By Dottie Evans

It seems appropriate that on the threshold of Newtown's tercentennial, the town's oldest public building should get a new doorsill.

On August 1, a rotting and water-damaged oak sill was removed from the Newtown Meeting House entrance door, and a brand new mahogany one was put in its place.

There is nothing remarkable about routine maintenance, especially since restoration and repair are ongoing issues for the Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc, which has stewardship over the historic building.

What does merit comment is that during work on the doorsill, craftsmen from Kronenburger & Sons Restoration of Middletown temporarily dislodged a large bluestone riser.

The oblong stone step and its much larger granite base are unusual because they are older by at least 50 years than the building itself. Records show they were the original entrance stones for the first meeting house the colonists put up in 1763.

The early settlers placed the first meeting house smack dab in the middle of Main Street, exactly where the flagpole now stands, and it is likely that a great number of townspeople stepped across those stones as they attended the many community functions held there, ranging from social and religious to political.

Its successor, a second meeting house built in the middle of West Street in 1815, saw many additions and renovations over the next 185 years and it has continued to serve the town.

In a gala celebration held December 12, 1999, the Heritage Preservation Trust published a program tracing the history of Newtown's meeting house. It noted that the 18th Century building was moved in 1792 to the present site in the middle of West Street and that, although a few sturdy beams were saved and reused, not much has survived.

In fact, aside from the beams, the only 18th Century features incorporated into the second meeting house that may still be seen today are the bell, the chanticleer weathervane, and the two stone entrance steps.

Stone Steps Quarried By Slaves

The gala program history brought to light another issue concerning the stone steps, possibly more important than their antiquity.

"The [bluestone] stepping stone and its larger granite base which lead up to the front door" were donated by Lt. Nathaniel Briscoe, who had two of his slaves quarry the stone and haul it by oxcart to the meeting house in 1767.

This is testimony to the fact that long before the Civil War, slavery was an accepted institution in Connecticut, and that during the last quarter of the 18th Century, many of the town's early residents were black.

A great deal of research on slavery in Connecticut has been done by Town Historian Daniel Cruson. His findings have been published in the book, Newtown's Slaves: A Case Study In Early Connecticut Rural Black History, available at the Booth Library.

According to Mr Cruson, although slavery was never made legal in the state, it was sanctioned by the government. In 1774, the peak population of African slaves in Connecticut was 6,500.

A census taken in 1790 showed 2,759 slaves and 2,801 freed blacks, but by the 1810 census, Mr Cruson writes, "the slave population [throughout the state] had dropped dramatically to just 310.

"By 1820 it stood at only 97. In 1840, eight years before the institution would be formally abolished, only 17 slaves were counted in the entire state."

Clearly, the practice of slavery was on the wane after the revolutionary war. But for a while, as in the case of the stone steps, slave labor played an important part in the life of Connecticut townspeople.

As Mr Cruson points out, Newtown's slave population was small and there were only a few families who owned a total of one or two slaves each. A maximum of 71 slaves owned by 46 families were living in Newtown in 1790. The exception was Nathaniel Briscoe, who donated the stone steps. He owned nine slaves, according to records of the time.

Mr Cruson believes there may have been more slaves than were recorded at the end of the 18th Century, but it is difficult to find accurate data.

"Newtown also had a small but significant free black population throughout the 19th Century," Mr Cruson notes. Many of those were the freed descendents of the town's slave population.

South To East, The Entrance    Changes Sides

According to Newtown Meeting House administrator Sherri Paisley, the entrance door of the first meeting house was on the long side of the building, facing south toward Monroe.

"We know that in 1792 when they moved the building [132 feet to the west], they lifted it on logs and rolled it laterally," Ms Paisley said.

She added that there was no steeple at that time, only a bell.

In 1816, the orientation of the entrance door was changed to face east down Church Hill Road, as it does today.

"We have [Town Historian] Dan Cruson's best guess that this is what happened," Ms Paisley added.

One last feature about the two entrance stones is worth noting. They both have a large central hole drilled where there was once a hand railing. It is presumed the hand railing was installed sometime in the 19th Century though no record has been found.

"We think that after the center railing was put in, they found they couldn't get the coffins in and out the door. So, they had to remove it," Ms Paisley said.

There is also a large cement patch on the bluestone riser, evidence of some long-ago, undocumented repair job. The maintenance and restoration of a much-used building never ends.

The Newtown Meeting House at 31 Main Street is available free of charge to charitable, civic, and government groups for meetings and other functions. It may be rented for weddings and other activities. Anyone wishing to make a donation or memorial gift to the Heritage Preservation Trust of Newtown, Inc, for its continuing maintenance and restoration, is welcome to do so. For more information, contact Sherry Paisley at 270-8293.