At a General Court, held at Guilford, June 28, 1652, it was “voted, the matter about a College at New  Haven for us of this jurisdiction to undergo alone; especially considering the unsettled state of New  Haven Town; being publicly declared…to be a place of no comfortable subsistence for the present  inhabitants there. But if Connecticut do join, the planters are generally willing to bear their just  proportions for erecting and maintaining a College there”.  

 In October 1701, the Legislature, granted a charter, constituting “Trustees of a Collegiate School in his  Majesty’s Colony of Connecticut; and invested them with all the powers which were supposed to be  necessary for the complete execution of their trust. The following November, they chose one of their  number, Mr. Pierson, rector of the school, and determined that it should be fixed for the present at  Saybrook”.  

 “In the year 1702, the first commencement was held at Saybrook, at which five young gentlemen  received the degree of A. M. From this time many debates arose concerning the place where the school  should finally be established and continued to agitate the community.” October 17, 1716, with the  community still disunited, four of the nine trustees strongly voted against moving the school to New  Haven. “The trustees, nerveless, proceeded to hold the commencement, the following year, at New  Haven, and to order a college to be erected. It was accordingly raised in October 1717 and finished the  following year.” The building, enabled through a number of considerable donations, “was built of wood,  one hundred and seventy feet long, twenty-two feet wide, and cost about £1000 sterling. Before it was  erected, the students were scattered in various places, as Milford, Killingworth, Guilford, Saybrook,  Wethersfield, &c. Soon afterwards, they all removed to New Haven. The number of the students was  about 40, the course of education was pursued with spirit, the benefactions increased in number and  value, from this time the institution began to flourish.” 

Connecticut Historical Collections, History and Antiquities of Every Town in Connecticut. John Warner Barber 1836 p. 146 

The front page of the Shore Line Times on April 21, 1910, included an article regarding the 1910 census, which at that time was in progress.

Each time the census has been taken it has included different questions to collect data for different reasons. [Read more…]

Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. The game takes its name from the 17th Century whist (or wist) meaning quiet, silent or attentive.

The classic game of whist is a plain-trick game without bidding for 4 players in fixed partnerships. A standard 52 deck of cards is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest.

Each player is dealt 13 cards, the trump suit for each trick (or round) is indicated by the last card dealt (to the dealer). [Read more…]

The Ladies Auxiliary, Guilford Grange No. 81, assembled a “Favorite Recipes” book in 1955. The book, “dedicated to the Modern Home”, where “Life is centered around our kitchens”, included “treasured old family recipes.”

[Read more…]