Hiram Charlton took on the publication of the Genealogical and Family History of the State of Vermont for Lewis Publishing. In it, he enlisted the assistance of living residents of the state in providing biographical and genealogical details about their family, and then he published all 1104 family histories in two distinct volumes.
Oliver A. Smalley was born on a farm near Wayne Center, Wayne county, New York, June 16,1848. When he was eight years of age his parents, Silas H. and Almira Smalley, removed to Manchester, Delaware county, Iowa, and there he lived until he was seventeen, receiving his education in the common schools of that place, supplemented with a course in the Commercial College of Dubuque, Iowa. Leaving home in 1865 he entered the office of the Dubuque & Sioux City Railroad Company, at Manchester, as assistant freight agent and baggage master, and remained in the employ of that company until … Read more
In the year 1470, there lived in Lisbon, a town in Portugal, a man by the name of Christopher Columbus, who there married Dona Felipa, the daughter of Bartolome Monis De Palestrello, an Italian (then deceased), who had arisen to great celebrity as a navigator. Dona Felipa was the idol of her doting father, and often accompanied him in his many voyages, in which she soon equally shared with him his love of adventure, and thus became to him a treasure indeed not only as a companion but as a helper; for she drew his maps and geographical charts, and also … Read more
Francis Smalley, from Norwich Vt., made the first settlement on the farm now owned by Ira Cobleigh, on road 21 in Hyde Park. He married Martha P., daughter of Capt. Hyde, the union being blessed with six children, three of whom now reside at Hyde Park village, Abel P., Diadama, widow of L. H. Noyes, and Martha M., wife of Hon. R. S. Page. Mrs. Smalley died in 185z, and Francis died June 8, 1857. Abel P., was born on the old homestead, in 1819. He married Fannie Hodgkins, of Westfield, Vt., by whom he reared a family of six … Read more
Having glanced thus briefly at the action of the Norwich proprietors in opening a way to reach their new township in the wilderness, and in dividing up a portion of its surface into lots suitable to become the homesteads of future settlers, let us pause a moment and see what had meantime been done in the work of actual settlement. I am indebted to Rev. Edmund F. Slafter of Boston for an interesting account of what was unquestionably the first attempt at settlement made within the limits of the town. I quote from the Slafter Memorial: “Samuel Slafter [of Mansfield, … Read more
During the four years of war for the suppression of the Rebellion, Norwich furnished 178 different men for the armies of the Union. There were seven re-enlistments, making the whole number of soldiers credited to the town 185. By the census of 1860, the number of inhabitants was 1759. It appears, therefore, that the town sent to the seat of war rather more than one in ten of its entire population, during the four years’ continuance of hostilities. About the same proportion holds good for the state at large, Vermont contributing, out of an aggregate population of 315,116, soldiers to … Read more
The counties of Cumberland and Gloucester had been organized by New York in 1766, out of the territory lying between the Green Mountains and Connecticut River. In the year 1771 a census of these counties was made under the authority of that province. All the towns in Windham and Windsor Counties, as now constituted, belonged to Cumberland County; the remaining portion of the state to the north-ward, then mostly unsettled, was called the county of Gloucester. By the census of 1771, the population of the two counties of Cumberland and Gloucester was returned as 4669, (Cumberland, 3947; Gloucester, 722). Norwich … Read more
Hutchinson is an old and numerous family in Norwich, as well as in other parts of the country. They were among the early settlers of Massachusetts and were in Lynn and Salem in that colony as early as 1628, or 1629. A descendant of these early colonists, named Abijah, who was a tailor, removed from Salem to Windham early in the eighteenth century. His son Samuel, born about 1719, in company with his son, John, came to Norwich in 1765. They cleared an island in the Connecticut River, opposite the present residency of John W. Loveland, and planted it with … Read more
The History of Littleton New Hampshire is comprised of three volumes, two volumes of history, and a final volume of genealogies. Considered one of the best examples of local history written in the early 20th century, is your ancestors resided in Littleton then you need these books. Read and download for free!
Passaic Valley in New Jersey was first settled in the early 1700’s, primarily by families from Long Island, New York and Connecticut. The Family records, or, Genealogies of the first settlers of Passaic Valley and vicinity above Chatham provides genealogies of these early settlers from family records when they could be obtained, otherwise the author used family members to provide the information. Since some of the information comes from memory of individuals, one should validate what is written before relying on it to greatly.
