The Town of Stockbridge, Vermont
including the village of Gaysville

Stockbridge History

  • About Stockbridge, Vermont
  • Stockbridge History Timeline
  • Timeline of Business and Industries in Stockbridge and Gaysville
  • Stockbridge Education Timeline
  • Population Statistics for Stockbridge from Federal Census
  • Stockbridge Links

  • [Stockbridge, VT]  [Windsor County, VT] [VTGenWeb]
     


    About Stockbridge 
    STOCKBRIDGE

         The Town of Stockbridge includes the village of Gaysville. Though a large portion of Gaysville was destroyed during the flood of 1927, it remains an active village today.

         Another hamlet, by the name of "No Town", though not appearing on modern maps that have been consulted, is found situated, in the southeastern corner of Stockbridge, on a 1911 map of the northwest corner of the Woodstock quadrangle, online at Historic USGS Maps of New England  & New York.  The boundaries appear to have varied through the years, with "No Town" appearing to be within Sherburne, in Rutland County on a 1943 map., however, this area remains within Stockbridge presently.

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    Stockbridge History
    TIMELINE HISTORY OF STOCKBRIDGE 

    1761 - First grant made to William Dodge and 61 associates by B. Wentworth in the Province of New Hampshire.
    1779 – First meeting of Proprietors held in Massachusetts.
    1784/1785  - First permanent settlers:  John Durkee, Asa Whitcomb, Elias Keyes, Joshua Bartlett and Samuel Wiley.
    1784 – First child born in Stockbridge - Joseph Wiley 
    1785  - Town first surveyed by Park Holland – 48 sq miles – 30, 720 acres 
    1787 – First recorded death – Mrs. Betsey Bartlett – died of exposure suffered when she attempted to bring cattle off Sable Mt during a storm. 
    1789 - First marriage in Town: Robert Lyon to Katherine Burnet
    1789 – First Sale of Properties for Delinquent Taxes
    1791 - Census shows 22 families – 100 people – living in Stockbridge
    1792 – Stockbridge became an organized Town. – John Whitcomb was the
    town’s first representative to Congress
    1797 - Town meeting - voted one penny an acre tax to build a bridge over the White River.
    1800 - August town meeting the town voted to provide a meeting house.
    1800s – Town consisted primarily of family farms.  Sheep, cattle, hogs, oxen and horses were common to the area. 
    1800-1810 - This period was one of growth and organization to meet the demands of the town. Houses of sawn boards and timbers replaced the rude earthen floored log cabins.
    1801- First Bridge over the White River. Voted a penny an acre from each landowner to pay for the bridge.
    1801 - 836 acres on the North side of the Town was annexed by Bethel. Elias Keyes owned much of this land and so the surveyor general gave him 836 acres, to compensate him for his loss.
    1803 – An epidemic of dysentery  “swept off a great part of the children in the town” (From Zadock Thompson’s  “Vermont” pub 1842)
    1806 - At this town meeting it was proposed that a general inoculation for Small Pox be undertaken by the town; but because of opposition no final action was taken.
    1807 - Action was taken at this meeting concerning oxen and teams on the Common. None were to be left unhitched or "at large".
    1809 - Acted to limit the roaming of hogs. Hogs found at large between May 1st and Nov. 1st are to be forfeited.
    1811 – The town was divided into 7 school districts with a total of 238 students.  The total population of Stockbridge was 700.
    1815 - At town meeting it was voted that all cattle with their marks should be registered with the town clerk.
    1820 – Voted to tax the people one cent on the dollar to defray the costs of maintaining the “poor and other needy”
    1823 - Grand List-136 families paying $ 9,616.60 for taxes.
    1823 - At the February 19th town meeting it was voted to allow taxes to be paid in grain. In September the selectmen were instructed to find a place to store the grain that had come in for taxes and for rentals. The occupants of ministerial lands were requested to pay their rents, these could be paid in grain.
    1824 - In March it was voted not to build a new bridge at Chase's over Stony Brook, but a committee was appointed to investigate and empowered to spend $5 to repair the old one.
    1825 - Each town meeting from 1824 on they voted someone to take charge of the arms of the community.
    1825 - Grand List ---received $10,705.00 in taxes.
    1826 – Town meeting alternated between Stockbridge and the Narrows
    1828 – Town voted to repair roads and bridges damaged by the “recent “ freshet 
    1828 – Voted to build an arch bridge over Stony Brook
    1834 – Post Office at Gaysville established by Merrick Gay
    1837 – Established the boundaries of a section to be known as Gaysville
    1838 – Meeting house built in Gaysville
    1840 – 1,419 inhabitants, 2 meetinghouses, 2 grist mills, 4 saw mills, 1 woolen factory, 2 stores, 2 taverns, 1 tannery and 13 school districts
    1841 – Town voted to purchase a Poor Farm
    1832–1891 - Woolen Mill, Button Factory and Power Plant built in Gaysville
    1862– 116  Volunteers from Stockbridge enlisted in the US military or Vermont Militia. 
    1884 – “No Town” becomes part of Stockbridge, annexed from Parkers Gore 
    1890s  - Mining for gold takes place on several town sites
    1896 – Belcher Library established from the bequest of William C. Belcher.
    1899 – Town granted a 10-year tax exemption to any manufacturing or canning
    establishment to be located in Stockbridge
    1900 – First run of the Peavine Railroad between Bethel, Stockbridge and Rochester
    1901 – Last run of the horse drawn stagecoach which connected Stockbridge with Bethel and Rochester since 1861
    1910 – Train wreck on the Stony Brook Bridge
    1913 – Gaysville damaged by flood 1923 – Verde Antique Marble discovered at the Greeley Talc mine in Stockbridge.
    1927 – Flood of Nov 3 destroyed 15 homes, barns and other buildings, wiped out the center of Gaysville, the railroad and its station, and the Methodist church. 
    1932 – Last run of the Peavine Railroad 

