Land records for Hebron, Connecticut begin in the eighteenth century. Very early warranties are entirely handwritten in nearly illegible cursive script on aged manuscript paper. When handwriting can be read, the property descriptions read like riddles more like than legal documents. They describe boundaries starting at long gone trees, rock piles, and even the distance a cow can run. The earliest record I was confident referred to land containing 180 Old Colchester Road was dated December 20, 1855.1 The boundary description references neighboring landowners, but does list the total acreage as 114 with “a dwelling home, barn and other buildings.” The vague description, however, was not enough for me to approximate the property on a map. Fredrick Bissell, whose family would remain prominent farmers further up the road on what is now Route 85,2 sold the lot to William Jones and Jonathan Page. The Page family from here fades from the history of our land, but the Jones remain important figures for thirty-four years.
William Jones, five years later in 1860,3 bought three quarters of an acre which would be included in the property for several generations as a horse barn. This implies that the farm venture had been successful and William was looking to expand his holdings. He bought this land without Jonathan Page, who apparently was no longer a partner in the land at this point.
Sixteen years later in 1871 William sold 83 acres of the property to a relative, C. Maria Jones with the caveat that the horse barn was not included in the sale. 4 C. Maria Jones continued to expand her holdings, buying the land around Gilbert’s farm and increasing her total holdings by 80 acres by 1874.5 She finally secured the horse barn from William in 1889, completing the parcel.6
Next: A Bronx Tale: 1902-1984
The 180 OCR Project 