Nichols, Connecticut

The Golden Hill Paugussett Indian Nation is a Connecticut state-recognized tribe, descendants of the Paugussett (also Paugusset) Nation of Native Americans, who occupied much of western Connecticut prior to the arrival of Europeans.{{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 }}{{cite book |first=Charles W. |last=Brilvitch |title=A History of Connecticut's Golden Hill Paugussett Tribe |year=2007 |publisher=The History Press | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KSzS0H0IU4kC |isbn=978-1-59629-296-3 |pages=11–12}} While state-recognized, they have been denied federal recognition.{{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 }} The tribe lives in Colchester, Connecticut, where it has a {{convert|106|acre|km2|adj=on}} reservation,{{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/ |agency=Associated Press |publisher=Boston Globe |date=2008-08-06 |access-date=2010-08-07 }} and also has a {{convert|1/4|acre|km2|adj=on}}{{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}} reservation in Nichols, which is considered to be the oldest continuing reservation in Connecticut and the smallest in the US.

{{Main|History of Trumbull, Connecticut}}

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 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.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&dq=judson+1638+history+stratford+ct&pg=PA109]

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.[https://books.google.com/books?id=0-_1H7cqDdoC&dq=farm+highway+orcutt+stratford&pg=PA1049 Orcut (1886), History, Vol. II], p. 1039

File:Clark's 1867 Map Nichol's Farms.JPG

Mischa Hill is located in the geographic center of Nichols. This area was first called Misha Hill or Lt. Joseph Judson's Farm in the land records. It was the first area within Trumbull to be settled due to its already cleared planting fields, fertile soil, spring-fed ponds, meadows and its close proximity to the main village, only three miles away.

Lt. Joseph Judson, Sgt. Jeremiah Judson, and John Curtiss established farms on Mischa Hill before 1658, the year they were elected freeman (Colonial) by the legislature of the Connecticut Colony. To be elected as a freeman, at this time, an individual had to own real property in his own name.Orcutt, Vol. II, p. 109Colonial Records of Connecticut, May 20, 1658, Vol. 1, p. 315

Other early landowners included; Benjamin Beach, William Beardsley, Richard Booth, Zachariah Bostick, John Brinsmaid, John Curtiss, Benjamin Curtiss, Joseph Curtiss, Captain William Curtiss, Ebenezer Curtiss, Zachariah Curtiss, Joseph Fairchild, Elder Philip Groves, Joseph Hawley (Captain), Samuel Hawley, Ephraim Hawley, John Hurd, Lt. Joseph Judson, Jeremiah Judson, Isaac Judson, Isaac Nichols, Caleb Nichols, Abraham Nichols, Samuel Uffoot and Reverend Zachariah Walker.Stratford Land Records, Vol. 2', p. 82

In the 1660s, Lt. Joseph Judson began a disagreement with the majority of elders in town as he and others tried to introduce the half way covenant. In 1671, Judson obtained permission from Governor John Winthrop, Jr. to remove with other families and settle a new town called Woodbury. Judson and the other Woodbury founders, either sold, gifted or abandoned their farms in Nichols.William Cothren, History of Ancient Woodbury Connecticut From the First Indian Deed 1659 to 1872, 1872, Vol. 2 p. 916

In 1688, John Curtiss removed to Woodbury, giving his entire farm on Mischa Hill to his son Benjamin, who had married Joseph Judson's daughter.Stratford Land Records, Vol. 2, p. 70 Shortly after Judson and the others had abandoned their farms in Nichols to remove to Woodbury in 1673, the area was commonly referred to as Old Farm, Old Farms and Judson's Farm's in the Stratford land records.

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}}.[https://books.google.com/books?id=s_wnAQAAMAAJ&dq=nichols+farms%2C+connecticut&pg=PA737 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 However, none of these claims can be substantiated by the public land records.

According to Walter Nicholls, who wrote the History of the Nichols family in 1909, Abraham did not accompany his father to Woodbury in 1673, but remained in Trumbull to oversee the plantation. Since Abraham was only eleven in 1673 (born 1662), it is likely that he removed to Woodbury with his family, and later returned to Trumbull between 1696 and 1700 as an adult.Orcutt, Vol. 2 p. 1252 According to the public land records, Nichols owned {{convert|285|acre|km2}} of land, purchased between 1696 and 1700, of which {{convert|55|acre|km2}} remains as open space today.

