The names are familiar, posted on the signs that mark the roads, but behind the letters that make up the names linger ghosts of those who have peopled Newtown's past.

By Nancy K. Crevier

The names are familiar, posted on the signs that mark the roads, but behind the letters that make up the names linger ghosts of those who have peopled Newtown's past. Some were remarkable, others shy and retiring. Some names have peppered the historical documents of our town for 300 years or more; some left their mark for just a generation or two. They were rich and poor, industrious, inventive, and determined. They were men and women, sons and daughters, and at some point, someone determined that their names should not be forgotten.

Yet how easy it is to turn a corner, glance at a name, and think of it as nothing more than a confirmation of where we are or where we are going.

Platt's Road

Off of Huntingtown Road in the southern section of Newtown, Platt's Road heads slightly northwest, across Brushy Hill Road, to where it comes to a standstill at the intersection of Palestine Road and Hundred Acre Road. In his encompassing history of Newtown's early years, Newtown 1705-1918, author E.L. Johnson notes that Richard Platt was among "the original proprietors of Newtown." Three pages are taken up with Platt family genealogy. Levi Morris, one of the early owners of what is now the General Store, was a Platt descendent, his mother Emily Platt having married Eli Morris.

An 1854 map of Newtown indicates many Platt residences in the Flat Swamp and Dodgingtown districts of town, as well as a W. Platt Comb Factory.

Therian Platt was a noted agriculturist who lived from 1849 to 1927, according to a note in Newtown Remembered, More Stories by Andrea Zimmermann, Daniel Cruson, and Mary Maki. He owned a large farm on Poverty Hollow Road later known as The Bickford Farm. In that same book, Frank Johnson who died in 1982, recalled in his memoirs that a Mr and Mrs Platt lived on Platt's Hill, and that Mr Platt was the organist for Trinity Church when Mr Johnson was a young man.

The Platt name may be familiar to many still, as Edmund Platt operated the Platt Lumber Yard behind the Hawleyville Post Office from 1894 to 1947, after which his grandson, Ned Platt took over. The lumber company closed when Ned Platt retired in 1975.

Edmund "Ned" Platt died in April this year.

In Hattertown

In the Hattertown section of town, Hi-Barlow Road forms one leg of a triangle made with Eden Hill Road and Hattertown Road. It is named for Hiram Barlow, who lived at the southern end of the Hattertown Green, noted local historian Dan Cruson in his book, Newtown 1900-1960. This was apparently either long before or after the publication of the 1854 Newtown map, which indicates a W. Hinman residence at the intersection of Eden Hill and Hi-Barlow Roads.

Two women from long ago left enough of an impression on residents that Phyllis Lane and Aunt Park Lane, one running from Mt Nebo Road, the other from Hattertown, and both adjoining Hundred Acre Road, were named for them. Several local histories mention that these early Newtowners were heralded for their wise use of medicinal herbs, but beyond that, little information comes to light.

Steck Lane

Steck Lane is not listed on the 1952 map of Newtown, but the short road off of Mt Nebo Road does appear on a 1968 map. Charles Steck III, of Bethel, the grandson of Charles Steck, Sr, who in the early 1900s owned Steck's Nursery behind Ram Pasture, said that Steck Lane is named for his uncle, Howard Steck, who built many of the houses on Mt Nebo and who inherited property there from Charles Steck, Sr. "My grandfather came from Germany in 1897, and started the nursery business in Bethel on Nashville Road a few years later. When he ran out of land there to plant, he moved the business to Newtown," recalled Mr Steck. Charles Steck, Sr, had two nurseries in Newtown: the main one behind Ram Pasture and the second on Mt Nebo Road. "He grew stock there on 20 acres. That land was left to his son, Howard, and the road off of Mt Nebo was named for him," said Mr Steck.

John Beach Road

John Beach Road comes in off of Brushy Hill Road just past Cedar Hill Road, heading southwesterly, until it once again meets up with Brushy Hill Road just past that road's intersection with Bentagrass Road. It is named for the influential, highly regarded, and somewhat controversial first minister of Trinity Episcopal Church. The second called minister of the Newtown Congregational Church, Rev Beach served from 1724 to 1732, when he denounced the Congregational Church to become an Anglican priest. He returned to Newtown to serve the Anglican parishioners of Newtown and Redding, much to the chagrin of many Congregationalists in town. The first Episcopalian service offered by Rev Beach took place at the corner of what is now Glover Avenue and South Main Street, and is commemorated by a marker there.

The lives of many prominent Newtown families are interwoven with the descendents of Rev Beach — Curtis, Sanford, Beers, Glover, and Nichols among them. It was Rebecca Donaldson Beach who donated the stone building at the top of Main Street for the Beach Memorial Library, Newtown's first library.

Purdy Station Road

Folklore would have it that the poor, black laborer James Purdy was a shepherd who lived in Newtown during a small pox epidemic in the 1800s. Having had small pox, Mr Purdy was willing to place the bodies of small pox victims in caskets that he crafted and take them by wagon to the graveyard. Popular tales would also tell that Mr Purdy operated a branch of the Underground Railroad, actually transporting runaway slaves in the caskets to the next safe house. It is for James Purdy's heroic efforts that Purdy Station Road takes its name; however, the town tales told appear to be merely historical fabrications. Town historian Dan Cruson debunks the story in A Mosaic of Newtown History. James Purdy did live in Newtown, although it is not known where; the small pox "epidemic" consisted of three cases in Sandy Hook; and Newtown was never logistically a piece of the Underground Railroad. Even so, it is a story that has endured, and Mr Purdy's name will live on in the sign at the junction of Hattertown and Mt Nebo Roads.

Shepard Hill Road

Shepard Hill Road is a short street off of Head Of Meadow Road between Route 302 and Boggs Hill Road. Paved for only a short section, the dirt trail continues on behind Sugar Hill Road to the top of Boggs Hill behind Head O' Meadow School. Many Shepards have lived in the Head Of Meadow district. According to the 1854 map of Newtown, Sweeton Shepard, Mary Shepard, Julia Shepard, R. Shepard, and H. Shepard had residences in that district. From 1914 to 1942, Rodney Shepard and Levi Morris operated Morris & Shepard store on Main Street, now the General Store. Rodney Shepard also served as the Republican Town Committee chairman.

Eleven generations of Shepards have lived in Newtown, although none in the Head Of Meadow district since about the 1930s or 1940s, said Alan Shepard, who lives at the corner of Glover and Main. He believes that Shepard Hill was named for his ancestor Timothy Shepard who, with his brother John, came to Newtown in 1723. "He bought land, about 550 acres, off of Sugar Street, and the Shepards farmed that area for many generations," said Mr Shepard. For 200 years or so, various Shepard family members farmed the acreage on either side of what is now Route 302 including, said Mr Shepard, where Ferris Farm and The Creamery now stand.

Like the Beaches, other historical Newtown family names are interwoven with the Shepards. "We have Pecks, Grays, Daytons, lots of old-time families in our history," Mr Shepard said. "The families had deep roots together. That's what makes Newtown a community."

Even those who have gone on before continue to watch over the land of their forebears, though. "Picture Newtown when the trees weren't there. You could see right over to Shepard Hill Road from the Village Cemetery," Mr Shepard said. And that is why all of the gravestones in the Shepard family plot in the Village Cemetery face the opposite direction from the others. They look across to their ancestral grounds.

Look at a map, pause at an intersection: the names are there that shaped Newtown's past and build its future.