From Newtown’s humble beginnings in 1705, its population has grown to nearly 29,000 residents, according to the 2016 census.

Many of those who have been born and raised here choose to remain in town and raise their families here as well.

In this series, which began earlier this year, The Newtown Bee is tracing longtime Newtown residents’ family trees and asking its current generation what makes the town such a special place to call home.

Hurlbutt/Meyers Ancestors

Newtown resident June Hanna has been diligently collecting newspaper clippings and photos of her ancestors as she seeks to archive her family’s history. Unfortunately, as the matriarch of the family, she says that those who came before her have passed away and are no longer able to answer her many questions on their genealogy.

She has, however, been able to confirm seven generations that have lived in Newtown, stemming from her paternal lineage. Scrawled on a sheet of thin cardboard, she has organized the date of birth and date of death for her preceding relatives, all of whom she says are buried locally at Zoar Cemetery in Sandy Hook.

Her first ancestors to call Newtown home were Charles Hurlbutt, who lived from 1838 to 1913, and his wife, Fannie, who lived from 1843 to 1922. They moved to town from New Jersey when Charles was in his 20s, so he could work at Fabric Fire Hose Company.

The business, located on Glen Road in Sandy Hook until it closed in the mid-1970s, produced fire hoses and employed many residents in the area.

“Supposedly, they went back to New Jersey,” Mrs Hanna says of her great-grandparents. Later in their lives, they returned to Newtown with their children.

Upon their return, the family lived in a modest home built for Fabric Fire Hose Company employees, she says, which was in walking distance of the business.

Charles and Fannie’s daughter, Grace Hurlbutt, who lived from 1875 to 1958, would go on to marry Henry Meyers, who lived from 1869 to 1916.

“My grandfather, who is Henry, died when my father was two, so [Grace] always worked 12 hours shifts — from 6 am to 6 pm — across the street [at Fabric Fire Hose Company],” Mrs Hanna said. “She worked hard.”

Her father, Earl Meyers, who lived from 1913 to 1989, was the youngest of four children that Grace worked tirelessly to provide for.

Mrs Hanna recalls hearing stories from people in town about her father’s early days, in that he must have had “a guardian angel watching over him” because of the countless times he was saved from falling into the home’s nearby river as a child.

In Earl’s teenage years, growing up on Glen Road, he met fellow Newtown resident Grace Margaret Reynolds, who lived from 1915 to 1989.

“My mother walked out at the end [of Walnut Tree Hill], that came out at Glen Road, and met my father everyday with an apple, and they walked to school,” Mrs Hanna said. “I didn’t know that ‘til the end of their life.”

The two would walk the two-and-a-half-mile trek together to Newtown High School, when it was previously located in the Hawley Elementary School building.

The love Mrs Hanna’s parents shared for one another continued even into their final days, as Earl died less than a week after his wife’s death.

The reverend at her father’s funeral, Mrs Hanna said, told the crowd gathered, “Grace is waiting for Earl — she’s got his apple.”

Reasons To Stay

Mrs Hanna, born in 1941, knew from a young age that she wanted to remain in Newtown.

“I grew up in Sandy Hook north of the Methodist Church… [and spent] most of my time in The General Store,” Mrs Hanna recalls fondly.

According to an article from The Newtown Bee, in September 1980 titled “The Newtown General Store: One Chapter Closes, Another Begins,” Mrs Hanna’s father, Earl, worked as a grocer at The Newtown General Store. He later became a partner with Albert Knapp and George Trull in 1949, then took full ownership in 1958 before selling the business to Charles and Ruth Rudnick in 1980.

“Now after 31 years,” the article details, “the Meyers, both lifelong residents of Newtown, will retire, happy that the general store tradition will be carried on as it has been for over 100 years.”

With her family’s deep history and investment in Newtown, Mrs Hanna says she originally only wanted to date someone from Newtown to ensure she could remain here to raise her family.

When she met her late husband, Jack Hanna, and found out he was from Stratford, she was concerned at first.

Fortunately, she says, “He already loved Newtown” because his family built a summer cottage down by Lake Zoar.

Mrs Hanna was able to raise her two boys, Jack Hanna, Jr, born in 1961, and Jeff Hanna, born in 1963, in Newtown. Both sons also decided to raise their families in town.

Jeff even followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by falling in love with a local girl, Leslie Wilson. Her family lived in a house one street over to his, and they shared the same school bus stop.

The two would go on to marry, remain in Newtown, and raise seven children — the majority of which have also chosen to live in Newtown.

“I liked it here and still like it here,” Jeff said of his hometown. “I like knowing that I drive on the same roads and walk on the same land that my parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and great-great-grandparents were on… I like to think they had been up [at Zoar Cemetery], maintaining those spots, too, many moons ago.”

In April, Jeff’s 29-year-old son, Jason, became a father to his firstborn, Liam, who is now the Hanna family’s seventh generation to live in Newtown.

If your family has lived in Newtown for four or more generations and would like to be featured in this series, contact Alissa Silber at alissa@thebee.com or 203-426-3141.