138 



GAZETTEER OP VERMONT. 



Part III. 



PITTSFIELD. 



spot near the centre of the town, which 

 is a place of some business. The public 

 buildings, in town,, are a meeting house 

 and an academy, both standing a little 

 out of the village to the southwest. Thf 

 market road leading from Boston to Mont- 

 real through Newbury, passes through 

 the village, and also the county road from 

 Chelsea to Danville. There are in town 

 3 stores, 1 grist, 1 fulling and 6 saw mills, 



1 carding machine, and 2 woollen facto- 

 ries. StatisUcs of IS-JO.— Horses, 373; 

 cattle, 1,'JIO; sheep, 9,2-28 ; swine, 1,055; 

 wheat, bus. 5,491 ; barley, 730 ; oats, 23,- 

 603; rye, 90; Indian corn, 2,377; pota- 

 toes, 67,816; hav, tons, 4,001 ; sugar, lbs. 

 21,180; wool, 17,786. Population"', 1 ,443. 



Pkru, a post town in the northeast cor- 

 ner of Bennington count,}', is in lat. 43'' 

 15' and long. 4" 8', and is bounded north 

 by Mount Tabor, east by Landgrove, 

 south by Winhall and west by Dorset. It 

 lies 30 miles northeast from Bennington, 

 and the same distance southwest from 

 Windsor. It was chartered October Vi, 

 1761, by the name of Bromley, and con- 

 tains, by charter, 23,040 acres. The set- 

 tlement of this township was commenced 

 about the year 1773, by William Barlow, 

 from Woodstock, Con. The town was 

 organized March 1, 1802. John Brock 

 was first town clerk, and Reuben Bige- 

 low, Esq., first representative. The reli- 

 gious denominations are Congregational- 

 ists, Episcopalians, Methodists and Bap- 

 tists. The Rev. Oliver Plymplon was 

 ordained over the Congregational church 

 December 29, 1813, and died the ne.\t 

 vear. The Rev. Thomas Baldwin is the 

 present minister. This society have a 

 meeting house, which was erected in 

 1814. The other societies are small, iv. 

 the years 1809 and '10, and 1813 and '14, 

 the inhabitants of this township suffered 

 much from sickness. The prevailing dis- 

 orders were the measles, canker and fe- 

 vers, and they were, in many cases, mor- 

 tal. This township lies upon the Green 

 Mountains, and much of it is high and 

 broken. There are two natural ponds, 

 one covering about 40 and the other about 

 60 acres. The eastern part is watered by 

 some of the head branches of West river. 

 The best road across the Green Moun- 

 tains in the state, south of Montpelier, 

 passes through this township. There are 



2 grist and 3 saw mills. 2 taverns and 1 

 tannery. Statistics o/1840. — Horses, 87; 

 cattle, 717; sheep, 1,053; swine, 244; 

 wheat, bus. 534 ; barley, 170 ; oats, 4,430 ; 

 r3'e,218; buckwheat, 850; Indian corn, 

 320; potatoes, 23,100 ; hay, tons, 1,290; 

 sugar, lbs. 7,640; wool, 1,610. Popula- 

 tion, 578. 



PuiLADELrniA. A township was char- 

 tered by this name March 14, 1761 ; No- 

 vember 9, 1814, the north half of it was 

 annexed to Goshen, and the remainder of 

 it annexed to Chittenden, Nov. 2, 1816. 



PiriLADEi-PHiA RivEK is asmall stream 

 which rises in the soutli part of Goshen, 

 runs southwest through Chittenden, and 

 unites with East creek, in Pitlsford. 



Pike River. See Berkshire. 



PiTTSFiELD, a post town in the north- 

 east corner of Piutland count}', is in lat. 

 43° 48' and Ijng. 4" 14', and is bounded 

 easterly by Rochester, southeasterly by 

 Stockbridge, and westerly by Chittenden 

 and Goshen. It lies 35 miles southwest- 

 erly from Montpelier, and 17 northeast 

 from Rutland. It was granted November 

 8, 1780, and chartered to Samuel Wilcox 

 and others, July 29, 1781, containing 

 about 12,000 acres. The settlement was 

 commenced in 1786, by Thomas Hodg- 

 kins, Stephen Holt, George Martin, Dan- 

 iel and Jacob Bowe, and a Mr. Woodard. 

 The town was organized March 26, 1793. 

 Thomas Hodgkins was the first town 

 clerk, and also the first representative. 

 The religious denominations are Congre- 

 gationalists and Methodists, The Con- 

 gregational church was organized in 1793. 

 Rev. Justin Parsons was settled over it 

 from September, 1814, to 1831. Rev. 

 Samuel Sparhawk, the present minister, 

 was settled March 29, 1839. Their meet- 

 ing house was erected in 1820. The 

 Methodist church was organized in 1804, 

 and has generally been supplied by cir- 

 cuit preachers. Their present minister 

 is the Rev. J. L, Slason. The dysentery 

 prevailed here in 1803, and was very mor- 

 tal, particularly to children, and the epi- 

 demic of 1813 was also very fatal. The 

 victims of the latter were mostly adults. 

 Two streams, one from the west, and the 

 other from the south, unite near the cen- 

 tre of tiie township, forming Tweed river, 

 which falls into White river in Stock- 

 bridge. These streams afford several 

 good mill privileges. White river runs 

 across the eastern corner. The township 

 is mountainous, and the most important 

 elevation is called Wilcox's peak. The 

 timber is such as is common to the moun- 

 tain towns. The turnpike from Bethel 

 to Rutland passes through the township 

 along Tweed river. There are here 3 

 saw, 1 grist and 1 fulling mill, 2 stores, 2 

 taverns and 1 tannery. Statistics o/1840. 

 Horses, 117; cattle," 729 ; sheep, 2,358; 

 swine, 390 ; wheat, bus. 584 ; barley, 14 ; 

 oats, 1,9.56; rye, 294; buckwheat, 818; 

 Indian corn, 1,531 ; potatoes, 16,373 ; hay, 

 tons, 1,632; sugar, lbs. 19,920; wool, 

 5,220. Population, 615. 



