Part ]II. 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT 



169 



SUNDEHLAND. 



lies 15 miles northeastfrom Bennington, 87 

 southwesterly i'roin Mnntpelier, and was 

 chartered July 30, 1761 , containing 23, (I4l) 

 acres. Tile settlement of the township 

 was coniiuenced in 176G, by Messrs. 

 Brownson, Bradley, Warrens, Evarts, 

 Chipman and Webb, emigrants from Con- 

 necticut. The town was organized in 

 176S), and Gen. Gideon Brownson was 

 first town clerk. Joseph Bradley, Esq. 

 was representative to the first Legisla- 

 ture, and Col. Timothy Brownson was 

 one of the first councillors. The religious 

 denominations arc, Congregationalists, 

 and Methodists. The Rev. Chauncey 

 Lee was the first settled minister. He 

 was settled over the Congregational 

 church in ]7i:;6, and dismissed in 1795. 

 They have a meeting-house situated in the 

 northwest part of the township. The Bat- 

 tenkill river passes through the northwest- 

 ern part in a southwesterly direction. On 

 this stream are some fine alluvial flats, 

 which are overflown every spring. Roaring- 

 branch originates in several large i»onds 

 in the eastern part of tiie town, and run- 

 ning westerly, unites with the Batten- 

 kill, in Arlington.* On this stream are 

 several excellent situations for mills and 



* We haJ intended to insert entire in tliis place 

 tlic account furnished by Mr. T. M. Bradley, of 

 Williston, of two chilrlren, who were lost in the 

 woods near this branch in 17tO, but we are obliged 

 to omit it for want of room. We w ill however bi iefly 

 state the principal f:ici5.— f)n the 31st May, I7S0", 

 two daughters of Eblad Taylor, of Sunderland, Kez- 

 ziah, aged 7, and Betsey, aged 4 years, wandered 

 into the woods. Not returning, llie parenls became 

 alarmed and commenced a search, which, wiili the 

 aid of a few neiglil)ors, was continued through 

 the night without success. Tlie next day the search 

 was continued by large numbers from this and the 

 neighboring towns, and was continued till the mid- 

 dle of the afiernoon of the third day, when it was re 

 linquished,and the people who had been out, collected 

 together with the view of returning to their homes. 

 Among those was one who thought the search should 

 not he aban^loned and this was Kthan Ai-i.em. He 

 mounted a stump, and soon all eyei were fixed upon 

 him. In his laconic manner, he pointed to the father 

 and mother of the lost children — now petrified with 

 grief and despair — bade each individual present, and 

 especially those who were parents, to make ihe case 

 of these parents his own, and then say whether they 

 could go contentedly to their homes without making 

 one further effort to save those dear little ones , who 

 were, probably, now alive, but perishing with hun- j 

 ger, and spending their last strength in crying to 

 father and mother to give them something to eat. 

 As he spake his giant frame was agitated and Ihe 

 tears rolled down his cheeks, and in the assembly of 

 several humlrcd men, hut few eyes were dry. " I'll 

 go, I'll go" — was at length heard from every part 

 of the crowd. They betook themselves to the woods 

 and before night the lost children were restored in 

 safety to the arms of the distracted parents. It ap 

 pe.aicd that the first nightthey laid down ai the foot 

 of a large tree, and the second Ihey spent upon a 

 lar^e rock. They obtained plenty of drink from the 

 stream, hut were very weak for Ihe want of food. 

 They, however, both survived, and Betsey, the 

 younger, is now, (July, 18-121, the wife of Captain 

 John iMnnson, of VVilliston. The elder was the wife 

 of John .(ones, and died some years ago at Williston. 



Ft. in. 22 



other machinery. The soil consists of al- 

 luvion, loam and marl. Near the foot of 

 the Green Mountains the sulphate of iron 

 is found in considerable quantities. On 

 the side of the mountain a vein of lead 

 ore has been discovered in granular lime- 

 stone. Specimens of the ore Jiave been 

 analyzed, which yielded 60 or 70 per 

 cent, of pure lead, and two or three per 

 cent, of silver. The town contains 5 

 school districts, with a school house in 

 each, 1 grist and 6 saw mills, 1 store, 1 

 tavern, 1 tannery and 1 woollen facto- 

 ry. Statistics oj 1840.-—HoTiies,7'.) ; cat- 

 tle, 467 ; sheep, 1 ,47.3 ; swine, 1 D8 ; wheat, 

 bus. 125; oats, 3,506 ; rye, Ji52 ; b. wheat, 

 545; In. corn, 1,861; potatoes, 7,804 

 hay, tons, 1,232; sugar, lbs. 5,577 ; wool, 

 4,349. Population, 437. 



Sutton, a post town in the north part 

 of Caledonia county, is in lat. 44'-" 3d' and 

 I lono-. 4'' 56', and is bounded northeasterly 

 I by We.stmore, and a part of Newark, east 

 by Burke, south by Lyndon and west by 

 I Sheffield. It lies 38 miles northeastfrom 

 Montpelier, and 13 north from Danville. 

 It was chartered by the name of Billy- 

 mead, February 6, 1782, to Jonathan Ar- 

 nold and associates, and contains 23,040 

 acres. In 1812 the name was altered to 

 Sutton. The settlement of the township 

 was commenced about the year 1791, by 

 a Mr. Hacket, who was soon after joined 

 by other families from Rhode Island and 

 Connecticut. The religious denomina- 

 tions are Methodists, Baptists, and Free- 

 will Baptists. Elder Amos Beck with was 

 ordained over the Baptist church in 1804. 

 A meeting house was erected here in 

 1813. This town has been generally 

 health}'. The epidemic of 1S12, com- 

 inenced about the 10th of February of 

 that 3'ear. In the space of seven weeks 

 there were about 60 cases of the disease 

 and six deaths. The town is watered by 

 two considerable branches, which unite 

 near the south line of Burke, and join the 

 Passumpsic river in Lyndon. There are 

 several ponds, of which Fish pond is the 

 largest, and it lies in the northwest cor- 

 ner. It covers about 200 acres and dis- 

 charges its waters into Barton river. 

 The surface of tlie township i.-s generally 

 even, and considerable tracts of it is so 

 low and wet as to be incapable of cultiva- 

 tion. There are several bogs of marl in 

 this township. The town is divided into 

 7 school districts, and contains several 

 mills and other machinery. Sttitistics of 

 1840.— Horses, 2H(> ; cattle, 1,.j69; sheep, 

 3,994; swine, 1,145; wheat, bush. 2,876 ; 

 barley, 1,166; oats, 13,538 ; rye, 49; b'k 

 wheat, 2,126 ; tnd. corn, 1 ,372 ; potatoes, 

 61,175; hay, tons, 3,088; sugar, lbs. 



