www.mystichistory.org • vol. xLI, issue vi • may-june 2015

the

Portersville Press

In the 1950s, just about every major city had a landmark department store. In Connecticut, it was G. Fox & Co. in Hartford!While the company’s original construction dates back to 1917, this presentation will bring you back in time to Fox’s heyday inthe ‘50s as we go from floor to floor and recall departments ranging from accessories on the “street” floor, to designer dresses on6, and ending at Toyland on 11. You’ll also learn about Beatrice Fox Auerbach, the remarkable woman who made every visit toFox’s so enjoyable and set the standard for customer service.We promise to stir pleasant memories of date nut bread in the Connecticut Room, back to school shopping, and the wonderfulChristmas season at G. Fox & Co.!

Following a career in sales and marketing, Joe Waxman is a volunteer at the Connecticut Historical Society. He remembers growingup in Hartford where G. Fox & Company was a part of his life. He says that Fox’s “touches people’s personal history.” Joe will also talkabout his admiration for Beatrice Fox Auerbach whose accomplishments were significant on both local and national levels.Please join us on Wednesday, May 27th at 7pm at the Mystic Congregational Church Hall for all the details.

May 15 - July 27 | Jorgensen GalleryUConn Historical Costume & Textile Collection

May 15 - July 27 | Jorgensen GalleryUConn Historical Costume & Textile Collection

THE SCION OF G. FOX & CO. H A RTFOR D, CT

THE SCION OF G. FOX & CO. H A RTFOR D, CT

THE WOMAN, HER WORLD & HER WARDROBE

THE WOMAN, HER WORLD & HER WARDROBE

FOX AUERBACH

FOX AUERBACH

BEATRICE

BEATRICE

An exhibit featuring garments and personal items from Beatrice FoxAuerbach will run from May 15th to July 27th at UConn’s JorgensonCenter for the Performing Arts.

Dr. Laura Crow, who spoke at the MRHS December 2014 membermeeting, has curated items from the UConn Historical Costume andTextile Collection that provide an additional glimpse into the extraordi-nary life of Ms. Auerbach -- a world traveler, philanthropist, innovativebusiness person, and one of Connecticut’s most famous women.

Jorgenson is open to the public on the UConn campus Monday throughFriday, 10am - 4pm and prior to most events.

~

...The Woman, Her World & Her Wardrobe

From Hula Hoops to High Fashion: G. Fox in the 1950s

Above left: The stylish menswear in the “Madison Shop” at G. Fox in summer of 1958. Above right: Beatrice Fox Auerbach (1887-1968) became president of G. Fox & Co. in 1938 and remained at the helm until the company was sold to May Department Stores Co. in 1965. from CTHistory.org

Thanks to generous donations from G. Fox & Co., former employees and customers, and the Fox and Auerbach families and their descendants, the Connecticut Historical Society has amassed extensive holdings on the famous department store. The collection includes photographs, like the one above right, dresses sold in many different eras, house wares, and even correspondence between G. Fox President Beatrice Fox Auerbach and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

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Mystic River Historical Society Mission StatementThe Society exists to collect, arrange, exhibit and preserve records, papers, photographs, artifacts, relics and related archival materialsthat document the history of the people who lived in the area around the Mystic River from the first settlement in 1654 to the present.

•Officers: President - Lou Allyn • Vice President - Bill Everett

Treasurer - Barry Thorp • Corresponding Secretary - Lois Glazer • Recording Secretary - Cindy Allyn•

The Newsletter of the Mystic River Historical Society is published six times annually: September, October, November-December,January-February, March-April and May • Box 245 Mystic, CT 06355

Issues of the newsletter are available for online viewing at www.mystichistory.org

My first column for the Portersville Press, issued inSeptember 2009, was a nondescript affair in which I intro-duced myself as the Mystic River Historical Society’s newPresident and expressed the wish that the MRHS contin-ued to be a useful and valuable resource to the area and ourmembers. In that vein, over the years since (most of themas the ex-President), the column attempted to help readersof the Newsletter to think about history in various ways,whether about specific events - like the Hurricane of ’38 orthe Battle of Groton Heights in 1781 - or general eras - likethe Civil War or even ancient history. More importantly,to me, anyway, were the admonitions to consider historyon a personal level—whether about family and ancestry, orcurrent events and their relationship to the past, or themystical (no pun intended) nature and relationship of his-torical objects and things.

But, most importantly, the purpose of the column(repeated too often for some, I imagine) was to attempt tomake history “real”. In other words, to move past the duston shelves and the mists of time and to try to think abouthistory in the immediate sense, of “being there”. Weremember the past, not so much to avoid Santayana’swarning about repeating history (mournfully, given thehuman condition and widespread historical illiteracy, rep-etition is unavoidable), but for the connections and illumi-nation it can provide in understanding the present. And,hopefully, we consider history objectively and withoutpassion for a cause—it ought to be sufficient to honor thepast by remembering it accurately and truthfully. Thedangers of forgetting may not be significantly differentthan the dangers of partisan or ignorant misinterpretation.

