70 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



FAIR-HAVEN. 



FAIRLEE 



three miles long and one and a half broad. 

 At the outlet is an excellent stand for 

 mills, and another on the same stream 

 about two miles below. The township 

 was originally covered principally with 

 hard wood. The surface is uneven, but 

 very little of it so broken as to be unfit 

 for cultivation. The soil is generally 

 good. The town is divided into J. 5 school 

 districts, with a comfortable schoolhouse 

 in each. The public buildings are an 

 Academy, townhouse, an Episcopal and 

 a Congregational church. There are 

 in town, 3 stores, 4 grist mills S saw 

 mills, 2 fulling mills, 1 carding machine, 

 and 2 tanneries. Statistics of 1840. — 

 Horses, .5.30 ; cattle, 3,636 ; sheep, 9,700 

 swine, 800 ; wheat, bu. 4,270 ; barley, 35 ; 

 oats, 7,071 ; rye, 718 ; bucli wheat, 1,770 ; 

 indian corn, 5,685 ; potatoes, 76,920 ; hay, 

 tons, 7,765 ; sugar, lbs. 71,765 ; wool, 

 24,663. Population, 2,448. 



Fair-Haven, a post town in the wes- 

 tern part of Rutland county, is in lat. 43° 

 36' and long. 3'' 48'and is bounded north 

 by Benson, east by Castleton and a part 

 of Poultney, south by Poullney river, 

 which separates it from Hampton, N. Y , 

 and west by West Haven. It is 60 miles 

 south from Burlington, and 52 north from 

 Benninffton, and was chartered, October 

 27, 1779, to Ebenezer Allen and his asso- 

 ciates. The settlement was commenced 

 the same year by John and William 

 Meachani, Oliver Cleveland, Joseph Bal- 

 lard and Joseph flaskins, with their fam- 

 ilies. In 1783, Col. Matthew Lyon, Silas 

 Safford and others inoved into town, and 

 the former commenced erecting mills. 

 Col. Lyon had in operation at Fair Haven 

 before 1796 1 furnace, 2 forges, 1 slitting 

 mill, 1 priiitinir office, 1 paper mill, 1 saw 

 mill, and 1 grist mill, and he did printing 

 on paper manufactured by himself from 

 bass wood bark.* The first settlers were 

 from Connecticut and Massachusetts. 

 The town was organized in 1783. Elea- 

 zer Dudley was first town clerk, and Mat- 

 thew Lyon first representative, both cho- 

 sen this year. Silas Siitford was appoin- 

 ted the first justice of the peace, which 

 office he held 40 years successively. Col. 

 Lyon, who has figured in the political 

 world, was a native of Ireland He emi- 

 grated to this country, when 163'ears old, 

 and was sold in Connecticut for his pass- 

 age. 'The Rev. Rufus Cushman was or- 

 dained over the Congregational church 

 Feb. 12, 1807, and died Feb. 3, 1829. The 

 Rev. Amos Drury was settled May 6, 

 1829 and dismissed in May 1837. This 

 church was organized in 1803. The Rev. 

 Francis C. Woodworth is the present 



* Letters by J. A. Graham, page 80. 



minister. There are also some Baptists, 

 Methodists and Episcopalians here. The 

 epidemic of 1812 and 13 was very mortal, 

 and in 1822, the dysentery was epidem- 

 ic, and, in many cases, fatal. The sur- 

 face of the township consists of swells 

 and vales, but there is nothing which 

 deserves the name of a mountain. The 

 soil is various, consisting of gravel, sand, 

 and marl. Along the rivers, the soil is allu- 

 vial and very productive. The timber is 

 pine, hemlock, beecli, maple, walnut, but- 

 ternut, button wood, «&c. The principal 

 streams are Poultney and Castleton riv- 

 ers. The former rises among the moun- 

 tains in the southeast, and divides this 

 township from New- York. The latter 

 originates principally from a large spring 

 in the west part of Rutland. About one 

 mile above Fair-Haven village it receives 

 the waters of lake Bombazine, and one 

 mile west of the village it joins Poultney 

 river, and, after running three miles fur- 

 ther, falls into East bay. Between the 

 junction of these streams and East bay 

 are two considerable falls. (See Poultney 

 River.) In the village of Fair-Haven, on 

 Castleton river, are two falls, on which 

 are a paper mill, a rolling and slitting 

 mill, an e.vtensive nail factory, 1 grist and 



1 saw mill, 1 forge and 1 tannery. Nails 

 .and paper are annually manufactured here 

 to a large amount. In the lower part of 

 the village are about 12 or 15 dwelling 

 houses, and about the same number in 

 the upper part. The latter are built a- 

 round a handsome Green, containing ten 

 acres, and elevated about 60 feet above 

 the bed of the river. On the north end 

 of the green stands the Congregational 

 meeting house, erected in 1811. In ad- 

 dition to the above, there are, in this town, 



2 saw mills, 2 taverns, 2 stores and 1 tan- 

 nery. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 112 ; 

 cattle, 761; sheep, 4,105; swine, 336; 

 wheat, bush. 599 ; oats, 2,085 ; rye, 1,339 

 buck wheat, 165 ; Ind. corn, 3,205 ; pota- 

 toes, 8,085 ; hay tons, 1,449; sugar, lbs. 

 620 ; wool, 8,242. Population, 633. 



Fairlf.e, a post town in the east part 

 of Orange county, is in lat. 43° .56' and 

 long. 4° 20, and is bounded north by Brad- 

 ford, east by Connecticut river, which 

 separates it from Orford N. H., south by 

 Thetford and west by West-Fairlee. It 

 is 35 miles north from Windsor and 17 

 from Dartmouth College. It was charter- 

 tered September 9, 1761. to Josiah Chaun- 

 cey, Joseph Hubbard and others, and in- 

 cluding West-Fairlee, was laid out s\x 

 and a half miles square. The settle- 

 ment was commenced in 1766 by a Mr. 

 Baldwin who had settled the year be- 

 fore in Thetford. In 1768, Samuel Mil- 



