USA > Connecticut > Windham County > Eastford > Town of Eastford : Centennial 1847-1947 > Part 3
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"According to records written by the Squire's great-nephew 'the Castle' was built in 1800 by Benjamin Bosworth. It was the Post Of- fice and General Store for 25 or 30 years, Groceries, Dry Goods, Drugs, and Liquors of all kinds (No Grape Juice!). In 1813 the southeast cel- lar was filled with barrels and casks full of liquors. The main cellar was full of barrels of salt beef, pork, and lard. It was the largest stock of goods in eastern Connecticut. One Vini Goodell, a cooper by trade, made the barrels and casks for the store. He also framed the house, and laid the sills by the North Star. It was exactly 41 ft. sq." This same Vini Goodell IN HIS SPARE MOMENTS did all the panelling and fine woodcarving found in the entrance hall and many rooms, even around the outside of the house. In the southeast room, or "parlor", this carving is particularly noted for its excellent proportions and suitable designs and is much admired by architects and interior decora- tors.
The fireplaces are an interesting feature of the house. Of the original thirteen only two have been removed, the remaining eleven are all usable. Above the one in the entrance hall there is a Toddy Closet and, as was customary, the one in the kitchen extends to a Dutch Oven, in the cellar there was a great Soap Kettle.
The FLASHING around the "little house on top" was made of white birch bark-in perfectly good condition in 1928.
The Palladian Windows over the east and south doors add a touch of dignity to the house. Transoms over inside doors serve to lighten the interior.
Hand wrought nails, cranes, foot scrapers, hand hewn pegs, planks, beams, are all original parts. Most of the latches were removed by souvenir hunters (or too ardent antique hunters) during the few years the house was abandoned.
It should be mentioned that - in spite of the aforementioned liquor stored in the cellar - Squire Bosworth became an ardent Teetotaler. When the original church was moved down from the hill to the street below the Squire let the church stand in the middle of the road all one winter rather than give in to the movers who were strik- ing for more RUM. Perhaps the first STRIKE staged in Eastford.
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SQUIRE BOSWORTH'S CASTLE
He settled the strike by importing movers from Pomfret in the Spring.
The Arbor Vitae trees at the front door "the finest in Connecticut" (State Forester) were set out by Mrs. Dorsett a niece in 1862. *
The house was sold to the present owner in 1897. No essential feature has been changed.
* After Divine Service and before starting Old Dobbin on the homeward stretch it was customary for the host of the "Castle" to serve doughnuts to the congregation under the shade of these trees each Sabbath.
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TAVERN - Somers Turnpike
TAVERN - Central Turnpike
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BUILDINGS
At the junction of the Old Boston Turnpike and the Rhode Island- Hartford Turnpike, (Route 44) there stood a simple dwelling once oc- cupied by Andrew Lamphier. (Walter Howletts' new house stands on this location today.)
The first telegraph line constructed in the town passed by this house, which was made a testing station for the wires. Mr. Lamphier and others who succeeded him, received and transmitted messages.
The first news of some of the early battles of the Civil War thus reached us. Here the sad message of the death in battle of Eastford's greatest son Gen. Lyon, was received by the unprofessional operator, and by him quickly spread through the country side, making that early August day in 1861, a time never to be forgotten; and it also conveyed other messages to anxious hearts of the sickness, wounding or death of men in the Army.
OUR TURNPIKE ROADS
When our transportation over Turnpikes was at its height we find a Hostelry or Inn on three of the four roads.
On the Rhode Island-Hartford Turnpike, incorporated in 1800, the Tavern was located in Phoenixville and was known as the Chapman Inn. It later became famous as S. A. Wheaton's General Store, being destroyed by fire in 1926.
The Old Boston and Hartford Turnpike was the best known and most widely used. It was incorporated in 1797, accepted by the town in 1850 when toll charges were discontinued, and thrown up in 1885. No Inn was located in this town on this road.
The house owned by Mr. Darwin Lewis of North Ashford was the tavern for the Somers Turnpike. The original house was built in the early 1700's. An early deed mentions it as the "Mansion House with an eighteen foot room" which was the name usually used to designate the two story house from the usual one story house of those days.
