William Chittenden, one of the founders of Guilford in 1639, died in 1661. The land later passed successively through Thomas Chittenden, who died in 1683; Josiah Chittenden, 1677–1759; Simeon Chittenden, 1714–1789; Simeon Chittenden, 1742–1812; Abel Chittenden, 1779–1816; and Simeon Baldwin Chittenden, 1814–1889, vice president of the New York Chamber of Commerce and for seven years a member of the National Congress. He erected this tower in 1869 on land owned in succession by those ancestors, and it was placed in position on the 250th anniversary of the founding of the town in September 1889.