Gov. Wentworth, in chartering the towns of Vermont, laid them out in townships, each six miles square, beginning at the south end of the State. As he surveyed farther north, those on the east followed the river, while the westward towns were laid out in a straight line For the first forty miles the State is nearly uniform, being some thirty-five miles or more in width; but farther north it widens, and as the outside towns were first surveyed, the widening gore in the center of the State was left unchartered. In the years 1780 and '81, Vermont, then struggling into existence, was passing through a fearful ordeal. 

      The Continental Congress had ordered Vermont to cease to be, "To forbear and abstain from all acts of authority, civil or military." Governor Chittenden had replied, July 25, 1780, protesting against the action, and notified the President of Congress that “Vermont has no alternative. She must either submit to the unwarrantable decree of Congress, or continue her appeal to Heaven and to arms." Accordingly, the General Assembly, at its October session in 1780, deliberately determined to raise money to put Vermont on a war footing. To do this, they resorted to three expedients, 1st, the confiscation and sale of the lands and effects of all British adherents; which expedient alone, put into the treasury £430,000; 2d, the sale of all ungranted lands; 3d, the issue of money. Under the 2d expedient, Jackson Gore was granted or chartered to Abraham JACKSON, Jr., and twenty-nine associated residents of Wallingford, among whom were Mathew LYON, the CLARKs - four brothers - the IVES, etc.  The charter is dated Feb. 23, 1781, and reads as follows: 

      In 1792 the present town of Mt. Holly was incorporated by the Legislature, at the October session of that year, held at Rutland. The town, as incorporated, was made up by adding to Jackson's Gore, on the east, all that portion of the town of Ludlow lying west of the highest ridge of what is called Ludlow Mountain, and on the west, one mile in width, or two tiers of lots from the east side of the town of Wallingford. This constitutes the present town of Mt. Holly, which, in point of territory or size, ranks among the larger towns of the State. It is bounded north by Shrewsbury and Plymouth, east by Ludlow, south by Weston, and west by Wallingford and Mt. Tabor; it lies in a sort of shallow basin, or depression in the Green Mountains. The old stage route from Burlington, via Rutland, to Boston, passed through this town, and in the old days of stage coaches and loaded teams, afforded, probably, the best place for crossing the mountains, south of Montpelier. 

      The land was originally covered with a heavy growth of timber, consisting of sugar-maple, beech, birch, spruce and hemlock, mainly, with a less amount of fir, basswood, black and white ash, wild cherry and poplar. Since the building of the railroad through the town, wood and lumber have been important items of traffic. The rock is mostly Green Mountain gneiss, though in the extreme south part of the town limestone is found, from which very good lime is made; but it is not manufactured to any great extent, not even as much so as formerly. There is also a deposit of asbestos, found about one mile north-west from Mechanicsville, on the farm owned by Nathan and Henry SMITH. The soil is mostly a strong, somewhat heavy loam - in some parts of the town, especially along the valley of Mill River-considerably mixed with sand. Clay-beds are found in several localities suitable for making brick. 

      The country is well watered by small streams and numerous springs; Mill River, being the largest, rises in the extreme south-west part of the town, and running in a northerly direction, crosses a corner of Wallingford, through Shrewsbury into Clarendon, where it empties into Otter Creek. All the smaller streams on the western slope of the town empty into Mill River; while those on the eastern slope find their way to Black River, and are discharged into the Connecticut. There are several small lakes or ponds in the town, of which Patch's Pond, situated in the north-eastern part, is the largest, being about one mile in length by half-a-mile in width. 

      The soil being much better adapted to grass than grain, it is almost entirely a grazing town. The farmers devote their attention to the raising of stock and manufacture of butter and cheese, depending on the grain-growing States of the west for their corn and flour. Large quantities of oats are raised, which are used mostly in home consumption. 

      In 1880 the township had a population of 1,390, was divided into 12 school districts and had 12 common schools, employing three male and fourteen female teachers, at an aggregate salary of $1,234.00. There were 349 pupils attending common schools, and the entire cost of the schools for the year ending October 31, was $1,675.00, with Angil R. CROWLEY, superintendent. 

