Newell Sturtevant, et al., Act of Incorporation, By-Laws, and Director's Statement of the West Castleton Railroad and Slate Company  (Boston:  Printed by William Chadwick, 18 Exchange Street, 1853).

STATEMENT.

   This company was organized on the 15th day of December, A.D. 1852; and the Directors submit the following statement.

   The slate quarry, which the company have purchased, lies on the western side of lake Bombazine, in Castleton, County of Rutland, and State of Vermont, about three miles by land and two by water from Hydeville, so called, at the foot of the lake.  It extends from two to three miles on the lake shore and half a mile back, and the area is supposed to contain 500 acres.  The location of this quarry is one of the finest in the world, whether we take into view the facilities of transportation to market, or the natural advantages of the place for getting out and preparing the slate for use.  It is near a central point, where railways radiate to the principal marts and cities in the country.

     For the Saratoga and Castleton Railroad, which passes not far from the foot of the lake, and the Rutland and Washington Railroad intersect at Castleton, and unite with the Rutland and Burlington, and the Rutland and Troy routes:  so that freight may be conveyed easterly to Boston---northeasterly to Montreal---or indeed to almost any direction from this place.  Where the means of transportation are so numerous, the freights are necessarily moderate and reasonable, as rival roads tend to produce competition in the prices, and prevent speculation.  The corporation is authorized by their charter to build a railroad to connect the quarry with the Rutland routes; but an arrangement has been made with the Rutland and Whitehall corporation, which precludes the necessity.

     To give the reader a correct idea of the premises, a plat is desirable, and as soon as a survey is completed, will be prepared.  Two mountains projecting into the lake, form a cove and a wide valley between them.  This valley gradually rises from the water, until it reaches a height of land in the west, behind which lies hidden among the steep prominences, Screwdriver pond.  The outlet of the pond is a stream, which runs through the valley into the lake.  The declivity of the valley on each side of the stream is undulating and ascends gently to the foot of the northern and southern range of slate hills, so that the land is conveniently situated for building or cultivation;---as though this valley had been scooped out by the hand of nature for a future village of operatives in the quarry.  Screwdriver pond is about 200 acres in area, of deep water, and abounding in fish.

     The outlet of this pond is exclusively commanded by the company, they owning the land on each side; indeed, such is the natural location, that no portion of the water could be diverted from their control.  This water privilege is of inestimable value to the owners of the quarry:  for the head from the pond to the lake has a fall of ninety feet, and is capable of supplying several mills and even large factory without great expense.  Two saw mills are already in operation here; one with a head and fall of twenty-seven, the other of thirty feet.  Mills, therefore, for sawing blocks, either for splitting or other purposes, can be erected with a copious supply of water.  A slate mill will be put up in the spring.  The nearness of the quarries on each side enhances the value of this privilege.

     Two quarries have been opened and are now worked by the company.  One of them at the northwest of, and not far from, the new store, has penetrated the spur of the hill, and is called the Kenney quarry.  A cutting has been made of thirty feet, and a large quantity of slate of the finest quality taken out.  Adjacent to this, and above it, there is a long ascending ridge of excellent slate, which lies in a position most favorable for working, and with a great saving of cost; for it must be remembered that one of the heavy expenditures in opening and working a slate quarry is the removal of the debris, rubbish or slate fragments, which accumulate rapidly in large heaps and must be got out of the way.  So serious is this inconvenience in Wales, that frequently the rubbish has to be carried away one or two miles before it can be disposed of.  There are few quarries of slate in any part of the world, where such removal is not troublesome and expensive.  But here nature has provided a depository at hand; for by the derrick, with a boom of sixty feet, the waste slate may be cast down into the gulf or gorge below, with little labor or cost.

     Again:  another difficulty also presents itself to the quarryman in most localities of slate:---the carrying off of the water, which gathers in quarries from the rain, or by the oozing from clefts in the rock.  Such water, cost what it may, must be removed in some kind of channel.  Consequently drainage is one of the greatest items of expense in working a quarry.  But here a natural drain offers itself directly from the quarry to the ravine below, which leads to the mill stream.

