USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > New Canaan > Landmarks of New Canaan > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61
The very stately tulip trces and purple beeches and the Holland box which have added much to the beauty of this place in the original center of the village, were planted more than 80 years ago by Edwin Hoyt.
THE FITCH-JONES-BALENSWEIG HOUSE
HOWARD M. THOMPSON, Author
WILLIAM A. MCNABB, Artist
[April 22, 1948]
"One and one half miles westerly of the Meet- ing House and bounded west by a driftway," the little white house on Frogtown Road, so much admired by present day New Canaanites, has been gracing the curve of the road, just be- yond the Noroton River, since the early 1800's, according to the records. The Billy Jones House, as it was commonly known for over 60 years, doubtless stood there many years before, although conjecture would have to replace fact to establish an earlier date.
The land records go back to the June of 1832, when Amos Ayres sold the site to David Law. There is no mention of a dwelling in this par-
ticular deed, but early land records sometimes omitted references to buildings; they were con- cerned with the land.
Frogtown Road belonged to the Weeds and the Davenports in the early 1700's. Jonas Weed, who settled at Stamford in 1642 ac- quired considerable commonage, and passed many acres of his holdings down to his family. His grandson, Abraham, held "vast acreage in Canaan along ye Noroton River, Ponasses Path, ye gret plains and ye clefts." The Rev. John Davenport, who died in 1731, owned the ma- jor portion of all lands in Canaan Parish, "west of Noroton River to Head of Ponasses."
198
ON
The Fitch-Jones-Balensweig House
On the present Weed Street, or on Frogtown Road, then known as "Ye Path from Ponasses to Ridgefield" Abraham Weed built a house for each of his sons. He held his lands, while other holdings in commonage were divided by spec- ulation well before the homesteading era was established.
It appears for a number of years that the Billy Jones House might have been a lone sen- tinel in the center of Frogtown Road. Located midway between Weed Street and Ponus Ridge, no other existing home on Frogtown to- day is what might be termed "old." However,
on "ye Path from Ponasses to Ridgefield" there are at least two sites showing the remains of former homesteads.
These landmarks are of the usual pattern. Large and numerous well-built stone walls en- close fields for farming, and the smaller areas, with their jigsaw arrangements of fences, set off plots for gardening and cattle. The Jones family had neighbors.
One of the early Canaan Parish maps, circa 1772, shows three homesteads on Frogtown Road. The Gideon Leeds home faced Ponasses Path where it meets Frogtown. To the east
199
lived Parson Bishop, with his wife, Hannah, and Sarah, Pruella, Anne, Rhoda, William, David-their children. There was the Enos Weed home, probably on the hill just west of the Noroton River, where so many stone fences form a network of garden and pasture plots, and the James Weed place on the south side of the road, east of the river. Josiah Weed oc- cupied the house at Weed Street and Frogtown Road.
During the years following the Revolution- ary War, there could not have been much building on Frogtown. Stephen Weed, a grand- son of Abraham, and who served in that war, was captured and imprisoned in the famous Sugar House in Brooklyn. There is a legend that he built the "old stone fort," remains of. which are still visible on the edge of the swamp, on the south side of the road. The Town of New Canaan map for 1856, shows W. Y. Davenport then living in the former Leeds home and A. Seeley across the way. William Jones had already started his long resi- dence.
It was in June 1832 that Amos Ayres, a mem- ber of the Congregational Church from 1798 until his death in 1849, sold some land to David Law who, together with Zalmon Hamilton, dis- posed of his holding, with buildings, in Febru- ary 1835 to Theophilus S. Fitch, son of Theo- philus Fitch, clerk of the Parish and King's Commissioner (Justice of the Peace).
William Jones, in March, 1841, bought this property from Theophilus S. Fitch, "one acre more or less with a dwelling house standing thereon, one and one half miles westerly of Meeting House."
During the next five years, the property passed from William Jones to Samuel C. Silli- man, Jr., to William Crissy, back to William Jones.
William Jones, in September 1850, sold his home and land to William H. and wife, Sarah R. Jones. It was in August 1902, when Alois Kohler acquired the house and the Jones fam- ily moved away.
So much a part of the road was Billy Jones that Will W. Kirk, editor of the New Canaan Messenger in the '80's, dubbed him "The Mayor
of Frogtown," the road taking its name from the many frogs along the banks of the streams. The boys, who passed by on their way to school at New Canaan, called Jones "Thunder- pumper." Apparently Billy earned that nick- name, as did his son, "Young Thunderpumper," for both men, it is said, were noisier than the drumfish, after which they were called, if youngsters made any detours on the Jones land.
