USA > Vermont > Washington County > The history of Washington county, in the Vermont historical gazetteer: > Part 140
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president, and Samuel H. Stowell, cashier ; paid up capital, $80,000. At different times the following persons were elected directors to succeed others resigned, etc. : Samuel Merriam, B. F. Goss, J. H. Has- tings, A. R. Camp, H. A. Hodges, O. W. Drew, C. N. Arms and Healy Cady. Benj. H. Dewey succeeded S. H. Stowell as cashier, Mar. 6, 1856, and served until May 1, 1865, when James K. Fullerton was appointed. Sept. 1, 1865, the bank re-organized under the National Bank Act as the Waterbury National Bank, with a paid up capital of $100,000, divided into 2, 500 shares of $40 each. Officers : Leander Hutchins, president ; James K. Fullerton, cashier ; directors, Leander Hutchins, Paul Dillingham, O. W. Drew, J. H. Hastings, H. A. Hodges, C. N. Arms and Healy Cady. Mr. Hutchins served as president until Jan. 13, 1874, when, declining a fur- ther election, Paul Dillingham was chosen. Mr. Fullerton was cashier until Apr. I, 1870, when Curtis Wells was appointed. At different elections the following persons were chosen to fill vacancies in the board of directors : Nathaniel Moody, Wm. P. Dillingham and W. H. H. Bingham, and Jan. 9, 1877, Wm. P. Dillingham was elected vice president. At the present time the capital of the bank is $100,000 ; surplus fund, $30,000 ; number of stockholders, 138. W. P. DILLINGHAM.
WATERBURY MEN ABROAD.
Waterbury has sent many of her sons, or of her former residents, to other states. A few of them merit some mention. Two assisted in forming the constitution of Wisconsin, George Scagel and George Gale, both natives of this town. Mr. Gale founded a village and a university, and was a judge of one of the higher courts.
S. C. Sherman was many years a prom- inent citizen of Quincy, Ill. Several have been among the comparatively early cit- izens of Chicago, and some have long been residents in Louisiana. Our boys may be found in various parts of New York state and in the city, in most, or all of the New England states, in Ohio, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, California, and other states in every direction, many of them being suc-
cessful farmers, merchants, doctors, min- isters, lawyers, editors, inventors and man- ufacturers, and, indeed, in most avoca- tions of life, Waterbury is represented creditably abroad as well as at home.
MRS. FANNIE BUTLER JANES,
widow of the late Hon. Henry F. Janes, died in Waterbury, Nov. 5, 1881. She was the daughter of Governor Ezra Butler, the first permanent settler in Waterbury, born Feb. 1, 1800, in the house on the Burlington road, now occupied by E. H. Wells. There in her childhood days she had given refreshment to the soldiers going to the battle of Plattsburg, and her ears had listened to the cannon thunder of that combat. Before her father's door Gov- ernor Van Ness had halted to introduce LaFayette. In 1826, she married Mr. Janes. In sight of her birthplace, beneath the shade of the two great elms on the site of her son's new residence, their mar- ried life was wholly spent. The great elms were little trees then, a child could clasp them. She passed her declining years peacefully with her son, Dr. Henry Janes, and a brother, Russell Butler, Esq., survives her. In these centennial years we think our nation is growing old until we stand by the graves of the aged ; then we are impressed with our country's youth, for how much of its history one such life can span !
THE STAR OF NATIONS,
Is the title to an unfinished religious poem of length, that Mrs. Julia Wallace Hutch- ins has long had under way :
O, Morning Star, in the Old World's east, Beyond the storm-cloud's wreath,
When the thunder lowers on the Himalay, And the earthquake sleeps beneatlı,
How dark would be the coming hour, Thy single ray withdrawn,
Till the thunder wake, till the tempest break, In the day of Esdrælon;
Till the rocks be rent, and the wrath is spent, O, Star of Hope, shine on. J. M. W.
The space is filled left for Waterbury, it was thought we would only have material for, when our compositors had set all the copy in, and had to enter Woodbury; but we will give, in 3d appendix later, a few more papers received since, than can be entered here.
