The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 124

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066

USA > Vermont > Washington County > The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer: > Part 124

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

The Congregational church stands on an eminence neither out of nor in the vil- lage. The old brick church is the only church edifice in the village proper. The Methodist society propose to erect a new church by its side in due time.

The Hon. Roderick Richardson once offered the town a beautiful piece of land fronting on both the principal streets, for a public park and village-hall site, if they would improve it suitably. But with the same foresight which characterized Gen. Wait in refusing the State house when offer- ed; the town let the opportunity pass, and a

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dwelling-house and garden now occupy the situation. May the time come when the citizens of this town shall have higher and more tasteful ideas than to say, as one once said to the writer, " I had rather see a hill of potatoes in my front yard, any time, than a bunch of flowers."

There are no men of immense fortunes in town, but a number who have become wealthy in the popular, Vermont sense, by cultivating their farms, and by mercan- tile employments. There are scarcely any families who are not able to live comfor- tably.

WAR RECORD.

In the " memorial record of Waitsfield," prepared with great care by Rev. A. B. Dascomb, the number of our soldiers stands as follows : No. credited to the town by government, 95. No. of different individ- uals who served, 87. Died from sickness, IO. Killed in action, 8. Several died after discharge from disease contracted and wounds received in service.

The record of the standing of these men at their discharge or death is as follows :

The list of their names in the order of enlistment, with their ages and rank at discharge, is as follows :

C. M. Benedict, age 20, private.

L. D. Savage, 23, private.

A. H. Sellock, 19, private.

H. P. Stoddard, 24, private.

H. F. Dana, 24, private.

F. T. Dana, 20, private.

L. Ainsworth, 30, captain.

M. Basconner, 27, private.

H. N. Bushnell, 23, captain.

B. D. Campbell, 18, private.

H. F. Dike, 18, private.

E. H. Fuller, 21, corporal.

Horace B. Stoddard, 19, private.

J. Harriman, 29, private. Manly N. Hoyt, 30, private.

J. F. Jones, 47, private.

G. S. Kneeland, 24, corporal.

J. P. Newcomb, 18, private.

E. R. Richardson, 24, sergeant.

D. P. Shepherd, 27, corporal.

M. C. Shepherd, 18, private.

L. M. Spaulding, 19, private.

S. S. Spaulding, 21, corporal.

L. T. Stoddard, 18, corporal.

S. Stoddard, 22, private.

J. E. Tucker, 20, private.

L. C. Peabody, 31, captain. Henry C. Shaw, M. D., 30, surgeon. A. Baird, 18, private.

O. C. Campbell, 30, 2d lieutenant.

J. H. Elliot, 34, private.

H. R. French, 22, private.

W. H. H. Greenslit, 26, private.

G. B. Hall, 18, corporal.

P. Haffman, 23, sergeant.

J. H. Quigley, 28, sergeant.

T. Sanders, 29, corporal.

H. A. Luce, 23, private.

D. Foster, 21, captain.

Almon Walker, 45, private.

A. D. Barnard, 20, private.

F. O. Bushnell, 22, corporal.

H. A. Dewey, 30, private.

J. Dumas, Jr., 22, private. E. A. Fisk, 20, private.

D. Gleason, 42, private.

D. Grandy, 24, private.

E. A. Hastings, 23, private.

J. Hines, 24, private.

Z. H. McAllister, 21, private.

A. D. Page, 21, private.

E. F. Palmer, 26, 2d lieutenant.

D. Parker, 21, private.

L. B. Reed, 21, private.

O. C. Reed, 23, private.

J. W. Richardson, 43, private.

L. Seaver, 17, private.

D. S. Stoddard, 23, corporal.

T. Stoddard, 18, private.

C. G. Thayer, 20, private.

J. M. Thayer, 21, private.

H. M. Wait, 22, private.

E. Whitcomb, 19, private.

O. C. Wilder, 34, captain.

L. C. Berry, 21, private.

G. M. Jones, 19, private.

H. Jones, 37, private.

E. E. Joslyn, 19, corporal.

J. L. Maynard, 29, private.

T. T. Prentiss, 19, private.

J. N. Richardson, 18, corporal.

L. S. Richardson, 20, private.

S. L. Kneeland, 18, private.

J. W. Parker, 17, private.

J. Sterling, 19, private.

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W. H. Stoddard, 18, private. V. B. Mix, 18, private. J. C. Williams, 20, private. A. B. Durkee, 21, private. J. P. Davis, 40, private.

