Salmon Brook (Granby), Connecticut

Salmon Brook, which started out as no more than a small cluster of houses and a remote outpost of Simsbury, would later become part of the newly formed Town of Granby. It was the home of Nathaniel Holcombe I, II and III and is an important place in the history of this family line. It is certain that almost every Holcombe in Granby was a descendant of the first Nathaniel and hundreds of them raised families and lived out their lives there. Six generations from this writer's direct line lived there, for over 120 years, starting with Nathaniel and ending with Apollas.

Granby Center (Salmon Brook); from the United States Geological Survey, 1892

The Towns of My Ancestors

The primary focus of Genealogy is often concentrated on individual ancestors and their connection to others in the family. It is concerned about birth, parents, marriage, children, work, service, accomplishments and eventually death. These are the markers of a life and form a thread that connects each generation to the next. The place where they lived is another point of data but not always the focus of a Genealogy. Place was certainly an important part of each individual's life and yet, one constant seems to be that these folks were always on the move. It took a lot of work to put down roots and build a life but often, just as they had made a place for themselves, they would pack up and head out, usually toward the horizon of the setting sun. Still, those places . . . their home . . . was everything to the colonists and pioneers of America. Being able to settle in a place of one's own was the very definition of the freedom these people were looking for.

Town of Blue Mounds, Wisconsin. A survey from about 1833 shows the military
 road (on the ridge at the top of the map) and one settler (upper left corner). Like
the calm before the storm, over the next 30 years, the town will fill up; first with
 Yankees from the east, then a mix of Germans, Norwegians, Swiss and others.

Holcombe Family (5) - Colonial Generations

Part 5 - Joseph, Micah and the Movement West

Three generations named Nathaniel Holcombe carved out lives for themselves and their families in a rugged wilderness called Salmon Brook. On the colonial frontier, far removed from the more established society along the Connecticut River, these families played an important role in the settlement of America. They were a vanguard, a buffer against the unknown and a fragile line of defense for the British Empire. At the same time, they went about their business of staking a claim for themselves, conducting public and private business and building a town. They cleared land, planted orchards, established farms, and raised families in the meadows, forests and rocky foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. By the time Nathaniel III turned 80 years old, the revolution was in full swing and America was entering a new chapter. These would be the times of the next generations in this family line: Joseph and his son Micah.

If you missed Part 4 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 3 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 2 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .



North Hartford County in the 1760s. At the time of this map, Salmon Brook
is still a small settlement in the northern part of the Town of Simsbury.
Eventually, it would break away and become the Town of Granby.

Holcombe Family (4) - Colonial Generations

Part 4 - Nathaniel Holcombe III

Nathaniel Holcombe I, the first of three Nathaniels and son of Thomas Holcombe, settled in the Town of Simsbury, Connecticut in the late 1670's in the remote wilderness at Salmon Brook. He was one of the first of the next generation of colonial pioneers to venture farther west and away from the settled areas along the Connecticut River. His son, Nathaniel II, would also raise his family in Salmon Brook. By that time, the small settlement had become more established but still lay at the edge of the British Empire in America. The next generation, the third Nathaniel, would grow up in this wilderness but as he came of age, he would raise a family in an increasingly more settled 18th-century Colonial America.

If you missed Part 3 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 2 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .

From "The Brittle Thread of Live," The Town of Simsbury in the 1730s. Salmon Brook
 (the future Town of Granby) is toward the top. Hop Meadow (the main Simsbury settlement)
is toward the bottom. West of the Connecticut River and approaching the foothills of the
Berkshires, a number of settlements have been established along the colony's western frontier.

Holcombe Family (3) - Colonial Generations

Part 3 - Nathaniel Holcombe II

Thomas Holcombe, an early Puritan settler, would arrive in New England sometime between 1630 and 1633. A few years later, he would be part of the party that founded the first colonial town in Connecticut. He would prosper and raise a large family on this early American frontier. His youngest son, Nathaniel, would move further west as the towns along the Connecticut River filled up and good farmland became harder to come by. Nathaniel would be a prominent figure in the area of Simsbury known as Salmon Brook. There, he would establish himself and live to see his children and grandchildren spread out in the rugged foothills of an area that would eventually become the Town of Granby, Connecticut.

If you missed Part 2 of the story, go here . . .
If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .

An excerpt from John Seller's map of New England. The Connecticut
River Valley in 1675. The river towns are visible and most everything
west is still the wilderness but that is soon to change.

Holcombe Family (2) - Colonial Generations

Part 2 - Nathaniel Holcombe of Salmon Brook

Thomas Holcombe would arrive in New England sometime between 1630 and 1633. A few short years later, he would be living on the outskirts of Connecticut's first settlement, Windsor. There, he and his wife, Elizabeth, would raise a large family and prosper. Their youngest son, Nathaniel, would be only nine years old when Thomas died. After that time, Nathaniel's stepfather, James Enno and his older brothers would probably have a great influence on him as he grew to manhood in the wilderness at Poquonock.

If you missed Part 1 of the story, go here . . .



The original settlers at the remote outpost at Poquonock, circa 1640. 

New Discoveries are Delightful

My genealogy research is pretty casual these days. A couple of years ago I was really gung-ho and eating up the information as fast as I could find it. You might say I was in serious discovery mode. Things started off slow, floundered for a few years, then the flood gates broke open again and I went crazy once more. At some point, you start running out of information . . . or at least information that is easy to find. So now it has become slower. There are certainly many things I could do to fill in some of the missing information, close some of the gaps and get more detail but right now, I am content to sit back and take it slow. Too many other things going on that are consuming my time. But I still find new discoveries delightful and when I find one, I still get that tingly feeling from head to toe.