USA > Connecticut > New Haven County > Meriden > Years of Meriden 150: published in connection with the observance of the city's sesquicentennial, June 17-23, 1956 > Part 3
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Turning back to the northeastern section of Meriden, Mt. Lamentation broods over the landscape. The Reverend Charles A. Goodrich of Hartford writes the story of the source of that name. It is a grim tale about a man named Chester who lost his bearings one dark and stormy day. He wandered for two days and nights, barely escaped plunging off a precipice, and be- came slightly demented; and was loudly lamenting before a searching party found him. The Goodrich book in which this tale appears is called Stories on the History of Connecticut: De- signed for the Instruction and Amusement of Young Persons. If the Lamentation story is a good sample, the nature of the re- vered gentleman's idea of amusement might well be questioned by current censors of juvenile literature.
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CHAPTER FIVE
Old Houses
THERE ARE still standing in Meriden today a number of homes which were built in the eighteenth century. Some have been carefully preserved through the years, others have been lovingly restored, and a few have been so altered that it is difficult to recognize them for what they are.
The oldest house in town is undoubtedly the 1711 Club Inn, on North Colony Street. As its name implies, it was built in that year, by one Solomon Goffe of Wethersfield. His deed gave this indefinite description of the property, "the farm is in the woods and bounds west on the Country road and extends north, east and south." The chimneys in the cellar of this house are enormous and the stones are cemented with clay mixed with straw, as are the foundation walls. The old rafters, huge floor beams, and split laths also indicate the age of the building. The first addition to the house, which looks as old as the rest, was probably made by Jonathan Collins who bought the property in 1729. At present it is, as it has been for a number of years, a popular eating place.
Less than a mile north of here, on the west side of the road, on a bank protected by a stone wall, stands the Stephen Bailey place. This was built in 1734 by John Dennie, a rich Boston merchant who never occupied the house but leased it and the farm to someone else. It, too, has an early addition on the north side. This place has been very well kept, and must look much as it did 200 years ago.
Some little distance farther, at 1376 North Colony Road, is an old house belonging now to Wallace Miramant, florist. One of the most interesting things about it is that it stands on the site of the old Belcher Tavern. Although this house is unquestionably old, it is not known exactly when it was built, nor by whom. However, its hand-hewn white oak beams proclaim its age. In A Century of Meriden, Mr. Curtis suggests, as the result of a conversation he had with the granddaughter of Sidney Merriam, who came into possession of the inn about 1812, that in 1833 the old build- ing was moved to the rear for a wood shed and carriage house,
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and the present house was erected on the ancient site. How- ever, it appears to be older than this, and the contractor who supervised its remodeling in 1949, felt that it was one of the oldest houses in town. At one time it had eleven fireplaces. The present owner has carefully stowed away in his attic an old sign, found in the place, bearing the words "Hotel Belcher."
On the other side of the road, at number 1563, is the Yale place, built in 1788 by John, a grandson of that John Yale who, in com- pany with Jedediah Norton, bought the Belcher, or Meriden, farm in 1741. This house has had some additions and has had its clapboards replaced with shingles, but its earlier lines are clearly discernible. It is owned and occupied by the Staszewski family.
Also in the north part of town, at 1065 Broad Street, near Britannia, is the Asahel Curtis place. This house was built, prob- ably by Joel Yale, in 1807 but was sold to Isaac Lewis and Asahel Curtis a few years later. In a building adjoining, these two men manufactured metal buttons. After a time Mr. Curtis bought the house from his partner. Here his son, George R. Curtis, was born. For many years now the place has belonged to Frank N. Wilcox. It has apparently changed little since its early days, except to improve.
The Andrews Homestead, on West Main Street, now the home of the Meriden Historical Society, was built by Moses Andrews probably about 1760. The double overhang of the second and third stories indicates that it may be even older. This house, like so many others, was enlarged at an early date. When the sloping roof was raised to accommodate the addition in the rear, the old end rafters were left and are still visible in the attic. The massive timbers, sturdy wall planking, and wide floor-boards are still in remarkably fine condition. In one of the bedrooms an area of the wall has been cut away so that the glassed-off section shows the construction - the hand-hewn beams, hand- split laths, hand-wrought nails, and wooden pegs. The place is an excellent example of a large, comfortable, colonial farmhouse. It follows the usual plan of that day - the small entrance hall, where the delicately turned bannisters contrast strikingly with the rugged stones of the huge center chimney; to the right the dining room, to the left the withdrawing room, each with its fireplace; and in the rear the keeping room, with its enormous cooking fireplace, complete with Dutch ovens. It was in this
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house that the first Episcopal church services in Meriden were held.
