Turning Back the Pages

100 years ago — December 1922

William Tolliver while out fox hunting on Tuesday of last week had the misfortune to break a finger in his right hand, caused by his horse rearing suddenly.

The “shortest” days of the year are approaching and according to the old timers, the weather may soon be expected to become more severe.

Messrs. Robert Scoville and W.B. Rand are spending a few days in Chicago attending the International Live Stock Exposition.

50 years ago — December 1972

While Falls Village is taking a good look at a possible new landfill site one state official has suggested the town view it as a potential site for surrounding towns as well. Selectmen this week named an eight-member committee to view the 70-acre Stewart McMillan farm as potential multi-use municipal property. Face to face negotiations with Mr. McMillan, now a Carolina resident, are due to commence around Dec. 20. The town is under pressure to find a new site because the current landfill, which adjoins the farm, is just about filled up. Other prospective sites have “fallen through” during the course of a two-year search.

An old name will soon appear in a new location in Lakeville. The private road by the new headquarters of the Salisbury Bank and Trust Co. has been named Bissell Street, with Mr. and Mrs. Roswell “Hop” Rudd as winners of the contest sponsored by the bank. The name is doubly appropriate. In Lakeville, Bank President John Rogers points out many streets bear the names of prominent old local families; but until now the Bissell name has not been honored in this way. In addition, the property on which the new building stands was once the site of the home of Dr. Will Bissell, and the house which was moved back to make way for the new construction was his home. Dr. Will was the son of Dr. William Bissell, who was known affectionately as “the old doctor” and for whom the Dr. William Bissell Fund is named.

The Lakeville Journal has been designated a “National Blue Ribbon Newspaper” for 1973 by the National Editorial Foundation, Washington, D.C. In announcing the designation, Foundation President George Wortley III, Fayetteville, N.Y., noted that The Journal was one of only 144 newspapers to achieve this designation in a nationwide program open to all newspapers.

­— The natural beauties and the serenity of life in the Northwest Corner of Connecticut have now been immortalized in song by Carole King, popular songwriter and recording star. In her recently released single, Canaan, Miss King tells of her appreciation for the green fields and rolling hills that surround her recently purchased home in Falls Village.

—No objections were lodged during Monday night’s brief hearing at Town Hall on Leslie Jacobs’ application for a license to continue operation of Jacobs’ Garage in the village center. Joe Jacobs Sr. operated a car dealership and garage service for 40 years until his death last winter, and Les has continued the operation since then. 

25 years ago — December 1997

FALLS VILLAGE — Bill Holcomb, 86, was in his house Tuesday morning eating breakfast when the fire began. At first he thought it might be coming from his wood stove, but soon realized the flames were coming from under the floor. “I tried to get out, but the door was stuck,” he said. “I had to dive through the fire and kick the door to get out. I got in my truck and drove to T-Bows store as fast as I could to call it in, but my neighbors had already called.”

SHARON — A lone bank robber brandished a handgun at a New Milford Savings Bank branch office in the Route 41 shopping plaza early Saturday morning and made off with more than $1,400 in cash. The unidentified robber is still at large and police seek the public’s help in his apprehension.

— The recent theft of a rare book has left book dealer Barbara Farnsworth shaking her head in disappointment. The owner of the antiquarian bookstore in West Cornwall is missing a copy of a first edition of James Joyce’s “Ulysses,” #534 of 1,000 copies printed in Paris for Shakespeare and Company in 1922.