F foH- Of
FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
» (Fifth Meeting House)
* The Marvin House (see page 6)
i
The McCurdy House (see page 6)
Hi!! !!!niFI!I!!lll lllllllllllllf illlPllllliliiilllliilllll Landmarks of OLD LYME
THE BEGINNINGS OF THE TOWN
LD LYME was originally part of Saybrook when the latter Owas founded in 1635. However in the years following quite a number of Saybrook settlers acquired land and established homes east of the Connecticut River; amongst them were the Lay, Noyes, Champion, Griswold, Marvin, DeWolf, Lord and Ely families. On February 13, 1665, at a ceremony known as "The Loving Parting," the friendly separation of Saybrook and Lyme took place, and Lyme became an independent "plantation"; two years later, on May 9, 1667, a decree of the General Court at Hartford authorized the change of name to that of Lyme. There is a tra dition that Lyme was named after Lyme Regis in Dorset, Eng land, based on an unconfirmed legend that the Griswolds and/or the Sills came from that town. Others believe that the fact that the Lees of Lyme came from Lyme, Cheshire, England, may have had something to do with this town being so named. Lyme originally comprised an area of 80 square miles. In 1835 the eastern section became an independent town known as East Lyme; and in 1855 the south-west portion withdrew and became legally Old Lyme. In connection with setting the boundaries of Lyme, the story runs that there was much controversy about a strip of land be tween Bride Brook and the Niantic Rive*, also claimed by New London. Finally the two towns decided to "leave it to the Lord" but appointed two champions from either side to settle the dis pute by "fighting it out." Legend has it that Matthew Griswold and William Ely were chosen as the Lyme champions and that they won the contest and the^isputed land. There is no legal record of this decision in the town annals; however a decision of the General Court is recorded, alloting the disputed strip. During the earlier days there was fear of trouble with the Nehantic Indians living on the land at the mouth of the Con necticut River; crops were gathered with sickle and rake, but the trusty musket was always within quick reach. On Sundays look-outs stationed on Meeting House Hill kept a wary eye out for possible attacks from these Indians. In point of fact no local fighting with the Indians is recorded, rather the records show that not a few of the settlers have held, through the years, prop erty deeded to them by the Indians. The Indians lingered OR for some time: a letter written by Governor Talcott states that in 1775 there were no less than 163 Nehantics within the township of Lyme, and among them were several who joined the Congre gational Church. Old Lyme has always made its contribution of soldiers to the armed forces of our country. But the only time the local militia seemed likely to be needed to protect its own territory was dur ing the War of 1812 when a contingent of Royal Marines from a British warship lying at the mouth of the River, rowed up as far as Essex and burnt 28 ships; at which time earthworks were hastily thrown up in Lyme, on the heights of Mather's Neck and the trained bands were on the alert for possible further attack from the British.
INDUSTRIES During one period Lyme was noted as a shipping center. Many of the men of Lyme were competent shipwrights who applied their craft to building ocean-going and coastal vessels for Lyme's merchants, John McCurdy, N. L. and G. Griswold and Captains John and Thomas Sill and others. The sturdy and exact craftsman-ship of these shipwrights is also found in many of the fine old houses. Throughout the years there have been other industries in Old Lyme: iron works, grist mills, fulling mills for treating woolen goods, mills for weaving cloth and other materials, and lumber mills. In connection with the last-named industry, tradition has it that immense logs were floated down the Connecticut River from the forests of New Hampshire and Vermont and up the Lieutenant River to the Sill Log Landing and there conveyed overland to the saw mills in Laysville, where they were cut up into building material and shipped out again. In earlier days the fisheries were also a profitable industry, and from 1746 Lyme had a state monopoly for the manufacture of salt.
THE STREET "THE STREET," from earliest times Old Lyme's main thorough fare and now officially Lyme Street, extends northward from The Green 1M miles, through a broad avenue of arching elms and maples, to the Peck Tavern, where it forks into Sill Lane to the west and to the Boston Post Road to New London eastward. Along, and adjacent to, this street a number of the original found ers of Lyme and their descendants have for over two and a half centuries made their homes.
THE GREEN, a fairly ample triangular space at the south end of the Street, occupies a sort of crossways, with Ferry Lane running west and the Country Road, now the Shore Road to New London, branching eastward diagonally opposite. From earliest times The Green was a focus of civic life and the scene of outstanding events in the town's relatively tranquil history. Here the trained bands were mustered and drilled; here the harsh justice of those earlier days was publicly meted out at the whipping post, that stood in one corner of what is now the church yard, and in the stocks which stood in front of the McCurdy House. In the days preceding the Revolution especially, The Green was a veritable nursery of rebellion, and much secret plotting is accredited to the surrounding householders. Here Lyme staged its own little "Boston Tea Party," on March 16, 1774, when a peddler from Martha's Vineyard arrived on horseback with a hundred pounds of tea in his saddle-bags. He was arrested, examined, and that same evening the local Sons of Liberty assembled and just above where the present church stands, burned the peddler's entire stock. Later, after the Battle of Lexington, feeling in Lyme ran so high that one hundred men were raised in one day and set out from the Green to march to Roxbury. And later still, July 27, 1778, this same Green wit nessed the arrival of General Lafayette, in command of a detachment of troops going eastward. Here they were fed from nearby Parsons Tavern, and encamped in the adjacent fields. The Green in earlier days was doubtless