Cheshire 325th Commemorative Magazine by Record Journal

CHESHIRE COMMEMORATIVE

MAGAZINE

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cheshire 325th

Table of Contents 4 6 11 15 23 29 32 35 41

Cheshire’s Founding Fathers Our Fertile Lands The Education of Cheshire The Business of Building a Town Then, Now and In Between History of the Cheshire Historical Society Mary Baldwin & The Cheshire Library Cheshire CSI: The Forgotten Files The 1950s, Cheshire... and Me published by

ELIZABETH WHITE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT & ASSISTANT PUBLISHER • lwhite@rjmediagroup.com JIM MIZENER VICE PRESIDENT, ADVERTISING • jmizener@record-journal.com JOHN ROOK EDITOR • jrook@cheshireherald.com ERIK ALLISON CREATIVE DIRECTOR • eallison@record-journal.com BARTOSZ ZINOWKO GRAPHIC DESIGNER • bzinowko@record-journal.com

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The Town of Cheshire has a rich history of civic engagement and volunteerism, and we are proud to be a part of this long tradition. We are pleased to celebrate the 325th anniversary of the settlement of Cheshire with our citizens and businesses.

Town Council

Robert J. Oris, Jr., Chairman/Mayor Paul Bowman, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Falk Patti Flynn-Harris Sylvia Nichols Thomas Ruocco Tim Slocum Peter Talbot David Veleber

Town Manager Sean M. Kimball

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Cheshire’s Founding Fathers

“People like heroes and Brown provides a couple of brave young men settling in a wilderness where no one has ever lived before,” Chesanow says. “Brown gives the heroes weapons to defend themselves, and tells of a horrifying first night at the Hotchkiss cabin. This is a memorable story, a story of bravery, a story of triumph over danger.”

by John Rook herald staff

Whether Ives did search days upon end for the right land on which to settle, or Hotchkiss did, with the help of courageous canines, survive a frightening first night in Cheshire, will never be known. What we do know is that over time, little by little, inhabitants of Wallingford, seeking new opportunities and fertile soil to tend, made their way to what over the years would be known as “west farm,” and then “Ye Fresh Meadows,” until finally adopting the name Cheshire, given to it by Thomas Brooks in 1723.

The story of America is one of movement. From England to Denmark to the shores of the Atlantic, all the way to the Pacific Ocean, Americans have always been looking over the horizon wondering, “What else is out there?” That of course is how the story of Cheshire begins as well. At some point in the 1690s, residents of Wallingford began to get restless. Though their own town was just a tick older than 20 years, it was already growing too fast for some. They wanted a quieter place to call home. How it all started is lost to the ages, but in 1895, E.R. Brown offered his own version of from whence Cheshire came, when he wrote in his book “Old Historic Homes of Cheshire” a vivid account of what may have transpired to bring the first settlers to the area. In Brown’s telling, it began with Joseph Ives, a Wallingford native who lived with his parents on their plantation. Restless as he entered manhood, Ives wanted to branch out on his own, so he would spend his days walking westward from his family homestead, gun in hand and wanderlust in his heart.

“During one of those journeys, he became interested in a section of land within the (Wallingford) colony … right where, in 1694, he located his future home by building a log cabin,” Brown explains. “It is probable that John Hotchkiss, an intimate friend, accompanied young Ives on these prospective tours, for it is evident that he settled the same year in those locality.” Ives’ cabin was built near the current Fenn Road, while Hotchkiss erected his cabin off of Wallingford Road, near Talmadge Drive. Legend has it that, on the first night Hotchkiss stayed in his new Cheshire home he brought along his two trusted dogs for company and security. In the wee hours, Hotchkiss heard the dogs barking and growling, followed by the distinct sounds of a savage fight. When the sun rose on the new day, Hotchkiss stepped outside his cabin to find one of his dogs severely injured and the other dead, lying next to the corpse of a bloodied wolf. As Town Historian Jeanne Chesanow explains, there is evidence to suggest that Brown’s story is, at least in part, made up. However, it provides a rather exciting first paragraph to the history of Cheshire.

In other words, it’s the perfect opening for the story of this community.

By 1694, settlements had been formed. To the south, the Ives, Doolittle, and Hitchcock families had set up farms, while the Hull and Curtiss families settled on Quinnipiac farms. Along the Ten Mile River, up against the “Blew Hills” to the northwest, John Moss and his family planted roots. The settlers worked their lands during the week and then returned to Wallingford for the weekend, or at least for Sunday services. But before long, a community had been formed and the “west farmers” wanted something of their own. By the early 1700s, they were petitioning to begin their own schools, then their own church, and eventually the right to be their own village. By 1780, nearly a century after the first settlers set foot on new land, and after decades of slowly but surely establishing a distinct identity, Cheshire was recognized as a town. Since then, a lot has changed. Small dirt roads suitable only for horses or stage coaches have been replaced by busy paved streets that connect Cheshire to so many neighboring communities. While many thriving farms still exist, the town now fuels its economy largely through commercial and industrial developments, with the majority of Cheshire residents setting off each morning to work in an office rather than a field. Generations have come and gone, yet the names of those original settlers can still be found sprinkled across the Cheshire landscape - on road signs, the sides of buildings, or attached to old homes that have stood the test of time. They speak to all those who call the current community home - reminding each what it took to make Cheshire a reality, and how the new inhabitants of “west farms” adds to the town’s legacy. This 325th anniversary asks that we take the time to stroll leisurely down memory lane, but it’s also offers a moment to pause and recognize that a community is only as good as the people in it. The settlers of 1694 started something. It’s up to everyone living in Cheshire to keep that “something” going. 4

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TEMPLE BETH DAVID

Our Fertile Lands

Proud to be serving the Cheshire community for the past 51 years

by John Rook herald staff

Land always tells the story of a particular place. People live off it, plant in it and build on it. As the community takes shape, it does so around the landscape in which it exists. The soil can even help define the character of a people. Nothing is as easy to still touch in modern-day Cheshire as is its agriculture legacy. Several of the farms and orchards in business today can trace their roots back to the 18th and 19th centuries, and while the owner’s names may have changed and the produce pulled from the earth may be different, the farming legacy of the town remains well in-tact.

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That seems proper given the fact that Cheshire, like all other villages and towns in the 1600s, was a community of farmers. “Ye Fresh Meadows,” as it was known when the first Wallingford transplants settled here, got its name from the fertile ground and an abundance of food that sprung from it. The first villagers traveled to “West Farms” to gather hay and cut pipe staves, and as more people found their way to the area, the land was surveyed and lots formed, to be doled out to certain Wallingford farmers.

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“A lay out of land did not permit the planter to locate himself and his family upon the land thus ‘layed out’ to him,” according to “History of Cheshire from 1694 to 1840.” “It simply gave him a prior right to the particular spot he had chosen as suitable for him or his sons to cultivate and improve when the war clouds should have passed over.”

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Hollow Farm in Cheshire

One of the first families to receive a “lay out” were the Halls — specifically Lieut. Samuel Hall, the grandfather of the Rev. Samuel Hall, who served as the first pastor of the Church of Cheshire. The borders of Hull’s land, as drawn up by Wallingford officials, likely wouldn’t pass a stringent review of modern-day zoning boards: “Beginning at a white oak tree standing on ye East side of ye river called Nuhaven Mill River about 25 Rodds from ye River half a mile above Scots Rock: from thence Westward 132 Rods to a stone yt lyeth in ye line between Samuel Cook and ye said Samuel Hall and from thence Southward half a mile above Scots Rock…” The description continues on from there, referencing a black oak tree, a chestnut tree, and the “crookedness of ye river” as markers for Hall’s land. It appears the lieutenant was able to combine two lots into one larger area, which certainly improved his farming capabilities. Those “lay outs” were just the beginning. Over time, more people came to Cheshire, which eventually broke away from Wallingford and started its own community. The farms that sprung up provided the backbone for the town, and what started as small family plots

transformed over the years into thriving businesses. Even into the first part of the 20th century, Cheshire was a community dominated by agriculture. The town has seen several old farms disappear. Whether the work became too difficult for older owners, or the land too valuable to ignore the offers from developers, they eventually vanished into history. However, some still remain, operating in many ways just as they did in centuries past — families working the lands and providing fresh produce for all to enjoy. In 1935, The Program of the Cheshire Tercentenary Celebration informed its readers that there were 22,000 apple trees, 700 pear trees, 30,000 hens and between 1,000 to 1,500 livestock in Cheshire, with approximately 2,000 acres set aside for produce. Those numbers have obviously gone down significantly over the years, but certain old farms and orchards keep the traditions alive. One of the oldest still kicking? Norton Brothers Fruit Farm.

The majestic grand house — visible from the road and still the most recognizable landmark on the farm — was built in 1857 by Nathan Booth, a civil engineer. Eventually, Booth’s daughter Elizabeth married Clarence Williams, and the two lived in the house and started what would be a very prosperous farm. The couple’s daughter, also named Elizabeth, married Samuel Norton, and thus began the Norton family’s tenure on the land. Perhaps the most famous Norton was Birdsey, who, along with his family — especially sons Judson and Donald, who eventually took over operations of the land — made the transition from dairy and produce to fruit trees, determining that the area, with its red sandstone hardpan, made a perfect environment for their new endeavor. Birdsey was famous for something else, however: He was Cheshire’s First Selectman from 1930 until his death in 1954. According to the book “Landmarks of Old Cheshire,” Birdsey was credited with not only continuing to run a successful business, but also for running “town affairs efficiently and economically,” but leadership didn’t come without its interesting moments.

