Founded 1960 Newsletter of the Norfolk Historical Society

summer 2016 norfolk, Hidden in Plain Sight: Artists, Artisans, and Craftsmen of Norfolk’s Golden Age of Architecture

orty years ago, architectural critic and Norfolk and variety of aesthetic choices that give the town its summer resident Brendan Gill offered a significant distinctive character. Fassessment of the town’s architectural heritage in a While the elegant new buildings are well known chapter of the Waldecker History of Norfolk 1900–1975. today, not everyone is aware of their high-quality In the face of national enthusiasm for all things colonial embellishments. These are right there in plain sight, with the upcoming United States bicentennial, Gill drew if one knows where to look. Artists and artisans of attention to the architectural importance of a different the highest caliber such as Maitland Armstrong, Louis era in Norfolk, the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Comfort Tiffany, and Augustus Saint-Gaudens were which he called Norfolk’s Golden Age of Architecture. commissioned to work here in stained glass and bronze. Fresh from his successful fight to save ’s Grand Craftsmen skilled in stone, wood, and terra cotta Central Terminal (Warren & Wetmore, 1903-1913), he contributed important details. concluded his chapter with a list of “indispensable” continued on page 3 landmarks of this era, many of which were in a state of neglect. Our summer exhibition features this remarkable group of public buildings commissioned by Norfolk’s civic-minded patrons in the period 1880 to 1930, especially the details of their stunning artistry and craftsmanship. These patrons believed in the power of beautiful buildings to enrich the life of the village and to foster a sense of community and civic pride. They invested in the finest designers, artists, and craftsmen, many with national reputations, architects such as Stanford White, Bruce Price, and J. Cleveland Cady, along with regionally important Ehrick Rossiter, George Keller, and Alfredo Taylor. Their enlightened patronage combined with a wider American belief in the transformational force of beauty meant that Norfolk was the recipient of a rush of building fervor: a theater, a library, a chapel, a railroad station, a gymnasium, a memorial fountain, and an Episcopal church all rose within a decade. These stylish and well-crafted buildings reflect a breadth of artistry Artistic tile from the Eldridge Gymnasium (now Town Hall)

IN THIS ISSUE Collections Corner ...... page 2 Norfolk Collectors ...... page 6 Inside the Ryan Papers ...... page 3 Labyrinth of Woe ...... page 7 Fred Smith and Harriet Bell ...... page 4 Calendar of Events ...... insert

1 Collections From the President Corner s we prepare for the opening of our 56th mong the historic artifacts donated to the Aseason, we look back on the past year with ASociety this past year is the original Norfolk gratitude to the many people who made our 2015 Downs Golf Links sign. On one side of the sign, exhibition and its related programs possible. above the club’s insignia, golfers are directed 35 Partially funded by a grant from CT Humanities, miles to Hartford the exhibition A Farmer, a Sportsman, and a and on the other Diplomat: The Romance of Collecting explored side 118 miles to three collections within our own collection and New York. For illustrated the interests of collectors from diverse many years the backgrounds and time periods. The Society sign hung on partnered with the Norfolk Library in hosting a post on Golf three programs: Lois (Bisi) Starkey told us about Drive, as seen in her father Ambassador John MacMurray’s work the historic photo and travels in 1920’s rural China; Libby Borden below. The sign with Robert Hobbs examined the collection of dates back to 1897 Grenville Winthrop; and Ann Havemeyer, Dianne when the Norfolk Pierce, and Michaela Murphy gave a presentation Downs golf course on Marie Kendal’s historic photographs. was built on 71 Houses on the Move provided the theme for acres of Curtiss last year’s major fundraising event, a progressive farmland. The challenging nine-hole course historic house dinner held in late July at two was described as a naturalist’s paradise with its colonial residences that were relocated to glacial kettle holes, its steep slopes, huge rocks Norfolk during the heyday of the Colonial and narrow fairways . . . frequently a terror to Revival. Forty guests were treated to a beautiful the golfer. Capturing its former use in romantic cocktail reception at Torrington House, located fashion, the course was named the Downs, and on Old Goshen Road, hosted by Alain and Nini what had been a country lane with meandering Saman. Guests then proceeded to the home cattle became Golf Drive. of Martha Mullins, the Rose Terry Cook house With the construction of a neighboring course on Doolittle Drive, where a delicious alfresco for the Norfolk Country Club and the eventual dinner was served in the garden followed by demise of the Downs, the sign was taken down a slide talk by Ann Havemeyer and Dianne and stored in the original caddy house. That Pierce on the history of moving houses and the was later removed from its site, together with its people who moved them. A tremendous thank contents including, presumably, this sign. Another you to the Saman’s and Martha Mullins for their Downs sign hung in the Curling Club and was lost exceptional hospitality! And speaking of special in the devastating fire of 2011. We are so pleased events, our first annual Cake Auction was held on that this one was saved. December 4th and was a huge success. Twelve of Norfolk’s top bakers produced amazing cakes that were auctioned off. Thank you to Melissa Robinson for organizing the event, Betsy Gill for her auctioning skill, all the bakers (see photo on page 6), and everyone who joined in to make the evening such a success. We are very grateful to all our loyal supporters for your participation and enthusiasm for our events and programs. We look forward to another busy season at the Museum! Barry Webber

