Monroe

MONROE On May 23, 1823 the General Assembly granted the incorporation of this town and named it in honor of the then President, James Monroe. The town's roots, however, are much deeper as it was an offspring of the mother-town of Stratford settled in 1639. About 1720, descendants of Stratford's early proprietors, farmers and millers, claimed a share of this North Division and brought their families to new homesites here. To determine their religious and educational matters residents organized the parish of Ripton in 1717 and the parish of North Stratford in 1744. (Continued on other side) MONROE (Continued from other side) Settlers in the northernmost hills of these two parishes petitioned in 1750 for the formation of a winter parish. Their plea, unsuccessful then, eventually led to the establishment of the Ecclesiastical Society of New Stratford in May, 1762. To achieve township status, in 1789 New Stratford allied with its sister parish of Ripton and finally broke with Stratford to form the town of Huntington. Severing their bonds with Huntington in 1823, New Stratford's 1,522 inhabitants at last realized independence with the creation of Monroe.