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WOODBURY.
BY HON. FERNANDO C. PUTNAM.
The early history of Woodbury is some- what obscure from the absence of any re- cord of its organization. In 1804, there was a deed recorded by Wm. West, town clerk, by which it may be inferred that the town had been organized.
First settlement was commenced in the east part of the town, and settlements were continued to the east and southern parts of the town several years,-or until 1809 or I0, when Nehemiah and Nathan Jack- son, two strong, athletic men, moved from Randolph, and settled on the west side of the mountain. The first saw-mill was built in the south part of the town, near the Sabin pond, on a stream running from Dog pond. Soon after, there was a saw and grist-mill built half a mile south of the Center, on a stream running from Long pond .
Polly Sabin was the first female child born in town, Frederick Ainsworth the first male child. Wm. West was doubtless the first town clerk, and one of the first justices of the peace ; Elisha Benjamin the first representative.
COMFORT WHEELER, settler and Revo- lutionary soldier, little is known of his early life, or when he was engaged in the service of his country ; but it is told of him when recruiting service was going on in Massachusetts, he was considered quite too small to enter the army, but securing a block, he placed himself in the midst of the crowd on this, and when the recruiting officer observed him, he said of the boy, if he had so much energy as that, he would take him. His last years were made com- fortable by a pension.
Capt. JOEL CELLEY among the early settlers, a man of energy and persevering effort, did much to give character to the town ; was representative several years, and held many town offices. He was a shrewd farmer, and was reported to have one of the best farms in the county.
JABEZ TOWN came here when the town was yet young, and resided for years in a log-house, and maintained his family by
hard labor ; was a shoemaker, and made boots of a superior quality, which afforded him some income; but after the invention of a last-machine by his son, Abner Town, yet a minor, the sales of his lasts gave him a good income, which furnished him ample means for the remainder of his life.
CHARTER.
August 16, 1781, the Legislature of Ver- mont granted a charter of the town of Woodbury to William Lyman, Esq., and Col. Ebenezer Wood, and their associates as follows :
Joshua L. Woodbridge, Seth Murray, Elihu Murray, Israel Chapin, John Stone, Benjamin Sheldon, Samuel Cooke, Elisha Porter. John C. Williams, Thomas Hunt, Nathaniel Edwards, Ezra Phillips, Nahum Edgar, Asahel Pomeroy, Park Woodward, John Woodward, Asa Woodward, William Potter, Benedict Eggleston, Thos. Wood- ward, Joseph Clark, Henry Champion, Jr., Epaphroditus Champion, Thomas Miller, Joel Day, Anne Hathaway, William Gould, Nathaniel Chipman, Stephen Pearl, Joseph Jay, Thomas Tolman, Oliver Wright, Daniel Wright, Samuel Clark, Stephen Jen- kins, Zebina Curtiss, Abel Adams, Moses Gifford, Thomas Chittenden, Timothy Brownson, John Fassett, Jr., Noble Ever- ett, Jonathan Brace, Gustavus Walbridge, Rodolphus Walbridge, Caleb Benjamin, John Knickerbocker, Daniel Benjamin, Howel Woodbridge, Samuel Bishop, Noah Smith, Daniel Smith, Israel Smith, Chloe Smith, Simeon Hathaway, Shadrack Hath- away, Jale Hathaway, Jonathan Burrill, Enoch Woodbridge, John Burnham, Timo- thy Follett, Silas Robinson.
A copy of the charter and original grantees was obtained from the State rec- ords as recorded in the first Book of Char- ters of Lands, pages 166, 169, dated at Montpelier, " 31st day of May, A. D. 1805." Signed by David Wing, Jr., Sec- retary of State.
Certified as follows :
" This may certify that the above and foregoing is a true Copy of the Original Charter of Woodbury.
Attest, ELIPH. HUNTINGTON,
Proprietors' Clerk."
IIO
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This town was called Woodbury, for the name of Col. Ebenezer Wood, one of the original proprietors.
