The Record of Lyme’s Common Field

In 1748/49 six proprietors (landowners) of Lyme, Connecticut petitioned the New London County Court for permission to create a “common field”,  based on  the laws and practice of the Colony, to allow townspeople to share in its benefits, in this case good meadowland  at the edge of the Connecticut River for salt hay and animal grazing.The documents below are from the New London County Court approval and the  forty-six page Record of the Common Field, the minutes of the proprietors’ meetings. Read more in “A Short History of the Ely Meadow in Lyme, CT” .

Action of the New London Adjourned County Court February 14, 1748/9 on a Petition to Establish a Common Field by the name of Ely's Meadow on Six Mile Island.
Action of the New London Adjourned County Court February 14, 1748/9 on a Petition to Establish a Common Field by the name of Ely’s Meadow on Six Mile Island.
In the Fall of 1808, the annual review for apportionment of land took place: "The Persons hereafter named are Proprietors in the Common Field ... and their parts of the Field is affixed and set out to Each Proprietor as follows (viz) ... " Columns are for acres, rods and links.
In the Fall of 1808, the annual review for apportionment of land took place: “The Persons hereafter named are Proprietors in the Common Field … and their parts of the Field is affixed and set out to Each Proprietor as follows (viz) … ” Columns are for acres, rods and links.

Archive Posts