Book excerpt: If these walls could talk... Thanks to the research efforts of the author, these walls can talk. The first part of this book, laced with interesting town history and enlivened by anecdotes and reminiscences, offers an account of the old houses of Norwich, Connecticut, and their owners and occupants, from the settlement of the town to the year 1800. All buildings on major thoroughfares are discussed, often illustrated with photographs of the house and portraits of inhabitants. Land grants, town books, church records, old manuscripts, maps, newspapers and letters were consulted to discover original purchaser and estate information. The second portion of the book is devoted to genealogical records. The author has attempted to follow the direct line of each resident to his original American progenitor, but when this has not been possible, a possible ancestry has been offered as a lead to researchers. Records are arranged alphabetically by surname, and include (as available) date of birth, date of death, date of marriage, and names of spouse and children. This section is concluded with a brief list of slave baptisms, recorded births and freed slaves. The text is enhanced by a an appendix, a full-name index for Part I: Old Houses of Norwich and a supplemental surname index for Part II: Genealogies.