The following bibliography is limited to the most helpful and readily available materials related to the history of Plainfield.  

* Basic history:

Bickford, Christopher P. Bickford, “Plainfield Transformed: Three Centuries of Life in a Connecticut Town 1699-1999,” Plainfield Historical Society, 1999

The book has an extensive bibliography, and footnotes drawn from a wider range of primary and secondary sources.

Copies of “Plainfield Transformed…” have been placed in local and regional libraries, or are available from: 

                              Plainfield Historical Society

                              P.O. Box 104

                              Central Village, CT 06332 for $35.

Click on Picture to view larger size.

“Images of America: Plainfield” – 225 photographs of life in Plainfield during the textile mill era 1880-1950, text by Plainfield Historical Society, published by Arcadia Publishing Co., 2007

* Three Windham County histories:

Bayles, Richard M. “History of Windham County, Connecticut,” New York, 1889

Larned, Ellen D., “History of Windham County, Connecticut,” Worcester, 1774-1880
Lincoln, Allen B., ed., “A Modern History of Windham County, Connecticut,” Chicago 1920

 * Newspaper:

“Moosup Journal” or “Plainfield Journal, 1900-1976, on microfilm at Plainfield Public Library

* Historic Resource Consultants

Historic Resource Surveys, available at Plainfield Town Clerk’s office and at town libraries includes information on most pre-1940 structures that bear some resemblance to their original condition:

“Plainfield Community Development Area,” 1980,

“Central Village Community Development Area,” 1980,

“Moosup Community Development Area,” 1980,

“Wauregan,” 1978 (nomination for National Register of Historic Places,)

“Area Between the Villages,” 1987

* Plainfield Historical Society Collection:

The collection includes photographs and secondary materials on a variety of subjects.  For access, contact Plainfield Historical Society, P.O. Box 104, Central Village, CT 06332

* More difficult to access but of interest are these maps:

“Baldwin’s Map of Plainfield CT,” 1892

* Also, county maps:

Lester, William, Jr., Map of New London and Windham Counties in CT, 1833

Gray, O.W. Atlas of Windham and Tolland Counties, C.G Keeney, Hartford, 1869

Woodford, E.M. Map of Windham County CT, Philadelphia, 1856

OTHER LINKS OF LOCAL INTEREST

NARA: National Archives and Records Administration – access to national records (an educational site)

CONSULS: The Connecticut State University Library System, all locations including ECSU library.  Fifty-three Plainfield documents, 1828-2002, and census data from 1790 to 1810 available for in-library use.

Connecticut History Online: database of Connecticut historical images and catalog of CHO museum and library collections
Connecticut Historical Society: list of collections, genealogical reference materials, on-line exhibits.
CT State Library: sources of information on Connecticut's history.
Archives & Special Collections: at the Thomas J. Dodd Research Center (site map to electronic resources to CT Historical Preservation Collection to Plainfield,) lists historic and architectural surveys and archaeological surveys done in Plainfield.  Available at the Center.

MAGIC: Map and Geographic Information Center – historical scanned map collection from UCONN Library, includes an 1850 map of Plainfield.

QSHC: information about Quinebaug-Shetucket Heritage Corridor, Inc. and the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers National Heritage Corridor – includes annual Walking WeekendS information, other publications.

RESOURCES FOR GENEALOGICAL RESEARCH IN PLAINFIELD, CT

Town Hall

8 Community Ave.

Plainfield, CT 06374            Town Clerk’s Phone # (860) 230-3010

The Town Clerk has Vital Records (Birth, Marriages & Deaths) from 1699 up to the current time.  Also, Land Records (Deed), Sexton (Burial) Records, & the Hale Collection of Cemetery Records.                    

