A Stitch In Time:
Hard-cover, full color book on this history of Townshend, Vermont. 288 pgs. Hundreds of photographs.
A Stitch in Time (Townshend, Vermont 1753-2003) is the first full-length history of Townshend, Vermont. The book tells the story of the town from its beginnings on the New England colonial frontier to the celebration of the 250th year since its charter from King George II.
 
The title A Stitch in Time is inspired by old patchwork quilts, made up of a multitude of pieces of different colors, shapes, and styles; pieces from different sources-each piece with its own meaning, all carefully stitched together to make a coherent, useful, pleasing whole.
The book, like a patchwork quilt, stitches together a wealth of historical documentation to portray the life of the town over the 250 years of its existence. It presents more than 200 photographs to illuminate the historical research drawn from town reports, census data, memoirs, farm records, genealogies, interviews and other sources.
 
For a town whose population has never attained 2000, Townshend has been the home of a disproportionate number of remarkable persons who played roles in the larger history of this country. Notable among these are Alphonso Taft and his family and Clarina Howard Nichols, champion of women and children’s rights.
 
Excerpt from book:
“At a meeting in Massachusetts of Townshend’s charter grantees in 1761, it was voted that the person who got to Townshend first would have the first choice of lots. Colonel John Hazeltine went home and passed the night. Early in the morning, he said to his wife, “Jane, put some bread and cheese into the saddle-bags”; and to his boy, “Peter, lead up the old switch-tailed mare, for I am going to Townshend.” And so begins the story: of settlers arriving on horseback, and on sleds drawn by oxen; of farming and mill-working; of marrying and soldiering.”
 
Availability: Usually ships in 2-3 business days