Date: Fri 19-Feb-1999

Oral Histories Are Putting A Human Face On Newtown's Story

(with photos)

BY JAN HOWARD

Glimpses of Newtown as it was in the past, of events that took place here, and the people and places that were a vital part of the town's history are unfolding through the personal memories of some of its longtime residents.

Their memories of a way of life in what was once a small rural community will be able to be relived by today's residents through a continuing oral history project being conducted by Town Historian Daniel Cruson and resident Andrea Zimmermann.

The oral history project is co-sponsored by the Newtown Historical Society and the Cyrenius Booth Library.

Mr Cruson and Ms Zimmerman hope to finish 20 oral histories by June or July.

Fourteen interviews have been completed to date with Vern Knapp, Tommy and Lilly Goosman, Sarah Mannix, Virginia Lathrop, Gene Cox, Russell Strasburger, Ed and Judy Dick, Junior and Ellie Dreher, Jerome Mayer, Eleanor Mayer, Margaret McCarthy, George Clark, Helen Northrop Elyea and Bill Honan. The ages of those interviewed run from the late 50s to 90, with most in their 70s and 80s, Mr Cruson said.

Memories

During the interview process, Mr Cruson and Ms Zimmermann said they are learning things about the town they may have had only sketchy information about before.

"We're learning little details of the community you can't find in newspapers or town records," Ms Zimmermann said. "We're learning more about the people who played important roles in town."

"We didn't know these people were so involved," Mr Cruson said.

Many of the residents interviewed were instrumental in founding several organizations in town, such as the Botsford Fire House, Newtown Ambulance, the Lions and Rotary clubs, the Lathrop School of Dance, the first veterinary clinic, and the Men's Literary and Social Club. Others served on boards and commissions or were involved in local political parties.

"These are people who have seen the town change," Ms Zimmermann said. "They were here when the town had more cows than people."

Mr Cruson said they learned that the Palestine area had no electricity until 1940. "They were still doing things the way they had done years before," he said.

They have also received a great deal of information about local one-room schoolhouses. Mr Cruson said, while these schoolhouses often received criticism, people who attended them said repetition of lessons, from one class to another, reinforced education.

"The schools were not as bad as they were made out to be," Mr Cruson said.

There are also stories about games children played, such as using a stick to keep a hoop rolling and Duck, Duck, Goose.

"We're getting nice descriptions of the town, such as who on Main Street had what dogs and what their names were," Ms Zimmermann said.

They are also getting a first-hand glance at social customs of various eras, such as leaving a card when calling on someone.

They are also learning about relationships between people, Mr Cruson said. "We hear about the inner conflicts and political differences that never get mentioned in other places."

He said anti-semitism was "done quietly, not shouted, but it was obviously here."

Residents also remember the kindnesses shown. In one case, when Pond Brook Road was not plowed after a storm and a resident was short on heating oil, neighbors rolled a 50-gallon drum out to Obtuse Road to have it filled and rolled it back two or three times so she would have heat for her house.

There are stories about cottage industries that flourished in town and a comb factory on a local farm off Palestine. While Mr Cruson said he knew of other button and comb shops in town, "I was unaware of any factory there."

Some residents remember the LaRonda, a night club that was located on Route 25, and the Silver City Dude Ranch on Hanover Road. The La Ronda's proprietor was Enric Madriquerra who, with his wife, Pat Gilmore, bought the old Minkdale Farm on Orchard Hill in 1947. They opened the supper club in 1952 after rebuilding the stone barn that had formerly housed goats, and creating a long driveway from Route 25. The club, which had a Spanish Colonial ambiance, was remembered as having a revolving stage.

The Silver City Dude Ranch had a real frontier town, which offered stagecoach rides, and a Native American village.

"They would have wild west shows every Sunday," Mr Cruson said. In 1971, two buildings burned, and the property later became a housing development.

The Sunset Hotel, which was located on Toddy Hill Road, apparently had been through several phases, Ms Zimmerman said, and at one time was leased by the railroad to house railroad workers. Some of these workers were known as "gandy dancers", she said, because of the movements they made with a tool used for packing down spikes on the tracks.

Village Coffee House

In 1939, the Village Coffee House, located on the corner of Queen and Church Hill roads was a gathering place. Originally called The Kegs, it was later operated as the White Birch Inn.

In her oral history, Virginia Lee Lathrop remembers how she and her husband, Mack, became involved with the restaurant at that time.

"Andrew Poe came to the house one night and he said, `Mack, I have got something for you. This place down on the corner, The Kegs.' I said, `Mack, you wouldn't even look at that place.' And he said, `Why not? I am going down.' So we went down with Andrew. It was the greasiest place I have ever seen. It was dirty. And they were having hay rides down there. And this big group came in from the hay ride to have coffee or whatever, and I said, `Oh Mack, you wouldn't do it.' And he said, `Let's think about it.'"

