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About the Town of North Branford
Connecticut (CT)
06471

North Branford is a town in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States.

Real Estate in North Branford, CT:

About North Branford, CT:

In 1638, soon after Theophilus Eaton and John Davenport had purchased from Momaguin, the Indian Sachem at Quinnipiac, all the land that would become the New Haven colony, Montowese approached them and offered to sell them the area called Totoket. Montowese was the leader of a small tribe (only 10 braves) and was eager for English protection from the raiding Mohegans. The area of Totoket (bounded on the south by Long Island Sound, on the west by Stony River (Farm River) and Great Pond (Lake Saltonstall), on the east by Guilford, and on the north ten miles from the Sound) was bought for twelve coats made in the English fashion. This would become Branford including what is now North Branford.

After an earlier unsuccessful attempt to attract settlers, in 1643, when Eaton was called upon to settle a dispute among the people of Wethersfield about who should be allowed to vote in Society matters, the area was offered to Matthew Swain and his followers. For £15 the Wethersfield band was granted the right to settle Totoket under the jurisdiction of the New Haven Colony. A year later they arrived with all their belongings, began to clear the land and build their homes. They also employed their first minister, John Sherman.

The population of the little settlement doubled in 1645 when the Rev. Abraham Pierson and a group of colonists, aggrieved that their town of Southhampton on Long Island had put itself under the jurisdiction of the Connecticut Colony based in Hartford and allowed non-church members to vote, moved to Branford. The Rev. Mr. Pierson became the first regular minister and served for 21 years while the town grew and prospered. It is believed that the name of Branford is derived from Brentford located west of London, the native town of some of the colonists.

In 1665, Connecticut Colony and New Haven Colony were united under the charter from King Charles II. The Rev. Mr. Pierson, upset with the idea that non-church members would be allowed to vote in Parish matters, gathered his group of like believers, pulled up stakes and left Branford to move west and found the town that would become Newark, New Jersey. This exodus left Branford with a depleted population and no regular minister. Gradually, though, the town was repopulated and in 1687, the colonists successfully petitioned the General Court for the liberty to embody themselves into a church. The Reverend Samuel Russell accepted the invitation to become their minister and settled with them on Sept. 12, 1687 to serve a ministry that lasted 43 years.

The third division of land took place in 1692. Second and third generation colonists needed more farmland, so the limits of the town stretched north, taking in the lands around the two ponds (Cedar and Linsley Lakes), the Bare Plain area, and along the Stony River (Farm River) almost to what is now Northford. At first temporary shelters were built while the land was cleared and farmed but the farmers of these northern lands would be reluctant to settle away from the amenities of town life, especially in the winter.

Tradition says that the first permanent home built within the bounds of modern day North Branford was one built by Captain Jonathan Rose in Hopyard Plains. If this is true, the house is no longer in existence, but there is one early house built by a Rose on Valley Road in the approximate location and Rose descendants still own land in the area. The oldest house still in existence is believed to be the house at Bare Plains built in 1699 by John Linsley for his grandson, John, who married Mary Harrison. The house was originally a saltbox with four main rooms surrounding a large fieldstone chimney, but it has been expanded and renovated as the families grew and prospered.

The population continued to increase and in 1704, the fourth division occurred. Fourteen more allotments were laid out to include most of the land within the town's limits. An additional 200-acre piece in the farthest northwest corner had been allotted in 1694 to Thomas Mulliner, son of the Thomas Mulliner who had staked his claim to the point of land now called Branford Point prior to 1643 and proved to be the village blacksheep. This allotment settled all Mulliner claims to land, houses, etc. within the township.

Settlement first took place on the land that was easiest to clear and along the river banks where dams could be built to set up mills. Josiah Rogers, who first settled near Linsley Lake, moved early in the 18th century to build a saw and grist mill on the Farm River (by Mill Road). In 1707, Joseph and Isaac Foote built a sawmill further north on the river (at Old Forest Road). The house Joseph built about 1708 is still standing. Even further north on the river in Fourth Divisions lands an earlier house and barn built by Benjamin Howd are extant (on Sol's Path).

Neighborhoods:

North Branford center
Northford
Totoket

Schools:

Jerome Harrison Elementary School
Totoket Valley Elementary School
North Branford Intermediate School
North Branford High School

Community Information:

*Some content provided by Wikipedia.org

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