USA > Connecticut > New London County > Norwich > Norwich, Connecticut : history in towns, the Leffingwell Inn, the silversmiths > Part 1
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY
3 1833 06732 9174
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GC 974.602 N833AN
Norwich, Connecticut
History in towns The Leffingwell Inn The silversmiths
REPRINTED FROM ANTIQUES MAGAZINE
History in towns: Norwich, Connecticut
BY ADA R. CHASE
..
The first recorded owner of this house, now the home of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Robbins, was a Michael Darrow who came to Nor- wich from New London in 1773: there is a certificate from the proprietors of Norwich admitting him and his family to the town. Built around a central chimney, the house is clapboarded and has a shingled roof. The original plan provided for a parlor, "borning room," kitchen, and buttery on the ground floor and a large bed- room above. In 1869 the house was enlarged by the addition of a bedroom ell. The building beyond the house in this view was formerly a jail. It has a deep cellar and hand-hewn pegged beams, and the iron bars are still at the windows.
The parlor was originally two rooms, with the borning room at the rear of the present room. The warm tones of the maple desk, windsor chairs, and tables blend with white walls, exposed beams, and oak and chestnut floors. Pewter plates and tankards and iron fireplace equipment are useful and attractive decorations. Home of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Robbins.
FIRST KNOWN as "Mohigen," the tract of land that is now Norwich, Connecticut, was purchased from the Indians in June 1659 for £60. The first settlers came from Say- brook, probably by water, and in 1660 established their first community at what is now the section of Norwich called Norwichtown. Until the second quarter of the eighteenth century the site of the present city was a sheepwalk. Gradually trade and a prosperous shipping business built up a settlement at the confluence of the Shetucket, Yantic, and Thames Rivers which was called the Landing Place or Chelsea, and the earlier settlement became known as the Town Plat.
In 1662 the town was named after Norwich in Eng- land. Its location on three waterways made it a prosper- ous port, and it soon became one of the largest towns in Connecticut. Loyal to the cause of the colonists, Norwich
was an important supporter of the Revolutionary army.
The prosperity from shipping continued into the nine- teenth century, declining after the railroad was built. Manufacturing grew up and brought with it a third pe- riod of development. The old settlement and the eight- eenth-century town were united by handsome Greek Revival and Federal houses built in the valley between. Rolling hills, ravines, and abundant waterways inspired Oliver Wendell Holmes to describe it as "a town of su- preme, audacious Alpine loveliness," and Henry Ward Beecher named it the "rose of New England."
We have selected for illustration five houses represent- ing various stages of the town's development and con- taining many locally made pieces of furniture, pottery, and silver, as well as treasures brought to Norwich by ships from all over the world.
In the original kitchen vertical boards sheath the fireplace wall; the brick oven is concealed by a door at the right. The room beyond is the old buttery; at the left a maple apothecary's chest can be seen, with a collection of graduated copper measures on it. A country stool of pine serves as a table in front of the fireplace with its Hessia .. andirons, burl mortar and pestle, and copper kettle. A comb-back and a bow-back windsor flank the hearth. Home of Mr. and Mrs. John H. Robbins.
The dining room is furnished entirely with Con- necticut pieces of pine and maple. Pewter, tole, and treenware are used as accessories. An unusual doctor's cabinet serves as a convenient buffet. Home of Mr. and Mrs. John II. Robbins.
It is not known who built this house, probably in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, but Captain Jacob De Witt, a prominent merchant, lived in it. A front porch was later added; it was removed by the present owners, who preserved the original fanlight and pilasters. In 1812 Lydia Huntley (afterwards Mrs. L. H. Sigourney, "the sweet singer of Hartford") and Nancy Maria Hyde eondueted a school here for young ladies, for a year. Today the house is the home of Mr. and Mrs. William Welles Lyman. Photograph by Cervin Robinson for HABS.
The furniture in the living room is of Connectieut ori- gin-family pieces from sev- eral generations which show the individuality of both eraftsmen and owners. The cherry Queen Anne armehair is believed to have been made in the vicinity of Hartford, and the pottery jar on the maple desk is from the Bean Hill Pottery at Norwichtown. Home of Mr. and Mrs. William Welles Lyman.
The oldest part of this pre-Revolu- tionary cottage, now the home of Raymond Bailey Case, may have been built in the seventeenth century by Captain Richard Charlton, a Huguc- not, to use as a hideaway between voyages. In 1757 Charlton was blown up in a vessel during the celebration over the capture of Ilavana. His son Samuel built the house as it is today. The stone figures by the side path are English, probably caricatures of Well- ington and George III.