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    Business and Industries in Stockbridge and Gaysville

    1786 – First grist mill and saw mill built by Elias Keyes
    1800s – Predominantly family farms, some logging and raising of hops.
    1840 – Stockbridge had 1,419 inhabitants, 2 meetinghouses, 2 grist mills, 4 saw
    mills, 1 woolen factory, 2 stores, 2 taverns, 1 tannery and 13 school districts
    1856 - Mr. Greenbanks with Nelson Gay, A. A. Brooks of Bethel, F.P. Holden and Chester Downer of Sharon founded the Gaysville Manufacturing Co., they employed 70 workers and grossed $125,000.00 a year. They made men's underwear of natural hue and also bright red; they also made flannel.
    1856 - About this time Isaac Jones started a saw mill which did custom work. It was water powered.
    1856 - The Stony Brook Lumber Co. in No Town was steam powered, and capable of producing 10,000 feet of lumber and 6,000 feet of clapboards a day.
    1856 Mr. Durkee had a soapstone factory, which made all sorts of articles from soapstone; hand and foot warmers etc..
    1884 Gazetteer – listed 7 Blacksmiths, 6 Carpenters, 2 Physicians, 2 Wheelwrights,3 Wooden Ware Mfgs, 1 Knitting Mill, a Shingle Mill and a Cider Mill, 2 Undertakers, a Lumber Company and a Hotel, as well as several merchants of food and dry goods.
    1884 – 1894 – The Gaysville Button Company and Power Station were built at the ”Narrows” on the White River. 
    1900 – The Eastern Talc Company and Verde Antique Marble Quarries operate in town.
    1913 – Perley W. Green began a Ford dealership at Stockbridge Four Corners
    1925 – Ketchum Snowshoes were made by hand in Gaysville. 
    1946 - 2002 – Stanley Rule and Level Company and Advanced Animations operate in Stockbridge. Hawk Mountain Corp builds 50 homes. Robert Ketchum operates the single remaining dairy farm in Stockbridge.

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    Schools in Stockbridge

    1800 – The town meeting voted the first money for “schooling”
    1811 – The town was divided into 7 school districts with a total of 238 students.  The total population of Stockbridge was 700.
    1882 –  The town was divided into 9 school districts and contained 10 common schools, with a total of 260 students. It employed 2 male and 32 female teachers to whom was paid an aggregate salary of $1,179.08. 
    1896 – The 4 largest Schools in Stockbridge, 2 at Gaysville, one on Stony Brook and one on the Common had more than 25 pupils each and maintained 30 weeks of school. 
    1956– Stockbridge Central School built

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    Population Statistics for Stockbridge from Federal Census:

    1791 –  100   1810 –    700    1820 –   964       1830 – 1,333
    1840 – 1,419  1850 – 1,327   1860 – 1,264     1870 – 1,269
    1880 – 1,124     1910 –    737    1920 –   618   1930 –  460
    1940 –    490  1950 –    427  1960 –  392  1970 –  389
    1980 –    507  1990 –    618 2000 –   684  


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    Please  don’t let any part of Stockbridge History be lost!

    Any item you have or find that relates to an earlier time in Stockbridge, or any memories you may have of people, places and times past should be shared.

    Contact: Stockbridge, VT Town Coordinator E-mail: Barb Vellturo
     
         Stockbridge-Gaysville Historical Society 
            P.O. Box 100
            Gaysville, Vermont 08746

    For membership information or to be notified of meetings, 
    phone Mette Rea at (802) 746-8369.
      

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    Stockbridge Links

    Stockbridge, VT Town Coordinator E-mail: Barb Vellturo
    Contact Ann Mensch: Webweaver for Stockbridge, VT
    VTGenWeb for STOCKBRIDGE, VT VTGenWeb for WINDSOR County, VT

    Copyright 2002 by Ann Mensch and Barb Vellturo.  All Rights Reserved.