Nancy A Mattison

Discovering Nicholas Ackley: Early Connecticut Settler, 1630-1695 Nancy A Mattison

This genealogy focuses on Nicholas Ackley, born about 1630 most likely in the East Anglia area of England to Puritan parents. He arrived in Hartford, Connecticut about 1650. In 1662, Nicholas was one of 28 young men who agreed to carve a new town out of the wilderness at what became Haddam, Connecticut. Nicholas and Hannah Ackley welcomed 10 children, 5 boys and 5 girls. After Hannah's death in the mid-1680s, Nicholas married the widow Miriam. Less than a decade later, Nicholas Ackley died, on 29 April 1695 in Haddam. Nearly half a millennium later, myths and errors about Nicholas Ackley and his family are splashed over various genealogy sites on the internet. This book details what documented facts exist and what else is most likely to be true, using the norms and customs of the time as a guide. It sets the Ackleys in the context of early Connecticut, providing a richer view of their lives than just names and dates.