•HISTORIC RESOURCES INVENTORY FOR OFFICE USE ONL yBUILDING AND STRUCTURES

TownNo. ISit. No 185HIST-6 HElII S 77

STATE OF CONNECTiCUtUT~ I I I 0 I , . T . I ! I I 0CONNECTICUT HISTORICAL COMMISSION . . , , ,

59 SOUTH PROSPECT STREET, HARTFORD. CONNECTICUT ,06106 QUAD:I(203) 566-3005DISTRICT IIF NR SPECIFY

Os ONR o Actual 0 Potential,. BUILOING ........ IE (Com.oo' fHisl.olicl

"Brick" I Cowles, Francis W., House2' TOWN CITY I v LLAGE Il,;UUNz Farmington Hartford0

i= ] STREET AND land or.'O<' •• son]-e 48 Main StreetuI&. 4. OWNERISIi= Miss Porterls School OPublic !BPrlvoteZ1&1C --s- USE ("'",."n. I til''''' ""f"- Dormitory/classroom/office I Residence

'ACCESSIBILITV\EXTERIOR V6lBLE FROM PUeLC ROAD I INTERIOR ACCESSIBLE I IF YES ''''PLAIN

TO PUBLIC: ~ Ves 0No o-, [BNoTs 'LE OF OATt. O~ ..... " .. ~U .. IUN

Greek Revival/ltalianate ca. 1844•.M" lind/cst" US" 01 "JCSlIonwnl'n spp,op,is,l"

OClopboord o A.be.tos Siding GU Brick and DOthtit'(Specify'

foundationo WoodShingle o Asphalt Siding o Fieldstone . .o Boord & Botten o Stucco oCobbleSloneo Aluminum o Conc,el. o Cut stoneSiding Type: Type:

, STRUCTURAl. SYS':"EM o POSI an~ beam o Other (Specdylo Woodfr_e D balloon

[i) Load Iteoring m~sonry D Structural iron or st.el10 ROO F 'T ..,.~ ,

D Goble o Flat o Mansard o Manito, o sawtooth

o Gomb,el o Shed ~HiP o RoundoOlhe,z (Specdyl

0i= ,MO'e"oflQ.« o Wood Shingle

DRollo Tin OSloleU Asphalt

11\1&1 OtherC

~ Asphalt shingle Q Built up o Tile D'Specdyl11 NUMBER OF S ORIESI APPROXIMATE DIMEN~IONS

2 40 X 42, additions 32 x 48, 20 x 2312 l,;UND 'ON ,S"U4 IUI •• I, I": J('.'(If1tJ

(1SJ EIIc.II enl o Good o Fa;, o Deteriorated I[!] Excellenl o Good o Fair o Deterio,al.dI] INTEGRITY ,t'· ,.11 .. n » I WHEN'

"."".,.,', .. ,," IIF YES E llPLAINQ O.n original o Moyed ~ Yes 0 No rear' additionss'le14 RELATED OU BUILDINGS OR LANDSC"PE FEATURES

L:J Born o Shed o Garage o Olher landscape fealu,es or buildings! Specdy'

o Carriage o Shop o GordenhouseI S SURROUND' NG E NV IRONME NT

:::J Open land o Wood· [B- [] Scollered buildings vi s'ibl" fromland R"s,denl,ol s.t~

o Comme,clol o Indus- o Rural :J High build,ng dens;Iylrial16 INTERRELATIONSHIP OF t'lUILDING AND SURROUNDINGS

Sited on the west side of Main Street, the Francis W. Cowles House is surrounded by maturetrees with hedges bordering the east side of the lot. It is one of many residentialbuildings located in the center of Main Street associated with Miss Porter's School.

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zttl'?ri n i s uu i r.ci.ng ui.sp i ay s cuarac cer i s crcs o r the I.>reeKt<.evlvaland ltalianate styles. Itscolonnaded porch with a wide entablature are characteristics of the Greek Revival style.However, its hip roof and exposed rafter ends are often found on Italianate-style buildings.Other decorative features are the full-length windows on the first floor. Perhaps mostunusual is the building's T-shaped form, a typical feature of the Italian Villa.

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Although the early history of the land at this site is unclear, it is known that it was partof Col. Martin Cowles' estate. Sometime prior to 1844,Col. Cowles (1774-1844) deeded thitland to his son Francis W. Cowles (1810-1868), who probably built this house within the sameyear, as his father's will (1844) (FPR 10:490) states "except the house where Francis W.Cowles now occupies". Francis married Mary Lewis Root (1812-1896), daughter of Major Timothyand Celestia (Lewis) Root. After Francis' death, the estate passed to his wife (FPR 13:436)and upon her death in 1898, their only surviving daughter Grace Fessenden Cowles (1844-1915)gained title to the property. Grace married Erastus Gay (1843-1912), the son of Williamand Ruth Maulda (Holmes) Gay. He was a merchant,state representative from 1883-5,state senator, 1897, town treasurer, and justice of the peace. In 1901 the Gays willed theproperty to Robert P. Keep, headmaster of Miss Porter's School. It remains part of MissPorter's School today.

