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Sunday, October 27, 2002 [Continuation of entry from 10/25] Down the field a bit, near the end of George Road, closer to the road itself, stands another something. Not a memorial this time, not made of stone. A vertical thingie whose front appears to bear paper covered with plexiglassed text. Which all turns out to be documents describing the history of the Hudson Farm. Which turns out to be pretty interesting history. I won't inflict too many details on you, but I will mention a few highlights, such as: In 1790, the first owner (and here I make a conscious decision to ignore all issues related to the area's original natives and any controversial assertions re: who, if anyone, actually had any claim to start with), Phineas Slayton, cleared the land, with his two sons Simeon and Jesse. In 1795, Jesse built the farmhouse and half the barn. Slaytons owned the farm through 1800s, during which time it expanded to include 600 acres of land, then back down to 175 acres. During the late 1890s, Walter Slayton had a hired man by the last name of Martin who'd served in the Civil War (served in the largest regiment recruited in Vermont, wounded twice, discharged at the end of the war). Having no children, Slayton left the farm to Martin. From him the farm passed to the Georges (Martin's daughter and her husband) and finally to the Hudsons (grandson of Flora Wheeler George). The farm was never sold, always passed on to family or like connection, and the original barn and farmhouse have survived. Across George Road, nestled in the trees, is a small graveyard, bounded by a rickety whitewashed fence. A family plot, it looks like. The gate at the front was closed, I didn't feel like trespassing, so I contented myself with scoping out a few easily-readable headstones, and by that I mean they were near the fence. None of them were easy to read due to time and weather. But right up front was the stone for the farm's original owner: PHINEAS SLAYTON BORN in Barre, Mass. Sept. 15, 1737 DIED in Calais, Vermont Sept. 19, 1825 He was one of the original proprietors and charter members of Calais, One of the first settlers, Revolutionary Soldier and Officer So Phineas, a tenaciously long-lived old coot, hung in there to age 88 -- an exceptionally long stay compared with what I could see on neighboring headstones. The Willey family, for instance -- Enoch, Susan and Byron – lived to be 46, 42 and 34. George Road terminates down the lane a bit from the cemetery at Lightening Ridge Road. Posted there on a tree is a sign that reads: E. L. Hudson Traps & Supplies Schrade Knives Leather Goods Maple Syrup Lumber 1/4 mile -------> So. Lightening Ridge Road. Notice the ‘e' in there -- Lightening. First time I saw that I assumed the signmaker had meant to paint "Lightning" and goofed it up. It's a common enough misspelling, almost epidemic on the ‘net. And the name Lightning Ridge seemed logical -- it's up in elevation, high enough that lightning might be a consideration when storms come through. I asked the Town Clerk about this, it turns out the correct name actually is Lightening Ridge Road. Why? A century ago there were granite quarries off in another part of Calais, a major industry at that time, with major loads of granite being transported along this ridge road by horse-drawn wagons on their way to the city of Barre, where the area's stone-working industry was concentrated. When the wagons reached this particular ridge, they had to remove some of the granite -- lighten the loads -- so the horses could actually make it up the road and complete the trip. [this piece in progress -- more to come] rws 6:25 PM [+]
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