Nestled on 35 acres off of Academy Road, this land has been worked consistently since the 1750s. Old horse stables and dairy farms have “(Once) when Birdsey Norton was in office, he been turned into a garages and retail stands, to received a call from an irate citizen complainaccommodate a new era of customers. ing that the horse of a local milk paddler left a ‘deposit’ in front of her house every morning,” recounts “Landmarks of Old Cheshire.”

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Blackberries at Norton Farms “Norton’s reply was short and sweet: ‘If only I were that regular.’” On the west side of Cheshire sits Arisco Farms, owned and operated by the Arisco family since 1922. The farm was originally begun on 118 acres off Ginny Hill Road, but the family moved operations to its current location on Marion Road in 1941. The land on which the current farm is located has its own unique past. Farming has been taking place there since the 1700s, and only three families — the Hotchkiss, the Hale and the Arisco families — have tilled the fields. With land that old, folktales are bound to attach to it. One such yarn deals with Native Americans who, according to legend, had a falling out with their tribal elders and took refuge in the hills overlooking the land on which Arisco Farm currently sits. The men and women reportedly lived out their days in nearby caves, using the land below to sustain them. And then there are the tales of Cheshire’s famous apple tree - which survived for more than a century and was so big it took six men standing arm-and-arm to measure its circumference. The tree, which was eventually destroyed by a hurricane in 1893, at one time produced over 100 bushels of apples. The farm was initially dedicated to produce, but as the years went on the Ariscos, like so many others, found that produce alone could not provide the income needed. By the 1960s, the family began to grow more annual and perennial flowers to help boost revenue. Cheshire Hollow Farm, off of Peck Lane, was known for generations as the Krampitz Farm. From 1911 through 1996, the 100 acres of land was owned and operated by members of the Krampitz family, the last of whom — Archie and Minnie Krampitz — sold the land to John Romanik under the condition that the couple could live there for the remainder of their lives. 9

Arriving in the early 1900s, Ferdinand and Julie-Anna Krampitz purchased 96 acres to build a home, till fields and raise nine children. Originally, the family only had eight acres of workable earth, and only one horse with which to do most of the labor.

1940s as a produce farm, it is now solely focused on flowers. With its more than 18 greenhouses operating all year long, the Kurtz family business thrives and promises to remain a part of Cheshire’s next century of agriculture.

Each day, Ferdinand Krampitz would load his produce into the family wagon and head to the Waterbury Farm Market. On the return trip, family legend has it that Ferdinand would often fall asleep and leave the “driving duties” to the horse, who would always return the family patriarch safely home.

Their annual Fourth of July fireworks display has also become a community tradition.

The business began to truly boom in the 1940s when Ferdinand’s sons, Archie and August, took over. The farm expanded to more than 40 acres of usable land and an irrigation system was put it. For years, the Krampitz Farm was known for its fresh produce but today, as Hollow Farm, it is more of a destination spot for those looking to celebrate a birthday or special occasion. With numerous animals roaming the property — everything from cattle to pot-bellied pigs to bunnies — it is a favorite of local children. The Krampitz old homestead is just one of the many farms in Cheshire forced to constantly reinvent itself. Bishop Farms, which has been producing fruit for locals for over 200 years, is open and popular once again, offering everything from ice cream to pumpkins to seasonal fruits. Kurtz Farm remains one of the biggest and most active in all of Cheshire. Begun in the

Just off of Academy Road, the Drazen family continues to operate Drazen Orchard -started in 1951 by David Drazen and kept alive by his son Gordon. The land has been worked since the 1800s, but the orchard has been a Drazen family affair for nearly 70 years. And then of course there is Ives Farm. Now owned by the Cheshire Land Trust, the 164-acre working farm is best known for its previous owner, Betty Ives, who took over operations when her husband died in 1969. Her passion for the land and determination to ensure that the farm would live on after her ensured that some of Cheshire’s most pristine land remained in tact. What the future holds for all of these properties, no one knows. If history teaches us anything it is that nothing will last forever. No assurances are made for tomorrow, let alone for next year, let alone 300 years from now. But for those wanting a glimpse into Cheshire’s past, all that need be done is to visit one of the community’s many vibrant farms. Each is a portal into the town’s essential agricultural history.

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The Education of Cheshire by John Rook herald staff

Gladys Chatfield’s grandmother was thrifty. So thrifty in fact that, over the course of one year in 1868, the old woman saved every five-cent piece she found or earned until, with $7 in hand, she was able to open a new bank account for her daughter. But when it came to education, Chatfield’s old granny wasn’t nearly as dedicated. “Gladys tells of her grandmother refusing … to pay for a geography book for her daughter,” the publication, “Landmarks of Old Cheshire,” recounts. “She had a simple reason: ‘No one in our family need study geography: they’d never have the money to go anywhere anyway.’”

Such sentiment would be unheard of in 2019 Cheshire. It is not an exaggeration to say that much of the town’s reputation is bonded directly to its standing as one of the best school districts in all of Connecticut.

Picture in the background is of Bowden Hall in the 1940s. Above, is the Cheshire Academy as it stands today.

People move to and stay in the community in large part due to the opportunities the school system provides. It remains arguably the main selling point for Cheshire.

In the early 1700s, Cheshire was still officially a part of Wallingford. Those who lived in the area were often referred to as “west side” men, but their praying and their children’s learning was still done in Wallingford.

So it should come as no surprise that residents have been talking about education since the municipality was founded. Actually, the conversations began even before the town was a town at all. 11

However, over time the growing West Farms community became increasingly frustrated with both the cost it required to send their children to school - records show that in 1713 families whose children attended class in Wallingford cheshire 325th

Dr. Horton’s residence (Cheshire’s first high-school) 1894 paid two shillings “a head” - and the effort it took to transport them. In 1714, the west side families had had enough and addressed their concerns to Hartford: “The humble petitions of the inhabitants of the west farms of the town of Wallingford humbly showeth that by reason of distance from the town and dificultys in the way are under grate disadvantages to attend on the publick worship of God & also for Edicateing our children, these with other dificultyes monish your humble petitioners to address themselves to your honours for a ramidye; and humbly pray this honorable assembly to grant yt we may be a parish … by ourselves & have ye privilidge of setting up ye worship of god among us … (or that a committee be set up to determine) as they in discration shall think fitt or from other ways as this honourable court shall think best we may be furthered and priviladged with the advantage of the worship of god and good Edication amoung ourselves.” With the petition in hand, Hartford asked Wallingford for a response. Would they support the west farms families in their attempt to break off and form their own parish and school? The answer was no. “...Yet we fear att present that they are not able to suport the worshipe of god amongst themselves as it aught to be,” the Wallingford town leaders responded. “... If the bonds prayed for be granted it will be greatly detrimental to ye towne and severall inhabitants living in sd bounds who cannot be so well acomidated to attend ye worship of God by a village as in ye towne, and we believe ye great wisdom and prudence of this assembly will never destroy a town to make a village…”

In the end, Hartford sided with Wallingford and against the west side farmers but, showing the kind of resilience for which “Yankees” became known, the farmers didn’t give up . They directly petitioned Wallingford, which agreed in 1719 to allow the community to educate its own children. That led to Cheshire eventually being recognized as a village and, in 1780, the persistence paid off fully when the Village of Cheshire became the Town of Cheshire. Approximately 14 years later, another staple of Cheshire education was founded. In the winter of 1794, the Convention of the Episcopal Church of the United States began discussions about the possibility of opening up an academy in Connecticut. In June, a meeting was held in Hamden to determine the school’s location. Cheshire sent five men, not all of whom were Episcopalian, to attend and make their pitch. Such a school, the community concluded, would be beneficial for the growing town. The group proved very effective. Cheshire won the day. Work began on a large brick structure large enough to accommodate students attending from all across the state - and in 1796, at a cost of 702 pounds, the building, named after the school’s first principal, the Reverend Dr. John Bowden, was officially opened. It remains in use to this day. It was the beginning of Cheshire Academy, and of the numerous name changes and transformations the school would experience over the next 200 years. Originally named the Episcopal Academy of Connecticut, the school was opened to

both male and female students. In fact, the original constitution of the school stipulated that, “Female education may be attended to in this institution by such instructors and under such conditions as the trustees shall direct,” and over the years approximately 117 female students attended the academy. Then, in 1836, the constitution was altered to ensure that “the academy shall be designed exclusively for boys.” Attempts to change this failed over the decades, and it wouldn’t be until 1969 that another female student would be admitted into the school. In 1860, with the country on the brink of civil war, the school’s name was changed to the Episcopal Academy Military School. Dr. Sanford Jackson Horton took over as headmaster in 1862 and immediately went about making drastic changes. Students were required to drill and wear gray military uniforms with military caps. A new building - heated by steam and lighted by gas - was built and named after Horton as a show of respect. The school’s instruction would remain military in nature until 1896, when it underwent another name change, this time to The Cheshire School. By 1917, the academy was known as The Roxbury School and had undergone yet another reimagining, this time into a “cram” school designed to prepare students to attend college - specifically Yale. It wouldn’t be until 1937 that headmaster Arthur E. Sheriff would give the school its current name of Cheshire Academy. Over the years, many prominent alumni have called the Academy home - financial tycoon J.P. Morgan; U.S. Navy Admiral Andrew Hull Foote; U.S. Secretary of the Navy during the Civil War, Gideon Welles; local artist John Frederick Kensett; and in more recent times, actor James Van Der Beek. But while the Academy may be the most recognizable name in Cheshire’s educational history, perhaps the most important belongs to one person - Julia Humiston. To understand Humiston’s influence on Cheshire education, one must travel back to 1894. In that year, aided by a generous gift of $1,000 from Mrs. Philocia Hotchkiss, the town purchased the old home of Rev. Sanford Horton, the Academy’s military-minded headmaster. The home had for a while been used to teach “low class” students who attended the Academy, but was eventually turned into the headmaster’s private residence. With a few modifications, the domicile morphed into the town’s first high school and, from 1894 through 1906, it served the community. However, enrollment declined steadily over the years as residents placed more value in their 12

