182 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III. 



WASHINGTON COUNTY. 



WATERBURY. 



25, 1781, containing 23,040 acres. The 

 territory embraced in this township was 

 granted by New York by the name of 

 Kingland, and Kingland was constituted 

 the s/iire town of Gloucester county. A 

 town pJot was laid out into village lots 

 near the centre, and a log jail erected, 

 which g-ave the name oi' jail branch to two 

 streams whicJi rise here, one running in- 

 to VVinooski river, and the other into 

 Wait's river. The township was surveyed 

 in 1784, and the settlement commenced 

 in 1785, by Daniel Morse, who v/as soon 

 joined by his brother John Morse. A 

 son of John Morse was the first child 

 born here, and received, in consequence, 

 50 acres of land from the proprietors. 

 The town was organized March 1, 17!i2, 

 and Jacob Burton was first town clerk. 

 It was first represented in 1794 by Thad- 

 deus White. The religious denomina- 

 tions are Congregationalists, Methodists, 

 Freewill Baptists and Baptists. The for- 

 mer are the most numerous. There are 

 two meeting-houses, one in the north 

 ])art, completed in 1828, and the other, in 

 the southwest part, built in 1824. Brandi- 

 es of Winooski, Wait's and White river 

 originate in this townsliip, but they are 

 small, and afford few mill privileges. 

 The timber is principally maple. On jail 

 branch of Winooski river is a small vil- 

 lage, containing several stores, shops and 

 mills. The town contains 17 school dis- 

 tricts, 1 grist and 7 saw mills, 2 stores, ] 

 tavern and ] tannery. Statistics of 0640. 

 Horses, 328 ; cattle, 2,002 ; sheep, 7,3.59 ; 

 swine, 1,125; wheat, bus. 3,647; barley, 

 877; oats, 11,100; rye, 216; buckwheat, 

 1,831 ; Ind. corn, 2,838 ; potatoes, 70,770 ; 

 hay, tons, 4,381 ; sugar, lbs. 27,595 ; 

 wool, 10,836. Population, 1,359. 



Washington County lies principally 

 between the two ranges of the Green 

 Mountains, and nearly in the centre of 

 the state. It is situated between 44? 1' 

 and 44^ 32' north lat., and between 4° JO' 

 and 4° 41' east long., lieing about 34 miles 

 from north to south, and 31 from east to 

 west. It is bounded north by Lamoille 

 and Caledonia counties, east by Caledo- 

 nia county, southeast by Orange county, 

 southwest by Addison county, and west 

 by Chittenden county. It was incorpo- 

 rated November 1, 1810, by the name of 

 Jefferson county, and organized Decem- 

 ber I, 1811. The name was altered to 

 Washington county November 8, 1814. 

 Montpelier, lying near the centre of the 

 county, is the seat of justice, and is a 

 place of considerable business. The su- 

 preme court sits here on the 6th Tuesdaj' 

 after the 4th Tuesday in January, and the 

 county court on the 2d Tuesday in April ' 



and 3d in November. This county is 

 very uneven, and is watered by Winooski 

 river and its numerous branches. In the 

 eastern part there is an abundance of ex- 

 cellent granite. West of this the rocks 

 are principally argillaceous slate, quartz, 

 chlorite slate, and mica slate. Statistics 

 o/ 1840.— Horses, 4,360; cattle, 25,415; 

 sheep, 110,872; swine, 12,150; wheat, 

 bus. 44,1 10 ; barley, 4,028 ; oats, 200,294 ; 

 rye, 5,763; buckwheat, 23,066; Indian 

 corn, 63,108 ; potatoes, 698,745 ; hay, 

 tons, .55,100; sugar, lbs. 451,348; wool, 

 159,724. Population, 23,506. 



Watereurv, a post town in the west- 

 ern part of Washington county, is in lat. 

 44° 23' and long. 4^ 17', and is bounded 

 north by Stow, east by Middlesex, south 

 by Winooski river, which separates it 

 from Duxbury, and a part of Moretown, 

 and west by Bolton. It lies ]2 miles 

 northwesterly from Montpelier and 24 

 southeast from Burlington ', and was char- 

 tered June 7, 1763, containing 21,220 

 acres. In June, 1784, Mr. James Marsh 

 moved his family, consisting of a wife 

 and eight children, into this township 

 from Bath, N. H., and took possession of 

 a surveyor's cabin, which was standing 

 near Winooski river. Mr. Marsh was in- 

 duced to move his family here at the 

 time he did by the promise of the proprie- 

 tors, that several other families should be 

 procured to move into the town in the 

 following fall. This promise was not 

 fulfilled, and for nearly a year this soli- 

 tary family scarcely saw a human being 

 but themselves, and, for more than two 

 years, their nearest neighbors were in 

 Bolton, 7 miles distant. In the spring of 

 1785, Hon. Ezra Butler visited this town, 

 and spent some time in preparing a place 

 of residence. In September, 1786, he 

 moved his family from Weathersfield, 

 Vt. to this town. In 1788, Mr. Caleb 

 Munson moved into the town with his 

 family, and soon after was followed by 

 several others. The town was organized 

 March 31, 1790. Hon. Ezra Butler was 

 the first town clerk, and Dr. Daniel Bliss 

 the first representative. About the year 

 1800 a revival of religion commenced in 

 this town, and continued through that and 

 a part of the following year. About this 

 time a Congregational, a Baptist and a 

 Methodist church were organized, and 

 Hon. Ezra Butler was ordained Elder of 

 the Baptist church, with which he was 

 connected till his death. In 1803 the 

 Rev. Jonathan Hovey was ordained and 

 settled as pastor of the Congregational 

 church in this town. He was dismissed 

 about four years after his settlement. 

 The Rev. Daniel Warren was settled 



