Front
The area that became Mansfield was included
in land acquired by sixteen residents of
Norwich and nearby towns from Mohegan Indian
chief Joshua, son of Uncas. This tract was
incorporated as the town of Windham in 1692.
At that time the families of Samuel Hide,
Jonathan Hough, and John Royce were living at
Pond Place, later named Mansfield Center.
Partly because of hazards encountered in
crossing the "bad and dangerous" Natchaug
River, differences arose about location of
the meetinghouse. In May, 1702 Joseph Hall,
representing Windham, petitioned the General
Assembly to divide Windham into two towns.BackThis was granted under certain conditions:
the new town must pay arrears of parish taxes
and continue supporting the Windham Church
until Mansfield secured "an able orthodox
minister of the gospel." In May, 1703 the
General Assembly defined the boundaries of
Mansfield.
Following establishment of the First Church
of Christ at Mansfield Center in 1710, the
population grew so rapidly that before long
the town was divided into north and south
parishes, and the Second Congregational
Church of Mansfield was established in 1744.
By 1774
Mansfield had 2,466 inhabitants. The
estimated population in 1974 was 20,000.
Comments 0 comments