Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



95 



HVDEPAEK. 



dama Hyde the first female. David Par- 

 ker was the first adiilt male who died in 

 town. He came to his death by a logrol- 

 ling over him, in the 19th year of the set- 

 tlement, .lohn McDaniel, Esq., the first 

 settler, was a man of strong mind and 

 passions, with a retentive memory, social 

 and friendly, and was esteemed a father 

 to the first settlers. His house was al- 

 ways open to the poor and wayfaring 

 man. He died respected and lamented, 

 Aug. 12th, 1834, in his 8Gth year. Capt 

 Jedediah Hyde, the first name on the 

 charter, and who was principally instru- 

 mental in obtaining it, had the command 

 of a company in the revolution, and serv- 

 ed in the navy. He was quite noted for 

 his politeness and easy address. He died 

 May 29th, 1822, in his 86th year. Jabez 

 Fitch, Esq., one of the grantees, was a 

 man of sound mind and extensive reading. 

 He served two campaigns in the old 

 French war, held a commission in the two 

 first campaigns of the revolution, was 

 captured by the British on Long Island, 

 and endured an eighteen months' impris- 

 onment, and on board of several of their 

 prison ships experienced sad examples of 

 the tender mercies of that magnanimous 

 nation. He kept a narrative while a pris- 

 soner, and a diary of events for nearly 40 

 years. Both are now in the possessi m of 

 his descendants. He wrote moral and po- 

 litical essays for the periodicals of the 

 day, and occasionally ascended mount 

 Parnassus. He contracted aboard those 

 prison ships a scurvy, which resulted in 

 an ulcer on his leg, which continued as 

 long as he lived. He died Feb. 29, 1812, 

 aged 75. At the time this town was set- 

 tled, there resided here an Indian and 

 squaw, named Joe and Molly, who were 

 of much service to the first settlers.* This 

 town is watered by the Lamoille, which 

 crosses the southeast and southwest cor- 

 ners. Green river has its source from 

 several ponds in the northeast part of 

 the township. The streams from these 

 ponds take a southerly course until uni- 

 ted, — when the stream takes the name 

 of Green river, veers to the east, and dis- 

 charges its waters into the Lamoille in 

 Wolcott. There are several saw mills on 

 this river and its branches, in this town. 

 Little North branch has its source in 

 Eden, crosses the northwest corner of the 

 town, enters Johnson, and, after meander- 

 ing about 2 miles, veers to the east again, 

 enters Hydepark, and passes over falls 

 where there is an excellent place for ma- 



* We were furnished by Ur. Fluntoon with sever- 

 al interesting anecdotes respecting Joe and Molly, 

 which we are obliged to omit for want of room. 

 Some account, of them has, however, been given in 

 part second, p. 205. 



chinery. Here is a saw mill, as well as 

 at the northwest corner. There is Mill 

 brook and Carter brook in this town, be- 

 side those above named, on which there 

 are saw mills and other machinery. There 

 are a variety of soils, — the rich bottoms 

 on the rivers, the elevated sandy plains, 

 the rich loam, and clay or marly lands. 

 The plain lands are best adapted to the 

 culture of corn, rye, and oats ; the clay,,^ 

 and loam to wheat and grass. The tim- 

 ber is mostly hard wood, yet there are all 

 the varieties usual in the vicinity. There 

 is pine in the vicinity of the ponds, and 

 formerly in other parts of the town. Ce- 

 dar and tamarack swamps abound; fir is 

 scattered over all the moist lands. There is 

 a ridge of high lands running northerly 

 and southerly through the town. The 

 u-rowth is maple, beech, birch, elm, scat- 

 tering trees, and clusters of hemlock, 

 and spruce. This ridge of land is excel- 

 lent for wheat, and sure of a crop. There 

 are in the northeast part of the town 12 

 ponds, containing from ^ to 50 acres, be- 

 side several smaller ones Trout have 

 been abundant in most of them, but are 

 becoming more scarce. Some of them 

 have names, such as Great pond, Clear 

 pond, George's pond, Zack's pond, Mud 

 pond, &c. Hydepark village is situated 

 in the southwest part of the town, on a 

 beautiful elevated plain ; it contains a 

 court house, jail, and jail house, built in 

 1836, by the inhabitants of the town, at 

 which time it became the seat of justice 

 for Lamoille county. The village con- 

 tains 2 stores, 3 taverns, 1 physician, and 

 1 Tliompsonian, several mechanics' shops, 

 and 20 dwelling houses. The town orig- 

 inally contained moose, deer, bears, bea- 

 ver, otter, and many smaller quadrupeds. 

 The rivers and ponds were plentifully 

 stored with fish, mostly trout and suck- 

 ers. There are 8 saw mills in town, one 

 rake factory, at which there have been 

 finished 120 doz. in a year, and a scythe- 

 snath factory. There are 12 school dis- 

 tricts, and 10 school houses. Statistics of 

 1840._Horses, 201 ; cattle, 1,384 ; sheep, 

 3,239 ; swine, 864 ; wheat, bush. 2,185 ; 

 barley, 53; oats, 8,747; rye, 191; buck- 

 wheat, .305 ; Ind. corn, 3,533 ; potatoes, 

 47,816 ; hay, tons, 2,501 ; sugar, lbs. 32,- 

 570 ; wool, 7,132. Population, 1,080. a.h. 

 Inpian River is a small stream, which 

 rises in Rupert, runs through the corner 

 of Pawlet, and unites with Pawlet river 

 in Granville, N. Y. Another small stream 

 of this name rises in Es.sex and falls into 

 Colchester bay in Colchester. 



Ira, a post town in the central part of 

 Rutland county, is in laL 43» 33', and 

 long. 3° 55', and ie bounded east by Rut- 



