The town of Ledyard was named and incorporated in 1836, but as an identified community its history goes back to a 1725 act of the legislature and the origins of our very own Ledyard Congregational Church.
The first town in the area was New London. People living on both sides of the Thames were expected to attend worship services there.
Settlers had arrived on the eastern side of the Thames throughout the second half of the 1600’s and by 1705 Groton was established as a second town. Still, the area covered by this new town was large and travel was difficult. Church was very important to these families and everyone was expected to attend Sunday services, whether they were full church members or not.
parsonage, historic painting
In 1725, the residents of the north half of Groton petitioned the state for an ecclesiastical society, so that they could start their own church and not have to travel the difficult roads to the meetinghouse in the southern half of town. The General Assembly appointed a committee to go check out the situation and they began their research.
They reported with a census of the established landowners in the northern part of town, which included information on the value of the properties and the distances from the meetinghouse. The committee concluded that the residents would be able to afford to sustain a ministry and that their reasons for separation were justified.
At the October 1725 session, the CT General Assembly established a new society that became known as North Groton Society, or Groton Second Society. This is our LCC Ecclesiastical Society, and its creation established Ledyard Congregational Church. Aside from some minor “tweaking” of the line with Preston, the society that resulted had the same boundaries as were later used for the Town of Ledyard.
