President's Message

Dear MGS members and friends,

As we move toward summer, I want to thank everyone who has continued to support Middlesex Genealogical Society through your participation. enthusiasm, and encouragement. One of the greatest strengths of MGS is the sense of community we build through our shared interest in genealogy and family history.

To help strengthen those connections, we are planning an informal social gathering for MGS members and friends on Thursday, June 25, at 6:30 pm at the Sunset Grille, 52 Calf Pasture Beach Road in Norwalk. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet fellow MGS members, spend time with our leadership team, and enjoy good conversation in a relaxed setting. I hope many of you will attend -- and please feel free to bring a friend who may be interested in genealogy or family history research.

MGS will provide some shared appetizers and snacks, while attendees will be responsible for their own beverages and individual orders. If you are interested in carpooling, please send a message to mgsvolunteer@gmail.com either offering a ride or requesting one, and we will do our best to help coordinate transportation.

In April, we were pleased to host Loretto Leary for her presentation, "Immigrants and Quarantine in New York City and Boston," at the Darien Library. Loretto shared the powerful and often heartbreaking story of Irish famine immigrants arriving in America through the Port of New York and Staten Island quarantine system. Her presentation highlighted both the hardships these immigrants endured and the importance of preserving the history of those who passed through these early immigration experiences.

In March, we were pleased to host Michelle Dowd Torosian for her presentation, "Exploring Your Empire State Roots." Michelle discussed challenges and tips for tracing your family's roots in New York. She shared valuable techniques on how to best utilize the unique records available in New York.

I am actively working on our schedule of presentations and programs for the fall season. If you have any ideas for speakers or presentation topics that you would like MGS to consider, please contact me at mgsvolunteer@gmail.com. Member suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.

If you know someone interested in genealogy or local history, please invite them to attend an event of join us at the June Social gathering. MGS thrives because of member participation and volunteer support, and we are always happy to welcome new faces and new ideas.

Finally, I encourage everyone to explore Connecticut Museum Open House Day activities on Saturday, June 13, including the Museum of Darien's “Revolutionary Road Trip” program. As part of the nationwide America 250 celebrations commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Museum of Darien and several historic sites throughout Middlesex Parish (Darien and Rowayton/Norwalk) will host an afternoon of local history exploration and Revolutionary War-themed activities.

The Revolutionary Road Trip will feature guided visits to historic sites, exhibits, and family-friendly activities highlighting the region's Revolutionary-era history and the people and places connected to America's founding. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience history close to home while reflecting on the upcoming semiquincentennial celebrations taking place across the country in 2026. Additional information is available here: Revolutionary Road Trip - Museum of Darien.

With appreciation,
Steve Flynn
President and Treasurer
Middlesex Genealogical Society

In This Issue

June 6: Using Autosomal DNA for 18th and 19th Century Mysteries

On Saturday, June 6th at 10:30am, the Connecticut Ancestry Society will be hosting Blaine Bettinger, PhD, JD for a Zoom presentation: Using Autosomal DNA for 18th and 19th Century Mysteries.

Even though our 18th and 19th century ancestors have been dead for decades, their DNA still survives in their descendants. Learn how to use autosomal DNA to attack and potentially solve genealogical mysteries and brick walls for ancestors who were born or lived in the 1800's, 1700's, and beyond.

Blaine Bettinger, Ph.D., J.D., is a professional genealogist specializing in both DNA evidence and AI for Genealogy. He has been a leader in the field of genetic genealogy and has contributed to several aspects of genetic genealogy methodology and analysis through his research, his lectures, the books he has written, and the social media groups that he founded and oversees.

MGS Members in good standing are invited to attend. Please send an email to mgsvolunteer@gmail.com to request the Zoom details.

In This Issue

June 13: Middlesex Parish 250 Historic Tour

14 local sites packed with Revolutionary history!

June 13, 2026, 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

MGS encourages everyone to explore the Museum of Darien's "Revolutionary Road Trip" program. As part of the nationwide America 250 celebrations commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the Museum of Darien and several historic sites throughout Middlesex Parish (Darien and Rowayton/Norwalk) will host an afternoon of local history exploration and Revolutionary War-themed activities.

The Revolutionary Road Trip will feature guided visits to historic sites, exhibits, and family-friendly activities highlighting the region's Revolutionary-era history and the people and places connected to America's founding. It is a wonderful opportunity to experience history close to home while reflecting on the upcoming semiquincentennial celebrations taking place across the country in 2026. Additional information is available here: Revolutionary Road Trip - Museum of Darien.

