Shaftsbury, Vermont
Bennington county. This town lies between the Battenkill and Walloomsac, and gives to those rivers some tributaries. West mountain lies in this town and Arlington. Shaftsbury lies 97 miles S.S.W. from Montpelier and 8 N. from Bennington. First settled, 1763. Population, 1830, 2,143. Among the first settlers was the Hon. Jonas Galusha, late governor of the state. He was a captain in the militia in 1777, and commanded a company of the "Green mountain boys," at the battle of Bennington.
Although the surface of Shaftsbury is elevated, the soil is generally of an excellent quality; it feeds 12,000 sheep, and its products of beef cattle and of the dairy are considerable. There are valuable beds of iron ore in the town, pine timber and quarries of beautiful marble. It has a number of manufacturing concerns on its small streams, a pleasant village, and a school fund of $10,000.