Miss Julia Ann Humiston

By 1906, the situation had become dire. A meeting was called to discuss the high school’s future. The costs, officials determined, to run the facility had become too high, with too few students attending per year. The negatives, the town said, outweighed the positives. It was decided that the high school would be shuttered. Whether Humiston attended this meeting is unclear. What we do know is that the option to build a new school was never discussed. We also know that the subject was certainly on her mind. Humiston came from a wellestablished family and had earned for herself the reputation as somewhat of a philanthropist. Those who knew her described Humiston as someone who “truly cared about the town,” and as an “intellectual and cultur(ed)” person who was “beloved by all.” Five years after the school was closed, the structure had entered into disrepair. Father Time and New England weather had taken its toll. The old school was left barely standing. That’s when Humiston stepped in with a proposal: She would

provide the Town with $30,000 to build a new school, but only if they agreed to certain conditions. Humiston demanded that she be allowed to offer her input on the design of the building and make alterations if she wanted; that an accounting of all expenditures be provided; that the new school be built on the site of the old Horton home; and that it be named after her father, Daniel Humiston.

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The Town quickly agreed. “Whereas the citizens of this town in town meeting assembled fully appreciating the generosity of Miss Julia A. Humiston, a resident of this town and a lady of the highest character and refinement in giving to the town the most valuable gift that could possibly bestow upon any community, to wit: the gift of $30,000 to build a public school house,” the Town proclaimed. There is no evidence that Humiston ever took advantage of her right to influence the construction of what would be become Humiston School, and sadly the benefactor would not live to see the building open in 1912. Yet, her generosity near the turn of last century helped to restore Cheshire’s commitment to education, and while the Humiston School is no longer the hub of community school life, it remains a testament to the important role Julia Humiston played in local history.

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children helping around the homestead rather than heading off to class every day. According to records, the Class of 1905 had only 14 members, and just seven graduated.

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The Business of Building a Town by John Rook herald staff

Spend a little time surfing the Internet for information on Cheshire and it won’t be long before “bedding capital of Connecticut” pops up on your screen. The town’s history is firmly rooted in agriculture and the community remains proud not only of its farming past but also its present. Many residents with old Cheshire names are still planting the fields that have been worked by their families for generations. The truth, however, is that modern-day economics, whether at the national or local levels, is driven by business. Commercial and industrial establishments serve as engines for financial growth, and every municipality in the country is looking for ways to attract more restaurants, more retail shops … more of everything. Cheshire’s business community has been in place now for well over a century. Even when the area was still dominated by the planters

and the pickers, small stores and industrious business owners were popping up, offering their wares to whomever had a need and a little coin in their pocket. One of the first was the Rufus Hitchcock grocery store. If longevity marks success, it would be hard to beat this little grocery that served generations of Cheshirites. It was in 1787 that Rufus and Amasa Hitchcock opened their operation at 7 South Main St. The business agreement stated that the two men would own the store together, with Rufus doing most of the work. Thus, Rufus Hitchcock would receive two-thirds of the profits, while Amasa would get one-third. The store would remain in the Hitchcock family for years, even after Rufus’ death in 1832. It would then go through a succession of owners, from Hotchkiss and Allen to Mr. Munger to, eventually, the Platt Brothers, who bought the store in 1914 and owned it through 1947. Amazingly, the small grocers would remain 15

open and operating until 1975, when it finally closed for good. A few years after the Hitchcock family began their business enterprise, another Cheshire stalwart was busy building his own structure. MUNSON AND WALLACE HOTEL In 1796, Dr. Thomas Cornwall erected his home on the green in the center of town, next to the popular Beach Tavern. A few years later, he built another house, this one a few lots up from his first abode (currently home to The Cheshire Herald, Cheshire Chamber of Commerce, and other local businesses), and left the original structure in the hands of Dr. Charles Shelton. Shelton decided to branch out. While his practice was based in his home, so was a small tavern he opened to serve some thirsty friends and neighbors. When he died, Nathan Gregory took over the tavern and opened a small store out of a back room. cheshire 325th

Celebrating Fifty Years

CALCAGNI REAL ESTATE

50 1969

2019

Though they are little more than a careful arrangement of letters, colors, and sometimes catchy graphics, logos are special things. For Calcagni Real Estate, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year, their logos serve as a history of the company and an artistic affirmation of five decades of much-loved clients. Over a span of fifty years, Calcagni has branded their lawn signs with only two logos: The earthy Calcagni Associates emblem of old and the happy burgundy house of more recent decades. From a mature business like this one, one might expect more logo renditions than just two. After all, companies reinvent themselves frequently to suit the times, the latest consumer survey, the priorities of leadership, et cetera. Calcagni, however, didn’t experience this compulsion to rebrand ad nauseum. First, their values and priorities never changed. The industry may look different now than it did fifty years ago, but the service and experiential expectations of clients are the same. One of the company’s original catchphrases was “growing one family at a time,” a feat it could never have achieved without its commitment to simple yet powerful ethical principles. Second, why disrupt already-mighty brand awareness with new colors and graphic frills? “I see your signs everywhere” is the phrase most commonly heard by Calcagni ears, so mission accomplished on the logo front. Calcagni’s logo was brown and curvy for a few years, then burgundy and sunny for many more. Perhaps a future logo is in the works. What is clear from this business of fifty years is that, even when their look changes, they don’t.

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Happy Anniversary to all who have shared in Calcagni Real Estate’s fifty year legacy.

One of Gregory’s clerks was a young man by the name of Levi Munson, who had his own ideas for the small store and tavern. Through thrift and hard work, Munson put himself in position to buy the store from Gregory and expand on it. By 1850, Munson had opened a small hotel and for 30 years the Munson Hotel was a staple in Cheshire. When Munson finally retired in 1880, his son-in-law Franklyn Wallace took over and made some rather big changes. He moved the original home further back on the property and built a large wooden structure in front of it. Renamed The Wallace House, it became a popular resort for New Haven residents looking to escape to “the country” during the year. Unfortunately, the hotel would not survive the 19th century. In 1892 the entire structure burned to the ground. It was never rebuilt. The land would be used for a short time by the Connecticut Lighting and Railway Co. for trolley barns, which were eventually be torn down when the trolley line was extended to New Haven. Then, in the early 1900s, First Congregational Church purchased the land and built its parsonage on the site. Sadly, there is no longer any vestige of that once impressive structure, only the stories it helped produce. MIDWAY MEATS While no one still living remembers the Munson and Wallace Hotels, many people likely recall Midway Meats. From 1956 through 1977, the small butcher shop provided perfect cuts of the most unique kinds of meats imaginable, and left an impression on everyone who passed through its doors. Midway was located at 944 South Main St., and was opened by a trio of friends and partners — Nick Iannone, Albert Marano and Tony Pisani. It quickly became a favorite in Cheshire. “If you were hosting a party for 15 and you needed a certain kind of cut (of meat) or needed advice on how to season it properly, you went to Midway and they helped you. They knew their customers, and they knew how to treat people,” David Iannone, Nick’s son, told The Cheshire Herald back in 2016. While Pisani opted for an early retirement, both Iannone and Marano ran the store for years, working off their friendship to create a community-minded environment. 17

Midway Meat Outlet

That extended to their families, many of whom all but grew up in the store. “It was eye-opening for a kid, because everything would come in hanging off hooks. You’d have these huge slabs of beef just hanging there,” remembered David, with a laugh. “I remember just seeing guys with what looked like a half a cow come in on their shoulders.” John Marano, Albert’s son, recalled one of his early jobs at the store — scooping up sawdust on the floor that had been soiled with blood. “You only scooped up the bloodied parts,” John explained. “You never threw all the saw dust out, because saw dust cost money.” Yet, while the Midway Meats owners may have been thrifty, they were also committed to customer service. David recalled how some customers, who may have been short on cash one week, were allowed to leave with their meat on the promise that they would pay when they could. The owners also would make special deliveries directly to homes in Cheshire, when such requests were made. As Midway was making a name for itself, so too was another local business owner. MORTON’S PHARMACY If you lived in town during the 1950s, you likely had a prescription or two filled at Morton’s Pharmacy … by Morton himself. For more than three decades, Morton Reisenberg was the smiling face greeting

Morton Reisenberg

customers at the front of Morton’s. Described by Morton’s daughter Fana as “one-stop shopping,” the store served an assortment of clientele. Yes, Morton was there to fill prescriptions, but his store also offered groceries, household items, Hallmark cards, newspapers, magazines, and a whole host of other options. If you were hungry, a 16-seat luncheonette provided eggs or hamburgers and hot dogs, depending on the time of day. For those who were looking for a relaxing afternoon getaway, Morton’s had a humidor in the back as well as its liquor license, meaning a smoke and a drink were on the menu. But the business was a pharmacy at heart, and Morton’s personal touch didn’t just help to sell product. It made a difference in the lives of his customers.

