Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1891-02-23
Runaway Pond.

Zc3 IoIO WIN NC VI lHtSISSI W ndng
who have heard of and know some
thing about the event narrated. Mr..
Owen, father of Daniel and Joseph
Owen, was one of the first settlers
of Barton, He owned land on which
quite large share of this village is
built. His farm embraced lands
through which part of Church and
Water streets run, extended over the
river and covered nearly all the
fiat in the vicinity of Park street.
He was an eye witness of the scene
and his account, written only few
days after the occurrence, is probably
correct in all its important details.
His letter was found by Mr.. Dewey
of this village and published some
months since in the EGpress. We
omit some portions of it which are
of a personal nature and give that
which pertains to the matter of the
''food' as he wrote it. The letter
was written to sister then living,
we believe, in Connecticut.
Dear SiSter,-''I must inform you
of a flood we have had here lately:
On the 9th of June a number of the
inhabitants of Wheelock, Sheffield,
Glover and Barton got together in
order to drain pond for the purpose
of catching fish and to help Mr.. Will
sons mills, which lay in that part of
Glover. The stream was small so
that he could not saw or grind much
of the summer season. Mr.. Wilson
was to pay the men for their work
and to furnish them with spirits.
Accordingly they assembled on the
9th day of June, it being election
day in New Hampshire. They wished
to celebrate on that day, as many of
them came from that state, and they
had learned that the state was going
democratic. They began digging at
the north end of the pond, and soon
made a channel so the water ran out
that way. The pond lay on the
height of land and was about 800
feet higher than pond that lay
north of it about 80 rods. The sand
which formed the shore of the pond
was SO loose that it gave way before
the water like dew in the morning.
In the space of two hours the waters
had cut channel through the bank
down to the very bottom of the pond,
and the water all poured out soon after
an hour. The channel was 127 feet
deep. The pond was the head wa
ters of the Lamoille river which flowed
south from the pond. As near as
could guess the pond was about a !
mile and aquarter long, half mile
wide and 127 feet deep in deepest
part. The bed of the pond is now dry
as any mill pond, that had been
drawn off the same length of time,
and there is nothing but a small
brook running through the middle
or it. The pitch of the land toward
the other pond north was great and
cut channel from $50 to 200 feet
deep and forty rods wide down to
the other pond carrying trees, dirt |
and all with it. This pond was about |
one half the size of the upper one |
and this also broke away tearing out |
wide channel and lowering the |
water twenty-seven feet. This pond |
was partly filled with the trees and
the earth that came down'from above.
The waters of the two ponds rushed |
down through the valley carrying
everything before them. The Wilson
mill was two miles further down the
stream and the man who was grind
ing there when he saw the water
coming, took his grist and ran, but
the water overlook him and he left
his grist and just made his escape to
the hill above-the water struck him
up to the waist.
The mills went down and there
has not vestige of them been seen,
except once and while a stick of
timber. The water then proceeded
on its way to Mr.. Cobb's farm and
covered it from two to six feet deep,
and then reached my land serving 1t
as it did Mr.. Cobb's. 1t left the
sand from two to six feet deep, and
jams of timber fifteen or twenty feet
high over many acres. The water
came up to the caves of the old house
but did not carry it away it ruined /
twenty acres of grass and ten acres
of rye for me, some of it may come
(grow) again. AS the rye was on
the highest part of the land, there
will be three or four acres of it that
may bear half crop. The rest of
it is covered so deep that nothing
will grow unless it is seeded again.
The substance that is left on it ap-
pears to be all quicksand as fine as
flour. The mud is yet so full of
water that one would sink up to his
knees, except on the side hill where
it has dried and become white and
solid, baked by the sun. The water
cleared all the timber on my low
lands, and on that part of Mr.. Kim
balls which he bought on the west
side of the river last fall, of General
Barton. The water fioated up whole
acres of cedar timber and carried
them off, standing upright as the
timber grew. 1t carried off two stacks
of hay for me which stood on the