190 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part III 



WHETSTONE BROOK. 



WHITE CREEK. — WHITE RIVER. 



WHITING. 



the township, and is here called Whee- 

 lock mountain. In the eastern part are 

 many good farms, but the land in the wes- 

 tern part is cold and stony, and but little 

 of it under improvement. The county 

 road from Danville to Stanstead in Cana- 

 da, passes through the eastern part. There 

 are in town 12 sr.iiool districts, three saw, 

 one grist, and one fulling mill, one tan- 

 nery, and one store. Statistics of I'^-ii) — 

 Horses, 2ti4 ; cattle, 1,472; sheep, 4,737 ; 

 swine, 1,0U7; wheat, bu. 1,967; barley, 

 90;i; oats, 11,070; rye, 26; buckwheat, 

 1,100 ; Ind. corn. 1,100; potatoes, 57,520; 

 hay, tons, 3,:?34 ; suo-ar,lbs. 32,160 ; wool, 

 8,2;i7. Population, 881. 



Whetstone Bkook, is a small mill 

 stream, which rises in Marlborough and 

 runs nearly east through Brattleborough 

 into Connecticut river. It affords a con- 

 siderable number of good mill ))rivileges. 



White Creek is formed in Rupert by 

 tlie union of a number of small branches, 

 and, taking a southwesterly course, unites 

 with the Battenkill in Washington coun- 

 ty. New York. 



White Rivkr rises in Granville, and, 

 running a southeasterly course through 

 the northeastcorner of Hancock, the south 

 west part of Rochester, and the northeast 

 corner of Pittsfield, enters Stockbridge. 

 It tlien turns to the northeast, and, after 

 running through the southeast corner of 

 Bethel into Royalton, bears to the south- 

 east through Sharon and Hartford, and 

 falls into Connecticut river about five 

 miles above the mouth of Otta Quechee 

 river. From Granville this river runs 

 slowly through a narrow tract of intervale 

 till it arrives at the eastern part of Stock- 

 bridge, after whicli the current is very 

 rapid till it reaches Bethel village. From 

 Bethel to its mouth the channel of the ri- 

 ver is from 16 to 18 rods in width, and the 

 current generally rapid, and the water 

 shallow. On account of its proximity to 

 Otta Quechee river. White river receives 

 no larixe tributaries from the south. Broad 

 brook and Locust creek are the most im- 

 portant. From the north it receives three 

 large branches, called the first, the sec- 

 ond, and the third branch. The first 

 branch rises in Washington near tiie head 

 branches of Wait's andWinooski river and, 

 running throuo-h Clielsca and Tunbridge, 

 unites with White river in the eastern 

 part of Royalton. Tlie second branch r\- 

 ses in Williamstown in conjunction with 

 Steven's branch of Winooski river, and 

 running southerly through Brookfield and 

 Randolph, enters White river alittle west 

 of the centre of Royalton. This stream 

 runs with a gentle current through a nar- 

 row tract of fine intervale. The third 



branch originates in Roxbury, runs thro' 

 the corner of Granville, through Brain- 

 tree and the corner of Randolph, and joins 

 White river at Bethel village. Each of 

 these streams is about 20 miles in length, 

 and on each are several very good mill 

 privileges, particularly on the latter, at 

 Bethel village. White river is the largest 

 stream in Vermont on the east side of 

 the mountains. Its length is about 55 

 miles, and it waters about 680 square 

 miles. Tliis stream was known by the 

 name of White river long before any set- 

 tlements were made in Vermont. 



Whiting, a post town in the south part 

 of Addison count}', is in lat. 43^ 51' and 

 long. 3° 53', and is bounded north by 

 Cornwall, east by Otter creek, which sep- 

 arates it from Leicester and Salisbury, 

 south by Sudbur}^ and west by Orwell 

 and Shoreham. It lies 40 miles south- 

 west from Montpelier, and 42 south from 

 Burlington. It was eliartered August 6, 

 1763, to Col. John Whiting, of Wrent- 

 ham, Mass., from whom it derives its 

 name, and contains about 9,000 acres. — 

 John Wilson, from the same township, 

 erected the first house in tliis township in 

 1772, and in June 1773, a family by the 

 name of Bolster moved into it. In 1774, 

 Mr. Wilson's and several other families 

 movefl here. During the revolution the 

 settlement was abandoned, but was re- 

 commenced immediatelv upon its close, 

 by those jiersons who had been driven off, 

 and by others. Among the first settlers 

 were a Mr. Marshall, Gideon Walker, Jo- 

 seph Williams, Daniel Washburn, Joel 

 Foster, Samuel Beach, Ezra Allen, Jehiel 

 Hull, Henry Wiswell, and Benjamin An- 

 drus. The town w'as organized in March 

 1785, and John Wilson was first town 

 clerk. In 1786, Ebenezer Wheelock was 

 chosen delegate to the convention for re- 

 vising the constitution, and Samuel Beach 

 was appointed representative to the Gen- 

 eral Assembly in 1788. The religious de- 

 nominations are Baptists, Congregational- 

 ists, Methodists, and Universalists. El- 

 der David Rathbun was ordained over the 

 Baptist church in June, 1800, and contin- 

 ded three or four years. After this, the 

 Rev. John Ransom preached here about 

 two years. In January 1810 the Rev. 

 Justin Parsons was settled over the Con- 

 gregational church, and continued about 

 three years. From 1821 Elder Joseph W. 

 Sawyer was hired by the Baptist and Con- 

 gregational societies for several years, and 

 the two societies united in 1809 in erect- 

 ing a meeting house, which was the next 

 year consumed by fire, supposed to be 

 the work of an incendiary. Other houses 

 have since been erected. The dysentery 



