The Old Terryville Cemetery contains the graves of more than 120 of Terryville's earliest residents. The earliest grave is believed to be that of Francis A. Lewis, who died on May 5, 1832, at the age of one year and five months. Families buried here include the Eli Terry family, the James Terry family, the children of Hiram and Harriet Beach, and the Lewis families. In the early 1800s, childhood deaths from illness were common, and the Beach family reflects that loss, with eight of Hiram and Harriet Beach's children buried alongside each other, the oldest living only nine years. The last burial here was Erin F. Hall, who died on February 20, 1927. Among those buried here is Eli Terry Sr., born in East Windsor in 1772, who apprenticed under Daniel Burnap, moved to Plymouth in 1793, and in 1808 made over 4000 wooden clocks in just four years, helping launch the Industrial Revolution in the United States; he is buried here with his second wife Harriet, his son Eli Terry Jr., and his grandson James Terry. Eli Terry Jr., for whom the town was named, followed his father into clock manufacturing, later sold out to Hiram Welton, built many houses in Terryville, and started the manufacturing community there. Hiram Welton, born in Terryville, bought out Eli Terry Jr. in clock manufacturing at the location of Eli Terry Jr.'s water wheel, and after Eli Terry Sr. retired from business, Terry helped Hiram by designing his clocks. James Terry, son of Eli Terry Jr. and grandson of Eli Terry Sr., was born at Terry's Mills on Jackson Street in Thomaston; after experimenting with silk manufacture, he bought the Lewis Lock Company, renamed it James Terry and Co., later the Eagle Lock Factory, and retired in 1866.