Ebenezer Dayton House (1730)

The house at 388 Amity Road in Bethany was built c. 1730. Its earliest known owner, c. 1780, is Ebenezer Dayton, a privateer of the Revolutionary War. A dramatic robbery took place in this house in 1780. The robbery was planned at the Turel Whittemore Tavern in Seymour. The incident is described by John Warner Barber in Connecticut Historical Collections (1836):

On the night following the 14th of March, 1780, the house of Capt. Ebenezer Dayton, then residing in this place, was broken into and robbed by seven men, who were tories, and headed by a British officer, from Long Island. Mr. Dayton’s house was situated nearly opposite where the first meeting house in Bethany was erected, about half a mile south of the present Congregational church, and about ten miles N. W. of New Haven.

The particulars of this robbery, were obtained from the Rev. Mr. Dayton, son of Capt. Dayton, mentioned above. Mr. Dayton, who belonged to Long Island, was on account of his attachment to the American cause, obliged to leave that island, and bring his effects with him to Bethany. A number of men, some of his neighbors, were obliged to leave the island for the same cause, and brought a considerable quantity of money with them, and for a while resided in Mr. Dayton’s house. With these facts, the robbers appear to have become acquainted. At the time of the robbery, Mr. Dayton was absent on business at Boston, and the men who had been staying in the house, had left the day before, so that there was no one in the house but his wife, Mrs. Phebe Dayton, three small children and two servant colored children. About midnight while they were all asleep, the window in the bedroom where Mrs. Dayton was sleeping, was burst in at once, seven armed men rushed in, passed through the room and immediately rushed into the chambers, expecting (it is supposed,) to find the men who had left the day before. While they were up stairs, Mrs. Dayton went to the front part of the house, raised the window and endeavored to alarm the neighbors. Mr. Hawley, the minister of the parish, and Dr. Hooker, the physician of the place, both lived within 20 rods distance; both had lights in their houses at the time, and both heard the alarm, but did not know from whence it proceeded. The robbers hearing Mrs. Dayton, came down, and tearing a sheet into strips tied her hands behind her, made her sit in a chair and placed her infant (about six months old,) in her lap, while one of the robbers placing the muzzle of his gun near her head, kept her in this position for about two hours, while the house was thoroughly ransacked from top to bottom. They found about 450 pounds in gold and silver, which belonged to Mr. Dayton, besides other valuable articles; what they could not conveniently carry off they wantonly destroyed, breaking in pieces all the crockery, furniture, &tc. The whole amount of property carried off and destroyed, including bonds, notes, &c. amounted to five thousand pounds.

The robbers left the house about 2 o’clock and went to a place in Middlebury, called Gunn town, where they were secreted in a cellar by a family who were friendly to the British cause. While they were on their way to Gunn town, they met a young man by the name of Chauncey Judd of Waterbury, on a bridge, who had been to see the young lady he afterwards married. Fearing he might discover them, they took him along with them. In the cellar kitchen where they were all secreted, there was a well. Into this well they talked of putting Mr. Judd; but the old lady of the house begged they would not think of it, as it would spoil the water. They stayed in this house a number of days: afterwards they went to Oxford, where they were secreted for several days longer in a barn; from thence they went to Stratford, took a whale boat and crossed over to Long Island. The people at Derby, having received information of their passing through that place two whale boats and crews, commanded by Capt. William Clarke and Capt. James Harvey, pursued them to the Island, and were fortunate enough to catch them all but one, just within the British lines. They were brought back, tried condemned and sent to Newgate; they however, broke prison and finally fled to Nova Scotia.

In the 1830s the house was owned by Colonel Elihu Sanford. In 1929 the house was moved 300 feet north of its original location to its current address.

Davidson Carriage Barn (1885)

Carriage Barn

At 254 Carrington Road, across from the Davidson House, 539 Litchfield Turnpike, in Bethany is the a historic carriage barn. It was erected c. 1885, a few years after S. G. Davidson built the farmhouse. According to local tradition, the barn was used for blacksmithing. It may also have housed equipment used by the Davidson Telephone Exchange System. This company, run by S. G. Davidson’s son, Tyler D. Davidson, installed five phone lines in Bethany between 1898 and 1903. Phone installation was free, but subscribers paid a $12 yearly rental fee. The Southern New England Telephone Company took over the system in 1907.

