Welcome to
Westminster! Westminster
is located in southern Vermont
along, but high above, the Connecticut
River. The Indians called
this river the Great River and the earliest white settlers in Westminster probably knew it as such. This river provided a
lifeline for the Indians before them and the white man who followed. The river
was used for travel and first brought them to the village, for nourishment, for
protection, and for escape from Indian attacks. Today, Westminster is a quiet and well-kept town, which consists of two
parishes, the East and the West, which lies across the ridge. Westminster's history is rich and its people proud and strong.
The purpose of this
site is to provide information to genealogical researchers and other interested
persons on the town of Westminster. This will appear in a variety of forms ranging from
other links, to history, to actual stories and to records. We plan to keep
updating and adding new information on a regular basis. If you have anything,
which you can add, we will be happy to hear from you.
Search this site
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Old Father Time
Old Father Time shall reap the years
Dame Nature spun and knit, my dears
But now, this tale of ancient lore
Is left behind yon closing door.
---Bertha Miller Collins
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History
Charters
The
town of Westminster was first chartered by Massachusetts in 1735 and was as a result part of
Massachusetts. Then in Nov 1752, it was
rechartered by the State of New Hampshire and became part of
New Hampshire. In 1763, the governors of
New Hampshire and New York got into a dispute over the land
and each claimed the land, which lay on the west side of the Connecticut River. The King of England was
called on to settle the dispute. His decision was declared on 20
Jul 1764
saying that, "the western bank of the River Connecticut, from where it
enters the province of Massachusetts Bay, as far north as the 45th degree of
northern latitude, to be the boundary line between the two provinces of
New Hampshire and New York." So, now we find this land
that we know as Vermont coming under the jurisdiction of New York. Then on 15
Jan 1777, a
convention was held and Vermont was declared a free and independent
state.
Revolution
At
the time that the American Revolution broke out, Vermont was actually part of
New York. Without getting into a lot of
detail, this is what happened. With the disgruntled state of the country
just prior to the American Revolution, the state of New York voted to remain loyal to the King
of England at all costs, and Vermont, which was then, a part of
New York at first agreed. Then the
Continental Congress was held at Philadelphia to adopt measures against royal
authority in the colonies; their real grievance being with the expenses and
burdens imposed upon them (taxation). The people in Vermont then voted to go along with the
congress and were immediately in dispute with New York to which they belonged. Of
course, within the ranks of the people, there were differing opinions, from
those who were staunch supporters of one side or the other, to those who
through habit thought that they should keep their loyalty with the King.
Even families were split. Those who remained loyal to the King and
New York came to be called
"Yorkers" and "Sufferers." In Westminster, in Mar of 1775, this all came to a
head and there occurred what has become known as the "Westminster massacre" which you will find
described in some histories. And, as we know, the war started soon after
this. When war actually broke out, people then did take sides in earnest
and many that had at first declared their loyalty to the King switched their
allegiance and fought for the colony. Those who remained loyal to the King were
not looked upon kindly by their friends and neighbors and many of them had
their land confiscated.
Settlements
Westminster was first granted to petitioners from Taunton MA on 24 Nov
1735/36. It
was then called Township No. 1 and sometimes New Taunton. For a listing of
early proprietors, see Proprietors of Westminster
The History of the East Parish by Rev.
F. J. Fairbanks, from The Double History of
Westminster
Vermont.
Published in Vol. V of the Vermont
Historical Gazetteer by Abby Maria Hemenway (Chicago: Press of Jameson &
Morse, 1885).
Off page site.
The History
of the West Parish by
Rev. A. Stevens, from The Double History of
Westminster
Vermont.
Published in Vol. V of the Vermont
Historical Gazetteer by Abby Maria Hemenway (Chicago: Press of Jameson & Morse,
1885). Off page site.
Early Petitions ~~
Large Files
Westmoreland NH: Petition
for a Grant from New Hampshire, 1750
Westmoreland NH: Petition for Grant, 1752
Westmoreland NH: Complaint relative to Bounds of the
Grant of 1752
Maps
Map of Westminster with Surrounding Townships
-~ Large File
Miscellaneous
Vermont's first weekly
newspaper was published
from 1781-1783 in Westminster, Vermont. The Vermont Gazette, published by
Alden, Spooner, & Green
The Westminster Massacre
- Historic Marker
Land Grants That
Became the Towns of Vermont
Return to Top of Page Index
Westminster People
First Families in Westminster (1800 and
before)
ABBEY (ABBE), ALBEE, ALEXANDER,
ANDROSS, AVERILL,
BRADLEY, BRUSH, BURK, BURT, CARPENTER, CHAFFEE,
CLARK, CONE, CRAWFORD, CROWELL, DAY, DICKINSON,
DOUBLEDAY, EASTON, ELLIS, FISK, FULLER, GILSON, GOODELL, GOODRIDGE (GOODRICH),
GORHAM, GOULD (GOOLD), GROUT, HALL, HALLET,
HAMBLIN, HARLOW, HEATON, HITCHCOCK, HOLT,
HOWES, HOLTON, IDE, KITTRIDGE, LANE, LOVEJOY, MAY, McNIEL, MORSE, NORTON,
PAINE, PATERSON, PECK, PERRY, PETTY, PHIPPEN,
PIERCE, RANNEY, RICHARDS,
ROBINSON, SESSIONS, SPOONER, STODDARD, TUTHILL, WHITNEY WILCOX, WILLARD,
WRIGHT
Family Pages & Links
AVERILL -
Averill Family Genealogy
BANKS - Banks Family
BOLLES-HAMMOND -
Book in possession
of American Antiquarian Society
BUXTON -Henry Hendrick
Buxton
DARLING - Descendants of George
Darling
...
