Peacham, Vermont, USA (South Peacham)
1849 - Peacham

Caledonia Co. Onion River Pond, so called from its giving rise to one of the principal branches of Onion or Winooski River, lies in the western part of the town, and covers about 300 acres. There are two considerable streams passing off to the east into Stevens' Branch, which afford numerous mill privileges.

A ridge of land passes through the western part, but there is no very considerable elevation in the town. The western part is a hard soil, but the eastern is rich, and pleasantly diversified with hills and valleys, being inhabited by a great number of respectable and wealthy farmers. There is, in the eastern part of the town, a natural bog meadow, containing an inexhaustible quantity of shell marl, from which lime has been manufactured to a considerable extent. The color of the marl is a bluish white.

There is also plenty of limestone, from which lime is made.

One of the most remarkable occurrences in the town was the loss of a man's great toe, by frost, in the month of June. Mr. Walker, the gentleman who sustained the loss, was eighty-four years old, and was frozen, in consequence of being lost in the woods, and lying out through the night of the 8th of June, 1816.

There is a pleasant village situated on an elevated spot near the centre of the town, which is a place of considerable business.

Boundaries. Northerly by Danville, easterly by Barnet, southerly by Groton, and westerly by Marshfield and Cabot.

First Settlers. In the spring of 1775 Jonathan Elkins came to Peacham, with several hired men, and began improvements upon the lot he had pitched the year before.

First Minister. A Congregational Church was organized here in 1794, and in 1799 they settled the Rev. Leonard Worcester for their pastor.

Productions of the Soil. Wheat, 5,491 bushels ; Indian corn, 2,377 bushels ; potatoes, 67,816 bushels; hay, 4,001 tons: maple sugar, 21,180 pounds; wool, 17,786 pounds.

Distances. Six miles south-west from Danville, and thirty east from Montpelier. This town lies in the neighborhood of the Connecticut River Railroad.

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

Visit Peacham, Vermont, USA (South Peacham)
Discover the people who lived there, the places they visited and the stories they shared.