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Summer 2020

Some news to read while we are staying home…part 2

As of this writing Connecticut is opening up via phase 1 of the Covid-19 pandemic. It remains to be

seen how it will go not only here but also everywhere as this situation is as complicated as the 1918 flu pandemic. While we face our challenges and deal with a “new normal,” the Avon Historical Society is still the same dynamic, moving and engaged organization keeping us all very busy. We hope to be able to come out of this crisis whole and ready to move forward.

There are two important messages here regarding the summer: 1. The 1865 Pine Grove Schoolhouse will remain closed through the summer 2020 season. The

recommended procedures for reopening of historic sites in this country from the American Alliance or Museums are very stringent for all the right reasons. Therefore, the Society’s Trustees elected to have the building closed. However, they have some big news for the exterior of the property, including an invitation for families and students, outlined on Page 2.

2. The DEEDS NOT WORDS: 100 Years of the Vote for Women yearlong series on the Suffrage commemoration has a new, abbreviated schedule for the remainder of the year. The planning committee created a workable set of events via Zoom that will continue to educate and amaze the audiences who participate. We thank the presenters who have agreed to being flexible presenting in this manner. We even have a pre-taped theatrical presentation made available to uss bringing Susan B. Anthony to life! A full list of events is on Page 4.

Collecting Avon History during the Pandemic - and You Can Help By Nora Howard, Avon Town Historian

In collaboration with the Historical Society I have been collecting archives documenting the pandemic

in Avon. These items will be donated to the Marian Hunter History Room in the Avon Free Public Library, and help tell the stories for future research and exhibits. Some items are definitely relevant (photographs of signs around Avon/empty streets/flags at half mast, Hartford Courant articles, essays by Avon residents about their experiences). Some items may not be deemed of interest: the one piece of mail I received one day - documenting that the mail volume is decreased. Or, a few New York Times front pages? While not relevant to Avon exactly, the New York Times is a newspaper that circulated widely in town and had an impact. I am grateful to donors of items I received thus far and to the library staff who will decide what to accept. You can help us document the pandemic in Avon. Please email or snail me items you come across or photographs you would like us to preserve and please consider participating in answering some questions by email or snail mail. Your answers will form an invaluable record and will become part of the history room collection. All ages encouraged to participate! Thank you in advance!

When did you first feel the Pandemic 'started?' What are some of the bad experiences you have had?

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Have you had any good experiences? What surprised you? What are your worries? Who do you miss? How are you doing? What new has happened to change how you do things? How did you survive staying at home? What creative things did you do to keep busy? And anything else you might like to record. Nora Howard, Historian of the Town of Avon, and of the Avon Congregational Church c/o Avon Historical Society, P.O. Box 448, Avon, CT 06001 info@avonhistoricalsociety.org

1865 Pine Grove Schoolhouse is closed for the season but….

While it may be the first time since it opened in 1976 as a museum, the closing of the Pine Grove Schoolhouse this season may be unfortunate but there are other things to do on the site’s property. With this in mind, the Society INVITES families with school children to visit the site anytime, remaining outside and take a photo with a sign thanking their school teachers for all they have done for them since they left school in March. Like we do for healthcare workers, teachers are on the front lines in educating our youth be it in the classroom or now through online learning. To thank those teachers and administrators for working so hard for our children, take a thank you photo and send it to the Society at: info@avonhistoricalsociety.org or through our Facebook page. We will share photos on our website and social media to show the support Avon schoolchildren have for our teachers and administrators.

A seven-foot tall roadside marker was installed at the corner in front of the Pine Grove Schoolhouse

indicating the surrounding area being placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

Photo courtesy of Deb Key Imagery.

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The Society won this marker through a $1,100 grant by the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, Syracuse, NY. The Avon Congregational Church in the center of Avon received one also. Thanks to Avon Public Works for installing the sign. Please enjoy the sign as you drive by and through that intersection. A team of the Society will be videotaping a virtual tour of the interior and exterior of the schoolhouse for

future viewing on our website or FB page. As soon as it is released, we will market it through the local media and to our members.

Thanks to the generosity and building talent of Lee Wilson, Society member, the Schoolhouse now has a

Little Library. You may be familiar with them as you drive through neighborhoods or public places. They look like a small house and have books to exchange free for anyone with wishes to do so. It was installed on the south side of the Schoolhouse for easy reach of small and adult hands. Feel free to take or leave a book or two at your leisure. A bottle of hand sanitizer is inside for everyone’s use. It will be registered with the national Little Free Library non-profit organization, receive an official charter number and be placed on a map with GPS coordinates so it can be found by anyone when they visit Avon!