smaller than now. Some of the older houses have been moved back from the street, and the newer ones have been purposely more withdrawn. The present FIRST CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH, facing the Green at the southwest corner of Ferry Road, is a replica of one of New England's most famous early churches. The original structure was erected on this site in 1816-1817, at a modest cost of $8,000. by Col. Samuel Belcher, architect, from plans of a Lon don church, of a much earlier date, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The corner-stone was laid June, 1816. The timbers of the frame were brought down the River from the northern Vermont woods and were of huge size. There has been com ment on the unequal spacing of the front columns but few people realize that this is due to the fact that the central col umns support the weight of the steeple. As first constructed the church was furnished with very high, old-fashioned square pews; and the first pulpit was high and circular, reached by steps from each side. In 1836 the pulpit was lowered and in 1850 was removed altogether and replaced by a platform, and modern pews were substituted for the square ones. In 1887 the interior was re-decorated and an apse added by Henry R. Marshall, architect. After standing for ninety years this church, Lyme's loveliest landmark, was destroyed by fire on July 4,1907. In the ruins was found a shapeless mass of molten metal, from which five hundred little dinner bells were made and sold for $1. each to start a fund toward rebuilding the church. Within a year the present struc ture was built, faithfully reproduced from drawings, plans and photographs. On June 19, 1910, the new church was dedicated. AJ^^/J^f - Few New England*churchesTiave so frequently been reproduced? : yK
6 Her father, Judge Richard Lord, obdurately opposed their marriage, but tradition has it that he capitulated when his daughter threatened to "jump out of the window." So John McCurdy and Anna Lord were married on January 16, 1752. Mr. McCurdy's business prospered rapidly and soon many vessels were carrying his merchandise to Holland, the West Indies and Ireland. During the War for Independence, General George Washington was entertained in this house on April 10, 1776, on his way from New London to New Haven, and so also was General Lafayette on July 27, 1778, when in command of troops going east; and later in 1825, Lafayette was again guest of Richard McCurdy. Charles Johnson McCurdy, judge of the Su preme Court of Connecticut and United States Charge d'Affaires at Vienna (1851-52) was born in this house December 7, 1797. (Dr. and Mrs. Thad- deus Ames) On the Ferry Road corner, across from the Church, stands the STEPHEN PECK HOUSE. This house which dates from 1830, stands on the site of a still older Peck house, and is still in excellent re pair. (Mrs. Leona Marsh) On its grounds at the corner stood an old building popularly known as THE CORNER STORE; legend has it that about the year 1840 a quantity of cannon balls were found in the cellar which had been intended for use against the British in the War of 1812. The CAPTAIN SAMUEL MATHER HOUSE, (now the Parsonage) immediately opposite, is a gambrel roofed structure, presumably built about 1790. It passed from Captain Samuel to his son James, then through a succession of owners ending with Mrs. John Mather Chadwick, who bequeathed it to the First Congre gational Church for a parsonage, with an endowment fund of $10,000. BOXWOOD, next on the right, was built in 1842 as a private residence by Richard Sill Griswold, a member of a prominent shipping firm of New York whose ships plied the China trade. (Nathaniel L. and George Griswold were the founders of the firm which was popularly known as "No Loss and Great Gain Griswold"). In this house Richard Sill Griswold (son of the original owner) and his family made their home for many years. In 1890 Mrs. Richard Griswold founded a boarding school for girls at Boxwood, which she conducted very successfully until 1904. The font in the Church was given in her memory by the Boxwood Alumnae. After her death the place passed through many hands and is now a summer hotel. (Boxwood Manor.) The WATTE HOUSE. The tract of land extending north from Box wood to the present property line of Mrs. Faulkland Lewis was acquired in 1815 by Henry M. Waite and Charles W. Waite and the latter about 1820-21 built the house just south of the Home Site Hardware store. For many years the post office was in this house and Capt. Waite and his son Gilbert served as postmasters. (Mr. George King) On the north side of Home Site Hardware store is the site of the former home of Henry Matson Waite, Chief Justice of the State of Connecticut. Diagonally opposite at the corner of Academy Lane stands the MASONIC BUILDING on the site of the Old Lyme Academy long a secondary school for boys and girls, which was destroyed by fire in 1885. This building, housing the POST OFFICE, contains in part the old Town Hall which was bought and presented with additions and alterations to the Masonic Lodge by the late Hermon Hubbard. The NOYES-BECKWITH HOUSE, at the north west corner of Beckwith Lane, is the oldest surviving of the many Noyes houses in Lyme. Built about 1700-1712, probably by Moses Noyes II, on the site now occupied by THE FLORENCE GRISWOLD HOUSE, it was considered too old to be of any value and was offered in 1816 by William Noyes, a grandson of the builder, to any one who would remove it. Accordingly a man by the name of Tinker brought it to its present site, where it still stands in excellent re pair. From 1872 to 1890 it was the summer home of Morrison Remick Waite, Chief Justice of the U. S. Supreme Court. (Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Burr) The tradition is that this house long blocked traffic in its one-mile trans fer, and that the problem was finally solved by waiting for winter in order to shift it on sleigh runners. Two rooms in the attic are still shown as the slaves' quarters of early days. Before the Civil War this house was a link in the "Underground Railway," where runaway slaves fleeing for freedom were harbored over night. Directly across The Street stands the DANIEL CHADWICK HOUSE, with its flat roof and captain's walk, dating from 1830. It is un altered, save for the enlargement in 1905 of the two second-story front rooms. Daniel Chadwick was a renowned sea-captain of the packet-ship Era, well known in both New York and London, and said to have been called