For all the exhortations about reading history, I did alsooccasionally remind our readers of something equallyimportant—the volunteers that keep MRHS going—with-out them there wouldn’t be a Society. We recognize thatnot everybody has the time to spend working on MRHSmatters and that there are other ways to help us preservethe past. Let’s remember that we are not an income gener-ating, self-supporting organization—we do rely on the gen-erosity of not only the time and energy our volunteers con-tribute, but also those are able to donate funds, which areabsolutely critical in allowing us to maintain our buildings,to provide the services that any self-respecting historicalsociety provides, and to present the programs you enjoy.

from the conTrIbuTor’ s desk

Jim Kimenker

And so, as you may have already figured out from this tripdown memory lane, this is my last regular column. Thanksto all of you who have patiently read it over the last six years(a far longer time than I ever dreamed to continue) andendured my sense of humor — I trust it didn’t interfere withthe story-telling!

George Santayana, c. 1940s. While his famous phrase has had many iterations,Santayana’s quote translated from his “Volume One of ‘The Life of Reason” is above.

Today, the 1905 five volume “Reason in Common Sense” is available digitally viaProject Gutenberg on gutenberg.org

Those who cannot remember the pastare condemned to repeat it.

- George Santayana

Back in 2009 Jim Kimenker was President of MRHS and wrote his first “From ThePresident’s Desk” for the Portersville Press. Two years later I was re-elected Presidentand Jim asked me what he could do to help. My request was that he continue to writea column for the newsletter: From the Contributor’s Desk first appeared inSeptember 2011. Since then every issue has included a column of Jim’s engaging,readable, cogent and thoughtful musings about various historical topics and what his-tory means to all of us personally. This is Jim’s last column and we all want to thankhim very much for his dedicated contributions over the last six years. ~ Lou Allyn

After four long, bloody years, the war is finally over.As if to prove the point, the Pioneer publishes the terms ofsurrender between Generals William T. Sherman andJoseph E. Johnston, signed on April 18 near DurhamStation, North Carolina. The initial celebrations of thesurrender of Lee’s army were tempered by the assassina-tion of Abraham Lincoln, and elation has been replaced bya universal sense of relief.

There are still some loose ends to be wrapped up.Isolated guerilla actions continue in Texas and the hills ofnorth Georgia and Alabama. Confederate PresidentJefferson Davis and several members of his cabinet are cap-tured in Georgia on May 10. The sensational trial ofLincoln’s assassins convenes May 12 at the Old ArsenalBuilding in Washington. The new president, AndrewJohnson, leads the conspiracy theorists, claiming to have“evidence” of Davis’s involvement in Lincoln’s assassina-tion. Blockade runners flying the Confederate flag are stillrunning cotton to Havana from Galveston, Texas.

In politics, the Connecticut Legislature ratifies the 13thamendment to the Constitution by a unanimous vote, thefirst state to do so. L.F.S. Foster, a U.S. Senator fromFranklin, Connecticut, is appointed Johnson’s Vice-President. With the end of hostilities, local issues regaintheir importance. State Senator Charles H. Mallory intro-duces a bill “prohibiting the driving of any horse overMystic bridge faster than a walk on penalty of a $1 fine.”

Remember: Mystic’s civil War images are available to explore in MrHs’ online collection at mystichistory.org/collectionsexhibit/vex3/index.htm !

by Catherine Deichmann

Above left: Mystic’s Grand Army of the Republic (G.A.R.) veterans in full uniform on steps of the Broadway School, Decoration Day, 1895. Lyman E. Hill(“Daddy”) & Philip Irons (“Uncle Phil”) are identified. From MRHS archives - Grimes Collection. Above right: A 1908 “Decoration Day” post card features

Union and Confederate soldiers shaking hands. • Memorial ceremonies were originally observed by proclamation of Gen. John A. Logan of the G.A.R. to honorthose who died “in defense of their country during the late rebellion” - - the Civil War. On the first Decoration Day, May 30, 1868, thousands gathered at

Arlington Cemetery to place flowers on graves and listen to an address from then Ohio congressman and Civil War veteran Gen. James A. Garfield. After World War I, the meaning of the day expanded to include honoring American who fought in any war, and the name shifted to “Memorial Day” .

May ends with a Grand Review of the United StatesArmy in Washington D.C. The black crepe that hasshrouded the capitol since the assassination is removed forthe occasion. On May 23 more than 100,000 veteran sol-diers of the Army of the Potomac, led by General GeorgeGordon Meade, march down Pennsylvania Avenue beforethe President, General Grant, and other dignitaries. Thefollowing day, the Armies of Tennessee and Georgia, led byGenerals William T. Sherman and Oliver O. Howard,march for six hours. Local soldiers in the 1st CT Cavalryand the 5th, 12th, and 14th regiments of infantry who par-ticipate in the Review will remember this occasion for therest of their lives.

