How many people in Norwich, CT can recall the location of the Tourist Information Center for Norwich, CT in 1973? How many people knew there was even an Information Center in 1973? In a search for something else, I came across this photo of my mother, Helen Fishbone, that appeared in a spring issue of the Norwich Bulletin.
It is old, it is battered I do not know the date of its publication so with the photo I am also attaching to this blog the letter of explanation that the original negatives were lost. I was in high school and not paying a lot of attention. But if my memory serves at all the Information Center was manned by various members of the Veterans Auxiliaries. I don’t think it was put up every day but I know for certain someone was there on Fridays and Saturdays.
What were the attractions back then? What made Norwich, CT interesting to visitors? Where were people going that they would be passing through Norwich, CT?
Who else has a memory of the Information Center?
As I was talking to someone the other day I was asked a question I had never, ever considered. What are the initiatives available and encouraged in Southeastern Connecticut?
I am not sure. I don’t recall ever seeing or hearing anything in specific. I do not participate in but I have heard about the brown bag lunches, the Chamber breakfasts, the NCDC shops and flags programs, Council of Governments but if there is more I am not aware.
Have you heard about the Connecticut Technology Council (CTC)? It is the oldest and only business association expressly serving the needs of enterprises working in technology and innovation. Representing over 275 members and a community of over 6,000 companies with over 200,000 employees, CTC works to serve its members and the broader interests of the State of Connecticut as they relate to the growth and success of technology-based development.
The CTC is organized into three Strategic Initiatives: Talent & Workforce, Growth & Emerging Companies, IT & Infrastructure, plus over-arching Public Policy & Advocacy efforts. Working with an active Board of Directors composed of technology and professional services leaders, CTC offers programs and services to build a community of innovation and technology.
In Eastern Connecticut where do you find assistance in focusing on how to build a core team, how to structure a company, advice on how to attract investors, on developing the product/service, developing and maintaining key partnerships, sales channels, and marketing plans. These tasks alone are typically all-consuming for the business founders, taxing both their financial and time resources.
But then at the same time there may be intellectual property (IP) issues. What and when should a business take steps to protect its core intellectual property (Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights) and avoid the risk of third party intellectual property issues? Today, more than ever, having a solid understanding of intellectual property and developing an IP strategy that aligns with the business is a crucial part of building a new venture on a solid foundation.
Talent & Workforce works to strengthen Connecticut’s Tech-talent pipeline by supporting the startups and the scale-ups. Playing an important role in planning, education, and mentoring. Technology professionals of all levels are participating and available to support and advocate for the best resources for professionals in tech-enabled businesses and infrastructure development in Connecticut. They draw talent from Connecticut’s numerous colleges and universities. The CTC is an active public policy advocate supporting business, capital, and employment and a unifying voice in the technology ecosystem in Connecticut.
If you are serious about being a part of the technology-based revolution in Connecticut do not hesitate to look on the other side of the Connecticut River for help and guidance. There are multiple, hardworking organizations available to help, mentor and guide you. Many have been waiting for an invitation and an opportunity to partner with groups in Eastern Connecticut. All it takes is a phone call, an e-mail, or an exchange of business cards to get the process started. there are programs you see available in other places, please speak up and ask for them to be presented in Eastern Connecticut. You are not alone. Speak up and speak out!
If you were or are an individual who wanted to be remembered in the future; what sort of project might you take on in the present day?
Bearing in mind the current circumstances of a global pandemic, health lockdowns, education crisis, food lines, shut downs, and let us not forget the economy what could be your impact at this time? What could you do? What would you do? Is it the responsibility of the Mayor? The publisher of a local newspaper or magazine? The school board or Superintendent? Don’t know? Me either but after mulling this thought over the long weekend I had a thought.
I would ask for help assembling a book called “Opening Norwich, CT – A record of the opening of Norwich, CT after the great pandemic of 2020”
I would ask that residents and businesses make a huge show of polishing up their appearances. Washing buildings, walls, windows and doors. Putting on that fresh coat of paint. Clearing every street and vacant yard of trash. Trimming the hedges and the street signs. Adding sparkle and glitter to pavement repairs so they might shine as if touched by magic. I would ask that photos be taken of the work as it progresses with careful note of the identities of the individuals. The record would not be just of downtown but of every tiny community, street, hill, dale, park and avenue. Photos of people peeking out of doors, around trees, from behind bushes. People concentrating on performing a job. People smiling in welcome. People laughing. People playing. People learning. People participating.
As a reference for a date to begin, I might choose, for example only, Wednesday, January 20th, 2021 since its the start of a new Presidency of the United States. New policies and procedures and political beginnings for the United States, so why not for Norwich, CT as well? Is there anyone brave enough to take this on as a project? To be the one to say, yes I will be the leader of a movement that officially opens the doors of Norwich, CT to a positive, non-apologetic, this is my City, this is our City and together we can be a positive influence to ourselves, to our neighbors, our state, our country and even the rest of the world.
There was a certain amount of pride when I happened on the High School Class of 2020 Inside Out Yearbook Project. Using their search by City or State option I was able to see four Norwich Free Academy alumni Ashley J, Mykayla G., Nevaeh R., and X-Avier E.
I am not certain if their portraits and yearbook statements were used on the posters and billboards shown across the country as part of this project but each of them made a fine statement and they, their families, Norwich Free Academy and their sending towns should be proud of them.
They took a chance, no an opportunity to participate in project with eighteen thousand seven hundred and seventy-five other 2020 graduates featured in the Graduate Together Yearbook, celebrating the class of 2020.
There were no entries, either photo or statement from Norwich Technical High School or Three Rivers Middle College Magnet School. What a lost opportunity for their graduates. I can only hope that there will be another opportunity for them to whisper their hopes, wishes and dreams for others to find in years to come.
As always I learned the unexpected. I learned there is a Norwich High in Norwich, Kansas. Wouldn’t it be a fun project for some of the members of the senior class here in Norwich, CT to communicate thru post cards of the area with members of the senior class in Norwich, Kansas?
How about a field trip by the marching band to bring greetings to Norwich High School in Norwich, NY? Covid won’t last forever!
We have Three Rivers Middle College Magnet School and Three Rivers Community College but have you ever heard of Success Three Rivers in Three Rivers, MI? Or Three Rivers Jr and Sr High School in Three Rivers, Texas? I wonder what their classes and communities are like. We have the technology to exchange more than virtual greetings these days.
If your teachers are too busy, too afraid or too skeptical to reach out to the schools, the students or their teachers I mentioned, go ahead and do it yourself. Be the first to explore. Be the first to reach out a hand or e-mail in friendship. Consider it a virtual handshake.
It is your future and while the present is both strange and strained, both time and tide wait for no one. So step up, step out and go forward with pride, with curiosity, with a smile and an outstretched hand. Tomorrow begins today.
For the past five or so years I have participated with the URI Free Seed Program a joint effort of the University of Rhode Island, The Rhode Island Master Gardeners Program and sponsored by Rhode Island Job Lots. https://web.uri.edu/mastergardener/freeseeds/
The program meant that I was able to order and then supply vegetable, herb and flower seeds to groups and individuals in Norwich, CT at no cost. In December of 2020 I did not receive an email asking if I had any free time to help sort the hundreds of thousands of packets of seeds received from the various Rhode Island Job Lot stores. But I waited, today, January 9, 2021 I checked the website to learn the seed packets would only be available to not for profits and schools in Rhode Island due to the pandemic.
“Burpee seed packets are available for the cost of shipping and handling only to nonprofit organizations and schools in RI through the generosity of the Ocean State Job Lot Charitable Foundation. The expired but still viable seeds are donated to URI Cooperative Extension annually, and orders are filled by URI Master Gardener volunteers.
A note about 2020…Like so many other things this year, the URI Free Seed Program has been negatively affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Because sorting and repacking the seed packets is an intensive effort that requires volunteers to be in close proximity to each other, we are not able to provide individual and small organization orders this year. We are working with our partner, Ocean State Job Lot, to implement alternative bulk deliveries to large organizations so that seeds are available throughout Rhode Island at farmer’s markets and libraries. We sincerely regret that the Free Seed Program is not available this year — over 2,250 organizations and individuals took part in 2019, accepting over 250,000 seed packets. We hope that by this time next year some degree of normalcy will be restored and we can again provide seeds to our friends and community. Stay tuned to this site for more information about where you can find seeds this winter. In the meantime, please do stay connected to us via Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.
2020/2021 Free Seed Program Recipients
1) Farm Fresh RI
2) Southside Community Land Trust
3) Aquidneck Community Table
4) Hope’s Harvest RI
5) Narragansett Indian Tribe
I have a limited amount of seed packets remaining from previous years and will be arranging a date in March 2021 for a seed and plant exchange in Norwich. In the meantime, please do not toss your old seeds away. Most seeds remain viable for years if not in a growth medium regardless of what a date on the packet may say.
If you are just looking to donate your seeds I can usually be found at the Sunday Community Meal, served every Sunday, from 1 pm – 2 pm, at St. Mark’s Church, 248 Broadway, Norwich, CT or you can snail mail them to me or drop them off.
Together, we, can make a difference. Things can still be accomplished. Maybe not in the exact same way we are used to; but there is no reason why together, we cannot find another way to get the jobs done.
Some people need a calendar to keep track of the year. My calendar is a FedEx box left on my porch. Every year during the first week of the year I receive a box from National School Choice Week. In 2021 National School Choice Week is January 24th – January 30th.
In Norwich, CT the school system prefers to pretend School Choice is not an option. But the truth is parents and students of Norwich, CT have a great many options. They are all listed on https://www.norwichct.org
“The City school system includes two preschools [Bishop, Case Street], seven elementary [Huntington, Mahan, Moriarty Environmental Sciences Magnet Elementary School, Stanton, Uncas, Veterans, Wequonnoc Arts & Technology Magnet Elementary School (STEAM)], two middle schools [Kelly STEAM Magnet Middle School (STEAM). , Teachers Memorial Global Studies Magnet], and an elementary clinical day treatment program. Of the seven elementary schools, two are designated as Commissioner’s Network schools by the Connecticut Department of Education, two are Magnet schools, and one is a School Improvement Concept school. In addition, the City has three parochial schools [St Patrick’s Cathedral School, Wildwood Christian School], two Montessori schools, a charter school, and a regional adult education program. Norwich Free Academy is a privately-endowed high school and serves as [only] one of the City’s designated high schools. Also located in the City are a state regional technical high school [Norwich Technical High School], Three Rivers Middle College, and Three Rivers Community College.”
But the biggest and most important option for adults dealing with the education of children is their choice to be involved. Involved in the choices of the children, the school, the teachers, the classrooms. Listen to why the students love going to school and why they don’t. Are the hallways filled with pride? Are local dignitaries and school board members regular visitors? Do the visitors do more than walk the halls and peek into classrooms or do they sit with the teachers in their break room and listen to the issues brought up?
The issues of school choice should be reviewed more than once a year. Not so many years ago there were stories each week from one school or another about an activity, a special guest, a field trip. Sometimes with a photo, mostly not. Certainly not feature stories but two small paragraphs stating something so the taxpayers had some idea of what was happening in the schools even if they did not have children currently in the schools.
Granted Covid has changed teaching and learning but good teachers find ways to adapt. The adults should be looking for those adaptations. Each school should be hosting virtual tours, each level with a presentation. When does Norwich host their virtual roundtable discussion to raise awareness of the open education options? Regularly check YouTube for shared performances of the students in your town. Listen and participate to the local radio and cable shows when they talk about education. Talk about education more than just at budget time. Write an opinion piece about school choice for the local newspapers, or website.
For more information visit schoolchoiceweek.com
Are you curious and anxious for the beginning of 2021? I am. I want to start off fresh, new, happy and active. I need to be more active. I don’t want to be as round as I am. So I looked at the public calendars to see what activities in the age of Covid I could participate in safely. A similar activity would be amazing to have in Norwich’s own Mohegan Park. Perhaps not as extensive and perhaps with different prizes but the photos could be used to begin and build a photographic library of sorts for the promotion of the City of Norwich, CT. Maybe something the Department of Recreation and the Mohegan Park Advisory Committee could work on together? The Avalonia Land Conservancy in Old Mystic also has a year-round Hike & Seek program. Check it out at avalonialandconservancy.org/hike-and-seek/ or #avaloniahikeandseek or hikeandseek@avalonialc.org. 860.884.3500.
The activity that caught my eye was in Hampton, CT, at Goodwin State Forest, 23 Potter Road. It is entirely free. Here are the rules: For this Hike & Seek event, you will receive a list of 30 nature-themed objectives to find and take a picture of (this list is also available at the bottom of this page). You are allowed to work in teams or as an individual—it’s a great weekend adventure for a family! In order to find all 30 objectives, you’ll have to explore multiple trails throughout Goodwin.
At the end of the weekend you can send me your checklist and labeled pictures at meaghan.rondeau@ct.gov.
If you find at least 15 (50%) of the objectives, you will receive a Smokey Bear poster and special bandana. Plus, the team or individual with the most objectives found/pictured will win a special secret prize! Winners will be contacted by Friday the 8th.
For the safety of both yourselves and our native habitats, please stay on the trail, watch out for poison ivy, and do not attempt to handle any wildlife. We also ask that you wear a mask when walking in close proximity to other hikers, and follow all social distancing guidelines.
This is a FREE event but registration is required.
Hike & Seek Checklist
Animals
☐ A wild animal on the ground
☐ A wild animal in/on a tree
☐ A woodpecker hole in a tree
☐ Animal scratches on a tree*
☐ A wild animal track
☐ A hoof print
☐ A bug
☐ An animal hole in a tree or the ground
☐ A beaver lodge or dam*
☐ A tree cut down by a beaver
☐ An animal skull
Man-made:
☐ An old stone wall
☐ A stone foundation*
☐ A fire pond*
☐ A chain sawed tree
☐ A trail blaze*
Plants:
☐ Witch hazel in bloom
☐ A gall on a tree*
☐ An invasive species*
☐ A face in a tree
☐ A leaf shaped like a hand or mitten
☐ A redwood tree*
☐ A tree growing on a rock
☐ A nut, berry, or cone on a plant
Scenery:
☐ A sunset or sunrise
☐ A view of the pond from Governor’s Island
Other:
☐ A face in a rock
☐ A cloud shaped like an animal
☐ A split rock*
* What Does That Mean? *
*Animal scratches on a tree:
There are many animals that will leave scratch marks and peel the bark off trees. Some animals, like bears and bobcats, do this for scent marking. Other animals, like woodpeckers, peel away the bark to look for insects.
*A beaver lodge or dam:
Did you know that a beaver lodge and beaver dam are two different things? When a beaver finds a new water body to call home, first it makes a dam—a long pile of sticks to slow the water flow and flood the area behind it to raise the water level. Then, the beaver will make the lodge—this is where they live. Lodges are usually away from the edges of the pond where they are safe from predators.
*A stone foundation:
The old stone foundation at a junction of some of our trails is the remnant of an old shack or barn. The square foundation is easily identifiable by its straight walls and 90˚ corners.
*A fire pond:
There are many fire ponds throughout the property; most can be seen along the edges of trails. They are identifiable as bowl shaped holes in the ground lined with large rocks. James Goodwin had this created when he owned the property, to have quick access to water in case of fires started by the nearby train tracks.
*A trail blaze:
Our trails are each named after a color—Yellow trail, Red trail, Blue-White trail, etc. We use these same colors to make marks on trees so you know you’re still on the same trail. Sometimes there will be multiple blazes, where a trail turns, or two trails meet.
*A gall on a tree:
Galls are lumps growing on the trunk of a tree. They can be caused by an old injury (like a branch breaking off and healing poorly) or by insects or diseases. Many of our older trees have galls.
*An invasive species:
An invasive species is any plant or animal that is not native to CT and causes harm, either directly or indirectly, to our native species. For example, Japanese Barberry grows quickly and is hard to kill, allowing it to outcompete native plants and decreasing biodiversity in our forests. What other invasive species can you find?
*A redwood tree:
You’re probably thinking, ‘Wait, aren’t most redwoods native to the west coast??’ And you would be right! While we don’t have any native redwoods at Goodwin, we do have to species of redwoods that James Goodwin planted several decades ago. Keep your eyes on the arboretum for these ones.
*A split rock:
While some rocks can be split by machines, many of the boulders found along the trails were deposited by glacial movements and split by a freezing and thawing process over a period of thousands of years.
I was putting in some volunteer time and someone recognized me as “The Plant Swap Lady.” Is there going to be one this year?
Yes. There are going to be multiple plant and seed swaps during the month of March 2021. Masks will be required. The location will be wherever the Norwich, CT Sunday Community Meal is. They have very kindly given permission to set up separate tables from where the packed to go lunches will be served so people can also pick up the seeds we have on hand and also any plants that are brought in for adoption.
URI and the Rhode Island Master Gardeners are looking forward to 2022 when they can once again meet to do the seed packet sorting and re-packaging of the seeds donated by Rhode Island Job Lot stores. For 2021 they were just able to ship the seeds to a variety of Rhode Island Community Gardens. The seeds at the Norwich Plant and Seed Swap are packets and seed collections left from previous years. I have been assured that most of them will still sprout. I was also advised to plant extra and then share the plants with family, friends and neighbors.
If you are looking for plant and gardening advice please check out the Facebook page Norwich Plant Swap. There is a wide variety of advice postings for both indoor, outdoor and the 2021 fad of winter gardening. I just re-post the work of others. I am nowhere near a good enough indoor or outdoor gardener to give anyone advice.
I tried Winter Gardening for the first time last year with only so-so success but then I am only a so-so gardener. Not for lack of trying though.
I met my first winter gardener a few years ago who had the most amazing assortment of vegetable plants to give away. He and all the subsequent videos and articles make it sound so easy but I think you have to tweak it and do what works for you. Begin with plastic water or milk jugs. Cut it horizontally in half. Some say to make holes in the bottom for drainage and some say to just put in a layer of gravel for any extra water to drain into. Then layer with fertilizer, and good growth medium. Personally I am not certain what good growth medium is. I took good growth medium to be soil. But depending on what you are trying to grow it could be a mix of sand and soil. I am also not precisely certain what enriched soil is. You’ll have to figure all those out for yourself and what you want to grow. Anyway, the next direction was to plant the seeds according to the directions and mist the soil do not drown the seeds. Then put the top of the jug back on securing it with duct tape and yes keep the cap on. My winter gardener said to line the jugs up near the foundation of the house, and any outbuildings that receive direct sunlight at anytime during the day. Do not fiddle with them. Just let them stay even if it snows and freezes. They are seeds and plants and they will do what comes naturally to them. It may be go into a dormant period or it may be to grow, grow, grow to get nearer the warmth of the sun.
I am looking forward to seeing my first crocus and my happy daffodils. They will all be coming soon. Remember you heard it here first. Spring is on its way!
Norwich, CT will not be the most reported city in the Great Backyard Bird Count of 2021. But thanks to the many reporters of the duck and eagle watchers at Brown Park in Norwich CT it may have one of the most reported bird watching sites in Connecticut.
It has been wonderful to see all the cars lined up from around 7 am with coffees in hand, to almost 6 pm with a lot of tea or coffee drinks in hand when not with their phone cameras and binoculars searching the skies for the hungry eagle.
A lot of the observers are still feeding bread regardless of the signs with the warnings saying how bad it is for the ducks, geese and swans. A few people are tossing dried peas onto the water and a few frozen peas and green beans.
The seagulls are not as plentiful as one would imagine. In fact, I counted more seagulls at the McDonalds parking lot than I did at Brown Park and none at all while at Burger King or Kentucky Fried Chicken. At my house I am counting chickadees, sparrows, and cardinals. This year my doves are missing. You read correctly. This year my doves are missing. Last year I had plenty of large, healthy and well fed doves cooing and calling from dawn to dusk. This year, a lot of silence. I am of course hoping for their return later in the spring but its still strange.
There is some early interest in the nest at the peak of the house but no one has moved in yet. Much to my delight there are fewer squirrels bothering my feeders and suet which means there may be some bigger hunters living in the area. Its been a little too chilly for me to sit on the lookout for specifics but in the afternoon I still see only the usual three hawks that hunt my neighborhood for small critters and mice.
So only one day is left to count the birds in your location and a few weeks to report the types and numbers of birds you have seen these past four days. Www.birdcount.org and there are links to photo identifiers for bird types if you take clearer pictures than I do. I have been able to count the birds I have seen without too much trouble including the Washington Street house with all the vultures.
The vultures are really quite the site to see and how many of us can re-call when they chose to roost on the wires by the entrance to the old Ames shopping center. What birds are you seeing? Are you counting and reporting them? Www.birdcount.org. It only takes fifteen minutes of your time and you can report the birds you see in your yard, a park, a parking lot, from your window, or on your walk.
Thank you for participating in the Great Backyard Bird Count 2021!
I am excited. Without question, Presidents Day Weekend is my favorite long weekend of the year but not for the reason you are thinking. Presidents are, of course, important but it is also the Great Backyard Bird Count! It is my excuse to spread a little bird seed on the ground. Hang an extra block or two of suet and seed and then sit back by the window with my tea and sometimes a cookie or three and enjoy the birds. The closest to work I have to do is count the different types of birds and report the types and numbers on www.birdcount.org.
This year they have made it even easier with no waiting. You can start entering bird lists at midnight local time on the first day of the count, anywhere in the world. Data entry remains open until March 1, but the information you enter should only be from the four days of the Great Backyard Bird Count.
Participating is easy, fun to do alone, or with others, and can be done anywhere you find birds. Simply watch birds for 15 minutes or more, at least once over the four days, February 12-15, 2021, and tell them what you see! When this began the only way to enter a bird count was on a computer or a lap top. Now there are so many different ways to enter your data I am not certain I can list them all but here are a few to help you pick the best tool to use for sharing your birds sightings:
If you are new to the count and have a smart phone, try using the Merlin Bird ID app. It is FREE and easy to use. Merlin covers bird species from 7 continents and is available in 8 languages.
If you have participated in the count before, try eBird Mobile app or enter your bird list on the eBird website (desktop/laptop). The FREE eBird Mobile app is a fast way to enter your bird lists right from the palm of your hand.
If you are participating as a group, see instructions for Group Counting.
Norwich, CT has been the most reported City in Connecticut in the past and with your help it can be again. Take a walk and count and report the birds you see. Take a hike in Mohegan Park. The trails are open. Be aware they are not shoveled. Yes you can count the types and numbers of birds you see while waiting at your favorite drive-thru restaurant. What birds and water fowl are there at Brown Park? Occum Park? Greenville playground? The fish ladder?
Age is not a factor in the bird count so spend some time with the young and spend some time with the seniors. Modern bird watching can be done together over the phone. While my friend is in a care facility, I dropped off some tea and cookies beforehand. Then at a convenient time we will both settle in to our comfy chairs and watch and count the birds at our respective birdfeeders for 15 or maybe even 30 minutes while we sip tea and enjoy our cookies. I know we will have a great visit with fresh new things to chat about happening right before our very eyes.
COVID Statement: Watching birds is a safe and enjoyable activity to do during the Covid global pandemic. For the 2021 Great Backyard Bird Count, participants are strongly urged to comply with all current country, province, state, First People’s lands, or municipal Covid-19 regulations and guidelines. This includes, but is not limited to, social distancing while bird watching and wearing a mask when birding with others.
Because I work as a volunteer with multiple first responding organizations throughout the year I was given the opportunity to receive a Covid -19 Vaccination. Although surprised and feeling very guilty I took advantage of the opportunity presented to me.
I received a Moderna first shot with no reaction. Not even a little redness at the injection site. I even wondered if I had been somehow given a placebo.
Friday, I received my second shot. Again nothing. I even picked up some Chinese chicken soup in case I needed something light and brothy and was too sick to cook. Preparation is key. No reaction until I starting poking at what looked like a bee sting where I received the shot. A little pink dot surrounded by a little circle of pink warm flesh. I could feel it when I touched it but not if I didn’t pay attention to it.
Saturday morning I could feel it enough to imagine I had been bitten by a really big mosquito not a bee. The ring was a little larger and warmer. I also had mild headache so I took two not aspirin substitutes and went on with my day. I was thirstier than normal and went so far as to get a blood orange lemonade for lunch. Too much information? Sorry. The mild, headache returned on Saturday evening so two more pills and a movie I cannot recall as I fell sound asleep.
Sunday morning. I woke up early and peppy. You heard me. I woke up bright and early and full of energy. I had my Sunday morning chores completed by 9 AM and I was looking for some other mischief to get into. I shoveled my walk every time the snow built to two inches just to expend a little energy. By Sunday afternoon I noticed that I had no headache at all. I can still feel my injection site and its still got its pink ring but I am imagining that the ring means my defenses are building. It’s all good.
I hope this will help some of the people who are hearing the horror stories of the vaccination. The current available vaccinations are new and there is certainly a lot that the scientists and medical professionals do not know but it is what we have available at the moment. Use your judgment and that of your doctor for what is the right choice for you. You, are the individual in control of what is put into your body.
One last thing, if you choose to get the vaccination, make certain to keep the card they give you in a safe place. That proof of vaccination someday may or may not be required to be shown for boarding an air plane, train, bus or a venue for a sports event, concert, wedding or other large social event. I do not have a crystal ball to look into the future but that is my guess for what may be coming.
Lisa Abend for the New York Times on February 1, 2021 wrote the background and plan so much better than I could ever imagine I will attach it below. Reading her article gave me an idea I cannot make happen but I can “suggest.”
Many of the local theaters in Norwich, New London, Groton, Lisbon have not been hosting full houses for the last year. Many have started a “rent the theater for your family” programs. So I was thinking along those lines, what if a company made a ‘generous donation’ to a theater, or play house, and awarded to one of their employees, a double feature movie with Pop Corn, Drink, Candy. A chance to be alone (ok they probably want to bring along one other person of their choice.)
This could be a time of complete relaxation for an employee who has been responding to the pressures, stresses and responsibilities at home and at work since the beginning of the pandemic. Of course this could be blown up a bit with a take away dinner served on a white tablecloth and served on real plates with not plastic silverware. OK I am getting a bit fanciful but I admit I would be delighted to coordinate the event for a company and arrange it with the theater of their choosing.
Don’t you think your employees and co-workers deserve more than a sticker or a pin for their dedication and hard work?
Sweden’s Goteborg Film Festival has taken social distancing to the extreme, offering one attendee a week on a barren island, with only the competition films for company.
Lisa Enroth, an emergency nurse, will spend a week in an isolated lighthouse keeper’s cottage, watching the 70 movies in competition at the Goteborg Film Festival. Credit…Ines Sebalj for The New York Times By Lisa Abend Feb. 1, 2021
As they do at the opening of any star-studded film festival, photographers scrambled for position, training their lenses on the spot where audience members would alight. But when the first — and only — guest of honor arrived, she was clad not in a tuxedo or sparkly gown, but in jeans and an orange puffer jacket (designer unknown). There was no red carpet beneath her feet, only bare frozen ground. And instead of sauntering into a plush cinema buzzing with celebrities, she climbed into a speedboat and zipped off across the frigid water to a tiny island where she would settle in for the first premiere.