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‘If you come across the right location for a reasonable price, we’ll consider it.’”

On numerous occasions, Fana explained, a customer would arrive at the pharmacy with a prescription to fill. Morton, knowing his patrons and their medical conditions, would often hold off on filling the order, believing that the prescribed medications might conflict with the others the patient was already taking.

When the old Grange Hall in Cheshire became available, the couple went to take a look. They fell in love almost immediately. The Emporium wasn’t just a general store. On the second floor, the Gaudios made their home, making for the shortest possible commute to work. It also meant the store was imbued with a naturally “homey” feel, one the Gaudios always looked to nurture.

Sometimes, it would help avoid a serious complication. “Back then, you were a person when you walked in the pharmacy, not a number,” said Lloyd Reisenberg, Morton’s son. “My father would walk away from what he was doing and talk to you. It was customer service at its best.”

Those who stopped in could find corn cob back scratchers and uniquely-shaped cookie cutters. If Vermont maple syrup was your favorite, the Emporium made sure to carry several varieties. If you were a pickle connoisseur, there was a barrel out front that had plenty to pick from. And all customers were invited to chow down on some popcorn, free of charge, as they roamed the store.

CHESHIRE VILLAGE EMPORIUM By the 1970s, Cheshire, like the rest of the country, was changing.

Perhaps the favorite offering was the ice cream. While the sweet dessert wasn’t made on premises, it was sourced from a small local company that made flavors especially for the Emporium, including a maple syrup blend that was always a best seller.

A new generation, energized by opposition to the Vietnam War, a revolution in music innovation, and a belief that “no one over 30” should be trusted, was looking to shake up the country. It seemed like a rather odd time for Bud and Marge Gaudio to open what would become one of Cheshire’s more unique establishments - a store built almost purely on nostalgia.

One day, the Emporium received a visit from some unexpected guests when a bus full of people - employees of a new company on their way to tour a just-opened campus in the area - stopped by to sample the ice cream selections. Evidently the bus driver, familiar with Cheshire’s famous Emporium, insisted that, before embarking on their tour, his passengers had to try the famous ice cream.

In May of 1973, the Cheshire Village Emporium opened at 36 Wallingford Road. In appearance and service, it was a Vermontstyle country store, offering a little bit of everything - groceries, household cleaning supplies, locally-made ice cream, and jars and jars of penny-candy, a favorite of youngsters.

Unfortunately, the Emporium did not last, nor did Midway Meats or Morton’s Pharmacy. Nor did The Green Dolphin Restaurant, a favorite of locals where many a celebratory feast was held, or Cheshire’s skating center, where future NHL Hall of Famer Brian Leetch practiced the skills that would one day make him a professional ice hockey player.

Originally, Bud and Marge Gaudio were simply looking for a new place to live. Residents of Branford, the couple hoped to move closer to Bud’s job in Waterbury, but a conversation with a real estate agent opened up their eyes to other possibilities. Upon hearing that Bud was an artist and Marge was involved in the health food craze of the time, the couple’s real estate agent posed a fascinating idea: If the right situation could be found, would they be interested in combining their talents and opening a store?

Gone is Marie’s Luncheonette, made famous by the often cantankerous but always customer-minded Marie, as well as the Cheshire Cinema, which delighted local cinephiles for years. But not all of Cheshire’s oldest establishments have faded into memory. You can hardly find a local resident who doesn’t have a shovel or a lawn mower

“It was the furthest thing from our minds,” Bud Gaudio told The Herald, back in 2016.. “We thought about it and told (the agent), 19

Bud and Marge Gaudio, owners of the Cheshire Village Emporium

courtesy of R.W. Hines Hardware, started in 1912 by Ray Hine and continuing on as one of Cheshire’s most successful establishments. And then of course there is The Notch Store on Waterbury Road. Opened in 1921 by Pauline and Michael Salvatore, it began in one room of the couple’s home, where locals could buy candy and a few other items. Fast forward to 2019 and The Notch Store is still inviting customers in for some food, drink, and good conversation. New businesses will open. Old businesses will close. That is the way of the world, and Cheshire is not immune. But some make more of a lasting impression than others. History will judge whether any of Cheshire’s current establishments leave such indelible marks.

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Then, Now and

In Between Jeanne Chesanow, Cheshire’s Town Historian, was asked to contribute to this magazine. Chesanow decided to take a pictorial tour of Cheshire areas, looking back at what’s been and what is ... and everything in between. This past spring (2019) I spent a number of hours looking at old photos in the Historical Society’s collection. I had already written many words in the book I was working on and was searching for images to go with the stories. One picture is worth a thousand words, or so the saying goes. If the picture could talk what would it say? And would I understand what it was telling me? I think that everyone who looks at a picture has a different take on it. Two family members looking at the same vacation photo have different memories. It depends on what the viewer is bringing to the picture. What could I bring to these images? And what part would the pictures play in the story I was writing? I selected about 250 pictures for the book. Some of the images show what was going on during the first three centuries of Cheshire – haying, building a barn, making buttons --others depict what something looked like – a farm tool, a dirt road, cleared land with hundreds of tree stumps. A picture of dark forest evoked the concept of evil, as seen through the beliefs of Puritan settlers. The venture became a collaboration between words and pictures; together they would bring the stories alive (or so I hoped).

This is the view of the lively center of town, 100 years ago. Here, you can see the intersection of Wallingford Road and Main Street. From right to left is the Town Hall, Reuben Merriman’s little house on Foote Street, the large white house of Edwin Brown, Brown’s store right next to his house, (the Smith House is hidden), and the Keeler stove shop, which is just about visible. On the right is the Kelsey House, and a glimpse of the Beach Tavern. There was electricity, evidenced by several poles and trolley tracks. Cheshire population at the time - 6,000. If one were to have walked backwards onto the Green, this is what they would have seen (below) “ the entire Town Hall and the green with hitching posts. This picture shows buggy is parked outside the Town Hall, with a horse obediently waiting,.

Fast-forward about 25 years, and this is what Town Hall looked like. The fire department was located here, as was the telephone company. Brown’s house and store are still down the street, and the little house is still on Foote Street, but people walking by the Town Hall (on a new sidewalk) would have been able to take a drink from an impressive white marble drinking fountain.

The group of photos I’ve included for this magazine show the Town Center, the area around the Green and the Town Hall -- the scene of many events over the last 325 years. The pictures are mostly of buildings; I tell what when were built, who lived there, and what changed over the years. So as you can see, much has changed over these many years in Cheshire, but some things remain the same. Many old buildings and businesses are gone, many still remain, and a few have just been turned around a little. But if you’re traveling down Route 10 one day, especially near the center of town, stop and look around. If you squint just a little bit, you’ll still be able to see old Cheshire. 23

By 1950 the Town Hall looked less elegant, more utilitarian (pictured above). There were three garages for fire trucks replacing the elaborate windows on the addition.

The other house that was demolished had formerly belonged to Alonzo Smith (below), a carpenter and a wounded Civil War veteran.

Along South Main, there was E. R. Brown’s white house and his store, a portion of which is pictured in the above photo on the right. Brown also ran a post office there for a few years. One of the last uses of this house was as the Board of Education offices. In 1970 Edwin Brown’s house and adjoining store were demolished (pictured below), along with Alonzo Smith’s House. The goal was to have commercial buildings all along South Main Street. The Town Center, it was assumed, would become the hub for shopping.

In place of the two houses, the Cheshire Center was built. It looks much the same as it did years ago.

The next two buildings, the Keeler house and stove shop/ undertaking business (left), remained and were restored and re-purposed. The Porter and Welton store (right) had been a private residence. It is now a nail salon.

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Squire (attorney) Samuel Beach lived in this 1792 gambrelroofed house (above). It faced South Main, opposite Cornwall Avenue. You might not recognize it now. It has been turned around, redone, and became the real estate office of Sally Bowman and, now, Berkshire Hathaway.

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Hotchkiss and Allen Store, later Platt’s

Platt’s Store.

Inside Platt’s store (above) is pictured D. Gode, C. Platt, E. Guarde, R. Platt.

Another picture from inside Platt’s Store.