The Union Army is on the move, but slowly.Governor Buckingham assures the citizens ofConnecticut that their men will return as soon as possi-ble, but it will take some time to arrange transport and“complete all the necessary paperwork.” Issues such aspensions for sick and disabled soldiers and pay for thosecaptured and held in Confederate prisons have yet to beresolved. Mystic has the chance to celebrate its own vet-erans, and to realize the war’s human cost, when the 21stRegiment arrives on June 21st. Of the thousand men whomarched off to war with the regiment in the fall of 1862,only 323 exhausted veterans arrive at New Haven’s UnionStation. The following Saturday, for the first time inmore than four years, “General News” replaces “Progressof the War” as the headline in the Mystic Pioneer.

Final Installment of the civil War sesquicentennial series -Life on the Homefront: May & June 1865

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Aside from possible landings in RhodeIsland by the Norsemen six hundred yearsbefore, the first known explorer along thiscoast was Capt. Adrian Block. In a 44 footboat built on the Hudson, he sailed downthe sound and on to Cape Cod in the sum-mer of 1614, carefully mapping the coast.Swinging in to the Mystic River, he sawthe bare rolling hills around Noank on hisleft and partly wooded Masons Island onhis right. The Pequot Indians, living intheir summer huts on the shores, wereengaged in their usual clamming and fish-ing. Sounding the lead and following thewinding channel, Block sighted to the,north the high ledges on the west shore,called Gibralter by later seafarers. Past thehigh hill on the northwest of MasonsIsland, since cut down, were two smallislands, now washed away, the largershoal later called the Tickler. Dead aheadlay extensive salt marshes running back tothe high hill on the mainland. A long sandbar ran down through the marshes, laterthe location of Willow Street.

Northwesterly, on thewest bank of the narrowingriver, lay another massive gran-ite ledge, later called St. Jago’safter a landfall in the Azores.North of that, a small creekmade up where Pearl Street nowruns. Between the creek and thechannel a gravel spit came downfrom the north, ending near thewest end of the present highwaybridge. Block, finding the tidalwaters of the channel still carry-ing a good depth, continued far-ther up-river. Even 250 yearslater, there was good water toOld Mystic, where the steamer“Summer Girl” made its runs.Dropping anchor for the night,Block and some of his menwent ashore and made theacquaintance of Siccanemous,the Pequot Sachem. Later,drawing up a map of the river,Block named the river after him. By 1637,Roger Williams in a letter called it MistickRiver, yet as late as the middle 1850’saccording to Grace Denison Wheeler, theold—timers still used the old name, at leastfor the brook above Old Mystic.

From early white settlersaccounts, the hills around the river andparts of Masons Island were burned overeach year to grow huckleberry and blue-berry bushes. Dried berries were a stapleof the Indians diet.

A Picture of Mystic by James H. Allyn, 1975 - via Lou Allyn

The old Pequot Trail, running east fromGroton, crossed the river at the head oftidewater at Old Mystic. Settlers fromGroton Bank moved in. As coastal ship-ping in small boats increased, people start-ed moving down to Mystic where lotswere laid out in about 1654 under NewLondon grants. The Indians had kept thehills burned off to give full sunlight for theblueberry crops which, when dried, werepart of their winter diet. This southerlyway went down over the open hillsthrough the present Oral School grounds,Pequot Avenue, and angled down to theriver along the north-south part ofEdgecomb Street, to Latham Street, and sodown to Burrows Place on the river southof the still existing Packer Homestead.Burrows put a ferry into operation. Fromthe east shore landing, a road was laid outup Willow St., over Slaughterhouse Hillon Mistuxet Avenue, across the head ofQuiambaug Cove to the Road Church,and thence to Stanton’s trading post at thehead of Wequetequock Cove, and on to

Stonington Point, It wasn’t until 200 yearslater that a road and bridge were builtacross Pequotsepos Creek, cutting throughthe Denison Burying Ground, Still later, abridge was built across Quiambaug Covefor a road to Pine Point Bridge. Travel andtransport for all this time was mostly byboat. Even in summer, roads were littlebetter than horse trails. When BurrowsFerry began operation, a highway wasbuilt to Groton Bank, called New LondonRoad. The Packer family built a gambrel

roofed house at top the hill which they ranas a tavern, The community becameknown as Portersville after Porters Rocks.There is no record of a Porter family.

In the mean time, the Denisonfamily and others laid out farms on theeast side of the river on high ground. Thepresent homestead built in 1717, replacedan older house. In 1658, the then Capt.Denison claimed office under the jurisdic-tion of Massachusetts, the Town ofStonington then being a sort of no-mans-land between Connecticut and RhodeIsland. Sheep, horse and cattle raisingbecame the principal industry. The wood-ed areas of the town, threaded with oldstone walls, were then mostly open graz-ing land. Pequot Trail was laid out severalrods wide to provide forage for cattledrives, but afterward narrowed down.Trade was started with the West Indieswith their large and prosperous sugar plan-tations, since the climate was too hot therefor live stock to breed. The Mason family,

from their farm onQuoketaug Hill, moveddown to their island in1703, and soon were ship-ping out horses and cattle.It is also believed thatthey shipped oak for rumbarrel staves, but onlyfrom their wood lot onCow Hill, since there is afamily tradition that nogeneration ever cut tim-ber on the island.There is no record of whenship building actually start-ed in Mystic, but it musthave been in the early1700’s, probably for smallcoasting vessels. Later, theGreenmans fromWesterly started a smallyard in Old Mystic to benearer sources of timber.Soon they moved downthe river to Greermanville

to be nearer deep water, as the river wassilting up and the demand was for largerships. Other shipyards sprang up on eitherside of the river, so that by the early1800’s, the village began to grow. Themarsh land on the east side began to betilled in and streets laid out. On the westside, streets and houses spread up the hillfrom the ferry landing. Finally in 1819, atoll bridge of wood was built across theriver to replace the ferry. It was slow andinadequate from the start. A few one story

