Vermont, the Green mountain state (Volume 4) online

SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 223

This called forth many protests from Vermont. The
H. H. Powers Republican Club telegraphed Judge
Powers: "The people and press of Vermont regret
your position. Take a positive stand for Harrison first,
then McKinley and Sherman, not Blaine." A telegram
was sent to Vermont, signed by Messrs. Powers, Childs,
Fisk and Brown, saying: '*We fully share the feeling
of gratitude to President Harrison. We have carefully
studied the situation. The evidence is that Harrison
cannot carry New York, and the Silver States. We sup-
pose Vermont desires success, and we predict the nomi-
nation of Governor McKinley." Five Vermont dele-
gates attended a Harrison caucus and all the delegates
voted for Harrison, who was nominated on the first bal-
lot. There was much criticism of the delegates who
were loath to support Harrison, but later events con-
firmed their political judgment.

In the Democratic National Convention the Vermont
delegates supported Cleveland for head of the ticket and
voted for Isaac P. Gray of Indiana for the Vice Presi-
dential candidate, although the nomination went to Adlai
E. Stevenson of Illinois. Col. B. B. Smalley again was
made the Vermont member of the National Committee,
his retirement having been due to the fact that he held
the position of Collector of Customs. Mr. Smalley was
made a member of the executive committee, secretary
of the campaign committee and chairman of the com-
mittee on campaign speakers. For a considerable period
he was one of the most active of the men who directed
the political strategy of the Democratic party.



224 HISTORY OF VERMONT

The Republican Convention to nominate candidates
for State offices, held on June 22, nominated Col. Levi
K. Fuller of Brattleboro for Governor. The vote was
Fuller, 394; Lieut. Gov. H. A. Fletcher of Cavendish
180; Victor L Spear of Randolph, 57; W. E. Johnson
of Woodstock, 37; William Chapin of Middlesex, 5
scattering, 5. F. Stewart Stranahan of St. Albans was
nominated for Lieutenant Governor, receiving 501 votes.
Elihu B. Taft of Burlington received 111 votes. The
name of Gen. L. G. Kingsley of Rutland was withdrawn
before voting began. Congressman Jonathan P. Dol-
liver of Iowa addressed the convention.

The Democrats nominated Col. B. B. Smalley of Bur-
lington for Governor.

A great throng, estimated at fifteen thousand persons,
assembled on City Hall Park, Burlington, on August 30,
to hear the issues of the campaign discussed by Gov.
William McKinley of Ohio. Governor and Mrs.
McKinley had been for several days the guests of Police
Commissioner Osborne of Boston at his summer home
in Dummerston. The night of August 30 they were the
guests of Senator and Mrs. Proctor. On the following
day the Ohio Governor spoke to large audiences at Rut-
land and Bellows Falls and on September 1, at Brattle-
boro. On August 31, John E. Russell, a well known
Massachusetts orator, replied to Governor McKinley at
Burlington, presenting the Democratic cause. The
McKinley bill, which was an issue in the campaign, had
established a bounty on maple sugar, which commended
the measure to Vermont farmers, but did not secure a
large majority in the State for the party in power.



URBAN A. WOODBURY

Born at Acworth, N. H., July ii, 1838, and graduated from
the medical department of the University of Vermont in
1859. He enlisted in the Union army at the outbreak of the
Civil War and lost his right arm in the first battle of Bull
Run. Later he was commissioned a Captain. After the
war he became interested in the lumber business and in
various corporations. For thirty-three years he was owner
of the Van Ness House in Burlington. He was Mayor of
the city, 1885-1886, was elected Lieutenant Governor
in 1888 and Governor in 1894. President McKinley appointed
him a member of a commission to investigate the conduct
of the War with Spain. He died April 15, 1915.




J^ Ov-




SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 225

The vote was light in the September election, the can-
didate for Governor receiving the following vote: Ful-
ler, 38,918; Smalley, 19,216; Edward Allen, 1,525; scat-
tering, 221. The total vote cast was smaller than that
of 1888 by more than ten thousand votes. The Demo-
cratic vote was substantially the same, showing that
most of the loss was represented by stay-at-home Repub-
licans. This spirit of apathy was a forecast of an over-
whelming Republican defeat in November.

The Presidential vote by counties in 1892 was as
follows :

Pop- Scatter-

Counties Rep. Dem. Pro. ulist ing

Addison 3,146 621 129 . . 1

Bennington 2,196 1,155 69 ..

Caledonia 2,646 1,222 156 30 2

Chittenden 3,418 1,952 91 . . 1

Essex 721 418 36 . .

