S O M 



S O M 



l8o?. Here are four grain-mills, five or fix faw-mills, two 

 fulling-mills, a paper-mill, and feveral fine fcites (till unoc- 

 cupied. The foil of this townlhip is generally very good, 

 and adapted to produce a great variety of agricultural pro- 

 du6ls. Here are alfo a printing eitablilhment, that iffues a 

 weekly paper, the poft-office, and a fmall coUcAion of 

 houfes. This village is the principal market of lean Itock of 

 cattle and fheep, brought hither from diftant parts of the 

 country, for the fupply of the fales of fattened cattle and 

 fheep to the butchers of New York. The farmers of this 

 country carry on an extenfive traffic in this way, and droves 

 are annually and almoft conftantly arriving from the inland 

 regions, at the diftance of loo, 200, and even 300 miles, to 

 replace the confumption. The whole population confifts 

 of 1782 perfons. — Alfo, a townlhip of Prebble county, in 

 the ftate of Ohio, containing 719 inhabitants. 



SoMERS JJlands. See Bermudas. 



SOMERSDORF, a town of Germany, in the margra- 

 viateof Anfpach ; 5 milrs S. of Anfpach. 



SOMERSET, Duhi of, in Biography, according to 

 Kircher (torn. i. lib. vi. p. 486.) and Printz, in his Germ. 

 Hift. Muf. invented in 1649 a new fpecies of violin, with 

 eight llrings ; which contained all the moft excellent fecrets 

 of mufic, and ravilhed every hearer. 



Somerset, in Geography, a well-cultivated county of New 

 Jerfey, in America, on the N. iide of the great road from New 

 York to Philadelphia. The foil, efpecially on Rariton river 

 and its branches, is good, and produces good crops of wheat, 

 of which great quantities are annually exported. It is di- 

 vided into feven townfhips, and contains 14,728 inhabitants, 

 including 1968 flave';. The capital of the above county is 

 fituated on the W. fide of Millftone river, and contains a 

 court-houfe, gaol, and about 20 houfes; 13 miles N. of 

 New Brunfwick. 



Somerset, a county of Maryland, bounded E. by the 

 ftate of Delaware and Worcefter county, and W. by the 

 waters of Chefapeak bay. It contains 17,195 inhabitants, 

 ■including 6975 (laves. Wathington Academy, in this 

 county, was inltituted by law in 1779 : it was founded and 

 18 fupported by voluntary fubfcriptions and donations, and 

 is authorifed to receive gifts and legacies, and to hold 2000 

 acres of land. 



Somerset, a county of Pennfylvania, bounded N. by 

 Huntingdon, and S. by Alleghany county, in Maryland ; 

 it is divided into 15 townfhips, and contains 1 1,284 inha- 

 bitants. 



Somerset, a townfliip of the above county, containing 

 1548 inhabitants ; and alfo a borough, containing 489 in- 

 habitants. 



Somerset, a county of the ftate of Maine, containing 

 12,910 inhabitants — Alfo, a townfliip of Wafhington 

 county, in Pennfylvania, containing 1500 inhabitants. — 

 Alfo, a townfliip of Windham county, in Vermont, con- 

 taining 199 inhabitants ; 10 or 12 miles N.E. of Ben- 

 nington. 



Somerset, or Sommerfftt, a polk-town of Briftol county, 

 in Maflachufetts, on Taunton river ; incorporated in 

 1790, and containing 1199 inhabitants; 49 miles S.E. of 

 Bofton. 



SOMERSETSHIRE, one of the maritime counties of 

 England, is fituated in the fouth-weltern part of tlie kingdom, 

 and is bounded by the Briltol Channel and Gloucclterlhire on 

 the north, by Wiltfliire on the eall, by Devonlhire on the 

 fouth-wolt, and by Dorfctdiire on the loutli-oaft. It is of 

 anpbleng form, and extends m length from north-call to loiith- 

 ■weft about 80 miles, and in breadtii, in an oppi lite direction, 

 about 36 miles ; the circumference is fomething more than 



200 miles, and the fuperficial contents abont one million 

 of acres. 