Head to local historic sites for a "road trip" through history! All spots on the Middlesex Parish 250 driving tour will be "open" with greeters and historic information.

1. Noroton River Cemetery
2. Battle of Post Road/Nearwater Farm
3. Rings End Bridge
4. George Washington Commemorative Monument
5. The Bates Scofield House, est. 1736
6. The First Congregational Church of Darien, est. 1744
7. The Mather Homestead, est. 1778
8. Raymond Cemetery
9. The Seeley-Dibble-Pinkney House c. 1820
10. Brookside Cemetery
11. Fodor Farm and Nathan Hale Fountain
12. Burning of Norwalk Monument
13. Governor Thomas Fitch Law Office Survived the Burning Of Norwalk
14. Battle of Norwalk/Flax Hill Monument and Revolutionary War Cannonball

For details, go to

• Middlesex Parish 250 Historic Tour
• Clio 250

For more events, go to: Middlesex Parish 250

In This Issue

June 25: MGS Meet and Greet

There will be an informal social gathering for MGS members and friends on

• Thursday, June 25, at 6:30 pm
• Sunset Grille, 52 Calf Pasture Beach Road, Norwalk
• MGS will provide shared appetizers and snacks
• Attendees will be responsible for their own beverages and individual orders
• For carpooling, send a message to mgsvolunteer@gmail.com either offering a ride or requesting one

In This Issue

September 18-19: New York State Family History Conference

Source: NYG&B

Join the NYG&B this fall for New York's largest statewide gathering of family history researchers, genealogists, and history enthusiasts. This year's theme, New Perspectives, Best Practices, explores fresh approaches to understanding New York family history.

The conference will feature more than 30 livestreaming programs and additional on-demand sessions to watch at your own pace:

• September 9 to November 16, 2026 (On-demand access)
• September 18 and 19, 2026 (Livestreaming programs from the NYG&B headquarters, New York, NY)

Note: All the livestreaming programs are subsequently made available on demand through November 16, 2026.

Whether you are just starting to build up your genealogy skills or are ready to tackle more advanced issues, this conference provides participants with the opportunity to learn from experts and connect with others who share their interests.

Take advantage of special early registration pricing through June 15, 2026, and ensure significant savings now!

See Conference Details and Register.

In This Issue

April 11: Immigrants and Quarantine in New York City and Boston

Loretto Leary

On April 7, 2026, we were pleased to host Loretto Leary for her presentation, "Immigrants and Quarantine in New York City and Boston," at the Darien Library. Loretto shared the powerful and often heartbreaking story of Irish famine immigrants arriving in America through the Port of New York and Staten Island quarantine system. Her presentation highlighted both the hardships these immigrants endured and the importance of preserving the history of those who passed through these early immigration experiences.

Currently, Loretto serves as Educational and Cultural Director of Ireland's Great Hunger Museum of Fairfield and is also Co-Chair of the Connecticut Ireland Trade Commission. Loretto is pursuing her PhD at Trinity College Dublin, where her research focuses on Irish American Famine memory and the memorial landscapes of New York, with particular attention to Staten Island's role in this transatlantic story of loss, survival, and remembrance

In This Issue

March 7: Exploring Your Empire State Roots

Michelle Dowd Torosian

On March 7, 2026, Michelle Dowd Torosian presented "Exploring Your Empire State Roots." She talked about tracing your family's roots in New York, and where to start. Genealogy is a fascinating hobby but tracing your New York ancestors can be challenging. She shared tips and techniques to best utilize the unique records of the Empire State.

Michelle Dowd Torosian is a professional genealogist and founder of Torosian Genealogy, LLC. Her extensive research experience and sharp analytical skills enable her to work with clients undertaking historical research, solving the mysteries lurking in the branches of their family trees, identifying unknown ancestors, and recovering forgotten stories. A former CPA with Deloitte and graduate of Rutgers University, Michelle is a certificate holder from Boston University s Genealogical Research program and the ProGen Study Group. Michelle serves as president of the Westchester County Genealogical Society and is a trustee of the Westchester County Historical Society.

In This Issue

Famous Signers

By Peter Biggins

On July 4, 1776, the Declaration of Independence, was adopted unanimously by the Second Continental Congress, who were convened at Pennsylvania State House, later renamed Independence Hall, in the colonial city of Philadelphia. These delegates became known as the nation's Founding Fathers.

The Declaration explains why the Thirteen Colonies regarded themselves as independent sovereign states no longer subject to British colonial rule, and has become one of the most circulated, reprinted, and influential documents in history.

