Whiting's early history

An early history of the Town of Whiting has been incorporated into this website. The history was originally published as Chapter 37 of History of Addison County Vermont: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches of Some of its Prominent Men and Pioneers, edited by H.P. Smith (Syracuse, NY: D.Mason & Co., 1886). Formatting and a few web links have been added. Visit the history by clicking on this link or by selecting the "Early History" tab above.

This site also includes the page images for the Vermont State Register of Historic Places' 1992 booklet, The Historic Architecture of Addison County: Whiting. This booklet includes a brief history of the town, along with a map, descriptions and some photographs of significant historic structures. Visit the booklet by clicking on this link or by selecting the "Historic Buildings" tab above.

The earliest document relating to the Town of Whiting is also preserved on this site. It is the Colonial Era town charter, issued in 1763. Visit the charter by clicking on this link or by selecting the "1763 Charter" tab above.

Finally, we have included images and descriptions of the Whiting-related portions of three United States censuses: U.S. Census of 1790, U.S. Census of 1800, U.S. Census of 1810.

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Update: The website of the Town of Whiting contains information relating to town history and local genealogy. A Whiting "Early Town Genealogy" document is a lengthy listing of Whiting families dating back to the 18th Century. "A Complete Listing of the Stones in the Whiting Cemetery" is an ordered and indexed presentation of the grave markers from the late 18th Century through the 20th Century. Both documents were compiled by Grace Simonds. The website also lists the historic Whiting maps that may be viewed at the Town Office.

Whiting's historic buildings

I am happy to announce that the 1992 pamphlet, The Historic Architecture of Addison County - Whiting (Vermont State Register of Historic Places) is now available online, with kind permission from the Vermont Division for Historic Preservation.

I hope to do a bit more to draw attention to the proud and distinctive, old structures in the town of Whiting, but I feel this is an excellent start.

The document is stored as a PDF file on the Scribd online document sharing service now included on this site. You can link to it by clicking on the "Historic Buildings" tab at the top of this website or by clicking on the cover image at the right.

EEE shows up far from Whiting swamp

Beginning to get the feeling that the EEE virus can 
be found wherever you take the time to look for it?

The State Department of Health announced in the middle of last week that a horse in Highgate, VT, was euthanized (on Aug. 30) after becoming ill from Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE). The health department's press release indicated, "This is evidence the mosquitoes in the area carry the virus."

This should not be a surprise. The state has documented the presence of EEE antibodies in deer and moose collected from all over Vermont, revealing that those animals had been exposed to but fought off the virus (probably recently, but no one seems to know how long the antibodies linger). However, state efforts to track the EEE virus and combat it (through aerial spraying of insecticides) have been concentrated in the area of the Whiting swamp in portions of Addison and Rutland counties. This seems designed in large part to quiet fears, because two area residents died in 2012 after contracting EEE.

The health department acknowledges, "Active mosquito surveillance is limited to those parts of Addison and Rutland counties and much more limited surveillance in parts of Franklin and Chittenden counties, so it's possible that EEE and West Nile virus are present in other parts of the state."

Highgate, sitting on the border with Canada, is almost as far as one can get from the Whiting swamp and still remain in the State of Vermont. (I shouldn't have to point out, but will, that the international border does not include mosquito netting, so EEE likely will be found in Canada too.)

It may be time for the state to put away the bug spray and launch a more comprehensive study of EEE in Vermont. It would be nice to know if this virus is a new threat to human health or if we actually have existed along with it every late summer for decades but only recently acquired the expertise to identify it.

McAllister history in Whiting

While wandering around the Web, I spotted an interesting family history website that relates to Whiting. The site author, Ed Galvin, tells of his ancestors, the McAllisters. He notes that some of the McAllister clan, originally from New Hampshire, settled in Whiting in the 1800s. (A few remain in the Whiting Community Church cemetery.)

Some of the family history relates to the former Henry Wells farm on South Main Street approaching Murray Road. According to Galvin, William Ira McAllister moved to Whiting in the 1820s and became a successful farmer of merino sheep. On Oct. 1, 1835, he purchased an 86-acre farm in Whiting from Amos E. Walker. (The farmhouse was built quite near to a blacksmith shop, just to the north. Amos Walker retained ownership of a large farm north of the McAllister farm, and the Walker family expanded its land holdings northward toward the village over the years.) By 1860, McAllister had expanded that parcel to 100 acres and was producing significant amounts of wool, oats, rye, potatoes and corn.

The "Henry Wells homestead" - once the William Ira McAllister home.

The farm was sold to Fanny Sweet on Aug. 18, 1864. It was later sold to Henry Wells. The Henry Wells homestead, still in use as a farm today, played a role in the preservation of Whiting history. It was at that location that Harold and Elizabeth Webster (Elizabeth was a granddaughter of Henry Wells) authored the local history, Our Whiting, in 1976.

Galvin also discusses Lyman and Isaac McAllister, brothers, who purchased 164 acres in southwest Whiting on April 8, 1865. A few years later, Lyman and his wife Frances sold the large farm and purchased a home on 13 acres near the South School (Murray and West Roads), as well as 58 acres of farmland nearby in Orwell. They mortgaged their properties in 1871 and lost them to foreclosure in 1880.

Home once owned by Lyman and Frances McAllister.

Note: I believe both of the homes discussed here are included in the Vermont State Register of Historic Places. The William Ira McAllister home is believed to have been built around 1845, which was during the McAllister's ownership of the farm. The Lyman McAllister home dates from about 1850 and would have been approximately 20 years old during the McAllisters' ownership.

See: Ed Galvin's McAllister Genealogy Page