Skip to main content

Full text of "The Annual report of the Connecticut Historical Society"

See other formats


S  *  0 


■^  *«  ^ 


Class  1 .  X_l 

Bookf„LL..£..S 


Author . 


Title 


Imprint. 


16-^7372-1        OPO 


9^2. 


^ 

) 


THE     ANNUAL    REPORT    OF 


Chartered  182^ 


May,  1952 


THE  Connecticut  Historical  Society  can  put  to  good  use  funds 
for  general  expenses,  for  publication  purposes  and  for  the  care 
and  increase  of  the  library  and  museum.  Such  funds  would  form 
appropriate  and  permanent  memorials  to  continue  life  interests 
of  an  individual  or  a  group  of  individuals. 

You  are  urged  to  include  your  historical  society  as  a  beneficiary 
when  preparing  your  will.  The  following  form  is  suggested: 
1  give  and  bequeath  to  The  Connecticut  Historical  Society, 
a  corporation  existing  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  Con- 
necticut and  located  in  the  City  of  Hartford  in  said  State, 

dollars  in  trust,  the  income  from 

which  is  to  be  used  for  the 


The  President  or  the  Director  of  the  Society  will  be  happy  to 
discuss  this  matter  with  interested  persons  and  suggest  specific 
purposes  for  which  such  bequests  may  be  made.  Gifts  to  the 
Society  are  deductible  from  Federal  Estate  and  Income  Taxes. 

The  Connecticut  Historical  Society 

I  Elizabeth  Street,  Hartford  5,  Connecticut 

Telephone  33-2397 


Open  free  to  the  Public 

THE  LIBRARY 
Open  daily  9:30 — ^5:30  P.M.  except  Sundays  and  holidays. 

THE  MUSEUM 
Open  Monday — Friday  1:00 — 5:00  P.M.;  Saturdays  10:00 — 5:00 
P.M.  Closed  Sundays  and  holidays.  Group  tours  at  other  times 
may  be  arranged  upon  application. 

The  Building  is  closed  Saturdays  at  noon  during  June,  July  and 
August.  

The  Lecture  Series  is  held  on  the  first  Tuesday  of  the  months  of 
October  through  May  at  7:45  P.M. 

The  Annual  Meeting  is  held  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  May. 


THE    ANNUAL     REPORT    OF 


Containing  tlie  Reports  and  Papers  Pre- 
sented  at   THE    ANNUAL    MEETING    held    On 

May  20,  ig^2  together  unth  a  list  of  of- 
ficers then  elected,  and  of  the  accessions 
made  during  the  year. 


Chartered    182^ 


Published  b\  the  Society 
I  Elizabeth  Street 


H/\RTFORD      5 


CONNECTICUT 


1  I 


(2b5 


Designed  and  printed 

at  the  Sign  of  the  Stone  Bool^ 

in  Hartford,  Connecticut  by 

Case,  Lock,tvood  &  Brainard 

1952 


OFFICERS 

Elected  May  20,  ig$2 

Prt'sidttit:  Edgar  F.  Waterman,  Harttord. 

Vict'-Pnsidcnts:  Nuwton  C.  Brainard,  Hartford;  Samuel  H.  Fisher,  Litch- 
iield;  James  Lippincott  CJoodwin,  Hartford;  George  M.  Dutcher, 
Middletown;  Charles  S.  Bissell,  Suffield;  Ethelbert  Allen 
Moore,  New  Britain;  Ward  S.  Jacobs,  Hartford;  H.  Bissell  Carey, 
Farmington. 

Rtcording  Secretary:  Frances  A.  Hoxie,  Manchester. 

Corresponding  Secretary:  Florence  S.  Marcy  Crofut,  Hartford. 

Treasurer:  Allerton  C.  Hickmott,  West  Hartford. 

Auditor:  Harold  G.  Holcombe,  West  Hartford. 

Membership  Committee:  Mary  G.  Waterman,  Hartford;  Mary  C.  Taylor, 
Hartford;  Jared  B.  Standish,  WethersHeld;  Mrs.  Lucius  B.  Bar- 
bour, Hartford;  Mrs.  Harold  CJ.  Holcombe,  West  Hartford;  Max- 
well L.  Brainard,  West  Hartford;  Dr.  H.  Cjildersleeve  Jarvis, 
West  Hartford;  Maynard  T.  Hazen,  Hartford. 

Library  Committee:  John  M.  K.  Davis,  Hartford;  James  Brewster,  Hart- 
ford; Ernest  Caulfield,  West  Hartford. 

Publication  Committee:  Arthur  Adams,  Hartford;  Spencer  Gross,  Hart- 
ford; Thompson  R.  Harlow,  Newington. 

Finance  Committee:  Morgan  B.  Brainard,  Hartford;  William  H.  Putnam, 
Hartford;  Houghton  Bulkeley,  Hartford. 

Committee  on  Monthly  Papers:  Horatio  H.  Armstrong,  Hartford;  Harry 
K.  Taylor,  Hartford;  Dr.  Thatcher  W.  Worthen,  Hartford. 

Acquisitions  Committee:  Newton  C.  Brainard,  Hartford;  Henry  A. 
Castle,  Plainville;  Horatio  H.  Armstrong,  Hartford. 

Social  Committee:  Mrs.  Alfred  H.  Terry,  Chairman,  Hartford;  Mrs. 
Newton  C.  Brainard,  V ice-Chairman,  Hartford. 

Committee  on  Endowment:  Edgar  F.  Waterman,  Harttord;  Newton  C. 
Brainard,  Hartford;  Maynard  T.  Hazen,  Hartford;  William  H. 
Putnam,  Hartford;  Earle  E.  Dimon,  Farmington;  Barclay  Rob 
inson,  Avon. 


STAFF 


Thompson  R.  Harlow,  Director,  Newington;  Albert  C.  Bates,  Librarian 
Emeritus,  Hartford;  Frances  A.  Hoxie,  Assistant  to  the  Librarian. 
Manchester;  Marjorie  F.  Waterman,  Chief  of  Reading  Room, 
Hartford;  Jessie  A.  Parsons,  Cataloguer,  Hartford;  James  Toma- 
siello,  Superintendent,  Bloomfield;  Advisory  Curators:  Alden  E. 
Bailey,  Numismatics,  Manchester;  Horatio  H.  Armstrong,  Furni- 
ture, Hartford;  Benjamin  F.  Hubbell,  Firearms,  Hartford. 


COSTUMES,  MIDDLE   1 9TH  CENTURY 

Gift  of  M/ss  Mariette  N.  Fitch 
(See  page  34) 


Report  of  President 

THE  struggle  against  many  obstacles  to  be  overcome,  the  courage 
and  persistance  shown  by  those  embarked  on  the  new  venture, 
and  the  road  upward  to  final  success  are  part  of  the  life  of  a 
young  organization.  All  this  should  not  be  lost  to  mind  in  later 
years  when  prosperity  has  crowned  its  efforts. 

In  the  year  1825  a  small  group  of  men,  prominent  in  our  State, 
conceived  the  idea  of  forming  an  historical  society,  "for  the  pur- 
pose of  discovering,  procuring  and  preserving  materials  for  the 
civil,  ecclesiastical  and  natural  history  of  the  United  States,  and 
especially  of  the  State  of  Connecticut".  In  the  month  of  May  of 
that  year,  the  General  Assembly  passed  a  Resolve  incorporating 
The  Connecticut  Historical  Society,  and  named  thirty-one  persons 
as  corporators.  The  names  of  these  men,  all  successful  in  their  var- 
ious occupations  and  of  influence  in  their  communities,  indicates 
that  the  Society  was  builded  on  a  sound  foundation.  The  important 
thing  to  remember  is  that  these  men  were  vitally  interested  in  this 
undertaking  and  rendered  much  personal  service  to  the  Society 
through  the  years — they  were  not  just  "names". 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  examine  the  walks  of  life  pursued  by  them, 
and  their  accomplishments.  Fourteen  were  members  of  the  Con- 
necticut Bar,  and  among  these  fourteen  we  find  a  Chief  Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  a  Secretary  of  the  Navy,  a  United 
States  Attorney  General,  in  Congress  one  Senator  and  three  Repre- 
sentatives, four  Governors  of  Connecticut,  four  Judges  of  the  Su- 
preme Court  of  this  State,  Judges  of  the  Superior  Court  and 
County  Courts  of  whom  four  were  Chief  Judges,  a  Secretary  of 
the  State,  members  of  the  General  Assembly,  two  Brigadier  Gen- 
erals of  State  troops,  a  Mayor  of  Hartford,  and  one  author  and  one 
historian.  The  seven  Clergymen  include  two  sometime  Bishops, 
two  college  Presidents,  two  college  professors,  and  three  who  were 
active  in  secondary  education.  The  list  of  the  thirty-one  original 
incorporators  ends  with  six  physicians  and  four  who  were  en- 
gaged in  business  pursuits.  This  group  of  distinguished  men 
includes  the  names  of  William  Wolcott  Ellsworth,  the  second 
Chief  Justice  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  and  a  Governor 
of  Connecticut;  Isaac  Toucey,  John  Samuel  Peters  and  Samuel 
Augustus  Foot,  also  Governors  of  this   State;  Thomas  Church 


Brownell,  Episcopal  Bishop  of  Connecticut  and  first  President  of 
Washington  (now  Trinity)  College;  Thomas  Hopkins  Gallaudet, 
leading  fountler  of  the  American  School  for  the  Deaf;  John  Trum- 
bull and  Thomas  Day,  prominent  members  of  the  Connecticut 
Bar;  and  Timothy  Pitkin  and  Thomas  Scott  Williams,  sometime 
members  of  Congress. 

More  than  half  of  the  incorporators  resided  elsewhere  than 
Hartford,  which  gave  thirteen  persons.  Three  lived  in  Wethers- 
field  and  two  were  of  New  Haven,  with  one  representative  each 
from  Cheshire,  Colchester,  East  Hartford,  East  Windsor,  Elling- 
ton, Fairfield,  Farmington,  Hebron,  Lebanon,  Litchfield,  Middle- 
town,  Newtown,  and  Norfolk. 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Society  was  held  on  May  30,  1825  at  the 
State  House  in  Hartford.  The  officers  then  elected,  the  first  of- 
ficers of  the  Society,  were:  the  Hon.  John  Trumbull,  President; 
the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  C.  Brownell,  Vice-President;  Thomas  Day, 
who  later  was  President  for  many  years  from  1839,  Secretary;  the 
Rev.  Thomas  Robbins,  who  in  1844  became  the  first  Librarian  of 
the  Society,  Corresponding  Secretary;  and  Walter  Mitchell,  Treas- 
urer. A  committee  of  five  was  appointed  to  "prepare  a  Constitution 
and  a  code  of  By-Laws,  and  Mr.  Robbins  delivered  an  address  on 
The  Objects  of  the  Society". 

Pursuant  to  the  adjournment  of  the  preceding  meeting,  the 
Society  met  on  May  31st  at  the  State  House.  The  committee  which 
had  been  appointed  to  prepare  a  Constitution  and  By-Laws  made 
its  report,  and  the  report  was  adopted.  The  preparation  of  these 
two  documents  within  twenty-four  hours  was  a  record  which  I 
doubt  could  be  equalled  today.  At  this  time  a  Standing  Com- 
mittee of  six  was  elected.  It  is  of  interest  that,  after  a  period  of 
over  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  years,  the  title  of  this  committee 
is  retained,  rather  than  changing  it  to  the  more  modern  one  of 
"Executive  Committee". 

The  thirtl  meeting  of  the  Society,  adjourned  from  that  of  May 
31st,  was  held  on  June  2nd  at  the  State  House.  Little  was  done 
other  than  to  instruct  the  Secretary  to  prepare  a  seal  for  the  Society, 
and  to  propose  twenty-eight  names  for  membership. 

On  August  4th,  a  quarterly  meeting  was  held  at  the  State  House. 
Fourteen  new   members  were  elected,  twenty-five  names   were 


proposed,  and  it  was  voted  that  the  Secretary  give  notice  of  the 
time  and  place  of  the  quarterly  meetings  in  the  several  newspapers 
printed  in  Hartford.  Was  there,  perhaps,  a  premonition  of  things  to 
come?  The  meeting  properly  adjourned  "sine  die".  Years  of  in- 
activity were  to  pass  before  the  Society  was  revived  in  1839. 

Within  a  year  from  the  time  of  the  first  meeting.  May  30,  1825, 
and  the  election  of  officers,  President  John  Trumbull  removed 
from  the  State,  as  tlid  the  Rev.  George  W.  Doane,  the  Secretary 
of  the  Standing  Committee,  who  became  Bishop  of  New  Jersey. 
Because  of  this  and  perhaps  other  reasons,  the  Society,  which  had 
been  so  auspiciously  launched,  lost  all  energy  and  remained  in  a 
state  of  inactivity. 

In  the  act  of  incorporation  of  May,  1825,  it  was  provided  that 
the  Society  meet  once  a  year  for  the  choice  of  certain  stated  officers. 
This  was  not  done  during  a  span  of  thirteen  years,  and  it  was  a 
matter  of  doubt  whether  the  Charter  of  the  Society  had  not  been 
forfeited  by  non-user.  The  fact  that  some  valuable  historical  ma- 
terials had  been  collected  by  the  Society,  which  had  been  so  far 
preserved,  but  which  were  in  danger  of  being  scattered  and  lost, 
without  the  care  of  this  or  some  similar  institution,  and  the  possible 
efforts  of  Thomas  Day  who  was  Secretary  of  the  State  at  that  time, 
influenced  the  General  Assembly  to  pass  this  resolution  on  the  first 
Wednesday  of  May,  1839:  "Resolved  and  declared,  by  this  Assem- 
bly, that  the  existence  of  said  Society,  as  a  body  corporate,  with 
the  powers  and  privileges  originally  granted  thereto,  be  continued 
and  perpetuated,  as  though  its  officers  had  been  chosen  annually 
since  1825".  It  was  further  resolved  that  a  list  of  thirty-three  per- 
sons, fifteen  of  them  incorporators  under  the  act  of  1825,  be 
deemed  the  present  members  of  the  Society,  and  shall  continue  as 
such. 

It  may  be  askeil,  why  and  how  was  the  present  admission  fee  of 
three  dollars  determined  upon,  and  retained  without  change?  The 
answer  is  found  in  a  provision  of  this  act  of  1839.  It  reads:  "that 
the  payment  of  three  dollars,  as  an  admission  fee,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  Society,  shall  be  an  essential  qualification  of  membership — 
and  no  person  who  has  not  already  paid  such  fee,  shall  be  deemed 
a  member,  until  such  payment  be  made". 

The  first  meeting  of  the  Society,  under  the  act  of  May,  1839, 
was  held  at  the  Young  Men's  Institute  on  June  i,  1839.  Thomas 


Day  was  chosen  President,  and  Charles  Hosmer,  Secretary,  both 
of  Hartford.  It  was  voted  that  the  act  of  May,  1839  "be,  and  the 
same  is,  hereby  accepted  as  part  of  the  Charter  of  incorporation  of 
this  Society".  The  rules  and  regulations  adopted  on  May  31,  1825 
were  repealed  and  abrogated,  and  Thomas  Day  and  Henry  Bar- 
nard 2nd  were  made  a  committee  to  prepare  new  By-Laws. 

Regarding  the  place  of  meeting.  A  Public  Library  Company  was 
organized  in  Hartford  in  1774.  It  was  first  known  as  the  Librarian 
Company  and  in  October,  1799,  was  chartered  as  The  Hartford 
Library  Company.  The  Young  Men's  Institute,  organized  in  1838 
as  a  voluntary  association,  took  over  the  Hartford  Library  Com- 
pany, and  the  Hartford  Young  Men's  Institute,  chartered  May, 
1839,  in  turn  became  its  successor.  The  Young  Men's  Institute  was 
located  in  Oilman's  Hall,  146V2  Main  Street,  on  the  west  side  of 
the  street  midway  between  Pearl  Street  and  the  Center  Church. 

One  of  the  most  devoted  friends  of  the  Society  was  Thomas 
Day,  its  second  President,  who  held  that  office  from  June  i,  1839 
to  May  16,  1854,  less  than  a  year  before  his  death.  He  was  a  man 
who,  besides  his  private  law  practice  held  responsible  positions  in 
the  courts  and  as  a  State  official,  but  the  records  of  the  Secretary 
of  the  Society  show  that  he  rarely  missed  a  meeting  of  the  So- 
ciety, and  met  all  demands  upon  his  time  in  its  service. 

Meetings  called  for  June  4th,  7th,  and  13th  were  adjourned  be- 
cause of  there  being  no  quorum.  All  were  to  have  been  held  at  the 
Young  Men's  Institute. 

Finally,  a  meeting  was  held  on  June  15,  1839  at  the  Young  Men's 
Institute.  A  new  set  of  By-Laws  was  adoptetl,  the  month  of  May 
was  appointed  the  time  when  the  annual  meetings  should  be  held, 
and  the  number  of  Honorary  members  residing  outside  the  State 
was  limited  to  one  half  the  number  of  other  members,  at  any  time. 
All  candidates  for  membership  were  to  be  nominated  by  the 
Standing  Committee,  which  consisted  of  the  officers,  and  seven 
members  who  were  to  be  appointed  annually. 

The  meeting  on  June  21st  was  the  last  one  held  at  the  Young 
Men's  Institute.  Henry  Barnard  2nd  was  elected  Corresponding 
Secretary,  and  James  B.  Hosmer  was  chosen  Treasurer.  Henry 
Barnard,  educator  and  pioneer  of  the  common-school  system,  was  a 
native  of  Hartford.  He  was,  in  turn,  State  Superintendant  of  Edu- 


cation,  President  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  of  St.  John's 
College  at  Annapolis,  and  was  the  first  United  States  Commis- 
sioner of  Education.  When  the  New  Britain  Normal  School 
opened  in  1850,  he  was  its  first  principal.  James  B.  Hosmer,  who 
was  treasurer  of  the  Society  for  thirty-four  years  and  president 
for  three  years,  was  remarkable  for  his  life-long  devotion  to  its 
interests.  His  brother,  Charles  Hosmer,  was  secretary  for  twenty- 
nine  years. 

