Date
of Grant or Charter
~ 10 October 1761
Other Towns, Villages,
Hamlets:
Moccasin Mill
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Granby
lies in the southern central part of the county, in lat. 44º 35',
and long. 5º 5', bounded northeast by Ferdinand and Maidstone, southeast
by Guildhall, southwest by Victory, and northwest by East Haven.
It was granted by Benning Wentworth, the royal governor of New Hampshire,
under King George III, October 10, 1761, to Elihu Hall and sixty-three
others, in seventy equal shares, and under the usual restrictions of the
charters of that day. Its name was given, it is said, in honor
of the Earl of Granby. The town was surveyed by General James Whitelaw,
of Barnet, in 1785, with a result as follows: “Beginning at Guildhall
corner, thence running northwest between Victory and Granby six miles;
thence northeast between East Haven and Granby six miles, to a large rock;
thence between Guildhall and Granby six miles; and thence between Maidstone,
Ferdinand and Granby, six miles.”
The surface
of the town is broken and hilly, possibly mountainous. The soil is mostly
of the granitic order, and better adapted for grazing, and growing the
coarser grains and vegetables, than for wheat and corn, which require the
selection of the best fields and a favorable season; and even then are
more or less uncertain crops. Rocks are abundant, affording an available
material for fences; and there are some specimens of interest to the geologist.
Good clay is very scarce, and of minerals nothing of practical importance
is known. Cow Mountain pond in the southern, and Mud pond in the southwesterly
part of the town, both rather small, are all the ponds known with any certainty
to be within the limits of the town. Unknown pond, also small, near the
northwestern corner of the town, is believed by some to be in Granby, and
by others in Ferdinand. The streams, too, are small. Moose river, or Gaswell's
stream, flows across the western corner of the town, from East Haven to
Victory, and two or three of its branches rise in the southerly slope of
Granby. One brook runs easterly through Guildhall to Connecticut river,
and with Paul's stream and its branches drain the northerly slope of the
town, and these streams afford a pretty good supply of water-power.
Of timber the white pine was quite plenty in the northern part of the town,
but a considerable portion of the best quality has been cut. Spruce and
balsam, however, are abundant, as a considerable part of the town has not
yet been cleared, and hemlock, tamarack and cedar are found in a few localities
A few elms also are found growing on and near the streams, while maple,
birch and beech, are the principal varieties of hard wood.
(Source:
Gazetteer
of Caledonia and Essex Counties, VT.; 1764-1887,
Compiled and Published by Hamilton Child; May 1887)
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The town clerk maintains birth, death and marriage vital statistics
and many other records of value in researching your ancestors. You can
contact the Clerk's office at:
Granby
Town Clerk
P.O Box 126
Granby, VT
05840
Phone: (802)
328-3611
Fax: 328-3611
[email protected]
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