Nathan Hale: The Man and the Legend

…for my country.” The portrait of the handsome young spy that everyone knows is the invention of a 20th-century sculptor. So who was Nathan Hale? Nathan Hale was born in…

Nathan Hale Hanged in New York – Today in History: September 22

…the years, Nathan Hale’s memory and his sacrifice for his beliefs have been honored with everything from postage stamps to statues. In 1985, Nathan Hale became Connecticut’s official state hero….

Nathan Hale

Nathan Hale (1755-1776) Nathan Hale was a Connecticut patriot and spy during the Revolutionary War. Born in Coventry in 1755, Hale attended Yale College before becoming a schoolteacher in East…

John Howard Hale: Glastonbury’s Peach King

…grower John Howard Hale eventually developed a new type of peach capable of thriving in harsher climates. John Howard Hale was born on his family’s farm in South Glastonbury, Connecticut,…

An Overview of Connecticut’s Outdoor Sculpture

…somber figure to stand before Hale’s student residence at Yale. Copies were made for Fort Nathan Hale in New Haven and the Connecticut Governor’s Residence. Reformers and Industrialists By the…

Connecticut Domestic Oil Lamp Makers

…or odor. However, most homes could afford only the less expensive grades of whale oil. Oil Lamp Production in Connecticut Daniel Hayden appears to have made the first brass whale…

Connecticut Origins Shape New Light Luminary Jonathan Edwards

…into the 19th century. Kenneth P. Minkema, PhD, is the Executive Editor of The Works of Jonathan Edwards and of the Jonathan Edwards Center & Online Archive at Yale University….

Charles W. Morgan: New England’s Last Surviving Wooden Whaling Ship

…Whaling Industry Whale fishery: attacking a right whale, between 1856 and 1907. – By Currier & Ives, Library of Congress. Used through Public Domain. While the practice of commercial whaling…

Coventry

…boxes, and textiles. Today, Coventry is best known as the birthplace of Captain Nathan Hale and is home to the Nathan Hale Homestead; a museum currently open to the public….

Linonian and Brothers in Unity: The Societies that Built Yale University’s Library

…Unity. Despite much of their openness as student groups, Linonian and Brothers also professed a Masonic secrecy and privacy in their activities. Nathan Hale and Benjamin Tallmadge are perhaps most…

Caleb Brewster and the Culper Spy Ring

…Nathan Hale in college and, in the early years of the Revolutionary War, helped organize the Culper Spy Ring. Brewster’s friendship with the Tallmadges and his expertise as a seaman…

Rubber Vulcanization and the Myth of Nathaniel Hayward

By Rick Finkelstein and Leslie Rovetti Nathaniel Hayward looms large in Colchester, Connecticut’s historical record as a leading industrialist and town benefactor. In 1847, Hayward opened the Hayward Rubber Company…

Jonathan Trumbull’s Lebanon War Office: The “Pentagon of the Revolution”

By Emily Clark Considered one of the most important buildings in Connecticut’s Revolutionary War history, Jonathan Trumbull’s War Office in Lebanon functioned as headquarters for Connecticut’s Council of Safety from…

Colonial Revival Movement Sought Stability during Time of Change

…Seymour, a flamboyant collector whose passion for history was fueled by his devotion to the memory of Revolutionary War captain Nathan Hale. Such collectors helped establish the study of American…

Jonathan Trumbull

Jonathan Trumbull, Sr. (1710-1785) Jonathan Trumbull was a merchant and politician who rose to become one of the most famous governors in Connecticut’s history. Born in Lebanon, Connecticut, in 1710,…

Nathaniel Lyon: First US General to Die During the Civil War

By Emma Wiley Nathaniel Lyon became nationally famous as the first US general killed during the Civil War. As a career soldier, Lyon served in several wars, participated in the…

Governor Jonathan Trumbull Dies – Today in History: August 17

On August 17, 1785, Connecticut’s first governor, Jonathan Trumbull, died. A merchant, judge, and politician, Trumbull held the distinction of serving as the colony’s 28th governor prior to the American…

