History of Trumbull, Connecticut
Encyclopedia
Introduction
Trumbull, a townNew England town
The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. Without a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in other states, but are incorporated, possessing powers like cities in other...
in Fairfield County
Fairfield County, Connecticut
Fairfield County is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The county population is 916,829 according to the 2010 Census. There are currently 1,465 people per square mile in the county. It is the most populous county in the State of Connecticut and contains...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
in the New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
region of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, was settled owned and controlled by the town of Stratford
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
from 1639 until May 1725 when the northwest farmer's of Stratford petitioned the Colony of Connecticut to establish their own separate village
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
. They proposed calling their new village Nickol's Farm's after the family that owned a large farm in its center at the time. The new parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
was approved in October 1725 and called Unity.
In 1744, Unity merged with the Long Hill
Long Hill, Trumbull, Connecticut
Long Hill is a village located in the western section of Trumbull in Fairfield County, Connecticut in New England. It is an area lying west of the Pequonnock River and north of the Merritt Parkway. The main thoroughfare is Connecticut Route 111, present-day Main Street.-History:Long Hill was...
parish (organized in 1740) of the Stratfield section of Stratford to form the Society of North Stratford. North Stratford controlled its own religious and educational affairs. However, to have a voice in governmental functions such as adopting laws and establishing taxes, the inhabitants were required to attend town meetings in Stratford, an overnight journey.
After ten years of unsuccessful petitions, the Connecticut General Assembly
Connecticut General Assembly
The Connecticut General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. There are no term limits for either chamber.During...
granted complete town rights in October 1797. The new town was named for George Washington's
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
staunch supporter Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
Governor, patriot
Patriot (American Revolution)
Patriots is a name often used to describe the colonists of the British Thirteen United Colonies who rebelled against British control during the American Revolution. It was their leading figures who, in July 1776, declared the United States of America an independent nation...
, statesman
Statesman
A statesman is usually a politician or other notable public figure who has had a long and respected career in politics or government at the national and international level. As a term of respect, it is usually left to supporters or commentators to use the term...
and merchant
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
, Jonathan Trumbull
Jonathan Trumbull
Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. was one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Revolutionary state...
(1710–1785).
Native Americans
The Golden Hill Paugussett Indian NationGolden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation
The Golden Hill Paugussetts are the Connecticut state-recognized tribal descendents of the Paugussett Nation of Native Americans that occupied much of western Connecticut prior to the arrival of Europeans...
occupied the territory of Trumbull as a self-sustaining community for thousands of years before the arrival of the English in the late 1630s. The Indian Nation lived along the banks of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
in the Pequonnock River Valley and also around the natural lake first called Mischa Lake after the Indian Chief who resided there and now is known as Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake is a natural lake located on the west side of tall Mischa Hill in the Nichols Farms Historic District section of Trumbull, Connecticut.-Pinewood Lake Association:...
.
After twelve to fifteen years had passed by, the Stratford settlement had grown so much in size that the displaced Indian Nation began to ask for compensation for land north of an east to west line 6 miles (9.7 km) north of Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
. This line was located within the present-day village of Nichols
Nichols Farms Historic District
According to Stratford land records, Abraham Nichols purchased several old farms and large parcels of land in 1696. Nichols exchanged his land for of Lt. Joseph Judsons old farm which had a barn on it, or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and of land from Benjamin Curtiss...
, Mischa Hill, Pinewood Lake and White Plains areas. The original Stratford proprietors agreed and began to make several purchases from the Indians in the 1650s, however, relations between the English and the Indians became strained throughout the Colony of Connecticut as settlements continued to grow and displace the Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
.
In 1652, the Court at the Colony of Connecticut ordered that no Indian could walk near an Englishman's house either in town or at his farm on the Sabbath without being fined or imprisoned. In 1656, it was ordered that no one in the Colony of Connecticut could sell an Indian a horse or mare or any boat or boat rigging without suffering a penalty of 5 to 1. The tribe maintains a small reservation in the Nichols section of Trumbull that is considered to be the oldest continuing reservation in Connecticut and the smallest in the US.
Founding and Puritan era
Trumbull was originally settled as a part of Cupheag, the Pequonnock Indian word for harbor, a coastal settlement established in 1639 by PuritanPuritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
leader Reverend Adam Blakeman
Adam Blakeman
Rev. Adam Blakeman was born in Gnosall, Staffordshire, England, June 10, 1596. His birthplace is frequently misspelled in websites due to transcription errors from old records....
, William Beardsley
William Beardsley
William Beardsley was one of the first settlers of Stratford, Connecticut .-Biography:He was born 1605 in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire; England in 1631 he married Mary Harvie in St...
and either 16 families—according to legend—or approximately 35 families—suggested by later research—who had recently arrived in Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
from England seeking religious freedom. The main village and stockade was built where the Housatonic River
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound...
flows into Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
. In 1643, the settlement changed its name to Stratford
Stratford, Connecticut
Stratford is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States, located on Long Island Sound at the mouth of the Housatonic River. It was founded by Puritans in 1639....
either in honor of William Beardsley who came from Stratford-upon-Avon, birthplace of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
, or Stratford-le-Bow, England.
Stratford is one of many towns in the northeastern American colonies founded as part of the Great Migration
Great Migration (Puritan)
The Puritan migration to New England was marked in its effects in the two decades from 1620 to 1640, after which it declined sharply for a while. The term Great Migration usually refers to the migration in this period of English settlers, primarily Puritans to Massachusetts and the warm islands of...
in the 1630s when Puritan families fled an increasingly polarized England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in the decade before the civil war between Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
and Parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
(led by Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
). Some of the Stratford settlers were from families who had first moved from England to the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
to seek religious freedom, like their predecessors on the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
, and decided to come to the New World when their children began to adopt the Dutch culture and language.
Like other Puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
towns founded during this time, early Stratford was a place where church leadership and town leadership were both united under the pastor of the church, in this case Reverend Blakeman. The goal of these communities was to create perfect outposts of religious idealism where the wilderness would separate them from the interference of kings, parliaments, or any other secular authority.
Colonial period
Housatonic River
The Housatonic River is a river, approximately long, in western Massachusetts and western Connecticut in the United States. It flows south to southeast, and drains about of southwestern New England into Long Island Sound...
and the Fairfield
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
town line, including all of Trumbull.