As festivals around the world grapple with the pandemic, the Goteborg Film Festival, which opened in Sweden’s second largest city on Jan. 29, hasn’t so much accepted social distancing as escalated it. Over the course of the coming week, it will hold screenings in two urban venues for just one festival attendee. And it has also sent a single viewer to a tiny, barren island in the North Atlantic to watch the 70 films in competition — alone.
Hamneskar, a rocky outcrop some 25 miles from Goteborg, was nicknamed Pater Noster by sailors who would recite the Lord’s Prayer as they neared its treacherous waters. Credit …Ines Sebalj for The New York Times
Some festivals, like Venice’s in September, have faced the pandemic as diminished versions of their normally glitzy selves, with alternately seated theaters and mandatory temperature checks. Others, like Sundance and the Berlinale, now pushed until March 2021, have gone entirely digital, offering streaming access to films and other events. Some organizers are postponing their festivals, crossing their fingers that further down the line pandemic regulations will allow for a more usual festival experience: On Jan. 27, the Cannes festival announced that it would take place in July, rather than its customary May.
But at Goteborg, the Nordic countries’ most important festival, organizers have made an unusual virtue of necessity. “So many people who have been home alone, unable to meet friends or family, have turned to cinema for company and comfort,” said the festival’s artistic director, Jonas Holmberg. “We wanted to experiment with that, to isolate that feeling, and take it to the extreme. So we thought, ‘Why don’t we isolate the person on a small island with nothing but films?’”
As the only country in Europe to resist a formal lockdown, Sweden has followed its own path through the pandemic, neither recommending mask use nor shutting down schools until December, when a disproportionately high mortality rate from the disease forced it to change strategy.
But much of the country has complied with guidelines issued by the government, and after months of even voluntary social distancing and lockdowns, a wintry week alone on an island with only movies for company might seem the last thing most people would need. Yet when an evocative online video announced the contest, over 12,000 people applied for the solo experience. On Jan. 19, the festival selected Lisa Enroth, a 41-year-old emergency nurse from the town of Skovde, in southern Sweden, as the winner. Some of the films Lisa Enroth will have the opportunity to see while on Pater Noster, from left: “Tove,” “Conference” (a film from the Social Distances section), “The Conversations of Donkey and Rabbit” (a short film from the Lockdown Cinema section), “Pleasure,” “Incredible Thoughts of a Woman on a Tier” (a short film from the Lockdown Cinema section) and “Another Round.”Credit…via Goteborg Film Festival
Like health care workers everywhere, Enroth has found the past several months stressful. “Every day at the hospital we’ve been dealing with so much,” she said. “With all the patients, and all the new protocols, I’ve never felt so isolated in my life.
So when she saw the video’s call for applications, she didn’t hesitate. “Alone in nature, on an island? Plus movies? I was like, ‘Yes, I need this.’”
The hospital agreed to give Enroth time off (“My boss is a movie buff,” she explained) and on Jan. 30, a boat brought her to Hamneskar, a rocky outcrop some 25 miles from Goteborg that was nicknamed Pater Noster by sailors who would recite the Lord’s Prayer as they neared its treacherous waters. There, she took up residence in the former keeper’s cottage that sits aside the island’s cast-iron lighthouse, and settled in for the movie marathon.
During her time on Pater Noster, Enroth will have access to the 70 films screening at the festival, which include the Finnish Oscar contender “Tove,” Thomas Vinterberg’s acclaimed “Another Round” and the Goteborg native Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” all of which are competing for best Nordic film. International films in competition include Emma Dante’s “The Macaluso Sisters,” set in Sicily, and Charlène Favier’s “Slalom,” about elite downhill skiers abused by their coach. There is also a separate section, called Social Distances, featuring films created in response to the pandemic, and one called Lockdown Cinema for short films made in quarantine.
Streamed through the festival’s website and available to the public, all of the films have scheduled premiere times online. But a handful of viewers are also having their own unusually isolated encounters with them. Coinciding with each online premiere, the films will also screen at Goteborg’s Draken movie theater (capacity 708) and the Scandinavian arena (whose 12,000 seats normally host concert goers or hockey fans) for a single viewer who has won a seat through a raffle.
A screening for one (in this case, Lova Lakso) at the Draken movie theater in Goteborg. Credit…Ines Sebalj for The New York Times
At each venue a red carpet leads the viewer to the assigned seat. And although popcorn is not available, other enjoyments may be. “In some cases,” hints the festival director Holmberg, “it may be possible the filmmaker will be there to present the film.”
By staging one-person viewings in iconic locations, Holmberg hopes to preserve some of the sense of occasion that an in-person festival generates. But here again, the festival organizers are experimenting. “We want to see, how does being alone affect the film experience? What happens when you’re doing nothing besides watching the film?” he said.
Although she will post a daily video diary on a dedicated page of the festival website, Enroth has agreed to eschew all other forms of communication and entertainment — no phone, no books — during her time on Pater Noster. She said that she wasn’t worried about getting lonely, but didn’t rule out the possibility she may “start talking to the furniture.” And, like Holmberg, she was also interested to see how her week on the island changes the experience of watching films. “The first day, it’s just ‘Oh, I’m alone, watching a movie.’ But a few days in, I might be like, ‘OK, these people are my only company. What if I hate them?’” she said.
But for the self-professed science fiction fan (her favorite movie is “The Never Ending Story”), even that will be a welcome escape. “I love watching movies, because it makes me let go of work and everything else that’s going on right now,” Enroth said. “It’ll be great to be surrounded by someone else’s reality.
This is for all the armchair history buffs of Norwich, CT. The people who have read all the books that tell the same stories over and over but never contain any of the names and information of the less than famous or infamous residents.
To you I present from the March 9, 1902 Norwich Bulletin a List of “Award of Prizes for Best Short Stories in Contest of 1902.” I wish I had more information such as the sponsor but alas all I have is the following list.
“Dixie Land,” by Elsie M. Talbot, Norwich, Conn, First Prize $10.00
“Auntie Sue,” by Laura Marie Lucas, Poquetannock, Second $5.00
“Helen’s Sacrifice,” by Agnes Virginia McKee, Norwich, Third $2.50
“Interrupted Wooing,” by Frances Davis, Wellesley Hills, Mass, fourth $2.50
“Pete’s Temptation,” Myra A. Cochran, Norwich, Conn, fifth $2.50
“Narrow Escape,” Cornelia H. Spencer, Lebanon, Conn, sixth $2.50
Honorable Mention
“Echo – the Lady of the Great Falls,” Bertha Mae Davis, Putnam, Conn.
“Redemptioner,” Gilbert Osgood Webb, Norwich.
“The Tramp and His Story,” Nellie M. Gardiner, Center Groton, Conn
“How I Became the Possessor of a Dog,” Nellie M. Ward, Saxton’s River, Vt.
“Portia,” Vera I. Benjamin, Norwich, Conn.
I did manage to verify that Elsie Talbot, Agnes McKee, Myra Cochran, Mabel E Day, Vera I Benjamin and Gilbert Osgood Webb were all on the 1900 census of Norwich, CT. Mr Osgood dropped out of the Yale class of 1908 and returned to live on Slater Avenue in Norwich. I am not positive but I think Agnes Virginia McKee married Dr Ernest J. Jones and lived across the street from me when I was a little girl. I can’t prove it but I think she was the mother to Gwendolyn, a school dental hygienist and James, a survivor of the Korean War Bataan Death March in April 1942. I would love to know if I am correct!
Anyway, my point is that everyone is more than just the sum of their birth and death dates. Every person has a story, an incident a uniqueness that should be recognized.
For the past few months I have been lending a hand to the Uncas Health District Covid Vaccination Clinics at the Rose City Senior Center. For a closed facility it is certainly a busy place. One of the busiest places in all of Norwich that I frequent at least. Their website is www.norwichct.org/seniors and their phone is 860.889.5960.
Individuals come to the facility to purchase used books three for twenty-five cents. I can candidly say that I have perused many of the books and previous readers have left all of the words on the pages. People have exchanged 250 – 1000 piece puzzles. The size of the pieces does matter and to the man who puts them together with the printed picture upside down and when he is done then turns it over to see if he has done it correctly a standing ovation. I thought he was kidding until he showed me photos of puzzles in progress and then turned over. Amazing!
On Thursdays DoorDash Delivery drivers report in one at a time to pick up The Salvation Army non-perishable Food Boxes for delivery to those who remain high-risk of severe complications from Covid, those in quarantine and others. To receive a food box the instructions say to call United Way at 2-1-1 and tell them you are interested in the DoorDash Food Box Delivery through the Salvation Army who will contact you to arrange a delivery.
TVCCA VITA Income Tax Assistance appointments can be virtual, online and with convenient drop-off options too. If you would like an appointment, you are asked to call 2-1-1 then select option 3 then option 6. This service is free and has an income limit of $66,000. For more information please see https://www.tvcca.org/financial-services/vita/
By the way, from the monthly news letter, I just learned that Norwich has a Property Tax Credit (Circuit Breaker) Program for real property owners who are 65 or older with an income less than $37,600 for individuals. The discount is based on a graduated income scale and calculated by the town’s Tax Assessors Office and the discount is applied directly to the applicants real property tax bill. Applications are accepted February 1 thru May 15, 2021. Veterans with established Connecticut residency may be eligible for other tax credits as well. Check with the City Ta Assessor at 860.823.3723.
Otis Library may be open only by appointment but AARP, The Mystic & Noank Library, Simsbury Public Library and the Lyme Public Library are busier than ever. AARP has been joining with Quinnipiac University for a virtual lecture series on Asian Studies the next being April 21st on the East India Company and the last being Gender & Nationalism in the Colonial World on May 12th. Register at www.aarp.org/ctevents
Tim Wachtmann of Plantscapes of New England is presenting a Gardening with Native Plant Series via Zoom thanks to the Mystic & Noank Libraries. Why Native Plants? Wed March 31, at 6 pm
Planting for Native Pollinators Wednesday, April 14, at 6 pm and
Enjoying your native landscape on Wednesday, April 28, at 6 pm
Register at www.mysticnoanklibrary.org click on Event Calendar and the click on ZOOM programs.
You can use the same website for their Whole Food Cooking Series by Colin McCullough of Colin Cooks Vegan, who teaches people how to incorporate whole-foods and plant based meals into their diet. Healthy and Amazing Sauces on Thursday, April 29 at 6 pm and Veggie Burgers and Sausages on Thursday, May 27th at 6 pm.
On a personal note I am pleased to say that Senior Center Director Mike Wolak has given me permission to begin a FREE Seed Library at the center that will be open to everyone who wants to participate and not just seniors. If you are interested in FREE SEEDS please come to see us at St Marks Church on Broadway in Norwich, CT on Sundays from 1-2 pm. We have a wide variety of vegetable, herb, annual and perennial flower FREE SEED PACKETS available.
Please watch the Facebook Norwich Plant Swap page for the announcement of our outdoors plant swap we hope for Sundays in late April and May. All outdoor swaps are weather dependent.
Kudos to the Norwich Recreation Department for their vastly improved Spring/Summer 2021 activities catalog. I am excited to see the addition of the Rose City Pentathlon that includes the Norwich Golf Course, the Norwich Bowling Center and the Mohegan Park Disc Golf. Safe fishing instructions with DEEP as well as a community Police Fishing Series at Spaulding Pond and Brown Park. Who doesn’t love Polar Express on a big screen with S’mores, popcorn and pj’s? A family movie night at the beach will be perfect in early August before school starts. Welcome Norwich Recreation to the 20th Century. I know that there will be improvement every year!
Yes it’s another blog about gardening. I just spent the last hour or so fighting with my free standing wisteria and my nemesis the bittersweet that is trying to strangle my beautiful wisteria. Anyway…
It gave me too much time to consider the age of my wisteria and snow ball and Japanese Quince. They are all very old. At least 60 years old and from what I can tell still happy and healthy. In the 1940’s, 50’s and 60’s the back yard had very specific garden beds. I have memories of a bed of pink and red poppies. Pink and red bush roses. Maybe they weren’t roses but they just looked like roses to me. A round patch for the rhubarb. The Jerusalem artichokes grew tall and formed a fence with dainty black eyed susan type flowers on the very top. Below the pole for the clothes line was a thistle with a round light purple flower. It was very pretty but the leaves were mean with thorns. There was a bed with flowers you could cut for vases and plenty of violets and Johnny jump-ups to pick as well.
So where are my thoughts down memory lane leading me? With the interest Norwich residents have in municipal history, there should be some folks who would be interested in mixing their interest in history with their interest in gardening and farming. Throughout its history Norwich had very little serious interest in farming but loved their gardens.
Seriously, gardening was a huge industry in Norwich, CT. Greenhouses were plentiful and so were the flower shops they supplied. When you read about the actual historic events and not just the stories and folk tales in the local history books they are filled with descriptions of the floral arrangements, who made them or supplied the greenery.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if people brought back some of Norwich history by planting the gardens on the “historic walks” or the property of local house museums with the flowers and grains that might have been seen in a particular period? They wouldn’t need to be authentic to the period but a simple representation of what might have been there. In the Leffingwell House Museum is a kitchen set of flax that was grown on Wawecus Hill, spun and woven on Wawecus Hill and made into an apron and dish cloths for a home on Wawecus Hill and never left Wawecus Hill until it was given to the Society of the Founders of Norwich, CT for the Leffingwell House Museum. What does a a field or a patch of flax look like? What is the process required to spin and weave it into cloth? Wouldn’t that make a great display?
Thanks to the internet and the dedicated Otis Library volunteers there are plenty of old photographs of Norwich, CT that could be referenced with a little hard work and dedication toward looking at the flora and fauna of the various areas of Norwich. The Norwich Bulletin and the Day both ran articles that could be used for research for those that wanted to carry the authenticity to the extreme.
It would take some cooperation but the maybe the multiple local gardening and historic societies could work together towards a specific beautification goal? Maybe some of the very old and now very tired historic walks could be peppered up with some of the stories of the gardens of Norwich, CT. Just because the history is old does not mean that it was dull. Time to brighten it up!
Someday I would like to have a calendar of Norwich, CT with all of the important dates marked on it. Not just the modern holidays but the truly important dates in the history of Norwich.
For example on March 5, 1907 the Norwich City Council acquired the original 400 acres of Mohegan Park for $875. from John A Rockwell, Charles Bard, Edward Harland, J. Hunt Smith, Henry R and Mary B. Bond, W. H. Allen trustee of the will of Charles Spaulding, Fanny Louise and Edith Mary Bliss, Mary W. Reynolds, William H. Bushnell, and Dr. L. W. Bacon and children.
Roadwork within Mohegan Park began in August 1907.
The first bath houses were constructed in July 1908.
The first children’s play area was completed in December 1909.
The skating pond (now called the Lower Pond) was completed in 1911.
The Washington Street entrance was opened to traffic in 1911 with the “driveways” joining Washington Street and Rockwell Streets were not finished until 1912.
1912, was also the year the first deer were brought into the park.
Jimmy (?) the first monkey was given an established residence in 1915.
“Luigi” a baby monkey was given to the park zoo by the Patrolman’s Benevolent Association on May 24, 1959 to replace a monkey lost in a January fire. There is even a photo of Officers Joseph H Tambori, Henry Swatzburg and a young Tom Moretti of Harriett Street.
In 2021 Mohegan Park measures over 500 acres with multiple hiking and walking trails, cross country running paths, play areas, recreation fields, a beach, fishing areas, group pavilions, gazebos, picnic areas, a memorial rose garden and more.
I wonder just how many specific dates on a calendar could be filled in just with historic park events?
I try and add specific names and dates in my blog whenever I can in case there are descendants out there looking for more than just birth and death dates of their ancestors.
Take advantage of Mohegan Park Resources. The Park is open daily from dawn to dusk all year round. No fees, or admission charges and plenty of easy free, convenient parking.
My apologies to everyone who is supportive of the 2021 Norwich Plant Swap and Seed Swap. For the Sunday, Seed Swap on 3/14/21 we will have a limited amount of seeds to give away from previous seed swaps and giveaways.
I have not heard a peep from the CT Master Gardeners and UConn who promised a new selection of seeds donated from Rhode Island Job Lot for the second week of March. I have left voice mails, sent emails and texts just asking when they are expecting the pickup date to be with absolutely no reply whatsoever.
Without a grain of evidence, there is still no question in my mind what happened. The CT Master Gardeners have never been involved in a seed give-away program and so did not have a solid understanding of the amount of work that goes into it and my further guess is that they did not have enough confidence in themselves to ask the simple question, “what questions or directions should I ask, before, agreeing to participate in the program?”
Lets walk through the program and you will quickly see what I mean. Rhode Island Job Lots is a chain of stores that sells seeds, January thru November. In December the seed packets at each store are counted and returned to a central point. This is where I think the delay comes in. The seed packets don’t come in all sorted. The seed packets come into a central place in a jumbled mess that agricultural students and Master Gardener volunteers then sort and create the requested orders for distribution. This is a lot of detailed work for a great many hands under normal circumstances. In the days of Covid when there are limits to group numbers it could be a problem by itself.
It takes a surprisingly long time to sort the packets not just into vegetable, flowers and herbs but into the specific types. Take for example green beans. Bush beans or climbing? Then it breaks down into the specific varieties. Have you ever been to the garden center and been dazzled by the number of varieties and colors of one specific type of flower? Think about peppers for a moment. Hot peppers, mild peppers, green peppers, red peppers, purple peppers, long peppers, short peppers, yellow peppers, ornamental peppers, the list continues but you get the idea. This is a new program for Connecticut Master Gardeners and I do not think they were fully prepared for groups, and individuals to quickly mark their orders with the quantities of seed packets they wanted for use or distribution. At the time of posting of the announcement and the order form they were still working out the details of where the distribution would take place. I thought it would be somewhere on the Uconn campus or they would send the orders to many Connecticut Master Gardener locations throughout the state with a follow-up email to arrange a pick-up of the order at a specific time and place. (Norwich just happens to have a CT Master Gardener location next door to the Three Rivers Community College campus.)
Another issue is the expense of putting together the orders. How can there be an expense when the seed packets are free? Each order was sent by email so each order needs to be printed so there is the expense of toner and paper. Each order whether an order for a single packet or an organizational order of 300 packets needs to be assembled and marked for identification. In the past, when working with our usual source the URI and RI Master Gardener program, the individual orders were placed into 10×12 manila envelopes and marked with the organizations, or individuals name. Envelopes and markers cost money. Did anyone consider a budget? The manila envelopes were then on tables in a loose alphabetical order that on pick up day, energetic volunteer runners could quickly check and hand off to the pick-up individual. It is without doubt a lot of tedious organization. In the past six years of working with the Rhode Island program my longest wait in line was less than fifteen minutes.
As I stated earlier, I have not heard a peep from the CT Master Gardeners or UConn but I will continue to contact them for further information and will update everyone through the Norwich Plant Swap Facebook page. Please continue to be patient as they work through the process.
There will be some seeds available on Sunday, March 14, 2021 at St. Mark’s Church, on Broadway in Norwich, CT from 1 – 3 pm. Thank you again for your patience and support.
I think I have had a sense of accomplishment more in the two months of 2021 than I did in all of 2020. For example I was at the laundromat this morning and managed to make vaccine appointments on my cell phone for three people. Right then. Right there. No muss and no fuss. Not my first time making appointments for others and won’t be my last but what a great way to start the day.
At 1 pm this afternoon I met with the Sunday Community Meal people to learn their location for the month of March 2021 and finalize the plan for the 2021 Seed and Plant Swap location. We will have seed packets available until they run out on Sunday March 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 1 pm – 2 pm at St. Mark’s Church, 248 Broadway, Norwich, CT. We will be inside so inside and outside cuttings and plants are welcome.
I currently have over 100 older seed packets. I think the oldest may be four years old. That is not really considered to be old by most gardeners although they may want to plant two seeds to everyone seed of a current year packet. I also will be suggesting people soak or dampen the seeds before planting to loosen the seed casing which may have dried and toughened a bit.
Now is a really good time for the “Winter Sowers.” “Winter Sowers,” that’s a new term for me are the people who successfully grow plants from seeds in the plastic water and milk jugs outside, in the snow and freezing temperatures. I have posted many examples of the successes people have had on the Facebook, Norwich Plant Swap page. Please note that none of them are of my plants. I love gardening, planning the gardens, digging in the soil even fertilizing but my reality is not always the success I dream of. This year I will be trying lots and lots of “internet advised” techniques to see if I have better success. For example I read that if I bury the contents of a can of water packed sardines beneath my tomato plants I will have an improved harvest. I already have a ceremonial spring planting of a banana near the roots of my roses every year but the internet says I should be just cutting up the banana peel, soaking it in water for a few hours or overnight and then watering the roses. Oh. Oops. But to be honest the burying of the banana in the spring has become a fun little ritual that I enjoy. Anyway, watch and learn some of the helpful tips from professional gardeners on the Norwich Plant Swap page.
I will be posting more information about the 2021 Norwich Plant Swap as soon as I learn it. One of the issues was whether the plant swap would be inside or outside. Since we had our 2020 Plant Swap many of us have enjoyed the growth and multiplication of our indoor plants that need to be shared with new homes. As the location is indoors we will have a reduced issue with temperature shock. Many indoor and young plants don’t like rapid temperature changes, well, truth be told, many outdoor plants don’t like rapid temperature changes as well.
The rules for the 2021 Norwich Plant Swap remain the same as in previous years.
Everyone must wear a mask and respect all Covid regulations.
There will be no product or plant sales.
All plants may be given or traded freely.
It is not necessary to bring seeds or plants to participate.
Everyone is welcome to come and adopt plants or seeds.
Plants do not need to be potted. Plants can be traded in newspaper, paper cups, takeout containers, boxes, bags, envelopes or any other carry convenience.
Swap organizers are not responsible for supplying trunk or backseat liners or other plant equipment or supplies.
I hope to see everyone at one of the 2021 Norwich Plant Swaps!
Back in the day, people clipped the odd article from newspapers and magazines to tuck them in books and notebooks for reference, to share or just to read later when they had more time. I do the same thing when I am perusing the back issues of the Norwich Bulletin but I just put them on various flash drives to read later. This is my later, but while interesting I don’t always recall why I saved them.
I did my best to not change the names, language, spelling or grammar. The following is as it appeared in the newspaper. Do any of the names sound familiar to you? They might not be mentioned in the national history books but each of them certainly was notable in the history of Norwich, CT.
These are all from the Norwich Bulletin of May 8, 1861.
The Muster Rolls – We have sent to New Haven and Hartford, for complete muster tolls of the three Norwich companies, who have already gone. We have received only the muster roll of Capt. Peale’s company which we publish this morning. The others we hope, will be forthcoming for publication tomorrow.
A Military Company, called Hoplites, has been formed at the Free Academy. They hold daily drills, meaning to be ready in case of emergency, though they will not volunteer at present. Yesterday a flag was presented the company by the young ladies of the school. H.E. Bowers, one of the Academy Zouaves, made the presentation speech. Capt. Bill responded for the company.
$1,500. – Henry Cross, an intelligent colored man, who has enlisted as servant in Captain Peale’s company, came home on business Monday and returns this morning. Some of his friends told him that “If Jeff Davis should catch him he’d hang him.” “No, sir.” said Henry, “Don’t you believe that. Jeff Davis ain’t the man to hang fifteen hundred dollars, nor ‘any other man.’ I’m safe, I’ll bet.”
Norwich First on the Muster Roll. – The Hartford people feel a justifiable and honest pride in having furnished the first volunteer company accepted from Connecticut. We notice another fact in that connection, which gratifies not a little our Norwich pride. The first name on the muster roll of the first company of the first regiment of Connecticut volunteers, is E. Kempton Abbott of Norwich. So a Norwich boy heads the list of privates in the ranks of our First Regiment.
A Patriotic Offer – Col. Anson F. Wier, of Lebanon, has sent word to Gov. Buckingham, that if authority can be granted him, he will enlist a full company of Cavalry from the towns of Lebanon, Columbia, Hebron, and Windham, and if necessary will equip them from his own private means. We hope the patriotic offer will be accepted and that the State will see that the company is fully equipped without expense to Col. Fowler.”
The following is from the May 8, 1851 Norwich Bulletin on a few of the actions taken by the City Council at a recent meeting.
“Report of His Honor, the Mayor, upon the Petition of David Ewen and others respecting Stephen Rathbone’s Lime Kiln in West Chelsea declaring the same a nuisance, recommending its being abated, and authorizing the attorney to prosecute, was read. Report accepted, and resolution adopted.
Voted. Not to rescind the vote passed at a former meeting, respecting permission to Henry Allen to boil Varnish within the limits of the city.
Voted. That the City Attorney be, and he is hereby instructed to prosecute all persons carrying on the business of soap boiling within the city, without license,”
[Attest, Z R. Robbins, Clerk pro tem]
Thank you for keeping your comments fresh and bubbly folks.
Do you like mysteries? Would you help solve one? Not a murder or a theft mystery. A location mystery.
The background.
In April 2021 the Robert O. Fletcher Post #4 of the American Legion on Laurel Hill in Norwich, CT closed and the property was sold. But who was Robert O. Fletcher?
Robert O. Fletcher was a popular Norwich, CT native. He had graduated Falls School and the Norwich Free Academy Class of 1912. A good student, prominent, popular and athletic. He was Captain of the baseball team and a football player. Drawn to office work his first job was in the office of Hopkins & Allen Arms Company and then to the Norwich Bulletin as the sports editor until he joined the Army in July 1917.
Fletcher was company clerk when he became the third Norwich son to die in the Great War.
In June 1919 is when our mystery begins. According to an article in the Norwich Bulletin on June 23, 1919 A purple beech tree was planted in memorial of Robert O. Fletcher, 56th Artillery, U.S.A., as part of an impressive Bulletin Day at Ludlow in North Stonington, the country place of William H. Oat, secretary and manager of the company.
“After brief exercises round the tree, forty of those who had known and loved Sergeant Fletcher in their association with him as a member of the Bulletin staff, passed round the tree each throwing in a shovelful of earth. Manager Oat concluded the exercises by hanging on the tree a copper plate which bore this inscription:
In memory of
Sergeant Major Robert O. Fletcher of
The 56th Artillery
Killed at
Chere Chatrauve, France
August 15, 1918
As the men gathered in a circle around the tree the exercises were opened with the reading of a touching tribute to Sergeant written by A. Walton Pearson, editor of the Bulletin, at whose suggestion the tree had been planted. Then was read by Charles F. Whitney, city editor, a poem entitled, A Tree, by Joyce Kilmer, a New York newspaper man, who made the supreme sacrifice also somewhere in France. Charles D. Noyes, president of the Bulletin Company closed this part of the exercises with a tender tribute to the newspaper soldier comrade.”
