 The board of commissioners ruled against Montpelier in a January 1840 , session . In November 1840 , the board ordered the construction of a courthouse — which was to be located in Hartford . The plan was for a 25 @-@ foot -square ( 8 m ) , two @-@ story , " hewed @-@ log " courthouse . The commissioners went into considerable detail describing the building . However , the courthouse was not constructed because of continuing controversy over the location ( Hartford or Montpelier ) of the county seat . 
