The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1917-12-13
NAMES ON MOUNTAIN MARBLE

a II you were to travel through Vci
. mont along the mountain road fror
7 Dandy TO Dorset, you would come I
a decrcpit and deserted house whic
! stands little apart from the high
way with ramshackle old barn for
, companion.
| This house, even in its neglected las
! days, breathes the spirit of refine
ment and prosperity. Its paneled in
J terror is rigidly intact; its hand-cu
! rafters are sound to the core. TIL,
huge brick chimney, with its trio o.
cave,nous froplaces, seems to have
lost none Of its stability and if yol
look closely at those openings you viii
find that they are encased with rea
marble slabs.
i An old resident, one who could be
persuaded to talk of the early days
would tell you that it is not at all un.
usual to find old houses in Dorset;
4 that the town was started eight years
before the Declaration of Indepen-
dence by some fearless pioneer; that
hardly had the bells ceased to ring in
the birth of the new Nation when the
Vermonters gathered in Cephas Kent's
old Dorset tavern for their first gen.
cral convention, an assembly which
lightened the way for the adoption of
the State Constitution.
He would tell you furthermore that
the early settlers used marble in their
fireplaces because it was the handiest
thing they could find; that it was only
necessary to split it from the nearby
lodges, and that an actual marble
quarry, the first one in America, was
opened in Dorset in 1885; that high up
on the cliffs back of the town you could
see letters and figures cut in the stone
cap of the mountain more than CEN
tury ago.
Dorset Mountain, or Mt Aeolus, as
it is sometimes called, is not exactly
a marble mountain, but it has so much
of the stone in it's makeup and so little
soil to cover it that there are occasion
al patches where not even tree can
grow. 1t was on one of these spots
that some cid settler of the town cut
tho Grct no,,oo apJ fbp, ;,,cf;tutoJ a
custom which was handed down to
future generations.
1t is steep climb up to the cliffs
of Mt. Aeolus, "steep as cats face"
as the blacksmith at the quarry ex-
presses it. 1t is comparatively short
tramp in distance, but when you stand
at last on the roof stone Of the cliff
and gaze down into the valley hum
1reds of feet below, it looks like any
thing but an easy stroll.
You have been clambering up
through the thick woods with never a
hance to look back. Then, finally,
after you part the bushes at the sum-
nit, the panorama bursts upon you, a
lsion that has marble quarries for its
foreground and the famous golf links
of Manchester town as its outermost |
feature.
It may be assumed that the towns
man who made the initial trip to the
lifts of Mt. Aeolus went there to see
how the valley looked from that
height, and that once he reached the
point of vantage the wonder Of it took
complete possession of him. Nothing
would answer but that he must cut his
name in the stone so that people might
know he had been there.
That others gave their names sim
liar publicity will be conceded by any
one who attempts to read the maze Of
Inscriptions which are now the noun
.ain heritage.
The oldest date that is easily deciph-
srable is October 20 1870" Above
.hese figures is sunken panel in
which have been raised two symmet-
really formed urns. Above the panel
,wo names appear, ar. Ploornor" and
G. Choate." There must have been .
slip in spacing the lettering, as the
r" in "Bloomer" was crowded out
md had to be appended overhead
1t was on farm owned by Reuben
Blcomer that Dorset uncovered the
irst marble quarry, though there is no
me to say that the "R. Bloomer" of
he cliff was the same man.
Another inscription. dated July Z.
S11." is dedicated to "Silas B. Hanks"
md "Asa Baldwin" In this instance
here is no suggestion Of decoration
ave the simple brace that links the
wo signatures, but the lettering has
nicely and exactness that is some ,
ines lacking in more pretentious
york.
Many dates Of many different years
ave been intrusted to the marble. Z
)ften the workmanship is very crude, !