Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1891-12-04
A RETROSPECT.

A RETROSPECT.
Fifty years ago-on the 29th day of No
vember, lS4l-Iienry l.. sheldon, I'll
then residing in Salisbury, came to the
village to live. The changes. improve
ments and inventions of the present cen-
tury so far exceed those of like period
in the history of the world that few
general and local items as to the changes
the half century has wrought may be
of interest. At that time the travelling
public and the great southern mails were
carried in single four-horse coach, one
each daily from Boston and Albany, the
latest news being received from papers
printed the previous day. The telegraph
was an institution of six years later, and
the railroad came ninc years later. In
place of the present electric light the
citizens enjoyed the luxury of tallow
candles and lamps supplied with sperm
oil. For fuel the capacious wood-houseS
were well filled in winter with beech and
maple WOOD Tor year stock, cut and
split fine. so n to be well seasoned for
use. Photography was then unknown,
and its predecessor. the daguerreotype,
was rot in use until 1913. The printing
presses In Vermont were the ordinary
hand lever press, from which 240 impress
sions per hour could be made. The best
Hoe presses now make 10000 copies of
the big dallies per hour. The inventions
of Edison and others are too numerous to
notice in this article.
The grand list of Middlebury in 1871
contained the names of more than $50
persons, and, as far as known, only 20 of
them are now living. OF these VIM. d..
Bell, Isaac Gibbs, Horace A. Pinney and
A. ID. Stearns are living out of town !;
Timothy b, ardman, j. p. Champlin, VIM.
Chapman, Eber Cogswell Edward Full
Ter, l.. 5. Goodno, Darius Severance,
James c. Tucker, Locklin Wainwright
and Harvey Yale in town, and Philip
Battell, James Brown, Justus Cobb, Eli
b. Parker, Lucius Shaw and j. q. Wei
lington in the village. The merchants
then were Cyrus Birge, Asa Chapman q
son, Beckwith Il Dorrance, James Me-
Donald, Asa Francis, Ira Stewart, Tim
othy c. Smith, John Vallette, A. Il w. 5.
johnson, John Wood, \. Nixon, Jr., Sid
ney Moody and Jonathan IIagar. Il. Beck
with started as a merchant in the billiard
rooms of the RoOkery in 1927 and by his
son, b. Smith, and other partnership bus
mess has been continued siXty-four years.
The present firm is Beckwith and Vain
wright. James Mcdonald began trading
alone in 1916 and in 1913 sold to Harmon
\. Sheldon, who after his death was sue
ceeded by his son, DR.. W. ii. Sheldon.
This business, just closed out by the fire,
has continued without ii days Interrupt
ton for 10 years and was the oldest mer-
camille firm ever in town. The Addison
House was started as the Mattocks tavern
in 1874, burned in 1916, rebuilt and start
ed again in lS26-7 and it is good for an
other hundred years. The Pierce House
was built in ISL by Paul Reed, and has
been used as Il public house without in
terruption until the present time, sc
years, and is the oldest business in town
Joseph Dyar began the watch and jewell
ry business in 1925 and it is still contin-
ued by f. p, IIolton. The Calvin Hill
harness shop has been in constant use
for that purpose since the building was
erected in 1921. The Middlebury REGIS
TER is continuation of the American
started in the Rookery in 1881, 60 year.
ago. Eben W. Judd continues the mar.
BILE business that his grandfather started
in 1900. The Oldest building used for
mercantile and storage purposes stood in
the rear of the Battell block and is now
invisible. 1t originally stood on Mer.
chants Row and was used as a store in
1897. Hooker d Brewster, a prominent
firm, traded in it from 1904 to 1923. The
Oldest continuous mercantile block was
the Rookery, built by David Dickinson
in 1901. 1t contained two stores, and he
occupied one of them several years. Nc
business block in town ever had so many
changes or so many occupants as this
In the second story was a large hall in
which the Methodist society held Their
meetings from 1910 to 1912. a ball tick
ct of 1915 shows that 1t was used fol
more worldly purposes at that time.
The historic ground on which the first
business of Middlebury was started was
covered by the grist mill and cotton mill
Abisha Washburne built saw mill on
the site of the former in IVA, which was
destroyed by the Indians the next year
Ten years later he built another mill
which was swept away by freshet the
next year. Gamaliel Painter built q
grst mill on the site of the cotton mill in
l7SS. 1t is said the first store in Addison
county was started bv Jabez Rogers II
1880, on the site of Cobb's block, which
is the oldest continuous business site in
town, having been occupied over l0C
years. The ruins of these noted places
just destroyed by fire, are now waiting
to rise again with more elegant struc
lures and greater improvements in the
street lines.
To commemorate the event first named
Mr.. Sheldon htched up the old President
MunrOe carriage, made before 1915, anC
made jubilee calls on the village survivor: