■ART III. 



GAZETTEER OP VERMONT 



scnooi liouBCs. ihere are in tOAvn a mer- 

 cantile stores, i tavern, 7 saw mills, 1 

 grist mill, with 3 rim oi stones., i fmiino 

 mill, 1 carding machine, and 1 starch fac- 

 tory. Statistics of 1840.— Horses, 130 ; 

 cattle, 848; sheep, 1,608; swine, 165; 

 wheat, bush. 1,110 ; oats, 1,194 ; bar- 

 ley 4 ; buckwheat, 582; Ind. corn, 1,344 ; 

 potatoes, 26,425 ; hay, tons, 1,498 ; sugar, 

 lbs. 23,875 ; wool, 3,797. Pop. 548. 



Monroe, a post town in tiie north part 

 of Washington county, is in lat. 44° 26' 

 and long. 4° 35', and is bounded north by 

 Hardwick, east by Cabot, south by Calais 

 and west by Elmore. It lies 15 miles 

 northeasterly from Montpelier, was grant- 

 ed November 6, 1780, and chartered, by 

 the name of Woodbury, to Ebenezer 

 Wood and otiicrs, August 16, 1781, con- 

 taining 23,040 acres. The name was al- 

 tered to Monroe, Nov. 5, 1838. But little 

 settlement was made in this township be- 

 fore the year 1800. The whole popula- 

 tion in that year amounted to 23. This 

 township is watered by branches of Wi- 

 nooski and Lamoille rivers, and probably 

 contains the greatest number of natural 

 ponds of any township in the state. The 

 town contains 1 grist and 2 saw mills 

 Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 104 ; cattle, 

 706 ; sheep, 2,011 ; swine, 226 ; wheat, 

 bus. 826; barley, 155; oats, 4,695; rye, 

 391 ; buckwheat, 1,401 ; Ind. corn, 1,748; 

 potatoes, 5,935 ; hay, tons, 1,437; sugar, 

 lbs. 18,695 ; wool, 2,586. Population, 

 .1 ,092. 



Montpelier, a post and shire town in 

 Washington county, and the scat of gov- 

 ernment of the state, is in lat. 44° 17', 

 and long. 4" 25', and is bounded norther- 

 ly by Calais, easterly by Plainfield and a 

 email part of Marshfield, southerly by 

 Berlin, from which it is separated by Win- 

 ooski river, and a pnrt of Barre, and wes- 

 terly by Middlesex. It lies 36 miles 

 southeast from Burlington, 103 northeast- 

 erly from Bennington, and 140 miles from 

 Boston. This township was granted Oct. 

 21, 1780, and chartered to Timothy Bige- 

 low and others, Aug. 14, 1781, containing 

 23,040 acres. It was rechartercd Feb. 6, 

 1804. The first attempt to settle in this 

 town was made in the spring of 1786; 

 when Joel Frizzle, a hunter and trapper, 

 felled a few trees, planted a little corn 

 among the logs, after the Indian fashion, 

 and erected a very small log cabin on the 

 bank of W^inooski river, in the soutliwest 

 corner of this township, on the farm late- 

 ly owned by Mr. John Walton, and mov- 

 ed his family, himself and wife, a little 

 French women, into it from Canada, the 

 same season. But the first permanent 

 clearing and settlement was not made till 



ttie spring after. On the 4th of May, 1787, 

 Col. Jacob iiavis and Gen. Parly Davis, 

 from Charlton, Worcester cc, Ma., with 

 one hired man, and one horse, each load- 

 ed with pork, flour, beans, and other ne- 

 cessaries, cooking utensils, and a set of 

 surveyor's instruments belonging to Gen. 

 Davis, the well known surveyor of a great 

 part of this section of the state, having ar- 

 rived the day previous from Brookfield, 

 through Berlin, at the mouth of Dog riv- 

 er, and crossed over Winooski river to the 

 house of Seth Putnam, near Montpelier 

 line, cut out a road to the hunter's camp, 

 on the site now occupied by the jail 

 house in Montpelier village ; when Col. 

 Davis and his hired man commenced 

 clearing up the meadow on the west side 

 of the Little North Branch, now known 

 as state street. They soon threw up a 

 large log house, into which Col. D. mov- 

 ed his family the following winter, leav- 

 ing Gen. Davis to proceed with the sur- 

 vey of the town, and to locate himself on 

 a tract of land containing about 300 acres, 

 at the centre of the town, on which he 

 still resides. In 1788 Col. Davis erected 

 a saw mill, and next year a grist mill, on 

 the Little North Branch, at the falls 

 around whieh now stand Waterman's 

 starch factory and Wainwrighfs Iron 

 foundry. Clarissa, daughter of Col. Da- 

 vis, and now wife of Hon. Geo. Worth- 

 ington, was the first child born in town. 

 The settlement of the town went on rap- 

 idly, and in 1791 the population number- 

 ed 117 persons. On the 29th of March, 

 this year, the town was organized, and 

 Ziba Woodworth, a revolutionary sol- 

 dier, who was desperately wounded at 

 Fort Griswold, was chosen town clerk. 

 Col. Davis was this year, also, chosen to 

 represent tlie town in the legislature. 

 The first settlers were mostly hardy, en- 

 terprising and intelligent young men, 

 amonor whom were Jonathan Snow, James 

 Taggard, John Templeton, Sol'n Dodge, 

 James Hawkins, David Wing, Jr., Caftcr- 

 wards Sec'y of State,) Ziha Woodworth, 

 Nath. Davis, Nath. Peck, Caleb Bennett, 

 Clark Stevens (Friejids), B. I. and J. B. 

 Wheeler. In less than 7 years from the 

 beginning of improvements, a company 

 of militia of 72 men was organized, and 

 Parly Davis chosen first captain. A cir- 

 culating library of about 200 volumes of 

 well selected books was also established 

 near the same time, in which most of the 

 inhabitants became proprietors. And to 

 Uiis fact may doubtless be attributed, in a 

 good degree, the more than ordinary in- 

 telligence and taste for reading which, we 

 believe, has distinguished, till the present 

 time, the inhabitants, especially the farm- 



