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TOWN LISTINGS

Hartland Town Clerk -- 22 South Road, E. Hartland, Ct. 06027, (860-653-0285)
Hartland Probate Office -- PO Box 100, W. Hartland, Ct. 06091, (860-653-9710)

CEMETERIES   

MARRIAGES   

BIRTHS    

HISTORY (New) " The history of Hartland CT"
   

History of Hartland, Connecticut

Formerly in Litchfield County but now in Hartford County

(no etching available for this town)

Hartland is an elevated township, 22 miles from Hartford, bounded N. by the Massachusetts line, E. by Granby, W. by Colebrook and S. by Barkhamsted, and is about 7 miles in length and 5 miles in breadth.  This town is hilly and mountainous, being embraced within the extensive range of granite in this part of the State.  From its elevated situation it is cold and frosty, and the soil rather sterile, producing but little grass; it however affords tolerable grazing.  The making of butter and cheese, beef and pork, and pasturing of cattle are the principal kinds of business done in the town.  The farmers in the east of this to Connecticut river, have been in the practice of sending their growing or young cattle and sheep into this and other grazing towns, to be kept during several months in the spring and summer. 

The town is divided into two parts, one called East, the other West Hartland, in each of which is a Congregational church; there is also a Methodist church in the limits of the town.  The town is centrally divided by the east branch of the Farmington river, on which are several small tracts of alluvial, and excellent mill seats.  The deep ravine or valley through which this stream passes is called Hartland hollow, and is characterized by bold, rough, and picturesque scenery. 

Hartland is one of the towns sold by the State to the inhabitants of Hartford and Windsor.  The first proprietors’ meeting was holden in Hartford in 1733.  The first person who lived in the town was John Kendall, who being in debt, fled from Granby, and to get out of the way of his creditors, located himself in Hartland Hollow, on the west bank of the branch of the Farmington river; here he made himself a hut with slabs which floated down the stream from Granville, Mass.  This was in 1753.  While here Kendall’s wife bore a pair of twin daughters, the first white children born in the town.  Kendall stayed in the town about one year.  In 1755, Simon Baxter came into this town.  He was considered a person of suspicious character.  In the Revolution he joined the army of Burgoyne, and finally died at Halifax. 

Hartland was incorporated as a town in 1761, at which time it belonged to Litchfield County.  In 1768, the Rev. Sterling Graves was ordained, being the first minister in the town.  He was ordained in the open air, on a knoll about a mile south of the present Congregational church in East Hartland.  The first meeting house was erected in 1770.  In West Hartland, the first minister was the Rev. Nathaniel Gaylord, who settled there about 1782.  Mr. Gaylord is still living, and preaches occasionally. 

Hartland, Litchfield County, Jan. 19, 1796

There is now living in this town, one Mr. Jonas Wilder, in the 97^th year of his age, and is a steady, industrious man, seldom losing one day in a month by reason of infirmity and old age; he was one of the first settlers in said town, and has in this town lived near 36 years; he was then the oldest person that ever lived in said town and ever since has been, and still remains, the oldest person by several years.  He has had two wives and both of one name, both Christian and maiden, the last of which he hath lived with about 65 years; he has had 12 children and never lost one; his eldest child is now in the 73d year of his age, the youngest in his 47^th.  His sons, though but seven in number, have sustained the following honorable offices, beside town and society offices, viz: one Colonel, one Major, one Captain, two Lieutenants, three Justices of the Peace, three Representatives, and three Deacons. 

His posterity was numbered in 1773, and found to be 232, of which he had lost only 16, and how many hath increased since then is unknown, as two lived near Boston, two at Upper Coos, and three at Genesee. ------ Conn. Courant. 

The following inscriptions are copied from monuments in the burying ground by the side of the Congregational church in East Hartland. 

In memory of Deacon Thomas Giddings, the first residing inhabitant in Hartland, he came into town June 12^th, 1754.  Died May 24^th, Aged 67 years.

“We are Strangers and Pilgrims on the Earth as were all our Fathers.”

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In memory of the Rev. Aaron Church, who died April 19^th, 1823, in the 78 year of his age, and 50^th of his ministry.

“With Abraham’s joy, Thy call I follow to the land unknown:

I trust in thee, and know in whom I trust.”

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Reference: Connecticut Historical Collections......History and Antiquities of Every Town in Connecticut......2D Ed.; John Warner Barber, 1798-1885; Publisher: Durrie and Peck and JW, 1837. 

Reproduced & Submitted by:

Linda Pingel

February, 2003

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HOW CAN YOU HELP --  I would be most appreciative for any help that you can give. I am looking for birth, death, marriages notes, history notes of this town, and non-comercial links only pertaining to genealogy related to this town. Also any other information that you think would be useful to this site.  Please email me here. Please put "How can I help" in the subject line.
 
 
 

VOLUNTEERS -- If you have any reference books or CDs on this county and would like to volunteer to do lookups, please let me
know.  Please put "Volunteer Hartland, Ct." in the subject line. Julie Abran