I-95 Reaches New London

…of New London, 1908 Officials seized entire blocks by right of eminent domain and tore them down to make way for the highway. The 1773 Nathan Hale School House, where…

Jonathan Edwards

Jonathan Edwards (1703-1758) Jonathan Edwards was one of America’s most accomplished intellectuals and theologians. Born in what is today South Windsor, Edwards became a leader of New England’s first Great…

The Explosion of the Redding Baptist Meeting House

…abolished slavery within its own borders. Nathaniel Colver Comes to Georgetown Reverend Nathaniel Colver from Memoir of Rev. Nathaniel Colver, D.D., with lectures, plans of sermons, etc. by Justin Almerin…

Revolutionary War

…the Culper Ring, Nathan Hale, and Deborah Champion. Enslaved individuals in Connecticut used the chaos of battles and disruption of daily life to escape and seek freedom. Women such as…

Middletown’s Nathan Starr Supplied Cutlasses for the War of 1812

Last Updated: February 12, 2025 On May 18, 1808, navy agent Joseph Hull of New London negotiated a contract with Nathan Starr of Middletown for two thousand cutlasses. Increasing hostilities…

Jonathan Edwards’ Famous Sermon – Today in History: July 8

On July 8, 1741, theologian Jonathan Edwards spoke the words of the sermon “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at a Congregational church in Enfield. He could not…

Nathaniel Palmer discovers Antarctica – Today in History: November 18

On November 18, 1820, Nathaniel Brown Palmer of Stonington, Connecticut, discovered the mainland of Antarctica, one of the seven continents. At 22, Palmer was an experienced sealer and the captain…

The Importance of Being Puritan: Church and State in Colonial Connecticut

…Light Lieutenant-Governor, Jonathan Trumbull, went on to become Connecticut’s war governor, the only colonial governor to remain in office through the Revolution. Detail of a half-length portrait of Jonathan Trumbull…

Thomas Knowlton: A Small Town’s National Hero

…task of obtaining intelligence information for the Continental army. Included among Knowlton’s troops was the soon-to-be-famous patriot Nathan Hale. On September 16, 1776, at Harlem Heights, Knowlton’s men undertook a…

Site Lines: Silas Deane

…remains obscure. Linda Pagliuco is a historian at the Webb-Deane-Stevens and Nathan Hale Homestead museums. © Connecticut Explored. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in Connecticut Explored (formerly Hog…

Hidden Nearby: The Morris Academy

…late 18th century. It is reported that Morris also studied under Nathan Hale, before enrolling at Yale. While at Yale, Timothy Dwight, later president of the university and one of…

Father of Architects Born – Today in History: December 4

…Gothic revival and Italianate styles, and designed the Nathan Hale monument in Coventry, Connecticut. Henry Austin died on December 17, 1891, and received a burial in the Grove Street Cemetery….

Map – Connecticut Landmarks of the Constitution

…Forts: 22. Groton: Fort Griswold 23. New Haven: Fort Nathan Hale 24. New London: Fort Trumbull The Coast Guard Academy: 25. New London: Hamilton Hall, United States Coast Guard Academy…

A Public Responsibility: Conservation and Development in the 20th Century

…Gillette Castle State Park and Nathan Hale State Forest. Landscape blight, New Haven, ca. 1950s – New Haven Museum By the 1950s, Connecticut was the fourth most densely populated state,…

One Powerful Family in Bozrah

…of Norwich created a reservoir upstream from a cotton mill operated by Nathan Gilman in Bozrah. To compensate for the reduced flow reaching the mill’s water-powered machinery, Gilman asked the…

Benedict Arnold Turns and Burns New London

…and navy. Ezek Hopkins, commander of the navy, had just returned to New London from Nassau. Washington, Hopkins, General Nathanael Greene, and other officers shared dinner at Nathaniel Shaw’s house,…

Gideon Welles’s Role in Lincoln’s Cabinet

…role was to purchase merchant vessels for use by the navy, receiving a two-and-a-half-percent fee on each sale. Unfortunately for Welles, Senator John P. Hale, the head of the Senate…

