Part HI. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



153 



RUTLAND. 



RUTLAND. 



ington county, N. Y. The surface of the 

 township is uneven, and the eastern part 

 mountainous. It is a very good farming 

 township, and is divided into 9 school 

 districts. It contains a meeting house, I 

 grist and 3 saw mills, 1 tannery, and 3 

 stores. Statistics of 1640. — Horses, 217; 

 cattle, 1,237; sheep, 16,190; swine, 778; 

 wheat, bus. 1,442; oats, 4,130; rye, 2,- 

 963; buckwheat, 337 ; Ind. corn, 5,417 ; 

 potatoes, 30,920 ; hay, tons, 4,804 ; sugar, 

 lbs. 5,900 ; wool, 26,446. Pop. 1,091. 



Rutland, a post town and capital of 

 Rutland count}', is in lat. 43° 37' and Ion. 

 4° 4', and is bounded north by Pittsford, 

 east by Mcndon, south by Clarendon, and 

 west by Ira. It lies 50 miles soutliwest 

 from Montpelier, 60 south from Burling- 

 ton, and 52 northeasterly from Benning- 

 ton. It was chartered Sept. 7, 1761, and 

 contains, according to the words of the 

 charter, "exclusive of ponds, rivers, rocks, 

 &c., something more than 26,000 acres of 

 land." The length of the north line is 7 

 miles aud a half, that of the east line, 5 

 and a half, the south line, 6 and three 

 quarters, and the west, 5 miles and a half. 

 The original proprietors of the township 

 mostly resided in New Hampshire, none 

 of wiiom ever located themselves perma- 

 nently in Rutland. Some of the earliest 

 survej's were made in the spring of 1770. 

 Among the earliest proprietor's records 

 now to be found in the town clerk's of- 

 fice, is one bearing date 2d Tuesday of 

 October, 1770. Nothing is known in the 

 early history of the township to distin- 

 guish it from the other towns in its vicin- 

 it}'. During the war of the revolution, it 

 was, for some time, a frontier town, and 

 was subject to all the commotions and in- 

 conveniences incident to its situation. 

 Through it lay the only military road 

 from ('harlestown, N. H., to Ticonderoga 

 and Crown Point, on lake Champlain. 

 During the war, the Vermont troops, or 

 Green Alountuin Boys, erected here two 

 small picket forts, sufficient to contain 

 about 100 men each. One of them was 

 situated on the ground occupied by the 

 present village in the east parish, about 

 12 rods north of the spot where the court 

 house now stands. Some of the stumps 

 are still remaining in the highway, cov- 

 ered with earth, and also a well sunk for 

 the accommodation of the garrison. The 

 other fort was situated at the head of the 

 falls in Otter creek, then called Meads 

 falls. No traces of its position are now 

 remaining. As a means of checking the 

 incursions of the enemy, and of facilita- 

 ting the communications between the eas- 

 tern part of the state and lake Champlain, 

 these forts were found to be very useful. 

 Pt.ui. 20 



The religious denominations are Congre- 

 gationalists. Episcopalians, Baptists, and 

 ftlethodists. There are two Congrega- 

 tional societies, one in each parish, each 

 of which has a large and commodious 

 meeting house. That in the east parish 

 is of brick, that in the vve.st of wood. The 

 1st Congregational church was organized 

 in the west parish in 1773, and has had the 

 folio wiug settled ministers. Rev. Bena- 

 jah Root, from 1774 to 1787 ; Rev. Lem- 

 uel Haynes, from March 1788 to 1818; 

 Rev. Amos Drury, from June 1819 to 

 April 1829; and Rev. Lucius L. Tilden, 

 from March 1830 to Oct. 1839. Church 

 members, 266. The church in the east 

 parish was organized in 1787, and has had 

 the following ministers. Rev. Heman 

 Ball, from Feb. 1, 1797, to his death, Dec. 

 17, 1821 ; Rev. Charles Walker, from 

 Jan. 1, 1823 to March 13, 1833 ; and Rev. 

 Wm. Mitchell, the present minister, waa 

 settled March 14, 1833. Members 323. 

 The Episcopal church was organized in 

 Jan. ,1832, by the name ofTrinitij Church, 

 and Rev. John A. Hicks, the present min- 

 ister, was chosen rector. Their church ed- 

 ifice was erected in the east village, in 

 1832, and consecrated in May, 1833. 

 Since the organization there have been 55 

 baptisms, and 60 confirmed. Present com- 

 municants 48. No int'ormation respecting 

 the other churches. The principal stream 

 is Otter creek, which enters the township 

 about the middle of the south line, and 

 leaves it about the middle of the north 

 line, cutting it into two nearly equal par- 

 allelograms. Tributary to this are West 

 river, rising in Tin mouth, and East creek, 

 one of whose branches rises in Chittenden, 

 andthe other in Mendon,the latter entering 

 Otter creek, 1 mile above Gookin's falls, 

 and the former about 40 rods below. In ad- 

 dition to these, there are two other streams 

 of less magnitude, flowing in above East 

 creek, on the right bank, tJie first of which, 

 near the south line, is Cold river, the oth- 

 er, one mile and a half below, is the con- 

 fluent stream formed by the union of the 

 Moon and Mussey brooks, so called. Near 

 the northwest corner of the township, on 

 the north line, another stream, called Cas- 

 tleton river, enters, and, after pursuing a 

 southerly course about 3 miles, turns to 

 the right, and passes oft' into Ira. On all 

 of these streams are convenient sites for 

 mills and other machinery, most of which 

 are already occupied. Among the most 

 eligible are two on Otter creek, one at 

 Sutherland's falls, where there are a saw 

 and grist mill, and the other at Gookin's 

 falls (formerly called Mead's falls), where 

 there are also a saw mill and grist mill, 

 together with a woollen factory and a pa- 



