Early Families of Middletown,
Connecticut - Vol. II: 1655-1700
Early Families of Middletown, Conn. - Volume II: 1655-1700
By Reginald W. Bacon
(Newburyport, Mass.:
Variety Arts Press, 2024)
8.5x11.0, 448 pages, hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-9817945-8-7
LOC: 2024933907
Early Families of Middletown, Connecticut - Volume II: 1655-1700, presents genealogical profiles of 83 individuals and families known to have arrived and resided in Middletown between 1655 and 1700. While the profile subjects in Volume I: 1650-1654 were the 23 early colonist families listed in the Founders Rock plaque in 1900, the profile subjects in Volume II: 1655-1700 are based on (1) the 1670 List of Householders and Proprietors in the early town records; and (2) the authors' research that identified an additional 15 colonist families that resided within the expansive bounds of Middletown before 1700.
Each profile is a survey of what is known about the family from vital records; town and church records; land, court, and probate records; and excerpts from selected works in the public domain. Included when useful is analysis of conflicting evidence. For a list of the families profiled in Volume II, see the Table of Contents.
Like Volume I, this volume includes timelines, maps, and comprehensive chapters on historical context. Topics that extend the context through the 18th century and beyond include the evolution of the "2nd generation" settlement; indigenous Wangunk and settler relations; working the land; the rise of the commercial river port; the Revolutionary War years; the causes of the late-18th-century exodus from Middletown; and the 1780s-1820s westward destinations of early Middletown families. These chapters of relevant context are fortified with a total of 290 endnote citations.
The 448-page large-format hardcover includes four timelines, 38 maps, 200+ photos and illustrations, a topical and genealogical bibliography, and index.
Early Families of Middletown, Conn. - Volume I: 1650-1654 was recognized with the 2013 Brainerd T. Peck Award from the Connecticut Society of Genealogists. (Read more about Early Families of Middletown, Conn. - Vol. I: 1650-1654.) In service to researchers now and in the future, Volume II aims for the same high standard.
About the authors of Volume II: Reginald W. Bacon is a musem and history professional with specialties in 17th-century New England architecture and domestic life; and early 20th-century vaudeville and circus. He is the author of 17 books on varied history and performing arts topics, including Early Families of Middletown, Conn. - Volume I: 1650-1654. A descendant of 30 pre-1700 Middletown families, he lives in Newburyport, Mass. Paula K. Higgins is a veteran corporate librarian, research specialist, and registered patent agent who has applied professional expertise to the genealogical study of Middletown's pre-1700 families for two decades. For Volume II she compiled 78 of the 83 profiles, each augmented with commentary and analysis. A descendant of several early Middletown settlers, she lives in Richardson, Texas.
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