m 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Fart III. 



GLASTENBURV. 



12. The soil is sandy in the south part, 

 and tlie timber principally pine. In the 

 north part it is a gravelly loam, and the 

 timber mostly hardwood. The rocks, in 

 the western part, are limestone, in the 

 eastern part, slate. The soil is, in gen- 

 eral, rich and productive. There are some 

 tracts timbered witli hemlock, and some 

 cedar swamps near the lake. Over what 

 is called Stone Briilgehrook, in the south- 

 western part of the township, is a natural 

 bridge 12 or 14 feet wide, and the top of 

 it seven or eight feet above the surface of 

 the water. The width of the arch is 40 

 or 50 feet, and its lieight but a few inches 

 above the surface of the stream. A large 

 and elegant meeting house was completed 

 in this town in 1802, and around it is a 

 small village, containg a number of dwel- 

 ling houses, stores, shops, &c. There 

 are 2 grist mills, which are of stone, three 

 saw, and one oil mill, 3 stores, and two 

 tanneries. Statistics of 1840. Horses, 

 366; cattle, 1,915; sheep, 10,035; swine, 

 1,140; wheat, bus. 3,8'.)7; barley, 20; 

 oats, 8,931; rye, 2,545; buckwheat, 1,072; 

 Indian corn, 7,875 ; potatoes, 34,016 ; hay, 

 tons, 4,476; sugar, lbs. 17,957; wool, 

 26,467. Population, 2,106. 



Glastenbury, a township in Benning- 

 ton county, is in lat. 42" 5o' and long. 4" 

 1', and is bounded north by Sunderland, 

 (east by Somerset, south by Woodford and 

 west by Shaftsbury. It lies nine miles 

 northeast from Bennington, and 25 north- 

 west from Brattleborough, and was char- 

 tered August 20, 1761, containing about 

 40 square miles. A great part of this 

 township is high, broken and incapable of 

 ever being settled. Settlements were 

 early commenced liere, but the population 

 has never yet amounted to 100 persons. 

 The waters in the eastern part flow into 

 Deerfield river. From the other parts, 

 they pass off to the south and west into 

 the Walloomscoik. The streams are 

 small. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 14; 

 cattle, 16 ; sheep, 62 ; swine, 32 : wheat, 

 bus. 18 ; oats, 38 ; rye, 12 : buckwheat, 6 , 

 Indian corn, 25 ; potatoes, 880 ; hay, tons, 

 162; sugar, lbs. 575; wool, 127. Popu- 

 lation, 53. 



Glover, a post town, six miles square, 

 in the southern part of Orleans county, is 

 in lat. 44° 40' and long. 4° 45', and is 

 bounded north by Barton, east by Shef- 

 field, south by Greensborough, and west 

 by Albany. It lies 33 miles northeast 

 from Montpelier, was granted June 27, 

 1781, and chartered to Gen. John Glover 

 and his associates, November 20, 1783. 

 The settlement of this township was com- 

 menced about the year 1797, by Ralph 

 Parker, James Vance, Samuel Cook and 



Samuel Conant. The settlement advan- 

 ced very slowly for some years. In 1800, 

 there were 38 persons in town. The prin- 

 cipal religious societies are Congregation- 

 alists and Methodists. There is a pleas- 

 ant and thriving little villasre, containing 

 a handsome meeting house, a store, tav- 

 ern, and several mechanics. The surface 

 of the tovi'nship is very uneven, consist- 

 ing of hills and vallies. In the south 

 part is a small mountain called Black hill. 

 The town is watered principally by the 

 head branches of Barton river. Branches 

 of the Passumpsic, Lamoille, and Black 

 river, also rise here. There are four nat- 

 ural ponds which lie within this town- 

 ship, viz : Glover pond in the northern 

 part, Daniel's pond in the western part, 

 Chamber's near the centre, and Mud 

 pond in the southeastern part, all of which 

 discharge their waters into Black river. 

 Long pond, now better known by the 

 name of Runaway pond, was situated 

 partly in this township and partly in 

 Greensborough. This pond was one and 

 a half mile long, and about half a mile 

 wide, and discharged its waters to the 

 south, forming one of the head branches 

 of the river Lamoille. On the 6th of 

 June, 1810, about 60 persons went to this 

 pond for the purpose of opening an outlet 

 to the north into Barton river, that the 

 mills, on that stream, might receive from 

 it an occasional supply of water. A small 

 channel was excavated, and the water 

 commenced running in a northerly direc- 

 tion. It happened that the northern bar- 

 rier of the pond consisted entirely of 

 quicksand, except an encrusting of clay 

 next the water. The sand was immedi- 

 ately removed by the current, and a large 

 channel formed. The basin formed by 

 the encrusting of clay was incapable of 

 sustaining the incumbent mass of waters, 

 and it broke. The whole pond immedi- 

 ately took a northerly course, and, in fif- 

 teen minutes from this time, its bed was 

 left entirely bare. It was discharged so 

 suddenly that the country below was in- 

 stantly inundated. The deluge advanced 

 like a wall of waters, 60 or 70 feet in 

 height, and 20 rods in width, leveling the 

 forests and the hills, and filling up the 

 vallies, and sweeping off" mills, houses, 

 barns, fences, cattle, horses and sheep as 

 it passed, for the distance of more than 

 ten miles, and barely giving the inhabi- 

 tants sufficient notice of its approach to 

 escape with their lives into the mountains. 

 A rock, supposed to weish more than 100 

 tons, was removed half a mile from its 

 bed. The waters moved so rapidly as to 

 reach Memphremftgog lake, distant 27 

 miles, in about six hours from the time 