Ancient Inhabitants, and hijlnrical Events.— ^]\\^ diftriS, 

 as well as its borders, is faid to have been, in early times, 

 inhabited by the Belgi, a people of Celtic origin, who 

 migrated hither from Gaul about three centuries prior to 

 the Chriftian era. They are defcribed as h?.ving eftabliflied 

 colonies, cultivated land?, and inftrufted fuch of the natives 

 as chofe to alfociate with them in the arts of induftry. 

 Their dominion was greatly extended about 250 years after 

 tlieir firfl fettlement, when Divitiacus, king of the Suef- 

 fones, brought over from the continent a confiderable num- 

 ber of their countrymen. To appeafe the holtilities which 

 had fubfifted between thefe fettlers and the native inhabit- 

 ants, a treaty was now concluded, and a line or boundary 

 made, to determine their refpeftive territories. This line 

 was perpetuated by a large and deep foffe, called, from the 

 circumftances of its origin, Wanfdike ; parts of which are 

 ftill confpicuous in Wiltfhire, &c. It is faid to commence 

 near Andover, in Hampfhire, and terminate at the Severn 

 fea, at Portifhcad, in this county ; being an extent of about 

 80 miles. On Marlborough Downs this fiiigular dike ap- 

 pears nearly in its priitine ftate, being exceedingly deep, 

 and flanked by a lofty mound, or rampart, on its fouth fide. 

 According to this demarcation, the Belgz occupied a great 

 part of this county : and of their chief cities, Ivelchelter, 

 Bath, and Winchefter, the two former are within its limits. 

 Their contentions vv'ith the people, whofe poireflions they 

 had ufurped, lailed till the arrival of the Romans in Britain, 

 when the oppreflors, in their turn, became the opprefTed. 

 The Cangi, a tribe of thofe Belgx who migrated hither 

 under Divitiacus, were nearly annihilated by the Romans, 

 nine years after their invafion. Many remains within this 

 diftritf bear teftimony to the charafterilUc aftivity of the 

 Romans, in eltablifhing flations, marking out camps, and 

 founding colonies. Befides their citier. of Aquas Solis or 

 Bath, and Ifcalis or Ilcheiler, there are many places which, 

 though their ancient names are lolt, bear evident marks of 

 a Roman origin, in the foundation of walls, and in various re- 

 mains that have from time to time been difcovercd. Their prin- 

 cipal road through this county was the Folfe, which extended 

 from Bath, in a fouth-welleily direction, to Perry-ftreet, 

 on the confines of Devonfliirc. In a dire<ffion nearly pa- 

 rallel to it another road palled from the forefl of Exmoor, 

 through Taunton, Bridgewater, and Axbridge, to Portif- 

 head ; whence there was a trajcttus acrofs the Briltol Chan- 

 nel, to the city of Ilea Silnrum, now Caerleon. A third 

 road, called Via Julia, extended from Bath to Briltol and 

 the Severn ; and a fourth communicated from the former 

 Itation to Portifhe d. Upwards of twenty-throe Roman 

 encampments are enumerated in this county. During the 

 dominion of the Romans, it formed part of the province of 

 Britannia Prima. On the decline of their power, and their 

 evacuation of the country, in tlie fifth century, it became 

 lubjeft to the Saxons, who incorporated it with their king- 

 dom of Wcflex. It is noted as being one of the diitriCts in 

 which the Chriltian doitriiies were propagated at an early 

 period ; and, according to ancient authors, king Ina, who 

 began his rcigii over the Welt Saxons m 688, built a col- 

 lege at Wells. His hicccflor, Keniilph, converted it into 

 an epifcopal fee, and built (he celebrated abbey <'f Glallon- 

 bury. lint in tliofe obfciire and barbarous time;, the pro- 

 grefs of Chriltianity was neevflariiy flow and uncertain ; for 

 It was not only oppofed by luperftition, but thwarted by 

 fanguiiiary wars. The incurlions of the Danes kept the 

 country in a ftate of continual alarm, and threatened its 

 total fubjugation. In the reign of Allrcd, they defolatcd 



almult 



