Stamford History Real Time

Newsletter: Stamford Pioneer, Winter 2008 Edition

Starting with the Winter 2008 edition, our quarterly newsletter, Stamford Pioneer, will be available online.

Download stamford-pioneer-winter08.pdf

Look for Event Announcements, Volunteer Recognition, Chairman's Corner, Director's Report, and more.

Photo Selection of the Month, February 2008

Postcards make up part of our Photo Archive, and from time to time we show some of them in our Photo Selection of the Month feature.

So here is our February selection:  From Our Postcard Collection: Bridges

Prior selections:

Postcards from another age
Postcards: Fun at the Beach (Shippan Point)
Portrait Postcards, Early 20th Century

Uncovering the Past: Old Cato, former slave

By Grace Bounty, research volunteer in the Marcus Research Library.

I came across the death notice of Old Cato in The Advocate, and, as my grandchildren go to school in Suffield, CT, I became interested it.  I originally contacted the Suffield Historical Society, and then by coincidence we received a research request from a gentleman in Suffield who in return for our assistance agreed to do a little sleuthing for us in Suffield about Old Cato.  I am still following this up with the West Suffield Congregational Church, looking for information about the place of burial for Mr. Erastus H. Weed and for Old Cato.

The following death notice appeared in the Stamford Advocate, Friday, January 14, 1886:

An old colored man died a few days ago in the poor house of the Town of Suffield in this state who was formerly a slave owned in this town.  He was known time out of mind as “Old Cato”, and though the date of his birth is unknown there is good reason for believing that it was prior to the Declaration of Independence in 1776.  The Suffield people believe he was “nearer 120 than 100 years old”, and a piece of reliable evidence on this point is furnished by our townsman, Mr. George Davenport, of North Stamford, who distinctly remembers seeing “Old Cato” over sixty years ago, and he then “appeared to be a middle-aged man.”