Only  two  new  members  were  elected  at  the  meeting  on  July  5th, 
which  was  held  at  the  home  of  James  B.  Hosmer.  We  should  pause 
here  to  note  the  election  of  the  Rev.  David  Dudley  Field,  D.D., 
of  Haddam,  as  a  Vice-President,  and  of  his  three  sons,  from  among 
his  ten  children ;  Hon.  David  Dudley  Field  of  the  New  York  bar, 
Judge  Stephen  J.  Field  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  and 
Cyrus  W.  Field  of  Atlantic  telegraph  cable  fame. 

From  July  5th  to  September  13th,  seven  meetings  were  held 
at  the  home  of  James  B.  Hosmer.  A  desire  for  a  more  permanent 
place  of  abode,  and  either  insufficient  space  or  a  feeling  that  hos- 
pitality should  not  be  abused,  now  led  to  the  rental  of  a  room. 
The  minutes  of  the  meeting  held  September  20th  record  that  the 
meeting  was  "Held  at  their  room".  This  room  was  at  124  Main 
Street,  on  the  corner  of  Main  and  what  is  now  Gold  Street,  across 
from  the  Center  Church.  This  location  was  later  occupied  by  the 
City  Hotel.  Fifteen  new  members,  from  nine  difi-erent  towns,  were 
elected,  among  whom  were  Daniel  Wadsworth  and  Gideon  Wells. 

On  November  22,  1839,  Noah  Webster,  LL.D.  became  a  member, 
and  later  Dr.  Gurdon  W.  Russell,  David  Watkinson,  and  Junius 
S.  Morgan  joined  the  Society. 

At  nearly  every  meeting,  new  members  had  been  elected,  in- 
tercourse with  the  Georgia  and  Rhode  Island  Historical  Societies 
had  been  established,  permission  given  to  the  Hartford  Natural 
History  Society  to  occupy  a  part  of  their  room,  and  other  progres- 
sive measures  taken.  On  December  6th,  it  was  voted  "That  a 
public  dinner  be  provided  at  the  Centennial  Celebration  for  the 
Society  and  those  who  choose  to  subscribe".  This  culminated,  on 
April  21,  1840,  by  a  celebration  in  Hartford  by  the  Society  of  the 
2oist  anniversary  of  the  organization  under  the  Constitution  in 
1639  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hartford,  Windsor  and  Wethersfield. 
Among  those  present  were  one  delegate  from  the  Rhode  Island 


Historical  Society,  three  from  the  New  York  Historical  Society, 
and  one  person  from  Savannah  as  delegate  from  the  Georgia  His- 
torical Society,  together  with  "other  respectable  citizens  from  dif- 
ferent parts  of  the  State".  The  meeting  "assembled  in  the  Senate 
chambers;  and  at  ii  o'clock  A.M.  moved  in  procession  to  the 
Centre  Church,  where  the  occasion  had  brought  together  a  large 
concourse  of  people".  The  exercises  consisted  of  two  hymns,  one 
of  them  composed  for  the  occasion  by  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigourney,  a 
prayer,  and  an  historical  discourse  by  Noah  Webster.  At  2  o'clock 
P.M.  the  members,  delegates  and  some  invited  guests  "partook  of 
an  entertainment  at  Oilman's  Hall,  provided  for  the  occasion, 
after  which,  several  appropriate  and  interesting  sentiments  were 
given  and  speeches  made".  The  thanks  of  the  Society  were  pre- 
sented to  the  choir  of  the  Centre  Church,  "for  their  interesting  per- 
formances". There  seems  to  have  been  no  lack  of  energy  in  the 
Society  in  those  days. 

A  novel  case  of  barter  is  shown  in  the  minutes  of  December 
20th.  The  Treasurer,  at  his  discretion,  was  authorizeci  to  accept 
from  newly  elected  clergymen  payment  of  the  admission  fee  in 
books.  This  was  not  uncommon  at  that  time. 

The  cost  of  living  then  was  not  high.  The  year  was  now  1840, 
and  on  February  7th  the  Treasurer  was  directed  "to  rent  the  room 
now  occupieci  by  this  Society,  for  one  year  from  the  ist  of  April 
next,  at  the  rent  of  S50.". 

The  wife  of  Daniel  Wadsworth  was  a  daughter  of  Governor 
Jonathan  Trumbull,  Jr.  A  vote  of  thanks  to  her  and  to  her  father's 
estate,  January,  184 1,  shows  how  his  manuscripts,  books,  and 
pamphlets  became  the  property  of  the  Society. 

Among  our  more  treasured  possessions  is  a  vest.  How  and 
when  it  was  acquired  is  revealed  by  this  vote,  passed  at  the  March, 
1841  meeting:  "That  the  thanks  of  this  Society  be  presented  to  Mrs. 
Maria  Ledyard,  of  Herkimer,  N.  Y.  for  her  donation  of  the  Vest 
worn  by  Col.  William  Ledyard,  at  the  time  he  was  killed  at  Fort 
Griswold,  and  also  to  Mr.  Simeon  Hart,  Farmington,  for  obtain- 
ing the  same,  placing  it  in  a  neat  glass  case,  and  forwarding  it  to 
the  Society". 

Following  the  practice  of  the  State  Legislature,  when  the  State 
had  two  Capitols,  the  Society  was  holding  its  annual  meetings  al- 
ternately at  Hartford  and  New  Haven.  The  meeting  of  May  11, 
1 84 1  was  held  at  4  P.M.  in  the  Representatives  Chambers  in  the 


State  House  in  Hartford,  after  which  a  supper  was  had  at  the  City 
Hotel.  This  is  the  first  mention  of  a  departure  from  the  austerity 
of  the  past. 

Mistakes  can  be  matle,  and  items  are  easily  mislaid.  It  may 
be  of  some  comfort  to  this  later  generation  to  learn  from 
the  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  in  December,  1841,  that  a  gift 
from  John  Trumbull,  first  President  of  the  Society,  lost  since 
1825,  was  reported. 

The  Society  has  a  large  number  of  busts  of  people  who  were 
prominent  about  the  time  of  the  1840's,  Formal  acknowledgement 
was  made  of  the  receipt  of  each.  The  first  one,  that  of  Thomas  Day 
given  at  the  request  of  the  Society,  was  recorded.  May,  1842.  The 
next  year  came  busts  of  Charles  H.  Olmstead,  Hon.  William  Ells- 
worth, and  Mrs.  Lydia  H.  Sigourney,  with  others  following. 

As  did  the  children  of  Israel,  the  Society,  which  had  wandered 
from  the  State  House,  the  Young  Men's  Institute,  and  "their 
room",  came  at  last  to  its  promised  land,  where  it  was  to  remain 
for  the  next  one  hundred  and  six  years.  On  December  22,  1843, 
the  first  meeting  was  held  in  the  room  in  the  Wadsworth  Athe- 
neum,  which  had  been  prepared  for  it,  but  owing  to  the  inclemency 
of  the  weather  the  meeting  was  obliged  to  adjourn.  Four  days  later, 
December  26th,  the  Society  met,  with  twenty-two  members  pres- 
ent, and  later  adjourned  to  the  lecture  room  of  the  Centre 
Church  where  "before  the  Society,  and  a  large  and  respectable  as- 
sembly of  Gentlemen  and  Ladies,  the  President  delivered  an  Ad- 
dress appropriate  to  the  occasion  of  taking  possession  of  that  part 
of  Wadsworth  Atheneum  appropriated  to  the  use  of  the  Society". 
At  last  it  had  come  to  rest. 


During  the  past  twelve  months  period,  a  notable  increase  in  the 
membership  has  taken  place.  One  hundred  and  seventy-nine  new 
members  have  joined  the  Society.  Can  we  not,  by  a  personal  can- 
vass of  our  friends  and  acquaintances,  increase  this  number  to  two 
hundred,  and  thereby  carry  our  total  membership  well  over  one 
thousand?  If  a  quota  were  established,  it  would  be  less  than  one 
fourth  of  a  person  for  each  of  our  present  members.  To  attain  that 
average  does  not  appear  difficult.  A  year  ago  we  started  with  a 
membership  of  684,  which  was  reduced  during  the  year  by  12 
deaths,  7  resignations,  and  2  who  were  dropped,  but  the  addition 
of  179  new  members  increased  the  total  to  842 — an  increase  of 


23%.  Separated  into  its  various  classes,  the  membership  is:  As- 
sociate 335,  Active  393,  Contributing  67,  Life  25,  Ex-Officio  22, 
— Total  Membership  842. 

Again,  the  eight  monthly  meetings  of  the  Society  have  been 
largely  attended  and  in  every  way  successful.  The  appreciation 
of  their  audiences  must  have  been  evident  to  the  speakers,  to  whom 
the  Society  is  greatly  indebted.  The  program  schedule  was: 
October  2nd.  Frederic  Palmer,  architect,  of  East  Haddam. 

"Restoration  of  the  Ruttolph-Williams  House,  Wethersfield,  by 

the  Antiquarian  and  Landmarks  Society." 
November  6th.  Professor  Anthony  N.  B.  Garvan,  of  the  University 
of  Pennsylvania. 

"Architecture  and  Town  Planning  in  Colonial  Connecticut." 
December  4th.  John  E.  Parsons,  collector  and  author,  of  N.Y. 

"Historic  Arms  made  by  Samuel  Colt." 
January  8th.  Dr.  Lee  Jay  Whittles,  antiquarian,  of  Glastonbury. 

"Sadler's  Ordynary:  Second  Connecticut  Inn." 
February  5th.  C.  Edwin  Blake,  insurance  executive,  of  Hartford. 

"A  Whale  of  a  Hobby." 
March  4th.  Albert  Sack,  antique  dealer  and  author,  of  New  York. 

"Fine  Points  of  Furniture." 
April  ist.  Dr.  Ernest  J.  Caulfield,  of  West  Hartford,  Connecticut. 

"Graveyard  Pediatrics." 
May  6th.  Mrs.  Ethel  Hall  Bjerkoe,  lecturer  and  author,  of  Wood- 
bury, Connecticut. 

"Our  Chinese  Heirlooms." 

These  lectures  were  accompanied  either  with  illustrative  items  or 
with  lantern  slides. 

During  the  year,  three  exhibitions  have  been  held,  at  which  on 
the  opening  day  of  each,  afternoon  tea  was  served.  Each  exhibition 
was  on  view  for  approximately  one  week.  They  were: 

January  22nd.  A  collection  of  tin  objects  made  for  the  celebra- 
tion of  a  tenth  wedding  anniversary  in  Suffield, 
1859. 

March  nth.  A  Collection  of  models  of  antique  furniture,  made 
by  Newton  C.  Brainard. 

April  15th.  A  group  of  "Fancy  Articles"  from  the  William  J. 
Hickmott,  Jr.  collection  of  Bennington  Pottery, 
bequeathed  to  the  Suffield  Historical  Society. 


The  Society  is  prosperous  as  never  before;  it  is  now  housed  in  a 
splendid  building  which  is  well  adapted  to  its  needs,  and  enables 
it  to  render  far  more  service  to  its  members  and  to  the  public  than 
has  been  possible  in  the  past.  This  is  the  part  of  the  picture  which 
is  apparent  and  easily  seen.  The  unseen  part,  the  need  of  increased 
income  from  more  adequate  endowment,  is  also  present.  If  this 
Society  is  to  attain  the  efficiency  that  it  deserves,  and  to  expand  its 
usefulness  in  numerous  ways,  it  must  be  done  through  the  in- 
terested generosity  of  those  who  believe  in  preserving,  and  making 
the  history  of  our  State  available  to  all.  This  is  not  an  easy  under- 
taking, and  it  is  a  costly  one.  The  operation  of  our  large  library 
and  museum  is  now  conducted  by  the  Director  and  only  two  stafT 
assistants.  The  supervision  of  the  use  of  the  museum  is  in  the  care 
of  one  part-time  person,  and,  through  the  generosity  of  the  Hart- 
ford Foundation  for  Public  Giving,  the  library  is,  for  the  present 
only,  being  re-catalogued.  So  much  is  being  done  by  so  few!  There 
is  a  crying  need  for  a  conservatively  enlarged  staflf  of  assistants. 
Our  modest,  little  quarterly  Bulletin  is  approved  by  other  societies, 
for  the  material  included  in  its  various  issues  but,  for  the  lack  of 
means,  the  wealth  of  such  material  in  our  own  library  can  not 
be  made  available  to  the  general  public.  The  Bulletin  goes  regu- 
larly to  persons  and  institutions  from  here  to  the  Pacific  coast. 
Your  officers,  and  especially  the  Director,  live  with  the  budget 
constantly  in  mind.  Every  expenditure,  however  small,  is  carefully 
scrutinized,  and  must  be  absolutely  essential.  It  is  gratifying  to  be 
able  to  report  that,  on  the  operations  of  the  past  year,  the  Society 
shows  a  balance  of  income  above  expenses.  This  balance  of  S4.71 
is  small,  very  small,  and  verges  dangerously  upon  a  possible  defi- 
cit, a  thing  which  should  be  by  all  means  avoided. 

The  past  year  has  been  a  fruitful  one,  largely  due  to  the  unremit- 
ting work  of  those  in  charge.  Our  thanks  and  appreciation  are 
due  to  Mr.  Harlow,  the  Director  and  watchdog  of  the  budget,  for 
his  able  conduct  of  our  financial  afiairs  as  well  as  of  the  day-to-day 
management  of  all  other  matters.  To  the  officers  and  members  of 
committees,  to  all  the  members  of  the  staff,  other  assistants,  those 
who  have  so  generously  given  voluntary  help,  and  to  our  superin- 
tendent the  same  thanks  and  appreciation  are  due. 

Edgar  F.  Waterman,  President 

13 


Necrology — 1952 

Lester  Card 

Lester  Card,  who  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society  March  4, 
1941,  died  at  South  Norwalk,  November  4,  1951. 

He  was  born  in  Windsor,  Nova  Scotia  Dec.  10,  1872,  the  son  of 
a  sea  captain.  He  graduated  from  Columbia  University  School  of 
Pharmacy,  and  was  a  druggist  in  South  Norwalk  for  many  years. 

For  more  than  sixty  years  Mr.  Carci  was  interested  in  genealogi- 
cal research  and  was  the  transcriber  of  Annals  of  Wilton,  edited 
by  David  Herman  Van  Hoosear,  and  published  by  the  Wilton 
Historical  Society  in  1940.  He  also  copied  and  reproduced  by 
mimeograph  a  number  of  small  genealogical  and  historical  mono- 
graphs including  "Records  of  School  District  #1  New  Canaan;" 
"Angle,  Engel  and  Angel  Families  with  data  on  the  Filkin  fam- 
ily and  some  information  of  the  Young,  Planck  and  Van  Deusen 
families;"  "Bronson  family;"  "Some  notes  on  the  Brookins  fam- 
ily;" "Ancestry  and  descendants  of  Samuel  Cole,  of  Wilton, 
Conn.;"  "Corrections  of  Elwell  Family  by  Ervin  H.  Elwell,  191 1;" 
"Kent  Genealogy,  showing  error  in  printed  volume  with  a  brief 
line  of  Richard  Kent  of  Newbury;"  "Lambert  family  of  Con- 
necticut, descendants  of  Jesse  Lambert;"  "New  Canaan  Congrega- 
tional Church  Baptismal  Records,  1733-1741;"  "Pickett  family;" 
"Names  on  First  Baptist  Church  Records  Stillwater,  Saratoga  Co., 
N.  Y.  1780-1790;"  "Residents  of  Connecticut:  Births  taken  from 
census  of  1850,  Warren  Co.,  Pa.;"  "Records  of  the  Bald  Hill 
Methodist  Church,  Wilton." 

Charles  Mather  Glazier 

Charles  Mather  Glazier,  of  Farmington,  who  was  admitted  to 
membership  April  5,  192 1,  died  at  Hartford  Hospital  January  9, 
1952. 

He  was  born  in  Hartford  November  21,  1861,  a  son  of  Isaac  and 
Clara  (Saftord)  Glazier. 

He  was  Agent  for  the  Hartford  Fire  and  Hartford  Accident  & 
Indemnity  Companies  and  was  much  interested  in  genealogical 
matters.  He  was  a  descendant  of  John  Glazier  who  first  settled  in 
Lancaster,  Mass.  in  1644,  and  on  his  mother's  side  was  descended 


from  Rev.  Richard  Mather,  grandfather  of  Rev.  Cotton  Mather, 
who  settled  in  Dorchester,  Mass.  in  1635. 

Mr.  Glazier  was  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Amer- 
ican Revolution  and  of  Central  Baptist  Church. 

On  June  2,  1897,  he  married  Cordelia  Frances  Loomis  who  died 
November  27,  1946.  He  leaves  a  brother,  Robert  C.  Glazier,  re- 
cently retired  President  of  the  Society  for  Savings,  and  a  daughter, 
Mrs.  Warren  M.  Creamer,  of  Farmington,  with  whom  he  made  his 
home. 

John  Marshall  Holcombe,  Jr. 

John  Marshall  Holcombe,  Jr.,  who  became  a  member  of  the 
Society  November  3,  1925,  died  suddenly  at  his  home  in  Farming- 
ton  May  15,  1951. 

He  was  born  in  Hartford  May  4,  1889,  son  of  John  Marshall 
Holcombe,  President  of  the  Phoenix  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Com- 
pany and  his  wife  Emily  Seymour  Goodwin. 

He  was  graduated  from  Yale  University  in  191 1  and  from  Har- 
vard Law  School  in  1914.  He  was  a  Counsel  for  the  Phoenix  Mu- 
tual Life  Insurance  Company,  served  as  a  Captain  in  the  Army  Air 
Corps  in  World  War  I  and  was  the  founder  in  1921  and  manager 
of  the  Life  Insurance  Sales  Research  Bureau,  later  the  Life  Insur- 
ance Agency  Management  Association. 

Mr.  Holcombe  was  an  outstanding  collector  of  autographs  of 
the  Presidents  of  the  United  States  and  was  an  inspiring  and  much 
sought  after  speaker  on  this  subject.  Shortly  before  his  death  he 
had  spoken  to  the  Society  on  the  subject  "George  Washington," 
illustrated  with  letters  and  documents  from  his  own  collection 
and  from  that  of  the  Society.  He  was  President  of  the  Antiquarian 
and  Landmarks  Society  of  Connecticut  and  is  credited  with  its 
phenomenal  growth. 

