Cavendish, Vermont, USA (Proctorsville)
1849 - Cavendish

Windsor Co. The soil of this town is easy, and generally fertile. Black River, which runs from west to east, and Twenty-mile Stream, which runs in a southerly direction and unites with it near White's Mills, are the principal streams. Along these streams are some small tracts of fine intervale.

The greatest curiosity in the town, and perhaps the greatest of the kind in the State, is at the falls on Black River, which are situated between Button's Village and White's Mills. 'Here the channel of the river has been worn down 100 feet, and rocks of very large dimensions have been undermined and thrown down, one upon another. Holes are worn into the rocks, of various dimensions and forms. Some of them are cylindrical, from one to eight feet in diameter, and from one to fifteen feet in depth ; others are of a spherical form, from six to twenty feet in diameter, worn almost perfectly smooth into the solid body of the rock.'

Hawk's Mountain, which separates Baltimore from this town, derives its name from Col. Hawks, who, during I the French and Indian wars, encamped thereon for the night with a small regular force, among whom was General (then Captain) John Stark. Some traces of their route are still to be seen.

There are two villages, viz., Duttonsville and Proctorsville. The former is a place of considerable business.

Proctorsville is a busy place, and has considerable manufactures of woollen and other goods. Kear this village are large quarries of soaps tone and serpentine, both of which are manufactured here in large quantities, and transported to the Atlantic cities. Specimens of the latter beautiful stone may be seen at the Tremont House and Merchant's Exchange, in Boston.

The Rutland and Burlington Railroad, which passes through the village, greatly facilitates the trade and manufactures of the place.

Boundaries. North by Reading, east by Weathersfield, south by Chester, and west by Ludlow.

First Settlers. The settlement of this township was commenced in the north part by Captain John Coffein, in June, 1769, at whose hospitable dwelling thousands of our revolutionary soldiers received refreshment, while passing from Charlestown, then No. 4, to the military posts on Lake Champlain, nearly the whole distance being at that time a wilderness. On the farm, now the residence of James Smith, Esq., in the north-westerly part of the town, twenty miles from Charlestown, was another stopping-place, called ' The Twenty Miles Encampment,' giving name to a small river, near the head of which the encampment was situated. In 1771, Noadiah Russell and Thomas Gilbert joined Captain Coffein in the settlement, and shared with him in his wants and privations. For several years they struggled hard for a scanty and precarious subsistence. The grinding of a single grist of com was known to have cost sixty miles travel. Such was the situation of the roads and the scarcity of mills at this early period. Many interesting anecdotes are related of Captain Coffein, which our limits will not permit us to insert. At one time he owed his life to the sagacity of his faithful dog. He was returning from Otter Creek, in March, 1771, while the country was perfectly new, and on account of the depth of the snow was compelled to travel on snow shoes. While crossing one of the ponds in Plymouth the ice broke, and he was suddenly plunged into the water. Encumbered with a large pair of snow shoes and a great coat which he had on, he strove, but in vain, to extricate himself. He struggled about half an hour, and, in despair, was about yielding himself to a watery grave, when, at this critical moment, his large and faithful dog beholding his situation came forward to the rescue of his master. He seized the cuff of his great coat, and, aided by the almost expiring efforts of Captain Coffein, succeeded in dragging him from the watery chasm to a place of safety. Captain Coffein lived to see the town all settled and organized, and to take an active part in its public concerns.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 1,101 bushels ; Indian corn, 3,750 bushels ; potatoes, 30,680 bushels; hay, 3,620 tons ; maple sugar, 7,545 pounds ; wool, 14.279 pounds.

Distances. Ten miles south-west from Windsor, and sixty south from Montpelier.


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

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