The last Nichols to reside on the farm was Florence, who married George Woods in 1903. Soon after their deaths in 1973 and 1972 respectively, the property was donated to the Nichols Methodist Church, as Florence and George Woods had bequeathed. The Town of Trumbull purchased the land from the church in 1974. This tract was then known as the Woods Estate, and is now the home of the Trumbull Historical Society.[http://www.trumbullhistory.org/written/cwh.shtml Trumbull Historical Society website retrieved 2011 03-19] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121003063105/http://www.trumbullhistory.org/written/cwh.shtml |date=2012-10-03 }}

Nichols is named for the family that maintained a large farm in its geographic center for almost three hundred years. In May 1725, the northwest farmers of Stratford petitioned the Colony of Connecticut to form their own village. The farmers wished to call their new Parish Nichol's Farms. The legislature approved their new village in October 1725, but named the new parish Unity. Unity became a part of North Stratford in 1744 when it merged with the parish of Long Hill, Trumbull, which had been founded in 1740. When it incorporated in 1797, the Nichols village became a school and taxing district as a part of the Town of Trumbull.[https://archive.org/stream/publicrecordsofc006conn#page/568/mode/2up The Public Records of the Colony of Connecticut], volume 6, p. 568

The Nichols Green or N.I.A. Green, is owned and maintained by a private trust called the [http://www.niatrumbull.org/ Nichols Improvement Association], established in 1889 to beautify and improve the village.

• A memorial to those residents who fought in World Wars I and II is located on the south end of the green.
• An 80' tall pine flagpole brought through the Panama Canal from Washington was erected on the green in 1932. This pine pole replaced an earlier 115' chestnut flagpole erected on July 4, 1892 that carried a 25' by 15' flag and was believed by some to be the highest flag flown in the state at the time.
• Another landmark near the green is the Bunny Fountain. The fountain was a gift from the Peet family to the citizens of Nichols in 1895. Originally installed at the intersection of Huntington Turnpike and Shelton Road, it was moved to the Turnpike and Unity Road in 1931. In the spring of 1971, it was restored and moved to its present location. It was restored again in 1992.
• 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.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&dq=fairchild+paper+mill+trumbull+ct&pg=PA1060]
• A piece of the original 1940 Merritt Parkway bridge, which was built over Huntington Turnpike, is installed on the green. The concrete ornament is a likeness of the town of Trumbull official seal. The bridge was demolished in 1979 when the interchange was updated.

{{Main|Pinewood Lake|Pine Brook Country Club}}

Then called Pine Brook Country Club, Pinewood Lake is notable for having served as the summer rehearsal headquarters of the Group Theatre from New York City.Don Wilmeth, The Cambridge Guide to American Theatre, p. 21 Formed in 1931 by Harold Clurman, Cheryl Crawford and Lee Strasberg, the Group Theatre and had a vision of doing socially responsible works that would raise community consciousness. It was composed of actors, directors, playwrights and producers.The Fervent Years: The Story of the Group Theatre and the Thirties, 1975, p. 184A Gambler's Instinct: The Story of Broadway Producer Cheryl Crawford, p. 52 The Group gathered to rehearse in the countryside every summer during the 1930s of the Great Depression. They spent the summer of 1936 at Pinewood Lake. During this time, they produced works by the most important American playwrights. Their emphasis on realistic dramas changed stage and film forever.

{{Main|Connecticut Route 108}}

The road linking the village of Nichols to Stratford center, three miles (5 km) to the south, was first called the Farm Highway, now called Nichols Avenue or (Route 108). The historic road was laid out or surveyed to the south side of Mischa Hill in Nichols on December 7, 1696. The highway was described as being completed to the south side of Mischa Hill and at Zachariah Curtiss, his land, and at Captain's Farm.

In October 1725, when the Connecticut Colony approved the Parish of Unity, they referred to the Farm Highway as Nickol's Farm's Road.[https://archive.org/stream/publicrecordsofc006conn#page/568/mode/2up Colonial Connecticut Records 1636–1776, Vol. 6 p. 568] The Nichols Avenue portion of Route 108 in Trumbull is the third-oldest documented highway in Connecticut, after the Mohegan Road, Connecticut Route 32 in Norwich (1670) and the King's Highway, or Boston Post Road Route 1 (1673).[http://www.kurumi.com/roads/ct/ct-chrono.html Kurumi Connecticut Roads retrieved on 2008-04-11]{{Clear}}

