It may not be generally known that at one time ice covered the northern half, more or less, of North America. This ice-cap, really a continent-wide glacier of immense thickness, slowly made its way downward till it reached a latitude where the heat was sufficient to melt it. The ice age and glacial period had not been kind to this section. Although thousands of years have elapsed, the evidence of this era is still visible in the clearly defined moraines, drumlins and eskers which the receding ice left in this locality. The ice formed a deep valley through the center of this area known as Hartland Hollow/Center, and a stream, to be later named the East Branch of the Farmington River. The wooded hillsides on either side of the stream rose sharply for several hundred feet and emerged in rugged plateaus to be later named the East and West Mountains. A unique glacier rock and earth deposit “Balance Rock” is located on private property in East Hartland. It is nine feet high, measures thirty-six feet around the largest part and six feet around the base-or an average of two feet in diameter. It consists of seven different kinds of stone. (see picture on “Places of Interest” page on this website).
1633 (as we know it) - It was estimated there were 3,000 Native Americans among the River Tribes around Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield. Of those, only about 400 were of the Tunxis tribe who confined their habitations and hunting to the Tunxis (Farmington) River area. There is no evidence of any permanent Native American settlement in Hartland but small bands used sections for summer encampments, hunting and fishing purposes as attested by the find of artifacts in the river valley and a few other places. The Tunxis was a peaceable tribe and lived unmolested by the River Tribes, but in deadly fear of raids from their enemies, the Mohawks to the West and the Pequots to the South. The encroachment of settlements along the Connecticut River at Windsor, Hartford and Wethersfield, began a new era which would eventually spell disaster for all the Native Americans of New England.
1636 - William Holmes, from Plymouth Colony, sailed up the river to a point now known as Hartford and erected a trading post at the confluence of the Farmington and Connecticut Rivers, now called Windsor. With him he brought the great Chief of the entire region, Sequassen. Sequassen, claiming authority of all the River Tribes, sold land to the residents of the new settlements, deeding to them all of the land westward, including the territory of the Tunxis and the land which now comprises Hartland. The fact that up to that time, no surveys had ever been made, the deeds were vague in description which resulted in the same land being sold over and over, in some instances as many as six or seven times. These ancient deeds given by Sequassen and other Chiefs later became the foundation for claims by Hartford and Windsor.
1662 - King Charles II gave the Connecticut Colony a charter that empowered them with a legal basis and the approval of the king. As a result, Connecticut became an independent colony with its own government.
1682 - King James II wanted Connecticut officials to surrender the charter granted by King Charles II so he could unite the New England colonies.
1686 – The General court of the Colony of Connecticut gave a grant of land to the Towns of Hartford and Windsor. This was a large tract referred to at the time as “Western Lands.” That same year, Sir Edmund Andros, on orders from King James II, demands the surrender of Connecticut’s Charter.
1687 - The Connecticut representatives had all but given in to the powerful requests of King James II on the day Sir Edmund Andros arrived in Hartford, Connecticut. As the story goes, at their meeting the Connecticut officials were on one side of a long table and Andros and the British were on the other side. The charter lay in the middle of the table, separating the two sides. During a heated discussion of the surrender of the charter, the candles in the room were suddenly extinguished. When the candles were re-lit, the Connecticut Charter was gone, and Captain Joseph Wadsworth was nowhere to be found. Joseph had snatched the charter from the table, left the room without a trace, and ran down Main Street. Joseph hid the charter in what he knew would be a safe place–a hollow oak tree, now known as the Charter Oak, where it remained hidden for almost two years. The charter was not turned over to the British that night, and Connecticut was the only one of the original thirteen colonies to maintain self-rule until the American Revolution.
1689 - There arose a bitter controversy between the Colony and the Towns of Hartford and Windsor over the validity of their claims to the “Western Lands”. It was the contention of the Colony that the grant had been made to the Towns to hold the land “until those times of trouble and danger should be past; but not as their property.” The Towns, however, would not relinquish their claims but persisted in their demands that it was granted to them for settlement. An on-going dispute continued.
1724 - General Court interfered with the activities of the Towns - a petition was presented to that body requesting an amicable settlement of the long dispute. A committee was appointed to investigate the Hartford and Windsor claims. The committee reported two years later.
