INDEX
Vital Records of Norwich 1659 - 1848
Part I

Hartford
Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut
1913

Publication Committee:
______
Lucious Barnes Barbour
Williston Walker
Winslow Tracy Williams

[Transcribed by Coralynn Brown]






[Note:-- The records are recorded in such a way that a family may be listed on one page and then continued pages later.]



PREFACE

 These volumes have been prepared and published by a Committee of the Society of Colonial Wars in the State of Connecticut appointed at a Special Court of the Society held in Hartford on May 6, 1912. By that Court the Committee was ordered

"to consider the matter of recording the cemetery inscriptions of Connecticut, not already published, and any other work of preserving records as they may recommend."

As directed by this vote the Committee reported to the General Court of the Society held in New Haven on May 28, 1912, proposing to print the vital records of the Town of Norwich as those of one of the most ancient and important of the civic communities of the State. The recommendation was approved by the Society, an appropriation for its prosecution was made, and the Committee entrusted with the task.
In the execution of its work with the Committee has endeavored to secure the utmost accuracy of reproduction in spelling, punctuation and completeness of record, so as to put the reader in complete possession of all that the vital records contain.
A beginning of similar publication has already been made by the Connecticut Historical Society through its printing of the records of Bolton and Vernon. Counting that volume as Number One of the series, the Society is glad to link this publication with it as a second in what it trusts may speedily become an extensive issue of Connecticut vital statistics. It is the hope of the Society that the success of these volumes, if their reception shall prove favorable, will induce other patriotic societies to undertake a similar work for other Connecticut towns, and that the task may ulimtately be assumed by the commonwealth itself.
The scope of these volumes is to present everything contained in the town records of Norwich in the wy of vital statistics previous to the time when these records began to be kept under the more careful and elaborate system now in force. The vital records of Norwich are contained in seven volumes, all of which are in good condition except the first. An excellent copy of that volume has been made for ordinary use. In the transcriptions here pubished, the origianl ahs been followed. The early Probate Records of Norwich may be found in New London.
The Committee desires to express its gratitude to Mr. Charles S. Holbrook, Town Clerk of Norwich, for his helpfulness, courtesy, and constant assistance in the prosecution of its task.


PREFATORY NOTE

 The town of Norwich has been fortunate in the possession of a historian of unusual ability, fidelity and accuracy. The reader is therefore referred for all details concerning its story to Miss F. M. Caulkins' admiarble History of Norwich (Hartford, 1866). It may here be noted that Norwich was settled in 1659, under the name of Mohegan, and received its present name in 1662. The original township was much larger than its present extent. Beside the portion now known as Norwich, it embraced a part of Preston, including the town of Griswold, till set off in 1687. Till 1786, it embraced the present townships of Bozrah, Franklin, and Lisbon; and, till 1861, the present town of Sprague. Till the times of these separate incorporations the vital statistics of these towns will be found in these volumes. The population of Nowrich at the several censuses during the lat century and a half has been as follows:

1756: 5840
1774: 7327
1790: abt 3353
1800: abt 3533
1810: abt 3527
1820: 3634
1830: 5169
1840: 7239
1850: 10261
1860: 14148
1870: 16653
1880: 21141
1890: 23048
1900: 24637
1910: 28219

Ecclesiastically the First Society was that of Norwich Town which was the earliest portion of the territory to be settled. The Second Society was in the district known as West Farms or Franklin. The Third Society was in what was successively known as Newent and Lisbon. The Fourth Society was approximately in the territory called New Concord and afterwards Bozrah. The Fifth Society was that denominated the "Long" or "East" Society in Preston. The Sixth Society was in that part of Norwich known as Chelsea and is now called the Second Society. The Seventh Society, formerly known as Pautipaug, is now extinct. The Eighth Society was formerly called Hanover, now the town of Sprague. The Church Records of all these societies, where extant, have been copied by the Connecticut Society of Colonial Dames of America and these copies are in the possession of that Society.


[2009 Transcriber's note: Much of the following material is in very ancient spelling and script. I am modernizing it enough so it's readable, but not so much as to change the meaning, etc.]


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