      There is no large village in the town, but there are several small settlements or hamlets, which are dignified by the title of "ville," as: Mechanicsville, Bowlsville, Tarbellsville, Hortonville, Healdville, Goodelville, etc. 

      Mechanicsville, a post village, situated two and one-half miles south of Mt. Holly station, on the C. V. R. R., contains twenty-four dwellings, one store, one chair-stock factory, one church (union), one blacksmith-shop and Chase's toy factory. This toy manufactory is quite an extensive business, employing thirty-five to forty men. It was commenced by Philip C. CHASE in 1863, and under his management has been a success from the first. He employs both water and steam bower, and manufactures 30 to 40 different styles of children's wagons, carts and wheelbarrows. 

      Healdville, (p. o.) a small hamlet and railroad station, is situated in the eastern part of the town. 

      Mount Holly, (p. o.) situated near the central part of the town, is also a small hamlet and R. R. station. 

      Tarbellville is situated about one mile west of Mechanicsville, and was named after one of its residents, Marshall TARBELL. It contains one store, one cheese factory, the manufactories of Marshall TARBELL, two blacksmith-shops, and thirteen dwellings. Most of the hamlet is owned by Mr. TARBELL, who carries on the manufacture of lumber, rakes and chair stock. The different branches of business are at present conducted in one building, the factories having twice been destroyed by fire; the first time on February 3d, 1858, and again January 5, 1878. The first fire Mr. TARBELL had no insurance to cover his loss. The second destroyed two shops, with sheds adjoining; also one dwelling and one horse-barn.  The buildings were at the time filled with goods, manufactured and in the process of manufacture, thus causing a loss of about eight thousand dollars, covered by an insurance of only $1,900. The present capacity of the sawmill is about 600.000 feet of lumber annually. The rake factory is probably the largest in New England, turning out 3,000 to 4,000 dozen per year, the most of which are exported to England. The manufacture of chair stock consumes 250,000 to 300,000 feet of lumber per year. 

      Tarbellville Cheese Factory is also under the supervision of Mr. TARBELL. It uses the milk of 300 cows, and manufactures about 65,000 lbs. of cheese annually. 

      Bowlesville is situated about two miles west of Mt. Holly Station, on the R. & B. R. R.  It contains one church, (Advent,) a district schoolhouse, and about ten dwellings. It takes its name from being the location of a factory for turning wooden bowls, and the manufacture of other wooden ware. 

      Goodelville is a small settlement, situated in the western part of the town, on Mill Creek, and contains one grist-mill and five dwellings. 

      Hortonville hamlet, situated one and three-quarter miles N. E. of Mt. Holly station, contains one blacksmith shop, one wheelwright shop, one saw and chair stock mill, one district school house, one cheese factory, and fifteen dwellings. 

      Daniel C. ALLARD's mills are located in the west part of the town, about two miles east of Mechanicsville, embracing a saw-mill and machinery for the manufacture of chair-stock. The saw-mill has a capacity of about 6,000 feet of lumber per day, employing about ten men. 

      Mt. Holly Cheese Factory, located one and one-half miles north-east of Mt. Holly station, is owned and superintended by William LORD. It uses the milk of four-hundred cows, and manufactures ninety thousand pounds of cheese annually. 

      Warren HORTON's saw mill, located about a quarter of a mile north-east from this cheese factory, manufactures from three to four-hundred thousand feet of spruce lumber per year. 

      A. W. GRAVES & Co.'s saw mill is situated about one and a half miles south-west of Mechanicsville, and has the capacity for sawing 300,000 feet of lumber per year, and manufactures 12,000 butter tubs annually. They also manufacture chair-stock to a considerable extent. 

      PARMENTER & JOHNSON's mill, located about one-half mile south-west of Mechanicsville, manufactures chair-stock, and about 400,000 feet of lumber per year. 

