Join The Treasure Hunt At The C.H. Booth Library

By Jan Howard

The C.H. Booth Library on Main Street in Newtown is a wonderful blend of past and present. In addition to its vast collection of books of all kinds, it is a place to do research in the genealogy room or the reference department, to hear stories in the children’s department, and to attend cultural programs.

But the C.H. Booth Library is much more than that. It has more than books. It is a museum because of its vast collection of historical items that have been donated to it through the years.

“You think the library is just for books,” Caroline Stokes, the library’s volunteer collections curator, said. “Not the C.H. Booth Library. It’s unique.”

Scattered throughout the library are pieces of art, antique furniture, sculptures, tools, and other unique artifacts that have been donated by the family of Emily Hawley, Charles Henry Peck, and others.

As part of the Newtown Reads program and in keeping with the theme of April Morning by Howard Fast, townspeople are invited to take a walk through the library’s three floors on a treasure hunt for some of its Revolutionary War-era holdings.

Mrs Stokes has made a list of 20 items that relate to the Revolutionary War. They are all marked with red dot stickers. Participants in the Treasure Hunt are asked to fill out their locations on a form to be entered in a drawing for fun prizes.

 “The trick is to find the red labels,” Mrs Stokes said.

One of the items on display is a brass clock face made by Zimba Blakslee of Newtown during the Revolutionary War years. “His brass and metal work was well-known in the Newtown area,” she said.

There are two fiddleback chairs made by a local resident for William Edmund, a patriot, Revolutionary War soldier, and great-great-grandfather of Mary Hawley; possessions of William Edmund, including a sketch of the house where he lived, shoe buckles, satin britches and knee buckle he wore when he was a member of Congress, and an essay written by him; and a sculpture of Alexander Hamilton, a patriot who fought at the Battle of Yorktown and first secretary of the treasury under President George Washington, created by Newtown resident and sculptor John Angel.

There is a framed copy of the Declaration of Independence printed on linen donated by Henry Schnakenberg, a local artist and Newtown resident for 30 years, and a framed picture of Brigadier General Francis Marion crossing the PeeDee River in South Carolina. He was known as “The Swamp Fox” for his daring leadership during the Revolution. Also included in the Treasure Hunt are maps that show the progress of General Rochambeau through Newtown.

Among household items in the hunt is a sugar bowl donated by a Newtown woman, which is thought to have been used by General George Washington. “I believe it’s true,” Mrs Stokes said of the legend.

Other household items include a rush light and candleholder that would have been used for home lighting during the Revolutionary period, a candle mould and candle, pewter charger (plate) used for serving meat, a wooden plate made for daily use, a pewter spoon and mould used by local blacksmiths, Ziba and William Blakeslee, and other typical implements of the era.

“Charles Henry Peck collected them,” Mrs Stokes said, “and some have come from the Hawley family.”

There are also a series of pictures showing Revolutionary soldiers in various uniforms, small cannonballs known as grapeshot, which Mrs Stokes said were inserted with many others into a cannon, and a four-pound cannonball used during the Revolution, donated by Mr Peck.

“It’s not been proven that it was found here,” she said.

There is also a small Revolutionary War button. “Even the smallest items were saved by families,” Mrs Stokes said.

Displayed with the cannonballs and button are a cartridge box owned by resident and Revolutionary War soldier Peter Fairchild, who owned property in the Taunton area, in addition to his “Brown Bess’’ musket, a standard weapon of the Revolution.

Last, but not least, is the children’s book, Adam and the Golden Cock by Alice Dalgliesh.

These are only 20 of the many items displayed in the C.H. Booth Library. Residents are encouraged to join the Treasure Hunt for an enjoyable look at some of Newtown’s Revolutionary War-era history.