Essex, Chittenden County, Vermont in the 1800s

Work

Clearing, grazing, potash

The land economy begins with cleared forest: Essex had rich, cultivable acres suited to grazing², while potash made from clearing ashes was sent to Montreal². At Hubbel’s Falls¹, water power made the falls one of the first working places.

Faith

Itinerants before churches

Formal church life is thinly documented for Essex in this decade, but Methodist itinerant preachers sometimes passed through². The calendar of worship and meeting would have been less settled than in older towns.

Law & power

Selectmen, justices, stocks

Local power is close and visible: a clerk, constable, selectmen, and representative² had been chosen, and two justices² handled local authority. At Butler’s Corners, stocks and a public sign-post² made law and public notice physical things.

In the air

Federalists and Republicans

National politics reaches Essex through state elections and newspapers: Vermont backed John Adams in the contested election of 1800⁴, though Jefferson became president after the House decision.

What people feared

Death close to settlement

Death was already part of the town record: Remember and Ruth Tubbs died on March 21, 1788². The presence of stocks² also shows a community prepared for public punishment.

Home & table

Log schools, scattered homes

Education could be rough and local: a log schoolhouse with green pine slab seats¹ served the future junction district. Settlement was not one dense village but several scattered corners and river neighborhoods^2,1.

Money

Credit before cash

As across early Vermont, credit and store ledgers mattered because ready cash was scarce⁵. Essex’s early trade included a store at Page’s Corners² and potash marketed in Montreal².

Roads & news

Posted notices, few mails

News arrives by roads, meetings, and posted paper: the sign-post carried warrants, sales, and meeting notices². Essex had an early post office at Page’s Corners², but it was abandoned after only a few years.

Year by year

1. 1800Stocks and a sign-post were ordered at Butler’s Corners for public punishment and official notices. here²
2. 1800Essex counted 729 residents, more than double its 1791 population. here³
3. 1800Vermont gave its four electoral votes to John Adams, while the national election deadlocked and went to the House. the country⁴
4. 1803The United States bought Louisiana from France, doubling the claimed national domain. the country
5. 1804Essex proprietors were called to meet at Samuel Farrar’s house to divide and survey town lots. here¹
6. 1805Town meetings began alternating between Page’s Corners and the meeting-house. here²
7. 1807A surveyed division laid out the six-mile-square town into 254 original lots. here¹
8. 1807Congress passed the Embargo Act, cutting American foreign trade and provoking argument in New England. the country

Pictures from the time

What the sources say

• Essex was chartered in 1763, but local histories say permanent settlement began only in spring 1783. from the sources^2,1
• The Winooski River formed the southern boundary of Essex and supplied two mill privileges in later nineteenth-century descriptions. from the sources²
• A Chittenden County gazetteer described Essex soil as rich and productive, with scarcely an acre that could not be cultivated, and especially suited to grazing. from the sources²
• Essex’s population rose from 354 in 1791 to 729 in 1800 and 957 in 1810. from the sources³
• The 1800s Essex on this map was a town, not yet a village or rail junction; the railroad did not arrive at Essex Junction until December 1849. from the sources¹
• In 1786 Essex elected town officers: a town clerk, constable, three selectmen, and a representative. from the sources²
• Joel Woodworth and Timothy Bliss were chosen as Essex’s first justices in 1787. from the sources²
• In 1804 a proprietors’ meeting was warned to meet at Samuel Farrar’s dwelling house to appoint a committee to survey and divide the town lots. from the sources¹
• By January 1807 a committee had divided the six-mile-square town into 254 original lots for 72 grantees, with John Johnson serving as surveyor. from the sources¹
• At Butler’s Corners, Essex town legislation ordered a sign-post and stocks erected in 1800; the sign-post carried notices of warrants, sales, and meetings. from the sources²
• At the future Essex Junction, early activity centered on Hubbell’s Falls, where a settler named Hubbel built a log cabin near the falls. from the sources¹
• Local tradition places Joshua Stanton’s log cabin on the Onion River and Hubbel’s log cabin near the falls as the first two white settlements in that part of Essex. from the sources¹
• Soon after the town was organized, Albert Stevens kept a tavern in the former Hubbel house near what later became Lincoln Hall Square. from the sources¹
• A first school district had been formed in Essex in April 1796, and another early schoolhouse was taught on Brown’s River near Jericho in 1788. from the sources²
• In the future Essex Junction district, the first schoolhouse was a log cabin probably before 1800, with green pine slab seats. from the sources¹
• Essex’s early settlement pattern was scattered among Brown’s River, Page’s Corners, Butler’s Corners, the Center, and the falls rather than concentrated in one village. from the sources^2,1
• Page’s Corners had the first store in town in 1795 and the first post office, though that office was abandoned after a few years. from the sources²
• Ralph Rice was an early Essex merchant who manufactured potash and marketed it in Montreal while settlers were clearing land and ashes were plentiful. from the sources²
• Town meetings were held at Page’s Corners and at the meeting-house alternately from 1805 to 1813, after which they were permanently located at the Center. from the sources²
• During the early settlement of Essex, Methodist itinerant preachers sometimes passed through on their way to more distant places. from the sources²
• The first recorded marriage in Essex was Asa Town and Mabel Andrews on June 11, 1795, performed by Nathan Castle. from the sources²
• The first recorded deaths in Essex were Remember Tubbs and Ruth Tubbs on March 21, 1788. from the sources²
• Vermont cast its four electoral votes for Federalist John Adams in the disputed presidential election of 1800, which the House of Representatives ultimately decided for Thomas Jefferson. from the sources⁴
• As across early Vermont, store ledgers and credit mattered because stable currency was scarce and many purchases were not made in ready cash. from the sources⁵
• No detailed online description found in this search names the ordinary houses, household goods, or meals of Essex families specifically in the 1800s. not known

Sources

1. History of Essex Junction, Vermont 1763–1942. Essex Community Historical Society, 1942
2. Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chittenden County, Vermont, for 1882–83: Town of Essex. LDSGenealogy transcription, 1882
3. Chittenden County Town Census Records. Vermont Historical Society
4. 1800 Electoral College Results. National Archives
5. Building Communities: A New Economy. Vermont Historical Society