2 Inside the Ryan Papers

e are thrilled to announce the publication of Inside the Ryan Papers, edited by Susan WBetts (Manakin-Sabot, VA: Dementi Milestone Publishing, 2015) and available for purchase at the Museum. The Ryan family played an important role in Norfolk history, as documented in our award-winning 2014 exhibition From the Mills to Main Street: Irish Families in Norfolk. Arriving from Kilkenny, Ireland, in 1827, the Ryan brothers established a woolen mill in Norfolk, employing dozens of Irish workers. John and Johanna Ryan’s son George was born in 1836. He was educated at West Point and pursued a career in the military, rising from Second Lieutenant to Colonel before his untimely death on May 8, 1864 at the age of 28 during the Battle of the Wilderness near Spotsylvania. To tell George’s story, editor and Ryan descendant Susan Betts culled letters from the Ryan Family Papers, some 1200 documents, most dating from 1827 to 1943, transcribed and donated to The Catholic University by Jerry Goebel in 2002. Although his story had been passed down among family members along with his Commission papers, West Pint ring, and army footlocker, Susan wished to memorialize this heroic soldier by publishing Young George Ryan at West Point (Photo courtesy letters written by George himself and his family that give of the United States Military Academy) a narrative of his adult life. Her inspiration came from what appears to have been an oversight. Colonel George Ryan’s name is not chiseled on the Soldiers Monument on the Norfolk Village Green, dedicated to the memory Volunteers Enrich Our Work of town soldiers who died for their country during the During the course of the winter and spring, War of the Rebellion. At the time of his death, George’s we have been graced by the help of several parents had left Norfolk for their home in Decatur, Illinois. dedicated volunteers. Gregg Currier has been Yet Norfolk was in fact the only home that George ever processing a large box of 18th and 19th century knew. Certainly the town claimed him as its own, evident material related to the Stevens and Pettibone in Theron Crissey’s History of Norfolk (1900) in which a families. His archival skills are being put to chapter is devoted to Colonel George Ryan. good use as he patiently unfolds, organizes, and indexes deeds, letters, legal documents, and other items. Doug Pfenninger is helping Golden Age of Architecture to reorganize the Industry Room, making sure continued from page 1 that everything is labelled, properly stored, Brendan Gill concluded his chapter with this plea: and, in some cases, just plain identified. Learn what is precious, and fight to preserve it! Forty Kaelin Hester, a student at UConn years later, we are aware of the importance of historic Torrington who has grown up in Norfolk and is preservation. Although some very knowledgeable about the town’s history, of the buildings of Norfolk’s is transcribing the audio oral histories, assisting Golden Age of Architecture with technology issues, and indexing some of are lost to us, others have been the many scrapbooks in our collection. Kaelin or are being lovingly restored will continue her work with us in the fall, as an to protect and preserve this intern for course credit at UConn. extraordinary legacy. Thanks to these three for enabling us to move forward on key projects! Art tile from Hardware Store Dianne Pierce, Director (destroyed by fire) 3 The Courtship and Marriage of Fred Smith and Harriet Bell

In 2009 our exhibition on Norfolk’s Black history charted the lives of several African-American families as pieced together from surviving records such as the Federal Census, Crissey’s 1900 History of Norfolk, and period maps showing where these families lived. Missing from this history were voices from the past which would have brought to life the statistical records. A few years later, Carol Ubosi contacted us. Her mother had saved a voluminous collection of letters, which told the story of the courtship between her great aunt Harriet Maria Bell, then of Pine Plains, New York, and Fred Smith of Norfolk. Written mostly between 1883 and 1886, these letters captured the personalities of this young couple and provided a rare glimpse into the lives of two African-Americans who lived in Norfolk. The following is excerpted from “The Courtship and Marriage of Fred Smith and Harriet Bell,” by Carol Ubosi and Alesia McFadden-Williams, PhD, in American Ancestors, vol. 17, no. 1, Winter 2016.

n the spring of 1883, in town by everybody.” Samuel Harriet finally agreed to marry Fred: twenty-six-year-old Fred Smith had been an employee of “My dear Fred, I will not fret you Dennis Smith may have met Joseph Battell, a farmer for Robbins anymore, I will marry you on my Itwenty-two-year-old Harriet Bell at Battell, and a janitor at the church. birthday [August 30].” In early March the Pine Grove Campground. From The Bell and Smith families [1886] Harriet visited Norfolk and 1883 through 1886, Harriet, known represented a segment of the met Fred’s family. After the visit she as “Hassie,” and Fred shared their American population often ignored wrote to them saying, “I had a very candid thoughts through letters. The because of race and economic nice visit with you all and of course couple’s correspondence revealed situation. Harriet worked from 1880 you know I love Fred.” Harriet numerous details about their lives to 1886 for the family of William S. considered Norfolk as a wedding and their concerns for the future. Eno, a lawyer and banker in Pine location because Fred wrote that Harriet and Fred could read and Plains, at his lavish home, The Pines, “My mother must see the not [knot] write—and likely had received which still stands. In the summers, tied for she has never seen one of formal educations—at a time when Harriet traveled with her employers her sons married.” the majority of African Americans to the Pine Grove Campground Fred’s future employment were still in the early stages of in Canaan, Connecticut, where prospects were important. Where acquiring literacy. spiritual revivals were held. Fred, the couple would live depended Harriet’s parents, Samuel meanwhile, worked as a servant and on where Fred could find steady Esmond Bell (1836–1882) and Elmira laborer: he tended horses, built hen work. Harriet offered numerous Ann Purdy (1836–1905), had been houses, harvested crops, gathered suggestions. On April 13, 1886, she married at St. Thomas Episcopal produce, and served as a courier. wrote, “There is a place out West Church in Mamaroneck, Westchester Sometimes he traveled from his that has been advertise[d] in my County, New York, on November home in Norfolk to nearby towns colored paper for colored families 17, 1858. Samuel and Elmira Bell such as Canaan and Litchfield for on the Washington territory coal had six children. Harriet Maria Ann temporary jobs. miners and girls wages 28-40 dollars Bell, their second child, was born Although they lived far from the don’t you think you would like to August 30, 1860 in Harrison. American South, Fred and Harriet go there. I do providing we don’t Fred Smith, born in Norfolk on were locked into a caste system that get sick, but I don’t think you would August 26, 1856, was one of five dictated the trajectory of their lives. go there for love or money would children. His mother, Jane (Hall) Limited in employment opportunities you?” Smith, was born about 1816 in and restricted in movement because In a subsequent letter, Harriet Connecticut and appears in the 1880 of their meager and unstable took up the theme again, “If you census; Fred’s father, Samuel Smith, incomes, Fred and Harriet would can’t get work year round would had died by 1880. Samuel Smith was never achieve financial stability. you go west and work in a coal mentioned in Theron Crissey’s1900 For much of their courtship, mine?” Fred responded on April 25: History of Norfolk, Litchfield County, Harriet expressed reluctance “There is nothing better than good Connecticut as a “man of excellent about her relationship with Fred. fresh air and hope that you will get character, half a century ago known In a letter dated February 8, 1886, a good deal of it for this has been 4 a lovely month so far. I would [ruffles] of white lace all down not think of going in to one the front of the dress that is to of those coal [mines]. They be for me to get married in and are very dangerous things to then I entind [intend] to have a deal you never know when black silk for other occasions.” you are safe. You often read On October 6, 1886, in the papers about the mines Harriet Maria Bell and Fred blowing up or caving in and Dennis Smith were married in burying all of its contents alive. the parlor at The Pines in Pine Bad enough being buried when Plains. Harriet’s sister Florence one is dead let alone alive. My Bell wrote home to the family pet, don’t ever think of such a in Harrison and reported that thing. Please let me know what after the wedding, the couple your next idea is on a situation was showered with rice and for married life may be your went down to “the grove,” next will be better.” where a very nice reception Even before agreeing was held. Later, the wedding to marry Fred in February, party traveled by train to Harriet had begun gathering Norfolk, where the couple was and making items for her serenaded by a brass band and trousseau. In January 1886 she Florence saw Harriet’s “very wrote, “The sheets and things pleasant home.” has got to be made and I must After their marriage, do it myself. I shall make them Harriet and Fred lived in first of everything else.” She Norfolk until 1891, when they also sewed pillowcases and, by July, she had begun to moved to Poughkeepsie. With Fred still unable to find practice making her bride’s cake. Fred’s mother gave consistent employment, the family moved to Bridgeport, him a feather bed and he purchased chickens, a pig, a Connecticut, around 1893. Harriet and Fred had four table, and a chamber set. children, two of whom survived to adulthood. Harriet Harriet was also preoccupied with thoughts of her Bell Smith died at age 35 on November 27, 1895, and wedding dress. She sent samples of cloth to Fred hoping was buried in the African American Cemetery in Rye, he would approve of the color and material. And she New York, near her parents. Fred returned to Norfolk explained her vision for the dress: “I thought white very after Harriet’s death and died there in July 1928. His thin white with white lace trimmins [trimmings] and saton funeral was held in Battell Chapel in Norfolk, and he is [satin] boas [bows] at the side lead from the belt. Ruffels buried in Center Cemetery.

