F. Merton Hammond House (1906)

The house at 850 Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1906 for F. Merton Hammond, superintendent (and later treasurer and then president) of the Thomas P. Taylor Company. According to an article in the Bridgeport Telegram of Monday, October 3, 1927, the Hammond residence was entered by burglars sometime during the preceding weekend, while the family was away. The burglars gained entry by forcing open a window in the pantry at the rear of the house and stole a quantity of jewelry, which included a diamond ring.

Dr. Calvin Chapin House (1785)

The house at 79 Elm Street in Rocky Hill was built in 1785 for Rev. John Lewis, who was minister of Stepney Parish (now Rocky Hill) from 1781 until his death in 1792. The house was purchased by Rev. Lewis’s successor as minister, Dr. Calvin Chapin, in two transactions. In 1795, Dr. Chapin bought 2/3 interest from the guardian of the Lewis children, who were minors, for 333 pounds, 10 shillings. In 1799, he bought the remaining 1/3 from the widow of Rev. Lewis. According to the Memorial History of Hartford County, Vol. II (1886):

[Rev. Calvin Chapin, D.D.] was a native of Springfield, Mass.; was graduated at Yale College in 1788; studied theology with the Rev. Nathan Perkins, D.D., of West Hartford; was licensed to preach in 1791; a tutor at Yale College until 1794, and had the educational charge of Jeremiah Day, afterward its president. He was installed at Stepney, April 30, 1794. He preached there until Thanksgiving Day, 1847. His office closed with his death, in March, 1851.

The late Rev. Noah Porter, D.D., of Farmington, said of Dr. Chapin: “He was distinguished for exactness, enterprise, and humor, and a constant interest in all Christian and benevolent enterprises.” From its organization, in 1810, until his death, he was Secretary of the A. B. C. F. M. [American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions] In 1826, as “Missionary,” he made the tour of the Western Reserve, Ohio; publishing a pamphlet giving the results of his observation. When the Connecticut State Temperance Society was organized, in 1829, he was made chairman of its executive committee. As a humorist he was keen, kind, and incisive.

It was during Dr. Chapin’s ministry, in 1808, that the present Congregational meeting-house was built.

During his pastorate, the Town of Rocky Hill was incorporated in 1843. Library service in Rocky Hill had begun on December 11, 1794 at a meeting held at the Chapin House. Dr. Chapin was also actively involved in the building of Academy Hall in 1803. A book entitled Appreciation of Calvin Chapin, D. D., of Rocky Hill, Conn. was published in 1908. The Chapin House has an Italianate front porch and two bay windows, all added later in the nineteenth century. (more…)

Angus H. MacKenzie House (1911)

The house at 820 Clinton Avenue in Bridgeport was built in 1911 for Angus H. MacKenzie. The house has a basic American Foursquare form with Mission Revival-style roof and stucco siding. The house is now owned by the Sisters of The Company of The Savior. Angus H. MacKenzie (the original owner) and his brother are described as follows in the History of Bridgeport and Vicinity, Vol. II (1917):

Angus H. and Roderick J. MacKenzie are the owners of the Bridgeport Public Market, in which connection they have built up a large and substantial business which is continually growing. They established this market on the 9th of December, 1897, on Bank street, where they are still located. The start, however, was small compared with their present business. In the early days they employed twenty-five people, and something of the growth of their trade is indicated in the fact that they now employ from one hundred and sixty to two hundred people. They conduct entirely a retail and jobbing business and their deliveries are made with both horses and motors.

About twelve years ago they established a branch of the Bridgeport Public Market on East Main street, where they employ about twenty people. Their original building has been rebuilt and has a frontage of one hundred and thirty feet on State street and of one hundred and twelve feet on Bank Street. They occupy the entire building, which they have splendidly equipped with refrigerators, carriers and everything necessary to facilitate the business. They have made an alley through the building in order to keep the teams off the street while loading for delivery. This is a covered alley extending from street to street and was put through at a great deal of expense; but it indicates the public spirit of the men who were behind the project.

The brothers, Angus H. and Roderick J. MacKenzie, were formerly residents of Massachussetts and of New York. Believing that there was opportunity for a successful business, however, in Bridgeport, they removed to this city and great credit is due them for the fine market which they have developed. It is always clean and sanitary and their business methods of dealing with customers will bear the closest investigation and scrutiny. They have ever recognized the fact that satisfied patrons are the best advertisement and they have put forth every legitimate effort to win the approval of their customers.

Trinity Episcopal Church, Portland (1874)

Trinity Episcopal parish in Portland was first organized in 1788. There have been three church edifices. The first was built in 1790, but was never consecrated. The second was built in 1830-1832 and was consecrated in 1833. The chapel of the current church was first occupied in 1874, but the rest of the building was not completed and consecrated until 1882. The present brownstone church may incorporate part of the 1830 structure.

Rev. Rufus Hawley House (1799)

Rev. Rufus Hawley (1741-1826) was born in East Granby, graduated from Yale in 1767 and was ordained pastor of the Northiugton (now Avon) Congregational Church on Dec. 20, 1769. He continued as minister until his resignation in 1817. In December of that year, the old Northington meeting house burned down. Believed to have been a case of arson (suspicion even fell on the minister himself), the fire came at the time of an intense dispute within the church concerning where in town a new meeting house should be built. Eventually the congregation split, with the majority deciding to construct what is now the West Avon Congregational Church, located in the center of town, while the rest built the Avon Congregational Church, located in the commercial center of Avon. Rev. Hawley continued as a pastor at the West Avon Church until his death in 1826.

Rufus Hawley kept detailed journals in which he recorded his daily activities between 1763 and 1812. In a recent book about Hawley, Catch’d on Fire: The Journals of Rufus Hawley of Avon, Connecticut, author Nora Oakes Howard makes extensive use of these journals. Hawley built the fourth house he owned in Avon in 1798-1799. Located at 281 Old Farms Road, it was notable for having two side-by-side kitchens in the rear. Known as Avonside, it remained in the family for many years after the minister’s death. It passed to his son, Rufus Forward Hawley, who sold it to his nephew, Edward Eugene Hawley in 1837. After his death in 1868, it passed to Edward’s daughters, Florence Genevieve Hawley, who used it as a summer home, and then to Bertha H. Hawley. It was then inherited by their nephew, Reginald Birney of West Hartford, who died in 1936. Damaged by fire in 1950, the house was sold by Birney’s widow in 1951 to Robert and Gladys August, who also became the guardians of the Hawley family papers, including the journals. They owned the house until 1998. In 2002, the Hawley family archives were donated to the Avon Free Public Library.