USA > Connecticut > Fairfield County > New Canaan > Landmarks of New Canaan > Part 27
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the commuting train each day in a smart trap with a spirited tandem . . . and all 13 Dalma- tian dogs swarming under the cart.
She told about breaking in her own riding horse, of driving a drunken dairyman off the place with a pitchfork, of being, as she said, "not afraid of man, beast or devil." After her husband died, she continued to run her dairy, and was soon doing almost all of the work her- self.
On his first visit there, Mr. McGhie found her combing out the end of the tail of a Jersey bull. She told about a religious sect to which she belonged, called Mazdaznens, devoted to worship of animals, and she spoke of dogs and cows and cats as though they were human be-
ings. She hoped Mrs. McGhie would become a convert, and gave her a pamphlet.
In spite of a tenacious attachment to the farm, she had no respect for old things, for she told with glee how she had burned up the old furniture and records in a "fine bonfire," and she advised the McGhies, "Now you young folks just burn up this old house and build you a good Sears Roebuck."
She took a humorous view of her own eccen- tricities and rather affected the role of witch. She was never without the shabby misshapen felt cloche hat which had taken on the suitable peaked twist, indoors or not.
Mrs. Laura Mills is now buried under a rose- bush, beside her husband, on the property of
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Long Meadow Farm. The McGhies found her an unshakeable part of their new farm. When they moved in, she bought herself a place in town, but begged them to let her stay on until she could "find happy homes" for her cows. She moved into the dairy, with four cats and three Dalmatians. Time dragged on and still she could not bring herself to leave.
During the following winter, in a blizzard, she contracted pneumonia. The McGhies called Dr. John Bucciarelli, much against her will. While leaning over his patient, he was bitten by one of the dogs who had just given birth to a litter of puppies in a corner of the room. He found her sleeping on a discarded porch swing, being cared for by an old hired man who had worked for her years before.
He had come up to inquire about her and had sat up with her night and day for four days. The doctor had her removed to a hospi- tal where she died. They found letters from a brother in Chicago asking her to come to live with him but she staunchly asserted she would "rather have $5 of her own than $5,000 of some- one's else." She died in debt. The ex-hired man confirmed the stories of her previous wealth, and was convinced that all the old silver and jewelry was buried or hidden somewhere in the house.
[November 11, 1948]
Some minor errors ( if skipping one whole gen- eration in the family tree could be called "minor") appeared in the first installment of this article. Mrs. Charles Tuttle, from whom information about the Hoyt family was ac-
quired, has offered to send the Historical So- ciety the corrected family tree, which will be filed with this article in the society records for accuracy.
For the relief of mystified medicos, the nu- meral 50 instead of 60 should be substituted for one of the Hoyt mothers when her last child was born, and it was Charles Augustus Tuttle's grandmother and not his mother who per- formed this still surprising but not unprece- dented feat.
The house has grown over all these years. Mrs. Mills added a wing on the left, where the old "milk house" used to be, and began a build- ing with an old piano box where she kept the calves, which is now the green shed. The McGhies added a rear wing, and built a new house for John Socci, who was their dairyman for eight years, and kept their herd of 28 pure- bred Jersey cows in fine condition.
This new house, with three acres, was sold to Mr. and Mrs. Philip Stone in 1946. Mr. Stone is interested in cabinet making and restoring antiques and keeps his lathe and tools in the old dairy. He was recently sent to Venezuela to supervise the building of a large Standard Oil installation. He will be away two years from his new home and many hobbies.
World War II made some changes in Long Meadow Farm. Ceiling prices on milk made it necessary for Mr. McGhie to sell his cows and discontinue his small, quality dairy business, so there are no longer cows grazing in the fields.
A new family is growing up in the old house, as it should be. The McGhies' two sons, Alec and Bruce, inherit an old tradition and walk in the footsteps of homesteaders.
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THE COMSTOCK-BENSEN HOUSE
MRS. ALICE W. LITCHFIELD, Author
MRS. DOROTHY G. HUMASON, Artist
[November 8, 1948]
In the year 1840 Seymour Comstock, who lived in the present Ewing house, sold one-half acre of his property, south and east of his own dwelling and fronting on Main Street, to Ed- son Bradley. In 1853 Mr. Bradley bought addi- tional small pieces of land adjoining his prop- erty from Mr. Comstock, Samuel Silliman and Samuel Stevens. We may assume that some time during these thirteen years Mr. Bradley built the fine dwelling on the northwest corner of Main Street and Huested Lane now occu- pied by Mr. and Mrs. A. V. Bensen.
