Landmarks of New Canaan, Part 25

Author:
Publication date: 1951
Publisher: New Canaan, Connecticut : The New Canaan Historical Society
Number of Pages: 522

USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > New Canaan > Landmarks of New Canaan > Part 25

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).

This Gould, a descendant of Nathan Gould of Fairfield and Jonathan Selleck of Stamford on his grandmother Thcophila Selleck's, side, was active in town affairs, and was one of the

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town officials of Stamford representing Canaan Parish in 1800. It was not until 1801 that Ca- naan Parish became a town in its own right and until that date those who lived on the west side of the Perambulation Line, which by chance crossed through Sam's property, lived in Stamford, and those on the east of this line lived in Norwalk.

In 1772, Gould and his brave wife, Sara, not long married, were not listed by Drummond, because they were in Darien, probably with a relative, and it is while they were there that occurred the one familiar incident associated with the Pennoyer family: brave Sara climbed on the roof of her neighbor's house three times in succession, a child in one arm and a bucket of water in the other, to extinguish the fire started by the British incendiaries during their raid on Darien. The British were so impressed by Sara's persistance and loyalty that they cried "bravo, bravo" at her final attempt; and the commanding officer ordered that the house be left to stand.

For the benefit of any present day Pennoyers in this vicinity who might read this article and who are not acquainted with the fact, it should be mentioned that the Pennoyer family stemmed from Robert Pennoyer, who came from England as a boy of 21 on the ship "Hope- well" in 1635, receiving "several parcels of land assigned to him soon after the settlement of the town" of Stamford. At that time, the name was spelled "Peignoir."

It is of interest to note, too, that the 1947-48 Harvard University catalogue lists under scho- larships one established by the will of William Pennoyer of England in 1670 for two scholars, one preferably to be a descendant of the above Robert and the other preferably to be from New Haven colony.

Gould Pennoyer's son, Anson Drake, married Anna Selleck of Carter Street and they had 12 children; yet upon Anson's death in 1841, this "12 acres with house and barn" passed from the possession of the Pennoyers, where it had been for 72 years into the hands of Horatio Raymond. Horatio, according to the Raymond genealogy, was the son of Squire Raymond and grandson of Luke Raymond. Luke, the

grandfather, had an old distillery on his lot which was just behind the Sam Tuttle or pres- ent Gardner house, adjacent to the Pennoyer property. In a letter to Stephen Hoyt in 1934, James Osborn gives an interesting description of this old still.

"As I remember in 1867," he writes, "there was an old door still there partly covered with grass and sod, but the lock with the key in it was there above ground. I do not know if this door was part of the building above ground or if it was a door to the same underground work. The lock was about eight inches square and the key about the same length. It was stuck in the lock and we could not get it out. Presume it is still there if no one has disturbed the pasture. There used to be a lot of blackberry bushes around it and we went berrying there. My mother's grandfather told her that this was the door to Luke Raymond's distillery. At the time I mention, the old Luke Raymond home was still standing and his sister, Easter, oc- cupied it prior to 1867 and about that time or a little earlier came to live with Horace Ray- mond where she died at something over 90."

Luke Raymond had died in 1812 and his son Squire in 1850; so that at the time Horatio's ( also called Horace's) great aunt Easter came to live with him, his own wife, Eliza Seeley, was dead (1857), he was an old man himself of 67, and had three grown children, Francis and Frances, who were twins, and another daughter, "one of New Canaan's belles."

Horatio was a carpenter by trade and un- doubtedly made extensive alterations to the house on West Road. Francis, his son, to whom it passed in 1872 after his father's death, farmed the property. Butter was churned re- gularly in the basement dairy room, and I sup- pose sausage was ground and seasoned in front of the old dutch oven and vast hearth.

Mrs. A. O. Jimenis (Ida Anderson) who lived across the road from the Raymonds when she was a little girl, says she remembers old Mr. and Mrs. Raymond telling of how, in the past, milk, butter and products were taken to Norwalk by sled drawn by oxen, there to be shipped by boat to New York City.