Society members present to install the Little Library on June 4th are (L-R) – Lee Wilson, Terri Wilson, Ben Isaacson, Brian Malone and Jeannie Parker. Photo courtesy of Deb Key Imagery.

Lastly, we wish to thank the anonymous gift of two rocks painted with messages left at the door of the

schoolhouse and at the sign by the street. Both are painted pink and purple and have the words “Be Kind” and “I Believe in You.” These extraordinary times bring out the best in so many. THANK YOU to whoever left these for us. They will remain in place as a reminder of what we are living through right now and the kind messages they contain.

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DEEDS NOT WORDS continues…

Although this is an abbreviated version of the series we presented six months ago, it is no less important and timely in this centennial year of Suffrage. By the way, keep in mind the last crucial years of the Suffrage movement carried on through WWI and the 1918 Pandemic! Imagine the challenge of travel and protesting the women went through for the cause that changed history. All of these events will be presented on Zoom thanks to funding, in partnership, from the Friends of the Avon Library, the Avon Historical Society and Avon Senior Center. Therefore, anyone in the world may sign up to participate! The library will issue the registration and link. If you do not receive a flyer or email with details, check the Library website Event section to obtain the link. July 14 – 6pm – “Black Suffragettes” presented by CT historian Tammy Denease. Sept. 19 – 2pm - Author book talk “Suffragents” – the role men played in the Suffrage movement Sept. 14 - 6pm– Unique presentation with Meredith Bermann, sculptress of the soon-to-be unveiled larger than life statue of suffragists in Central Park. Mrs. Bermann is a CT native and known worldwide for her large, extensive sculptures of people. Sept. 30 – 2pm – Pre-recorded dramatic portrayal of Susan B. Anthony by professional actress Sheryl Faye who has appeared several times in Avon as various women in history. SPECIAL ZOOM EVENT – TUESDAY, JUNE 23, 7:00pm. Book Talk by Walter Woodward, State Historian, about his newly released book CREATING CONNECTICUT: Critical Moments That Shaped a Great State. To register, visit: https://www.avonctlibrary.info/events/?tribe_paged=1&tribe_event_display=list&tribe-bar-date=2020-06-23

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Watkinson School Student’s Senior Project about Avon By Nora Howard, Avon Town Historian

Earlier this year, Zoe Giannini of Avon began work on her senior project for Watkinson School. She

researched Avon’s soldiers during the American Revolution, using sources in the Avon Free Public Library’s History Room. We thank Tina Panik, Reference & Adult Services Manager at the library, and Heddy Panik, history room volunteer, for their direction and oversight. I was her mentor. Zoe presented her work to her teachers on May 7th via a meeting on the internet.

After painstakingly collecting information about local soldiers, she wrote a narrative based on her new knowledge of their individual lives and on the daily life in Avon (then called Northington) at that time. Of special interest to her was the revelation that some of Avon’s soldiers were just children under the age of 18.

Zoe’s story focused on one day only: August 27, 1776. She looked at the Avon soldiers at the battle of Long Island: Asaph Fuller, 16, and his brothers David and John III; Joseph Bishop, 26; brothers Zebulon Woodruff Jr., and Micah Woodruff. She wrote about young men who would soon sign up as soldiers: Imri Judd, 16, Thomas Fitch Bishop, Isaac Gillet, Jesse Sanford, Ashbel Tillotson, Isaac Osborn. She also wrote about soldiers who were fighting elsewhere: Selah Hart, just 15 years old. Here is an excerpt from Zoe’s remarkable work. The sky was dark. A cover of swollen blue and black clouds hangs overhead at Long Island, New York. It was the morning of August 27, 1776. Men are lining up for battle. Washington’s ragtag army had encamped in Brooklyn Heights after having received word of a British invasion of the young state of New York. Ten thousand American men, many from the smaller colony of Connecticut, had been drawn to defend the colony.… Now, the hour for battle had come and the men were falling into line. These were blacksmiths, farmers, ordinary countrymen…. Somewhere along the line of men was 16-year-old Asaph Fuller of Northington, Connecticut. Separated from his brothers, his parents, the teenager felt perspiration collect on his forehead and tried to shake away the fear. His mind lingered back to his life back home.