Modernization has not yet tarnished the quaint charm of this little old house. Simple and small, it contains but four rooms. The base- ment kitchen, complete with fireplace and Dutch oven, doubtless remains much as it did when built. Wide floor boards, a panelled fire- place, batten doors and hand-hewn beams, re- flect the many years of use.
On the ground level entrance is made just off the living room, where wide floor boards and batten doors retain the atmosphere of the old house. There is no fireplace on the main floor indicating, perhaps, that stoves were used, which would tend to date the house after 1800. Two bedrooms, partitioned off with very wide vertically placed panel boards, and both with wide flooring, complete the four rooms.
The staircase with winders, leads from the living room to a full attic. The stair is wide and the treads deeply worn, indicating that even this attic must have been used constantly through the years. Hand-hewn rafters are joined to the ridgepole with wooden pegs, in the usual manner of those early days.
The one chimney comes up through the attic floor toward the back. However, from the attic floor to the ridgepole it is built diagonally with brick, thus allowing the chimney to emerge through the top at the rooftree.
Outside the clapboards have replaced earlier shingles, part of which still remain on the back of the house. A detached two story, two room house was probably built at a later date than its larger neighbor. A foundation for the barn, which collapsed a few years ago, lies behind the smaller house.
To the west of the house is the driftway, de- scribed in the early deeds. This road that was doubtless used by horse and wagon, is rug- gedly built of stone and at one point passes
200
over a six foot fill, supported by a stone wall which would be a credit to present day con- struction.
After 25 years, Alois Kohler, who farmed the
Jones place with its 18 acres of rolling fields and woods, sold the property in 1927 to Mrs. Edith Balensweig of New York City, the pres- ent owner.
THE OLD STONE FORT
CHARLES P. MORTON, Author
EDWIN EBERMAN, Artist
[April 29, 1948]
On the eastern bank of the Noroton River, just south of Frogtown Road, stands the remains of the stone fort built by Stephen Weed, a soldier of the Revolutionary War.
The fort today is a tumbled ruin of stones but its form is distinguishable and part of its outer works to the south side is visible. The center portion, which formerly was the roof of the store room or magazine, has collapsed and the entry port has disappeared.
It is difficult for the observer now to recog- nize any military value in its location since the woods have grown up heavily about it and the stream which it was built to overlook has wan- dered westward and is invisible from the fort side.
Stephen Weed, son of Enos Weed, was born in 1753, and with the outbreak of the Revolu- tion marched to the defense of New York with the Canaan Parish troops under Captain John Carter and Captain Daniel Benedict. Captured with his boyhood friends, Levi Hanford and Ebenezer Hoyt, Stephen was imprisoned in the infamous Sugar House in Brooklyn.
Finally exchanged, Stephen returned home but in poor health and allegedly mentally un- balanced due to the treatment received.
He steadily insisted that the British would raid the parish and that this line of march would be up the Noroton River valley, and that unless their progress be arrested the whole area to the north would be laid waste. With this in-
vasion threat constantly before him, he devel- oped his plans for a defense.
The following description of the fort has been taken from the "History of Stamford" by the Rev. E. B. Huntington, 1868.
"Choosing a felicitous position commanding the intervale below, he commenced the work of fortify- ing ... a stone fort enclosing a subterranean re- treat which might answer for a magazine, and surrounded the whole with a ditch. One entrance admitted ... to the work."
Anecdotes about Stephen Weed tend to con- firm the mental illness he is reported to have suffered. "After having thus completed the fort, day after day for nine weary years, he stood sentinel or paced his appointed beat scanning the open vale to the south."
From this account it seems as if Stephen maintained his military post after the Revolu- tionary War was over since the war lasted only six years, 1776-1782.
"Visitors came to see his drill, and he would tell stories of the war, but he would allow no changes to be made in the fortified works.
"A huge black snake was found one day coiled in the sun in front of the works, and the idea seized Stephen that this was his relief sentinel. He there- fore only took note to see if his relief sentinel was posted and allowed no one to disturb him. Day after day the relief sentinel took his post but one
201
Edwin Eberman
The Old Stone Fort
day he located himself on another part of the grounds. Incensed at his relief leaving his post, Stephen dispatched him."
On the preceding legends has grown the
story of Stephen Weed-part fact and part fic- tion. There is room for doubt in the author's mind that Stephen's real history has been really covered as yet, but these stories are now part of the history of New Canaan.
