USA > Vermont > Orange County > Braintree > The history of Braintree, Vermont, including a memorial of families that have resided in town > Part 5
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HISTORY.
Udall, and since 1872, Wm. Blanchard, have been the later Snowsville mer- chants. About 1837, Judge Howe, formerly of New Hampshire, began a gro- cery and dry goods trade under the hotel, and, in partnership with Daniel Cram, continued the same in the corner store as Daniel Cram & Co. Without change of ownership, all being in Howe's hands, the firm name was. changed to Daniel Loomis & Co., afterward to Loomis, Hutchinson & Cram. A failure occurred by which a Boston house became liable to great loss, and out of which grew a law suit between Boston creditors and Nathan- iel Hutchinson. The question involved was whether Hutchinson or his son John was partner, Nathaniel denying any partnership in the concern. A long litigation followed which terminated against Nathaniel, nearly ruining him financially.
We are unable to give an accurate description of Snowsville in its earliest history. Those who knew it are gone. But few are living who remember the: big pond, and the little pond, the aqueduct, the elevated sidewalk, Aunt Snow in her daily task at the mill, and other things in that antique little village.
WEST BRAINTREE .- The first business enterprise at West Braintree was. a grist mill built very early, near George Tarbell's. Matthew Pratt owned a carding mill there. Albert Hawes built a saw mill. He failed up, and in 1852 the business and farm went into the possession of Daniel Tarbell, Jr., of Granville. Tarbell continued the business, but the building finally ran down so that little was done. George Tarbell bought the property in 1857. In 1876 rebuilt the saw mill, put in a circular saw and increased the business. About 1820 Stephen Fuller built a saw mill nearly opposite. Samuel R. Batchellor's. Maj. Ford owned other mills there, which he sold
'The freshet of 1830 carried them all off,
to Levi Thayer of Braintree, Mass. and only a saw mill was rebuilt. Maj. Ford then bought where the late Jarvis Tilson lived, and also the Brackett nill site, on which he built a saw ยท mill, a carding and clover mill. He also built a saw mill and a grist mill nearly opposite his house on the Tilson farm. These all shared the common fate in the freshet of 1830. William B. Bass and Roswell G. Curtis built, we think, a saw mill, later, up Riford's brook, but we are confidently told that none of the mills on the Brackett place were rebuilt. George Tarbell now does considerable lumber business where the old grist mill was, and handles a large amount of cord wood. In the fall of 1867 a saw mill was built at the. depot and was run by Spear & Stearns till the spring of 1868, when George L. Spear bought Stearns's interest, and later, when Levi Spear, the senior member, died, the whole business passed into George L.'s hands. He gets. out dimension timber, spruce and hemlock. A planer, matcher and lathe saw were put in in 1869, and later a shingle machine. About a million feet of lum- ber is gotten out yearly, besides a large amount of cord wood, giving employ- ment to thirty men.
Chaffee & Cummings built the coal kilns. They put in later a condensing apparatus for making smoke tar, which was used in paint works, and for a number of years there was quite a large trade in the article. But a substitute
37
THE FIRST MILL, FATALITIES.
for the tar being discovered that was cheaper, the business became unprofit- able and the works were taken down. The kilns are now little used.
The store at West Braintree, as nearly as we can learn, was built about 1850 by Caius Chaffee of East Cambridge, who did business there for a few years on a small scale, and then sold it to John Montgomery. Parkhurst of Granville, W. W. Bruce and others have owned it till about 1875, since which time Joshua A. Spear has been proprietor. Samuel Burridge began selling groceries about 1869, and was telegraph operator. When he died Warren Stearns continued the business, and at his demise his daughter succeeded him. Since September, 1871, Leonard Fish has done the hotel business.
THE FIRST MILL .- A vote of the proprietors, Sept. 19, 1783, ordained that a road be laid out from the mill to a road that is now begun. Much research and inquiry have been required to ascertain what mill, if any, was erected or in process of erection two years before any permanent settlement in the town, and the following facts have been elicited: Matthew Pratt, Jr., residing at Gilmanton, Wis., and several others in Braintree, are quite positive that John Gooch, Henry Brackett, William Ford, Sr., and Matthew Pratt, Sr., came to Braintree from Randolph, Mass., in the spring of 1783 with an ox team, bring- ing machinery for Brackett's mill; that they staid that summer, returning as winter approached, and did the same the next year. Taking all together it shows that Brackett's mill, the first in town, was begun in 1783. The mill was probably two or three years in building. They brought a couple of cows with them to furnish milk on the journey and while here. What the company were employed about all the time, we cannot say, but they probably did some prospecting, and possibly assisted in cutting roads and making other improvements.