A living room, tiny kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and this small entry com- plete the first floor. The second floor, reached by the narrow stairs, contains two bedrooms. The towering figure- head, from a clipper ship, is appro- priately surrounded by ship paintings and mementos of voyages. Home of Raymond Bailey Case.
The living room holds In- dian and naval relics, family china, a whaling log, and a whaling certificate presented to the great-grandfather of the owner, Captain Thomas Davis Winship of Norwich. The tavern table, knuckle armchair (c. 1770), painted captain's chair, eighteenth- century water color of Naples, and rose-quartz Buddha are reminders of Norwich's seaport heritage. The carving over the mantel came from a family home at the "Landing." Home of Raymond Bailey Case.
The home of Mr. and Mrs. Francis J. Plank, known as the General Jabcz Huntington House, comprises at least two and possibly more struc- tures. The earliest-two rooms with gambrel roof- is believed to have been built by John Bradford, son of Governor William Bradford of Plymouth, Massachusetts. A huge fireplace dominates what is now the study and was once the kitchen. In June 1691, Simon Huntington Jr. bought the Bradford house and home lot and added to the house, and it remained in the Huntington family until pur- chased by the present owners. At the time of the Revolution the house was owned by General Jabez Huntington, and it is believed that General Washington visited here on April 8, 1776. Inter- esting as an architectural feature are the interior shutters, much favored in Norwich. Some are four-panelcd, and slide into the wall above the chair rail. Shutters and doors have original iron hardware. Photograph by Cervin Robinson for HABS.
Colonel Joshua Huntington, successful merchant son of Ceneral Jabez Huntington, built his house across the lane from his father's in 1771. The present owners, Mr. and Mrs. William C. Ilarding, are restoring much of the original character to the house. The dining room (shown here), one-time library, front hall, and master bedroom still retain their original paneling, and the front stairway has its original butternut railing and newel post. The Federal secretary (c. 1790) came from Ports- mouth, New Hampshire, and the Massachusetts shelf clock was made by David Wood of New- buryport, Massachusetts, about 1810. The table and chest are Hepplewhite, and the chairs are Queen Anne.
The highboy in the master bedroom is the first signed piece by Christopher Townsend of New- port, Rhode Island, to be recorded; it is inscribed with his name and the date 1748 ( see the frontis- piece of ANTIQUES for last month). The bed has especially fine carved posts, the serpentine ehest is made of cherry and the desk of walnut, and the desk chair is Rhode Island Chippendale. Over this desk hangs a tiny Simon Willard mahogany watchcase in the form of a miniature banjo, con- taining the original watch, inscribed Boston, Massachusetts; c. 1810-1815. Ilome of Mr. and Mrs. William C. IFarding.
Color plate, facing page
The original dining room in the home of Mr. and Mrs. William C. Harding has been recently re- stored to expose the fireplace and paneled wall above it. In the restoration a wooden frame con- taining the original wooden pulley was found. Thomas Harland (1735-1807) made the tall-case clock. The Queen Anne walnut lowboy with carved shell is attributed to Benjamin Frothing- ham of Charlestown, Massachusetts, c. 1750-1760, and the two shell-carved side chairs to the God- dard-Townsend cabinetmakers. The fine slipper- foot mahogany tea table is also a Newport piece, e. 1740-1760. Except as noted, all photographs by Taylor and Dull.
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சர்பத்வரை டிராவாஷிக்ஷிபைனா
The Leffingwell Inn
BY PHILIP A. JOHNSON, President, Society of the Founders of Norwich, Connecticut, Inc.
THE LEFFINGWELL INN, Norwich, Connecticut, is a house of great historical and architectural interest, incorporat- ing, as it does, seventeenth- and eightcenth-century struc- tures. It was for many years threatened with destruction because it was directly in the path of a superhighway. Historical and patriotic societies and antiquarians from all over the country protested to the state authorities, who agreed to deed the structure and land not required for highway purposes to the Society of the Founders of Nor- wich. The Founders in turn agreed to move the building and maintain it as a historic housc and museum open to the public. There were many doubts as to whether a structure between two hundred and three hundred years old could be moved successfully. But the fears proved groundless and the move was completed without a crack in ceilings, walls, or chimney mortar.