8 "Admiral of the packet-ship fleet." The house passed later into the posses sion of the Banning family and for over half a century was known as the Banning house. It is now owned by Capt. Guy Chadwick, U. S. N., great- grandson of the first owner. Next, north of the Daniel Chadwick House, stands a house built by a Marvin of Lyme before 1815, to wThich an ell was added in 1892. Besides the builder, Dr. John Noyes, and Capt. Daniel Chadwick lived there. Mrs. Davis Brainerd, Capt. Chad- wick's daughter, inherited the house and during her husband's pastorate (1841-75) it served as the parsonage. During the Brain- erds' and later Farwells' occupancy it was the village musical center, where people of the neighborhood would gather with their instruments to make music. Mrs. Martha B. Farwell, daughter of the Brainerds, and her family lived in the house until about 1930. (Mrs. Faulkland Lewis) The APPLEBY HOUSE, at the south east corner of Library Lane, dates approximately from 1790, when it was built by a certain Maxon, believed to have been a sea captain. After the death of Miss Nancy Maxon, it was acquired from the heirs by Mr. Nelson Appleby. (Appleby Estate) This house is a fine example of its type. It has four fire places and a very large kitchen with ovens. All the iron work is hand-wrought. The old back entry is floored with field stone, and the chimney is built of the same. One feature almost unique in local houses is that the doors of the four upstairs rooms have little shutters in their upper panels for ventila tion, as do state-room doors of passenger ships. THE LIBRARY, facing south from a knoll on the upper corner of Library Lane (first Featherbed Lane, later Appleby Lane) is a memorial to Phoebe Griffin Noyes, and was named after her and "erected by her children, Charles Henry Ludington and Joseph ine Noyes Ludington" in 1898 and dedicated on June 23rd of that year. (Stephenson i? Greene, architects.) The Library is free to town residents. The building is an adaptation of the Colonial style, done in dark red brick with stone trim, and stands appropriately on the site of an old Lord House, the birthplace of Phoebe Griffin Noyes. The original house was built in 1730 by Col. Sheldon, purchased by Joseph Marvin and inherited by his grandson, Joseph Lord, in 1794. It was occupied by the Lord fam ily until about 1883 and finally demolished, to make way for the library. A circulating library existed in Lyme as early as 1787, a printed cata logue of its books formerly hung in the present building. There were 390 volumes, mainly sermons and histories, and included only three novels:
9 Amelia, Sir Charles Grandison and Don Quixote. About 1866, Douglas Waite, a brother of Chief Justice Waite, established a circulating library or "Book Club," which was finally merged in the Old Lyme Free Library. When later the Old Lyme Musical and Literary Association was formed, this nucleus was turned over to them. This association built the so-called BAND ROOM on Ferry Road, and here the library was first housed. Then in 1898 the new library building was handed over to the Phoebe Griffin Trust Corporation and its contents and management entrusted to the Ladies Library Association which had been organized in 1895. Although space had been prepared for 10,000 volumes, the library soon outgrew its capacity and plans were discussed for an additional wing. Meanwhile in 1901 the first of the annual art exhibitions, forerunners of the present Lyme Art Association, was given in the Library main reading room, a custom that continued down to 1920. While these exhibitions and the after noon teas that went with them were both pleasant and profitable, a growing need was felt for a larger gallery for the Art Association and more stack space for the Library. Two factors presently took care of these needs: the erection in 1920 of the Lyme Art Gallery, and the generous bequest of Mrs. Salisbury, who died in 1917. By her will a cumulative reserve fund was left to the Library and furthermore it was provided that if a new wing were built for stack space and a genealogical alcove, half the cost should come from the Salisbury estate, the Ladies Library Association providing the other half. In raising this other half, the accumulated proceeds of the Art exhibition teas gave a nucleus of $1,073; while the sale of the old Band Room yielded a substantial addition. By the summer of 1925 the new Mc- Curdy-Salisbury wing was finished and dedicated. The Library now (December 1951) owns 22,799 books. The Library contains portraits of Phoebe Griffin Noyes (over the read ing room mantel), also portraits of Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite, and of Charles Johnson McCurdy, Chief Justice of Connecticut. The McCurdy- Salisbury collection of china, housed since 1918 in the upstairs Historical Room, contains rare specimens of silver lustre pitchers, Liverpool printed ware, iron stone china, Satsuma, Italian and some choice Staffordshire and Lowestoft pieces. The MEMORIAL TOWN HALL, a,little further up The Street, to the west, was erected in 1920 at a total cost of $40,000 of which $25,000 was appropriated by the town and the balance raised by popular subscription. It is a memorial to the sons of Old Lyme who served their country in the time of war. The design is modi fied Colonial and is the work of Payne, Griswold 6- Keefe. Above the stair landing in the lobby is a mural by Albert Herter, sym bolical of the spirit of the doughboy. It is flanked by two bronze tablets, that on the left containing the names of Old Lyme men who served in World War I, and that on the right those who served in the War between the States. Centered between the above is a tablet in honor of those who served in World War II, presented by the Salvage Committee of Old Lyme
