CIVIL HISTORY OF VERMONT. 



Part II. 



PULMONARY CONSUMPTION. 



LONGEVITY. 



LOTTERIES. 



been remarkably healthy during this time, 

 with exception of the last fall and winter. 

 Since August, 1841, the amount of sick- 

 ness and the number of deaths in the 

 State have been unusually great. Typhus 

 and lung fevers have been common in 

 most parts of the State, and in many cases 

 fatal; and during the winter and present 

 spring, a malignant sore throat has pre- 

 vailed and still continues (May 2, lf;42) 

 to prevail through all the western parts, 

 producing considerable mortality. The 

 disease usually commences by a soreness 

 in the throat, but developes itself in other 

 parts in a great variety of ways, and is 

 attended with a high fever. Thus far it 

 has, to a great extent, baffled the skill of 

 our best physicians. 



Of all the diseases, which continue from 

 year to year to make their inroads upon 

 our population, the pulmonary consump- 

 tion is the most fatal and most deplorable. 

 Slow in its advances, it almost impercept- 

 ibly undermines the constitution — dries 

 up the fountains of life, and annually 

 brings down hundreds to an untimely 

 grave ; and the prevalence of this disease 

 seems to have been constantly on the in- 

 crease from the first settlement of the 

 state to the present time. It doubtless, to 

 a considerable extent, had its origin in 

 the sudden changes, to which our climate 

 is subject, and which have become more 

 marked in proportion as the country has 

 become cleared and cultivated. But it is 

 believed that the increase of this disease 

 is owing still more to our present modes of 

 living, ''to the confined air of our stove 

 rooms and our compliance with the absurd 

 caprices of fashion. 



The following are a few instances of 

 longevity : 



jVaii 



Mrs. Jane Hdzelloii 

 Walter Scott 

 Susanna Carpenter 

 Benjamin Cook 

 Mrs. Sprague 

 Josepli Monta 

 Mrs Susanna Corliss 

 Mrs Mary Buel 

 Mrs Diilia Abliey 

 Simeon Hooker 

 Mrs Dorcas Nichols 

 Patrick Carigan 

 Mrs Susanna Hart 

 Mrs A. Carpenter 

 Mrs Catharine Head 



I Mrs Browne) 



i Mrs Susanna Wells 



Many more might have been added 

 had pains been taken to collect them. 

 According to the returns of the census of 

 1840 there were then living in the state 

 22 persons who were upwards of 100 

 years of age, and about 200 others who 

 were upwards of 90 years old. 



Section IX. 

 Miscellaneous. 



Lotteries. — The practice of raising mon- 

 ey by lotteries for specific objects was, in 

 early times, sanctioned by the legislatures 

 of most of the states in the Union ; and 

 Vermont, though she did not indulge in 

 this species of gambling to very great ex- 

 tent, adopted for a while this mode of dis- 

 pensing eharity, and of promoting good 

 objects. The following list is believed to 

 contain abstracts of all the acts, granting 

 lotteries, which have been passed by the 

 legislature of this state : 



To raise £840, for building a bridge 

 over Black river, February 27, 1783. 



To raise £1.50, for repairing the road 

 between Chester and Black river, Octo- 

 ber 26, 1789. 



To raise £150, to aid .John Hubbard in 

 erecting a brewery in Weathersfield, Oc- 

 tober 2(3, 1789. 



To raise £300, to make a road from 

 Woodstock to Rutland, October 27, 1791 . 



To raise £150, to repair abridge in Roy- 

 alton, October 28, 1791. 



To raise £200, to aid J. Hubbard and A. 

 Downer in erecting a brewery, November 

 3, 1791. 



To raise £150, for building a road in 

 Shrewsbury, November 3, 1791. 



To raise £600, to assist in building a 

 court house in Rutland, Oct. 2.5, 1792. 



To raise £200, to Anthony Haswell to 

 repair loss sustained by fire, Oct. 31, 1792. 



To raise £1200, to Jabcz Rogers, to re- 

 pair losses by fire, October 31, 1792. 



To raise £300, for building a bridge 

 over the river Lamoille, Nov. 8, 1792. 



To raise £500, for building a bridge over 

 White river at Hartford, Nov. 8, 1792. 



To raise £150, for building a bridge over 

 Deerfield river at Readsborough, Novem- 

 ber 8, 1792. 



To raise ^2500, granted to A. Spooner, 

 S. Barrett and S. Conant, Oct. 25, 1793. 



To raise $i500, for building a bridge in 

 Fairfax, October 30, 1793. 



To raise $5(10, for making a road from 

 Castleton to Sudbury, Nov. 7, 1796. 



To raise .$400, for building a bridge over 

 White river in Stockbridge, Nov. 8, 1796. 



To raise $500, for making a road from 

 VVinhall to Bromley, Nov. 8, 1796. 



To raise $500, for building a bridge 

 over Otta-Quechee river at Woodstock, 

 March 7, 1797. 



To raise $500, granted to John Wood, 

 March 9, 1797. 



To raise $2000, granted to Joseph Haw- 

 kins of Alburgh, October 30, 1798. 



To raise $1000, granted to Horatio 

 Knigbt, October 31, 1799. 