Ernest Borgnine: Breaking the Hollywood Mold

…with Borgnine winning for Best Actor. Ernest Borgnine as McHale in the television program McHale’s Navy, 1962, ABC Television After Marty, Borgnine continued to appear regularly in movies, including Ice…

The Hartford Whalers: Connecticut’s Last Major League Sports Franchise

…Whalers to Hartford Whalers and began wearing uniforms with the classic logo with the letters H and W and part of a whale’s body. The Hartford Civic Center re-opened on…

Wheeler & Wilson: A Stitchy Situation in Watertown

The Watertown firm of Wheeler & Wilson Manufacturing produced one of the most successful products of the late 19th century. Thanks to inventor Allen Wilson and businessman Nathaniel Wheeler, the…

Understanding the Environmental Effects of Industry by Examining the Starr Mill

…most important of these were changes to land use along the banks of these rivers as well as changes to the rivers themselves. 1808 Pattern Nathan Starr Cutlass – USS…

Illuminating Connecticut’s Past: The Bradley & Hubbard Legacy

By Christina Volpe Nathaniel Lyman Bradley (1829-1915) – The collection of The Barnes Museum Once known internationally, Meriden’s Bradley & Hubbard Manufacturing Company was an industry-leading American manufacturer of kerosene…

“Legalized Piracy”: Connecticut’s Revolutionary War Privateers

…1,700 Letters of Marque and commissioned eight hundred privateers. Connecticut issued most of its commissions to the whale boat fleet. This fleet was known for their attacks on British shipping…

The Industrial Might of Connecticut Pegmatite

…both the Hale Quarry in Portland and the White Rocks Quarry in Middletown. To help make the operation profitable, the Feldspar Corporation mined both quarries for quartz and mica, as…

New London’s Indian Mariners

…point, Tantipinant continued on as one of Sears’s hands to the West Indies islands of Antigua and Saint Christopher. Dangers of the Whale FisheryAn account of the Arctic regions with…

Chief G’tinemong/Ralph W. Sturges

…building plugs, molds, and patterns for boats. In 1952 Ralph became a marble sculptor. His local artistic contributions included the donation of a sculpture of a sperm whale (the Connecticut…

The Yale-Storrs Controversy

…In 1886, Worthy Master J. H. Hale spoke out. He blasted Yale’s strict admissions policy, which required proficiency in Latin and trigonometry. “How many farmers’ boys have the time to…

The Bryan-Andrew House: Still Standing After All These Years

…the town of Orange. Richard Bryan’s grandson, Nathan, built a home for himself and his new bride, Elizabeth Whitman, in this area around 1740. When Nathan died in 1766, he…

Marquis de Lafayette’s 1824 Tour of Connecticut

…and college students paraded in front of the hotel. After breakfast at the hotel, Lafayette reviewed troops at the New Haven Green and briefly visited the residences of Nathan Smith,…

David Bushnell and his Revolutionary Submarine

…the project. In turn, General George Washington and Governor Jonathan Trumbull became supporters. By the time the submarine was moved by boat from the Connecticut River to New York, many…

New London’s Sound Defense

…most privateers aligning with the patriots operated under Continental commission, Connecticut did issue special commissions to armed whale boats operating in Long Island Sound to attack and capture British ships…

New London Harbor Lighthouse: Connecticut’s First Official Lighthouse

…(bonfire) to warn residents of the approach of enemy ships but it did not assist trading vessels with navigation. In 1759, Nathaniel Shaw sold some of his land to New…

Early Anti-slavery Advocates in 18th-century Connecticut

…Jonathan Edwards, Jr. Both men were strongly influenced by Congregational minister Samuel Hopkins, who lived in Newport, Rhode Island. Newport was one of the most important centers in North America…

The War Connecticut Hated

…already problematic out-migration of Connecticut’s rising generation. James Peale, Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., ca. 1792, Watercolor on ivory – Yale University Art Gallery Independent Connecticut Refuses to Follow Federal Orders New…

The Connecticut Town Green

…Around the time of incorporation in 1700, Lebanon resident Joseph Trumbull (father of Colonial governor Jonathan Trumbull Sr.) introduced livestock farming to the town. Thus began Lebanon’s long farming history….