“St. Jago’s” massive granite ledge in Mystic, CT named for a landfall in the Azores.It is on the west side on the Mystic River (at right in this photo) looking south with

the highway bridge behind the viewer. The dark building beside the ledge wasRandall's Store. The ledge was removed and is now the site of the Mystic Art Center.

The steamer in the background is the Escort. The granite hill of Pine Point onMasons Island rises in the background. • From MRHS archives - Stinson Collection

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Lower Mystic cemetery, Pt. II: early History - Lou Allyn

The cover of the 1893 Lower Mystic Cemetery By-Laws

shops were put up on the west approachbuilt across Mr. Wolf’s garden.

By 1850, Mystic was hitting itspeak of expansion and shipbuilding. TheGreenman Yard, and Maxson & Fish inWest Mystic were building world famousclipper ships. To take care of the growingdemand for building lots within walkingdistance of the center, even a bridge toMason’s Island south from Bliven’s pointwas projected. From one hill to the otheracross the river, Mystic looked like a rawmining town. Sea captains put up theirstately homes on West Mystic Avenue.Elms were planted all over town, to gracethe streets for the next three generations,only to be toppled in the hurricane of1938, except for a few scraggly survivors.The old Revolutionary War period houseslargely disappeared, to be replaced by thenew modern Greek Revival, and still laterthe new modern Victorian. The railroadcame. The Civil War brought an evengreater demand for ships and gunboats. Itwasn’t until 1866, after years of complaintsand debate, that the two adjoining townsput up a new steel swing bridge. A streetwas cut down Baptist Hill, much steeperthan now. It crossed a small bridge overthe cove up Pearl Street location, and onto the river. A new business district wasalready under construction, with somebuildings three stories high.

But then the bubble burst.The war ended. Steam replaced sail andsteel hulls replaced wood. Shipyards fold-ed one by one. The Greenmans turned toa woolen mill. Other manufacturers suchas Rossie, Standard Machinery, LathropEngine and Packer’s Tar Soap developed,but the old excitement was gone. GilbertTransportation Company built theirimpressive brick building at the bridge,but they had missed the boat. Through theearly 1900’s, houses became shabby.New building, except for a few tenements,almost stopped.

The depression of the 30’s did notmake much difference in the appearance ofMystic. It could not go down much fur-ther. Then came World War II in Europe.Electric Boat was soon flooded with con-tracts. Houses were bought up, repairedand painted. Dr. Stillman conceived theMystic Seaport and put everything he hadinto getting it started. It set the tone of the“new” Mystic - the preservation of the old.

We continue the story of the LowerMystic Cemetery (the LMC) with someof its early history.

First of all: Why the name Lower Mystic?The original center of Mystic waslocated at the top of the Mystic Riverand was known as “Head of the River”or “Mystic”. Down the river the westbank was called Portersville which waschanged to Mystic River in 1851. Theeast bank was Mystic Bridge. Then in1890 the Post Office changed the nameof Mystic to Old Mystic and the villagedownriver became Mystic.

Since the LMC was incorporated in1949 it seems possible that Lower wasused to differentiate this cemetery out-side the western outskirts of MysticRiver from any that existed up theriver in “Mystic”.

Secondly: What was new about the LMC? The LMC was a community place ofburial rather than a church graveyardor a family burial ground. It is formal-ly laid out in rectangular lots with alovely fitted granite wall along themain road, some decorative iron fencesand a well in the center. It is not theRural Cemetery design of the ElmGrove Cemetery which was estab-lished a few years later in 1853. TheRural Cemetery Movement began in1831 with Mount Auburn, Boston;Laurel Hill, Philadelphia (1836);Greenwood, N.Y. (1838); Lowell,Mass. (1841); and so on. For more onthis subject, Google ‘American ruralcemetery movement”.

On September 3, 1849 a group of localtownspeople incorporated the LowerMystic Cemetery Association in theTown of Groton to create and managea cemetery. The list of the originalSubscribers from a document datedSeptember 3, 1849 is: Simeon B.Ashbey, Ransford Ashbey, GeorgeW. Ashby, Silas Beebe, Wm. W,Bentley, Horatio N. Fish, Grover G.King, Henry Latham, Henry O.Manwarring, Henry K. Manwarring,George Moon, Isaac Randall, Mrs. P.Randall, Elisha Rathbun, Peter G.Rowland, Asa P. Sawyer, Wm.. P.Smith, Jeremiah Wilbur, andCharles S. Williams.

