The collection consists primarily of records after 1909 ending with the administration preceding the most current, with each administration constituting a separate subgroup. Records prior as well as several dating after, appear as separate series. These include Executive Clerk, 1820-1985; Proclamations, 1630-1991; Correspondence, 1811-1933; Bond Registers, 1819-1899; Applications, 1848-1880; Miscellaneous Reports, 1850-1945; Commitment Papers, 1848-1948; Appointment Registers, 1871-1978; Commissioner of Deeds, 1879-1978; Office of the Lieutenant Governor, 1991-2018; and Requisitions and Waivers of Extradition, 1921-1982. Some of these series cross over several administrations.
The official record books of New Haven Colony, containing proceedings and other materials. A volume covering circa 1649-1653 is believed to have been lost or destroyed prior to 1698.
Minutes, records of acts, letters, etc. of the New England Confederation that was comprised of Massachusetts Bay, Plymouth, Connecticut, and New Haven. Volume 53 also includes records of the Court of Assistants, May 11, 1669 - October 7, 1686 and October 1, 1696 - October 3, 1701.
Record books, Volumes 1-10, 1648-1755. Contact the probate court to access original record books after Volume 10. See Alternative Form Available note below.
The Samuel Wyllys Papers, 1661-1728, undated, are a group of 88 court documents that include 6 cases of witchcraft (42 documents), 12 cases concerning assault and battery, theft, adultery and other crimes (35 documents), and 11 other documents related to prayers of confession and petition, lists of freemen, poor relief, taxes, and titles to Indian land. .
Records of the standing committee of Governor and Assistants that dealt with the colony's operations when the Gneral Court/Assembly was not in session.
The records were arranged into 13 series which document Indian Litigation cases. The series include Attorney General, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Eastern Pequot, Golden Hill Paugusetts, Mashantucket Pequot, Mohegan, Nipmuc, Schatigcoke, Webster/Dudley Band of Chaubunagungamaug Nipmuck Indians, National Archives Microfilm, Miscellaneous Microfilm, Removable Media, and Restricted.
Sidney Miner collected family history, and between 1860 and 1880, mailed out circular letters and family group sheets to those with the Miner name throughout the country. This collection consists of samples of his circular letters, blank and completed family sheets, and correspondence providing family histories that Miner planned to compile into a publication. His correspondence is organized in Series 1. One notable letter in the collection is from E.B. Kellogg in 1857 concerning the printing of the Miner coat of arms by Kellogg, a noted Hartford printer.
Probate record books, 1675-1937. Contact the probate court to access record books after Volume 46 for Records and Volume 46 for Journals. Volumes titled "Journal" record the proceedings of the court. See Alternative Form Available note below.
The records are arranged under eighteen headings or series, from Admissions to the Bar to Travel. The papers in most series are arranged in chronological order. Only a handful of documents exist for the period before 1700. Well over 99% of the papers date from the years between 1700 and 1855.
Records of the Court of Assistants, February 15, 1686/87-October 1687; May 27, 1690-May 11, 1696; May 7, 1702-1711. Records of the Superior Court, 1711-1715; 1748-1749.
Researchers need to be aware in studying these records that the spelling of surnames often varies. It could be Ames or Eames, Hide or Hyde, Lathrop or Lothrop, Maynor, Maynard, Minerd, or Mynard, Right or Wright, or Waterhouse, Waterus, or Watrous, to cite just a few examples.
The collection consists of records of 396 records concerning Native Americans from New London County and environs, 360 from Files and 36 from Papers by Subject. Two hundred and forty-eight are located in Files for the period 1698-1774 and 16 in Papers by Subject, the corresponding figures for the post-Revolutionary period are 112 and 20. The decline in the number of records for Native Americans in the period from 1781-1855 clearly reflects the decline in Indian population in the region from a little over 1,000 in 1774 to around 200 eighty years later.
The first draft of this finding aid, covering the period 1701-74, contained records of 286 cases involving African Americans and people of color. Subsequent research has increased that number to 298. Another 808 cases involving people of color have been identified for the period between 1781 and 1854 and 85 new records found in Papers by Subject2. The black population in southeastern Connecticut remained relatively constant from the time of the census of 1774 and the abolition of the county courts in 1855. As slaves gained their freedom, and about 80% were free by 1800, however, they entered into more contracts and became plaintiffs or defendants in more civil and criminal cases.
