NYPL RESEARCH LIBRARIES 3 3433 07954322 3 lllll^ lili' mI*. .i*^ i ^'•k ^4 "5*^ BiiiiiMiaii^^ W A. ID ^ -^ -^ c^yNEW HAMPSHIRE ^>' tWrf BOSTON y^' ,;%>^.^.x -^"^ v-fC^.: '" rSor^lf^tl \ Topahamc *• Jachsort ' n lY^ij-^"""' riyirmvn ^ HirnamstoM) ^rtf^— ' '' o/^ tsftnit/y/iii GAZETTEER OF VERMONT: CONTAIXIXG DESCRIPTIONS OF ALL THE COUNTIES, TOWNS, AND DISTRICTS IN THE STATE, AXD OF ITS PRINCIPAL MOUNTAINS. RIVERS. WATERFALLS. HARBORS. ISLANDS. AND CURIOUS PLACES. TO WHICH ARE ADDED, STATISTICAL ACCOUNTS OE ITS AGRICULTURE, COMjVIERCE AND MANUFACTURES; ^ WITH A GREAT VARIETY OF OTHER USEFUL INFORMATIO)^-*^ "^t/ \ BY JOHN HAYWARD, Author of «'The New England Gazetteer," "Book of ReUgions," &c BOSTONi TAPPAN, WHITTEMORE, AND MASON, 114 WASHINGTON' STREET. 1849. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1849, by JOHN HAYWARD, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. /- '' ansover: J. D. FLAGG AND W. H. WABDWELL, 8TERE0TYPER8 AND PRINTERS. PREFACE. Gazetteers, and other works descriptive of any part of New- England, have become so necessary to travellers and men of busi- ness, that it behooves those who prepare them, if they value their reputation, to guard, with all their might, against eiTors ; and to use every proper effort to procure, from time to time, such cor- rections and additions as that favored country requires in its rapid advances in all the moral and physical improvements known to civilized man. In that respect, the editor of this volume can only say, that he has devoted his whole time and talents, for some years, to this liis favorite pursuit ; that his means of acquiring information are con- stantly increasing, so as to enable him to perform his labors with greater ease and fidelity ; and that, while he enjoys the good will and confidence of an intelligent community, he shall feel no dispo- sition to relinquish it. The Rev. Zadock Thompson, of Burlington, Vermont, has re- cently published a History of that State, Natural, Civil, and Sta- tistical. Tliis is a work of great merit, and valuable to every American citizen ; but of peculiar interest to all those, at home and abroad, Avho claim any alliance to that band of patriots, The Green Mountain Boys, whose fame is celebrated in story, and is intimately connected with our country's reputation. iV PREFACE. From that work the editor has been permitted to take much of what is valuable in this volume ; and for this favor he shiill con- sider Mr. Thompson one of the greatest contributors to his series of New England Gazetteers, which will soon be completed, and which, with the kind assistance of many friends, he flatters him- self will be found worthy of a place in the libraries of many of the sons and daughters of that land, whose green hills and bloom- ing vales exhibit the united power of industry and skill ; and on the borders of whose beautiful streams the arts and sciences have erected monuments of renown as enduring as its granite moun- tains ; — a land from whose ports and harbors American com- merce first spread its canvas to the breeze, and which now whitens every sea ; — a land where Liberty first unfurled her banner, and on which her first battle was fought. To his learned friend, the Rev. Dr. Jenks, of Boston, for his estimable introductory remarks to this volume ; — to the Hon. James McM. Shafter, of Burlington, Secretary of the State of Vermont, for important documents ; — to Henry Stevens, Esq., of Barnet, for much valuable antiquarian and historical lore, and to many others who have favored the editor in his complicated task, he tenders the homage of a grateful heart. INDEX. Page. Page Academies, 30,46,52,54,90.103,110 Dairies, Large, .... 52 Agriculture and Manufactui-es, . 190 Destructive Worms, 102 Allen, Ethan, . 171 Distances.—See Descriptions of Asylum for the Insane, . .188 Towns. Banks, 190 Dutchman's Point, 94 Bays, Harbors, Capes, Points of Education, .... 19 Land, &c., . 167 Elevated Ponds, . 81 ,87 Bennington, Battle of, . .211 Farm of a Kevolutionary Hero, 77 Bidwell, George, . 118 Fidelity of a dog, 44 Bloody Brook, .... 94 Finances, .... 193 Boring for Salt Water, . 88 First Bridge across Connecticut Boundaries.— See Descriptions of River, 105 Towns. First Ministers.—See Description of Boundaries and Extent, . .184 Towns. Brave Fellow, ... 102 First Settlers.—See Description of Cannon heard at a great distance, 23 Towns. taken at Bennington, . 216 Fish, Transferring, 135 Cascades, .... 69 Floating Land, . 137 Cattle, number of, . .169 Four Boys at a birth, 68 CaA^erns and Caves, 21,30,48,49, Frog, old, .... 53, 55, 69, 80, 83, 87. 100, 131, Gallantry and Female Spirit, 40 141, 163, 199 Galusha, Jonas, . 118 Censuses, from 1791 to 1840, 145, &c. General Wait, a brave soldier. 12 . 169 Chittenden, Thomas, . 138 Gores of Land, Judiciary, 185 Chief Justices, Succession of, . 186 Government and Climate and Indian Summer, 198 Governors, Succession of, . 186 Colbum, Zera, .... 39 Grand List for 1848, 170 bushels of, 170 Colleges, . ... 194 Grain, age, . 99 Commerce and Navigation, . 