Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-03-25

by teams between Montpelier and Cabot - DIS
continued, the mails now being carried nearly
all the way by rail- a brief history Of the early
service may not he wholly uninteresting to
your readers. At least it seems beGtting, or
it is well enough to refer to it, that the present
generation may not he wholly unacquainted
with those who have faithfully rendered such
valuable SERVICE We may not be able in every
particular to give exact dates, as those who
were familiar with the carly history Of the
town have left few rec lrds Of their trials and
labors
The settlement Of Cabot was commenced in
1856, and from this date until 1905 there was
no public mail service. The only newspaper
taken By the pioneer settlers was the North
Star, then, as now, published at Danyillc, and
this was procured by each subscriber taking
his turn in sending his boy or going himself on
horseback to the printing Office and bringing
the papers for his neighborhood in saddle bags
What he could not distribute on bis way home
were left at the grisi mill then owned and run
by Thomas Lyfird, on the same site where the
mill now stands, and by him were distributed
as the subscribers came or sent to the mill for
them. Nome Of the subscribers Of that dny are
now living, hut their children tell me that the
receipt VI the paper was deemed a matter Of SO
much importance that all the family gave at
tention while -ome one Of their number, by tho
light Of a taIl1w candle, or the fainter flicker
Of the Fireplace, read aloud, not only the news
but the entire contents Of the paper
Letters were brought by travellers passing
through the town. Ia this way the early set
tiers received their nail. for the first twenty.
three years
The FIRST regular mail service through Cabo
was begun in lsOs and Henry Denny was tn,
first carrier, his horseback route extending
from Montpelier TO the Canada line, passing
through Cabot, Danville, Lyndon, Barton, etc
and his return was made by the way Of Crafts
bury and llArdwi,k The round trip occupied
about ten days About the year 1910 he com
meuccd &, bring the VERMONT WArcnMAN, pub
li-hed then as now in Montpelier, and when b,
came % the house Of subscriber, he woulC
blow his tin horn Justify, and impatiently
await tie coming Of sumo member OF the flmil,
to receive the same
Mr.. Nickcrson Warner was the first post
master at Cabot. lie then lived on th,
farm now owned By Rodney Gum, ON th,
road now leading to Walden The post road
however, left the present road near the Ole
school house ut the lower village, running b,
the present residence Of W. 5. Atkins, theme,
by the centre If the town near the old pound
and by the farm now owned by j ? Lamson
and SO On by Dexter Reed coming out at a
G. Dickinson :, at the Plain, and then to Dan
vile Four Corners Mr. Warner, living 50 fa
from the pos; rad engaged Leonard circuit
who lived on the farm now owned hy j p Lam
sjn, and occupied by Moses Whitney, to keel
the Office
At this time meetings were held at the Cen
ter on the sabbath, and what mail was not dis
tributel during the week, he brought t
church, feeling sure 20 see there all tue inhaL
itsnts Of the town The Office remained at th
place for six years, until 1874, when perennial
Babcock was appointed postmaster lie thci
lived On the farm now occupied by llarye,
| Dow, aud this being but a short distance from
the post road, be removed the office to his house
MIR Cate, Of Mansfield, now became mail
carrier, still taking it On horseback the same a
his predecessor, Mr. Denny In 1920, Mr.
Babcock resigned and his son, Harvey, wa
appointed in his place, By this time a store ha,
been started at what is now known as the Lowe
Village, and Mr. Babcock put the office il
there. Captain Cuyel, senior, was the next t
carry the lnail, which service he perlorme,
some eight or ten years, during which tim,
Mr.. Babcock resigned and left town In 1927
Hector Mclean was appointed postmaster
prior to which time, however, Captain Cove
had died and Deacon Alims became the mail
carrier
At this period the country bad become NOR
thickly settled, and the road 50 passable tina
Deacon \. concluded to try the experiment Of
stlge, and he was the first to put on a team 70
the accommodation Of passengers His ri
consisted Of two horses, aud a wagon with tn
body firmly bolted to the axle, so that passen
gers in riding over the rough roads and poo
bridges got the foil spring Of the axle
Dea Adams dying, Dea Kellogg became hi
successor. OF him it is related that he was
great smoker, and having straw in the bottom
Of his wagon it took fire from his pipe an,
came near burning up his whole establishment
So say the old inhabitants
BY this time quite a settlement had grow
up at what is now known as the Upper Village
| About the year 1884 George Dana was ap
| pointed postmaster, and be removed the ofIic,
70 that village, where it has since been kept
with the exception Of one year. This year wa
when Jacob Collamer, Of this State, was Post
master General, and Sima russell, Of tn
Lower Village, was postmaster This romoya
to the Lower Village, as a matter Of course
created no little feeling, which resulted In
long and bitter struggle between the tw
villages, resulting at last in the appointment
of DR.. Doe as postmaster, when the office wa
again returned to its former quarters in tn,
store Of Elijah Perry, at the Upper Village
1t has since remained in that village, changing
hands from time to time, as the postmaster
have died, or moved away or the administra
ZION tnuhHtu.
After Dea. Kellogg, different carriers trans
ported the mails for short terms until abou
1880, when Cottroll and Clark became owner
Of the route, and put on good horses and gooC
coaches from Montpelier to Danyille, Their,
connecting with stages from Canada to Boston
also to Littleton and the White Mountains
going from Montpelier to Danvlle one day
and returning the next. This was continued
until 1860, when daily mail was obtained
from Montpelier to Cabot, the route from Cabot
to Danville still being tri-weekly until 1862
when the daily service was continued through
to Danville, After this the contractors were
so numerous, and changed so often, that il !.
impossible to enumerate them
The mails were run in this way until the
spring Of 1879, when, on tho starting of the
Portland & Ogdensburg railroad, the route
over the hill to DanyilIe was discontinued and
route to Walden Depot was established
Then we began to receive the Boston mail at
seven O'Clock, ?. NJ, and this made it seem as
though we were brought into the heart of ths
business world
On the 18th Of the present month the ser.
vice by teams from Montpelier to NlarshGeld
was discontinued, and the mails were trans.
ierred to the cars of the Montpelier 4 Wells
River Rairoad, 50 that we now receive our