USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol. I > Part 34
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Fair Haven is located in the western part of Rutland County on the New York border, separated from the neighboring State by the Poultney River. Within its limits are many picturesque valleys,
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including the course of the Castleton River. Although for several years the iron industry was of great importance here, the main reason for Fair Haven's present economic status is found in her unusual slate deposits. As originally created in 1779, this township included that of West Haven as well. It was chartered by Chittenden in return for the payment of £6,930. The first town meeting was held in 1783. Although the territory was divided by the Legislature in 1792, Fair Haven and West Haven did not become completely distinct until 1823. Scotch Hill, on which the main slate quarries are located, was named from the fact that many of the early settlers here were Scotch. The Welsh population came here largely about 1850 from the quar- ries of their native land. Fair Haven village was laid out in 1820, but 1865 was the date of incorporation. During the years preceding the Civil War, the town was active in helping runaway slaves escape to Canada by way of the Underground Railway.
Fair Haven was at one time the home of Matthew Lyon, one of the greatest political figures in Vermont history. This brilliant, pug- nacious Irishman was in the State Legislature ten years. While rep- resenting Vermont in Congress, he created a sensation by spitting into the face of an opponent who had been repeatedly goading him. This act resulted in retaliation two weeks later, on which occasion Lyon was attacked with a heavy cane from behind, an episode equally sensational. The impetuous Congressman from Fair Haven became a vitriolic critic of Federalist President Adams and in 1798 was sentenced to jail and fined in addition, under the unconstitu- tional Sedition Law because of Anti Federalist articles in his paper. While yet in jail, his constituents showed their approval of his posi- tion by reëlecting him with an overwhelming majority. His journey to Washington was a triumphal procession, while many aristocratic Federalists doubtless felt that he was the devil in disguise. In 1801 he cast the deciding vote in Congress which gave the presidency to Jefferson over Burr. In this same year he moved to Kentucky and represented that State in Congress; while at a still later date he rep- resented Arkansas as well. Except for Stephen A. Douglas, Lyon was unquestionably the greatest Democratic political figure ever asso- ciated with Vermont. In 1930, the town's population was 2,614, of which the village contributed 2,289.
North of Castleton and east of Benson, in the northwestern sec- tion of Rutland County, is the historic town of Hubbardton, which
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today has a population of but 307. It was chartered by Wentworth in 1764, and named in honor of an early proprietor, Thomas Hub- bard. Settlement was slow because of contested land claims and the first residents did not arrive until 1774, while in 1777 there were only nine families within the township. Its government was organ- ized in 1785. Partly within its boundaries lies beautiful Lake Bomo- seen, while there are also several mountains. The place of this town- ship in history centers around the battle of Hubbardton after St. Clair evacuated Ticonderoga. In general, Seth Warner was an able leader, but in this case he was caught napping. St. Clair had ordered him to continue to Castleton, but the Vermonter chose, instead, to camp at East Hubbardton. The same night Fraser and his force of Britishers were under arms at Hubbardton. During the night, Indians located the American position, and this intelligence resulted in the well-known sunrise attack on Warner's men while the latter were cooking breakfast. This resulted in the dearly-bought British victory which has been presented in detail elsewhere. At this time the few settlers that inhabited the township were forced to flee. There is a characteristic story of mothers and babies being left alone while their men were fighting, and finally being forced to run for their lives through the cruel wilderness, seeking the home of some neigh- bor for assistance. Smith and Rann, in their "History of Rutland County," write of one of these experiences: "It was a difficult and fatiguing tramp, wet and weary, the children crying from hunger and cold; they rejoice at the sight of a habitation, and hope for shel- ter and warmth. As they approach the door, the voice of prayer from within fills them with joy. They listen-but what is their dis- may when they hear loud and earnest petitions for the triumph of the British arms, and the overthrow and destruction of all who oppose. It is the prayer of a Tory. Wet and weary as they are- and the children crying for bread, they turn away with indignation to look for some more kindly shelter.'
