Hyde Park, Lamoille
County, Vermont
HYDE PARK VERMONT, the shire town, and
geographical as well as political center of the county, lies in lat. 44°
37', and long. 4° 26', bounded northeasterly by Eden, southeasterly by
Wolcott, southwesterly by Morristown, and northwesterly by Johnson. It has
an area of 23,040 acres, its boundary lines being each about six miles in
length, thus forming a square, which is set diagonally, north and south. No
changes have been made in the territorial limits of the town since its
original survey. It was granted by the State, November 6, 1780, and
chartered August 27, 1781, to Jedediah Hyde and sixty-four associates, as
follows:
"The Governor, Council and General Assembly of the Freemen of Vermont, to
all people to whom these presents shall come, Greeting:
"Know ye, that whereas Jedediah Hyde, Esq., and his associates, our worthy
friends, have by petition, requested a grant of a tract of unappropriated
lands within this State, of 6 miles square, in order for setting a new
plantation, to be erected into a township. We have therefore thought fit,
for the due encouragement of their' laudable designs, and for other valuable
considerations, us hereunto moving, and do by these presents in the name and
by the authority of the Freemen of Vermont, give and grant the tract of land
hereafter described, and bounded, unto the said Jedediah Hyde, and the
several persons hereafter named his associates, viz:
" William Dennison, William Ledyard, Elihu Marvin, John Lamb, Elisha
Edgerton, Samuel Capron, Robert Hallam, Richard Deshon, Jr., Zacheus
Lathrop, Frederick Tracy, Asa Waterman, William Latham, Jonathan Brewster,
Charles Lamb, Hezekiah Edgerton, Ransford Rose, Richard Deshon, Samuel
Lathrop, Jared Tracy, Simeon Thomas, John Dorrance, Theophilus Rogers,
Daniel Rodman, Roger Enos, Jr., Elisha Marvin, William Read, William
Whitney, Nicholas Fossdick, William Wattles, John McCn. Breed, William
Hubbard, Elisha Bill, Lodwick Champlain, Elijah Bachus, Thomas Mumford,
Solomon Story, Henry Billings, Joseph Woodbridge, Jabez Fitch, Henry Rice,
Benjamin Talman, Thomas James Douglass, Ebenezer Basto, Zabaiel Rogers,
Thomas Chittenden, Zebediah Varnum, Elisha Lathrop, Edward Latham, Ebenezer
Witter, Peleg Hyde, Samuel Cardall, Daniel Coit, Christopher Lessingwell,
Augustus Peck, Araunah Waterman, John Davis, Giles Mumford, Amasa Jones,
Andrew Billings, Henry Woodbridge, Ebenezer Whitney, Erastus Rossiter,
Joseph Smith, Jedediah Hyde, Jr., which together with the five following
rights reserved to the several uses in manner following, include the whole
of said township, viz : one right for the use of a Seminary or College, one
right for the use of County Grammer Schools, in said State, lands to the
amount of one right to be and remain for the purpose of settlement of a
minister and ministers of the Gospel in said Township forever, lands to the
amount of one right for the support of the social worship of God, in said
Township, and lands to the amount of one right for the support of an English
School or Schools in said Township, which said two rights for the use of a
Seminary or College, and for the use of County Grammar Schools, as
aforesaid, and the improvements, rents, interest and profits arising
therefrom, shall be under the control, order, direction and disposal of the
General Assembly of said State forever , and the Proprietors of said
Township, are hereby authorized and empowered to locate said two rights,
justly and equitably, or quantity for quality, in such parts of said
Township, as they, or their Committee shall judge will least incommode the
general settlement of said Tractor Township. And the Proprietors are hereby
further empowered to locate the lands aforesaid, amounting to three rights
assigned for the settlement of a minister and ministers for their support
and for the use and support of English Schools, in such and in so many
places, as they or their Committee shall judge will best accommodate the
inhabitants of said Township, when the same shall be fully settled and
improved, laying the same equitably or quantity for quality, which said
lands amounting to the three last rights mentioned, when located as
aforesaid, shall, together with their improvements, rights, rents, profits,
dues and interests, remain inalienably appropriated, to the uses and
purposes, for which they are respectively assigned, and be under the charge,
direction and disposal of the Selectmen of said Township, in trust to and
for the use of said Township forever.
