Originally created in 1726 and modified somewhat since, Windham County now occupies the northeast corner of Connecticut. This territory became known to the English at the first settlement of Connecticut in 1635-6, but was not actually settled by colonists for another half-century. The first transfer of land from its Indian proprietors to an English purchaser was in 1653. With the spread of religion among the Indians came the spread of colonization, and the development of the modern county. This volume covers the years 1740 to 1880. The section headed 1740-1775 includes material on Pomfret, Brooklyn Parish, Putnam, Malbone, Ashford, the Corbin Land Claim, Canterbury, Windham, Wyoming Emigration, Church affairs, social life, Scotland Parish, Canada Parish, school districts, Voluntown, Plainfield, Killingly, Thompson Parish, Chestnut Hill, Woodstock, troubles with Massachusetts, and more. The section headed 1764-1783 describes Windham County in the Revolution; after which the section headed 1783-1807 relates post-war progress and prosperity, politics, early newspapers, changes, turnpikes, the visit from President Washington, bridges, the Plainfield Academy, trials of Baptists, emigration to Ohio, counterfeiting, affairs in Thompson, Voluntown, Sterling and Woodstock, thief-detecting, murder, and the social condition. The section headed 1807-1820 describes the development of manufacturing and industry, in between church affairs and reports of fatal accidents, thefts and whipping, fun and fishing, and various controversies. The section headed 1820-1845 describes the courts, temperance work, an execution, schools, Canterbury in danger, Plainfield, Voluntown, Sterling, Windham, Willimantic Village, Chaplin, Hampton, Ashford, Eastford Parish, Woodstock, Thompson, Killingly and Pomfret. Finally, the section headed 1840-1880 gives the "present outlook" of many of the places above named. Four appendices supply origins of town names, the English report of Putnam's Wolf Fight, the Battle of the Frogs, and a Relic of Slavery. The original surname index includes about 600 names.
Ellen D. Larned
(1880), 1998, 5½x8½, paper, indices, 632 pp.
ISBN: 0788409603
101-L0960
