66 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part IIL 



COIT S GORE. 



COLCHESTER. 



parallel to Otter creek, through the west 

 part of the town and falls into Otter creek 

 near the centre of Rutland. Near the 

 north line of Clarendon it receives Ira 

 brook from Ira. Near Furnace brook are 

 situated the Clarendon springs^ an ac- 

 count of which has been given in part 

 first, page 7. Their situation in relation 

 to the stream, boarding houses, road &c., 

 may be seen by the following diagram. 



References. — a, the road from Tiiimouth ; 6, rotid 

 to West Rutland ; S, springs ; B, Ijaihin^ house ; 

 ], Clarendon House ; 2, 3, 1, Vubllc boarding hous- 

 es ; L, Furnace brook ; H, Hill ; O, High lancU. 



The east part of the town borders on 

 the Green Mountains, but the principal 

 elevations are the range of hills between 

 Otter creek and Furnace brook, and be- 

 tween the latter and Ira brook on the 

 west line of the town. The alluvial flats 

 on Otter creek are from half to a mile 

 wide through the town and are very pro- 

 ductive. The uplands are a gravelly 

 loam. Clarendon cave is situated in the 

 westerly part of the town, and has alrea- 

 dy been described in part first, page 8. 

 Very good marble is found here and is 

 wrought to some extent. There are two 

 small villages, one in the eastern and tlie 

 other in the western part, with a post office 

 at each and at Clarendon springs. There 

 are in town 3 grist mills, 4 saw mills, 5 

 stores, &c. Statistics of 1640. — Horses, 

 337; cattle, 2,047; sheep, 15,922 ; swine, 

 1,015; wiieat, bus., 1,GG3; oatS, 9,3-58; 

 rye, 1 ,385 ; buck wheat, 45 ; Indian corn, 

 ] 0,936; potatoes, 44,601; hay, tons, 5,- 

 415; sugar, lbs., 24,950 ; wool, 40,984. 

 Population, 1,549. 



Coit's Gore. See Watcrville. 



Colchester, a post town in Chitten- 

 den county, is in lat. 44° 33' and in long. 

 3^59', and is bounded north by Milton,east 

 by Essex, south by Winooski river, wJiich 

 separates it from Burlington and Willis- 



ton, and west by lake Cliamplain. It is 

 116 miles north from Bennington, and 36 

 miles northwest from Mcjuitpolier. It was 

 chartered June 7th, 1763, with its present 

 name ; but from the fact that among the 

 grantees there were ten by the name of 

 Burling, it is supposed Burlington was the 

 name originally intended for this town,but 

 through some mistake was given to the 

 town adjoining it on the south. The set- 

 tlement of this town was commenced in 

 1774, at the lower falls on Winooski or 

 Onion river, by Ira Allen and Remember 

 Baker. Baker's family,consistingofa wife 

 and three children, was the first in town.* 

 In 177.5, Joshua Staunton began improve- 

 ments on the intervale above the narrows 

 in that river, and there was a small clear- 

 ing made at Mallet's bay before the revo- 

 lution. From the spring of 1776, the t-own 

 was. abandoned by the settlers till after 

 tlie close of the war, in 1783, when Messrs. 

 McClain, Low and Boardman, settled 

 on Colchester Point, and General Al- 

 len returned and renewed the settle- 

 ment at tlie falls. Allen erected mills, a 

 forge and a shop for fabricating anchors, 

 and the place soon assumed the appear- 

 ance of a considerable village. The town 

 was organized about the year 1791, and 

 Ira Allen was first town clerk. It was 

 first represented in 1793, by Joshua Staun- 

 ton. The religious denominations are 

 Congregationalists, Baptists, and Metho- 

 dists. The Congregational church w^as 

 gathered in 1805, but have never had a 

 settled pastor, and for a great portion of 

 tlie time been destitute of regular preach- 

 ing. The Baptist churcJi was organized 

 in 1816. Phineas Culver was settled 

 over this church in 1820, and remained 

 the nominal pastor till 1832. They were 

 without a settled pastor from that time 

 till this year when Columbus Green was 

 ordained over it. Those two churches 

 erected a commodious brick meeting 

 house in 1838, wiiicli they now occupy in 

 common. The Methodists iiave general- 

 ly been supplied with preaching and have 

 erected a convenient brick chapel. There 

 is, also, an organized Congregational 

 church at Winooski village, which 

 erected in 1839, a commodious house of 

 worship. Thus in the space of three years 

 were built in this town three good houses 

 for ])ublic worship, all of brick. The on- 

 ly other public building is the town house. 

 A public library was commenced in 1832, 

 and now contains about 300 volumes. 

 There are two small ponds in this town. 



* See part second, page 31. After Baker'a death in 

 the fall of 1775, his family remained at the block 

 house in Colchester, till the place was abandoned tlio 

 following spring. The widow afterwards marriftd 

 Thomas Butterfieid. 