The Association elected officers,approved By-Laws, and purchased 1.9acres of land on the north side ofRoute 1 on the road to Fort Hill. Wehave a copy of By-Laws adopted July15. 1893; they are available online atmystichistory.org. The price of a lot18 feet square was $25 and the price toinsure perpetual care of one lot was$50. (Income from this money is nowin CDs in the Groton Savings Bankand the interest is still used to pay formowing and maintenance of thegrounds.) Unfortunately the book oforiginal deeds has been misplaced butwe do have a Form of Deed forPerpetual Care of Lot in Lower MysticCemetery signed by my Great-grand-mother Mrs. Louis P. (Emily FennerMaxson) Allyn dated November 7,1941 as proprietor of lots 82 & 83.

Evidently the LMC was well receivedover the years; a later map of all theplots with family names writtenshows no unsold lots. In a later arti-cle I will talk about the inventory ofthe names found on monuments andheadstones and where the graves arelocated. Perhaps some of your ances-tors are buried there; I hope to findout from you at lallyn@snet.net.

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The Board of Trustees of the Mystic River Historical Society meton Monday, March 16, 2015. Attendees included: Aimeé Allaire,Cindy Allyn, Lou Allyn, Bill Everett, Lois Glazier, JenniferPryor, Richard Semeraro, Barry Thorp, and Stephanie Thorp.

President (L. Allyn): A motion was made, seconded andapproved to accept the minutes of the February meeting aspublished. • Sally Halsey has resigned from the Board due toan unexpected serious medical problem. We wish her a goodrecovery and a good outcome in the months ahead.Stephanie offered to take over the press releases and publici-ty that Sally has been doing; Dorrie and Louisa will take careof MRHS’s FaceBook. • The contract with Ferraro Paintingand Restoration to paint Portersville Academy has beensigned. Work is scheduled for May and June.

Corresponding Secretary (L. Glazier): 14 thank you lettersfor gifts have been sent so far this month.

Treasurer (B. Thorp): At this time all deposits have beenmade and all bills paid current. Treasurer’s account booksare reconciled with Chelsea Groton Bank statements.Expenses for the month of February are mostly non-discre-tionary commitments including utilities, building securityservices, curatorial staff payments and snow removal.Thanks to continued responses to the dues mailing notices,deposits for the month were generous. The present balancein the Chelsea Groton checking account is positive.

Building & Grounds (L. Allyn, acting): David Tetlow hasbeen very dependable in plowing the parking lot and shovel-ing the sidewalks. Because of the many snow storms we havealready spent our budget for the year.

Curatorial (L. Allyn , acting): Dorrie reports 12 visitors tothe Downes Building month to date. Copies of historicalimages are being sold for display at Azu Restaurant and thePowerHouse lobby. The Board agreed that Dorrie could workat home on these requests.

Information Technology (S. Thorp): The SystemAdministrator performed updates and backups to the com-puter system on March 8. All equipment appears to be ingood condition and functioning as designed.

Program & Membership (A. Allaire): On March 25th wewelcome Anne Farrow who will give a talk on her new bookThe Logbooks: Slavery in New London County. February’stalk by Jennifer Emerson went well with 40 people attending,giving a generous $60 in donations. • The committee metMarch 12th to discuss upcoming speakers & more. Programsare scheduled through December 2015 with many speakersnot confirmed yet through May 2016.

New Business Lou announced that Cathy Marco will not befinishing the final year of her third term on the Board. Hethen listed the Board members who will be finishing theirterms of office and/or their Board terms this May or in Mayof 2016. This led to a discussion of the vital importance ofrecruiting people before next year to be on the Board andchair some of our committees. Many good suggestions wereput forward and a list of action items was started.

Committees not listed had no reports. The next meeting is April20, 2015 7:00 pm at the Mystic Noank Library.Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allyn

March 2015 Meeting MinutesThe Board of Trustees of the Mystic River Historical Society meton April 20, 2015. Attendees included: Aimee Allaire, CindyAllyn, Lou Allyn, Bill Everett, Lois Glazier, Cathy Marco,Richard Semeraro, Barry Thorp, and Stephanie Thorp.

President (L. Allyn): A motion was made, seconded andapproved to accept the minutes of the March meeting as pub-lished. • John Parry has been appointed to the Board to com-plete the last year of Cathy Marco’s third term. At the annu-al meeting in May nominations for reelection to the Boardfor three years are: Lois Glazier, Cindy Allyn and BarryThorp and for election to the Board, Jennifer Pryor.

Corresponding Secretary (L. Glazier): 16 letters were writ-ten in March and 3 in April.

Treasurer (B. Thorp): At this time all deposits have beenmade in the bank and all bills are paid current. TheTreasurer’s account books are reconciled with the ChelseaGroton Bank statements. Expenses for the month of Marchare mostly non-discretionary commitments including utilitypayments, building security services, payments to our cura-torial staff and snow removal expenses. Deposits for themonth were solid thanks to continued responses to the duesmailing notices. The present balance in the Chelsea Grotonchecking account is positive.

Building & Grounds (L. Allyn, acting): PVA exterior paint-ing is scheduled for May and June.

