The area was first settled by emigrants from New England around 1750, and soon acquired the name "Spencer's Town", after one of them. The settlers formed a company and divided the land it owned into hundred-acre (40 ha) lots called "rights", with each owner having a vote in company decisions. In 1760 the settlers voted to grant one and a half rights to the first minister to settle in the area. The following year one, Jesse Clark, did. The minutes of the meeting where his salary was set also make the first reference to the cemetery, suggesting it had been in existence for at least a year at that point.