In later years the place passed through a succession of hands, becoming, at one time, a two-family house. It was acquired by the Board of Education for the City of Meriden, and in 1933 and 1934 was renovated as a federal project to serve as a kinder- garten for the Benjamin Franklin School, and a colonial museum for the city. In 1940 when the School Board relinquished con- trol of the property, two groups, the Andrews Homestead Com- mittee and the Meriden Historical Society, which had been defunct since 1895, united to save the old house. This was accomplished and the Homestead, repaired, redecorated, and furnished with antiques which had been given or loaned to the society, was the scene of an Open House, January 14, 1942. The following year, because of the war, the place was turned over to the city for a Child Care Center, and its furnishings were returned to their owners or safely stored for the duration.
Then in 1952 the Meriden Historical Society was again re- vived and once more took over the Andrews Homestead. It has been beautifully redecorated and furnished, insofar as possible, with antiques of the period of 1760. In it, also, are housed col- lections of old books, papers, and souvenirs of Meriden's past. Certainly, Moses Andrews built well, and our town is fortunate to have such a fine old house for its historical museum.
Meriden is likewise fortunate in possessing the Meriden His- torical Society in its reactivated form, destined to perpetuate and augment the house and contents of the Andrews Homestead. Originally the society was organized in 1893 after a year of planning for its proper functions. Papers were prepared for reading at subsequent meetings, many of which are preserved in a book housed at the Andrews Homestead and from which con- siderable information has been gleaned for this volume. Despite the obviously general interest in the organization's efforts to gather material on Meriden's past, there seems to have been no meeting after the one dated November 1, 1895.
When the fate of the Andrews Homestead became a matter of public concern in 1940, the Meriden Historical Society was reorganized to include the already active Andrews Homestead Committee for the purpose of raising funds to maintain the property as a center of historic interest. For the two years before
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the Andrews Homestead "went to war" the society more than fulfilled its mission.
After 10 years of wear and tear in community service, the Homestead was in dire need of the attentions which only an active Historical Society could give it. The organization was again revived, its constitution brought up-to-date, and concen- trated work begun to make over this handsome relic of Meri- den's past. With financial aid from the Cuno Foundation, the work has been completed. It is unthinkable that the museum should ever again fall into other ways and other uses. The Meriden Historical Society has become a necessary and vital function in Meriden's affairs depended upon to carry on without interruption the preservation of Meriden's past as a symbol of all that makes Meriden happy and proud in celebrating in 1956 its sesquicentennial year.
Still farther west, on Johnson Avenue at the corner of Eaton, stands the old Johnson place, now owned and occupied by the Carter Whites. This house, with its lovely Palladian window and hand-pegged divided stairway, was built by Israel Johnson about 1785. In the early days West Main Street, as we know it, did not exist and Johnson Avenue was the through street to the west and later the stagecoach route to Waterbury. Originally this house faced south on Johnson Avenue, but at a later period was turned to face east on Eaton. The Johnson family owned the mountain land to the north - all the way up to West Peak. They had hoped to develop the property into a valuable mining tract but, unfortunately, their prospecting did not reveal the wealth of gold and copper they had expected to find. In spite of this disappointment, however, the family lived in rather an elegant manner, and rumor has it that it was considered quite an honor to be invited to their home.
On Coe Avenue, within a short distance of each other, are two good examples of eighteenth century houses. One is the home of Victor Lucchini, Coe Farm, which has just been sold to the city as the site of the new west-side high school. This colonial house was here when the farm was sold by Samuel Rice to Asa Barnes in 1795. Calvin Coe bought it in 1820 and it has remained in the hands of his descendants until now. It is to be hoped that this lovely old home can be saved when the high school appears in the place where the house has stood for over
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OLD HOUSES
160 years.
