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"One of the lessons
of history is that
nothing is often
a good thing to do
and always
a clever thing
to say."

- Will Durant

Founders Rock & Riverside Cemetery, Middletown, Conn. Above left is Founders Rock in 2006. Above right is a c. 1900 postcard view that also shows the entrance to Riverside Cemetery, burial place of early settlers of Middletown. Above center is the souvenir pin of Middletown's 250th Anniversary celebration in 1900. (SMFSD Middler Collection)


Local History Articles & Annotated Bibliography

By clicking on the links below you will open PDF files of public domain articles of Middletown genealogy & local history interest. Relevant articles clearly in the public domain may be added periodically. Also linked below is an annotated bibliography of Middletown history and genealogy prepared for members by the editor of The Middler, the SMFSD newsletter.

And now . . . hit the links:

Annotated Bibliography of Middletown, Conn. Local History & Genealogy
(updated April 2007)

This bibliography is in two parts: (1) Regional & Local History, and (2) Connecticut & Middletown Genealogy. Each part proceeds from entries of general regional interest to specific Middletown references. The Regional & Local History section is augmented with a list of books on Colonial-era life that will provide the genealogy researcher with further contextual background on early Middletown ancestors. The Connecticut & Middletown Genealogy section includes the commonly-known compilations, plus court and vital records books. Also included is a list of published genealogies of Middletown families. The compiler's comments are appended to selected entries.


"The Riverside Cemetery, Middletown," from The Connecticut Quarterly,
Vol. II, No. 4, Oct.-Nov.-Dec., 1896.

This 11-page article by Alice Gray Southmayd Derby includes 10 photos and more than a dozen gravestone inscriptions. (From an original in the SMFSD Middler Collection.)


"Middletown - Illustrated," from The Connecticut Quarterly,
Vol. IV, No. 1, Jan.-Feb.-March, 1898.

This 20-page overview of Middletown at the end of the 19th century by Grace Irene Chaffee includes 27 photos. (From an original in the SMFSD Middler Collection.)


The Connecticut River and the Valley of the Connecticut,
by Edwin M. Bacon (1906) (Transcribed excerpt).

This SMFSD transcription is an excerpt from the section of Edwin M. Bacon's book that describes his steamboat trip down the Connecticut River from Hartford to Saybrook. Included in the excerpt are the author's reflections and observations about Middletown.


The Settlers of Mattabeseck,
by Frank Farnsworth Starr (1900) (Transcription).

We cannot provide too many links to the F.F. Starr transcription on this web site. The Settlers of Mattabeseck is a collection of profiles of the early settlers of Middletown that was published in the Middletown Penny Press on October 11, 1900, as well as in a special supplement to the Middletown Tribune. Starr prepared the profiles for Middletown's 250th Anniversary celebration in 1900.


And don't forget the SMFSD Local History Essays ...

The following essays, with timeline graphics, were prepared as an introduction to Middletown history by Middler editor R.W. Bacon.

Part I: Middletown in the 17th Century
Part II: Middletown in the 18th Century
Part III: Middletown in the 19th Century
Part IV: Middletown in the 20th Century

The essays and timelines are also included in expanded form in Early Families of Middletown, Connecticut - Volume I: 1650-1654, published by Variety Arts Press.

The link below leads in turn to an SMFSD page with links to a selection of complete copyright-free books online, selected for their inclusion here because of their relevance to central Connecticut history.

Links to Local & Regional History Books Online


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