Editing Norwich, Vermont (section)

== History ==

[[Image:Alden Partridge Head.jpg|thumb|150px|left|Alden Partridge, {{circa|1817}}]]
The boundaries of Norwich were established on July 4, 1761, when Governor [[Benning Wentworth]] of [[New Hampshire]] defined the boundaries of [[New England town|townships]] in Vermont.<ref>{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/charternorwichv00vtgoog|quote=Wentworth town boundaries Norwich VT.|title=The Charter of Norwich, Vermont: And Names of the Original Proprietors : with Brief Historical Notes|last=Slafter| first=Edmund Farwell |date= 1869 |publisher= David Clapp & Son |location=Boston|pages=[https://archive.org/details/charternorwichv00vtgoog/page/n9 3] |language= en}}</ref> The first settlers reached the area in 1763 and began to clear the wilderness and erect the first hand-hewn log buildings, wintering over for the first time in 1765.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://norwich.vt.us/about-norwich/|title= About Norwich | website= norwich.vt.us |date= June 15, 2012 |publisher= Town of Norwich Vermont |access-date= July 3, 2014}}</ref> Early settlements occurred along the [[Ompompanoosuc River]]. Later, the current village site became settled. The first [[town meeting]] occurred in April 1768. The first [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational church]] was founded in 1770 and a structure built in 1778. The population grew from 206 in 1771 to 1,158 in 1791 and 2,316 in 1830.<ref name=History />

The town was named after [[Norwich, Connecticut]], the state from which the first settlers originated.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php?locIndex=25191|title= Profile for Norwich, Vermont, VT|publisher=ePodunk|access-date= July 2, 2014}}</ref> In the original charter, the name was spelled "Norwhich", but the additional 'h' was dropped shortly after the town was chartered.<ref>{{cite web| url= http://www.virtualvermont.com/towns/norwich.html |title= Norwich| website= VirtualVermont.com| date= July 15, 2009}}</ref> Originally pronounced "Norritch" (similar to the English pronunciation of the city of [[Norwich]], [[England]]), the town name has in more recent times become more commonly pronounced "Nor-wich".

===Alden Partridge and the founding of Norwich University===
In 1819 native son, [[Alden Partridge]], a former Superintendent of the [[United States Military Academy]] at [[West Point, New York]], founded the private "American Literary, Scientific and Military Academy" in Norwich.<ref name="ABC-CLIO">{{cite book| last1= Tucker|first1=Spencer and Arnold, James R.|title=The Encyclopedia of the War of 1812: A Political, Social, and Military History, Volume 1|date=2012|publisher=ABC-CLIO|page=560|isbn=9781851099566|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hVSrJBQYAk8C&q=%5B%5BAlden+Partridge%5D%5D+founded+the+private+%22American+Literary%2C+Scientific+and+Military+Academy%22+in+Norwich&pg=PA560|access-date=July 3, 2014}}</ref> He hoped to establish a new "American system" for training [[cadet]]s that included both humanities and science topics in the curriculum, in addition to [[military science]]. In his six years of Norwich residency, Partridge achieved an academy population of nearly 500 "cadets". He moved that school back to [[Middletown, Connecticut]], in 1825, but returned in 1835 with a charter from the U.S. Congress to found another military academy, which remained in Norwich until 1866, when it burned to the ground. The school then relocated to [[Northfield, Vermont]], where it exists today as [[Norwich University]].
<ref name=History>
{{Citation
  | last1 = Goddard
  | first1 = M.E.
  | last2 = Partridge
  | first2 = Henry V.
  | title = A History of Norwich, Vermont
  | place = Hanover, New Hampshire
  | publisher= Dartmouth Press
  | year = 1905
  | url = http://www.accessgenealogy.com/vermont/norwich/index.htm
  }}
</ref>