Part III. 



GAZETTEER OF VERPvIONT. 



171 



THETFOUD. 



TINMOUTH. 



by John Chamberlain, from Hebron, Ct. 

 The next year he was joined by two oth- 

 er families, one by the name of Baldwin, 

 and the otiicr by the name of Hosford. 

 Samuel, the son of John Chamberlain was 

 the first English child born in town 

 John Cliamberlain was nick-named Qiaiil 

 John. Being industrious and somewhat 

 parsimonious, iie accumulated considera- 

 ble property, and his fame has been per- 

 petuated in the following stanza. 



"Old ftuail John was the first tlint came ou, 



As poor as a caif in the sprinjr ; 

 But now he is rich as Governor Fitcli,* 



And lives like a lord or a king." 



The first meeting of the pro])rietors 

 held in this township, was at the liouseof 

 Abner Chamberlain, May 10, 176S. The 

 town was not organized till 17(>-:!, and Ab- 

 ner Howard was the first town clerk. 

 The Congregationalists are the most nu- 

 merous denomination of Cliristians. Their 

 first settled minister was the Rev. Clem- 

 ent Sumner. He graduated at Yale Col- 

 lege in 1758, settled at Keene June 11th, 

 1761, was dismissed April 30, 1772, and 

 installed at Thetford in 1773. He became 

 a tory at the commencement of the war, 

 went to Swanzey, N. H., where he be- 

 came a Universalist preacher, and contin- 

 ued such till his death. From the time 

 of Sumner's leaving- Thetford till the ar- 

 rival of Dr. Asa Burton, in 1778, the 

 church was without a pastor. Dr. Burton 

 was born at Stoningtcn, Ct., August 25, 

 1752, came to Norwich with his father in 

 17G6, graduated at Dartmouth College in 



1777, read divinity with Pres. Wheelock, 

 commenced preaching at Thetford in 



1778, was ordained there in Jan., 177!^), 

 and continued there till his death, on the 

 1st of May, 183G, at the age of 84 years. 

 The Congregational society has a meet- 

 ing house situated in a village near the 

 centre of the township. There has been 

 a Baptist churcli organized here, but it is 

 email. This township is watered by Om- 

 pompanoosuc river, which runs through 

 it in a southeasterly direction, and b}' a 

 large branch, which rises in Strafford and 

 unites with the Ompompanoosuc in the 

 south part of the township. Botli these 

 streams afford fine mill privileges. About 

 half of Fairlee lake lies in the north part 

 of the township, and there are several 

 smaller ponds. One of these covers about 

 nine acres, and is situated in the eastern 

 part, about foiir rods from the west bank 

 of Connecticut river, which is in this 

 place more than 100 feet above the level 

 of the river. It is fed by no stream, nor 

 is there any stream issuing from it. It is 



* Alhision is here made to the Governor of Con 

 nscticul. 



very deep, and in summer falls 2 or 3 feet. 

 It contains la^-ge quantities of perch and 

 other fish. The road passes between the 

 pond and the river. A small vein of ga- 

 lena, or the sulphuret of lead, has been 

 discovered here. The mine is situated 

 about 100 rods northeasterly from the 

 meeting house, on the south side of a hill. 

 The surface of Thetford is uneven, and 

 in some parts rocky. Tiiere are in town 

 three small villages, two of which are sit- 

 uated on the Ompompanoosuc, and the 

 other near the centre of the township. 

 The latter is the most important, and con- 

 tains a meeting liouse, an academy, a tav- 

 ern, several stores, and a number of hand., 

 some dwelling houses. Thetford Acade- 

 my was incorporated and established here 

 in 181i). The average number of scholars 

 is from 40 to 50. There are in town 17 

 school districts, a small woollen factorvt 

 &c. Stati.slics of 1840. — Horses, 47b; 

 cattle, 2,256; sheep, 13,604; swine, 1,- 

 351; wheat, bus. 3,635; barley, 1,020; 

 oats, ]<),710; rye, 2,499; buckwheat, 2,- 

 289 ; Ind. corn, 15,628 ; potatoes, 58,957 ; 

 hay, tons, 4,978; sugar, lbs. 21,288; wool, 

 25,798. Population, 2,065. 



TiNMOUTH, a post town in the central 

 part of Rutland county, is in lat. 43 27' 

 and long. 4^ 2', and is bounded north by 

 Clarendon and Ira, east by Wallingford, 

 south by Danby, and west by Wells and 

 Middletown. It lies 41 miles north from 

 Bennington, eight south from Rutland, 

 and was chartered September 15, 1761, 

 to Joseph Hooker and others, containing, 

 originally, 23,040 acres. Its size has since 

 been reduced, by contributing to neigh- 

 ing townships, about one third. The set- 

 tlement was commenced here about the 

 year 1770. Among the first settlers were 

 Thomas Peck and John McNeal. This 

 town was organized March 11, 1777, and 

 Charles Brewster was the first town clerk. 

 On the 17th of Februar}^ of this year the 

 inhabitants of Tinmouth had a meeting 

 and " voted not to raise money towards 

 paying Sctli Warner's regiment." Soon 

 after, the following oath of allegiance was 

 imposed upon the freemen of this town. 

 " You each of you swear, by the living 

 God, that you believe for yourselves, that 

 the King of Groat Britain hath not any 

 right to command, or autliority in or over 

 the States of America, and that you do 

 not hold yourselves bound to yield any 

 allegiance or obedience to him witiiin the 

 same, and that you will, to the utmost of 

 your power, maintain and defend the free- 

 dom, independence and privileges of the 

 United St;ites of America, against all 

 open enemies, or traitors, or conspirators 

 whatsoever ; so help yon God." The 