Congratulations to Zoe for completing this complicated and important project. Her story and findings

will be placed in the History Room collection. We are grateful for her work, a rich and valuable addition to knowledge about Avon during the American Revolution. Zoe heads to William & Mary College this fall, where she will continue her studies of American history.

The grave of Isaac Gillet, courtesy of Avon Free Public Library w/ findagrave.com.

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GENERAL NEWS and WHAT HAS BEEN KEEPING US BUSY

As an update to the adaptive reuse work about to begin at School House No. 3 on East Main Street, the Town of Avon, in conjunction with the Avon Historical Society, has submitted another Neighborhood Assistance Act (NAA) grant application through the CT Department of Revenue Services for 2020. This is a business tax credit program for any company that donates to a non-profit organization in certain categories. Last year the Town and Society successfully won an approximately $7,500 grant from Yankee Gas toward the electrical upgrades needed in the building. This year’s application is requesting funding up to $50,000 for additional HVAC and electrical work. Announcements of grant awards will be made later in the year. In response to the overwhelming interest in the Paleoindian find on Old Farms Road, the Society has created an advisory committee to assist in planning a series of informational and contextual events in 2021 that will expand and inform on various aspects of this find. A grant will be applied for later this year for this series. Watch the local media for details later this year. Members of the Society have been reviewing and participating in webinars by the American Alliance of Museum, American Association for State and Local History, Connecticut League of History Organizations and others on how to maintain cultural assets during this time. In addition, the Society is aware of all grants available for museums and historic sites to continue operations or convert to other forms of communication if required.

At this time of staying home and looking for things to do, many museums and historic sites have begun series of Zoom events be they book talks, topical discussions, presentations, or simply reading historic documents then discussing them as a group. Several Society members have been watching or participating in these events and finding them to be very enriching and uplifting. In addition, some feature well known or Pulitzer Prize winning authors and researchers who we would never have the chance to hear from personally, much less chat with, if it weren’t for the current mode of presentation. If you are interested in these, here is a very limited list. There are many out there to find if you do a search. All are worth the time and effort. Here are some of the organizations that have historic themed Zoom events:

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History CT Historical Society Mark Twain House Civil War Congress CT League of History Organizations Old Newgate Prison CT Historical Society

In addition, for those of you who are genealogists and find you have the time to do research, the American

Ancestors and New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston is offering free live webinars, how-to videos, downloads and online courses at: https://hubs.americanancestors.org/free-genealogy-resources. Now is the time to take advantage of free offers from very valuable organizations that are the caretakers of much of our regional history.

The Society congratulates member Lisa Samia who is the Artist in Residence for the Gettysburg National

Military Park, a program of the National Parks Arts Foundation. This honor is bestowed on one individual annually who has shown a lifelong career ensuring creative expression. According to the NPAF, this program is “the only non-profit of its kind, specifically focusing on bringing arts to National Parks, National Monuments and World Heritage Sites.” Lisa will spend four weeks this Fall at Gettysburg National Park for talks, events, television and radio opportunities as well as continue her writing. She won this distinguished award for her book The Nameless and Faceless of the Civil War: A Collection of Poems and Essays published in 2018.

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Check out the Avon history pole banners along Simsbury Road (Route 10) that were replaced again this year thanks to Avon Public Works. These are designed to welcome and educate drivers, but mostly walkers and bikers, of the rich heritage here in Avon.

Hawley letters uploaded for public viewing Press Release by Nora O. Howard, Town Historian, May 2020

In June 2019, the Avon Free Public Library received 62 long-lost letters about life in Avon from 1798-1828. Most of the letters were written to Avon native Timothy Ruggles Hawley who was living in Ohio. The family he left behind in Avon and New Haven kept in close touch with him, sending detailed letters that illuminate aspects of local history. Timothy grew up in Avon (then called Northington), the son of Rev. Rufus and Deborah Hawley. He moved to the Western Reserve of Connecticut (northern Ohio) as a 30-year old man in 1801.

The Hawley Society and its genealogist Trudy Hawley donated the letters to the Avon library. Nora Howard, Avon’s Town Historian, had worked with Trudy before on Hawley family history, so Trudy knew the library and Avon’s historians well. Trudy had received the letters from a donor in Wooster, Ohio. The family did not know where the letters came from, but it appeared the letters had been in the family for a long time. The donor may have been connected to descendants of Timothy Hawley, and the letters may have been passed down through generations.