On  May  8,  1920,  he  married  Mrs.  Marguerite  Chase  Boas  who 
survives  him  as  do  four  sons,  Alan  Chase  Boas,  of  South  Hadley, 
Mass.,  Robert  Waldo  Boas,  of  Chestnut  Hill,  Mass.,  Herbert  Allen 
Boas,  of  Farmington,  and  John  Marshall  Holcombe  III,  of  Los 
Angeles,  Calif.  He  also  leaves  two  daughters,  Mrs.  Marguerite 
Emily  Holcombe  Barlow,  of  Garrison,  N.  Y.  and  Mrs.  Ada  Chase 
Holcombe  Caswell,  of  Darien,  one  brother,  Harold  G.  Holcombe, 
of  West  Hartford  and  twelve  grandchildren. 

15 


Mrs.  Alice  L.  Merrill  Hunt 

Mrs.  Alice  L.  Merrill  Hunt  who  was  elected  to  membership  in 
the  Society  December  7,  1948,  died  at  her  home  in  Ithaca,  N.  Y. 
October  8,  1950. 

She  was  born  in  Danby,  N.  Y.  December  8,  1870,  a  grand- 
daughter of  Martin  Merrill  and  Eunice  Stevens  of  Danbury,  Conn. 

Mrs.  Hunt  was  educated  in  the  Ithaca,  N.  Y.  public  schools  and 
was  an  accountant. 

Mrs.  Phineas  H.  Ingalls  (Emily  Putnam  Day) 

Mrs.  Phineas  H.  Ingalls,  who  was  admitted  to  membership  in 
the  Society  December  3,  1935,  died  at  Hartford  Hospital  December 
26,  195 1. 

She  was  born  in  Brooklyn,  Conn.,  March  12,  1874,  a  daughter  of 
Frank  and  Fannie  (Rickard)  Day.  She  was  a  descendant  of  Israel 
Putnam  and  was  a  Regent  of  Ruth  Wyllys  Chapter,  D.A.R.  She 
was  a  member  of  Trinity  Episcopal  Church,  the  Service  League  of 
Trinity  Church,  the  Town  and  County  Club  of  Hartford,  St. 
Barnabas  Guild  and  the  Women's  Auxiliary  of  Hartford  Hospital. 

Mrs.  Day  is  survived  by  two  nieces,  Mrs.  Charles  Pond,  and  Mrs. 
William  J.  Sexton,  Jr.,  both  of  Hartford  and  a  nephew,  Capt. 
Ernest  B.  Ellsworth  of  the  United  States  Navy. 

Mrs.  Arthur  Reed  Kimball  (Mary  Chase) 

Mrs.  Arthur  Reed  Kimball,  who  became  a  member  of  the  Society 
April  4,  1923,  died  in  Waterbury,  Conn. 

She  was  born  in  Waterbury  June  4,  1865,  a  daughter  of  Augustus 
S.  Chase,  of  that  city.  She  was  educated  at  St.  Margaret's  School, 
Waterbury,  and  Mme.  Da  Silva's  in  New  York  City. 

Mrs.  Kimball  was  active  in  the  civic  life  of  Waterbury  and 
travelled  extensively  abroad. 

On  May  15,  1895  she  married  Arthur  Reed  Kimball,  who  was 
for  some  years  Associate  Editor  of  the  Waterbury  American  and 
also  a  member  of  this  Society.  Mr.  Kimball  died  January  27,  1933. 

Mary  Lessey  Linehan 

Mary  Lessey  Linehan,  who  was  elected  a  member  of  the  Society 
February  5,  1901,  died  in  Amherst,  Mass.  January  19,  1952. 

16 


she  was  born  in  Amherst  February  25,  1867,  a  daughter  of  Den- 
nis and  Catherine  (DeLacy)  Linehan.  She  was  educated  at  Smith 
College  and  did  graduate  work  at  Yale  University  and  Amherst 
College.  She  taught  at  Phelps  Junior  High  School  in  Hartford  for 
many  years. 

Miss  Linehan  was  a  contributor  to  many  periodicals  and  was  an 
authority  on  Gaelic  literature.  She  was  a  member  of  St.  Bridget's 
Church,  Amherst,  and  a  past  regent  of  the  Daughters  of  Isabella 
in  Hartford. 

She  is  survived  by  two  sisters,  Eleanor  G.  Linehan  and  Catherine 
DeLacy  Linehan,  both  of  New  York  City  and  Amherst,  and  a 
niece,  Catherine  Linehan  of  New  York  City. 

James  E.  Rhodes,  2d 

James  E.  Rhodes,  2d,  who  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the 
Society  January  3,  1922,  died  July  22,  195 1  at  his  home  in  West 
Hartford. 

He  was  born  in  Rockland,  Me.,  May  27,  1877,  the  son  of  Gideon 
Woodbury  and  Mary  (Ayer)  Rhodes.  He  was  graduated  from 
Bowdoin  College  in  1897,  and  taught  Greek  and  mathematics  in 
Rockland.  In  1899  he  became  Secretary  to  Representative  Charles 
A.  Littlefield  of  Maine  and  while  in  Washington  studied  law  and 
was  admitted  to  the  Bar  in  1902.  He  joined  the  Travelers  Insur- 
ance Company  as  Adjuster  in  1906,  and  later  was  associated  with 
the  Legal  Department  until  his  retirement  in  1947. 

Mr.  Rhodes  was  author  of  War  hymen's  Compensation,  a  standard 
work  on  the  subject,  and  for  many  years  was  an  instructor  at 
Trinity  College  on  insurance  subjects.  He  was  a  member  of  the 
South  Congregational  Church,  the  University  Club  of  Hartford, 
the  Hartford  Kiwanis  Club,  Lafayette  Lodge  No.  100,  A.F.  &  A.M., 
a  charter  member  of  the  Hartford  Exiles,  a  founder  of  the  Hartford 
City  Club  and  a  member  of  the  American  Law  Institute  and  the 
Maine  and  Connecticut  Bar  Associations. 

He  leaves  his  wife,  the  former  Ruby  A.  Rogers,  of  New  York 
City,  whom  he  married  in  1920,  one  son,  Richard  A.  Rhodes,  2d, 
of  West  Hartford,  and  a  brother,  Richard  A.  Rhodes,  of  Portland, 
Me. 

Everett  Newton  Robinson 

Everett  Newton  Robinson,  who  became  a  member  January  2, 

17 


i95i->  died  at  Hartford  Hospital  March  ii,  1952  after  a  long 
illness. 

He  was  born  in  Willimantic,  Conn.  October  24,  1900,  a  son  of 
James  G.  and  Lovisa  (Chesebro)  Robinson.  He  was  a  sheet  metal 
contractor  and  was  an  authority  on  early  American  tinware  and 
was  engaged  in  writing  and  lecturing  on  this  subject.  January  2, 
195 1  he  addressed  the  Society  on  "The  Tin  Peddler  and  His  Wares," 
illustrated  with  numerous  specimens  from  his  own  collection.  He 
was  a  former  member  of  the  Pioneer  Valley  Antique  Dealers 
Association  and  the  Early  American  Industries  Association. 

Mr.  Robinson  is  survived  by  his  wife,  two  stepsons,  Roy  E. 
Christensen,  of  Hartford  and  Ralph  A.  Christensen,  of  Springfield, 
Mass.,  one  brother,  James  G.  Robinson,  of  St.  Petersburg,  Fla.,  two 
sisters,  Mrs.  James  J.  Murphy,  of  Hartford  and  Mrs.  Olive  R. 
Best,  of  St.  Petersburg,  Fla.,  and  several  nieces  and  nephews. 

Rev.  Sherrod  Soule 

Reverend  Sherrod  Soule,  who  became  a  member  of  the  So- 
ciety May  3,  1921,  died  at  the  New  York  Hospital  September  20, 
1951. 

Dr.  Soule  was  born  in  Hampton,  Conn.  October  29,  i860,  a  son 
of  Rev.  George  Soule,  Chaplain  of  the  nth  Connecticut  Volunteers 
in  the  Civil  War,  and  his  wife  Caroline  R.  Litchfield.  He  graduated 
from  Amherst  College  in  1885  and  from  Union  Theological  Sem- 
inary in  1888.  In  1922  he  received  the  honorary  degree  of  Doctor 
of  Divinity  from  Amherst.  He  was  Pastor  of  the  Dane  Street 
Congregational  Church,  Beverly,  Mass.,  from  1888-1892,  of  the 
Congregational  Church  in  Naugatuck,  Conn.,  from  1892-1899  and 
Superintendent  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  Connecticut  and  the 
Fund  for  Ministers  from  1909-1934. 

Dr.  Soule  was  Historian  of  the  Missionary  Society  of  Connecticut 
for  many  years,  was  Chaplain  of  the  Putnam  Phalanx,  and  from 
1921-1922  was  Chaplain  of  the  State  Senate.  He  was  a  member  of 
the  Psi  Upsilon  Fraternity  and  a  former  President  of  the  University 
Club  of  Hartford,  and  was  a  member  of  the  Sons  of  Veterans. 

In  1893  he  married  Mary  Caroline  Haines,  of  Somersworth, 
N.  H.,  who  died  September  22,  1943.  He  is  survived  by  a  daugh- 
ter, Theodate  Haines  Soule,  who  heads  the  Social  Service  Depart- 


ment  of  the  New  York  Hospital,  and  a  son,  George  Soule,  of 
Bridgeport. 

RoBBiNs  Battell  Stoeckel 

Robbins  Battell  Stoeckel,  who  was  elected  to  membership  in  the 
Society  March  i,  192 1,  died  suddenly  October  16,  195 1  at  his  home 
in  Norfolk. 

He  was  born  in  New  Haven  September  20,  1872,  a  son  of  Gus- 
tave  Jacob  and  Matilda  Bertha  (Wehner)  Stoeckel,  of  German- 
Bavarian  descent.  He  was  graduated  from  Yale  University  in  1889 
and  from  New  York  Law  School  in  1895.  He  was  long  in  public 
service,  and  served  with  distinction  as  Judge  of  Probate,  Norfolk 
District,  until  his  retirement  in  1942.  He  was  the  first  Commis- 
sioner of  Motor  Vehicles,  from  1917  to  1933,  and  drafted  and  ad- 
ministered motor  vehicle  laws  which  were  long  recognized  as 
models  of  their  type. 

Mr.  Stoeckel  was  elected  a  Vice-President  of  the  Society  May 
19,  1942,  and  Robbins  Battell,  for  whom  he  was  named,  served 
as  Vice-President  from  1885-1889  and  as  President  from  1889- 
1890.  Mr.  Stoeckel  was  a  member  of  the  Board  which  administered 
the  Norfolk  Schools  of  Music  and  Art,  provided  by  the  will  of 
Mrs.  Ellen  Battell  Stoeckel,  wife  of  his  brother  Carl.  He  was 
interested  in  the  Litchfield  County  Choral  Union,  and  much  of  its 
success  was  due  to  his  efforts. 

On  November  9,  1905  he  married  Katherine  M.  Fales,  who  died 
in  December  1938.  On  May  16,  1940  he  married  Mary  Jane 
Cairns.  He  is  survived  by  his  wife  and  a  number  of  nieces  and 
nephews. 

Ray  D.  West 

Ray  D.  West,  who  was  admitted  to  membership  in  the  So- 
ciety May  21,  1946,  died  at  his  home  in  Menominee,  Mich.,  Jan. 
15,1952. 

He  was  born  August  9,  1877  in  Chilton,  Wisconsin.  He  was 
educated  at  the  University  of  Wisconsin  and  was  a  school  teacher 
for  42  years. 

Mr.  West  was  a  great  grandson  of  Aaron  West,  Revolutionary 
patriot.  He  was  an  Episcopalian  and  a  member  of  Masonic 
Orders  A.F.  &  A.M.,  R.A.M.,  and  K.T.  During  the  recent  war  he 
was  Reemployment  Committeeman  under  Selective  Service. 

19 


Report  of  Director 

Mr.  President  and  Members  of  the  Society: 

Once  again  it  is  my  privilege  to  report  on  the  state  of  the  Society 
upon  the  conclusion  of  its  127th  year  of  operation.  We  have  a 
building  of  our  own,  moving  is  almost  complete  and  we  can  look 
forward  to  much  usefulness  and  activity  in  the  years  to  come. 
This  is  an  account  of  progress,  progress  many  share  in  and  of 
which  all  should  be  proud.  The  sheer  volume  of  activity  and  acces- 
sions make  possible  only  a  brief  mention,  and  inclusion  or  ex- 
clusion should  not  be  basis  for  evaluation.  Many  things  were  dis- 
cussed at  length  during  business  meetings,  others  are  recorded  in 
the  Bulletin.  Attached  accessions  lists  do  record  and  signify  our 
deep  appreciation  for  all  gifts  not  specifically  cited. 

Twenty-seven  cash  gifts  to  the  Society  for  general  and  specific 
purposes  reached  the  gratifying  total  of  $9,094.55.  This  is  more 
than  double  the  amount  of  last  year  which  we  considered  out- 
standing. It  will  probably  be  impossible  to  maintain  this  pace  but 
it  is  indeed  a  pleasure  to  announce  it  antl  know  so  many  are  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  the  Society.  This  was  achieved  without 
a  general  appeal  to  our  members.  So  many  institutions  must,  that 
it  is  rare  indeed  to  find  such  generosity  virtually  unsolicited.  It 
must  be  by  now  quite  obvious  to  all  concerned  that  we  can 
put  any  and  all  contributions  to  good  use. 

Correspondence  has  long  been  a  source  of  trouble  but  now 
assumes  major  proportions.  It  is  apparent  the  world  of  scholarship 
has  discovered  our  efforts  of  recent  years  and  rewards  us  with 
their  attention.  In  addition  to  genealogical  inquiries  handled  by 
the  Reading  Room,  we  receive  an  average  of  twelve  letters  a  day. 
There  is  no  dictating  machine,  no  stenographer,  many  of  my 
letters  I  must  type  myself.  Certain  letters  rate  top  priority;  book 
orders,  inquiries  from  members,  publishers  and  scholars  who  have 
used  the  collection.  Beyond  that,  we  work  at  them  as  we  find 
time.  If  we  did  not  arbitrarily  do  this,  we  would  do  nothing  but 
write  letters.  Where  should  we  draw  the  line?  Can  we  draw  a 
line?  I  do  not  know.  I  am  flattered  to  think  so  many  want  our 
assistance  but  it  is  pretty  discouraging  to  never  be  caught  up  and 
never  have  a  desk  clear  of  work. 

We  are  grateful  for  the  gift  of  outdoor  poles  and  United  States 


20 


and  State  flags.  These  have  been  attached  to  the  parapet  of  the 
porte-cochere  and  are  to  be  used  on  special  occasions.  These  flags 
were  presented  in  memory  of  Captain  Roger  Clap,  Commander 
1665-1686  The  Castle  Fortress  in  Boston  Harbor  by  his  great,  great, 
great,  great,  great  granddaughter,  Florence  S.  Marcy  Crofut. 
Miss  Crofut  also  presented  indoor  flags  for  the  Lecture  Hall,  but 
they  have  not  yet  arrived. 

A  total  of  510  members  and  friends  attended  the  eight  regular 
lectures.  Though  slightly  less  than  the  previous  year,  several  meet- 
ings were  held  in  abominable  weather  which  undoubtedly  cut 
into  the  prospective  audience.  The  opening  in  October  and  three 
special  exhibitions  attracted  349  and  meetings  of  ten  outside  groups 
totaled  484.  Readers  numbered  1578  and  in  five  months  1000  were 
guided  through  the  museum.  The  building  total,  with  the  museum 
open  less  than  half  the  time,  amounted  to  3921.  This  is  not  out- 
standing, but  merely  recorded  as  a  basis  for  future  comparisons. 

LIBRARY 

Additions  to  the  library  have  come  from  four  sources:  gift,  ex- 
change, purchase  and  discoveries.  The  latter  is  rather  significant 
for  it  includes  things  packed  we  knew  we  had  but  could  not 
locate  and  things  we  knew  nothing  about. 

A  library  is  noted  for  its  rareties  and  the  service  it  can  provide 
to  the  public.  We  have  what  has  been  called  the  "handsomest  and 
the  pleasantest  historical  society  in  the  country  to  work  in."  Some 
day  our  catalogue  will  be  complete  and  then  we  will  really  assume 
our  proper  place  among  the  great  research  institutions  in  the 
country. 

We  have  two  series  of  bound  pamphlets  totaling  272  volumes, 
each  of  which  contains  6-10  titles  which  were  not  seen  by  Charles 
Evans  compiler  of  American  Bibliography  and  were  not  checked 
in  Trumbull's  List  of  Bookj  Printed  in  Connecticut  before  1800. 
These  volumes  include  titles  printed  as  late  as  1850  but  a  sample 
test  of  volumes  1-12  in  "B"  series  revealed  the  following:  8  not 
checked  in  Trumbull;  6  listed  in  Evans  without  locating  a  copy; 
3  not  listed  at  all  in  Evans;  and  62  in  Evans  without  record  of  our 
having  copies.  Volume  25  of  "A"  series  revealed  2  listed  by  Evans 
without  locating  any  copies;  i  not  in  Evans;  and  7  in  Evans  with- 


out  CHS  location.  These  are  listed  on  old  cards  but  are  not  in  the 
catalogue.  They  can  only  be  found  if  we  search  carefully. 

The  first  series  of  445  volumes,  apparently  checked  by  Evans, 
contains  the  bulk  of  the  titles  recorded  as  being  in  this  library. 
There  is  a  manuscript  catalogue  of  these  by  author. 

From  the  sampling,  we  find  copies  of  a  few  pamphlets  in  all 
three  series.  Consequently  we  must  break  up  these  volumes  in  order 
to  separate  duplicates  and  also  to  shelve  like  things  together.  It 
will  take  time  and  has  so  far  been  postponed  for  the  unbound, 
uncatalogued  material  was  completely  lost  until  processed  and 
seemed  to  rate  top  priority.  In  any  event  the  duplicates  eventually 
will  make  available  considerable  materials  for  exchange  and  sale, 
to  ultimately  return  in  other  additions  to  the  collection. 

Accessions  totaled:  320  volumes 

285  pamphlets 
97  manuscript  collections 
103  miscellaneous  collections 


Total 

805 

The  miscell; 

ineous  items  may  be  broken  down  into 

22 

newspapers 

36  pictures,  engravings  &c. 

