USA > Vermont > The Lake Champlain and Lake George valleys, Vol. I > Part 37
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"Sandy Hill lies about five miles from Kingsbury on the Hudson, where that river, terminating its eastern course, makes a remarkable bend to the south, a direction which it follows from this place to the ocean. The site of the village is a pine plain, elevated from one hun- dred to two hundred feet above the bed of the river. It contains, perhaps, twenty houses, several of them neat. The two great roads, from the eastern side of Lake Champlain and the western side of Lake George, in their progress towards New York, unite here and make it a place of frequent resort and some trade. It is often visited by gentlemen and ladies in their excursions to Lake George: a scene of preëminent beauty, which I shall have occasion to describe more particularly hereafter. We lodged in a miserable inn, the proprietor of a much better one being occupied in building a house, and therefore, unable to receive us."
In 1810, Dwight reported that a Presbyterian church was located in Sandy Hill and another at Glens Falls. In his words, "a minister has been settled over both villages at a salary of $700 per annum; a fact which proves at once the prosperity and good disposition of the inhabitants."
The first settlers at Sandy Hill came in 1768 and promptly began the erection of mills. In 1844, the industrial life of this community became really important with the establishment of the first manila paper mills in the United States. Other important manufacturing interests were rapidly established and Sandy Hill became a notable industrial center of northern New York. It attained village status in
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WASHINGTON COUNTY
1810, but its name was not changed to Hudson Falls until 1910. Today Kingsbury has a population of 8,094, of whom 6,449 live in Hudson Falls.
North of Dresden in the mountainous isthmus separating Lake George and Lake Champlain is the town of Putnam, bounded on the north by Essex County and Ticonderoga. Its mountains are not so precipitous as the peaks of its southern neighbor, but form very inter- esting scenery. The most prominent mountain is picturesque Anthony's Nose, which descends into the waters of Lake George with startling abruptness. Only about one-third of the territory comprising the township is suitable for productive purposes, but there is consider- able graphite. Until 1806, the town was a part of Westfield, now Fort Ann. At that time it was named in honor of General Israel Putnam, and between 1806 and 1822 included the neighboring town of Dresden. The first settler came in 1782. There is a curious legend that in the extreme northern end of the town at Black Point there was once a Negro community, but the story is based entirely on tradition. The present population of Putnam is 479.
The town of Salem, situated along the eastern border of Wash- ington County between Hebron and Jackson, was first settled by New Englanders, who cleared their land in 1761 and brought their fami- lies in 1764. Many of the early settlers were Scotch-Irish, however, and it was a Scotch clergyman, who had lived in northern Ireland, who now had the distinction of holding the first divine service for actual settlers in New York State north of Albany, in Salem in 1765. His name was Dr. Thomas Clark, a Presbyterian, who had brought his own congregation across the ocean. The settlement was first named New Perth by the Scotch, and, in spite of the opposition of the New Englanders, retained that title when erected into a township in 1774. At that time it was the most populous community in the county. The name, Salem, was not used until 1787, legally. It was probably derived from Fort Salem, which had been erected there at the time of Burgoyne's invasion and which had been named in honor of Salem, Massachusetts. Thus the New Englanders eventually were successful in overcoming their Scotch rivals and selecting the town's permanent name.
During the Revolution, the inhabitants of Salem, led by Dr. John Williams, a young English physician, supported the patriot cause and marched to Ticonderoga to bolster St. Clair. The fort fell, however,
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LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
before they could reach that post, and the settlers at once began the construction of Fort Salem, using an unfinished church, buttressed by the logs of another house of worship, for their fortress. When news began to arrive of the depredations committed by Burgoyne's Indians, particularly of the murder of Jane McCrea, it was abandoned and the settlers fled to places of greater safety. During their absence their fort was burned. After Burgoyne's capture they slowly made their way back to their former homes and began to rebuild the town. Another block- house, made of logs, twenty feet square, with a stockade, was promptly erected and named Fort Williams in honor of their leading military figure. It was garrisoned by a force of Connecticut militia.