Here is a picture of Platt’s Store is on the left, Horan in center, and Colonial Luncheonette on the right - built in the same area and on the same land as the old Hotchiss store. If one looks closely, they’ll notice that the present building is joined right onto the old house - look at the roofline (at right) around back.

In the 50s one can see this building as part of “The Block” on the left. The Town Center was bustling at that time, with Carrington’s Pharmacy across the street, next to the First Nartional grocery store.

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history of the

Cheshire Historical Society by Diane Calabro cheshire historical society president

Some 70 years ago, Dr. Robert J. Craig, a dentist, and his wife Helen Zeterholm Craig made Cheshire their home. They devoted their lives to studying Cheshire’s past and to pass on to others their enthusiasm for local history. The Cheshire Historical Society was organized in 1951 because the Craigs’ missed being part of the Wallingford Historical Society and Dr. Craig felt it was important for a town to honor its past. The President’s Report, April 1952 (one year after the creation of the Cheshire Historical Society) “The need for an association of persons interested in preserving items of historical interest in, and pertaining to, our Town of Cheshire and its environs has been evident for a number of years. We have had, in the past, local historians of note, among them being Mr. Edwin R. Brown and Miss Nettie C. Smith, whose years of work have all but been lost to us because of the lack of a local agency for the preservation of their notes. Too often it has happened that someone in search for information on some phase of our past has met with this observation, “Father had a trunk full of that stuff in the attic, but a couple of years ago we cleaned it all out and had a glorious bonfire.” About two years ago, at the instigation of Miss Mabel Swift, a meeting was held to discuss the formation of a Historical Society for Cheshire. As a result of this meeting, Dr. Craig made three valiant attempts during the winter of 1950 and 1951 to hold an open meeting for the purpose of organizing such a society. On three occasions the weather flatly refused to cooperation. However, with the advent of spring, two organizational meetings were held and the Cheshire Historical Society came into being with a full slate of officers.” Dr. Craig became the Society President and Helen Craig was the Curator until the late 1970s.

The first meeting of the new Cheshire Historical Society was on Monday evening, April 23, 1951, starting a now 68-year history of the Society meeting on the third Monday night of the month. The speaker was Mr. C.J. Dutton, former state historian of Pennsylvania, who told the new Society members of the importance of preserving all information, such as papers, pictures, diaries, and more, to be able to hand down the history of morals and independence of our New England forebears. Among other topics, the new Society agreed that a suitable place, a safe and protected building, would be needed to house these records as they were compiled and collected. It would take 20 years to accomplish that goal. Membership was determined at $1 per year and open to all. Emma Pelz was the Recording Secretary.

Cheshire industries and Cheshire mining. These are all topics of great interest today and how we wish we had a transcripts of these talks! Currently, we have had speakers discuss exactly these same subjects in the past couple of years. The more things change, the more things stay the same. In April 1952, mention was made to “find and salvage a milestone near the high school site.” That project has now spanned 67 years and that same milestone - Mile Marker No. 13, noting the 13-mile distance from that point to New Haven - has been located and will be situated in the Colonial Garden behind the Society building in the coming weeks.

For the first five years the Society met at Town Hall, the Cheshire Grange, the Academy Library, member’s homes, and at the old School Speakers were a vital part of the Society. In House at Cheshire Academy. There was no those first early years, Charles Ward spoke about exhibit or storage space at the Grange. A small oyster kegs being made in South Brooksvale, as museum space was set up at the two-room well as the grist and cider mills that operated schoolhouse. The Society used the old Cheshire throughout town. Mr. Kelly of Hamden spoke Library (the Williams House, 100 Main St.) about the early Connecticut road systems. Mr. for historic artifact displays. Rufus Harte talked about the Farmington Canal. In 1956, the School Board abandoned the Park Local residents spoke about living and caring Street School and invited the Society to use for their historic homes. Mr. Gumprecht talked this building for meetings and exhibit space. In about the Ball & Socket Company’s equipment 1957, Dr. Craig began the Society Collections and furnishings. Dr. Craig talked about early 29

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with donations made by 30 families totaling 49 items. In a 10 year period, Dr. Craig’s Collection list exceeded 950 items. In 1966, Cheshire’s new Public Library was completed and the Society moved its collections back to the Williams House. In 1972, the Williams House was slated for demolition. The Town of Cheshire had purchased the Hitchcock-Phillips House from Cheshire Academy (it had been used by the Academy as an off-site boy’s dormitory and every wall was covered with old paneling and every floor covered with linoleum tiles) and a lease was set up allowing The Society to rent the building for one dollar per year. Warren Van Almkerk was instrumental in doing the carpentry, repairs, window treatments and more to convert the dormitory building into the house museum we display today. So many fundraising events and private donations were needed to make this happen and the support from the Cheshire community was overwhelming. Isn’t this very similar to the efforts being made by the Ball & Socket Arts Committee in our current time? The Hitchcock Phillips House has three floors and 23 rooms. The Federal-style house was built in 1785 by Col. Rufus Hitchcock, built across from the Church Green next to his father’s more modest house. Following the Revolutionary War, Hitchcock became a local merchant trading as far as China. He was twice married and the father of two children. He had an addition built on his house in 1820 when his grown son married and added his wife to the household. The family lived continuously in the house until 1907 when the Hitchcock granddaughter, now in her mid-eighties, sold the property to Alfred Bennett. It is reported that the house was used as a boarding house until 1930 when Cheshire Academy purchased the building for a boy’s dormitory and was used as such until 1969. Ruth, Bob and Philip Gardiner in Phillips House “In 1960 Ruth and Bob Gardiner finished their first year of marriage and left The Peddie School in Hightstown, NJ to return to New England. Their new home was Cheshire Academy, where they lived in Horton Hall in a second floor apartment with a living room, a bedroom, a bathroom – and not kitchen, supervising a floor of about 30 freshmen. A year later, the Gardiners were moved to a large house with three floors of double rooms for sophomores and a wing with two faculty apartments. On the first floor our 31

apartment had two bedrooms, a living room paneled with pine two feet wide and even a fireplace, a hall barely large enough to serve as a very cozy dining room, and – wonder of wonders – a full kitchen with enough trimmings that they dared to have company in very small doses. This was Phillips House. For the next five years they lived there as house parents for about 25 boys. There was also another master, always a bachelor, living in the second floor apartment and sharing house duty, and a senior proctor living on the third floor in a “luxurious” room dubbed so only because it was single, not large. Every one of these young men managed the house well, not by punishment buy by being a big brother to the sophs who did not want to acknowledge their naiveté. Their son, Philip, came home in 1963 a few days after being born in New Haven to begin his childhood in Cheshire. There was a quiet buzz of curiosity until Ruth finally brought him out for full inspection and approval by the boys. In fact one of Philip’s first words and certainly his most frequent sentence for the first year or two was “dormy” and “I want to go to dormy.” Once the boys got to see him more often, Ruth and Bob became more human to them. Bob commented that the ogre lost his teeth and his growl. Two words would have Bob running from the apartment: “Cigarette” and “Girl.” Bob never found either one no matter how fast he sprinted to the third floor. Years later one of the senior proctors, who returned after college to be an English teacher at Cheshire Academy, told Bob on one of his sprints that Bob had missed the girl hiding behind his door while he neatly helped Bob search every room but his. In fact, he quickly escorted the girl down the fire escape

right past the Gardiner’s kitchen window undetected. When Philip was four, Cheshire Academy moved us from Phillips House to a house on Cornwall Avenue – without boys. Four years later, in 1971, it became the home of the Cheshire Historical Society.” —Written by Robert Gardiner in 2014 The Society interpreted four of the rooms: Parlor, Dining Room, Keeping Room, and Craig Bedroom (Civil War era). Another nine rooms were set up as exhibit spaces: Exhibit Room (Civil War artifacts and ephemera), Toy Room, Meeting Room, Kitchen & Gadget Room, Military & Industry Room, Tool Room, Textile Room, and Victoriana & Quilt Room. In 2014, a third floor room was interpreted by 16-year-old Thomas Mulholland as a Cheshire Academy Dormitory Room from the mid-1950s. The Society has thousands of artifacts, documents, ephemera, and photos. Our most valuable piece is reputed to be the 1810 Over Mantel Painting of the Church Green painted by Sylvester Hall, original to the house. The Society collections include a small study of Niagara Falls by Cheshire native John Frederick Kensett. There are a number of pieces of furniture, weapons collections, glassware, ceramics, quilts, farmer’s diaries, clothing, washing machines, spinning wheels and more. While paper records were kept of items spanning accessions from 1957 to the present, it is only in 2017 that the Society started to seriously consider digitizing the entire collection. As has been the case since the 1970s, the Cheshire Historical Society is open to the public on Sunday afternoons from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. There is no admission fee. Membership begins at $5 for students. Volunteers are always welcome! Contact cheshirehistory@che.necoxmail.com

Literary Love Affair Mary Baldwin & The Cheshire Library by John Rook herald staff

the public generally paid little attention to our efforts, except to ridicule what seemed so fruitless. And I do not blame them. But a number of books had been added to our shelves in two years, so when Dr. Horton rented this room and we had to move, our library made quite a showing.”

