Newtown Past Comes Alive At Historic Family Showcase

One of the final events the Newtown Tercentennial year was the celebration of Newtown’s Historic Families which took place on Sunday afternoon, December 4, on the whole upper floor of the Cyrenius Booth Library.

“This was a historic, remarkable first for the Town of Newtown and celebrating during the tercentennial was most appropriate” said tercentennial vice president Mae Schmidle, who chaired the event. “But the sharing all of this rare history and memorabilia, much of it buried away for years in odd and sundry attics, all in one place was breathtaking. Newtown’s roots really came alive in the middle of the worst storm of the season.”

Among the families that were represented were the Amaral family, the families of Bronson/Sanford, C. Armody, Cole, Ferris, Mary Elizabeth Hawley, Honan, Knapp, Lewis, Leibold, Paproski, Sherman, Beers, Botsford, Carlson, Cox, Glover, Hanlon, Heller, Luf, Meyers/Hanna, Nicols/Hall, Person, Shepard, Tilson, The Newtown Bee, St Rose Church, and St John’s Episcopal Church.

Some of the rare memorabilia that was showcased included the Hall/Nichols family documents and pictures and history. The Nichols/Hall family dates back more than 200 years in Newtown and its display included many documents and maps. One document freed a slave; another depicted a Nicholas ancestor whose beard was twice the length of this face; other fascinating business documents went back several hundred years.

The Person family, whose ancestors were farmers in the northern part of town, brought many photos and part of a collection of Indian arrow heads fashioned of quartz ranging from at least two inches up to five inches found on the property as the family plowed and hoed to plant vegetable and fruit trees.

The Luf/Cox family members, who have quite a history in Newtown, came with their most interesting collection of antique collectibles, including many dogs, small animals, and a handmade quilt.

The Beers family displayed an ancestral family collection of sterling silver, china, crystal, maps, many pictures, and even a tiny white leather pair of baby shoes complete with silk socks. The Paproski family showcased antique milk bottling equipment including caps and bottles and some tools. Carolyn Stokes prepared the display for Mary Elizabeth Hawley that included several antique beaded evening bags and a number of articles never before on display.

The Newtown Bee, the oldest continuously publishing weekly newspaper in Connecticut, displayed its famous wooden sign peddling The Bee and pictures of all the Smith editors since 1877. The Bee made available copies of the first page of the first issue published 128 years ago.

St Rose Church displayed some older church memorabilia and books and documents. St John’s Episcopal Church in Sandy Hook, connected very closely to the Tilson family, brought many old artifacts including a collection of newspaper articles and old Newtown books. Bruce Moulthrop also shared some of his historic military memorabilia and wedding pictures.

Amaral family members came with many pictures, which included their early 1700 farmhouse on Elm Drive and how their business looked when it was new. Daniel Amaral brought several hand-carved walking canes and a handsome brown derby that was handmade on the second floor of the building opposite the flagpole. Even then, people had trouble spelling “Newtown” and the label in the hat claims it was made in “Newton, Conn.”

Tad Sanford of Redding shared many of his uncle Dr Bronson’s medical memorabilia from the time when he doctored in Newtown. Included was a friendship quilt with many notable Newtown names. Mr Sanford is planning to donate the 1845 quilt to Newtown. He also showcased an ancient wooden trunk with dried out leather hinges and paper inside with a newspaper that had articles about King George. And perhaps most interesting were the medical instruments that he shared, including some medical reference books from the middle 1800s.

Marie Walker helped display items from the Ferris family, which also goes back to the early 1700s. Displayed were memorabilia from ten generations of Ferrises, who were dairy farmers, and some of the many awards and commendations they earned. The Knapps and Hanlons showcased joint family memorabilia as brothers married sisters on at least two occasions and one of their most recent ancestors was Probate Judge Ed Knapp. They settled mostly in Sandy Hook. The Shepard family history also featured items going back ten generations, with four generations currently in the Newtown school system. The Carmody family display included much about the early days of Fairfield Hills Hospital. Also on display was the Carmody family tree, which includes the Meads, Congors, Osborne and many other notable families.

Joan Glover Crick presented an overwhelming family album featuring many prominent family members — the Glover family goes back to the very earliest settlers who arrived before 1705 and proceed to develop roads in town as well as the Meeting House. The Glover memorabilia also included maps, clothing items such as parasols and handmade black lace collars and other heirlooms.

The Sherman family, almost as old as the town, brought many old photographs. The Honan family brought old photographs of renditions of their original lumberyard in Hawleyville and their funeral home now on Main Street. The Cole Family shared many recollections of turn-of-the-20th-Century activities in Sandy Hook.

The Heller Family created a most unusual type of family tree with much about town growth and bought samples of an antique straight razor and cup. The Hanna/Meyers family shared many heretofore unknown bits of history and information about Main Street.

The Knapp family shared one of the first photographs of the town clerk’s office in the then newly erected Edmond Town Hall. The Lewis/Leibold Family shared a family collection of photographs of famous Newtown families and places.

The Carlson and Dayton Families also had an array of family photographs — past to present. And all this for the first time in 300 years.

The Tercentennial Committee in charge of the showcase included Barbara Bloom, Sally O’Neill, Marie Walker, Joan Glover Crick, Cindy DaSilva, Marg Studley, Collen Honan, and Mae Schmidle.