The History of Hartford, Connecticut has occupied a central place in Connecticut's history from the state's origins to the present, as well as the greater history of the United States of America.
The History of Hartford, Connecticut has occupied a central place in Connecticut's history from the state's origins to the present, as well as the greater history of the United States of America.
Here is a partial list of the 163 men and women included in the Book of Distribution of Land as being those who settled in Hartford, Connecticut, before February, 1640. The full list of names is on a monument in the Ancient Burying Ground, beside the buildings of the First Church of Christ in Hartford.
There are later settlers who lived in Hartford in the 17th century, but are not considered Founders of Hartford. Proof of descent from any of these people permits admission to the Society of the Descendants of the Founders of Hartford, an American hereditary society established in 1931.
| Historical population of Hartford [1] | |
| 1756 | 3,027 |
| 1774 | 5,031 |
| 1782 | 5,495 |
| 1800 | 4,090 |
| 1810 | 5,347 |
| 1820 | 6,901 |
| 1830 | 9,789 |
| 1840 | 12,793 |
| 1850 | 13,555 |
| 1860 | 29,152 |
| 1870 | 37,743 |
| 1880 | 42,551 |
| 1890 | 53,230 |
| 1900 | 79,850 |
| 1910 | 98,915 |
| 1920 | 138,036 |
| 1930 | 164,072 |
| 1940 | 166,267 |
| 1950 | 177,397 |
| 1960 | 162,178 |
| 1970 | 158,017 |
| 1980 | 136,392 |
| 1990 | 139,739 |
| 2000 | 121,578 |
| 2002 | 124,558 (est.) [2] |
Dutch fur traders from New Amsterdam, now New York City, set up trade on the site as early as 1623, following Adriaen Block's exploration in 1614. The Dutch named their post Fort Goede Hoop or the 'Hope House' (Huys de Hoop) and helped expand the New Netherland colony, roughly analogous to the modern-day New York, New Jersey & Connecticut Tri-State Region, to the banks of the Connecticut River. Prior to the Dutch arrival, the Native Americans who inhabited the area had called it Suckiaug. By 1633, Jacob van Curler had added a block house and palisade to the post and New Amsterdam had sent a small garrison and pair of cannons. The fort was abandoned by 1654, but its neighborhood in Hartford is still known as Dutch Point.
The first English settlers arrived in 1635. Pastor Thomas Hooker and Governor John Haynes led 100 settlers with 130 head of cattle in a trek from Newtown (now Cambridge, Massachusetts) in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and started their settlement just north of the Dutch fort. The settlement was originally called Newtown, but was changed to Hartford in 1637 to honor the English town of Hertford. The explorer also created the town of Windsor (created in 1633). The fledgling colony along the Connecticut River had issues with the authority by which it was to be governed because it was outside of the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts Bay Colony's charter. Therefore, Thomas Hooker wrote the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut, a document investing the authority to govern with the people, instead of with a higher power. Hooker stated May 31, 1638:
Some historians believe Hooker's concepts of self-rule were the forerunners of the United States Constitution. The Orders were ratified on January 14, 1639 and were transcribed into the Connecticut Colony records by future Governor Thomas Welles.
On December 15, 1814, the Hartford Convention was called to order in Hartford. Delegations from the five New England states, (Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) were sent to Hartford to discuss New England's possible secession from the United States.
During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity. The most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. The Reverend Lyman Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery sermons. His daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe, wrote the famous Uncle Tom's Cabin , while her brother, the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher, was a noted clergyman who vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and women's suffrage. Beecher Stowe's sister, Isabella Beecher Hooker, was a leading member of the women's rights movement.
In 1860, Hartford was the site of the first "Wide Awakes," abolitionist supporters of Abraham Lincoln. These supporters organized torch-light parades that were both political and social events, often including fireworks and music, in celebration of Lincoln's visit to the city. This type of event caught on and eventually became a staple of mid-to-late-19th century campaigning.
On July 6, 1944, Hartford was the scene of one of the worst fire disasters in the history of the United States. The fire, which occurred at a performance of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus, became known as the Hartford Circus Fire.
After World War II, many residents of Puerto Rico moved to Hartford and even today Puerto Rican flags can be found on cars and buildings all over the city. Former Hartford Mayor Eddie Pérez was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Hartford in 1969, when he was 12 years old.
Starting in the late 1950s, as the suburbs ringing Hartford began to grow and flourish, the capital city began a long decline. Insurance giant Connecticut General (now CIGNA) moved to a new, modern campus in the suburb of Bloomfield. Constitution Plaza, at first hailed as a model of urban renewal, gradually became a concrete office park. Once-flourishing department stores such as Brown Thompson, Sage-Allen, and G. Fox & Co. all shut down as suburban malls such as Westfarms and The Shoppes at Buckland Hills grew in popularity.
In 1975, Howard Baldwin moved his prospering New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association into the brand new Hartford Civic Center and began play. In 1979, along with the Edmonton Oilers, Quebec Nordiques, and the Winnipeg Jets moved into the National Hockey League. Many great players of hockey played for the Whalers including Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull, Ron Francis, Kevin Dineen, Ulf Samuelsson, Mike Liut, Joel Quenneville, Pat Verbeek, Chris Pronger, Brendan Shanahan, Glen Wesley, and Geoff Sanderson. In 1997, the city lost its professional hockey franchise, the Hartford Whalers, to Raleigh, North Carolina despite an increase in season ticket sales and an offer of a new arena from the state. Currently a developer from Newton, Massachusetts who is also the city's largest property owner is working with the city to bring an NHL team back to Hartford and house them in a new largely publicly funded stadium. [3]
Hartford experienced problems as the population shrank thirteen percent during the 1990s. Only Flint, Michigan; Gary, Indiana; Saint Louis and Baltimore experienced larger population losses during the decade. However, the population has increased since the 2000 Census. [4]
In the last few years, Hartford has begun to generate renewed interest as many redevelopment projects have been completed, are currently in progress or planned across the city. These initiatives include both commercial and residential projects such as Adriaen's Landing, the Connecticut Science Center, an extensive system of riverfront trails and parks, Park Street and Parkville neighborhood improvements and significant downtown development. The historic Colt building and complex is also being renovated to National Park standards.
