Part HI. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



149 



RICHMOND. 



ROCHESTER. 



tons, 2,236 ; sugar, lbs. 19,505 ; wool, 5,- 

 168. Population, 914. 



Richmond, a post town in the central 

 part of Chittenden county, is in lat. 44^' 24' 

 and long. 4"^, 4' and is bounded norther- 

 ly by Jericho, easterly by Bolton, south- 

 erly by Huntington, and westerly by Wil- 

 liston. It lies 13 miles southeast from 

 Burlington, and 24 northwest from Mont- 

 pelier. This townsliip was taken from 

 the townships-of Huntington, Williston, 

 Bolton, and Jericho, and was incorpora- 

 ted by act of the Legislature, passed in 

 October, 1794. The town was organized 

 in March, 1795, and Joshua Chamberlain 

 was first town elerk. Amos Brownson, 

 Esq. was the first representative, chosen 

 the same year. Joel Brownson and Jarnes 

 Farnswortii were the first justices of the 

 peace. The first attempt to form a settle- 

 ment here was made in 1775, by Amos 

 Brownson and John Chamberlain, with 

 their families ; but they abandoned the 

 townshij) in the fall, and did not return 

 till the close of the revolutionary war. In 

 the spring of 1784 they returned to the 

 farms, on which the}^ had made begin- 

 nings, accompanied by Asa and Joel 

 Brownson, Samuel and Joshua Ciiamber- 

 lain, James Holly, Joseph Wilson, and 

 Jesse McFairlain. The religious denom- 

 inations arc the Congregationalist, Bap- 

 tist, Freewill Baptist, and Universalist. 

 Elder Ezra Wilinot was ordained over the 

 Baptist church, and continued several 

 years. He was the first settled minister, 

 and there was no other in town till Sep- 

 tember 25, 1823, when Elder John Peck 

 was settled over the same church. There 

 is a meeting house in the centre of the 

 town having 16 sides, with a steeple rising 

 from the centre, and owned by the sever- 

 al denominations. Around the meeting 

 house is a small village, and another small 

 village has recently grown up on the op- 

 posite side of the river, upoji the stage 

 road leading from Burlington to Montpe- 

 lier. It contains a store, tavern, and sev- 

 eral mechanics. Mr. Bigford Spooner 

 died here in 1819, aged 104. Dr. Matthew 

 Cole was the first physician. He died in 

 1809, and his brother, Dr Seth Cole, has 

 been the principal phvsician since that 

 time. The township is watered by W in- 

 ooski river, which runs through it in a 

 westerly direction, and by Huntington 

 river, which enters the township about 

 the middle of the southern boundary, and 

 unites with the Winooski river east of the 

 centre. There are also several smaller 

 streams, on which mills are erected. Along 

 Winooski river the alluvial flats are ex- 

 tensive and beautiful. This township 

 forms a very convenient centre, in which 



the meeting house is situated. The stage 

 road from Montpelier to Burlington pass- 

 es along the north bank of Winooski riv- 

 er. The town is divided into 8 school dis- 

 tricts, and contains three saw and one ful- 

 ling mill, 2 tanneries, 2 taverns, 3 stores, 

 and 1 woollen factory. Statistics of 1840. 

 —Horses, 281; cattle, 2,211; sheep, 5,- 

 543; swine, 1,371 ; wheat, bus. 1,941; 

 oats, 13,049 ; rye, 1,177 ; buckwheat, 549 ; 

 Ind. corn, 7,864 ; potatoes, 38,115 ; hay, 

 tons, 3,767 ; sugar, lbs. 11,650 ; wool, 11,- 

 717. Population, 1,054. 



RiPTON, a post town in Addison coun- 

 ty, is in lat. 44° ]', and is bounded north 

 by Avery's gore, and Bristol,eastby Gran- 

 ville, south by Goshen, and west by Mid- 

 dlebury. It lies 26 miles southwest from 

 Montpelier; was granted April 13, 1781, 

 and chartered to Abel Thompson and as- 

 sociates. Middlebury river runs through 

 the south part, and on this stream are 5 

 saw mills in Ripton. The turnpike t>om 

 Royalton to Vergennes passes along the 

 bank of this stream. In 1814 a strip from 

 the east side of Middlebury was annexed 

 I to this township, and in 1815 the north 

 ■ part of Goshen was annexed to it. Much 

 of the township is mountainous and bro- 

 : ken, and unsuitable for settlement. Sla- 

 ' tistics of 1840. — Horses, 86 ; cattle, 260 ; 

 sheep, 634 ; swine, 126 ; wheat, bus. 170 ; 

 i oats, 1,420; rye, 190; buckwheat, 15; 

 i Indian corn, 120; potatoes, 9,360; hay, 

 i tons, 690 ; sugar, lbs. 4,200 ; wool, 1,796. 

 [ Population, 357. 



j Rochester, a post town in the north- 

 I west corner of Windsor county, is in lat. 

 I 43'=' 53' and long 4" 15', and is bounded 

 I northerly by Braintroe and a small part 

 ! of Kingston, easterly by Bethel, southcr- 

 ! ly by Pittsfield,and westerly by Hancock. 

 1 It lies 30 miles southwest from Montpe- 

 lier, and 20 southeast from Middlebury. 

 It was granted November 6, 1780, and 

 chartered to Hon. Dudley Chase and oth- 

 ers, August 30, 1781, containing 23,040 

 acres. The settlement of this township 

 was commenced about the close of the 

 revolutionary war. In the fall of 1822, 

 the dysentery prevailed here to an alarm- 

 ing desrree, particularl}' in the village. 

 There were about 40 deaths in the town- 

 ship in the period of two months. Tlie 

 religious denominations are Congrega- 

 tionalists, Methodists, Universalists and 

 Baptists. Rev. Salmon Hurlbut was set- 

 tled over the Congregational church in 

 1822. Rev. William Scales is the present 

 minister. They have a meeting house 

 which v/as erected in 1813. Rev. Lewis 

 Hill is minister of the Methodist church. 

 The two oldest persons in this township, 

 in 1824, were Eliakim Root and Seth 