Labor Day Walk We continued our tradition of a Labor Day walk with more than 50 participants. Thanks to the Trustees of the Ellen Battell Stoeckel Estate, we were able to access the grounds off-season and get a sense of how the old Battell and Eldridge properties have merged into the beautiful park-like setting that has become an iconic image of our town.

5 Norfolk Collectors Featured in Connecticut Historical Society Exhibition

n conjunction with our 2015 exhibition A Farmer, a Sportsman, and a Diplomat: The Romance of ICollecting,” the Historical Society held a “Collector’s Weekend” in February to showcase what townspeople today collect and why. Items on display ranged from fountain pens to miniature furniture to Old Master drawings. At an open house on Friday evening, collectors spoke about the genesis of their collections and their passion for collecting. ake On Saturday, in preparation for an exhibition and C a crowd-sourced online gallery that explores four Auction generations of childhood (born between 1930s-90s) in Connecticut, staff from the Connecticut Historical Society came to the Museum. The CHS asked for stories, Betsy Gill auctioned an assortment of extraordinary cakes, objects, memories, and treasures from Norfolkians who baked by these talented and creative bakers: Lisa Auclair, had grown up in the state, and they got more than they Susan Boucher, Sally Briggs, Carolyn Childs, Gloria could have hoped for. A high point of the day was sisters Gourley, Katherine Griswold, Betsy Little, Shirley Metcalf, Betsy Childs Gill and Anne Childs Collins reminiscing Bevan Ramsay, Alyson Thomson, and Caryn Trager. Many about making maple syrup when they were young. thanks to all! Betsy shared a 1966 Weekly Reader with the cover photo of her gathering sap in Great Mountain Forest. Anne had a wonderful time when the miniature kitchen she had Collections Care and Conservation played with as a child, now in the Norfolk Historical Society’s collection, was brought downstairs, and she As caretakers of Norfolk’s history, one of our was able to re-assemble it. top responsibilities is to be the best stewards of our Objects and stories from Norfolk will be featured collection that we can be. With over 14,500 items in the CHS exhibition Growing Up in Connecticut, in our catalog, the monumental task of care and which opens May 24th and runs until October 15th. conservation will be an ongoing project for many Check out the online gallery (chs.org/growingup), or years. A recent bequest from the estate of long-time make plans to go to the CHS and have your own walk friend and supporter John Spofford Morgan has down Memory Lane! allowed us to create a fund to help with this task. As an initial project, we sent a rare document belonging to Michael Pupin, nationally-known inventor and engineer, to the Northeast Conservation Center where they made a high-resolution digital scan. The scan was cleaned to remove the mold and dirt that have obscured the original, giving us a readable version of this important artifact. We are also taking a close look at how best to preserve our unique collection of the large scale Kendall photos that were on display at the Norfolk Library in January. Proceeds from the sale of Michaela Murphy’s custom prints from Kendall’s original glass plate negatives (see back cover photo) will be added to this conservation fund, which we hope will continue to grow. Anne Childs Collins with the 19th century miniature kitchen