The American Revolutionary War commenced in April 1775 with the Battles of Lexington and Concord. Amid the growing tensions, the colonies reconvened the Congress on May 10. Their king, George III, proclaimed them to be in rebellion on August 23. On June 11, 1776, Congress appointed the Committee of Five (John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, Robert R. Livingston, and Roger Sherman) to draft and present the Declaration. Adams, a leading proponent of independence, persuaded the committee to charge Jefferson with writing the document's original draft, which the Congress then edited.

The Declaration has proven an influential and globally impactful statement on human rights. The Declaration was viewed by Abraham Lincoln as the moral standard to which the United States should strive, and he considered it a statement of principles through which the Constitution should be interpreted. In 1863, Lincoln made the Declaration the centerpiece of his Gettysburg Address, widely considered among the most famous speeches in American history. The Declaration's second sentence, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", is considered one of the most significant and famed lines in world history. See: United States Declaration of Independence and Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

On the Kings Highway

Jefferson largely wrote the Declaration between June 11 and June 28, 1776 on the second floor of a three-story home he was renting from bricklayer Jacob Graff at 700 Market Street in Philadelphia, now called the Declaration House. It was within walking distance of Independence Hall.

700 Market Street in Philadelphia is part of the Kings Highway ordered in 1664 by King Charles II, 113 years before the Declaration of Independence. It was a dirt road that ran 1,300-miles from Boston, Massachusetts, through Darien (originally, Middlesex), Connecticut, to Charleston, South Carolina. The 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence traveled to Philadelphia by horse on the Kings Highway from 13 colonies, extending from New Hampshire to Georgia. It was not generally called the Kings Highway, especially during the American Revolution. Many had gone to colleges located on the Kings Highway, including Yale, Princeton, Pennsylvania, and William & Mary. Others had gone to Harvard, near the Kings Highway. Some signers lived on the Kings Highway:

• Richard Stockton, Princeton, New Jersey
• John Witherspoon, Princeton, New Jersey
• Robert Morris, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Charles Carroll, Annapolis, Maryland
• Thomas Nelson, Yorktown, Virginia
• Thomas Lynch, Jr., near Georgetown, South Carolina
• Edward Rutledge, Charleston, South Carolina

• George Washington from 1790 to 1797
• John Adams from 1797 to 1800

In 1800, the national capital was moved from Philadelphia to Washington, DC.

Source: Signing of the United States Declaration of Independence.

12 Famous Signers

The first and most famous signature on the engrossed copy was that of John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress. Two future presidents (Thomas Jefferson and John Adams) and a father and great-grandfather of two other presidents (Benjamin Harrison V) were among the signatories. Edward Rutledge (age 26) was the youngest signer, and Benjamin Franklin (age 70) was the oldest signer. Charles Carroll of Carrollton was the last living signer of the document at the time of his death in 1832 at the age of 95. He died 56 years after the signing. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, July 4, 1826--Adams was 90, and Jefferson was 83.

Ancestry of 12 Famous Signers on "Find a Grave" Back to the British Isles (immigrants in italics)

In This Issue

John Trumbull, Artist from Connecticut

By Peter Biggins

John Trumbull's "Declaration of Independence" shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft to 42 of the 56 signers at Independence Hall on June 28, 1776. It was based on a much smaller version of the same scene, presently held by the Yale University Art Gallery. The gallery was founded in 1832 when John Trumbull donated over 100 paintings of the American Revolution to Yale College and designed the original picture gallery.

John Trumbull's 1819, 12x18-foot, oil-on-canvas painting named "Declaration of Independence." Source: Declaration of Independence (painting).

The painting is one of four revolutionary period scenes in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The Capitol building features a central rotunda below the Capitol dome. The rotunda is connected by corridors leading south to the House of Representatives and north to the Senate chambers. Not long after the completion of both wings, the Capitol was partially burned by the British on August 24, 1814, during the War of 1812. The Capitol draws heavily from other notable buildings, especially churches and landmarks in Europe, including the dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican and St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Within the Rotunda there are eight large paintings about the development of the United States as a nation.

• On the east side are four paintings depicting major events in the discovery of America.
  • Baptism of Pocahontas by John Gadsby Chapman
  • Embarkation of the Pilgrims by Robert Walter Weir
  • Discovery of the Mississippi by William Henry Powell
  • Landing of Columbus by John Vanderlyn
• On the west side are four paintings depicting the founding of the United States by John Trumbull.
  • Declaration of Independence
  • Surrender of General Burgoyne
  • Surrender of Lord Cornwallis
  • General George Washington Resigning His Commission

John Trumbull's 1819, 12x18-foot, oil-on-canvas painting is named "Declaration of Independence." It shows the five-man drafting committee presenting their draft to 42 of the 56 signers at Independence Hall on June 28, 1776. It is one of the four revolutionary period scenes on the west side of the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

John Trumbull died in New York City at the age of 87. He was buried at the Yale University Art Gallery. He was born in 1756 in Lebanon, Connecticut.