Probate Office

8 Community Ave.

Plainfield, CT 06374                   Phone # (860) 230-3031

Probate Records from May 1747 to the present time. Before that they were in  Hartford & New London May 1666 to Oct. 1719 then Windham, Oct. 1719 to May1747.   The following towns are or have been included within the Plainfield Probate District: 

            Brooklyn - May 1786 to June 4, 1833

            Canterbury - May 1747 to May 27, 1835

            Killingly - May 1747 to June 4, 1830

            Plainfield - May 1747 to date

            Pomfret - May 1747 to May 1752

            Sterling - May 1794 to June 17, 1852

            Voluntown May 1747 to June 4, 1830

Website- Town of Plainfield

The Plainfield Public Library
39 Railroad Ave.
Plainfield, CT 06374                     Phone # (860) 564-4407

They have the Plainfield/Moosup Journal Newspaper on film from 1900 to 1977 as well as local genealogy & history books.

The Killingly Historical Society

196 Main ST , P.O. Box 6000
Danielson, CT 06239                    Phone # (860) 779-7250

                                                   Hours: Wed. &   Sat. 10am to 4pm

Website - Killingly Historical Society

They have the largest collection of genealogical information in Northeastern CT for Windham County.  We are also the annex for the French Canadian Genealogical Society in CT. 

 

Items of specific interest to Plainfield researchers:

Plainfield Births, Marriages & Deaths on microfilm 1699 to 1905

Denison Funeral Home Records 1888-1929

St. Paul’s Church Records 1856-1873

Plainfield Congregational Church Records 1747-1832

Moosup Methodist Church Records 1842-1932

Union Baptist Church Records 1792-1988

Hale Collection of Cemetery Records

Dougherty Brothers Funeral Home Records 1929-1983

History of Plainfield Academy by Rev. R. Burleigh, taken from the Windham County

        Transcript 1873-74

Northeastern Conn. Town Meeting Records Vol. 1 has excerpts from the Plainfield town

        meeting records 1720-1820

Marriages & Deaths from Providence, RI Newspapers 1768-1832

Index to Plainfield Probate that was given to the State Library in Hartford 1747-1854

Manuel Kinne’s Death Records 1799-1818

Miscellaneous Items from Land Records

Unidentified Epitaphs in the Old Plainfield Cemetery  by Sarah Dorrance

Rev. Henry Robinson’s Notes  18^th & 19^th century

Packerville Baptist Church Records 1828-1927

 Full Circle, A Directory of Native & African Americans in Windham County and Vicinity, 1650-1900 by Marcella Pasay
Windham County, CT County Court Records Vol 1, 1726-1732 by Marcella Pasay
Windham County, CT County Court Records Vol. 2, 1732-1736 by Marcella Pasay
Family Secrets, 18^th & 19^th Century Birth Records Found in the Windham County, CT
County Court Records & Files at the Connecticut State Library Archives, Hartford, CT by Marcella Pasay
Bayles History of Windham County (indexed)
Beers Genealogical & Biographical Records of Tolland & Windham Counties (indexed)
Larned’s History of Windham County
Lincoln’s 2 volume History of Windham County (Vol. 2 indexed)
Windham County Census Records 1790 - 1930
The Connecticut State Library
231 Capitol Ave.
Hartford, CT 06106                  Phone # (860) 757-6580
website- CT State Library

They have an extensive collection of published and archival material on the history & genealogy of CT and its people.  State-wide indexes to the Barbour Collection of Vital Records, Hale Collection of Gravestones, Newspaper Marriages & Deaths, Probate, church records, family records and much more. 

