176 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



VERGENNES. 



gennes, was made in 1766, by Donald 

 M'lntosh, a native of Scotland, who was 

 in the battle of Culloden. He came to 

 this country with Gen. Wolfe's army du- 

 ring: the French war, and died July 14 

 1803, aged 84 years. The emigrants, wlio 

 subsequently located themselves here, 

 were principally from Massachusetts, 

 Connecticut and the south parts of this 

 state. The Congregational church was 

 formed Sept. 17, 17<»:3. The Rev. Dan- 

 iel C. Sanders was settled over it from 

 June 12, ]7!»4 to August 24, 17<J'J; the 

 Rev. John Hough from March 12, 1807 

 to Auo-ust 28, 1812 ; the Rev. Alexander 

 Lovell from Oct. 22, 1817 to Nov. 10, 

 1835, and the Rev. Harvey F. Leavitt, 

 the present minister, was settled August 

 31, 1836. This society built a neat and 

 commodious house of worship in 1834 

 which was dedicated Dec. 23 of that year. 

 An Episcopal society was organized here 

 in 1811, which was under the care of the 

 Rev. Parker Adams for 2 or 3 years, but, 

 liaving become nearly extinct, it was re- 

 organized in January,1832,by thenaine of 

 st. Paul's Church. The society shortly 

 after erected a neat church edifice, which 

 was consecrated Jan. 18, 1835. The 

 Rev. Charles Fay became rector of this 

 church in 1833 and continued about three 

 years, since which they have had the 

 services successively of the Rev. Messrs. 

 A. T. Twing, A. K." Putnam, Z. Thomp- 

 son, N. W. Monroe and Mr. Grcenleaf 

 Rev. H. M. Davis is the present minister. 

 There is a respectable Methodist society 

 here which has erected a neat house 

 of worship the present year, (1842.) 

 Vergennes has always been healthy, 

 having suffered as little as almost any 

 place of its size in the state, by sick- 

 ness. Otter creek passes through this 

 city, and at the falls here are some of 

 the finest stands for mills in the country. 

 At the head of the falls the stream is di- 

 vided by two small islands into three chan- 

 nels, forming three distinct sets of falls 

 of 37 feet. On these falls a very large 

 amount of machinery was put in opera- 

 tion during the non-intercourse and war 

 ■with Great Britain, which consisted of 

 one blast furnace, one air furnace, eight 

 forges, one rolling mill, one wire factory, 

 besides grist, saw, and fulling mills, &c. 

 During the war 177 tons of cannon shot 

 were cast here for government. In June, 

 1616, most of the iron works were sus- 

 pended and have since, only in part, been 

 resumed. The creek is navigable to the 

 foot of the falls here, a distance of seven 

 miles, for the largest vessels on the lake. 

 Its width varies from 14 to 20 rods. The 

 channel is so crooked in many places as to 



render the navigation difficult with ^he 

 most favorable wind. To obviate this m" 

 convenience it was contemplated to con- 

 struct a tow path along the bank of the 

 creek, by which the navigation might be 

 greatly facilitated. The shore of this creek 

 is very bold, and vessels of 300 tons 

 burthen may receive and discharge their 

 cargoes at almost any spot with the assis- 

 tance of ten feet plank. The flotilla, 

 commanded by the brave MDonough, 

 which captured the British fleet in Platts- 

 hurgh bay, on the 11th of September,1814, 

 was fitted up at this place. A United 

 States Arsenal was erected here in 1828. 

 (See part second, pajrc 128.^ There is no 

 place in the state which affords greater 

 facilities for shipbuilding. Vergennes ia 

 surrounded by a rich, fertile country. 

 Its trade has always been considerable, 

 and is gradually increasing. There are 

 regular lines of canal and steam-boats be- 

 tween this place and New York, and also 

 between here and Buft'alo, through the 

 western canal. The city contains three 

 houses for public worship, 6 attorneys, 3 

 physicians, ] bank, 14 dry goods, grocery 

 and apothecary stores, I book store, 2 

 iron foundries, 2 flour mills, 2 saw mills, 

 2 clothiers' works and 3 tanneries. Sla- 

 ti stirs of J 840.— Horses, 96 ; cattle, 388 ; 

 sheep, 3,683 ; swine, 246 ; wheat, bus. 

 150 ; oats, 1,330 ; buckwheat, 50; Indian 

 corn, 1,453; potatoes, 3,420; hay, tons, 

 1,284 ; wool, lbs. 0,900. Population, 1017. 

 Verno.n, a small post town in Wind- 

 ham county, situated in the southeast 

 corner of the state, is in hit. 42° 46' and 

 long. 4^ 28', and is bounded north by 

 Brattleborongh, east by Connecticut riv- 

 er, which separates it from Hinsdale, N. 

 H., soutii by Northfield, Mass., and west 

 by Guilford. It lies 35 miles nearly east 

 from Bennington, and 50 south from 

 Windsor. This township constituted a 

 partT)f Hinsdale, N. H., which was char- 

 tered September 5, 17-53, till Vermont 

 became a separate state. It then became 

 the township of Hinsdale in Vermont, 

 which name was altered to Vernon, in 

 1802. This was one of the first settled 

 townships in the state, but the precise 

 time of its commencement is not known. 

 The earliest inhabitants were emigrants 

 from Northampton and Northfield, Mass. 

 The injjabitants of this township encoun- 

 tered all the dangers and solicitudes of 

 Indian wars, and struggled with all those 

 difficulties and hardships which are inci- 

 dent to frontier settlements. Fort Durn- 

 mer in Brattleborongh, Hinsdale's fort in 

 Hinsdale, and Bridgeman's fort in this 

 township, were all insufficient to shield 

 the inliabitants from the incursions of the 