26 

programs 

24 

advertisements 

22 

maps 

13 

scrapbooks  and  clippings 

9 

circulars,  invitations  &c. 

6  trade  cards 

4 

book  plates 

12 

envelopes  and  wrappers 

23 

broadsides 

Total  197 

Perhaps  the  most  significant  book  published  in  Connecticut 
was  John  Ledyard's  A  Journal  of  Captain  Coo}(s  Last  Voyage  to 
the  Pacific  Ocean.  Hartford  1783.  A  whole  report  might  be  written 
just  around  this  book  and  Ledyard's  importance  to  the  future  de- 


velopment  of  this  country.  Ledyard's  dream  was  to  open  the 
Pacific  Northwest  and  though  he  did  not  hve  to  do  it,  others 
foUowinij  his  lead,  were  successful  and  these  included  Thomas 
Jefferson.  This  is  a  fairly  common  hook,  but  rare  with  the  map. 


J    O    U    R    N    A^'L 

GApfain'  C     O     O     K\, 
,■'  it^        '    '■      '     '?',  -'Vv  / 
V    O     Y     A    G     E. 

I\!(ifu       OiC\!>l, 

JS'orth-ir.l]    I'.ifn^., 

ASIA   ^  AMERICA; 


t.OR  D     .1  N  SO  A\ 

VOYAGE 
The  World  ; 


TWO  KAKt  IMPRINTS 


We  knew  we  had  it  but  were  never  able  to  locate  it,  and  when 
unpacked  we  breathed  a  sigh  of  relief.  The  map  is  missing,  but 
the  copy  is  in  such  fine  state  we  expect  to  find  that  the  map  was 
carefully  removed  for  safe  keeping. 

Nearly  two  years  ago  we  had  an  inquiry  concerning  Lord 
Anson's  Voyage  Round  the  World  .  .  .  Boston  ....  1760.  Evans 
lists  ours  as  the  only  copy  and  this  inquirer  wished  to  see  it.  We  had 
to  report  that  we  were  moving,  the  title  was  not  catalogued  and 
consequently  was  assumetl  to  be  in  one  of  a  thousand  boxes  in 
storage.  Fortunately  for  us,  it  did  turn  up  as  predicted. 

One  of  the  account  books  found  last  year  in  moving  was  identi- 
fieci  as  that  of  Isaiah  Tiffany,  a  storekeeper,  Lebanon  and  Nor- 
wich 1746- 1 767.  Dr.  Ernest  Caul  field  is  much  interested  in  such 
accounts  and  when  he  examined  the  book  discovered  Tiffany  was 
a  cabinet  maker  and  made  everything  from  cradles  to  coffins. 

Tiffany  was  born  in  Bristol,  R.  I.,  February  22,  1697/98.  He  was 


23 


a  selectman  in  Woodstock,  a  Representative  to  the  General  Court 
1742/43  and  soon  thereafter  moved  to  Lebanon.  The  accounts 
commence  in  Lebanon  and  conclude  in  Norwich  to  which  he  re- 
moved and  where  he  died  April  4,  1780. 

These  records  indicate  that  Tii?any  was  a  cabinetmaker  of  no 
mean  ability  and  it  is  hoped  other  records  of  his  will  turn  up  and 
that  a  piece  of  furniture  recorded  in  the  accounts  may  be  traced  to 
the  present  owner.  Dec,  20,  1750  a  "case  of  draws"  was  sold  Jon- 
athan Clark  of  Lebanon  for  _^27.  Jonathan  Trumble  was  a  steady 
customer  paying  £yL  for  a  "case  of  draws  without  trimming,"  £?> 
for  a  dressing  table,  /[50  for  a  "desk  and  book  case  without  trim- 
ming", and  £6  for  a  cradle. 

I  have  repeatedly  commented  on  our  poor  manuscript  catalogue 
and  the  urgent  need  of  a  specialist  on  the  staff  to  take  care  of  it. 
In  the  first  place  we  do  not  know  what  we  have  nor  are  we  able 
to  process  accessions  as  received. 

Bernhard  Knollenberg  while  using  our  William  Samuel  Johnson 
papers  came  upon  thirteen  documents,  instructions  to  and  corres- 
pondence of  Charles  Garth,  South  Carolina  Agent,  1765-66.  Max 
Farranci  in  the  American  Antiquarian  Society  Proceedings  N.  S.  v. 
23,  describes  the  Johnson  papers  in  this  Society  but  no  mention 
appears  concerning  these  particular  documents  and  their  discovery 
was  an  accident.  It  took  someone  familiar  with  the  period  to 
recognize  them  for  what  they  were. 

W.  S.  Johnson  Papers  Relating  to  South  Carolina 

1.  Delegates  from  S.C.  to  Stamp  Act  Congress  to  Carth — Oct.  26.  1765 

2.  Committee  to  Garth — Nov.  26,  1765 

3.  Christopher  Gadsden  to  Johnson — Dec.  2,   1765 — Published   in  Gibbes 

Documentary  History  of  So.  CluoUuu,  7-g,  hut  wrongly  stated 
to  be  to  (Jarth 

4.  Committee  to  (Jarth — Dec.  16,  1765 

5.  Garth  to  Committee — Dec.  23,  1765 — unpublished — original  or  copy  in 

S.C.  Hist.  Soc 

6.  Garth  to  Committee — Jan.    19,    1766  with   additions   to  Feb.   22,    1766 

published  in  S.C.  Hist,  and  Genealogical  Magazine,  April   IQ25 

7.  Garth  to  Committee — -Feb.  25,  1766 

8.  Garth  to  Committee — Mar.  12,  1766 

9.  Garth  to  Committee — Mar.  18,  1766 

10.  Garth  to  Committee — Mar.  25,  1766 

11.  April    I,    1766 — opinions   of  Chief   Justice   Skinner   and    four   associate 

justices  of  S.  C.  Supreme  Court  in  famous  case  of  Jocelin  vs.  Law 

24 


12.  Gadsden  to  Johnson — Apr.  i6,  1766 

13.  Undated  report  (probably  around  Nov.  i,  1765)  of  delegates  to  Stamp 

Act  Congress  to  S.  C.  Commons  House  of  Assembly 

It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  an  unknown  Revolutionary  cartoon 
wouki  at  this  late  date  turn  up  but,  with   treasures  that  have 


( f?'?//if  •■0/t'^;!l,i / /:     I ■'•,. 


ii /ii ' /'  a 


been  buried  for  50-75  years,  it  is  not  unusual  here.  This  is  the  case 
with  "The  Contrast.  Captive  Britons  in  America.  Americans  in  a 
British  Prison".  It  is  a  colored  engraving  of  a  political  subject.  The 
left  panel  shows  three  British  prisoners  seated  in  luxury  at  a 
dining  table  with  a  lady,  A  negro  servant  is  entering  the  room. 
A  cat  is  sleeping  at  the  left  and  a  dog  partially  covers  a  news- 
paper, ISlew  \  ]  Mercury.  One  prisoner  says:  "To  the  fears  of 
the  Rebels  we  owe  this". 

In  the  right  panel,  eleven  American  prisoners  and  one  guard 
are  in  a  big  room.  Six  are  standing,  two  seated  on  boxes,  two 
slumped  on  the  floor  and  one  lies  prone.  Their  clothing  is  be- 
draggled and  they  appear  gaunt.  One  says:  "On  4  oz  of  bad  pork 
&  l^lb  of  coal,  no  trial,  scarce  any  water".  Two  balloons  are  illegi- 
ble; another  says:  "Good  for  the  Hess",  and  the  guard  says:  " 

is  too  good  for  you". 

Through  exchange  we  secured  a  volume  containing  a  list  of  sub- 


25 


scribers  of  the  Hartford  and  New  Haven  Turnpike  Company  1799- 
1806.  This  turnpike  was  the  resuh  of  an  act  passed  at  the  October 
1798  session  of  the  General  Assembly  and  was  laid  out  on  the 
straight  line  principle;  that  is,  as  straight  between  towns  as  was 
possible  disregarding  earlier  roads.  It  started  from  New  Haven 
over  Whitney  Avenue,  through  the  southeast  part  of  Hamden,  the 
west  part  of  Wallingford  and  the  center  of  Meriden.  It  entered 
Hartford  over  what  is  now  known  as  Maple  Avenue. 

The  turnpike  was  34%  miles  long  and  cost  $79,261  and  it  is 
believed  the  net  income  never  exceeded  $3,000  a  year.  The  stock 
holders  included  many  prominent  citizens  from  both  New  Haven 
and  Hartford. 

Jeremiah  Wadsworth  subscribed  originally  to  65  shares.  Be- 
tween 1798  and  1803  he  paid  in  $3305,  received  $420  presumably 
for  services  and  $781.72  for  damages.  He  also  transferred  45  shares 
June  3,  1800  for  $1620. 

James  Hillhouse  and  Oliver  Ellsworth  each  with  150  shares  were 
the  largest  holders. 

Thomas  T.  Punderson  received  $650  for  building  a  bridge. 
Samuel  Bailey,  builder  of  the  Turnpike  from  Warren  to  Palmer, 
Massachusetts  in  1797,  was  the  general  contractor. 

Between  May  and  July  1803,  Benjamin  Read,  collector  at  Gate 
No.  I  collected  $156.34  in  tolls;  Elizur  Andrews,  Gate  No.  2, 
$123.78;  Joseph  Doolittle,  Gate  No.  3,  $149.44  and  Jacob  Walter, 
Gate  No.  4,  $132.74.  Other  toll  keepers  were  Asaph  Mitchell  at 
Meriden,  Mr.  Balch  at  Berlin  and  Joseph  Chipman  at  Hamden. 

Also  on  exchange  we  received  3  volumes  of  Samuel  Stiles  papers. 
Stiles  was  an  apprentice  and  also  a  son-in-law  of  Abner  Reed  and 
was  later  a  partner  in  the  engraving  business.  There  are  diaries, 
letters  and  accounts  of  Reed  which  show  he  was  an  extremely 
versatile  man.  He  engraved,  printeci,  grained  chairs,  made  wood 
cuts,  lettered  cartridge  boxes  and  coffins,  ornamented  drums,  cut 
type,  lettered  on  glass  and  painted  carriages.  There  is  a  trade 
card  and  many  proofs  of  bank  notes  engraved  by  Reed,  Stiles  and 
later  partnerships.  These  papers  were  collected  and  mounted  in 
volumes  by  Henry  Reed  Stiles,  M.D.,  son  of  Samuel  Stiles  and 
author  of  the  Windsor  and  Wethersfield  histories. 

Our  Treasurer,  Allerton  C.  Hickmott,  presented  a  unique 
Thomas  Hooker  item  printed  in  London,  1653  titled:  Gods  Image 

26 


o?i  Man.  There  is  no  record  of  this  title  in  Hooker  bibhographies. 
Struck  by  the  similarity  in  size  with  The  Paterne  of  Perfection  .  .  . 
Lontlon  1640,  we  checked  and  found,  page  for  page,  that  they  were 
identical  from  the  same  type  with  the  exception  of  the  title  page. 
How  this  was  done  we  do  not  yet  know.  We  have  a  splendid  col- 
lection of  Hooker  and  this  adtlition  is  of  great  significance  to  us. 

Jared  Eliot  of  Killingworth,  leading  physician  and  scientist, 
was  the  author  of  Essay  on  Field  Husbandry  in  New  England  pub- 
lished in  six  parts  between  1748-1759.  This  was  the  first  work  in 
America  attempting  to  improve  farming  methods  and  was  for  a 
long  time  widely  read  and  applied.  Part  I  was  published  in  New 
London,  1748;  II  in  1749;  III  in  1751;  V  in  1754  and  VI  in  New 
Haven,  1759.  We  have  parts  II  and  III.  In  1760,  Edes  and  Gill 
reprinteci  all  6  essays  in  Boston  in  166  pages.  Lawrence  B.  Romaine 
presented  us  an  incomplete  copy  lacking  pages  1-4  and  163-6.  It 
is  a  rare  volume  at  best,  and  to  have  most  of  the  text  of  the  essays  is 
a  great  privilege. 

Vice-President  E.  A.  Moore  made  possible  the  purchase  of 
The  Columbian  Harmony  by  Joseph  Stone  and  Abraham  Wood, 
[Boston,  Isaiah  Thomas  and  E.  T.  Andrews,  1793].  This  is  a  rare 
title  but  its  main  interest  to  us  is  that  the  plates  were  the  work  of 
two  Connecticut  engravers.  The  title  says  engraved  by  Joel  Allen. 
Page  9  is  signed  "E  Ruggles  junr  Sculp";  71  "J.  Allen  Sc";  90 
"E.  Ruggles  jun  Sculp";  and  112  "Engraved  by  E  Ruggles  jun." 
Joel  Allen  of  Farmington  was  a  well  known  engraver  who  did 
numerous  maps  and  song  books.  However,  those  plates  signed 
by  Ruggles  are  even  more  important.  At  Pomfret,  March  14,  1789, 
Edward  Ruggles,  Jr.  published  "A  Compleat  Plan  of  the  city  of 
Marietta"  and  a  little  later  "A  New  Map  of  the  World."  Staufifer 
American  Engravers  on  Copper  and  Steel  merely  says  he  was  a 
book-plate  engraver,  apparently  working  between  1790- 1800,  some- 
where in  New  England  and  notes  the  plate  of  one  Walter  Lyon  as 
the  only  plate  seen.  His  association  with  Allen  may  help  in  find- 
ing additional  information. 

Dwight  G.  Clark  of  Bryan,  Texas,  presented  a  diary  and  letters 
of  his  grandfather,  Jared  Goodrich  of  Bristol,  later  of  Plainville. 
Goodrich  with  some  other  members  of  the  Bristol,  California 
Company,  left  New  York  February  23,  1849  and  arrived  at  San 
Francisco,  California,  by  way  of  Panama,  June  4,  and  returned 

27 


to  New  York,  February  6,  1850.  The  diary  describes  die  experiences 
for  approximately  a  year.  The  letters  were  to  and  from  his  wife. 
Jared  Goodrich  was  a  clockmaker  in  the  firm  of  Hills  and  Good- 
rich and  later  the  founder  of  the  Plainville  Manufacturing  Com- 
pany, makers  of  knit  underwear  for  many  years. 

Goodrich  wrote  some  interesting  comments  on  gold  and  Califor- 
nia which  reveal  the  conditions  of  the  times.  It  did  not  take  long  for 
him  to  discover  the  futility,  to  admit  it,  and  to  make  preparations 
to  return  home. 

Sacramento  looked  like  a  "Camp  Meeting"  with  the  bulk  of 
the  citizens  living  in  tents.  Those  who  came  overland  described 
the  plains  as  a  "graveyard"  with  hundreds  dying  of  cholera.  By 
October,  the  fight  to  return  home  was  greater  than  it  was  in 
New  York  to  come  to  California. 

Wages  were  $10-20  a  day;  board  $1-2  per  meal;  flour  I9  per  hun- 
dred pounds;  pork  $50  a  barrel;  fresh  beef  $25  per  quarter;  and 
steak  30  cents  a  pound.  Cattle  cost  S20-25  per  head,  ham  50  cents  a 
pound;  milk  50  cents  a  quart;  lumber  $1  a  foot  and  potatoes  12^2 
cents  a  pound.  New  York  papers  several  months  old  sold  for  $1  a 
piece  and  letters  by  express  to  New  York  cost  a  dollar.  Transporta- 
tion to  the  mines  75  miles  away  cost  $1  per  pound  and  a  common 
size  stove  was  worth  $150-200.  Traders  calculated  to  make  100% 
profit.  All  of  this  was  based  on  gold  which  if  lucky  could  be  dug 
at  the  rate  of  an  ounce  a  day,  and  exchanged  at  the  rate  of  |i  an 
ounce.  No  wonder  Goodrich  was  back  in  New  York  within  a 
year. 

From  the  estate  of  Erskine  Hyde  of  Coventry,  through  the  heirs, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brown  of  Brook  field,  we  received  a  quantity  of 
letters,  account  books  and  documents  of  Daniel  Burnap.  Burnap 
was  a  famous  clock  maker  of  the  i8th  and  early  19th  century 
at  East  Windsor  and  Coventry. 

As  most  workers  in  metal,  Burnap  made  a  great  variety  of 
things.  He  worked  in  gold  and  silver,  made  compasses,  gun  trim- 
mings, pistol  trimmings,  inkstands,  dental  tools,  sleigh  bells  and 
buttons.  A  gold  necklace  brought  /,'2:8:o;  silver  spurs  /,"  1:14:0  and 
a  brass  compass  £6.  His  clocks  averaged  /*io,  chime  clocks  ^,"22 
and  cases  were  between  ^^3:4:0  and  £'y.  The  most  expensive  clock 
was  sold  for  £^0  to  Amherst  Reynolds  in  East  Hartford  in  1802, 
and  was  described  as  a  "brass  wheeled  chime  clock  and  case". 

28 


Burnap  made  brasses  for  Eliphalet  Chapin,  Jonathan  Birge,  and 
Simeon  Loomis,  cabinetmakers,  and  Birge,  Loomis  and  Samuel 
Kneeland  made  cases  for  Burnap's  clocks.  Kneeland  made  seven 
cherry  cases  between  1788-93,  Birge  at  least  five  and  Loomis  12 
cases.  It  is  believed  some  of  these  clocks  and  cases  may  be  identi- 
fied in  the  near  future. 

Rose  Wilder  Terry  of  Tryon,  North  Carolina  and  Alfred  Howe 
Terry  presented  forty  letters  by  Daniel  Wadsworth  between  No- 
vember 10,  1792  and  April  26,  1793.  Daniel  took  his  sister  Harriet 
to  Bermuda  in  hopes  of  relief  from  tuberculosis.  These  letters  es- 
sentially relate  the  sad  final  illness  of  the  young  latly  but  there 
is  also  much  of  social-economic  interest.  He  writes  to  his  father, 
mother,  sister  and  aunt  and  in  order  to  assure  their  receiving  his 
letters  there  is  much  duplication.  However,  the  difficulty  of  secur- 
ing medicine,  food,  horses  and  feed  for  horses  make  these  valuable 
sources.  Visitors  to  Bermuda  today  often  inquire  about  the  tablet 
marking  the  grave  of  Harriet  Wadsworth  of  Hartford,  and  these 
letters  complete  the  record.  Daniel  Wadsworth  was  later  the 
founder  of  the  Wadsworth  Atheneum,  home  of  the  Society  for  107 
years. 