So in 2021 the mystery is 1. Where was the actual location of the tree? 2. Is it or one of its off spring still living today? 3. What happened to the copper plate? Is it still in place on the tree after 100 years? Was it melted down? Is it safely in a box in someone’s attic or basement? 4. Have local stories or legends been built around the copper plate? Can you help answer any of these questions?
If you can help please contact Richard R. Russ of American Legion Post 4 or Beryl Fishbone, berylfishbone@yahoo.com.
Norwich, CT could really do well by looking into its past for its future. For example, and let me give credit to the July 28, 1908 Norwich Bulletin for photo and article that I am going to quote extensively.
The article was accompanied by a drawing of the inside and outside of the expected trolleys that ran not just locally but to Westerly RI as well. Norwich planned for their building and arrival. If we had similar “trolleys” available. Just look alikes to the old trolleys Norwich might see an increase in visitor traffic just for the experience of riding such a vehicle. Middletown, RI has a fleet of trolley buses they use spring thru fall for event and tourist traffic and park very visibly thru the winter.
The trolleys are great fun just to ride, attend events and take from location to location.
The 1908 article was very specific stating. “Two summer coaches for the Norwich-Westerly Road promised for this morning – will be running next week.”
“On Friday night, two of the summer cars on the Norwich-Westerly trolley road were due in Willimantic and the officials of the road were promised that they would be delivered to the company this morning. The cars have come from High Point, N.C., and because of clearances, they have been a long time on the road. The cars will be brought here on a special and switched off at Fort Point, and immediately taken to the car barn near Hallville. The trucks for the cars are all ready to receive the bodies and the wiring is also completed so that very little work is necessary to get them into motion.”
The car barn is not completed as yet as the trusses have only arrived this week for the roof. As soon as they are in place the work will be rushed along on that building, but it is not anticipated that it will be required especially now.
There is every reason to believe that the cars will be running over the line in the coming week and then it will be but a short time before the company has the railroad commissioners approve the roadbed and cars run between here and Hallville.
Besides the two summer cars due here today, there are two more on the road of the same type. Besides these there will be two combination passenger and smoking cars. These will be delivered later and it is intended that they will be used with the summer cars if desired, running two cars at a trip.
The cars are each 41 feet long and with full vestibules [defined as a semi-circular and widened passageway between cars.] All the cars are closed as the time which will be made will not allow of open cars, the danger of falling off being too great. There will be four 65-horsepower motors on each car and the distance between here and Westerly about 20 miles, will be made in an hour, although it is claimed it can be done in 45 minutes.
The appearance of the cars is shown by the accompanying cut, and an outline of the baggage and smoking combination cars are also shown. In the combination cars will be toilets. The cars are expensive ones and more elaborate than any others seen in the vicinity. They are up to date in every particular, with cross seats and fitted up in railroad coach style.”
It is a shame that in 2021 in Southeastern CT we no longer have public transportation that can run us quickly, quietly and efficiently to places like Westerly, RI, Hartford, CT, New Haven, CT, Middletown, CT or even quite honestly across Norwich without transfers and greater time being needed than if the distance were being walked.
The weather outside is gorgeous. The vaccinations are working. The history tours of Norwich will be starting soon. But have you had a tour in Thamesville? Probably not because, well, its not an area of Norwich, CT that many are acquainted with. Yes. Thamesville is yet another tiny little village within the boundaries of Norwich. How many little areas can one small city have? Lots over the years and the names and boundaries do change over time. Thamesville has lost most of its independent identity now and few reading this blog will even know where it is located.
(If you have ever wondered why Norwich, CT has so many fire stations in so many, unique places, this may provide an individual answer. )
But on July 24, 1905 everyone for miles knew its exact location. No, I was not there and will be quoting from a very long article, three columns, from the the July 25, 1905 Norwich Bulletin titled, “The Damaged Silk Mill at Thamesville.”
“With a moaning sound that could be heard for fully half a mile and a concussion that violently shook the buildings in the southern portion of the city, the boiler of the Norwich Silk Company exploded Monday morning at about 7 o’clock, with fatal results to Joseph E. Hopkins, the engineer, and injuring several other employees of the company. The establishment commenced work for the day at 6:30, and everything seemed to be going in routine order until the accident occurred.
As soon as the explosion occurred an alarm of the fire was run in, and a telephone message was sent to police headquarters stating that there had been a serious accident at the silk mill, and that undoubtedly several were killed and many injured. Sergeant Twomey, who was at the desk, ordered out the ambulance and sent telephone calls around the city for physicians to hurry to the scene of the disaster.
Dr. D.G. Harris was the first to arrive upon the scene, and directed his attntion to the relief of Engineer Hopkins, who was found near the door, conscious, but suffering terrible agony from his burns. Drs. Cassidy and Harriman arrived soon after, and directed their attentions to the relief of the other sufferers.
The firemen of the Independence Hose company and the West Side chemical cart, who now carry bandages and remedies suitable for first aid to the injured, rendered timely assistance to the sufferers pending the arrival of the physicians. Mr. Hopkins was removed to the ambulance and the driver hastened at top speed for the Backus Hospital, but his efforts and medical skill were in vain, as the sufferer expired before the hospital was reached, and the remains were taken in charge by Charles A. Gager, Jr. and removed to his undertaking rooms on Franklin Street. Death was undoubtedly caused by his burns and scalds and the inhaling of flames and steam, as no bones were fractured.
Miss Nellie Cummings had one of her ears cut and was badly frightened but was not seriously injured. She was removed to her home on Geer Avenue, where it will take her several days to recover from the shock.
The building was set on fire by the coals from the firebox being scattered about the floor and sides of the main building, but the flames were quickly extinguished by the firemen upon their arrival, and although a part of the building is slightly charred, the damage from that source is small. The establishment presents a desolate picture today, fragments of the engine and fixtures are scattered around the grounds, and speak silently of the terrible force given by the escaping steam. In the interior of the building is the boiler lying in the southeast portion of the building, with a gaping hole in the roof above it, and broken matchers , winders and other machinery of the silk winding industry lying on all sides. Pieces of the iron base and firebox of the instrument of destruction are scattered around on the floor and imbedded in the. of the building. Fire Chief Stanton found the safety valve over two hundred feet from the engine room.
A large sized hole was made in the North end of the building by a flying piece of the firebox, which was entirely shattered. By the door of the engine room is a spooling machine that was entirely wrecked by the shower of iron and coals that were sent through the door and the length of the main room. The engineer was seen a few minutes before the disaster sitting in front of the door of the firebox and must have received nearly the whole of the stream of fire that was hurled out of the door of the furnace when the boiler started on its ascent.
Five minutes before the explosion Charles Gager, who has been employed at the plant since it was started, made a trip through the mill, and at that time Mr. Hopkins was sitting in a chair in front of the boiler. When the explosion occurred the room was filled with smoke and steam, mixed with the pieces of iron which were hurled through the door of the engine room. Mr. Gager, who was engaged at work on some of the machinery, was thrown to the floor by the shock and was stunned for a moment, but upon comprehending what had happened escaped through one of the windows.
There were 23 persons in the building at the time of the accident and how it happened that more were not seriously hurt is little short of miraculous. Mr. Gager although receiving several slight burns and bruises, was not seriously hurt and is able to be around. He was one of the first to find and render aid to the unfortunate engineer.
The employees of nearby factories, who do not start work until 7 o’clock, witnessed the accident and were on hand to assist in the care of the injured. George A. Smith, general manager of the company, was near at hand when the accident occurred and took charge of the care of the injured The plant where the accident occurred is located at the end of shipping street in Thamesville, with a front on the [river] Thames. The plant was formerly owned by the National Economizer company and consists of a main building, an engine room and an office and storeroom. The cause of the explosion will probably never be known, as the only one who knew about the condition of the boiler was the deceased engineer and it can hardly be credited to be any fault of his.
It was an upright boiler 54×53 and weighed in the neighborhood of two tons. When examined after the explosion it was found that several of the stay bolts in the bottom had given way, allowing the lower part to blow out, giving a downward pressure to the escaping steam and causing the weighty piece of metal to go up instead of in the rotary manner, as it would have done if the break had been in the side. Manager George A. Smith, of the company stated, when seen by a Bulletin reporter Monday afternoon that he was unable to determine where the fault lay, as the boiler was only ten years old and had never given any trouble before. It was inspected last March by State Boiler Inspector Jeremiah Sullivan of Norwich, and found to be in a safe condition. He had subjected it to a cold water test with a pressure of 135 pounds, which is the most severe test a boiler can be given. He had made a most careful examination, taking over two hours with the work, and had given permission to carry 85 pounds of steam. The boiler was a 35 horsepower and was built by Thomas Drummond of New London. Mr. Sullivan is considered to be an expert in his profession, and this is the first accident that has occurred to boilers inspected by him during his term of service, which has covered twelve years. Mr. Smith stated that the engine has been injured, but not ruined, and that he should take steps to put the plant in running order immediately as he had all the orders booked that he could handle for some time to come. The mill has been running for only about three months, but have had all the orders that they were able to handle.
Inspector Sullivan visited the scene of the disaster a short time after the accident and found that the first break was at a point near one of the legs. The pressure and expanding was too much for the other leg, and it gave way under the double strain.
The scene of the accident was visited by Coroner Brown late Monday morning for an official investigation, and the superintendent, S. A. Gager, who was in the mill at the time the explosion took place, but escaped injury, was questioned. From the examination of various employees and officials of the company, the coroner learned very little to explain the cause of the disaster, as there had been no trouble with the boiler before this, and up to the time of the explosion everything seemed to be running all right and the machine was running at its usual speed. As Mr. Hopkins, had full charge of the machinery, he was the only one that knew how it was working previous to and during Monday morning.
The remains of Mr. Hopkins were viewed at the hospital by Medical Examiner Paddock and Coroner Brown, but as yet the coroner has given no official verdict.
The scene of the accident and the damaged buildings were visited by large crowds of people Monday, and many of them carried away pieces of iron splinters as souvenirs.
Joseph E. Hopkins was a native of Woonsocket, RI where he was born June 25, 1832. At the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in the Twenty-first Massachusetts volunteers, serving bravely three years, and was honorably discharged. When the war was over Mr. Hopkins emigrated to Canada, where he was married in St Johns, P.Q. Later moving to Waterloo. Nine years ago he moved his family to Norwich. Mr. Hopkins was a man of many trades, among them that of an engineer. He was identified with several organizations among them the Master Builders Association, General Burnside Council, No. 83, O.U.A.M. And Sedgwick Post, No. 1, G.A.R. In the latter organization he held the office of officer of the day.
Mr. Hopkins is survived by his wife and a son, William H. Hopkins, who lives at 117 Franklin Street. Mr. Hopkins was a man of the highest character and one who in the course of a long and useful life had endeared himself to a wide circle of friends.”
Thank you readers for indulging me with this lengthy blog. I think its important to name as many names as I possibly can when I write about the history of Norwich, CT. These are the names and the places that should be talked about and discussed. The everyday people who went about their daily lives with little recognition but whose memory is the very building block of who we are today as a city.
In September of 1905 the question of whether all cities and towns of Connecticut should share a uniform charter was posed by editors of the Hartford Times newspaper to the mayors of representative cities and towns of Connecticut. According to an article in the September 13,1905 Norwich Bulletin the letter of inquiry also asked whether authority an responsibility should be concentrated or diffused; whether the city legislature should be a one-chambered institution or a bicameral body; whether the municipal commissions should be single-headed or plural-headed; and whether a large measure of home rule should be conferred on the cities.
To be honest as I read through some of the published replies, I only cared about and read with interest, only the reply from Charles F. Thayer, Mayor of Norwich, CT.
The reply of Mayor Thayer was, I am in receipt of your favor, asking my opinion relative to a uniform charter for the cities of Connecticut.
Although not informed officially, the newspapers have published the fact that his Excellency the governor has honored me with a position on the commission of which you are also named as a member, which has for its object the consideration of this subject.
My first impression is that to give public expression to my views on the subject, which I must hereafter consider officially, would be regarded as premature and fairly subject me to criticism.
I am glad that we are to have an opportunity to exchange views at close range upon a subject of so great importance to the state.
With high esteem, I am your obedient servant,
Charles F. Thayer.
Norwich, Conn.
Did you know that Mayor Thayer was head of such a commission? Did you know that such a commission even existed? What do you know about the lives, times and performances of the political leaders of Norwich, CT? In the City Council Chamber are some of the surviving portraits of some of the Mayors but wouldn’t it be nice if there was a book, even a loose-leaf notebook with a photo of the portrait and a bit of a history of the individual? Every project needs to start somewhere. Is there a historian in Norwich, CT willing to take on a single 50 year period to research the Mayors and their actions? I am not forgetting the years when Norwich, Conn had different political leadership. Those years also need to be documented. Are you willing to be the one to take a look at those times and shed some light on them? Being a historian is not just about reading books written by others, being a historian is validating the lives of others that have an impact on the lives of others.
In Norwich, CT there are a number of people interested in the wreckage’s of the old mills located throughout the city. Many recite the same old, tired, and usually incorrect tales that they read in some book whose author just re-told, in a more exciting way, a tale they heard. Fact checking is not big in Norwich, CT history.
Let’s all face it. Fact checking takes a tremendous amount of time and is boring. For example I suffered through the reading of a single paragraph article from the March 3, 1902 Norwich Bulletin for an eternity. Not really, but you know what I mean.
I do not know who wrote the article. I am presuming that it was a staff writer of the Bulletin at the time. I did not recognize any of the names mentioned but perhaps you do? Maybe they were a relative? If they were, here is an opportunity to know more about them as individuals and not just a birth and death date from their tomb stone.
So while I cannot do more to substantiate the information of the article, I present it to you as it was presented to the public then.
“The Otrobando Mill will be opened for work this Monday morning by the Shewville company for the purpose of filling orders unable to be supplied by the output of the latter mill. In engaging help those living in the vicinity of the mill have had a preference, and will continue to have it, though it is probable a few families may move here from Shewville, and occupy some of the many vacant mill tenements on Sturtevant street. The cloth to be manufactured is thibet for men’s wear, the yarn for the same being at present spun in the Shewville mill. Later it is possible ladies’ cloth may be made here. The former manager, Walter G. Hitchon, is in charge, and with James Fraser, and John Shea, who has had charge of the premises during the long period of inaction, has been busy during the past week getting the mill ready for operation. Heavy golf suiting was the last material manufactured here.”
Have you ever wanted to give a gift to cheer someone on as they set off on a new adventure? I have a friend who is just beginning the gardening of her home. I thought about a gift certificate to a garden place but then what would be appropriate? I thought about giving her a plant but would it fit in with her garden projects? What tools in specific did she need? Maybe a plant book? How about a complete set of “Rosemary & Thyme?”
That was when I happened upon a little notebook titled, “In My Garden.”It really is perfect. It is a pocket sized spiral notebook maybe 3×5 with each page titled Gardening Season: Winter/Spring/Summer Fall
Date:
Weather Conditions:
Garden Preparation:
What I planted:
Maintenance:
Visitors to my garden (animals, insects, birds):
Notes:
There is enough room to write just a little bit of information. Certainly not a thesis. I might find a spot towards the top just to make a note if its the North Fence Line Garden or the South Fence Line Garden, or part sun, full sun, dappled sun. I have had the experience of the amount of sun to an area change when a neighbor took a tree down and certain plants objected to the changes in the amount of sunlight they received.
My friend will receive this wonderful little “In My Garden” book but I am going to create my own version of the pages for a three-leaf binder. Where I am thinking of also having a crude, hand-drawn by me, sketch of the yard and the placement of the current plants I know the names of. All in hopes that the next person in my home will appreciate the flowers and the greenery around it.
Two articles in the March 7, 1898 Norwich Bulletin put a smirk to my lips and a shake of disbelief to my head. It seems that as humans we are repeating, and repeating and repeating the same things but not paying heed to any lessons of them or even remembering them.
The first article was “A strange item comes from Moscow concerning a very wealthy Russian who seems to be crazed upon the music of “Riggoletto.” According to the story, he proposes, at a cost of $6,000 to construct a tiny theater where Verdi’s opera can be played by marionettes, and he hopes to induce various eminent artists to sing the vocal parts onto a phonograph so that they can be reproduced every night for his private amusement.” What a grand time this fellow could have today with You-tube and Netflix!
It has long been noted that women’s liberation in Colorado was ahead of its time but I wonder how many know this? “A woman notary public in Denver, Col., was married recently, and the question arose as to what name she should sign in her official capacity. The matter was referred to the attorney general of the state, and he has furnished an opinion that there is no authority of law for women in Colorado to drop their maiden names in the event of marriage. She must therefore sign all documents as before marriage, because there is no authority for a change of names at marriage or any other time.” Now I am wondering if that is still true today.
Here is a Ponemah Mills story as reported in the March 27, 1902 Norwich Bulletin. [The names and information has not been changed in any way by me.]
Joseph Gobell, of Norwich, Conn., has brought suit against the Ponemah Mills of this city re a concern running a mill at Norwich, for $25,000 damages for injuries he sustained through the alleged negligence of the defendant corporation, for which he worked, says the Providence Journal. He says that there is in the Norwich mill an elevator shaft running from the ground to the top floor. Mr. Gobell is a fireman. About 7 o’clock on the evening of February 21, 1901, he says, he was instructed to empty certain pails of water, and as he proceeded about the task he fell down the elevator shaft, which, he contends, was insufficiently guarded and without warning of danger. His collar bone, right shoulder and several ribs were broken, he says, and he sustained other severe injuries.
In the same issue of the Norwich Bulletin was the story of a very romantic marriage. The story was the announcement of the marriage of Miss Ethel Saterlee, now of Denver, Col., and Mr. William C. Bennett, of the same city. The marriage came as a surprise to her friends in Norwich.
Miss Satterlee became acquainted with Mr. Bennett upon her arrival in Denver last fall, where she soon formed a large circle of friends and became a member of the Tuesday Musical Club and the choir of St John’s Cathedral.
The announcement of her engagement to Mr. Bennett had not been formally made when the marriage took place, although plans had been made for a fall wedding. Events were in precipitated by the appointment of Mr. Bennett to the managership of the Montana Department of the Northwestern Life and Savings company.
Arrangements for a hasty wedding were made on the night of Mr. Bennett’s departure on a preliminary business trip, and the ceremony was performed at 10 o’clock the next morning at the home of the bride’s parents, Dr. and Mrs. Dwight Satterlee of Detroit Street, Dean Hart officiating. Miss Satterlee was gowned in blue chiffon over taffeta, and carried a large bunch of Jacqueminot roses. A luncheon was served, and the young people left on their wedding journey.
Miss Satterlee, it will be remembered, resided in town with her family for about a year, living in the house formerly occupied by the late George Martin, on Williams Street. During her stay in town she was a student at the Norwich Art School, and sang with acceptance at a number of entertainments.
It was with great delight that I read in the July 25, 1902 edition of the Norwich Bulletin a listing of the Norwich Business Houses. That “serves as a directory of the leading Financial, Professional, Manufacturing, Wholesale and Retail firms. It is published daily for the benefit of traveling salesmen, strangers and the public generally.” Norwich, CT then was a busy place but when a closer look is taken to compare the types of the businesses then, to what would be the businesses now be?
Three bakeries are listed L.H. Brunelle , 20 Fairmount St, made fine bread and supplied all the grocers,
A Shapiro, 10 Thames St, baked white and rye bread.
Star Bakery, Taftville, Was the best and cheapest place to purchase bread, pies and cakes.
Bicycle Repairing. D.K. Hubbard, 230 Franklin St Repaired bicycles, sewing machines, lawn mowers. Fitted keys and locks and sharpened knives and shears.
Blacksmiths. Wm. Blackburn, 15 Myers Alley. Blacksmithing and machine forging.
E.C. Gay, Town Street. Horseshoer and general blacksmith. Repairing promptly done.
Boots and Shoes. L. Markoff & Co. 159 West Main. Markdown sale of Footwear. Prices are low.
Carriage Builders. Geo. W. Harris., 354 West Main St. Has on hand a few new business wagons to sell at low, low prices.
A.R. Keables, Norwich Town. Carriage and Wagon Painting. General repairing on wood and iron work.
Carriage Painters George P. Adaris, Town Street. Carriage painter. “Give me a trial order.”
Cigar Manufacturers. J. E. Conant. 11 Franklin Street.
The New Market., 715 Boswell Ave., Choice of ales, wines, liquors, and cigars always on hand. On line of electric cars. Telephone 204-5.
Florists. Miss R.L. Spencer, 24 Elizabeth Street, Fragrant white roses, very fine, large stock, also cut flowers at right prices.
Horseshoeing. HC Lane, 17 Chestnut Street The shoeing of lame and interferier (sp) horses a specialty.
JD Pfeiffer, 208 West Main St, Scientific horseshoeing a specialty. Horses called for and returned if desired. Tel call 3-3.
MW Sterry, Norwich Town Green. Practical horseshoeing at short notice. All work guaranteed.
Junk Dealer. Norwich Bottle and Junk Corporation, 44 Forest Street. Dealers in scrap iron, metal, rubbers, rags, bottles, etc. Drop us a postal and team will call.
The Max Gordon & Son Corp. Willow St. Dealers in paper stock, woolen rags, rubbers, old metal, etc. Highest prices paid. Telephone connection.
Livery Stables. John B Stoddard, 127 Franklin St. Livery, Boarding and Feed Stable. Horse-clipping with Gillette power clipper. Telephone 175-5
Markets. Falls Market, 50 Sherman St. Choice beef, Mutton, Lamb and veal, canned goods, vegetables. JB Alofsin, Prop.
Strange how this day was not full of the tailors and the seamstresses that I expected to see but perhaps this day was about transportation and taking care of the horses and clothing was on another day.
I read the same information over and over and am still amazed when I learn something new. Something in front of my nose but I did not see it until just now. It was in the Friday, July 3, 1908 Norwich Bulletin titled, ‘Old Home Week. Completed Programme as arranged by various committees for four days.’
The Fourth of July was celebrated over four festive days. Did it take a lot of cooperation and coordination? Probably. But there are plenty of hints that say the work load was shared by many resulting in a lighter workload for all.
On Friday, July 3,1908 at 2:30 p.m. There was children’s entertainment at the Auditorium. So in 2021 couldn’t something be arranged for the children. Here is the chance for the bouncy house, the vendors, the fire departments, the police department, and other children services to get to know the children in a more relaxed and friendly setting.
At 3:00 p.m. Was a “Trip Around the World,” under the direction of Y.M.C.A. Women’s Auxiliary. In 2021 this could be an opportunity for Global Norwich to sparkle and shine with a show, displays, products, or foods from around the world or just the various cultures that can be found in Norwich area.
3:30 p.m. Was a State League Baseball Game: New Haven vs Norwich at Sachem Park. In 2021 Norwich has a wonderful stadium that could easily handle all of this days activities and more!
Saturday, July 4, 1908 was packed with activities. Beginning at 7:30 A.M. Was my personal favorite event, the Parade of Antiques and Horribles through the principal city streets. A bit like one would imagine a parade in New Orleans. Its loud, its proud, it appears a bit disorganized, its pure, unadulterated fun in the streets with lots of laughter, music and mayhem and yes at 7:30 in the morning! In 2021 Norwich, CT makes a great show of lining the parade participants up in order and lines and escort them across the street to Chelsea Parade.
10:30 a.m. Another State League Ball Game: Norwich vs. New London at Sachem Park. In 2021 if the stadium has another event we have a little league field that could use a bit of action.
1 p.m. Was a Parade of Automobiles through the principal streets of Norwich, CT. Can you envision a parade of automobiles in 2021 stately driving through various neighborhoods with drivers and passengers smiling and waving to the residents? Areas such as Thamesville, Laurel Hill, Taftville, Occum and some of the more rural areas of Norwich. Being certain that the route went through some of the senior housing developments that Norwich has hidden away and because of issues with public transportation whose residents never get to participate in these parades and celebrations.
2:30 p.m. Were horse races, automobile races, wrestling match and athletic contests. The 2021 could be very different but surely our inventive residents could think of something.
4:00 p.m. Was a very special time. It was the unveiling of the Hubbard Gates at Norwich Town Burying Ground with addresses by Mayor Thayer, Jonathan Trumbull, Mrs. Sara T. Kinney, George S. Porter, Capt. Henry P. Goddard and Rev. Neilson Poe Carey. In 2021 the Norwich Historical Society could have a much shorter ceremony at the gates and give tours, and perhaps demonstrations of stone cleaning for donations.
6: p.m. Illuminated Harbor Parade of Launches, Display of Fireworks and Band Concert. In 2021 wouldn’t this be wonderful?
On Sunday, July 5th at 7:30 p.m. Was the Union Old Home Week Services at Broadway Congregational Church with addresses by Rev. James Coote, D.D. And Rev. S. H. Howe D.D. In 2021 is there a speaker you would like to hear?
On Monday, July 6th at 6:30 p.m. Was a Launch Race in the Harbor. In 2021 how about a kayak, row boat, raft or canoe race?
For a simpler time and place the residents of Norwich, CT were certainly busy and its sad in 2021 we are not similarly occupied.
When there is a book written about the mills and the workers of Norwich, CT I can only hope that Miss Julia C. Corcoran is given more than just a passing mention. She deserves discussion and a chapter, at the very least, of her own. “Miss Corcoran was born and brought up in Norwich and has had wide experience among women employees in the area mills.”
I learned the very basics of her story in the October 2, 1907 Norwich Bulletin in a lengthy and glowing article announcing her appointment as Woman Deputy Factory Inspector for the State of Connecticut. Who are the other women of Norwich, CT that have made a difference in history? Not a difference by marriage but by their own dedication, labor and truth.
That date is correct. It was in 1907 that George P. McLean, state factory Inspector announced the appointment of Miss Julia C. Corcoran of Norwich as the woman deputy factory inspector on his staff of deputies through the passage of a legislative bill. Governor Woodruff appointed a commission of three women, Mrs. Frank C. Porter of New Haven, Eleanor McCann of South Manchester and Anna L. Ward of Waterbury, to consider the hundreds of applications for this position. The position held the same powers and authorities as the factory inspector, “except as to machinery, appliances, and fixtures, and shall serve under the direction of Mr. McLean as do the other deputy inspectors.”
The lengthy exemplary letter of recommendation was printed in full as follows:
Mr. George P. McLean, Factory Inspector of Connecticut:
Dear Sir:- The commission appointed by his Excellency Governor Woodruff to select a woman deputy factory inspector under the provisions of section 5 of chapter 241 of the public acts of 1907 hereby recommends in accordance with the provisions of said section for appointment to that office the name of Miss Julia C. Corcoran of Norwich, Connecticut. In recommending this name the committee begs to state the method and principles on which the selection has been based and to present a brief record of the experience and special qualifications of this candidate.
