Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1902-03-20

MORE "REMINISCENCES OF BUR-
lINGTON.
Letter from the Venerable Mr.. A. G..
White OF Buffalo who Rocked Pres
ident Chester "A. Arthur 10
His Arms.


account of the meeting OF the Antiquarian
Society, at which you read paper by
Mrs. Elijah Root She mixed up rccolec-
tons of her grandmother, mother and her
own, so that | could not tell which was
which. Yet 1t was very interesting pa
per ] wish you would send me Professor
j. f.. Goodrichs paper if IT Is printed. NO
doubt it will be very interesting as he has
a very interesting subject. Mrs. Root does
not tell when the Whites moved to Shell
burne Point. My earliest recollections of
the Harbor are that when n boy l used to
skate over there when the ice first formed
in the winter. The wind was generally
from the south, so that l could sail back
without much skating.
After | became older | was an apprcn-
tice to Charles T. Haynes, who always
painted the steamboats, there. He
began about the first of March and fin
ished when the ice broke up. The Whites
were then living there and boarded the
men who were working upon the boats in
fitting them out.
remember when Root was appointed
engineer in chief. He was a mill wright
and Il natural mechanic and knew all about
steam engines on boats. The old engineers
grujnbled some to think a mllWright was
appointed over them, but they submitted
with pious resignation" although none
of them were very piouS as | remember.
am not quite sure that remember wiz u
Eliza White married with Elijah Root.
If | could draw upon my Imagination for
my facts CAS- some do) | would say That l
knew all about il.
also remember when my mother spun
lax and tow upon a small wheel ana WOOL
upon large wheel and when the iaN
and tow and wool were woven into cloth,
have Worn clothes OF flax ana tow ana
wool spun by my mother After the clio h
I1n NJ 1r II
was taken to the Falls to be dyed ana
RULED ana was then made INTO clothes Tor
the lnen and boys To wear III winter. Ihey
wore linen ana tow clothes IN summer
remember my first suit OF satlnet, a
cloth made of cotton and wool. MY SUIT
was OF 4 light blue color.
Madeline Root says churches were not
heated or cushioned then-bless hor simple
SOUL there were no churches. only meet
Ing houses, though there was a small
church at Shclburnc. Episcopal once
wrote a paper FOR our Vermont society
about The Noon House. and the wo-
mems loot stoves. and the tuSSie thty
had when the first stoves were put m II
YOU wish it for the Antiquarian society l
Will send 1T to you.
The noon house was SQUARE house with
a chimney in the middle ana FIR" places
ON two sides, in which they burned maple
wood. ihe people came from a distance
in the winter in sleiGhs, put their teams
under the sheds and put their lunches IN
the noon house; ana after the morning
service with sermon of an hour long,
they went to the noon house and ate their
lunches ana the men talked politics III
the front room and in the other room the
women gosSlptd as lhcN general 40
| well remember Minister Haskell VINO
preached for the First Congregational So
cictN--orthoioN. Both societies. the M
iIilin ana the orthodoX' CLAIMED TO ne the
First society, as there was some land that
was TO go to the lirSt religious society 10
settle "A minister III burlington. never
knew how the matter was settled but l
think that while they We're wransllhs
about ii the Episcopalians came and
"swiped' it. Returning to Preach,i Has
kcll and his son who died, as Madame
Root says, IRON eating white lead. l
think she is mistaken. The boy was one
OF my pharmacies and | suppose that he
died rom taking cold from something that
wa done to nm III our play frolics. l
was at the funeral. but do not recoIlect
the procession with Madame Murray at
the h"dd oil IT, well remember inc MHr-
RAYS ana 'hclr school IN MIL Row Whet"
me llrSt "coklN paper was printed. II was
the ''Hhtlnol, spelled with u g.
1t seems strange t" M that the lirst
store should be located by Mrs. Root at
Sh"lhurno Point instead OF burlington.
Possibly Madame Root is correct hut 1t
was not in her days; perhaps IN hcr grand
mothers days OF her mothers. re-
member all of the WhitcS-old Captain
Robert at the head of the tribe They
were masters OF vessels, SloopS ana
schooners Those Whites are not relatives
of our tribe although two of my brothers
""r" sailors, ii. \. White, captain OF "A
sloop. and If. T. White, captain of a
small schooner | also remember Captain
"Gid' King, and his two ncphews. his
was named for Captain Gid King.
Mrs. Koot mentions the Van Ness house
where Governor G. i. Van Ness lived be-
fore he moved into the house he purchased
from '1hal' Futile. Marcia Van Ness
married into the Roosevelt family. think
tho one to which our President belongs,
although | am not certain. There were
several families of RooscN"lts in New York
city. Coy. Van Ness had two daughters
and three sons James, G. F., and George,
who was one Of my school mates He
went to }eXas and was taken prisoner by
the MeXicans and | think Waddy Tomp-
kins, our minister to Mexico procured his
release. Van Ness was minister to Spain
when Andrew jackson was President. A
man named Milliken built what is now
the Van Ness House, the hotel, lie built
ii so hSh to shut off Van Ncss's view of
the lake, that he busted up and failed
have forgotten what became of him.
The war of 1872 left impressions ON my
memory" says Madame Root. Yet She
does not mention the Battle of Plattsburell
while | remember it well ! was only four
months old when my mother took me in
her arms and fled to NilliSton. | think
for fear that the British would conquer