6 A “Labyrinth of Woe” in 18th-century Norfolk

An interesting scandal from the early days of the end, in October 1780 Miner was censured and Norfolk recently came to our attention, when a graduate excommunicated for “heresy and scandalous conduct,” student at the College of William and Mary contacted a very grave matter that meant that he was effectively us for information about an excommunication from the banned from the town itself. A vocal minority objected Church of Christ that occurred in 1780. The offender was to this treatment of Miner, and the issue became one of local physician Dr. John Miner, who was described by the freedom of conscience and speech as well as the Reverend J. Wickliffe Beach (pastor of the church from morality of polygamy. It took two years to fully resolve 1874–1876) in his address at the church’s centennial and, according to Beach, “came nearer causing a breach celebration as “a man fond of speculation and argument.” in the church than any other.” His offense was his belief that polygamy was not Whether Miner stayed in Norfolk is not known, but contrary to Christian scripture. Although he did not plan in Hartford in 1781 he published Dr. Miner’s Defense, to pursue the practice himself, Miner was adamant that Being a Concise Relation of the Church Process Against it should be allowed within the congregation if anyone Him, an 83-page exploration of why polygamy should so desired. not be considered inconsistent with Christianity. In his Church records show that as early as 1765 a committee preface, Miner proclaims that he holds no grudge against was tasked with identifying and dealing with “publick the church in Norfolk, but bemoans his outcast status: scandal” and it was called on to do so surprisingly Alas to be thus cut off from privileges in often. The “scandalous” behaviors normally were along special ordinances, and yet to have no way to the lines of profanity, falsehood, slander, absence from settle it, not being conscious of any guilt about communion, theft, counterfeiting, intemperance, and it, and therefore could not retract with a good rash speech. Thus, John Miner’s case was of much conscience, and no prospect of a settling the more serious import than the more everyday sins of matter without retracting it, is in truth such the congregants. For weeks, the matter was discussed a labyrinth of woe as cannot be described in a in church meetings, councils, and committees. In few words.

