Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-09-20
Correspondence Of the Boston Advertiser.
Queehee.
WHAT ONE LITTLE VERMONT TOWN HAS rRoDU-

| Correspondence Of the Boston Advertiser.
WHAT ONE LITTLE VERMONT TOWN HAS rEoDU
CED.
MoNTpELIER, W.. August Il, 1873.
Summering in this grand Green Mountain
| State, l lately came across some facts whicl
L think will be quite interesting TO many o
your readers. They are facts concerning
men with whose names they, especially th'
| tourist portion of them. are already familial
"A. L. and o. +. Barron, of Crawford ant
Twin Mountain House fame. These mel
are men of many businesses, and doing then
all well and equally well too. They and the
town which has the honor not only of being
! their old but also their present home are fai
samples of many Nermonters and Vermont
towns and villages. 1t is simply astonishing
what this latest born of the New England
states has done in the direction of producing
active and gifted men, These Barrons and
Quechee. their home. are. | say, good SAN.
pies. Ask farmers about them and they an
swer, Yes, We know them well. The Bar.
rons are perfect farmer-princes their sheep,
cattle and horses are OF the best blood, and
their farms include thousands of acres IN
Vermont and New Hampshire" Turn to the
dealers in lumber and question them if they
know the Barrons. The reply is, well, We
ought to. Why. about every organ and piano
manufactory from Chickering h Sons OF Bos-
ton to Mclean OF Melbourne Australia, uses
their ash. cherry, maple and Eastwood lum-
Der. 1t is the best in the market. Next
come the traders. As you question them
they turn upon you with surprise. If it is
the great poultry packers and freezers you
mean, You might Just as reasonably ask a
sewing machine ag, mt if he knows of Singer
or Howe" They were the pioneers of that
now immense business. From 1854 to 1SCG
they had the monopoly Of the poultry busi-
ness. During these years no hotel, for the
three hot months. had turkey or fowl that
didn't come from the freezers of Quechee or
White River Junction. They hit upon the
business in this way In 1852 they were
shipping a hundred tons annually of course
at immense risk. o. f. Barron WAS in Bos-
ton, selling A. T. in Vermont, buying. Dur
ing great thaw, which ruined all the rest of
the poultry in the market. o. F. noticed that
theirs. being packed i'll a tight warehouse
upon North Market street, came out of the
thaw still frozen as hard as rock. Seeing
that it was only necessary to keep the warm
air out and the cold air in. he invented the
system of packing poultry-tight boxes
placed in practically air-tight buildings
which now gives us travellers in these hot
July and August days the delicious bits of
turkey and fowl We find at every hotel ut
which We stop. Pack the poultry in one of
these buildings. called q freezer let the
windows be open only one sharp night n
week, for n month i'll the winter and you
have a solIdity that deties the hottest summer
on record. Enter their freezer at the juno
ton and try the temperature-the massive
frost gatherings you would suppose your
self in an iceberg cave of the Polar sea.
But it is the travelling public that knows
these men best. In 1852 they bought the
house and railroad restaurant at White River
Junction. universally acknowledged to be the
model railroad restaurant of New England
food just as wholesome. of as large variety
and as nicely served as you find in any city
hotel. Their junction House was burned
last Saturday morning, entailing loss OF
twenty-five thousand dollars but nothing
they propose 10 go right at work
and rear another, which shall rival the Pavil-
ion ut Montpelier and the Weldon at St. Al.
bans. Eleven years ago they bought cot
tage where the Twin Mountain House now
stands The first person who boarded with
them there WAS Professor Green of Princeton
College. This fact was prophetic of the i'm
mense patronage they have had at their diff
ferent mountain houses from ministerial,
literary and educational circles. In 1869
they built one wing of the Twin Mountain
House, in 1870 another, and in 1871 the main
house. In 1872 they purchased the Crawford
House, that holds the key to the whole White
Mountain region, and there they sit enthron-
d, hotel kings. But the kindness and care
Illness of their sway are borne witness TO by
hese facts While other places are com
blaming of the ''hard tunes" the Crawford
rom the first of the season has been crowd |
d, and the Twin has done more business
han 1t has done for two years. A part of the |
marvel concerning these men is the faculty |
hey have Of attaching their employees to |
hem. For instance. Merrill clerk ut the |
'rawford started with them at the Junction |
ating house. sixteen years ago. Farnham,
'hom all hungry travellers on the Central
'ermont and Passumpsic bless, has managed
he Junction House restaurant twelve years.
t runs in the blood Of the Barron family to
,eep hotel. o. G. Barron, Asas son, has
een the popular landlord of the Twin for
me years. Beecher and he are sworn allies
ice-President Wheeler. having tried the
win for several seasons. could not be con-
euted TIL he secured. in accordance with the
rue principles of civil service reform, young
,scar to run the Capitol restaurant at Wash
lgton. So the last year has gwen the Bar
Dns national as well as local fame. But
luechee, where the old homestead of the
,mily stands, is especially rich in ITS noted
Ons. lake, for Instance. those who have
cen reared under the hospitable roof of that
eli-same homestead First, the Barrons
lehselves inventors. merchants, farmers,
Here brought up by or working
uring childhood for their fathers were Dana
ickford. inventor Of the knitting machine
ID. Paul, and Oliver Brothers, Jr., who
'ok the mule and the jack, woollen and cot
N spinning machines. and revoluiiOnized
ie whole business by mailing them selfoper-
ling. A good record for one homestead
ut the whole town is Of the same piece.
AS You ride up the Woodstock railroad,
yer to the right you see n modest little white
rm-house Here lived a Mrs Parsons,
iree of whose SOS have been mayors of
ieir adopted cities. Dewey of Quechee, in
with Daniels of Woodstock. built
p the great shoddy trade. George W. Bis
III, the discoverer and owner of the first oil
ell Jasper Story, the great fort-bullder of
lie United States. which paid him three mil
On dollars for building Fort Pickens both
ere Quechee boys. There. too, in Quechee
the old Marsh homestead, from which have |
'me Hon. George =. Marsh James Marsh,
resident, and Lemuel Marsh, professor. of
e Vermont University at Burlington. With
ewey Is Joined Justin Mac X enzie, one If
hose boys. Frank, manufactures at Bridge
lter, Vt. the finest flannel that goes into
3 New YorK market. while his other son is
lth one OF the rays of Franklin, Mass,
ccessiully carrying on a large manufactur-
< business in that towe. So much for the
yely, good old town oil Quechee, Vt.
less every one will say that it is enough to
AXE the reputation of one town. JJ