Moretown Stories and Legends

The township of Moretown was chartered June 7, 1763 by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire. The proprietors were Jonah Forster and sixty-four associates. 1763 was the date of the Treaty of Peace at Paris at the end of the French and Indian War. The Winooski River and its tributaries, especially those which entered the river from the south, has played an important part in colonial history, for the Winooski was one of three routes which the St. Francis Indians used when raiding the settlements of southern Vermont and the settlements of central Massachusetts. When the Indians were on their way to burn Roy- alton, they camped on the meadow owned by Ebenezer Haseltine. It is a known fact that the captives of Deerfield were taken to Canada by way of the White and Stevens Branch to the Winooski. It is very possible that some of the men engaged in this war saw the possibility of settling here and when peace was restored came here to clear the land and make a permanent home. Our first settlers were in the Winooski valley in the area which previous to the flood of 1927 was called the Palisades. This land, according to some records, was a part of the possessions of Ira Alien, one of our prominent early Vermonters. His land was probably sold during the time he was in Europe in the service of his state. Vermont became an independent state in 1777 during the Revolutionary war and was independent for fourteen years or until 1791. There are two markers, one in the older Village cemetery and one in the Common cemetery, which commemorated their service in the war. These soldiers were Joshua Freeman and Benjamin Spaulding. Our state entered the union in 1791 during the presidency of George Washington. Our county is named for him.

Even though the town was chartered in 1763, active settlement did not take place until after the Revolution. Many towns that had been settled in the lower Winooski valley found it necessary to leave their possessions when Burgoyne and his Indians came down the Champlain Valley for the Indians were given the right to forage unrestrained.

We find that Seth Munson and Ebenezer Haseltine had made their pitch a mile or two from the Duxbury line on the Winooski in 1790. Two years later the town records show that on March 9, 1792 Joseph Haseltine, Seth Munson, David Parcher and Ebenezer Haseltine petitioned Richard Holden, a justice of the peace of Waterbury, to call a meeting of the voters of Moretown to be held at the home of Joseph Haseltine for the purpose of electing officers for Moretown. The people met March 22, 1792 and the following officers were elected: David Parcher, moderator; Seth Munson, town clerk; Joseph Haseltine, David Parcher, and John Heaton, selectmen; Phillip Bartlett, treasurer; Joseph Haseltine, constable; John Heaton and Ebenezer Haseltine, listers; Joseph Haseltine, collector; and Joseph Parcher, highway surveyor.

The first school district was also organized in the Haseltine district. As late as 1927-28 there were two Haseltine children in the old Rockbridge School. Daisy Haseltine still lives in Waterbury. The last Haseltine home is the house nearest the store at the junction of 100B on Route 2. People in this area who raised corn would take it by skiff down the Winooski, portaging around the falls in Bolton, to the grist mill at the falls of the Winooski.

The first to represent our town in the legislature was Luther Moseley who was chosen by six voters. Legislature first met at Woodstock, Vermont. Later Montpelier was chosen as the Capital because of contribution of citizens toward erecting the capital building. According to Child’s Gazeteer of Washington County, Joseph Haseltine and his six brothers served as soldiers in the Revolutionary War.

The original grant contained six square miles of land and had 23,040 acres. The Mad river rises in the Granville woods. By some of the old-timers, this spot is called Puddle-dock. It is easily discernable, as the quiescent pools lie on either side of 100B and from these pools flow the Mad in a northeasterly direction and the White River which empties into the Connecticut. The Mad river crosses the entire width of our town and empties into the Winooski somewhat south of the electrical plant in the Winooski near Middlesex. This river has furnished power for two electrical plants in Moretown (one near the Love Lane Road was wiped out at flood time of 1927) and the one at the old Casey Bridge was closed within the last ten years because of cost of upkeep and because the river in back of the dam had become filled with silt. Numerous mills have also obtained power from this river such as grist mills and saw mills.

Another sizeable stream is Jones Brook with its tributaries the Ward and Herring Brooks. This stream is in the north eastern part of town and also empties into the Winooski River three miles below Montpelier. On this stream were located saw mills, a butter tub factory and a cider mill. This property came into the possession of C. A. Steams in April 1884. He manufactured 20,000 feet of coarse lumber, 12,000 butter tubs and 1,000 barrels of cider annually. He also manufactured as a specialty stone boats. Hon. D. P. Thompson, author of The Green Mountain Boys and a resident of Montpelier, wrote an article about a severe cloudburst which occurred over Jones Brook, The mountains around the source of this stream rise to the height of about 2,000 feet. He was an eyewitness to the storm, being on a hill to the east of Montpelier village. It was a sultry day and his attention was attracted by the sudden obscuring of the sun caused by the unusual spectacle of two heavy clouds rapidly rolling toward each other. The clouds came together over the Jones Brook basin, they began to rise upward, double over and over until they swelled into a huge dome-like figure. Lightning and thunder accompanied this occurrence. This storm came upon the settlers with great surprise. No place afforded them protection. The uniting floods from the other streams swept away shanties, fences, old trees, logs, lumber and the saw mill of Mr. Oren dark. His hired man, Ebenezer Eastman, was drowned.

