Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1870-06-02
Brandon Farmers Club.
"BRANDON AS IT WAS AND BRANDON AS
IT Is."-REMARKs OF COL. A. s.
COOK, COL. JOHN CAPEN
AND OTHERS.

"BRANDON AS IT WAS AND BRANDON AS
IT Is."-REMARKs OF COL. A. s.
COOK, COL. JOHN cAPEN
AND OTHERS.
The regular weekly meeting Of the
Brandon Farmers Club was held, at their
rooms, in Simonds' Block, Wednesday
evening, May 25th, 1870. Col. III. III.
Merritt, President of the Club, in the
chair, Hon. Ezra June, Secretary.
The record of the proceedings of the
Club, at their last meeting, was read by
the Secretary, when the President an
nounced that Col. A. S. Cook would con-
tinue the discussion of the subject of
Brandon as it was, and Brandon as it is" !"
| Col. Cook said that his knowledge of
Brandon dated back to 1882 or 1888, when
he came to attend school at the Academy,
which was the first or second fall after it
was established. The contrast between
Brandon as it then was and as it now is
was very marked and great. The village
north of the river was very thinly settled,
with only very few houses scattered here
and there. William III. Field then kept
hotel on the north side of the river, and
John G. Ide on the other side. He came
to Brandon with his family, is years ago.
to make it his permanent residence, and
had never any occasion ito regret it. AL
though there has been a considerable
change in manners and customs during
that time, yet then as now Brandon was
one of the prettiest and pleasantest vii
lagos in Vermont; now its reputation is
almost worldwide, and it has been aptly
called the "Queen Village of Vermont"
The inhabitants of Brandon, ever since
1 have known anything of them have
always been united, and on all public oc-
casions turn out almost to a man. When
they undertake to have celebration of a
notable event, like the Fourth of July,
they are harmonious, and take hold of the
matter with will, and as a necessary
consequence they always succeed, and
Brandon is noted for the manner and sue
cess of her celebrations.
i 1t is now some eight years since there
has been a celebration of any kind in
Brandon. Eight years ago we had q
celebration of the fourth of July in Bran
don which was a credit to the place, and
was said to be the best that ever occurred
in the town. He hoped that the custom
of having these and other celebrations
would not have to be referred to only as
part of Brandon as it was," but be
trusted that they would again take some
note of public occasions so that they
would not be entirely thing of the
past.
The leading men of eighteen or twenty
years ago are. mostly gone, but other
have taken their place, and still Others
are growing up to succeed them, anG
there is one characteristic which has beer
peculiar to all and that is that they ar,
men IF character, integrity, energy. and
correct business habits.
There is one thing for which Brandon
was celebrated, in years gone by, in whicl
she as we'll as most of the rest Of Vernon
has deteriorated, and that is the raising o
good horses. Heretofore Vermont horses
were known almost the world over
Everyone came to Vermont to buy horses
not all for fast horses, but work horses
but now it is changed but it is to bo
hoped that more attention may be paid Il
the raising of good horses, so that here
after as heretofore, not only the other
parts Of the United States, but the whole
world may pay tribute to Brandon and
the rest of Vermont, and that Vermont
horses may again be the best in the
world.
When we speak of the past men Of
Brandon, we ought to remember particu,
larily in this place, the man whose public
spirit built this block, it is not necessary
that should name him, you all know
that mean John Simonds, and will all
recall his pleasant and smiling counte.
nance. We still have, remaining with
us, men of the power and means to dc
something, as he did, to improve and
beautify Brandon, and 1 am happy to say
that they are now opening their purses
and doing something in that way.
He regretted to allude 10 one thing, or
rather to one phase of it, and that was the
reorganization of the militia in Brandon.
When the first attempt was made to or.
ganize the "Allen Greys" land he took
pride in the fact that he was among the
first to take part in the movement to or
ganize a company of uniformed militia)
the proposition was received not only
with ridicule, sneers and scorp, the people
not only said that it was all folly and there
was no need of it, but they took active
measures to oppose it, some business men
going so far as to say that the men in
their employ should not take part in it,
and if any of them enlisted in the "Allen
Greys" they would be discharged from
their employ, for no person could work
for them and at the same time belong to
the "Allen Greys." He was, however,
happy to say that when these men dis
covered their mistake they had the manli-
ness to acknowledge it, and this, he would
say, was marked characteristic of the
Brandon people, if they were mistaken in
their views and actions they would ac-
knowledge it both publicly and privately.
At the outbreak of the Rebellion, the
good result of the move to form a COM
pany of uniformed militia was manifest.
When Fort Sumpter was fred upon, and
President Lincoln called upon Vermont
to furnish one regiment of militia, Bran
don was the first to respond. The 'Allen
Greys" offered their services and were
among the very first to be accepted. Bel
lows Falls was the second place that fur
nished company, and then came Rut-
land, Woodstock, and other towns.
The Farmers Club is an institution