Bridget Harwood
1715-1762
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Most local histories say the widow Bridget Harwood was the first female settler to reach Bennington as well as the first settler to die here. But to clarify the record, it should be noted that Hanna Robinson, along with her husband Samuel, seems to have settled here a few months in advance of the other settlers. And the Robinson's infant daughter, Mary, died a year prior to Bridget, but was buried elsewhere.
The Robinsons knew the facts, it is said, and saw no point in protesting the details.
Another bit of lore says Bridget's body was brought to the cemetery by the same horse she originally rode to Bennington.
Regardless of the veracity of these details, Bridget Harwood was definitely the first person to be buried in this cemetery.
Self-Guided Audio Tours
(alphabetical by last name)
Bacteriologist, Dean of Harvard Medical School.
Lieutenant in French and Indian War, Influential settler.
Foremost Unitarian preacher.
Lawyer, Stockbroker, Major benefactor of Colgate University.
Gravestone carver.
Perished in steamboat disaster on the Hudson River.
Bennington's first minister.
Pulitzer Prize winning poet.
First African American graduate of Yale, Physician, Served in Civil War.
Early settler, First person buried in cemetery.
Perished on the Titanic, Esteemed herdsman.
Lawyer, Businessman, Civic activist, Philanthropist.
Civil War veteran, Renowned Benningtonian.
Executed loyalist.
Colonel in Mexican-American War, Sharpshooter.