The public records of the Colony of Connecticut

Volume 3 of the public records of the Colony of Connecticut contains the proceedings of the General Court from the election in May, 1678, to the close of the special session called in June, 1689, to proclaim the accession of William and Mary to the throne of England. By the resolve which authorized this publication the editor was instructed to include “a selection from such documents” in the State archives, as illustrate the history of the colony during the usurpation of Sir Edmund Andros.”

This is volume 2 of the publication of the public records of the Colony of Connecticut, from the Union with New Haven Colony, (May, 1665,) to the close of the year 1677, — comprising one of the most interesting and eventful periods in Connecticut colonial history. For genealogists, the first section of the manuscript provides transcripts of records from the General Court from 1665-1677. If your ancestor served in King Philip’s War and for our Native American researchers, you will want to pay attention to the Journal and Correspondence of the War Council, 1675-1677. There are also many articles in the appendix dealing with the various tribes in the vicinity. Finally, genealogists will also want to look at Appendix V (5) Lists of Freemen in the several towns, Oct. 1669.

The first volume of the Colony Records is in three parts, originally bound in as many separate volumes. The first of these consists of the records of the General and Particular Courts, commencing with the session held at Newtown, (Hartford) April 26th, 1636 and closing with the December session of the Court of Magistrates, 1649. Next following are the records of Wills and Inventories. The remainder of the volume contains Grants and Conveyances of Lands, by towns and individuals, some of which are of as recent date as 1702; the greater part, however, having been transcribed from the several town records, between 1662 and 1690. The second volume contains the records of the General Court from February, 1650, to October, 1669; — and at the other end of the book, separately paged, is recorded the Code of 1650, with such additional orders ‘of general concernment,’ as were, from time to time, passed by the General Court.