W. E. Dana, 18, private.

G. P. Welch, 21, private.

T. Burke, 21, private.

J. H. Somerville, 21, private.

E. L. Allen, 19, private.

E. McCarty, 20, private. E. A. Burns, 18, private.

Captains, 4; 2d lieutenants, 2; ser- geants, 3: corporals, 11 ; privates, 50 ; sharp shooters, 7; cavalry men, 4 ; bat- tery men, 2; Signal corps, I ; surgeon, I ; hospital steward, I; musicians, I ; in the navy, I.

Of those who were natives of this town, who went into the army from other places, there are, 2 ist lieutenants, I cavalry- man, and 12 privates.

Most of these belonged to the famous " Vermont Brigade " of the "6th corps," who have received from a grateful country the honor which they thoroughly earned in many a march and battle.

The amount of money expended by the town in procuring men for the army ser- vice : Paid for bounty to nine months' men, $575; to I year's men, $2,700; to 3 years' men, $6,202 ; to substitutes, $700 ; subsistence for volunteers, $18.10; trans- portation for same, $38.50 ; services of selectmen and agents, $199.53; total, $10,433.13.

The history of the 13th regiment (of 9 months' men) who did good service in guarding the Occoquan during the winter of '62-'63, and also at the battle of Get- tysburg, where they constituted part of Gen. Stannard's command, has been pleas- antly told by Lieut. E. F. Palmer, in a neat little work entitled, "Camp Life."

TEMPERANCE.

Though it deserves to be said that the early settlers of Waitsfield were remark- ably moral, and many of them pious men, yet they were accustomed to partake of the intoxicating cup at will, and some of them a great deal too freely to be called at that time temperate men, and accidents

resulting from intoxication and brawls were of altogether too frequent occurrence, and those who sold grew rich, while those who drank, many of them, "ran down."

In 1821, at a "raising," one of the men, Wheeler by name, became intoxicated. and in wrestling, or "trying tricks," fell, and was carried home insensible, and found upon examination, to have expired, after being laid on his bed.

This accident startled the whole com- munity, and the faithful pastor improved it by preaching a bold teetotal sermon at his funeral, from the text, " Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

Soon after, Dea. Moses Fisk sent out invitations to the raising of a barn, with the proviso that no liquor would be fur- nished. There was, of course, a large gathering, with the ill-concealed design of forcing the Deacon " to cave in." Matters proceeded as usual in such cases, until the moment for raising the ridge-pole, or " rum-pole," as it was called. The order was given to take it up. The' men bent to the task, but strange to say, suddenly found themselves devoid of all strength, and after several trials, and much sham accusation of each other for not lifting, gave it up, saying they could do nothing more until strengthened by liquor. It was late in the afternoon, and the master- workman became so nervous that he finally begged of the Deacon to allow him, at his own expense, to provide a treat. This was refused, and the Deacon, a man of candor and decision worthy of a pioneer, made a short address, thanking his neigh- bors for what they had done, repeating his conviction that drinking was altogether a sin and an injury to the whole commun- ity, referring, with emotion, to Wheeler's death, and then saying, " It will be a se- rious inconveniencce to me if this barn is not finished. I cannot, however, do what my conscience forbids me to do, and if this frame cannot go up without rum, every stick of the timber shall rot on the ground where it lies." .-

After a moment's pause, some one said, " The deacon is a good fellow, and lets up with it," and they went ahead with such

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eagerness that in a short time the work was done, without any accident or broil, and the people went home all of them well satisfied, and the most of them convinced. Though it is true that afterwards several " raisings " were scenes of riot and acci- dent, yet many were teetotal gatherings. Some who were weakly on the right side were strengthened, and those who did pro- vide rum for such occasions, only aided the temperance movement by furnishing fur- ther demonstration, that the use of rum was evil, and only evil. The earliest move- ment looking towards organization was the formation of a temperance society about 1828; the members of which pledged themselves "to report faithfully every month what kind and quantities of liquors . they drank, with the dates and the com- pany." This became at least the occasion of a reform in a few men, while others even withdrew from the society, loving darkness rather than light. A member of that society who " never had anything to report from first to last," said to the writer : " At that time I would no more have signed a teetotal pledge than I would have sold myself for a slave." A teetotal pledge was, however, signed by a number of the people, and a society maintained for some- time before the " Washingtonians " ap- peared, and the people as a majority have adhered to the subsequent measures of reform which have been inaugurated in the State, the old license and late prohibition statutes. The Good Templars have dealt with rumsellers with a spirit worthy of the children of those who sleep in the old cem- etery on the hill.

