Stamford History Real Time

Whitman Bailey Sketches: data of the collection now online

The data of the inventoried collection of the Whitman Bailey Sketches are now online.

Beginning in 1924 and continuing for the next thirty years, Whitman Bailey's sketches appeared in the Stamford Advocate almost weekly.  Black and white drawings of local scenes, the sketches were accompanied by brief vignettes of the scene.  Mostly factual, at times the stories presented were local folklore faithfully transmitted for the interest of the reader.  Thanks to Dorothy Mix and other volunteers, our collection of the newspaper clippings has been organized and scanned and may be viewed in the Marcus Research Library.

IC117: Whitman Bailey Drawings

Uncovering Mysteries – Dick Roberts and Stamford Cemeteries

A recent story in the Stamford Advocate about Dick Roberts and his cemetery project:

Uncovering mysteries

For more about the project, read  Mapping Lost Graveyards in Stamford

Image Copyright © 2008, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.

E.B. Huntington's History of Stamford on Google Books

Elijah Huntington's

History of Stamford : Connecticut, from its settlement in 1641, to the present time, including Darien, which was one of its parishes until 1820. Stamford, Connecticut: Published by the Author; 1868

is now available as Google Book.

New Year's Morning Sketch by Whitman Bailey

Another installment in our series of Sketches by Whitman Bailey.

Section of Stamford's South End in Winter

New Year's Morning 1938

"Quintard House a the foot of old Water Street"

Full text page (pdf)

We add the usual warning: "At times, the accompanying vignettes are mostly folklore passed on to Mr. Bailey by residents of the areas where he was sketching.  In those instances he had no way of determining the truth of the story.  Nor have we.  It is presented as a sidelight to the sketch.  Therefore, researchers are cautioned to regard these tales as local color, interesting, thought provoking, but sometimes not entirely factual."

Sketches by Whitman Bailey

Thanks to the work of our library volunteers, the sketches by Whitman Bailey have been collated and scanned and are available for viewing at the computer in the Marcus Research Library.  They are in a searchable database, sorted by town and street. ¹

full view

Early 20th Century Country Cottages in North Stamford

Time was, when a cottage “in the country” meant being within easy driving distance of your home, using your early automobile.  “Here is the wildest of primitive regions, but short daily visits to it would not be possible without the aid of that most modern of man's inventions – the automobile.”

For Stamfordites, that would have been no farther than North Stamford – hard to envision for most of us today.  But you had the added advantage of being able to go there any day of the year and observe and enjoy nature.

So join us for a visit with Mr. Fitch A. Hoyt, retired grocery store owner, who every day got in his car to drive to his log cabin Wawonaissa to commune with nature: The Nature Studies and Recreations of a Business Man. (Photo Selection of the Month, July 2007).

Real Estate Development in Stamford, 1910, and more

In 1910, the Hubbard estate on West North Street had been sold and was being scheduled for development.  This event was reported in Vol. III., July 1910,  No. 3 of  Guide to Nature Magazine:

“During the past month an important deal in the real estate has been carried through. This is the sale of the estate of William Hubbard, situated on West North street and Hubbard avenue, to the Home Building and Development Company, of which Mr. John Linskey of of Union City, Ct., is president and treasurer. On the tract there is a large stone house, which was the home for many years and until the time of his death, of William Hubbard, one of Stamford's best known and oldest residents.

Mapping Lost Graveyards in Stamford

Society volunteer Richard Roberts has been searching for and mapping “lost” graveyards after researching his family’s genealogy and developing an interest in cemeteries.  He and Librarian Ron Marcus agreed that he would create a permanent record  for the historical society’s research library.

New at the library: “Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692”

The society recently received a copy of Escaping Salem: The Other Witch Hunt of 1692  (New Narratives in American History, Oxford University Press)  by Richard Godbeer, Professor of History at the University of Miami.  It discusses the events around the witch hunt of Elizabeth Clawson in Stamford in 1692.

From a book description at Amazon.com:   Few events in American history are as well remembered as the Salem Witch Trials of 1692.  But there was another witch hunt that year, in Stamford, Connecticut, that has never been examined in depth.  Now Richard Godbeer describes this “other witch hunt” in a concise, fascinating narrative that illuminates the colonial world and shatters the stereotype of early New Englanders as quick to accuse and condemn.

The society was able to provide Professor Godbeer with  information from our archives and publications.  More information.

The book may be viewed at the research library at headquarters on High Ridge Road.  It is also available in paperback.  The Ferguson Library has copies at the Main and Harry Bennett branches.