Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



113 



MIDDLEBURY. 



on the west side of a small uninhabited 

 island situated at the mouth of Fitch's 

 Bay, and about two miles north of Cana- 

 da line, is a considerable quarry of novac- 

 ulite known by the name of the "Magog 

 Oil Stone." The vein of novaculite is 

 from two to eight feet wide where it has 

 been quarried, and the length of the quar- 

 ry is several hundred feet. It is situated 

 beneath a cliff, and, at the top, is inter- 

 spersed with quartz. The vein of novac- 

 ulite runs parallel with the cliff and lake 

 shore, and is so low that it is usually over- 

 flowed by the rising of the lake in spring 

 and autumn. Large quantities of the 

 "Magog Oil Stone" have been prepared 

 for use and vended in various parts of the 

 United States. The Indian words from 

 which the name of this lake was derived, 

 were Mem-plow-hou(]ue, signifying a large 

 expanse of water. On the east side of 

 this lake the country is beautiful, with an 

 easy, rich soil ; on the west it is broken, 

 and less productive. 



MENDO^f, a township in Rutland coun- 

 ty, is in lat. 43° 37' and long. 4° 10', and 

 is bounded northerly by Chittenden, east- 

 erly by Sherburne, southerly by Shrews- 

 bury, and west by Rutland. It lies 47 

 miles south from Montpelier, and 25 

 northwest from Windsor. It was char- 

 tered to Joseph Banker and others, Feb. 

 23, 1781, by the name of Medway. Park- 

 er's gore was annexed to it, and the whole 

 incorporated into a township by the name 

 of Parkerstown, Nov. 7, 1804; and Nov. 

 6, 1827, the name was altered to Men- 

 don. The town was organized March H, 

 1806, and John Page was first town clerk. 

 This township lies mostly on the Green 

 Mountains, and much of it is high and 

 cold land, and incapable of settlement. 

 There are some good farms along the 

 western border, and good grazing land 

 in other parts. The turnpike from Bethel 

 to Rutland passes through this township ; 

 also the direct road from Woodstock 

 through Bridge water, to Rutland. The 

 town contains 3 saw mills and 1 tannery. 

 Statistics o/ 1840. — Horses, 107; cattle, 

 526; sheep, 1,731; swine, 221; wlieat, 

 bus. 385; oats, 1,949; rye, 26G ; buck- 

 wheat, 188; Indian corn, 1,658; potatoes, 

 7,897; hay, tons, 1,013; sugar, lbs. 11,- 

 961 ; wool, 4,533. Population, 545. 



Merrit's River. See Joe's brook. 



MiDDLEBURv, a post and shire town in 

 Addison county, is in lat. 44° and long o^ 

 57', and is bounded north by New Haven 

 and Bristol, east by Ripton, south by 

 Salisbury, and west by Cornwnll and 

 Weybridge. It lies 33 miles south from 

 Burlington, 31 in a right line southwest 

 from Montpelier, and 80 north from Ben- 



Pt. III. 15 



nington. It was chartered Nov. 2, 1761, 

 and now contains about 24,000 acres. The 

 first clearing was commenced by Col. 

 John Chipman, in 1766, on the north 

 bank of Middlebury river, where the west 

 and centre road from Salisbury now unite. 

 At this time there was no dv.elling-house 

 in the state, on the west side of the moun- 

 tains, north of Manchester, distant 60 

 miles from Middlebury. The prospects 

 were so discouraging that Mr. C. soon re- 

 turned to Connecticut and did not visit 

 the township during the seven succeeding 

 years. In 1773, Col. Chipman and the Hoik 

 Gamaliel Painter, from Salisbury, Ct. de- 

 termined to risk their all in effecting a set- 

 tlement of this township. They came into 

 the town inMay of this year with their fain- 

 ilies,and threw up a small log hut for a shel- 

 ter f>om the weather. Benjamin Smalley 

 had previously commenced and built a loo- 

 house, which was the first house built in 

 town. Chipman located himself on the 

 lot which he had commenced clearino- 

 seven years before, and Painter erected 

 his habitation near the road leading to 

 Salisbury, on the west bank of Middle- 

 bury river, near a spot of alluvial land, 

 which had been an Indian encampment. 

 On this spot are found numerous articles 

 of Indian manufacture, such as arrows, 

 hammers, Ace. some being made of flint, 

 others of jasper. A pot composed of sand 

 and clay, of curious workmanship and 

 holding about 20 quarts, was dug up here 

 nearly entire in 1820. During the year 

 1773, the number of families was increas- 

 ed to six or seven, and four more joined 

 the settlement the succeeding year, one 

 of which was on the west side of the 

 creek, which was then Cornwall. Before 

 the revolutionary war there were 13 fam- 

 ilies within the charter limits of Middle- 

 bury, and 8 others in that part of Corn- 

 wall which was afterwards annexed to 

 Middlebury. In June 1776, all these, 

 with the exception of Daniel Foot and 

 Benj. Smalley, left the town, and these, 

 after being pillaged by the Indians, left 

 in September, but returned in the follow- 

 ing winter and remained till the spring of 

 1778. The Indians frequently visited the 

 place in the absence of the settlers, and 

 destroyed or carried off all the moveable 

 })roperty which fell in their way. In 1783, 

 Smalley, Thayer, and Jonathan Chipman 

 returned with their families. They were 

 followed by eight or nine families the next 

 year, and by several more the succeeding 

 year. The first child born here was a son 

 of Eleazer Slawson in December 1773,aud 

 the first person who died was Zerah Smal- 

 ley, who died in December 1776, aged 

 18. In 1784 Daniel Footerected a build- 



