Windham County

The township of Plainfield lies in the southeastern part of the county, adjoining Griswold and Voluntown in the county of New London. It is about nine miles long from north to south and four to five miles wide. It has Canterbury on the west, also Brooklyn on the northwest, Killingly on the north, and Sterling on the east. The Quinebaug river forms. most of the way, the western boundary, and receives from this town the waters of branches, the Moosup and Dill rivers, which afford sites for a number of manufacturing establishments. The town is traversed by about twenty miles … Read more

Town organization was secured with less than customary controversy. In many respects the parish had enjoyed unusual privileges, and its local interests were quite distinct from those of the mother town. In 1761 the vote was carried ” that Thompson Parish be set off as a town-Jacob Dresser, Esq., agent for preferring a memorial; ” but in the threatening condition of public affairs division was deemed inexpedient. In 1782 it was again voted in Killingly town meeting, ” That said town be divided and Thompson Parish be a distinct town,” and division again refused by the general assembly. Renewed petition … Read more

William Preston Aldrich was born in 1836 in Thompson. He is a son of Jonathan, and grandson of Jonathan, whose father, Levi, was a son of Levi Aldrich. His mother was Abigail, daughter of Samuel Darling. He is a stone mason by trade, although he and his brother have a farm where they live. He was married in 1871 to Rhoda, daughter of John Tanner. They have three children: James, Proctor, and Jessie. Mr. Aldrich is a prohibitionist. Jonathan Aldrich was born in 1840 in Killingly, and is a son of Jonathan and Abigail Aldrich. He is a stone mason … Read more

With all this growth, and bustle and hurry, there was inevitable clashing and jangling. Nothing could have been more complex and unmanageable than this cluster of villages, belonging to three distinct, independent towns, with no central authority to bring and hold them together, and legislate for their best interests. That so much order and harmony existed under such unfavorable circumstances was undoubtedly due in great measure to the early character of the place as developed under the strong hand of Mr. Wilkinson. There was also something in the new spring and impulse, the pleasure of helping up-build a new and … Read more

The first town meeting in Killingly of which there is existing record was held November 25th, 1728. But forty-four regularly admitted freemen were then reported, not half the adult male residents. Justice Joseph Leavens was moderator of that meeting. He was also chosen town clerk and first selectman. Eleazer Bateman, Isaac Cutler, Joseph Cady and Benjamin Bixby were also chosen townsmen; Robert Day, constable; Thomas Gould and Jonathan Clough, branders; Joseph Barret and John Russel, grand jurymen; Daniel Clark, Jabez Brooks, William Whitney, Israel Joslin, William Larned and Daniel Lawrence, surveyors; Daniel Waters, Andrew Phillips, Nathaniel Johnson and Jaazaniah Horsmor, … Read more

The first recorded public recognition of the Mashamoquet settlement was in 1708, when its inhabitants were invited to join with the selectmen of Woodstock and Killingly in petitioning for a road to Providence, and were also ordered by the general assembly to send in their list of polls and estates, that they might bear their proportion of rates and taxes. The estates were appraised at £920, but the list of polls was omitted. In 1709 three men from Massamugget” were directed to join in a projected expedition against Canada, which failed of accomplishment. In 1710 a military company was organized, … Read more

Colonel William L. Jillson and Captain John H. Capen early associated themselves as partners in business, under the firm name of Jillson & Capen, for manufacturing cotton-making machinery. They carried on the business to a large extent, giving employment to a large number of mechanics, and thus adding to the prosperity of the village. In 1845, having purchased at some previous time the premises and water rights where the first cotton mill in Willimantic was built, they, in connection with Austin Dunham, formed the Wells Company, and named this location Wellsville, which was considered an improvement on the former cognomen … Read more

Thompson’s manufacturing interests are of much value and importance, having been the main factor in its continued prosperity and good standing. The opening of Mr. Smith Wilkinson’s cotton spinning factory in 1807, near the southwest corner of Thompson, excited much interest, giving employment to many women and children, and furnishing a nearer market for farm produce. Mr. John Mason, at the extreme south of the town (oldest son of the former merchant, who had then removed to Providence), was the first to propose a similar enterprise in Thompson, and selected the site of the present Grosvenor Dale as the scene … Read more

The town of Windham takes the lead in being the first in the county to send out that great modern educator, the newspaper. The first effort of this kind was made in 1790. During that year John Byrne, of Norwich, set up a printing press in the lower room of the court house in Windham Green, and early in the following year began the publication of The Phenix or Windham Herald. His office was now removed to a location just north of the court house. The first issue was dated Saturday, March 12th, 1791. It was a modest little sheet, … Read more

The town of Killingly lies in the eastern central part of Windham county, on the Rhode Island border. In terri tory, population and business importance it is one of the largest towns of the county. Its territory, which originally em braced the whole northeast corner of Connecticut east of the Quinebaug and north-of Plainfield, has been diminished by the formation of Thompson and Putnam in part from its territory. It is bounded by Putnam on the north, Rhode Island on the east, Sterling and Plainfield on the south, and Brooklyn and Pomfret on the west. Much of its surface is … Read more