Rutland Daily Herald from Rutland, Vermont • 59

-y -v 'I a I 1 OifiyMUirMi pWWia tAAvAA Av 5-" -V-aTi; i 'fVr a'AaV''-s Iv aj'; EDITION; RUTLAND )AILY- HERALD, WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER l. A B-2? Vermont Marble' Co. Set Up Under Present Name in 1880 IT I V' y-v 'i -M va 'Y- --A-ts. ir I-- A- 1 i it. 'i t- 1 7 -I I 1 1 7 AV! 1 pp'il jf rVK' 7 BICENTENNIAL EDITION, RUTLAND J)AILY HERALD, WEDNESDAY MORNING, SEPTEMBER 6, Quarrying, aBricating Marble Is Old Industry a First Quarry in North America Believed Opened in Dorset by Isaac Underhill in 1784; VMC Now Dominant, Force.

the Zelephm Company congratulates RUTLAND on its 200th Anniversary By WALLACE M. FAY PROCTOR One of the oldest In-. otries that still flourishes in Vermont is that of quarrying and fabricating marble. There is reason to believe that tfae Vermont Marble Company. It was the year that the company was formed and took.

over both the Sutherland Falla and Rutland Marble' Companies with 124 gangs. Redfield Proctor became its president. For toe following nine years he continued to give all his tone and abilities to unifying and improving the two companies which he0 had brought together with such success. It was during this time that the Clarendon and Pitts-ford Railroad was begun north from Proctor in 1886, and to Center Rutland and West Rutland in 1887 and 1888 thus uniting the main properties. In 1889 Colonel Proctor resigned as president of the Vermont Marble Company to become Secretary of War in toe Cabinet of President Harrison and two years later became United Kates senator from Vermont which office he retained until his death in 1908.

In those 20 years from 1869 to 1889, Redfield Proctor laid the foundations of the company. They, no doubt, were the most difficult years in its history. The success of those years reflects the great ambition, the iron will, the far-seeing vision and abounding energy of toe man. He had unlimited faith in the business. He believed in and practiced hard work and economy.

By 1889 be had accomplished the task for which he was by Proctor waterfall, to saw marble for them. In 1869 when. Dorr Myers disagreed about the operation of their properties and sought a dissolution of their partnership, Redfield Proctor, then a lawyer, living in Rutland, was appointed Receiver. That date, November 1869 might properly be considered the birthdate of this company as it is known today, even though it did not receive the name Ver moot Marble Company until 1880. In November 1870, Redfield Proctor combined his small eight-gang mill pith the property of the Sutherland Falla Marble Company.

He invested all he had and all he could borrow in this operation and became its president and treasurer. The next 10 years were pioneer days. Colonel Proctor him-self loaded cars, selected marble and generally himself night and day to building up the business. By 1880 the Sutherland Falls Marble Company was operating 64 gangs and had become a success In the marble Industry of Vermont. During those same years, another company, the Rutland Marble Company, was developed at West Rutland and Center Rutland.

By 1880 that company own ed quarries in West Rutland, and has 60 gang saws in West Rutland. Center Rutland and Salem, N. Y. This year, 1880, is import- namely toe pioneering job of founding the business and Instilling into the beartJ apd minds of those whom he left to carry on, those qualities of. mind and character and toe business principles which have been, through the years, of inestimable value in the companys later successful development.

In 1901 on Sen. Proctors 75th birthday toe present Vermont Corporation, retaining the original took over the business from the earlier New York organization. The next 22 years, 1889 to 1911, when Fletcher D. Proctor, Red field proctors son, was presi-dent, were years of expansion and consolidation. In 1889 the company bought the properties of Gilson and Woodfin in West Rutland and of Ripley and Sons in Center Rutland; in 1891 the Sheldon Marble Company in West Rutland and the Dorset Marble Company; in 1899 the Albertson Marble Company in West Rutland; in 1901 the Barney Marble Company of Swanton, which provided the red and green marbles; in 1905 the Danby quarry; in 1908 the Alaskan quarries; in 1909 the Brandon Italian Marble Company with its Brandon and West Rut land Railroad; and since then in more recent years, there have been toe San Saba quarries in Texas, the Norcross quarries in (Continued on Page B-24) and the RUTLAND HERALD on its iOOth Anniversary quarry near the Humphrey homestead in 1838.

