Capt. Allyn Stillman was a Revolutionary War blockade runner and soldier in the militia. His house, built in 1766 on Main Street in Wethersfield, features a typical Connecticut River Valley double door. Allyn’s brother, Nathaniel Stillman, Jr., was also a ship captain and had a house on Main Street.
Capt. Allyn Stillman House (1766)
Located at 330 Main Street. This home was purchased by a young Dr. Arthur Wayland HOWARD, son of Rev Amasa Howard and Annie Elizabeth SIMMONS, for his bride Hannah Tryon STANDISH (daughter of James Tryon Standish and Jerusha McClallen Griswold) at about the time of their marriage in October 1894. A stable in the rear housed the horse and carriage used for house calls with a large pasture in the rear.
Dr. Howard, who almost became a semi-pro baseball planer and one of the ‘niners’ continued to umpire afternoon games after work.
A compatible clapboard two story addition added a separate business entrance to the medical reception area and examining rooms on the lower floor and two additional bedrooms and a 2nd bath for the 2nd floor. With his son, Dr. Harold Amasa Howard who also resided there with his wife and RN Virginia Barby Howard, they were the primary care doctors for the community and delivered many Wethersfield area babies until the latter Dr. Howard died into the early 1970s.
They also performed duties as the town coroner attending to accident sites.
The house had several large fireplaces, large plank floors and was furnished with many colonial antiques. The unusually large cellar had a dirt floor. A stunning Chippendale curly maple four poster bed was found in the attic from earlier residents when they moved in during the 1890s.
Dr. Howard’s 2nd wife Norma Church, once widowed, sold the home and moved across town until her death to an antique retailer for their residence in the early 1980s. Harold’s son’s families have retained several furnishings.