186 



GAZETTEER OF VER3VI0NT. 



Part III, 



"WELLS RIVER. 



NVENLOCK. — WEST FAIRLEE 



WESTFIELD. 



buckwheat, 301 ; Ind. corn, 4,275 ; pota- 

 toes, 1(3,360; hay, tons, 2,261 ; sugar, lbs. 

 6,200 ; wool, 8,752. Population, 740. 



Wells Rivkr, has its source in Kettle 

 pond, whicii lies at the northwest corner 

 of Groton, and a part of it in Marshfield. 

 It runs nearly .southeast about 2 miles, 

 and falls into Long Pond in Groton, 

 which is about 2 miles long and 100 rods 

 wide. From this pond it continues its 

 southeasterly course half a mile, and falls 

 into another pond, which is about half a 

 mile long and quarter of a mile wide. 

 It then runs a mile and a half, and meets 

 the south branch, wliich rises near the 

 southwest corner of the town, and run.s 

 nearly east to its junction with the main 

 stream ; it then runs east southeast about 

 a mile, and receives the North branch, 

 which has its source near the northeast 

 corner of the town. Continuing the same 

 course, it passes through the northwest 

 part of Rycgatc into Newbury, and run- 

 ning near the line between Newbury and 

 Ryegate about 4 miles, falls into Connec- 

 ticut river about half a mile south of the 

 northeast corner of Newbury. This is 

 generally a rapid stream, furnishing many 

 excellent n)il] jirivileges, on wliicli mills 

 are erected. At Wells River village, near 

 the mouth of the river, are a paper mill, a 

 corn mill, a saw mill, and other machine- 

 ry. Wells river had its name long before 

 any settlement was made in Vermont, but 

 ■we have not ascertained why it was so 

 called. 



Wenlock, a township in the central 

 part of Essex county, is in lat. 44'' 47', 

 and is bounded northerly by Lewis and 

 Avery's gore, easterly by Brunswick, 

 southerly by Ferdinand and Brighton, and 

 westerly by Morgan. It was chartered 

 Oct. 13, 1761, and lies 53 miles northeast 

 from Montpelier. The south and princi- 

 pal branch ofNulhegan river, rises in this 

 township. A road has been opened along 

 this stream from Connecticut river to Or- 

 leans county. There arc only 4 or 5 fam- 

 ilies settled in this township, and it is un- 

 organized. SUiiistics of 1840. — Horses, 

 6 ; cattle, 41 ; sheep, 37 ; swine, 13 ; 

 wheat, bus. 60; oats, 62 : rye, 10 ; buck- 

 wheat, 280 ; Ind. corn, 12; potatoes, 950 ; 

 hay, tens, 76 ; sugar, lbs. 1,200; wool, 65. 

 Population, 28. 



West Fairlee, a post town in the 

 eastern part of Orange county, is in lat. 

 43"^ 56' and long. 4" 46', and is bounded 

 north by Bradford, east by Fairlee, south 

 by Thel'ord, and west bj' Vershire. It is 

 situated 28 miles southeast from Montpe- 

 lier, and S."} northeasterly from Windsor. 

 It was chartered in connexion with Fair- 

 lee, Sept. 0,1761. This township was 



set off from Fairlee and constituted a 

 township by the name of West Fairlee, 

 Feb. 25, 1797. This town was organized 

 immediately after it was setoif, and Hon. 

 Elisha Thayer was first town clerk. It 

 was first represented separately from Fair- 

 lee in 1823, by Samuel Graves. The 

 Rev. Joseph Tracy was settled over the 

 Congregational church here and the wes- 

 tern part of Thetford, in Jnly, 1820. He 

 preached at the meeting house here, and 

 at Post Mills village, in Thetford, alter- 

 nately. Fairlee lake lies partly in the 

 southeast corner of this township, and 

 Omi)ompanoosuc river runs across the 

 southwest corner. The surface is very 

 uneven. The town is divided into seven 

 school districts, and contains 1 store, 1 

 grist and 4 saw mills, 1 fulling mill, and 

 1 tannery. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 

 210; cattle, 1,316; sheep, 5,249; swine, 

 518 ; wheat, bus. 821 ; barley, 90 ; oats, 

 6,938; rye, 373 ; buckwheat, 1,133; Ind. 

 corn, 3,758 ; potati.>es, 29,641 ; liay, tons, 

 2,775; sugar, lbs. 12,622; wool, 10,525. 

 Population, 824. 



Westfield, a post town in the north- 

 west part of Orleans county, is in lat. 44" 

 52' and long. 4" 30', and is bounded north 

 by Jay, east by Troy, south by Lowell, 

 and west by Montgomery. It lies 42 

 miles north from Montpelier, and 44 

 northeast from Burlington. It was char- 

 tered May 1-5, 1780, to Dan'l Owen and as- 

 sociates, containing 23,040 acres. The 

 settlement was commenced in 1799, by 

 Jesse Olds, a Mr. Hobbs, and others. The 

 town was organized March 29, 1802, and 

 Jesse Olds was first town clerk, and Me- 

 dad Hitchcock first representative. There 

 are 5 religious societies, the Congrega- 

 tional, formed in 1819, the Methodist, in 

 1831, the Baptist, in 1831, the Christian, 

 in 1824, and the Universalist, in 1335. 

 Tlie ministers of the Congregational ch. 

 have been. Rev. Silas Lamb, 3 years from 

 1826 ; Rev. Wm. Holmes, 3 years from 

 1832 ; and Rev. Reuben Mason, since 

 1838. The only house of worship was 

 built by Dea. Luther Page, for the Con- 

 gregational society. Missisco river runs 

 about 4 miles, through the soulheastern 

 part of the township, and receives here 3 

 considerable tributaries which afi'ord sev- 

 eral mill privileges. The eastern part of 

 this township is very good land, but the 

 western is high and mountainous. Ha- 

 zen's Notch in the Green Mountains lies 

 in the southwest corner. The town con- 

 tains 4 school districts, a small meeting- 

 house, 2, stores, and 5 saw mills. Statis- 

 tics of 1840— Horses, 106; cattle, 681; 

 sheep, 1,823; swine, 355; wlieat, bush. 

 917; barley, 57; oats, 3,484 > rye, 214 ; 