1726 - General Court adopted a resolution which provided that the lands in dispute should be divided between the Colony and the two Towns. By the terms of this resolution the division was made as follows: Hartford and Windsor were given the eastern portion which now comprises the area occupied by the towns of Hartland, Colebrook, Barkhamsted, Winchester, Torrington, New Hartford and Harwinton. The Colony was to have the western portion containing the area occupied by the present towns of Norfolk, Goshen, North Canaan, Canaan, Cornwall, Warren and about two-thirds of Kent.
1729 – The Governor and Company gave a patent of the eastern portion of this land to the Towns of Hartford and Windsor thus bringing an end to the long controversy which had its beginning 40 years earlier in 1689.
1732 - The proprietors of Hartford and Windsor made another division of the land allotted to them. Hartford received a patent for four parcels which covers the area now occupied by the Towns of Hartland, Winchester and New Hartford; the remainder being given to the proprietors of Windsor. It was agreed that the division be made, so far as the tract now known as Hartland was concerned, on the basis of the inhabitants or proprietors of Hartford whose names appeared on the Hartford Tax list of 1720. They would be given an amount of land in proportion to the amount of tax paid in relation to Hartford’s Grand List in 1720.
1733 - These taxpayers organized into a mutual association which they named “Proprietors of Hartland”. Men and heirs totaled 67. In May, 1733, the General Court decreed the land named Hartford land, and soon became shortened and contracted to Hartland. The town was made up of the East and West Mountain with the Hartland Hollow/Center valley between.
1750 - Much of the land in Hartland had changed hands several times but up to this point no permanent settlement had been made within its boundaries. It was still in a state of primeval forest with only a limited means of access to the owners and surveyors.
1751 - John Kendall, who came from Granby, has the distinction of being the first white man to live in Hartland but not considered as the first settler. He built a cabin in the Hollow where his wife gave birth to twin girls, the first white female children born in town. It is said they only stayed a year for fear of the Indians and debt.
1754 – Captain/Deacon Thomas Giddings Jr II (1723 -1790) who came from Lyme in 1754 with his wife Mary Coult, was the first permanent settler and a “monarch”, meaning he was subject to the laws of King and Colony. He served as a Captain in the Revolutionary War and was a member of the assembly in 1783. He became one of the town’s leading citizens and was a Deacon of the First Ecclesiastical Society for many years. He lived on property later owned by Willis Wright, south of Rengerman Road. Thomas died age 67 and is buried in East Hartland.
1755 – Simon Baxter (1730-1804) came from Hebron in 1755 and first settled in the east part of the town which was located on what is now known as Old Route 20. A few years later he moved to the Center Hill section of the West Mountain. Simon was a member of the Church of England and did not affiliate with the First Ecclesiastical Society. He was active in the early days as a town official but Simon’s Tory activities during the Revolutionary War period became so violent that he was confined to Newgate Prison. He died at Norton, Kings County, New Brunswick, Canada, at age 73.
1756 – Town Population – 12.
- Joshua Giddings, brother to Thomas, came from Lyme, CT. He had three sons, John, Joshua and Benjamin. John was the first male white child born in Hartland. Joshua, the second son, left Hartland for Pennsylvania, where soon after, his son Joshua R. Giddings, the famous Abolitionist was born. The third son, Benjamin, was the father of the Reverend Salmon Giddings, who in 1817 organized the first Protestant church in St. Louis and was installed over it.
- Moses Cowdrey came from East Haddam. He had three sons, Asa, Ambrose and Moses. Part of their property is now Alice Merritt Camp town property.
1760 - Jonas Wilder (1699-1797) of Lyme came in 1760 and was one of the first settlers on the West Mountain. He married twice to women coincidentally having the same name - Eunice Beaman. He was a deacon of the Congregational church, from its organization in 1768 until his death. He died at age 97 and is buried in West Hartland.
“There is now living in this town, one Mr. Jonas Wilder, in the 97th year of his age, and is a steady industrious man, seldom losing one day in a month by reason of infirmity and old age; he was one of the first settlers in said town, and has in this town lived near 36 years; he was then the oldest person that ever lived in said town and ever since has been, and still remains the oldest person, by several years. He has had two wives, and both of one name, both Christian and maiden, the last of which he hath lived with above 65 years; he has had 12 children and never lost one; his oldest child is now in the 73rd year of his age, the youngest in his 47th. His sons though but seven in number, have sustained the following honorable offices, besides town and society offices, viz. one Colonel, one Major, one Captain, two Lieutenants, three Justices of the Peace, three Representatives, and three Deacons. Hartford Courant 1796”
1760 - Consider Tiffany (1732-1796) of East Haddam came in 1760 and was one of the first settlers on the West Mountain. He was a storekeeper, farmer and sergeant during the French and Indian War. He was a Tory sympathizer - being difficult but not violent, he was limited to the boundaries of his farm for a time. He married Sarah Wilder of the same town. He was a good churchman, a writer of prose and poetry, and an astronomer. To date, his journal is the only firsthand account written of Nathan Hale’s capture during the American Revolution. He planted an elm tree on his farm that grew to be the second largest in Connecticut and was known as the “Tiffany Elm”. He died at age 64 and is buried in West Hartland.
