page_title: Joseph Battell
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Battell
caption_attribution_description: English: Portrait of Joseph Battell while a trustee of Middlebury College
context_page_description: Joseph Battell was a publisher and philanthropist from Middlebury, Vermont. Battell is credited with preserving Vermont forest land including the land for Camel's Hump State Park. The Joseph Battell Wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest bears his name.
  Battell attended Middlebury College in the early 1860s but he was forced to abandon his studies due to ill health. On the advice of his doctor, Battell spent a weekend at a farmhouse in nearby Ripton where the clear mountain air would help cure his ailing lungs.
  He so loved the beauty of the surrounding hills that he decided to buy the farmhouse, which became known as the Bread Loaf Inn, named for Bread Loaf Mountain not far away. Over the years, numerous new buildings, porches, and barns were added in order to accommodate Battell's many friends and guests. The Inn and the surrounding mountains served as Battell's home and sanctuary for the rest of his long life.
  Over the years, Battell purchased over 30,000 acres of forest land within and beyond the view of the Bread Loaf Inn. At his death in 1915, he was the state's largest individual landowner.
context_section_description: Joseph Battell (July 15, 1839 – February 23, 1915) was a publisher and philanthropist from Middlebury, Vermont. Battell is credited with preserving Vermont forest land including the land for Camel's Hump State Park. The Joseph Battell Wilderness in the Green Mountain National Forest bears his name.
  Battell attended Middlebury College in the early 1860s but he was forced to abandon his studies due to ill health. On the advice of his doctor, Battell spent a weekend at a farmhouse in nearby Ripton where the clear mountain air would help cure his ailing lungs.
  He so loved the beauty of the surrounding hills that he decided to buy the farmhouse, which became known as the Bread Loaf Inn, named for Bread Loaf Mountain not far away. Over the years, numerous new buildings, porches, and barns were added in order to accommodate Battell's many friends and guests. The Inn and the surrounding mountains served as Battell's home and sanctuary for the rest of his long life.
  Over the years, Battell purchased over 30,000 acres (121 km²) of forest land within and beyond the view of the Bread Loaf Inn. At his death in 1915, he was the state's largest individual landowner.
  Battell owned and edited a newspaper, the Middlebury Register, and authored several books, including the "American Morgan Horse Register." In addition, he served at the Vermont Legislature and as a trustee for Middlebury College.
  Battell is the author of the book, Ellen--or the Whisperings of an Old Pine, published in 1903. The book is a dialogue between a sixteen-year-old girl, Ellen, and a wise old white pine tree.  Among the matters they discuss is a refutation of the wave theory of sound propagation.  It is illustrated with many photographs of Vermont scenery, including several of Ellen.  Her mountain, Mount Ellen, a 4000-footer partially enclosed within the Sugarbush ski area, can be found at 44.160147°N 72.929307°W.
  He donated his horse farm to the federal Morgan horse breeding program, and is credited by some as saving the breed. The Morgan horse farm, operated by the University of Vermont since 1951, remains operational in 2019. In addition to its role in promoting the breed, the farm produced Morgan hoses for use as cavalry mounts by the US Army in World War I and other conflicts.
caption: Battell as Middlebury College trustee, circa 1900
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