Looking for books on Connecticut history?

American Revolution:

Anderson, Virginia DeJohn. The Martyr and The Traitor: Nathan Hale, Moses Dunbar, and the American Revolution. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.

Rees, John U. ‘They Were Good Soldiers’: African-Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783. Warwick, England: Helion & Company, 2019.

Biography

Mahan, Russell. Thomas Leffingwell: The Connecticut Pioneer Who Rescued Chief Uncas and the Mohegans. Santa Clara, UT: Historical Enterprises, 2018.

Tomlinson, Richard G. Gershom Bulkeley, Zealot for Truth: The Conscience of Colonial Connecticut. N.P..: Richard G. Tomlinson, 2018.

Civil War

Banks,John. Hidden History of Connecticut Union Soldiers. Charleston,SC: The History Press, 2015.

Gordon, Lesley J. A Broken Regiment: The 16th Connecticut’s Civil War. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2014.

Staley,Patricia F. Norwich and the Civil War. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2015.

Ethnic History

Hofffman, Betty N, editor. A History of Jewish Connecticut: Mensches, Migrants and Mitzvahs. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2010.

Genealogy

MacLachlan, Linda. Finding Early Connecticut Vital Records: The Barbour Index and Beyond. Springfield, VA: Clearfield Co, 2019. This study of early vital records does an excellent job explaining the function and structure of the Barbour Index, as well as what resources are available at the Connecticut State Library. Do be aware outside resources are not well explained.

Maps

Virga, Vincent and Diana Ross McCain. Connecticut: Mapping the Nutmeg State Through History. Guilford,CT: Globe Pequot, 2018.

Natural Disasters

Hubbard, Robert. A History of Connecticut’s Deadliest Tornadoes: Catastrophe in the Constitution State. Charleston, SC: History Press, 2015.

New Haven Colony

Blue, Jon C. The Case of the Piglet’s Paternity: Trials from the New Haven Colony, 1639-1663. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2015.

Occupations

Dunlap, Brianna E. Connecticut Valley Tobacco. Charleston, SC: The History Press, 2016.

Ritter, Kathy A. Apprentices of Connecticut, 1637-1900. Salt Lake, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 1986. A finding aid to Connecticut apprenticeship records.

Slavery

Smith,Venture and Elizabeth J. Normen. Venture Smith’s Colonial Connecticut. West Hartford, CT: Connecticut Explored, 2019. An annotated version of Venture Smith’s narrative designed for children.

Stark, Bruce P. The Myth and Reality of Slavery in Eastern Connecticut. Cheshire, CT: The Connecticut Press, 2023.

Town Histories

Elliott, Melinda K. Connecticut Schoolhouses Through Time. N.P.: America Through Time, 2017. Largely a pictorial study, this text provides brief histories of Connecticut’s surviving historic schoolhouses.

Lehman, Eric D. Connecticut Town Greens: History of the State’s Common Centers. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2015. Part travel book, part history, this book can provide useful details on a town green.

Transit

DeLuca, Richard. Paved Roads & Public Money: Connecticut Transportation in the Age of Internal Combustion. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2020.

Griswold,Wick and Stephen Jones. Connecticut’s River Ferries. Charleston: The History Press, 2018. This text is mixed between contemporary accounts and historical narrative.

Hesselberg, Erik. Night Boat to New York: Steamboats on the Connecticut. Guilford, CT: Globe Pequot, 2022.

Miller, Max R. Along the Valley Line: The Story of the Connecticut Valley Railroad. Middletown, CT: Wesleyan University Press, 2017.