Landmarks of New Canaan, Part 9

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 9

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).

families, Abijah Comstock was a relatively late comer and, like his contemporary and neighbor to the east, Capt. James Richards, he came here as a successful and well-to-do middle aged man with a grown family. Abijah's grand- father Christopher-son of a German father and a Scotch mother-was a Norwalk resident in 1661. Christopher's son, Moses, was one of the first settlers in Silver Mine and Abijah was

one of Moses' two sons. When Abijah was twenty-three he married Deborah Benedict and his father-after the manner of good fathers of his day-provided the young hus- band with a house and thirty acres farther up the Silver Mine valley, together with a six- teenth interest in the nearby mill (the latter on the present Noble property).

Abijah prospered and began the practice of buying land and keeping a "dry herd" at the north end of Smith Ridge, near the head- waters of Five Mile River. Between 1748 and 1766 he accumulated 90 acres of land from the earlier settlers in this neighborhood, on both sides of the Smith Ridge Road, running south from Puddin' Hill Road (which marked the Colony line) and as far west as Luke's Wood Road. Meanwhile, his older sons, Thomas, David and Enoch (all of whom later fought in the Revolution) were growing up. Abijah's wife died in 1770 and this may have been what decided him, unlike most fathers of his time, to himself move to his outlying and broader acres and to turn over the management-and later the ownership-of his original farm to his son, Thomas. He then built the house which, with subsequent additions and alterations, be- came the Burnham house of today. A leader in community and church, Abjiah Comstock was a man of substance and conviction-success- ful and assured, hospitable, and lavish in his provision for his children. In 1799 he gave the farm, as he had already turned over other bur- dens, to his son Samuel. "He weathered the war, voted for Washington, Adams and Jeffer- son, saw Canaan Parish become New Canaan, and acted as the grand host to his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren at the old farm that was his pride"-until 1807, when he died at the age of 85.

In the course of the Burnham's remodeling operations, some ten years ago, a small but heavy box was discovered hidden in a second floor partition. To the great disappointment of the excited workmen, however, it was found to contain nothing but papers-a rich collec- tion of family papers, which the Burnhams gave to the Historical Society. As a result, in

large part, of the wealth of documentary ma- terial thus available, the Comstock story may be used to illustrate many aspects of life in this community during the century and a half they lived on Smith Ridge. There were, for example, the trials and problems of the Revolutionary period, when three Comstock sons were in the army, and David Close, who later entered the ministry and married Abijah's daughter, Han- nah, was apparently a member of an active minority of patriots in his class at Yale, then a hotbed of Tories. And, in Salem, not far north of the Comstock farm, was the headquarters of the Tory cattle raiders to whom the word "cowboy" was first applied, who drove their cattle down to Noroton and Stamford- and, not unlikely, right down the Smith Ridge Road, at times-for delivery aboard British boats, against payment in gold.

Then there is the whole matter of the state of farming and of the household arts. Oxen were still used for plowing by the third and last Samuel Comstock until 1920. For the first cen- tury of farming on Smith Ridge, however, only wooden plows were available-iron shod, to be sure, but crude at best, with the mold board carved from a single piece of hardwood, which must have been no mean task. One can under- stand why, with our rocky soil, the emphasis was so largely on cattle and hay and why the acres of regularly plowed land were so rela- tively few.

The Comstock papers of the period of Sam- uel's young manhood include tables for the "Sleighing of Woolen" and the "Sleighing of Linen Warp and Linen Filling," carefully set down by hand, showing the number of knots per pound and the necessary quantities of wool tow and flax for various purposes. A typical tradesman's account of the period (1794) shows purchases of various quantities of "demity," fringe, scarlet cloth, dark calico, muslin, nut- megs, tea and loaf sugar, and the making of a pair of stays (£3). The whole, with commis- sion and carting, came to £6, s10, d8. Pay- ment was made in butter and cheese, two "coverlids," woolen yarn and a quarter of mut- ton, leaving Mr. Comstock a credit of 19 shil-

lings. The coverlids were woven by the Com- stock women, the yarn carded from their own wool, while the butter and cheese, of course, were also products of the household.

