Colonel Bird took advantage of the opportunities afforded by the natural water-power at the outlet of the lake, and in 1772 erected a sawmill there, which performed its first work in sawing boards for his coffin, he having contracted a fever which, after relapse, proved fatal. His death occurred on September 16, 1772, when he was but thirty years of age. He was buried then on the banks of Castleton River, near where the old turnpike crossed it, and not far from his former residence. In 1842 his remains were removed to the public cemetery, and their new resting-place marked by a monument "erected by citizens of Castleton and friends, as a tribute of respect to a worthy man." He was born in Litchfield, Conn., in 1742.

In 1773 a grist-mill was erected near the sawmill of Colonel Bird.  Down to the Revolutionary War times a considerable settlement had been established in Castleton. The family of Colonel Bird, which came in 1771, returned to Salisbury, Conn., upon his death, and did not again visit this town.  His daughter afterwards married William Hallibird, of Canaan, Conn., and became the mother of Lieutenant-Governor W. S. Hallibird, of that State. Colonel Bird's location was a little south of Castleton Corners, on the farm now owned by Leandcr Jones.

Colonel Noah Lee brought his family to town in 1772, made his pitch in the east part of the township, on what was afterwards known as the Gridley farm, and built a log house, which they occupied until the breaking out of the Revolutionary War. His wife, Dorcas Bird, niece of Colonel Amos A. Bird, then returned to Salisbury, and remained there seven years, while he enacted the prominent part which he took in the war. Colonel Lee was born in Newark. Conn., October 15, 1745. He was a waiter in the Colonial army when he was but fifteen years of age, stationed at Crown Point.  He was one of the active proprietors of Castleton, and was a vigilant opponent of the New York land claimants. He took a decided stand on the side of American independence against British tyranny, and was prime mover of the expedition against Skeenesboro (now Whitehall), which left Castleton at the same time with the expedition of Colonel Ethan Allen against Ticonderoga, and which resulted in the capture of Major Skeene, the British commander of Skeenesboro. From 1781 to the close of the war he served in Pennsylvania as captain in the Continental army. He was in the battle of Yorktown, and was present at the surrender of Cornwallis. After the termination of the conflict he returned to Castleton with his family, where he passed the remainder of his long life in agricultural pursuits.  Albert Smith, now residing at Castleton Corners, is a descendant of Colonel Lee.

Ephraim Buel probably located a little to the west of the depot, and is said to have sold his farm to Brewster Higley. He subsequently removed West.  He was one of the three settlers who brought their families to Castleton in 1770.

In the same year Zadock Remington settled half a mile west of the site of the village on the tract of land embracing the present farms of Dor F. Atwood and Mrs. Mary Burke, He was an extensive land owner, and was highly respected, though eccentric. He erected the first framed house in Castleton, and probably kept the first tavern. The men recruited for the attack on Ticonderoga quartered there, and he had undoubtedly kept the house several years at that time. He was suspected of being favorable to the British cause, though there is no positive evidence of his disloyalty. He represented the town in the Council of Safety in 1778.   He lived to the advanced age of ninety-four years.  His estate, once large and thriving, had entirely left him in his old age, leaving him quite dependent.

Eleazer Bartholomew was a very early settler in the west part of the town.  It is not known just where he lived, nor when nor whither he removed. Major Abel Moulton settled in 1771, on the brow of the hill in the west part of the village, opposite the site of the Advent Church. He died of small-pox in 1776, in the thirty-fifth year of his age. His monument still stands near the site of his residence.

Nehemiah Hoit came in 1771, and subsequently married the widow of Abel Moulton. He lived for a time where Mr. Moulton had formerly lived, and afterwards removed to the south part of the town, where he died in 1832, aged eighty years. He followed second behind Ethan Allen in the capture of Ticonderoga, and was with Allen when he and his command were made prisoners at Montreal, though Hoit himself escaped. Though a man, it has been said, of ardent temperament, he was too reasonable to keep his anger long, and after the termination of the war he led a useful and Christian life in Castleton.  He was the first deacon of the Congregational Church here, and remained in the office to the time of his death.   

In 1771, too, Jesse Belknap settled about one and a half miles west of the village, on the farm now owned by Fred E.  Prouty and occupied by his father, Luther S. Prouty. He was the first justice of the peace, and was a member from Castleton of the convention which adopted the State constitution.

Reuben Moulton came to Castleton in 1771 and established a residence two miles east of the village, on the Rutland road, on the estate of Carlos S.  Beach. The tavern which he kept is still standing on the old site, and was occupied as a tavern after his death by his third son, Reuben. His brother, Samuel Moulton, came the same year and settled on the site of the residence of D. D. Cole. His son, Samuel, lived near the center of the village and kept tavern and post-office here many years.

