Vermont Genealogy

Welcome to Thetford

   5 September 1999

Thetford was chartered in 1761 by Governor Benning Wentworth of New Hampshire, one of 131 towns chartered between 1760 and 1764 in what are now the states of Vermont and New Hampshire.  Governor Wentworth named the town in honor of Augustus Henry Fitzroy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, 4th Earl of Arlington, 4th Viscount Thetford, a distant cousin of the king who was soon to become Prime Minister.  The Thetford Grant was made to sixty-two proprietors, fifty-one of whom were from Hebron, Connecticut, led by John Phelps.  The first permanent settler was John Chamberlin, an agent of one of the proprietors, who settled on a site on the Connecticut River in 1764 in what is now East Thetford. - excerpted from Charles Latham, Jr's A Short History of Thetford, Vermont 1761-1870 (see below)

Thetford is bordered by Strafford to the west, Fairlee and West Fairlee to the north, Norwich  (Windsor County) to the south, and across the Connecticut River by Lyme (Grafton County), New Hampshire to the east.  The town of Thetford includes the villages of East Thetford, North Thetford, Thetford Hill, Thetford Center, Union Village, and Post Mills.

Thetford Lookup Volunteers

If you have any reference material on Thetford and would like to volunteer to do lookups, please let me know.

When requesting a lookup, please follow these guidelines:

  1. On the subject line enter Thetford Lookup
  2. Put name of book or CD you are requesting in the first line of the message as many of these wonderful people have volunteered to look up several things.
  3. Limit your request to 1 or 2 specific names on separate lines.
  4. Don't forget to thank your volunteer for their time and effort.

Lookups

Index (text) of persons listed in the Baldwin, Hughes, and Latham books listed below - if you find a name of interest, please note the source when you send a lookup request.

Bacon, Robert L.,  Register of persons buried in the Cemeteries of the town of Thetford Vermont, 1786-1976, Compiled by Robert L. Bacon, East Thetford, Vermont: Bacon, Robert L., 1977 [includes Thetford Center, North Thetford, Post Mills, East Thetford, and other small cemeteries] - Gil Varney

Baldwin, Jesse A., History and Folklore of Post Mills, Vermont, Thetford, Vermont: Thetford Historical Society, 1983 (Second Printing, 1993) - Gil Varney

Banta, Theodore Melvin, Sayre Family: Lineage of Thomas Sayre, A Founder of Southampton, New York: Banta, Theodore M., 1901 (Reprint) [includes information on Thetford Sayre and associated lines] - Gil Varney

Child, Hamilton, Gazeteer of Orange County, Vermont, 1762-1888, Compiled by Hamilton Child, June 1888 - K. Neal

Hughes, Charles W., Beloved Village: Reminiscences of Thetford Hill, Vermont 1921-1985, Thetford, Vermont: Thetford Historical Society, 1985 - Gil Varney

Latham, Charles Jr., A Short History of Thetford, Vermont 1761-1870, Thetford, Vermont: Thetford Historical Society, 1972 (3rd printing, White River Junction, Vermont: Right Printing Co., 1984) - Gil Varney

Thetford Surnames

If you have information on particular Thetford families which you'd be willing to share with other researchers, or simply wish to be listed so others can contact you, please let me know and I'll list your families here.

CORSER - Cheri Wilkinson

FITZGERALD - Cheri Wilkinson

GREEN - Gabriele Hammon seeks info on Elijah, listed in the 1790 census.

HAMILTON - Carolyn Michaels (late 1700s - early 1800s)

HILDRETH - Linda Dolby

HOWARD - Carolyn Michaels seeks info on Oliver of Lyme, who m. Prude Sackett of Thetford on 4 July 1802.

ROGERS - Marcia Melnyk has info on the family of Samuel and Mehitable (HUBBARD), ca. 1779 - 1800s.

SAYRE - Gil Varney

Thetford Resources

Thetford Historical Society Museum
Library: Bicentennial Building, 16 Library Road, Thetford, VT
Museum: 2274 Route 113, Thetford, VT
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 33, Thetford, VT 05074
802-785-2068 or 802-333-4613
The library contains about 4500 volumes, 100 linear feet of manuscripts, photographs, portraits and small artifacts.
The museum contains agricultural implements, craft and domestic tools, store and post office fittings, housed in a barn
and three smaller buildings.
Contact Person: Charles Latham, President
Hours and Admission: Library: Mon. & Thurs., 2-4pm; Tues. 10am-12 noon. Museum: Sundays in August, 2-5pm.

Town Clerk's Office              (Town Clerk: Roberta Howard)
PO Box 126
Thetford Center, VT 05075
802-785-2922
M 7:00pm-9:00pm
T-F 8:00am-3:00pm

Thetford Records

Thetford Attractions

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Orange County Genealogy Project - Founded 21 September 1996
Thetford Vermont Page established 8 March 1997
This site created and maintained by: Gil Varney, Jr., Anchorage, Alaska
E-mail to gevjr@micronet.net
Copyright © 1997 - 1999 by Gil Varney, Jr.