Acquisition  of  unique  titles  by  purchase  becomes   more  and 


JoiU"^'   ilriM,    in   !  »l.-!'l'Hh; 


TJm'      K.i-I.-      .,1        An. ■■...■.. 
Hrinrii.l,.-!      .I.»k.-i.n       XfW   I  >r|.-,,  i.>% 

Atiu     Hallli.M.i,-    .V    l'|-,il..l.i)i  v;      t,,u. 
iVln.Mii«-i      :11     <l...s.      v.i   u.n-     .,..,.-. 

'V\,M^     litti,-      lH>..k     pr,-'-n1s    U,   vi.-u 


Ix.N.   Ill  I.I 1     ..„..,. 

Ol.i  J.,hi,m      -li.  «  ,1     In M-l 

lint     \y\,i,i,.    I,..     >,,,,~      ., 

TIk-    inv       <ii  Kiii;i(.:iii.      ,  uik 


Purchase,  Robbitis  Fund 


29 


more  unusual  as  time  goes  on.  We  have  been  fortunate,  and  one 
of  these  this  year  is  titled  Americans  Triumphant,  or  John  Bull 
in  Distress  .  .  .  Middletown,  Conn.  Printed  and  sold  by  J.  T. 
Porter,  1823. 

This  is  a  juvenile  illustrating  American  naval  victories  in  the 
War  of  1812.  Among  these  are  the  sinking  of  the  "Guerriere," 
Perry  on  Lake  Erie,  Decatur's  victory  with  the  "Macedonia,"  and 
illustrations  of  action  by  Bainbridge,  Lawrence,  Jones  and  Macdon- 
ough. 

Stauffer  says  J.  T.  Porter  was  a  mediocre  line  engraver  of  Middle- 
town  whose  only  known  works  were  in  Narrative  of  John  R. 
Jewitt.  He  may  have  been  mediocre  and  his  verses  were  none  too 
good,  but  he  did  produce  a  delightful  volume  and  he  was  a 
Connecticut  engraver.  A  James  T.  Porter  died  in  Middletown  De- 
cember 7,  1826  and  is  believed  to  have  been  this  engraver. 

Through  one  of  those  tricks  fate  sometimes  plays,  we  were 
lucky  to  purchase  two  editions  of  Narrative  of  the  adventures  afid 
sufferings  of  John  R.  Jewitt  only  survivor  of  the  crew  of  the 
ship  Boston,  during  a  captivity  of  nearly  three  years  among  the 
savages  of  Noot\a  Sound  .  .  .  Middletown  .  .  .  1815.  In  addition 
we  secured  a  broadside  song  "The  Poor  Armourer  Boy,  A  song 
, .  .  adapted  to  the  case  of  John  R.  Jewitt  .  .  ."  Loomis  &  Richards, 
Printers,  Middletown,  March  8th,  1815. 

This  in  itself  does  not  seem  too  remarkable  but  the  author  was 
Richard  Alsop.  His  source  was  a  Journal  published  by  Jewitt  in 
1807  in  Boston,  which  is  now  very  rare.  Alsop  wrote  the  "Narra- 
tive" using  the  style  of  Robinson  Crusoe  and  it  had  the  widest  cir- 
culation of  any  of  his  works.  An  obituary  of  Alsop  in  Analectic 
Magazine  says:  "His  last  publication  was  The  Adventure  of  John 
Jewitt  [sic]  in  which  he  [Alsop]  has  worked  up  the  rude  story  of 
an  unlettered  man  with  a  pleasing  simplicity  of  style  which  is  likely 
to  make  it  almost  as  popular  in  this  country  as  Robinson  Crusoe." 
Though  an  optimistic  prophesy,  since  1815  nineteen  editions,  in- 
cluding two  in  London,  one  in  Edinburgh,  and  one  in  Leipzig  as 
late  as  1928,  have  appeared. 

The  first  edition  by  Loomis  &  Richards  has  a  frontispiece  en- 
graved by  J.  T.  Porter,  is  bound  in  boards  with  a  bust  of  the  Indian 
Chief  Maquina  and  a  whaling  scene  on  the  back  cover  and  is  er- 
roneously pagetl  203,  due  to  double  use  of  page  28. 

30 


The  second  edition  of  ^,000  copies,  September  6,  1815,  is  by  Seth 
Richards,  has  a  reengraved,  unsigned  frontispiece,  is  bound  in 
calf  and  the  paging  has  been  corrected.  Commencing  on  page  7 
the  text  is  reset,  though  a  careful  comparison  fails  to  locate  any 
additional  matter. 

Alsop's  own  copy,  in  the  New  York  Public  Library,  is  filled  with 
corrections  and  additions  so  a  revision  was  contemplated,  but  his 
sudden  death  August  20,  1815  apparently  prevented  it  and  sub- 
sequent editions  do  not  include  them. 

The  work  was  published  for  the  profit  of  Jewitt.  He  peddled 
them  around  the  country  by  wagon  and  wheelbarrow.  On  March 
17,  1817,  he  appeared  in  a  melodrama  in  Philadelphia  titled: 
"The  Armourer's  Escape,  or  Three  Years  at  Nootka  Sound".  Later 
he  married  Julia  Ann  Richards  September  13,  1836  in  New  Haven. 

The  song  is  to  the  tune  of  the  "Poor  Cabin  Boy",  consists  of  five 
verses  and  might  also  be  the  work  of  Alsop. 

S.  G.  Goodrich,  Peter  Parley,  in  1832  published  The  Captive  of 
Nootka,  which  was  a  juvenile  version  aimed  at  moralizing  Jewitt's 
adventure.  Another  edition  of  this  appeared  in  1835. 

\n  last  year's  report,  we  took  considerable  space  to  list  the  large 
wall  maps  of  Connecticut  towns  and  counties  between  1847-1860 
that  we  lacked.  Through  purchase  and  gift  as  the  result  of  this 
list,  we  acquired  maps  of  Meriden,  New  Britain  and  New  Haven 
1851;  New  Haven  County,  and  Guilford  1852;  Salisbury  and 
Woodbury  1853;  New  London  County  1854;  Milford  1855  and 
Danbury  i860.  These  ten  materially  decrease  the  list  to  twenty 
that  we  are  now  seeking.  If  succeeding  years  are  as  fruitful  as  this 
one,  it  will  not  be  long  before  our  collection  is  virtually  com- 
plete. 

Mrs.  Alfred  Howe  Terry  not  only  served  as  Chairman  of  the 
Social  Committee,  but  also  worked  on  a  calendar  of  the  Jeremiah 
Wadsworth  manuscripts.  These  have  been  in  the  possession  of  the 
Society  for  many  years.  The  catalogue  merely  states  Boxes  123-147, 
Sept.  1776-Oct.  1804.  They  are  arranged  chronologically  within 
each  box,  but  when  asked  for  letters  of  an  individual,  for  example, 
we  have  had  no  method  of  determining  whether  we  had  any  of  his 
letters  or  where  to  locate  them. 

The  calendar  lists  each  letter  as  filed  by  place,  date,  writer  and 
addressee.  Through  its  use  we  can  readily  ascertain  whether  we 

31 


have  letters  of  various  people,  and  which  box  they  are  in.  Mrs. 
Terry  has  completed  5285  documents,  with  an  approximate  2300 
to  go.  To  those  interested,  projects  such  as  this  are  available  upon 
application  and  you  can  be  assured  of  performing  valued  and 
much  appreciated  service.  In  the  case  of  Mrs.  Terry,  her  husband 
is  a  descendant  of  Jeremiah  Wadsworth. 

Mention  was  made  in  the  Bulletin  of  the  acquisition  of  several  ref- 
erence tools  such  as  Evans,  Staufter  and  Fielding.  We  also  have  ac- 
quired Halkett  and  Laing's  Dictionary  of  Anonymous  and  Pseu- 
donymous English  Literature  in  7  volumes  and  the  Catalogue  of  the 
Library  of  the  Boston  Atheneum,  five  parts.  With  the  exception  of 
Sabin's  A  Dictionary  of  Booths  Relating  to  America  in  29  volumes, 
our  reference  collection  is  pretty  complete.  We  must  get  Sabin  in  the 
very  near  future.  It  sells  for  $649.00,  so  that  we  are  hopeful  some 
member  will  have  a  set  he  no  longer  needs  or  is  willing  to  con- 
tribute towards  its  purchase.  With  so  much  to  catalogue  and  check, 
the  accessibility  of  all  aids  is  important.  At  present,  we  must  refer 
to  the  State  Library  or  the  Watkinson  Library,  which  slows  the 
process  considerably. 

The  grants  from  the  Hartford  Foundation  for  Public  Giving 
have  one  year  to  run.  To  date,  14,762  titles  have  been  catalogued 
and  some  106,000  cards  filed.  Two  catalogue  cases,  one  60  drawer 
and  one  45  drawer  were  purchased  and  will  provide  expansion 
room  for  a  few  years  to  come.  After  this  year  we  must  plan 
to  assume  the  salary  of  the  cataloguer  employed  since  January  1947 
with  Foundation  Funds.  Their  project  has  provided  the  basis  of 
our  catalogue  for  which  we  are  greatly  indebted.  Its  usefulness  is 
established  and  its  continuation  is  now  our  responsibility. 

Binding  costs,  like  everything  else,  have  tloubled  in  recent  years. 
We  spent  $390.00  and  just  barely  took  care  of  normal  wear  and 
tear  of  the  reference  and  genealogical  collection.  Moving  is  hard 
on  books  and  no  matter  how  careful,  brittle  bindings  cracked  and 
the  life  of  many  were  shortened.  We  are  faced  with  the  necessity 
of  binding  many  newspapers  in  the  near  future  and  systematic 
repair,  if  available,  would  be  cheaper  in  the  long  run.  Collectors 
are  shocked  at  valuable,  often  unique,  pamphlets  being  shelved 
only  in  envelopes.  Many  deserve  binding,  slip  cases  and  boxing, 
but  it  is  im[)0ssible  without  the  expenditure  of  large  sums.  Maybe 
the  solution  lies  in  installing  our  own  bindery  for  a  year  or  two. 

32 


Many  institutions  do  just  this.  I  do  not  profess  to  know.  It  is  men- 
tioned for  it  is  as  yet  an  unsolved  problem  and  it  is  growing  larger 
each  year.  The  new  air  conditioned  stack  will  stop  deterioration 
due  to  excessive  dryness  but  it  will  not  repair  damage  or  bind  vol- 
umes. Institutions  of  comparable  size  budget  annually  $2,ooo-S3,ooo 
for  binding.  Early  acceptance  of  this  will  bring  an  early  solution. 

Museum 

We  are  constantly  studying  and  new  information  comes  to  light 
on  many  pieces  in  the  collection.  For  example  fully  half  of 
artists  of  our  paintings  remain  unidentified.  Every  once  in  a  while 
some  one  turns  up  a  "key"  painting  so  that  a  whole  series  may  be 
ascribed  to  a  certain  artist.  This  information  is  sometimes  available 
through  periodicals  but  more  often  from  a  visiting  museum 
curator  or  expert.  Mrs.  William  Sawitsky  is  the  authority  for  as- 
cribing the  portrait  of  Adam  Beauchamp  to  Jeremiah  Theus. 
Beauchamp  left  Hartford  and  died  in  South  Carolina  about  1740. 
Theus  was  in  Charleston  and  advertising  in  the  South  Carolina 
Gazette  as  early  as  August  30,  1740.  Beauchamp  was  a  French 
Huguenot  and  Theus  painted  a  number  of  this  group.  Aside  from 
other  characteristics,  the  hands  are  concealed,  which  was  a  pecu- 
liarity of  the  artist. 

A  pewter  piece,  labeled 
"what  is  it"  was  discovered 
to  be  an  infusion  pot.  Medi- 
cine vapors  from  the  pot  re- 
lieved a  patient  with  a  severe 
cold  or  croup.  The  wick  is 
lacking  but  otherwise  the 
piece  resembles  a  pot  in  the 
Garvan  collection.  The  mark 
ID  has  not  yet  been  identi- 
fied. 

INFUSION  POT,  pfii'ter 

On  several  occasions  this  year  we  were  invited  to  visit  homes 
and  select  items  of  interest  to  the  Society.  Memoranda  were  then 
drawn   up   to  be   kept  among  estate   papers   to   assist   heirs   in 


33 


distribution  matters  in  the  future.  This  is  a  very  satisfactory  ar- 
rangement on  both  sides  for  the  Society  receives  materials  in  Hne 
with  its  acquisition  pohcies  and  donors  are  assured  their  things 
are  wanted,  will  be  cared  for  and  are  going  to  the  proper  institution. 
We  have  also  served  in  advisory  capacities  for  materials  outside  our 
interest;  our  main  thought  being  that  there  is  a  proper  home  for 
everything  and  if  we  can  help,  we  are  fulfilling  our  function. 

Another  method  is  illustrated  by  the  gift  of  a  silvered  dial  clock 
made  by  Joseph  Carpenter  of  Norwich,  presented  by  Dr.  Isaac  W. 
Kingsbury.  By  vote  of  the  Society,  the  gift  was  accepteci  and  then 
loaned  to  the  donor  subject  to  life  use. 

Russell  Todd  Cornell  of  Scarsdale,  N.  Y.,  presented  a  marble 
bust  and  pedestal  of  Lydia  Alden  (Giddings)  Todd  who  was 
born  in  Hartford  in  1831.  The  bust  was  sculptured  from  life  in 
Italy  in  1868  or  69. 

This  is  an  example  of  a  record  of  a  Connecticut  person  that 
should  be  preserved  but  which  carries  with  it  certain  problems. 
In  the  first  place  it  is  large,  requires  consicierable  space  in  storage, 
must  be  periodically  cleaned  and  rarely  warrants  exhibition.  Con- 
sequently, acceptance  commits  us  to  somewhat  of  a  burden  which, 
if  a  regular  occurrence,  could  ultimately  strangle  our  resources. 
When  this  was  discussed  with  the  donor  he  readily  appreciated 
the  problem  and  made  a  donation  which  provides  perpetual  care. 
In  the  past  this  matter  was  not  given  enough  consideration  and 
as  a  result  we  are  obligated  in  some  instances  which  are  a  source 
of  constant  embarrassment.  We  are  in  business,  we  have  overhead, 
depreciation,  maintenance  and  the  problem  of  securing  funds  to 
care  for  another's  gifts.  Mr.  Seymour  set  a  pattern  which  others 
must  follow  for  as  the  Society  grows  so  also  must  our  endowment. 
The  most  wonderful  part  of  the  whole  matter  is  that  prospective 
cionors  are  the  first  to  recognize  the  problem  and  solution  lies  in 
a  full  discussion  before  we  assume  the  obligation  of  ownership. 

Miss  Mariette  N.  Fitch  of  Rockville  presented  a  number  of 
very  lovely  costumes  anci  accessories,  the  bulk  of  which  belonged 
to  the  Misses  Nancy  and  Mary  Terry  of  Providence  and  Enfield. 
The  Terry  sisters  ran  a  fashionable  millinery  shop  in  Providence 
until  1850  when  they  retired  and  returned  to  Enfield.  The  dresses 
were  spotless  and  otherwise  in  perfect  condition.  Two  of  these 
gowns  are  now  on  exhibition. 

34 


William  R.  Wheeler  was  born  in  Michigan  in  18^2  and  came 
to  Hartford  in  1861.  Until  his  death  July  i  ^,  189^,  he  was  a  prolific 
painter  of  portraits  in  the  city  and  many  prominent  citizens  sat 
for  him.  At  the  request  of  the  Society  he  painted  a  splendid  por- 


ASA  AND  ANNA  H.  (sABIn)  JILLSON 

Oil  on  canvas  by  Erastus  Salisbury  Field 
Gift  oj  Mrs.  George  Leland  Nichols 


trait  of  James  Hammond  Trumbull  in  1880  which  hangs  in  the 
Director's  office. 

From  Mrs.  George  Leland  Nichols  of  Northampton,  Massachu- 
setts, we  received  the  portraits  of  Caroline  Louisa  Jillson  (April  12, 
1839-Jan.  13,  1866)  and  William  Curtis  Jillson  (April  4,  1833-Jan. 
2,  1898)  painted  by  Wheeler  in  1865. 

Also  from  Mrs.  Nichols  were  five  portraits  by  Erastus  Salisbury 
Field  1831  and  1832.  They  are  Anna  H.  (Sabin)  Jillson,  her  hus- 
band Asa  Jillson  (Sept.  5,  1783-April  7,  1848)  of  Willimantic,  and 
children,  Elizabeth  Camilla  (June  13,  1826-  )  and  William 

Lawrence  Jillson  (Dec.  18,  1807-Jan.  i,  1861)  and  Mrs.  William 
Lawrence  (Caroline  Curtis)  Jillson.  (June  4,  1808-Aug.  16,  1862) 

Field  was  born  in  Leverett,  Massachusetts  May  19,  1805.  He 
studied  for  a  short  time  under  Samuel  F.  R.  Morse,  but  Morse  had 


35 


little  influence  upon  his  style.  After  his  marriage  in  1831  Field 
settled  in  Hartford  for  about  a  year.  Since  Camilla  was  6  years 
old  when  her  portrait  was  done,  the  paintings  are  tentatively  as- 
cribed to  his  Hartford  period.  The  portraits  are  typical  examples  of 
Field's  primitive  style.  It  is  not  likely  too  many  portraits  of 
this  period  survive,  so  it  is  exceedingly  gratifying  to  have  these. 
His  later  life  was  spent  in  Massachusetts,  namely  Monson,  Leverett 
and  Sunderland  until  his  death  in  1900. 

Hair  jewelry  enjoyed  wide  popularity  during  the  "Victorian" 
era.  Among  the  most  popular  ornaments  were  brooches  and 
bracelets,  although  necklaces  and  earrings  were  also  made  of  hair. 
Brooches  were  most  often  of  gold  with  the  lock  of  hair  placed 
under  glass,  but  we  find  necklaces  of  fancifully  braided  hair  sup- 
porting crosses  or  other  pendents  either  of  hair  or  of  gold.  A  lock 
which  belonged  to  a  deceased  loved  one  was  often  intricately 
twisted  or  braided  and  mounted  in  gold  and  was  worn  during  the 
mourning  period,  although  it  was  worn  just  as  often  for  everyday 
adornment.  Sometimes  two  colors  of  hair,  light  and  dark,  were 
braided  together  to  form  a  striking  effect,  and  the  mountings  and 
clasps  were  usually  of  gold,  or  occasionally  of  silver. 