10 from funds received from the sale of waste material. c% ^S«< A******'^ Off the lobby, on the first floor, are the offices of the Town Officers and *J^*%W*i fire-proof vaults for vital records; on the second floor are rooms for the Fire -tOi/—I0«J Department, Visiting Nurse, The Red Cross, and club rooms for the Ameri can Legion. In the course of time the interior of the structure was remodelled and v. enlarged to care for the needs of a greatly increased community. On September 18, 1949 this remodelled Hall was re-dedicated with : appropriate exercises. During March 1951 a cupola with glass windows and balustrade was added to the center roof, to make an observation post for the air-plane "spotters" of the civilian defense program. In early days town meetings were held in the church on Meeting House Hill. Later in severe winter weather they were held in Parsons Tavern. In the years just prior to 1861, when Old Lyme was set apart, the Town Hall occupied what was considered a central position in the township, at Laysville Corners in the Rogers Lake section. This building was part of the town Poor Farm; and the matron and the selectmen shared their assembly room in common. Next to the Town Hall is a beautiful example of New Eng land architecture in the gambrel-roofed JUSTIN SMITH HOUSE, built some time in the 1700's. The house has passed through many hands in the years, but fortunately the successive owners have been interested in preserving the charm of the original building. A few changes have been made in the interest of space, but the low-ceiled rooms with their wide board floors and wall panelling remain much the same. (Mr. and Mrs. Russell D. Steane) The OLD LYME SCHOOL built in 1934 and dedicated May 30, 1935 by the Hon. Wilbur L. Cross, Governor of Connecticut, was erected at a net cost to the town of $100,000, from designs by Ernest Sibley and Thomas Raymond Ball. The building consists of auditorium-gymnasium, library, administration unit, manual training unit, and eleven class rooms. A large wing was added in 1949 to accommodate more classrooms. The facade is of pink and grey granite, quarried in Old Lyme by local workmen, and the remaining walls are of whitewashed brick. The whole building is of one story only and encloses two large inner courts, providing ideal lighting. The "first district school" erected about the time of the Revolution stood for many years on the north-east corner of Libraiy Lane opposite the Apple by house. Here Henry Matson Waite and other distinguished sons of Lyme received their early education. In 1921 this ancient landmark was moved down Library Lane and is owned by Miss Margaret B. Morrison. u Further to the north on the right stands the home of the late George Brainerd Burr. The house was built by Dr. Shubell Bart- lett in 1844, on land purchased from Capt. Thomas Sill. In 1849 when the "gold rush" started he went to serve as a doctor in the gold fields of California, but lost his life crossing "The Isthmus." Mr. John Peck Van Bergen bought the house and land, which he called "Cricket Lawn" in the early 1850's and he and his family occupied it until 1908. Directly opposite stands the old AVERY HOUSE, a quaint, gam- brel roofed structure, supposed to date from 1726, and now owned by Mrs. George Bogert. This has been known as the Deming House, and at one time there was a Deming's Landing on the river bank behind it, beside a shallow where there was an old Indian ford. The house was long occupied by an Avery family, and later by their daughter, Mrs. Conklin. In recent years, when the fire place in the north front room was being repaired, a hidden sampler of Roy alist character was discovered. The JOHN SILL HOUSE, standing next on the west side of The Street, with land extending to the Post Road corner, is a dignified square structure, dating from 1817 and designed by Col. Samuel Belcher, architect of the old Lyme Church. (Mr. and Mrs. Whit ney Carpenter) It was built by John Sill on land inherited by his wife Abbey, daughter of William Noyes. The carpenters who built the house were all ship-and- boat builders, and the heavily timbered frame is put together with beauti fully fitted oak pins. There is a hidden closet in a second-story cupboard, said to have been a smuggler's closet. Here Captain Sill is supposed to have concealed smuggled silks, satins and laces. He was arrested, taken to New Haven and placed under bond not to leave the town limits. But he had been recently married. So on many a night he would mount a swift horse, ride the 36 miles to Saybrook, when a Noyes cousin would row him across the Connecticut and up the Lieutenant River to his own landing. A fresh horse would land him back in New Haven before dawn. From 1822 to 1860 this was the home of Charles Johnson McCurdy, and also for many years the home of the Huntington family. After proceeding northward through the new Underpass, on a spacious law to the westward stands Lyme's long, low, graceful ART GALLERY, designed by Charles A. Piatt and completed in 1920. The Lyme Art Association regularly holds three annual exhibitions running through June to Labor Day. The first and third exhibitions are open only to members of the Association; the
12 Boxwood (see page 7)
The Noyes-Beckwith House (see page 8) The William Noyes House (see page 13)
The Justin Smith House (see page 11) THE BENJAMIN FRANKLIN MILESTONES (see pages 14, 18 and 21)
On Meeting House Hill
At Watering Trough, On Ferry Road Boston Post Road
-•••• •::: Peck Tavern (see page 14)
The Thomas Sill House (see page 15) The Silas Sill House (see page 16)
Team of Oxen with Load of Wood
The Oliver Lay House (see page 16) The Enoch Noyes House (see page 17)
The Reuben Champion House (see page 18) The Red House (see page 19)
The William Smith House (see pages 21 and 22) MEETING HOUSE MARKERS (see pages 4, 5, 21)
South Markers
North Marker
Salt Haying second is open to residents of Connecticut. In 1900 a group of American landscape painters discovered Old Lyme, found congenial headquarters at the hospitable home of Miss Florence Griswold (see below), and gathered in steadily augmenting numbers. It soon became a year-round colony, and gradually one after another of the artists took root and established permanent homes. In 1901 the first public exhibition was held in the Library, and continued to be held there annually until the present Art Gallery was built. In 1912 the Lyme Art Association was incorporated, with charter members including such names as Henry W. Ranger, Carlton Wiggins, Clark Voorhees, Louis P. Dessar, William H. Howe, Childe Hassam and Henry R. Poor. This pioneer art association in a New England village has steadily increased, and stands as a recognized factor in the progress of American art.