FATALITIES.
Jeremiah Persons was drowned at Snowsville, Nov. 1, 1826. The aque- duct that supplied water for the old grist mill crossed the road in front of the present hotel, and a footbridge crossed the aqueduct. In crossing the aque- duct on the footbridge, he fell in and was drowned.
William P. Cleverly went from home and got lost in the woods, where he died, Dec. 4, 1847. His body was found lying against a leaning tree, near Dog River, in Roxbury, about three and one-half miles from home.
About 1838 B. F. Chamberlain was gathering beechnuts in the woods back of the house in which Lewis H. Spear lives. While shaking a tree, the limb on which he was standing broke, and he fell, breaking his neck. He lived long enough to close up his business affairs.
Israel Dolbe, son of Exeter, went into Major Ford's mill pond to bathe, and was drowned.
Edward Ellsworth was killed in 1824 in Murray Hollow, by a falling tree.
Daniel H., son of Abial Rising, about two years old, pulled a tub of hot water onto himself and was scalded to death, Oct. 5, 1847.
There have been three suicides by hanging in Braintree In 1841, Joel Pratt, Jr., hanged himself in an out-building at Ira Kidder's (now Frederick Whitney's). Hard drinking and consequent poverty were probably the cause.
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HISTORY.
Ira Dyer, son of Samnel, tied a piece of elm bark around a pole, making a. loop, and hanged himself by laying his neck in the loop.
Nathaniel Spear ended his life, Jan. 13, 1826, in an upper room in his house, which stood where Daniel V. Page lives.
James M. Chase, son of Caleb, was instantly killed by the fall of a tree, July 7, 1842, near the stream not far north of Holman's mill.
James Quinley (partially insane) was killed in the same way while slash- ing on the hillside back of Jason Battles's house, abont 1836.
A man named William Kooms, of Roxbury, was intoxicated and sitting on the railroad track near Benj. Spear's. A train of cars ran over and tore him in pieces, about 1850.
Elijah French, on the evening of March 9, 1798, was threshing in Ebenezer White's barn, now William H. Nichols's. He climbed to the high beams and fell through the insecure flooring of poles, breaking his neck.
Flora E. Flint, aged two years, died Oct. 19, 1860, from the effect of burns caused by her clothing taking fire.
Carrie, daughter of Silas and Mary Chadwick, three years old, was scalded to death by falling into a pail of hot water.
While Solomon Coburn was rolling logs into the mill pond at Snowsville, for the purpose of floating them down to the mill, the log on which he was standing rolled and pitched him into the water and he was drowned.
On the 24th of Nov., 1831, Simeon Curtis was trying to bring down a tree that was lodged in another. It fell on him and broke his neck.
Elisha Tucker, residing on the "Kidder Place," went into his barn one- evening with his dog. A cow, with a calf, made a pass at the dog, which dodged, and she stabbed Mr. Tucker instead, with her horn, so severely that he died.
Duane V. Brown, eighteen years old, was killed, Jan. 8, 1883, at West Braintree, by a falling tree under which he was driving a team with a load of wood.
The saddest event in the history of Braintree, probably, occurred in the year 1839. Benj. Franklin Killum lived with his family somewhat secluded from others in a quiet little valley near the center of the town. His wife was. faithful and devoted. As years passed on, however, a strange mania seized him. He seemed to have a growing suspicion that people wished to harm him, and it seems that he suspected his wife more than any one else. He some- times refused food that had been cooked, would take potatoes from the boil- ing pot and throw them one side, and would eat raw corn or something else. His children were small, but his strangeness made them afraid of him. He worked at harness making some in an upper room, and, it is said, would some- times tantalize his wife by running the blades of his knives down beside the stovepipe. He acted much like an insane man. Sometimes, when at the worst, he would visit a neighbor, who, perhaps, would go home with him and help to cheer him up and tide him over the attack. But he grew more and more threatening and some cautioned his wife lest she might suffer injury at his hands. She expressed no fears, however, though she realized the worst.
39
FRESH ETS.
During one of his severest attacks she was frightened and ran from him. He seized the butcher knife, caught her and cut her throat. His mother, who probably interfered, received a severe gash on the arm. At his trial the plea of insanity was entered and he was found guilty of manslaughter and sen- tenced to twenty years in the state's prison. After a few years he was par- doned out. He traversed the state for many years, repairing clocks and watches, and at last married.again. He is now confined in the insane asylum for life.
