Letter from THOMAS E. POWERS to GEORGE PERKINS MARSH, dated July 17, 1858.
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Hon. Geo. P. Marsh -- Dear Sir --
Yours of yesterday is rec -- I send you two sketches made by Mr. Richards, from Silloway's plans One of these sketches represents the dome curve , & the other according On putting one over the other you will perceive a variance I understand Mr. Richards to say that there will be no difficulty in striking either curve Silloway has his height 19 f. 6 in. & drawn it on a height of 21 feet If I rightly understand Mr. Richards, he only wants to know which height he shall take I told him I thought 21 feet to be right as that would give it the as drawn --
In hasteT. E Powers
References in this letter:
Joseph R. Richards was the architect who replaced Thomas W. Silloway in early 1858, when Silloway resigned from the position.
Thomas W. Silloway, (1828-1910), was only thirty years old in 1857 when he was chosen architect for the new State House in Montpelier. Silloway was from Massachusetts, and had worked in the office of Ammi B. Young, the architect who designed the previous building. Silloway and Dr. Powers, the superintendent of construction for the 1857 job, had worked together to design and build a new courthouse in Woodstock, Vermont, that burned in 1854.
Dr. Thomas E. Powers, (1808-1876), of Woodstock, Vermont, was appointed by Governor Fletcher to be the Superintendent of Construction of the 1858-1860 project, to build a new State House in Montpelier to rebuild the structure burned in 1857. He and the architect, Thomas W. Silloway, were soon at loggerheads over their roles in the project. Powers became State Senator in 1861.