Tart III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



133 



ORLEANS COUNTY. 



sists of a deep, rich loam. Its timber 

 is mostly maple and beech, with some 

 elm, basswood, birch, hemlock, spruce, 

 fir, cedar, &c. The western part of" the 

 town is somewhat broken, but not moun- 

 tainous. The village of Orleans was com- 

 menced in the fall of Jd'il, by Calvin and 

 Daniel W. Harmon, when all that part of 

 the town was a dense forest. It is situa- 

 ted at tiie falls in Black river in the south 

 west part of the town, and now contains 

 a meeting house, 2 stores, 1 tavern, ] 

 grist and 2 saw mills, a carding machine, 

 clothier's works, tannery, starch factory, 

 *Ssc., together with nearly 40 dwelling 

 houses.. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 224 ; 

 cattle, 1,379; sheep, 4,011; swine, 51)6; 

 wheat, bus. 2,364 ; barley, 3G2 ; oats, 

 6,155; rye, 85; buckwheat, 1,G35 ; Ind. 

 corn, 1,892; potatoes, 39,901 ; hay, tons, 

 2,832 ; sugar, lbs. 38,445 ; wool, 7,7U(j. 

 Population, 796. 



Orleans County, lies in the north 

 part of the state, and about half \\a.y be- 

 tween Connecticut river and lake Cham- 

 plain. It is situated between lat. 44" 28' 

 and 45° north, and between Ion. 4° 19' 

 and 5° 4' east, being 33 miles in length 

 and 30 miles from east to west on Cana- 

 da line, and containing 700 square miles. 

 It is bounded north by Canada, east by 

 Essex county, south by Caledonia and 

 Lamoille counties, and west by Lamoille 

 and Franklin counties. It was incorpo- 

 rated Nov. 5, 1792, and Irasburgh, situa- 

 ted near its centre, is the seat of justice. 

 The Supreme Court sits here on the 9th 

 after the 4th Tuesday in January, and the 

 County Court on the 4th Tuesday in 

 June and December. The first settle- 

 ment was commenced in this county in 

 1787, in the southwestern part, on tiie 

 river Lamoille, by John McDaniel, Esq. 

 This county contains more natural ponds 

 than any in the state ; and Memphrema- 

 gog lake extends into the north part. The 

 eastern and central parts are watered by 

 Black, Barton and Clyde rivers,the south- 

 ern part by the Lamoille, and the west- 

 ern part by the Missisco river. Tiiis 

 county lies wholly between the eastern 

 and western ranges of the Green Moun- 

 tains. Statistics of ]S40. — Horses, 3,464; 

 cattle, 18,299 ; sheep, 46,669 ; swine, 9,- 

 750 ; wheat, bush. 33,315 ; barley, 10,997 ; 

 oats, 133,301 ; rye, 2,400 ; buckwheat, 

 20,067 ; Ind. corn, 20,886; potatoes, 596,- 

 855; hay, tons, 37,291 ; sugar, lbs 507,- 

 446; wool, 107,580. Population, 13,634. 



Orwell, a post town in the northwest 

 corner of Rutland county, is in lat. 43'' 

 48' and long. 3" 47' and is bounded north 

 by Shoreham, east by Sudbury and a part 

 of Whiting, south by Benson, and west 



by lake Champlain, being opposite to Ti- 

 conderoga, N. Y. It lies 20 miles north- 

 west from Rutland, 47 southwest from 

 Montpefier, and 47 southwesterly from 

 Burlington. This township was chartered 

 to Benjamin Ferris and associates, Aug. 

 8, 1763, and contains 42 square miles. 

 John Charter began improvements on the 

 south end of Mount Independence, and 

 lived here several j'ears before the revo- 

 lution. In 1776 a large body of troops 

 was collected together in tliis township, 

 the greatest part of whom was stationed 

 at Mt. Independence, at the north end of 

 which was a breast work, and a picket 

 fort on the top. This mountain contains 

 about 250 acres, and was heavily timber- 

 ed, but the timber was all demolished by 

 the soldiers. The next year Ticondero- 

 ga and Mt. Independence fell into the 

 hands of the British, and the Americans 

 retreated to the south. The first perma^ 

 nent settlement was made in 1783, by 

 Amos Spafford, Shadrach Hathaway, Eb- 

 er Murray, Ephraim and William Fisher, 

 and John Charter, (the latter having been 

 driven oft' during the war,) upon Mt. In- 

 dependence. The next year the Hon. Pli- 

 ny Smith and others came into the town, 

 and from this time tlie settlement advan- 

 ced with considerable rapidity. The town 

 was organized Dec. 12, 1787, and David 

 Leonard was first town clerk. The 

 town was first represented in 1788, by 

 Ebenezer Wilson. The religions sects 

 are Baptists, Congregationalists, Metho- 

 dists, and Universalists. Elder E. Phelps 

 was settled over the Baptist church about 

 the year 1789, and was the first settled 

 minister. He preached here 5 or 6 years. 

 The church has since been successively 

 under the pastoral care of Elders Culver, 

 Webster, Murray, Fishers, Sawyer, n- 

 ger, and Ide. Elder Ephraim Sawyer 

 was settled in 1821 . This church was or- 

 ganized about the year 1784. The Rev. 

 Sylvanus Chapin was settled over the 

 Congregational church March 30, 1791, 

 and dismissed May 20, 1801 ; Rev. Mason 

 Knapen was settled from Jan. 1, 1808, to 

 Ausf. 24,1819; Rev. Sherman Kellogg 

 from June 14, 1820, to Oct. 23, 1822 ; Rev. 

 Ira Ingraham from June 14, 1826, to 

 April 18, 1832; and the Rev. Henry Mor- 

 ris from Oct. 9, 1834. The Congrega- 

 tional meetino- house is at the centre, and 

 was erected in 1805, and that belonging 

 to the Baptists is in the eastern part. The 

 dysentery prevailed here about the year 

 1804, and in the course of 60 days carried 

 off 60 children. The epidemic of 1813 

 was also very mortal, and a considerable 

 number, mostly heads of families, were 

 victims to it. There is a tract of about 