Franklin 2.540 1,353 123 . . 2

Grand Isle 349 177 13 . .

Lamoille 1,470 517 50 1

Orange 2.395 1.088 134 . . 2

Orleans 2,358 631 97 3

Rutland 5,210 2,426 196 3

Washington 3,134 1.940 121 4

Windham 3,656 1,496 1(H 1 2

Windsor 4,753 1,329 105 2 1

Total 37,992 16,325 1,424 44 11

Harrison's majority was 20,188.

Harrison's majority was one of the smallest ever
given a Republican Presidential candidate. The Demo-
crats celebrated their victory with great rejoicing. The



226 HISTORY OF VERMONT

Presidential Electors were Frederick W. Baldwin of
Barton, John V. Carney of Bennington, Charles M.
Wilds of Middlebury and Ezra A. Parks of Waterford.
The Electoral vote of Vermont was cast for Benjamin
Harrison and Whitelaw Reid.

Levi Knight Fuller was born at Westmoreland, N. H.,
February 24, 1841. He removed to Windham county,
Vermont, with his parents in 1845. He served an
apprenticeship as a machinist in Boston, learned the
duties of a telegraph operator, and returning to Brat-
tleboro in 1860, entered the Estey Organ Works as a
machinist and mechanical engineer. Later he estab-
lished a shop of his own, where he manufactured wood-
working machinery and other products. He married a
daughter of Jacob Estey, and in 1866 became a partner
in the Estey Organ Works. He was made superintend-
ent of the manufacturing department and vice president
of the company. He made frequent trips abroad and
established European agencies for the company.

He made many improvements on the company's musi-
cal instruments, taking out approximately one hundred
patents for his inventions. One of his greatest achieve-
ments was in securing the adoption of an international
pitch for musical instruments, which Mr. Steinway de-
clared was "one of the most important, perhaps the most
important, in the annals of musical history." He organ-
ized the Fuller Light Battery, which became a part of
the Vermont National Guard in 1874. He served on the
staff of Governor Converse, and was brevetted a Colonel
in 1887. He was elected a member of the State Senate
from Windham county in 1880. He was chosen Lieu-



SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 227

tenant Governor in 1886. Governor Fuller was a
student of astronomy and erected a private observatory,
in which he installed what was said to be the finest
equatorial telescope in the State. He was a member
of the American Society for the Advancement of
Science, and of the American Society of Mechanical
Engineers. He died on October 10, 1896.

William W. Stickney of Ludlow was elected Speaker
of the House. In his retiring message Governor Page
characterized the school law of 1890 as "a. piece of
patchwork so ambiguous" that it was necessary for him
to call upon the Supreme Court to determine what was
really enacted, and he favored a town system of schools.
He referred to the retirement of Senator Edmunds as
that of a man "universally and justly accorded the high
distinction of being the greatest constitutional lawyer
of his generation." "This proud distinction," he said,
"is not the honor of Mr. Edmunds alone, but of Ver-
mont as well. His fame is her fame — his distinction,
her distinction." Senator Morrill, he said, was no less
prominent in the domain of finance. He referred to the
death of the venerable Ex-Gov. Paul Dillingham, at the
age of ninety-two years; and to the death of Ex-Gov.
John Gregory Smith, who had been "identified with the
material interests of our State more prominently, per-
haps, than any other man in her history."

In his inaugural address Governor Fuller alluded to
the attempt to induce Swedish immigrants to settle in
Vermont, a policy w^hich had not proved altogether a
success. The young people, like the sons and daughters
of native Vermonters, gradually left the farms for the



228 HISTORY OF VERMONT

industrial centers. The Governor favored an enlarge-
ment of the powers of the Board of Agriculture, and
discussed the good roads problem. He found the exist-
ing method without system, order or uniformity. A
fitting reference was made to the four hundredth anni-
versary of the discovery of America. The Governor
issued a proclamation, appointing October 21, 1892,
Columbus Day, a general holiday, and recommending
that public exercises be held on this anniversary.

An Australian ballot law was enacted in 1892, but the
act did not apply to annual or special meetings in
municipalities having four thousand inhabitants, or less.
The Board of Agriculture was revived and towns were
authorized to exempt from taxation unoccupied and
neglected land for a period of five years, if such land
should be purchased and improved. A town system of
schools was established. Directors were given power
to establish central schools and to use school money for
conveying pupils. A Board of State Highway Commis-
sioners was established and the office of Town Road
Commissioner was created. Heretofore towns had been
divided into highway districts, which did not exactly
correspond to the school districts, and over each was a
highway surveyor or pathmaster. These highway dis-
tricts were abolished.

