Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Legendary Locals of Norwich
    Legendary Locals of Norwich
    Legendary Locals of Norwich
    Ebook211 pages1 hour

    Legendary Locals of Norwich

    By Beryl Fishbone

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Norwich measured nine square miles in the 1659 deed that Mohegan chief Uncas gave to the brave English settlers from Old Saybrook. The names of the city’s streets and parks are testaments of the pride the community has in its town’s residents and history. Stories abound of Norwich natives and American revolutionaries like John Durkee, who made the king’s tax representative resign; scoundrel Maj. John Mason, who ordered the Mystic massacre of 100 men; and traitor Benedict Arnold, who burned the nearby city of New London. Legendary Locals of Norwich also sheds light on Norwich’s more modern heroes and heroines, whose everyday actions give homage to the past, recognition to the present, and courage and vision to the future. Featured are Stanley Israelite, whose personal drive has helped businesses and individuals succeed; Eileen Akers, whose actions changed the world for students; the philanthropy of Harold Ross; and the pride of retailer Jackie Quercia.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherArcadia Publishing
    Release dateJun 23, 2014
    ISBN9781439645888
    Legendary Locals of Norwich
    Author

    Beryl Fishbone

    Local resident, historian, and author Beryl Fishbone presents images and details of the past and present from historical archives, family collections, and her own photographs of contemporary Norwich legends.

    Related to Legendary Locals of Norwich

    Related ebooks

    Photography For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Nantucket Doesn’t Belong to the Preppies

      Aug 30, 2021

      Photographs by Amani Willett I caught the fast ferry from Hyannis to Nantucket, 30 miles off the coast of Massachusetts. As the boat plowed the waves, I was taken aback by my first view of the island. I could see it all at once, end to end, 14 miles

      12 min read

    • Article

      A Legacy Of Hope And Glory

      Jun 9, 2021

      DESPITE my birthplace in the Mississippi Delta and my early years in schools whose teachers tried hard to educate the children in the poorest state in the Union, I reckon I had a head start when I arrived in Suffolk as the bride of a farmer. White ch

      3 min read

    • Article

      On Vacation with BC History

      Jun 4, 2019

      Books on British Columbia’s history are summer sidekicks for many of us. Packed into suitcases and taken on vacation, tucked into a bag and carted off to the beach, or read at home without switching on a lamp in the sunny evening hours. I usually sta

      10 min read

    • Article

      Cast in Iron?

      Apr 2, 2020

      Cast in Iron?
      7 min read

    • Article

      Indianola, Onward

      May 14, 2019

      Indianola, Onward
      11 min read

    • Article

      Where Will Your Reading Take You?

      Apr 8, 2022

      by Peter Higginbotham A survey in 1776 recorded almost 2,000 parish workhouses operating in England, while the number in Wales was just 19. The New Poor Law of 1834 proved just as unattractive in much of Wales – some parts of the country resisted pro

      5 min read

    • Article

      Books With The Most Impact

      Mar 15, 2022

      Books With The Most Impact
      8 min read

    • Article

      Pride Of Place

      Nov 7, 2020

      Pride Of Place
      4 min read

    • Article

      Letters

      Jan 19, 2023

      While I agree with Fern Riddell that we shouldn’t treat audiences of historical dramas as stupid (The Conversation, Christmas), most people in any audience are not as well-versed in the subject as the programme-makers. Period dramas such as The Crown

      4 min read

    • Article

      Buried histories

      Oct 4, 2022

      Buried histories
      14 min read

    • Article

      Holding A Mirror Up To Local Stories

      Dec 4, 2018

      Every year we see the publication of more diverse books about British Columbia’s history, reflecting the expectations of readers and the interests of authors and historians. My eyes are drawn to titles on bookstore shelves that amplify underrepresent

