In celebration of the 250th Anniversary of the Signing of the Declaration of Independence, and in collaboration with the Office of Mayor Chuck Grassie, Rochester Colonial Moments, a historical series highlighting notable moments from Rochester’s past, is brought to you by Patrick O. Connelly, Rochester, New Hampshire, historian.

Monday, June 8, 2026
“The methodology for distributing the divisions of land in each of the four divisions of land within the town was defined by the charter of 1722. Proprietors/investors, mostly residents of Dover, N.H. met in a key Proprietor Meetings to have lots drawn. The 125, 60-acre home lots in Division One were drawn in December 1727; these lots having been laid out by a committee of surveyors over the period since 1725. A total of 7,500 acres (a mere 8.5% of the town) were included in the first division at a cost to investors of 20 shillings per whole share. From that point forward, a major objective of proprietors was to identify and settle inhabitants, in a quest to settle between sixty (60) and eighty(B0)+ families and thereby meet the charter requirement before petitioning the General Court to form a legal township. It took proprietors nearly a decade to meet that criteria.

Patrick O. Connelly is a historian, researcher, and author whose work focuses extensively on the colonial history and development of Rochester, New Hampshire. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in History and French, Connelly has spent decades researching Rochester’s earliest records, maps, land divisions, and settlement history.

Connelly is the author of two comprehensive works on Rochester’s colonial history: Rochester, New Hampshire: Territory to Township, 1620–1799 and In Their Own Words: Transcription and Research of the Original Records of Colonial Rochester, New Hampshire, 1722–1799. Both books are available through his website at RNHCC.com.