It has been the single aim of the commission to find the woman who unites the highest qualifications, both of personal character and experience for this office. To this end they have investigated hundreds of references which have accompanied the very large number of applications from all parts of the state, many of these references having proved to be purely conventional and based on no personal knowledge of the applicant. No recommendations of this sort from whatever source, no prejudices or preconceived opinions have been allowed to influence the commission in its choice. After thus sifting the references, personal interviews were accorded the most promising candidates.
Among the qualifications which the commission deemed necessary were absolute integrity of character, good judgment, sound common sense, justice to both the employer and employed, such tact and personality as should win the respect and confidence of both, and an earnest, unselfish interest in the work itself. A knowledge of factory and store life was also felt to be desirable.
Among the applicants were some who possess more of these qualifications but the one to whom the commission, after most careful investigation, believes to possess more of these qualifications and in fuller measure than any other candidate is Miss Corcoran.
The Woman for the Place
Miss Corcoran was born and brought up in Norwich, her father having been an engineer in one of the mills. His death by accident when she was about 14 cut short her hopes of a college training, for which her unusual intelligence had caused her to aspire, and she became an employee of the Norwich mills. Here she was employed for a number of years, becoming familiar with every detail of the work and rapidly rising to the first place among the women employees. She also took a course in business college. Her Norwich employers have written of her brightness and capabilities and of her broad mindedness which kept the interest of the employers and employees equally in view. They declare her to be “to be one woman in a thousand for the place.” It was during this period of her career that the late General Ely of Norwich remarked that if there were ever a woman factory inspector in Connecticut, Miss Corcoran was the woman for the place.
She was president of ta working girls’ club and because of her helpfulness and true womanliness she was greatly beloved by them and considered as of great value in the community by many of the best known women in Norwich.
The remarkable value of Miss Corcoran’s services both to her employers and among her fellow workers became known to a well known member of the labor bureau in Washington D.C., who was the means of her being recommended for an important position in one of the largest department stores in Boston. This firm, which is known throughout the entire country for its remarkably just and fair treatment of its employees was seeking a woman who might be, in a sense, a go-between for the firm and its employees. Miss Corcoran in this position was a member of the employees council and the president of the co-operative benefit association of the employees.
Confidential Advisor
So valuable were her services considered in this double capacity when, after a few years, a member of the firm started a factory in connection with the department store he chose Miss Corcoran, of all the employees, to help organize the undertaking and occupy a similar position there. She has been for several years in this factory, being the confidential advisor of the firm, engaging all help but the heads of departments and at the same time as the head of the co-operative association winning the affection and confidence of the hundreds of women for whom she has secured many benefits. Her employers say that they cannot speak too strongly in her favor and that the loss of her services to them would be simply inestimable. Miss Corcoran is a Roman Catholic of Irish parentage. The commission believes that this record, together with many other outside testimonials, nearly all of which were unsought by her, and acquired by the commission without her knowledge, as to her sterling character, high principles and devoted interests in the work of bettering industrial conditions, but especially her own personality, which is the chief requisite combined to render her the best fitted candidate for the office of woman deputy factory inspector in Connecticut. The commission feels furthermore that Connecticut is to be congratulated on again securing in so important a position the services of one of her own daughters which have proved of such signal value in a neighboring commonwealth.
The commission therefore recommends to you for trial Miss Julia C. Corcoran, and hopes that she may prove an acceptable addition to your staff.
Although Miss Corcoran has not lived here for many years she has many friends who will be pleased to learn of her appointment.”
On September 16, 1907 the Norwich Bulletin the results of a two day shooting contest were announced with congratulations to J.J. Murphy and Mrs. Krodel. I admit that my biggest giggles were from seeing how the men were addressed as opposed to the women in the article and then comparing their scores. Pardon me but whose scores were higher?
“Owing to the rain of Labor Day the shoot arranged by the Taftville Shooting club at the grounds in Lisbon had to be postponed, and it was arranged that it should take place on September 7 and 14. The weather was such that it was carried out as planned and on the two days set the shooters assembled at the grounds and had a delightful day at the targets each time. There were fourteen who shot on the men’s targets, and the Ladies Rifle club had fifteen entries. On the former for the best three tickets John J. Murphy, one of Norwich’s best shots, won out, having a score of 206 for the three tickets, and A. E. Grimes was second with 204, and Richard Heller third with 203. As his prize Mr. Murphy received a handsome dinner set, Mr. Grimes received silver knives and forks and Mr. Heller a medal. The fourth prize was won by A. Wright, he having the highest score on two tickets, 185, was a mirror. The others also received prizes.
The following are the scores of the men. Those for the first three being on three tickets and the others on two tickets: J. Murphy 206, A Grimes 204, R. Heller 203, A. Wright 135, L. Krauss 128, C. Crodell 126, J. Volkman 123, J. Krauss 118, G. Meyer 117, R. Elver 115, J. Wieland 110, W. Post 105, W. Brocker 95, A. Crodel 95.
Among the women Mrs. A Krodel took the first prize, securing 216 on three tickets. Mrs. A. Ploss being second with 214 and Miss A. Hoefer third with 211. The first prize was a handsome rug. The participants and their scores were as follows, the first three scores being on three tickets, the remainder on two: Mrs. A. Krodel 216, Mrs. A. Ploss 214, Miss A. Hoefer 211, Mrs. J. Kraus 140, Mrs. P. Field 139, Mrs. G. Meyer 139, Mrs. J. Frohmander 138, Mrs. J. Hbevding 138, Miss K. Wieland 137, Mrs. R. Thomas 135, Mrs. W. Robinson 132, Mrs. H. Erlbeck 132, Mrs. Leathers 131.
Are any of the prize winning families still in the area? Are tales of their shooting prowess still being told? Is the silver ware still being handed down through the generations? The mirror? The rug?
The March 10, 1898 Norwich Bulletin carried some long awaited and very exciting news. There would be a new course for the Norwich Golf Club. The new course would begin at the Norwich Club House and would stretch 2,800 yards and have a new road built just for it.
According to the article, “The Norwich Golf Club has completed arrangements for an entirely new course, which is to be ready for use the coming season. The course will begin in the rear of the Norwich clubhouse, and, running northeasterly, follow the new Rockwell road in the rear of the Free Academy.
From the terminus of this highway a new road is to be built to what is called the Reynolds lot, and from thence the course will cross the land of the Rev. Dr. L. W. Bacon a short distance.
The course will have a stretch of about 2,800 yards and will have nine holes, the distance between them ranging from 160 to 200 yards. The first hole will be at the clubhouse and the ninth hole will be very near it, so that a person making the course will come back to his starting place. Work on the new road is to be begun at once, and t is expected that the course will be ready for play on April 1.
The new course presents a greater diversity of natural conditions than the present course opposite the hospital grounds. On the old links were two short courses, known as the long and the short course, but the new course will have but one. The club has made arrangements with the Norwich Club whereby the clubhouse is to be used as headquarters for the necessary equipment for the players.
The coming golf season, which opens April 1, promises to be a very prosperous one for the Norwich Club, as more than the usual interest is manifested in the game, and the members all express a desire to take an active part this year and play frequently.”
The following is a rather lengthy article, two columns in its day, printed in the Norwich Bulletin on Wednesday, October 18, 1905, titled “Black Knight Speaks in Norwich.” Would his speech be welcome or appropriate today? Would it be censored today? Judge for yourself. I did not change the words of the original article to make them politically correct by 2021 standards.
“Rev. John H. Hector Well Known Temperance Evangelist at Mt. Calvary Church Gives Much Good Advice.
A large and enthusiastic audience was present at the Mt. Calvary Baptist church Tuesday evening to greet the famous colored temperance orator, the Rev. John H. Hector, an evangelist of much note, known throughout the country as the “Black Knight” The treat to the Norwich public was obtained through the personal efforts of the pastor of the church, the Rev. J. Francis Robinson, and those who attended felt well repaid for going. Rev. Mr. Hector is a full blooded negro, a veteran of the union army in the war of the rebellion, and has a rich musical voice which never failed to hold the close attention of his audience throughout. Possessed of a fine physique, a good appearance and great earnestness in his work, he cannot fail to interest and convince his hearer of the truth of the message that he brings, and there is no doubt but what his address will be productive of a large amount of good. His address was one of the most powerful heard on a temperance subject in Norwich for years, and the alternating flashes of wit and pathos prevented interest from lagging at any time. His work in the cause of temperance and reform has made him loved the world over and he ahs the reputation of being the most popular and effective speaker of his race. He took as his subject last evening “Don’t, Don’t, Don’t,” and employed these three words in a scathing speech on many of the evils that exist at the present time and are doing much to pull down the moral tone of society.
Look Before You Leap
The speaker did in part: A good motto is Don’t rush into a venture until you know where you’re at, and all of the ins and outs of the matter. Many a person is sorry for being where he is simply because he rushed into the venture before he knew what the particulars of the affair were and before he had studied it from all sides. Many a time if the counsel and advise of father and mother were consulted it would be much different, as they have the best interests and welfare of their children at heart and would do anything to better their interests. But the children in their ignorance resent all the interference, thinking that they know best, and before they know it have got into some place where they are unable to get out. Many times they advise a course that seems utterly foolish and unreasonable at the time but which if followed will surely be for the best, and in after years the children can but acknowledge the wisdom of the choice.
Pie Eating Bad
For instance, many children would like to live on a diet of nothing but pie and other pastry, and think that it is a great hardship to be forced to have plained food; but in after years good health proves which was the better course. The speaker inferred that at the present day the plainer and more nourishing foods have given way to something that perhaps looks a little more genteel and tastes better, but contains very little nourishment in comparison to the healthy food of our forefathers. For instance, the flour of years ago was not quite as white looking and perhaps much coarser, but a great deal more nourishing. Nowadays the health-giving qualities of the grain are sacrificed to give it color and lightness. The barley is rotted in order to make beer, and the beer rots the drinker.
Served in Rebellion
He showed that his fine health was in a large measure du to the tender care of his mother during his boyhood days. Always of a temperate nature, he was always in good health, and when the war of the rebellion broke out he enlisted, and survived the hardships of the march and camp in good condition, where men who were not temperate were not able to stand it and had to give up.
Another strong point brought up was “Don’t try to deceive your parents, as it is wiser and much more successful in the end to make them your confidant and to work in accordance with their advice and wishes.” Many times the children, thinking they are deceiving their father and mother, go ahead and do as they please, not knowing that the older folks are shrewder than they give them credit for, and in most cases are only looking on and watching, knowing full well that experience is a hard school master, but teaches lessons that will never be forgotten.
“Dude” Women Need Cooking Lessons
The speaker’s description of a dude caused much amusement, and was as follows: A creature that dresses up in the latest fashion, won’t work, holds up the wall of a convenient building, smokes cigarettes and carries a cane. The term dude was applied in a general way, and the speaker stated that a dude man was not half as bad as a dude woman, inasmuch as to the woman belongs the responsibility of the home and its influences. No girl ought to think of getting married until she is competent to keep house and assume the management of one. The cause why so many men die a few years after getting married was attributed to the fact that the women have never learned how to cook. It was stated that the only thing necessary to give a man a fatal sickness was to give him the benefit of incompetent cookery.
The young ladies were warned against keeping company with men who do not respect them and their religion enough to go to church with them and to stay through. It was stated that in many cases the men were willing to escort the girls to the door of the church and then spend the intervening time until the close of the service in some nearby saloon. The speaker stated that it was not unlawful for the gin mills to keep open on Sunday, but that a large share of them were “closed in front but open on the side.” In closing, the speaker made an earnest plea for higher moral ideals and standards of living in daily work, and urged the practice of temperance in everything.”
In my last blog I asked a few questions of the modern day reader. They were not the first time though that the questions were asked. You see on Tuesday, January 27, 1852 once more in the evening courier similar questions were asked and here is their response titled, “Death at the Almshouse.”
By the annexed communication it will be seen that the last surviving relative, in Norwich, of Arnold, the traitor, died at the almshouse on the 15th last. Her removal to the almshouse, in November was mentioned in the courier, at the time, as were also one or two of the incidents of the removal. –
The writer of the communication below, seems to feel himself called upon to vindicate the late neighbors of the deceased from what he deems an unjust implication in the paragraph or two we then published. It certainly did not occur to us at the time that what we said was liable to such a construction as our friend and correspondent puts upon it; but if injustice has been done, or seems to have been done, to those neighbors whose charities were perseveringly extended to the deceased, in spite of the ingratitude with which those ministrations were but too frequently repaid, we most cheerfully give place to the corrective.
As to the circumstances of want and discomfort under which the unhappy woman was found, at the time of her removal, we had the direct authority of the Selectman who conveyed her to the almshouse, for what he stated. He may or may not possibly have been mistaken as to there being no fuel in the old house which had so long been her home; but as to the fact of her being destitute of fire, and this too, on one of the coldest days that had been experienced during the month, his positive statement is conclusive.
Still less room for doubt is there, if possible, in respect to the substantial truth of all that was said of the general sentiment or instinctive feeling of the community. Nor is this in any degree discredited by the fact the neighbors of the deceased made her, and her sister who died before her, objects of charitable aid for many years. – Ed. Courier
Died at the alms-house in this town, on the 15th last, Elizabeth Arnold, age 92.
She was cousin to Benedict, and the last of his kindred in this vicinity. An article appeared in the Courier of Nov. 22, and was extensively copied into other papers, announcing her removal to the alms-house, which does great injustice, unintentionally, no doubt, to the neighbors of the deceased. It is there intimated that she and an aged sister who died in 1849, had long lived in seclusion, neglected and shunned as lepers, “beneath the inexorable ban of society;” that the last survivor was found on the morning of her removal, one of the coldest days in November, shivering and alone, with no fire in her miserable hut.
In all this there is more fancy than fact. It is true these sisters were poor, and did not mingle much in society. They were also eccentric in their manners, and not always grateful for the favors which they received. Yet they owned the house which for many years they occupied, and Lizzy had deposited with a trusty neighbor $50. to defray her funeral expenses. She was carried to the poor-house at her own request, that she might be more comfortable than she would be in her own house. There is evidence that on the morning of her removal she had a good fire blazing on her hearth, and plenty of wood in the house to make more. The immediate neighbors, and others more remote, were remarkably attentive to the wants of these unfortunate women, and had long furnished them from their own tables most of their living. So far from visiting upon them the sins of their traitor relative, they could hardly have been treated with greater kindness had he been the purest patriot of the revolution.
Some statement of this sort seems due to the many kind-hearted friends of the deceased, some of whom have gone to their final reward; and the more so, since they received little gratitude from the immediate object of their beneficence. “
Local newspapers of the past were proud to carry local news. News that may do nothing but mark the passage of time. For example, once, a long time ago in Norwich, CT there was a morning paper and an evening paper. On Saturday, November 22, 1851 the newspaper was called the Evening Courier.
As part of its community information was a short article titled, “Gone to the Alms House.” Was the Alms House something like a vacation resort for the wealthy? Was it in Norwich, CT? Have the local historians included it in a walking tour? Which books is it mentioned in?
The Alms House is no longer on Asylum Street. Near the site of the current Dog Park. There is a memorial stone but it is difficult to read as there are bushes covering the front of the tablet while the back side with no writing at all is open. I am certain there is an explanation but who should we ask as its been that way for years?
Sorry back to the article. It’s interesting to note the tone of the article by the anonymous author. How would this same information be reported today? Would it even be reported today? Well enough about my questions. Here in full, is the article.
“The last remaining relative of Benedict Arnold (who honored Norwich by being born here) was carried to the Poor House three or four days ago by one of our Select Men. She was cousin to the traitor, and remembers him well – and spoke with seeming resentment and indignation of his having been “driven out of the country.” She is ninety-two years old, and when taken from the miserable hovel where she and a sister of hers who died three or four years ago, had lived, shunned, solitary, and in abject poverty for many years, the poor old creature was sitting, without a spark of fire to warm herself by, although the day was one of the coldest of the season.
We have never been able to learn that there was any reason, except in the leprosy which clung to the traitor whom it was their misfortune to be allied to, why this woman and her sister neither of whom was ever married, should have gone through life excluded from social life and intercourse by the inexorable ban of society. Yet such is the fact; and it furnishes a striking commentary upon the depth and strength of that feeling of loathing and execration with which the name of Benedict Arnold is linked, now and forever, in the popular mind.”
How do we treat the relatives of criminals today? How does the press report the actions of the uninvolved relatives of traitors today? What would you do if she were your ninety-two year old neighbor?
Well better late than not at all I suppose. Connecticut inhabitants are much better followers than leaders. I missed this one on State Flowers entirely until I read an article from the May 10, 1902 Norwich Bulletin.
In 1902, it had already been a decade since states had begun declaring a floral emblem for an individual state. Twenty states had completed the process but Connecticut was not among them. States had adopted the pine cones with tassels, oak branches and acorns, golden rod, the poppy, the sunflower, the rhododendron, two states had chosen the apple blossom.
According to the article three New England states, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut were having difficulties choosing their flowery symbol.
Among those in contention for the Connecticut title, and not selected by any other state were the shad-bush and the marsh mallow. The what and the who you ask?
The Shad Bush is an early flowering shrub that was the signal that the ground had thawed and burials held off due to the winters frozen ground could now be held. Its a common shrub along the Connecticut River but not so much throughout the rest of the state. The marsh mallow can be found in the swamps of Connecticut. But the rest of the story is it was brought to America from Europe as a medicinal plant. The grayish, velvety leaves are a good way to distinguish this from other mallows. So not a good choice as a State flower.
It took a campaign of over 3,000 women to convince the Connecticut General Assembly in 1907 to choose the beautiful, native American, Mountain Laurel as the state flower with its strong fragrance and pink and white blossoms.
The explorer, John Smith first mentioned them in his 1624 “General History” but it was not until 1750 that specimens were sent to the famous botanist, Linnaeus by the Swedish explorer Peter Kalm.
It was Linnaeus who gave it the name Kalmia latiolia, honoring the name of the Swedish explorer and describing the “wide-leafed” characteristic of the plant. Sometimes Mountain Laurel is also called “the Calico Bush” or “Spoonwood.”
Mountain Laurel blooms with tiny sticky flowers of red, pink and white in May and June. Almost all parts of the bush are poisonous so while lovely to look at it isn’t a plant used for decorating tables. Hikers are cheered by their colorful displays beneath fir trees and along trails.
Mountain Laurel is also the State Flower of Pennsylvania where it grows freely in the Appalachian Mountains.
A recent blog was from a Bulletin Letter to the Editor written by a boy of Laurel Hill but on May 9, 1902 a Laurel Hill Girl added her voice to the discussion.
“Mr. Editor:- The “Laurel Hill Boy” wrote a very good letter, for one idea only, and that boy; but there are also girls, and when the boy is older he may be aware of that fact from a different point of view.
Laurel Hill park was graded, fountain bought for it by subscription of residents nearby – over $300; the city contributing nothing. Settees were bought, shrubs and flowers planted, and cared for also at yearly expense of the people.
The park was used every afternoon by mothers with children, babies in their carriages and a goodly lot of girls. It was real nice, and that was what they wanted to use the park for. After a while some horrid man (or boy) sawed down the trees one night that the people set out there, for the people would not pay any more to take care of them. The city cut the grass, and the boys took possession – they spoiled the grass and took up all the room, for the mothers and girls and babies didn’t come any more. Some small boys used such big words it was just shocking, and the other girls had to go on the other sidewalk or stay at home. Now, Mr. Editor, the boys have had their innings, don’t you think it is time for the girls to have their outings?
And I want to write Mayor Thayer. He says he reads the Bulletin. He thinks there is plenty of water; won’t he have that fountain played this summer? It looks real nice when the sun shines, and it has not played a bit for three years or more. We want the settees and the fountain, and we will get out with the babies and have good times again.
If some good boys come there we won’t scare them away with big words, and when they see a park is good for others, as well as boys, they will be glad to have it public instead of a ball ground.”
Let’s hear from some of the folks in 2021 that are using the park in 2021. What is being used today for? Come on! Don’t be shy! Tell us how a park near you is being used today.
Is the art of letter writing still taught in our schools? There is much said about e-mails and twitters but what about the mass communication from “Letters to the Editors?”
Before the age of electronic communications it was the newspaper that gave individuals a public voice. The Wikipedia definition is “A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication.” In 2021, most of the printed letters concern candidates running for office.
But once upon May 2, 1902 in the Norwich Bulletin was a protest from Laurel Hill from “One of the Boys.”
Mr. Editor:- The Laurel Hill park has been for several years a place of sport for the boys, after the toils of the day at school. I dare say many a happy and exciting hour has been spent there by the very ones that are opposed to the boys using it for that purpose. People very often forget that they were ever young, and used the park for the very purpose that the boys of the coming generation are using it for.
Now, as the boy comes home, he finds the elders sitting peaceably smoking their pipes. This is the new occupation on the park. If the boy even laughs at a joke that has been cracked this new tenant of the park scowls and gives him a black look. This youth is expected to go quietly and sit beside his elders and watch them roll the clouds of smoke from the filthy weed into the pure and glorious air.
A boy, as everyone knows, will have to have something to do beside this new sport. He cannot play ball, and his mind at once turns to something else; is it to go behind some barn and learn to smoke, the way his elders do? Is it to tie tin cans on dog’s tails, and many other things? Or does he go home and go to bed and dream he is playing on that park?
At any-rate, I hope the committee on public grounds will reconsider the action taken by them, and give the boys a fair show.
One of the Boys. Norwich, May 1st, 1902
In 2021 I am happy to report Norwich, CT has continued to expand its green spaces, parks and parades over the years. Since 1902, Norwich, CT has increased the number and sizes of small parks in residential areas throughout the city as well as a 500 acre woodland in its center with walking trails, a beach and a new disc golf course, dedicated recreation and ball fields, and tennis courts. For a fee the public can also enjoy a golf course and ice skating rink. Through a decision of the owners of minor league baseball, the city now has a newly renovated , but empty, baseball stadium available with plenty of parking, overflow parking areas, seating for thousands, multiple concession stands, meeting rooms, dining areas, gyms, changing rooms and more. My personal opinion is that the stadium would be a perfect Norwich Community Center if Southeast Area Transit ran a regular bus route to the area.
Let’s demonstrate the value of our Norwich, CT and area youth, residents and taxpayers by giving us all a place to safely meet, greet, stretch, work and play. There is plenty of room to build a public pool too!
The phone rang and I answered it listening with not much patience as a strange voice questioned whether or not I was Beryl Fishbone. Did I write a blog on Norwich, CT history? Did I “have any information on Dr. Fordyce Barker? He must have made a great impact into the medical community of Norwich back in the day.” Much to my callers disappointment I readily admitted I had visited his grave in the Yantic Cemetery because it was one of the fancier ones but had no information. So my new friend sent me this from the June 2, 1891 Portland Daily Press.
Obituary. Dr. Benjamin Fordyce Barker. Physician in the United States. Died at his home in New York City, May 30, 1891, of cerebral hemorrhage, his wife surviving him aged 73 years and one son, Fordyce Barker, a banker.
Two days before his death Dr. Barker was out attending patients, and during his short illness many people who were under his care came to his office. Dr. Barker was born at Wilton, Me., on May 2, 1818. He was of English descent and the son of a physician.
In 1837 he was graduated at Bowdoin. He studied medicine with Dr. Henry I. Bowditch of Boston and with Dr. Charles H Steadman at the Chelsea Hospital Then he went to Edinburg and Paris and received the degree of M. D. at Paris in 1841. On September 14, 1843, he was married to Miss Elizabeth E. Dwight of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. At Norwich, Ct., he began the practice of his profession. In 1845, when but 27 years old, he was made professor of midwifery In Bowdoin Medical College. Of obstetrics he made a special study, and in this branch of medicine he won rare distinction. In May, 1848, he delivered the annual address before the Connecticut State Medical Society. In 1850 he was elected professor of midwifery and the diseases of women in the New York Medical College. Dr. Barker was consulting physician to Bellevue Hospital, the Nursery and Childs’ Hospital, St. Elizabeth’s Hospital, the Cancer Hospital, and surgeon to the Woman’s Hospital. In 1856 he was instrumental in introducing the hypodermic syringe into America. He was a member of many medical associations, notably the New York Academy of Medicine, of which he was president from 1878 to 1884, the New York County Medical Society, the New York Obstetrical Society, the New York Pathological Society, the New York Medical and Surgical Society, the Medical Society of the State of New York, of which he was formerly president, and the American Gynecological Society, of which he was the first president In 1876. He was also honorary fellow of the Koval Medical Society of Athens and a member of the obstetrical societies of Edinburg, London, Philadelphia aud Louisville and of the Philadelphia College of Physicians. He contributed to medical literature many lectures and papers, and was the author of a work on puerperal diseases, which was published In 1874, and was translated into Italian, French, German and Spanish. He was also the author of a treatise on seasickness.
I thought it was interesting that according to Wikipedia “Owing to signs of incipient tuberculosis he left Maine, riding on horseback to Norwich, Connecticut, where he finally settled.” Most of his work credits show him to be living in New York.
In June 1884, Ulysses S Grant first noticed a stinging throat pain while at his summer home in Long Branch, NJ. Grant’s neighbor and friend George Childs asked Dr. Jacob M. Da Costa, who was visiting Childs at the time, to examine the General’s throat. Da Costa seeing the seriousness of the condition advised Grant to consult his regular physician as soon as possible but Grant could not as his physician Dr. Fordyce Barker was in Europe at the time.
On February 19, 1885 a formal consultation between physicians on Grant’s condition would take place reviewing a biopsy by Dr. George B. Elliot confirming the cancer diagnosis as a fatal case. The doctors present were Dr. Barker, Dr Henry B. Sands and Dr. Thomas M. Markoe, who had served as a surgeon during the Civil War. They discussed the situation and concluded that Grant’s case was beyond surgery. All that was left was to keep the patient as comfortable as possible during his final months.
Dr. Barker would leave the medical team in May to make his annual pilgrimage to Europe. Grant remarked to his physician “I suppose you never expect to see me again.” To which Barker replied, “I hope I may.” The patient reading through the lines then said “You do not say ‘expect’ but ‘hope.”
Sometimes all you can do is shake your head and wonder at the repetition of history. I received an e-mail from Bon Appetit Magazine in June by Heather Eddy extolling the virtues of the scent of “Fiori di Sicilia.”
Doesn’t that sound exotic and wonderful? It must be an Italian perfume.
After all, perfume dates back to before the Romans and in almost every culture remembered or even just discovered from ancient ruins. In something I was reading about famous women, the first recorded chemist was a woman named, Tapputi who made perfumes and wrote the formulas on Cuneiform tablets in Babylonia in 1200 BCE.
The very word perfume came from the Latin, “per fumus,” from smoke. How many of us enjoy the scent of incense? A cleansing perfume upon the air. Pliny, the Elder in his Naturalis Historia described basic ingredients and perfume making methods. He died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius but his collection of written works can still be read today. My very favorite quote attributed to him is, “”There is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it.” Sorry for wandering from the topic.