The irregular-shaped mountain town of Ira is situated in the west central section of Rutland County. In all probability it was char- tered by Wentworth in 1761, but it was not organized until 1779. In spite of the fact that Ira contained considerable timber, the early lumbering boom that brought prosperity to many of its neighbors did not penetrate to this township because the streams were not large
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enough for suitable sawmills. Nevertheless, by 1790 Ira had a popu- lation of 312 as compared with 287 today. The principal peak is Her- rick Mountain, while Castleton River flows through the northern part of the town.
East of Rutland is the town of Mendon, which is almost entirely occupied by the Green Mountains. It was originally called Med- way when granted by Chittenden in 1781. Under this charter each proprietor was to cultivate five acres of land, and either to build a house at least eighteen feet square or to have one family settled on his share within three years. When, in 1804, a tract of land known as Parker's Gore was annexed to Medway, the township was called Parkerstown. In 1828 it was named Mendon. The principal busi- ness was lumbering, and the community did not grow very rapidly. In 1790 it had only thirty-four residents, but by 1860 had six hundred and thirty-three, as compared with two hundred and fifty-one today. Mendon was the adopted home of "Indian John." He originally belonged to a western New York tribe, but decided it was wise to flee when his people began to mistrust that he had warned a nearby white settlement that it was marked for destruction. This suspicion was correct, and after undergoing some torture, John escaped to the American Army. Here he was of great service as a guide, and after- ward built a camp in Mendon. His people never forgot nor forgave him, however, and frequently attempted to discover and do away with him. In this they always failed and he lived to be over ninety, although he had many narrow escapes. On one occasion three savages fol- lowed him, but he happened to see them. Crossing a brook, he knelt down behind the upturned roots of a fallen tree and waited. When the three came to the brook they stopped to discuss the mat- ter but finally decided to continue and started to walk across the log one by one. When they were in good range, John fired and killed two of them, while shortly afterward he finished the third.
Middletown Springs is in the western section of the county, sur- rounded by the towns of Poultney, Ira, Wells and Tinmouth. Origi- nally Middletown was a part of these four political subdivisions and was not created by the Legislature until 1784. From the beginning, the mountains surrounding this area made both business and reli- gious associations with the settlements in the older towns extremely inconvenient, whereas nature evidently intended that the settlers
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within this region should have a common destiny. The Legislature acted upon the petition of the people most concerned with the bound- ary changes and gave a favorable verdict. The new town was named for Middletown, Connecticut. There is considerable uncertainty con- cerning the date of its earliest settlement and other facts of its evolu- tion, but we do know that its development was rapid. By 1790 there were 699, while in 1800 there were 1,066, but after 1810 a decline set in. Today, its population is 583. The town has been primarily an agricultural community because of its fertile soil. Among its most profitable industries was the manufacture of cheese. A considerable summer resort business also developed out of the fine springs found here. There was much religious radicalism in Middletown in the early years of its existence, and some of the evidence indicates that here may have been the seeds or roots of the Mormon movement.
The town of Mount Holly is located in a shallow depression of the Green Mountains in the southeastern section of Rutland County. It was not recognized as a township until 1792, sections of it prior to this date comprising a part of the neighboring towns of Ludlow and Wallingford, but the heart of Mount Holly was a territory known as Jackson's Gore. A gore is an odd piece of land that is left over after the surveying of townships or counties. There were a number of these in Vermont history, this particular one being left over from the creation of Ludlow and Wallingford. The land was best suited for grazing purposes, while by virtue of its geography it con- stituted the best place for crossing the Green Mountains south of Montpelier. As a result it found itself situated on a good stagecoach route running from Burlington to Boston, while even after the day of this mode of transportation it continued to be strategically located. A number of the settlers of Mount Holly were Quakers. Its 1930 population was 727.
