Nestled below the cliffs of West Rock, the peaceful hamlet of Westville has made a name for itself over the years as an important manufacturing center and scenic refuge. Well known for harboring the regicides who signed the death warrant of England’s Charles I, the village has also seen its share of patriots, pirates, rascals and murderers in the three centuries since its settlement. From the legends of the infamous Captain Thunderbolt to the inventor who installed secret panels and a trapdoor in the old Westville Library, this collection of articles tells the stories of Westville from the revealing early modern perspective of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century columnists.