The fish and game laws were revised. The State
Board of Health was authorized to appoint local health
officers for each city, town and incorporated village.
Jurisdiction was granted to the United States Govern-
ment over certain portions of the towns of Essex and
Colchester for the establishment of a military post.



SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 229

Rutland was incorporated as a city. An additional
sum of fourteen thousand, seven hundred and fifty dol-
lars was voted for the use of the State at the Chicago
Exposition. The sum of fifty-five thousand dollars was
appropriated for additional buildings for the State Hos-
pital for the Insane at Waterbury.

The Congressional delegation was requested to use
its influence to aid in securing the approval of a pro-
posed Sixteenth Amendment to the United States Con-
stitution, forbidding any State to pass a law respecting
an establishment of religion, which should forbid exer-
cise thereof, or provide for the use of money raised by
taxation in founding, maintaining or, aiding any church,
religious denomination or society, or any institution
wholly o'* partly under sectarian or ecclesiastical control.

During the session of 1892, the House, under the
leadership of Wendell P. Stafford of St. Johnsbury,
])assed a woman suffrage bill, by a vote of 149 to 83.
The measure was defeated in the Senate by a vote of
18 to 10.

Redfield Proctor was elected United States Senator
by a vote in the House of 192 to 35 for Edward J. Phelps.
Senator Proctor received all the 28 votes cast in the
Senate.

When Vermont first voted an appropriation for the
World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, the amount
was fixed at five thousand dollars, this being the amount
voted for the Centennial Exposition held at Philadelphia
in 1876. It was soon evident that this sum was inade-
quate, and at a special legislative session, held in 1891,
the amount was increased to fifteen thousand dollars.



230 HISTORY OF VERMONT

Late in the fall of 1892 another appropriation was made,
nearly doubling the amount available. A fund of ten
thousand dollars had been guaranteed by public spirited
citizens, but this was too small to permit the erection of
a building, as proposed, constructed of Vermont marble,
granite and slate. Finally the design of a Pompeiian
villa by Jarvis Hunt of VVeathersfield was accepted and
the building was erected at a cost of ten thousand dollars.
The marble floor, decorations and fixtures cost about two
thousand dollars more. This building was constructed
of wood and staff. It was artistic but in no sense typical
of Vermont. It was completely overshadow^ed by
larger State buildings and altogether the effect was un-
satisfactory. The chief fault was the delay in providing
an adequate appropriation in time to make it available
for building purposes. There was considerable criticism
of the structure on the part of Vermonters, but it
afforded a place of rendezvous and more than eighteen
thousand persons registered here during the fair. The
building was dedicated on May 10, 1893, speeches being
made by Governor Fuller, Ex-Gov. W. P. Dillingham
a.nd Hon. James L. Martin. Vermont Day was observed
on September 15. The Governor was unable to be pres-
ent by reason of illness. Gen. W. W. Plenry of Burling-
ton was master of ceremonies and there was a program
of speech making. vSeveral thcnisand persons were in
attendance.

A special pavilion was built to house the maple sugar
exhibit. The Vermont Marble Company had one thou-
sand square feet of floor space. The Fairbanks Com-
pany of St. Johnsbury had 6.300 square feet, and the



SPAXISH-AMKRICAX WAR PERIOD 231

Estey Organ Company made an exhibit. The act
approi)riating money for the fair provided that jjrefer-
ence should be given to agricultural products. About
twenty breeders exhibited ninety Merino sheep. A
herd of Jerseys from West Randolph, which took the
first prize for butter at the Paris Exposition in 1890,
made the best score at Chicago. Frederick Billings'
young cow, Lily Garfield, in a twenty-one-day test, took
the highest award, producing in that time five hundred
and sixty-three pounds of milk from which twenty-nine
pounds of butter were made. Thirty-five Morgan
horses were shown, and the sum of one thousand dollars
was won in premiums. The stallion Denning Allen,
owned by Joseph Battell, won the first prize.

Vermont took most of the premiums for Delaine and
Merino sheep, nine in all. Forty-nine awards were made
for maple sugar and syrup, twenty-six for butter and
twenty- four for vegetables. Fourteen prizes were
awarded to Morgan horses, three for musical instru-
ments, and two each for wool, cheese, dairy implements,
fine arts, granite, mining machinery, farm machinery,
machinery and Ayrshire cattle. One prize each was
awarded to woolen cloths, marble, stone, plants (horti-
culture), Jersey cattle, and a school exhibit.

