58 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



CONNECTICUT RIVER. 



1,837; sheep, 3,880 ; swine, 812; wheat, 

 bu. 3,570; barley, 308; oats, 13,150 ; rye, 

 463; b'k wheat, 614; Ind. corn, 1,906; 

 potatoes, 48,885 ; hay, tons,3,60!J ; sugar, 

 lbs. 19,090; wool, 6,218. Pop. 1024. 



Connecticut River lies between Ver- 

 mont and New Hampshire, and belongs 

 wholly to the latter. * Its name is from 

 the Indian words f^uonnec or Unnec, signi- 

 fying long, and Tucque or Tacli, signily- 

 m<T river. When the Indians spoke of 

 any thing happening at this river they 

 used the e.\pres.sion Qttonncc tucquok, or 

 Vnnecluckok, meaning at the long river ; 

 and hence comes Connecticut. This river 

 originates among the mountains in the 

 north part of New Hampshire, and, for 

 some distance, forms the boundary be- 

 tween that state and Canada. After run- 

 nincr between New Hampshire and Ver- 

 mont, it passes througli Massachusetts 

 and Connecticut, and falls into Long 

 Island Sound. The breadth of this river, 

 when it first washes Vermont, is about 

 1.50 feet, and, in tiie course of 60 miles, 

 increases to 390 feet. In Massachusetts 

 and Connecticut its breadth may be esti- 

 mated from 450 to 1050 feet. The depth 

 of the river, belo-w the head of boat navi- 

 gation, may be stated to vary from five to 

 twelve feet. This river is navigable for 

 vessels drawing ten feet of water, 36 

 miles, to Middletown ; for small sloops, 

 50 miles to Hartford ; and by means of 

 canals and other improvements, it has 

 been rendered passalile for boats to the 

 Fifteen Mile Falls, 250 miles further. 

 There arc, in this river, many ra])ids. The 

 most considerable are Bellows' Falls, be- 

 tween Rockingham and Walpole, N. H., 

 (see Ruchingham,) Otta Quechee Falls, 

 just below the mouth of Ottii Qaechee 

 river. White River Falls, just above the 

 mouth of White river, and the Fifteen 

 Mile Falls, which extend from Barnet to 

 Lunenburgh. The perpendicular height 

 of the falls, which have been made passa- 

 ble by dams and locks, between Spring- 

 field, Mass. and Hanover, N. H. a distance 



* Preparatory to granting the towni;hips along 

 Connecticut river, Jo=eph Hluncharil, under a com- 

 mission from the governor of New Hampshire, in 

 March, 1760, made a survey of that river upon the 

 ice, from Charlestown, N. H. to the lower Coos, and 

 the next year the survey was continued by Hugh- 

 bartes Neel, to the upper Coos, In this survey mon- 

 uments were placed upon the banlis of the river, 

 once in the distance of 6 miles in a \\2V1t line, to 

 mark the corners of the river towns, which wore to 

 be surveyed afterwards. A plan of this survey was 

 kept in the land office at Portsmouth, and from it the 

 courses and distances were taken by Gov. V\'ent- 

 worth,in making out the charters of townships along 

 the river. These facts, together with a full account 

 of the surreys, and the troubles arisin; from con- 

 flicting claims, and which we are obliged for the 

 want of room to omit, were furnished by J. Mc- 

 Duffce, Esq. 



of 130 miles, is about 200 feet.* There 

 are in the river, several bars of sand, over 

 which boats pass with difficulty in low 

 water. At such titnes a bar between 

 Deerfield and Montague, Mass., renders 

 the river fordable. Connecticut river 

 receives from Vermont, beginning at the 

 nortii, Nulhegan, Passumpsic, Wells, 

 Wait's, Ompomponoosuc, White, Otta 

 Quechee, Black, William's, Saxton's and 

 West rivers ; and from ^e'ff Hampshire, 

 Upper and Lower Amonoosuc, Israel's, 

 John's, Mascomy, Sugar, Cold, and Ash- 

 uelot rivers. Between Vermont and New 

 Hampshire this river is crossed by about 

 20 bridges. % The flats, along the river, 

 are, in some places, low and extensive ; 

 in others, the banks are high and rocky. 

 The intervales are not surpassed in fer- 

 tility and beauty by any in the United 

 States. In spring, the river usually over- 

 flows its banks through a distance of 300 

 miles. The scenery, along tliis JS'ile of 

 S\'eiD Enirland, is variegated by a suc- 

 cession of neat and pleasant villages, and 

 is charming beyond description. 



Corinth, a post town six miles square 

 in the central part of Orange county, is 

 in lat. 44» 2' and long. 4" 42', and is 

 bounded northerly by Topsham, easterly 

 by Bradford, southerly by Vershire and 

 westerly by Washinrrton. It lies 21 miles 

 southeast from Montpelier, 12 westerly 

 from Haverhill, N. H. and 41 north from 

 Windsor. It was chartered by New 

 Hampshire, Feb. 4, 1764, to Messrs. Ward, 

 Taplin, and others. A confirmation errant 

 was, afterwards procured from New York, 

 by Henry Moore and others. In the 

 spring of 1777, previous to the settlement 

 of the town, Ezekiel Colby, John Nutting 

 and John Armand, spent several weeks 

 here in manufacturing maple sugar. They 

 started together from Newbury, with each 

 a five pail kettle on his head, and with 

 this load they travelled, by a pocket com- 

 pass, 12 miles through the wilderness to 

 the place of destination near the centre 

 of the township. This year, Mr. Colby 

 moved his family into Corinth, which 

 was the first family in town. The next 

 year, 1778, Mr. Nutting moved his family 

 here, and Mrs. Colby was delivered of a 

 son, Henry, the first child born in town. 

 In 1779, Messrs. Edmund Brown, Samuel 

 Norris, Jacob Fowler and Bracket Towle, 

 moved their families here, and the same 



* The t'ltal fall of Connecticut river, from lake 

 Connecticut to the head of Mctndoes falls in Bar- 

 net, 92 1-9 miles, is 1140 feet ; and from the latter 

 place to tide water, at Hartford, Conn, the fall is 

 449 feet. 



1 The first bridge over the Connecticut was built 

 in 1785, at Bellows' Falls, by Col. Enoch Hale. The 

 second was built at Windsor, and completed in Oct. 

 1796. — Graham. 