SCHOOL DISTRICTS.

though they at one time numbered ten. The diminution is owing mainly to the union of districts, the village now sustaining a graded school. The number of scholars is far less now than it must have been 30 years ago. The early settlers and their children, too, raised up large families, and were a good example of those spoken of by one of the sons of Waitsfield :

" For, in their sweet simplicity, they hold A child is better than a bag of gold."

At the present time there are but the few- est few of large families, and these are become a by-word.

Several noted men, among whom is Pres- ident Kitchell of Middlebury, began their public career as teachers in these district schools. It has been customary also for many years to secure an undergraduate of some college as teacher of a " fall school"; but those who would obtain a classical education are obliged to go out of town for it.

In the records of the North district, (No. I,) we find some curious specimens of voting and recording, which serve at once as exponents of the parliamentary training of the clerk-of the poverty and trials of the people-and for the diversion of those who have enjoyed the better ad- vantages for which the untaught fathers laid the foundation :

Dec. 22, 1797. Article 2d was put to vote to see if the District would hire Mr. S. Smith, to keep school, and engage him 10 bushels of wheat, and passed in the negative.

Sept. 25, 1812. Voted to have three months schooling the ensuing winter, and that the committee be instructed to procure a teacher capable of teaching reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and geogra- phy, provided such an one can be got for any other pay than money. (This was during the "second war," so styled.)

The inhabitants of Waitsfield-though for the most part uncultivated men and women-were by no means people of grov- elling ideas. They understood the advant- The school-house, where this business was transacted, was built of logs, badly lighted, and with a huge old fireplace at one end, in which to consume enormous quantities of green wood during the cold winter days without much hope of giving an even temperature to the room. Often 30 cords of wood were burned in a single ages of free schools, and soon after the organization of the town, four school dis- tricts were laid out, in which (at least in a few years) schools were regularly main- tained. These were the North (No. I). The East and Center together, the village, and one mill-village district. At the pres- ent time the number of districts is seven, | winter. Yet here were trained up a com-

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pany of men and women who have no- bly served their generation. They had no mathematics beyond the four funda- mental rules and the "rule of three," yet some of them became by their own native wit leaders in public business, and teach- ers of considerable merit. One of them pressed on until, in middle age, by the light of a chip fire, he had mastered Cicero and Virgil, having no Lexicon but that in the old Latin Reader, and no teacher ex- cept occasionally the " master " who came from college to teach the winter school. It should be said, however, that he had text books that were half " pony " at least.

This man (Ithamar Smith, now deceased ) was especially thorough in his explanations to his pupils when a teacher. One of these explanations was so simple and perfect, that we must not pass it by. He studied intensely one evening to find some actual demonstration of the rule that " the area of a circle is equal to that of a parallelo- gram, the length of which is equal to half the circumference, and the width to half the diameter of the circle." .He finally hit upon this. Taking a pie to school for his dinner and cutting it fine, he laid the pieces together "crust to point." The reader will perceive that one half the crusts made the length of the parallelogram, the width of which was the length of a piece of pie, or half the diameter of the pie. No better demonstration could be made than this.

Another of these almost self-taught men was once assisting a company of survey- ors, and when they ran off the lots in dia- mond form, "because the lay of the land made it easier to do so," he declared they were cheating the owner. They looked down upon him from their scientific heights, and haughtily demanded the proof. He | quietly took a straw, and bending it into a square-having hold of the opposite cor- ners-said " call that a square lot." Then drawing out a little on the corners, which he held, so as to make a diamond of it, he said, "you say there is just as much land there now?" They replied " of course there is." Drawing it up until there

was nothing left, he asked triumphantly, " now is there ?"

There have been too many instances of rebellion among scholars, and dismissal of teachers who lacked muscle ; and in a proportion with the frequency of these things, a lower grade of scholarship in all the schools.

INCIDENTS.

Many of the early inhabitants were cer- tainly very credulous and superstitious. A daughter of Mr. Samuel S. Savage, " dreamed three nights in succession, that there was a large pot of Captain Kidd's money buried near a ledge of rocks, a few rods east of the house." This occurred not far from the year 1800. It never en- tered the heads of any of the family, or their neighbors, to ask how Capt. Kidd should chance to be burying money 200 miles and more inland, when only savages inhabited all the wilderness; but they " had heard it said that whatever was dreamed three nights in succession always came to pass," and so Mr. S. commenced digging for the money. The same tradi- « tion enjoined-as indispensable to success -that no word should be spoken during the process, and that some one should sit by and read the Bible all the while. So Nancy sat on the rock reading, and Sam, the son, was sometimes with them. After digging several days, "in stabbing down his crowbar, he hit the identical pot. He distinctly heard the money chink, held his bar on it that it might not escape him, and beckoned to Sam to come and dig it out." Unfortunately, however, he could not make Sam understand, and at length Sam spoke! Instantly the pot of money moved away, and he could never find it again. The most ridiculous part of the matter, is the fact well attested, that Mr. Savage be- lieved all this, as long as he lived, and was never ridiculed out of it.

