10 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



and John Goldsbiiry, one from Bradford, 

 the other from Hartland, Vt., with their 

 families, moved into this town and began 

 converting the wilderness into farms. 

 The next year a number of other families 

 came in, and from this time the town set- 

 tled rapidly by emigrants from Worcester 

 county, Mass., and from New Hampshire 

 and Connecticut. The town was organ- 

 ized, March 11, 17IJ3, and Joseph D wight 

 was first town-clerk. It was first repre- 

 sented in the General Assembly in 17S)6, 

 by Asaph Sherman. The religious soci- 

 eties are Congregationalists, Methodists, 

 and Universalists, each of which have a 

 meeting house ; the Congregational meet- 

 ing house is 60 by 50 feet and was built 

 in 1808 — it stands on an elevation one- 

 fourth of a mile east of the north or low- 

 er village, on the Road to Chelsea. The 

 Rev. Aaron Palmer was ordained to the 

 pastoral care of the Congregational church 

 Feb. 23, 1807. He was a pious and faith- 

 ful minister of Christ ; but having a del- 

 icate constitution, he fell a victim to a 

 quick consumption, which terminated 

 his earthly career on the 7th of February, 

 1821. He lived beloved and died la- 

 mented. The next year the Rev. Justus 

 W. French received a call by said church 

 and societv to settle as their minister, 

 and was ordained May 23, 1822. He re- 

 mained their pastor 10 years, and was 

 dismissed on account of ill health. From 

 this period till 1840, two other ministers 

 were settled over said church and socie- 

 ty, and dismissed by counsel, viz. Rev. Jo- 

 seph Thacher and Rev. James R. Whee- 

 lock. Rev. Andrew Royce, their present 

 minister, received a call and was ordain- 

 ed as pastor over said church and society, 

 Feb. 18, 1841. In 1840, a majority of the 

 church and society, believing the loca- 

 tion of the old meeting house to be in- 

 convenient and unfavorable to their pros- 

 perity, built a new meeting house in the 

 village, one-fourth of a mile west of the 

 other ; it is of brick, 6-') by 44 feet, built in 

 the modern style, and is a good building; 

 this created some little dissention and al- 

 ienation of feeling with a minority, but it 

 is believed all are at present happil}' uni- 

 ted. The members belonging to the Con- 

 gregational church may be estimated at 

 180. In the year 1838, the Methodists built 

 a new and elegant meeting house, in the 

 lower village, 62^ by 44 feet. It was 

 built in the modern style and well finish- 

 ed, and has the appendage of a good bell. 

 This and the other new meeting house 

 stand about 15 rods apart. Previous to 

 building the new, the society sold their old 

 meeting house to a number of individuals 

 who removed-it to a central part of thp 



village and fitted it up for a store, me- 

 chanic shops, &c. The Methodist socie- 

 ty is large and respectable, numbering 

 about 150 communicants, belonging to 

 the town. They are usually supplied by 

 stationed preachers, whose term of ser- 

 vice is commonly two years. The Rev. 

 John Currier is their present preacher. 

 A Universalist society vi^as organized 

 here soon after the commencement of the 

 settlement. In 1808, the P^ev. Paul Dean, 

 •now of Boston, was ordained over said 

 society, but soon left the town. From 

 that time they had not regular preaching, 

 till the year 1821, when they settled the 

 Rev. John E. Palmer as their minister, 

 and in lb22, they erected a brick meeting 

 house in the south or upper village. Of 

 late they usually have preaching about 

 half the time on the Sabbath, and Mr. 

 Palmer is employed in the neighboring 

 towns. The number who nominally be- 

 long to the society is larger than either 

 of the former. The Baptists, by reason 

 of deaths and removals, are not known as 

 a society in the town. The inhabitants of 

 this town were remarkably healthy till 

 the year 171)5, when the scarlet fever or 

 canker rash made its appearance as an 

 epidemic, and prevailed for about a year, 

 during which time almost every child, 

 some young people and several 30 or 40 

 years old had the disease, but it proved 

 fatal only to children. From this time it 

 was generally healthy till February, 1811, 

 when the spotted fever made its appear- 

 ance, and soon became alarming. Those 

 who did not recover seldom lived over 36 

 hours, and some died within 3 or 4 hours 

 from the time they were attacked with 

 the disease. The approach of warm 

 weather put a stop to its ravages. In the 

 winter of 1812 and '13, the inhabitants 

 were visited by much the most fatal epi- 

 demic disease that has ever prevailed in 

 the town — it was an inflamation of the 

 lungs with a fever of the typhoid kind, 

 commonly called pneumoniae Ti/phoides. 

 The subjects of this disease were general- 

 ly people of middle age, and many who 

 were heads of families were swept oflTby 

 it. It was much more fatal to males than 

 to females. Warm weather put a stop to 

 its ravages, and the people have since, 

 with few exceptions, been remarkably 

 healthy.* Dr. Robert Paddock from Con- 

 necticut, moved into this town in Aug., 

 1794, and for many years was the princi- 

 pal physician. There are, at present, 

 three others. The soil is, in general, a 

 dry warm loam, free from stone, and as 



*The number of deaths in Barre from 1808 to 1313 

 inclusive, were an follows : 1808, 16 ; 1809, 16 ; ISIO, 

 9t ; 18H, 33 ; 1812, 34 ; and 1813, 70. 



