Enfield Connecticut

Since its founding in 1683, Enfield has experienced a wealth of changes, including the inception of a Shaker community that made Enfield its home for more than a century, the emergence of an immigrant population, and the rise and fall of its two key industries of carpet and gunpowder. Thompsonville's carpet mill operation grew into a huge industrial complex and became the center of village life, while the gunpowder industry took hold in Hazardville, peaking in prosperity during the Civil War and subsequently declining as the need for wartime products waned. In Enfied, Connecticut, the rich history of this New England town is enlivened by over 200 photographs from the 1880s to the 1950s. Combined with extensively researched, informative captions, the snapshots and postcards in this collection enrich our understanding of the communities of Enfield. Preserved within these pages are a variety of images of the people who have contributed to the town's unique character. View rare shapshots of Enfield's founding families as well as its immigrant workers, and learn about the influence that the peaceful Shaker community had on the area, both in terms of fellowship and craftmanship.

Thomas Welles (ca. 1590-1660), son of Robert and Alice Welles, was born in Stourton, Whichford, Warwickshire, England, and died in Wethersfield, Connecticut. He married (1) Alice Tomes (b. before 1593), daughter of John Tomes and Ellen (Gunne) Phelps, 1615 in Long Marston, Gloucestershire. She was born in Long Marston, and died before 1646 in Hartford, Connecticut. They had eight children. He married (2) Elizabeth (Deming) Foote (ca. 1595-1683) ca. 1646. She was the widow of Nathaniel Foote and the sister of John Deming. She had seven children from her previous marriage.