     The other quarry is on the southern side of the stream, about a quarter mile from this place.  A considerable quantity of slate has been taken out of it.  The quality is fine, and a large vein of green slate runs through it.  The company first began operations here, and it is well located either for getting rid of the rubbish or for drainage.  Near it there is a clear and beautiful fountain, or living spring, welling out of the side of the mountain---and capable, if needed, of supplying the future village; for the company contemplate erecting more than a hundred tenements the ensuing year.

     Several other quarries can be opened in locations every way favorable, when the increase of business requires them, as the mountains of slate are inexhaustible.

     The descent of the valley, it has already been observed, is gradual, and when the railway to the lake is completed, the slate can be conveyed directly to the cars, ready for transportation.  A horse boat will run three cars, five turns a day, to the foot of the lake.

     The lot is well stocked with valuable timber, and wood of a heavy growth.  There are already forty-three habitations on the premises; besides three barns, the two saw mills, and a fine capacious store, built of slate-stone, band sawed, laid in cement, in which is a large stock of goods and provisions, which the company purchased and has put under the charge of an agent well versed in business.

     The property of the company is free and clear of debt and incumbrance; and to avoid assessments on the stock they have reserved 15,000 shares, to be sold for a working capital, should it be necessary.

     Since the 12th of June, 1852, there have been 700,000 pieces of slate got out, which would average from 3,800 to 4,000 squares, and sent to the Boston market.  There are one hundred men, including carpenters and blacksmiths constantly employed.  The next summer the gang of workingmen will be increased to five hundred, so that 600 can be got out a day, ready for transportation.

     In connection with this, it is the intention of the managers to erect a mill for the preparation of slate flooring which is eight times as strong as marble, and by the selection of purple and green pieces will make a good contrast.  It will be furnished at one-fifth of the cost of marble.  They later plan to introduce machinery for the manufacture of billiard tables, sinks, wash tubs and various other articles to which slate is well adapted, and will be found cheap and durable.

     No expense will be spared to give energy and expertise to the business, which the Directors feel assured will be very lucrative.  Indeed the Kenny quarry, the opening of which was commenced on the 28th of last March, has yielded a profit of fifty dollars a day, with only fifty men employed since July; and the Directors feel confident ten or fifteen quarries more may be opened with equal results.  It should be borne in mind, that a quarry increases in value, in proportion to the depth at which it is worked.  In Europe no slate quarry ever paid a profit, till it had been worked the next year; there they frequently have to make an excavation eighty feet deep; while at this quarry good slate is found from six to fourteen feet from the surface.  And it is a singular fact, that the top rock has never shown the least appearance of decay.  As the outlay and disbursements in excavating a slate quarry and making it profitable must be large and can only be defrayed by men of heavy capital, and by a responsible corporation, they have no reason to fear any competition which would mar their prospects.

     Scarcely is there any probability that any material will ever be discovered or invented, which will be a substitute for slate for the roofing of buildings.  Tin has been tried at a cost of $9 per hundred feet, and an annual coat of paint at $1 per square had been found necessary to preserve it.  Slate can be afforded from $6 to $7 the hundred, and when properly laid on, is very durable; so that in the long run it is much cheaper than even shingling, besides being a safeguard against external fires.  Slate, too, which endures for years after a long use, may be carefully taken off the roof, even then is worth $4 a hundred feet in the market.  In uses in general and so important is the use of roofing slate in all our large cities, and so indispensable in fire-proofing buildings that in the city of Boston alone, two hundred thousand dollars worth have been annually imported.  The Directors are therefore sanguine that with this quarry at a much cheaper rate, they can supply the American market with native American slate.