The first action of the original proprie- tors was to lay out the town into three di- visions, of which there is no record of the time, or by whom it was done, as will appear, as the notice of the first meeting of the proprietors was signed by Reuben Blanchard, a justice of the peace of Peach- am, dated Aug. 8, 1804, to be held at the dwelling-house of Daniel Smith, in Wood- bury, Oct. 8th, after. At said meeting Daniel Smith was chosen proprietors' clerk, and it was voted to lay out the whole of the undivided lands into lots of 100 acres each, in the same form in which the first division was laid, and John W. Chandler and James Whitelaw were chosen a com- mittee to make said allotment. The above meeting was adjourned to Nov. 20, and again adjourned to May 25, 1805, when Eliphalet Huntington was chosen proprie- tors' clerk ; Daniel Smith having previously moved out of town ; and it was voted to accept the plan and field book of the west- erly part of the town reported by their committee, and it was voted to assess a tax of $2.60 on the 2d and 3d division rights, to defray the expenses of surveying and lotting the 2d and 3d division of said town, and other incidental expenses, and Jonathan Elkins, Esq., was chosen col- lector. This meeting adjourned to June 4th, following. At this time the allotment of the 2d and 3d division having been completed, Mary Kenaston, an indifferent person, was chosen to draw the lots of said divisions ; James Whitelaw, Esq., was chosen a committee to look up and procure the records of the former proceedings of the proprietors of Woodbury relative to their former divisions. Notice of the next meeting was signed by Jabez Bigelow, a justice of the peace of Ryegate, dated July 26, 1805, to be holden on the first day of October, following; at said meeting, the proprietors' clerk reported that the original plan and draft of the first division of lots in the town of Woodbury cannot be found, though considerable pains had been taken to obtain the same, and a new one was
submitted and accepted, and it was voted " that it shall hereafter ever be considered the draft of the said first division as be- fore stated." Jonathan Elkins, Esq., of Peacham, was appointed collector to collect the $2.60 on each right of the 2d and 3d division, unless paid immediately to him at Peacham, the same would be sold at public auction for said tax and costs, which sale was at the dwelling-house of Joshua Kenaston's in Woodbury, on the first day of October, A. D. 1805 ; attested by Jon- athan Elkins, Jr., collector. At this sale John W. Chandler of Peacham, purchased about 50 lots for the sum of $3.32 per lot, being the amount of the tax and costs which he and his heirs have since sold from $50 to $200 per lot; the aforesaid first division was surveyed by one Cham- berlain into lots of 100 acres each, being in all 91 lots, commencing to number at the S. E. corner of the town, counting east and west, each lot being known by its number and survey. The balance of said town was surveyed by Nathan Janes, being designated as " Janes' survey," containing 133 lots of 100 acres, each commencing to number at the S. E. corner of the 2d and 3d division, counting east and west, same as in the first division.
The first settler in the town was Gideon Sabin, who located in the east part, in the year 1795, or '96, and was followed the same year by Joseph Carr, and soon after by William West, all locating in the east- erly part of the town; and according to the best information to be obtained, the next who located in town was in the year 1801, when Benjamin Ainsworth and John Bettis located in the south part of the town. The first 12 settlers are as follows : Gideon Sabin, Joseph Carr, Wm. West, Benjamin Ainsworth, John Bettis, Ephraim Ainsworth, Thomas Ainsworth, Ezekiel Ball, Daniel Rugg, Ferdinand Perry, Daniel Smith, and .Samuel Mackres.
The first town meeting on record was Mar. 4, 1806, when said officers were chos- en : moderator, Samuel Mackres ; Wm. West, town clerk and treasurer ; select- men, Samuel Mackres, Joshua Kenaston, and Smith Ainsworth ; constable, Benja-
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min Ainsworth ; listers, David Rugg, Josh- ua Kenaston and Smith Ainsworth ; grand- juror, Joshua Kenaston. At a subsequent meeting, there was a committee appointed to look up the early records of the town ; but their labors were unavailing, and they were discharged, The oldest deed now on our records is dated Oct. 10, 1804, attested by Wm. West, town clerk.
