Edward King "An Irishman"
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Many will point to the years directly proceeding the War of Rebellion as the time many of Connecticut's Irish population arrived in the area, fleeing the potato famine in their home country. Lesser known is the fact that several of the earliest settlers of the Connecticut were of Irish decent, among them Windsor's Edward King.
Rev. William Byrne points out in his 1836 book, History of the Catholic Church in the New England States, that the town of Windsor, including the area that was ultimately to become East Windsor and South Windsor, was among the first places that Irish immigrants settled.
(p. 34)
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It is believed that King settled in the Windsor area around 1635. The next time Byrne refers to King is in connection with the records of a Windsor town meeting held on June 27, 1658. According to Byrne, King was the host of another man with a Celtic name, Edward Ryle, "and for this exercise of fraternal charity both became amenable to a peculiar law then on the statute books."
In layman's terms the 1637 law referred to prohibited single young men from living alone, or with a family other than their own, without the consent of the town where he lived. Apparently, this was an attempt by towns "to protect themselves against worthless characters who might sow the seeds of vice and crime, and become burdens on the towns." Those in violation of the law were fined 20 shillings a week. Both King and Ryle were cited and had until October 1st to come into compliance or be fined. (p. 35)
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Historian Henry Stiles also identifies Edward King as an Irishman and early settler of Windsor in his 1859 book History of Ancient Windsor. Stiles also recounts the same incident with the town noting that, "He (King) afterwards lived on the East side of the River, near Podunk."
(p. 76) |
Despite his run-in with the town of Windsor, it appears King maintained a relatively respectable place in the community. John Barber in his 1836 book, Connecticut Historical Collections, (p.139) refers to a path which begins at the mouth of the Podunk river known as "King's Path", and Stiles argues, persuasively I think, that the name is not a Native reference but derived from "Edward King, an Irishman, one of the first settlers in this vicinity, who owned land here." (p. 114)
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King Street or "Cork Lane"
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More research needs to be done to trace the evolution through the 1800s of King's Path into King Street, but according to Barney Daley in his book Tobacco Parish, "In the early 1900's, what is now known as North King Street was just plain King Street. The building of the Bissell Bridge divided this into two separate streets, one north of the bridge and the other south of it. When it was one street it had many Irish families living in the area, and so it had the unofficial name of Cork Lane since some of the residents were originally from County Cork, in Ireland." (Bits of Life pg. 23)
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For those interested in exploring what life in the mid twentieth century was like in this predominately Irish area of South Windsor, I can refer you to the transcript of Barbara Murray's oral history, from 2008 and the Musings from Main dated March 11, 2022.
Barbara C. Murray was born on May 13, 1919 in Hartford, CT. She moved to South Windsor, in 1932 when she was 13 years old. She was married to Robert Murray on April 2, 1942, with whom she owned a farm on North King Street in South Windsor. Together they raised three children: Robert L. Murray, Jr., James D. Murray, and Susan L. Murray. She had a long career working outside the home, in various departments at South Windsor Town Hall and also as an office manager for Parker X-Ray in East Hartford. Barbara had many civic minded interests, especially connected with the South Windsor Democratic Party. She was the first woman elected to the South Windsor Town Council and the Zoning Board of Appeals, and later served as a Justice of the Peace.
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Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!
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Sources use for this Musings From Main:
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Barber, John, Connecticut Historical Collections,1 New Haven, Published by Durrie & Peck and J. W. Barber, 1836, retrieved March 15, 2024.
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Byrne, Rev. William History of the Catholic Church in the New England States, 1836
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Barbara Murray Oral History Interview, June 17, 2008, Friends of Wood Memorial Library & Museum Oral History Collections, FWMLM website retrieved March 15, 2024.
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Stiles, Henry Reed, History of Ancient Windsor, New York : C. B. Norton, 1859, retrieved March 15, 2024.
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Vogelgesang, Jessica, Musings from Main: Happy St. Patrick's Day, March 11, 2022, Friends of Wood Memorial Library & Museum Online Exhibits, FWMLM website retrieved March 15, 2024.
- Daley, Barney, Tobacco Parish, South Windsor, Connecticut,1998.
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