Mrs. C. E. Moore, a granddaughter of Fran-

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cis Raymond, writes, "My grandfather origin- ally owned 100 acres of land and, after a num- ber of years elapsed, he sold 75 acres to F. W. Anderson, who eventually sold that acreage to Professor William H. Burr of Columbia Col- lege, New York City. Mr. Burr built his house and that of his gardener of the stone taken out of the land on the 'Ridge' as Grandpa al- ways called it. He was quite proud of the lo- cation as it was higher and in those days had a most extensive view of the Sound. I can re- member so well when my sister and I were visiting our grandparents with our father and mother, of always walking over to the 'Ridge' to a large rock where we would sit and enjoy watching the boats on the Sound. That would occur on Sunday afternoon and was a real treat to us youngsters.'

Mrs. Moore describes the house as having "a rather wide hall through the center with 'parlor' as it was then called and dining room on the right, and on the left of the hall was the kitchen with large fireplace and dutch oven. Back of the kitchen was a bedroom which my grandparents occupied. At the back of the hall was a small room with shelves on both sides where my grandmother kept her large pans of milk and which she called the milk room. Upstairs were four large bedrooms and a wide hall extending from front to back . .. and a garret up a steep flight of steps where large Saratoga trunks were kept, and a walnut cradle." Here, too, were herbs of various kinds. "They were gathered by my aunt or father in plenty along Greenley Road well before frost, and hung on the rafters to dry."

There was wild hyssop for colds, snakeroot and catnip for stomach disorders and boneset for fevers. Later, too, Mrs. Moore found a little black lace capelet with matching mitts, al- ways worn to church in warm weather by Mrs. Francis Raymond. Now in the possession of Mrs. N. E. Blockman, they were lent by her

to the New Canaan Town Players and were worn again recently in the production of "Our Town."

Although this house, dating from just when we are not sure, underwent many changes after its ownership by the Raymonds, and again when acquired by the Rush Taggarts in 1918, and by the Smiths in 1936, still its two distinctive characteristics remain. One is the ten foot square chimney stack, enormous in its bulk, which passed from the basement to the attic and which, unlike the usually placed chimney, protruded from the end wall. Un- fortunately, it was so demanding of space that it was necessary for the Smiths to reduce it to more usual proportions for their present day living room, but the telltale marks of its one time domination of the household are still im- printed in the ceiling's plaster. Secondly, the presence of separate living quarters in the base- ment, built about a fireplace and dutch oven almost identical to those on the floor above, is unusual.

Would that I could decipher for you the story told by the hand hewn timbers in the old attic, for the builders of these old houses were greatly influenced in their manner of construction by precedents established by the early ship builders of the period. Perhaps these later builders, too, had worked on boats down by the shore of Stamford and Norwalk. Alas, however, these characteristics of nautical carpentry, so often carried over into domestic architecture, will have to be interpreted by one not so recently come to the shores of Con- necticut.

And so today in New Canaan, there remain only three or four Pennoyers. Horatio Ray- mond's few descendants have departed, too. The old abode, however, is not sad. It has much to anticipate. It has a charming new mistress from Scotland, and 50 years from now there will be another story to tell.

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* EDMUND+ DAVENPORT

THE DRUMMOND-FITCH- LIVERMORE HOUSE

DOROTHY C. HOWER, Author

EDMUND DAVENPORT, Artist

[May 20, 1948]

This simple but charming old house on Sem- inary Street, more urban than farmhouse in ap- pearance, has for us an added historical inter- est. It is the only property ever owned in Ca- aan Parish by the ill-fated Rev. William Drum- mond, whose "Visitation Diary" has been of such inestimable value to us. Although the "Tercentenary Plaque" on the house reads "Rev. William Drummond, Samuel Cook Silli- man, circa 1765," the records show that the land, six acres, sold from a parcel of twenty acres, by Robert Silliman to Samuel Cook Silli- man in 1765, had no house on it. However, when Samuel Cook Silliman sold it in 1770 to Daniel Phenix, a house and buildings were listed. Perhaps the house was built late in 1765, or at most, not later than 1766. The Rev. Drum-

mond purchased the property on July 8, 1773, from Daniel Phenix for &150. No record can be found of his occupancy, nor descriptions by him of the original house, though it would be only natural to assume that he lived in it. Houses were no easier to obtain in those fron- tier days in Canaan Parish than they are today.

On June 4, 1776, Rev. Drummond sold the property back to Daniel Phenix, for the same amount, perhaps because of poverty, or per- haps due to the trouble he was having with his congregation, which led to his trial and dis- missal from the church in 1777, followed shortly by his death.

