MOSES OLMSTEAD SETTLES

IN PITTSFORD, VERMONT

Otter Creek, which flows through the middle of Pittsford, from south to north, with a gentle meandering current, is the principal stream, and its width here is from forty to fifty yards. Furnace Brook, a considerable tributary of Otter Creek, is formed by the union of East Creek and Philadelphia River. Along these streams are extensive meadows of the rich alluvial soil. On Furnace Brook and its branches are numerous mill privileges,  which are well improved. There are two ponds in the town: one in the south‑eastern part, covering about twenty acres; and the other in the north‑eastern, covering about thirty acres. There are no mountains. The soil is generally loam, with some tracts, which are sandy, and some of clay. The timber is oak, of several kinds. Pittsford abounds in iron ore, which makes the best of ware and bar iron, and has inexhaustible quarries of excellent marble.

There are two pleasant and flourishing villages in the town; one near the centre, the other on Furnace Brook. The settlement of the town was commenced in the year 1769, by Messrs. Gideon and Benjamin Cooley, from Greenwich, Massachusetts; they were soon joined by Roger Stevens, Felix Powell, Ebenezer Hopkins, Stephen Mead, Moses OLMSTEAD, Edward Owen, Joshua Woodward, and others from Massachusetts and Connecticut. Elder Elisha Rich was ordained over the Baptist Church in 1784."

Reference: Gazetteer of Vermont, Hayward, 1849.