The greatest and the most celebrated man that ever honored the town with his citizenship was Roger Sherman. He came from Newton, Mass., in 1743, at the age of twenty-two years, and was active and influential in affairs of the town and church; but the town could not retain him long. Of him Edward Everett Hale said: “They say dear Roger Sherman was a shoemaker. I do not know, but I do know that every central suggestion in the American Constitution, the wisest work of men’s hands, that was struck off in so short a time, is the suggestion of this shoemaker, Roger Sherman.” It was said that Roger Sherman was placed on every important committee while in Congress, and that no law, or part of a law, that he favored failed to be enacted. John Adams said that Chief Justice Ellsworth told him that he made Roger Sherman his model in youth. The Fathers of New Milford wrought wisely and well in establishing the religious and civic institutions. They built well the town and wide the streets, and their descendants have enlarged and improved so much that this little village has the name far and wide of being one of the most beautiful spots in New England. Remembering these hardy pioneers, their devotion to righteousness, their perseverance amid discouragements, and their [Illustration: Elijah Boardman] many virtues, we all--the loyal sons and daughters of New Milford, those who went forth to make homes for themselves elsewhere and have now returned hither, and the strangers from foreign shores who have settled here--join together this beautiful month of June to celebrate the founding of the town, two hundred years ago. MINOT S. GIDDINGS. GLIMPSES OF OLD NEW MILFORD HISTORY CONTRIBUTED BY CHARLOTTE BALDWIN BENNETT Few contrasts could be more striking than our beautiful village of to-day against the background of the place John Noble, the first white settler, found two hundred years ago. An unbroken wilderness met his eye, save for the Indian settlement across the river on Fort Hill, where the smoke, curling from many wigwams, marked the homes of over two hundred warriors with their families. Even four years later, when the white man’s plantation included twelve settlers and about seventy souls, we find it a rather dismal picture. An irregular cart path, winding in and out among stumps of newly cut trees, formed the Main Street. A narrow road led from the north end of this street to the river, then followed the river bank a mile north to the rapids, the general crossing place. The first bridge over the Housatonic was built at New Milford, but not until 1737.