" Which tract of land hereby given and granted as aforesaid, is bounded and
described as follows, viz.: Beginning at the Northeasterly corner of
Morristown, then North, thirty-six degrees East, in the line of Wolcott and
Minden, six miles-then North, fifty-four degrees West six miles then South,
thirtysix degrees West six miles, to the Northeasterly corner of Morristown
aforesaid, then South, fifty-four degrees East, in the line of said
Morristown six miles, to the bounds begun at and that the same be, and
hereby is incorporated into a Township by the name of Hyde Park, and the
inhabitants that do, or may hereafter inhabit said Township and declared to
be enfranchised and entitled to all the privileges and immunities, that the
inhabitants of other Townships within this State do and ought by the law and
Constitution of this State, to exercise and enjoy:
"To have and to hold, the said granted premises as above expressed, with all
the privileges and appurtenances thereto belonging and appertaining to them
and their respective heirs, and assigns forever, upon the following
Conditions and Reservations, viz. : That each proprietor of the township of
Hyde Park, aforesaid, his heirs or assigns shall plant and cultivate five
acres of land, and build an house, at least, eighteen feet square on the
floor, or have one family settled on each respective right, within the term
of four years next after the circumstances of the war will admit of a
settlement with safety, on penalty of forfeiture of each right of land, in
said Township not so improved, or settled, and the same to revert to the
freemen of this State, to he by their representatives regranted to such
persons as shall appear to settle and cultivate the same.
"That all Pine Timber, suitable for a navy, be reserved for the use and
benefit of the freemen of the State.
"In Testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of
the State to be affixed, this z7th day of August, Anno Domini, one thousand
seven hundred and eighty-one, and in the fifth year of our independence.
"THOMAS CHITTENDEN., "By his Excellency's command,, "THOMAS TOLMAN D., Sec'y."
The surface of the town is very uneven, and, in many parts, quite hilly,
though there are no mountains. The lowest portion is reached near the
southern line, at the Lamoille river, whence the surface gradually ascends
northwardly, until many localities assume almost the character of a
mountainous region. The village of North Hyde Park, located in the
northwestern corner of the town, is, however, little, if any, higher than
the village of Hyde Park, located at the southern line, upon a sand bluff,
some seventy feet above the alluvium of the river. With the exception of a
few sandy plateaus, the largest of which is in the eastern part of the town,
crossed by the old Wolcott road, the soil away from the river beds is clay,
and well adapted for wheat and grazing. This is generally speaking, as the
usual variety of soil may be found interspersed with the clay ground-work.
Trees of a deciduous nature predominate, the pines being found upon the
rough side-hills and on the sandy flats. The sugar maple is very common, the
original growth of this tree having been quite generally spared. The
principal river is the Lamoille, which flows across the southern part of the
town, then drops south into Morristown, to enter Hyde Park again in the
southwestern part of the town. The other streams of importance are Green
river and Rodman brook, though there are numerous minor brooks and streams,
many of which afford excellent mill-sites. The most striking feature in the
surface of the township is the cluster of ponds in the northeastern part.
They vary in size from one to one hundred and fifty acres, and number about
twenty. Great pond is the largest. Most of them are supplied by springs
beneath the surface, and are the sources of brooks which ultimately reach
the Lamoille river. A few have apparently neither inlet nor outlet, and are
entirely surrounded by the primeval forest.
The geological structure of the territory consists of an immense bed of
talcose schist, cut by a narrow range of clay slate, the latter extending
through the whole length of the western part of the town, from north to
south. Gold is said to exist in small quantities in the northwestern part. A
bed of terre de seine has been worked in the gorge of the Green river, and
deposits of ochre have been discovered in the same vicinity. Copper has also
been found on the banks of that river, and a mining company was once
organized to develop the ore, though nothing of importance was ever done.
Sulphur and iron springs are found in different localities. At North Hyde
Park a mineral spring of great strength exists, emptying into the Gihon
river, a branch of the Lamoille.
In,1880, Hyde Park had a population of 1,715, and in 1882, was divided into
fifteen school districts and contained fourteen common schools, employing
four male and eighteen female teachers, to whom was paid an aggregate salary
of $2,029.65. There were 528 pupils attending common school, while the
entire cost of the schools for the year, ending October 31st, was $2,306.89,
with H. M. McFarland, superintendent.