Probate record books, volumes 1-49. Two general indexes and 22 separate indexes for volumes 25-31, 33, 35-43, 45-49. Contact the probate court to access original record books. See Alternative Form Available note below.
The papers include accounts, church papers, correspondence, court papers, deeds, estate papers, land papers, school society papers, tax lists, and turnpike papers. There are also writings, sketches and notes of Wedworth Wadsworth, the artist and writer. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by recipient, with the bulk addressed to Wedworth Wadsworth and William Wadsworth from family members who emigrated out of state. The majority of the court papers come from William Wadsworth's work as Justice of the Peace. The school society papers come from Wedworth Wadsworth's service as a trustee. The school society oversaw the operation of the Center, South, West, South West, and Quarry school districts. The tax lists include individual returns of Durham residents and property holders for 1865-66 arranged alphabetically by name. There are also individual tax lists for Wedworth, James, and William Wadsworth. The turnpike papers relate to the Durham and East Guilford Turnpike, of which Wedworth Wadsworth was a director. The Durham and East Guilford Turnpike Company was chartered in 1811 and operated until 1845. Included are early subscriber lists, accounts, and toll receipts.
Probate record books, vol. 1-57, 1719-1944. There is also a supplement to volume 3, an index to volume 1, and index to volumes 2-3, and a typed index covering circa 1719-1860. Contact the probate court to access original record books numbered after 57. See Alternative Form Available note below.
Probate record books: Regular, vol. 1-38, 1719-1921; Special, vol. 1-12, 1734-1921; Orders decrees, vol. 13-25, 1881-1921; Bonds, vol. 1-8, 1881-1966; Insolvent estates, vol. 1-3, 1877-1903. Contact the probate court to access original record books numbered after these volumes. See Alternative Form Available note below.
Two people employed under the W.P.A. program arranged the records in groups of like material organized by date. The archivist has retained that rough organization and divided the materials into ten Series. Administrative records, 1762-1904, include minutes of town meetings, 1804-1818, 1822, 1829; petitions for town meetings, for building roads, and against a "taverner", 1824-1896; appointments of overseers, 1782-1842 who helped failing farmers become self-sustaining; contracts for building roads, 1825-1841, 1891-1904; and bills, receipts and accounts, 1806-1896. Selectmen's correspondence, 1824-1896, contains some letters regarding a ferry across the Connecticut River and some relating to care of the poor. Of particular note among the administrative records are votes relating to the State Constitutional Convention in 1818, and a contract for building a new Town House in 1840. Apprenticeship indentures, 1779-1822, include those in which the town bound out poor boys and girls, some to learn a trade and others to work as servants. Among the bills of sale are two documents, 1753, 1860, relating to the sale of interests in sailing vessels. There are also accounts of timber found or "taken afloat", 1818-1841.
Probate record books, Volumes, 1-37, 1741-1976. Volumes 1-9 and part of Volume 10 contain records for the East Haddam Probate District which held the court in Colchester. When the Colchester Probate District was established in 1832, recordkeeping continued in the same Volume 10 and subsequent volumes continued the numbering sequence. See Alternative Form Available note below.
This collection consists for the most part of papers accumulated by Roswell Grant (1745/6-1834) of East Windsor in his capacity of Justice of the Peace. It also includes materials relating to the town of East Windsor, to the school district, of which he was treasurer, and to the business carried on in East Windsor by his father, Ebenezer Grant (1708-1797), merchant, and other family members.
The collection is comprised of correspondence between Jean, his children and family members in France from about 1856 to around 1913; French military and identity records; three memorial books and newspaper obituary clippings for various members of the family; a small prayer book in French; and assorted photographs, along with a photo album documenting family vacations around 1913 which contains some loose items. It also includes correspondence between Jean and his close friend from France, George Marion, who was serving in the Volunteer 1st Connecticut Cavalry, Company A, during May 1862 from the Virginia battle front. The collection contains a compact disc with digital copies of many of the papers found in the collection, as well as some extra material about the family's genealogy written by the donor, Suzanne Barbier Scheele.
Probate record books, volumes 1-34, 1759-1924; 4 volumes of bonds, 1868-1951; and 1 unnumbered volume, 1900-1921. Contact the probate court to access original record books numbered after 34. See Alternative Form Available note below.
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