04/11/2026
Good morning, everyone! I hope you’re enjoying the spring weather! I want to share with you an item that hangs on display inside the East Granby Historical Room at the East Granby Public Library - it’s “Smith’s Map of Hartford County”, printed in 1855 utilizing a survey completed by E.M. Woodford. This was three years before East Granby was incorporated, so it was still a part of Granby at the time. A little background on the surveyor:
Edgar Maurice Woodford was born April 15, 1824, in Avon, CT. He was a self-taught civil engineer who surveyed areas of CT, MA, NH, and ME throughout the early 1850s. He became a dedicated abolitionist, and went to Kansas in 1856 as part of “The Connecticut Colony in Kansas” - this group was trying to help Kansas become a free state. He would return to CT the following year and encourage others to join the abolitionist cause. Upon the outbreak of the Civil War, he enlisted in the 7th CT Volunteer Infantry. Woodford would attain the rank of Quartermaster Sergeant, and was reported to have died “at Hilton Head of congestive fever, after an illness of less than twenty-four hours” in the October 21, 1862, issue of the Hartford Daily Courant.
Woodford’s name can be found in West Avon Cemetery, but his body lies in an unarmed grave in the National Cemetery at Hilton Head. Woodford led an honorable life in a time defined by struggle within an ever-changing nation, and we are fortunate to have this map, which exemplifies his talents, as part of our collections.
Source link: https://connecticuthistory.org/a-noble-and-precious-life-edgar-m-woodford-civil-engineer-abolitionist-and-soldier/