The first town meeting was held in 1787. Its minutes disclose that a petition was written to the State Legislature respecting immo- rality, and they also tell of a decision that no inhabitant of Salem should be allowed in the tavern after nine o'clock at night, except on urgent business. The efforts of the settlers to secure their particular idea of a moral Utopia by legislation were extended four years later, in 1791, when it was voted that it was the duty of all inhabitants of Salem to stop people from traveling on Sunday except when necessary. Later, in 1797, it was voted that the authorities should give no license to Sabbath-breakers. Education was regarded highly by the early settlers and we find here an academy which was incorporated by the Regents in 1791, the fourth to be so favored in the entire State. Washington Academy, as it was called in honor of the immortal patriot, became in 1852 the first free academy in the State outside of the city of New York. The village of Salem attained recognition in 1803. As we have seen, the town was designated as the meeting place of the county court in 1787, and it was probably to protect this advan- tage that residents of Salem engineered the transfer of the towns of Easton and Cambridge to Washington County. From the very begin- ning of settlement, Salem played a very important part in the develop- ment of the county, politically and otherwise. The village boasts 1,08 I residents out of the 2, 145 living in the township.
In the extreme southeastern corner of Washington County, fac- ing Vermont on the east, Rensselaer County on the south, Cambridge on the west, and Jackson on the north, is the town of White Creek, so named because of the whiteness of the bed of the stream running through it, and the clearness of its water as well. The first settlement
39I
WASHINGTON COUNTY
took place between 1761 and 1765. For many years it constituted a part of Cambridge, but eventually it was transformed into a separate township by the State Legislature. During the Revolution, White Creek was closely connected with Baum's raid on Bennington, while his famous battle with Stark took place just across the town line. Of its population of 2, 180, over half (1, 169) live in Cambridge village.
Last, but very far from being least among the towns of Washing- ton County, is that of Whitehall. In fact, its situation near the point where Wood Creek feeds South Bay of Lake Champlain made it extremely important in the age of military conflict and in the peaceful era of industry and commerce as well. All armed forces, red or white, that used the eastern route to Canada passed along the old trails running through the township. The first settler was an officer in the English Army who brought about thirty families here in 1761. His name was Philip Skene, one of the most interesting characters ever to set foot in Washington County. It was for him that the infant settlement was named Skenesborough. It is by this name that the community won fame on the pages of history, a fame so wide- spread that its original name cannot be obliterated by the whim of the populace in calling it Whitehall. After he made his original settle- ment, Skene went to the West Indies and brought back a number of Negro slaves. When he returned he found that part of the settlers had abandoned his project and that the remainder were greatly dis- contented, but he was not easily discouraged. In 1765 he secured a patent of 25,000 acres, and proceeded with great energy. He built a sloop for transportation on Lake Champlain, a stone mansion for himself, a sawmill, a gristmill, a forge and other large buildings, and finally, at his own expense, a road through the wilderness to Salem, thirty miles away. As the Revolution approached, he was a leading figure in an attempt to have the disputed New Hampshire Grants erected into a separate royal colony with himself as governor. He apparently was succeeding in his quest when the Colonies and the Mother Country reached a parting of the ways, putting an end to any such venture. When the war broke out he became a Tory. Because of his popularity among the settlers and his great energy and influ- ence it now became necessary for his patriot neighbors in self- protection to vilify him and conduct a campaign of slander against him. This blackening of his character was so well done that in the
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LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
words of Fitch: "Could we put the question to any of the common people who were residing here in the days that are now gone by, who it was they hated most, the reply we know would be 'the Devil'; but if we further asked who, next to him they most execrated, we are in doubt whether the answer would be 'the Pope' or 'old Skene.'" He became the confidential adviser of General Burgoyne in 1777. Much has been said about the latter's choice of the Fort Ann route instead of the Lake George route for the advance on Albany and much has also been written concerning Skene's part in that decision. It has been generally assumed that Skene recommended this eastern route so that he would have a good road for his own use after the end of the war; but there is no certainty that such a selfish motive prompted this advice. In fact, the more we attempt to penetrate the fog of vilification created by the patriots, the greater man he appears to be. He was never responsible for fighting his neighbors by other than honorable methods, and in all probability he would not have fought them at all had he not been practically forced into it by the harshness of the Colonial leaders. Some of his advice to Burgoyne was good and some was not. When the British Army surrendered after Sara- toga he became a prisoner. After the war he attempted to regain his property in America, but his lands were confiscated by the victorious patriots, and he was unsuccessful in his quest.