The English continued to purchase territory from the Native Americans entering the deeds of transfer into the land records. However, the first volume of such records has been lost. It took Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, Joseph Hawley
Joseph Hawley (Captain)
Joseph Hawley , born in Parwich, Derbyshire, England, was the first of the Hawley name to come to America in 1629. He settled at Stratford, Connecticut in 1650, becoming the town's first town clerk or record keeper, tavern keeper and a shipbuilder.-Surname:The surname of Hawley is one of locality...
and John Minor, until April 1662 to secure the last written deed of transfer from the Paugussett Indian Nation for the western part of the town of Trumbull, referred to as the Long Hill purchase. This deed references that it was lying west of the land they had already purchased.
Town formation and settlement patterns
Common landIn 1661, the town voted to allow each inhabitant could take up a whole division of common land anywhere in the woods where they could find fit planting ground as long as it was not within two miles of the town meeting house and they were prohibited from making it their dwelling place without consent. Elder Phillip Groves, Captain William Curtiss and Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, early farmers in Trumbull, were named to a committee to lay out the land as they saw fit.
Up to 1670, individuals claimed planting fields wherever they could find fit land subject to the sanction of a committee or the town selectmen. By the spring of 1680, the town decided to lay out all undivided common land within six miles of the meeting house. This area would have included the southern third of Trumbull. The division of the common land took until 1800 to complete entirely.
Outliver's
In 1668, there were only five families recorded as being outlivers or living beyond two miles from the Stratford meetinghouse, however, by the 1670s, after numerous individuals were encouraged to and had received permission to dwell outside of the two mile limit, the Stratford selectmen stopped recording outlivers altogether.
Three-mile division
The three mile or woods division, was located three miles from the Stratford meeting house and included land up to six miles away from it. The common land grants were laid out in a fashion so that each tract had a share of a run of water, woods, natural meadow, plains, swamp and ledge. The grants were often a quarter of a mile north to south and one mile in length east to west, about 170 acres (68.8 ha) of land. Each freeman (Colonial)
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
received division land according to his right or rank in the township and many exchanged or sold their grant after receiving it.
In 1685, some families filed complaints saying they were not receiving their land grants from the woods division in a timely manner. Therefore, the Court at the Connecticut Colony
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
ordered the town to apportion all common land located between two and six miles from the Stratford meeting house, which included all the territory in the lower third of Trumbull.
NicholsNichols, ConnecticutNichols, a historic village in southeastern Trumbull on the Gold Coast of Fairfield County, was named after the family who maintained a large farm in its center for almost 300 years. The Nichols Farms Historic District, which encompasses part of the village, is listed on the National Register of...
It is not known exactly when the first settlers began to clear land and establish farms in the area due to the fact that the first volume of Stratford's land records were destroyed around 1650. By 1658, Lt. Joseph JudsonJoseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, Jeremiah Judson and Joseph Curtiss, became freeman (Colonial)
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
by the court of the Colony of Connecticut and established farm's there. A freeman had to own real property in their own name before they could be elected as freemen.
The area now called Nichols
Nichols, Connecticut
Nichols, a historic village in southeastern Trumbull on the Gold Coast of Fairfield County, was named after the family who maintained a large farm in its center for almost 300 years. The Nichols Farms Historic District, which encompasses part of the village, is listed on the National Register of...
, located in southeastern Trumbull, was first called Mischa Hill in the land records for the Native American
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
who lived there. In the late 1660s, it was commonly called Lt. Joseph Judson's Farm, or Judson's Farm, after the owner of the largest farm on its hilltop. After Judson and others removed to establish the town of Woodbury, Connecticut in 1672 and abandoned their farms on Mischa Hill, it was called Old Farm's. In the early 1700s, it was called Nickol's Farm's, then in 1725 it became a part of Unity and in 1744, North Stratford. During the mid 1800s, the area was called Amblersville after the principal manufacturer in the center of the village.
Abraham Nichols
It is thought that Abraham Nichols made the first permanent settlement within Trumbull around 1690 or 1700, depending on the source, and then other families subsequently ventured into the wilderness to establish mills, churches, and schools. Abraham Nichols landholdings were thought to total 1000 acres (4 km²), however, there is no documentation to support this claim. The land records actually indicate that Abraham Nichols holdings were around 285 acres (1.2 km²) of land, in present-day Nichols center, of which around 55 acre (0.2225773 km²) remains as open space today.
According to Walter Nicholls, who wrote the History of the Nichols family in 1909, Abraham did not accompany his father to Woodbury in 1673, but remained in Trumbull to oversee the plantation. However, since Abraham was only eleven at the time (born 1662), it is likely that he did remove to Woodbury with his family and returned to Trumbull between 1696 and 1700.
Walter Nicholls imaginative description of the Nichols homestead;
Land purchases
Abraham Nichols bought or exchanged land to acquire several farms and large parcels of land, expanding his land holdings in Trumbull, beginning in 1696. Nichols exchanged land for 22 acre (0.08903092 km²) of Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
s old farm which had a barn
Barn
A barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
on it, 54 acre (0.21853044 km²) or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and 19 acre (0.07689034 km²) of land from Benjamin Curtiss. All of these transactions are described in the land records as being located at or near the Old farm, Judson's farm's or Lt. Joseph Judson farm. Nichols purchased Reverend Zachariah Walker's entire farm in 1704 which was 36 acre (0.14568696 km²) in size. Furthermore, in a deed recorded in 1699, Lt. Ebenezer Curtiss received 15 acre (0.0607029 km²) of land from the three-mile division that was bounded west with Lt. Joseph Judson's farm, now belonging to Abraham Nichols.
Woods estate
Some of Abraham Nichols farm remained in the Nichols family for over two centuries. Florence Nichols, the last of the Nichols line, married George Woods in 1903. Soon after their deaths in 1973 and 1972 respectively, the property was deeded to the Nichols Methodist Church from whom the town of Trumbull purchased it in 1974. The remaining 13 acre (0.05260918 km²) homestead was then known as the Woods Estate and is now the home of the Trumbull Historical Society.
