Benson, Vermont
Rutland county. This town, on Lake Champlain, was first settled in 1783. Population, 1830, 1,493. It lies 84 miles E. from Montpelier, 20 W.N.W. from Rutland, and opposite to Putnam, N.Y. The lake at this place is about a mile in width. The town has some streams affording mill sites, but none of great importance. The waters are generally brackish and unpleasant. A stream issues from a swamp in this town, and after running a short distance, passes through the base of a high hill, a distance of more than half a mile. Benson has good pine, maple, walnut, oak, and beech timber, and a bog of marl resembling fuller's earth. There are about 14,000 sheep in this town.
