USA > Vermont > Chittenden County > Williston > The Williston story > Part 3
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In 1899 it joined in a formal union with the Congregational Church - an arrangement still in existence in 1961.
The Universalist Society. On February 18, 1844, the "Friends of Liberal Principles" convened at the Town Meeting (probably means they met at the town hall. ) 24 The purpose of such organization was stated in its constitution :
"The purpose of sustaining the preaching of the Gospel, and promoting the cause of truth, righteousness, humanity, liberty, and charity."25
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Though in comparison with the other religious bodies in Williston the Universalist Society was to have a short life, it began its work with a membership of fifty-one.
Even at this early date there seemed to be a social and economic class-consciousness within the religious bodies of Willis- ton. Russell Taft writes that the original group of fifty-one members was composed of "a large share of the liberal and sub- stantial people of the town.26
Following the pattern earlier established by both Congrega- tionalists and Methodists, the Society had its humble beginnings in the town hall. By the fall of 1859, they had prospered to the extent that a building was erected - described later as a "very neat and commodious brick house of worship."27 Evidently this was indeed a prosperous period in the history of Williston; nine years later, 1869, the Methodists also were able to worship in a new church. Relative giving by the two groups in similar situa- tions is revealing. The largest contributor to the Universalist church building donated $500.28 When the Methodist church was built for $18,116, three people gave $12,000 - L. A. Bishop, Priscilla Clark, and Jason Clark.29
Located near the center of the village, the Universalist meet- ing house was built on the east side of the Methodist chapel. The new meeting house was complete with a pipe organ designed and constructed in Williston. The builder, Russell Munson, seemed to be something of a local genius and dreamer. His organ re- mained in the church until 1878.30 In 1938 the legal heirs of the original Universalist Society sold the structure to its present occupant, the Thomas Chittenden Grange #531.31
Perhaps the best known of the Universalist pastors was Joseph Sargent, later appointed chaplain of the 13th Regiment Vermont Volunteer Militia. In a biographical sketch printed in the national church organ, the Universalist Register, the Rev. Mr. Sargent is described :
". .. having a kind, sympathetic heart and great facility in ministering to the sick, with an inexhaustible fund of mirth,
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he was very useful to the soldiers, who loved him with a passionate fondness."32
An interesting insight into the cultural character of Williston in the mid-1800's is seen in the reasons given for Mr. Sargent's location in Williston. It is said that he moved to Williston because he "desired better opportunities to educate his children" than were to be found in Plainfield, Vermont - his former parish.33
The Baptist Church. The first mention of the Baptist church in Williston is in the records of the Vermont Baptist Convention when it is noted that Rev. Mr. Peter Chase was the minister in Hinesburgh.34 Evidently Williston was an outpost, on the Hines- burgh charge, served by Mr. Chase. By 1828, Peter Chase had moved to Williston where he founded the Williston Academy and did double duty as preacher and teacher. The Williston church was founded in 1828, as a branch of the Hinesburg church, with eighteen members.35
Under the leadership of Peter Chase, both the academy and the parish seemed to prosper. In fact, their growth was so sub- stantial that they undertook a missionary enterprise. The First Baptist Society of Burlington was formed January 5, 1830, when the Burlington branch of the Williston Baptist Church was or- ganized with a membership of six - four women and two men.36 Because the Burlington Society had no meeting house and no resident minister, preaching services were on a half-time basis, a lay member of the Williston Church, a Mr. Hill, doing such preaching.37 For more than three years Mr. Hill served the Burlington parish. There is no record of the termination of his services though no succeeding records of his activities can be found.
Due to the "great destitution of pastors in the northern part of the state," the Vermont Baptist Association gave both financial and leadership aid to the churches in this area.38 Williston was a recipient of such aid in 1831.39 There is no record of the termination of the Baptist Society in Williston, though we have reasons to believe that Baptist services continued until the discon-
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tinuence of the Williston Academy in 1883, when the academy was integrated into the "graded school system.40
The Carmelite Monastery.41 "Justice shall sit in Carmel .. . And the work of justice shall be peace : and the service of justice quietness and security forever." With these words the Prophet Isaias described the ancient Old Testament home of the Carmelite Order.
