Editing Woodbury, Connecticut (section)

==History==
The founders of Woodbury came from [[Stratford, Connecticut]], in the early 1670s. Ancient Woodbury consisted of the present towns of Woodbury, [[Southbury, Connecticut|Southbury]], [[Roxbury, Connecticut|Roxbury]], [[Bethlehem, Connecticut|Bethlehem]], most of [[Washington, Connecticut|Washington]] and parts of [[Middlebury, Connecticut|Middlebury]] and [[Oxford, Connecticut|Oxford]].

Two groups of settlers came from Stratford. The first, religious dissidents unhappy with the church in Stratford, was led by Woodbury's first minister, the Reverend Zachariah Walker. The second, led by Deacon Samuel Sherman, had been given approval by the general court to purchase land from local Native Americans in order to establish a new settlement. Together, fifteen families (about fifty people), arrived in ancient Woodbury, known as "Pomperaug Plantation", early in 1673.

In 1673, these original settlers drew up an agreement called the "Fundamental Articles", which proclaimed that as many settlers as could be accommodated would be welcomed to the new settlement. The Fundamental Articles stated that expenses of establishing the settlement would be shared by its inhabitants, and that no one was to be given more than twenty-five or less than ten acres of land. Other sections of the articles provided for common land and for land saved to be divided up for future inhabitants of the settlement.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.org/details/historyofancient02coth|title=History of ancient Woodbury, Connecticut, from the first Indian deed in 1659 ... including the present towns of Washington, Southbury, Bethlem, Roxbury, and a part of Oxford and Middlebury|first=William|last=Cothren|date=November 30, 1854|publisher=Waterbury, Conn., Bronson Brothers|accessdate=November 30, 2022|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

The settlement was named Woodbury, which means "dwelling place in the woods", and was first recognized as a town in 1674. Deacon and captain John Minor was the first leader of the community during Woodbury's early years. Minor was the first town clerk and, along with Lieutenant Joseph Judson, served as the first deputy to the [[Connecticut General Assembly|Connecticut General Court]] from the town of Woodbury. On October 9, 1751, the town of Woodbury was transferred from [[Fairfield County, Connecticut|Fairfield County]] at the formation of Litchfield County.

On March 25, 1783, a meeting of ten [[Episcopal Church (United States)|Episcopal]] clergy in Woodbury elected [[Samuel Seabury]] the first American Episcopal bishop, the second [[presiding bishop]] of the Episcopal Church in the United States, and the first [[Episcopal Diocese of Connecticut|bishop of Connecticut]].

===The Woodbury Songbook===
[[File:Cover Noten Woodbury-Songbook Hanns-Eisler LWS1731.jpg|thumb|120px|right|Cover of a library copy of the ''Woodbury Songbook'' (which contains a spelling error of Woodbury's name)]]
The German composer [[Hanns Eisler]], who had taken asylum in the United States after fleeing from the Nazi rule in Germany, spent three and a half months (from June 15 to September 30, 1941) in Woodbury as the guest of another German refugee, Joachim Schumacher, and his wife Sylvia. Joachim taught classes in art history, musicology, philosophy, and other subjects at the [[Westover School]] in [[Middlebury, Connecticut|Middlebury]]. Sylvia taught piano at Westover School and privately in her home.<ref>''Westover School - Giving Girls a Place of Their Own'', Laurie Lisle, [[Wesleyan University Press]], Middletown, CT (2009), page 106</ref> Joachim enticed Eisler to compose 20 songs on 16 US children's verses or [[nursery rhyme]]s and four texts in the German language by [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], [[Eduard Mörike]] and [[Ignazio Silone]]. The songs were composed for female voices and suitable for a school chorus.<ref name="Songbook-booklet" /> This was published as ''The Woodbury Songbook'', or, in German, ''Das Woodbury Liederbüchlein'' with the lyrics in English and German, unfortunately with a wrong spelling of Woodbury (with two "r"s). The German translations are by [[Wieland Herzfelde]].<ref name="Songbook-Noten" />