Agriculture
The Nichols and White Plains areas were the first to be cultivated and settled within present-day Trumbull due their fertile soil, spring-fed ponds, natural meadows and close proximity to the Stratford meeting house; less than three miles away. In the mid seventeenth century in the Colony of Connecticut, it was very common for freemen to establish a farmFarm
A farm is an area of land, or, for aquaculture, lake, river or sea, including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food , fibres and, increasingly, fuel. It is the basic production facility in food production. Farms may be owned and operated by a single...
, or several farms in the fertile upland or countryside while also maintaining a substantial townhouse
Townhouse
A townhouse is the term historically used in the United Kingdom, Ireland and in many other countries to describe a residence of a peer or member of the aristocracy in the capital or major city. Most such figures owned one or more country houses in which they lived for much of the year...
in the main village or back in England.
Early farmer's
The first individuals to own land in Trumbull were among the original founders of the Stratford settlement namely; Benjamin Beach, Zachariah Bostick (Bostwick), Richard Booth, Ephraim Booth, Paul Brinsmaid, John Curtiss, Benjamin Curtiss, Mr. Joseph Curtiss, Captain William Curtiss (Curtice), Ebenezer Curtiss, Israel Curtiss, Zachariah Curtiss
Zachariah Curtiss House
The Zachariah Curtiss Houses are located in New England, and are Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber frame farm houses. The older house of the two was built by Zachariah I around 1686 and the second house was built by his son Zachariah II around 1721 in the Georgian architectural style...
, Joseph Fairchild, Elder Philip Groves (Graves, Grouse), Joseph Hawley
Joseph Hawley (Captain)
Joseph Hawley , born in Parwich, Derbyshire, England, was the first of the Hawley name to come to America in 1629. He settled at Stratford, Connecticut in 1650, becoming the town's first town clerk or record keeper, tavern keeper and a shipbuilder.-Surname:The surname of Hawley is one of locality...
, Ephraim Hawley
Ephraim Hawley House
The Ephraim Hawley House, located in New England, is a Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame farm house built between 1670 and 1690...
, Captain John Hawley, Edward Hinman, Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
, Sgt. Jeremiah Judson, Isaac Judson, John Judson, Thomas Lake, Isaac Nichols, Caleb Nichols, Abraham Nichols, Samuel Ufford (Uffoot) and Reverend Zechariah Walker.
The first families to reside permanently in Trumbull were descended from the; Beach, Beardsley, Blakeman, Booth, Bostick, Brinsmade, Clarke, Curtiss, Edwards, Fairchild, Hawley
Hawley
-People:* Alan Ramsay Hawley, early American aviator* Cameron Hawley, American fiction writer* Caroline Hawley, BBC war correspondent* David Hawley , Stratfield, Connecticut, captain and privateer during the American Revolution...
, Hinman, Hubbell, Judson, Lake, Lewis, Middlebrook, Nichols, Peet, Plumb, Seeley, Sherwood, Thompson, Uffoot, Walker and Wildman families.
Before becoming a freeman (Colonial)
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
in 1686, Zachariah Curtiss
Zachariah Curtiss House
The Zachariah Curtiss Houses are located in New England, and are Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber frame farm houses. The older house of the two was built by Zachariah I around 1686 and the second house was built by his son Zachariah II around 1721 in the Georgian architectural style...
built a -story center-chimney farm house and small one-story barn on the south side of Mischa Hill. His farm was located on land granted to him as a part of three-mile division and part on land gifted to him by his father, Captain William Curtiss, which was described as lying at Old Farm.
Ephraim Hawley
Ephraim Hawley
Ephraim Hawley House
The Ephraim Hawley House, located in New England, is a Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame farm house built between 1670 and 1690...
built his farmhouse immediately south of Zachariah Curtiss, on the south side of Mischa Hill, on the eastern portion of the Hawley land grant, commonly called ye springs and white plains. To be elected a freeman in the Connecticut Colony
Connecticut Colony
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut was an English colony located in British America that became the U.S. state of Connecticut. Originally known as the River Colony, it was organized on March 3, 1636 as a haven for Puritan noblemen. After early struggles with the Dutch, the English...
at this time, one had to own real property, a dwelling house, in his name. It is presumed that Hawley built his house before becoming a freeman (Colonial)
Freeman (Colonial)
Freeman is a term which originated in 12th century Europe and is common as an English or American Colonial expression in Puritan times. In the Bay Colony, a man had to be a member of the Church to be a freeman. In Colonial Plymouth, a man did not need to be a member of the Church, but he had to be...
in 1687.
Farm path
The path
Path
Path, pathway or PATH may refer to:-Path:* Course , the intended path of a vehicle over the surface of the Earth* Trail, hiking trail, footpath, or bridle path...
or road
Road
A road is a thoroughfare, route, or way on land between two places, which typically has been paved or otherwise improved to allow travel by some conveyance, including a horse, cart, or motor vehicle. Roads consist of one, or sometimes two, roadways each with one or more lanes and also any...
connecting the Curtiss and Hawley farms on the south side of Mischa Hill to Stratford Village, located -miles to the south, became known as the Farm Highway, present day Connecticut Route 108
Connecticut Route 108
Route 108 in the U.S. state of Connecticut, also called Huntington Turnpike and Nichols Avenue, is a two-lane state highway that runs northerly from US 1, Boston Post Road in Stratford, through Trumbull, to Route 110 in downtown Shelton...
. The highway was completed and surveyed to the south side of Mischa Hill, at Zachariah Curtiss, his land and at Captain's Farm, in 1696, making it one of the oldest documented English highways in Connecticut.
Woodbury
Religious riftIn the 1660s, Lt. Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson
Joseph Judson was a Connecticut settler, local official and militia officer....
had a disagreement with the majority of elders in Stratford as he tried to introduce the half way covenant and this led to a major rift which lasted for many years and split the town. In 1671, Judson received permission from then Governor John Winthrop, Jr. to create a new town called Woodbury
Woodbury, Connecticut
Woodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....
25 miles inland. Judson and Reverend Walker left Stratford with a dozen other families and moved to the newly created town abandoning their farms in the Trumbull area of Stratford. Judson and Walker died in Woodbury in 1690 and 1699 respectively.
