174 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part 11*. 



TUNBRIDGE. 



4" 36', and is bounded nortli by Potton, 

 Can., east by Newport, south by Lowell, 

 and west by Westfield and Jay. It lies 

 47 miles northeasterly from Montpelier. 

 This township is eleven miles and a half 

 ]on<r from north to south. Tiie length of 

 the north line is nearly five miles, and 

 that of the south nearly two, and the 

 township contains about 23,000 acres. 

 This township was granted in two sepa- 

 rate gores. The south part was charter- 

 ed to John Kelley, Oct. 13, 171)2, and the 

 north half to Samuel Avery. The settle- 

 ment was commenced about the year IdOO, 

 by emigrants from different towns on 

 Connecticut river. During the late war 

 with Great Britain, most of the inhabi- 

 tants left the town. A part of them, how- 

 ever, returned after the war, and the set- 

 tlement has since advanced with consid- 

 erable rapidity. The town was organized 

 March 30, l^:02, and was then called Mis- 

 sisco. Curtis Elkins was the first town 

 clerk. This township is well watered by 

 Missisco river, which runs through it 

 near the western border from south to 

 north, and by several of its tributaries. 

 The falls, on the Missisco, in the north 

 part, are a considerable curiosity. Here 

 the river precipitates itself down a ledge 

 of rocks about 70 feet, these falls and 

 the deep still water below, present a grand 

 and interesting spectacle, when viewed 

 from a rock, which projects over them, 

 120 feet in perpendicular height. The 

 soil is in general a strong loam, suitable 

 for grass and nio.st kinds of grain. The 

 Burface is generally level, and along the 

 river are tracts of intervale of considerable 

 extent and fertility. The principal rocks 

 are chlorite and mica slate, serpentine, 

 limestone and steatite. About 10 years 

 ago an immense mass of iron ore of an 

 excellent quality was discovered in this 

 town a short distance to the eastward of 

 Missisco river. A furnace and forge have 

 been erected, which produce annually 

 about 400 tons of cast iron, and several 

 tons of wrought iron. The quantity of 

 ore is inexhaustible. The timber is most- 

 ly maple, birch, beech, spruce and hem- 

 lock, with some pine. There are here 3 

 post offices, denominated Troy, North 

 Troy, and Troy Furnace, around each of 

 which is a small village. The town con- 

 tains 8 schools, 4 saw, 3 grist and 2 ful- 

 linor mills, 4 stores. Utatistics o/lS40. — 

 Houses, 10.5; cattle, 1,066; sheep, 2,005 

 Bwine, 632; wheat, bus. 023 ; barley, 1.32; 

 oats, 6,502; rye, 511; buckwheat, 1,336; 

 Ind. corn, 1,886; potatoes, 30,880; hay, 

 tons, 2,192; sugar, lbs. 19,066; wool, 5,- 

 944. Population, 816. 



TuNBRiDGE, a post towH in the south 



part of Orange county, is in lat. 43'' 54' 

 and long. 4^ 32', and is bounded north by 

 Chelsea, east bj- Strafford, south by Roy- 

 alton, and west b}' Randolph. It lies 30 

 miles north from Windsor, and 26 south- 

 cast from Montpelicr. It was chartered 

 Sept. 3, 1761, to Abraham Root, Obadiah 

 Noble, and others, containing 23,040 a- 

 cres. The settlement of the township 

 was commenced about the year 1776, by 

 James Lyon, Moses Ordway and others, 

 emigrants from New-Hampshire. James 

 Lj'on, jr., was born January 25, 1780, and 

 was the first child born in town. The 

 Indians passed through the township, at 

 the time they visited Royalton, and took 

 one or two prisoners here. The town 

 was organized in iVlarch, 1786, and A. 

 Stedman was first town clerk. The town 

 was first represented in 1787, by Seth 

 Austin, who was also the first captain of 

 militia and the first justice of the peace. 

 x'Vbont this time the ingress of inhabitants 

 was so great that grain could not be pro- 

 cured for thair support, and they were re- 

 duced almost to a state of starvation. 

 Since that time the inhabitants have been 

 generally blessed with a competency. 

 The religious denominations are Congre- 

 gationalists. Freewill Baptists, Metho- 

 dists and Universalists. The first settled 

 minister was the Rev. David H. Willis- 

 ton. Ho was ordained over the Congre- 

 gational church, June 26, 1703, and dis- 

 missed in J 802. The Rev. Jacob Allen 

 September, 1813, and dismissed in 1821. 

 The Rev. Jose|)h Thatcher, the present 

 minisier was settled in April 1833. The 

 Congregational church was organized 

 Feb. 5, 1702. In 1836 and 7 the society 

 built a new meeting house, which waa 

 dedicated June 14, 1837. April 10, 1838, 

 this btulding was consumed by fire. A 

 new house was, however, immediately 

 erected which was dedicated July 25, 

 1839. This church consists of 52 mem- 

 bers. The Methodists have a good brick 

 meeting house at tiie lower village, built 

 in 1833. Tiie Freewill Baptists have 

 one in the easterly part of the town built 

 in 1808. Their minister is the Rev. Geo. 

 Hacket. A union house was finished at 

 the upper village in 1840. The meeting 

 house near the centre was built in 1797, 

 and is now principally used as a town 

 house. There are three small villages 

 situated nn the first branch of White riv- 

 er, called the Centre, the Upper and Low- 

 er village, of which the Centre is largest, 

 containing 1 meeting house, 2 stores, 1 

 tavern, 1 grist, 1 saw and 1 fulling mill, 

 trip hammer &c.,?also 1 clergyman, 1 at- 

 torney and ] physician. Among the in- 

 stances of longevity may be mentioned 



