Editing Peru, Vermont (section)

== History ==
The town was chartered with the name Bromley in 1761 by [[Benning Wentworth]], governor of the [[Province of New Hampshire]]. The first white settlement is said to have been in 1773, by William Barlow of [[Woodstock, Connecticut]].<ref name=Haynes>{{cite journal|last=Haynes |first=Nancy|title=Peru|pages=206–212|editor=Abby Maria Hemenway|journal=The Vermont Historical Gazetteer, A Magazine Embracing a History of Each Town|volume=1|url=https://archive.org/stream/vermonthistorica01heme|place= Burlington, Vermont| year=1867}}</ref> The town of Bromley was organized at a town meeting in March 1802.<ref name=Haynes/><ref>{{cite book|last=Batchelder|first=Ira K.|title=Reunion Celebration Together with an Historical Sketch, Peru, Bennington County, Vermont. Its Inhabitants from the First Settlement of the Town. |place=Brattleboro, Vermont|publisher=Phoenix Job Print, E. L. Hildreth & Co.|year=1891|pages=84–85|url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044025025628}}</ref> As of the autumn of 1802 there were 14 families living in the town.<ref name=Haynes/> In late 1803 or early 1804 the name of the town was changed to Peru. The new name was adopted to attract more people to the town by associating it with the South American country [[Peru]], which was considered to be a place of great wealth,<ref name=Haynes/> apparently due to the rich [[Mineral industry of Peru#Lead, silver, and zinc|silver mining industry there]].