As one enters Williston village from the west on Route 2, these words are recalled. Standing immediately north of Route 2, is a white enclosed structure surmounted by a cross - the Willis- ton home of the Carmelite community.
At the invitation of the Most Reverend Edward F. Ryan, D. D., Bishop of Burlington, six nuns from the Carmelite Monas- tery in the Bronx, New York City, came to Williston on Septem- ber 16, 1950. On arrival, the Sisters took possession of the former Elmcrest Inn property, which they had purchased some months previously. On Sunday, September 17, 1950, Holy Mass was offered for the first time in the temporary chapel by His Excellency, Edward F. Ryan, D. D. The permanent chapel attached to the monastery, which also serves as the church for the Catholic parish of Williston, was completed by late spring, 1951. Mass was first celebrated in the present chapel on Sunday, June 3, 1951. And on Sunday, July 1, 1951, His Excellency Bishop Ryan sealed the Papal Enclosure of the Convent.
Since that day the people of Williston have helped the Carmelite community in every possible way by rendering innum- erable services to the nuns in a spirit of true Christian charity, and by uniting with them in earnest prayer that "the blessings of Heaven might be given in abundance to the earth." The daily presence in our midst of this Carmelite community stands to re- mind us that "the life of a contemplative monastery is its own apostolate."
Spiritualism. The only written record we have of the Spiritualist Movement in Williston was found by a researcher in 1940 in the attic of the home of Mrs. Laura Parker.42 Now lost, it recorded messages received by the medium from the regions of
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the dead. No identifying record can be found that would tell any personal facts concerning the local medium, Mrs. M. L. Allen. From reviewing the messages we can only say that Mrs. Allen had either an uncanny gift for communicating with the dead, or an agile mind that was able to use her seances as a means to an end.
Two of the most interesting and outstanding of the recorded conversations with the dead seem to confirm the latter suspicion. One of the conversations is dated August 31, 1866, and is purport- edly from Abraham Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln took that opportunity to get in a political touché with the Willistonians present.
"Andrew Johnson is a darker villain, a more consummate traitor than Jeff Davis, and will lay deeper plans to betray his country than Davis has done, but the God of the free reigns. .. In electing Baxter [evidently a local Williston politician] you will defeat some leading office seekers and selfish politicians who would betray their country."43 Whether the people of Williston heeded the advice of the old rail-splitter, we can find no record.
In connection with the Universalist Society in Williston, the name of Joseph Sargent was mentioned. In a recorded conversa- tion dated February 16, 1868, Sargent tells of the error of his ways.
"Friends, I have come to tell you that I was expected to go to a Universalist heaven when I died but I found a spirit- ualist heaven. You know I preached for my bread and butter as all unfortunate ministers of the gospel do and I could not make spiritualism a theme."44
Surely many of the God-fearing and church-going people in Williston were sorry to hear that the life-after-death of their early sermons was only a Spiritualist dominated heaven.
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The Four R's
During the early years of Williston's history, formal educa- tion was for the most part non-existent. Periodically classes were held in the various denominational meeting house's. However, such an arrangement had to assume that the teacher would be the "settled" minister. Formal education lagged because this was not always a safe assumption to make due either to the inability of the minister or to a lack of interest on the part of the minister and the local citizenry.
With the arrival, in 1828, of Reverend Peter Chase from Hinesburgh, the educational picture in Williston changed. Mr. Chase seems to have had some vague connection with the Hines- burg Academy previous to his removal to Williston. Some sources imply that he had been the principal there; however, others in listing the headmasters omit the name of Chase from their lists.1 Mr. Chase proved to be a man of somewhat unique, and varied, talents. In rapid succession he established a "Baptist" Society and the Williston Academy. Aime Barber, in her master's thesis, leads us to believe that the academy was his chief and favorite occupation, the Baptist Society holding a second place in his loyalties.2
This judgment is made for several reasons. Upon his arrival Peter Chase purchased, in his own name, the land upon which the academy stood. The only connection that the Baptist Society had with the academy was to rent the building, on a part-time basis, from the Williston Academy.3 This seems to imply that the academy was the chief concern of Mr. Chase. This arrangement of proprietor and renter continued until Peter Chase sold his land. At this early date (early 1830's) it would seem that Chase was the sole owner of the academy - its name, its reputation and its building. Over the years, tradition has stated that the Baptist Society was directly responsible for the establishment of the academy. However true this may be, there are no written records to indicate that this was the case.
