A Brief History of Ashford
The town of Ashford is located
in northern Connecticut on a tract purchased from Indians and formally recognized
by the General Assembly in 1684. Covering 40.3 sq. miles and home to 3,
920, the town was settled in 1710 by four families and only four years later
in 1714, the town was incorporated. The town developed quickly because it
was located on the original thoroughfare between Hartford and Boston. Several
carding, woolen, and tin factories were established after the War of 1812.
Perhaps the single most notable business in the town's history was the Westford
Glass Factory. Founded in 1857, it survived highly-publicized bankruptcy
hearings in 1866 and remained in operation until 1873. At its peak the factory
employed many skilled glass blowers and a troop of "choppers"
to stoke the furnaces that kept its white heat around the clock. The factories
ruins can still be seen, and Westford bottles, if so labeled, are now prized
antiques.
Libraries
Babcock Library
P.O. Box 360
25 Hollow Road
Ashford, CT 06278
E-Mail Adress : babcock@snet.net
NO INQUIRES UNTIL AFTER MAY
1, 2002. The person who does genealogy will be out
on leave for until the end of April.
This e-mail address may be used for a FEW genealogical questions, please do not abuse the offer.
Volunteers
Susan Taylor SGTAYLOR1@worldnet.att.net has offered to do look ups on the following families and
sources:
NOTE: (1) Please, use "Ashford Lookup"
as subject of your request. If it does not carry this subject it runs the
risk of never being read. I have filters set up that automatically filter
this subject to a specific mail box for my attention. I only scan the subjects
of the more than 200+ other messages I receive daily. (2) Do **not give
only** page numbers from an index! I definitely need a date or at least
a time frame also. You will received a rote acknowledgment that your request
has been received. If you don't receive it in a day or 2, it means I never
got your request or the subject wasn't correct.
1. Has data on the following Ashford families:
BRADLEY, BYLES, CHAFFEE, CHISM, HUNTINGTON, RUSS, SNELL, WHITEHOUSE, WHITON.
I only have info on my lines that settled in Ashford - no info on these
surnames in any other areas of New England.
2. Selected pages of the Barbour Collection
from the following sources:
White, Lorraine Cook, The Barbour Collection
of Connecticut Town Vital Records, Andover 1848-1879, Ashford 1710-1851,
Avon 1830-1851, Vol. 1 (Baltimore: Genealogy Publishing Co., Inc., 1994).
Barbour, Lucius, comp., Connecticut Vital
Records, Ashford, Births-Marriages-Deaths, 1710-1851, Barbour Collection
(Hartford:
Connecticut State Library, 1921).
3. Chapman, Grace Olive, The Chism Genealogy:
Descendants of David Chism of Ashford, Windham County, Connecticut (Boston:
Self-published, 1940).
4. Whiton, Augustus Sherrill, The Whiton
Family in America: The Genealogy of the Descendents of Thomas Whiton (1635)
(New London, CT: The Whiton Family Association, Inc., 1932).
Dave Wilson purda@snet.net I live in Ashford
and have through the years accumulated a great deal of data on the history
of Ashford. I would be willing to do some research in the town
Elaine Merrell lmerrell@ct1.nai.net
has Connecticut Divorces, Superior Court Records
for the Counties of Tolland and Windham 1719-1910, by Grace Louise Knox
and Barbara B. Ferris, and will do limited lockups.
Bob Cole
(BOB PLEASE SEND ME YOUR NEW E-MAIL ADDRESS,
SOMEONE HAS BEEN TRYING TO CONTACT YOU, THANK YOU)
has a small bible published in 1814, with a list of births for the Beebe
family of Ashford, CT. The first entry is June 30, 1761 and the last is
from the mid 1800's. He has offered to look up in this bible.
If you have more resources and
would like to help others in their research for Ashford ancestors, please email
me - include you full name, email address and resources available 
How to post Ashford Queries
Please feel free to post a short
query for your surname in Ashford,
If you don't see your query posted in a week
or so, please come back and try again.
PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST A QUERY TO BE
POSTED FOR A FAMILY THAT IS NOT FROM ASHFORD, I WILL NOT POST IT. IF YOU
ARE REQUESTING A FAMILY THAT WAS FROM ANOTHER TOWN , IT SHOULD BE POSTED
FOR THE APPROPRIATE AREA.
HOW TO POST A QUERY
1. On the SUBJECT line enter Ashford, Ct. Query
2. On the first line of your message
enter the date, your e-mail address,
your full name
3. Enter your query as you want
it to appear.
I will try to post your query
as soon as possible. Enter your query here
To view the queries from 2000-2001,
click here
FAMILIES OF ASHFORD
The COATS Family, click here
The Watkins Family, by Polli Jost Turner,
click here
MARCY Family Tree, click here
SPALDING, The descendants of EDWARD
SPALDING, click here
WHITEHOUSE - "The Whitehouse Ancestry
of Bert Winfred Whitehouse" "The Whitehouse Ancestry", click
here
AMIDON - "The Amidon Ancestry of
Andrew Huntington Amidon" "The Amidon Ancestry" click here
Lisa Sorenson has the Cheney and Eastman
families from Ashford, CT , to go there click here
To go to the Chedel/Cheadle/Cheedle
family of Ashford, CT, click here
To go to the Smith family of Ashford,
CT, click here
To go to the Gould family of Ashford,
CT, click here
To go to the Kendall family of Central
MA & Ashford, CT, click here
To view my personal web page, with many
New England families, click here
BARBOUR COLLECTION OF VR'S
OF ASHFORD, click here
CEMETERY RECORDS OF ASHFORD,
click here
BIBLE RECORDS OF ASHFORD
HOWARD/HAYWOOD FAMILY OF ASHFORD, submitted
by Christopher Lyttle, to go there click here
MILITARY RECORDS OF ASHFORD
RESIDENTS
Ashford residents who went to the Battle of
Bunker Hill, submitted by David Wilson, to go there click here
Return to Windham Co. here
Resources that may help you
in your quest
Connecticut This is where you get info on where to write for
vital records.
Connecticut
State Library
State of Connecticut
Home Page
List
of Genealogy Bulletin Board Systems - For Connecticut
The Connecticut
Historical Society
Connecticut
Historical Commission
GENDEX -- WWW
Genealogical Index
Genealogist's
Index to the World Wide Web
World
Genealogy Web Project
Connecticut
New London County
Hartford County
PLEASE NOTE: I AM MERELY THE HOST OF
ASHFORD, CT.
I DO NOT LIVE EVEN REMOTELY CLOSE TO
THE AREA. I CAN NOT DO LOOK UPS AND I HAVE PLACED EVERYTHING THAT I PRESENTLY
HAVE ON THESE PAGES. THANK YOU FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING.
This page has been created and maintained
by Elaine Merrell
If you know of any additions or corrections please let me know. Thanks.
Created July 28, 1997 and updated December
27, 2001
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