The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-11-01

towns, in many cases, drew their
land by lot, without seeing it or know
ing what they were getting until they
had made long journey on foot or
by ox-team through, the woods to
reach their purchase. 1t was this
system of buying tand that made
Bennington the first manufacturing
center in Vermont
Anyone familiar with the southern
half of Vermont kriows that only
third to half of the area is fitted for
cultivation In some of the mountain
towns there are only few narrow
valleys Where the land can be plowed
and even the more level towns like
Bennington, Salisbury and Manches-
ter have considerable proportion Of
rough, stony land hot suitable for
farms.
The early groups of settlers natur-
ally got the best laid. II the land
they first bought did not prove suit
able for cultivation most of them by
trade or re-purchase managed to get
hold of land of which at least a part
could be plowed and planted, Later
corners were not So fortunate, and
found on their arrival that the land
they had bought With what little
i money they could raise would never
grow anything but trees, and there
was no market for lumber in those
days. There was ALTO plenty OF sharp
practice in those dai's, just as always
in the history of the world. Land
sharks deliberately misrepresented
what they had to offer and sold as
farms lands totally unfit for agricul.
tural purposes.
Some of the people who had bought
these undesirable l,3ts were not cast
down, but pushed along into the
northern wilderness and finally found
desirable locations Others, however
were left absolutely without means,
and Bennington, being the first town
on the road into the new state, gradu.
ally accumulated more people than
the farms here would support. At
first this probably appeared mis-.
fortune but in the long run it did not
work out so badly.
Gradually but surely there began
here little manufacturing on small
scale and Bennington was the first
town in Vermont with any industrial
life other than flaming This bust.
ness was helped by the fact that Ben.
nington was on the road travelled by
all the settlers going into western
and northern Vermont on this side of
the Green Mountains, and people
lourneying north generally stopped
here to complete their outfit or to add
those things viii eh had been forgot
ten when they left their towns tarth-
err south.
Even before the Revolutionary war,
manufacturing had started here on
n small scale, and waen the great in
tiux of new settlers for the northern
towns came, after peace with Great
Britain had been made the industries
OF Bennington began to grow and
thrive to degree surprising for SO
young a settlement. When the first
census of Vermont was taken in 1871.
Bennington in southwestern and Gull.
ford in southeastern Vermont were
the only considerable towns In the
state. Guilford at that time had a
trifie more population than Benning-
ton but Bennington has continued to
grow and thrive, while Guilford, be.
ing back off what proved to be the
natural line of travel, has shrunk to a
sparsely settled farming town with
only about a third as many people
now as 1t had 1870 years ago.
Records Of early industry here are
far from complete but il is certain
that the early manufacturing here
was what would naturally be expect
ed from the needs of the settlers.
First came the gristmill and sawmill
which were essential and established
by public grant of land. Next was
the blacksmith shop and it did more
in those days than is expected of its
successors. Not only did the smith
shoe the horses and oxen but he also
made hoes, forks, the iron cranes and
] hooks which were essential for every
1 fireplace. Every nail used was hand.
+ forged one at a time from any iron
/ the local blacksmith could secure.
+ and the pride OF the country black.
r smith was a handmade pillow or an
{ axe tempered by skilled workman
5 until 1t could be ground to keen
+ edge.
! The first woodworking shop in Yer.
! mont, doubtless, was a log built fac
4 tory on Town Hill where ox-yokes
I and ox-bows were made to supply the
, settlers and to replace those broken
In the trek of settlers northbound.
t Continued on Sixth Panel