Old Farm's
Joseph Judson, like many others, had established their farm's in Trumbull decades before leaving for Woodbury in 1671. These farms were not sold initially, but were just physically abandoned and were referred to in the land records as Old Farm's. Some of the other families to remove to Woodbury abandoning their farm's in Trumbull were; Caleb Nichols, Abraham's father, who removed to Woodbury and died there in 1690. And, John Curtiss who gifted his entire farm in the woods on Misha (sic) Hill (Trumbull) to his son Benjamin in 1688 and removed to Woodbury. In a deed recorded at Stratford in 1710, Sgt. John Curtiss, of Woodbury, sold 4 acre (0.01618744 km²) to Abraham Nichols that was located near the place called and known by the name of Lt. Joseph Judson's Farm.
American Revolution
North Stratford Train BandIn 1773, Robert Hawley
Robert Hawley
Robert Hawley , Captain, raised provisions for the Continental soldiers and fought in the American Revolutionary War.BiographyCaptain Robert Hawley was born June 5, 1726, in North Stratford, now Trumbull, Connecticut, in New England...
was named Captain of the North Stratford or Second Train Band established in 1706. His Grandfather, Captain John Hawley, was its first Captain. At a special meeting held at the North Stratford meeting house on November 10, 1777, Hawley was also appointed to a committee to provide immediately all those necessaries for the Continental soldiers
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
.
Valley Forge
On March 12, 1778, the parish of North Stratford raised money and over 200 pounds of cheese and gammon for those residents, including two slaves; Nero Hawley
Nero Hawley
Nero Hawley , born into slavery in North Stratford, now Trumbull, Connecticut, enlisted in place of his owner, Daniel Hawley, in the Continental Army on April 20, 1777 during the American Revolution and earned his freedom...
and Caesar Edwards and thirteen other residents serving in the southern army
Continental Army
The Continental Army was formed after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War by the colonies that became the United States of America. Established by a resolution of the Continental Congress on June 14, 1775, it was created to coordinate the military efforts of the Thirteen Colonies in...
in Captain Beebe's Company, Huntington's Brigade, 2nd CT Regiment, stationed at Valley Forge
Valley Forge
Valley Forge in Pennsylvania was the site of the military camp of the American Continental Army over the winter of 1777–1778 in the American Revolutionary War.-History:...
under the command of General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
.
French soldiers
Huldah Hawley was born in 1755 and died in 1856 at the age of 101. The widow of Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
Chauncey Beardsley, Huldah took pleasure in talking of the exciting times of the Revolution and related during her lifetime about the time that two companies of French soldiers, under the command of French General Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau
Marshal of France Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau was a French nobleman and general who participated in the American Revolutionary War as the commander-in-chief of the French Expeditionary Force which came to help the American Continental Army...
, encamped a whole winter during the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
on what is now known as Mountain Hill, a high rocky bluff in the central part of the Village of Nichols Farm's. This high rocky bluff, at the time, commanded a view of Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound
Long Island Sound is an estuary of the Atlantic Ocean, located in the United States between Connecticut to the north and Long Island, New York to the south. The mouth of the Connecticut River at Old Saybrook, Connecticut, empties into the sound. On its western end the sound is bounded by the Bronx...
for 70 miles (112.7 km), and was used to spy on British ships. Hawley said the soldiers ordered her to cook for them, and she furnished them with provisions for fear that they would kill her. French coins have since been found near the site of their camp in Abraham Nichols Park.
In December 1780, two dozen Hussar
Hussar
Hussar refers to a number of types of light cavalry which originated in Hungary in the 14th century, tracing its roots from Serbian medieval cavalry tradition, brought to Hungary in the course of the Serb migrations, which began in the late 14th century....
horsemen deserted and discharged themselves from their winter quarters in Lebanon
Lebanon, Connecticut
Lebanon is a town in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 6,907 at the 2000 census. The town lies just to the northwest of Norwich, north of New London, and east of Hartford...
and fled into the Connecticut woods.
Lauzun's Legion
From June 28 until June 30, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, units of the French army, called Lauzun's Legion
Lauzun's Legion
Lauzun's Legion was a French Regiment in the American War for Independence: Lauzun's Legion principal engagements were White Plains 1781, and Yorktown.-Unit History:...
or Hussars, encamped in North Stratford, now Trumbull. The Legion was commanded by Colonel Armand Louis de Gontaut
Armand Louis de Gontaut
Armand Louis de Gontaut, Duc de Lauzun, later duc de Biron, and usually referred to by historians of the French Revolution simply as Biron was a French soldier and politician, known for the part he played in the American War of Independence and the French Revolutionary Wars.-Early titles:Born in...
-Biron, duc de Lauzun and marched 15 miles (24.1 km) to the south to protect the flank of the main French army encamped in Newtown
Newtown, Connecticut
Newtown is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 27,560 at the 2010 census. Newtown was founded in 1705 and incorporated in 1711.-Government:...
. The army was marching in the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route
The Washington–Rochambeau Revolutionary Route is a 680-mile -long series of encampments and roads used by U.S. Continental Army troops under George Washington and French troops under Jean-Baptiste de Rochambeau during their march from Newport, Rhode Island to Yorktown, Virginia in 1781. The route...
south to reinforce American troops under the command of General George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
at the Siege of Yorktown
Siege of Yorktown
The Siege of Yorktown, Battle of Yorktown, or Surrender of Yorktown in 1781 was a decisive victory by a combined assault of American forces led by General George Washington and French forces led by the Comte de Rochambeau over a British Army commanded by Lieutenant General Lord Cornwallis...
.
Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science , and the first to distill petroleum.-Early life:...
was born in the Eliakim Beach tavern, built by mill owner Ebenezer Hawley in 1765, a few months after his mother Mary (Fish) Silliman (widow of John Noyes) fled from their Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield, Connecticut
Fairfield is a town located in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. It is bordered by the towns of Bridgeport, Trumbull, Easton, Redding and Westport along the Gold Coast of Connecticut. As of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 59,404...
home to escape 2,000 invading British troops ordered to burn Fairfield. The British forces had taken Silliman's father, General Gold Selleck Silliman
Gold Selleck Silliman
Gold Selleck Silliman was born in Fairfield, Connecticut, graduated from Yale University and practiced law and served as a crown attorney before the American Revolution...
, prisoner in May of 1779.
