110 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



MANSFIELD KOUNTAINS. 



MAKLBOROUGH. 



ing near the northwest corner. Statistics 

 o/ 1840.— Horses, 37 ; cattle, 402 ; sheep, 

 870 ; swine, I'JO; wheat, bush. 623 ; bar- 

 ley, 12 ; oats, 528; rye,8d,; Indian corn, 

 372; potatoes, 10,810; hay, tons, 599 ; 

 sugar, lbs. 4,700; wool, 1,027. Popula- 

 tion, 223. 



Mansfield Mountains, extend through 

 the township of Mansfield from north to 

 south. They belong to the western range 

 of the Green Mountains, and exhibit some 

 of the loftiest summits in the state. From 

 a distance, these mountains are thought to 

 bear some resemblance to the face of a man 

 lying on his back ; and hence, the two most 

 prominent summits are denominated the 

 JVose and the Chin. The Chin is the high- 

 est land in Vermont, according to Capt. 

 A. Partridge's admeasurement, and is 

 4,279 feet above tide water. The height 

 of the Nose above tide water is 3,983 feet. 

 According to the trigonometrical meas- 

 urements of E. F. Johnson, Esq., the 

 height of the Chin, is 4,359 feet, and of 

 Camel's Hump, 4,220. See Diagra7n,part 

 J, page 3. 



Marlborough, a post town in the cen- 

 tral part of Windham county, is in lat. 42" 

 53' and long. 4" 26', and is bounded north 

 by Newfane and a part of Dover, east by 

 Brattleboro' and a part of Dummerston, 

 south by Halifax, and west by Wilming- 

 ton. It lies 24 miles east from Benning- 

 ton and 44 miles southwest from Windsor. 

 The township is 6 miles square. It was 

 chartered April 29, 1751, but the charter 

 was forfeited in consequence of not com- 

 plying with its requisitions. The propri- 

 etors urged as a reason for their neglect 

 the intervention of the Indian and French 

 war, and succeeded in getting their char- 

 ter renewed by the same authority. New 

 Hampshire, Sept. 21, 1761. The charter 

 was given to one Timothy Dwight, and 

 his associates, of Northampton, Mass., and 

 its vicinity. The settlement was com- 

 menced as early as the spring of 1763, by 

 Abel Stockwell, from West Springfield, 

 Mass., and Thomas Whitmore, from Mid- 

 dletown, Ct. Whitmore came in by the 

 way of Halifax, and settled in the south 

 part of the town, and Stockwell by the 

 way of Brattleboro', and settled in the 

 eastern border. These families spent near- 

 ly a year in town, and endured many 

 hardships, without any knowledge of each 

 other, each considering his own the only 

 family in town. Whitmore brought his 

 provisions from Deerfield, Mass., on his 

 back, distance from 20 to 30 miles. Mrs. 

 Whitmore spent most of the winter of 

 1765 alone, her husband being absent in 

 the pursuit of his calling, as a tinker. 

 Mrs. Whitmore was very useful to the 



settlers, both as a nurse and a midwife. 

 She possessed a vigorous constitution, and 

 frequently travelled through the woods on 

 snow shoes, from one part of the town to 

 another, both by night and day, to relieve 

 the distressed. She lived to the advanced 

 age of 87 years, officiated as midwife at 

 more than 2,000 births, and never lost a 

 patient. The first town meeting on rec- 

 ord was held May 8, 1775, and William 

 Mather was the first town clerk. Anoth- 

 er meeting was held on the 22d of the 

 same month, to know the minds of the 

 people with respect to the impending war 

 with Great Britain. At this meeting they 

 passed the following resolutions : " Re- 

 solved, We v.'ill,each of us, at the expense 

 of our lives and fortunes, to the last ex- 

 tremitv, unite and oppose the last cruel, 

 unjust and arbitrary acts of the British 

 Parliament passed for the sole purpose of 

 raising a revenue, «fcc. Resolved, We will 

 be contented and subject to the Hon. Con- 

 tinental Congress in all things which they 

 shall resolve for the peace, safety, and 

 welfare of the American colonies." When 

 the news of the Lexington battle reached 

 here, several young men shouldered their 

 guns and hastened to the field of action. 

 In 1777, Capt. Francis Whitmore was 

 sent as a delegate to the convention at 

 Windsor, and in 1778 Dr. Samuel King 

 was sent as the first representative to the 

 legislature, which met that year at Wind- 

 sor. The Congregational church in this 

 town was organized by Rev. Josejih Ly- 

 man, D. D., of Hatfield, Mass., Oct. 20, 

 1776. It consisted, at first, of nine male 

 and eight female members. On the 9th 

 of December, 1778, the Rev. Gershom C. 

 Lyman, D. D. was ordained and settled 

 over tliis church and society, he having 

 preached here about one year before this 

 time. Mr. Lyman continued ably and 

 faithfully to discharge the duties of his 

 sacred office till the time of his death, 

 which took place on the 13th of April, 

 1813, in the 61st year of his age, and the 

 35th of his ministry. In his last sickness 

 he was an example of patience and resig- 

 nation, and died in the full faith of that 

 gospel which he had preached, and in the 

 full assurance of a happy immortality. 

 Rev. Ephraim H. Newton was then set- 

 tled over the church and society, and 

 continued until about the year 1833. 

 Since that time Rev. Benjamin H. Pitman, 

 Rev. Josiah Peabody, and Rev. Elisha 

 Smith, have been their ministers at differ- 

 ent times ; the latter being their present 

 minister. The first meeting house was 

 built in 1779. The Congregationalists 

 erected a new meeting house in 1820. In 

 1822 the old meeting house was taken 