FRESHETS.
There is no definite record of any freshets, though several have occurred. The first mention of any is in the proprietors' records, a vote being taken to give James Brackett a piece of land to indemnify him for the loss of his mill by freshet, in the early history of the town.
A bare reference is made in the town records to one that occurred about 1800. Records show that great damage to highways has been sustained from them from time to time.
In August, 1828, according to the best authority, occurred a tremendous shower which carried off part of the mills at Peth, though no other locality was affected by it. Two clouds met over Mud pond and poured out their contents there. Spear's brook was suddenly raised to an unprecedented height, the water being two feet deep in some places in the road at Peth. Those mills not carried off were dislocated or had their foundations more or less disturbed. The east end of Spear's grist mill was left without support. It came so suddenly and with such fury that people at first thought the waters of Mud pond had broken loose upon them.
Probably the most terrible calamity to the town was the freshet in July, 1830. It rained three days incessantly. The streams rose very high and the branch was one large pond. Near the end of the third day the sun came out and it was thought the rain was over; but soon the skies were again overcast, and the hardest part of the storm followed. Rain fell in torrents all that fearful night. The flood took bridges, crops, mills, and all in its way. Rocks and boulders were washed down like pebbles. The next morning, the 30th, presented a scene of distress and desolation rarely equalled. Some families were rendered homeless, others were financially ruined. Major Ford was probably the greatest loser, property valued, it is said, at $75,000 at a low estimate, being totally destroyed in one short night. In the narrowest parts of the valley of the branch, the water was twenty feet deep. David Wiley, living in the edge of Granville, lost his house and everything in it, and he and his family barely escaped with their lives. Mrs. Wiley, with three chil- dren, one a babe, went back upon the hillside and sat all night in the storm, under a huge rock, expecting every moment to be dashed to pieces by great boulders that were constantly rolling down. Since 1830 no similar event has occurred more notable, probably, than that of September, 1869, when high- ways and bridges sustained the most serious damage of anything in Brain- tree.
40
HISTORY.
RELICS.
During the siege of Boston, in the war of the Revolution, a cannon ball fired by the Americans who were fortified at Dorchester Heights, struck a house and fell on a pile of plates, twelve in number. The top one was broken in pieces, and each of the others had a piece broken from its edge. Nancy Gooch has two of these plates, also three plates from which Gen. Washington and his party dined at the house of Israel Osborne, at Worcester, Mass., and three pewter platters bearing the initials "I. O.," which were bought for that occasion. Mrs. Osborne afterwards married Eben Wood, grandfather of Nancy, through whom they came into possession of the Gooch family. She has also Mrs. Osborne's punch bowl and a cream pitcher that belonged to Betsey King, the first woman that was married in Braintree. Mrs. Osborne's fan, nearly a foot and a half long, which was used to shade the face before parasols came in use, is also in her possession, likewise three chairs, a hundred years old, and two pictures, illustrating comically the way tax collectors were used at the time of throwing overboard the cargo of tea at Boston.
Mrs. Nelson Smith has an English china cream pitcher, with spoons to match, made in England and very diminutive in size.
STRAY ITEMS.
Joseph Gooch, it is said, set out the first orchard, on the farm of Elisha H. Ford. He and his father joined the Patriots at the battle of Lexington, at the first alarm of Paul Revere.
Benj. Franklin Killum invented the rolling fitlerum tooth extractor.
On the 10th day of June, 1806 or 7, Major Ford and Capt. Nichols chose sides for a squirrel hunt. The parties laid their game side by side in two rows that reached from Jonathan Bass's tavern nearly to the road. Capt. Nichols's party were victors by one.
It was proposed at one time to build a canal through the state on the line of the C. V. R. R. to Burlington. In 1825 the town voted $40 to defray the expense for the survey in Braintree, but the vote was soon after rescinded.
Several boys and girls were once "playing hang." Nahum Kenney was one of them, and it came his turn to learn how the halter felt. By that time, however, the novelty of the play had worn off, the attention of the others was diverted to something else, and Nahum was left hanging. He became black in the face and well nigh "done for " before they thought of him, and he was ever afterwards known as " Hang Nahum."
Solomon Holman made the first brick yard in front of the house in which Jonathan Holman now lives. He made brick for the chinmeys in the old meeting house.
Jonathan Holman and Solomon, his son, helped survey Braintree, though the former never lived here. Jonathan also surveyed the town of Dixfield, Mc.
