STATES AND TERRITORIES.— CONNECTICUT.    35

CONNECTICUT is one of the original thirteen United States, and the most southern of
that division of the country known as the New England States. The territory now constituting
this state was granted to the Earl of Warwick, in 1630, by the Plymouth Company in England,
and by him, in 1631, was assigned to a number of active Puritans, who were on the parlia-
mentary side in the quarrel with Charles I. It was shortly afterwards settled, in part, by
persons from various towns in Massachusetts. A few of the Dutch people of New York also
established one or two small settlements, with the intention of appropriating the whole terri-
tory to themselves. This occasioned disputes, which continued until 1637, when the Pequot
Indians made war upon all New England — an event that united the people for their common
defence, and soon enabled them to overcome their savage assailants. Purchases of large
tracts were made from time to time of the Indian occupants; and, in 1650, the Dutch aban-
doned their pretensions, except to the lands they had actually settled upon. In 1664, Con-
necticut was included in the charter from Charles II., granting the New Netherlands to the
Duke of York; but the attempt to take possession under this authority was resisted by the
local government of Connecticut, as were further encroachments under James II. and King
William. The territory originally comprised two colonies, Connecticut and New Haven;
the former settled by Massachusetts people in 1633, at Windsor, and, in 1635-6, at Hartford
and Wethersfield; the latter by the English in 1638. These were combined into one colony
by virtue of the charter from Charles II., in 1665; which charter formed the basis of the
government until 1818, when the present constitution was established. The state took a very
active and efficient part in the American revolution, furnishing nearly 40,000 soldiers out of
a population of 230,000.

Boundaries and Extent. — This state is bounded north by Massachusetts, east by Rhode
Island, south by Long Island Sound, and west by New York. Situated between 40° 58' and
42° 1' north latitude, and 71° 43' and 72° 37' west longitude. Area, 4674 square miles.

Government. — The executive power is vested in a governor and lieutenant governor, the
latter being also president of the Senate. The legislature, called the General Assembly,
consists of a Senate, of not less than eighteen nor more than twenty-four members, and a
House of Representatives ; most of the towns choosing two members each, and the residue but
one. All state officers are elected annually by the people; and the General Assembly con-
venes once in each year, alternately at Hartford and New Haven. All white male citizens,
twenty-one years of age, resident in the place where voting for six months next preceding,
and having a freehold estate of the value of seven dollars; or having performed regular military

A Gazetteer of the United States of America by John Hayward.

Hartford, CT: Case, Tiffany and Company. 1853. Public domain image