The same year also witnessed the settlement here of John and Gershom Moulton, whose descendants are scattered through the township now.

Among the other arrivals of that year was Gershom Lake, of Woodbury, Conn., who settled about half a mile south of the village, on the farm now owned by John J. Jones. He built both the second log, and the second framed house in the town, the latter, which he erected before the war, being still habitable and in good repair. When the British troops passed through Castleton after the battle of Hubbardton, on their way to Whitehall, they impressed Lake with his oxen to transport baggage, after which they took his oxen for beef.

Captain Zachariah Hawkins, father of a numerous race, visited Castleton in 1770, and contracted for 800 acres of land, including the site of the village, but by reason of sickness in his family, failed to meet the first demand for payment and lost the purchase. Two of his sons, Gaylard and Silas, pitched in the south part of the township in 1771. They did not remain long. In 1779 Moses and Joseph Hawkins, two other sons, settled here ; Moses was the father of eleven children, all of whom settled in town. Joseph had but one child, a daughter, who became the wife of Robert Temple.

Richard Bendy erected, in 1771, the framed house where the council of war was held the night before the capture of Ticonderoga. It stood on the green in front of the old Congregational parsonage.

Israel Hallibird and his brother, Curtis, lived at this period a distance of a mile and a half cast of the village.

Joel Culver on the farm now owned by the heirs of Sheldon Bliss, in the southwest part of the township. He was early a member of the Congregational Church, and from 1805 to 1825 filled the office of deacon; a more particular mention of the family will be made in subsequent pages.

James Kilbourn came in 1773, and established himself a little south of Zadock Remington. He was a tanner and currier by trade, and carried on the business while he lived in Castleton. His only son, James, removed with him in later days to Canada. He had three daughters, Molly, who married Pitt W. Hyde, of Sudbury ; Sally, who married Araunah W. Hyde, of Castleton, and Ruth, who married Oliver Moulton. 

Timothy Everts settled in 1773 on the East Hubbardton road, north of old Fort Warren. He afterwards went to Ohio. Eli Everts came here in 1783, and settled on the Southmayd lot, on the south side of the green, now owned by Charles E. Ransom. He went to Fairhaven.

Nathaniel Northrup, in 1774, settled north of the village on the road to East Hubbardton. He lived to old age, and left a numerous race of descendants.

Captain Joseph Woodward settled the same year west of the village, in the vicinity of Parsons Hill. He was chairman of the Council of Safety at Dorset, in 1781. He had a large family.

Araunah Woodward settled in town about the same time. George Foot married Wealthy Woodward, and settled, in 1775, on the corner of the old fort site. Religious worship during the war was held at his house.

Captain John Hall came to this town in 1775, and built his house about a mile and a half north of the village on the road to East Hubbardton. He represented the town at Westminster in 1777, when the State was declared independent.  On the January following he was mortally wounded in the skirmish at Castleton. He had two sons, Elias and Alpheus, both of whom, young men, were captured and taken to Ticonderoga where they soon escaped. Elias resided on his father's homestead until his death in his ninety-fourth year. He took an active part in the war of American independence. At this time Alpheus was teaching school in Castleton.

Brewster Higley came here from Simsbury, Conn., about 1778, and purchased the farm of Ephraim Buel. He was descended from a family of Higleys who came from England. He was a prominent man here and held various town offices, such as moderator, town clerk and justice of the peace. He was also deacon of the Congregational Church.

Perhaps the most influential family in town in early days was the Hyde family, and the most influential member of the family, Araunah W. Hyde.  He was born February 14, 1799, at Hyde Park, Lamoille county, Vermont His father, Pitt W. Hyde, was one of the pioneer settlers of that portion of the State, whither he removed with his family from Norwich, Conn. He became a large landed proprietor, and by his exertions so promoted the public interests that the right of naming the county seat was accorded to him. He gave it the name of Hyde Park, thereby perpetuating the family name in the Green Mountain State, and rendering due honor to the home of his ancestors in England. In 1802 A. W. Hyde was taken to Sudbury, where he passed his early days on his father's farm, and received the rudiments of his education at the district school near by. His characteristics at this period are remembered by survivors as already remarkable. Thoughtful and earnest to an unusual degree, methodical by nature, a keen observer of men and their operations, he early formed the habits which he followed through life.  When he was about seventeen years old he came to Castleton to attend school at the academy. Not long after he sought and obtained a position as clerk in the store of James Adams.    He served in this capacity five years.  receiving the sum of five dollars a month. At the end of that time he was received as partner in the business. This connection continued about five years when he bought the interest of Mr. Adams and associating with himself his brother, Oliver M. Hyde, commenced mercantile life on his own account, lie was the "middleman" of a large agricultural community, buying whatever the farmers had to sell; he also furthered every public interest, aided with counsel and money the development of every resource, and in 1828 commenced the erection of the building now known as the State Normal School. In the following year the building was completed and furnished sufficiently for practical purposes. He erected a number of buildings now standing in the village, among them the Mansion House, which has since given place to the Bomoseen House, three brick houses on Seminary street, the marble block on the corner of Main and Seminary streets, and a considerable number of frame houses in other parts of the village, many of which are on streets laid out and opened by him. He closed his mercantile operations in 1834. During the next two or three years he was occupied in the settlement of past business transactions and in arranging to enter new fields of operation.

