Date: Fri 28-Jul-1995

Publication: Bee

Author: ANDREA

Quick Words:

Library-history-collection

Full Text:

Library Collection Assembles Pieces Of Newtown's Historical Puzzle

B Y A NDREA Z IMMERMANN

Eclectic is an apt word to describe the historical collection found at the

Cyrenius Booth Library - patterns for making spoons, a slice of the town's

original liberty flagpole, dental tools used by Dr Cyrenius Booth, dinosaur

footprints in stone from the Triassic period found in Virginia in 1923 by a

Newtown resident, cannonballs, fine artwork, 18th century children's toys, a

Franklin stove, a prized genealogy collection, and a bronze bust of

Connecticut's only governor to live in Newtown, Luzon Morris.

But the term eclectic fails to convey the intimate, and sometimes humorous,

story of those who lived in our small town, and of the few who thought that

tale worthy of preserving.

By the turn of this last century, Charles Henry Peck, a farmer, teacher,

postmaster, and town clerk, had amassed hundreds of items relating to Newtown

life and history. These artifacts were displayed in a small museum in the

front room of his home, now known as the Balcony House on Main Street. He knew

where each item came from and delighted in sharing the sometimes unexpected

history bound to the objects.

For instance, during a 1895 interview by The Bee , Mr Peck told the story of

an iron plate in his collection that had belonged to D.B.Beer's aunt, who

married an Episcopal clergyman. "This marriage was blessed by an unusually

large family of children and they seemed to have a great fondness for smashing

plates, especially the crockery ones," the article said. "In his dilemma the

poor clergyman is said to have rushed off and had enough iron plates made for

the use of his large family to save further breakage...We can have some

sympathy for the poor clergyman when we look on this specimen for as hard as

it is a good sized piece is broken off its edge."

Mr Peck also had what he believed was the first lock "ever brought into

Newtown." The Bee related, "It is probable he will not be disputed by those

who see it, but it is really too bad there ever was a first one, for perhaps

Newtown people would have always remained too honest to need locks if they

hadn't been introduced for them to try to break."

Mr Peck imparted his enthusiasm for preserving Newtown's past to his adopted

son, Arthur Nettleton, who later became the president of Newtown Savings Bank

and financial adviser to Mary Elizabeth Hawley. Mr Nettleton contributed

greatly to the community in many ways, the least of which is not adding to the

historical preservation of items from town.

The "first lock" and most of the other items in Mr Peck's collection were

donated to the newly built Cyrenius Booth Library in 1932. The library was an

appropriate spot to house these pieces because there was no historical society

in town at that time. And the new building was considered the "showpiece" of

the community.

"It was the first building we entered in town," said Caroline Stokes, who

moved here 49 years ago with her husband, Bob. She subsequently served on the

library board for 20 years and then became the first curator of the library's

historical collection, a position she has held for the past decade. "My job as

curator is to expose [the collection] to the public on rotation and have

things arranged in an attractive way."

Mrs Stokes rearranged the furniture and display cases so they were dispersed

through the library in the hope of creating "a more homey and gracious"

atmosphere. The nucleus of the 2,000 piece collection is from the Hawley home,

she said. But, because of space limitations many of the items need to be

stored.

Some of the fine art donated to the library includes sculptures by the late

John Angel, who also bequeathed his collection of art books. There are a dozen

signed Hitchcock chairs in the Early American chair collection which are

located in the attic and can be seen by request. Mary Elizabeth Hawley's

canopy featherbed is also on display there.

The ropes across the bed frame needed to be tightened with a special tool each

night to prevent the mattress from sagging. "That's where the saying, 'Sleep

tight,' originated," said the curator.

Julia Wasserman donated an Early American lighting collection to the library.

Military items, china, baskets, hats, clothing, and other items used every day

by people in Newtown are also part of the historical holdings.

"These represent how our forefathers lived; the fine craftsmanship of the

past," said Mrs Stokes. "This Rose Lustre tea set shows people enjoyed

beautiful things. Maybe it is not to your taste, but I covet it! They used

this right here in town - right down the road...The heritage of our past is

brought together by this collection."

But unless these myriad objects are organized and well exhibited, it is just

clutter, admitted the curator. So during the past ten years she and a host of

volunteers have sorted, identified, and inventoried all that is in the

library's collection. This extends to the shelves of unsorted papers that were

stored in the vault.

The maps, deeds, diaries, and other documents were numbered and indexed so

they could be accessible to researchers. Plastic sleeves and acid free boxes

now hold much of the self-service material. Because of the dry, protected

environment in the vault, the Newtown Historical Society was pleased when Mrs

Stokes offered to sort their boxes of written material. These are now on

permanent loan to the library.

"One of the most interesting things we have is all of the minutes of the

Newtown Men's Literary and Social Club," said the library curator. "They were

the moving group of Newtown in the late 1800s and into the 1900s. There were

no service groups in town then like the Lions Club... The club organized to

get a better flagpole [erected]."

Donations continuously come in, said Mrs Stokes. Genealogist Julia Brush, who

in the 1930s left to the library "a really fine collection of [geneaology

books about] Fairfield County and New England dating back to the early 1700s,"

also had 30 boxes of papers that did not reach the library until 60 years

later.

"I determined it was something valuable and by persistence, over three years,

we read, sorted, and filed the material," said Mrs Stokes. "It was a labor of

love by many people." The boxes contained handwritten copies of town, probate,

and family records of Fairfield County residents.

Each year the curator chooses one or two projects to accomplish. Last year

volunteers mended 2-300 genealogy books. This year she would like to add to

the oral histories of Newtown people, and expand the collection of books

written or illustrated and signed by local residents.

"There are many more things to learn about the history of our community," said

Mrs Stokes. "Future gifts and donations will reveal treasures that are not yet

known."

Written materials relating to Newtown including tapes, photographs, and deeds,

are sought by the library. Other items of historical significance are also

welcome.