Hayward’s New England Gazetteer (1839) page 501
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NEW ENGLAND GAZETTEER.

Massachusetts; E. by Rhode Isl-
and; S. by the county of New
London, and W. by Jolland county.
It contains an area of about 620
square miles. Population, 1810,
28,611; 1820,81,634; 1S30, 27,077.
Population to a square mile, 44.
In 1837, there were 26,017 sheep
in Windham county.

Windham, Ct.

Windham co. The territory of
this town, Mansfield and Canter-
bury, was given by Joshua, a son of
Uncas, the celebrated Mohegan
sachem, to John Mason, James
Fitch and others, in the year 1675.

“ Lieut. John Cates, a pious pu-
ritan, who served in the wars in
England, holding his commission
under Cromwell, when Charles II.
came to the throne, fled to this
country for safety. He landed first
in Virginia, where he procured a
negro servant-to attend him. But
when advertisements and pursuers
were spread through this country, to
apprehend the adherents of the Pro-
tector, he left Virginia,came to New
York, and from thence to Nor-
wich. Still feeling that he should
be securer in a more retired place,
he came to this new plantation, dug
the first cellar, and with his servant,
raised in Windham the first Eng-
lish habitation, in the spring of
1689. The settlers, rapidly increas-
ing, petitioned the general court,
and obtained a grant of town privi-
leges in May, 1692. It was made
a county town in May, 1726.”

Windham is bounded N. by the
towns of Hampton, Chaplin and
Mansfield; E. by Franklin and
Lisbon, and W. by Lebanon and
Columbia. It contains an area of
about
8 by 6 miles. It has an
uneven surface, with a tolerable
soil.

The following is a copy of the
inscription on Lieutenant Cates’
monument, in the village burying
ground.    [

In

memory of
Mr. John Cates.

He was a gentleman born
in England,
and the first setteller in the
Town of Windham.

By his last
Will and Testament,
he gave a
generous Legacy
to ye first
Church of Christ in
Windham,

. in plate, and a generous <
Legacy in Land
for ye support of ye Poor,
and another
• Legacy for ye support
of ye School
in said town for ever.

He died
in Windham,

July ye 16th, A. D.

1697.

Since the removal of the count}'
courts from this place to Brooklyn,
and the establishment of the vil-
lage of Willimantic, the ancient
village of Windham has somewhat
declined in its trade and population.
It is pleasantly located, compactly
and neatly built, and contains the
charm of antiquity, in as great per-
fection as can probably be found in
New England. This village is 80
miles E. from Hartford, 14 N. by
W. from Norwich, 44 W. S. W.
from Providence, R. I., and 12 S.
W. from Brooklyn. Population of
the town, 1820,2,489; 1830,2,812.

The Borough of Willimantic
is 3 miles W. from Windham vil-
lage. It is well situated on Willi-
mantic river: it is built principally
on one street, and contains some
very handsome buildings. In this
village are six cotton mills, con-
taining 13,000 spindles; a paper
mill and a satinet factory. This
flourishing village has grown up
in the course of a few years. The
population of this borough, in 1837,
was
2,000.

Willimantic River rises in the
county of Tolland, and with the






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