Skenesborough was the first permanent settlement made by Eng- lishmen on the shores of Lake Champlain, and for many years it was the most important town in the Champlain Valley. In 1773, twelve years after the first settlement, it had a population of 379. Skene's forge was the first one in this section and was the forerunner of the iron industry that was to become so important in the communities around the lake. In 1775, a party of patriots under Herrick captured the settlement and in the next year Skene's equipment and mills were used to help build Arnold's fleet. In 1777, everything that would burn was set on fire by the retreating Americans as Burgoyne's army approached. After the war, the town was rebuilt. Among the reasons for its growth was the introduction of steam navigation to Lake Champlain by the first steamboat, the "Vermont," in 1809. During the War of 1812, barracks were built, storehouses were constructed, and some artillery fortifications were erected. After the battle of Plattsburgh, Macdonough brought his victorious squadron and his
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WASHINGTON COUNTY
prizes into East Bay, near the village, where they remained until they decayed. In 1823 further impetus was given to the growth of White- hall by the completion of the Champlain Canal, while by 1875 the Delaware and Hudson Railroad connected this town with Montreal. Although Skenesborough was a recognized township in 1765, there is no record of a community organization until 1778. In 1786, the name of the hated Skene was eradicated so far as possible by the change of the town from Skenesborough to Whitehall. The village became incorporated in 1806. In 1930 it had a population of 5,191, out of the township's total of 5,975. We will close our brief résumé of the history of this township by repeating a description of Whitehall in 1796 from the pen of Isaac Weld, Jr .:
"At present there are only about twelve houses in the place; but if the navigation of Wood Creek is ever opened, so as to connect Lake Champlain with the North River, a scheme which has already been seriously thought of, it will, doubtless, soon become a trading-town of considerable importance, as all the various productions of the shores of the lake will then be collected there for the New York and Albany markets. Notwithstanding all the disadvantages of a land carriage of forty miles to the North River, a small portion of flour and pot-ash, the staple commodities of the state of New York, is already sent to Skenesborough from different parts of the lake, to be forwarded to Albany. A considerable trade also is carried on through this place and over Lake Champlain, between New York and Can- ada. Furs and horses principally are sent from Canada, and in return, they get East Indian goods and various manufactures. Lake Cham- plain opens a very ready communication between New York and the country bordering on the St. Lawrence.
"Skenesborough is most dreadfully infested with mosquitoes; so many of them attacked us the first night of our sleeping there that when we arose in the morning our faces and hands were covered all over with large pustules, precisely like those of a person in the small pox. This happened too, notwithstanding that the people of the house, before we went to bed, had taken the pains possible to clear the room of them by fumigating it with the smoke of green wood, and afterwards securing the windows with gauze blinds; and even on the second night, although we destroyed many dozens of them on the walls, after a similar fumigation had been made, yet we suffered
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LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
nearly as much. These insects were of a much larger size than any I saw elsewhere, and their bite was uncommonly venomous. General Washington told me that he never was so much annoyed by mos- quitoes in any part of America as in Skenesborough, for they used to bite through the thickest boot!"
CHAPTER IV
Addison County
Fourth among the eleven counties included in this research, in order of creation, is peaceful Addison.
Of all our Vermont counties, this is the richest historically. Situated as it is where Lake Champlain becomes extremely narrow and where that great northern military highway and artery of commerce sepa- rates into the Lake George and South Bay channels, it was predestined to assume an important rôle in the affairs of men. As was demon- strated so often, the possession of this soil together with that of Essex County on the New York shore was essential to the control of the Champlain Valley. Although the chief forts were built on the eastern side of the lake, Crown Point is inseparable, historically, from Chimney Point, and Ticonderoga itself was buttressed by strong defenses on Mount Independence on the Vermont shore. All armies moving north or south were forced by necessity to guard carefully the narrow strip of water between the two forts, so narrow that it is not surprising that it has frequently been described as a river, yet so important that it can correctly be called the jugular vein of the Cham- plain Valley.