Mr. Bradley was a member of the shoe firm of Bradley and Benedict and in charge of the New York office. This was one of the leading firms in the town. Its factory stood on the cor- ner of Main and Elm streets and was known as "The Big Shop."
Before the Civil War New Canaan was fa- mous all over the country as a shoe making cen- ter. A New Canaanite, travelling in the West, when asked to describe his town, is said to have replied "every man except the dominie makes shoes and he cobbles his own." Machine
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sewn shoes were unknown and great pride was taken in fine hand work.
A writer describing the shoes made here at that time says that for the ladies shoes and slippers of every description were made of beautiful bronze or black kid and of every im- aginable color of serge and for the gentlemen boots of goatskin in various combinations of black, red and maroon. I am sure the shoes of today would seem dull and uninteresting in comparison with these glamorous varieties.
When war with the South was declared the largest shoe market disappeared and the firm of Benedict and Bradley lost thousands of dol- lars. Mr. Bradley retired and in 1871 sold his home to Albert Comstock, the brother of Mr. Seymour.
Mr. Albert was a partner in the clothing firm of Comstock and Rogers Co. Mr. Comstock's factory was located where the present Ferrera building now stands-north of Silliman's Hard- ware Store. It is the original building though since renamed. He and Mrs. Comstock lived in this house for the rest of their lives. Mrs. Comstock was a founder and early president of the New Canaan Historical Society and Mr. Comstock was one of its first directors. For many years the meetings of the society werc held in their home. She was also founder and regent of the Hannah Benedict Carter Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
The Albert Comstocks were fond of travel and made several trips to Europe. When at home it was a familiar sight to see them driv- ing about the town in their phaeton, drawn by their horse Prince. Seymour Comstock, Albert's brother and next door neighbor was a pioneer in the grocery business here and had a store on the east side of Main Street. His farm was beautifully kept and he sold milk, butter and vegetables to all the most exacting housewives in the town.
After the death of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Com- stock the house entered a very trying period. In 1910 it was bought from the Albert Com- stock estate by Charles W. Gordon and in that
same year sold by him to Miss Elizabeth Fer- guson of Stamford. In 1911 it was sold by Miss Ferguson to the New Canaan Realty and Con- struction Company. In 1912 Joseph IIowe bought it and resold it to the Realty and Con- struction Company in 1920.
During these years it was at one time used for a Day School for young boys and girls and later for a boarding house, and at times the downstairs rooms were rented to doctors for offices. In 1920 it was bought by Mrs. Hclen P. Goodell, now Mrs. Willard Downing of St. John Place and she restored it to its original loveliness. She added on two side porches and a sleeping porch in the rear, making it even more livable and comfortable than before.
In 1926 it was bought by Mrs. Marian Ben- sen, and is once again a gracious, beautiful and well loved home.
ADDENDUM-1951
The Bensens were satisfied with the changes and modernization accomplished by the Wil- lard Downings and have added nothing new. The handsome Greek-revival facade with its exceptionally beautiful fan light window under the triangle roof is still a constant pleasure to passersby. When Mr. Bensen bought the house in 1926, he was in the textile business in New York, but has since retircd.
Mrs. Bensen has been active in the New Ca- naan Red Cross, as Staff Assistant, during the last war. She is also an active member of St. Mark's Episcopal Church as a member of the Altar Society.
The Bensen children who have grown up in this capacious house, are Albert, marricd, living in Silvermine and teaching at the Coun- try School; Robert, married and living in Bur- lington, Vt .; Margery, now Mrs. David Benson, in Meriden, New Hampshire, and Harriet, on the staff of Barnard College, in New York City.
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WERDE READING ROOM-
THE ADVERTISER
L.E.HERSAM
PRINTING
STATIONERY
THE READING ROOM
(This story of the start of public library services in New Canaan is told in the following excerpts from the New Canaan Messenger.)
Edited by MRS. KATHARINE A. LUSK
(November 23, 1878)
The friends of the Free Reading Room are glad to announce to the public that the enter- prise is no longer upon the uncertain basis of a voluntary effort of a few persons, but that it is now a permanently organized institution, recognized and known in law as the "New Canaan Reading Room and Circulating Li- brary Corporation." Twenty-two of the citizens of the town have acted as corporators, and
have now filed their articles of Association with the Secretary of State. . .. Any person may become a member whose application is approved of by the executive committee, upon payment of two dollars entrance fee, and one dollar annual dues, in advance.