Slavery at this time was already on the wane -probably more as a result of economic rather than of moral considerations, although criti- cism of the practice was rising, and with it the taxes on slaves. The Comstocks, however, had slaves and seem always to have treated them well. Abijah Comstock's Caesar was probably not altogether typical of slaves of the period but he was also not entirely unique. Caesar had been bought, as a boy of twelve, by Abi- jah's father in 1721, for £58. He could read his Bible and his library was more extensive than that of most white men of the day. He was also a trapper, but his great joy was in having some silver shillings that he could beat into spoons. It has been said that all the young Comstocks cut their teeth on silver spoons that Caesar had made them. Caesar's will-he died about 1778-is a really quaint and unique do- cument. To his master and his family and to a number of friends, white and black, he left some fourteen books-all religious-various traps and silver spoons, money, "my new chest, my new clasp paper pocket book, my new beaver hat and case," "my tankard, quart pot and bason," "silver shoe buckles, knee buc- kles and clasps" and gloves, caps and handker- chiefs.

The first Samuel Comstock seems to have carried on in somewhat of Abijah's lavish tra- dition, extending his farm-particularly in New York State, until it became one of the largest hereabouts-endorsing the note of a tempor- arily hard pressed neighbor, dealing in cattle on a substantial scale, serving as a Major of militia and on county and Federal grand juries and a term in the legislautre and participating actively in Masonic affairs. He outlived his father by only eleven years, dying in 1818 at the age of fifty-one. One of his older sons, Thomas, had moved to a farm on Canaan Ridge, (Oenoke), and was the father of An- thony Comstock, the zealous crusader against indecency. David, another of Samuel's sons, be-

came a minister. Again, it was the youngest son-also Samuel-who, as a lad of sixteen at- tending the New Canaan Academy, had to turn to and help his mother, the "Widow Comstock," in the management of the farm.

The loom as well as the plow had to bear a heavy share of the burden. Others of the fam- ily had married and gone away and slave labor was doomed. So, their flax and wool continued to go into sheets and pillowcases, blankets and coverlets and linen thread. From the farm, however, went increasing quantities of hides to the many tanneries,and hay to the cities. By 1837, Samuel, 2nd, was shipping more hay to New York than any farmer in town. His re- ceipts for hay delivered to the vessels "Climax" and "Mayflower" in that year show that his ox teams carted from these meadows nearly fifty tons, in bales of about 175 pounds, and they brought about &250. Of oats in that year, over and above what was required for his own stock, he carted over 300 bushels down to the "Cli- max" and received over £50 for it. Over 500 pounds of butter brought another £50. Near- ly a thousand dollars from these crops in this one market-that was a lot of money in those days.

Samuel Comstock, 2nd, had four daughters and one son, Samuel, 3rd, of whom only one of the daughters married. He lived to see the Civil War ended and his son grown up to be a thorough farmer, before he died in 1871. It was during the life of this second Samuel that his farm, and those of the neighborhood gen- erally, reached their highest state of develop- ment. Across the line, Vista was a thriving com- munity with its busy shop and store, as well as church, school and post office. Farther down the road, meanwhile, Smith Ridge had de- veloped its own active community center, with a store, post office, cobbler's shop, carriage shop and blacksmith shop and, just around the corner, the district school.

By the final quarter of the century, how- ever, the farms of New Canaan were definitely in their decline. The cities and the industries competed for their young men and the farms of the growing West took away the market for

their hay. Meanwhile, the Vista shoe shop had closed and the Smith Ridge store, carriage shop, blacksmith shop and cobbler's shop all closed. The third and last Samuel Comstock- the "Sammy" Comstock still so well remem- bered by many of New Canaan's older resi- dents-and his sisters farmed on in a more and more restricted sort of way, the old house by now a bit down at the heel. On Sundays, how- ever, the neighbors could still tell what time it was when they saw Samuel and his sisters drive by in the "canopy top" on their way to church, where it is said they invariably ar- rived twenty minutes late. It was about 1920, after two of his sisters had died, that Samuel Comstock finally gave up. An auction was held which drew probably the largest crowd that ever attended an auction in this part of the country. It has been said that "Such a collec- tion of beautiful antiques, in perfect condi- tion, will never again be offered by its here- ditary owners," while the collection of old costumes that was then dispersed would alone have stocked a museum. The farm was sold to Ernest Greene and Samucl, then a man in

his sixties, married a distant cousin and moved to Florida. He died in 1927.

