Weathersfield, Vermont
Encyclopedia
Weathersfield is a town in Windsor County, Vermont
, United States. The population was 2,788 at the 2000 census.
, the town has a total area of 44.2 square miles (114.4 km2), of which 43.8 square miles (113.4 km2) is land and 0.4 square mile (1.1 km2) (0.93%) is water.
, the home of some of its earliest settlers. The Connecticut town had taken its name, in turn, from Wethersfield, a village in the English
county of Essex
, the name of which derived from wether, or in Old English wither, meaning a castrated lamb. In England, wethers were trained to lead flocks of ewes to pasture. It was a supreme irony that the name of the Vermont town (with an 'a' inserted) would derive from a connection to sheep, the animal that would come to define Weathersfield's earliest antecedents and first put it on the map.
The man responsible for that feat was a native of Boston
who had become a European trader. William Jarvis was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson
as U.S. Consul General to Portugal, after founding a trading house in Lisbon
. In 1811 Jarvis imported from Spain to his farm at Weathersfield Bow the first Merino
sheep brought to America. Jarvis set aside eight of the 4,000 Merino sheep he imported as gifts to former President Jefferson and to President James Madison
.
"I cannot forbear, Sir," Jarvis wrote to Jefferson, "making you an offer of a Ram & Ewes, both as a mark of my great esteem & well knowing that the experiment cannot be in better hands." Jarvis was a wealthy financier and gentleman farmer who had bought up most of the flood plain of Weathersfield. Jarvis was also one of the most prominent Republicans in the Connecticut River Valley. Thanks to his introduction of Merino sheep, he provided the underpinning for Vermont agriculture for the next century.
Jarvis married Mary Pepperell Sparhawk of Boston, a fellow descendant of Sir William Pepperell of Massachusetts. (Jarvis' wife was the niece of his mother, the former Mary Pepperell Sparhawk Jarvis). Katherine L. Jarvis, daughter of Hon. William Jarvis, married Harvard-educated lawyer and photographer Col. Leavitt Hunt
, brother of architect Richard Morris Hunt
and Boston painter William Morris Hunt
, and son of Vermont Congressman Jonathan Hunt
. Leavitt Hunt
and his wife later lived in Weathersfield at their home, Elmsholme.
Rev. John Dudley, a sometime missionary to the Choctaw
Indians, a graduate of Yale Seminary, the descendant of one of the earliest families of Connecticut (his ancestor William Dudley settled in Guilford
in the early 17th century) and a widely reprinted Congregational preacher, made his home in Weathersfield, where his son William Wade Dudley
was born.
A remarkable detailed history of the town is available for the years 1971 through 1986 in the form of a unique weekly newspaper, The Weathersfield Weekly, which covered the history and current events in the town in an intense and intelligent fashion. The newspaper was closed by its editors and publishers, Armstrong and Edith Hunter, in 1986, though they published a 5-year retrospective in 1991.
of 2000, there were 2,788 people, 1,167 households, and 830 families residing in the town. The population density
was 63.7 people per square mile (24.6/km2). There were 1,315 housing units at an average density of 30.0 per square mile (11.6/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.57% White, 0.07% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.25% Asian, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.
There were 1,167 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% were married couples
living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,057, and the median income for a family was $46,282. Males had a median income of $33,226 versus $27,011 for females. The per capita income
for the town was $21,647. About 4.8% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
Vermont
Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...
, United States. The population was 2,788 at the 2000 census.
Geography
According to the United States Census BureauUnited States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the town has a total area of 44.2 square miles (114.4 km2), of which 43.8 square miles (113.4 km2) is land and 0.4 square mile (1.1 km2) (0.93%) is water.
History
The town of Weathersfield was named for Wethersfield, ConnecticutWethersfield, Connecticut
Wethersfield is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. Many records from colonial times spell the name Weathersfield, while Native Americans called it Pyquag...
, the home of some of its earliest settlers. The Connecticut town had taken its name, in turn, from Wethersfield, a village in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
county of Essex
Essex
Essex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East region of England, and one of the home counties. It is located to the northeast of Greater London. It borders with Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent to the South and London to the south west...
, the name of which derived from wether, or in Old English wither, meaning a castrated lamb. In England, wethers were trained to lead flocks of ewes to pasture. It was a supreme irony that the name of the Vermont town (with an 'a' inserted) would derive from a connection to sheep, the animal that would come to define Weathersfield's earliest antecedents and first put it on the map.
The man responsible for that feat was a native of Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
who had become a European trader. William Jarvis was appointed by President Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
as U.S. Consul General to Portugal, after founding a trading house in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. In 1811 Jarvis imported from Spain to his farm at Weathersfield Bow the first Merino
Merino
The Merino is an economically influential breed of sheep prized for its wool. Merinos are regarded as having some of the finest and softest wool of any sheep...
sheep brought to America. Jarvis set aside eight of the 4,000 Merino sheep he imported as gifts to former President Jefferson and to President James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
.