In the spring of 1841, a new brick building began to rise from
1851854
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a lot in the middle of the village adjacent to the Town Hall.4 The reasons for this expansion are not clear. Perhaps thirsty youth in a search for knowledge had over-crowded the Academy ; perhaps Peter Chase, in pursuing his speculation, had sold the old building. (Chase is known to have purchased and sold several blocks of land during his stay in Williston.)5 Whatever the reasons, the Academy now began to enjoy a certain amount of prosperity.
Yet there were certain problems connected with having the Academy in a town the size and location of Williston. The greatest was that of securing and retaining men in the position of headmaster or principal. From the time of occupancy of the new brick building, until the late 1850's principals remained only for short periods of time. In 1858, the citizens realized the effectiveness of the Academy depended to a large extent upon the stability of its leadership. Realizing this, they proposed to take measures to insure "greater permanence in the headship of the school."6
With this idea in mind, the "trustees" or "patrons" spent $1.500 enlarging and repairing the building.7 Mr. J. S. Cilley was engaged as the principal. He had formerly headed the Academy in Underhill but had retired in 1852.8 Perhaps it was the prospect of working with a school that had a substantial en- dowment (Underhill had none) that lured Mr. Cilley from re- tirement. Perhaps it was the opportunity to make a good school even better. Whatever the reason, the people of Williston were proud that he came, for the first term's enrollment was 140.9
Many changes came with the arrival of Mr. Cilley. He felt that the religious atmosphere, so prevalent in the time of Peter Chase, was still necessary. Therefore he stated his rules.
'. . . every student is required to be present at the religious exercises of the morning, and to be punctual in attendance . .. and absence is in no case excused unless it be indispens- ably necessary ... Students are required to attend church regularly on the Sabbath at such places as their own choice, or that of the parent, or guardian, may direct."10
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It may be that this was Mr. Cilley's way of saying that "father knows best."
Learning at the Williston Academy was a matter of prime importance. The fee for tuition per term ($4.50), and room and board per week ($3.50 to $4.00), was high enough to imply that this business of learning was a privilege and not a right.11 The seriousness of the matter was imparted to all through the biennial catalogue of the academy.
"That the hours of evening be properly spent by the pupil is deemed to be of special importance. Hence all are re- quired to spend the evening at their homes, or boarding houses, and a proper amount of it in preparation of lessons for the ensuing day. In no case are students allowed to attend parties, or gatherings for amusement, during term time; nor are they excused from their rooms at all during the evening, except it be by parental authority for the transaction of necessary business, or by special permission of the Principal."12
Great care was taken by the academy to assure prospective students and their parents that Williston and the academy were both respectable places. In an advertisement placed in the Burlington Free Press on August 23, 1844, parents and students were assured that "Board can be obtained in respectable families on reasonable terms."13 And to the rebellious young student who thought that leaving home would bring emancipation, the writers of the Academy Bulletin penned these words :
"Profane swearing, vulgarity, and every other practice cal- culated to debase the mind and corrupt the heart are strictly forbidden . .. Finally such rules are instituted, and such only, as are deemed indispensable to progress in knowledge, improvement in manners, and elevation in character; and the fullest assurance is given that the rules, in all cases, will be kindly but rigidly enforced."14
A list of text-books published in the Academy Biennial Catalogue for 1866 gives an interesting insight into the level of education provided in the academy.15 The catalogue divides the texts into five general groups: 1) Common English Branches - Wilson's Series of Readers; Cornell's Geography; Greenleaf's Common School Arithmetic ; 2) High English - Willard's Uni-
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versal History; Cutler's Anatomy and Physiology; Parker's Natural Philosophy; Porter's Chemistry; Burritt's Geography of the Heavens; Wayland's Moral Science; Greenleaf's Algebra; Greenleaf's Geometry; Loomis' Trigonometry; 3) Latin - Andrew's Grammar; Andrew's Caesar; Anthon's Sallust; Cooper's Virgil ; Johnson's Cicero ; Andrew's Lexicon ; 4) Greek - Crosby's Grammar ; Crosby's Xenophon's Anabasis ; Jacob's Greek Reader; Liddell and Scott's Lexicon; 5) French - Fasquelle's Grammar ; Noel and Chapsal's Grammar ; Telemaque, with notes by Fasquelle ; Racine; Mme DeStael; Lamartine; Moliere; Spiers and Surenne's Dictionary.