The Indian history of Addison County did not differ materially from that of its neighbors on the north, south and west. At the time of the ascendency of the Iroquois, these "Romans of the New World" guarded the gateway to Canada just as carefully as the white war- riors who followed them. Because of its vital geographic location, it is not surprising that an unusual amount of evidence of Indian occupation has accumulated here. There are at least two places on the lake shore in the town of Orwell opposite Ticonderoga where the savages manufactured arrowheads from the flinty stones found there. In 1820 an urn was unearthed at Middlebury large enough to hold over
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LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
twenty quarts. This apparently had been made from pulverized granite and clay, baked but unglazed.
On the occasion of his celebrated battle with the Iroquois there is no question but that Champlain entered the confines of Addison County. By right of discovery he added this territory to New France. Actual occupation of the county by the French, however, did not result until about 1730, when they built a small fort at Chim- ney Point, which was known to them as "Pointe à la Chevalure." Around this post and the more important fort of Crown Point (called "St. Frederic"), small settlements sprang up. Over two cen- turies ago fruit trees and gardens dotted the landscape, and French children laughed and shouted at their play on the soil of Addison. The French Crown issued large land grants to various individuals, including army officers and Canadian politicians. The boundaries of these grants were, of necessity, extremely vague and conflicting. In 1743, Giles Hocquart was awarded an area including one hundred and fifteen thousand acres comprising the present towns of Addison, New Haven, Panton, Waltham and Weybridge and portions of Brid- port, Bristol, Cornwall and Middlebury, all of which are now parts of Addison County. Another grant made in 1734 to M. Contrecoeur, Jr., began at the mouth of Otter Creek and included the Addison County towns of Ferrisburg and Monkton, the city of Vergennes, and portions of Panton, Waltham, New Haven and Bristol. French set- tlers, however, were not anxious to make their homes in the Ameri- can wilderness except in the shadow of their forts. Whatever induce- ments were dangled before their eyes by the proprietors failed to blind them to the dangers that would be certain to confront them and their families along the old war trail. When General Amherst and his British Army approached, in 1759, the French evacuated their fortresses. As these military posts fell, French settlers melted away toward Canada. Their colonization of Addison County abruptly ceased and the soil became England's by right of conquest.
To say that Addison County was ruled by England after 1763 would be very simple; but, as in the case of other Vermont counties, such a solution would not be complete. While this territory was sub- ject to the edicts of the British Crown, it was also involved in the land grant disputes between New York and New Hampshire. As early as 1683, it was included by New York, by virtue of its treaty
397
ADDISON COUNTY
with the Iroquois, in Albany County; while after 1772 it formed a part of Charlotte County. When the Empire State later changed the name, for patriotic reasons, from Charlotte to Washington, the boundaries were unchanged. In 1778 Vermont organized its own government, Addison and all the other territory west of the Green Mountains being included in Bennington County. In 1780, when the latter county was divided, the eastern shore of Lake Champlain was in Washington County, although incorporated as Rutland County in 1781. Finally, in 1785, the latter county was restricted to its present limits, and Addison County was created, including all ter- ritory to the north, comprising the present counties of Chittenden,
FRANKLIN
ORLEANS
Trisbury
Manklo
Ginksboru
MONKTON
TARKSBORO
URG
Ferrisburg
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CHITTENDEN
CALEDONIA
1 Bristol
West
WASHINGTON
NTON
BRISTOL
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INCON
Ne
South Lincoln
Ant
ADDISON
ORANGE
A
WEYBRIDGE
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GRANVILLE
RIPTON
Brmp
LOOLEBURY
Gronv.
Bridport
Ripton
BRIDPORT
RUTLANO
COR
TALL
WINDSOR
Lurawally
Sturehan
Neinbur,
SHOREHAM
Sharcham
IR I GOSHEN
Leicester
Asst Shorchom
For well Sta
Orwell
JAWELL
BENNINGTON
WINDHAM
Franklin, Grand Isle and Lamoille, and parts of Orleans and Wash- ington as well. The town of Granville was added in 1787. During that same year, however, Addison County was cut down to approxi- mately its present size, the territory to the north being known as Chit- tenden County. The only territorial changes to Addison County since then have been the annexation of Starksboro in 1797, the acquisition of Orwell from Rutland County in 1847, and the setting off of Warren to Washington County in 1829. It was named in honor of Joseph Addison, an English author.