So what is “Fiori di Sicilia?” Is it as wonderful as Heather Eddy describes? Remember I said that this all began with an e-mail from Bon Appetit so yes there is food involved. Of course there is. This is after all America. The place where a hint of vanilla can be found not just in the kitchen to be added to baked and dairy goods, but in soaps, lotions, creams, air fresheners, detergent, perfumes, colognes and yes even in after shaves.
The scent of vanilla ranges from light and delicate to strong and musky and mixes well with almost every other scent imaginable but best of all it doesn’t linger in the air to become distasteful. In France, Josephine was partial to the scent of Musk, and even sixty years after her death the scent still lingered in her boudoir. When Florida was being settled as a part of New France, clean water was mixed with a hint of clove oil, cassia (smells similar to cinnamon) and lemongrass.
Sorry again for wandering. “Fiori di Sicilia” is a mix of orange peel, vanilla and toasty bergamot. That’s right the very same flavor found in Earl Grey Tea. Did you know that bergamot is a form citrus and requires the special climate and soil found in Southern Italy in order to thrive?
I have to agree the scent of “Fiori di Sicilia” is delightful and I wish I baked so I could add just a hint to an eggy bread loaf. I did try adding a few drops into a pot of hot water for a very enjoyable “tea.” It was ok as a perfume although I kept thinking that I must have spilled tea on myself. Speaking of which. Have a great day!
Lord help us all! It’s that time of the year again. Candidate season. People who have a true desire, want, and calling to make a difference in their community and in the lives of us all. Bless every single one of them. But for the love of us all, know what the job is, know what the duties and responsibilities are, know how much time it will take from your family, friends, leisure and work place before you begin and know how much money it will cost you to campaign, after the election and during your term of office. Yes, you may receive a stipend, but will it cover the costs of being an elected official?
2021 is the year of the local election. Mayor, City Council, Registrar of Voters. What are the responsibilities of these positions? If you think it’s just two evening meetings a month, you need to check again. Norwich is very heavy with its sheer number of official City Committees, panels, boards, directors, and advisories and there needs to be a council representative on each of them. I took this list of sixty-six from the City website: 19 North Cliff Street Committee of Sale , 60 Sixth Street Committee , 60 Sixth Street Committee of Sale ,347 Central Avenue Committee of Sale, Appoint/ReAppointment SubCommittee-Council , Assessment Appeals, Board of Baseball Stadium Authority , Budget & Finance Committee ,Building Code Board of Appeals ,Cable Television Advisory Council, Census Complete Count Committee (2020) , Charter Revision Commission ,City Council & Board of Education Ad Hoc Committee ,City Plan, Commission on the Commission for Persons with Disabilities ,Community Development Advisory Committee ,Comprehensive Plan Update Project ,CT Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative CMEEC ,Dangerous Buildings, Board of Review , Design Review Board , Disc Golf Subcommittee-MPIDAC ,Downtown Neighborhood Revitalization Zone, Eastern Regional Tourism District ,Education, Board of Ellis Walter Ruley Committee, Ethics Commission ,Golf Course Authority ,Greeneville Neighborhood Revitalization Comm. ,Harbor Management Commission ,Historic District Commission ,Housing Authority, Ice Arena Authority Informational Sessions ,Inland Wetlands, Water Courses & Conservation ,Mohegan Park Improvement & Dev. Adv. Comm. ,Monument Committee , Personnel & Pension Board, Plan of Conservation & Development Committee , Plan of Conservation/Dev Plan Implementation , Poet Laureate Selection Committee ,Police Station Committee ,Public Appearance and Beautification Committee, Public Parking Commission , Public Safety ,Public Utilities Commissions, Board of Public Works & Capital Improvements Committee , Recreation Advisory Board , Redevelopment Agency , Regional Tourism District ,Rehabilitation Review Committee , Reid & Hughes Committee , Reid & Hughes Planning & Development Comm. ,Sachem Fund Board , School Building Committee (John B. Stanton) , School Building Committee (2020) , School Building Committee (Stanton Library Roof) ,School Facilities Review Committee (2018) ,Senior Affairs Commission , Southeastern CT Council of Governments Southeastern CT Regional Resource Recovery Southeastern CT Regional Transit District Southeastern Connecticut Water Authority Tennis Ad Hoc Committee (Recreation) Thames Valley Council for Comm. Action Board Uncas Health District Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee Youth Service Advisory Board Zoning Board of Appeals have no worries about a time commitment some of these standing committees have not met in years but there is genuine eye rolling and knee knocking terror in the mere thought of their elimination by authorities. You are correct in your assumption that I have no idea why that is so. I also admit freely that there may be other committees and sub-committees that I have not listed because they were not on the sadly out-dated City web-site.
How many City boards, committees, and/or commissions has the leadership candidate volunteered their time and expertise for in the past? Was it here in Norwich, CT or somewhere else? Were they an active participant or did they just fill a seat and nod their head when told to?
Nothing available? Here is the list of current openings as of 6/17/2021. All are Open until filled.
Baseball Stadium Authority 2 years
Board of Assessment Appeals 2 years
Building Code of Appeals
Cable Television Advisory Committee 2 years
(From the first day in July in the year of appointment.)
Commission for Persons with Disabilities 2 years
Commission on the City Plan 2 years
Community Development Advisory 1 year
Dangerous Buildings – Board of Review 2 years
Design Review Board 2 years
Ethics Commission 2 years
Harbor Management 2 years
Historic District Commission 2 years
Ice Arena Authority 2 years
Inland Wetlands & Watercourses 2 Years
Alternate position
Mohegan Park Improvement and Development Advisory Committee 2 Years
Norwich Supportive Housing Committee 2 Years
Personnel & Pension Board 2 Years
Public Appearance and Beautification Committee 1 year
Public Utilities Commissioners 5 years
Redevelopment Agency 5 years
Regional Tourism District 3 years
Senior Affairs Commission 2 years
Southeastern CT Water Authority 2 years
Youth Service Advisory Board 1 year
Zoning Board of Appeals 2 years
How many and which meetings has the candidate attended as an observer? How many City Council meetings has the candidate attended? Spoken at? Tried to make a difference at? Where has the candidate demonstrated their leadership?
What plans for the City does the candidate have specifically? Are they realistic plans? How will these plans be accomplished? Is there a timeline?
How well does the candidate communicate? Clarity in writing and speech are both important but then so are manners. How well does the candidate listen to others?
Where and what civic activities has the candidate supported in the past? Is the candidate a photo-op only person or a worker that can be relied upon to do more than expected? Help with the set-up or the clean-up or the connections to get something done.
Look closely at those looking to lead our community and be ready and prepared to vote. The people elected are the very same people you will be calling to complain to that your very important and expected service is not being seen to, that you will be calling to complain that your City taxes are too high, that the needs of your children are not being seen to properly by the City and more.
Candidates! Be warned and ready! I will be asking these questions and more. It’s more than ok to complain and shout about what is wrong but, then it’s the suggestions, ideas, and actions to make the changes that count.
Evenings in June are the perfect porch sitting time. The day is long and warm then the tree branches stir in the afternoon breezes and a chill settles in with the sunset. That is when I want a warm sipping drink. It’s just too late in the day for coffee with caffeine. Herbal tea is always a good choice. Bouillon or a clear brothy soup is always an option. Its just too warm for a cocoa. So what about a Hot Buttered Lemonade?
It’s wonderful to make with all fresh ingredients but you can fake it with the powdered stuff. To make it fresh according to the recipe [I use slightly different amounts to suit my taste but the same ingredients.]
Begin with 3 cups of water, ¾ cup of fresh lemon juice, 2/3 cup sugar, 1 ½ teaspoons grated lemon rind, 4 sticks of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of butter.
In a saucepan over a medium heat, simmer the water, lemon peel, lemon juice, and sugar until all is dissolved.
Pour into mugs and dot each with butter then serve with a cinnamon stick, candy cane or fresh mint.
Yes you can absolutely make this in the microwave. I prefer to use honey as my sweetener in place of sugar. When I don’t have fresh lemon I have substituted the powdered lemonade mix. Candy canes do make it a special treat and its ok if they are broken. When I couldn’t find the cinnamon sticks I sprinkled cinnamon and sugar on top and mixed with a spoon. Adding fresh mint certainly brought the taste up a notch or two.
Gardeners Tip: If you are a gardener getting your nails clean around the cuticle area can sometimes be a challenge. Wash your hands with just a dab of toothpaste. You’ll have clean hands that smell nice too.
It is important to now and again change your focus. Take a stroll maybe by the Yantic River. Hear the lyrics “Down By The Old Mill Stream” by Tell Taylor play in your head as you wander around and behind the Old Stanton Mill at 31 Clinton Avenue. Close your eyes when you sniff the clean, crisp air and be transported to a world of long ago. Or open your eyes and call the phone number by the door to the Art From My Heart Art Studio of Michael David Brathwaite.
After he answers the phone it may take him a moment or four to greet you with a happy smile and lead you up the flights of stairs to the spacious third floor studio filled to the brim with contemporary art.
The art work is all by Michael David Brathwaite, an artist, a painter and a visual interpreter for over 60 years. His hard edged abstract work has been seen in many galleries and museums throughout New York City, New York, and Connecticut through the years. In addition to receiving his B.F.A. at Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art he has studied with a host of internationally known artists such as William T. Williams, Mercedes Matter, Hans Haacke, Sidney Geist and many more.
Cooper Union also put Brathwaite on a career in college admission administration by making him the administrator of the “Saturday Program for Art and Architecture.” The program generously funded by the Helena Rubinstein Foundation, encouraged 200 high school students to assemble an art portfolio for their applications to colleges of art with the cooperation of Cooper students sharing their time and knowledge of drawing, painting, sculpture and architectronic fundamentals.
Brathwaite’s third floor studio has ever changing display areas, where you forget you are in an old mill but are transported to the future filled with fresh and edgy art. Turn around and suddenly you are in a little SOHO style cafe. Proving that you can take Brathwaite out of SOHO but you can’t take the SOHO out of Brathwaite. As Alice fell through the looking glass, so do you have the same feeling when you move to the Art Library and media center of the studio.
Michael likes to read, to learn and to share. Many of the books in his large collection of dedicated art books are autographed and hard to find copies. He has created dedicated computers to particular art sites for research and a few dedicated just to music for as Michael is quick to point out, music is a form of art too. Books are my thing, and you can get lost for hours just looking through the extensive collection and not even studying the works and history represented.
Were you wondering where Brathwaite’s art is created? Its through another door and into yet another world. A world of colors, brushes and massive tables. It’s a massive organized kaleidoscope without your having to hold up the oculars to your eyes. All of it is meticulously organized by the projects he is working or not working on. More colors and shades than you can find in your ordinary paint store I am certain.
Then in the corner, behind a temporary wall is the tinkering and repair workshop. This is where Brathwaite brings electronics to life, where frames are built, where the broken become new, where new thoughts and ideas begin
The studio at 31 Clinton Ave, Norwich, CT is open to visitors by appointment. Please call 1-212-473-1035 to make arrangements or e-mail artist0207@gmail.com or Facebook https://www.facebook.com/michael.brathwaite.96
Today is a topic I have studiously avoided. When I go thru the back issues of the Norwich Bulletin one of the most striking themes is the number of drownings that occurs in a city with three active rivers. It is not important that each resident of Norwich be an accomplished swimmer, but I cannot stress enough, how important it is that every resident, know the basics of how to swim to save their own life or that of another.
The early newspapers were much more direct and descriptive in their articles than the sensitive treatment the media give a similar incident today. I know it often does not seem like it but, in all honesty there have been detailed news articles I had to stop reading because the descriptions were too vivid. The images the articles raised in my mind were too disturbing.
In the July 8, 1905 Norwich Bulletin was a detailed article about the number of deaths in New London County. I won’t reprint the entire article but I would like to note that it reported “This quarter there were an unusual number of drowning cases, mostly accidental, although there were three newly born infants found drowned. There were the usual number of deaths from injuries on the railroad and from heart disease.
The sudden deaths in the different towns of the county are as follows:
Norwich.
March 19 – John Gontier, aged 13, accidental drowning.
April 6 – Albert Klink, aged 50, accidental drowning.
April 22 – Martin V. Allender, aged 53, accidental drowning.
May 13 – John Keating, aged??, suicidal drowning.
May 23 – Hermina Fountain, aged 47, phithisis [possibly referring to Tuberculosis?]
May 24 – Charles E. Gough, aged 5, fell from team.
May 25 – Unknown infant, infanticide.
June 2 – Veronica F. Bedard, aged 5 weeks, accidental suffocation.
June 10 – Thomas H. Grant, aged 10, accidental drowning.
June 10 – William J. A Banfield, aged 14, accidental drowning.
June 15 – Harry Johnson, aged 60, accidental drowning.
June 18 – Eleazer Huling, aged 35, injuries received by fall.
June 27 – Samuel S. Hopkins, aged 74, heart disease,
These were the deaths for Norwich alone. I wanted their names to be recognized just in case someone doing a family search was looking for them. From some of the other towns were the deaths by arsenic poisoning, acute bronchitis, aged 19, natural causes, acute nephritis, acute peritonitis. Asphynxe neonatorum, starvation due to premature birth, hit by train, convulsions, senility, cerebral hemorrhage, and yes there were more. May all their souls rest in peace.
In 1903 Murphy & McGarry was a shop at 207 Main Street, Norwich, CT. It was a no muss and no fuss shop that advertised “only what we have and exactly as it is.” This was from a July 3, 1903 Norwich Bulletin advertisement.
The City of Norwich, CT Old Home Week festival was important to residents but also to the retailers. After all “To thoroughly enjoy yourselves during Old Home Week, You must be comfortably and well dressed. All through this week we wish you to make yourselves quite at home here, make our store your headquarters; have your parcels checked here, free; meet your friends here, and feel that you are heartily welcome.”
Can you even imagine a store saying something like that today? Not in 2021 Norwich. While it would not be hard, to organize a few shelves beyond the reach of the public and perhaps multiple sizes of storage bags that could be closed with a matching ticket. I can imagine the shops being taken advantage of by a few of our local residents.
But Murphy and McGarry were sly fox businessmen because they knew that “at the same time you will have the opportunity of posting ourselves on clothing – good clothing – and by personal inspection convince yourselves that we carry in stock, not only the best clothing, hats and furnishings, but that our prices are the lowest.
To know and provide whatever you may need to help your enjoyment and comfort, take this list, then check off what you have, and let us supply you with the rest.
OK I received a great kick out of the listing of what was needed then as compared to today so change up these items for what you or your family might need today.
Business Suit……………$10.00 to $20.00 Straw Hats ………. $0.50 to $3.00
Outing Suit……………..$5.00 to $ 6.00 Negligee Shirts … $0.49 to $1.50
Outing Trousers……….$2.00 to $ 3.50 Belts ………………. $0.25 to $0.50
Dress Trousers…… $3.00 to $5.00 Fancy Vests …….. $1.00 to $3.50
Rain Coats…………… $10.00 to $18.00 Balbriggan Underwear $0.48
Boys Sailors Norfolks$2.50 to $5.00 Fancy Hosiery …………….. $0.15 to $0.25
Boys’ two-piece Suits $1.98 to $5.00 Neckwear, any style …….. $0.25 to $0.50
“Any of these articles, you’ll find here all ready for you. The quality and prices will please you.”
Hope you enjoyed this trip in time as much as I enjoyed bringing it to you.
Were you even a bit curious about the 1903 Harbor Parade and Fireworks? I was and on July 6, 1903 there was a very long and extremely detailed report of the, “Brilliant Parade of Illuminated Launches in River Followed by Fine Pyrotechnic Display Witnessed by Large Crowds.”
I have been an advocate of having a small boat parade for Memorial Day, Fourth of July or Labor Day as celebrated in Norwich, CT for many years. To say that the idea has been met with derision would elevate it to a higher standard than the suggestion was actually met with. Over the years I have been to a few boat parades in various towns and cities. Some parades were smaller than others but the point was the great fun the participants had planning their decorating and showing off their celebratory finery. Yes. I am saying that part of the fun and enjoyment was in the planning. The tiny basin of harbor would be a wonderful place for a small boat parade. It would take planning and coordination due to the placement of the boat launch but with a little cooperation from all parties it could be accomplished.
In 1903 “One of the most pleasing of the many features of Old Home Week in former years has been the harbor parade and it proved to be fully as popular this year. The special late trains allowed most ot the out of town visitors an opportunity to take in the evening entertainment and a large proportion remained here for that purpose. Nearly every vantage point commanding a view of the harbor was occupied by the sightseers and on the steamboat wharf and along Laurel Hill avenue and Thames Street several hundred were stationed for a good view of the spectacle. The crowds began to gather at dusk and before 8 o’clock the steamboat wharf was packed.
Excepting for a rather too bright moon, the night, with its clear air, was perfect for the affair. The launches with their glowing lights attracted much attention as they glided down the river to Thamesville, where the line was to be formed. A few rockets were sent up from the float in the harbor as well as from other parts of the city, and these with a number of fire balloons sent up from Thamesville entertained the crowd of watchers until the parade started. Tubbs Band playing on the railroad wharf added to the effect of the water carnival.
It was about 8:30 o’clock when the head of the line of launches could be seen rounding the bend in the river above Thamesville. The procession was in two divisions ad was headed by Commodore Henry G. Peck’s pretty launch. There were about twenty-five of the little crafts in line and as they slowly crept along up stream they presented a spectacle like fairy land. Each boat was trimmed with Japanese lanterns of various colors, red being the predominating shade, and hung as they were in different forms they made a most picturesque sight, swinging to and fro as the launches moved along. Some of the launch owners had fireworks on board and these added to the variety of color.
As the procession passed along the east bank of the river the main display of fireworks was begun by Expert Gerhard from the float in the midstream. They consisted of rockets with sprays or showers of various colored fire, some after bursting sending out tiny balloons or strings of changing fire, bombs with their loud reports and their discharge of showers of colored fire… and altogether making a very pretty show for over an hour.
The launches turned at the steamboat wharf and passed down the west side of the river to below the railroad wharf where the line was disbanded. For nearly an hour after the display of fireworks the little streamers of colored lanterns flitted about the harbor making a brilliant water carnival. At the head of the harbor was anchored ex-Mayor F. L. Osgood’s handsome yacht Tillie, decorated from bow to stern with strings of red, white and blue electric lights which extended to the mast tops.”
I absolutely agree that fireworks in our current harbor with boats going around at the same time would be dangerous but there is the day before and hours before that would be perfect. That time before could be used to promote local businesses and yes show off the available for rent and sale business properties not in the downtown but along the river itself. What better time to show off a possibility than when there are potential people milling about?
Hey! Everyone is entitled to a vision and honestly because I am not running for political office, I am not afraid to speak up and tell people about my vision for a thriving city.
January 1, 1863 had some very special news in the Norwich newspaper about a sword presentation. – Some weeks earlier, “several gentlemen in this city procured a sword, sash and belt, and forwarded them to Lieut. Geo. R. Case, of this city, now serving as First Lieutenant in a loyal Louisiana Regiment, (colored.) The gift was accompanied by a suitable note of presentation. From the reply of Lieut. Case we make the following extracts:
Chackahoula, Dec. 15, 1863
Kind Friends I received your beautiful token, and can hardly find words to express, in return, the sense of gratitude I feel in being thus remembered by so any of you.
I shall value the sword not only as a weapon of defense, but as an ornament, always carrying with it, or embodying, as it were, one of the noblest ideas. It comes to me, not only as a token, but more as an expression of feeling, a sentiment, a deep desire for the right, without distinction of color, whether white or black. I had expected from many the sneer and cold contempt which ignorance begets, for accepting the position I have, but was more than pleased to find so many in favor of this new idea of right.
The idea that, because a man is black he is incapable of being a soldier, and is necessarily inferior, is all nonsense, and the quicker the world learns it the better. And I thus accept the sword, not only as a token, but as an expression of this fact, and feel grateful, not for the present alone, but that there are some at home who are willing, by words, actions and deeds, to encourage those who are away, and desirous of fighting this thing out.
Hoping that you may all live to see the glorious cause triumphant, and that speedily, I remain,
Yours truly,
Lieut. George R. Case
I have heard that often the officers of a colored troop were white and quickly defer to the St Louis County Library for further information. Property-owning free men of color had long served in the militia in Louisiana. The 1st Louisiana Native Guards (C.S.A.) were a militia unit formed in New Orleans. In January 1862, the Louisiana Legislature restricted militia to “… free white males capable of bearing arms” and the 1st Louisiana Native Guards were disbanded on the 15th of February. Louisiana Governor Thomas Overton Moore reconstituted the Native Guards in March when Union forces entered the Mississippi River. The Native Guards were ordered to assist in the defense of New Orleans. During the siege, Confederate regulars abandoned the city, leaving the Native Guards to fend for themselves. Ordered to surrender their arms, General Benjamin Butler, short on re-enforcements, and with no help from Washington, enlisted the help of the Louisiana Native Guards. 27 September 1862, the 1st Louisiana Native Guards became the first African American unit in the U.S. Army. Many of these men had served in the 1st Louisiana Native Guards (C.S.A.). Soon escaped slaves joined their ranks expanding the Native Guards from 1000 to 4000 men and from 1 to 3 Regiments. In June 1863, the 3 regiments of the Louisiana Native Guards would form the basis for the Corps d’Afrique. In April 1864, the Corps D’Afrique was merged into the United States Colored Troops.
Everything is relative. Right this second, is history tomorrow. So what appeared in a letter to the Editor of the Norwich Bulletin on March 16, 1894 is someone’s version of the past as they remember it. I absolutely did not fact check even one of the claims mentioned and you will just have to take my word for it that I did not witness any of the events mentioned.
Norwich, CT historians only like history with photographs. Unfortunately the memories submitted into the newspaper did not have accompanying photographs. But I am certain that given some time, a Norwich historian will be able to “find” matching incident photographs. Until then this is what was submitted by “Mr. T. T. Wetmore writing entertainingly of shipbuilding on the Thames between 1855 and 1866.” Mr. Wetmore submitted this to the Bulletin from Titusville, Florida on March 9, 1894.
“I saw in the Bulletin of March 5, writes T.T. Wetmore from Titusville, Florida, a history of shipbuilding in Norwich from way back in “ye olden times.” As I had something to do in that time in Norwich from 1855 to 1866, I think I can give you a little more definite account of the vessels built in that time than say any one else.
I went to Norwich on January 1, 1855 and took the job to plank and oil the schooner Col. Lester of about 250 tons, built for J. M. Huntington & Co and Col. Lester of Preston, by Harrison P. Lamphier. She was launched from a yard just below the old railroad bridge over the Shetucket on July 4, 1855. That winter Mr. Lamphier contracted with J.M. Huntington & Co to build the barge Thames, which I built under subcontract, and launched her June 12, the same year. She was 140 tons. As Lamphier had this yard leased, and there being no other available place, I started a new yard near the Norwich & Worcester railroad station, just where the iron bridge abutment is now, an built the schooner Sally Gay, 200 tons, which was launched November 11, 1856. These were all for J.M. Huntington & Co.
The I.K. Marvel, commanded by Capt. Eldredge of Cape Cod, was the pioneer schooner to open the West India trade which grew to such large proportions.
In the summer of 1860 the afore-named firm built a new shipyard in Thamesville by filling from the high bank where Shipping Street now is, the pond of water inside the railroad track and the flats outside the track to the bulkhead near the channel, where we put in a marine railway, and I commenced to build the propeller Norwich, which was intended for a passenger and a freight boat to run from Ponce to St. John on the on the Isle of Porto Rico. She was of 433 tons burthen and about the size of the gunboats which were ordered by the government. She was coppered, gun deck put in, with magazine, and equipped all ready for her guns and delivered in New York to the government September 28, 1861.
I then built the propeller Trade Wind, of the same size, and launched her April 5, 1862. This boat followed Admiral Farragut into New Orleans. The Captain bought a cargo of sugar and she paid for herself the very first voyage she made.
The owners, J.M. Huntington & Co., presented every man who worked on her with a twenty-five pound box of sugar; myself with a barrel of 228 pounds; E. Proctor 100 pounds; S.N. Gladwin, foreman joiner 100 pounds. As only three and a half pounds of sugar could then be bought for $1, the gift was appreciated pretty highly.
The third vessel built was the propeller Prometheus, 650 tons, launched in 1863; fourth, propeller Perrit, 713 tons, launched in fall of 1863; fifth, the propeller Whirlwind, 430 tons, launched early 1864; sixth, propeller Uncas, 325 tons, built in 1864; seventh, propeller Chace, 515 tons, launched in 1865 eighth, propeller Hunter, built in 1865, 515 tons; ninth, propeller Utility, 650 tons, launched in 1866.
These were all double decked vessels but the Uncas was a single deck vessel. As there could be no yellow pine got from the south in those days, on account of the war, we had to depend on our own country for all the timber, planks, etc., and the town of Montville, Bozrah, Preston, Scotland and Lebanon were well scoured for timber. Many an old farmer who got big prices for timber had occasion to bless the name of J. M. Huntington & Co.
Mr. Proctor was not foreman of the yard, but was the boss machinist and built engines for all the local boats but the Norwich, which were built by the late Elliott Barber. The boilers were built by William Troland.
-Titusville, Florida, March 9, 1894”
My hope in entering the full details of this letter to the editor is that there is a family somewhere out there looking to match a story with a name. Do you want future generations to know you only as a name, date of birth and death or do you want a future generation to know you as an individual, a person who lived a life between the dates?
If you go to Brown Park and read one of the story boards you’ll read a similar tale. Not quite the same one though. I am not saying which is true because I was not there, nor did I write either story.
The following though is the story that appeared in the Norwich Bulletin on March 27, 1894.
Unique Steamboat Accident. A Wooden Boiler Exploded. In connection with the stories of shipbuilding on the Thames a story of a unique accident to the steamer of a Norwich man may be recalled. Gilbert Brewster of Norwich fancied he was in possession of a plan for building a steamboat that would prove superior to that then in use, and accordingly built a small boat, called the John Hancock, into which he put a small engine and a wooden boiler. He prepared her for an excursion fro Norwich to New London, at the time when President Monroe visited this section of the United States. Fifty gentlemen went on board and they proceeded down the river from Norwich. They were all, together with the cook, a colored man, in the cabin above the boiler, when approaching New London, it was announced the Fulton, which had the President aboard, was in sight.
The gentlemen went on deck as fast as the gangway would permit them to move, the cook being the last at the foot of the stairs, the end of the boiler was blown out, and his left leg was slightly scalded.
The force was so great with which the end of the boiler was blown out that it swept everything before it – tables, chairs, the partition between the ladies and the gentleman’s cabins – all went out of the stern of the boat. In one minute more, if they had stayed in the cabin, fifty-one would have been swept into eternity.