Later bought by Arba B. Marvin, the old house had none but casual tenants until bought and remodeled by the Burnhams in 1936. Ex- cept for minor interior rearrangements and changes, the house is substantially as the Com- stocks built it-which was apparently in two major stages. The north end is the original por- tion, probably first built as a salt box. Four rooms were later added at the south end-pro- bably in the early 1800's-and the roof was apparently then raised to its present form. With one exception, the Comstock mantel pieces are still in the house and the present hall and dining-room are still floored with the wide boards of which the last Samuel Com- stock is said to have been so proud that he polished them weekly-with cream! Today the old house is painted a soft lavender color, which though unconventional from Mr. Com- stock's day, gives great pleasure to "passers- by." The Burnhams are very active in civic, ed- ucational and town activities, as are their three children, Susan, Daniel and David.

LAKEVIEW CEMETERY

STANLEY P. MEAD, Author

EDWIN EBERMAN, Artist

[May 28, 1947]

Everyone is proud of New Canaan's own com- munity cemetery-beautiful Lakeview Ceme- tery, with its beautiful layout, rolling knolls, trees, lake and plantings. We can be proud of its history also, for it is distinctly our own, en- tirely local in its beginning and growth, and it is an outstanding example of the growth of a very successful enterprise from a small begin- ning. Rcal Yankee vision, hardheaded business

sense and enterprise, are all shown in its his- tory.

The first mention of a cemetery in this spot is in a dced from Justus Hoyt, who ran the mill on Five Mile River near this point, to the Trus- tees of the Methodist Episcopal Society of New Canaan, dated April 17, 1852, nearly a century ago. He deeded to this church "to be used as a cemetery or burying ground, a cer-

Wwi

Edwin Eleman 1947

Lakeview Cemetery

tain tract at a place a little southerly of said Justus Hoyt's Mill, easterly of the River, in quantity one and one-half acres, more or less, bounded Northerly on Highway to bounds set, Easterly on land of Bartlett Hanford, deceased, South and West on land of said Justus Hoyt,

to bounds set: and it is provided that the said Grantees shall build and keep in repair the fence between them and the Grantor." This would be the northwesterly corner of the pres- ent cemetery. The price paid for this according to the deed was $50! The Methodist Trustees,

on October 12, 1865, increased their holdings there by a further purchase of about six acres from Sarah Hanford, for $300, this land being just east of the other tract and bounded north and east by Marvin Ridge Road.

Two years later, on a Tuesday evening, March 19, 1867, there was held in "the Town House," a meeting "of the subscribers to stock for the purpose of forming a stock company to establish a cemetery in this Town of New Canaan and to purchase the cemetery grounds now owned by the Methodist Episcopal Church." The meeting it is to be noted was held in the "Town House" and Stephen Hoyt was chosen chairman and Charles Raymond, secretary.

The articles of association of the Woodland Cemetery of Stamford, were read to this meet- ing, and seem to have been discussed article by article; in fact, seem to have been adopted informally by this meeting with only very few minor changes. It was agreed that the capital stock should consist of 100 shares of $25 each "with liberty to increase to 200 shares." Divi- dends were to be paid as directors declare, "not exceeding 8 per cent in any one year." The re- cords never show more than $2,500 of capital stock issued. After appointing Charles Ray- mond, S. Y. St. John and N. W. Hoyt a com- mittee on by-laws and articles of association, the meeting adjourned for one week.

The second meeting was held on March 26, 1867, and adjourned without any record of business done, to March 30, 1867.

The third meeting on March 30, 1867, for- mally adopted the Articles of Association as "read by the secretary." They then appointed a committee consisting of Darius St. John, Lewis Olmstead and Benjamin N. Heath "to confer with the Methodist Society for terms on which the grounds can be bought."

They acted fast, adjourned for only one week, and at the next meeting appointed N. W. Hoyt, R. L. Hall and L. K. Hoyt a committee "to procure subscription stock of this associa- tion."

The actual articles of association, consisting of eleven sections, are recorded at length in

the records of the association and were sub- scribed by the following citizens of New Ca- naan: S. Y. St. John, Stephen Hoyt, Darius St. John, George Lockwood, Charles Benedict, Samuel Whitney, L. M. Monroe, John E. Whit- ney, W. G. Webb, Lewis K. Hoyt, Noah W. Hoyt, Lewis Lockwood, Justus Hoyt, R. L. Hall, Charles Raymond, Lewis S. Olmstead "and others."

