Henry B. Graves House (1858)

Henry Bennett Graves (1823-1891) was a lawyer in Litchfield who served several terms in the state General Assembly. He was also executive secretary to Governor Henry Dutton and he married the governor’s daughter, Mary Dutton. His second wife was Sarah Smith of Morris. In 1858 Graves built a Greek Revival house at 153 South Street in Litchfield. The house was sold to Cornelius M. Ray of Morris in 1865.  After his death, the house passed to his daughter, Clara Belle Ray.  The Ray family made alterations to the house, including the addition of the mansard roof and the south bay. Elizabeth Shields Hamlin bought the property in 1910. In the collection of the Litchfield Historical Society are blueprints for the building of a garage, an extension of the dining room, and other alterations to the house, made by Ross & McNeil, architects of New York. They were hired by Elizabeth’s husband, Elbert B. Hamlin in 1915. After her husband’s death in 1936, Elizabeth Hamlin sold the house in 1937.