A Great Jubilee Day
A Great Jubilee Day
A Great Jubilee Day
A Great Jubilee Day, first held on Monday May 26, 1783 in North Stratford, now Trumbull, commemorated the end of fighting in the Revolutionary War...
to commemorate the end of major fighting in the Revolutionary War was held on Monday May 26, 1783 at the grounds of the North Stratford meeting house. This celebration included feasting, prayer, speeches, toasts, and two companies of militia
Militia
The term militia is commonly used today to refer to a military force composed of ordinary citizens to provide defense, emergency law enforcement, or paramilitary service, in times of emergency without being paid a regular salary or committed to a fixed term of service. It is a polyseme with...
performing maneuvers with cannon
Cannon
A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...
discharges.
American Civil War
During the American Civil WarAmerican Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, Company C of the 8th Connecticut Infantry
8th Connecticut Infantry
The 8th Connecticut Infantry was an infantry regiment that fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War.- History :The regiment was organized at Camp Buckingham, Hartford, in September, 1861, It was first commanded by Colonel Edward Harland of Norwich. The regiment left Hartford October...
Regiment of the Connecticut National Guard was formed in Trumbull under the command of Capt. Charles E. Plumb and was disbanded in 1871 after the war ended.
Unity Parish
In May of 1725, the farmers of northwest Stratford at Nickol's Farm'sNichols Farms Historic District
According to Stratford land records, Abraham Nichols purchased several old farms and large parcels of land in 1696. Nichols exchanged his land for of Lt. Joseph Judsons old farm which had a barn on it, or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and of land from Benjamin Curtiss...
, desiring to have their own meeting house, asked for permission to form their own parish or village. The legislature approved their application in October 1725 and named the new village Unity. The Unity Congregational Church was established in 1730. The Reverend James Beebe
James Beebe
James Beebe , Reverend, presided over the Unity Parish at North Stratford, now Trumbull, Connecticut, between 1747 and 1785. He was an Army Preacher in the French and Indian War and a patriot.-Biography:...
was the parish
Parish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
leader from 1747 to 1785. The Unity Burial Ground
Unity Burial Ground
The Unity Burial Ground is a small graveyard located on the southeast end of White Plain in the Nichols section of Trumbull, Connecticut. It is located a few rods north of the site of the first meeting house that was built in the parish of Unity. The cemetery was laid out in 1730 and the first...
still exists, its last burial was in 1935.
Long Hill
In May 1740, upon the petition of Jonathan Edwards, the farmers gathered at Stratfield's winter parish on Long Hill and were granted their own individual parish and funding for education by the legislature.North Stratford
In 1744, Unity parish and the Long Hill parish of the Stratfield section of Stratford, asked permission to combine and become the Society of North Stratford. The General Assembly referred to the eastern boundaries of Unity, at the time, as ancient when they approved the new town called North Stratford in 1744. North Stratford remained as a village under the control of the town of Stratford for a period of 53 years until it became a part of the town of Trumbull in 1797.Trumbull Incorporated
After the Revolutionary War, citing their well-established population and the inconvenient distance to attend town meetings in Stratford, they petitioned the Connecticut General AssemblyConnecticut General Assembly
The Connecticut General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is a bicameral body composed of the 151-member House of Representatives and the 36-member Senate. It meets in the state capital, Hartford. There are no term limits for either chamber.During...
for status as an incorporated town. After several denials, the legislature granted their petition in October, 1797. On November 20, 1797, the first town meeting was held. The new town was named for Jonathan Trumbull
Jonathan Trumbull
Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. was one of the few Americans who served as governor in both a pre-Revolutionary colony and a post-Revolutionary state...
, Connecticut governor during the Revolutionary War and a valued adviser to George Washington
George Washington
George Washington was the dominant military and political leader of the new United States of America from 1775 to 1799. He led the American victory over Great Britain in the American Revolutionary War as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army from 1775 to 1783, and presided over the writing of...
, who respectfully referred to him as Brother Jonathan.
Unity Burial Ground
The Unity Burial Ground is a historic graveyard located on the southeast end of White Plain a few rods north of the site of the first meeting house that was built in the parish of Unity. The cemetery was laid out in 1730 and the first burial was that of 7 year old Samuel Bennitt on June 21, 1731. There are over 110 gravestones and 90 unmarked field stones.Christ Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial Ground
Christ Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial GroundChrist Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial Ground
Christ Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial Ground is a historic site including an Episcopal Church building and cemetery at 5170 Madison Avenue in Trumbull, Connecticut....
is a historic site including an Episcopal Church
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
building and cemetery
Cemetery
A cemetery is a place in which dead bodies and cremated remains are buried. The term "cemetery" implies that the land is specifically designated as a burying ground. Cemeteries in the Western world are where the final ceremonies of death are observed...
at 5170 Madison Avenue in the Tashua section of Trumbull. The site was founded in 1760 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. Two prior churches had been on the site before the cornerstone of the existing church was laid in 1826. This building is believed to have been designed by Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis
Alexander Jackson Davis, or A. J. Davis , was one of the most successful and influential American architects of his generation, in particular his association with the Gothic Revival style....
and was consecrated in 1847. The original church was a 36’ X 26’ structure and stood at the north end of the graveyard. The second, larger church was built across from the first and consecrated in 1795 after the first church was abandoned five years earlier.
The current church is an example of Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic
Carpenter Gothic, also sometimes called Carpenter's Gothic, and Rural Gothic, is a North American architectural style-designation for an application of Gothic Revival architectural detailing and picturesque massing applied to wooden structures built by house-carpenters...
, a variant of Neo-Gothic architecture. Christ Church displays the original Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
and Book of Common Prayer
Book of Common Prayer
The Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
that was received by the church in 1762 from England. The church is still active, with two services held on Sunday mornings. The graveyard on the site dates to 1766, and includes 241 plots.
Gregory's Four Corners Burial Ground
Gregory's Four Corners Burial GroundGregory's Four Corners Burial Ground
Gregory's Four Corners Burial Ground, a cemetery established in Trumbull, Connecticut in 1761, is located on Spring Hill Road near the Monroe town line and is maintained by the Trumbull Parks Commission.-The Legend of Hannah Cranna:...
is a historic cemetery just over the Monroe
Monroe, Connecticut
Monroe is a town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 19,479 at the 2010 census. The current first selectman is Steve Vavrek....
town line. It was established in 1761. It is most famous for being the final resting place of Hannah Cranna, often called the "Wicked Witch of Monroe".