      Jedediah HAMMOND was probably about the first settler on the land comprised in the present town of Mt. Holly, having settled on the Jackson Gore, in 1770, when he was but seventeen years of age; coming there from Old Bedford, Mass. He was the second representative from the town, which office he held for thirteen years, and was for several years justice of the peace and deputy sheriff, and was a counselor at law for over forty years. 

      The first settlement in that part formerly called Ludlow, was made by the families of Joseph GREEN, Nathaniel PINGREY, Abraham CRAWLEY, David BENT and Silas PROCTOR, who emigrated thither about the year 1786. About 1789 and '90 settlement was made on the Gore, by the CLARKs, JACKSONs, IVES, LYON. &c., from Wallingford. The well kept records of Wallingford show numerous actions that were had in town meeting that relate to the Gore, and several early settlers held town office in Wallingford. 

      Abraham JACKSON, Jr. was the son of Abraham JACKSON, Esq., who is erroneously credited with being the first settler of Wallingford. He came to Wallingford from Connecticut with his father in 1773. They built a house on a bend of Otter Creek, just east of the present residence of P. G. CLARK, Esq. After a residence in Wallingford of eight years, where he was first town clerk, first inn-keeper and first representative, he settled near Mechanicsville, on the MEAD place. The pond is situated on what was his farm, and is still called JACKSON Pond. He was a prominent and influential man and became the first representative of Mt. Holly. 

      Mathew LYON sold his right to Jethro JACKSON, a brother of Abraham and a proprietor of the Gore. Jethro located at Bowlsville, building the first grist mill. 

      The CLARKs, who were residents of Wallingford and proprietors in the Gore, came to Wallingford in 1774 and settled both sides of Otter Creek, about where the village now stands. Ichabod G., Stephen, John and Chauncey, joined Warren's regiment from Wallingford, and the four brothers stood shoulder to shoulder at Hubbardton and afterward at Bennington. Stephen settled in Wallingford, where Robert MARSH now lives.  He moved to JACKSON Gore in 1781, and settled where Hilon HOLDEN now resides. John settled on what is called the SPRAGUE place, and was afterwards first town clerk of Mt. Holly. Chauncey joined him soon after. This family figures largely in the first eras of the settlement of Mt. Holly. 

      The IVES family, Jonah, Ebenezer, Amos and Jotham, came to the Gore in 1781, after a residence of six to eight years in Wallingford. Tradition says that the CLARKs, IVES, JACKSONs and others sold their land upon Otter Creek for one shilling per acre, and came to Mt. Holly for the purpose of "getting rid of the cussed flies and mosquitoes,” which they could not endure in Wallingford. Jonah Ives settled on the farm now owned by Leverett IVES, where he built a hut just opposite where the present house stands. Here he lived several years, "keeping bachelor's hall," and the place was known for a long time as Uncle Jonah's camp. It was in Uncle Jonah's hut that the first death in the town occurred, caused by the accidental discharge of a gun. The victim was a man by the name of _____ FLANDERS, and at the time of the accident he was "setting" the gun for a bear, in a neighboring cornfield; immediately after the accident, he was carried into Jonah’s camp, where he expired the following night, and was buried on the farm now owned by Darius PERKINS. The rude stone that marked his grave has long since been torn away by the plow, and now nothing remains to mark the spot. When Uncle Jonah first came to the town, bears, wolves and other wild animals were plenteous, and a constant source of annoyance to the settlers. 

      The first hotel was kept by Joseph GREEN, near Healdville, where Wm. B. and John P. HOSKINS now reside. David BENT built the second, where Lewis BARRETT now resides, and the third was built by Stephen CLARK, where David NORTON now resides. Lyman CLARK and Martin CARVINER built the first store, at North Mt. Holly. Here the post-office was kept, with Stephen CLARK as first post-master, the mail being brought from Rutland on horseback. 

      Perry Green DAWLEY emigrated to Mt. Holly from Rhode Island with three other families, about the year 1783, settling on the farm now owned by Dorwin G. DAWLEY. The same year his son Perry G. was born, being the first male child born in the town. Perry G. DAWLEY died early in the year 1876, at the advanced age of 93 years. 