In addition to the Free Reading Room, it is intended to open soon, a Circulating Library, free, probably, to all annual subscribers of one dollar and upwards, and for use of others on paying five cents for each volume drawn out.
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Contributions of books are earnestly solicited. Nearly every family will find some books which have been read and reread by all the members, yet which are too good to be left idle being of benefit to no one.
Such books if given to the Circulating Li- brary would be read by many persons, and the gift of a few good books of travel, adventure, history, biography, story, or of a scientific character, by many persons would put the committee in a position to open the Library to the public in a very short time.
Will not those who are favorable to the suc- cess of so good and unselfish an enterprise, look in their closets and on their book shelves and parlor tables to see if they cannot select some such books to give to the Library. By order of the committee such books may be left at any time with the President of the organization, Rev. Jos. Greenleaf, or with the Secretary, Mr. B. P. Mead. Quite a number have been already contributed.
The committee also earnestly solicits the public generally to become annual subscribers for defraying the running expenses of the Reading Room and Library. Any sum, large or small, will be acceptable, the desire being to enlist the interest of the many in the enter- prise. What we ask of our friends is to promise to pay a certain amount, whatever it may be, every year thus enabling us to form some defi- nite expectations and arrangements for the support of the Room and Library.
Any such subscription may be handed to the soliciting committee, Jos. Greenleaf, Wm. G. Brownson, Charles W. Hall, who will fur- nish a receipt signed by the Treasurer B. P. Mead. It is intended in a short time to refit the Reading Room, making it more attractive, and to furnish the upper room of the building, the lower part of which is now used for the Read- ing Room, for the Library, and for meetings of the Association and for other purposes.
The citizens at large are earnestly requested to interest themselves in this effort to furnish a place where young men, especially, may spend their evenings, free from the many temptations by which they are beset in our
streets. Subscriptions and donations are in- vited from all persons, male or female, old or young.
In behalf of the Association, Jos. Greenleaf, President.
(Editorial Comment ... Same issue)
The N.C. Reading Room having succeeded so well under the casual soliciting system, is now assuming prominence as a corporate in- stitution. It is expected that about $3,000 will be subscribed by about twenty friends of the project for a permanent fund, the interest of which only is to be used in annual expenses . .. The managing committee have hired the whole building of Railroad Avenue for the next year, with the privilege of a lease for a term of years. The rooms will be fitted up anew and put in good order, downstairs for the pub- lic reading, upstairs for the library room. Large donations of books are promised; the membership is to be without distinction of sex. The ladies are active in the work, which will insure its success.
(August 23, 1879)
The Peach festival and entertainment for the benefit of the Free Reading Room, will take place Thursday evening of next week, Raymond's Hall. Admission 10 cents. Singing by distinguished vocalists from abroad. Musi- cal director Dr. Brownson. An Art Gallery of celebrated pictures and paintings, true to na- ture will be one of the features. Peaches, straw- berries, melons, cakes, ice cream, flowers, etc., for sale. Every dime will be given to one of the best objects in town. Come one, come one. If you can't come, send something.
(August 30, 1879)
About two years ago, a few public spirited and philanthropic men and women conceived the idea of organizing some kind of an institu- tion that would have a tendency to draw our young men out from the street, and from places of vice and sin, and after mature deliberation they went earnestly to work, and as a result of the labor, we now have the New Canaan Read-
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ing Room and Circulating Library Corpora- tion, legally authorized by the State of Con- necticut.
Many croakers were found who predicted utter and complete failure, but who really did no great harm by their braying, as anything such persons may say seldom has much weight or influence with well meaning and even minded people. Of course they have had diffi- culties to encounter and overcome and much hard work has been performed by certain ones to bring this institution to its present state of prosperity and influence.
The interest manifested in the proceedings last Thursday evening plainly indicates that the Free Reading Room has become a recog- nized institution and a power in this town. The festival was a complete success in every par- ticular, and the managers deserve credit and congratulation. We have not the time to give as elaborate and extended account of the en- tertainment as it richly deserves.
This very successful and well conducted af- fair was proposed, arranged and carried out entirely by those public-spirited and generous minded ladies who have taken an interest in the welfare and success of the Free Reading Room. Among the most prominent of these were Mrs. T. M. Fairty, Mrs. L. M. Monroe, Mrs. Granger Comstock, Mrs. Junius Benedict, Mrs. Simmonson, Mrs. Charles Demerritt, Misses Ida Lockwood, Nettie Brown, Edith Raymond, Mattie Hoyt.
