Orleans County VT Archives Biographies.....Hinman, Timothy July 21, 1762 - ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/vt/vtfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Jan Jordan jnrose@webtv.net March 5, 2006, 3:08 pm Author: see below From Katherine Mackenzie book written in Georgeville, Quebec "Indian Ways to Stagecoach Days": "Timothy Hinman built a road connecting Greensboro, Vermont, with Derby Line, Vermont, and, eventually, Stanstead, Quebec. Although not a military road, it deserves a place in this book because it played an important part in the early days of opening up the country. Timothy Hinman was born in Woodbury, Connecticut, now known as Southbury, on July 21, 1762. He came from a family of great integrity, originally from England, where his ancestor, Sergeant Edward Hinman, had been a bodyguard for King Charles 1. When the king was executed Edward had to flee from persecution by the Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England. Three generations later Timothy's father fought in the French-Indian Wars in America. Timothy, at age 15, served at Valley Forge in 1777. In 1786 he married Phebe Stoddard, who also came from a renowned family. In the summer of 1789 Timothy and four friends set out to explore what is now northern Vermont. They first went to Lake Champlain, and then turned eastward and found the lovely unspoiled mountains and valleys of the Lake Memphremagog country. He staked out a place where he would like to live, on the edge of what is now Derby Pond (he named it Hinman Pond) and returned home to collect his family. He moved them north to Greensboro and the next summer he set off alone for Derby, cutting a road through the woods. This road went from Greensboro through Glover to Barton, Vermont, along the height of land with the magnificent view past Brownington, and down into Derby, a total of 30 miles. In 1794 he built a log cabin overlooking Hinman Pond, surrounded by huge pine trees, some of them six to eight feet in diameter. Then he returned to Greensboro to collect his two older children, Albert, six, and Laura, three. They carried bedding, pewter dishes, pots, pans, and a kettle on the horse, and the two children took turns riding on top of it all. He left the children in the cabin and returned to Greensboro for his wife, Phebe, and baby, meaning to arrive back in Derby the following day. However, his wife was sick, a terrible storm blew up, and he was unable to leave. He went back as soon as he could and found his two children, the first white settlers of Derby, playing happily with some Indian children whose family was camped nearby. He decided to leave the two children with the Indians, heavily provided for them, and returned to Greensboro. On his arrival his wife was, to put it mildly, a little surprised at what he had done. However, when they all finally arrived in Derby in the spring, all was well and the children had enjoyed their winter. Now that the road was open and it was possible to get to Derby, settlers started to arrive. Soon there was a village. Timothy realized that to sell their pearl ash, made from burning the trees felled to clear the land for planting crops, they would have to send it to Quebec where it would be shipped to England. Thus he made a road from Derby to the town of Stanstead, which joined up with the road to Quebec. Stores started to open, and inns were created in private houses to service travelers. In time, the road became part of the Stagecoach Road from Concord, New Hampshire, to Stanstead, Quebec. As this happened inns were built all along the route, some of which still stand today." Sorry, I don't know if the people above are related to your family. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/vt/orleans/bios/hinman43gbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/vtfiles/ File size: 4.0 Kb