St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church, Winsted (1916)

The early history of St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church in Winsted is related in The History of the Diocese of Hartford (1900), by Rev. James H. O’Donnell:

The first Mass said in Winsted, or, as it was then called, Clifton, was offered by the Rev. James Lynch, of Birmingham, in the west district school-house, in 1851, in the presence of about forty persons. An old resident, however, is authority for the statement that the first Mass was said in 1850 by a Father Tucker. One who was present at Father Lynch’s Mass, Mrs. Gabriel Grinnan, is still living, and has vivid recollections of the same. Mr. Peter Dardis came to Winsted in 1849. At that time, he says, there were about twelve Catholic families here. In 1851 land was purchased for a church. In 1852 the Rev. Thomas Quinn entered upon his duties as the first resident pastor of Winsted. Soon after his arrival he began the erection of the church, the corner-stone of which was laid in 1853. Until the church was ready for occupancy, divine services were held in Camp’s Hall. In 1853 Father Quinn was succeeded by the Rev. Philip Gillick, who came from the diocese of New York. He completed the church, in the basement of which he took up his residence.

Two later pastors served as chaplains in the Civil War:

Daniel Mullen was appointed pastor in 1860, but at the outbreak of the Civil War he resigned to accept the office of chaplain of the Ninth Connecticut Volunteers. “Father Mullen was a man of literary culture,” says the Annals of Winchester, “and earnest patriotism, who served at Baton Rouge and Chackaloo Station, La., and Deep Bottom, Va. He was compelled by ill health to resign on the 26th of August, 1862.” Father Mullen’s successor was the Rev. Philip Sheridan, who a few years later was followed by Rev. Father Leo da Saracena, O.S.F., who had taken Father Mullen’s place as chaplain of the Ninth Regiment.

Since that time, the parish has continued in the care of the Franciscan Friars of the Province of the Immaculate Conception, which began with a band of four friars from Italy who arrived in New York City in 1855. A monastery for the friars in Winsted was constructed in 1866. The cornerstone of the current St. Joseph Church was blessed on August 30, 1914 and the completed building, located at 31 Oak Street in Winsted, was dedicated on July 16, 1916. The 1853 church building was converted into a parish hall.

Capt. William Clark House (1790)

The Captain William Clark House at 45 Old Boston Post Road in Old Saybrook is thought to have been built c. 1780/1790, with later alterations made in the Greek Revival style in the 1850s when it was acquired by Thomas C. Acton. The house would become known as Acton Place. T. C. Acton (1823-1898) was a politician and reformer in New York City and was the first person to be appointed president of the city’s Board of Police Commissioners. During the early stages of the New York City Draft Riots in 1863, after police superintendent John A. Kennedy had been incapacitated due to a beating by the angry mob, Acton took active charge of police forces in Manhattan. This tense experience placed a strain on his health and after the Riots Acton took a five year leave of absence from the NYPD. He later served as Assistant U. S. Treasurer, a position he eventually left to establish the Bank of New Amsterdam. In 1896 Acton moved to his summer home in Old Saybrook where he died on May 1, 1898. The house remained in the Acton family well into the twentieth century.

Harmon B. Johnson House (1842)

Harmon B. Johnson

The house at 335 Old Whitfield Street in Guilford has a sign that reads as follows:

1842

Harmon B. Johnson

Union Army Private
Died For One Flag

March 8, 1865
Kinston, NC

Harmon B. Johnson served in the 15th Connecticut Infantry Regiment during the Civil War. His name is inscribed on the Soldiers’ Monument in Guilford under the heading “Fredericksburg.” The 15th Connecticut fought at Fredericksburg but Johnson was killed at the Battle of Wyse Fork, fought March 7-10, 1865 near Kinston, North Carolina. The house is now a condominium unit.

General Horatio G. Wright House (1807)

At 95 East Main Street in Clinton is a Federal-style house built in 1807 by Edward Wright, Sr. and later inherited by his eldest son, Edward Wright, Jr. His middle of three sons, born in this house, was Horatio Gouverneur Wright. He was a West Point graduate who achieved the rank of general during the Civil War. After the death of Gen. John Sedgwick (also from Connecticut) during the Overland Campaign of 1864, Gen. Wright replaced him as the 6th Corps Commander. He later led VI Corps in the Shenandoah Valley and at the Siege of Petersburg. Since 2002, the house has been the M. Sarba Fine Art Café.

Memorial Hall, Windsor Locks (1890)

Memorial Hall in Windsor Locks was dedicated in 1890 in honor of the town’s Civil War veterans. Funds for the building‘s construction were provided by Charles E. Chaffee, a textile manufacturer. Soldiers Memorial Hall originally housed the J.H. Converse Post, No. 67, Grand Army of the Republic. The Post, formed in 1884, was named for Major Joseph H. Converse, who was killed in action at the Battle of Cold Harbor, on June 4, 1864. Memorial Hall was designed by Frederick S. Newman in the Richardsonian Romanesque style (Newman also designed the Linden apartments in Hartford and the Chicopee Bank in Springfield) The museum inside the Hall now honors Windsor Locks veterans of all wars and the building hosts the town’s American Legion post. Memorial Hall is open to visitors by guided tour. (more…)

Allen G. Brady House (1867)

Allen G. Brady, who operated a cotton mill in Torrington, served as a major in the Seventeenth Connecticut Regiment in the Civil War. At the Battle of Gettysburg, Brady took command of the Regiment after the death of Lt. Col. Douglas Fowler during the fighting at Barlow’s Knoll on July 1, 1863. The following day, Brady was wounded in the shoulder. After the War, Brady had a house built on Prospect Street in Torrington, which was at that time a residential area. He later moved to North Carolina to run a rebuilt cotton mill. The Gleeson Mortuary has used the house since 1927.

The Buckingham Memorial (1847)

buckingham-memorial.jpg

William Alfred Buckingham was the governor of Connecticut from 1858 to 1866. A wealthy businessman, he entered politics as a Whig, serving several terms as mayor of Norwich. Buckingham later became a republican, winning election as governor in 1858. In 1860, he traveled with Abraham Lincoln as the Illinois Republican made six speeches throughout Connecticut. The two became friends and the governor responded quickly when Lincoln, as president, requested volunteers after the firing on Fort Sumter. Buckingham served throughout the ensuing Civil War, leaving the governorship in 1866 to return to his former business pursuits. He later served as a U.S. senator from 1869 until his death in 1875. Buckingham‘s house, on Main Street in Norwich, was built in 1847. After his death, it was purchased by the veterans group, Sedgwick Post No. 1 of the Grand Army of the Republic. The house, thereafter known as the Buckingham Memorial, has more recently been turned over to the Norwich Historical Society for use as offices and perhaps, in the future, a museum.