When the library received a large cardboard box containing the letters last June, there was a formal box-opening. Among those present were library staff and volunteers (Tina Panik and Heddy Panik), the president of the Historical Society (Terri Wilson) historians of the West Avon Congregational Church (Marj Bender and Jeannie Parker), Town historian and historian of the Avon Congregational Church (Nora Howard), and the sexton of the West Avon Cemetery (Dick Rulon). Photographer Deb Key documented the event.

In a true team effort, Marj Bender and Nora Howard recently finished transcribing the letters almost a year after receiving them. They carefully proofread each other’s transcriptions and added an introduction to each letter. Tina Panik, of the Avon Free Public Library, uploaded all the letters to the library website, under the Marian Hunter History Room tab. Each original letter is beautifully presented, with its accompanying transcription.

Said Mrs. Howard, “These letters are a goldmine, showing details we have never been able to capture in any other way: canal building, church issues, family life, national politics, emigration to Ohio, and so much more. I can speak for my historian colleagues and also for the entire Town of Avon to say we are so very grateful to the donor of these letters, and to Trudy Hawley of the Hawley Society for making sure they came home to Avon. We are also so proud of the Avon Library, for so carefully preserving these precious letters and now making sure they are available in the History Room and also digitally to the world-wide public.” NOTE: Hawley family history can also be found in Catch’d on Fire: The Journals of Rufus Hawley, 1763-1812, by Nora Howard, and A Tale of Two Meetinghouses and Their Communities, 1746-2019, by Marj Bender, Nora Howard and Jeannie Parker.

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Rev. Rufus Hawley gravestone replica installed at West Avon Cemetery

As was reported one year ago, the Rev. Rufus Hawley 1826 gravestone was deteriorated and needed to be replaced. A new one, made of comparable grade stone from Vermont, was handcrafted by artisan and historian Randall Nelson of Willington, CT with funds donated by the Marilyn Lindsay Foundation and the Marilyn Lindsay Revocable Trust. Attending the ceremony on June 3rd to install the new stone, in this social distancing photo, were fifth and sixth generation descendants of Rev. Hawley, Mr. John Miller and his daughter, Amanda, on the right. Members of the Avon Historical Society are on the left and Mr. Randall Nelson with Society member Dick Rulon, superintendent of West Avon Cemetery are in the center. According to state probate law, the original stone is in the archives of the Avon Historical Society. Photo courtesy of Deb Key Imagery.

Thanks to the ingenuity of Trustee Gene Macy, the Derrin House has a rain barrel to use by Society member Lesley Mancini who is tending the herb garden outside the house this summer! Photo courtesy of Gene Macy.

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ANNUAL RENEWAL OF MEMBERSHIPS RETURNS TO JUNE

For many years the Avon Historical Society annual membership dues reminders were mailed in June. For the past decade the Society has become lax in reminding members about their dues obligation. Two years ago the Society invested in Quickbooks for its financial management and is returning to ANNUAL renewals by email in the month of June only, with mailings to those who do not use email. For those members who joined the Society in 2020, your membership will extend to June 2021. By this time next year, we should be caught up to with everyone renewing in the month of June. Thank you for your patience while we undertake this new process.

Since March 2020, the leadership of the Society has had many opportunities to attend webinars and zoom events to help all historic and cultural properties continue to operate during this time and prepare for reopening when it is possible. There are many industry-based associations offering help and guidance as well and the Society is listening and weighing all options. It is not easy to keep all four properties in mind, the archives, the adaptive reuse in the future and the exhibits and events that are part of who we are as a local organization. However, we are moving along at a normal speed and taking into consideration everything presented to us. We are not being hasty or selfish when making these decisions because we prefer our members, and our community, to be safe and healthy so when we can come back together in the future, it is at full capacity!

Do you shop Amazon? If you do, please go to: http://smile.amazon.com and CHOOSE the Avon Historical Society, Avon, CT to have .5% of your purchase donated to us! It’s simple and free.

The mission of the Avon Historical Society, founded in 1974, is to identify, collect,

preserve, utilize, publish, display and promote the history and heritage of Avon.

2020-2021 Officers and Board of Trustees

Officers: Trustees: Terri Wilson, President Mary Harrop

Dr. Helaine Bertsch, Vice President Gene Macy open, Secretary Carolyn McGrattan

Eric Throndson, Treasurer Cal Miller-Stevens

Sebastian Saraceno Heddy Panik

Brian Malone Carol Bradovchak

MEMBERSHIP IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Contact the Society for details.