Category Archives: Deeds

Lucius M. Barber

Barber, Lucius M. A Record and Documentary History of Simsbury 1643-1888. Simsbury, CT: Abigail Phelps Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution, 1931.

Barber writes a lot of estimates of native population in Connecticut at the time of settler-native contact. Along with this, the author goes into great detail about why and how Simsbury was settled. The deeds to Simsbury are discussed in length.

Marc Banks and Lucianne Lavin

Banks, Marc and Lucianne Lavin. Archaeological Site Sensitivity Analysis of the Town of Simsbury. Simsbury, CT: Simsbury Planning Department, 2002.

Banks and Lavin write a summary of an archaeological survey of Simsbury. Included are old maps, copies of deeds from the natives, and descriptions of finds based chronologically. What might be extremely useful are maps of Simsbury that indicate what locations had finds, and which locations might have the most finds if excavated. This source might tell us the most specifically about the Massacoes that lived here for thousands of years.

Jeffrey Ashmore

Ashmore, Jeffrey, Steven Betz, Gary Gralton, Barbara Holmes, Paul Roderick & Carmela White. That Part of Simsbury Called the Falls. Tariffville, CT: Tariffville Fire District Committee, 1970.

This small booklet provides a quick overview of Tariffville history in relation to Simsbury.  The authors discuss the land deeded by sachem Manahanoose, and how the Falls at Tariffville played a role in Simsbury history.

Jim Trocchi

Trocchi, Jim. Connecticut Indians. Windsor Historical Society.

Trocchi writes informatively about the natives of the Farmington Valley, and in Connecticut. Included are details about types of food, housing structure, language, individual tribes and possible sites in the Northwest corner on Connecticut.

Henry R. Stiles

Stiles, Henry R. The History of Ancient Windsor. Vol. 1. Hartford, CT: Press of the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard, 1891.

 

Stiles’ lengthy work includes not only the history of Windsor, but also the histories of all areas that surround Windsor in the Connecticut River Valley. Stiles includes important and useful quotes from letters and court decisions related to the settlement of Simsbury, and the natives in that territory.

Julius Gay

Gay, Julius. “The Tunxis Indians: An Historical Address.” Address, Annual Meeting of the Village Library Company, Farmington, CT, September 11, 1901.

The author’s address presents the details of how Farmington was founded through deeds with the natives. Gay proceeds to talk about the legacy of the Farmington Indians up until the 1700’s.

Lucianne Lavin

Lavin, Lucianne. Connecticut’s Indigenous Peoples: What Archaeology, History, and Oral Traditions teach Us About Their Communities and Cultures. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2013.

Dr. Lavin provides an important source of ancient Native American history based largely on archaeological finds. Although Simsbury is not specifically mentioned, Lavin discusses in length about finds in Farmington, Windsor, South Windsor and other surrounding towns that give clues to what life must have been like for the indigenous peoples over the course of thousands of years up until contact. Specific finds, such as food and tools, suggest what the natives in the Farmington Valley ate, and how the acquisition of complex tools through development and trade led to an evolving lifestyle.