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In all cases we have filmed the best available copy. University Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD.. ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 13 IB 180 j ! H08LEY, WILLIAM NEWELL* JR. ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIETY OF THE URBAN FRONTIER* WINDSOR# VERMONT# 1798-1820, UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE (WINTERTHUR PROGRAM )f M , A , # 1981 University Microfilms International 300 N. ZEEB RD„ ANN ARBOR, Ml 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print______ 3. 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ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIETY OF THE URBAN FRONTIER: WINDSOR, VERMONT, 1798-1820 By William Newell Hosley, Jr. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts. December, 1981 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ARCHITECTURE AND SOCIETY OF THE URBAN FRONTIER: WINDSOR, VERMONT, 1798-1820 By William Newell Hosley, Jr. Approved: Damie Stillman, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf of the Advisory Committee Approved: Stephdhie G. WolStephanie Wolr, Ph, Coordinator, Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved:_______ ________ W. B. Murray, Ph.D. University Coordinator for Graduate Studies Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The highly ambitious and extravagantly ornamented buildings which once lined the streets of America's post- Revolutionary frontier boom towns provide documentation for the emergence of urban society in inland New England. The purpose of this thesis is to document the emergence of conspicuously sophisticated architecture in the frontier settlement of Windsor, Vermont, and to explain this develop­ ment in relation to the town's urban, cosmopolitan orientation. Building on the work of art historians Jack Quinan and Abbott Cummings, this paper will present a thorough analysis of Windsor's architecture, explaining it as part of a social and cultural context. Windsor, Vermont, in the period between 1798 and 1820, provides a useful model for the study or urban life on the frontier, a subject which has motivated a tremendous quantity of historical research.^ By focusing on buildings, builders, and patrons, I hope to substantiate further the concept of the urban frontier by presenting architectural evidence that has previously been overlooked by historians. I believe that it is possible for buildings and culture to explain one iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. another in a way which offers a sense of the rich texture of each. This work is the culmination of six years of inquiry, observation, and travel around tne state of Vermont. I am indebted to numerous people who have helped me along the way: to my advisor Damie Stillman, who patiently read and reread the manuscript; and to Stevie Wolf who assisted him in this effort while offering helpful criticism. Glenn M. Andres, at Middlebury College, Abbott Cummings, at the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities, Jack Quinan at the University of Buffalo, and Peter Spang at Historic Deerfield, each contributed immensely to my understanding and appreciation for Asher Benjamin and the architecture of the New Republic on the frontier. In Vermont my work owes appreciation to the staffs at the Wilbur Library (University of Vermont), Vermont Historical Society, Windsor Library, Hartland Historical Society, Sheldon Museum, and the Probate Court record offices in Orange, Windsor, and Rutland Counties. Most importantly, I thank the owners of the houses themselves, who were always unfailingly generous to me. The dozens of people I met during my years of research and the joy I experienced in learning with them about their houses' histories, and thus their own, provided the needed incen­ tive to keep digging for ideas and information. Finally, I would like to thank my friends, Scott, Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. for getting me going in the first place, and Fred, for teaching me why it was important. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................... iii Chapter I. THE URBAN FRONTIER AND FRONTIER BOOSTERISM . 1 The Urban Frontier .............................. 1 Commerce, Society, and Status in Windsor, Vermont .............................. 7 The Struggle for Preeminence ................. 17 II. ASHER BENJAMIN AND THE FIRST URBAN HOUSE-TYPE . 23 III. ORGANIZATION OF THE BUILDING TRADE AND THE DIFFUSION OF THE WINDSOR S T Y L E ............ 37 IV. MASONRY CONSTRUCTION AND THE BRICK HOUSE-TYPE . 48 V. CONCLUSION .........................................56 FOOTNOTES ..................................................... 60 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 76 APPENDIX: Illustrations ................................. 85 vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Vermont in 1 8 1 3 ..................................... 86 2. Tall Case Clock. Nathan Hale, maker, about 1805 87 3. Windsor about 1875 88 4. William Coleman House, Greenfield, Massachu­ setts. Asher Benjamin, architect, 1797 or 1798 89 5. Comparison of the design of Charles Bulfinch's Pittsfield Meetinghouse and Asher Benjamin's Plate 27, Country Builder's Assistant ......... 90 6 . First Congregational Meetinghouse, Windsor, Vermont. View about 1875 ....................... 91 7. First Congregational Meetinghouse, tower and g a b l e ......................................... 92 8 . William Johonnot House, frontispiece ........... 93 9. Abner Forbes House ............................... 94 10. Jonathan H. Hubbard House, Windsor. View about 1930 95 11. Asher Benjamin's Country Builder's Assistant (1800) , Plate 3 2 ................................ 96 12. Hubbard House Staircase ........................... 97 13. Hubbard House Parlor ............................