Exploring Early Connecticut Mapmaking

…and engraved by J. T. Porter, both of that town. Stratford was mapped by James H. Linsley and Bridgeport by H. L. Barnum; Nathaniel and Simeon Smith Jocelyn of New…

The Steady Evolution of a Connecticut Family Business

…Union while his brother Nathan stayed behind to serve in the Confederate army. Nathan Ensign returned to Connecticut only after his death in 1889, when his body was interred in…

The Reverend Joseph Bellamy Makes Bethlehem a Holy Place

…at Yale University in 1735, at the age of 16. He then began a year and a half of studying under the famous theologian Jonathan Edwards. After turning 18 and…

Stealth Attack from Guilford Launched – Today in History: May 23

Return Jonathan Meigs, Sr. On May 23, 1777, Colonel Return Jonathan Meigs launched a lightning raid from Sachem Head in Guilford on Sag Harbor on the eastern end of Long…

The Revolution of 1817

…Jonathan Ingersoll, for lieut. Governor – Connecticut Digital Archive In February 1816, a statewide convention of anti-Federalists took place in New Haven, resulting in the formation of the Toleration Party….

Connecticut and the Embargo Act of 1807

…Hartford’s Federalist newspaper, the Connecticut Courant, missed no opportunity to attack and condemn the embargo and the Republican party which sought to enforce it. In February 1809, Governor Jonathan Trumbull…

Borough of Stonington

…state, on a peninsula with an area of less than one square mile extending into Long Island Sound. Captain Nathaniel B. Palmer Settled in 1752 in an area known as…

The Sandemanians

…to be elected to Congress. Nathaniel Bishop, comb manufacturer and Elder of the Danbury Sandemanian congregation in the mid-nineteenth century. – Danbury Museum and Historical Society. For a period in…

Power of Place | Connecticut History | a CTHumanities Project

American Painter John Trumbull Born – Today in History: June 6

On June 6, 1756, John Trumbull, painter, architect, and author, was born in Lebanon. The son of Governor Jonathan Trumbull, Trumbull served in the Continental Army as an aide to…

Faith Trumbull: The Artist Was a Young Girl

By Kate Steinway for Your Public Media In 1754, eleven-year-old Faith Trumbull (1743–1775), the daughter of Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Lebanon, Connecticut, was sent to boarding school in Boston. In…

Hidden Nearby: Bethlehem’s Joseph Bellamy Monument

…minister of the Great Awakening, Jonathan Edwards. John Warner Barber, South view Bethlehem, Con., ca. 1836, preliminary sketch in ink – Connecticut Historical Society Bellamy was licensed to preach in…

New Connecticut on Lake Erie: Connecticut’s Western Reserve

…to migrate. In 1800, when the Western Reserve became part of the Northwest Territory, it was named Trumbull County after Connecticut Governor Jonathan Trumbull. In 1803, Trumbull County became part…

Timothy Dwight Provides Religious, Military, and Educational Services for a Young Country

…Jonathan Edwards, a prominent 18th-century Protestant theologian. Aaron Burr was his cousin, and his brother, Theodore, became a prominent journalist and founder of the New York Daily Advertiser. The Hartford…

Stepping Back in Time: North Stonington Village Historic District

…the site of North Stonington Village in 1682. Twenty years later, he sold 30 acres of the property (which makes up the center of the current village) to Nathaniel Ayers….