The newspapers of 1863 were not always filled with bright and happy news. Often they were filled with heartbreaking details. The following are two articles placed closely together in the Norwich Bulletin of March 9, 1863.
“William Tipton, aged ten years, whose parents reside in Hope Street, on Thursday last, during their absence from home, took a cushion from a chair and putting it upon the stove hearth, laid his head upon it to get it warm, it is supposed. As a natural consequence the cushion took fire and he was so badly burned that death came to his relief in about two hours after he was found. The boy was an idiot.” Not a lot of sympathy expressed.
Fatal Accident – Thomas Mickie, who formerly ran a paper mill in Greeneville, and subsequently the mills of the Rockland Co., in Montville, was scalded so severely on the morning of the 24th, that death resulted on the fourth day. He was at the time of the accident engaged in running a paper mill in Coatsville, Chester County, Pennsylvania. He had occasion to get a pail of hot water to thaw out the “first felt,” and went into the boiling room for that purpose. While dipping up the water from a tub filled with boiling straw, the top of which was level with the floor, he slipped in and sunk to his hips in the contents. He attempted to extricate himself, but fell back onto his left arm, scalding it to the shoulder. A bleacher in the room hearing his cries went to his assistance and succeeded in rescuing him. No sooner was he on the floor than he ran to the river in spite of the man, and in order to relieve himself from the excruciating pain, boke the ice and laid down in the water. He was followed and again rescued and taken home, where he suffered in intense pain until he died. He was fifty-seven years of age.
In Norwich, CT there is always a great deal of interest and chatter about the gun industry in Norwich so when I came across this in the May 25, 1863 Norwich Bulletin I thought there might be some interest. Was I a witness? No. How am I certain this occurred? I am not. I am simply repeating what was printed in the newspaper at the time.
“A New Breech Loading Cannon – Elisha Ayer, of this city, a mechanic in the employ of C. B. Rogers & Co., has recently invented a breech loading cannon, which is confidently believed to be superior to any now in use. He gave it a preliminary trial on Saturday afternoon, in presence of Gov. Buckingham and a number of other gentlemen, which resulted to the general satisfaction of all who witnessed it. It is not considered advisable to publish a description of the gun at present.
It is claimed that in this new invention all the difficulties that arise from heating and expansion in other breech loading guns are entirely obviated. The piece can be worked with ease by three or four men, and is capable of being loaded and discharged thirty times a minute.
Mr. Ayer has also invented a gun for firing under water, which he expects to bring out before long.”
Of other note in the same paper was the mention of other local soldiers who were visiting at home –
“Brig. General Daniel Tyler, who has been for some time engaged on the Buell Court of Inquiry, has arrived home on a short visit.”Not being familiar with the Buell Court of Inquiry, I attempted to look it up. The testimony in the Buell Court of inquiry covers over five thousand pages and I readily leave it to others to study and explain. But as I understand it, Major-General Buell is taken to task over his cautious approach toward a battle against the Rebel Army of the Confederacy General Bragg.
Captain Charles J. Arms, of the Twelfth Regiment, arrived home on Saturday.
Lieut. Henry P. Goddard, of the Fourteenth, formerly an employee of the Bulletin. Has been suffering severely from the effect of the concussion of a shell. He hopes to be out again shortly.
In the Library of Congress I fell unexpectedly into their collection of Women’s Suffrage in Sheet Music and this 1916 song by Alfred Bryan, Jerome H. Remick & Co and Herman Paley caught my ear, my eye and my imagination. “She’s Good Enough to Be Your Baby’s Mother and She’s Good Enough to Vote With You.” What a title!
Here are the lyrics with no adjustment for 2021 political correctness.
No man is greater than his mother
No man is half so good
No man is better than the wife he loves
Her love will guide him
What ‘ere beguile him
She’s good enough to love you and adore you
She’s good enough to bear your troubles for you
And if your tears were falling today
Nobody else would kiss them away
She’s good enough to warm your heart with kisses
When your lonesome and blue
She’s good enough to be your baby’s mother
And she’s good enough to vote with you
Man plugs the world in war and sadness
She must protest in vain
Let’s hope and pray someday we’ll hear her pain
Stop all your madness, I bring you gladness
She’s good enough to love you and adore you
She’s good enough to bear your troubles for you
And if your tears were falling today
Nobody else would kiss them away
She’s good enough to warm your heart with kisses
When your lonesome and blue
She’s good enough to be your baby’s mother
And she’s good enough to vote with you
She’s good enough to give you old Abe Lincoln
She good enough to give you Brandon Sherman
Robert E. Lee and Washington too
She was so true she gave them to you
She’s good enough to give you Teddy Roosevelt
Thomas A. Edison too.
She’s good enough to give you Woodrow Wilson
And she’s good enough to vote with you.
Paley, Herman, and Alfred Bryan. She’s Good Enough to Be Your Baby’s Mother and She. Jerome H. Remick & Co., New York, 1916. Notated Music. https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.100008305/.
Are you looking for educational activities for your children this summer? Check out this program from the National Wildlife Federation. https://www.nwf.org/-/media/Documents/PDFs/Eco-Schools/Growing-a-Wild-NYC-Curriculum-FINAL-lo.ashx?la=en&hash=0CD1D01268DADDA444D9EEF71C3A438B3F176FCC Don’t be afraid that its strictly school work and lessons because it is not. It’s activities, hunts, games and fun with accidental learning involved. A lot of it is outside and fun individually and in groups.
Since 2015 I, individually, not as a representative of Norwich, CT, have been participating in the Mayor’s Monarch Pledge of the National Wildlife Federation. For the City of Norwich, CT to participate in this environmental promotion is not difficult or costly. It does require a few actions by the Mayor and City Council that we all can help with in addition to encouragement.
Mayors and heads of local or tribal government who have taken the Mayors’ Monarch Pledge must commit to implement at least three of the 30 following action items within a year of taking the pledge.
The Mayors’ Monarch Pledge:
The monarch butterfly is an iconic North American species whose multigenerational migration and metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly has captured the imagination of millions of Americans.
We, the undersigned mayors and heads of local or tribal government, are deeply concerned about the decline of the monarch butterfly population. Both the western and eastern monarch populations have experienced significant declines. Less than one percent of the western monarch population remains, while the eastern population has fallen by as much as ninety percent. Monarch scientists attribute the population decline to degradation and loss of summer breeding habitat in the U.S., and loss of winter habitat in south-central Mexico and coastal California.
Cities, towns, counties, and communities have a critical role to play to help save the monarch butterfly. Municipalities can provide habitat at public parks, median strips, community gardens, schools, and municipal buildings like recreation centers and libraries. Events such as community workshops, native plant giveaways, and monarch festivals, can educate residents about the cultural significance of monarchs and how to create habitat. Simple changes in landscaping ordinances or other policies can make a big difference for the monarch too.
We recognize the importance of creating monarch and pollinator habitat at parks, gardens, and other green spaces, that every member of our community can equally enjoy. Our work to help save the monarch butterfly intentionally engages all parts of our communities, ensuring that historically marginalized communities are not left out of the work or the many benefits this work will create.
When mayors speak up and take a stand, our communities notice. Therefore, we hereby commit to help restore habitat for the monarch and encourage our residents to do the same, so that these magnificent butterflies will once again flourish across the continent.
At least one action must be taken from the “Program & Demonstration Gardens” section. Mayors that complete eight or more actions will receive special recognition as part of the National Wildlife Federation’s Mayors’ Monarch Pledge Leadership Circle, and those that complete 24 or more actions will be recognized as a Monarch Champion.
Communications & Convening
Issue a Proclamation to raise awareness about the decline of the monarch butterfly and the species’ need for habitat. [ I have a sample if Norwich, CT would like to use it.]
Launch or maintain a public communication effort to encourage residents to plant monarch gardens at their homes or in their neighborhoods. (If you have community members who speak a language other than English, we encourage you to also communicate in that language; Champion Pledges must communicate in that language.)
Engage with community garden groups and urge them to plant native milkweeds and nectar-producing plants.
Engage with city parks and recreation, public works, sustainability, and other relevant staff to identify opportunities to revise and maintain mowing programs and milkweed / native nectar plant planting programs.
Engage with gardening leaders and partners (e.g., Master Naturalists, Master Gardeners, Nature Centers, Native Plant Society Chapters, other long-standing and influential community leaders) to support monarch butterfly conservation.
Engage with Homeowners Associations (HOAs), Community Associations or neighborhood organizations to identify opportunities to plant monarch gardens and revise maintenance and mowing programs.
Engage with developers, planners, landscape architects, and other community leaders and organizers engaged in planning process to identify opportunities to create monarch habitat.
Create a community-driven educational conservation strategy that focuses on and benefits local, underserved residents.
Create a community art project to enhance and promote monarch and pollinator conservation as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
Program & Demonstration Gardens:
Host or support a native seed or plant sale, giveaway or swap. [Norwich, CT has been hosting a Free seed and plant swap for the past six years.]
Facilitate or support a milkweed seed collection and propagation effort.
Plant or maintain a monarch and pollinator-friendly demonstration garden at City Hall or another prominent or culturally significant community location.
Convert vacant lots to monarch habitat.
Plant milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants in medians and public rights-of-way.
Launch or maintain an outdoor education program(s) (e.g., at schools, after-school programs, community centers and groups) that builds awareness and creates habitat by engaging students, educators, and the community in planting native milkweed and pollinator-friendly native nectar plants (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Eco-Schools USA Schoolyard Habitats program and Monarch Mission curriculum).
Earn or maintain recognition for being a wildlife-friendly city by participating in other wildlife and habitat conservation efforts (i.e., National Wildlife Federation’s Community Wildlife Habitat program).
Host or support a monarch neighborhood challenge to engage neighborhoods and homeowners’ associations within the community to increase awareness, support community unity around a common mission, and/or create habitat for the monarch butterfly.
Initiate or support community science (or citizen science) efforts that help monitor monarch migration and health.
Add or maintain native milkweed and nectar producing plants in community gardens.
Launch, expand, or continue an invasive species removal program that will support the re-establishment of native habitats for monarch butterflies and other pollinators.
Host or support a monarch butterfly festival that is accessible to all residents in the community and promotes monarch and pollinator conservation, as well as cultural awareness and recognition.
Display educational signage at monarch gardens and pollinator habitat.
Systems Change:
Remove milkweed from the list of noxious plants in city weed / landscaping ordinances (if applicable).
Change weed or mowing ordinances to allow for native prairie and plant habitats.
Increase the percentage of native plants, shrubs and trees that must be used in city landscaping ordinances and encourage use of milkweed where appropriate.
Direct city property managers to consider the use of native milkweed and nectar plants at city properties where possible.
Integrate monarch butterfly conservation into the city’s Park Master Plan, Sustainability Plan, Climate Resiliency Plan or other city plans.
Change ordinances so herbicides, insecticides, or other chemicals used in the community are not harmful to pollinators.
Adopt ordinances that support reducing light pollution.
California Specific: Pass a resolution to protect over-wintering monarch butterfly habitat on public or private lands.
Next time you pass by a patch of blooming milkweed please enjoy their perfume wafting in the air. And please, join me in encouraging our elected, appointed, hired and volunteer leaders in the promotion of our City of Norwich, CT.
It is now officially summer and I am eating from the garden. Well I would be if the deer, the rabbit and the ground hog had left me anything. I don’t mind sharing but the creatures, and I have a few other terms for them, take a nibble or two out of each and everything that is growing.
I had been watching a pepper grow. It was lovely. A deep green. Firm. Perfectly shaped. I had plans for that pepper until during the night. Well lets just say my plans have bitten the dust. So I am eating from the gardens of others.
The issue is that on the fresh produce I don’t really like the vast assortment of bottled dressings. Mass produced, over sugared and with a list of ingredients I honestly cannot identify by name or quite honestly by sight. So I wound up using the the old standby oil and vinegar for most of the salads. Occasionally I vary the oil or the vinegar depending on my mood and if I am working on a theme for my dinner. One too many cooking shows I fear. Anyway, if you are bored or tired of ruining your fresh salad with bottled dressing here are a few from Light & Spicy by Barbara Gibbons. Mangiare!
Sometimes the flavor of a meal comes not from the main but from an unexpected place such as the salad dressing.
Curry Dressing. One half cup plain yogurt, two tablespoons sour cream, one half teaspoon curry powder, one teaspoon each dry mustard, ground all spice and garlic salt. Combine and let sit for thirty minutes or so. Good on salad and great on chilled rice!
Not strictly a dressing but novel and delicious when I tossed in some handy cut up fresh veggies. My favorites are pea pods, spinach, chopped yellow pepper and young raw zucchini all added at the last minute. Caribe style coleslaw. One can crushed pineapple, well drained, 8 ounces plain yogurt, two tablespoons cider vinegar, one teaspoon garlic salt, one quarter teaspoon pepper, one medium head of cabbage shredded, two medium carrots shredded, one small onion shredded or chopped fine. Combine in a large bowl and chill preferably over night.
A hint of mint is a pleasure, but with a bit too much its over powering. Because some people prefer to have dressing with a bit of salad, I dress this salad in the kitchen using a lettuce spinner to keep it light and fresh. The original recipe does not call for it but I also add fresh orange rind and orange flesh to the salad itself but other citrus works well too. Combine one half cup vegetable broth, one half cup minced fresh mint, juice of one lemon, one crushed garlic clove, a pinch of fresh nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Combine and allow to age before cooling before serving. A cheat is to combine in a simmer, strain and cool.
For those that want rich and creamy this Parsley-Yogurt three pulses on the blender or food processor is great. Eight ounces plain yogurt, one half cup packed, minced fresh parsley, one quarter cup packed fresh minced spinach, one quarter cup packed fresh minced basil, one crushed clove garlic, five tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, one quarter spoon grated nutmeg. Toss into the blender and stop worrying if your measurements are not exact. Pulse until its the way you like your creamy dressing. Cool and enjoy! Also great on warm pasta, and served with whole green beans.
Are you a member of an organization looking for a new fundraiser? Something different? Do you work for any one or more of the organizations housed in the Norwich Downtown looking for a new activity for your clients? Are you a retail business looking to increase your customer base?
Consider taking a lesson from this event From August 1917. No I did not make a typo. This novel idea came from the August 27, 1917 Norwich Bulletin. Full page advert. The stores chose a date in the heat of August to open early. They even arranged for earlier public transportation runs so the shoppers could take advantage of the cooler morning. Restaurants and coffee houses ran specials, just for the day. Currently Norwich does not have much of a downtown retail so maybe there needs to be just a bit of tweaking needed.
A dollar was still a lot of money. It was a deep discount. So how to turn it into a modern money maker? If you do not have a retail operation consider selling an early morning treat for $2.00 such as a 2×2 waffle topped with fresh berries, and a squirt of whipped topping. How about a lunch time lemonade stand? Stop thinking that you must sell your item in the giant size, consider smaller, so there is less waste. Promotions for restaurants are always easy. Use the Dollar toward the purchase of a very specific sample plate. Only 3-5 items. Only a sample size taste of each. Definitely not meal size.
Come on Norwich, CT. You can do this! You did it before. You can do it again. Try!
https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/data/batches/ct_berlin_ver01/data/sn82014086/00295866123/1917082101/0454.pdf
I was making an attempt to gather all of my umbrellas in one place that might prove to be handier than their current, never convenient when I need one location when I remembered reading this article in the July 22, 1903 Norwich Bulletin about parasols.
Many of us in 2021 are now using umbrellas on these hot and sunny days as if they were those beautifully decorated parasols. The article spoke not about the material of the parasol or umbrella but about the handle.
The newest parasol and umbrella has more than one mission to fulfill. Those of latest importation have richly and exquisitely carved art nouveau handles of the whitest ivory. They are long and heavy and screw on to the wooden shaft that supports their silken mounting.
These handles are hollow and contain a tiny six-inch vial to be filled with cologne or toilet water. By pressing an ornament in the carving of the handle, the top of the vial opens and sends out a spray of its fragrant contents to moisten a handkerchief or damen the temples of a fatigued or fainting lady.
Sometimes the handle of the parasol is filled with delicious Russian salts instead of cologne.”
I know that many of us have allergies to many of today’s popular scents but there are times when I would welcome a hint of floral, vanilla, or lemon scent. A light scent, best described as a waft on the wind.
Two children were pulled from in front of a Trolley Car on West Main Street by Patrick Caples, a hoseman of Chemical Company No. 1 of the West Side according to a July 23, 1903 report in the Norwich Bulletin.
It seems that Patrick Caples, a hoseman of Chemical Company No. 1, of the West Side used rare presence of mind Tuesday noon when he drew two small children from in front of a city bound trolley car on West Main Street in front of the company’s house.
The car due at Franklin Square at 1 o’clock was going along at the regular clip after coming down the long hill and when almost in front of the chemical house two small children darted off the sidewalk to cross the track in the face of the rushing car. Hoseman Caples saw their plight and jumped after them and pulled them off the track in the face of the rushing car. Hoseman Caples saw their plight ad jumped after them and pulled them off the track just in time to save them from injury. The motorman clanged his bell and did all in his power to stop the car, but it didn’t come to a standstill until the place where the children were crossing had been passed. Mr. Caples certainly deserves much praise for his prompt and heroic work.
Peaches are plentiful in 2021 so I thought I would bring back a few recipes from the August 11, 1903 Norwich Bulletin. Some cooking experience may be necessary and putting on ice in modern terms is placing it in the refrigerator to chill.
Floating Island – Cut the top off a loaf of rather stale sponge cake, and carefully remove the inside, leaving a base and walls only an inch thick. Fill with fresh sliced peaches, sprinkled liberally with sugar and mixed with whipped cream. Set on ice for a short time. Just before serving pour a soft yellow custard around the cake, and garnish with a few fine peaches, pared and halved. Arrange the peach halves with the pit side upward, and fill the hollows with blanched and sliced almonds mixed with a very little whipped cream.
[2021 version – Purchased from the grocery store a pound cake or a package of the pre-pared yellow short cakes. Peeled, pitted and medium diced six fresh peaches and mixed with three/fourths container of whipped topping before filling cake center with mixture and placing in refrigerator. I did not add sugar to the mixture. I made some vanilla pudding and chilled it in individual dishes, vanilla ice cream would work well too. Garnish is up to you. I used a few sprigs of fresh mint. ]
Pudding – Mix together one beaten egg, a pinch of salt, a piece of butter the size of an egg, a cupful of milk, a teaspoonful of yeast powder, and flour enough to make a soft dough. Beat all thoroughly together, and spread the dough about an inch thick in a small buttered baking dish. Cover it thickly with pared and halved peaches, having the hollow side up, and fill the hollows with granulated sugar. Bake in a quick oven for half an hour, and serve hot with any nice sweet sauce.
[2021 version – Purchased from the grocery store one tube of pre-made biscuits. Place the biscuits in a buttered baking dish. The closer the better in my opinion. Cover it thickly with pared and medium diced fresh peaches. I sprinkled lightly with a mix of white sugar, dark brown sugar, cinnamon and chopped fine fresh ginger. I have a heat loving friend who adds chopped jalapenos to his mix. He is also been known to add chopped peaches and jalapenos to the corn bread he serves at his barbq’s.]
Fritters – Sift together two teacupfuls of flour, one teaspoonful of salt, and teaspoonful of baking powder. Rub in thoroughly one tablespoonful of butter. Beat two eggs very light and add to them one cup full of milk and water. Pour this on the flour mixture and beat quickly and lightly together. Pare and halve fine ripe peaches, sprinkle them with sugar, dip in batter, and fry to a nice brown in smoking hot oil. When done, lift out with a skimmer, drain for a minute on unglazed paper, dust with powdered sugar, and arrange on a heated dish. Serve at once.
[2021 version – Pare and medium dice some fine ripe peaches. Add to prepared pancake batter using the peach juice with the preferred liquid. A shot of peach brandy doesn’t hurt either but is not required. I pour into a lightly oiled frying pan until the cakes release and flip them to lightly brown. A warm oven will keep them toasty before serving with powdered sugar, or peach or maple syrup. You can also use the batter to make waffles and serve them beneath a scoop of your favorite ice cream. Just sayin’.]
In Tapioca Jelly. – Soak a cupful of tapioca in water to cover over night. In the morning add a quart of water and cook in a double boiler until perfectly transparent. When done, add a cupful of sugar, and six fine, mellow peaches, pared and sliced. Stir lightly together, turn into a mold dipped out of the cold water, and set away until firm. Serve with sweetened whipped cream. – Mary Foster Sneider, in Country Gentleman.
[2021 version – Sorry not a tapioca fan so I have not updated this recipe. Let me know if you try it or have an updated version you prefer.]
Not every story in the past copies of the Norwich Bulletin was sad, depressing or shocking. Sometimes stories were used to build up suspense for a business. For example there was this repeated story about the adventures and training of Miss Mary C. Adles. I took this one from the August 3, 1903 edition of the newspaper.
The story explains that “Miss Mary C. Adles will be absent from town for several weeks, completing the course of study which she has followed for a number of years, with reference to improved scientific and hygienic treatment of the skin and hair.
She will study with her brother, M. Adles, M.D., a leading physician of St. Louis, graduate of the Missouri Medical College.
Miss Adles’ patrons will do well to wait until her return to town, when she will have a genuine surprise in store for them. Her success with customers in New York and New England during recent years will be surpassed by means of the interesting information which she will have to disclose upon her return to Norwich.”
Promotion of a business does not necessarily have to be only done by advertising. Sometimes promotion of a business is done by talking about advanced training. The business people in 2021 Norwich, CT could benefit tremendously by using such promotion and the newspaper would benefit too by having more local news stories to tell which might in turn increase its local readership leading to a higher subscription rate. Local news does not have to be a loss leader item for a newspaper.
Oh my goodness you all are a ghoulish lot. OK here is a story from the July 9, 1902 Norwich Bulletin about a Taftville woman who worked at Ponemah Mill.
“A horrible accident occurred on Tuesday afternoon when Mrs. Alice Smith, by the accidental catching of her hair in a machine was literally scalped. The accident took place about 3 o’clock. Mrs. Smith, who was employed as a speeder tender, had crawled under her speeder to adjust some portion of the machine, when her hair became caught in one of the revolving cones of the roller.
Before her fellow employees could realize what was happening and stop the machine the unfortunate woman’s scalp was completely torn from her head. She was cool, however, throughout the ordeal, and managed to walkabout the room. Dr. George Thompson was called and administered anodynes and stimulants to relieve as much as possible the pain. He took Mrs. Smith to his office and sent for the Backus Hospital ambulance.
Mrs. Smith was conveyed to the hospital in the ambulance, where Dr. Patrick Cassidy, assisted by the members of the house staff, sewed the scalp into place on her head. It was torn off clear down to the neck in the back and nearly down to the eyebrows in the front. Mrs. Smith was resting comfortably late Tuesday evening and will recover.
It is believed that the scalp will unite with the skull tissue and form a perfect union, leaving only a scar to show. Mrs. Smith is a daughter of James Taylor of Lisbon and lives at the Ponemah boarding house. She is about 30 years old.
How can you not love it when one paper reports a story from another paper? Take for example this gem from the July 22, 1903 Norwich Bulletin re-print from the Chicago Inter Ocean newspaper.
“A real treasure chest was discovered a few weeks ago in Frankfort, Germany, in the most unexpected of places – no less a pace than the city poorhouse.
For many years a huge iron chest had been stored in one of the attic rooms. The key to it was missing, and so it happened that nobody ever bothered to try to get at it until recently, when a general housecleaning caused the officials to have it broken open. It was like breaking open a pirate’s hoard. When the lid was lifted, magnificent silver cups and ornaments were revealed. Experts soon found that they dated back as far as 1650 and that they were the work of famous blacksmiths of the seventeenth century.”
What is hiding in the old chest, trunk or suitcase in your storage? I found a bunch of old photographs of unidentified people. No silver, gold, jewelry or coins. No hidden cache of money. I hope you have better luck in your stored stuff!
Here in New England the temperature can vary greatly between the time we rise, while we attend to our day and go to sleep at night. In the August 5, 1903 Norwich Bulletin was an article re-printed from the Kansas City Journal relating the story of a new barometer that might prove useful today.
“Water Williams tells of the odd plan of alternating his clothes that was employed by a quaint old character who used to live in Booneville. He ‘constructed or reconstructed a thermometer in his own peculiar fashion.
Instead of the usual markings upon the thermometer, zero, thirty-two, etc. he marked his legends like these: Heavy overcoat, light overcoat, gray cashmere, shirt sleeves. Every change in the temperature was thus marked and the quaint old gentleman used to follow always the thermometers directions.
It appeared to be quite satisfactory to the inventor of the odd device, though his neighbors were surprised sometimes at the garb he wore. “Might it not be possible,” Mr. Williams continues, “to so learn one’s own impulses and emotions that a thermometer with different legends could be constructed and be of value? At 65 degrees Fahrenheit, for example, might be put: Best working time. At 80 degrees, look out for temper. At 90, keep away from people with red heads and sharp tongues. At 100, probable family explosions. This would not cure the irritation which summer causes, but it would at least be a warning. An emotional barometer and due observance of the same might keep the ship of self from wreck or fireworks.”
What would you have on your personal thermometer or barometer? For my own I envision something very like a calendar found in kindergartens with pictures of hats and mittens, jackets, sweaters, t-shirts, slacks and shorts.
Can you imagine any part of the Yantic River open to boat navigation? Boats larger than row boats or rafts? It was seriously considered according to an article in the August 13, 1903 Norwich Bulletin.
Per the article, ”During the past few days a government official has been in this city for the purpose of looking over the situation regarding the opening of the east channel of the Yantic River to navigation. As it is now, with the low railroad bridge which has no draw, no boats larger than rowboats can pass there, and it is the intention of the controllers of the land north of the bridge to work for the putting in of a drawbridge, so that barges can be taken up the river.
The railroad company has recently constructed a new bridge there, and is now removing a large number of the old piles which supported the structure. It is stated that they are going to raise the bridge about a foot above its present level, which it is expected will allow the barge now waiting to pass under when the water is low.
Surveys of the river have been sent to the government, and some report on the question is expected within a short time. There have been three government officials here regarding the matter.
It is thought the result will be that a drawbridge will be required of the railroad, and that whenever a new bridge is built by the town to replace the present one, near the elevator building, that it will have to be a drawbridge.”
What a shame Norwich doesn’t have a drawbridge somewhere! The drawbridge in Niantic is a great attraction for people just wanting the experience of crossing a drawbridge with the opportunity of being caught in the traffic jam when it is opened for a passing boat. Not to mention the businesses that have grown up around it for the tourists and sightseers. Ah well. Dreams are but the progress of Norwich, CT.
The discussion of Eastern Connecticut having passenger rail service again caused me to recall this story from the February 14, 1894 Norwich Bulletin.
