The USGenWeb Project

WELCOME to the New London County CTGenWeb!  USGenWeb Project  began in 1996 with KYGenWeb, when a group of volunteers developed the idea of working together to provide Internet websites for genealogical research in every county and every state of the United States. The Project is non-commercial and fully committed to free access to information on the Internet.  New London County is part of the CTGenWeb Project.

Organization is by county and state, and this website provides you with links to all the state websites which, in turn, provide gateways to the counties. The USGenWeb Project also sponsors important Special Projects at the national level and this website provides an entry point to all of those pages, as well.   

As always, we welcome your participation in this project.  Our goal is to offer free access to genealogical information for this county.  I am Pat Sabin,  County Coordinator  and web master for New London County CTGenWeb since 1999.  We also have Town Coordinators who are dedicated to adding good research information to individual town sites in New London County. My primary New London County families are Gallup and Stanton, with other ancestors and relatives of the Cheesebrough, Denison, Palmer, Prentice, and related families of Stonington.  

My contribution to this and other USGenWeb and independent history sites is in coordinating and web hosting. Living in Atlanta GA makes it impossible for me to answer personal research questions unless they are recarding my personal genealogy.  It  is our hope that the information contained on the New London County CTGenWeb site will be of help in your New London County research.
 

    The Pequot  was the dominant tribe and, in 1632 drove the Narragansetts ten miles beyond the Pawcatuck river, initiating a border dispute between Connecticut and Rhode Island that would last for many years to come.The Dutch fort and trading post where Hartford now stands had negotiated a satisfactory agreement with the Pequot and expected to continue its hunting and trade business in that area peacefully, but in 1633 the Pequots attacked a group of English traders, and relations began to change.
The parent colonies of Connecticut were the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay Colonies.  In 1636 an expedition led by the Reverend Thomas Hooker became the first permanent settlement in Connecticut.  The first white child born in Connecticut was David Gardiner, son of Lion Gardiner, born April 29, 1636 in Saybrook.

       Feeling that it was time for strong action, the General Court in Hartford ordered an offensive war against the Pequot, and two parties were mobilized under Capt. John Mason, with Capt. Underhill.  The result was the attack of the Pequot fort on the west side of the Mystic River, and the massacre of over 700 Pequot men, women and children.
    In 1640/41 the General Court surveyed and divided the Pequot Country among Captain John Mason and the soldiers who had served with him, but it was several more years before there was a permanent settlement in what is now New London County.

        William Chesebrough from Rehoboth, MA  was the first actual settler of New London in 1649,  followed immediately by Thomas Stanton of Hartford, Indian interpreter, and in the next ten years by the families of:   Walter Palmer, George Denison, Thomas Miner; James Avery,  Johnathan Brewster,  The Rev. Richard Blinman,  John Picket,  Lion Gardiner,  John Hayes,  Robert Hempstead,  John Gallup, John Stebbins,  John Winthrop,   Peter Harris,  John Chennery,  Cary Latham,  Robert and Thomas Park(e),  Obadiah Bruen,  James Rogers, Thomas Hewitt,  Matthew Griswold and others.

   The settlements enjoyed a period of growth and development for the next decade, until the 1660s when threats from the surrounding Indian tribes began to grow.  War finally erupted June 1675 in Swansea, Massachusetts with "King Philip", second son of Massasoit, sachem of the Pokanoket Indians.    In the beginning Connecticut felt secure in its geographical location and longstanding alliance with the local Mohegans...then followed several years of brutal attacks and a reign of terror against the English settlements.

        The Narragansetts had remained fairly neutral until this time, but were found sheltering some of King Philip's men.  Three hundred and fifteen Connecticut men lead by Major Robert Treat attacked the Narragansett fort on December 19, 1675 and were met by 2,000 Indians.   This was later known as the "Great Swamp Fight," and Capt. John Mason was killed in the battle.

THE WARS WITH THE BRITISH

        In March 1775 Governor Trumbull called for action against the Tories, and on Wednesday, April 19, 1775 Israel Bissell, postrider, set out from Watertown, Massachusetts to spread the word through the Connecticut towns of Norwich, Lyme and Saybrook to mobilize against the British.  Connecticut's navy was formed from an act of July 1, 1775, and in the beginning of the war Connecticut became the leading source of provisions for the American forces.  Read more aboutNew London County in the Revolutionary War.

       The  New London coast was subjected to British intimidation and attacks, the most memorable being the Battle of Stonington in which, on August 9, 1814 the town of Stonington was given one hour to vacate before the bombardment began.

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Copyright 1999-2013 by Pat Sabin for the CTGenWeb and USGenWeb Projects