Historic Buildings of Connecticut - Exploring the Nutmeg State One Building at a Time

492 Jerome Avenue, Bristol (1842)

According to the 1985 pamphlet Federal Hill: A series of walking tours of the Federal Hill neighborhood and of other areas of interest in Bristol, Connecticut, written and designed by C. Houihan, the 1842 house at 492 Jerome Avenue in Bristol was once the home of Bronson Alcott, the transcendentalist and father of author Louisa May Alcott. But Alcott’s stints as a teacher in Bristol occurred earlier than 1842. He taught for four months in the Fall Mountain District of Bristol in the winter of 1823-1824 and was at the district school on West Street for four months in 1824-1825. His last period as a teacher in Bristol came when he was again at the school on West Street for a few months, in the autumn and winter of 1827-1828. Does anyone know more about this house and its connection to Bronson Alcott?

Rev. John Elliott House (1789)

The house at 542 Boston Post Road in Madison was built in 1789. It has a later three sided oriel window, which was added to the second story on the east side of the front facade. The house was the residence of Rev. John Elliott, who the third minister of Madison’s Congregational Church. As related by Rev. James A. Gallup in the Historical Discourse Delivered on the One Hundred and Seventieth Anniversary of the Formation of the First Congregational Church, Madison, Conn., November 18, 1877 (1878):

Rev. John Elliott, D.D., the third pastor of this church, was born in Killingworth (now Clinton), August 24, 1768. He was the son of Deacon George Elliott, and grandson of the Rev. Jared Elliott, M.D., of Killingworth (now Clinton), and great-grandson of Rev. Joseph Elliott, of Guilford, who was the son of the Rev. John Elliott, of Roxbury, well known as the Apostle to the Indians. He fitted for college in his native town, under the instruction of the Rev. Mr. Mansfield, his pastor, and entered Yale College in 1782. He took a high rank as a scholar, and graduated with honor in 1786. He devoted several years to teaching and the study of theology. He preached his first sermon July 11th, 1790, in Rev. Mr. Todd’s pulpit in East Guilford. During the last year of Mr. Todd’s ministry he was much of the time unable to preach, and, at his request, Mr. Elliott was employed by the society to preach for him. After Mr. Todd’s death the pulpit was supplied for a time by the neighboring ministers.

In November of 1791, Rev. Elliott was settled as the church’s new minister. He served until his death, on December 17, 1824. Quoting again from Rev. Gallup:

He was but twenty-three years of age at the time of his ordination. He is described as remarkably sedate, dignified and solemn in manner, judicious and exemplary in conduct, precise in speech, and methodical in all his movements. He was tall, slender, and erect in form, and wore always the cocked hat, short breeches, long waistcoat and stockings, and buckled shoes of the gentlemen of the ancient time. As he is remembered by some who hear me this morning, in the latter part of his life his head was bald and his hair white. His measured step and grave bearing, both out of the pulpit and in it, made him seem to his people the very embodiment of reverence.

[. . . .] Dr. Elliott was married November 3, 1792, to Sarah Norton, daughter of Lot Norton, of Salisbury, Conn. They had no children. His wife survived him, and afterwards removed to Salisbury. She was subsequently married to Gen. Sterling.

She married General Elisha Sterling of Salisbury in 1830 and died in 1841.

First Baptist Church of Branford (1840)

The First Baptist Church of Branford is located on the Town Green at 975 Main Street. As described in Volume 1 of Everett G. Hill’s A Modern History of New Haven and Eastern New Haven County (1918):

Some embers of a former strife blazed up again when in 1838 some Baptists from Wallingford proposed to establish a church of that faith in Branford. There was opposition as soon as they sought a site for a building. For a time they worshipped in private houses. Their first public baptism was held in the river near Neck Bridge in 1838, and naturally attracted a crowd. Finally the town fathers kindly consented to let the new brethren build on the site of the old whipping post on the green, and there they did in 1840. The building was improved in 1866, and still serves the people.

Samuel Johnson Memorial Rectory (1897)

The house at 44 Church Street, across from the Green in West Haven, was built in 1897. It served until around 2005 as the rectory of Christ Episcopal Church, during which time it was named the Samuel Johnson Memorial Rectory in honor of the parish’s first rector, Rev. Dr. Samuel Johnson (1696-1772). The nomination form for the West Haven Green Historic District mentions John Barnett, who had close association with the church, under its listing for this house. He may have been the original owner. In 1905, Martha J. Prudden purchased the former home of Catherine Sherwood to give to the parish in honor of Dr. Samuel Johnson. This may be the same house at 44 Church Street or an earlier rectory.

East Hartford Town Hall (1937)

East Hartford’s Town Hall, 740 Main Street, was completed in 1937 and an addition to the Georgian Revival building was constructed in 1950. Wells Hall, built in 1832 at 110 Main Street, had previously served as Town Hall, from 1885 to 1936.

Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church, Norwalk (1870)

Merry Christmas from Historic Buildings of Connecticut! Known as the Mother Church of Norwalk, Saint Mary Roman Catholic Church serves the second oldest parish in the Diocese of Bridgeport. The parish was founded by Norwalk’s Irish immigrants and the first St. Mary’s Church, located on Chapel Street, opposite Academy Street, was dedicated in 1851. The Irish community continued to grow and ground was broken in 1867 for a new and larger church. The basement chapel was dedicated the following year and the completed upper church was dedicated in 1870. Designed by James Murphy, the church, located at 669 West Avenue in Norwalk, recently underwent substantial renovations under the direction of Duncan Stroik, professor of architecture at the University of Notre Dame.

Eunice Ward House (1830)

Eunice Ward (1771-1858), widow of James Ward (they were married in 1793), built the house at 438 Main Street in Middlefield around 1830 on land she had received from her father, John Birdsey, in 1792. Following her death the house passed to her two daughters, Almira and Lucina. As recorded in the History of Middlefield and Long Hill (1883), by Thomas Atkins:

James Ward 2d, married Eunice Birdsey, and lived near the center of Middlefield. Eunice Birdsey Ward died Jan. 30, 1858. The following is clipped from a Middletown paper. “In this town, Middlefield Society, Mrs. Eunice Ward, widow of the late James Ward, aged nearly 88 years. She was a worthy member of the Congregational Church in this place, and was much loved and respected by a large circle of relatives and acquaintances. She was cheerful and social in temperament, and passionately fond of flowers.”

The children of James and Eunice Ward were:
Almira, still living at the old home (1883).
Eunice, who married Richard M. Bailey.
Lucina.
Amelia, who m. 1st, Timothy Coe; 2d, John Smith.
James, who m. Electa, who m. William T. Boardman of Westfield.
Irena, who m. Peter Ashton.
Elizabeth, died young.
John, died in infancy.