Southwest of Mount Holly is the township of Mount Tabor, bounded on the south by Bennington County and on the east by Wind- sor. This wild, mountainous town, which today is included in the Green Mountain National Forest, was chartered by Wentworth in 176 I under the name of Harwich. In 1803 it was changed to Mount Tabor to avoid confusion with another Vermont town which was called Hardwick. The first settlers arrived in 1782 and the town government was organized in 1788. Gideon Tabor was the first
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moderator and the first elected representative. The most important industry was the production of charcoal, large quantities of which were exported from here. In general the population of Mount Tabor has been very small and it is interesting to note that there is little difference today (173) from the 165 residents reported in 1790, although in between there was some expansion, the population in 1880 being 495.
Next, alphabetically, is Pawlet, a town in the southwestern corner of Rutland County, bordered on the west by New York and on the south by Bennington County. The principal stream is the Mettawee River, and through its center the town is divided from north to south by a range of mountains. The picturesque village of Pawlet was once a prosperous mill town that rivalled Rutland in activity, a fact that is difficult to imagine today. The reason why one declined while the other went ahead rapidly can be explained largely by the influ- ence of the railroads on Rutland. The township was chartered by Wentworth in 1761 to twenty-seven grantees, chief of whom was Jonathan Willard. He was a lumberman from New York State, although originally from Roxbury, Massachusetts. In the first settle- ment of the town, he played the leading part. Because of the confu- sion surrounding the land question, however, colonizers were few and by 1770 there were only nine families here. During the Revolution many soldiers became acquainted with this section and as soon as hos- tilities ceased they eagerly rushed in and purchased land from the speculators who now controlled the grant. By 1790, Pawlet had a population of 1,458, which increased to 2,233 in 1810. The chief occupation of the early settlers was agriculture, with emphasis on wheat growing. Later coarser grains were grown extensively, a situa- tion which led to the introduction of distilleries. This industry was due, in large measure, to the difficulties encountered in those days in marketing anything as bulky as grain. The manufacture of potash was also of early importance. Later many kinds of factories and mills sprang up, producing a wide range of things such as woolen goods, trip hammers, hats, stockings, potato starch, cotton cloth, slate and lumber. Pawlet was the birthplace of Joshua E. Stoddard, inventor of the steam calliope and the horsedrawn rake. As early as 1768, Remember Baker, who was prominent among the Green Mountain Boys, operated a gristmill here. The population in 1930 was 1,476.
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From the southwestern corner of the county we cross diagonally to the extreme northeastern corner, where we find a triangular-shaped town known as Pittsfield in honor of Pittsfield, Massachusetts. On two sides it is bounded by Windsor County, while on the west it faces the town of Chittenden. The original grant was made by Governor Chittenden in 1781. It was understood by the proprietors that they were obtaining a large tract equal to a township and a half, but later they discovered that they possessed a mere gore, considerably less than a township in size. They fought as best they could what they felt were unjust encroachments upon their territory by the towns of Chit- tenden and Stockbridge, but in the end they ultimately were forced to accept defeat. The first settlement was made in 1786, while the first town meeting was held in 1793. In 1790 there were only 49 people in Pittsfield, but the population increased steadily until it reached a total of 615 in 1840, which is more than double the number found within the township today (256).
Crossing the township of Chittenden we enter Pittsford, which is bordered on the north by Brandon and on the west by Hubbardton. Through this township from south to north flows the Otter along its fertile valley, while on both sides there are hills and mountains. Pitts- ford contains valued deposits of iron ore and marble. In early days it was on the famous military highway running from Crown Point to Charlestown, New Hampshire, and in later times found itself on a railroad artery. The original grant was made by Wentworth in 1761, and the foremost proprietor was Captain Ephraim Doolittle. By 1790 there was a population of 850, which increased to 1,936 in 1810. Since that time there has been very little variation, particularly if we compare Pittsford with the other towns of the county. An iron furnace for many years constituted one of the most important industries of the town. It is in the manufacture of marble, however, that Rutland County stands supreme, and it possibly was at Pitts- ford that the first marble quarrying was done, before 1800. Today the township is the site of two sanatoriums for combating tubercu- losis. The present population is 2,332.
