St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1903-05-20
EARLY ST. JOHNSBURY.
A Glimpse into One of the Oldest
Houses i'm Town.

were handicapped by poorly constructed
houses and clumsy furniture is easily seer
by a glimpse into one of the Oldest
houses now standing in the village of St
Johnsbury. This house, at 100 Main
street, owned and occupied by Mrs
James E. Taylor, was built in the spring
Of 1920 under the direction and for Judge
Ephraim Paddock, who moved to St.
Johnsbury in 1907. Mr.. Paddock was a
well.known lawyer of his day and was
elected to the bench of the supreme court
of Vermont which he occupied three
years. Later he continued his legal prac-
tice and also devoted some of his time to
farming. He was a well made man
and an honor to this community.
The house stands we'll back from the
street with a lawn in front shaded by
old growth trees and from the street one
could little imagine the cherished treas
ures that are contained inside the old
walls. The main building is built square,
conforming with the plan of architecture
of the day, two stories in height with
the roof slanting from each wall to
point in the center. A wooden rail
guard about 21a feet high with cut scroll
work follows the edge of the roof around
the outside. The walls are of brick, four
rows in thickness, and the quality of
these is unquestioned. A brickmaker
from Connecticut was imported to make
these bricks and all the spring of 1920 a
small brick yard was running in full
blast in the yard back of the house while
the clay was dug on the slope back of
the house that runs to Railroad street.
These bricks are not given to crumblng
for they have withstood S3 years of in
clement weather and in all probability
will last many years.
There is room in each of the four cor
ners OF the house with an entrance be.
tween the two front rooms, with stair
way in the hall leading to the second
story. This story is divided in the same
style while in the ell of the house, one
room uses the whole width of the house.
Next to this is the low shed which is
about so feet long with several arch
ways and then the barn just as it is was
built with the exception of the old stills.
The shingles which were put on the
buildings att the time of construction were
removed several years ago; not because
they leaked-for they did not-but to
give the house a more tidy appearance.
When these were removed it was dis
covered that they had been put on three
layers thick and the under layer was
found to be perfectly sound red cedar
shingles hand shaved. They would
probably compare well with our A. No.
1 shingles of today.
The glassin the windows in the front
of the house is 1Ox14 in size and
when they were put in people came from
miles around to see such large windows
tor they were regarded with wonder at
the time. The common size was 7x9
and nearly all believed that the larger
size would easily crack or become broken.
There are "a lights of glass in each Win
dow, four in each row across, and six
rows, while but II lights of the larger
glass and nearly all of the original glass
still remains in the windows, and what
is more remarkable, the original putty
with which they were put on still holds
them in place. Putty like other things
IN those days was manufactured on
merit as its length of service testiies.
Nearly every pane Of glass is somewhat
imperfect, usually with curves, showing
that glassmaking had not been perfected
at the time, but the windows will last
many years longer. The windows in the
parlor are set in the wall with no stills or
wall between the bottom sash and the
floor.
The plastering is still as firm and hard
as it was when the house was new and
, no part of it is falling off, though it
, would be no wonder if it did for split
| cedar lathing is very poor material to
lath house with. This plastering w as
made from snail shell mari taken from G
/ bed located on the Penniman farm lust
above the cemetery. This bog has Ions
since been drained and filled up. Wher
, ready Tor use the plastering had dul
brownish color.
The foundation Of the house is made O
heavy stones sunk deep in the groun,
| and cemented together. The cellar i
| divided in three sections by brick wall
e and with this firm underpinning all thu
. rooms in the house are still in plumb
y The cellar floor is covered with a mixtur,
J. composed of leached ashes made from
n hard wood and several other Ingredient
II and is about two inches thick. Thu
Is substance is as hard as cement though i
', does not crack for it is somewhat elastic
@ Swing tables from the ceiling are in tn
/. cellar, leaving no chance for children
Il mice or cats to purloin eatables, or ant
!. to nfest.
IL