The town that began as Swampfield became Danbury, one of the best cities in Connecticut, the one-time capital of the hat industry, and the gateway of New England. The founding families of Danbury, with names such as Thomas Barnum, Judah Gregory, and John Hoyt, left Norwalk in 1684 and traveled some 30 miles north. There, at the western edge of Connecticut, they settled in the surrounding wetlands, and in 1687, the town was decreed...