The Francis W. Cowles House is architecturally and historically significant due to itsgood state of preservation and association with the Cowles and Gay families •

arm ngton Lan Recor s; Farm ogton arID1ngton arID1n~tonCemetery Inscriptions, W.P.A., 1934; Avon Cemetery Inscriptions,Woodford Map; 1855 E.M. Woodford Map; 1869 Baker and Tilden Map; Map.Prentise, Dudley. History of Farmington Houses. 9 vols., N.p., 1974; Farmington HouseFile Collection. N.p., 1950-52. Brandegee, Arthur L. Farmington, Connecticut, TheVillage of Beautiful Homes. Farmington, Conn: Author, 1906.

ParedesNEGATIVE ON FILE

13:26AW

86

Preservation Trust

Middletown, CT

[J R.n •• c l

o Vandalism o O.v.lop.,s o O,h., _

o Private o Zonln; o Explono'iono O., •• lo,o,lon

OWNER'S NAMEACME 51"8'·8,

ADDRESS:

DATE BU IL T: FOR:

ARCHITECT\lASTER-BUILDER

FORMER OWNERS:

PORTER'S SCHOOL, MISSAS OF I1950 PHOTO NO. I. FOLDER "i-'.-y' ~4'" .,...

>0OWNER

48 Main Street 112- 1

This house is pictured on page 191 of the Farmington Bookas the Francis Cowles place -- known as "The Brick Housell• It wasalready the property of Miss Porter's School at that time. It isshown on Baker and Tilden's 1869 Atlas: as:;"Mrs. F. W. Cowles"".

Library recorda indicate that i~ waa built in 1835 forFranc~s Winthrop Cowtes. It appears from a letter written in 1840,that it may have taken several years to build. The tetter metrt Lorredwas wrLt t en by Julia Anne Cowles to her husband Thomaer Cowles onl':1arch9, 1840, and saysi "Frank moves: into his new: home this week. Itis' entirely finished, they are now' making the front f enc e'"...

This site has' a long history, having been occupied first byJohn Stanley in the 1650's , and perhaps even in the late 1640 "s'.The name Stanley has been spelled "StandleyH or IfStandly", but fio'rconsistency the laiter wilt. use only the spelling I'Stanleyl'.

John Stanley I s father was' also John Stanley, bapt Lz ed' onDecember 28, 1603, the son of John Stanley and Susan Lancock ofAshford, Kent, England. The John Stanley who first cam~ to Farm-ington 1;'1aSten y earrs of age when he arrived in America in 1634. Hisfather and a younger brother died at sea on the way from England.The father' g, brothers, Timoth:y and l'homas', had accompanied John onthe voyage, and upon arrivaL Thomas took the child John and Timothytook John's sister Ruth, bringing them up as their own children.Both brothers were "men of worth and enterprise in the new lan~ andtaught young John the rigors. and rewards of building his home in anew countryu.

Captain John, a$he was soon known, born in 1624, wa~ mar-ried on December 5, 1645, to Sarah, daughter of Thomas Scott.Thoma~ Scott was: an original proprietor in Hartford and was one ofthe committee appointed to vie,,,,Tunx:is Se:pus (Farmington) in 1639,and he was given some land here in the lower meadow. He never livedhere but gave his land to John Stanley. He died in 1643.

The Stanleys had three children:

John, born in 1647, became a doctor,Timothy, born in 1653, andIsaac, born in 1660.

They lived in 1651 on Town Path or Main Street, next northof Robert Porter, whose wife Mary was also a daughter of Thomas Scott,and was Sarah Stanleyl~ sister.

The Stanleys moved to a house on the north side of MountainRoad, about where the driveway now lead. into the houses at 11 and 13Mountain Road. Mrs. Stanley died in June 1661, and Mr. Stanley latermarried Sarah Fletcher, daughter of John Fletcher of Milford.

Having obtained land on the east side of High Street from IsaacMoore (who had married John's sister Ruth) John now, about 1665, builta house on this land, the house which is now the Farmington Huseum, andlived there with his family and his second wife.

December 15, 1971

172-2John Stanley waa deputy to the general court 1659-1696,

and: a soldier in the Indian war of 1676. His daughter Mary, byhis s-econd wife, was married in the High Street house, to JohnHooker, and they occupied and owned: the house' at 24 Main Street,which presently bears John Hookert~ name on a placque on the south-east corner of the house. John Stanley died in 1706.

Note -- almost all of the preceeding information regardingthe Stanley fami ly was obtained from Nrs. Hurlburt's: "Town Clerks",pages, 33, 372 and 373.

John Stanley's son Dr. John Stanley, became heir to the houseon 11a1n Street, and it eventua.l1y came into the possession of Col.Martin Cowles'.of 41 1'1ainStrLeet, who gave it to his son Francis in1835, the year in which he married. His bride was Mary LEnds Rooct,born in 1812, the daughter of Major Timothy Root and Celestia Lewis.Her Root ancestry to this point was, briefly, as follows:

John Root, 1608-1684, Badby, Englandm. Mary Kilbourn, 1619-1687, Wood Ditton, England

came to America on "Increase" in 1635

Stephen Rootm. Sarah Wadsworth

Timothy Root 1681-1713m. Margaret Seymour

Lt. Timothy Root 1713-1746m. ~lary Hart

Capt. Timothy Root 1740-1815m. Mary Langclon

Major Timothy Root 1780-1824m. Celestia Lewis.

