NEWS + STORIES
Windsor and the 250th Anniversary of the Lexington Alarm
The sparks that ignited the American Revolution were already smoldering 250 years ago, in the winter of 1775. Word of the fighting traveled fast to Windsor, thanks in large part to Isaac Bissell, who is now credited as the alarm rider who first brought word of the skirmish to Hartford.
Our Collections Are Now Available Online!
Windsor Historical Society’s archival and museum collections are now publicly available online! You can now search or browse through images and descriptions of many of our photos, archival documents, and museum objects from home.
Nancy and Toney, Part 2
As the Revolutionary War reached its end, Nancy Toney and her father Anthony went to New York City, one of the last British strongholds left in the colonies. There they were supposed to be safe until the British could send them to Nova Scotia in the fall of 1783. Unfortunately, they were not. Nancy was kidnapped, and she never reunited with her father.
Nancy and Toney, Part 1
Nancy Toney's portrait hangs in Chaffee House, where we talk about her connection to the site, her time in town, and her status as one of the last people enslaved in Connecticut. Recently, new information on Nancy and her family has surfaced. This new knowledge fills in missing years and places much of what we’ve known about Nancy into a new context. This is a story about Nancy, her father Toney, and a bid for freedom.
Windsor Historical Society Announces Leadership Change
October will be an exciting month for Windsor Historical Society as Executive Director Doug Shipman passes the baton to new Executive Director Carrie Taylor. “We knew we had big shoes to fill with Doug’s [...]
“How lucky I was”: Windsor Survives the Hartford Circus Fire
Hartford circus fire aerial, July 1944. Accessed from the Connecticut Digital Archive, July 2024. With this year being the 80th anniversary of the July 6, 1944 Hartford circus fire, we wanted to [...]