RUTLAND RAILROAD COMPANY
Historical Notes
Timothy Follett
Timothy Follett was born in 1798, the son of a Bennington silversmith. At 13 he was a freshman at the University of Vermont and a graduate at 17. By age 21 he became a member of the Chittenden County bar and a state's attorney by age 26. Four years later he became a judge of the country court.
Follett became interested in the DeWitt Clinton's Champlain Canal which connected the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. The canal gave Burlington a navigable waterway to the Atlantic. Follett resigned his judgeship and formed a partnership with Henry Mayo, a schooner and steamboat captain, to acquire the South Wharf or Salt Dock in the middle of Burlington's business district. By 1835 Follett and Mayo were collecting landing fees and trading from the stone built store on the Burlington waterfront.
During the same period of 1835 Follett joined others in operating a lumber mill on the Winooski River which supplied the canal boats and schooners involved in the Lake Champlain to New York trade.
Follett also joined the Vermont State Legislature and served three years while maintaining all his other businesses which included his law practice.
In 1844 Follett's company designed an all-purpose sloop-rigged canal boat especially for Lake Champlain with a mast that could be unstepped to pass under low bridge. This allowed free navigation without third parties and saved three or four days between Vermont and New York City.
With New York connected, Follett envisioned connecting Boston to the network by rail. The plan was for the railroad to run from his dock and connect with Boston, but this would all take more capital than he had. As a result he chartered a bank and located it within walking distance of his dock and proposed railroad terminal.
During this same period a rival company was formed as the Vermont Central who also was interested in connected Boston on a more northerly route. The two companies then began a track laying race to reach Burlington first from Bellows Falls.
The race ended when two Rutland and Burlington trains met at Mount Holly VT on December 18, 1849. A silver spike was driven and Boston Salt water was poured into Lake Champlain later that day.
The rivalry continued in a battle for bridge access across Lake Champlain. The Vermont Central out maneuvered Follett for the bridge and left him to transfer his goods to steamship between Burlington and Rouses Point and locked into seasonal traffic only. As a result Follett lost his presidency of the Rutland and Burlington and eventually his money, health and finally his mind and he ended his days in a local sanitarium in 1857.