Tag: Hartford CT

Wikipedia says: Hartford is the capital city of the U.S. state of Connecticut. It was the seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960.

Hartford was founded in 1635 and is among the oldest cities in the United States. It is home to the country’s oldest public art museum (Wadsworth Atheneum), the oldest publicly funded park (Bushnell Park), the oldest continuously published newspaper (the Hartford Courant), and the second-oldest secondary school (Hartford Public High School). It is also home to the Mark Twain House, where the author wrote his most famous works and raised his family, among other historically significant sites. Mark Twain wrote in 1868, “Of all the beautiful towns it has been my fortune to see this is the chief.”

Hartford was the richest city in the United States for several decades following the American Civil War.

Political turmoil

On December 15, 1814, delegates from the five New England states (Maine was still part of Massachusetts at that time) gathered at the Hartford Convention to discuss New England’s possible secession from the United States. During the early 19th century, the Hartford area was a center of abolitionist activity, and the most famous abolitionist family was the Beechers. The Reverend Lyman Beecher was an important Congregational minister known for his anti-slavery sermons. His daughter Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom’s Cabin; her brother Henry Ward Beecher was a noted clergyman who vehemently opposed slavery and supported the temperance movement and women’s suffrage. The Stowes’ sister Isabella Beecher Hooker was a leading member of the women’s rights movement.

In 1860, Hartford was the site of the first “Wide Awakes”, abolitionist supporters of Abraham Lincoln. These supporters organized torch-light parades that were both political and social events, often including fireworks and music, in celebration of Lincoln’s visit to the city. This type of event caught on and eventually became a staple of mid-to-late 19th-century campaigning.