The land given by the state consisted of a low-lying meadow so far below the road level that a great deal of fill was necessary. Foundations on such made land can be expected to settle and so provide an uncertain base for such a venerable structure. Therefore the footings were placed on old underlying hardpan, built up about ten feet; the fill was moved in to that level, and the whole process was repeated twice to bring the ground up to its present level. The resulting foundations are thirty fect deep, although only about three feet show above the pres- ent surface.
The Inn illustrates the development from seventeenth- century farmhouse beginnings to a town house of the mid-eighteenth century. It was built on the home lot of one of the founding fathers of Norwich, William Backus Sr. Backus died shortly after arriving in Norwich and willed the land to his son, Stephen, who apparently built the first house about 1675. The recorded history of the
Color plate, facing page
George Washington room in the Leffingwell Inn. The color of the woodwork is a faithful reproduction of the original, and the warm hues in upholstery, eurtains, and rug set off the wood tones of the furniture. The mahogany Queen Anne side chair with vase splat and pad feet is complemented by a small walnut drop- leaf table. Somewhat later in period, the desk ehair combines a Chippendale pierced splat with simple pad feet. The walnut desk, from a Massachusetts seaport town, has compass-star inlay in the lid. A pastel of Rebecea Hooper (1755-1790) by John Singleton Copley hangs above it. Photograph by Taylor and Dull.
house begins when Stephen Backus Jr., in April 1700, sold the home lot to Ensign Thomas Leffingwell, who in July 1701 was granted liberty "to keep a publique house of entertainment for strangers."
The Inn descended to Colonel Christopher Leffingwell, an enterprising and perspicacious businessman and a pi- oneer in many fields. In 1766 he established the first paper mill in Connecticut and also a stocking factory, the first of its kind, which by 1791 had nine looms in op- eration producing fifteen hundred pairs of hose annu- ally. Other projects of his were a pottery, a chocolate mill, a fulling mill, and a clothier's shop and dye house located at the falls in Norwich.
Christopher Leffingwell was a staunch supporter of the Revolution, an adviser to Governor Jonathan Trum- bull and Silas Deane, and a member of one of the com- mittees of correspondence in 1775. When George Wash- ington visited Norwich during the Revolution seeking supplies and provisions for his army, he relied on such local leaders as Leffingwell, and the Inn is believed to have been the scene of many historic conferences. The rooms have been restored as they would have appeared at that time.
Entering through the south door one steps into what used to be the entrance hall of the 1715 addition. The room to the right is part of the original structure-a one- room plan with a lean-to one story high on the north end and apparently partial lean-tos on the west side. In the 1760's Christopher Leffingwell redecorated this room, adding paneling on all four sides. The paneled walls
Tavern room, showing the paneling added in 1760 which conceals the simple austerity of the original room built in 1675. Note the two summer beams. Most of the furnishings were made in Norwich at the end of the seventeenth century or in the first half of the eighteenth. Among the pieces in the cupboard is a mono- grammed China Trade helmet pitcher which belonged to Christopher Lef- fingwell. The wrought-iron candle and rushlight holder was made in Nor- wich, probably by Elijah Backus, one of the town's first blacksmiths. Black and white photographs by Louis II. Frohman.
The kitchen, furnished with simple country pieces, is painted a rich dark brown. Slat-back chairs, trestle table, and pinc cupboard create a setting for utensils of brass, iron, and wood, pot- tery jugs, and pewter plates.
The 1675 bedroom is furnished with appropriate early pieces which are Jacobean in feeling. The ball-foot chest with flat geometric carving on the drawers stands beneath a hand- some William and Mary mirror. The turned chair beyond the bed is of the mid-seventeenth century. Not shown are a locally made painted blanket chest and early lantern clock. The pencil-post bed is on loan from the Wadsworth Atheneum.
were placed more than a foot inside the original struc- ture to clear the raised sill; the girts and finely molded corner posts and the raised sill of early type can be seen inside the cupboards. Originally the room had triple casement windows, one in the center of the south wall and one in the locations of each of the present two east windows. In the bedroom directly overhead the location of the south casement is left exposed. These casements were replaced with the present windows, probably of about 1720, which retain their sliding wooden shutters and the original sash.
The great parlor to the left of the entrance hall was the first addition to the house, about 1715, and is part of a separate structure believed to have been attached to the Backus house. The 1724 inventory of the estate of Thomas Leffingwell refers to the rooms in this addition. The parlor contains the earliest and finest paneling in the house and the red paint reproduces the original color used in this room.