     The directors are convinced that they can furnish slate cheaper than can be imported, and equal, if not superior, to any from abroad, especially when the duties and high freight attending importation are taken into view.  They can supply the market, too, without any tariff protection.  The slate can be conveyed from the quarry to Buffalo at $2.50 per ton; to Chicago at $3; to Montreal at $2.25; to Troy and Albany at $1.25; to Boston at $3.5-0, and pro rata to all the principal towns and cities of New England.  It can be carried all over the New England routes without reloading, as packed at the quarry for the market.

     Nature had not formed a more convenient or a more desirable spot in the country for supplying our cities with the best of slate, than this location.

     JANUARY 1, 1853

NEWELL STURTEVANT

NOAH STURTEVANT

FRANCIS HODGEMAN

MIDDLETON GOLDSMITH

JOHN BORROWSCALE

Biographical Sketch of James Delehanty, from the Book of Biographies of Leading Citizens of Rutland County, Vermont (Chicago: Biographical Publications, 1899), pp. 67-71.   Many thanks to Peter Patten for providing a copy of this biography.

JAMES DELAHANTY, one of the oldest and most prominent slate quarrymen in Rutland county, Vermont, resides in Hydeville, town of Castleton.  He is a member of the Bomoseen Slate Company in Hydeville.

     Mr. Delahanty is a native of County Tipperary, Ireland, where he was born November 24, 1844.  He is a son of Patrick and Mary (Harney) Delahanty.  His parents were married in 1836, and came to America, in 1853, with their six children.  After a rough voyage of four weeks, they landed at old Castle Garden on November 5, 1853.  They following day they started to Hydeville, Vermont, where they located forty-six years ago.  Mr. Delahanty's father was a slate worker in the old county, and sought a home in America, hoping to better his condition.  Their six children are:  Mary C.; Mathias; James, subject of this sketch; Anastasia; John; and Patrick Henry.

     Mary C. is the wife of a Mr. Hayes, and resides in Hydeville.  Mathias is a respected citizen of West Castleton.  Anastasia is the wife of Patrick Wallace, of Hydeville.  John resides in Fair Haven.  He is also a member of the Bomoseen Slate Company.  Patrick Henry, or "Father Delahanty," as he was called, was a Catholic priest.  He was educated in Montreal, Canada.  Later he was appointed parish priest of Cambridge, New York, where his death took place May 6, 1888.  He was only thirty-six years old.  The mother of James Delahanty died January 24, 1864, aged fifty-four years.  His father survived her until July 30, 1888, when he too passed away, at the advanced age of seventy-nine.  His whole life was spent in the slate quarry business.

     James Delahanty received his primary mental training in Ireland, which was supplemented by a further course of instruction in America.  When fourteen years of age, he began work in the slate mills.  In April, 1873, he went into business for himself, in company with P. H. Downs, as slate quarryman.  The partnership then formed lasted many years, and the firm name, Downs & Delahanty, was unchanged until September, 1885.  At that time the members of the firm, together with John Delahanty, the brother of James, formed the Bomoseen Slate Company, which is still the principal slate company in Hydeville.  The members of the firm have worked in perfect unison, with the subject hereof in charge of the shipping department.  However, when one member is absent, another partner assumes his duty, and the business progresses as usual.  This company owns forty acres of slate-quarry land, together with six hundred and eighty acres of woodland in close proximity to their mills.  They carry on an extensive business, and furnish employment to many men.

     In 1868, the subject of this sketch erected his present large and comfortable residence on his twenty-one-acre lot in Hydeville, where he also has tenement houses.  October 5, 1865, Mr. Delahanty was joined in matrimony with Mary E. Hatch, an accomplished daughter of Nicholas P. Hatch, of Boston, Massachusetts.  Eleven children blessed this happy union, five of whom are sons, and six, daughters.  They youngest is now twelve years of age.  They beloved mother passed to her final rest August 29, 1888, when only forty-one years old, and left a void in the household which will be forever unfilled.  Her children's names are:  Mary; Alice B.; Patrick Henry; Catherine H.; Nicholas J.; Anna A.; James A.; Helen Francis; Francis; Isabel M.; and Ambrose M.