Miss  Helen  Elizabeth  Royce  has  presented  several  interesting 
examples  of  hair  jewelry  including  a  pair  of  earrings  and  brooch 
in  Moorish  design,  as  well  as  another  brooch,  two  necklaces,  a 
pair  of  earrings  and  three  bracelets. 

In  addition  to  the  Royal  Arms,  which  was  described  in  the  April 
issue  of  the  Bulletin,  we  also  had  restored  portraits  of  Oliver  Wol- 
cott  (1726-1797),  Gurdon  Saltonstall  (1666-1724),  and  Richard 
Goodman  (1761-1845).  They  are  at  present  hanging  in  the  first 
floor  exhibition  room.  Five  other  paintings  are  now  undergoing 
treatment:  Lord  family  hatchment,  and  portraits  of  William  Penn, 
John  Lawrence,  Nathan  Strong  and  Benjamin  Boardman.  These 
portraits  were  by  Joseph  Steward  and  completes  the  restoration  of 
paintings  by  this  local  artist.  Next  spring  we  plan  a  special  exhi- 
bition of  Steward's  works,  and  for  the  first  time,  all  of  his  paintings 
now  in  our  possession  will  be  exhibited  together. 


EDITOR 


Our  publications  this  year  consisted  of  the  usual  four  issues 
of  the  Bulletin,  Annual  Report  and  725  Years  of  The  Connecticut 

36 


Historical  Society.  In  addition  page  proof  was  completed  for  vol- 
ume 27  of  the  Collections,  copy  for  volume  28  was  prepared  and 
sent  to  the  printer  and,  at  long  last,  the  Say  brooks  Vital  Records  was 
approved  for  printing. 

In  a  short  paragraph  we  have  glibly  passed  over  what  actually 
required  a  great  many  man  hours.  First  of  all  is  the  copying 
which  then  must  be  read  against  the  original.  This  requires  two 
persons.  After  being  set  in  galley  form,  this  too  must  be  read. 
Then  comes  page  proof  and  finally  the  index  and  o.k.  to  print. 
It  is  not  inconceivable  that  preparations  for  one  300  page  volume 
require  the  concentrated  energies  of  two  persons  for  more  than  a 
month  involved  in  just  mechanical  processes.  During  this  period 
interruptions  are  costly  and  the  utmost  care  must  be  taken  to 
assure  accuracy  and  a  lay  out  which  will  be  understandable  to 
others  than  the  editor. 

The  entire  edition  of  200  copies  of  the  Hale  Family  of  Glaston- 
bury, published  by  the  Society  through  the  generosity  of  Presi- 
dent Waterman,  is  expected  this  summer.  The  sale  of  these  vol- 
umes will  augment  considerably  the  principal  of  the  Waterman 
Fund.  The  volume  was  edited  by  Donald  Lines  Jacobus  and  in 
my  opinion  will  be  the  finest  and  most  complete  genealogy  com- 
piled by  the  present  dean  of  American  Genealogists. 

No  particular  efiort  was  expended  upon  stimulating  sales  of 
books  during  the  year.  Exchanges  amounted  to  $716.25  and  S58.25 
in  sale  of  duplicates.  As  a  result  of  displays  in  the  building  and 
circularization  of  the  list  prepared  a  year  ago,  sales  totalled  $1,235.- 
57.  This  I  think  is  most  gratifying  and  augments  the  principal  of 
certain  funds  by  $411.60  and  an  additional  $823.97  was  applied  to 
income.  In  the  case  of  the  Publication  Fund  Surplus  Income,  this 
was  derived  from  Saml  Colt's  Own  Record  which  has  now  paid  for 
itself.  In  the  years  to  come  we  stand  to  make  a  profit. 

With  stocks  of  several  books  and  new  publications  to  be  avail- 
able soon,  a  revision  of  the  book  list  must  be  prepared  and  dis- 
tributed. It  is  hoped  this  will  give  our  sales  a  shot  in  the  arm 
for  the  storage  of  large  stocks  of  unsold  books  is  a  problem 
and  as  long  as  they  remain,  their  potential  in  operating  funds  re- 
mains unproductive. 


37 


Principal 

Welles  $     7.50 

Boardman  33-"" 

Barbour  13.34 

Waterman  43-34 

Putnam  3.34 

Shepard  .68 

Publication  9--I3 

Brainard  27.17 

Library-Museum  64.50 

Hoadly  126.60 


,  1 1.60 


Income 

Publication  %  72-54 

Robbins  5ii-^7 

Ancient  Vital   Records  13-05 

Publication  Fund   Surplus  226.51 


^23-9; 


In  conclusion,  may  I  again  repeat  that  all  credit  for  progress 
anci  accomplishments  must  be  shared  by  the  officers,  committees 
and  staff.  A  great  many  found  much  satisfaction  as  a  result  of 
their  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  Society.  Each  year  more  and  more 
find  this  is  true.  There  is  a  bond  among  collectors  that  finds  its 
greatest  satisfaction  in  building  an  outstanding  collection  of 
which  all  Connecticut  may  be  proud.  Every  visitor  is  aware  that 
hundreds  have  shared  in  the  assemblage  of  our  remarkable  col- 
lection. To  those  who  have  yet  to  discover  the  pleasure  and  thrill 
we  enjoy,  they  are  cordially  invited  to  come  in  and  find  out 
for  themselves. 

Thompson  R.  Harlow 

Director 

List  of  Library  Donors 

Adams,  Mrs.  Harold  L.  Benn,  Mrs.  Bertha  L.  H. 

American  Antiquarian  Society  Birdsall,  Alice 

Barney,  Austin  D.  Birdsall,  Emma 

Bartlett.  Charles  G.  Brainard,  Morgan  B. 

Bartlett,  Mrs.  Willard  Brainard,  Newton  C. 

Bates,  Albert  C.  Brigham,  Clarence  S. 

Benham,  Mrs.  Frederic  W.  Brownson,  Ernest  R. 

38 


Ikichanan,  Mrs.  G.  S. 

Ikinnell,  Frank  S. 

Burr.  Nelson  R. 

Cady,  Mrs.  Willis  E. 

Campbell,  Mrs.  Oliver  A. 

Carper,  Mrs.  Caryl  W. 

Case  Memorial  Library 

Castle,  Henry  A. 

Chorley,  Kenneth 

Clapp,  Harrison  B. 

Clark,  Bertha  W. 

Clark,  Horace  B. 

Coffin,  Mrs.  E.  A. 

Colonial  Society  of  Massachusetts 

Cone,  Florence  M. 

Connecticut,  State  of 

Connecticut  State  Library 

Detroit  Institute  of  Arts 

Eastwood,  Eric  K. 

Farmington  Savings  Bank 

Fritz,  Karl  F. 

CJeer,  Mrs.  C.  M. 

Gilbert,  Mrs.  Ann  C. 

Goodwin.  Francis  II 

Cioodwin,  James  J. 

Grant,  Florence  A. 

Greene,  Norman  Joy 

Haggman,  P.  C. 

Hall,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  C. 

Harte,  Charles  R. 

Hartford  College 

Hartford  Foundation  for  Public 

Giving 
Hartford  Hospital 
Hartford  Public  Library 
Haviland,  Winthrop  C,  Jr. 
Hickmott,  Allerton  C. 
Holbrook,  Mrs.  S.  L. 
Honiss,  Mrs.  Catherine  H. 
Hook,  James  W. 
Howe,  Sherman  M. 
Hugo,  E.  Harold 
IngersoU,  Mrs.  John  A. 
Jillson.  Myrde  M. 
Link,  Muriel  F. 
Litchfield  Historical  Society 
Little,  Donald  C. 


McGovern  Granite  Co. 

Mclntire,  Robert  H. 

Marine  Historical  Association 

Marlin  Firearms  Co. 

Massachusetts,  Commonwealth  of 

Mattatuck  Historical  Society 

Mattingly,  Mrs.  L.  P. 

Melnik,  Joseph 

Meriden  Gravure  Co. 

Miller.  Laura 

Mills,  Bertha  D. 

National  Society,  Daughters  of 

Founders  and  Patriots 
Naval  Historical  Foundation 
New  Canaan  Historical  Society 
New  Haven  Board  of  Education 
New  Haven  Colony  Historical  Society 
New  York  Historical  Society 
New  York  State  Library 
Nichols,  Mrs.  George  Leland 
Nystrom,  Andrew  G. 
Oxford  Historical  Society 
Paltsits,  Victor  Hugo 
Parsons,  Jessie  A. 
Parsons,  John  E. 
Peterson,  C.  Stewart 
Phillips,  John  Marshall 
Phoenix  Mutual  Life  Insurance  Co. 
Pom  fret,  John  E. 
Rankin,  Mrs.  G.  Douglas 
Robbins,  William  R. 
Rochester  Historical  Society 
Romaine,  Lawrence  B. 
Royce,  Helen  E. 
Rywell,  Martin 
Sage,  Harold  K. 
SchoUe,  Howard  A. 
Scott,  Walter  Glenn 
Scranton,  Mrs.  J.  Hamilton 
Secord,  Ralph 

Seymour,  George  D.,  estate  of 
Sharp,  Lucette  C. 
Silverman,  Morris 
Singer  Manufacturing  Co. 
Smeddy,  Warren  E. 
Smith,  Edward  Church 
Spencer,  Frank  S. 


39 


State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa  Vail,  R.  W.  G. 

States  Historical  Co.  Virginia  State  Library 

Stevenson,  E.  Robert  Waterman,  Edgar  F. 

Stoeckel,  Robbins  B.  Waterman,  Marjorie  F. 

Stone,  Walter  M.  White,  Mrs.  Margaret  M. 

Swin,  Mrs.  Harry  Whittemore,  C.  Richard 

Tanenbaum,  Samuel  Whittles,  Lee  Jay 

Terry,  Alfred  Howe  Wilson.  Mrs.  Albion  B. 

Terry,  Rose  Wilder  Wilson,  Edward  Strong 

Thomas,  Robert  S.  Windsor  Historical  Society 

Torrington  Historical  Society  Withington,  Sidney 

Treadway,  Charles  T.  Yale  University  Library 

Treadway,  William  E.  Yale  University  Press 

Trinity  College  Library  Young,  Alitha 
University  of  Connecticut  Law  School 

Printed  Genealogies 

Austin,  Ballou,  Bartlett,  Bishop,  Bradford,  Browne,  Brownson,  Clark, 
Daniels,  Eaton-Sutherland,  Haggman,  Hook  (2),  Link,  Little,  Maclntyre, 
Miller-Tillotson,  Monnette,  Pratt,  Reeves,  Sage,  Stout,  Taber,  Treadway- 
Burket,  Walcott,  West,  White,  Worden. 

Manuscript  Genealogies 

Baker,  Benham,  Bradford,  Brewster,  Brown,  Bunce,  Camp,  Candee, 
Cole,  Deane,  Deming,  Drake,  Goodwin,  Greene,  Higgins,  Howe,  Knowles, 
Langdon-Root,  Larkins,  Lucas,  Mayo,  Paine,  Rich,  Robbins,  Robinson, 
Rogers,  Sharp,  Sherman,  Simpson,  Sistare,  Smith,  Snow,  Sparrow,  Thurber, 
Warner,  Whiting,  Wright. 

Manuscript  Accessions 

Mrs.  Harold  L.  Adams,  Seattle,  Wash. 

Sistare  family  chart. 
Albert  C.  Bates,  Hartford. 

Newington  Sabbath  School  book,    1826,  with   names  of  scholars,  &c. 
Regulations  of  Newington  School  Committee,  n.d. 
Charles  G.  Bartlett,  New  Haven. 

Map  of  Old  Lyme  waterways,  showing  local  names  used  about   1890, 
with  explanatory  notes. 
Mrs.  Frederic  W .  Benham,  New  Britain. 

Bible  records  copied  by  Mrs.  Benham  from  Bible  owned  by  Frederic 

W.  Benham. 
Bible  records  copied   from   Bible  owned   by   Mrs.   R.   D.   Rudd,   New 

Britain. 
Genealogical  notes  on  the  following  families:  Whiting,  Benham,  Brew- 
ster, Brown,  Candee,  Cole,  Deming,  Goodwin,  Higgins,  Knowles, 

40 


Mayo,  Paine,  Rogers,  Simpson,  Snow,  Sparrow,  Thurhcr,  Wright, 
Warner,  Larkin,  Bradford,  Deane,  Rich,  Drake. 
Eiuniii  and  Altec  Bird  sail,  St.  Louis,  Mo. 

Diary   of   Emily   M.   Wolcott,   of   Windsor,   May    22,    i837-}uly    1869, 
with  records  of  the  Wolcott  and  Marshall  families. 
Newton  C.  Brainard,  Hartford. 

Letters  of  Silas  Ward  Brainerd  of  East  Haddam  on  his  way  to  California 

in  search  of  gold,  July   1849.  (typewritten) 
List  of  articles  given  by  Avery  Morgan  to  his  daughter  Lydia  S.  on  her 

marriage  to  Eliphalet  Bulkeley,  Dec.  20,  1830. 
Photostats,  notes  and  letters  concerning  Apollos  Kinsley. 
Richard    Bulkeley,    1717-1800.    Taken    from    Colleetions    oj   the   Nova 
Scotia  Historical  Society  vol.  12. 
Fran/^  S.  Bunnell,  Stratford. 

Congregational  burying  ground,  Stratford,  "finding"  list  of  burials. 
Mrs.  Willis  E.  Cady,  Pultneyville,  N.  Y. 

Copy  of  Hall  Center,  Marion  Township,  K.  Y.  cemetery  inscriptions. 
Mrs.  Oliver  A.  Campbell.  East  Norwich,  L.  /.,  N.  Y. 

Genealogical  notes  on  Camp  and  allied  families,  compiled  by  Charles 
L.  N.  Camp. 
Case  Memorial  Library,  Hartford. 

Current  periodicals  in  some  Hartford  libraries.  1952.  (mimeographed) 
Henry  A.  Castle,  Plainville  and  Dtvight  G.  Clar\,  Bryan,  Tex. 

Letters  and  diary  of  Jared  Goodrich,  member  of  the  Bristol-California 
Company,  while  in  California  in  search  of  gold,  1849-50.  (8) 
Mrs.  E.  A.  Coffin,  Laguna  Beach,  Calif. 

"History  of  my  own  times."  Washington  City,  1827.  (Typewritten  copy 
of  3  vol.  work  by  Daniel  Barber,  printed  1827-32.) 
Mrs.  C.  M.  Geer,  West  Hartford. 

"Spirit  of  '49."  Colchester  250th  anniversary,  Oct.  14-16,  1949.  (mimeo- 
graphed) 
Airs.  Ann  C.  Gilbert,  Hebron. 

Letter  of  Henry  Champion,  of  Colchester,  dated  Lake  George,  July  4, 
1758,  to  his  wife,  (with  photostats) 
Norman  Joy  Greene,  Berwyn,  Pa. 

Greene  family  genealogical  chart. 
Mrs.  Elizabeth  C.  Hall,  Noanl{. 

Some  descendants  of  Joseph  Langdon  and   Susannah   Root  who  were 
married  in  Farmington,  Dec.  24,  1712. 
Mrs.  S.  L.  Holbroo{,  Norfol\. 

Letter  of  Rev.  Charles  W.  Everest,  Hamden,  Aug.  14.  1844,  to  his  sister- 
in-law,  Margaret  L  Mallette,  Nashville,  Tenn. 
Sherman  M.  Howe,  Reading,  L/. 

Brief  genealogical  notes  on  the  Howe  family  in  a  letter. 
Muriel  F.  Linl{,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich. 

Bible  record  of  the  Marsh-Guild  family  of  Grand  Rapids,  (typewritten 
copy) 

4' 


Mrs.  L.  P.  Mattingly,  Glen  Ellyn,  III. 

Copy  of  Murdock  family  Bible  records. 
Andrew  G.  Nystrom,  Hartford. 

Headstone  inscriptions  in  Mt.  Pleasant  Cemetery,  prior  to  1903. 
Headstone  inscriptions  in  Zion  Hill  Cemetery. 
Inscriptions  in  the  South  Burying  Ground. 
Rev.  William  R.  Robbins,  New  Haven. 

Robbins  family.  Ancestors  of  Hon.  Levi  Robbins  of  Copenhagen,  N.  Y. 

(mimeographed) 
Robbins  family  in  England  and  America,  Wetherstield,  Conn,  branch. 

( mimeographed ) 
Thomas  Robinson  of  Hartford  and  Guilford  and  some  of  his  descen- 
dants, (mimeographed) 
Helen  E.  Royce,  Hartford. 

Cemetery    inscriptions    of   Connecticut    towns,    copied    by    Charles    R. 

Hale.  (5  vols.) 
Connecticut    family    and    Bible    records    from    the    Charles    R.    Hale 
collection. 
Walter  Glen  Scott,  Detroit,  Mich. 

Mayflower  lines  of  Russell  Healey  Lucas,  (mimeographed) 
Mrs.  f.  Hamilton  Scranton,  West  Hartford. 

List  of  persons  in  Hartford  and  elsewhere  who  died  between  i82cS  and 
1864,  kept  by  Erastus  Collins. 
Lucette  A.  Sharp,  Nacogdoches,  Tex. 

Genealogical  notes  on  the  Bunce  family. 
Sharp  ancestry  and  allied  families. 
Edward  Church  Smith,  Lakfwood,  Ohio. 

Family  of  Samuel  Smith  of  Middle  Haddam. 
Franl{  S.  Spencer,  Sharon. 

Sharon  bibliography,  based  on  the  Sawtelle  collection  and  other  material 
in  the  Hotchkiss  library. 
Rose  Wilder  Terry,  Tryon,  N.  C.  and  Alfred  Howe  Terry,  Hartford. 

Letters  of  Daniel   Wadsworth   from   Bermuda,  Nov.    1792-Apr.    1793, 
concerning  the  illness  and  death  of  his  sister  Harriet.  (40) 
Robert  S.  Thomas,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Deed  of  Amos  Hall  of  land  in  Wallingford  to  Joseph  Cook,  Mar.  2, 

Edgar  F.  Waterman,  Hartford. 