Commerce and industry
Farm HighwayOn December 7, 1696, the Farm Highway, present-day Nichols Avenue Connecticut Route 108
Connecticut Route 108
Route 108 in the U.S. state of Connecticut, also called Huntington Turnpike and Nichols Avenue, is a two-lane state highway that runs northerly from US 1, Boston Post Road in Stratford, through Trumbull, to Route 110 in downtown Shelton...
, was laid out by the Stratford selectmen to the south side of Mischa Hill. The highway was 12 rods wide, or 198 feet, where Broadbridge Brook runs off the south side of Mischa Hill, at Zachariah Curtiss
Zachariah Curtiss House
The Zachariah Curtiss Houses are located in New England, and are Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber frame farm houses. The older house of the two was built by Zachariah I around 1686 and the second house was built by his son Zachariah II around 1721 in the Georgian architectural style...
, his land, and at Captain's Farm. Broadbridge Brook runs off Mischa Hill west of the present-day intersection of Route 108 and the Merritt Parkway
Merritt Parkway
The Merritt Parkway is a historic limited-access parkway in Fairfield County, Connecticut. The parkway is known for its scenic layout, its uniquely styled signage, and the architecturally elaborate overpasses along the route. It is designated as a National Scenic Byway and is also listed in the...
and flows southwesterly to Broadbridge Avenue in Stratford.
The Captain the town recorder was referring to may have been Captain Joseph Hawley or Captain William Curtiss, who was Captain of the first Train Band and owned a farm at Turkey Hill at this time. This hill was located two miles from the meeting house, along the Farm Highway, on the way to Mischa Hill. The hill was also commonly called Second Hill, Good Hill and Grassy Hill as well. The Captain could have also been John Hawley who owned the Ephraim Hawley House
Ephraim Hawley House
The Ephraim Hawley House, located in New England, is a Colonial American wooden post-and-beam timber-frame farm house built between 1670 and 1690...
at this time which bordered Zachariah Curtiss land to the south. Hawley was Captain of the Second or North Train Band and was Justice of the Peace for Fairfield County.
In October 1725, when the Assembly of the Connecticut Colony approved the Parish of Unity, they referred to the Farm Highway as Nickol's Farm's Road. The Nichols Avenue portion of Route 108 in Trumbull is considered to be the third-oldest documented highway
Highway
A highway is any public road. In American English, the term is common and almost always designates major roads. In British English, the term designates any road open to the public. Any interconnected set of highways can be variously referred to as a "highway system", a "highway network", or a...
in Connecticut after the Mohegan Road, Connecticut Route 32 in Norwich
Norwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
(1670) and the King's Highway
King's Highway
King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria* Kings Highway , Australia* King's Highway , United States* King's Highway King's Highway or Kings Highway may refer to:* King's Highway (ancient) an ancient trade route from Egypt to Syria*...
, or Boston Post Road
Boston Post Road
The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York City and Boston, Massachusetts that evolved into the first major highways in the United States.The three major alignments were the Lower Post Road The Boston Post Road was a system of mail-delivery routes between New York...
Route 1 (1673).
White Plains Road
In February 1694, Thomas Lake purchased land on the east side of the natural grassy flood plains of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
near an area called The Falls. By 1705 Route 110
Connecticut Route 110
Route 110 is a state highway in Connecticut running for from US 1 in Stratford to Route 111 in Monroe.-Route description:Route 110 begins at an intersection with US 1 in Stratford and heads north along the west bank of the Housatonic River, intersecting Route 15 before continuing into Shelton...
, White Plains Road, was laid out northerly past Lake's house to a natural rock outcropping called Pulpit Rock. Pulpit Rock is located north of the present day intersection of White Plains Road and Unity Road. The first meetings of the Trumbull Congregational Church, established in 1730 as the Parish of Unity and later renamed Trumbull Congregational Church, were held at Pulpit Rock on White Plains Road. This church also served as a town meeting house until 1747 when a new church was built under the leadership of Rev. James Beebee.
Mills
At the August 1697 town meeting, John Seeley first proposed building a gristmill at the narrows of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
southward of Eassays Pond, however, it took until July 1704 to come to terms with the town and finish construction.
On January 26, 1703, the Stratford selectmen granted Ebeneezer Curtiss, James Lewis and Edmund Lewis, County surveyor, permission to erect a sawmill near Mischa Hill.
In December 1709, Captain Judson and Captain Coe agreed to build a dam at the Falls of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
as long as they maintained a mill or mills at the location and they satisfy all persons for land drowned by said dam.
In January 1722, Gideon and Ephraim Hawley agreed to rebuild a mill or mills on the stream of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
at the narrows by White Plain.
Reuben Fairchild and his brothers Daniel and Eben built the Fairchild Paper Mill in 1826 at a place commonly called since 1674 as the Falls of the Pequonnock River
Pequonnock River
The Pequonnock River is a waterway in eastern Fairfield County, Connecticut, flowing through the city of Bridgeport. The river has a penchant for flooding, particularly in spring since the removal of a retention dam in Trumbull in the 1950s. There seems to be a sharp difference of opinion among...
. They were guided in their endeavors by Andrew Tait who had learned the art of paper making in Scotland. Fairchild Paper Mill was the first mill to make white note paper. The company also ran a boarding house for its female employees. The mill stood to the west of White Plains Road
Connecticut Route 127
Route 127 is a state highway in southwestern Connecticut, running entirely from Bridgeport to Trumbull. It serves as a minor arterial, connecting all four major limited access highways in the Bridgeport area.-Route description:...
near what is today the entrance to Fairchild Memorial Park. As of 2010, it is the town boundary with the city of Bridgeport
Bridgeport, Connecticut
Bridgeport is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Located in Fairfield County, the city had an estimated population of 144,229 at the 2010 United States Census and is the core of the Greater Bridgeport area...
and has been made into Fairchild Park. The Pequonnock River in the Paugussett Indian language meant place of slaughter or place of destruction.