What’s in a name? It’s a question rarely asked during the course of one’s day. Why is this school or that park, or the many roads that crisscross the community, called what they are isn’t really all that high on most people’s curiosity list. But almost without exception there’s a story behind each — a person who made a significant contribution or an incident that helped shape the town for the better. Almost every sign you see comes with its own unique history.

Horton’s decision to essentially evict the library after a few years meant that Baldwin’s books were homeless. She had no choice but to move everything into her own home. Though Baldwin was passionate about maintaining a Cheshire library, she had no real training. So, while her home acted as a waystation for hundreds of books, Baldwin enlisted the services of a Rev. Stoddard of New Britain, who had begun the library in Watertown. Stoddard taught Baldwin the basics, including how to categorize and catalogue her books. It helped turn Baldwin from a novice into an experienced librarian.

If, for instance, you are a regular patron of the Cheshire Public Library, you know the name Mary Baldwin. Most recognize it simply as the name of the function room at the facility. Whether it is a reading hour for children or an after-hours art reception for adults, the Mary Baldwin Room is the likely setting. Dig deeper and you’ll find that Mary Baldwin was, in fact, a real person, one who made a significant contribution to Cheshire and its love of books. To understand Baldwin, one must first take a trip back to pre-Civil War America. Unlike today, libraries were not common in communities. It was only after the conflict that towns all across the United States, usually spurred on by active women’s groups, began to push hard for libraries so that a world of knowledge could be opened up to everyone, not just those fortunate enough to be able to attend university. By 1892, Cheshire still had no library to call its own, which prompted a meeting of some concerned residents looking to make a change: “I spoke to Mr. Timothy Guilford, then President of the Village Improvement Society (V.I.S.) and he acceded to my request, and called a meeting to decide the question. This meeting was held at my home and quite a large number were present … They all seemed to approve the plan but, after long discussion, it was agreed that the V.I.S. carried all it was able to at that time. However, they decided that the V.I.S. should adjourn its session and a Library Association be formed right then and there. This was done.” That is the recollection of Mary Baldwin, who cheshire 325th

recounted what happened on that fateful night in an interview many years later — one which began an endeavor that would occupy much of the next three decades of her life. At the meeting it was determined that, if a library was to be born, it would need books, so with the help of a horse and buggy, as well as friend Mary Dickerman, Baldwin spent her spare hours — many spare hours — traveling the roads of Cheshire asking individuals and institutions to donate their books. Many did, including the YMCA, which handed over its entire collection. Cheshire Academy offered the use of a building on campus to be the site of the first library and a few fundraisers made sure that the endeavor had a bit of spending money to use on everything from maintenance to acquiring more offerings. In August of 1892, the facility opened and Baldwin would be the first unofficial librarian. She described what the days were like as thus: “For two years I went there every Tuesday and Friday afternoon, rain or shine, zero or 90 (degrees) in the shade, dispensing books at 5 [five] cents a volume for a week’s rental, and came home rejoicing if eight or 10 hungry readers had visited me … During the two years spent on Horton Street (Cheshire Academy), 32

And just in time, too. A little more than a year after being forced to move from the Horton house into Baldwin’s one room, the library would be packing up again. Upon her death, Juliet Tompkins decided to leave the Town of Cheshire approximately $5,000 in order to establish a library. The funds were enough for a new space -- this time in the basement at Humiston School. For 19 years, Baldwin ran the library out of that basement, doing whatever it took to keep the operation running. That included a little janitorial work, from time to time. When yet another move was announced, this time into the former home of Dr. Geo Williams, Baldwin could hardly control her excitement: “Imagine if you can what this change to the new home meant to me. I had almost always been janitor in the old building, had made the fires and waited for heat, now the building was cozy and warm without a thought of mine. I had cared for two smelly kerosene lamps, went for the oil, filled and cleaned them, now I turned in my chair and had but to press a button to flood the place with light. Floors I had swept and cases I had dusted now they were kept clean without a turn of my hand.”

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Today, the library is a hub of activity. Thousands of books and other publications remain available to patrons, and much of what the facility does now is digitized.

Baldwin would remain with the library until 1921. A series of successors would replace her, including Evelyn Moss, who made her own mark on the facility, enough to have another wing of the library named in her honor.

But it all started with a meeting in the living room of one Mary Baldwin. Her dedication and inspiration is worthy of the room which is named after her … and much, much more.

The facility would expand in 1958, when a two-story library was opened next door, and connected to, the Williams house.

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HUSBAND.IS SLAIN, WIDOW ADMITS PLOT.

CHESHIRE CSI The Forgotten Files by John Rook herald staff

By any measure, Cheshire is a picture of a small, serene community — a vision of the quintessential New England town. Built by farmers on a foundation of a shared religion, Cheshire’s growth — from birth to modern day — would be familiar to most towns in Connecticut. The hard work and perseverance it took to take Cheshire from the fields of 1694 to the retail storefronts of 2019 is common in the annals of New England history. But beneath the surface lies another truth. Peel back the different layers of Cheshire’s history and you’ll discover another past, one filled with unexplained deaths, unusual occurrences and unforgettable personalities. Occurring well before 24-hour news cycles and social media churned up a never-ceasing current of stories, these happenings were covered by local newspapers, spread by word of mouth, and are now all but forgotten. They do, however, add to the tapestry of Cheshire’s history, and are there to be discovered by anyone willing to search for them. Take the case of Bessie Wakefield, a Bristol woman whose husband, William, was found dead in the woods of Cheshire. At first glance, it appeared that William had committed suicide, as his body was found with shoelaces tied tightly around his neck and the other ends secured to the trunk of a nearby tree. However, a quick examination of the body revealed gunshot and knife wounds. William, detectives deduced, had been murdered. The investigation quickly centered around Bessie and another man, James Plew. The two had been engaged in an affair and, on the night of June 22, 1913, a day before William’s body was found, it was reported that the adulterers met to hatch a sinister scheme. James would kill William, the couple reportedly decided, and make it look like a suicide. Then, Bessie and James would be free to pursue their relationship unfettered. The case appeared open and shut when reports surfaced that Bessie had in fact

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confessed to the deadly conspiracy, informing police that James and William had fought the night of the murder, and that James had drugged William with chloroform. In a dazed state, William was led deep into the woods — into Cheshire — and there he was killed. But things turned complicated almost immediately. Upon her arrest, Bessie changed her story. Not only did she deny having anything to do with her husband’s murder, she also denied having ever confessed to the crime. The trial that followed captivated the imagination of Connecticut. It pitted Bessie and her wild version of events — she claimed that, after their physical confrontation, one in which Plew drew a gun on William, the two men made amends and became so friendly that Bessie retired to bed for the evening, only to be awoken by a shaken Plew in the middle of the night, who admitted to killing William — against her lover, who insisted the couple had plotted William’s death for more than six months. In the end, the jury believed Plew over Bessie and the two were found guilty of murder. The drama, however, was not yet finished. Bessie would become a popular figure amongst women’s rights activists who insisted she had been the victim of prejudice and corrupt police practices. “This woman was tried, convicted, and sentenced by men. Can you imagine any man standing up in a court of law to be judged for laws made and enacted by women, facing a woman judge and a jury of women, and his case (being) handled by women lawyers? Do you know of any man who would stand for such injustice?” Alva Vanderbilt Belmont, a New York aristocrat, granddaughter of railroad tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt and leading suffragist, was quoted as saying in Bessie’s defense. Lawyers insisted that numerous mistakes had been made, both during Bessie’s initial questioning by the police and at the subsequent trial. The evidence was enough to force a second trial, but Bessie’s supporters 35

Wooer Arrested on Her Con fession That They Made Murder· Agreement.

i VICTIM'S· BODY IN - WOODS 1 Woman Quotes Accused Man as TeUJng of Murder - Disappear•

anclt Report ArouHd Polfce.

BRISTOL, Cann., .:till:; l.-:llr& B•ssle I Watcefteld of thlll clty and .Tama Plew . er Mtddlebury- were arrested thla aner noon at the Instance of Coroner Ell lllx · c� :).i!!...- Ha"'en CbuntT, the two beln; c·�-:r;-cd with• !la.nni. caaaed the death at William WakeCletd, the woman·• bus ••�� !. wh011e bodF ,-as found In the r"h•,hlre woods la.st Saturda)'. That arllon follo'n"'ed the e•tabll8hintr af th11 ldentltF or the dead n:1an by the police ::ind a canter.don by ::,,tns. WakeCleld to t!:e police and to Coroner 3.Ibt here to da,.. that she and Plew plotted ta get Wakefield out of the ffll)", tha.t th8Y. might lh·e tGgtther. An e:s::amlna.tlon of the body ■howl!il • tha.t Wakefield had httn shat ln tba \-ack ot the bell.d twice and stllbbcd In · the heart. :\tn. Wnkeflt'ld tnrormed the police a 1\"&ek a;;o last Sunda,- that her h'Cl■band • 'rad dhiappnred ar.4 tllat :,he feared. be .