Directly opposite the entrance is a corridor once occu- pied by the center of the great chimney. Today there is a chimney to the right and one to the left which come together before passing through the roof. This corridor area was part of the great chimney and the original stair- case backed up against it. When a later addition was made to the rear, probably in 1760, this staircase was removed, the present one was installed, and the solid chimney was opened up to make the present hall passage.
The north parlor, also known as the George Washing- ton breakfast room (Washington had breakfast there on April 8, 1776), was originally designed as a bedroom, but probably became a parlor about 1765.
In back of the north parlor is the kitchen. The fire-
place has been restored with old materials, and a mantelshelf from the mid-eighteenth-century Indian school in Montville, Connecticut, has been added. An- other fireplace opposite the present one was removed about 1840 and has not been restored. Two trimmer arches in the cellar beneath the kitchen carry the weight of the hearthstones. On one of these the original mold, which supported the arch while the mortar was setting, remains in place. The cellar kitchen with huge fireplace and ovens was probably used for most of the Inn cook- ing and is furnished with an ingenious mechanical spit and other cooking equipment.
The upper chamber of the original Backus house has been restored to the 1675 period with the exception of the windows, which have been left as they were installed in the 1700's. The chamfered corner posts (a continua- tion of concealed posts in the tavern room below) are exposed here, and the shadow molding on either side of the fireplace wall is a typical seventeenth-century fea- ture. The fireplace is believed to have been larger origi- nally and to have occupied all the space between the shadow-molded boards. The ceiling is plastered over the cedar laths between the joists-an unusual refinement at this period. Equally uncommon are the black-painted baseboards, which add a dramatic contrast to the stark whitewashed walls.
Representing as it docs three successive stages of con- struction, the Leffingwell Inn is again open to the public -not, to be sure, as the "publique house of entertain- ment for strangers" which it was for most of the eight- eenth century, but as a historic house museum which re- creates the hospitable atmosphere and charm of a stage- stop tavern of the period.
The silversmiths of Norwich, Connecticut
BY PHILIP A. JOHNSON
FORTY-FIVE SILVERSMITHS ARE KNOWN to have plied their trade in and near Norwich, Connecticut, from the early eighteenth century to the early nineteenth. Norwich was settled in 1660, and the original settlers had nothing but their two hands, strong backs, and determination. They had to start from scratch and their appointments for liv- ing were, of necessity, simple in the extreme. Wood, pewter, and pottery in various forms and shapes consti- tuted most of their kitchen accessories.
The location of Norwich at the head of navigation of the Thames River made it the natural port of entry for the large quantity of goods imported from England and France for distribution to such towns in the interior as Lebanon, Goshen, Gilead, Windham, Canterbury, Gris- wold, Plainfield, Pomfret, and Putnam. The inland towns produced wheat and beef cattle for export, and the two- way traffic through the port of Norwich soon fostered a thriving community with many prosperous merchants, shipowners, and ship captains. At the outbreak of the American Revolution, Norwich was one of twelve cities in the entire thirteen Colonies with a population of five thousand or more.
Increased prosperity created a demand for the arts of the silversmith and the cabinetmaker. The requirements for silver of utility and beauty kept a small army of silversmiths and their apprentices constantly employed until the middle of the nineteenth century. Both The
Handbook of American Silver and Pewter Marks by C. Jordan Thorn and Early Silver of Connecticut and Its Makers by George M. Curtis list some forty-five silver- smiths who worked in Norwich or adjacent Preston and Ledyard between the years 1715 and 1850, as given below. In all of Connecticut only Hartford and New Haven supported a greater number.
In general, the Norwich silversmiths were not called on to produce elaborate silver. While Norwich was pros- perous, there was no such wealth as existed in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. For the most part, therefore, the work of the Norwich silversmiths consists of articles in daily use such as forks, spoons, ladles, porringers, sugar tongs, creamers, casters, and so on, and does not include the more elegant pieces created by the silver- smiths in the largest cities. Joseph Carpenter's account book, displayed at the Leffingwell Inn, suggests the typi- cal output of Norwich silversmiths in the following entries of sales to Christopher Leffingwell, owner of the Inn:
8 silver teaspoons Mending cream pot & Earings 1 dozen silver teaspoons 1% dozen silver table spoons 1 Sugar Tongs
Gold watch, strainer ladle, and mus- tard spoon by Nathaniel Shipman Jr. (1764-1853), who was apprenticed to Thomas Harland. Like Harland, Shipman also made tall-case clocks. Collection of Philip Hammerslough.