Mines
The first mention of minerals at Saganawamps, or the Old Mine Park Archeological Site
Old Mine Park Archeological Site
The Old Mine Park Archaeological Site is a historic site in the Long Hill, Trumbull, Connecticut section of Trumbull, Connecticut. It was mined from 1828 to 1920 and during 1942-1946...
is found in the February 21, 1757 deed giving Howkins Nichols of Stratford a lease for 200 years of five acres "at a place commonly called Saganawam for obtaining ye ore or mineral substances." Some time around 1818, Ephraim Lane took some samples of rocks he found at Saganawamps to Yale University Professor Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman
Benjamin Silliman was an American chemist, one of the first American professors of science , and the first to distill petroleum.-Early life:...
for identification. Silliman reported, in his new American Journal of Science
American Journal of Science
The American Journal of Science is the United States of America's longest-running scientific journal, having been published continuously since its conception in 1818 by Professor Benjamin Silliman, who edited and financed it himself...
, that he had identified tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
, tellurium, topaz
Topaz
Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...
and fluorite
Fluorite
Fluorite is a halide mineral composed of calcium fluoride, CaF2. It is an isometric mineral with a cubic habit, though octahedral and more complex isometric forms are not uncommon...
. In 1837 the first (and at the time only) prismatic barite ore of tungsten
Tungsten
Tungsten , also known as wolfram , is a chemical element with the chemical symbol W and atomic number 74.A hard, rare metal under standard conditions when uncombined, tungsten is found naturally on Earth only in chemical compounds. It was identified as a new element in 1781, and first isolated as...
in the United States was discovered at the mine.
Housatonic Railroad
From 1840 - 1931, a fifteen mile segment of the Housatonic Railroad ran along the Pequonnock River with stations at Bridgeport, North Bridgeport (Lyons), Trumbull, Long Hill, Stepney, Pepper (Pepper Crossing) and Botsford, terminating in New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford, Connecticut
New Milford is a town in southern Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States north of Danbury, on the Housatonic River. It is the largest town in the state in terms of land area at nearly . The population was 28,671 according to the Census Bureau's 2006 estimates...
. The Railroad also maintained the Parlor Rock Amusement Park in Trumbull. The railroad was ripped up and replaced with Connecticut Route 8 up to Trumbull, north of which became the Pequonnock River Valley State Park.
Manufacturing
George R. Nichols embarked with his brother David Stiles Nichols in the manufacture of coaches during the 1840s, their business being mostly with Texas and the Southern States. David S. Nichols was succeeded by James K. Nichols, a brother of George K. Nichols. The firm of Nichols and Brother, encountered heavy losses during the Civil War. Before the war, Mr. George K. Nichols, who had successfully conducted a carriage repository in Broadway, New York, in the interest of the firm, had to return to Nichols' Farms to help supply the demand for carriages from the South. The Mexican coaches made by the firm were of high repute.
Harvey Hubbell
Harvey Hubbell
Harvey Hubbell II , was a U.S. inventor, entrepreneur and industrialist. His best known inventions are the electrical plug, and the pull-chain light socket....
, like his contemporaries Edison
Thomas Edison
Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and a long-lasting, practical electric light bulb. In addition, he created the world’s first industrial...
, Ford
Henry Ford
Henry Ford was an American industrialist, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, and sponsor of the development of the assembly line technique of mass production. His introduction of the Model T automobile revolutionized transportation and American industry...
and Westinghouse
George Westinghouse
George Westinghouse, Jr was an American entrepreneur and engineer who invented the railway air brake and was a pioneer of the electrical industry. Westinghouse was one of Thomas Edison's main rivals in the early implementation of the American electricity system...
, contributed to both spheres of progress; new product design and manufacturing innovation. The first Harvey Hubbell, father of the Company's founder, was a partner in two clothing manufacturing firms in the late nineteenth century. The first factory was located in New York and the second was started in Trumbull in 1860 in a building located near the Hubbell farm on Main Street
Connecticut Route 111
Route 111 is a state highway in southwestern Connecticut, United States, running from the Merritt Parkway in Trumbull to Route 34 in Monroe. The junction with the Merritt Parkway is currently the only single-point urban interchange in the entire state....
in the Long Hill section of Trumbull.
Notable residents
Helicopter inventor Igor SikorskyIgor Sikorsky
Igor Sikorsky , born Igor Ivanovich Sikorsky was a Russian American pioneer of aviation in both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft...
lived in Trumbull from 1928, after moving his aircraft manufacturing company that bears his name from New York to Stratford, until 1951. The Sikorsky Manufacturing Company became a part of United Aircraft and Transport (now United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation
United Technologies Corporation is an American multinational conglomerate headquartered in the United Technologies Building in Hartford, Connecticut...
) in July 1929. The company manufactured flying boat
Flying boat
A flying boat is a fixed-winged seaplane with a hull, allowing it to land on water. It differs from a float plane as it uses a purpose-designed fuselage which can float, granting the aircraft buoyancy. Flying boats may be stabilized by under-wing floats or by wing-like projections from the fuselage...
s, such as the S-42
Sikorsky S-42
|-See also:-References:NotesBibliography* Davies, R.E.G. Pan Am: An Airline and its Aircraft. New York: Orion Books, 1987. ISBN 0-517-56639-7....
"Clipper", used by Pan Am
Pan American World Airways
Pan American World Airways, commonly known as Pan Am, was the principal and largest international air carrier in the United States from 1927 until its collapse on December 4, 1991...
for trans-Atlantic flights.
Sikorsky also continued his earlier work on vertical flight. On February 14, 1929, he filed an application to patent a "direct lift" amphibian aircraft which used compressed air to power a direct lift "propeller" and two smaller propellers for thrust. On June 27, 1931, Sikorsky filed for a patent for another "direct lift aircraft", and was awarded patent #1,994,488 on March 19, 1935. His design eventually culminated in the first (tethered) flight of the Vought-Sikorsky VS-300 on September 14, 1939, with the first free flight occurring on May 26, 1940.
Sikorsky's success with the VS-300 led to the R-4
Sikorsky R-4
The Sikorsky R-4 was a two-place helicopter designed by Igor Sikorsky with a single, three-bladed main rotor and powered by a radial engine. The R-4 was the world's first large-scale mass-produced helicopter and the first helicopter to enter service with the United States Army Air Forces, Navy, and...