Tbe Wakenelas lh·ed In lllddlebUl'JI' until two months a.;o. when they came to Bristol. t.:nder Tlg:,,rous questloalns I b)" the pollec an<! the Coroner, J.&s. l\"'akefleld safd to-da:r that before com-! !n;: to this cltY she and her husband , sei:,1u-atrd because ot bis jealousy oc I attentlon.1 paid to her h:r Plew. Tho I Wake:lelol8 a.ftarwlU'd were rei:onciled. , Plew, the 1ridot1.· nld, Tislted the!r I house here a week a� last Saturday, and abe lilscunea wltb him plans for setting rid eor "l\'akefield, � 1 she ••dd In her confnslon, she wenl I out, l�anng Plew and Wakefield alone. Plew told her tater, she related, that he and "'aketleld bad quarreled, and that he had choked hl'r husband and gtTen hbn surttclent chlonifonn to daze him. In that state he had led . him tbrou.-h woods In 13rlstol and Southinr I ton to the deep wcodl1Lnd in Cheshire, where the bod)' w:is found. :llrs. Wakefield said Plew told her that there he had 11hot '\\'akeCle14 lllld 111ahbed 111m ln tho heart \\-Ith the TIC ttm·• pockPtknlfe. He then tied a cord or •hoe i,trfngs about the man·s neck anl! to a tree to gt,•e the appearance or sulcldP. On Pl'!tt''s return to BrlstoL accordlntr to Ill!:- �ldO\\"':I' c:oafes,lon. be advl11ed l!rs. WRkeneld to ten the police of t,er hasband·11 disappearance. and she did w. Aft� hearlnr her story th� Coroner a.sk�d for her arr.at and directed that at Plew. Tbf' man �• aeJRd la :uld d!ebazy and taken to '"aterb'ury. Tha Cnronf'r, accomnnled b,-· Bristol tio llc:e- men, "'1th :u-rs. "l\'ak•!ield. went ta "t'ra.twbu-,.·, a.nd botll pr\sotu,rs �ere taken to ::S-ew Ha'l"cn. hll.cJ ldllt'd hlm,elf.

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were ultimately unsuccessful. She went to jail for 17 years and was released in 1933, having maintained her innocence the entire time.

water. Later, a resident found what appeared to be a bloody vest and other clothing discarded by the side of a stream.

While the truth behind the Wakefield murder will never be truly known, another unsolved crime in Cheshire left even more to the imagination … and nightmares.

In mid-August, the Courant dropped what should have been a bombshell: The paper insisted that a detective investigating the murder claimed to know where the killing took place — a slaughterhouse in Yalesville — and who the murderer was. Yet, the boasts of the anonymous detective proved hollow. No arrests were made and, despite the anxious demands from the area townspeople at the time, it appears that no suspect was ever charged and both the identity of the victim and killer remained a mystery.

Once again, the setting was the Cheshire woods, this time in a swampy area near the Wallingford line. It was the summer of 1886, and a young boy was enjoying nature with his dog when the two came upon what looked to be a large shoe box. As the boy approached, his dog became more agitated and soon his owner understood why. While the box remained shut tight, a terrible odor could be identified emanating from it, so pungent in fact that the boy turned tail and ran back to his home, where he enlisted the help of some local elders. The men who returned disregarded the awful smell and pried open the box, finding inside what at first they gathered were the remains of an animal. Closer inspection revealed the gruesome truth — the body was human, with its head, arms and legs having been removed. While it would be two years before the world was introduced to the name Jack the Ripper, Connecticut papers began to surmise that Cheshire might have a Ripper-esque killer on its hands. A story printed in the Hartford Daily Courant at the time reported that the dismemberment had been so “skillful” in nature that authorities believed the murderer was likely a doctor or a butcher. The discovery of such a gruesome scene would give even the most talented modern-era investigators difficulties, but in the late 19th century, determining who the victim was, let alone who the murderer might be, proved near impossible. Perhaps not unsimilar to today, key pieces of information were leaked to the press, only to be contradicted later on. For instance, medical examiners supposedly determined that the body had only been in the woods for approximately 48 hours before being found, yet later reports spread the rumor that the victim was thought to be a local man named Cooley, who had gone missing and was believed to have been killed “several weeks prior.” One eye-witness account stated that a man covered in blood had been seen in the area near where the body was found, and that he had requested directions to the nearest body of

Not all cases in Cheshire’s “Forgotten Files” proved fatal in the end. Take the curious case of Nellie Fish. It began with an illness. Over three days in September of 1890, Mrs. Elizabeth Fish, Nellie’s step-mother, had become violently ill, vomiting uncontrollably. When a doctor was called to the Fish home, he immediately suspected poison and began to search the house for anything that could cause such a terrible reaction. “In examination of the premises, some ‘rough on rats’ was found in a partly-filled tea cup,” explained an article in The Hartford Courant. “The girl (Nellie) was suspected and, when questioned, she frankly said that she had put the poison in the tea and that she had done the same thing twice before within a week.” The confession was enough to land Nellie in prison, and the young girl — 16 years old — never recanted her statement. However, her motives remained … unclear. “The girl says she didn’t want to poison her mother,” the Courant article continues, “who had been very good to her, and she doesn’t know why she put the poison in her drink.” The odd explanation provided plenty of room for local media to hypothesize as to what might have actually happened. The Daily Republican, for instance, surmised that the girl’s “mental weakness” was more to blame than any sinister plot, and that “these traits have been taken advantage of by numerous persons in Cheshire.” The New Haven Register added more logs on the fire of suspicion when it reported that Elizabeth Fish’s niece, Sarah Ellis, who had lived with the family two years prior, had died of an unexplained illness. Had Nellie already claimed a first victim?

The girl continued to insist that, despite having put rat poison in her step-mother’s tea, she didn’t intend to hurt her. When asked by a local reporter whether she knew the poison could kill, the young girl is reported to have said, “I didn’t know. It didn’t kill any rats anyway.” Intending to prove Nellie’s guilt, the body of Sarah Ellis was ordered exhumed and examined for traces of rat poison. To everyone’s surprise, however, none was found. Ellis had not been poisoned. No trial seems to have taken place. The fate of Nellie Fish is unknown. Did she intend to kill her step-mother? We will never know. Despite such incidents, Cheshire’s historical crimes were usually more amusing than frightening. Consider if you will the case of Mr. J.T. Cheeseboro who, in 1899, broke into what is now Cheshire Academy to steal forks, knives and spoons in order to better outfit his own kitchen with impressive sets of silverware. The year before, John Ferguson, a local blacksmith, was arrested for spreading what we might be inclined to call “fake news” these days. Ferguson was placed in custody after it was determined he had “misused the mails” when he sent out medical circulars “of doubtful character.” And then there was the case of a Mr. Morris, who was sent to Cheshire in 1881 to prosecute store and hotel owners who violated a new law that regulated the sale and consumption of alcohol within the community. The law was not particularly popular with local business owners, so Cheshire’s First Selectman and Constable informed Mr. Morris that he should refrain from coming to town unless his services were requested. This did not sit well with Mr. Morris, who evidently unleashed a series of obscenities directed at Cheshire’s top officials. It landed Morris in the custody of the Constable and, eventually, in front of a judge for a late-night hearing about the incident. Morris was eventually given a choice: Pay a fine to Cheshire for his abusive language or go to jail for a few days. Morris, still steaming about the incident, decided on jail, “just to deprive the town of its money,” an article from the time explained. Crime still occurs in Cheshire, just as it always has and always will. And while the most brutal of crimes remain rare in the community, Cheshire’s history is a testament to the fact that no town is immune from such incidents.

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The 1950s, Cheshire ... and Me John White reflects on a childhood spent in Cheshire

I thank God for the blessing of growing up in Cheshire. In 1950, when my family moved here to our home on Fernwood Lane - I was 11 years old. Cheshire had a population of 6,000, not counting the cows. My family had moved from a brand new community just south of Baltimore. It consisted of nothing but several hundred absolutely identical row-houses built during the Second World War. The ground had been totally cleared and leveled for construction; there wasn’t a tree in sight except for small, newly planted ones when we moved into it in 1943. As lovely as Cheshire was then, and still is, the move was difficult for me. I missed my friends and didn’t know anyone in town. When I began school in the sixth grade at Humiston that fall, I had a slight Southern drawl. After all, Maryland was below the Mason-Dixon line. If I was called upon by my teacher, Mrs. Katherine Foley, I always stood beside my desk and said “Yes, ma’am” and “No, ma’am.” That was the way we did things “down South,” but the kids here thought that was pretty funny. I felt I was in a foreign culture.