Somewhat in the same line (though more successful) was the dream, thrice repeated the same night, of a Mr. Rice (late Dea. Rice of Granville,) then in the employ of Gen. Wait, (not far from 1795,) that he went to " the cove," (now part of the mill pond at the village,) and saw a moose,

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which he shot and killed, and that a man came along just then with a sled, and car- ried the game in for him. When he arose, having told this to the family, Mrs. Wait took down the old "Queen's arm " and handed it to him with the powder-horn and bullet pouch, when he repaired to the spot, saw the moose, brought him down with a single bullet, and returned with his booty on the sled of the man from Warren, all according to programme. This large story is too well attested to leave any room for contradiction.

The writer has many an instance in mind of the scrupulous care with which these grandmothers made sure of the " signs " in all important domestic matters, such as picking the geese and "setting " all sorts of bipeds, making soap, butchering, taking a journey, commencing a piece of work, and one even believed "it would spoil a hasty pudding to stir it against the sun."

It seems strange that sturdy men and women, who were not afraid of bears and wolves, and who could ride on horseback " double," and each carry a child to meet- ings-who were possessed of such ster- ling common sense in most matters-should be so completely under the powers of such petty superstitions.

ACCIDENTS.

It is sometimes remarked that " dead trees fall silently and in still weather."

This was illustrated in the case of Wm. Joiner in 1805. He was riding on horse- back through a piece of woods near the house now owned by Dea. David Phelps, when the trunk of a decayed tree fell across his path in such a way as to scratch the pommel of his saddle, and instantly kill his horse, while he remained entirely un- injured. There have been 15 cases of accidental deaths since the organization of the town :

In 1810, Lewis Taylor, age I0, was drowned in the flume of a grist-mill ; Enos Wilder, age 35, killed by a falling tree, and Gilbert Wait, Jr., age 3, killed by falling through an aperture in the chamber floor.

In 1815, a child of Daniel Skinner was smothered in bed.

In 1820, a child of Ezra Jones fell from the arms of a girl who was tossing it in sport, and was killed.

In 1821, Wm. Wheeler, age 55, was killed by " trying tricks" at a raising.

In 1822, Joseph L. Carpenter, age 14, was killed by the falling of a tree.

In 1830, John Kimball, age 3, was drowned in a channel washed out by the flood, which had previously swept away the dwelling ; Eliza A. Stoddard, age 6, killed by the kick of a horse.

In 1833, Mrs. Simeon Pratt, age 38, supposed to have died in a fit.

In 1836, Luther Fairbanks, age 30, drowned while bathing.

In 1842, child of C. Joyce, smothered in the bed.

In 1848, John O. Shaw, age II, was hung in a school-house window when trying to climb in.

In 1850, James D. Bushnell, age 21, drowned while bathing.

In 1865, Howard Bruce, age 4, drowned in a spring.

There have also been several cases of sudden deaths from occult diseases, and 4 cases of suicide.

RELICS OF INDIANS.

This territory was once occupied as hunting grounds by a portion of the " St. Francis " tribe of Indians, if the traditions of a relic of the tribe can be relied upon. Many traces have been discovered of their occupancy, which seem to show that they had vacated the valley only a few years before the coming of Gen. Wait.

In 1808, Samuel Barnard, while at work in his sugar-place, found a two-gallon brass kettle turned upside down on a rock. The kettle only a few years ago was in use in his family. Another was found not long after on the lot lying east of Mr. Barnard's, and not very far from the spot where the first one was found.

In 1822, as Ebenezer Barnard (son of Samuel), and Rufus Childs, were clearing a part of this same sugar-place, they found a gun and pistol, tomahawk, and about a quart of beads, made of something resem- bling brown earthen ware. The stocks of the gun and pistol were rotten, but the

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barrels, though rusty, were good, and have done good service since. The gun was found sticking out of the ground, and in digging to see if some chief had been buried there, the pistol and beads were found at a depth of about 2 feet.

GAME.

For many years after the settlement of the town, the deer were quite plenty in the forests, as well as trout in the streams. The bears and wolves proved a serious annoyance to the settlers. Neither fields of grain nor flocks of sheep were safe un- less watched continually. But bruin soon became very cautious.

