Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1903-02-12
We LONG AGO.
The Oldest Houses of the Village and
Who Dwelt Therein.

WIN OWGN lntFGtN.
The Herodotus who attempts to rescue
from oblivion incidents connected with
the early history OF this village win have
need Of indomitable perseverance, of a
genius for ferreting and a specific for slim
ulating poor memories; for it appears to
have been considered hardly worth while
to keep any complete or separate record of
the doings of people so deluded as 20 set
tie at the Branch.
The habit acquired in those days of rath
er looking down on the West hamlet has
/ never perhaps been entirely eradicated
though it is now seldom so pronounced as
10 attract attention. The status of the place
IN the public estimation was shown by the
/ TACT that travelling caravans passed coldly
| by on their way to the Center and the un-
solicited visit of a French Canadian with
a performing bear would have been a start
/ ling condescension.
So little opinion did the early settlers
have of this site that they ignored the
roaring waters of the third branch of the
White river and built a mill on a brook
not far from the foot of the Slack mill, the
stream having then sufficient power for
such a purpose.
One Of the first framed and clapboarded
houses in town was built for Capt. Aaron
about IT'S, by Seth Chase in consideration
Of the mill privilege at West Randolph.
/ This house was 30x40 feet on the ground
and two stories high. 1t is said that all
the shingles and clapboards used in cover
ing it were made from single pine tree
which grew in Hanover, n. H., and that
four such trees, being 200 feet high, when
properly felled, would enclose an acre of
land. Mr.. Chase, being a blacksmith,
made every nail used in or about the
house as well as cranes, hooks, hinges, etc.
The chimney was of stone its whole length,
some 40 feet. The house stood on the left
hand side of the road leading to the j. G..
Mann farm, and branching off from the
Center road at the foot of the Slack hill.
II was built to last and had many occu-
pants until il burned about 20 years ago.
Mr.. Chase also built the first saw and
gristmills on the site Of the present mills,
but they were both considered very inn
perfect even for that day.
Samuel Mann, father Of the late Alvin
Mann, was born I'm Randolph Mass, July
16, 1883, and removed to Braintree when
young with his father, Seth Mann. Later
in life, Samuel Mann purchased a farm
that included all the land in the vicinity
Of William Woods house, which is built
on the site of old farmhouse. In addi-
tion TO his farm he ran a large distillery,
which furnished a market for the grain
raised by the farmers roundabout and
gave employment TO a large force OF men.
II was located about where the barn to the
house in which Miss Emma Pratt lives
now stands, and the house itself was orig
inally a storehouse on the opposite side of
the road in which Mr.. Mann kept the
necessaries OF life and traded with his dis
tillery helpers. When the great temper
ance agitation, called the Washingtonian
movement, swept the country about 1915,
q a a
the building turned into tenement
house.
The great thoroughfare was over the hill
past A. j. Fosters and the Drury farm in
accordance with the well-known partial
ity OF the people Of that time for hill
climbing. They were so very energetic
that to travel ON level going when there
was hill conveniently near seemed too
much like intolerable laziness of which
they were seldom guilty. But in 1913 the
present road around the hill was laid out,
and with this supine generation has be-
come the travelled highway.
In those days the children, some of
whom are the older inhabitants of the viii
lage now, went to school in little red
schoolhouse part way up Sand hill, on the
site OF b. r. herrick's barn. Years after
new schoolhouse, now M. l.. Chadwick's
tenement house, was built south Of the
covered bridge, and the little red school
house was bought by Abel Lyman, moved
to Forest street and forms part OF the
lower story OF j. p. Cleveland's house.
Capt. John Tiffany came to Randolph in
July Of 1896, being 10 years old, with his
father, DR.. Benjamin Tiffany, who moved
from Hanover, n. II. On reaching man
hood Capt. Tiffany bought farm OF Capt. |
Aaron Storrs before he was able to pay for |
it entirely, but Capt. Storrs said to HIM
Just as long as see you try TO pay me,
won't hurt you; but just as quick as / see
you don't try, I'll sue you.o Capt. Tiff |
fany's farm house is the house on Central
street owned and occupied many years by /
the late G.. Il. Cushman, and now belong |
ing to the Cushman estate and rented to /
George w. Pride. The farm extended /
from Ayers brook south to the DIR. John
Edison place, now rented by George
Dumas, and the only house beyond Cap
tain Tiifany's was levin Fish's, in which |
his son, A. b. Fish, still lives on the bank
of the brook.
Two of the oldest houses in the village
are the DIR. John Edison house and the one /
opposite owned by o. p. Hood. DR.. Ed
son, the grandfather Of Elijah Edison, was
one OF the earliest physicians in Randolph
and continued in active practice until 1912.
IL is not so very long since the old well
sweep IN the front yard was taken away
and the present pump installed that in
turn has been partially thrown out of
business by the Introduction of the village
water system at the house. DIR. Edison
lived both in this house and in the Hood
house opposite and it is hard to tell which
is the older.
The house OF b. f. Herrick at the juno
tion of Central and Elm streets is another
old one, and the Elijah Edison house, next
to the stone blacksmith shop, about 1910
was the shoe-shop of Eliiah's uncle, Will
lard Edison. A. NJ. Hubbard's house was
a low one-story structure and
the home Of Benjamin Jones, who worked
i'm the sawmill. The Frank Mann house
was -tin-shop, kept by Elijah's father,
John Edison. The old brick tenement
house beyond Frank Mann's was standing
then and for a time was the home OF DR..
Philander Bradford, who died in North
field a few years ago. The next house Geo.
L. Haradenis, was where John Edison,
{ he tinsmith, lived, then came the Ripley
house i'm which dressmaking and millinery
were done by Miss Emily Smith. who