Judge Elisha Stearns House (1800)

26 Tolland Green

The house at 26 Tolland Green in Tolland was probably built sometime in the eighteenth century and was certainly standing by c. 1800. Recent research suggests it may be much older than the traditionally ascribed date of 1800. As explained in a post by the Tolland Historical Society, the land where the house stands was part of a 10-acre parcel acquired by Josiah Goodrich, Sr. in 1725. He had a trading shop on the property, which may have been located in the north wing of the present house. In 1750 Josiah Goodrich, Jr. sold the property to John Huntington, Jr.

The house is traditionally named for Judge Elisha Stearns, who was the first president of the Tolland County Bank, incorporated in 1828. The bank operated briefly inside the house until a bank building was erected in 1829. Frank T. Newcomb, Treasurer of the Savings Bank of Tolland and Tolland County Treasurer, served as postmaster and had a post office in the ell of the house from 1888 to 1893. In the nineteenth century the house was extensively remodeled in the Victorian style. It was later altered again in the Colonial Revival style.

John Smith House (1742)

163 Main Street, Farmington

John Smith built the house at 163 Main Street in Farmington in 1742. He sold it to John Hart, but repurchased it from Hart in 1750-1751. It was then acquired by Dr. Elisha Lord in April 1751, who resided there until 1762. He served in the French and Indian War, as mentioned in Proceedings of the Connecticut Medical Society (1863):

Dr. Elisha Lord, son of Cyprian and Elizabeth (Backus) Lord, was born Aug. 10, 1726. He located first at Farmington, but subsequently returned to Norwich. After accompanying the troops sent against Crown Point, he was appointed, May, 1758, surgeon to the first regiment. In this capacity, and as director of hospital stores, he served till Dec. 22, 1760. He died at the age of forty-two.

Stephen Dorchester and Elizabeth Gould Dorchester lived in the house from 1762 to 1786. The house then passed through a succession of other owners. It was a property of the Wilcox family from 1845 to 1910. The Root family owned and leased the property between 1915 and 1963, at some point moving the house back from the street and converting it into a duplex.

Sylvanus Jones House (1734)

Sylvanus Jones House

The saltbox colonial house at 10 Elm Avenue in the Norwichtown area of Norwich was built in 1734 by Sylvanus Jones. As related in Old Houses of the Antient Town of Norwich (1895), by Mary E. Perkins:

It is possible that the “Great Room” or kitchen, and “the Lentoo” of the old Fitch or Knight house were added in 1734 to the house, then erected by Sylvanus Jones, on land purchased of Andre Richard, but of this we have no positive proof.

Sylvanus Jones (b. 1707), was the son of Caleb Jones, one of the first settlers of Hebron, Ct., and his wife Rachel, daughter of John Clark of Farmington, Ct. He married in 1730 Kesiah, daughter of Isaac and Elizabeth (Curtis) Cleveland, and died in 1791. He had eight children, and at his death, his son, Ebenezer, becomes the owner of the house and land.

Ebenezer Jones (b. 1744), married in 1765, Elizabeth Rogers, and had three daughters, one of whom, Lucy (b. 1766), marries Henry J. Cooledge, and another, Rachel (b. 1771), becomes in 1793 the wife of Asa Lathrop, Jun. Louisa, daughter of Lucy (Jones) Cooledge, marries in 1832 Charles Avery of New London, and her daughter, Mrs. Harriet Robinson, now owns and occupies the house.

We do not know the occupation of Sylvanus, but Ebenezer was a cooper, and Mr. Miner pictures him “with his ads and double driver, holding it in the middle, and playing it rapidly on the empty barrel, as he drives the hoop, sounding a reveille to the whole neighborhood regular as the strains of Memnon.” His shop stood south of the house and a little back from the street.

Phelps-Bingham House (1740)

Phelps-Bingham House

Aaron Phelps was a successful farmer in Andover who built one of the first mills on Staddle Brook and also donated land in 1747 for the future town‘s first Congregational meetinghouse. He also donated land for a road to neighboring Hebron. In 1740 Phelps erected a house at what is now 40 Hebron Road. His house and barn were often used for worship services and Society meetings before the meetinghouse was built. Phelps’ house has a one-room deep main block with a rear ell and a later Greek Revival doorway. After Phelps died in 1750, 112 acres of his property on both sides of Hebron Road, including the house, were acquired by the Bingham family.