Connecticut

Biography of Amasa J. Parker

AMASA J. PARKER AN ALBANIAN of high intellectual qualities, who has passed his four-score years, and who has been a resident of this city for forty-four years, adorning its history by distinguished public service and private virtues is the Hon. Amasa J. Parker. He is a true representative of those enterprising New England pioneers who came from their old homes to aid in the development of the then new state of New York and the great western territories. Away back amidst the howling wilderness, where the cheering rays of the sun scarcely ever beamed upon their humble log cabins, they … Read more

Biography of Harry Joseph Jeffway

Few men engaged in the electrical construction and contracting business in this part of the State have been trained in so practical and, indeed, in so high grade a school of experience in electrical work as Harry Joseph Jeffway, who not only has an established repute for unrivalled excellence in his Easthampton business, but who throughout the World War was on duty at submarine bases of the greatest responsibility as an electrician, afterwards also continuing in related lines for the United States Government in the shipyards. Mr. Jeffway is an expert in all matters electrical; he has built up an … Read more

Biography of Henry Edgar Maynard

HENRY EDGAR MAYNARD – The Maynards of this country can point with pride to a name of great antiquity. The name Manard or Maynard, appears in the Rolls of Battle Abbey, as among the Normans who came to England with William the Conqueror. John Maynard was appointed Governor of Breast Castle, in Brittany, July 28, 1352, by Edward, Prince of Wales. Sir Henry Maynard, the sixth in descent from John Maynard, mentioned above, was sheriff of Essex County, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. His son William, was created “Lord of Wicklow” in Ireland, May 30, 1520, by King James … Read more

Biography of Lawrence F. Lyons

LAWRENCE F. LYONS, a member of an old New England family, gifted in his chosen profession of the law, interested in various lines of fraternal and organized advance, and a veteran of the World War, is a thoroughly representative figure in the progress of the day. With interests centering in Pittsfield, he is gaining an enviable reputation in Western Massachusetts, and his friends consider his future one of great promise. Mr. Lyons is a son of Thomas and Mary (McCarthy) Lyons, and the Lyons family has for many generations been prominent in the Connecticut River Valley in the village of … Read more

Biography of Henry Seeley Taylor

HENRY SEELEY TAYLOR – Thirty-three years have passed since the death of Henry Seeley Taylor caused universal sorrow in the city of Pittsfield, yet many residents of the present day recall his fine face and distinguished figure, both in the clothing store of which he was long the head, and in his activities as a leading member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. As a business man Mr. Taylor was above reproach, his kindly courtesy and considerate interest in his customers having been only the outgrowth and evidence of an integrity which governed every act of his life. Friend of all, … Read more

Biography of Harmon Pumpelly Read

HARMON PUMPELLY READ AMONG the young men of note in our city whose ancestry has filled an honorable place in American history, and who by his interest in the prosperity of his native town and his extensive knowledge of men and things in other lands, is the genial and accomplished Major H. P. Read. Born in the city of Albany on the 13th of July, 1860, when the storm of civil war was fast gathering to burst over the country, he descended from a long line of illustrious ancestors. His father, General John Meredith Read, was born in Philadelphia on … Read more

Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements of Connecticut

These pages will provide an alphabetical listing for all the villages, towns, and settlements in what was the state of Connecticut at the time the Handbook of American Indian of North America was written. Aukumbumsk Bantam Cosattuck to Cuppunaugunnit Groton Hammonasset to Hassimanisco  

H Connecticut Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements

A complete listing of all the Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of Americans North of Mexico. Hammonasset. A small band, headed by a chief named Sebequanash (the man who weeps) , formerly living about Hammonasset r., near Guilford, Middle sex co., Conn. They were probably a part of the Quinnipiac. De Forest, Hist. Inds. Conn., 52, 1853. Hassimanisco. A former Indian village in Connecticut, probably near Connecticut r. In 1764 there were only 5 Indians left. Stiles (1764) in Mass. Hist. Soc. Coll., 1 st s., x, 105, 1809. Cf. Hassanamesit. Hoccanum. Mentioned as a band … Read more

G-Connecticut Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements

A complete listing of all the Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of Americans North of Mexico. Groton. A former Mohegan village about the present Groton, New London, Conn. In 1825 the population was reduced to 50 souls (J. M.)

C- Connecticut Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements

A complete listing of all the Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of Americans North of Mexico. Cosattuck. A Pequot village in 1667, probably near Stonington, New London co., Conn. Cupheag (a place shut in, from kuppi, closed). The Algonquian name of Stratford, Fairfield co., Conn. There was probably a village of the same name there before the English settlement in 1639. Benj. Trumbull, Hist. Conn., i, 109, 1818; J. H. Trumbull, Ind. Names Conn., 13, 1881. Cuppunaugunnit. Mentioned as if a Pequot village in 1637, probably in New London co., Conn.