The Old Keach Hotel so called, an Inn of thirty-seven rooms and at one time having a barn to accommodate 75 horses, still stands. This served patrons of the Central Turnpike. It is equipped with a large dance hall and a dining room on the second floor. Many and hilarous were the dances and suppers held in this Inn, accompanied by "free- for-all's" until the turn of the century.
The Central and the Rhode Island-Hartford Turnpikes developed into our roads of the present day, as did part of the Boston Turnpike. The Somers Turnpike which came into town from Woodstock Hill was discontinued in the 1870's.
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THE CARPENTER HOUSE
The house which boasts this beautiful entrance with its wealth of windows, was built in 1806 by Capt. John Sumner. It is said that while traveling in Virginia, Capt. Sumner had seen a home which so captured his imagination that he secured the plans and returned to Connecticut to build one like it. Here he lived until the year before his death, when he sold the house to Asa Bosworth (1830) from whom it was purchased in 1837 by Russell Randall.
THE CARPENTER HOUSE
Russell Randall left the property to his wife, Maria, and son, Ed- ward Randall. The Randalls were apparently a fun-loving clan for they were noted for their kitchen dances and the old house must have resounded with merriment on these occasions.
The house was next acquired by Wm. Bradway (1872) who sold it to David and Harriet Carpenter in 1881. They spent the remainder of their days here and passed it on to their son, Orlo. Here tragedy entered the history of the house for Orlo Carpenter was killed in the collapse of the nearby barn in the hurricane of 1938. It is now owned and occupied by his two sons, Newton and Harold Carpenter, and sheltered under its tall old trees, it is still as beautiful as it must have appeared to its first owner and builder, fresh with his memory of its original in Virginia.
Harold D. Carpenter.
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EASTFORD'S CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Program
SATURDAY-JUNE 7, 1947
8:50 a.m. Eastford's Vignette-Courtesy of G. Fox- Morning Watch Station WTIC
10:30 a.m. Parade John Tatem - Alfred Warren Co-chairmen
Marshal
Kenneth P. Bosworth
Color Guard
Benson-Flugal Post-III
Stafford High School Band
Donald E. Abbie, Director
Official Car
Organizations
Modes of Travel 1847 - 1947
Windham Street School Band of Willimantic Hermon Berkert, Dir.
Floats Horribles
12 Noon - Lunch Period
Band Concert
Stafford High School Band
2:00 p.m. - Program
Edith W. Smith, Chairman
Guests seated in front of Town Hall
Invocation Rev. George H. Reese, Pastor of the Cong'l. Church
Welcome Lewin Newth, First Selectman
Address Frances Redick, Sec. of the State of Connecticut Eighth Grade Graduation
Graduates: William Benz, Richard Tyler, Allan Walker
Essay - Our School
Eastford Board of Education - - Mr. Wm. S. Warren Chairman Mrs. Edith W. Smith Secretary, Mr. Charles H. Buell
Superintendent of Rural Education James W. Frost Miss Ruth Gamble, Elementary Supervisor
Teachers: Primary, Beatrice L. Buell; Grammar, Eleanor K. Lewis
Nurse - Sara M. Kenyon
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Pupils:
8-William Benz Richard Tyler Allan Walker
7-Barbara Buell Jane Goodhall Patricia Ward Charles Warren
6-Warren Day Lorraine French Betty Newth Harry Ratasep
5-Nancy Aurilio Marilyn Buell Donald Walker
4-Frank Aurilio Jacque Bellerive Julianna Broden Russell Colburn George Gilgranson Janet Skewes Jacquelyn Ward
3-Janice Chandler Albert Goodhall Linda Grube Howard Newth Carol Tripp
2-Lois Gilbranson Bruce Kosa Joseph Meier Margaret Tatem
1-John Buell Charles French Louise Hummell Patricia King Nancy Lewis Charles Meier Carol Shippee
Roger Tripp Roger Ward
PAGEANT
Scene 1 .- Woodward & Allen Store Phoenixville, Time June 7, 1847
Characters:
MR. WOODWARD, aged Storekeeper. Mr. William Downing MR. ALFRED POTTER, owner of Foundry. Mr. Royal G. Clemens MR. NELSON WILSON, a customer in store. Mr. John H. Smith MR. JOSEPH DORSETT, young man trading Mr. Stewart Tatem MISS SALLY SNOW, dashing young lady Mrs. Norman Green MR. JAMES LYON, a signer of the Petition. Mr. Archa S. Walker MR. JOSEPH LATHAM, prominent man in Town,
Part taken by his great-grandson, Mr. William Henry Latham
Scene 2-Time 1849
SIMEON A. WHEATON, new proprietor, in Phoenixville Mr. Harold D. Carpenter
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MRS. MINERVA FITTS, the mother
Mrs. Herbert Merrill Her children:
Harry Ratasep, George Gilbronsen, Betty Newth, Russell Colburn, Frank Aurilio, Nancy Aurilio, Joseph Meier, Howard Newth, Lois Gilbronsen, Patricia King, Carol Shippee, David Merrill, James Latham.