“The street railway employees fought all Monday night with the engulfing snow, and ran plows and cars incessantly. Superintendent Shaw personally directed the schedule and provided a boiler of coffee and a clothes basket of sandwiches for the men. It was a cheerless task running thru the dark, deserted streets in the blustering snow storm. After a trip the men had a chance to warm up, and I sounded rather like railroading to hear some one in authority say at 9 a.m., “Well, boys, let’s take a run up to Norwich Town and tunnel the drifts.”
“The railway people were busy Tuesday and Tuesday night clearing the tracks, and they carted off several hundred loads of snow from the narrow thoroughfares.
The trains were late on both roads Tuesday morning and the 9:35 train on the Norwich & Worcester railroad did not come in until between 12 and 1 o’clock. The Boston papers did not arrive until 8 p.m. The 10:55 train on the New London Northern did not arrive until 1 o’clock. The boat train from New London due at 5:30 a.m. Came through at 6:50 p.m. The 930 a.m. Train for Boston was stalled at Oxford.
The Hanover stage arrived in the city at 10:45 o’clock on Monday and was about an hour late. Mr. Judd brought the mail through safely but reported big drifts. The road was bad at the foot of Lee’s Hill and above Taftville. Mr. Judd carried a snow shovel and broke the way through in some places.”
Blogs where I include old recipes is always a winner so here are a few recipes from the 1903 August 7 Norwich Bulletin.
Turkish Delight – Grate a fine, large, ripe, pineapple into a bowl and cover with boiling water allow it to stand for five hours, then strain off the clear liquid and sweeten to taste and freeze to a soft snow, serve in glasses with a spoonful of red raspberries in the bottom of each glass.
Fried Corn – Carefully cut the corn from six ears of fresh sweet corn, being careful not to take any of the cob with it, and have the grains separate. Fry in just enough butter to keep it from sticking to the pan, being careful to stir very often. When a nice brown add half a cup of sweet cream and salt and pepper to taste. Do not place on the fire after you have added the cream, as it will curdle. Serve in a hot dish. A very nice luncheon or breakfast dish.
Sweet Pickled Beans – Wash and string young tender beans and let them lie in brine for a week. Then freshen in clear water, boil until just tender and cover with a spiced vinegar made in the following proportion: One gallon of vinegar, one cup of sugar, two and a half dozen whole cloves, same number of peppercorns, fifteen whole allspice and eight blades of mace; three sticks of cinnamon may be added if desired.
Plum Pie – To one cup of plum pulp add one cup of sweet cream, thicken this with one teaspoonful of cornstarch made smooth with a little sweet milk, stir into this two well beaten egg yolks and one-third cup of granulated sugar. Place this mixture in a pie pan lined with with a rich piecrust, bake quickly, being careful not to burn it. Beat the whites of the two eggs stiff and stir in carefully two tablespoonfuls of powdered sugar spread this over the top of the pie and return to the oven brown lightly. This is good either hot or cold.
Popovers – Sift together two-thirds of a cup of entire wheat flour, one-third of a cup of white flour and one-fourth of a teaspoonful of salt. To this gradually add seven-eighths of a cup of milk, stirring rapidly to smooth the batter, then put in one well beaten egg and beat again till very light. Pour into hot greased iron gem pans and bake in a hot oven for 30 to 45 minutes.
Sometimes I read a story in an old paper that I try to forget I ever saw. Stories that break my heart or deeply disturb me. This is one of those stories from the July 3, 1906 Norwich Bulletin. It was not a headlined story. It was just a little side story of how Fred Sterry choked to death on a piece of candy.
The story in the paper was not an official obituary nor was it a news item. It was just a mention in the column about town.
“Much sympathy is expressed for Mr. and Mrs. Charles Sterry of Otrobando road in the sudden death of their oldest son Fred, at the age of twelve years. The boy bought candy at the grocer’s and started home with the candy in his mouth. He began to choke when near the Town Street schoolhouse and was noticed by his Henry Wagner, his uncle, who endeavored to dislodge the candy. His efforts were unsuccessful and the boy was picked up and carried to Burrill Lathrop’s house and it was decided to take him to the hospital, but he was then beyond help and nothing could be done for him there.
Besides his parents, he leaves two brothers, Robert and Howard. He was a promising pupil in the junior department of Town Street School and was a member of the First Congregational Sunday School.
It was just a piece of candy. At what age do we teach our children how to help someone who is choking? At what age do we teach our children how to help themselves if they are choking? Do you know what to do for your family members? Do they know how to help you?
Here is an idea from the August 10, 1906 Norwich Bulletin for something that could make a historic day in Norwich, CT a bit more interesting and unique than those of the towns in the surrounding area of New England.
Most of us consider mail carrier service as something that we have always had throughout history. Mail carrier service is something we take for granted. Well that is not the case. It was a very big deal on October 1, 1906, It took a petition by the residents, supported by Congressman Higgins and Postmaster Caruthers to bring it about. What are the differences in how mail was sent, processed and received from the 1600’s to the present day? Not just the stamps changed but the options of paper, stationary, envelopes. Envelopes? Yes even envelopes changed and so did the size of paper. With an actual date and a petition to focus on the option of a historical cos-play festival give Norwich historians an option few if any other city can use to advantage.
“Norwich Town residents are shortly to rejoice in one of the postal privileges enjoyed by residents of the City of Norwich, that of receiving their mail by carrier at their own door. Just exactly how soon the new service will go into effect cannot be definitely stated yet, but probably between the first and the middle of October will be the time.
A practically unanimous petition from Norwich Town residents affected, backed up by the support of Congressman Edwin W. Higgins and the influence and hard work of Postmaster William Caruthers, has accomplished what many in that section of the town have been longing for for years. The petition was presented in April and in July an inspector from Washington went over the ground with Postmaster Caruthers and recommended the service.
Compliance with some requirements are demanded by the department before the service is put into operation and as soon as these are satisfied the way will be clear for the new carrier route. All streets upon which deliveries are to be made must be named and have signs displayed at the corners. Houses must bear number plates, and street lights must be provided. The main streets like Town, West Town, Huntington Avenue, Clinton Avenue and some of the side streets are to be included, the route meeting the present limit of the city carriers at Pecks’ corner. The carrier will start out from the Norwich Town Station and will make two deliveries a day, morning and afternoon. There will have to be some adjustment of the rural free delivery routes which run through Norwich Town, all of which will be arranged by a government man from Washington.
The station will be a regular station of the Norwich post office, such as is known in the department as a carriers ‘ station, with a clerk in charge just as in Greenville. Mails will be received and dispatched from it just as present, boxes can be rented or mail received through the general delivery just as now, with no additional feature that those who so designate may receive their mail by carrier.
Such an arrangement will add still further to the comfort of living in this delightful section of the town.”
Winter is coming and when you are looking for something to do indoors I thought this list from a previous blog might prove to be useful to some new readers. I printed a copy out for my bulletin board and put a check next to the ones I have viewed. A star next to the ones I want to return to. A line through the ones I did not enjoy.
If you are looking to give a gift for the person who already has everything, consider printing out this list, wrapped with a package or two of microwave popcorn, or a mug cake and a bag of tea or hot cocoa mix. Enjoy!
51+ Things To Do While You’re at Home
Virtual Museum Tours Here’s a list of museums that have put their collections online for you to enjoy. 1..British Museum in London 2. Guggenheim Museum, New York 3. National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. 4. Musée d’Orsay, Paris 5. National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Seoul 6. Pergamon Museum, Berlin 7. Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam 8. Van Gogh Museum, Amsterdam 9. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles 10. Uffizi Gallery, Italy 11. Museu de Arte, São Paulo 12. The Louvre, Paris 13. The Metropolitan Museum of Art,
New York Online Concerts and Shows The music and cultural scenes are doing their best to keep going. You can stream nightly concerts and Broadway shows from the comfort of your living room… or perhaps you’d prefer to relax in a bubble bath with an iPad. 14. 15 Broadway Plays and Musicals You Can Watch On Stage From Home 15. Stream the Met Opera nightly for free 16. Check out STAGEIT for access to “Shut in and Sing” events and online concerts 17. NPR is keeping a live list of Virtual Concerts which is updated daily.
Learn Something New Learning something new doesn’t need to cost money. 18. Learn a new language in as little as five minutes every day. DuoLingo will even let you set up a “classroom” so you can have accounts for kids to study. Drops is another app that makes learning a new language fun. 19. Yale University is offering a free course online – The Science of Well-Being – that teaches you how to be happier. 20. Take a University Art Class – Artsy.net has a list of 10 classes you can take for free online. 21. Course offers free online courses from many of the world’s top universities in a wide variety of subjects 22. Become an Artist with Art ala Carte on YouTube. 23. Code Academy offers a free online coding course.
Take a Virtual Field If you’ve ever wanted to visit a national park or explore the surface of mars from the comfort of your home, there’s never been a better time. 24. San Diego Zoo 25. Yellowstone National Park 26. Explore the Surface of Mars 27. Live Animal Cams at the San Diego Zoo, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Zoo Atlanta, Houston Zoo, Georgia Aquarium, Smithsonian National Zoo, Reid Park Zoo, Ouwehand Zoo 28. Live farm cams from Farm Food 360 29. The Great Wall of China 30. Boston Children’s Museum 31. Pompei 32. Colonial Williamsburg 33. Ellis Island Additional Programs 34. Disney Imagineering In A Box 35. LEGO Engineering Workshop 36. Skype A Scientist 37. LUNCH DOODLES with Mo Willems 38. #GADBookClub : Actor Josh Gad (Olaf from Frozen) is reading bedtime stories live on his Twitter every night. 39. National Geographic Kids 40. PBS Kids: Design Squad Global 41. Scholastic Learn At Home : Day by day projects to keep kids thinking, learning, and growing. Binge Watch Something New
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Every month Reliance House leads “Clean Up he Streets” some where in Norwich, CT. They choose an area and encourage community members to show up armed with rakes, brooms, picker-uppers, and trash bags to clean the streets of the refuse and nip bottles. I mention nip bottles in particular because I feel I have picked up so many of those they deserve their own personal category.
But the subject of trash on the city streets of Norwich, CT is not new. In fact I have written about its history in the City of Norwich, CT a few times. It seems that Norwich, Ct residents and visitors have always been lazy about throwing their trash into a proper receptacle. Even if the trash can is just a few feet or sometimes inches away.
The following appeared in the August 4, 1906 Norwich Bulletin.
It would be interesting to know what city in all New England keeps its streets in first class shape- clean and in good repair. We know that Norwich doesn’t and we also read that the streets of parts of Boston are “a menace to public health; an insult to the local residents; a reproach to the city authorities, and a disgrace to the entire city.” This is probably a suburban district in which ashes and garbage are thrown into the street and the drainage of sinks runs on the surface of the ground to the public gutters. And there it is thought that a campaign for a cleaner, healthier Boston, would be as creditable as the movement for a bigger and better Boston.
All that is being said about Boston might be said with as much truth of almost any other busy, ambitious municipality in these five northernmost states. It would be a simple matter for householders and tenants to keep walks and streets, clean in front of their places of abode, and most of the uncleanliness complained of is as chargeable direct to its citizens themselves as to the authorities who are looked to for better things, but who never distinguish themselves in any way.
In the matter of neglecting repairs officialdom in wholly to blame – and this neglect is so common and so persistent that it would take thousands of dollars to put the streets of any New England city in thorough repair. Norwich is about to spend $1,200 to make Franklin square presentable. It might spend $12,000 on its principal streets and then not get them in first class shape.”
One hundred and fifteen years later how much is Norwich, CT spending to make Franklin square presentable? Norwich, CT is receiving fourteen million in covid relief funds from the federal government and most of it is being designated not for relief of the the residents or infrastructure as is required but to the failing pet projects of the City Manager and elected officials who want nothing more than to have their names on a plaque on a rock somewhere in Norwich, CT. Repairing the streets and sidewalks is not mentioned in the plans presented by the City Manager. The sewer and storm water separation is going to be a burden handled by a mandated grant from the state/federal government and by the taxpayers of Norwich, CT through yet another bond. Reducing the size of the bond by appropriate use of the onetime Federal Covid relief act funds that might ease the burden to the future taxpayers of the City of Norwich, CT was not even considered.
Am I angry and bitter about the misuse of the Federal funds? Yes. Unquestionably. But I am also disappointed that over the years, there is a definite and distinct pattern of the leadership of Norwich, CT taking the same actions over and over again without ever examining the results and saying we need to change something so we can alter this pattern so that we can make progress and not just repeat what is obviously not working.
Letters to the Editor of local papers are important to the way history is written and preserved. Often it is In a Letter to the Editor that initial reports of an occurrence are reported. This is often the case of occurrences in nature being observed. Many people may see something and they may even briefly wonder about it but only one may take the action of putting pen to paper and write the letter that gets printed in the paper to be read by others, to cause others to wonder and look around, but to be acted upon by just one. Most things take just one person to take action, that causes others to take action, to be joined later by others and so on.
This letter to the editor was in the August 10, 1906 Norwich Bulletin. Most of us have heard stories of the great Elm tree blight but that’s all it is to us a story. In this letter to the Editor is a firsthand account from a Norwich resident who was aware something strange was happening to the trees.
Mr. Editor: On Central Avenue, Greenville, several Elm trees that have suffered severely from the elm beetles are putting forth a new growth of bright spring-like foliage, contrasting strangely with the remaining withered leaves of the first crop. Some wise people maintain that this second growth in one season is so exhausting to the vitality of the tree as to almost certainly be fatal. It has not been observed on Broadway or Washington Street.
Also on Central Avenue, near the residence of the Rev. Father Smith, are two remarkably fine mountain ash trees loaded with bright scarlet berries, which fortunately have escaped the enemy that has nearly destroyed a mountain ash that for several years has been a conspicuous ornament near the head of McKinley Avenue. In the spring and early summer this tree has had an abundant growth of graceful foliage, succeeded by large clusters of berries which gradually turn to scarlet when it was attacked and so nearly destroyed by an unseen, insidious foe that there is small chance of recovery.
The loss of a tree like this, that has given pleasure to hundreds of passerby, is much to be deprecated. Can anyone account for it?
W.C.G. August 9, 1906.
But who was W.C.G? Were they male or female not that it would matter today but back in 1906 would it have made a difference in how the observations were accepted by the reader? Just wondering. On any of the historic trots of Norwich, CT is there mention of the elm trees that used to line the city streets? Do the trot leaders merely mention the trees were killed in the great elm tree blight or have they done their homework and peppered their trail talk with facts and not creative tales of no substance?
Before the internet it was the newspapers that would spread the news and the tales that might or might not be true.. stories that sounded so perfect that they made you wonder if they were true although you had a suspicion that the story was being made up as it was being written.
This is one of those stories that appeared in the August 1, 1906 Norwich Bulletin. Is it the truth or a fairy tale we will probably never know but I hope you enjoy the tale and that it makes you smile for a moment or two.
This is a story of a woman’s invention. It’s the story of how the wife of an English manufacturer discovered blue paper.
“A woman,” said a papermaker, “Invented blue paper. It was by accident, that she did it though. Before her time all the paper was white.
She was the wife of William Eastes, one of the leading papermakers of England in the eighteenth century. In passing through the paper plant one day she dropped a blue bag into a vat of pulp. Eastes was a stern chap, and so, since no one had seen the accident, Mrs. Eastes decided to say nothing about it.
The paper in the vat, which should have been white, came out blue. The workmen, were mystified. Eastes raged while Mrs. Eastes kept quiet. The upshot was that the paper was sent to London, Marked ‘damaged,’ to be sold for whatever it would bring.
“The selling agent in London was shrewd. He saw that this blue tinted paper was attractive. He declared it to be a wonderful new invention, and sold it off like hot cakes at double the white papers price.
Eastes soon received an order for more of the blue paper – an order that he and his men wasted several days trying vainly to fill.
“Then Mrs. Eastes came forward and told the story of the blue cloth bag. There was no difficulty after that in making the blue paper. This papers price remained very high. Eastes having a monopoly in making it.”
I tried to verify this story as it appeared about the same time in newspapers around the world but I couldn’t uncover where it originated or if there ever was a Mr. or Mrs. Eastes, let alone if they owned, operated or worked at an eighteenth century English paper manufacturing plant. But, let’s face it, it’s a great story to retell for encouragement to anyone who has ever had an accident and needs a bit of encouragement to see it not as a tragedy but as a happy and successful occurrence.
August 30, 1906 was not a slow news day for the Norwich Bulletin. Officials made a trolley trip but it was the story of the man who drowned in a Taftville Pond that caught my eye.
It was “Albert Talbot, aged 65. A boat tipped over containing three men and he lost his life although he was probably live when brought to shore.” Can you imagine such a headline being printed today?
Edward Talbot, aged 65 years was drowned in Taftville pond at a point just below Occum, about 12:15 o’clock on Wednesday afternoon through the upsetting of a boat in which he and two companions were out fishing.
Talbot and two friends, Tom Murphy of Occum and a man named McCarthy, who comes from Massachusetts and is visiting Mike Coffee, of Occum, were out in a boat some eight to ten rods from shore, where the water is about eight feet deep. The party was a convivial one and Talbot who was a large heavy man, leaned out over the side for some unexplained reason and in a minute all three were floundering in the water.
Murphy got Talbot to shore with difficulty and then went back after McCarthy, whose struggles were keeping him afloat. He brought the second man to shore also, not much the worse for his bath. It is believed that Talbot was alive when he was rescued and left on the bank by Murphy, but in the absence of any proper means to resuscitate him, death ensued.
Medical Examiner Paddock was summoned and viewed the body in the afternoon, giving a verdict of accidental drowning, and the Undertaker Grant was allowed to take charge of the body.
Talbot had lived in Occum for the last four months and before that lived in Baltic. He had no regular occupation, but his three grown-up children worked in the mill. He was born in Canada. His wife and three children survive him.
After reading the story I wonder about Murphy. Did he suffer afterwards with survivors guilt? Did the wife and children blame him for going after the other man and leaving Talbot? Did Talbot really drown or did he have a heart attack in the boat and then fall over into the water?
So many questions and so few answers.
Today’s blog is about something I came across in the September 5, 1907 Norwich Bulletin. As always I have not re-written the words used to make the original article politically correct according to 2021 standards. I think it’s important that the time and the language not just match but can be used to demonstrate how the community of Norwich, CT was leading, following or responding to the rest of the country and the world.
It’s also important that those of us interested in the history of Norwich, CT acknowledge that more than one building may have stood on a site since Norwich was founded. More than one business or residence may have stood on a site. History is only lost when its not remembered or discussed. History is not necessarily lost because it does not have a building or a plaque.
“Removing the Foundation of First Colored Church. Building Stood On Property of Norwich Nickel and Brass Company – Not Used For Church Purposes Lately.
On the property recently acquired by the Norwich Nickel and Brass company, on Chestnut Street, stood a portion of the first colored church in the City of Norwich. It was erected many years ago, but since the A. M.E. Zion church on McKinley avenue was erected , has not been used. The removal of the building recalls many interesting services held there. Elder James Smith having been one of the prominent preachers there. The approach to the church was from Franklin street. It has not been used for church services for many years and only the older residents knew it was a church.”
So now the question arises if this information was included in any of the historic tours of downtown Norwich, CT.
I will wager that 90% of the residents of Norwich, CT have seen the photograph, reproduction or painting of the steamboat proclaiming it’s “Norwich” name. But I will also wager that 95% or more of that same percentage don’t know the following information about the steamer learned from a September 10, 1909, article in the Norwich Bulletin.
In 1909, the oldest steamer in the world was built for the Norwich-New York Service and was prominent in the Hudson-Fulton Celebration”.
I have borrowed the following text from a verbatim transcription of an article written by George W. Murdock, for the Kingston (NY) Daily Freeman newspaper in the 1930s and transcribed by HRMM volunteer Adam Kaplan.
The wooden hull of the Norwich was built by Lawrence & Sneden at New York in 1836, and her engine was the product of Hall & Cunningham of New York. From stern to stern the Norwich measured 160 feet; her breadth of beam was 25 feet five inches; depth of hold five feet nine inches; gross tonnage 255; net tonnage 127. Her engine was of the crosshead variety with a cylinder diameter of 40 inches with a 10 foot stroke, and she carried one boiler in her hold.
The Norwich was built for the New York & Norwich Steamboat Company and ran on Long Island Sound for a number of years after she was launched.
The year 1843 marked the appearance of the Norwich on the Hudson river- in service between Rondout and New York as a passenger and freight carrier; and about 1850 Thomas Cornell purchased the steamboat and converted her to a tugboat.
“The speed with which the work of rebuilding the Norwich has progressed assures the Cornell Steamboat company that the old vessel will be ready for the Hudson-Fulton naval parade and will be able to take her place in line notwithstanding the serious fire which considerably damaged her. At first it was thought to be a physical impossibility to complete the repairs, but this work has gone on so rapidly that no doubt now remains. Of the Norwich, the Marine Journal says:
The Norwich is the oldest steamboat, beyond a doubt, in the world. She was built in 1836, for service between New York and Norwich, Conn., and has continued running ever since on one route or another, and for fifty years on the Hudson River.
When she caught fire the painters and others were cleaning and shining her up for the Fulton-Hudson parade from New York to Albany. Mr. Coykendall manager of this towing line stated that notwithstanding the accident which befell the old timer, he would have her ready to take her place in the parade in the second division under the command of Capt. Ulster Davis, superintendent of the Albany Towing Company, who has been assigned to this pleasant duty for this special occasion. Next to the Clermost and the Half Moon, the 73 -year-old steamer Norwich should attract general attention.
One year ago fire threatened the destruction of the boat, and it was only after the hardest kind of a struggle then that it was saved from being totally burned. At that time it was thought that the boat would never again be used on the Hudson, but when after a few months repairs were completed the Norwich loyally resumed her trips up and down the river, drawing long, heavy lines of canal boats.
Every spring the Norwich has been used to break up the ice jams in the upper Hudson. No matter how big or strong it was, the old Norwich did duty well, and in a little time she acquired the title of the “Ice King.”
The Norwich continued her career on the Hudson River until 1921 when she was deemed of no further use and was tied up at Port Ewen. In November 1923 the Cornell Steamboat Company sold the Norwich to Michael Tucker of Port Ewen, who broke her up for scrap. Today the fame of the Norwich is constantly recalled through stories passed from one individual to another, and visitors to the Senate House in Kingston, NY are reminded of the old “Ice King” when they view the bell of the Norwich which is displayed in the local museum.
To learn more of the adventures of the “Norwich” please visit the Hudson River Maritime Museum, 50 Rondout Landing, Kingston, NY 12401 845-338-0071 info@hrmm.org
The Superintendent of the West Chelsea School District of Norwich, CT was not afraid to voice his opinion about anything and everything that he thought might affect his community, his students and their families. In September of 1909 he addressed a pressing issue in his annual report his school board after a reference to the 250th anniversary celebration was made.
“The problem of suitable celebration of the Fourth of July is one that municipalities must solve. It may not be primarily a school problem, but a question that concerns the welfare of our children cannot be totally ignored by school authorities. It seems to me that pageants similar to that given this year, together with athletic contests and festivals might be substituted for some of the noise and confusion that have come to characterize this day. Such a change would tend to increase civic pride, patriotism and our appreciation of the work of the men of the past. Norwich certainly has reason to be proud of her history, which speaks so loudly of courage, loyalty, self-sacrifice and devotion to duty; and Independence Day ought not to allowed to pass without some exercises that may help the children to appreciate the worth, the work and the character of those men who made the early history of Norwich.”
In 2022, next July, Norwich, CT needs to follow this advice. We, as a city, need our leadership to start working on our future projects now. We, as residents and taxpayers need to begin volunteering our time, our ideas, our thoughts, now. We need to work now, to give our future the pride of history, Norwich, CT so richly deserves.
Over the homecoming weekend there was much discussion of Norwich Free Academy, but never once have I heard these details gleaned from an article in the Norwich Bulletin on September 23, 1909.
“The cut stone for the Academy building, some twelve hundred pieces in all have arrived to go into the structure.
Much of the stonework for the Academy building which comes from New Haven, is now arriving and is being laid out on the front lawn at the Academy. There are 1,200 pieces of cut stone altogether to go into the building. Four hundred pieces have already been set, among the latest being a piece at the front doorway which has delayed work there by its non-arrival. This can now be finished without further delay. “
There was a lot of other construction going on as well and it was all reported in the same article.
J. P. Barlow & Co. have the tinning on seven hours for the Ponemah Company in Taftville. C. Morgan Williams is the general contractor.
Masons are at work erecting the walls for the fourth story of the Shannon Building, the fourth floor having been poured and many of the steel window frames which have been delayed are now here. At Mr. Shannon’s hotel the steel work is being put in so that the first floor can be poured there soon.
At the property of D. T. Shea in Main Street, the house has been propped up and contractor Williams is removing some of the ledge. Some of the foundation wall has been put in. The job is proving to be a lengthy one.”
I wish the local newspapers of today, in 2021 would carry details of the current construction happening locally. Maybe then the taxpayers and residents would feel that progress is being made in Norwich, CT. There is greater promotion of when the businesses close, move or opt to leave Norwich than there is to promote their building, renovating, opening or serving the public.
With all the attention on the new round-about downtown, and the “discovery” of the bricks beneath the tar I thought this would be a good time to bring out the factual information from the September 2, 1911 Norwich Bulletin of the source of the brick.
”The first carload has arrived and four more are on the way – None will be laid until after the fair.
After an unexplained delay of a week the first carload of 2,000 vitrified brick for the Main Street pavement was received on Friday, and this morning the car will be switched at Taftville and brought down over the electric roads track to Franklin Square and be unloaded. There are four other carloads of brick on the way, which are expected here at once. On Friday the work of slushing the rails of the trolley tracks with cement was started, and this will be continued today.
It will be impossible to get the brick laid so as to close the street before the fair, as it was hoped would be accomplished. The sand it is considered will be too wet to be used today, and no work will be done on Labor Day so that because of the large amount of traffic it is believed that no work will be started on laying the brick until Wednesday or Thursday.”
Not being familiar with the term, “vitrified brick,” I looked it up to learn, “A vitrified brick is fired at a higher temperature and for a longer period of time than a conventional brick used in construction or those used for sidewalks, making it harder and impervious to the absorption of water. Vitrified bricks were first used for paving in the United States in Charleston, West Virginia, in 1870.”
Norwich, CT residents are stuck on re-living the past. Repeatedly. Residents insist that the same things be done, in the same way, expecting different results. Well, this time I hope we do not have the same results or even similar results.
My example this time will be from the September 3, 1909, Norwich Bulletin. The tiny blurb was entitled, “Auto on Franklin Square.”
George Bedard, the nine-year-old son of Joseph G Bedard of No. 248 Main Street, was struck and knocked down on Franklin Square about the middle of the forenoon Thursday by an automobile driven by Leo Kronig and painfully but not seriously hurt. The accident happened just in front of Madden’s Cigar Store, the boy being struck with force enough to stun him for a time, breaking two ribs and badly bruising his face and shoulder.