Two years later the Sutherland Falls quarry, also in Proctor, was opened. These two quarries were operated by Willard and-Moses Humphrey. They built the first sawing mill of four gangs in 1837. The Humphreys were unsuccessful and Tom Ormsbee took over the busi ness in 1843. He in turn failed and between 1845 and 1854 the marble production was at a standstill.

In the latter year the North River Mining Company took up the business in Proctor, but they too failed in 1857. Then the Sutherland Falls Marble Company was formed under the presidency of John F. Page, who later became governor of Vermont. Its properties consisted of the two quarries mentioned above and a ten gang mill in Proctor. In 1867 the Sutherland Falls Marble Company contracted with Dorr Myers, who owned an eight-gang mill near the the first marble quarry in North America was opened in Dorset in 1784 by one Isaac Underhill.

Even earlier probably in the 17th Century the French made use of black marble from Isle la Motte. And before Isaac Underbill started his operations, marble had been pried off Bennington County ledges to make chimneys, hearthstones and rough memorials. Currently the marble business of the state is principally located in Rutland County yith the Vermont Marble Company being the dominant figure in the picture. This company still quarries during the simmer season in the Isle la Motte deposit and also has quarries of green serpentine commercially a marble across the mountains in the town of Rochester. Jhere is only one basic reason, why any town or city grow in size and prosperity through the years thats because its a good place to live.

Because iVs friendly, progressive and has an active civic ant in the growth and history of nature most eminently fitted. The Vermont Marble Company was organized under its present name, in 1880 (incorporated in New York state) but its roots reach back almost a century to 1889 when Redfield Proctor first came into the marble business The earliest activity in this area occurred in Proctor, then known as Sutherland Falls, with the opening of the Columbian creasing service, and our goal is to continue to provide the kind of communications a growing community and a good newspaper need and can be proud of. Our people live in Rutland, and are your citizens as well as our employees. They, too, work as individuals to. help the community grow and prosper.

As a communications system, and as individuals, we salute Rutland and the Rutland Herald. We look' forward to many, many more years of "working and growing together. And its pretty much the same with a newspaper a newspaper grows because its needed; because it reflects the good things about a town; because its friendly, and progressive, and because its proud of the town and works hard for the people. We feel a close kinship with Rut-land, and with the Rutland Herald, because over the years we have worked together. We like to feel that in furnishing an efficient, reliable communications system we have been of service to the town and to the paper.

We look forward to in- mr mm -Am i ti tTTv fiiw itrrrrr tty V. Ji t-v A 9 PROCTOR CREAMERY no. 21 North Proctor, VL GL 9-3372 Ralph E. Tillberg, Pres. PASTEURIZED and HOMOGENIZED MILE and all DAIRY PRODUCTS Deliveries to Proctor, Brandon, Rutland, Plttsford, Forest Dale and North Clarendon Established Since the Turn of the Century mm, TELEPHONE NEW ENGLAND Modem photo showing principal Vermont Marble Co.

plants in Proctor. 0- I Sena' i 0 From its birth in 1880, onfy 96 years after the opening of the first commercial marble quarry, The Vermont Marble Co. has diversified and eztendedits activities far beyond the basic business of quarrying Since the days when grandfather and grandmother drove by theirchain-drive Knox or curved-dash Olds-mobile, we, have explored the many uses for marble in all its natural beauty and variety. The names of our allied product companies, branch offices and subsidiary companies shown below give some idea of the product growth through the years, while the pictures are living proof of marbles part in the two hundred year growth of our area and the nation. 4 4 1 Statu 0 "GODDESS nr VERMONT MARBLE COMPANY PROCTOR, VERMONT QUARRIERS IMPORTERS 3 I FINISHERS CONTRACTORS VERMARCO RESIN PRODUCTS i WHITE PIGMENT CORP.

CALLAHAN CAN MACHINE CO. VERMARCO LIME' VERMARCO PAVING VERMARCO SUPPLY CO. BRANCH and SALES Boston, Mass. Chicago, HI, Cleveland, Ohio Dallas, Tex. Houston, Tex.

Los Angeles, Calif. New York, N.Y. Philadelphia, Pa. Ban Trancisco, Calif. Washington, D.

C. SUBSIDIARY COMPANIES T. E. Gates Marble A Tile Indianapolis, Ind. Detroit Marble' Detroit, Mich.

Gray Knox Marble Knoxville, Tenn. Ontario Marble Don Mills, tario Canada Brooks Marble Tile Don Mills, Ontario, Canada nental Marble Vancouver, B. Canada.