1761 – Simon Baxter who came from Hebron, CT and Joseph Taylor were apparently instrumental in organizing and persuading the Hartland settlers (37 families, and about seven more families coming to settle, numbering over 200) to petition the General Court for incorporation as an individual town. In May of 1761 the General Court passed a resolution making the town of Hartland incorporated as an individual town. The first Town Meeting was held at the house of Simon Baxter, as there was no meeting house, schoolhouse or other public building in the town. Joshua Giddings was chosen moderator, and Joseph Gilbert, town clerk. The selectmen chosen were Joshua Giddings, Nehemiah Andrews and Simon Baxter, with Moses Caldwell for constable. They were now a full-fledged body politic and corporate, being the 69th Town so incorporated in the Colony of Connecticut, and were included in the County of Litchfield.
1760s - Uriel Holmes (1741-1809) arrived from East Haddam sometime before 1767, as he was elected a selectman in 1766. Uriel was probably one of the greatest promoters of the time. He is known to have built the first house on the Hartland Green now known as the Coach Stop Restaurant. It still stands now, the oldest building in town.
Note: In 1780 it is known that Uriel buys land and is speculated a house is put together with his, which made the old hotel. This house, more familiarly known in later years as the “1776 House” or the “Coffee Shop” was built by Uriel Holmes who did not buy the land until May 1780. According to David N. Gaines’ notebook, “Ely Andrews sold this to Uriel Holmes, 9 acres, May 5, 1780…what Uriel Holmes did with this house, I don’t know. Tradition says he moved it across the road west of the church and moved the one Brewster Higby built, put the two together and made the old hotel. I think this is correct for there are certainly two old frames of houses.”
Within a short time he bought the saw and grist mills in Hartland Hollow (Hubbard Brook) originally owned by Samuel Benjamin of Granville, MA (grandfather to Asher). Later at the same location Thomas Fuller, and afterward his son Luther, had a carding, fulling and clothier mill. Titus Hayes buys this in 1776.
Early records indicate few farms in East Hartland and the North hollow section were not in possession of Uriel Holmes at one time or another. In addition to this, he was a great speculator in Western lands. For many years he served as a selectman and on many occasions he was both selectman and town clerk. He became a very prominent citizen and was commissioned a Colonel in the Revolutionary War. He also represented the town in 36 sessions of the General Court, and later, Legislature. Uriel died age 68 and is buried in East Hartland.
His only son, Uriel, Jr. (1764-1827) born in East Haddam, was a lawyer and Judge of the Superior Court of Litchfield. The Judge was killed when he was thrown from his wagon at age 63.
Other early settlers were Thomas Beman of Simsbury; Daniel Ensign of Hartford; Phineas Kingsbury and Reuben Burnham from East Hartford, whose wife, Chloe Fitch, was a sister of the inventor of the first steamboat.
1760s-1800s – Industries that existed in East Hartland -
blacksmith shops, charcoal pit, clay pit, clothing shop, cooper shop, distilleries, dye house, hat shop, hotels, mica mine, potash works, shoe shop, shoemaker, stone mason, stores, tailor shop, tanneries, wagon shop and trade, weaver and rope maker.
cider mills, fulling mill, clothing mill, grist mills, saw mills, turning mills, shingle mills
1760s-1800s – Industries that existed in West Hartland -
blacksmith shops, cooper shops, distilleries, dye house, hotels, iron works, doll making, potash works, rope maker trade, shoe shops, stores, tan house, tannery, wagon shop, wheel-wright shop
calico factory and print works mill, dish mills, fulling mill, grist mill, paper making mill, saw mills, shingle mills, turning mill/shop
1760s - First Hotel established in East Hartland - Nehemiah Andrews settled on what is now Rengerman Hill Road and operated his hotel for many years. This house burned in 1897. Other early hotels were the Jonathan Couch Hotel, 1798 Bunnell’s Hotel, along with (what is known today as) the Coach Stop Restaurant property (but no early hotel name is known).
