Thrall Hall

Tasha Caswell, 2014

On March 18, a few people from CHS had the opportunity to tour Thrall Hall, a square dance hall in East Windsor, Connecticut. Ed Thrall, described by the Hartford Courant as a “true Connecticut Yankee original,” visited demolition sites in and around Hartford in the 1960s and salvaged materials, which he then carted back to his farm. He began building the dance hall in 1968, and it took him 10 years to build what is standing now. I learned about the place in February when I was cataloging some Richard Welling drawings. I was looking for information on one of the buildings in a drawing, and I found some information online about a place called Thrall Hall.

Another Woman Photographer: Edith Watson of East Windsor

Side view of John Watson House, East Windsor. Photograph by Edith S. Watson. The Connecticut Historical Society.

Last week the Connecticut Historical Society opened an exhibition celebrating the achievement of three Connecticut women photographers. Of course, Marie Kendall, Harriet Thorne, and Rollie McKenna weren’t the only women to take photographs in Connecticut. Another woman photographer, who is not well- represented in our collections, but who has always fascinated me, is Edith Watson of East Windsor. Edith (1861-1943) was roughly contemporary with Marie and Harriet. She was an adventurous traveler, who visited Mexico and the Caribbean and traveled up and down the eastern seaboard. Her best-known photographs document rural life in Canada, especially Newfoundland and Labrador. Her work was published in the New York Times, the Toronto Star, and the Newfoundland Quarterly. She always insisted upon receiving a credit line, so it seems surprising that her photographer’s stamp, “EDITH S. WATSON / EAST WINDSOR HILL / CONN.” appears on only one photograph in the CHS collection, a side view of the Watson House in East Windsor Hill. It seems likely that she may also have taken some of the other photographs of the house, which were given to CHS by her sister Amelia, a talented watercolor artist. Although Edith’s photograph was probably part of a series of views taken to document the appearance of the house, the photograph is artfully composed; the shadows of the trees in the foreground take up as much space as the house itself. The John Watson house, on Main Street, East Windsor Hill, was built in 1788-1789 for a wealthy merchant. Edith and Amelia, who were both fascinated by genealogy, would have been well aware of its history.

What is this?

Our exhibit, Making Connecticut, showcases over 500 objects, images, and documents from the CHS collection. “What is this?” posts will highlight an object from the exhibit and explore its importance in Connecticut history every other week. What is this object? What is the story behind it? To find out more,

Teazles

Teasel: 1. A plant of the genus Dipsacus, comprising herbs with prickly leaves and flower-heads; esp. fullers’ teasel, D. fullonum, the heads of which have hooked prickles between the flowers, and are used for teasing cloth (see 2); and wild teasel, D. sylvestris, held by some to be the original type, but having straight instead of hooked prickles.
~Oxford English Dictionary (online)

Archival practices have changed over the years. No longer is it acceptable to put a sticker directly on an account book, as we find far too often here at CHS. However, had the sticker on the cover of Ira Wells’ account book not informed me of the contents, I’m not sure I would have picked up on the several mentions of teazles (as he spelled it).

Ira Wells (1783-1857) was a farmer in East Windsor, Connecticut. His account book dates between 1833 and 1869. It was most likely it was taken over by his son, Hezekiah Lathrop Wells (1819-1899), after his death.  In the account book he mentions many crops with which we are still familiar, such as potatoes, apples, corn, and oats.  As you can see from the images below, Ira Wells and the people who worked with him were also active in growing, buying, and selling teazles, a crop unfamiliar to most of us.

Buying teazles from Mr. Watson, October 13, 1835. Ms 65725.

These two pages show all the work that went into the teazle crop. April - September 1834. Ms 65725.

Wells seems to have continued growing this crop for a while. Entries in the spring of 1844 show that he was still weeding the teazles, and was also weeding tobacco, a crop that continues to be grown in the area today.

The entry for this account book will be added to our online catalog early in February. You are welcome to visit our research center and take a look at any time! If you are interested in this branch of the Wells family, we also have Hezekiah’s account book (1851-1865, Ms 65725/Account Books) and diaries (1839-1849, Ms 65726).