The second house is the Rice place, built in 1781, by Ezekiel Rice, Jr., a Revolutionary War soldier, on land given him by his father. Its style is somewhat different from most of the houses of this period, because instead of one large center chimney, it has two, one at each end, and has a hallway running through the center of the house. Until fairly recent years, this place was still owned and occupied by members of the Rice family.
On Old Colony Road, at Archer's Corners, is the Deacon Robert Royce, or Rice, house. It was standing there in 1740 when the highway running west from this spot on the old Country Road to Hanover, now South Meriden, was opened. In the latter part of the last century the place was sold to the wife of Dr. H. A. Archer - hence the name Archer's Corners. In 1906 this house had a porch on two sides. Now that has been removed and so today, in spite of some recent shingling, the house probably looks more as it did originally.
Just north of this old Robert Rice farm, on the site of Walnut Grove Cemetery, was the farm bought by Dr. William Hough, Wallingford's second physician, in 1730. Sometime between then and 1740, when he moved to Cheshire, Dr. Hough built a house on this property. His son, William, continued to live and conduct a blacksmith shop here for many years. About 1930 Mr. Russell White bought this Hough home from the cemetery association, moved it piece by piece, and carefully reconstructed it in its present location at the corner of Broad Street and Gale Avenue. There it may be seen today, exactly as it stood for almost 200 years in its first location - complete even to its oversized chim- ney and fireplaces. Looking at it, one would never guess that it had not been right there for all of its long existence. It is now the home of the Robert Bergers.
A short distance up Broad Street, at 309, is the Benjamin Hart house, now owned by the John B. Kirbys. This was built in its present location just before 1800. The original house faced on Curtis Street and was built in 1729 by Captain John Webb. When Mr. Hart inherited the home he wanted it to front on the new turnpike, and so he tore it down and built the present house, using many of the beams and other material from the old house.
Around the corner, at 54 Curtis Street, is the Benjamin Curtis
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OLD HOUSES
house, owned by John Molloy. The first Benjamin Curtis, in 1729, acquired from his father, Nathaniel, a 200-acre farm front- ing on this old street and spreading out fanlike to the east. For many years the Curtis family continued to inhabit this section of town, which accounts for the frequency of the name here. This house was built probably about 1795, by the second Ben- jamin when his own homestead, a short distance south, became too small to hold all of his fourteen children. The house has outwardly changed very little with the years.
Five houses beyond is the home of Mrs. Charles N. Flagg. This is also reputedly a Curtis house, but when it was built, and by which Curtis is not certain. The back ell part was evidently the original house and the main building was added in front, somewhat later. The inside was extensively remodeled when the Flaggs bought the place about thirty-five years ago, but the outside still preserves its original colonial lines.
Directly across the street is an attractive white-washed brick, which is now the home of Mrs. William H. Race. The long, narrow, rectangular building was built originally for a spoon factory, probably by Edwin E. Curtis whose home was at 112 Curtis Street and is still standing. Later it was a dame school conducted by Miss Harriet Bradley. After awhile it fell on bad times and became a disreputable looking two-family tenement, referred to in the neighborhood as "the brick." About ten years ago the Races bought it and converted it into the serene and charming home it is today.
One of the oldest houses in Meriden is at 160 Curtis, the home of Mrs. Marion P. Heidel. It was built in 1730 by Lazarus Ives. In 1740 Daniel Bradley owned it and had his blacksmith shop here for a time. Then the house was sold to Daniel Hough, the father of Dr. Ensign Hough, who with his family lived in it for many years. After that it had a number of owners, and during the Victorian era was considerably changed. Some years ago the Heidels remodeled it and removed much of the ornateness, so today, although not quite in its original form, it still retains its early charm.
Far down on Curtis Street, almost to the Wallingford line, stands a house which was built about 1778 or 1780 by Noah Yale for his son, Thomas. This house was originally on a lane which ran up to Yale Avenue, because this section of Curtis
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OLD HOUSES
Street was not opened until 1820. There is a story that in the early part of the last century this place was used as an inocu- lation hospital, on account of its remoteness, and because it was not on a highway. It can easily be located, since it is at present known as the Mother Goose Farm.
