Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



139 



PlTTSFORD. 



PITTSFORD- 



PiTTSFOKD, a post town in Rutland 

 county, is in hit. 43° 43' and long-. 4° 2", 

 and is bounded north by Brandon, east by 

 Chittenden, south by Rutland, and west 

 by Hubbardton and a small part of Ira. 

 It lies 60 miles north of Bennington, and 

 44 southwest from Rlontpclier, and was 

 chartered October 12, 1761, containing 

 25600 acres. The settlement of this town- 

 ship was commenced in tlie year 1769, by 

 Messrs. Gideon and Benjamin Cooley 

 from Greenwich, Mass., but they were 

 soon joined by Roger Stevens, Felix Pow- 

 ell, Ebenezer Hopkins, Stephen Mead, 

 Moses Olmsted, Edward Owen, Joshua 

 Woodward and otiiers, from Massachu- 

 setts and Connecticut. The first records 

 of this town were accidentally burnt, and 

 therefore the time of its organization has 

 not been ascertained. It was probal)ly in 

 the year 1770. Col. Benjamin Cooley 

 was first town clerk, and Jonathan Fas- 

 set first representative. During tlie rev- 

 olutionary war two picket forts were erec- 

 ted in this township, one called Fort Mott 

 and the other Fort Vengeance. The lat- 

 ter was built early in the year 177!), upon 

 an eminence on the east side of Otter 

 creek, and near tlie present stage road from 

 Pittsford village to Middlebury. Pittsford 

 was a frontier township, and Fort Ven- 

 geance the most northerly post in Ver- 

 mont, on the west side of the Green 

 Mountains, which was held by the Amer- 

 icans during the revolution. The reli- 

 gious denominations are Congregational- 

 ists. Baptists and Methodists. Elder Eli- 

 slia Rich was the first settled minister, 

 and was ordained over the Baptist church 

 about the year 1784. Elder Rich, after 

 preaching here a numlier of ye;irs, left the 

 town, and was succeeded by Elder Vv'm. 

 Harrington, who was dismissed about the 

 year 1819. The Rev. Eleazer Harwood 

 was settled over the Congregational 

 church about the year 1785, and continu- 

 ed its pastor till his death, which happen- 

 ed in 1807. December oOth, of this year, 

 the Rev. Holland Weeks was ordained 

 over this church, and dismissed in 1814 ; 

 the Rev. Asa Messer was ordained Jan. 

 29, 1818, and dismissed February, 1822; 

 and the Rev. John Ingersoll, Dec. 18, 

 1823, and dismissed in September, 1826. 

 The Rev. VVillard Child, tlie present min- 

 ister, was settled April 25, 1827. The 

 Congregational, Baptist, and Methodist 

 societies have each a convenient meet- 

 inghouse, two of which are situated in 

 the village near the centre of the town- 

 ship. There have been two general re- 

 vivals of religion, the former in 1784, and 

 '5, and the latter in 1802, and '3. The 

 dysentery was very mortal here in 1803, 



and in the latter part of summer carried 

 off 40 persons in the course of 4 weeks. 

 The epidemic of 1812 and '13, was also 

 very fatal, particularly to heads of fami- 

 lies. Mrs. Elizabeth Smith one of the 

 first settlers, lived to the age of 96 years, 

 Mr. Elisha Adams to his 92d or 93d year, 

 and several others to nearly the same 

 age. Mary, daughter of Ebenezer Ly- 

 man, was born in this town June 20, 

 1784, and died January 23d, 1794. In 

 September previous to her death, being 

 but little more than 9 j'ears of age, she 

 weighed 174 pounds, and at the time of 

 her death, probably weighed 200 lbs. She 

 was a healthy child, witli good common 

 sense, and her strengtli was equal to her 

 size. She caught a slight cold, and was 

 somewhat un^\ell for about two weeks 

 before she died, but ate a hearty breakfast 

 on the morning preceding her death. Ot- 

 ter creek, which flov/s through the mid- 

 dle of this township, from south to north, 

 with a gentle meandering current, is the 

 principal stream, and its width here is 

 from 40 to 50 yards. Furnace brook, a 

 considerable tributary of Otter creek, is 

 formed by the union of East creek, and 

 Philadelphia river. Along these streams 

 are extensive meadows of the rich alluvi- 

 al soil. On Furnace brook and its branch- 

 es are numerous mill privileges which are 

 well improved. There are tv^o ponds, one 

 in the southeastern part covering about 

 20 acres, and the other in the northeast- 

 ern covering about 30 acres. There are 

 no mountains. A range of hills extends 

 along the west line between this town- 

 sliip and Hubbardton. The soil is gener- 

 ally loam, with some tracts which are 

 sandy, and some of clay. The timber is 

 oak of several kinds, pine, maple, beech, 

 birch, elm, basswood, ash, cherry, butter- 

 nut, walnut, poplar, &c. This township 

 abounds in iron ore, which makes the 

 best of ware, and bar iron, and has inex- 

 haustable quarries of excellent marble. 

 The iron ore 3"ields about 2-5 per cent, of 

 mctalic iron. The marble is coarse grain- 

 ed and somewhat flexible. Much of it is 

 conveyed down Otter creek to Middlebu- 

 ry, to be sawn and manufactured into 

 jambs, &c. The oxyde of manganese i.9 

 also found in this township. In the east- 

 ern part of the township is a deep cavern 

 in which ice may commonly be found in 

 the months of July and AugUL^. There 

 is a small village near the centre of the 

 township, containing two meeting hous- 

 es, three stores, one druggist shop, two 

 taverns, several mechanics' shops, and 

 about 30 dwelling houses. It is situated 

 eight miles north from Rutland court 

 house. Another called MillviUuire is sit- 



