Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



143 



POMFRET. 



POTTIER S POINT. 



POULTNEY. 



wife and three children followed him the 

 whole distance on foot. In the course of 

 two years, tiie settlement was increased 

 by a great number of families, among 

 whom were John W. Dana, Seth Hodges 

 and Benjamin Bugbee. Mr. Dana built 

 the first grist mill, soon after he came in- 

 to town, upon a small stream, which emp- 

 ties into White river. The town was or- 

 ganized in March, 1773, and John W. 

 Dana was chosen town clerk. At this 

 meeting John Throop was chosen justice 

 of the peace, and three constables were 

 appointed, and but two highway survey- 

 ors. The town was first represented in 

 1778, by John Throop. The first settled 

 minister was the Rev. Elisha Hutchinson, 

 of the Congregational order. He was or- 

 dained December 14, 1784, and dismissed 

 January 8, 1795. He was succeeded by 

 the Rev. Ignatius Thompson, who was 

 ordained November 20, 160.5, and dis- 

 missed April 26, 1811. Rev. John Dut- 

 ton was ordained March 17, 1819, and has 

 since been dismissed. Their present 

 meeting house, situated in the centre of 

 the townsliip, was built in 1792. There 

 are also, in this township, a considerable 

 number of Methodists, Christians, Bap- 

 tists, &c. The spotted fever prevailed 

 here in 1811 and '12, and was very mor- 

 tal among the young people and children. 

 The surface of the township is considera- 

 bly uneven, but the soil is generally good. 

 There are to be seen here the traces of a 

 hurricane, which formerly passed through 

 the township from west to east. The 

 timber was, probably, all laid prostrate 

 through the distance of seven or eight 

 miles, and about lUO rods in widt]i,anew 

 growth having evidently arisen, mucli 

 younger than the neighboring forests, 

 none of the trees appearing, from the 

 number of concentric layers, to be more 

 than 120 years of age. White river 

 touches upon the northeast corner, and 

 Quechee river touches upon the soutlioast 

 corner. Tlie other streams are small. 

 There are in town 13 school districts, 1 

 grist, 4 saw and 1 fulling mill, 1 carding 

 machine, 2 stores, 2 taverns and 2 tanne- 

 ries. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 396; 

 cattle, 4,982; sheep, 14,.52G ; swine, 1,449; 

 wheat, bus. 4,435 ; barley, 85 ; oats, 15,- 

 786; rye, 1,3.52; buckwheat, 2,-520; In- 

 dian corn, 11,021; potatoes, 65,135; hay, 

 tons, 5,947 ; sugar, lbs. 39,261 ; wool, 

 32,683. Population, 1,774. 



Pottier's Poi.nt is situated on the 

 west side of Shelburne, 2 miles, 182 rods 

 from the south wharf in Burlington. It 

 took its name from John Pottier, the first 

 settler upon it. It is often called Shel- 

 burne Point. 



PouLTNEY, a post town in the western 

 part of Rutland county, is in lat. 44'' 32' 

 and long. 3° 54', and is bounded north by 

 Castleton, east by Middletown and Ira, 

 south by Wells, and west by Hampton, 

 N. Y. It lies 60 miles southwest from 

 Montpelier, 13 from Rutland, and 46 north 

 from Bennington. It was chartered Sep- 

 tember 21, 1761, and contains about 35 

 square miles. The first proprietor's meet- 

 ing was held at Sheffield, Mass., June 7, 

 1763. Tiie settlement was commenced 

 in 1771, by Thomas Ashley and Ebenezer 

 Allen. The earlj' settlers were mostly 

 emigrants from Connecticut and the west- 

 ern part of Massachusetts. Heber Allen 

 was first town clerk, and Wm. Ward first 

 representative. The religions denomi- 

 nations are Congregationalists, Baptists, 

 MetJiodists and Episcopalians, each of 

 which lias a good meeting house. That 

 of the Congregationalists was erected in 

 1803, that of the Baptists in 1805, that of 

 the Methodists more recently, and that of 

 t^^e Episcopalians in 1831. Kev. Ithamcr 

 Hibbard was the first settled minister. 

 He was settled over the Congregational 

 church in 1780, and dismissed July 7, 

 1796. His successors have been Rev. 

 James Thompson from Mav 18, 1803, to 

 1820; Rev. Ethan Smith from Nov. 21, 

 1821, to December, 1826; Rev. Sylvester 

 Cochrane from Oct. 24, 1827, to Oct. 13, 

 1834, and Rev. Solomon Lyman, the pres- 

 ent pastor, settled Feb. 25, 1835. This 

 society has funds to the amount of $5000. 

 Elder Clark Kendrick was the first settled 

 minister of the Baptist church. He was 

 ordained in 1802, and died in March, 1824. 

 Their present minister is the Rev. V. R. 

 Hotchkiss. The Episcopal church, wliich 

 bears the naine of St. Johns Church, con- 

 sists of about 50 communicants. The 

 Episcopal clerirymen who have officiated 

 here more or less are Rev. Bethuel Chit- 

 tenden, Rev. Amos Pardee, Rev. Moore 

 Bingham, Rev. Luman Foote and Rev. 

 L. M. Purdy. Of the Methodist ciiurch 

 we have no account. The epidemic in 

 the spring of 1813, was very distressing, 

 and in the course of three months was fa- 

 tal to about 60 of the inhabitants. This 

 township is watered by Poultney river 

 and its numerous tributaries, which afford 

 a number of valuable mill seats. The soil 

 is generally warm and productive, and 

 the surface pleasantly diversified with 

 hills and vallies. Along Poultney river 

 the alluvial flats are extensive and very 

 productive. The timber is mostly decid- 

 uous, there being but few evergreens. A 

 violent freshet, in July, 181 1, swept off 

 from the streams here four grist and four 

 saw mills, one woollen factory, one card- 