It has been said that the first temperance organization in Orange Co was formed in Braintree. It would be nice to prove this true. Braintree did, however, early take quite an active part in temperance work. The Washing-
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A FEW OLD PAPERS.
tonian society was intended to help on the cause and was formed in the fall of 1833. Meetings were generally held at the old meeting house, sometimes at the Christian house at Peth, sometimes at Lyman Kidder's or John Curtis's. It "morally held its members to abstain from all intoxicating drinks (cider and wine excepted) as a beverage."
Little notice has been taken of the history of the town for the last fifty years. The "Official Record " is probably the best epitome of that history. One year is like another, and to attempt to take into account even the most important occurrences would be presuming upon the patience of the readers of this volume.
The Braintree post office was established prior to July, 1833. Noah B. Cady being first postmaster. He was removed, and Ira Kidder held the office till 1836, when L. S. Goodno was appointed postmaster and held the office till 1840. The post office was then removed to Snowsville, with B. F. Chamber- lain postmaster, who held it eighteen months. Then J. P. Kidder till 1842, when Silas Chadwick was appointed, who, with his wife, who took the office after his death, held it until March 6, 1863. Jason A. French, the present incumbent, was then appointed.
A FEW OLD PAPERS.
The following papers were selected at random from bushels of similar papers at the town clerk's office. The first was addressed to the town clerk:
"The following Persons being duly enrolled and equiped as the law directs have done Military duty in the Randolphi Artilery the present season: Joseph W. French Jeptha Howard 2d Caleb N. Grow Jonathan R. Chase Horace Cobb Benjamin H. Frink James B. Battles
RANDOLPH June 23 1833
Attest ELISHA HERRICK, Capt"
Here is a district school census return, giving the number of children of school age in each family:
" Ammi Nichols
3 Samuel Harwood 1
Lyman Kidder 6
6 Moses Harwood. 4
Isaac Bass.
Ebenezer White 4
Nathan Harwood. 2
David Nichols. 3
Artemus Fitts 4
Jonathan Bass. 2
Benj. Linfield.
3 N. Henry 2
Roswell Handy
2
Samuel Harwood, Jr.,
4
Zion Copeland 6 Samuel Craig. 1
53
BRAINTREE March 1 1819
This may certify that the number of Scholars in Washington School Dis- trict is Fifty-three. SAMUEL HARWOOD JR"
A warning to prevent paupers becoming chargeable to the town: "STATE OF VERMONT, } Orange County, ss.
To either Constable of the town of Braintree in said County, Greeting By the authority of the State of Vermont you are hereby commanded to
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HISTORY.
warn Benj. Wiley and family Phineas Wiley and family now residing in Braintree to depart said Town Hereof fail not but of this precept legal service and due return make according to Law.
Dated at Braintree Dec 7th 1816
WILLIAM FORD JR )
Selectmen." ISAAC NICHOLS JR
"BRAINTREE June 5 1838
This certifies that I was on the said day above, equipt, as Surgeon, according to Law. Having one horse, & all Surgical accoutrements requi- site for the Station.
Att. SAMUEL CRAIG,
Surgeon 4th Reg., 1st Brig and 4th Div."
IV. WHAT NOTS.
THE IMPROVISED STOVE .- When the first cast iron cook stove was brought to Braintree and its qualities had become appreciated, the people on Braintree Hill assembled to consider if some better means for warming the school house could be adopted than the broad, open fire-place. Several meth- ods were proposed and discussed, which resulted in the construction of a mass of brick work in the center of the room, four feet square and a foot high. Upon this was placed in a reversed position a cast iron cauldron (potash ket- tle) which had a hole drilled in its top for the attachment of a funnel, and another in one side for the introduction of fuel. It served a good purpose for many years.
MEMORIES OF THE WAR .- John Gooch will be remembered as a queer old genius by those who lived in his time. It was said of him that when in the Revolutionary service his head was injured. his brain disturbed and his intel lect somewhat impaired. Be that as it may, in talking to himself (his almost constant habit) he would in speech and gesture attack a tree or fence post, and for hours together fight his battles over again. His mock engagements. were always victorious and followed by shouts of exultation and "down with the Britishers!"
Dea. Isaac Nichols and another soldier, during their service in "the war," were dispatched to cross the Hudson with a yoke of oxen on a flat boat. When near the middle of the stream the boat tipped over and they would have been drowned but for catching hold of the oxen's tails, the animals swimming ashore with them in tow. It was so cold their coats were frozen stiff when they reached a hotel not far away.
