Recipient of NEMA New England Museum Association First Place Newsletter Award Vol. 10 No. 1 Winter 2017 Newsletter for the Lebanon Historical Society A 21st Century Twist on the Traditional Family Farm By Donna Baron Farming has Unless noted provided a major our programs and events part of Lebanon’s are open to the pubic and economy since the are held at the museum town’s founding. ● Sunday, December 3 ● 6pm to 8pm Lebanon Tree Lighting & Open House Above: Enjoy warm mulled cider and Nursery stock ginger cookies by the fire ready to ship. while kids make holiday crafts. View our latest exhibits and Left: take a lantern tour of the Acres of grow Beaumont House and houses on Prides Pastor’s Library property. ● Wednesday, January 10 ● Over time, agriculture changed from 7pm raising livestock to mixed crops and After a year or two, woody ornamentals History Book Club dairying and then orchards and truck and such as rhododendrons and azaleas “Thirty-Eight: chicken farms. In 1979, a new kind of began to replace the tomatoes as the farming came to Lebanon with the core crop. Mark, a graduate of Cornell The Hurricane That opening of Prides Corner Farms. With University with a degree in horticulture Transformed New England” a business model of raising nursery and botany, joined his father in 1980. by Stephen Long plants for wholesale to garden and home Vegetable growing was left behind and improvement centers and landscapers Prides Corner moved forward into the and partnering with their customers wholesale nursery business with about to solve problems, Prides Corner has five employees, five acres of plant ● Sunday, March 18 ● become an important part of Lebanon’s material and a couple hundred thousand 2 pm agricultural history. dollars in annual sales. CT Beer Making Darien, CT resident, Peter Sellew had The 1980s were difficult years as the Talk on the history and left his New York City publishing job Sellew family struggled to train and present state of brewing in Connecticut and bought a small property in retain a talented pool of employees. followed by a tasting. Washington, CT where he started a tree With a goal of being “an employer of farm and raised nursery stock. In 1977, choice,” Mark is proud that many of the $5 admission he bought a 70 acre property in Lebanon early employees and their families still members & non-members with hydroponic tomato growing work on the farm. Today, Prides Corner greenhouses from the Gaucher family. Events continued on Page 4 Continued on Page 10 Lebanon Historical Society Newsletter Winter 2017 Page 1 From the President The mission of the Rick Kane Lebanon Historical The Society continues to be active in improvements and additions to our campus Society grounds and also our mission to provide quality Lebanon History programs and events To encourage a sense for our community. Since the publication of our fall edition of Provisions, we hosted of community, the many visitors with the ‘Ye Olde Lebanon Militia’ Revolutionary War encampment. The Lebanon Historical encampment was held over the weekend of September 8-10 with reenactors portraying both the Continental Army and the British Red Coats! During the afternoons of Society connects Saturday and Sunday the crowd was entertained with a mock battle on the Lebanon residents and visitors Green. Cannon and muskets could be heard for several hours as soldiers captured with the people, places, the flag! objects and stories Later that month, the Society held its 51st Annual Antique Show on the Lebanon of the Town’s past. Green and; although the weather was cool and damp, we had a very good turnout. We were pleasantly surprised when our governor, Dan Malloy, and wife (and security detail) Board of Trustees appeared at the entrance gate. Thanks to Committee Chair, Jacy Worth, and the cast of volunteers the Antique Show was a success again this year. In October, we held our second ‘Soup and Story’ night with our Master of Ceremonies, State Historian Walter Woodward. The attendees were entertained with many local stories of Lebanon and Columbia focused on the theme of transportation and travel. Walt records the stories and makes them available on podcast accessible via web site www.gratingthenutmeg.libsyn.com Thanks to our terrific staff and volunteers for planning and making sure all the mission related events are well coordinated for participants and guests. We now turn our attention to our open house on the night of the town’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony and additional winter programming. Please see the upcoming programming notes herein. We continued to add to and upgrade the Museum grounds as mentioned in past articles. The Memorial Bricks have been re-etched in granite and replaced in the front walkway. The funding for this project was supported