84 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part Hi 



GOILFORD. 



GUILFORD 



Haynes and the Rev. John L. Smith. 

 There is also a Universalist society, and 

 their present minister is the Rev. Wm. N. 

 Barber. There were formerly a very few 

 of the fanatical sect called Dorrilites 

 here.* The Congregationalists built the 

 first meeting house, the Baptists the sec- 

 ond. The Episcopal church was built in 

 1817, the Universalist house in 1836, and 

 the Methodist chapel more recently. The 

 town has a neat and convenient town 

 house, built in 1821, and situated near 

 the centre. There is' a village at the 

 west, one at the south, one at the 

 east, and one at the centre of the town ; 

 the two latter much the largest, yet neith- 

 er containing more than 2.^ or 30 houses. 

 Elijah Welch was the first physician that 

 settled in town. Simon Stevens and 

 Dana Hyde were the principal physicians 

 for about 40 years. The town is divided 

 into 15 school districts, in each of which 

 is a school house, convenient for teaching 

 from 50 to 100 scholars. In them schools 

 are kept most of the year. The public 

 school fund has amounted to $210 yearly, 

 arising from the lands. From that sum, 

 deducting the Tents of the propagation 

 rights, $79, taken up by the original pro- 

 prietors, leaves $131 still annually in the 

 treasury, arising from the glebe and school 

 lots. The funds of the latter were nearly 

 lost to the town as follows : In 1777, the 

 town voted to sell those lands, amounting 

 to 350 acres, and put the money at inter- 

 est for the benefit of schools. It was 

 done, and the price of the lands received 

 in specie, which was lent by the whig 

 administration of the town, in 1777, to the 

 recruiting officers, for the purpose of 

 tempting the soldier to enlist into the ser- 

 vice of his country. In payment of the 

 loans continental bills were received, 

 which turned out to be of little or no val- 

 ue. Small as is the fund, it has been of 

 great use to the town. In 1818, a " Fe- 

 male Bible and Prayer Book Society" was 

 established for the purpose of distributing 

 those precious books to the poor of the 

 town, and at the same time a Sunday 

 school was formed, both of which are un- 

 der the care of the Episcopal church. A 

 library, consisting of about 300 volumes, 

 styled " Guilford Social Library," estab- 

 lished in 1790, was sold at auction, by 

 vote of the society, in 1818. The air and 

 climate are remarkably wholesome. The 

 oldest people in the town cannot remem- 

 ber any remarkable season of mortality. 

 Most of the inhabitants live to a good old 

 age, and the physicians remark that not 

 one to a hundred die annually. It is not 

 uncommon in town for people to live to 



* See part second, page 202. 



the age of 100 years. The earth is natu- 

 rally covered v/ith a deep, strong and rich 

 soil, with a sufficient mixture of earths to 

 make it warm, and, at the same time, to 

 prevent its leaching. The hills make ex- 

 cellent sweet pastures, and the low lands 

 are fine for tillage. The farms consist of 

 from one to five hundred acres each, 

 which keep, through the year, from 10 to 

 40 cows, with other stock sufficient for 

 the concerns of the farm. Of late years, 

 some of the more wise have turned their 

 attention to the raising of sheep, for which 

 the hills are best suited. The land is nat- 

 urally covered with maple, hemlock, wal- 

 nut, beech, birch, ash, bass, butternut, 

 and elm. A few trees of black oak, lo- 

 cust and sycamore, are found. The most 

 useful tree is the maple. The farmers 

 take as much pains to keep and preserve 

 an orchard of maple as of apple trees, 

 from which each manufactures from 50 to 

 2000 lbs. of sugar annually, mostly for 

 their own use, but when plenty, it be- 

 comes an article of commerce. Beside 

 butter and cheese, for which the town is 

 famous, it ])roduces beef, pork, poultry 

 and the finest of horses for market. All 

 kinds of grain are raised, but not in plen- 

 ty for the market. Wheat does not grow 

 well upon the old fields. Apples, peach- 

 es, plumbs, pears, cherries and quincea 

 grow and bear well. As the stumps and 

 roots decay, some of the hills are washed 

 by the rains and have decreased in value. 

 The prudent farmers have set out shade 

 trees upon their hills, which not only 

 preserve the grass from the scorching rays 

 of the sun, but the roots prevent the 

 ground from washing. Free from rocks, 

 stumps and shrubs, most of the hills and 

 vallies are smooth on the surface, and in 

 summer present to the eye a most delight- 

 ful scenery. The town is hilly but not 

 mountainous. Except " Gov. Mt." near- 

 ly the whole is subject to cultivation. 

 East mountain, so called, extending the 

 whole length of the town north and south, 

 is the largest hill. It is about one mile 

 wide, descending gradually to the east 

 and south, and, e.xcept the bluffs on the 

 west side, is cleared and cultivated. 

 Even the west side is covered with 

 excellent timber. On the top of this hill 

 live some of the greatest dairy-farmers 

 in town. There, you may literally see 

 "cattle upon a thousand hills." The 

 rocks are principally mica slate, lying in 

 tight ledges, interspersed with strata of 

 quartz, and running from north to south. 

 Impure garnets are plenty in the mica 

 slate, and some good specimens of rock 

 crystal have been, found. Quartz and 

 schorl, in various mixtures, are found 