Founded in 1960, the Norfolk Historical Society North Street Whitehouse ~ 17 Stoeckel Road • In the summer of 1801 Rev. Thomas Battell Fountain ~ Village Green • Mary Eldridge built Battell Fountain in Joseph Jones House ~ 7 Village Green • A tailor by trade, Joseph Jones 8 Robbins, son of town pastor Ammi Ruhamah 12 1889 in memory of her uncle Joseph Battell. Designed by Stanford 15 had just finished framing his two-story house when he maintains its collections and mounts exhibitions Giles Thompson House ~ 5 Maple Avenue • Giles Thompson was the son 20 40 Robbins, visited Norfolk and reported in his White with bronze work by Augustus Saint-Gaudens, the fountain left Norfolk to join the Continental Army in 1776. Upon in its Museum, formerly the 1840 Norfolk of a tanner and shoemaker who married the daughter Between 1885 and 1895, the residential neighborhood of Maple Avenue saw an “This little village . . . is uncommonly— John Warner Barberneat in Connecticut and Historical beautiful.” Collections, 1836 diary: “Mr. Battell building a very elegant house is executed in pink stone in the conventional arrangement of round his return three years later, his financial circumstances Academy building on the Village Green. The of tavern-keeper Giles Pettibone, Jr., and built this increase in the number of houses built with the opening of Emerson Street, Terrace 41 near my father’s.” The house was completed in column topped by a sphere with a trough for animals on one side required that he reduce his house to one story, cutting the Museum is open to the public on weekends house by 1802. Maple Avenue was just beginning to View, and Hillside. Many of these houses were built in the Queen Anne style, Church of the Transfiguration ~ 21 Mills Way • In 1893 Frederick M. \ time for merchant Joseph Battell’s marriage to and a fountain for humans on the other. Streams of water spurt from posts to lower the roofline. In the mid-19th century, the 30 Railroad Station ~ 10 Station Place • The Central Railroad Village Green • The Village Green was not always the visual centerpiece G 39 from June to October and by appointment for be a residential street at the time, and the Thompson popular at the end of the 19th century, and have a variety of towers, turrets, bays, 1 A Lasting 4 Legacy reenw Sarah Robbins. The hipped roof and Palladian the mouths of fish on the sphere, and from a lion and fish mounted house was owned by Amos Pettibone, a member of the o brought flocks of summer visitors to Norfolk when of Norfolk. Originally called the meetinghouse green, it was a utilitarian space ods R research and study. Admission is free. These house is the first in a series of small vernacular houses dormers, and porches. Often they were rented to summer cottagers who came to Shepard donated property for an Episcopal Frederick M. Shepard Fountain • This Memorial Fountain was placed oad W window above the entrance gave it a measure of sophistication, and its white coat on either side of the column. Two more animal heads on the side of the trough spurt Norfolk Anti-Slavery Society. First-hand accounts published in Crissey’s History of this station was built in 1898. Station Place had used for grazing livestock and the site of a schoolhouse, horse sheds, and est Memorial Green S chapelarly for summer worship. in Designed 2015, by New our37 friend and hepa of paint distinguished it for townsfolk who called it Whitehouse. The house was water into shallow basins at grade for small animals. The nearby marble bench was Norfolk document the house as a station of the Underground Railroad. books on Norfolk’s history and architecture are that were built on the west side in the early 1800’s. Norfolk for its healthy pure mountain air and spring water. Proximity to the Eldridge become the primary entrance to the village center, Sabbathday houses for churchgoers. In the 1850’s William Rice, headmaster of the 42 rd R York architect Bruce Price in 1894, the church at the front entrance to Center School (no longer Soldiers Monument ~ Memorial Green • oad remodeled several times and in 1906, during the residency of Joseph Battell’s part of the original composition, and the two tall handsome free-standing bronze available for purchase. Collar Bros. Store ~ 12 Maple Avenue • In the early 20th century, there were Gymnasium made these summer cottages especially attractive. Numbers 24, 25, and the new “artistic” station presented the proper Norfolk Academy, organized a program of tree planting that served to adorn the space is an example of the Shingle Style. The walking standing) in 1917 42 38In 1920 the Town of Norfolk granddaughter Ellen Battell Stoeckel, the third story and colossal portico were lamps were added at a later date to match the two on the column. Dennison Store ~ 16 Greenwoods Road East • E. H. Dennison built this 21 26, 27, and 28 were built at this time. image of a cultivated town to travelers. Designed by and express civic pride, part of the campaignand dedicated for village to beautification Frederick M. which spread 16 Shepard who had given generously toward the commissioned Alfredo Taylor to design a war added. When she died, Mrs. Stoeckel left the house and estate in trust for the use store in 1814 just north of his residence. In the as many as ten food stores in Norfolk, many of them tour continuessupporter alongthe New Shepard York-based Road, firmnamed Hill for & Vint Turner, the building Lawrence across New England in the second half(1939– of the 19th century. In 1900 Norfolk historian Alfredo Taylor in Norfolk construction of the school in 1915. memorial that would 37 be large enough to express of Yale University for a summer school of music and art. It is now the home of the Crissey Place ~ 21 Village Green • Built circa 1810 by Captain Darius Phelps later 19th century the house was owned by William operated by Irish-American families. This building John and Isabella Beecher Hooker House ~ 35 Maple Avenue • This is sheathed inthis native benefactor granite andof the has town. a broad roof with slightly-flared eaves. At the Theron Crissey wrote: “The glory and beauty of Norfolk in these modern days is this 13 24 the forces of war yet simple enough that the fathers Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. who kept a tavern here, this house later belonged to Scoville, who operated a furniture and undertaking An Architect of Place and the Village was built by Walter and Burton Collar about 1904. A.P. Curtiss Feedtime & it Grainwas built, ~ 32 a sign Shepard in brass Road letters • The read: Augustus “Norfolk, P. the Curtiss Highest Railroad Station charming little park, with its noble trees, its beds of exquisite flowers and shrubs.” 43 house was purchased by the Hookers in 1896. The and brothers of those who36 died could have built it. It Ralph Crissey, brother of Theron Crissey, author of business. In 1881 Isabella Eldridge opened a Beautiful Richard Whalen was later the owner and proprietor. 