Mention of Francis W. Cowles in the history of Farmingtonis brief, although his photo appears on page 84 of the FarmingtonBook. Julius Gay mentions' Francis \Hnthrop ([owleslon page 81, to-gether with his brother John Edward Cowle~, in these briefr wordw:"They spent; their lives as well-to-do farmerS' in the" vilIagell•

The children of Francis Cowles were:.

Alice Celstia CowlesLouisa Catherine CowlesGrace Fessenden CowlesMartin Cow lesMary Roc.t;Cowtea:

1836-1840-1844-19151847-1850-1871

Alice Ce1estia was in 1864 married to Alexis Wynnns Harriott,1835-1916, of Salt Cay, Turks! Island, Wes,t Indies, a salt manufactureraFwas his father. He wa$ consular agent 1862-l888f and mov~d toGrand Turk later. They had five children, an interesting family, Hndvisits and correspondence between this family and the Farmingtonrelatives were common.

December 15, 1971off)/,

t '( 2 - 3Louisa Catherine was· married in 1867 to Edward Hall of New

~ork, born in Brattleboro, Vermont, his mother a Fessenden ..In 1896he wag:.in business. in Philadelphia, living in Carnd en , New Jersey.Their children were William Fessenden Hall, born 1868, and AliceCowles Hall, born 1870.

Grace Fessenden Cowles was married tQ Krastus Gay of Farm-ington, son of William Gay and Ruth Holmes of 24 11aln Street ..When first married the Erastus Gays lived at 16 Main st.reetr, Later,in 1872, l:'lr.Gay built a house, next north of the hou se of his wife'sparentEf. That hous~, still standing and known as 44 Main Street, wa~the home of Mr. and Mrs Erastus Gay for the rest of their lives.

Martin Cowles was' married in 1885 to Cynthia Ball Keyes ofUnionville, daughter of David A. Keyes and Julia Gridley. No childrenwere born of this marriage and Mrs. Cowles died within a few years.In 1890 Nartin Cowles married l'1aryEsther 11anwaring of East Lyme. Mr.Cowles was always in the manufacturing industry. In 1886 he wassecretary and superintendent of Knapp and Cowles, Bridgeport, in 1892was president and treasurer of Phoenix Coach Lamp Company, New Haven,and in 1895 superintendent of Bridgeport Tubing. They had a daughterborn in 1887 and Martinl-.Jarren.Gowles was born in 1894. He was anMIT graduate in sanitary engineering, served in the engineers inWorld War I, and was in Springfield, Illinois in 1919.

Francis Winthrop Cowles died in 1868 and his widow inheritedthe property at 48 Main Street. How long she occupied the house andcontinued living in Farmington is not known, but letters now in theVillage Library, written in May 1889 and April 1894, indicate thatshe wasl then living with her daughter Louisa and family, in Camden"New Jersey. Mrs. Cowles dIed in 1898 and her daughter Grace Gaybecame the next owner.

Occupants of the property from 1868 until 1901 are not known.Quite possibly it was temporarily occupied by various family members,but it also appears possible that it may have been rented' to MissPorter for use as a dormitory. In 1901 the Gays, Erastus and Grace,ssold it to Mrs. Robert Porter KefP, for that use. Mr. Keep was atthat time the nominal head of 1>11:s-sPorter's School, and '''as'in theprocess of assuming control, his wife assisting in the administration.

In 1919 the title was passed by the estate of Mrs. Robert Por-ter Keep, to Miss Porter's Sc~ool, the present owner.

The Bulletin of Miss Porter's S¢ftool, Winter 1972, states thelfollowing:

"Mr. and Mrs. Hiram B. Carey III (Ted and Sharon) are new housedirectors in BDick. Ted 1s a Yale graduate who taught history in WestHartford before serving taDee years in the Navy. He is now a first-yearlaw student at the University of Connecticut. Sharon was graduated fromSkidmore College and has taught English in New Haven and Hartford publicschools. Both their daughters) Shannon 3 and Rebecca 1, are delightedwith 80 many teenage ''-sisters'".

Ted is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Hiram B. Carey, Jr., of MountainSpring Road. Hls wife is the former Sharon Fitzgerald.

March 4, 19733'cf2 f

The following data had not yet been noted when the finalthree paragraphs of the previous Page were written.

Mrs. Justus Paul, who had been house mother for fouryears at Brick, r~tired in June 1971.

Brick House directors starting September 1971 wereChristopher Darwin and his wife, the former Catherine Axton.

Mr. Darwin had been born in an English boys. schoolwhere his father was headmaster. Christopher i. a fourthgeneration teacher. He is a graduate of Cambridge Universityand has done Ph. D. research in speech perception. Mrs. Darwinwas a graduate of Sutton High School 1965, Sutton, Surrey, Eng-land, then of Girton College and Cambridge University, a majorin education.

March 31, 1973

172-4