1
S
East
Grawvil
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Bread Lu ,
HANCOCK
Dunm
ESSEX
LAMOILLE
New
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LAKE CHAMPLAIN AND LAKE GEORGE VALLEYS
It is not surprising that, as soon as Amherst swept the power of France out of the Champlain Valley, the soldiers in England's armies that had marched up and down the countryside hastened to Addison County to select sites for homes. The dense wilderness of that day melted away in front of the settler's ax. After the close of hostilities, the land was so eagerly sought by both speculators and settlers, that Governor Wentworth, of New Hampshire, chartered the bulk of the townships of the county in 1761, practically completing the opening up of this political subdivision with the chartering of Bristol, Ferris- burg and Monkton in 1762; Orwell and Whiting in 1763; while Panton was rechartered in 1764. The first English settlement was made in the township of Addison on the site of the old French Colony around Chimney Point. The first dwelling built in the vicinity of Lake Champlain was constructed here by John Strong, of Connecticut, in 1765. After returning to the older settlements, he brought his wife and three children to their wilderness home in February of the following year. Addison County quickly became involved in the land dispute between New York and New Hampshire. It was on the Otter Creek that Colonel Reid and his Scotch settlers made their homes on the basis of a New York grant, only to encounter the inflexible oppo- sition of the Green Mountain Boys. Although, during the Revolu- tion, farming ceased, the population of Addison County in 1790 was 6,449, in 1800 it was 13,417, while in 1810 it was 19,993. From 1810 to 1820 the War of 1812 held the increase of population down to 476, but during the next decade there was an addition of 3,470 inhabitants. In 1930, its population was 17,952.
As can be suspected, the people of Addison County suffered severely during the cold summer of 1816. As late as June fourth, apple trees were hardly in full bloom. On the sixth there were snow squalls and the weather was so cold that men worked with their great- coats and mittens on. On July twenty-ninth the ground was covered with frost, while on October eighteenth the snow was six inches deep. Before 1820 the chief agricultural pursuits were the growing of wheat and cattle, although soon after this Addison became famous as a sheep county.
The town of Addison, not only alphabetically, but also by virtue of prior settlement, ranks first among the communities of the county. Not only was the first settler of the township John Strong, but this
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ADDISON COUNTY
same pioneer was for some time its leading citizen. He represented Addison in the State Legislature for three years; he was elected first judge of the Addison County Court; he was, in 1786, elected judge of probate and a member of the Council, while in 1791 he was a mem- ber of the convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States. We are indebted to him and his family for many interesting stories about life on the early frontier. According to him, "If a party of Indians made their appearance when the men were absent the women allowed them to help themselves to whatever they liked. At one time a party came in when Mrs. Strong was alone. They first took the cream from the milk and rubbed it on their faces; then rub- bing soot on their hands, painted themselves in all the hideousness of the war paint, and sang the war song with whoop and dances. Just as they were leaving, one of them discovered a showy colored short gown, that her husband had just made her a birthday present of. This he took and putting it on, seemed greatly delighted, and with yells and whoops they departed. She had a place between the outer wall of the house and chimney where, whenever Indians were seen about, she used to hide her babe. A barrel of sour milk was kept, where a set of pewter dishes was, as soon as used, put for security. One day an Indian came in and saw a small plate, which he took, and making a hole in it, put in a string and wore it off as an ornament. They would sometimes, when hungry, kill a hog or beef. The following will show that their fears were not groundless : One morning in June, just when the sky takes on that peculiar hue that has given it the term 'gray of the morning,' Mrs. Strong arose and went to a spring, a few rods from the house, standing on the bank of the lake. The birds had just commenced their morning matins, making 'woodland and lea' vocal with song. The air was laden with the perfume of the wild flowers. Not a breath stirred a leaf or ruffled the glass-like sur- face of the waters of the lake. She stopped for a moment to enjoy it. As she stood listening to the song of the birds, she thought she heard the dip of a paddle in the water, and looking through the trees that fringed the bank, saw a canoe filled with Indians. In a moment more the boat passed the trees in full view. A pole was fastened upright in the bow, on the top of which was the scalp of a little girl ten years old, her flaxen ringlets just stirred in the morning air, while streams of clotted blood all down the pole showed it was placed there
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