His father Jonathan was governor of the Colony and State of Connecticut. The University of Connecticut (UConn) mascot "Jonathan the Husky" is named after him.

His ancestor John Trumble migrated to Roxbury, Massachusetts, before settling 35 miles north in Rowley, Massachusetts. He was from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England's northernmost city.

Following are six generations from Find a Grave.

On April 28, Darien Library and The Mather Homestead sponsored a presentation by Connecticut State Historian emeritus, Walter W. Woodward, entitled "Painting Patriotism, Healing Wounds: The Art of Col. John Trumbull." He said that, at a time when artists were looked upon as mere skilled workers, Trumbull fought for both status and respect, especially from his father, Governor Jonathan Trumbull of Connecticut. Woodward discussed the lifelong struggle of John Trumbull to earn respect for his art by painting what he told Thomas Jefferson were some of the “noblest series of actions which have ever presented themselves in the history of man.”

In This Issue

JD's New York Corner - Roger Sherman's Copy

By Sara Zagrodzky

Roger Sherman (April 19, 1721 – July 23, 1793) was an early American politician, lawyer, and a Founding Father of the United States. Representing Connecticut, he is the only person to sign all four great state papers of the United States: the Continental Association, the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, and the Constitution. He also signed the 1774 Petition to the King.

Born in Newton, Massachusetts, Sherman established a legal career in Litchfield County, Connecticut, despite a lack of formal education. After a period in the Connecticut House of Representatives, he served as a justice of the Superior Court of Connecticut from 1766 to 1789. Connecticut sent him to the Continental Congress, and he was a member of the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence.

A recently surfaced manuscript draft of the Declaration of Independence may offer a fascinating glimpse into the document's creation and the people involved in shaping it. The draft is identified as “Roger Sherman's Copy,” suggesting it may have been prepared for Sherman's review during the final weeks of June 1776. Sherman was one of the five men appointed by the Continental Congress to draft the Declaration, along with Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, and Robert R. Livingston.

The manuscript is especially interesting from a genealogical and historical perspective because of the effort to trace its path through time. It was reportedly discovered folded inside an estate auction booklet for General Hugh Lowrey White, a War of 1812 brigadier general. Family history research connects White to Colonel Alexander Lowrey of Pennsylvania, a Revolutionary-era figure who was present in Philadelphia during important independence-related proceedings in June 1776.

The document also contains markings and inscriptions that may shed light on how the Declaration draft circulated among the founders. These include apparent initials associated with Roger Sherman and Benjamin Franklin, as well as a note indicating that the copy was made from an “Original with Jefferson” and with “T.P.'s permission,” possibly referring to Thomas Paine. While continued scholarly review will be important, the manuscript is a compelling reminder that genealogy, provenance research, handwriting analysis, and material evidence can all contribute to a deeper understanding of America's founding documents.

Sherman served as a delegate to the 1787 Philadelphia Convention, which produced the United States Constitution. After Benjamin Franklin, he was the second oldest delegate present at the convention. Sherman favored granting the federal government power to raise revenue and regulate commerce, but initially opposed efforts to supplant the Articles of Confederation with a new constitution. After supporting the establishment of a new constitution, Sherman became a key delegate and main opponent of James Madison's Virginia Plan by introducing the Connecticut Compromise that won the approval of both the more and less populous states.

After the ratification of the Constitution, Sherman represented Connecticut in the United States House of Representatives from 1789 to 1791. He served in the United States Senate from 1791 to his death in 1793.

Sherman was married two times and had a total of 15 children, with 12 reaching adulthood.

He first married Elizabeth Hartwell on November 17, 1749, and they had six children: John, William, Isaac, Chloe (1st), Chloe (2nd), and Elizabeth. Elizabeth Hatwell Sherman died in New Milford, Connecticut, on October 19, 1760.

Sherman then married Rebecca Minot Prescott (born on May 20, 1742, in Danvers, Massachusetts, second cousin of Samuel Prescott, who rode with Paul Revere) on May 12, 1763, and had nine children: Rebecca, Elizabeth, Roger, Mehetabel (1st), Mehetabel (2nd), Oliver, Abigail, Martha and Sarah. Rebecca died in New Haven, Connecticut on April 19, 1813.

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