148 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



RKADSBOKOL'GH. 



RICIIFORD. 



and Elijah Gale are ministers of the Meth- 

 odist church. A meeting house was 

 erected iiere in 1801, and partly finished ; 

 it was, however, destroyed by lire on the 

 night of the 4th of July, 1810 ; supposed 

 to be the work of an incendiary. In 1816, 

 an elegant brick meeting house was erec- 

 ted here, and completely finished the 

 same year. The most remarkable season 

 of mortality ever experienced here, was 

 in February and March, lel3, when more 

 than sixty persons died in two months, 

 mostly of the spotted fever. The surface 

 -of this town is uneven, and the elevations 

 pretty abrubt. Tov/ards the west part, 

 is an elevated tract of land extending 

 through the town from nortJi to south, 

 from which issues its principal streams. 

 It is wortliy of remark that no water runs 

 into this township. In the southwest 

 part, and on the line between Reading 

 and Plymouth, is a natural pond, about 

 two hundred rods in length, and fifty in 

 breadth. The outlet of this pond is to the 

 south, and leads into Plymouth pond. 

 From the northwest part of the town, the 

 streams take a nortiierly direction, and 

 fall into Quecliee river at Bridgewater. 

 Fronj the middle and northeast parts, the 

 streams take an easterly direction, and 

 unite with Connecticut river at Windsor, 

 whilst those in tlic southeast part take a 

 southeasterly direction and fall intoRlack 

 river at Weathersfield. Some small 

 streams, however, rise in the north part, 

 and taking a northeasterly direction, fall 

 into Quechee river at Woodstock North 

 village. The streams in Reading, though 

 generally small, afford a tolerable supply 

 of water for common mills. The soil in 

 Reading is of a middling quality, and af- 

 fords excellent pasturage. Tlie timber 

 is generally hard wood, but the highlands 

 afford spruce and hemlock. Tiiere are 

 three villages and post offices in the town. 

 Readitig, near the centre, contains the 

 meetinghouse, 'Bailey's mills,' a store, 

 tavern, &c. South Reading, in the south- 

 ern part, has 2 stores, a tavern, and t])c 

 extensive copperplate printing establish- 

 ment of Mr. Lewis Robinson. Felchville, 

 a new village in the southeast part, con- 

 tains a woollen factory, 2 stores, a tavern, 

 &c. There are in the town 15 schools, 

 2 grist and 7 saw mills, 2 woolen factories, 

 5 clothiers' works, 5 stores, 3 taverns, and 

 2 tanneries. Statistics of IS4(). — Horses, 

 424 ; cattle, 1,870 ; sheep, 8,933 ; swine, 

 596 ; wheat, bus. 2,950 ; barley, 478 ; oats, 

 6,339 ; rye, 601 ; buck-wheat, 405 ; In- 

 dian corn, 3,984; potatoes, 22,540 ; hav, 

 tons, 4,177; sugar, lbs. 24,215; wool, 

 18,379. Population, 1,363. 



Reedsborough, a township in the 



southeast corner of Bennington county, 

 is in lat. 42°48' and long. 4° 6', and is 

 bounded north by Scarsburgh, east by 

 Whitingham, south by Rowe, Mass., and 

 west by Stamford and a part of Woodford. 

 It lies 12 miles southeast from Benning- 

 ton, and 18 southwest from Brattlebor- 

 ough. This township contains 20,480 

 acres, but the time and the source of the 

 grant are not known. Its population, in 

 1791, amounted to 64 persons. The sur- 

 face is considerably mountainous, and 

 much of it unsuitable for settlement. The 

 streams are Deerfield river, which runs 

 along the eastern Boundary into Massa- 

 chusetts, and a branch of this river, which 

 runs diagonally through the townsiiip 

 from northwest to southeast. These 

 streams afford several mill privileges. 

 The turnpike, from Bennington to Brat- 

 tleborough, passes through the north part. 

 There are here 4 schools, 4 saw and 1 

 grist mill. Stafislics of 1840. — Horses, 

 424: cattle, 1,132.: sheep, 2,679 ; swine, 

 508; wheat, bus. 249 : barley, 178 ; oats, 

 4,050; rye, 386 ; buck-wheat, 752; In- 

 dian corn, 972; potatoes, 20,952; hay, 

 tons, 2,146 ; sugar, lbs. 27,217; wool, 5,- 

 376. Population, 767. 



RiCHFORD, a post town in the north- 

 east corner of Franklin county, is in 

 lat. 44"^ 57' and long. 4° 24', and is boun- 

 ded north by Sutton, Can., east by Jay, 

 soutli by Montgomery, and west by Berk- 

 shire. It lies 50 miles north from Mont- 

 pelier, and 24 northeast from St. Albans. 

 It was granted March 13, 1780, and char- 

 tered to Jonathan Wells and otiiers, Au- 

 ornst 21, of the same year, containing 

 23,040 acres. The settlement was com- 

 menced in 1797. The town was organ- 

 ized March 30, 1799. Chester Wells was 

 first town clerk and Jonathan Jones first 

 representative. There are two Baptist 

 societies, the first organized in 1810, the 

 second in 1827, and a Methodist society 

 organized in 1839. Elder Wm. Roger.s 

 is minister of the 1st Baptist society. The 

 others have no settled ministers. The 

 eastern part of the township is high and 

 broken. The southeast corner extends on 

 to Jay Peak. The principal stream is 

 Missisco river, which enters the township 

 from Canada near the northeast corner, 

 and runs through it in a southwesterly 

 direction into Berkshire. Along the riv- 

 er is some fine intervale. There are here 

 no meeting houses, 7 scliool districts and 

 school houses, 2 stores, 2 starch factories, 

 and several mechanics' shops. Statistics 

 O/1840.— Horses, 202 : cattle, 930 ; sheep, 

 2,268; swine, 379; wheat, bush. 2,238; 

 barley, 2; oats, 2,272; buckwheat, 784; 

 Ind. corn, 2,112 ; potatoes, 39,706; hay. 