HYDE PARK. It was originally intended by the proprietors that the
village should be located where Albert M. Whitcomb's farm now is, on road 18
cor. 6, and the village lots were actually laid out at that point. Where the
village now stands, the pine plain was laid out in acre lots, in the second
division, and each proprietor was entitled to one village lot, and one pine
lot. The town-house was first located at Centerville, and it does not seem
to have been anticipated the principal business of the town would ever be
located at the southwest corner. Its growth, however, can be accounted for
in the fact that its site is located upon a fine plateau, elevated above the
surrounding swamps, on the main thoroughfares of travel in all directions,
and commanding fine views of hill and valley scenery.
In 1807, Nathaniel P. Sawyer erected a mansion at the head of Main street,
which is yet standing, the oldest dwelling in the village. The next house
was built in 1808, by Aaron Keeler, and is now occupied by his descendants.
Soon after, in 1809, a house was erected at the western terminus of the
village. Thus the growth continued gradually, until the establishment of the
county seat at this point. The erection of the jail and court-house, in
1836, gave new life and importance to the growing settlement. Previous to
this, a store had been kept for many years, by Oliver Noyes and his son,
Breed, on the old Noyes place. There the post office was kept, the business
rendezvous for several years, but in 1836, the trade was at the village.
According to Thompson's Vermont, there were in Hyde Park street, in 1840,
twenty dwellings, two stores, three hotels, and several mechanic's shops.
There are now about sixty dwellings, one hotel, two churches (Union and
Catholic), five stores, and shops of various kinds, besides the county
buildings, town hall and academy building. The hotel, the American House,
the best in the county, was built by a company organized for that purpose,
in 1858.
The Lamoille Central Academy was organized in 1857. School was opened in the
fall of 1858, taught by H. Henry Powers, now one of the judges of the
supreme court of Vermont. Among the later instructors in the school have
been H. B. Chittenden, who taught the school six years, and is now principal
of Swanton Academy, H. M. McFarland, who had charge of the school three
years, H. S. Wilson, now principal of People's Academy, at Morrisville, and
R. W. Hulburd, the present principal. The present board of trustees are
Waldo Brigham, David Randall, E. B. Sawyer, George L. Waterman, and C. S.
Page.
NORTH HYDE PARK, a post village located in the northwestern part of
the town, boasts a very rapid growth. In 1859, there were no signs of a
village on its present delightful site. The first settlers in the vicinity
were David Wood, David Holton, Marvin Glasure, Daniel Bullard, and Joseph
Ferry, who came there over sixty years ago. Previous to 1840, a saw-mill had
been erected on the Gihon river, by Daniel Ferry, and at that time, 1840,
the county road was laid out through the place, extending, as such, from
Johnson, up to Orleans county, via. Eden, when the place was first called
North Hyde Park, containing five or six families. Up to 1865, there were
added to the place about fifteen dwelling houses, one starch factory, one
store, and hotel, one church, and a blacksmith, wheelwright, and cooper
shop. The village now has a good hotel, two churches (Union and
Congregational), several manufactories, several stores, and about forty
dwellings.
CENTERVILLE, a hamlet located in the central part of the town,
contains one store, and about half a dozen dwellings.
HASKINSVILLE, a hamlet located near the head of Green river, has
onesawmill, and four dwellings. Manufacturing and Industry
in Hyde Park
The Lamoille County Bank, located at Hyde Park village, was
chartered by the legislature in 1854, with an authorized capital of
$75,000.00, and commenced business the following year, May I I, in the
building now occupied by judge Small, with a paid up capital of $50,000.00.
Lucius H. Noyes was made president, and Carlos S. Noyes, cashier. Previous
to this the business of the county had been transacted principally with
banks at Burlington, St. Albans, Montpelier, and Waterbury. Considerable
opposition to the establishment of the institution was encountered at first,
owing to the fact that some of the directors of the Waterbury bank were
residents of this county. This opposition was of short duration, however,
and the bank was s00n in a prosperous condition. July I, 1865, the bank was
reorganized as "The Lamoille County National Bank," and the capital
increased to $150,000.00, with Lucius H. Noyes, president, and Albert L.
