Town of Chesterfield - USGenWeb

New Hampshire

History of Chesterfield

Granted in 1735 by Governor Jonathan Belcher of Massachusetts, this town was the site of Fort Number 1, first in the line of forts bordering the Connecticut River.
After the border between Massachusetts and New Hampshire was fixed, the town was incorporated on February 11, 1752 by Governor Benning Wentworth
as Chesterfield, named for Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield.

The first settlers were Moses Smith and William Thomas, who, with their families, came up the Connecticut in canoes, in the fall of 1761.
Their chief subsistence through the winter and spring of their first year in the wilderness consisted of salmon and shad,
of which there was a great abundance in the river, and deer, which were numerous in the forests.
The town contains some of the finest farmland in Cheshire County, yet once was also home to small manufacturing,
notably spinning wheel parts and hand tools.

In 1772, Philip Embury conducted the first Methodist religious services in New Hampshire at the James Robertson farm in Chesterfield, and in 1803,
Francis Asbury preached here. Asbury Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is recognized for its historic puritan design.
Asbury Church is considered the "Mother Church of Methodism" in New Hampshire, and is the oldest Methodist church in the state.
The town has had continual Methodist Sunday services for over 225 years.

Chesterfield Academy, established in 1794, was for decades one of the most celebrated in the state.

Chesterfield - Town of Chesterfield Home Page

Cemeteries in the Town of Chesterfield - Chesterfield has seventeen cemeteries, many are very old.

World War II US Army - PFC Bruce R. Amidon - 22 years old - 43rd Infantry Division; "Killed in Action" in the Philippines, 22 Jan. 1945 - World War II
U.S. Army - PFC William Franklin Ball - 22 years old - U.S. Army "Line of Duty" 7 March 1944 - in Alabama - of a non-battle related incident.
US Navy - MM2C Chester D Underwood - U.S.S. Neosho "Missing in Action" his ship was attacked and bombed by Jap planes

Vietnam War US Air Force - 1st Lieut. Howard Walker Kaiser - 25 years old - 19TH TASS, 505TH TCG, "Killed in Action"
13 Sept 1966, Phuoc Long, Binh Phuoc, Vietnam
US Army - SP4 Ronald Len Olson - 20 years old - 4th Infantry Division, 35th Infantry Regiment "Killed in Action"
24 Nov. 1969, Quang Doc, Vietnam

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Copyright 1996 by Randall Mitton
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Last Edited 4 April 2024