Lighthouse Tribe of Barkhamsted

Lighthouse Tribe of Barkhamsted, Connecticut

Some of my MOST romantic ancestors are from Barkhamsted, CT.  They were a quiet little community in the hills of Connecticut.  Here is there story...

It all starts with JAMES CHAUGHUM and MOLLY BARBER.  James was born to Samuel & Priscilla Chaughum about 1710 on Block Island, Rhode Island.  James went to worked as a gardener for Molly's father.  Molly was born in Ireland about 1714.  Her father's name could be Peter Barber, but it is unknown.  It is unknown when they came to Wethersfield, CT.  The story goes that Molly had many male callers, she fell in love with a gentleman caller, and her father denied them to get married and locked her up on their grounds, the gentleman then moved out west.  James seeing Molly so sad gave her a rose from the garden and a friendship blossomed.  They eventually fell in love and decided to run away so they could be together.  Molly's angered father chased them from Wethersfield, CT into an Indian village near Barkhamsted, were he passed right by Molly and didn't even recognize her.  Molly and James then settled in the mountain range around Barkhamsted where they flourished.  

They had 8 children in all; Sally, Samuel, Solomon, Meribah (Mary), Hannah Sands, Mercy, Mary (Polly), and Elizabeth.  Samuel married a Miss. Green, Solomon married a Miss. Hayes, Meribah (Mary) married Samuel Lawerence, Hannah Sands married Ruben Barber in 1784, Mercy married Isaac Jacklyn, Mary (Polly) married William Wilson before 1797.

Click here to view James & Molly's Family Page


Suggested Reading

A Village of Outcasts: Historical Archaeology and Documentary Research at the Lighthouse Site, by Kenneth L. Feder (Mayfield Publishing Company, Mountain View, California---1994).
(Book cover scanned by Sherry L. Carsten)

Barkhamsted, CT and its centennial 1879, by William Wallace Lee, (Meriden, CT: Republican Steam Print, 1881).

The Legend of Barkhamsted Light House, by Lewis Sprauge Mills, (Lewis Sprauge Mill, publisher. Barkhamsted, CT).


Other Links to the Lighthouse

Ever Widening Circle (Coni has done some amazing work!)
Articles about Coni... Daily Comet & Pilot News
Stone Museum in People's State Forest, Pleasant Valley
Barkhamsted Historical Society
Barkhamsted CT Genealogy
The Barkhamsted Lighthouse