Information Technology (S. Thorp): The SystemAdministrator performed updates and backups to the com-puter system on 27 March 2015. All equipment appears tobe in good condition and functioning as designed. The back-ups for the Past Perfect database files and working files weredone and removed offsite for security. All equipment andsoftware operated properly.

Newsletter: Copy due April 24th.

Program & Membership (A. Allaire): On March 25th, wewelcomed Anne Farrow who gave a talk on her new bookThe Logbooks: Slavery in New London County. We had 55people attend the talk and $61 in donations. ThisWednesday, April 22nd, we had a last minute speaker change- instead of Irina Stoenescu of Comstock & Ferre, we willhave her colleague, Joseph Simcox, Botanical Explorer,speak. The topic will still be heirloom seeds andConnecticut’s history in the seed business. • Laura Cerino ofTrumbull, CT was welcomed as a new member.

Publicity (S. Thorpe): Notice of membership meetings areappearing in local newspapers. Dorrie Hanna is updating ourpage on Facebook.

New Business None.

Committees not listed had no reports. The next meeting is May11, 2015 7:00 pm at the Mystic Noank Library.

Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allyn

April 2015 Meeting Minutes

The Board of Trustees of the Mystic River Historical Society meton Monday, February 23, 2015. Attendees included: Aimeé Allaire,Cindy Allyn, Lou Allyn, Bill Everett, Richard Semeraro, BarryThorp, and Stephanie Thorp.

President (L. Allyn): A motion was made, seconded andapproved to accept the January meeting minutes. • After a pres-entation by Lou, a motion was made, seconded & passedapproving $14,000 to paint Portersville Academy’s exterior.

Corresponding Secretary (L. Glazier): Two letters were sent inJanuary and 32 so far in February.

Treasurer (B. Thorp): All deposits have been made and all billsare paid current. Account books are reconciled with theChelsea Groton Bank statements. Expenses for the monthwere mostly for non-discretionary commitments including util-ities, Mystic Chamber 2015 dues, and membership renewalnotice mailing expenses. Deposits for the month included twonew Life memberships, a generous donation from a memberfamily, and initial dues renewals. Prompt response to renewalnotices has made it unnecessary to withdraw additional fundsfrom the Vanguard Money Market account, as was originallyplanned in January. Balance in the Chelsea Groton checkingaccount is positive. • MRHS federal tax forms are completed &submitted. Form 1099’s for office staff have been processed &distributed. Form 990-N (the Postcard version of our federalreturn) has been completed, submitted and acknowledged bythe IRS. The long Form 990-EZ (required by the State ofConnecticut’s registration process and used in filing for Grantrequests) has been completed. A copy is available for review.

Finance (D. Evans): A report of Vanguard Funds performancefor 2014 was mailed to the Trustees.

Building & Grounds (L. Allyn, acting): David Tetlow has beenvery dependable in plowing the lot & shoveling the sidewalks.

Curatorial (L. Allyn, acting): D. Hanna – The Committee meton February 23 having postponed due to bad weather on the9th. The 2014 annual report is complete and will be submittedfor inclusion in the next newsletter. Work continues on finalpaperwork to officially transfer the MRHS books housed at theMystic & Noank Library to the Library on a permanent basis.We have provided Union Baptist Church with about 50 imagesfor the updated version of their history and are working onother image requests and queries.

Information Technology (S. Thorp): Updates and backups per-formed on 7 February 2015. All equipment appears to be ingood condition and functioning as designed.

Program & Membership (A. Allaire): Membership renewalletters were sent out in January. In addition to two new Lifememberships, so far we have received a higher amount in duesat the new rates vs. the same time last year. Despite a big stormthe day before, on January 28, 2015 we welcomed Capt. CarlLahti who spoke on The History of the Naval Submarine Base.About 35 people attended. On February 25 we have JenniferEmerson coming to give her talk Whaling Wives and theweather looks clear, thank goodness. The Committee nextmeets March 12th.

Committees not listed had no reports. Next meeting March 16,2015, 7:00 pm Mystic Noank Library.

Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allyn

February 2015 Meeting MinutesThe other day someone visiting the Downes Building askedme "What's new?" so I thought I'd report on some of ournewest items. It's interesting to note that even though theyare all "local", in that they relate to Mystic, they were donat-ed to us by folks who live as far away as New Jersey. SinceJanuary we have added the following items, among others:

• A scrapbook of Mystic Seaport ephemera (that's archivist-speak for paper items) dating from the 1960s.

• A pocket diary containing a narrative titled "My Trip toCanada" written in 1909 by a young lady from Mystic.(She was pretty impressed with Niagara Falls.)

• An advertising giveaway thermometer from Mystic OilCompany (Phone Mystic 633-2)

• An advertising pamphlet for the Wilcox FertilizerCompany, dated 1913, listing their products, prices and rec-ommended methods of application. (They were heavily pro-moting their fishmeal and guano products.)

• A large group of material from Mystic's own Charles B.Allyn Foundation, including some Gallup family correspon-dence as well as many other interesting papers.

Even though these things are “old”, they are “new” (to us)and we sincerely thank the donors for sharing their treasures.

new Arrivals at the downes building- Collections Manager, Dorrie Hanna

Wilcox Fertilizer plant from MRHS files and additionally featured in Brian Bentz’“The Quiambaug-Mistuxet Valley - A History of a Valley and Its Two Ridges.”