202
c. Dand water
THE "OLD MORGUE," Former Veterans' Building
HALSTED H. MYERS, Author
CLINTON VAN DE WATER, Artist
[May 6, 1948]
In 1840, the year that New Canaan began its first real Prohibition campaign against "Demon Rum," Joseph Scofield bought from Seymour Comstock on July 9, for $150, a small plot of land, "75 feet on the highway," at the north- east corner of Main Street and Locust Street, opposite the present fire house, and built on it a small two-story house with square columned porch, to lease to the Young Men's Total Ab- stinence Society, later known as the Friendship Division of the Sons of Temperance.
Joseph Scofield was an ardent member, but in spite of his help, the society had only tem- porary success in its fight for Prohibition. For a while, it used the upper floor, with its vaulted ceiling painted to resemble the night sky, as a dance hall, according to Whitman Bailey who sketched the building for the Advertiser in
1936; but ultimately its meetings were held up there, and the lower floor was used as a ware- house. The house became a storage annex for Comstock and J. N. Hall, merchandisers; then a storage place for shoe-making materials, and finally an increasing headache to Joseph Sco- field until he decided to sell.
April 1, 1856, he sold for $1,000 the land and building (subject to a one-year lease of the upper floor by the Sons of Temperance), to Russell L. Hall who had come to New Canaan three years earlier and established a business as dealer in furniture and undertaker. Russell Hall used the lower floor for casket storage and as a morgue, in connection with his undertak- ing headquarters and store further down Main Street. At that time the art of embalming had not yet reached New Canaan, so bodies were
203
kept packed in 100 pounds of ice until funeral time, in an oversized zinc-lined coffin at the morgue. After 1890, Russell Hall's brother, Charles W. Hall (partner since 1871 under the firm name of R. L. Hall & Brother), became a licensed embalmer, but many clients still in- sisted on ice.
Also stored here, were some excellent scales, which William Cody's brother, Edward, helped to make when he worked for the Perfection Scales Company of New Canaan, across the railroad tracks from the present lumber yards. The Perfection Scales Company went bank- rupt because of a patent suit and troubles that developed when the scales were shipped. Russell Hall as president of the First National Bank of New Canaan, 1879-1898, became re- ceiver of the company and removed the unsold scales to his warehouse. One of these scales is now on exhibition at the New Canaan His- torical Society and another is still being used in S. B. Hoyt's florist shop. Edward Cody moved on to be a scales expert for the Fairbanks Morse Company.
In with the coffins and the scales were also stored the blue robes ( capes) which Mr. Hall as a staunch Republican kept for the Republi- cans to wear in torchlight parades on election nights. The grand climax came in 1880 when the Republican procession in their blue robes met the Democratic procession in their red robes in front of the town hall and nearly started a riot. Politics have been rather cut and dried in New Canaan ever since.
The year 1898 was when 59 Main Street made the front pages of the newspapers and became known as the "Old Morgue." One day when smoke rose from the blazing farm build- ings of the widow Susan Anderson, the neigh- bors rushed out there, but no one was in sight. A search party found her hired hand hanging from a tree nearby and finally located her axe- murdered body half buried in the pig sty. Both bodies were brought to the "R. L. Hall" morgue and while resting there were viewed by the press representatives, who quickly made the place famous.
Eighteen ninety-nine almost saw the end of the little building, for it had deteriorated to
such an extent that someone was able to pour kerosene through a chink in the siding onto the stairs and set a match to it. Fortunately, a volunteer fireman happened by just then, rushed in, and extinguished the fire.
Russell Hall ran into misfortunes, beginning with the purchase of some stock in a grinding- stone mine; and ended by turning over his properties to his son Lewis C. Hall. Thus the Old Morgue was transferred to his son on De- cember 9, 1897 for $1; and ceased to be used, when Russell sold out the business in 1911, fol- lowing the death of his brother-partner. Then from 1911 to 1920 the building was mostly va- cant, and often broken into by children who sneaked up the stairs, only to hear noises, per- haps rats, and rush out screaming "the house is haunted."
September 17, 1920, Louis Lipman bought the old building in very bad condition from Lewis Hall, and found the zinc-lined coffin and some scales still there. He used the place as a furniture warehouse in connection with his second-hand business.
