Gloucester County NY

Church History of Norwich Vermont

The great achievement of the first generation of Norwich settlers was the building of a meeting house. More than any other event of the time, with the possible exception of the accomplishment of the national independence, this was an undertaking that enlisted the energies and taxed the resources of our forefathers. The building of a meeting house in a New England frontier settlement a century ago was regarded a matter of public concern, to be supported by the whole community without regard to sect or party, like the opening of roads or any other public charge. In less than ten … Read more

Biography of John Hatch, Esq.

John Hatch, born June 9, 1727, in Preston, Connecticut, was an early settler of Norwich, Vermont. A prominent figure in the town’s development, he was elected selectman and town clerk in the 1760s, holding the latter position until 1780. Hatch, a skilled surveyor, mapped Norwich into lots and laid out roads, later serving as county surveyor for Cumberland County. He married Sarah Richards in 1748, and they had nine children. Hatch passed away on April 24, 1806, shortly after his wife. He was the son of John and Jerusha (Herrick) Hatch.

Norwich Vermont in the Controversy with New York

The contest with New York in regard to land titles was the first of a series of political commotions that arose to disquiet and vex the settlers on the New Hampshire Grants, to turn their thoughts and energies away from the improvement of their little properties, and check their growing prosperity. In this contest the inhabitants of the upper valley of the Connecticut in general took no active part. They all held their lands under New Hampshire Grants, and as New York never re-granted the same lands to other parties, or attempted to dispossess them or molest them in any … Read more