"Andrew said, `Mack, I will take this place, bring in a crew, clean it all up, change the seats to all red leather,'...do this, do that. And Mack bought it. I said, `Let's go down one night and let me wait on the tables.' And I did. I loved it; it was such fun. What a dump, though...."

"Anyhow, Andrew cleaned it up. He really did. He stripped it, put all new seats in, and floor boards and counters and everything, and we went in, and guess who wound up in the kitchen? Me. In the kitchen! I didn't even cook in my own house. Nick Cerolli was working with Andrew at the time and he said, `My wife will cook.' I said, `Great!' And she came down, but she said, `Gin, I cannot be here all day. You have got to help me.' And I said, `What do I do?' She said, "All you have to do is make hamburgers and hot dogs...." And that is all we served -- hot dogs, hamburgers."

Dance Team

Ms Lathrop relates how she met her late husband, Mack Lathrop, and formed a lifetime partnership. She had been in vaudeville with Gus Edwards' Revue, but after he retired, she went home to Boston to be with her family and her aunt, who managed the State Theater in Waterbury.

"I was home and my aunt said, `Why doesn't Virginia come down and stay with me for a while.' I did, and I used to practice at the theater. She had this friend who was an agent, Charlie Yates, and he stopped by one time and he said, `What is Virginia doing?' And she said, `Nothing at the moment.' And he said, `Bring her into New York, I have a man who is looking for a girl because the girl that is in his act is leaving to go into George White's Scandals.' It was the Lathrop Brothers -- Mack and Chuck. I went in and I auditioned for Mack. He sat there very importantly, and my aunt was with me, and she acted the same as Mack... it was a little like a little sparring thing. He said, `Yea, she would be perfect for the part.' And of course my aunt had to negotiate. `Well, what are you going to give her? I am not too thrilled with having her travel around the country with two men.' It was fun, and anyhow, he hired me. That was in 1936... Mack and I married the next year."

The Upham Tea Company

Gene Cox remembers how his mother worked for the Upham Tea Company in Hawleyville.

"This was a company that supposedly invented the tea bag or tea bag machine, actually. And she worked over there for a while. After I was born, she thought she should be home with me, and so Mr. Upham used to give her the big box of tea and tea bags and stuff and she would come home and actually sew them on the sewing machine. She got paid by the piece. Once or twice a week she would get somebody to drive the [finished] tea bags back over and he would give her money for them. She would bring more tea and the cloth back. The cloth was simply cheesecloth. She actually was making a big tea bag, which they use for making ice tea -- the bags were probably 5" x 5".... It was made for making a big pot of tea that you would convert into iced tea later on...."

"At one point in time, Mr Upham loaned her one of the tea bag loading/filling machines so she could actually use the machine instead of having to do it by hand. She had that at home for a while. It was set up in the living room, and she would get up in the morning, and after she took care of the animals and my sister and me, she would go in there and work. She used a foot powered pump sewing machine; I still have that sewing machine.... She would get up at five in the morning, and she would go to bed at 10 o'clock at night, and she basically was working the whole time... I can't remember how many tea bags she could turn out, but as a young kid it seemed like a lot. She did that for many, many years..."

An Interview A Week

The oral history interviews are continuing, and it is hoped they will be completed by June or July.

"Dan and I are shooting for an interview a week," Ms Zimmermann said.

According to Mr Cruson and Ms Zimmermann, these 20 initial oral histories provide a sampling of the community.

"These 20 we felt were important because they gave a variety of impressions of the town," Mr Cruson said.

Each interview generates several tapes, according to Mr Cruson. Mary Maki and Karen Gabriel are doing the transcriptions. Ms Zimmerman is editing them so there is a continuous narrative, "taking out our questions and comments," she explained. "Dan is doing the footnoting as we go along, and indexing and layout will be at the end."

Ms Zimmermann said photographs will be scanned at The Newtown Bee, which will also provide its expertise for layout.

The final version will be reviewed by the interviewees for accuracy. They will also be sent a release form giving their permission for the oral histories to be made available to the public.

It is expected bound volumes may be completed by mid-summer.

The oral histories will not be offered for sale. Multiple copies will be available at the Cyrenius Booth Library, Newtown Historical Society, The Newtown Bee , and The Bee's Antiques Reference Library.

Mr Cruson said he sees the oral history project as a continuing one. As further donations are received, he and Ms Zimmermann will do additional interviews.

In October, the project received two donations to augment the original $5,485 from the Meserve Memorial Fund. The Friends of the Library and the Newtown Historical Society donated $5,500 and $5,000, respectively, to the project.

According to Mr Cruson, if there is sufficient funding, the oral histories, including photographs, will be put on CD roms, which will also be available to the public.

Donations earmarked for the oral history project can be sent to the Newtown Historical Society, Box 189, Newtown, CT 06470.