6^2 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



f ART itL 



CHELSEA. 



CHESTEU 



■of 1840. — Horses, 500; cattle, 3,020; 

 sheep, 15,865 ; swine, 1,396; wheat, bu. 

 2,rJ5; barley, 110; oats, 13,b43 ; rye, 

 1,660; buck wheat, 1,1J8; Ind. corn, 

 26,885 ; potatoes, 52,'J85 ; hay, tons, 

 0,175; sugar, lbs. 6,000; wool, 31,348. 

 Population, 1,620. 



Chelsea, the shire town of Orange 

 county, is situated near the centre of the 

 county, in lat. 40° and long. 4'' 30', and is 

 bounded north by Washington and Wil- 

 liamstown, east by Vershire, south by 

 Tunbridgc, and west by Brookfield. It 

 was granted to Bela Turner and his asso- 

 ciates, Nov. 2, 1780, and chartered by the 

 name of Turnersburgh, August 5, 1781. 

 By the charter it contains 23,040 acres, 

 or 36 square miles. Tiie name was alter- 

 ed to Chelsea, Oct. 13, 1788. Improve- 

 ments were commenced in this township 

 in the spring of 1784, by Thomas and 

 Samuel Moore, and Asa Bond, who, the 

 next spring, brought in their families 

 from Winchester, N. II. They were soon 

 joined by others from different quarters, 

 who settled in different parts of the town. 

 Those who first came in brought all their 

 furniture and provisions on their backs 

 from Tunbridge, nine miles distant, where 

 were their nearest neighbors. The first 

 house in town was erected in the present 

 burying ground by Thomas Bloore, and 

 was burned to the ground with all its 

 contents, in September, 17^i5, but four or 

 five months after his family had entered 

 it. The first child born in town was 

 Thomas Porter Moore, son of Thomas 

 Moore, born Oct. 16, 1785. He is still 

 livino- in the town, as are also Thomas 

 Moore and wife. The first town meeting 

 was held March 31, ]788,and was warned 

 by Thomas Moredock, Esq. of Norwich. 

 It was called to order by Thomas Porter, 

 Esq. of Vershire, and Roger Wales was 

 appointed moderator, Asa Bond, Joshua 

 Lathrop, and Roger Wales were chosen 

 selectmen, and Enos Smith town clerk 

 and treasurer. . The town was first repre- 

 sented in] 794, by Samuel Badger. A Con- 

 gregational church waa early organized 

 here, over which Rev. Lathrop Thomp- 

 son was settled in November, 1799. Pie 

 was dismissed in April, 1805, and Rev. 

 Calvin Noble was ordained over the 

 church in September, 1807, and continu- 

 ed in its charge till his death in April, 

 1834. Rev. James Buckham was settled 

 in February, 1835, and dismissed in Feb. 

 1841. There is also a flourishing Metho- 

 dist society, organized in 1825. There 

 was formerly a small Baptist society in 

 the v/est part of the town, but for many 

 years it has been without a settled minis- 

 ter. The township is quite hilly, but 



mostly of a good soil. All kinds of grain 

 common in Verm.ont, are raised with tol- 

 erable success. The timber is of various 

 kinds, in which maple, elm, beech, birch 

 and hemlock predominate. In a swamp 

 in the east part of the town, tamarack 

 grows in great plenty. Pine was former- 

 ly abundant on the streams, but it has en- 

 tirely disappeared. The town has always 

 been very healthy. The epidemic of 18J3 

 and '13, was fatal in very few cases. 

 Among the instances of longevity within 

 a few years are the following : — Mrs. 

 Woodworth died in 1836, aged 93 ; Mrs. 

 Abngail Hale, in 1838, aged 95 ; Miss Ire- 

 na Sluith, in 1839, aged 91 ; Mrs. Perk- 

 ins, in 1838, aged 88; Mr. Jacob Flan- 

 ders, in 1840, aged 86. The village is sit- 

 uated near the centre of the town, on the 

 first branch of White river, 13 miles from 

 its mouth. It contains two churches, 

 Congregational and Methodist, a court 

 house and jail, two taverns, five stores, 

 two groceries, three carding machines, a 

 clothier's establishment, a trip hammer 

 shop, two tin workers" shojis, two cabinet 

 shojif", two tanneries, a printing office, a 

 jeweller and watchmaker's shop, with va- 

 rious other mechanics shops, and about, 

 ninety dwelling houses. The bank of 

 Orange county is located here, as is also 

 the oilice of the Orange County Mutual 

 Fire Insurance • Company, which was 

 chartered in November, 1838, and com- 

 menced operations in Dec. 1839. The 

 amount insured by them is nov/ about 

 .$!500,000. Near the west line of the town 

 is a meeting house, owned by several dif- 

 ferent denominations, called the union 

 hou.se. The town is divided into 17 school 

 districts, containing as many school hou- 

 ses. There are in it, two grist and ten 

 saw mills. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 

 310: cattle, 1,710 ; sheep, 6,696 : swine, 

 971 ; wheat, bu. 3,177 ; barley, 55; oats, 

 11,663 ; rye, 86 ; b'k wheat, 413 ; In. corn, 

 4,427; potatoes, 47,090 ; hay, tons, 4,124; 

 sugar, lbs. 18,762; wool, 11,122. Popu- 

 latTon, 1959. R. s. h. 



Chester, a post town on the south 

 line of Windsor count}', is in lat. 43° 17' 

 and long. 4° 21', and is bounded north by 

 Cavendish and Baltimore^ east by Spring- 

 field, south by Grafton and a small part 

 of Rockingham, and west by Andover, 

 and part of Ludlow. It was first charter- 

 ed by New Hampshire, February 22, 1754, 

 by the name of Flamstead. It was re- 

 cii.artered November 3, 1766, by the name 

 of New Flamstead. The settlement was 

 commenced in 1764, by Tbomas Chandler 

 and his two sons, John and Thomas 

 Chandler, Junior, Jabez Sargeant,Ed\vard 

 Johnson, Isaiah Johnson, Charles Man, 



