Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1920-09-22
A Century in Retrospect.
CONTINUED from Page Three)

al
indispensable provisions from the
nearest neighbors at Sheheld, l5
miles away, or from Wheelock, Lyn-
don. st. Johnsbury, or Danville, still
further distant. We who shudder at
the rigors of a Vermont winter may
well wonder at the hardirood of these
men.
In consequence of his failure to
keep his taxes paid, litigation arose
over the title to some of COL Barton's
land. A Mr.. S. Wadhams purchased
a lot of him only to discover that
Col. Barton was no longer owner OF
the land he had sold, although the
Colonel apparently was firmly con-
WINGED that he was. Wadhams re
purchased his farm of the true own
er, and sued the colonel, secured a
Judgment, and committed him to the
Danville Jail in 1912. Here the brave
captor of General Prescott remained
in confinement until 1925, when Gem
eral LAFAYETTE on his visit to Yer
mont, discovered his condition and
secured his release, much against
the colonel's will. With this Incl
dent, Col. Barton passes out OF the
history of the town which bears his
name. He died in Rhode Island a
few years later.
1t will be seen that the settlement
of the Landing" was delayed until
| Barton mills" had attained consid-
cradle prominence. In fact, the sur
rounding towns, Irasburg, Browning
ton, and Coventry were also under way
before the Landing became settle
ment, and to some degree these 9TH
er towns contributed to it. In the
year 1913 Caleb Leach built log
cabin near the John Dodge place;
but In Irasburg near the Barton line
| The active settlement of Coventry
began in 1900, the settlers procuring
floor boards from Col. Barton's mill
at the village, and bringing them
| through the woods. About this time
some of the Bloomington settlers,
who had taken up land in the east
part of their town moved to the west
part of the town, one OF these being
Erastus Spencer, who moved to the
farm later occupied by his son, Dea.
William Spencer, mile or so distant
from the LANDING" These nearby
settlements, although not contribut-
ing Immediately TO the settlement of
the Landing" nevertheless prepared
the way for the development that
came a little later, as will be seen.
| While the first settlers lived simply,
groceries had to be purchased to
some slight extent; grain had to be
milled; lumber was needed for the
construction OF houses; and some
ready money was required. The I'M
failing source of money was q prod
uct foreign TO the domestic commerce
of our day, namely the salts of ashes.
/ The manufacture of salts was there
fore of Importance during the whole
early history of all the frontier towns.
Timber was so abundant as TO be a
Ie he h.rfl
lands could not be cleared without cut
ting it. 1t simply had to be got out
of the way When the hard wood
logs were burned to ashes and the I've
of the ashes was boiled to such a con-
sistency that it could be carried in
basket, the settler had accomplished
several things. He had cleared his
land; he had gotten his logs out of
the way; and he had produced small
bulk, which could be conveyed
through the woods to market, a
commodity for which there was al
ways-a demand, and for which cash
would be paid. The price varied but
ran usually from SO to So a hundred
pounds. Barton village was a mar
ket for the salts of settlers as far
Under these conditions, politics, in
away as Coventry.
dustry, and war all lent their hand in
the development of the Landing"
| Between 1900 and the war of 1872
while these northern towns were be-
ing rapidly settled, thousands of tons
of pearlash { the commercial carbon
ate of potash) were produced. There
was then an embargo on all ship
ments from the Atlantic seaports.
The natural market for the northern
Vermonters was Montreal, much east
%t,sar
ern border than either Boston or New
York. Parties from Danville and
Peacham cut through road to Troy
in the fall of 1907 and on this road
many tons of pearlash were drawn
through the wilderness in the winter
by sled to Missisquoi bay, and thence
sent to Montreal. In the spring of
1908, large quantities of pearlash
were left in this section undisposed
of, and with the breaking up of sled
ding the plan was conceived of clear
ing on the channel of the Barton riv-
er and transporting them by boats
circumstance that gave the name
Handing" to the place below the falls
near the junction of the Willoughby
and Barton rivers, where the casks
were put on the RATS and barges to
be taken by water to Quebec.
The landing place of the Indians
therefore became a shipping point
for produce going out of the country
before mills or settlements were
made near the falls. But the advan-
tage of the falls on both the Will
loughby and Barton rivers for mill
purposes were apparent to those who
had to travel farther for their mill
ing. and permanent homes would not
have been long delayed, save for the
coming of war;
The war of 1912 brought alarm to
every settlement on the northern
frontier. AS we look back upon it,
this concern was ill founded. The
isolated farms and settlements were
not worth the cost of an invasion.
Such Indians as continued to make
visits had for years been on friendly
terms with the settlers. The Cham
plain valley, and not the rude roads
of this northern border, offered the
strategic and historis highway for an
invading force. But wild stories
were set af1oat. The old tales of In
dian cruelty We're still traditions. The
presence of British forces in Canada
was felt to be a menace. The un-
doubted plans for invading the state
l. e y L