Eleazar Wheelock: Preacher, Dartmouth College Founder

…energize the devout fervor of the faithful that had waned in previous decades. The basic themes of the Great Awakening—advocated by Wheelock, Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, and other preachers—stressed that…

Meriden’s Silver Lining

…was thinner and stronger than pewter, making it more affordable to manufacture, and its resistance to tarnishing made it popular with American consumers. Cast Britannia metal whale oil lamp, maker…

Gideon Welles, US Secretary of the Navy and Lincoln’s “Neptune”

…dedicated to duty and service to his country. The Personal Life of Lincoln’s “Neptune” Welles had married his first cousin Mary Jane Hale in 1835 when he was 33 and…

Almost a Tragedy: The Collapse of the Hartford Civic Center

…Wolf Pack (briefly renamed the Connecticut Whale for three seasons) of the American Hockey League. Ben Gammell is Coordinator of Interpretive and Education Projects at the Connecticut Historical Society. ©…

An Inconvenient Season: Charlotte Cowles’s Letters from December 1839

…the type of whale bones generally used in bonnets from Mrs. Orcutt, a milliner. Charlotte also asked him to find a yard and three quarters of “backing” to put under…

Hard Times: Governor Wilbur Cross and the Great Depression in Connecticut

…to Wallingford section of the northward continuation of the Merritt Parkway that bears his name. Well into his 80s, the former governor remained hale and hearty, full of plans for…

Rock and Roll vs. Racism

…white acts such as Bill Haley and His Comets, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Buddy Holly on the same billing. Hartford Courant advertisement for the “Rhythm & Blues Revue”, November 20,…

Groton

…1964. Throughout Groton’s history, maritime industry has fueled the community’s growth—from whale and seal hunting in the 1800s to the 1954 launch of the USS Nautilus, the world’s first nuclear-powered…

The Rise and Fall of Sealing in Early New London Industry

…towns of New Bedford and Nantucket. In 1850 alone, over one million dollars of whale oil and bone passed through New London. What has gone largely unrecognized, however, is that,…

Trolley Campaigners Storm Small Towns and Votes for Women is the Battle Cry

…Childe Dorr, and English suffragists Ethel M. Arnold, Margaret G. Bondfield, and Beatrice Forbes Robertson Hale; among the men were Charles Beard, Stanton Coit, Max Eastman, John H. Light, Owen…

The Sea in their Blood: The Portuguese in New London County

…as whales became increasingly scarce and petroleum and other products replaced whale oil. Some Portuguese mariners from Connecticut continued to make whaling voyages from New Bedford and Provincetown, Massachusetts, during…

Early Connecticut Gas Light Companies

…replaced candles and whale oil with manufactured gas. By the late 19th century, they began offering gas for heating and cooking. For Connecticut, manufactured gas provided a new way of…

Navigating Connecticut Safely: The Green Book’s Role in African American Travel

…Google Maps. Used through Fair Use. New London’s Hempstead Street became a center for African American life starting in the 1840s when abolitionist Savillion Haley began building homes to sell…

Oliver Cromwell Launched – Today in History: June 13

…the establishment of Connecticut’s navy. The Navy was formed after the start of the American Revolutionary War in July of 1775 when the Connecticut General Assembly authorized Governor Jonathan Trumbull…

The Park City – Who Knew?

…Park came about after a series of articles in the Bridgeport Standard encouraged the creation of public parks. Bridgeport citizens answered the call in 1864, and Nathaniel Wheeler, P.T. Barnum,…

Joshua Hempsted Born – Today in History: September 1

…section of the house to accommodate his son, Nathaniel, and his family. The Hempsted family occupied the house until 1937. Hempsted’s diary, while missing parts, contains over 700 pages and…

Chester

…incorporated in 1836. Back in 1769, Jonathan Warner was granted permission to operate a ferry across the Connecticut River that became the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry, the second-oldest continuously operating ferry service…

Connecticut’s Mulberry Craze

…Colonial Assembly passed legislation offering financial incentives for silk growers. Two individuals ended up succeeding in bringing silk production to Connecticut, where others had failed. One was Nathaniel Aspinwall, a…

Eastford

…agricultural community well into the 20th century. Markers of Eastford’s past include a monument to hometown hero Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union general killed in the Civil War, and a…

Notorious New-Gate Prison

…wanted to use the Simsbury copper mine as a place to isolate prisoners from the rest of society and then reform them. Colonel William Pitkin, Erastus Wolcott, and Captain Jonathan…

The Tariffville Disaster – Today in History: January 15

…The accident killed 13 individuals and injured 70. The Western’s superintendent, Jonathan Jones, quickly returned to the Tariffville station and telegraphed the main office for help and within the hour…

First General Copyright Law – Today in History: January 29

…colonial copyright statute. It secured the rights to the author for 14 years with the ability to renew the copyright once. Nathaniel Patten in Hartford printed Ledyard’s book in 1783….

