116 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



MILES RIVER. 



MILLER S RIVER. 



43° 28' and long. 3" 57', and is bounded 

 northwesterly by Poiiltney, northeast by 

 Ira, southeast by Tinniouth, and south- 

 ■west by Wells. It lies 70 miles south 

 from Burlington and 41 north from Ben- 

 nington. This township was formed by 

 taking 3, -510 acres from the northwest 

 part of Tinmonth, 6,118 from the north- 

 east part of Wells, 2,388 from the south- 

 east part of Poultney, and 1,825 from the 

 southwest part of Ira, making, in the 

 whole, 14,841 acres. It was called Mid- 

 dlotown on account of the manner in 

 which it was formed, being in the midst 

 of tiie four towns which bound it. The 

 settlement was commenced and mills 

 were erected a short time before the revo- 

 lution, by Thomas Morgan and some oth- 

 ers. Mr. Morgan is now living at the 

 advanced age of 94, and is the oldest per- 

 son in town. Tiie settlers moved back to 

 Connecticut during the war, but returned 

 again as soon as it was over. The town 

 was organized in 1786, and Joseph Rock- 

 well was first town clerk. There are here 

 three religious societies, Congregational- 

 ists, Baptists and Methodists. The Con- 

 gregational church was organized about 

 ]784. The Rev. Henry Bigelow was set- 

 tled over it from Sept. 18, 1805, till his 

 death June 26, 1832, and the Rev. Guy 

 C. Sampson from Feb. 18, 1834, to July 

 15, 1835. The Rev. John A. Avery, the 

 present pastor, was settled Feb. 10, 1836. 

 Members 126. Elder Sylvanus Haynes 

 was for a long time minister of the Bap- 

 tist church. The minister of the Metho- 

 dist church is the Rev. John Fitch. The 

 Congregationalists built a meeting house 

 about the year 17'J4, the Baptists about 

 1806, and the Methodists in 1837. John 

 Burnhain lived in this town to the age of 

 08 3'ears. The epidemic of 1813 was very 

 mortal here. The surface of the town- 

 ship is considerably broken. Poultne}' 

 river rises in Tinmouth, and runs west- 

 erly through this township, affording three 

 good mill privileges. The soil is a grav- 

 elly loam, and the timber mostly maple 

 and beech. Near the centre of the town- 

 ship is a small but pleasant village, con- 

 taining 3 meeting houses, 2 stores, 1 tav- 

 ern, and a number of mechanics' shops. 

 There are here 10 school districts, in 

 which are 400 scholars, 2 grist and 3 saw 

 mills. Statistics of IS40.— Horses, 270; 

 cattle, 1,524; sheep, 6,636 ; swine, 689 ; 

 wheat, bus. 1,108; oats, 3,486 ; rye, 964; 

 buckwheat, 384 ; Ind. corn, 3,057; pota- 

 toes, 18,040 ; hay, tons, 2,947; sugar, lbs. 

 9,820; wool, 17,640. Population,"l,057. 



Miles' River rises near the west cor- 

 ner of Lunenburgh, and, pursuing a south- 

 erly direction into Concord, where it re- 



ceives the stream from Mile.s' pond, which 

 is a considerable body of water, bends its 

 course easterly, and falls into Connecticut 

 river by a mouth seven or eight yards 

 wide. 



Mill Brook. Sne Windsor. 

 Miller's River rises in Sheffield, runs 

 through a part of Wheelock; and falls in- 

 to the Passumpsic, near the centre of 

 Lyndon. It is, genei'ally, a rapid stream, 

 and affords some good mill privileges, 

 particularly in Wheelock, where there is 

 a considerable fall. 



Milton, a post town in the northwest- 

 ern corner of Chittenden county, is in lat. 

 44° 38' and long. 3° 5.5', and is bounded 

 north by Georgia, east by Westford, south 

 by Colchester, and west by lake Cham- 

 plain. A sand bar extends from the 

 southwest corner of the township to South 

 Hero, which renders the lake fordable 

 with safety the greater part of the year. 

 Milton lies 12 miles north from Burling- 

 ton, 40 northwest from Montpelier, and 

 12 south from St. Albans. It was char- ' 

 tered June 8, 1763, containing 27,616 

 acres. Tlie settlement of the township 

 was commenced Feb. 15, 1782, by Wm. ' 

 Irish, Leonard Owen, Amos Mansfield, 

 Absalom Taylor and Thos. Dewey ; and 

 they were soon after joined by Gideon 

 Hoxsie, Zcbadiah iJewey, Enoch and 

 Elisha Ashley, and others. The first set- 

 tlers suffered many privations and hard- 

 ships, but there is notJiing in the early 

 history which is peculiarly interesting. 

 The town was organized March 25, 1788, 

 and Enoch Ashley was first town clerk. 

 It was represented the same year by 

 Aaron Matthews, who wa.s also the first 

 justice of the peace. The religious denom- 

 inations are Congregationalists, Metho- 

 dists, Baptists and Episcopalians. The 

 Rev. Joseph Cheeny was ordained over 

 the Congregational church and society in 

 1807, and dismissed in 1817. The Rev. 

 James Dougherty was settled about 1836, 

 and is their present minister. The Meth- 

 odists are supplied by circuit preachers, 

 and by local preachers in the vicinity. 

 The Baptists reside principally in the 

 southwest part of the townsiiip. There 

 are three meeting houses, one in the 

 westerly part of the town, and two at 

 Milton falls, belonging to the Congrega- 

 tionalists and Methodists, the two latter 

 finished in 1841, This township is wa- 

 tered by the river Lamoille, which runs 

 through it from northeast to southwest, 

 and by several small streams, which af- 

 ford numerous mill seats. In the Lamoille 

 are several considerable falls. The Great 

 \faUs on the river, seven miles from its 

 I mouth, and a little to the southwest of the 