Noyes, cashier. In 1868, the present commodious bank building was erected of
brick, which is supplied with a fire-proof vault, secured by a time-lock.
The president dying in February, 1877, his brother, Carlos S. Noyes, of
Morrisville, was elected to the vacancy, and C. S. Page made vice-president.
They, with A. L. Noyes, cashier, constitute the present list of officers.
The board of directors is as follows : C. S. Page, A. L. Noyes, of Hyde Park
, C. L. Noyes, H. H. Powers, P. H. Gleed, of Morristown, George Wilkins, of
Stowe, and Henry Smiley, of Cambridge. The annual election of officers is
held on the second Tuesday in. January. Of the first board of directors only
George Wilkins, of Stowe, is living.
Vernon W. Jewett's wagon, carriage, and sleigh manufactory, located at Hyde
Park, was established, in a small way, about 1876. In 1881, he built the
commodious shop he now occupies. He employs seven hands, and during the
season of 188z, he manufactured forty lumber wagons, in addition to much
other work.
H. f. Lilley &' Co.'s carriage manufactory, located on Church street, was
established in 1860. The firm now employs several hands, and does a business
of from $8,000.00 to $10,000.00 per year.
The Lamoille creamery, located at Hyde Park, was established in 1882, by
Hinckley, Ayers & Co., of Boston, using the old starch factory. building.
The factory uses the milk from 400 cows, though it has the capacity of using
that of 600 cows. It is the only creamery in the county, and is
superintended by H. M. Noyes.
C. J. Patch's saw-mill, located in the western part of the town, on the
Gihon river, was built in 1879, by Peter Cox. It has the capacity for
cutting 500,000 feet of lumber and a large quantity of shingles and
clapboards per annum.
Orson Hadley's cider-mill, located on road 34, built in 1875, has the
capacity for manufacturing sixteen barrels of cider per day.
Foss &' Robins's saw-mill, located on the Gihon river, at North Hyde Park,
cuts 600,000 feet of lumber per year, in addition to a quantity of
clapboards and butter-tubs. The mill is also supplied with lumber dressing
machinery.
Marquis D. L. Peck's clapboard and saw-mill, located on road 13, was built
in 1868. It has the capacity for sawing 5,000 feet of lumber per day.
Hiram S. Haskin's saw-mill, located on road 9, built in 1881, has the
capacity for cutting 15,000 feet of lumber per day, and is supplied with
planing and matching machinery. Mr. Haskins has another mill on Great pond,
rebuilt in 1870, which cuts 6,000 feet of lumber per day, and which has a
clapboard-mill.
C. S. Page's saw-mill, located in the northern part of the town, rebuilt in
1881, saws 1,000,000 feet of lumber annually, employing eight hands.
Warren Brothers' saw-mill, located on road 39, on Mill brook, was originally
built by Samuel Wiswell, and rebuilt by Warren Brothers in 1879. It has the
capacity for cutting 800 feet of lumber per hour. Early
Settlers of Hyde Park
Capt. Jedediah Hyde, after whom the town was named,
explored the wilderness of northern Vermont, with his son, Jedediah, Jr., in
1781, or previously, as that is the date of the town charter, and surveyed
the boundaries of the township. There is a tradition that the name of the
town, in the first charter drawn, was Wilkes, but, in compliment to Capt.
Hyde, who was principally instrumental in procuring the grant, a new charter
was made before the copy was placed on record, and the name changed to
Hyde's Park. By common consent, or general usage, the "s" was gradually
dropped from the name, until " Hyde Park" became the universal manner of
spelling and pronouncing it. The list of grantees was made up largely among
the personal friends and acquaintances of Capt. Hyde, in Norwich, Conn., and
vicinity. Many of them had distinguished themselves in the army and navy,
and were generally men of intelligence and culture.