The pleasant township of Poultney lies in the western part of the county on the New York border between Wells on the south and Cas- . tleton on the north. It forms a part of Vermont's great slate dis- trict. Through it winds the fertile valley of the Poultney River, while
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partly within this township is found beautiful Lake St. Catharine. Poultney was chartered by Wentworth in 1761 and was probably named for a friend of the Governor who was an English lord of that name. The town was settled ten years later, in 1771, by some of Ethan Allen's firmest supporters. The organization date was 1775. When news arrived in 1777 of the American defeat at Hubbardton, the women and children of Poultney conducted a brilliant retreat all their own to Bennington, Pownal, and then to their old homes in Con- necticut and Massachusetts. Of the thirteen women who successfully evaded the clutches of Burgoyne's Indians, nearly all returned to Poultney with their children during the next year. In the early days, East Poultney was the business and political center of the township, but the coming of the railroad, in 1852, changed all that. After this date business rapidly shifted to the rising village of Poultney to the west, and in 1868 the honor of holding town meetings was also trans- ferred, to the disgust of the residents of East Poultney. As in so many Vermont towns, the distilling of whiskey was an important industry in the early days, declining about 1830. At one time there were at least ten of these distilleries. In 1806 the Poultney Turnpike Company was organized to convert the primitive roadway into a turn- pike as part of a through line from Albany to Burlington. Prior to the opening of the Champlain Canal this was a profitable business. One of the oldest enterprises was the Ruggles Foundry, where shear- ing machines were manufactured. The slate industry did not develop until 1851. Poultney is the home of Troy Conference Academy, one of the oldest secondary schools in Vermont. Its unusual name is derived from the fact that it was founded by the Troy Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. It was opened in 1836 and has had a varied existence, at one time being known as the Ripley Female Col- lege. Later it was reëstablished as a conference academy. Today it has developed into the Green Mountain Junior College. Poultney was also intimately connected with the life of Horace Greeley and the Abolitionist movement. Here he made his first speech when four- teen years of age, and here it was that he learned the printing trade as a typesetter for the "Poultney Gazette." He spent four years of his life here. The Abolitionist sentiment pervading the town in Gree- ley's time was foreshadowed by the action of one of its first and most prominent settlers in freeing his two slaves because he was "conscien-
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tious that it is not right in the sight of God to keep slaves." Whether his conscience would have dictated otherwise if he had suddenly found himself in the rich cotton fields of the South instead of in the Green Mountain area we can only surmise. In 1930 its population was 3,215.
Near the central part of Rutland County is the township of Proc- tor. Until 1886 it was a part of the township of Rutland. In that year, due to the insistence of Colonel Redfield Proctor, for whom the new town was named, the State Legislature passed the necessary legislation. The first settlement was made in 1766 or 1767 by John Sutherland, near the beautiful falls that even today bear his name. Here he built a sawmill and a gristmill. The quarrying of marble began here in 1836, and started Proctor's ascent to greatness as the "Marble Center." Today the public buildings, and even some of the sidewalks, are constructed of marble. The great transition of this township was due to the efforts of the man for whom it was named. In 1870, Redfield Proctor welded together the independent marble firms into the great Vermont Marble Company. He, at the same time, became the dominant political power in the State and was Gov- ernor from 1878-80. In 1886, when he transferred his talents to the partitioning of the town of Rutland, he encountered much opposition among his neighbors who protested that he controlled directly or indi- rectly ninety-seven per cent. of the property in the proposed town of Proctor. What he wanted he generally managed to get, however; and as a result of his efforts he became the main figure in what was practically a one-man town. The history of the township of Proctor and the life of Colonel Redfield Proctor are inseparable. Its popula- tion in 1930 was 2,596, of which the village of Proctor contributed 2,515.