A hundred yards or more northward is the WILLIAM NOYES HOUSE, now known as the Florence Griswold House, of double importance, first because it is the best preserved of the older Noyes houses, and secondly because it is the birthplace of the Lyme Art Association. A stately old mansion, with its two- story pillared fagade, designed by Samuel Belcher, architect of the Church, was built in 1817. This section of the town northward was in early days mainly owned by the Noyes family and long known as Noyestown, and the Lieutenant River as the Noyes River. In 1840, William Noyes, moving to Albany, sold this house to Capt. Robert Griswold, whose family occupied it until 1937. In 1878 his widow and her three daughters here opened a school for young ladies, which included instruction in painting, the piano, harp and guitar. In 1900 Miss Florence Griswold, left alone by the death of her mother and sisters, decided to open her house to a group of landscape painters. The first to appear was Henry W. Ranger who was looking for a place for his spring painting. He no sooner arrived than he recognized an ideal situation for his work. He persuaded Miss Florence to invite a num- ^ ^s ber of noted painters to join him to form what he was pleased to term an^ •« % "American Barbizon." This was the beginning of the Lyme Art Colony. *** *** Among Miss Florence's guests, to mention only a few, were Henry Ranger, ^t*'*T1rri^-t Henry RTToor, Childe Hassam, Will Howe, Frank Du Mond, Allen Tal-asT?k'-*S.i\J*'»C\ cott, Will Howe Foote, Harry Hoffman, some of whom left permanent me- T? ^^^ mentos of their stay by their paintings on the panels of their genial hostess' I Avovv* doors and walls. Toward the end of Miss Florence's life, The Florence Gris-*t «..- ^ wold Association was formed (1936) in order to make her last years pleas- *« ant. The Association now has the privilege of carrying on a memorial that is ^ not only an appreciation of Miss Florence but a Museum that is of ini-lvj. *. portance to a vital period of American art. Continuing north, we pass next on the west side of the road the JUDGE WILLIAM NOYES HOUSE, built some time between 1756 and
13 1790 and originally a fine example of Colonial architecture. It has, however, been much modernized, moved back 100 feet from the street line with added porches, a front portico and a wing in the back, and extensive interior changes. It is now a summer hotel. (The Bee & Thistle) Further north is the RICHARD NOYES HOUSE, built on the east side of the road by Dr. Richard Noyes in 1814. The original Indian deed, conveying this land to the first Moses Noyes, was the only one that had ever passed until 1950, and the property de scended in the same family name until that date when it was sold to Mr. William Leonard for an Inn (White Farms Inn). PECK TAVERN, one of the oldest surviving dwellings in Old Lyme, stands facing south down the Street, at the fork of Sill Lane and the old Boston Post Road. It was built, probably not later than 1675, by Joseph Peck, who settled in East Saybrook about 1662, and is an interesting example of early architecture, with projecting inside porch, heavily carved and ornamented. The tap room is on the left as you enter, and the parlor on the right with Gothic paneling. On the second floor is a ballroom, with a swinging partition. For generations this house was a social center and the scene of many balls. (Mr. G. Austin Beardsley) The tavern ran for many years during the reign of George III. and its sign was the Arms of the Peck family. During the Revolutionary War it was a center for distributing food and clothing to the passing soldiers. At the little triangle facing Peck Tavern, near the watering trough, stands one of the Benjamin Franklin milestones marked NL XIV ML (New London 14 miles); this stone was moved back about 1000 yards from its original position on the old Boston Post Road. SILL LANE TO BOSTON POST ROAD This section includes Sill Lane to its junction with the Ham burg Road (Saunders Hollow), thence easterly over Matson Hill to Laysville and north-easterly to the old Boston Post Road. Sill Lane takes its name from one of the most distinguished early settlers of Lyme, Captain Joseph Sill. Born in England in 1636, Capt. Sill came with his parents to the United States in 1637 and settled in Lyme about the time of the "Loving Parting" from Saybrook. He was married twice, first to a niece of Lieut-Governor Thomas Donford of Massachusetts, and later to Sarah Clark Marvin, widow of Lieut. Reinold Marvin. Capt. Joseph served brilliantly in King Phillip's Wars, 1675, and has come down in his tory as an outstanding "fierce Indian fighter" of his day.
14 To the west just before crossing the little bridge over Mill Creek (the eastern branch of the Lieutenant River) is an old house dating from before 1800 and now owned by Mrs. John Condict. This house was built by a certain Mr. Hill and was run for a time by the Misses Hill as a boarding house for men working in the ship yards on the Lieutenant River. Subsequently it served for a time as the town Poor House. WATROUS BECKWITH HOUSE. Across the bridge on the east side of the Lane is a house believed to have been built some years before 1800 by Watrous Beckwith. This house has passed through the hands of a long succession of Old Lyme families: Beckwith, Lord, Peck, Tucker, Clark and DeWolf. Close to the house on the mill stream was Dorr's fulling mill. (Mrs. John Condict) Next to the west, at the bend of the road, stands the old THOMAS SILL HOUSE, dating from 1799, and said to have been built by ship's carpenters. It is now the summer home of Judge and Mrs. Alfred C. Coxe. The first Sill homestead was begun in 1698 by Joseph, oldest son of Captain Joseph, who that year acquired land north of Mill Creek. In 1716 he and his brother acquired more adjoin ing land and the younger brother, Zachariah, built a second dwelling about sixty rods south of the other. These two sons had between them eighteen children, whose progeny in the course of years gave this section of Lyme the name of Silltown. A short distance to the eastward, at the end of Mill Lane, are still some remnants of the original OLD MILL, erected by the Town of Lyme in 1672. After running the mill unsuccessfully for some years, the proprietors of Lyme voted at a town meeting, Sept. 25, 1684, to make an agreement with John Wade of Brook Haven, L. I., to move to Lyme and operate the mill, giving bonds for the fulfilment of his contract and "taking toll according to law." Not only was this agreement kept, but other concessions were later granted to Wade, including a saw mill, felling mill and iron works. Descendants of the family retained an interest as late as 1830. Continuing along Sill Lane, is the OLD WADE HOUSE on the east side of the Lane, built approximately in 1750-55, and owned by Mrs. Louise Jenkins. When John Wade contracted with the town of Lyme to run the grist mill, the town on its side allotted him 102 rods of land adjoining the mill
15 land. Here he built the first Wade House, certainly earlier than 1697. This homestead remained in the Wade family for over 200 years, and on Wade's death in 1728 the house and some 28 acres passed to his son George. The original house stood a little east of the present one, which was probably built by George Wade. No date can be fixed with certainty; but the pres ent house stands partly on land that was once part of the original highway and so never owned by the father, John. The house contained some unique mural paintings, including a panel depicting an imaginary village scene, known as "Amen Street." A recent fire so damaged these murals that it was impossible to restore them. Further up the road to the west, at the junction of the Saunders Hollow and Laysville roads, is the SILAS SILL HOUSE, which later came into the Matson family and was latterly owned and occu pied by the late Commodore Nathaniel Matson Terry, retired, U. S. Naval Academy. This house was built in 1786; the front remains as it was, the wing is a later addition. (Captain and Mrs. A. K. Atkins) Turning towards Laysville, the first house to the north is the DEACON NATHANIEL MATSON HOUSE, dating from 1786. (Messrs Terry and Ogden Ross) Nathaniel Matson 1st came to Lyme about 1715. He was given a grant of 42 acres by the town — now Matson Hill — and became one of the orig inal owners of the Stone Woolen Mill in Laysville.
