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Excerpt from Middletown Upper Houses: A History of the North Society of Middletown, Connecticut, From 1650 to 1800, With Genealogical and Biographical Chapters on Early Families and a Full Genealogy of the Ranney Family In November, 1855, a young man left his college halls for the neighboring village of Cromwell where he taught a winter school. In 1860 by marriage he renewed his interest in that community. Returning in 1888 to pass the remaining years of his life in com parative quiet he gathered up here and there threads connecting those of the day with those of the formative period of this settle ment. Little by little the interest deepened and broadened until the desire was born to bring together those of other places to where their honored ancestors had lived and died. And with this came the thought to put into permanent form the story of the records kept here and elsewhere. With the reunion in 1903 the plan was broached to publish a volume and the later reunions strengthened and gave effect to this purpose. The sympathy and encourage ment from many directions have made of the toil a pleasant task. At the age of seventy-two the compiler of these pages has the satis faction of expressing appreciation of all the assistance which has been rendered by many in many ways. The Society of Middletown Upper Houses, Incorporated, has not only erected its memorials to Founders, Fathers, Pastors and Patriots, but has given its financial and moral support to the efforts of the compiler and without this aid the preliminary work could not have been brought to the point where the material was ready to go into the hands of the printer and publisher. It could hardly be possible to make a list of the individuals who have given special assistance in the gathering of material and in the spreading of the spirit of enthusiasm and not overlook some one fully worthy of mention. He has cast his net on all sides and the result is given herewith. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.