The first birth in Woodbury was Polly Sabin; the second, Timothy Thomas ; the third, Peter Sabin. The first death, that of an infant child of Gideon Sabin. The first grown person dying in town was the wife of Ezekiel Ball. The first mar- riage was John Thomas to Ruamy Ains- worth, married by William West, Esq., justice of the peace.
MILLS.
.
The first settlements being made on the east side of the town, adjoining Cabot, the inhabitants went there to get their logs sawed and grain ground, and also their store goods and mail, and which has been continued to the present time, it being their nearest business place ; but soon after settlements were commenced in the south part of the town. In 1806, Anthony Bur- gess built a saw-mill on a stream which has its rise, or is the outlet of Dog pond, and empties into Sabin's pond, this mill being near the pond. This stream is about 3 miles in length. For many years there has been 4 saw-mills on it, all kept in run- ning order. In 1818, Phineas K. Dow built a saw and grist-mill near the center of the town, on a stream which has its rise in Long pond, emptying into the Sabin pond, near the other, which mill under his supervision did a fair business many years. He also built, soon after, a saw-mill on a stream running from. East Long pond in- to Nichols pond. Some portion of the time since there has been 10 saw-mills, which number is now reduced to 6, three of them recently built on improved plans. There is one grist-mill, which is located at South Woodbury. There are in town a wheelwright shop, which has an enviable reputation, doing a successful business, sales amounting to near $10,000 per an-
num ; a sash, blind and door shop, and a last-factory, the latter having been estab- lished nearly 50 years, is now doing a good business-the best ever done, employing both steam and water power. There are also 3 lumber mills, which do an extensive business, one at the Centre, one at South Woodbury village, and one in the east part of the town ; also, at So. Woodbury there is a machine shop, which manufactures J. W. Town's patent last-machines, also job work on a small scale.
SCHOOLS.
The first school taught in the town of Woodbury was by Sally White, in the year 1808.
The first record we find was in 1812, when three districts, which had been formed out of the new territory, and were desig- nated as the northwest, southeast, and northeast school districts ; but there had been short terms of school before this date in all of these districts, commencing at the northeast district, now No. I; this portion of the town being first settled ; next southeast, No. 2; northwest, No. 4. There was in 1812, in district 3, 73 schol- ars; in 1820, dist. 6, 176; 1830, dist. 9, 299; 1840, dist. II, 363 : 1850, dist. II}, (fractional dist.,) 350; 1860, dist. 11, 330 ; 1870, dist. 10, 308.
Six of the districts have good school- houses built upon improved plans ; some very recently, others have have been re- paired, so that they are comfortable.
SCHOOL SUPERINTENDENTS.
F. C. Putnam, Jason Hatch, A. W. Nel- son, Sidney O. Wells, Hiram Wells, Albert P. Town, Rufus Lawson.
REPRESENTATIVES.
Elisha Benjamin, 1812; no record in town or House Journal, 1813 ; John Bruce, 1814, 15, 16; Nathan B. Harvey, 1817; Benjamin Fowler, 1818, 19, 23, ,24, 25, 27, 28; Joel Celley, 1820, 21, 22, 26, 29, 30 ; Ebenezer Bruce, 1831 to 35, 38; Luther Morse, 1835 ; Asaph Town, 1836, 37, 55 ; Abner Town, 1839, 40, 45 ; Ira McLoud, 1841, to 45, 46, 52 ; Michael Jackson, 1847, 48 ; Benjamin Wells, 1849, 50; Stephen C. Burnham, 1851, 53; Isaac Wells, Jr.,
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VERMONT HISTORICAL MAGAZINE.
1854, 56; Hiram Putnam, 1857, 58 ; Orson Putnam, 1859, 60 ; J. W. Town, 1861, 62 ; Allen W. Nelson, 1863, 64 ; Joel C. Har- vey, 1865; Roland B. Bruce, 1866; Al- pheus S. Wheatley, 1867, 68; Nathaniel C. McKnight, 1869, 70, 71 ; Sidney O. Wells, 1872, 73.
TOWN CLERKS FROM 1806 to 1872.
