The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1888-10-12
The Last Of The Vermont
Ponds.

upon the invaded country. One result OF
the annual invasion of country towns by
our city friends is a marked change In the
nomenclature Of geographical features.
The people OF the Green Mountain State
complain that the streams are becoming
smaller, but as partial compensation the
ponds are expanding to the dignity of lakes,
picturesque In name at least. Summer hO-
tells are rising upon their shores, and visit
ors are fiocking to them from distant States.
A pond possessing any just claim to ample
proportions and attractive surroundings is
already a relic 9. the past. The writer
makes bold to call attention to body of
water which still modestly bears its virgin
name of Fairlee Pond.
If not the last of the ponds, It must be
near the last, and is certainly worthy of
mention by reason OF both, its natural set
ting and the romance of its historic sur
r0undings. Situated In the town of Fairlee,
only one mile from the Connecticut River,
and less than IT, at distance from the direct
railway line between New York city and
the White Mountains, it is seldom Visited
by any OF the thousands who sweep past on
their dusty pilgrimage to the great hotels in
the mountain region of New Hampshire.
And yet it does not lack admirers. Two
Chicago artists found it in the summer of
made for themselves lodge on the west
ern shore. This year they brought with
them students from the palmetto groves of
the SOrth and the prairies of the West, and
actually established a school of art by a
Vermont pond. They are enthusiastic over
their find. Before their studio lies sheet
Of water two miles in length and shut in by
aglen cleaves the mountain-side, and, with
the witchery Of waterfall, precipice, and
cavern, all sOmbered by the shade of Goods
first temples" entices one on far above the
mere. The wanderer who keeps along the
shore strolls through groves of poplar, birch
and pine. He sees the birch ca e gliding
across the water under the. strokes of an
the outlet he is likely to hear mingling of
merry voices, like the sound of many wa
tiers, for Sunday-schOOls, Cha"tauUua Cir
Giles, and divers kinds of societies from the
towns Of Vermont and New Hampshire for
forty miles around gather here to picnic.
This little body, OF water has, moreover,
historic and traditional associations of no
little interest. 1t lies on the southern Dor
der of that part of the Connecticut Valley
known in the annals of pioneer life as the
Coos or COhOS country. This region was
first explored by white men in 1854, and be-
gan to be settled in 1861. The strongest
settlement was in Newbury, VT, about
thirteen miles north of Fairlee Pond. The
traveller stills sees in that town, near the
great "ox-b0w' of the Connecticut, an old
fashioned farmhouse displaying over the
door the Legend "Built by r. j. in Aug
ust, 1775." This was the residence of Colo
mel Thomas johnson, who is said to have
entered Fort TiCOnderOga close upon the
heels of Ethan Allen. At all events, he be-
came such an active and interesting rebel
that the British sent a squad of men from
Canada in 1881 to effect his capture. After
spending seven months in captivity, he was
released on parole upon the condition that
he should furnish certain specified informa-
ton, and return to Canada at any time if
recalled. These conditions brought him in
to unenviable reputation among his neigh
bors:. He. sought relief by sending letter
of nine clOsely-written pages to General
respondence and personal interview with
the general. In the light of sober history,
authenticated by reliable documents. the
case OF Colonel Johnson presents striking
parallel to the character of Harvey Birch
in COoper's Spy. In late years old New
bury is not unknown in the history of Meth
Odism. In 1884 it became the seat of the
first Methodist educational institution in
northern New England.
The first theological school of the Church
itinerated to this place from Middletown,
Conn.,, was sent to Concord, N. H., and is
now settled in Boston. But the bordering
heights, and even the cooldepths of Fairlee
Pond, the Killarney of the Coos Valley,
have story of their own. No legend of
lovers leap is yet connected with the place,
but there are ample facilities for furnishing
it to order. Half mile east precjpice
frOwns down upon the New York express
as it thunderS along four hundred feet be-
low the brow of the rock. No reasonable
lover could ask fof more deadly place to
leap; but until the demands of romantic
tourists shall call forth this venerable fable
e,.o,,, t1,an nf fhn o1i Sc 10,
habitant will continue to regale the listener
with less threadbare and more scientific
tale. Tradition stOutly affirms that the first
steamboat ever launched in American wa
tiers rests in the sands at the bottom of the
pond. The writer incl.nes to the opinion
that this assumption of tradition is not al
together grOundless. The following state
mentS are well attested:
At the beginning of the century one Cap
tain Samuel Morey owned a large tract of
land contiguous to the pond, and for sever
in pine lumber. Remains of rOa,ts, slides,
canals, and bridges of his construction are
still to be seen in the vicinity. Much of his
time was spent in the seclusiOn of little
shop, located near the outlet of the pond,
experimenting with hot air and steam, and
inventing, machines for utilizing their
forces. He did construct a boat to be pro-
PEELED by steam and one Sunday in or
about the year 1907, with the aid of lad by
the name of Mann, placed it in the Connect
icut River, and successfully steamed up
stream. The voyage was made during the
hours of public worship, not for the pur-
pose of breaking the Sabbath, but in order
that the trial-trip of his novel craft might
be concealed from the eyes of his neighbors.
He claimed for himself the honor Of con-
structing the first steamboat. One gentle
man, a member of the Morey family, has
Investigated this claim with considerable
pains, and is said to have reached the con-
clusiOn that the boats of Fulton and MOrey
appeared at about the same date, with the
probability that Captain Morey was slight
1y ahead.
Soon after the success of FultOn's inven-
ton had been heralded through the country,
Morey's boat disappeared. Thus far we
are able to trace what appear to be facts;
but from this point tradition alone speaks.
Some say the erratic MOrey sunk his boat
through chagrin that coveted honors had
been Snatched from him. while others de-
clare that the hero of the Hudson sent men
to put the rival craft out of sight. All ira
ditiOns agree that the original boat lies
somewhere at the bottom of the pond and
it is related that company of fishermen,
at time of low water several years ago,
saw 1t partly buried in the sand.