The first electric railroad in Vermont was built by
the Burlington Traction Company, which operated be-
tween Burlington and Winooski, and in 1893 was
changed from a horse railroad to a trolley line.

Shortly after Redfield Proctor had left the office of
Secretary of War for a seat in the United States Senate
he was able to promote the passage of a bill which enabled



232 HISTORY OF VERMONT

his successor "to establish a military post at a point near
the northern frontier, where he may, in his judgment,
deem it for the public good; Provided, that suitable land
for the purpose is donated free of cost to the United
States and that the title shall be declared valid by the
Attorney General." In compliance with this act citi-
zens of Vermont purchased and gave the United States
Government six hundred acres of land in the towns of
Essex and Colchester, two miles from Essex Junction
and five miles from Burlington. This land was level
and dry, with good drainage.

An act of the Legislature, passed in 1892, gave juris-
diction over this area to the United States. The site
was accepted and Capt. Guy Howard, son of Gen. O. O.
Howard, was appointed Constructing Quartermaster.
Buildings for a four-company cavalry post were erected
and it was named Fort Ethan Allen in honor of the
Hero of Ticonderoga. The location is such that trans-
portation may be secured easily over the Rutland, Cen-
tral Vermont and St. Johnsbury and Lake Champlain
Railroads. The first garrison arrived September 28 and
29, 1894, and consisted of Troops C, E, F and G of the
Third Cavalry, in command of Maj. L. T. Morris.
From time to time additional purchases of land were
made and more buildings were erected.

In 1894 President Cleveland appointed Seneca Hasel-
ton of Burlington United States Minister to Venezuela.
He was born at Westford, February 26, 1848, was grad-
uated from the University of Vermont in the class of
1871 and from the University of Michigan Law School
in 187.S. He was an instructor of mathematics in the



SPANISll-AiMKRlCAX WAI^ i'KRlUD 2:]3

University of Michigan, 1873-74, and was admitted to
the Vermont bar in 1875. For several years he was
City Judge of P>urlington, was City Representative in
the Legislature in 1886 and Mayor of Burlington from
1891 to 1894. He was in the diplomatic service in 1894-
95, and returning to Burlington resumed the practice of
law. He was held in such high respect for his legal
ability, that, although a Democrat, he was made a
Supreme Court Judge in a Republican State, in 1902,
and was continued on the bench until he retired volun-
tarily in May, 1919. He died July 28, 1921.

Col. U. A. Woodbury of Burlington was nominated
by acclamation for Governor in the Republican State
Convention of 1894. It has happened on several occa-
sions that following a particularly strenuous contest
for the Governorship the defeated candidate, four years
later, has been nominated without opposition. The delay
of four years is due to an unwritten political law, known
as "the Mountain Rule," which has prevailed for many
years. According to this custom the Governor is chosen
alternately from the east and the west sides of the Green
Mountain system, which, extending north and south
divides the State into nearly e(iual portions. The Lieu-
tenant Governor is chosen from the "East Side" when
the Governor comes from the "West Side," and under
this "rule," never coming from the same side of the
mountain line as the Governor. One United States Sen-
ator comes from the East and one from the West Side.

The contest for Lieutenant Governor resulted as fol-
lows: Z. M. Mansur of Island Pond, 332; H. W. Vail
of Randolph, 193; IT. C. Bates of St. Johnsbury, 46.



234 HISTORY OF VERMOiNT

Congressman W. P. Hepburn of Iowa addressed the
convention.

The Democratic party nominated for Governor George
W. Smith, a well known manufacturer, of White River
Junction.

The vote for Governor resulted as follows: U. A.
Woodbury, 42,663; George W. Smith, 14,142; T. S.
McGinnis, 740; Rodney Whittemore, 457; scattering, 13.

Urban Andrain Woodbury was born at Acworth,
N. H., July 11, 1838. The family removed to Vermont
about two years later and he received his education in
the common schools of Morristown and at People's
Academy, and was graduated from the Medical College
of the University of Vermont in 1859. At the break-
ing out of the Civil War he enlisted in Co. H, Second
Regiment of Vermont Volunteers, and lost his right arm
in the first battle of Bull Run, in 1861. He was taken
prisoner and held in Richmond until paroled October
5, 1861, and was discharged October 18 on account of
wounds. November 17, 1862, he was commissioned as
Captain of Co. D, Eleventh Regiment of Vermont Volun-
teers; in June, 1863, he was made Captain of the Thir-
teenth Veteran Reserve Corps, serving until March,
1865.