June 12, 1928, Louis Lippman sold the "haunted house" for $4,500, free and clear, to the Veterans Club, Inc., a holding company for the Veterans of Foreign Wars, Howard Bossa Post No. 653. They were able to pay the $4,500 purchase price and to have the place re- modeled by Ernest Greene at cost, for $7,600, thanks to the generosity of many friends includ- ing Mr. and Mrs. Van Gerbig, Franklin Hoyt, J. J. Barrett, Hanford Weed and the ladies' auxiliary of the post.
Part of the required funds were raised on a $6,000 mortgage which was later taken over by Mr. Forrest and gradually paid off. The front of the house was renovated ( unchanged), but the rest was completely done over; with a kitchen in the basement, a lounge on the ground floor, and a meeting hall above.
Furnishings were mostly purchased from Herbert Scofield, but some furniture was bought in by Henry Kelley, Sr., who bought the closed Methodist Church of Silver Mine in connection with some landscaping work. He tore down the church in 1929 on his client's in- structions, or according to his story, because
204
the Methodists did not vote for Al Smith, and donated the furniture to the Veterans Club.
One of the pews may now be seen in Llew- ellyn Ross' office. A World War I captured German howitzer was placed out front as a memorial in the middle of the street. It came to life for one last midnight celebration shot, much to Police Chief Otto Schmidt's conster- nation, before it vanished in the World War II scrap metal drive in 1942.
Opening day was December 8, 1928, when everything was in readiness thanks to the good work of the building committee, consisting of George R. Stevens, chairman; Major William B. Claflin, architect; George T. Smith, Jaek Ryan, Gilbert Bliss, Claude Roche and Charles Ogden. There were 69 paid up members then, with John Kelley as commander. Membership quickly grew to over 200. Activities while occu- pying the building included: decorating all veterans graves, about 300, on Memorial Day, and selling Buddy Poppies bought from hospi- talized veterans for three and three-quarters cents each and resold to the public for ten cents with no remuneration for the salesmen, the approximate $134 annual difference going into the post's relief fund.
Commanders after John Kelly were George Ekstedt, Claude Roche, William Sonntag, Sr., Frank Sherwood, Roland Gardner, John Ven- tres, Sr., James McGrath, Joseph Toppin, Sr., Llewellyn Ross (1946-1947), and the present George Volland.
American Legion Post No. 30 was invited in as joint owners in 1941, and appointed three trustees to manage the property with three VFW trustees, thereafter. Commanders Frank Leslie, Ray Brown and Charles Dickson as- sisted.
Because meeting halls are so scarce in New Canaan, the veterans rented out their rooms to many organizations. A partial list follows: The G.A.R. held last meetings there, until the remaining five members died, by 1932, namely Charles Demeritt, Loomis Scofield, Charles Rusco, Charles Bechtold (one-legged), and William Brant ( blind).
The ladies' auxiliary, the G.A.R. Women's Relief Corps wanted to, but could not meet
there because it needed more space for floor work (drill,) according to Mrs. Theron Lyon.
Boy Scout Troop No. 11, sponsored by the VFW, met there until it merged with Troop 1. The Red Men kept their fraternal robes and tomahawks in a closet there for use in Decora- tion Day parades, and held their last meetings there under Grand Sachem Charles Broad- hurst until they disbanded because only six members were left in 1943 after 40 years of activity. Their ladies' auxiliary, Iola Council, No. 44, Degree of Pocahontas, also held bi- monthly meetings there, until they moved to Raymond Hall under Stella Mead.
The Fairfield County League of Women Voters met on February 19, 1946, in the Vete- rans Building to hear speakers on town plan- ning. Wedding receptions were held there, the most memorable being that of Mr. and Mrs. James Pickering who entertained about 200 guests so well for some 14 hours that, even after they left on their honeymoon, the party went right on for another day or so without them.
Carpenters, painters and plumbers unions held bi-monthly meetings there until the build- ing was sold; then they had to move to the Ray- mond building. They are wondering where to go when they are forced out of there. The Jewish congregation of New Canaan held services there on the high holidays, days of Atone- ment and Yom Kippur, from 1939 to 1946. Now that the building is sold they wonder where to go!
October 1, 1946, the Veterans Club moved to its new and larger home on South Avenue, and sold the "Old Veterans' Building" to Joseph T. Kulka of Norwalk, “subject to Zoning Ordi- nances established in and for the Town of New Canaan," free of encumbrances, for $14,- 000.
Joseph T. Kulka, himself an Army veteran, made over the upper floor into an apartment where he lives with his wife, Helen Fenick Kul- ka, daughter of the well known farm family on Barnegat Road. The lower floor was divided into a store front for his business, and a hair- dressing establishment in back with its own side entrance, for his wife who operates as a
205
beautician under the name of "Miss Helen's."