LAYSVILLE TO BOSTON POST ROAD The bridge over Mill Creek marks the dividing line between Sill Town and Laysville. Just across Mill Creek to the north stands the STONE MILL, owned and operated for years by Capt. Thomas Sill and Deacon Nathaniel Matson for the manufacture of woolen goods, woolen yarn and satinet cloth. The mill is still in operation and is owned by Mr. John delle Donne. The third house, north of the Mill surrounded by some splen did old trees, stands the OLIVER I. LAY HOUSE, dating from 1818. The house has undergone many exterior and interior changes. (Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Thome, Jr.) South of the Laysville triangle, is a fine dignified house, the LYNDE LORD HOUSE, 1739-46, built by Mr. Lynde Lord, son of Enoch Lord, who gave him the land. It has some interesting architectural features — huge chamferred beams built into the chimney foundation — dentilled mantel — six-panelled doors. (Miss Keiber and Mrs. Stucky) 16 FERRY ROAD Going back to the Church corner: westward is Ferry Road. Prior to 1730, Ferry Road was a mere pathway running only to the Pierpont property, where the Old Lyme Inn now stands, and called "Pierpont Lane." In that year the town voted to acquire enough of the Pierpont land to open up a high way as far as the Lieutenant River, where the right to run a ferry had been granted to Samuel Mather in 1724 for which he might collect toll: "for man with pack and load, 4 pence; for single man or horse, 2 pence; public men and officials, free." In 1731 the first bridge over the Lieutenant River was built. The OLD LYME INN, built in 1876 by a syndicate of Old Lyme men on part of the original Pierpont estate, was first appropriate ly named the Pierpont House. It was completely renovated in 1905; the east wing was then added. The last house on the south side of Ferry Road before cross ing the Lieutenant River is the HILL HOUSE, dating from about 1775. The first owner, Hill, was a shipwright, whose ship yards were in the rear together with large warehouses. Mr. Hill built vessels for John McCurdy and other merchants, which sailed to the West Indies with cattle and farm tools, exchanging these goods for rum and molasses. (Mr. and Mrs. Harry T. Griswold) Beyond the Lieutenant River bridge the highway forks and Ferry Road here curves to the left and runs through what was formerly known as Mathers Neck. All the adjacent land is part of the original holdings acquired by the first Richard Mather in 1687 and is now owned by the great grandchildren of Enoch Noyes. Some distance up the Road, on the west side is the ENOCH NOYES HOUSE, better known as "The House on the Hill." It was built in 1819-20 by Enoch Noyes, sergeant in the War of 1812, on the site of an old "salt-box" Mather house. This house has passed down through Enoch's son, Charles Rockwell Noyes, to his grandson, Charles Noyes Chadwick, who remodelled and enlarged it in 1913. The house is now owned by a great-granddaughter of Enoch Noyes, Miss Mary M. Chadwick. In the dining room is some old panelling taken from the Old Lay House, "Between the Rivers," when the latter was demolished. The old well was dug for the former Mather house, some time prior to 1754. On Ferry
17 Road, at the east end of the old garden, stands one of Benjamin Franklins milestones, marked 16 M NL (16 mi. to New London.) Further along on the east side of the road stands the REUBEN CHAMPION HOUSE, built in 1840, acquired later by Henry Noyes. (Mrs. E. F. Laucks) The present dining room in the basement was a shipwright's shop, where Reuben Champion worked at his ship building. Across the road was his shipyard, on the Connecticut River shore. Here he built vessels em ployed in the tea trade with China. Altogether no less than seven deep sea captains have lived in this house. A little further on, opposite the landing place of the old ferry stands the FERRY TAVERN, formerly the Bacon House, built by Matthew Bacon in 1835. This house was built on land deeded to Bacon by Enoch Noyes, April 15, 1831. When first opened, the Bacon House was the terminus of the stage route, before the railroad was built. Cornelius Vanderbilt, sailing up from New York on his Hartford and N. Y. steamship line, stopped at the Bacon House and formed an association with its owner, running the tavern and the steamship line jointly. A hundred yards or more around the curving point of Mather's Neck the land rose formerly to a rocky bluff; and on this emi nence Richard Mather, arriving in Lyme in 1687, built his home. Today not only the house has gone but the bluff of granite was blasted away to form the piers of the railway bridge, leaving only an abandoned quarry. Richard Mather was grandson of Richard the first settler, nephew of the famous Increase Mather, president of Harvard College, and first cousin of Dr. Cotton Mather.