After his return from the w^ar he became interested
in the lumber business and in real estate operations.
He was president and principal owner of the Mead
Manufacturing Company, the Crystal Confectionery
Company, president of the Queen City Cotton Com-
pany, and for thirty-three years the owner and pro-
prietor of the \^an Ness House in Burlington.



SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 235

Mr. Woodbury was a Republican and held many pub-
lic offices. He was Alderman of Burlington from 1881
to 1882, Mayor of the city from 1885 to 1886, Lieutenant
Governor in 1888, and Governor of Vermont from 1894
to 1896. In September, 1898, he was appointed by
President McKinley a member of the commission to in-
vestigate the conduct of the War with Spain, and Presi-
dent Roosevelt appointed him a member of the Board of
Visitors to West Point. He was a Colonel on Governor
Barstow's staff.

He was married to Paulina L. Darling of Morristown,
February 12, 1860, and had six children. At their resi-
dence in Burlington they entertained many prominent
guests, including President McKinley, Vice President
Hobart, Whitelaw Reid, President Roosevelt, Secretary
of the Treasury Leslie M. Shaw% President Taf t, Ambas-
sador Jusserand, Ambassador James Bryce, and many
others. He died April 15, 1915.

William W. Stickney of Ludlow w^as reelected
Speaker.

In his retiring message Governor Fuller announced
that the sum of $1,542,063.04 had been expended by the
State during the biennial period. Fort Ethan Allen had
been completed and was occupied by United States sol-
diers, this being the first and only military post in the
State. Adjutant General Peck had been delegated to
extend the greetings of Vermont to the cavalrymen on
their arrival. Approximately one thousand circular let-
ters had been sent out, reaching every town in the State,
the object being to determine the manner in which the
prohil^tory liquor law was enforced. The replies received



236 HISTORY OF VERMONT

indicated that in 50 per cent of the towns liquor was not
sold illegally. In 32 per cent of the letters the reports
were divided, while 18 per cent were unanimous in the
opinion that liquor was illegally sold. Under the act
to establish the boundary line between Vermont and
Massachusetts, Kittredge Haskins of Brattleboro,
Levant M. Read of Bellows Falls and James K. Batchel-
der of Arlington had been appointed commissioners.

In his inaugural address Governor Woodbury de-
clared the consensus of opinion to be that the existing
school law was the best the State ever had enacted. He
favored one Normal School. Considerable dissatisfac-
tion with the Australian ballot law was reported. It
was said to be too elaborate and too expensive. He
thought it probable that from five to ten per cent of the
voters were disfranchised because of their disinclination
to submit to such an elaborate system, and believed some
changes were needed. The evil of wasteful forestry
methods was shown. Governor Woodbury reported
that the "Western fever" was abating, and he predicted
a gain in Vermont's population. He believed that there
was no better place than Vermont for the investment of
the money of Vermonters, saying: "If all our people
for the next ten years would do what they have not
done in the past ten years, invest their surplus earnings
at home, Vermont would teem with new industries,
and our population and prosperity would materially
increase."

The Legislature of 1894 passed an act providing for
free text books, school boards being directed to pur-
chase books at municipal expense. Another law pro-



SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR PERIOD 237

vided that any town might establish a high school and
every town having a population of two thousand, five
hundred or more should establish and maintain a high
school for a period of not less than thirty-three weeks.
A commission w^as authorized to investigate the Normal
School system.

The Governor was given power to appoint a Board
of Library Commissioners, and a State Board of Phar-
macy was created. The purchase of a State Camp
Ground for the Vermont militia, near Fort Ethan Allen,
was authorized. The sum of three hundred dollars was
voted for a monument over the grave of Gov. Thomas
Chittenden. The red clover was selected as the State
fiower. The city and town of Barre and the city of
Montpelier were incorporated.

Maj. Gen. Oliver O. Howard, U. S. A., one of the
famous Union Generals of the Civil War, after his
retirement from active duty in 1895, made his home in
Burlington. His son, Capt. Guy Howard, U. S. A., was
Constructing Quartermaster at Fort Ethan Allen, and
lived in Burlington, a fact which induced the General
to select this Vermont city as his residence. The Gen-
eral built a house and made the city his home for the
remainder of his life.

Senator Proctor delivered an able speech in the Senate
on February 27, 1896, in favor of a stronger coast de-
fence system. The New York Sun said of it, "Nothing
more important or effective has been said since Mr.