The Merritt Parkway was built directly through the center of Nichols in the late 1930s displacing a residence and the old Nichols Store, which were razed, and the Trinity Church which was moved a few hundred feet to the north. The large 5' by 6' natural stepping stone was the only item saved from the old Nichols Store and was relocated to the front of the Ephraim Hawley House. In 1979, the original Huntington Turnpike Overpass was demolished and a new bridge was built in its place when the interchange was updated. When the original 1940 overpass was demolished, the cast-iron grills that resembled a trellis with a grapevine were salvaged restored and placed as decorative items on the replacement Huntington Turnpike Underpass. The new bridge is not listed on the NRHP.Images of America Traveling The Merritt Parkway, Larry Larned, Arcadia Publishing, 1998. p. 102

• Dick Allen ( 1939-2017), American poet and former poet laureate of the state of Connecticut.{{cite web|url=http://imagejournal.org/page/artist-of-the-month/dick-allen |title=Image ◊ Artist of the Month ◊ Dick Allen |publisher=Imagejournal.org |date=July 23, 2009 |access-date=February 22, 2011}}
• James Beebe (1717–1785), Reverend Unity Parish from 1747 to 1785, Army Preacher in the French and Indian War and patriot.

Biographical sketches of the graduates of Yale college with annals of the college history, Franklin Bowditch Dexter, Holt, 1896 [https://archive.org/details/biographicalske03dextgoog/page/n36 ]

• Truman Bradley (1826–1900), American Indian from the Schaghticoke tribe.{{cite web|url=http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2002/02-31229.htm |title=FR Doc 02-31229 |publisher=Edocket.access.gpo.gov |access-date=February 22, 2011}}
• Will Geer, (1902–78), actor and folklorist{{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 Waltons' |publisher=Acorn-online.com |date=March 15, 2010 |access-date=February 22, 2011 |url-status=usurped |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 }}
• Robert Hawley, (1729–1799), Captain local militia during American Revolutionary War.
• Carolyn Hax (b. 1966), writer and columnist for The Washington Post and the author of the advice column "Tell Me About It".{{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 |work=The New York Times |date=June 26, 1994 |access-date=February 22, 2011}}
• Joseph Judson (1619-1690), early settler, militia officer and elected official, negotiated Long Hill Purchase from the Paugussett Indians.
• Igor Sikorsky (1889–1972), aviation pioneer and helicopter inventor.{{US patent|1848389}}[https://archive.org/details/patentsingenious0000iken/page/24 Ikenson page 24]

Image:Zachariah Curtiss House ca. 1721.JPG|Zachariah Curtiss House c. 1721, ell c. 1800

Image:Peet Barn.JPG|Peet barn ca. 1700 (house demolished)

Image:Joseph Plumb House.JPG|Joseph Plumb House ca. 1780

Image:85 Shelton 1.JPG|Igor Sikorsky home 1928–1934

Image:1896 Huntington 3.JPG|Igor Sikorsky home 1945–1948

Image:1487 Huntington 5.JPG|Igor Sikorsky home 1948–1951

Image:1939 Merritt Parkway Town Seal.JPG|Town Seal from 1940 Merritt Parkway Bridge at Huntington Turnpike now demolished

Image:NIA Flagpole.JPG|Circa 1932 Flag Pole NIA Green

Image:Monument WWI WWII.JPG|Monument to World War Veterans

Image:Bunny Fountain NIA.JPG|N.I.A. Starkweather House and Peet Fountain view from green

Image:Fairchild Mill Grindstone.JPG|Fairchild Mill Grindstone Circa 1826

{{reflist}}

• Trumbull Historical Society, History of Trumbull, Dodrasquicentennial, 1797-1972, 1972
• Reverend Samuel Orcutt, History of the Old Town of Stratford, Connecticut, Fairfield Historical Society, 1886
• Dorothy M. Seely, Tales of Trumbull's Past, Trumbull Historical Society, 1984

• [http://www.niatrumbull.org/ Nichols Improvement Society]
• [http://www.nps.gov/history/NR/ National Register of Historic Places]
• [http://www.ctgenweb.org/county/cofairfield/pages/trumbull/trumbull_index.htm The USGenWeb Project, Fairfield County]

{{Fairfield County, Connecticut}}

{{coord|41.2417|-73.1616|type:city|display=title}}

Category:Trumbull, Connecticut

Category:History of Connecticut

Category:Populated places established in 1725

Category:Colonial architecture in Connecticut

Category:Federal architecture in Connecticut

Category:Greek Revival architecture in Connecticut

Category:1725 establishments in Connecticut

Category:Villages in Fairfield County, Connecticut

Category:Farms on the National Register of Historic Places in Connecticut

Category:National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Connecticut