead of his nearer neighbor Burlington, was the place where he purchased his goods, thus showing that Montpelier merchants found customers even in the valley of Lake Champlain, as they did also through the cen- tral part of the State, and north to Canada line. Burlington had the advantage in trade for all articles brought by water from Canada, but not until 1830, after the construction of the Champlain canal, did the population of Burlington, which is as- sumed as a measure of business for the purpose of this comparison, exceed that of Montpelier. This is the more remarkable in view of the fact that Burlington is by five or six years the older town, and at the outset in 1791 had a population nearly three times as large as Montpelier. The population of the two towns from 1791 to 1840 was as follows :
Burlington 1791, 332 ; 1800, 815; 1810. 1690 ; 1820, 21II ; 1830, 3226 ; 1840, 4271 Montpelier, 1791, 113; 1800, 890 ; 1810 1877; 1820,2308; 1830,2985; 1840,3725
From 1791 to 1820 the advance of Mont pelier was the most rapid ; but since the opening of the Champlain canal, and the railroads, and more recently, by the supe rior energy and wisdom of Burlington il establishing manufactures on a large scale the "Queen City" has far outstripped no only Montpelier but all of her neighbor except Rutland.
MANUFACTURES.
Lest the above tribute to the enterpris and sagacity of Burlington be taken as censure of Montpelier, it is necessary t
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recall the fact that in the early history of the town, and for several years, her busi- ness men were as enterprising, and even as daring, in respect to manufactures as to merchandize. It was the misfortune, how- ever, of the most considerable enterprises to be baalked by fire or flood, and of others by changes in modes of manufacture-as of hats, ready made clothing, and machine- made boots and shoes,and household furni- ture, until at last capitalists were dissuad- ed from every adventure of the kind, and have turned thelr surplus capital into in- vestments in real estate abroad, United States bonds, in banking and insurance companies at home. For capitalists mere- ly, this is perhaps the most prudent course ; but for the town, for its growth in popula- tion and business, it is unfortunate. The earliest necessities of the settlers of the town and vicinity were saw-mills, for lum- ber to construct their dwellings, and grist- mills to prepare materials for food for man and beast. These were first provided on the falls of the North Branch, and were burnt in March, 1826. Mills of each sort were also erected on the falls of the Winooski, and the grist-mill owned by Col. James H. Langdon was destroyed by a flood, Mar. 25, 1826. This mill was rebuilt by Col. Langdon, and was subsequently enlarged by his son, James R. Langdon, into a flouring mill of the first class, with a capac- ity for 250 barrels per day. A profitable bus- ness was done in this mill for several years, but it passed into the hands of the Mont- pelier Manufacturing Company and is now used for other purposes. The saw-mill on the same falls was burnt in Oct. 1834, was rebuilt, and is now used by the same compa- ny. A fourth grist-mill, erected by James R. Langdon, is now owned and run by Mr. E. W. Bailey.
The superabundance of the production of grain in early days led to another species of manufacture, which would hardly be tolerated in these days. In 1805, a distillery of spirituous liquors was estab- ished, and was run for a few years, when t was converted into a manufactory of parthen ware, which was continued until stone and tin ware superseded earthen.
In 1824, another distillery was started, to use up surplus grain in store ; but in 2 years the grain was disposed of and the still was abandoned.
Another necessity from the beginning was tanneries of leather, and the first was established early in the present century by Elijah Witherell and Silas Cobb, which has been succeeded by others. Thomas Dodge, an apprentice to Witherell, stole his indentures of apprenticeship, left his employer, and started a small establish- ment, in which Dodge struggled a while, and gave up the business for shoemaking. Still auother large tannery was established in later years, and is now successfully run by Peck & Johonnott, and Peck & Cum- mings are in the same business.
The clothing-mill, as it was called, or mill for wool-carding, fulling, dyeing and dressing cloth, was another necessity when the frugal and industrious housewives were obliged to spin and weave their own wool. Of these there were two, which were con- tinued until home-made cloth gave way to the handsomer productions of the power- looms.