New information about the minister has oc- casionally come to light, as he kept many rec- ords, so it is to be hoped that more may be

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learned of the old house and its place in the community in those troubled years. It could not have been a very happy home for an avowed Tory, in a Parish soon to send "a full company of over a hundred men under Captain John Carter to the Revolutionary War." Until such information is available, the temptation to dwell further on the fascinating life of this Scottish pastor must be resisted.

In 1778, Daniel Phenix sold the property again to Samuel Cook Silliman. A most suc- cessful land speculator he must have been, for this time he sold it for £315, a clear profit of £165 over the {150 he had paid the Rev- erend Drummond.

Subsequently, Silliman sold the property to Joseph Fitch, but the records do not indicate. the exact date. We do not have much informa- tion about Joseph Fitch but know that he was a descendant of the Theophilus Fitch men- tioned in our early Canaan Parish records. In 1730 Theophilus Fitch was a King's Commis- sioner, or "Justice of the Peace," and when Ca- naan Parish was formed, he was made clerk of the Society, and was an important man in the community. Records show that he died "of a fever," in 1783.

On the death of Joseph Fitch in 1833, his widow, Hannah Fitch, moved into the house from her residence near Brushy Ridge. On her death in 1841, her sons, Theophilus, Philo and Semon and her daughter, Clarinda, inherited the property. However, only Theophilus Fitch continued to live in the house. Clarinda had previously married one James Ayres and was now a widow. She and her two bachelor broth- ers, Philo and Semon Fitch, lived in another house which they built on the corner of Park and Seminary Streets ( the Fitch-Ayres-Perkins house). On the death of Clarinda Ayres in 1881, the subject property was inherited by her daughters, Julia and Alicia Ayres, although they never lived in the house. The Silliman family again became the owners of the old Drummond-Fitch property when it was ac- quired by Mrs. Caroline Silliman in 1915.

With its sale to Mrs. L. E. Katzenbach some time later, an amusing new tradition was started. A very old painting, from the Ayres

estate, a crude but clear picture of a small col- ored boy standing by the famous buttonwood (sycamore) tree, also showing the front of the house, was given to Mrs. Katzenback by Mrs. George Kellogg, a cousin of the Ayres'. It now "goes with the house," as she, in turn, gave it to the next owners, Mrs. W. Harrison and her daughter, Mrs. Charles Winship, and they to the present owners.

Records show that on August 1, 1783, Thomas Fitch freed a colored slave named "Dover," lately belonging to his sister, the wi- dow Hannah Fitch, of Norwalk. This Hannah Fitch is unquestionably the mother of Mrs. Clarinda Ayres, so the "little colored boy" of the painting is probably "Dover" and thus the picture gives a very old record of the house.

In 1945 it was purchased by Mr. and Mrs. Shaw Livermore who have made it a home of great charm, keeping it in period wherever pos- sible, with lovely old wallpaper and furniture throughout.

Two huge sycamores, in front of the house, which used to be New Canaan landmarks, are gone, and one in the rear only half stands. Ac- cording to Stephen B. Hoyt six little boys in his day could scarcely, holding hands, form a circle around one of these trees. However, there is still one splendid maple tree in the front yard, an old hitching post and an iron bell. As only a small section appears to have been added to the old house, it must retain much of its original appearance, from the out- side as well as from the inside.

We enter a small, but well shaped entrance hall, to the left of which is a medium sized room, now a music room. To the right is the present dining room, which has been enlarged by a glass roofed bay window. To the rear are a living room and kitchen, which may have been made over from smaller rooms then in use as "parlor and study." The great, wide, un- even plank floors could well be the original ones and are kept bare and painted, with scat- ter rugs.

The basement, in spite of furnace alterations, is very little changed. It was obviously the fam- ily living room, as well as kitchen, though its low ceiling would seem most uncomfortable

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today. The large stone fireplace has fine side baking ovens, which still look usable, and again the floor is substantial and good. The steep nar- row staircase leading to the main floor must have been most inconvenient, but it is difficult to see where another staircase could have been.

The present "upstairs" with its three master bedrooms, large open hall furnished as a charming sitting room or study, two baths and tiny sitting room, gives a surprising feeling of space and charm for a simple house of that period. Even the attic is large and usable, yet again it is difficult to see where any major addi- tions could have been made on the original building. If, as we assume, this is the original house, it was an unusually comfortable one for the times.

