Bridport, Vermont, USA
1849 - Bridport

Addison Co. The surface of this town is very level, and the soil, generally, is a brittle marl, or clay. The hills are a loam and red slaty sandstone. A range of shelly blue slate extends through the town, lying, generally, a little below the surface. The prevailing timber, in the west part of the town, is oak, with white and some Norway pine, along the lake shore. In the eastern part it is, principally, maple and beech. The raising of sheep has been the chief occupation of the people for several years past, which accounts for the decrease of population. This town is poorly watered, there being no durable mill streams, and the springs and ground, generally, being impregnated with epsom salts, or sulphate of magnesia. For family use, rain water is, generally, employed. It is preserved in large reservoirs, or cisterns set in the ground. Of the brackish water, in this town, cattle are extremely fond, and it serves, in a manner, as a substitute for salt. Some of the springs are so strongly impregnated, that, in time of low water, a pailful will yield a pound of the salts. The discovery of these salts as an ingredient in the waters here, was made by the Rev. Sylvanus Chapin, and they were manufactured in considerable quantities, as early as 1790, but the cheapness of the imported salts has prevented much being done at the business for some years past. There is a small but neat and pleasantly located village, consisting of about twenty-five dwelling houses. The prospect, from the 'common,' of the mountain and lake scenery is very fine. This town has its medicinal spring impregnated with sulphurated hydrogen, similar to those which are so common in the eastern part of the State. There are several landing places of goods on the lake shore.

Across the lake to Crown Point is about two miles. A visit to the ruins of this ancient fortress, so renowned in the annals of the revolutionary war, and elevated forty-seven feet above the level of the lake, is a great treat to the contemplative traveller, or the lover of splendid scenery. From these warlike ruins to those of Ticonderoga, is fourteen miles, south.

Boundaries. North by Addison, east by Weybridge and Cornwall, south by Shoreham, and west by Lake Champlain, which separates it from Crown Point, N. Y.

First Settlers. The first attempt to settle the town, was made in 1768, but was abandoned at that time on account of the urgency of the New York claims. The first permanent settler was Philip Stone, who was also the first colonel in the county. In 1768, being twenty-one years of age, he came from Groton, Mass., to this place, purchased a lot of land, and commenced clearing it. Two families, by the name of Richardson and Smith, settled under New York titles about the same time, and three others, by the name of Towner, Chipman and Plumer, under New Hampshire titles. The settlers mostly retired before Burgoyne and his army in 1776 and '7. During the controversy with New York, no skirmishing happened in this town between the New York and New Hampshire claimants, but the inhabitants, frequently, aided their neighbors in the adjoining towns, in inflicting the customary punishment of whipping upon the Yorkers, who refused to retire after the usual warning. In 1772, Ethan Allen, having been declared an outlaw by the New York government, and a bounty offered for his apprehension, called in company with Eli Roberts, of Vergennes, at the house of Mr. Richards of this town. In the evening, six soldiers from Crown Point garrison, all armed, as were Allen and Roberts, stopped for the night. Mrs. Richards overheard them making their arrangement to take Allen and get the bounty. All was quiet till bed time, when Mrs. Richards, on lighting Allen and Roberts into another room, raised a window, at which they silently escaped. When the soldiers discovered that they were gone, they reprimanded Mrs. Richards severely for favoring their escape. But she replied that 'it was for the safety of her house, for had they been taken here, the Hampshire men would have torn it down over their heads.'

First Ministers. A Congregational Church was organized here in 1790, and the Rev. Increase Graves was installed over it in 1794. The Rev. James F. McEwen was settled as colleague of the Rev. Mr. Graves in 1827, and in 1829 both were dismissed. In 1831, the Rev. Dana Lamb was settled.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 2,920 bushels ; Indian corn, 2,988 bushels ; potatoes, 15,820 bushels; hay, 11,475 tons ; maple sugar, 484 pounds ; wool, 69,164 pounds.

Distances. Twelve miles west by south from Middlebury, and forty-five south-west from Montpelier.

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

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