by money bequeathed to the Society by Ellen Lathrop, specifically for this purpose. Ellen was a founding member of the Society in 1965 and a member of the committee that originally sponsored the brick walkway. Thank you Ellen. Anyone who wishes to retrieve their original brick is welcome to do so. Let us know and we will retrieve your brick(s) and make them available. We are in the process of constructing a combination woodshed/privy in the rear of the Welcome Beaumont House (it may even be complete by this New Members! publication). We have added a ‘5 Mile Rock’ replica. “The Family five-mile square at Poque-chaneag was bounded Keith & Michelle Kersey on three of its corners by trees long since gone, of Lebanon but the crucial southwest corner is marked by the Nicole Yolda Five Mile Rock, which remains today as Lebanon’s of Lebanon most ancient landmark.” George Milne, Lebanon: three centuries in a Connecticut hilltop town (Lebanon Individual Senior Historical Society), p6. Carol Sommer of Waterford While interesting to view, it remains difficult to access. Thanks to a donation from former president and longtime Society member, Glenn Senior Couple Pianka, we have a replica of the 5 Mile Rock on George & Elaine Clark campus grounds adjacent to the Pastor’s Library. of Lebanon Thanks to all our members for your continued support. Page 2 Winter 2017 Lebanon Historical Society Director’s Message Trivia Answer: Donna Baron Working at the Historical Society, I sometimes wonder what the word “history” means Paper hanger George E. to people today. Our mission statement says that the Lebanon Historical Society Martin made and sold encourages a sense of community by connecting residents and visitors with the people, G.E.M. “Cough Remedy” places, objects and stories of the town’s past. What do you think of when you see these in the house at 15 West words? Town Street, which For some people, Lebanon’s history is all about the Revolutionary War which is certainly some residents still call GEM Cottage. Martin’s a major episode in the town’s past. The Historical Society has often commemorated this business failed, though aspect of Lebanon’s history with programs, exhibits and, most recently, an encampment on tradition suggests that in our expanded campus. Governor Jonathan Trumbull, William Williams and the other 1915 he opened a patriot leaders will always be of interest and importance. But there are so many other confectionary store in stories. his home. Around The early settlers who came to a new place to start farms and begin a new life 1920, the house was The native people who were here before the English arrived given to the Baptist Families who left Lebanon for brighter prospect elsewhere and new comers who arrived to take Church for use as a over their lands parsonage. Baptists from Rhode Island who came to farm and championed the abolition of slavery Irish laborers who came to work in the rubber-slitting mill and established a Catholic chapel The men who left to fight for the country during the wars of the 19th and 20th century Would you be willing to sponsor The families who stayed behind to keep farms and businesses going our newsletter? More families who left as jobs grew scarce Eastern European and Italian farmers, French Canadian textile mill workers Every issue of the newsletter costs But, history is even more recent with changes that have impacted Lebanon over the last $300 to produce fifty years. The “How They Learned” exhibit explores history that many Historical Society and mail. members and Lebanon residents personally remember. Spring 2018’s new exhibit about travel and transportation will also spark personal memories, but we still could use your help. Please share images and stories of vehicles and trips that were or are important to you. Call 860-642-6579 or stop by the Museum. We’d be delighted to look at your pictures and listen to your stories. Thank you for your generous donations to the Dorothea "Dolle" Fischer Memorial Fund American Legion Post 180 Joanne Lapaglia Roberta Anthony Dr. & Mrs. Gerard Lawrence Brian & Liz Bourne Betty Mackey Kevin & Christine Brown Robert & Margaret McCaw Center for Primary Care - Yoga Classes Susan Miller Colleen & Jim Crebase Howard & Annamarie Mindel Donna DiMaggio Maxine Mindel Ronald & Judith Falk Patricia Perkins Doris & Craig Fischer Maurice & Lucy Simard William & Joan Russoniello Goba The Ernie Staebner Family Jim & Julia Hallene Ruth R. Wheeler Alan & Alicia Lamb Lebanon Historical Society Newsletter Winter 2017 Page 3 Liberty Hill and Chestnut Hill Post Offices Part Two By Ed Tollmann Once a system had been worked out, and Mrs. J.H. Burrill telephoned for help the mail seemed to run smoothly with from Chestnut Hill, Cook Hill and Unless noted the Chestnut Hill Post Office in the Village Hill.