Captain John Smith House (1720)

Captain John Smith House

Happy Thanksgiving!!! Here’s a Colonial house in Haddam, at 95 Jacoby Road. It was built in the first third of the eighteenth century, possibly around 1720. Around that time Stephen Smith came to Haddam from West Haven. He distributed land to his four sons in 1753, this house going to Captain John Smith (1728-1808), a seafarer. His son, John Smith, Jr., was a blacksmith. According to tradition he forged the links of a chain across the Hudson River intended to interfere with British shipping during the Revolutionary War. He also shod a horse for George Washington. John Smith III was an apprentice blacksmith under his brother-in-law Elisha Stevens, who later founded the J & E Stevens Company in Cromwell. The house remained in the Smith family until 1899. In the mid- 20th century the property was home to Joseph and Mae Harrington from New York who grew strawberries and grapes that were sold at Rozniaks in Higganum. Joseph Harrington was the author of the Lieutenant Kerrigan mystery series. The house is unusual in Connecticut for having a large cellar fireplace. The property also has a barn dating to 1725-1730 and a creamery shed that was connected to the house in 1978 to become a library.

Moses Bulkley House (1861)

Moses Bulkley House

In 1861 Moses Bulkeley, a prosperous Southport merchant, had a highly detailed Gothic Revival house erected at 176 Main Street. Designed by the Bridgeport architects Lambert & Bunnell, the house has distinctively Gothic pointed arches, decorated bargeboards and lancet windows. The tower was added to the house in 1886 by Moses Bulkeley’s son Oliver. From 1922, when the porch was extended, until 1958, the house was used as an inn.

Frederick A. Fowler House (1848)

Frederick A. Fowler House

The Italianate house at 49 Church Street in Guilford was built c. 1848 by Frederick A. Fowler. He was married to Laura Brooks, sister of Captain Oliver N. Brooks, who also lived at the house for a time. Captain Brooks was the lighthouse keeper at Faulkner’s Island from 1851 to 1882. He was described in Forest and Stream (Vol. LXXX, No. 8, January 18, 1913):

It was a piece of heroism performed on the night of Nov. 23, 1858, that caused Captain Brooks to be spoken of as the “Hero of 1858.” That night the schooner Moses F. Webb went ashore in a heavy gale on Goose Island, not far from Faulkner’s Island. Captain Brooks, disregarding the weather, put out to the stranded vessel in an open boat, and safely took off the five men of the crew. This feat was widely heralded. The Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York presented him a gold medal and the citizens of New Haven gave him a purse of gold.

Captain Brooks was known to every Connecticut ornithologist of thirty years ago as a careful observer of birds, and as possessing in his home at the lighthouse a collection of birds of unusual interest. His name has been quoted in many a list of Connecticut birds during the last forty or fifty years.

Captain Brooks was a delightful man, full of stories of his experiences and observations. He was twice a member of the Connecticut General Assembly.

Dr. Davis S. Brooks House (1790)

2864-Long-Hill-David-S-Brooks-1790

The house at 2864 Long Hill Road in North Guilford was built in 1790. It was the home of Dr. David S. Brooks. He married Annis Benton (b. 1764). Dr. Brooks delivered “An eulogy on the Death of George Washington,” at Guilford on February 22, 1800. The eulogy was published in New York in 1823. A facsimile of the only known copy of this work was reprinted by the Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford in 1920. Dr. Brooks later moved to New York, where he died in January, 1826. His son, David B. Brooks, graduated from Yale and practiced medicine in Cromwell starting in 1819. He also later moved to New York where he died in 1830.