B- Connecticut Indian Villages, Towns and Settlements

A complete listing of all the Indian villages, towns and settlements as listed in Handbook of Americans North of Mexico. Bantam. According to Trumbull, a former village at Litchfield, Litchfield co., Conn. Part of the Indians there were converted by the Moravian missionaries about 1742-45, and followed them to Bethlehem, Pa., where many died, and the remnant returned to Scaticook, in Kent co., Conn.

Biography of Norton Chase

NORTON CHASE AMONG the rising young men of Albany who have reflected no little credit upon their native city by their earnest efforts for the advancement of worthy causes, is the Hon. Norton Chase. Born in this city on the 3d of September, 1861, he is a son of Nelson H. Chase, a useful and respected citizen of Albany. From his earliest youth he was inclined to study, and when a mere child he became a pupil in the Albany academy, where he devoted himself with great ardor to study, and made rapid progress in ascending the hill of science. … Read more

Western Niantic Tribe

Western Niantic Indians. An Algonquian tribe formerly occupying the coast of Connecticut from Niantic bay to the Connecticut river. De Forest concluded that they once formed one tribe with the Rhode Island Niantic, which was cut in two by the Pequot invasion. Their principal village, also called Niantic, was near the present town of that name. They were subject to the Pequot, and had no political connection with the eastern Niantic. They were nearly destroyed in the Pequot war of 1637, and at its close the survivors were placed under the rule of the Mohegan. They numbered about 100 in … Read more

Narraganset Tribe

Narraganset Indians (‘people of the small point,’ from naiagans, diminutive of naiag, ‘small point of land,’ with locative ending -et). An Algonquian tribe, formerly one of the leading tribes of New England. west of Narragansett Bay, including the Niantic territory, form Providence River on the northeast to Pawcatuck River on the southwest.  On the northwest they claimed control over a part of the country of the Coweset and Nipmuc, and on the southwest they claimed by conquest form the Pequot a strip extending to the Connecticut line. They also owned most of the islands in the bay, some of which … Read more

Wappinger Indian Divisions

Sub-tribes, bands and divisions of the Wappinger Tribe of Indians. Kitchawak Kitchawak (perhaps akin to Chippewa Kichŭchǐwǐnk ‘at the great niybtaub.’ (W. Jones). Apparently a band or small tribe, or, as Ruttenber designates it, a “chieftaincy” of the Wappinger confederacy, formerly residing on the east bank of the Hudson in what is now Westchester County, New York. Their territory is believed to have extended from Croton river to Anthony’s Nose.  Their principal village, Kitchawank, in 1650, appears to have been about the mouth of the Croton, though one authority locates it at Sleepy Hollow.  They also had a village at … Read more

Wappinger Tribe

Wappinger Indians (‘easterners,’ from the same root as Abnaki). A confederacy of Algonquian tribes, formerly occupying the east bank of Hudson River from Poughkeepsie to Manhattan Island. and the country extending east beyond Connecticut River, Conn. They were closely related to the Mahican on the north and the Delaware on the south. According to Ruttenber their totem was the wolf. They were divided into 9 tribes: Wappinger proper Manhattan Wecquaesgeek Sintsink Kitchawank Tankiteke Nochpeem Siwanoy Mattabesec Some of these were again divided into subtribes. The eastern bands never came into collision with the Connecticut settlers. Gradually selling their lands as … Read more

Brotherton Tribe

Brotherton Indians. The name of two distinct bands, each formed of remnants of various Algonquian tribes. The best-known band was composed of individuals of the Mahican, Wappinger, Mohegan, Pequot, Narraganset, etc., of Connecticut and Rhode Island, and of the Montauk and others from Long Island, who settled in 1788 on land given them by the Oneida at the present Marshall, Oneida County, New York, near the settlement then occupied by the Stockbridge. Those of New England were mainly from Farmington, Stonington, Groton, Mohegan, and Niantic (Lyme), in Connecticut, and from Charlestown in Rhode Island. They all went under the leadership … Read more

Pequot Tribe

Pequot Indians (contr. of Paquatauog, ‘destroyers.’- Trumbull). An Algonquian tribe of Connecticut. Before their conquest by the English in 1637 they were the most dreaded of the southern New England tribes. They were originally but one people with the Mohegan, and it is possible that the term Pequot was unknown until applied by the eastern coast Indians to this body of Mohegan invaders, who came down from the interior shortly before the arrival of the English. The division into two distinct tribes seems to have been accomplished by the secession of Uncas, who, in consequence of a dispute with Sassacus, … Read more

Mattabesec Tribe

Mattabesec Indians (from massa-sepuēs-et, ‘at a [relatively] great rivulet or brook. Trumbull). An important Algonquian tribe of Connecticut, formerly occupying both banks of Connecticut river from Wethersfield to Middletown or to the coast and extending westward indefinitely. The Wongunk, Pyquaug, and Montowese Indians were apart of this tribe. According to Ruttenber they were a part of the Wappinger, and perhaps occupied the original territory from which colonies went out to overrun the country as far as Hudson river. The same author says their jurisdiction extended over all south west Connecticut, including the Mahackeno, Uncowa, Paugusset, Wepawaug, Quinnipiac, Montowese, Sukiang, and … Read more