STOCKBRIDGE VERMONT

Update4/13/02

Genealogy

Gaysville and Stockbridge are located in the municipality of Stockbridge.

 Stockbridge Vital Records Office ( Windsor Co.)
Stockbridge Town Clerk
P.O Box 39
Stockbridge, VT 05772
(802) 234-9371 

Town History

The town of Stockbridge was first chartered on July 21, 1761, but it was nearly twenty-five years after that time that the first permanent settlement was made, and more than thirty before the town was organized and chartered. The major village of Stockbridge is Gaysville.

In the spring of 1784 John Durkee was the first man to settle in the town. He was soon followed by Asa Whitcomb, Elias Keyes, Joshua Bartlett and Samuel Wiley. Elias Keyes was the most prominent settler of Stockbridge. He built the first gristmill and sawmill in 1786. He held many offices in both the county and state, from 1813 - 1818 he was a councilor to the governor, in 1803 - 1814 and again in 1815 - 1817 he was presiding judge of the County Court. John Durkee had a son named Orrin who served in the War of 1812 with the rank of captain. Another prominent settle was Lot Whitcomb, who lived in Barnard and was taken prisoner by the Indians in 1780. He escaped and returned to Massachusetts until the end of the war; when he returned to Vermont and settled in Stockbridge.

The first town meeting was held on March 27, 1792 and Elihu Holland was chosen town clerk. Joseph Durkee, John Whitcomb and Samuel Wiley, selectmen; Branch Whitcomb, constable.

Prominent families of Stockbridge: Lewis P. Dean, Samuel Eaton, William Edmunds, Emmans Knowlton, Orlando Richardson, Cephas W. Sawyer, Reuben Whitcomb, Miletus Appleton Ballard, Thomas Burroughs, James M. Clay, Nelson M. Grant, Francis Voltaire Hassam, David and David Jones, Deacon Ezra McCollom, Egbert Sheldon, JohnTaggert, R. Eugene Wilson, Ebenezer Wolcutt, Martin L. Wyman