Documents illuminate history, September 13, 1984

Devlin recounts the issues and new discoveries regarding the settling of Danbury, CT. Many of the records of Danbury's founding were destroyed during a British raid during the Revolutionary War in 1777. Accounts were mostly based on oral traditional from the area, but some documents are beginning to surface such as land records stating the founders originated from Norwalk, CT. The land's residents were mostly farmers who did not record documents regarding settlements and the exchange of land. Local historian, Imogene Heireth, theorized the possible land divisions of Main Street and other districts in Danbury. Antiquarian Henry Betts compiled manuscripts regarding sections of Beaver Brook, Stony Hill and Huckleberry Hill. Betts also viewed pre-Revolutionary deeds own by decedents of old families. Possible locations of farmland and fields for husbandry are mention, some being already cultivated and cleared by Native Americans. Dr. Truman A. Warner of Western Connecticut State University found a document from 1726 involving Danbury's first business dispute. |Identifier: ms069_devlin_1984_09_13d