In the year 1804, Dea. Moses Fisk shot and killed a large bear Sabbath night, that was about to spring at one of his sheep, in a pasture very near his house. It was jokingly said that "the bear had too much confidence in the Deacon to suppose he would shoot him Sunday, and so exposed himself carelessly." The Deacon was an excellent shot, and it is said that he brought down six bears-sev- eral of them under hazardous circum- stances, and that he never missed but one that he fired at. He also killed many deer, one of them with an axe, at a time when the snow was very deep, with a little crust on the top, and the writer has the antlers upon his carving knife and fork. His wife, also, shot an insatiable hawk, that " did not come when the Deacon was at home," and it is probable that both did no more than their share, but other facts and names are lost.

In 1797, the wife of Dr. Pierce, living near Moretown line, saw a deer pursued by the hunters approaching the house. Judg- ing that he would pass through a narrow gap between the fence and the house, she caught up an axe and stationed herself by the corner of the house, and when the deer made its appearance, actually inflicted a mortal wound upon him ; but as soon as she had done so, became affrighted and fled to her chamber, "and almost went into hysterics."

where he was speedily surrounded by the yeomanry, who rallied at short notice, and at length shot by Dea. Moses Fisk. The bounty of $20 was given to the minister, Rev. A. Chandler, and with it he made himself a life member of the Bible Society.

In March, 1855, another wolf was sur- rounded and killed in the same forest. The writer was one of the boys who waded through the deep snow to assist in his capture, and had the privilege of sending one bullet after him, with perfect safety to the wolf. He was first discovered by Pardon Bushnell, Esq., making for the East mountain, and first surrounded in the piece of woods lying between the river and the old common. It is not a little remarkable that, after breaking out of this ring, he should have been secured at all, and that in less than four hours after ; weight, 87 lbs. Several marksmen lay claim to the honor of bringing him down. It probably belongs to Cheney Prentice, Esq. It was sold for $5, and bounty, at auction, and the same distributed (by vote of the captors), to the poor of the town.

FIRES.

There have been 15 fires in town which amounted to total loss of the buildings, and in most cases an almost total loss of contents. They may be classified thus : distilleries, 2, prior to 1818; stores, I ; shops, 4 ; barns, 2; dwellings, 6. Of the causes of fire, it may be said that the store was set on fire late in the evening. while the clerk was drawing some alcohol to cook eggs with, for a few select com- panions. In several cases the dwellings were set on fire from ashes left in wooden vessels ; in others, the cause remains un- known. One barn was burned by light- ning. Only once (1846), have two such casualties occurred the same year.

The first fire of all occurred in 1794, and in the coldest of the winter. It was the dwelling-house of Daniel Taylor, the Elder, and was situated on the meadow now owned by Comstock Prentice, Esq. The story of the fire is so pleasantly told in rhyme by Mr. Smith before mentioned, that we give it entire, only adding that the

In the spring of 1821, a wolf was dis- covered near the house of James Joslin, and was turned back into a strip of woods, | settlers did all they could for the families,

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while one went to Shelburne, Mass., and procured supplies which could not be had nearer, and which were gladly given by the former neighbors of the two families :

THE BURNING HOUSE.

Among the many fictions new This story old is strictly true; To snatch it, fading, if I can, From dark oblivion, is my plan.

When Waitsfield mostly was a wild,

As I-an aged man-a child, When woods were 'round the dwelling near, And huntsmen shot the bounding deer, When flowed Mad River full of trout,

And boys could fish a plenty out, My father left a distant town To settle near the river down. No land had he but forest wild, No home to shelter wife or child: My Uncle Taylor kindly shared With us the house he had prepared ; Two rooms, with roof of bark, it had, And sheltered cousins very glad ; Nine little children were we all, The oldest being only small. Our happy quiet did not last Till the first Sabbath eve was past; The men that evening were away, The children mostly sleeping lay ; Some flax, in bundles very dry, Was o'er the entry lying high; My mother near with candle came, And lucklessly it caught the flame; Her shriek I still remember well, Such shrieks as sudden panic tell. In vain she tried to stop the fire; She only made it blaze the higher. The rapid flames began to pour Bright blazes on the entry floor, And through that fiery entry lay The only chance to flee away. Just time the mothers had to throw Their naked children on the snow, Then count them rescued o'er and o'er, Lest there were missing one or more- When did a mother ever yet,

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The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer:, Part 124

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press Number of Pages: 1066

Author: Hemenway, Abby Maria, 1828-1890, [from old catalog] ed
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Montpelier, Vt., Vermont watchman and state journal press
Number of Pages: 1066