After a year or so, I began to feel more “at home” in Cheshire. I formed friendships and entered adolescence thinking of myself more and more as a “Northerner.” In 1950, there were no stoplights in Cheshire. You could drive on Route 10 from the Hamden town line to the Southington town line without meeting a single one. There was only a blinker light in the center of Cheshire, at Academy Road, where Routes 68 and 70 meet Route 10. Before Cheshire High School opened in 1953, students had to attend high school in Waterbury, Southington and Hamden. They rode the regularly-scheduled commercial buses to and from school, using bus tickets provided by the Board of Education. There were only two TV stations in all of Connecticut in 1950—New Haven and Hartford. They began broadcasting in the morning and went off the air after the late news, at about 11 p.m. Cheshire had no police force then. We had a constable and, for kids playing hooky, a truant officer named Eddie Hart, who lived on the corner of Peck Lane and West Main Street. A

state trooper from the Bethany Barracks was also assigned to patrol Cheshire, but he wasn’t a resident. The jail was in the basement of the Town Hall; as I recall, it had all of two cells. The Cheshire Police Department began in 1954 with one officer, John McNamara. The Cheshire school system in 1950 consisted of Humiston School in the center of town, Darcey School in West Cheshire and Chapman School on Route 10 across from the Connecticut Correctional Center. Humiston, now used mostly for administrative offices, was filled with school children, from kindergarten to eighth grade. In fact, it was so filled that in 1951 and 1952 we had to go on double sessions. I recall getting up for the morning session while it was still dark, and getting home around noon. The second year I was in the afternoon session, and didn’t get home until around supper time. The fourth graders had their classes in a small building on Cheshire Academy grounds across from what is now the Watch Factory Mall, which was then a classroom building for the Academy. Town meetings were held in the auditorium on the top floor of the Town Hall, which was an

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old three-story structure much smaller than the present one. The town’s fire station was part of the building; the fire engines were kept in bays to the left of the present front steps. We Humiston students occasionally went into the Town Hall for school events, such as Christmas recitals and fire safety demonstrations. The auditorium had a stage and curtain in front and could hold several hundred people. There was no elevator; you walked upstairs to the top floor. In those days, the Connecticut Correctional Center was called the Cheshire Reformatory. Only young men (ages 16 to 26) were incarcerated there. Occasionally there was an escape, and when that happened, a siren at the reformatory was sounded; you could hear it all over town. On Friday nights, the reformatory invited townspeople to come into the auditorium to watch the movies shown to inmates. We’d gather, kids and adults, in the lobby until all inmates were seated; then we were escorted to the front rows. When the movie was over, the inmates had to remain seated until we left; then they got up and returned to their cells. As I recall, the movies weren’t exactly firstrun films, but they were fairly recent and, of course, free. The old Cheshire Theater on South Main Street—now the site of a large medical building under construction—had terrific Saturday afternoon showings that drew a large audience of young people. We were dropped off and picked up by our parents. Traffic was a problem in front of the theater at those time but otherwise, traffic wasn’t a problem, as I recall. Most families had only one car, and of course the number of families was very small. Sounds common then, such as the noon bell from the Congregational Church, could be heard way up on the ridge between Peck Lane and Moss Farms Road. I heard it while hiking those woods with Brownie, my dog. In the 1950s, a railroad ran along the canal where the Linear Park is now. Trains went through town twice a

day—in the morning and evening. We kids had fun putting pennies on the railroad tracks and watching the train run over them. After the train had passed, the copper penny was stretched out about twice as long as it had been. In 1952, a hurricane passed through Connecticut, hitting Cheshire especially hard. Power was off for several days. I remember driving with my father to R.W. Hine Hardware to buy a kerosene lamp and kerosene, so we had some light at night. I think Hine sold every lamp it had. Speaking of Hine, I bought my very first gun—a single-shot .22 rifle—there in 1953. I just went in and paid for it and the ammunition with money I’d earned delivering newspapers and mowing lawns. I picked it out of a rack of guns for sale. No questions were asked, no fears or suspicions were raised. My father, who’d been on the Columbia University rifle team, had taught me to shoot, safely and properly, the way most fathers did then. I carried my rifle around town with me openly when I rode my bike to shoot targets at the old quarry by the Notch in West Cheshire, or to shoot squirrels in the woods along Peck Lane. Nobody worried about it. That’s the way it was. Many kids had guns then. We even had a shooting club and there was a shooting gallery in the basement of Chapman School. It’s still there, boarded up. My friend Bill Neff, his sister and his father/medical doctor, old Doc Neff, were avid target shooters who went annually to compete in the national meets at Camp Perry, Ohio. They practiced in the basement of Chapman School. So did I, occasionally. There were no town parks or a Youth Center then, and hardly even television. My family got its first television set in 1952 — a black and white one because color hardly existed then — just in time to watch the national elections when President Eisenhower succeeded President Truman. Young people made their own entertainment, for the most part. I rode my bike around the 41

neighborhood with my friends, happily roamed the woods with my dog, worked my paper route from Ives Corner to Bethany Mountain Road, and swam at Mixville Pond and the canal at South Brooksvale Road. In 1953 we moved across town to Lynwood Drive, and I added Ten Mile River to my roster of swimming holes. Rock ‘n roll began in the 1950s, just as I entered my teens. We kids used to listen to it at night on the Waterbury, New Haven and Hartford radio stations. There was a teen hangout in town called The Willows — a restaurant on South Main Street where Ricci’s Construction is now located. The Willows was a juke joint. It had a jukebox and a few pinball machines. I think both of them cost a nickel to play and later went up to a dime. The Willows served what was a brand-new food for us then — french fries. Can you imagine a world without french fries?

Thriftiness was encouraged in the elementary schools through a banking program. Kids were expected to save money each week — maybe a quarter, maybe only a few cents if that was all they could afford. The teacher collected our money and then took us from Humiston school to a bank in the center of town where we deposited our savings each week. Each school kid had his own savings passbook. We “saved our pennies and watched our dollars grow.”

On Friday nights, The Willows had a threepiece rock ‘n roll band. Kids bought sodas and hot dogs and french fries, and hung around listening to the music. Another teen hangout was Lux’s Drive-in on Highland Avenue in the north end of town, about where the bowling alleys are now. Still another was the soda counter at Carrington’s Pharmacy in the center of town where Town One building now stands. Sometime after school, we’d hit the soda counter at Carrington’s. You could get a terrific cherry coke there, made directly from syrups and soda water.

By the time I got my driver’s license at 16, I felt restless and constrained by Cheshire. I had entered Cheshire High School in 1953, when it first opened. I graduated in 1957 as a member of the first class to go through all four years.

Cheshire had a second post office back then. It was in West Cheshire at the corner of West Main Street and Mountain Road. Today that building is gone; the lot holds several businesses.

In the fall of 1957 I went to Dartmouth College on an NROTC scholarship. Eight years later, after four years of college and four years as a naval officer, having been on the Cuban Blockade during the nuclear missile crisis, having been in the Gulf of Tonkin at the start of the Vietnam War, having put my life on the line in service to my country, having feared that I might be killed in combat and never again see my wife and children, having seen that the poorest American was a hundred times better off than the poor of Hong Kong, Vietnam, Jamaica and even justacross-the-border Tiajuana — after all that, Cheshire looked like heaven to me. It seemed a wonderful place to settle down and raise our children. So we did.

One of the big events for young boys in town was the Boy Scout townwide paper drives. It was probably Cheshire’s earliest recycling program. My troop met in the basement of Chapman School. Several times a year we Boy Scouts would be driven in large openback trucks — about half a dozen Scouts per truck — over the main roads of Cheshire. Residents had their papers bagged or tied up for us, or at least neatly stacked in the house. We’d haul large stacks of paper out to the truck, and after half a day or so, the filled truck would go to the drop-off point, where we’d transfer the paper to a larger truck. The paper was worth money, so much per ton, and the Boy Scout troops got the proceeds, which were used to underwrite Scouting programs. cheshire’s 325th anniversary

Class President John White with Vice-President Marianne Norton

I have many other memories of Cheshire in the 1950s which I could share — the Flood of 1955 is an especially vivid one — but I simply want to give you a sense of how life was then. The many facilities and services we have now 42

and the quality of life we enjoy did not just magically appear. That was created through the concern and hard effort of people in town who wanted to do something for Cheshire — for their families, their neighbors, their friends, their community. Cheshire is no longer the small town it was when I moved here, but it still is a nice town. And it can remain that way, even while it continues to grow, if we’ll contribute to it by being good citizens and good neighbors. To young people I say: Treat the town with respect. Participate in the life of the town. Help keep our town a place where you can look back in later years and say, “I’m glad I grew up in Cheshire and I’d be glad to raise my own children there.”

r a b t e i l n e g C Cheshire, CT Congratulations to the town of cheshire!

visit us at 1021 S. Main St. Cheshire

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cheshire 325th

Providing the same exceptional care you’ve received for years - in the heart of the Cheshire community at 1154 Highland Avenue. Our easily accessible location offers comprehensive services in one location. Saint Mary’s Urgent Care Center, Cheshire (203) 709-4825 Urgent Care you can trust with x-rays, lab services and immediate care for injuries or illnesses. We also offer OrthoSwift, specializing in treatment of sports injuries, sprains, strains, fractures and injured joints. Cheshire Internal Medicine (203) 709-4800 Call today to book an appointment with one of our primary care providers: John Testa, MD, Rabia Cheema, MD and Heather Platt, APRN. Specialty Health Care Services (203) 709-4818 Specialty services available onsite include gastroenterology, cardiology, urology, obstetrics and gynecology and neurosurgery.

1154 Highland Avenue, Cheshire • stmh.org

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Celebrating 325 years! We are proud to serve the Cheshire community.

Cheshire 325th Commemorative Magazine

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Cheshire 325th Commemorative Magazine