by Mrs. Lois Watson
The ancient Windsor originally encompassed what is now known as the towns of Windsor, Bloomfield, Windsor Locks, East Windsor, South Windsor and part of Ellington. In the year 1768, the land on the east side of the [Connecticut] River was split from Windsor and the Town of East Windsor was incorporated. The early settlers found it difficult to travel the great distances to Town meetings. In 1845, therefore, the Town was again split, forming the towns of East Windsor and South Windsor.
The seal of the Town of South Windsor was adopted in 1969 and was designed by a local resident and historian, Doris Burgdorf. The elements of the seal are explained as follows: the shad, an important fish to the Connecticut settlers, arrowheads, symbolic of the early Podunk Indians, tobacco, South Windsor’s “money crop,” the rocket, symbolic of our future, the shield honors the State of Connecticut, and the lattice, a furniture motif used extensively by the early South Windsor craftsmen.
Please note that despite possible inaccuracies, we will include the description of each quilt square as published in the 1995 revised and corrected second edition booklet. This second edition was published in celebration of South Windsor’s “sesquicentennial” anniversary, 1845-1995, and was dedicated to the memory of Gail Woodard, who passed away in 1994. The revised edition was compiled by Charles E. Woodward in September, 1995, with the assitance of Doris Burgdorf who provided many historical corrections.