Wednesday, July 1, 2026
5:30 PM
Yester House at Southern Vermont Arts Center

On this 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, join MHS curator Shawn Harrington as we look at the early families who settled in Manchester. In the early to mid-1770s, these settlers were often less concerned with the Sons of Liberty in Boston than with converting a wilderness into cultivated farms and protecting their grants from New York claimants. For families like the Roberts, Marshes, Frenches, and the Ormsbys, the Revolution was not a radical choice but a necessary defense of the homes they had worked so hard to establish. This talk explores their struggles, participation in battles that turned the tide, and traces Manchester’s journey from a frontier outpost to a premier tourist destination over the following century.

Presented by the Green Mountain Academy for Lifelong Learning, the Manchester Historical Society, and the Southern Vermont Arts Center.