Captain John Coffeen, the town's first permanent settler, brought his family and possessions into the wilderness of Cavendish in June 1769. They built a dwelling in the northern part of town on what is now E. I. Heald's farm, on the lot still called the "Coffeen pasture". The Coffeens remained the only family in Cavendish for two years. In the early 1780s, Leonard Proctor and Salmon Dutton came from Massachusetts and gave their names to the two major settlements on the Black River, Proctorsville and Duttonsville. In 1782, the first recorded town meeting occurred and Dutton was elected town clerk. He is credited with having conducted a 1784 survey for the first road from Duttonsville along the Black River to Ludlow. In 1786 he became the town's first justice of the peace. He also served as moderator of the town meeting, as selectman, and as town treasurer. The marriage of Redfield Proctor and Emily Dutton in 1858 joined the leading families of the two villages and promised to put an end to the former rivalry.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which are land and, or 0.59%, is water. Cavendish was one of thirteen Vermont towns isolated by flooding caused by Hurricane Irene in 2011.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,470 people, 617 households, and 420 families residing in the town. The population density was 37.1 people per square mile. There were 860 housing units at an average density of 21.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.82% White, 0.07% African American, 0.14% Native American, 0.82% Asian, 0.14% from other races, and 1.02% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.95% of the population. There were 617 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 57.5% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.8% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.37 and the average family size was 2.80. In the town, the population was spread out, with 20.7% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $34,727, and the median income for a family was $41,591. Males had a median income of $30,223 versus $22,206 for females. The per capita income for the town was $18,420. About 2.4% of families and 6.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.5% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
Phineas Gage, working near Cavendish in 1848, survived an accident in which a large iron rod was driven through his head
