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Witness to History Slavery in Guilford

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September 29, 2021 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: Early Yale College History

 At a General Court, held at Guilford, June 28, 1652, it was “voted, the matter about a College at New  Haven for us of this jurisdiction to undergo alone; especially considering the unsettled state of New  Haven Town; being publicly declared…to be a place of no comfortable subsistence for the present  inhabitants there. But if Connecticut do join, the planters are generally willing to bear their just  proportions for erecting and maintaining a College there”.  

 In October 1701, the Legislature, granted a charter, constituting “Trustees of a Collegiate School in his  Majesty’s Colony of Connecticut; and invested them with all the powers which were supposed to be  necessary for the complete execution of their trust. The following November, they chose one of their  number, Mr. Pierson, rector of the school, and determined that it should be fixed for the present at  Saybrook”.  

 “In the year 1702, the first commencement was held at Saybrook, at which five young gentlemen  received the degree of A. M. From this time many debates arose concerning the place where the school  should finally be established and continued to agitate the community.” October 17, 1716, with the  community still disunited, four of the nine trustees strongly voted against moving the school to New  Haven. “The trustees, nerveless, proceeded to hold the commencement, the following year, at New  Haven, and to order a college to be erected. It was accordingly raised in October 1717 and finished the  following year.” The building, enabled through a number of considerable donations, “was built of wood,  one hundred and seventy feet long, twenty-two feet wide, and cost about £1000 sterling. Before it was  erected, the students were scattered in various places, as Milford, Killingworth, Guilford, Saybrook,  Wethersfield, &c. Soon afterwards, they all removed to New Haven. The number of the students was  about 40, the course of education was pursued with spirit, the benefactions increased in number and  value, from this time the institution began to flourish.” 

Connecticut Historical Collections, History and Antiquities of Every Town in Connecticut. John Warner Barber 1836 p. 146 

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January 27, 2021 By Veronica

Historic Homes Research Card

The GPA has worked diligently to preserve, and facilitate ways to preserve, the historic character of our community.  One piece of this effort includes the newly created Historic Homes Research Card.  These cards were composed through the efforts of GPA board member Tracy Tomaselli and Town Historian Joel Helander.  If you own an older home in Guilford these cards may be of interest to you!
The purpose of these Historic Homes research cards is to provide education and guidance to homeownership and stewardship, inform property owners and prospective buyers that there may be historical information and resources available, as well as certain restrictions when modifying these homes.
Historic Homes research cards are available at Town Hall South and Town Hall and can be obtained by contacting the GPA at: https://guilfordpreservation.org/contact-us/.
Praise for the creation of the Historic Homes Research Card from Jordan Sorensen, Development and Special Projects Manager, Preservation Connecticut: “This is such a good idea!  I can’t wait to share this with the staff.  I think you all have a great model for other local organizations to follow.”
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February 27, 2020 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: The U.S. Census – Article 1910 and History

The front page of the Shore Line Times on April 21, 1910, included an article regarding the 1910 census, which at that time was in progress.

Each time the census has been taken it has included different questions to collect data for different reasons. [Read more…]

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February 15, 2020 By Veronica

Fall 2019 Guilford Preservation Newsletter

GPA Newsletter Fall 2019The 2019 Guilford Preservation Alliance Newsletter is now available online. Read our president’s letter, news about the Harlan Griswold Award, preservation of the Moose Hill District School House, and the Witness Stones Project.

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January 30, 2020 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: Port of New York


The ship named the Favorite, owned by Robert Johnston & Co, James Brown, and Richard and Abraham S. Hallett, and John G. Warren, all of New York, departed in 1800 with cargo owned by Frederic de Peyster and John Slidell. Bound for Cape Francis, the ship, commanded by Captain Charles Barnard, was captured on October 4, 1800, in lat. 20, long. 66, by the French privateer schooner the Patriot, and ordered to St. Pierre, Guadeloupe.