The most useful and promising ·under- taking, by way of manufactures, was by Sylvanus Baldwin, in the erection of a cotton mill in 1810. From a memorial to Congress in 1832, signed by the distin- guished Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, it appears that " as early as the "year 1810, there were, north of the Po- " tomac, 50 mills for spinning cotton in "operation, and 25 more that went into " operation the ensuing year. The weav- " ing business had commenced, but was " not so far advanced." Baldwin's cotton mill at Montpelier was therefore among the first fifty in the country, and moreover it was among the few that had attained the dignity of weaving cotton yarn into sheet- ings and shirtings. This was 5 years be- fore the first power-loom in America was set in motion, (in 1815,) at Waltham, Mass. Having established this mill, Mr. Baldwin joined with Elisha Town in the invention and construction of a loom for. spinning flax and silk by water-power, with a model of which he went to Europe, in
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the hope of winning a handsome premium offered for such a machine by the first Na- poleon. This enterprise failed through the mischances of war. In Mr. Baldwin's absence, the mill was run successfully by his brother, Hon. Daniel Baldwin, on whose authority this account is given. On the return of the owner, the cotton- mill was sold to David Harrington, and in December, 1813, it was destroyed by fire. The first and the last owner were then crippled in means, and this enterprise was perforce abandoned.
At a later date a similar enterprise was undertaken by Araunah Waterman and Seth Parsons, about 1820, who erected a large and well-appointed woolen factory for its day. It was operated for a time, but that, too, was burned, Mar. 22, 1826, with the loss of the life of Robert Patter- son, one of the operators, and nearly fatal injury to Araunah Waterman and Joel Mead. A second woolen factory was built in 1837-8, by Col. H. N. Baylies, which ultimately was converted into lum- ber-works by A. W. Wilder & Co. Still another woolen factory was built and op- erated at West Montpelier at a recent date, and this was burned.
Among the early manufacturing estab- lishments was an oil-mill, built by Col. Larned Lamb, which in 1810 was con- verted into the before-named cotton-mill, and burned. Another was erected subse- quently by Enos Styles, of Middlesex, and Hubbard & Jewett, of Montpelier, which was also burned in October, 1834.
Of paper-mills there have been three. One by Silas Burbank, which was burned ; one by Samuel Goss and John Reed, which was also burned ; and a third on the Burbank site, which was operated by Silas Goddard & Brothers, Augustus Goss and George W. Cobb, E. P. Walton & Sons, and last by A. M. & D. P. Squires. The water of the Winooski was seriously in- jured for the use of paper-makers, by an extraordinary flood in 1830, which cut into high clay-banks in Barre, that now contribute clay to the stream with every rain. On this account, as well as the un-
reliability of water-power, the manufacture of paper was abandoned.
Another early and widely-known man- ufacturing establishment was that of Eras- tus Watrous and George Worthington, hatters. They were succeeded by Luman & Norman Rublee, who continued in the business until the advent of silk hats put an end to the old mode of manufacture.
Still another old etablishment, (1816,) having customers in two-thirds of the State, was the boot and shoe manufactory of Silas C. French and Nehemiah Harvey, which was continued for a long series of years.
The making of saddles, harnesses and trunks was commenced by Oliver Goss in 1804. Henry Y. Barnes followed in 1817, who continued for many years. There have been several others in this line of business.
Among the earliest experiments on a small scale was the manufacture of cut nails from hoop-iron, by Joshua Markham. Small as was the business compared with that of modern nail factories, Markham's nails were greatly used and highly appre- ciated, bringing 16 cents per pound.
Another iron manufacture was that of large screws for mills, and all other pur- poses requiring strong screws. This bus- iness was prosecuted many years in Mont- pelier by Ellis Nye, who ultimately went into the employ of the late Joshua Thwing, of Barre, iron-founder and millwright.
49 years ago, (1832,) an iron-foundry was established by Alfred Wainwright, which was continued by sundry successors until it came into the possession of Lane, Pitkin & Brock, and is now a part of their works used in the very extensive business of manufacturing saw-mill and other ma- chinery.
The manufacture of mill, factory and other machinery has been prosecuted by Araunah Waterman; Wooster Sprague, whose works were burned in October, 1834; and by Medad Wright, at West Montpelier, who with his son still con- tinues in the business.
Among the manufacturers of household furniture were Thomas Reed, Sr. ; C. & J.
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Wood; James Howland ; Anson Davis ; Lyman Briggs, Samuel W. Abbott & Co .; Emery & Brown, and Abbott & Emery. This is another business which has been materially changed, from the complete manufacture from the lumber, to simply upholstering and other finish of articles manufactured elsewhere, in which E. N. Scovill is now engaged.
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