by
Lisa Darling
DOUBLEDAY - Doubledays of Westminster &
Northfield
New
http://www.usgennet.org/usa/vt/town/westminster/doubleday.htm
EDDY -
Joseph Eddy Genealogy
by Ken Hinds
FARWELL -
William
Farwell by Peter Hughes
Unitarian Universalist Historical Society
GILSON - Relatives
of Captain Michael Gilson of Westminster Vermont ... by Janet Helen (Rouse) Derbyshire
GOOD -
John
Good Family
GOODELL - Robert
Goodell of Salem,
Massachusetts
GOOLD -
Goold Family in America
GOULD -
Gould Land Transactions
HARLOW -
Harlow
Family -
Ancient Landmarks of Plymouth Project
HINDS -
Cynthia
Hinds Genealogy
by Kenneth Hinds
HITCHCOCK -
Hitchcock Families of Westminster. Contributed by Henry Hitchcock
KITTREDGE -
Kittredge Family Website by
Faith Kittredge Dwyer
LOVELL -
The Lovell Family ~~ Large File
MILLER - See Descendants of
James Rogers, Father of the Rangers
PHIPPEN -
Phippen Family Genealogy
RANNEY - Homepage
of the Ranney Family Association
ROGERS - Descendants of James
Rogers, Father of the Rangers
SPENCER - Ephraim Spencer
Family
TRACY -
The Tracy Family
by Holly Klass
TRACY -
Nathan J. Tracy
by Holly Klass
TUTHILL - The Tuthill Family
TUTHILL - See Descendants of James
Rogers, Father of the Rangers
TUTHILL - "My Patriot
Ancestor Mehitabel Budd Tuthill, Patriot" by Arnold E. Fallon Jr.
http://www.commonpatriot.com/ancestor.html
New
WHITNEY - Whitney Research Group
WILLARD - Willard
Family Association
Other Family Links
Ancient Landmarks of
Plymouth Project
Long Island Genealogy
People of Westminster
Rev.
Mason H Abbey of Westminster - Contributed
by David C. Young
David Allen
Frances Montresor Buchanan Allen
Descendants of John
Atwater - Stephen Rowe Bradley
The History of Averill Stand
William Czar
Bradley
Crean Brush
Henri Hendrick Buxton
Biography
DICKINSON
Alice Townsend Howard
Robert Rand
Street Richards
Israel Sanderson
Margaret Schoolcraft, wife of
Crean Brush & mother of Fanny Montresor
Patrick Wall
Capt.
Benjamin Whitney
Family Genealogy Resources
Family Genealogies
Westminster Researchers
If you have
information to share on any of these families or have a related website, please
contact R. Duffalo
Return to Top of Page Index
Vital
Records
Town Records
Records for the town of Westminster
are kept by the Town Clerk.
Town Clerk, P.O.
Box 147, Westminster
VT 05158
The Vital Records of Westminster
as found in the town records, church records, and other sources are currently
being compiled for publication (date of release has not been determined).
If you have any family records that would supplement this work, please contact
R. Duffalo. Only information which is
supported by town records (could be another town which refers to a birth or
other event in Westminster), Bible
records, or other documentable entries will be included.
Bible Records
A number of the cemeteries of Westminster
have been recorded in the book Headstones and Epitaphs in Westminster,
Vermont, edited by Alice C. Caggiano. It is available from the Westminster Historical Society.
Monuments & Headstones in the New
Cemetery, East Parish, Westminster, Vt., as of November 10,1999,
compiled by Charles Byron Wright. It is available from the Westminster Historical Society.
Old Westminster Cemetery Gravestone
Images
Gilson
Cemetery Images
Westminster West Cemetery Images - See
Photos below
Old
Westminster's Graven Images America
[link broken]
Interment.net
Cemetery Transciption Library
Bemis Hill Cemetery/North
Cemetery - contributed by Henry Hitchcock
Return to Top of Page Index
Military
Westminster Soldiers in the American
Revolution
Pensioners for Revolutionary or Military
Services,
included in the foregoing (1840 Census)
of Westminster, Windham County, VT
Westminster Soldiers in the Civil War
Listing of Civil War soldiers credited to
Westminster
from the 1892 Revised Roster
of Vermont volunteers in the War of the Rebellion
Military Reference Books and Other Web
Sites
Return to Top of Page Index
Vignettes
The book "Vignettes of Westminster
Vermont" compiled by Rachel V. Duffalo and Bertha Miller Collins is a
compilation of stories and anecdotes about residents of Westminster,
Windham County, Vermont
from the time of its early settlers. This book has been photocopied, is
spiral bound, and has 97 pages, including an index.
