History of Townshend, Vermont, USA

Townshend, Vermont
Windham county. This town was first settled in 1761. Among the first settlers, was Gen. Samuel Fletcher, who was a sergeant at the battle of Bunker Hill, in 1775, and a captain at Ticonderoga, in 1777. He afterwards rose to the rank of major general of the militia, was high sheriff of the county 18 years, and finally became a judge of the court. He was formerly a blacksmith; but having welded himself to a buxom lass, he came to this, then wilderness spot, and, with his axe cut his way to fortune, usefulness and renown.

West river passes through the town, with considerable rapidity: along its banks are some tracts of good intervale; but the surface of the town is generally hilly, and the soil more calculated for grazing than tillage. There are some manufactures in the town, a high school of good reputation, and two pleasant villages. Townshend lies 12 miles N.N.W. from Brattleborough, 28 N.E. from Bennington, 95 S. from Montpelier, and is bounded S. by Newfane....

Windham Co. West River passes through this town, with considerable rapidity. Along its banks are some tracts of good intervale ; but the surface of the town is generally hilly, and the soil more calculated for grazing than tillage. There are some manufactures in the town, a high school of good reputation, and two pleasant villages.

The West Townshend Manufacturing Co. was incorporated in 1848.

Boundaries. North by Grafton and Athens, east by Athens and Brookline, south by Newfane, and west by Windham, Jamaica, and Wardsborough.

First Settlers. The first settlement was commenced here in 1761, by Joseph Tyler, who was soon joined by John Hazleton, whose mother lived to the age of one hundred and four years.