A 1960’s vintage Mystic Seaport postcard. Text on reverse reads: Mystic Seaport A 19th Century Coastal Village recreated at Mystic, ConnecticutThe George H. Stone General Store, an original country store moved to this site,

complete with a collection of old-fashioned wares.

8

Miss Georgiana Fulton: An Independent Woman, Part 2 of 2 By Susan McGee Bailey

Once I told Miss Fulton about finding a mayflower in Cogswell Parkup in Fitchburg, MA where my father had lived when he was a child, Idescribed the little pink flowers with their shinny, waxy leaves in detailand told her how you have to look closely or you’d step on them.

She listened closely, “Ah, yes, child, I can see them in my mind, whata lovely gift you’ve given me!”

I’d never thought of a memory as a gift. I liked the idea. I wrote inmy diary, “Miss Fulton likes presents she can keep in her head.”

Each year as I showed her my schoolbooks she found new faults.“Where are the women, girl? Do you see any women? No, you don’t,hardly any. And what about the vote, what do you know about that?”

“Well,” I began, “well, women were given the right to vote after theFirst World War? I think?”

“Given? Given?” Her face began to scrunch up, “Remember,child, women had to struggle hard to get the vote. That’s not in yourbooks, is it? “

“But, but I heard....” I tried to remember what I had heard. She wasright, there was nothing in my social studies book.

“Women have to stay strong,” she lectured, “there’s no equalityyet. Don’t you ever let them say, ‘women were given the right tovote’. They say that now, I know they say it, but not true, not true.Mark my words, girl!”

Miss Fulton also told me stories of her fights over her land, and howshe had to argue with neighbors all the time. She had nothing but harshwords for G.S. Allyn, Lou’s grandfather. She thought he was trying toshove her out and that other neighbors were moving her stonewallback an inch or two every night. I realized these stories weren’t literal-ly true, but I did believe my brother who’d told me he’d heard she’dgone to Mr. Maxon’s house up the street and pointed her shotgun rightat him. I also knew she’d never really shoot anyone. But I began tounderstand that not everyone shared my opinion and that Miss Fultonprobably liked the idea that some feared her.

Miss Fulton was ninety-seven when she died in 1967. I was away,living in the Dominican Republic. During the final years of her life shehad moved to a nursing home up in Ledyard, and for a while one inGales Ferry. No one was really sure of her address and we’d lost touch.But my mother and other neighbors told me she came back now andthen, so I checked her house each time I was home from college orbetween travels, but her 1930’s tan two door Hudson Terraplane coupewas never there. Many of us remember how she drove that ancient lit-tle car down the middle of the road, and sometimes across the emptyfield by the old Chapman house where, as she said, the road “used to beand belongs still. Why, child, you can see the tracks for yourself!”

Hoping she would find them, I left notes for her. The notes were gonethe next time I came by, but there was never anything waiting for me.

...When she first moved to Connecticut, Miss Fulton lived in WestMystic in what a news story in the New London Day identified as “thegates studio off High Street.” “But,” she told me, once “ got tired ofpeople. Got tired of rowing over from town and moved to the island.”Van Kellems, one of the boys in the neighborhood, remembers MissFulton telling him that in the coldest part of winter she had a man whowalked ahead of her with a pole to test the ice when the rowboat could-n’t get across from West Mystic. By 1920 the U. S. Census lists her asliving on Mason’s Island and renting her living quarters.

Miss Fulton often spoke of her friend Lizzie and of living with herin the old Mason House on the island. On our walks around theisland, the graves of John and Andrew Mason, the old school house, intatters by then, but still standing, and the Mason House were ourpoints of reference and opportunities for her stories.

Lizzie was Elizabeth Colegrove, a niece of brothers Andrew andJohn Mason who famously, at some point after inheriting the housewhen their mother died in 1857, divided the Mason House in half,reportedly over an argument about a girl they both loved who refusedto marry either of them. They lived side by side, never speaking direct-ly to each other for the rest of their lives. Elizabeth, aka Lizzie, movedto the island from Illinois to take care of John following Andrew’sdeath in 1912. When John died in 1917 Lizzie stayed on and took inboarders, often young artists drawn to Mystic much as Miss Fulton hadbeen. (Note: for more information on the Mason brothers see MajorJohn Mason’s Great Island by James H. Allyn, 1976, Roy N.Bohlander, Mystic, CT)

I believe Miss Fulton was one of these boarders, and moved fromWest Mystic to the island in 1919 or 1920. She continued to rent until1925 or 1926. Lizzie became her friend as well as her landlord andtheir friendship lasted until Lizzie’s death at the age of 80 in 1940. MissFulton often spoke of Lizzie and told me more than once how muchLizzie liked to quilt.

In the mid 1920s, Miss Fulton bought land on the northern end of theisland from the Illinois Colegroves. The first parcel was purchased in1924, and a second parcel in 1926. From 1926 to 1931 there are variousdeeds in the Stonington town records reflecting mortgages with theSaving Bank of New London and some back and forth with a relativeI’ve not yet been able to trace, Earl V. Fulton of Shreveport, La.

