Gristmills and sawmills were necessary for establishing towns. In 1650 New London, Connecticut (fifty miles southeast of Farmington), John Elderkin built a gristmill for Gov. John Winthrop Jr. Farmington’s John Bronson is thought to have built a sawmill and later … Continue reading
I hope my Halfway Brook friends will find the new series of posts (which start in 1600s Connecticut) of interest. There is a connection to Lumberland. Around 1800 Connecticut descendants were running out of property. New York (including Lumberland) was … Continue reading
William Hitchcock, his wife Elizabeth and baby Samuel arrived on the Tunxis Plantation, in Connecticut before 1645, when the name was changed to Farmington. William built their home, on his home lot, in the middle of Main Street. The young … Continue reading
“Steeple hats and ‘sadd colors’ were typical of Puritan dress ways. Both men and women in New England did actually wear the broad-brimmed steeple hats of legend, historical revisionists notwithstanding.” “A list of these ‘sadd colors’ in 1638 included ‘liver … Continue reading
It is the 1600s. You and your family plan to sail from England, across the Atlantic Ocean, to a new land (wilderness), sight unseen. What do you need to take that will last a year while you get settled? At … Continue reading
Abby, Laurilla, and Mary Ann, The Heritage and Legacy of the Daughters of Two Hannah Hickoks, 1635–1906, presents one branch of the Hickok family as it intertwines through three hundred years of Connecticut and United States history. The narrative features … Continue reading
I found this 1825 newspaper ad in my family’s massive photo and document collection I am organizing. I thought it might be of interest to some of my Halfway Brook friends.