The sources of information in regard to the part taken by the town in the Revolutionary struggle are few and scanty. The earliest allusion in the town records to this important epoch of the country’s history is found in the election of a Committee of Safety at the annual town meeting, March 11, 1777. This committee was five in number: Deacon Joseph Smalley, Samuel Hutchinson, John Hatch, Captain Hezekiah Johnson and John Hopson. There is much reason to believe, however, that this was not the first Committee of Safety that acted for the town; but was a new committee selected … Read more
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
At the first enumeration of the inhabitants of eastern Vermont, as made by the authority of New York in 1771, Norwich was found to be the most populous of all the towns of Windsor County, having forty families and 206 inhabitants. Windsor followed with 203, and Hartford was third with 190. The aggregate population of the county (ten towns reported) was then but 1,205, mostly confined to the first and second tiers of towns west of the Connecticut River. Twenty years later, in 1791, Hartland led all the towns of the county with 1,652 inhabitants, Woodstock and Windsor coming next … Read more
In America the germ of political organization is the Township, older than the County, older than the State. In New England we find towns established as independent communities, endowed with distinctive rights and privileges, as early as the middle of the seventeenth century. It is to these town governments that we must look for the foundation of republican liberty, to the town meeting, where all citizens meet on a plane of equality to choose their local officers and manage their local affairs. Here is the firm basis upon which all free institutions can rest. Ralph Waldo Emerson once proposed that … Read more
Notwithstanding the fact that Norwich had for many years within its borders a collegiate institution of its own, founded and directed by its most distinguished son, the relations of their people towards Dartmouth College on the opposite bank of the Connecticut were always intimate and friendly.
Two volumes of Cox family genealogy combined as one. The first volume contains information about the various early Cox families across America. The second volume deals specifically with the descendants of James and Sarah Cock of Killingworth upon Matinecock, in the township of Oysterbay, Long Island, New York.
The Congregational Church of Norwich is among the oldest of the Congregational churches of Vermont, only four others having preceded it in the date of their organization, viz.: those of Bennington, Newbury, Westminster, and Windsor. It was the earliest and for many years the only ecclesiastical organization in town. Some of the first settlers had been members of this church in Connecticut before settling here. These would naturally associate themselves for public worship, and as early as June, 1770, by the aid, it is said, of Reverend Peter Powers, the pioneer minister of Newbury, the nucleus of a church was … Read more
Alexander Bisset Munro was born 25 Dec. 1793 at Inverness, Scotland to Donald and Janet (Bisset) Munro. Alexander left Scotland at the age of 14, and lived in Dimecrana in the West Indies for 18 years. He owned a plantation, raising cotton, coffee and other produce. He brought produce to Boston Massachusetts on the ship of Solomon Dockendorff. To be sure he got his money, Solomon asked his to come home with him, where he met Solomon’s sister, Jane Dockendorff. Alexander went back to the West Indies, sold out, and moved to Round Pond, Maine, and married Jane. They had 14 children: Janet, Alexander, Margaret, Nancy, Jane, Mary, Solomon, Donald, John, William, Bettie, Edmund, Joseph and Lydia.
Resident and business directory of Middleboro’ and Lakeville, Massachusetts, for 1899. Containing a complete resident, street and business directory, town officers, schools, societies, churches, post offices, notable events in American history, etc. Compiled and published by A. E. Foss & Co., Needham, Massachusetts. The following is an example of what you will find within the images of the directory: Sheedy John, laborer, bds. J. G. Norris’, 35 West Sheehan John B., grocery and variety store, 38 West, h. do. Sheehan Lizzie O., bds. T. B. Sheehan’s, 16 East Main Sheehan Lucy G. B., bds. T. B. Sheehan’s, 16 East Main … Read more
United States Soldiers of the Civil War Residing in Michigan, June 1, 1894 [ Names within brackets are reported in letters. ] Eaton County Bellevue Township. – Elias Stewart, Frank F. Hughes, Edwin J. Wood, Samuel Van Orman, John D. Conklin, Martin V. Moon. Mitchell Drollett, Levi Evans, William Fisher, William E. Pixley, William Henry Luscomb, George Carroll, Collins S. Lewis, David Crowell, Aaron Skeggs, Thomas Bailey, Andrew Day, L. G. Showerman, Hulbert Parmer, Fletcher Campbell, Lorenzo D. Fall, William Farlin, Francis Beecraft, William Caton, Servitus Tucker, William Shipp, Theodore Davis. Village of Bellevue. – William H. Latta, Thomas B. … Read more