The township of Harwick was organized March 17, 1788, with Gideon TABOR, moderator; John JENKINS, town clerk; John STAFFORD; John JENKINS and Gideon BAKER, selectmen. The township retained the name of Harwick until the year 1803, when it was changed to that of Mt. Tabor, so called in honor of Gideon TABOR, the first moderator of the township. The change was made in consequence of there being a town by the name of Hardwick in the State, which sometimes caused miscarriage of mail matter. A part of the town of Peru, 200 rods wide, east and west, and six miles long, was annexed to Mt. Tabor in 1805, and remained with that township twenty years, when it was annexed to Dorset. Other than this, there has been no change made in the boundaries of the town. 

      The surface is very broken and mountainous, being situated almost entirely upon the Green Mountain range; it contains however some intervales of good farming land, whereon is grown wheat, rye, oats, barley, Indian corn, etc.; but by far the greater part of the farmer's wealth consists in his herds and flocks. Many, however, have given up farming entirely, and turned their attention to lumbering, considering that far more lucrative, as a great portion of the country is still covered by a dense primeval forest, the principal timber of which is beech, birch, maple, cedar and spruce, interspersed with hemlock, black and white ash. There are numerous small streams distributed over the country, finding their way into Otter Creek, which flows through a portion of the western part, affording numerous mill-sites. The principal of the streams is called Roaring Branch, and rises in the southeastern part of the township, flows a north-easterly course, emptying into Otter Creek. The Bennington and Rutland Railway also passes through a portion of the western part, and Danby station is within the limits of this town. 

      In 1880 Mt. Tabor had a population of 495, was divided into four school districts and had three common schools, employing four female teachers at an aggregate salary of  $326.85. There were 93 pupils attending common schools, and the total expense of the schools for the year ending October 31st, was $359.96. Mr. M. BARREN was superintendent. 

      Brooklyn, (Mt. Tabor p. o.) the only settlement of any considerable size, is a small village located in the western part of the township, on Roaring Branch. It contains one store, three saw-mills, and about seventy-five inhabitants. 

      N. E. NICHOL's mills, located on Roaring Branch, were built in 1862, and chased by him in 1867. They include a saw and planing-mill, and a cheese-box and grain-measure factory. There are manufactured here 300,000 feet of lumber, 12,000 cheese-boxes and 5,000 grain-measures per annum. 

      C. H. CONGDON's saw-mill, located on Roaring Branch, was built in 1850, and has the capacity for manufacturing about 5,000 feet of lumber per day. 

      John B. STEARNE's saw-mill, located on Roaring Branch, was built in 1860 by Marcellus BAKER, and has the capacity for cutting 2,000 feet of lumber per day. 

      S. S. GRIFFITH's saw-mill, known as the "Greeley Mill," located on Roaring Branch, was built in 1840. It has facilities for cutting 6,000 feet of lumber per day. Mr. GRIFFITH is also the proprietor of a steam-mill, located on road 5, which was erected in 1880, with the capacity for cutting 20,000 feet of lumber per day. He is also quite extensively engaged in the manufacture of charcoal. 

      GRIFFITH & MCINTYRE's steam-mill, located in the central part of the town-ship on Big Branch Creek. was built in 1872, with the capacity for cutting 20,000 feet of lumber per  day. 

      About 300 acres of the best part of the town, including the Governor's lot, in the valley of Otter Creek, was first settled, and titles obtained by pitches and vendue sales for taxes. It was ascertained in 1857, by running the town line between Danby and Mt.  Tabor, that parties claiming under Danby had crowded into Mt. Tabor 10 rods at Danby borough, the centre of said line, which takes about 60 acres of land, 8 dwellings. The meeting-house and the old banking-house, all treated as being in Danby, and will virtually form Mt. Tabor, and remain so by acquiescence, unless an Act of the Legislature or a judgment of Court sets it right. We find no record of any inhabitants in Mt. Tabor at an earlier date than 1782; but there were probably settlers here nearly as early as in any town in this vicinity. 

      John SWEET came into the town in 1782, settling on 60 acres of land lying at the foot of the Green Mountains, on Otter Creek, in the south-west part of township. He was the first settler of whom we have any record. He resided here for many years, dying in 1818, leaving a numerous family. 

      Gideon BAKER soon after settled a little to the north of Mr. Sweet, and was one of the first selectmen and represented the town in the Legislature. His kitchen was used as a place for holding church service for a number of years, he being a staunch Methodist. He died in 1824 and was buried in the Tabor burying ground, the first marble in that ground being erected at his grave. 

      Beloved CARPENTER was also an early settler, having settled on the farm now owned by Miss Sophia TABOR. Gideon, the father of Miss Sophia, was born in 1762, and was in the war of the Revolution four years. He came to Mt. Tabor in 1784, where he married Hannah, daughter of Beloved CARPENTER, on the 4th of November, 1787. Gideon was chosen moderator at the organization of the town, served as town clerk 28 years, represented the town in the Legislature most of the time for about 30 years, and was justice of the peace over 30 years. He died in February, 1824, in the 62nd year of his age. 

      Caleb BUFFUM moved into Mt. Tabor in 1815, settling on a farm on the east road, about one mile from the creek road. He lived nearly forty years in the town, and raised a large family; and then sold his farm and removed to Rutland, to reside with his son, Caleb BUFFUM, Jr. He and his wife both died in Rutland, but were brought back and buried in the Mt. Tabor burying ground. Esquire BUFFUM was an energetic useful man in town, and represented Mt. Tabor in the Legislature several years, and held all the town offices at different times. 

      Walter TABOR was a soldier of the Revolutionary army. He resided in the town from 1797 until his death, in 1806. James HATHAWAY was also a sergeant in the Revolutionary army, was long a resident of the town, and died in 1826. Joseph MOULTON was in the French and Revolutionary wars. He died in 1815. Gideon TABOR was in the war of the Revolution four years. He went into the service at the age of sixteen. 

      In the war of '61 Mt. Tabor paid bounties to five soldiers, $300 each, and $7.00 per month while in the service; one of these five was a Danby man. The town had six in the army, over and above its quota, when these bounties were paid. Thus Mt. Tabor, in proportion to its population furnished more men than any other township in the county. 

      Mt. Tabor has no church except upon the land that Danby has appropriated, as before stated, upon the Otter Creek border. The inhabitants attend worship in the towns adjoining. 

Gazetteer and Business Directory of  Rutland  County, VT.;
1881-82, Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child;
Syracuse, N.Y.; Printed at the Journal Office
August 1881, Part Two, Pages 164 - 166.

Transcribed by Karima Allison 2004