Research for the 1994 Haddam "Frontier
Days" play led me to the city clerk's book for 1901-02, the years of
the all-women governing body--and I was hooked on Haddam history.
Eventually I read--and typed voluminous notes for my son David--from
all the books, starting with 1895 up to 1994. Fun--but not easy reading
because of handwriting (ornate, plain, faded, typed), sometimes
original word spellings, omitted words, and often a complete lack of
punctuation, plus capital letters any which way, plus my eyesight
problem.
Throughout the books pages, quotation marks indicate the exact words
used by the clerk of judge in the entries, with no corrections or
changes on my part.
The most complete history of Haddam, its
settlers, problems, development, and important events, was written by
Dora Brown--"Haddam's Hundred," 1869-1969. That book is out of print,
so a very brief summary is included here.
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Quite a few of the civil and criminal
cases seem humorous to us today, but they were filed in all
seriousness. If a relative--or you!--should appear herein, please
accept that you are a part of Haddam's history and appreciate that
fact. In actuality, entries were usually copied because they were
unusual, funny--or had names I recognized.
The final section, from micro-film at the Washington Historical Museum,
has tidbits of information. If someone wants to do another book, use
those old newspapers as the source--they're habit-forming. Since I
couldn't read them, my "research assistant" was Jeaane Arbuthnot, who
strained both her eyes and her back for me.
Dates are given for almost everything included here, should someone
want to check the original books; where relevant, names were used--at
times what was done was more important than who did it.
Hope you enjoy this material as much as I(not a native Haddamite) did.
Vivian Kolars, Author
(Editors Note: Vivian Kolars passed away in November 2, 2001.)
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