The association is still acting under these original articles and only a very few minor changes have been made therein.

The most important section in the future development of the association and which eventually resulted in changing it from an ordinary stock corporation to a mutual asso- ciation, owned and controlled as at present, by the lot-owners themselves, is section 4. This Section 4 provides that each holder of stock is a member and entitled to one vote for each share of stock so long as this stock is not re- deemed or retired. But most important is this sentence in this section: "And the purchaser and owner of a lot in said cemetery shall be a member in said association and shall be en- titled to one vote in any meeting of this asso- ciation for each and every $25 paid for said lot or lots by the purchaser thereof from said association; and every member may at every meeting of this association, vote either per- sonally or by proxy."

Section 9 provides for the retirement of the capital stock by the corporation by purchasing it at any time, pro rata, from the stockholders, at par value. This is enforced by a provision that any holder refusing to turn in his stock shall not be paid any further dividends. The final sentence of this section is very important and far reaching as it determines the present policy and control of the association:

"After all of the capital stock shall be retired, as aforesaid, all the funds of the association from the sale of the lots or from any other source, shall be expended under the direction of the managers, for the current expenses of said association and the embellishment of the cemetery grounds."

Remember these provisions, for they deter-

mined the growth and development of this association. The history of the proceedings and meetings, showing how this control actually passed from the stockholders to the lot-owners, will be told in a succeeding article.

At a meeting held April 11, 1867, the com- mittee reported they could buy from the Methodist Society, "the old cemetery ground" (that purchased by the church from Justus Hoyt for $50), for $150, and "the new grounds attached" (that purchased by the church of Sarah Hanford for $300) for $300. This was not actually authorized until a meeting held April 11, 1867, and the actual deed was signed and delivered on November 3, 1868.

Our beautiful cemetery was thus started on its way in a very modest manner by the invest- ment of $450, for a little over six acres of land. The church evidently made only about $100 on its land purchased from Justus Hoyt, but even this might not have been profit, for we know they paid out something in developing it for cemetery purposes while they owned it for sixteen years. They at least had their hold- ings all mapped out and made some sales by plot numbers. In the files of the Historical So- ciety, there is an original deed from this church to Aaron Hoyt, dated August 4, 1853, convey- ing Lots Nos. 139 and 140 on their map, for burial purposes only, for the consideration of $10. Also in the Town Land Records there are three deeds on record from the Methodist So- ciety, one dated 1863, to William G. Webb, of Plots 153 and 154, for price of $12; one dated 1864 to Joseph Lambert for $12, of Plots 125 and 126, and one dated December 17, 1858, to Charles Jones, for $12, of Plots of 85 and 86. All of these deeds refer to a map or plan on file in the Lands Records, but a search there has failed to disclose it. At any rate the society did something to develop it and made some sales, probably more than these above referred to for many of these cemetery deeds were never recorded in the Public Land Records.

The holdings of land of the association have been increased by six or seven purchases since.

On their first additional purchase they ran into difficulties, for in 1869, being unable to

agree with Russell L. Hall on the price of five acres it felt it needed, action in the nature of condemnation proceedings were brought in the Superior Court and the Court found the necessity and through appraisers set the price of $600 for it. The committee on the purchase reported to the association in 1870, that they had had to resort to legal proceedings "and your committee, to save further expense and after mature deliberation and consultation with many persons interested, decided to take a deed of the same in the name of the associa- tion and have paid for the same by our person- al obligations due April 1, 1870, and your com- mittee respectfully request the Board to lay an installment on the stock or otherwise pro- vide for the payment of said obligation at maturity." This committee which personally put up the money or credit to buy this was composed of Stephen Hoyt, S. Y. St. John and L. M. Monroe. The records show installments called for soon after, so the committee was paid off, we hope.

The next purchase was in 1890, when eight acres in Old Marvin's Ridge Road was pur- chased at public auction from the Estate of Eveline Seeley, for $715.

In 1891, ten acres of woodland was pur- chased from Samuel and Eliza St. John, for $300. In 1924 they purchased a small tract along the east bank of the river, from Lewis C. Hall, and in 1928, a tract of two and one-half acres from Henry L. Olmstead, bounded north by the road to the cemetery and west by the river, and in 1933, eight and one-half acres to the east and south were bought of the Stephen Hoyt's Sons Company for $8,000.