1760s – First saw mill in East Hartland, Thomas Giddings
1762 – First Tannery in East Hartland, Samuel Banning
1764-1771 – First Meeting House for the First Ecclesiastical Society was built in East Hartland. This was used for both civil and religious purposes and used until the new meeting house/church was built in 1801.
1765 - The burying ground, nearby the first meeting house, was laid out in 1765 by Joshua Giddings and Jason Millard, selectmen.
1768 – First Ecclesiastical Society, East Hartland (First Church) was organized but as early as 1761 the Rev. Ashbel Pitkin was employed to preach and hold services in private houses. The Reverend Richard Colton succeeded him. First Church’s first pastor, Revd. Sterling Graves, was ordained at an open air service a mile south of the present church (Rengerman Road area).
1769-1778 – First blacksmith, East Hartland, Benjamin Parker.
1769 – First blacksmith, West Hartland, Elkanah Fox.
1770s – Hartland’s first doctor was Dr. Jeremiah Emmons, who came from East Haddam and lived in East Hartland. In 1783 the town voted to provide inoculations for the Small Pox and gave Emmons permission to build a house to manage this effort. Descendants of this family live in town to this day.
1700s –Thomas Sugden had a tannery in East Hartland, and Diodate I. Ensign had one in West Hartland, which his son carried on with for many years.
1770s - Josiah Bushnell of Saybrook had a dish mill located in what is now Howell’s Pond in West Hartland. Here he made trenchers (wooden plates), bowls, spoons, and other utensils from beech and maple. Levi Sutliffe was the owner in 1798.
1770 – First tavern/hotel opened in West Hartland by Eldad Shepard. It is believed to have been located on Center Street, on the property now owned by the Audubon Society.
1774 - Hartland population - 500
1775 – Blacksmith - Uriah Hyde, from Windsor, built the first blacksmith’s shop on the West Mountain. Jehiel Meacham worked at the trade in East Hartland.
1775-1783 – The Revolutionary War – Hartland had a total of 359 serve, with 6 men above the rank of Captain. (Note: 6 oak trees were planted in front of the Hartland cemetery in honor of them). Hartland also had two famous Tories: Simon Baxter, who was imprisoned in Newgate Prison and Consider Tiffany, who was confined to his own home.
1776 – Titus Hayes, Sr. in 1776 purchases a grist mill, fulling mill, house and several other buildings near Hubbard Brook in North Hollow, Hartland, and moves his family there. Titus was enrolled in the Continental Army from 1777 to 1781, however he spent most of this time on “leave of absence” in order to grind corn for the town and the army. A grist mill stone that he used can be found in the East Hartland cemetery. He moved to Ohio in 1804 and died there in 1811. Titus had 8 children, 3 born in Lyme, CT, and 5 in Hartland.
1776 – Hartland was allowed representatives in the General Assembly (Phineas Kingsbury and John Wilder)
1777 - Stephen Bushnell of Saybrook, brother to Josiah, built a grist mill on Mill Brook, and also a saw mill.
1780 - The Second Ecclesiastical Society (Church of Christ/Second Congregational Church) was organized on the West Mountain. Rev. Joseph Strong and Rev. Aaron Church, having a total membership of 44.
1780s - Caleb and Timothy Olmsted, came from East Hartford to the West Mountain. Timothy was considered the most popular teacher and composer of church music in Connecticut at that time. He published a work on church music, “The Musical Olio”, containing many original tunes long familiar to lovers of church music.
1780 - The Second Ecclesiastical Society of Hartland was formed with the Second Church of Christ of Hartland organized on the West Mountain. Their Meeting house was erected in 1779, a very large, substantial structure. Its steeple was put on around 1835, with a bell presented by Mr. Stephen Goodyear. The Meeting House was torn down in 1844 and new one dedicated in June of 1845. This still stands in 2023.
1782 – Reverend Nathaniel Gaylord of Windsor was ordained to a successful pastorate for the Second Church of Christ in Hartland, which lasted until 1841 (59 years). He was a graduate of Yale, first in his class. He was the preachers’ preacher of his day and was much sought after to preach at ordinations and other special services held in neighboring towns and at the Consociation of Churches which assembled yearly.
