Fart III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



135 



PASSCMPSIC RIVER, 



bury is a very still stream, and its waters 

 deep, affording very few mill privileges. 

 From Middlebury to Pittsford, a distance 

 of 25 miles, it is navigable for boats. At 

 Middlebury, Weybridge and V^ergennes, 

 are falls in the creek, which afford excel- 

 lent sites for mills, and on which are some 

 of the finest manufacturing establish- 

 ments in the State. From Vergennes to 

 the mouth, a distance of 8 miles, the 

 creek is navigable for the largest vessels 

 on the lake. The alluvial flats along this 

 stream are very extensive, and are inferi- 

 or to none in the state. Its whole length 

 is about 90 miles, and it waters about 'JOO 

 square miles. Otter creek was named by 

 the French la Riviere mix Loutrcs, the 

 River of Otters, long before any settle- 

 ments were made by the English within 

 this state. 



Oxbow. Name given to two bends in 

 Connecticut river in Newbury, distin- 

 guished as the Great and Little Oxbow. 



Panto!^, a post township in the western 

 part of Addison county, is in lat. 44"^ 8' 

 and long. 3° 40', and is bounded north by 

 Ferrisburgh, east by Otter creek, whicli 

 separates it from Waltham, and by a part 

 of Vergennes, south by Addison, and west 

 by lake Champlain, which separates it 

 from Elizabeth town, N. Y. It lies 13 

 miles northwest from Middlebury, and 

 25 southwesterly from Burlington, and 

 was chartered Nov. 3, 1764, containing 

 10,530 acres. A settlement was commen- 

 ced here in 1770, by John Pangborn and 

 Odle Squire, from Cornwall, Con., who 

 were soon joined by Timotiiy Spalding 

 and others, from the same place, and by 

 Peter Ferris, from Nine Partners, N. Y. 

 Ferris settled at the bay where Arnold 

 blew up his fleet during the revolution. 

 The wrecks of this fleet are now to be 

 seen here at low water. During the rev- 

 olution this settlement was broken up. 

 Most of the men were made prisoners, 

 their dwellings burnt, and the women 

 and children driven to the south. The 

 settlers returned after the war, and in 

 1784 the town was organized. Elijah 

 Grandy was first town clerk, and Peter 

 Ferris was first representative, chosen in 

 1737. Elder Henry Chambers was or- 

 dained over the Baptist church in this 

 town, in the year 1800, and was dismis- 

 sed in 1804, and Elder .Jeremy H. Dwi- 

 er was ordained in 1817, and dismissed 

 in 1818. The Baptists have a meet- 

 inghouse, erected 1808. The Congrega- 

 tionalists here belong to the church in 

 Addison. Peter Perris lived to the age 

 of 96 years, had four wives and died a 

 widower. This is a very level 'township. 

 The only stream of consequence is Dead 



Creek whichrunsnortherly nearly through 

 the centre, and unites with Otter creek in 

 Ferrisburgh. It is a wide sluggish stream. 

 There is not a good mill privilege in the 

 townsliip. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 

 151; cattle, 1,0-30; sheep, 9,886; swine, 

 318; wheat, bus. 671 ; oats, 3,460; rye, 

 108; buck-wheat, 243; Indian corn, 2,- 

 338 ; potatoes, 5,722 ; hay, tons, 2,971 ; 

 sugar, lbs. 220; wool, 24,890. Popula- 

 tion, 670. 



Parker's Gore, now a part of Sher- 

 burne. 



Parkerstown. Name altered to Men- 

 don, Nov. 6, 1827. See Mendon. 



Passumpsic River has its source in a 

 pond on tiie easterly line of Westmore, 

 and, running a southeasterly course thro' 

 Newark, passes into the west corner of 

 East Haven; thence it pursues nearly a 

 south course through Burke, Lyndon, 

 St.Johnsbury, Walerfordand Barnet, and 

 falls into the Connecticut a mile below 

 the foot of the fifteen mile falls. From 

 its source till it approaches near the cen- 

 tre of Lyndon, it is a swift stream. It 

 then meanders through a rich tract of in- 

 tervale till it approaches the south line, 

 where is a high fall. The greatest part 

 of the way through St. Johnsbury it is 

 swift, but in a few places it runs slow 

 through excellant intervale land ; and 

 through Waterfbrd and Barnet it runs 

 slow through rich flat land, though there 

 are some large falls in Barnet. It is gen- 

 erally deep, and is between four and six 

 rods wide below St. Johnsbury plain. It 

 receives several large branches in Lyn- 

 don, two in St. Johnsbury and one in 

 Barnet. Its length is about 34 miles. 

 The name of this stream is said to be de- 

 rived from the Indian phrase Bas-soom-siic, 

 signifying a stream where there is much 

 medicine. 



Pawi.et, a post town in the south- 

 west corner of Rutland county, is in lat. 

 43° 21', and long. 3^ 54', and is bounded 

 north by Wells, east by Danby, south by 

 Rupert, and west by Granville, N. Y. It 

 lies 33 miles north from Bennington, and 

 21 southwest from Rutland. It was char- 

 tered Aug. 26, 1761, to Jonathan Willard 

 and others, containing 23,040 acres. The 

 settlement of this townsliip was commen- 

 ced in 1761, by Simeon Burton, and Wil- 

 liam Fairfield. The nextyear Capt. Jon- 

 athan Willard, who owned 22 rights of 

 land here, equal to 7,920 acres, came into 

 town with 8 or 10 hired men, and .Messrs. 

 Rush, Fitch, and others about the same 

 time. In 1769 the town was organized, 

 and Simeon Burton was first town clerk. 

 The religious denominations are Baptists, 

 Congregationalists, Episcopalians, Meth- 



