Timothy Hinman (21 July 1762 - 29 April 1850) in

Woodbury, Connecticut Woodbury is a New England town, town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The town is part of the Naugatuck Valley Planning Region, Connecticut, Naugatuck Valley Planning Region. The population was 9,72 ...

was a pioneer settler and road builder who constructed the Hinman Settler Road in Orleans County, Vermont. He was married to Phebe Stoddard (5 November 1769 - 15 July 1858). An historical marker placed by the town of Derby, Vermont near Hinman's homestead on

U.S. Route 5 U.S. Route 5 (US 5) is a north–south United States Numbered Highway running through the New England states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont. Significant cities along the route include New Haven, Connecticut; Hartford, Conn ...

names "the honorable Timothy Hinman" as town founder, and notes that he served in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, first came to Derby in 1790, constructed the first house in the town in 1794, and would go on to serve as Chief Judge of Orleans County, legislator, importer/exporter, banker and church founder. He also operated a dry goods store and tavern in Derby. The often-romanticized "Sketch of the Life of Hon. Timothy Hinman" by Bingham cited in the References below, short on specific details to back up its sometimes florid prose, contrasts with the detailed and carefully documented account by Sangree also cited below, "The Checkered Career of Timothy Hinman." Sangree quotes from Hinman's gravestone inscription to establish her point: "'Faithful, honest, just, and good' is strong praise for a man who, in addition to building roads, starting a town from scratch, and rendering judicial decisions, speculated in land, selling the lots at huge profits; smuggled and traded with the enemy; cheated his associates; defaulted on thousands of dollars of loans and betrayed the public trust; and upon conviction, escaped from jail. Hinman’s life illustrates the contradictions inherent in

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taking early in the nineteenth century: While the potential for accumulating wealth was great, the chances of ruin were also high".

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References

* * 1762 births 1850 deaths American pioneers People from Derby, Vermont People from Woodbury, Connecticut {{US-business-bio-1760s-stub