Today in 1638, an “agreement between the English in Connecticutt and the Indian Sachems” of the Narragansett and Mohegan tribes was signed in Hartford, marking the end, at least as far as Connecticut was concerned, of the Pequot War. That war was the first major Anglo-Indian conflict in the region that became New England….
Tag: colonial era
June 9: Saving the Oldest Wooden House in Connecticut
June 9, 1915 marked the start of a new lease on life for the Thomas Lee House in East Lyme, which has the distinction of being the oldest extant wood-framed building in Connecticut. Amid a flurry of pilgrim’s pride and pomp and circumstance, even a former President came to help dedicate the opening of…
May 26: The English Strike Back — Hundreds of Pequots Die at Mystic.
Today in 1637, a month after a combined Pequot and Wangunk attack on the small colonial settlment of Wethersfield left nine dead and crippled the town’s food security, a group of 77 English soldiers and hundreds of their Mohegan and Narragansett allies retaliated by attacking and burning a Pequot village at Mystic Fort, near…
April 23: Pequot and Wangunk Warriors Attack English Settlers at Wethersfield
For the English colonists who settled along the banks of the Connecticut River in the 1630s, life in the “New World” was anything but easy. In addition to the challenges to food security caused by the unrelentingly harsh winters of the so-called Little Ice Age, the colonists’ relations with their indigenous neighbors became increasingly…
March 7: New Haven Hides the Killers of an English King
Soon after the then-separate Connecticut and New Haven colonies were established in the 1630s, England, their country of origin, was thrown into a long and brutal civil war pitting English Puritans against King Charles I. The Parliamentarians, as the king’s enemies called themselves, were ultimately victorious, and, after taking control of the government, they…
February 1: Revolutionary Head Count: Three Censuses in Seven Years.
Since 1790, people in the United States have participated in a census of the population once every 10 years. During the American Revolution, however, Connecticut conducted three censuses in only seven years, each in response to different demands created by the revolutionary struggle. The third and final count was conducted today in 1782, and…
December 28: When Eastern Pennsylvania Belonged to Connecticut
Connecticut stands today as one of the smallest states in the Union in terms of land area. But during the 17th and 18th centuries, ambitious Connecticans dreamed of expanding the colony’s control over vast swaths of territory located far to the west. Connecticut’s Royal Charter of 1662, issued by King Charles II, had originally…
November 26: The Oldest Congregational Church in America
As the oldest continuously active Congregational church in the United States, the First Congregational Church of Windsor, Connecticut has celebrated more anniversaries than nearly any other church in the country. One of the most memorable anniversaries in the congregation’s existence was its 275th anniversary, celebrated on November 26, 1905. That year, the church organized…
November 22: A Formidable Founding – The National Society of Colonial Dames of America in Connecticut
Among the many hereditary societies that formed in the later decades of the 19th century, the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA), founded in 1892, distinguishes itself as one of the most active and successful groups to pursue a mission of historic preservation. This invitation-only, all-female Society, composed of descendants of…
April 23: Surprise Pequot and Wangunk Attack on Wethersfield – Nine Dead; Two Girls Captured
For the English colonists who settled along the banks of the Connecticut River in the 1630s, life in the “New World” was anything but easy. In addition to the challenges to food security caused by the unrelentingly harsh winters of the so-called Little Ice Age, the colonists’ relations with other colonies, as well as…
June 9: Saving the Oldest Wooden House in Connecticut
June 9, 1915 marked the start of a new lease on life for the Thomas Lee House in East Lyme, which has the distinction of being the oldest extant wood-framed building in Connecticut. Amid a flurry of pilgrim’s pride and pomp and circumstance, even a former President came to help dedicate the opening of…
May 26: European-Style Warfare Comes to Connecticut — Hundreds of Pequots Die at Mystic.
Today in 1637, a month after a combined Pequot and Wangunk attack on the small colonial settlment of Wethersfield left nine dead and crippled the town’s food security, a group of 77 English soldiers and hundreds of their Mohegan and Narragansett allies retaliated by attacking and burning a Pequot village at Mystic Fort, near…