194 



GAZETTEER OF VERMONT. 



Part IIL 



WINDHAM COUNTY. 



WINDSOR. 



tied over the Congregalional church Oct. 

 4, 180!>, and dismissed Oct. ISIO. The 

 Rev.S.R. Arms, the present minister, was 

 settled Jan. .5, lft2.'), There are two Con- 

 gregational meeting houses, one in the 

 north part and llie other near the centre. 

 Tlie latter was built about the year 1807, 

 and the other a little before. The Rev- 

 M. D. Miller is minister of the Baptist 

 clmrch. The lir>e, between this town- 

 ship and Londonderry, runs along the 

 summit of a considerable mountain. The 

 streams are all small, and consist of 

 branches of Williams', Saxton's and West 

 river. In the norlluvest part of the town 

 is a considerable pond. The most impor- 

 tant minerals found in this township arc 

 actynolite, chlorite, garnets, serpentine, 

 steatite and talc. The actynolite is found 

 about two miles from tlie south meeting- 

 house, on the road leading to Grafton, it 

 is in slender four sided prisms of a leek 

 green color. Some of the crystals are 

 five or six incliesin length, and they vary 

 from a liundredth of an inch to an incli 

 in breadth. Tiiese crystals are embed- 

 ded in talc, and are very abundant. Be- 

 sides actynolite and talc at this locality, 

 within the compass of a few feet, are 

 found common serpentine, amianthus and 

 ligniform and earthy asbestus. The 

 town is divided into eight school districts 

 with a schooliiousc in each. There are 

 also, 1 grist mill, 7 saw mills, 2 stores, 1 

 tavern and one tannery. Statistics of 

 1840.— Horses, 159; cattle, 1,821); sheep, 

 5,702; swine, 781; wheat, bush. 1,378; 

 barley, 518 ; oats, 5,177 ; rye, 8!)4 ; buck- 

 wheat, 561 ; Indian corn, 1,434 ; pota- 

 toes, 36,083 ; hay, tons, 2,723 ; sugar, lbs. 

 15,830; wool, 11,722. Population, 7.'37. 

 Windham County, lies in the south- 

 east corner of the state. It is situated be- 

 tween 42^ 44' and 43=' 16' north lat. and 

 between 4° and 4*42' east long., being 

 36 miles long from north to south, and 28 

 wide from cast to west, and containing 

 about 780 square miles. It is bounded 

 north by Windsor county, east by Con- 

 necticut river, which separates it from 

 Cheshire county, N. H., south by Hamp- 

 shire county, Mass., and west by Ben- 

 nington county. This county was incor- 

 porated bj' the name of Cumberland, Feb- 

 ruar}' 11, 178i). Newfane, lying near the 

 centre, is the seat of jasticc. The Su- 

 preme Court sits here on tlie 3d Tuesday 

 after the 4th Tuesday in .lanuary, and 

 tlie County Court on the 2d Tuesday in 

 April and September. There are several 

 pleasant villages in this county, the most 

 important of which are Brattleborough, 

 Bellows Falls andiFayettville. In the lat- 

 ter situated in New Fane are the county 



buildings. Connecticut river washes the 

 eastern border, Williams' and Saxton's 

 river water the northeastern part. West 

 river, the central part, Deerfield river, 

 the southwestern part. The tract, era- 

 braced within the county of Windham, is 

 hilly and uneven, and, in the western 

 part, mountainous. Its geological fea- 

 tures, thougli distinctly marked, are very 

 irregular. Few continuous ranges can 

 be traced with certainty, and man}' sec- 

 tions, especially the western, have not as 

 yet been particularly explored. The ge- 

 ological character of the county is uni- 

 formly primitive. The western part is of 

 the oldest and tlie eastern of more recent 

 formation. Statistics of 1840. — Horses, 

 4,969; cattle, 42,661; sheep, 114,336; 

 swine, 29,435; wheat, bush. 23,796 ; bar- 

 ley, 8,129; oats, 178,761; rye, 33,.502; 

 buck-wheat, 13,387; Indian corn, 139,- 

 923 ; potatoes, 743,366 ; hay, tons, 70,- 

 398 ; sugar, lbs. 423,400 ; wool, 222,260. 

 Population, 27,431. 



Windmill Point. See Alburgh. 



Windsor, a post town in the eastern 

 part of Windsor county, is in lat. 43" 29' 

 and long. 4" 29', and is bounded north by 

 Hartland, easterly by Connecticut river, 

 v/hich separates it trorn Cornish, N. H., 

 south by Wcathersfield, and westerly by 

 Reading. It lies 55 miles southeast from 

 Montpelier, 5-5 northeast from Benning- 

 ton, 95 from Boston, and 420 from Wash- 

 ington. It was chartered to Samuel Ash- 

 ley and 58 others, July 6, 1761, contain- 

 ing, by charter, 23,500 acres. The pro- 

 prietors immediately organized them- 

 selvi's under this charter, and proceeded 

 to sijrvev, make a plan of, and allot the 

 town. The first permanent settlement 

 in the town was commenced bj' Captain 

 Steele Smith, who removed his iainily 

 from Farinington, Ct., to this town, in 

 August, 1764. At that time there was no 

 road north of Charleston, N.H. The next 

 season Maj. Elisha Hawley, Capt. Israel 

 Curtis, Dea. Hez. Thompson, Dea. Tlios. 

 Cooper, and some others, came on and 

 began improvements. TJiere was, how- 

 ever, a man by the name of Solomon Em- 

 mons, and his wife, who had erected a 

 hut, and were living here when Captain 

 Smith arrived, but he had not purchased 

 the land, or made any improvements with 

 a view to a permanent settlement. Mrs. 

 Einmons was the first and for some time 

 the only white woman, who resided in 

 the town. She was for many years 

 supported by the town, and died about 

 1833. She was for a number of years 

 the only midwife for many miles around. 

 Mr. Samuel Smith, who recently died in 

 tc wn, aged 77 years, a son of Capt. Steele 