"I cannot forbear, Sir," Jarvis wrote to Jefferson, "making you an offer of a Ram & Ewes, both as a mark of my great esteem & well knowing that the experiment cannot be in better hands." Jarvis was a wealthy financier and gentleman farmer who had bought up most of the flood plain of Weathersfield. Jarvis was also one of the most prominent Republicans in the Connecticut River Valley. Thanks to his introduction of Merino sheep, he provided the underpinning for Vermont agriculture for the next century.
Jarvis married Mary Pepperell Sparhawk of Boston, a fellow descendant of Sir William Pepperell of Massachusetts. (Jarvis' wife was the niece of his mother, the former Mary Pepperell Sparhawk Jarvis). Katherine L. Jarvis, daughter of Hon. William Jarvis, married Harvard-educated lawyer and photographer Col. Leavitt Hunt
Leavitt Hunt
Col. Leavitt Hunt was a Harvard-educated attorney and photography pioneer who was one of the first people to photograph the Middle East...
, brother of architect Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt
Richard Morris Hunt was an American architect of the nineteenth century and a preeminent figure in the history of American architecture...
and Boston painter William Morris Hunt
William Morris Hunt
William Morris Hunt , American painter, was born at Brattleboro, Vermont to Jane Maria Hunt and Hon. Jonathan Hunt, who raised one of the preeminent families in American art...
, and son of Vermont Congressman Jonathan Hunt
Jonathan Hunt (Vermont Representative)
General Jonathan Hunt was a member of the United States House of Representatives and the prominent Hunt family of Vermont. He was born in Vernon, Windham County, Vermont, and graduated from Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, in 1807. Afterwards, Hunt studied law and was admitted to the bar...
. Leavitt Hunt
Leavitt Hunt
Col. Leavitt Hunt was a Harvard-educated attorney and photography pioneer who was one of the first people to photograph the Middle East...
and his wife later lived in Weathersfield at their home, Elmsholme.
Rev. John Dudley, a sometime missionary to the Choctaw
Choctaw
The Choctaw are a Native American people originally from the Southeastern United States...
Indians, a graduate of Yale Seminary, the descendant of one of the earliest families of Connecticut (his ancestor William Dudley settled in Guilford
Guilford, Connecticut
Guilford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, that borders Madison, Branford, North Branford and Durham, and is situated on I-95 and the coast. The population was 21,398 at the 2000 census...
in the early 17th century) and a widely reprinted Congregational preacher, made his home in Weathersfield, where his son William Wade Dudley
William Wade Dudley
William Wade Dudley , born in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, started life as a soldier in the American Civil War, then became a lawyer, a government official and a Republican campaigner.-Background:William Wade Dudley was the son of Rev...
was born.
A remarkable detailed history of the town is available for the years 1971 through 1986 in the form of a unique weekly newspaper, The Weathersfield Weekly, which covered the history and current events in the town in an intense and intelligent fashion. The newspaper was closed by its editors and publishers, Armstrong and Edith Hunter, in 1986, though they published a 5-year retrospective in 1991.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 2,788 people, 1,167 households, and 830 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 63.7 people per square mile (24.6/km2). There were 1,315 housing units at an average density of 30.0 per square mile (11.6/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.57% White, 0.07% African American, 0.29% Native American, 0.25% Asian, and 0.82% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.72% of the population.
There were 1,167 households out of which 26.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.6% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 5.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.8% were non-families. 22.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 5.1% from 18 to 24, 26.9% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 16.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.0 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $42,057, and the median income for a family was $46,282. Males had a median income of $33,226 versus $27,011 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the town was $21,647. About 4.8% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.2% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
- Aretas BloodAretas BloodAretas Blood played an important role in the manufacture of early American railroad steam locomotives.Blood was born in Weathersfield, Vermont. At the age of 17, as railroads began to be built in the United States, he was apprenticed as a blacksmith...
, steam locomotive manufacturer. - Clarissa DanforthClarissa DanforthClarissa Danforth was the first woman ordained as a Free Will Baptist minister.Danforth was born in Weathersfield, Vermont in 1792. She heard Rev. John Colby preach in 1809 on his way to Ohio and had a conversion experience. After her ordination in 1815, Danforth became an itinerant preacher...
, early female Christian minister. - William Wade DudleyWilliam Wade DudleyWilliam Wade Dudley , born in Weathersfield Bow, Vermont, started life as a soldier in the American Civil War, then became a lawyer, a government official and a Republican campaigner.-Background:William Wade Dudley was the son of Rev...
, politician. - William JarvisWilliam Jarvis (merchant)William Jarvis was an American diplomat, financier and philanthropist best known for introducing the merino breed of sheep into the United States from Spain.-Biography:...
, consul to Portugal under president Thomas Jefferson. - Don A.J. Upham, mayor of Milwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee, WisconsinMilwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...
.
Sources
- The Democratic Dilemma: Religion, Reform and the Social Order in the Connecticut River Valley of Vermont, 1791–1850, Randolph A. Roth, 1987, Cambridge University Press, pp. 16, 103, 107, 113, 144, 145, 173-177, etc., on William Jarvis.