THE NECK ROAD The Neck Road is the north fork of the road after leaving the Lieutenant River bridge. On this road, beyond the four corners (Hall's Corner) on a bluff overhanging the road to the east stands the HUNTLEY HOUSE long occupied by one of Lyme's many seafaring men, Captain Huntley and his descendants. The house was built by Capt. Huntley in 1828. (Mr. and Mrs. E. Jay Huss.) Just below it across the road is the CHRISTIAN HIGGINS HOUSE built in 1773. The house has some fine features — a strap-work decorated mantel in the west room and a panelled wall with two interesting cupboards in the east room. (Mrs. R. O. H. Hill)
18 About a mile further north the Tantummaheag Road branches off westward to the river; near the fork are clustered three COULT HOUSES. The first of the Coult houses, on the east side of the Neck Road, was built about 1710 by Capt. John and Sarah Lord Coult; it is the earliest of all the Coult ancestral homes in the country. Diagonally across, on the left stands the Coult house built about 1810 by Wm. Coult and his second wife, Mary Marvin. Next to this, on the Tantummaheag Road, stands the house built about 1760 by John Coult. (Mrs. Wm. Fisher Coult) The name Tantummaheag is derived from the Indian Brave "Tantom Maheage," who though notably friendly to the white settlers, brought suit against some of the colonists for injury to his crops and was awarded damages by the Hartford Court, Sept. 7, 1648. This section of Lyme was devoted largely to Indian farms, and arrow heads are frequently unearthed here. Near the end of the Tantummaheag Road, on the shore of the river, are grouped three LORD HOUSES. Back from the roadway, to the south, stands the RICHARD LORD HOUSE, erected in 1790; its interior is notable for wall paintings still well preserved. The house was built from designs by Richard Lord's son, who went on a whaling trip and left the construction work to his father. The plans called for a ten-foot ceiling, but the father, deciding that "there was no such thing," reduced the height to eight feet, with the result that some ceiling beams remain visible. {Capt. and Mrs. Paul Hains) Further on, at the right, stands the DR. WILLIAM LORD HOUSE, with its dignified pillars, built in 1829. At the left is the third of the Lord houses, known as the RED HOUSE, originally built about 1688, two miles up Lord's Cove and moved to its present site over the ice, about 100 years ago. (Mr. and Mrs. W. G. Burt)
THE SHORE ROAD The road running east from The Green is now generally known as the Shore Road to New London; originally it was part of the stage coach road to Boston running over Meeting House Hill. Just before reaching Duck River on this road, to the north is the entrance to Duck River Cemetery. The earliest graves are not marked, but there are several 17th Century tombstones still standing. As one enters the cemetery, the old portion is on the right. Here are to be found the graves of Lieut. Reinold Marvin, 1634-76; Rev. Moses Noyes, 1643-1729, his wife Ruth, 1654-90; Capt. Joseph Sill, 1636-96; Gov. Mat thew Griswold, 1712-97; his wife, Ursula, daughter of Gov. Roger Wolcott,
19 1724-98; Capt. Ezra Lee, famed for his exploits with the "American Tur tle," the first submarine, 1749-1821; Rev. Stephen Johnson, the revolu tionary patriot, 1724-86; Rev. Lathrop Rockwell, 1769-94; Judge William Noyes, 1727-1807; John McCurdy, 1724-85; Richard Lord, who died in 1716, and his wife Elizabeth. Among the early settlers here buried are many of the Griswolds, Mathers, Pecks, Lees, Miners, Tinkers, Chadwicks, Champions, Sills, Freemens, Wades, Sears, Clarks, Denisons, Burnhams, Millers, Lords, Marvins, John sons, and Noyes. Some of the old stones are worth special attention: Reinold Marvin lies in the oldest section with his first and second wives on either side. His epitaph reads: "This deacon, aged 68, Is freed on earth from serving (pronounced "sarvin") May for a crown no longer wait, Lyme's Captain, Reinold Marvin." To his left, his first wife's stone1 reads: "Here lieth the Body of Phebe Marvil Wife of Rennul Marvil, who died October 27, 1707, in the 31 year of hur age. Hur Body only Resting here Hur Soul is fled two a hier spear." Another unusual epitaph reads: "Here lies ye body of Mrs.2 Sarah Griswold, Single Woman, Who departed this life Jan. 4 A. D. 1760."
Beyond DUCK RIVER BRIDGE the Shore Road bears south east, passes the Old Lyme Country Club and continues under the Railroad Bridge to crossroads. Here at the south east corner stands the INGRAHAM-BECKWITH HOUSE, known as "The Willows." (Mrs. Mathew Griswold, Sr.) The Ingraham-Beckwith House is one of the oldest, best preserved and most representative homesteads of its period. In 1765, one Ephraim Brock- way conveyed to his son Jonathan three acres of land, on which "my said son's house stands, which he is now building." This land began at "a heap of stones which led down to Brockway's Landing," a landing dating before 1679 and of great importance in connection with the harvesting of salt hay in the days when Lyme raised herds of cattle.
1 This stone was evidently the product of local talent. aThe use of "Mrs." as a courtesy title for elderly spinsters was not uncommon, but the addition of "Single Woman" seems to hint at a strong and independent character, and letters owned by her family verify this impression.
20 MEETING HOUSE HELL ROAD Branching off from the New London Shore road just east of the Duck River bridge winds Meeting House Hill Road, some times known as "Johnnycake Hill Road." This is the original Boston Post Road, over which the stage coaches once rumbled between New York and Boston. Some time between the years 1753-1775 Benjamin Franklin, during his terms as Deputy Post Master General under the Colonies or Post Master General under Congress, laid out this road. About 150 yards east of Duck River stands one of the mile stones which he set up; it bears the inscription NL XIV ML (14 miles to New London.) A short distance beyond this the road forks and the now abandoned and almost overgrown roadway that branches north was the original thoroughfare. After crossing Duck River, the first little house under the rock agwl T) ledge is the KING HOUSE, said to have been built by a retired sea J^J^jr* captain before 1815 partly out of ship's timbers. The timbers /* are hand hewn and those in the living room contain holes into "% which frames for hand looms were fastened. Several generations x £ *v% ^ of the original builder are said to have lived here prior to 1867. Ax1*1*1^ Quite a few changes were made but old structures on the place K^^t*1^ were used; the east wing was a wood shed and the west wing KtH * l*7J originally a cow barn. (Mrs. Kendall Banning) ^***%*»* At the summit of Meeting House Hill and adjoining the site of <* ^^ the first meeting house is probably Lyme's first burying ground. * Wu./ Several of the headstones have crumbled away and the inscrip- * ^^ ^ . tions and dates have become illegible. Here may be found the \y *-v.H^Y graves of many of the oldest settlers whose names have figured v*004„ d^t prominently in the early history of Lyme: Lee, Lay, Ingraham, %^V9c \ Watrous, Tucker, Sears, Deming, Peck, Clark, Brown, Smith, *}cJt«%lAv*i Marvin and other worthies. i K*iV * Two granite markers, side by side on the south side of the road- £* C1^JT way indicate the sites of the First and Second Meeting Houses, at !3 ^>|f*v^jj /a point where the old Indian trail crossed the hill. About 200 yards to the northwest "6FtheseTon the north side of the aban doned road, stands a similar marker that shows the site of the -r, . Third Meeting House. VK4%-K%V3 The WILLIAM SMITH HOUSE, standing on the crest of a rise a v**y-cAvJ4oi short distance east of the burying ground, dates prior to 1778. Ir) fev**-*K « This house was built by William Smith and remained in the family for I «* T ** **>• four generations. Here lived Union Sparrow, daughter of William, who ran Ir^oWu, *V^ into the Third Meeting House when it was struck by lightning in 1815 and C^^D^*^***!