The chapter headings include,
Women of Westminster, Friends and Neighbors, Trouble and Heartbreak, High Jinx,
and Crime and Punishment among others. One of the stories included is one
of my all time favorites taken from the "History of the East Parish [Westminster]"
by Rev. F. J. Fairbanks, published in the "Vermont Historical
Gazetteer," edited by Abby Maria Hemenway (1885),
p. 579.
Guilty or Not Guilty?
John
Gould ran the Gould Tavern (or Whig Tavern) on South Main Street in Westminster and was known as a great
storyteller. Fairbanks (p. 579) gives us the following
account of one such story:
There
is a story of an incident that is said to have happened in those days which,
perhaps, is worth telling here. A traveller who had stopped at his tavern over
night, found in the morning as he was about to start, that he had been relieved
of a part of his load. In the absence of any detective police it was agreed to
adopt the following shrewd plan: A rooster was placed under a large brass
kettle, and each one present was to pass round and touch his nose to the
kettle, and when the guilty one touched the kettle the rooster would crow. When
they had all passed around and examination was made of the noses, it was found
that all but one had a black nose, and he was adjudged guilty of the theft.
This book is available from the Westminster
Historical Society, Westminster, VT.
The price is $20.00 plus $5.00 postage and handling. Proceeds from this book
benefit the Historical Society and are helping to support the publication of
the Vital Records of Westminster, which is currently being compiled.
Orders may be sent
with your check or money order to:
Westminster
Historical Society
P.
O. Box 2
Westminster, VT 05158-0002
Return to Top of Page Index
Contacts and Look-ups
Look-ups
Westminster Researchers
If you have information at your disposal and are
willing to do look-ups for people on Westminster or otherwise share your
research, please submit your name,
email address (or snail mail), and surnames and we will list them here.
Return to Top of Page Index
Resources
Westminster General Resources
Family Genealogy Resources
Historical Societies
Westminster Historical
Society
Vermont Historical Society
Brattleboro Historical Society
Libraries
Brooks Memorial Library, Brattleboro, VT
Butterfield Library, Wesminster, VT
Rockingham Public Library, Bellows Falls, VT
Other information
Old Medical Terminology
Old Time Occupations
Charts and Forms
Return to Top of Page Index
Web Links
Windham
County, Vermont Queries [broken link]
The Vermont Genealogy Web Project
(VTGenWeb)
The Vermont GenWeb
Archives
The Vermont Data Mailing
List
The Vermont-L Home
Page
Brooks Memorial
Library, Brattleboro, Vermont
Vermont Genealogy
Ancestors Resource
Directory -Vermont
Virtual Vermont -
Westminster
Walpole,
New Hampshire
Ohio
Migration Trails
Vermont Family History Research
Vermont - Local
History and Genealogy
Westminster Village Historic
District
Springfield Vermont
Marriages
Vermont
Genealogy Resources – Westminster Township
Cyndi's List of
Vermont Resources
Return to Top of Page Index
Census
Links
1771 Census Westminster
1791 Census Westminster
Saxton's
River - 1920 Census
1756 and 1791 New Boston,
New Hampshire
1860 Census Westminster - Index
1850 - 1880 Index of Persons listed as Black or
Mulatto in Windham County
Return to Top of Page
Index
Photographs
Rogues Gallery
Westminster Photos
Peter
Good - Sheila Keller's website
Tracy
Family Photos - Holly Klass's website
See Vermont as it was 200
Years Ago - A digital archive of historic &
current photo pairs.
Type in "Windham County" and/or the name of a village to do an image search.
See also, Cemeteries
W A N T E D
Wanted - pictures of Westminster to include here.
Return to Top of Page Index
Wish List
If you have
information on any of the following families, please see my Wish List
GILSON, KITTRIDGE,
McNEILL, PAINE, PETTY, RICE, THAYER
WASHBURN, WILLARD,
WILCOX, WOOD, WRIGHT
Return to Top of Page Index
Guest book
Please take the
time to sign the guest book.
Be sure to include names you are searching that might be of help to others.
Previous guestbook entries: Guestbook 2000 Guestbook
2001 Guestbook
2002
History | People | Vital
Records | Vignettes | Contacts | Resources | Web Links | Photographs
Wish
List | Thought for the Week | Census Links | Top of Page | Quick Index
If you like this page, please let us
know. Additions and suggestions are also welcome.
Email:
rduffalo@comcast.net
Rachel Valliere
Duffalo
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Page
Last Updated
12/28/2008
