The evening Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1918-1920, 1920-02-28
st. JOhnsbury Named
for ArnOld'S Son
Continued from Page one)

name that looked good to him, and
probably had aged paper to write a
nice letter for ST. John de Crevecoeur,
unknown to any one this side of the
state. 1t evidently looked good to him
if he could only get by with it which
he did with DR.. Fairbanks. Now !
will refer to a few things. In DR..
Fairbanks book on page II he tells
the true history of how the town got
its name, which he calls tradition,
and it was not only tradition but 4
fact. And when DR.. Fairbanks got the
letter from Nh. Stevens in 1860, my
father, who was born March 81, 1901,
was living and died Feb. Is, 1871. His
father, William c. Arnold, came here
in 1887 and my grandmother came
with them also, and she lived until
1850; so that the tradition did not
have to be carried down many years.
But when the great self-styled his
torian in his important way handed
DR.. Fairbanks the letter, evidently
written for the occasion, probably on
well-aged paper, and remarked THAT
will tell you where you got your
name" that evidently settled it with
Dr.. Fairbanks.
will call your attention to page
"a in Dr.. Fairbanks book showing
the date of that letter (please keep
dates in mind, May 81, 1875, a little
before TIE town was settled, also on
page Ga, an item taken from a paper
called the Orange Nightingale and
Newbury Morning Star, dated Aug
uet o. -" more than eight years
before St. John de Crevecoeqr wrote
his letter to Ethan Allen. The item
tells of woman being mutilated and
killed up at st. Johnsborough. This
name is also referred to on page 16,
where one Moses Little who was in
terested in the Dunmore Grants in a
petition to the General Assembly Oct
ober, 1887, refers to the more recent
ly acquired land in Littleton, Con-
cord and ST. "Johnsborough". That
plainly shows that the name of the
town was "Johnsborough' until Dr..
Arnold preferred the st. and called it
st. Johnsbury. The history of Rhode
Island tells us that in 1882 a man
was elected to take the place Of DR..
Arnold as he had gone to Vermont.
Evidently he came to Vermont about
that time and selected three towns
and named them after his sons: this
town after John Crawford, the town
Of Lyndon after Josiah Lyndon, and
Sutton, he called Billymeed after my
grandfather, William c. Arnold. he
then returned to Providence and got
about 40 men interested and charter
of the three towns from Gov. Chit
tenden, Nov. 7, 1856, and came here
to settle in the spring of 1877.
| have family record or tree that
dates back to 1868 and | find John
Crawfords death as | said Dec. %,
1877. The same year they came here
to settle and l think it would be nat
ural to prefix the st. at that time.
| was born Feb. Goth, 1874, and my
memory is very good and can plain
ly recall many things that my grand
mother told me and how she looked,
altho / was about 6 years old when
she died those things many Of them
come back to me as fresh as If they
happened last week. have heard her
and my father and aunts tell many
times about the naming Of the town.
1t appeared strange to me why Dr..
Fairbanks if he got the letter from
Mr. Stevens in October, 1860, should
not mention it until my father
Mrs. Hawkins were dead. Perhaps
he had some reason, and perhaps
Pliny H. White referred to on page u
that claimed to know so much and
pointed out what Dr.. Arnold's policy
was in naming his son and the town
Lyndon after the Governor OF Rhode
Island, might tell us all about why
it happens that before the war, IN one
of the large public buildings i'll Blus-
sells, Belgium, high up on one OF the
large stone pillars was the carved
name arnold Lyndon"-my name
all right, only the last name first.
Lemuel Hastings Arnold told me
about it. He said it stood out in good
bold letters, but he did not have the
time to look up the reason for It's
being there. Every one who has read
the history of Vermont knows that
Ethan Allen never had anything to
do on this side of the state. his
troubles, of which he had a plenty,
were with the New York grants ana
he probably never knew anything
about this town and it does not look
reasonable that he ever thought of
naming this unsettled town after
New York man. And why should
Dr.. Arnold name two towns and let
some one from the other side OF the
state name his own town.
have lived long enough in TINS
town to know of the many changes,
nearly rs years. notice number OF
errors in DR.. Fairbanks book IN the
location of buildings, etc, but all III
all it is very good. But l have but
little use for many Of the so-cailed
historians, and | think Mr.. Stevens
the limit.
What | have written in regard to
the naming Of the town are facts.
1t makes but little difference how
b., hItt /