Built c. 1790, the house at 67 Moodus Road in Middle Haddam was originally the home of Captain Ralph Smith (1761-1838), a retired sea captain who became a farmer and owned a gristmill, sawmill and distillery on a stream near his home. His children sold the house to Daniel McLean (1818-1877), a steamship steward, in 1867. Born in Bristol, Rhode Island, McLean had been a customs officer at New Orleans. Dr. George Lawson, who married McLean’s daughter Ida Louise in 1897, had his medical office in the house in the early years of the twentieth century. He used a room off the front parlor as his pharmacy. An interesting news item mentioning Dr. Lawson (“Sick Man Well Enough to Escape from Sheriff”) appeared in The Day on September 8, 1909:
Owing to the dilatory measures employed by the officers of the law, Henry Smith, the suspected murderer of his brother, William Smith, escaped yesterday afternoon from his home at Haddam Neck, shortly before the arrival of Sheriff Davis to arrest Smith. The suspected man said on Monday night, when he got a visit from the sheriff, that he was ill from malaria and the sheriff left him without making an arrest or leaving a man on guard.
Dr. G. N. Lawson of Middle Haddam was called by Smith yesterday afternoon and he arrived at the house about 1 o’clock. The man escaped between the time of the doctor’s call and that of the sheriff, which was about 5 p. m.
The house’s original hip roof and Federal detailing have since been removed.
Hi I’m Ashley-Love (Smith) Bartels. I have been looking into my family tree and it shows that I’m a direct descendant of Ralph Smith from my father’s side. He’s John H. Smith. His father was Thomas K. Smith II and my grandpa’s father was Thomas K. Smith Sr. His father was John Webster Smith was son of Thomas K. Smith birth place Middletown Conn. birth 18 March 1817 died 20 Jan 1896 in Grant Parish La. He was the son of Capt Ralph Smith and Mary Kirby Smith of Middletown Conn.