Frank C. Fowler House (1890)

The house at 30 Plains Road, on the east side of the Moodus Green in East Haddam, was built c. 1890. It was the home of Frank C. Fowler. Born in 1859, Fowler served in the state General Assembly in 1897. According to his biography in Taylor’s Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut for 1897-1898, “Since 1882 he has been prosperously engaged in the manufacture of proprietary remedies, and is also proprietor of the well known Oak Grove Stock Farm.” He is further described as, “an ardent sportsman owning one of the largest game preserves in the country, and has given attention to the propagation and protection of our native game.” He also built a harness race track on the flats above the Green. Fowler’s 110′ yacht the Huntress was commissioned by the navy in 1898 for duty in the Spanish-American War.

Guilford Smith House (1877)

Guilford Smith (1839-1923), who left his childhood home in South Windham to become a library, built his own house nearby in 1877. Located at 9 Main Street, it is an elaborately decorated Victorian residence. According to a biography of Smith in Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, Vol. VII (1910):

Guilford Smith, of Windham, who was horn in South Windham. May 12, 1839, is the son Charles and Mary A. Smith, and is descended from Governor William Bradford of the Mayflower colony. He was educated in the public schools of his native town and at Hall’s School at Ellington. When nineteen years of age, he entered the office of Smith, Winchester & Co., as a clerk, passing through all the departments. Upon the death of his father, he succeeded him, being now president and treasurer of the now The Smith. Winchester Mfg. Co. He is also president of the Windham National Bank of Willimantic, a director of the New London and Northern Railway, and president of St. Joseph’s Hospital, Willimantic. On December 16, 1863, Mr. Smith married Mary Ramsdall. daughter of Thomas and Mary Elizabeth (Lathrop) Ramsdall. He is one of the leading citizens of South Windham, is active in church and civil affairs, has represented his town in the General Assembly in 1883, and filled various local official stations. He is a member of the Ecclesiastical Society of the Congregational Church, whose house of worship was built chiefly at his expense. He is also a member of the Society of Mayflower descendants. He faithfully served as a member of the Committee on Banks [in the State Assembly].

H. Wooster Webber House (1896)

Henry Wooster Webber (1866-1911) was a superintendent at Comstock, Cheney & Company in Ivotyton, a position his father, Lorenzo Dow Webber (1833-1905), had held for thirty years. H. Wooster Webber later also served on the board of directors of the company. He married Bessie Wright in 1893. Her father, Alfred Mortimer Wright, led the Connecticut Valley Manufacturing Company in Centerbrook. Webber’s house at 81 Main Street in Ivoryton was built in 1896, next to his father’s house. He later moved his family to Hartford because of the high reputation of the city’s public schools. Then he would reside during the week in Ivoryton and spend his weekends with his family in Hartford. The family also had a summer home in Westbrook. Webber died in 1911 and after his widow’s death in 1920, the house in Ivoryton was inhereted by their son L. D. Webber, who lost the house eighteen years later when he went bankrupt.

Herbert L. Hoxie House (1898)

The house at 25 Moss Street in Pawcatuck (in Stonington) was built in 1898 for Herbert Leon Hoxie (1857-1934), who moved from nearby Westerly, Rhode Island. As described in Representative Men and Old Families of Rhode Island, Vol. III (1908):

Herbert L. Hoxie, born Aug. 26, 1857, in Charlestown, spent his boyhood days in his native town and in Richmond, and until 1880 engaged in farming. He worked for Welcome C. Tucker, of Carolina, at blacksmithing for three months, and then came to Westerly, and began to learn the machinist’s trade with Cottrell & Babcock, with whom he has ever since remained.

Mr. Hoxie was married in Charlestown, R. I., to Annie Frances, daughter of Benjamin Tucker and Frances Taylor, and they have had one child, Carroll Walter, born June 24, 1897. He is a member of Pawcatuck Lodge, No. 90, A. F. & A. M.

Mary B. Clark House (1896)

The house at 74 Windham Street in Willimantic was built for Mary B. Clark in 1896, four years after the town selectmen voted to extend Windham Street north from Valley Street, opening lots near the new Willimantic Normal School. Born in 1844 in Coventry, Mary Bidwell Winchester was the niece of the founder of the Smith and Winchester Company, paper manufacturers in South Windham. She married and later divorced Daniel S. Clark Jr., a machinist who was five years her junior. After the divorce, Mary Clark became wealthy investing in real estate, however in late 1905 her behavior was becoming erratic. She became terrified her house would be burgled while she slept. She kept the lights on all night and fired her revolver at sheets on the close-line outside that she believed might be potential burglars. When the police arrived to investigate, they were threatened with a “dose of lead.” Mrs. Clark was arrested for discharging firearms in the city limits. She was eventually taken to the Hartford Retreat for the Insane, where she remained until her death in 1929 at the age of 84.

There is an interesting article detailing the history of the house: Part One|Part Two|Part Three.

See also, “Her Mind Shies at Burglars. Conservator Appointed for Willimantic Woman. Is Sane Except at Mention of Thieves,” (Hartford Courant, December 7, 1905).