William West, 1806-10 ; Joshua Kenas- ton, 1810, 11, 13, 14; Elisha Benjamin, 1812, 15; Jabez Town, 1816, 17, 18, 19- 23, 25-32 ; Nathan B. Harvey, 1818 ; Joel Celley, 1823, 24 ; Asaph Town, 1832-49 ; William McGregor, 1849-52 ; Allen W. Nelson, 1852 to the present time, Dec., 1872.
FIRST JUSTICES OF THE PEACE: Wil- liam West, Daniel Smith, Samuel Mackers.
POSTMASTERS.
Woodbury : Daniel Poor, Elias S. Drew, John B. Bliss, Asa Preston, William B. McGregor, Abner Town, A. W. Nelson, Ethan N. Ainsworth and Albert P. Town.
South Woodbury: Joel W. Celley and Orwell D. Town.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
Ebenezer Bruce, assistant judge, W. Co. Court, 1844, 45; Ira McLoud, high sheriff, W. Co. Court, 1849, 51 ; Asaph Town, senator, W. Co., 1851, 52; Fer- nando C. Putnam, assistant justice, W. Co. Court, 1867, 68.
In Jan., 1876, there was formed a Con- gregational church of 28 members, the present membership of which is 54. It seems to promise well for the future, and there is a flourishing Sabbath school con- nected with it. At South Woodbury there has been a union church built, an elegant building, but the same difficulty hangs over this that has troubled the builders of other churches, there remains a troublesome debt on the builders.
There is no library in town, but the town has paid considerable attention to education. There are many good school- houses, and teachers of the better class are generally employed.
Three young men have graduated from Burlington : Hon. Charles H. Heath, a
lawyer in Montpelier, and Ernest C. Ben- jamin, a teacher of the high school in Bar- ton. Geo. W. Kenaston, who graduated at Dartmouth, is in Ohio, engaged in teaching.
FREEWILL BAPTISTS.
It appears the first settlers were Freewill Baptists, and were connected with a church in Cabot until 1820, or 22, when through the efforts of Elder Ziba Woodworth, of Montpelier, they had a church formed in town. David Herrick and wife, Elisha Benjamin and wife, Mrs. Robert Bradish, Gideon Burnham and wife, Thomas Ains- worth and wife, John Bettis and wife, Mrs. John Thomas, Nathan Jackson and wife, and Nehemiah Jackson and wife were the principal members, located in different parts of the town. There were two dea- cons, David Herrick and Nehemiah Jack- son. The church was re-organized about 1850; most of the old members having now died or moved away. Elder Isaac Swan was settled as their pastor. I will mention here the names of Elder Gideon Sabin and Elder Ephraim Ainsworth, who are said to have been of that faith; but Elder Sabin never united with the church, and Elder Ainsworth died before the church was organized. Elder Sabin was the first settler and first preacher. Elder Ainsworth was well advanced in life when he came ; but both lived out their alloted time, and died in the town.
METHODISTS.
In 1816 there was a class formed by Elder A masa Cole ; John Goodell and wife, Capt. Joel Celley and wife, Anna Goodell, and Squire Jennings and wife were some of the members ; but the first record proof is found in 1847, when the first class num- bered 26 members ; the West Woodbury class, 10. John Tibbetts was leader, and Asaph Town, Esq., steward, which office he held until his death, in Jan. 1871.
CHRISTIAN CHURCH.
The first church of this order in these parts seems to have been composed of members from four towns, Cabot, Marsh- field, Calais and Woodbury, and was organ-
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ized about 1820, with 40 or 50 members, and in a few years run up to 60 or 70. Meetings were held a share of the time in Woodbury, Elder John Capron, of Marsh- field, J. R. Pettengill and R. Thompson being the first preachers. Subsequently, through the efforts of Elder Samuel Thur- ber, a church was formed in town whose members exceed that of either of the other churches. The meetings of the first church were held at the dwelling-house of Thos. Harvey, he and his wife being prominent members ; afterwards, meetings were held at the Harvey school-house, which is in the east part of the town, and where the members nearly all resided. Elder Orrin Davis, of Calais, has preached a portion of the time for several years since to this society ; also Elder Silas Wheelock, of the same town, has supplied the desk some, but for the last 4 years, Elder Jerome D. Bailey, resident of this town, has preached at the town-house and Harvey school-house from one-fourth to three- fourths of the time.