, which became the world's first mass produced helicopter in 1942. Sikorsky's final VS-300 rotor configuration, comprising a single main rotor and a single antitorque tail rotor, has proven to be one of the most popular helicopter configurations, being used in most helicopters produced today.
Education and society
Public schoolThe spirit of public education was fostered early in Trumbull when the selectmen voted on January 11, 1716 to allow the farmers at Long Hill, Fairchilds and Nichols Lakes the use of the forty shillings per thousand allowed by law for seven years ensuing, provided they educate their children according to law.
Five school districts were formed in November 1761. Each district had its own committee, which was appointed regularly and consisted of three persons. The districts were called; Nichol's Farm, Daniel's Farm, Long Hill, White Plain and Cutler's Farm, for the area they served. The number was increased slightly in 1762 when Long Hill was split into Upper Long Hill and Lower Long Hill. Tashua School was first noted in 1769.
On December 2, 1795 a meeting was held to set off the eight school district new boundaries; Nichol's Farms, White Plain, Daniel's Farm, Booth's Hill, Long Hill South, Long Hill North, Tashua and Mount Moria. The description of the new districts listed landmark houses, roads and geographical locations in the boundary descriptions that included; Bears Den, Nichol's Farm Road, the place where Lt. Brinsmade's house once stood, Mischa Hill sawmill, Hedge Hog Brook, Daniel's Farm Road, Luff's Hill, James Daskom's, Widow Sterling's, Widow Beebe's, Booth Hill Brook, Mr. Joseph Nichol's, Mr. Edward Waylon's, Porter's Hill, Shagnawamps Road, Shagnawamps Brook, a large rock by the road between the house of Mr. Joshua Curtiss and Mr. Daniel Foot's, Canoe Brook, Daniel Salmon's, Mr. Seeley Burrough's, Mr. Benjamin Beardslee's, the Weston and Stratfield Parish town lines as well as Mr. Enoch Gregory's, Mr. John Jones, Mr. John Fitch and the Newtown Road.
Pine Brook Country Club
Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake
Pinewood Lake is a natural lake located on the west side of tall Mischa Hill in the Nichols Farms Historic District section of Trumbull, Connecticut.-Pinewood Lake Association:...
and the surrounding acreage and built an auditorium
Auditorium
An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances at venues such as theatres. For movie theaters, the number of auditoriums is expressed as the number of screens.- Etymology :...
with a revolving stage
Revolving stage
A revolving stage is a mechanically controlled platform within a theatre that can be rotated in order to speed up the changing of a scene within a show...
, forty cabins
Log cabin
A log cabin is a house built from logs. It is a fairly simple type of log house. A distinction should be drawn between the traditional meanings of "log cabin" and "log house." Historically most "Log cabins" were a simple one- or 1½-story structures, somewhat impermanent, and less finished or less...
and incorporated as the Pine Brook Country Club
Pine Brook Country Club
-Introduction:Pine Brook Country Club began when Benjamin Plotkin purchased Pinewood Lake and the surrounding countryside on Mischa Hill in the historic village of Nichols, Connecticut. Plotkin built an auditorium with a revolving stage and forty rustic cabins and incorporated as the Pine Brook...
in 1930. Plotkin's dream was to market the club as a summer resort for people to stay and enjoy theatrical productions. Pine Brook is best known for becoming the summer rehearsal headquarters of the most important experiment in the history of American Theatre. The Group Theatre (New York) was formed in New York City by Harold Clurman
Harold Clurman
Harold Edgar Clurman was a visionary American theatre director and drama critic, "one of the most influential in the United States". He was most notable as one of the three founders of the New York City's Group Theatre...
, Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford
Cheryl Crawford was an American theatre producer and director.Born in Akron, Ohio, Crawford majored in drama at Smith College. Following graduation, she moved to New York City and enrolled at the Theatre Guild's school...
and Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
in 1931. The group was made up of actors, directors, playwrights and producers and produced works by the most important American playwrights of the time on real life subject matter which changed stage and film forever. In 1944, Pine Brook Country Club was sold, reorganized and chartered as the Pinewood Lake Association.
Images
| Population change in Trumbull during the 19th century | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1800 | 1810 | 1820 | 1830 | 1840 | 1850 | 1860 | 1870 | 1880 | 1890 |
| Population | 1,291 | 1,241 | 1,232 | 1,242 | 1,204 | 1,309 | 1,474 | 1,335 | 1,323 | 1,453 |
| Source: | ||||||||||
| Population change in Trumbull since 1900 | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1900 | 1910 | 1920 | 1930 | 1940 | 1950 | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 |
| Population | 1,587 | 1,642 | 2,597 | 3,624 | 5,294 | 8,641 | 20,379 | 31,394 | 32,989 | 32,016 | 34,243 | 36,018 |
| Source: | ||||||||||||
On the National Register of Historic Places
- Christ Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial GroundChrist Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial GroundChrist Episcopal Church and Tashua Burial Ground is a historic site including an Episcopal Church building and cemetery at 5170 Madison Avenue in Trumbull, Connecticut....
– 5170 Madison Ave. (added May 25, 2001) - David Mallett Jr. House – 420 Tashua Road (added March 20, 1986)
- Kaatz IcehouseKaatz IcehouseThe Kaatz Icehouse was located in Trumbull, Connecticut. The building was built in 1908 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places on September 19, 1977. The building was razed in 1978 due to deterioration...
– 255 Whitney Ave. (added October 19, 1977) - Nichols Farms Historic DistrictNichols Farms Historic DistrictAccording to Stratford land records, Abraham Nichols purchased several old farms and large parcels of land in 1696. Nichols exchanged his land for of Lt. Joseph Judsons old farm which had a barn on it, or half the land owned by Jeremiah Judson, and of land from Benjamin Curtiss...
– Center Road, 1681–1944 Huntington Turnpike, 5–34 Priscilla Place, and 30–172 Shelton Road (added September 20, 1987) - Old Mine Park Archeological SiteOld Mine Park Archeological SiteThe Old Mine Park Archaeological Site is a historic site in the Long Hill, Trumbull, Connecticut section of Trumbull, Connecticut. It was mined from 1828 to 1920 and during 1942-1946...
(added 1990)