Part of Page 660 of the 1800 Federal Census for Orleans County
| Who Was The First Settler of Coventry? |
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Part of Page 660 of the 1800 Federal Census for Orleans County |
| When Pliny White wrote his "History of Coventry, Vermont" in 1859 he got it right. Mostly. Writing his history 59 years after the fact, he interviewed descendents of the original settlers to get the story. They told him that Samuel Cobb and his son Tisdale settled on the land in 1800 and that they were the first. This is the story that Pliny wrote. But perhaps Pliny's version of the story doesn't hold up to careful scrutiny. Using a variety of primary sources that are available to us today a more accurate version of Coventry's origin story comes to light. |
| Who Really Was The First Settler of Coventry |
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References: - United States Federal Census for Orleans County, 1800 - Pliny White, A History of Coventry Vermont, Orleans County, Vermont, 1859 Irasburgh, VT - Abby Maria Hemenway, Vermont Historical Gazetteer Vol 3, 1877, Claremont, NH |