21 |U**CW»K rescued the hymn books in her petticoat, at the risk of her life. (Mr. and Mrs. James Madison Macdonald) THE GREENFIELD HOUSE, located across the railroad about a quarter of a mile beyond on the south side of the road, was built about 1690; the front of the original house, as well as many of the original beams, are still preserved. The well shares the distinction of being the "oldest well in Lyme," with that on the Griswold estate in Black Hall, bearing the date 1640. This house became the center of interest early in the 19th century when its owner, Elisha Greenfield, an ardent Seventh Day Adventist, assembled a group of his fellow believers, clad in white robes, and awaited the pro phesied end of the world and their transportation to heaven. (Mr. and Mrs. Edward J. Barber)
BLACK HALL Two miles eastward of "The Street" begins that section known as Black Hall. Probably the name is derived from the first crude structure built here in 1645 by Matthew Griswold I — a log cabin for the use of a negro servant who occupied it before the pale faces dared to sleep on this side of the river, and to which was given the name "Black's Hall." After crossing the Black Hall River bridge, on the north side of the road, is an inconspicuous iron gate behind which lies the Griswold burial ground. Here, among others, are the graves of Governor Roger Griswold and of Capt. Robert Griswold. The JUDGE MATTHEW GRISWOLD HOUSE, the first building on the right as one turns down Black Hall Lane, was built in 1798 on the site of the house erected by the Judge's grandfather, John Griswold, at about the time of his marriage in 1713. Here a number of young men studied law with the Judge, among them his two nephews, Charles and Roger, and Judge Ebenezer Lane of Ohio and Judge Henry M. Waite of Connecticut. (Dr. and Mrs. Matthew Griswold) The COL. CHARLES GRISWOLD HOUSE, next on the right, was built in 1822 by Charles, one of the sons of Governor Roger Gris wold, who came to his military title through service as aide on his father s staff. He was a man of cultivated tastes and spent much of his time in England. While Col. Griswold was in Lon don news came to him of the destruction by fire of the old church on Meeting House Hill, and it was he who brought back
22 the Christopher Wren plans for the new structure. (Mr. and Mrs. W. E. S. Griswold) The CHARLES CHANDLER GRISWOLD HOUSE, at the end of the Lane, was not built until 1842; it stands slightly north of the site of the first house on this property, built by Matthew Griswold I; the well bears the date 1640. A second house was built here by Gov. Matthew Griswold IV, when his son, Deacon John, married Sarah Johnson, daughter of Rev. Stephen Johnson, but was torn down when the present structure was erected. (Mr. and Mrs. W. E. S. Griswold) The Gov. ROGER GRISWOLD HOUSE, commonly known as the "Black Hall Griswold House," stands near the end of the road way that branches to the left toward the beach. It was built in 1810 by Roger, son of Gov. Matthew Griswold. Gov. Roger, born in Black Hall in 1762, graduated from Yale in 1780, entered the law, was elected five times to Congress, was judge of the Supreme Court of Connecticut for two years, and after serving as Governor of Connecticut for one and one-half years, died in office. (Mr. Matthew Ely) The CAPT. AUGUSTUS HENRY GRISWOLD HOUSE, built in 1821, owes its English attributes to Elizabeth Lansdale, the pretty Sus sex bride whom Augustus brought home with him from one of his many voyages. Among the heirlooms here treasured is an armchair brought from England by the pioneer Matthew Gris wold. (Mr. and Mrs. Dana T. Bartholomew)
MILE CREEK ROAD The STEPHEN DEWOLF HOUSE, a cottage-type house built in 1794 by Stephen and Theodosia Anderson DeWolf. Fortunately few structural changes have been made so that it retains its old- time charm. (Mr. Edward S. Paine)
FLAT ROCK HILL SECTION The SETH CHADWICK HOUSE dates from 1831, and like the land for generations before it has come down through family suc cession until recently acquired by the present owners, Mr. and Mrs. Frederick Broatch. Capt. Chadwick was a distinguished sea captain of his day and is credited with many voyages between England and America. The deeds of this prop erty go back through the maternal ancestors to a direct grant from the Crown. For the frame of the house Capt. Chadwick selected trees from
23 doFKs
near Middletown, and had logs brought down the Connecticut River on rafts. The original building is intact, though two wings have been added. There is a so-called "Indian Seat" in a rock formation on this property, where legend has it that the chief tribal ceremonies were held.
The JOSEPH PECK HOUSE, a little one-story house built in 1666- 1715. The structure of the house remains practically undisturbed, except that a small kitchen was added in 1933. It contains the very large chimney of its period — large at the base and tapering to the top to average size. Until the early twentieth century the house had been in the Peck family since 1666. (Mr. and Mrs. Howard Brooks)
21 BLACK HALL
The Judge Mathew Griswold House (see page 22)
The Colonel Charles Griswold House (see page 22) UUN241968
BLACK HALL
The Governor Roger Griswold House {see page 23)
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FLAT ROCK HILL
The Joseph Peck House (see page 24)