Time 1861
WILLIAM WILCOX, a runner bringing news of
Gen. Nathaniel Lyon's Death Mr. Irving Andert
SOLOIST
Mr. Charles Downing
Scene 3-Isaac Warren Store, Eastford Center-Time 1888
ISAAC WARREN, Proprietor, part taken by his great-grandson
Mr. Alfred Warren
CHARLES WARREN, his son Mr. Walter Reese TIMOTHY WALKER, a farmer Mr. William S. Warren MR. JAMES M. KEITH, owner of mill Mr. J. Henry Day
CLARK BARROWS, a tanner Mr. Robert Froehlich DR. E. K. ROBBINS. Mr. Charles W. Clark GILBERT WHITMAN, the Village Jester Mr. William Spink MRS. NELSON CLARK, of Phoenixville Mrs. Harvey Colburn MISS LILLIAN MOWREY, her friend. Miss Carolyn Piecyk MRS. SYLVESTER WHEATON, a born Lady Mrs. Albert Buell HER GRANDSON, Levi. Roger Ward
PROMINENT MEN, Eastford Miss Lillian Vaida Other Children taking part in the program:
Jacques Bellerieve, Jacqueline Ward, Julian Broden, Linda Grube, Albert Goodhall, Janet Skewes, Bruce Kosa, Margaret Tatem, Nancy Lewis, Louise Hummell, Charles Meier, Charles French, John Buell, Roger Tripp, Carol Tripp.
4:00-6:00 P. M. EXHIBITS Miss Susan Van Wert, Chairman
The following private homes of Eastford residents will be open to the public Saturday afternoon, June 7 from 4 to 6 and June 8 from 3 to 6 o'clock.
MRS HOWARD BLACK'S house - interesting woodwork - collections of old china and nineteenth century glass - antique furni- ture - building across the street was long ago the Coffin and Casket factory.
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MISS MARIE GURNEE'S residence - formerly used as the par- sonage - attractive old furniture - exhibit of quilts - spring garden.
MR. E. GRANT TROWBRIDGE'S home - long known as The Castle - unusual hand carved woodwork - Masonic temple on top of the house - period furniture.
MR. AND MRS. FRANKLIN WETHERELL'S home - one of the oldest houses in Eastford - 1751 - huge stone fireplace containing a hiding place up the chimney - good panelling.
MISS ETHEL GARDNER'S guest house - the so-called Johnson house - unrestored interior - secret staircase - exhibit of maps, pictures, fireplace and kitchen equipment - other relics.
MR. EGBERT GRIFFIN'S old house in the Pilshire district - attractively restored - furnished with antiques.
MRS. WALLACE GOODHALL'S house in North Ashford - ex- hibit of shawls, bedspreads, parasols, pewter and other antiques.
MR. ELLERY BARTLETT'S blacksmith shop with forge. and original equipment still in use, also old tannery vats.
Those wishing to be personally conducted on a tour to the more distant of these houses may apply for a guide or information at the Centennial Headquarters Booth.
6:00 P. M. COMMUNITY SUPPER John Smith, Master of Ceremonies
8:00-9:00 P. M .- A SINGING SCHOOL OF YE OLDEN TIME Mrs. Marjorie Buell, Chairman
Characters:
Squire Bellingham (musical director) Kenneth Walker, Dame Plunkett (the teacher) Mrs. Herbert Buell, Julius Caesar (colored servant) Richard Merrill.
