Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



27 



BRAINTREE. 



BRANDOH. 



Braintree, a township in the south- 

 west corner of Orange county, in lat. 43'^ 

 58' and long. 4" 19', bounded northerly 

 by Roxbui'y and Brooktield, easterly by 

 Randolph, southerly by Bethel, and wes- 

 terly by Granville. It is 21 miles south- 

 westerly from Montpelier, and 38 nortli- 

 west from Windsor. This township was 

 granted November 2, 1780, and was char- 

 tered to Jacob Spear, Levi Davis and oth- 

 ers, August 1, 1781. It originally con- 

 tained 3t> square miles. The settlement 

 of the town was commenced about the 

 year 1783, by Silas Flint, Samuel Bass, 

 Jacob and Samuel Spear and others, emi- 

 grants from Braintree and Sutton, Mass. 

 S. Flint's wife was the first woman who 

 came into the town and received in con- 

 sequence a present of 100 acres of land 

 from the proprietors. Hiram, son of Sam- 

 uel Bass, was the first child born in town. 

 The first proprietors' meeting held within 

 the town was at the house of Jacob Spear, 

 September 10, 1786. The town was or- 

 ganized March 7, 1788, and Elijah French 

 was first town clerk. It was first repre- 

 sented by Isaac Nichols in 17'JJ . The re- 

 ligious denominations are Congregation- 

 alists, Baptists and Christians. The Con- 

 gregational church was organized Dec. 

 25, 1794, and at first consisted of 8 mem- 

 bers. The Rev. Aaron Cleveland was set- 

 tled over it in March, 1801, and dismissed 

 April 22,1807. Sept. 22,lS07,the Rev. Am- 

 ini Nichols, the present pastor, was settled 

 over it. In 1801, they erected a commo- 

 dious meeting house upon what is called 

 Quaker hill. Elder Elijah Huntington 

 was settled over the Baptist churcli in 

 June, 1800. They have a meeting house 

 at the branch, erected about the year 1813. 

 There is a society of Christians, who 

 have a meeting house erected about the 

 year 1816, in the east part of the town, 

 and also some Methodists. Mrs. Dorcas 

 Nichols died in this town in 1841, ajred 

 105. The town has in general been very 

 healthy. It is watered by the third branch 

 of White river, and Ayers' and Mill 

 brook, its tributaries. They are all suffi- 

 cient for mills. A3'ers' brook rises in Rox- 

 bury and Brookfield, waters the north- 

 east part of the town, and after receiv- 

 ing Mill brook from tiie west, unites 

 with the tliird branch of White river, just 

 below the vilest village in Randolph. Be- 

 tween Ayers' broo'K and the third branch, 

 is a large swell of land, and when Mr. Eb- 

 enezerWaters was surveying the township 

 he said to those with him, " We will sit 

 down here and dine with our hats on and 

 call it Quaker Hill," and it has ever since 

 been known by that name. Between the 

 third branch and the liead of White river, 



is a considerable mountain, which ren- 

 ders that part of the township incapable 

 of settlement. According to tradition, 

 A3'ers' brook derives its name from a per- 

 son by the name of Ayers, who, having 

 run away from New England, became a 

 guide to the French and Indians in their 

 expeditions against the English, but who 

 was taken and executed near this stream, 

 about the year 1755. Statistics of 1840. — 

 Horses, 418; cattle, 1,670; sheep, 6,180; 

 swine, 1,120; wheat, bu. 3,680 ; barley, 

 465; oats, 1,218; rye, 1,080; b'k wheat, 

 1,345; Ind. corn, 4,880;* potatoes, 42,010 ; 

 hay, tons, 3,581; sugar, lbs. 18,800 ; wool, 

 12,860. Population, 1332. 



Brandon, a post town in the north part 

 of Rutland county, 40 miles northwest 

 from Windsor, 40 southwest from Mont- 

 pelier, and 65 north from Bennington, in 

 lat. 43'' 48' and long. 3° 59'. It is bound- 

 ed north by Leicester, east by Goshen 

 and Chittenden, south by Pittsford, and 

 west by Sudbury and a small part of Whi- 

 ting. It was chartered by the name of 

 Neshobe, October 20, 1762, and contains 

 22,756 acres. The name was altered to 

 Brandon, October 20, 1784. The settle- 

 ment of the town was commenced in the 

 year 1775 by John Whelan, Noah Strong, 

 David June, Jedediah Winslow, Amos 

 Cutler, and others. Mr. Cutler was, 

 however, the only person who remained 

 in town during the following winter. He 

 lived the whole winter here entirely a- 

 lone, without being visited by a human 

 being. In 1777, the town was visited by 

 a party of Indians, who killed two men, 

 George and Aaron Robins, made prison- 

 ers of most of the other inhabitants, and 

 set fire to their dwellings and to a saw 

 mill which they had erected. Joseph 

 Barker, his wife, and a child eighteen 

 months old, were among the prisoners. 

 Mrs. Barker, not being in a condition to 

 traverse the wilderness, was set at liberty 

 with her child. The next night, with no 

 other shelter than the trees of the forest 

 and the canopy of heaven, and with no 

 other company than tlie infant above nam- 

 ed, she had another child. She was found 

 the following day and removed with her 

 children to Pittsford. Mr. Barke;r was 

 carried to Middlebury, where, feigning 

 himself sick, he succeeded in the night in 

 making his escape, and arrived safely at 

 Pittsford. The town was organized about 

 the year 1784, and Gideon Horton was 

 first town clerk. The religious denom- 

 inations are Baptists, Congregational- 

 ists, Methodists and Episcopalians. The 

 first settled minister was the Rev. Isaae 

 Webb. He was settled by the Bap- 

 tist church and socitey about the year 