193 Great Girl of her 92 . Distance to go to mill, Common Schools, . 194 91 Congressional Districts, . .187 Oxbow, . Constitution of Vermont, . 200 Gulf Road, .138 of, . • 170 Copperas, Manufacture of, . .119 Hay, tons the First Settlers, 51, Counties, area of, . 1 70 Hardships of 71, 73, 83, 92, 97, 101, County Table, . .169, &c. 63, 67, 68, Courts.—See Counties. 112, 126, 131 169 Crown Point, .... 34 Horses, number of, . 99,129 Curious Dwelling-place, . 112 Ice beds, .... Counties, date of, 1 69 Meeting-house, . .104 Incorporation of 77 Way of Naming a Tovm, 24 Indian Captives, . .32, . 102 Places, 43, 70, 87, 90, 94, Depredations, . 77, 111, 122, 163 ReUcs, . 85,94,117 1# . — 6 INDEX. Industry and Bravery rewarded, 124 Quail John, . .123 Introduction, .... 7 Railroads, . 196 Lakes and Ponds, . 164 Real Estate, value of.—See Grand Land Slides, .... 97 List. Large Families, 137 Rivers, Creeks, and Brooks, . 153 Light Houses, .... 193 Rogers Rangers, . 24, 161 . Runaway Fond, Longevity, . 84, 122, 124, 137 .... 64 Loss of a toe, by frost, in June, . 98 Scotch Farmers, and good fare, 109 Lyon, Matthew, Colonel, 60 Sheep, number of, . .170 Militia, 196 Stark, General, . 213 Manufactures, &c., p. 190. — See State House, .... 187 Description of Towns. Prison, . , . 188 Minerals, 24, 32, 33, 42, 47, 48, Senatorial Districts, . .187 50, 52, 53, 56, 70, 76, 81. 83, 85, Statistical Tables, ... 169 87, 96, 99, 107, 108, li6, 121, Stockbridge Indians, ... 84 122, 125, 140 Successful Female Midwife, . 84 Mineral Springs, 36, 37, 48, 68, Sugar, pounds of, . ... 170 70, 74, 91, 96, 99, 100, 137, 138 Swine, number of, . 170. Mountains, .... 151 Taxable Property, amount of. Mutual Fire Insurance Companies, 190 See Grand List. Name of the State, 184 Toniadoes, . 73,100,102 Natural Bridges, 63, 78, 81, 86, Towns, number of. 169 131, 163 Shire, distance of from Note, 211 Boston, 169 Oath of Allegiance, . 123 Towns, Shire, Latitude and Lon- Paper from bass wood bark, . 60 gitude of, .... 169 Personal Estate, value of.—See Travelling on Connecticut River, Grand List. in 1763, 71 Plot against the Indians, . 155 Wait, General, 127 Polls, number of.—See Grand List. Warner, General, 213 Ponds and Lakes, 164 Water-cure Establishment, 32 Population Table, . 145 Waterfalls and Cataracts, 44, 59, Porcelain earth, .... 87 72, 78, 82, 86, 90, 105, 117, 125, Post Villages, .... 183 126, 167 Potatoes, bushels of, . 170 Windmill Point, 20 Probate Courts, 195 Wool, pounds of, . 170 Productions of the Soil.—See De- Wreck of Arnold's Fleet, . 97 scription of Toums. Yankee Enterprise, 111 PubHc Buildings, . 88, 141, 187 VERMONT. The territory which is now included in the State of Yermont, and which lies between Lower Canada, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and New York, was, for a long time after the surrounding settlements were made, in great measure imexplored by Europeans. In its vicinity, Canada was the first kno^vn. and peopled by them, and a settlement was then made by the Dutch at Aurania, now Albany, and at the mouth of the Hudson. Then followed the settlements along the New England shores ; but a considerable period elapsed befoi'e they penetrated the interior, and, consequently, that interior was hardly marked but by marauding parties of Indians, and the footsteps of their unfortunate captives. It is not found that any large body of the natives was cantoned within the present limits of the State. There was, indeed, a tribe bearing the name of Coossucks in the north-east part of it;* but these were inconsiderable in number, and hardly known in the records of warfare, being surrounded, although at no little distance, by larger tiibes. These tribes consisted, in the first place, of the Five or Six Confederated Nations, at the head of whom figured the Mohawks. Among the French they bore the name of Iroquois, and had at an early period become their enemies, connecting themselves suc- cessively with the Dutch and English of New York, and adhering to their interests with great fidelity for more than a century and a half. The territory * See a description of this tribe of Indians in Mr. Thompsons very valuable " History of Vermont, Natural, Civil, and Statistical," from which, with his obliging permission, several items of information are derived in the following pages. 8 Vermont. occupied by them, although denominated Canadian by Golden, in 1747, was included within the present boundaries of New York, being south of the St. Lawrence and the Lakes, although their conquests extended far to the north and north-west. They Avere the teiTor of other tribes, yet seem never to have settled to the eastward of the Hudson, and the beautiful lake which was once denominated from them, but now has the name of Champlain.* The Indians who were in alliance with the French of Canada were princi- pally the Algonkins, otherwise called Adirondacks, a tribe between whom and the Iroquois there were frequent wars, tlie result of hostilities previous to the arrival of Europeans.! Whether or not tlie tribe denominated of St.