Pianist, Mrs. Ralph Bunnell Pupils of the School:
Miss Joan Aurilio
Mrs. Stuart Tatem
Mr. Robert Beaverson
Miss Dorothy Trepal
Mrs. Charles Buell
Mrs. Sumner Warren
Mrs. Harold Carpenter
Frank Aurilio
Mrs. Ellsworth Day
Franklyn Buell
Mrs. Henry Day
Darwin Clark
Mrs. Ruth Goodhall
George Erickson
Herman Marcy
Mrs. Wm. Harris Miss Grace Jobes
Richard Merrill
Mrs. Herman Marcy
Walter Reese Stuart Tatem
Mrs. Herbert Merrill Mrs. Ralph Rhoades
Richard Tyler
Miss Jennie Shishko
Kaye Vaughhn
Miss Patricia Szymanski
George Voorhis
Mrs. John Tatem
Frank Witter
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9:00 P. M. - YE OLD-FASHIONED DANCE Mrs. Annabelle Kraus, Chairman
Set I -Chorus Jig
Set II -Money Musk
Prompter, Herold W. Barrett
Music, Frank Austin, Violin; Cora Clemens, Accompanist Dance Couples:
Percy Mattocks
Hetty Hallquest
Henry Lawton
Ethel Green
Archa Walker
Elsie Thornton
Cyril Paine
Isabelle Paine
Edward Green
Lola Holgerson
Charles Clark
Hazel Currier
Harvey Colbun
Hazel Sherman
9:30 P. M. - COMMUNITY DANCE
Music by The Barn Stormers
SUNDAY PROGRAM
11:00 A. M. Union Service at Congregational Church
Address by Dr. William S. Terrell, Executive Secretary of Connecticut Baptist Convention
(A detailed program will be printed in the Church Calendar)
3:00-5:00 P. M .- EXHIBITS OPEN
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EASTFORD
1711-1847
Let me start the story of Eastford without delving too far into the past. Sufficient it is to say that the Warwick Grant and a charter from King Charles II gave the early colonists permission to settle Connecti- cut. Land was purchased indirectly from the Indians.
At the dawn of Windham County's history, Uncas had been given this territory, the Wabbaquasset country, by the General Court, as a reward for his help and faithfulness to the whites during the Pequot war. He in turn divided the land between his two sons; Josuah and Owaneco. Owaneco had the land west of the Quinebaug River.
EASTFORD VILLAGE
Owaneco was adjudged incompetant by the New London Court in 1684, and was placed under the guardianship of Major Fitch, who im- mediately offered his land for sale and settlement.
Then evidently followed a period of confusion in land transactions for in May 1706 the General Court granted Solomon Stoddard by a Quit claim title 10,000 acres of land in Ashford while Major Fitch sold James Corbin of Woodstock 21,400 acres.
Ashford history really starts in 1620 with the advent of the Old Connecticut Path which crossed our town between the North Ashford and Eastford villages at the southern edge of Crystal Lake. While the Path did not develop into a wagon road, it served for years as the prin- cipal bridle path between Boston and Hartford.
This region must have been rough and unattractive for it was not until 1711 that any private purchase of land was recorded, although the General Court had laid out "a township eight miles square, adjourn- ing Woodstock, Mansfield and Christall Pond" in 1710 and had named it Ashford.
In April, 1711, John Perry of Marlborough, a post rider over the Old Trail for a number of years, purchased 350 acres near the present
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site of Eastford village. In the same year, five families bought land on the Still River in Phoenixville. North Ashford seems to have been an outgrowth of the Bigelow River residents.
Town privileges were granted Ashford, in 1714, by the General Court. In 1715, a town meeting was held, officers elected, taxes levied, space for a church reserved, a spot selected for a cemetery, permission given to build a town and a tavern keeper appointed.
Land sold for three pounds per hundred acres. Plots were of uni- form size and shape, and were alloted to the owners by drawing.
In 1719, the town had grown to such size as to necessitate having an East and West Section, with a town officer in each section.
By 1734 the East District had its own school teacher and in 1739 its own school.
