It's a small world
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Abby: that is quite an interesting chance meeting. Maybe you were meant to meet him and hear his story! You will have a greater appreciation for the lake now when you go back knowing some of the history. I bet you can google the names of towns surrounding the lake and get some more details into the settling of that area in Vermont from the 1600/1700s. Most town halls have some sort of information on the settling of their area. Let me know what you find - love to hear tidbits on early American history, especially in Vermont. Thanks for the post!
Abby: Lake Willoughby Info on the brothers!!!!
Excerpted from:"Willoughby Lake Legends and Legacies," Harriet F. Fisher. Academy Books, Rutland, Vermont. Copyright © 1988.Reprinted with permission of the author.
"How did Willoughby Lake get its name? One story is that two brothers named Willoughby, early settlers of Westmore, gave the lake their name. But there is no one by that name listed among the settlers in the town records. Neither does the name Willoughby appear in the list of Westmore proprietors in Abby Maria Hemenway's 1877 Gazetteer. However, it must be remembered that the settlers temporarily abandoned Westmore about the time the 1812 war broke out, so there were a few years when no town records were kept.
Another story is that many years ago a man named Willoughby was crossing the ice with a horse-drawn sled. When the horses broke through, Willoughby and his driver were drowned, and the lake was called Willoughby in his memory.
The 1854 Northern Tourist, Or Guide to Willoughby Lake House, Bemis, Hall & Co., Proprietors, tells this story: "It [the lake] is said by the inhabitants to have been first discovered by an English hunter from Canada, with one companion. In endeavoring to clear away a small spot of trees and brushwood on the shore in order to erect a cabin, Willoughby wounded his foot near the ankle [sic] and bled to death. The unfortunate man left to the Lake the legacy of his name."
A more modern story appeared in the Caledonian-Record (clipping undated). A visitor to St. Johnsbury who stopped at the info booth on Main Street said he had the "true" story behind the name Lake Willoughby. The Caledonian reported this: "The tourist, Francis Willoughby Jonas, lives in Salem, Mass., and is affiliated with the CBS television network in Boston. His great-grandmother, he stated, was a wealthy English peeress who moved to Castleton, VT, in the early part of the 19th century. As time went on Lady Willoughby, because of her prim, religious [sic] living, became one of the best-loved persons in the area. Thus she was immortalized with the naming of one of Vermont's beautiful landmarks, often called 'the Lucerne of America.'"
Years ago Annie R. French wrote the story which seems most likely to be true. Mrs. French said the lake was named for the Willoughby brothers who held first title to lake shore property, even though their names do not appear in town records. They operated an extensive lumber mill near what is now the site of the Boulders. (They were succeeded by the Vermont Lumber Company which went out of business some time ago.)
Mt. Pisgah has been referred to as Mt. Annance (also Annanance and Annennence). In his Flora of Vermont George C. Kennedy refers to a St. Francis Indian chief named Annance. A story, "Two Trips to Lake Willoughby" in an 1854 Knickerbocker Magazine mentions "the higher of the two mountains called 'Annennence' after a great aboriginal chief who once made it his home." Long-time Willoughby observer Norman Atwood tells us of a "civilized Indian" named Louis Annance, of Lancaster, New Hampshire, who in summer "lived after the old ways" (fishing and hunting) and may have enjoyed fishing at Willoughby.
In the Bible Mount Pisgah is the place where the Lord sent Moses to view the Promised Land; he died in the land of Moab near that mountain. Aaron died at Mount Hor after the Lord commanded him to go there. (Deuteronomy 34:1, and Numbers 33:38).
If the Willoughby brothers did name the lake, perhaps they decided to call the mountains Pisgah and Hor because of two other brothers - Moses and Aaron."
ABBY: hope this gives you some insight into the probability that the man you met was giving you some reliable information! And your name appears too! LOL!!!!!!
"How did Willoughby Lake get its name? One story is that two brothers named Willoughby, early settlers of Westmore, gave the lake their name. But there is no one by that name listed among the settlers in the town records. Neither does the name Willoughby appear in the list of Westmore proprietors in Abby Maria Hemenway's 1877 Gazetteer. However, it must be remembered that the settlers temporarily abandoned Westmore about the time the 1812 war broke out, so there were a few years when no town records were kept.
Another story is that many years ago a man named Willoughby was crossing the ice with a horse-drawn sled. When the horses broke through, Willoughby and his driver were drowned, and the lake was called Willoughby in his memory.
The 1854 Northern Tourist, Or Guide to Willoughby Lake House, Bemis, Hall & Co., Proprietors, tells this story: "It [the lake] is said by the inhabitants to have been first discovered by an English hunter from Canada, with one companion. In endeavoring to clear away a small spot of trees and brushwood on the shore in order to erect a cabin, Willoughby wounded his foot near the ankle [sic] and bled to death. The unfortunate man left to the Lake the legacy of his name."
A more modern story appeared in the Caledonian-Record (clipping undated). A visitor to St. Johnsbury who stopped at the info booth on Main Street said he had the "true" story behind the name Lake Willoughby. The Caledonian reported this: "The tourist, Francis Willoughby Jonas, lives in Salem, Mass., and is affiliated with the CBS television network in Boston. His great-grandmother, he stated, was a wealthy English peeress who moved to Castleton, VT, in the early part of the 19th century. As time went on Lady Willoughby, because of her prim, religious [sic] living, became one of the best-loved persons in the area. Thus she was immortalized with the naming of one of Vermont's beautiful landmarks, often called 'the Lucerne of America.'"
Years ago Annie R. French wrote the story which seems most likely to be true. Mrs. French said the lake was named for the Willoughby brothers who held first title to lake shore property, even though their names do not appear in town records. They operated an extensive lumber mill near what is now the site of the Boulders. (They were succeeded by the Vermont Lumber Company which went out of business some time ago.)
Mt. Pisgah has been referred to as Mt. Annance (also Annanance and Annennence). In his Flora of Vermont George C. Kennedy refers to a St. Francis Indian chief named Annance. A story, "Two Trips to Lake Willoughby" in an 1854 Knickerbocker Magazine mentions "the higher of the two mountains called 'Annennence' after a great aboriginal chief who once made it his home." Long-time Willoughby observer Norman Atwood tells us of a "civilized Indian" named Louis Annance, of Lancaster, New Hampshire, who in summer "lived after the old ways" (fishing and hunting) and may have enjoyed fishing at Willoughby.
In the Bible Mount Pisgah is the place where the Lord sent Moses to view the Promised Land; he died in the land of Moab near that mountain. Aaron died at Mount Hor after the Lord commanded him to go there. (Deuteronomy 34:1, and Numbers 33:38).
If the Willoughby brothers did name the lake, perhaps they decided to call the mountains Pisgah and Hor because of two other brothers - Moses and Aaron."
ABBY: hope this gives you some insight into the probability that the man you met was giving you some reliable information! And your name appears too! LOL!!!!!!