In 1830 a severe freshet occurred in the Mad River valley. It raised the river until nearly all the street was covered. A Miss Harriet Taylor of Waitsfield was teaching the village school. They sought refuge in the upper floor. Toward morning the cellar Wall under a part of the house fell in. The next morning family and teacher were floated to safety on a barn door. In the Winooski area damage was also done.

In 1869 another freshet hit the town doing much damage. But on November 3-4, 1927 the great Vermont flood came unheralded. In October the rainfall had been excessive, in fact. 5.64 inches against the normal 2.48 inches for the month. Due to the plentiful rainfall the soil was thoroughly soaked and the streams were running full when November arrived. Then suddenly eight or nine inches of rain fell within 24 hours. Brooks became torrents and rivers roared along in height and volume appalling. Moretown paid its full share with other towns, five human lives, one Albert Mitchivier, 28, of Burlington was drowned when he crossed the weakened culvert near the Ryan home below the Casey bridge. The Moretown line meets that of Duxbury just below the south abutment of the Waterbury bridge, virtually within the village of Duxbury Corners. In this locality the Winooski overflowed and a raging torrent drove through the little hamlet. The present writer of this article was teaching in the Rockbridge School and boarding in one of the Demeritt tenements rented by Heman Stewart. Nearly everyone went to the higher land and some sought refuge in the home of the Grouts, Patches and others whose homes were on the old Fair grounds. The J. R. Arkley farm was about opposite the junction of 100B. Mr. Arkley raised berries and asparagus and kept a small dairy. At flood time he was in the hospital for an operation. The barns and garage were carried away with everything inside. The residence lodged in the road, wrecked. George Sherman, a neighbor and a companion engaged in, try ing to save the cattle and was caught in the Arkley barn. He could not swim and declined to let his companion assist him who could. He perished, having been swept down stream. Next to Arkley’s was the place of Jed Haskins occupied by Mr. and Mrs. William Boyce and their grandson, Donald Brown. All three were carried away when their house with lights burning, sailed down the river, seen by many as it tossed its way along the miles. The bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Boyce were recovered at Bolton.

Thirty-eight bridges were swept away. All the bridges between the Waitsfield line and Middlesex were swept away except for the Casey Bridge. The Reagan children had just crossed the Crossroads bridge leading onto South Hill when it was swept away. Great damage was done to the road. A great fill was needed at the so-called Schoolhouse hill, the trees beside the road being used for the bottom. Theron Evans put in the temporary bridge at the upper end of the village and Fred Goss made the temporary one near the Ashley place. The river entered the home of Don Fielders where the Elmore Goodyear family now lives, drove the family out, drowned 15 head of young cattle and a pair of horses in his barn. The mill house beside the bridge was swept away, the upper mill was swamped, box shop wrecked, wheelwright and blacksmith shop of Mel Freeman, the creamery and ice house which was opposite the present Robert Fulton home was carried downstream along with the old office building opposite the big house, numerous small buildings and sheds and the dwelling and barn attached of Mrs. Jennie Pierce. The cottage occupied by Miss Mertie D. Whitney (the present Mrs. Ralph Wimble) and owned today by Miss Ethel Child was held floating by chains fastened to a tree, settling off its foundations. The barns of Bernie Griffith, Frank Johnson, the barber shop of Ernest Kingsbury was moved from its foundation. Theron Evans lost an ice house and hen I? house. His meadow and others on that river side were covered with gravel. The covered bridge back of the town hall was carried away. The dam at the lower mill, about 700,000 feet of lumber, the Ashley bridge and the covered bridge at Harold Austin’s leading over to the present Adrian | Elwell home were carried away. Bridges on | Cox and Jones Brook went out. Jones Brook changed its course at the present Elmer Towne-Ayer Farm digging a deep gulch 32 through the meadow. Albert Abel took his family to the sugar house; A. C. Bronson lost stock, horses and toolhouse; Julius Converse lost several head of stock and his barn and hay were ruined; Wesley Childs who owned the farm, the house and nearby buildings (now owned by Phillip Goss) saved his stock by releasing them so they could go to higher ground. Below Twin Bridge (Buck Bridge) opposite Slip Hill, V. 0. Dillingham lost a carriage house and two henhouses. Joseph Companion lost five acres of meadow land obliterating the pretty camping spot known as the Palisades. The road takes a wide detour around this spot starting near the present residence of Winifred Durett and Gene Armstrong. Much of the meadow land in this section was so deeply covered with silt and it took many years to put it back into production.