The original town of Rutland was not divided into two parts, how- ever, but into four. At the same time Proctor was created, West Rut- land was set off as well; and, in 1892, a further subdivision took place with the erection of the city of Rutland. Since the history of the township and the development of the city are inseparable the two will be dealt with as one. Through Rutland ran the lovely valley of the Otter, along which red men from time immemorial preferred to travel. Along this route also was a favorite path of the early white man. As early as 1730, a fur trader named James Cross recorded in his jour-
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nal a description of the vicinity of the falls. Rutland also served as an important junction on the military roads constructed under Amherst's orders. With the coming of steam transportation it was destined to become a railroad center. The original township of Rutland was chartered by Wentworth in 1761 and named in honor of Rutland, Massachusetts. The first settlement was made when James Mead brought his wife and ten children over the mountains from Manchester in 1770. There was an unusual amount of confu- sion here at the time because of the conflicting land claims. In the same year that Wentworth had issued the New Hampshire charter, Colonel John Henry Lydius, of New York, also had made a grant here on the basis of his Indian title. Later, in 1771, Governor Dun- more, of New York, included all of Rutland in the town of Social- borough. Later, however, the land dispute was swallowed up in the war with England. Two forts were established here: Fort Rutland, in 1775, and Fort Ranger, in 1778. In 1784, the county seat was moved from Tinmouth to Rutland.
In 1800 the population was 2,124. Its growth was gradual for the next fifty years, reaching 3,715 in 1850. At that time it was but half the size of Burlington. From 1850 to 1880, however, Rutland's rise was sensational due to the building of the railroad, together with the development of the marble industry. In that thirty-year period the township's population more than tripled until, in 1880, it reached 12,149, and Rutland displaced Burlington for the time being as the State's largest community. In our present day it is the second largest among Vermont's cities, with a total of 17,315 residents. Although since the subdivision of the old township no marble today exists within Rutland, nevertheless it is preëminently the Marble City, and its manufactured products are known all over the world. Next to mar- ble the most important manufactured product has been weighing scales. Rutland is the home of the Howe scales, and at one time nine- tenths of the scales used in the world were made in Vermont. Politi- cally, as well as economically, Rutland has played an extremely impor- tant part in the State's history, contributing seven Governors alone. In 1930 the remnant of the old Rutland Township reported a popula- tion of 1,387.
From the busy, highly-industrialized Rutland area we move a short distance eastward across Mendon to find the extremely moun- tainous township of Sherburne. Within its borders is the second high-
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est mountain in Vermont, Killington Peak, which has an altitude of 4,241 feet. Also in Sherburne is the source of picturesque Quechee River. When the township was chartered in 1761 its name was Kill- ington. Although attempts at settlement were made, it was not until twenty-four years later, in 1785, that the proprietors succeeded. There were 32 inhabitants in the township in 1790, and local gov- ernment was organized in 1794. Mills were erected on the Que- chee, but the soil in Sherburne was, in general, not suited for agricul- ture, and population remained sparse. There are fewer people living in this township today (298) than was the case one hundred years ago.
Next, alphabetically, is Shrewsbury, which, like Sherburne, is in the Green Mountain region in the eastern section of the county next to the Rutland-Windsor line. The town's charter was issued in 1761 by Wentworth, but it was 1777 before the first settler appeared, and 1781 before the local government was organized. Some sections of the town possess fertile soil, while Shrewsbury has attained fame for the excellence of its dairy products, particularly butter. By 1830 there was a population of 1,289 as compared with 540 today. It was the home of old Finney Tavern, a description of which has been preserved for us by M. L. Dawley, of Cuttingsville :
"We remember over half a century ago the sign with the square and compass and other emblematical designs glittering in the sunshine of this ancient hostelry. The place was known from the Canadian provinces to Boston, and was a home for the weary traveler, and a resort for pleasure seekers and invalids in search of health. .
Two or three four-horse coaches called daily at the door, the stables afforded room for at least one hundred horses, and were often filled. Immense droves of cattle were driven over the road from Northern New York and the lake towns to Boston markets and, stopping over night at this old stand, would literally cover the meadows and hill- sides with lowing herds. But those 'good old times' are gone. Mails, passengers, freights and live stock are now rushed by like the wind by steam. . The worshippers of Bacchus no longer assemble there, the jovial song and the merry raps of the toddy-stick are heard no more."
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