172 



GAZETTEER OP VERMONT. 



Tart III. 



TINMOUTH . 



T O P S H A >I . 



TOWNSHEND- 



Congregational church, which was for 

 many yf ars the only church in town, was 

 oro-anized in 1780, and has had the fol- 

 lowing settled ministers : the Rev. Bcnj. 

 Osborn from Sept. 2b, 17S0, to Oct. 11, 

 1767 ; Rev. William Boies from Feb. 2H, 

 1804, to July 15, 1618; Rev. Stephen 

 Martindale from Jan. 6, 161i), to Feb. (i, 

 183-2, and the Rev. Rufus C. Clapp, the 

 present minister, since Sept. 16, 163!J. 

 Between 163*2 and 1639 the Rev. Stephen 

 Williams labored here more than 4 years. 

 This church consists at present of .57 

 members. An Episcopal church, by the 

 name of St. Stcpkcns CInirch, is orfran- 

 ized here, and now consists of 16 mem- 

 bers, but has no settled n)inister. There 

 are some Methodists here, who have 

 prcachinof a part of the time. There is no 

 meetin<T house excepting that belonnrintr 

 to the Congregationalists, which is a neat, 

 convenient building, erected in !83b'. 

 The situation of tiie town is elevated and 

 healthv. Mrs. Abigail Carpenter died 

 hero in Jan., 1817, aged 100 years and 6 

 months. The Hon. Thomas Porter lived 

 here from 177'.t to about 1632, and died at 

 Granville, N. Y., in May, 1833, aged 9!) 

 years and 3 months. Mrs. Rossetter and 

 Mrs. Dean died here in 1820, aged about 

 96, and the Hon. Nath'l Cliipman is still 

 living here at the age of 90. The epi- 

 demic of 1613 was very mortal. Furnace 

 brook, or Little West river, rises from a 

 email pond in the south part of the town- 

 ship, and runs nearly north through 

 Clarendon, and unites with Otter creek 

 in Rutland. A dam was formerl}' erected 

 on this stri-am, near the north line of the 

 town, which caused tiie water to flow 

 back for the distance of three miles, and 

 the pond was, in some places, half a mile 

 in width. In this pond the fish multiplied 

 and became remarkably numerous and 

 large. About the year 161.5, this dam 

 was taken away, and the furnace, which 

 stood upon it, was removed furtiier up 

 the stream near the centre of the town- 

 ship, where it was in operation till 1837, 

 when it ceased. Poultney river waters 

 the western part. There are two ranges 

 of hills or mountains extending through 

 the township from south to north, one on 

 each side of Furnace brook. Several 

 quarries of fine marble have been opened, 

 and iron ore is found in abundance in sev- 

 eral places. The town contains 6 school 

 districts, besides forming parts of three 

 more with adjoining towns, 3 saw mills, 

 1 store, 1 tavern and 1 tannery. Statis- 

 tics r>/ 1840. —Horses, 179 ; cattle, 2,059 ; 

 sheep, 5,215; swine, 589: wheat, buoh. 

 1,441 ; oats, 7,5,55 ; rye, 3,3G3 ; Ind.corn, 

 2,624 ; potatoes, 10,750 ; hay, tons, 3,187; 



sugar, lbs. 19,555 ; wool, 10,759. Popu- 

 lation, 781. 



ToniLiN<oN. Name altered to Grafton, 

 October 31, 1791. Sec Grafton. 



TopsHA.M, a post town in the north 

 part of Orange county, is in lat. 44° 8' 

 and long. 4° 45', and is bounded north by 

 Groton, east by Newbury, south by Cor- 

 inth, and west by Orange. It lies 19 

 miles southeast from Montpelier, and 47 

 north from Windsor. It was chartered 

 June 17, 1763. The settlement was com- 

 menced about the year 1781, by Thomas 

 Chamberlain, Thomas McKeiih and Sam- 

 uel Farnun). In 1763 they were joined 

 by Robert Mann, Samuel Thompson and 

 John (."rown : and, in 1764, by Lemuel 

 Tabor. The first settlers were generally 

 from New Hampshire. Lemuel Tabor 

 built the first saw mill here in 1764, and 

 the first grist mill in 1787. The town was 

 organized March 15, 1790, and Lemuel 

 Tabor was the first town clerk, which of- 

 fice he held 33 out of the 34 succeeding 

 years. It w-as first represented in the 

 general assembly, in 1801, by William 

 Thompson. The religious denominations 

 are Congregationalists, Freewill Baptists, 

 Baptists, Universalists and Methodists, 

 The Rev. Slillman Morgan is minister of 

 the Congregational church. Elders Wil- 

 liam and Eber Sanborn of the Baptist, and 

 ICldcr A. Shipman of the Freewill Baptist. 

 A. town house, which has been occupied 

 as a meeting house, was erected here in 

 1606. The township is watered princi- 

 pally by the head branches of Wait's riv- 

 er, several of which are considerable mill 

 streams. The surface is very uneven, 

 and much of it stony. The rocks are 

 principal!}' granite. The timber is maple, 

 beech, birch, spruce and hemlock. There 

 are in town 17 school districts and school 

 houses, 7 saw, 2 fulling and 4 grist 

 mills, 1 carding machine, 2 stores, and 

 3 tanneries. Statistics of 1840. — Hors- 

 es, 350 ; cattle, 2,591 ; sheep, 6,1 1 1 ; 

 swine, 1,457; wheat, bus. 5,576 ; barley, 

 470; oats, j8, 215; rye, 164; buckwheat, 

 487; Ind. corn, 5,653 ; potatoes, 63,179; 

 hay, tons, 4,294 ; sugar, lbs. 31,645 ; 

 wool, 8,961. Population, 1,745. 



Tow.NSHE.vD, a post town in the central 

 part of Windham county, is in lat. 43° 3' 

 and long. 4° 24", and is bounded north by 

 Grafton and Athens, east by Athens and 

 Brookline, south by Newfane, and west 

 by Windham, Jamaica and Wardsboro'. 

 It lies 28 miles northeast from Benning- 

 ton, and 12 northwesterly from Brattle^ 

 borough ; and was chartered June 20, 

 1753, containing, originally, about 23,000 

 acres. In ]84() th^ town of Acton was 

 annexed to it. The first settlement waa 