Almost directly east of this house, on Yale Avenue, is one built by this same Noah Yale for himself in 1761. He was a grandson of the original Thomas Yale to whom a large farm in this section of Wallingford was granted sometime before 1702. Noah Yale's house was certainly a fine, dignified colonial farm- house, containing much good paneling and detail. Many meet- ings of the Congregational Society were held here before the Revolutionary War. This was also the home of the slave, Chatham Freeman, who earned his freedom by serving in the war in place of one of Mr. Yale's sons. Another story is told of this same slave. Mr. Yale had a female slave at his farm whom Free- man wanted to marry. His master said he would agree to the marriage if Freeman would work for him seven years. He did and then married the woman. Today, almost two hundred years later, this house is still owned and occupied by Noah Yale's descendant - his great, great, great grandson, David Yale.
The Ephriam Berry house, now owned by Frederick M. Stevens, Jr., stands on the northeast corner of Parker Avenue and Ann Street. This house was almost certainly built in 1743. Its construction is excellent, there are fine details such as cup- boards and paneling, and it has been carefully preserved through the years. It is probably one of the finest examples of an early colonial home to be found in Meriden.
There is, on the south side of Miller Avenue, a red house called the 1777 Rest Home, owned and managed by Mrs. Edward Punty. It is not certain who built it, but a story about it has been handed down from father to son in that section for years. According to this tale, the man could not decide just where he wanted his home built. One day he walked to the top of the hill on his property, and taking off his hat he flung it into the wind, which was blowing strongly from the west, and said, "Where the hat falls I will build my house." And so he did. This place was occupied in the last century by Richard Miller whose name re- mains in that of the street.
On the northwest corner of Miller Avenue and Paddock, which
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OLD HOUSES
in the early days was called Misery Road, is the Silas Rice place. This house occupies the site of the dwelling of Captain Divan Berry, of Revolutionary fame, which was destroyed by fire in 1796. On October third of that year, Deacon Silas Rice bought the half finished house which was being erected on the same spot. Even now, appearing much as it did when the Deacon com- pleted it, this house is occupied by Robert S. Rice, a direct descen- dant of the builder.
Farther north, on the east side of Paddock Avenue, is the large farmhouse which was built by Isaac Hall, son of the doctor of the same name, about the year 1770. For a long time this was known as the Rollin S. Ives place. In recent years its walls have been shingled, which helps to conceal its ancient character.
Still farther east, away over in what used to be called Dog's Misery, is the old Noah Pomeroy place. The first mention of this house in the records was in March 1751, when Israel Hall and his wife deeded it and sixty acres of land to Phineas Hall. It is the same place where Benjamin Hall was later supposed to have kept the tavern which gave the section the name Bangall. About 1816 or 1817 it was bought by Noah Pomeroy. At that time it stood at the junction of Pomeroy and Murdock Avenues, but many years ago it was moved a few hundred feet to the east, and now it stands at 24 Ives Avenue. It was in this old house that the Universalists first assembled in 1821. Some thirty years later the First Universalist Society of Meriden was organized.
Dr. Sherburne Campbell owns a home on East Main Street, near the corner of Maple Avenue. This was apparently one of several houses built by Samuel Baldwin. The date is given as 1772, although it probably was earlier. The Almon Hall family was the first to live here. Two of his children, Russell and Fanny, continued to occupy the place for many years, until they died at an advanced age. The story is told that Miss Fanny, in her last years, became confused and was inclined to wander about. In order to keep her safely in the house, it is said, she was chained to an iron ring fastened into the floor of her room. In recent years this house passed through a number of different hands. It has been carefully restored, added to, and today is a perfect example of how an eighteenth century home can be adapted to comfortable, modern living.
Another house, no doubt of somewhat similar style when it
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OLD HOUSES
was built about 1795, is the Orchard Guy place on the corner of East Main and Williams Street. A short distance east of here is the Abel Yale place which is considerably older. The first mention of it on the records was in 1737 when his brother, Moses, quit-claimed to Abel all his interest in the house and farm. During the years a number of additions have been built, and its appearance has changed considerably. It is on the corner of East Main and Horton Avenue.