Somers School of the Prophets

…theologian Jonathan Edwards and the Great Awakening, a period of evangelical Protestant revival. They wanted to update their traditional Puritan teachings to be more reflective of their modern-day lives. Unsatisfied…

Norwich’s “Volcanic” Past

…has been attracting gun manufacturers since the American Revolution. The first recorded arms contract in Norwich was an order for 200 muskets placed with Nathan and Henry Cobb in 1798….

The Whitney Armory Helps Progress in Hamden

…order to support himself. In addition to tutoring the children of Revolutionary War hero Nathanael Greene, Whitney soon gained a reputation as man with a gift for invention. In 1793,…

When Old Saybrook Was a College Town

…to its first official site in Saybrook. Nathaniel Lynde deeded a building and 10 acres of land in Saybrook to the Collegiate School in 1707. Although the deed to the…

The Stonington Battle Flag

…passed to Nathan G. Smith. His daughter Caroline donated the flag to what is now the Stonington Historical Society in 1895 as that organization’s first artifact. Descriptions, pictures, and photographs…

Surveying Connecticut’s Borders

…troubles started with an errant survey of the state’s northern border performed by Nathaniel Woodward and Solomon Saffery of Massachusetts in 1642. These men were sailors, not surveyors. After determining…

Nancy Toney’s Lifetime in Slavery

…years later, Dr. Chaffee Sr. purchased a 25-year-old woman, Sarah, from Jonathan Butler of Hartford. Based on their proximity, Nancy, Sarah, Betty’s mother, and young Betty might have shared the…

From the State Historian: Connecticut’s Slow Steps Toward Emancipation

…Jonathan Edwards Jr. and Theodore Dwight, many Connecticut masters freed their slaves well before the emancipation laws required. By 1800, there were more than 5,000 free blacks in Connecticut. Other…

Jeremiah Wadsworth, “foremost in every enterprise”

…formed in 1779 with Barnabas Deane, brother of Silas, and General Nathaniel Greene of Rhode Island. The partnership built a large distillery and owned a fleet of ships to supply…

John Trumbull

…in 1756, Trumbull was the son of Connecticut governor Jonathan Trumbull and graduated from Harvard College in 1773 before briefly serving as George Washington’s aide-de-camp during the Revolutionary War. In…

What’s a Puritan, and Why Didn’t They Stay in Massachusetts?

…What Was a Puritan, Anyway? The word “Puritan” usually conjures up a host of associations; these days, mostly unpleasant ones. Puritans have been cast as mean-spirited (Nathaniel Hawthorne), priggish (H…

Uriah Tracy Authors the Rules for Impeachment

…the Senate vacancy created by the resignation of Jonathan Trumbull. As a senator, Tracy played a very active role in national politics. He served on several committees and eventually became…

Roger Griswold: A Governor Not Afraid To Challenge Authority

…death of Governor Jonathan Trumbull led to Griswold’s election as the state’s lieutenant governor in 1809. Two years later, Griswold became governor of Connecticut. Elected to a second term in…

The Scoville Memorial Library

…is also known for the iconic building, designed in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, which houses over 35,000 items. The building was commissioned in the early 1890s when Salisbury native Jonathan…

A Shipping and Railroad Magnate Remembers His Connecticut Roots

…Conn., and His Descendants; from 1607 to 1869 by Nathaniel H. Morgan Contracts Keep Shipping Business Afloat During Civil War Focusing on improving transportation in the South, Morgan opened the…

Changing Sentiments on Slavery in Colonial Hebron

…a deed of sale. The six men, weapons brandished, then galloped away with their captives. Detail from the court document Cesar Peters vs. John and Nathaniel Mann, November 14, 1789…