31 2016) came to us with the idea d i in Connecticut.” Roa Church of Christ ~ 12 Village Green • Designed by master builder David History of Norfolk (1900). By then a mansard roof had reading room in this house, before building the sister of Harriet Beecher Stowe, Isabella Beecher coal and grain facility was built along the siding of was itode be made of local materials without sculptural Church of the Soldiers Immaculate Monument Conception ~ Village and Green Rectory • Erected ~ 4 North in 1868 St. • to In the design sts ay La9 e u Hoadley in 1813, the Church of Christ was built on the site been added, creating a third floor and making this one Norfolk Library in 1888. The Life of James Mars, A Slave Hooker and her husband lived in Hartford and the Central New England Railroad and included a grain 38 5 Wdecoration. Constructed of granite ashlar, with W r Shepard Barn • This 19th century frame barn with a distinctive rooster of William A. Burdick, the granite obelisk bears the names of 30 lls e seats built into each side and bronze tablets set into stonework commemorating Norfolk Inn i l E2 1924 architect Alfredo Taylor was asked to enlarge the 44 35 M W of the original 1760 peach-blow pink meetinghouse. The of the few Second Empire style houses in Norfolk. spent summers in Norfolk. Isabella was an active mill and scales thatweathervane weighed the on loads the as cupola they passed stood on the property of thirty-five Norfolk soldiers who were killed in the line ofduty 29 a Marie Kendall’s Glimpses of Norfolk elcome to Norfolk. This self-guided walking tour of producing a Historic Walking Tour those who fought, the triangular memorial houses a replica of the Liberty Bell, y church was widely heralded for its graceful, tiered steeple, During the early decades of the 20th century, Cora Mills House ~ 19 Greenwoods Road East • Built in 1806 by Deacon Michael Judge Pettibone House ~ 22 Maple Avenue • Augustus Pettibone built proponent of women’s rights and suffrage. under the arches Captain John H. Shepard, proprietor of Shepard Tavern smallduring frame the Catholic War of church the Rebellion. to accommodate Funds fora growing the monument 17 22 Wthrough the town’s Historic District and beyond at the rear of the building. Bulk grain proclaiming the knell of war and the brotherhood of peace. Dedicated on Armistice Shepard Road 28 and the design was emulated in nearby churches. The three Brown opened the house to summer boarders and called it Crissey Place. As its F. Mills, this house was the home of Rev. Ralph The Magnificent Battells brought by railroad(formerly cars ran Pettibone down a chute Tavern, from see the #7). His son Frederick M. parish.were Hislargely design raised completely by private changedsubscription. the shape and 34 his residence in 1802 when Maple Avenue was still a will take you around the Village Green and neighboring Day in 1921, the memorial was said to symbolize a trinity representing the village, doorways, originally arched, were remodeled in the Victorian popularity increased, Cora expanded the facility to include the two neighboring Emerson, second pastor of the Church of Christ and Norfolk, Connecticut:1900–1975 country lane connecting the meetinghouse green with Beech Fairlawn ~ 44 Maple Avenueresidential • During Norfolk’s area to heydaythe lower as a villagesummer whereresort, 19th century mills second story level toShepard the first (1827–1913) floor where was it was instrumental ground in shaping the size of the 1859 church and offered a stronger image of Walking cousin to the writer Ralph Emerson. In 1874, the for retail and put intoMap bags to be picked andup by farmers. Guide to downtown Norfolk, the country, and the world as a unit of good will. Evergreen trees were planted for era, and the marble porch with colossal portico was added houses to the north. 25 town in the late 19th century. President of the Goodyear Catholicism. Walls are rough cast stucco which, at the 33 32 31 Flats (now Laurel Way). The front of this classic five-bay and factories once flourished along the Blackberry River. each soldier who died. Notice Buttermilk Falls across45 Route 44. 27 in 1927. A granite stairway leading up to the Church provides access from the house was owned by Frederick E. Porter, who with Picturing Norfolk: 1758–1958 there were numerous boarding houses in addition to Rubber Company in NY, Frederick Shepard built the water time of consecration, were described as burnt sienna Georgian design faces south with later additions. Pettibone Depending upon your pace, the tour takes about one hour. and yellow ochre in color, recalling the Italian campaniles of Taylor’s birthplace. Village Green. The artistic ensemble with stone piers surmounted by tall wrought Norfolk Academy ~ 13 Village Green • The Norfolk Academy was a private his brother Lucius helped organize the Norfolk & two large hotels. One of the most popular boarding Livery ~ 24 Shepardworks Road that • Thispiped large fresh brick water building from Wangum was built Lake as to a thestable village for center and opened Turnpike Signs ~ Village Green • A pair of wooden turnpike signs with 26 14 was a member of the State Legislature who helped draft the It begins and ends at the old railroad station on Station32 Place The same treatment6 was applied to the adjacent rectory, built in 1891 after Norfolk Ariel Lawrence Tavern ~ 65 Greenwoods Road West • Built in 1797 by iron lamps was designed by Arts and Crafts architect Alfredo Taylor in 1908. school for boys and girls built in 1840 in the Greek Revival New Brunswick Hosiery Company. After his death in houses was Miss Louise Rowland’s Fairlawn. True similarstreets such as Emerson toand Mills oneWay through his extensivehe properties and for an Anne Garrelspainted animals has stood onhad the Green since the 1800’s.43 Constitution of Connecticut in 1818. The house passed on to where there is ample parking. Along the way, there are two the livery business of A. P. Curtiss. In addition This set is a 1965 copy of the signs that were created style. The triangular pediment of the gable end evoked the 1899, his son Dr. William H. Porter used the house as a summer residence, not an his grandson Augustus P. Lawrence who developed Maple Avenue, selling lots and to its name, guests enjoyed croquet on the lawn and expansion of housing. became an independent Catholic parish. Use of stucco draws on the Ariel Lawrence, the tavern served travelers on the suggested excursions by motor vehicle: one up North Street to many stalls, there was a washstand for the Em 25 Battell Chapel ~ Village Green • In 1887 Urania Battell Humphrey engaged Greek temple form and the ideals of that ancient democracy ideal location with the smoke and soot from locomotives emerging from the nearby idiom, while the rubble stone ties the buildingin 1931 to theas partsite. of In the contrast, Public theWorks bell of tower Art Project. The e Terrace View 10 Historicalorfolk r n opening Terrace View in 1889. outdoor concerts on summer evenings. to Center Cemetery and Haystack Tower; the other through carriages. Dirt roads left cakes of mud on the Arts & Crafts Greenwoods Turnpike and housed the first post office46 Village Hall ~ 20 Greenwoodsso Road West • In 1882 a group of ladies New York architect Josiah Cleveland Cady to design a to which our young country aspired. The school flourished railroad underpass. Norfolk Library ~ 9 Greenwoods Road East • Isabella Eldridge,is daughter without ornament except for the rose window.originals The are gable now in the Norfolk Historical Museum and n S enjoyed while visiting friends in Ohio. 48 (est. 1804) in Norfolk. The mail, received twice a tre 24 chapel for the Church of Christ in memory of her parents, for twenty years under the leadership of William Rice, a the Stoeckel Estate, now the summer home of the Yale School 3 wheels and bodiesof the townof the pastor,vehicles, engaged making Hartford a architecta later George alteration. pictured on the map. saw the need foret a hall for lectures and other forms of Eldridge Gymnasium ~ 19 Maple Avenue • Alice Eldridge built the Mead Cottage ~ 50 Maple Avenue • Built in 1886, this house was acquired roof of the bell tower is week, was kept in a small bureau drawer. Later the Joseph and Sarah Robbins Battell. Urania was the widow graduate of Williams College, and attracted students from as Welch Fountain • Given by the town in 1892 in memory of Dr. William 23 26 of Music and Art and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. scrub down Kellernecessary. to designRoads were a library not hard- for the town in 1888. entertainment and began to raise the necessary funds. 