Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



ASCUTNEY MOUNTAIN. 



nary growth of white pine. The soil of 

 tliis tract is sandy.; Several extensive 

 quarries of granular limestone or white 

 marble, have been opened here, from 

 which large quantities are annually taken 

 and wrouglU into tombstones and for oth- 

 er purposes. The value of the marble 

 manufactured in 1840 was $8,300. There 

 is also an abundance of compact limestone 

 from which lime, of a superior quality, is 

 manufactured. Near Aylsworth's mills 

 in the east part of the town, is a medi- 

 cinal spring, which is resorted to by the 

 inhabitants of the vicinity as a remedy for 

 cutaneous diseases, ophthalmies,&c. The 

 water is stront^ly impregnated with fer- 

 rugenous matter, and rather unpleasant 

 to the taste. It contains a minute portion 

 of hydrogen gas, but no carbonic acid. 

 Its temperature is about the same as that 

 of the springs in the neighborhood. Near 

 the northeast corner of the town is a cav- 

 ern which is much visited as a curiosity. 

 Its entrance is on the east side of a steep 

 hill, and of a capacity sufficient for one 

 person only to enter at a time. From the 

 entrance to the bottom it is about 20 feet, 

 and tlie passage makes, with the horizon, 

 an angle of about 45s. The cavern tlien 

 extends westerly in a horizontal direction 

 13 rods. Its otlier dimensions are some- 

 what various in ditlerent partsof its course. 

 Its medium width is about eight feet, and 

 its height about the same. In some pla- 

 ces, it contracts so as barely to admit a 

 person to pass along, and in others ex- 

 pands into capacious rooms or vaults. 

 Near the western extremity is a large 

 room of a conical form, the sides of which 

 are very regular. Its height from the 

 base to the apex is more than fifty feet, 

 and its sides are limerock incrusted with 

 stelactites. The bottom of the cavern is 

 mostly a fine white clay, and a stream of 

 very pure water runs tiirough its whole 

 length. The road from Bennington to 

 Rutland passes through this town. There 

 are two houses for public wor.*hip, two 

 grist and three saw mills, one woollen 

 factory, one fulling mill and one tannery. 

 Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 14.5 ; cattle, 

 830; sheep, 12,00.5 ; swine, 583; wheat, 

 bu. 743 ; oats, i),025 ; rye, 3,556; buck 

 wheat, 1,002; Indian corn, .5,145; pota- 

 toes, 211,212; hay, tons, 4,G31 ; sugar, 

 lbs. 7,420; wool, 27,750. Pop. 1,035. 



AscuTNEY MouNTAiN^, is situatod partly 

 in Windsor and partly in Weathersfield, 

 being crossed by the line between those 

 townships. The altitude of ihis mountain 

 is 3.320 feet above tide-water, and 3116 ft. 

 above Connecticut river at Windsor 

 bridge. It is an immense mass of granite, 

 producing but little timber, or vegetation 



of any kind, particularly on the southern 

 portion of the mountain. The name of 

 this mountain is undoubtedly of Indian 

 origin, but writers are not agreed with re- 

 gard to its signification. Dr. Dwight 

 says that it signifies the three brothers, 

 and that it was given in allusion to its 

 three summits.* Kendall tells us that the 

 true Indian name is Cas-rAul-nac, and that 

 it means a peaked mountain with steep 

 sides. t From the summit of this moun- 

 tain the prospect is extensive and beauti- 

 ful, and richly repays the labor of climb- 

 ing its rugged ascent. The Connecticut, 

 which is easily traced, winding its way 

 through the rich and highly cultivated 

 meadovvs, adds much to the interest and 

 charm of the scenery. 



Athens, a small post town in the north 

 eastern part of Windham county, is in 

 latitude 43*^ 7', and is bounded north by 

 Grafton, east by Westminster and Rock- 

 ingliam, south by Brookline and Towns- 

 hend, and west by Townshend. It is ten 

 miles from Bellows- Falls, and 25 miles 

 northerly from Brattleborough. It was 

 granted MarcJi 11, and chartered May 3, 

 1780, to Solomon Harvey, John Moore, 

 •Jonathan Perham and their associates, and 

 contains about 7628 acres. The first be- 

 ginnings towards a settlement in this 

 town were made in the fall of 1770, by 

 Jonathan Perham, Seth Oakes, Joseph 

 Rasier, James Shaffer and Jonathan Fos- 

 ter. They chopped a few acres, erected 

 a log-hut, and then all left the town. Feb. 

 25, i780, Jonathan Perham and Ephraim 

 Holden removed their families into the 

 town from Rindge, N. H., and were soon 

 followed by Seth Oakes and family, from 

 Winchendon. The first settlers had ma- 

 ny privations and hardships to encounter. 

 The snow was four feet deep when they 

 came into town, and they had to beat 

 their own path for eight miles through 

 the woods. A small yoke of oxen were 

 the only domestic animals of any kind 

 they took with them. The families all 

 moved into the hut above mentioned. In 

 May following, Mrs. Oakes was delivered 

 of a daughter, the first child born in town. 

 The same month, Samuel Bayley, from 

 Sterling, Mass., and Micali Reed, from 

 Westmoreland, N. H., came into town, 

 and during the following summer, they, 

 in company, erected a sav/ mill, and the 

 next year a grist mill, for which they re- 

 ceived 168 acres of land, situated near 

 the centre of the town. The same year, 

 Simon Evans, Ezra ChafFe, and Jeremiah 

 Tinkham began improvements, and on 

 the 18th of September, of that year, Isaac, 

 son of Jonathan Perham, died, and this 



♦Travels, Vol. II. p. 106. fib. Vol. III. p. 202. 