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All photographs by Taylor and Dull.
As far as is known, no previous attempt has been made to assemble a representative exhibit of the work of the Norwich silversmiths. Such an exhibit now per- manently on view at the Leffingwell Inn demonstrates their skill in design and craftsmanship.
SILVERSMITHS WORKING IN NORWICH 1715-1850
Adgate, Elijah (reported by Philip Hammerslough; not pre- viously recorded ).
Adgate, William ( 1744-1779).
Avery, John Sr .: Preston ( 1732-1794).
Avery, John Jr .; Preston (1755-1815, w. 1780).
Avery, Robert S .; Preston (1771-1846, w. until 1794).
Avery, Samuel; Preston ( 1760-1836).
Avery, William; Preston ( 1765-1798).
Barret, James (w. 1717).
Billings, A .; Preston (w. 1780).
Billings, Daniel; Preston (w. 1790-1795, advertised 1795).
Carpenter, Charles (w. 1790). Son of Joseph.
Carpenter, Joseph (1747-1804, w. 1769). His shop, which now belongs to the Society of the Founders of Norwich, is believed to be the only silversmith's shop to survive in New England. Clark & Coit (w. 1820).
Cleveland & Post (w. 1815).
Cleveland, Aaron (w. 1820).
Cleveland, William ( 1770-1837).
Cleveland & Hart (w. c. 1825).
Coit, E. (w. 1825, d. 1839).
Coit, Thomas C. (1791-1841). In partnership with Elisha H. Mansfield, 1816-1819.
Coit & Mansfield (1816-1819). See above.
Davidson, Brazillai (1740-1828).
Davidson, Charles (w. 1805).
Dennis, George Jr. (b. 1749; advertised in 1778).
Gallup, Christopher; Ledyard ( 1764-1849).
Greenleaf, David (1737-1800; advertised 1769).
Grignon, René (w. 1708-1715).
Gurley, William (b. 1764; advertised 1804).
Harland, Thomas ( 1735-1807; last advertised 1796).
Harland, Thomas Jr. (1781-1806).
Hart, Eliphaz (1789-1866). Worked with brother Judah c. 1810.
Hart, Judah (1777-1824). In partnership with Alvan Willcox
or Wilcox, 1805-1807; alone 1807-1816 except w. with brother Eliphaz, 1810. Hart & Willcox ( Wilcox) ( w. 1805-1807). See above.
Huntington, Philip (1770-1825; w. c. 1795-1796).
Huntington, Roswell (b. 1763). Advertised 1784.
Kinne, I. (w. 1830). Kinney, Thomas ( 1785-1824; w. 1807).
Lathrop, Rufus (1731-1805).
Lord, Benjamin (1770-1843). Mansfield, Elisha H. (b. 1795). See Coit & Mansfield. Noyes, Samuel (1741-1781).
Roath, Roswell W. (b. 1805). Advertised 1826.
Shipman, Nathaniel Jr. ( 1764-1853). Advertised 1790.
Tracy, Erastus (1768-1795). Advertised in Norwich in 1790, moved to New London in 1792. Traey, Gordon ( 1767-1792). Advertised in Norwich in 1791, moved to New London in 1791.
Trott, Jonathan (1730-1815). Whiting, B. (w. 1765). Whiting, Charles ( 1725-1765, w. 1750). Willcox, Alvan (w. 1805-1807). See Hart & Willcox above.
Caster by Benjamin Lord (1770-1843), who worked in Norwich; Pittsfield, Massa- chusetts; and Athens, Georgia. Cream jug by John Avery Sr. (1732-1794). Ladle by Judah Hart (1777-1824; w. in Norwich 1305). All three, Hammerslough collection. Tablespoon by William Cleveland ( 1770-1837), apprentice of Thomas Harland and grandfather of President Grover Cleveland. Leffingwell Inn.
Left. Porringer with cover, engraved A.L.II., made by Thomas Harland (1735- 1807) for Abigail Leffingwell Hyde (1800 -? ), who later married Henry Harland, son of Thomas. Harland is the most noted of the Norwich silversmiths. His tall-case clocks also are collector's items. Author's collection. Center. Porringer by Joseph Carpenter (1747-1804), who was also a clockmaker. Carpenter's shop now belongs to the Society of the Founders of Norwich. Hammerslough collection. Right. Sugar urn by Joseph Carpenter and his son. Hammerslough collection.
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