Town meetings were held on the Common when the center of population seemed to have moved into that area. Then in 1832 the warning called for a “yes” or “no” vote on whether the town meeting be removed from the Common to the Hollow (present Moretown village). Since then the town meetings have been held at the Hollow. The present town house was started by subscription. By searching the town records, it is found proprietor’s meetings were held some years after the town was organized. The Common played an important part in local history. I have the information that when the community oven was on the Common, it was the custom for women of the area to have a day in the week when baking was done there. (Other days the baking was done at the fireplaces and as homes were improved the baking-ovens built near the fireplaces.) A school was built and also a church. The Methodist church was moved to the Hollow 110 years ago and the school was closed in 1960 when a central school was established in the town. Among the familiar names for this section of town are the Childs, Foster, Howes, Mayo, and Farnham.

South Hill which lies south of the Common was also settled early in the history of the town. John Goss who settled here and his son, Aaron, were buried in the Common cemetery. Other families which settled there were mainly Irish immigrants who came to this country in the mid-1800’s. The Flanagans, Murphys, McCarthys, Harris’, Lees, Costellos, Donahues, Keltys, etc., were some of the families. If one enters the Roman Catholic Church and reads the inscriptions under the stained windows, they will find some of these names. The Catholic cemetery is on this hill and at one time the church was in the center of the lot where the present cross is. A marker was set while Mike and Mary Reagan were living on the hill which commemorated the services held by the first circuit priest who came here to serve the community. The northeast corner of the cemetery was the burial place of many workers on the C. V. Railway who died of diphtheria. No headstones were ever set for them.

The school on the South Hill (District No. 7) which was located opposite the turn leading to the present Stephen Hale farm and on land belonging to Charles and Lydia (Goss) Billings once gave instructions to sixty children during the 1880’s. There were two schools on the Common, the building where the snowfenee is stored is the second one; the school on Lynch hill was abandoned some time ago; the Jones Brook school; a school on Cox Brook which has been torn down; a school on Cobb Hill; the Taplin school; Flanagan school; and the Rock- bridge school. Unfortunately this does not in my estimation mention all the districts in town. Some of the numbers of school districts could be found. District No. 1 was the Haseltine or Rockbridge district; No. 3 and No. 12 the Common; No. 4 the Hollow or Village; No. 7 South Hill (today South Hill is a part of No. 4); No. 13 was Cobb Hill; No. 6 Flanagan school; No. 9 Kelley district; No. 6 Lynch Hill; No. 9 Jones Brook; No. 10 Cox Brook; and No. 8 serviced present Taplin school section. The directors of District No. 8 were at one time P. G. Converse; S. E. Mead; William Leland; Joseph D. Clogstrom; Benjamin P. Hill; John Kerin; Nort Kerin and T. H. Kerin.

The teachers wages in this district for 1869 were listed in this way from report of that school district:

Wages $24.00 .............First term
Board $26.00 ......... ... First term
Wages $26.00 ............ Second term
Board $26.32 ............. Second term

School terms varied, some might be eight weeks or twelve. These facts being determined by the districts. Earlier than this, wages as small as fifty cents a week and the teacher boarded “around,” an expression meaning each family was expected to furnish board.

The first postal service through the valley was from Rochester to Montpelier in 1818. Two trips a week were made. Moretown had its first post office in 1826. Ira Carpenter, son of Cephas Carpenter, was postmaster. Dr. Kinsley, who lived where Merlin Ward’s home is was a later postmaster. John Taylor, who lived in one of the houses burned near the town hall, had the post office in his home at the time of the fire. Walter Wilcox was postmaster from 1914 to 1924 and Merlin Ward served as postmaster from 1924 to 1963.

Moretown has furnished its quota in the military services. The ones who served in the Revolution, War of 1812 and Mexican War of 1847 have not been completely searched out. Of the Civil War era more information was found.

Below is a list of the Civil War enlistments from Moretown:

I am not sure what companies all the above were in.

Ezekiel Buzzell was killed at Savage Station, Va. -- June 30, 1862.

James R. Murray was killed at Savage Station, Va. -- June 30, 1862.

William H. Hathaway died September 12, 1863. Co. B, 13th Vt. Vol.

Leonard R. Foster, Co. B, 10th Vt. Vol. was killed at Cedar Creek -- October 19, 1864.

1/Lt. Alfred M. Nevens died May 2, 1862 of wounds received at Lee's Mills, buried in Moretown Village.

Wilbur Foster, Co. D, 2nd Vt. Vol. died February 21, 1863.