Intertwining Family Businesses

…S. Card, where workers turned raw cotton into high-quality twine. Johnson married Card’s daughter, Eliza, in 1838 and partnered with his father-in-law, and brother-in-law, Jonathan Cone, in the running the…

Evelyn Beatrice Longman Commemorates the Working Class

…thanks to a commission she received to create a piece in honor of Nathaniel Batchelder’s late wife. Batchelder was the headmaster at Loomis; he and Longman eventually married. Batchelder proceeded…

Charles Goodyear’s Machine for Making Rubber Fabrics

…years. In 1838 Goodyear began experimenting in the abandoned works of the Eagle India Rubber Company of Woburn, Massachusetts. It was here that Goodyear met the company’s former foreman, Nathaniel…

Witchcraft in Connecticut

…were women, two men in Connecticut also hanged as witches: John Carrington and Nathaniel Greensmith, both of whom died along with their wives. The execution of the Greensmiths came amid…

Samuel Waldo Born – Today in History: April 6

…Nathan Lord, oil on wood – Connecticut Historical Society Returning to the United States in 1809, Waldo became known for his painting, Old Pat, the Independent Beggar (which Asher Durand…

South Windsor

…grander homes that still remain today. The town, which incorporated in 1845, lists theologian Jonathan Edwards, steam boat inventor John Fitch, and clock innovator Eli Terry among its notable citizens….

Trumbull

…Stratford, Trumbull was incorporated in 1797 and took as its namesake the Revolutionary War Governor Jonathan Trumbull. Throughout the 1800s, farming and light industry provided the town’s livelihood, but by…

The Joshua Hempsted Diary: A Window into Colonial Connecticut

…1678. He lived his entire life in the house built that year by his father. It, along with the addition built by his own son Nathanael in 1728, is still…

Gradual Emancipation Reflected the Struggle of Some to Envision Black Freedom

…behind the Gradualist Approach Although some prominent Connecticut individuals, such as the Reverend Jonathan Edwards Jr., Levi Hart, and Theodore Dwight, called for a rapid and total abolition of slavery,…

Israel Putnam: A Youthful Trailblazer Turned Colonial Militiaman

…of Connecticut. After purchasing a plot of uncultivated land from Massachusetts Governor Jonathan Belcher, a recently married Putnam and his 18-year-old bride, Hannah Pope, ventured about 75 miles south to…

Site Lines: The Mysterious Blue Lights

…supported his conclusion. In the US Congress, Connecticut representatives Lyman Law and Jonathan Moseley, members of the Federalist Party, pushed for a congressional investigation. The Gazette’s account suggests that the…

Timothy Dwight Dies – Today in History: January 11

…Columbia—to inspire the troops. William Dunlap, Timothy Dwight, ca. 1813, watercolor on ivory – Yale University Art Gallery Dwight, the grandson of Jonathan Edwards, preached New Light Calvinism but as…

The Seth Wetmore House: A Storied Structure of 18th Century Middletown

…and generals, including his wife Hannah’s brother Jonathan Edwards, Timothy Dwight, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Aaron Burr (a relative and fellow law student). Lively conversations among them, likely occurring…

The Storied History behind Connecticut’s Nicknames

…had multiple ammunition outposts around the colony. Governor Jonathan Trumbull supported the Patriot cause early in the war and helped coordinate military operations, solidifying his home as the “Provisions State.”…

Moses Wheeler: Legendary Housatonic Ferryman

…Elnathan eventually inherited the ferry service—it remained in the Wheeler family for three generations and over one hundred years. Just days after his one hundredth birthday, Moses Wheeler died at…

Alan L. Hart: Pioneer in Medicine and Transgender History

…and in other’s words—remain extant. While contemporary early 20th-century newspapers reported on Hart’s transition—largely treating him as a curiosity and outing him to his community—in 1976, historian Jonathan Katz was…

Connecticut’s Valley Forge: The Redding Encampment and Putnam Memorial State Park

…facilities, and officers’ quarters. Just like at Valley Forge the winter before, the conditions in Redding were terrible, and the soldiers sent a petition to Governor Jonathan Trumbull complaining about…