Notes    and    correspondence    concerning    Welles     Woods,     Columbia, 

gathered  for  1949  .inniial  Report. 
Notes  on  Colt's  Willow  Ware  Manufacturing  Co.,  gathered  for   1950 
Annual  Report. 
Lee  Jay  Whittles,  Glastonbury. 

Account  book  of  Andrew  Prentice,  Gilead,   1 865-1 897,  general   store. 
List  of  registered  voters  in  Hebron,  1873,  1875,  1876,  kept  by  Andrew 
Prentice,  registrar.  (3) 

42 


Edward  Strong  Wilson,  Lanhmont,  N .  Y. 

Genealogical  notes  on  the  Sherman  and  Strong  families. 
Furchase. 

Account  book  of  general  store,  especially  cheese  selling,  1 823-1 843. 

Account  book  of  Jacob  Hurd,  Middleto\vn-C"hatham,   1 817-1824,  rope- 
maker. 

Account  book  of  Jabez  Huntington  and  Peter  Lanman,   Jr.,  May  25, 
1798-Aug.-  20,  1801,  general  store,  Norwich. 

Account  book  of  Nathaniel  Wheeler,  carriage  maker,    1 841 -1849,  per- 
haps Bridgeport. 

Account  book  of  Wa-Hoo  Hitter  Co.,  New  Haven,  Oct.  28,  1875-Mar. 
24-1877. 

Bible  records  of  Allen-Parsons-Skinner-Kibbe  families. 

Bill  heads  of  old  Hartford  business  tirms,  1860-1905.  (75) 

Bills  of  Tracy  &  Huntington,  Norwich,  1787-8  for  stone  ware.  (5) 

Diary  of  L.  H.  Barbour,  New  Hartford  and  Wolcottville,  1847. 

Diary  of  Patrick  Henry  Woodward  of  South  Windham,  Jan.  i,  1870- 
June  25,  1885  as  special  agent  for  U.  S.  Post  Office  Department. 

Documents  relating  to  building,  ec]uipment  and  sale  of  ship  "Northern 
Liberties"  1 799-1 801,  New  London  and  Saybrook.  (11) 

Hartford  &  New  Haven  Turnpike  Co.  blot  book  1799. 

Letters  and  papers  concerning  Sally  Goodell  of  Norwich  and  her  school. 

Letters  of  Noah  Webster,  Jr.,  New  Haven,  Mar.  17,  1808,  Mar.  20,  1810, 
Dec.  31,  1832,  Feb.  21,  1835,  Mar.  5,  1838,  Mar.  20,  1839,  n.d.  (7) 

Letters,  papers  and  notes  concerning  Gen.  John  Patterson,  Revolutionary 
soldier. 

Letters  to  and  from  Major  John  Ixogers  V^inton  (1801-1847),  his  wife 
Lucretia  Dutton  Parker,  and  members  of  his  family,  1 806-1 863. 

Letters   to   Maria   Perit   (Jilman   and    others   concerning   pamphlet    on 
Mehitabel  Coit  Gilman,  1895-96. 

Note  signed  by  Simeon  Skillings,  figure  head  maker,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  17, 

Papers  concerning  Scotland  Society  in  Windham,  including  petition  to 

form  a  separate  town.  (23  ) 
Papers  of  G.  &  C.  Merriam  Co.,  booksellers  and  publishers,  Springfield, 

1 833-1 855,    including    letters    by    Noah    Webster,    J.    W.    Barber, 

S.  Babcock  and  others.  (40) 
Stiles  family  papers,  relating  to  Abner  Reed,  Samuel  Stiles  and  Henry 

Reed  Stiles,  1791-1906.  (4  vols.) 

List  of  Museum  Donors 

Alvord,  D.  F.  Campbell,  Mrs.  Oliver  A. 

Andrews,  Mrs.  James  P.  Chapman,  Etta  C. 

Armstrong,  H.  A.  Copley,  Anne 

Bates,  Albert  C.  Cornell,  l^ussell  Todd  &  others 

Brainard,  Newton  C.  Davis,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Kelso 

43 


Fitch,  Mariette  N. 
Frisbie,  Mrs.  Leonard 
Garmony,  Carrie  Bissell,  estate  of 
Hammerslough,  Philip  H. 
Hayvvard,  Kendall  P. 
Keith,  Elmer  D. 
Kerr,  Ruth  A. 
Kershner,  Raymond  E. 
Kingsbury,  Isaac  W. 
Lewie,  Mrs.  Thomas  J. 
Myers,  Ralph 


Nichols,  Mrs.  George  Leland 
Reed,  Mrs.  Francis  Mason 
Royce,  Helen  Elizabeth 
Russell,  Mrs.  Charles  B. 
Seguin,  Mrs.  Dewey  F. 
Terry,  Rose  Wilder 
Twitchell,  Joseph  H. 
Whittemore,  C.  Richard 
Williams,  Samuel  P. 
Yerrington,  Charles  B. 


Badge (4) 
basket  (8) 
basket,  silver 
basque  (4) 
belt,  Indian 
blanket,  baby 
blocks,  set 
bluing  bottle 
bonnet,  ladies  (8) 
bottle  (2) 
box  ( 2 ) 
bust,  marble 
can,  powder  (3) 
candle  holder  (2) 
cap,  baby's  (2) 
cap,  ladies  (7) 
cape 

cape,  oilcloth  (2) 
cheese  scoop  (2) 
clock 
coat (3) 
coat,  Indian 
comb  (2) 
corselet 

cribbage  board 
dress  (11) 
dress,  baby's  (7) 
embroidery 
epaulets,  pair 
fabric  samples  (41) 
fan  (12) 
firearms  (2) 


Museum  Accessions 

flag  (5) 

flowers,  artificial 
forks (27) 
gloves  (14) 
hand  warmer 
handkerchief  (3) 
hat,  men's  (2) 
hat,  soldiers'  (2) 
hat  pin  (4) 
instruments,  drafting 
instrument,  musical 
jewelry  (13) 
jewelry,  costume  (9) 
jewelry,  hair  (10) 
knife  (10) 
lace  pieces  (9) 
ladle  (2) 
lithographs  (9) 
lorgnets 
matches,  in  box 
meat  skewer  ( 2) 
medal  (2) 
mole  trap 
napkin  ring  ( 16) 
necktie  (2) 
nightgown  (4) 
nut  pick  (9) 
ornament,  dress  (9) 
ornament,  hair  (17) 
parasol  (7) 
peace  pipe 


pen  knife  (3) 

petticoat  (7) 

photographs  (6) 

plumes,  box  of 

plate,  Wedgewood 

portraits  (9) 

pouch,  tobacco 

purse,  ladies  (15) 

purse,  leather 

quilt 

ring,  mourning 

ring,  wedding  (2) 

saddle 

sash  (3) 

shad  hat 

shawl  (5) 

shoe  (7) 

sign  (2) 

sleeve  (7) 

spoon  (122) 

stockings  (8) 

sugar  tongs  (7) 

sword  (5) 

tape,  samples  (8) 

tomahawk 

underclothes,  men's 

veil  (8) 

vest,  baby's  (4 ) 

waist,  child's  (2) 

wallet  (2) 

watch 


44 


Members  Admitted  Since  May  1 95 1 

Adams,  Mrs.  Harold  Lamont  (Enid  Eleanor  Smith),  Seatde, 
Wash.,  Oct.  2,  1951. 

Allen,  Mrs.  Wilmar  M.  (Erma  Helen  Small),  Hartford,  Nov.  6, 
1951. 

Alsop,  Joseph  Wright,  Avon,  Nov.  6,  195 1. 

Alsop,  Mrs.  Joseph  Wright  (Corinne  Douglas  Robinson),  Avon, 
Nov.  6, 195 1. 

Angell,  Grace  Isabel,  Manchester,  Dec.  4, 1951. 

Armstrong,  Mrs.  Horatio  Hugh  (Marjorie  Kendall  Edson),  Hart- 
ford, Dec.  4,  1951. 

Bacon,  Mrs.  Henry  (Phoebe  S.),  Middletown,  May  6,  1952. 

Raker,  Frederick  E.,  Farmington,  Apr.  i,  1952. 

Baker,  Mrs.  Frederick  E.  (Muriel  Estes  Lewis),  Farmington,  Apr. 

1,1952- 
Balding,  Mrs.  Marguerite  Bevins,  Ticonderoga,  N.  Y.,  May  20, 

1952. 
Ballard,  Mrs.  Eugene  (Sara  Blair  Cole),  West  Hartford,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Beach,  Joseph  Watson,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Beach,  Mrs.  Joseph  Watson  (Jessie  Goodwyn  Anderson),  Hart- 
ford, Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Becker,  Frank  S.,  Jr.,  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Becker,  Mrs.  Frank  S.,  Jr.  (Vivian  W.),  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Belden,  Mrs.  A.  M.  (Carrie  J.),  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Benham,  Mrs.  Frederic  W.  (Mary  Estelle),  New  Britain,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Bissell,  Mrs.  Charles  Spencer  (Dorothy  A.  Fuller),  Suffield,  July 

17,  1951. 
Black,  Virginia  Natalie,  Hartford,  May  6,  1952. 
Blake,  C.  Edwin,  West  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Boardman,  Robert  Allen,  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Brandt,  Eunice  Francesca,  Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Bulkeley,  Mrs.  Morgan  Gardner,  Jr.  (Ruth  Lee  Collins),  Hartfonl, 

Aug.  7,  195 1. 
Bulkeley,  Mrs.  Richard  B.  (Mary  E.  Glazier),  Hartford,  Apr.  i, 

1952. 
Bunnell,  Frank  Scott,  Stratford,  Oct.  2,  1951. 

45 


Burr,  Ralph  Case,  New  Haven,  Nov.  6,  1951. 

Caplan,  Mrs.  Max  (Mildred  Gorham),  Meriden,  Aug.  31,  1951. 

Case,  Albert  Deering,  Narberth,  Pa.,  July  17,  195 1. 

Case,  Mrs.  Albert  Deering  (Florence  Marion  Smith),  Narberth, 

Pa.,  Aug.  31, 1951. 
Caulfield,  Mrs.  Ernest   (Margaret  F.),  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6, 

1951- 
Chapin,  Franklin  Glazier,  Winsted,  Nov.  6, 195 1. 

Chapin,  Warren  Storrs,  Wethersfield,  Feb.  5,  1952. 

Christensen,  Mrs.  Dora  Gates,  Salina,  Ut.,  Mar.  4,  1952. 

Cleaveland,  Mrs.  Dorothy  Wadhams,  Torrington,  Nov.  6,  1951. 

CoflEn,  Mrs.  E.  A.  (Marjorie  Barber),  Laguna  Beach,  Calif.,  July 

17,  1951. 
Coffin,  Mrs.  Harold  W.  (Grace  Bristol),  Bangor,  Me.,  Aug.  7, 

1951. 
Cogan,  Frank,  Farmington,  Mar.  7,  1952. 

Cogan,  Mrs.  Frank  (Lillian  Blankley),  Farmington,  Mar.  7,  1952. 
Cole,  Francis  Watkinson,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Cooper,  Mrs.  Elisha  H.  (Margaret  Miller),  New  Britain,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Cooper,  Mrs.  James  Ernest  (Elizabeth  Campbell  Wayne),  New 

Britain,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Cooper,  Stanley  M.,  New  Britain,  Aug.  31,  1951. 
Cooper,  Mrs.  Stanley  M.  (Elizabeth  Hubbard),  New  Britain,  Aug. 

31,1951. 
Cothran,  Perrin  C,  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Cottle,  Henry  Edmund,  Bristol,  July  17,  1951. 
Cramer,  Dorthothea,  Torrington,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Creamer,  Mrs.  Warren  M.  (Elizabeth  Glazier),  Farmington,  Mar. 

4,  1952. 
Crosby,  Mrs.  Albert  H.  (Julia  A.  Case),  Hartford,  Dec.  4,  1951. 
Dahill,  Edwin  M.,  Hartford,  Mar.  4,  1952. 
Davis,  J.  H.  Kelso,  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Davis,  Mrs.  J.  H.  Kelso   (Edith  H.  Brainard),  West  Hartford, 

Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Day,  George  H.,  Hartford,  Aug.  31,  1951. 
Day,  Mrs.  George  H.  (Grace  Phelps  Allen),  Hartford,  Aug.  31, 

195 1. 
Dee,  Orville  A.,  Chicago,  111.,  July  17,  1951. 

46 


Destler,  Chester  McA.,  New  London,  Apr.  i,  1952. 

Dixon,  Ralph  Conyers,  West  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  195 1. 

Dixon,  Mrs.  Ralph  Conyers  (Helen  Hannay),  West  Hartford,  Oct. 

2,  1951. 
Durham,  Mrs.  Emily  Merriam,  Chatham,  N.  J.,  Aug.  7,  195 1. 
Eddy,  Julian  R.,  West  Hartford,  Jan.  8, 1952. 
Fisher,  John  Wilbur,  Avon,  Dec.  4,  1951. 
Fitzgerald,  Mrs.  John  (Ruth  Church),  Fort  Ticonderoga,  N.  Y., 

Oct.  2,  195 1. 
Ford,  Mrs.  Martin  J.  (June  Stevens),  Windsor,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Ford,  Mrs.  Richard  N.  (Elizabeth  Beede),  West  Hartford,  Feb.  5, 

1952. 
Foster,  Athene  Strong,  Miami,  Fla.,  Aug.  7,  1951. 
Fox,  James  Charles,  Jr.,  Hartford,  May  6, 1952. 
Freeman,  George  Doane,  Jr.,  West  Hartford,  Nov.  8,  1951. 
Gilman,  George  H.,  Jr.,  Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Goodman,  Mary  A.,  Hartford,  Mar.  4,  1952. 
Graham,  Phillip  H.,  Suffiekl,  Mar.  4,  1952. 
Graham,  Mrs.  Phillip  H.   (Marjorie  Fowler),  Suffield,  Mar.  4, 

1952. 
Greene,  Norman  Joy,  Berwyn,  Pa.,  Aug.  7,  1951. 
Griswold,  Harold  W.,  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1951. 
Hadlow,  David  M.,  West  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Hadlow,  Mrs.  David  M.  (Anne  Plumb),  West  Hartford,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Haggeman,  Julie,  Westport,  Oct.  2,  195 1. 
Hallock,  Mrs.  Gerard    (Mary  Adele  Page),   Hartford,   Mar.  4, 

1952. 
Halloran,  Robert  L.,  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Hanford,  Mildred  Wattles,  Gunnison,  Col.,  May  20,  1952. 
Hart,  Mrs.  Edward  A.   (Adele  Wise),  West  Hartford,  Aug.  7, 

1951. 
H^.skins,  Laurence  L.,  Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Hatch,  James  Watson,  West  Hartford,  Aug.  31,  1951. 
Hatch,  Mrs.  James  Watson   (Florence  Watrous  Marvin),  West 

Hartford,  Aug.  31,  195 1. 
Haviland,  Winthrop  A.,  Jr.,  West  Hartford,  Aug.  31,  195 1. 
Hawes,  Richard  Withington,  West  Hartford,  Jan,  8,  1952. 
Hawley,  Wallace  Earle,  Stratford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 

47 


Hawley,  Mrs.  Wallace  Earle  (Ethel  Cornett),  Stratford,  Nov.  6, 

1951. 
Hemenway,  Mrs.  Rufus  N.   (Marion  P.),  New  Britain,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Herbst,  John  Clifford,  Jr.,  Morris,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Hill,  Albert  Edward,  Alexandria,  Va.,  July  17,  1951. 
Hill,  George  Samuel,  San  Francisco,  Calif.,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Hodge,  Earl  W.,  Glastonbury,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Holcombe,  Mrs.  Luzerene  C.  (Marion  Evarts),  West  Hartford, 

Mar.  4,  1952. 
House,  Mrs.  Herbert  C.  (Mildred  Applegate),  Farmington,  Aug. 

31,1951. 
Hungate,  Carroll  Paul,  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  Jan.  8,  1952. 
Johnson,  Mabel,  Hartford,  Oct.  2, 1951. 
Johnson,  Mrs.  William   J.    (Clara   Jennie   Estelle),   East   Berlin, 

Dec.  4,  1951. 
Johnston,  Marie  Alice,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Jones,  Mark  Barber,  Miami,  Fla.,  July  17, 1951. 
Jones,  Mrs.  Mark  Barber  (Nellie  James),  Miami,  Fla.,  July   17, 

1951. 
Kilbourn,  Austin,  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Kilbourn,  Mrs.  Austin   (Olive  Carey  Owens),  Hartford,  Feb.  5, 

1952. 
Kilbourn,  Orrin  P.,  West  Simsbury,  Oct.  2,  195 1. 
Kilbourn,  Mrs.  Orrin  P.  (Elizabeth  F.),  West  Simsbury,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 
Kirk,  Mrs.  William  Parker  (Ruth  Henley),  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6, 

1951. 
Lambert,  Wilbur  Cornelius,  West  Hartford,  Dec.  4,  195 1. 
Lambert,  Mrs.  Wilbur  Cornelius  (Ruth  Sinclair),  West  Hartford, 

Dec.  4,1951. 
Lampson,  Edward  Rutledge,  Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Lampson,  Mrs.  Edward  Rutledge  (Elizabeth  Leveret  Davenport), 

Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Lawrence,  Mrs.  Hiram  Pettibone,  Seattle,  Wash.,  Jan.  8,  1952. 
Layton,  Frank  D.,  Hartford,  May  20,  1952. 
Link,  Muriel  Florence,  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  July  17,  1951. 
Lockhart,  Eleanor,  Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Malinowski,  Otylia  Mary,  Norwalk,  Aug.  7,  1951. 

48 


Maltbie,  William  Mills,  Granby,  Mar.  4,  1952. 

Marsh,  Charles  Woodward,  Hartford,  Dec.  4,  195 1. 

May,  Benjamin  J.,  Granby,  Oct.  2,  1951. 

Melnik,  Joseph,  Stratford,  Aug.  31,  1951. 

Mills,  Edwin  Weller,  Osceola,  Mo.,  July  17,  1951. 