In October 1777 Benjamin Sumner and others living in the easterly part of the first ecclesiastical Society of Ashford "presented to the Gen- eral Court the opinion that they were able to support the gospel in two societies and desired that two be formed, the dividing line to be the Bigelow River to the land of Samuel Snow." The General Court re- solved that a district ecclesiastical society be constituted and called EASTFORD.
The next fifty years saw the center of population of Eastford shift- ing from the Bigelow River section to the Still River area. By 1825 the villages of Eastford and Phoenixville were humming with diversified industries. With the increase in population and industry came an in- crease in capital and wealth and a feeling of independence. The de- sire to manage their own town affairs began to formulate in the minds of business men and farmers. By 1847, this desire crystallized into action and application was made to the General Assembly, for the authority to establish a town, separated from Ashford.
During the May session, the General Assembly granted a certifi- cate of incorporation to Eastford. This Resolution was signed by Gov- ernor Clark Bifsel on June 7, 1847.
Accompanying this Resolution were directions as to procedure, "A town meeting shall be called, place of meeting to be the Old Methodist Church - in the Sibley District, - the third Monday in June; James Lyon, or in his absence, Joseph Latham shall be the moderator; seven jurymen shall be elected; the town will belong to the Ashford Probate District, and the 14th Senatorial District."
These instructions were followed, James Lyon served as Modera- tor and the meeting was called at nine o'clock.
And so Eastford grew to maturity: reared by the nuturing hands and stable minds of sturdy Ashford, she was now ready to reach for- ward with youthful enthusiasm and high hopes toward the future.
ELEANOR K. LEWIS.
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EXCERPTS FROM THE MINUTES OF THE TOWN MEETINGS-1847-1900
Apr. 1848-Joseph Keyes elected to attend General Assembly in New Haven.
Oct. 1848-Town meeting held in the basement of the New Meth- odist Church. Voted to have selectmen procure site and erect a pound as nearly central as convenient. Voted-5c on $1.00 tax for ordinary expenses. 4c on $1.00 tax for highway and bridges.
Nov. 1848-Selectmen instructed to ascertain the expense of erect- ing a town house.
Aug. 1849-Selectmen instructed to draw an order for $100. for hiring a competent surveyor to obtain best route for railroad from Willimantic to the Massachusetts line thru Mansfield, Chaplin, East- ford, Woodstock and Thompson, a charter having already been ob- tained from the General Assembly.
1800-The town was divided into 15 highway districts.
1854-Highways surveyors paid 10c an hour to able bodied men for working on highways.
1856-Voted to hold all meetings alternately in S. A. Wheaton's Hall and Zachariah Allen's Hall for one year.
1860-To prevent spread of pleuro-pneumonia among cattle in North Brookfield, voted to raise a Vigilance Committee of 26 to prevent any neat cattle from being driven into Eastford. First mention of a mill tax.
Aug. 21 1861-A Special Committee of five to draft resolutions commemorative of Gen. Lyon were: Capt. Jonathan Skinner, Rev. Chas. Chamberlain, Jos. Latham, Major Dorsett, Hollis Snow.
Oct. 1861-Voted to send bill to Connecticut Legislature for funer- al expenses of Gen. Lyon.
July 1862-Voted that the town pay $75. for each and every Vol- unteer who shall enlist in the Army of the United States and be ac- cepted on or before August 12-(not to exceed 8).
Aug. 1862-The selectment filled draft quota for the government call as soon as received.
July 1863-Voted to pay a bounty of $300 to those who should go into U. S. service to fill draft, or, to those persons who should pay a substitute. Ballot - 70 yes - 13 no.
Oct. 1863-Committee of five to confer with Chaplin and Ashford in regards to the survey of the Midland R. R., so called.
Nov. 1864-Voted that the War Committee secure 13 substitutes at reasonable rates. Anyone could hand in sealed proposals and when substitutes were procured, the proposals were opened and the 13 highest proposals were entitled to the substitutes.
April 1866-Evidently more trouble over meeting place .- That year town meetings were held twice in the school house, Then finally
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north half of Methodist Church was rented for $15, they to furnish stove and wood.
