Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



101 



LANDGROVE. 



LAPLOT RIVF.n. 



from a pond in the southeast corner of 

 Glover. See Glover. It is now formed 

 by the union of several streams in Greens- 

 borough, and, after running southwesterly 

 into Hardwick, pursues a norliiwesterly 

 course till it falls into lake Chainplain, in 

 the northwest corner of Colchester. This 

 river is joined in Hardwick by a consid- 

 erable stream, which issues from Caspian 

 lake in Greensborough, in Wolcott by 

 Green river from Hydepark, in Johnson 

 by little North branch, ia Cambridge by 

 great North branch, and in Fairfax by 

 Brown's river. The current of the river 

 Lamoille is, in general, slow and gentle 

 above Cambridge. Between this town- 

 Bhip and tlie lake are a number of consid- 

 erable falls. Along this river are some 

 very beautiful and fertile tracts of inter- 

 vale. It is not quite so large as the Wi- 

 nooski and Missisco. It is said to have 

 been discovered by Champlain, in 1G09, 

 and called by him la mouctte, the French 

 for mew, or gull, a species of water fowl, 

 which were very numerous about the 

 mouth of this stream. In Charlevoix's 

 map of the discoveries in North America, 

 published in 1744, it is called la riviere a 

 la Mouelle, probably a mistake of the en- 

 graver in not crossing the t's. Thus to 

 the mere carelessness of a French engra- 

 ver are we indebted for the smooth, melo- 

 dious sounding name Lamoille. 



Landgrove, a post town in the north- 

 east corner of Bennington county, is in 

 lat. 43° 16' and long. 4" 12', and is bound- 

 ed north by Weston, east by Wes- 

 ton and Londonderry, south by a part of 

 Londonderry, and west by Peru. It lies 

 33 miles northeast from Bennington, and 

 70 south from Montpelier ; was granted 

 the 6th and chartered the 8th of Novem- 

 ber, 1780, to William Utley and others, 

 containing 4,646 acres. The settlement 

 was commenced by William Utley and 

 family, consisting of a wife and six chil- 

 dren, in June, 1769, emigrants from Ash- 

 ford, Conn. Mr. Utley had, the prece- 

 ding year, purchased 40 rights of land in 

 Peru, which was represented to him, as 

 lying west of Andover, and adjoining that 

 township. From Chester, where about 

 20 families had settled, he cut his road 

 before him, 14 miles into the wilderness, 

 till he arrived at a branch of West river, 

 where he commenced his settlement. For 

 some time he had to bring provisions for 

 the support of his family from Connecti- 

 cut river, distant about 30 miles. Find- 

 ing that Peru did not join Andover, and 

 that the lands on which he had settled, 

 were ungranted, he petitioned the legisla- 

 ture, and obtained a charter of them, as 

 above stated. He died in Marcii, 1790, 



aged 66 years, and his widow, in Februa- 

 ry, 1611, aged 86. The town was organ- 

 ized in March, 1800. Daniel Tutiiill was 

 first town clerk, and David Carpenter first 

 representative, botii chosen that year. 

 There is a small society of Metliodists, 

 and a few of other denominations. The 

 streams are several of the head branches 

 of West river. Salmon formerly came up 

 to this place, from the Connecticut, and 

 were taken with spears. One was driv- 

 en on shore by a dog and caught. An 

 excellent road, leading from Chester to 

 Manchester, passes through the township, 

 on which a mail stage runs regularly 

 every day in the week, except Sunday. 

 There are here 3 school districts and 

 school houses, 3 saw mills, 1 store and 1 

 tavern. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 72; 

 cattle, 555 ; sheep, 1,191; swine, 155; 

 wheat, bush. 320; barley, 76; oats 375 ; 

 rye, 145; buckwheat, 728; Indian corn, 

 716; potatoes, 13,.550 ; hay, tons, 1,204; 

 sugar, lbs. 6,780; wool, 2,350. Popu- 

 lation, 345. 



Laplot River. This stream rises in 

 the southeastern part of Hinesburgh, and, 

 running northwesterly tiirough a corner 

 of Charlotte, and through Shelburne, falls 

 into the head of Shelburne Bay. It is a 

 small stream, about 15 miles in length, 

 and affords several mill sites. Respecting 

 the origin of the name of this stream, tra- 

 dition has handed down the following sto- 

 ries. In the fall of 1775, a party of In- 

 dians was discovered, making their way 

 up Shelburne Bay, in their bark canoes. 

 From the head of the bay they proceeded 

 about 100 rods up this stream and landed 

 on the west side ; and, having drawn their 

 canoes on shore and concealed them 

 among the bushes, they proceeded cau- 

 tiously forward for the purpose of surpri- 

 sing and plundering the settlement, which 

 was about half a mile distant. Their mo- 

 tions having been watched and the alarm 

 spread among the settlers, the men were 

 mustered to the number of ten, and a con- 

 sultation was held witli regard to the 

 course to be pursued. Concluding that 

 the Indians, if vigorously attacked, would 

 make a precipitate retreat to their canoes, 

 it was agreed that three of their number 

 should proceed to their place of landing 

 and disable their canoes, by cutting slits 

 through the bark in various places, and 

 then conceal themselves near by and 

 await the result ; while the other seven 

 should make a furious and tumultuous 

 assault upon the enemy, who had already 

 commenced their work of plunder. The 

 plot succeeded beyond their most san- 

 guine expectations. The onset of the 

 seven, favored by the approach of night 



