Governor Israel Smith House

The Governor Smith House was constructed in 1793 for Israel Smith (1759-1810), who was then serving in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1797, Smith was appointed Chief Justice of the Vermont Supreme Court and was elected in 1807 as the state’s 4th governor. The Georgian-style house was the work of master builder Gershom Cheney (1770-1855), who moved to Rutland in 1793 from Newbury, MA. Cheney was responsible for enlarging the Rev. Samuel Williams House in 1795 and construction of the 1819 East Parish Church. In 1798, he built the first wood-pipe aqueduct, supplying water from a spring in Mendon to Rutland. Cheney was a captain in the Clarendon Light Infantry, selectman, town bailiff, and tavern owner. continued on other side Sold by the heirs of Gov. Smith in 1825, the high-style dwelling would be home to prominent lawyers, statesman, and company executives. Legislator and county judge Ambrose L. Brown sold it in 1842 to Solomon Foot, a member of the U.S. Congress and Senate. For five years it was home to Julia Fay and Charles C. Dewey, lawyer and editor of the Rutland Herald. During the 24-year ownership of Julia Flower Smith, the house also operated as a home and day school. George C. Underhill of True Blue Marble Company and Blanche Valk Quinn of NY both renovated it, adding stylized Colonial Revival detailing. Grace and P.R. Eaton of the United Marble Company lived here for 40 years. It became Aldous Funeral Home in 1959.