The subsequent additions, making the house much larger than its simple facade would indi- cate, are more easily understood when it is

pointed out that the rear is on the slope of a hill, making it three stories in height. The old basement kitchen opened on to level ground. Above this has been built a long porch with a fine old Dutch door opening into the living room.

On the right hand side of the house, another addition has been built, consisting of a bed- room, bath and porch, approached by an out- side staircase, leading up from a small down- stairs porch. However, as this has been deeply recessed, there is little change in the facade of the house. It still looks much as it must have before the Declaration of Independence, when the misguidedly loyal Rev. Drummond rode back to it, through "ye high snow-drifts" from one of his innumerable visits with his flock, many of whom talked as much about his copi- ous consumption of cider, as of his Tory senti- ments.

THE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL

JEAN M. WALSER, Author

EDWIN EBERMAN, Artist

[May 27, 1948]

"Between 1,500 and 2,000 persons visited the new Henry W. Saxe Junior High School build- ing in South Avenue on Sunday afternoon and evening and on Monday morning the new building was put into commission." So ran the announcement in the Advertiser of January 7, 1932, and New Canaan's largest school build- ing, modern in every detail, opened its doors.

From the over-packed High School came the ninth grade, and the seventh and eighth grades moved up from Center School where they had crowded out the fifth grade into the Annex. Now the three grades with their special needs and problems could be administered. It was a day of which New Canaan could be proud.

Twenty years earlier, in 1911, the old brown wooden school building had been demolished

and the fine Center School erected, and only five years earlier, in 1926, the High School completed. Before that the High School pupils attended the Stamford High School. Almost immediately on the completion of the High School, it became apparent that the rapidly increasing population would necessitate an- other school building and arguments in favor of a Junior High began. Surveys were made and plans discussed, and in August, 1930, the School Building Committee presented its re- quest for $397,500 for the purchase of a school site and the erection and equipment of a 16 room Junior High.

The amount was decreased by the Board of Finance to $275,300 and this was approved by a town meeting vote of 235 to 162. This indi- cated a decided opposition which was based

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Edwin Gherman

Tower-Junior High School

on the fear of the tax burden and the bond issue, and a lack of realization of the town's growing needs. By December of that year the property of Mrs. George Jelliff, whose husband owned the Jelliff homestead and old mill, was purchased and definite plans for the school were under way.

One month later, in January, 1931, a special

town meeting was held to take action on the rate of interest and term of the bonds. Matters moved quickly and by February the 19th, bids were opened for the new building. On March 1, work was begun, and the following January 21, 1932, after the Christmas holidays, the chil- dren entered.

The architect for the High School had been

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Alyn Pierson of the firm of John Noble Pierson and Son, of Perth Amboy, N. J., and to assure harmony of design, he was chosen again. The architecture shows the same Georgian influ- ence and similar red bricks were used. The predominating characteristic of the building is the impressive tower which holds an illumi- nated clock dial. The door facing South Avenue has an attractive porch and entrance.

Especially admired is the beautiful planting around the Junior High School which was, in part, the gift of the New Canaan Garden Club as its share in the Washington Bicentennial Observance of 1932. The flowering shrubs and trees were gifts from Henry Kelley who grew them in his own nursery and planted them at the school himself.

The building is considered a fine example of school construction and equipment and Mr. Kelley stated at the dedication exercises on January 21, 1932 that nothing was forgotten or overlooked. The large auditorium and gymna- sium which seats 600 people is used by both schools and is in constant demand for town activities. There are rooms for manual training, domestic science, which includes cooking and sewing, music, the sciences, a library and art as well as 11 recitation rooms. The cafeteria efficiently serves 350 pupils daily in three shifts.

The final cost of this building was $275,300 and it is interesting to note that the present insurable value is $560,000, which is 80 per cent of the estimated value. The appropriation for all the schools that year was $133,719.94 and next year it will be $353,597.50. The grand list at that time was $18,000,000. Now it is $28,000,000. Mr. Kelley, who was clerk of the school board appeared before the finance board, stated that the town was then in a won- derful financial condition.

An enterprise such as this entails long and tireless work by a few people, and the town will always be grateful to the School Building Committee which spent many exhausting eve- nings planning all the details. Their names are all familiar still and all are identified with faithful services to the community. Judge Stan-

ley P. Mead was chairman, and represented the Board of Education of which he was then vice- chairman. Percy E. Cantrell represented the Board of Finance. Howard E. Grupe, who was secretary of the committee, represented the public, as did George W. Duryea. The select- men were represented by George T. Smith, first selectman at that time, whose death was re- cently announced. Their patience, diligence and foresight carried the project through.