For ten years, until 1868, Mr. Cilley moulded the Academy. In the summer of 1868 he left to become principal at Brandon High School.16 With his leaving, the Academy entered the beginning of its decline. In 1883 it became a "graded school" and part of the town's school system. With the exception of the families whose youngsters attended the Academy, Williston of the early nineteenth century was not too concerned with formal education. This was a pattern that was to continue until the death of the Academy, for the presence of the academy created a situation in which the education furnished by the town was "second-rate." The lamentable state of the Williston school system is voiced again and again in the annual reports of the school · superintendents. A typical report is that of F. W. Olmsted, March 1, 1881.
. not a few [of the children] have been without any books. .. there is a neglect of the patrons of the school to require their children to attend regularly."17
So we see that there was a truancy problem even in the nineteenth century. As a good superintendent, Mr. Olmsted was quick to defend the teachers against charges that the children were not learning properly. He writes that when children are absent "one- fourth to one-half the time they cannot justly blame the teacher."18
With the end of the justly famous Academy, the town obtain- ed possession of the academy building. The following year (1884), the school superintendent was pleased to announce that
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a "high school" had been added to the town system in District One. 19 Meeting for two terms of eleven weeks each, the high school was a decided improvement in the educational offerings of the town selectmen.
So impressed were the townspeople with the work of the two-term high school, and distressed with the discontinuence of the academy, that an article proposing a high school to serve all school districts was included in the warning for 1885.20 How- ever, it was defeated forty-one to one hundred eight.21
Though the superintendent of schools continued to have his problems, the town meeting conscientiously voted each year to de- fray the expenses of the school system. By 1911, the town had formed the forerunner of the present "Chittenden County Central School District." It was in that year that Williston joined with sur- rounding towns to hire and support, jointly, a superintendent of schools.22 The system of district school houses continued until the 1940's when an influx of population again caused the question of a centralized school to arise.
A special town meeting on July 12, 1945, established a com- mittee to "investigate a centralized school system."23 The follow- ing year a fund of $500 was established to get land titles cleared for the prosposed building. The site was to be selected, and building estimates received, not later than May 1, 1947.24
For a while the dream bubble of a centralized school system seemed about to burst, for in 1948 the voters agreed "not to bond for the centralized school."25 Yet the matter remained an urgent one, and on April 16, 1949, the town agreed to "bond for the amount of $100,000."26 This established the nucleus of the present "cen- tral school" located in the center of the village. This action was seemingly just in time for in 1950 the old academy building was completely destroyed by fire. Located in an ever-expanding area of Vermont, the town faced the problem of adequate school space once again in 1958. A town meeting in that year voted to bond for the amount of $85,000 to furnish additional classroom space for the central school.27 At this writing the school population is 320 with a staff of 14 teachers.28
CHITTENDEN HOME. BUILT IN 1790 BY THOMAS CHITTENDEN. LATER BURNED. SITE NOW OCCUPIED BY THE HOME OF MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM RIGGS.
VIEW OF THE WINOOSKI RIVER FROM THE SITE OF GOVERNOR CHITTENDEN'S FARM.
THOMAS CHITTENDEN - GOVERNOR OF VERMONT 1778-1797.
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Governor Thomas Chittenden
The Williston Story has made no special attempt to deal with the life and times of Williston's most distinguished citizen, Thomas Chittenden. A more extensive treatment of Chittenden is to be found in the pamphlet published by the Town Historical Committee in 1913. As is known from historical papers, and many hypothetical stories, Governor Thomas Chittenden was an eccentric individual. His eccentricity might account, in part, for the fact that after his death no portraits or sketches were to be found of the man. The story of his portrait on the opposite page is told by E. P. Walton in the Records of Safety and Governor & Council of the State of Vermont, published in Montpelier in 1873.
