Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



21 



is 39 miles long and 20 wide at the north 

 end. It contains about 610 square miles. 

 The earliest permanent settlements, on 

 the west side of the mountain, in Ver- 

 mont, were made in tiiis covmty. Durino- 

 the revolution, most of the settlements 

 north of the county of Rutland, were aban- 

 doned, and the inhabitants retreated into 

 these two counties. It was in Benning- 

 ton county that the councils of safety held 

 most of their meetings. A considerable 

 part of the county is mountainous and 

 broken. The waters flow from it in all 

 directions. From the southeast part they 

 fall into Deerlield river, and from the 

 southwest into Hoosic river. The Batten- 

 kill receives most of the waters from the 

 north part, but some fall into West river, 

 some into Otter creek, and some into 

 Wood creek. The land, except on the 

 mountains, is excellent for tillage and 

 produces fine crops. The streams afford 

 many valuable mill and other water priv- 

 ileges. There is a range of granular 

 limestone or marble extending through 

 the county from south to north, whichis 

 wrought in several places. Its color is 

 usually white. Iron ore is abundant, and 

 lead has been found in small quantities. 

 The principal towns are Bennington and 

 Manchester, which are the shire towns. 

 The Supreme Court sits alternately at 

 these places on the 2d Tuesday after the 

 4th Tuesday in January. Tiie County 

 Court sits at Manchester, on the 2d Tues- 

 day in June, and at Bennington, on the 

 first Tuesday in December. Statistics of 

 1840.— Horses, 3307; cattle, 16,879; sheep, 

 104,721; swine, 9,!Kl6:wheat, ii/,. 12,959 ; 

 barley, 1,.')4fl ; oats, 137,837 ; rye, 2.3,671; 

 buckwheat, 16,071 ; Indian corn, 70,246; 

 potatoes, 564,279; hay, to?is, 42,907; 

 sugar, /6s. 180,986; wool, 223,674 ; iron, 

 tu7is, 1,829; furnaces, 5; woolen facto- 

 ries, 4; cotton, 3 ; population, 16,879. 



Benson, a post town in the western 

 part of Rutland county, in lat, 43° 42' 

 and long. 3° 46'. It, is l)ounded north by 

 Orwell, east by Hubbardton, and a small 

 part of Sudbury and Castleton, south by 

 Fair Haven and West Haven, and west 

 by lake Champlain, being opposite Put- 

 nam, in Washington county, N. Y. It 

 lies 12.^ miles east of north from White- 

 hall, N. Y., 25 miles north of west from 

 Rutland, and 25 west of south from Mid- 

 dlebury. Benson contains 25,214 acres, 

 was granted October 27, 1779, and char- 

 tered to James Meacham and Ezekiel 

 Blair, May 5, 17S0.* The settlement of 

 the town was commenced 1783, by Messrs. 



*The name was j;iven hy Mr. Moattham in honor 

 of a revolutionary officer by ilie name of Benson, for 

 whom he had great respect. 



Barber. Durfee, and Noble. Mr. Dur- 

 fee came into town and made some im- 

 provements before the revolution, but was 

 driven off. The town was organized about 

 the year 17b6, and Allen Goodrich was 

 the first town clerk, and Chauncey Smith 

 first representative. In 1790, a congre- 

 gational church was organized here, over 

 which tiie Rev. Dan Kent was ordained, 

 September 5th, 1792. Since that time, 

 besides several partial awakenings, there 

 have been three very general revivals of 

 religion. The first began in 1804, and du- 

 ring this and the succeeding year, 160 

 were added to this church ; the next was 

 in 1816, when 130 were added to the 

 church, and the third in 1821, when there 

 was an addition of 160 members. During 

 tlie last 9 years the church has been much 

 diminished by emigration. It has formed 

 one entire colony, which removed in the 

 spring of 1832 and settled on the Du Page 

 river, about 25 miles west of Chicago, 111. 

 Many more have since emigrated to that 

 and other places at the west, so that, al- 

 though 261 members have been added, 

 since the settlement of the present pastor, 

 to the 218 then belonging to this church, 

 the present number is only 240. Of the 

 above additions to the church, about 120 

 were in 1829, '30, and '31. The Rev. Dan 

 Kent was dismissed, July 11, 1828, and 

 died July 21, 183.5. The Rev. D. D. Fran- 

 CIS, the present pastor, was ordained July 

 29, 1829. The Congregational meeting 

 house is a handsome building, 66 feet 

 long, 42 wide, standing in a small but 

 pleasant village near the centre of the 

 town, and was completed about the year 

 1800. There is a small Baptist church 

 which was organized at an early period, 

 which is under the pastoral care of the 

 Rev. Robert Bryant. They erected a neat 

 and commodious house of worship in the 

 village in 1841. The Methodist church, 

 consisting of 90 members, also erected a 

 convenient house of worship in 1841 in 

 the village. The Rev. S. Stiles is their 

 present preacher. The canker rash pre- 

 vailed in this town about the year 1796, 

 and was very mortal. The epidemic of 

 1812 was also very distressing. It carried 

 off 60, nearly all heads of families, in the 

 space of 60 days. The practicing phy- 

 sicians are Doctors Cooley, Ransom, and 

 Howard. Hubbardton river runs through 

 the easterly part of the town, affording 

 several good mill privileges. In the N. 

 E. corner is a considerable pond of clear 

 water, which abounds with trout, and dis- 

 charges its waters into Hubbardton river. 

 The town is well supplied with agreeable 

 and wholesome water. A i^ew springs are 

 slightly impregnated with medicinal pro- 