      Jonas HOLDEN, one of the early settlers, came to Mt. Holley in 1792, from Ludlow. He was a revolutionary soldier, born at Gratton, Mass., August 8, 1752. At the battle of Bunker Hill, Jonas wore a red shirt, so he could scarcely be distinguished from the English red-coats. After the Continental army had retreated, Jonas still stood his ground and continued to fire as though there was nothing wrong. He was soon detected by the British, however, and, while attempting to make his escape, was wounded in the hip; he fell, but was rescued by his comrades. For this act of gallantry he was promoted, from the ranks to a first lieutenancy. Jonas built the second frame house in the town, in about the year1794 or '95. The whole town was then covered with a dense forest, with the exception of here and there a small clearing. The nearest grist-mill was at Cavendish, and he had to carry, or drag his grain there, a distance of twelve miles, on a crotched stick, finding his way through the forest by means of marked trees. This mode of conveyance was commonly used by the pioneers, and was called a "dray." Sarah HOLDER, wife of Jonas, lived to the advanced age of 99 years, 9 months and 18 days, retaining full possession of her mental faculties to the last. On one occasion she went to the "Green Stand" on horseback, where she was detained until after dark; on her way home she was attacked by a pack of wolves, which followed her so closely that she was obliged to ride under a tree and clamber up into its branches. The horse, eased of its burden, soon reached home. The family, seeing that something was wrong, immediately started in search of her, and found her some hours after, still perched in the tree, guarded by wolves. 

      Silas, Jr., son of Silas PROCTOR, one of the earliest settlers, was killed by the falling of a tree on Proctor hill, in the year 1832. 

      There are numerous anecdotes and traditions among the older inhabitants, of accidents that happened on stage coaches when the old stage line passed through the town. About the year 1838 an accident occurred near the town line, just below Healdville, by which one woman was killed and two men seriously injured. It was caused by the stage tipping over an embankment. 

      The first minister resident in the town was the Rev. Silas L. BINGHAM, Congregationalist. The exact date of his settlement is not known, but was about the year 1800. Meetings were held in barns and private houses, until about 1802, when Mr. BINGHAM organized, and had built a small Congregationalist church at Mt. Holly. This organization was kept up until 1856. 

      The Baptist Church of Mount Hilly was organized September 6, 1804, by a council called for that purpose, and contained 29 members, with Rev. Daniel PACKER as pastor.  The present house of worship was erected in 1851, at a cost of about $2,000,00, and is now valued at about $2,500.00. The present membership is about 122, of which 90 are resident.  The Rev. O. J. TAYLOR is at present pastor. The building will comfortably seat about 350 people. 

      The Union Church of Mechanicsville (Methodist Episcopal) was organized in 1815, by Elder BEAMAN, and consisted of about 20 members, with Elder BEAMAN, pastor. The first house of worship was erected in 1820, which was succeeded by the present edifice in 1850, built by the Methodist and Baptist societies, at a cost of about $1,750.00, the present value of the property being about $3,700.00, with Rev. James E. KNAPP, pastor. There are about 104 members. 

      The Advent Church at Bowlsville was organized by the Rev. D. BOSWORTH, January 21, 1854, with a membership of nineteen. Mr. BOSWORTH is still pastor, with a membership of 45. The church will seat 300 people and is valued at $800.00 to $1,000.00. 

St. Mary's Church, (Roman Catholic,) located at North Mt. Holly, was organized in 1874 by P. BELLY and J. DARCY. It then consisted of 34 members, with Rev. Chas. BOYLON as pastor. The edifice was erected in 1875 at a cost of $4,000.00, and is capable of seating 225 persons. Rev. J. C. McLAUGHLIN is the present pastor, with a membership of 80 families. 

Gazetteer and Business Directory of  Rutland  County, VT.;
1881-82, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child;
Syracuse, N.Y.; Printed at the Journal Office
August 1881, Part Two, Pages 157-163.

Transcribed by Karima Allison 2004