If you're interested in looking at the historical images that your Connecticut ancestors saw when they looked out their windows, take a look at the wonderful web site at _www.cthistoryonline.org_ (http://www.cthistoryonline.org) . There is a helpful tutorial that will speed your search if you are not familiar with the site. Click on Search and choose among the ways you wish to search, all the words, none of the words, etc., like Google. If you choose to search on a town, a surname, an object or animal (stream, factory, horse), or whatever you can think of you'll find something relevant. I put in Hubbell a while back and discovered my grandfather's photos from the late 1800s and I never had any idea they were there. Among them were some of the Hawkins of Oxford, etc. that were meaningful to me. You can find something that will make a connection for you if you can think of the right search term! Carol **************Plan your next getaway with AOL Travel. Check out Today's Hot 5 Travel Deals! (http://travel.aol.com/discount-travel?ncid=emlcntustrav00000001)

I was looking at that site this morning. I had never seen it before. I was a little confused at first, then I tried the Site Index. Good background reading for those searching for missing relatives, and everyone else. Connecticut is so small that it was easy for families to move anywhere to a new job. What I have learned about the history of Connecticut in the different eras has helped me find me more than one missing person. For those of you who live in large states, all our towns run together. There are no unincorporated spaces. For instance, from the 1600's through the 1800, shipping and boat travel were major industries in the state. Boat were small enough to go up the Connecticut River to Hartford and even further up. Norwich in eastern Connecticut is on a river and was accessible by boat. Travel by land was not difficult either. The state is so small that a town 25 or 30 miles is thought to be "a long distance" away. Look at the development of towns in Connecticut, and you will see how what we would call "suburban sprawl" filled in the distance between the early towns of the 1600's. The growing population need land to live on. The entrepreneurial spirit of our ancestor built this county. After all they were coming from Europe where towns had already existed for centuries to a place where there was nothing but trees. At least in comparison to the lifestyle they had in Europe. One thing I have learned in 10 years of tracing my ancestors, is their livens were woven into the growth and expansion of this country. One person didn't migrate from one place to another. Groups of people did, over a period of time, wagon train by wagon train. one after the other. And the same thing happened here in CT. Groups of people moved to new areas and created new towns. Where 1 or 2 went, others were sure to follow - friends, relatives, neighbors. History is the story of the lives of people who lived in the past. They did what we read about. Happy Hunting, Marilyn CT Sharing creates connections; connections grow family trees. --- On Wed, 10/29/08, HubbellGen@aol.com <HubbellGen@aol.com> wrote: > From: HubbellGen@aol.com <HubbellGen@aol.com> > Subject: [CT] Great CT Resource > To: GenConnecticut@rootsweb.com > Date: Wednesday, October 29, 2008, 11:02 PM > If you're interested in looking at the historical images > that your > Connecticut ancestors saw when they looked out their > windows, take a look at the > wonderful web site at _www.cthistoryonline.org_ > (http://www.cthistoryonline.org) . > There is a helpful tutorial that will speed your search if > you are not > familiar with the site. Click on Search and choose among > the ways you wish to > search, all the words, none of the words, etc., like > Google. If you choose to > search on a town, a surname, an object or animal (stream, > factory, horse), or > whatever you can think of you'll find something > relevant. I put in Hubbell a > while back and discovered my grandfather's photos from > the late 1800s and I > never had any idea they were there. Among them were some > of the Hawkins of > Oxford, etc. that were meaningful to me. You can find > something that will make a > connection for you if you can think of the right search > term! >