Some other early homes which have lost much of their colonial appearance through alterations and additions are the Edward Collins house (1738) at 596 Colony Street; the Abel Rice or William W. Plumb place (1733 or before) at 175 Hall Avenue, near the junction of Gale; the Comfort Butler house (1770) at 67 Kensington Avenue; and that of Levi Allen (before 1784) on Allen Avenue.
One of Meriden's oldest houses has come to rather a pathetic end. It is now a three-family tenement, with a storeroom tacked on the front. This is the home built originally by Captain Na- thaniel Merriam, about 1730, on the present site of Saint Andrew's Church. In 1866 it was moved, around the corner, to Miller Street where it now stands, looking sad and forlorn, behind the Connecticut Electric Equipment Co.
Probably no description of Meriden's old houses would be complete without mention of the stately Eli Birdsey mansion, even though it was built considerably later - not until 1830. It was the first imposing residence to be erected in town. It has now been made into apartments, but it is still dignified and beau- tiful today, in its commanding location at the head of East Main Street hill, almost across from the two colonial churches, and in Meriden's most historic section.
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CHAPTER SIX
Roads and Travel
THE FIRST settlers in what is now Meriden entered virtually virgin territory. This was not an area where Indians lived with any permanence. It was their hunting ground so there were some Indian trails winding in and out where moccasined feet had picked the way. Some of our streets today no doubt follow the general lines of such trails. Gradually those trails become trodden ways beaten down by men on horseback. Later they were widened into roads and new roads added as the settlement grew.
In 1729, George W. Perkins tells us in his history, there were twenty-five families in Meriden. By 1770 the number had expanded to 123 families. Meanwhile some sort of rude roadway system was developing. One record shows that the General Assembly in Hartford in 1666 ordered Edward Higby thus: "for making and mainteineing the way over Pilgrums Harbour passable for man & horse, shall have his estate and farme free of Countrey (rates) for this yeare and next, he mainteining the way soe longe as aforesaid."
As time went on a definite pattern emerged for reserving quite a wide strip of land for roads wherever new grants were made. For instance in 1707 the "towne chose Eliezer peeck, Joshua culver, David Hall, a commetie to see that dogs missery hiway may not be pinsht of the twenty rods in any place from the town to misserie whare it was not laid out before the graint was of said hiway."
Twenty rods is often mentioned as road width. Still oftener the records speak of six rods for a highway. What the roads were like is another matter. Other records indicate that it was custom- ary for settlers adjacent to these "roads" to raise crops on this public property. Since the strips were cleared but not too well traveled, it was but a practical custom, quite "Yankee" in character.
According to historian Perkins the first wagon was brought to Meriden in 1789. He says it was owned by Ezra Rice and was of rude construction, being simply a square framed box placed
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ROADS AND TRAVEL
on four wheels, drawn by two horses, with ropes for traces, and cords for the guiding or driving. lines. Yet, he says, " it was then thought to be a very elegant establishment." Previous to the coming of that wagon, there had never been owned in the town more than three two-wheel carriages. These he describes as being very rude, awkward chaise bodies or uncovered seats hung on two wheels. And he adds incidentally that he had it on what he considered good authority, that of a man whose business took him at various times into every house in the town (could he have been a tax collector?), that in 1802 there was but one carpet in the whole town of Meriden. As a further commentary on Meriden's standard of living when she became a separate town, the Century of Meriden carries the note that when Samuel Yale died in 1816, the inventory of his belongings contains the first notice we have of a stove in Meriden. The item appears on that document as "stove and pipe" valued at $10.
Among papers written by Meridenites for the historical society in the eighteen-nineties, is one by Allan B. Squire on the railroad. In it he says the "first stage in Connecticut ran through Meriden in 1784 on this old country road west of the central village where the railroad is now located." He adds that until the time the railroad was completed over half a century later the "good people of Meriden had no other means of communication with Hartford and New Haven except by private conveyance." On that subject of private conveyance Welcome E. Benham says in his paper in 1894: "I well remember that 60 years ago it was quite common for persons to travel from town to town, several miles on foot. I and others sometimes walked to New Haven and back, 32 miles, and quite frequently to church on Sabbath to Cheshire Center, four miles from home .... "
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