Sutton Favorites

Favorite thing: Church
Wars and bridges
War came in 1914 and again in 1939. All told thirty eight men from Sutton lost their lives in the two wars. Their names are listed on a bronze plaque by the door of the Town Hall and commemorated by the clock at the top of the tower which was erected by the Junior Girls Institute in 1949.
From 1918 to 1928, the township entered a period of bridge construction. The first was built in Abercorn Village the next, the International Bridge, was built across the Missisquoi River between Glen Sutton and East Richford, Vt. Smaller concrete structures were erected across the numerous creeks in the region and sometimes bear the name of their builder. The flood of November 1927 swept away 45 bridges in the Missisquoi valley, including the International Bridge. By all accounts this flood was the worst of many in the region. Newspaper stories show that severe flooding of the Missisquoi river occurred once every 4 to 5 years between 1868 and 1927 and often thereafter, the latest being in 1998.

Favorite thing: The Great Depression
In 1929 two important events took place. First the Town of Abercorn was incorporated as a separate municipality in June, and the Great Depression arrived with the crash of the New York stock exchange in October. In the 1930s, growth was slow but a trend started which would completely change the community. Increasing agricultural mechanization made the hill farms more difficult to work. They came on the market and often were bought by people from the city looking for a vacation home or a place to retire. About half the population now consists of part time residents and retired people.

Favorite thing: The Fire
The Big Fire
The water system had not been built by April 15, 1898, when fire destroyed the centre part of the Town. People were summoned from their beds at 3 a.m. by the bell of the Methodist Church, now the United Church. The Sutton Lumber Co. mill on Maple street was ablaze. Bucket brigades were formed and the fire was extinguished with water from the nearby Sutton river. The mill however, was a total loss.
Around 7 a.m., the fire bell sounded again. This time Dr. MacDonald's barn at the corner of Maple and Pleasant streets, where the Auberge St. Amour now stands, was on fire. The barn was full of hay and burned briskly. The Methodist church was opposite the barn on the other side of Pleasant street and the stone Baptist church opposite the Methodist church on the other side of Maple street. Wind spread the fire towards Main street, sparing the two churches which are among the most handsome older buildings in Sutton. The Catholic and Anglican churches were out of harm's way to the north and south of the railway tracks respectively.
The fire consumed 35 buildings in the centre of town, including the hotel and the railway station, before it was put out with help from Knowlton, Farnham, St. Johns, now St.Jean sur Richelieu, and Richford, Vt.
As a result of the fire, both the Sutton water works and the Volunteer fire department were created with bylaw 6, passed by the Town council on May 23, 1898. Fire service was extended into the rural areas beyond the reach of the water system in 1938, after the purchase of a pumper truck housed today in the Heritage Sutton museum. This marked the start of cooperation between the Town and the Township in the management and financing of the fire service.

Favorite thing:
Main Street Sutton 1920
Brief History Of Sutton
Sutton's main street in the year 1920
Sutton Township is a square, sixteen kilometres to a side, with the Town of Sutton near its geographical centre. The township is bounded on the north by Lac Brome, on the south by the American border and on the east and west by the townships of Potton and Dunham respectively. The western part of the township is gently rolling country and supports most of the farming that remains in the township.
The northern extension of Vermont's Green Mountains run north-easterly through the eastern part of the township. The highest peak in the region, at 980 meters, is Round Top which stands out as you descend into the Town of Sutton on route 139. This region is largely recreational, supporting down hill and cross country skiing, and hiking on the numerous mountain trails. The Missisquoi river passes through the south-eastern part of the township. The village of Glen Sutton lies on its north shore and the river valley supports the rest of the farming in the township.

Favorite thing: Town and Township
The Town of Sutton received its charter as a separate municipality in 1896. The first Mayor was F.A. Olmsead and council appointed C.U.R. Tartre N.P. as Secretary-Treasurer. The reasons for the split from the Township are not clear in the records, although it was probably a consequence of a dispute over the installation of a municipal water system for the Town. The records show that council passed a resolution for the installation of a water system at the meeting of February 1892. At the next council meeting this resolution was rescinded, with no explanation recorded in the minutes.

Favorite thing: The French-speaking settlers
By the 1840’s, good land was becoming scarce in the seigneurial area of Canada East, and the French-speaking population began looking elsewhere for land. They moved into the Eastern Townships and the families Dubé, Gendron, Godhue, Lusignan and Metiviers came to Sutton.
The first French-speaking person to participate in municipal politics was Baptiste Saint-Pierre (Battise Sampier in the records of the time) who was named assessor in 1858. About this time, the need for a Town hall was apparent and in 1859 it was built by Alden Olmsted from the plans of W.M. Dow, at a cost of $1,650. In 1912 the front part of the building was remodelled at a cost of $5,000, split between the Town ($2,000) and the Township ($3,000) despite the fact that the Township owned, and still owns, three quarters of the shares in the building. In the 1950s, the facade was again remodelled and the building took its present form after the repairs and remodelling of 1993.

Favorite thing: The Fenian Brotherhood
In 1866-70 the Fenian Brotherhood, an Irish organization in the United States dedicated to the conquest of Canada and the liberation of Ireland, raided the border area. They came north from St. Albans, Vt., in 1866 and looted St. Armand. In the aftermath of the raid, companies of volunteers were equipped by the government to guard the border. Two companies raised in Sutton were led by Asa Frary and James Flannery. They saw action in 1870, when the Canadian militia volunteers and home guards routed the Fenians at Eccles Hill near Frelighsburg. On July 1, 1867, Canada East, Canada West, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia were united by act of Parliament in London to become the Dominion of Canada. At that time, Canada East became the Province of Quebec and Canada West the Province of Ontario.

Favorite thing: The Railroad boom
The Southeastern Counties Junction Railroad, now the Quebec Southern Railroad, reached Richford Vt. in 1871. It passed through Sutton thanks to intensive lobbying by the Mayor of Sutton, Asa Frary, as well as a subscription of $63,000 to the railroad by the municipality. This sum represented more than three times the annual municipal revenue. The line was formally opened on October 31, with celebrations at every station along the route. The coming of the railroad sparked an economic expansion by allowing the export of agricultural and forest products from the region and promoting the formation of light industry. The area was not to see a similar boom until the opening of the ski hill on Sutton mountain in 1960.