Just before the boy was struck, Jack McGrath, the champion heavyweight wrestler, saw his danger and made a grab for him to pull him out of the way, but didn’t quite reach him. He was the first to pick him up and the boy was carried into the cigar store and afterwards taken to his home directly across the street. Mr. Kronig’s machine was going at such speed that he was able to stop it within its own length after the accident and he at once got out and gave all the assistance possible. Dr. H. E. Higgins, who happened to be passing, was called in to treat the unconscious boy, who shortly revived and was taken to his father’s house, Mr. Kronig putting his machine in the garage and then returning to the Bedard place to see what could be done for the boy. Thursday evening the child was reported resting as comfortable as possible. “
In 2021 Norwich has a brand-new round about in its downtown. Please drive slowly. Give pedestrians the right-of-way. Maybe you or someone you know, or love will be the pedestrian.
Is Mr. Whaley Still Walking?
It is finally October and there will be lots of walks with leaders telling mostly made up tales of old Norwich, CT. Stories they have obviously borrowed from other places and tell them as if they are original to Norwich. Believe what you like.
This story, was reported in the Norwich Bulletin on September 22, 1909. Is it possible he can still be seen walking the track in the fall at 4:07 pm?
You see the gentleman I refer to was Charles F. Whaley. According to the very detailed news article it was “On Tuesday afternoon at 4:07 o’clock, Charles F. Whaley, aged 62, of Norwich Town, living on Mediterranean lane, while walking up the Central Vermont railway track, was struck by a southbound freight train at the bridge in back of the Yantic Cemetery and instantly killed. He had reached a point at about the middle of the bridge, which is an open one, when the freight was seen by him. It is believed he tried to stand at the side to let the train pass but did not allow room enough and was struck and knocked into the river. The train crew saw that the man was hit, although it was impossible to prevent it, and brought the train to a stop. The body, which was in the river, was secured and brought back to the bank where it remained until Coroner Brown reached the place about five o’clock.
As soon as the body had been gotten ashore Chief Murphy was notified and he informed the coroner, the medical examiner being out of town. Coroner Brown went to the spot and gave Undertaker Gager permission to remove the body. There was no question as ton the cause of death, stated the coroner, as the injuries gave evidence of his being struck by the train.
Medical examiner Harris saw the remains in the evening and determined that death resulted from a fracture at the base of the skull. Mr. Whaley was struck in the head, receiving a bad wound on the left side near the eye, as well as other bruises. From the injuries received it is believed he was dead before he struck the water.
Charles F. Whaley was born in Norwich December 26, 1846, the son of Levi and Walthie Whaley. He was educated in the public schools of Norwich, and in early life was a teamster, understanding well the care of horses. He was the last of his immediate family, his brother, George Whaley, having died two months ago.
He is survived by a niece, Mrs. Bessie Beckwith, and a nephew, Philip B Whaley, both of Norwich Town. He was well known in that section of town. “
I just copied the newspaper article. Keeping to the truth of the story, how would you embellish this story to be told on a cemetery walk?
In none of the history books of Norwich, CT have I ever read a story that has amused me as much as this tiny tidbit reported in the Norwich Bulletin of September 25, 1909. First of all, it’s a bit risqué. It would appear that some of the gentle folks of Norwich, CT around the turn of the last century were not all rich, famous, and perfect. Yes. You read that correctly. I am stating that the inhabitants of Norwich, CT were human with flaws.
At this point I would also like to add that I will never, ever, be able to hear the word “resort” without a flashback to this article and its unique use. I even had to ”resort” to including this definition from Merriam-Webster “English Language Learners Definition of resort: a place where people go for vacations: something that you choose for help : the act of doing or using something especially because no other choices are possible.”
It was the column title and sub-titles that caught my eyes. ‘Keeper and Inmates of House of Ill Fame.” Who knew we had such places in our perfect city? Another Talman Street resort raided, having been kept by Patrick Harty. Well excuse me! There must have been others since the phrase, another Talman Street resort raided.” Were there others? Where are the historians telling the stories of those men and women? Who were they? What were their circumstances? What were their stories?
“In the city court on Wednesday morning Patrick Harty was charged with keeping a house of ill fame in Talman Street and given ten days in jail. Complaint was made to Captain Linton Tuesday night that a man had been robbed there., which resulted in the place being raided. As frequenters, Sadie wheeler, colored, and Lizzie Shepard, white were each given ten days and Ernest Frost was fined $5 and Paul Gauthier of Westerly $10 for being frequenters. The latter paid his bill.”
And then what happened? Did the “resort” re-open when Mr. Harty and the ladies were freed? Did Mr. Frost pay his fine? What were the “resorts” like back then? How many were there? What kind of income did the “resorts” bring in? Where oh where are the anxious historians when we need them? I have more questions.
The following is an important piece of Norwich, CT history that has long been overlooked. The history of the Norwich-New London Turnpike is often mentioned by historians because of its age but not a syllable about what occurred in 1909. The first survey was conducted for the first turnpike to be built in America, between Norwich and New London, Connecticut was in 1670. At least according to the September 5, 1909, Norwich Bulletin.
For those not familiar with the term “macadam” is broken stone of even size used in successively compacted layers for surfacing roads and paths, and typically bound with tar or bitumen. (I looked it up.)
“Soon there will be a macadam road all the way of the fourteen miles, more or less, from New London to Norwich. Bids will be opened Friday, September 10, for the construction of the macadam road, over the portion of the Road not now macadamized.
The bids will be opened at the office of State Highway Commissioner MacDonald at the capitol, Hartford, as the road is to be built by the state. Contractors have been notified and some from this city and other sections of eastern Connecticut may bid.
The amount of road to be built is about seven and one-half miles. It will start at a point near the Waterford schoolhouse on the Norwich-New London Turnpike and will run to Trading Cove, where the macadam to Norwich begins.
The contract will be much sought, as it is a big one – too big, in fact, except for quite extensive contractors. It will mean a contract price of about $60,000 and the employment of a large force of men.
The decision of the state to build this macadam, thus establishing a good highway from New London to Norwich, is hailed with delight in this section of the state. It will be a great boon to New London and Norwich and in fact to all of eastern Connecticut.
The work will be started this fall and hurried along. The preparations for building this road and the building of other state roads in several towns of New London County seems to indicate that Commissioner MacDonald is doing all he can for good roads for eastern Connecticut.
The road will be built of native crushed stone with a one-inch top dressing of trap rock and is to be built fourteen feet wide throughout. The work will be let at once and contractors will be compelled to proceed to work on the roads at once and complete them before severe cold weather sets in.”.
Retiring is always cause for celebration. In the August 1, 1903 Norwich Bulletin was a story about the retirement presentation to Supt. W. L. Adams of the Norwich Street Railway company.
On Friday evening the employees of the Norwich Street Railway company and of the Montville Street Railway company presented substancial tokens of their esteem to Walter L. Adams, their retiring Superintendent, in the shape of a magnificent seventeen-jeweled gold watch from the former and a splendid seven-piece silver bon-bon set in a cabinet from the latter corps of employees. A party of about sixty employees of the roads called at Mr. Adams’ house and Mr. Frank F. Underwood made a presentation speech on behalf of the Norwich railway men, while Mr. John W. Dawson officiated in a similar capacity for those employed on the Montville railway.
Mr. Adams was taken completely by surprise, but managed to express his thanks to the donors, both for the substantial tokens of esteem and for their hearty co-operation with him during his term as superintendent. He also assured them that they would occupy a permanent place in his memory and that he would leave Norwich with many pleasant recollections.
Mr. Adams invited his visitors in to partake of light refreshments and a pleasant social hour followed.
The occasion will cause Mr. Adams much gratification to look back upon, and afforded his fellow-employees an opportunity to assure fittingly of his popularity among them.
Of course I do have a few questions after reading the article. Why do people get a watch when they retire and supposedly now have all the time in the world? Wouldn’t it be better to give a watch when people begin a new job, career or position so that they can keep an eye on the time and watch time speed along? What precisely is in a seven piece bon-bon set that is to be kept in a cabinet? For some reason I discarded thoughts of chocolate candies right away and my mind imagined something more along the lines of a wooden case with a handle to hold a flask and six shot glasses. What do you think it was?
Do you ever wonder what other cities do as promotions? One town in a nearby state that I was in left stacks of Scavenger Hunt Maps in stores, shops, gas stations, restaurants, diners, all three of their libraries, bars, taverns, drug stores at the registers and at the pharmacy counter. They were everywhere. Nine very simple Harry Potter-esque drawings. On a checked background.
The directions were simple. Figure out the clues on the game board and travel to each one. At each station there will be something to do or eat or take. It was most important to collect a stamp at each one and be entered into a drawing for some special prizes. Nope they didn’t list them.
The Grand prize was a pizza a month for a year at a local pizzeria.
On the weekend I visited on Friday night there was a young children’s story teller at the old fire station.
High school students interested in careers in early child education were on hand with additional activities.
Adults were welcome at other various sites for tours and short programs. In front of a colonial era home you were invited to join the chorus of singers. The mixed chorus of singers from middle school thru members of the senior center regularly present a variety of music at different local events. Non-singers served spiced cider.
Learn a trick or two about decorating a cookie? Play the marimbas? How about making a card for someone special? Do you have an interest in making a toy? How can you change a box package of mac & cheese into something spectacular? How will you carry all this stuff around? Stamp your own bag! You could even learn how to make your own logo stamp. So that the business people could meet and have discussions and problem solving sessions they also had short sessions in how to make logo stamps for business promotion during the year. They have also worked together to make pies to bake and drink coffee. Some had to learn how to work with their competition. It is a process.
At 5:30 and 6:30 there were fire spinners in one of the smaller parking lots. The lot can be difficult for cars to maneuver in at the best of times so the organizers like to use it as a stage. Yes, indeed, this town uses this event formula multiple times during the year.
The area is never really empty between stage acts as there are wandering magicians, and jugglers that appear from the crowd for longer acts of entertainment.
The local high school vocal ensemble performs in a variety of places during the evening. Did I mention the costumes? The town is close to the ocean so of course there is at least one group singing sea chanties. In one of the public parks local engineering students create a “machine” that humans must be a part of. Participants are each given a job of push, pull, lift, drop, pass and so forth. When there are enough participants doing their job properly the machine works well but when there is a even just one piece (person) missing… well there may be chaos or a mess that someone must clean up.
It is all great fun! The professor who teaches this design class to his entry-level engineers and to his graduate students said that the “engineering students understand the mechanics of why machines work but this reinforces how machines work.”
Most of the activities are located within walking distance but some were located further out and required personal transportation by car or bike. Why can’t Norwich, CT do something as inventive? Find a way to get people out to explore the nooks and crannies of the entire city?
All it would take is a central promotion of the various activities that take place across the city on the same day at the same time. Greeneville and Taftville have both been strong demonstrators of community activities and frequently have events at the same time and day. Instead of competing what if they promoted together and encouraged their supporters to participate in both events during the day? By working together they could become a destination to more supporters. If other parts of the city joined in the promotion the destination increases and so does the attraction of the city and its events and shops. The more limited the promotion of the event the smaller the number of participants.
It is also important to note that advertising is not the same as promotion. Support your local newspapers by writing short articles about the event. About the meetings that are held to work and plan always, always, always including the date, time and place of the events.
Talk about the events on radio, pod casts, social media. Don’t limit yourself to just one person. Have well informed team members help. Together we can make Norwich, CT the popular destination we want it to be.
There are times when I get a little overly enthusiastic about the freedom of the times we live in. On this beautiful November day, I rejoice in being able to walk the paths in Mohegan Park. To be able to sit and watch the children run and play on a variety of playground equipment.
Such was not always the case. In a Norwich Bulletin of September 12, 1911 I learned that the playgrounds and the equipment on them was seasonal.
“Last Saturday was the final day for the playgrounds about the city which were maintained by the Norwich Playgrounds Association for over two months, The swings were taken down and stored for the winter. It being found that a number of the swings were badly broken, In some of the schoolyards the sandboxes were allowed to remain. It is considered that the grounds were a success and were carefully looked after by Sr. Supervisor Irvin C. Elmer. “
When was the last time you read something nice about Norwich, CT with an individual or two publicly commended for their duty or service? I read the names of the Department managers often but rarely the names of the individuals who carry out the work. To all the members of the Norwich Public Works Department past, present and future, “Thank you! For the jobs that you carry out.”
According to even early newspapers, for example, the September 9, 1909 Norwich Bulletin, guns are dangerous. They are even dangerous to those who are comfortable with using them. Accidents happen. Accidents are not planned. Accidents just happen.
Give Mr. Calvin Burrows of Poquonnoc Bridge a thought. According to the article in the paper, Mr. Calvin Burrows was in precarious condition as a result of an accidental gunshot wound incurred Friday afternoon. Mr. Burrows who was one of the most prominent residents of that part of the town, had tried for weeks to shoot hen hawks, which were making inroads on his poultry. Friday forenoon he was looking for the hawks, waiting for them on the steps in rear of his home in Poquonnoc.
Just how the accident occurred is not clear, Mr. Burrows was not in condition at the time to relate the particulars. But, it is known that at about 11:30 a.m. He turned on the back steps with the gun in his hand, probably picking it up from the steps by the barrel and that one charge was sent into his back. The trigger of one barrel is supposed to have caught on the corner of the steps as Mr. Burrows pulled the gun towards him.
The full charge struck Mr. Burrows in the back, making a raking wound some six or seven inches long in the region of his spine.
An operation was performed on Mr. Burrows Friday evening, splinters of bone being removed from the back bone and some of the shot taken out. It is feared his spinal cord has been affected. He is the father of Attorney Warren Burrows, who is assisting Attorney Hull in the Superior Court here.
More than just the life of Mr. Burrow’s was affected by this accident. If something happened to you, consider who else might be affected. Those in the present certainly but what of those in the future?
It’s November so it’s time to start looking at the old recipes again. This variety of recipes came from the Norwich Bulletin column called the “Social Corner.” This selection is from September 1909.
Cranberry Pie 1909 – Stew cranberries, sweeten them to taste: fill the pie and bake with two crusts.
Cranberry Pie 2021 – One bag of cranberries, one teaspoon of water, one cup of sugar and cook on low until all the berries have split, and all the sugar is melted. Stir regularly. Lay your favorite prepared piecrust in a pie plate, fill evenly with the cranberries and place a second piecrust on the top of the berries and flute the edges to form a seal. Slit the top in the center to allow the steam to escape while baking at 350 degrees until the top begins to brown. You may need to cover the sealed edges with aluminum foil to keep them from burning.
Cranberry pie 1909 No. 2 – Chop three cups of cranberries. Add three cups of sugar and one tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in a little bit of water: fill cup with boiling water and mix together.
Cranberry pie 2021 No. 2 – Pulse the cranberries in the food processor with the other ingredients before adding to the pie crust as in Cranberry Pie 2021.
Cranberry and Raisin Pie 1909 – One cup of cranberries cut in halves, one half cup of seeded raisins, one tablespoon of cornstarch wet in cold water, one cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Pour over all one cup of boiling water. This makes one pie.
Cranberry and Raisin Pie 2021 – Gently pulse one cup of cranberries, add one half cup raisins, one cup sugar and a pinch of salt. Dissolve one tablespoon cornstarch in two tablespoons cold water and pour onto mixture and then add one cup of boiling water before gently pulsing no more than five times. Pour the mixture into a prepared pie crust. An open or floating top crust is suggested so steam can escape freely while baking. The smell is divine!
Sponge cookies 1909 – One cup sugar, half cup butter, two eggs, three-quarters cup milk, two teaspoons cream of tartar, one teaspoon saleratus in two cups of flour. Save out whites of eggs, beat stiff and fold in last. Pour into a small baking pan, sprinkle with granulated sugar and nutmeg, When done cut into desired shapes.
Sponge cookies 2021 – Two room temperature, separated eggs. Gently beat the yolks and add one cup sugar, half a cup room temperature butter, three-quarters cup milk, two teaspoons fresh cream of tartar, (Lesson learned), one and a quarter teaspoon baking soda as a substitute for the teaspoon of saleratus. (I had to look that up), mixed into two cups of flour. In my next try, I will sift the two together and not just mix them. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and then you can gently fold them into the mixture. Gently pour into a small low flat baking pan. Then sprinkle with granulated sugar with a hint of nutmeg. Surprisingly the nutmeg gave a better taste than cinnamon. I baked at 300 until I decided it was done by a tan bottom. When you decide cut into desired shapes like cookies or you can make squares or triangles.
Have you looked at the ‘Antiques, Consignment, Art & Artisan Guide?’ A pamphlet dedicated to Connecticut’s SE Shoreline & Thames River Valley’s Best Galleries and Shops.
Well you should check it out if you are looking for some lesser known places to shop for useful and unique gifts. The kinds of things that become treasures for generations to come and not yard sale items next summer. I found my copy at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum.
There is of course multiple listings of the vintage shops with antiques, collectibles, vintage and modern furniture. That’s where you will find the sole Norwich, CT listing. MC Modern at 50 Pleasant Street specializing in furniture from the 1950’s.
But then in Niantic there is the Cel Artifacts and Oddities, at 321 Main Street. Just poking around to see their rare and unique collections of fossils, wet specimens, mummified animals, rare scrimshaw, and a varied collection of antique medical and scientific instruments.
Is someone you know discovering vinyl? Tumbleweeds, 325 Main Street/ 9 Methodist Street has a large selection to choose from. This is where you can find that very special recording to bring back the memories of that special day, time or concert.
In Salem, you or a recipient of your gift certificate can take an exciting hands on class by one or more of the artists or artisans of the Red House – Cultural Arts Center, 22 Darling Road ( Rte 82). Visit first to experience the original fine art, one-of-a kind gifts and uncommon accessories made by local crafters.
Who does not enjoy a night out? Consider admission to a play, concert, exhibit, class or other event in New London at the Lyman Allyn Art Museum (not just interesting exhibits but fun classes too) I know some of you are all about Norwich, CT history so see the current Way Sisters Miniature Paintings Exhibit and take a close look at the needle point loaned to them by the Slater Museum. It is done in the very unique Norwich, CT style. Did you know that there is a style of needlework unique to Norwich, CT? The Leffingwell House Museum also has Sampler on display in this style.
But also in New London is the Garde Arts Center, and the Thames River Gallery. There are plays, concerts, recitals, movies, educational programming and exhibits. There is sure to be something for your special someone.
In Mystic, 2 Holmes Street & 25 Cottrell Street, you’ll find the Mystic Knotworks the 1st and only handmade knot shop in the country. Not just sailors rope bracelets but other home accessories, table décor and doormats.
Visit the Studio Jeffrey P’An Glassblowing, 25 Roosevelt Avenue for a glass blowing demonstration and to see the hand blown vases, bowls, jewelry and lighting on display.
Not far away in Stonington at 530 Stonington Road is Glaze Handmade by Lyndsay Meiklem Dean, (bet you’ll recognize her as The Vegan Potter.)
It is safe now to venture out and about. To discover or re-discover the joy of wandering and searching for the special item for the special someone. Support your local small businesses and spread the smiles of the season.
The holidays are a time of memories. Of recalling the names of people never met and long forgotten. This is a story of a man I never knew existed. It’s a tale I was told did not exist. I found the details in the November 24, 1924 Norwich Bulletin. I wonder if it’s true that when an individual’s name is mentioned by the living, spoken aloud or even just in brief and fleeting thought, that person awakens for a time from their forever sleep. How many individuals are named, wondered about and thought of in just this one story alone?
“The body of Onufry Toupass, 32, who boarded at 189 Howard Street, New London was found hanging from a tree in Mohegan Park Sunday morning by his brother-in-law, Paul Sankow , of Chesterfield, who came here to make a search for the man, whose abandoned automobile was found in the park several days ago.
No motive is known for the man’s suicide, but this may be disclosed in a letter in the Ukrainian language which was found in his pocket, has been translated. Coroner J. J. Desmond and County Detective William Lewis will take steps to have the translation made at once. The letter is addressed to, “Dearest Sister’.’
The deserted car, which had been left near the lake at the park, was first reported to the police on Thursday by Park Superintendent Krohn, who learned from one of his helpers that the car had been there four days. Chief Linton notified the New London police, through whom it had been learned that Toupass had not been seen at his boarding place since he left there a week ago Friday.
The abandoned car was placed in a Norwich garage and Sunday morning the brother-in-law and his son came here to make a search. They went to the park with the garage man who had taken charge of the car and when they had been shown where the machine had been left they scoured the region around the lake without finding anything and then they went along the road leading to Washington Street. At some distance from the lake and a considerable distance from the road they found the body of Toupass hanging from a tree. He had used a new piece of sash cord which was just long enough to allow his feet to touch the ground.
Police headquarters and Medical Examiner C. C. Gildersleeve were notified and his body removed to the undertaking rooms of Cummings & Ring.
According to what the brother-in-law told the medical examiner, he had been in the New London address last Monday and again on Wednesday to inquire about Toupass and was told both times that he had not been seen since he left there a week ago Friday.
Toupass was a native of Ukraine, was unmarried and leaves a sister in New York and one in Chesterfield.
May all who are mentioned in this story rest in peace.
Sometimes the most important things I learn about the history of Norwich, CT and its residents is not what is reported here in Norwich, CT.
For example, it was in the May 8, 1904 issue of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle that I learned about the existence of the Diary of Asa Waterman (1743-1789), that he kept during the war against the French in 1760.
Later during the American Revolution Waterman (1743-1789) was a commissary responsible for providing food and supplies to the troops. Asa Waterman was born 1 May 1743 in Norwich, Connecticut to Asa and Lucy Hyde Waterman. On 20 July 1777, he married Anne Cook Sterry (1752-1837), the daughter of Governor Cook, of Providence, R.I. and together they six children. Asa Waterman died of consumption in January or February 1789 in Norwich, Conn.
It is a wonderfully descriptive diary of the campaign in the North a full fifteen years before the American Revolution. The campaign was led by, Major John Durkee of Norwich, CT.
The diary is not very large and is described as being only six inches long and perhaps four inches wide. Asa Waterman was not an officer and was perhaps only a very minor clerk if he was one at all but he had an eye for details. He wrote in clear handwriting the names of the sixty-eight men who formed the company. A company formed with the express purpose of fighting against the French in Canada in the spring of 1760.
There are no details of how the company made their way to Albany but begins with detail on June 21, 1760.
The rest of the military and provisional career of Asa Waterman is much documented and can be found in many published books and articles. Around 1780 Waterman returned to working as a merchant in Norwich, Conn until his death in 1789.
But I wonder if the tales he told were about the encampments, the changes to his title as he remained in the same position supplying provisions for Connecticut and Rhode Island troops near and far or if his experiences, tales and possibly his connections for purchasing and supplying salt, sugar, beef, and flour to the troops came from his experiences as a ship merchant and master of the sloop Draggon from New London, CT from 1763 to 1776 when he once again answered the call of patriotism.
On November 11, 1924 with great pomp and ceremony the World War Memorial Tablet was unveiled to the public on the Northern most point of Chelsea Parade. It was a dedication ceremony that should not be dismissed or forgotten.
According to the article of the Norwich Bulletin on November 23, 1924 there was a parade column of over 6,000 marchers and there was a program of “dignity and impressiveness that touched the hearts of the thousands gathered within sound of the voices of the speakers.”
The streets, spaces and lawns nearby were a solid mass of humanity and automobiles. The Gold Star Mothers float was given a position of advantage close to the stand.
There were speakers, hymns, anthems, songs, music interludes and prayers. Three memorial wreaths were placed and taps were sounded three times. But for me the greatest honor and most touching part of the reported ceremony was that of “First Selectman William S. Murray, who read the list of the 47 who made the supreme sacrifice and again the bugler blew Taps with an impressiveness that brought tears to the eyes of many.”
The following was the list:
Horace Hastings Allen, Dominick Barber, Irving Edwin Bogue, Anthony Clarence Bonin, Jr., Ernest John Bosney, William Brault, Durlin D. Bushnell, James L. Carver, Edwin H. Cohen, George A. Dawson, Albert Henry Dexter, Kerwin Doyle, William Morgan Durr, Robert O. Fletcher, Peter Gallan, Raymond E. Gibson, Fred B. Hasler, Harold R. Hotchkiss, Richard Edward Hourigan, Thomas Perry Johnson, Frederick Joseph Kelley, John McGrath, James Thomas Morrison, Michael J. Murphy, Isadore Nagdyman, James Joseph Nevins, Antonio Pancicco, Harry Pappagallio, James Henry Harrison Perrin, William E. Perry, Frederick W. Roessler, Arthur Schofield, Arthur Paul Schulz, Edward Francis Smigiel, William Alexander Stankiewicz, Rufus Hubbard Stanson, Leroy Amos Swan, Herbert Clifford Taylor, John Ulanovich, William A Weeden, George Constantine Weltin, Frank Alfred Wilcox, Charles W. Willey, Walter James Woodmansee, Charles Zdancewicz, Peter Zeneski and Donald Fraser.
Then there was a benediction and the Star Spangled Banner was played and with heads bared there was a renewed pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and for which it stands.
The next time you walk by the Northern Point of Chelsea Parade and see the markers standing in their stark cluster. Think of how many men and women, children, families and friends they each represent. Please don’t let their humanity be forgotten.
How has Norwich, CT truly grown as a giving community? For my example In the November 25, 1924 it was reported that 125 families were to receive Thanksgiving Meal baskets. Barrels were placed at the Greenville, Taftville, Bridge Street and Hobart Avenue schools. The parents and students brought in fresh vegetables and canned goods that filled and at times over flowed the barrels.
The “United Workers Motor Squad” was in charge of collecting the barrels and transporting them. The “Motor Squad” was made of volunteers with an automobile at their disposal.
The plan for the extra food was to hold it for later distribution as the need arose.
Unlike today, every volunteer was mentioned in the article and not just the department or committee head. I am certain that some were missed but the descendants of Mrs. Julia C Corcoran, family welfare worker and her welfare committee of Miss Nancy Lucas, Chair, Miss Mary Porteous, Mrs. Robert W. Perkins, Miss Jane E. Bill, Mrs. John D. Hall. Miss Marion Bishop, Mrs. Gardiner Greene, Miss Martha Osgood, Miss Edith Bliss, Miss Sarah Armstrong, Mrs. Archibald Torrance, Mrs. Archibald Mitchell, 4th, Mrs. Harry E Higgins, Mrs. John H Barnes, Mrs. William Wade, and Mrs. Fitch Dolbeare have much to be proud of.
In 2022 over two hundred Thanksgiving dinners were distributed. I wonder who the workers were? If sometime in the future anyone will search for their names hoping to find a glimmer of a glimpse or a shadow of what they did in the community in a newspaper or social media.
In a movie I really don’t recall, there was a scene about how the dead come briefly to life when their name is spoken aloud or they are remembered in some way. I hope the people I mention in this blog are brought to life for even an instant so that we can all appreciate their spirit for making Norwich, CT a better community.