Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1879-07-18
HISTORY or ESSEX COUNTY w.
BY On. HIRAM a. CUTTING, OF luSrSnune, Vt.
TOWN HISTORIES.
Continued.
CONCORD.

and chartered Sept. IA, 1871, TO Reu-
ben Jones and G. Others, with other
rights as usual: the governors, the
ministerial, the school, the college and
grammar school right.
The first meeting Of the proprietors
was holden at the inn of Jehial Webb
in Rockingham, Aug. 18th, 1884, at
which q committee was chosen
''To view We lands in Concord, and if
they find a convenient place for town
plot, to lay out u streets five rods wide
and long enough to lay out fifty acres
to each right, fronting fifty rods on
one of said streets said plot to be
as nigh we middle of the said township
as we land will permit"
In pursuance of these instructions the
committee dill lay out lots of so acres
to each right. But instead of its being
las nigh we middle of the town as we
land will permit" it was located near
the west part of the town, though there
was a situation equally as good, near
the geographical centre. No explana-
ton of this is now available.
AT the third meeting of the proprie-
tors it was
"Voted, to give the frs ten proprie-
tors that will settle in Concord (provid-
ed they shall move into said town on
or before May 1856 liberty to pitch
100 acres each, in Form with We Town
Lines, or SO as not to leave Cores at
the next draught of land in said
Town" '''
At subsequent meeting it was
"Yoted to 2eserce the Meadow Lands
on Passumpsic Moose River, so called |
in we town of Concord from We Privi-
lige. of such proprietors as may pitch
Lots in said Town"
AT a meeting of the proprietors, Sept.
1876, it was voted to giye Joseph w.
Morse a gore of land containing forty
acres, in consideration of his ertraordj-
nary services, towards settling the town.
what the nature of those services was
does not appear, though they seem to
have produced no immediate results,
in the advancement of settlements
i'll town there being no settlements
made till 1888 when Joseph Ball Who
; came with his family from Westboro,
Mass.-made permanent settlement.
In 1795-seven years after the first
settlement-there were but II families
in town in 1898, 40.
Among the early settlers We're Jona-
than Lewis, Amasa and Joseph w.
Morse, Solomon Babcock, Jonathan
Hutchinson, Amos Underwood, Daniel
Gregory, Benz. Stre6ter, Jonathan and
Jessie Woodbury., Samuel Hudson and
Samuel Wetherbee. The early settlers
came principally from Royalston and
Westboro, Mass, or towns in their
vicinity. One portion of the town Was
settled by "Woodburys'' from the
former place, and has ever been known
by the name of "Royalston Corner"
The first town meeting was held
March 3, 1894 Joseph Ball first town
clerk. The first t,freeman's meeting"
was Sep. 2, following. Elijah Spoford
was chosen representative.
Concord Corner, a village situated in
the south-westerly part of the town,
dates nearly from the first settlement,
and was for many years its business
centre but has now been superseded
by the West Concord village which
was founded by John Chase, in 1897.
the first store was built there by G. S.
S. Hill, in 1910, and the first hotel in
1914, since which it has become an en-
| terprising village, being not only the
business centre of Concord, but of
Kirby, and parts of several other adj
joining towns. Since the building of
the Portland & Ogdensburg r. r., in
1875, the business has been more scat
tered, as North Concord, Miles Pond,
and East Concord all being extensive
lumber stations, and in fact quite vii
lagos, having stores and Post Offices,
takes business that formerly went to
| West Concord, as all the lumber when
sent by teams went through that vii
lage.
The first church in the County was
built at Concord Corner in 1916, by the
Congregatio nalist society. 1t cost
over three thousand dollars, being for
the times large and elegant church
In 1915 the Freewill Baptists built a
church near Darling's mills. In 1874
the Universalists built church at
West Concord, and in 1870 the Metho-
dists built a large church in the same
village, and in 1875 the Methodists
built a church at East Concord. The
church at Concord Corner has been
taken down and rebuilt on a smaller
scale, butts still of ample size and a
very pretty church, In the autumn OF
1911 the first Sabbath School in Yer.
mont was instituted in this town. Rev
Samuel Goddard was director or super
intendent, and the classes was denomi
mated Bible classes, as they read verses
from the Bible and with the help OF
their teachers, illustrated the meaning
and general import of the text. Some
carried in written answers.
The first Normal school in America
was also established here in 1928 by
Rev. s. r. Hall, L. L. D., and in this
school also the first blackboard repre-.
sensations were used for instruction
and the first school blackboard was