1787-1804 – Ralph Pomeroy purchases 600 acres of Hartland property, builds sawmill and buildings on parcel considered an “island” on the west branch of the Farmington River. This can be accessed at the end of School St. in Riverton.
1788 - Samuel Edwards Woodbridge, (1788-1865) was born in Hartland, the son of the Reverend Samuel and Elizabeth, who were originally from Hartford and moved West Hartland. Samuel E. was superintendent of schools in his native town, and in 1825 opened a boy’s school which acquired considerable popularity. This school was built in the area where the present day West Hartland Fire House stands. In 1834 he took charge of a large school on Long Island for neglected children which had about eight hundred inmates. Leaving there, he established a school for boys at Perth Amboy, which proved very successful. Samuel Edwards died at the age of 77.
1790 – First Cider brandy distillery, West Hartland
1792 - Stephen and Abel Brace built a mill on Mill Street. This was operated as a “Corn mill” and later by the Bates family who converted the mill to the manufacture of shovel and hoe handles together with plane woods.
1795 – Hartland is annexed to Hartford County (from Litchfield County) which is an important event to the people, for many of them were from Hartford, and from the beginning the business interests of the place has been connected with Hartford.
1796-1860 – The Red Lion Inn built by Thomas Burnham operated in North Hollow. This building was later owned by Old Newgate Coon Club.
1797-1811 – First and only “iron works” in West Hartland by Earl Stanley, located on what is known as Old Forge Road.
1797- Asher Benjamin II (1773-1845) born Hartland, son of Asher Benjamin I and Elizabeth, authored the first book devoted to the subject of building and architecture in 1797; “The Country Builder’s Assistant”. He was associated with the Old State House staircase in Hartford, Deerfield Academy, Beacon Hill residences in Boston and more. His seven handbooks on design deeply influenced the look of cities and towns throughout New England.
1798 - Judge Lester Taylor, (1798-1899) was born in Hartland, the son of Childs and Rhoda (Bates) Taylor. He left Hartland at the age of twenty to join his older brother Horace in Claridon, OH. Lester cleared his land, built his cabin, and then went back to Hartland to marry Mary Wilder (of Hartland CT) 1821. More than a farmer, he taught school, was one of the organizers of the Claridon Congregational Church in 1827, organized a local anti-slavery society (he was a Whig), and served as a commissioner to appraise and sell 60,000 acres of land reserved for financing schools. He was elected to the Ohio General Assembly in 1833, 5 and 6, served again in 1853-54, until he was elected to the Ohio Senate for 1855-6, and 1857-8. After being Justice of the Peace for some years, he was elected an Associate Judge for Geauga County in 1846, where he served until 1852. In 1875, he helped organize the Geauga Co. Historical Society and was their president. He went through his 90s hale and hearty, and could drive a horse and buggy for 22 miles at age 99. Judge Taylor died aged 100.
1800 population - 1,318
1799, 1800, 1804, and 1811 Exodus to Ohio (Connecticut Western Reserve land). In 1816 there was a killing frost EVERY month of the year, only turnips were harvested, which may have hastened others to depart to other regions as the years went by.
1662 - The Connecticut Western Reserve was a portion of land claimed by the Colony of Connecticut and later by the state of Connecticut in what is now mostly the northeastern region of Ohio. The Reserve had been granted to the Connecticut Colony by King Charles II in 1662.
1796, the Land Company sent surveyors led by Moses Cleaveland (hence Cleveland, Ohio) to the Reserve to divide the land into square townships (5 miles each side). Hartland’s Titus Hayes was one of these surveyors and also moved there.
1799 - Hartland’s Uriel Holmes became a Connecticut Land Co. agent. Here is a story - Edward Brockway originally from Branford, CT, married Hannah Palmer of Hartland in 1777 and built his house the same year, still standing on Sunset Road. Edward Brockway had 20 children from four wives. Hearing the wonders of New Connecticut/Western Reserve and thinking also of his large family of sons and daughters and trying to solve the problems of how to provide homes for all of them, he sold his property in Hartland and headed top what was then far west. Brockway was the first deed of Uriel Holmes, made in 1799, conveying 3,194+ acres of land, for a consideration of $500, being less than sixteen cents an acre in Hartford Trumbull County Ohio. Now Edward Brockway, Isaac Jones and Asahel Brainard, all from Hartland, were the first there and after having built a cabin and sowed a field of wheat, returned east and brought out their families in the summer of 1800. Brockway is known as having been the first settler and cutting the first tree in Hartford Trumbull County.