      15 min read

    • Article

      HOUSE HISTORY & MORE

      May 14, 2021

      by Deborah Sugg Ryan The interwar housing era famously began with the Homes Fit For Heroes campaign of the Lloyd George government, which saw a million local authority houses built across the nation. The building boom wasn’t just benevolent, and was

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Testament to Survival

      Sep 1, 2020

      A Testament to Survival
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hunting for History Books

      Sep 3, 2019

      Hunting for History Books
      11 min read

    • Article

      Reviews

      May 31, 2022

      Reviews
      3 min read

    • Article

      Forgotten STORIES

      Feb 19, 2021

      Forgotten STORIES
      3 min read

    • Article

      Refracting History | Stories In Digital And Print

      Mar 15, 2024

      In her debut book Unbroken, Angela Sterritt, award-winning journalist and member of the Gitxsan Nation, gives a voice—a frustrated and ready-for-change voice—to the many victims, survivors, and family members who have been impacted by the disproporti

      7 min read

    • Article

      Six More Books To Read

      Jun 11, 2020

      By Toby Musgrave Yale, £20, hardback, 386 pages Joseph Banks can certainly lay claim to having shaped the world in all manner of ways. One of the crew of James Cook’s 1768 voyage to Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia, he was the first European to stud

      2 min read

    • Article

      Hunter Valley ancestors

      Apr 12, 2023

      Hunter Valley ancestors
      3 min read

    • Article

      Crescent City Wordsmiths

      Dec 12, 2023

      Crescent City Wordsmiths
      3 min read

    • Article

      Books & co

      Aug 12, 2022

      by Lindsey Fitzharris Many of us have heard of Gillies, the innovative doctor who – beavering away in the secluded grounds of Queen Mary’s Hospital, Sidcup, Kent – revolutionised the surgery undertaken to restore the faces of servicemen horrifically

      5 min read

    • Article

      A Warning To The Fortean

      Jul 14, 2022

      A Warning To The Fortean
      9 min read

    • Article

      LYTTON A Tale of Two Museums

      Jun 4, 2019

      LYTTON A Tale of Two Museums
      4 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Legendary Locals of Norwich

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Legendary Locals of Norwich - Beryl Fishbone

      collection.

      INTRODUCTION

      Norwich historians refer not to its founding as a city, but to its settling as a community. Norwich sits at the juncture of three rivers: the Thames, the Shetucket, and the Yantic. The history of the area begins not with its settling by the British, but with its habitation and use by Native Americans. The rivers were rich with fish, and their navigability made travel into the more fertile lands of the interior easier. The forests were thick with old growth, and the animals that enjoyed its food and protection were plentiful. Settlers from Old Saybrook purchased nine square miles of land from the Mohegan tribe, with great thought for its future. One story says the farmers wanted to leave Old Saybrook to escape crows. Supposedly, the smart birds had learned to follow the farmers as they planted their crops and would dig up the seeds that had just been planted.

      There is no established record of the first settlers of Norwich. The list of the founding fathers came about through the later registration of land and property, after the settlement had been established. Some of the first settlers may have seen what awaited them and returned to Old Saybrook or moved on to another part of the colonies. For some, a notation in an account book is the only evidence that they existed at all. Others are known only as wife of, son of, or daughter of, and they rest without a name of their own.

      Norwich is lucky to have been the home of Frances Manwaring Caulkins (1795–1869), who wrote a very complete History of Norwich, Connecticut; from its possession by the Indians to 1866. It was her second attempt at writing a history book, and she tried to make it as complete as possible, with stories of locations, land types, and genealogies and the occasional addition of a personality. Her first edition created such a stir among its readers that she was immediately asked to revise it with corrections. The second edition was better received, and later editions have continued the tradition of correcting information where necessary.

      Caulkins was the first woman elected to membership in the Historical Society of the United States, and was its only female member for over a century. Born and educated in New London, Connecticut, she was fascinated early on by historical and genealogical research. For seven years after finishing school, she lived with an uncle, Christopher Manwaring, and began contributing articles to local newspapers on historical figures and events in the area. When her stepfather’s death left the family destitute, Caulkins became a schoolteacher for girls in Norwichtown from 1820 to 1829, served as a principal in New London (1830–1832), and returned to teaching in Norwichtown (1832–1834). Then she lived with various relatives, performing evangelical work until her death in 1869.