"And finally it is due to the people of Vermont that I should declare that no portraits of Chittenden . . . were ever painted in his lifetime and that the engraved portraits in this volume have been constructed from descriptions of the person, dress, and character of these noble Vermonters by gentlemen who knew him, and from the portraits of such descendants as were known most closely to resemble their distinguished progenitor. The portraits used for the engraving of Governor Thomas Chittenden were those of Thomas and Eli Chittenden, sons of Noah and grandsons of Governor Thomas Chittenden. These, with personal descriptions by Governor Martin Chittenden and others, were committed to the charts of Honorable Lucius E. Chittenden and the drawing and engraving have been under his inspection by an artist of the highest reputation, H. B. Hall, of Morrisania, New York. .. it is remarkable that the peculiarity of a defect in one of Thomas Chitten- den's eyes is distinctly marked by a cast in one eye of each of his descendents whose portraits have been used."
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Industry and Agriculture
The lack of any systematic personal records make it almost impossible to gain a clear picture of day by day economic life in early Williston. The three sources that furnish any picture of agriculture and industry in the early community are sketchy and incomplete and can serve only to show the picture at any one given time. These three sources in order of importance are : 1) the annual "grand list" of the town of Williston; 2) the agricultural and industrial census of 1850; 3) the short biographies compiled by various historians of the town and county.
There is no doubt that Williston has been, from its beginning, primarily an agricultural community. In fact, the charter made this assumption as early as 1763 when it stated that land was to be cultivated or the owners would forfeit their rights to ownership. Thus the early settlers farmed, not only to obtain food to eat, but also in order to keep title to their property. The economic status of the village in the 1700's is best seen through an examination of the town's "grand list." As an example of the period the items listed in the 1789 list under the name of Thomas Chittenden are typical.1 Thomas Chittenden in that year listed as taxable assets : ten oxen, four cows, four horses, eleven acres of "improved" land, and forty pounds of wool. Such an account indicates that Gover- nor Chittenden was by far the wealthiest citizen of his day residing in the township of Williston.
Just as the listed items give a clue as to the economic ability of Chittenden, so those items listed in the grand list form but omitted under the name of Thomas Chittenden give other clues. One item listed as taxable in 1789 was "cloath" - of which Thomas Chittenden had none.2 Another listed item was "money" which he was also without ; "unimproved land" was also listed as zero.3 Unanswered is the question concerning his land holdings - how many more acres than the eleven listed did the leading citizen of the town possess? Prior to July, 1775, Chittenden had purchased, in partnership with Jonathan Spafford, 5,253 acres of
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Williston land from the Onion River Land Company of Ira and Ethan Allen. 4
As the town grew and the citizens prospered, the grand list also increased proportionately. The increased wealth is reflected in the items that were added each year as taxable assets. In 1797 the grand list contained the first mention of gold and silver watches, house clocks and "mechanicks."5 Evidently industry had begun to make its way into Williston by 1797, for "me- chanicks" referred to these local captains of industry. They were important enough to merit a taxable value of eighteen dollars in 1797.6 By 1800, the professional person had arrived in Williston, for the grand list of that year listed one doctor at a value of fifteen dollars.7 By 1829, carriages had been added to the list form - there being four such vehicles in Williston in that year.8
The farmer in Williston in the early 1800's probably still did the majority of his business by barter. This assumption is made in view of the fact that a distinction was made between farmers and professional men as they appeared on the grand list. The professional man had a cash income and therefore, according to frontier logic, could be taxed, even without a comparable tax for the farmers' barter income. Accordingly, in the 1829 grand list "attornies" were taxed a total of twenty dollars, practitioners of "physic" a total of forty dollars, "mechanicks" a total of $195, and merchants $100.9 Speaking of discrimination, it is interest- ing to see that Martin Chittenden was taxed for being the proud possessor of the only gold watch in the village.10
Though Williston has always been primarily an agricultural community, diversified farming reached its peak in Williston in the second quarter of the nineteenth century, from 1825-1850. A comparison of statistics for these years shows something of the agricultural foundations of the community.
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