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, Continue reading
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, Continue reading
This post was written by Archives volunteer Marie Jarry.
All of us have that drawer at home for items we don’t know what else to do with–the junk drawer, the miscellaneous drawer. Perhaps you have a shoebox designated as such or even an entire closet. Well the Connecticut Historical Society has their own version of a miscellaneous box, only it’s approximately thirty boxes stuffed full of papers from another era. Some were tossed in the boxes after a flood a few decades ago. Others had been separated from their collections and were waiting to be reunited. Then there were items that nobody knew what else to do with.
Just a sample of the miscellaneous boxes!
When Barbara Austen, Florence S. Marcy Crofut archivist here at CHS, asked if I would like to make heads or tails of their miscellaneous manuscript collection, I jumped at the chance. Sure it was thirty boxes but my mind began to race with the possibilities.
What would be found in there? Perhaps a document signed by Abraham Lincoln? Or maybe some long forgotten copy of the Declaration of Independence? No, nothing as “glamorous” as that was found, though one of the first items I pulled out was a long-lost tax list of slaves in Hartford. History isn’t just about the people and items who made headlines, it’s also about the everyday people and day-to-day activities that inform where we came from and why we do the things we do today.
Sometimes I found entire collections sitting in one box waiting to be cataloged. One of the most interesting was a collection of papers from a lawyer in Hartford named Andrew Broughel around the 1890’s. He had saved depositions from his cases, correspondence and bills. It was interesting to see what a couple getting divorced in 1897 had to argue over.
Another collection I found was created by the Connecticut Daughter’s of the Revolution Committee on Old Trails. From 1910-1930, they worked to preserve markers from the Old Boston Post Road. The collection contained hundreds of post cards, various maps and printed material. My favorite were little pictures of the “Madonna of the Trails” emblem that were “worn by anyone interested in the National Old Trails Road, the new Ocean to Ocean Highway.” They would cost you $1 each with all the proceeds going to the project.
Unfortunately, not everything in the miscellaneous boxes was as easy to catalog. There were hundreds of disparate letters, bills, promissory notes and poems that I had to try to make some sense of. I made detailed lists of names, places and dates from each item hoping to see some connections.
I began to notice I was accumulating a large number of letters from the town of Hampton addressed to Samuel Bennett and Harriet Spaulding. I figured these had to go together somehow. Now it was time for some detective work.
I first check the catalog at CHS to see if the person is already listed. If not, it’s on to ancestry.com and familysearch.org. If I have the person’s name, town and rough estimate of the year, I can usually find out when they were born, who they married, when they died. Family and town books in the CHS research center are also helpful. Follow the breadcrumbs and you will often be surprised by what you find.
In the case of the Bennetts and Spauldings, I did discover there was already a William Bennett from Hampton in the catalog. Could he be related to Samuel? So I did some research on familysearch.org and lo and behold, the William Bennett in the CHS catalog was the father of the Samuel from my letters! Now I had to figure out if Harriet Spaulding was related to this family. Sure enough, she married Samuel.
I’d like to say I was able to process all the papers this easily, but it often does not end up that way. I still have hundreds of letters that don’t have enough identifying information to formally catalog, but I can say those thirty boxes have been culled down to two. Maybe soon you’ll come in to CHS and check out an item rescued from the “junk drawer” of history.
Morgan Bulkeley Brainard (1879-1957) was a prominent Hartford resident. The Bulkeley and Brainard families have been established in the area for generations. A successful businessman, Brainard was President of the Aetna Life Insurance Company, a company founded by his grandfather, Eliphalet Adams Bulkeley, for over 40 years. During that time, Brainard also served a term as President of the Connecticut Historical Society. Over the years we have acquired several collections of papers (search our online catalog) and objects (search eMuseum) from Brainard.
In the collection I worked with this week, I found a few interesting transportation-related items. Hartford’s train station is located on Asylum Avenue, in sight of the Capitol Building. I will admit to not having studied much about the station, but do know the current building is not the original.
Roundhouse letterhead, Morgan Bulkeley Brainard papers, 1802-1942, Ms 66426d. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
Nor is the current building the one shown in the above letterhead. If it is shown to scale, the building would have been enormous. The Capitol is an imposing structure and in the picture it is dwarfed by the station.
For those who like old maps, Brainard’s papers contain a 1946 Connecticut road map.
Connecticut Highways 1946, Morgan Bulkeley Brainard papers, 1802-1942, Ms 66426d. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
The highways shown have mostly stayed in place in the past 65 years. Driving them has certainly changed, and with the advent of the interstate system, most people would no longer consider many of them highways. I showed a photo of the map to a friend who is a historic preservationist. He remarked, “Ah, the good old days.” My friend was commenting on the well-documented troubles the City of Hartford has faced since the construction of I-84.
Connecticut Highways 1946, Morgan Brainard Bulkeley papers, 1802-1942, Ms 66426d. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
You can see on the map above that no highways (as shown in red) previously traveled through the city. It is left to our imaginations what the city would be like today, if construction had differed.
Imagination certainly comes into play when we look at the proposed New York and Boston Automobile Boulevard.
New York and Boston Automobile Boulevard, n.d., Morgan Bulkeley Brainard papers, 1802-1942, Ms 66426d. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
Certainly the route would be convenient, and portions of the road parallel highways that have been built. It is amusing, though, to read the advantage it was thought this road would provide. Relief from highway repairs! No dust! Fast time, with safety! Imagine if these were true today…
New York and Boston Automobile Boulevard advantages, Morgan Bulkeley Brainard papers, 1802-1942, Ms 66426d. Connecticut Historical Society, Hartford, CT
This collection is open for research. Come visit! We are conveniently located off of several highways…
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
inside the CHS 