Miner,  Mrs.  Clarence  E.  Wentworth  (May  L.),  West  Hartford, 

Feb.  5, 1952. 
Miner,  Harry  Earl,  San  Diego,  Calif.,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Mooney,  Robert  Knapp,  West  Hartford,  Mar.  4,  1952. 
Mylchreest,  George  L.,  Hartford,  Dec.  4,  1951. 
Nielsen,  Randolph  T.,  Wethersfield,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Olson,  Walter  S.,  Scarsdale,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  31,  1951. 
Perry,  Stephen  Kingsbury,  West  Hartford,  Oct.  2,  195 1. 
Pierce,  Mrs.  Ruth  H.,  Delphos,  O.,  Oct.  2, 195 1. 
Purcell,  Alice  Lane,  Wethersfield,  May  6,  1952. 
Purcell,  William  M.  Ill,  West  Hartford,  Aug.  31,  1951. 
Quade,  Mrs.  Helen  A.,  Albany,  N.  Y.,  May  6, 1952. 
Rankin,  Florence  }.  P.,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Rawlins,  Mary  Starr,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Roberts,  Douglas  J.,  Rockville,  Dec.  4, 1951. 
Root,  Elizabeth  de  Welden,  West  Hartford,  Jan.  8,  1952. 
Rothstein,  Mrs.  Edward  (Selma),  Hartford,  Jan.  8,  1952. 
Rumbaugh,  Mrs.  Nora  A.  Rundall,  Parksdale,  Ore.,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Sammis,  Mary  E.,  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Scranton,  Mrs.  Jewett  Hamilton    (Emily   Brace  Collins),  West 

Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Sharp,  Mrs.  Frank   (Anna  Mary  Shindler),  Nacogdoches,  Tex., 

Aug.  7,  195 1. 
Sharps,  Mrs.  Helen  Turney,  Fairfield,  May  6,  1952. 
Sherer,  Frank  Andemars,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Silverman,  Morris,  Hartford,  Jan.  8,  1952. 

Skinner,  Mrs.  J.  H.  (Elizabeth  V.),  Middletown,  May  6,  1952. 
Smith,  Mrs.  Bernice  Knoeppel,  Torrington,  July  17,  1951. 
Smith,  Chard  Powers,  Falls  Village,  Aug.  7,  1951. 
Smith,  Donald  S.,  Northford,  Aug.  7,  1951. 
Smith,  Howard  Malcolm,  Hyattsville,  Md.,  Dec.  4,  1951. 
Smith,  Olcott  Damon,  Farmington,  Dec.  4,  195 1. 
Smith,  Mrs.  Sidney  O.  (Isabelle  Charters),  Gainesville,  Ga.,  Aug. 

31,  1951. 

49 


Spencer,  Frank  N.,  Sharon,  Aug.  7, 1951. 

Steele,  Richard  T.,  West  Hartford,  Jan.  8,  1952. 

Steele,  Mrs.  Richard  T.  (Helen  Banks),  West  Hartford,  Jan.  8, 

1952. 
Thomson,  James  Lewis,  Hartford,  Nov.  6, 1951. 
Thomson,  Mrs.  James  Lewis  (Adelaide  Lindsay),  Hartford,  Nov. 

6, 1951. 
Turner,  Marjorie  S.,  Torrington,  Oct.  2,  1951. 
Vehrenkomp,  Ernest  K.,  Norwalk,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Warner,  Mrs.  Ellsworth  Alfred  (Lois  Marjorie  Lyle),  Paso  Robles, 

Calif.,  July  17,  1951. 
Watkinson,  Mary  Wells,  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  195 1. 
Watkinson,  Olive  Hudson,  West  Hartford,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Welling,  William,  Hartford,  May  20,  1952. 
Welling,  Mrs.  William  (Harriett  B.),  Hartford,  May  20,  1952. 
Wessell,  Mrs.  Josephine  King,  Vernon  Center,  N.  Y.,  July   17, 

1951. 
Whittlesey,  Mary  Swift,  New  Britain,  Oct.  2, 1951. 
Wiese,  Chester  A.,  West  Hartford,  Mar.  4, 1952. 
Wiese,  Mrs.  Chester  A.  (Ruth  Atkins),  West  Hartford,  Mar.  4, 

1952. 
Wiley,  William  Henry,  West  Hartford,  Feb.  5,  1952. 
Williams,  Mrs.  Doris  E.,  Hartford,  Mar.  4,  1952. 
Williams,  Mrs.  Samuel  Porter  (Bertha  McCullough  Clark),  Hart- 
ford, July  17, 1951. 
Wilson,  Edward  Strong,  Larchmont,  N.  Y.,  Nov.  6, 1951. 
Winer,  Herbert  I.,  New  Haven,  July  17,  1951. 
Wise,  Mrs.  William   S.    (Elizabeth   Seymour   McCreary),   West 

Hartford,  Apr.  i,  1952. 
Yeager,  Charles  Henry,  Rocky  Hill,  Nov.  6,  1951. 
Yntema,  Mrs.  D.  B.  (Mary  E.),  Grand  Rapids,  Mich.,  Oct.  2, 

1951. 


50 


FINANCIAL  REPORT 

Abstract  of  Financial  Report  of 
Allerton  C.  Hickmott,  Treasurer 

BALANCE  SHEET— APRIL  30,  1952 
ASSETS 

Investments 

Bonds    $  75,669.13 

Stocks    397,478.53 

Mortgage  Loans    6,220.00 

Savings    Banks    41,622.06 

Cash     17,230.55 

Petty  Cash      100.00 

Total    Investments     $538,320.27 

Equipment   50,623.54 

Real  Estate,  including  Wash- 
ington Street  Property   ....  513,656.19 

Library    350,000.00 

Museum    150,000.00 

Furnishings    2,500.00 

Deferred  charge,  (Jeneral 

Fund    75-00 

1,066,854.73 

Total     $1,605,175.00 

LIABILITIES 

Endowment  Funds  designated  for: 

General  Expenses    $254,735.77 

Library    20,381.34 

Building  maintenance    ....  197,020.82 


Special  Funds 

Ancient  Vital  Records  Fund, 
established  by  subscrip- 
tion in  1907  for  publish- 
ing town  records $^522.67 

Cataloguing  Fund,  estab- 
lished by  grant  of  the 
Hartford  Foundation   for 


■2,137.93 


51 


Public  Giving  for  catalog- 
uing the  library 2,620.40 

State      Appropriation,      for 

publishing  purposes    ....  3,621.75 

Newton  C.  Brainard  Ac- 
count, to  augment  li- 
brarian's salary    1,023.45 


7,588.27 


Restricted  Funds 

Publication  Fund,  derived 
from  sale  of  publications 
and  admission  fees.  In- 
come restricted  for  pub- 
lishing purposes 13,515.72 

Anonymous  Museum  Fund  1,188.69 

Newman  C.  Hungerford 
Fund,  for  care  and  in- 
crease of  coin  collection  .  .  2,000.00 

George  Dudley  Seymour 
Museum  Fund,  for  care 
of  collection  bequeathed 
in  1945    26,117.49 

Edwin  Stanley  Welles 
Fund,  derived  from  sale 
of  books,  income  available 
when  $600  has  accumu- 
lated       4-7--4 


43,249.14 
Value  of  Library,  Museum  and  Furnishings  502,500.00 

Value  of  Building  and   Land    564,279.73 

$1,589,755.07 

Undistributed  Gains  to  Consolidated  Fund    3,967.02 

Income   from  Trust  Funds    5'775-3- 

Surplus,    General    Fund    1,628.48 

Reserve  for  withholding  taxes  on  salaries,  general  fund    .  .  182.40 

Reserve  for  portrait    restoration    407-37 

Reserve  for  insurance    4M-7I 

Reserve  for  Librarian's  salary  adjustment   622.00 

Reserve  for  office  typist 1,900.00 

Reserve  for  Sales  Tax  collected    .23 

Reserve  for  Social  Security,  General   Fund    22.40 

Reserve  for  repairs     500.00 

$1,605,175.00 


ENDOWMENT  FUNDS  DESIGNATED  FOR  GENERAL  EXPENSES 

Friiicipcil  Incoiuc 

Albert  C  Bates  Fund,  established  by  gilt  in 

1906     %  i,o23.7o#         $       53.71 

Silas  Chapman,  jr.  Fund,  bequest  No\  ember. 

1926    68,500.00  3,691.38 

Sophia    F.    Coe   Fund,    bequest    April,    igi6  1,050.00  56.58 

Wilbur  L.  Cross  Fund,  established  in  De- 
cember.  1947  by  gift  from  an  anonymous 

donor    100.00  5-39 

George    Henry    Fitts    Fund    in    Memory    ot 

Colonel  Thomas  Knowlton,  bequest  Janu- 
ary,   1925     10,000.00  538.88 

Ceneral  Fund,  established  in  1849 12,308.67  647.23 

James  J.  (joodvvin  Fund,  established  in  Octo- 
ber,   1915    by   Mrs.    James    J.   (ioodwin    in 

memory  of  her  husband   20,000.00  1,077.78 

E.   Stevens    Henry   Fund,   bec]uest   February, 

1922    550.00  29.63 

James  B.  Hosmer  Fund,  bequest  September, 

1 878    5,000.00  -69.45 

Dr.    William    Ward    Knight    Fund,    bequest 

December,  1923    8,000.00  431.10 

Francis   T.   Maxwell    Fund,    bequest    March, 

1942    5,000.00  -69.45 

Henry  L.  Miller  Fund,  bec]uest  of  Annie  C. 

Miller  in  1943  in  memory  of  her  father  .  .  .  4,182.43  --5-39 

Charles    Morris    Mills    Fund    in    memory    of 

Jonathan  Flynt  Morris,  bequest    1951    ....  500.00*  '4-39 

Edward  B.  Peck,  bequest  October,  1928   ....  p, 500. 00  1,751.38 

William    H.    Putnam    Fund,    derived    from 

sales  of  The  Two  Putuunn 258.98  13.88 

Dr.   Gurdon   W.    Russell    Inmd,    bequest    in 

1909  of  $3,000  and  bequest  ol  Mrs.  Russell 

in  1922  of  $5,000   8,000.00  431.10 

James  Shepard  Fund,  bequest  in    1929  with 

additions  from  sale  of  books  given  for  the 

purpose     1,828.57  99.00 

Edwin    Simons     Fund,    bet]uest     December, 

1915    5,400.00  291.00 

Grace  F.  Smith  Fund,  bec]uest  in  1950   ....  5,000.00  269.45 

Jf  Deposited  in  siwings  hank.,  income  for  two  years. 

Remainder  of  a/wre  funds  are  invested  in  the  Consolidated  miestmcnt  fund,  the  income 
from  which  is  apportioned  in  accordance  with  the  capital  amount  of  the  various  funds. 

*  Received  during  the  year,  income  apportioned  according  to  length  of  time  fund  was 
invested. 


53 


|ane  T.  Smith  Fund,  bequest  August,    1930  1,000.00  ^3-^9 

Ellen  Battell  Stoeckel  Fund,  bequest  in  1939  10,000.00  538.88 

Mary  K.  Talcott  Fund,  bequest  in  1920  ....  6,100.00  328.72 

Mabel  C.  TuUer  Fund,  bequest  in  195 1  ....  5,000.00*  143-95 
Tuttle  Fund,  bequest  in  1940  of  $5,000  from 

Jane  Tuttle  and  a  bequest  in  1941  of  $4,925 

from  Ruel  C.  Tuttle 10,000.00  53^-88 

Edgar   F.    Waterman    Fund,    established    by 

gift  in    1947  with   additions    from   sale   ol 

books  given  for  the  purpose   3,433.42  156-32 

Albion  B.  Wilson  Fund,  bequest  in  1951    ...  10,000.00*  0.00 

Charles  G.  Woodward  Fund,  bequest  in  1950  20,000.00  1,077.78 

$     ^54v35-77    $       13.004.59 

Annual  dues   1,799.50 

Miscellaneous    income     121.86 

Income  from  C'harles  G.  Woodward  Trust  .  .  3,304.18 

Building  Fund  contributions 243.80 

George  E.  Hoadley  Fund  Income 8,056.17 

From  reserve  for  librarian's  wages 933-oo 

insurance   285.29 

portrait  restoration    658.38 

office  help   2,000.00 

Publication  Fund,  Bulletin 764.15 

Seymour  Endowment  Fund    1,537.20 

Seymour  Museum  Fund,   1,018.21 

Seymour     Show     Case     Fund,     accumulated 

income    56.66 

TOTAL  INCOME  $      33,782.99 

GENERAL  EXPENSES 

Salaries  and  wages    $       18,810.12 

Fees     1,21 9.49 

Binding    390-i9 

Bulletin    764-15 

Meeting  expense    191-45 

Moving   expense    1,778.71 

Miscellaneous    196.72 

Photographing  &  photostating    ^5-15 

Building  A.D.T.  service 1,079.77 

fuel    1,356.87 

gas   93-42 

insurance     285.29 

electricity     1,225.08 

*  Received  during  the  year,  income  apportioned  according  to  length   of  time  fund  was 
invested. 


54 


repairs  reserve   500.00 

repairs    545-14 

supplies    405.96 

water   39-o6 

grounds     755.35 

Postage  &  stationery 409-17 

Portrait  restoration    658.38 

Printing    1,364.60 

Social   security    181.64 

Library  supplies   681.43 

Telephone    231.14 

To  reserve  for  portrait  restoration  200.00 

insurance    400.00 


$      33'778-28 
Gain  for  the  Year  4.71 

ENDOWMENT  FUNDS  DESIGNATED  FOR  LIBRARY 

Principal  Income 

Lucius  B.  Barbour  Fund,  derived  from  sale  of 

Manvvaring's    Emly    Connecticut    Probate 

Records    640.34  33-9^ 

William  F.  ).  Boardman  Fund,  derived  from 

sale    of    copies    of    Boardman    Genealogy, 

Wethersfield   Inscriptions,    Boardman    .In- 

cestry  and  Greenleaf  Ancestry    1,067.53  55-9^ 

Lucy  A.  Brainard  Fund,  established   by  gift 

in    1892   which   is   being  further   increased 

through  the  sale  of  books  presented  for  the 

purpose  by  Morgan  B.  Brainard,  Newton 

C  Brainard  and  The  Case,   Lockwood   & 

Brainard   Co 2,450.57  131-04 

Connecticut  Society  of  Colonial  Wars  Fund, 

established  in   1925  by  gift  of  the  Society 

of   one-half   interest    in    remaining    unsold 

copies  of  l^ital  Records  of  Nortvich -31-25  12.46 

Charles  J.  Hoadly  Fund,  derived   from  sale 

of  Public  Records  of  the  Colony  of  Con- 
necticut and  volume  3  of  the  Public  Rec- 
ords of  the  State  of  Connecticut 3,658.27  191-^3 

Library-Museum  Fund,  derived  from  sale  of 

books  presented  in  1948  by  Mrs.  J.  C.  Hills, 

augmented  by  books  from  Barclay  Robin- 
son and  Kenneth  Lord    376-25  18.08 

55 


Horace  E.  Mather  Fund,  bequest  in  Decem- 
ber, 1933  by  Lucy  O.  Mather  in  memory 
of  her  father 5,000.00  -69.45 

Jonathan  Flynt  Morris  Fiuid,  derived  from 
sales  of  Morris  Register  presented  by  the 
daughters  of  Mr.  Morris 

Thomas  Robbins  Fund,  bequest  in  1856  by 
the  Society's  Hrst  Librarian   

Dr.  Gurdon  W.  Russell  Hook  Fund,  derived 
from  sale  of  Descetidants  of  John  Russell 


BUILDING  AND  MAINTENANCE  FUNDS 

George  E.  Hoadley  Fund,  bequest   in    1922    $     165,720.82 
George  Dudley  Seymour  Endowment  Fund, 

bequest  in  1945   31,300.00 


124.00 

6.68 

6,580.63 

354.62 

252.50 

13.61 

20,381.34 

$ 

1,087.66 

$     197,020.82 

Allerton  C.  Hickmott, 

Treasurer. 

The   account   of   the    Treasurer    with    securities    shown    therein    has    been 
examined  by  me  and  found  correct. 

Harold  G.  Holcombe, 

Auditor. 


56 


MEMBERS  are  proud  that  The  Connecticut  Historical  Society  is  the 
largest  and  most  important  repository  in  the  State  for  private  records. 
We  are  pleased  to  accept  responsibility  for  preserving  family  papers,  business 
and  political  correspondence,  diaries,  journals  and  account  books,  Bible 
records,  maps,  files  of  newspapers,  periodicals,  prints,  photographs  and 
volumes  written  by  Connecticut  authors  and  materials  printed  in  this  State. 

For  the  Museum,  we  are  particularly  interested  in  securing  portraits, 
locally  made  furniture  and  fine  specimens  of  the  everyday  articles  of  living 
which  are  so  often  worn  out  before  anyone  has  thought  of  placing  them 
in  an  institution.  In  this  way  we  shall  eventually  have  a  complete  picture 
of  the  changes  in  styles  and  customs  in  our  State.  Articles  bearing  labels  of  a 
Connecticut  manufacturer  are  also  highly  desirable.  The  Acquisitions  Com- 
mittee will  be  pleased  to  consult  with  you  concerning  possible  gifts  or 
deposits. 

Persons  interested  in  becoming  members  of  the  Society  may  secure 
application  blanks  and  descriptive  literature  by  addressing  the  Director. 

The  admission  fee  of  $3.00,  which  takes  the  place  of  the  first  year's  dues, 
must  accompany  the  application  for  membership.  It  is  credited  to  the 
principal  of  the  Publication  Fund.  Thereafter,  annual  dues  may  be  $2.00, 
$3.00  or  $10.00,  depending  upon  class  of  membership.  Associate  Members 
pay  $2.00  annually;  they  receive  the  Bulletin  and  Annual  Report,  but  they 
may  not  vote  nor  hold  office.  Active  Members  pay  $3.00  annually,  and  may 
vote  and,  if  Connecticut  residents,  may  hold  office.  Contributing  Members 
pay  $10.00  annually.  All  members  may  purchase  publications  at  20% 
discount,  have  access  to  the  reading  room  shelves  and  the  privilege  of 
genealogical  correspondence  service.  Information  concerning  special  privi- 
leges of  Life,  Endowment  and  Benefactor  Members  may  be  secured  upon 
application. 

Communications  may  be  addressed  to 

THE  CONNECTICUT  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 
I  Elizabeth  Street 
Hartford  5,  Connecticut