There never was a mortgage on any of the property purchased, except one of $1,000 to New Canaan Savings Bank on the tract ob- tained from Russell L. Hall, authorized in 1875 and paid off in 1879.

The first Board of Directors or Managers was elected at a meeting held on September 29, 1868, and consisted of the following: Ste- phen Hoyt, W. G. Webb, George Lockwood, Charles Raymond, Lewis S. Olmstead, L. K. Hoyt and R. L. Hall. On October 22, 1868,

after changing the articles to provide for nine directors, instead of seven, S. Y. St. John and Darius St. John were elected directors, also.

The early records, as to be expected, are concerned chiefly with problems of develop- ment of the land. At a meeting held on De- cember 26, 1868, in L. M. Monroe's store, where most of the early meetings were held, R. L. Hall was appointed a committee for the disposal of lots, "also to take a general charge of the grounds in the absence of this Board." The same meeting appointed a committee of three "to attend to the cleaning up of the swamp in the cemetery grounds, to take out such trces as in their judgment ought to be removed, etc."

On March 27, 1869, it was voted "that the bridge be made 16 feet wide; that the road bed be graded 20 feet wide on surface; that J. F. Hoyt be appointed to make an accurate map of the ground and road way."

A contract for building the bridge was fin- ally let, after the Selectmen had been seen about the bridge, at a meeting also held in L. M. Monroe's store on June 12, 1869, as appears from the following record: "The propositions of several parties for grading the road and building the bridge across the stream at Justus Hoyt's Mill was submitted by the committee appointed to receive propositions. Voted to accept the proposition of J. F. Hoyt for $600."

Evidently they were successful in seeing the Selectmen about the bridge and road, for at an annual Town Meeting, held on October 4, 1868 it was "Voted, that the Selectmen be and are hereby directed to pay to the New Ca- naan Cemetery Association the sum of $200, as the proportion of the Town's expense in build- ing the bridge and highway leading to the cemetery." This same Town Meeting also "Voted: that the Selectmen be authorized and are hereby instructed to discontinue the high- way known as 'Marvin's Ridge Road', com- mencing at the Northeast corner of the New Canaan Cemetery and terminating in the Nor- walk and New Canaan Road and that they advertise according to law."

At the Annual Meeting, on January 18, 1870,

the same directors were elected-a total of 24 votes being cast. And the directors immedi- ately thereafter organized by electing Ste- phen Hoyt, president; W. G. Webb, secretary, and Charles Raymond, treasurer.

The first report of the treasurer, dated Jan- uary 18, 1870, covering the period from its organization to date, is interesting:

Received in installments in stock, $1,093.75; received for wood sold, $55.75; received, do- nation from the Town $200; received, burial plots sold, $90. Total receipts, $1,493.50.

Payments show: Bill of "J. F. Hoyt, survey- ing. $11.62, and "J. F. Hoyt for grading, etc., bridge contract), $600, and "extra work" (as always to be expected), $56.51."

The first "superintendent," L. K. Hoyt, was appointed on February 5, 1870, as it was felt grading, building fences, etc. "can be better accomplished by having some competent per- son to superintend the work." L. K. Hoyt served as superintendent only until Januarv 17, 1871, when Lewis S. Olmstead was elected. Mr. Olmstead served as superintendent con- tinuouslv until he resigned on January 9, 1907. During his 36 years as superintendent no re- cord of any disagreement with directors is mentioned except that in the records of a meet- ing of March 30, 1892, is the item "Voted that the matter of the difficulty between the presi- dent (S. Y. St. John) and the superintendent be referred back to the Executive Committee for settlement." Any difficulty must have been cleared up amicably, for Mr. Olmstead con- tinued as superintendent and at a meeting on January 12, 1910, a committee was "appointed to draft suitable resolutions and present to L. S. Olmstead a vote of thanks for his very faith- ful services as Superintendent and Director." His salary as superintendent had started at $50 per year and had increased to $157 for his last year.

E. B. Lawrence was elected superintendent when Mr. Olmstead resigned in 1907, and con- tinued as superintendent until his death in 1936. He had been a director previously. It was during his 29 vears as superintendent that the association made its greatest development.

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Landmarks of New Canaan, Part 9

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