Whitehall Chamber of Commerce Next General Membership Meeting Monday, May 29th at the Park Pavillion. Online Membership Renewal / Application linksJoin the Chamber | About the Chamber | Contact Us | Home J.T. Buel of Whitehall, New York He was a farm boy who loved fishing, but look what he started. Julio Buel was born in East Poultney, Vt. in 1806. The family moved to nearby Castleton, where he grew up, helping with farm chores, learning about trapping and preparing skins from his dad, a furrier, and spending every spare minute he could fly-casting. whitehallchamber.com. They said that Julio said he liked trout fishing "almost as much as anything he could think of." On Lake Bomoseen, a few miles to the north, his dad had a hunting shanty, where he kept a boat. One day, the story goes, Julio was out fishing. He was finishing his lunch when the drifting boat bumped against a submerged rock, and he dropped the spoon he'd been using to eat fruit packed in an earthenware jar. He watched it spiral down into the depths of the lake, and saw the big fish that swam off with that spoon. Don't you know he swiped another spoon when he got home, and when he had a chance, soldered a hook on the concave side of the bowl, sawed off part of the handle and drilled a hole in the stump. Julio snuck off to the lake early one morning, when his brother Alex had agreed to do his share of the morning chores, too. He tethered the horse in a meadow near a shanty, quietly launched the boat, and rowed out on to the mist-covered lake. He tied the line to the spoon/hook and let it sink. Julio rowed, trolling back and forth across the same stretch of lake, hoping to find out once and for all if there were really big trout in the lake, as folks always said there were. You guessed it there came a big tug on the pole, but Julio was able, after much exertion, to bring aboard the first fish ever taken with a metal trolling lure. He figured there must be more of those big ones, and sure enough, caught another big trout, which had been lurking in the deeps of Lake Bomoseen. You can imagine the stir he made as he walked his horse down Castleton's main street, just to give folks the chance to see the huge fish he'd caught. He finally admitted how he'd caught them. His growing skill as a furrier was matched, or overshadowed, by his skill as inventor of trolling lures. Almost before he knew it, he was in the business of making spoons for local fishermen eager to catch those big ones. He made spoon like blades of nickel silver, painted the convex side a brilliant red, attached treble hooks, and feathers. At the age of 21, Julio struck off on his own, moving to Whitehall, a bustling canal town, where he opened a furrier's shop on Canal Street. He made beaver hats, fished Lake Champlain and the nearby Adirondack lakes, and improved his lures, selling a few. In 1829 they constructed a brick building on Broad Street. Broad Street left Canal Street at this point, the whole now being Main Street. Here a furrier and a taxidermy business were carried on. Julio and his wife, Sarah Barney lived on Saunders Street, in a home on the site of the (1970) New York Telephone building. Buel spoon lure1848 marked his first patent and the start of the fishing tackle business for Julio. He tested each bit of tackle before putting it on the market and after 1858 other patents appeared. He specialized in spinning bait and fly spoons. The first famous Buel spoon, for the trade was world wide, was the shape of an actual spoon made of heavy tin, painted vermilion on one side and highly burnished on the other. He was awarded a medal at the Philadelphia Centennial in 1876. Mr. Buel held many public offices, among them for l2years, 1861-1873, deputy collector of customs, and supervisor. The locally famous ?Court of Reconciliation,? which settled many disputes, was conducted in his store with a Mr. Eddy and Julio as judges. Because of ill health, Mr. Buel sold his business to Charles B. Pike in 1885. He died a year later, 13 May 1886. Skenesborough Museum has a collection of original Buel Spoons, gifts of Mrs. Ruth Jackson and William Williams. Where is Whitehall, New York? Featured Event Lock 12 Motorcycle Tour Americade 2006 June 5th - 10th Guided Premium Tour New York Breakfast & Canal Locks: Ride to a de-licious all-u-can-eat country breakfast at a Rathbuns real maple sugar house: scrambled eggs & bacon, homefries, pancakes, french toast, sausage, OJ, coffee, tea or hot chocolate. Then a short ride to the famous Champlain Canal for a scenic cruise on a sight-seeing boat. Experience going up and down the 15 ft rise of Lock 12 in Whitehall, NY. Optional free tour: Lock 12 and Skene Manor (gothic castle). Approx. 80 miles Round-trip. Doorprizes from sponsor: Whitehall Chamber of Commerce About the Chamber Membership Benefits Advertising Options Member's Directory Application Visiting Whitehall Places To Stay & Eat Directions & Maps Things to See & Do Calendar of Events Relocating to Whitehall Schools & Churches Contact the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce Whitehall History The Birthplace of the U.S. Navy The Lure of Whitehall Click for Whitehall, New York Forecast Whitehall Chamber of Commerce P.O. Box 97 Whitehall, New York 12887 info@WhitehallChamber.com Browse Members by Category Design by: design on the web E-mail DeWebSign Washington County, NY Washington County Tourism Association Skene Manor Proud Members of the Whitehall Chamber of Commerce Last updated on: Wednesday, June 14, 2006 Quick Links: Home | Visiting Whitehall | Relocating to Whitehall | Whitehall History | Contact