      Mary E. Perkins

      Mary Perkins published the first volume of Old Houses of the Antient Town of Norwich, 1660–1800 in 1895, with the knowledge that errors would need to be corrected and with the full intention that this volume would be the first of many to follow the changing architecture of Norwich as well as the genealogy of its residents. She was so enthused that readers might be able to provide documentation she had been unable to locate, she kept post office box No. 63 in her name and checked it on a regular basis, until her death. Perkins left instructions for checking the box for a period of time afterward.

      Perkins documented her work using the early paper trails as closely as possible and employing the technology of her publisher, the Bulletin Company, to include 105 illustrations and half-tone prints and 27 portraits and miniatures. Unafraid of anyone finding fault with her presentation, she clearly stated her sources and, as the frontispiece of the book, included a colored map by Heliotype Printing Company of Boston, titled Norwich Circ. 1830 A Boyish Remembrance by Donald G. Mitchell. Mitchell made it clear that the map was based on his boyhood memories and was not a historical document. Anecdotes and stories are used to enliven Perkins’ 600-page book, making it an easy and enjoyable reading experience.

      CHAPTER ONE

      Settling In

      In the 1600s, winters were harsh, springs were wet, and summers were hot and dry. If all had gone right, the fall would bring a harvest. Produce to be sold was taken to markets via roads that were not much more than potholed paths that threatened to break a wagon axle. What is more, the roads were surrounded by woods that might hide thieves. The easiest way to travel to the more fertile interior lands was by boat, then by land until reaching the next river. Norwich has three active rivers, the Shetucket, the Thames, and the Yantic. The Shetucket River is really a 20-mile-long tributary of the Thames River, beginning north in Willimantic, where the Willimantic and Natchaug Rivers join. They flow south-southeast before joining the Quinebaug River, which then widens into an estuary that stretches southeast for almost five miles, joining the Thames estuary on the south side of Norwich.

      The Thames River begins where the Yantic and Shetucket Rivers join, then flows south to Long Island Sound. Throughout history and in legend, it has been known by many names, including the Pequot River, the Great River of Pequot, Little Fresh, the Mohegan, and the New London. This is among the most confusing aspects of history. The same person, place, thing, or event may be called by many different names at different times.

      The Yantic River begins west of Norwich, where Exeter Brook, Sherman Brook, and Deep River meet. It eventually flows into the Shetucket River and then the Thames River.

      The three rivers are the reason that much of Norwich’s early business was in trade and manufacturing. In addition to providing easier transportation, the rapid speed of the water became a source of power for machinery and, later, for electricity. Today, Norwich Public Utilities provides four services to the City of Norwich: natural gas, electricity, water, and wastewater collection.

      Miantonomo

      Miantonomo was chief of the Narraganset Indians. He was friendly to the white settlers but was constantly at war with Uncas, sachem of the Mohegan tribe. Uncas killed Sequassen, a relative or friend of Miantonomo. The chief complained to the governor of Hartford, who denied any action by the settlers. Miantonomo decided to take revenge, but Uncas found out about the plot. In the chase that followed, one story has Miantonomo leaping over Yantic Falls and breaking his leg. Uncas, following, makes the leap unharmed. Another story involves Miantonomo running in a suit of armor borrowed from a friend, and this slows him down.

      In any case, Uncas captured Miantonomo and took him to Hartford to be tried. He was found guilty of attempted murder. The commissioners of the United Colonies of New England recommended the death penalty and gave Miantonomo back to Uncas, with instruction to carry out the execution on Mohegan land.

      Only through another story is it known that Wawequa, brother of Uncas, buried a tomahawk in the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1