Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



69 



FAIRFIELD 



the country called upper Coos, which lies 

 on the west side of Connecticut river. 

 Nulhegan river is the principal stream, 

 which is wholly within the county. This 

 and several smaller tributaries, of the 

 Connecticut, water all the eastern 

 parts. Passumpsic and Moose river, rise 

 in the southwestern part, and Clyde river 

 and several streams, which run ofi" to the 

 nortli into Canada, water the northwest- 

 ern parts. Its shire town is Guildhall. 

 The supreme court sits here, on the Sth 

 after the 4th Tuesday in January, and the 

 county court, on the last Tuesday in May 

 and the third in December. Statistics of 

 1840.— Horses, 1,207; cattle, 6,837; sheep, 

 14,188; swine, 3,63'j ; wheat, bu. 11,161; 

 barley, 2,223; oats, 46,485; rye, 1,-537; 

 bu. wheat, 15,070 ; In. corn, 6,709 ; pota- 

 toes, 235,180 ; hay, tons, 13,167; suo-ar, 

 lbs. 99,385; wool, 23,605. Pop. 4226. 

 Fairfax, a post township in the south 

 part of Franklin county, is in lat. 44° 42' 

 and long. 3" .56', and is bounded north by 

 Fairfield, east by Fletcher, south by West- 

 ford, and west by Georgia. It is situated 

 20 miles northeast from Burlington, and 

 40 northwest from Montpelier, and was 

 chartered August 18, 1763. Broadstreet 

 Spafford and his two sons, Nathan and 

 Asa, came into this township from Pier- 

 mont, N. H., in 1783, and began improve- 

 ments. They soon after removed their 

 families here. A Mr. Eastman started 

 from N. H. with them, with his family, 

 but died on the road, and was buried in a 

 trough on the flats in Johnson. His fam- 

 ily came to Fletcher. The town was or- 

 ganized March 22, 1787, and Thomas 

 Russell was first town clerk. The first 

 saw and grist mill were erected by John 

 Fasset. The religious denominations are 

 Baptists, Congrcgationalists, Methodists 

 and Episcopalians. The first settled min- 

 ister was Elder Amos Tuttle. He was 

 settled over the Baptist church in 1806, 

 and dismissed about the year 1811. The 

 Rev. Eben H. Dorman was settled over 

 the Congregational cliurcli and society in 

 1814, and dismissed in 1823. There are 

 two meetinghouses, one owned by the Bap- 

 tists and Congregationalists, and the oth- 

 er by the Methodists. The epidemic of 

 J813 prevailed here and was ver}' mortal. 

 The surface of this township is somewhat 

 uneven, and the soil light and easily cul- 

 tivated, producing good corn and rye. Its 

 jjrincipal streams are the river Lamoille, 

 which runs tlirouoh the south part, and 

 Brown's river and Parmelee's and Stone's 

 brook, its tributaries, all of which afford 

 good mill privileges. The great falls, on 

 the Lamoille, 88 feet in 30 rods, are situ- 

 ated in the southeast part of the town, and 



afford some of the best water privileges in 

 the state. The town is divided into 17 

 school districts, each of which has a 

 school house. There are here 2 small vil- 

 lages, a town house, 1 grist and 10 saw 

 mills, 2 clothier's works, 2 carding ma- 

 chines, 2 stores, 2 taverns, 2 tanneries 1 

 stone ware factory, and 1 pottery. Statis- 

 tics o/ 1840.— Horses, 331 ; cattle, 2,407 ; 

 sheep. 11,068; swine 1,148 ; wheat, bush- 

 els, 3,188; oats, 9,041 ; rye, 1,378; buck 

 wheat, 7 ; Indian corn, 9,191 ; potatoes, 

 42,730 ; hay, tons 4,105; sugar, lbs. 38,- 

 330; wool, 20,315. Population, 1,919. 



Fairfield, a post town nearly in the 

 centre of Franklin county, and including 

 Smithfield, which was anne.xed to it in 

 1792, contains about 60 square miles. It 

 is situated about 30 miles northeast from 

 Burlington, in lat. 44'^ 49' and long. 4° 5, 

 and is bounded north by Sheldon, east 

 by Bakersfield, south by Fletcher and 

 Fairfax, and west by St. Albans and 

 Swanton. It was chartered August 18, 

 1763, and granted to Samuel Hungerford, 

 and his associates. The first settler of 

 this town was Mr. Joseph Wheeler. He 

 moved into it with his family in March, 

 1788. In 1789, Hubbard Barlow and An- 

 drew Bradley, with several others, moved 

 into the town. Smithfield Beaden, was 

 the first child born here, in the part call- 

 ed Smithfield. The proprietors made him 

 a present of 100 acres of land. The town 

 was organized in Marcli, 1790. Edmund 

 Town was the first town clerk. There are 

 a Congregational, a Baptist, an Episcopal 

 and a Methodist church in this town. The 

 Rev. Bevjamin Wooster was settled over 

 the Congregational church in 1805. He 

 was the first settled minister, and died in 

 this town Feb. 13, 1840 aged 77 years. 

 The present minister is the Rev. T. Rey. 

 nolds. The Episcopal church, called Trin- 

 ity church, was the only one in Franklin 

 county when the Rev. Stephen Beach, 

 took charge of it in 1815. Several cler- 

 gymen labored here more or less previous 

 to 1840, when the Rev Ezekiel H. Sayles, 

 the present minister, was settled. This 

 church consists of about 60 members. An 

 Academy was incorporated here in lfc'08, 

 and a convenient building erected for its 

 accommodation. Black creek is a consid- 

 erable stream, which issues from Metcalf 

 pond in Fletcher, and runs through this 

 township, affording an excellent stand for 

 mills. Fairfield river is a small stream, 

 which, also, takes its rise in Fletcher, and 

 passes through the town near its centre, 

 affording several good mill privileges. 

 These streams unite and fall intoMissisco 

 river in Sheldon. Smithfield pond, lying 

 in the westerly part of the town, is about 



