Houses - Historic Buildings of Connecticut

William C. Cogswell House (1823)

The house at 6 Green Circle in Woodbury was built around 1823 for William Camp Cogswell (1796-1874). A merchant, Cogswell was twice married, first in 1821 to Frances Pomeroy Whittlesey (1801-1837); second in 1838 to Catharine A. Sherman. Cogswell ran a shop south of the house under the name Cogswell and Sherman. As described by W. A. Strong in a letter printed in The Town and People: A Chronological Compilation of Contributed Writings from Present and Past Residents of the Town of Woodbury, Connecticut (1901):

The pleasant days when I attended school in the old brown school house come back with greater force when the changes since that time are considered. Then the country store kept by Mr. Cogswell was where the people from far and near brought their butter and eggs to exchange for sugar, molasses, dry goods and Yankee notions. “Doc” was the presiding genius behind the counter, and we small boys looked with wonder and envy on the treasures he controlled. His fiddle was our delight and nothing could excel the music from his magical bow.

Dr. William M. Curtis House (1905)

Starting as a general practitioner in the 1890s in an office on Main Street in Bristol, Dr. William M. Curtis’s successful practice allowed him to build an impressive Queen Anne house at 23-25 High Street in 1905. His residence also served as his office, which accounts for the house having two entrances, one for the family and one for his patients. Dr. Curtis married Genevieve Bierce in 1896 and the couple had a daughter. After Dr. Curtis died in 1914, his family sold the house to another physician, Alburton A. Dewey (1874-1935). Like his predecessor, Dr. Dewey both lived and practiced medicine in the house until his death. The house was then converted into a multi-family dwelling. The house has been documented as part of the Historic American Buildings Survey.

Dexter-Wallace House (1834)

According to Mansfield Four Corners (2003), by Rudy J. Favretti, the house at 1637 Storrs Road in Mansfield was built sometime between 1818 and 1834 by Darius Dexter. It had many owners over the years and was acquired in 1931 by Raymond H. Wallace (1899-1965), professor of plant physiology at UCONN. He and his wife made alterations to the house which included the addition of a sun room.

Judge Elisha Stearns House (1800)

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.

165 Oakland Street, Manchester (1760)

The house at 165 Oakland Street in Manchester is an excellent example of an early Cape Cod-style home. It was built c. 1760-1770.

Lucius Chapman House (1834)

The Lucius Chapman House, at 87 Maple Street in Ellington, was built in 1834. It has a later Italianate entrance porch. As related in “Ellington, ” by Alice E. Pinney (The Connecticut Magazine, Vol. IV, No. 2, 1898):

About the beginning of the present century the business of the town changed its location again to a point on the old turnpike a mile east of the present center, near the junction with the road leading to Stafford, where a thriving store was kept in an old red gambrel-roofed house by Dr. James Steele of Tolland. Although he bore the professional title of doctor, he is recorded as being a merchant and a farmer. He died in 1819. Lucius Chapman is said to have kept the store from 1825 until 1856. when he sold out and went West and the place was abandoned for store purposes.

As noted by Henry Willey in Isaac Willey of New London, Conn., and His Descendants (1888), Rebecca Willey, daughter of Asa and Rebecca Wass Willey, was born in 1798 and in 1830 married

Lucius Chapman, a merchant of Ellington, Conn. They removed to Illinois, and were living there in 1861.

John Smith House (1742)

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.