Welcome to
Killingly, Connecticut
USGenWeb Project
A Brief History of Killingly
Killingly's first known settler was
Richard Evens, who came from Rehobeth, MA in 1693. In the early 1700s other
settlers came from the Boston, MA area. Killingly was incorporated in 1708.
At the time of incorporation the borders of Killingly extended from Plainfield
CT to the Massachusetts line and included what is now Thompson and much
of Putnam.
NEW
MAY 14, 2001
FROM THE WATERBURY, CT REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN
May 14, 2001
Killingly-How a Civil War soldier who
died in South Carolina came to be buried-perhaps-in Connecticut puzzles
history buffs in this eastern Connecticut town. They hope to solve the mystery
by opening the grave of Union soldier Ezra Chamberlain. But State Archeologist
Nicholas Bellantoni won't agree to digging up a cemetery unless his colleagues
in South Carolina agree. Chamberlain is buried in Killingly, but his identification
tag was found last month in a Confederate submarine that sank near Charleston,
S.C, in 1864. Bob Neyland, who led the excavation of the Confederate submarine
H.L. Hunley, says scientists are unsure how the tag got on the sub. But
they have their theories. A Confederate soldier could have taken the tag
as a souvenir from the Battle of Fort Wagner in Charleston, where Chamberlain
is listed as dying in 1863. Or Chamberlain could have been a spy trying
to disrupt the Hunley's mission. Or he could have defected to the Confederacy.
The Killingly Historical Society wants Bellantoni's help exhuming Chamberlain's
body, hoping his remains prove he didn't die on the Hunley. Members of the
group believe a Confederate soldier stole the identification tag at the
Battle of Fort Wagner. Bellantoni has contacted South Carolina officials
about whether to exhume the soldier's body and is waiting for a response.
"It's really quite a historical mystery," Bellantoni said. "We're
just seeing if they would like us to pursue this or not." The archaeologist,
who visited Killingly last week, said it is possible that Chamberlain was
on the submarine. He cites newspaper accounts of August 1863 speculating
that Chamberlain may have been taken prisoner at the Battle of Fort Wagner,
instead of killed there as was widely believed. "If he was taken prisoner,
then that raises a number of scenarios and the possibility is raised that
he was in the sub, " Bellantoni said. "Maybe the Confederate crews
were supplied by prisoners of war, voluntarily or involuntarily. It's really
wild." One possibility is that Chamberlain is not buried in Connecticut.
Bellantoni said the family headstone was built in 1900 and Chamberlain's
veteran's stone was erected in the 1920's or 1930's. Records don't show
that he was buried during or shortly after the Civil War. "I'd be shocked
if he was there," Bellantoni said. "But, you can't rule it out."
Libraries
The Killingly Historical Society
196 Main Street
Danielson, CT 06239
Tel: (860) 779-7250
To go there click here
SCHOOLS
Links To Schools That Are Using This
Page For Studies
Killingly Intermediate School, click
here
Volunteers
Marilyn Hixson mhixon@bellsouth.net
I have on loan from the LDS church, the first 10 volumes of land deeds for
the town of Killingly. I would be glad to do look-ups on Thursdays, as I
volunteer at the History Center on that day of the week.
Elaine Merrell lmerrell@ct1.nai.net
has the Connecticut Divorces, Superior Court Records
for the Counties of Tolland and Windham, CT 1719-1910, and will do limited
look ups.
If you have more resources and
would like to help others in their research for Killingly ancestors, please email
me - include you full name, email address and resources available 
How to post Killingly Queries
Please feel free to post a short
query for your surname in Killingly,
If you don't see your query posted in a week
or so, please come back and try again.
HOW TO POST A QUERY
PLEASE DO NOT REQUEST A QUERY TO BE
POSTED FOR A FAMILY THAT IS NOT FROM KILLINGLY, I WILL NOT POST IT. IF YOU
ARE REQUESTING A FAMILY THAT WAS FROM ANOTHER TOWN , IT SHOULD BE POSTED
FOR THE APPROPRIATE AREA.
1. On the SUBJECT line enter Killingly, 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
To view the queries from 1997-1999,
click here
Research Helps for Killingly
To go to Killingly Marriages Before
1800, click here
To go to the 1790 Census of Killingly,
click here
To Go to the Upham family, of Killingly,
click here
To go to the Fisher family of Killingly,
click here
To go to my personal page with many
New England families,click here
To go to Mary Ann Kaylor's 2 Web Sites
on the Converse Family, click here and click here
To go to Capt. David Perry Web Site,
his memoir and genealogy, click here
To go to Phillip Bateman's web page with Danielson families, click here
To go to cemeteries of Killingly, click
here
To go to cemeteries of Killingly from
the Hale Collection, click here
Return to Windham Co., CT, click
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
This page has been created and maintained by Elaine Merrell
PLEASE NOTE: I AM MERELY THE HOST OF
KILLINGLY, 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.
If you know of any additions or corrections please let me know. Thanks.
Created July 28, 1997 and updated June 6, 2001
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