Plainfield Manuscripts at the State Library -

1^st Congregational Church 1747-1899 On Microfilm

Central Village Congregational Church 1846-1941 On Microfilm

Daniel Hubbard to William Robinson-Deed Feb. 16, 1787   974.62, L89h mv

Deed from Maj. Fitch to Richard Adams- May 1, 1705   974.61, W72, mv

Kennedy, Robert & John, day book (3 vols.) 1794-99, 1796-97   974.62, P6972k, mv

Moosup Methodist Episcopal Church 1842-1932  On Microfilm (cannot read it)

Moosup Union Baptist Church 1792-1931  On Microfilm
Morgan & Bacon papers-deeds, estate papers, etc. (257 docs.) 1729-1875,
     974.62, C155m, mv     

Packerville Baptist Church 1828-1928  On Microfilm
Plainfield Academy (from Transcript-Historical notes) 1 pamphlet 1873-74,
     974.62, qP699p, mv

Plainfield Historical Society Records 1820-1933  Archives, RG 112

Rev. War Records-extracts 1774-1784  973.3, fR326p, mv

Robert Kennedy’s notebook: trip to California 1850    920, K386, mv
Spaulding, Ezekiel, Rev. War orderly book (2st Reg. 12^th Co.) 1 Vol. 1762-1776,
     973.26, c76, vault 1

Town Meetings  1 Vol.  1699-1748   974.62, P69tm, mv

Wauregan Baptist Church 1856-1941  On Microfilm

Genealogy links:

 Plainfield and other CT towns 

 French Canadian Genealogical Society of CT

  Windham County, CT

               You will find births, marriages & deaths, cemetery

               records, newspapers, queries, and you can also go to the Plainfield

               page and many good links from there.

  Connecticut Historical Society -

                list of collections, genealogical reference materials, on-line exhibits

  New London County

                links to towns including Griswold, Voluntown, etc.

  Finnish-American Historical Society

                 Finnish- American grave markers and cemeteries in the U.S. including many in
                 Windham and New London Counties, CT

  Public records of the Colony of Connecticut

                 1636-1776 - a digital collection by the staff of the University of Connecticut
                  Libraries

There are more than two dozen family, neighborhood, and community cemeteries in the town of Plainfield.   For cemetery restoration and preservation help, visit the Connecticut Gravestone Network, www.ctgravestones.com

The Charles R. Hale Cemetery Collection, a circa 1934 project of the WPA, lists the following cemeteries: 

1. Bennett

2. Cornell-Munroe

3. Randall Farm

4. North Davis Farm

5. South Davis Farm

6. Gallup

7. One stone near Flat Rock

8. Neighborhood lot

9. Parke

10. Spalding

11. Hammett

12. Small

13. Hopkins

14. Rood

15. Joseph Roode Farm

16. Union

17. All Hallows

18. Evergreen

19. Old Plainfield

20. New Plainfield

21. St. John’s

22. Locke Farm

23. Briggs

24. Kinney

Additional cemeteries:

25. Packerville (front section is in Plainfield)

26. Negro – little physical evidence remaining

27. Poorhouse – no physical evidence remaining

28. Indian – no physical evidence remaining

29. Town Farm – marker in Evergreen Cemetery

30. Tillinghast Memorial (front section of Evergreen Cemetery)

The Plainfield Plan of Conservation and Development includes a map of the approximate location of the cemeteries.  Many are on PRIVATE LAND.

 Old Plainfield Cemetery

The first burying ground, today’s Old Plainfield Cemetery on Cemetery Road, was established circa 1710.  In that year, town records indicate that “the place which has been for several years improved by the inhabitants for the burial of the dead shall abide and remain for that use.”

The cemetery “is on a barren hilltop open to wind and sunshine where kindly nature atones for man’s neglect, covering the hillside with blue of violets in spring and with the purple and gold of aster and broom sedge in autumn, the memorials of native stone seeming as much of nature as…outcropping ledges and as harmonious in color.”” (Description by Plainfield resident, Sarah Dorrance in her 1921 manuscript, “The Burial Places of the Town of Plainfield, Conn.”)

Plainfield’s earliest settlers are here along with veterans of the French and Indian War and the American Revolution.  There are judges and other town officials, Congregational ministers and women who died in childbirth or from fireplace-related burns

For information about stone carvers, see James Slater’s “The Colonial Burying Grounds of Eastern Connecticut and the Men Who Made Them,” 1987.