18 house was occupied by Matthew Ryan, who came of James Humphrey, a United States Congressman from far away as New York. Quarterly tuition ranged from $3 to $5 depending upon the Wickham Welch, the fountain originally served as gymnasium in 1892 in memory of her by the Mead familyIncorporated in 1893 and was in 1758, the summer Norfolk residence is not an old town by surfaced untilA the disciple 1920’s. of the great American architect Josiah Henry Pettibone House ~ 10 North Street • Built in 1806 by the son of With stores and the post office on the first floor and a Ann Havemeyer and39 Barry Pettibone TavernWebber ~ 3 Greenwoods Road East • Built in 1794 by town from Ireland with his brothers and opened a woolen Brooklyn. A masterpiece of ecclesiastical design in the course of instruction. One of the Academy’s most distinguished graduates was the a circular watering trough for horses and dogs at of Charles Mead,Connecticut brother of architectstandards, William but R. because Mead later 20th century Hobson Richardson and architect of the Soldiers and John Curtiss Road cousin Ellen Battell Stoeckel’s son Frederic Norfolk Volunteer Fire Dept. Bell • Originally hung in the tower of the Royal 7 leader Giles Pettibone, the house is a classic five-mill near Buttermilk Falls. In 1836 the first Catholic mass in Norfolk was47 held here. theater upstairs, the completion of Village Hall in 1883 Romanesque Revival style, Battell Chapel incorporates astronomer Asaph Hall, who discovered the moons of Mars. The building was later the entrance to Westside Road opposite the Welch of the renowneddevelopment firm McKim, has Mead largely & passedWhite and it of theby, the town 33retains the Sailors Memorial Arch in Hartford’s Bushnell Park, one of the original proprietors of Norfolk, this house Hillside Street Battell Terry, who died unexpectedly at the bay Georgian design with a symmetrical façade, 23enhanced the business district and provided a stylish traditional architectural elements with modern functions: the semi-circular apse used as Town Hall, and in the 1920’s it was part of Cora Brown’s popular boarding homestead. Dr. Welch was the last of the dynasty of neoclassical expatriatearchitectural sculptor charm Larkin and Goldsmith ambience Mead. that were created around Arcanum building, theKeller fire usedbell was russet a gift freestone, to the town quarried at Longmeadow, was later owned by 48 age of sixteen. Designed by Henry Rutgers set to work laying out the mapcenter Majorand chimney, James and Shepard, classical whodoor surround. With Warren Cone House ~ Greenwoods RoadMusic West Shed • Deacon Warren Cone, cultural center for the community. Although the architect projecting toward the Green was used as a parlor, and the bell tower served as house Crissey Place (#13). It is now the Norfolk Historical Museum. Welch doctors who took care of Norfolk townsfolk for the turn of the 20th century when Norfolk was a popular Massachusetts,from Frederick and M. fishShepard scale in shingles 1907. The below bell a wasroof struckof fluted terra cotta tile. In operated it as the Exchange Hotel and built a large 44 remains unidentified, the distinctive façade with its asymmetrical fenestration, flat Marshall and constructed of buff-colored the opening of the Greenwoods Turnpike in 1800, 49 22 the principal entry into the sanctuary. Sheathed in native granite, the Chapel is a over a century. 1911by the he Meneelydesigned Bella seamless Co. of Troy,addition, NY. aIt large was movedreading toroom opening at the rear addition. The north ell is original. manufacturer of grass and grain scythes, built this wall surface with variegated shingles, and ornamental detail suggests the work of pressed bricks with a broad sloping roof that summer resort. The Village Green reflects Norfolk’s colonial the location of this house made it ideal for use as a harmonious grouping of attractive forms, which provided a place for worship as was originally terra cotta tile, the gymnasium offered rowing machines, exercise ofthis the locationlibrary and when lit bythe two new rose firehouse windows wascreated built by in Maitland1974. Armstrong. To the house in 1836 in the Greek Revival style which 50 Place an architect familiar with Japanese aesthetics, the latest craze following the 1876 Walters Cottage ~ 54 Maple Avenuelayout; • the Henry Church Walters of of Christ New Britain sat at bought the center of town, its white tavern, operated by Giles Pettibone, Jr., and later by Station well as parish gatherings. The addition to the south was constructed in 1966 for Railroad Bridge Railing ~ Maple Avenue • In 1905 there were six eastbound apparatus, a bowling alley in the basement, and two tennis courts in front where 27 writingeast the one-story Smith children’sdescriptions wing, also sheathed in Longmeadow stone, of historic buildings flourished in this country in the middle decades of 19 steeple rising above the shade trees that circled the Green. Captain John H. Shepard. Centennial1 International Exhibition at Philadelphia. New York-based architect Sunday School and meeting rooms. and six westbound trains passing through the the CT State Championships were held. The southeast extension was originally this lot from Augustus P. Lawrence in 1884 and built a the 19th century. With the gable end turned toward the Maple Avenue With the opening of the Greenwoods Turnpike in 1800, the was added in 1985. Excursion to Center Cemetery and Haystack Mountain • Continuing Josiah Cleveland Cady, working in Norfolk at this time, may have provided Greenwoods Road underpass each day, including a porte-cochère, and the large veranda on the west has been enclosed. Dances, house which he offered as a summer cottage rental. up40 North Street, look for the Nathaniel B. Stevens House (#30) on the right. Built street, forming a pediment, houses in this style evoked commercial district grew along the thoroughfare toSite the of north. the Norfolk Inn • A Norfolk landmark for many years, the Inn was 2 the design. At the time, his Metropolitan Opera House in New York was under Battell House ~ 20 Litchfield Road • Built by the Rev. Joseph Eldridge in freight trains that transported anthracite coal from parties, lectures, and recitals were held in the Gymnasium. In 1906 Mark Twain’s Multiple gables, paired windows, and varied surface on the route. Christopher Little took the Greek temple form, white and pristine, a symbol of 19 21 11 The Connecticut Western Railroad arrived in 1871,demolished34 and in 1968. In the 1890’s it was known as the Stevens House and had in 1834, it is one of the few examples of the Gothic Revival style in Norfolk, with a the ideals of the ancient Greek democracy to which Americans aspired. construction,20 and it is perhaps no coincidence that both buildings are unusual 1845 and designed by Charles Thompson of Pennsylvania. Isabella Eldridge undertook to daughter Clara Clemens made her singing debut at the Gymnasium, following materials are typical of the late Queen Anne style. 8 7 Station Place became the town center and primarythe reputation entrance of being one of the best-kept hostelries in New England. The Inn steeply-pitched roof and decorated verge boards on the gable. Take a left onto Old 3 examples18 of a multi-functional17 cultural center with shops on the ground floor New Haven, this four-square house with hipped improve the railroad right-of-way near the library which the author gave his now-famous speech on stage fright. The building was An interesting feature is the chamfered corners and Greenwoods Road East to Winsted to the village for summer visitors attracted by providedthe pure housing for an influx of summer visitors and contained fifty-seven rooms Colony Road, and you will pass the Nathaniel Stevens house on the right (#10), Excursion into Stoeckel Estate • A stepped masonry fence built of brick roof was the family residence for eighty years. that she had built in 1888 and asked Alfredo Taylor sold to the town in 1920 for use as a Town Hall. It was remodeled in 1985. woodwork of the front façade. photographs of each building, and 45 . Following the death of their parents, Mary, to design a railing for the northern edge of the railroad underpass, which would mountain air and spring water. Several summerwith hotels accommodations were for seventy-five guests. Rates were $2/day and $10/week. built by a hatter in 1764 and among the oldest colonial houses in town. Center 49 