Albert J. Briggs House (1891)

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D. Luther Briggs and Albert J. Briggs were brothers from Sackville, New Brunswick, who came to Cromwell in 1871 and set up D. L. Briggs & Company, a wholesale meat-packing firm which imported western beef by railroad. The company is described, in The Leading Business Men of Middeltown, Portland, Durham and Middlefield (1890), as “dealers in Chicago Dressed Beef, Lamb, Mutton, Pork, Lard. Hams, etc.” D. L. Briggs moved to Middletown (to a house on Washington Street), eventually becoming the mayor (1890-94). Albert Briggs remained in Cromwell, living on Main Street in an 1891 Queen Anne style house, with Stick elements, until his death in 1901. His widow, Eugenia C. Briggs, was in Europe when the First World War started in 1914. 400 American “refugees,” who had gathered in Genoa, found passage home on the steamship Principe Di Udine.

Stonehaven (1888)

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Completed in 1887 or 1888, Stonehaven is an impressive Queen Anne style house on Main Street in Portland. It was built for three sisters from the Brainerd family by their brother. The house acquired its name when it was used as a rental property during World War II. Today, Stonehaven is one of the locations of the Rushford Center, a provider of substance abuse and mental health treatment programs.

Joshua Adams House (1891)

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The Queen Anne-style house of Joshus Adams, on Church Street in Wethersfield, features wood shingles and a sunburst pattern in the front gable. Generations of the Adams family of Wethersfield were involved in various forms of woodworking: Josha Adams was the great-great grandson of Amasa Adams, who owned a half-interest in the Chester Mill, afterward known as Adams Mill, at Mill Woods (PDF).