S. G. Davidson House (1882)

Davidson House, Bethany

The older rear section of the house at 539 Litchfield Turnpike, intersection with Carrington Road, in Bethany was built by James Seymour Tuttle, a blacksmith and axe-maker. Tuttle’s grandson, Samuel Gilbert Davidson, hired joiner Thomas H. Brooks to built the front section, erected in 1882-1883. There are also historic barns attached to the rear of the house and a carriage barn across the road. The farm run by Davidson, also called Minnow Brook Farm, is described by an admirer in Bethany and its Hills (1905):

And now, concluded Mr. Sperry, we come to a model farm, one of the model farms of Connecticut, that of our friend S. G. Davidson, who is one of Bethany’s most honored and esteemed men. It is indeed a model of what thrift, good taste, enterprise, foresight and sagacity well employed can accomplish. With Mr. Davidson in charge, even a wilderness could be made to blossom like the rose.

There Davidson’s son, Tyler D. Davidson (d. 1952), a farmer like his father and a teacher, also served as First Selectman, Justice of the Peace and was a member of the Connecticut state House of Representatives. In the 1930s the house became the “Old Elm Tea Room,” named for a large Elm in front of the house planted by S. G. Davidson. An upstairs room was also used for singing classes held by some of the women of the family.

Tyler Davidson’s daughters sold the house out of the family in 1957.

First Church of Christ Congregational, Bethany (1831)

First Church of Christ Congregational, Bethany

The first meetinghouse of Bethany’s Congregational Church was erected between 1769 and 1773. It stood on Meetinghouse Hill on what is now Dayton Road. In 1831, the building was dismantled and material from it was used in the construction of the current Congregational Church, located at 511 Amity Road. The new church was designed by Ira Atwater and it is said that architect David Hoadley sat on the advisory committee. Among various alterations over the years, in 1866 the front portico was enclosed to enlarge the vestibule and in 1931 the church was moved back several feet to accommodate the widening of Amity Road.

Beri Beecher House (1834)

Beri Beecher House

Located at 275 Carrington Road in Bethany is a house erected by Beri Beecher (died 1886) as a weeding gift for his new bride in 1834. The house remained in the Beecher family until 1900. Wallace Saxton, who served as First Selectman of Bethany from 1945 to 1953, lived in the house from 1905 to 1950. The property has been known as “Hillside Acres” and more recently as “Pear Tree Farm.” The house has a large Georgian Colonial addition constructed in 1991.

Old Congregational Parsonage, Bethany (1855)

Old Congregational Parsonage

The house at 508 Amity Road in Bethany was built in 1855 to serve as the parsonage for the Bethany Congregational Church. It was erected by designer-builder Col. Alvan Sperry (1786-1861). The Congregational Society had originally acquired the property in 1850. At that time the old Hezekiah Thomas Hotel still stood on the property. Parts of that building may have been incorporated into the new parsonage. Part of the hotel had been a 1750 structure, originally located at Rocky Corner, that had served as a school and early parish meeting-place. C. 1775 the building was moved to Bethany Green. It is described as follows in W. C. Sharpe’s Bethany Sketches and Records (1908):

More than a century ago a schoolhouse was standing on “Meeting House Hill,” near Bethany Green. It was in the Middle District. The building was two stories in height, the upper part being the Masonic Hall. It was near the meeting house, and was heated each Sunday, in order that the congregation might repair hither between the services.

In 1802 the South, West, and Middle Districts were consolidated into the Union District, which was eventually called the Center. When a new schoolhouse was built the old one was bought by Hezekiah Thomas. [In 1834] It was drawn across the valley to a site near the churches and served as a hall to a hotel built by Mr. Thomas. The hall was demolished about twentyfive years ago [1875] by the owner, Mr. [S]Perry.

The same book states that Hezekiah Thomas,

brother of David Thomas, was the first town clerk. He was proprietor of the Hezekiah Thomas hotel, which later became the Congregational parsonage. He married Chloe Beecher. Their daughter, Tabitha, married Isaac Jones.