Connecticut-History.]]> Memorials.]]> Dedications-Connecticut-1910-1920.]]> Page Turner Version]]> New London (Conn.) -- Genealogy]]> Cemeteries -- Connecticut -- New London]]> Epitaphs -- Connecticut -- New London ]]> Ye Antientist Burial Ground in New London, Connecticut is one of the earliest graveyards in New England, and the oldest colonial cemetery in New London County. The hillside lot of 1.5 acres adjoins the original site of the settlement's first meeting-house. From here the visitor has a broad view to the east of the Thames River, and on the far shore, the heights of Groton.

Reservation of the lot for its purpose had been recorded in the summer of 1645. The first decedent "of mature age" was duly interred there in 1652. But it is the ordinance of June 6, 1653 that legally sets the place apart and declares, "It shall ever bee for a Common Buriall place, and never be impropriated by any."

A later record notes the appointment of the sexton —

Whose work is to order youth in the meeting-house, sweep the meeting-house, and beat out dogs, for which he is to have 40s. a year : he is also to make all graves ; for a man or woman he is to have 4s., for children, 2s. a grave, to be paid by survivors .

17th century New London was yet a rough and isolated corner of early colonial Connecticut. Private interments were not customary, and this was the only common burial place.

Few of the early graves ever had inscribed markers. The New London of that time possessed no skilled stonecutters, and those early planters simply had not the means. A few surviving families did, however, seek to address the deficiency in later years. At least four stones dated in the 17th century have been found that could not have been placed before 1720 .

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ye_Antientist_Burial_Ground,_New_London

http://web.archive.org/web/20060814013204/http://newlondongazette.com/cemetry.html

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Prentis, Edward ]]> New London : Day Pub. Co., 1899 ]]> Link to Primo record]]>
Litchfield (Conn.)]]> Vaill family]]> Vaill, Julia M., 1912 ]]> ]]> Gould, Cora Smith, 1855- ]]> New York, Priv. Print. by Rogers & Co., 1917 ]]> Link to Primo record]]> Law -- Connecticut ]]> An Act Concerning indian, Molatto and Negro Servants and Slaves" (pgs. 233-235). In 1784, "gradual emancipation" was passed in Connecticut (and Rhode Island). This law was intended to slowly "phase out" slavery, and would become the primary mechanism of abolition throughout New England. In Connecticut, it worked like this: All enslaved persons born on or after March 1, 1784, remained bonded while children, but were released upon reaching a certain age (first 25, later reduced to 21). All enslaved persons born before 1784 remained enslaved for life. This allowed slavery to slowly disappear.
http://www.yaleslavery.org/Resources/timeline.html#t2

http://connecticuthistory.org/gradual-emancipation-reflected-the-struggle-of-some-to-envision-black-freedom/]]>
Connecticut ]]> New London : Printed by Timothy Green, Printer to the Governor and State of Connecticut, 1784-[1786] ]]> Link to Primo record]]>
Groton Heights, Battle of, Conn., 1781 -- Poetry ]]> The Battle of Groton Heights (also known as the Battle of Fort Griswold, and occasionally called the Fort Griswold Massacre) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought on September 6, 1781, between a small Connecticut militia force led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ledyard and the more numerous British forces led by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold and Lieutenant Colonel Edmund Eyre. Several leaders of the attacking British force were killed or seriously wounded, and much of the defending garrison was either killed, mortally wounded, or captured when the fort was stormed. High British casualties led to criticism of General Arnold by some of his superiors. The battle was the last major military encounter of the war in the northern United States, preceding the decisive American victory at Yorktown, Virginia, by about six weeks.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Groton_Heights

Thomas S. Collier (1842-1893), American author and poet.
Born in New York City, He moved to New London, Connecticut in 1866 and was secretary of the new london County Historical Society.
http://books.google.com/books?id=UDU5AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA37&lpg=PA37&dq=thomas+S.+Collier+poet&source=bl&ots=Yno_TA158f&sig=ojs6S2FZN7ggzXRpthoamGEDOgs&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wmdOVOexLbPbsASQ4YDADQ&ved=0CDcQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=thomas%20S.%20Collier%20poet&f=false]]>
Collier, Thomas S. (Thomas Stephens), 1842-1893 ]]> [S.l. : s.n., 18--] ]]> Link to Primo]]>
Fairfield Historical Society (Fairfield, Conn.) -- Periodicals]]> Fairfield County (Conn.) -- History -- Periodicals ]]> Bailey, James M. (James Montgomery), 1841-1894]]> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barnum_Museum

The volume also includes by-laws of the Society, membership lists, financial reports and other officers' reports for the year 1895, as well as several historical papers read to the Society.

Finally, it includes a necrology, or list of recent deaths of members and obituaries, including prominent Danbury residents, James M. Bailey and Frederick S. Wildman.


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Fairfield Historical Society (Fairfield, Conn.) ]]> [Bridgeport, Conn.] : The Society, ]]> Link to record in Primo]]>
Centennial Exhibition (1876 : Philadelphia, Pa.). Connecticut]]> Connecticut -- History]]> Industries -- Connecticut ]]> Hartford Times, the "representation of the State of Connecticut in the International Exhibition at Philadelphia - larger in proportion to her area and population than any other State in the union - suggested... that a volume devoted to Connecticut's record in the exhibition might be acceptable to the thousands who are proud of the distinction she achieved."

The Centennial International Exhibition of 1876, the first official World's Fair in the United States, was held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from May 10 to November 10, 1876, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centennial_Exposition

Joseph Roswell Hawley, Governor of Connecticut, Civil War general, and a journalist and newspaper editor. served as president of the United States Centennial Commission, which planned and ran the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Roswell_Hawley]]>
Curtis, George D ]]> Hartford, G. D. Curtis, 1877 ]]> Link to Primo record]]>