Nichols, Connecticut: Difference between revisions

The [[Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation]] is a Connecticut [[State recognized tribes|state-recognized]] tribe, descendants of the ''Paugussett'' (also ''Paugusset'') Nation of [[Native Americans in the United States|Native Americans]], who occupied much of western [[Connecticut]] prior to the arrival of Europeans.<ref name=staterec>{{cite web |url=http://www.cga.ct.gov/2002/olrdata/jud/rpt/2002-R-0118.htm |title=Effect of State Recognition of an Indian Tribe |author=Christopher Reinhart |date=2002-02-07 |access-date=2010-08-06 |quote=Connecticut statutes recognize five tribes: (1) Golden Hill Paugussett, (2) Mashantucket Pequot, (3) Mohegan, (4) Paucatuck Eastern Pequot, and (5) Schaghticoke. |publisher=State of Connecticut }}</ref><ref>{{Sfncite book |first=Charles W. |last=Brilvitch |title=A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe |year=2007 |pppublisher=11The History Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSzS0H0IU4kC |isbn=978-1-1259629-296-3 |pages=11–12}}</ref> While state-recognized, they have been denied [[Native American recognition in the United States|federal recognition]].<ref name=fedreg>{{cite web |url=http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2004/04-13871.htm |title=Final Determination Against Federal Acknowledgement of the Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe |author=Bureau of Indian Affairs |pages=34388–34393 |date=2004-06-21 |access-date=2010-08-06 |publisher=United States |work=Federal Register }}</ref> The tribe lives in [[Colchester, Connecticut]], where it has a {{convert|106|acre|km2|adj=on}} reservation,<ref name=globe>{{cite news |title=Aurelius Piper, chief of Connecticut tribe |url=http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/obituaries/articles/2008/08/06/aurelius_piper_chief_of_connecticut_tribe/ |workagency=Associated Press |publisher=Boston Globe |date=2008-08-06 |access-date=2010-08-07 }}</ref> and also has a {{convert|1/4|acre|km2|adj=on}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Eisner|first=Will|author-link=Will Eisner|title=Odd Facts|publisher=Tempo Star|year=1975|page=94|chapter=Politics|isbn=978-0-448-13506-9}}</ref> reservation in Nichols, which is considered to be the oldest continuing reservation in Connecticut and the smallest in the US.

As the first volume of Stratford land records were destroyed in 1650, early records of English settlement are not available. In 1661, the Stratford selectmen voted to allow all inhabitants the liberty of taking up a whole division of land anywhere they could find fit planting ground, as long as it was not within two miles (3&nbsp;km) of the town meeting house. They were prohibited from making it their dwelling place without consent. Elder Phillip Groves, Captain William Curtiss and Lt. [[Joseph Judson]], early landowners in Nichols, were named to a committee to lay out the land as they saw fit.<ref>Reverend Samuel Orcutt, ''A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut,'' 1886, Vol. 1 page 167 [https://books.google.com/books?id=HH4sb5UqwssC&pg=PA109&dq=judson+1638+history+stratford+ct#PPA167,M1&pg=PA109]</ref>

Before 1661, people were free to take up planting grounds anywhere within the township. The common land in Nichols Farms was divided and granted to individuals beginning in 1670 as a part of the ''three-mile'' or ''woods division'' and continued up to 1800.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=0-_1H7cqDdoC&pg=PA1049&dq=farm+highway+orcutt+stratford&pg=PA1049 Orcut (1886), ''History,'' Vol. II], p. 1039</ref>

Abraham Nichols is credited, by some, with being the first Englishman to settle in Trumbull around 1690 or 1700, depending on the source. It has been said that others soon followed him into the wilderness to; "establish mills, churches, and schools". Nichols landholdings were said to total as much as {{convert|3000|acre|km2}}.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=s_wnAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA737&dq=nichols+farms,%2C+connecticut&hlpg=en&sa=X&ei=dTTjUJqIHITE0AG90oG4BQ&ved=0CEIQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=nichols%20farms%2C%20connecticut&f=falsePA737 ''Commemorative biographical record of Fairfield County, Connecticut: containing biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens, and of many of the early settled families''], Higginson Book Co., 1899, p. 38</ref> However, none of these claims can be substantiated by the public land records.

*An old grinding stone from the 1826 Fairchild (Paper) Mill is placed at the south end of the green. The mill was located at the Falls of the [[Pequonnock River]] beginning in 1674; the area is now called Fairchild Park and marks the Town boundary with Bridgeport.<ref>Reverend Samuel Orcutt, ''A History of the Old Town of Stratford and the City of Bridgeport, Connecticut,'' Fairfield County Historical Society, 1886, Vol II page 1060 [https://books.google.com/books?id=uvMLAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA1060&lpg=PA1060&dq=fairchild+paper+mill+trumbull+ct&sourcepg=bl&ots=knGoqJEoyw&sig=zGxIsocsc04-2bResiXWU5VYy8I&hl=en&ei=lHcASv73GYv4MPHCtNUH&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2#PPA1060,M1PA1060]</ref>

*[[Will Geer]], (1902–78), actor and folklorist<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/columns/296-columnsreflections/52486-an-interview-with-will-geer-from-the-waltons.html |title=An interview with Will Geer from ‘The'The Waltons’Waltons' |publisher=Acorn-online.com |date=March 15, 2010 |access-date=February 22, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110607170510/http://www.acorn-online.com/joomla15/columns/296-columnsreflections/52486-an-interview-with-will-geer-from-the-waltons.html |archive-date=June 7, 2011 }}</ref>

*[[Carolyn Hax]] (b. 1966), writer and columnist for the ''[[The Washington Post]]'' and the author of the advice column "Tell Me About It".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/26/style/weddings-carolyn-h-hax-n-e-galifianakis.html?pagewanted=1 |title=WEDDINGS; Carolyn H. Hax, N. E. Galifianakis – New York Times |publisherwork=Nytimes.com[[The New York Times]] |date=June 26, 1994 |access-date=February 22, 2011}}</ref>