Bristol County, R. I.

Bristol is the chief town. The
territory of this smallest county in
New England, except the county
of Suffolk, in Massachusetts, be-
longed to the colony of Massachu-
setts until 1748. It is bounded on
the N. by Bristol county, Mass.,
E. by Mount Hope bay, and S. and
W. by the upper waters of Narra-
ganset buy. Area, 25 square miles.
The location of this county, on the
beautiful waters of Mount Hope
and Narragansetbays* affords it un-
rivalled facilities for navigation.
The soil is generally a deep gravelly
legm and very fertile, producing va-
rious kinds of grain and fruits; and
has about 4,000 sheep. The rocks
are mostly granite. Bristol county
affords some of the best sc'eneqpr in
New England, and is otherwise in-
teresting as being, for many years,
the residence of the brave and cruel
Philip. Population, 1830, 5,466:
"218inhabitants to a square mile.

Bristol, Me.

Lincoln co. This town is bound-
ed N. by Nobleborough and Bre-
men, W. by Damariscotta river, S.
by the sea, and E. by Muscongus
bay. “ Bristol Mills,” so called, is
the centre of the town, or the chief
place of business. The town is
finely watered by the Damariscotta
and Pemmaquid, and possesses great
hydraulic power and navigable fa-
cilities. There are a number of
islands in the waters around Bristol,
which make a beautiful appearance;
some of them are quite large, and
inhabited. The surface of Bristol
is not mountainous, but elevated,
with a good soil. A number of
square rigged vessels belong to this
town ; about 20 sail are engaged in
the coasting trade, and a great num-
ber of smaller vessels are employ-
ed in the bank and shore fisheries.
Bristol lies 15 miles S. E. from Wis-
casset, 60 N. E. from Portland, and
32 S. E. .from Augusta. Popula-
tion, 1837, 2,783. This town was
incorporated in 1765. There was
a temporary settlement here as ear-
ly as 1625. In an old fort, on the
hanks of the Pemmaquid, once call-
ed William Henry, and afterwards
Frederick George, built of stone, in
1692, and taken by the French in
1696, “ are found grave stones of a
very early date, and streets regu-
larly laid out and paved, in the vi-
cinity of the fort. On the side of
the river, opposite to the fort, tan
pits have been discovered, the plank
remaining in a state of pi enerva-
tion. In other places coffins have
been dug up, which bear indubi-
table evidence of a remote antiqui-
ty.” “A considerable portion of
the inhabitants of Bristol are of
Irish extraction,- a small part of
Scotch, a few of German and Eng-
lish. The predominant character-
istics of the inhabitants are frank-
ness and hospitality, a generous lib-
erality of sentiment, and an ardent
love of liberty and independence.
There are few of that class of men
who are esteemed opulent. The
most wealthy are those who labor
daily with their hands, and raise by
their own individual exertions the
bread they consume. On the other
hand, the population of the miser-
ably poor is very small, and the
town is burthened with but few
paupers.” Bristol was the resi-
dence of Commodore Samuel Tuck-
er, distinguished for his bravery in
the revolutionary war.

Bristol, N. H.

Bristol, in the S. E. part of Graf-
ton count3/,is bounded N. hy Bridge-
water, E. by Pemigewasset river,
and W.by Hill. It is 16 miles S.from
Plymouth, and 30 N. from Concord.
The land is hilly, but has, in gen-
eral, a good soil. Zs’ewfound pond,
about 6 miles in length and from
2 to 3 miles in width, lies in this
town and in Hebron. Its waters
are discharged through Newfound
river, a stream about 2 miles long