The papers of the Landon and Howd families of Salisbury, Conn., including bonds, correspondence, deeds, estate records, and other items. Family members reflected in the papers include James Landon (1744-1813) and his son James (1770-1833), Henry E. Howd, (1799-1878; son-in-law of the younger James Landon), and Henry E. Howd's son Frank E. Howd (1849-1933).

John Landon (1720-1810) was one of four brothers who moved to Litchfield, Conn., with their father, James, in the 1720s. John moved to Salisbury, where his descendants continued to live for more than 200 years. His grandson James (1770-1833) married Sarah Lines and they had eight children, including Allen, Cynthia, Susanna, Charlotte, John, and Harriet. Cynthia married Henry E. Howd, the son of Eliphalet Howd (1767?-1832?) and Loly Clark Howd.

Eliphalet Howd and his family members lived in Canaan, Conn. and the surrounding towns in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Nineteenth-century sources indicate that he and his sons Asahel, Judah, and Henry were among the original settlers of Litchfield, Ohio, in 1830. The same sources state that all of the Howds settled permanently. The papers contain two letters written by James Landon in 1830 and 1831 to his daughter Cynthia and son-in-law in Litchfield, Ohio. But rather than remaining in Ohio, Henry and his family returned to Salisbury, possibly in connection with his father-in-law's death in 1833, which some sources say was due to drowning. Henry and Cynthia's first daughter was apparently born in Salisbury in 1838, and the 1840 and subsequent censuses and the obituaries of Henry and Cynthia place the family in the Connecticut town.

Besides the correspondence of Landon mentioned above, the collection contains correspondence received by Henry Howd's son Frank from the 1860s into the first decades of the twentieth century. Deeds trace the acquisition of land by James Landon through the early 1800s, although it has not been determined which James Landon is the purchaser. The collection also contains materials related to estates and among other items.