1871-Voted that highway surveyors pay 15 cents an hour for a full man's labor and proportionate amount for boys.
1872-Voted Tax Collector shall be in North Ashford, Eastford and Phoenixville, one day at each place.
1873-Selectmen recommend to County Committee names of suitable person who had applied for liquor license.
1874 -- Voted to procure fire proof safe for Probate and Town Records.
1875-Vote on License to sell liquor. Yes 91 - No 100.
1878-Ordered old sign posts removed from churchs. Represen- tatives to General Assembly still spoken of as "agents".
1879-Town meeting met at chapel.
1895-Appointed Committee to consider gift of cannon by War Department.
E. K. L.
NO WOODSTOCK 64
91
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PHOENIXVILLE CENTER
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NORTH ASHFORD VILLAGE
Eastford moved into the Twentieth Century with a conservatism and caution characteristic of the typical Connecticut Yankee of whom is has been said: "Put him on a bare rock and he will make a living off of it". Even in the skeleton of facts as recorded in the Town Records. there is unmistakable evidence of prudence and sagacity. Literally the Town Meetings are primarily concerned with appropriations for roads, library and schools. But now and then we catch a glimpse of a picture behind it all. There was the problem of snow removal in 1905: Voted "that Eleven Hundred Dollars be appropriated for the repairs of road and the removal of snow and that no person shall remove snow from the roads with the idea of asking pay from the Town without consent of the Selectmen". And there is the case of Patrick Caffery's horse for "damages . . . caused by a defect in the highway": "Voted to leave the claim of Patrick Caffery for damages to horse with the Selectmen for adjustment if they cannot agree with Caffery on damages then each are to chose one man then if no agreement is reach a third man is to be chosen of the three chosen the decision of two of them is to be final".
Again in 1908 it was suggested that the Town do away with the old system of school visitors from the so-called School Committee and turn the management of the school system over to a School Board. Obviously it was a "new-fangled idea": "Voted that the Dist. Commit- tees of the Town be a Committee to inquire into the management of schools in towns where they are controlled by a School Board and re- port at next Annual Town Meeting if plan is advisable for Eastford." But the fears of the fathers were laid to rest and a School Board was accepted and we still have one to this day.
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The Town roads were the major headache for the officials. Since it had not been possible to persuade a railroad to connect the town with other areas, the problem was to get to the railroad. This was by way of the road through "the Ashford woods", from Phoenixville to Abington where was located the nearest Railroad Station. The "new law of 1907 for State aid" was the final solution for it made possible the State Roads. At the Town Meeting of Oct. 4, 1909, a special tax of 9 mills on the list of 1909 was laid "to pay town share of building New State road Phoenixville to Abington". By 1912, a State Road from Phoenixville to Chaplin was under consideration and in 1915 a com- mittee was appointed to solicit funds to connect Phoenixville with Eastford Village. As time went on, State Roads linked the Town in all directions and with the continued State aid to Town Roads and the slogan "Get the farmer out of the mud", it is now possible to ride throughout the three villages in comfort. The automobile probably hastened the era but the first link with Abington was a result of the need of business men to get their products to a railroad shipping point.
EASTFORD VILLAGE
The First World War aroused the same enthusiasm locally as in all parts of the country. "Eastford exceeded her Liberty Loan quota in every instance as also in the drive for the Red Cross and other war relief work funds. Special interest was manifested in the Armenian Relief Fund. The women went into gardening and canning with en- thusiasm. The Town Service flag held nineteen stars nearly all of whom saw service in France".
Expenses went up as time went on. Looking back from the "high cost of living" of 1947, we are amazed at the amounts of appropriations. The Library was run on as little as $20 or $25 a year. The Tax Collec- tor's first raise was from $15 to $20. In 1920 it was "voted to pay the selectmen 50c per hour for actual time spent at the monthly meetings" and the Secretary of the School Board is listed at $20 per year for his services. By 1922 the expenses of the schools had risen from around $1,200 to $4,000. Road scrapers were an advance when first purchased
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and after the disasterous fires of 1918, a chemical fire apparatus was approved in 1919 as a necessary expenditure. This was a forerunner of the present Volunteer Fire Department with its more modern equip- ment and plans underway even now for a modern fire house.
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