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Glover man writes the complete Runaway Pond story (or something) Runaway Pond: The Complete Story; A Compilation of Resources; by Wayne Alexander. Published by Glover Historical Society in Glover, Vermont. Printed by The Little House Desktop Publishing. Large format, soft cover, $20. reviewed by Bethany M. Dunbar The legend of Runaway Pond is well known. Runaway Pond: The Complete Story is a fascinating look at the actual event — the facts that underlie the legend. Wayne Alexander has done quite a service by gathering up original documents and putting them together. The reader gets a sense of the overwhelming magnitude of the event itself, its aftermath, and the wide variety of accounts. Amazingly, it is not established with absolute certainty exactly who ran ahead of the flood and whom the runner was warning. In fact, one of the most intriguing aspects of this book are the questions raised within. History is, after all, a story. By its nature it has imperfections. What is known with certainty is that a group of men who wanted more water for Aaron Willson's mill decided on June 6, 1810, to carry out a plan. The plan was to dig a trench at the north end of Long Pond to let some water flow into the Barton River. Before the incident, the water flowed south to the Lamoille River. It turned out that the hillside that was holding back the pond (about 100 feet deep) was made mostly of quicksand, with a thin layer of "hardpan" holding the water back. "The fracture, to use the sprightly language of my principal informant, one of the individuals concerned in letting off the water, resembled frozen gravel," wrote the Reverend S. Edwards Dwight, who traveled to the site 13 years after the flood and wrote a long piece about his findings. Once the trench was dug, the water started to sink through the quicksand below. "The pond emptied completely in about one and one-half hours," wrote Mr. Alexander in a summary at the beginning of the book. Miraculously, none of the workers was killed. Spencer Chamberlain, who it was noted was half Native American, is largely credited with running ahead of the flood waters to warn the mill attendant. "There are geological puzzles and human ones," wrote the editors, the folks at The Little House Desktop Publishing of West Glover. "Why did this particular pond run away, and only this one?" Apparently there was an attempt to let out a pond in Bath, New Hampshire, "for a day of fun, an amusement in seeing the water run," but the level of that pond was only dropped by 18 inches. "Who was the hero that long ago day in 1810 — Spencer Chamberlain or Solomon Dorr? Perhaps both of them ran. Did they both reach the mill? How lively did this dispute become in Glover in the years after Runaway Pond? Did it reflect other personal or social divisions in the community?" Most accounts say that Spencer Chamberlain was the runner. In an account by E.T. Wilson of Barton in 1890, he is described as follows: "He was a young man in the very prime of his life and strength, 25 years old, over six feet tall straight as an arrow, a great wrestler and runner, in which capacity he had no equal among the settlers far and near. Quickly throwing off his jacket he sprang, it is said, over a fallen tree fully five feet from the ground and disappeared into the forest." According to this account, Mr. Chamberlain ran around the flood waters in order to get ahead of them. He stopped at a house along the way for a drink of whiskey, before finally reaching the mill, seizing the miller's wife so he could "literally drag her up the hill to the high bank." An account written by Judge Parker of Coventry in 1875 credits Solomon Dorr instead. In this account, Mr. Dorr ran ahead of the floodwaters to warn a man who was using the mill at the time. "Mr. Dorr started and ran at his utmost speed through the woods, got ahead of the flood, and stimulated by the noble incentive of saving the life of his neighbor, he taxed his powers to the utmost and did not flag in the race of some four miles, but gained the mill, dove down the bank by the shortest way, and with a motion and a whisper, for he could not speak loud, started the man, when they both scrambled up the bank to a place of refuge just in time to see the moving battery of trees and water strike the mill on the roof and put it out of sight." Anyone who has wondered how someone could run ahead of a flood might better understand the concept after reading some of the descriptions of this particular flood. The flood was not only water, but trees, branches, dirt, and rocks. "An inhabitant of Barton, who was standing at the time on a high ground, told me, that, hearing the noise, he looked up the stream and saw the flood marching rapidly forward, opening itself a path through the valley, and bearing a moving forest on its very top; so that those who were with him gave the alarm, that the forest from Glover was coming down upon Barton." This account was part of the extensive piece written by the Reverend S. Edwards Dwight. The Reverend Dwight notes that things could have been worse. "It was doubtless a favorable circumstance, that Long Lake was drained, while the country on Barton River was a wilderness. From the singular configuration of the adjacent ground, it is certain that its contents would sooner or later have been emptied...and had the discharge been deferred, until the country had been well settled, the injury would have been incalculable." The reverend goes on to speculate about other ponds that might be let go. "Several individuals, well acquainted with the country, informed me that the ground at one extremity of Lake Willoughby, which lies a few miles east of Barton, is formed like that at the northern extremity of Long Lake; and that its waters could be discharged with even less labour, than were those of the latter. Lake Willoughby is about seven miles long, about three miles wide in the broadest part, and very deep; and its waters, if thus discharged, must flow southeastward, through the valley of the Presumpsick, into the Connecticut. Could the discharge be achieved without too much hazard, it would be an incalculable advantage to a large extent of country; as a long range of towns in the neighbourhood of this lake, are separated from the Connecticut by a chain of pathless mountains, through which no road can be formed, except over the emptied bed of Lake Willoughby, and are thus compelled to find their market down the valley of the Presumpsick, a fact which has almost entirely prevented their settlement." It should be noted that this idea apparently did not fly, as Lake Willoughby still does exist and someone eventually figured out how to build a road alongside it. The book also includes details of a lawsuit that arose from damages created by the flood. It covers all documents from the realm of court to that of literature. Among the most interesting parts of this book are the poems, long ballads of the story of Runaway Pond. One is by Spencer Chamberlain's daughter, Jeannette Chamberlain Phillips. The other is by Harry Alonzo Phillips, Spencer Chamberlain's great-grandson. It is called, "History of Glover and Runaway Pond." What follows is an excerpt:
Beautiful lakelet with silvery wave,
Runaway Pond: the Complete Story is a wonderful new resource for anyone with a bit of curiosity about the information behind the commonly heard tale. The book can be purchased for $20 plus $2 postage and handling by writing to Martha Alexander, treasurer, Glover Historical Society, 1225 Perron Hill, Glover, Vermont 05839, or by calling 525-4419. Checks should be made out to the society. The books can also be purchased on-site at the Old Stone House Museum gift shop and at the Glover Town Clerk's office. |
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