1800, May – 17 families numbering over 100 men, women and children set out for Ohio
1800-1848 – Rideout Moore’s Tavern operated at the corner of Rt. 181 and Rt. 20 in West Hartland and is still standing. Rideout did a flourishing business there until he died in 1848 at 83 years of age. Probate records show the total inventory of his estate amounted to $11,890.65, a large proportion of which consisted of notes due his account from nearly everyone of prominence in the West Hartland area. It would appear that most of these were due to cover bar bills, which had accumulated over a period of time.
1800-1909 – A sawmill built by Parsons as a horizontal or up and down mill, by 1809 it had multiple owners (Beach, Woodbridge, Gaines), from 1853-1909 the French family operates the mill. In 1874 Watson and son William French remodel the mill into a modern carriage style with circular saw and large overshot water wheel. This included a well tooled wood finishing shop. Shortly thereafter they added a large cider mill and then added a shingle mill which furnished shingles for Hartland, Riverton and New Hartford. In 1895 a steel turbine was installed. This was located along the brook corner of Riverton Road and Mill Street, West Hartland.
1800-1900s – Sizeable quantities of cider and cider brandy were being produced. The orchards planted some 30 years before had reached a mature state and cider mills and distilleries were located in various sections of Hartland. The last two cider mills were Talcott Banning’s in Hartland Hollow and Leroy French’s at the corner of Riverton Road and Mill St. in West Hartland.
1801 – The Second Meeting House (First Church of Christ/First Congregational) is built in East Hartland. The present day is still the same Church building with first renovations done in 1875 and more done in future years.
1802 - Judge Horace Wilder (1802-1889) was born in Hartland, the son of Eli and Mary Johnson Wilder of West Hartland. In 1819, he attended Yale University, graduating in 1823. In 1826 he was admitted to the bar in Virginia; Geauga County, Ohio bar 1828; Ashtabula County prosecuting attorney 1833; Ohio House of Representatives 1834; 1855-1862 common pleas court; 1862 draft commissioner; and in 1863 was appointed to the Supreme Court of Ohio. Upon retiring from the bench in 1865, Wilder resumed his practice in Ashtabula. In May 1867, he retired completely and joined his brother, Eli T. Wilder, in Red Wing, Minnesota. Wilder married Phoebe Jerusha Coleman on March 27, 1833 in Ashtabula and they had five children. Wilder died Dec. 26, 1889 in Red Wing at 87.
1804-1836 – Ezra Doolittle and Lent Benham purchased 270 acres and operate a sawmill on “island” property on the west bank of the Farmington River and build their homes on the east bank of river.
1805 - Reverend Selah B. Treat, D.D. (1805-1877) born in Hartland, the only son of Selah and Anna Williams Treat. His family’s home was located on what is now Mill Street in West Hartland. He received the advantages of a good academic education, and entered Yale College at the age of sixteen, graduating in the class of 1824. He studied law and entered Andover Theological Seminary to prepare for the ministry and graduated in 1835. He was soon settled over a church in Newark, New Jersey, where he remained four years. Subsequently he became Secretary of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, holding that office for many years. He died in Boston, aged 73.
1807 - Hartland for many years belonged to the Simsbury probate district. In 1807 Hartland and Granby were made a district; and in 1836 Hartland itself was made a district, with Phelps Humphrey for its first judge.
1813 - Judge Eli T. Wilder (1813-1904) was born in Hartland, son of Eli and Mary Johnson Wilder of West Hartland. In 1837, at the age of nineteen, he moved to Ashtabula, Ohio. In the early 1850’s he was elected judge. In 1855 he started a real estate office in Dubuque, Iowa, and in 1856 he took moved to Red Wing, Minnesota where he continued the land business and the practice of law. He was one of the first members of Christ Church of Red Wing. He presented that church with a beautiful altar, and devoted the latter years of his life largely to church work. He was one of the first wardens. Judge Wilder was first married to Julia W. Wakefield, of Connecticut, who died in 1866. In 1868, he married Larissa Kendig. Eli Wilder died at age 91.
1816-1850 – Built in 1815, Arnold Oatman’s Hotel in West Hartland was an overnight stop for travelers and a meeting place for local farmers. Located at the corner of West St. and Rt. 20 in West Hartland, the building is still standing.
1818 – Samuel E. Woodbridge built the saw mill later owned by Watson E. French. S. Roberts has a saw mill on the East Mountain.