In 1837-38 he purchased of Ebenezer B. Dewey of Hubbardton, the lines of stages extending from Castleton to the most important stations in Vermont and Eastern New York. During the five years from 1839 to 1844, when he sold out, he, as a stage proprietor and mail contractor, was as well known throughout the country, and at the post-office department at Washington, as many of the railroad kings are at the present time.  In 1872 he purchased a water-power and mill site at what was then known as Castleton Mills, now Hydeville, and built the second marble mill of any pre-tensions in Rutland county. Having become the owner by purchase of a marble quarry at West Rutland, he energetically entered into the business of quarrying and sawing marble.

He was earnestly engaged in the railroad controversy of 1848 in relation to the proposed routes; after the ultimatum was reached, and the opening of the Rutland and Whitehall Road for traffic, he was made president of the company, which office he held for nearly twenty years. He was among the first interested in quarrying and manufacturing roofing slate and marbleized goods, and was actively engaged in this business up to the time of his death.  The authorities at Washington named the place where he had passed so many years Hydeville, in his honor. He had no taste for a political career and he never held an office in his life. He was killed in October, 1874, by a locomotive at the Hubbardton crossing, near the site of old Fort Warren. 

John Meacham was born in Williamstown, Mass., in 1776, and died in 1848.  His father settled in Fairhaven. He served an apprenticeship at the nailing business, but soon after he became of age engaged in mercantile pursuits, first with Ebenezer Langdon ; afterward with John Adams.    He was trustee of the grammar school, town treasurer, town representative, and judge of probate.  His first wife was Mary Langdon, by whom he had one daughter, Mrs. Hiram Ainsworth, whose husband now occupies the old homestead. 

James Adams, born in Simsbury, Conn., in 1775, settled as a grocer at Hydeville, in 1801. From Hydeville he removed to Castleton village and entered into partnership with Judge Mcacham in mercantile business. After this partnership was dissolved, Mr. Adams traded by himself till 1829; then in company with C. N. Dana. In 1831 the stock was sold to Albert Langdon.  Mr. Langdon sold to Israel Davey and B. F. Adams in 1836. Mr. Adams, with most of his family, joined the Congregational Church in 1831. He died about the year 1857.

Deacon Enos Merrill, a native of West Hartford, was one of the early settlers, arriving here about 1785. His early training was strictly Puritan. He was a pillar in the church in Castleton for nearly sixty years. 

Among the early settlers in Castleton was Captain John Mason, who came here about the year 1785. He was a magistrate, a member of the State Legislature, and of the Governor's Council, a presidential elector, and a trustee of the grammar school. He died at his residence in Castleton, two miles north of the village, aged eighty-two years.

Rufus Branch came to this town from Bennington, Vt., immediately after the close of the Revolution. His eldest son, Darius, came from Orwell afterwards and remained here until his death in his eighty-fourth year. 

James Palmer settled early in the northeastern part of the township in a place called Belgo. He was the father of Dr. David Palmer and Allen Palmer.

John Whitlock came here in 1775, and settled a little north of the village.  The farm he cleared is still owned by his descendants and occupied by Anson Clark. He was a Tory in sentiment, but was of a peaceable disposition.

Peter Cogswell settled east of the village in 1776. He was a blacksmith and farmer.  He was the father of General Eli Cogswell, who afterwards attained prominence here.

In the same year, 1776, Benjamin Carver came to the Corners near where Leander Jones now lives. He married a daughter of Colonel Noah Lee.

Colonel Isaac Clark established a settlement about this time on the place owned by Albert I. Johnson. He has descendants in town now. He was an officer in the Revolutionary War, and a Colonel in the United States army in the War of 1812. Colonel Clark was chief judge of the county court from 1807 to 1811. He died in 1822 at the age of seventy-four years.

Other early settlers were, Hyde Westover, who kept the noted Westover House at Castleton Corners, and has descendants there now.

Ira Hartwell, who also has descendants in town.

William Sanford (father of Dr. James Sanford), who resided here from October, 1799, until his death, March 24, 1866;

Dwyer Babbitt, who settled in 1803 between Castleton Corners and Hydeville.