98 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Fart IIL 



JERICHO. 



necessaries of life. In the autumn of 

 1780 the family was surprised and made 

 prisoners by a party of Indians. At the 

 time, a young man by the name of Olds 

 was in the house, and made his escape to 

 the Block house on the Winooski river, 

 in the west part of the town. He is now- 

 living in the town of Underbill. The In- 

 dians, after securing their prisoners, kill- 

 ed the cattle, sheep, ai>d hogs belonging 

 to Mr. Brown, set the house on fire, and 

 started for Montreal. The prisoners suf- 

 fered much on their journey through the 

 ■woods, from fatigue and hunger, the most 

 of their food being raw bears meat. On 

 their arrival at St. Johns, they were sold 

 to British officers at $8 per head, and by 

 them retained as prisoners nearly 3 years, 

 during which time they were compelled 

 to laljiar for their masters, and allowed 

 but miserable fare. On their return they 

 were enabled to keep a part of their land 

 in Jericho, and by industry and persever- 

 ance accumulated a handsome property. 

 The two .sons settled, lived, and died on 

 the same land where they were made pris- 

 oners, and were among the most respect- 

 able families in town. Their children 

 still own and live on a share of tlie same 

 land Mr Messenger settled on the Win- 

 ooski river, and remained there until 

 June, 1776, when Gen. Ira Allen called 

 on him to leave for his own safety. Mr. 

 Messenger, with his family and a small 

 share of their effects, in a canoe belong- 

 ing to Gen. Allen, proeeetred down the 

 river to what is called Hubbell's falls, in 

 Esse.x, where they unloaded. Mr. Mes- 

 senger went over tlie falls in the canoe 

 without injury, except breaking in the 

 bow of the canoe. He changed ends, re- 

 loaded, and proceeded to what has since 

 been called the Lawrence farm, where 

 they stayed for the night At the falls in 

 Colchester they carried their load around, 

 let the boat drift over, and arrived safe at 

 the Lake, where an open boat was wait- 

 ing to receive them, with others, when 

 they were transported in safety to Skenes- 

 boro', (now Whitehall,) and from thence 

 to Bennington, and were there at the bat- 

 tle. Rachel, a daughter of Mr. Messen- 

 ger, is now living in town, aged 73, and 

 is the only one of the first settlers now 

 living here. On the return of peace, Mr. 

 Messenger, with his family, returned to 

 Jericho and settled on his old place, 

 where he lived to an advanced ao-e, an in- 

 dustrious and respectable farmer. Tlie 

 town was organized March 22d, 1786. 

 Lewis Chapin was first town clerk, and 

 Jedediah Lane first representative. The 

 religious denominations are Congrega- 

 tionalists, Baptists, Freewill .Baptists, 



Methodists, Episcopalians, and Univer- 

 salists. The Rev.Ebenezer Kingsbury was 

 settled over the Congregational church 

 June 22d, 17'JI, and dismissed May 18th, 



1808. Rev. John Denison was settled 

 Feb. 18th, 1809, and died March 28th, 

 1812. Rev. Joseph Labaree was settled 

 July, 1814, and dismissed in January, 

 1819. Rev. Luther P. Blodgett was in- 

 stalled Sept. 19th, 1819, and dismissed in 

 1826. Rev. Hervey Smith was installed 

 ?n 1828, and dismissed in 1831. Rev. E. 

 W. Kellogg was installed in 1835 or '36, 

 and dismissed in 1839. Rev. Zenas Bliss 

 was installed Dec. 1st, 1840, and is the 

 present minister. Elder Ephraim Butler 

 was pastor of the Baptist church from 

 about 1604 to 1815. Since that time Rev. 

 Mr. Kimball, Rev. Mr. Graves, and Rev. 

 Mr. Spauldiiig, have each in turn been 

 settled over the Baptist church. Elder 

 Isaiah Huntley is the present pastor, and 

 has been settled about 5 years. The 

 Methodist church have no stationed min- 

 ister, but have regular circuit preach- 

 ing. Rev. James Babbit was ordained 

 over the Universalist Society, and con- 

 tinued several years. The Rev. Jonathan 

 Wallace preached from 1820 to '23. There 

 were special revivals here in the years 



1809, '14, and '2J . There is a village al 

 the centre of the town, containing a good 

 brick church, owned by the 1st Congre- 

 gational Society, an academy, a store, a 

 post office, together with a number of 

 dwelling houses, scattered around a hand- 

 some common, given by Lewis Chaj)in, 

 one of the early settlers, for that purpose. 

 There is another flourishing village at the 

 corners, in tiie westerly part of the town, 

 containing 2 stores, a tavern, a post of- 

 fice, a lawyer's oftrce, 1 woollen factory, 

 1 grain mill, 2 saw mills, and a meeting' 

 house, built of brick, owned and occupied 

 by the Congregationalists and Baptists to- 

 gether. The town is well watered with 

 springs and brooks Winooski river wash- 

 es the southwestern boundary. Brown's 

 river enters the town at the northeast, 

 from Underhill, and runs into Essex. Lit- 

 tle river, or Lee's brook, so called, takes 

 its rise in the east, and, running near 

 the centre of. the town, unites with 

 Brown's river at the village, in the west 

 part of the town. Mill Brook enters the 

 township from Bolton, and runs into the 

 Winooski about halfway from Richmond 

 to Essex. On all these streams are good 

 alluvial flats, and the mill privileges are 

 good, but the best and most numerous are 

 on Brown's river, near the west village. 

 The soil and timber is various in difitrerit 

 parts of the town. It is a good farming 

 town, and well adapted to raining most 



