Stonington, Connecticut.

One of the largest collections cataloged for our grant project was the Stonington selectmen’s records, 1792-1903.  The collection, measures 30.25 linear feet (61 boxes) and dates from the entire 19th century, the bulk of the records are from the 1880s and 1890s. Earlier records, from the 1820s, have yielded names of colored people (a term often used to refer to Native Americans) and Negroes living in town. Later records detail purchases of groceries for the poor, schoolhouse expenses, and labor for highway repairs. Each month the selectmen would submit their bill to the town, complete with all their receipts. Earlier submissions were entirely handwritten, but by the 1880s the majority of the documentation was written on pre-printed forms.

Among the more interesting discoveries was that supplies for the poor were divided among the five voting districts, with the second district receiving the most assistance. Also, dog owners were fined if their dog killed or injured a sheep.  By 1890 the fine for this offence was up to five dollars per sheep.

Also of interest are many bills for town residents enrolled at the Connecticut School for Imbeciles and those receiving services at the Connecticut State Hospital. There are several mentions of town residents being treated for small pox. A list, compiled during the Civil War, provides the names of substitutes drafted to serve in place of Stonington residents.  MS 70293

Connecticut composers

Herman Katims, and his wife Miriam Lapin Katims,  were pianists and composers who lived for many years in the Rowayton section of Norwalk, Connecticut. The couple each had several pieces of music published. The collection contains copies of their copyright registrations with the Library of Congress. Copies of their songs, including “Caprice and Fuge”, “No Longer” and “Knickerbocker on Parade” can be found as well. The bulk of the papers are manuscript musical compositions, most without any provenance.  We hope a person with more music knowledge than any one on our staff has can help us identify some of these pieces.  These manuscript compositions are found in both spiral notebooks and loose pages. Family photographs are also included. In 1935 Herman Katims performed in Carnegie Hall. Oversized items in the collection are a poster from the Carnegie Hall performance and additional music scores. Miriam Katims taught piano lessons to local students. The couple also owned their own music publishing company, The Lyric Music Company, which they operated out of their home.

Herman Katims Music Collection, 1930-1980, MS 94883.

Anchors and figureheads

Although small in size, the collection of Noah Scovell shipping papers, 1768-1812, is filled with some fascinating information.  The collection consists primarily of correspondence and bills and receipts of a Saybrook, Connecticut, ship captain and shipowner and his son. Letters discuss such topics as trading in the West Indies and Portugal, purchasing anchors in New London and New York City, and the purchase of a figurehead in New York.  Bills and receipts reflect the same items–shipping and trade, anchors purchased from Lamberton Cooper and Peter Spencer, and ordering a woman’s figure as a figurehead.  The figurehead information is probably the most unique.  For those who like ship building, there are specifications and other documents concerning the construction of the Ship Northern Liberties.  To round out this collection, there is personal and business correspondence of Noah Scovell, Jr., with letters to his mother, father, and brother Lewis.  This is only one of several collections we own documenting the work and life of Scovell and his son.  He would make a great topic for an article in a historical publication.
Ms 60072

Bells in East Hampton.

As part of our NHPRC-funded cataloging project, archivists are looking through collections that have never been cataloged and adding records for our online catalog.  One recently cataloged collection is N.N. Hill Brass Co. Records, 1893-1917, Ms 100549.  The collection consists of cash books, sales records, labor accounts, ledgers, invoice books, factory order slips, factory inventories, credit reports on other companies, and correspondence of this East Hampton, Connecticut, bell manufacturer.  Sales included gongs, rattles, scales, chimes, and tea, call and door bells, among other products.  Their customers were located throughout the east.

Unusual items of interest in this collection are:

correspondence with A. Mugford, a Hartford engraver, concerning the printing of a catalog for N.N. Hill, 1902-1906.

correspondence with Muller, Maclean & Co., New York City merchants, who in 1906 were trying to make a contact to sell bells overseas.

and a long correspondence, 1902-1912, with the Wm. L. Gilbert Clock Co. of Winsted, Connecticut, which included orders, requests for delivery, and complaints about the quality of products.  The letterhead for Gilbert Clock illustrates the factory building.

Found with these materials are two ledgers, numbered 7 and 8, with entries for customers, most from East Hampton, Connecticut, for such items as cheese, overalls, bacon, oil, beef, oats, and “merchandise”, 1896-1908.  These may be the records of the company store, or of an independent merchant in town; unfortunately, there is no identification.

East Hampton was the “bell capitol” of Connecticut, so having this collection finally see the light of day is significant from both a local history and a manufacturing history point of view.