History of The Harrison House

The two Nathaniels were active in town and colony affairs. Nathaniel 2nd the owner of the Harrison House was the Branford town clerk, a magistrate of the New Haven Colony, captain of the trainband and a deputy of the general assembly. He like his father was justice of the peace for 40 years and performed many marriages when Branford was without a minister.

The house passed to Nathaniel Harrison 3rd (1735-1770) whose only child Martha married Nicodemus Baldwin of Branford. Nicodemus Baldwin served in the Revolutionary War as a private in the 5th Battalion. He also owned a sloop which guarded the local waters and the boat was captured by the British in 1783. The Baldwins lived in the Harrison House until 1800 when Martha sold the house to Joseph and Lorany (Bradley) Linsley. The house was owned for many years by the Linsley daughter Lorany and her husband Thomas Smith who served in the Civil War. Lorany Smith lived to the age of 100 and died in the house in 1915. The house remained in the Smith family until 1938.

The house was purchased by J. Frederick Kelly who restored it and upon his death in 1947 bequeathed it to the Society for the Preservation of New England Antiquities (SPNEA) further known as Historic New England. The Branford Historical Society purchased the property from Historic New England in May of 2016, and is now the proud owner of the Harrison House.