     Mary, the eldest, has always remained at home and endeavored to fill the place of her deceased mother as nearly as possible.  In this respect she has succeeded admirably, and is her father's competent housekeeper.  Alice B. chose the life of a nun, and is known as "Sister Magdeline."  She is spending a useful life in Burlington, Vermont.  Patrick Henry is an able lawyer in New York City.  He is a graduate of St. Joseph College, and the New York Law School.  He has a wife and two sons.  Catherine H. and Anna A. are both successful teachers in the public schools, in Hydeville.  Nicholas J. graduated from St. John's College, and later from the Albany Medical College.  He is now a practicing physician in the city of Rutland, Vermont.  James A., a graduate of the New York Law School, completed his course in the class of 1899, and is practicing in New York City.  Helen Francis is a competent saleslady, in New York City.  Francis is a student in the Fair Haven High School.  Isabel M. is attending the public school at home, as is also Ambrose M.

     The subject of this sketch has been exceedingly liberal in caring for and educating his family.  He has given each of his children exceptional educational advantages, and has allowed each one to choose his, or her, own occupation.  Mr. Delahanty began life bare-handed and in a small way, saving money from day labor, until he acquired sufficient capital to purchase an interest.  His present financial competency, which enabled him to expend a large amount in rearing and educating his family, is but the result of his industry and good management.  Mr. Delahanty is a Democrat.  Like many of his countrymen, he is thoroughly Americanized and a loyal citizen of the United States.

     He has served six years as selectman, and was a member of the legislature, in 1898.  He is a leading and highly esteemed citizen of his town.  He has not only made a good record for himself, but has reared a most worthy family, who are, without doubt, destined to become men and women of prominence.  He and his family are members of the Catholic church.

Biographical Sketch of Patrick H. Downs, from the Book of Biographies of Leading Citizens of Rutland County, Vermont (Chicago: Biographical Publications, 1899), pp. 87-88.

The following is a complete transcription of the above-referenced biography of Patrick H. Downs.  Many thanks to Peter Patten for providing a copy of this biography.

PATRICK H. DOWNS, a prominent slate manufacturer of Hydeville, Vermont, owns and operates some of the finest quarries in Rutland county.  Mr. Downs received a common school education, in Boston and in Hydeville, and in 1862 began to work with his father in the marble shops at Center Rutland.  Later he did similar work in Hydeville, and there it was that he learned the trade of a marble mason, which has been his lifework.

     In 1873, the firm of Downs & Delahanty was formed and began the manufacture of slate mantles in Poultney, Vermont.  Four years later their mill was moved to Hydeville, and located near the railroad depot.  For eight years, the principal business carried on was marbleized slate mantels, -- which was then a paying business.  The firm then changed to a general quarry and mill business in slate.  They have a forty-acre tract of quarry land about four miles north of Hydeville at Lake Bomoseen, where they employ thirty hands, on average.  The plant turns out, at the present time, billiard beds, steps, platforms, plumbing supplies, and general mill work.

     June 15, 1875, Mr. Downs was united in marriage with Bridget Pender, of Brandon, Vermont.  Mrs. Downs is a daughter of Michael and Joanna Pender of Cohoes, New York.  To Mr. and Mrs. Downs have been born eight children, namely:  Charles E.; Henry P.; Mary; William; Agnes; Thomas; Elizabeth and Alice.  Charles E. is a law student, in New York.  He is a graduate of Fordham College.  Henry P. is a junior at the same college.  Mary died in July, 1886, aged six years.  William died August 11, 1886, aged three and a half years.  Thomas was born July 8, 1886.  Elizabeth was born January 13, 1889.  Alice, the baby, was born in February, 1894.