The Hall (Raymond's Hall), a commodious and pleasant room, was very tastefully and profusely decorated. The walls on every side were trimmed with evergreens, flowers and flags. The stage presented a very attractive ap- pearance. In front, a large national flag was looped in graceful folds with three smaller ones artistically placed in the center. A beauti- ful basket of flowers was suspended from the ceiling, and on either side, placed on two small tables were large and beautiful bouquets, and resting upon the floor, near the center of the stage, was still another magnificent basket of rare flowers, and the whole atmosphere was fragrant with the rich perfume of the choicest
floral gifts. The ladies having this part of the affair in charge deserve unmeasured praise. A very fine Dunham piano, kindly loaned by Dr. Brownson, stood at the right of the stage.
The tables ran around three sides of the spacious hall, and with their snow white cov- ers and immense loads of peaches and other delicacies were quite attractive and inviting, but our reporter was of the opinion that it was not the luscious peaches, nor yet the fragrant flowers that drew and kept so many of our gal- lant young men at the tables. He was almost certain that the young, pretty, and smiling "waiting maids" with their white caps, white aprons, and charming manners had something to do toward drawing them there, and also in drawing the willing pennies from their pockets.
The refreshments were served in liberal quantities and were of the best quality, peaches, ice cream, cake, confectionery, etc., in abundance. It is also worthy of special men- tion that there was on exhibition a dish of strawberries and raspberries, the former picked from the garden of Mr. William G. Webb, and the latter were fresh from the vines of "Uncle" John Raymond (a second crop), and both attracted much attention and comment.
The audience was treated to a fine selection of vocal and instrumental music. Many thanks are returned by the committee to those who so kindly assisted in these services. Miss Cal- vert of Virginia and Miss Edith Davis of Georgetown elicited much applause by their good singing and playing. Miss Frank Brown- son presided creditably at the piano.
The most perfect harmony and good feeling prevailed throughout, and the whole affair was a complete success, and the executive commit- tee desire us to return many thanks to those who assisted in the arrangements, and also to the people of New Canaan for their liberal patronage of a most worthy object. The Trea- surer informs us that the Reading Room will realize near, or not quite $100.00 net, as a re- sult of the festival ($91.73 actual figure as re- ported in the Messenger for September 13, 1879).
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The art gallery was a distinctive and impor- tant feature of the entertainment. It caused a great deal of amusement and was well gotten up. Neatly printed catalogues of the numerous works of art to be seen within the gallery were presented to each one as they entered, and as cach article was numbered, it was an easy mat- ter to comprehend them. For the arrangement and care of this department great credit should
be given to Misses Nellie Brown, Sarah Jones and Ida Lockwood. Among the most energetic and active waiters at the tables we noticed Mrs. Granger Comstock, Mrs. T. M. Fairty, Mrs. Junius Benedict, Mrs. C. H. Weed, Misses Annie and Nellie Monroe, Ida Lockwood, Frank Brownson, Edith Raymond, Rixana Smith, Mattie Hoyt, Anna Lockwood of Stam- ford, and Annie Husted.
c ronde water
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THE FITCH-ST. JOHN-RUSCOE HOUSE
MARGARET CABELL SELF, Author
CLINTON VAN DE WATER, Artist [December 9, 1948]
Demure and simple as a Puritan maid is this little grey house at Carter Street and Silver Mine Road. In front of it stands a row of the oldest and most beautiful maple trecs in New
Canaan. There is little left but stumps in the old apple orchard on the north side, they being shorter lived than the maples, but the stone walls which bound and divide the property,
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separating the orchard, the house and lawn and the garden from the adjoining hayfield and from the roads, stand as staunchly as they did when Lindal Fitch first cleared the land in the early 1700s.
Lindal's great grandfather, John Fitch, was one of the early settlers of the Norwalk Col- ony. When the Common Land of New Ca- naan was divided, his grandsons, John and Nathaniel Fitch acquired, by allotment and by purchase, some 200 acres on and around Clap- board Hill. Nathaniel gave 60 acres of this to his son Lindal who, at the same time bought a small house, later destroyed by fire, which stood directly across Carter Street and oppo- site the site where he planned to build his fu- ture home.