In 1826, the Freewill Baptists numbered at least 40 members, and at the same time the Methodists numbered about half the above numbers.
Within the recollection of the writer, there have been four distinct organizations of religious societies in town, viz. : Chris- tians, Freewill Baptists, Methodists and Universalists.
In 1810, there was a revival in this town, but no very definite information can be obtained in regard to its extent. In 1821, or 1822, there was a general revival, prayer- meetings being held in nearly every house in town. Again in 1826, of some magni- tude, and in 1842 and '43, a very general one spread over this town, as it did all over this section of the State. The exact number of converts at any of the above revivals is not known to the writer.
SABBATH-SCHOOLS.
The first was organized in 1842, with a library of 124 volumes, and Asaph Town was the first superintendent; Arad Jack- son, John Voodry, Willard Streeter, Eliza Town, Phebe Town, Betsey Herrick,
Dorcas A. Lyford, first teachers, with 36 scholars ; Asaph Town, chairman, David Herrick, Jr., secretary, Curtis Osgood, treasurer.
A Sabbath-school was organized at the center of the town in 1848 ; Albert P. Town, present superintendent ; volumes in library, 200 ; 6 teachers and 30 scholars.
The first Sabbath-school at East Wood- bury was organized in 1838; Wm. Harvey superintendent, until his death in 1843. It was re-organized in 1865 ; Lewis Hop- kins superintendent. The school has con- tinued until the present time, '71, with an average of 35 to 40 scholars, the present superintendent being Thomas Harvey, Jr.
But little, however, will be said of churches, as I have no records to refer to, and the history of church edifices in this town does not embrace a very remote period. From the early days, meetings have been held here in school-houses, four or five of which were quite commodious. In the year 1840, the town built a town- hall or town-house, which has been used for holding meetings up to the present time. In 1870, the people here thought well to erect a church, and through the influence of several of our best inhabi- tants, a subscription paper was circulated, and a Union church society formed, with F. C. Putnam president, and S. O. Wells secretary, and a capital stock of $5,000.
At the first society meeting, Henry C. Wells, Ira G. Jewell and Edmund E. Ball were chosen building committee, and in the spring of 1871, work was commenced on the church, which is now completed, at a cost of $6,000. In size the church is 44 ×60, with projections in front and rear for spire and pulpit, and is finished inside with ash and black walnut, the 54 slips, circular, radiating from the pulpit, and will seat 324 persons. The spire is 120 feet high, surmounted by cardinal points and vane. The edifice is called one of the best wooden churches of its size in the State. It has also a vestry, with chairs to seat 3co persons, and seats that will swell the amount to probably 500 persons. It is located in the village of South Wood-
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bury, and makes a very respectable addi- tion to the appearance of this quiet village.
The township is diversified and some- what broken. In the western part there is a mountain range, commencing in Calais, extending through the town, and ending near the Lamoille river in Hardwick. On the western slope of this mountain there are many productive farms. The soil is good, and produces excellent crops of hay and all the small grasses and corn in favor- able seasons.
There is a beauty in this mountain range which attracts the notice of the passing stranger ; some, if report be true, who have traveled in Europe say there is a striking resemblance to Switzerland scenery. The mountain is not so high as to make it dif- ficult of ascent, yet sufficiently high to show what mighty throes there must have been in the bowels of the earth to cast up such vast piles of massive rocks. In win- ter, the evergreens standing in mantle of snow, give it a sombre appearance; in summer, the green verdure, stretching out green branches by interlocking them, seem to strive to cover up the craggy rocks ; but when autumn comes, and frosts nip the verdure, and the mountain's brow is re- splendant in a pleasing variety of colors, who has a taste for the beautiful cannot fail of emotions of pleasure ; but where this beauty is mirrored by a pond, sleeping in quiet at its base, it is delightful, and the longer any one gazes, in a clear, autumnal day, the more he is enchanted ; few objects in nature can surpass the beauty of this.
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