Wethersfield Historical Society
History Happens Every Day
It was an immense specimen. At 97 feet tall, with a 29.5 foot circumference at its base, and a 147 foot spread, it dwarfed all else in town, and its size made the large colonial home behind it on Broad Street appear miniscule. The Great Wethersfield Elm, according to Porter …
[The following article was written in 1987 by Donna Hemmann.] “Griswoldville, Connecticut.” When did it come about? Where is it located? Having grown up in this part of Wethersfield and having lived in a house built by James Griswold, II, about 1820, this area of town has much interest to …
By Glenise Lee It is believed the family descended from the Chesters of Hertfordshire (*) and that Leonard Chester (Snr), who purchased land in Blaby, was closely related to Sir Robert Chester, a gentleman of the Privy Chamber of King Henry VIII. After the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536, …
Continue reading “The Chesters of Blaby, Leicestershire, England”
Slowly, like the month of March after a long winter, the dark days of the war seemed to lighten as the news from both fronts became more and more positive. The pace seemed to pick up and people talked about the war with a more optimistic tilt. My father received …
Connecticut 7th Volunteer Regiment was one of the first regiments that reflected the realism that it would not be a short war. Enlistments were for 3 years. There were 20 Wethersfield men who were part of this unit. They spent the early part of their service in the sea islands …
by Wes Christensen This is a narrative of Wethersfield’s participation in the great Civil War. [Approximately 200] Wethersfield men served in the war. At that time the population was 2,700 so more than 1/3 of the town’s able-bodied young men were in the war. Nine were African-Americans who were part …
Wesley R. Christensen was a son of Michigan. He knew that John Adams and victories in the War of 1812 secured the territory for our young nation. The landmark Northwest Ordinance of 1787 guaranteed freedom of religion, trial by jury, public education and banishment of slavery as asserted rights of …