Norfolk

NORFOLK In the heart of the Green Woods on what was later the Hartford-Albany Turnpike, Norfolk was settled in 1744 by Cornelius Brown of Windsor. The town was incorporated in 1758 with forty-four voters at the first town meeting. A meeting house was built, and in 1761 the Reverend Ammi R. Robbins became the first minister, serving for fifty-two years. Twenty-four men from Norfolk marched to aid Boston in April, 1775, and over one hundred and fifty fought in the Revolutionary War. The early settlers were farmers, erecting sawmills, gristmills, and blacksmithies for their own needs. Using the waterpower of the Blackberry River, the town became industrial in the 1800's, manufacturing such diverse products as linseed oil, men's hats, woolens, cheese boxes, scythes, and hoes. (Continued on other side)