Timothy Ruggles arrived in Hardwick about 1754 and settled on a farm on what is now Upper Church Street. A lawyer, he graduated from Harvard in 1732. He distinguished himself in the French and Indian War, becoming the highest ranked colonist of his time. He served 24 years as a state representative, 2 as speaker, 13 as chief justice, and one as president of the New York Stamp Act Congress. He was also a pioneer in scientific farming and in 1762 established the Hardwick Fair, the oldest in the U.S. A staunch Loyalist, he fled to Nova Scotia in 1785, where he resettled and spent the remaining 12 years of his life.