Brandon, Vermont, USA (Forest Dale)
1849 - Brandon

Rutland Co. Brandon is a flourishing town. It is finely watered by Otter Creek, Mill River, and Spring Pond ; on which streams are good mill sites. Some of the land is level, with rather a light soil, but that on Otter Creek is the best alluvial. Bog iron ore, of an excellent quality, is found here ; copperas and marble are also found.

There are two curious caverns in this town. The largest contains two apartments, each from sixteen to twenty feet square. It is entered by descending from the surface about twenty feet. They are formed of limestone. Boundaries. North by Leicester, east by Goshen and Chittenden, south by Pittsford, and west by Sudbury and a small part of Whiting.

First Settlers. The settlement of the town was commenced in the year 1775 by John Whelan, Noah Strong, David June, Jedediah Winslow, Amos Cutler, and others. Mr. Cutler was, however, the only person who remained in town during the following winter. He lived the whole winter here entirely alone, without being visited by a human being. In 1777, the town was visited by a party of Indians, who killed two men, George and Aaron Robins, made prisoners of most of the other inhabitants, and set fire to their dwellings and to a saw mill which they had erected. Joseph Barker, his wife, and a child eighteen months old, were among the prisoners. Mrs. Barker, not being in a condition to traverse the wilderness, was set at liberty with her child. The next night with no other shelter than the trees of the forest and the canopy of heaven, and with no other company than the infant above named, she had another child. She was found the following day and removed with her children to Pittsford. Mr. Barker was carried to Middlebury, where, feigning himself sick, he succeeded in the night in making his escape, and arrived safely at Pittsford. The town was organized about the year 1784.

First Ministers. The Congregational Church was organized in 1785, but had no settled minister till 1792, when they settled the Rev. Enos Bliss.

Manufactures. The hydraulic power of this town is so great and valuable, that manufactures commenced here at an early period. Bar iron, small cannon, and various other articles of iron ware, are manufactured here. There are other articles manufactured in the town, but to what extent, we regret to say, we are unable to state.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 1,498 bushels; Indian corn, 10,222 bushels; potatoes, 26,052 bushels; hay, 5,172 tons ; maple sugar, 13,586 pounds ; wool, 32,758 pounds.

Distances. Forty miles north-west from Windsor, and forty south-west from Montpelier. The Vermont Southern Railroad passes through this town.

A gazetteer of Vermont... by John Hayward Boston - Tappan, Whittemore, and Mason 1849

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