The first settler in the town was John McDaniel, of Scotch
extraction, his name being a corruption of McDonald. In person, Mr. McDaniel
was unusually large and commanding, being some six feet two or three inches
in height, the very ideal of a backwoods pioneer. His name will long be held
in remembrance in Hyde Park. He reached the town with his family, July 4,
1787, and immediately proceeded to erect a log house. This was, in the eyes
of the early settlers, a handsome structure, being made of the best spruce
logs, the bark peeled off, and the roof made partly of large shingles. The
floors were of basswood planks, split and hewn. This elegant structure for
such it then by comparison was located upon the farm now owned by Terrence
Finnegan, about a mile west of Hyde Park village, on road 55. His house
became the headquarters and the temporary home of those who came after
McDaniel, he being almost a father to the growing settlement. When the
Hubbells, the Joneses, the Taylors, and the Guyers, of Wolcott, came up to
prospect and to effect a settlement, John McDaniel's house was their
resting-place, until they could look about and commence fairly for
themselves. So especially of the early settlers of Hyde Park. When Jabez
Fitch arrived he was welcomed and treated with great courtesy and kindness.
When their meagre stores of provisions were exhaused, as often happened to
the settlers, especially during their first year, they supplied themselves
at McDaniel's, who did not seem to calculate whether he should be paid, but
considered only their necessities, trusting to their honesty. The old house
was finally superseded by a more commodious structure, where Mr. McDaniel
kept a hotel for many years. He died August 12, 1834, aged eighty-six years,
and was interred in the old cemetery on the Hyde place. His only daughter
became the wife of Gamaliel Taylor.
During the season of Mr. McDaniel's settlement here he was joined by William
Norton and family, from New York, and they were the first families to winter
in the town. They were joined the next year by Capt. Hyde, Peter Martin,
Jabez Fitch, Esq., and sons, and Ephraim Garvin. These pioneers were joined
within a few years, by Aaron Keeler and family,Truman Sawyer, Hon. N. P.
Sawyer, and others with their families. The first settlers suffered all the
privations of a life in the wilderness. The nearest grist-mill was at
Cambridge,eighteen miles distant. In 1792, there was a saw and grist-mill
erected in the adjoining town of Wolcott, by Hezekiah Whitney. After the
town was organized, in 179T, for a period of thirty years its growth was
very rapid.
Numerous proprietors' meetings were held all of them at John McDaniel's
house up to the year 1814, the last record appearing with the date,
"December 30th." Nothing of especial interest to the reader appears in these
records, the proprietors' meetings seeming to have been held, as appears in
their warnings, principally for "making further divisions of land," and
"raising money to defray the expenses thereof." The original records were
copied in a durable blank book, by Jedediah Hyde, proprietors' clerk, Nathan
P. Sawyer, justice of the peace and proprietors' clerk, and by Aaron Keeler,
town and proprietors' clerk. The handwriting of the latter is unusually
handsome, bold and uniform.
All of the written authorities, as far as we have been able to learn, have
it that the town was organized in 1791 , but the first entry in book number
one of the town records is dated March 31, 1794. At this meeting John
McDaniel was chosen moderator, Jabez Fitch, town clerk, and John McDaniel,
Peter Martin, and Aaron Keeler, selectmen. No other officers seem to have
been chosen that year.
At a meeting held March 22, 1802, a tax of one cent on the dollar of the
grand list was made, "for the purpose of securing a standard of weights and
measures, guide-posts, sign-posts, and books for the records of said town."
At a meeting held March 13, 1804, it was voted "that the town should be
divided into three school districts," and " that the two-mile tree beyond
the guide-board on the Eden road, should be the boundary line for the north
district, and Mill brook the boundary line between the easterly and westerly
districts."
At a meeting held March 25, 1805, it was voted "that there be a committee
appointed in each district to choose land for burying the dead, and make
report of their choice of ground for that purpose by the first day of June
next." Thomas W. Fitch, David Clement, and Truman Sawyer were appointed as
such committee for the eastern district, Jedediah Hyde, Oliver Noyes, and
Darius Fitch, for the west district. The committee for the west district
reported their choice of a quarter acre on lot No. 71, first division, " on
that part of the lot adjoining the main road south of the school-house." The
east district committee "selected on the third division, lot No. 17, and on
that part now owned by Mr. Cyrus Hill, adjoining the main road," and " that
one-quarter acre be sufficient," also that " Mr. Hill will convey the
premises for the consideration of $400.00, provided the town will engage to
hereafter maintain the whole of the expense that shall be rendered necessary
to enclose the said ground."