FRANCIS FIELD .- Braintree has had its notable characters, among whom was Franeis Field. That he was born on Quaker Hill, or that he died there, is not known. Some, perhaps, will remember his tall, gaunt figure, bright red, curly hair, small eyes, long, aquiline nose and widespread mouth. There are on record well authenticated instances of extraordinary gormandism which seem almost incredible. Although Mr. Field did not equal some of these, yet he ranked so well among gormands that his name is entitled to a.
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THE LAST PUBLIC WHIPPING, SKUNK OR BREAD. .
place in the list of those who have puzzled physiologists by their feats at the table. He has been known to eat at a single meal a whole quarter of a lamb, a large dishfull of potatoes, a whole loaf of farmers' bread, followed by a des- sert of two quarts of pudding and as many as twenty good-sized "nutcakes" of the old-fashioned, twisted kind, and yet his appetite was not satisfied. He would, at each of the three meals per day, devour more food than six ordinary working men, and clear the pantry of all eatables before going to bed. He had great fondness for music and composed his own, which did not rival that of Mozart by any means, but it served his purpose on all occasions, and when his songs were accompanied with the jewsharp, played by Ellery Pettis, his joy seemed complete.
THE LAST PUBLIC WHIPPING .- The last person publicly whipped in Braintree for the commission of crime, was a colored boy. It occurred on an " October training" day in front of Jonathan Bass's tavern. The boy had stolen twelve pounds of pork from a neighbor's woodshed. The trial of the culprit was brief, and conducted with that dignity and decorum which char- acterized the administration of justice in those times. It impressed both offender and spectators with awe. Proof was positive, and the thief was sen- tenced to receive "thirty lashes, to be inflicted without delay upon his naked back." On removing his tattered, striped frock (the only covering to his body) he presented himself in the ring of bystanders in the polished ebony of his primitive costume, a la Adam. The number of lashes was faithfully administered by Capt. Artemas Fitts, but we cannot vouch for their severity. The penitence of the young negro, his scarcity of clothing and the well known destitution of his family excited the pity of all who witnessed the proceeding, among whom was a party of ladies gazing from the upper windows of the hotel. The last blow had scarcely fallen upon his quivering flesh ere the " women folks" sent him a new shirt, and the former owner of the pork assured him he might keep it for the use of the family in the log shanty in the woods. He assumed an attitude peculiar to his race, his countenance expres- sing all that a Congo's eyes, nose, lips and teeth can do at the birth of a pleas- ant thought, and said to Capt. Fitts, "You may give me thirty lashes more for another new shirt and twelve pounds of pork."
SKUNK OR BREAD .- The colored man, Freeman, was an early settler of Braintree, and a character in his way. Ile built a log shanty in the forest near "Bradley's Vale," without ceiling or floor, and furnished his domicile by the work of his own hands. Shingle blocks served for seats and table, and heaps of hemlock boughs made the family bed. He fed his brood of curly heads with corn meal obtained from farmers by daily labor, and with the flesh of small game, procured by trapping. Good natured, patient and resigned, he rarely complained except from lack of variety of food. He was oft heard to say: "I am getting along very well, though it would be a trifle better if skunk and bread would come together; but it is either all skunk or all bread."
THE PASTOR'S PROPHECY .- Father Nichols once joined in holy wedlock two sisters named Mary and Eliza, to the sons of a well to do farmer who
44
HISTORY.
divided his farm into equal parts and started the young men in life to provide for themselves. After they had become established and fairly entered upon the practical realities of life, the minister made them a social and pastoral call. He sipped tea and broke bread with them at table and gave them good advice and his blessing. On his return home his wife asked him how the young farmers and their wives were situated and what were their prospects for future success. He replied: "They have a good start on nearly an equal basis, but Mary and her husband will outstrip the other pair in wealth, influ- ence and usefulness." "Why," asked his wife, who had a decided preference for Eliza. "I am convinced that it will prove so," said he, "from what occurred when the cats got into their butteries. When I was at Eliza's, puss was discovered in mischief, and the amiable young housewife gently remon- strated with the intruder upon the precincts of the larder, saying: 'Puss, I don't want you there; I rather you wouldn't; it will get yon into bad habits and make me a great deal of trouble.' When at Mary's the cat entered the pantry, and the spirited mistress, siezing the broom, rushed for her, exclaim- ing, 'Scat! Get out of this or I'll beat your brains out!' It is needless to say which method was most successful in managing cats." Perhaps it is well to add the fact that the prophecy was fulfilled.
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