     Patrick H. Downs first saw the light of day on February 27, 1847, in Ireland.  He is a son of Thomas and Catherine (O'Neil) Downs, both of Irish nativity.  His parents were married in Ireland, and came to America, having then only one child,--Patrick H.,--the subject of this sketch.  They took passage on a sailing vessel, and after a quick, tempestuous voyage of three weeks, landed in Boston, in July, 1850.  Mr. Downs' father was a marble worker in the old country, and worked, in Boston, at his trade until July, 1859.  He then removed to Hydeville, Vt., and was a slate worker for the "Hydes" until their mill burned.  After an illness of one year he died, in 1886, of consumption, aged sixty-eight years.  His widow is still living, and is now seventy-one years of age.  She has two children living, Patrick H., the subject of this record, and his sister Annie.  Annie is the wife of Martin Bolger, in Hydeville.  Mr. Downs' mother resides with her.

     Mr. Downs had two sisters and three brothers who are now deceased.  They are Mary; Thomas J., John E.; Edward F.; and Katie.  Mary married Frank Keefe.  She died in Granville, New York.  Thomas J. was a stone cutter, and died in New York City, in 1886.  He left a wife and one daughter.  John E. died in Hydeville, Vt., leaving a widow, one daughter and one son.  Katie married E. A. McCarty, and died, in 1892, at Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  one son and one daughter survived her.

     Mr. Downs settled in his pleasant cottage in 1879.  Although not a modern one, and somewhat old fashioned, his home is a very comfortable one.  He is a member of the Knights of Columbus.  The family are devout members of the Catholic Church.

     Mr. Downs' father and brothers were victims of consumption, which is the common fate of men who work in the slate and marble mills.  This is caused by inhaling the dust.  But the subject of this sketch is a man of most robust physique, and is the very picture of health.  He is a remarkably pleasant and genial man, both in business and in social circles, and is most devoted to his home and family.

 

Thomas Nelson Dale, et al., Slate in the United States, Bulletin 586, Department of the Interior, United States Geological Survey (Washington D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1914).

Complete text in .jpg files.

Cover   Frontispiece   Table of Contents    4-5   6   Plate 1   7   8-9   10-11   12-13   14-15   16-17   18-19   20-21   22-23   24-25   26-27   28   Plate 2  (Glen Lake rockface:)  Plate 3   29   Plate 4   31   32   Plate 5   33 & Plate 6   34-35   36-37   Plate 7   39   40-41   42-43   44-45   Plate 8   47   48-49   50-51   52-53   54-55   56-57   58-59   60-61   62 & Plate 9   63   64-65   66 & Plate 10   67   68-69   70-71   72-73   74-75   76-77   78-79   80 & Plate 11   81 & Plate 12   82-83   84-85   86-87   88-89   90-91   92-93   94-95   96 & Plate 13   97 & Plate 14   98-99   100   Plate 15a   Plate 15b   101   102-03   104   Plate 16a   Plate 16b   Plate 17   105 & Plate 18   106-107   108-09   110-11   112-13   114-15   116-17   118-19   (VT:) 120-21  122-23   124   Plate 19   Plate 20a   Plate 20b   Plate 21a (15MB)   Plate 21b (15MB)   Plate 22   125   Plate 23   Plate 24   (Bomoseen:)  128-29   130-31   132 & Plate 25   133   134-35   136-37   138-39   140-41   142-43   144-45  146-47   148-49   150-51   152-53   154-55   156 & Plate 26   157   158-59   160-61   162-63   164-65   166-67   168-69   170-71   172-73   174-75   176-77   178-79   180-81   182-83   184-85   186-87   188  188-Table (a)   188- Table (b)   189   190-91   192-93   194-95   196-97   198-99   200-01   202-03  (Appendix & Bibliography:)  204-05   206-07  208-09   210-11   212-13   214-15  (Index:)  217   218-19   220.   End.