At a meeting held September 2, 1806, it was voted " that the selectman be,
and are hereby, requested and empowered to lease to Mr. David Brown the
southerly half of the first division lot of the Social Worship Right (so
called), in this town for the rent of nine cents per acre, payable annually
on the first day of January, in wheat, rye, or Indian corn, the first
payment to be made the first day of January, A. D., 18 a 2 : said lease to
run as long as grass grows and water runs , and that said Brown shall, on
pain of forfeiture of his lease, clear, or cause to be cleared, and put
under good improvement, five acres of said southern half of said lot, in two
years from the passing of this vote."
In 1819, at a special meeting, March 3 rst, the town voted to " hire
preaching with the Social Worship money, and that Elder Jabez Newland, David
Clemens, and Robert Hastings, be employed to preach it out, said money to be
divided according to the different societies in said town."
The survey of the road leading from Wolcott to Johnson, through Hyde Park,
was recorded September 27, 1800. The survey of the road east of Darius
Fitch's, leading from Hyde Park to Morristown, intersecting the road leading
through Morristown and Stowe, was recorded September 27, 1800. The survey of
the road leading from the main east and west road, to Morristown, was
recorded October 1, 1800.
The first births in town were children of Capt. Hyde, Diadama, born June 17,
1789, and Jabez Perkins, born June 12, 1791. The first death was that of
David Parker, who was killed by a log rolling upon him, about 1806. He was a
son of Capt. Hyde's second wife, by a former marriage. The first minister
who preached in town, was Lorenzo Dow. The first school was kept by
Elizabeth Hyde, in Judge N. P. Sawyer's barn, about the year 1800.
John McDaniel, Capt. Hyde, Aaron Keeler, Truman Sawyer, and Jabez Fitch,
served most frequently during the first years as moderator of the town
meetings, or on the board of selectmen. For a few years, the election of
officers comprised all the business transacted at the town-meetings, and
this list was short, consisting of moderator, clerk, three selectmen, and
constable. The meetings were held in private houses, the dwellings of Jabez
Fitch, Darius Fitch, John Searle, and Oliver Noyes, serving as town halls,
the latter being the usual resort from 1804 until 1818, when houses were
used for the purpose until 1835, when a town-house was erected, "on the
north side of the road, at the four corners, on land owned by Mr. Theophilus
W. Fitch." At a meeting held March 3, 1857, the following resolution was
adopted:
Resolved, That the inhabitants do remove their holding of town and freemen's
meetings hereafter, to Hyde Park street, that the town vote to build a
suitable building, or town hall, for the same-that there be room for a high
school or academy in the upper story, for which the said village of Hyde
Park agrees to contribute $500.00, and that said town borrow of the surplus
fund a sufficient sum to defray the remainder of said expenses of erecting
completing, and finishing said building. That the same be paid back to said
surplus fund, in four annual installments, at such periods as the town may
hereafter direct.
The vote on the passage of this resolution stood 107 to 100, in the
affirmative. Much dissatisfaction was expressed at this action by those
residing in the eastern part of the town, but the resolution was adopted.
During the late civil war Hyde Park furnished nine commissioned officers and
140 enlisted men towards suppressing the great Rebellion, twenty-nine of
whom were killed in action, or died from wounds or diseases contracted while
in the service.
The first public religious services held in the town were conducted by
Lorenzo Dow, very early in the history of the settlement, probably about
1793. A Methodist preacher, Rev. Nehemiah Sabins, preached soon after, and
formed the Methodist class. Elizabeth Hyde, daughter of Capt. Jedediah Hyde,
at that time ten years of age, was first to join the class. The society now
has a comfortable church at North Hyde Park, and at Hyde Park village,
presided over by Rev. J. E. Bowen and Rev. Joseph W. Hitchcock,
respectively.
St. Terrence Catholic Church
The St. Terrence Catholic Church, located at Hyde Park village, was
organized in 1872, by Rev. Peter Savoy. The church building is a wood
structure capable of seating 250 persons, built in 1872, at a cost of about
$2,400.00.
Christian church
There is also a Christian church at North Hyde Park, and societies of other
denominations in the town, but neglect on the part of members to whom we had
entrusted the collection of church statistics, forces us to omit their
mention in detail.
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