One name, however, which will always be especially associated with the school in deep appreciation is that of Henry W. Saxe, for whom it is named. Mr. Saxe, as old New Ca- naanites know, came here in 1897, and was connected with the school system from 1900 until 1932, when he became superintendent emeritus. The construction of the Junior High at this time was largely due to his vision, for he realized earlier than most that expanding facilities were necessary. Mr. Saxe's vision and tactful persistence were fully recognized when the new building was named in his honor in November.

In the fall of 1932, Harry W. Blake, who had been principal of the High School and Junior High, succeeded Mr. Saxe as superintendent, and Miss Mary B. Quigg became part time principal. There was a large increase in the number of pupils at the beginning of the first school year due to the depression and to the opening of the new building.

At this moment the pink and white dogwood trees, the flowering crab and cherry, and the purple and white lilacs are blooming around the Junior High School, and as the young peo- ple pass from one building to another they catch their fragrance, and even the speediest motorist on South Avenue can glimpse their beauty. As the big clock in the tower points to 8:30 every morning, boys and girls from every kind of family in New Canaan mingle and exchange news of their shared activities. As they gather for classes, teachers and pupils alike are keenly aware that in this school build- ing they are sharing the democratic opportun- ity for which our country and our frce public school system stand.

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nurbur

THE DE FOREST-KELLER-BYERLY HOUSE

M. FARMER MURPHY, Author

ALLEN F. HURLBURT, Artist

[June 3, 1948]

The subject of this week's sketch of historic places is one of the DeForest homes which once were spaced along both sides of what is now known as North Wilton Road, all the way from where Valley Road runs into it to beyond the Wilton town line. It is the property of Mrs. Theo C. Keller and is at present occupied by her daughter, Mrs. Jessie K. Byerly, with her daughter, Miss Ruth Byerly.

While the house and grounds bear obvious evidence of tasteful improvement and modern- ization, even the original house was a second blooming and represented to the first owners and occupants a prideful advance over their first quarters. For Eliud DeForest and Isabel his wife went to housekeeping in a small one room and attic building which stood about 60 or 75 feet west and south of the present house.

It could not have been more than 16 or 18 feet long by 12 or 14 feet wide, the length running with the road. The building was wholly in the roadway, one wall representing the boundary between the highway and the DeForest prop- erty. This building was still in existence as late as the early 1920's and in its later years was used as a woodshed.

In these days of comforts and labor saving gadgets it is difficult to conceive how the mul- tiple duties of even simple housekeeping could be carried on under such crude and cramped conditions. But somehow Isabel DeForest managed, cooked, did the washing, had beds to make, carried water from the well, made candles and in her spare time doubtless carded and spun wool. And while performing a daily routine of this sort she was bearing and rear-

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ing children at least one of whom was born in this tiny house. Apparently she thrived on this schedule for there is no record of her having been put on a special diet by her doctor, of having had a nervous breakdown, or having taken a rest cure at a sanitarium and she lived on until 1851, dying at the age of 85 years.

Eliud DeForest was the son of David and Sarah DeForest who lived in a house which stood on land bounded by North Wilton Road on the south and Bald Hill North on the east. The cellar excavation and walls are still visible. Pastor Drummond reported in 1772 that they had two other sons, Samuel and Isaac, but as they were soldiers in the Revolution Eliud ob- viously was much younger for he was born some time in 1769, being baptised in that year as an infant, and that corresponds with his age given at the time of his death.

When he was married and when he and his wife, Isabel moved into the little house is not shown in family records still available, but it must have been before November 22, 1796, for their first child, Charles, was born there in that year. Charles was the grandfather of Miss Inez Crofoot who lives in another DeForest house about a mile further east on the extension of North Wilton Road. There were four other sons: William, born in 1799 who died in 1826; Samuel born in 1800, who died in 1812; David L. born in 1804, who died in 1886 at 82, and Edward, born in 1806, who lived until 1896.

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.

Landmarks of New Canaan, Part 25

Author: Publication date: 1951 Publisher: New Canaan, Connecticut : The New Canaan Historical Society Number of Pages: 522

Author:
Publication date: 1951
Publisher: New Canaan, Connecticut : The New Canaan Historical Society
Number of Pages: 522