In 1944 Miss Fulton sold a portion of the second parcel she acquiredfrom the Colegroves to Robert Shirley and paid off all remainingmortgages. But by 1954 the Welfare Department of the State ofConnecticut had placed a lien on her land ‘for all assistance paymentsheretofore or hereafter made to or in behalf of the said Georgie L.Fulton”. I believe this was the result of herbroken hip and the expenses that accidentand the recuperation up in Ledyardentailed.

I had started my first diary when I turnedeight; it seemed a grown up thing to do. Itconsists primarily of very brown, pressedflowers that still slip out as I turn the pages,yellowing newspaper clippings about eventsI considered ‘historic’, from the 300th cele-bration of the founding of Mystic in 1949 toreports of the hurricanes that forced us toevacuate to higher ground in uptownMystic at least twice during the 1950’s. Buthere and there are bits of conversation withMiss Fulton. She was full of interesting sto-ries. Some confused me. “Why is she so surethat some people are bad to the bone?”“Did she really talk with her turkey ordoes she mean she talked to him?” “Why won’t she ever visit herrelatives in Shreveport?”

A vintage 1930s advertisement features a spunky model and a two-door Hudson Terraplane - possibly similar to the tan one driven by Georgiana Fulton

9

My mother said she was sure my notes pleased Miss Fulton, but thatshe might not want me to see her in poor health. I’ve tried to believethis, but I’m not so sure. I should have tried harder to find her----it’s alesson in regret I’ve never forgotten.

Perhaps these regrets are what compel me to search for more cluesto Miss Fulton’s life, to keep asking questions and seeking out anyonewho may know more about her. In particular I hope I can find moreof her paintings. My sister, Laury, and I each have two small scenes onshingles. Mine might even have been done in France, as they are exact-ly the types of trees found in the south of France. And I have a portraitof a women quilting—a woman I am sure is Lizzie Colegrove. ClaraBalhatchet, a neighbor and an amateur painter, initially gave thesepaintings to my mother. Clara had taken them, and perhaps others aswell, from Miss Fulton’s house before it was sold in 1978. She toldmother she wanted to ensure that they were not lost or destroyed. I amstill trying to track down other paintings by Miss Fulton, but Claramoved to the Midwest and died some years ago, and no one in MysticI’ve contacted, at the Art Association and among various art dealers,has been able to provide any leads. Jon Sproul contacted me after reading the first installment of this arti-cle. Jon has been documenting artists showing at the Mystic ArtAssociation since the Association’s first exhibit in 1914. His researchindicates that Miss Fulton did exhibit between 1935 and 1937, but wasnot listed as an “active artist member” at any point. Perhaps someonereading this brief article may have additional suggestions? If so, I lookforward to being hearing from you!

I think MissFulton would relishthe mysteries stillsurrounding herlife. She was a pri-vate person and astubborn one.To leave Shreveportto study art in thenorth in the late1890s, to sail forEurope in 1900, tostudy and live inParis, to work in NewYork and then in ruralMystic, never marryingand without a steadyjob for more than 35years once the Mason’sIsland school houseclosed, was not what wasexpected of women in theearly years of the last cen-tury. And it is still a set oflife choices that only a veryindependent, stubborn,strong woman would con-template. Her example hasstood me in good stead.

As I approach the ageMiss Fulton was when wefirst met, her deceptively softsouthern voice still echoes inmy mind. “Women need tostay strong.” ‘Know what youare talking about.” “Speakyour mind.”

# END #

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTSThis article is excerpted from a longer talk presented in April 2013.

Much is based on personal experiences and recollections; some of thedialogue is reconstructed from my memories, but other conversationsare taken directly from my childhood diaries. Numerous others sharedtheir memories with me and helped in uncovering official records. Iowe thanks to: my brother Hugh McGee and his wife, Pam, my sister,Laury, and several of our neighbors as children: Charlie (aka Sandy)Ferguson, his sister, Janet and their mother Mina, Van Kellems, RobertHolgrefe, Jan and Dave Carreau and Lou Allyn.

Louise Watrous here at the Mystic River Historical Society provid-ed invaluable help, enthusiasm, expertise and introductions to RustyGodino at the Ledyard Historical Society and Anne Thacher at theStonington Historical Society. Librarians in Groton and Mystic helpeduncover old town records and news articles; various employees andvolunteers at the Mystic Art Association assisted in the search for refer-ences to Miss Fulton in their files.

Finally, following the original talk in Mystic in April of 2013 othersincluding my high school classmate, Elly Rose Matuszewski, Percy Lee,her brother, Jack and his wife, Rosalie, William B. White and mostrecently, Jon Sproul, have all provided additional leads to furtherinformation about Miss Fulton that I hope to include in MRHS files.

Ms. GeorgianaFulton’s cottageon Mason’s Islandin Mystic, CT

Top photo:The cottage in theearly 1900s wasoriginally con-verted from achicken coop.

Lower photo:By the 1980s, thecottage had seenmore remodelsand additions.

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