This is a transcription of the Westmoreland, NH description from A Gazetteer of New Hampshire Containing Descriptions of all the Counties, Towns and Districts in the State by John Hayward, John P. Jewett (publisher), Boston, 1849.
WESTMORELAND
CHESHIRE CO. This town is watered by several small streams which empty into the Connecticut. The one issuing from Spafford’s Lake in Chesterfield is the largest, and affords some of the best water privileges in town.
The early settlers were several times attacked by the Indians. In one of their excursions, they killed William Phips, the first husband of Jemima How; and in another, carried Nehemiah How, the father of her second husband, a captive to Canada, where he died.
This town lies on the east side of Connecticut River, and the surface is less varied by mountains, vales, rivers and ponds, than the neighboring towns.
Boundaries. North by Walpole, east by Surry and Keene, south by Chesterfield, and west by Dummerston and Putney, Vt.
First Settlers. Four families settled in 1741.
First Ministers. Rev. William Goddard, ordained in 1764; dismissed in 1775. Rev. Allen Pratt, settled in 1790; dismissed in 1827.
Productions of the Soil. Indian corn 11,979 bushels; potatoes, 33,547 bushels; hay, 3,629 tons; wool, 11,279 lbs.; maple sugar, 15,304 pounds.
Distances. Sixty-five miles southwest from Concord, and about ten miles west of Keene. A railroad passes through this town.