1819 - The first post office located on the East Mountain opens; the second on the West Mountain in opened in 1827.
1820 – Ten school districts in Hartland exist. A few of the school buildings are homes still standing today.\
1824 – Cider Mill, East Hartland by Osborn, Miller and Beman. Other names known: William Selby, Ed Frazier, Dr Humphrey, W. Higby, Jabin and Francis Clark, Cables Thompson and Dickenson.
1824 - Wagon-making was begun in East Hartland by Ezekial Alderman from Granby. The same business was started in West Hartland in 1840 by Elias E. Gilman. Others known; Uri Holcomb, Lester K. Gaines, Samuel Gilman
1827 – A petition to divide Hartland into 2 townships was denied by Legislature.
1830 – Methodist Episcopal Society, East Hartland was strong when it began, but over a period of thirty years it dwindled down to three members. The present day Society Hall which was the site of their services, was acquired by the Ecclesiastical Society in 1875. The building is now an office and community building for First Church.
1833 – The Methodist Episcopal Church was built in West Hartland. The land for the church was donated by Rideout Moore (corner of Rt 181 & 20). A Methodist class had existed for some years before the church was erected, and meetings were held at members’ homes. The church was taken down in June 1896 and all materials usable were used to rebuild it at it’s new location. It was dedicated June 1897 and is still standing in the center of West Hartland. The Church was federated with the Second Congregational Church in 1923, with the building being used as the Second Church’s Community Hall until it was sold to a private owner in 2021.
1836 - The making of cheese, beef and pork, and pasturing of cattle is the principal business done in the town.
1837-1941 – John Ward and his sons, Michael and James of North Adams, Massachusetts built a calico print works on a former sawmill site located on the west bank of the Farmington River, known as the “island”. When this calico factory opened, it was the largest industry that operated within Hartland’s borders. The Calico print work firm dissolved in 1851. In 1874 the sons of Michael Ward begin the manufacture of paper at what was known as the Riverton Paper Co. It continued to be operated as a paper mill (various business names) by Ward family members and later by their descendants; the last being in 1941, when owned by Bella W. Gates, daughter of Michael, and was known as The Setag paper mill (Gates spelled backward). That building was also damaged by fire and the great flood of 1955 devastated what remained. The Ward family lived on and owned these 120 acres of land until 1990 when it was deeded over to the State of Connecticut for $1.00.
1845 – The 2nd Congregational Church was dedicated June 12, after being rebuilt. Instrumental music was introduced to worship – a violoncello owned and played by Dwight Williams.
1845 – Industries listed in this year in Hartland: a calico factory employs 40 men, 6 women; 3 coach and wagon factories; 1 tannery plus 1 leather manufacturer and a lumber mill
1847 – The First Steam Mill was opened in East Hartland by Phelps Case
1848 – The Parsonage House was built by the Reverend Nelson Scotty. By 1905 the First Church has either purchased or inherited the rights to the parsonage.
1850 – Hartland Town census documents 1,060 inhabitants, (west mountain 519)
1854 - David Gaines (1854-1941) born in Hartland, son of Lester K. and Mabel Northway, married Fanny A. Brown in 1874. He became known as the “Sage of the East Mountain”. He served as the town clerk, judge of probate, postmaster, and secretary and treasurer of the First Ecclesiastical Society in Hartland. His genealogical papers consist of notes on old houses, vital statistics, East Hartland Cemetery details and various Hartland families.
1855 - Edward Arthur Gaylord (1855-1945) born in Hartland, son of Edward A. and Fidelia Griffin and married Harriet Howd in 1881. He occupied the home, now known as the Gaylord House managed by the Hartland Historical Society, which houses it’s office and museum collection. Known as “Art”, he farmed there and operated a stage route to Simsbury two times each week. He was a representative to the Connecticut General Assembly and held the offices of Selectman, postmaster, and justice of the peace. Edward is a descendent of the Rev. Gaylord.
1860 – The first Town Hall building was put up in the hollow near the geographical center of town. The previous custom that had been established in 1782 was to hold town meetings alternately in East and West Hartland.
1862 – Forty-nine men from Hartland volunteer to serve in the Civil War.
1874 – sons of Michael Ward begin to manufacture paper on the calico print works site located on the “island”. This property belongs to the Ward family.
