East Haddam Revolutionary Heroes

Nicholas Ackley was born into a Puritan family in England in 1630. Around 1652, Nicholas Ackley arrived in Hartford, Connecticut which was a kind of oasis for Puritans in the new world. Other Puritans had already established in Hartford, namely Thomas Hooker known as the Father of Connecticut. Nicholas worked as a “Chimney Viewer” in Hartford - a colonial fire marshal. In 1662, Nicholas Ackley was one of 28 men to purchase land at Thirty Mile Island on the Connecticut River (30 miles south of Hartford). They founded what became Haddam. Nicholas never ventured over to the east side of the great river, but many of his sons did. Nicholas Ackley had 4 grandsons,12 great grandsons, and 1 great great grandson who fought in the Revolutionary War.