Payne Kenyon Kilbourne

Sketches and Chronicles of the Town of Litchfield, Connecticut, Historical, Biographical, and Statistical; Together with a Complete Official Regiater of the Town Payne Kenyon Kilbourne

The Town of Litchfield was first settled by emigrants from Hartford, Windsor, Wethersfield, Farmington and Lebanon, in 1720-1721. In 1751, the County of Litchfield was incorporated and organized, and at the same time Litchfield was established as the county-seat. The township is located near the center of the county, which occupies the north-west corner of the State of Connecticut. It is diversified by hills, valleys, mountains, lakes, forests and cultivated fields. The author traces the history of his "little settlement in the wilderness" during a one hundred and forty year period, roughly the early 1700s to 1859, and frankly points out that, "The early history of Litchfield is one of peril and privation-of patient industry, and slow development," as opposed to the "sudden and gigantic" growth reported in many communities. The book contains 10 chapters, and an Appendix, all filled with lists, rosters, significant documents, memoranda, petitions, and historical events. These chapters include: Events in Connecticut preceding the Litchfield settlement, incidents of the first settlement, alarms and measurers of defense, miscellaneous events, events preceding the Revolution, the Revolutionary Era, men of the revolution, progress and improvement, and ecclesiastical matters. The Appendix lists colonial and state officers, justices and judges, commissioners, clerks, Senators, members of Congress, various local officers, and numerous biographies and biographical sketches. Paperback, (1859), repr. 2007, 2011, Illus., Appendix, 279 pp.