Engagements Co. G, 6th Reg., Vt. Vol. served from October 16, 1861 to January 1, 1864 were engaged at the following places:

Lee's Mills, Va. ................. April 16, 1862
Williamsburg, Va. ................ May 5, 1862
Golden's Tavern, Va. .......... June 27, 1862
Savage Station, Va. ............. June 27, 1862
White Oak Swamp, Va. ........ June 80, 1862
South Mountain, Md. .......... Sept. 14, 1862
Antietam, Md. ................... Sept. 17, 1862
Fredericksburg, Va. ........ Dec. ll to 15, 1862
Mary's Heights :................. .. May 3, 1863
Banks Ford ......................... May 4, 1863
Wilderness ...........................May 6,1863
Fredericksburg ................... June . 6, 1863
Gettysburg, Pa. ............. July 2 and 3, 1863
Funkstown, Md. .................. July 10, 1863
Rappahannock Station, Va........ Nov. 7, 1863
Locust Grove ..................... Nov. 27, 1868

Michael Eagan was drummer; David C. Holt fifer.

Spanish-American War

World War I

World War II

The first church organized in town was a Congregational Church. Deacon Nathan Beaton and Philemon Ashley were among its early and prominent members. The school house and later the town house at the village were used as places of worship. Amasa Cole was probably the first Methodist preacher in Moretown. He was a local preacher living near Middlesex. Soon after 1809, Joshua Luce, a preacher from Pittsfield, Mass., settled in town. He and his wife and daughter, Roxana, were probably the first Methodists in town. Moretown became a part of the old Barre circuit, Vermont District and New England Conference, a circuit embracing Barre, Montpelier, Middlesex, Moretown, Waitsfield and Warren. Leonard Foster was ordained deacon by Bishop Asbury, June 10, 1818. Zadoc Hubbard, Ebenezer Johnson, Calvin dark, Barnabas Mayo and William Harris were leading members prior to 1820. The first church was built on the Common in 1832. This was occupied until 1854 when the present church in Moretown was built. Rev. Justin Spalding was born in this town in 1802 and for some years was missionary in South America. Rev. Nathan B. Spalding was also born in town. At present the church is served by Rev. Lloyd S. Van Norden and it is in the Burlington District, Troy Conference.

The land on South Hill was given to the Catholic Society by Col. Miller and Frank and Peter Lee of Montpelier in 1841. In 1858 the society built a. church there, the burial ground being in the same lot. They later built the present church at the village. Aside from the circuit priest which came to South Hill in the early days, the present church has been served by and through the Waterbury Church.

The town has been served by few local doctors. Dr. Lester Kinsley was fifty-two years in active and successful practice here. He settled in town in 1827 and died in 1881. He held position as town clerk, postmaster and town representative. Dr. Haylett succeeded Dr. Kinsley and resided in the present Haylett home. He served the community faithfully until his death in 1925. He also represented the town in the State Legislature in 1886.

The old hotel was built by Joseph Sawyer and was operated by them for several years. A harness shop was located between that and the present Mervin Cutler home. Later this was operated by Tabe Sherman and help employed in Tripp and Tenant mill boarded there. It was called Central House at one time and many traveling troupes put up here when entertainments were put on in the community. This building was destroyed by fire in 1963.

Ward Lumber Company bought the sites of the Fassett mill and Tripp and Tenant and Parker Mills after their destruction by fire. They had operated a mill in Dowsville previous to this. Now in 1962-63 they have moved their mill holdings except for the clapboard mill to Waterbury.

A tin shop was where the present fire station is. Ethel Child’s home was Bphraim Heath’s law office. In the old Elwell garage was the undertaking parlors and carriage shop of E. A. Lovejoy and Towle. E. A. Lovejoy also operated a livery service at the Albert Ferris, Sr. property.

The burning of the Tripp and Tenant Mill also destroyed the home of John Taylor and another house near the present town hall. The town hall was saved, though it was seriously threatened.

In 1881 there were 1,181 people in town. The present population is 883. There were three stores in town, two or three blacksmith shops, harness shop, wheelwright shop, saw mills, grist mill, etc. The old Hathaway House was moved to the site near the fire station after the flood and is occupied now by Ryland Partridge. The home of George Hurdle was situated where the “Big House” is and was owned by Dennison Freeman. Walter Bemo’s home was the former Tubbs place.

The home where Goldie Ward lives is a very old house which underwent considerable remodeling. The old Lan Wilcox store is the present Agnes Newton house. The new store which Lan Wilcox built is where the only store is today.

In the early 1900’s there was an energetic Military Band in town with at least twenty-four members. Will Johnson was drummer. Other players were Carroll Pierce, Pet J Griffith, Frank Atkins, Roy Atkins, the Armstrong boys, Charles Goss.

This history is not complete in any way. If more time had permitted a more interesting account could have been written. Much more could have been given about the local village. Little space has been given to some of our districts such as Cox Brook, Lynch Hill, Cobb Hill, etc.