Norfolk Bank ~ 18 Greenwoods Road West • The construction of this built, no longer extant. Cemetery, established in 1757, is on your left. Alongside the founders of Norfolk on a stone base and capped by marble dominates the6 16 Isabella, and Alice Eldridge made extensive replace the boxed-in water pipes that had previously served as protection. Taylor’s The Alders ~ 69 Maple Avenue • Washington, CT-based architect Ehrick 9 4 attractive stone building for the Norfolk Bank in 1857 28 The history of Norfolk is intimately entwined with the family lies the grave of James Mars, the last slave bought and sold in Norfolk (1798), streetscape on the west side of Greenwoods Road, alterations. Architect J. Cleveland Cady added design is marked by an elegant combination of straight and curved lines with two Norfolk Drugstore ~ 58 Greenwoods Road West • Now a private residence, began to fill in the fabric of Norfolk’s commercial center, K. Rossiterof designedmerchant this Joseph picturesque, Battell Queen and his wife Sarah35 Robbins, Melinda Belter providedwho wrote his autobiography thein 1868. Back ongraphic North Street, the excursion ends at once lined with small houses. It marks the edge of 5 a third floor and a gallery to the south, dressing the house with classical trim, rough-cut granite piers descending in an arc to the carved wooden railing. Mounted and this stretch of road became known as Main Street. Anne-styledaughter house in 1898of the for town’s Charles first Spofford, pastor. Their descendants are this building was originally built as the Norfolk Drug Haystack Mountain State Park on the left. A short hike will take you to the granite the Stoeckel estate, now the summer quarters10 of the 15 appropriate for the terraced Italian gardens kept by the sisters. In 1935 after the on the piers are two Arts and Crafts wrought iron electric lamps, also designed by As with many New England buildings, the classical trim death of the sisters, Ellen Battell Stoeckel purchased the house, asked architect Taylor. The railroad underpass is now filled in. Walking Historical Norfolk Map credits: son of Ainsworthresponsible Spofford, for Librarianmany of of the Congress. buildings that surround the Store, purchased by George T. Johnson in 1876. It tower designed by Ehrick Rossiter in 1927 for Ellen Battell Stoeckel in memory of Yale School of Music and Art. The Battell-Stoeckel 12 pieces including the pilasters, entablature, and pediment Alfredo Taylor to return it to its original lines, and presented it to the town as a Produced by the Norfolk Historical Society Now calledGreen. Manor As House, a result it was of Rossiter’s their patronage, first Norfolk’s Historic design.is said that when he came eastFunded from Texas, Johnson byher father a Robbins generous Battell and her husband Carl Stoeckel. grant Note the bronze tablet in family had a long association with Yale. Robbins Battell, a 1839 Yale graduate, was a benefactor and patron of Gustav J. Stoeckel, 14 of the entrance are made of wood. community center. It is now part of the facilities used by the Yale Summer School commissionDistrict in Norfolk. encompasses He would later the design work the of seven 19th and early 20th intended to go to Norfolk, Virginia, but when he Designed by Melinda Belter the wall inscribed with the motto “To thy God, to thy country, to thy family, to thy the university’s first professor of music. Gustav’s son, Carl, became secretary11 to of Music and Art and the Norfolk Chamber Music Festival. Photographs by Christopher Little Music Shedcentury and Haystack architects Tower. of national standing, a representation hard purchased his ticket at Grand Central Station in Litchfield Road to TorringtonRoyal Arcanum Building ~ 3 Station Place • This multi-purpose building town, be thou ever faithful.” Historic photo by Marie KendallRobbins Battell and married his daughter, Ellen. Carl and Ellen Battell Stoeckel 50 Historic images from Norfolk Historical Society Collection to match elsewhere in the state in towns of similar size. fromNew York he was mistakenlythe given AKC one to Norfolk, Fund, the end result is a Bellows Block ~ 76 Maple Avenue • This house originally stood at the Connecticut. He stayed and operated the Drug Store for over sixty years. It was founded the Norfolk Music Festival for which they built the Music Shed, designed 13 was designed in 1904 by Alfredo Taylor to house Generously funded by the AKC Fund, Inc. 29 Methodist Church ~ 11 North Street • Now a private residence, this was relocated to the Royal Arcanum building (No. 50) in 1906. 41 by Ehrick K. Rossiter in 1906. Mrs. Stoeckel left the 78-acre estate in trust for use the Norfolk Volunteer Fire Department, organized in © 2015 corner of Greenwoods Road and Station Place and was known as the Bellows Block. When the Royal Arcanum a mission church that served, among others, by Yale University. 1902, and the clubrooms of the Wangum Council William Henry Welchwonderfully Plaque • On the site of the Welch homestead, detailed this self-guided tour building (No. 50) was constructed in 1904, the house was 36 factory workers in industries along the Blackberry of the Royal Arcanum, a fraternal society active in Town Meadow • The town meadow was once used as pasture for cattle moved to Maple Ave. and provided rooms for boarders. plaque commemorates the birthplace of Dr. William H. River, with occasional services held in the Aetna Norfolk. The insignia of both organizations mark belonging46 to Robbins Battell and marked by a wooden water tower. Welch,of son ofthe Dr. William W.architectural Welch and Dean of the gems Silkof Mill. Thedowntown classical entrance treatment and The crown and monogram VMC theiron either respective side of entrances the main frontingentrance Station stand forPlace. the Johns Hopkins Medical School, who revolutionized the the gable “temple” front are marks of the Greek Thurston Building ~ 24 Greenwoods Road West • This Queen Anne-style three governing principles of the Royal Arcanum: virtue, mercy, and charity. At the i practice of modern American medicine. The square steeple was removed Revivalwhen the style, church popular became in the a private 1830’s residence. and 1840’s. 47 west end of the building a pedestrian arcade marked the entrance to the post office building with varied shingle work was erected in the 1890’s and drugstore. Norfolk. If you don’t have a copy be sure to stopby William Thurston by for his plumbingthe business. Museum, Note the the Norfolk quarter-round brackets with an incised radial pattern that With a steeply-pitched slate roof and exposed rafters, patterned red and green brickwork, and green faience panels, Taylor’s distinctive design creates a lively support the first floor pent roof. Library, or Town Hall to pick one up. We think you will find it texturedan surface hour firmly rooted in the Artswell and Crafts impulse.spent A Beaux-Arts educated architect, Taylor designed over three dozen structures in the greater Norfolk area, and his imaginative designs are now part of a National Register Thematic District. A Walking Tour of Norfolk, Connecticut learning about our beautiful village. The map will be featured in this season’s Compliments of the Norfolk Historical Society

exhibition. We are saddened by Vint’s recent passing and deeply grateful to him www.norfolkhistoricalsociety.org and Anne for this lasting legacy.

7 The Norfolk Historical Society 13 Village Green P.O. Box 288

Norfolk, CT 06058-0288

Illustration of Norfolk Historical Museum by Mary Beth Whalen Beth Mary by Museum Historical Norfolk of Illustration

Ann Havemeyer and Dianne Pierce Dianne and Havemeyer Ann Editors:

plate negatives. Those prints are for sale at the Museum to benefit our Conservation Fund. Conservation our benefit to Museum the at sale for are prints Those negatives. plate Farmyard Scene, one of the prints made by Michaela Murphy from Marie Kendall’s original glass glass original Kendall’s Marie from Murphy Michaela by made prints the of one Scene, Farmyard