Tercentennial Panel Backs Away From A Fight With The State Library Over Original Deed

By Jan Howard

The Connecticut State Library’s resistance to returning the original 1705 deed to the town, which was signed by members of the Pohtatuck tribe and three settlers, has brought some changes to the event that was to kickoff the tercentennial celebration in January.

The Newtown Tercentennial Steering Committee’s intent was to bring the original deed back to Newtown in a special ceremony sometime in January. Now it appears that the town will have to accept a copy of the document because the state library is holding firm on its stand not to return the deed. In light of that stand, it appears that efforts to retrieve the deed from the state might mean a lengthy legal battle and add controversy to the commencement of the tercentennial, something the steering committee is reluctant to do.

Because of that, the consensus of the Tercentennial Steering Committee members at last week’s meeting was to appoint Town Clerk Cindy Simon, the committee’s secretary, to take the issue of the original deed to members of the Board of Selectmen to find out how they would proceed in regard to the state’s position. In addition, Ms Simon is to ask the Board of Selectmen what should be done to protect a 1723 deed that has been in the town clerk’s office for several years. That deed gave land to Newtown that was not covered by the original 1705 deed.

In the meantime, the Tercentennial Steering Committee has decided to consider a digital color copy of the original deed for the January event, to be displayed in conjunction with the 1723 deed. The committee has asked Dick Sturdevant, who, with his wife Marie, were appointed as chairmen of the January event, to contact Mark Jones, the state librarian, as to when the town would be able to receive a copy of the deed and if it could be received in time for a January event. Mr Sturdevant was offered a copy of the deed during a recent trip to Hartford.

Mr Sturdevant spoke to the committee last week, outlining his attempt to arrange for the return of the original deed from Hartford.

“I thought it would be relatively simple,” he said. He noted, however, that he was told that the state librarian and archivist objected to the return of the deed to the town.

Despite legislation enacted by state lawmakers and signed by Governor Ella Grasso on April 22, 1976, Special Act 76-32, “An Act concerning Possession of the Original Deed of the Town of Newtown,” the library has been instructed not to return the deed. The state bases its stand on an administrative regulation implemented in 1989 when the state was having problems with records disappearing.

During his visit to the state archives, Mr Sturdevant said he was told that despite the 1976 legislation, the library would not give the deed back without a fight.

Mr Sturdevant said the document is stored in the state archives in a tightly sealed, highly secure environment. It is bound with other documents and backed with silk cloth to reinforce the document.

“The archivist said they would send an exact copy, not simple black and white,” Mr Sturdevant said.

Dan Cruson, chairman of the Tercentennial Steering Committee and town historian, said if the town did obtain the document, it would involve “a conservation effort on our part.”

Mr Sturdevant said he was concerned about the possibility that the document could also be damaged if removed from its current environment. “It’s a real tricky issue,” he said.

Committee Vice Chairman Mae Schmidle believes the 1976 Special Act supersedes an administrative regulation and that the original deed should be returned to the town.

“What do we have to leave for Newtown as our legacy?” she asked committee members.

Despite the legislation, for some reason the deed was never returned to Newtown. “It belongs to the community,” Ms Schmidle said last week. “We decided it would be a good way to start the tercentennial.”

Though she wrote a letter to the state library stating the importance of the document to the town, she received no response. She contacted attorneys as to whether a regulation would supersede a special act, as well as an assistant attorney general, who advised her the state library’s stand has no validity in law. In a letter to Ms Schmidle, the assistant attorney general advised that the library’s position is “inconsistent with the clear legislative intent of the special act and with the proper application of rules of statutory construction, pursuant to which a legislative intent to override that special act would have to be expressly set forth in the statute or regulation.”

Since there is no reference to the enabling statutes in the regulation, the assistant attorney general wrote, “Thus, the Special Act should be deemed to render the Newtown Deed a local government archival record permitted to be transferred under the provisions of Connecticut Regulation 11-8a-7.”

Ms Schmidle said the regulation “must have the language to exempt certain things. The regulation simply says how to access the document.

“It doesn’t exclude us from what we want to do,” she said. “The state library does not have the authority to deny us this.

“This is our legacy,” she said. “This is what created us.”

She said she agreed with state opinion that the document should be preserved in an appropriate way, and said that professionals have contacted her in regard to the proper preservation of and security for the document.

Ms Simon said she had a number of concerns. “I dislike controversy surrounding our Tercentennial Committee,” she said. She was also concerned about how and where the deed would be protected. In Hartford, she added, “It is part of a collection. It’s there for people to see.”

She said that her concern is that in 22 years no one has asked to see the town deed.

She said State Rep Julia Wasserman, a member of the committee who was unable to attend last week’s meeting, had expressed her concerns about the importance of the document and that it would become a town issue for its cost and care. She felt that it should be an issue for the Board of Selectman and that it most likely would be unable to be resolved in 2005.

Ms Simon said that Rep Wasserman also offered her help if the town decides to pursue the return of the original deed.

Mr Cruson said he believes the town has a valid legal claim for the deed. However, he noted, “Our charge is the next year and the commemoration. We’ll be in for a fight. The selectmen have to judge how to approach it.”

He also questioned if the deed would be returned during the tercentennial year if it became a legal issue.

Member John Martocci said it would be a “noble thing” to obtain the deed. However, he noted, “It’s our job to promote the 300th anniversary. The issue is between the town and the state. I don’t think we should spend tercentennial money on this.”

Selectman Bill Brimmer said an event featuring the two deeds would be a good kickoff to the yearlong celebration, noting that the issue about the original deed should not be the focus of the committee’s efforts.

“We don’t want to divert from what we want to do, the celebration,” Mr Brimmer said. “It is not celebratory to fight with the state library.”

Concerns were also raised as to how the town would protect the original deed if it were returned and how much it would cost to do so.