Lindal started clearing his land at once, and building his own place. The approximate date of its completion is 1737. He designed a house which would be comfortable and easy to keep in winter, which would be sociable to live in and which would be beautiful both in the lines of its structure and in the details of its decora- tion. A hospitable house with two granite hitching-posts to welcome the wayfarer.
The great central chimney provided a huge fireplace in the kitchen and smaller ones in each of the downstairs rooms. As these were the days before stoves a broad hearth was necessary and a good dutch oven for the bak- ing. But the kitchen was not used just for cook- ing, it was the living room, the social meeting place for the family as well. So Lindal's kitchen faced east and was by far the largest room in the house, running, as it does, the full width of the house. The kitchen door opened to the south and the well is close by, thus, in winter, those going outside for water or wood were well protected from the icy blasts from the north by the mass of the house itself.
In front he put two small rooms and a little hallway. The best parlor was lovingly adorned with deep wainscotting "gotten out" by hand and a corner cupboard. This room was least used and so was put in the northwest corner. The room on the southwest might be an addi- tional living room or it might be a bedroom.
But the real room, the important room of the house, was the kitchen.
It is interesting to note that fashion is swing- ing back to this idea of a community room. For many years it was considered a sign of inferi- ority not to have a separate dining room. Then came the idea of a large living room with a din- ing alcove. Now, with domestic help a rarity, architects are beginning to design combina- tion living and dining rooms with a kitchen in the alcove. The home magazines are featuring decorating plans for kitchens which are to be lived in and in which the hostess may cook her dinner while she is entertaining her guests. Thus is the cycle of fashion completed.
But to get back to the Ruscoe house. Up- stairs there are two little bedrooms over the front rooms and an unfinished attic space under the slanted salt-box roof. Like the rest of the house they have remained unchanged and are as designed and built by Lindal.
In 1767 Lindal gave the house to his son, Seymour. By then the Fitches had spread up and down Carter Street, then known as Clap- board Hill Path and overrun upper Silver Mine and the Canoe Hill sector. It was a pro- lific family with many sons to carry on the name and hew out more homesteads. Canoe Hill which is now so wooded became open farm country of fields and orchards.
Seymour lived in the little grey house until he joined the exodus to Duchess County, N. Y., about 1787. He then gave it to his sons, Seymour and Lindal. But they too were bitten by the desire to go west to more open and unsettled lands, and Benoni St. John, grand- son of old Daniel St. John, the patriarch of lower Silver Mine, became the owner.
Benoni was a man of outstanding energy and character. He was one of the early local graduates of Yale University. Unlike most men of his day with a college education, he did not go into one of the professions, but remained on the land as a farmer, mill owner and large investor in acreage.
Benoni St. John never lived in the house; it was evidently used as a tenant house for the St. John property, and sometimes housed two
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or three families at once. It remained part of the St. John holdings until 1866, when Elisha Hoyt purchased it from Darius St. John, Be- noni's youngest son. The house and two acres were in one block, with additional acres on both sides of the two roads.
Elisha Hoyt was in poor health for much of his life and did not attempt to farm the land on a large scale. He had a work-room in the house where he did shoe-stitching for various manu- facturers in the village, and he sometimes made axc-helves for the neighboring farmers. The women in the family contributed to the house- hold finances by buttonholing garments for the shirt factory in Norwalk, and by keeping a good flock of chickens. The chicken houses were across Carter St. from the house; the south end of Silvermine Rd. not then being cut through between Clapboard Hill and Carter St.
Elisha Hoyt's daughter Cora married Sey- mour Crofoot in 1856. Seymour was a near neighbor, the Crofoot house being on the cor- ner of Silvermine and Valley Roads.
The Crofoot family, like the Fitch, Hoyt and St. John families were of original New England stock, firm and staunch, honest and unadorned as the granite of their homesteads. Ebenezer, the first local Crofoot who built the big corner house on Silver Mine and Valley Roads mar- ried a St. John. His grandson, Seymour Cro- foot (notice how the old name appears and reappears ) inherited the grey clapboard house with its rows of maples, built so long before by Lindal. Seymour and his childless wife lived in the saltbox for many years. I remember him very well. He was a tall spare man with a face fine boned and patrician. His bearing was mod- est and conservative. He was friendly but he "kept himself to himself" with native reserve. At the risk of laboring the point of the land and family connections which existed here in those days, it might be noted that Seymour Crofoot was a great-grandson of Esther St. John, Ben- oni's sister, as well as the nephew of Betsey Anne Crofoot, who married Benoni's youngest son Darius.
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