TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

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THE EARLY HISTORY OF TOLLAND
BY LOREN P. WALDO

PUBLISHED 1861                                          
REPRINTED BY HIGGINSON BOOKS 

Delivered as an address to the Tolland County Historical Society in 1861.  Includes settlement, early town and county government, churches, military history and 
development of local institutions.  Index added by Historical Society lists 489 early
family names.

Available only at the Old Jail Museum and Old Tolland County Courthouse .                                                            

   


TOLLAND:  AN OLD POST ROAD TOWN

BY HAROLD WEIGOLD 
PUBLISHED BY CLINTON PRESS OF TOLLAND 
FOR TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1965

The first of the Society's books was compiled by  Harold Weigold to bring Tolland's
history into the 20th Century.  Repeats and develops some of Waldo's themes.
Pictures of churches, schools, the Green and other landmarks.  Special information
about a few "old families". 

 

 

 


RECIPES AND REMEMBRANCES OF TOLLAND
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Members offer their memories of Tolland's past and more than 80 pages of their
favorite recipes and remembrances about the PTA and school lunches, shad and clam bakes.  A history of the public library, and of life at the county jail mingle with ethnic dishes, hearty one-dish meals and desserts to inspire the reader to mix, bake and eat!  David Garrity's sketches of local landmarks illustrate this popular cookbook.

 


THE LIFE AND TIMES OF ARIEL BENTON
BY ARIEL BENTON
PUBLISHED 1882
REPUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1997

The autobiography of Ariel Benton, born in Tolland immediately after the Revolutionary War.  Depleted farmland could no longer support their large families, and difficult economic times led Ariel and his brother to homesteading in the newly opened Western reserve.  We read about their trip, learn how then lived on the long trek and how Ariel and Zadock build their joined twin log houses.  Wives, Lucinda and Polly grew flax and spun linen to trade for 180 apple trees for the farm.

 

 

 

 




LIFE IN TOLLAND VILLAGE IN THE 1880S

BY EDGAR MARVIN HAWKINS
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1998

Hawkins wrote this charming story of his early youth for friends and family.  His family  photographs, with additions from the Society's collection, of the Green, general store, blacksmith shop and country courthouse of yesterday make it easy for us to take
pleasure from Hawkins recollections of life along the village green in the late 19th Century.    

          

 




 

 

 

 





THE DANIEL BENTON HOMESTEAD
BY
GAIL W. WHITE AND PETER C. PALMER
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 1999

A guide to the Historical Society's 1720 house museum.  Given to the Society in 1968,
the house animates our thoughts of life in Colonial times.  A Revolutionary War story personalizes a guided tour of the house.


                                    

 


DEAR WIFE AND CHILDREN
LETTERS OF DR. JEDUTHAN C. EATON'S
EDITED AND ADDITIONAL EXPLANATORY TEXT BY BARBARA F. PALMER
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 2001

Letters Dr. Eaton wrote to his family describing his trip to the California Gold Rush in
1850 and the sights and sounds and experiences so different from their quiet life in
Tolland.  Wife, Mercy, was left at home to raise the seven children, ages 1 1/2 to 18,
while the doctor was away for 3 1/2 years.  Mrs. Palmer researched local documents
to add understanding of Tolland at mid-century.  Family illnesses and local events,
the Agricultural Fair held on the Green, the county courts and jail and national issues
such as  Abolition and the Westward Expansion were all part of life in the 1850s, and
add flavor to Dr. Eaton's narrative.

  

   
 

CELEBRATING TOLLAND IN CARTOONS IN  THE 1960S
CARTOONS BY IVAN ROBINSON
TEXT BY JOYCE ROBINSON
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 2001

In the 1960s, when Tolland was served by five newspapers, the Rockville Journal 
decided to add a feature that would distinguish it from the others.   Cartoons that lampooned the politics of the area and caricatures of the politicians  became a  
successful venture.  ROBJOY is the pen name of the creative couple who searched
their files to produce this book.

 

 

 



A NEW BOOK

GROWING UP IN TOLLAND CIRCA 1950 - 1960
BY PETER C. PALMER
PUBLISHED BY TOLLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY, 2004

A local attorney's story of his childhood and high school years as one of six children growing up in rural Tolland.  Raising cows, pigs and chickens, gardening, learning through trial and error to operate equipment and accomplish tasks, the children learned to be self-confident and  independent.  The book highlights the surprising changes to the town and its people during years when the population of town nearly quadrupled thanks to the baby boom and the building boom.  

 

   

   MINIATURE TOLLAND BUILDINGS
  
Available buildings in miniature include the Benton Homestead,
   Old Jail Museum, Old County Courthouse, United Congregational
   Church, Old Town Hall ( Arts Center) Hicks- Stearns Museum, The
   Homestead, The Tolland Inn, Hicks Municipal Center.  More to come

   CHRISTMAS ORNAMENTS
   A smaller version of the mini-buildings, with wreathes, glitter, and red
   ribbon for hanging on your tree.  

  

   

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