He opened a frozen food business, intending to run a door to door refrigerator truek route. This would have been a great boon to house- wives who found it difficult to leave home, but houses are so far apart here that it took 15 minutes per call and he found it did not pay. After six months trial, he had to let his assistant go, and discontinued the frozen food business. What the next use for that front room will be
he still does not know, and only the future can tell.
(Special thanks are due for aid in this re- search to William F. Weed, Clifford W. Hall, Henry Kelley, William Cody, Stephen Hoyt, Mrs. H. Burdick, Hobart Waters, Richard Sul- zer, Harry Wolfel, Gerritt Zwart, George R. Stevens, John Ventres, Jack Ryan, Roland H. Gardner and the Breslow brothers ).
THE PENNOYER-RAYMOND-SMITH HOUSE
HARRIET JONES FINDLAY, Author
CLINTON VAN DE WATER, Artist
[May 13, 1948]
On West Road where Greenley branches off is the site of settlement of one of Canaan Parish's early families-the Pennoyers. The original house is there no longer; although if one dug among the raspberry canes in the gar- den of the present owners-the H. V. B. Smiths -the foundations of this ancient dwelling eould still be found.
Old deeds indieate that probably the house was built by John Fancher soon after he pur- chased the land in 1753. He and James Hait held extensive holdings of land in this vicinity before 1750. Faneher lived in Pound Ridge, was designated "a eordvainer" or shoe maker, and from him emanates the certain fascination of "a seafaring man" who made frequent trips to the West Indies. On one of these trips it seems, when the crew was stricken with small- pox, Fancher proved himself so adept a nurse that he was frequently ealled upon to admin- ister similar duties in his home community, and, finally eontracted the disease himself and died of it.
Before we consider further this original Pen- noyer dwelling and the story of this piece of land, however, let us glanee across the stream
to the later house-now the home of Nancy and Harry Smith- and the one in which the Pennoyers evidently took refuge after their first home was razed, perhaps by fire.
It is a quaint, rambling strueture, old in parts, painted yellow with black shutters. The original boxlike structure, with a chimney at either end, seems to hold itself aloof from the recently added service and porch wings as though to boast to the observer proportions and symmetry slightly more subtle than pres- ent day architecture can achieve.
On the western side, below the large, pres- ent day living room, is still the windowed basement room which opens out on the lawn and which at one time served as ereamery for the Raymonds, who were later to oceupy the property, and earlier still as separate quarters for a ploughman and his wife. The old well out- side the ereamery door is gone. This was the well where once a little girl, now grown, in pinafore and pigtails, watehed with awed de- light old Mr. Raymond dangle the bucket for the two little trout which he always kept there to keep the water fresh and clean.
But to return to the old house, the first one
206
Clundekosten
The Pennoyer-Raymond-Smith House
mentioned and now gone, on the other side of the stream, John Fancher did not keep it long. Subsequent to its acquisition by Samuel Bel- den of Norwalk, it was purchased in 1769 by Samuel Pennoyer, Jr. And it was here, un- doubtedly, that he and his wife, Martha, and their family were called upon by the Rev. Wil- liam Drummond in the year 1772, in his tour of Canaan Parish.
About this time, the Pennoyers owned a great part of West Road. The father of the Samuel mentioned above-also Samuel-had purchased 90 acres from James Hait in 1744, and from then on he and his two sons, Samuel and Amos, continued to increase their property holdings by the purchases of more and more parcels of Canaan Parish land.
Amos and his wife, Sara Buxton, lived on land nearby and were also mentioned by the Rev. Drummond in his "Journal of Family Visitation." And the late Samuel Tuttle records his house, one standing in 1772 supposedly, as
having been built by John Pennoyer, perhaps the younger brother listed as Jonathan.
Not too much is known about Samuel, Jr., but he must have been one of the active parish- oners, and the leader of the Pennoyer family at that date. The older Pennoyer, his father, had died, his will having been filed in 1761. Samuel, Jr., after the death of his first wife, Abigail Lockwood, had married Martha Leeds, left home on the north bank of the Mianus River near the Stamford shore, and had come with his growing family to Canaan Parish where, with Martha in 1763 he joined the Con- gregational Church. Sam had 11 children, three of whom married Tuttles and one a Raymond, and when he died suddenly in 1783, he left his eldest son, Gould Selleck Pennoyer, as execu- tor of his estate.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.