Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-07-30
TOWN OF NORTON,
VS..
THE STATE OF VERMONT, TOWN
OF AVERILL, AND TOWN OF
CANAAN.
Petition for all IN Maintaining Road.


- the Honorable County Court next to be
holden at Guildhall in the County of Essex,
and State Of Vermont, on tibet Tuesday
of September next:
Your petitioner the Town OF Norton,
in said County OF Essex, by its Selectmcn, NJ.
Il. Nelson, j. J. Damon, and j. Roby, humbly
represent to your honorable Court that Your
petitioner Is n new town, OF ganlZed in March
1885. That there are only about thirty voters
in said town. That the Grand List of your
petitioner Is very small. That the inhabi-
tants of said town are all persons OF small
means.
And your petitioner deems itself excessive
ly bnrdened by being required to defray the
whole expense OF building and maintaining
the highway III said town of Norton. leading
from the Stetson House, so called, near the
| railroad station in said town of Norton to the
caStcrly line of said town of Norton, being also
the road leading from Norton Mills, 80 called,
towards the town of Canaan, and to the line
| of the unorganized town of Averill in said
County of Essex, which is about four and one
half miles of new road, built most OF the way
through wild, unsettled, claycy and stony
| tract of land
And your petitioner represents that said
| highway is used almost exclusively for the
| transportation of sawed lumber of various de-
| scriptions, from sawmills located in the towns
| of AVcrill and Canaan and one mill located
| IN Norton within Il few rods Of the AVertll
line, to the railroad station i'll said town OF
| Norton.
And your petitioner further represents that
| Il highway connecting with said road mt the
| eastern line of said town of Norton extends
| through Il corner of Avcrill and through II
| portion of Canaan to Canada line. That said
town of Averll is an unorganized town;
| that neither the business or the inhabitants of
your petitioner require or use said highway
| so running from said Norton Mills or said
| Stetson House to Averlll line aforesaid to any
| appreciablc extent. That said highway is,
| from the nature of the soil and the use of ii
! for the transportation of heavy loads very ex-
! nenSlve to maintain and keep in repair; that
Your petitioner expended upon said piece of
road in the Yc T. 1885 TO keep the same in SIM
ply passable repair an amoun' or money
| nearly. If not quite, equal to fifty per cent of
| the Grand List Of your petitioner. And that
| since the first day of April Of the present year
| your petitioner has expended on said road the
further sum of nearly ono hundred and eighty
| dollars And that SAID piece of road Il new i'll
| such condition that the owners OF said mills
| have petlioned the County Road Commission
ers for said County of Essex TO compel your
petitioner to further CXpend large sums OF
money III the repair Of said road and that
said commissioners have this day ordered
that your petitioner further cNpend the sum
| of five hundred dollars upon said road within
| thirty-siX days from this date. And your pc
titioner further says that said suIu of five hum
dred dollars will, hy no means. be sufficient
to put said highway in good repair.
And your petitioner deems itself excessive
ly DurdCned by being required to defray the
| whole or any part of the expense OF Keeping
| said highway in said town of Norton above
described in repair. And your petition er fur
Their shows that it is bound to build. maintain
and keep in repair said highway unless grant l.
tu some ltllcf by your nOllOflDlc COull. Anu
that said town OF .iverill and said town of
Canaan is greatly benefited and Accommodate
cd by said highway.
And your petitioner further represents that
if your petitioner is compelled to keep said
highway in repair without aid from other
| towns or from the State it will be impossible
| for your petitioner to keep any other high
ways within the limits of your petitioner In
repair without making the taxes upon the in
habtants Of your petitioner so excessive that
ali the inhabitants will remove from the ter
rltory of your petitioner.
And your petitioner shows that said high
way from said Norton Mills or said Stetson
House to Averill line aforesaid is duly laid
out and established and is wholly within said
town of Norton.
Wherefore your petitioner prays for the ap-
pointment OF II Commission to act III the prem
i5es and report to your honorable Court the
truth of the foregoing allegations and all 9th
er facts deemed material in the premises.
And that the State of Vermont may be COM
PEELED to keep said highway in repair, or to
contribute to the expense thereof And that
said towns of Averill and Canaan, or either OF
them may also be compelled to nj d in Keeping
said highway iii repair; and for such other
aud further relief in the premises as the cir
cumstances and nature of the case may re-
quire and to your honorable Court shall seem
meet.
Town of Norton by
MAGNUS f. NELSON, Selectmen OF
j. j. DAMON, SSald Town OF
| JOSEPH RORY, Norton