Editing Guilford, Connecticut (section)

==History==

Prior to European [[European colonization of the Americas|colonization]], the area that became Guilford was the site of '''Menunkatuck''', a [[Quinnipiac]] village.<ref name="Smith 1877 46–47">{{Cite book|title = The History of Guilford Connecticut|last = Smith|first = Ralph|publisher = J. Munsell|year = 1877|location = Albany, N.Y.|pages = 46–47}}</ref> The Quinnipiac spoke [[Quiripi language|Quiripi]], one of the [[Eastern Algonquian languages|Eastern Algonquian]] branches of the [[Algonquian languages|Algonquian language]] family.

By 1614, the Dutch had surveyed, charted, and established [[New Netherland]], a colonial province, with claimed territories from the [[Delmarva Peninsula]] to [[Cape Cod]]. This included claims over the Quinnipiac territory. However, a lack of any significant Dutch presence in the area gave English settlers an opportunity to settle in the Quinnipiac territory.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.newnetherlandinstitute.org/history-and-heritage/digital-exhibitions/a-tour-of-new-netherland/connecticut |title=A Tour of New Netherland: Connecticut |website=New Netherland Institute |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> Dutch claims over land that included Menunkatuck (and would later include Guilford) remained until the 1674 [[Treaty of Westminster (1674)|Treaty of Westminster]] that ended the [[Third Anglo-Dutch War]].

In June 1637 during the [[Pequot War]], a force of 100 English soldiers and [[Narragansett people|Narragansett]], [[Mohegan]], and [[Montauk people|Montauk]] allies arrived from Long Island in pursuit of the [[Pequot]] grand [[sachem]] [[Sassacus]] near Menunkatuck. At a neck of land known today as Sachems Head, they captured and executed three Pequot sachems before continuing on west in pursuit of Sassacus.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://pequotwar.org/about/ |title=The History of the Pequot War|website=Pequot War |publisher=Mashantucket Pequot Museum & Research Center |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

In 1639, after landing in the plantation of [[New Haven Colony|Quinnipiaic]] (later known as New Haven) via ship from England, a group of 24 English [[Puritan]] families led by Rev. [[Henry Whitfield (minister)|Henry Whitfield]] chose to settle almost 13 miles away near Menukatuck.<ref name="Smith 1877 46–47"/> During their voyage from England, the settlers drafted and signed the [[Plantation Covenant]] on June 1, 1639 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]]). The text of the covenant is memorialized by an engraved pink granite slab at the corner of Old Whitfield and Whitfield streets.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ctinsider.com/news/article/Massive-Guilford-Covenant-carved-in-Stony-Creek-16959444.php |title=Massive Guilford Covenant carved in Stony Creek granite stands test of time |website=CT Insider |publisher=Hearst Connecticut Media |author=Eaton-Robb, Pat |date=28 February 2022 |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> On September 29, 1639 ([[Old Style and New Style dates|O.S.]]), the colonists secured a land grant for their settlement from [[Shaumpishuh]], the female sachem of Menunkatuck.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.masshist.org/object-of-the-month/objects/january-2023 |title=Object of the Month: An Indigenous Deed and Map of Lands in Connecticut (January 2023) |website=Massachusetts Historical Society |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

Guilford was admitted to [[New Haven Colony]] in 1643.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://connecticuthistory.org/towns-page/guilford/ |title=Guilford - Connecticut History  |website=Connecticut History |date=September 13, 2011 |publisher=Connecticut Humanities |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref> In 1664, New Haven Colony, including Guilford, joined [[Connecticut Colony]].

[[File:1838 View from the Green of Guilford, Connecticut.png|thumb|left|1838 view of Guilford from the Green showing (left to right) the Academy, the Congregational Church, and the Town House]]The English settlement originally shared the name Menunkatuck with the Quinnipiac village. On July 6, 1643  (O.S.), records of the General Court session held at New Haven note that Menunkatuck changed its name to “Guilforde,” although no reason for the change was recorded.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/embed/recordsofcolonyp00newh |title=Records of the Colony and Plantation of New Haven from 1638 to 1649 |author=Hoadly, Charles J. |year=1857 |access-date=15 August 2024 |pages=96, 199 |location=Hartford, Conn. |publisher=Case, Tiffany and Company}}</ref> It is assumed that Guilford was named after the town of [[Guildford]], England,<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n145 146]}}</ref> the native home of a share of its first English settlers.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Connecticut Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qoEyAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA332|year=1903|publisher=Connecticut Magazine Company|page=332}}</ref> In early maps of the [[Connecticut Colony]], the town is seen on several maps as "Gilford."

[[File:View of Guilford, Connecticut (2675164389).jpg|thumb|left|1881 bird's eye view of Guilford]]

Guilford is considered by some to have the third largest collection of historic homes in [[New England]], with important buildings from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.<ref>''The Connecticut Nutmegger,'' Connecticut Society of Genealogists (Connecticut Society of Genealogists, 1981).</ref> There are five [[historic house museum]]s, including [[Dudley Farm (Guilford, Connecticut)|Dudley Farm]] and the [[Henry Whitfield House]] (1639), the oldest dwelling house in Connecticut and the oldest stone house built by English settlers in North America. The [[Comfort Starr House]] (1695) is one of the oldest wooden framed private dwellings in Connecticut, and one of the few houses remaining of the original signers who settled Guilford.<ref>{{cite book|isbn=978-1-60354-007-0|title= Connecticut|author=Federal Writers' Project|publisher=Houghton Mifflin Company|year=1938}}</ref>

In June 1781, during the American Revolution, a skirmish was fought on Leete's Island between the Associated Loyalists and local militia under Captain Peter Vail.

[[File:Gilford, Conn. ca. 1900.png|thumb|Guilford, {{circa|1900}}]]