Windham County occupies the northeastern corner of the state of Connecticut, bordering Worcester county, Massachusetts, lying on the north, and Providence and Kent counties in Rhode Island on the east. New London county bounds it on the south and Tolland on the west. Its greatest length, from north to south, is twenty-seven miles, and its greatest width, from east to west, is twenty-three miles. Its north, east and south sides are nearly straight lines, while on the west side its territory interchanges offsets with Tolland. The greatest. variation in the line made by these offsets, however, does not exceed six miles. This occurs on the northwest corner, where the town of Union makes an advance of about the distance mentioned. We may explain that the longest north and south line would be drawn from the northwest corner of Thompson to the southwest corner of Plainfield, and the longest east and west line would be drawn from the northwest corner of Windham to the Rhode Island line, about the middle of Sterling. The county as now constituted contains the towns of Ashford, Brooklyn, Canterbury, Chaplin, Eastford, Hampton, Killingly, Plainfield, Pomfret, Putnam, Scotland, Sterling, Thompson, Windham and Woodstock, fifteen in all; and included in these towns are the incorporated boroughs of Danielsonville and Willimantic.
Maj. James B. Abbott, one of the pioneer colonists of Lawrence and legislators of the territory and state, was born at Hampton, Connecticut, December 3, 1818, and grew to manhood in his native state. He was a member of the third party of emigrants from New England, which reached Lawrence on October 10, 1854, and […]
Hutchinson is an old and numerous family in Norwich, as well as in other parts of the country. They were among the early settlers of Massachusetts and were in Lynn and Salem in that colony as early as 1628, or 1629. A descendant of these early colonists, named Abijah, who was a tailor, removed from
Andrew Arnold, the grandfather of William S. Arnold, married Catherine Reynolds, of North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Their children were two in number, Philip being the survivor. He was born in Warwick, and married Catherine, daughter of William Searls, and granddaughter of Richard Searls, of Cranston, Rhode Island. The children of Philip and Catherine Arnold were:
One of the well-known business men and leading bankers in Connecticut, Franklin Nichols was born in Thompson, Conn., August 11th, 1805. His boyhood was passed in his native town, sharing the advantages of the schools of those days. At an early age he commenced business for himself, in the improvement of extensive farming lands inherited
On Wednesday afternoon, October 10th, 1877, Brooklyn and Windham county lost one of the truest and best of men in the death of Mr. Edwin Scarborough. For several years increasing feebleness of body had warned our esteemed friend that he was walking very near that mysterious line which divides the here from the hereafter, but
Clement Bates, of Hertfordshire, England, aged 40, with his wife Ann, and their children, James, Clement, Rachel, Joseph and Benjamin, came to America in the ship Elisabeth,” April 6th, 1635, and settled in Hingham, Mass. Clement Bates died in Hingham, September 17th, 1671. His son Joseph, by wife Hester, was the father of Joseph, who
The subject of this sketch was born in the town of Hampton, in Windham county, Connecticut, on the 22d of May, A. D. 1825. He was the son of the Hon. Mason Cleveland, who was a man of much influence, and universally respected throughout the state, having been both a representative from his town and
Elijah Greenslit, a farmer and the landlord of one of the early taverns of the town of Hampton, married Mary Burnham. His children were: David, Elijah, Henry, Ebenezer, and one daughter. His son David spent his life in Hampton, the town of his birth, where he was an industrious and prosperous farmer. He married Nancy,
Vaniah Palmer, the grandfather of William F. Palmer, resided in Scotland, then the town of Windham. He married Cynthia Fitch, whose son John, born in Scotland on the 12th of March, 17795, in 1820 married Charlotte G. Bingham. Their children were : Emily C., William F., Henry W., Lewis C., Sanford K., John P. and
The subject of this biography was the son of Elnathan Ross, who was born June 15th, 1772, and married Olive Storrs, whose birth occurred December 7th, 1774. The children of this marriage were eleven in number, as follows Roxana, born in 1796; Harriet, in 1797; Ebenezer Storrs, in 1798. Olive, in 1800; Schuyler, in 1801;
Son of Doctor William Witter and Emily Bingham, his wife, was born at Willimantic, Conn., November 13th, 1842, in the substantial brick house now standing at the corner of Main and Witter (now called High) streets. His ancestry, both on the father’s and the mother’s side, is given with some detail in the sketch of
Benjamin Child emigrated from Great Britain to America in 1630, and became the head of most of the families of that name. A type of character patriarchal in the best sense, earnest in purpose, and in the promotion of that Puritanic stamp of piety for which the Massachusetts settlers were distinguished, he was one of
The subject of this biography, was a descendant in the fifth generation from the original purchaser of the Mashamoquet tract. He was the son of Doctor Robert Grosvenor, and was born in Killingly, Conn., April 30th, 1810. He attended the best academies of his native state, and his father, needing his early assistance in the
Nicholas Hutchins emigrated from England about the year 1670, in the reign of Charles the Second, and settled in Groton, Massachusetts. His two children were John and Joseph, the former of whom was born in Groton in the year 1678, and married a Miss Whitney. Their five children were: Joshua, John, Benjamin, Sarah and Abigail.
Stephen and Rebecca Bowen were the grandparents of the subject of this biography. His parents were Oliver and Betsey Bowen, the former having removed to Eastford in 1822, where he resided until his death, in 1879. He was during his active life a successful farmer and produce dealer. His wife survived him and is still
George M. Morse, the second son of Milton S. and Susanna Blake Morse, spent his youth in and about the city of Providence. His early years were devoted to study at the schools of Providence, where he remained until the age of eighteen, when on removing to Putnam he interested himself for a year in
The grandfather of the subject of this biography was Ebenezer Bishop, a native of Lisbon, Conn., who removed in later life to North Woodstock, where he engaged in the practice of medicine until his death in October, 1834. He married Sarah Lyon, whose six children were: Amasa, Hezekiah, Elisha, Ebenezer, Tabitha and Delia. Hezekiah, of
Of Canterbury, the second son of Ebenezer and Eunice (Hutchins) Sanger, was born in the town of Brooklyn, Conn., April 12th, 1827. In the year 1828 his parents removed to Canterbury, which has since been his residence. His paternal grandfather was James Sanger, of Windsor, Hartford county, Connecticut, and his grandmother, Olive (Chaffee) Sanger. Mr.
Joshua Smith, the grandfather of Guilford Smith, and a native of Lebanon, New London county, subsequently moved to Windham county, Connecticut, where he was both a weaver and a farmer, and in connection with his trade wove cloth for the soldiers during the war of 1812. His children were three sons, Chandler, Charles and Marvin,
Judge Perry’s ancestors first settled in Massachusetts, his grandfather, Daniel Perry, having removed when a young man from Rehoboth, in that state, to Woodstock, where he became the owner of a valuable farm and the breeder of choice stock, which he shipped to the West Indies. He married Judith Hunt, of Rehoboth, whose children were
