Went to Connecticut in early August. I had a packed agenda including a presentation at the historic Samuel Huntington Homestead Museum (SHHM) in Scotland, CT. They are super nice there and interested in history. Even though it was hot and humid we still had a good crowd.
The audience asked great questions. The 50-minute talk was on Margaret Barrett Huntington Stoughton (1595-1665), the immigrant, and her family. See my previous posts on her and that era.
I have learned it is very beneficial to get out of my office and go visit the sites, smells, images, and landscapes of eastern Connecticut in order to help me write a more engaging history book. I go there at least two times per year.
Eastern Connecticut has MANY old archictectural gems that have avoided the bulldozer over the years. But these 18th and 19th century homes (and landscapes) cannot last forever. Preservation groups are trying to save these colonial homes such as the Norwich Historical Society and the Calkins Family Association.
One of the objectives of this trip was to finally locate the Benjamin Franklin "B.F." (1813-1891) and Maria Louisa Huntington Huntington (1815-1893) homestead where they raised five/six children during the mid-nineteenth century.
Originally it was called the "Kingsley Farm" but later it was dubbed "Brook Farm" by B.F. and his family. He started working on the farm as a young man (with his father: Charles Phelps Huntington "C.P.") and was given use of the farm in 1841/42, after a final attempt at mercantilism in Ohio--which failed. He inherited the property upon the death of C.P. in 1850.
It is during B.F.'s lifetime that the wealth in this Huntington line diminished: marriages were less advantageous, there was no political involvement, state-run religion was gone, and the competition was fierce.
Still, this Huntington line continued to produce male children to carry on the name. But, the money was shrinking fast and times were changing (as they always do). Norwich itself was a full-fledged mill town that was also experiencing its own "Gilded Age."
I am still trying to figure out when it was built. It is located right over the border of Yantic/Norwichtown on the road to Lebanon. It retains many of its eighteenth-century features including the door porch and attached outbuildings. It is in ok shape but covered in vinyl siding. The surrounding land is overgrown and very near commercial bulidings.
Just down the road from B.F.'s house was the home of the Nathaniel Backus family. I don't know the history of this branch, however, B.F.'s maternal great-grandmother was Elizabeth Backus. Hopefully some energetic preservationists will buy the Nathanial Backus home featured below.
After driving through the rolling countryside of eastern Connecticut, and its spectacular corn fields, I went to the Norwich Inn for a quiet dinner. The food was so-so. The Mohegan Sun has the best food in the area with many restaurants to chose from. The Mohegan tribe of Connecticut does great things for the surrounding community.
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