On December 4, 1800, a young man wrote a letter to his father in Guilford. The young man, who was in St. Kitts at the time, wrote “Honored Father – I embrace this opportunity to convey you a line, and inform you of my situation. I sailed from New York about the 12th of October, in the ship Favorite, Capt. Barnard, bound to Cape Francois. On the 4th of Nov. was taken by a French privateer, and carried into Guadaloupe, put into prison, and have just arrived here in a cartel. They took from me everything I had, both my venture and clothing, and scarcely left me a shirt to my back. Here I am destitute of a ship, money, or friends, and a stranger in a foreign land. Here are several vessels from northern ports, and one from New Haven, none of them will give me a passage. I am now bound to St. Bartholomew’s, in hopes that I shall get a vessel there bound to some part of America.”

Captain Barnard, of the ship the Favorite, in the previous year, had his sloop, the Cornelia, captured by the French, who condemned the vessel and cargo and sold that sloop at Guadeloupe.

The identity of the young man who wrote the letter to his father on December 4, 1800, is unknown.

Sources:
Mercantile Advertiser 22 Aug 1800 p3
Daily Advertiser 23 Dec 1800 p3
Litchfield Monitor 4 Feb 1801 p3
Federal Gazette & Baltimore Daily Advertiser 22 Jan 1800 p3
The French assault on American shipping, 1793-1813 : a history and comprehensive record of merchant marine losses. Greg H. Williams 2009

Compiled by Tracy Tomaselli 2020




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January 25, 2020 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: Fire Alarm System, 1917

In June 1917, a new fire alarm system was installed at Norton’s garage, 78 Boston Street, and connected with the local telephone exchange. When a fire broke out, callers were to notify the Central Telephone office on Whitfield Street, and the operator was to “pull” the alarm.

The borough officials arranged a system of signals for use when the fire whistle was put in commission to inform people of the location of the fire. The apparatus required seventy pounds of compressed air, to blow a signal three times, and was to be powerful and loud enough to be heard all over the borough in any kind of weather condition. [Read more…]

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January 25, 2020 By Veronica

GPA Preserves Historic Item from Original Town Hall, c.1890

A piece of Guilford history is returning to Town Hall!

Town Hall original chairs

Bret Gagne (“Furniture Doctor”) and First Selectman Matt Hoey with Town Hall auditorium seats (circa 1895)

When Town Hall was first built in 1893, the rear of the ground floor included an auditorium with seating for 350 people, says Guilford town historian Joel Helander. Over the years the building was renovated and made bigger. The auditorium was eliminated circa 1947 and the ornate wooden seating was put into storage.

When the Town Hall was renovated again in 1974, the auditorium seating was “up for grabs,” and Helander, already in tune with the need for historic preservation, moved three sets of connected seats to his family home on Clapboard Hill Road. They have been there ever since.

Now, with the help of an $1100.00 preservation fund grant from the Guilford Preservation Alliance, [Read more…]

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May 23, 2019 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: Whist—Past and Present

Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. The game takes its name from the 17th Century whist (or wist) meaning quiet, silent or attentive.

The classic game of whist is a plain-trick game without bidding for 4 players in fixed partnerships. A standard 52 deck of cards is used. The cards in each suit rank from highest to lowest.

Each player is dealt 13 cards, the trump suit for each trick (or round) is indicated by the last card dealt (to the dealer). [Read more…]

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April 6, 2019 By Veronica

GPA Receives Harlan Griswold Award from CT Trust for Historic Preservation

On April 4, 2019 the Connecticut Trust for Historic Preservation awarded the Guilford Preservation Alliance the Harlan H. Griswold Award. Harlan H. Griswold was a founder of the CT Trust and longtime chair of the Connecticut Historical Commission. This award recognizes individuals, corporations, or organizations whose activities exemplify Mr. Griswold’s leadership, vision, and dedication to preserving Connecticut’s heritage and who by deed or example have made our state a better place to live. The GPA was chosen due to [Read more…]

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April 2, 2019 By Veronica

A Guilford Minute: The Ladies Auxiliary, Guilford Grange No. 81

The Ladies Auxiliary, Guilford Grange No. 81, assembled a “Favorite Recipes” book in 1955. The book, “dedicated to the Modern Home”, where “Life is centered around our kitchens”, included “treasured old family recipes.”

[Read more…]

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