Byfield, Burton, Oliver, Walley — our founding fathers, proprietors four;
Byfield, Burton, Oliver, Walley — came from Boston and opened the door.
In 1680 they purchased the town from Massachusetts up north;
They came with a plan to make use of the land, and the four of them sallied forth!
Planned a large common square and of course that is where townspeople might chance to meet;
They laid out a grid, the first of its kind, to map out the downtown streets:
Bradford, State, Church, Constitution were the east/west travel lanes,
While north/south roads were Wood, Hope, High, and along the water, Thames.
As part of the plan, they set aside land for farms to produce food that they'd need;
Then built docks and wharves and whatever else to help Bristol's seaport succeed.
By 1690 fifteen ships were engaged in Bristol’s import/export trade,
Some records show ships on the go, many ventures had they made.
Fishing and farming and shipping and such were the town's main enterprise,
The future looked bright, success was in sight, the economy was on the rise!
Byfield, Burton, Oliver, Walley, our founding fathers proprietors four,
Invested their money, things looked quite sunny, they couldn’t have asked for much more!

- Jim Manchester