The Fall 2023 Newsletter is now available.
Fall 2022 – Newsletter
Letter From the President.
The mission of GPA is to preserve the built and natural environment of our beautiful town.
I would like to share with you some of our latest newsletter.
Guilford Preservation Alliance_Newsletter_Nov 2022-1
A Guilford Minute: Henry Whitfield’s 1st fiancé
Would Guilford have been founded by Henry Whitfield if he married Margaret Hardware, his first finance?
Upon graduation from Oxford, Henry Whitfield began the study of law. Circa 1615/1616, Henry Whitfield was engaged to marry Margaret Hardware, the daughter of Henry Hardware. In February 1616, before the marriage took place, Margaret Hardware died. In her will, probated 17 Mar 1616, she bequeathed to Henry Whitfield, “my loving friend and contracted husband, the sum of one hundred and forty pounds, one white ‘beare’ bowl, one Tune (vessel or jar) and cover and three spoons, one piece of gold of three pounds seventeen shillings, one pair of Valence and two cushings of needle work; four towels, two short and two long; three pair of sheets of flaxen of the best; four pillow-beares; one dozen of fringed napkins, four of the best table-cloths; two cupboard cloths; one feather bed, two bolsters, two down pillows, one arras coverlet, four blankets, and all the apparel that was provided for my marriage…Memorandum, that if, after all my debts and legacies are paid, the remainder of my estate be above fifty pounds, that then Mr. Nicholas Byfield have only that fifty pounds, and my loving friend and contracted husband, Mr. Henry Whitfeild, have the rest of my whole estate.”
If Margaret Hardware had not died and their marriage took place, Henry may have continued practicing law. If so, Guilford may not have been founded by him, and the stone house may never have been built for him.
Shortly after the death of Margaret Hardware, Henry Whitfield changed from law to ministry. In 1618, he was ordained a minister of the Church of England. That same year he married Dorothy Sheaffe, a daughter of Thomas Sheaffe, who was a Kentish clergyman. Whitfield became a vicar of St. Margaret’s Church in Ockley, Surrey, England.
During the reign of Charles I, in the early seventeenth century, the Church of England began its persecution of dissidents within the church. Separatists and Puritans alike were censured, and some had to flee England. In 1638, Henry Whitfield, age forty-six at that time, resigned his position as head of the Ockley church. He gathered around him about two dozen families from Surrey and Kent and a few further north in England to emigrate.
The sad untimely death of young Margaret Hardware could have altered the history of Guilford if it had not occurred, and, as a result, many of the descendants of Henry Whitfield and other founding fathers may never have been born.
Compiled by Tracy Thompson Tomaselli (24 Jun 2023)
Newsletter Fall 2022
Fall 2015 Guilford Preservation Alliance Newsletter
Coming to you, hot off the press, is the Fall 2015 Guilford Preservation Alliance Newsletter. It is available here on our website, and has also been mailed to our members. The newsletter replaces the annual appeal letter sent out in recent years. We hope you enjoy reading our news in this format, and we hope you will consider donating generously to the work we do by renewing your membership and possibly adding a designated gift as well.
First Historical Plaque Arrives for Page Hardware & Appliance Co.
From left, Carl Balestracci, Jr., Ellen Ebert, Andrew Page, Shirley Girioni, and Katherine Frydenborg. Photo by Jack Kramer/The Courier
In the Fall of 2014 the Guilford Preservation Alliance plans to begin making historical plaques for businesses around the Green, each one giving a short history of the building. The first plaque was recently placed on the outside of Page Hardware & Appliance Co. Articles about this event have appeared in the Guilford Courier and the New Haven Register.
Ten new plaques will soon adorn commercial and civic buildings on the Green, as part of a joint project of the Guilford Preservation Alliance (GPA) and the Guilford Keeping Society to celebrate the town’s history. These first ten plaques are the pilot of a project to put plaques on many of the buildings around the Green and part of the continuing celebration of Guilford’s 375th anniversary. As plaques are designed, additional information and photos about each building will also be found on the GPA website, www.guilfordpreservation.org, under the heading “Historical Plaques.”
The first plaques are being funded by the Schmitt Fund of the GPA, a fund started by Dede Schmitt in memory of his late wife, Marjorie, a founding member and the first president of the GPA. The plaques are also a thank you to the many businesses and organizations who contribute to the wellbeing of the town.
For information about obtaining a plaque, contact Ellen Ebert at [email protected] or 203-453-6353.
Simeon Leete Day
Simeon Leete Day at Pelatiah Leete House, June 22, 2014, 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Leete’s Island Road, Guilford, Connecticut
In recognition of Guilford’s 375th anniversary, the owners of the Pelatiah Leete House on Leete’s Island Road in Guilford would like to invite the public to attend a first annual Simeon Leete Day celebration, to be held at the historic house in which one of Guilford’s brave soldiers who fought in the Battle of Leete’s Island on June 18, 1781 lived, and in which he also died of his wounds, the following day.
Simeon Leete was the great-great-grandson of Guilford founder Governor William Leete, whose direct descendants continue to live on Leete’s Island and in other parts of Guilford to this day. The battle in which Simeon fought and died was one of the largest military engagements fought on Connecticut soil during the American Revolution, involving upwards of 250 fighters at its peak.
The house in which he lived and died is the only structure which was standing on the day of the battle that remains, and his gravestone is around the corner in the triangle of land at the intersection of Leete’s Island Road and Moose Hill Road. His home is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. And it will be open to the public for tours from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. along with docents from the “Early Guilford Days” public school program for Guilford 4th grade students on hand to answer questions about early Guilford history.
An inaugural “History Hike” will also be offered jointly under the auspices of the Guilford Land Conservation Trust and the Guilford Preservation Alliance’s Heritage Tourism Initiative to trace the route taken by refugees from the battle in 1781 up Moose Hill Road to safety in the Colonial Caves site in Westwoods, crossing lands still owned by the Leete family, as well as lands held in trust by the Guilford Land Conservation Trust.
A free will offering for the house tour, to benefit the “Early Guilford Days” program for the coming year, is requested—but not required– from participants in the day’s events.
Because public parking is virtually nonexistent in the vicinity of the house, visitors are strongly encouraged to use the free shuttle service, leaving from the Green in front of Town Hall, starting at 9:45 a.m. and running every 30 minutes thereafter. This service will be provided through the generosity of the town’s 375th Committee. Pre-registration is encouraged and can be arranged by calling (510) 841 2108 or by emailing [email protected].
An official Town 375th Committee event.
Media Coverage of Guilford 375 Event
An article about the Civil War re-enactment and other events from the Guilford 375 program was published here in the New Haven Register. Read all about it!
Invitation to GPA from South Lane Bistro
South Lane Bistro would like to donate 10% of the profits from Tuesday, June 10th to the Guilford Preservation Alliance.
Given that South Lane Bistro is in the historic district, and that the name comes from Guilford’s past, it seems only fitting to ask the Guilford Preservation Alliance to be the first partner in South Lane’s ‘Give Back Tuesday.’
South Lane Bistro invites you to the first ‘Give Back Tuesday’
Tuesday, June 10th, 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
63 Whitfield Street (formerly known as South Lane)
Come enjoy casual fine food, wine,
craft beers and delicious desserts.
10% of profits will benefit the Guilford Preservation Alliance.
See you there!