1874 – The principal industry of Hartland has been agriculture, the soil being especially adapted to grass and grazing purposes. Formerly a great deal of cheese was made in the town. Of recent years butter making has taken its place. Cattle raising is quite extensively carried on, and in the fields cereals and tobacco are grown.
1877 – First mention of voting or representatives from Hartland to the General Assembly.
1880s - A “doll factory” existed on Center Hill run by Anson Tiffany. Arms, legs and bodies were "put out" to be made by the women in Hartland and Anson brought them to New York to sell. It was also noted that he “peddled them around from horse and wagon”.
1880s - Most of the grist and saw mills have gone to decay. Shingle mills were operated in East Hartland by Homer Fuller and others; and in West Hartland by Frank Osborn and Correll French until 1900.
1890 - Hartland population – 565. Population has slowly decreased from the 1800 high of 1,318
1892 – The town Voted “to make every man’s yard a Pound” in order to halt roaming of pesky farm animals.
1896 – Methodists dismantled and moved their old church from the four corners “Moore’s corner” to its present location in West Hartland center. It was dedicated in June 1897, and federated with the Second Congregational Church in 1923 with the building being used as the Second Church’s Community Hall until it was sold to a private owner in 2021.
1900 – Exodus from Hartland began. The population dwindles from 592 in 1900 to 296 in 1930.
1900s – The last distillery was operated by J. A. Miller in Hartland Hollow. The Last two operating cider mills were run by Talcott Banning in Hartland Hollow and Leroy French in West Hartland.
1904 to 1910 - Albert J. Hall and Sons piano factory operated on Milo Coe Road.
1909 – The town took over all District Schools from the Ecclesiastical Societies.
1910-1920s – Thomas Howell begins acquiring abandoned farms, as well as those occupied (28 farms). The area was to be developed as a private preserve for hunting and fishing but never transpired. Eventually this became known as the Hartland Pond Corporation. Only 5 farms of the 28 farms acquired did not go to decay.
1914 – 12 Hartland men serve in WWII.
1923 – The first woman, Marie Emmons, was elected representative to the General Assembly.
1923 – James B. Hall sells “Morrison Hill” to the State Park and Forest Commission, creating the beginning of the “Tunxis Forest”.
1929 – A bill was introduced at the State Assembly for construction of a dam and reservoir in Barkhamsted; it was opposed by both Hartland and Barkhamsted and was a subject of much public controversy.
1900s - Mica Mine was in operation in East Hartland for a number of years. A strata of mica was discovered on the property formerly owned by Everett Emmons who operated it for some years. This product was used in the doors of stoves and is more commonly known as isinglass. The mine was located north of the Ski Trail known in 1960.
1935 - Stanley Ransom (1897-1976) was born in West Granville, MA and was the founder of the Hartland Historical Society and a driving force for our town library. He lived in Hartland from 1935 until his death in 1976. He was a Justice of the Peace, Probate Judge and member of the School Board as well as many other community roles. He authored the book, “History of Hartland”. A mural painted by him is in the West Hartland Congregational Church and other paintings of his can be seen at the Gaylord House Museum.
1930-1940 – The Barkhamsted Reservoir and Saville Dam were built and the valley was flooded. This marked the end of Hartland Hollow as a place of habitation for the living and the dead. The Town Hall, the two school houses, homes and the roads and bridges were sold to the Metropolitan District. All graves and surviving markers were moved to the West Hartland cemetery in 1936.
1937 - Hartland population is 275, the lowest in history
1941 – The Bethany Lutheran Free Church of East Hartland was organized in the home of Rev. T.B. Tergesen with a charter communicant membership of 19 people. Nearly all members formerly lived in Brooklyn or New York, N.Y. The church was built in 1953 and the structure was enlarged in 1967 with another addition attached in 1998 housing a full auditorium.
1953 – Town Hall was built as an addition to the West Hartland Elementary School. That building now houses the Hartland town library and a community hall.
1960 – Hartland population is 1,416. Many of the fields devoted so intensively to agriculture in the early years are now the property of the Metropolitan District Commission or part of the State Forest. Hartland is a bedroom town for those who make their livelihood outside it’s borders, returning each evening to claim their right of residence in the stimulating atmosphere of the East and West Mountains.
1990 - population approximately 1,600
2014 - population of Hartland is 2,129
Present day Hartland has no industries within it’s borders with the exception of a single restaurant which is housed in one of the oldest buildings in East Hartland. There are many cottage industries: maple syrup, jelly and jams, soaps and similar.