The Society has a fine Research Library with information on Granby and local area history. The Genealogical Library has extensive files concerning Granby, East Granby, and Simsbury families. If your family came from the Granby area, the Salmon Brook Historical Society probably has some information on them. A few of the surnames we have files on are:

Send genealogy queries to

 Archivist/Genealogist Carol Laun,

 16 Hummingbird Lane, 

Granby, CT 06035

or...

 Carol is now at
the Society for researchers on Tuesdays from 9am to noon!

Research rates $25 per hour plus expenses, payable to:.

  Salmon Brook Historical Society

gen-web/Granby CT

Genealogists! Historians! Holcomb descendants!
People with ancestors from Granby, CT!
Add these two publications to your public library or personal collection.

THE HOLCOMB COLLECTION
BY
CAROL LAUN

The Salmon Brook Historical Society in Granby, CT announces the publication of THE HOLCOMB COLLECTION by Carol Laun. The soft-cover, spiral-bound, 122 page book has more than 20 illustrations. The cost is $20.00 postage paid and may be order from:
Salmon Brook Historical Society, 208 Salmon Brook Street, Granby, CT 06035

Thomas Holcomb came to the New World in 1630, and was the progenitor of a large and prolific family. By the middle of the 19th century, branches of the family tree reached across America. But the roots of this Holcomb tree were firmly planted in Granby, Connecticut.

This publication has stories about some of the Granby Holcombs. (The name can also be spelled Holcombe, and either is correct.) The stories were gleaned from old account books, newspaper clippings, faded letters, official documents, tiny scribbled diaries, and memorabilia - all belonging to the Salmon Brook Historical Society in Granby.

The Holcombe family played an important role in the history of Granby. They were farmers, town officers, soldiers, church deacons, teachers, seamstresses, veterinarians - and most important, they wrote letters and kept diaries. In a purely arbitrary decision, the author decided to introduce these Holcomb men and women in the order of their birth, with one exception for a father and a son.
You will meet a spelling-impaired animal doctor, and a dedicated churchwoman; a Civil War Colonel who passionately expressed love for his country, and stumbled through stilted formal love letters to his wife; a daring, adventurous sea captain; and a murderer. Three Holcomb soldiers - a farmer, a teacher, and a student - are linked by their letters to a young woman of Granby. She was a prodigious letter writer, and also a Holcomb. Finally, you will read about a man who was a generous benefactor to Granby, and to Connecticut, and another man who typified the Granby farmer of yesterday with his love for his animals and for his land.
The relationships of all these Holcombs can be found at the end of the book, on the Genealogy page. This is not a detailed genealogy, merely a chart showing their line of descent from Thomas Holcomb, and the close connections between the people in the articles.

BURIALS in the GRANBY CENTER CEMETERY

Compiled By
Carol Laun

The Granby Cemetery Association Inc. has published a book of burials in Granby Center Cemetery from 1740 to 1997. It includes all sections except the new C and D areas. The soft-cover, spiral-bound book, compiled by Carol Laun, costs $40  and is available from: 
Salmon Brook Historical Society, P.O. Box 840, 208 Salmon Brook Street, Granby, CT 06035

Genealogical researchers, historians, and families will find a treasure trove of information in the 187 page book. All burials are listed, with and without gravestones. Relationships are included, as well as maiden names. One section at the back consists of names from the Saxton's Record listing people buried in the Center Cemetery with an unknown grave location. Another listing is of probable burials in the cemetery based on early church records and private journals. The book has a map of the entire cemetery and maps for each section. There is an index of plot owners and an index listing all burials in Alphabetical order, including maiden names when known. The book is clear, well organized, and easy to use.
Besides the actual gravestones, many other sources were consulted: the Sexton's Records, the files of the Cemetery Superintendent, Granby Cemetery Association ledgers, Granby Town Reports, First Congregational Church records, vital and church records from Granby, East Granby, and Simsbury, obituaries, the Hale Cemetery list, a 1900 list found in the Connecticut Historical Society, genealogy files, and privets journals.
The cover of the book features a sketch of an early Granby gravestone and also has the following appropriate Granby inscription:
"Death is a debt to Nature due,
Which I have paid and so must you."

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