A powder mill in Connecticut exploded on this day in 1777, causing great financial loss to its owner, Colonel Jedediah Elderkin.

Elderkin, a well-known figure in Connecticut history, would became the chief grantee for a new town on land that would become Vermont. Elderkin hoped the land would restore his wealth.

The town was known as Caldersburgh, and sure enough, Elderkin and the other grantees sold the town, which was later renamed by settlers as Morgan.

Caldersburgh consisted of 15,000 acres. In 1801, annexations of neighboring Brownington and Whitelaw’s Gore brought Morgan’s area to 20,000 acres.

Engraving of Jedediah Elderkin courtesy the Vermont Historical Society.