Photographs of Coulman Westcott with Martha Ballard and friends, 1909.  Martha Ballard's caption for photo on left:  "Martha, Coulman Westcott, Vera Williams, Phil Phelps, West Castleton Vt. 1909".  Right:  "Coulman, Vera, Martha, Phil, Roddy, West Castleton Vt. 1909."  From the Martha B. Warren Collection (details of photos 390a and 390c, Photo Page 10)

Coulman Westcott, "Bomoseen Recollections," Fair Haven Promoter, July 27, 1995

. . . Most operating slate quarries were barely struggling when the Depression hit in the late twenties / early thirties.  Cedar Mountain quarry, prominent across the lake, ran until 1932, but not disassembled (for scrap iron) until 1937.  It's starting 7 a.m. whistle woke our house each morning.  The end of the work day whistle blew again at 4 p.m.  Quarrying then, was accomplished by drilling a hole in a slate ridge, pouring black powder down the hole, and blasting the slate loose, I suppose much as it is done nowadays.  Mainly handwork, with a minimum of other machinery.  After blasting, the results were inspected, certain select pieces were sent to the mill for finishing, the waste with poor grain or impurities, was rejected to the quarry dump -- probably up to 75% of the mined material.  To facilitate dumping, quarries invariably mounted a guyed mast on their highest bump pile with a runner trolley riding along a cable to the top of the dump.  The trolley was used to lift the heavier pieces of waste slate and reject it to the dump pile.  Steam power, later replaced by electricity, powered the trolley cable drum.  I can remember seeing the old Cedar Mountain quarry cable trolley run up to the mast and tilt waste slate out of a large sheet metal scoop.  Often, resulting in a noisy slate slide down the dump face.  The down hill end of the Cedar mountain trolley cable was fastened to a 100' high guyed mast.  My brother, Dana, climbed to the top where he stood up, no hands!  (The pole had spikes driven into the pole sides to aid climbing for repair and maintenance.)  Dana, with a camera, took some unusual photos.

     I was unable to climb much above 50 feet or so.  Heights bothered me.  How I learned to fly later, I don't comprehend.  Cedar Mountain quarry, located as it was, must have been a dangerous head ache to operate.  But the demand for its rare purple slate must have outweighed the work involved.  The Penrhyn Slate Company was the last to operate there.  Note the Welsh name.  The Welsh settled the local Taconic slate area from the 1840s.  Quarrymen in their home country, they were drawn by the local slate industry.  A walk through the Fair Haven/Poultney/Granville cemeteries confirm this with the sleeping Owen Owens, Griffith Griffiths, Robert Roberts, William Williams, Thomas Thomas, Pritchard (ap Richard), Bryces and Prices (ap Rhys), etc. etc. . . .

     Along with the Cedar Mountain trolley to carry slate pieces to the base finishing mill, there was a narrow gauge railroad with push flat cars that ran up to the mining pit.  They were cable-looped together through a top pulley whereby as one filled car came down it pulled an empty back up.  At the bottom, the track ran into the finishing shop where the slate was sawed and planed.  The finished slate was then carted out to the quarry harbor where a boom crane lifted it into a large barge.  The barge was then towed by power launch to Hydeville where it met the railroad.  At day's end the workmen, with black lunch boxes under arm, loaded into the barge to be towed the five miles to Hydeville where they picked up a trolley car home.  The road to Cedar Mountain through West Castleton was often unpredictably impassable due to high lake levels, slides, or mud.

     Mother often remarked, as a girl from her parents cottage, she would watch Captain Cook's steamboat come around Masons Point with a long whistle toot.  Its daily journey was from the railroad junction at Hydeville where it would meet the incoming trains and carry passengers to the lake hotels.  Steam boats were long gone by my day, but I used to play on a rotting steamboat hulk lying on a marine railway carriage on the beach in Pines Bay.  The boat is long gone but some of the railway rails are still visible.  There used to be some giant rock bass hovering around under them but that was when I was small and everything else seemed relatively large.

     That was Bomoseen then.  Now on a clear night looking up at the heavens and viewing the billions of trillions of stars, it is difficult for an old agnostic like me not to speculate that the cosmos is infinite!  IF IT IS INFINITE, (... and I like this concept) then probability permutation mathematics dictate that there has to be other worlds in existence just like ours!  Just think, innumerable Bomoseens, when one, THIS ONE, is already really TOPS!  It can't get any better.

Coul Westcott  

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