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Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was also the seat of Hartford County, until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960.
Thomas Hooker was a prominent English colonial leader and Congregational minister, who founded the Connecticut Colony after dissenting with Puritan leaders in Massachusetts. He was known as an outstanding speaker and an advocate of universal Christian suffrage.
Theophilus Eaton was a wealthy New England Puritan merchant, diplomat and financier, who took part in organizing and financing the Great Puritan Migration to America. He was a founder of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and a founder and eventual governor of New Haven Colony. He also cofounded the town of Greenwich in Connecticut and Eaton's Neck in New York.
The U.S. state of Connecticut began as three distinct settlements of Puritans from Massachusetts and England; they combined under a single royal charter in 1663. Known as the "land of steady habits" for its political, social and religious conservatism, the colony prospered from the trade and farming of its ethnic English Protestant population. The Congregational and Unitarian churches became prominent here. Connecticut played an active role in the American Revolution, and became a bastion of the conservative, business-oriented, Constitutionalism Federalist Party.
The Connecticut Colony or Colony of Connecticut, originally known as the Connecticut River Colony or simply the River Colony, was an English colony in New England which later became Connecticut. It was organized on March 3, 1636 as a settlement for a Puritan congregation, and the English permanently gained control of the region in 1637 after struggles with the Dutch. The colony was later the scene of a bloody war between the colonists and Pequot Indians known as the Pequot War. Connecticut Colony played a significant role in the establishment of self-government in the New World with its refusal to surrender local authority to the Dominion of New England, an event known as the Charter Oak incident which occurred at Jeremy Adams' inn and tavern.
John Haynes, also sometimes spelled Haines, was a colonial magistrate and one of the founders of the Connecticut Colony. He served one term as governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and was the first governor of Connecticut, ultimately serving eight separate terms. Although Colonial Connecticut prohibited Governors from serving consecutive terms at the time, "John Haynes was so popular with the colonists that he served alternately as governor and often as deputy governor from 1639 to his death in 1653."
Isabella Beecher Hooker was a leader, lecturer and social activist in the American suffragist movement.
Samuel Stone was a Puritan minister and co-founder of Hartford, Connecticut.
Thomas Welles is the only person in Connecticut's history to hold all four top offices: governor, deputy governor, treasurer, and secretary. In 1639, he was elected as the first treasurer of the Colony of Connecticut, and from 1640 to 1649 served as the colony's secretary. In this capacity, he transcribed the Fundamental Orders into the official colony records on 14 January 1638, OS,. He was the magistrate during the first witch trials, the Hartford or Connecticut Witch Trials.
Richard Risley was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Risley sailed from England on July 15, 1633, in the ship Griffen with Thomas Hooker, William Stone, John Cotton, and John Haynes. They arrived in Boston on September 4, 1633.
John Skinner (1590–1650) was an early Puritan settler in the Massachusetts Bay Colony and one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut. Skinner was a member of Thomas Hooker's party and probably came to New England from Braintree, Essex, England. He married Mary Loomis, daughter of Joseph Loomis. She later married Owen Tudor.
The New England Colonies of British America included Connecticut Colony, the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, Massachusetts Bay Colony, Plymouth Colony, and the Province of New Hampshire, as well as a few smaller short-lived colonies. The New England colonies were part of the Thirteen Colonies and eventually became five of the six states in New England, with Plymouth Colony absorbed into Massachusetts and Maine separating from it. Captain John Smith's 1616 work A Description of New England first applied the term "New England" to the coastal lands from Long Island Sound to Newfoundland.
Jeremy Adams, also known as Jeremiah Adams, was one of the first settlers of Hartford, Connecticut. He was also the founder and first proprietor of Colchester, Connecticut, which was established on land owned by Adams, known as "Jeremiah's Farme".
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
Richard Olmsted was a founding settler of both Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut. He served in the General Court of the Connecticut Colony in the sessions of May 1653, October 1654, May 1658, October 1660, May 1662, May and October 1663, May and October 1664, October 1665, May and October 1666, May 1667, May and October 1668, May 1669, May 1671, and May 1679.
Nathaniel Ely was a founding settler of Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut. He served as a deputy of the General Court of the Connecticut Colony from Norwalk in the October 1656 session.
Nathaniel Richards (1604–1681) was a founding settler of Hartford and Norwalk, Connecticut. He served as a deputy of the General Court of the Connecticut Colony from Norwalk in October 1658.
John Hooker (1816-1901) was an American lawyer, judge, and abolitionist as well as a reformer for women's rights. He married Isabella Beecher Hooker in 1841 and lived in Farmington and Hartford, Connecticut. With his brother-in-law, Francis Gillette, he purchased 140 acres in 1853, and they established the Hartford neighborhood known as "Nook Farm." Nook Farm was a community of reformers, politicians, writers and friends; Harriet Beecher Stowe, Mark Twain, Isabella Beecher Hooker, Francis Gillette, and Charles Dudley Warner were the most famous residents.
Nook Farm is a historical neighborhood in the Asylum Hill section on the western edge of Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
